6957/The Golem of Bushwick: Week 1 - First line of defense

From Heroes Assemble MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The Golem of Bushwick: Week 1 - First line of defense
Date of Scene: 16 July 2021
Location: Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis: Well armed thugs attack the Golem in an attempt to draw out Mystique. It works, but everything goes to hell in a handbasket as more heroes arrive to take care of the situation.
Cast of Characters: Lydia Dietrich, Wade Wilson, Kainashi, Talia Wagner, Laura Kinney, Robert Marksman, Kaida Connolly, Nadia Pym-van Dyne, Raven Darkholme, Clarice Ferguson
Tinyplot: The Golem of Bushwick


Lydia Dietrich has posed:
So far things with the Golem have gone pretty well. There haven't been any major altercations, since the presence of the looming figure was enough to deter any crimes that it happened to come across. For the most part it's been genuinely helpful for the community, helping carry groceries if asked, getting kittens out of trees, that sort of thing. It even let somebody spray paint a small mural on its back depecting a double helix over a sunrise and the letters ACAB written across its shoulders. All in all the presence of the giant construct has become more welcoming than wary.

Anybody seeing it for the first time will be impressed by its size. It looms at a whopping nine feet tall, and moves with a grace that belies its size. It's humanoid, but a little bit disproportioned. The legs are a little bit shorter than they should be and the arms are a little bit longer. It has no toes, but it's got three fingers and a thumb on each hand. It's face is very simplistic. It's got a bump for a nose, some curves for ears, and it's mouth is a tight straight line. It's got deep pits for eyes, in which amber light shines with a simple kind of intelligence.



That all changes however when the first signs of trouble appear. While the watch is away handling the concerns handling of other citizens, the woman monitoring the Golam via the camera affixed to it's head nearly spits out her lunch when she sees movement out of the corner of her eye. It looks like a man in a balaclava has managed to approach the golem and spray paint the lens of thte camera, blinding the operator. This can't possibly be good.

Wade Wilson has posed:
Wade Wilson knows that Golems are well...you know...Golems. Did anyone read the story or see the original and highly tasteful black and white film of the same name? Best stick around with plenty of pop corn to watch when thin.....er...firepower to help defend the valiant defenders of Bushwick from people who think Lead is a Potato Chip flavor. He leaps from roof top to roof top munching popcorn loudly watching.

Kainashi has posed:
    Just what is a Golem? What does it do? HOw does it... well, 'go'?

    Far from being one to indirectly research answers (on account of the whole 'unable to read) thing, one young mutate had decided to make her way up to Bushwick. She was affixed to a narrow overhang nearby, her ears up. The short figure shifts her weight, adjusting the backpack she was wearing. Her nose twitches, pausing, as she smells... popcorn...?

Talia Wagner has posed:
Rooftops are popular in New York.

TJ is sitting on one keeping an eye on the situation down below and in general the neighborhood. Keeping an eye on everything occuring with the Golem.

She glances off to the side and... oh wonderful Deadpool. With popcorn.

TJ idly wonders what sort of Deadpool she is dealing with here. There is such a variety to choose from.

She looks back down at the Golem on patrol and then cocks her head as she hears over comms a bit of an update. She taps her ear. <<I'm.. on site. Trying to get eyes on the problem...">>

She steps closer to the edge and fishes up a compact pair of binoculars and surveys the scene down yonder closer now. Not leaping into action yet or anything. Not enough information.

Laura Kinney has posed:
X-23 isn't really in Bushwick for the Golem. Or for any good reason at all really. Mutant Town is one of those places you can blend in without people asking a lot of awkward questions. So it makes the ideal spot to keep a cache of gear hidden away. And those need checking every now and again to make sure no-one has located them.

She's wearing a non-descript hoodie and the sort of dark leggings you'd see on someone out for a jog. Not exactly cheerful summer clothing but practical enough to blend in.

Vandalism isn't really something she concerns herself with. But general paranoia does mean the mutant former assassin sniffs the air cautiously. Alert for signs of more serious danger.

Robert Marksman has posed:
Robert Marksman has been handling a few things today, and not just at the clinic. He is just now coming out of the hotel, where he has been for the last hour or so. Once outside, he pauses to take a breath of fresh? air, and look around the neighborhood.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
Scamper scamper scamper. Leap! Scamper! Kaida sometimes moves along on all fours just out of sheer ease. It might not be normal for her when she was human but now it sometimes just makes sense. She can grab, grip and slip along with much greater ease when she moves this way and it is almost like watching a free runner go, if a free runner could hit highway speeds. She was here to visit an old friend.

He made her the 'sword' she carries.

Well, sorta sword.

It's just a piece of metal, shaped and sharpened to be as close to a sword as is possible with a small amount of leather, painstakingly wrapped about it's base to form a little hilt. He put in no small effort to make it and Kaida was practically giddy upon seeing it. To him, that was all that mattered.

