16291/Tentacles. Why did it have to be tentacles

Tentacles. Why did it have to be tentacles
Date of Scene:	09 November 2023
Location:	Financial District
Synopsis:	Octoboss and his minions attack a bank. Captain Marvel, The Shadow and Prisma stops his attempt, to find out this was something twenty years in the waiting.
Cast of Characters:	Mark Grayson, Carol Danvers, Bunny Macleod, Natasha Cranston

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Mark Grayson has posed:
The financial district in the morning. This is when there is usually the delivery of fresh stacks of cash to the banks and outside the Mercantile, there is the loading up of large pallets of money that are going to be transported out.

At least that was the plan until the aliens invaded. No, literally. Landing on the ground is an eight foot tall Octopus creature. Large orange eyes, his arms and legs are literally tentacles, part Eldritch-horror, part Science experiment gone wrong. Picking up one of the trucks, Octoboss flings the vehcile to the side and calls out something in an odd alien language.

But it's meaning becomes clear as smaller creatures, with squid-like heads, wearing alien style suits of purple and pink, with smaller tentacle arms and feet come out carrying laser rifles and firing them indiscrimantely!

The alarm sounds and the call for help goes out over both the Avengers and Young Avengers comm!

Carol Danvers has posed:
The call may go out to the Avengers, but luckily Carol Danvers does not need to wait on such an alert. She happened to be floating nearby (a little bit of early morning chill autumn air is the best cure for a late night stop at the local pub), and as the sounds of chaos float upwards, she hones in.

Zipping down from the skies, she quickly assesses the situation. Large boss. Little minions. Looking like lots of clean-up.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    It just so happens that Bunny was grabbing super discounted bagels at a cafe that was closing down on account that its coffee and tea bar had been used as a bludgeon last week. They had to close down for repairs, but were still able to make breakfast sandwiches. And as she had been out on patrol, the pink-clad Young Avenger with the bodysuit-retro-future-ninja stylings with the roller skates (so retro) and the light armoring (tres futuristic!), hears the call.

    She leaves a crumpled up pile of bills (entirely too much) and yelps out "The rest is for the tip jar!" as she dashes out the door, securing her helmet with the familiar Avengers A and a pair of lightning bolts on the side of this one, faded-pink-to-blonde hair as she grips the paper bag of bagelly goodness between her teeth, lifting one hand and creating a prismatic shield to guard some bystanders from the laser fire as she uses a handy dandy newspaper box to launch herself over, and introduce her new friends to the bottom of her skates.

    "HERR! Ermergerh is HAPTAM MARFEL!" she squeals around the paper bag!

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Spending an entire morning in meetings with bank executives discussing finance terms is enough to make one wish for some kind of disaster, but Natasha hadn't expected an actual alien invasion.

    Natasha lets the flow of the fleeing crowd carry her away even as Captain Marvel arrives on the scene, then ducks into a convenient alley at first opportunity. Shifting perceptions away from her with a twist of her Will, she flicks the latches on her suitcase and starts pulling on her gear.

    As she slips in her coat and wraps her scarf around her face, her mind races. Why would aliens be raiding a human bank? It's not as if American Dollars are worth anything beyond the atmosphere.

    Questions that require answers. The Shadow must Know..

    ... But first this attack needs to be stopped. The Shadow draws her guns and heads back out into the street, ready to lay down covering fire for the crowds to escape.

Mark Grayson has posed:
As Carol comes flying in, Octoboss wraps his tentacles around half of the truck he ripped apart, the driver still sitting in the seat screaming as he flies through the air, the truck tumbling end over end as it flies at Haptam Marfel! More yells and a few of the squidmen move their fire from the guards towards the sky to start making it rain upwards in her direction.

Not all of them, though. As the prismatic shields come up and block laser fire, one of the squidmen turns to find the source of the shield barreling right at it with the wheels of the underside of Bunny's skate as it squishes into the soft mollusk body and it the skin splits, sending goop flying up as it falls back on the ground, rifle cluttering to the side. They are /definetly/ aliens. Not guys in masks.

When the Shadow arrives with her covering fire, it draws more of the attention of the Squidmen firing on Captain Marvel away as they start to return her first and pin them down as a single pair of Squidmen start trying to drag the pallet towards a large glowing portal.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Giant space octopuss. Little space squid. Got it.

