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It was a dark and stormy night. The crags and cliff-faces torn asunder by a thunderous shriek as a giant creature lumbers its way to shore. The massive monstrosity trundles through the country side roaring out at the top of its lungs. Twin claws slam down towards the ground from the creature causing a plume of dust to fly high up into the air.
A blonde woman in a stunning dress holds her finger up towards the sky one hand cupped to the side of her face screaming a high pitched squeal of terror. She falls back feinting to the ground falling hard as soldiers roll up in their military trucks. Five army trucks filled to the brim with soldiers roll up, their cargo running out with guns at the ready.
They take aim at the creature as it comes closer. Locking their sights on the creature they hear the call from the cigar smoking general. "Fire!" Triggers are depressed bullets fly and- Static.
A low aww covers over the crowd. About ten schoolchildren stand huddled around the warm glow of static that was the high end color TV on display. Their crestfallen faces pull away from their position pressed up against the glass. Some of the young children start to wander off back to play stickball, or to go home, the moment ruined.
It's a bright and sunny day in Harlem. The kids are out in full force playing and enjoying themselves as kids do, with that crowd stuck around Pat's Television Emporium. Blue cloudless skies as far as the eye can see. Cars roll their way slowly past traveling from one part of town to the next. Men in nice suits make their way to deal with their own private business.
Inside Pats, an elderly man walks around with a small spanner. His heavy tool belt has already partially tugged down on his coveralls. He pops the cover off the back of the rather extortionately priced television set and gets to work, the screen going completely black with a low humming noise at the fade.
Howard Stark stands at the back of the group. He hadn't been expecting to see a colorized version of one of his old films on display at a TV shop. Let alone to see so many children watching it in awe. Though his expression is a stonefaced one there is a light upturn of a smirk at the sight. His hands are in the pockets of a deep brown trench-coat, not a real attention grabber.
*
Zed, for his part, doesn't need to sleep. Days and nights run into one another- and even now he's not sure if its Thursday or Friday. But then again, it hardly even matters- Zed's work is never done.
Today, Zed walks the streets of Harlem, quietly watching man, woman, and child. Searching for someone specific- some particular person he's been hunting for a few days. A very bad woman who does very bad things to children. She had crimes to answer for- and Zed's lesson is justice. He passes by Pat's, just slowly gliding about Harlem- a shark in Veteran's clothing.
*
One of the Televisions flickers slightly, showing a re-run of last weeks big baseball game. A woman in the middle of the pitch starts running towards the camera filming. It looks like she's going to crash right into the camera, but instead she comes flying out of the screen, and through the glass as if it wasn't even there. She does a tuck and roll onto the sidewalk in that bright red dress of hers and levels a pistol right as the side of Howards head.
There's a low click as she pulls back the hammer. Howard in his deep brown trench-coat simply raises his hands slowly. "Now is that anyway to introduce yourself?" He says calm and collected still looking right ahead as the kids begin to panic somewhat. She takes a pause before stating with a calm smile. "Proshchai comrade Stark"
*
Zed pauses, quietly getting a cigarette out from within his pocket. He lights it with a zippo style lighter. He puffs a few times to get the orange tip going. He steps to the side unphased it seems by the fact a woman just leap out of the television. "Red's not really your color." he mentions, "You're more of a blue, I'd say." he reaches out and puts a hand on the woman's shoulder, "How about you just give it a rest, woman? Otherwise I'm going to have to hurt you."
*
Whistling a tune that only he knows, Ryan is just strolling down the street without much of a care in the world. He'd just come from Highbridge Park enjoying a little green time and took a walk down Amsterdam on his way back to midtown. I mean, really, who takes a cab on a day like this. Hands in pockets, he does keep a nice and whimsical tune in his bucket until.. the hell? Thankfully, everyone else is starting to look towards the woman with the gun, too. A few scream. Ryan's reaction is a little more bizarre. His whole body begins glowing a bright blue.
*
Not quite whistling a tune…or making any noise really save the sound of her boots on the pavement, Ne walks the street. Her attire unchanged regardless of the weather, the woman currently walks with her parasol closed and held in one hand midway down, like she fully intended to break into songs about rain at any moment. Her odd-colored eyes are drawn to the source of the disturbance and the girl does what most people wouldn't when faced with chaos and the threat of a gun: she draws closer with a curious tilt of her head.
