17791/When the Universe Listens

When the Universe Listens
Date of Scene:	27 April 2024
Location:	Times Square
Synopsis:	A Car Accident during a Mass Spaceport protest leads to the release of Terrigen Mists. The mists were contained and only one person is known to have been affected.
Cast of Characters:	Candace Hill, Shun Cruz, Caleb Dykstra, Jane Roe, Gar Logan, Tandy Bowen

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Candace Hill has posed:
Its a cloudy day in Time Square and one of the most Iconic spots in New York City is a buzz. The only time there has been this many people in the square is during the New Years Eve party. Why is Time Square flooded with people? Well It has to do with the Spaceport. Its not just one side here. Its both sides and its a hot pot right now, ready to boil over. Many of the people here are for the Aliens while many of them are Anti-alien. Its a Protest and Counter-Protest all in one big mess.

Amidst the shouting, the voices over megaphones and the signs, there are people in transit driving through the square. Amidst the line of traffic, Candace Hill is driving. She happens to have someone in the car right now and she is doing an Uber Run. "Wow traffic is crazy today." She comments as her suv inches forward. It is really slow as some of the protestors move through the street causing traffic to go even slower than usual.

Shun Cruz has posed:
The one getting the Uber is one Shun. Looking out a bit at the traffic, he sighs. "Yeah, sorry. Should've realized Times would be a big hit for that one. And I was just wanting to head home, too."

Said teen looks out the window at the protesters. "Wow they are really getting into it. Hope it doesn't get violent." He comments.

The teen's just staring a bit as he waits for traffic to somehow move again. He did pay for the Uber, so isn't about to abandon or anything. He does pick up the phone and sigh, "Better text my fam that I'm gonna be late." He looks a little annoyed at that he has to.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb Dykstra has been known to avoid crowds and traffic jams, but this time he took a wrong turn in one of New York's avenues. At the wheel of a pretty customized 1970 Dodge Challenger, he sighs, "Oh for fuck's sake..."

He comes to a sudden stop, when someone apparently suffering a case of 'traffic-blindness' just about gets in the front like yard and a half.

*HOOOOOONNNNNK!* (yeah, it's a loud horn)

His head shows through the window, "Protesting or not, you still watch out for traffic, you know?" Hey, no expletives; a polite driver - who knew?

Jane Roe has posed:
It's a horrible mess. And Times square isn't the best to keep track of people off in the first place. That is, unless you either can fly or somehow else get eyes into the sky. Like using the security cameras of the buildings around or a drone. With protesters abound, surely one or more of the many polce agencies are around and brought their overwatch. However, it's not jsut them watching the feeds, there's the black haired young woman that just happens to have eyes on the signals too, watching live with one corner of the eyes as people move and get close to boiling, while somewhere in the crowd.

Gar Logan has posed:
So, uh...

Anti-alien protests probably weren't the /best/ time for someone like Garfield to show up. Leave it to Gar to be totally out of the loop on these things though. "All I wanted was some vegan hot dogs, dude!" he tells a protestor as he walks by, the anger in the air almost palpable. He did have that hot dog, and holds it up with his fingertip pointing towards it as if that explained everything. And the big eyes. He was totally using his puppy dog eyes.

"Wait, aliens? I'm not even an alien!" he tells one. But he was moving through the crowd as he goes, aiming to get out of the range of this mega-protest.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy is actually protesting, although she's on the fringes of the crowd clamoring for humane treatment of all - even aliens. It's not something she might have cared about before, and Ty's not with her - the crush of people and the high chance that any police involvement will turn ugly means he'll show up to get her away if she calls for him, but he's got zero interest of being in the thick of it. Even if he agrees with the sentiment of the protest. But she's there, in nondescript clothing with the hood of her sweater up, letters glittering in the sun as she raises her voice in support with the various pro-alien chants going on.

Candace Hill has posed:
As temperatures flare up and people start losing their cool, One person in the chaos gets a brilliant idea. They pull into the middle of the road and start going trying to get through the crowd. One small problem, A person going the coming the other way, this one in a blood red van, gets the same idea. Right as he pulls across the double yellow line The two cars collide. The van gets rolled onto its side.