As the truck comes flying at Captain Marvel, it helps her make up her mind REAL fast. She catches the truck carefully as she watches Bunny and the Shadow (what a band name!) engage with the squids, and zips off to put the truck and its driver safely out of harm's way. She offers a nod to the driver before flying back into frame, moving along to hover in front of Octoboss.

"Can we just do this the easy way? I had a late night last night."

She splits her attention between addressing this larger foe and making sure that her impromptu teammates can handle the Squids. They seem quite capable, so she focuses on the Big Bad.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny hears the sound of gunfire from behind her as she lands off the degloving of a squidface (eeew, she almost feels sorry for the guy) as she turns to regard The Shadow. She breathes out, and after a moment seems to confirm that she's providing cover fire for the civvies to escape.

    She drops one shield, and forms an inclined plane with her next one, providing her own above-cover as she skates upwards, reaching for her batons as she turns and sails, backwards off the plane and she lets it fade before falling into the group of squid-faced fighters, and beginning to come in low and fast to beat down on the backs of knees!

    "Mrrm ir riddind effn hurrdrr carlmurry!" <Man I didn't even order calimari!>

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Normally, Natasha prefers not to be seen unless she wants to, but right now she needs to be a distraction and keep the squid troopers from hurting the civilians.

    The Shadow's response to the incoming fire is mocking laughter that echoes off the buildings as the tall, black-clothed figure flickers in and out of view, her guns blazing return fire with significantly better accuracy, aiming for the porters -- whatever they're trying to steal, they won't be allowed to take it.

Mark Grayson has posed:
When the driver lands safely, he stops panicking, realizing he's been saved. And as Carol looks in on him -- he passes out. Clonk. He'll just be resting there for a while.

Octoboss looks up when Carol flies down to hover in front of him. He is incapable of frowning, but when he speaks, it's Carol's cosmic awareness that comes in to play. <<We are taking this to pay for the building of the portal to take us home!>> she is able to make out, just before Octoboss lashes out, sending out a bundle of tentacles to wrap around Captain Marvel and starts to squeeze her tightly!

With Bunny getting in close after bouncing off of the first Squidman, she is starting to work on those that are cluttered near the money. They fire, clumsy at hand to hand and Bunny seems to be getting the advantage --

-- until tentacles from Octoboss's foot lash out to grab at Bunny by the legs, attempting to rip her off the ground from her skates and flings her at the truck as hard as he can, sending her flying away! When she hits, several of the Squidmen are moving to get in on her to start to lash at her with tentacled fists!

The Shadow dances in and out of well... the Shadows. The squidmen lasers seem to be ineffective on the elusive figure, as she comes in on the teleporters as they are preparing to load up a whole pallet of cash.

As she gets closer, a few of the Squidmen attempt to close to hand to hand range, using the butts of their rifles as makeshift weapons to try to strike at the Darkness that Laughs.

Carol Danvers has posed:
As Carol is lashed up by the tentacles, the onlookers might expect to see Captain Marvel thrash about, break open the tentacles with her arms, or try to fly up and yank the Octoboss from the ground and reduce his leverage.

They may instead be surprised to see her remain calm, cool, and collected, even as he swings her around something like a rag doll. But barely even her hair moves.

And then she starts squawking.

<<Cease this violence, and I promise you aid to build what you need. You do not need to steal, the people of this planet will help you if they can.>>

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny is pressing her advatage as she makes her way throught he crowd in a forest of kneecaps and thighs, low to the ground before she feels something tighten against her ankle and calf -- she looks down and gives a quiet 'uh-oh' sound, and then squeels -- teeth tightening on the roll of paper bag in her mouth as she's grasped, lifted, and slung at a truck!

    She bubbles herself, and leaves a decently sized dent in the truck as she flings against it, but then thuds to the ground, dully.

    It takes a moment to get her bearrings, and then she cracks her knuckles, and as the rabble begins to approach her with spindly fists of ew, she begins to roll out and try to hamster ball them into submission!

    She has *seen* this anime and she did *not* like the ending!

