9112/A Teammate In Need

A Teammate In Need
Date of Scene:	07 September 2019
Location:	Dining Hall, Avengers Mansion
Synopsis:	Wanda's soul is stolen from her body, and Carol, Strange, Hulk, Betty Ross, Janet, and Rhodey help free her.
Cast of Characters:	Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel (Danvers), Hulk, Wasp (van Dyne), Red She-Hulk, War Machine

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Scarlet Witch has posed:
It has been a relatively quiet day so far. The action involving Sentinels has quieted again at least for the moment. It is a nice day outside, the heat of summer having given way to the approaching fall.

Within Avenger's Mansion, the staff - both human and robotic - go about their duties, cleaning polishing, and otherwise making sure the residents can focus their attention on more serious matters than house keeping. There are sounds of television coming from the Game Room, and smells of delicious things filter out from the Dining Room. Down in the labs, computers continue their analysis of different data gathered by the Stark satellites, while those of a more magical bent have their own, less-easily understood studies going about the recent ley line phenomena.

The quiet of the day is broken suddenly by a woman's scream, coming from the ground floor. A few moments later, the smooth sounds of JARVIS's voice go out over communicators and over intercoms within the mansion. "Avengers alert. Security and Medical to the Dining Room. Something has happened to Wanda and she is unconscious. No intruders currently showing on any of the mansion's sensors."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Strange had shown up in the mansion just after lunch time and was busying himself in the more uncomfortable libraries as he's trying to find a secret thousands of years old and yet nothing. All of his searching and scanning and communing with the ancient and oldest gods have turned up empty results.

    Stephen is about to react violently in a fit of rage when the scream fills the halls causing Stephen to bolt upright and send his mind in the direction of the scream. Upon hearing Wanda, Stephen's mind and body are reunited and the wizard in a white button up shirt is starting to run through the halls towards the unconscious former student of his.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol doesn't spend a great deal of time at the Mansion. When you can go to space and cross the country in an hour, it makes precious little sense to bum around just in case you're needed. It's by sheer chance that she's there, a copy of 'Woman' magazine in her hands as she lays back on the couch and mutters to herself: "Wow, you're really turning this into a piece of garbage, huh, Jonah?"

She's already on her feet as the alert sounds, tossing the magazine onto the coffee table and running around the couch towards the hall. A moment later she lifts from the ground, floating quicker in the air than she could move on the ground. Her costume appears with a shimmer as she rounds the corner into the dining hall.

Hulk has posed:
For his part, Bruce has been mostly out of the Mansion. He was actually just /visiting/ getting some equipment from one of the storage rooms where he keeps spares when the scream occurs. "What the...?" Bruce muses under his breath, before he turns and starts to head in the direction of the dining room. "No intruders? Sounds like some sort of magic."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"God, I know," Janet agrees with Carol. The fashion maven's in a flirty floral skirt and a v-necked blouse, cutouts in the flowing sleeves exposing the rondure of her shoulders. She's perched on the sofa with one leg tucked under her and a cell phone in hand, like any good Milennial, texting with a near-inhuman rapidity.

The alarm goes off and it takes her by blinking surprise. The Wasp launches off the sofa and discards her heels in midar before shifting to something roughly pixie-sized. She's not as fast as Carol but she's easily more manuverable, and by the time they get to the dining hall she's discarded her outfit in favor of a black-and-yellow number with gauntlets and a yellow skirt.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Having offered her help with the current ongoing situations before while visiting Bruce, Betty finds herself in the laboratory of the Avengers Mansion, currently going back and forth between several different positions overlooking various sources of data. She has been here for several hours, but from the expression on her face she doesn't seem to have had much luck, if any, so far.

When a scream can suddenly be heard, her attention is ripped away from her work and she looks around with confusion rampant on her features. Jarvis' words doesn't do anything to calm her. Security and medical? No intruders? This can't be good. Despite not being a hero like most everyone else present in the building save for the staff, she starts heading towards the exit to the laboratory and in the direction of the Dining Room. She moves quickly yet quietly through the corridors, keeping her senses alert to anything that might seem out of the ordinary.

War Machine has posed:
     "Come on this is going to look real bad in the police report if you die on me." Rhodes comments trying to make light of the situation just for a moment as he does what he can to try and prop Wanda back up into a chair and off of the floor. "Jarvis!" He calls out again to the ceiling. "Tell me we've got more people then just me and Wanda around."

     Rhodes is still wearing his desert combat uniform as he tries to help Wanda taking care to make sure she didn't break anything in the fall. He's running through possibilities in his head a pair of broken mugs already shattered against the ground with their contents spilled out across the floor.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Within the Dining Room Wanda had collapsed on the floor near Rhodey before he moved her back into a chair. She's wearing civilian clothes, a long skirt, purple blouse and boots. A plate lies where it tumbled to the ground beside her, along with some of the mansion's assortment of sliced up fruit that is a favorite of Wanda's for a healthy dessert. There are no signs of wounds or of a struggle on her, and no one visible in the room.

The medical staff report over the comms that they are on their way and will be there soon. "Josh Foley cried out in pain and collapsed in the medical bay," one of the other staff doctors reports over the communications soon after. "He seems to be ok, regained consciousness though he's in shock and not very responsive."

The medical staff will arrive after another minute or two, having to come up from the basement, leaving people a short period of time to investigate first.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Hell," Carol mutters sidelong to Janet, still floating there just inside the doorway, "There's nothing to punch. I'm at a total loss."