*
Lynette rolls her shoulders, pulling her slightly blood stained jacket more around herself, and burying her face into her scarf. The baby mambo was never one for the cold, but rounds had to be made, and she had been neglecting her duties to the people of Harlem. It never was a dull moment here, was it? After seeing a woman hold a gun to the head of one of the world's brightest, the girl can't help but sigh and turn toward the electronics store. "Don' touch 'r, chere." She murmurs to Zed, her own hand reaching out to 'pull' the gun free and claim it for her own.
What was once solid soon fizzles out of existance and becomes nothing; snow, white noise, then gone. "Huh." The girl shrugs, eyeing the woman now, canting her floof-covered head to the side. "Dat's diff'rent."
*
The children go running, most just keep running to get away from the scene, but a few just run far enough they can get a good look without being in the direct line of fire. Some duck into alleyways others hide behind cars just watching to see what happens.
The woman in goes to pull the trigger only for a few things to happen at once, first the touch down onto her shoulder, and then the gun being ripped right out from her hand. "You wouldn't hit a woman would you?" She asks Zed looking back over her shoulder with those baby-blues, before delivering a swift kick backwards, trying her best to break free.
As the fighting stops another television begins to flicker the black and white screen changes its contrast for a moment before people start to step out from its confines. Their skin is grey, along with their rather cheesy army uniforms that are a far cry from the real deal, armed with Thompson SMG's, and bolt action rifles. They're in full WWII attire, or well close to it, with that certain low budget feel. Everything about them is that same black and white, as they fall into position.
*
Zed, for his part, raises an eyebrow at the question- just absorbing the kick to his chest with a grunt. He doesn't seem to be particularly bothered by it. Nor does he seem particularly bothered by throwing a right cross at the struggling woman's jaw. Apparently, Zed doesn't have a problem hitting a woman. "Shut your mouth." he says, looking over as televisions start to flicker again and people are stepping out of them. His eyes narrow. "Break the Televisions!"
*
There's the roar of a rocket and a woosh of air as the blue figure of Hadron, a little known recent arrival in New York, rushes in and.. ploughs Howard Stark like a freight train. Almost. It's more that he flies by the man and snatches him.. only to turn his back on the wall of the building and absorb the impact with the crunch of powdering brick. Hadron then sort of.. stuffs the older man into the indention and turns his back on the would be Gray Men. "Hi there, Mister Stark." He offers with a smile almost lost to the bright blue glow. "Big fan." BRATATATATATATATATATA. The Tommie Guns' unleash their .45 caliber fury upon Ryan's back with the tinkle of spewing shells upon concrete. "OW! Ow ow ow." Hadron sort of scrunches his face a little as he faces Stark. "Sorry. Never been shot before. That stings."
*
That was…unexpected! People coming out of TV's? Guns that burst into whitenoise? Interesting. Ne's already stepping forward to join the fray, coming up not far behind the psychic snake-eyed woman and extending her hand, a flash of icy light adding a coating of frost to the suroundings as they blast into the tommy-gun gangsters. It was a simple blast, but even she wasn't going to rush multiple automatic weapons. An idea crosses her mind however, even as she unleashes her icy torrent. TV images were just light, right? Clenching her fist, she tries to manipulate her own control over cold-light, focusing on their weapons. Could her illusion 'overwrite' the images? Worth a shot!
*
Ford has left.
*
"Merde…get home!" The girl calls toward the children who were still curious enough to watch. "Now!" She demands in a maternal, big-sister type manner. If it worked once, maybe it'll work again, but now that Ne has joined and starts working her own abilities, Lyn's hand reaches out and turns off the boob-tubes with a pass of her hands. TVs off, hopefully, now she moves her hands to pull the firearms away, just as she had with the woman prior. "Don' know who y'are, or what y'doin' here, but y'ain't bringin' dat shit int' m'neck of de woods." She grumbles, her dark eyes shifting, phasing from regular onyx to solid jade with slitted pupils. "Blue boy! Get Stark outta here!" She calls toward Ryan.
*
All of the television sets in the shop window flick to that one channel, the giant clawed gorilla creature slowly starting to climb its way fourth from the telivisionsets. Parts of it are in color, parts in black and white. Every telivisions section seems to have a slightly different color quality to it with some bits holding a bit more white noise to them then others.
The scream is enough to send most of the kids running out of sight and mind. Their footsteps clatter out as they try to move fast to get away knocking over a few trashcans along the way. Yet one boy dressed in a dull red shirt stays right behind crouched beneath a rather beatup looking rusted car left over from the 1930's.
