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xp_logsA small team of X-Men infiltrate the fight club while another keeps watch outside as back up. It appears their intel was correct.
There was something about the seedy underbelly of a city that spoke to that dark place in the back of your head, it almost welcomed you in like an old friend which wrapped itself around you, a warm cloak whispering sweet nothings in your ear. Scott had always known that existed, it was the same voice that had drawn his father away to Madripoor, had kept him there. It was the same temptation he always felt, but not one he could allow himself to fall too, at least not yet. The man slowly padded around the crowd, weaving his way through the crowd, his soft voice echoing around the comms, "Ok, things look quiet so far, but we know how that can turn. Keep your eyes peeled, and hopefully we'll be able to catch them before they make any kinda mess in here."
It was all Clarice could do not to snort from her not-so-great vantage. She was not tall or statuesque by any stretch of the imagination, but she wasn't as short as some girls were either. In general, she was a good height, except when she needed to see things like in a crowd. It was equally problematic at concerts. "With this many people, anything is a mess," she pointed out. It didn't matter if it was intentional or not, the entire place was a fire hazard. One of the many joys of such underground dives.
Jean never did much like large groups of people. No matter the amount of control, the smothering chittering of minds behind thick mental walls layered on top of the roar of cheers and spoken conversation created a dull buzz that usually left her with a headache. But sometimes that was the job. She'd gotten used to it, expected it.
"Agreed. I'll try to see if I can sense anyone out of the ordinary. It'll probably take a minute or two but I got a good baseline when I tried to read Cain Marko's mind. If anyone here is anything like him..." she said, watching a green man with a mohawk walk by and disappear into the crowd. The people here were unafraid to be seen as they were, blue skin, scales, tails, and all.
Logan lurked on a fire escape across the street from the building where the fight was going to go down. No one ever looked up and he was cloaked in enough shadows that it wouldn't matter even if they had. "Can't smell much of anythin' but excited humans and mutants. Seems like some things will bridge the gap between fear and hate mongerin'."
He wasn't going to be much help until the crowd cleared out or he got a good sniff of the magic the hammer wielders were using. Not that it mattered. Every new one that was added to the group smelled different and put out different magic to cause them trouble. Tonight was going to end up in chaos. The close quarters they were about to enter wasn't going to help either.
"I see the hammer", Kurt noted. "I will go in and try to recapture it." And he teleported towards the central ring.
"Wait..." Scott raised his hand, taking a step towards Kurt as his friend vanished in a puff of smoke, appearing on the stage moments later as Scott spun to watch him. The room was crowded and Kurt making a first move, one that could potentially knock them out of the fight so they didn't have to put the civilian's in the mix. He just wished he had been in a position to support his friend.
"Gotcha." Sooraya muttered from where she was scanning the crowd. Thumbing her comm, she alerted the others. "Everyone on alert, I've eyes on D'Spayre and Skaldi. They're watching the ring from the south west corner."
Around them, the crowd cheered and yelled at the sight of Kurt appearing in the ring. A knot of people gathered around one particular spot moved away to reveal a shadowy figure.
"You’re the first challenger?" Craig Hollis boomed as he made his way into the ring at the sight of the blue man. "Put your fists up, let’s start.” With that he raised his own fists and took a quick jab with his left.
While Kurt fights the champion Craig Hollis, Logan and Clarice spot some familiar faces.
"You’re the first challenger?" Craig Hollis boomed as he made his way into the ring at the sight of the blue man. "Put your fists up, let’s start.” With that he raised his own fists and took a quick jab with his left.
"No", Kurt said quickly. "I do not want to challenge, I only want what is in the box."
Dodging the punch, he managed to grab hold of it and tried to teleport out. And then tried again.
“Same thing, really,” Craig replied plainly, following quickly with a side kick. He ignored the box the man grabbed in favor of focusing on his opponent, brows furrowed.
After a third attempt to get away that was still being blocked, Kurt gave up. Like it or not, clearly he was going to have to fight Craig, and he soon discovered that he could teleport within the ring.
The plume of smoke briefly confused him before Craig realized what had happened."That's something, at least." He whirled around to locate Kurt, throwing a fist as he turned in case he could catch the man.
The punch was blocked from within a growing cloud of smoke, and quickly followed up with another.
***
Logan's attention was focused on the fight in the center. Kurt was holding his own with the puffs of his smoke materializing him in and out of range though it didn't look like either mutant was managing to get the upper hand. Not the outcome they needed but as long as they kept away from the hammer that's all that mattered.
The comms crackled in his ear and he jerked his head in the direction indicated by Sooraya's voice. It took a moment but the two women he saw stood out in the crowd. Skadi, the lady in charge of all this mayhem and destruction, with D'Spayre, the other lady in charge pulling the strings it felt like, right beside her. There was an unconscious berth of space given to them as they stood, their attention fixed on the fight, and the hammer in the middle of the ring. Distracted enough that they were paying not attention to anyone else in the building.
"Looks like we got an openin'. Lady in charge and other lady in charge are focused on that hammer. They have no idea the rest of us are here."
