14224/The prodigal pinata

The prodigal pinata
Date of Scene:	25 March 2022
Location:	Abandoned warehouse - Lower East Side
Synopsis:	Skye, Nat, Nick and Tony all answer the distress call sent by Hawkeye.
Cast of Characters:	Hawkeye (Barton), Black Widow (Romanoff), Iron Man, Quake, Phantasm (Drago)

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Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
At some point during this rainy night, several heroes received a special coded message on their service cellphone. This kind of message signals that a teammate is requesting urgent backup. The signal also pinpoints to the location. In this case, the location is an abandoned warehouse in the Lower East Side.

Once the home of a thriving furniture business, this warehouse is no longer open for business. At least, for legal business. Windows have been reinforced inside with metal sheets, leaving the outside broken windows in place, so that the warehouse still looks abandoned.

The main entry to the building is a set of large metallic doors. There are no guards outside and no visible cameras. It's Lower East Side, after all. Chances of a Hydra base being located there, unnoticed, are rather slim.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Natasha was just on her way out of the building. SHIELD uniform on, not that it differed much from her regular uniform outside the patches. Weapons in holsters. She was about to take the exit to the parking garage where her SUV was waiting. All that was on her mind was what might be for dinner tonight when she got home. She was chatting with Skye as she walked. Just a normal day.

Thus when the alert came in, she pulled out the phone to pinpoint the information and turned at a dead run for the elevators up to the top floor. She wasn't the only one responding and waited for others to join. Setting the elevator on priority so that there would be no stops every floor. During the ride up, she got clearance. And she sent out the notice on the emergency frequency through her commlink.

"Taking a quin to the emergency alert. Anyone joining, be on bird number 3279." Which was the one she'd been assigned.

Iron Man has posed:
There are very few things that can drag Tony Stark out of his workshop once he's started a project. Normally, the music is blaring and he's surrounded by holographic parts and pieces, by data displays, and sometimes, a fruit tray. Or untouched take-out.

A coded distress signal on super secret coms is something that will certainly distract, at least JARVIS. The phone buzzes on a table upstairs, unheeded if only for the moment.

<<Sir,>> the music is turned down so the AI can be heard over the blaring music, and he repeats, <<Sir, there is a message coming across your internal channels. Shall I relay the message?>>

Tony is dressed down; t-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and there is a distinct lack of shaving that has been done in the time 'away'. It takes him a moment to pull himself from the zen of creating, and brows crease. "What? Who?"

<<There is a coded message coming in. It is the distress beacon with a location. There is a signature attached.>>

Tony shakes his head, his hands waving in order to pull all the work that he's done so far into a cohesive, organized file before putting his hands together to close it all up. In the next few moments, however, he's walking towards one of his suit 'stands', and offers up, "Send the coordinates to the suit and let's go." Time to suit up. "Let Pepper know I probably won't be home for dinner."

<<I'm certain she'll be surprised, sir.>>

The donning of the Iron Man suit takes only heartbeats; feet, legs.. each move and shift into position easily, and as the red and gold armor cycles up to his head, the faceplate is the last to go on. The moment it's in place and the system is booted up, Tony is gone from the Tower and on his way.

"Hey," Tony is tapped into coms now, "I'm on my way to.. some sort of warehouse. Who's with me, huh? I'm buying afterwards... Oh, hey.. Natasha. Perfect. Looks like it'll be Russian tonight, then. I've been wanting to try borscht. Heard great things about it."

Quake has posed:
Skye peered up when the alarm came in.

"Want some help?" Skye really wasn't on a particular team. In fact, she was usually (despite her Quakeyness) kept only for special missions. And without her usual partner, they were few and far between. Mostly she did things that didn't make her leave the Trisk.

Mostly.

She caught the flight's number. What nobody said no for..

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
So. How DID Nick end up on the bird?

FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK.

It is true. Nick is not a SHIELD agent.

But he did stay at a Triskelion last night.

So he was actually in the halls when Natasha went running by. And when Skye comes running along as well, he ends up being caught up in the sprint up to the bird with no idea what's going on other than it being an emergency.

Ever the forward thinker there, Nick.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
And this is where we insert the travel montage music segment...

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Once they arrive on site, the rescue team of heroes will have no problem gaining access into the warehouse. What are what looks like basic metal door for them? Nothing to worry about. Although this seems like a low risk building, the distress signal insists that it is the right location.

