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xp_logsThe first team: Kane, Rogue, Sooraya, and Jean-Phillipe, of XMEN head off against Kuuth.
"Yet another of Scott's goddamn DR scenarios comes true. Do you know I owe him lunch every time this happens?" Kane groused to Rogue as they turned the corner and finally had a clear view of the destruction. This was the new Cain Marko, he thought unvoiced, and the scope of the collateral damage around him proved that the new version didn't fall far from his predecessor. It looked as if the others had reached temporary detente with him, but he knew first hand the destructive power of the Juggernaut. Any stalemate was a temporary illusion. "OK, everyone knows the job. Marko's armor protects him against his only real vulnerability; psionics. So we need to get that tin can off and distract him so the others can fall back. Dust, you're up first. Get in his eyes and fuck up his vision while we close."
"Gotcha." Firmly pushing her memories of the man who had been her first history teacher to the back of her mind, Sooraya shifted into her sandform. Moving low the the ground, she threw in a little move of her own and a part of her forced herself below Juggernaut's boots, pulling out just as quickly to throw him of balance while the other part formed a tight cloud around his helmet.
"Blinding. Check." Jean-Phillipe didn't tend to have the same reaction to reminders of the 'frankenberry cat' that his cousin did, and he hadn't been all that close with the previous Cain Marko, but it was still odd to put a different face to a man he had known. ~Rapid transition between a conducting and non-conducting medium creates abrupt electrical discharges - sparks,~ he heard Erik's stern 'teaching' voice in his head, memories of learning applications of his powers under Magneto. And pure silica sand - such as Sooraya's dispersed form, was non-conducting. And he was a walking electrical conductor. Fanning his hands outward, he sent a series of small charges outward at the cloud Dust made, resulting in a shower of flashes accompanied by a series of popping sounds. If the sand wasn't already distracting, this would certainly be.
"Guess I'm the pie in the sky again, hey guys." Rogue was already in the air, trying to loop around and see what she could do. The Juggernaut roared at the distraction, and Rogue used that to try to swoop in. Usually, that would have worked -- she was quick enough anyways, but there was something else, something different about him. The clothes...where did they come from? That brief hesitation was enough to get clocked in the side of the head, sending Rogue spiraling down. Landing on her knees, she winced hard. "Am I crazy, or is he in Asgardian clothes?"
"While only having had Asgard beaten into me, I'm not an expert, but it seems similar in the design work to the armor that Valkyrie had. Is that Asgard standard-" Kane said as he closed in. Juggernaut pivoted and lashed at Kane, nearly caving in his chest with a large red hammer that crackled with energy. "ohfuckmeitsahammer! He's Asgard as fuck!"
Seeing two of her strongest team members being tossed around like bowling pins made Sooraya shift priorities. Keeping a shifting cloud of sand around his head in the back of her mind, she focused on the arm holding the hammer. The hammer itself she avoided because of the energy crackling around it, but around Juggernaut's wrists she formed a tight band of sand and started 'pulling', trying to get his arm where he could not swing the damn thing around as much.
Never one to give up, Rogue went straight for Juggernaut again, this time taking advantage of Sooraya's actions. Hovering near his head, she reached down to try to undo the latch, pulling her fingers back quickly as if they were being burned. The erratic movements of the enemy benath her madei t so it was hard for her to focus on the latch, but she continued to try.
Marko slowed - never stopped, not really, one massive arm kept the hammer swinging in a tight and complicated series of spiral loops. "Sand? You deign to disgraceful sand throwing?" The little Midgardian warriors were an amusement, until they became rude. Though, the flying one. "Land, striped one! I would like to take you and this man in a three-way!" He shook the sand from his wrists, practically ignoring it, and swung wide with the hammer. "Fall back, weak tricky Misgardians with your sand and your pitiful attempts to worship the thunder god, I wish to fight the strong ones!"
"Fuck this." Kane moved in quickly. The Juggernaut was invulnerable, many times stronger them him and capable of killing him in seconds. It was like the Hulk. It was like Thor. And somehow, Garrison Kane had survived both. He slammed a forearm into the attack at the elbow, killing all the momentum of the blow. A kick to the side of the knee, then the ankle, and a pivot to force him off-balance. "Dust, Bevetron, slow him down!"
Blinding him had not worked... sending him to the ground had not worked either, nor had focusing on one point worked... Dust considered it for a moment, then shrugged mentally and surged forward, spreading out to cover his entire body with a thin layer of sand. Thus done, she started to pull herself together, contracting around his body and forming a tight sheath of sand that would hopefully show his motions down at least a bit.
