5996/Abcde has a Djinn problem. Abcde has a Djinn problem
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| Abcde has a Djinn problem. Abcde has a Djinn problem | |
|---|---|
| Date of Scene: | 21 April 2021 |
| Location: | Flushing Meadows Park |
| Synopsis: | SHIELD, Daytripper, and a mysterious Agent Argentina gather with Abcde for a ritual to remove the djinn from her arm. The ritual goes well.. twice.. as they discover they are trapped in a time loop caused by HYDRA messing with the magical mirror frame used to transport Daniel and Arturo to 2021. |
| Cast of Characters: | Abcde Prescelta, Amanda Sefton, Daniel Sousa, Peggy Carter, Friday
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- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
Corona park is quite a large green space. Hosting the worlds fair once and several sporting facilities. There are still a lot of genuine green spaces and large trees that afford park goers privacy to enjoy themselves. It was in one of the lesser known clearings that Abcde had invited the group to gather for the very dangerous operation of removing the djinn from her arm.
When the mirror shattered, Abcde had thought the Djinn had escaped. But, it was still bound to the mirror. A part of that mirror, a sliver, had embedded itself in to her arm. It drew magical power from blood and what better way to ensure its safety than to be in a human arm.
Which is why Abcde's aunt Fay got her in touch with a local magical medical trusted practitioner Amanda Sefton. Abcde has set out candles in a circle and a vessel to receive the shard of the mirror. Now, she is pacing, waiting, for everyone to arrive.
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda will never bill herself as a medical practitioner. But she's more than a fair hand at healing and has a good handle on banishings. Thanks to some recent dealings with the literal Devil, she's even got a decently re-stocked spell kit. That won't likely go amiss.
A portal opens beneath the trees and, cloaked in her Daytripper regalia, complete with concealing hood and rune inscribed leathers, she steps out onto the grass and looks around. "Abcde," she says in greeting, crossing to the younger witch. "Fay tells me you've gotten yourself in a bit of situation." Her English accent is tinged with just a hint of German underneath. But there's warmth in it, nonetheless.
She well remembers the scrapes she got into early on.
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
Since coming to the present Daniel felt a degree of responsibility for Abcde's well-being, especially when it came to the djinn in the mirror shard that got lodged in her arm, so when the word went out there would be a ritual to rid Abcde of the shard Daniel knew he had to be there.
So, at the appointed time and place Daniel and Peggy arrive in a SHIELD SUV, stepping out of the car with the help of his cane, he waits for Peggy before making his way to the clearing. "Well this should be something," he remarks to Peggy. Attending a magic ritual was a first for him. He wasn't sure what he'd need but even if he doubted it'd do much good against anything magical but he came armed with his old service pistol from the 50's after all, even if the djinn didn't cause problems as far as he knew HYDRA was still looking for Abcde.
- Peggy Carter has posed:
Once more, Peggy is dressed as under cover as possible, especially since her face was all over international news. She's done some contouring to make her face look different and has pulled on the pixie cut dark red wig that she keeps for these occasions. Jeans, a button down shirt across the thin body armor she often wears beneath clothes these days, knee high boots and sunglasses -- she looks nothing like Interpol's Most Wanted kidnapper. The whole point.
She steps outside of the SUV, double checking the locks before she steps up along side of Daniel, worry pulling her lips into a quiet line as she looks over the place, scanning for any obvious threats or other troubles. It was too open air for her, too many ways to come up behind you, but they were here to help this woman. "I...hate being in the open like this. Hopefully it's not... too complicated. Keep eyes out. I watch your back, you watch mine." Peggy settles into the old routine. Then she's stepping up in Abcde's direction, a reassuring smile crossing her lips. "Hullo, young lady... Good to see you in one piece."
- Friday has posed:
Peggy's, and likely every agent here's, scan of the zone does not come back perfectly clear. It appears that someone in the agency had the foresight to put a guard on point; a person in the woods steps out long enough to be seen, gives the 'on duty' sign, and then turns her back to the goings-on.
An assigned guard, apparently, she doesn't look familiar. SHIELD is huge though, it's likely that someone simply put a person or two on Pathfinder duty. Ensure site safety before the team sets up and guard.
Odd that noone was informed, but it's a smart call. The 'event' is likely to take all of their attentions.
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
Abcde's eyes widen a touch when she sees the portal open. Stepping through, the person her auntie told her about. She smiles with a touch of relief - she needs all the help she can get with this. Also anyone who travels by portal must be good at magic, because portals are cool. Approaching, she offers her hand, "Daytripper. It's a pleasure to meet you. Yes.. yes I have."
Hearing the approach of Daniel and Peggy she looks over to them, "Peggy, Daniel, thank you for coming." Her eyes turn to the other agent of shield and she tilts her head. Thoughtful of them,.. not shooting at them, so likely not HYDRA. Good sign there. She looks back to Amanda and says, "I had never encountered a real djinn before. This one had somehow broken some of its bonds to a mirror it was in and was interacting with the world."
Abcde unwraps the bandages on her arm. The skin is red and irritated with part of an object clearly embedded in to her. "The mirror shattered and this piece of it stuck in to me. The djinn is still bound to it. It does blood magic.. so we need to make its extraction bloodless," she explains.
With the group arrived she steps over to her circle of candles and lights each one then nods to the participants. "Gather. Let us open the circle. This will give us a safe place to conduct this magic."
She takes out her magical wand as blue magical energy begins to swirl about her hands, "From East to South and North to West, I call on Hekate to attend and bless, To cast my spells and honor you well, with hands steadfast, this circle is cast."
A distant wind chime jingles as the wind briefly picks up, rustling the leaves in the trees surrounding them. She smiles to the party and says, "Blessed be." Kneeling before the small silver bowl she nods to Amanda, "Please.. if you will. The sooner this thing is out of my arm the better."
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda takes Abcde's hand in a firm shake. She glances down to where she can sense the injury -- an thus the djinn. "We'll get it sorted," she assures her.
As she turns toward Daniel and Peggy with their approach, her head cants some. She's not expecting a bit audience for this. But it's clear the younger witch trusts them. The person in the woods? That, she's not quite so sure of. But it's not her call.
She walks forward toward the circle. As Abcde invokes the cardinal points, she stills her mind and focusses her thoughts. A golden light rises in her eyes. She kneels down beside Abcde, reaching out a hand to hold her forearm. The light in her eyes is echoed on her fingertips, slowly flooding her palms and flowing over the younger woman's skin with the warmth of clear sunlight. For her, this is more an act of will than an act of magic. Something more mutant than witch, but her magic still fuels it.
