X-Mas in Milwaukee: Golden Aged Antics

[x-dominion.livejournal.com]

With a call to the X-Men, Kane staged an elaborate fake rescue, at the hands of the Super Squad!



"Get in, Hollis." Kane pushed the man into the back seat, beside a very annoyed looking Theresa. He slid behind the driver's wheel and started up the aging, unmarked police car. "Since you refuse to talk to us about your friends, we'll going to deliver you to a federal holding facility. Maybe a few weeks of bad food and unpleasant company will make you more accommodating with your answers."

"Agent Kane, our methods are different, but we are on the same side. The local police force is in Leather Boy's pocket, and he'd love a chance to bring down the last force standing between him and control of the city." Hollis had paled at the thought of prison, but screwed up his courage to refuse yet again. Cops developed an effective bullshit detector rapidly on the job, and there was no doubt that Hollis believed every word he said passionately.

Terry grimaced and shifted in her seat, rolling her eyes skyward as if praying for patience. "And how much more effective do you think he will be with you wasting away, on the inside?" she asked a moment later, shifting her tone to brittle sweetness.

"My team will fight on without me. They'll find a way to stop him." he said with utter conviction, and Kane rolled his eyes unseen. Hollis was like talking to a comic book out of the fifties. The problem was that the issue was real, and without him, there was no easy way to uncover the others.

"Give us a break, Hollis, this isn't the Golden Age of Comics," Brand sneered. "And you're not going to find yourself in a nice comfortable holding cell. You never know who your cellmates will be... I hear there's some of those Church of Humanity whackjobs just been arrested. They'd have a plenty of fun working out how much your mutation can actually take."

Unlike the other two, Brand seemed to relish the thought.

A grimace unrelated to the current situation flickered across Terry's face at the mention of that group, unpleasant memories boiling up. She smothered them back down and turned her head to glance out the car window for cover before looking back at Hollis and tucking her hair behind her ear. "They'll be finding a way to get themselves hurt," she said evenly, modulating her cadence into softer notes. "We're on the same side of not wanting that to happen."

"Are you? Leather Boy's tentacles stretch and curl around everything that was once good, threatening to choke off justice and decency for the people of Milwaukee. Once, I would have been trusting enough to believe that no one who takes up a badge and swears the oath would be willing to betray it. But this life has hardened me. Let me understand that, no, corruption can wear a trusting veneer, but behind it, is the weed that threatens to choke off our honest society." He adopted what he obviously hoped was a brooding, world-weary expression. "I can't let that happen."

Kane steeled his face into an unfriendly mask. Truthfully, he didn't know whether to burst out laughing or just choke him to death and get some peace before he regenerated. He figured this must be what it was like to be Brand all the time. Unnoticed by Hollis, he pressed a button on his phone, signalling the X-Men. He just hoped they could sell this. Otherwise, SHIELD would be getting a first hand report of this failure.

Scott stared at the flashing light on his communicator, he glanced up at his team. "Ok people game time; remember we have to sell it, but let's not hurt Kane's team anymore than we have to." He glanced at the road, "Penance and I will stop the car; Wallflower, Meltdown, Rocky you're with us." He nodded at Kurt, "You and Blink are our aces my friend".

As he relayed his orders he gestured to the road, "Places people, here they come."

Yvette nodded, pulling her tinted goggles down over her eyes so that she could lurk appropriately in the shadows. It would have been far simpler for them to just teleport Hollis out of the car, but that wasn't how his group did things. They liked to be showy, which was why they'd exchanged their leathers for more... Halloween-y sorts of costumes. "Stay close to Wallflower and Meltdown, Rocky," she told the trainee. "In case anything unexpected happens."

"I'm totally ready for anything," Doreen said. She was pumped, almost shaking with excitement, which was leaking over to Monkey Joe who had insisted on coming with. Which was good, because you never knew when you'd need a squirrel. Not like there weren't always plenty around, but he was different, "Just tell me what to do guys, and I will. Promise!"

“Hopefully we won’t have to do anything exciting, just don’t say anything like ‘What could possibly go wrong’” Laurie said with a grin, sliding her own mask onto her face.

She hadn’t particularly understood why her costume had to be bright neon yellow and white, or why she was wearing what could only be called a Masquerade mask. As far as she was concerned, you could be eccentric aka batshit insane and still have good fashion sense as far as she was concerned but she’d decided not to argue with Scott and Garrison on it.

She released her mental grip on her powers slightly, giving those around her a boost of hormonally induced clarity and alertness. It was always a good bet in situations where you needed to be fast as well as smart about what you were doing.

Tabitha felt like the middle of a stop-light and significantly chilled. "Remind me to bribe Bobby into ice-cubing somebody's bed at some point," she said through chattering teeth. "Abs are not meant to see the outside in December." The prospect of causing their target anxiety through explosions had her positively giddy. Displacing the blame was just easier for the moment. One thing was DEFINITELY certain.

Next time, she picked her own disguise.

