4561/Coming out, stepping up!

Coming out, stepping up!
Date of Scene:	02 June 2018
Location:	Manhattan
Synopsis:	Andrea puts on a charity concert for suicide prevention awareness and gets attacked by the Friends of Humanity. Several heroes step up to protect the park.
Cast of Characters:	Rage, Havok, Hulk, Vintridr, Power Girl, Terra

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Rage has posed:
It has been a crazy couple of months for the highest charted popstar currently in the world as the once Disney star turned global icon has came out as a mutant to the world. With rumors flying about her dating life, a gig booked with Tony Stark and a thirty city tour lined up starting next month, Andrea and her team decided to throw a charity concert in Central Park with a 100% of all proceeds going towards a pro-mutant suicide prevention foundation.

The large stage has been built in the middle of the park where it is more flat and able to allow a large population of spectators. The police presence is heavy as well as her own personal bodyguard staff to ensure the safety of not only herself but those around her. A warm and breezy afternoon, this is the perfect day to spend it outside and listen to some music, enjoy the food trucks and vendors and throw back a couple of drinks. By now, the crowds have packed themselves in, roaring out loudly, taking selfies and dancing to the electro-pop beats of her current album, Dangerous.

Andrea is on the stage, dancing to her choreography with her back up dancers, belting out the notes to the words of some of her more famous songs, with promises of a new single that will be heard for the first time at the end. At the moment she is in the middle of her track, Heart 2 Break which causes the younger crowds to scream in a frenzy.

"Even if it means that I'll never put myself back together!
Gonna give you my heart to break!
I tried to fight, but I can't help it!
Don't care if this is my worst mistake!
Cause no one else could do it better.
That's why I give you my heart to break!"

The crowd roars again as the song comes to a stop as fog moves along the stage with lights flashing about in a trance like manner.

Havok has posed:
Having heard of the benefit being mutant in nature, Alex Summers (AKA Havok (publically known)) made his way into Central Park and sought out the gathering. Lingering in the outskirts, Alex can be seen with his back to a large oak. Presently, he dresses the part - black combat boots, black cargo pants, a black long sleeved shirt tightly covering his muscular chest with a bright silver circle in the center of the chest. The circle has another encircling it and then lines coming away from it traveling up to his shoulders and down his arms. His face is uncovered and he wears no head gear to keep his thick blonde hair in place. Over his chest, his arms are crossed and he watches the event unfold - expecting trouble - with his sharp blue eyes that scan over the crowd. Much like in Mutant Town where he spends most of his time patrolling the streets and being friendly to his kind.

Hulk has posed:
Excitement. It's a word that isn't typically associated with one Bruce Banner. At least not in any way that is good for the world.

'Bruce Kenigton' is in the outskirts of the crowd, far away from any ravers or people who might push him into a confined space. He fake IDed his way inside so he could see what the fuss was about. He was in town, why not?

Dressed in a white shirt, dark blue jeans and a set of white sneakers, most of his face is obscured by a baseball cap as he stays in a semi-isolated seat, watching and listening with his arms crossed.

He looks every bit like a man who doesn't want to be here in his demeanor.

Vintridr has posed:
    Life has been steadily returning to normal for Vin - or as normal as it gets, for her. Luckily, most of her clientele has turned out to be fairly sanguine about the discovery, and despite a few false starts business is doing steadily once more.

    But still... The anonymity she enjoyed is gone. It's nice that most of them don't make a big deal out of it, but there's still a gap there. Here, in Central Park in the middle of a crowd, nobody has any idea she's anything more than just another concertgoer, and right now that suits her just fine.

Plus, the singer is hot and loud - Vin's favourite style.

    Normally, a woman topping over six feet will attract attention regardless, but it's amazing what a maroon-and-gray hoodie and some slouchy body language can do when you put them to good use...

Power Girl has posed:
    The last thing Power Girl said to Atlee some few minutes ago was "I am not going to see some whiny 'waa-my-ex-boyfriend' Disney channel Popstar-Machine starlet, charity or not."

    This is why, as they arrive, the red-caped form of Power Girl is seemingly even more irritable than she normally is. Practically slouching, and doubly so grumbling something quietly when the pair had handed over their tickets- purchased quite literally with the names of Power Girl and Terra, in cash- she is very much the antithesis of most everyone else there.

    The song is bubbly, the people are happy... And then there's her, just standing there, idly wondering if a minor stage fire wouldn't benefit the world. All of the proceeds have been donated after all.

