2597/A Force Reborn Part 2

A Force Reborn Part 2
Date of Scene:	24 July 2020
Location:	A lonely lighthouse near a creepy wood...filled with monsters...
Synopsis:	The heroines find a creepy cave full of monsters....but can they stop them in time before their plan is fulfilled?
Cast of Characters:	Singularity, Mary Bromfield, Marie-Ange Colbert, Alison Blaire, Meggan Puceanu, Jemma Simmons, Nadia Pym-van Dyne

---

Singularity has posed:
    "Help."

    It's all Jemma could gasp out as the disheveled agent of SHIELD stumbled onto the cracked asphalt of the old parking lot by the lighthouse, to the eclectic group of young women gathered there. Some brought by prophecy, some by curiosity; some by hospitality, some by random portal. Yet all seem to be here for an unexpected reason...perhaps summoned by a cry for help? But from whom? Or what?

    And what could have driven a SHIELD agent to run pell mell through a creepy forest at night to where she's gasping for breath?

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Thunderbolt moves with surprising speed, zipping over towards Jemma and looking at the agent, "Hey, are you alright?" She glances past the agent, frowning slightly as she actually hovers slightly in the air, not even thinking about the fact that she's, well, flying.

She glances over her shoulder, looking back towards the others, particularly Marie, "Um, anything in the cards about this in particular, or...?" She frowns slightly, as if not sure she'd want to have an answer.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie's still looking around the area to some degree when Jemma adds yet another body to the group of women appearing; if anything, she seems a little surprised that it wasn't another portal that dropped the girl in! However, 'help' is exactly what she sought to do; perhaps this is exactly what the cards were asking of her?

"We are here to do just that; it has been foreseen, Mademoiselle." comes the heavily French accented voice of Marie-Ange Colbert. Her expression one of compassion as much as confusion. "...perhaps we should start by asking what it is which troubles you so? It would not be a... man-robot, oui?" A glance is given over towards Nadia who'd asked about that earlier.

Then, to Mary, "The cards provide general guidance; following them leads us to the answers." A pause. "Or put us where the answers can come to us." Which seems the more likely case, this time.

Alison Blaire has posed:
When the newest arrival makes themselves known, there's a surprised blink from Alison. But this entire thing has knocked her right off-kilter, and this arrival isn't helping get her brain to have a better handle on what's going on. But help means danger, and she starts scanning the area for it.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
The long stretch of earth nibbled from both sides by the sea stretches out to the lighthouse, a jumble of large boulders deliberately laced together to resist erosion. Here the balance between disparate forces holds true, teetering a little in favour of the sun-baked earth or the skirling breeze when the subdued waves withdraw, but always the elements dance their complex cycles in perfect collusion. What else is a lighthouse but a watchtower on the bleeding edge, a sanctuary from the grim darkness that threatens to snuff out the light of life.

Already looking in Alison's relative direction means another joining might not go unnoticed for long. Meggan brings her hands together; by the time her palms meet, Thunderbolt is moving or gone, leaving her frowning slightly. The forest stretches up the cliffside over the shore, cool and evergreen, breathing its own residual calm to conceal something worse. So she breathes, too, her frown slowly forming. "Something is wrong," she says. "You already knew that. Of course you must have, but I can feel something is terribly off. The distress is not good, and we might want to move a bit closer to the sea."

Not many people would suggest that. Her expression moves from Jemma back to their pop superstar companion. "I would have brought you a cup of tea first, but this is something more urgent."

Jemma Simmons has posed:
    Jemma has all the appearances of having done a dead sprint through the thickest brambles. There are telltale scratches where branches caught her in mid-run, bits of bark and leaves in her tousled brown hair, shoes marred with dirt, moss, and who know what else. The ballistic glasses upon her nose sit slightly askew, which the SHIELD agent adjusts absent-mindedly, turning off the IR mode in the process. The right hand still hangs down, that strange white ceramic weapon clutched tightly within her fingers. All in all...a rather exhausted individual, to be sure.

