692/Siege of the Ghost Spider: Rude Awakenings

Siege of the Ghost Spider: Rude Awakenings
Date of Scene:	22 March 2020
Location:	Somewhere in the Australian Outback
Synopsis:	After being awoken by HYDRA soldiers, Gwen, Lara, and Zee trek to the Siege Perilous. Gwen goes home. Many tears are shed. But is it truly over -- or just a new beginning?
Cast of Characters:	Zatanna Zatara, Gwen Stacy, Lara Croft
Tinyplot:	Siege of the Ghost Spider

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Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"...I thought I was the spoiled one." Zatanna murmurs to the two women as she gets comfortable with them. And eventually she gets some rest. It's a fitful sleep for the three of them out in the brush. The night is chilly and clear, the night sky full of stars. But there was noone coming to the signal fire. As Lara had said it would be at least forty-eight hours before SHIELD would start to work it's gears slowly to locate her.

A lot could happen in that time.

At around sunrise, there's a noise in the brush, and from one of Lara's traps, there's a loud snapping noise and into the air, a flare launches. It spirals into the air, and explodes, bathing the area in a harsh red light.

Judging from the jeep headlights in the distance, it wasn't a kangaroo that set off the flare. Zatanna is between the other two women, and as deep in sleep as she's in, she doesn't know what just happened.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen is up and on her feet in a heartbeat... crouched low with one knee nearly above her right shoulder where she's crouching down with a hand out infront of her with the wild flexability inherent in her genetically altered body.. "Zee.. Lara..." There's no immediate tingling of danger, but anyone coming up on them in this situation is dangerous in her book, "It's time to go.." They were definitely trying to creep up on them, but for Lara's traps.

She slinks over and grabs her bag, slinging it over her shoulder once her webshooters are strapped onto her wrists. Glancing back to make sure both women are getting up and ready to bounce.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is awake in a snap as well. She'd not slept well, admittedly, going over all the things in her mind that she needed to do to keep them all safe. It was right back to the trauma she'd experienced this past Fall, an overwhelming urge to survive filling her mind and soul.

When Gwen speaks, Lara is up and on her feet, she's scooping up her bag and spilling a metal pan of water onto their campfire's red hot embers. She turns then to glance in the direction of the flare fired sky high. "They're going to be moving fast now." Lara says with a heavily exhaled breath. She offers a hand to Zatanna to help her up. "Lets go!"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Moving to sit up, Zatanna's alert, and the first words out of her mouth are, "Dleihs fo Noitcetorp."

Nothing happens.

Except for Zatanna pressing her hand to the side of her head again in agitation and pain. She'd forgotten about the magic issue that she was having the night before. She closes her eyes, trying to balance herself again as she holds onto Lara's hand to be led away.

Behind them, in the pre-dawn darkness, there's four sets of eyes -- night vision goggles moving around in the darkness. As soon as one of them sees the pair of Zatanna and Lara, he's raising his assault rifle and fires a three round burst that whizzes by the pair, hitting the ground and throwing up dirt and rocks as Zatanna makes a surprised and scared noise. She's not used to being without her magic.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
That seals the deal.

"Go ahead, I got this." She says with a quiet malace in her voice when one of the quartet takes a shot at Lara and Zatanna. The spider moves surprisingly fast, a shadow in the pre-dawn, as she lurches forward like some kind of predator. THWIP! The webbing heads straight for the end of the barrel of one of the assault rifles with the kind of precisions that hints at a keen subconscious spartial awareness led accuracy. A jerk of her wrist, intent on pulling the weapon free and she whips her arm around to use it like a flail, knocking against the barrel of another rifle.

Trusting her spider-senses and quick reflexes to keep from being shot, she makes herself the most viable target of the trio of women. "If I had a dollar for every time I was on a Australian safari and got attacked by half-wit thugs with assault rifles, I would now have a whole dollar... That being said, I'm not impressed with your general violent demeanors... This island killed Steve Irwin? You guys are amatuuuuuuurs..."

Look't the bouncing spider.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is no super hero, by any means. She's accomplished some pretty remarkable things that got her on the radar of Nick Fury and SHIELD, but she's no Captain Rogers or anything of the sort, and her fight ability relies on the cover of stealth. So when the bullets ring out, Lara is keeping low and keeping close to Zatanna. With Gwen doing the heroic thing, Lara looks back for a moment but she's well aware of Gwen's capable abilities.

