18503/Toxic Countdown

Toxic Countdown
Date of Scene:	04 July 2024
Location:	Riverside Chemical Refinery, New York
Synopsis:	Plantman tries to blow up the Riverside Chemical Refinery during the Macy's 4th of July Spectacular, but his plans are thwarted at the last possible second by a group of grave heroes that all unite under a common cause!
Cast of Characters:	Cindy Moon, Laura Kinney, Shun Cruz, Allen-James, Kid Devil

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Cindy Moon has posed:
Only July 4, 2024, the following post appeared on social media...

Citizens of New York,

Tonight, as you gather to celebrate your Independence Day with the dazzling Macy's fireworks show, you should know that not all the explosions will be in the sky.

You may think this is a mere threat, but rest assured, the devastation I have planned is very real. This city, with its endless greed and environmental neglect, has ignored the natural world for far too long. Tonight, I make my stand. I will show you the consequences of your actions, the price of your disregard for nature.

Enjoy your fireworks over the Hudson River -- the river you take for granted and mindlessly exploit as you ignore the waste and chemicals being dumped into it.

Abandon your chemical facilities while you still have time.

Authorities are scrambling, but they will not find all the bombs in time. This chaos will serve as a wake-up call, a reminder of the fragile balance you continue to disrupt. Evacuate if you wish, but know that the real message will be delivered with a spectacular, unforgettable explosions.

Enjoy the finale, New York.

These fireworks will not be your last.

-Plantman

... ... ... ...

Working tirelessly since the social media post was first made, SHIELD has finally pinpointed the threat to a single facility:

The Riverside Chemical Refinery was once a major oil refinery but has been repurposed for the processing and storage of various industrial chemicals. It has a controversial history, marked by several environmental violations and incidents of chemical spills, but despite its past, the refinery is a critical component of the city's industrial infrastructure, providing essential chemicals for various manufacturing processes -- ethanol, methanol, benzene, toluene, xylene, sulfuric acid, ammonia, chlorine, ethylene, and others.

SHIELD and whatever heroes they can convince to help arrive on site minutes before the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks are scheduled to begin -- promptly at 9:25 p.m. The show is scheduled to last exactly 26.5 minutes, and if the heroes can't track down the disable the explosives in time, that chemical plant is guaranteed to outshine the Macy's finale.

Cindy Moon has posed:
The night is alive with the anticipation of the upcoming fireworks. The excitement palpable in the air. In the distance, all up and down the Hudson River, from New York and New Jersey, police have been cordoning off streets and people from all over the world have gathered along the waterfront. Barges float in the middle of the river in anticipation of the big event.

It's all so far away from here, but it's there, if you know where to look.

It's 9:21 PM, and the Riverside Chemical Refinery stands ominously against the backdrop of the Hudson River, its industrial sprawl a stark contrast to the festive atmosphere in the distance. The refinery is a labyrinth of pipelines, storage tanks, and aging infrastructure, a silent testament to years of environmental neglect.

SHIELD has mobilized a half dozen black SUVs, emblazoned with their logo, their tires screeching to a halt as they reach a locked gate. Agents pour out, weapons at the ready, their faces grim and determined. Overhead, aerial units hum, equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance technology. The choppers' searchlights cut through the darkness, casting long, eerie shadows across the facility.

Director Maria Hill steps out of the lead SUV, barking orders into her comms unit. "We have four minutes until the fireworks start. That means the finale is in _exactly_ thirty minutes. I want all teams in position now! Somebody get these gates open! Aerial units, keep your eyes on those barges. Ground units, spread out and start the sweep as soon as we get access. We need to find those bombs before it's too late."

The refinery is eerily quiet, the only sounds are the distant murmurs of the crowd by the river and the hum of the machinery within the facility. The tension is thick, every second ticking away like a drumbeat.

Just as the teams begin their sweep, a shadow swings into view, moving with agile precision. Cindy Moon, known to the world as Silk, lands gracefully atop one of the refinery's tall storage tanks. In her black-and-white spider-webbed costume, with her red half-mask and long black hair flying free, she scans the scene, her eyes narrowing as she assesses the situation.

From her vantage point, Silk takes in the sight of the SHIELD agents. She knows the stakes are high. The fireworks are set to begin in just four minutes, and the bombs must be found and defused to prevent a catastrophe before the finale. She hears Hill's orders, the urgency in her voice mirroring the knot of determination tightening in Silk's stomach.

"Alright, Cindy," she mutters to herself, "time to save the day so we don't all get blown up."

Scene is something like this: https://i.imgur.com/2VjLEyH.jpeg

Laura Kinney has posed:
X-23 wouldn't usually risk turning up at a location with an active SHIELD operation. She's /technically/ on a wanted list. Not a high priority one for various classified reasons. But still. The more agents she runs into the bigger the risk of problems. And those problems generally involve a lot of gunfire and... Well lets just say she'd much rather expend her efforts fighting actual villains.

But with a threat of an attack and her access to various law enforcement sources thanks to being an Outsider. She can't just ignore the potential risk to innocent people! The whole point of joining a superhero team was to strive to be better than a bloodstained killer.

You'd be hard pressed to tell she's a crime fighting vigilante though. Dressed in charcoal grey leggings, a t-shirt and a hoodie she looks like she's going to or on the way back from the gym. Slipping through the crowds with the ease. Every now and then pausing to discreetly sniff at the air. Checking for anything /unusual/. Explosives, firearms, weapons both chemical and biological. Even in such a packed crowd her nose always knows.