The man was insanely strong. He seemed to be shaking off everything they threw at him. Jean-Phillipe looked at his hands, then at the tightening sheath of sand that Sooraya was creating. "This is a very questionable idea," he muttered over the comms. Would this work? Where did Sooraya end and the sand begin when she was in her dispersed form? Could she withstand...? He gritted his teeth. Nothing else had worked. The situation was desperate. This was not a time to indulge in paralytic questions. He poured electricity between his outstretched hands, creating a dozen small arcs that abruptly snapped together into a single writhing band. ~Utilize enough electricity to create heat...~ And he thrust his hands outward, the arc leaping toward the layer of sand around the Juggernaut.
~And make things melt.~
The sudden heat and fierce current pulsing through her startled Sooraya. Mentally gritting her teeth she struggled to hold on, but the current floating through was not just threatening to melt parts, but somehow it seemed to disrupt her ability to keep the sand together while she was already stretched so thin. Only a few seconds later her sand form fell away before anything could melt and she had to struggle to pull together again.
"I wish that had worked better." Kane muttered as he dummied up to take two blows from Juggernaut against his arms. "Rogue, I am fucking dying here..." He said, slamming two punches of his own to the gut and then parrying a blow at the wrist to kill its power.
Jean-Phillipe spotted Rogue starting to make a dive toward the Juggernaut's helmet. "Merde," he yelled, spreading his hands wide and pouring everything he had right at the larger man's eyes, keeping him from looking upward.
In a movement that felt eerily familiar, Rogue dove down to Juggernaut, managing to unlatch one side of his helmet before being noticed. Swatted like nothing more than a fly, she went flying, helpless, into the nearest wall where she landed with a sickening impact. What mattered though was she had done her best, and made the helmet insecure. It was up to her teammates now.
"You are the pile of simian merde!" The words were not English or French, and yet - understandable. The message was clear, even as Marko stomped one immense booted foot down. The road buckled, and then rippled like waves, knocking the X-Men back and off their feet, and creating a sinkhole that opened under the street. He ripped one of the giant slabs of concrete off the ground, threw it casually at Kane and then, as though driven by commands unheard, broke into a lumbering jog - clearly intent on destroying more of the already ravaged New York streets.
Kane's blow shattered the slab but he was staggered by the attack, forced to watch Juggernaut disappear down the street.
"Well, we fucked this one up something fierce."
The second team of XMEN: Kurt, Scott, and Julian go against Kuuth
Anytime you went up against he Juggernaut you know it would be bad, the man could take blows like it was no-one's business, more of a tank than even Logan or Kane were. Now though, he looked angrier than usual and seemed to have found himself a toy to play with.
. The reports on the comms gave the team an idea of what was happening, the plan working as Scott held up one hand, "Heads up, incoming."
The incoming was hard to miss, given the size of him. Kurt nodded, eyeing his helmet. “And part of our job is done already.”
"So we can go home then, leave the rest to the C-Team?" Julian smirked, trying to hide how frayed his nerves were right now with humor. He'd read up on Juggernaut during his trainee days, but had the good fortune to never run up against him. His hands were already off, floating near buildings off to the left and right of the intersection Scott had selected to make a stand in. A shield of force, as solid as he could muster, was between him and their foe. Swallowing hard, Julian watched as the giant seemed to calmly pace towards them- as if the three powerful mutants hell-bent on stopping his rampage weren't even registering to him. "Home sounds good," he muttered, his voice cracking slightly.
"Sure Home...if you want them to never ever let you live it down for the rest of your life," Scott turned his gaze onto Julian eyes tarting to glow red as a smalle grin curled his lips up, "and you've met our friends...you know how bad they'd get if you left it all for them." The smile on Scott's lips was a scant mask agaisnt the trepidation he felt, but, they couldn't wait forever...as much as he wanted to. A read beam of pure force skewered out, bouncing off the walls to slash across the side of Cain's helmet. "Lets get started."
The red beam made him stumble one step, but the reaction was barely one at all, Cain glanced at the trio, and then continued making his way down the street, taking out walls, vehicles, trash cans seemingly randomly as he walked, his manhole-cover sized boots making great dents in the street. "A light show is most welcome, warriors, but take care of your aim." He called out, and then pulled a tree straight from it's plot along the sidewalk, throwing it idly to the ground. "Celebrate the destroyer, Midgardians!"