"Come on, Zee." Lara urges the incapacitated Sorceress. "Gwen will catch up." She sweeps her bag around behind her and pulls it's straps out to form it into a rucksack that is slipped on over her shoulders, and then she pulls her bow from her shoulder with the arrows ready at her waist on a belt quiver that is behind her acros sthe small of her back.

"We have to make our way further west and a little north." Lara still has her journal with her maps, rolled up and stuffed into the pocket on her right thigh, though she knew them well anyway. "If the Perilous is nearby, that's the direction it'll be in. I believe we're at least ahead of our enemies... which is a plus!"

A plus! While they're being shot at! That's good!

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Normally, Zatanna could just turn their guns into boquets of flowers, or something else. She's never felt this helpless before and it's maddening for her. She sticks close to Lara, keeping down and trying not to draw any bullets to her attention as Lara starts to point them in the right direction. Unfortunately, that decision is leading them on an intercept course with another jeep!

Back at the ambush, Gwen snaps the first rifle away and batters the user with it as he goes down as another green suited man attempts to bring his gun up to shoot at the jumping spider. "Shows how much you know, blondie, Australia's a continent, not an island!" Oh look, someone is smarter than a fifth grader!

Of course, Gwen is disarming him a moment later, ripping the weapon away from soldier as he gives a panicked yelp.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Har har har..." Gwen isn't in the best of joking moods, there were bullets zipping after Lara and Zatanna and it's on her to put these goons down quickly. Leaping up and firing a web into the trees, she swings in towards another gunmen and double boots him towards the forest, leaps off the tree she was tethered to and fires a web down with an extended wrist to yank another gun from a Goon. It's hurled end, her foot coming back to kick behind her in the unarmed mans direction.

"Now you're in an sea of unconsciousness... never correct my geography..." Said in a low crouch, glancing after Zatanna and Lara, she moves quickly to try and catch up, by way of web express.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara and Zatanna are breaking through the foliage and making their way toward the direction that they need to go. Internally, Croft is cursing herself for not walking up earlier to get going sooner, but... at least the trap worked...

"Gwen can track us, I hope." Lara says to Zatanna, moments before they break through to a clearing and find another Jeep grinding it's breaks to come to a halt. Quickly, Lara uses her free hand to halt Zatanna and pushes the sorceress off to the north where the tree cover is thicker! "Move, move!" She says as she drops her hand down to her side and pulls her handgun out of it's holster.

Lara's gun holding hand raises up and she fires off two quick rounds at the passenger side window of the vehicle, well aimed shots, if a bit frantic and designed mostly for stalling/cover fire!

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
I can lead her... no she can't. Zatanna follows along after Lara, as the second Jeep comes to a halt, and the soldiers within start to disembark. A pair of shots from Lara are fire and strike the hood and windshield, but don't strike the passenger, who fires an assault rifle at the two women -- the stacco of the gun going off will be more than enough for Gwen to follow.

Ducking into the brush, Zatanna tries to make herself as small as possible while the two women try to deal with the immediate threat that is being provided by the pair of soldiers. They turn towards the brush where they saw the sorcesress running off into her, and start trying to track the woman. And while Zatanna may have some self-defense skills, they are not certainetly going to help her when it comes to people with automatic weapons!

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen can follow the sound of the Jeeps, and then a moment later, the rattling of automatic gunfire. Sweeping through the trees, she leaps from one into a swing, into a leap off another like a spider... monkey. Bowling dowing into the midst of the gunmen like a Seven-Ten split, she gets to work. Stomping into ones instep and sending him backwards with an elbow thrown wild behind her.

Diving forward, she lets them trace her with the rifles, again being the most viable target, she pops back up amidst bullets and double foot jump kicks another hard against a tree. Landing on her back into a spring backwards kip up onto her feet into a bum rush away from them. Launching herself up into the air and sending another webline to carry her behind cover and the inevitable return fire, following the pair of ladies from on high, and back at a distance.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's strength is in stealth, and this is the utter opposite of that. In situations like this it becomes all about run and pray! With the automatic weapon peppering bullets into the wilderness all around them, Lara calls out to Zee. "Stay low! The river is up ahead, we need to find a way across it to the other side! Keep to the trees, but watch your step!" It's the outback... anything could be beneath their feet!

