5126/Machinations: Remember me

Machinations: Remember me
Date of Scene:	07 August 2018
Location:	Coney Island, New York City
Synopsis:	Cyborgs attempt to assassinate Warren while he is with Jessica and Scott. Clint jumps in to help stop the attack. Archangel manifests.
Cast of Characters:	Archangel, Cyclops, Spider-Woman (Drew), Hawkeye (Barton)
Tinyplot:	Machinations

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Archangel has posed:
It is a warm, breezy day at Coney Island. The crowds are thick as usual in the summer months. Ferris wheels turn, roller coasters rip past with people screaming. The air smells like the ocean, popcorn and suntan lotion as it wafts across the boardwalk. The ocean is lightly ruffled and filled with people swimming. The beach is there, somewhere under the press of bodies and blankets. On the other side of the boardwalk, residential towers make up the backdrop to the summer fun.

Warren walks with Jessica past the Seaside Courts and across Surf Avenue to Asser Levy Park to meet Scott. The park is busy, but nothing like the boardwalk, giving some hope of actually seeing each other. When they get to the park, Warren takes a seat on a bench a little ways from the amphitheatre to wait. His wings twitch slightly as he glances around, looking for Scott.

"You'll love Scott, we go a really long way back," he says with a broad smile. "Really stand up guy."

Cyclops has posed:
In typical Scott Summers fashion, he's early. He arrived at Coney Island somewhere around a half hour ago and had been standing over at the boardwalk. Amongst the horde of people either walking one way or another along the boardwalk or those sitting on benches looking out over the water, Scott stands with his hands stuffed into his pockets with near-perfect posture. His dark red sunglasses gleam as the sun reflects off of them while he surveys the beach and the thousands of people soaking up the sun. He occasionally raises his arm and glances down at his watch until the time approaches.

He finally leaves the boardwalk and heads over to the park where he immediately spots Warren and Jessica as they approach the bench. Making his way in their direction, a grin slips its way across his lips as he lifts an arm to offer Warren a wave, "Afternoon, Warren." He looks from Warren to Jessica and nods slightly towards her, "Afternoon, ma'am. Scott Summers."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica nods and idly smoothes the breeze-ruffled feathers along the edge of Warren's twitching wing. It's as much an act of soothing him as anything else. "Someone you think the world of? How could I not like him?" Jessica smiles.

And as if on cue, Scott arrives. Jessica looks between the two, and nods back to Scott. "Good afternoon! I'm Jessica Drew. Pleasure to meet you!" She had assumed from the bit of description she has that this is /probably/ Scott. Or else there's some other guy with awesome dark red sunglasses that has a penchant for winged guys in amusement parks.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Hill, you know these guys have knives that come out of their arms right?" Clint says on his cellpone as he walks through the crowd. He's dressed down today, in shorts and an I <3 New York t-shirt on, and a large sportsbag over one shoulder.

As he talks he walks, pretending to be sightseeing, but looking through his high tech shades for any sign of cyborgs. "Uh-huh, yeah, because sending two of us went so well, nah, I can handle them solo, it's fine."

Clint pauses to look through a selection of post cards. "Uh-huh, yeah, yeah, post in Sibera..." he rolls his eyes. "I'm on it. Later Hill."

He hangs up the phone and stuffs it in his pocket before moving off down the boardwalk towards where Warren, Scott and Jess are meeting.

Archangel has posed:
Warren stands up and turns when he hears Scott's voice. He grins and shakes his friend's hand. "Thanks for coming, Scott, glad you could get away" he says.

"We just spent the morning doing the Coney Island thing. Did you jump on the rides before you met up with us?" he asks Scott after the introductions are done. "Say, Vis a Vis is just across the park, great place, French, let's go grab a drink," he says brigthly. He turns to start walking across the central green space of the park with Scott and Jessica toward the northern treeline.