It's late at night, and there are few people outside, especially with this cold rain. Will the heroes quietly open the doors, decide to barge in, or look for another, less obvious, entrance?

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
There were a handful of agents on board. Most were the general level one types. Boots on the ground, so to speak. They were from a variety of squads but all had been taught the same tactics so they could work together without confusion. There were two higher level agents in the form of Skye and Natasha.

And then there was Nick.

Thankfully Skye vouched for him. Natasha had met him on a mission once but she hadn't lived this long automatically trusting. So he got on the bird.

They dropped at the next building over, allowing them to assess. "Tony, what have you got on your sensors for the building?" THen she looked at Nick. "I remember you having a knack for entry/exit. You able to get eyes inside without being seen?"

Quake has posed:
Thank goodness she wore her support armbands most of the time - even though she didn't very rarely need them for her regular jobs: what with trolling around the internet and darkwebs. This was definitely not the internet! At all.

Skye looked at Nick. "It would be nice?" Of course she /could/ happen to see if there was an internet connection. But knowing Nick, it would be easier to remotely view.

She wasn't the type to need to have the kudos. She knows when it would be better to use something else.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick gives a nod. Being that he's already registered with SHIELD it's not like Natasha couldn't look up the particulars of what was shared. Also, he had already done play by play summaries of what was going on before by utilizing a bird's eye view. What's one more.

"Yeah. Got a spare one of those..."

He gestures to his ear. It seems that even if borrowed for a mission prior, he didn't get to keep the piece.

Wonder why.

Iron Man has posed:
Iron Man is what is known as 'distraction'. He's particularly good at gaining attention, in the suit or out of it. As he flies across the city, only a couple of minutes, tops, to get the location, he can even 'see' the Quin, and flying just underneath it, he breaks off at the last minute to follow the beacon.

Full stop, and he hovers just above, the action looking extremely practiced. "Okay, JARVIS, give me the spectrum," is murmured in the helm. Even as he says it, the building lights in all different patterns, giving him a pretty good cross-section of what is below him.

<<"Place is chock full of tech. Not bad for a furniture place. Couple of levels, and reading very basic heat signatures.">> comes over the coms in response. <<Let me guess. I'll be going in hot.">>

Coordination is key, right?

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Iron Man's assessment is right about the state of the inside floor plan. Although, he cannot be certain which of these heat signatures is the one that sent the distress signal. Going hot might put a friend's life at risk, but again, he's certainly a good distraction!

So far, there are no signs of any security alarm being activated, and everything seems quiet. This can change in a split-second with any wrong movement.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Reaching into her belt, Natasha drew out a commlink and set it on the necessary frequency then passed it over to Nick. If he needed anything additional that they might have on the Quinjet as well, it could be provided.

<<Once we get a full assessment, pretty sure you'll be going in to draw eyes. You know you love it. Center of attention and all that.>> Natasha said to Tony. <<We have a ghost going in first. He'll get us a bit more ground info. Then you go loud and we'll make entry.>>

She looked to Nick. "As soon as you find our agent, let us know. They're priority. If you can get them out, do so. We'll focus on anyone else that might be inside that took the agent down."

Iron Man has posed:
Tony lands on the roof of the building, and begins to look around it, searching for the perfect spot to poke a hole. He's looking for the spot //away// from the others' entrance, and setting himself, he's powering up for a good and proper blast.

<<"I've never been the quiet type, and I'm not about to start now. I have a reputation, after all.">>

Tony is looking at the vantage points from his spot; traffic patterns, entrances and exits.. <<"In fact, I think I've cornered the market on reputations.">> the digital displays are scrolling quickly in front of him.

<<"I'll be on this side,">> where is 'this', exactly? <<"And you can do the sneaky thing.">>

Quake has posed:
"You know," Muses Skye. "It's not like we hand out distress signals to anyone."

Except Tony. He always had a pile of SHIELD items that he 'found' (*cough*stole*cough*). Other people like Nick conceivably have them.

And SHIELD agents.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Upon getting the commlink, Nick puts it on in time to hear Natasha in stereo for the tail end of her communication to Tony. The general ghost prompt giving a general idea of what is to be expected.

