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xp_logs2009-05-19 11:29 pm
x-plosive.livejournal.com) wrote in xp_logs2009-05-19 11:29 pm
Halflight: Finale
Four X-Men, backed up by Alpha Flight, run to the rescue of Tabitha and several other people marked for sale. Back-dated to Tuesday night.
Tabitha's eyes flickered. The poison must have been wearing off, because she could think through the brain cloud and general feeling of awful that had effected her since Asp had first touched her. They'd shoved her into a cage, even given her a nice collar that was padlocked to a chain on the wall.
She really thought she might kill someone when she got out of there. She wasn't even particular about who.
"Mornin' Sunshine," Diamond said, she wasn't standing that far away.
She was a taller woman, muscular with hair dyed deep pink and a dog-collar style choker with fake diamonds on it. "Please. Try somethin'. Make mah day a bit more interesting," she said, cracking her knuckles. "See, apparently you're supposda still be breathin' at the end of the day, but Ah think when it comes down tah what happens happens when you try breakin' out, right?"
The blonde woman wiped a line of drool from her face. "I'd have to be able to move to break out," she said unevenly. She cringed inwardly at how much of her weakness wasn't an act. She curled away from the pink-haired woman, hands clutched to her chest.
Close to her neck, and the collar holding her prisoner.
"So? They say you make bombs. Blow yerself out, Blondie. I'll take you on then," Diamond promised, though her eyes were very much on the girl's hands. She wasn't taking any chances. She could move in a moment if she had to. "Seriously. Ah bet a strong breeze could blow yah over right now. Asp 's pretty good at that," Diamond said with a grin.
Tabitha held up a hand and made a tiny bomb in her palm. It puffed and fizzled out with a weak pop. It wasn't enough to put on a good show.
It was enough to cover the small bomb that broke her collar open. It was all she could do not to cry from pain at the burn it caused.
"Look, you ain't making your bombs, are you?" Diamond said, crossing her arms over her chest, "Though I'd love a reason to pound you into the ground," she said. She was the only one here without powers. It wasn't so much as she had something to prove as the fact that she had to stay at her best to even register. She was sweat and blood forged. And she was ready to prove it.
The mutant woman lurched to her feet, hand wrapped around the collar. "Do I _look_ like I'm going any where?" she demanded of the other woman. "You have me chained here like a damned dog-" she gagged as she reached the end of her tether.
"Oooh, careful there, Lassie," she was using it to mean the 'dog' not the diminutive, "Ah mean, we hardly want to damage virgin property and all of that. Since if you don't work out we're going to have to sell your ass -literally - to cut the profits. Ah mean, everythin' came back clean. The STD tests and all of that stuff."
Humiliation stained Tabs' cheeks, her knuckles whitened on the torn collar, sending pain shooting through her skin and prickling tears into her eyes. If only that smug bitch would take just a few steps closer.
Diamond walked forward a step and leaned down, pink hair dropping over her shoulders, "Awww, she's blushing. Don't worry, if we gotta turn you into a hooker you might be at least a call girl. Not a high class one, you ain't got the face, but least you won't be on the corners."
She sprang into motion, dropping the collar and tackling the taller woman at the midsection. Not the best timing, but the only. She struggled for a dominant position.
~*~
In theory, this would have been an Alpha Flight mission, but the connection with Tabitha, and the Director's desire to spin up his prototype team slowly had seen the matter kicked upstairs to Minister MacDonald. As a result, the X-Men team of 'advisors' was quietly staring across a pier jutting out into Burrard Inlet, watching the warehouse that had been identified as the location of their missing mutant. Garrison had spent a few moments on the phone with his former mentor, Superintendent McEwan, who had mentioned that officially, this was an Alpha Flight mission, supporting local law enforcement with a potentially dangerous mutant terrorism group. The tone in McEwan's voice was clear; don't fuck this up or the coverup isn't going to work well.
