5815/Astral Flux: Metal and Fungus

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Astral Flux: Metal and Fungus
Date of Scene: 20 November 2018
Location: Mexico
Synopsis: A small team of engage the monster fungus under the town, possessed by the Shadow KIng.
Cast of Characters: Iron Man, Black Widow (Romanoff), Thor, Winter Soldier, Hellboy
Tinyplot: Astral Flux


Iron Man has posed:
    Word has gone out about a battle. Avengers picked up word from a mixture of Tony's scout-bots and SHIELD, and haven't been quiet in the invitations; lots of heroes are expected to show up to deal with the mess.

    The mess: The Shadow King's 'base' of operations has been found; originally most of the hero groups were biding some time to create defenses so that on arrival everyone was not just instantly mind-controlled. But an event has happened, and suddenly there's a rush to respond.

    SHIELD was very prepared about what is going down, as they have groups physically on-site. What site? A town in northeastern Mexico. Familiar to some, that fought massive fungus monsters there back in July. The place is open again. Open, for a leveled zone of massive damage. In theory. All reports up to today have said it was destroyed and slowly being rebuilt. Agents that go there find nothing. Yet today, everything has changed. A fight has broken out, and whatever spell of silence or illusion that was on the place has been destroyed.

    The town is full of a mixture of fungal monsters, humans, mercenaries: and they are now fighting a large group of perhaps fifty heavy soldier like robots that have invaded the site. They are about twice the height of a human, and are marching upon the town. It is much like an anthill was kicked; the town is full of minions that are responding (somewhat poorly) to the robotics.

    Agents of SHIELD, such as Natasha, are getting the first slice of all the information: All of the things hidden under illusion are being exposed by these robots. There's a high ranking Agent directing an assault not to join the robots, no: but to hit the known stronghold of the Shadow King's personal lieutenants. That's going on to the east.

    What SHIELD is doing has little influence on what the Avengers are up to. In this case, the town is going to be their focus. In a group, they are assembling outside of the town to the north. Tony has a small robotic army assembled: which looks entirely different from the robots currently plodding around like slow colossi in the town. The difference is stark. Or Stark, if you prefer.

    Tony is prepping and directing people with a sort of frustrated manner; he'd like to get into things himself. "Once again, they are /not mine/," Tony repeats. "Just look at them. /Please/; ugh."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"If you made them, they'd be red and gold," Natasha murmurs as she looks off toward the town, frowning a bit. "With that color scheme? I'm blaming Hawkeye. Throw Agent Johnson in since she probably did the programming. Yeah, when I see them, I'll make certain to blame them both."

She goes back to checking her weapons, making sure she has plenty of grenades and charges for her Bite's. From the looks of things, she'll need the reloads. Then she is pulling out each Glock from their holsters, pulling back the slide to be sure there is a round in the chamber then snapping them back closed expertly. The last check is something else on her wristbands. She doesn't use the shields very often but they may come in handy, as will the charged tonfas she can drop out for use.

Thor has posed:
    The Mighty Thor, armored from head to foot in the black and silver of his ancestors stands there with Mjolnir in hand and the haft shifting in his grip as he scowls distantly. He turns his attention away from the view off in the distance, looking away and back towards Stark and nodding once, "Aye," He says, agreeing with Tony as if he was entirely sure that those robots could not possibly be the work of Stark Tech, then points towards Natasha with his hammer. "Stark would never use purple." He looks around and nods, his good eye flitting from face to face as if to gain their agreement with what he just said.
    But then it is on to other matters, "Tell me where best to set to, Stark. I am loathe to harm those under the control of this creature."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck, as is his habit, when he has time to prep, has come armed for bear. Armed for armored bears, in fact. He's got one of the big sniper rifles slung across his back, with his usual assortment of small arms hung about his person. Unlike Odinson there, he has no compunctions at all about shedding blood. Or spores. Or whatever it is fungi lose when you wound them....let alone robots. "Cap will be along," he says, laconically. As if Rogers had just stopped to rescue a kitten from a tree, or get a burger, or return a library book. He's fished a monocular from a pocket, and is literally scoping out the battle beyond, as if in search of a place to set up with the rifle.

Iron Man has posed:
    "Hmmm. I'm getting that the government caused them to be here. I'm tracking the signals to their use. Looks like we'll want to leave them alone, unless they start something. I may as well let SHIELD know," Tony comments, as if it were rather generous of him to share that really important information on whose the robots are.

    "I've been watching these, I thought they were mostly staying over to Russia and Korea. But apparently, here some are. They're calling them Peacekeeping Sentinels, rough translation." Tony shrugs and shakes his head. "Logical, honestly. Mind controlled town, send robots."

    Tony looks over to Thor, and then the others, smirking to Nat's jokes. He gives Winter Soldier a once-over but doesn't make a comment about him specifically. "I think Cap's helping the townspeople, with some of the others," Tony answers. "Kittens or otherwise." Tony does support Steve's current mission. He's skeptical about Bucky, but it can wait.