His attention shifts back to the physical Nat as she speaks without the comm, giving a brief up and down tilt of the head. "Got it."

Ok, find the guy who called them. Let them know when he does, and get the guy out if he can. Seems to the point enough.

Nick steps back, spinning round on his feet as he walks away, figure seeming to mirror itself before fading from view entirely.

Show off.

The hard part done, Nick gets moving. The next step being to move through the wall.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Inside, the concrete floor is almost bare but for a few wooden crates here and there. There's a catwalk about twenty feet up that rounds the whole warehouse and leads to a set of old offices on the east side of the building.

One can observe an array of laser-guns mounted on the walls, scanning the room for any movement. These laser-guns are placed strategically, so they cover the entirety of the floor. On the east side is located a computer terminal also mounted on the wall, displaying an illuminated screen along a keyboard. There is no cover near the terminal, accessing it would be deadly without some protection.

Passed the laser beams, a shockwave laser forcefield protects the far end of the large room. The terminal is probably the activation point for the forcefield. Behind the forcefield, the ceiling of the warehouse is a network of beams and supports, some of which have chains and hooks that can be rolled along their supporting beams from one end to the other, or be put to whatever other uses the current residents can dream up for them.

Right now, the other use for the hooks and chains is to keep a certain Hawkeye dangling at the end of a chain secured around his ankles, a good thirty feet above the concrete floor. Two armed goons are keeping an eye on him.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
The tactical team was dispersed to the doors for entry. Natasha followed. <<Skye, when we get that loud entry, do whatever you need to.>> Since there will be plenty of vibrations for her to work with then.

Natasha lined up with the tactical team as they awaited word from Nick. The words they got were not what she wanted to hear. <<Please explain further. What do you see?>> she asked their magical ghost.

Iron Man has posed:
Concrete drill, anyone? The blast is loud, the *whooosh* of concrete and debris flying into the air makes a cloud dirty enough to see, even in New York City, for blocks, courtesy of //one// of his repulsors. Nice and loud.

Most heroes would drop in from the hole that is made, but Tony is special, or at least he likes to think so. Readjusting his position, he knocks another hole, this time to the side of the original one from the room, and flies in through there while everyone is fussing at the new, must have been on back order, skylight.

"Hey, we want our friend back." There's a pause before, "Okay, not so much a friend as a pain in the.." and Tony hesitates once more, "A good acquaintance."

Quake has posed:
Well.. fuck. It would be him. Hawkeye. Clint. ..Hotshot. Damn, damn, damn.

She nodded at Natasha. "I'll go and take the forcefield down. I can't do all of them." In other words, it would be better if she hit up the forcefield even if it made the interim a tiny bit iffy while she got to it.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick gives an unseen frown as he sees the dangling Clint. Even if he hadn't recognized him, the fact that he's just DANGLING that high off the floor is probably a tip off.

And likely a bit over the top with presentation.

Whelp. Found him.

He watches the bright of the red as one of laser-guns scans his side of the room. Well. Good thing he chose invisible instead of bird this time around. Nothing worse than a raven prematurely croaking.

To Natasha's prompt, Nick lowly describes what he's seeing. It is quite detailed by civilian standards. and ends with "I think I can get to him. Just hold off on-"

He hears the blast. "Or not- going now."

The silent intrduer rushes forward, springing upon the boxes like they were stairs in those pictures depicting that game called Mario Bros. As he reaches the end, he takes a leap towards the beam so unnatural one could say it was like flying.

Oh if you could only see it.

There's the slightest tremor on the chain holding Clint. Not enough to rock him about but just enough to indicate to the upside down archer that something is above him now.

Hopefully the guards will focus on Tony knocking more anything Clint's doing.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
With the layout given to them, Natasha nods to the tactical team. Three...two...one.

The door is breached with a small amount of explosive, blasting their way in. Canisters of smoke are deployed to cover their entrance, making it more difficult to poinpoint the team. Their mirrored tactical headsup will give them info without relying on sight.

Natasha enters with them though there is no HUD for her. No helmet or anything. She immediately is moving in the direction that the possible control system was supposed to be. Trusting that Skye will have her back in helping with any of those security measures.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
As soon as Iron Man provided the warehouse with a new double sunroof, the whole warehouse resonates with the sound of loud alarm. Loud clicks can be heard coming from the steel doors This in vain, as the doors are blasted away. Another noise that can be heard at the moment is the sound of boots stumping up metal stairs, followed by orders yelled by men coming up from a concealed basement.