However, this time, the four X-Men were not deploying alone. Eugene Judd looked uncomfortable in the prototype new uniform of Alpha Flight, no doubt wishing for his customary fatigues. "Pre-mission jitters, Puck?"
"Shut up, 'Dominion'." Judd said with a slight smile. Judd had been one of Kane's first teachers, and it was a little funny to see him taking the lead from the younger man. "Box, you in position?"
There was a crackle over the comm. "Roger. I am at the dock."
"Bien. It's your show now, kid."
"Alright, we're looking at potential hostages and mutant opposition. The Vancouver police and the RCMP are going to be minutes behind us, so our job is to hit them hard, disorient them long enough to get the hostages clear, level the opposition, and leave Box and Puck to wrap things up official with the police." Kane explained quietly. "M, I want you using the clouds as coverage, get around high and behind the building. Wasp, as soon as she's in position, I want you reconning it from there. Direct her in between the opposition and the captives, human shield is necessary. Watch each other's backs. Wildchild, you and I are are going to get as close to the warehouse as possible, identify initial targets, and then hit them at the same time as M. Box and Puck are our ace in the hole. When we engage, they're going right through the flank, cut the opposition in half and we just roll up the pieces. It might not be just our people in there, so be careful before you strike."
In a perfect world, the warehouse would be ringed by police, and protecting the hostages would be done through wearing the opposition down through negotiation, while closing the net around them tighter and tighter. However, teleporters were potentially involved, and in that scenario, speed and overwhelming force were their only options. Dominion nodded for them to move out.
"Gotcha," Monet said, before taking off in a looping circle that took her out of the windows' line of sight, trusting to Jan's ability to fly in her wake or hitch a ride. The clouds were, thankfully, low hanging and dark and she was able hit a good vantage point pretty easily. "In position," she muttered over her comm. "Wasp? What can you get for us down there?"
Stealthy Jan is stealthy! Jan thought to herself as she hovered outside one of the windows, peering in. "OK, we've got two women in here, and either they're the bad guys or the hostages are just sitting around looking like they're having a grand time. And they're dressed all funny, too, in costumes or something, although I don't think I'd mind wearing something like that myself."
Kyle followed behind Garrison, giving the Canadian quick glances to make sure nothing had changed. As usual, he'd stripped his uniform down to pants, t-shirt and jacket, and he was not-quite-bouncing on the balls of his feet. Tabs was good people, and she might not have been one of 'his' people, but he was still just a little eager to hit some people for her sake - but not quite so eager that he was going to rush in all stupid-like.
"Alright, M, it's your show. Get in there. Wildchild and I will move following you." Garrison said, taking cover near to the door and waiting for the impact by M to bust through the front.
***
Janis was sprawled out on the couch of the lounge, eyes closed as her head bobbed in time with the jazz coming over the speakers. An eye cracked open and she peered over at Asp, "Do you really think that child will get us in with the Black King? Maybe we should kill Porter if it doesn't work. All that trouble and embarrassment for nothing if he doesn't like her, doesn't seem worth letting him go on, does it?"
The Egyptian woman's haunting eyes flicked up from the book she was reading. "For what we were promised, she had best make an impression with the King. If not, Porter is most deserving of a lesson but death may be too easy for him. As you say," Asp continued, turning a page with great care, "Such trouble and embarrassment should come with a price." Elegant shoulders rose and fell casually. "However, with a girl who can conjure bombs from the air, I think His Highness will be most pleased."
"Mmm, torture's nice," Janis answered thoughtfully. "Right after the morning workout, right before the morning shower. It'd slot it real nice. I could start collecting fingers! I bet they keep better than eyeballs." She sighed wistfully. A collection of fingers would be so cute. She could learn to stuff them and line them up in a row on the mantle. Not that she had a mantle but she would get one one day. She pouted to herself, a little sad now that the Black King would probably like the gift. "Can I torture him even if he does like the girl? Just for a bit of fun? Keep him in line and all?"