Julian arched a brow at that, turning to look at Scott, then Kurt before muttering, "Did he just call us, Midgardians?" At their shrugs Julian gave his neck one final crack, shaking off his trepidation as their foe reached the first barrier he'd put up. "Whatever, let's do this," almost as soon as he'd let out the words the first barrier crumbled as the Thor-Cosplaying-Juggernaut passed through it like it were tissue paper. The sharp pang of the force breaking- like the snap of a tendon- sent Julian to a knee, and caused the four other barriers he'd mustered to fly forward, toward the source of all this chaos.
The barriers hurtled towards Juggernaut, and as the man roared and turned to focus his destruction on them, Kurt saw his chance. He teleported to right by the man's side, reaching for one of the latches on his helmet.
"You know, I think did, well that's...a blast from the past." Scott could see Kurt dancing around the Juggernaut's side, the man snapping off a quick shot at his chest, in an effort to distract the man. Scott knew that very little he could do right now would actually stop him, but if he could even buy a second or two for Kurt then it was worth it. "If he insists on trying to go Viking on us, let's remind him that he's in the modern age, and we can hit back." As he spoke Scott gestured off to the side, indicating Julian should flank the man, the more distracted he was, the better chance Kurt had.
Julian's vision refocused at about the same time as Scott made his gesture and with a brief nod, he dashed toward the wall of a nearby building. The tell-tale sound of Cyclops' optic blasts mixed with that strange sound Kurt made when he teleported around mixed into a strange cacophony to his right- accented by the boastful cries of the Juggernaut. Pressing up against the wall he sent his hands out to deliver a few blows to their unstoppable foe on the far-side of his body before dashing forward and trying to use his telekinesis to 'sweep the leg'. Julian was doubtful that the maneuver would be a success, but Scott had been right about what people would say about him back at the mansion if he didn't give it his all today.
"Sorcerer!" The Juggernaut moved faster than his size and armor would suggest, and spun to face Julian. "Tricks and sorcery! This is no light show, but an another attempt top stop the Destroyer from his appointed mission!" He swung one enormous fist at one of the glowing force barriers under Julian's control and then another, punching it with precise metronomic rhythm. "Nothing stops the Destroyer, X-Men. I see through your ruses now!"
He clearly didn’t see through all their ruses, Kurt thought wryly, as he danced in again while the man was occupied, and got a grip on the latch of his helmet.
They were almost there, Scott could see Kurt had a grasp on the latch and they just needed to keep him going for a few minutes more, "Really, nothing stops you? Because?" Scott unleashed an optical blast directly at the man's eyes. "We seem to be doing a pretty good job of it. Not all you're cracked up to be huh?"
Arriving behind their massive foe, Julian could taste blood trickling down his nose from over exertion. With the Juggernaut sufficiently distracted, he got ready to push forward with everything he had left, directing all the force he could muster at the back of Marko's knees. He was vaguely aware of Scott quipping, but couldn't register it as he drew deep and sent two solid blasts of telekinetic power at the, hopefully, weak spot.
The blasts hit home, knocking the huge man forward for a split-second, and Kurt took his chance. The latch flipped up under his hand, and he retreated instantly.
"That's it, push in on him now, lets get that helmet of and bring the guy down." Finally, it looked like things were finally starting to turn.
"Fight fairly! If you were more than cowards you would fight in close quarters rather than resort to tricks and sorcery!" Marko bellowed, as he tried to avoid the red beams and green waves of power. The sulfur that accompanied Kurt's teleportation clouded his vision and he swung wildly. "Fight me now, cowards! Know the might of the Destroyer!"
The X-men leader held up on arm, signalling the team to stop their assault as his dark eyes tracked the path that Marko wrought as he fled from them. Scott's free hand came up to his ear, pressing against the communicator there, "This is Cyclops, target has passed us and is on his way down to the next stop," just like they'd planned.
The last team of XMEN: Jean, Logan, Clarice, and Tandy face of against Kuuth and deal the final blow.
Logan glanced down the street the others had retreated down one last time then glanced at the people currently standing with him. He was the only one that could take the heavy damage Cain was dishing out, which meant he was going to need to be the distraction. "Alright, I don't really need to state the obvious here," he gestured around them. "I'm gonna provide the heavy distraction, rest of ya know the standard operatin' procedure: get that helmet off fast as possible so Jean can knock him out." There was going to be no real strategy beyond that. Improvisation was the best bet against the Juggernaut.