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel chose his outfit to blend with Peggy's making neither of the stand out or hopefully get more than a passing look from anyone in the park and when he spots a couple filming their kids playing nearby he puts himself between Peggy and the phone reducing any chances of the task force picking her up on a scan of images posted on those sites like Facebook or whatever they were called. He was learning the ropes of 21st Century surveilance quickly as a matter of survival.
Speaking of, when they're spotted by another agent he looks to Peggy. "You call for back up?" he asks her.
At the clearing Daniel gives Abcde a smile, and "Hey, we're happy to be here," he says, giving Amanda a nod before the ritual begins, Daniel taking a few steps back as it does, a little leery of magic given his past experiences.
- Peggy Carter has posed:
The sight of another SHIELD agent, especially not one of the inner group these days, gets a deep frown from Peggy. She tilts her head, dark eyes warily flickering over the other woman, but there's no reason to worry everyone else. She gives Amanda a tight, respectful smile and a quiet tilt of her head. "Ma'am. We... appreciate the help. We're not really experts in this sort of thing so... whatever you need from us, we're happy to give. Otherwise, we'll keep eyes out that no one else tries to touch her or interfere." Peggy's voice is clipped and far more familiar than the woman expected. She's all business, even if she's a wanted criminal.
The question from Daniel gets a bit of a frown and a slight shake of her head. "No. But it's one of ours and I... am pretty sure we're all clean nowadays. We'll keep eyes on her, and on the situation. If someone tries to interfere, we shut it down. I..." Looking over Abcde for a moment, her dark eyes worried, "Honestly don't mind the back up. Especially in situations like this. Maybe WAND sent someone." She then falls quiet, letting Abcde start the spell. Peggy steps a bit closer, keeping eyes on the half of the park behind Daniel, standing across the circle from him.
- Friday has posed:
The Guard, since she's given no name, isn't even looking at the candles or the group. Her attention is fixed on the environment outward, the side of her face almost a course in atentiveness training. When she's spoken of, she simply lifts her left hand slightly, acknowledgement that she's been seen.
A sudden stiffening of her frame tells of her spotting something, and she pulls out a perfectly normal scanning device, trailing its features over a passing jogger. She lowers the device after a moment; the right length of time to have done the scan properly. But she keeps the jogger in her sight until they've moved on.
This is simply a guard, doing their job! There's likely a reasonable explanation for it after all.
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
The space between the trees feels.. tranquil. Calm. It's not a familiar feeling for those who haven't done magic before. Like there's a presence watching over the space. In a way, that is true. Even the grass seems a little greener and the sounds of the kids playing not too far away sounds more distant.
When Amanda joins Abcde and begins her healing magic on the area, Abcde takes out her sanctified pliers. She has carved magical symbols upon the metal - it took her most of yesterday - and then grabs the tip of the piece of mirror and pulls slowly.
There's a distinct look of discomfort, but not pain, on Abcde's face as she wriggles the sharp pointy piece of mirror from her arm. As it comes free not a drop of blood spills and the piece of mirror falls in to the silver bowl with a clatter.
Abcde lets out a sigh of relief. It worked. Nothing went wrong and the djinn did not awaken. She smiles to Amanda, her arm is shaking and she nods her head to the gathered agents. "It worked," she says with a bright eyed wide smile of delight, "Thank you Daytripper!"
A strange yellow glowing energy sweeps through the area. The device in Isabella's hands goes wild for a moment and then...
--- Iteration 2
Abcde pauses in her pacing as the portal opens and Daytripper arrives. Daniel and Peggy are making their way through the trees and Isabella is in position. The thing is, they all remember what just happened. Abcde looks down at her bandaged arm and spins around to look at the circle. The candles unlit.
"Daytripper...," she says unsure of herself. She's beginning to wonder if that was just a dream, or if this is deja vu, "It's a pleasure.. to.. meet you." Her eyes swivel around to where Daniel and Peggy are about to enter the clearing from.
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda is no spy. But she is someone who deals regularly with illusionists, shapeshifters, demons, and mutants. Thus, when Peggy speaks, she puts her voice together with her gait and posture, together with the fact Abcde came right out and called her 'Peggy', and adds all that to the recent news reports that showed the woman she once passed off a doomed magic user to in Salem. "Peggy Carter," she says, her brows rising. "We meet again." THAT is probably going to freak the old spy out. But the witch has no intention of making a scene of it. "At least, I know there's someone competent here to watch our backs." Her manner is direct and her body language all business. There's no sense from her that she's bothered by the other woman's presence. And no sense that she intends to insult either Daniel or the nameless guard as she says it. It's more than she just doesn't know them.
All of which means, when she does finally settle into that spell and the healing it demands, she can relax. Her golden power surrounds the mirror and sinks into Abcde's flesh while the witch pulls the shard from her arm. Amanda helps her with that process, her power encouraging the skin to reject the piece, pulling back from it and mending veins and capiliaries quickly, to keep blood from touching the glass. When it's done, she smiles, sitting back on her heels for just a moment.
And then a portal opens beneath the trees and, cloaked in her Daytripper regalia, complete with concealing hood and rune inscribed leathers, she steps out onto the grass and looks around. "Abcde," she says in greeting, crossing to the younger witch. "Fay tells me you've gotten yourself in a bit of a predicament..." Her voice trails off. A sharp expression rises in her eyes, settles across her features.
"Something's not right." She's travelled the planes. She's steeped herself in learning travel magic and illusions. And she's been caught in warped realities before now. A prickling sensation crawls up her spine.
Eldritch flames rise in her eyes as she surveys the clearing more closely. "Let me see your arm."
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel nods, "From what I saw of Cape and Caldwell they didn't seem like they had much in the way of training on protocol," he says of the two WAND agents he'd met so far. "So someone from that branch being sent out without warning sounds reasonable, all the same I'll say hello, just to be sure."
Though he doesn't get that far, the removal begins and Daniel puts his concerns on hold for the moment keeping the agent in the corner of his eye as he watches the far side of the circle and Peggy watches his. A relieved sigh escapes his lips as the shard is safely removed and clatters into the silver bowl.
---Iteration 2
Daniel stops in his tracks as he walks towards the circle, glancing around confused. "What in the hell?" he asks he could have sworn he's done this before, "Peg, I'm getting some serious deja vu here," he remarks quietly, his tone worried as he reaches for her arm. Thoughts of the magic that brought him here being weakened somehow dancing through his head.
- Peggy Carter has posed:
As the process starts, Peggy swallows back tightly. Amanda is given a respectful smile and a slight tilt of her head, "Good to see you again as well. Nice to have someone...competent on the job." She's only half teasing there. Recognizing Amanda seems a reassurance, not a worry. Then her eyes Her eyes flicker towards whatever the magic ladies are doing instead of the greater area around them, rather curious as the strange process starts. She was going to have to learn about these magic things sooner rather than later. "Take a breath, this won't take long..." Peggy reassures Abcde, still that motherly protectiveness stuck in her body somewhere. She can't help it.
