15953/The Flaxan Incursion

The Flaxan Incursion
Date of Scene:	28 September 2023
Location:	Morningside Heights
Synopsis:	Prisma was taking Invincible to introduce him to the Young Avengers. Instead, Flaxans invaded. Fortunately, Red Arrow and Golden Eagle were near to turn the tide! Everyone went for shwarma after.
Cast of Characters:	Mark Grayson, Yaretzi Acama, Bunny Macleod, Emiko Queen

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Mark Grayson has posed:
Morningside Heights is always bustling and busy with the day to day flow of humanity that passes through. As it's close to dinner time, there are deliveries being made, families coming together for quality time, goths out skulking on street corners, an underground skate club, and buskers of all types from street musicians to artist to people dressed in cosplay, all vying to make a dollar in this, one of the capitals of modern Capitalism.

Among those that are out and about are Mark Grayson and Bunny Macleod, but not in their civilian guises. Instead, it is the blue and yellow suited Invincible that is being led along by the pink costumed Prisma of the Young Avengers! "Are we there yet?" Invincible asks for the third time in the last three blocks. He's clearly teasing the pink haired one as the traverse towards the home and headquarters of the Young Avengers! Though the Starpower Publishing building is coming into view. As he has never been to this part of town before, Mark asks of Bunny. "So, do you know who's buried in Grant's Tomb?" To be fair, he heard this question in a cartoon once and never really understood the context of it, he just knows they are near that location.

There are those are looking at the young couple, and as Mark passes by a couple walking their dog, he comments, "You know, the only thing seperating us from them is our costumes and we'd be walking Beeper." Which is way cooler than a dog.

Just as they were about to reach the publishing building, there is the sound of thunder. One. Two. Three strikes of thunder in the otherwise cloudless sky. Down the street, near one of the Gothic churches, a large green and white swirling vortex of a portal pops into existance and expands widely. "I know these portals!" Mark calls out, "We're getting invaded!"

Coming through it are light green aliens, standing at about average human height. Their bald heads are ridged with two long probiscus out of their temples, with a smaller pair on their foreheads. They are dressed in blue skintight uniforms with silver and grey armor at the shoulders, chest, with a yellow chestplate, and over their hips and down to their knees. As they march in, the force of about twenty starts to fire laser rifles indiscriminately into the evening walkers, trying to scare them off or mow them down!

Portal number two opens right above the Young Avengers' HQ. A large mechanical hand grabs the side of the portal and makes it's way through, pulling out a large mecha suit, sorta shaped like a giant version of one of the troops. As soon as it spies Mark, it's fist comes down, smashing Invincible into the ground, where he barely has time to get his hands up to defend the blow! His arms extended, the concrete beneath him cracking and crumbling, the young hero growls and grunts. "Stupid sucker punch!" he snarls. "Prisma!" he calls out to her, knowing he doesn't really have to give orders.

Portal number three opens behind Prisma and Invincible. Out of this one walks a clearly alien tank. One large cannon is off-set to the left of the body, it walks on four large crab-like legs, and have three ports up front, and a domed top making it look like a cross between a crab and a turtle. Its cannon start to glow in preparation to fire, the barrel dropping down to lock on the Publishing house!

The civilians are on the run, but there are several that are wounded and need assistance as a larger Flaxan steps out, wearing a cape and carrying the flag of the Flaxan homeworld. He will plant that flag this time and secure a foothold on this new planet!

Flaxans: https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Invincible-Villains-Flaxans.jpg
Flaxan Leader: https://imgix.bustle.com/uploads/image/2021/4/29/b5208d7c-3aa0-4f13-9b0d-ff4e6f84db52-screen-shot-2021-04-29-at-41349-pm.png
Flaxan Mech: https://www.unleashthefanboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Invincible941.jpg

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Yaretzi's in the area for... well, it doens't really matter why she's in the area. When the portals open and aliens come out shooting, she does like other civvies in the area: she runs -- but she's running with purpose, not just out of harm's way, like other civilians. Her path takes her into the nearest alleyway, where she ducks behind a dumpster about a third of the way in. Glancing one way then the other -- and even up along the sides of the buildings she's between -- she finds that no one's looking and calls out, "Cuatli!"