The man's powers reminded Jean somewhat of the Hulk, whom she'd fought before. It was a small comfort, but not by much.The good (and bad) thing about being on a street was that there was a lot of debris for Jean to work with if she needed to hit the Juggernaut with. Trouble was, this was District X. It was a place where people lived and worked. Many of the shop owners and residents would have difficulty bouncing back from this.
"I'm thinking we could disorient him. Dagger, maybe Blink can get you close enough to blind him with a light and Wolverine can go for one of the latches," Jean said. It'd probably only work for one but it was a start.
Tandy looked at Jean and nodded before turning towards Blink. "I am ready when you are." They were interested to know how the light would effect him now that he was in possession of the Hammer.
"I'm thinking we all drop in," Clarice suggested, indicating herself, Tandy and Logan, "Tandy blinds, Logan attacks, I am annoying. With that combo....Jean, you do your thing the moment you get a chance," if she got a chance, but positive energy! Yes. Positive energy. And teamwork.
"Fine by me. Probably end up doin' a combo of the two. Everyone just do whatever ya can to keep him distracted and not focused on anyone for too long." Logan knew firsthand how badly that'd end for whoever Cain focused on. He cracked his knuckles. "Alright, let's get going before he notices us."
The destruction was methodical. Pick up a dumpster, crush it into a rough cube, throw it at the nearest truck. Pick up a car, shake out any loose inhabitants such as dogs or rats or mutants, crush it into a rough cube, throw it through a window or door. It didn't even seem like this Juggernaut was paying attention to anything else except this very specific pattern of damage.
The latest dumpster cube that the Juggernaut had thrown stopped feet away from smashing through a nearby cafe. Hanging in the air a moment, it waited long enough to get Juggernaut's attention before floating to the ground. It was interesting that the Juggernaut wasn't killing the people in the cars. That was a good sign. But the pattern, and the shape, was curious. Jean filed everything away and took to pelting him with bits of debris, including bits of cars and trash from the dumpsters he was crushing.
"Any particular reason why you're making an in real life version of Minecraft?"
"The Mighty One knows not your crafting of mines." His voice was still booming, almost echoing off the city itself. "I destroy, and I have seen defeated already your mightiest warriors, leave me be to do my work, Midgardians." This newly eloquent Juggernaut hefted the truck he had most recently crushed, and lobbed it at the group lightly. "Heed my warning, or be lain waste to."
Even if Kuurth was an ally to Dweller, they were not ready to be uncovered yet. So they must play their part. When Tandy was dropped near Kuurth, they unleashed five daggers, enough to cause pain but not enough to actually kill. But no telling how long it would last with Kuurth in possession of his hammer. It was enough to give Wolverine the opening he would need.
Logan tracked Juggernaut's every moment, looking for an opening. When Juggernaut staggered under Tandy's onslaught, he ran forward and up Juggernaut's back. This was the best chance they'd had so far at getting that last damn latch. He grunted as Juggernaut swayed backwards, hands reaching back for him. "Not this time, asshole," Logan muttered to himself as the latch fell open under his hands and he yanked on the helmet.
"Mine!" Clarice called as she fell out of a portal to grab the helmet and fall into another one, disappearing as quickly as she came, most of the helmet in her possession. She hadn't even gotten the entire helmet, part was still there, sliced smoothly by her portal. "Do it!" she called through the comms from the rooftop she was perched on.
Closing the distance, Jean locked eyes with Juggernaut as she approached. A moment passed that felt like an eternity as she sent out a mental probe. If it was possible, she had to know what started this.
The strength of mind was alien and nothing like anything Jean had encountered. It was loud, chaotic, and clearly not Cain Marko - most of the time. Red-hot anger at the existence of this crowded, polluted city, of these pathetic Midgardians and their ugly chariots and hideous flimsy armor colored every thought but the man's mind was a blend of incomprehensible battlecries and rage-fueled promises that when he was done destroying Migard-no-New York-no-Midgard that he would single-handedly smash the faces of ever Asgardian who even thought to forget that the Juggernaut was unstoppable even by magic tricks. But the brief glimpses of Cain were washed out by one recurring thought.
Destroy. It. All.
The air around Jean's head seemed to shimmer and warp with an almost pinkish tinge as she lifted her hand, launching a psionic blast at him the moment she turned her wrist. And the ground gave a shutter as the massive man fell, kicking up a small cloud of dust and debris.
Seeming dismayed, Jean turned back to the others. "He's down. We should get him off the street before any other law enforcement agencies get here. There's something definitely not right about this, and I don't want to talk about it here."