"Oh crap!" Candace exclaims as she looks at the crashed cars. She quickly throws the car into park. "I'm going to go check on the people. Sorry." She states to Shun. Then she gets out of the Tahoe and makes her way car first. The driver is already out of the car and is fuming. She doesn't bother talking to the guy because he is looking like he's ready to bite someone's head off. Quickly she makes her way to the red van that is now on its side.

"Take this package and deliver it to the Lab." It was Dave's first assignment. He didn't ask what the package was. He knew doing so would be bad. He simply asked directions. Loaded up the package in the back of his deep red van and started driving. He needed to make good time so seeing an opportunity to gain some ground, he took it. He didn't expect some guy in a jeep to come flying up with the same idea and he really didn't expect whatever was in package to start smoking when jostled by the accident. Quickly he tries to get out of his van which is now on its side.

Shun Cruz has posed:
The accident has Shun looking up ahead, and exiting the Tahoe as well. He reaches to turn off the engine and grab the keys before he follows after, "It's fine. Let's see what we can do to help."

He looks over the fuming driver for a sec, but doesn't see anything wrong as he heads over to the van. Taking a peek at the inside he looks at the bottom of it to make sure how dangerous the situation is. Leaking gas would be a problem, especially with protesters around!

"Candace, right? I'm Shun. I'm going to make sure there's no leaking fuel. That would make this really bad." He says as he proceeds to do so.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"HOLY...!", escapes Caleb's lips when he witnesses the accident. He quickly get's out of the car to check for help - and with the windows rolling up and the car locking automatically, there shall be no robberies.

Noticing smoke, he rushes in fast, jumping over cars and dodging people parkour style.

Jane Roe has posed:
Thr crash is on the feed as people's movement patterns shift. Some surely want to help, others might use it as a way to get things explosive... The pixie hacker? Well, she reaches under the back of her jacket as she pushes and shoves her way from the core of the pro-alien protestors towards the crash site, her hand seeking the handle of a multitool. Not the best item to try and pull someone from a wreck, but at least it had a knife to cut them from straps if needed.

Gar Logan has posed:
That crash ripples through the ambient noise of the crowd, and that catches Gar's attention.

He was kinda a superhero himself, you know. Although using powers might rile up the anti-alien crowd right now, he leaps up into the air, and with a twisting in the air, turns into a macaw (although all green, of course). This macaw flaps his way over the crowd, ending up somewhere near Caleb.

"Raawrk! Did you see what happened?" he asks.

You know, because even in life or death situations, he had to be silly.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy is aware of the crash, but she's not sure if there's anything she can do to help. Still, she shifts through the crowd in that direction, keeping an eye out for protestors on either side using it as an excuse to get rowdy. That she could do something about if necessary. Her glittering poster is handed off to a fellow protestor, making it even easier for her to move around. The crash site looks like it has people helping at it already, so for now she keeps an eye half on it and half on the crowd nearest to it.

Candace Hill has posed:
"Okay! I'm going to get the driver out." Candace states as she rushes to the cab of the van. She quickly climbs up onto the top of the van and opens the door. She reaches down to grab Dave's arm. Dave in his excitement to get out, pulls the girl down into the van. He then steps on her, using the added height to climb out of the van. Candace on the other hand cries out as she is stomped on. Then the strange smoke. Its been filling the van and now its got a way out. It rushes toward the front of the van and out the open driver's door. It completely engulfs Candace as she is left there. "This smoke... It smells like cinnamon..."

Immediately Her body begins secreting a strange liquid. Something though makes her feel good. Like everything is going to feel alright. She crouches down to jump out of the van but doesn't even get to jump before her entire body is covered in a very strange, clear cocoon.

If the accident wasn't enough, Some of the people in the crowd thought it was a gun shot going off when they heard the car crash. They immediately begin to rush toward the protestors, ready to fight. The pot is now boiling over as people on both sides begin fighting each other.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The smoke starts to rise further and frther, and Caleb quickens his efforts to get to the place of the accident.

