15033/A Touch of Hollywood

A Touch of Hollywood
Date of Scene:	05 May 2023
Location:	Upper East Side, Manhattan
Synopsis:	A mysterious collector sets his sights on a certain crimson ruby, but is unfortunantely on a tight budget so hires the galaxies most inept mercenary trio to retrieve it with appropriate results.
Cast of Characters:	Wonder Man, Juggernaut

---

Wonder Man has posed:
NEXT WEEK, on "All My Origins" ...

At least, that's what the voiceover will say in post-production. For now, filming is wrapping up for a third episode of the new daytime soap opera. Well, "new" is a bit of misleading since it is actually the second, some would say third, reboot of the program. But amidst the evil twins, long lost brothers, and scandalous affairs, Simon Williams is trying to make a honest day's living.

"CUT! CUT! CUT!"

Simon looks up as the director climbs out of his chair and makes his way toward the red-eyed strongman.

"I need more FEELING. More GRAVITAS! ... and can't you do something about the, y'know." He points at his eyes vaguely.

"Sorry, Mr. Beauvoir. I'll work on it."

Juggernaut has posed:
A loud *BOOOM* rumbles and echoes through the area. The source is some distance away.. Perhaps not easily discernable given the hub-bub of the movie shoot and the noise of Manhattan in full swing.. And so, it goes ignored..until it happens again. Louder.

A ways away, a fireball blossoms as an explosion occurs in the distance near the base of a several large buildings. The roar of the blast echoes through the streets, rattling windows and shakingp pedestrains and motorists alike as the fire flowers upwards and debris blasts skywards.
"Hey, they filming Cloverfield II finally??" asks one onlooker near Simons shoot where the outdoor filming had been taking place His attention drawn down the street towards the conflagoration and then up as an debris from the blast sails upwards and onward, hurtling in various directions, some to slam into the sides of nearby buildings and a particularly large one tumbling in a curving trajacetory right for the All My Origins set.. "Only in New York man." says his friend.. ANd then both of them scream out, "Holy--look out!!!" as the flaming debris begins raining down towards them and across the area.

They dive aside, wildly, as the largest piece slams right into a parked semi-truck, exploding into and through it with another explosive blast. Smoke billows everywhere but the ground at least stops shaking. For all of twenty seconds. A massive arm begins to emerge from debris field, trailing smoke and rubble behind it and soon the gargantuan mega-structure frame that is THe Juggernaut begins to fully emerge and he staggers, disorientated. "You gotta be kidding me.." he mutters, oblivious to the damage he just caused.

Three gaudy looking hover cycles suddenly whirl into view. A Kree, Xandarian and Shi'ar atop them! Armored heavily like wannabe Lobos and denizens of Knowwhere. The Kree holding a massive gun that trails energy from the recent discharge. "Juggernaut! Last warning! Your bounty's ours! Dead or alive!"

"Yeah..man...you look awesome!" says the Xandarian, encouraging his bounty hunter partner cheerfully. "I know, I know, right?" responds the Kree merc.

Wonder Man has posed:
"Huh, that's odd. I would've thought my agent would have told me if there was another shoot going on to--"

The closest explosion catches Simon's attention, and suddenly there's debris heading toward the set. Even as some of the crew scatters, the Avenger is on the move. Some stray scrap metal flies clear of the closest blast, but before it can it splatter a make-up coordinator the ionic man has moved with lightning speed to intercept. His muscles of his arm tense as his palm slaps against a jagged piece of sheet metal the size of a manhole cover and moving at the speed of a baseball pitch...but it comes to a dead stop as Simon stands there unflinching. Instead, he gives the man a winning smile.

"I think that's the sign that shooting's done for the day, ladies and gents. Let's get moving! Don't push! I'll cover your ba--"

Simon turns to see none other than the Juggernaut walking out of the wreckage...but he seems to the one defending himself for a change? Simon swallows.

"Oh boy," Wonder Man says. "Looks like my lucky day." He pulls out a pair of ruby-red shades and flips them on.

"Guess it's time to see what the ruckus is about--" And so, he takes to the air, flying toward the group of bounty hunters.

"Hello there! I'd say that I hope you come in peace, but that seems like wishful thinking. Can I just say this is a 'no interstellar battle zone'?"

Juggernaut has posed:
"You guys got your one lucky shot int! You think it's funny to sucker punch a guy but now I'm ready and I'm mad as hell!"

Juggernaut's booming voice rattles the ground, vibrates windows and sends any bystanders stupid enough to still be trying to get an eye on the situation running. Simon's timely intervention saves lives and also urges them on but neither Juggernaut nor alien hunters seem inclined to worry overly much about who is watching this mess unfold.