Without a sound, Carol's feet drop to the floor and she takes a few steps to crane her neck and look at Wanda. No wounds, nothing first aid training would help. She drops down to the broken plate, peering at the fruit and then up at War Machine.

"What'd you do, Rhodey?" she asks. It's maybe only two-thirds a joke.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Strange enters the room and the man with the grey haired temples frowns as he spies Wanda being lifted onto a stretcher and he looks to Carol. "Just because you can't punch something doesn't mean you're useless." The mage says as he steps past Carol and lifts his hands, but a circle forms around his left palm as he moves to run it over Wanda's prone form. He's concerned and scanning for mystical energies even as he follows the Avenger down the hall to the facilities.

Hulk has posed:
It doesn't take long to register what's happening when Bruce enters the room. It's almost instinctual, with the way he's at his knees next to Wanda's body. A finger on her throat and his ear an inch from her nose and mouth. A moment later... "Unresponsive. No pulse." Bruce moves over Wanda's midsection, already bringing both hands up to begin CPR.

"JARVIS, tell medical to get a crash cart up here." Bruce demands as he begins.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet alights on Carol's shoulder and grips a few strands of her hair for balance, barely palm-sized. "Yeah, you're good at other stuff, honey," Janet comforts Carol. "You know. Standing around, carrying things. Getting footballs off the roof."

Concern's on her features despite her glib tone, trying to disarm the tension in the room with a little banal humor.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Rounding the corner to the Dining Room and seeing Rhodey trying to help up a seemingly unconscious Wanda, she pauses for a moment before approaching further, looking around at the other people gathered there. She's definitively the odd one out here. But after a moment, she rushes over to Wanda's side where Bruce is already checking on Wanda to offer any help she can. She's hardly a medical professional, but she knows a thing or two about the basics.

She checks Wanda first, and then looks around to the others, clearly still confused. "What happened?" Then to Bruce. "Is she going to be ok?"

War Machine has posed:
     "CPR, she's not got a pulse." Rhodes expression softens somewhat upon seeing other people present. He goes right back to that firm expression back to the serious nature of the situation. He looks over. "No pulse, she's not breathing, we were just talking about the new episode of My Next Door Neighbor Is A Thirty Foot Hamster, and she just screamed out before she hit the ground."

     He comes back to a stand as Dr.Banner takes over where he'd been working prior. He runs a single hand through his hair before placing his cap back atop his head. "I managed to stop her from slamming her head in the fall but I haven't been much use on this end."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The medical staff arrive, bringing with them portal medical devices which hospitals would kill to get their hands on. They apply a defibrillator while another of the staff is using a portable scanner to check Wanda's condition.

Wanda's body convulses with the electrical shock, but she doesn't start breathing again. The doctor looking at the scanner frowns. "This... she's not breathing and no heartbeat, but... her cells aren't doing anything. There's still oxygen in her blood but her cells are not using it. It's like she's just... been paused somehow?" he says.

He shows the readings to Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. It isn't like she's dying, but her body is not functioning either. "Let's get her down to the medical bay," the doctor says, and the staff load her up on a cart to take her downstairs.

Down below they put her through the larger scanner that JARVIS runs. "I can confirm her body seems almost in some form of stasis, though not like cryogenics at all," he says. "I am also detecting an unusual energy signature in the area." The relevant information comes up on the monitors for examination.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
As the people with medical training (or at least medical understanding) enter the room, Carol immediately rises to her feet and gets out of the way once again. Her brow wrinkles, eyes flicking from person to person and then do the corners of the room.

"Jesus Christ," Carol gasps, hand instinctively rising to clutch the collar of her suit as Bruce gives the grim prognosis and gets to work on CPR. There's no more joking from her.

To Doctor Strange, she just nods her head and closes her slackened jaw to speak: "Anything you need. Just let me know." Now her eyes never leave Wanda's prone form as the doctors get her ready for medical.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Strange is standing out of the way of the medical teams and the Banner and Ross duo. While the whole of the room seems rather concerned about Wanda's state as though she were actually dying or now claiming she's in some stasis, Stephen however seems to have the news break across him as though he was a boulder under a waterfall.

    His left hand is still up like he's holding a tricorder from Star Trek but there's no device in his hand, just a green circle of pure energy around his scared hand. "Doctor Banner, if you'll assist me." Stephen says once he enters the med lab, the neurosurgeon is calm and collected, and he's certain his tone would strike a chord in Bruce's psyche. "I'm finding some traces of ... eldirtch and some other form of energy, mayhaps we could follow it."

Hulk has posed:
"I honestly have no idea, this is something new." Bruce replies to Betty as they move along to the medical bay.

"I've never heard of this before. Spontaneous stasis?" Bruce asks aloud. "She's... stopped?" as they watch the scanner's results. Then, he's looking to Stephen, and he gives a frown. "What do you need from me? This has 'magic' written all over it, so you'll probably be able to understand this better than me."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet's expression is equally stricken, as much from horror as gut-twisting uselessness. This isn't even a physical thing. It's in the strange domain of magic and arcane knowledge, where reason and logic at best have a tenuous grasp on the fundamentals.

