Behold A Red Horse - Log 2
Oct. 16th, 2023 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAmanda and Jubilee are the first to reach the city of Jaca and a contact takes them in for a closer look.
The scene was chaos. The Spanish Military and the Policia Nacional were trying to coordinate their efforts to maintain a perimeter around the town while keeping out the media; and other onlookers from getting close enough to get a good view of the situation. Fortunately, Teniente Coronel Vincente Mollà was waiting for them, handing over specialist badges to the four of them.
"These will give you access, so long as you stay out of the way." He warned them and then waved Amanda and Jubilee to follow him. "Our mutual friend in London asked that you be given access to what we have so far. I can only provide up to my clearance, and we must be quick. The situation is deteriorating rapidly."
Amanda took the pass and hung it around her neck on its chain, tucking it into one of the side pockets of the Kevlar vest she was wearing. "In and out, gotcha. Believe me, I don't want to spend any longer in there than I have to." She didn't mention the feeling of low-level irritability that had started since they'd arrived but it was visible in the way she drummed her fingers against her thigh, the tension in the muscles of her jaw.
Jubilee was silent as she followed along, happy to let Amanda take the lead so she could observe. Silence wasn’t a natural state for her but she’d found over the years that it was a useful skill. She noticed Amanda’s tension and catalogued it for later.
"It started early this morning. Just... violence. Chaos. We have footage from social media and traffic cams... all normal until suddenly everyone started to attack everyone else. Men, women, children, police, the elderly... it didn't seem to matter. We rushed units in but every time we passed this perimeter, they turned on us in unison, until we retreated back and they returned to the killing." They could see the unsettlement and the fear close to the surface, despite his obvious experience and years of service. "I have never seen savagery like this."
"But the people you sent in weren't impacted themselves? Just attacked?" At the man's nod, Amanda turned to Jubilee. "We're going to have to stealth this. Sneak in, see what info we can gather on how this started, and get back out. If we're spotted, run, don't fight." She looked back at the Colonel. "Thanks. We'll take it from here."
Jubilee placed her own pass over her neck and gave the worried-looking man a brief smile
“You’re going to port back to our pickup point,” she stated an order rather than a suggestion. “When I’m not there in thirty minutes, you’re going to head back to New York. Sydney and MA will know what to do if I die.”
She didn’t wait for Amanda to acknowledge but sprinted away, trying to put chairs, tables and some useful objets d'art between her and the oncoming mob.
There wasn't much else for Amanda to do but shrug into the pack, take a deep breath, and let the city take her into its depths.
***
It hadn't quite taken Jubilee quite as much time as she'd thought it would to evade the mob. Their very strength was also a weakness in that being bloody furious made it hard to plan out anything close to an actual strategic attack. It was all brutal overwhelming numbers and then beat the shit out of everything in your way till they stopped breathing. She'd ducked into a few tight spots to make it harder for them to keep up with her and then climbed until she could get a good run of close-together buildings.
She wasn't stupid enough to think she could outrun everyone, but luckily for her, she hadn't needed to given how closely packed the area was, almost like the Gods had graced her with at least one piece of good luck that day.
She should have kept the thoughts to herself, honestly.
"Yo, Mandy. You would not believe the day I've had. Like, did you know when someone's like, you know, truly furious at you they'll sometimes start trying to bite things? Cause I totally did not know that till this guy back there totally tried to chew on the chair I used to fend him off."
"Don't. Call. Me. That."
Amanda had been standing at the edge of the police cordon, her back to Jubilee, but now she whipped around, eyes blazing with rage. "I've told you a million times that's not my name. But you don't bloody well listen!" She advanced on the other woman, face twisting with anger. "I am so sick of you and your fucking motormouth and the whole 'I'm so rude but it's just a quirk, aren't I so cute?' bullshit!. Her left hand whipped out at Jubilee's face in a fist.
Jubilee’s body moved into an automatic block sequence, something practiced so often that she didn’t even have to think about it to do it. She popped off a brief flash of her powers, enough to dazzle someone who wasn’t expecting it.
“Stop.”
Rubbing at her eyes, Amanda stumbled back a step or two. "Make me," she almost growled, before rushing back in with hands outstretched to grab Jubilee by the throat.
“Amanda, think for a moment.”
Jubilee’s tone had lost its easy drawl, softer now as she avoided Amanda’s lunge, using the other woman’s momentum against her as she pushed slightly turning them in a circle as she spoke.
She’d never been a magic expert, after that talk with another Stephen Strange many years previous she’d done her best to avoid it like the plague but you couldn’t work with someone day in and day out without learning a little bit about how their powers worked.
