16644/Omni-Man: The Big Broadcast of 2024

Omni-Man: The Big Broadcast of 2024
Date of Scene:	31 December 2023
Location:	Hawaii
Synopsis:	A team of heroes moves to thwart Omni-Man's plans to contact the Viltrum Empire. Mark gets more than his heart broke. Hostages saved, Maulers defeated... but was it a real win?
Cast of Characters:	Mark Grayson, Sunny Harlow, Bunny Macleod, Caitlin Fairchild, Molly Hayes, Belinda Gutierrez, Billy Kaplan, Miles Morales

---

Mark Grayson has posed:
When Omni-Man's location had been ascertained, the message went out to Mark Grayson on where he was located and was asked what the play was going to be. There was a frown, but a plan finally formulated. Mark would go ahead and try to stall Omni-Man and buy time for Sunny to come to his aid. In the meantime, Bunny would go to Cecil's location with Mark's T-Comm and try to raise both those with the Titans and Young Avengers and any other contacts Mark, Sunny or Bunny may have for assistance. There was a quiet moment for the three together, before Mark changed into his costume and rocketed skywards, looking to use the Earth's orbit to get him quickly to his destination.

-----

The Maunea Kea Astronomy Facility is a series of observatories that are seven in number. Operated by at least 16 different countries, the facility keeps watch on the stars and also houses the most powerful laser transmitter on Earth. Built in the basin of a dormant volcano, the landscape around the facilities are bare, but the hills that surround it are full of lush plant and animal life, making it the perfect place for a nature perserve and is a great place to observe nature in all of it's glory.

The planetary bodies that are under observation today are /far/ closer to Earth. In fact, as the pair of them collide, one of them plummets to the ground, slamming into the hillside, which explodes upwards and craters with the impact, throwing up dirt and debris. INVINCIBLE lies in the crater on his back, spitting up blood as he gasps for breath. The fight has raged on for several minutes and the young hero is clear, seriously outclassed.

The front of his uniform is ripped to shreds, the flesh beneath it bruised and buckled. His face has been broken, bloodied and battered. One of his arms hangs uselessly at his side, the gloves of his fingers exposing broken fingers. But he still clutches a fist in defiance, even as he goes to a knee, he's barely hurt Omni-Man. "Y-you don't have to do this." he gasps, coughing between split lips and a bloodied nose. "We could stand against them. T-together. With Indestructibelle. With o-others." He looks up desperatedly at the figure that hovers before him, that cold, indifferent glare that cuts him harder than even Superman's heat vision could.

"Dad. Please."

-----

At an undisclosed location, Cecil Steadman frowns as he watches the battle between the two with a grunt. Next to him, Debbie Grayson, Mark's mother, can no longer bear to watch. Cecil gives a grunt under his breath and glaces aside towards where PRISMA is with Donald, the pair of them sending out messages. "Hope she gets help for the kid, soon." he grumbles. "Otherwise..."

-----

At the laser transmitter, there's a different issue going on. Two large, muscular blue-skinned bald men dressed in unitards are holding a group of scientists hostage, one of the MAULER TWINS moving toward the control panel. "If he's right, I should have the transmitter on target for where he said Viltrum is in a couple of minutes." one of the pair says and grunts. "Keep an eye on them, clone. We don't need any troublemakers...." As he hears the crash outside, he chuckles. "Though that should be enough incintive to keep them in line."

The second Mauler glares over at his Twin. "Why are we doing this again? Inviting a planetary invasion never sounds like a good plan."

"That's why you're the clone, clone." The first Mauler responds. "Because we get Australia out of this. And even if fails? Maybe we get a few less heroes to have to deal with in the future. Especially... him."

The second Mauler chuckles and snorts as he turns his attention back the hostages. "No funny ideas, folks. Just stay put and we'll let you loose soon. Cause any trouble and like that kid outside, you'll find out that you are not..."

                                  Invincible                                  

Sunny Harlow has posed:
To say that Sunny hated this plann was understatement of the year, and given that things were coming to the end of the year that was no small feat. With Mark zooming ahead to delay and time being bought the blonde heroine adjusted her new reinforced costume. Not that she thought for even a moment that it could stand up even the slightest against Nolan's strength. Still, Indestructibelle might as well look the part.

Hair tied back, communicator on, Sunny hadn't quite achieved the precision that Mark had to go that fast without going -too- fast and accidently devestating the environment around her if she wasn't in space, so she'd had to do just that.

Rocketing upwards to break atmosphere and litterally flying above the planet, dialing in had taken long, too long...but the beacon attached to her own communicator would at least help others find their way.

Assuming it would last long enough, or that -she- would last long enough.

Pushing the limits of what was -safe- the Sunny's form probably looked like a meteorite attempting reentry as she streeked towards where Omni-man stood, a cry of braced effort as she was essentially attempting to tackle the viltrumite with all the force someone who didn't want to set part of the atmosphere on fire could achieve.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    There's a lot that goes on as Invincible comes crashing down to the Earth. PRISMA is taken to another location with Mark's T-Comm, sending out messages to the Titans, the Young Avengers, open bands -- anyone that would help Invincible in his time of need. She had protested, of course -- but Cecil had been quick to point out that being able to better knock around an eighty pound bag wasn't going to do shit against Omni-Man. There was also one thing Cecil was holding on to.