Now, she is pausing, however, as she spots the golem and frankly was out of hte loop on this one. A golem?! That's just super neat! Then she smells several scents and comes to a stop right on top of an overhang near the golem, casually hanging over the side, braced by her paw like hands that cling tenaciously to the overhang, making it almost look like solid ground to her.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
It is hard to believe it has already been a year since the last time Nadia came to Bushwick. The last time she was here, this area of the city was small enough to fit in a bottle after being reduced by Brainiac. That is before, together with Tony Stark, Shuri, and Samuel Morgan, they managed to re-engineer Brainiac's own weapons array, torn from his ship, into working order and restore the area to its rightful size. They had planned as much as they could and accounted for as much as was possible but there were still problems in the aftermath with things like misaligned inftrastructure and power grid issues. She definitely felt a bit of guilt having not been back since then, but events in the aftermath between her own mental issues and the machinations of the Red Room had not been kind to her and before she knew it the anniversary of those events had arrived.

Nadia walks through the streets of Bushwick dressed in a T-shirt with the G.I.R.L. logo superimposed over a pink silhouette of a large wasp, black and red plaid pleated skirt, and big stompy boots. She grimaces a bit at the afternoon heat, it is enough to make a dent even in her usual cheer, but still she manages to largely be her usual upbeat self. 'Mental Note: Invent air conditioner for the inside of clothes.' She thinks to herself as the looks around at the buildings and watches the people, taking in the sights of how Bushwick has changed in the past year. It is enough to bring a smile back to her face even in this heat, even if there are still struggles.

Nine foot tall golems though, that's not something you see every day. That's more like something the Titans or Avengers get called to deal with. "That's not normal." She says aloud to herself when the golem comes into view, taking a moment to just stare. Though curiousity also burns in those eyes of hers.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
A few blocks from the golem's last known location, a shimmering white portal opens on the street. Most of the locals already know what this means and move to avoid it to ensure they don't end up some place they don't want to be, really do not want to be.

After only a moment three women step through into the street. One a purple skinned woman, the next a black women, and finally a white woman with an ever present green glow around her body.

"Last reports had it a block from here," the black woman says. "Let's move."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice nods, fingers reaching down to touch the knives she wears at her sides. There's a large supply of them - small, thin, and meant to be thrown. Without her own javelins, she at least had something she could work with to inflict some damage from a distance, should this turn into that sort of an afternoon. "Hopefully it's just some kids having a bit of 'fun,'" she suggests - though she doesn't sound completely convinced that that will turn out to be the case.
    A girl can hope, though.
    With her gaze scanning their surroundings as they move, she walks at a quickened pace towards the last reported location of the golem.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
For those who have been watching will see the vandal book it after spray painting the camera. For those who have sensitive noses they'll get the faint whiff of gunpowder alerting them that this is definitely trouble. As soon as the vandal gets up the block, two unmarked grey vans come rushing up, screeching to a halt, not to far up the street from where the golem is. Four men from each van leap out of the side doors weilding heavy automatic weapons. They're all dressed in black, wearing long sleeves as if to hide any identifying tattoos, and like the vandal, they're all wearing balaclavas.

It's clear what their target is: The golem itself. Once they're clear of the vans they start opening fire on it, but the bullets do little than make little pock marks in it's clay. The golem swings its gaze to its assaulters and the amber eyes blaze as it moves to intercept them.

Lydia looks vaguely sick after going through the portal, and takes a moment to gain her bearings. "I'll get to the air to see if I can spot it!" Glowing emerald wings sprout from her back and lift her up into the sky, so she can see over the rooftops. It doesn't take her long to find her Golem, and the vans unloading the assaulters. "Over there!" she shouts down to her companions. "Looks like we've got about a dozen armed men shooting at it!"

Wade Wilson has posed:
Wade Wilson leaps down, legs dangling over a gutter (get your thoughts out of the gutter people!) where he munches popcorn; its a jumbo size and he takes out a pistol. He cocks his head to the side and shoots at one of the tires on the vans. Get aways are for people who can spell their name without using crayon.

Kainashi has posed:
    "That can't be good--" comes a voice from above, and there's a slip of a shadow as the ninja drops down, and reaches into her backpack -- two dozen armed men? Well -- let's play with them!

    From the alleyway closest to them, a pair of smoke pellets are launched at the closest grouping of gunmen to rob them of their sight as Kainashi raises her hood up to try and hide her distinctive silhouette -- and the thud of her chainss on the pavement announces her presence!

Talia Wagner has posed:
On comms still with the Brotherhood <<Strike team is unloading on the Golem. Corner of...>> rattling off the intersection that is the closest to what is going down there on the street now. <<It doesn't seem to slow it down though... I'm dropping down to engage them.>>

She tucks the binoculars into a pocket and then leaps down off the building, catching a window sill here, a sign there, until she is street level. The level of parkour on this mutant really does show the training she got from, and genetics she inheritated from, her dad.

Mindful of machine-guns and being shot at she starts to jog down the street using cars as cover, moving pretty fast to close in the distancce with the jack offs trying to take down the 'friendly' golem.

She does pop up though once close enough and fling a crimson bolt of energy at one of the gun wielding asshats. The strength of the hexbolt is... human... cause well she is taking a wild guess here and figures that is probably who is up to this right now... no need to aim higher and blow a hole through them.

Public image rehabilitation and all.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura doesn't really have a strong motivation to protect whatever the golem is. That camera suggests it's not simply another mutant and it doesn't smell /alive/. So why get involved at all?