"Yet another of Scott's goddamn DR scenarios comes true. Do you know I owe him lunch every time this happens?" Kane groused to Rogue as they turned the corner and finally had a clear view of the destruction. This was the new Cain Marko, he thought unvoiced, and the scope of the collateral damage around him proved that the new version didn't fall far from his predecessor. It looked as if the others had reached temporary detente with him, but he knew first hand the destructive power of the Juggernaut. Any stalemate was a temporary illusion. "OK, everyone knows the job. Marko's armor protects him against his only real vulnerability; psionics. So we need to get that tin can off and distract him so the others can fall back. Dust, you're up first. Get in his eyes and fuck up his vision while we close."
"Gotcha." Firmly pushing her memories of the man who had been her first history teacher to the back of her mind, Sooraya shifted into her sandform. Moving low the the ground, she threw in a little move of her own and a part of her forced herself below Juggernaut's boots, pulling out just as quickly to throw him of balance while the other part formed a tight cloud around his helmet.
"Blinding. Check." Jean-Phillipe didn't tend to have the same reaction to reminders of the 'frankenberry cat' that his cousin did, and he hadn't been all that close with the previous Cain Marko, but it was still odd to put a different face to a man he had known. ~Rapid transition between a conducting and non-conducting medium creates abrupt electrical discharges - sparks,~ he heard Erik's stern 'teaching' voice in his head, memories of learning applications of his powers under Magneto. And pure silica sand - such as Sooraya's dispersed form, was non-conducting. And he was a walking electrical conductor. Fanning his hands outward, he sent a series of small charges outward at the cloud Dust made, resulting in a shower of flashes accompanied by a series of popping sounds. If the sand wasn't already distracting, this would certainly be.
"Guess I'm the pie in the sky again, hey guys." Rogue was already in the air, trying to loop around and see what she could do. The Juggernaut roared at the distraction, and Rogue used that to try to swoop in. Usually, that would have worked -- she was quick enough anyways, but there was something else, something different about him. The clothes...where did they come from? That brief hesitation was enough to get clocked in the side of the head, sending Rogue spiraling down. Landing on her knees, she winced hard. "Am I crazy, or is he in Asgardian clothes?"
"While only having had Asgard beaten into me, I'm not an expert, but it seems similar in the design work to the armor that Valkyrie had. Is that Asgard standard-" Kane said as he closed in. Juggernaut pivoted and lashed at Kane, nearly caving in his chest with a large red hammer that crackled with energy. "ohfuckmeitsahammer! He's Asgard as fuck!"
Seeing two of her strongest team members being tossed around like bowling pins made Sooraya shift priorities. Keeping a shifting cloud of sand around his head in the back of her mind, she focused on the arm holding the hammer. The hammer itself she avoided because of the energy crackling around it, but around Juggernaut's wrists she formed a tight band of sand and started 'pulling', trying to get his arm where he could not swing the damn thing around as much.
Never one to give up, Rogue went straight for Juggernaut again, this time taking advantage of Sooraya's actions. Hovering near his head, she reached down to try to undo the latch, pulling her fingers back quickly as if they were being burned. The erratic movements of the enemy benath her madei t so it was hard for her to focus on the latch, but she continued to try.
Marko slowed - never stopped, not really, one massive arm kept the hammer swinging in a tight and complicated series of spiral loops. "Sand? You deign to disgraceful sand throwing?" The little Midgardian warriors were an amusement, until they became rude. Though, the flying one. "Land, striped one! I would like to take you and this man in a three-way!" He shook the sand from his wrists, practically ignoring it, and swung wide with the hammer. "Fall back, weak tricky Misgardians with your sand and your pitiful attempts to worship the thunder god, I wish to fight the strong ones!"
"Fuck this." Kane moved in quickly. The Juggernaut was invulnerable, many times stronger them him and capable of killing him in seconds. It was like the Hulk. It was like Thor. And somehow, Garrison Kane had survived both. He slammed a forearm into the attack at the elbow, killing all the momentum of the blow. A kick to the side of the knee, then the ankle, and a pivot to force him off-balance. "Dust, Bevetron, slow him down!"
Blinding him had not worked... sending him to the ground had not worked either, nor had focusing on one point worked... Dust considered it for a moment, then shrugged mentally and surged forward, spreading out to cover his entire body with a thin layer of sand. Thus done, she started to pull herself together, contracting around his body and forming a tight sheath of sand that would hopefully show his motions down at least a bit.