    "From what I've got, there's a big fungus under the town. It's soaking up energy somehow. I want to engage it while it's trying to handle all these other things," Tony explains. "We need to keep the team small, though, because we can only mentally dampen so many people. So. Thor and myself on making it hurt... and you two, plus Ant-Man, on sliding into those passageways under the town, see if we can zero in on the heart. I've got some ramped up fungal poisons for you, from before. Hoping you're up to assassinate. If you guys have thoughts, though, now's the time. We got really rushed on this, and I'm winging it."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Now that the weapons are checked, Natasha focuses on extras. With fungus being involved, she realizes she may have a problem. They don't care about bullets. "We have any of those ice weapons from the invasion?" she asks as she starts adding extra magazines (not clips--no push-ups, please!) onto her belt.

Her movements are something that shows she's done this a thousand times. She does glance over at Bucky, figuring he'll likely be high ground while she's low. It was often a tactic they had used back so many years ago. She continues pulling things out of the crate in front of them and adding them to her personal arsenal.

Thor has posed:
    A slight half-smirk touches the Asgardian's features as he looks once again out across the expanse of the conflict. Mjolnir comes up as he gestures with it, as he motions towards the central area. "I will attempt to draw its ire upon myself and focus its efforts." The hammer lowers as he turns back, one good eye leveling upon Winter Soldier and then Stark as he speaks in that deep resonant tone. "It fears the cold, then we shall see how it enjoys the bite of Asgard's winter."
    A few steps carry him towards the array of equipment ready before them, reaching to take up one that he recognizes being the larger earpiece they at times wear when fighting in mixed company. He places it behind his ear and then nods towards Stark, "I will need time to draw strength, grant me five minutes and then I shall press all the more."
    That having been said there's a low /whum-whum-whum/ as he spins the hammer in his hand and with barely a hint of warning he snaps it upwards and launches into the air.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"It's like he really kind of is the hero of his own Shakespeare play," Buck says, as Thor takes off. He watches the Asgardian depart with a kind of faint, wistful envy in his face, before shaking himself out of it and looking to Nat. She gets a mute upnod from him - years of training together are a decent substitute for psychic powers, it seems. If they're heading down low, the long gun won't be useful, so he lays it aside with an absent-mindedly affectionate pat. Stay, that's a good girl. Instead, he finds himself a carbine. "I'm always up to assassinate, Mr. Stark," he says, in an innocent deadpan.

Iron Man has posed:
    "So. This is going to be as effective as a tinfoil helmet if he actually looks at you. But it should make you uninteresting to look at; it isn't truly a psi-blocker, because that itself isn't going to be strong enough for this thing. It IS, however, going to mimic some of the workers that have been going in and out. So you'll blend in. If you flip this switch over, it'll convert to a resistance. It's temporary, but potent. Get out of there if it comes to that," Tony says. While he talks, he pulls a case off of a tray brought over by one of his androids, and begins to pass over some earpieces. "Communicator built in, you can swap it for your current ones."

    Tony looks up at Thor as he departs. "He has some... Asgardian way to not be mind controlled." He glances at Natasha skeptically. "In theory." He shakes his head. He's forced to trust Thor's word here. "Anyway. I should be out of range of it, I'll be mostly acting through my drones."

    Natasha's a question about the weapons makes Tony point to a different crate. "Yes, we have them. Improved - mark 3," Tony says smoothly. "The poison is mostly in grenade form. Do not be near it. Counting skills to 10 very important. If you need longer, tell it how long." Because it's Stark tech and will listen, of course.

    Tony looks at Bucky and his carbine, not picking up anything personally bad about his statement. "You'll want some of the freeze weapons, not just bullets. We have those swords from the Titans still. I think they're over there," Tony says, with a vague gesture towards where some of the Iron-Man-like suits are standing with trucks of cargo and a STARK helicopter in an obnoxious paint job.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
The earpiece is picked up and Natasha's current one dropped in its place in the case. She tucks it into her ear and then moves for the crates with the cold weapons. There, she draws out two. Tony thought of everything of course so she ends up with a holster on each hip. More of the charges for them are added to her belt.

She's running out of room on that thing. Thus she gives a look toward the swords, a tiny bit of regret showing in her face, bot doesn't go to claim one. She'll stick with things that go bang.

Thor has posed:
    The Thunderer is quickly into the sky and rushing through the clouds, lifting upwards and out of view after only a few moments. Yet it's within the haze above that the Asgardian continues to climb, slowing as he draws higher above the field of conflict. Then he stops... floating there with the clouds surrounding him and the gentle wind buffeting him faintly. He lifts his head and closes his good eye, Mjolnir crackling for an instant.
    From below it takes perhaps ten or fifteen seconds to notice a change, the clouds darkening high above and the wind seeming to draw them all towards the central focal point of where the King of Asgard disappeared. Those clouds take on an ominous grey as lightning bolts lash back and forth between them, seeming to lance towards that same particular spot.
    Then the chill is felt as the temperature begins to drop, falling quickly enough to send a chill through most and for one to see the steam of their breath upon each exhalation. It's only a touch after that when the first snowflakes begin to fall.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Freeze rays it is. And a sword. Good thing he's got superserum strength to let him deal with all this gear. Buck's lifted a sword, and done some hasty rearrangement of the armaments. He unthinkingly catches a snowflake on his tongue, even as he settles the new earpiece in place. "Always winter but never Christmas," he mutters, under his breath. Presumably re: Thor.