---------

    OMNI-MAN drifts down, looming over Invincible, his eyes set coldly on his son. Not a hair moves on his head or mustache, nor does his serious frown stir. Not even with his son's blood spattered across his knuckles and chest.

    "You just aren't getting it, Mark. There is no 'standing against' the Viltrumite Empire. It is Inevitable. Look at this planet around you, under you -- we could eliminate war. Cure all diseases -- cure cancer! Preparing these humans and the other denizens of this planet is an honor given to me, and by extension to you, and to Sunny. This --" he finally breaks his scowl, his face softening just a micron "/mistake/ that you're making can be overlooked,"

    the red cape of Omni-Man flutters behind him as he impassively looks down at the kneeling boy in front of him.

    "Bunny's end was regretable, but needed. I had to *show you* their utter fragility. It doesn't *matter* who comes to this planet's defense, Mark. Just like I did -- I should have raised you with the truth. But I had to make sure you would develop powers. Now. I will ask you one..."

    "Last..." Nolan's head tilts back, his eyes taken off Mark for a brief moment, as if waiting for Sunny to make her move.

    "Time. Join me. We'll convince Sunny. You can even have your *choice* of human or mutant women to keep as yours. Just... don't make me hurt you -- or Sunny -- any more, son."

    

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
When the call for aid went out, Caitlin Fairchild responded immediately. "<We've got a Tier Two threat,>" she warns over the communications net. "<Mark needs help but if Omni-Man is out of your weight category, you might want to hang back.>"

The T-Jet is loaded up and readied in short order, and once everyone immediately available is boarded, Caitlin launches the vessel from the roof of Titan's Tower. The redhead is clad in her heaviest Amazon combat armor, weapons at hand and looking ready for a fight.

They make great time to Hawaii; faster than any commercial aircraft could go, riding in the exosphere at face-melting speeds. The ship makes a titanic sonic *boom* when it re-enters the atmosphere a few miles away, and Caitlin sends the ship arrowing right for Mark and Omni-Man.

"Anyone who can fly or fall, we're ditching here," she explains, and gets to her feet with the plane on 'Autopilot'. "I don't want to risk him taking the T-Jet out. Everyone else, it'll land automatically down at the quay. Make the best time you can to get to us."

Caitlin checks the trajectory of the T-jet, plops her helmet over her brow, and leaps out of the plane with a total fearlessness, making a ballistic arc towards Mark like a literal, living missile.

Molly Hayes has posed:
Molly Hayes qualifies in the fly or fall category. Fall because she's an invulnerable nugget of a young woman, not as little as once she was, but still petite in build and with a bright, cheerful quality. All of which is a little muted right now, as they find themselves facing a guy that had once appeared to be one of Earth's great heroes. And he's Invincible's dad! Geez! That's rough! Nobody knew how much it sucked having an evil parent more than Molly Hayes. She remembered her own shock. She'd run away from home to try to save herself from it. But if she'd had to just fight them, straight up? Could she have even brought herself to do it.

"OH CRAP MY TURN."

Oh, and the fly is because she has a jet pack, designed by Valeria Richards, custom made to her specifications. Her hair flies in the wind as she takes off, blasting forward and corkscrewing a bit as she does so. Okay, so, maybe she's still getting the hang of steering.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Hawai'i. A place of romance, of adventure, of excitement, of vision and wonder and dreams! Not a place for nightmares, For battles. For any of the hundreds of other bitter lessons taught by nature and history.

And like those stoic oceanic peaks that form the island chain of Hawai'i, nature doesn't care. About the battle raging above, or the observatories, or the people held within.

<<<"Got it!" > >>sings out the gruff, growling voice from behind. Staying with the landing craft, Silverdane gazes out the window, breath held in check as she shivers at the flora, the atmosphere...

The distant shockwave of battle, carrying even over the T-Jet's engines. And that squealling sound over the commbead in her ear, barely at the edge of hearing. Again.

<<"Is anyone else hearing that?"  >>Silverdane grumbles, wincing as she rubs her head. <<"Worse than a petstore..." >

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    The holiday break means one thing, since Hanukkah technically happened during finals (and boy was that an extra level of stress on top of an already brutally tense period of time): video games. There are so many that Billy needs to catch up on now that he has free time, and only so many hours in the day. He's just now into Act 2 of a certain highly-lauded turn-based RPG based on a tabletop game, about a hundred hours in, when the alert goes out to the Young Avengers.

    And does Billy kind of want to ignore it? No, of course not, he's still giddy about being a superhero even a couple of years into his caped career, but he does lament not being able to make it back to camp for the night before he quicksaves.

    It's a minute or so later before Wiccan appears high above the islands of Hawaii, red cape whipping back and forth dramatically in the wind. The high-contrast cyan of his magic dissipates and he looks downwards, breath catching in his throat as he sees the state of Mark on the ground. This next teleportation spell is much quicker to weave together, and he pops back into reality much nearer to the fight, at Invincible's back. "Holy shit," he breathes, now that he's up-close and can truly see the state of the damage. Then his fingers light up with magic energy, ready to call his power forth.

