11/7 Instance: The Only News is Good News

[Svartfreja]

Timelined a day or so after [Instance]No News is Good News.


<Hawkeye> The three of them had managed to get to the Alaskan town as soon as something weird had been reported. When they got to the town, Clint could already tell they were a little late. Some of the houses had been reduced to rubble and gunshots could be heard in the distance.

<Hawkeye> Clint pulled out a scope and found Chris almost instantly. "I've got him. The police have him engaged but they're not holding out very well.... Are you sure this thing used to be human?"

<Warbird> "That's what the file said." Carol set their helicopter down in a relatively clear spot, "Guess we should go and help out the cops."

<Iceman> Being here and far, far away from Hope was a bonus at the moment, but since he hadn't had time to read the file and had only endured Hope's crazy ranting before Carol called him up for this mission, Bobby was fairly lost. "So... we have no idea if Chris is still in there?"

<Warbird> "We're hoping he is but we won't know until we get him back. We're acting on the assumption there's a way to do that." She got out of her seat, "Come on."

<Iceman> "Got a tranq arrow in there, Robin Hood?" Bobby jumped down from the copter and looked around. They'd attracted attention.

<Hawkeye> "I've got plenty. And a few special things. Should I smoke him? That might slow him down 'til we can get in there."

<Iceman> "Yeah, it's hard to tell how he might react to drugs... or to cold, actually... "

<Hawkeye> Clint loaded up an arrow with a canister on the end of it and fired it into Chris' back. "Dead on." It burst into smoke, surrounding him and the area.

<Warbird> "Throw everything, see what sticks." Carol decided to head for the cop in charge, "I'll go make introductions and tell them to get out of the way."

<Iceman> He winced and threw up an ice wall between whatever used to be Chris and now kind of looked like a swamp monster and the cops. Luckily most of the bystanders had fled... and those that hadn't, couldn't. "Motherfucker," he muttered and headed for a wounded civilian.

<Hawkeye> Clint fired a few of his new trick arrows at Chris a few of them landing hard but none of them slowing him down at all. "I don't think I'm even scratching him.... Am I allowed to up the lethality?"

<Warbird> After showing the lead cop her ID and explaining that SHIELD would be taking over, Carol ordered the cops to get the hell out of the area and take whatever civilians they could with them. The cops seemed a little dubious about the capabilities of three people against something that destructive until Carol picked up one of their cars to helpfully turn it away from the destruction. "He absorbs energy, use something grabby."

<Warbird> Now that the cops were on the move, Carol returned to the others, "Next time, Clint, it would be totally helpful if you didn't gas our allies. It makes us look seriously incompetant."

<Iceman> Bobby helped evac several civilians, stopping bleeding and icing injuries where he could. Even up here in mooseville it looked like people remembered SWORD and him. Yeah, he still liked this rockstar part...

<Hawkeye> "Oh... yeah sorry." Clint pulled out a different arrow and fired it into Chris cords wrapping around his body. "That should hold him." He just stared as Chris snapped them and headed towards Clint's direction. "Uhm, or not. I gotta move, he's heading my way."

<Hope> A small redhead slid closer under the cover from the smoke. The team had arrived much faster than anticipated. Good. This wasn't something Hope was capable of finishing on her own. She had forgotten how few mutants there were in 'rural' Alaska. With Bobby's power, she was able to adjust herself so that the cold no longer bothered her. Also good. She turned her attention back to Chris, hoping the smoke would continue to shield her from them. She wasn't in the mood for a lecture.

<Warbird> Carol sighed and took off, landing in front of Clint and firing an energy blast just in front of Chris' feet to get his attention but not power him up.

<Iceman> Bobby shivered slightly and turned back to his teammates. "Should I freeze 'im?"

<Hawkeye> "Well that was steel cable.... So I'm about useless. I'm a mosquito to this guy unless I bring out the big guns."

<Warbird> "What part of 'everything and see what sticks' did you not get?" Carol replied to Bobby.

<Hope> Hope was already on that thoughtwave. She brought up some ice chains and focused them to wrap around Chris' feet in an attempt to keep him in place.

<Hawkeye> "Dude is barely showing up on my thermal. We sure he's not like some kind of zombie?" Clint tried firing multiple arrows to work together.

<Iceman> Before he could decide what to do, someone did it for him. "Hey.... that wasn't me." The monster snapped the chains anyway. "That wasn't me!" he repeated, looking around now and realizing why he'd felt like he was goosed a few moments ago. "We got company!"

<Warbird> "Damn it!" Carol didn't have patience for this, "Hope, I swear to God, if that's you..." she aimed another blast near Chris' feet to steer him away from some civilians.

<Hope> Oh Carol could go to hell. Hope tried again, this time, going for Chris' neck.

<Iceman> Bobby realized he probably hadn't trained her as well as he'd thought since the chain snapped again. "Let a professional handle it, babe!" He looked around for her, then just encased Nord in a block of ice. "I can try to knock him out."

<Warbird> While the Chris-monster was was occupied by the icecube, Carol swooped in to rescue the civilians.

<Hope> Ah hell. Hope had to quickly reposition before Carol saw her. That was close. She peeked out from behind a wood pile and frowned. She had been trying to avoid encasing Chris... but it might hold... with some help. She added to his ice.

<Hawkeye> "Welp I'm definitely worthless now that he's a popcicle." Clint tested a few of his arrows to make sure they were ready incase he broke out.

<Chris> Chris easily broke through the ice with the energy he'd built up and fired heat blasts at Bobby and Clint. He turned back to the wall of ice to break it down and continue his mission.

<Hope> Hope smirked. Some professional.

<Warbird> "Well shit." Carol deposited her civvies and headed back, landing behind Chris and tapping him on the shoulder. "Hey."