“Dude, what were we just looking at, what were you seeing.”
"An annoying immature brat who drives me fucking balmy!" Amanda was panting, mostly from emotion than exertion, the frustration at not being able to land a blow contributing to her anger. "Who thinks 's funny to break into people's places an' steal shite out of their fridges! Who broke my brother's soddin' heart 'cause she doesn't listen!" The witch's accent was descending into the full East London she'd arrived at the school with two decades ago. "You never fuckin' listen!"
“You think I didn’t break my own heart?” Jubilee replied, so tired all of a sudden she almost let Amanda hit her. It wouldn’t be the first punch she’d taken from someone she cared about. “You think it’s easy realising the best thing you can do for someone you love is break their heart? Because everyone else gets their other half but I’ve never found mine. Like, not the one that stuck. And that’s okay, like, it’s fine. I’m good. I just like, need you to be okay right now cause Marie-Ange is gonna kill me if you don’t come home, okay?”
Amanda didn't react even to the mention of Marie-Ange. She was cursing almost non-stop now, a stream of foul language beyond anything Jubilee had heard from the Brit in years. And taking advantage of the other woman's sudden slump, she manage to get past her guard and land a punch.
Jubilee staggered back, her hand covering a bloodied nose as her eyes smarted from the pain. It was an unexpected blow that shook her out of her self destructive slump and called her back to what was needed.
Talking hadn’t gotten her anywhere and if Amanda was suffering from what the townspeople had been affected by, then she needed to get her back to the others and somewhere she could be treated.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered as she dashed forward and hit Amanda at the pressure point between her shoulder and jaw, guiding her down as she dropped unconscious from the shock to the nerve.
Jubilee stepped back and looked around a moment to judge how far she’d have to carry her friend before positioning Amanda carefully for the next part. She needed to be able to grab her up.
“You know, I’m gonna need you to stop your girlfriend from making this broken nose worse, so I like, really hope you’re not Miss Angry words when you wake up, just between us and all.”
Jubilee flipped into a Ranger roll and then lifted Amanda onto her back in a classic Fireman’s carry, grunting as Amanda’s dead weight settled.
“Fuck, do I even lift? So need to get on the weights when we get back.”
Her nose hurt, and she could feel the taste of the blood as it leaked into her throat. The most disgusting thing ever, honestly.
“You are so healing this when you wake up, just sayin’”
The scene was chaos. The Spanish Military and the Policia Nacional were trying to coordinate their efforts to maintain a perimeter around the town while keeping out the media; and other onlookers from getting close enough to get a good view of the situation. Fortunately, Teniente Coronel Vincente Mollà was waiting for them, handing over specialist badges to the four of them.
"These will give you access, so long as you stay out of the way." He warned them and then waved Amanda and Jubilee to follow him. "Our mutual friend in London asked that you be given access to what we have so far. I can only provide up to my clearance, and we must be quick. The situation is deteriorating rapidly."
Amanda took the pass and hung it around her neck on its chain, tucking it into one of the side pockets of the Kevlar vest she was wearing. "In and out, gotcha. Believe me, I don't want to spend any longer in there than I have to." She didn't mention the feeling of low-level irritability that had started since they'd arrived but it was visible in the way she drummed her fingers against her thigh, the tension in the muscles of her jaw.
Jubilee was silent as she followed along, happy to let Amanda take the lead so she could observe. Silence wasn’t a natural state for her but she’d found over the years that it was a useful skill. She noticed Amanda’s tension and catalogued it for later.
"It started early this morning. Just... violence. Chaos. We have footage from social media and traffic cams... all normal until suddenly everyone started to attack everyone else. Men, women, children, police, the elderly... it didn't seem to matter. We rushed units in but every time we passed this perimeter, they turned on us in unison, until we retreated back and they returned to the killing." They could see the unsettlement and the fear close to the surface, despite his obvious experience and years of service. "I have never seen savagery like this."
"But the people you sent in weren't impacted themselves? Just attacked?" At the man's nod, Amanda turned to Jubilee. "We're going to have to stealth this. Sneak in, see what info we can gather on how this started, and get back out. If we're spotted, run, don't fight." She looked back at the Colonel. "Thanks. We'll take it from here."
Jubilee placed her own pass over her neck and gave the worried-looking man a brief smile
“You’re going to port back to our pickup point,” she stated an order rather than a suggestion. “When I’m not there in thirty minutes, you’re going to head back to New York. Sydney and MA will know what to do if I die.”
She didn’t wait for Amanda to acknowledge but sprinted away, trying to put chairs, tables and some useful objets d'art between her and the oncoming mob.