A metal trap door suddenly opens, allowing a dozen goons to emerge and fill the warehouse main floor, using the trap door as a cover. They start shooting at the intruders without hesitation.

Meanwhile, the laser-guns focus their deadly beams on anyone that gets too close to the computer terminal. There is assuredly a reason for this, the terminal most likely serving as the deactivation point for the forcefield. Unless these laser-guns are destroyed, no one will approach the terminal.

On the other side of the forcefield, the goons guarding Hawkeye immediately take cover being some wooden crates, starting to shoot at the intruder.

The archer, still focused on dangling aimlessly like a pinata, looks up at the sound of the commotion, recognizing his fellow Avenger.

"Oh hi there, Shellhead. I thought I'd never say this," Clint grins, "But I'm actually glad to see you." Then he feels the light tug on the chain and, despite being in the awkward position for hours now, manages to look up the chain, unsure of what is happening. "Right, my luck. Just as the cavalry finally arrives, that danged chain is about to break."

Iron Man has posed:
Tony rises into the air once more, his repulsors giving him that lift, even as he tosses out a blast at someone that was getting the big idea to actually take a shot at him, and possibly missing, hitting the trussed archer. "I'll chalk it up to all the blood rushing to your head. We'll forget this conversation even happened," Tony deadpans. "In the meantime?"

A hand pulls up, catching a goon square in the chest, and the man flies backwards, slamming into a wall. "Let's get you down."

Quake has posed:
And Skye does so. She can't do everything but she can pick off the lasers as they try to pick off Nat.

Arms held out on either side she used her powers. She was angry. Really.. really angry. But whether it is angry at the enemy who had taken Clint prisoner, or him (possibly both!) was hard to tell.

As she plucked the lasers off, she nodded to Nat. "You?" Meaning Nat takes down the forcefield while Skye keeps her safe. Such an oddity! Nat was usually the one taking care of the enemies while Skye was taking apart their computer!

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Natasha is busy dodging... well, everything. Between the turrets set up to fire on motion, as long as it wasn't their own guys, and the gunmen, she was busy making the most of her gymnastics training.

If gymnasts had guns.

For even as she is dodging, she is firing off rounds from the Glock in her left hand toward the goons firing at her. She was using ICER rounds at least so they should have someone alive in the end to question. She was trusting for Skye to take care of the tech security measures, knowing the woman had her back.

Her focus was on reaching that computer and trying to shut it down. <<Keep me covered. I'm going to be a big target while I try to shut down the forcefield.>>

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Ok so that didn't go the way Nick was planning but, at least he knows the guy is awake. And being everything is noisy and the guards under him ran off-

He slides down the chain. Avoiding the irritating things like rope burn or...whatever the chain equivalent of it because...whelp. When he's close enough he speaks to the dangling dynamo. "Chain's fine, I'm just getting you out of here. So Hang on..." An unseen hand grabs Clint's leg, "Also I recommend you close your eyes and keep them closed for the next part."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
The very few remaining laser-guns not already destroyed by Skye focus their deadly beams on anyone that gets too close to the computer terminal. There is assuredly a reason for this, the terminal most likely serving as the deactivation point for the forcefield. Unless these laser-guns are destroyed, no one will approach the terminal.

Are the laser-guns remotely manned? Half of them is now aiming at Iron Man, focusing most of their fire power on him, identified as the main threat and target.

At that point, the main floor is turned into real indoor battlefield, bullets filling the air, and laser beams focused on their target. Bodies are starting to pile up, and the flow of attackers is less intense.

Still dangling, Clint hears the words, coming from... thin air? Then the grab on his leg, and advice about closing his eyes. What the heck is it all about?

"Get me out of here?" he repeats, "Are you pulling my leg?"

Quake has posed:
Sure, Skye should being careful.

She wasn't.

In fact her anger was so livid she was calm. Terribly calm. She went up so close to Nat, Nat probably wondered why? It only took a few seconds to realize /why/ though - if Skye could have Nat almost up to her she could protect her - she could wrap around her and Nat and essentially make a forcefield of her own. It would last long though! Just enough.