Hellboy has posed:
    Speaking of swords, it seemed Hellboy already had one in his stone grasp. He was weighing the balance, twirling it between his great big fingers, and seemed to give a satisfied nod before looking out at the group.

    "Yeah...yeah, this'll do fine, I think."

    He'd always recovered quickly. But after the onslaught delivered by one of the Fastest Men Alive, his torso under his trenchcoat was clearly bandaged up, and his crimson red face still had cheeks that were a bit swollen and purple. But if he was still feeling the pain from last night, he didn't show it at all. Instead he clacked toward the other crates, and took a grenade or two to place in his utility belt. He looked down at one of the freeze guns, looked over at his Samaritan on his hip, and as the Son of Odin was causing the temperature to drop and causing the clouds overhead to darken ominously, the half-Demon reached out and took for himself a long spacey sci-fi looking rifle, slinging it over his shoulder as the sword was kept down at his side.

    "Y'know, I've got a good feeling about today."

Iron Man has posed:
    "Winter is coming," comments the Stark. He's well aware of the fun of that statement, and there's a smirk in his dark goatee for sure, though he doesn't linger over the joke or care if anyone other than himself was amused by it. He's good at pleasing himself.

    From the air, Thor gets a great view of the town below. There's something odd about it, really. There's a star-like pattern radiating out of the rough center, of disturbances through the ground. Misty white fungus stuff clings to those strange tendrils, subtle, and probably only seen from high in the air. There's two open tunnels at the end of some of the 'star' like limbs, it looks like, recently burst open on the northwest corner of the town near where what looks like a lumber and building supplies yard, and by what is clearly a car dealership.

    "You /can/ block mental intrusion on your own, right? Or do we need to know your secret weaknesses?" Tony questions Hellboy as he collects weapons.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
At that question, Natasha looks directly over at Hellboy as he is gathering his goodies. She's hasn't actually read his file so she's as curious about him as Stark. She likes to know what she's getting into and who is at her back. Or vice versa, what might be a threat for him she should take out before it gets a chance.

Thor has posed:
    Across the comm system, Thor's voice crackles to life. <<< Stark, are you seeing this? >>> Despite the fact that he has no idea if he's wired with a camera or if the earpiece he took had anything like that connected to it, so his entreaty is sincere and less an incredulous query. Yet he continues on before he receives an answer, describing what catches his eye.
    <<< There is a shape I espy, a twisted star with long tendrils. There seems to be an entrance into the underground along the Northwestern portion of the settlement. >>>
    The winds continue to rise, swirling now as the snowflakes catch into the flurry of movement, growing heavier even as the temperature continues to fall. Puddles upon the ground gain a hint of ice at their edges that seems to grow inwards until a thin sheet of ice covers them.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck, still with the holes in his pop cultural education, favors Tony with the tiniest of scowls. He missed the reference, and corrects, coldly, "Bucky is coming along." Any insinuation that Winter himself is driving apparently nettles him. Hellboy makes him grin - whatever he's heard of the big red guy is enough to make him welcome, in Barnes's book.

Hellboy has posed:
    The earpiece wasn't the most comfortable with the shape of his lobes, but he endured the scrunching of cartiledge if it meant psychic protection. Picking his freeze rayback up and giving the thing a bit of a twirl in his left hand(even though it was far 'smaller' than his right, his fingers were still large enough that he appreciated the larger grip and bigger trigger.), the red skinned man looked over at Tony and spoke in that low, quiet voice of his.

    "Yeah, don't tell anyone, but it's like I've got two left feet."

    Considering his hooves...was that a joke? If it was, the delivery was pretty damn dry. And deadpan. In any case, wherever the group went, Hellboy swiftly followed as he examined the rifle in his hand.

    "So, this thing got batteries, or what? Where do I put the bullets? Or uhhh, ice cubes in this case?"

Iron Man has posed:
    Bucky's reaction doesn't even scratch Tony's relaxed amusement. "Yeah, sure," Tony says to Bucky, not really paying much attention overall. He has other things to think about than some weird assassin's pre-game self pep talk. Hellboy is slightly more interesting. "Weak to high steppin' dance routines? Sure. Got that, Widow?" Tony asks her smoothly. He points at some cannisters for Hellboy in silent answer about ammo, starting to answer -- But Thor is talking in his ear.