Terra has posed:
    Atlee is also in costume today, the white and black bodysuit not quite as distinctive as Power Girl's red cape, but still obvious. "It's a CONCERT!" she protests, half-dragging the much-taller blonde along. "And it's freeeee. I've never actually been to a concert, you know. Especially not one in Central Park."

    For Atlee's part, she's excited to be here. The bouncing is proof enough of that. Once they're inside, her priorities shift to number two on the list. "Can we get corndogs? Or maybe see if they have fried twinkies, like at the Fair? Something with lots of sugar. You'd like it."

Rage has posed:
Reaching for a bottle of water handed to her by one of the staff, Andrea takes a quick slug, then wipes her brow which gilstens from the heat of the day and the movements on the stage. "Thank you to everyone who came out today! It really means a lot to feel the love and know that you support such a great cause."

Behind her on the screen the hotline number for the suicide preventation shows up in large block black font, as well as various pictures of young mutants of various shapes, sizes and colors with their names beneath them. "Every young child and teen that you see on the screen behind me took their life over the last ten years. They were bullied, beat up and ridiculed for who they were and how they were born. Mutants have a higher risk of suicide than any other class of people out there. They have a higher risk of being homeless, unemployed and even killed. We have came a long way as a society but we can do more. The recent attacks in Mutant Town show that we have work to do. That we can't allow such senseless violence to continue! Because of this, I will contribute up to a million dollars in scholarships and continue to hold concerts to promote awareness and provide funding to help those who need it most."

There is a loud buzz through the crowd as they cheer loudly, recording the speech on their phones and uploading to their social accounts with numerous hashtags starting to trend. Though some of our heroes in the crowd may not be fans of the music, there are some that are not fans of who Andrea is and what she represents. There is a group of seven men dressed in black hoodies with red crosses on the back that have been making their way through the crowd carefully. Once the speech ends and the music begins to roar again, one of them pulls a hand gun out and begins to scream. "Burn in hell you bitch! Death to all mutants!"

Around them the crowd starts to panic as the first bullet goes off in a flash from the muzzle as it strikes the stage, barely missing the popstar as she is soon tackled from the side by a bodyguard and shielded. The police begin to converge, but it quickly becomes a tangle of bodies, panic and bullets as the men start firing towards the stage blindly.

Havok has posed:
Those words of mutant strife strike home with Alex and his demeanor sours; eyes narrow, brow furrows and jaw tightens. He's witnessed first hand the struggles most mutants face. He even feels guilt about his own disposition (or lack thereof). He's one of the mutants that don't outwardly present as a mutant. He could pass as a flatscan and live out his life unchallenged and even with advantages based on his outward presentation of normalcy. His left hand rises to place his thumb against the bridge of his nose just for a moment while he reflects and refocuses on the moment and the potential threat at hand.

And that threat presents itself. His blue eyes clear and Alex looks up and across the gulf of the crowd to the people that pose the threat. His hands ignite with white hot plasma and they are dropped to his side. A flare of energy is projected downward and Alex leaps into the air. He yells loudly, "EVERYBODY, GET DOWN!" as he takes on his Havok persona while leaping/rocket flight across the heads of the crowds heading toward the stage itself.

(Havok will be in mid leap/flight for this round and will not arrive on the stage until the next round. For now, consider Havok 20 feet above the heads of the crowd and another 75 feet from the stage itself.)

Vintridr has posed:
    The problem with being a Valkyrie is that it's not a thing you /stop/ being, even in exile or retirement. Even when you're enjoying a concert on your day off. The black hoodies did a poor job of trying to blend in, and Vin was already surreptitiously moving in their direction well before the first gun was drawn.

    When she sees that first glint of metal, she drops all pretense to subtlety. "GUN!" she yells, pushing through the crowd with surprising speed. She doesn't manage to get to the first shooter in time to keep the gun from going off, but the second man to draw a gun suddenly finds his arm seized in what feels like a vise, pointing it away from anyone while a hand closes around his, mangling the gun and his fingers in a single squeeze.

    Vintridr follows up with a textbook knee to the stomach before lifting the body and throwing it at the next gunner in line with a war shriek -- drawing their attention and fire, because she's much more likely to survive a few pistol shots than most people in the park...

Hulk has posed:
"Oh god, they're here?!" Bruce exclaims from his chair as he falls over in it from the shock. He didn't expect people to attack a concert in broad daylight. Surely they realize people are going to be keeping watch for this sort of stuff?

The crowd starts to press in in him though as people start to panic, and Bruce tries to get up and leave. He's still pretty far from the exits though, and he's having a hard time dodging the press of bodies. All the meditation and calming techniques in the world wont save him from the near trampling he's getting, though, and that has him shaking with the effort to keep calm.

