15336/Into the Mountains: Introduction

Into the Mountains: Introduction
Date of Scene:	12 July 2023
Location:	Shadows of Dhaulagiri, Nepal
Synopsis:	A group of Shazamly members, JLD and an adventurer head out to the Himalayas, where everything goes South very, very quickly
Cast of Characters:	Nettie Crowe, Talia al Ghul, Audra Meridian, Hellboy, Billy Batson, Franklin Richards, Lara Croft

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Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "So, for some of you this is your first outing with a Justice League Dark errand." Nettie begins. She's short, gray-haired, and has a bit of a limp at the moment, walking with a cane and favoring her left leg as she regards just about everyone who's gathered in an out-of-the-way, closed-down Tapas restaurant, which happened to have a big enough an operational walk-in freezer that she could use to prep others, give them a low-down, and transport everyone via teleportation circle. She already looks tired, in spite of the youthful face and far-too-blue color of her eyes.

    She was wearing a down jacket, heavy pants, hiking boots, and as she hobbles there is a pack on her back from which a pan, some chains, a bag marked 'DO NOT EAT' and a number of jingle bells are hanging, and she jingles merrily as she walks around the group. An old fashioned looking broom is secured to the other side of her pack, and she has a number of knives, an ice pick settled on her person, and a pair of goggles around her neck.

    "Ground Rules -- you lot listen to me. Where we're going is dangerous, and ordinarily I wouldn't be havin' the young bucks about --" she gives an upnod to Shazam and Franklin "but I have a healthy amount of respect for the power that you wield. This should be an exploratory mission. I have a friend who I'm checking in on, but considerin' most magic types are a bit squishy when it comes to crevasses fallin' on them and a bit touchy when it comes to -- ah..." she pauses a moment, looking at the assembled heroes who have arrived to travel with her.

    "Well let's just say that this isn't one I'd drag my wee Miss Gutierrez or even Fast Tom to."

    Suspiciously absent is her accompanying crow.

    "There is a not zero chance we'll run into some military types, so keep your wits about you, an' unless you speak the tongue let those of us who can do the talking. Yeah?"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
    Ordinarily she might not have come along. This is close to home, after all. Or one version of it. That's enough to make her want to stay away out of instinct. It's an open, festering wound - what her father did, whatever his games are, his schemes.. And those things beyond which seh will ever be aware of. And there's no real sense of responsibility for her either.
    Talia may or may not care about making amends for things, but she takes responsibility for little. Yes, she has regrets and much red in her ledger, but she owes them nothing. She has paid her dues to them and is available. The others with them are to some degree children with great power. They can handle themselves without her being there based off everything they bring to the table. If an expert is needed, then there is Nettie herself and Hellboy for whom this style of life is even more vivid than her own.
    No, Talia is here for her own reasons. That are not clear to anyone else. Not out of a sense of obligation, not out of doing things for the sake of doing the right thing. Her reasons are her own. SHe is familiar with this place down to the footballs, the ledges, the traps, the craters. . Almost each meter of these mountains has been explored by her at one point or another. She has bled there. She has dropped bodies there. She has killed on them. She has seen those corpses perfectly preserved out here thats hould they go past they would likely see once more, perfectly preserved.
    Talia Al Ghul, the Daughter of the Demon, is here for her own reasons. She has on a parka matching the terrain, several presonal weapons that the others would find quite odd even for here, goggles to black out the wind on her eyes.. And several other things on her just in case.

Audra Meridian has posed:
There's a brief chuckle from Audra 'Windrose' Meridian as Nettie refers to the operation as an errand. If there is one thing she's learned from paling around with some of the bigger groups is that anything referred to as an errand is usually in name only. Sometimes an attempt to make some light of an otherwise serious situation. Or will become one. As is she's mainly here by association, having accompanied Shazam and Co as specialty with weather could be useful in high icy mountain regions.

At the mention of dealing with squishy magic types and local military she holds up her hands. "No objection from me, I'm just here to make sure the cold doesn't kill us. Or worse." Which would be why she's already fully suited up, though none of her gadgetry is powered on yet. The freezer is not that cold.

Especially not compared to where they are going.

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy is here cause he was called, simple as that. He's working with the JLD nowadays, although he's still attached to WAND/SHIELD. They just haven't had a lot of occult stuff of late, mostly focused on the recent alien invasions and all that jazz. So Hellboy, given a bit more freedom to operate these days after asserting his rights, has taken up working with the League after Gabby invited him in. Easy peasy. Lemon squeezy.

He's wearing his usual oversized longcoat full of pockets, with his trademark Samaritan pistol holstered under his arm and a few melee weapons strapped to his back. Just in case.

He offers a massive fist to Lara for her to bump - the Tomb Raider' and he have adventured a few times over and get paid by some of the same people. He narrows his eyes at Franklin, "Ain't you Reed Richards' kid? Your pappy know you're going out and playin' with magic?"

He lights his cigar and takes a few puffs on it in a jolly enough fashion. He doesn't seem particularly stressed.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam gives Nettie the upnod. He can follow instructions. He has an older sister after all. He doesn't have many supplies. He did take the precaution of dressing very warmly as Billy, in case he had to change back or was turned back. A small pack under his cape has a flashlight, first aid kit, and his flute because he might need to meditate at some point. And of course a bag of Oreos, Double Stuf. One 'f'. He's an expert.