"So... she's not dying?" Janet ventures finally, grasping for a shred of hope. Her cheeks have gone pale, making her subtle makeup stand out a bit more on her cheekbones (well, for anyone who can see that level of detail). "Don't let her die, guys," she implores them in an agitated tone.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Betty follows the medical team and the rest of the group as they move downstairs, staying close to Wanda's side. She looks very confused at what she hears. "Spontaneous stasis? What is that even supposed to mean?" She says, looking between Bruce, Dr. Strange and the scanner after having a look at the readings as they are shown to her. It doesn't make any sense. Not any conventional sense, at least, but since when is that news around her. "Do we have any idea what caused this? Any idea at all?" She adds shortly after, even as she moves towards the scanner.

"Move, please." Betty tells one of the doctors, and then start manipulating some of the settings and options of the scanner, clearly looking for something. After a short moment of this, her eyes widen as the scanner starts to show a different output. "I think I got something." she says. "I think its....some kind of signal...or trace or...." Her voice trails off as she continues to inspect the new readings. She seems completely focused on it. "Jarvis, are you getting this?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The medical staff hand over the scanner to Betty when she requests it. They see enough weird things here to know when to get out of the way. Over on another bed nearby, Josh Foley is lying with another doctor tending to him. "Gone... just gone," the golden-skinned mutant murmurs once, a tear leaking from his eyes and then he closes them and rolls over on his side.

After Betty has made her modifications to the scanner, JARVIS responds to her query. "I see the changes that you have made and am compensating the mansion's sensors to match. It seems there is a faint stream of the energy heading to the south until it disappears out of my range," JARVIS says.

A map is sent to the various Avenger's communicators, marking the path of the energy to where it leaves the mansion's range after a block or two. "I have keyed your scanner to update the maps if you wish to follow it," JARVIS says of Betty's modified scanner. "Also, the energy signature has dropped by 7% since it was first detected. I hypothesize it will fade away completely in the next hour or two."

Hulk has posed:
"No idea what's going on." Bruce replies to Betty. "If I had an answer, you'd think I'd be sharing with the class." Bruce quips, before he takes the map and looks it over. "Huh. Nothing for it then." Bruce looks to the others. "Something or someone is probably causing this state, and it's sourced where the signature is." Bruce taps the map, "I say we go and check it out ourselves."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Finally!" Janet explodes, as if she's been made to wait for hours. She pops onto her feet atop Carol's shoulder, voice carrying clearly despite her dimuntive size. "God, sitting around watch you nerds work is enough to make me cry. C'mon Carol!" She tugs Carol's ear twice. "I'm hopping a ride with you, let's get out there and do our recon thing," she bids the aviatrix.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Still holding the scanner, Betty looks around between the others, seemingly not sure if she should tag along with this in-person investigation. She's not a magician, or have super strength, or even a fancy suit that can shrink you and make you fly. She's not a hero, she's just....Betty. "We should....you should....someone should go now, before the trace fades more. Who knows how long it take to find the source, if that is even possible." She tells the group, trying to compose herself. She looks between them all again, her eyes pausing for a moment on Bruce, almost as if asking his permission. She still holds on to the scanner, however.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen looks up as Betty claims she has something on her scanner and he dispells the spell he was using to try and trace Wanda's soul as it seems the scientists have this thing in order. So with his mysticalness not needed at the moment, Strange frowns, dispells his spell and then turns to follow behind the group, as he lacks the equipment the rest of the avenger's posses. "Any ideas anyone?" Stephen asks, curious what they're all thinking.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Now you're speaking my language," Carol says with a malevolent grin on her face, driving her fist into her open palm, "let's kick some ass. Hang on, Janet!"

The blonde knows Janet can fly under her own power, but why fly when you can hitch a ride on Captain Marvel? She reaches into the pocket of her blue tunic, producing an earpiece that she fits into the ear over the shoulder Janet isn't occupying.

"Can you give me the coordinates?" Carol asks, already raising from the ground, "I can make it there quicker."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
With the scanner in hand, the group can follow the energy trail. Though it is almost like following a scent, they don't know what the end destination is in advance for Captain Marvel to fly there.

With Betty having modified the scanner, and seeming therefore the best to handle the device, the group sets out. The trail cuts a straight path across the city to the southeast, going right through buildings and walls.

But eventually the group arrive on a block, the signal strength having gone up slightly along the way, and getting strong enough now it seems like they might have reached the end. There's an apartment building, about four stories tall, and otherwise unremarkable except for the trail of eldritch energy seeming to lead inside.

Across the street from the apartment is a large clothing store. The quality is nothing to make Janet worry for her company, but it's a large store with rows of windows showing outfits off for men and women, even children.

As the group is considering how best to approach the apartment building, there is the sound of shattering glass. One of the mannequins, wearing a bikini, jumps through the hole it just smashed in the glass. More windows break outwards as more mannequins jump out from the building, dressed in everything from summer outfits, to work attire, and there's even one mannequin dressed like a skier, with skis over his shoulder and poles in his hand. More mannequins pour out of the store, at least two dozen of them. They begin advancing on the Avengers, and if there is any doubt of their intent, a wooden ski is launched towards Capt Marvel's head hard enough the wood could impale someone normal.

War Machine has posed:
     Rhodes sticks along with the group. While some of them might have speed or flight on their side all that the good ol Colonel has on his side is a beat up 4 door sedan. He drives with a good deal of speed while still following the traffic laws. It's a wonder he's able to keep up at all, but unlike most supers he does have a good deal of experience with traveling on foot and moving about the city in a timely manner.