    So, it can be forgiven of Jemma when she doesn't immediately notice the fact that Mary is, well, flying...right in front of her. However, notices she does...as the expression upon her features shift from panic, to relief, to exhaustion, to slow disbelief...until the exhaustion overtakes the disbelief. Quite frankly, this speaks either she is too tired to care or flying strangers may be a semi-regular occurrence.

    A few moments later, Jemma finds herself able to speak. The voice is ragged, breathless from the distance ran, but the British accent is unmistakable. "E...Extra...Extraterrestrials. In...the forest. Murdered a hiker couple." As she speaks, her voice becomes stronger...but her words. They grow darker. "SHIELD team was dispatched to....determine origins. We were in the forest. Came across what my team assumed were campers. Two agents were murdered, one reduced to nothing via acidic excretions. I and two others were captured. The campers were the extraterrestrials responsible. One changed its form, plunged a proboscis into the base of the agent's skull to feed upon cranial matter. The other pulled a hidden weapon, which gave me time to escape." The voice returns to strength...the words very clinical. Detached. It is obvious Jemma is just trying to get through the summary as clearly as she can.

    "I..have been running since. For approximately 20, maybe 30 minutes? I am not sure..."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary frowns, "How far into the forest were they?" She instinctively moves between Jemma and the forest, protecting the other woman as she stares into the darkness of the woods. Sadly, while she does have many super-talents... night vision? Eh, not so much.

She then looks back at the others, "Think we need to take care of these things... whatever they are, they definitely are /not/ friendly." Don't need the Wisdom of Athena for that much at least, from Jemma's description.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
No human-Ultron hybrids coming through the wormhole, only Dazzler. This is a good sign as far as Nadia is concerned and while the dark clouds seem a bit ominous, she relaxes at least a little bit.

That is of course until a young woman who looks like she has been through the ringer runs up shouting about aliens and she bursts into action again.

"Are you okay?" A first aid kit that somehow fit in her pocket despite being far too big suddenly appears in her hand. "Are you hurt? You're from SHIELD? Do you know Dr. Morse? I'm Nadia. Are the extraterrestrials chasing you?" she looks towards the trees in the direction that Jemma came from.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"Fate places the pieces of the puzzle where they are for a reason. Perhaps a method of transport that allows your legs to rest would be best?" She doesn't even have to look; she knows her cards by feel, having worked with them for over half of her life. The card withdrawn? Temperance, a card displaying an angle in flowing robes and holding two chalices. Prepared to summon, but not quite doing so yet.

"We could search from the skies aboard the figure of Temperance, and perhaps quickly find these... creatures of which you speak, non?"

Mary might be able to carry Marie, but Marie can carry the whole *group* of them!

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
The ground holds still underneath Meggan's feet, but ripples in a few rumbling rings several feet outward. Changes needn't be grand. Something small, like casting a pebble into the surging Atlantic just steps away down the breakwater path linking the lighthouse under her care to the cape proper. Her beaming smile fades away, clouds passing in front of the sun, replaced by a growing sense of worry for Jemma's condition.

Not really in her to interrupt a guest, even an erstwhile one, though she looks back quickly to the elegant neo-Gothic tower and the snug, low-slung keepers' house beside it. Made to withstand the most volatile moods, it might as well be a very small, generally impregnable 19th century castle facing hordes of wave and wind. The accent is familiar enough to bring a bit of a double-take, but her own comes right out of the Lake District in the far northwest close to the Scottish Borders. Picturesque, terribly touristy, rural as one gets. "Ma'am, anyone running that long might be in a bad way and not even notice," she hazards, resisting the forest's tug. "Easy to get sprains, cuts, and awfully winded. Do you need to sit down and have a rest for a moment?"