...and then everything changes. Peggy's stepping out of the SUV in her short wig, jacket and slacks. She waits for Daniel to get out and locks the SUV once more as they are heading for the center of the park. "I...hate being in the open like this. Hopefully it's not... too complicated. Keep eyes out. I watch your back, you watch mine." Peggy settles into the old routine. But it's maybe a little older than she expected, especially as Daniel admit he's getting deja vu. She binks, her voice dying away. She is then staring over her shoulder in the direction of where the agent in the bushes is going to immediately appear. It's like she knew Isabella would be there. "Backup. That bush. SOmething is... wrong." She stares back at Daytripper and Abcde. "...Have we done this before?" Her voice is full of gently controlled, protective crisis mode worry.
- Friday has posed:
The device should not do that. Isabella tries to get some kind of sense from it for the moment she has it before her, and then finds it already put away, where it belongs. The world around her shifted - tiny things, such as the breeze changing, the people repeating words. The wrongness.
Your guard...stiffens. There is a reaction of course, and she says something soft in Spanish which likely would not make it onto a children's channel. She turns her head rapidly, the area around being inspected as she takes in the fact that everything is reoccurring, but her sunglasses-bespectacled eyes come to rest on the group she guards. Who are just arriving.
Stepping out of the bush on cue, she looks as confused as everyone else does. She pulls out her scanner and starts sweeping the area, but with much more vigor than the previous attempt. Her jaw is tight and it looks as if she's grinding her teeth.
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
Abcde unwraps the bandages on her arm and the shard is once again embedded in there. The skin red and irritated. Abcde walks over to the silver bowl and it is indeed empty. "I'm glad someone said it," she says back to Peggy. Her eyes turn to the mystery guard and then back to the people she does know.
"Okay... let's say for the sake of causality that everything we just did we've already done and somehow that moment has restarted?," she says and looks down at her arm. "But we were so careful. How did the djinn wake up? I didn't see a speck of blood," she continues and then looks back to Daytripper.
"I...," she pauses and motions to the candles, "I lit them. I opened the circle. Daytripper took my arm and we extracted the mirror shard without incident. And then... then I was pacing and none of that had happened. Did we all dream it?"
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda has no answer for that. No good answer, at least. She looks down at the arm, and her lips press together in a thin line of concern. "There was no blood," she confirms. "I know there was no blood." She can feel the lingering drain on her power. Her body knows what it did, even if her mind is fighting about it.
She looks around cautiously. "Did you ward the clearing?" she asks the woman. "We could ward it together, ensure our two magics are the only ones that work here. A few runes is all it would take." She's not entirely certain that will contain the djinn, but she'd lay odds on it more than a simple circle on its own. "Then we can walk your circle again, the two of us, and rebuild it. Double it's power, tie it to the Way and to the City." Peculiar tricks of her own that will add an external strength to the casting. "And try again?"
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel's head turns in the direction where the agent is going to appear from and there she is. "Yeah, Peg, I think we did," he says of doing all this before. "Hey," he calls to Isabella. "That thing picking up anything?" he asks her assuming she's been sent by WAND.
HIs attention shifts to the women in the circle. "Anything we can do to help you guys?" he asks suddenly less worried about it being related to what brought him here, though that worry is only replaced with a more general one that sets his brow to furrowing.
- Peggy Carter has posed:
While it probably isn't going to help much at all, Peggy draws her ICER out. She keeps it pointing towards the ground, not having even the thought of a target yet, but she wants some weapon in hand if things go wrong. Her dark eyes are too wide, trying to look for any threat that she can find but there simply doesn't seem to be anything there. "How...how does time repeat like that? Wouldn't one of you had to do it, like... the time at the police station?"
She nods back towards Isabella, at least recognizing the woman's face from older training files, though there is something a bit worrisome about it. Some reason Peggy should know her and she's not quite ringing why. Yet. "Did you feel that too? Are you from WAND?" She asks, voice just loud enough to be heard in the space between them.
- Friday has posed:
Isabela, aka nameless NPC guard, looks up as Daniel calls her out. She frowns, then upnods and walks the device over to him. It's a standard frequency scope, set up to look for active technology or metals. She apparently has no issues with closer contact, as she shows him the results.
"It's all normal, the exact same readings I was getting when you all arrived the first time." Her voice is good, but she's not using it for any special use. Simply reporting her findings. "The jogger that's about to come by has a gun, but I think they're just staying vigilant. Spotted it on the last sweep."
She answers Peggy calmly, or at least as calm as she gets in this kind of situation. "Agent Gabriela Argentina," she says, instantly cursing herself for that. Too many clues. "I felt it, ma'am. And yes." No further details? No further details.
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
Abcde nods to Amanda. She has a plan and it is a good one. "Peggy, Daniel.. I.. have no words. We will try again. Stay vigilant?" Her expressing saddens a touch. She was shown the footage from the police station. So.. much.. blood. And that man didn't survive the time skip. This was.. different.
"Peggy you're right. There was no blood. It wasn't me.. it wasn't Daytripper. May be the djinn has been feeding off of me ever since it got stuck in my arm?"
From her pocket Abcde takes out her ritual knife and then approaches the nearest tree to begin carving in her first ward. A small set of words for the tree are given, "Please defend us for your roots know this land for generations and we are but humble participants in your life." She carves and moves from tree to tree creating a space with Amanda that only the two of them can do magic in.
Abcde nods to Amanda, "There. This is our space now. If the djinn tries to fight us the trees will.. give us time." Unsaid, the trees will most likely burn up from the attempt starting a small fire in this part of the park.. if the djinn fights them that is.
Abcde walks the circle with Amanda and lights the candles once more. This time with Amanda's help, her hands glow with blue magical energies and she draws out her wand once more, "From East to South and North to West, I call on Hekate to attend and bless, To cast my spells and honor you well, with hands steadfast, this circle is cast." Again the wind picks up just a little and the clearing feels.. tranquil again. Abcde glances around nervously and then nods her head, "Blessed be."
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
The exchange between the SHIELD agents doesn't garner a lot of extra attention from Amanda. At least, not until they're close to closing the rune circle around the outside of the clearning. "In or out?" she asks the agent. "Do not cross this line once we've closed it." She gives the woman a tight smile. "It would go badly for you." Very badly.
Unlike Abcde, Amanda does not carve the wards into the tree. She lays her hand on them and pushes her power into them. Runes light up with a bright green flame, settling into the bark, deeping its colour to a rusty hue that's almost the inverse of the green. It's much easier than the laborious process of the knife. Indeed, as a sorceress, rather than an witch, Amanda's need for tools is far less.