Shun Cruz has posed:
Technically, Shun was just getting a good spot to watch the fireworks. And then, he had been pinged on his phone about something on social media.

With the threat being real, he had done his own version of swinging to get here. Not that it was a good idea.

Two energy constructs that he had made about as long as he could, and one giant swing later had him literally skipping water a few times on another hastily made construct shield. The sparks on the water probably look cool in some way. Not to poor Tekkai as he ends up nearly ramming into the dock itself before he manages to slow and stop himself. Pulling himself up by another construct and laying there on the edge for a few minutes is probably not the best idea.

Once he catches his breath, he gets up and starts towards the refinery from the opposite side of the others as he begins to canvas it himself for bombs or something while listening for anything or anyone coming his way.

And he's using a baton made of fiery orange energy to light his way since it's so dark in here.

"Bombs, huh? Where would a plant person put these? Maybe where the chemicals get stored to get the biggest boom?" He says to himself out loud as he makes his way towards some of the tank looking places.

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound is a new player in the Hero scene, spotted in New York, and a few times in Gotham. His outfit is distinctive, even if he's not precisely going to win any 'best dressed hero' awards. It's a simple getup, a long white hooded robe like garment, parted in the front to reveal simple grey clothes underneath. The white hood conceals much of his face, but even when you see under it, he's wearing a mask that hides his eyes, and a bandana that covers much of the rest of his face. The mask has white lenses that cover his eyes entirely, which glow orange when he's using his power. Like now, as he runs through the air, leaving glowing orange footprints in his wake, a white and grey blur which resolves into AJ as he kicks into a spin to bleed off his energy, slapping a few handprints into the air as well as he lands in a crouch atop a big tank near the refinery.

    He heard about all this from the news, and simply being in this district happened to be a good guess. He's followed the SUVs to the area, and lands near them to look over the situation. He doesn't have any particular powers for finding things, or gear either. He makes a note to see if Robin can swing an active scanner upgrade for his mask. But for right now, he figures any extra eyes are a good idea. So, he hops off his perch, pressing himself into a short dash to another building. He taps through the radio built into his mask, hunting for whatever frequency SHIELD is using, so that he can introduce himself.

    << Sorry to crash the channel. I go by Rebound, I'm here to help canvas the area. >> he keeps it simple when he finds the channel, and starts to hunt through the area.

Kid Devil has posed:
    Kid Devil had just signed out of the lab at S.T.A.R. when his phone lit up with alerts about a threat in New York. A bit outside of his usual assignments, and he'd planned to do a livestream later about the science of fireworks; all fourteen of his followers would surely be riveted by that. But there's a call to action! Sort of.
    He quickly tries to contact someone who might be able to help out, but the comms just ring and ring and ring before clicking over. "Oh, I was looking for Robin. Robin's voice-mail will do. I'm heading to that chemical plant thing, if you have some time to help out that'd be great!"
    A safe distance from the site, and from the SHIELD response team, a vortex of flame suddenly churns out of the air, from which Kid Devil emerges. The demon teen has a backpack, with a strap across the chest to secure and balance it. << Greetings, SHIELD personnel! I brought some neutralizing agents in case there's a chemical spill. Oh, and a thing to make bombs inert-- but that's not been properly tested yet, so, let's call that Plan... D. >>

Cindy Moon has posed:
The SHIELD agents continue to arrive, stacking up outside the gate, their numbers swelling as the minutes tick by. The Riverside Chemical Refinery, already a grim and imposing sight, looks even more foreboding under its sporadic, artificial lighting. It's evident that the facility was mostly abandoned in a hurry once the evacuation order was sent out. Equipment lies scattered, tools are left in mid-use, and the eerie silence is punctuated only by the distant sounds of the city preparing for the fireworks display.

As the heroes and agents spread out, they can't help but notice the unusually thick vegetation that's creeped into the facility. Vines, far too robust for this environment, twist and wind their way around everything -- the tanks, the machinery, the staircases, even the fences. It's as if the refinery has been reclaimed by nature, fast-forwarded to look like some post-apocalyptic film, but with an unnatural speed and intensity that can only be Plantman's influence.

Hill's voice crackles over the comms. "All teams, be advised, this vegetation is not normal. Maintain caution; Plantman's plants are likely hazardous."

<< "Glad to have you Rebound. Whoever was in the flame tornado, I need that power. See me after recess. They call me Silk. Full-time Spider, part time SHIELD agent." >>

The radio crackles with another voice, << "Trainee." >>

Silk sighs. << "Yeah, whatever. This place looks like it's been taken over by Jumanji." >>

Though, her tone is serious.

Overhead, the helicopters continue to circle, their searchlights sweeping over the facility. One of the pilots radios in,

<< "Command, we've detected no fewer than twenty distinct low-power radio signals spread around the facility, and we're still scanning for more. We're going to drop a blue smoke canister at each one we find." >>

The information is relayed quickly, and the tension ramps up another notch. "You heard them," Hill's voice commands through the comms. "There are at least twenty bombs, maybe more. Work fast and stay sharp."

Each step is fraught with danger, the thick vines seeming to pulse with a life of their own. A SHIELD agent tries to cut through one, only to have it lash out, narrowly missing him.

"Confirmed, the plants are hostile," the agent calls out, his voice tense.

"Duh," Cindy groans to herself, raising her arms to fire a couple of web-lines at the gates they can't get through. Then she plants her feet, leans back, and PULLS.