There is a screech of tires on the north side of the park behind the treeline, over by the Temple Beth Abraham. Someone with a heavy Bronx accent starts yelling something about getting a move on out on the roadway. A few men can just be made out in the shade of trees by Jessica, Scott and Warren.

On the south side of the park, Clint sees an old beat up looking green Astro Van stop suddenly at the curb by the park. The driver of a Nissan Leaf behind it lays on the horn. The back doors of the Astro Van open and four men in black shirts, black cargo pants and boots pile out. The van rises noticeably with each one of the men that gets out. Another gets out of the passenger side of the van. One of the men nods to a woman with long straw coloured hair pulled up in a pony tail, wearing a tanktop and black yoga pants. The five men set off running into the treeline, moving /very/ fast. The woman walks in the same direction purposefully.

Cyclops has posed:
Scott's grin broadens into a more appropriate smile as Warren rises from the bench and shakes his hand. Looking at Jessica, he nods once more, "Nice to meet you, Jessica. I hope you've been enjoying the nice day." He glances back to Warren and nods at the suggestion of grabbing a drink. Of course he'll be sticking to water. He did drive here.

The screeching of tires grabs his attention, causing him to peer across the park. He sees an angry New Yorker throw up his arms in a 'what the hell' gesture. That same man quickly turns and speed-walks away as the group of men and the woman all start making their way into the park at an alarming speed.

Damn. Could be trouble. He reaches into his jacket and tugs out a device as he simultaneously pulls his sunglasses off to reveal his eyes being shut tightly. He pushes the device over his nose and against his forehead before he's able to open his eyes again. "Heads up, 10 o'clock." His forehead wrinkles as he sizes up the situation, "5 men, possibly one woman. A lot of civilians." Hopefully he's just paranoid.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica pauses along with Warren and Scott, looking around swiftly to identify collateral damage: everybody. Half of New York is here today, and they're meandering without a thought in their heads besides sun, food, and fun.

"I'm seeing it," she replies to Scott. She tracks the figures through the treeline, and without another thought, she unties her black wrap skirt, revealing leggings beneath that bear a suspiciously webbed pattern over deep red. "Something here isn't okay," she states with conviction as she stuffs the fluttery skirt into a knapsack on her shoulder.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint frowns, six of them. He was definitely going to have to send Hill an appropriate thank-you for this job.

He turns and heads out towards the van, he produces a tracker the size of a nickle and he flicks it at the van. Odds are given the parking job they weren't coming back to it, but then they might be dumb or desperate enough later. Always pays to be prepared.

Clint unzips his bag, wandering after the woman, as he passes the Nissan Leaf he shrugs, "Tourists right?" he says to the driver. "Still better than traffic around the UN!"

He hand in the bag, he carries on, tailing the woman and tracking safe lines of fire in case he has to make a move.

Archangel has posed:
Warren starts to turn in the direction Scott indicated and frowns as he catches a glimpse of Jessica's uniform when she pulls her skirt off.

There is a startled yell from the other direction that makes Warren turn his head back. To the north, five men dressed in black tear out of the treeline. One runs right across the blanket of woman who was standing and watching her kids play on the nearby playground. The woman is knocked flat when the man's shoulder catches her as rushes past. There are more yells as another one of the men from the north runs through a group of people walking on a path without breaking stride. Several people are knocked to the ground. All five are headed for Jessica, Scott and Warren. They do not run in straight lines though, making erractic sidesteps and small turns that slow them down a little but would make them harder to shoot. They are still incredibly fast though.

"Five more north closing fast," Warren warns crisply, the grin gone from his face. "Nice call, Scott. Damn there a lot of people!"

To the south, the five men Scott and Clint saw erupt from the tree line. Two leap into the air, soaring a solid 30 feet up. The other three run in the same strange, erratic pattern as the men to the north. The woman in yoga pants crouches down in the bushes at the interior edge of the southern treeline.

Warren turns southward and flaps his wings hard. He is in the air moving toward the jumping men.

