12273/Unicorn Hunt III: No Horsing Around

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Unicorn Hunt III: No Horsing Around
Date of Scene: 12 August 2022
Location: Times Square
Synopsis: Definitely not The Last Unicorn movie. Phoebe, Mike, Inez, Hope, Steve and Wade stumble across each other in Times Square and take on not only a two-story tall undead unicorn, but also The Ringmaster. Steve takes out the Unicorn with a one ton bun, Inez gets to ride the undead unicorn like the proud Texan she is, Hope gets kicked into a building, Mike's rhyming skills are excellent compared to the Ringmaster's, and it's just not a party unless Wade leaves with broken bones.
Cast of Characters: Phoebe Beacon, Michael Hannigan, Wade Wilson, Steve Rogers, Inez Temple, Hope Summers




Phoebe Beacon has posed:
T I M E S S Q U A R E

    What might be one of the most intensely photographed, videoed and seen junction of streets in the world, the Center of the Universe, tourist trap extravaganza. Off-brand superheroes line the streetsides taking action pictures with the tourists, from a Superman with far too much stuffing in his chest to offset the bit of a gut he has to a Robin of Indeterminate Identity who also is definitely pulling a David Bowie with those tight shorts.

    People are milling around on an overcast day. There's plenty of tourists stopping to take pictures, people sitting at the little cafe tables and chairs and on benches, leaning over the crowd dividers or on the red bleachers by the American Eagle plaza.

    The brave buy street hotdogs and gyros from vendors in khaki shorts and screenprinted T-shirts, drinks from kiosks with hot pretzels that may have been hanging on their hooks for longer than most people.

    A small group of people are on Segways, with racing bike helmets and fanny packs, taking a tour around Manhattan as their tourguide points out where the ball drops on New Year's Eve and about the history of the two 'triangles' that make up Time's Square. One of the tourists, a boy with blonde hair and 'cool' sunglasses is playing around, tilting back and forth with his segway and nearly causing himself to fall off (thank gooness for safety straps!) when he notices something odd.

    Something soft and fluffy falls from the sky, even though it's far too warm for such precipatation. The tourist group stops, hands held out as they look in wonder -- snow, in August? In Time's Square?

    The wonder quickly turns to little bits of fear as they rub the fluffy flakes between their fingers, and the smudges of white ash are left against their fingers and palms.

    Down West Forty-Sixth street comes slow, hard hoofprints that ring like iron bells of doom, echoing off the buildings. A yellow cab's trunk is crushed, the car's horn blaring as the driver dives out the door and goes to safety.

    Above the square, landing above the Beetlejuice: The Musical advertisement, someone lands hard in a three point landing, eyes wide. Balm didn't even have to try and summon this unicorn -- it was already coming in Hot to Trot.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike is decidedly not one of the people on Segways and while the opportunity may be there, he is not in costume either. Instead the musician is wearing basic run of the mill street clothes acquired from- You guessed it- one of New York City's plentiful Goodwill stores.

Now, advanced warning or not, it doesn't take Mike long to get here. Due to some...issues in Gotham, he's found himself spending a bit more time at home today. And home is not too far away from here. There are no three point landings or swooping in. Nope! And, he probably should have thought about that as he's jogging around the corner of one building and finds his choice of path leading him right in the path of the angry horny horse.

Too bad he can't see it because instead of performing a turn to the rear and backtracks to avoid any accidental stabbings. He's still in its path.

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Of the myriad tourist superheroes, one is not a complete phoney. Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool, aka The Merc with a Mouth, aka That Guy Whose Girlfriend You Don't Want to Kill Unless You Want a Kickass Movie, aka... the list goes on, is strolling down the street as you please wearing his suit--because he'd rather not be a walking gag reflex if he can help it. He's nice like that. At his side, arm in arm, is a bombshell of a blonde with a stetson perched on her head.

    "This is nice" he says looking at the tourists, none of them the wiser to he and Outlaw's presence because New York has its fair share of strange fashion sense and a full red and black tactical suit is really not -that- strange, even in August. The duffle slung over one shoulder holds a various assortment of weapons and accessories because Wade was a Canadian Scout in his youth--not really but he'll lie to your face about it with perfect clarity.

    His relaxation and reverie with his wife is interupted when the snow? ash? dander? flakes start to fall. He cataches a bit of it in his fingers and is rubbing them together before the bells and whistles (and crashes) start preceeding the oncoming stampede. "Never a dull weekend, is there?" he asks his wife before reaching into the duffle and withdrawing a pair of guns. "You see, kiddos, the first rule of Scouting is 'always be prepared'" he pauses as he shuffles through the contents of his bag. "Or maybe it's the second--point is... always be prepared."

    One of the weapons is an oversided revolver that looks like it would tear off a hand if fired without a brace. This he hands to the dainty blonde. The other is an oversized Desert Eagle, with equally devastating firepower. "Let's say we clear the area?" he asks, before raising his gun to the sky and firing off a pair of quick, -insanely- loud shots.

    Likely, people who don't want any trouble, will scatter. Anyone who wants trouble, well... his wife is there she can take care of that, after all, the family that slays together, stays together.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve Rogers hasn't really heard anything about unicorns. He wouldn't normally be in Times Square, but he's doing a shoot for some tourism thing, lending his affable smile while eating a hot dog to an ad trying to get more people to come visit New York. Do they /need/ more people coming to visit New York? Maybe not, but someone set it up and he doesn't mind so much. A few people have stopped to gawk, but most of them seem to think Captain America wouldn't /really/ be shooting a commercial, so it hasn't cleared the street of hubbub or anything.