<Iceman> Bobby shifted to vapor. There went another uniform. He regrouped and checked on Clint.

<Chris> Chris slammed a clawed hand at Carol attempting to slice her. His body still glowing slightly with energy.

<Warbird> All he succeeded in doing was tearing her uniform, which she was not at all pleased about, "Feel better?"

<Hawkeye> Clint had dodged the blast without any permanent damage. "He can shoot things too? What the fuck?!"

<Hope> Hope bit her lip and tried to think. Nothing they did worked. Maybe they could confuse it? Unlikely. It didn't seem to be thinking as it was. Hope moved to get in a better position. If only she had brought something useful. Like a gallon of tranq in a syringe.

<Hawkeye> Now that Chris wasn't coated in ice he started firing off arrows again. "Think knock out gas'll work?"

<Hawkeye> Chris kept trying to cut through Carol only getting more and more enraged when nothing worked.

<Warbird> "Seriously? I'm going to be naked if you keep this up." She decided to change tactic, ducking under his arm and getting behind him to try and get him into a sleeper hold.

<Iceman> Bobby reformed a short distance from the wrestlers, staying in ice form. "I don't wanna do permanent damage." He thought about that. "Well... more permanent damage... than whatever the fuck they did to him..." It reminded him of Kyle, which was uncomfortable to say the least.

<Warbird> "Do what you can, the doc can heal him if we break anything." Carol tightened her hold.

<Chris> Chris thrashed around trying to get loose but she was definitely stronger than him. He started to black out.

<Iceman> "Okay, boss." Bobby moved just a little closer and started lowering the temperature around them. "I think you're getting to him anyway... so this might not take long. Could get a little chilly though..."

<Warbird> "I can survive in the freezing vacuum of space, I think I can handle it." Carol rolled her eyes, tightening her hold on Chris with her legs so he couldn't shake her off.

<Iceman> "Freezing vacuum of space," he mocked, mimicking her voice in a higher pitch made even more grating by his ice form. He rolled his own eyes and dropped the temperature sharply.

<Warbird> "Are you mocking me? Have fun doing all the paperwork for the next month."

<Iceman> "I'll do it wrong just so you have to redo it." He poked out a frosted tongue and moved in on Chris, who was slowing down and gasping. "Fuuuuck... lookit'im."

<Hawkeye> Clint fired a few tranq darts into Chris just to add icing to the cake. "Either way, something will work."

<Warbird> "You kidding? I'll just mail it off and you can get it in the neck from Fury." She refused to let go until Chris was on the ground and definitely unconscious.

<Hope> Well they had this under control. Hope needed to get back so she'd have deniability. She'd see Chris at home. She'd be waiting. She made sure her pack was shouldered before taking off.

<Chris> All the different tactics worked together to knock Chris out hard. The energy fading out of his body.

<Warbird> Carol let go so he didn't take her all the way down with him and hovered for a moment, somewhat horizontal, before she straightened back up and set her feet on the ground. "Well look at that, we don't suck."

<Hawkeye> "You sure about that? Took three to take down one." Clint started heading towards all of them.

<Iceman> Bobby checked for a pulse, and once he was satisfied straightened up to look around, using his thermal vision to search for warm bodies... like Hope.

<Warbird> "Yeah but look at him, he's all... experimented on. We did good. Trust me, this could have gone a lot worse." She pushed a hand through her hair, looking down at her ruined uniform. "I should really do something about this."

<Hawkeye> "My wife would agree with you." Clint turned away. "I have more tranq darts if we need them. I don't know if that's what worked but I have plenty."

<Warbird> "We just need to keep him out long enough to get back to our transport, there's inhibitor cuffs on there somewhere - they promised. If there isn't, there'll be some at the local base." With a flash of energy she was in her Air Force uniform and she lifted off the ground because snow and heels were not a good combination.

<Hawkeye> "I brought enough tranqs to bring down a horse... but I also thought those cable arrows would work too. So how 'bout we get him back fast? I'll get his feet." Clint picked him up ignoring the wet substance on Chris' feet that he could only assume was blood.

<Warbird> "I'm so not ruining this uniform, do you have any idea how much it would cost to dryclean all that blood out?"

<Iceman> Bobby stopped searching the area and looked back at Clint, then over to the chopper. He snorted and started an ice slide, zipping quickly to the transport and back, then jumping off with a flourish. "Let's just get him on this and go body surfing."

<Warbird> "I'll go tell the cops the coast is clear then come back and warm up our ride so we can go home. Try not to drop him..."

<Hawkeye> "You want to risk waking this thing up...?" Clint still didn't believe that used to be one of his teachers.

<Iceman> "Well, hell no," he said, forming ice beneath the body as well and sliding him along the ramp.

<Hawkeye> "Welp.... looks like you got this." Clint rolled his eyes a little. "To the chopper." Clint wiped his hands off in the snow and then his pants as he walked off.

<Warbird> The cops were suitably impressed and it was a nice boost to her ego and SHIELD's press. She excused herself after shaking a hand or two and then headed back to their helicopter.

<Hawkeye> "So... think they can fix him?" Clint asked when they all got to the helicopter and ready to leave.

<Warbird> "I hope so... or Hope's going to be more unbearable than ever." Carol switched on the rota blades so they could take off.

<Iceman> "I've seen people come back from a lot, but..." He shook his head, locating a spare pair of uniform pants before he sat down and strapped in.

<Warbird> Carol kicked off her dress shoes and put them in Bobby's lap, "Do not lose those." Doors were closed, fuel lines were good, she started the take off.

<Hawkeye> "So good mission..." Clint held on tight as the helicopter left the ground. "Those really bring out your eyes by the way, Bobby." He laughed a little.