Once the the rune circle is completed, she turns toward the circle Abcde initially set up. She walks the circle with the younger witch and adds her power to it. She calls no invocation, focussing her will, instead, and adding subtle gestures that shape her power as she lays it down.
Finally, they are ready to try this all again. "I've layered in a here-and-now spell to anchor us," she tells them just before the final ritual begins. "It should keep us from shifting outside of natural time." But there's no guarantee, if this djinn is as powerful as she suspects.
Still, golden light rises in her eyes and on her hands again. She smiles to Abcde. "Let's try this again."
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel draws his weapon keeping it down by his leg as he checks the scan results. "Somehow don't think our current problems are the sort caused by a jogger with a piece in his shorts, but good looking out, Agent Argentina. Who sent you by the way? I need to give them hell or not keeping us in the loop."
At Abcde's apology Daniel shakes his head. "Nothing to apologize for, this is some seriously weird stuff, so, don't worry about us and just do what you need to to get yourself fixed up, okay?
As for in or out of the circle Daniel answers with an emphatic, "Out," staying put. It's almost a shame because what follows is a helluva light show. Even so Daniel braces gun still in hand for something to go wrong.
- Peggy Carter has posed:
"... I guess I'll take... In, then." Since Daniel decides to stay out and they are here to help if things go awfully wrong, Peggy isn't letting the witches be entirely alone in there. She pauses and leans up for just a second, kissing him fast on the lips, before she steps across the circle before it's draw and takes a deep breath, worried eyes now fully concentrating on the two magic users there.
Isabella, however, is given one long look as she goes in. Her head tilts a bit to the side and then a slow, thoughtful smile crosses her lips. Engimatic, really. She doesn't say a thing, turning back to whatever magic is happening, but she might have pieced a few things together there.
- Friday has posed:
'Agent Argentina' stays with Daniel. "If it happens again, I want to determine the range of the effect," she says. She takes a step out of the way, looking to get a little bit of distance. "The kids playing don't seem to be reacting, so this is localized."
She's already answered the 'who sent me' question, so she doesn't address the lie again. This isn't how things were supposed to go! Well, obviously.
What her eyes are doing behind the sunglasses is anybody's bet, but for a moment it feels as if she's watching Peggy on the other side of them. Before she turns to scan the world with her eyes. Don't rely on technology, it can fail you. Rely on your brain. Basic SHIELD training, level one.
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
Abcde knees down before the bowl again. They've done this before.. they're pretty sure they've done this before. She takes out the pliers as Amanda healers her arm and suppresses the blood just like before. She pulls the shard out, the pain is managed by Amanda, just like before. She drops the shard in to the silver bowl and just like before it is a success.
Abcde leans back and nods her head, "It worked." That same bright eyed wide smile of delight crosses her features once more. The djinn cannot possibly be awake, the wards are holding fast - not even being contested. "Thank you Daytripper!"
A strange yellow glowing energy sweeps through the area. The device in Isabella's hands goes wild for a moment and then...
--- Iteration 3
Daniel and 'Agent Argentina' are gone. The candles are still lit. Daniel is approaching through the trees but from his perspective Peggy has disappeared and he's definitely done this walk twice before already. Isabella is once more in her position ready to inject herself in to the operation, relying on her senses - she can hear the sound of the children playing, the exact same squeaky noise from one of the kids she has heard twice before.
The magic Amanda used to anchor them in time protects Amanda, Abcde, and Peggy from the reset.
Abcde looks in the bowl. The shard is still out - her arm is free of the djinn. She stands up and checks each of the runes in the trees one by one. "Everything held... but where is Daniel and that other person...," she pauses looking in the direction that Daniel and Peggy came from the first two times.
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
"You're welcome," Daytripper says to Abcde with a smile, when it's clear the whole thing worked as it should, this time. But as the energy sweeps over the clearing, buffetting against her protective spell, her head comes up sharply. "Okay. That's not your djinn," she tells the young witch. "That came from *outside* this circle."
She rocks back on her heels and pushes to her feet. "Stop!" she calls out to Daniel. "Don't step through the trees. Let me open the wards first." She really doesn't want Peggy's friend fried by the magic they're trying to do here. But she does want him inside, where he can be protected.
The same is true of the other agent, in fact. The one hiding in the trees. But first things first. Daniel is closer. So she walks toward him and opens a portal beside him, the destination for which is beside her. A convenient way to pass the border without having to break the perimeter. She'll do the same for Argentina, unless she's told not to.
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
What in the hell? Daniel's gun moves from being held by his leg to being aimed low at the ground gripped in both hands. He sweeps the clearing with his eyes finding where people were in the current...whatever this was. Though when Amanda calls for him to stop, he stops. "What's going on?" he asks before it's explained and when the circle is opened he steps through into it's protection. "Anyone have an idea how long we've got before it happens again?" Assuming it would.
- Peggy Carter has posed:
Within the circle, confusion dances across Peggy's features and just a small edge of panic, especially as she's separated from Daniel. She points over towards where he's entering the park, though she's no longer at his side. "..T-there. He's... back in the same timeloop. Something is effecting time outside of this circle." Peggy agrees with Amanda's assesment, confusion dancing over her face. She *hates* time issues. She's about to ask more, but then Amanda is going after him and a small breath of relief escapes her lips. "Yes. Get him in here. And her. We... we could use both of them. But what in hell is trying to keep this djinn from being removed? And if it's out of your arm... where is it now?" Peggy asks, looking back to Abcde and Amanda. She's so far out of her element.
But if anyone doubted her and Daniel's relationship, it's incredibly clear as he steps inside the ward. Her free hand reaches possessively for his for just a moment, giving a gentle, relieved squeeze. This goes far beyond a work partnership. But then, the antique wedding ring on her left hand is present again, and she definitely wasn't wearing it the last time she saw Abcde or Amanda.
- Friday has posed:
She'd just put the device -away-. It's in her hand again, and she's in the bushes. "This is starting to feel weird," she mumbles slightly to herself. Starting to?
She 'ports in, no issues, and stands there til everyone has had their say. She lifts her right hand to her glasses, then lowers them slightly, and says, "Fun times. So it's resisting? Or is it gone?" She tilts her head, looking at the bowl. A half nod makes her hair shift slightly, as if she's relatively satisfied.
Then she points at the bowl, and the shard inside, with her little device to indicate what she means. "Maybe try asking it. Seems to be the only one involved here who hasn't been given a say in things. And it's obviously paying attention, already."
Then she shifts her attention to Peggy, walking over toward her a moment. Where she leans down and whispers something to the woman, directly.