He notices the talking green bird out of the corner of his eye, and replies, "Beast Boy, right? Nice to meet you, though circumstances could've been better", he arrives at the accident site, "Yeah, these two vehicles crashed, and there's smoke coming out of it, and..."
&rThere's some woman getting covered in a liquid, that's turning into some sort of coccoon, and he is just about mesmerized when he sees that.

Something in his gut tells him this can't be good, and he starts gesturing to people, even shoving them out of the way, "CLEAR THE AREA!! GET OUT!!" And he's not staying around to see if the same fate happens to him, either.

Gar Logan has posed:
"Yeah, that's me!" squawks the parrot, flapping its way over the fray.

Although noting the coccoon, he squawks again in distress, swooping downwards towards the cocoon and shifting into a gorilla - all the better for him to grab ahold of an edge of the cocoon and try to drag Candace away from the car. "If this is your power or something, sorry in advance! But if that mist did that to you - everyone stay away from the mist!" he calls, his voice added to Caleb's.

He was just assuming he'd have a lot of eyes on him, at least, being a giant green gorilla.

Jane Roe has posed:
Cries to clear the area, a strange cocoon emerges from the car... and the driver. The multitool is left where it is in jane's hand, but the call to vacate is finding deaf ears on her. No, Jane shoves forward to the line, drawing a foot long staff from the back of the jacket, a quick down-up motion unleashing it into a full four-foot hanbo. A staff to push back people from the car, slowly.

Coming face to face with an alien-hater, she hisses. "You heard the gorilla, and now be a good little little member of the degenerate party and piss off to read some Kant and Niezsche."

Tandy Bowen has posed:
A giant.. green.. gorilla. Shit, that was definitely going to rile up some of the crowd, Tandy thought as the words registered. A mist? The smoke, presumably. That, she was equipped to handle on some level. She pulls out her white balacava - Ty had insisted on her bringing the reinforced one - and dropped her hood just long enough to get the mask on securely before sprinting in the direction of the gorilla. "I can help with the weird thing!" The sound is muffled, but she points in the direction of the van and the curl of smoke coming from inside of it. A glint of metal from nearby had her flicking a light dagger into her hand and unleashing it to embed into the hand of the woman wielding a... was that a hand ax? She shook her head. More important things to deal with. She turned back to the gorilla. "Anyone got glue? Sealant? Anything we can do to make that stuff inside the van?"

Shun Cruz has posed:
Finding himself looking up at the green gorilla a bit as he was checking to make sure the fuel line didn't rupture, Shun blinks a few times. "Wow. That's a member of the Titans!" He yells.

Then he sees the odd gas and backs away. Gas is a bad thing. That he's seeing some sort of smoke or the like has him backing away from the van. And he decides to imitate his dad's voice as best as he can, deepening it and giving a militaristic yell, "GAS HAZARD! EVERYONE BACK!" He might be young, but the kid's got some lungs on him. Good ones, too, as he tries to make himself heard while starting to wave his hands to make people get back, "IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, BACK UP NOW!" He pulls out his cellphone to raise it, "I am recording and sending this to the police! Back up now or be prepared to be arrested for murder! Back it up!"

Candace Hill has posed:
Dave is free and he is really annoyed. Not only is his van wrecked but he just lost his first real job! All because of one angry guy. He walks up to the guy who rolled his van, "Hey Man! Whats a matter with you! You wrecked my van!"

The angry man glares at Dave, "Whats a matter with YOU! Look at what you and that red hunk a junk did to my Jeep! I'm calling my insurance company and then my lawyer! You're going to pay for this! Just you wait! I'm calling the cops right now! ALSO LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO THAT WOMAN! You are the criminal here. Your stuff just ruined some poor girl's life and its all because you couldn't wait in traffic like a normal person." Pot meet Kettle.

The girl in the Cocoon doesn't respond. The cocoon however does break free. Its hardened and its holding the girl inside in the fetal position. All in all, she looks alright. She is just being held in suspended animation really. Already things are changing for her. Her DNA shifts and twists within her. Life certainly won't be the same for her. The girls body doesn't move. No breathing or anything or wait... she is breathing. Its just really labored. She is completely safe for the most part.