~*~
The girl had gotten out of her collar, but Diamondback wasn't concerned. In fact, she was having a damn good time. If she had her way this would've been what she got to do from the start. There was a perverse pleasure to be had in beating the crap out of people with powers. "Please, fight! Come on, this is like beatin' a sack of potatoes!"
When Diamondback fought, there were no rules. There wasn't any 'safety' or any place she wouldn't go to knock someone out. She had learned from her brothers. And the teaching from them and on the streets had been brutal, but Diamondback had turned it into an art form.
Tabitha was no stranger to fighting dirty, though it had been quite a few years since she'd fought this dirty. She was pretty sure the other woman had cracked some ribs and given her a matched pair of black eyes.
Finally, she shoved a bomb between her teeth.
Diamond tried to spit it back out or bite at the girl's hand. She didn't know exactly how the bomb making worked and wasn't going to kick blondie away only to have her face blow off.
Tabitha kept her hand locked over Diamonback's face. "Don't move, just do as I say and we can both get out of this alive, if somewhat bruised," she snarled. She jerked the taller woman to her feet. "Now which way is out?"
~*~
Monet stopped floating and fell straight down toward the building. Five yards out from the ground, she turned the straight fall into a sweeping dive in a movement only an invulnerable flier could have managed, curling into a ball and cannonballing through the front door and, moments later, three internal walls and the rear wall before she gained enough clearance to fly upward and stop the forward momentum she'd gained in her dive.
Novel thudding to the floor, Asp sprang to her feet when the building shook and groaned its protest to whatever assault it was under; fists raised to chest level with venomous blast charging. "The girl," was all the Egyptian said to her partner before spinning with the grace of her dancing days that sent long braids spraying over her shoulder as she headed toward the door, motioning for Janis to follow.
"Well, I guess there's no more point in staying out here," Jan said, flying through the Monet-made entrance. Obviously, the people inside were well-aware of Monet's existence, but Jan could still surprise them if needed.
***
"That's our cue." Kane said, as part of the roof exploded as Monet flew through it. He stepped back and kicked with one leg, turning the metal warehouse door into a crumpled ball of steel, and sending it whipping through the main room of the warehouse area. Kane stepped back as Kyle took point, bounding into to hit the opposition. Garrison touched his comm momentarily as he followed Wildchild in.
"Box, Puck, you're on in twenty seconds."
"Stinks like rot." Kyle called over his shoulder. It wasn't quite like Cammie's scent, but close enough that he was guessing someone had some kind of poison deal going on. "Or like barf." He added, as he almost-casually tackled one of the wife-beater wearing thug-types that had headed for the kicked in door. Forcing the man to drop his gun was easier than it sounded, as he used a wristlock and extended claws to slice open the man's hand.
Monet had landed and run back into the house. "Wildchild, nine o'clock!I" she called, carefully hitting her own goon. Grabbing his gun, she forced him around and up against a wall where she pulled out her Alpha Flight issue handcuffs and cuffed him.
While the others were busy fighting the men, Jan flew around the warehouse, in search of the reason they had come here in the first place. Darting this way and that, the tiny girl finally spied their missing teammate. "I found Meltdown!" Jan announced through the comm. "Doesn't look like she needs too much help, though!"
Giving her guy one last warning shake, Monet followed Jan. "Hey, Meltdown... Need a hand there with the bitchlady?" She was ready to dive on the woman if Tabs needed it. Her name, Monet discovered with a brief mindtouch, was Diamondback.
Oh, this was fucking wrong. Screw the bomb. Diamond got ready to spit the bomb out and moved to elbow the little cunt. This was not what she had signed up for, and she was going to stomp Porter for this.
"M, form up on Meltdown!" Garrison called over the comm, as he disarmed a henchmen through the simple process of slamming the man so hard into the steel side of the warehouse that it crumpled around him, and bending the metal into a cocoon. "Wildchild, secure any other hostages."
He grinned savagely for a moment, at the fight that the opposition didn't even know what already lost. "Box, Puck; show time."
