5116/Was that an earthquake

Was that an earthquake
Date of Scene:	06 August 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Terra and Havok investigate the 125th street fault line and early morning earthquakes. They discover the cause - a bevy of HYDRA agents had captured an alien with geokinetic powers <Earthquake of the Shi'ar>. They were doing experiments on him. They free the alien, the agents fled, and the heroes also fled then went for pancakes.
Cast of Characters:	Havok, Terra

---

Havok has posed:
Fault Lines: There are several fault lines in the New York metro area, including one along Manhattan's 125th St. - which may have generated two small tremors in 1981 and may have been the source of the major 1737 earthquake. There was a tremor early this morning that registered 3.5 on the scale. Nothing normally to worry about. But there should always be an investigation. Having a PhD in geophysics, Alex Summers has done, and continues to do, contract work for the USGS and this puts him right smack in the middle of the 3 person investigation. He, and two other geologists have had the public works block off the 125th street, a block near the Harlem Hospital, so he and his coworkers can descend into the sewers. Presently, they stand on the cusp of the manhole, complaining about the smell. When Alex notes, "I've smelled worse..."

     Seismic activity is unique to the area and could draw certain attention from special people. Who knows who could show up out of curiosity.

Terra has posed:
Atlee is working at the diner today, waiting tables. It's something she learned to do when she lived in Florida and she really enjoys it, mostly because it lets her meet and interact with people. She definitely felt the tremor this morning, of course, and has already 'checked it out' in her own, geokinetic way.

"Madge, I'm gonna take a short break." she calls out to the other waitress in the diner. They're already past the breakfast rush, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Stuffing her order pad into the pocket of the apron, Atlee pads over curiously to the group loitering around the manhole. Without so much as asking, she leans over and peers down into the manhole as well.

Havok has posed:
Alex is a regular in the diner, though he's not met the new girl yet other than by ordering a few things here and there. He knows nothing about her super-heroineness nor that she's got powers. He, being the front man of the X-Men in Mutant Town, he figures everyone in that hood has powers. But today, she's here, looking down the manhole cover he's about to descend into. "Hey, Atlee, right?" He references her name badge. "You got a thing for holes in the ground, or for the quakes?"

Havok has posed:
Alex never wears a mask. He's known as Havok as well as Alex Summers. Either works. Most want to call him Havok when he's patrolling the streets while wearing black combat boots, black cargo pants, and his unstable molecule uniform. While at the diner, he's Alex, unless a fan comes up and wants an autograph from the approachable X-Man. Today, he's dressed as normal, black combat boots, black cargo pants, and his black unstable molecule long sleeved shirt with the white concentric lines on the chest. Over the shirt is a lighter colored, kakki shirt that hangs open. His coworkers know he's an X-Man, it's pretty much public knowledge but not advertised in the paper or anything.

Terra has posed:
Atlee flashes a warm smile, and she points to the name badge with a nod. She looks pleased that he knows her name, even so. "Right, Atlee." she replies. "And you're the one they call Havok, aren't you?" The girl peers down into the manhole again, then declares. "Everything's stable down there right now. After the quake this morning, I mean."

Havok has posed:
"That's what we're gonna go check out." Alex answers while Dave and Irene descend into the hole. Alex then adds, "It's a stable fault line. Last quake was in 81, so we're really not expecting anything. Plus, there's never any seismic activity in the area except when it's superhuman in nature."

Terra has posed:
Atlee shakes her head again. "No. It -is- stable." she repeats, speaking more slowly. "I just know these things." She glances around, left then right, before adding. "I'm Terra, a geokinetic. I can tell you because you're one of the X-Men and we're in Mutant Town."

Havok has posed:
Famous last words on both their parts.

The ground shakes again. Nothing bad, not even above a 2.0 on the Richter scale which lasts no more than 10 seconds. During the shake, Alex states, "Good...." <shake shake shake> "...to know?" He looks down the hole, ensures that his coworkers are alright and then looks back to to Atlee, "Alrighty then. You wanna come check it out with me?"

Terra has posed:
Atlee's eyes go wide when the ground shakes, then her brow furrows. "That's not supposed to happen." she declares. Hands stretch out, palms down, and she extends her senses down deeply into the earth. Seeking the network of fault lines, she looks for the source of the problem. "Um... doing it now."