"We need those 'Hi, my name is stickers.' I know Frankie and Windrose. I'm Shazam if you need me." He gives a wave.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin stands in the freezer, bundled up in heavy winter attire, wearing the Fantastic Four merchandise. His arms are somewhat stuck in a lazy T-pose due to the thick clothing and layers. He listens to Nettie's rules and purpose with a small smile, understanding that he usually goes along in case things go wrong. However, he struggles to lower his arms completely due to the cumbersome outfit. Attempting to communicate, he makes muffled sounds, trying to convey that he can open a portal if Nettie provides him with the coordinates. With his face covered, he cannot speak clearly.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Franklin decides to use telepathy to convey his message to Nettie only. He then turns to look at the others, wondering if he went overboard with the clothing. He dislikes the cold and would typically use his powers to keep warm, but doing so might reveal his abilities if he travels with them on.

He tries to make another muffled speech, but instead sighs and shrugs, opting to give a gloved thumbs-up to indicate that he is ready to go. While he understands the instructions, he plans to maintain a cool demeanor until he is forced to take action. As he is addressed by the big red man, Franklin looks up at him. Despite his limited arm mobility, he manages to lift one gloved finger, gesturing to show what he thinks of the man's comment. He follows it up with a muffled laugh, not taking it personally and expecting such responses from people he has not worked with before.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara had dealings with the JLD in the past, specifically some unfinished business with John Constantine, but... that'd been put on the back burner for some time now. In the now, however, Lara is not a super-hero by any means, but she is one of the world's most renowned explorers in this modern era. She has experience in the region they're headed toward, and a wealth of wilderness survival skills too no less.

Dressed for the occasion, Lara adjusts her gear over her shoulders, her ^jacket and scarf around her neck, along with her hat lastly upon her head. She sees the big red hand come over for a fist bump, which draws her brown eyes to it, then over and up to Hellboy's familiar face. It garners a warm smile from the archaeologist who reaches her own hand up to bump in to his, considerably dwarfed in size by his own, but the gesture is returned none-the-less.

"It is good to see you." Lara says with a soft warmth to her voice too. "Glad to know we have some considerable strength backing us up on this trip." The British woman says further before her eyes roam to the rest of their group.

"I'm good to go." Lara will tell Nettie then when appropriate.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "I've got a firm grasp of the portal, Franklin, and you won't want to stay in my head too long. Lot of demons haunt that place." Nettie comments, standing around a moment, and when they all confirm they are good to go...

     She brings her walking stick up, and taps it in the middle of the circle she's scrawled on the floor of the freezer they're meeting in, and away they go.

    To those who have never traveled via one of Nettie's portals, it's an odd feeling. It feels like being pulled backwards through a vat of jello by your navel, from the inside, combined with that weightless feeling you get when you're at the apex of a swing on the swingset.

    And then they land. The air is cold, and crisp, and ripe with the smell of small arms exhaust and yak droppings.

    The village she's aimed for has been pretty well razed. Prayer flags dangle, and the modest temple appears to have been torn down, by heavy machinery, and, as everyone lands and comes out of the portal, two guys in beige fatigues cooking something on a campfire slowly draw to a stand, and look in very, very upset panic at the group!

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul has been in Nettie's protals before, and this time she's somewhat better mentally prepared for it. So when they arrive she's done sufficient mental dissassociation to be able to handle it better. So when they arrive over in the village she goes to quickly recover and then takes several steps over to the side. The color of her outfit lets her blend in more effectively with the landscape, and hopefully most eyes will be over on Hellboy. Which hopefully means that she can quickly take several steps away to get to partial cover, lean down and be ready to flank. There's nothing remotely that says the men have to be immediately hostile - they could just be completley surprised an having to deal with the aftermath here. But also they could very well be. So this hopefully puts Talia over in a position where if they are hostile she can give a degree of covering fire to the rest of the group arriving.

That, and she understands the local languages and dialects rather well, so if they start rapidly yelling hopefully she can translate it quickly - and if they aren't hostile she can be on hand as an interpreter if needed. Because even if the men spoke English, it likely wouldn't -quite- be in total fluency given this part of the world.

Audra Meridian has posed:
It wasn't the first time Audra has traveled by portals and teleportation. But it is the first time she's done so by Nettie's version, so it is still a slightly off sensation from what she has gotten accustomed to.

As such she has to catch herself when her feet contact ground again, giving her perception of reality and sense a balance a chance to restablize. Only to find that they already have company. Or are the company, in this situation. Unexpected either way. So she takes another step back, to give space to the people that can communicate with the locals, as was suggested before they left.

Instead she takes a moment to make some small adjustments to her hardware, then speaks she speaks to the rest of the group. "If anyone starts to feel unusually cold or numb, speak up. I can generate a small space of heat energy as needed to regulate body temperatures as needed, but I don't want to drain the thermal cells constantly."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy doesn't go on covert missions for a reason. He ain't exactly subtle. He's seven feet tall, with shoulders as wide as a semi truck, with a flicking red tail, broken horns and yellow eyes. And a cigar. And a gun. And a small arsenal of weapons. He doesn't exactly scream 'We come in peace'.