"Then let's get to work," Clarice muttered lowly, not a fan of fighting her friends, but she didn't mind beating the crap out of the people who had them possessed. Smoothly, she shifted, heading towards D'Spayre and Skadi as the crowds began to get more excited as the fight went on. "What now?" she asked mostly rhetorically, grabbing Logan so they could get out of the crowd some and try to move closer.
They'd worked enough missions that navigating the crowd together wasn't a hardship. "See if we can sneak up behind them and knock 'em out? 'Cause I'm pretty sure we'll be seein' them later if we don't." The less of those folks wielding hammers around the better in Logan's book. They'd already done enough damage and chaos that would take a bit of rebuilding in all the places they'd appeared.
"Yeah," she nodded, already focused on her destination as opposed to what Logan was doing. She trusted him to do his job, "Can you hear anything? What are they saying?"
***
"This better work. Finding a Worthy for the hammer is taking much longer than anticipated. And I don't know who is scarier when they are upset. Your father or mine." D'spayre said to her companion.
"Yes, we have grown too many complications," Skadi said. "Our timeline has been lengthened due to the battles we continually must end." She paused. "As for our fathers...their wrath, alone or combined, is best left unaroused. The hammer's unintended side trip to that mansion was extremely unfortunate. But we must let the hammer find its Worthy. It called to be here. We simply need to provide it enough time.”
Logan scowled at what he overheard, saying quietly, "This ain't goin' to end well if Nightcrawler doesn't keep that guy from gettin' near the hammer. That was the whole point of this mission for ‘em."
***
Craig growled in frustration, kicking through the cloud to quicken the dispersion, trying to catch sight of Kurt - or more specifically his tail - to yank him back towards him.
Every time his fingers brushed against Kurt, he found himself clutching at more smoke as Kurt teleported to yet another spot, aiming both to keep himself near the box and to keep Craig's attention off it.
Swinging his fists through smoke was only doing so much as Craig tried to strike his opponent. His eyes darted around the ring to follow Kurt’s movement. Trying to guess where he'd vanish to next, he lunged towards the box.
That was the last thing Kurt wanted. He made the snap decision to let himself be seen, appearing in a much clearer spot between Craig and the box.
Craig grinned as Kurt appeared before him, the box already forgotten. Shifting his body to stop his dash, he instead whirled around to build momentum for a roundhouse kick - too wide.
Kurt didn't even have to dodge. There was nothing he could do but watch Craig's foot crash into the box, sending it flying open.
All thoughts left Craig’s mind as the hammer was revealed. Taking it into his hand, the area erupted as lightning struck, a shockwave rushing outwards. The figure that emerged was fully armored and briefly glanced around before finding Skadi. “At last. What would you have Angrir do?”
Following Hollis' transformation into Angrir, Scott and his team try to subdue him AND evacuate the panicking crowd.
Sooraya glanced around desperately, trying to get a view of the crowd and where it was moving. She fought against being pulled along and along. Finally, with a sharp breath out, she called over the comms: "Am stuck in the crowd and being pulled along. Can someone give me an overview?"
"I'm working on it," came the reply from Jean, who had spotted a set up for the sound system, complete with scaffolding, and was already almost there. She climbed up a bit halfway, scanning through the masses, both mentally and physically for signs of their quarry.
The scaffolding lurched, however, and Jean turned to see Angrir punching a center pillar nearby. The building gave a shudder, and a spray of dust came down from the ceiling.
"Shit, we've got a situation. Nightcrawler, Blink, start getting people out, now. The building's coming down. Angrir's near the stage. Wolverine, can you get Angrir away from the pillar? I'm going to try to keep the pillar up."
Logan wasn't having much better luck than Sooraya in navigating through the crowd. He grunted as yet more people slammed into him. His height and his bulk were the only saving graces in keeping him from being dragged opposite the direction he wanted to go. "I can try, but it ain't easy goin' down here." He looked up around them. It was open and airy, filled with spotlights and speakers. the perfect setting for a fight club, not one built for maneuverability without the right mutation. "And there ain't an easy way to get above the crowd and to the pillar guy."
Teleporting herself to the main set of double doors, Clarice opened as many portals as she could, trying to catch people in her portals instead of them all trying to funnel through one primary exit. She wasn't tall or heavily built, but with a portal directly in front of her and a couple more larger ones on each side, she avoided getting jostled by the majority of people as they were forced through whether they liked it or not. The portals just put them out a block away, far enough to hopefully not come back. "Funnel people to me if you can!" she instructed, her powers much more suited for mass evacuation like this than Nightcrawler's.
Kurt was looking for people in danger of being trampled, and began grabbing any he saw and bringing them within range of Clarice's portals. "That will take you to safety", he urged the latest one.
Sooraya still felt herself being pulled along the crowds. "Of course. Then we'll do it this way." She quickly dissolved into her sand form and rose above the crowd. Staying in place for a moment, she quickly searched around, then dove. A thick tendril of sand lashed out and wrapped itself around Logan's wrist and with a firm tug he was pulled above the people.
Logan was quickly dangled above the crowd. Sand was stronger than most people gave it credit for. "Thanks for the lift, Dust. Get me toward the pillar, if ya can, and I'll see what I can do there." It'd be a stalling tactic since he wouldn't be very effective alone against the magic-enhanced hammer wielder. "Cyclops, think I'm gonna need your help in keepin' him distracted."