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    It's hard to hit someone that you can't actually see very well all the time. Natasha flows under the rifle strike and deliver a palm strie to where a human's solar plexus would be, then ducks low and spins to sweep the other porter's mostly-legs, letting the momentum of her spin carry her on into a side kick that punts the first porter into and through the portal.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Octoboss stops trying to crush Carol, momentarily. <<We were promised this before. By the one called Omni-Man. Then he disappeared and we were abandoned for the last twenty years. We are tired of waiting!>>

Invincible, who is rocketing towards the scene announces. "I'll be there in five minutes, everyo-- AHCOO!" He sneezes.

Bunny was about to get squid-gamed when suddenly she hamsters and rolls out. Several of the octopods are squished as she makes it out of the remains of the truck, just as Natasha kicks one of the porters through the portal he was helping create.

And with him flying through, the portal collapses, slicing the pallet in half and sending money spread out onto the wind, floating upwards and into the street. Too bad most of it is cut in half.

Carol Danvers has posed:
For the moment, Carol continues not to struggle, merely keeping herself from being crushed by the Octoboss.

<<I am not Omni-Man and cannot speak for him. But I can speak for myself. I give you my word. There is no need to fight, no need to do violence. If I cannot compel Omni-Man to help, I will find a solution on my own.>>

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    <Umfinssbul -- urr oo okeey?> comes Bunny's muffled voice over the comms as she hamster-balls her way through the grouping of squid faces, making it to the side of a mailbox so she can de-ball and take a breather, turning and peering around her cover to gauge the situation.

    <<Hway -- bib hii sei /Hommi-Mang/?!>> she questions, blinking behind her goggles.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Natasha takes the moment to kick the other squidman in the temple, hopefully knocking him out before resuming her dance of smoke and mirrors to keep the rest from harming the civilians.

Mark Grayson has posed:
The tentacles that are around Carol start to relax and then release her. Octoboss orders his troops to stand down, and the Squidmen stop their attack, making their way back to their leader. The very large Octopod stares at Carol, before speaking.

<<Two weeks. I will give you two weeks to get us home.>> He gestures to one of his Squidmen, who pulls out a prism and offers it to Carol. It's a starmap to his home universe. It's quite a ways off. <<If you fail as Omni-Man did, you will not stop me next time.>> he promises, as he turns and he waves his tentacles.

After he does so, a new portal snaps into existence to start to usher his children to where they came from. r
<<Call off your compatriots and we will leave. Continue and...>>

The attacks on both Bunny and Natasha slack off as the Squidmen start to make their retreat, though if they are attacked, they will fight back! Not that they have the numbers now to continue the attack.

In the sky above, the blue and yellow of Invincible descends towards the scene. "Hey all, got this covered?" he asks, hands set on his hips. And hoping Carol says 'No.'.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol remains hovering in place as the tentacles release her, although she does breathe a bit easier. She watches as the Squidmen cease their attack, and nods towards Octoboss. <<I accept.>> She glances at the starmap. <<I may need your help if you know how to build such a device, but I would be happy to..>>

She cuts off as Mark appears, and frowns as she spots him.

"Yes. But don't go far, I have some words for you."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    The attack's called off, and as soon as aggression towards her and civvies is ended, Bunny comes out, still with the paper bag between her teeth as she looks to the squids and to Captain Marvel (!!!!) cutting a deal, and she breathes out in releif.

    No one, it looked like, got axed on the human side, and she was genuinely sorry about that dude she kinda made into jelly.

    She gives an Upnod to The Shadow, and then, looking up to Mark, she gives an excited wave, and bouncing on her skates she squeaks out "Erhmergerd! is HAPTAM MARFEL!!" quietly, and then she looks crosseyed, realizing she still has the bag of food -- BLEH!

    "Ohmigod it's /Captain Marvel/!!!"

    Pause. Rustle.

    "Also got you a sandwich."

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    As the squidmen retreat, the Shadow lowers her weapons and lets the squidmen leave unmolested - if empty-handed - and turns her gaze up to the two floating heroes, clearly waiting for them to come down and discuss matters if they're so inclined.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Octoboss nods his agreement to Carol, and just like that, the Squidmen and Octoboss start to pull back out through the new portal. Octoboss glances at the Shadow and he gives a snort, before he too pulls through and the portal twinkles out of existence behind him.