He holds up his massive hand, "Hey. We come in peace, guys," he says, making the peace sign as universally as he can.

"I'm going to let my human companions handle this. Diplomacy's not really my thing. But don't shoot. Shooting me's just gonna make me mad."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam whoahs and takes a step. That is not like the Portals to the Rock he uses. He scans his surroundings for hostiles, then puts a feeler out for any magical activity in the area. He immediately moves beyond Nettie's 'signal' seeking other activity. There's no doubt something very bad is going on here. He agrees with the red guy though and to demonstrate his peaceful intentions raises his hand, giving the Vulcan salute.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin shakes his head, realizing that the telepathy only allows him to send messages and not receive them from Nettie. He decides not to push the issue further, making a mental note to explore that aspect later and gain a better understanding of Nettie herself. For now, he focuses on the task at hand and goes along with the ride. However, he falls into the snow on his back, thankfully cushioned by his thick clothing. He grumbles, though it is muffled, about how his portals are much more comfortable. He also notes that he should perhaps show Nettie the physics behind folding space, as she might be able to imitate it with her magic if she desires. Realizing that he is running out of mental notes, he chuckles to himself.

Franklin shakes his head, realizing that the telepathy only allows him to send messages and not receive them from Nettie. He decides not to push the issue further, making a mental note to explore that aspect later and gain a better understanding of Nettie herself. For now, he focuses on the task at hand and goes along with the ride. However, he falls into the snow on his back, thankfully cushioned by his thick clothing. He grumbles, though it is muffled, about how his portals are much more comfortable. He also notes that he should perhaps show Nettie the physics behind folding space, as she might be able to imitate it with her magic if she desires. Realizing that he is running out of mental notes, he chuckles to himself.

Once he gets back up, FFranklin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cylindrical device with buttons on the handles. However, due to his thick gloves, he struggles to operate it. He waits for Shazam to recover from the teleportation and sends him a telepathic message, instructing him on the basics of scanning through the frequencies to find the proper translation using the device. It was originally his father's invention meant for communication with aliens, but on Earth, it should work well since Earth languages are less complex. If Shazam takes the device, FFranklin gives a thumbs-up and closes his eyes to concentrate. Bringing his hands together, he emits an invisible wave of energy, which feels like a strong gust of wind. This allows him to explore the local area and detect any living beings. While they have already seen the villagers, FFranklin wants to ensure they aren't ambushed by any hidden animals or humans concealed in the snow.

After completing his scan, FFranklin opens his eyes and smiles, keeping the information he gathered to himself for now. He understands that he is simply the backup and doesn't want to interfere with the heroes around him. As the new guy, he quietly stands and observes the others, chuckling at Hellboy's antics. He playfully imitates a finger gun at Hellboy, though nothing actually happens since it's just his fingers. FFranklin mumbles to himself, "What does he think he is, the Hulk or something?" He doesn't expect anyone to understand his muffled comment. Overall, FFranklin is happy to be out there with everyone and plans to enjoy the journey. However, he discreetly keeps an eye on Shazam, trying to hide his concern, knowing that Mary would be upset if anything were to happen to him.

Lara Croft has posed:
The experience of the portal passing is a unique one. Lara has traveled via the bifrost. She's traveled via Zatanna's portals... and if she's learned anything, they all feel different, and all come at your stomach in-particular in unique ways! This one will be remembered, assuredly.

Once through, the chill of the air strikes the exposed skin of Lara's face, across her cheeks, over the tip of her nose. She feels the biting winds already casting her dark tendrils of hair that peak out from under her wool cap around on her brow. It feels thusly appropriate for where she was told they were headed...

Audra's information regarding her ability to generate heat should needs-be garners a little smile from Lara who was standing just a few steps away. She nods once to Audra. "I could've used that many times in the past. I'll remember it's an option now." She responds in a friendly way before Hellboy's speaking up to the locals casts Lara's eyes in their direction.

She stares upon them for a moment before she looks to the others in her party. Lara turns then, no visible weapons upon her person save for a somewhat fierce looking ice-axe hanging from her left hip.

While Hellboy offers the Peace Sign, Lara offers just a simple gloved wave with her right hand, and a greeting spoken in Mandarin.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    There are indeed living beings around; they're hidden in the ruins of houses. Most of them are men, military age. Most of them are armed. There are, additionally, a number of dogs and one (1) snow leopard wearing tac armor.

    Nettie's eyes go wide and she appears to chew on her cheek a moment as she regards the guards. She says something in Lhasa, quite chipperly, and one guard turns to the other to mutter something.

    He shows the insignia of a leopard's head on his shoulder, which makes Nettie appear *very* uncomfortable.

    "Duckies. Prepare to fight." she states, drawing up her wand slowly.

    The sounds of guns clicking surrounds the small group.

    "Camkilo ratna!" one man yells, squaring his shoulders and drawing up to Nettie. "Camkilo ratna kaham cha?!"

    Where is the Glittering Jewel, he's asking, in Nepali.

    "You'll never find him." Nettie answers back in English.