Almost in unison, all ten men flick their arms. Their wrists hinge back and foot long blades snap out of their arms. The blades glint in the overhead sunlight and there are more screams. Everything is happening quickly, but the crowd is starting to realize something is wrong. People yell and shout. In the grassy area near the amphitheatre there are several children running around chasing a soccer ball. Sun bathers and people just taking sitting and enjoying the sun are also in the grassy area with Scott, Jessica and Warren. The cyborgs keep civilians between themselves and the trio in the middle of the park as they close in.

Two of the men from the north jump into the air after Warren takes off, and as improbable as it first seems, go high enough they may actually reach him about the same time as Warren reaches the two jumpers from the south.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica has to turn off her gut reactions as the men jump for Warren. She doesn't scream. Instead, she braces her feet against the bolted legs of a bark bench and fires two webs from her fingertips toward two of the jumpers and jerk back, hard, the moment the webs make contact. She instantly releases the webs: they can do her no more good, whether she managed to pull them back down or not. Instead, she fires another two webs toward two of the boys playing soccer and pulls them more gently, but firmly, out of the path of the incoming bladed assailants. Her own fluttery floral top is already nearly shredded just from her efforts, and the golden field marked with a spider emblazoned on her chest is shining through.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint closes on the woman, he reaches into his bag and draws out a quiver and swings it onto his back. Then he reaches in and pulls out a bow, which, with a flick of his wrist extends out to full-size.

He reaches back for a Taser arrow as he draws within 30 feet of the woman. "Hey miss, I'm with the New York City Parking Authority, your friends are in a red zone and need to move their vehicle," he quips before all hell breaks loose and men, scratch that, cyborgs are coming out of everywhere.

"Aw crap," he says even as puts arrow to string, pulls back and fires.

Archangel has posed:
It is a bit like watching a flock of birds or school of fish... Or raptors in Jurassic Park. Without a sound, the group of cyborgs re-orients.

One of the three on the ground from the south, with close-cropped black hair and a leering scowl, jumps over a man just dropping his gyro to scramble for cover, and comes in swinging a blade arm at Jessica. The other two from the south, one with a blond faux-hawk and the other with a shaved head, lurch sideways, putting some scrambling civilians behind them between themselves and Clint. It costs them time, though and they will not be in melee range for a few moments.

Jessica's webs connect with the chests of the two jumpers from the north. When she pulls, their trajectories are completely ruined. One of the two plummets gracelessly into the the amphiteatre, breaking through the side wall and crashing through stage floor. The other turns just in time in mid-air and lands in a crouch facing the opposite direction of his momentum. He slides across the paved path he lands on and several feet into the grass, leaving deep furrows behind him. He snaps one blade away so that he can use his hand to rip his shirt off and toss it and the attached webbing to the ground. The man is ridiculously muscled and defined under that shirt.

The two boys startle and yell as they are yanked out of the way of the men charging from the north. It was timely. A young man trying to run away cuts across one of the charging cyborgs. He gets knocked over and stepped on. There is a loud crunch and the young man screams, clutching his leg and rolling in the grass.

The woman in the yoga pants snaps her head around when Clint starts talking. Her eyes glow pale red and she starts to uncoil and twist at the same time. Clint's tazer arrow catches her in the cheek. She convulses and the glow in her eyes flickers and goes out. She flops to the ground with tongue lolling out into the dirt. A second later the glow returns to the woman's eyes, which flicker rapidly like the little light on old PC towers when the hard drive was working hard.

The cyborg Warren closes with takes a mid-air swipe at him. Warren flutters at the last moment, coming to a stop in the air. The tip of the arm blade sweeps inches from his chest. Warren grabs the cyborg's arm as the strike passes, flaps again, and rolls sideways and backwards in the air, re-directing the cyborg's moment. The cyborg goes flying toward one of the ones running in from the north, forcing that cyborg to dodge as his compatriot crashes hard and rolls along the ground. The one Warren threw comes to a rest yards away and starts to get up again, one arm hanging uselessly from its shoulder.

