18212/Through A Mirror Darkly: What The Future Has Wrought

Through A Mirror Darkly: What The Future Has Wrought
Date of Scene:	16 June 2024
Location:	Avenue of Tomorrow - New Troy
Synopsis:	Just what Stryfe sought to obtain out of the time line is revealed as the MLF attacks STAR Labs in Metropolis and unleashes their newest allies.
Cast of Characters:	Cable, Monet St. Croix, Kurt Wagner, Tabitha Smith, Paige Guthrie, Sally Pride, Marie-Ange Colbert, Eve Wilkins, Caleb Dykstra, Karolina Dean, Bishop, Divine
Tinyplot:	Through a Mirror Darkly

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Cable has posed:
Metropolis.

The City of Tomorrow is home to a number of wonders. In many ways it is the engine that drives the nation onward to the future while being the center of the present. Birthplace and home to the current President of the United States. Adopted home to arguably the world's greatest hero. Home to the Hall of Justice and the Justice League. And the beating heart of technological progress throughout the world, largely concentrated within the various shops, labs, and firms that dot the Avenue of Tomorrow.

More then even Silicon Valley, this would have to be considered the beating heart of technological advancement. LexCorp. The HALO corporation. STAR Labs. Even those companies that might have thier headquarters elsewhere like WayneTech or Stark Industries are at least represented on this strop withe all of it's bright lights and advanced displays.

Which, of course makes it a popular one-stop shop for those looking to get their hands on the latest and greatest tech goods -- be it from the stalls and storefronts with a credit card in hand, or via less legitimate means.

And this evening is no different in that respect. As the sun sets, trouble descends on Metropolis, undaunted by all the heroes that call it home it would seem. Silent alarms, deep in the restricted levels of STAR Labs sound, sending out their alerts to onsite security first. Labs hidden far beneath the brightly lit street above. But if it was STAR Labs intent to keep this latest violation of their security secret, well, they're in for a big disappointment.

While he might be loathe to completely abandon the progress that X-Force has begun to achieve in Madripoor, clearly the future solider known as Cable has determined that Stryfe and his Mutant Liberation Front is the bigger threat. And while his orbital satellite Greymalkin can technically keep him updated from just about anywhere, the grizzled soldier has seemingly relocated to that orbital platform to keep a better eye on things. To set his resources to finding, tracking the MLF and figuring out just what they are after. In making preparations for their next appearance.

A big part of that is keeping in touch with those willing to oppose them. to looping them in on his progress. Making sure that they are ready should that group poke their heads out of cover once more. Spreading a little of that unusual technology around, insuring that those that need it have some of the advanced comm units.

And now he needs to make use of them.

--Rift energy surge. Location: Metropolis. Bringing details up on screen -- comes the faintly artificial but still familiar voice of Greymalkin's A.I. A voice that suspiciously sounds like a certain upstate New York school founder.

"Thank you Professor," comes Cable's quiet reply, that steely gaze turning towards the monitor in front of him as that bird's eye view from the heavens zeroes in on the STAR Labs building, that actual view quickly shifting to a wire-frame blueprint with a host of notes that pop up along the sides. "Spool up the jump-engines and transmit data-pack to designated agents. Alert them to expect incoming transport.

Turning away from his vigil, the mutant soldier stoops, grabs his waiting backpack and slings it over his shoulder before straightening once more. "Professor, initiate Bodyslide protocol Alpha-Seven in three seconds. On my mark," he says, drawing out that ludicruously large plasma rifle.

"Mark."

Down in Metropolis below, few know just what is going on, dozens of feet below them, in the depths of that otherwise glittering monument to technological progress.

At least not until the street practically explodes in a burst, energy ripping upward from the ground, exploding through a parked car and up into the night sky, far brighter then any of the electronic signs or displays along the Avenue of Tomorrow.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
It had been awhile since she had operated with Cable. She had been out mostly doing things with Xavier's. The coming of summer. Trying to find some semblance of normalcy within her constant frustrations. To try and find some centering of herself. Cable at least provided a distraction by pointing her in a direction. It was good to have targets, sometimes. Stryfe, whatever he was, presented a dangerous adversary that needed neutralized. No politics. No restraint. No having to figure out how to handle outsiders or the Brotherhood. Just to cave the face in of.

And so when that energy signature is detected and Cable is teleporting down, there is Monet with him. And sees where they are. A place with massive numbers of people in the area. In a central zone that will have a /great/ number of heroes there. So she makes a tactical decision. She switches to the X-Men comms frequencies.

<<Mutant Liberation Front assault at Avenue of Tomorrow. Alert, Mutant Liberation Front assault in progress>> Through the X-Men bands, it will be sent out to all teams on monitoring duties. And then to anyone in the general area that's not drawn in by things exploding. It's the most she can do for anyone that won't be drawn in there within the next five minutes to get as much bakup as possible.

Send in the reserves.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
While Kurt Wagner might not fit in quite so well with Cable's usual paramilitary outtings, after the events that took place at CERN and the Large Hadron Collider, he is certainly ready and willing to answer the call when Stryfe next shows himself.

Messing about with time? Nothing about that seems like a good idea. Especially when it is some sort of fanatic like Stryfe doing it. So the fuzzy blue elf accepts one of those advanced communicators, keeps his swords close to him and goes back about his daily routine -- one that has eased considerably with the long school year on temporary summer break. Which doesn't mean that he is entirely unoccupied when the alert comes of course. But he at least has enough time to strap on those swords, glance at the provided information.

Metropolis? Maybe Superman will be there! While he might have been an X-Men for several years, while this whole issue with the MLF is clearly serious business, that doesn't mean that he can't be something of a fanboy too, right?

Still, he is ready when that communicator chimes again, when the countdown starts and reality fuzzes out as Nightcralwer is teleported from his place in Westchester, materializing seconds later in the midst of things...

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"God I hate Metropolis." Tabitha complains as she gets in on the scene. Being on the reserve list for X-Force and more actively the X-Men. "Too damn, clean. I swear even the slum areas feel tool rich for anyone. And I was homeless in New York." she jokes as she bodyslides in with Cable.

Arriving in her black and yellow biker styled X-Suit. Black shiny synthetic leather pants, cropped jacket with yellow padding at the chest and shoulders. Yellow boots, red tinted wayfarer style shades keeping what hair her long ponytail couldn't keep out of her eyes. The blonde eying what's going on. "Anyone wanna take bets on how long before we get a honked off Kryptonian turning up? Extra on getting one that can't tell the fun mutants from the asshole mutants."

Paige Guthrie has posed:
There was something about babysitting which is why she happened to be near Cable and Greymalkin when everything happened. The sudden alert catches her by surprise, and as she arrives, she's dressed in the classic metallic red uniform of a 'Generation X' member, as she glances about at the carnage wrought by her former companions.

<<If any of you see Strobe, please leave her to me. She kept on talking about how she wanted to do things to Sam.>> Horrible things that a sister should never hear about. Awww, the villainess has a crush or something.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride emerges from the transit provided by Cable to get them together rubbing her head. Because she'd been doing some fine tuning on her car and bonked her noggin on the hood when the alert going out got her attention. But she's past that quickly, blaster up and at ready in her hands. Tail gives an annoyed lash behind her. "I swear, if it's not the people terrorizing mutants, its the mutants making the rest of us look bad." Followed by a snort at Tabitha. "There's a LOT of heroes that can't or don't care to tell the difference that could show up in this city. That'd just be the worst option."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie-Ange Colbert has been waiting for this moment.

As a rather... obsessive... precognizant, she tends to be difficult to surprise. Her morning readings tell her most everything she needs to know about a given day, and prepare her for the trials and tribulations she's going to face. It's also helpful when certain events repeat; the card draw today was identical to the one when Cable had first approached her for aid. Same number of cards, same cards in the same positions.

So once again, she was ready. Dressed in the same blue-and-yellow with the red and black 'X' emblem on the belt. Hair tied up in a braided crown. Armed with the same metallic sticks, currently sitting holstered across her shoulderblades... as well as the deck of tarot cards secured in a belt pouch.

So she's there with Cable and the others as the group teleports in, wearing an expression of peace that reflects her preparation. Tabitha's comment draws her ear briefly, "It is unwise to make such bets with me around, Boom-Boom." Paige's request? She gets a firm nod. "You will let us know if you need aid." ...and Marie won't step in if she's not asked. Family, blood, found or otherwise, is serious business.

