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Lorna sat on a frosted bench, a cup of hot chocolate in hand. She grumbled faintly to herself, kicking at a small lump of snow that had frozen and melted and refrozen a few times over. Her classes had let out earlier than expected due to a professor being sick and cancelling class. While she could spend her time inside, she just couldn't stop feeling the urge to get out.
Granted that also meant avoiding Mutant Town after the attack last night. She had a feeling that Miss Frost and her father both might have a few objections to her going there alone with supplies anytime soon. Better not to test things more than she had. She did not need another surprise visit from her father because he was worried about her.
A huff of an exhale escaped her as she turned her gaze toward the dim sunlight that broke between the white clouds above, more snow always a threat and almost always a promise at this time of year. Her breath clouded around her, and she reached up to tug her knitted hat lower over her brown hair, green eyes scanned the park idly as she listened to the laughter of children in the distance.
*
Crusher Creel is a dumb man. But that doesn't mean he doesn't know how to get a job done. Shortly after he was given his name by Maximus, he returned straight to Mutant Town. Only to find it in a sea of chaos, to his aggravation. However, he used to break legs for mobsters and loansharks, and finding people in the city is one of the few skills he has. That beautiful jaguar stands out. And he heard that the owner was Lorna's father… he sets his sights on the more upscale residential neighborhoods. Around a half-dozen people are paid a hundred each to look out for a girl of Lorna's appearance, two roving about in the park proper. Creel is settled at a payphone, keeping anyone from using it while reading the latest boxing match in the newspaper and sipping at some cocoa.
The day was getting late, when a trenchcoated man identifies Lorna. She might see him, as he gives off some strange vibes, but he walks away without incident. To dial in the number and call the waiting figure. "Central Park, northeast. By the playground." Creel thumps the phone back home, and gets up. Shoulders roll slowly, and he flags down a taxi. Time to get to work.
He's wearing rather less than is wise for the chill air, just a white tanktop and roomie work pants, black leather boots on his feet. Proudly bald, what truly stands out is the massive ball and chain hucked over his shoulder. It likely weighs a few hundred pounds, but he handles it with ease. Eyes scan around, before he finds Lorna shortly after.
"Hey." he calls out, loudly. "You remember me?"
*
A blink, and Lorna drags her attention away from watching the kids across the field play with a kickball in the snow. Another jumping and kicking a snowman that was already half way mangled, over. She blinked repeatedly at the sight of Creel standing there in a tanktop and carrying a massive ball and.. chain? Her brows furrowed and she tilted her head to the side as if trying to puzzle out why the man would be carrying anything like that around.
"Uhm.. yeah." She sipped her hot chocolate, "Thanks for helping yesterday," A beat, "I hope you weren't caught in that riot last night?"
*
The approach continues. It's not friendly, but nor is it outright hostile. If he's not otherwise demanded to stop, he'd end up a couple meters away from the bench, to turn and look at the children himself. Far enough away to likely not get hurt. That's good. "Yeah. There was a riot, huh? Friends of Humanity, I heard them called. Where was your heroes to save them? Maybe it woulda been better if I had been there, after all. Ain't no human strong enough to crucify /me./" He's quiet then, scratching at his chest. "You seem like a nice girl…" he finally offers. "Dunno what you coulda done to make a man as mad as you did."
*
A blink, and Lorna shifted as he approached. Though she made no move to get off the bench just yet. She did lower her hot chocolate though, "Well.. yeah.." She sighed, and toed the frozen group. "Its.. I dunno what was worse, the fire out west or the riots here. I mean.. I dunno. Violence begets more violence and all that.. At least that's what the Civil Rights leaders are always saying." A small shrug followed and she pushed her hair back from her eyes as the wind swept through.
Then his last words register and she frowns, her brows pinching. "Wait what?"
*
"It ain't nothing personal, really. I don't like dealing with girls unless they deserve it." Creel mumbles, suddenly letting go of his huge iron ball. It impacts the ground with a great crash, displacing a fair amount of snow. A moment later and he's advancing upon Lorna, a good deal faster than his size would indicate — intent on grasping her within his huge hands. "I'm not gonna kill you or nothing. Or cripple you. But he wants a message, so…"
*
It took Lorna several breaths to realize exactly what was going on, maybe it had to deal with the iron ball crashing into the frozen ground. Or maybe it was his words. But either way, she realized that he intended to do her harm about two seconds too slow to avoid his hands. Hot chocolate went flying and she let loose a shriek, which gained several eyes from the park angled her way.
At least, that was until the iron ball flew up into the air and she struggled in his grip. The metal of the bench twisting with a sudden scream of steel bending an twisting with her fear.
"Let me go!"
*
The sounds cause some surprise in Creel. He knew she was powered, but had believed it was something mundane and useless. The hefted ball and the twisting bench are another matter entirely. "Don't make it hard on yourself!" he growls through grit teeth, somewhat desperate now as fingers shift to press into her throat. There are better ways to knock her unconscious, surely, but he doesn't want to strike her, even if your average assailant would probably kill for such an opening amidst a potent mutant. No chance of it coming back to bite him! "I told you I ain't gonna kill you!!"
*
As soon as his fingers shift to press against her throat, her struggles became worse. Her hands splayed outwards, as panic settled in. There was a rumbling beneath the ground and suddenly more than a few pipes erupted from the ground, spewing water into the air. Just as the iron ball slammed into his back with a violent motion.
The chains that he'd carried minutes before were swinging around to ensnare his legs just as quickly as Lorna's hands closed into fists. The metal of the bench crunched and twisted, undirected, but reactive as Lorna lost control.
Choked sounds escaped her and she felt the edges of her vision blurring too quickly.