With a dodge around a branch, a duck beneath it and a rise back up on the other side, Lara slips her bow over her back and then draws out an explosive that she turns and jams into the point where the branch meets the tree's giant thicc trunk. She flips a timer on it and starts to spin around to chase after Zatanna toward the sound of running water beyond the treeline!

The explosive is set to blow with the hope of toppling the whole three over to keep them from being followed directly. Time is everything in a hasty escape!

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The bullets whiz through the trees a few moments while Lara sets the explosives. Gwen is able to take down another soldier, but as the first jeep starts to give chase, she heads into the tree line -- just as the jeep arrives, the explosion of Lara's rocks the tree, sending it toppling over and crushing the Jeep as it slams into the thick trunk as it is felled.

Arriving at the edge of the river, Zatanna waits anxiously for the other two women to arrive, trying to stay as close to cover as she can, and when Lara arrives, a grateful smile touches her features -- Gwen's arrival, Zatanna comes out more and hugs her tightly to her. "Are you alright? You didn't get shot, did you?" She's scrapped and bruised and cut, but all of her concern is on Gwen and Lara.

She looks around in the dark and hands the flashlight that Lara gave her earlier in the night back to her. "You said northwest, right? Can we follow the river and get there?"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen is twisted around in a very inhuman position when the explosion rocks the base of the tree, sending it tumbling down not just ontop of the Jeep, but very nearly ontop of her. She uncoils her waist, plants one hand on the bark of the crashing foliage, and runs upwards along the quickly leveling out length of wood. Leaping outward with her arms and legs streched backwards, into a backwards tumble that has her wrists pointed towards another limb with webbing extending outward to carry her through the brush into the opening near Lara and Zatanna.

She rolls over shoulder and onto her feet. Sweating, bleeding from several new scrapes on her face, arms, and legs, but looks intact as she throws her arms around Zatanna.. then immediately begins making sure the sorceress, sans magic, is okay. "I'm fine... we need to keep moving."

She's not breathless, but she's definitely a little winded. That was a lot of fighting and aerial movement, in Australia's overbearing heat. She moves to Lara to clap a hand on her shoulder, passing beyond to look up river. "Which way?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara reaches a hand up to pull the bandanna off of her head and tuck it into a pocket on her hip where it hangs partially out and at her side. Her head wound had stopped bleeding some time ago. Once they're at the river and she feels the pat to her shoulder from Gwen's arrival she looks to Zatanna with the flashlight and Gwen beside her now. "Northwest, yes." She eyes the water, suspiciously. "We need to get across the river and find a point where it will be least dangerous to do so."

She puts her eyes back on to the two of them. "This is Australia, hungry things live in these waters and they'll come out of them to get us too if they're desperate enough. So... we need to proceed, but we need to do so with great care."

Her handgun is holstered again at her side and she draws her bow out again, then reaches her left hand back behind her to draw an arrow and have it ready. "I can't be quite certain, but I believe there was a rocky crossing area not too far away, we flew over it just before we were shot at yesterday."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"I'm sorry..." it's all Zatanna can say. Without that connection to her magic, she can't be of much help. She's feeling like a burden to the other two women that can handle this much better. And it's become an escort mission with her.

And she knows Gwen hates escort missions.

Starting to make her way along the river's bank with the other two, she looks out over the water and the landscape. It's beautiful, and any other time, it would be romantic and she'd love to be here with Gwen.

But she's dirty, wounded and disheveled. Her shirt's nothing more than a tied off bandana around her chest. She looks around as they walk and lets out a sigh.

About twenty minutes later, the trio arrives at the rocky crossing mentioned earlier. The winter floods haven't come yet, allowing for most of the rocks to be exposed. It will be a dangerous crossing for those not trained in it, but managable for those that are.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen grips Zatanna's hand, not dragging her along, but staying beside the disheaveled sorceress as they make the long trek around towards the rocky crossing that's not yet covered by winter floods. "Okay, so this doesn't look omenous..." She murmurs, turning to kiss Zatanna's cheek, "I'll go... and make sure it's stable.. secure it if I have to." She could definitely do that. Webbing and her own strength? She could hold up the whole rock bridge right?

She really doesn't want to find out... Slipping backwards, she extends her foot to press against it. There's no fear in her movements, she could run across this thing on her hands and wouldn't be concerned for falling, but she's testing structural integrity, which may well draw out her crossing a bit...

Especially if complications arise.