Except this is the kind of area where people are always nearby. Even if the streets were clear the nearby buildings will be full of innocent people. And the sort of weapons you'd bring to take out a big lumbering creation like the Golem are the sort of weapons which will punch holes in a building just as easily...

So her own objectives go on hold for now. Another sniff of the air to confirm the direction danger is coming from and she bursts into a sprint. Zigging and zagging to avoid getting shot she pops her claws with a distinctive 'Snikt' sound. Ready to use them to cut bullets from the air and trusting that her healing factor will take care of the rest.

Robert Marksman has posed:
Robert Marksman hears the gunfire, and a black energy will cover the man's body and he lifts up into the air. He takes a moment to find where people are heading, who is running, to or away. When he sees the green winged lady he will head that direction to see what is going on and how he might be able to help.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
"Well, that's rude." The small mouse states to no one in particular as she watches the guy spray and run. Then she realizes more people are going with the spray and pray method. She looks to the golem and how it is reacting and then she looks around and shakes her head, "That's a lot of potential collateral even if that thing si tough." She quickly assesses the various smells and sounds.

Ear Twitch: Gunshot taking out a tire.

Ear Twitch: Someone flying above, wait more than one.

Another twitch and nose twitch: Smoke? Maybe a cover?

Seems like she's not the only one here but are some with the guys with guns and some with the golem? Hard to tell but she knows what is right so she zips down the building, over the street, under the gunfire and right up to the feet of one of the bad guys. Within seconds she is up his leg and standing on his shoulder before she says rather fast.

"You and your friends are like super dumb." And then she's literaly clinging to his ear, "Super dumb." She whispers.

Then she is leaping free, likely before he can slap at whatever it is that was on his shoulder and in his ear. Of course, that's really the least of his worries.

Now, maybe others can do the math but Nadia probably has already clearly understood this formula. A weight of roughly 2 lbs., tough enough to withstand the impact, going at roughly 55 mph and roughly the size of the head of an eraser on a pencil is going to put enough force to just really ruin your whole day. Aim that at the side of someone's knee and, well, let's just hope that that gunman wasn't planning on a good day.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia just sighs watching the sudden spraypainting of the camera and then the vans of armed men pulling up and opening fire on the golem with heavy weapons. THIS. This is /exactly/ the sort of thing the Titans and Avengers get called in to deal with on the regular. "This is why we can't have nice things." She mutters before the teenaged girl takes a moment to flick the back of one of the necklaces she is wearing and then suddenly vanishes from sight. It's fast enough that it might look like she teleported, but her scent remains and anyone looking with keen enough eyesight might notice she's still there, just teeny tiny and performing a feat of aerial acrobatics as she changes into her Waspette costume that had been stored in the necklace.

It is not the Waspette's first rodeo when it comes to machinegun fire. Staying the size of a an actual wasp so as not to give them a target, she zips towards the men. As she flies little deeley bopper antennas extend from the top of her helmet as she sends out a message to all of the bees, wasps, and hornets in this area of the city.

<<Picnic Feast>>

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique honestly has no idea why anyone would shoot at the golem, but in her mind it is some kind of test to see what the thing can take. In the end it didn't really matter what reason it was, it was an attack on mutant property and there for an attack on mutants as a whole.

The report from TJ sends her from a jog into a run, the holstered hand guns are drawn into her hands as she goes.

Over the link to all members of the Brotherhood she say, >>"Shielders may be required. Lydia keep your eyes open, don't engage unless you have to, use your abilities to shield those going in if you can. Clarice, ascertain targets carefully and maintain a protective position... do not get in close unless you have to. TJ, and I hate saying this, but remember no killing!"<<

Coming around the corner where the golem should be, she heads into one of the nearby buildings. Once inside her skin shifts from the black woman, like magnetic sand it rolls over itself and she is the cobalt mutant again, her pace not even slowing. She apologizes to those present for her intrusion, that's new, informing them to get down or get out a back way, then heads up numerous floors to find a window over looking the street.

There's no way to know if they are mutant or humans, a small part of her wants to just shoot them all in the head, but public image was changing, so she starts taking aimed shoots at legs and arms, non-lethal but certainly very painful.

>>"With this number of bullets flying, sound the alarm to get people to cover!"<<

Seems the Brotherhood had protection of Buchwick fully at heart, as moments later a continuous beeping sound echoes through the streets around the golem and the shooters. It wasn't a loud deafening sound, just enough to warn people in the area that they might not want to go out onto the streets and it might be time to seek shelter in their buildings. If they choose not to, well that's on them.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Gotcha," Clarice confirms, also breaking into the run as she hears the bullet-fire start. Really, that's all the warning most of the people of Bushwick need, and she finds herself dodging past a few individuals. Spotting a particularly frightened looking teen who's cowering behind one of those free 'newspaper dispensing' boxes - she pauses at his side to say quickly and urgently, "You need to go. Get into Hope House - and get down. They'll let you in. Go, go, go." She stays long enough to make sure the kid is clear, then dashes forward into a nearby alley which gives her a view of the fighting. She pulls out her knives, three in each hand, and starts tossing them with startling precision, aiming for shoulders and arms, in an effort to impede their ability to fire their weapons.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
The tire of van #1 pops as Deadpool shoots it, the driver cursing. He rolls down the window of the van and pulls out a heavy caliber pistol and shoots wildly at Merc with a Mouth.