These are generally not questions one asks when threatened by proboscis-wiggling monsters, but she asks anyway. "So something monstrous disguised itself, and changes form to... to attack people," she tries to parse it all together, putting her hand to her temple. Something darkens in her vibrant green eyes, flaring to a burn no regular person has, and her fists ball at her sides. Not before it's too late to see her fingers tipped in claws. "That won't stand at all, not for love of green and country." So much for the happy mood, oh dear.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia gets the first aid kit open and continues buzzing around Jemma, adjusting her size down and back up again as she goes to get the best look possible at Jemma's injuries like an overly concerned manic red and black pixie.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
    The immediate presence of Nadia is regarded first. Not just because of that neat little trick of pulling a full-sized med kit from a much too small of a space, but also because Nadia said a name that she recognizes in a heartbeat. The name of one Bobbi Morse. "You're Nadia Pym." No uncertainty there. Spoken as if it is fact, because Jemma reads case files for fun. "I....I am Jemma Simmons." The Doctor appellation is not given...at least not yet, anyways.

    The questions all come quick. And Jemma tries her best to answer. "I....do not know if they followed me. It certainly sounds like I was being chased, but I was not about to turn around to look." She does turn now, though, as a finger taps the ballistic glasses by the left bow, turning on the IR view...as if she will see anything. Meggan gets a glance, as Jemma also is able to place the accent. But it is the medical questions that are answered. "I suffered some mild abrasions. I did not sprain my ankle, though I may have strained my extensor digitorum longus on my left leg with a particularly off-balance leap over a some undergrowth." A very specific response. If the Doctor tag was not given, it should be fairly obvious now.

    Mercifully, the brown eyes of Jemma drop before they could catch claw-tipped fingers.

Singularity has posed:
    As Meggan's ripple flows out smoothly...something disrupts it. A sort of thrum, like a deep beat flowing over the group, as the woods nearby..change.

    For a moment, the trees are wrong...strange, twisted black things with curling, wiggling red leaves, with exposed roots systems that make them look like they're standing on stils. The ground changes as well, that sickly reddish foliage continuing, mixed with a sort of slime that overlays the grass and shrubs. The clouds overhead seems to deepen to an unnatural purple, the wind carrying a burning scent, like you're downwind of a chemical bath.

    The effect extends out into the bay as it seems to expand out with the thrumming inaudible note, the water hissing, turning green as it seems to boil, dissolving fish rising to the surface, as something squid-like curls out of the depths, a flick of long, spiked tentacles rising out of the water briefly before it vanishes below again.

    Then the effect seems to recede, the forest restored...but the chemical scent lingering. And there are signs that in some places, things seem to have been briefly intermingled, with burned holes in the plants and trees, and foilage that is starting to wither.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary wrinkles her nose, "Well, let me take a bit of a look..." She frowns as the scenery changes, if only for a moment, and she mutters, "... not playing Eldritch Horror /again/, no no no..." And then she floats into the woods, moving quickly as she soars up into the air about twenty feet off the ground. Hoping they can't reach quite that far, anyway, as she looks around carefully to try and spot the things that were chasing Jemma through the woods.

Singularity has posed:
    Alison raises her hand. "Okay, so, weird question. Any of you know a blue girl about this high?" She holds out her hand to a little over five foot. "All blue. Has stars. Teleports around? Because I'm pretty sure she brought me here. Or I saw her for a moment. Through that portal thing."

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Jemma might as well be talking to a rock. It's not the English doctor's fault but the entanglement with Mother Nature leaves her pointy-eared daughter deaf to anything but that unheard cry for aid.

For some, the trees twisting could be an uncanny event. Meggan isn't at all immune to this. Her frown tightens into a snarl at the spooky, bone-chilling advance of corruption warping the beeches and oaks, devouring decades of growth in a stroke of someone's hand. Spiked tentacles frothing from the waves leaves the elemental's skin darkening in a halo up from her sandaled feet to her knees, staining her palms and advancing inches by seconds.

Anchored no longer, she ascends into the air in a burst, her flaxen hair stained a vibrant aureate shade as the short plait falls apart. Anger pours through her veins, swift and cleansing. Hanging there in the sky makes comparisons more difficult but she certainly looks taller, on a slightly larger scale than she was on the ground. "No," she calls back, those pointy ears being fairly sharp. Where Mary goes, her height is considerably higher and the whirlwind of energy glowing around her hands in an aqueous charge. Don't kill it with fire, salt it with the oceanic wrath practically vibrating through her.

