Space- Thursday afternoon FT
Brand
The ones fighting hadn't really noticed the change of scenery. Ord and Danger were still attacking Peter, who was fighting back, Logan had his claws out and was coming up on Ord from behind, and they seemed pretty intent on keeping on this. SWORD agents had surrounded them with guns and were yelling at them to stop, but it wasn't doing any good.
"Oh for god's sake," Brand finally sighed. "Hit 'em."
And then a moment later, everyone hit the ground as localized gravity surge (very handy for unruly passengers) kicked on, sticking them to the floor.
Clint
"Aww, gravity," Clint muttered, struggling to move even though he knew it was futile. "Neat trick," he said louder, towards whoever or whatever had grabbed them.
Kitty
And then there was Kitty, who didn't necessarily need to be tied down to your petty physics. Finding Scott's gun on the floor near her, she picked it up and popped right back up behind Brand, pressing the gun to the back of her head.
"You should probably let them up."
Brand
It wasn't the first time Brand had gotten this treatment, and it wouldn't be the last. Hell, it was a miracle she didn't get it more.
"This kid's not a killer," she said simply. "You gonna put a bullet in my head?"
Kitty
Kitty phased the gun through Brand's head so that she'd be able to see the barrel poking out from between her eyes. "For starters."
She so would not.
Brand
Right, she was dealing with this girl. Fine. "Anyone starts anything- looking at you, Ord- and I'll turn the gravity up so high it'll liquefy you. Let 'em up."
Clint
As soon as Clint could get up, he went over to Kitty and smirked. "You're really hot when you're being scary, have I mentioned that?"
Kitty
Clint was a bad influence, by the way Kitty smirked back. "I try."
Ord
"Agent Brand, Rasputin is right here!" Ord yelled, pointing at Peter. "Finish this! My planet is at stake! What is his life against billions?"
Brand
"Doesn't play out that way. Rasputin's an asset, and you're a prisoner. As for your robo-buddy..." Brand said, turning to Danger. "I assume you've tried taking over our computer systems the moment you materialized. So I assume you know we have an aggressive defense system, and you're currently infected with several thousand viruses. The body you're in now is about to go down with a nasty bug and you can convalesce in a cell until I figure out if you're useful at all."
Scott
"Why?" Scott asked, still from the floor next to Emma. "What game are you playing? Where are we?"
Brand
Watching her men escort Ord and Danger to their cells, Brand replied, "Quadrant Theta 669, on a sub-light arc for the Breakworld. That course can't be changed, not by the 'bot, not by your Ms. Pryde. We've got more than a day, but if you're up for a briefing now, I can explain the mission."
Scott
"In a minute," Scott said, helping Emma up. "You got a psychic on this ship?"
Brand
Of course they did. So Brand set them up with a psychic who checked to make sure that Emma's mind was clear of any Cassandra Nova influence, and then she brought everyone to a conference room. At the front of that conference room was a giant display of Piotr Rasputin's file photo, in case anyone wasn't weirded out enough.
"I don't get it, I don't like it, but here it is," Brand began. "The Breakworld's psychics- they call 'em the Augers- saw an X-Men who was destined to destroy their world. That was how we ended up dealing with Ord. He hunted for him or her, and the mighty Colossus got the nod."
Clint
"Okaaaay," Clint said slowly. "But that doesn't mean they're automatically right, right? I mean, he's one of the good guys."
Brand
"Everyone thinks they're one of the good guys, Mr. Barton. The people of Breakworld definitely don't see him that way," Brand pointed out. "We don't know how it would happen. It could be an accident for all we know. But they'd rather not take chances."
Clint
"So they want to get rid of him. Yeeeah, that's not going to happen." Clint never thought he'd be defending Peter, and yet here he was.
Brand
"That's why we're on the same side," said Brand. "I'm assuming you're as mystified as the rest of us, Mr. Rasputin."
Peter
"No. It is not," Peter said seriously. "I have been planning to destroy the Breakworld since I was a child."
And then as people turned to him blankly, he realized that didn't go over as well as he thought.