    And the first shot is fired, directly at the Old Witch herself as others begin to open fire on the group! Nettie gives a yelp as her shoulder blossoms with red!

    There are about two dozen people armed with automatic rifles, and it seems like they have plenty of ammo! A couple of dogs are unleashed -- but they DEFINITELY appear to be Uninterested in approaching Nettie, Hellboy and Franklin. ONe rallies and attempts to bite on Audra!

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Well, this is something that was a possibility. Against this many men with guns, they on't have much time. Sure, individuals like Hellboy, Shazam,a nd Franklin Richards don't have much of an issue (if any) with gunfire, but ricochets can be fairly nasty for the rest of them. And even Talia's not going to poke her head out that much in the midst of a group that has local fire superiority and there's not much cover. That's a death trap. Not when you're in the open, you don't have the lay of the terrain, and you don't have a great senes of where your objective is. This number of people she might not even go for an ambush or hit and run tactics. Not in this terrain..

And even lovelier she's relatively sure at least two or three of the group will be rather squeamish if she gets too many bodies piling up, so her go to tactics wouldn't be that useful. Which is a shame, as they can handle these sorts of things. Talia trusts the rest of teh group to get to cover and handle the immediate threat.. And rahter than going to fire over at the enemies or throwing things at them, she goes to ground.. And moves to circle around, darting through cover, through the buildings, and other things throughout the area, trying to not be seen. In the terrain, with the smoldering of fire, an dthe chaos of a full on melee, hopefully she has plenty of time to get along behind the men without too much of an issue. Even if they have tracking animals, they'll likely have quite a distraction going on..

Audra Meridian has posed:
A sigh of exasperation emits from Audra. "So much for this just being an errand." What were these military goons doing here, anyways? Did they ravage the villiage, or just here after the fact?

No time to really think on it farther as the military men are clearly not happy with their arrival. And they have dogs. That decide to come after her because they don't want to deal with the magical, demonic, or metaphysical people. One even bites her!.. though trying to chomp on her ankle finds her boots to be quite reinforced and tough to actually chew through. "Bad dog! Bad!" She snaps as she engages her tech, and a crackle of electricity hisses around her. That and a few kicks get the dodge to dislodge, pulling off a bit of greebling as it does and she takes to hovering a bit off the ground.

The environment of the mountains is at least well suited for what she wants to do with the cold air. "And now for a new forecast, how about some heavy snow and fog?" She unleashes a blast of wind across the ground, chilling moisture in the air as it whips up snow, to create a smokescreen of sorts out of mist and cold. Usually when people have guns and attack animals reducing visiblity helps.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin takes a step back, observing the situation as the snow leopard is nowhere to be seen, and a dog runs towards him. He tilts his head, slightly perplexed that they are trying to stop them with dogs. He sighs, not wanting to harm any dogs, and decides to wait. Raising one hand, he removes all the action force around him, causing the bullets to freeze in place, falling quietly into the snow. Franklin simply stands there, watching the scene unfold, confident that the others have the situation under control. However, he keeps an eye on one of the dogs that is approaching.

Turning to face the dog getting too close, Franklin mumbles, "Sit," though the dogs would hear the command in their heads. He didn't want to harm the poor animal, but if it continued to get closer, he would have to defend himself. Instead, he ensures that the dog hears his command and recognizes Franklin, blocking out any other distractions. Hopefully, the dog would understand that it's best to leave him alone.

Knocking his gloves together, Franklin looks at Nettie and gives her a thumbs-up, signaling that he's assisting. Instead of chasing after the others, he crouches down to pet the now sitting dog and asks it for its name. With a chuckle, he responds, "That's a pretty 'ruff' name." He follows it with a sigh, realizing that not even animals appreciate his humor. To be fair, the dog probably didn't understand it anyway. Regardless, Franklin kneels in the snow, watching the others and enjoying the company of his newfound furry friend. He even took off a extra scarf to put around him as it seemed like the weather was going to take a turn for the worst.

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy sighs as the bullets start to strike him.

"They always pick the hard way," he mutters.

He leaves his pistol holstered for the moment - nothing but regular humans in sight and the Samaritan had enough stopping power to plow through a human like cannon shot. Overkill -and- a waste of ammunition.

He puts his head down and starts to run into the gunfire, letting it bounceo ff his hide as he heads towards the shots, unleashing a violent sweep of the axe at the first phalanx of opposition, possibly knocking a person violently skyward.

"Hope that witch knows what she's doin'," he mutters to himself as he spins and backfists another soldier to the ground.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam puzzles out the meaning of the Lhasa terms. Thus a rifleman on a roof unloads a clip into him. It has a good grouping. He counts twenty-one hits, 10 right on his emblem, two in the head. He claps his hands to his chest, stopping ricochets, spits a bullet out of his mouth and looks up. Lightning flashes in his eyes, then from his hands as the bullets fall and some men will find their rifles electrified. he makes sure the lightning goes towards the men with guns, not his friends.

Lara Croft has posed:
With the tell-tale clicks of rifles being charged, Lara's hands shoot up in a defensive gesture, but her eyes soon see things escalating rapidly. She dives to her left, jumping for cover behind one of the ruined structures left around the site. Her back is pressed up against stone as bullets crackle out at her team.