The side wall of the warehouse, where it faced the water, suddenly all but disappeared as it was forcibly torn away in a single motion. Emerging from the water was a figure that resembled the Japanese mechs of anime, robot hands tearing the metal as easily as butter. Over the ten foot shoulder of the machine, a short figure streaked past, slamming into the first enemy figure it encountered and ricocheting off almost as fast to flatten a second one. Alpha Flight had entered the fray.
"This is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. You have five seconds to surrender or we will use force!" Kane called out, his voice carrying over the commotion easily as the Serpent Society found themselves blocked on three sides, with their backs to the literal wall.
Completely ignorant of her hostages thoughts, Tabitha used the last of her bravado-induced strength to shove Diamondback forcefully to the side and stumbled toward M. She hit the ground and skinned her elbow. She looked up at her teammate. “Home now?”
"Hang on, sweetie," Monet said, ignoring Diamondback for the moment. The woman would either listen to Garrison or well, she'd have to deal with the consequences of not listening to him. Dropping to knees beside Tabitha, she winced. "Jesus, that looks really fucking painful. Come on, up we go..." She slipped one arm under Tab's knees and the other under her shoulders and stood, carrying her outside.
The Serpent Society knew when to cut their loses, even when they included one of their own. Nodding again to Janis, Asp fired short, stinging bursts of venom in the direction of the intruders as the other woman prepared their escape. Diamondback was on her own. If she could make it out, the Texan knew where they could be found. If not, their secret would die with her. "Maa al salama," the former exotic dancer called to those below her before sending out another round of paralyzing bolts to cover her and Black Mamba's departure.
Black Mamba went to work scanning the minds of the intruders and pulling out images of their loved ones from their minds. Her telepathy put those people as hostages between the intruders and Asp and herself in hopes that they would be a bit more conservative with their offensive attacks. No one liked to hurt those they loved, but some people would should them in the shoulder to slow the enemy. While that kept them busy she'd moved a panel of the wall to the side and punched in a key code. Janis was so glad she'd managed to sell the others on the movie-style getaway plan. A thick, steel door slid to the side and she pulled Asp along behind her and through the door. A lever was pulled and the door slammed shut, sealing itself. "Let's get the fuck outta here," and then she took off in a sprint.
Tabitha's eyes flickered. The poison must have been wearing off, because she could think through the brain cloud and general feeling of awful that had effected her since Asp had first touched her. They'd shoved her into a cage, even given her a nice collar that was padlocked to a chain on the wall.
She really thought she might kill someone when she got out of there. She wasn't even particular about who.
"Mornin' Sunshine," Diamond said, she wasn't standing that far away.
She was a taller woman, muscular with hair dyed deep pink and a dog-collar style choker with fake diamonds on it. "Please. Try somethin'. Make mah day a bit more interesting," she said, cracking her knuckles. "See, apparently you're supposda still be breathin' at the end of the day, but Ah think when it comes down tah what happens happens when you try breakin' out, right?"
The blonde woman wiped a line of drool from her face. "I'd have to be able to move to break out," she said unevenly. She cringed inwardly at how much of her weakness wasn't an act. She curled away from the pink-haired woman, hands clutched to her chest.
Close to her neck, and the collar holding her prisoner.
"So? They say you make bombs. Blow yerself out, Blondie. I'll take you on then," Diamond promised, though her eyes were very much on the girl's hands. She wasn't taking any chances. She could move in a moment if she had to. "Seriously. Ah bet a strong breeze could blow yah over right now. Asp 's pretty good at that," Diamond said with a grin.
Tabitha held up a hand and made a tiny bomb in her palm. It puffed and fizzled out with a weak pop. It wasn't enough to put on a good show.
It was enough to cover the small bomb that broke her collar open. It was all she could do not to cry from pain at the burn it caused.
"Look, you ain't making your bombs, are you?" Diamond said, crossing her arms over her chest, "Though I'd love a reason to pound you into the ground," she said. She was the only one here without powers. It wasn't so much as she had something to prove as the fact that she had to stay at her best to even register. She was sweat and blood forged. And she was ready to prove it.