    When the 'snow' starts falling, Steve looks up from his prop hot dog in surprise, brow furrowing. The director of the ad curses. An assistant starts making a call to the weather service. Steve's brow furrows further. He reaches out to pluck a piece of snow off his hot dog and... ash? Hmm.

    Then there's a blare of a horn and ringing iron bells of doom accompanied by... nothing visible coming down the street. Steve sighs, pressing the hot dog at the assistant who's still on the phone. "Duty calls. Tell Jack to feel free to get a shot or two, huh?" Who knows, maybe 'Captain America runs at danger' will encourage tourism! Maybe not. He's not a film director.

    He starts running over toward the sound, and groans on hearing gunshots. "Great," he grumbles, and starts to run faster, weaving in and out of the crowd of people scattering or running at the danger.

Inez Temple has posed:
That the Merc With A Mouth is married is hardly world-shaking, he's been married a few times! That his wife du jour is a six foot tall blonde bombshell that could pass for an Amazon? That's a horse of a different color. But Inez is more than happy to stroll arm in arm with Wade down the sidewalks of the city, window shopping and enjoying a sunny August day.

Too bad it's about to be ruined.

The falling ash has her frowning and looking around for the fire that should have produced it. Seeing none, she takes the revolver handed to her and winks at her husband, "Never a dull day in New York. An' people wonder why I moved here..." She raises the revolver to the sky and fires off a pair of rounds herself.

The unicorn itself may not be visible, but its trail surely in. Eagle-eyed Inez can spot where the trunks and hoods are crunching inward and turns her revolver thattaway even as she nudges Wade. "Two o'clock, comin' right for us..."

Then Inez is striding forward to potentially try and wrestle an invisible something!

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The unicorn itself was not able to be seen, but the trail of destruction it was leaving is plain to see, scorch marks and bubbling tar from the street, singed paint lines from markings, the paint and plastic curling from a warning sign and finally, the waves as the creature heats up, distorting the air around it.

    Balm, from her perch, winces a moment, feeling the heat on her face as she breaks out a spraypaint can and gives it a shake as her breath halts in her ruined throat.

    There's a wince as she 'thinks' to Michael:

    <I'm going to try and make it visible, his title is 'The Firebound' name is Ah-kay-ee-an. Achaean.> her voice whispers from behind his left ear, and she begins to tag the top of the building.

    Meanwhile, the invisible unicorn making those two-story tall heat mirages manages to pick up a delivery van, and slings it at Outlaw and Deadpool, the two making the most noise that is not screaming.

    There's a low bellow, not unlike that of a bull or ox, echoing eeriely through the artificial canyons of glass and concrete.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As the gunfire goes off, Mike turns his head looking over to the source, whiiich probably doesn't help with noticing the path of destruction right off the bat. But in a way it does end up bringing his attention to the matter at hand as the delivery van comes flying into the line of sight. Turning his head to see where the truck came from, the signs of items being damaged from a sizable source of heat in the nearby area. Signs of it coming closer.

"Shit."

Well it was going to be said sooner or later.

Mike starts backing away, head tilting as Phoebe's advice pops into his head with an added feature. She's pronouncing the name of the unicorn this time instead of making him read it off of a paper. <<Ah-kay-ee-an >> He repeats, making sure he's got the right pronunciation this time. Although to be honest, he may end up using Firebound instead.

<< Firebound... round ... ground... found...>>

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Deadpool blinks as the creature flings a van his and Inez's way. "Bunny--hop!" he shouts as he leaps to one side to avoid becoming paste. He'd be fine if it happened, but regrowing a body is time consuming and he's in the middle of binging Sandman on Netflix. Rising to his feet he tilts his head. "Animal. Okay, Inez, care to show them how they do it in Hogwarts--I mean, Texas?" he asks with a grin in his tone. "Invisible bull, or stallion, or... something. Let's try and go nonlethal if we can."

    He stashes the Desert Eagle in his pack, draws out a air of telescoping batons before sliding the bag under a nearby souvenier stand. With a flick of the wrist and a juvinile, "Boi-oi-oi-oing!" he extends the rods to full length. At the end of each is a small set of prongs where an arc of electricty flickers.

    "Find yourself cattle, have a cattle prod," he says to absolutely no one. "And sure I've supercharged these to drop a rhinoceros, or a hippo if I'm feeling dangerous, but the idea is the same, right?"

    He starts in from a different vector than his wife, making as much a show of his approach as he can; hoping the red of his suit will allow the blonde a chance to tackle the beast unawares, because while he doesn't have super strength... she definitely does.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve angles toward people he recognizes, fellow superheroes and something like friends. Deadpool sticks out, and even if he's only met Inez the once /she/ sticks out too. He skids to a halt a little ways from the pair and shouts, "What're we dealing--"

    The bellow makes him wince, and he eyes the shimmering haze of heat that's throwing delivery vans and lets out a long breath. Another glance around, while Deadpool and Outlaw try to distract the creature--whatever it is--to turn and grab a nearby gawping police officer. "Clear the area, several block radius. Call for standard unidentified anomaly containment procedures, tell them Captain America called it in, and no he doesn't need backup." A little shove. "Go on! We'll handle this."

    Then he turns back to consider the situation. Civilians out first, then they can deal with whatever's making all the heat and ruckus.

Inez Temple has posed:
Already heading towards the shimmery mirage-y heat waves baking off of /something/, Inez is right in the path of the tossed delivery van and doesn't sem inclined to move out of the way. She holsters the revolver and instead braces herself, catching the van with both hands, then whirling around and sending it hurtling back towards the bull/horse/whatever is headed their way.