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
Abcde stares in wonder a moment as the conclusion is that this isn't to do with their ritual. She walks from candle to candle with wet finger tips, putting them out. Small trails of smoke rising in to the air. The sliver of mirror is placed in to a small case that the WAND guys gave her and she looks around at the group.
There's a pause as Abcde stares at Isabella, "Oh no. The very last thing we want is for this djinn to wake up. That would be... catastrophic. No, we have to keep blood away from it and get it to an expert in binding magic to seal it away for good again."
"Well, about the time it took me to call the circle and for us to do the ritual.. plus a bit more time before that when we were talking, or setting up the wards," she considers. She rattles the container to Peggy, "It's out. It's not woken up. Mission partly successful, apart from the whole the world keeps resetting. How far does it go? We need to get out there and figure out the source.."
She looks back to Isabella and says, "Hi I'm Abcde. Nice to meet you a third time.. can you figure out where it's coming from with that thing?" she says pointing to the device she keeps using. "We're going to have to be fast."
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
The wedding ring is a small enough detail, Amanda wouldn't know if it was there when she and Peggy first met. Not given the hellmouth and demonic crisis they were dealing with at the time. The only ring she'd have noticed is one that radiated magic. Which, the antique ones don't.
Well. It's *possible*, given everything Carter and Sousa have been through, that the rings are slowly transitioning into spontaneous artifacts. But that's not something that will be fully realized until they're both dead and gone.
Or maybe separated by another 70 years.
"It's not the djinn," she says with some confidence. "That might be beyond my power to bind, but as long as it's dormant in the shard, it's not responsible for anything going on here." She purses her lips slightly, thinking.
"The fact is, it may not even be magic that's triggering this. I'm not sensing any external magics. And I'm sure it didn't come from inside this circle. So, if it came from outside, that leaves only three possibilities: A very subtle, very powerful mage, some sort of technology our magic won't automatically detect, or a cosmic anomally that's attracted to... someone here." Which could mean any of them, as far as she's concerned.
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel takes Peggy's hand and squeezes it gently assuring her he's really still there and what happened didn't send him careening back through time to his inevitable end. "It's okay," he tells her quietly. He doesn't kiss her but the desire to is plainly readable on his face which adds further weight to the notion they're far more than work partners.
As for the source of the problem..."Is there a way to tell which it is?" he asks Amanda. "And if it is a cosmic anomoly who it might be attached to?" his concern being that if it was it might well be connected to him, their resident time traveler.
- Peggy Carter has posed:
Brows furrow a bit tighter as the possibility of what could be doing this is floated, and it seems like Peggy shares the same concern Daniel does. She looks back to him, not quite letting go of his hand yet, before dark eyes flicker to the two magic users with a deeper frown. "I know... Hell, I know I don't understand how all this works, but Daniel is still... He, and the other man that came through with him in that mirror... Neither of them are from this time. It didn't seem to be hurting anything so far but it is... They are possibly... both anomalies." Peggy confesses, her hand tightening around his fingertips.
Isabella is given a little look and a very subtle nod. Whatever the woman said, Peggy seems thankful for it but keeps it between them. For no clear reason, it seems the Chief has decided to trust the unfamiliar SHIELD agent. She sighs. "...Now that it's done, though, can we just drop the ward and go back into the timeline?"
- Friday has posed:
Argentina lifts her gaze from what she's doing, which is apparently fiddling with the device she's got. "It's possible," she says, lowering her gaze again. "I keep getting a major blip whenever the shift comes. I'm trying to see if I can actually figure out what it means, but it's over so fast it's hard to pin down. Still, if it's the same every time I can possibly do a snapshot of sorts, now that I know the timing."
She doesn't explain. She likely has some way to accomplish it, but her attention is quite taken with fiddling with dials. "I saw some odd radiations the other times. If I can at least get a clear reading..."
She looks up at the treeline, then down at her toy again. Then she looks back up. "If it were a cosmic, I'd have lost my hand when this thing exploded." Then she blinks, and adds, "Sir and Ma'am." Protocol. Also, back to fiddling.
Probably.
Unless this is over. But she's gonna be as ready as possible, just in case.
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
Abcde starts collecting twigs off of the ground. Sturdy enough they won't immediately break but not too big that they're super obvious. The choices are a bit of a mixed bag. "We need mobile protection from the resets. Daytripper, can you repeat the spell you used on these? each of us can carry one with us. We can't stay hidden in this bubble forever."
Abcde's eyes catch sight of the glint of the ring on Peggy's finger and she pauses, heart melting just a little with a wibble on her face. "You two are amazing," she says encouragingly to Daniel and Peggy. Working the problem Amanda presents, "If it's one of us then we can fix it ourselves. If it's technology? you're SHIELD you have big booms yeah? and if it's subtle but powerful magic? ..I highly recommend shoot first ask questions later. Or in this case, if things keep looping, the order of events aren't necessarily going to matter."
She shakes her head to Peggy, "If we drop the ward and reset, that darn djinn will be back in my arm again and we won't have gotten anywhere." It's clear from her facial expressions Abcde is extremely confused by what's going on.. or why.. and why they managed to keep their memories. "It must have been because we opened the circle together the first time, otherwise.. we wouldn't even know time is repeating."
Abcde glances around again and says, "This is just a guestimate.. but it must be about t~"
A strange yellow energy sweeps past them, but the bubble they are in protects them from the reset. For them, time flows normally.. for now in this place at least. "~ime. Hey I saw it," she says remarking on the colourful light that swept through them. She looks back to Isabella, "Any luck?"
- Friday has posed:
Isabella's device flashes again, as she's reset along with the crowd. She quickly does a button press and goes at the machine directly with what appears to be a pen tip, her face screwed up on concentration. She waves at Abcde when the lady talks at her, making hissing noises.
Then after four, five heartbeats she closes her eyes, and breathes.
"That way," she points. "Few streets over, I'd say just about three blocks. I didn't get enough detail for an exact pinpoint."
She blinks, then lowers her arm. "Hey, this is fun! Is this what all the big missions are like?" She sounds..open. Honest, and quite young for a moment. "Should show up for more of them."
Then she looks at everyone, and repeats. "That way. We should go?"
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda reaches for the twigs when Abcde offers them. Her brows crease slightly. "Pebbles would be better," she says softly, the rocks being far more immovable than the wood. But she'll work with what she's given. Daytripper is *not* a nature witch. She is an urban, steel-and-concrete kinda gal. She thrives on the energy of the city and the vibrancy of its people. It stablizes her when the Winding Way is at its low ebb.
Nevertheless, green flames dance in her eyes as she holds the twigs for a long moment. *Now* she actually changes a soft spell, the language likely unfamiliar to any of them there -- unless they speak Roma. Still, the twigs glow a soft silver for just a moment as the magic settles into their fibers. "Done," she says, puffing out a chuff of air. "Just keep them with you." In a pocket is fine.