The second southern jumper sails by Warren, out of reach, and lands on the park bench Jessica used to brace herself. One of the wooden slats gives out under his weight and skids to the ground, off-balance.

One of the two other cyborgs running in from the north jumps into the air towards Warren. The other makes a vicious diagonal slash towards Scott.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica throws up an arm to block her bladed attacker's forearm with her own, trying to duck and spin beneath the blade as her hands close around his forearm and she uses her lower center of gravity to twist his arm and damage it while attempting to use that leverage to throw him into one of his bladed buddies on the ground.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Ew," Clint says about the woman's tongue dragging in the dirt. Though the flashing eyes are NOT a good sign. He grabs a second Taser arrow and shoots it into her. "Stay down," he warns.

Then he surveys the scene.

The new cyborg jumping towards Warren is the unlucky winner. Saving his Taser arrows for surer shots, he selects a freeze arrow, takes aim and fires.

Archangel has posed:
The cyborg attacking Jessica is caught by surprise, his eyes go wide when she is strong enough to block his strike, forearm to forearm. His eyes go wider still when Jessica twists his arm. There is a grinding and cracking sound and then the arm's structural integrity gives out and it crumples into a spiral. Given her strength, Jessica throws the cyborg, not so much with his momentum but notwithstanding it. He flies level across the ground into the cyborg trying to attack Scott. The two cyborgs land in a heap.

The second tazer arrow catches yoga pants in the same cheek. She convulses again and the lights in her eyes go out. The left side of her face is mashed inwards, revealing a metal jaw and cheekbone. Her eyes flicker one at a time and then slowly start to synchronize and flicker again.

The cyborg jumping toward Warren gets hit with a freeze arrow and half his body is immediately encased in ice. The cyborg gives a startled yell and plummets to the ground, fully ballistic and unable to break his own fall. He lands on his neck and shoulder on the right side. There are some feeble movements from the limbs on the left side of his body but nothing more.

Warren flaps and drops from the sky. The two southern cyborgs that were keeping civilians between themselves and Clint turn and charge toward Warren. The first takes a swipe, at Warren, who slides sideways out of the path of the blade with a flick of the wings and knocks the cyborg to the ground with a turning kick to the back of the head. The cyborg falls heavily but starts pushing himself up. The second was behind his friend and not close enough to strike, but keeps charging Warren. The northern cyborg that had been dodging the cyborg Warren threw ignores Jessica and runs toward Warren.

The cyborg that landed on the bench and slipped now turns and makes a backhanded slash at Jessica's midsection. The two boys that were playing soccer cower behind the bench as the fight rages around them. Everyone else in the park seems to be doing their best to flee.

The shirtless cyborg initially looked like he was going to spring at Jessica, but instead snaps his other blade closed and launches into a series of back handsprings southward. He finishes them by rounding off and charging toward Clint.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica pulls a Matrix, limboing backward at a nearly impossible angle to avoid the blade coming at her midsection, but lacks quite enough room to evade it entirely, as she feels the blade gain some purchase at least. How much, she can't be sure.

"Run," she urges the boys quietly as she collapses back onto the busted bench for a moment, her breath halting and pained. "Toward the funhouse. I'll help your friend." And with that, she launches full-bore into the slashing cyborg's abdomen with her shoulder. Maybe she should have been an offensive lineman. Then again...maybe not.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint blanches at the sight of the cyborg's violent impact with the ground.

"Crap," he says, but there is no time to call for medical help for him or the boy with the leg. Shirtless was cartwheeling his way over and Yoga pants was trying to boot back up again.

"Crap, crap, crap," Clint curses.

He draws a new Taser arrow and fire into the man's bared chest.

Archangel has posed:
Clint's tazer arrow catches shirtless right in the sternum. The arrow fires its charge and Shirtless' body goes limp mid-stride. He just falls to the ground limp and slides across the grass to a rest. Yoga Pants' eyes continue to flicker but her body does not move. Yet.