The metal strains, pops, and then flies open, almost sending her stumbling back onto her rump in the process.

From one of the office buildings, several panicked screams can suddenly be heard. Then there's more screaming from underneath a set of scaffolding. Workers, probably, that didn't get out with the rest of the evacuation. Workers that tried to finish their job. Workers that were ever told to evacuate. Workers that thought it was just a false alarm. For whatever reason, they're still here, spread around the facility.

Cindy's voice comes back over the comms.

<< "Hey, we've got civilians trapped in here with these plants!" >>

And then, in the distance, the first few fireworks begin to pop in the sky over the Hudson River. Dazzling colors and huge explosions.

She show has begun.

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound dashes through the air towards one of the buildings that is marked as having a bomb. << Repeat that. The plants are hostile? >> Rebound asks, only to have things cleared up a moment later, as he hears screams near his building, and spots a plant waving and slapping at a person. The vine grabs a worker by the legs, and starts dragging them towards what looks like a cluster of vines.

    Rebound ricochets between orange footsteps, redirecting himself downward, as he draws a thin but sharp sword from under the robe. The narrow saber flashes in the air, cutting off the vine that was dragging the man back, while a small buckler forms on his left arm with a swipe of his hand. The buckler comes in handy almost immediately, interposed between a darting vine that stabs at him, deflecting it off with a pulse of bright orange, as he dashes forward, slashing into the thick mass of vines.

    It takes a few seconds, a lot of dodging, and accepting a slap to his chest that feels like it might have cracked a rib, before that cluster of vines is dead.

    << You know, I feel like we should have seen this coming, with a name like 'plant man'. >> Rebound says wryly over coms as he leaps back upward, and through a window, hunting for the bomb in the building.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Announcing herself wouldn't be an X-23 thing to do. But using her Outsiders comms equipment to eavesdrop on the SHIELD channel? Well it's just sensible for 'tactical awareness'. There's only so much good she can do sneaking around in the crowd though. It's New York so the moment the authorities put up a cordon people with cellphones will have gathered around to try film things.

It's basically the unwritten rule.

Well, if the plants might be hostile (so guaranteed will be), then it's probably best if she acts /fast/. She slips to a spot in the crowd with no view. Too close to a fence to see. And pops her claws with a distinctive SNIKT noise.

Civilians gasp and jump back at the sudden appearance of adamantium claws. But before anyone can call for an Agent to come over she's sweeping them in a circle. Making herself an entrance and leaping through.

She doesn't need to /see/ the map to find explosives. Her nose will lead her to the nearest bomb. And those claws? Well adamantium can cut through anything. Leaping and whirling, blades extended from hands and feet, her breakneck sprinting pace barely seems to slow even as she slices and dices.

Shun Cruz has posed:
The natural reaction whenever one sees a demonic looking guy who's got glowing yellow eyes with apparently some sort of glowing mystical stick?

Well, in this case apparently plants like to attack. Tekkai brings up a mandala shield that at least doesn't break under the initial assault of the plants as he tries to get closer to some trapped workers.

Hearing something a bit over, he raises his voice to call out, "Got a few trapped workers over here! Anyone got a really large weed whacker!?"

Tekkai was just really getting tired of being an overgrown wall at the moment, so he was trying to beat on the vine in his way with a fiery orange baton of some sort while holding up the other to shield against the plants.

Not as effective as cutting, but surely he can see if they are tree tough or not.

Kid Devil has posed:
    << Good to meet you, Miss Silk! And Rebound-- hey, I've heard of you. I'm Kid Devil. I'm the red person approaching the site from the southwest. Please don't shoot at me. >>
    He exchanges greetings as he runs closer, smiling and waving at the SHIELD minions as he passes by. "Hey, folks! See if you can isolate those frequencies and pipe the data my way. I might be able to clog the radio signals and buy us some more time."
    But for now he's running straight into peril.
    He pauses in a clearing amidst the writhing green mass, unfolding his tablet to scan the surroundings and start building a map. << I know, right? >> he replies to Rebound's quip. << It's a bit on the nose. Something like 'Oenologist' would have at least been more fancy. >>
    While he stands there, hrming and thinking, a tendril snakes out to whip around his leg. The devil boy is yanked a meter off the ground before that end of the vine suddenly bursts into flames from prolonged contact with the Kid's searing-hot skin. And then Kid Devil lands flat on his face. "Ow."
    << Plants... hostile... confirmed... >>
    He bounces back to his feet and resumes his exploration, this time being more alert to the surroundings.

Cindy Moon has posed:
The first few fireworks explode in the sky, casting colorful reflections on the Hudson River and the industrial structures of the Riverside Chemical Refinery. The booming echoes mingle with the distant cheers of spectators, oblivious to the danger from the chemical refinery.

Maria Hill's voice responds immediately, her tone decisive. "Copy that. Teams Three and Four, focus on extracting the civilians. Everyone else, prioritize those bombs. We can't afford to lose time."

Cindy takes a deep breath, steeling herself for the task ahead. The commotion from the trapped workers adds an extra layer of urgency.

<< "Right?! Or what's that stuff called? Round-Up?" >>

Beat.

<< "Hey, what are the chances that one of these tanks has something in it that these plants would hate, but wouldn't explode? If that's stupid question, I was just kidding." >>

Where's Peter the genius-boy when she needs him?

The overgrown pathway to the scaffolding is treacherous. Silk *thwips* out a line and swings from her tank-top perch towards Tekkai, flipping once and then shooting out six web-lines at once that stick vines to walls like glue, keeping them from attacking anything.