If that tentacle so much as shows itself, a colossal energy burst is shot from her palms at it.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia is just pulling a disinfectant spray and muscle relaxer out of the first aid kit to offer to Jemma, it's really quite amazing what she has in that kit, when everything starts to change. Her eyes go a bit wide as she flies up a bit and turns in a circle.

"Is this the extraterrestrials? What's going on? It's almost like we're being pulled into another dimension or something. I wish Dr. Foster was here, she knows all about that stuff." She is half thinking out loud, half talking to the others as she tries to assess the situation.

After a moment's pause she flies down to lift Jemma away from the oozing ground that is rapidly looking less and less safe, surprisingly strong for her size.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
    Brown eyes glance up as the question about a blue female figure is asked. And...the SHIELD scientist blinks. It is the only outwardly sign of surprise, but internally....well, unless anyone is a telepath, then no one has to listen to the sudden burst of recognition and questioning that Jemma's mind just undergoes.

     Sufficed to say, Jemma Simmons knows pop icon Alison Blaire when she sees her.

    The sudden brainstorm subsides as Jemma takes mental stock of the group around her. Pop diva. Flying female. A tarot-wielding young woman with a French accent. A fellow Brit who can, seemingly, also fly? And Nadia Pym...who just picks up Jemma as if she was a ragdoll.

    And Jemma...still clutching her cryo-gun, a grounding sensation in an otherwise extremely overwhelming situation.

    The cryo-gun shifts up to a ready position, even as Nadia carries Jemma up into the air. The twisting of the woods, even for the moment, is caught, as Jemma flicks the IR display. "I am not certain. This did not happen before." None of this happened before. Still, the IR specs are working....if there are heat signatures other than Mary floating 20 feet up in those woods....Jemma will see them.

Singularity has posed:
    As Thunderbolt flies over the forest a ways, she doesn't spot any sign of pursuers...but then, they were protecting that cave. Perhaps they ahd a reason to do so? Deeper in the forest, as the purplish twisted clouds starts to fade away as well, a few bolts of pinkish lightning strike, several times in succession in roughly the same spot, back the way Jemma came from.

    The bolt lances out from Meggan, striking the water as there's a tremendous explosion as water fountains upwards, with a now severed tentacle and...bits being part of it. AS the water splashes back down in a froth, it's slowly colored with a dark greenish mixture of....blood? Ichor? It's hard to tell. Judging from the amount of bits, whatever it was definitely is pretty dead by this point though, though whatever is left might wash to shore later.

    he blast does knock a mostly derelict boat on the edge of the water flying through the air, as it clunks into the grass nearby. Basically a oversized rowboat, with a hole in the side...but it still looks pretty sturdy at least, even if it's not seaworthy any longer.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary flies back down, glancing at the rest, "Well, if they were protecting the cave... I couldn't get a good view, but there's a storm that was gathered over there. The clouds are fading right now, though, if we want to investigate it." She looks over at Jemma, eyes reflecting concern, "How are you doing?"

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"Non. Not a blue *girl* who teleports around, Mademoiselle Blaire." Marie offers to the pop star; Kurt almost fits that particular mold, but misses the mark for one very important reason, of course. Then of course comes Meggan's blast at the water, which makes the younger mutant jump a little in surprise, eyes wide as her head swivels towards the water, now being 'bloodied'. "Sacre Bleu! What was that?" she gasps out, taking a step or three away in the opposite direction.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"They continue to hurt people. They profane the sea and poison the land." Meggan's tone is stormy as the skies swirling around her, though some of the blackened corruption merely looks a satisfying ashen grey. With a thought, she shoots up another ten meters in the air to stare down into the chummed waters, her shoulders pulled back in an angry line just itching for a fight. "I don't feel like being nice anymore. These things can learn we are not theirs for the taking, using our words first."