The team that came out of Van #2 starts coughing from the smoke, and halt their fire, scrambling to get out of it so they can see.

Thug #1 from van #1 gets struck down by Talia's hexbolt, but it seems like he's wearing a bulletproof vest that keeps him from being out. He looks at where the bolt comes from and swings his weapon over to open fire on Talia.

Thug #2 is startled when suddenly a mouse is on his shoulder. "Gwah!" He slaps at the creature but she's already gone, and in no time, somehow, his knee collapses underneath him. "AUGH!" he shouts as he goes down, clutching his knee as it has buckled into an unnatural position "Stupid fucking mutant!"

<<YAY! PICNIC!>> comes the buzzing response to Waspette, and soon enough a swarm of wasps arrive to figure out where all the food is at. Thug #3 seems to be especially worried about the incoming swarm and stops firing to swat at a few of the wasps. This only serves to get them angry and they start attacking him, stinging him and distracting him enough that he's too busy trying not to get stung to resume firing.

If the opening of gunfire didn't alert the nearby citizens to the danger of the thugs, the sirens certainly did. Fortunately there aren't that many people in the area, and those that are there start fleeing. Most have gone into a corner bodega which seems to be as good a place as any to hide.

Thug #4 spies Mystique as she rounds the corner and points at her. "There she is, that mutant bitch! I /knew/ this would draw her out! Get the RPG!" Wait, RPG? Thug #5 nods and heads back into the van, and pulls out an honest to goodness RPG launcher and aims it at the golem.

Meanwhile the golem rumbles in discontent, advancing to one of the thugs who were caught by the smoke grenade. It reaches out and grabs the machine gun, jerking it out of the man's grasp and crushing it in it's hands. Upon hearing that the RPG is coming out the thugs from van #2 spread out so as not to be close enough to get caught in the blast when it comes, spraying bullets wildly all over the place.

Clarice's daggers hit their mark on Thug #7. He screams in agony as daggers pierce his biceps, causing him to drop his gun. "I'll get you back for that!" he shouts at the mutant, pulling the daggers out.

Lydia shouts down to her companions, "I'm going in!" despite any protests that they have made. She has a vested interest in her creation, and she doesn't want to see it come to harm. A green glowing carapace snaps to her skin, armoring her against any incoming bullets as she heads off in that direction. She stops when she sees Robert and tells him, "C'mon! They're shooting my golem!" and zips of motioning him to follow. When it's apparent that their target is Mystique, she swoops down and envelops her in glowing green armor, much like her. She's done this trick before with Clarice, and it's much easier to maintain it the second time around.

Wade Wilson has posed:
Wade Wilson is munching its popcorn when...IT. GETS. SHOT. OUT. OF. HIS. HAND!!!! THEY KILLED HIS POPCORN! WHY! WHY?!?! Deadpool briefly cries, goes off has a funeral and buries the popcorn for 9-10 panels, yes actual panels in a text based medium but use your imagination and then he comes back, pissed. You can tell because he is scowling. Well, scowling behind the mask reaches into his backpack and takes out an immaculate and carefully crafted Carson the Butler puppet who speaks to Deadpool.

"Sir?"

"Fetch the Apparatus"

"Yes sir!" Carson reaches into the backpack with his mouth and pulls out a large slingshot and power drill and then (again with his mouth) drills the large slingshot into the roof of the building (that will make shingle repair a pain later!!!) and then pulls out a rather large sack of Marbles that he hands to Deadpool, "Sir."

"Thanks Carson" and he puts the large (huge) sack of Marbles and pulls back the sling shot at one of squads of antidisestablismtarianism (real word folks look it up! The more you know) goons and lets cry the dogs of tindlywinks!

Talia Wagner has posed:
TJ ducks nimbly behind the car <<They are wearing some sort of armor it looks like. Also yes not lethal but going to need to amp it up a bit to put them down for the count.>>

She shifts back out and hurls one and then two Hexbolts at the thug #1 who is shooting at her like a jerk. One is aimed at his midsection, amp'd up in strength to compensate for body armor. The second bolt at Thug #1 is aimed at his legs and not quite as potent but well definitely not as weak as her first blast. He can probably live with a mangled leg after all.

<<RPG!? What the hell.... damnit America.>>

She flings a Hexbolt at this point at Thug #4 .. yes not Thug #5, she isn't entirely sure how her hexbolt might interact with an RPG and this isn't a good time to test it.

Thug #5 helpfully identified himself as a leader anyhow as far as she is concerned.

Hopefully someone deals with the RPG.

Kainashi has posed:
    Kainashi keeps to the side of the fight where the smoke is thickest, her ears pricked up as she moves on quick feet, feeling the heat of the pavement's warmth from the sun and city baking it. A stray bullet catches against material of her hood, and she swings that heavy length of chain expertly looking to entangle legs until there's a sudden explosion --

    That's when the sound of a canine in a pit of a panic might occur as the air begins to clear, and the scarred up viscage of the pitbull braces...