She lands right next to the insectoid-looking-demonic-looking kid and lifts her eyebrows, eyes smiling. She doesn't have a shield. Or a baton. Or even a cool Batman style belt. That doesn't seem to deter her.

"No weed whacker, but I've got a _bunch_ of webs. Which, granted, probably aren't as- AAIIGH!"

Silk-sense doesn't work exactly like Spider-sense. Instead of just getting the "incoming danger" alert to herself, it tends to come from _everywhere_... and when there's a lot of it, it can be overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed enough that one vine can wrap around her ankle, apparently, and yank her to the ground, starting to drag her off.

"NOT COOL!" she yells, stretching her hand over her head to *thwip* out another line. It attaches to a section of railing and keeps the vine from dragging her off any further.

"Hang tight, innocent workers! We're going to get you out in just a second!" Cindy calls out, her voice only a little frazzled, despite her precarious situation.

Meanwhile, the blue smoke canisters continue to drop from the helicopters, marking the bomb locations. The sight of the smoke adds a surreal touch to the already chaotic scene.

And in the middle of it all, a few smaller vines begin to twist together, forming a body that spreads out to arms and legs and eventually a head. Humanoid in shape, but definitely not human.

"SAVE YOURSELVES!" Plantman calls out, growing full of fines until he's twelve feet tall, his plant-voice warbly and blooming. "Leave here and let this wretched facility be destroyed! It is TOXIC! You kill the Earth by allowing it to function! You earn nothing by risking your lives here!"

Laura Kinney has posed:
The quickest route isn't always the most direct route.... Except when you can cut through just about anything. With time so very critical Laura just points herself at the nearest bomb and hacks a path. Vines, branches, brambles, and even walls are no impediment to her passage. It's /probably/ not ideal for whomever owns the building to have X-23 sized holes chopped into the walls. But it's cheaper than the whole place exploding.

Unless she chops through something explosive. But thankfully her super senses should give plenty of warning before she cuts into a tank of anything dangerous.

Superhuman agility and reactions. She's impossibly quick compared to a professional explosives expert in one of those bulky slow moving suits. But more importantly? She's set so many explosive devices in her former career as a world class assassin that she's also pretty darn good at disarming them too.

<< If you don't know how to disarm a bomb I recommend you deal with the plant... person. >> Her Outsiders issue communications gear able to tap into the SHIELD channels. Without giving any indication of who she is. << If they are defeated it likely will stop the rest of the vines. >>

The tricky thing of course. Is even with the tools she's brought to disarm bombs she's probably going to need to keep on fending off the vines with her claws. Which adds a whole new element of challenge!

Nothing like a little fun on the 4th of July. Someone trying to kill you is far better than any parade.

Shun Cruz has posed:
Tekkai looks over at the one that lands beside him. He actually blinks a few times.

"Round up would be--" Then the one he was talking to is being dragged off.

Tekkai runs forward, then extends the fiery looking baton in hand to jab into the vine followed by another and giving a hard twist and yank.

"We were talking here!" He says to the ripped apart plant pieces.

Only to end up looking over at the... well.. plant... being.

He calls towards it, "Hey, you know doing this is just going to make it worse? Most of these refineries are like bombs just waiting to happen."

At least someone's trying some form of reason. It's Tekkai's best weapon since he's more defensive than anything.

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound finds a bomb. It's bigger than he expected, more obvious too. It has tubes, and glowing bits, and wires, and a thing that is beeping. It occurs to Rebound that he has no idea what to do with a bomb.

    << OK. This is definitely a bomb. I'm going... I'm going to try to contain it. >> he says, as he starts to wipe his hands in the air, painting a dome around the bomb. It takes him a while, and he's straining himself, by the time he's wrapped the bomb up, and slides his hand under it. Once that's done, he just.. hefts, pulling the shield up. Since he hasn't set the shield, it takes very little effort to move it, and it moves the bomb inside it easily. He dashes out the window nearby and over to the waterline, sticking his shield underwater, he leaves it there, a glowing bubble, stuck under the water, waiting to explode. << They don't explode when you move them. I left one in the river. >>

    He turns to run back towards the plant, hmmming as he heads towards the giant plant man, drawing his sword again. <<Going to try to distract the plant man.>> he informs the group, and he dashes up to cut through several vines making up an arm.

Kid Devil has posed:
    Kid Devil navigates through the tangled growth to the nearest bomb he can find, quickly scanning it with his tablet and assessing its inner workings. He considers Silk's question and responds *promptly*, << Advise against intentionally puncturing these tanks, >> just to get that message out ASAP. << This tank here has mesotrione, which... is pretty safe in its normal usage, but flooding the site would probably blind all the regular folks on the ground. That's the mildest one I've spotted so far. The other stuff on these labels is generally a lot worse. >>
    The sound of the Plantman monologuing over the whole situation makes Kid Devil scowl and turn his focus back to the bomb at hand. He applies a super-heated claw to slice open the casing, carefully peeling the bomb open to get a look at the insides. "So many extra wires! This design is just so... *inefficient*."
    Hopefully nobody is close enough to hear him critiquing the villain's bomb schematics. Kid Devil mutters to himself as he visually follows the wires around, then finally slices through the right ones. << One bomb down. >>
    He opens a narrow portal to a spot over the river where he had seen Rebound toss a glowing ball, to lob the defused bomb through. << Oh, that's a useful finding! Well done. If they're stable enough to move, I don't have to worry about digging around inside them. >>
    More importantly he doesn't have to look at that dreadful engineering anymore. Ugh.
    He moves on toward the next bomb. The rescuing he leaves to the folks who don't look like kind of terrifying demons, so as to keep from traumatizing the workers any more than they already have been.