Lara Croft has posed:
"There, up there." Lara had said as they'd come up on the water water rushing between the rocks. "They're tall, at least, most of them should be above the water and less likely to be slippery, at least."

As they reached them and they got a clear sight of what to do to get across, she looked back to the others. "Gwen, you should go last. If Zee or I fall, you can do that..." She narrows her eyes in the dim early light. "Can you web people?" She asks, unsure of how that stuff works. "If you can, you can grab one of us, should we tumble."

Lara turns back to their next obstacle. "I'll go first." She says, starting to choose their path and moving to jump, shimmy-step and stride over gaps in their makeshift landbridge with the water flowing beneath them! "Don't look down!" Lara warns back to the other two, not that the drop is a terrible one, mind you, it would just be a bit more pressure-applying.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Unsure of what to do, when Lara starts across, Zatanna starts after her, reaching to grab the archelogists hand to keep her stable while she follows after her. They make their way across the rock croppings, and shimmies and steps - it's a lot like being on stage. She's able to make her way across, not slipping and falling. But she sure as hell isn't looking down.

She makes it across with Lara, releasing her hand as she waits for Gwen to join them - her hand held out to the youngest of the three as she worriedly waiting for the Spider-Girl.

Once they cross, Lara will notices a few markings along the canyon walls - they are getting closer to their destination. They may be only a little bit further away as Zatanna is looking around warily.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
This is a cake walk for the spider, running across the slippery surface with sure feet. She doesn't do it in a way to show of, so much as cut down some of the time of picking her way across a land bridge that ... quite frankly... would have just been for show anyways. Shortly after Zee and Lara are across, so too is Gwen. Gripping the sorceresses extended hands and turning to look Lara.

"Alright, I've seen the Safari tour at DisneyWorld... let's get to the part where a raging hippo attacks us..." BARING THAT, hopefully baring that anyways, the Seige. She releases one of Zee's hands and uses it to help guide the practically shirtless woman along, pointing out where to put her feet by feel... Gwen was kind of made for this sort of adventure, afterall.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is able to make it across with little trouble, and she makes sure Zee does as well. She has quite a lot of faith in Gwen's ability to scale the river though, considering what she's seen the alternate-universe-skipping young woman do so far! "No Hippos, I don't think." Lara says with a soft smile to Gwen before she does turn and she does pick up on the markings.

With both in her left hand, she walks toward the first one and reaches up her free hand run her fingertips around the marking. "These are directional indicators." She says to both her companions then. "We're on the path that they took now. Whomever brought the Throne to this region, they came through here. Or at least intended to."

She studies them a moment longer, trying to put them to memory before she looks back to Gwen and Zee. "Lets go. We're close now and..." She glances across the river. "They're likely just behind us."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"I'm in no mood to play hungry hungry hippos. Especially if I'm the ball." Zatanna admits as they all meet up again. With things settles, the sorcress nods her agreement. "We're closer, my headache's worse." she manages as she waits for the others to start off with Lara in the lead. Following the markers takes them along a goat trail that eventually leads to an opening above the canyon.

From inside there is a bright glow, that urges them on. They come to an outcropping where they are looking upon a grand floor with a bright pool of water in the middle of the clearing. That's when they see it all. There's a pair of large trucks, marked with a red skull with octopus tentacles -- the mark of HYDRA. Scientists and soldiers have set up around the pool, where there's a large metal lens that has been set up and it's forcing a shimmering pool over the water. Near the portal is a large rock shaped like a chair. And a small line of soldiers.

One of the scientists looks up from where cables lead from the chair to the pool and calls out, "Next!"

One of the green suited soldiers steps up, standing at the edge of the shimmering pool after climbing the stairs. "Hail HYDRA!" he calls out before jumping into the shimmering pool.

Seconds later, he screams, falling through the other side of the portal nothing more than a burnt corpse that ashes into nothingness as it falls into the water. Not worthy.

Zatanna grabs the side of her head in a wince. "....that's what's messing with my connection.. they have it forced open, and the Siege is taking it all. I need to get to that seat." she tells the other two women.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
It's a bad lemmings joke waiting to happen from where the trio are crouched staring at the scene below. Hydra agents stepping up to sacrifice themselves for the greater good (The Greater Good) of the organization, only to be rewarded for their loyalty by being rendered into ash on the other side. A low, quiet whistle is echoed out from between her teeth, tongue pressing up against the roof of her mouth, "You know.. this is exactly like Indiana Jones.." She murmurs to both, glancing back and forth between them, "It's a movie from my universe."