Havok has posed:
The source of the earthquake is actually isolated to an underground area perhaps 300 yards away and beneath the street level. The sewer system will actually access the area. It isn't the actual fault line, but something else right smack in the middle of it.

Alex waits quietly for a few moments while Atlee seeks out the source of the problem. Somewhere, someone is yelling about the street being blocked. Cars honk. Workers flag them away. A lady drops her shopping bag full of cans. A concrete truck runs over a manhole cover and rumbles away. A metahuman fight takes place several blocks south and someone punches the ground. The subway train passes, another approaches.

Terra has posed:
Atlee feels everything happening with her geo senses, expression looking distant as she tries to find the source of the problem. "The fault line is fine, but there's something else in the middle of it." she declares, to whoever will listen. "The sewer line will take them right to it. But I'm thinking we should probably get there first. This doesn't seem right."

Havok has posed:
Alex notes, "That's good enough for me." He starts down the ladder into the stinky sewer. He intones to his companions, "Hey, it may be superhuman in nature. You two head up. Atlee and I are going to check it out." They both comply, they don't want to get in the middle of a super fight and they will wait for Atlee to descend before going up. They don't even question the whole part about 'what's this stranger girl doing here'. They know he's an X-Man, that's really all that matters. Alex will have already begun moving in the general direction that Atlee indicated topside. But lingers to wait for her since she has the 'sense'. He also looks for damage with a flashlight.

Terra has posed:
Atlee is still wearing her waitress uniform, mostly because she doesn't have her boots handy. (The bodysuit is worn under the dress, at least! Karen did teach her a few things.) She climbs down into the hole, finding the experience to be more than a bit curious. "I don't get to go down into very many man-made holes." she admits. Looking around at the large, concrete pipe making up the tunnel, she points. "It's that way."

Havok has posed:
Alex's blue eyes peer down the direction she indicates and he offers her a second flashlight while walking slowly for her to catch up and then will walk with intention while saying, "Geokinesis. That's a great power. Especially when you can sense things. Have you ever heard of Magma? As in the codename of a friend of mine?"

Terra has posed:
Atlee shakes her head at that, keeping a palm against the wall more for show than anything else. "Magma? Nope. Sounds like lava, though. I've been sprayed with it before. Didn't exactly enjoy the experience." Comfortable waitress shoes pad slowly along while they talk. For her part, Atlee doesn't really need to see right now. They're underground. In her element.

Havok has posed:
"Yeah, she was all about fiery hot magma body transformation. But could also do what you do with sensing tectonic plates and fault lines. She and I would go on excursions together. It was some pretty good teamwork." Several yards are covered and another 2.0 quake happens again. This time, Atlee can clearly pinpoint the origin. There's an abandoned subway tunnel. It's on the other side of a wall that's 200 yards away, still deep underground, and deeper than where they are now.

Terra has posed:
Atlee feels the tremor and immediately presses her palm against the concrete wall, giving a little tilt of her head. "That didn't feel natural." she declares. She adds. "We're taking a short cut." Jogging forward the 200 yards, she pauses and turns towards the wall. The concrete opens up as if it was made of paper and a hole just burned part of it away. "Feels like an old subway tunnel. I'll open up the way."

Havok has posed:
"Wow." mutters Alex as he watches Atlee open the wall. Sure, he's blown holes in walls before. But not like that. He's always impressed with super powers, especially those that have a common interest in his own - rocks. He'll follow, and comment, "There are a few of those in the city. A great place to hide out. And if it turns out to be super in nature, we need to be careful. But take it down fast. We can't have the two of you bringing down the city block around us - especially if it also has your power."

Terra has posed:
The tunnel opens up even more quickly, the inner surfaces of rock and dirt pressed smoothly together as the circular tube bores into the subway tunnel. Atlee walks along until they hit the wall on the other side, and she nods. "If something is causing this on purpose, then it has to die." she declares, almost casually. And then the subway tunnel is breeched.

Havok has posed:
Hidden deep within the bedrock is an abandoned subway tunnel and the mouth of an equally abandoned subway terminal. But not so abandoned. The illumination is brilliant. White hot LEDs that wipe away shadows and reveal the entire area has been repurposed. Not only is it repurposed, it's also occupied. Hydra Agents are everywhere. They all wear a symbol on their green jumpsuits in the shape of a rhino < http://tinyurl.com/y7srvnnw >. They are all focused on one task. In the far end of the room is a containment device where a humanoid creature is strapped to it. There are all sorts of devices around trying to control the creature's power. < http://tinyurl.com/y8sodu6u > The creature is very unhappy. It roars, they turn up the power. Nobody is looking in the general direction of Atlee or Havok.