Cindy Moon has posed:
The plant stabbed by Tekkai's baton seems to squeal -- or maybe it just seems like it should be squealing? But there's _definitely_ a noise.

...Actually, it turns out that noise is coming from the twelve-foot guy made of... well... all of the same vines. Turns out maybe all of the plants here are just extensions of him, after all!

Whatever the case, the vine around Cindy's ankle lets go, and the nimble little Asian spider is flipping up from the ground to stick onto the side of a support strut ten feet in the air.

"Thanks!" she calls to Tekkai, webbing that vine to the ground so it can't move anymore. "Can you get them out?! Take them to the gate! They'll get help there. I've gotta get the splodey things!"

So, she's definitely a demolitions expert, then. She's pointing back to the path to the... prisoners? Hostages? Victims?... whatever they are, the path to them is mostly clear, now that the jabbing has made the plant retreat where it wasn't webbed harmlessly to a surface.

A moment later, Silk's thwipping out another web-line to swing towards one of those plumes of blue smoke, and her voice comes over the comms,

<< "Wait, we can THROW THEM?! Oh, I am SO in this to win this!" >>

She's still in the air, flying over that plume, when she spots a blinking red light and stretches out a hand. White webbing shoots out, snags the device, and she flips mid-air, YANKING the device and flinging it out into the night sky.

Seconds tick by.

...sploink.

<< "One more down! That's three, right! Seventeen more!" >>

Maria Hills voice comes back over the comms following that, "Be advised, you have eighteen minutes until the finale."

The explosion that kills everyone, she means. But that was a nice way of saying it.

Silk: << "We've got this!" >> She's already swinging towards another one.

And in the middle, there's Plantman in all his massive glory, growing angrier and more frantic as the bombs are thrown into the river. And when Allen-James runs at him with that sword, he turns too slowly. That single swing severs his entire arm in one blow, making the plant-man bellow in pain.

Vines all over the facility seem to draw up and recoil, pulling a little farther away from heroes and trapped innocents alike, but at the same time, that arm begins to regrow. The distraction was accomplished, but now all that focus was on Allen-James.

Shun Cruz has posed:
Hearing that from someone who obviously knows what they are doing it sounds like, Tekkai gives a nod. "On it!"

He turns to the workers, "Yes, I know. I look demonic and stuff. Not the time. Go that way quickly. I'll cover you!" He moves to put himself between the path and any incoming vines as he makes one of his mandala shields and the other makes a baton.

He grumbles a bit, "So looking up some of those people, even if i have to go deal with the headache of that artifact carrying lady."

He was still looking out for the victims/workers/prisoners/whatever-they-are-in-this-case.

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound flips in midair, redirecting his momentum upward and away as a vine slashes under him. << OK, I've definitely got his attention." he says, as three more quick steps leave footprints behind. A vine slashes down on a step mere moments after Rebound vacates it. The shield wavers, trying to absorb the energy and return it, but is easily overwhelmed, exploding like a small grenade, and blowing off the end of the vine.

    Unfortunately, the explosion throws off Rebound's next step, and he ends up flipping in midair in a way he didn't intend, but he swings his sword in a way that halts the flip with him hanging upside down in midair, then kicks off again, sending himself downward like a spastic super ball, back into the mass of vines, slashing and bouncing from vine to vine. << Not... Sure... How long.. I can... keep this... uhfurx... >> He's panting into the coms before a vine catches him, and slaps him. He soars away with a loud grunted curse that sounds garbled over the coms, a white and grey and orange streak falling towards the river like a comet.

Kid Devil has posed:
    With a whole new option opened up, Kid Devil consults his tablet to sift through the nearby radio signals. Since the SHIELD mooks have supplied their findings, he can overlay the sources onto his map. It's way better than blue smoke. After taking a moment to orient himself, tilting his tablet this way or that, he aims... that-a-way, and vanishes in a burst of flame. Air rushes in where he was, making a bluish swirl.
    He pops into one of the facility's buildings and starts swatting desks and tables aside until he finds the blinking bad thing. Still cautious, wincing as if expecting a kaboom, he grabs it and gently twists it loose. But there's no boom! Whew.
    Into another portal it goes, splooshing into the river to start piling up with the other disposed bombs.
    << You okay up there? >> he calls when he overhears Rebound's struggles. Then he spots the other guy-- that's him, right?-- sailing through the night sky like a pre-emptive firework. << HangonjustasecIgotyou-- >>
    Kid Devil grips at the air with both hands and yanks it open, tearing a portal right into the path of Rebound's arc. He plants his feet and-- oh yeah!-- lowers his temperature to a safe level, readying to catch the other hero.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura twirls on one foot. Using the claw on the other leg to fend off vines while she disarms the bomb she's located. She's being a little more thorough than taking the 'throw it in the river' approach. Call it professional pride! But by using her adamantium claws to slice a hole in the device, her supersenses to work out what wires need cutting, and having basically no regard for the risk of personal injury if the bomb goes off. Well she disarms it in what the bomb squad would consider an exceptionally quick time.

And because the bombs are all made by the same bomber(s) they'll probably use the same materials and construction methods.

Meaning the next should be even quicker.