By way of clearing things up.

"Only it was the ark of the covenient and these were nazis..." Motioning around with extended fingers. "It's ending the same way though... melty face sadness..." Zee is saying she needs to get to the seat and Gwen is frowning, "Yeah..." Which means, maybe, she'll be going home soon? That or she'll be dating a very attractive pile of ash. Neither option seems supremely exciting right about now.

"Okay, so you got anymore of those explosive arrows? If you fire one down there into that truck... I'll crash in like a wrecking ball... and you can help Zee get to that seat?" Looking to Lara. Protect her evident in the way she's staring t the woman, but she's been doing just that sinc ethey got here.

Lara Croft has posed:
When Lara sees the display down below she just watches it like the others with her. She hears what they both say and she just draws in a soft breath. "I can't believe they found it." She says at whisper level, still wondering if this is all because of her though, if she set the wheels in to motion that lead the HYDRA minions here. "Technically these are Nazis." Lara says, though even she's not entirely sure if that's right. HYDRA is new to her, though she knows that they're closely related to another shadowy organization that she's dealt with in the form of Trinity.

Once she's seen enough of the horrors going on down there, she turns away and steps back into the shadows. She looks to Gwen and Zee. "I do and can, though I am worried about damaging the Siege itself." She says. "If you two are confident in that approach, I can do it. Or..." She glances back to the chamber and the light shining up from it. "Or I can create a distraction and try to draw as many of them away from here as possible, get them to come after me and then give the two of you less trouble to deal with to get down there and..." Her gaze centers on Zatanna's eyes then.

"Do what you need to do." She says, knowing full well now that if that /is/ the chair down there. It is /not/ happy about being sat upon.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"They were looking for the humble cup of a carpenter..." Zatanna murmurs in response to Gwen, cutting eyes towards her. "And if you suggest that we survive this in a lead lined fridge, I'll never talk to you again." Empty threat, considering if this works, she really will never talk to her again. She draws in her breath as the plans are presented to her. "If this works, I should get my magic back, hopefully immediately." she closes her eyes and weighs them.

She looks to Lara. "I didn't pay you enough to sacrifice yourself like that. Stay with us." she decides with a grateful smile to the Brit. "We do this as a team. Lara, take out the truck, that will get their attention. Gwen... get me to that chair, and be ready to jump into the portal. We're going to get you home." The grim determination that sets in her eyes belies everything she had hoped she would have time to say to Gwen.

But she will not do it at the expense of a new friend. She's never going to be that selfish. "Hopefully Merlin and Roma will be smiling down on us." comes the hopeful response as she moves to slip her arm around Gwen's waist. "Lara, when you fire, we'll move. Be ready to cover us."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen smirks at Zatanna, reaching out just to touch the side of her tanned face with the palm of her hand, "Lara, I'm going to kiss her, but it's going to be super classy.. I don't know if I'm going to get another chance, okay?" Said over her shoulder to their guide and compatriot on this adventure... but then she makes good her threat, leaning into Zatanna, nothing aggressive or more than some lowkey Cinemax style stuff that doesn't even bring up the ESRB rating on this video game.

"Okay..." Forehead to forehead, palm to cheek. Gwen nods and turns to look back down into the clearing, "Okay... Lara, soon as you let loose the thunder, I'll take Zee down to the chair..." She's fighting back tears. This is it... she's going home. "Soon as she sits, I'll jump through..."

Why does she feel so terrible about this?

Lara Croft has posed:
For Lara, she offers a smile to Zee and a light nod. "Fair enough. I'll try to be careful and precise." She's a great shot after all, maybe not Hawkeye-great, but Hawkeye needs /something/ right?

When Gwen and Zatanna need a moment to themselves, Lara nods and she turns away to step toward the ledge again, but she keeps in the cover of a shadow provided by a rock support pillar that is wider than she, giving her plenty of room to stand behind it and prepare. She draws another arrow out of her quiver and slips one of the explosive arrowheads out of the pocket on the side.

When they're ready, Lara looks back to them and shows them both a soft smile. "Okay." She states, notching her arrow and moving to prepare. "Get ready." She warns before she puts her back to the pillar, feeling the cold stone against her bare upper back and down the fabric of her tank top. She takes three even breaths, she hears another scream of agony down below and then turns to step out into the light.