She glances sidelong as Captain America starts handing out orders to a nearby policeman, offering a grin and a wave, "Hey Cap! Nice t' see ya 'gain! Y'all should come over fer dinner sometime. Bring yer girl!" Then she's picking up speed, running straight towards the approximate location of this heat-giving invisimal!

"Oooooooo, like bein' back in Texas in July! I might get a tan! An' me without my bikini..."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Well, English is better than Ancient Greek. Titles are, thankfully, universal-ish. Language is funny like that. While Michael is trying to find rhymes with Firebound and less-likely the name Achaean, he's the target of the next item thrown -- a hotdog cart, water turned from steaming to a rolling boil, launches itself from the street corner to the second-hand-dressed musican and magician as he tries to think up rhymes on the fly, but now he's in trouble with some flying buns!

    Deadpool is, indeed, a marvelous bright red-and-black target with glowing electrical cattle prod (the costume isn't just so that badguys don't see him bleed!). And since he is a marvelously bright red-and-black target with glowing electrical cattle prods, he becomes a target for a newspaper kiosk to spring to life and immediately start to launch cold bottles of nearly-out-of-date Mountain Dew and Pepsi at him, the bottles imploding upon impact.

    The van gets caught by some force, and condenses itself neatly to the size of a volleyball before all the liquids explode out ofi t, transmission and brake fluid, oil and gasoline dripping out and puddling before it lands on the ground with a heavy thud.

    From above, there is the tingling of magic, the distinct smell of roses, black pepper and citrus as the caster focuses, and a wave of Light fills the area -- any tourists who were sticking aroudn to see the drama may be rethinking now.

    Achaean is not the unicorn you see on any flags, or seals or the posters in the rooms of little ones. Not the unicorns of Faerie or of Wonderland.

    Achaean is nearly two stories at the shoulder, his head bowed as if carrying it was a horrific weight. His skin is black as coal, and falls from his flesh in greasy strings. His tail is a whip that drags limply behind him, ending in ragged bones ground sharp to the sides. His hooves, cloven, end in spikes that begin to dig against the pavement. His ears -- what are left of them -- have been mite-bitten and are ragged and short, pinned back in ire. He lacks any mane, but the verticals of his vertebre stick out far above where they should be, dripping blackened ichor down and emitting the ash in a cloud around him.

    Skin and coat and most of his muscle has abandoned his face, leaving a grinning skull attached to too-tight tendons, and his horn is the super-hot blue of a gas torch, burning and casting darkness in the afternoon around the heroes.

    And when he 'speaks', the voice filling the air around them is deep bass, and dry as bones rattling in ember-filled pires before they turn to ash.

    Flee heroes; this will be a place of burning and death. I will exact in blood and bone what was stolen from me.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
<< Sight, Flight, Light, Fight, Bite, White, Kite, Bright >>

There's a general movement in the direction of the delivery van's landing area that draws his attention back over to the guy who was shooting earlier. A brow lifts as he notes Steve joining them.

<< Oh hey, Rogers is here. >>

Ok focus. If the unicorn's pissed off at him that gives him time to figure out the remaining wor- CART!

With much more speed and agility than he demonstrated with the ice shrapnel throwing unicorn. Mike drops swiftly to the ground, barely missing getting hit by the wheels of the cart going round and round.

...Round and round.

Seeing the slosh of water coming out of the cart, the musician rolls, getting plenty of New York street gunk on his clothing as he avoids getting burned.

His dodge wasn't pretty.

But it was super effective.

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Deadpool is no stranger to using dual weapons to deflect things. Usually it's bullets, which are much harder to hit than your average soda bottle. But also, usually soda bottles aren't coming at you at MLB speeds. He manages to deflect and bat--running gag confirmed--away the majority of them, but a few get through which draw muffled grunts and winces from the merc.

    Not like he's unfamiliar with pain, but after a few hits Wade goes into dodge mode instead, bobbing and weaving as he hums the lyrical theme from Poker Face by Lady Gaga. He stops and is beaned in the head with an imploding bottle of Squirt (worst soda -ever-) as the Unicorn is revealed.

    "That's... not a pony..." he says looking up, up, up at the creature. "Umm... Inez--hey Steve, how's tricks--scratch that nonlethal thing. That's not an animal," he says and starts planning the trak back to his back of party favors. Going to need a big something-something for this rodeo and he hopes he brought it.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    "Hey," Steve says to both Outlaw and Deadpool, and catches a glimpse of dodging musician and the creature is revealed. Any thought of witty banter is pushed out of his head, at least momentarily, as he stares at the two-story horror before them.

    "Why is it always 'burning and death?'" he mutters. "Why isn't it ever 'hello I am here to make everyone happy against their will?' That'd be a change of pace." He considers his options--throwing cars at the thing probably won't help, and buildings are liable to start getting destroyed, either by the unicorn or by Deadpool.

    "Wade, keep it busy," he says, in a tone that indicates he knows that's not a stretch, and jogs over to the fallen second-hand musician, offering him a hand up. "Hey, Pym's friend, right? You got any idea what's going on here? How we can deal with this?"

Hope Summers has posed:
    Stepping out of the subway with a scowl wrinkling her young face, Hope Summers reaches up to her shoulders and with a stiff motion the tan cloak is removed with the sound of tearing fabric. The gauze around her forehead and ear visible with a few stray strands of her red hair framing her face. The revolting green and yellow jump suit keeps her safe from the cold and battles.

    The large rifle is unslung from her back and kept down at her hip as she scans the area, and makes sure she has the appropriate rounds selected in the weapon, when Hope spies a familiar face. A face of a man who wanted to lock her up and treat her like a prisoner. A war criminal. A lesser because of who and what she is.