The hazy foglike energy that rushes towards her almost looks like lightning, and it fully envlopes and surrounds her, completely obscuring her from view for just a moment. When this wierd fog-lightning fades away, Golden Eagle now stands in Yaretzi's place!

The heroine floats up off the alley's concrete and grabs up the dumpster she was using for cover as she goes, carrying it out with her to throw at the nearest large threat or group of smaller ones.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    " -- no one's BURIED in the tomb, they're in sarcogphacgusamuses, aren't they?" comes the response from Mark's flight partner, clad in a dark rose-pink suit with a scarf-skirt and a little matte badge. The fact that she's wearing roller skates and a helmet, along with a shiny new pair of flight goggles is PRISMA! of the Young Avengers.

    "Look I can't tell as easily, I've never gotten here by air --" the younger heroine states as she raises her phone and shows the GPS going a bit crazy, since it's generally set for 'street level' and not 'three dimensional city'.

    And then the portals begin to open up, she pauses, her mouth hanging open as the hair onf the back of her neck stands up.

    They are in deed being invaded, and Prisma launches one of her shields to use as a ramp to deliver a flying kick to some of the rifle-bearing Flaxians as GOLDEN EAGLE makes her appearance!

    <<Knock Knock Young Avengers, we have a smaaaaall invasion on our hands! Invincible and an Unknown are out here at the moemnt but uh -->> she dispenses with one of her batons, smashing a few kneecaps. <<Could use a hand!>>

Emiko Queen has posed:
It's an invasion!

By some twist of fate an invasion right outside of the publishing building. It doesn't take long for the unexpected thunder and sounds of something heavy hitting both the pavement and someone resiliant to draw attention. The call-out over the YA comms helps too. And that attention is one deceptively small female clad in red that comes rushing out of the building. Where she takes a momentary pause at the sight of aliens, bigger aliens, and alien mecha. "I feel like I just walked into one of those cheesy B sci-fi movies my brother made me watch with him," she mutters. But while making a bit of snark she's also taking stock of the situation.

Red Arrow spots the imporant looking alien (he's wearing a cape after all) waving an alien flag. It's simple tactical logic, he looks like he's important, and an assassin knows to go for the important person in charge to break the morale of his soldiers. So she takes aim, draws an arrow back in her bow, and fires!

Though instead of directly at the alien the arrow is aimed to pierce through his flag! It's like an archery style of a rude insult, because Emiko is looking to taunt his attention away from any civilians fleeing the streets. "Also, why the hell do the aliens always have teleporters? This is twice in as many weeks!" Prism knows what she's talking about.

Mark Grayson has posed:
When Golden Eagle sweeps into battle, it is with the rattle of a rubish bin. The large dumpster turns end over end and slams into the side of the tank, twisting one of it's legs back and around. It stumbles a few steps and swivels it's aim. Instead of firing at the building, the cannon instead targets Golden Eagle and sends out a super-heated blast of plasma to slam into the magical superhero to try to cause her harm!

Mark manages to push the fist of the mech upwards, the cement beneath his feet shattering and cratering as he pushes off the ground. Forcing the first off to the side, he launches upwards, sending a heavy punch directly into the midsection of the mech. The metal dents and sparks, but it reels back, clutching both of its hands over its head to try to slam Invincible back down into the ground.

With Prisma solving a riddle that has plagued Mark's player for years, she launches into action. Concentrated laser fire is brought to bear on the pink superheroine as Bunny slams into the front echelon of the invasion force. The sounds of screams and breaking bones as Bunny gets amongst the invading aliens, though some of them falling back, keeping Prisma at a distance as they fire at her!

"They're time displaced!" Mark calls out. "They have to have something that is allowing them to be tethered to this dismension. Take it out and they age to dust within minutes!" Just as the fists slam into him and drives him back onto the street, Invincible growling between his teeth as he tries to push back up.