     He ducks the car down several back alleyways and ramps it down a few sets of stairs along the way still dressed in his full combat gear. Tires squeel and roar out as he takes a sharp corner half spinning out as he pulls back up with the rest of the group only able to keep up through the coms line that's been tossed up for Avengers traffic.

     He steps out of the car just in time to see the mannequins pouring out from every angle. His eyes glance from one figure to the next as a wooden pole slams through the front window of his sedan causing him to jump up on the spot. He looks down towards the now shattered windshield and the impaled Peppe Pig doll that had been setting on the dash-board.

     His feet touch back down after the jump as he calls out. "Come on, I just finished making payments on that." Before pausing at the impalled plush figure. "And Lilia is gonna kill me."

     He almost manages to miss one of the mannequins as it charges for him with the arm of another mannequin ready to strike. There's barely time to react as it slams down the arm missing his head by a hairs breadth. From the force of the impact the front end of the car sinks down the tires flopping out to either side as the suspension gives out.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet buries herself behind Carol's head and hangs onto her collar for dear life. There in the lee of her blonde scalp Janet's the least likely to be buffeted by the heavy winds of Carol's passing.

She's small and agile though and when the wooden pole's chucked at Carol's head Janet is already gone and flying. She buzzes a fast pass through the department building to reconnoiter the area and determine the scope of the threat to the Avenger's team.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Like Rhodey, void of any super speed, strength or anything else really, Betty has also had to take her car to not slow down the group too much. Being the person still in possession of the scanner, she has simply tried to follow the signal as fast as she can and trusted that the rest follows her lead.

Stopping in front of the building complex, she exits her car almost before it comes to a halt, scanner still in hand and eyes focused on the small device. The sound of the glass shattering has her look up, though, just in time to see the ski being launched at Carol. She freezes for a moment, but then quickly moves to take cover behind her car, her head peeking up from behind the hood to still keep an eye on what is going on. IF any of the others should look her way amid the chaotic scene, she'll point to the building opposite the store where the mannequins are emerging from to indicate that that is the the source of the signal.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen runs as best he can, and without his cloak of levitaiton, running is easily the best option for the wizard as he wasn't invited into Rhodey's ride. Or he was already gone when Rhodey offered any. So Stephen catches up to Carol and Janet at roughly the same time and is a touch winded. He decides this is no time to be distracted by large dolls. The Avengers, heck nearly any Avenger on their own should be enough to handle such a basic threat and so Stephen turns his back on the combat and aims his focus on the apartment building after Betty motioned at it.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
As they arrive at the source of the disturbance in the Force, Carol hovers high above with her hands loose at her side and one leg slightly crooked at the knee. She looks critically at the building, drifting downwards to get a better look at it.

"I'm gonna be honest," she tells Janet, shaking her head, "I thought it was going to be some sort of evil tower emanating dark energies. Not an apartment block. Why don't the bad guys have good lairs anymore? Would it kill them to set up shop in a volcano shaped like a skull? At least then you don't feel so bad blowing it up."

That indescribable 'cosmic sense' twinges suddenly, and her head jerks to the side: "Heads up, Jan!"

She doesn't even notice her miniaturized friend has already departed, turning to face the oncoming ski projectile rather than dodging out of the way. Her faster-than-human reflexes kick into gear as she brings up a fist, the ski shattering into splinters before toppling to the ground.

"Who threw that?" she asks of the ... mannequins? Okay, that's new. She wastes no time, dropping to the street to meet one drive a glowing fist into its stylized torso. What parts of it that don't shatter instantly go toppling, charred and smoking, back into the store with a clatter.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
It appears all of the mannequins in the store near to the street have exited it to fight the Avengers. Carol dispatches the skiing mannequin with a blasting punch that blows the hard plastic apart. The other mannequins nearby start to rush her though, nearly ten of them running at her to try to jump on her in a big pile and pummel her.

Two of the mannequins that Wasp buzzes near start chasing her, swatting at her with hands and then one of them picking up a bench from the sidewalk to swing and try to hit her with.

More of the mannequins start to head towards the vehicles, moving around them towards Rhodey and Betty and Doctor Strange, intent on tearing them apart or pummeling them into a bloody pulp.

War Machine has posed:
     Rhodes pauses as his shoes skid across the ground combat boots meeting pavement as he brings himself back to a stand from the strike another shot from a mannequin that would have caved in his head had it made impact just barely missing.


     As he ducks back from the blow he slides a hand down into the pocket of his shirt and places a pair of aviator shades up onto the bridge of his nose. He taps the side of the lenses doing some quick math on the current location of himself relative to the suit.

     His feet break into a bit of a run as he draws his service pistol fireing off several rounds into the nearest mannequin. He sends round after round of 45 caliber munitions into the nearby figure as he moves quick as he can to hop up onto the roof of the now unusable sedan. He finds himself already surrounded by a small crowd of the shambling figures.

     They shamble quite a bit faster then he'd like one of them managing to strike him on the side of the head sending him stumbling to one side falling slightly off balance. He stumbles almost falling back off the other side a bit of blood running down the side of his forehead as he pumps a few more rounds down to the crowd bellow in a mater of just a few seconds emptying an entire mag.

     Some of the ones surrounding him now have missing arms or domes from the rounds impacting them but keep coming as the uniformed man wipes blood from the side of his face .