"This is why I don't make so many jokes," he said sheepishly. "I never know when is good."
Brand
"Right," Brand sighed, "let's skip to why you're here."
Clint
"Because someone kidnapped us from a highly secure mansion in a shiny white light," Clint said. "Oh, wait, you mean why we were kidnapped, right."
Brand
Brand frowned. "We're not past that yet?"
Kitty
"It was four hours ago," Kitty pointed out.
Brand
Brand ignored that, thank you.
"The moment the Augers pinpointed Rasputin, an armada was sent towards Earth. On the way to his cell, Ord broke free and contacted the Breakworld. We managed to get them away from Earth, but that armada is now headed towards us. Now we have to get to the Breakworld before they can. At the current speed, we should just make it."
Clint
"Okay, I guess that makes a little sense," Clint said. "Do you figure they'll stay focused on wherever Peter is?"
Brand
"That's pretty damn guaranteed, which is why there's a good chance they're going to be trying to blow us out of the sky if we can't get to the Breakworld soon," Brand said, casually. They'd get to expect that everyone on that world would probably be trying to kill them, too.
Emma
"You're not mentioning that you're terrified," Emma said, helpfully.
Brand
"Not of you," Brand said, not bothering to deny it. She flicked on another display, showing an alien of Ord's species. "The Breakworld is governed by one principle: domination. By violence, war, extermination... Powerlord Kruun, of the Open Hand. The global ruler of the Breakworld. His rise to power did not, you've probably guessed, involve an electoral college."
She changed the display again, this time to an image of the surface of the Breakworld with a moon in the distance. "Somewhere, possibly here on their smallest moon, the Breakworlders have built a failsafe. A missile. We're fairly certain this thing could crack the Earth in half. The Earth can't mount an attack on a superior military force, and we can't defend against theirs."
Clint
"Okay, now I'm officially freaked out too, good job," Clint said. "Do we have any other allies who can help with defense?"
Brand
"Not that can help in the time we have," Brand answered. "Look. I don't know why they've fixated on Rasputin. Luck of the draw, maybe. But I didn't kidnap you all for giggles, or even for the time I'll buy. I did it because right now, I need superheroes."
And since she didn't think the superheroes would be objecting, she pulled a bunch of packets, containing maps and translators and other things they might need, and tossed them onto the table for them to take. "We got you uniforms, guessed on your sizes," Brand said, pulling out pieces of equipment to show them. "The breathers go behind your teeth. They'll filter out impurities, and the capsules will time-release supplementary oxygen. Earwigs work as translators. We rendezvous at the glowing red dot on the GPS maps. They'll guide you, but if you lose 'em, you're looking for Attur-hei."
Hank
"'Palace of the Corpse?'" Hank translated, tapping his earwig.
Brand
"Good, they're working," Brand noted.
Hank
"Yes. Palace of the Corpse?"
Clint
Clint looked to Kitty before picking anything up. "If you want me in on this, I'll help. If you want to keep this among the X-folks, I'll stay back, it's up to you."
Kitty
"Don't stay here," Kitty replied. She didn't trust Brand enough to leave him back here. "We need all the help we can get, and I want you there."
Logan
Logan saw Scott's nod of agreement and said, "For the purpose of this mission, consider yourself an X-folk."
This was not the last time he was going to do that here. Looking at you, Hisako.
Clint
Kitty's opinion was the one that mattered, but it was reassuring to know that Logan and Scott wanted him around too. "All right. This'll totally end well then," he said.
Brand
"Now that that's settled," Brand said, sounding annoyed. To be fair, she usually sounded annoyed. "We're headed to a tomb. Our source says it might tie in to the Rasputin prophecy. We got on the world. We find out how Rasputin's supposedly a threat, visibly nullify that threat and take out the missile they've got pointed at the Earth. More questions when we're on world."
Peter
"Why haven't you killed me?" Peter asked, despite the fact that that was a question. "It's the simplest solution. I believe you are a fan of those."
Brand
"I don't like prophecies," Brand answered. "I don't like anybody telling me how my life's gonna play out. These 'augurs' have a pretty good track record, though. The Breakworlders believe you'll destroy them. They think the Earth is a threat, and are therefore a threat to the Earth. So we convince them the prophecy is wrong, or we make damn sure it comes true."