She was well aware of most of her team being rather capable heroic types though, but she does see a burst of blood come from their leader on this expedition. "Nettie!" Lara calls out.

She rapidly unzips her ^jacket to dip her hand inside, moving it to the leather holster wrapped around the sweater she is wearing beneath her red winter coat.

Her glock 19 is pulled from its holster, as Lara sees a attack canine going in after Audra.

"God. Damnit..." Lara mutters, aiming her sidearm up toward the sky as the others rush in to counter the assault.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    This is something that Nettie recounted might happen, but really, really hoped wouldn't. And missing her eyes in the sky, she was going in blind, and already is cursing herself for letting Shazam come along, in spite of his muscle he is the youngest among the group.

    Talia searches for weapons, for storage, and as she gets behind the men who are kindly not shooting at the lady, far more focused on the one in the sky and the demon rattling through their front lines, they don't see her duck into a make-shift mess hall, where there's a smaller man with a set of glasses snoring and wearing ear plugs. Absolutely oblivious -- and sleeping against several water-proof totes marked 'WEAPONS STORAGE' in Nepali. How handy! Unfortunately it's guarded by a hungry looking snow leopard, whose food bowl was teasingly out of reach of its chained position. It growls, tail poofed.

    Audra decides to weather the blows in the air. No the military types aren't happy about their arrival, they're even less happy that Audra hisses with electricity, the dog engouraged to fall down on its own, and gives a yip of surprise as it flees Hellboy's charge.

    Misty snow begins to cover the area like a veil, which makes it all the more terrifying when Hellboy breaks through the snow and begins to grapple, melee, and hit a mofo with another mofo since they decided to pick the Hard Way.

    Franklin has made a new friend! THe dog's name is Kabru, and he appreciates both the scarf and the humor -- though when the lightning goes off from Shazam (after he spits out the bullet), the dog slips behind Frankie and cowers, wanting Absolutely Nothing to do with the weird stuff going on.

    The guns have become ELECTRIFIED. It's a shock, some dropping the guns and shaking off their hands, others attempting to grit teeth and power through.

    Nettie is in shock. She looks up at Lara, mouth moving in an odd manner before she stammers out: "Ah, Dame Croft. So nice of you to join us." she breathes out, and touches her own shoulder "I appear to have been shot, duckie... be a dear, we need to get to the end of that glacier, over yonder."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Fortunately Talia knows how to handle a snow leoporad. She's dealt wtih many of these animals before. THey also make rather poor guards. Felines don't lend themselves to domestication - also on the guard part a snow leoporad isn't strong enough to fully dismember someone. Nor does it have the sort of screech that would alert the others. She would glance over at the cat and give a bow, speaking over in Nepali over. "Forgive me, sweet prince, for intruding upon you." She goes to take her hands togehter to give it a formal gesture of respect, and then go to push the food bowl over towards it. Then adding a pair of small treats onto it saved in her jacket for just such an occasion. It was always a show of karma to be respectful. Then a quick slash of her wrist goes to draw out a small blade which would cut the chained leash and the collar off. Such a creature did not deserve to be tied odwn over on display. So, freedom, food, and respect. hopefully enough to overcome whatever innate paranoia and general disgust such a thing might have at mere humans intruding upon it's domain.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam flies at the men gritting their teeth. They get punched in mouth or a serious burst of lightning. He's a blur going from roof to roof, throwing one soldier into a deep drift. He pauses a moment and yells, "Oh yeah! How we doing Mis Ne..." He chokes a little as he sees she's down. He really thought she had a spell or Franklin set up a shield or he'd just draw their fire. He blurs again to stand over her and provide cover. "How is she? Can I help?" The indestructible man looks pale.

Franklin Richards has posed:
As Franklin stands up again, he looks behind him with a smile. "Don't worry, Kabru, it will be okay. Those guys are on our side. Come, let's go help a friend," he says, heading over to Nettie. The dog barks to get their attention, and Franklin points at Lara, then points away, signaling her to back away to give him some room. He walks up to Nettie and mumbles a warning that it's going to hurt, whether she understands it or not. He begins the process, needing Shazam's help he sends a mental message to <Cover me I can't heal, and block bullets>.

Not bothering to look, Franklin assumes that Shazam will provide cover as he places a hand over Nettie's bullet wound. Blue energy crackles, and despite the pain involved, the bullet starts to reverse its trajectory, coming back out the way it entered. While this process would normally be dangerous, the skin that was pierced starts to mend as if someone hit the rewind button rather than simply removing the bullet. It is a painful experience, akin to being shot in reverse, but mental stress instead of any physical damage.

The dog whines, showing concern and sensing the pain in the air. Dogs have a way of empathizing with others' pain. Within a minute, the bullet pops out again, and the entry wound seals up as if it never happened. Once finished, Franklin sits in the snow, out of breath, and looks at Nettie with a smile. He gives her a thumbs-up before falling backward into the snow. The power it took to reverse time and extract the bullet was overwhelming, and he needs a moment to catch his breath.