Terra has posed:
Atlee doesn't hesitate in her response. They're all underground in the subway tunnel, after all, and underground is HER domain. Extending both hands, palm up, head-sized rocks rise up from the floor of the tunnel and form spikes. There are a lot of them. And immediately they start flying like missiles to destroy the control devices.

Havok has posed:
The sudden attack catches the HYDRA agents off guard. They all freak the fuck out while trying to figure out what's going on. Many of them spot the two heroes at the mouth of the tunnel. Especially when Havok braces and then let's loose a blast of fiery hot plasma that streaks across the room to destroy another entirely different console causing a massive explosion.

Atlee's attack destroys all the control devices and the humanoid creature will be able to break free in the next few seconds. It struggles with the bonds.

A few of the HYDRA agents rush to grab firearms. A leader type says, "Kill them all!"

Terra has posed:
The superhero-waitress purses her lips, dark eyes squinting as she strides forward. "Wrong answer!" she calls back. The air inside the tunnel practically explodes with flying rocks now. The explosion of hot plasma makes her pause a moment, looking wide-eyed at the raw power eruption.

She heads for the imprisoned creature, now. "Hold on a moment and I'll get you free of that." she calls out.

Havok has posed:
The ground begins to shake more. The humanoid creature is causing it. It rises to a 4 on the magnitude scale. The ceiling begins to collapse. HYDRA agents don't know what to do other than to try and escape. While others do what they're told and they try to shoot the heroes with the pew pew red laser guns. Like Cobra and Stormtroopers, they are horrible shots.

Another blast is launched from Havok's hands as he blasts another console for effect. Adding to the debris and confusion that Atlee is causing. He calls out, "Atlee! Careful! We don't know what that creature will do!"

The creature roars and breaks the bonds. The ground shakes more.

Terra has posed:
Atlee leaves the fleeing Hydra agents to Havok, and focuses her power instead on the earth all around them. There's another tremor and she immediately stills it. Facing the freed and roaring creature directly now, she raises both hands in an attempted calming gesture.

"Easy, now. We're not here to hurt you, I promise. But you've gotta stop making the earthquakes. It's not safe here."

Havok has posed:
It steps away from the restraints and looks down to Atlee - it stands nearly 7 feet in height. It realizes that she's stopping the quakes and then it says in an annoyed voice, "Very well. But next time, I will bring the city down upon them." It reaches up to behind the right temple where it touches a button and is transported away by some energy based Star Trek like transporter. The room stops shaking, and HYDRA agents flee. Not caring to be wiped out by the heroes. But, the room is still going to collapse, and Atlee knows this will happen in a few seconds if she doesn't brace it.

Terra has posed:
Atlee squints, gazing up at the much taller creature with hands on her hips. The alien transports away, and only then does Atlee realize just how unstable things have become. "Crap." she mutters, holding both arms out to her sides as she pours power into the ground. She stablilizes a good portion of the surrounding Earth, out several miles, without making an actual -region- of the underground that might be considered too hard to allow for natural, tectonic slippage.

Havok has posed:
Havok ensures that the HYDRA agents are fleeing and he says, "We need to go back the way we came... Come on!" and he starts moving, quickly, toward the tunnel she made to get into the area.

Terra has posed:
Atlee waits until the ground is stable, or at least as stable as she can make it. Then she follows Alex out into the tunnel. At a trot. "That SHOULD hold, but I'm not sure how long." Looking over at him, she asks. "Who WAS that, anyway?"

Havok has posed:
"No idea..." He states while hurridly departing the area. "But the goons were HYDRA agents. An underworld criminal organization who tries to take over the world. Bunch of jerks, really."

They emerge back into the sewer system when the racket is heard from the tunnel that the abandoned subway station partially collapses. Leaving it for SHIELD or whomever to dig through.

Terra has posed:
Atlee looks back over her shoulder as the tunnel behind them collapses. The dust rolls forward, and with a glance from Atlee just stops to curl back upon itself like hitting a glass window. "Yeah, they looked like it. And they weren't being nice to that creature. But if he DOES come back, I'll be waiting." A pause, then she looks up at the man. "You wanna get pancakes?"