Then the shooting starts, "No no no, please don't..." the adrenaline is already starting though, and the natural fear of being shot has Bruce stumbling to the ground as his eyes turn green. Anyone nearby in the back area will see rapidly greening hands and hear ripping clothing as the Hulk transforms.

Power Girl has posed:
    The others are well-suited to taking down gunmen. Of all of them present- Hulk included- only one person here is faster than a speeding bullet.

    As soon as the first shot was fired, the world turned to molasses and cardboard. To her, everything is in slow motion as Power Girl rises from the crowd in a manner so delicate yet so impossible to see, the speeds she's reaching just beyond those of the rounds exiting the barrels. Many of them find the tip of her finger in midair, and she arrives at the stage at around the halfway point- popstar and bodyguard halfway to the ground.

    For the next few moments, only a single frame of her is ever visible to the human eye- in one quarter-second she is on one edge of the stage, the next, she's on the other edge. Each time, she is plucking a bullet out of the air with her index and thumb, and crushing it much in the same way one would a mosquito.

    To Power Girl, each of the rounds is so much less, even, than that.

Terra has posed:
    Terra is paying attention to the presentation, the cause, and the hotline. She even takes out her phone from the top of a boot to enter the number. Never know when someone she meets would need it, right? Besides, there's a GENUINE STAR on stage! How cool is that?

     brown eyes go wide when the gunshots begin, then she purses her lips and squints. "Well THAT'S not very nice..." she mutters. Looking around, Power Girl has suddenly disappeared. And then Terra gets it.

    It's action time!

    There's a rumbling sound as the ground she is standing on separates from the rest of the earth and rises, leaving Atlee standing on an earthen surfboard. And as Power Girl zips about squashing bullets, a couple dozen soccer-ball sized rocks hover about in lazy orbit around Atlee.

Rage has posed:
As the chaos unfolds and people are running in different directions, bodies are starting to become trampled as people scream and cry for help. It's loud and confusing as the police do their best to try and control the situation. As the superheroes rise to action, some even give a loud cheer of relief. The familiar face of Power Girl gets the loudest of cheers as they recognize one of Metropolis's finest as well as a member of the Justice League. The bullets are easily caught by the super speedy hero, saving the popstar and her crew from a worse fate.

When Havok leaps on to the stage from his overhead flight, one of the gunmen that is not tangling with the Valkyrie seems to recognize him and fire his pistol towards him, screaming incoherently with rage in his eyes. The one that Vintridr tangles with crumples beneath the force of her hand crushing his as the gun goes off into her palm, causing him to scream in pain as blood spurts from the wound he just created himself as the weapon explodes. With the attention now on her, the rest of the zealots begin to focus their weapons upon her, thinking she must be a mutant as well.

Poor Bruce. When he hits the ground and starts to shift, the people in the back start to scream in fear and begin to give him a wide circle as they try to flee. The Hulk has a reputation afterall. Usually it means someone is going to be thrown into the moon and beyond. Luckily he is too far away to be the focus of any gunshots or it may make matters worse. As Atlee shots into the sky on her boulder-board, one of the gun men fires off a roun dat her. "Die Mutant scum!" He shouts towards her with crazed, manical eyes.

On the stage, Andrea is scrambling to her feet awkwardly as a body guard tries to shield her from the action. Her body is contorting and perhaps Power Girl with her super hearing can hear the sound of snapping bones and a scream of pain as she is being ushered off to the side as quick as they can move her.

Hulk has posed:
A growl emits from the Hulk as he comes out, his hands slamming into the ground as a side effect of picking himself up. It's not enough to send pieces of Central Park flying like shrapnel, but it's certainly enough to get the attention of anyone nearby who didn't realize Bruce was there, if ten feet of blue short clad Green Goliath suddenly appearing wasn't enough to do that.

Hulk stands, taking a look around as he gets situated. "Puny humans can't deal with guns." Hulk sniffs, disdainfully. People have never liked him, even when he helps them... so the mutual mistrust is easily there. He starts to walk around, picking people up off the ground from being trampled or trapped from above as he starts to head to the gunmen himself, his massive bulk making very obvious thumping sounds with his footsteps. He's being very careful to not squish any puny humans who run into him, either. He's not going out of his way to do crowd control... but Hulk hates bullies, and panicked humans do it without realizing it.

Anyone with eyes can see the Jade Giant in the back, now.