Lying in the snow, Franklin mutters, "I need a minute," unable to do much else at the moment. He feels a bit disappointed that he wasn't able to contribute more to the team. He wanted to prove himself and be more involved, but for now, he has to rest. The dog runs over and licks his face, taking this opportunity to lie on top of him, guarding him from anyone else who might approach. However, if it were Shazam, the dog would likely retreat, still wary of the lightning. Nonetheless, the dog growls and puts on a show to ensure his new friend is protected. All Franklin can do from his spot in the snow is mumble, "You're heavy," with a hint of amusement.

Audra Meridian has posed:
The electrical aura helps dampen the getting shot at, but Audra won't be able to hold that charge up for too long so she needs to work on a different tactic and fast. At least people were able to take advantage of her foggy smoke screen.

But Nettie is kind of having issues at the moment as well. Good thing others are moving to cover her.

"Okay, enough of this rudeness." With an annoyed grumble she fully powers up her gauntlets, and unleashes a powerful surge of wind with them. Close to but not quite a hurricane in force, it's more than enough to blow people over, whip up even more snow and ice, and send debris flying. She's trying to force the soldiers to do something besides have time to aim and shoot, so there's time for Frankie to recoup and people to help Nettie.

Lara Croft has posed:
With the heavy hitters going after the gun toting soldiers, Lara stays her own gun holding hand. She sees Nettie looking a bit shocked by the experience, and begins to rush over toward her.

But the time Lara is at her side, she sees Franklin's already on the injury. Lara observes Franklin's ability for a brief few seconds, sparing a glance toward the canine that was sticking close to the Richards' family member.

"This went south rather quickly." Lara dryly jests as her eyes sweep back out toward whatever action yet remains. "Whatever we are to do now, we probably should do in haste. I would imagine a well funded group such as this, likely has bigger guns laying in wait somewhere not too far." But that's just a guess.

Lara looks back to Netti's injury to see Franklin sitting down, and the wound itself seemingly repaired fully. She softly shakes her head at the sheer power displayed there, thinking of all the times it could've saved people she'd seen die from similar injuries.

"Are you alright?" She asks Nettie then before sparing another look to the rest of their team.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The snow leopard appears to accept Talia being actually polite to it, and the collar being sliced off means that, heck, she's a friendly. To heck with these guys/ There's a rumble, and the snow leopard stays near Talia. It appears to be used to the chaos of all the warfare.. and probably raised by humans, it doesn't seem to mind *her* presence in his space.

    Shazam takes care of all the guys that Hellboy isn't punching, throwing one soldier into a deep snowdrift that leaves him cursing vehemently with his legs kicking out in the air.

    The others are blown away in a most literal sense by Audra's wind bugget power, deberis and even other soldiers flying about, one guy giving a classy Wilheim Scream as he's launched over the back of a yak (who gives no cares), and tumbles down into a pile of yak dung, behind the yak back.

     Nettie is paler than usual, which given her normal complexion is saying something. She winces, and tries to feebly wave off Franklin.

    "DOn't... don't touch--" she begins, but she's cut off as the bullet retracts out of the wound, flesh knitting and healing in its wake as she gives a 'nnnngggggghhhhh' sound, every hair on the back of her neck standing up.

    "Yes. South. Well, Left." she corrects herself, looking up to Lara, to Franklin and to Shazam, providing cover, and she whispers a soft 'Well done, Duckies.', and then grunts to try and get up.

    "We need to run for it. They've got more where that's come from. Broom... carry me up."

    And her broom indeed lifts her to her feet, where she sandgles from her backpack.

    "We need to get under that glacier. There's wards. I dunno how strong they are, haven't updated them since the thirties. Nepal was a /bitch/ to get into." she hisses.

    "Go. Run. TALIA! HELLBOY! WE ARE LEAVING!" she barks with as much strength as she can muster, and then her broom begins to speedily take the dangling witch!

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam is not needed, though he does catch a stray bullet in his hand and bounce it off the gunman's head. He goes down. Shazam picks off any riflemen who are still firing. The lightning is powered up a notch. These guys are stubborn. Lightning crackles in the fog as he targets muzzle flashes. He's not smiling.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Now.. Now, Talia knows what to do here when it comes to handling things. She looks over the weapons cache, moves to quickly take out some small detonators, and goes to rig them in.. And then goes to just as quickly put out some small bits along hte floor. What they are is caltrops. . Caltrops that are covered over with small triggers that would go off a half second or so after they were triggered.

So, Talia goes to speak to thes now leoporad, "Please come along, honored one." Over in Nepali. . Then she goes to quickly arm the detonators, heads in the direction of the others at /very/ frightening speeds,and goes tos peak over the comms <<We'll be having a distraction in roughtly twenty seven seconds. Their ammo cache will be detonated. ensure that you have cover between you and the area>> The men might be professionals, but this was them taking over buildings . not dedicated ammunition storage. So the stuff would make a /mess/. And then of course the second thing would come in.

Namely when they rushed forwards to investigate or try to fight the fires, they would step over on the caltrops.. Which would detonate the fragmentation mines they were rigged up to. No one would be around to tell her otherwise on it. But.. HOpefully enough to ensure that there wouldn't be any pursuit in the immediate future.