The man was insanely strong. He seemed to be shaking off everything they threw at him. Jean-Phillipe looked at his hands, then at the tightening sheath of sand that Sooraya was creating. "This is a very questionable idea," he muttered over the comms. Would this work? Where did Sooraya end and the sand begin when she was in her dispersed form? Could she withstand...? He gritted his teeth. Nothing else had worked. The situation was desperate. This was not a time to indulge in paralytic questions. He poured electricity between his outstretched hands, creating a dozen small arcs that abruptly snapped together into a single writhing band. ~Utilize enough electricity to create heat...~ And he thrust his hands outward, the arc leaping toward the layer of sand around the Juggernaut.
~And make things melt.~
The sudden heat and fierce current pulsing through her startled Sooraya. Mentally gritting her teeth she struggled to hold on, but the current floating through was not just threatening to melt parts, but somehow it seemed to disrupt her ability to keep the sand together while she was already stretched so thin. Only a few seconds later her sand form fell away before anything could melt and she had to struggle to pull together again.
"I wish that had worked better." Kane muttered as he dummied up to take two blows from Juggernaut against his arms. "Rogue, I am fucking dying here..." He said, slamming two punches of his own to the gut and then parrying a blow at the wrist to kill its power.
Jean-Phillipe spotted Rogue starting to make a dive toward the Juggernaut's helmet. "Merde," he yelled, spreading his hands wide and pouring everything he had right at the larger man's eyes, keeping him from looking upward.
In a movement that felt eerily familiar, Rogue dove down to Juggernaut, managing to unlatch one side of his helmet before being noticed. Swatted like nothing more than a fly, she went flying, helpless, into the nearest wall where she landed with a sickening impact. What mattered though was she had done her best, and made the helmet insecure. It was up to her teammates now.
"You are the pile of simian merde!" The words were not English or French, and yet - understandable. The message was clear, even as Marko stomped one immense booted foot down. The road buckled, and then rippled like waves, knocking the X-Men back and off their feet, and creating a sinkhole that opened under the street. He ripped one of the giant slabs of concrete off the ground, threw it casually at Kane and then, as though driven by commands unheard, broke into a lumbering jog - clearly intent on destroying more of the already ravaged New York streets.
Kane's blow shattered the slab but he was staggered by the attack, forced to watch Juggernaut disappear down the street.
"Well, we fucked this one up something fierce."
The second team of XMEN: Kurt, Scott, and Julian go against Kuuth
Anytime you went up against he Juggernaut you know it would be bad, the man could take blows like it was no-one's business, more of a tank than even Logan or Kane were. Now though, he looked angrier than usual and seemed to have found himself a toy to play with.
. The reports on the comms gave the team an idea of what was happening, the plan working as Scott held up one hand, "Heads up, incoming."
The incoming was hard to miss, given the size of him. Kurt nodded, eyeing his helmet. “And part of our job is done already.”
"So we can go home then, leave the rest to the C-Team?" Julian smirked, trying to hide how frayed his nerves were right now with humor. He'd read up on Juggernaut during his trainee days, but had the good fortune to never run up against him. His hands were already off, floating near buildings off to the left and right of the intersection Scott had selected to make a stand in. A shield of force, as solid as he could muster, was between him and their foe. Swallowing hard, Julian watched as the giant seemed to calmly pace towards them- as if the three powerful mutants hell-bent on stopping his rampage weren't even registering to him. "Home sounds good," he muttered, his voice cracking slightly.
"Sure Home...if you want them to never ever let you live it down for the rest of your life," Scott turned his gaze onto Julian eyes tarting to glow red as a smalle grin curled his lips up, "and you've met our friends...you know how bad they'd get if you left it all for them." The smile on Scott's lips was a scant mask agaisnt the trepidation he felt, but, they couldn't wait forever...as much as he wanted to. A read beam of pure force skewered out, bouncing off the walls to slash across the side of Cain's helmet. "Lets get started."
The red beam made him stumble one step, but the reaction was barely one at all, Cain glanced at the trio, and then continued making his way down the street, taking out walls, vehicles, trash cans seemingly randomly as he walked, his manhole-cover sized boots making great dents in the street. "A light show is most welcome, warriors, but take care of your aim." He called out, and then pulled a tree straight from it's plot along the sidewalk, throwing it idly to the ground. "Celebrate the destroyer, Midgardians!"