She glances to the others, content to follow their lead on this. However, the light doesn't quite fade from her eyes, morphing from green to a more generic white haze as she holds onto her power. At the ready? A shield to surround them, should they be attacked.
Because that's *never* happened to her before. Nuh-uh.
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel just looks at Peggy for awhile keeping his hold of her hand, even as she explains the situation. For a moment, it shows in his face, that this might be it, the moment when time catches up with them and it's either go back or break time... thankfully it seems there's more options and he breathes again, as slightly abashed expression on his face. His grip on Peggy's hand remains tight for awhile longer before he dares to let go.
"Thanks," he says off hand to Abcde as he becomes aware of the larger conversation. Argentina's question gets a nod."Pretty much yeah." Missions especially the big ones were always a little weird.
Once Daytipper has done her thing, Daniel ventures to her and Abcde."Okay, so we grab the sticks and go find the source of whatever's happening? Is that the plan?"
- Peggy Carter has posed:
The quiet panic is shared by Peggy for just a few moments, heart in her throat. Especially as Abcde realizes how much they have reaffirmed things, it just makes it worse that, rings or not, this was probably not forever. She swallows back hard with some barely concealed relief the moment Isabella gets that reading that ISN'T coming from Daniel. "Agent, thank goodness you showed. Let's go."
Peggy takes the stick, which means between ICER and stick she has to release Daniel's hand, but having a clear direction now is almost a relief. Even if Amanda gets a slightly longer look at the light in her eyes. Peggy isn't certain if that's uncommon or not, but it was vaguely unnerving. "We...need to train more WAND agents." Peggy mutters beneath her breath as they all hike along towards where ever these readings are.
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
Peggy takes charge, which doesn't surprise her in the least bit given what she knows about her past and how she's gotten to know her in the present. Stick in hand she walks along with haste behind the agents. This almost feels like a monster hunt, tracking down something magical and terrible that is going wrong. The sorts of missions her aunts always told her to avoid as much as possible.
"I'm just clad to have met the agents that I have met.. and now Miss Argentina, nice name, here," Abcde says as they head down the street. The iteration is starting to near its completion when they see a man running out of a warehouse missing an arm. Blood everywhere. He's screaming.
And then suddenly the world resets again. The yellow energy sweeps out, clearly emanating from the warehouse, and a car come screeeaching to a halt before the group. "Whoa hey sorry! you guys came outta no where!," the driver says getting out of his van to check on them. It's the same man that had not moments before been running out of the warehouse missing an arm - but he has both arms again and his collapsed body from the previous iteration is gone.
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda, unlike the rest of them, it seems, tucks the stick into a pocket of her coat to keep both hands free. As the yellow energy sweeps over them, she can feel her spell flare to protect them all. She throws up her shield, however, as the car comes screeching out of nowhere. "Shiesse..." The curse is nothing more than a whispered expetive of surprise. She frowns. "Stay here," she says to them, keenly aware her powers are probably more helpful in this instance than they realize. An eldritch wind sweeps around her, lifting her up into the air. She mutters a soft spell and her form seems to waver in the air, flickering as if through heatwave ripples off hot pavement before it becomes very, very hard to look at directly. At best, she can be perceived through peripheral vision, and then only if you know what to look for.
She soars toward the warehouse to scope it out, to find out what the man could possibly have been running from. She can't see inside, but she can see outside. And what she sees there is not encouraging.
When she returns to the group, landing amidst them, the heat ripples dissipate, and she rolls her shoulders faintly. She turns toward the driver, eyes glowing softly. "We're fine," she tells him, pushing a suggestion out with magic and mind. "You need to get a coffee. Somewhere far from here." Because she can't reattach arms. And she's starting to push how much continuous power she can afford to use at one time.
It's only once the hypnotic suggestion is given that she says quietly to the others, "That warehouse is very well-guarded. I don't think they're going to let us in. I can try a portal... but without knowing what's inside, it's a very big risk."
- Peggy Carter has posed:
Looking over the situation, Peggy gives a slight frown to the man and his truck. "Wait... I have no clue if time is going to protect us from bullets and even if it does, getting shot is awful." She whispers in a hushed tone to the group. Amanda gets a slight shake of her head, "I know you're already holding together a lot of magic. Let's see whatever pattern they are in. Even if it's a few rounds of it, it keeps resetting. We slip in when we can do it safely."
And there, she sees it. The fire escape to the side and at least 30 seconds where there isn't a guard looking in that direction. "We move on my cue. Up that fire escape. Keep quiet as possible. Three... two... *Go*." She's ushering the whole grouo up before she goes, so if someone is caught being a bit too slow, it's her and she can fight back. "Window is broken, see if you can get it open enough to get in." She whispers to those ahead of her. She does follow suit with Amanda and put her magic tool into her pocket so she can better weild her ICER. She's got a feeling she'll need it.
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel shares Peggy's relief when he's not the source of the readings, and his heartrate slows considerably once it's clear that so far he's not on the verge of being sent back in time. When Peggy lets go of his hand, he takes a stick tucking it through his belt so he can still use his cane and have a hand free for his pistol and limps along with the rest of the group. Stunned first by the man coming from the warehouse, then that the same man seems find and is the car and finally by Amanda's further display of power. "Agreed about those WAND agents," he whispers to Peggy.
When the orders are given he takes up the rear, so his slower pace doesn't slow the whole group, but all the same will follow them up the stairs, cane in one hand weapon in the other.
- Friday has posed:
Running up the wall.
Agent Argentina of WAND, if that's even remotely who she is, does something magical. She sprints, and when she hits the wall near the fire escape she leaps. She caroms off of a nearby window frame, bare centimetres wide, backflips in the air, and snags the second floor of the fire escape with a single hand.
The motion she's created lets her curl up, flip over the side onto the railing, and then she's leaping up again. The motions are so close to the edge, but the smile on her face as she manages to do it all while keeping her sunglasses on...beautiful. She hooks her legs over the window and peers inside, then gives a thumbs up. Even the acrobat trainees don't try that kind of crap...it's borderline stupid.
Then she's inside. If she is who Peg thinks that she is, well, we know why she's not doing normal duties anymore.
She's an adrenaline junkie.
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
The man gets back in his car and nods. He backs up and turns around heading away to get himself a coffee far from here.
The sweep of the time reset, which they are now immune to, allows Peggy to start thinking in four dimensions. Plotting out a plan of action because of their advantage of fore knowledge. Up the fire escape and Abcde can feel her heart thumping hard. She draws out her wand just in case. Abcde watches Isabella's acrobatics and lets out a soft 'whoa' of appreciation. "That's what people learn in spy school?," she asks in wonder.