Emiko's arrow flies, slicing through the flag of the Flaxan Leader. He looks up at the shredded flag and then towards the woman that fired it. He draws a pistol from his belt, and unlike Emiko, who was aiming to get attention, when he fires, he's aiming to hit the Young Avenger directly, sending up sprays of concrete and dirt with explosions as he tries to range in with his one good eye. His other eye was destroyed by Caitlin Fairchild the last time they tried to establish a foothold*.

* Log 15341 for reference.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Golden Eagle, having drawn fire away from civilians, now swirls through the air and up into the sky, doing her level best to avoid getting hit by the tank's plasma blasts while also trying to keep them being fired away from people and buildings that still have people in them. Of course, she's far too busy doing all this to be able to mount any sort of offense. She watches for an opening to dive down towards the tank, though... intent on, unlike Invincible's head-on assault, trying to get under the tank and flip it onto its back. She's hoping that it won't be able to right itself and that this will put it out of action.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Time-Displacement?" Bunny questions, pink lenses on her goggles turning to Mark as she holds up a shield, protecting her from the rifle fire as she waits for an opening --

    ANd once she has it, she *moves*. Prismatic, 80's gasoline puddle colors form with her shields forming a ramp in front of her as she pushes herself up, skating smoothly up the ramp in order to get behind her group of Flaxans, turning in mid-air and begins to skate forward through them, slinging her batons into the knees and lower backs of the alien invasion force!

    "All right -- let's get physical!" she calls out, beginning to grab random bits of uniform off them -- a button. A pin. Someone loses his left boot in the process.

Emiko Queen has posed:
"Explains a lot" That's all the time Emiko has to respond, because her tactic worked in getting the leader's attention as he turns and opens fire. The explosive blasts are just proof she made the right choice in getting his attention away from any civilians though it's still going to cause plenty of collaterial damage.

But if he expected the Red Arrow to be an easy mark just because she doesn't look like she has any phenomenal powers like the others present, he may or may not live to regret that. Because she didn't just stand around foolishly watching him react, she was already moving, darting one way, then back the other, making herself an elusive target.

While she draws another arrow out of her quiver, nocks it, and then right after he's fired a shot she takes the split-second opening to fire. This one is much more direct, having a concussive arrowhead. That is to say, it detonates, but rather than a fiery explosion its a forceful shockwave meant to knock someone down and back like they were just hit by a much larger projectile.

Mark Grayson has posed:
The tank takes about three seconds to cycle through it's round to fire a fresh blast. With Golden Eagle flying around, there's another shot fired. This one clips the side of a church, blowing apart one of the spires and raining debris onto the street below.

The tank is swivelling around for another shot, it fires just as Golden Eagle swoops in. It's shot scrapes close to the flying hero, and she manages to get beneath the tank. It's heavy, however, she is able to lift it and it creaks and groans as she manages to flip it, just as it was about to fire again. The cannon goes off, and it overloads, a massive explosion of the vehicle that sends shrapnel flying and shattering windows in the three buildings around it!

Prisma goes all native on the Flaxans, kneecapping, smacking, kicking and otherwise beating down the alien invaders while picking apart their uniforms like a rogue that has rolled a one for stealth. Gabby would be so proud.

It's when she grabs what looks like a smartwatch off one of their lists that she seems a bright shimmer of blue light. And as she turns back towards that Flaxan, she can watch in real time as his skin greys, wrinkles form and he's gasping, shriveling, and within a minute, he's a mummified corpse in a uniform that falls to the ground in a lump.

Mark shoves the fist up and launches upwards. He slams into the robot mech, but he goes over it. He had seen Kara pull off this move last night, so he's trying the same. He flies over and around the mech, and his arms grab a pair of bars on the back of the mech. Grunting, Mark lifts off the ground, twisting, rising, bringing the mech up. Up, and then over, rotating it on the horizontal axis by 180 degrees before he rockets to the ground and...

They slam into the ground, mech first, shattering the street, down into the electrical cables. Mark's German Suplex pushes further as Edison will have work to do tonight as the cables fry a lot of the circuits in the mech and knocks out the electricty for the entire neighborhood. Mark's panting, backing away, in case that was not enough to take the mech down.

