5773/Astral Flux: The Mansion's 'Vacation'

Astral Flux: The Mansion's 'Vacation'
Date of Scene:	13 November 2018
Location:	Avengers Mansion, New York City
Synopsis:	The Avengers restore their lost mansion.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Constantine, Ant-Man (Lang), Black Panther, Hulk, Spider-Woman (Drew), Captain America
Tinyplot:	Astral Flux

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Iron Man has posed:
    The Avengers Mansion has been lost in the 'hell dimension' for quite some time. Weeks, at least. The story, at least if you believe those who tell it, is this:
    Weeks ago, a mob of people in Manhattan were mind controlled, likely by the villain known as the Shadow King. Some were directed to tear into other public buildings of renoun in the city, and others were sent (in a massive clump) to assault the Avengers Mansion. The mansion itself was fine, and used 'gentle' means to deter the poor mind-controlled people, but it did not sort well when it came to Dr. Strange. Strange, mind controlled, was able to just walk into the mansion, and was directed to a bit of havoc: setting off a massive device of Tony's that was going to blow out most of the city if it went off!
    Fortunately, Dr. Strange woke up in time, and pulled the whole of the mansion (and a few other things) along into another dimension where time doesn't pass like it does normally on earth. Instead, there, the explosion was stopped before it fully began. Dr. Bruce Banner was in the mansion when it was moved, though, and was trapped there with it for what felt like a very long time. There were also dimensional monsters trying to eat him, but Hulk dealt with those for the most part. Dr. Strange was in a coma there, as well, but finally woke, and brought Banner back with him. The Mansion has been locked in time ever since.

    Today? The Avengers (and maybe an extra credit person) have assembled.

    The plan? To send two magic users ahead with a beacon, and allow a portal to be opened for the rest of the assembled team to follow. The mansion will need to be cleared of dimensional beings, the explosion of Tony's device halted, additional hubs placed to allow for the mansion to be brought back to original destination. No trouble, right?

    Tony has a mobile setup in the back yard of the mansion, where everyone is gathering. Tech and robots are everywhere, it is busy with activity, though a zone was set aside for whatever 'magical mumbo-jumbo' needs to occur with Wanda and Constantine. Hopefully they don't mind working on the lawn. At least the sprinklers are turned off.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda, for all she usually isn't the face forward one in the group, has very particular things to say about how the setup will go with getting them all to the mansion. She has Bruce's notes, as well as her own understanding of dimensions and ley lines, as shifts in reality, and a bunch of stuff that probably makes the rest of the group roll their eyes back into their head, nodding politely, while trying to stay out of her road and/or do as she asks.

Ultimately, though, she manages to wrangle things as she wants, totally browbeating.. er.. convincing Constantine to help her out. (It's Wanda, she doesn't really brow beat, even if she's rather a pro at helping people see things, if not her way, at least what she wants them to see).

"So, we will set it up that we can bring the others through. But I will want your help. This is good, yes?" Of John.

Constantine has posed:
John couldn't bloody believe he'd signed up for this nonsense but he had, and so, he was here, but he came prepared. His old leather doctor's bag was stuffed to the brim with magical goodies he thought he might need in the other realm. Mostly of the sort to help keep him alive, and push comes to shove, get him back home. The rest of this lot? Well they were the big heroes weren't they? They'd manage.

"Not sure if it's good, luv," John says to Wanda as he lights up his smoke. "But it's what I agreed to. An' here," he tosses Wanda a gold ring covered with gylphs, then puts it's pair on his own right ring finger. "Don' worry, not trying to poach on lover boy's preserve, these are to find each other if it gets hairy, figure, we're each other's best shot of getting home."

That done, he claps his hands. "So, let's open us a portal, shall we?"

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    As much as he will never admit it, Scott is here straight from a shift at his other job that doesn't involve adventures into alien dimensions. Already pressed for time, he made his way straight to the Mansion aboard a flying carpenter ant and promptly popped into existence (or at least regular size) in the backyard. The mystique of the Ant-Man costume is lost a little as he carries a purple Jansport backpack over one shoulder full of work clothes. Noticing nobody else came toting laundry, he promptly drops it on the ground and kicks it underneath something. Knowing better than to ask any questions just yet, he simply approaches the hi-tech setup and waits quietly.

Black Panther has posed:
So...New story.

The King of Wakanda was there.

Dressed in his ceremonial garb of the Panther Habit, T'Challa stood with his arms crossed, looking at the circle of individuals around him. Familiar faces: Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Bruce Banner, Captain America. Everyone else he either hasn't met or hasn't spoken to in quite some time.

But Mr. Lang is the fellow of attention. Out of curiousity, T'Challa may or may not be looking over the man's tech. Interesting. T'Challa just waits patiently. "I believe that is all that is left to do." he agrees with Constantine.

Hulk has posed:
One would think that Bruce would stay as he was to help with recon into the 'hell dimension'. After spending what was three months to him inside of a time bubble there though... his response to that request was 'not on your life'. He was happy to write down what he knew about it.... but he was in no way interested in going back himself.

The Hulk... seems largely indifferent to the prospect of returning there. The ten foot high, one ton Green Goliath sits there in the middle of the backyard on a piece of debris... which is predictably almost collapsed under his weight. His massive green arms and nano-tech blue jeaned legs flex as he waits, restlessly. He occasionally growls as he shifts his weight, "Hulk hope this not boring trip." The rumble of his voice can be felt in the air.

His infamous rage can be heard in his breathing, but there's no psychotic loss of control there. He's visibly in control.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Jesus!" Jessica jumps as Ant-Man seemingly materializes next to her. She nearly stumbles a little, but maintains her composure as much as possible. She's a professional, after all. Right? Wait, did she leave the oven on?

"Hi!" she says to Scott, looking around to see if anyone noticed either her foible, or the backpack being kicked under a shrubbery. Because all the best stories contain shrubberies, anyway...

Captain America has posed:
Dressed to impress, there's the Captain, standing over by the collection of Tony's wonderous devices. With starred shield on his back and guns at his hips, he waits with arms lightly crossed. The sudden appearance of Scott is enough to even make his eyebrows jump, though the rest of his body remains planted.