Eve Wilkins has posed:
While others might be drawn there by alarms and otherwise, Eve Wilkins was blissfully unaware of such alarms.

What she was interested in was the tech in the area. Advancing her scientific knowledge - while she had an innate grasp of chemistry, physics still eluded her. So while she intended to come here to check out some of the high labs in the area, well...

It was Metropolis, right? You /had/ to go shopping.

So she was. With a pink crop top on, and a mauve skirt and shorts, alongside socks and sneakers, she was actually in one of the stores near the STAR Labs when it becomes obvious something was going on inside of the labs.

Lips pursing tightly, Eve stands different amongst the crowd of people fleeing and screaming away from the burst of energy that ripped through the street, bringing her sunglasses up to tuck against her forehead as she clutches her purse, eyes narrowing as she watches the spot where the energy had arced up.

In case she had to act to prevent collateral damage, and all.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Switching to the guy with no powers, Caleb is in his modified 1970 Dodge Challenger when all hell breaks loose, and the ground starts exploding and cars start to be projected high up into the air.

Driving down the Avenue, he grinds to a halt as the car just twenty yards down the road is projected.

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!", the Gothamite exclaims.

Instinctively, he gets out of the car to get a better look at what's going on...

Karolina Dean has posed:
Karolina Dean, operating under her new alias of Starlight, soars through the twilight sky of Metropolis. The Titans' alert from Cable had been urgent -- another attack by the Mutant Liberation Front, targeting STAR Labs. And then that silent alarm filtered through those channels as well, prompting an update to the already airborne Majesdanian's earpiece.

<< "I'm on it." >>

From below, it's not hard to see how she picked her new alias. In the night sky, her whole body glows with prismatic energy -- a bright dot that streaks as fast as a jet, but her long, wavy blonde hair leaves a long prismatic tail in her wake like a shooting star. When she's up close, her white dress shimmers under the light of her own body, making her look... angelic.

She's almost on top of STAR Labs when that beam of energy rips out of the ground and the car explodes out of its path, and that streak of rainbow-colored light comes to an abrupt halt just a second or two of flight time short, hovering in mid-air a moment backing up.

Below her, there are screams of panic that send pedestrians and shoppers fleeing in all directions. As traffic snarls to an immediate stand-still that only gets worse with each passing second, sirens erupt in the distance -- first responders that are sure to get slowed or snarled all together in the ensuing traffic jam.

Descending slowly, Starlight hovers a few yards off of the ground, her aura of light intensifying, casting a protective glow around nearby civilians. A family tries to bolt across the street just as a stopped car cuts the wheel and hits the gas, barreling towards them, and one of her hands comes up, a glowing beam of iridescent plasma abruptly stopping the front bumper of that car just before it runs them down.

"Stay on the sidewalks!" she calls out, hovering above everything, eyes sweeping around for the next sign of trouble.

<< "Starlight to Titan Tower! There's a beam of some kind of energy coming out of the street at STAR Labs. Cable's supposed to be here, but I don't know who else is. See if you can get me patched into whatever comms he's using." >>

Bishop has posed:
Being both an X-Man and a member of the mutant special ops team known as X-Force means that there is much Bishop attemptsto stay appraised o. Like Cable he had been putting his knowledge and resources to good use to try and piece together the activities and goals of the front....but so far the clues of their activity had not yielded any concrete and definitive goals to his mind beyond, perhaps, some sort of attempt at time manipulation.

Thus, there's no tellign what they might be after in a place like S.T.A.R. Labs and needless to say, matters of 'time' are of deep concern to the Future Cop.

So when the tip off came for this mission, he was more then ready and willing to jump right in.

When the teleportation effect ends, he's already striding forward, and pulling forth a massive X.S.E blaster rifle from its holster and then shouldering it as he surveys the broken landscape with narrowed eyes and a tight lipped frown to his face.

"We should hope for their assistance, Tabitha. Superman was an essential player in putting down the wild sentinels in New York. I imagine that if he's not en route, his peers should be and should be given the benefit of the doubt...or at least plenty of room to work.."

"More importantly, if we know to expect Superman and his associates to attempt to intervene, Stryfe knows and is likely prepared for the degree of resistance they'll bring to bear. So I suggest you all plan for them not holding back either offensively or defensively and strike hard and fast to put them down as quickly as possible."

Divine has posed:
Divine is a little out of depth, mentally. She knows Marie, but more importantly Emmom and Marie know and like these people. Or work with them. That makes it her business then, when something big happens while they happen to be stopped in at the mansion. She accepts a comm and the ride, combat boots tightly laced under black cargo pants and a dark red crop top. She's unarmed, because her body is the weapon, and it sounds like these liberation people need a good punch into orbit.

The earpiece isn't something she's used to, and it takes some time to get the volume adjusted just right. The beam of energy that comes out of the ground is blinding. Divine blinks several times as spots dance in front of her eyes.

Cable has posed:
Out on the Avenue of Tomorrow, people scatter as that blast leaves a gaping hole just to the side of the street, a carved out passage that still glows from the heat that melted right through rock, dirt and pavement alike to leave that tunnel leading down into the depths of the building below.

Cries echo across the street as nearby pedestrians flee the scene of one more attack. Sometimes it might feel that it is hardly safe to step foot outside one's door, a feeling that might only be mitigated slightly by just how many heroes happen to populate the City of Tomorrow.

It might ease their mind some as well that no secondary blast is immediately forthcoming, some of that initial panic fading a little, people left peering curiously at the enigmatic entrance to STAR Labs and that hewn tunnel coming up from underground.
    hat relief might be short lived though as a figure emerges from that passage that slants at a steep angle, down into the depths beneath Metropolis. It might be a familiar figure to some -- a humanoid figure all in white, features an expresisonless mask. Except for the black 'O' on both face and chest.

Zero. Stryfe's seemingly right hand man, revealed at Cern by Charles Xavier to be nothing more then a machine, an advanced A.I. But Zero was also blasted there as well, the bottom half of it's body clown clean off. And yet here it floats, rising up out of that hole, entirely intact?

Even more troublesome? Two more identifcal figures rise up seconds later until a trio of those androids hover just above the street. A hologram of the armored form of Stryfe appears a moment later, hanging in the air above the Avenue, larger then life and all the more intimidating for it. "Human technology is a bane to the world, poisoning the seas, the land, the air. The Mutant Liberation Front is here to insure that such reckless disregard for the world does not go unopposed. Leave this place now and you will be unharmed. Challenge us..."

Those familiar tones from Stryfe trail off and the three Zero Androids raise their arms as one, pointing towards one of the large electronic signs that hang over the street. Then energy rips out from their palms, severing the support beams with ease, sending it plummeting towards the sidewalk -- and those on it -- below.

And where are Cable and the calvary that he is coming with?

When they appear it is no one the surface of those streets far above. It is in the very depths of STAR Labs itself.

And it seems to be in the middle of a pitched battle.

While vault-like doors might seal some of the labs here -- the experiments contained with clearly of the most secure or most dangerous example of what this group works with -- the team assembled more or less emerges straight into the middle of a heated firefight.

So pretty much par for the course for thefuture soldier and anyone unfortunate enough to work with him.

Automated turrets and security personnel in body armor have cordoned off one end of the level, clustering themselves around the elevators where turned over desks for a makeshift barrier, offering some cover as they occasionally pop up from behind that scant security to fire off a few shots.

And the opposition?

While it is almost certain that the mutant followers of Stryfe are somewhere on seen, they are not apparent here. Instead there are nearly two dozen near-identical Zero figures hovering throughout the room, slowly advancing towards that last cluster of resistance, beams of energy lashing out from hands, from the center of their chests or from their faces themselves, tearing apart the high security lab.

Cable has posed:
And keeping anyone from getting past them to the secured lab beyond.

So take one guess where Strryfe is? While you're at it, take a guess just what it was that Stryfe was shipping in through that time portal he opened at CERN? As far as reinforcements go, they seem to be serving him fairly well.

Glancing at the device circling his wrist, Cable focuses on it and the measured rift energy displayed there. "He's back there," he says, gesturing towards that vault door without looking up. "Watch for these units. If I'm right they won't have the rift capability of Zero Prime. But they will have the energy attacks. And the power suppresor beam," he cautions, finally glancing up at the frey and raising his weapon.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
All right, they can deal with it. "At close range, they can suppress powers to some degree. Not completely, but very, very quickly. Given the location they will likely be adapted for most threats which could show up here." That's put over the comm. So far they'd only had mutants fight Stryfe. If he was making a play here, then the suppressors were probably a lot more multi-purpose. Energy beams they could handle. Time dilation.. Well, that was also something that she was very glad that they couldn't do. The best way to take these things on?