"No kidding," Clarice chattered back, "I mean, this isn't as bad as the time I went undercover as a stripper, but it was summer then! I feel like Barney," green was a good colour for her, but at the same time, the halter style dress was backless and cut way too high. The little matching booties did not help anything at all. "I feel like I should be at a Lord of the Rings Convention. Can we get this show on the road?" Remember, Clarice, she reminded herself, you asked for this.

Kane first caught sight of them as he took the turn, and had to stifle a bark of laughter. Obviously, Scott and the others had taken his stressing of the need to sell the superhero angle further than he'd expected. As they advanced, he schooled his face into a proper look of concern.

"Shit! I think the Super Squad found us." Obviously Kane had not been a comic book fan as a kid.

In the back seat with Hollis, Terry just stared in open befuddlement at his... well. His heroic speech. At least until Kane's smothered noises caught her attention and dragged it to the front in time for his announcement of the other team's arrival. She puffed out her cheeks and ducked to peer out the window. Oh, wait, she was supposed to help sell this too. "Oh, no. How many?" She braced herself for a sudden stop.

"You have to be fucking kidding me." Brand was staring open-mouthed at the group. "Who the fuck are the Super Squad?"

Scott stepped out in front of the oncoming car and took careful aim, before he unleashed two short optical blasts. His aim was dead on and the front wheels of Garrison's car disintegrated leaving behind the smell of burning rubber and a terrible screeching as the metal on the road. The front of the car dropped to the ground and came to a halt in a trail of sparks.

While the car was temporarily disabled, the ninja-clad Penance left the shadows and slashed deeply at the back tires, rendering the vehicle immobile. For extra effect, she ran her talons along the side of the car, leaving deep gouges.

"They must be here for Hollis." Kane said as the car died around him. With an exaggerated motion, he put his hands up from the wheel, palms open. "And they're too strong for us. We have to let them take him." He said, stressing the last sentence to Brand, while she stewed furiously.

"We're going to let them take a lawfully arrested suspect?" Brand spat the words, giving the colourfully-dressed mutants a look that would have struck them all dead if she had that ability. A blue energy haze was rising from her clenched fists. "A bunch of.... clowns like this? What are we going to say to Duncan?" But she couldn't deny how much they were outnumbered and she too raised her hands, the energy haze dissipating.

Meltdown slid to a stop next to the mangled vehicle, a pop-bomb in each hand. "Hello, ladies and gentlemen, this is your friendly neighborhood hijacking. We need your passengers, please," She slammed a bomb into the gaping hole left by Yvette's claws, letting the small explosion rock the vehicle. It was all she could do not to fall over laughing.

In the back seat, Terry rocked right along along with the car, though she slapped the car window to avoid smacking her face a second time. "Ask him if he would be wanting to explain the situation to them," she ground out, gesturing at the group outside the windows and trying to sound frightened. Mostly, she sounded annoyed, though there was a brief flare of amusement as Tabitha's abs passed. Maybe being on the inside of the car wasn't so bad after all.

"I'm sorry for this. Agent Kane. But we are fighting a war against evil here. I can't allow you to stop me, even if we are on same side." Hollis said, sliding out through the hole that had been tore into the doors.

"Friends-"

Clarice smiled at Hollis invitingly, "Just who we needed," she chirped, sounding like the bubble head she frequently pretended to be, especially on missions. It made people underestimate her. "I like your style, kid. You know what you stand for and what's important."

"Mr Hollis" Scott walked over and extended his hand, "We heard that you were in trouble and could use some assistance. If you'll walk this way we'll get you out of here, these agents won't be bothering you." As he spoke Scott glared at the occupants of the car trying his best not to laugh.

Dori was eating this all up. It was like something out of all the comics she had read as a kid come to life. Wonderful, cosplaying, life.

"The Amazing Squirrel Girl will help keep you safe!" she chimed up, and poked Monkey Joe until the squirrel (who managed to look exasperated) struck a very rehearsed pose. "There, see?" she muttered in an aside to him, "I told you it'd be awesome." She paused as he started clicking, "No, it totally isn't stupid. You shut up."

Laurie was not a very good actor at the best of times, and the sheer weirdness of this entire situation made it difficult for her to keep a straight face. She moved forward slightly and peered into the car at Garrison before turning back to Scott. “Sir, perhaps it would be wise if we were to move quickly from the area, we would not want any innocent citizens

hurt should a battle occur due to reinforcements.”

That sounded dramatic enough, right? She supposed every team needed a giant brain talking person, if this guy wanted to think she was that

person, she had no problems with that.

"Thank you, all. I must agree with your young teammate. The sooner we're away from here, the sooner we can strike back against the neferious Leather Boy. My rescue will see him mobolize the city against us." Hollis said, as he shook Scott's hand.

"Then we should locate your allies", Kurt spoke up from the depths of a hooded cloak - they'd all agreed hiding his particularly distinctive appearance from Brand was for the best, given his past. "The more strength of numbers we have, the better."

Hollis nodded, his eyes alight with the idea. "Follow me. The rest of the Great Lakes Avengers will be proud to met a fellow group of heroes, dedicated to justice!"