The mutant woman lurched to her feet, hand wrapped around the collar. "Do I _look_ like I'm going any where?" she demanded of the other woman. "You have me chained here like a damned dog-" she gagged as she reached the end of her tether.
"Oooh, careful there, Lassie," she was using it to mean the 'dog' not the diminutive, "Ah mean, we hardly want to damage virgin property and all of that. Since if you don't work out we're going to have to sell your ass -literally - to cut the profits. Ah mean, everythin' came back clean. The STD tests and all of that stuff."
Humiliation stained Tabs' cheeks, her knuckles whitened on the torn collar, sending pain shooting through her skin and prickling tears into her eyes. If only that smug bitch would take just a few steps closer.
Diamond walked forward a step and leaned down, pink hair dropping over her shoulders, "Awww, she's blushing. Don't worry, if we gotta turn you into a hooker you might be at least a call girl. Not a high class one, you ain't got the face, but least you won't be on the corners."
She sprang into motion, dropping the collar and tackling the taller woman at the midsection. Not the best timing, but the only. She struggled for a dominant position.
~*~
In theory, this would have been an Alpha Flight mission, but the connection with Tabitha, and the Director's desire to spin up his prototype team slowly had seen the matter kicked upstairs to Minister MacDonald. As a result, the X-Men team of 'advisors' was quietly staring across a pier jutting out into Burrard Inlet, watching the warehouse that had been identified as the location of their missing mutant. Garrison had spent a few moments on the phone with his former mentor, Superintendent McEwan, who had mentioned that officially, this was an Alpha Flight mission, supporting local law enforcement with a potentially dangerous mutant terrorism group. The tone in McEwan's voice was clear; don't fuck this up or the coverup isn't going to work well.
However, this time, the four X-Men were not deploying alone. Eugene Judd looked uncomfortable in the prototype new uniform of Alpha Flight, no doubt wishing for his customary fatigues. "Pre-mission jitters, Puck?"
"Shut up, 'Dominion'." Judd said with a slight smile. Judd had been one of Kane's first teachers, and it was a little funny to see him taking the lead from the younger man. "Box, you in position?"
There was a crackle over the comm. "Roger. I am at the dock."
"Bien. It's your show now, kid."
"Alright, we're looking at potential hostages and mutant opposition. The Vancouver police and the RCMP are going to be minutes behind us, so our job is to hit them hard, disorient them long enough to get the hostages clear, level the opposition, and leave Box and Puck to wrap things up official with the police." Kane explained quietly. "M, I want you using the clouds as coverage, get around high and behind the building. Wasp, as soon as she's in position, I want you reconning it from there. Direct her in between the opposition and the captives, human shield is necessary. Watch each other's backs. Wildchild, you and I are are going to get as close to the warehouse as possible, identify initial targets, and then hit them at the same time as M. Box and Puck are our ace in the hole. When we engage, they're going right through the flank, cut the opposition in half and we just roll up the pieces. It might not be just our people in there, so be careful before you strike."
In a perfect world, the warehouse would be ringed by police, and protecting the hostages would be done through wearing the opposition down through negotiation, while closing the net around them tighter and tighter. However, teleporters were potentially involved, and in that scenario, speed and overwhelming force were their only options. Dominion nodded for them to move out.
"Gotcha," Monet said, before taking off in a looping circle that took her out of the windows' line of sight, trusting to Jan's ability to fly in her wake or hitch a ride. The clouds were, thankfully, low hanging and dark and she was able hit a good vantage point pretty easily. "In position," she muttered over her comm. "Wasp? What can you get for us down there?"
Stealthy Jan is stealthy! Jan thought to herself as she hovered outside one of the windows, peering in. "OK, we've got two women in here, and either they're the bad guys or the hostages are just sitting around looking like they're having a grand time. And they're dressed all funny, too, in costumes or something, although I don't think I'd mind wearing something like that myself."