Miles Morales has posed:
Woah...Omni-Man is EVIL!

Crap, that's a problem, probably! But at least there was a call for help! Spider-Man was one of the first people to answer it, even if he was more of an..extended line. He arrives in short order, black suit, red webbing. Mask covering his features. "Alright, Spider-Man on board!" He taps the bottom of the T-Jet as he hangs on. They make good time to Hawaii, but Miles doesn't even know if he can fight.../that/.

How CAN he fight that?!

When its time to ditch, Miles takes that deep breath. It was time to be brave. It was time to fight. Miles LEAPS off of the T-Jet and immediately camouflages himself with his environment, turning completely invisible as he starts to swing towards the fight. While not quite a living missile or a jetpack battery heading for the same spot, Spider-Man tries to take a more...stealth-based approach.

Miles swings through the brush and sky of Hawaii, trying to get close. Maybe he can get Mark out of there. Or take Omni-Man by surprise.

...anybody have a better plan?

Mark Grayson has posed:
"You're right, dad..." Invincible spits. The mask is ruined, there's no point in it. Ripping what's left of it aside, some might recognize Mark Grayson, college student and best friend of Eve Wilkins. As the reinforcements start to arrive, there's that first breath of relief. "Even if Sunny and I did... I believe in this world..." A step forward.

Sunny's arrival nearly catches his breath, but he knew there was no chance he was going to keep her away. And in truth, he's glad she's made it.

Another step and he drags himself off the ground. That arm hangs uselessly, but the other is brought up into a fighting position. He doesn't have much left in the tank, but he's going to use it. "...you're right... I can't stop you alone. But."

A glance around him, and then upwards, thankful that Bunny stayed back. Because he's about to do something terribly stupid. "I can count on my friends." And with that, he rushes at Omni-Man, fist drawn back, because he is totally going to rush his father with one last swing.

----

What Belinda is hearing is one of the scientists using a transmitter. It was meant to be a low level transmitter to alert the nearby Marine garrison of trouble, but with the Mauler Twins trying to block all transmissions but their own, the range was severly limited - Silverdane is just now able to catch it.

Not that they are realizing this as they continue to work to move and adjust the transmitter to get it into position for the broadcast.

"Uhoh." One of the twins says.

"What do you mean, uh-oh?" the other asks.

"The kid did something we didn't expect. He brought in reinforcements." He frowns. "This could be bad for us."

The other Mauler snorts. "Omni-Man will keep them busy, they probably don't even know we're here!"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Omni-Man stares at Mark, and then looks up at the arriving heroes.

    "Then I'll just have to kill them too." he states, and as Mark rears his hand back and punches, Nolan brings his blood-spattered hand up and catches it. His eyes narrow.

    "Remember, Mark. You brought this on all your friends." he states, just for his hearing, and then with a grunt of effort he turns and slings Mark into the oncoming Sunny, trying to send them both rocketing to the edge of the caldera to loosen up some of that nice, sharp bassalt rock.

    The others surrounding him are given stares of utter indifference.

    "You will either bow before the Viltrum Empire, or you will die. Your choice. I don't have any reason to keep any of *you* alive." he states, gripping his hands so tight that the material of his gloves squeak quietly, dripping blood as he regards each in turn.

=====

    Inside the undisclosed location, Bunny is watching with her heart in her throat. She has the T-Comm and her own Young Avengers earbud in, sharing the monitorring with Cecil's team.

    <<He's going to be really quick and go for brutality over finesse. Mid-Range fighting may be best -- he has no problem gouging your eyeballs or ripping your jaw off. Trust me on that one." she states into the comms. Definitely not dead, but she's not going to let on that she's hiding out for a reason.

Sunny Harlow has posed:
Mid-range fighting wasn't something that Sunny could field, not in any meaningful way anyway. Instead, her superspeed rush towards the moustache-bearing monster comes to a quick hasty halt as she's forced to brace against the impact of Mark being flung at her. She catches, but that doesn't mean it harmless. The air is forced out of her lungs as Mark impacts against her, reversing her thrust to try and break still means that she was hit back hard and sent sprawling, landing with Mark atop of her as they're sent skidding through the dirt.

"Are you okay?" she questions, trying to draw the far more injured hero up to his feet. "Can you move?"

She wanted to help, but she hadn't planned on starting as a cushion.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin doesn't just land. She crashes to the ground hard enough to shake the dirt loose from the earth and kick up debris around her. Two steps arrest her momentum and she immediately squares up with Nolan. The Titans are all incredible fighters, but not even Donna and Kara can match up to Caitlin's sheer, stubborn, willful refusal to admit she's taken a hit.

There is a hard expression under that Amazon helmet. Not just anger-- fury. Righteous, well-justified fury. Mark's a bleeding, broken mess. Omni-Man is standing there with his blood on his fists.

"There's no Viltrumite Empire, Nolan," Caitlin tells him with an icy tone. A shield is readied on her left arm; with her right hand she readies a short spear, the distinct curves and decor marking both as of Amazon make. Mythical materials, the stuff of legends.

"And you're no Emperor. Just one more deadbeat dad taking his problems out on his kid."