"Get back human! Stand aside. We got this!" remarks the Shi'ar merc cheerfully. The Xandarian remarks cheerfully as well, unholstering a large gun of his own and taking aim. "We're the <untranslatable> and we're about to get paid! Our client back in Knowhere's interested in some crystal this guy's got but he won't turn it over so this'll be good for our rep!"

"You idiots trying to make friends or catch this guy so we can go!" hollars the Kree leader.

Juggernaut, meanwhile just stares in disbelief before finally beginning to take a step forward, "That does it! I don't care who you are but I aint--"

And then the Xandarian takes aim and fires. A high intensity sonic blast squeals through the area. Windows shatter as the sonic assault bears down upon The Juggernaut at the epic center of the attack but it doesn't mean that others aren't being caught in the peripheral. Simon's is close. Perhaps too close, caught by the wailing frequency of the blast at its outer edges while bystanders stagger, many falling as the sonic wave ripples up and down the streets.
"The boss said something like this might do the trick! Get that stasis cage ready!"

""YeAARRGH!" juggernautlets out a roar of pain and staggers, stumbling forward and letting one massive knee slam to the ground opposite a pillar of an arm to support himself. It's clear these yahoos don't entirely know what they're doing or dont' care. Clout is in their eyes, not collateral damage to a world they'll likely never be back to.

Wonder Man has posed:
Wonder Man's eyes move behind his shades as Juggernaut speaks up, then the bounty hunters in turn. "Oh, bounty hunters. That tracks." Where did I see this before? Simon thinks to himself. When the Juggernaut starts moving, however, that's definitely Simon can place...and it's a prescription for pain for whoever gets between him and his destination.

"Gentlemen! I think this is a situation that calls for a conversation with someone with a little more expertise than me on--"

The ionic hero's sentence is cut off as the sonic blaster ripples through the area, pushing him back as he covers his ears. While he may not be flesh and blood anymore, Simon's still attached to his humanity enough that a weapon like that makes him reel just as much as it does the Juggernaut. Or it would, at least, if Simon didn't have the advantage of being on the fringe of its range. As a piece falls out of his sunglasses, the Avenger frowns. "I liked those." A window explodes. People are cowering. Helping the Juggernaut or not, Simon can't just sit idly by and let the crew destroy the neighborhood trying to get their bounty.

"Excuse me--" Simon rockets forward, purple-blue energy peeling off his body like a corona as he takes flight toward the Xandarian.

"But I'm gonna have to ask you to keep your stereo within safe volume levels!"
Wonder Man comes in at an angle, trying to work around the brunt of the wave as its focused on the Juggernaut--where his aim to wrap his fingers around the sonic blaster and yoink it out of the Xandarian's grip with his considerable strength.

Juggernaut has posed:
He's merciful. He could have done far worse. These guys may be armored and looking like Lobo Wannabees but they are -not- Lobo by any stretch and the gun is yoinked quite cleanly and easily, nearly yanking the xandarian from his cycle by the abrupt change in weight and movement. "H--Hey!" he yells out while the Shi'ar chirps in. "Hey! You mess with our score, you become part of the--"

A sudden roar rips out through the area. The ground shakes, heaving as seismometers are triggered. THe ground lurches, buckling and caving inward ..and Juggernaut comes hurtling forward into the air towards the Xandarian and his cycle. He doesn't have the leaping expertise of a Hulk - but he can bound buildings if he needs to and he can certainly jump up to where the hunters and SImon are at. This results in an unstoppable airborne ten foot tall battering ram that explodes into Xandarian and cycle though the cycle takes the brunt of the hit. Not that it matters much. All three objects go hurtling backwards through the air, carried by the momentum of The Juggernaut to explode into a storefront a full city block away in a pluem of debris and a roar of the ground splintering open and caving inward. The rolling dust cloud obscures bounty hunter and behemoth both and the other two look on in shock.

"Sias!" yells the Kree before turning his gun on Simon now. A vast blast of plasma explodes outwards. Force that would make Cyclops and Havok both uite proud as the gun revs up and over charges to try and take out the mercs anger in Wonder Man, "You've ruined our plan!"

For the moment, Juggernaut remains unseen though the rumbling of the ground continues.

Wonder Man has posed:
"Ah jeez," Wonder Man says as the rumbling occurs and suddenly the Juggernaut is barreling down upon the poor, though probably deserving, Xandarian. "Hey! Could you please not take down the city with you?" the Avenger shouts toward the storefront. "Now if you'll stop blowing up the city I'll see if I can't--"

The plasma blast hits Wonder Man straight in the chest with enough force that he nearly folds around it, taking him cleaan off his feet and sending him flying across the street where he smashes through a mailbox before bending a lightpost around his back. The ionic hero falls to the ground with a thump.