Kyle followed behind Garrison, giving the Canadian quick glances to make sure nothing had changed. As usual, he'd stripped his uniform down to pants, t-shirt and jacket, and he was not-quite-bouncing on the balls of his feet. Tabs was good people, and she might not have been one of 'his' people, but he was still just a little eager to hit some people for her sake - but not quite so eager that he was going to rush in all stupid-like.
"Alright, M, it's your show. Get in there. Wildchild and I will move following you." Garrison said, taking cover near to the door and waiting for the impact by M to bust through the front.
***
Janis was sprawled out on the couch of the lounge, eyes closed as her head bobbed in time with the jazz coming over the speakers. An eye cracked open and she peered over at Asp, "Do you really think that child will get us in with the Black King? Maybe we should kill Porter if it doesn't work. All that trouble and embarrassment for nothing if he doesn't like her, doesn't seem worth letting him go on, does it?"
The Egyptian woman's haunting eyes flicked up from the book she was reading. "For what we were promised, she had best make an impression with the King. If not, Porter is most deserving of a lesson but death may be too easy for him. As you say," Asp continued, turning a page with great care, "Such trouble and embarrassment should come with a price." Elegant shoulders rose and fell casually. "However, with a girl who can conjure bombs from the air, I think His Highness will be most pleased."
"Mmm, torture's nice," Janis answered thoughtfully. "Right after the morning workout, right before the morning shower. It'd slot it real nice. I could start collecting fingers! I bet they keep better than eyeballs." She sighed wistfully. A collection of fingers would be so cute. She could learn to stuff them and line them up in a row on the mantle. Not that she had a mantle but she would get one one day. She pouted to herself, a little sad now that the Black King would probably like the gift. "Can I torture him even if he does like the girl? Just for a bit of fun? Keep him in line and all?"
~*~
The girl had gotten out of her collar, but Diamondback wasn't concerned. In fact, she was having a damn good time. If she had her way this would've been what she got to do from the start. There was a perverse pleasure to be had in beating the crap out of people with powers. "Please, fight! Come on, this is like beatin' a sack of potatoes!"
When Diamondback fought, there were no rules. There wasn't any 'safety' or any place she wouldn't go to knock someone out. She had learned from her brothers. And the teaching from them and on the streets had been brutal, but Diamondback had turned it into an art form.
Tabitha was no stranger to fighting dirty, though it had been quite a few years since she'd fought this dirty. She was pretty sure the other woman had cracked some ribs and given her a matched pair of black eyes.
Finally, she shoved a bomb between her teeth.
Diamond tried to spit it back out or bite at the girl's hand. She didn't know exactly how the bomb making worked and wasn't going to kick blondie away only to have her face blow off.
Tabitha kept her hand locked over Diamonback's face. "Don't move, just do as I say and we can both get out of this alive, if somewhat bruised," she snarled. She jerked the taller woman to her feet. "Now which way is out?"
~*~
Monet stopped floating and fell straight down toward the building. Five yards out from the ground, she turned the straight fall into a sweeping dive in a movement only an invulnerable flier could have managed, curling into a ball and cannonballing through the front door and, moments later, three internal walls and the rear wall before she gained enough clearance to fly upward and stop the forward momentum she'd gained in her dive.
Novel thudding to the floor, Asp sprang to her feet when the building shook and groaned its protest to whatever assault it was under; fists raised to chest level with venomous blast charging. "The girl," was all the Egyptian said to her partner before spinning with the grace of her dancing days that sent long braids spraying over her shoulder as she headed toward the door, motioning for Janis to follow.
"Well, I guess there's no more point in staying out here," Jan said, flying through the Monet-made entrance. Obviously, the people inside were well-aware of Monet's existence, but Jan could still surprise them if needed.
***
"That's our cue." Kane said, as part of the roof exploded as Monet flew through it. He stepped back and kicked with one leg, turning the metal warehouse door into a crumpled ball of steel, and sending it whipping through the main room of the warehouse area. Kane stepped back as Kyle took point, bounding into to hit the opposition. Garrison touched his comm momentarily as he followed Wildchild in.