    "Hang on, Thor," Tony replies on the communicator, pressing on the side of his glasses, to re-engage the hud there. He fiddles with it. "Confirming your sighting. Looks like some cave in where it used to be; well spotted. I'm suspecting it shrank a little, or moved. Tentacles like we saw in space, Thor. --- Use the bikes? I brought them. You're welcome," Tony says, by way of a last suggestion towards Natasha, before he's returning to his pile of computer consoles, and giving some answers to military personnel that have shown up.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"That'll come in handy," Natasha agrees as she picks up a few of the charges and offers them to Hellboy. It looks like a magazine but it doesn't have a typical round in it like one would, more like a battery pack plug in. "Just slap them in like a new magazine. You'll get about nine shots before you need to reload so take plenty."

She does head for the bikes, running her hands over the machine a moment. "All terrain with the option for hover capabilities. Nice." Her smile is bright and approving as she swings a leg over, flipping a switch and firing up her machine which roars to life. She knows Bucky can ride. The other guy? "Hey, you know how to ride or you want to hop on with me?"

Winter Soldier has posed:
These particular toys get Buck's approving little smile. He saddles up with the same easy confidence he'd show if it was a vintage Harley....or one of the old Urals he's been rattling around on the steppes with. Settling the sword before him at the pommel, like they're gonna end up being some sort of weird motorized Cossack cavalry.

Hellboy has posed:
    Indeed, Hellboy took a few packs, stuffing them in his belt and his left trenchcoat pockets(multiple on his left side. Couldn't exactly have many on the right side) before looking at the bikes, and looking down at his cloven hooves and big giant hand. He was figuring out how to wing it when Natasha made the offer. Hellboy considered his options, then eventually nodded, and followed her.

    "Guess I'm riding bi-, uhh, guess I'm riding booster. I'll watch your six, make sure nothing cuts our joyride short."

    When actually sat down, he gave her plenty of room, though she would probably feel at least his legs near hers to keep himself balanced. Suddenly, it seemed like he just thought of something, and looking over his shoulder, it's like he was noticing Tony Stark for the first time.

    "Hey wait a minute, don't you usually wear a suit? Are you gonna be ok in that?"

Iron Man has posed:
    What does the town look like? Kind of like a strange aliens vs. robots movie. It is flooded with a mixture of mind-controlled people and fungoid monsters. They range in size from dog-size up to big bearlike tentacled ooze monsters. Too bad that bear rifle is not going to get some use, there's some bear-sized targets. The big Peacekeeping Sentinel robots are not making a lot of headway, but they are tying up a lot of the defenses. They are not harming the humans, by first glance, they are mostly ignoring them, and focusing on fungus. Now and then a robot will be flung by a strong telekinetic, or a fireball will get thrown: metas of some types are amid those in the town, and fighting back against the robots. Those that do engage the robotic colossi do get shot down pretty quickly. The robots look like they just landed in the middle of the town and started taking names; they didn't come in from a side.

    Tony turns when Hellboy asks, and the showman does a great show. He taps his glasses and pulls them off, and one of the Iron Man suits arranged to the side splits apart into sections and flies over. Boots, thighs, shins, it all comes together in a perfect high-tech waterfall of a machine. He gives Hellboy a thumbs up as his visor closes and the helmet eyes blaze to light, before blasting skyward, with the rest of the robotics at his heels, to come up near Thor.

Thor has posed:
    The Mighty Thor seems to float in his element, the clouds dark and grey and swirling around him with ominous portent. Yet when the Invincible Iron Man surges upwards through the storm he'll give a nod in greeting to the other Avenger but gestures with the hammer in his hand, down towards the central part of the town where the fighting wages greatest against those Sentinels.
    It's when he speaks, however, that his words boom not just with the strength and depth of his normal tone, but as if the very storm was speaking through his voice. "I will focus on our strongest opposition, those with abilities beyond that of their brethren. If you need me elsewhere contact me."
    Lightning lances over Thor's face as he looks towards Tony and then says, "Until then." There's a bright lightning strike, "To battle!" And with that the Thunderer starts to drop from the clouds.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Show off," Natasha says, making sure it's onto the live comms to be sure Stark hears it. Then she revs the engine. "You better hang on back there."

A shift of her foot, a twist of her hand and the bike tears out heading for the town. For now, she opts to stay on the ground but if the terrain gets too thick or difficult, she'll flick the switch in front of her to take it to hover mode.

The ride is fine for most of the way but then it happens. She has to take them to the air. Which leads to an unexpected complication. As the bike begins the vtol take-off, the back end is staying where it was. It's like they are doing a wheelie but they aren't. The engines whine a bit and she glances back at the man behind her. "You are not allowed to get into the donuts in the break room anymore." She makes a couple of adjustments and the rear engines compensate for the extra weight, lifting off the ground and bringing the bike back to an even position. Then it rises higher as they make for their entry point.

Winter Soldier has posed:
He's content to be Nat's wingman - he's settled goggles and mask into place. All the better to maybe freeze this thing to come without giving himself frostbite of the face in the process. It grants that strange anonymity to his features, concealing his grin of anticipation.... but it doesn't entirely stifle his snicker at her comment to Hellboy. He loosens the sword in its sheath, as he keeps the metal hand steering the bike.