Scott had given up trying to push through the panicked crowd, no matter how much he tried the sheer mass of humanity seemed to press back against his desired motion. Instead, the man had opted for the opposite, letting the press of the crowd carry him back to the wall as he nodded. It wasn't easy to see above the crowd but his eyes narrowed glancing up at the roof before a blast of red energy tore from him as the crowd seemed to surge back as if repelled by a magnetic force. Even after all these years, in the middle of a fight no less, Scott couldn't deny the twinge of disappointment that the reaction brought with it. They were here to help but the people couldn't but react viscerally to the presence of a mutant in their midst. It hadn't stopped them before, or wouldn't stop them now, the X-men would answer with the best they could, burying the sadness for the time Scott glanced back at the ceiling, his ranging shots complete as he flicked on his comms. "Incoming." That one word was all it needed followed by a directed attack, energy slamming into Angrir's form.
Hey, no attacking!" Clarice chastised, not that there was much they could do about it. All it did was make holding her portals open for evac harder and of course, put more risk on everyone. Then again, that was basically how the X-Men operated out of necessity, even if it wasn't ideal. "Kurt, we need to get people out faster!" His teleportation wasn't as large-scale as hers, but it was no less useful.
“I am doing all I can,” he called back. “I cannot bring more than two adults at a time... can you manage another portal?”
Sooraya changed direction, heading over to Scott and wrapping a tendril around his wrist as well, pulling him above the crowd and dropping him next to Logan. She changed direction once more and headed for what seemed like a boarded up double door. If they could get that open, it would get people our far more efficient. A razor sharp vibrating tendril of sand cut through the dry wood as knife would through butter and she was relieved when a small breeze was the result. Immediately six more tendrils leaped out and she started cutting through the rest of the wood.
Scott stepped forward, unleashing a blast at Angrir, at the closer range it was much easier for him to target the hulking man, the energy blast rocking him back a half-step. This could work, it might take time but they could hold back the man, maybe even wear him down. It was far too easy to get dragged into a sole focus on the fight, to forget the reason they were really here, to cover the evacuation. Taking a step back himself Scott twisted on one foot, his gaze sweeping over the room, tracking his allies as a blast tore from his eyes punching through the door in front of Sooraya. "Just keep him busy for a few, we've got to get everyone out of here then we'll have the space ot take him down." He knew that Logan and Angrir were somewhere behind him, but the man had to trust Logan to warn him if he was in danger.
Logan had used the openings Scott's blasts had provided to run closer toward Angrir who was too distracted by the crowd and Scott's continual blasts to focus on much else. Underneath the Asgardian armor and enhanced strength, Angrir was still a human and could be distracted by anything a human would be. He didn't bother roaring. It would be lost in the din and chaos of the crowd and the hurried evacuation especially with the ceiling collapsing in around everyone.
"Roger," Logan said as he ran up behind Angrir and punched him square in the back. It didn't produce much more than a grunt and a startled twist backwards to see what'd happened. He grinned at Angrir and continued to lay down a slew of punches. Suddenly the full brunt of Angrir's attack was directed at Logan. He was ducking and rolling and dodging punches though many still connected. He felt his healing factor chugging away, healing the fractures and breaks as fast as they appeared. Another successful dodge and he snuck in a kick and a punch before being immediately punched back square in the chest by a swinging hammer that sent him flying toward the back of the building.
The good news was that Angrir was no longer trying to bring the building down. The bad news was that the building was perfectly fine with doing that all on its own now, thanks. The trouble with that was....there was a few tons more of the building above them threatening to cave in on top of them. Cracks started snaking through the walls and ceiling as a low rumble was felt and heard, with dust billowing through an invisible barrier. The only thing holding it together right now was one woman.
"Not to rush anyone but...I don't know how much longer I can....hold this..." Jean said with a grunt, her forehead dripping with sweat. "How are we doing?"
"Crowds are clear, but I can't see Logan!" Clarice reported into the comm piece, shifting her portals from letting people through to catching falling debris as the building began to collapse, "I can't see Angrir either!"
Scott cast a worried look at Jean, the strain on her face as he heard a buzz and crackle in his ear, one hand coming up to press the earbud, his eyes instinctively glancing over at the outside wall as he waved a hand to attract the X-men's attention. "Dominion says Angrir made it outside with Skaldi and D'Spaye now," his face tightened in frustration as he gestured for the door, "They've got away and we can't stick around, everyone clear out and we'll regroup." He could see the roof starting to fall, concrete chunks smashing into oblivion as the team retreated, waiting till he saw Jean clear the room before he ducked out. This was a loss, an unambiguous loss and Scott really really hated to lose.
Outside the fight club, Garrison's team are on crowd control when they come face to face with the newest Worthy.
There was panic in the streets, as the crowds picked up on the danger and began to react on their own accord. People streamed past in droves, even if they didn't know the exact nature of what they were fleeing from. Inside, the exits were jammed, and it was all the four mutants could do to keep the crush from turning into causalities. A combination of super-strength, telekinesis and distracting lights and sheer mass thinned out the crowd long enough to get people out faster and reasonably unhurt.