It's a small concession for the women around her. In her defense, the struggle not to impulsively fly off over the forest takes its course quite visibly over her face, and she sinks back down in the event nothing comes flying back. "Can you fix everything?" Nadia's healing efforts look impressive when carrying Jemma in the air, and the cool futuristic gun must be somewhat satisfying. "The blue girl I met at a festival. Is she okay? Was she about?"

These questions come a bit rapid fire between rotating to look at the forest, to scan for anything foolish enough to move. The wind curls around her, as agitated as she is.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia looks down at Jemma as they fly and then over at Marie-Ange, "Did you say you had something that could help others fly? We should investigate this, but while I can keep Jemma out of the muck and ooze, neither of use can do much while I am carrying her." she thinks for a moment, "Unless you're okay with me making you smaller?" she asks Jemma like it's a normal question.

She blinks a bit at the lightning strike over the water, "It's hard to do first aid while carrying someone in the air. Whatever we do I think we need to hurry."

Jemma Simmons has posed:
    "I...am well enough, given the circumstances." There is a thankful nod given to Ms. Pym as Jemma regains her footing. Still, something about what the flying Thunderbolt said draws Jemma's attetion. "The cave. Yes, the creatures did take us to a cave. If...if they didn't leave, then there is something..." Jemma's mind starts to work once more, the head tilting as a far-seeing gaze crosses her mein. Why? Why take her to the cave?

    That...is the question worth answering.

    The elemental sprite's question is mistakenly interpreted as being directed towards Jemma. And so she answers. "The extraterrestrial physiology appeared to be rather acidic in nature. Dendrotoxin rounds had no effect upon the creatures. However, if these creatures are governed by the same laws of nature as we know them, then a rapid cooling of the epidermis should not only neutralize the acidity by removing the necessary moisture to produce a reaction...but it should also effectively immobilize the creatures as well." There is a pause. "Well, that is the theory, anyways." Not that it is fixing everything...but it is a start.

    The question about being okay to be shrunken is met with true surprise. Jemma...didn't consider that possibility before. "Wouldn't the sudden application of Pym particles to living tissue without a proper introductory period be rather problematic for said living tissue?" Wait...the question is pushed aside as Jemma just answers. "No need. Although I do think transportation would be best."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary gestures to the boat, "Well, if you all want to get in there, I can carry you over towards where the cave is." She smiles, "Might be the easiest way to get in there fast, anyway, and figure out what's happening."

She pauses, then looks at some of the others, "Wait, you know Singularity???"

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"Oui," is offered to Nadia, before Marie holds her card up once again -- and the image upon it of an angel in a flowing white robe? Is manifested into reality, but not as small as depicted on the tarot card. No, *this* particular angel stands about twenty-five feet tall... and is moving to collect the boat that Meggan blasted onto the shore, setting it down in front of the group of women for them to board. Marie herself does so first, stepping into the boat and taking a seat.

"Allow me, Mary; it may be best for you to keep your hands free in case you need to... punch the darkness, oui?"

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"Flash-freeze them? I can do that." Parsing Jemma isn't easy for Meggan, but those long, meandering seminars at university ar ehelping with that possibility. She chews her inner cheek in thought, still fighting with the dire urgency to lash out at whatever harms her. "I could track them by smell, possibly, but that's bound to be a stench." A face pulled shaves any hint of wrath from her, diminished down to the bare bones of anger and distaste. Taloned ends to her fingertips are gone by now, though her nails remain a bit pointy and distressingly strong looking. A manicurist's nightmare or dream, really.

Mary taking the lead with sunny aplomb proves a satisfactory option then. Then there is... an angel? This causes her to floating around in circles around the massive figure, not quite poking it, but very much fascinated indeed. She floats to the other side of the craft, and prepares to give it a nudge to straighten it up. "Does this mean we don't need to carry it ourselves? It's lovely. And sort of terrifying."

Disregard the blasted tentacle, not scary at all...