Then, cat in tow, she's booking it. <<Make that twenty two seconds>>

Audra Meridian has posed:
Oh, good, Nettie is managing. While Franklin and Talia have made new friends. "South, to the left, got it. Lets go, Shazam. " The ionized veniers deploy from her pack and Audra takes off, though she doesn't go too far above or ahead of the group because getting seperated would not be pleasant for any of them. But the two of them being able to fly and flick out ranged attacks quickly means they can keep the path clear for the others on the ground. Never know where more of those men might be hiding waiting to ambush other travellers.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara gives the Snow Leopard a side-eye, but it seems to be a new friend to that of Talia... a face that seems familiar but not one that Lara can quite place a name to.

"Right. Lets get a move on then..." Croft states, ending up back out with the others who are blasting off in one way or another, be it a broom, jet propulsion or just two good feet. Lara ends up near to where Hellboy is, the two exchanging words regarding what they just went through, but otherwise they're all off on the directed course.

Lara, with her sidearm held at her right, trudges through the snow with relative ease. She may not have a jetpack, but she does at least keep herself in a state of exceptional physical conditioning, and she's no stranger to harsh conditions like this. Her eyes travel from one visible team member, to the next, as she moves to keep up with them and hopefully not become a burden to this powerful posse of protective persons.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin pushes the dog off and firmly grabs its collar. "Follow her," he commands, pointing towards Nettie. Putting the last bit of his energy into it, Franklin braces himself as the dog takes off, dragging him across the snow. It's not a graceful or pretty sight, and Franklin can't help but mumble, "Ow!" and "Ew!" as he is pulled over rocks and encounters unpleasant smells. Nevertheless, he doesn't care about the discomfort or the state of his dignity. Right now, his priority is to get away, even if he can't run on his own.

"This is embarrassing," Franklin admits, acknowledging that he has no other option but to be dragged away by a dog that is lightly powered by cosmic energy. Despite the unconventional means of transportation, the dog moves swiftly, running as fast as a dog can, unaffected by the weight of Franklin and seemingly oblivious to fatigue as it leads them in the direction indicated by Nettie.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie is hanging by a broom attached to her pack and Franklin's embarrassed about beind dog-lead?

    COuld be worse, Duckies.

    The group runs to the side, while the militants appear to take their time regrouping.

    There's a crack in the glacier -- taller folks like Shazam and Hellboy would have to duck in order to fit in, and it might be a tight squeeze, but everyone makes it through, and into a little ice cave, where there is dripping and cracking sounds -- but at least it's well covered, enough to give some reprieve.

    "Well." Nettie winces, pulling herself onto her broom as she sits.

    "That was a bleeding mess. I'm sorry." she states, quietly, "I hadn't thought about them taking the village as a base of operations."

Audra Meridian has posed:
Audra Meridian wiggles in as best she can to make space for the others, retracting the stabilizers of her booster pack and letting the electrical charge fizzle out in the crowded situation. "I take it the soliders have something to do with why you wanted to come out here, Miss Nettie." She picked up that much from the context of everything that happened even if she didn't understand the language being tossed back and forth.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would go to jog along with the others after the explosives would go off, and she would glance over her shoulder in the direction of the town, "Well, you weren't expecting trouble. It was going to a familiar location that was occupied by an external source and the locals had been driven out." Or likely killed, a fact which Nettie likely knows but she's phrasing it as such for the sake of the children.
    "We can get some warmth going without too much effort. I know the general area, so there are some other places after some rest that we can go to for better shelter that should only be about half a day's walk and climb." In thier state, and presuming that the others are in decent, but not exceptional shape and not used to the temperature and terrain.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin pulls the covering from his face, though it takes some effort after the dog catches up to Nettie. He remains lying in the snow, gripping the dog's collar tightly. "It's... okay," he assures Nettie, mustering a smile. He takes a few breaths to regain his bearings, attempting to stand but heavily relying on the support of the dog as he pushes himself up. He sweats from exerting so much energy. "I can go again... just put me in, Nettie," he says, offering her a weak smile. The dog whines a bit, sensing that Franklin is pushing himself beyond his limits. It understands the weight he's putting on it.

Franklin looks at Nettie with a serious expression, though he maintains his smile. "Welcome to leadership... It sucks, and you're going to make mistakes all the time. But don't worry, it gets easier," he says as he starts to gather his strength to walk back in the direction they came from, ensuring they haven't been followed. He can't use his powers, but he can still be vigilant. He needs to cover his face again to protect it from the freezing cold.

Suddenly, Franklin stops and looks back at Nettie. "Just don't forget why we came here and get the job done," he emphasizes with a smile before pulling up his face covering. He then turns to survey the snowy landscape, scanning for any signs of pursuit. However, his concern grows as he mumbles, "Wait... where is Shazam?" Worried, he looks around, hoping to locate their missing teammate.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara moves in to the glacier cavern along with everyone else. She spares a glance back over her shoulder before sliding her handgun back in to the holster pressed up against her left side within her jacket. Breathing out puffs of white steam from between her lips, Lara looks over the group to check on conditions. Everyone seemed well, save for Franklin after his unusual transit method... but he seems lively enough.