Hellboy has posed:
    "Well, there's the suit."

    At Natasha's suggestion Hellboy strapped the rifle to his back and held on tightly to the machine with his left hand. Then the bike revealed his secret.

    "But beer's still ok, right?"

    Another possible-quip until they were taking to the sky, and HB's tail whipped around out of nervousness, his only 'tell' as to his feelings about being off the ground. His trenchcoat was whipping around violently, and his right hand kept gripping that sword tightly, ready to use it at a moment's notice. Or maybe he was just holding on to something for comfort.

Thor has posed:
    From below Thor does not appear for a few long moments until he is seen for only a brief instant slicing through the clouds and hurtling at great speed downwards. There's a loud /KACHOOM!/ as the lightning strikes simultaneously with when he hits the ground amongst some of the mind controlled beings who menace the soldiers, shockwaves billowing outwards and causing the earth beneath the impact do dance in concentric waves outwards, sending the people out and down even as bits of lightning lick at heir forms spreading shock and dismay.
    He rises from one knee, turning towards a blonde youth with hands extended, projecting fire at one of the Sentinels... only for a blast of lightning to lance outwards, sending him rocking back with a shock that twists his body and leaves him unconscious upon the ground.
    A fungal creature charges forth, rearing and trying to strike at the Asgardian only to be back-handed away with the Uru hammer and sent flying. All the while the snow continues to swirl and accumulate.

Iron Man has posed:
    "Try not to electrocute the fungus," Tony reminds Thor dryly as the thunder god plummets into battle. Tony's approach, which involves staying high and hopefully far out of range, is mostly that of organization, and using his own robots and drones to act for him. They stay away from Thor, they instead join the ranks of the government robots, putting pressure onto a particularly large mob of fungus in the main central streets of the town.

    Thor's arrival draws attention, perhaps not in a way he may have expected. He starts to clear an area, and then underfoot, in that long star-shaped pattern, the ground begins to quake, and the rocks split apart, as a massive tree-root like shape starts to be exposed, and with an almost arrogant flex, attempts to hurl Thor away like a bug. It is the width of the street, and cars tumble off like toys.

    Natasha and the others can't see it, but they are entering a hole where one of those huge tentacle roots used to be. It isn't bright inside but it isn't dark either. Bits of rock fall into the strange hollowed tunnel, and it is uneven and dangerous to traverse.

    Over the comms, Tony announces, "Dr. Strange is back with us nearby. He's sensing the infinity stone under the town; we're on the right track here!"

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
As they arrive at the tunnel, Natasha lands the bike and shifts it back to ground mode. She starts to enter the tunnel then stops. The bike is shut down. "Alright. that's not going to work at all. We'll move faster on foot."

She'll wait for Hellboy to dismount then does the same herself. She approaches the hole, bringing up a light out of somewhere and examining. As Tony brings up the stone, she glances to her companions. "Nothing to it."

A moment later, she is leaping into the hole without a moment's hesitation.

Hellboy has posed:
    Could a red hand have a white knuckle grip on something? Hellboy wasn't sure, but he sure tried his best the whole time they were in the air. Red never got a driver's license, and he never felt that he belonged in the air, anyway. Eventually you have to come back down.

    So he was glad when the bike stopped, and practically leapt up to a standing position next to his partner. He glanced over her way, and spoke as he started shifting the rifle around.

    "So you're saying we're hoofing it?"

    And when the Black Widow leapt, the Hellboy followed fearlessly. He'd been in worse situations, and was kind of numb to fear or dread at this point.

    Actually, wait, scratch that. 'The' Hellboy sounds dumb. Just Hellboy followed fearlessly. Yeah, that sounds better.

Iron Man has posed:
    The tunnel is a mire of underground pipe and supports and soil and concrete. There is a huge tunnel directly through it, though, as if the giant root of a tree bigger than any that could exist once dwelled here. In fact, perhaps it rotted way? the edges of the hole are lined with flecks of dead spore, an ichor and paste is everywhere, much like what was left behind in fields that fungus consumed months prior. It looks much like this: old fungal corpse. There's rumbles and movement often, and the group entering will come up to a split fairly shortly. When Bucky goes left, he signals quietly, and heads off that way on his own. That leaves Natasha and Hellboy with the right turn in the fork. It is less of a fork, and more of a 'downwards and somewhat right', as the 'root' seems to have dodged some underground structure a little bit when it first was here.

    Rubble dances below their feet occasionally as they work their way through the tunnel, and the going gets easier: it's smoother, more recently used, perhaps. In fact, after a little while, an enormous white tentacle suddenly starts to twist through the passage. There are nooks to hide in to get out of the way, if they are on their toes. It doesn't seem to be aggressive, just coming their way as a matter of course.