Clint
On one hand, Clint couldn't argue with that plan. On the other... "Something tells me I'm going to need to be reminded that I volunteered for this when we're doing the convincing part."
Brand
One of the soldiers rushed in, already saying, "Couple of bruteships incoming. Be here in maybe a minute."
Brand looked to the others. "Flotsam and jetsam. Split 'em up."
Logan
Getting onto the escape pods was the easy part. That was just sliding into the seats and strapping in, though they had to put Brand, Hank, Scott and Emma in one and the others were in the other, away from them. But as they began to near the planet's atmosphere, the pod began shaking violently. Really violently.
When Logan looked over to see how Hisako was doing, it was already too much for her. "Kid's out," he reported. "How you doing, kitten?"
Kitty
"Walk in the park," Kitty said through gritted teeth, trying to keep her head steady or this would hurt later.
Clint
Clint had his eyes shut, like that would make the vibrating less awful. "I'm suddenly glad I didn't eat anything," he said. "Please don't let it be like this for much longer."
Logan
As luck would have it, that's when the enemy ship fired on them, and after an even more violent jostle and horrible tearing noise, the pod began breaking apart.
"Kitty, get Clint and Peter!" Logan yelled, unbuckling himself so he could do the same for Hisako. If he could get her to wake up and armor up, she'd get through this okay.
Kitty
"We'll burn up!" Kitty yelled back, not that she saw any real alternative aside from dying a horrible fiery death.
Logan
"Phase!" he screamed at her, grabbing Hisako.
Kitty
"Hold on!" Kitty yelled at the boys, grabbing onto both Clint and Peter with one hand and phasing.
Clint
Phasing still felt a little weird, but it was infinitely better than splattering into the ground or dying a fiery death, so Clint clung tightly to Kitty.
If he clung to Peter too, he would never, ever admit it.
Kitty
They phased out of the pod, at which point Kitty lost total track of Logan and Hisako, and there was a terrifying moment of entering the planet's atmosphere, which was not something you wanted to experience without the safety of a ship around you. Luckily there wasn't any of that physical feeling of being on the world's worst giant drop ride, but as they fell closer and closer to the surface of the planet, Kitty knew she couldn't slow them down.
And when they phased through a skyscraper to avoid hitting it, she also realized something much worse, because she recognized that horrible exhaustion immediately after passing through it. Forget phasing, she was hoping she wouldn't pass out. "The metal- it's like Ord's ship. I can't-"
Clint
The lack of physical sensation was really disconcerting, and Clint hated not being able to get a good visual idea of what the hell was happening, moving as fast as they were. He did notice Kitty though, and clung tighter to her. "Kitty?! Stay with us, come on," he said quickly. "We need you."
Peter
"It's okay," Peter assured him. And since they weren't doing so well with the phasing anymore and he was armored up, he would hit the ground faster anyway. So he tried to turn more onto his back and wrapped an arm around each of them so he wouldn't lose them.
So while hitting ground would be a nasty impact for all of them, Peter took the worst of it, and thanks to his current form it wasn't too bad. But still, when they finally weren't moving anymore, ow.
Kitty
To Kitty it had felt like getting into a car accident might. She was worse off from the phasing than the fall. But still, before she even pulled herself up off Peter's chest she asked, "Do you think anyone saw us?"
Clint
'Ow' was definitely the feeling Clint would be going with once he'd gotten his breath back, and looking around wasn't helping matters. There were at least a dozen green-skinned people circled around their accidental crash site, some of whom had weapons already aimed at them.
"Uh. Just a few," he whispered from where he was nestled against Peter's chest. "Please tell me you're good to phase again?"
Kitty
"Not well," Kitty said, figuring if they used billets made from that metal she'd be screwed.
She peered around. Wow, they'd made a giant crater of the street and everything. "We should probably stay behind the armored guy."
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Taken from Astonishing X-Men and preplayed with the amazing so_hawkward. Almost done for the day!]