There's just a moment of tension after that last word and then Caitlin explodes forward with the sort of acceleration most people don't expect from her. Shield high, spear low, and she makes no bones at all about going for blood with the enchanted weapon.

Caitlin might have raided Donna's war closet before heading out for this particular mission.

Molly Hayes has posed:
Molly Hayes kind of hits the ground not far behind Caitlin and a little askew, sliding off to the side and leaving a furrow in the dirt. It's like she's sliding into home plate, if home plate were the battleground where Omni-Man has been beating the living bejesus out of his noble child.

Molly pushes herself up and out of the dirt, shaking it off and making sure to turn off her backpack. By the time she's done doing that, Caitlin has just about finished speaking, allowing Molly to add some punctuation.

"YEAH! YOU JERK!" And then she lets out a wild cry and goes barreling in on her own power. She doesn't have an enchanted weapon, just some mighty fists, but would they be mighty enough to put a dent in Omni-Man?

Well, looks like she's gonna find out.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Silverdane's ears flick the closer the T-Jet gets to landing, wincing in a growl as she gazes about. "...Dios," she mutters to herself, shaking her head. That sound, distracting! High-pitched, squeaking like a radio band over the commlink, it is insistent and keening and--

The wolf-girl stops, freezing suddenly, listening to the strange sound with sudden intensity. The mix of pops and squeals. The frequency. The high-pitched keening.

"...el silbo," she murmurs to herself, eyes widening. "Dogwhistles. Morse code?" Pop-pop-pop. Crackle-squeal-crackle. Pop-pop-pop.

<< "Silverdane here," >> the werewolf announces, falling to all fours, sprinting flat out towards the distant Observatory. << "Sound, the signal-- it is Morse code. Dog-whistle SOS! Checking observatorio." >>

Breath running, racing like a bellows, thoughts are short, swift, sharp as she races forward, long lope devouring the ground. Thoughts-- what would Abuela, what would Mr. Stadler do? Plan, consider, devise!

...probably call in an airstrike. Steal a tank. Call in los Marinos.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    The only even vaguely quippy thing Wiccan can come up with in the moment is a terse "Hard pass," to Omni-Man's offer. Which isn't much of a quip, but it also wasn't much of an offer either, was it?

    Still, Billy's accutely aware of how much he does not want to get into close quarters combat with Omni-Man, so he hangs back. The mystical energy that had begun to light up his hands suffuses his entire being, until it coalesces like an aurora around him, lifting him a couple of inches off the ground.

    If anyone's close enough to him, they might hear him muttering under his breath. Most things nowadays don't really require him to fall back on old habits, like when he used positive thinking and manifesting his thoughts as his main method of spell-casting, but today seems like a good time to bring that back.

    "I-want-him-to-stop I-want-him-to-stop I-want-him-to-stop..." Chains of pure magical energy erupt from the ground around Omni-Man and reach out like writhing tentacles to try and grab him!

Miles Morales has posed:
Okay, it looks like everyone else is going STRAIGHT for Omni-Man. It's smart. Surround him, keep him busy, maybe even make sure that he has to fight through all of them to get to Mark. Or at least...that's what it looks like to Spider-Man. He has to be smart about this. He's tough, but he doesn't know if he can take a hit from Omni-Man if he's trying to kill. He doesn't know if he can hang in the same arena as people like Invincible or Molly Hayes or Fairchild or even Kaplan.

But what he can do? Do what Spiders are good at: be a nuisance to humanity.

Though he seems to like Billy's idea, his hands reaching out from stealth as he takes a leap through the air, firing numerous webs at Omni-Man to try to cover him in his powerful webbing!

"Heeeeey Omni-Man! So, the name Omni-Man, I feel like we really need to rework that. It's /really/ arrogant, you know? Not great for PR."

Because if he's not talking shit, is he Spider-Man?

Ugh, Peter does this better.

Mark Grayson has posed:
That fist slams into Omni-Man's hand, and really, it was Invincible's last gasp. Cast aside by his father, he was ready to just slam into the ground again when he finds himself in Sunny's arms as she brings him to a halt. "God, I adore you." he manages to the other Viltrumite. "I'm a wreck." comes the quiet admission.

"Be careful. Try to stay in his blind spot." It's only encouragement he offers to Sunny as she sets him down. "I'll get back in there as soon as..." he can. But before she flees, he gestures towards his dislocated shoulder.

"You mind?"

-----

At the transmission station, the Maulers are watching the progress on the transmitter. Even the five hostages they have are forgotten about as they have single-mindedly set on the task before them. "Pay attention, dweebs." One of the Maulers says to their captors. "We're about to make contact with a whole new world. Well. That's been done. But it will be great for all of us." he explains.

The other Mauler snorts. "Why are you explaining it to the pleebs, clone?" he asks as he makes the final adjustments. "Once we get this signal off, there's going to be a whole mess of Omni-Men heading this way."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    The tired eyes flick over to the oncoming Amazonian-styled warrior. He doesn't seem phased in the least.