Invincible grins. "Sandwich? Awesome!" He floats down to first make sure Bunny's okay before kissing her cheek and accepting the bag. "...why is it so wet?" he asks.

But then Carol's words reach his ears and he looks confused. Because the tone she just used totally reminded him of when his guidance counselor called him to the office and held up his workplace placement sheet. 'You can't have Superhero as a career, Grayson.' She had told him.

He showed her.

"Uh. Sure?" he asks in confusion as he reaches into the bag to retrieve his lunch.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Mark sure did show that guidance counselor.

    "Oh -- uh I kinda held it in my teeth the whole fight. I needed my hands." Bunny replies, motioning to her batons, and she treads on her feet as she grins, Hopping up on a handy overturned car to take a seat for the debriefing.

    "Do you think I can get her autograph in my autograph book I really hope I didn't forget it in my bag at home and omigosh that would be the absolute coolest because did you know she's pretty much the strongest one and can go into space and just hang out there and goes just like 'blam!' and ohmigosh she is so freaking *cool*." she whispers to Mark.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The Shadow turns their gaze on Mark, blue eyes blazing underneath the rim of that slouch hat. "I find myself curious why a group of aliens would want to rob an Earth bank," they eventually ask. "To the best of my knowledge, dollars are all but worthless off this world. Did their leader say anything useful?"

Mark Grayson has posed:
Taking a bite of the sandwich, Mark chews as he considers the Shadow's question. She's a bit intimidating, but he manages to keep his focus.

"I don't know any squid languages, sorry." he offers earnestly, before he frowns. "D... Omni-Man mentioned squid people once. Something about trying to raise the money needed to buy the materials and technology they need to repair their spaceship, or something." There's a roll of his shoulders.

"That was like... before I was born. They're still around?"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "They DID Mention Omni-Man. I caught that much, but my Squideese is kinda rusty." Prisma states, digging out her own sandwich, and then looking into the bag, she offers the Bacon Egg and White Cheddar on Everything Bagel to The Shadow. She could always skate back and ask nicely for another one.

    "Once Captain Marvel's done with the leader we can ask I guess, and then... um..." she looks at the upturned car she was sitting on "... probably should let the clean up crew in."

Carol Danvers has posed:
After watching to see to the effective retreat of the Octoboss and his followers, Carol floats down towards the group, a brief frown on her face as she hears Mark speaking.

"They came claiming that Omni-Man promised help, but didn't deliver, and so they were taking what they need." She looks to him. "They gave us two weeks to solve, or else they will be back. So I am giving you one week to figure out what you need to do to help them. Please don't make me regret that."

She turns to look towards Bunny, and smiles. "I'll happily take your sandwich."

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    "That would explain why they wanted money," the Shadow muses, looking from Carol to Mark and back. "That does raise another question, however: Who were they planning on paying with this money, and in exchange for what, precisely? The expertise to repair alien spacecraft isn't exactly common either..."

Mark Grayson has posed:
Chewchewchew*COUGHHACKSPLUTTERCHOKECOUGHSPIT*

"Wait /What/??" Invincible manages when Captain Marvel calls him out. "How am I supposed to figure out something from over twenty years ago?" he manages with a splutter. Sure, he could just go ask his father, but /really/!

"Omni-Man lost his powers! It's not like he didn't want to help!" he's clearly flustered, arms going across his chest defensively. He glances down, his eyes glanced downwards as he tries to think on it.

When Natasha asks her question, Invincible's frown only deepens. "I don't know." he admits, suddenly no longer wanting his sandwich. "Isn't this like... an Avengers level threat or something?"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny makes an eeeee sound and turns over the sandwich to Carol Danvers. She looks up to Invincible, and hopping off the car she asks 'Hey, Invincible, can you set this car right-side-up? It's a little tight for a tow truck. I'll hold your lunch." she suggests, giving Mark and excuse to task something else as she considers and takes his sandwich, falling into Problem Solving mode.

    "It could be taken up to Tony Stark. I'm sure he'd have a couple ideas if we can get the schematics and translate their fear. He's the only one I can think of off the top of my heaaaalllow I'm Prisma, of the Young Avengers, it's a pleasure to meet you Captain Marvel and ah--" she turns and looks to the Shadow, "And you as well!" she tacks on hurriedly, not knowing The Shadow off the top of HER head, and she takes a bite out of Mark's sandwich.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The dark-clad figure inclines its head towards Bunny. "I am known as the Shadow," they respond. "Mr. Stark might indeed be able to help, although I doubt he'll take stolen money as payment."