With tentative fingers, Abcde being one of the smaller people here, reaches in and pulls the window open for them to get inside. She notices the same car driving up to the warehouse again and the guy getting out of his car. The sign on the side of his car says Metal Metal Everywhere.. and she stares at the sign at the gate of the lot which also says the same thing. "Huh,.." she says as he goes in through the front door of the warehouse using keys.
Inside there are voices talking. The center space has a host of generators and scientific equipment set up on tables and at the heart of this arrangement is the mirror frame lifted from the antique's store. The very same mirror that Daniel and Arturo arrived through.
From their high vantage point, the artistry of whoever set this up can be seen.. the arrangement of desks and chairs has created a skull with tentacles. A homage to HYDRA.. because they are most definitely HYDRA. One patrolling HYDRA agent begins his route up stairs and toward the room the group is hiding in.. save for Isabella who has gone off book.
There is a kerfuffle in the warehouse proper as the man from outside is brought in at gunpoint. His arms high above his head. What looks to be the man in charge wearing a lab coat approaches him. There's an argument but their words are hard to place and then the man tries to make a run for it. He tackled by a HYDRA goon and his arm goes through the empty frame of the mirror and disappears. He leaps up, blood shooting everywhere, screaming, and starts running for it.
They see the cycle begin a new as the machines ping and whir in excitement, reading unexpected power fluctuations and then a bloom of golden magical time energy sweeps out from the mirror frame and the whole scene resets, even the window they opened behind them now closed again. They are inside.
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda nods simply to Peggy in response to the agent's decision. She can be a team player when she needs to be. Even so, there are so many of them trying to sneak across in the span of 30 seconds. She closes her eyes, pulls in the sense of the city around her, and ripples out of sight again. In this case, though, it's not so much a you-can't-see-me spell as it is a short teleportation spell. She appears, floating beside that window as Abcde pries it open. In the shadows within the warehouse, she pulls a shadowcloak spell around herself -- that particular spell being one of her well-worn, old standbys. It drapes her in shadows, revealing her form only by the occasional limn of rimlight where light might glance off a shoulder or the edge of her hood.
"I am your shield," she tells Peggy as they regroup, her voice hardly above a whisper. "Shields and illusions will tax my magic far less than most other spells."
Her eyes alight on the mirror. She glances to Abcde. "Is that what your djinn came from?"
- Peggy Carter has posed:
Once they are inside, Peggy keeping the window open for Daniel and reaching one hand out to help him through with his leg, she still takes her time. It's the one thing they have the advantage of here -- time. But the sight of that mirror's rim makes her curse softly. Or maybe it's the outline of HYDRA goons and scientists, that age old hate flaring up on her features. "God...damned... HYDRA." She hisses beneath her breath. "We need to take them all out in one go and take that mirror, but we are... very clearly outnumbered." Peggy's considering their timing, especially as the goons attack at the poor place's owner. Peggy's doing tactical calculations in her head.
"If that's the mirror I think it is," She looks to Abcde and Daniel for confirmation, "We need it out of their hands. It's also clearly the thing causing this. The next time reset... Daytripper, if you can be a SHIELD, cover Agent Acrobat over here." Peggy nods towards Isabella. "If you can get down there and slip the mirror away, Daniel and I will provide cover fire. Abcde, you gotta get that mirror... restrained, warded, out of here, the moment we've got it from them. Do we think we can do this? The best opportunity will be when the guards start going for the owner. They're eyes are elsewhere, at least."
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Thanks," Daniel says as Peggy helps him through the window he was really going to have to have that talk with Simmons sooner than later.
His expression upon seeing the frame confirms it's the mirror before he even speaks. "Yeah, that's it," he says unable to keep his off the thing until Peggy lays out the plan. "Watch out for the frame it's jagged," he tells Argentina. "And you don't want to bleed on that thing."
Then he nods to Peggy and moves to their vantage point to be ready to lay down covering fire, his hand brushing against hers before they part.
- Friday has posed:
Closing up her device, after she's taken a moment to consider joking 'hey guys, I found it' while pointing at the thing, she instead decides to take them up on their offer of a bit more fun.
"Mmm, let's do this," she agrees. Agent Acrobat. Nah. Not her style. "Let's do this." And she starts to walk across a beam, heading for the best location to drop down from.
Then she gives Daytripper a thumbs up. And raises fingers. Three. Two. One.
She steps off of the beam, falling straight down like a small missile. Into HYDRA's unexpecting arms. Hope you're all ready.
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
Abcde listens to Peggy's plan. HYDRA. Again. With guns. And pumping electricity in to _the_ mirror frame. She nods to Amanda and Peggy to confirm that that is indeed the mirror. "It must have residual temporal magic in it left over from when Daniel and the other man arrived. The whole world is.. effectively stuck in a time loop because they're pumping energy in to it. If we don't unplug it then this is where the world ends."
Her eyes widen at that - this'd make for a great plot in her book too. She nods though and looks out at the sky. "We're not that far from my apartment..." she lifts up her wand and her hands glow in blue as she says, "iuniperorum erat cibus mihi haec eveniantm" A small smile creeps on to her face. "I'm ready. Get the frame to me."
The mirror emits its time warping energy again and the next iteration begins...
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda's eyes glow a deep magenta as she pulls together her magic. A shadowcloak drapes itself around Isabella's form, like a second layer over her current clothing, making her very hard to see. Moreover, a visual illusion -- the simplest type for Amanda to perform -- spins around the mirror. Unless those HYDRA operatives are sensitive to magic and able to see through both the illusion and the pulse of hypnotic suggestion it is built upon, even when that mirror moves they will see it in place. And they will not see the ninja who moves it.
Tying off the ends of the light threads she weaves to make the illusion, she leaves it to stand on its own, fueled from within itself rather than her directly. The same is true of the shadowcloak spell on the supposed WAND agent. Tied off as it is, Amanda doesn't need to power it directly. Which means the final thing she does is turn her attention to Peggy and Daniel. She lays a hand on the floor as they move into position. Magenta energy chases after them, crawling up their legs and torsos, surrounding them and settling into their skin. It doesn't change their vision. It doesn't attract the eye of anyone who cannot see magic. But it does protect them.
The catch? This is a spell she can't tie off. She remains crouched, cloaked in her own tied-off shadows, her hand on the ground, constantly feeding the energy that surrounds them.
Yeah. She'll feel this one later. But it's fine by her.
- Peggy Carter has posed:
While they could spend time perfecting the plan, it was a good one, and Isabella was already moving. Peggy counts down with her, ICER in hand, and the moment they all hit one, she's dropping to the deck of the upper level scaffolding they climbed into the room upon. She grins to her husband, "I'll take left, you take right." It was their old pattern, every time they fought side by side. It felt good to do again.