Havok has posed:
All the action that takes place while he's in mid flight reveals that there are quite a few other participants to this scene than initially imagined. He spies Vin and flashes of PG and then Atlee who is riding a wave of dirt.

Impacting hard with the stage, Havok will be positioned in front of Andrea and facing out into the crowd, but mostly toward those who would fire weapons. He doesn't even realize that PG collected all the bullets other than he knows she moved super fast and did stuff. Additionally, he suspects that the gunmen just suck at shooting people. Except for the one that strikes him square in the right lower quadrant. It doesn't penetrate his super suit, but will leave a significant bruise.

Either way; Havok's hands continue to glow as they raise toward the nearest gunman - which will likely be obstructed by a bystander, or a dozen. He'll yell again, "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" because he does not have a clear shot nor does he want to risk other lives. The annoyance factor is high. Super fights in crowds really wreck his day.

Vintridr has posed:
    Vintridr's grin at the gunners is anything but reassuring - for the half second that they can see it before a bright multicolored flash obscures their view...

    ... And in a far-away lab, an experimental sensor built by Professor Foster pings as Asgardian technology briefly links two infinitely distant points...

     ... and the bullets deflect off the ornate buckler the Valkyrie is suddenly holding.

    Vin rises from her crouch with another battle cry, closing the distance with the next goon and slamming her shield into his face.

Power Girl has posed:
    Power GIrl pauses for a moment, as she hears a familiar shouting from a green giant that stands at the edge of the crowd. By now, everyone's attention is likely elsewhere, including the gunmen's- Which leaves Power Girl to pay attention to the Hulk. At first, she had figured Atlee would be taking care of the criminals, but she's happy to see there are others here to do that. Things can get dicey with crowds- Moving about a stage at super speed is easy. Weaving through a crowd can get people hurt.

    Once the gunmen are occupied- and the attention is off of the stage, Power Girl will take off and move towards the Hulk. Not at Engage Green Man Speed, but at a more cautious and slow pace. She can recognize that he's being careful not to trample anyone. She just worries he might get... Overzealous. "Hey big guy. We've got everything under control it looks like- do what you can but try not to hurt anyone permanently, all right?"

    She knows she can't get him to leave, or not be the Hulk. She just hopes she can get him not to throw some gunner to the moon.

Terra has posed:
    Terra's reaction to the bullets is casual, almost secondary, as she trusts Power Girl to handle the bullets. The whirling rocks continue to orbit the raven-haired girl as the gunmen are systematically taken out by others.

    And then she sees Power Girl heading off in Hulk's direction. This is new. Or at least it's new to Atlee. Power Girl is being calm and rational, which is her first clue that the situation is not normal. VERY not-normal. How very curious. While she watches, Terra gives a casual flick of her fingers and the circling rocks zoom over to form a tall, smooth barrier between the stage and the crowd.

    Gotta protect the star, after all.

Rage has posed:
Now that the crowd has cleared out away from the gunners and allowing the Hulk to have an easy path to the action, the police are starting to move in, but hesitant to engage as all eyes are on the green giant. The gunmen, though they may be bigots, are not stupid enough to try and stick around once they see the strongest Avenger march his way over. Between him and Power Girl, they know they are out of luck. With another slammed in the face by the Valkyrie's shield, he goes tumbling to the ground unconscious, his face a bloody mess from a broken nose and broken cheek.

The other five start to run in all directions in an attempt to escape, though one doesn't get as lucky as Havok takes aim with his plasma blasters and sends a hot, stinging zap to one as he is knocked off his feet and slides along the wet grass to a stop, immediately tackled by police officers. From there, one by one, the gunmen are starting to get rounded up and arrested as they are forced to the ground with their hands up in the air and cuffed.

As Atlee's rocks begin to block the stage from any other threats or panicked concert goers, it also blocks the scene that goes on involving the popstar. There is a bit of a commotion that those with super hearing can pick up on, followed by a loud howl that sounds very much like a wolf. It's probably a good thing her team got her in the back to try and calm her down.

Hulk has posed:
"Girl Blondie don't control Hulk. Leader thought he was boss of Hulk too. Hulk smashed him. Idiot General tried to control Hulk. Hulk smashed all his puny human toys that tried." Hulk gives with an air of finality to Power Girl as he stops to regard the Kryptonian, green eyes narrowing at her as she floats over to him.

Then, she's promptly ignored as Hulk leaps his way over in front of one of the gunmen trying to escape. He lands precisely five feet in front of the man, and grins down at him. Ten feet of Hulk flicks a finger at the man, sending him flying towards the police with just enough force to knock him out, but not kill him.