At long range. They didn't have anyone present that could likely shut down the hologram.. Monet would purse her lips.

The units out here in the open were just meant to stall them. And permit those inside to go about thier business. So she went to brace hard. This could hurt. A lot. STAR Labs would be shooting at anything. But.. The main fight was inside.

So inside goes Monet, moving at supersonic speeds and utilizing her psionic based flight to let her turn and stop in defiance of inertia to try and bypass as much within the interior as possible. To stay out of the suppression fields of the Zeroes, to avoid fire from the defenders.. And hopefully get to the labs without being shot to pieces.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Anything Strobe wants to do, Husk dear. I probably already did. And better!>> Tabby jokes back to Paige. "You and she want, I can teach you. You might not think about Sam for a while after! Some of those MLF ladies are hot!" she adds teasingly, and adding an I into that abbreviation to make it an acronym that lives in infamy.

Sadly she has to agree with Sally. "Something, something endless circle of fear and hatred. Probably outta keep the property damage to a minimum. The aforementioned Kryptonians get bugs up their butts about it. Tarot hon, the odds like about one in four. Superman's pretty cool, the goth chick one is cool. Supergirl maybe. There are others not so cool. Gotham's probably cooler about breaking stuff but only in a nobody would actually notice the wreckage. Or remember if it's new or from the last thing they get up to." she ponders.

Making good of that mostly novice telepathy, she does a sweep. Trying to sort out who might be who and who needs a kick between their legs.

Maybe also a plasma blast.

"Ugh, so maybe a little more property damage to take those things out. On the upside. Robots. Guilt free blasting." she adds with a bit more of a perky mood coming from Boom-Boom. Already lining up to blow up an abandoned car and blast it hard into one of the Zero androids. Insurance will cover it, hopefully.

Paige Guthrie has posed:
Paige gags, deciding not to humor Tabitha any further with a comment about the gross acts enacted upon her brother. Instead, she looks about,t rying to form her own strategy in her head.

Power suppression at close range means turning into Paigelossus is out; should she get into fisticuffs range, that would be bad. So for now, she decides to save her clothing, as she runs about, trying to look for a place to get past the multiple Zeroes towards Stryfe himself.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
And he was having such a nice, relaxing day before all of this.

It was warm, it was pleasant, the sun was shining and he was down by Breakstone Lake. Even the onset of evening with the faint buzzing of insects and the moon in the sky was rather enjoyable.

Just a nice, lazy day in upstate New York.

And he traded all of that away for this?

As reality fuzzes back into existence, the sound of fire, of explosions ripping apart the room becomes almost immediately apparent and a soft sigh escapes the fuzzy blue elf's lips. And while he can certainly understand just what they're trying to do here, that doesn't mean that he can't regret the necessity. "I you need me to teleport anyone through, do let me know Herr Cable," he says lightly. "Otherwise let me attend to the unmatched defenders," the fuzzy blue elf suggests helpfully.

Then he *bamfs* appearing crouched behind one of those desks. he lays a ahnd on one of those armored security guards and they teleport again just as another energy beam slices right through they were seconds later.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Okay, who the fuck is the guy with the sharp bucket in the head, and how's he not cutting himself wearing it?", Caleb just asks flatly. "Don't answer... Rhetorical!"

And then, those Zeroes start to show up, and he sighs. "This would look like a job for Superman", he shakes his head, "But, since he's not around..." He reaches for the trunk of his car, which opens and he pulls out a big rifle - a railgun shooter. "...I guess it's up to the commoners. Sure, why not?" And he fires one of those projectiles at one of the Zeros!

*BANG!!*

Eve Wilkins has posed:
All in all, pretty courageous to do something like this in Superman's part of the world, Eve thought.

The sign begins to fall...

And Eve drops her shopping bags, briefly mourning the expensive electronics within it. Bringing her hands up, a shimmer of pink light shines over her eyes, leaving a domino mask in its place as the light shimmers to nothing.

The same pink light shimmers beneath her hands and her feet as she adjusts the air density beneath herself, and starts to lift upwards, flying into the air, a same shimmering light leaving her clad in the superheroine suit in a matter of seconds.

But where was Eve flying to?

Lots of people were going after the robots. But there was a falling sign. With a twist of her hand as she draws near to the sign, she starts to change the molecular makeup of it, the same pink light dancing over it.

She converts the sign to cotton and cloth, so that by the time it strikes the ground, it'll be just as damaging as one might expect from such things.

Bishop has posed:
Beams of energy are lancing out everywhere, causing wide spread destruction and violently targetting and pinning down the S.T.A.R. Lab security forces. That's bad.

Beams of energy are lancing out everywhere. That's good!

Oh, but they can surpress mutant powers wen in close proximity. That's bad. So one thing at a time then.

Noting a group of the security guards in need, Bishop springs forward. using what bit of stored energy he manages ot keep built up within him on the regular to boost his physical movement -just- enough to put an olympic athlete in a dead sprint to shame and he's already pretty fast as is.

Using this momentum, he goes into a slide, spinning his X.S.E. blasters around as he attempts to intervene on their behalf by ringing out a volley of shots towards several of the androids while also using his body to intercept and soak the energy beams hurtling their way.

"For those who weren't present at the CERN Lab, these things are androids. Do -not- hold back. "

The dizzying array of energy types he can absorb means that he should be able to serve as an effective tank for the security guards and, well, anyone else that might need to find cover. His body crackles with racing energy signatures as any bolts land home and his eyes flare with building power as his internal battery drinks deep of any assaults levied his way.

"If you can't close on them, work to get any injured security guards clear - and grab a gun!"
Kur'ts already on it of course! But some others might need a little urging after all. Coudln't hurt!

Sally Pride has posed:
"Well, looks like we've got our work cut out for us." And seeing that it's primarily robots between them and the security trying to defend the site, she's immeadiately turning up the setting on her blaster. "Let's get to it!" She doesn't have super speed or anything so she's just going to follow after the more powerful people in their group and pick off shots where she can.

Sometimes being less impressive than your teammates has it's advantages.

Karolina Dean has posed:
Starlight floats not far from those three Zero Androids -- not necessarily because she wanted to, but because that's where she ended up. She was already so close to the hole they laser-burrowed that when they rose up and out, it felt like she was getting a front-row performance.

...which meant that she was _right there_ when they lifted those arms and fired straight into the sign's supports, severing them.

She's not Superman or Supergirl. She can't make it look like she instantly teleports from place to place when she's in a hurry, but her instinct was to get there. She was already tilting in that direction when the whole thing was suddenly enveloped by pink energy and then... well... fluttered down, instead.

It only takes a brief glance around to catch sight of the OTHER pink energy flying up into the sky. "NICE!" she calls to Eve, offering a wave of a prismatic arm, but then she's spinning in the air, the rainbow-mane that trails after her curling once around her body.

<< "Tower, they're opening fire on civilians. Get me that comm!" >>

"But for now... how about some RETURN FIRE?"

She lifts up higher into the air, and both of Starlight's hands come up in front of her, wrist to wrist, focusing a blast right into the core of one of those floating Zero-Bots. It didn't seem at all like she was worried about still being in their direct line of fire.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Trying her best to ignore the banter between Tabitha and Paige, she focuses instead on "Power suppression?" Marie echoes the word, thinking for a moment. Often times, devices, people, whatever the sourcec of a power suppressor is... it tends to need to be near the person being suppressed. Which leaves those with range like her as being pretty useful. "It seems like these creatures aligned with that devilish Stryfe fail to account for the whims of fate... let us see if they can account for the devil himself? I will clear a path!"

Marie's hand darts immediately to her waist, flipping through cards by touch until she finds the one she's looking for.

The Major Arcana tend to be big. The Devil is no exception to this, a fearsome beast with horns and cloven hooves out of any Catholic school girl's nightmares. The plus side to So Many Zeroes is that they're essentially 'uniformed', it makes them easy targets to pick out when her senses are focused on the actions of her summoned creatures, and target them she does. Claws and horns, even wings being used to try and cut into the mass of androids. As Bishop commands, her goal is to give no quarter to these foes. Hopefully, the allies less familiar with her powers will realize that the infernal creation is on /their/ side.