    The spangled man will be dealt with later, the young woman tells herself as she brings her weapon to bare on the creature. Mike is noted again, as well and the still recovering Hope makes note, but knows to not speak at this time. Nor to Wade. That's a face she's heard of pleanty.

    Barrel aimed at the unicorn, and Hope squeezes the trigger, sending a tranquilizer round to the Unicorn, hoping to put it down peacefully like the previous ones.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <-- he's been so corrupted. I... don't know if I *can* send him home.> Phoebe's voice whispers to both Hope and Michael now, and there's a sense of fear about her, and her head pokes out over the Beetlejuice sign, her hood flighting back in the heat waves coming off the creature.

    The little golden bridle she had made wasn't going to fit on this beast.

    THUNK. The tranquilizer dart hits the beast's neck, striking against what remains of the muscle. The section of skin it hits sloughs off.

    The Star Spangled Man directs Wade, and the unicorn follows his movements now, its clawed and spiked hoof tapping down, its presence contorting the buildings around it with its heat as it breathes out in the stench of rotting meat and maggot-filled garbage.

    Or, y'know, NYC on a really hot day.

    You will not find me as easily defeated as my breathern, little beings. I know what cruelties lay in your hearts. All of your thoughts and doubts, watching and waiting for the chance to strike before your mage could call me conveniently. The Ringmaster showed this world for what it is. Worthless, save for reaping. the unicorn snarls, and then it turns its head, rearing back and with a strike of its horn, the low part of the building on the corner explodes. People inside scream as superheated rock and shrapnel shoots outward and in, and from the roof of the building a figure in black topples, the circle she was working on destroyed as Balm shields herself.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
There was gum on the ground.

Not old gum that's had plenty of time to bake in the sun and be rendered ineffective, but freshly spat out, OH GOD IT'S STILL WET gum. And with the rising heat due to the demonic unicorn. It is yet oddly providing some type of pleasant contrast with the cool moisture.

Mike will hate it more later.

He starts to get to his knees. The elasticity of the gum provides a green pull of stretchiness that most ad execs would KILL for with their respective pizza chain clientele. The offered hand from Steve is looked upon and accepted. Giving a nod to the inquiry. "Yeah. Hank's friend." He answers, looking over to the now visible unicorn.

"Cursed Unicorn. We're trying to snap it out of the spell it's under." Mike relays, "Distract. Don't hurt. And if you see some ringmaster guy show up, He did that to him. Magic user. Not a friendly. Go to town on him."

<<...master, caster, disaster... gain...flame- Ok. >>

Hearing Phoebe's concerns Mike tilts his head. << Doesn't mean we won't try. >>

Once he's sure Steve's got a general idea of what's going on, Mike plants his feet, looking over to the angered unicorn speaking his heated words.

Well. Might as well give it a go. The musician's voice raises up, starting on the planned words.

"And this is how we start the final round,
Please hear our plea, Firebound.
Let your anger no longer burn
And have the mood take a better turn.
We do not mean to cause you alarm,
Or to subject you to any harm.
Set your hooves in the direction of home
While to us entertaining a peaceful tone.

Please allow us to lift the veil
You are under another's spell
Your quarrel is with Ringmaster
His plans must meet disaster
It will be Achaean's gain
When The villain's plot goes up in flame."

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Deadpool gives Captain America a look and a masked unfriendly gesture before turning to the massive creature. "Wade be a distraction, Wade go get hurt, Wade go punch Rhino it'll be fun" he mutters. He manages to find his pack and rifles through it. "Nice shot, Hope!" he offers to Cable's little girl. He likes her, and last he remembers she likes him but that's not happened yet. Or maybe it has. Hope's timeline is almost as mindbending as her father's.

    He finds what he's looking for with a bright "Aha!" He withdraws a pair of objects. One a fist sized canister, the other a coiled wire. He rises and looks to the unicorn. "Hey! Honry bitch!" he calls to the creature. "Got something for ya!" he overhand tosses the canister at the face of the unicorn. He's got a good arm, even at over twenty feet he can manage to aim for its face. Even if it attack the canister it'll do its job at disorienting the beast.

    Jack Hammer, also known as Weasel, is a mystic of his own salt--especially when it comes to creating weapons. This one was one of his special order flashbangs. Where most were just this side of damagign human hearing and sight, this one is nuclear grade. The boom and flash are both industrial strength and Wade is hoping that industrial strength works for massive insane magic equines.

    As he angles his head down, to avoid being blinded--the deafened part he can get over, he uncloils the rolled wire into a long copper bullwhip, a flick on a small panel at the base of the tool sends the electical current through it. It seems electricity and sound a fury are the tricks for the day from the Merc with a Mouth.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    "Don't hurt," Steve says, nodding to Mike. "Got it."

    He turns to holler at Deadpool and Outlaw, "It's cursed or something! Distract it, don't hurt it!"

    Then he considers things for a moment. If this is magic, it's nothing he knows very much about. It's nothing he's going to be able to punch, or throw something at. But Mike seems to know what he's doing--and seems to have a plan. So Cap plants himself between Hannigan and the unicorn, prepared to shield the musician from any retaliation from the cursed beast, to jump right in the way.

    And prepared to go after that Ringmaster if he sees the guy. None of this looks like the work of anyone pleasant.

Hope Summers has posed:
    If only Wade knew how much Cable actually hated him, but it did make her laugh the way Cable would tell stories about Wade, or storys OF Wade. Hope moves closer to the unicorn, but frowns, knowing any tranq she puts into it will likely lepresy it's way back off and be a wasted vial of chemicals. So that option is out.

    She thumbs the round selector on her gun and moves the gun into live rounds and steals a glance Deadpool's way.