    And she sweeps down to pick up a manhole cover and frisbees the disc of iron at the man holding the RPG!

Laura Kinney has posed:
For a young woman of her size and build you wouldn't think Laura could move all that fast. And of course you'd be wrong. Between her healing factor and training she bursts forward with the sort of acceleration you'd expect from a Cheetah that's just seen an all you can eat gazelle buffet.

One moment she's just a random civilian in the background and the next there's a petite, although still much larger than a mouse sized, figure practically launching herself into the group of masked gun-men.

Her claws whirling around her in a blur, chopping through any weapons or non-essential body parts which get within reach.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
"I'm not a mutant!" Kaida calls out as she stops briefly in front of the thug she hurt, "I'm a mouse. Have you never seen a mosue? You're extra stupid." And then she is going for his gun. She's grabbing it up and rushing off with it, delivering it at the feet of the golem so he'll step on it even if by accident and then she's gone again in a blur of movement. She arrives at Van #2 and claps with glee.

"I know what we need!" She rushes into the van and aims right for the back of the head of the driver in an attempt to give him one heck of a smack to the back of the head. Then she stops right next to the radio and pulls out her shuffle, dropping it on the dashboard and plugging it into the aux port.

"And music!" And she hits shuffle before spinning the volume nob all the way over and breaking it right off! After all, that's what you're supposed to do.

A moment later, a small beat starts up and people start going 'Nah nah nah' with claps and then it begins, "Here we go, here we go! It's about time we set it off!" As Legend by The Score begins playing.

Kaida then reappears at the exit of the van, dancing along the bumper, clapping along with the music.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia frows as the situation continues to deteriorate and a number of the men still seem able to act. And they have an RPG?! 'So much for the nice approach.' The tiny Waspette thinks to herself as she makes a bee-line for the thug getting the RPG as the biggest threat.

Extending one arm as she closes the distance, the Waspette aims one of her gauntlets at the RPG with the intent of shrinking it too small to be useful as anything but a toothpick. Preserving her momentum she banks and arcs straight up underneath the thug's chin, suddenly returning to full size at the last possible moment giving him the mother of all rising uppercuts.

When she lands one of her gauntlets is pointed straight at the thug who seems to be the leader. "Please stop this before anyone else gets hurt!" She has to at least try to ask nicely.

Robert Marksman has posed:
Robert Marksman lands down beside the golem. He is using it as a bit of cover. His own armor would stop most of these guns but not the rocket launcher. He will keep an eye on that man, watching and waiting. He is ready to open a portal in front of the missile, but unlike those with more combat experience, if he gets it, he just lets it fly off into the darkforce dimension, perhaps ticking off a few darkforce beasties but thats a problem for another day. If the Rocket is not fired, he just uses his portals to try to catch stray shots that might find people otherwise.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Holy mother of... RPG? Were her eyes playing a trick, did Mystique see an RPG... yep, that's what that was and it was aimed at her. What sort of group was this?!

She was just about to de-ass the area with the quickness, as in be some where else before that RPG launched, but it was that moment that her body was wrapped in green armor. She recalled seeing Lydia use this effect on herself a few times, but had no idea she could put it on others, which meant she had no idea how close to Lydia she needed to be or if it was a concentrate sort of thing.

The building she was in was apartments, and there was no way she was going to let that RPG be shot at her there, so she did the only thing that made any sense to protect anyone inside... she jumped out the window and prayed the armor was enough.

As she leaped to possible pain, she tried to time her shot to hit the RPG as it launched and explode it nearer to the ground level, rather than in the building. She really needed to stop watching Mythbusters, because it could be done, but it took a precise shot... one she knew she could make, but still.

It is entirely likely that the RPG will end up shrunk, but with no prior knowledge of this happening, she fires anyway and most likely shots the thug with the RPG in the head as a result. It wasn't her intent, but with live ammo there's no way to avoid accidents.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Don't bring machine guns into a family friendly neighborhood, maybe!" Clarice calls at the thug - eyes rolling widely. She's glad to see so many people coming to the defence of the neighborhood - and to the golem, as well, but the sound of someone calling for an RPG? Shit. What the hell is wrong with those assholes? If they miss - they take out an entire building and everyone inside.
    "Do not let them fire that RPG!" she calls urgently, even as she's pulling out more of her throwing knifes. She's about to fling them towards the man with the RPG - but it seems that everyone else took that unnecessary bit of advice to heart. Instead, she takes a moment to reposition herself - moving from the alleyway and darting along the sidewalk, to take cover in a sheltered doorway that gives her a better vantage point - now that Laura has entered the fray and inadvertantly partially blocked her shot.
    With a clearer shot into the growing chaos before her, she takes a moment to flinge her knives towards one of the thugs who remains armed, again aiming for the man's shoulders and arms to get him to drop his weapon. "Everyone please put down your weapons and lie on the ground and you will not be harmed! Lie down now!"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
The large sack of marbles knock Thug #6 off his feet, and the bag spills open letting marbles roll out all over the place. Thugs 8-10, who have been shooting wildly, shoot even /more/ wildly (if that's even possible) as they scramble to keep their footing.