Meanwhile, the redhead's human form is still, a (reasonably) safe distance away. She hopes it's a safe distance away, at least.

Divine has posed:
Divine is moving as soon as she sees the energy blasts, dropping into a crouch and sweeping her leg at the nearest robot. She feels a little weaker against them, but it's... fine. This is why she trains. It drops and she pounces, landing with a knee in a metallic gut and dropping a fist into the face. They're resistant, so she takes a deep breath and blows it slowly out, watching in satisfaction as ice crystals start to form across the partially battered face. She breathes in again, then back out, and drives her elbow in deep. Cracked open, the figure is much less intimidating. She pulls its head free for good measure. The movies say that works on killer robots. She hopes they're right for once.

<< Who is this Sam guy you're all obsessed with? >> she asks over the comms between Paige and Tabitha's banter. << Is he famous or something? >>

As she talks, she's looking for her next fight and slowly crushing the robot head between her hands until the metal is dense and mostly round. She winds up at a likely target, and the ball goes hurtling into the soft spot between the shoulder blades. At least, soft on a human. It still crunches in enough that the android stops menacing a pair of guards, and Divine gives them a jerk of the head towards the cleared stairway. "Go! There are more outside, protect civilians!"

Cable has posed:
Up on the surface of Metropolis' streets, for the most part the citizenry doesn't need a whole lot of convincing to back away. In the distance police sirens already sound indicating that help is on the way. A sparkling figure in the sky suggests help of a much more formidable sort is also on the way so why risk provoking the big talking holographic head and his floating trio of energy-flinging threats, right?

Well most people take that tact at least.

Most is not all however and when Caleb goes diffing for that weapon, turning to bring it to bear, that shot does indeed find it's mark, slamming into one of the floating androids and taking it's leg clean off in a shower of sparks. But it doesn't even make it pause for a moment. Instead that beam of sheer, raw heat sweeps towards the man and his advanced weapon, melting pavement, slicing through vehicles, and honing in on it's target.

Fortunately that single act of defiance is followed by other heroics as Eve Wilkins is suddenly consumed in that pinkish glow, that costume rolling over her as she is replaced by Atom Eve in a blink of an eye. That falling sign plummets towards the people on the sidewalk who can do nothing but stare upwards in shock and fright. And just before it can hit them it begins to shift, to morph and when it finally lands the sign is nothing more then a heap of cloth, draping over the half dozen people that would otherwise have been crushed.

It might take them awhile to dig out, but it is certainly better then the alternative.

Even more fortunate, at least for Caleb, is the fact that Starlight is right there in the middle of things, practically the trio of stark-white androids when they rise, when they fire. It's the only reason why all three of them don't just concentrate on wiping ou the man with the railgun.

Instead two of them turn their attention towards Karolina, raising those hands and an immense burst of heat pours out from them, focused and intense enough to cut through the very ground itself. It slams into her with sheer, melting heat -- and nothing happens.

Those androids don't have any expression to register surprise, but if they did, surely some would be showing there.

But as Starlight simply sops up that ambient heat and energy, the spectrum of that energy blast begins to shift...

All of that could have proven to be a problem for Karolina of course. Which is when one of those same Kryptonian powerhouses simply drops in amongst them, landing on the pavement and lashing out with those blows. Tough as those androids might be, despite the advantage of that close-range power suppressor, they are clearly not made to stand up against that kind of sheer might and in moments the trio of white-clad figuires lay in pieces on the ground.

Which is when even more of them begin to start bubbling on up out of that hole in the ground. Two, four in mere moments nearly a dozen more Zeroes have emerged on the street level.

Cable has posed:
It's not like it's all peaches and creams down in the labs either.

The firefight continues to rage, the STAR security personnel fighting a losing battle against those Zero androids. Or as Cable says quietly, "Ambient-Energy Dampening Actualization Modules."

One might get the impression that Cable is not sharing everything he knows about this situation.

One would probably be right.

Given time, they can almost surely blast through all the arrayed forces that Stryfe has at his disposal. But whatever his intentions are here might be done by then. No, they need an opening.

And Monet goes to provide them one.

Streaking past the Zero units, M certainly draws their attention, those hovering androids pivoting, looking to track her, to bring her down. A pair chase after her, looking to close in, to bring their power-suppressors to bear. But that leaves an opening, for Kurt to evacuate the security staff and for the rest of them to punch a hole to that lab.

"Maybe you can try to pick up the enemy another time Boom-Boom," comes Cable's sardonic voice, levelling that plasma rifle just as her own plasma bombs join the frey. "Just try not to bring the roof down on our heads.

"Husk, if you wanted to focus on the downed units. They should have central motivators in the chest. If you could pluck them out so their self repair functions do not insure an endless supply of reinforcements," the future soldier suggests as he begins to advance.

While most of them might not be so wild to see so much destruction down here, certainly it is a little less of a concern for Bishop, given the nature of his powers. Those beams fly, and it proves more then a little helpful to have him playing shield, stepping in to intercept some of those -- fueling the inevitable counterstrike.

As always, Cable leaves his fellow-time travel to pursue his own directives, familiar enough by now with his tactical prowess.

He likewise has has no need to worry about Sally as her blasters appear, falling in at her side in that slow advance. Two of those zero units come in from their flank, trying to get close enough to lock down their powers but Cable doesn't even blink, doesn't turn, leaving them to the lioness to dispatch.

While Monet might have opened that hole for them, it is Tarot that clears it out, leaving only that scattered resistance as that Major Arcana tears forward, the Devil practically touching the ceiling as it's hooves leave imprints in the ground with each step, those torns impaling a half dozen of the Zero units and tossing them aside with casual ease.

The way is open. That vault door is just ahead.

Then there is a brilliant light, an explosion of energy and that heavy metal door comes flying outward, flung with tremendous force towards them. Cable is barely able to get up a telekinetic shield in time, and even then he only barely manages to deflect it upwards, slamming into the ceiling and bringing a host of debris down around them.

And when the dust clears, standing in that open door way are two figures, together in start contrast.

One is a hulking, glowing armored form of swirling energy, features seemingly formed out of pure plasma. The other? Dark, almost a shadow except for that stark white hair.

"Holocaust. Abyss." Cable says flatly.

Someone is defintiely not telling them everything.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The way in is going to always be messy. One might almost chant as energy blasts, power nullifiers, and all that brutality goes to blast back and forth one thing.
    BREACH THEIR DEFENSES!
    As she keeps track of everything going on, Monet goes face to mind with two of the most potent telepathic triggers she has ever faced. She has felt the Shadow King. She has felt the Phoenix. She has felt the Five in One.
    These things seem to be on par with them. Even she goes to struggle a moment just to process this and what they're up against. No.. Definitely not the type that they an take head on, or side on. And she can't exactly go to hijack any superweapons that STAR Labs has, which might as well be what Stryfe is after. Time to play it tricky. All right, these things are on par with among the most powerful.. Is that a psionic force generator about one to contain it!? Wait.
    Monet goes to get a very, very bad idea. She goes to do math in her head. This is going to hurt quite a bit. She ponders the positioning of the Zero units, how much their power suppressor systems work, how fast they are, and how fast the robots react. This is going to hurt a great deal.
    Monet goe sto charge in, away from Holocaust and Abyss.. And then she's going to grab as many of the Zero units as she can. At Mach 4. Each Zero Unit masses approximately two hundred and twelve kilograms. Monet can lift up roughly five kilotons if she exerts herself.
    One. Grab at high speed, powers already fading. Two. Grab a second, now at a third of her strength and speed. Grab a third. At half. Grab a fourth. Barely over human. But those four are left mostly intact.. And hurled RIGHT over at Holocaust and Abyss. Along with a warning sent to Cable.
    Stryfe's not going to trust such powerful subordinates. Anyone with that level of power working at the behest of another will be a fanatic or crazed in other ways. That means that Stryfe will have /something/ onhand in case of a backstab. Hopefully that's having his own mass produced and readily availble power suppressor Zero units working on his own subordinates.
    Four are flung at them as the last thing that Monet does is think as hard as she can at Cable to let him know what she's doing, even as seh hits the ground hard.
    Just a human now. Precious, desperate seconds until the things are far enough away for her powers to come back. If her timing is off..
    Then she dies.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
While the others turn their attention towards dealing with all those floating androids and their beams of energy that are tearing the place to shreds, Kurt continues to evacuate the security staff, little clubs of inky mist appearing and fading away as he practically dances around the room, getting people out of the line of fire, getting them to safety. That first person he teleports up to the surface -- and finds himself in the middle of the confrontation there, blinking in surprise at the sight of Divine, Starlight, Atom Eve and Caleb with his rail gun. "Oh my, perhaps this is not the place of safety I hoped. Should you handle things up here, you will find more of them down below. Do feel free to join," Kurt says with a sweeping bow towards the quartet.