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"Oh no, you're thinking of my father's delivery methods probably. I managed to overcome that limitation by incorporating some of Dr. Von Doom's technology, but don't tell my father. I'm not sure he would approve..." Nadia answers Jemma's question always happy to talk Science and Engineering, one might even say easily distracted by it.

When Mary offers to carry the boat with others in it, Nadia flies Jemma over there carefully in that direction helping her into the battered watercraft.

And then there is a giant angel, "That is so cool!" Nadia's eyes light up, "Is that magic?! How does it work?!" she clearly wants to study it.

After a moment she manages to calm herself down again, but questions will definitely be asked later, "Anyway let's go."

Jemma Simmons has posed:
    So, the tarot-wielder can summon based off of the card image? Why not?

    And somewhere in the back of Jemma's mind, she notes that she is quite possibly the weakest link in this ragtag group. And yet, Jemma continues onward.

    "Oh, I won't tell him, though I may have another who may decide to question you." Certainly not Jemma...she is mostly biochem. Still, when the 25 foot angel appears and picks up the boat for everyone to board, there is only a slight hesitation from the good Doctor before she is lifted into the battered craft. Because being picked up and flown around by the Waspette is just as thrilling an experience as seeing an elemental slay a tendril from the deep...or a french maiden summoning an angel, or watching another fly and throw thunderbolts like Zeus himself.

    It's...been a night for the lowly SHIELD agent.

Singularity has posed:
    It's not every day you see a multi-story angel come to life. Or get to go on a decrepit boat ride with on carrying you.

    Either in the boat as the angel flies towards it, or flying separately alongside the gigantic Judeo-Christian angelic warrior, it takes almost no time at all to fly, and in less than a handful of minutes the group can make out the low cave that Jemma described.

    And the SHIELD agents out front, who promptly open fire as they approach, mostly at the giant appararition headed their way, purplish-green bolts shooting upwards to try and tear at the tarot image. None of the false hikers appear to be outside at the moment, though as the group descends...

    The world shifts again. The overlay of the horrific wraiths of strange and twisted plants, animals, a purple sky with pink lighting stabbing down, a brush of acidic rain in the air...and below, fiery rivers of molten metal twisting through the forest as one world tries to display the other. Or possess it.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary blinks as the SHIELD agents open fire, "Hold on, I'll clear the landing!" She suddenly flies up, then comes down /hard/ in the middle of the SHIELD agents, causing an impromptu groundquake designed to knock the agents flat with a minimum of fuss. She isn't trying to do anything lethal, but rather just knocking them out since she doesn't know if they're possessed or what's going on with them.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie's eyes go wide as the SHIELD agents open fire; her reaction is swift -- not to return fire, but to command her creature to put the boat *down* in a hurry -- and that's exactly what the angel does, managing to get the little boat almost to the ground before the firearms take their toll and it dissolves into... well, wherever it came from. On the plus side? The quick movement means falling from maybe five feet up, rather than considerably higher.

So as the boat lands with a thud -- not quite in front of the cave, but close enough to cover the ground in a hurry, Marie takes a moment before getting back up to her feet and stepping out of the craft. "Danger awaits us; we must meet it accordingly." she tells the group, replacing the card in her pocket and already searching around for the next one. Fear? There might be a little trepidation coming from her, sure... but she's convinced that facing this threat is what the cards demand of her, so that's exactly what she intends to do.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
As the massive angelic figure guides the boat forward, Meggan remains standing instead of sitting in the boat. For the three minutes she hunkers down on a bench, fidgeting the whole time, practically vibrating in anticipation or anxiety. It could well be both as the curious spread of unnatural lightning and sickened rivers coagulate into an image usually found in oil paintings. "This isn't Earth. This isn't home," she mutters to her companions. Her hand on the gunwale of the boat bears down, deforming the old metal but not shattering it fully.