    "Toss me a sword!" Hope requests, and then brings her rifle in aim back at the beast and squeezes the trigger, a large caliber round BOOMS through the gun, compressing the air from the end of the gun outwards with enough force it can be felt but not really heard after Wade's flashbang of doom.

Inez Temple has posed:
Inez has been trying to determine how to engage this thing without getting her face burned off by that nasty horn. She looks towards Wade as he tosses the flashbang with eyes widening before she mutters, "Oh fu-.." and turns away quickly, bringing an arm up to shield her face. She recognizes Weasel's work when she sees it! Once the flare has died down, she lets out a sigh.

"Hurt it, don't hurt it, make up yer damn minds!"

Grumbling under her breath, she runs forward, muscles tensing and she makes the /leap/ up into the air to try and grab onto one of those exposed bone spines so she can mount the unicorn like she would any monstrous undead-looking horse! "Cowgirl up! Eight seconds, darlin', let's GO!"

The woman who could crush more than walnuts with her thighs takes a firm grip on the unicorn's hideous body, gripping at the exposed bone ridges and calling out, "This'll be world record bronco bustin'! Someone get Guinness on th' line!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    There is a nuclear-light flashbang that goes off, it fills times square with a brilliant light and an echoing boom that shakes the already broken side-building. The massive, dire-appearing equine gives a bellow, rearing back in sudden surprise and pain as Inez catches a ride, and the spines themselves are hot, painfully so, to the touch as he screams -- and heat washes over Times Square, and then the thin, creaking voice of a different enemy answers:

    The Firebound is bound to me still -- the first of mine I nearly killed. Bellow, Songman, all you like, but of him there's not an ounce of light. Cursed this foul creature be, existence bound to none but me. By fire, darkness, blood -- it's true -- this one cannot be freed by you! the Ringmaster says, and his form, with the too-tall hat, his own body squat, egg-like, with thin lips and sharp teeth and black eyes appears on every Times Square screen.

    And he *laughs*. And that's when there's screaming from above.

    With the Ringmaster's arrival, there are now three creatures that marginally resemble hares -- though their buck teeth have been replaced with sharpened fangs, they are winged, and their feet are all cruelly curved talons like a hawk's.

    One rabbit goes for Wade.

    One rabbit goes for Cap

    The other rabbit goes for Hope!

    Phoebe shakes off the spill from the building, limping a few moments, trying to push her vision and her ears to get rid of the effects of the flashbang -- stumbling roughly in Michael's direction.

    <Water. Need water.>

Hope Summers has posed:
    Hope reaching for the sword with a hand up like a football player, and not paying attention to where she's running, finds her self running into the leg of the horse, with the thing rearing forward and putting a lot of weight into kicking the red head. And like the last unicorn fight, she's learning to never enter into melee combat when anyone else is around.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Sure enough, the guy he warned Cap of makes his entrance. And to which he gets a small audience as his creatures are somewhat upstaging him. The flashbang wasn't much help either for the penguin wannabee.

Perhaps it's the entrance or the way in which the guy speaks, but there's just something about that ringmaster that just pisses Mike off. And perhaps that is what ends up lighting a fire under his rhyme building ass.

Probably better that than the unicorn.

"That's similar to what you tried,
When the icy unicorn cried!
And yet she even to you said nope,
When she was reintroduced to hope.

From then we all saw,
That your words are not law.
And there's still that promise
Of that key rhyme you will miss."

Phoebe's call for water is not missed as Mike moves over to the fallen hot dog cart, salvaging one of the bottled drinks from the side chest. The ice, while melted seems to have at least slowed down the process on that side.

And yet, he continues speaking. Straightening up to hold the newly acquired bottle out to the approaching Phoebe.

"So I will NOT heed your call
As you are primed for a nasty fall
And with this last I do dare
To say it will be in this Square!"

Mike looks to the cursed creature that Ringmaster claims to have full control over.

"I too have borne a mark
Keeping me in the dark
But it's never too late to fight
And pull yourself in to the light!"

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Deadpool tosses a sword to Hope just in time for her to get surpahorse kicked into a building. He winces and hopes she'll be alright. If nothing else he can offer her his power to utilize (if she's that desperate) to heal when they're done here. If she's that desperate--Wade's healing comes with side effects not many want to deal with, supercancer being number one on a long list.

    He doesn't have long to wonder about her before a flying jackrabit with fangs comes for him. He dives out of the way of a vicious divebomb bunny and rolls to his feet. "What the fuck is this shit?" he says, combat rolling again to avoid another divebomb. He double rolls to get some distance between him and the bunny after the next and whips his bullwhip at the creature hoping to entangle and electrocute at the same time.

    "Steve, you're in blue. Go full Sonic on that Eggman!" he calls to Captain America. Will Steve get the reference, probably not, but the intent is clear. A glance is spared for his wife atop the burning literal Night-mare, he hopes she's okay.

Inez Temple has posed:
Inez hisses at the heated seat she's got stop the cursed unicorn, but trusts in her own mutant powers to keep her up and running, at least for awhile. With the guys being occupied by flying fanged furballs and Humpty the Ringmaster, she keeps her focus on keeping the flamicorn distracted and focused on her. Hauling on those spine ridges like she might a set of reins or a mane, she tries to keep it off-balance and makes a nuisance of herself, using that fantastic strength to keep the creature from aiming that hot horn at her friends.

"C'mon Starlight Shimmer! Ya c'n buck harder'n that! I've ridden bulls with more spirit than this! If'n ya can't throw me, then I'll jes' hafta see if'n I can't bridle ya up an' take ya home t' Texas!"

Letting out a whoop, she tries to haul on the unicorn so that horn will aim towards the Ringmaster, hopefully if it goes off, then that will solve all the problems!