    "I assure you, there is a Viltrumite Empire," Nolan replies to Caitlin, his eyes narrowing and his mouth ticking into a frown as he braces himself for her attack. Shield high and spear low, he times himself precisely with centuries of experience fighting as he side-steps and grabs the shaft of the spear beneath the head, and turns it. He tries to maneuver Caitlin into a turn, steering to crash her into Molly Hayes as the younger woman comes into attack, looking to beat one with the other.

    "I am just the harbinger. This planet /will/ fall to Viltrum. There is nothing you 'heroes' can do about it."

    His ear tweaks. He eye narrows and releases the spear's shaft, and shoots upwards, attempting to escape the magical energy chains.

    "Some 'hocus pocus' isn't going to be enough to stop me. Better to save your breath and beg for mercy!" he calls out to Wiccan in warning.

    "Look at you. None of you over the age of thirty. You're all *children*, stuffed with ideas of /justice/ and what is /good/. I am trying to tell you -- Viltrum will bring the Greater Good to this planet. No wars over different ideals or religions. No crime! To be part of the Viltrum Empire means that you will have *peace*. All we ask is your *obedience*!"

    And as Miles attempts to web him, Omni-Man just sort of... stares. There's a mildly concerned look for Miles as he reaches up and wraps as much web up in his hand.

    "I didn't pick it." he states, "And which spider are you supposed to be?" he asks, and breaking the web away, he decends, even as the chains of magic may follow him, and he tries to get beneath the Spider, and upper-cut Miles in Billy's direction with intent to break bone and burst organ.

    "I can see Earth isn't sending their best."

Sunny Harlow has posed:
The others come into the fray, a welcome relief given how their last fight went. Sure they might be stronger but...still, more allies was a comfort. The offered shoulder brings a moment of sharp pain as Sunny takes Mark's wist and aligns it...well, exactly the way that hers had to be. Hand on the axilla and pressure applied with a painful pop there's a kiss planted on the other heroes cheek before exhaling a breath and launching into the fray...

Of course, with the beacon scanning around her there might be every chance that the Mauler's attempts might be detected.

He was tied down, even for a moment, she comes in to claim the chance and throws herself into a twisting drove of her foot into his face, propelled by that flight.

One of the advantages of Viltrumites was that they could create leverage without pushing off anything, and she was trying to push that to the limit.

"There's always more of us," she offers, counting herself among 'us', "and we're stubbon like that."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin is far from the crude bruiser she was as a child. Young, yes-- just thirteen years of age, really. Thirteen years of living in the world and not being educated in a VR hood.

And over those thirteen years, she has been engaged in almost constant combat training. With her superior genetics, superior brain, superior /willpower/. She is far from the dumb bruiser Nolan seems to take her for, and when he tries to shove her into Molly, Caitlin ducks and twirls on her greaves so the girl passes over her. She even reaches up and grabs Molly by the belt to keep her from getting flung out of the way.

"Billy, gonna need a Red Bull," Caitlin declares as Nolan takes to the skies.

The timing couldn't be better, because just as he lunges at Miles, Caitlin intercepts his course with an explosive upwards leap that could carry both of them the better part of a quarter mile in the air. The shield gets ditched and she manages to hook the spear haft around Omni-Man's elbow to pull it back into a painful kimura.

Caitlin has, also, spent her entire life training to fight people with a flight advantage on her. It's not something that comes up until it comes up, for most heroes.

"I put Doomsday on his butt, Nolan!" she shouts in his ear. "You think I won't put you in traction?" It's not much of a threat as threats go, but the torque she's putting on his arm is a statement all on its own.

Molly Hayes has posed:
Molly Hayes is like Caitlin, but without all the training. And a lot shorter. She passes over Caitlin's duck, alright, and right into Omni Man's sweeping hand. It catches her across the face and blood explodes from her nose - shocking enough, given how utterly invulnerable Molly seems most of the time, a little condensed ball of pure power.

But she's still a petite teenager and she's sent flying, end over end, careening head over heels until she crashes down headfirst. Her jetpack is thankfully intact, but she comes up groggy, shaking out the cobwebs and left on her hands and knees. She's never been hit that hard, not by anyone. She coughs up some blood for a second, feeling it filling her mouth. She's not going to cry. This isn't the place for that.

Suck it up, Molly. Get up. Fight back.

She pushes her way slowly to her feet and lets out a growl, gritting her teeth as she punches her hand into her palm with an enormous pop. She's not done yet.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Spiders-- they can be annoying. But also unbelievably sneaky and potent. And most importantly-- Spanish! And proportionally strong. As Silverdane catches sight of the torn-open side of the Observatory building....

Try not to listen to the thunder of battle.

<< "Hombre Aranya!" >> comes the call; the words are short, clipped-- running! English momentarily forgotten as Spanish shows through. << "Spiderman! Am on way to Observatory. Need assist. Something tore inside--" >>

Pause, scrape to stop. Hot breaths. Scent. Breathe. Taste the air.

<< "...it is still there. North wall, meet me here!" >>

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    As a current college student, Billy understands the call for a Red Bull as a need for caffeination, so he's completely thrown off-guard by Caitlin's request. His repeated mantra stops so he can offer up a confused, "Wait, what?" only for it to click in his head.

    Because what does Red Bull give you?

    Wings!