"Crowd control. That's what I was hoping for today." Kane muttered, shoving back another cluster of people trying to jam in ahead of the ragged lines.
"Better than fighting another one of those hammer people," was Nica's response as she hovered above the crowd, lighting up the best options for exits with a blast here and a blast there. "Or that fake Tandy thing." She shivered a little at the memory.
"Maybe stop shooting your powers at the exits and they'll leave faster," Xavin muttered, stretched to their absolute limit, arms extended far beyond their natural length to shoo people toward the doors. They blinked as someone, no, three people began to shoulder their way through the crowds trying to leave. "Ohhhh shit. Shit. Shit. Heads up, folks, we've got trouble. More trouble."
D'spayre titled her head to the side, "More pests. You sure do multiply." The demoness looked at the four of them, eyeing the younger ones. "Skadi, shall we have Angrir do the honors?"
Skadi was glad to see all her Worthy come to life but running into these mutants at every turn had gotten extremely troublesome especially as they merely delayed the conclusion of their plans. She nodded at D'Spayre. "Yes, let Angrir have the fun and clear our pathway quickly. We are so close to our end goal." She waved a hand at Angrir to indicate he had free reign to do as he pleased.
Angrir's face split into a rictus of glee as he nodded once. “To let me have all the fun, you are too kind.” Ignoring the panicked people briefly, he eyed the ones firm in their place, then moved forward towards them. With his free hand he took hold of the closest being by the collar of their shirt and flung them towards the floating child.
"Yikes!" Nica wasn't worried about being hit - she was in her light form after all and was intangible. But the man who was being used as a projectile was going to land hard. "Dominion, incoming!" she called, zipping out of the way so he could see what was coming. "Flyball your way!"
The Canadian braced himself and as the man came past, grabbed him from the air, letting his body absorb the impact. He set the man down, pointing at the exit before turning back.
"Ok, now you just crossed a big line, you fucking coward." Kane hissed as he moved up on Angrir. "Let's see you take on someone your own size for once." He knew he wasn't, and his last toe to toe with an Asgardian god had left him for dead and destroyed his mind. But they will willing to kill innocents without a second thought, like meaningless insects. Every part of Kane, from the cop to the X-Man had the same determination to protect people at his very core. He slipped the arcing strike of the hammer and drove two punches directly into Agnrir's throat.
Angrir recoiled briefly from the blow, taking a half-step back to regain his footing. The grin dropped as he took a wheezing inhale, before shaking his head. Reflexively, his body shifted to a fighting stance and the rabid grin returned full force. "For once? Do not overestimate yourself, mortal!” Angrir snapped the final word, tightening his hold on the hammer to aim an upper cut underneath Kane’s chin with it in his grasp.
The hammer passed less than an inch from his chin. Angrir was far stronger, but he wasn't faster. And he hadn't been trained by Eugene Judd. Garrison slammed his forearm into the junction of Angrir's arm as the hammer passed, yanking it down before smashing the god's forearm with all his strength. The move crushed Angrir's own hammer directly into his face, sending him staggering back. "Want to bet, asshole?"
Xavin came up behind and to the side of Angrir, starting to box him in. They hit him twice in the back to shift his focus and sent him stumbling forward again.
From his vantage point, Julian watched Kane and Xavin tussle with Angrir- they were having success, but he knew that the godling wouldn't tire as quickly as they would. So far, he'd been using his abilities to help shield the fleeing civilians from falling rubble, crafting domed archways that had created tidy piles showing lanes they could now follow to find safety...or whatever safety they could find in this battlezone. Careful not to look towards D'spayre, Julian launched himself into the air and let the protective barriers drop, catching as much of the remaining falling debris as he could before sending it like a spear at his target. "Incoming!" he screamed, more from exertion than any need to project his voice since the comms would do that.
Angrir shook his head to clear it after taking his own hammer to the face. What attention had been on Kane dropped as he turned to Xavin. The elastic look of them made him reassess focusing all of his energy on them. Briefly, he looked back to Kane, to try and gauge this team up. A low growl of frustration left him as he realized he may have bit off more than he could currently chew.
Nica had been hovering above the group, keeping watch on events and the thinning crowds. Unable to assist with the new Worthy, she instead turned and, after a moment's hesitation, blasted the demon with pure radiant light, hoping it would have an impact. These demons seemed to have a thing about darkness and shadows, so maybe it would help?
D'spayre felt the tug of her her father calling her. "I think we need to wrap this up. We are being summoned."
The situation had grown from an annoyance to troubling and Skadi agreed with D'Spayre. It was time to put an end to this especially once she spotted more of these mutants headed their way from the building's interior. "Angrir! Come, let us finish this with a double Hammer of Destruction. Our goal has been achieved and dallying with these mortals is of no need."
Once Angir was by her side, they both raised their hammers, crackling with magic, then touched them to the ground, releasing a blast wave of energy that spread out from them and toppled anyone in its path. Skadi nodded in satisifaction at the scene before her as she immediately called upon her magic to open a portal. "Come, let us go. We have other matters to attend to."