     High above the city a little light shines out as something drops down from orbit. Little more then a small light on the horizon the image grows closer and brighter as a small meteorite comes crashing down with a great deal of speed.

     Rhodes holds up his right hand to the sky as the mannequins come in closer denting and damaging the already destroyed car further by the moment as they come in for the kill. That's when the meteorite slams into Rhodes kicking up smoke and bits of asphalt while knocking back some of the mannequins that were going after him.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet yelps and focuses on her flying. Small as she is the mannqueins move like molasses in comparison. The flying bench stirs up some turbulence but she rides it like a champ and shoots up to the ceiling so she's well out of reach, buzzing along in erratic S-shaped curves.

"I think this is it for the GAP brigade!" Janet informs the rest of the team. "I don't see any more in here!" She abruptly hooks towards a broken window and zips outside to start wrecking havok with blasts of green bioplasma.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Watching the scene unfold from behind the relative safety of her car, Betty looks like she isn't quite sure what to do. Other than watch. At least she's getting a good show watching Carol and Janet engage the animated mannequins. OR whatever these things really are. She'd join them if she thought her doing so would indeed help, but as it is she would like only serve as a distraction. Seeing Stephen ignore the mannequins to let the others deal with the threat, she almost doesn't notice the approaching mannequins starting to swarm the vehicles. She ducks out from her cover to follow the magician, keeping her head down and moving as fast as she can without drawing attention to herself. But, looking back over her shoulder, she now notices the approaching mannequins.

A small squeal escapes her lips and she clutches the scanner close to her chest. Looking around desperately to try to figure out what to do, she decides that her current destination is the best alternative available. The building, that's probably safe, right? And if not, Stephen is there. What could possibly go wrong? She looks back over her shoulder at the fighting Avengers. They seems to have the situation under control. As much control as you can have in a situation like this, anyway. So she makes her way to Stephen and tries to move so that he is between her and the mannequins and then follows Stephen towards the entrance to the building, while /totally/ not using him as a human shield. At all.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Strange was about to continue to search for Wanda's soul when the plastic army comes up behind him. The veterinarian rolls his eyes, yeah, expecting a handful of Avengers to defeat such a simple foe was really asking too much, wasn't it. Then Betty moves to pass him as he was marching towards the building and very noticeably places him between her and the mannequin army.

    A simple bit of telepathy is a breeze for the former Sorcerer Supreme, as he just wants a name, "Betty, we're headed towards whatever stole the Scarlet Witch from her own body. I think the plastic army behind us would be less of a threat, even to you." Stephen says before he lifts a hand and gestures it behind his back declaring, "Flames of the Faltine!" And a brilliant orange flame rises from the ground in a circle, blocking the way into the apartment building.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"What Janet said," Carol announces, darting bullet-swift towards the cars to lift a boot and send one of the mannequins literally sailing up, up, up into the air and over the top of the apartment complex, "Wizards and nerds, focus on whatever weirdness is doing this and we'll focus on kicking plastic ass."

As the mannequins converge on her, the blonde reaches down to grab one by the ankle and swing it around her like a hammer-throw. It's an inelegant solution, but it gets the job done as several of the mannequins go flying and the one in her hand is left little more than a slightly melted leg that she then tosses over her shoulder.

"Rhodey," she calls to War Machine, reaching out to grab one mannequin by its featureless head and hurling it in the armored man's direction, "Batter up!"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The flames take out two of the mannequins, and the rest seem to have enough sense to not try to go through the flames that caused their brethren to quickly melt into smelly puddles of plastic. They turn to charge Captain Marvel and also heading toward the cloud of dust that resulted from the impact of what came down from the sky towards James Rhodes.

Meanwhile, Betty and DOctor Strange go inside the apartment. The scanner is detecting something up above, so they go up the stairs to the third floor before the scanner seems to want to follow the trail through a door there.

Opening it up, the find a fairly normal looking apartment. However inside is an old man with greying hair worn long, and a thick moustache. He's holding a stone in his hand that is about two inches thick and four inches long, and Doctor Strange will sense the magic emanating from it.

There are a pair of a small cages made of metal wire over on a table. In one of them a male doll made of wood, not unlike a puppet but lacking strings, is lying on the bottom of the cage. It has silver hair and blue clothing. The other cage holds a female doll dressed in scarlet, with auburn hair. The six-inch tall doll is moving, holding at the cage like a prisoner in a cell. "Stephen!" a tiny female voice cries from the doll. "Stephen, help me!"

The old man looks towards the two intruders. "You'll not take my children from me. Ana and Mateo will come home with me where they belong!" he says. He lifts the stone towards the doorway, and Stephen can feel magic swelling stronger within it as some spell is begun, but not yet breaking yet.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Following the trail up the stairs alongside Stephen, Betty stops and raises a hand for the Doctor to do the same, her eyes peeled to the screen of the scanner held in her hand. She looks to the door, and then to him, giving him a faint nod. As they open the door and the elderly man with the stone in hand comes into view, she peeks inside carefully, and then she blinks in surprise. Not exactly what she had imagined, it would seem. But then she spots the cages and the little dolls trapped inside, and her eyes widen. She looks to Stephen again clearly waiting for him to take the lead. I mean, he's the Avenger, after all. She's just....the help?