She might look greenish in complexion if not for a distinctive alteration ruling over the contempt wrinkling her nose, the mask of subtle humanity rended by a sail on the S.S. Minnow. Before they even reach the cave, the elfin points of her ears take a steeper cant, her eyes fully glowing, and the air around them seethes in fire-flashes of colour like the auroras personally decided to interact with her instead of the Earth's upper atmosphere at the polar latitude. Shocks of indigo, azure and green play around her in wild phosphorescent trails, sylphs twinkling with the brightness of fireflies. "Not human, only concepts of hate wearing human faces." A sharp little gesture to the SHIELD agents comes almost at the time Mary launches herself to take them down.

The glowing woman, whatever she is with some uncanny resemblance perhaps to that angel, follows, divinity wrapped around her as she manifests what for all the world looks like a trishul of living light. They are meant to be thrown, and she can hurl with the strength of the earth itself, intending on a killing stroke. "Take no pity on that which wants you dead." A tiny chorus of strange resonances floats through her voice. Meggan isn't human. Not at all.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
May have to tell someone else... Nadia gets an expression on her face like she may have said too much, /again/. She has still not quite learned not to just casually mention all the top secret research from various organizations that she has had access to.

Flying towards the gave with the others, she seems to vanish when the SHIELD agents begin opening fire, though in reality she has just become very small in only a microsecond.

"Why are they shooting at us? Are they zombies? Confused reinforcements? Did SHIELD get new guns? Those aren't ICERs!" Nadia calls out, not really wanting to hurt them.

But then Meggan says they aren't really SHIELD agents and possibly not human. Nadia pops up above the agents scattered by Mary's impressive ground slam, returning to her full size. "Woah, that was amazing! Like Super Girl!"

She has a moment of awe at Mary's move before looking down at the scattered 'SHIELD Agents' "Excuse me extraterrestrials impersonating SHIELD agents, can you please not shoot us with your alien Science guns and surrender before I have to break you?" It's worth a shot at least, as she trains her wrist blasters towards them.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
    The magic carpet, err, boat ride is indeed a sight. There is certainly an expression of wonderment initially about Jemma as the angel carries them towards the cave. There is also, for those sensitive to it, more than a little bit of apprehension within the poor woman. After all, they are returning to the scene in which her entire team was wiped. To borrow from D&D, a near total party kill, if it wasn't for Jemma's quick thinking and even quicker feet.

    Which, when the boat nears...and shooting erupts, causes Jemma to look over the edge and see....her team. Which, is impossible. Jemma saw at least four of them die in horrifying ways. There is no way that those are her fellow SHIELD agents. Jemma doesn't need Meggan to confirm. As the boat is swiftly lowered to the ground, Jemma lifts up that gleaming white weapon, firing a pair of shots to a female SHIELD agent on the ground. The gunfire itself is quiet, almost as if firing with a silencer, the soft puffs of air barely heard as the two rounds fly straight and true, slamming into the torso of the female doppelganger.

    Even as the frost (hopefully) starts to spread on her first target swiftly, Jemma ducks down within the boat, using it as a shield as the cryo-gun's barrel swings to target another. "How dare you assume the identities of these people! I saw them die!" The rage in Jemma's voice is real...the stereotypical notion of keeping calm and carrying on thrown out the window.

    Because...Jemma knew these people. And...she has had quite enough of people dying on her watch. Wearing their faces....well...that is an insult of the highest order.

Singularity has posed:
    The impact from Thunderbolt sends the quartet of SHIELD agents flying into the air as they topple, but not before they can dissolve the oncoming angel, the boat dropping those five feet or should with a crack of wood giving as it comes apart, giving up the ghost.

    Nadia's more polite request has little time for a response, before Meggan almost dismissively waves and they go flying, one crashing hard into a tree, the other to the rock just to the side of the cave entrance with a sickening crunch of breaking bones. Both toppling down and starting to dissolve, taking on a very..different, alien form that seems to...ooze, like it's already starting to break down.

    Only the last, a woman this time, manages to roll with the throw to her feet and bolt for the cave, seeming to...dissolve almost, her body discorporating into a sort of foggy image of a hunched over creature with long, oversized arms, a mishapen body, and stumpy legs, and a face full of tentacles surrounding a sharp beak.