A Person in the crowd hears the cry from Tandy. They yell back. "I got some duct tape!" They quickly throw it to her hoping she catches it. Getting people to disperse may be a good idea if that is even possible.

Gar Logan has posed:
"What happened to her?!" Garfield says, noting the girl in the cocoon. Although he hears Titans in the crowd, and the gorilla can't help but give a fangy smile and a thumbsup. The riot around them was a sea, and he was bad at multitasking - he focuses on what's in front of him, although he nods his head in appreciation of Jane's support.

"Did the gas do this? I think we should get her to a hospital or something," he says, gently holding onto the cocoon. He didn't really wanna tear it open, for fear of hurting the girl inside.

Jane Roe has posed:
"No fricking clue, Greenie. Call in the cavalry or the tech specs." Jane replies to Garfield, using the half-staff to make people move, trying to push and clear the area little by little... and sending an E-mail to whatever emergency service was responsible for chemical contamination... OSHA and the EPA as well as OR&R as it turns out. Anonymously.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
It's a scramble, but Tandy manages to catch the tape and land on her feet, albeit a little wobbly. She gives a thumbs up in the direction it came from, and turns to the van without hesitation, using a small dagger to slice it into manageable strips. She almost feels bad for the person that was driving. Not so much the company the van belongs to, not with a person in a cocoon after being exposed to whatever was inside. She wonders if Ty could eat it, but pushes that thought aside. It might hurt him too, or do something even worse in the Darkforce Dimension. Probably best to not risk it.

Shun Cruz has posed:
"I--" Shun looks confused, then looks around, "--hey, where'd the lady that was Ubering me go? She was out here helping as well."

He asks as he looks around, jumping a bit to see if he could tell what was going on.

Looking at the cocoon, he looks at the green gorilla. "Uh, well, I know where her jeep is parked. But I got no clue what the cocoon is. I saw some gas for a moment, and well... that's about it?"

Poor teenager looks confused, as if trying to figure out how to help other than keep the crowd back.

Candace Hill has posed:
More boil over happens as the two men who were in the crash come to blows. The two begin punching each other fighting over who was at fault and the damage to each others cars. David is the smaller of the two men but he is very wiry. He gets the best of the angry man and takes him down. A few good punches and the angry guy is knocked out. The problem is Dave is now bleeding. Yup Its a no win for everyone.

The people in the crowd hear the shouts from the heroes on scene. They quickly start backing up, pressing against each other and trying to give the people space to work. A few of them are still worried about the green gorilla thinking he is some kind of alien. More then a few however know that he is one of the Titans so they back off of him. The thing that really confuses people is what is going on with the girl in the weird cocoon.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy is content to ignore the fighting as long as it doesn't make her life more difficult. The door that the driver and cocoon had been pulled from is sealed, so she moves towards the back of the van. One of the darkly tinted windows has cracked, likely from the van flipping onto its side, so she starts there, careful to keep her face angled away. She's decently protected, but she'd planned for tear gas or smoke bombs, not whatever this... oddly scented, misty smoke is. She's been on the wrong end of weird experiments, and Ty would be very upset if she ended up in trouble without him around.

The crack on the window is covered fairly quickly but her tape is starting to get low. Another is pressed into her hand, and she hears a bottle shaking from her side, followed by the hiss of a spray being deployed. "Use it to seal up the area around my window unit," a gruff voice says from her side. "Gonna seal this shit up too then get the hell out of here in case it explodes." Tandy nods in agreement, continuing to work silently with the stranger beside her.

Gar Logan has posed:
"Well, first things first - we need to get her some medical attention, okay?" he says to Tekkai.

"And getting an ambulance in this mess is going to be difficult, so... we need to get her to someplace with a fancy medical lab - can you call an ambulance and have them meet me on the edges of this riot? I'm gonna just... start carrying her that way!" he says.

Lifting the coccoon over his head with both hands, he'd try to carefully meander through the crowd. "Excuse me, please!" he calls. "Titan here, not an alien!"