Julian arched a brow at that, turning to look at Scott, then Kurt before muttering, "Did he just call us, Midgardians?" At their shrugs Julian gave his neck one final crack, shaking off his trepidation as their foe reached the first barrier he'd put up. "Whatever, let's do this," almost as soon as he'd let out the words the first barrier crumbled as the Thor-Cosplaying-Juggernaut passed through it like it were tissue paper. The sharp pang of the force breaking- like the snap of a tendon- sent Julian to a knee, and caused the four other barriers he'd mustered to fly forward, toward the source of all this chaos.
The barriers hurtled towards Juggernaut, and as the man roared and turned to focus his destruction on them, Kurt saw his chance. He teleported to right by the man's side, reaching for one of the latches on his helmet.
"You know, I think did, well that's...a blast from the past." Scott could see Kurt dancing around the Juggernaut's side, the man snapping off a quick shot at his chest, in an effort to distract the man. Scott knew that very little he could do right now would actually stop him, but if he could even buy a second or two for Kurt then it was worth it. "If he insists on trying to go Viking on us, let's remind him that he's in the modern age, and we can hit back." As he spoke Scott gestured off to the side, indicating Julian should flank the man, the more distracted he was, the better chance Kurt had.
Julian's vision refocused at about the same time as Scott made his gesture and with a brief nod, he dashed toward the wall of a nearby building. The tell-tale sound of Cyclops' optic blasts mixed with that strange sound Kurt made when he teleported around mixed into a strange cacophony to his right- accented by the boastful cries of the Juggernaut. Pressing up against the wall he sent his hands out to deliver a few blows to their unstoppable foe on the far-side of his body before dashing forward and trying to use his telekinesis to 'sweep the leg'. Julian was doubtful that the maneuver would be a success, but Scott had been right about what people would say about him back at the mansion if he didn't give it his all today.
"Sorcerer!" The Juggernaut moved faster than his size and armor would suggest, and spun to face Julian. "Tricks and sorcery! This is no light show, but an another attempt top stop the Destroyer from his appointed mission!" He swung one enormous fist at one of the glowing force barriers under Julian's control and then another, punching it with precise metronomic rhythm. "Nothing stops the Destroyer, X-Men. I see through your ruses now!"
He clearly didn’t see through all their ruses, Kurt thought wryly, as he danced in again while the man was occupied, and got a grip on the latch of his helmet.
They were almost there, Scott could see Kurt had a grasp on the latch and they just needed to keep him going for a few minutes more, "Really, nothing stops you? Because?" Scott unleashed an optical blast directly at the man's eyes. "We seem to be doing a pretty good job of it. Not all you're cracked up to be huh?"
Arriving behind their massive foe, Julian could taste blood trickling down his nose from over exertion. With the Juggernaut sufficiently distracted, he got ready to push forward with everything he had left, directing all the force he could muster at the back of Marko's knees. He was vaguely aware of Scott quipping, but couldn't register it as he drew deep and sent two solid blasts of telekinetic power at the, hopefully, weak spot.
The blasts hit home, knocking the huge man forward for a split-second, and Kurt took his chance. The latch flipped up under his hand, and he retreated instantly.
"That's it, push in on him now, lets get that helmet of and bring the guy down." Finally, it looked like things were finally starting to turn.
"Fight fairly! If you were more than cowards you would fight in close quarters rather than resort to tricks and sorcery!" Marko bellowed, as he tried to avoid the red beams and green waves of power. The sulfur that accompanied Kurt's teleportation clouded his vision and he swung wildly. "Fight me now, cowards! Know the might of the Destroyer!"
The X-men leader held up on arm, signalling the team to stop their assault as his dark eyes tracked the path that Marko wrought as he fled from them. Scott's free hand came up to his ear, pressing against the communicator there, "This is Cyclops, target has passed us and is on his way down to the next stop," just like they'd planned.
The last team of XMEN: Jean, Logan, Clarice, and Tandy face of against Kuuth and deal the final blow.
Logan glanced down the street the others had retreated down one last time then glanced at the people currently standing with him. He was the only one that could take the heavy damage Cain was dishing out, which meant he was going to need to be the distraction. "Alright, I don't really need to state the obvious here," he gestured around them. "I'm gonna provide the heavy distraction, rest of ya know the standard operatin' procedure: get that helmet off fast as possible so Jean can knock him out." There was going to be no real strategy beyond that. Improvisation was the best bet against the Juggernaut.