    It takes only a momentary shift in attention from the spell he's currently casting to refocus his attention on Caitlin, and conjuring up some spare mystical energy to send thataway. It's inelegant; Caitlin doesn't get wings so much as the suggestion of wings, vague shapes made of Wiccan's magic attached to her back that will nevertheless get her up into the air (or help her safely return to the ground, if needed).

    Who knows how long they'll last without his direct attention on them, though.

    In the meantime the spell Billy was weaving into reality has distorted; the chains growing and bulging in strange places until they seem more like the grabbing tentacles they were acting as beforehand. It isn't until Wiccan's focus returns to that muttered spell-casting that they return to their original form, extending from several glowing pools on the ground to snake upwards in an attempt to snare Omni-Man.

Miles Morales has posed:
Miles throws the webs at Omni-Man!

NICE!

WIN!

...Only the webs don't do anything and Spider-Man becomes visible. "Crap." Is what he says as Omni-Man just takes the webs off of him. "Like I didn't pick Spider-Man? C'mon, man." Though when he asks which Spider he is, Spider-Man looks at his chest. "Uhhh...the one without student loans?" Scholarships, BABY! Though as Spider-Man is falling, there's suddenly a Viltrumite underneath him with an uppercut trying to get into his ribcage. Thankfully..

Two things happen.

Firstly, that fist is avoided perfectly by a well-timed Web to push him out of the way. Additionally, Caitlin Fairchild gets in the way to try and take the fight to new heights.

"HEY! YOU KNOW I CAN'T FLY!" Miles calls up to Caitlin, though he hears something: A communication. He lifts the call to his ear. <<Si?>> He answers to the call of 'Hombre Aranya'.

<< Estoy en camino! >>

And soon enough, Spider-Man is right back on the move! Hoping to meet Belinda at the North wall. Hopefully he can get there without Omni-Man interference and hopefully he can get there without getting caught in crossfire.

Mark Grayson has posed:
The loud crack that resets Mark's shoulder makes him cry out in pain for a moment before he grits his teeth to choke it off. There's a battle that needs to be rejoined. Rising shakily off the ground, the young Viltrumite sets his jaw. "You were young when you arrived here!" At least that's what he's always assumed, when it came to his dad's arrival. "And you met mom and fell in love! You can't tell me you don't have ties to here!" he calls up to his father.

"They're going to keep coming, they're going to keep fighting... they're all going to keep fighting." And then Mark pauses in his fight and stands there. "I'm going to keep fighting you. If you want to stop me, dad..." he stills himself and braces.

"You're going to have to kill me. And Sunny."

He's sure that Sunny probably doesn't appreciate being volunteered in this, but they're in this for the long haul, right?

Relationship goals.

-----

So far, the Mauler Twins have been unbothered. Unfettered in their part of the scheme. And all seems to be ready. "Alright. We ready to make first contact?" Mauler One asks the other Mauler Twin.

The other Mauler turns to look at his twin and he chuckles. "Took you long enough, clone, I'd been ready five minutes ago."

The large antenna of the transmitter is aimed into the sector of space that they were told that Viltrum would be... somewhere way way out there.

And a finger moves to press the button...

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    The explosive leap upwards does catch Omni-Man by surprise, helping the young Spider avoid getting a cain of Raid placed where it's most uncomfortable via Omni-Fist. He narrows his eyes as the haft of the spear catches around his elbow, but he doesn't grand her pulling it back. He has the immense strength to move globes if he wanted to. He doesn't let a child get him.

    He gives a twitch at the shout in his ear, but he doesn't deign to give Caitlin a reply. With a grunt, he brings his arm forward with a snap, looking to send Caitlin flying with force down to the volcano's caldera and make a nice Caitlin-shaped-hole in the ground with the force.

    Sunny's kick hits him there. There is a satisfying CRUNCH as his nose dislocates, and he turns his rage to the blonde Viltrumite. He bares his teeth in a grimmace, and reaching to grab her shoulder and arm, swings her around to try and send her flying on top of Caitlin in the Caitlin Shaped Hole, turning to regard Molly's smash against her palm with a look of exhausted disappointment. Very much a disappointed parent look.

    He's utterly unaware that the Maulers are having some difficulty in the shape of Silver Dane and Spider-Man (who are being cheered on via comm by Prisma of the Young Avengers).

    He sighs. He looks to Mark as he returns.

    "Mark. You're not even old enough to *drink* in this country. As you get older, your aging will *slow*. Every normal human being around you will age, and die, before you even look thirty. I am older than most civilzations on this dirtball. Your mother fufilled what I needed her to do, that's all." he floats, looking around to the heroes.

    "But if I have to kill you, to set an *example* for this planet? So be it."

    And Nolan launches his attack at Mark, reaching out with one hand, flying fast enough that his cape straightens out behind him as he reaches to grab Mark's head and slam it down into his upcoming knee.
    "THINK, MARK! All these heroes and just a FRACTION of our power! What I had to go through with the DNA that your stupid pet Bunny just ate and died for it! How Many People will have to DIE for YOU to SEE?" he asks, crying out in frustration and trying to repeatedly hit Mark with his knee like a macabre cancan dance.