<< Another down at this location. >> She tweaks her comms to flicker a location beacon on and off. Just long enough for SHIELD to identify which bomb is now safe so no-one wastes time on it.

And then she's off towards the next. SNIKTing as she goes. Every now and again a vine will sneak in a lucky blow. She's inhumanly fast but she's not Flash speed. But every injury seems to heal in mere moments. Leaving nothing but a few slashes in her hoodie. Each edged in a little fresh blood.

Cindy Moon has posed:
While Allen-James is swatted into the air towards the river like a badly hit ping-pong ball, Cindy's still swinging towards the next plume of blue smoke.

<< "You're doing GREAT, Rebound! Stick with it!" >>

As if he weren't currently flying out to sea.

*thwip*

Sticking to the side of some scaffolding, Cindy shoots out another web line to grab a bomb and PULLS hard, yanking it free and then swinging it once like a lasso over her head to send it out towards the black depths of the water.

...Towards Rebound.

<< "Sorry! I... OHMYGOD! You can portal OTHER PEOPLE?! Why do you guys all have cooler powers than I do?!" >>

Thwipping over to yet another puff of smoke, Cindy's wasting no time now that this has turned into a game and she can pretty much stay above all of that evil-foliage nonsense.

Another web-line. Another yank and toss.

That's two more down!

She's on her way to a THIRD, because this former ice hockey star (at least, in her own mind) was absolutely in her element playing THIS game, when the no-longer-preoccupied Plantman swatted a vine directly across her path and smacked her like a baseball.

A Silk-sized-and-shaped baseball flew with baseball velocity straight into the side of one of those tanks, and there's a resounding metal CLANG as she hits it and then drops down to the catwalk underneath with a groan.

<< "I...I'm fine..." >> she wheezes. << "He... He hits... like a girl......... hard." >>

Shun Cruz has posed:
Tekkai meanwhile pauses on his way as he notices some blue smoke off to the side.

A glance back the way he came and he happens to see Silk up there detaching... ok. That makes sense to him.

The kid insect-demon-guy looks around before he spots a bomb and sends out a tendril of fiery orange of his own to wrap around the thing. Then he follows Silk's example and chunks it towards the water.

Hurrying back after the evacuation needed workers afterwards as he keeps an eye out for more of the blue smoke on the way.

Once he's sure SHIELD has them, he turns back to go back in.

And he bothers to call up towards Silk, "Could have told me blue smoke's for the bombs!" He looks back towards where the other two are after the plant guy and blinks a few times. "... and I thought I had weird powers."

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound grunts as he gracelessly terminates his arc through the portal, and into Kid Devil's arms. << Shit. Yeah. I think he cracked a rib. >> Rebound groans, as he shifts and gives a smile to Kid Devil. "Thanks for the save."

    He pushes himself upright though, and grunts, as he shifts the wrong way. That's going to leave a mark." he picks up his sword from where it fell beside them as he crashed, and shakes his head, trying to clear it. << I'd take some spider durability, if you want the shields that explode. >> Rebound offers Cindy, as he nods to the young devil, and launches himself back into the air. He's moving slower now, no longer a white and grey streak, hesitating between shoves with his left leg, and breathing heavily. << Just focus on the bombs. I'll... I'll distract him again. >> He says, and hurls himself back into the air. This time, rather than hacking at the plant form directly, he dashes around it, leaving glowing swipes, window pane sized shields in the air that restrict where it can swing, either blocking vines, or exploding, and ripping them to shreds, depending on how hard the vines hit.

Kid Devil has posed:
    << It's not a *portal*, exactly, it's an entangled spacetime foam structure, mathematically related to a Lorentzian manifold but with parameters more like a-- >> Kid Devil starts to explain, before Rebound comes sailing through the ring ring of fire in the air. The devil boy catches the other hero with a mild 'oof' and the impact sends him skidding backward. The claws on his toes gouge through the floor and backward until he tilts over and lands with a thump.
    Slowly he gets to his feet and checks Rebound over, visually, giving him a smile and nod. "Any time!" He flashes a grin, complete with those little fangs, as his tail twirls around. "Be careful out there!"
    Once Rebound is back in motion and back in the game, Kid Devil resumes bomb-hunting. He consults his tablet to blip around the facility, getting close enough to the next couple of bombs to uncover them from toppled debris, or find them mounted to the supports of a chemical tank.
    << Three more down. >>

Laura Kinney has posed:
Leaping, vaulting, diving and rolling. X-23 ups her pace. Her healing factor allowing peak performance for inhumanly long stretches of time. The way the vines lash and thrash around is, once you have chance to study it, a lot like a laser security grid. A cut here. A sweep of the claws there. It's like a frenetic dance. If only someone had thought to bring some suitable music!

Alas X-23 is too serious to play dramatic fight music over the open comms channel.

The first bomb she dealt with was a learning experience. The second her focus on improving her efficiency. Refining every motion. Even allowing herself to take a few hits from the vines if it means she can deal with the bomb faster. Pain is simply a sensation. With enough willpower it can be overcome.

By the time she's moving on to bomb three it's almost instinctive. Like she was born to exist amidst the mayhem.

Cindy Moon has posed:
Cindy's groaning, but she's pushing back to her feet and shaking her head to clear it.

<< "How do you not know blue smoke means bombs?! That's the first thing they taught me when I became a SHIELD agent!" >>

<< "Trainee! And not everyone on this channel is in SHIELD. This is the inter-agency cooperation channel," >> calls another voice.