The man's powers reminded Jean somewhat of the Hulk, whom she'd fought before. It was a small comfort, but not by much.The good (and bad) thing about being on a street was that there was a lot of debris for Jean to work with if she needed to hit the Juggernaut with. Trouble was, this was District X. It was a place where people lived and worked. Many of the shop owners and residents would have difficulty bouncing back from this.
"I'm thinking we could disorient him. Dagger, maybe Blink can get you close enough to blind him with a light and Wolverine can go for one of the latches," Jean said. It'd probably only work for one but it was a start.
Tandy looked at Jean and nodded before turning towards Blink. "I am ready when you are." They were interested to know how the light would effect him now that he was in possession of the Hammer.
"I'm thinking we all drop in," Clarice suggested, indicating herself, Tandy and Logan, "Tandy blinds, Logan attacks, I am annoying. With that combo....Jean, you do your thing the moment you get a chance," if she got a chance, but positive energy! Yes. Positive energy. And teamwork.
"Fine by me. Probably end up doin' a combo of the two. Everyone just do whatever ya can to keep him distracted and not focused on anyone for too long." Logan knew firsthand how badly that'd end for whoever Cain focused on. He cracked his knuckles. "Alright, let's get going before he notices us."
The destruction was methodical. Pick up a dumpster, crush it into a rough cube, throw it at the nearest truck. Pick up a car, shake out any loose inhabitants such as dogs or rats or mutants, crush it into a rough cube, throw it through a window or door. It didn't even seem like this Juggernaut was paying attention to anything else except this very specific pattern of damage.
The latest dumpster cube that the Juggernaut had thrown stopped feet away from smashing through a nearby cafe. Hanging in the air a moment, it waited long enough to get Juggernaut's attention before floating to the ground. It was interesting that the Juggernaut wasn't killing the people in the cars. That was a good sign. But the pattern, and the shape, was curious. Jean filed everything away and took to pelting him with bits of debris, including bits of cars and trash from the dumpsters he was crushing.
"Any particular reason why you're making an in real life version of Minecraft?"
"The Mighty One knows not your crafting of mines." His voice was still booming, almost echoing off the city itself. "I destroy, and I have seen defeated already your mightiest warriors, leave me be to do my work, Midgardians." This newly eloquent Juggernaut hefted the truck he had most recently crushed, and lobbed it at the group lightly. "Heed my warning, or be lain waste to."
Even if Kuurth was an ally to Dweller, they were not ready to be uncovered yet. So they must play their part. When Tandy was dropped near Kuurth, they unleashed five daggers, enough to cause pain but not enough to actually kill. But no telling how long it would last with Kuurth in possession of his hammer. It was enough to give Wolverine the opening he would need.
Logan tracked Juggernaut's every moment, looking for an opening. When Juggernaut staggered under Tandy's onslaught, he ran forward and up Juggernaut's back. This was the best chance they'd had so far at getting that last damn latch. He grunted as Juggernaut swayed backwards, hands reaching back for him. "Not this time, asshole," Logan muttered to himself as the latch fell open under his hands and he yanked on the helmet.
"Mine!" Clarice called as she fell out of a portal to grab the helmet and fall into another one, disappearing as quickly as she came, most of the helmet in her possession. She hadn't even gotten the entire helmet, part was still there, sliced smoothly by her portal. "Do it!" she called through the comms from the rooftop she was perched on.
Closing the distance, Jean locked eyes with Juggernaut as she approached. A moment passed that felt like an eternity as she sent out a mental probe. If it was possible, she had to know what started this.
The strength of mind was alien and nothing like anything Jean had encountered. It was loud, chaotic, and clearly not Cain Marko - most of the time. Red-hot anger at the existence of this crowded, polluted city, of these pathetic Midgardians and their ugly chariots and hideous flimsy armor colored every thought but the man's mind was a blend of incomprehensible battlecries and rage-fueled promises that when he was done destroying Migard-no-New York-no-Midgard that he would single-handedly smash the faces of ever Asgardian who even thought to forget that the Juggernaut was unstoppable even by magic tricks. But the brief glimpses of Cain were washed out by one recurring thought.
Destroy. It. All.
The air around Jean's head seemed to shimmer and warp with an almost pinkish tinge as she lifted her hand, launching a psionic blast at him the moment she turned her wrist. And the ground gave a shutter as the massive man fell, kicking up a small cloud of dust and debris.
Seeming dismayed, Jean turned back to the others. "He's down. We should get him off the street before any other law enforcement agencies get here. There's something definitely not right about this, and I don't want to talk about it here."