"My apologies friend, this will likely not be pleasant for you," he says to the guard who's shoulder his hand still rests on. Then they bamf again, this time well down the block, remerging there briefly before the fuzzy blue elf disappears back down into the lower levels of STAR labs to continue the evacuation.

Leaving behind one bent over security guard, busily emptying out the contents of his stomach. It doesn't pay to teleport too often with Kurt, at least not multiple jumps in short succession.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's a chuckle when the Kryptonian that very likely just heard herself described as the Hot Goth one asks about Cannonball. <<He sort of is. Husk's brother. Third hottest Guthrie I know.>> she flirtatiously winks at Paige. <<We used to date, but now we're just really good friends. If you've ever heard Lila Cheney's 'Sam' it's about him.>> Tabitha explains to Divine, thoroughly amused. <<So sort of semi famous.>> she adds very much amused.

Following Cable into the building while more robots pout out. There's a few hefty streams of plasma leaving her fingers, like a flamethrower and a shotgun hand themselves a bigger breach of the Geneva conventions.

The two named minions et a chuckle as Cable gives their names. "You guys sound like you're trying waaaaay too hard with names like that!" says the woman that calls herself Boom-Boom. A few orbs of plasma of her own forming and swirling around her like satellites. "No guarantees on roof collapsing. These guys look the type." she states and sweeps her hands down and then forwards, directing bombs at both of them.

Eve Wilkins has posed:
The glittering energy around her as Eve cutting around in the midair, hovering in place with the pink sputtering lights keeping her aloft, letting her eyes draw down to the ground, and the cloth, now kicking up with those civilians trapped beneath it.

Her mouth twitches in a frown. That could have gone better. But let's focus on other things right now - like the rainbow energy that snaps around her. "Hello!" she calls, and gives a thumbsup in the call of 'nice'.

Only for her face to fall further when she sees more androids pile out of the ground. "Careful, there's lots of them... is that Supergirl down there?" she asks. As opposed to flying *towards* the androids, Eve flies low. There was enough firepower headed in the direction of the sea of robots flooding out of the ground, and yes, she flings an idle shot that way of a pink bolt of energy towards one of the robots. But Eve's mission was different. She had a careful eye, and was swooping back and forth - until the civilians could get out of there, she was (hopefully) ready with a quick snap of a forcefield to put in the way of any stray bolts that might hit someone.

Her eyes briefly glance to the devil man teleporting people away. "I got defense! Hammer those androids, shout if you need help!" she calls as loud as she can admist the fracas.

Sally Pride has posed:
A pierced cat-ear perks as Cable comments to someone else about the reconstructive motivator whatchamahoo in the chest of the robots. That's useful to know. Both for future reference, and for the here and now.

If there is something Cable hasn't told them, he's got reason not to. It's probably got to do with the whole from the future matter, or something similarly senstive, so she doesn't let it get to her. It's just part of working with this group.

Two of the Zeros move in to the side, trying to flank them. A smart move on their part, if they're anticipating the enemy being focused on the lab with their controllers in. Which they are. Focused, but not tunnel vision. That's something that Sally's training includes avoiding, remaining observant of the entire situation.

Cable doesn't need to divert his attention from that primary objective. Sally takes a step as if to continue forward, only to abruptly plant that foot and pivot on it, using that feline nimbleness to turn on the would-be flankers without showing that she noticed their maneuver and opening fire with her blasters. Now specifically aiming for their upper bodies both because of that note of repair funtions to disable and because it's close to center of mass to ensure her blasters are effective in their hits.

Bishop has posed:
At the explosive entrance of the new comers, Bishop ducks down to attempt to shield the bodies of more downed guards and then he straightens back up to stare in the direction of the new arrivals.

It is not lost on Bishop that a certain someone hasn't been sharing everything he knows. Cable's familiarity with these new arrivals is indeed noted alongside the sheer power at their disposal if their arrival indicates anything.

"Would you care to share with the rest of the class, Cable?" His tone should well indicate his minor ire at being so caught of guard but at the same time he can only assume, given the other time travelers great knowledge and tactical mien, that he was likewise surprised by these two.

One thing that is clear, however is their power and their threat. Monet launching herself into the fray without an opportunity for them to regroup or even properly assess the capabilities of the new arrivals does draw a grimace from him but clearly this operation just isn't' meant to be going smoothly and so he follows up with an assist.

"Boom Boom! Tarot!" He yells, calling for them to provide cover if necessary should any remaining Zero Units attempt to intervene.

His large body bursts forward through the hazy mist of Kurt's teleportation *BAMFS* just as he clears away more of the guards Bishop has been shielding. His body surges with a build of up of the stored energy from the zero units that had been blasting him and then, amplifying their power with his gift, he spins a massive arm around and sends a massive beam of energy billowing forth in a brilliant hue of red-golds and crackling black dots as it blazes across the area for the duo in the aftermath of Monet's toss, hoping that Cable's telekinetic grasp will be enough to yank her back in time or that her powers will be quickly restored to deal with any blow back from the assault.

Karolina Dean has posed:
A solid beam of prismatic energy streaks from Starlight's hands into the chest of one of those Zeroes, her floating, angelic visage perhaps only intensified by the wrath she was raining down from her lofty position in the sky.

Perhaps it was bravery. Perhaps it was hubris. But the Majesdanian offered no barriers or defenses against the weapons aimed back at her, and as they hit her radiant body, energy blasts were simply absorbed as if she hadn't noticed them.

What it _did_ do was keep all of those stray energy blasts shooting harmlessly either into her or up into the air, where they couldn't be a threat to her or anyone else.

...Not until they shifted from firing pure energy to shooting plasma-based blasts with physical damage she can't simply _absorb_.

The first one catches her in the shoulder just before all three Zero-bots are pulverized, and Starlight lets out a scream of pain, her flight suddenly erratic as splatter of shimmering rainbow-light droplets spray out behind her, raining down on the sidewalk below her.

"Assholes!" she screams as more of them start coming out of the hole.

Kurt's arrival warrants a short glance -- it almost looked like she wanted to wave like she did to Eve, but she was too busy holding her injured shoulder with her injured hand.

"Working on it!" she calls back to him instead, her voice strained with pain, and as those energy weapons turn back on her, she dives for the deck, landing in a crouch on the sidewalk where she can get several of them in a line.

She raises her hands in front of herself, forming a broad shield with her solar-energy to stop the incoming fire, but it builds and glows brighter, seems to become more solid, and then it launches itself forward like a battering ram shot out of a catapult, racing towards a row of bots.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
No time to be lead-footed here, Caleb!

He darts for his life to escape that death ray, and hoping people have cleared the path by leaving their cars - and of course, Caleb is not about to hide behind his.

He smiles to himself as he sees he's not alone on this, and gives a thumbs up to the flying girls who just saved his ass.

He also makes a mental note that when he's in situations of ultimate peril, it's normally a superpowered girl saving him - going back to Amazo, it was Miss Martian. Hmm... A pattern? Maybe not.

But, this reasoning is put behind as a dozen more of these units pop up.

"Oh, sonuva..."

Dodging his way back into the car, he again pulls out from the trunk a belt that he connects to his waist, "If you ladies can keep them off me for a few seconds, I might be able to fry 'em...!" He pulls out two projectiles which he loads and fires - and, if it all goes well, they'll stick and send out a scrambling discharge omnidirectionally using their bodies as the power source... A loclized EMP.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
If Marie were focused on her own body at the moment, she'd offer to make introductions between Divine and the mysterious Sam... but she's not, so that's going to have to be an offer that comes in a later conversation between the two women.

Instead, she focuses on the actions of her Devil. The sights and sounds it can hear. The various white-garbed androids that she's chosen as her prey... and this focus continues with Bishop's order.