The boys start to scramble away when Jessica tells them to, eyes wide and terrified. Jessica surges up from the bench and shoulder checks the cyborg who sliced at her as he brings up his other arm. The cyborg is lifted bodily off his feet and lands on his back four feet away. He starts to roll over to stand, the blades sticking out of wrists make it awkward.

"Scott, can you..." Warren looks in Scott and Jessica's direction in time to see the cyborg swipe at Jessica and then get sent flying. He sees the cut in her uniform and his face clouds immediately. "No!" Distracted, he barely sees the piercing strike coming from the cyborg in front of him. He starts to move aside but the blade runs along his right bicep, opening up a gash.

One moment Warren is there, mid-fight, white wings wide and body readying to dodge the incoming cyborg. The next moment he has changed completely. Blue-skinned, bald and with dark metallic wings, he turns sharply, right wing horizontal to the ground. The edge of the wing slices across the back of the neck of the cyborg attacking him and the thing's head comes clean off its shoulders.

Warren turns, holding his right bicep with his left hand, to face the other cyborg charging him. He glares at it with pure hatred and points his wingtips at it. Flechette feathers lance out and impale the cyborg in the chest. He falls and skids to the ground at Warren's feet.

The cyborg Jessica threw is rolled off and over by the one he was thrown into. This second cyborg slides his blade out of his friend and launches himself at Jessica from a crouch with an x-shaped double slash.

The cyborg Warren threw earlier starts running back at Warren, one arm swinging limply from the shoulder, seemingly heedless of Clint's position now that none of the cyborgs that are aware can see him. The cyborg Warren turn kicked is pushing to his feet behind Warren.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Turning quickly, Jessica is met by the X-shaped double-slash, and she drops and rolls between the feet of the approaching slasher, opting instead to fire two webs at the cyborg approaching Warren from behind. Facing his side, she aims one for his front, and one for his back. When they make contact, she pulls hard with one hand, firing web with the other, in an attempt to wrap him up with a spin. All the while, she is watching over her shoulder toward the one whose feet she just danced between.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
With no-shirt down, Clint pivots and fires a freeze arrow at Yoga pants.

"Stay!" he says.

He turns again, to see a head fall from the sky. He blinks, "One problem at a time," he says.

He spots the one limp armed cyborg running and his buddy getting up behind Warren. Clint picks him off at a run, then launching himself off of a bench into a leap he fires at the back of the one trying to get up with two knife hands.

Archangel has posed:
Jessica's webs are right on target. The cyborg behind Archangel begins to pull back his arm for a strike. Before he can though, Jessica's web catch the cyborg and he spun off his feet. He is left struggling and cursing in a web with one arm pinned to his side and the other stuck over his head.

The freeze arrow hits Yoga Pants in the back and her arms and torso are encased in ice, stuck to the ground and bushes near her. Her eyes stop flickering and she glares at Clint. "I'll still kill you!" she snarls, as she tries to get legs underneath her. At her angle, it is nearly impossible to get any purchase.

Clint fires a tazer arrow at the cyborg running toward Archangel with a limp arm and one at the cyborg Jessica body checked. Both arrows find their marks and fire. The two cyborgs crumple to the ground convulsing, then lie still.

Archangel was turning toward the cyborg rushing him when it was hit by an arrow. He makes a frustrated noise but then sees the cyborg Jessica rolled under. He grins and points his wingtips at the man. More feather flechettes lance out and catch the cyborg in the chest and side of his head. A few pass close enough to Jessica that she can hear them hiss past. The cyborg twitches, makes a strangled noise, then sinks to his knees and finally lands face first on the cement path with a dull thud. Flechette points stick out of his back.