"I've seen it all," he comments quietly, looking from Jessica to Scott and then across the rest of the familiar faces. He cranes his head to see precisely what John and Wanda are up to, but being no student of the Mystic Arts, he has not much of an idea. "So. What are we wearing into this place? I thought I heard there was something about technology that would keep the mind powers from affecting us?"

Iron Man has posed:
    Tony isn't even present at first. The robots are being remotely controlled. At least one looked like an Iron Man suit, though, an older mark. There's at least a dozen various drones actively fabricating platforms and moving about the big hole where the mansion was. They are doing as much prep as possible, and setting up links here and there.

    One of the robots spies Scott Lang's laundry and scoops it off promptly, trundling off. Clearly he intended for it to be taken to be laundered. The robots are good at judging intentions, so long as they are what Tony would want.

    "My parties are /never/ boring," chimes Tony through the Iron Man vocal projection as he arrives neatly on the scene, in full Iron Man armor, though the mask flips up as he glides past Hulk and lands near the assembly: specifically, Wanda and Constantine.

    "I'll be leading anti-explosion group, direct to the lower levels," Tony asserts. "There shouldn't be mind powers here. This is Dr. Strange's choice of vacation destinations, not Shadow King's. With Banner's notes, we're looking at insect-like demon things. Slashing limbs." Tony gestures across his body with one hand, and then shrugs. "No problem."

    "Cap, would you sort out maybe ... what, two groups for clearing the main level and exterior?" Tony suggests, looking over the arrangement of heroes. His eyes catch on Lang. "Ant-Man, right? You've been picked first for Tony's awesome non-exploding lab team," Tony declares, with a relaxed smirk, and a buck of thumb to gesture to come over his way.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Your parties are loud," Wanda tells Tony in gently scolding tones, clearly fond of the man despite all that. Others get smiles, too, for their arrivals. Jessica. Black Panther. Cap. Hulk gets a reassuring smile that is somehow coupled with a hint of a frown. Scott gets a kiss on his cheek, and a pleased, "You did make it. Very nice. The others.." And she makes sure all of the group are somehow introduced before turning her attention on John.

"You could not poach me." His cigarette, for whatever reason, refuses to stay lit. If Wanda has something to do with that, she doesn't admit it. Even if the tiny smugness to her features may suggest it is so.

"So. I will be opening the portal. John, you will be helping me so, by standing there and acting as a focus, and a resonator for me. It is enough for you to merely let me join with your power, yes?"

And, because they have agreed already to work together to this end, she creates, with the apparatii, and his help, a field that both surrounds and protects all who are gathered, and then punches a hole through reality as they know it to the other dimension where the mansion is.

Loud wailing screams and creels of agony and pain fill the air, rising and falling in a manner that is both oddly jarring and lulling at the same time. It is something akin to a chorus, only where a chorus would strive to compliment and accentuate one another, here is it as if each voice, every sound, is competing for attention while simultaneously unaware that there are others.

The cacophony is deafening, but not harmful.

"You must all go through!" Wanda calls above the din as she holds the portal open. "But be aware, there are monsters. Please, do be killing them, but try not to damage the mansion, or yourselves."

And with that, she expects everyone to go through and deal with the onslaught.

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    Scott turns his head to look at Jessica when she exclaims, raising his eyebrows in surprise: "No, I'm Scott - uh - Ant-Man. Jesus is my co-pilot." He turns his head away to watch his backpack be stolen by a drone. That's the 2020s for you. Still, he uses the moment when he's not facing Jessica to make a 'what the hell kind of line was that' face. He smiles a little bashfully at the kiss on his cheek from Wanda and goes to speak when suddenly his name is called. He turns back around to speak again when suddenly he's being called. He would stand at attention if there were a military bone in his body.
    "That's right! Non-exploding sounds great. I just wanted to say I'm really grateful that you thought of me," he waves to Jessica and Wanda as he heads on over to Iron Man, "This whole setup is really impressive even with the giant hole in the ground."

Black Panther has posed:
Black Panther glances upwards to the Hulk. "I believe it will be well and exciting enough. Think of all the things to smash." T'Challa is clearly attempting to perhaps rowdy up the big green giant for the fight ahead. But, well, then there's the portal.

Without hesitation, The Panther leaps through the portal, knowing that there is a threat beyond his usual manner of problems awaiting for the entire group. "Remember to work together and don't stray too far from the group."

He knew they were the Avengers but...ya know, that was mainly probably for the Hulk.

Hulk has posed:
"Hulk doesn't like this already." Hulk grunts out, before he stands, and small tremors can be felt through the ground as he starts to walk over to the portal.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Big Green slams his fists together as he steps in front of it, "Hulk will clear way." He states with confidence, before he steps through... presumably at the same time as Black Panther.

Captain America has posed:
"Sure, Tony. How about -- "

And then there's the opened portal. Steve winces at the sounds emanating from within even as he pulls his shield into play. "No time to assign out here, team, everyone through! No lagging! Hulk, you -- " He doesn't even have to say it. The big green guy's already reading his mind. "Right, he'll clear the immediate way. Don't split up until we have a better idea of our bearings." The Captain's right in the middle of the briskly-moving tide of superheroes and then through the portal proper. Once inside the mansion dimension, he slows to a cautious walk and then to a halt. "...my God," he whispers to himself. The notes were clear, but as always, the writing rarely does the place justice.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Because she's the one holding and stabilizing the portal, Wanda will be the last one through. And not before she makes it so that the portal is not accessible by the monsters within (because, that would really suck if they got through and loose!), but also that her team members can get out should they need to, and gods forbid, something happen to her.

Constantine has posed:
John takes in the tights brigade with a leer, but then snaps back to the matter at hand, tossing his cigarette away. "I know that was bloody well you," he grouses to Wanda, but he doesn't push the point.

"Got it, Tuning Fork Johnny it is," he says taking his place. He let's out a breath then murmurs: "Resonate infra muros," and drops the walls giving Wanda access to his power.

When the portal yawns open and the screams start. He quips through gritted teeth. "I think I know this band."