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve does a double-take at Wade. Sonic? What? It's enough to let the fanged hare slam into him, and he starts to grapple with the thing, trying to deal with talons and fangs and--wings? Who puts /wings/ on a /hare/?!

    He wrestles with it enough to pull it off and whip around in a circle, slamming the thing into the side of a building. "I think they've got this!" he calls, motioning to Mike and Phoebe. Which is fine by him! With one hare dazed, he jumps toward the other that had been going after Hope, to try to keep it occupied while the mystics do their thing.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe's head is still ringing, and she shakes her head at Michael, bringing her hands together and spreading them apart quickly. She needs more water than a bottle, and she tries to mime 'more' at Mike. She's a little shakey, but as the rabbits come down she brings her own shield up, a lazily rotating square-on-square star stopping more crumbling building from striking the two magic users as she braces, covering for Mike as she tries to think of a different way to get the unicorn in one place.

    The flying jackrabbids chitter and squawk, and then someone decides to go all Rita Repulsa on everyone.

    That's right. Suddenly those little squawking jackrabbithawks are the size of cruiser motorcycles. And the one that got slammed into a building shakes it off. It snarls, its ears leaning back, and then leaps at Steve again with all its weight!

    Steve may not get the reference. Neither does the Ringmaster, who happily sits atop a building, his likeness on every screen still gnashing his teeth with excitement.

    The jackrabbit hawk that was going after Hope turns its attention to Wade now, and with all its weight and rage tries to rush him to grab him and take him aloft!

    The unicorn, on the other hand, does not seem to enjoy having Inez on its back. It snorts, ichor and blood dripping from its nose as it turns its wane eye to Inez, and then he steps forward, and then violently tries to buck the woman off, jumping his back legs and tilting forward, while lifting a newspaper stand with its magic to try and dislodge the woman with an echoing snort!

    Ash is falling heavier now, mixing with the spilled water from the hotdog cart and the exploded drinks to make a really, really gross slurry

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Seeing Phoebe's shake of the head as he offers the bottle Mike pauses. But the indication of 'more' makes him give a puzzled look. For a moment. And then he looks over to a fire hydrant.

Oh.

Fire. Needs lots of water.

Taking a break from rhyming as the Ringmaster seems to have taken a break from talking trash, the musician moves over towards it. The scar upon his forearm fades, reappearing over to the other arm. He sets his hand to the side cap, waiting for a few moments.

Surely he's not going to-

He twists it off.

Guess he is.

The hand moves to the top to perform the motion again.

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Deadpool was focused on torturing the entagled rabbit before him to notice the blindside from Hope's rabbit. He's tackled and taken aloft. "Oh... see... I didn't apply for frequent flyer miles with Bad Bunny Airlines" he says to the snarling oversized creature, ignoring the slashes on his body from the talons of the beast. "I mean, I appreciate the lift, but the only bunnies I like are associated with Hefner. So I'm going to have to decline the offer."

    He draws a combat knife from his boot and proceeds to do his best impression of Norman Bates on the creature, stabbing with brutal tenacity and senseless hatred. Does he care that he's likely several stories in the air? No. Does he want to use the bunny's body as a cushion for his inevitable drop? Absolutely.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve gets blindsided by the bunny, almost literally--he's going for one of the others when the one he slammed into the building leaps at him and knocks him down. He's stronger than he looks, though; he shoves the bunny away as he rolls over, or at least tries to. Has a fleeting thought that he should start bringing the /real/ shield to PR events, because there's always something, right? The real shield is at home, because of course it is.

    At least the suit's mostly immune to gross slurry. It's while he's briefly on his back that he gets an idea. He wasn't going to throw a car or a hotdog stand at the unicorn, but the hare...

    He scrambles to his feet, grapples with the bunny, and lifting it isn't likely to be /too/ much of an issue. Even a really dense motorcycle wouldn't be hard for Cap to lift and then throw. Right at that tossing horn.

Inez Temple has posed:
"Awwwwwwwwww, what's th' matter, Amalthea... don't like passengers?"

Inez is whooping and waving that stetson of hers around in the air as she's bucked around wildly by the massive unicorn. Were she no as strong as she is, she'd have been tossed off by now. As it is, she holds tight to the bone spurs she's got hold of, using them to keep her hooked on the creature's back.

"Y'know, if'n ya jes' kill th' Ringmaster, I'll get off'n yer back. Pinky promise!" She keeps up her patter at the being as well, taking a page from her husband's book and perhaps trying to annoy it into doing what she wants. He's very good at that when he wants.

Then it's trying to throw another heavy object at her! Inez braces for impact, letting the wood splinter against her durable hide, hunching down to keep her seat on the unicorn's back. "Ow! Hey, quiddit! I'm jes' tryin' t' talk some sense into yer horny head! We ain't th' ones tryin' t' hurt ya!" She motions a hand around quickly before gripping the bone spur again, "Look around ya! We're tryin' t' HELP yer silly ass! Ya wanna toss me, toss me at th' troll in th' tophat an' we c'n end it!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The hydrant hisses, squeals and then begins to spill its wet payload across the street and upwards, water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Phoebe brings her hands up to her hood and pulls it back, domino hiding most of her face, and she brings her left hand to her throat, her right hand to the growing puddle of water. She closes her eyes against the oncoming pain.

    "Pleaaaaaash... whoooork...." she hisses.

    THe combat knife when applied to the bunnyhawk prompts a sudden, prompt reaction of 'ow quiddit' and 'MY FUCKING SPLEEN!'

    The bunnyhawk was flying right over where the Ringmaster was standing, which is coincidentally right in front of the Times Square ball and its long post, apparently trying to aim to Shish-ka-Deadpool.