Thug #1 never had a chance to get back up. The first hexbolt slams him back on the ground and hit him right in the solar plexus causing him to gasp for breath, while another mangles a leg.

The poor driver of Car #2 who was leaning out of his window to shoot at Wade, gets clobbered by Kaida, and is knocked unconscious, and soon the area is filled with music to fight to.

The manhole cover hits it's mark, causing the RPG launcher to swing wide, but not before it fires. There's good news and bad news about this. The good news is that it's fired into the air so it doesn't look like it's going to hit anything important. The bad news is that it's headed right towards Deadpool. Unfortunately for the Thug wielding the RPG, it gets shrunk before he ever gets a chance to reload, and then gets one hell of an uppercut, causing his teeth to clack together as he's launched into the air. When he falls back to the earth he's clearly unconscious.

Thug 8 has the unfortunate luck to be the target of Laura's attack. His gun it cut to ribbons and his fingers aren't essential, right? Right?

Robert, unfortunately, is just a bit too slow in getting off his portal, but at least he's safe behind the golem. In fact, when the golem sense that he's near, it spreads its arms out and constantly positions itself to keep Robert from getting hit. It seems that its mind is on defense more than offense.

Lydia grunts when Mystique jumps out the building. She doesn't let her fall, though, and uses her power to set her down on the sidewalk without any injury. The man opening fire on her hits his target, but the glowing green armor absorbs the impact of all of the bullets.

"Christ," the leader of the thugs growls. He knew that there would be some kind of patrol, but usually it's just a couple of those mutie bastards, and he had planned accordingly He didn't expect there to be this many people and he sees the situation going south. "Pack it up, people! There's too many of 'em!"

Thugs start to scramble, trying to get their injured into the vans, which is proving to be difficult since most of them /are/ injured. Clarice manages to catch another one with her daggers, causing him to drop his mutant hating friend.

Anybody who's hooked into police chatter will have heard that somebody had called 911 and that the police will be here with a SWAT team in about 10 minutes. Even the police can't ignore a shootout this big.

Wade Wilson has posed:
Wade Wilson takes out his phone and films the Gilligans that are moving helter and skelter. As it is, he no longer thinks that he needs to intervene and takes out a second smaller bag of popcorn, nomming as he eats, watching the delightful application of lessons learned to the truly stupid. He quietly whistles to himself contendedly. He films the whole thing, quite content, and then the rpg hits and he EXPLODES. Granted, the footage is SO cool but about half his torso and one of his eyes are knocked lose with charred flesh already knitting itself as he quietly hoots, "Ow."

In a twist of noxious fate, the eye lands on the shooter of the RPG (or near anywho).

Talia Wagner has posed:
TJ missed in the scrum Thug #4 who shouted the order to get the RPG. The scrum of chaos. The helter skeltering. The moving out of the potential blast zone if they did hit the golem.

Not that she is letting it go though. She starts to run forward ready to dodge any shots fired her way. She doesn't intent to let any of them get away in the van. Especially Thug #4.

The hexbolts are all flying through the air at him now. Bodyarmor strength and center mass, at least three of them hurled one after another.

Kainashi has posed:
    Yeah! Teamwork! Even unanticipated teamwork!

    Kainashi gives a slight smile, and pulls her hood up to hide her ears again, wrapping her chain around her chest as she gives a soft hum, her eyes narrowing before she turns and goes to grab at one of the vans -- but is spooked a bit by the hex bolts! She gives a surprised cry, and side-leaps behind one of the vans, bracing herself and then reaching for the side, she goes to try and tip the van right over!

    She grunts, and pushes up, her tail curling a bit as she rocks it up -- and then goes to make a get-away down the already opened manhole!

Laura Kinney has posed:
With one thug disarmed (disfingered?) Laura turns in search of more threats, although they seem to be on the retreat, and charges. At this point it's less about actually catching them than 'encouraging' them into running away without firing any more heavy weapons at people.

Of course the claws remain out and ready to slice bullets from the air if needed. And if she can get close enough she'll sweep them clean through the getaway vans. It'll be tough to evade the authorities if adamantium claws can make contact with one of the wheels!

Robert Marksman has posed:
Robert Marksman sees them going towards the vans, and that the golem has him covered. He concentrates a moment his armor disappearing showing the man who is a doctor at the clinic. Right along the open side doors of the van, a black portal will appear on both vans. He counts on them being in to big a hurry to realize they are going into it, and nod being able to stop themselves. He calls over to Mystique "Tell our side not to follow them through." He is gritting his teeth as two portals at once is a bit more than he has done before.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
Thing is, all these people on radios and Kaida is not at all on a radio. Plus, her shuffle is in Van #2 and she's not about to have that get taken away. Luckily, the driver is in no condition to drive. That and she's dancing about on the bumper as they start loading in. She stops and places her hand upon the hilt of her sword.

"You dare think that this is over?" She asks of no one in particular and she leap flips to the left side of the van and takes in a quick breath, "Fools!"

And then it happens. For most, it'd be hard to even see it. The sword slides free ever so slowly and then in an burst of speed unlike any other she has performed tonight, she is in front fo the van and sliding the hilt away, turning her head slowly to look toward the van.