His body quivvers with the power rushing through him holding open the door between worlds.

Then as all but Wanda are through, John picks up his bag. "Down the rabbit hole it is, see you on the other side," then John leaps through the portal.

Iron Man has posed:
    "Wow. That's an earful. I'll get on that awful ... audio ambiance problem," Tony assures his team into the communicators, his visor sliding down with a sleek motion, the lights in his helmet beaming to life.

    "You heard the captain. Double time and all," Tony 'supports' Captain America, and glides through the portal smoothly, three little drones following him and popping through. Pop, pop.... pop.

    "Impressive? Well, it's no Stark Tower," Tony remarks indifferently, as the group starts to fully appear on the other side through the portal.

    The landscape is ghastly. The mansion itself looks like it was hit by a Hulk a few times in a number of places. Many of the eerie howls and shrieks come from within, as well as to what let's call the south. Directions are a little fuzzy: the dimension wraps around weirdly, not in a straight direction. The sky is a thickened soup of grey and twisting purple grape juice vomit.

    No monsters are in sight; the calls and shrieks do not seem focused yet. Perhaps there is a few moments to plan as everyone gets their bearings.

    And then, the howl adjusts, and a flurry of movement comes along from the east wing of the mansion. A group of humanoid-sized demonic creatures glide out. They have no wings, but they hover. Multi-limbed, with long scythe weapons that emerge from secondary lower arms, they continue their eerie dirge as they gather, insect-like, and begin to rally, as if waiting for their general to let them attack.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica gave pleasantries while there was time. But now is only the time to flood through the gate into one of the few places that exist that are stranger than Lollapalooza. She offers Constantine a shrug. "Nah, it's just a tribute, but they're spot-on." She grins and gives a little wave as she ducks into the unknown, muttering to herself. "The screams, I can handle. I just hope the welcoming committee isn't telepathic..."

Hulk has posed:
"Annoying prowler things puny Banner was afraid of." Hulk states as he thumps his way in front of the group, "Hulk killed many of them while Hulk was trapped here." He sniffs as he sweeps his glance over the rallying horde, "Hulk never dealt with this many at once. Hulk thinks they like the mansion." Hulk steps towards the creatures as they start to gather a few times. He growls slightly as he watches... but doesn't charge into them. Yet.

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    "Wow, that's, uh, that's intense." Scott makes a face at the noise as they pass through the portal, and once he's arrived on the other side he pauses a moment to take in the hellscape. He peers at the bugs through the full-face helmet he wears, idly wondering about the effectiveness of the insect-controlling radio waves built into his equipment on evil hell insects. Is this that science thing everyone else is always doing?

Constantine has posed:
John grins at Jessica, "So, you're saying it's not the greatest song in the world then?" of course John would listen to Tenacious D, you know somewhere in his mix of the Pistols, The Clash and The Ramones...

Then it's time for musical appreciation to end and he comes through the other side of the portal.

"Weren't joking about the cutting," he says taking in the creatures scythe like arms. Then it's time for a little cutting of his own. Rolling up his sleeve he slashes a tiny cut on the back of his arm with a knife and then using a finger he draws glyphs along his forearm, binding his skin togther like iron if he got them right. Not his best work, but it should protect him from a cut or two before the charm shatters.

Captain America has posed:
"This'll be a mess..." the Captain mutters to himself. Like as not, a prediction to pan out true. Then he speaks louder as he draws a handgun form his belt, shield held before him as a buckler. "Alright, let's clear the way for Tony. Lang, you're with Tony. Your highness, stay by me -- same with you," he says of Jessica Drew. "Wanda, John, you do what you do best. And Hulk -- go smash," suggests the Captain even as he aims his gun at the nearest insectoid creature. "We'll clear out this main floor and then work our way up."

Black Panther has posed:
"You may say that twice." T'Challa says to both Scott and Captain America. This was intense. But, The King looks around and observes his surroundings, including possible vantage points and places they could hide if this turns extremely sour.

Then he sees those beasts. "We have quite the fight ahead of us." When the Captain gives the orders, T'Challa doesn't refuse. Probably best.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica gauges the group of demon-like jerks who will seemingly be the first contenders in the "Who Wants to Win a Mansion?" She pulls her mask with its integrated comm over her head, tucking her hair in as she does. "At least they don't waste any time. I was worried this would be easy, and I'd still have to make plans for the evening."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Much as there are creatures to kill, Wanda's job is to first secure the mansion and a way to transport it back to their own dimension. And there's that pesky little explosion to deal with as well, which, in the scheme of things, needs to be dealt with first. Of course, before one can deal with the problem in the basement, one must first get to that very basement...

She turns to John. "How are you at killing of things?" Not that she's actually a slouch at that, and should anything get near her, she's handy with a hex blast. Ooops, sorry, did I kill you? yeah. She can do that. "I have the notes on how to fix the problem downstairs, but we have to get there first. Please to kill all the things you can. It is easier if we are both working on it."

Iron Man has posed:
    From the mansion comes a very loud bass shudder. And then drums, guitar.

"Take me down to the Paradise City, where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty," sings the mansion's vicinity, as if a blaring block party was beginning.

    "Fixed it," Tony comments, liquid smooth, into the communicator.

    Many of the mantid Demons orient on the sound and towards the group, as if unsure which was the priority. They continue to howl their ghoulish notes, but the music is pretty drowning. A large mantid, thick in body with four long protruding wings that seem to serve no purpose for flight other than visual appears with a fuzz of the air, as if it shed some type of invisibility, and it very clearly commands the swarm to attack. The swarm splits evenly into two sides, and starts to flood towards the hero group. "Yeah, Hulk bulldoze to the lab, and then block us in? We're on your back, big man. Stay on me, Ant-Man," Tony asks of the Hulk and Lang, darting airborne with a thrust of repuslors.

    "WON'T YOU PLEASE TAKE ME HOME," blares the mansion more loudly over the howls. Some of the insects from one flank seem to react to the blare with some confusion, and leave rank, creating an excellent spart for the team to get started.