But her gaze quickly returns to the room as the doll with the auburn hair calls out to her companion. She's seen some weird sh...things, in her time, even if not as many or as strange as Dr...well, Strange, but this certainly ranks in the top 10. Maybe 11. The calls of the doll, even if not directed at her, has any thoughts of letting Stephen take the lead dissipate from her mind, and she moves into the apartment quickly, heading straight for the little cage whcih she will try to get open somehow to free the doll, supposedly while Stephen handles the old man with the stone.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Of course I'll help you." Stephen says in response to the Wandoll. Then he steps forward, a damaged hand going before Betty to urge her behind him on purpose this time as he steps up towards the man with the stone. "Ana and Mateo are both not your children." Stephen says, or surmises quickly as at least Ana is Wanda and not Ana, so Mateo is likely someone else as well.

    "Let Ana and Mateo go and you can have me, instead." Stephen says with a gesture of his hands held wide.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Out in the street, Carol does what she does best - beats the hell out of some bad guys that she has no need to pull her punches with. After one is flung in Rhodey's direction, she focuses on the group converging on her. A few are melted into goop with a photon blast, while another is kicked hard enough to snap in two. She may not be able to do much about all the magic stuff, but she can certainly handle this.

Through one of the apartment windows, she can be seen hurtling skyward with two dummies - one clasped in either hand. As the mysterious old man speaks to Betty and Strange, Carol can be heard yelling something about 'ever wondered what happens to plastic in space?' A moment later, she flings one of the mannequins upwards and then once more disappears down below window level towards the street.

At least someone's enjoying themselves.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The mannequins are hopelessly outmatched against Carol, but it doesn't stop them from continuing to rush her. Those who manage to get close enough pound on her with fists that hit harder than normal men can, though not enough not do more than make her smart and possibly piss her off.

Meanwhile, inside, the claim that Ana and Mateo are not his children brings out an angry gasp from the old man. "My children, I lost them once, I will not lose them again. Ana is with me again, and soon Mateo will be!" he says.

He holds forth the stone, and magic flows from it to the furniture in the room. The chairs suddenly become animated and rush at Stephen Strange, the hardwood capable of bludgeoning a person brainless.

Meanwhile, the cage is opened by Betty and the little doll steps out. "Stone... stone is the source," the doll squeaks.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Betty doesn't let the Doctors noble gesture keep her from entering the room ahead of him. Opening the cage, she reaches down to gently pick up the doll. "Wa...Wanda?" she mutters, blinking at the doll a few times as she makes the whole thing makes sense in her mind. Which she utterly fails to do. Doll Wanda /is/ kinda adorable, but probably not the most pleasant experience for her.

Then the doll speaks, and, Doll Wanda in one hand and scanner still in the other, she turns around just in time to see the furniture come alive and rush at Stephen. She doesn't look like she is certain what to do, but with the old mans attention seemingly fixed on Stephen, she moves quickly towards the old man and tries to swat the stone out of his hand with the scanner. Or, should that fail, simply knock the old geezer over the head enough times to make him loose his concentration. Or something. Hopefully she won't get murdered by a pissed off tea table or something.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "You can't lose them again. They're already gone." Stephen starts by stepping closer to the man and getting a futon slammed into his legs. The wizard spins in the air once and lands on his back with the wind knocked out of him hard by the impact. Trying to catch his breath, Stephen sounds like he's breathing through a straw and then an ottoman and a high back chair are dog piling on the sorcerer whose screams are muffled by the upholstery.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Come on," Carol chides the attacking mannequins, sending another few flying before diving after them to flatten their plastic bodies against the asphalt, "Aren't you going to all merge together into some giant plastic monster? I figured you'd be more of a - "

Smack! One of the mannequins catches her across the jaw with a plastic fist. Her head rolls with it, and when it comes up her exasperated mood is replaced by one of grim determination. Subtly, her entire body begins to glow with some sort of inherent energy.

"You know I'm going to hurt you for that, right?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The mannequins gather round Carol as if gaining confidence from the blow that was landed. But that's silly, plastic doesn't have confidence. Though there's a swelling of magic that Stephen feels, even if he can't see another wave of mannequins from deeper in the store emerging, he will know something bad is being done outside.

The mobile furniture kicks at Strange with wooden legs, trying to brain him thoroughly once he is knocked down. "Stephen!" the little doll calls. "The totem stone!" she calls as Betty carries her over towards the old man.

The scanner smacks into him, bruising his hand but he maintains his grip on the stone, only to take a hard hit from the scanner to his head. "NO! ANA IS MY DAUGHTER!" he screams and thrusts out his fist towards Betty, a wave of concussive force lashing out towards her.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Betty doesn't fail to notice the pummeling Stephen is taking from the furniture, and her eyes shift to the prone sorcerer when Doll-Wanda calls out his name. But there's hardly much she can do to help him other than try to stop the old man. I mean, she's probably only a -little- stronger than Stephen himself, after all, and look how he is faring. So she proceeds to smack the old man on first the hand and then over the head, holding the doll close to her chest with the other hand, making sure she is out of reach of him.

To her chagrin, all she gets for her efforts as the old man's attention and a concussive blast to the chest, her proximity to the source of the blast making dodging away impossible. And so, she goes flying though the room, crashing into the wall and slumping the the floor as her breath is knocked out of her. She manages to keep a hold of the doll, though, still clutching it close. Her eyes twitch as she tries to catch her breath, her jawline protruding from teeth clenched together hard. She looks down at the dool to make sure it didn't get damaged by the blast, and then her eyes flicker to the old man. If looks could kill, and all that.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen snarls at himself. This is not how a wizard should behave or handle himself. No, he's not the Sorcerer Supreme any more. But he's not bound by the rules of the position either. Stephen reaches his scared hand out and even with a wooden leg cracking against his wrist, Stephen reaches out to the stone and summons a mystiglass sphere around the object, locking it's energies within the sphere and preventing any magic to get in or out to the stone.