*
Things might have ended there, as awkwardly as the whole scenario is, had Creel bothered to pay a bit more attention. He's focusing too much on not pressing excessively hard. He knows how to strangle a person to pass out, and how to strangle a person to have a lifetime of migraines and cognitive difficulties. The fact the random noises are being ignored, strange though they are, only makes that worse. Children are running away now, including a few parents. They will doubtlessly call the authorities, but that might be minutes away. "Just…Hoof!!" The metal ball strikes his back roughly, wrapping about his legs. He hurtles sideways, smacking into the misshapen bench, hands peeling away from Lorna's neck. He struggles to push the ball off and begin wriggling his legs free. "Jeez, the hell is this, some kinda make things sticky power?!" It's called MAGNETS, CREEL.
*
Lorna rolled as she was dropped, coughing and gagging as she hit the pavement of the frozen sidewalk hard. Tears stung her eyes and she inhaled shuddering breaths as if it might very well be her last. Her hands scraping against the frozen ground as she struggled to push herself up and away from her attacker. Shakily, she sat up, scooting backwards from the large man.
One of her hands lifted and she snarled, lips peeling backwards as she pulled the metal ball that was the bench up and threw it at Creel. The chains twisting and slithering to keep around him like a snake.
She didn't offer a response to his question, only breathing hard as she dragged up the pipes that had erupted from the ground in her panic. The torn up bits of metal floated between them and bent, folding together to erect a hastily formed shield.
*
"This ain't personal!" Creel repeats, as if that is somehow important to remember. "But people like me exist in this world because people like them get upset, right?!" He's not particularly in an imposing situation right now of course, but as the iron ball once more is hefted upwards, he grasps the chains. A moment later and his skin flushes with dark black, and he's impacted with the *CLANG* of metal on metal. He still skids a couple meters backwards, but now he's a colossal figure made literally of rough iron. "Game's over… you can't hurt me anymore. Just give it up!" His legs are still stuck, but he's infinitely more able to fight back against the coils with his vastly enhanced power. Good. He might have had a disadvantage, if he didn't turn into highly ferrous iron.
*
Lorna managed to drag herself to her feet, breathing hard as she directed the floating shield of bent metal closer. She could sense the change in him as he became iron, as he became a highly magnetic metal.
"Why are you attacking me?" She rasped out, throat still sore. It would doubtlessly bruise into an ugly reminder come tomorrow.
The metal shielding was dropped though after a moment, and she instead reached out for him. Both hands held outwards and she directed his person, ball and chain and all, upwards into the air. Her heart in her throat, her head pounding, and she felt like she'd be sick once the spike of her fear had left her.
But she still concentrated, focused. At least the kids had cleared out.
*
Indeed, as far as Lorna can tell, she's now facing a golem of iron. Inside and out, every last atom, is the material. How he can still move and talk is a good question, especially since his build does not change, and it doesn't appear that he absorbed any of the iron in question. The beginning of a step forward as the shield descends happens to be ruined, when he feels himself being gripped and hefted upwards. He's rather heavy, north of fifteen hundred pounds, but there's not a lot he can do in such a state. "What… tele… telakin… telore… mind-moving, is it?!" He grunts, managing to yank the ball itself off him, although most of the chain continues to stick to his leg. He can see above the trees now, which is really drawing a lot more attention than he cared for. "I told you. Someone wants you sent a message. You made an enemy. One of them might kill you!! Consider yourself thankful you're up against a fine gentleman like myself, instead!!"
*
Lorna grimaced, as she gritted her teeth. She'd been training with her father for months, and had done some heavy lifting, cars mostly. But nothing quite as dense as the iron'ed man before her. Still, for now at least, she kept him aloft, away from her at least. Then she twisted her grip oh so slowly, to try to turn him upside down.
"Right.. I got the message. Can you please tell me who?" She rasped out, and coughed, a grimace pulling at her lips as she took a few steps back from the man. Her gaze sweeping around to the distant sound of police sirens.
It would seem someone called the cops. There'd been one too many odd things occurring in the city not to, apparently.
*
Going upside-down isn't as disorienting to him as other people. He has no inner ear fluids that make it disconcerting, although the inverted perception still doesn't help matters. "That's for me to know. The ABSORBING MAN!!" Suddenly Creel reaches backwards, and then twists the huge iron ball. With a roar, he hurtles it forward, with just enough power to pop free of the magnetic field, the chain likely twisting around to stick to it. His aim's bad, but he wasn't really aiming to hit Lorna anyway, although that fact might be lost in the heartbeat of his assault. "I have to WIN. I for sure ain't won yet right now!!"
*
The giant metal ball being hurled her way, has Lorna turning her focus that way. One hand stretching out to catch it, slowing its path until it gently dropped to the ground between them. Creel himself no longer held her focus, and as a result slipped before dropping the rest of the way to the ground. Lorna didn't wait for him to get to his feet though.
She dropped control of everything, and then with one final, hard shove, of her powers his way. She turned and made to flee, running in the opposite direction that she'd pushed him in.
*
Down, down, down Creel goes. He crashes in the snow heavily, before curling his fingers into the grass and dirt. Suddenly it ripples up around his iron body, building him up in a layer of grass and random stones amongst the sediment. Noticing the direction Lorna flees, he lets out a last roar and then swings, sending a shotgun blast of softball-sized debris hurtling towards her. Trees are impacted, branches torn off, bushes jostled like the dickens, amongst other things. "BETTER NOT FORGET!! I AM THE ABSORBING MAN!!" he calls out after her, before grasping his ball and chain and rushing in the opposite direction as flashlights begin to appear in the near area. Beating up the police won't make him a feared villain, after all… but neither will an innocent girl. Oh, well. He had a favor to repay… and sending her routed will certainly fit the bill!