Constantine has posed:
"I'm alright," John says to Wanda's question, then to prove the point he spit raises a hand and a gout of flame blasts forth into a mantis demon. "That good enough," he says before falling in beside Wanda as they make their way to the waiting explosion.

"So, what's the plan for when we get there? Temporal reversal?" he asks. "Maybe transporting it to another dimension, I know a few I wouldn't mind seeing a big boom delivered to."

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    When Scott receives the order, he takes it literally. Just as Iron Man speeds off, Scott shrinks out of sight - scarcely more than a quarter inch tall. As he tumbles through the air, he catches on to the side of Stark's armour and clings to it with both hands and no small amount of desperation as they take off. He thought better of bringing his ants to a hell dimension, and he stands by that choice.
    "Hope you don't mind," Scott says to Tony via the communicator, just assuming he's aware of the ant-sized fellow clinging to his multi-billion-dollar suit, "Doctor Pym didn't build wings into this." Yet.

Hulk has posed:
"Hulk hate slashy things anyway." Hulk notes offhandedly, almost, before he leaps directly at the small army of creatures, landing directly in front of them as he roars angrily, "Hulk SMASH!" The Jade Giant can be heard easily as he starts punching his way through the crowd, then starts kicking when he's grabbing two at once.

All in all, The Hulk is in his element, smashing his way through a horde of things trying to kill him.

Black Panther has posed:
Black Panther looks into the split of the demon horde and he doesn't hesitate. "Captain! I see our opening." and T'Challa will cause his vibranium claws to emerge from his fingertips, sprinting into the fray. Leaping off two different large rocks, the Panther heads into battle! Seemingly with or without his Avengers teammates in tow.

But he can handle himself...right?

guys?

Captain America has posed:
Steve's gun fires with a sharp retort beneath the raging musicality of Guns and Roses. An insectoid creature takes a headshot and slumps to the floor, enraging those around it. "Really, Tony?!" he shouts, likely not heard at all beneath the blaring speakers. "This is deafening, not inspirational!!!" His gun fires a few more times into the growing scrum before he simply drops it and runs in with his shield at the ready. Time to do some smashing of his own. He keeps half an eye on his compatriots as he dives in, deflecting scythes and kicking out at the floating creatures.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Aww, Cap. The house is just asking to be taken HooOooome...." Jessica chimes as she thwips webs at two of the creatures and smashes them together. "I find it cute!" As another clomps over the top of her from behind, rolling her up on the ground.

Iron Man has posed:
        "Whatever works," Tony replies to the clinging Ant-Man, his sensors quickly giving him a bit of information on what exactly the other hero has done. "I'll resist the urge to do a barrel roll into the elevator." A few blasts are directed as Iron Man flies directly behind Hulk's nice path.

    To the other questions? "Hey, no teleporting my device anywhere. I'll just disengage it. It's really not a big deal." He's Tony Stark, guys.

    "We need you on restoring. So, everybody else: just clear out the mansion, protect our magic people and myself from stabbing," Tony answers. 'Just' do those things.

    "And stay alive. You're more important than a house."

Hulk has posed:
Bodies fly everywhere. Some only a dozen feet... others go flying past the horizon as the Hulk just tears through the Mantis like creatures. Others are smashed into the ground, while yet more are tossed into other mantis creatures. There's plenty of roaring from the Hulk as he goes... and he's not paying attention to anything around him besides the fight. He's doing a very effective job of just bulldozing the horde.

Then, he sees the larger creature among the group, and literally stops brawling for a moment as he looks towards it, "Hulk not see the big one before..."

A moment later, and he's continuing to the lab. He's clearly watching the large creature more often... and seems to want to go over to it, but he's clearing the path first, looks like.

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    "Even a really big house with lots of fancy gadgets in it?" Scott asks, still miniature and still clinging on to Iron Man as he goes wherever the Golden Avenger takes him.
    "I don't know if they gave you a dossier or whatever on me," he continues, almost blissfully unaware of the infernal hell that surrounds them, "I get big as well as small. So if you need me to go out there and help squash some bugs after we've fixed this explosion thing? I can do that, too. Just not for too long. Unless you brought snacks? I didn't bring snacks. Should we have?"
    Do the Avengers pack their lunches? There really needs to be a brochure.

Black Panther has posed:
Demon blood is FLYING.

The Panther is using those claws to slice everything that's coming his way. One moment he's on the back of one of these creatures, then there's blood...then he slides under another, the creature splitting in half. Just as the kinetic energy in the suit builds up? He leaps again, throwing a punch at the ground once he has contact, repulsing and pushing the demons around him away..and likely killing them.

"We must hold the line!" T'Challa calls out. But really...the music was just annoying.

Constantine has posed:
John summons fire between his palms, focusing it, letting it buld upon itself then, lets it loose at the mantis demons, burning a cluster of them to cinders. "Wherever these demons came from it wasn't hell," John says after seeing the effects of his hellfire.

"So, then, let's find the center of this place and get ready to send her home?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda lets the others deal with the creatures. John even, as it happens. Her task is figuring out how to move the mansion from *here* to *there*. Mostly it consists of making sure she's got a grasp, existentially, on the entire thing, and managing the transport through the portal (so to speak - given that the portal isn't as big as the mansion, but really all she's doing is shifting the reality of the thing from here to there, which isn't quite the same thing, but it's really easier if she just says portal) back to where it belongs, and them with it.

That, and she's keeping tabs on Tony's progress so that when things hit that head, and he's nullified the explosion, they can get the hell out of dodge so to speak.

She could tackle demony things, but then again, that's why she brought the muscle.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
With very little effort, Jessica is back on her feet. Just a squeak and a grunt as she went down. No collateral damage. She is drawing from the ground, and from the giant mantis-thing. At last, she frees its last barb from her suit and throws it directly into one of his approaching coworkers, crumpling them both.

Iron Man has posed:
        "There might be snacks," Tony assures Ant-Man, while they use the opportunity given by Hulk to get to the mansion itself. His three little drones stick close as well, though they don't actually need to ride Tony to get there.