Thor has posed:
    The street erupted, the great tendril twisting and lifting, grime cascading down its length as it rose and in an almost too perfect timing snapped out with a blur of motion that caught Thor just as he was turning back from striking down that other fungal creature. In a pantomime of that very same motion, the Asgardian is /slapped/ across his entire body and sent _flying_ through the air, hurtling upwards and upwards then arcing... then curving down to _crash_ into a bank of only recently formed snow that skids around him until he strikes the trunk of a tree.
    And then a mass of snow falls on him from a higher branch. Yet Thor scowls, rubbing at his jaw as he pushes himself upright using Mjolnir as a makeshift cane and sets it to whirling again.
    Across the comms his voice is heard, <<< I think I have its attention, Stark. >>>
    And with that he launches back into the air with a war cry, hurtling towards that tendril.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
The pun from Hellboy gets a smirk from Natasha but nothing verbal. She keeps that light on to help illuminate their passage.

As Bucky heads off, Natasha gives him a long look then a nod. She doesn't like splitting up but it makes their odds better. If there is another fork soon, it is posisble that she and Hellboy may have to make that choice as well. For now, it works for them to remain together. She trusts her old partner to be able to look out for himself.

The going is rapid and she is keeping track of their passage in her head if there are turns or twists. As the tunnel gets less messy and easier to traverse, she shuts offf the light since there seems to be enough to allow them to see albeit not perfectly. She's weighing giving away position against perfect sight and this is the way it panned out. With the thing coming there way, she ducks quickly into a small area of collapsed tunnel, her smaller size helping. Then she looks to Hellboy...

Hellboy has posed:
    For his part, Hellboy was quiet as he followed the professional spy. True, technically he also worked for the same 'spy' organization as her, but there was a world of difference between their skillsets.

    Case in point, a tentacle was coming their way, and Widow was able to slip into some passageway, as if she were part of the wall all along. Hellboy took another approach, and holding the sword under his left armpit, his right quickly threw a few punches into the nearby opposite wall. He smashed his way into a hiding spot, reasoning that a tentacle probably wouldn't have ears. He stuffed into the small cramped spot, deep enough that he could point that rifle outward and not have it spill into the path of the offending appendage. There he sat and waited, ready to fire if their hiding spot was less than effective.

    He was also holding his breath, though he didn't realize it.

Iron Man has posed:
    There is a strange ambiance of heat near the tentacle. As if it were toasty warm for some reason, particularly towards the base where it emerges out of the ground. It doesn't engage Thor right away, instead it drapes back down into the hole it was in, slightly burrowing, setting off four car alarms as it does so. As if Thor weren't even that important to it.

    The tentacle rushes 'past' Widow and Hellboy, and gets larger as it continues, and they see more of it. Soon they'll be crushed in their little alcoves: sure, safe enough. Sort of. There's air, there's plenty of cracks above, but the heaving tentacle has probably made those alcoves very very tight. And warm. The tentacle is really oddly warm: warmer than any of the other fungus they would have fought before. It probably is not even aware of them yet.

    Above, Tony talks into the communicator. "You have about three more that I can see there, Thor, preparing to come at you. Don't let it trick you," Tony warns.

    Oddly, there's no such thing that Thor can see. Maybe Tony is looking the wrong way. Which is strange, since Tony usually is great with intel.

Thor has posed:
    <<< Traps are insults meant to be sprung! >>> He says in that way he has when he's involved in a fight and not entirely thinking about what he's saying, even as he crashes down in that crater with the mighty hammer smashing into the rim of the ridge where the tentacle emerged. It's an impact that causes the ground to thrum with the weight of it, and then Mjolnir raises again and he throws it into the depths, the ancient weapon hurtling and impacting /hard/ far below, its aura a distinct bluish haze as the enchanted hammer remembers this foe and how it was bested before.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
A faint bit of cursing in Russian comes from Natasha. Not over the comms at least, unless it comstantly has an open line then everyone just heard some very bad words they hopefuly didn't understand. Even as the temperature is rising, she feels the rumble of impacts from Thor's hammer wherever he may be.

<<No electricity for the tentacles. Want to go for some chilling, Hellboy?>> She'd like to get his opinion before she goes blasting it.

Iron Man has posed:
    Why did the tentacle move? It's anchoring now, twisting and getting some leverage directly in front of Widow and Hellboy. In order to go after Thor, really. Tony sees it more, from above.

    "So, this doens't look good, from up here. It's trying something. I'm not sure, honestly, but it's moved more north. Did it see you two somehow?" Tony asks. "Do you need some support? It is not responding much to my robots, even though we've blasted a tentacle pretty well."

    From the side, a tentacle Thor couldn't see moves over and attempts to just entirely blindside him: into a second tentacle. Why not see? They're invisible. Shimmers of magic flutter to reveal them just before they strike. And that's a mocking ploy Thor's dealt with before, particularly when it relates to illusion.

    "Were you planning on dodging, Thor?" Tony asks, baffled by what he's seeing from above. HE can see the tentacles. "If this thing is hitting your mind, get OUT of there!"