    The cryobolt hits that one, and it seems let out a shriek before the cloud...well...freezes. And then comes apart in a pile of alien slush that tumbles to the ground.

    The remaining agent is suddenly confronted with Nadia pointing a blaster at him and Jemma seems fairly angry about the whole murdering her team thing, so he...it...whatever, drops the weapon and raises its hands, apparently not wanting to be put down like its fellows.

    "You are too late." he hisses, his eyes shimmering gold. "Bow down now, and you will be allowed to serve, when the Wraithworld comes."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Thunderbolt glares at the 'SHIELD' agent, "If that were the case, you wouldn't bother trying to stop us." She hrmphs, "Hardly need the Wisdom of Athena to determine /that/." She moves into the cave without hesitation, as she seems to put it all together, "Singularity!"

With that, she /zooms/ into the cave at superhuman speed, looking particularly angry as she goes quickly ahead of the rest, "They're using her to merge things together!"

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"Non." Marie replies, staring down the remaining agent with conviction in her voice, "It is not our destiny to fail, Monsieur, nor to bow." Though, she does make a mental note of this... Wraithworld that's mentioned. It definitely sounds like something important and in need of looking into when there's time to do so.

...and then Thunderbolt's off like lightning, and Marie opens her mouth to say something... but the brunette's already gone, and she probably shouldn't say *that* anyways!

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"We bow to none."

It's not a very Super Girl thing to say, but the haunted chorus of the vocal bells provides its own harmony, melody, and antiphony in kind. Meggan burns in a sheet of radiance that trails and crackles energetically, throwing off weird phenomena that upset electronics and do nothing natural.

Nadia's relentless enthusiasm and diplomatic efforts keep her in check from hurling boulders or shooting blasts of energy at the hunked shapes with tentacle maws and bleak, dark eyes. The opportunity to float in front of Marie and Jemma presents a much brighter target to confront, and having a shield for SHIELD must do something tactically. It matters less when she is drinking in their emotions collectively, fueled by the supernatural strangeness of the plane. Of the cave and its hateful little collection of misfits.

Thunderbolt is off to help Singularity, and more than likely Nadia is well placed, so her task is set. Anything that wants to come forward risks being blasted or worse... met with its own backhanded swipe of a power.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia keeps her wrist her arm pointed at the last creature, listening as it speaks. "Sorry but Wraith World does not sound like a place that I want to live and if it's anything like this?" she gestures around scrunching up her face, "I think I'll pass. I prefer something a little... sunnier. Good news, not going to hurt you. Bad news, I need to study you to understand what's coming." The full implication of her words probably won't register until the beam is already firing from her gauntlet and the world seems to suddenly become huge for the poor creature as its size is reduced in a microsecond. Giving Jemma a demonstration of how her technology works on living tissue without any preparation period. Blasters are apparently not the only type of beam in those gauntlets.

Stepping forward she pulls out a sample case and scoops the alien creature up inside it, before securing the seal trapping it within. The entire thing is then reduced even further so that it can easily fit into the pocket of her suit. Quite convenient technology really.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
    Superspeed. Just another bullet point added to the mental list of powersets growing in Jemma's mind. That and Meggan's display of power, raw and unabating, are impressive, to say the least. However, when Nadia uses the tech in her gauntlet to shrink tall, dark, and gruesome to specimen size....that got Jemma's attention. "Do remind me when this is over to confer with you on alternate applications of your technology, should you be willing."

    Yes, the science squad has much to discuss, indeed.

    With the last threat literally bottled up and stowed away, Jemma emerges from behind her broken bit of boat, those brown orbs eyeing the cave entrance. "Your friend...Singularity, was it...is in there? And, is the key to this potential merge?" There are no answers expected. Instead, with a glance to each one still outside of the cave in turn, there is just simply a shrug and an a tilt of the head towards the dark maw that just swallowed Mary within the inky blackness. "Well, let us see this through and save your friend."

    Once more into the breach, this time to save more than oneself. This time, to quite literally save the world.