    The music cuts down, with some fuzzy sharpness. Tony's insulted. "They turned off my soundtrack," he complains, as if that were the worst of the problems, not a scythe-bug suddenly leaping out in his face as he enters the mansion now, and works towards an elevator, in the corridor of mixed ambushing bugs.

    "Ant-Man and I are on the main floor, east wing; just keep the flood off us," Tony reports into his communicator. "Unless we get bored; I'll let you know."

    Outside, the howling returns to a stronger timbre. The large general of the mantids has chanted and shrieked in a slow circle, and the creatures around him feed from his energy, sucking it down into their bellies, and strengthening. Wisps of white and silver slicing energy, razor and cutting, twist on their blades as they wade out into their friends, each one picking a hero to deal with personally. Each seems slightly different: they aren't just drones, they are calculating now, aware.

    Steve's razor-cutter darts low and then suddenly in, trying to grip at his other hand to toss him high.
    John crisped most of his little enemies, and his razor-cutter keeps its distance, watching, looking for opportunity; one drew up that was aimed for Wanda, and both circle....
    Panther's razor-cutter uses the flow of others to attack just after them, letting them get hit, and then trying to assault Panther's side when he's busy with them.
    Spider-Woman's razor cutter steps over the one that was downed by the barb, shrieking at her in direct challenge, blades raised, circling.

    Hulk himself does get one, though it stays airborne, and begins to do dive-bomb runs at him, trying to stop his advances and tie up his attention.

Captain America has posed:
"We're holding it!" Steve shouts back over the sound of the melee. Insects thump and splat and screech and gurgle and pop -- who's popping insects?! His own shield clangs like a Vibranium gong as he slams it into various mandibles and thoraxes. A swift roundhouse kick knocks one back into the gathering of its brethren. On his firm settling of stance again, he sees the larget of the creatures.

A look around at his comrades and then a setting of his jaw. The Captain punches out at a discombobulated creature wandering in his direction to send it tumbling across the floor and then shouts again, "Trouble incoming!" But now he's got a particularly advanced foe to deal with. This one's far more intelligent, uh-oh: Steve grunts in shock as he leans back to avoid the initial scything swipe, but there's a clever twist by the insectoid. Alley-oop! There goes Cap, a spangled blur arcing through the air to then land in a rolling sprawl. He's quick to get to his feet and then dart back in at a quick speed, leading with his shield.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Oh hell no, you are NOT trying to out-bug me," Jessica laments. Her vacant white eyes set in the deep crimson suit with delicate gold webbing is seemingly alive, now. The webbing that adorns her suit looks a little like a tesla coil, as blue electricity licks along the golden pathways. She lifts her hands up to face her challenging opponent, and blasts him with the electricity she drew from the ground, and from her last attacker. It would be enough to stop the heart of a human. But he isn't human. Do they have a heart? Or hearts? Or just bug sludge in there? If the electricity splits him open, she'll soon find out.

Black Panther has posed:
The vibranium of T'Challa's armor holds steady. All strikes either bouncing off of it or failing to pierce it all together. But that doesn't mean it negates the force applied. Black Panther is knocked flat on his back, but rolls to his feet, spinning in a circle with his clawed hands out to be a literal tornado of death.

BUt it's now that T'Challa starts to look for a leader. Some kind of master to this horde. if what he's studied in neurological pathways is true, if he defeats the 'queen', then the whole system is going to go down. so to speak.

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    Once they're in the Mansion proper, Scott no longer needs to cling like a barnacle to the S.S. Mildly-Soused Billionaire Genius. He shoots straight past 'Scott-sized' to 'maybe-just-a-bit-too-big-to-comfortably-fit-in-the-house-sized' as they enter the corridor. He puts the enhanced strength of his increased size to kick and swat at the bugs with all the focus and aggression of a seasoned outdoor camper, helping to clear the way to the elevator even as he has to crouch-walk slightly to fit in the hallway.

Hulk has posed:
When the larger creature starts to feed the others. "Hulk not interested in supersized slashy prowlers. Hulk SMASH!" With that, The Hulk starts to leap through the air towards the large general creature, bounding his way off a couple of the crawlers... only to start to run into the dive bomber, which throws off his tempo, forcing the Hulk to land face first on the ground as he 'trips' over another.

The resulting tremor can be felt about a dozen meters around him. He hit the ground /hard/, and with a roar.

Iron Man has posed:
    Tony blasts one of the ones in the corridor, directly into the suddenly appearing Ant-Man. It's really messy. Good thing Lang is getting his laundry done. "In my defense, you were not in the way a moment ago," Tony comments to Ant-Man, leaving the hallway to the semi-almost-giant hero and going through a different way: through one of the kitchens, and back through to the elevator area. He doesn't push any button - his suit called for the elevator just fine. "Two of the elevators are down. Looks like we have one at half a percent.... stairs. This way." Tony leads to the stairwell instead. Looks pretty clear. "There's a kitchen to your left, then come down," Tony teases Ant-Man, disappearing down the stairway.
    Jessica's challenger is skittish of getting close to her, it angles head back and forth, and then steps through the shadows of the grape-jelly misty air to reappear to the side. It dodged most of the electricity, but caught the side of it. It blisters through the creature, which screams in shock and leaps in, lashing with other weapon at her!
    Black Panther has wounded his razor-cutter, but it leapt out in time to not be made into mincemeat. It now stays back, watching, and then tosses one of its minions at Panther, following the toss back in to try again: grappling, this time, trying to use its weight to capture and pin. T'challa should not have a problem seeing the general, though: it's huge, and the loudest of the bunch. It's just past Hulk's stumble-spot.
    Hulk's air-bomber observes the mess. And then begins to bomb again, trying to draw Hulk off of the 'general'. The general, meanwhile, is starting to create a new wave of razor-cutters: right in front of Hulk. Is it mocking? Yes, it really is. It doesn't know that it shouldn't make Hulk angry.
    Steve's bug that tossed him leapt for the kill, but ends up slamming itself onto the shield, and Steve nearly takes it's head off as it impacts, blades screaming off the shield's edges.

Constantine has posed:
John's razor is met with a snarl from the warlock. "Burn you bastard," and he raises his hand to let out a stream of hellfire like a flamethrower to hopefully overwhelm and consume his foe. If not then he hopes his protection charm holds!