Emiko's arrow flies through the air, as the Flaxan Leader was running forward to close the distance and get in close and personal with the archer.

That is until the arrow detonates. It sends the Flaxan Leader flying backwards, tumbling end over end. He slides along the ground, lying there for a moment, stunned. That is until he presses the button on a small cylinder and flings at Emiko. She may have a concussive arrow, but he's throwing a high explosive grenade in return. It explodes next to a car, hopefully Emiko was able to find cover!

The mech also starts to move, groaning and gears grinding and sparing as it tries to pull itself out of the hole that it had been buried in. Mark grunts, "You have got to be kidding me!"

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Golden Eagle flits away from the exploding tank... and takes a moment to survey the battlefield. Invincible's doing his 'my face to your fist' thing, and that seems to kinda be working for him. Prisma seems to be doing pretty good against the soldiers... but Red Arrow looks like she might be in trouble!

The grenade goes off as the archer's going for cover and the car gets flipped up into the air by the blast... and never quite comes down, as Golden Eagle swoops in to catch it. Shifting the car from the sorta awkward way she's caught it on her shoulders, so that she's holding it, not simply shouldering its weight, she looks down and asks. "You good?", to Red Arrow... then, even as she awaits a reply, tosses the car in an arc towards..."Invincible! Catch!", she calls out, giving him something with which to hit the 'mech.

Hopefully, her words of warning are enough to give him time to actually catch the tossed car, rather than have it just land on him...

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Well, Bunny is obviously not a Rogue. She's a Bard. And she rolled like an eleven which means it WORKS!

    <<Watches Watches Watches! Steal or destroy the wa--AUGH!>>

    SOmetimes you do roll a one as she she does, the ground below her exploding beneath her skates as the ground dents in with the laser rifle fire -- but the good thing?

    She tucks, she rolls, the laser fire strikes her hamster ball, and as she comes out of it, she lifts her hands, holding her shield up to guard Invincible's back!

    <<THEIR WATCHES are the dimensional temporal tempora ramen noodle tethers!>> she barks out over the coms, looking a little green behind her goggles!

Emiko Queen has posed:
Earthly or alien, a thrown explosive is a thrown explosive. And that isn't good. Emiko pivots on her heel and bolts in the opposite direction, leaping and sliding across the hood of a car abandoned on the street, and darting away expecting the car to take the blast. Which it does... but instead of just being wrecked flips the car into the air! The shadow looms as it tumbles towards the nimble archer.. only for it to be intercepted! There's an unseen sigh of relief beneath her hood, and a nod. "I'm golden, Golden. Thanks." Go teamwork!

Then turns her attention back to the alien leader. "As for you." Again an arrow is drawn, nocked, and fired. It flies towards the invader... and past him. But there's a line trailing behind it, as the head pops open into a clamp. That latches onto a streetlight post.
Then the arrowline's hidden winch engages and Emiko is slung forward with it, aiming to crash right into the leader with a flying kick!

Mark Grayson has posed:
It's not like Invincible ENJOYS a fist to the face. People and things just like doing it. Probably too handsome for his own good, jealous bastiches. As the grenade explodes and Golden Eagle catches the car that was flipped over and then she's tossing it towards Invincible.

Catching the car, Invincible turns and slams the car directly into the head of the mech, driving it downward, using it as a wedge to pry it open. The armor bends, creaks, cracks and then splits, as it explodes in a fireball, frying the two Flaxans within it.

Bunnyball manages to roll, snagging watches, aging aliens all in a mad rush to try to clean up the ground troops. Her shield is perfectly timed as several Flaxans were aiming at Invincible's back after he had taken out the mech.

<<You heard Prisma, Golden Eagle, go after the watches!>> Invincible calls out over the local comms as he races to use Prisma's shield as a platform to launch at a pair of Flaxans - except instead of grabbing watches, he grabs each of them by the head and smashes them together - the sound is akin to two pumpkins slamming together as he drops the bodies. "Not many left!"