<< "I knew that. I... was just checking to see if they were going to try to impersonat -- " >> Whatever Cindy was about so say is cut off abruptly when another vine smashes through the catwalk she's standing on... _was_ standing on... and she's suddenly falling.

No worries.

*Thwip*

<< "Are you kidding me? An exploding shield?! Do you know how much fun I could have with that?! ... Right! Bombs." >>

Cindy's arcing through the night, carful to avoid more arm-vine-swatter-things, which is MUCH easier to do with Rebound doing all the heavy lifting (she was going to have to remember to send flowers to his hospital room after this).

*THWIP!*

Another glowing light. Another bomb tossed out into the Hudson.

And then there was a brief science(?) lesson. The worth math was used, but she was _pretty_ sure it was actually magic?

<< "Dude, all you had to say was that you're a Mathmagician. Now I have a headache..." >>

Which definitely came from _that_ and not from having her bell rung against the side of that holding container.

<< "Can we get a new boom-boom count, please?" >>

There's a moment's pause. Then, from the helicopter,

<< "We count six signatures remaining. Clock shows five minutes until the finale." >>

Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang... the fireworks were still popping overhead in the distance, sending out huge colorful, percussive blasts that could be felt across the city. They were getting ever more powerful, ever faster, ever more intense... building to an obvious crescendo.



And that's the first time Cindy gets a glimpse of Laura, in the glow of one of the bursts of fireworks as she's swinging past, and her eyes go wide.

<< "IS THAT WOLVERINE'S WIFE?! IS THAT A THING?!" >>

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound is running on adrenalin, getting smoother and faster with every bounce, until he's an orange, white, and grey bluring here and there, redirecting suddenly again and again as he flips, dashes, and spins around vines. Once in a while, he swings his sword, but mostly, he's adding more and more shields, until the plant man is exploding them like fireworks, and he's dancing back out of the range of the shock waves.

    Boom-Boom BOOM boom-boom. The shields go off quickly, some of them set off by other shields exploding close enough to cascade them, ripping into the main body of the plant man. << That was.... effective.. >> Rebound grunts onto the coms, slapping the air and flipping over a vine that shoots up from the ground.

    << He's still... fighting though... Could probably... use some help... Anyone know... where he keeps... his brain? I'd... Love to knock... him out.. >> Rebound is winded, but still moving fast as he flips over the vines as they start pulling themselves together again.

Shun Cruz has posed:
Tekkai decides to give a bit of a hand to the fight against the plant man on his way to another smoke signal to check that out.

Seeing a wrench just laying around, the young team grabs it and attaches one of his energy whips to it. Turning a corner, he makes sure he has a good line of sight before winding up like a sling, spinning the wrench and letting it fly at the plant man thing.

Then he hurries along to check another spot and after a glance around keeps going.

The next one he gets lucky and another bomb goes chunked out into the waters.

Kid Devil has posed:
    Kid Devil is bogged down at one of the suspected bomb locations, sifting through what's left of an office as he tries to locate the source of the radio signal. He checks to make sure his tablet is synced up with the SHIELD comms, supplementing their scans with his own data to hopefully help the others locate the remaining explosives.
    << Sorry, botany isn't exactly my strong suit! Even if it was I don't know if it would help with this guy. And I'm reluctant to just set him on fire, given the chemicals lying around. >>
    Finally he grips a huge chunk of intact wall and heaves it to one side to discover the bomb he was after. Another portal; another bomb into the river. << One more down. Moving! >>

Laura Kinney has posed:
The answer is likely above Cindy's security clearance. X-23 doesn't give Cindy a dead eyed stare of utter horror and dismay. She's just concentrating on the situation at hand... Honestly. Not one part of her was working out the optimal way to accidentally kill Silk with an explosive device....

Okay maybe it was. But working out ways to assassinate people is practically her hobby. But don't worry. She's mostly retired.

Mostly.

As she leaps she corkscrew twirls and dives through a solid looking wall like it's thin air. A fraction of a second quicker than the alternative. She doesn't even look when her claw punches through another bomb. So precisely aimed it passes through casing and the necessary wire to disarm it in a single strike.

Violence as an artform.

<< Plants do not typically have brains. When in doubt aim for the head or the heart. >>

That perfect strike isn't without it's perils though. The most efficient path to areas with blue smoke? Falling a two storey drop to the ground. Roll with the landing. Bones will fracture but she'll heal as she runs. Poor Plantman barely factors in her thoughts. He's not the real enemy. Time is.

Cindy Moon has posed:
...Another voice pipes up on channel, sounding urgent.

<< "Silk, do you have eyes on a female with metal claws?" >>

Silk: << "Uhhh... yes? She's helping. Why, is that bad?" >>

<< "What's your location? We're dispatching a team there now." >>

Silk: << "Umm... You heard me say she's helping?" >>

<< "WHAT is your location?" >>

Her dark eyes are still tracking Laura. She doesn't answer, and with a graceful flip, Silk lands on the ground in front of her, her hands already up in front of herself.

"Hey, listen," she's speaking quickly, because either the whole place is going to blow or Laura's going to stab her, and neither one feels like a good idea. "I don't know what's up, but the people out front don't sound happy you're here, whoever you are. _I_ appreciate your help, but I know that tone. As soon as we run out of bombs, they're going to send everyone in her to look for you. We've got the last ones. I'll cover for you. Don't go to jail on Independence Day, okay?... Okay. Bye."

All of that in just over two breaths.