    Steve is blindsided by the bunny and takes a slide through the slurry, the bunny snarling and trying to grab the Star Spangled Man and take off with him, only to be lifted (much to its confusion) and SLUNG with force at the unicorn!

    The unicorn gives another snort, turning, its neck creaking as it turns its head fully upside-down with its neck in a C shape, its burning eyes set on Inez as the Outlaw rides his unexciting bucks.

    As you wish.

    And that day, Inez learned that whenever the unicorn may have said 'as you wish', it was not a form of 'I love you' but a form of YEET.

    And trying to dislodge the woman with magic, the massive creature SLINGS her up towards the Ringmaster --

    -- right before getting taken out by slick slurry and a fastly flung furry!

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As the water shoots up and falls down in a bit of a shower, Mike seems oddly dry save for the glob of gum dangling from his shirt. And then, the appearance starts to shift. While the scar fades back over to the right side, the hair starts to droop and the dark clothes get-darker.

The musician staggers a little, moving over to a nearby building wall to get a moment to brace himself.

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Being in a hairy situation is sort of Deadpool's bread and butter. It's why he made an entire team dedicated to handling such matters. This isn't much different than that as the post of the Time's Square ball drop coming hurtling for him at a hair shy of 'holy shit that's fast.' But thinking ahead has seerved him well over the years of work and now shouldn't be any different.

    He knows this game, he's handed it a few times before, maybe not with the post as large as the ball drop uses but he might be able to handle it. Using the leverage of the throw from the bunny he angles himself, to hammer into the post feet first.

    "Three, two, one--" he says slowly. At the last sound of 'one' he feel his feet make contact. There's a crushing impact and the sound of breaking bones as he feet, ankles, and calves all sustain significant damage from the impact force. He doens't sweat it though, using his thighs he pushes off from it, changing trajectory to go straight for the Top-wearing mystic.

    "Hey, motherfucker! Got something for you too." One of his smaller caliber guns (it's a .38 if you must know) is drawn and he starts firing shot after shot at the man as he divebombs him. A whoop of manic glee comes from the merc as he intiaties operation 'Death from Above!'

    The ground is coming to meet him faster and faster, but that's something he'll deal with after... he's got a mark to kill first.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    So, good news: throwing the bunny at the unicorn /totally/ worked. This is not a story he's ever going to tell a room full of kindergartners. Oh, God, someone's probably filming this, huh? Still--unicorn down, bunnies down, all is well.

    He takes a moment, leaning his hands on his thighs, caching his breath as he peers up at the Ringmaster. Then he starts to circle around to the side a bit, still eyeing the unicorn. Deadpool and Outlaw have the Ringmaster, and the masked vigilante seems on top of whatever magical stuff is going on. Cap's going to make sure the unicorn doesn't get back up.

Inez Temple has posed:
Inez grins as the unicorn complies and she releases her hold on the creature as she's FLUNG towards the Ringmaster at full speed by magic-aided force! As she hurtles through the sky, she gets to watch Wade's trajectory as well, letting out a laugh at his plan of attack. Her own is much less.. elegant. Coming in from above, she straightens into a feet-first arrow of six feet of mutant strength.

This is going to get messy, but that's never halter her before, and it isn't about to now! Stomping down on the Ringmaster's eggy head, a few of Wade's bullets might ping off her durable skin to fly off elsewhere, but Inez herself manages a building-shaking land that dents the concrete and steel (and potentially covers it with gooey remains of Ringmaster) as she reaches out to catch Wade from his fall with a bright smile.

"Well now! I didn' know it were forecasted t' rain sexy today!" Yep, the cheese is real, people. She'll cradle the half-broken man easily and kiss the masked face. "Y'know, that unicorn ain't half bad fer bein' a decomposed heap o' flame an' hate."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The Unicorn seems exhausted, it collapses down heavily after its front legs were wiped by a rabbit. Ashes stop falling around them as the water is sprayed into the air, and the domino'd mage has her hands out, in the water, her voice pained and hissing until it's just the sound of air passing through moving lips. From the wide choker collar, blood and water drip down.

    Steve gets a front-row seat to the water taking on a subtle glow. The droplets appear to restore the unicorn, ragged flesh reforming to shining onyx fur, its curved blue-fire horn glowing as its body seems to slowly rebuild itself -- both to the efforts below from the magic users --

    --And the efforts above! The Burton-esque top hat is knocked off the ringmaster as he gets riddled with bullets, smacked by Outlaw boots, and giving a low groan as his form is ripped apart, turning out to be stuffed with straw and sawdust, wrapped like a shell around a cheap carnival stuffed animal.

    Do not think that you have won, this battle long has just begun. My Carnival of dark the first to slack another world's life-thirst. As this form does rot you'll see, there is yet another me. Be not surprised when you are found; we will always follow you around -- untill you are cold and in the ground, you are not safe, you are... not.... s-sound...." the Ringmaster finally begins to melt away, its speech stopping as the water soaks into the cloth and sawdust.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
From Mike's vantage point, he watches as the unicorn starts to mend back to something a bit more...storybook-ish. A tired smile forms upon his face.

"Called it." He murmurs, sliding down to the ground as he listens to the ringmaster's threats to find them.

"What a dick."

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Broken and bruised is right. Because the ground meets Wade with a 'How's Your Father?' that breaks a number of bones in him. Still, he can't complain especially when Inez is playing nurse. "I like to give you presents from time to time" he says with a weak cough to follow.

    "This is going to take a bit to mend up..." he adds, angling his neck as much as he can to look at his twisted body. Nothing seems to be missing in the appendage department, but he's also paralyzed from the waist down.