    And in the Undisclosed Location, Bunny just makes A FACE.

    "Sunny, smack him for me!"

Sunny Harlow has posed:
Sunny didn't really need much incentive to want to hit Omni-man, but the comment on Bunny? That just added to the mix.

She wasn't the hardest hitter, but she was trying her best and...well, Omni-man might be stopping them from helping them against the Maulers, but they could stop him from interfering with the others stopping the signal for the viltrumites.

With the impact of her foot, she's sent flying...but this was the same trick he'd opened with and the blonde tumbles through the air before extending her limbs to slow herself.

All that cheerleading practice had apparently prepared her for being thrown around for alien warlords.

"Let him go!" Sunny calls, rushing forwards and trying to slam her fist into the back of Nolan's head...or his face, if he were to face at her call.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Silverdane takes up the move again, soon at the base of the wall; sharp ears catch the smug tone, the self-satisfied words from the villains inside. The dogwhistle S.O.S. is squealing rapidly now, all attempt at coded distress abandoned in the scientist's rising panic. A grimace, no time to pause, to wait for the Spider. No time--

No time but to burst through the ruined opening in the wall, spittle slavering from her jaws, a howl of jagged fury on her lips! Myth and legend and fury-- no time to pause at all as she surges forward, clawed rake lashing out to a Mauler's face, the other's chest-- unempowered by superstrength, leaving gouges that heal in moments....

But bring an opening, a heartbeat, to drive both fists down on the transmitter's control panel with a bone-crushing smash!

"Back away, Pitufos!" she snarls, eyes glittering from the domino mask across her face as she points at the Twins with a sharp-clawed finger. "Or I will call Papa Smurf to come and drag you back to la village by your ears and have Tinkerbell spank you before setting you back to harvesting berries for Festival!"

Snarl, glower, fury-- deception and distraction as she glares, ears slanting back. Madre de Dios, they're *BIG*....

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    The amount of power Wiccan is pouring into this spell is draining, even for him. Sometimes he's a little perturbed by the amount of magical might he can muster, but today it seems necessary.

    Chains upon chains upon chains emerge from those mystical points in the ground, the number of them steadily growing until they become a mass unto themselves, giant arms composed of magical chains that wave through the air like a multitude of limbs, each with minds of their own.

    "I think I can hold him!" Billy cries out, his eyes beginning to glow. No idea what is making him think that, but he'd have to catch Omni-Man first!

Miles Morales has posed:
"Man, I hope they're doing okay!"

Miles worries out loud. Though judging by the impacts? It doesn't sound like they're necessarily /winning/. But he can't worry about that right now. There's evidently people that need help, Silverdane is already on the move so Spider-Man can't keep her waiting. There's a gigantic opening in the wall though!

That's a totally good sign.

"HAH! It's funny because she called you two smurfs." Spider-Man provides translation to the Mauler Twins, a smirk no doubt underneath that mask. Though while Silverdane is putting in that WORK and the Maulers are already hopefully catching hands, Spider-Man swings in properly and tries to go for the hostages. Though...if he has enough time?

He'll trya nd punch a Mauler Twin HARD in the squared jaw! "Sorry, tag, you're it, you know...uh...please don't get back up! I'm on a time table here and there's a VERY upset Omni-Man not far from us!"

He looks at Belinda. "Timetable here!"

Mark Grayson has posed:
Tough love is tough.

Mark is knee'd, time and time again, smashed down upon, and while he's getting his head pounded, he realizes something. Fractions of power... As he's slammed back aginst the ground. "No, dad..." he manages and through a Herculean effort, combined with Sunnny's hit, he forces himself to break the contact.

"You... you stole from the people of this planet to make yourself more powerful." he realizes. "The pills you made... for Sunny and I. You took them, didn't you?" he asks. "That's the only explanation... how you're this powerful." he laughs, rubbing the blood from his eyes.

"...the thing that you're claiming... and you had to take from it to make it yourself. You're right... I may see them all grow old. But in the end, even if I lose Sunny... I will still have one thing."

He falls to his knees, the strength gone from him, "I'll still have you, dad."

-----

As Silverdane comes bursting into the control room, the Mauler Twin at the control panel doesn't even get a chance to react before the large wolf-creature smashes the controls, ruining the signal before it's ever sent. The attack on him mars his face, sending him backwards.

"Who invited the rabid dog?!" the other Mauler shouts as his chest is racked across. As Silverdane comes in on the attack again, the Mauler twin grabs her by the arm to fling her across the room. "You've ruined our plans, BAD DOG!"

Just as they were turning on Silverdane -- SOCK -- Spider-Man's punch slams into his jaw and drops him to the ground as he hits a console along the way. He's clearly out of the fight!

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    TOugh Love is tough. Sunny strikes Nolan, and he grunts, one of his eyes cracking veins. His neck tightens. His teeth crack. He turns and snarls at the blonde as he regards her and takes that blow to his chin, and his head turns.

    And then he lets Mark fall, opening his hand and letting blood and teeth and bits of Mark's hair torn from his scalp fall with him.

    Nolan, however, watches as Mark falls. He breathes out. And he gives a cry out. "DAMNIT, MARK! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO AGREE!" he snarls. "THEN NONE OF THIS. NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE /HAPPENED/. WE COULD HAVE DONE THIS..."