There was something about the seedy underbelly of a city that spoke to that dark place in the back of your head, it almost welcomed you in like an old friend which wrapped itself around you, a warm cloak whispering sweet nothings in your ear. Scott had always known that existed, it was the same voice that had drawn his father away to Madripoor, had kept him there. It was the same temptation he always felt, but not one he could allow himself to fall too, at least not yet. The man slowly padded around the crowd, weaving his way through the crowd, his soft voice echoing around the comms, "Ok, things look quiet so far, but we know how that can turn. Keep your eyes peeled, and hopefully we'll be able to catch them before they make any kinda mess in here."
It was all Clarice could do not to snort from her not-so-great vantage. She was not tall or statuesque by any stretch of the imagination, but she wasn't as short as some girls were either. In general, she was a good height, except when she needed to see things like in a crowd. It was equally problematic at concerts. "With this many people, anything is a mess," she pointed out. It didn't matter if it was intentional or not, the entire place was a fire hazard. One of the many joys of such underground dives.
Jean never did much like large groups of people. No matter the amount of control, the smothering chittering of minds behind thick mental walls layered on top of the roar of cheers and spoken conversation created a dull buzz that usually left her with a headache. But sometimes that was the job. She'd gotten used to it, expected it.
"Agreed. I'll try to see if I can sense anyone out of the ordinary. It'll probably take a minute or two but I got a good baseline when I tried to read Cain Marko's mind. If anyone here is anything like him..." she said, watching a green man with a mohawk walk by and disappear into the crowd. The people here were unafraid to be seen as they were, blue skin, scales, tails, and all.
Logan lurked on a fire escape across the street from the building where the fight was going to go down. No one ever looked up and he was cloaked in enough shadows that it wouldn't matter even if they had. "Can't smell much of anythin' but excited humans and mutants. Seems like some things will bridge the gap between fear and hate mongerin'."
He wasn't going to be much help until the crowd cleared out or he got a good sniff of the magic the hammer wielders were using. Not that it mattered. Every new one that was added to the group smelled different and put out different magic to cause them trouble. Tonight was going to end up in chaos. The close quarters they were about to enter wasn't going to help either.
"I see the hammer", Kurt noted. "I will go in and try to recapture it." And he teleported towards the central ring.
"Wait..." Scott raised his hand, taking a step towards Kurt as his friend vanished in a puff of smoke, appearing on the stage moments later as Scott spun to watch him. The room was crowded and Kurt making a first move, one that could potentially knock them out of the fight so they didn't have to put the civilian's in the mix. He just wished he had been in a position to support his friend.
"Gotcha." Sooraya muttered from where she was scanning the crowd. Thumbing her comm, she alerted the others. "Everyone on alert, I've eyes on D'Spayre and Skaldi. They're watching the ring from the south west corner."
Around them, the crowd cheered and yelled at the sight of Kurt appearing in the ring. A knot of people gathered around one particular spot moved away to reveal a shadowy figure.
"You’re the first challenger?" Craig Hollis boomed as he made his way into the ring at the sight of the blue man. "Put your fists up, let’s start.” With that he raised his own fists and took a quick jab with his left.
While Kurt fights the champion Craig Hollis, Logan and Clarice spot some familiar faces.
"You’re the first challenger?" Craig Hollis boomed as he made his way into the ring at the sight of the blue man. "Put your fists up, let’s start.” With that he raised his own fists and took a quick jab with his left.
"No", Kurt said quickly. "I do not want to challenge, I only want what is in the box."
Dodging the punch, he managed to grab hold of it and tried to teleport out. And then tried again.
“Same thing, really,” Craig replied plainly, following quickly with a side kick. He ignored the box the man grabbed in favor of focusing on his opponent, brows furrowed.
After a third attempt to get away that was still being blocked, Kurt gave up. Like it or not, clearly he was going to have to fight Craig, and he soon discovered that he could teleport within the ring.
The plume of smoke briefly confused him before Craig realized what had happened."That's something, at least." He whirled around to locate Kurt, throwing a fist as he turned in case he could catch the man.
The punch was blocked from within a growing cloud of smoke, and quickly followed up with another.
***
Logan's attention was focused on the fight in the center. Kurt was holding his own with the puffs of his smoke materializing him in and out of range though it didn't look like either mutant was managing to get the upper hand. Not the outcome they needed but as long as they kept away from the hammer that's all that mattered.
The comms crackled in his ear and he jerked his head in the direction indicated by Sooraya's voice. It took a moment but the two women he saw stood out in the crowd. Skadi, the lady in charge of all this mayhem and destruction, with D'Spayre, the other lady in charge pulling the strings it felt like, right beside her. There was an unconscious berth of space given to them as they stood, their attention fixed on the fight, and the hammer in the middle of the ring. Distracted enough that they were paying not attention to anyone else in the building.
"Looks like we got an openin'. Lady in charge and other lady in charge are focused on that hammer. They have no idea the rest of us are here."