Bullets fly from the Thompson SMG's bounding off of the back of Ryan. One of the ricochets looks as if it's going to slam right into the young boy who's watching just a bit too close to the whole thing. Yet as he closes his eyes wincing the bullet seems to vanish right before it would have hit him, instead just splattering that static which dissipates into a small cloud.
Ne's focus has manged to distort the guns just in time it seems to stop the boy getting hurt. Their firearms start to flicker and fade with static from a poor reception. Despite firing for so long the soldiers don't seem to have the need to reload, yet that flickering makes it so most of their bullets can't stay solid enough to do any damage.
As the giant monster crawls its way out from the television set, already half way out in its full disgusting rubber suit looking form the sets shut off. The creature stops mid roar, clearly a recording of a lion, a pause in its motion. For a moment it holds its claw just an inch from grabbing hold of ryan, before it starts to flicker, and fade. It turns slowly to static, falling down towards the ground and spilling out in all directions before simply fading away.
*
Zed watches as the woman in red spins a full 360 degrees before she hits the ground. "Huh." he intones quietly before turning to see the rest of what's happening- the men firing. He rushes the team of soldiers with all the grace one might expect from former Special Forces. Punches, kicks, even head butts. A whirling dervish of fists and feet and pain as he throws down with full intention of doing as much damage to those causing problems as possible. All the while? A cigarette burning down. Smoking.
*
Lynette takes a breath, head up as she watches a new creature flicker into existance. "Nice work." She murmurs to Ne, having noticed her press of power and the extra chill in the air it creates. The boy, though, has her attention more so than anything else. Sprinting off, she reaches out and grabs him by the arm. "Com'on." She sooths softly, flicking her hand and 'tossing' the offending soldier away from the youth and his hiding spot. "Com'on, we get y'home." She promises the boy before giving him another tug to bring him to his feet and lead him away, keeping her body between him and the mess they're leaving behind.
*
Lynette has left.
*
During it all Howard is mostly silent. That look on his face turned cold as he just catches that sight of the woman and even now thoughts racing through his head. A few moments of stunned silence even as he's flown around able to see the soldiers and the monster which has just been defeated, even as the soldiers fall into static. "How." Is the only thing he can manage to say. He repeats it just once more. "How…"
*
Zed pauses as the action seems to come to a stop, pulling the cigarette from his lips to ash the thing before he turns to look towards Howard Stark- a long moment, quiet as he just stares at the man with silent interest. He flips the collar of his jacket up, and returns the cigarette to where it had been before. He stuffs his hands into his pockets, and begins to walk off. The need for violence had passed, and so, Zed began to exit the scene before law enforcement would arrive.
*
Ryan was all set to grab the Howard of the Stark variety.. he even tucked his hands into the other man's armpits.. then the television people fade away as the power gets pulled. "Uhh." He straightens a little and looks around over his shoulder. "Are they gone? Cool." He smiles mostly to himselr then realizes his hefting the Stark off the ground by his underarms. Setting the man down, he brushes cinder from the fellow's coat. "You okay, Mister Stark?"
*
Effective! Between her own little light trick and the switching off TV's? It seemed the threat had been dealt with. Stark had raised a good question though to Ne's mind, how the hell had that even been possible. She could make such illusions, but they would be just that: illusions. They wouldn't fire real bullets. A frown on her features, the woman's own appearence illusion had faded at some point during her use of power, those odd-colored eyes and the two-colored hair clearly visible as the young woman looks between the glowing man and the…darker than even Harlem that is Zed. Lynette had already fled and it seems time to get going while the going is good. Opening her parasol and slinging it over her shoulder, she turns with what appears to be intent to walk away.
*
Inside the Television shop the elderly man from before leans out from behind the television set he'd been working on. He hammers his finger into the buttons of the remote, trying to get the sets to turn back on. There's a seething hatred in his eyes as he looks towards Howard, simply pressing multiple buttons on the large metal control device.
*
Zed pauses quietly at the edge of the street, looking back over his shoulder towards the television store. He leans against the corner of an alley. Smoking still. Watching. Just seeing if anything else is going to happen around Mister Howard Stark.
*
Howard dusts himself off as he's allowed to fall back down to his own two feet. A single hand reaches back to adjust his tie back into place. His mind racing as he takes a look around. "Worse ways to spend time." Trying to break any potential awkward to the whole thing. Later he'll need to send out a few personal invitations to the rest of these fine ladies and gentlemen.
*
"Okay. Keen." Hadron's blue mug nods at Howard. "Well. If you're groovy, I guess.. you have a great day." He gives the man a salute then rockets off into the sky leaving a blue contrail behind him.
*