She's an excellent shot, going for head and neck shots with chilling efficency, especially from the high ground. She goes down the left series of HYDA agents, starting with the one JUST to the left of the poor Metal shop owner and then working her way out. SHe keeps her head down as they start firing back, returning a volley, but she's at a far better angle than they are. And is also suddenly shielded in a way she didn't understand which turns out to be a thankful blessing, as one of the techs near the mirror manages to get off a lucky shot. It bounces off the pink surrounding her instead of burying into her shoulder where it would have. She returns fire to the tech, dropping his body away from the power around the mirror. Hopefully they can pull this off fast enough.
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel grins as Peggy calls for their usual combat position, he's already moving to the right, gun raised like Peggy he's an excellent shot and is able to use their high vantage point to his advantage. Though unlike Peggy he brought a .45 and not an ICER he has to be careful where he hits looking to wound more than drop their foes. The plan being to keep their heads down either because they're ducking or because they're gripping some part of their anatomy and screaming in pain.
He blinks a bullet his his shielfding, then smiles. "Should have gotten magic ages ago," he quips to Peg with a grin as he ducks down to reload.
- Friday has posed:
Having viewed things several times now, Isabella lands...hard. She impacts without slowing, landing on two of the HYDRA agents like a falling bomb. She rolls it out, but the pair of them are going to need their medical taken care of for a while. That kind of impact is normally not standard coverage.
A moment later, she has a line out of her belt. She wraps it around the mirror, up close and personal, and hums a little tune as she does so. She stops to 'jazz hands' at one moment, having far too much fun, and then hooks the line over itself a third time.
Then she pulls out a grapple gun and fires it upward, hooks it onto the line, and ...waves?
"Don't wait, up people, and happy birthday Peggers!" Her voice calls this out as she ducks under a hydra agent, slaps the 'retract' button on the grapple, and then dives into the chaos, using the agents themselves to let her move.
She's...leaving? And no goodbye for everyone else?
- Abcde Prescelta has posed:
The warehouse owner has his hands up as the HYDRA agents point guns at him.. and then they are down. He RUNS for it. Out the door and back to his car. He skids turning around and driving like a mad man down the roads while fumbling for his phone to call the police. He fumbles it out the driver side window and slams on the breaks to stop his car, then opens the door and reaches out to get the phone when the car behind him slams on its breaks and slides to a stop, mere millimetres from his arm and phone.
Standing up the man wipes his forehead with the phone. "Whoa. That was.. crazy." The other driver yells at him, "Are you insane maaaan! I could have taken off your arm!" The warehouse owner dials 911 and says, "Yeah I know so glad you stopped. The car behind the other car slams on its breaks too and a hedge cutting knife flies off the back of its load. It barely careens past the warehouse owners arm and clangs to the road. Pale, the man says, "Hello police? there are armed men in my warehouse.."
---
Abcde finds herself holding her breath as everyone goes in to action. She has been in dangerous situations before but not against gun wielding terrorists meddling with magical artefacts they don't understands. She watches from their hidden room and then sees the frame making its way rapidly up on a grappling line. Abcde rushes out to grab it and then hears the click of a gun pistols hammer being drawn back. She turns with the mirror frame under her arms to see a man holding a gun to her head.
"Hey aren't you that girl we've been lookin' for?," he says. There's a smash through a window as a broom, made of wood and twigs, comes hurtling in and crashes in to the man knocking him to the ground. Abcde mounts her broom and turns it around, flying up and out of the warehouse with the dangerous mirror frame held tight.
Time does not reset, it moves forward as it naturally should even as the HYDRA agents, bamboozled by the unexpected attack start to recover and realise what they've just lost. It is time for SHIELD and Daytripper to copy Isabella and retreat.
- Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda waits until the last of the agents has retreated, safe enough within her shadows. She races with Peggy and Daniel, the shield energy that had been slinking against them from the floor now a dome around all of them as they run. Once they are far enough away, she looks up to see Abcde streaking through the sky on her broom. "Go," she tells them. "I'll make sure you're not followed." When the inevitable protests come, she gives a wry smile. "I'm a teleporter. They won't catch me. Go."
So it is, then, that Daytripper buys the SHIELD agents time to retreat, teleporting herself away to safety at the last moment.
Oh. And Abcde? Expect a phone call from Aunt Fay, after she hears about all this...
- Peggy Carter has posed:
The moment the mirror is out of the warehouse, Peggy stops laying down that cover fire. She smirks as Isabella seems to disappear out another way, the agent's escape independent of them just further confirming a theory of her's, but it's a worry for another day. The woman was useful and they were all criminals now anyway. "Back to the SUV, fast as we can." Peg orders quickly, the upper floor window still a good escape hatch in the chaos.
She knows Daniel is a bit slower than them, so she lingers back just long enough to lay down any cover fire that is needed for him and Amanda to get out before she follows down as well. No longer with time loops to be aware of where HYDRA agents are going to go, she gives the street corner a look over before pointing them the direction there seems the least fall out. Their SUV is parked a few blocks away, closer to the park still. She'll try to lead them a way that can't be followed, but her eyes keep flickering between the way forward and behind them. The HYDRA agents will be for the cops to handle and maybe Talbot to clean up later. "...Thanks." She offers breathlessly to Amanda, having suspected the woman is why she doesn't have a bullet in her shoulder.
- Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel moves as fast as his bad leg will allow occasionally turning to fire when HYDRA gets too close, but once away from the warehouse the gun goes away and he just moves as fast as he can. When they all reach the SUV he leans against it for a moment echoing Peggy's words for Amanda. "Thank you," he says, before he pops the door open and pulls himself inside happy to be off the leg with their mission accomplished.
- Friday has posed:
Watching from a ways away, someone stands in an alley as the agents pass by. She slips a coat out of her bag, then gingerly pulls it over her arms. "Aaatt-tch-tch.." she hisses, easing it past the bullet hole in her shoulder. She didn't see that last guy aiming, but at least the jacket is red. It'll hide the bleeding.
Abcde. Amanda. Danny will be teleporting, don't wait for him. Peggy, making sure the others are safe.
In the dark, she takes her time. The last of them has passed, so she steps out of the shadows and pulls on her matching red hat. Wide brimmed, to hide her eyes, she smiles her knowing smile, and barely catches sight of Peggy's bag as the Chief vanishes around a corner.
"Enjoy," she offers, the place where she slipped something, when she leaned in to whisper, so much earlier and in another type of life.
Then she turns, red on red, and walks into the night. Agent Friday once more. To look for a good late night medic.
Bullets hurt!