"Then let's get to work," Clarice muttered lowly, not a fan of fighting her friends, but she didn't mind beating the crap out of the people who had them possessed. Smoothly, she shifted, heading towards D'Spayre and Skadi as the crowds began to get more excited as the fight went on. "What now?" she asked mostly rhetorically, grabbing Logan so they could get out of the crowd some and try to move closer.
They'd worked enough missions that navigating the crowd together wasn't a hardship. "See if we can sneak up behind them and knock 'em out? 'Cause I'm pretty sure we'll be seein' them later if we don't." The less of those folks wielding hammers around the better in Logan's book. They'd already done enough damage and chaos that would take a bit of rebuilding in all the places they'd appeared.
"Yeah," she nodded, already focused on her destination as opposed to what Logan was doing. She trusted him to do his job, "Can you hear anything? What are they saying?"
***
"This better work. Finding a Worthy for the hammer is taking much longer than anticipated. And I don't know who is scarier when they are upset. Your father or mine." D'spayre said to her companion.
"Yes, we have grown too many complications," Skadi said. "Our timeline has been lengthened due to the battles we continually must end." She paused. "As for our fathers...their wrath, alone or combined, is best left unaroused. The hammer's unintended side trip to that mansion was extremely unfortunate. But we must let the hammer find its Worthy. It called to be here. We simply need to provide it enough time.”
Logan scowled at what he overheard, saying quietly, "This ain't goin' to end well if Nightcrawler doesn't keep that guy from gettin' near the hammer. That was the whole point of this mission for ‘em."
***
Craig growled in frustration, kicking through the cloud to quicken the dispersion, trying to catch sight of Kurt - or more specifically his tail - to yank him back towards him.
Every time his fingers brushed against Kurt, he found himself clutching at more smoke as Kurt teleported to yet another spot, aiming both to keep himself near the box and to keep Craig's attention off it.
Swinging his fists through smoke was only doing so much as Craig tried to strike his opponent. His eyes darted around the ring to follow Kurt’s movement. Trying to guess where he'd vanish to next, he lunged towards the box.
That was the last thing Kurt wanted. He made the snap decision to let himself be seen, appearing in a much clearer spot between Craig and the box.
Craig grinned as Kurt appeared before him, the box already forgotten. Shifting his body to stop his dash, he instead whirled around to build momentum for a roundhouse kick - too wide.
Kurt didn't even have to dodge. There was nothing he could do but watch Craig's foot crash into the box, sending it flying open.
All thoughts left Craig’s mind as the hammer was revealed. Taking it into his hand, the area erupted as lightning struck, a shockwave rushing outwards. The figure that emerged was fully armored and briefly glanced around before finding Skadi. “At last. What would you have Angrir do?”
Following Hollis' transformation into Angrir, Scott and his team try to subdue him AND evacuate the panicking crowd.
Sooraya glanced around desperately, trying to get a view of the crowd and where it was moving. She fought against being pulled along and along. Finally, with a sharp breath out, she called over the comms: "Am stuck in the crowd and being pulled along. Can someone give me an overview?"
"I'm working on it," came the reply from Jean, who had spotted a set up for the sound system, complete with scaffolding, and was already almost there. She climbed up a bit halfway, scanning through the masses, both mentally and physically for signs of their quarry.
The scaffolding lurched, however, and Jean turned to see Angrir punching a center pillar nearby. The building gave a shudder, and a spray of dust came down from the ceiling.
"Shit, we've got a situation. Nightcrawler, Blink, start getting people out, now. The building's coming down. Angrir's near the stage. Wolverine, can you get Angrir away from the pillar? I'm going to try to keep the pillar up."
Logan wasn't having much better luck than Sooraya in navigating through the crowd. He grunted as yet more people slammed into him. His height and his bulk were the only saving graces in keeping him from being dragged opposite the direction he wanted to go. "I can try, but it ain't easy goin' down here." He looked up around them. It was open and airy, filled with spotlights and speakers. the perfect setting for a fight club, not one built for maneuverability without the right mutation. "And there ain't an easy way to get above the crowd and to the pillar guy."
Teleporting herself to the main set of double doors, Clarice opened as many portals as she could, trying to catch people in her portals instead of them all trying to funnel through one primary exit. She wasn't tall or heavily built, but with a portal directly in front of her and a couple more larger ones on each side, she avoided getting jostled by the majority of people as they were forced through whether they liked it or not. The portals just put them out a block away, far enough to hopefully not come back. "Funnel people to me if you can!" she instructed, her powers much more suited for mass evacuation like this than Nightcrawler's.
Kurt was looking for people in danger of being trampled, and began grabbing any he saw and bringing them within range of Clarice's portals. "That will take you to safety", he urged the latest one.
Sooraya still felt herself being pulled along the crowds. "Of course. Then we'll do it this way." She quickly dissolved into her sand form and rose above the crowd. Staying in place for a moment, she quickly searched around, then dove. A thick tendril of sand lashed out and wrapped itself around Logan's wrist and with a firm tug he was pulled above the people.
Logan was quickly dangled above the crowd. Sand was stronger than most people gave it credit for. "Thanks for the lift, Dust. Get me toward the pillar, if ya can, and I'll see what I can do there." It'd be a stalling tactic since he wouldn't be very effective alone against the magic-enhanced hammer wielder. "Cyclops, think I'm gonna need your help in keepin' him distracted."