Her arms come up, her right elbow goes high and she draws the crimson red strings of the otherwise black compound bow back! The arrow is loosed a second later with a *THWICK* and it spirals down toward the Jeep...

TO EXPLODE!

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Leaned into the kiss, Zatanna holds Gwen's closes to her for several moments, breathing her in, remembering what she smelled like, tastes, feels, the sound of her voice. Everything she will need to recall in the upcoming days, weeks and months when she is lonely and listless. Breaking the kiss, sapphire eyes search Gwen's own before she gives a resolute nod towards Lara, commiting them to the plan.

When the arrow flies and slams down into the truck, it explodes, sending flames and debris all over the place. Immediately the HYDRA soldiers are trying to grab their weapons and such to fire upon the outcropping that Lara is situated against. As bullets spak and smash into the rocks and dirt, Zatanna wraps her arms around Gwen's waist for her to be swung out. When they arrive at the chair, Zatanna sets down on her feet and looks to Gwen. "I got this, go." she promises, before she moves to sit down in the chair. She immediately feels the hard thrust of magicks being shoved back into her and she cries out in pain as they overwhelm her for a moment.

Zatanna's frame glows with a soft cyan as she takes control of the magics and then looks up at Gwen. Her sapphire eyes are bright as she takes her in one more time. The portal stabalizes, shimmering the same color as her eyes.

"I love you. Now go home."

Tears stream down Zatanna's face as she waits for Gwen to take the plunge so that Zatanna can guide her home.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen watches Lara sacrifice herself, sorta anyways, so that the pair of them can get down into the clearing. Soon as she rushes off with the guns following her, she does grab hold of Zatanna's waist and hoists her up against her side to drag her to her hip. Throwing out a Webline, then another, and finally coming down near the seat. "Okay.." She says to Zee, really wanting to stop her from doing this... she's already thinking better of it and can feel the aching pain rising in her throat the closer they get to that portal... the portal that will send her home.

But will forever seperate her from Zatanna Zatara.

She'll survive, because that's what people do. She'll cry for weeks, months... maybe years, but she'll survive. One day, maybe she'll f- I love you, no go home..

Gwen snaps around at the cusp of stepping through the portal. Close enough that if she looks back she can literally see the rooftop where she battled the Lizard, but she's reaching out towards Zatanna, "Zee, I lo-"

*BANG!*

The gun goes off from a distance and Gwen dips backwards to avoid it, use to using space to her advantage, she flips backwards of her palm and stands up to ...

Nothing... Tears streaming down her face as blackness envelopse her.

Zatanna Zatara... "I love you too." But nobody hears it but Gwen.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara knows her role in this moment, to occupy the HYDRA agents as best as she can... or eliminate as many as she can, without them /eliminating her/. So when they start to fire back at her she is quick to swirl back behind cover! The bullets pepper the rock walls around her, causing her to squint her eyes and turn away while she gets sprayed with the dirt and debris from it all. With teeth gritted she draws another arrow and waits for a moment before she darts her head out to spot a target, then she comes back out to fire an arrow down that comfortably nestles itself deep into the throat of one of the men who just fired an automatic weapon at her! The Man's head is kicked back and blood pours out of his mouth as he drops to the ground! Lara has to dodge more shots then as she ducks and rolls forward to now crouch behind another stone pillar that has fallen over on to it's side on the balcony that is up above the 'theater' of all of this.

She doesn't quite know what Gwen and Zatanna are experiencing just now, but she hopes it's going well!

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
--- Earth - 65 ---

Gwen is in the middle of the battle with Lizard, Peter Parker. Her Peter Parker. The one that will later be dead, and her own father would lead the search to find her and bring her to justice.

--- Earth Prime ---

Spider-Man is battling Green Goblin on the George Washington Bridge. Gwen Stacy, high school student and love of Peter Parker's life hangs in the balance.

--- Australian Outback ---

Words are powerful things. Very powerful. Zatanna can make the impossible possible with a few letters rearranged and spoken backwards. As Lara distracts the HYDRA soldiers that start to overwhelm her position, it is looking bleak for the two women.

"Emoh." she whispers, to guide Gwen Stacy to her heart's home. But it's not what she expects.