Hellboy has posed:
    <<Yeah...screw this.>>

    Of everyone here he was the least bothered by the heat emanating from this oversized mushroom, but he understood that this thing might smother them before it was finished passing through. So that sword was brought up in Hellboy's right hand and instantly the big bruiser was rushing out of his space to saw and slice into the thing from the side. He was too close to the thing to try and swing and hack, so he was instead using it like a steak knife and rapidly 'slicing' that super frosted super-cold edge against the flesh and trying to get into the 'meat' of the creature. He didn't know how strong this thing was, so he'd be using all of his power to try and 'walk' and rush into the path of the thing, trying to cut and saw his way through approaching fungus. It was probably going to win this struggle, but there was no reason HB couldn't do as much damage as he could beforehand.

    <<Go ahead and blast, it's fine if you end up hitting me by accident. I can take it.>>

Iron Man has posed:
    The knife entering the tentacle doesn't immediately get a response. There isn't a pain response or anything, it doensn't jerk away. Instead, it takes a moment, and then begins to twist, as if deciding to just try to crush whatever was injuring it. However, the damage is substancial, and the strength of the tentacle starts heavy, but may not remain so, if they blast a big enough hole in it with their frozen weapons. In particular, the slicing ones rend streaks through it, and freeze it, making it have difficulty flexing properly. It's still huge, though, and quite capable of being a threat just from strength as it thrashes.

Thor has posed:
    Mjolnir was on its way back up from the cavernous depths as Thor stood upon the rim, hand out-stretched. He turns for a brief moment, a subtle shimmer and fluctuation in the light catching his eye just in time for...
    //KRAKOOM!//
    The tentacle connects and sends the Thunderer hurtling now the other direction from that tunnel entrance from the earlier attack. He is little more than a black and red blur through the air that connects with a two story Cape house and smashes right through its attic, debris flutters out in the wake of the impact, an old photo album smashing onto the hood of a car whose alarm starts trilling angrily.
    But then Thor lands upon the ground, coming to a halt as he rolls across the pavement of the street, his features dark and grim as he pushes himself back to his feet, wavering only a touch. <<< That was not the creature. That was magic... >>>
    He scowls and turns to the side, as if seeking something before his voice lifts again. <<< My brother's magic. >>>

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Hellboy doesn't have to tell her twice. Natasha doesn't have superstrength. She isn't extra durable. She's kind of tough but not to the level of her teammates on this venture.

As Hellboy begins to get a reaction from it, causing it to press further his direction, she draws out the two speciality weapons from the holsters at her waist. They are raised and she fires both, point blank, at the tentacle.

Iron Man has posed:
    "I'm sorry, it's loud up here and I'm pretty sure I didn't hear you accurately, Thor, with all this... /wind noise/ and static," Tony says, dryly. Noise isn't an issue, he can hear fine. "Come again on that 'magic' statement?" Tony asks, his voice thick with irritation. He passes the information to Strange, though, without sharing it with the group otherwise.

    Hellboy cleaves off nearly half of the side of the tenacle in a big arc, and it starts to pull away. That gives Natasha's shots perfect placement adjacent to where Hellboy already had begun, and they sever most of the side of it! It suddenly starts to pull away, to retreat, trying to escape from the painful ice weapons back from wence it came....

    Thor's fight includes sudden tentacles out of nowhere. It's a terrifying invisible whack-a-mole, though the dust and swirling mess of other fighters does help a little bit with where the tentacles probably aren't. And then they are. Some illusion is being thrown very liberally, and giving the tentacles a beautiful cover.

    After some time of that, there is a small window where Thor will see a figure on the edge of a building throwing some magic a different direction: bringing life to a series of statues, and the statues begin to lumber out towards where a Peacekeeper Sentinel Robot that is being slowly trashed and pulled into pieces.

Thor has posed:
    Smacking at the tentacles as they lash out, Thor backhands each one with this angered almost negligent gesture, sending each one rippling with the after images of the invisibility spell falling away from them. One almost manages to tag him as he ducks underneath its swipe but is caught with an uppercut of the hammer even as the weapon glows an eerie blue, setting off the haze of the snow falling and upon the ground.
    <<< Magic, Stark. Loki is here... >> And as he says this he'll catch sight of that lone figure far off towards the building, the silhouette lifting its arms and bringing the statuary to life. Mjolnir whirls around quickly, the air thrumming with its power as he hurls it towards his brother and holds on as it carries him in that direction. When he lands he skids to a halt, three quick steps to decelerate as he holds his weapon up ready to strike out.
    "Loki, you have fallen victim to the creature's powers! Stand down!" But the words are not a request to be answered nor even a warning, for the Thunder God's wroth is made manifest in the blaze of lightning that slashes out and closes the distance in the blink of an eye.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Natasha keeps those weapons drawn as the tentacle gives way and rapidly disapperas back down the tunnel. She steps out of the little spot she'd been trapped by it's arrival and stretches, getting a feel for all her parts again.

"Shall we?" she asks Hellboy, motioning after the tentacle since that is apparently the way they are going to need to go. "Remind me to get rid of all my house plants after this. I think they'll just give me nightmares thinking of their root systems."