Scott had given up trying to push through the panicked crowd, no matter how much he tried the sheer mass of humanity seemed to press back against his desired motion. Instead, the man had opted for the opposite, letting the press of the crowd carry him back to the wall as he nodded. It wasn't easy to see above the crowd but his eyes narrowed glancing up at the roof before a blast of red energy tore from him as the crowd seemed to surge back as if repelled by a magnetic force. Even after all these years, in the middle of a fight no less, Scott couldn't deny the twinge of disappointment that the reaction brought with it. They were here to help but the people couldn't but react viscerally to the presence of a mutant in their midst. It hadn't stopped them before, or wouldn't stop them now, the X-men would answer with the best they could, burying the sadness for the time Scott glanced back at the ceiling, his ranging shots complete as he flicked on his comms. "Incoming." That one word was all it needed followed by a directed attack, energy slamming into Angrir's form.
Hey, no attacking!" Clarice chastised, not that there was much they could do about it. All it did was make holding her portals open for evac harder and of course, put more risk on everyone. Then again, that was basically how the X-Men operated out of necessity, even if it wasn't ideal. "Kurt, we need to get people out faster!" His teleportation wasn't as large-scale as hers, but it was no less useful.
“I am doing all I can,” he called back. “I cannot bring more than two adults at a time... can you manage another portal?”
Sooraya changed direction, heading over to Scott and wrapping a tendril around his wrist as well, pulling him above the crowd and dropping him next to Logan. She changed direction once more and headed for what seemed like a boarded up double door. If they could get that open, it would get people our far more efficient. A razor sharp vibrating tendril of sand cut through the dry wood as knife would through butter and she was relieved when a small breeze was the result. Immediately six more tendrils leaped out and she started cutting through the rest of the wood.
Scott stepped forward, unleashing a blast at Angrir, at the closer range it was much easier for him to target the hulking man, the energy blast rocking him back a half-step. This could work, it might take time but they could hold back the man, maybe even wear him down. It was far too easy to get dragged into a sole focus on the fight, to forget the reason they were really here, to cover the evacuation. Taking a step back himself Scott twisted on one foot, his gaze sweeping over the room, tracking his allies as a blast tore from his eyes punching through the door in front of Sooraya. "Just keep him busy for a few, we've got to get everyone out of here then we'll have the space ot take him down." He knew that Logan and Angrir were somewhere behind him, but the man had to trust Logan to warn him if he was in danger.
Logan had used the openings Scott's blasts had provided to run closer toward Angrir who was too distracted by the crowd and Scott's continual blasts to focus on much else. Underneath the Asgardian armor and enhanced strength, Angrir was still a human and could be distracted by anything a human would be. He didn't bother roaring. It would be lost in the din and chaos of the crowd and the hurried evacuation especially with the ceiling collapsing in around everyone.
"Roger," Logan said as he ran up behind Angrir and punched him square in the back. It didn't produce much more than a grunt and a startled twist backwards to see what'd happened. He grinned at Angrir and continued to lay down a slew of punches. Suddenly the full brunt of Angrir's attack was directed at Logan. He was ducking and rolling and dodging punches though many still connected. He felt his healing factor chugging away, healing the fractures and breaks as fast as they appeared. Another successful dodge and he snuck in a kick and a punch before being immediately punched back square in the chest by a swinging hammer that sent him flying toward the back of the building.
The good news was that Angrir was no longer trying to bring the building down. The bad news was that the building was perfectly fine with doing that all on its own now, thanks. The trouble with that was....there was a few tons more of the building above them threatening to cave in on top of them. Cracks started snaking through the walls and ceiling as a low rumble was felt and heard, with dust billowing through an invisible barrier. The only thing holding it together right now was one woman.
"Not to rush anyone but...I don't know how much longer I can....hold this..." Jean said with a grunt, her forehead dripping with sweat. "How are we doing?"
"Crowds are clear, but I can't see Logan!" Clarice reported into the comm piece, shifting her portals from letting people through to catching falling debris as the building began to collapse, "I can't see Angrir either!"
Scott cast a worried look at Jean, the strain on her face as he heard a buzz and crackle in his ear, one hand coming up to press the earbud, his eyes instinctively glancing over at the outside wall as he waved a hand to attract the X-men's attention. "Dominion says Angrir made it outside with Skaldi and D'Spaye now," his face tightened in frustration as he gestured for the door, "They've got away and we can't stick around, everyone clear out and we'll regroup." He could see the roof starting to fall, concrete chunks smashing into oblivion as the team retreated, waiting till he saw Jean clear the room before he ducked out. This was a loss, an unambiguous loss and Scott really really hated to lose.
Outside the fight club, Garrison's team are on crowd control when they come face to face with the newest Worthy.
There was panic in the streets, as the crowds picked up on the danger and began to react on their own accord. People streamed past in droves, even if they didn't know the exact nature of what they were fleeing from. Inside, the exits were jammed, and it was all the four mutants could do to keep the crush from turning into causalities. A combination of super-strength, telekinesis and distracting lights and sheer mass thinned out the crowd long enough to get people out faster and reasonably unhurt.