"You doing alright there, Wanda?" he calls to his partner in magic for this mission. "Got your bug if you need em gone."

John may be speaking too soon, given how tough the others bugs are showing themselves to be.

Black Panther has posed:
That razor cutter blade glided once more off of Black Panther's side after the King impales the minion with his Vibranium claws. But, The Panther seems to take no damage, and instead tries to roll his body wit hthe blow, using the vibranium claws on his feet to try and sharp-kick the razor-cutter in the side of hte head.

"Captain!" T'Challa calls out. "The General is up there! If we can defeat it, we should be able to repel the swarm!" Or, if he's lucky, Hulk could take care of it.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda is doing okay. Almost absent-mindedly she turns a palm outward towards her bug who pretty much implodes into a nothingness with a hissing pop out of existence. "I am thinking, John, that it might be best if you are on the other side of the mansion to act as an opposing focal point."

Yeah. Her bug didn't have a chance, and she wasn't even half paying attention to it. It mostly annoyed her while she was busy thinking. Poor thing.

Captain America has posed:
In his usual bulldog-ish manner, Steve continues plowing into the bug in order to keep it from regaining any firm footing. He aims to crush it between the shield and a nearby wall -- sorry, Tony, we'll need some interior decorating over here at least, when everything's said and done. On his way, he bowls over a few of the lesser creatures.

"Great minds think alike, your highness!" he yells overtop the sounds of impact and screeching. "Take out the big one!"

And he learns that it's Wanda popping the bugs. Just enough time for a scrunched face of 'ugh!' before he slams his own collection HARD into the wall.

Hulk has posed:
Two massive green fists /SLAM/ into the ground as the Hulk gets up with a roar. Crouching down into a bestial hunch, the Hulk roars at the new creatures in front of it, and visually grows another foot, before he launches himself right through the 'peanut gallery' and goes right for the general... easily going fast enough that the dive-bombers are probably caught by surprised at the sudden burst of speed.

You don't want to make the Hulk angry... before, he needed a bit of momentum, but he can do much faster leaps with the extra muscle, now... and he's going right for a headbutt.

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    Scott brushes the squished bug from his suit as best he can, although the thing definitely looks like it's been through the wringer. But he's helping, and he has zero problems with a little bug goop if it means he gets to do Avengers things as an Avenger.
    When Tony directs him to the kitchen, Scott busts the door down and cranes his head to poke it inside and look around. It is only then that he realises the joke and he rolls his eyes at his own behaviour. Nevertheless, he does pop open one of the cupboards and pull out a pack of remarkably untouched chips. His reward for later.
    As he turns to make for the stairway and follow Tony, his shoulder nudges the doorframe and his increased size and strength causes some of the drywall to come away: "Sorry!" He says to nobody in particular, before he shrinks to a more manageable size, opens the faceplate of his helmet, opens the bag of chips and follows down the stairs. Being Ant-Man is hungry work!

Iron Man has posed:
    John does set his on fire. The fire? It's super effective against bug type! The bug is very unhappy, but also does charge at John as it dies to try to involve him in its fiery death in a more person group-hug way. Whether John is immune to his own fire remains to be seen.
    T'Challa's opponent loses most of its jaw to the claws and swipes, clearly having trouble keeping up with the panther's speed. It's relying on its friends to help it, but they can't get close either. The razorcutter goes down under the king's onslaught.
    Captain America bashes his foe finally into the brick of the side of the mansion. Some pieces fall off, crashing to the ground, allowing a great view through into where the statues are. There's a Captain America statue there in view. It's missing some of one arm, but otherwise is very inspirational. It is also covered in the mantids, like a creepy tree. They seem to be zeroing in on something in the mansion.

    The general was 'staring' right at Hulk. Still laughing, to some extent. Until Hulk suddenly goes to headbutt it. There's a crunch of impact and it shadow-steps aside, just a bit late. Crunched and damaged, the general bleeds thick black goop, rattling its chitin body plates, and draws in everything nearby to dogpile, to try to stop the Hulk with sheer mass! Just throw more soldiers at the problem!

    Tony gestures Scott to come up right behind him, where he stopped in the doorway to the lower lab. He gestures, waits impatiently for Scott. Opens his mask.

    Tony then steals a chip from Scott. Puts it in his mouth. Closes his helmet.

    "Clear down here. Just watch the hall. I'll deal with the device." Tony glides off down the expensive corridor, rooms full of gadgets and equipment on either side. He hangs a left into a science lab, landing next to the exploding machine, and directs his drones quickly and efficiently, getting to work.

    Ant-Man does have friends, coming down the stairs, hissing and screaming. They aren't subtle.

Constantine has posed:
John just gapes as Wanda simply undoes her bug demon with barely a concious thought given to the process. "Right, other side works for me."

Turns out though, John is definitely not immune to his own fire. Especially when it's burning on something else.

"Bloody hell," he shouts trying to reject the bug's deadly hug with a kick to the chest. "Little help!" he calls to Wanda, gritting his teeth as the thing grips him, his own fire beginning to burn through his coat and into his flesh.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda blinks as she's now forced to pay attention to her surroundings (it might have been better for John if she'd hit his bug most absent-mindedly too!) and her mouth forms a small 'oh' of surprise.

Okay, fine, his bug isn't going to fare that well either, as whether she *pops* one out of existence, or freezes it in place and explodes it with an outward flick of her fingers, it's still a dead bug. "Maybe not so much the alone on the other side. Hrm."

A couple more negligent flicks of fingers, as though she were brushing dirt off of his coat, and the burn marks on the leather just.. aren't anymore. Nor is he flame touched in any manner. "No. It will not do. You are much easier to keep track of here. What with Tony downstairs to look at. And back home. No no. I will keep you with me. No matter."

And back she goes to focusing.

Hulk has posed:
"Hulk SM-" His trademark phrase is disrupted as he's suddenly literally swarmed by the entire local horde as the general focused on him. Creatures are flying this way and that, but he's buried in bodies, and the audible sounds of razors and mandibles can be heard as the creatures chow down on the Big Green.