Yes, she can see the two new, unknown combantants that have entered the fray... but she trusts her teammates to handle them. She'll do her part by keeping the potential power-jammers far away... and in pieces.

Divine has posed:
Divine slams two androids together with a deafening clang as they appear. "Nope." She's not sure what she's saying no to, but it might be these things targeting regular people over... technology? As often happens, she has no idea what is going on, just that this is beyond regular security, and that makes it a her problem.

There are too many people to keep throwing metal around like baseball, but she does pull or melt the heads of each of them. Movie logic. The other ones haven't gotten back up yet, and if they do she'll take their legs.

Mostly she's focused on making sure none of them get to people that can't fight back. She breathes out a deep breath where they're coming up and out. It doesn't stop them, but it does make the area slick and cold, which seems to slow them a bit.

Cable has posed:
Certainly any pretense of the androids flowing up to the surface not being interested in hurting anyone is rather swiftly abandonned and as the new hoard emerges into the glow of the Avenue of tomorrow, they do not even hesitate in letting those energy beams lash out. Certainly a number of those blasts might be directed towards the quartet of protectors that have gathered together on that brightly lit street to oppose them, to protect those still out and about, who have not yet sought -- or found -- cover.

But many of those blasts are clearly meant to cause nothing by chaos, to deliberately endanger innocent civilians with no cause of or concern for anyone that might get caught. Energy spokes rip into the road, into nearby buildings, tearing through the various labs, firms and shops that line the street, sending chunks of debris falling towards the ground below.

But each time Atom Eve and her miraculous constructs are there, swooping in to divert debris, to turn aside blasts of energy just seconds before they will obliterate anyone caught in their way and generally leaving the others a free hand to act without concern for the safety of others. Fortunately, police cruisers appear at the end of the street, coming screeching to a stop as the authorities start to cordone off the area.

Of course Eve isn't the only one that can do a little protecting and while Starlight's blast rips through one of the Zero Unit's chest, sending it crashing to the ground, she quickly receives a lesson that these units are not one note wonders. They do not show the sheer signs of intelligence that Zero Prime has demonstrated, but clearly they can adapt. Shift and mdulate frequencies and energy types. To problem solved.

As demonstrated by the plasma burst that slams into her shoulder.

As those stark white androids continue to emerge, start to split off, Starlight is amongst them, plowing through them with that shield proceeding her, taking the brunt of those energy bursts before plowing straight through them, a trio of the Zeroes battered to pieces as she sweeps by.

Caleb could certainly be in trouble. And for a moment things don't look particularly good for him, particularly with all those energy beams being hurled about. Indeed, he is about to learn just what life will be like without his car as a cutting beam sweeps towards his vehicle -- stopped at the last moment as Eve buys him a little more time with one of her forcefields.

It of course helps considerably that the dark haired Kryptonian clone is right there to meet the onrush of new androids, simply grabbing hold of two of them and smashing them together. Then the rest of them begin to converge on her, seeking to overwhelm her with that amplified power drain effect, reinforced by each of the remaining Zeroes.

Cable has posed:
In short order Nightcrawler has managed to evacuate all the remianing security forces on this level, and perhaps the levels above. While Cable isn't indifferent to their plight, he does rather have other things to concern himself with right at the moment.

The reinforcements though so many Zero units are bad enough. The fact that the madman Stryfe has somehow found a way to draw Holocaust and Abyss into all of this? That is so much worse and his already grim features as set into a mask of implacability as he rips a few shots down the hall towards that guarded entrance into the sealed lab beyond.

To be sure, keeping the power-jamming robots from massing up, from closing in on them and trying to overwhelm them with sheer numbers is critical. Without their defenses, they'll last about as long against that energy blasts of Holocaust as a Rebel Cruiser against the Deathstar.

Of course Cable has watched Star Wars. Even he has to take a break at some point, right.

Though it does raise a question of just how long one of Tarot's Major Arcana's will last against the sheer firepower of the mutant menace.

Which leaves the way clear for the quartet battling their way forward on the ground. The remaining Zero units try to blank them and find Sally right there, those finely honed reflees leaving her in a perfect position.

Bishops comments draws a faint grimace from Cable as he fires off another burst of plasma energy towards the end of the room. "Later," he says shortly to his fellow time traveller. Assuming there is a later of course.

While the shadowy Abyss merely grins that sadistic smile, Holocaust's own energy features are far more inscrutable. What isn't at all inscrutable is the fact that Cable's plasma bolt, Tabby's plasma bombs and even Bishop's burst of power all unerringly fly towards the armored for of Holocaust.

And he just eats it. All of it.

The glow around him brightens, intensifies and he lifts his hand once more as the group may catch a glimpse of Stryfe and others standing over a work bench, the damaged form of Zero Prime seeming to keep their attention.

He knows it is coming. And there is so little time to react. Before he can however Monet is streaking past, using the last bit of her energy to hurl that collection of Zeroes and their energy drainign aura towards the end of the hall, sending them clattering towards Holocaust -- who remains impassive and unmoving -- and Abyss who goes skittering away, lost to sight momentarily amongst all the other shadows.

Reaching out, Cable clamps a telekinetic hold on Monet's unmoving form, drawing her back to them even as he calls out 'Incoming!'

Thrusting the downed woman away from him, across the room, he throws up everything he can muster into that telekinetic shield as Holocaust unleashes another blast of pure rading intensity.

Fire meets force, and only the dampening effect of those Zero units keeps that blast from blowing right through Cable's shields and incinerating them all.

Instead the future soldier goes fly back, crashing hard into the wall behind him and slumping down to the floor, crouched on one knee.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
They have no real ability to do more than slow these things down. Whatever they are. Monet slowly forces herself upright, powers returning even with her being disoriented. <<That thing is a highly enhanced psionic construct in a containment suit. We don't want to breach it>> That's sent to the rest of the group that's brawling over wtih Holocaust and Abyss even as Monet goes to rpaidly look around. All right, those things can eat energy. Trying to throw more power at them won't go well. She doesn't want to risk supercharging Bishop and it turning into a game of who's batteries overload first. Something, something.. Non-energy. She needs something that will be non energy to use and..

She goes to partially disengage, going to rapidly look through the database of things onhand even as the chaos and firefight goes on. She scrolls chemical symbolts, inventories, at fast speed. There.

She goes to zoom along at her best possible speed in her injured state, going to one of the storage units.. And comes out with a series of balls. Which she goes to launch over at Abyss and Holocaust. Presuming they do impact, the balls would splatter over them like silly putty. And.. Goo. Super-adhesive.

The type they used to contain the high enders in the city long enough to icnarcerate them. Whether or not they would work on entities like Holocaust and abyss would be questionable - they could be blasted out of the air.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's a pretty big frown as the very unfortunately named plasma shaped mutant just tanks her blasts. Luckily with no so many Zero units left, and the one they know of being repaired. It kind of makes it hard to get out of the place.

<<So yeah, not gonna lie. That whole eating plasma is annoying when someone else does it.>> she says over comms, mostly also addressing Bishop.

Wherever Abyss went, that's probably not a good thing either. However the situation seems to be somewhat in the heroes favor. <<Hey, if no one is around. Are we good for that whole roof thing. Kurt bebe, feel up for a group bamf?>> she considers possible tactics.

Just to try and feel like something she can do is effective, she keeps sending plasma bombs over where she last saw Stryfe.

Over at Bishop, the blonde aims a shrug. "Other idea. We just deck bubble boy. Or you deck him. I aim my blasts at you for you to absorb. You get strength upgrades in those powers of yours?" she asks.

Though with Monet throwing balls of goo. The blonde's inner teenager force a snicker. "Tooo many jokes. Hopefully all that plasma doesn't just flash evaporate that stuff."

Sally Pride has posed:
'Incoming' is all Sally needs to hear to spring into action, in a combination of reflex and training. She dives for what cover she can find, which shouldn't be too hard with all the scientific equipment that litters lab. As she does so she grabs one of the Zeros she downed, leaving the others to be swept up into Monet's gathering. The one she kept Sally hunkers behind equipment while holding it with her like a shield. Even if it's energy dampeners are offline it's a big chunk of resiliance between her and the thankfully weakened blast unleashed by Holocaust. Even as the machinery and parts of the robot are torn away by the surge. Sally can feel the still rather intense energy tingle in the air even with the improptu shielding.

Now she see's how the guy got his name. And he can absorb energy. So her blaster is pretty useless against that. And he's still an obstacle before someone can get to Stryfe.