But a moment later, he's climbing back to his feet---and peeling off his destroyed shirt to review his iconic red and blue W underneath. The glasses, by this point, are shot.

"What is it today with people not letting me finish my lines?" As Simon dusts himself off, he seems no worse for the wear.

Juggernaut has posed:
"That didn't drop him?? Crank it up!" yells the Shiar merc. "I'm on it! Go get Sias!" responds the Kree, clearly the leader of these Stooges.

As for poor Sias.. the Xandarian is alive? Well that armor must have counted for something. He's barely moving though, dragging himself out of the rubble and debris field. His cycle long gone and his body battered and busted. "I uh.... uh..tactical retreat!" he suggests.

Meanwhile, the Kree leader fubmles with the gun. Tech he's not trained to handle well as it begins to whine and overheat as he attempts to crank the charge up. A series of swears worthy of Knowwhere utter as his hands sizzle and his flesh burns and the gun is dropped, slamming heavily to the ground, casing cracking and a loud high pitched whine occuring as it begins to..quite clearly..overload. "Move, move, move!" hollars the Kree as he revs his cycle up and starts to arc skywards.

Another loud roaring sound occurs. This one of concrete sundering, metal giving way, glass shattering. The entire side of the multi-story storefront begins to split asunder, giving away and ripping apart under the less then gentle efforts of The Juggernaut. It's late so the building is empty, thankfully, for he literally rips it in half, pulling a full side of it free and causing the other to start a collapse. Way to many disasters at once here although one miiiight be a little more pressing then the other.

"You guys wanna play rough! Let's play rough.." he roars, hauling the structural chunk backwards and overhead, casting himself in shadow and much of the block around him as the Shi'ar helps his friend onto his cycle and begins a hasty retreat as debris rains down around them.

"..I think that plan was fragged." he offers helpfully.

Wonder Man has posed:
"Tactical retreat sounds like a good plan," Wonder Man chimes in as he finishes removing his blasted clothing. Letters from the destroyed mailbox continue to flutter by. "Trust me, I know when it's time to get out of a bad investment." Simon makes a face at his own joke. "Usually."

He hunkers down, ready to get moving when the gun starts to overheat and melt down instead. Without hesitation, the Avenger surges forward and makes a dive toward the gun. He digs his fingers into it--wincing at the heat--but then reels back and throws it as hard and as far as he can straight up to get it clear of the block in case the overload turns explosive.

"Come on," Simon says to no one as another building starts going down. He launches himself that way, ramping up to full speed. If a building starts going toward another, his plan is to at least keep the collapse contained--at least for as long as he can support the building.

Juggernaut has posed:
The save does multiple things.

Well first off..it saves -many- lives, including the Stooge Mercs. The explosion lights up the skies over midtown, sounding off a boom that echoes across the island and rains glorious colors over the city.

The clash of light catches the attention of The Juggernaut who twists somewhat, halting himself from his intended action of hurtling half a building down the streets at his agressors regardless of the potential damage. Simon's quick action also keeps the rest of the storefront from coming down but in the flurry of activity - the mercs are able to regroup and make a run for it.

"This isn't over!" yells the humbled, furious, idiot leader..and then they are gone, shooting upwards towards what must assuredly be a cloaked craft somewhere nearby.

A loud TOOOOM resounds as Juggernaut drops the building half into the middle of the streets but at least not onto anyone or anything save a few parked cars and..sadly..the rest of Simon's shooting gig. He just looms there, looking confused, frustrated, upset and then he finally gets a good long look at the nearby Simon..and just stares at him as if just now realizing the mans actions in all of this. There is a long silence and then:

"Hey. Love your movies. Big fan."

And then he's off, charging into a steady run that sends him thundering away from the scene less other heroes begin to show and he takes the full fall for this. A leap and a second leap takes him up towards the top of a large building and then over it.

Wonder Man has posed:
For a long moment, Wonder Man strains, muscles taut, as his ionic body works hard to keep the building upright in a feat of monumental strength--and then Juggernaut finishes the job by redirecting the fall. As the dust settles, the Avengers takes a deep breath, working his fists. Can he fight the Juggernaut by himself? Isn't this a job more for Thor? Or the Hulk?

Instead, the unexpected happens. He blinks several times.

"Well that was..." Simon opens his mouth and starts to stay something, then closes it. It takes him a minute to figure out what to say.

"Well, I guess he didn't start it this time, huh." Wonder Man rubs the back of his head.