As for strategy, he was trusting in the others to keep the gases from leaking out of the van, and hopefully no one else would get hurt and need evacuation.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Believing Beast Boy's got it handled with the people, he pulls out a gas breather, and returns to the guys fighting, now Dave being the one standing, and he says. "Now, now. You got some explaining to do, like what that smoke thing is, plus that coccoon thingee..." He narrows his eyes, "You wouldn'd happen to be carrying illegal substances and items in that van, wouldja?"

Jane Roe has posed:
Jane Roe was more concearned pushing people away from the car than to keep them off of the Gorilla... and waiting for someone to arrive that would know how to deal with the stuff. "Comeon, clear out people, that stuff can't be healthy. You see what it did to the girl, so piss off already!"

Shun Cruz has posed:
Seeing the gorilla that is Beast Boy moving, Shun follows after.

The teen's at least got a good head on his shoulders as he dials the emergency numbers while moving along, often not having full sight on his phone. "Hey, dad, I need you to get with your old contacts. Gas exposure. I don't know. It's in Times Square. Tell them to check 911. Got it. I'm being careful. No, not like that. Got to call 911 now. Bye."

He's dialing 911 quickly after that, "911? My name is Shun Cruz. The protests in Times Square are under a gas exposure. No clue what it is. We have a lady in a cocoon because of it. Yes, I'm serious. I have Beast Boy of the Titans with me and we need an ambulance as fast as you can get one to the--"

He looks up at the gorilla, "Which side we headed to?"

He nearly drops the phone when one person gets shoved into him. Shoving back, Shun backhands the one that did the shoving followed by a punch with the non-phone holding hand to the midsection before he keeps going after. "Rioters... gods. Yes, I'm serious!" He yells into the phone to be heard.

Candace Hill has posed:
Dave looks at Caleb and spits blood on the ground. "I don't know! After that jerk rolled my van, the package got banged around. Then that weird smoke started pouring out. My main goal was to get out of the Van after that. That girl saved me. I feel kinda bad that she got stepped on and I feel even worse about what happened to her now. Think she will be alright?" He asks nervously. "I don't wanna go to jail." Which given the whole situation both of the guys will likely be going there in the near future.

The crowd finally gets the point and they start dispersing. They start filing out. This helps traffic start moving although at a bottleneck around the stopped Tahoe, The dented Jeep, and the rolled Van. Things are starting to improve.

As for the van it is now pretty well sealed. Inside the strange mist just hangs in the air. Thankfully the box has stopped leaking meaning there won't be any explosions from it. Things are just starting to wind down.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"I'm sure if you cooperate, you'll get a sentence reduced", Caleb says. "But that package... Who was it from, and who was it to?"

He pulls out his phone, and holds a number in the screen which he's about to press: 'Coulson'.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy brushes her hands off on her pants as the final bit of the van she can reach is sealed off. Her helper disappeared back into the foot traffic once their can was empty, and the remaining crowd is mostly giving the area by the wreck site a wide berth. Good. She's ready to leave as well, but she looks at the others around her, listening to the driver being questioned. She's curious about the details, at least enough so she and Ty can figure out if there are a few people that need to be... spoken to. Eaten, if necessary.

Jane Roe has posed:
With the crowd dispersing and the police arriving, Jane merely points out the cameras that point to the point of the collision before leaving the scene, givign people a little wave.

Candace Hill has posed:
Dave looks at Caleb and laments, "Oh come on man! It was my first day on the job! This guy named Johnny hired me to be a courier for the day. He told me to not ask questions. Just drive the package to this address and that I would be paid when I got there. I'm already out my van but now I'm not going to get paid either!" He laments. He gives a piece of paper to Caleb that has an address on it. "Is that enough? I hope its enough to keep me out of jail!"

The crowd itself continues to disperse. A few people are still a little riled up but the vast majority of them aren't looking for anymore trouble. They just go their respective ways with their respective signs and protest paraphernalia. Things are now a dull roar. Anyone else exposed to the mists are already on their way.

The girl in the cocoon is seemingly resting peacefully. As she is carried away toward a hospital or wherever she is going to go, One question remains. Whats gonna happen to her vehicle! Thankfully the police will likely have it towed to the impound. She will have to pay to get it back but that's better than anything bad happening to it. All in all, everything is wrapped up in a neat little package.