By this point Sally doesn't let that she lacks the phenominal powers of others get to her. She finds ways to make do with what she does have -- training, grit, and being a mutated predator.

She grabs the head of the Zero unit she used as a shield, digging in her claws and twisting until the head unit snaps free.
Then she stands and uses the same inhuman strength that broke it free to make a powerful overhanded throw and hurtle the piece of robot at Holocaust! It's a big chunk of physical material and not something he can just absorb or redirect, it's the best option she's got. Do something the enemy's powers can't directly nulify.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Well, none of this looks very good.

As that massive energy blast from Holocaust races down the corridor, vaporizing just about everything in it's path until Cable's telekinetic shield interrupts it - at the cost of throwing the man back into the wall, Kurt can't help but wince.

This doesn't look particularly good. Especially not in these tight confines. How are they supposed to get down that hall? He can teleport them of course, but then what?

Of course, he could always teleport someone else instead. That suddenly has much more appeal.

He almost grins as he suddenly disappears once more, not abandonning the team.

Going for reinforcements. Or at least one very specific reinforcement.

Once more the fuzzy blue elf pops into existence on the surface, glancing around. And finding a horde of Zeroes charging towards where he is standing.

Beside Divine.

"My apologies, but we need to borrow your services," Nightcrawler says to the dark haired Kryptonian, flashing a winning smile her way before wiggling fingers at Karolina, Eve and Caleb. "You have this, yes?"

Not that he waits for an answer. Instead the pair disappear in that burst of inky black mist and reappear again down below, in that hall.

Right in front of that menacing, armored form of Holocaust.

"If you could...?" the fuzzy blue elf suggests.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
How much damage can Tarot's muta-magical summons take?

...surprisingly little. Despite being impressive, like the girl herself appears to the untrained eye they're surprisingly fragile. They rely on being on the offensive, or serving as distractions. Tank? No, glass cannon would be almost certainly be more of an apt descriptor, as the massive counter-attack from Holocaust rips through the form of the Devil who, rather than being sliced in twain, dissolves back into the nothingness that it was created.

Now, where does that leave Marie herself? Shunted 'back into her own body' by the fierce assault, it results in her being thrown back as if struck by an invisible force... or trying to evade a blow that isn't actually coming for /her./ The truth of the matter is, if the situation was different, it might actually be comical.

Instead, it takes her out of action for the moment as her mind reconciles not being at the (mental) controls of a giant beast of the Tarot, and instead just being herself once again. It's disorienting for the poor girl, though without a followup attack she'll be ready to rumble once more soon enough!

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Hey, no dints on my car, Circle Boy!", Caleb shouts as a blast is shot at it, but held at bay by Eve.

Now, Circle Boy...? Look, Caleb likes to make up names for people when he doesn't have their original ones. Call it a stress reliever, if you will. And, given how Zero's 'suit' is really circular patterns all over, it fits.

Now, back to the action.

"Just a few seconds more..." Caleb continues reloading and shooting those projectiles at each of the copies...

And, once he's done, he presses the switch.

"Here goes nothing..."

*CLICK!*

Bishop has posed:
The circumstances are certainly dire..... but one thing about time travelers - they can certainly muck up well planned scenarios and Bishop, for all of Holocaust's power, may be -uniquely- suited to this situation.

For his part, he doesn't' hesitate. He -hears- Tabitha but he's already on the move, jumping forward into the path of the blast just beyond the perimeter of Cable's shield and bracing himself to take some of hte heat directly off of Cable and to give the others that critical opening.

And it hurts. Alot.

The exact upper limits of Bishop's ability to absorb energy has never been found or specifically tested. In another world and time a blast just like this, if not even greater, was still within his capacity to absorb as is the onslaught (har) of all of his team members upon him at once. But such a blast, still put him to the ground. This one, even dampaned as it is, seems to be approaching such power levels. and it causes him to let out a loud pained, "RARRGGGH!" as the energy pours into him and sets his eyes a blaze and a raging fury into his body.

But he holds his ground, pulling the energy off of Cable to free the telekinetic for an assault of his own though Bishop's limits may be found this day and found quickly.

."Take them!" he yells, voice garbled with pain as he tanks the energy assault and then begins pulling from his overflowing reserves to begin to send the blast roaring back at Holocaust even as he pulls in the bleed off from the attack. The one benefit here is that his gift allows him to amplif what he's given so if nothing else he can keep the other mutant at bay for a time as a full on amped attack might very well detonate this entire place and bring it down on their heads. Something the armored mutant likely has nothing to fear. An eventual disruption will be needed - and perhaps was just provided by a blue elf and an arriving Kryptonian.

Eve Wilkins has posed:
Eve's mind was working a mile a minute. Face turned down into grim concentration with the effort it took to focus on her power, she alights on the sidewalk near the fallen cloth, and some of the blasts she redirects is with a swoop of her construct energy to the left. Then to the right.

For most of the time, her left hand was doing that work, right hand holding out a shield in front of herself.

But these robots were smarter than that. Maybe a little too smart.

    Later on, when she has the time and presence of mind to analyze this situation, she'd realize what had happened. That one of the zeros was baiting with shots to get her to drop that shield, and indeed - that's what had happened. A shot down the road requires her to drop that shield in front of herself and cast a wall to her right...

When her shoulder erupts into flame. The costume singes, and she cries out, the constructs she had created disappearing in a moment, the scent of burning flesh in her nostrils.

But she doesn't cry for help, her right leg going back to brace herself as opposed to crumpling as the searing pain in the moment slowly vanishes. With left arm, she crates that shield, wide and tall like a roman shield, and snaps it in front of herself, blinking the tears away as she glances up again.

Her brow narrows, and her frown stays stoic as she steps forward, using that hand to keep the shield up as she starts to draw nearer to the Zeroes.

Divine has posed:
That... is a lot of robots. Divine's heat vision is not nearly as precise or controlled as it should be, but she's overwhelmed and starts to cut loose with them when there's a 'bamf', the faint scent of sulfur, and when she blinks there's a big angry guy in front of her. She tilts her head back towards Kurt. "I got this?" She looks back at the angry glow in front of her, and her face firms. "I got this." She zooms across the small gap, fist aimed directly at his glowing solar plexus. Well. For a given value of muscle, given the armor and the weird body thing. She's taking in a deep breath as she does it, releasing the entire lungful in a gusty breath at Holocaust's face. Her punch connects seconds after, driving the behemoth back a few feet.

Karolina Dean has posed:
Once Starlight has has smashed a line of the androids to bits with a makeshift battering ram of pure energy, the solar-powered heroine floats back at Caleb's call for cover, and to get a better view of the remaining Zero-bots all focusing their attention on Divine.

She wasn't exactly sure what the guy's plan was -- only that he had fired two projectiles into the chaos (were they bombs? flashbangs? smoke grenades? something ELSE?). So, to be on the safe side, she floated back until she was near Caleb... and Eve, hands rising in preparation to make a force-field of her own, should they need it.

"Definitely NOT Supergirl!" comes a VERY belated reply to Eve. She had apparently not missed the question, before -- she'd just been too busy trying to disable the Zero-bots to figure out exactly _who_ the Kryptonian was. "I haven't exactly been introduced to the whole family..."

Or any of the rest of the family besides Kara. Not her cousin or his future-kids or any of their various clones or... oof. Not the time to try to process all of that, either.

Then there's Kurt, again! Hey, Nightcrawler!

'You have this, yes?'

"What?!"

And then he's gone. Bamf.

Which she can only assume is karma balancing itself after he saved her from the Reaper, because all of those bots needed a new target.

Suddenly Eve is crying out, and Starlight's attention is split again, but she remains hovering beside Caleb.

"Whatever you're going to do, do it fast!" she shouts, raising her hands to make a dome-shaped wall that would keep them from taking any incoming fire until Caleb's plan could take full effect.

Cable has posed:
Kurt's timing might not be ideal for those who are still fighting the good fight on the surface, striving to protect the citizen's of Metropolis. Stealing away Divine certainly tilts the odds back in the favor of the androids that are bubbling up out of that gap in the road.

Worse, that adaptive programming starts to show as they find away past Eve's formidable defenses, singeing her with those flames. And without the Kryptonian to focus on, increasingly they start to turn their attention towards Caleb, towards Starlight.