--- Earth - 65 ---

Gwen Stacy is out sick from school the day after the field trip. She never tells Peter Parker of her powers. In turn, he is not inspired to become the Lizard to try to be closer to her. The Gwen Stacy of Earth-65 never has to kill her best friend.

--- Earth Prime ---

Gwen Stacy falls. The feel of the webbing on her ankle is supposed to be one of relief. But this is where fate twists - she hits her head against the bridge and is knocked unconscious. As limp as she is, her neck never snaps. Instead she's knocked into a coma. Captain George Stacy makes daily vigils to his dauther's bedside, to visit Gwen, to hope she wakes up.

--- Earth - 65 ---

The rooftop, the lightning, Gwen is in the rain when she dives into the portal that brings her to Earth Prime -- and is replaced on her Earth by the depowered Gwen Stacy who awakens from her coma in an Earth that is heroless, but otherwise, like her's in every way. Gwen Stacy is not Ghost Spider there - and that will be fine.

--- Earth Prime ---

Gwen Stacy, Ghost Spider, twitches in the hospital bed. Attached to tubing, wires, monitors, the first spike of activity brings someone moving forward. From the shadows and into the light, George Stacy looks down at his daughter in hope, worry, and grabs her hand. "Sweetheart? It's dad. I'm right here."

Ghost Spider is home.

--- Australian Outback ---

Mission complete, heartbreak engulfs as Zatanna floats from the Siege Perilous. She holds out her hands and she starts to cast.

"Nugs ot skcits!"

Their guns immediately turn into broom sticks, useless. This is fully operational battle sorceress, and she unleashes her full might. "You want to worship that thing... then...."

"ARDYH OT EURT MROF." All the scientists, soldiers, the entire attack on Lara suddenly stops. Instead, where the soldiers, scientists and others once stood... octopii now wriggle helplessly on the floor.

Zatanna collapses to her knees, asorbing the last of the magic and disconnects from the Siege Perilous...

The gem spins over the pool for a moment and then vanishes in a bright flash of light, returned to Roma. The chair sits empty. Useless. And Zatanna is on her knees, crying her eyes out, fists gripping into the dirt at the loss and pain she must endure now.

Lara Croft has posed:
When Lara witnesses what happens to her targets, first their weapons, then their... everything else. She rises slowly up to her feet again. With another arrow ready in the bow, she takes a second to look over to where Gwen had been to where Zatanna is and she... starts to put her weapons away. It only takes her a moment to work her way down the ledge, using her experienced climbing skills to work her way down the side of it surprisingly quickly until she drops to her feet and starts to walk toward Zatanna.

Lara moves to her side to reach out toward her. "Are you okay?" She asks, glancing over to the Siege itself now.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
With her magicks restored, a couple of words and Zatanna's wrapped up in her magician's rammants wrap around her, changing her back to her normal appearance. Looking up at Lara, the tears spill freely, grief filling her heart as she looks up at her. "She's home..." Zatanna whispers.

So why is she so sad?

Standing up, she wraps her arms around Lara's middle and buries her face in her shoulder, the raven-haired sorcress weeping openly. "We need to get this... somewhere." she can't think. She doesn't want to think.

She wants Gwen back.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is not the best with human emotions, she's been through a lot in her life, but one thing she does know is the loss of loved ones. Everyone in her family is dead, her mentor is dead, and she's lost a number of friends too. So for Zatanna, she's there for her here and now in this moment and she returns the embrace. "You did the right thing." She reassures the Sorceress. "You did what was best for Gwen, for us too. She wasn't from here, she belongs elsewhere." Lara tries to do her best, but it's just one of those elements of her social interaction skills where she knows she's not that great at it. She's no... Wonder Woman, when it comes to wisdom, love and affection.

After a few moments though, Lara has to try to push Zee onward. "There could be more of then though, Zee." She tells her softly. "We need to... find a way out of here. Preferably with that..." She says, now eying the Siege itself.

"Are your powers able to help with that?" She asks, looking back to the remaining companion she has on this mission.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The words that come to her mouth are something Gwen said to her once, the sorceress sucking it up as Zatanna pushes back to her feet.

"Easy peasy, lemon squeezy." she responds, forcing a smile on her face as she steps back.

She has some casting to do. To get them home. To get the chair to the safety of SHIELD.

And just because she's nice, she teleports all the octopii into the pool. "They'll be okay in an hour." she promises.

She wishes she were lying. But Zee's magic doesn't work maliciously. It would throw things off.