    "Betty! Get it." He cries as he has to strugle against the furniture, hoping the sudden change in shape around the stone causes the man to drop it and with Betty being the only one in the room who can move...

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"More mannequins!" Carol calls into her earpiece, hoping either Betty or Strange have something to pick up her transmission, "Whatever you're doing in there, I think it's having the opposite effect! We want less mannequins! Less!"

As more of them march out, Captain Marvel stops toying with them and busts out the big guns. She holds two fists out before her, both of them beginning to glow brightly until its almost too much to look at. A moment later a burst of photonic energy emanates from her, flooding the broken windows of the clothing store and washing over the mannequins emerging from it with a wave of force.

She takes a second to glance back over her shoulder, up at the apartment block Betty and Strange are inside.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Bits of mannequin go flying as arms and legs are detached by the blast, while those that were hit directly melt and lie in smoldering puddles of plastic. Some still move, some without arms and others missing a leg and hobbling, but only destruction or removing their ambulatory parts seems to make them finally grow still. But Carol has taken out a huge swathe of the automatons.

The magic sphere closes around the totem stone and the old man has to pull his hand back to avoid being caught inside of it. The active Nivashi stone continues to try to spew out magic but it is trapped in the sphere. Building up more and more, the light within the mystic sphere growing brighter and then starting start to turn an uglier red. Just the sight of speaks of something bad about to happen, and there is time to try to take cover before stone and sphere both suddenly explode, the blast lacking shrapnel, but enough to bounce people off walls a second time.

The furniture is wrecked by the blast and lies in pieces. Outside, the mannequins suddenly topple over and go still.

The doll is obliterated in the blast, broken into pieces. As the smoke starts to clear and the ringing of ears stops, those with Avengers comms will hear a voice. "It's Wanda. You've done it, I'm free," she says.

A swirl of scarlet energy appears as Wanda teleports into the room. "Carol, are you alright?" she calls through the window that was blown out. Wanda looks down at the old man, lying on the ground groaning, but still conscious. "Father. Father what have you done," she says to him.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Still trying to catch her breath, Betty barely manages to get to her feet before the sphere and stone is already glowing an angry red. She's no expert, but it's pretty obvious that that's not a good thing. Looks like a second attempt at jumping the old man will have to wait. She looks to the window for a fraction of a second, but that's just dumb. So, instead she opts to try and take cover behind an old, rather smelly, couch, the only piece of larger furniture that hasn't yet come to life. Managing to get to safety just in time, she is knocked over by the couch smashing into her and she feels the doll crumble to nothing in her hand.

She looks horrified for a moment, still unaware of what that means, and if Wanda is ok or....very much not ok. She doesn't know how magic works. The flash of scarlet energy doesn't do much to reassure her, but when she hears Wanda's voice, she pokes her head up from behind the large piece of the couch that she is still hidden behind, her eyes wide. She looks very disheveled, but who in the room, apart from Wanda perhaps, doesn't. At least she didn't get kicked by an ottoman, so there's that. But the scanner has been destroyed, sputtering electrical sparks from its position a few feet away from her. Her lips move as if to speak, but before she can, Wanda is addressing her....father? So he wasn't lying? Her eyes widen further at this discovery. "Wanda? are you ok" She manages to say between coughs and heavy breaths.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen catches his breath finally and winces at the bruises the furniture is going to leave all over his body from the impacts. He groans as he pushes the stuff off of himself and climbs to his feet. These are the reasons he's not a full time Avenger, the probelms are just way too real.

    Stephen climbs to his feet and spies Betty and Wanda with the red head talking to her 'father' Strange simply shakes his head and rolls his eyes. Then the wizard turns around and starts back towards the stair cases before making his way back home. Not dealing with this today. It's already been a weird one with vampires and the like. He just wants to rest.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Wanda? You're back?"

Carol, seeing the mannequins mostly dealt with now, lets slip the surly bonds of Earth and rockets upward to hover by blown-out window. She peers inside, remaining outside just in case any magic is being bandied about. She's to not patience for that stuff.

"Who's this guy?" she asks of the old man, glancing as Strange turns around to leave, "I'm guessing we won?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda stands over the man for a moment, but then turns to Betty and Doctor Strange first. "Thank you for freeing me," she says, "Yes, I'm ok." Wanda moves over to help Betty up. Her fingers move and scarlet auras gather around them as she moves her hands slowly above Betty. Bumps that would have turned into bruises are healed, the pain going away. "I don't have Josh's skill, but that should help," she says to Betty with a grateful smile.

Wanda starts back to the old man then, looking over to Carol and her question as the woman hovers at the window. "My adopted father, Django Maximoff. Pietro and I were given to he and Marya as babies, to raise after we were born on Wundragore Mountain," she says.

Wanda crouches by the old man, who begins crying. "I thought you were dead," she tells him quietly, reaching out a hand to rest her fingers on his cheek.

Django says softly, "Ana, I know you blame me for the attack on the kumpania. But you and Mateo are my children, please," he pleads with her.