There wasn't much else for Amanda to do but shrug into the pack, take a deep breath, and let the city take her into its depths.
***
It hadn't quite taken Jubilee quite as much time as she'd thought it would to evade the mob. Their very strength was also a weakness in that being bloody furious made it hard to plan out anything close to an actual strategic attack. It was all brutal overwhelming numbers and then beat the shit out of everything in your way till they stopped breathing. She'd ducked into a few tight spots to make it harder for them to keep up with her and then climbed until she could get a good run of close-together buildings.
She wasn't stupid enough to think she could outrun everyone, but luckily for her, she hadn't needed to given how closely packed the area was, almost like the Gods had graced her with at least one piece of good luck that day.
She should have kept the thoughts to herself, honestly.
"Yo, Mandy. You would not believe the day I've had. Like, did you know when someone's like, you know, truly furious at you they'll sometimes start trying to bite things? Cause I totally did not know that till this guy back there totally tried to chew on the chair I used to fend him off."
"Don't. Call. Me. That."
Amanda had been standing at the edge of the police cordon, her back to Jubilee, but now she whipped around, eyes blazing with rage. "I've told you a million times that's not my name. But you don't bloody well listen!" She advanced on the other woman, face twisting with anger. "I am so sick of you and your fucking motormouth and the whole 'I'm so rude but it's just a quirk, aren't I so cute?' bullshit!. Her left hand whipped out at Jubilee's face in a fist.
Jubilee’s body moved into an automatic block sequence, something practiced so often that she didn’t even have to think about it to do it. She popped off a brief flash of her powers, enough to dazzle someone who wasn’t expecting it.
“Stop.”
Rubbing at her eyes, Amanda stumbled back a step or two. "Make me," she almost growled, before rushing back in with hands outstretched to grab Jubilee by the throat.
“Amanda, think for a moment.”
Jubilee’s tone had lost its easy drawl, softer now as she avoided Amanda’s lunge, using the other woman’s momentum against her as she pushed slightly turning them in a circle as she spoke.
She’d never been a magic expert, after that talk with another Stephen Strange many years previous she’d done her best to avoid it like the plague but you couldn’t work with someone day in and day out without learning a little bit about how their powers worked.
“Dude, what were we just looking at, what were you seeing.”
"An annoying immature brat who drives me fucking balmy!" Amanda was panting, mostly from emotion than exertion, the frustration at not being able to land a blow contributing to her anger. "Who thinks 's funny to break into people's places an' steal shite out of their fridges! Who broke my brother's soddin' heart 'cause she doesn't listen!" The witch's accent was descending into the full East London she'd arrived at the school with two decades ago. "You never fuckin' listen!"
“You think I didn’t break my own heart?” Jubilee replied, so tired all of a sudden she almost let Amanda hit her. It wouldn’t be the first punch she’d taken from someone she cared about. “You think it’s easy realising the best thing you can do for someone you love is break their heart? Because everyone else gets their other half but I’ve never found mine. Like, not the one that stuck. And that’s okay, like, it’s fine. I’m good. I just like, need you to be okay right now cause Marie-Ange is gonna kill me if you don’t come home, okay?”
Amanda didn't react even to the mention of Marie-Ange. She was cursing almost non-stop now, a stream of foul language beyond anything Jubilee had heard from the Brit in years. And taking advantage of the other woman's sudden slump, she manage to get past her guard and land a punch.
Jubilee staggered back, her hand covering a bloodied nose as her eyes smarted from the pain. It was an unexpected blow that shook her out of her self destructive slump and called her back to what was needed.
Talking hadn’t gotten her anywhere and if Amanda was suffering from what the townspeople had been affected by, then she needed to get her back to the others and somewhere she could be treated.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered as she dashed forward and hit Amanda at the pressure point between her shoulder and jaw, guiding her down as she dropped unconscious from the shock to the nerve.
Jubilee stepped back and looked around a moment to judge how far she’d have to carry her friend before positioning Amanda carefully for the next part. She needed to be able to grab her up.
“You know, I’m gonna need you to stop your girlfriend from making this broken nose worse, so I like, really hope you’re not Miss Angry words when you wake up, just between us and all.”
Jubilee flipped into a Ranger roll and then lifted Amanda onto her back in a classic Fireman’s carry, grunting as Amanda’s dead weight settled.
“Fuck, do I even lift? So need to get on the weights when we get back.”
Her nose hurt, and she could feel the taste of the blood as it leaked into her throat. The most disgusting thing ever, honestly.
“You are so healing this when you wake up, just sayin’”
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Date: 2023-10-17 03:31 am (UTC)