The arrow flies past the Flaxan Leader, as he turns to see where it went, he was just turning back around to gloat in the Flaxian language that she had missed, when suddenly, there is a line retracting and there is the Red Arrow lands a flying kick on him. It slams into his chest, sending him stumbling backwards, nearly falling over!

As he looks around him, his troops falling, his mech destroyed, the tank in ruins, he growls and yells something in an alien tongue, as he presses something on his watch, opening a portal nearby as he is one of the first ones to try to retreat!

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Golden Eagle's dives into the fray, knocking Flaxans about and breaking their weapons as she gets her hands on them. She's going through them as quickly as she can, seeming to focus on the weapons carried by the ones who're busy shooting about at the city, instead of at the heroes on the scene. Even as she's knocking about invaders, she takes a shot in the back along the way that slams her face-first into a nearby car... but she rolls away and goes back to destroying the high-tech rifles the invaders have, forcing them to switch to their (hopefully) less-powerful and -destructive sidearms.

She didn't seem to hear Invincible's instructions over the comms. He's forgotten, as so many do, that she doesn't *have* a comm...

Emiko Queen has posed:
Emiko Queen releases the line and recoils back off the kick, making a tumbling landing on the pavement. That was not quite as graceful as she had intended, but effective. She rolls with it, coming up to rest on one knee, and bringing her bow back up into position. There was time to worry about pain, bruises and scratches later so she just pushes it out of her mind.

Looks like her quarry has opened a new portal and called a retreat of what few forces he has remaining. Once upon a time, she would of had another arrow out and shot him down where he stood.

But that was before Emiko learned that there was more ways than killing every foe she crossed. Even the rude jackass ones.

So instead she stands, and does ready another arrow in her bow as she poses ready to fire it. But it's mainly just a precaution in case of trickery. And to look threatening. "You just run back to whatever space-time hole you crawled out of, and don't come back! That was just a small show of who will put boots up whatever you have for an asshole if you do!"

Sometimes it's better to intimidate a foe and let them live. Reputation who not to mess with is important too.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny keeps her shield up for as long as she can, waiting for an opening in the firing on Invincible's backside, and then she drops shield and surges forward with a mighty "AAAAAAAAA!" on her roller skates, speeding along and trying to smash as many watches as she can in the process with her batons as she moves through the crowd!

Mark Grayson has posed:
The rout is in full swing by this point. With weapons and watches being shattered, the Flaxans are in full retreat. The opened portal is there for a few moments. And between Bunny, Golden Eagle and Invincible, only a small handful are through the portal.

The Flaxan Leader turns to look at Emiko and he snarls. Oh, there will be a return visit, and he will find her and make it very unpleasant!

The Red Arrow is now an enemy of the Flaxans! There will be posters of her next to the posters of Caitlin and Invincible all over their home planets cities. Because the Flaxan Leader is trifflin'. And petty.

He steps through the portal, and it snaps closed behind him, plunging the area into darkness. There is still injured to be tended to, and the NYPD and NYFD are showing up to start to help.

Mark looks around, and lets out a breath, reaching up to wipe away a little blood from his nose. "Everyone good?"

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Golden Eagle holds up one hand in a thumbs-up, then kinda stretches her back a bit, hands on her hips. "Those guns they were using sure pack a punch, huh?", she questions, probably rhetorically. "... who were they, anyway?", she adds, actually asking, non-rhetorically, this time.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny returns, with watches up her left arm guard and a Flaxian rifle over one shoulder.

    "Those were the... the Flaxons, right?" she asks, looking to Invincible. She gives a wave to EMiko.

    "Hey hey! This is Invincible, my favorite patrol partner." she gives a grin to Emiko, and looks up to Invincible. "Are *you* all right?"

Emiko Queen has posed:
In all honesty? Emiko would take it as a compliment. She may not be a kill everyone assassin anymore, but she still gets some kick out of making bad guys and jerks scared of her.