If it were anyone else, or if these things had talons that were the equivalent of adamantium possibly... there might be cause for alarm.

As it is, the tremors can be felt throughout the area as the Hulks weight is pressed down into the ground under the dogpile, making him walk under a lot more weight as he roars under them. He's slowly but steadily growing under there probably... but he's definitely occupied.

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    Scott happily shares his chips, closing his faceplate and putting them down on a nearby table for later. Already catering for the after party, it seems. When he gets his instructions from Tony, Ant-Man does what he's told. He parks himself at the end of the hallway, grows as big as it will allow him without breaking anything, and clenches his hands into fists. Bring it on, bad bugs!

Iron Man has posed:
    In the room just to Scott Lang's left is a training area, clearly. It's also a spot where Banner had holed up. There is a very tempting looking freeze-gun of a high tech rifle type just sitting there.

Captain America has posed:
At least there's tasteful decoration out on the lawn. The Captain ignores the hole in the wall (for now) in lieu of giving the Hulk's rather impressive approach a wide-eyed look, complete with eyebrows flicked high.

"That'll do," he mutters to himself even as he punches out at another lesser bug. "To the Hulk!" He does his best to be heard overtop the scrum and then runs in like the spangled madman he sometimes appears to be. More insects clang off his shield as he sprints in, headed straight for the biggest and baddest bug. "Hulk! Shake 'em!!!"

Constantine has posed:
"I can handle myself," John grouses. "Just took me by surprise is all."

Though he does add, grudgingly. "Thanks though."

"Got us covered while we get the finale done," he says before closing his eyes and putting his palms together.

He chants: "O fons omnium potestas, quam lucem ac deinceps flammis aestuant purpura, et potestatem tuam in colligentes manibus. Adolebitque!"

He rips his palms apart from each other, and with a blast of flame, sets hellfire loose in a ring around the pair of them, "Johnny Cash, don't have a thing on me," he remarks.

Hopefully John's burning ring of fire will be enough to let them bring the mansion back hom without any more bug problems.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda smiles faintly before returning to her focus, "Of course you had it handled." As though he hadn't asked for 'a little help here'.

"I'm just about ready..." she murmurs, both for John, and ultimately for Tony, who, as it happens she's opened a link to. ~Anytime now. Your word, and I will pull us all through. I have us, and the mansion.~ And no bugs. That had been the last bit, excluding them and their ilk from her pull. If she'd done this right, and let's face it, it was Wanda, she'd done this right, only what they wanted back in their reality was coming with them. ~On your mark?~

Iron Man has posed:
    Hulk's pile churns, though the sheer death to the numbers of the mantids is very high in cost. The longer the battle, though, the more it feels like this dimension will slowly just drown them in sheer numbers. They start to fall away, unable to contain the wrath of raging Hulk for long.

    The general engages both Captain America and Black Panther, attempting to fight them both, but it won't be able to do that. It ends up focusing on Panther, since he arrived first, attention pulled as it tries to bite him, and follow with a dual-cleave, leaving Captain America a shot at the back and upper neck of the general as Steve came around from behind several other creatures, having shoved a foe out of the way to get that clear path....!

    When connection is opened to Tony, his brain just full of a lot of technobabble. He orients quickly to answer her, but does it on the communicator. "Just give me seven seconds -- let's make it ten, in case anyone is busy. Everybody, you have about ten seconds to get untangled from what you're doing!" Tony announces. Tony's buried with the device, and is masking his personal stress about it. Blowing up the city and the team after all of this would be a true bummer.

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    "So, uh, is this ray gun anybody's?" Scott asks, reaching an overlong arm into the training room to pick it up off the table. He shrinks down to an appropriate size for it and looks it over, shouldering it and looking back down the hallway: "I'm borrowing this!"

Captain America has posed:
Up goes the First Avenger in an impressive arc of his own making. He then comes down upon the opening granted to him by the Panther's sleek fighting with a pinpoint blow to what could be construed as the creature's shoulder-blades -- mid-thorax? His foot makes to dent the impressive outer carapace of the creature and then he's holding on briefly with his free hand as he brings back the shield. Thing's got an edge, after all -- might as well use it.

A stunning slam to the back of the wobbling head and then at the neck again. Vibranium holds up well against the demon's frame and the latter is what gives in the end. Oh, but it's //disgusting// how much black ichor sprays over Steve. He takes a back-step away from the gush and slips on the mess to fall from his perch.

"OOF!" It's not too bad of a fall, especially landing on dead insectoid rather than the mansion flooring from this height, but seriously: BUG GUTS. Scrambling to his feet, he makes to put space between himself and the scrum. "Disengaged!" He shouts before spitting out the acrid taste. SO GROSS.

Constantine has posed:
John for his part closes his eyes and begins to chant, opening up his own power to Wanda again, ready for when the word comes. This was magic beyond his ken and he didn't mind saying so, but, he was sure as hell going to watch and learn. He couldn't shift the universe like Wanda could but the principles were the same big and small, and there'd be a trick or two he could pull from it to add to his own arsenal.

Even as he chants, he keeps a count, 10, 9, 8...

Hulk has posed:
Kind of hard to disengage from a literal dogpile immediately, even for the Hulk.... but what he /can/ do is start bulldozing his way through the gigantic pile over towards the mansion. It's like a wave.

A wave of mantis creatures.

7. 6. 5. 4. 3...

Iron Man has posed:
    "Don't forget my robots. They've earned not being left behind, either," Tony jokes while he works on the device. And... there it is. "Done here, ahead of schedule," he comments, flashing a thumbs-up to the droids near him. They bounce and waggle their robotic limbs happily at Tony in a mini floating standing ovation.

    The music kicks back on just in time to jar the whole thing. But it's moved on in the setlist: Some Queen is up, now.

    "Don't stop me nowwwwww!" sings the mansion audio with a crackle, as if encouraging Hulk and everyone else. You can do eet!

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The count works down, Wanda in Tony's head, disregarding the technobabble. It's all just.. whatever to her. She's more concerned with things less tangible, and besides, he wouldn't follow what goes on in her brain either. She doesn't even bother with the science of what she does. Why should she? She's a nexus being. Things just /are/..