    And then the magic chains get him. He gives a cry out. HIs hands grasp at the power chains, and he turns, whipping around to try and release himself. Struggling, turning his eyes full of fury, full of ANGER at Wiccan.

    And then Nolan, Viltrumite and Nolan Grayson, Father, seem to meet. Just a moment. He looks at Mark's broken body. His *son*. That tiny, squealing little stink package that Debbie made him hold. That he taught how to play baseball. That he taught how to grill a burger.

    And for a moment he sees a kid with a missing tooth and so much damned /pride/ in his face.

    The chains all pile on, Billy's expended magic pulling him down to the Earth.

    And Mark was right. He'd taken the pills. He was powered up... was he even a Viltrumite anymore?

    ... who was he, Nolan, in service to the Viltrumite Empire?

    ... or Nolan Grayson, travel writer and proud father of Mark Grayson, Invincible?

    There is a loud cry of rage. There's a roar from him. An utter sound of rage, confusion, and defeat, and he raises his fist to try and get at Mark, One. Last. Time.

    And then he turns skyward.

    And he puts every ounce of energy into escape. Escaping these chains.

    Escaping the planet.

    Escaping his duty to Viltrum.

    Escaping his duty to kill his son.

Sunny Harlow has posed:
She couldn't stop him, she couldn't really hurt Omni-man, that much Sunny knew...but she'd been trying. Making him mad? That was the best she could hope for, but with the others? Maybe they could drive him back.

Certainly as Mark gasped his reply to Nolan's angry demand she pushed her way to move forwards.

Then he was gone, skyward bound and headed for the stars...but Sunny's desire to give chase evaporates immediately, her hands coming out to try and gently catch Mark.

Her eyes lift towards Billy, Caitlin and Belinda. "Go...help Spider-man and the others. I've got him."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Silverdane is of good size, but in terms of mass, leverage, experience--

The wolf goes sailing across the room like the proverbial ragdoll, over the diving hostages' heads, careening from a console into the wall proper.

"....ow," comes the gruff, growling voice, managing the faint sound before she draws a shaky breath. Rising to her feet, she nods towards Spiderman before taking a shaky step forward, loping to the second, surges again and anew-- she joins Spiderman's onslaught, two on one for the last Mauler!

"*Loba!*" she snarls, diving down to hammer quick blows at the Twin's knees. "Not 'perra', you idiota insoportable gran azul villano--!" Spanish flows like a river as she cuts, claws, rakes at the kneecaps-- cheerful insults slathered on liberally as she slashes at the superthick skin.

"And not 'Beast Girl' either!" she adds with a swift kick to the struggling Mauler. "...Rabid dog. Carramba."

She steps back from where Spiderman has things well-in-hand, reaching up to tap her communicator.

<< "Silverdane to all!" >> comes the gruff voice, panting. << "Observatory secure. Hostages rescued. Intruders controlled. Did anyone call the Marines yet? And what was that boom?" >>

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    The chains break, in the end. Maybe in another situation, Billy could have held Omni-Man. But he's not that person now, and the magical power he's brought forth today shatters into thousands of tiny shards that scatter on the wind.

    He'd been hovering above the ground, but he lands with a whump in the dirt, sprawled out with limbs akimbo. Finding himself blinking up into the sky at Omni-Man's retreating form, Billy blinks a few times before the man's figure is no more than a dot, and then nothing at all.

Miles Morales has posed:
POW!

Spider-Man's fist meets a Mauler Twin's jaw and that leaves the other one COMPLETELY open for a little bit of chit-chat. <<Hey, how are we looking up there?!>> Spider-Man asks on coms as he puts in his own kind of work, before he looks at the last Mauler Twin once Silverdane puts him through the work. "Ah man, that's ROUGH. You know? I love me a cool wolf. Wolves are cool, right?"

He chuckles. "I mean, you know...that's life."

Spidey leaps into the air then, firing web-after-web-after-web-after-web! Trying to restrain the Mauler further before giving him a quick, yet no less powerful, KICK TO THE FACE!

Miles is 2-0 in Mauler Twins today with no small assist from the Silverdane herself!

Though...the impacts from above isn't exactly a comforting sign. << Uh, Spider-Man to all, yeah...I gotta do the follow-up, those impacts don't sound great. Did we win?>>

Mark Grayson has posed:
Mark collapses into Sunny's arms. He can hear Bunny in his ear. While the others are mopping up the Maulers and secruing the hostages, Invincible can only hang onto Indestructibelle as he watches his father retreat away.

The man who shook his head when he announced his power would be the ability to control duct tape.

The man who hid his powers from him since the day he was born.

The man that sent Juggernaut after him.

He can only slump against Sunny and watch him leave. In all the blood, tears form. Angry, hurtful tears.

His whole life has been built on a lie that his mother and father loved him so. But it turns out, only one of those was true.

And now? He still has his mother. He has Sunny and Bunny. But everything else just got upended. His arms go around Sunny's waist, holding her tightly as help arrives. Because she's the only thing left to cling to that's here.

All he can do now, is build from here.