"Your tires are already flat." And with that, a hissing sound comes from both tires from two small but effect slashes to the walls of the tires.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia grunts as a bullet ricochets off one of the bleeding edge armor panels of her suit, that hurt. Her other arm snapping up to point another gauntlet at the new threat, a falling Mystique as she descends, tracking her all the way down to the sidewalk. Now she looks like she's in a Mexican standoff with one gauntlet aimed at the leader of the thugs and the other pointed at Mystique. She doesn't seem to like getting shot, really isn't a fan. "Don't move."

"Smart choice." Nadia tells the one who seems to be in charge, keeping the new assailant in her peripheral vision, as she at least seems intent on letting the armed men withdraw. Though after the leader begins to pull back she flicks a quantum tracking beacon on to one of the vans.

When she see's what Robert is doing, however, the arm that was previously pointed at the leader is pointed at him instead. "I suggest you stop that. If you kill /anyone/ you will be spending the rest of your life in a microscopic prison. Think carefully."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
That was totally unexpected but greatly appreciated as Mystique comes to a safe landing. Her ear piece is tuned in to numerous channels at once, though only one for her voice to go out over. In all honesty, she surprised the police are coming, they rarely if ever respond quickly to anything in Bushwick, even something of this magnitude. She hadn't expected them to show up until much later and the knowledge they were coming, shifted the gears in her brain.

"The police are on their way," she states both out loud and over the comm. "My shot was not aimed at you, it was an accident, but no one here is aiming to kill, so how about you back the fuck off my people and let them do their job?"

She's in the open, she's cobalt, this was not going to go well, but she is not advancing on Nadia, or making any threatening moves toward her. It was an accident, nothing more. She was still encased in Lydia's green armor, but she had no idea how effective it would be against a shot from that one, so she's not acting against her.

"This is our home lady, we're just trying to protect our own... thanks for your help but honestly, you think I'd be here to make trouble at a time like this. They did this do draw me out, they succeeded, are you going to be the reason the police arrest me?"

She takes a quick look around, then back to Nadia. "Brotherhood, stay back... we knew this sort of thing would happen. Not everyone forgives for past crimes, not everyone knows we're trying to make up for our mistakes... let this one decide my fate while you get clear, that is an ORDER."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "NO," Clarice says in an angry, firm voice. "Why are we simply letting them leave? They do not come into our neighborhood, attack our people, and run away." Her footsteps stop at Mystique's words - her teeth gritting tightly together for a moment. "Mystique - no," she counters, her hand going for one of her throwing knives with a determined and angry expression on her features. Movement out of the corner of her eyes catches her attention, and she flings her knives into the tires of the first van as she barks out, "Put down your weapons and get on the ground. You will not be harmed. //Now//!"
     She makes no move to retreat as ordered quite yet, however. <<Mystique... Let's go. Ritz can get us all clear,>> she voices quietly into her comm.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
The thugs have stopped shooting at anybody except for their leader, who is cursing at Mystique. "Well, if I can't hit you, how about your mutie /friend/!" He swings the muzzle of his assault rifle to point at Clarice and opens fire, as he backs up into Van #1.

The unfortunate thing is that Kianshi is in the middle of tipping it over, and manages to tip it over right on /top/ of the leader as he gets in the side door of the van, leaving him trapped inside. The driver of the van struggles to get out, but it's going to take him some time.

The Golem sees that the only one being shot at is Clarice, and quickly moves to intercept, putting his large bulk in between the mutant and the leader. Again, the bullets just crater into its clay, keeping Clarice from becoming swiss cheese.

Between Laura and TJ, they start herding what's left of the upright thugs into Robert's portal, sucking up three of them before the rest try to move around to the other end of the van. Those that get sucked up appear a moment later at the closest police precinct, shaking and crying as they were shown some of the worst things they had ever done as if they were their own victim.

With three tires taken out of commission thanks to the efforts of Deadpool and Kaida, that van is going nowhere anyway. The driver gets out, and looks like he's about to run when an eye just *plops* onto his head. He quickly spins around and puts his hands up shouting, "Okay! Okay! I give up! Please don't hurt me!"

"NO!" Lydia shouts when she sees Nadia point her weapon at Mystique. She reaches out with a hand, as if to grab her girlfriend. Clutching her hand she makes a /yanking/ motion and Mystique flies right up into her arms, and she wheels on her wings to fly away. "Don't worry," she says, "I've got you. I'm not going to let anybody take you, no matter what."

Talia Wagner has posed:
Well damn.

She glances at Mysique's exit plan evidently, a bit amused.

Then she glances over at Clarice and well shielded by the Golem good. <<We evac'ing?>> she hopes she really does. Just to be sure though she pivots around keeping an eye on the downed Thugs and Nadia.

Both seem fairly much a threat right now honestly.

She ends up by Clarice.

Laura Kinney has posed:
X-23 turns and glares at the stranger gesturing at the mystery portals as if he was controlling or summoning them somehow. "If they are dead I will find you," she states. From her tone it does /not/ sound like she'll be dropping round for a friendly cup of tea. She sniffs the air and scowls. "I have your scent now."