    The figure looks away for a moment as they ponder. "An illicit technologist of some kind, perhaps; it would depend on what kind of parts their ship requires, and whether they have the expertise to make repairs themselves given the parts -- although I expect that if they could do that they'd have done so by now."

    The figure turns back to Mark. "If you could find Omni-man or any of his associates they might be able to shed more light on what their actual problem is."

    It's Carol's turn next to face those blazing blue eyes. "That said, does he need to fix their problem within that time limit, or will it suffice if he makes good faith efforts to assist?"

Carol Danvers has posed:
"Huh." Carol takes a bite out of the sandwich, chewing slowly as she stares up at Invincible. Chew. Chew. Chew.

"Sounds like someone should be careful about making promises." She brings up the sandwich again. Takes a bite. Chew. Chew. Chew.

"Maybe go ask Omni-Man what he was planning to do, and figure out how he planned to do it." She takes up the sandwich and takes another bite. Chew. Chew. Chew.

She lowers herself down and turns to smile at Bunny. "Great sandwich. Thanks kid." She balls up the wrapper and tosses it into the trashcan. "Where'd you get it? Next time I'll in the area I'll stop by and tell them Prisma sent me." Her smile twists into a grin.

She looks towards Natasha. "This definitely sounds like a problem that Omni-Man's associates should take ownership of." She turns and glances over towards Invincible, raising an eyebrow.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Oh ah... right over there. Sachmo's Sasquatch Sandwiches and Coffee. Their coffee bar got taken out by a robot last week so all their sandwiches are half-price to sell out of the stock quick before theyc lose down for repairs."

    "Invincible's with the Young Avengers. And that makes it our problem too." Prisma states, drawing herself up to her full 5'2 with the rollerskates on, even though her hands are still shaking a little bit because she is decidingly not trying to contradict an Avenger. A Proper Avenger. Who she just gave her own sandwich to.

    "Ma'am." she tacks on, unsure.

Mark Grayson has posed:
"I mean, it's not like they couldn't have come out at any other time in the last twenty years." Invincible's not looking anyone in the eye. Straight to the ground as he scuffs his foot against some squid goop.

Bunny's distraction is on point and on time. "Oh. Yeah. Sure." he offers as he moves to lift the car with one hand, tosses it so that it twists upright and it lands back in his hand and he sets it down, like he's going through the motions.

"I'll go track them down and figure out what they want. Omni-Man might have known that." he shrugs his shoulders. The sins of the Father, right? Foreshadowing?

Then he finally looks between Shadow and Carol. "You're both right. I should deal with it." Though Bunny's words come and he offers her a genuine smile at the little Avenger. Clearly something between those two.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The Shadow nods. "You have a point," the figure replies to Mark. "There may be a reason they've waited this long -- as well as a reason why they stopped waiting now. I would recommend you find the answers."

    A glance down at the scattered half-bills. "As for myself, I will see if I can find out who was expecting this payment, and what they intended to do with it."

Carol Danvers has posed:
"I didn't see a wrist watch on any of them. Maybe they don't know what two weeks or twenty years is."

Carol looks over towards Mark. "Maybe you'll be lucky and when they say two weeks they mean twenty years again, and you can push off the responsibility to the next generation just like your..."

She pauses, and then glances at the other two. She gives Prisma a bit more scrutiny. "Taking on responsibility is an admirable trait. Taking on too much, less so."

And with that, Carol floats up and then POOFS as she zaps away into the sky.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Carol's words snap Mark. His hands grip, his frame straightens. And for just a moment, he looks like he's about to crater the street and go after Carol as she streaks away.

It takes several deep breaths for him to start to slow down and not follow through.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny opens her mouth to protest, and then she takes a deep breath, and lets it out and turns to Mark, looking at the Blue-and-yellow clad Invincible, and she reaches out to grab his hand.

    "We're good. You know how old people get." she jokes lightly.

    And she squeezes at his hand. And offers him the rest of his sandwich. It's missing about half of the sandwich.

    Bunny has a little bit of bacon clinging to her cheek.