Wanda sighs softly and looks over to Betty and Carol. "Ana and Mateo were their children who had died at a young age, before Pietro and I were born," she says quietly. Django looks at Wanda. "I saw you both on TV. Avengers. But you're my children. You should be with me," he says.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Betty accepts Wanda's hand and gets back to her feet, throwing a quick glance in the direction of the broken scanner and then looking back to Wanda with a soft smile and a still rather confused look in her eyes. She shudders a little as the redheaded Avenger mends her bruises, but then visibly relaxes as the pain diminishes. "Thank you." She tells her. Then she looks to the window where Carol is hovering outside. "You look surprisingly fine." She murmurs to herself, unable to hold back a small, somewhat labored laugh at the question she poses to Wanda. She goes quiet, though, and the laugh instantly stops as the scene between Wanda and her adopted father unfolds. It's kinda sad, really. It's hard not to feel at least a little pity for the old man. Everyone has their demons, Betty knows this all too well. She just nods faintly as Wanda tells her a little of the story that lays behind this whole thing happening, and she sniffles a little. She always was a sucker for a tragedy. She starts moving slowly over to where the reunited daughter and father are, but keeps quiet.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"I was just beating up store mannequins," Carol tells Betty, shrugging her shoulders somewhat before she slips in through the hole to land inside the apartment, "They hit hard and all but, y'know, still plastic."

As Wanda explains who the man is, the blonde visibly frowns and crosses her arms over her chest. There's something about her demeanor that immediately runs cold, like a cloud passing over the sun.

"Raised you," she says sharply, "And then did some sort of voodoo on you. He doesn't sound like your father, Wanda. He sounds deranged and dangerous."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
There are a lot of conflicting emotions on Wanda's face. "He kept calling me Ana after he... pull my soul out and put it in the doll. He planned to do the same to Pietro," she says quietly. "I think he can't tell the difference between us, and the children he lost."

Django Maximoff is there to hear all of that, but it doesn't seem to register at all as he gazes at Wanda with the longing of a father. Wanda lets out a soft sigh and looks over to Betty and Carol. "Our camp was attacked when we were young. A combination of reasons, including he and Pietro having stolen from the village. But my powers emerged then, when some boys assaulted me. Our wagon was burned, with Mother inside. And the men were... were beating him. And he yelled for Pietro to get me out of there. You know Pietro, we were miles away before I could do anything. Our powers, we didn't have control of them, back then," she says quietly.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
Betty's expression is almost the exact opposite of Carol's, more empathic concern and sympathy at this point than anything that could be called stern. She's always been more the type to forgive than hold a grudge. At anyone but herself and her father, at least. She listens to the story Wanda tells and sniffles again. This isn't going to become less sad at all, is it. She tries to emulate Carol as best she can though, even if not going for a /quite/ as stern expression, but it's probably not very convincing at all even at that.

The petite brunette looks to Wanda then, concern unmistakable in her eyes. "What are you going to do? He clearly needs help. Do you think anything can fix his mind? And what if they do? Then what?" She moves over and crouches next to the old man, studying his features for a moment.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"You can't forget, Wanda," Carol explains, her tone still stern as she picks one of the little dolls up off the table and turns it over in her hand, "He might not be able to tell the difference between you and his biological children? But wherever his mind is, it isn't so far away that he couldn't do all this."

She's not exactly sure what happened, but all she knows is that Wanda kind of died and it was only through quick thinking that she's even here anymore.

"I'll give you this one for nothing," she tosses the doll through the air towards Wanda, her expression still stern, "Fathers aren't so great. Maybe you need to find yours some help, but you also need to make sure he isn't going to come back and try whatever this was again. You're lucky that they were even able to find him here!"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda sighs softly. "We'll have to see if we can get him help. I don't think he's likely a danger after this. I don't even know how he managed to find the Nivashi stone, but now it is destroyed... he doesn't have his own magic," Wanda says. She swings her gaze over to Carol. "I just have found out he's alive, after thinking for twenty years that he was dead. There's a lot deal with here," she says quietly.

Wanda helps Django up. "Come on. I'll take you to see Pietro. Mateo. But you can't make us try to stay with you. We have our lives, and maybe you can have a place in them, but it has to be on our terms," she tells the Romany old man.

Red She-Hulk has posed:
"Maybe if we can help him, he could tell us about how he got the stone. Or...who gave it to him." Betty muses softly, looking up at Wanda, still crouched next to Django. The Carol is given a "C'mon, give her a break." kinda look, although not a very assertive one, probably. Betty doesn't do 'assertive' super well, even if she has been surrounded by people with that very quality to mimic her entire life.

She helps Wanda get her adopted father to his feet, and then steps back to give the two space, moving to stand close to Carol. Juuust incase more furniture should suddenly spring to life. Unlikely, but you never know.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol huffs noisily, bringing up a gloved hand to run it through her blonde hair and shaking her head. Everything about her expression, her attitude says she doesn't like it. But at the same time, she's not about to argue or try to keep it from happening. At the end of the day, Django looks like an old man - he is an old man - and if Wanda says the source of his power is gone, then she's going to believe that.

"I'm gonna go mop up," she says, stepping over to the window again, leaving Wanda to handle teleporting everybody back where they belong. As she steps out onto empty air, gravity once again lets go of her and she glides away to meet the arriving police cruisers.