The rest of the situation seems to be in hand. Certainly the vans aren't going anywhere and enough people are watching to guard the remaining thugs. And with the police on the way it's time for Laura to make herself scarce. After Mystique she probably has the longest criminal record of anyone here. And it's better not to pick a fight with the entire New York police department. Never mind all the heroes who'd join in.

She glances down to make sure she's not leaving a trail of blood then, with a shrug, turns and starts running. Not quite as fast as her charge into combat but still far quicker than any mundane girl her size could manage.

Robert Marksman has posed:
Robert Marksman starts to say something to Nadia and then sees the man training his gun on Clarice, but the golem is faster than the young man. Once he sees Clarice is safe he looks back to Nadia "So, your judging me to be killing people, what cause I am a mutant? Cause my powers are dark in color? I sent them to the police station with s small drop to stun them but should do no permanent damage. Not a pleasant trip for them, but no real danger. " He will continue to Nadia "I am a Doctor, and a fellow scientist, who is trying to protect those who live in the same place he does. Just cause some of us are not on the evening news does not mean, we are killing people.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
Stuffing her shuffle back into the small pack she wears and turning off the music due to pulling the cord, Kaida comes out of the disabled van with all them disabled guys and moves out only to see all the strangeness taking place. She looks from Nadia to Mystique and then at the surrendering people and then simply attempts to leap to Nadia's shoulder and whistles, "That was just weird!" She declares, "I still have no idea what is going on!" she laughs and shrugs, "We won though, right?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia's gauntlet is lowered from Mystique, sure she'll have a nasty bruise later but she isn't really hurt. She just wanted to verify that the blue woman wasn't a continuing threat. Reaching up she pulls off her helmet revealing a face that was all over the news about a year ago concerning Bushwick's restoration, as one of the principle individuals involved in returning it safely from its bottled state.

She was about to say something when the leader raises his gun to shoot Clarice and in that instant the arm that isn't holding her helmet snaps in his direction and unleashes not a shrink beam but a full on energy blast aimed at melting the weapon in his hands. "Ugh!" She makes a sound of profound frustration at this whole situation. "Do NOT shoot Lorna's friend! I swear JUST STOP!" She has definitely had better days.

"Look, just go or do whatever then!" Nadia calls in Mystique's direction. "I'm not going to fault anyone for protecting their home. I was going to track where they went so the problem could be cut off at the source, but apparently that's not to be!" By the time Mystique is snatched up by Lydia, her attention has already shifted back to Robert.

Nadia takes several deep breaths, doing her best to stay in control of her emotions. She has medication now, and therapy, the last thing she wants is a repeat of last year's violent breakdown. "Strange scary portals, middle of a firefight, and I don't know you!" The 17-year-old shouts at Robert, exasperated. "I said /don't/ not that you were." The usual ever cheery girl has had just about enough. At this point her weapons are lowered unless any of the thugs manages to twitch menacingly.

"I ..think so Kaida." Though she isn't positive with the mess that things have become. Her smaller friend's sudden presence on her shoulder does manage to help her become at least a little less tense and strung out though. "I think so."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
One moment she's standing there is a gun pointed at her, ordering her people out and being ignored... that was something for another time and would not happen again... the next minute Mystique is in Lydia's arms in the sky. Apparently no one listened to her any more, no wonder the Brotherhood was lacking a better image.

"Hey," she calls out from her position, whereever that ended up being. "Thank you for your help! Bushwick mutants and the Brotherhood are grateful!"

She has no idea if Nadia heard her or not, and honestly she hadn't expected the girl to shoot her, but there is always a reason for the things Mystique does, even if the lack of her own people listening ruined it.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    As the man starts to bring his gun to bear on Clarice, the purple skinned mutant responds with years and years of practice honed to automatic instincts that can happen faster than true conscious thought - she gathers the energies granted by her mutant gift to blink her away to safety, planning on appearing just behind the man.
    I mean, that was the plan, anyways. There's a shocked expression on her features when it doesn't work, and she realizes that - yes, remember, you still can't teleport? And that gun is coming towards her, and where is the nearest cover?!
    By the point all that has gone through her mind, the machine gun is pointed at her - so it's a very good thing that golem was moving in her direction, because if it hadn't taken that pre-emptive measure? She wouldn't have had the time to get behind it before the shooting starts. Her heart is thudding painfully in her chest by the time the man ends up inside the van. She looks up towards her boss - then turns towards Nadia. "It's Blink," she supplies simply. "And - look, don't point weapons at my boss," she manages in an annoyed tone. "Honestly - I don't think any of this went the way we would have wanted," she adds in frustration. The golem gets a brief pat - before she turns, and she runs.
    Shit. //Shit.// That very, very nearly went very, very badly.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Police chatter has it that Mystique was at the scene of the shooting, which is no wonder why the police have been so hot to arrive as quickly as possible. By the time they arrive, the rest of the thugs have surrendered to Nadia and those who have stayed. After all, Nadia isn't a mutant and has been known to hang around with the Avengers and you don't want to mess around with /those/ guys. When they finally turn the van over to extract the leader, the leader is gone, leaving behind only the slag of his assault weapon.