There might be a little blood too.

Seemingly satisfied, Hulk looks around... the earthly Atlee catching his attention in a slightly confused expression. With the other gunmen rounded up, Hulk begins to march over to Atlee, walking.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump...

Power Girl has posed:
    Power Girl's response is a little less controlled at first, before the Hulk leaps away. She seemed about to retort, in fact- something that probably would have started a punching match neither one of them is really ready for today, much less the rest of the world. She offers a sigh, and listens to the heartbeat of the man the Hulk punted with a finger. He was alive and was a criminal. She could settle.

    She moves her way into the path of one of the other retreating gunmen and does almost literally the same thing that the green guy does, though her target doesn't go flying. Instead, when she delivers a flick to the point of his nose, part of his face collapses in nonfatally, but very, very painfully. He'll be on the ground for the time it takes the police to get to him.

    The thumping calls her attention to the Hulk paying Atlee a visit.

    "Shit."

Terra has posed:
    Atlee looks just as curious about Hulk as Hulk is about Atlee. Which may or may not be a good thing. The girl is still hovering on the earthen surfboard, which floats slowly lower as the giant green thing approaches. "Oh hi!" she greets, adding a finger-wave.

    "I'm Terra. I'm one of the good-guys here, and you look like you're one, too. Hulk, did you say your name was?" She's either genuinely unafraid or doesn't *know* to be afraid. Which may be even worse.

Vintridr has posed:
    As she hears the roared conversation behind her, Vintridr looks up from where she's explaining to the gratifyingly polite police officer what she saw happen and what she did in response.

    "... My apologies, officer. Hopefully I'll be but a moment; if not, you may want to see to evacuations."

    With that, she walks toward where the Hulk is towering over Atlee, the shield on her arm disappearing in another spray of colors as she holds out an empty hand and meets his eyes, fearlessness without threat, confrontation without challenge.

    "Stay your rage, monster," she announces calmly, in the slightly reverberating tones of the All-Speak. "Your foes have fled or have fallen. There are none left who will challenge you, or wish you harm. Be at peace."

Rage has posed:
As the gunman goes flying towards the police officers, he is quickly snatched up and cuffed by the officers who stare at the large Hulk carefully. There is already calls for backup, as well as one to the Avengers, juuuust in case. They will just let the super humans deal with him for now. No need to cause a scene or get themselves in any trouble. With the primary threat over, the crowd begins to cheer loudly, chanting Power Girl's name as if she was a celebrity herself. In the superhero world, she may as well be. Cameras are going off, phones are recording and already the media is blowing up with hashtags and other news articles.

Andrea's team finally comes out, surrounding the popstar who is now wearing new clothes and looking wary as they look to be shuttling her towards the exit strategy the police routed for them.

Havok has posed:
Seeing that the scene has fallen under control, Havok will relax. The plasma will fade from his hands and he'll reach to touch his lower right quadrant with his right hand, grimacing some when he touches the area that is likely bright red beneath his super suit. He ignores the pain for a moment longer as his blue eyes scan around and then he turns around to check on the band members and the lead, Andrea. He'll take a moment to ensure that they are all uninjured (no overt bleeding, limping, fallen bodies, etc). Once that is done, he'll be comfortable that the police and official heroes can handle the Hulk and the rest of the situation. He does not wish to engage Justice Avenger members and will make for stage left, like Snagglepuss, intending to exit.

Hulk has posed:
Ten feet of Hulk stares down at Atlee for a moment, before he shifts his attention to the Earthly whirling rocks around her. His attention is. apparently, more focused on /them/ then Atlee herself. "Hulk is Hulk." Hulk confirms to Atlee. "Little Earth girl like magic man, keep rocks in air with mind?" Hulk asks, one massive hand reaching out to grab one for himself. He's /very/ fast for his bulk, but he seems very curious about the floating bits.

Vintridr gets a brief glance from Hulk as she talks to him... and is promptly ignored as well, his attention on the rocks. "Puny humans like pointing guns at Hulk. You not pointing rocks at Hulk." Hulk mentions, almost casually.

Terra has posed:
Atlee's rock-board is hovering to keep her just below the big, green guy's eye level. She doesn't try to stop him when he plucks one of the rocks out of the air, but the other rocks slow and just hover. Like they're waiting to fall, but somehow don't.

    "With my mind, or something. I just... do it." Atlee shrugs. "But no, I'm *not* pointing the rocks at you. Why would I do that? You helped with the gunmen, after all." Floating a little closer, she adds. "You're really big. I'm sure people probably say that a lot."