"Nettie." Lara says then. "Back there, in the village. One of the soldiers shouted something about a glittering ... gem? Or Jewel?" She inquires. "What was that about?"

Her brown eyed gaze starts to take in the surroundings of this cavern cover they've converged within. She draws in a heavy breath through her pert nose as her right gloved hand goes up to adjust the wool cap resting atop her head.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam drifts down slowly and guards the rear at the entrance to the crack. "Present. I'm sorry I let you get shot, Nettie. I'll do better. I'll convince those militia goons to stay off your backs at least. They don't seem inclined to listen to reason. I grabbed an officer but he shot me in the eye."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Poppet, you didn't let me down." Nettie addresses Shazam first. And she winces as she stands up. "Corvax was lost in a fight. I'm a little out of sorts. I should have been the one watching *your* back, as the designated responsible adult." she explains.

    And she takes a deep breath, looking around to the assembled.

    "Take a rest, Franklin. You don't yet get to lecture /me/ on leadership, pup. I've been in such a position longer than your grandparents have been alive." she replies quietly, and she breathes out, her breath misting up.

    "Aye. They're after Camkilo ratna, the Shimmering Jewel of Dhaulagiri, the mountain overhead." She states, and rolls her shoulder stiffly.

    "What they didn't know is that they already had it, right under their noses... didn't they, Ratna?" she asks, looking to the Snow Leopard, who, in the company of friends, immediately begins to shake off its normal looking fur.

    And the fur falls around it, fluuf replaced by the twinkling of stars made into a delicate coat, eyes like sapphires, and indeed, the Snow Leopard itself looks as if it was made of shimmering jewels -- and it leaps at Nettie!

    Knocks her down...

    And is rumbling against her.

    "Who I lovingly dubbed Pookie when I was in my twenties! Oh you rascal, what have you been up to?!" she exclaims.

Audra Meridian has posed:
Audra Meridian cringes a little at Shazam's description, but he's also the one here best suited to take the hurt and give it back. Him and the big red dude.

The revelation of the leopard being something else, and not even really a leopard(?!) gets a soft huh out of her. But by this point she's started to get use to weird twists like that. "Not what I expected we were looking for but I guess good we found it. Him? How do you even tell with... such things." At least, for being a scientist, she doesn't seem too off-put by these sort of things. She's spent enough time around magic users.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would lean back over, "Then I daresay that it is mission accomplished. If you're not in a state where you can take the rest of the team with you then I can go and ensure that we're safe from pursuit for awhile longer. They likely can track us by our trail." Lara can likely grasp what she means by 'keep us safe from pursuit' given the way the assassin had used explosives. And seh hadn't given a name yet or anything.
    "We're still within a short distance of the camp and here's a logical place to hunker down in if they're done any reconaissance of the area. So we shouldjn't stay here for long." Still, that's logic for her. And she's more than happy to put her skills to use by.. Taking care of the remainder of the militants at the location. But that's also not required. While she has no qualms about it.. Some of the others might.
    And she doesn't want to upset those that Nettie considers on good teams with the Justice League that deals with the Dark an dit's aspects.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin must have been waiting for Nettie to give him permission to rest, as he leans against the nearby wall with a chuckle. He shrugs in response to her, appreciating that she has regained her senses and is now focused on moving forward. Pulling down his face covering in the cave's shelter, he takes deep breaths to recover. "I just need five minutes... I'll be alright. Give 'em hell, Miss Crowe," he says, but his voice fades as he closes his eyes.

Silence fills the cave for a moment, and then a gentle snore can be heard. Franklin has fallen asleep, using this time to recharge. The loyal dog sits in front of him, ready to bark or take action if needed. But it seems that Franklin has fully surrendered to slumber, leaning against the wall and snoring away. Even in this uncertain place, he manages to find some peace and relaxation. He doesn't respond to any external stimuli, as he is lost in the world of dreams. Trusting Nettie and Shazam, he believes that if they were to leave, they would return for him. After all, attempting to take down Franklin and his powers would prove to be an incredibly difficult task.

Lara Croft has posed:
The display with the Leopard has lara gently nodding her head as she slips a hand in to her jacket side pocket. "Right..." she softly says with a heavy exhale. With the situation seemingly leading to a moment's rest here in the cavern, Lara turns to see Franklin having passed out.

Another nod is given then before Lara turns fully to walk back toward where Hellboy and Shazam were conversing. She takes a moment to peer outside the crevace that they'd entered through, her eyes scanning the horizon outside.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Well, I asked him, didn't I? 'E's a minor god, sort of, of the mountains. Not many like him left in our world. Most have gone past or reincarnated. But he and a few others remain... precious few. He's tied to the glacier here. Bigger it was, bigger he was. Was near the size of an elephant when I met him first." Nettie states, and then she looks up.

    She winces, and grasps at her shoulder again. "The ol' body didn't like what it was Mr. Franklin's done, did it?" she murmurs, and she looks out, looking over everyone worn from the skirmish.

    And on the horizon, there are dark shapes in beige jackets. Assembling, making calls, and lugging rockets as they move towards the crystaline, delicate cave of the glacier's opening.

    Looks like there's going to be a riot, in the next installment of...

    INTO THE MOUNTAIN