And in the next instant, Silk is in the air again, heading towards more blue smoke, not even looking back.

<< "The uhhhh... the water. I saw her near the water." >>

Narrator: She did not, in fact, see Laura near the water.

*THWIP*

She did, however, see a bomb that she yanked and threw into the water.

<< "Silk, WHERE near the water?" >>

<< "The... black... part?" >>

She's almost as good as Peter at playing dumb.

Or sometimes _being_ dumb.

Twip-Twip-Twip.

Another swing, another bomb, another throw.

<< "Two minutes.." >> comes the voice from the helicopter over the comms.

Shun Cruz has posed:
Tekkai continues running around pretty much, then he realizes that he probably should get out of here. Bombs or not, well... he guessed it might be almost time for things to go boom. Which meant getting out of there.

Looking around, he resolves to sneaking away. Everyone else is in here, after all.

That being said, Tekkai makes his way to the outside of the perimeter near the water a bit, then uses one of his energy whips to swing around and get past whatever barricade SHIELD has.

Bombs and like aside, he knows that he's probably not supposed to be there and wants to avoid said questions. Time to vacate! Stage thattaway!

And hopefully not get splashed with river water. Who knows what's been in /that/ after all!

Kid Devil has posed:
    While the devil boy blips around in search of bombs, he overhears the chatter. << Are they always that pushy? >> he wonders. << Should just accept the help and say thanks. Honestly, some people... >>
    But, while he continues his scrounging, he formulates a backup plan. Just in case whoever that was on the comm gets *really* pushy.
    << Got another one, >> he signals as he lobs another bomb over his shoulder to sploosh down into the river, on a pile of other bombs. The NY State Fish and wildlife Department is going to have a mess on their hands when this is all over!

Allen-James has posed:
    << Yeah... The heart.. I'll... keep that in mind. >> Rebound is pretty sure that this plant man construct doesn't have a heart. Or a real head. So he goes with Plan E. For explosion. He twists in midair, and kicks off of the sky, hurling himself downward. Orange shields deflect a few blows, and slashes of his sword preceed him, as he falls into the mass of vines, and... gets swallowed up.

    <<Ahhhh, ugaah, this was a bad plan.>> he sounds like he's being crushed in there, grunting in pain as the vines grab onto him. Then Rebound reaches deep, and an orange glow surrounds him, shining out of the vines, as it begins to flicker and flash. A moment later, just as the explosions overhead start, Rebound explodes with a loud WHUMP. The explosion blows apart the entire mass of plants, and continues on, humming and pulsing in the air, as a glowing sphere of orange energy pulses and thumps out like a bass speaker playing the devil's drum line. The plants shriek and shred, and all over, clumps of vines grow grey and shrivel up.

    Rebound hovers there, a glowing, angry god of orange explosion, before the energy runs out, and he falls to the ground, panting and spent. << Plant construct... is down... >> He sounds like he ran a marathon, and his eyes aren't glowing even a little for once.

Laura Kinney has posed:
X-23 doesn't laugh at the notion SHIELD agents might be about to chase after her. That would be rude. But for just a moment Silk will notice a quirk of her lips. The barest hint of a smile. << People like me don't go to prison. >>

Which is true. Partly because it'd be next to impossible to decide which country got to keep her. Assuming some off the books SHIELD agents didn't try snag her for wetwork. Not that SHIELD has ever had secret off the books projects engaged in dubious goals...

Nope. Never happened!

But most importantly of all? Because she's really shockingly hard to catch. The final bomb is scooped up. Heedless of the risk of carrying a poorly made explosive device that's going to explode any moment now. And she charges off with. No special tricks to move the explosive. Just pure muscle power.

Ironically she really /is/ running towards the river.

As she nears the open ground she flings the bomb up. Timed ever so precisely. So it explodes at the peak of the arc over the river. Harmless to the facility but the fireball? Well it'll sure make it hard for any helicopters or other aircraft that are circling overhead to see for just a moment.

And in that moment she vanishes into the water. Petite and clad in charcoal greys and black. There's not even a ripple in the water from her dive. And with her healing factor. Well who knows how far away she'll surface.

All that's left to show she was ever there those impossibly neat holes cut in the building.

Cindy Moon has posed:
<< "REBOUND!" >>

Silk saw him get swallowed up by that plant out of the corner of her eye, and it stalled her mid-flight with a look of wide-eyed horror.

<< "I'm coming back!" >>

She'd already altered her course...

WHUMP!

Plant matter goes everywhere, and as soon as Cindy has eyes on Allen-James in that glowing sphere, she's turning again, racing back to check on Laura...

She catches sight of that last bomb flying up into the air, and she _drops_ off of that webline, hitting the ground and rolling.

The sound is DEAFENING.

At the crescendo of the finale of the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, when all of the big booms were going off over New York and New Jersey, the SHIELD agents and those gathered were all treated to their own private spectacular.

The explosion is brilliant, blinding white but so far away it's harmless except for the shockwave that ripples through the facility. The other bombs, too, explode, sending up a great geyser of water from the Hudson that does untold damage to the marine life underneath.. but far less than whatever it would have been, had the plant itself gone up.

And the Plantman?

Well, the Plantman is dead. The vines are wall withering and dying, going limp and brown.

At least.. _this_ version of the Plantman is dead.

Because, you see... there's more to the Plantman than just one branch, just one stalk, just one leaf, or just one root...

...the Plantman has roots that run deep throughout the city. And it almost certainly isn't the last we'll be hearing from him.