    He looks at the bundle of straw and and dust. "Fucker wasn't real..." he says. "Might need to keep an eye out for any carnies that don't feel right" he says. "But... after getting full functionality back." He lays his head back as the water pours down. "We did some good today, hon. Not a bad night out all things considered."

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve's eyes widen a little at the glow, and he glances up toward the domino-masked mage with a startled expression. He's a Catholic boy. He fought the angels more than once. He knows holy water when he sees it. That makes him frown at the Ringmaster, as he's ripped apart and fades away. Hunh.

    He straightens and looks around, and sighs. There'll be a mess to clean up. There always is. He considers a moment, then heads for the unicorn and the bleeding mage. "You need any help with this?" he calls. "Or do you need to make a getaway before the clean-up crews arrive? Cover story, stuff like that?" The domino-masked people tend to be... private, after all.

Inez Temple has posed:
"Ugh, do these guys /ever/ get tired of th' sound of their own voices? Broken t' pieces an' /still monologuin'/," Inez rolls her eyes at the straw and stuffing, making sure she stamps down on the stuffed animal that was at the core, too. She even runs her foot back and forth a few times, really just tearing it apart.

Smiling towards Wade, she chuckles, "Ya always come up with th' best presents, darlin'." Kissing the masked cheek, she settles him carefully against her, making sure to support his poor broken legs as she gets them down off the rooftop by.. well, jumping down. Inez doesn't bother with the superhero pose, not just now anyways, landing on both feet and carrying Wade towards the others.

"Yeah, we did. Kinda nice t' be th' good guys now an' again. An' don't ya worry, we'll get home shortly so ya c'n rest an' heal up." Inez looks to Steve, then to the masked vigilante, then finally to the unicorn. Smiling at the latter, she dips a nod, "Lookin' much better. Sorry fer th' buckin' bronco bit... had t' keep ya distracted from destroyin' Times Square." To the former two, she lifts both brows, "Anythin' we c'n help with before we head out?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe pulls her hood back over her head (where it sits wetly and uncomfortable), and there's a mute shake of her head. She rings out her sweatshirt a bit, and motions to the fire hydrant that's providing all the water for the to-be-made-holy aspect, but she stretches her aching hands.

    The unicorn, no longer bound by enchantment, is also a much more managable 'light draft horse' size, and draws up to a slow stand. Still looks rough; the black coat is patchy between fur and skin, but he pauses to give a calm nod to Inez in recognition, looking to Phoebe and Steve, making his way slowly, and giving a snort, short ears rising back up, he turns to canter off in the other direction, disappearing as soon as he leaves the warded area in the direction of Bryant Park.

    Balm just tilts her head back, and gives a quiet grunt of indignation before she draws herself to a stand. INez she recognized -- hard to miss someone who wanted so bad to take on Bane, and she gives the Texan a nod.

    Wade as well is at least *known* to her (because she weirdly has intersection with a lot of Xavier's folks), and she gives a grim nod to him as well.

    And then to Captain America, she gives just a slight smile, and a nod of her head with her bringing her hands up, making a circle with both of them, and then bringing her right palm to her chin, she expresses 'Thank You' in ASL.

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Wade still has most of the functionality of his right arm (the left is definitely broken) but he makes a large C gesture starting at his chin and going to just above his waist. Yes, Wade knows sign languge, no you don't need to know why. "Don't mention it. If there's nothing else here for us... I think Inez can take me home and we'll let Cap and the cops handle the cleanup if that's all good with you."

    He looks at the building and then toward the departure of the unicorn. "If you need backup again for something like this... go ahead and give us a call. It's not like I'm hard to find." He leans his head against Inez's chest (it's a supportive gesture not at all lewd) and sighs. "Yeah... I'm going to need a hot minute for this one." Even now he can feel his bones starting to knit back together and the tingling feeling of his nerves restoring their connectivity. It's not comfortable. At all.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve watches the unicorn go, curiously. He then gives Balm a thumbs-up in return, and smiles. "Glad to help. I'd better go find that camera crew and see about holding off the press, and make sure the authorities know where to go. If you don't want to field a horde of questions, I'd suggest you head off now." They're in Times Square, after all. This'll be all over the news in one way or another. "But yeah--just give a call if you need more help. I'm not hard to find."

    Then he looks over at Wade and Inez. "Same goes for you two. Better go unless you want a date with sudden fame." He grins. "Take the night in, you know? Watch some Golden Girls. And stop breaking your damn ankles."

Inez Temple has posed:
Upnodding back to Balm, Inez chuckles at Wade's commentary and gives a nod, "We're pretty findable, an' it's a nice break from huntin'... other less savory animals." She glances to Wade and smiles, "Don't ya worry, got it all covered. There's steaks ready fer grillin', cheesecake chillin', an' yer favorite whiskey in th' cupboard. We'll have a chill night in."

Steve gets a smile and a chaste cheek kiss, "Yer sweet, thanks. Seriously though, bring yer girl over one night, we'll have a nice dinner all together. Thanks fer takin' th' press heat." Winking, Inez turns and strides off with Wade cradled against her as she heads off. "Pfft, like /that's/ ever gonna happen!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    By the time anyone looks back to where Balm had stood, she was gone, like a proper Batling.So was the unicorn, freed from the Ringmaster's grasp. Times Square was mostly cleaned from the goop now, the ash dissipating slowly as a proper rain begins to drizzle down, the sound of sirens from the police and firetrucks come in.

    This was still something to be considered a sucsess... really, no civillians were hurt beyond some shoving, damage was relatively minimal, and everyone involved -- except the bad guy -- walked (or was carried) away.

    And isn't it just like someone from Gotham to leave the guy in the blue uniform with clean up?