2...

1...

Things should lurch. Everyone will feel it. The feeling of turning inside out, only without any actualy phsyical manifestation of it all. It's slightly akin to something you'd find in a Brief History of Time and how things invert across time and space, only everyone is experiencing it on two levels: both the level of themselves as they are, and themselves as they are transported by her. Only no worries, everyone is just one person, and remains but one person, all ten fingers and toes accounted for, etc, unless they came with less than that.

You see, you all have to go through something of a pinhole in existence. One moment here. One moment there. And no moments inbetween (hey, you were warned, right? Tony's techonobabble is kid's play compared to this stuff. And John? They don't teach this in wizard school, but feel free to look Wanda up afterwards, who knows, she might be able to make you understand?).

If she's done it right, everyone and everything but the bugs and other nasties will be right back in their normal place in the universe you all know and love. Complete with a not blowing up basement.

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    Scott goes to town with the freeze gun, blasting the insects into unmoving ice statues as they rush him and then giving them a bit of a kick to topple them and leave them in icy chunks. Not quite what he was expecting to do as Ant-Man and all, but every little bit helps. The sudden sensation of being put somewhere not where he was is notable, and he blinks a few times as he stops shooting the gun.
    "Uh."

Hulk has posed:
Eventually, there's a shockwave from under the dogpile as The Hulk slams his fists down into the ground, the concussive wave more than enough to send the creatures flying. Hulk is visibly enraged and almost psychotic... and a good fifteen feet now. It gives him more than enough room to jump over to the mansion...

*BOOM* Well, add another hole to the mansion rooftop.

In a moment, he's running his way towards Tony and company, slamming any stragglers into walls, unconcerned about causing more damage in the process.

Constantine has posed:
...1

John blanches as everything lurches and he has a front row seat for everything that happens next. It is literally indescribable and throughly brain busting, and it's as much as John can do to hold on for the 'ride'.

"Should have been bloody sober for this," he grits out in the grip of that moment of transition, unsure if it's an hour or a heartbeat and when it's over, he bends in half, puking his guts out on the floor.

Like he said, should have been sober...

Iron Man has posed:
    Tony shows up near the quick-shootin' Scott Lang. "Nice shooting, Tex," Tony comments, while recovering from the disorientation of the change of location. He's getting flooded with information about the mansion and the twist in reality. As the mansion re-settles into the New York location, the place floods with a new thing: all the little robots that were extremely ready to start fixing things like crazy.

    "We're back, everybody. Anyone missing? Pat yourselves on the back, if you're not too sore to reach. Any injuries?" Tony calls into the communicator, starting towards the stairs.

    "....And Hulk? How you feeling?" Tony asks, in a way that suggests maybe somebody should check on rampaging Hulk.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
After the hyper focus of it all, it's nice to be able to let it go. As things went, Wanda really didn't do much in the way of fighting. Not necessary. Even if she did pop a couple of bugs. They were more dealing with an annoyance so that she could think than actual focussed fighting. She wasn't going to count it. But moving the mansion from there to here and settling it where it belonged like it had never left, while bringing their team home, and leaving all the annoying bugs behind.. that had taken slightly more effort out of the woman, such that she's likely going to be looking for a hot soak in the tub later, and a movie in her jammies, while eating take out chinese. The sort of thing everyone did after a hard day's work.

She's quiet, though, other than a softly declared, "I am not cleaning that up" of John's distress poured out upon their lawn.

Iron Man has posed:
    A little robot approaches, looks at the mess on the lawn. Looks at John. And decides to go cleanup something else.

Captain America has posed:
"Just insect...demon blood," reports Steve over the communicator even as he wipes at his face, still licking at his lips and then spitting again to one side. He won't be divulging that his nausea stems mostly from the disturbing taste and not from the interdimensional shifting back into reality proper. He glances up at the sound of the incoming green Avenger and sighs softly to himself. "All's well that ends up?" He asks across the comms as a whole.

The interior designer will be paid well to boot.

Ant-Man (Lang) has posed:
    "All ... good ... " Scott speaks slowly, apparently still recovering from whatever the heck just happened to him. But rather than expel his lunch, he politely puts the freeze ray back down and picks up the neatly rolled-closed bag of chips. He opens them up and starts crunching, taking a look around before adding: "The Mansion looks a lot better when it isn't in Hell."

Hulk has posed:
Checking on the Hulk might be a good idea, because you can take the Hulk out of the warzone... but the Hulk /is/ a warzone when he's wound up this bad.

The sound of roars and crashing can be heard as he starts to plow through the mansion to the outside, visibly looking for targets.... and he finds some.

Drones start to come apart as the Hulk vents his rage on one... then another... then another...

He's not stopping....

Constantine has posed:
"Neither is he," John remarks with a look at the drone.

He straightens and then reaches into his coat for a flask. "An' you can deduct the lawn cleanup from whatever favour your Avengers lot will owe me for taging along," John says retreaving the sought for flask and unscrewing the lid. He takes a swig and then offers around to any and all who might want to partake.

"Looks like you've got a bit of a Hulk problem," he remarks dryly. "Definitely outside of my purview I think, but," he ducks down to rummage in his bag. "This here is the highest grade sleeping powder I've ever seen, not saying it's going to stop big and green, but it couldn't hurt."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda is way too tired to deal with Hulk's need to *Hulk smash*. He's got to a cold count of three before she deals with him. She's too tired to even feel guilty about it.

Iron Man has posed:
    "Yeah, he's shredding my drones a little," Tony observes into the communicator. "I've got something standing by. We'll see how this goes. I'll get him out of the city; stay with the mansion and keep things under control here," Tony declares.

    From the mess of robotics and gear set up near the mansion comes a massive Iron Man suit. It takes a little time for Tony to rejoin and swap over, but the Hulk Buster is getting it's very first trial run, moving to engage, and take the Hulk party /elsewhere./

    "Back in a little bit," promises Iron Man. "Come on then; let's give this a good test," Tony bargains with Hulk, with a sizeable hurling lurch to relocate the brawl well away.