"Crowd control. That's what I was hoping for today." Kane muttered, shoving back another cluster of people trying to jam in ahead of the ragged lines.
"Better than fighting another one of those hammer people," was Nica's response as she hovered above the crowd, lighting up the best options for exits with a blast here and a blast there. "Or that fake Tandy thing." She shivered a little at the memory.
"Maybe stop shooting your powers at the exits and they'll leave faster," Xavin muttered, stretched to their absolute limit, arms extended far beyond their natural length to shoo people toward the doors. They blinked as someone, no, three people began to shoulder their way through the crowds trying to leave. "Ohhhh shit. Shit. Shit. Heads up, folks, we've got trouble. More trouble."
D'spayre titled her head to the side, "More pests. You sure do multiply." The demoness looked at the four of them, eyeing the younger ones. "Skadi, shall we have Angrir do the honors?"
Skadi was glad to see all her Worthy come to life but running into these mutants at every turn had gotten extremely troublesome especially as they merely delayed the conclusion of their plans. She nodded at D'Spayre. "Yes, let Angrir have the fun and clear our pathway quickly. We are so close to our end goal." She waved a hand at Angrir to indicate he had free reign to do as he pleased.
Angrir's face split into a rictus of glee as he nodded once. “To let me have all the fun, you are too kind.” Ignoring the panicked people briefly, he eyed the ones firm in their place, then moved forward towards them. With his free hand he took hold of the closest being by the collar of their shirt and flung them towards the floating child.
"Yikes!" Nica wasn't worried about being hit - she was in her light form after all and was intangible. But the man who was being used as a projectile was going to land hard. "Dominion, incoming!" she called, zipping out of the way so he could see what was coming. "Flyball your way!"
The Canadian braced himself and as the man came past, grabbed him from the air, letting his body absorb the impact. He set the man down, pointing at the exit before turning back.
"Ok, now you just crossed a big line, you fucking coward." Kane hissed as he moved up on Angrir. "Let's see you take on someone your own size for once." He knew he wasn't, and his last toe to toe with an Asgardian god had left him for dead and destroyed his mind. But they will willing to kill innocents without a second thought, like meaningless insects. Every part of Kane, from the cop to the X-Man had the same determination to protect people at his very core. He slipped the arcing strike of the hammer and drove two punches directly into Agnrir's throat.
Angrir recoiled briefly from the blow, taking a half-step back to regain his footing. The grin dropped as he took a wheezing inhale, before shaking his head. Reflexively, his body shifted to a fighting stance and the rabid grin returned full force. "For once? Do not overestimate yourself, mortal!” Angrir snapped the final word, tightening his hold on the hammer to aim an upper cut underneath Kane’s chin with it in his grasp.
The hammer passed less than an inch from his chin. Angrir was far stronger, but he wasn't faster. And he hadn't been trained by Eugene Judd. Garrison slammed his forearm into the junction of Angrir's arm as the hammer passed, yanking it down before smashing the god's forearm with all his strength. The move crushed Angrir's own hammer directly into his face, sending him staggering back. "Want to bet, asshole?"
Xavin came up behind and to the side of Angrir, starting to box him in. They hit him twice in the back to shift his focus and sent him stumbling forward again.
From his vantage point, Julian watched Kane and Xavin tussle with Angrir- they were having success, but he knew that the godling wouldn't tire as quickly as they would. So far, he'd been using his abilities to help shield the fleeing civilians from falling rubble, crafting domed archways that had created tidy piles showing lanes they could now follow to find safety...or whatever safety they could find in this battlezone. Careful not to look towards D'spayre, Julian launched himself into the air and let the protective barriers drop, catching as much of the remaining falling debris as he could before sending it like a spear at his target. "Incoming!" he screamed, more from exertion than any need to project his voice since the comms would do that.
Angrir shook his head to clear it after taking his own hammer to the face. What attention had been on Kane dropped as he turned to Xavin. The elastic look of them made him reassess focusing all of his energy on them. Briefly, he looked back to Kane, to try and gauge this team up. A low growl of frustration left him as he realized he may have bit off more than he could currently chew.
Nica had been hovering above the group, keeping watch on events and the thinning crowds. Unable to assist with the new Worthy, she instead turned and, after a moment's hesitation, blasted the demon with pure radiant light, hoping it would have an impact. These demons seemed to have a thing about darkness and shadows, so maybe it would help?
D'spayre felt the tug of her her father calling her. "I think we need to wrap this up. We are being summoned."
The situation had grown from an annoyance to troubling and Skadi agreed with D'Spayre. It was time to put an end to this especially once she spotted more of these mutants headed their way from the building's interior. "Angrir! Come, let us finish this with a double Hammer of Destruction. Our goal has been achieved and dallying with these mortals is of no need."
Once Angir was by her side, they both raised their hammers, crackling with magic, then touched them to the ground, releasing a blast wave of energy that spread out from them and toppled anyone in its path. Skadi nodded in satisifaction at the scene before her as she immediately called upon her magic to open a portal. "Come, let us go. We have other matters to attend to."