Still grinning, Archangel looks around, then becomes scope locked on the boy writhing on the ground with his broken leg. His wings twitch and the wingtips start to come around to point at the boy. Then the wings stop and continue to twitch, halfway to targetting the child.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica recognizes the gravity of the situation, and with the cyborgs, at very least for the moment, dispatched...she sprints to the child with a broken leg and kneels with her back to Warren. She has shown no outward sign that she saw any threat. She is simply trying to make the child comfortable. With her body between him and the Archangel.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Yeah, yeah," Clint says to Yoga Pants.

He surveys the grounds and catches the glint of something in the trees to the north. He moves that way, putting his last freeze arrow on his string.

As he closes he can make it out. A news camera, mounted on a guy's shoulder.

That didn't seem kosher.

"Hey pal, who are you with?" he asks.

Archangel has posed:
Behind Clint, to the south, there is a peel of tires and the Astro Van cuts into traffic, eliciting a chorus of honks. The man in the northern treeline with camera looks up from the eyepiece when Clint calls to him. His eyes go wide and the man turns and starts to run, lugging the camera with him. He is running toward gold coloured Aztec van with a hideous hand painted mural of some sort of demon snake and skulls, waiting at the roadside.

Archangel grimaces and begins to advance on Jessica, wings and nostrils flaring. His shadow falls over Jessica and the boy and is still for a moment.

"I am not Death!"

There is a rush and swirl of air and Archangel is in the air. The air condenses around him and booms. Windows in the top two floors of a nearby apartment building shatter. He leaves a condensation trail behind that tracks to the east.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica exhales, slowly and shakily, as Archangel's voice rings out like the knell of a church bell. She helps to keep the boy's leg immobilized. "Shh...it's going to be all right. See? Doctors are coming," she utters soothingly to him.

As she hands the boy's care off to the EMT's, she turns and makes her way to the funhouse and gathers the other two boys, bringing them back to the first boy. "These two were pulled out of the way, but they saw...a lot. I got them out as quickly as I could, but they could be in shock," she explains. Then, watching Clint as he approaches that horrible Aztec, Jessica falls in behind him, partially shredded uniform notwithstanding. "Everything okay over here?" she inquires.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint looks back to see the van drive off to a chorus of honks. "Suckers," he says as he sprints after the camera guy.

"Hey Jess," he says as she catches up. "Guy up ahead was fiming all of this," he says. There were all sorts of implications for Warren with that. "Think you can get him? I've got his ride."

Clint draws and fires his arrow at the Aztec's engine block. Because really, that paint job was worst crime he witnessed today!

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Ding dong, that bitch is dead." She chimes out as the Aztec is disabled. Within seconds, she is upon the camera guy, and thwips a web out toward him. Unfortunately, he turns just as she does, his camera cradled against his midsection, and THAT is all she hits. The camera is jerked from his hands, and the guy lets out girly scream as it shatters on the ground. He is still in a full-on scramble, disappearing into the throngs on the street, as Jessica picks up the main section of what is left, including the SD card. With a frustrated exhale, she blows her hair back out of her eyes, and ejects the card. "Think the guy has suffered enough?"

Archangel has posed:
A paramedic takes charge of the boys that Jessica brings them. "Thanks, Spider-Woman," she says.

When Clint shoots out the engine on the Aztec, the driver bails out and melts into the crowd as did the camera guy. He is quickly obscured by the press of onlookers starting to converge on the park.

Several police cars have converged on the park along with paramedics. The police move first to secure the cyborgs and use leg and wrist chains behind each one, before the paramedics are allowed to see to them. Fire trucks arrive and their crews begin helping the paramedics load the cyborgs into ambulances for transport. Another fire truck pulls up to the building with shattered windows and the crew heads inside.

Thankfully, civilian injuries were few, largely confined to bumps and bruises and sprains from people being knocked aside, with the exception of the boy with the broken leg.

Two plainclothes detectives walk over toward Jessica and Clint to find out what happened.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica does her best to answer the questions of the detectives. But there is an ache in her chest, and she can't help watching hopefully, if not optimistically, in the direction that Archangel disappeared. For now, everything is even-keeled. But tomorrow...hopefully...will be a new time to mend, for everyone.