She hopes.

Iron Man has posed:
<<Sir, they are targeting your position.>>

"What? Okay, give me a shield, give me 5 by 5 area effect, level 7." Tony's back to work, attending the fact that his plan is working... really, really well. He's getting the attention he so richly deserves, and the weapons open up. Trick number one, protect Barton.

"Get him out of here," is called out. No need for coms, or rather, Tony's not in the mood for them. He's switched over from suave and amused and is ratcheting up to annoyed and irritated. "I don't care how. Barton," next words are for his friend, the archer, and they soften slightly, giving him the 'it'll be okay' tenor to his words. "I'll be sending you the bill for cleanup. You know what the city charges me for stuff like this?" There's a pause as laser fire is taken, and the shield manages to soak it, though not without a warning from JARVIS. <<Sir, at this rate, your shield will be dropping by 3% every minute.>> "This is coming out of your allowance."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
From his dangling position, the archer's eyes follows Iron Man around as he replies.

"No way," Clint manages to croak, exhaustion taking a hold of him "I was in the middle of an interrogation and these buffoons were giving me everything." This blatant lie is accompanied by a grin on the archer's bloody face. "So, hrm, I'm actually workin' here."

As his eyes keep glancing around, he finally notices the battle on the floor, and the presence of Natasha and Skye. That is when he closes his eyes, as requested. But also maybe for another reason.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Don't try to steal my thing!" Comes the yell from a certain redhead in the area of the computer terminal.

A moment later, "He gets an allowance?" Natasha muttered under her breath, likely only Skye able to hear it. Hopefully that vibrational shield that Skye was setting up would work.

Natasha pulled a portable drive out of her pocket, slamming it into a USB port on the machine. Then she quickly began to work on trying to shut down the forcefield and any other security measures that might be online. Even while that stick drive was doing it's job of trying to clone the system while setting up a virus for dispersement into the bad guy system and any systems it might be linked to.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
There is a pause at Clint's question before there's a slight chuckle. "Yes I am..." As he sees Clint complying, he sighs, "Ok Now it might get a little weird from here on.

Wait.

From here...on?

Nick keeps an eye on Clint as he starts to filter some of his power into the archer. And once the sense of taste, touch, and smell leaves Clinton with nothing more than his hearing, due to the eyes being closed. The pair vanish.

Only to appear in someone's dream of a ranch. There is a fence nearby with a rather spirited horse behind it, The black coat and the general mannerisms working well to explain the sign indicating his name to be 'Diablo'.

Nick takes the moment to lay Clint down on the ground, holding onto his leg until he can get hold of the agent's hand. "Alright, eyes open, stand yourself up, and close them up again. Don't let go til we're out."

Quake has posed:
"I don't know how long this will last." Though Skye gives a rough snicker of chagrin. "Figures he would say something like that."

After all, she /has/ super hearing.

(Okay. She was equally mad at him.)

Iron Man has posed:
"Riiiiight," Tony replies. "It's working. And, by the way, they're giving ME everything. Like, shields are dropping, so if you could just //speed it up there//," his voice rises for Nick, "I'd appreciate it."

Tony's not only watching out for Clint, but he's got a handy, dandy AI sitting in his suit. Helpfully, he's offering suggestions to Natasha, even while running systems.

In the next heartbeat, Clint is gone. Poofed out of his current existance, or, perhaps the more technical term would be teleported, but he's still working on the physics for that. Reality bending and the like.

Once freed from protection duty, however, Tony is free to unleash; dropping the extended, protective shield down to personal, the repulsors are up, and he's taking shots at not only people, but potential entrances from the ground, leaving areas for the girls to escape out of, of course...

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Soon, with Natasha's intervention seconded by Tony's suggestions, the computer is infested by the virus, and systems deactivate one by one. Only a few laser-guns still aim at Iron Man but are soon destroyed or deactivated. The remaining goons soon find themselves outnumbered, more being dead than fighting.

Then, finally, the forcefield is deactivated.

A few brave goons - or more idiot than their comrades - redirect their firing at the armored hero. Meanwhile, the most intelligent criminals decide to run away as Tony unleashes the full power of his arsenal.

In a few moments, the warehouse falls almost silent, as it seems that the criminals are either dead or gone, probably intercepted by the SHIELD troopers outside.