"No more roughed up than any other night on patrol," she replies. She glances at the guy, then to Bunny as she explains. "Nice to meet you. Any idea who those nimrods were?" she echos the question Golden already asked.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Invincible considers Bunny's watch collection and chuckles. "Going to find someone to try to figure out the technology?" he asks, before he nods his head. "Yes, Flaxans. Second time they've tried to invade. Last time they tried to gather a beachhead, a few heroes were able to drive them off. They're getting more brazen in their attacks." comes the explanation.

His attention turns to Bunny. "Yeah, I'm good!" he promises and reaches to give her hand a quick squeeze. He's already answered Emiko's question, so instead, he adds. "Thank you for your help, would have gone a lot worse if it not for your arrivals!" he says to Golden Eagle and Emiko. His hand extends to Emiko, the one he hasn't met yet. "My name is Invincible, as Prisma said. Nice to meet you."

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"I've met him before, when he helped me get a lava monster dumped into the river a while back...", Golden Eagle says, looking between Prisma and Red Arrow to include them both as she goes on, "... and I think I've heard of you both, or seen you on TV at least. I'm Golden Eagle." She offers a hand first to Prisma, being as Invincible's offering a handshake to Arrow, but will offer similar to Emiko as well.

Emiko Queen has posed:
Emiko Queen tucks her bow behind her quiver so she has a hand free to accept Invincible's offered one and shake. It's nothing that's going to be able to hurt him but he's likely still going to notice she has a strong grip despite her slender stature. "Red Arrow." Another handshake to go around. "Not the first person with a bird theme I've met. Eagle is a bit more magestic though."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Prisma, Red Arrow's on my team and INvincible's kind of my favorite patrol partner for reasons." Bunny gives a bright, slightly bucktoothed smile to Golden Eagle. "Nice to meet you!" she states with a smile, and then looks over to Emiko.

    "Doesn't pretty much the entire Gotham City vigilante outfit do the 'flying creature' motif?"

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Nice to meet you, Red Arrow." Invincible offers. "Golden Eagle and I are provisional members of the Titans, but Prisma wanted to bring me by the Young Avengers' headquarters to introduce me to some new people." he explains. "I didn't exactly expect to meet them like this." he mutters with a small grimace as he looks around. "Maybe we should move this out of the way so the authorities can handle what they need to?"

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"How long you two been an item?", Golden Eagle asks of Prisma, point-blank. Yeah, she read the atmosphere there -- not like it was -that- well-hidden a secret, right?

When a meeting at the Avengers HQ is mentioned, she smiles and her feet come up off the street as she hovers. "I guess I'll help out with cleanup around here. You guys go do your thing, okay?", she says.

Emiko Queen has posed:
Emiko Queen chuckles softly at Bunny. "True, true. Well, no time like the present, seeing as it's more of an actual HQ proper." It took a bit of work to move all the old printing machinery and stuff out of the way. She nods again to Golden. "See you around, then."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Prisma looks up to Golden eagle and turns a bright red. "Ah... a couple... weeks." she mumbles, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Invincible arches a brow, but smiles congenially. "Couple of weeks, like she said." he offers up with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean, we don't have to go inside, I was just saying why we were here originally."

He looks between the three. "There any place around here that accepts heroes in costume?" comes the amused question. "I don't want you to feel out, Eagle."

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Golden Eagle just smiles at Prisma's reply, clearly not having meant her question in a malicious way. When Invincible indicates he wants to include her in what the group's going to be doing next, she simply straightens her legs fully so that her feet touch the ground again. "I'm... not from around here, so I honestly don't know", she says, in reply to his question.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "There's a Kebab and Shwarma place a couple of blocks east that I hit up while I was living in the basement." Prisma pipes up, looking around to the other assembled heroes. "I think they put us on Iron Man's tab."

Emiko Queen has posed:
"All the more reason to hang out with people that are. Or have been. Same difference." Emiko shrugs. "Most places around here are probably use to masks and capes. As long as you pay with cash." Or have your own super hero themed credit card like certain grown men in bat cosplay...

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Sounds like a plan then!" Invincible comments, before grinning at Bunny. "You suggested shwarma. Lead the way!"