"Box, Puck, you're on in twenty seconds."
"Stinks like rot." Kyle called over his shoulder. It wasn't quite like Cammie's scent, but close enough that he was guessing someone had some kind of poison deal going on. "Or like barf." He added, as he almost-casually tackled one of the wife-beater wearing thug-types that had headed for the kicked in door. Forcing the man to drop his gun was easier than it sounded, as he used a wristlock and extended claws to slice open the man's hand.
Monet had landed and run back into the house. "Wildchild, nine o'clock!I" she called, carefully hitting her own goon. Grabbing his gun, she forced him around and up against a wall where she pulled out her Alpha Flight issue handcuffs and cuffed him.
While the others were busy fighting the men, Jan flew around the warehouse, in search of the reason they had come here in the first place. Darting this way and that, the tiny girl finally spied their missing teammate. "I found Meltdown!" Jan announced through the comm. "Doesn't look like she needs too much help, though!"
Giving her guy one last warning shake, Monet followed Jan. "Hey, Meltdown... Need a hand there with the bitchlady?" She was ready to dive on the woman if Tabs needed it. Her name, Monet discovered with a brief mindtouch, was Diamondback.
Oh, this was fucking wrong. Screw the bomb. Diamond got ready to spit the bomb out and moved to elbow the little cunt. This was not what she had signed up for, and she was going to stomp Porter for this.
"M, form up on Meltdown!" Garrison called over the comm, as he disarmed a henchmen through the simple process of slamming the man so hard into the steel side of the warehouse that it crumpled around him, and bending the metal into a cocoon. "Wildchild, secure any other hostages."
He grinned savagely for a moment, at the fight that the opposition didn't even know what already lost. "Box, Puck; show time."
The side wall of the warehouse, where it faced the water, suddenly all but disappeared as it was forcibly torn away in a single motion. Emerging from the water was a figure that resembled the Japanese mechs of anime, robot hands tearing the metal as easily as butter. Over the ten foot shoulder of the machine, a short figure streaked past, slamming into the first enemy figure it encountered and ricocheting off almost as fast to flatten a second one. Alpha Flight had entered the fray.
"This is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. You have five seconds to surrender or we will use force!" Kane called out, his voice carrying over the commotion easily as the Serpent Society found themselves blocked on three sides, with their backs to the literal wall.
Completely ignorant of her hostages thoughts, Tabitha used the last of her bravado-induced strength to shove Diamondback forcefully to the side and stumbled toward M. She hit the ground and skinned her elbow. She looked up at her teammate. “Home now?”
"Hang on, sweetie," Monet said, ignoring Diamondback for the moment. The woman would either listen to Garrison or well, she'd have to deal with the consequences of not listening to him. Dropping to knees beside Tabitha, she winced. "Jesus, that looks really fucking painful. Come on, up we go..." She slipped one arm under Tab's knees and the other under her shoulders and stood, carrying her outside.
The Serpent Society knew when to cut their loses, even when they included one of their own. Nodding again to Janis, Asp fired short, stinging bursts of venom in the direction of the intruders as the other woman prepared their escape. Diamondback was on her own. If she could make it out, the Texan knew where they could be found. If not, their secret would die with her. "Maa al salama," the former exotic dancer called to those below her before sending out another round of paralyzing bolts to cover her and Black Mamba's departure.
Black Mamba went to work scanning the minds of the intruders and pulling out images of their loved ones from their minds. Her telepathy put those people as hostages between the intruders and Asp and herself in hopes that they would be a bit more conservative with their offensive attacks. No one liked to hurt those they loved, but some people would should them in the shoulder to slow the enemy. While that kept them busy she'd moved a panel of the wall to the side and punched in a key code. Janis was so glad she'd managed to sell the others on the movie-style getaway plan. A thick, steel door slid to the side and she pulled Asp along behind her and through the door. A lever was pulled and the door slammed shut, sealing itself. "Let's get the fuck outta here," and then she took off in a sprint.