Hands come up, energy begins to pool amonst those synthetic fingers, ready to blast them with only Karolina's energy steal standing between them.

What the androids don't pay attention to are the ddevices hurled by Caleb. Devices that he activates just in time.

Though it might not win him a heap of friends.

Bright blue waves of electromagnetic energy rip outward, plunging the festival like Avenue of Tomorrow into darkness.
5rFor a moment, as that energy rips through the Zero units it looks like they might resist, still crawling forward. Then, abruptly, they all seem to go inert, freezing where they are.

While Monet's assessment of the situation might be a wise one, there is a certain desperation setting in. Cable is at least somewhat shaken, though he is slowly regaining his feet, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs there from the impact. Bishop too has put his body on the line, throwing himself between the others and Holocaust to partially absorb that blast, though by the sounds of it not without some discomfort at the very least. Clearly, this figure packs a punch.

Of course Tabby is still there, on her feet, adding a little chaos to the whole thing, snakingthose plasma bombs past the towering armored figure and into the lab beyond to try and disrupt Stryfe.

The hurled, experimental adhesives from Monet splatter across that armored menace and Sally follows it up with one of the Zero-heads, her very own Fastball Special that rocks the giant armored figure back. Between that toss and the adhesive, it very nearly bowls Holocaust over entirely, unable to shift to maintain his balance.

Still trying to clear his head, Cable still reaches out, lifting a hand towards Tarot, plucking her from where she stands, trying to recover as well and floating her out of the line of fire.

Which is when Kurt reappears with his surprise. The Kryptonian powerhouse's punch rocks Holocaust back, sending him crashing to the ground as a hairline fracture visibly appears in that armor, the outline of it sharpened as all that energy swirls within.

At the sight of that, Stryfe screams, real panic audible in his voice. "NO!" Turning, he gestures to the still only half-repaired Zero Prime and those frustratingly annoying rifts begin to open -- engulfing Stryfe and his loyalist of servants, engulfing Holocaust and presumably engulfing Abyss as well.

And the lab is left, suddenly a much quieter place. The sound of debris occasionally continuing to rain down. Of lights humming with all the electrical shorts. Electricity crackling from exposed power junctions.

STAR Labs is a mess. But Stryfe has been thwarted. Again.

So why doesn't that feel like it is the end of it?

Monet St. Croix has posed:
And there is Monet, looking over at Cable. Exhausted, for once not injured but glancing over at him. "You knew those things with him. What are they and where are they from?" She trusts Cable. He's generally treated them fairly. HE's not kept the game plan from them. He's generally not treated them as pawns. But a being /like/ Holocaust?

"We're going to need to have a talk. Soon." Because there's much.. Much more than meets the mind.

Eve Wilkins has posed:
The EMP waves cause her hair to lift up a bit with a tingle, Eve's forcefield powerful in front of herself. A glance to the side, towards Karolina and Caleb, when it seemed like everything had quieted down.

"That... seemed to work, whatever it was, EMP?" she asks.

A blink again. She still had her shield up, and probably would until she was *absolutely* sure. "You all okay over there?" she says, that serious look finally starting to let up with a smile.

"It takes a lot of guts to hit Metropolis, I think. It's lousy with heroes, right?" she says, flashing a wink towards the others. But after trading greetings and other well-wishes, and making sure the police had things under control, she was off.

Probably to find a doctor.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride lets out a soft hiss of annoyance. "Got away!... but at least we stopped what he was working on. Trying to use STAR tech to repair the main unit I'd wager." Well, it's something. And things could of been a lot worst if they hadn't butted into his business. If Nightcrawler hadn't evaced the guards then brought some Kryptonian help. She turns her attention back to the rest of X-Force and allies present. "You going to be okay?", she asks primarily of Cable and Bishop after taking all that, but to the general whole present as well. "Gonna need a rest after this one. And planning."

She turns her gaze back towards the station Stryfe had been working at. "This isn't over. They're going to look for a place to finish what they started..."

Karolina Dean has posed:
Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz.

Except that's the sound of lights going out... radially outward... block after block.

Starlight's shield drops and her defenses lower, one finger moving up to touch her ear as she hovers there.

<< "Tower, I think we're going to need additional support for a blackout.." >>

Pause.

<< "Tower?" >>

Pause.

<< "Tower?" >>

"Ooookay.. I'll do this the old fashioned way! Good job on the EMP! I mean.. as far as I'm concerned. At least we're not getting shot at anymore.."

Starlight offers a radiant grin to Caleb.

Then there's Eve shouting.

"We're good! Are YOU okay? If you need help, reach out to the Titans! I'm sure we can figure something out!"

Or maybe that was just a hastily thrown out plot hook for future RP? Who knows?

"I'll be back with more help... I hope!"

And then she's rocketing into sky, going up like a flare into the night with a long, prismatic tail trailing behind her. A few seconds later, there's an explosion of rainbow light and a shudder as she breaks the sound barrier.

Bishop has posed:
Kurt and Divine to the rescue.

Bishop drops to his knees, heart racing, body burning with energy, and large fist planted onto the ground to keep him stable and from collapsing all together. He was inches away from risking an overload after that sustained battle with Holocaust and is in no desire to test his mutant abilities to see how well they'd fare against such an assault without the other mutant being partially dampened. Perhaps with a careful high speed application of releasing the energy he took in...but a test of that under these circumstances when he was already carrying energy from the multiple Zero attacks..

"That was close..." he breathes, still taking a moment to pull it together. Indeed the MLF retreated but this doesn't feel like a victory to him.

Yet another matter to be greatly concerned about. Stryfe's growing forces seem to have no end to them in sight.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
the reaction from Stryfe about the mere possibility of Holocaust's containment armor being breached wasn't very reassuring. Nor, possibly was the crack that Divine put into it.

But it seems to have gotten the job done, at least for the moment. And the fuzzy blue elf will take that.

"Simply wonderful," he beams towards Divine as she knocks the armored monstrocity flat on his backside before vanishing into that rift that opens around him. One hand settles on the rapier at his side and he sweeps a bow to the dark haired Kryptonian. "Thank you for your assistance."

He does not linger however, quickly moving to check on the others -- on Bishop, Monet, Tarot and Cable in particular as they look to have taken the worst of it.

Then it's back to the surface with that quiet *bamf* doing the same for Eve, Karolina and Caleb, peeking aobut the blacked out street. "Mmmmm, seems like you all managed to come through unscathed. And such an improvement to the ambience. I do appreciate the dark," he says, grin visible, those slightly fanged teeth reflecting the moonlight. "If anyone needs assistance I shall haoppily taken them for it."

Divine has posed:
Divine watches, jaw dropped a little as the rifts open, envelop the group, and close behind them. "I didn't punch him /that/ hard!" Her cheeks pink at Kurt's compliment and bow, and her arms cross over her chest as she stares at the empty space. "Cowards." It's an angry mutter, because Divine hates people that start fights with easy targets and bail as soon as anyone who can match them shows up. She doesn't quite stomp her foot, but it's a near thing.

As she turns to the rest of the group, she sees Bishop drop to his knees. "Are you okay? Do you need someone to carry you? Do... all of you need someone to carry you?" Her eyes linger on Marie longest, because she knows the other woman best, but she's watching the entire group with a furrowed brow, trying to figure out how to lift them all if needed.

Cable has posed:
Oh yes, there is probably going to be an accounting.

Even from those he has worked most closely with, with thsoe whom he has earned a measure of trust it is probably past time that Cable shares some of what he knows. And even some of what he just suspects. It is also probably past time that he perhaps but in a little more effort to seeking out some of the related threats that might present themselves if all of what he suspects is true. To turn the resources of Greymalkin towards seeking out Sinister and his Marauders. Apocalypse and his Horsemen.

Because Cable is fairly certain that this is not merely about the Mutant Liberation Front's false promises and grievances.

This is a fight for the future.

Getting back to his feet, Cable casts that stony glance towards Bishop and Monet. Towards Sally and Tabby. Towards the others that perhaps he hasn't worked as closely with, as often as he has with the members of X-Force. But those he gives an incremental nod.

"Soon," is all he says, trusting them to udnerstand.

"Professor, spool up the jump drive. Prepare pre-programmed jump coordinates for bodyslides. Prepare Greymalkin medical unit for anyone requiring attention."

That is probably the least he can do under the circumstances. And if he is sharing more of the truth then he has to date, some of that should probably include his space-based fortress.