Wait? Did Thor just say Loki is here? Things just went from bad to worse.

Hellboy has posed:
    While the tendril retreated, Hellboy aimed down the tunnel and blasted off one powerful rifle shot, now that they had a bit of distance. He wasn't a great shot, but this was practically bowling with the bumpers on. He looked over at the redhead, nodding his head and gesturing toward the retreating beastie.

    "Yeah, I'm looking forward to putting the nail in this coffin. Go ahead, I'm right behind you."

    He knew Black Widow was faster and he wasn't even going to try to race her, he's just chase behind as fast as he could.

    "Who's Loki?"

Iron Man has posed:
    "I thought you said that. I was just upset I didn't properly plan a party to give a really proper welcome," Tony says sharply. But he's observing Thor's attack, and lays off about it. It isn't like Tony's brother is the most awesome guy either, but still. It's more that Tony has other things to deal with, the tentacles are starting to really lift all over the place. On the upside, that leaves Natasha and Hellboy with some time to actually get in close to the source of the tentacles. Though who knows what new horror they will find? Whatever it is, Hellboy DID shoot it, and there's sounds of the impact of those ice shots as he fires down the tunnel in front of them.

    Loki, obviously, was not where he looked like he was, because that's what Loki does. He was to the side. But with enough electricity, there isn't anywhere for him to go. Extremely charred by the onslaught and clearly wounded, he spits some very choice words at his brother before dodging through a portal, some escape route. As always.

Thor has posed:
    "I said stand down!" The Thunder God's voice rises to a rumble that many wouldn't need a communicator to hear as the winter storm continues to wail and snow continues to pelt them. But then the trickster makes the mad dash for the conjured portal and Thor breaks into motion at the same moment. Another blast of lightning from above seems to spur his steps faster as he darts towards the eldritch circle that hovers in the air.
    Yet it's when Loki steps into it that Thor makes the /leap/ into the portal even as it's fading, reaching out to try and grab a handful of his brother's cloak or armor, enough to catch him before the enchantment can be completed...
    Only for the portal to close behind him and for the both of them to be gone.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Who's Loki? You got a few hours?" Natasha yells back as she charges full speed down that tunnel. "Remember that big invasion in New York a few years back when the Avengers formed? Aliens, explosions? Guy with a green fetish and big horns on his head which likely are overcompensating for something? Loki was responsible."

She doesn't stop until she is either forced to by a tentacle coming back or gets to wherever it originated from.

Hellboy has posed:
    "Oh."

    Truth be told, Hellboy was very uninformed when it came to supervillains. Aside from Dr. Doom, who was part of the UN, and Joker who was talked about in the news all the time it seemed, all the costumes and the death rays started to bleed together in his mind.

    "Don't these guys ever get bored with the whole doomsday dance they're always doin'?"

Iron Man has posed:
    The portal twists and time jerks in a strange direction, it almost feels like an instant portal to some other place. The sensation may even slightly feel like the bifrost for a moment. Lost magic, lost place and time. And then suddenly everything is on fire. Spat out of the portal, and dropped into what looks exactly like a molten cave of horribleness. And Thor is falling straight towards a heat level that could quite possibly unmake a god.

Above in the chamber, there is one huge, massive tentacle, what could very well be miles of distance. It stretches down towards the molten heat, soaking it up. Basking in the extreme energy of it, in these depths of hot rock. How far did it go? How long did it take to drill that tendril all the way down here, to sap the very soul of the earth, to eat it's energy in this way?

    Natasha and Hellboy have found the chamber of the monster itself. It is a horrible bundle of worming tentacles, that go in all directions, and anchor it in the enormous underground cavern. Huge tentacles go downwards, ever down into the earth far out of sight, others churn through the cavern, still more slip out through the network of tunnels. It is an insane hive, with the enormous brain-like mushroom fungoid in the very center. It IS the town, everything under it, and deep, far deeper. The room pulses with the presence of it's thoughts, as it commands all of those above to do its bidding. And at this proximity? There's a pressure. It's 'seen' them. It, no, HE, just isn't concerned. Why would he be....

Thor has posed:
    Instantly that heat from the room is matched by the blaze of heat that burns against his chest, the necklace artifact that had been protecting his mind now forced to an extreme to maintain its enchantment against the onslaught of the Shadow King's presence. Yet he endures, for now, even as he is falling and only able to seize his descent by a quick whir of the hammer that doesn't quite lift him up but instead crashing to the side into the wall only to slide down it and hit the ground with a clank of displaced armor plates.
    <<< Stark, I am... I seem to be in the depths of the Earth! >>> His eyes lift upwards along the length of the massive tentacle even as his transmitter shrieks with wild energy. <<< There is a large vine from the creature connecting to a lava flow and it reaches far above. I will try and break this connection1 >>> As he says this he gains his feet, taking a moment to look around just long enough to try and find Loki... and fail.
    Shaking his head to clear it he takes several steps forwards and launches himself into the air, slicing through the chamber and bringing his hammer back. The weapon's haft glows with an eldritch gleam as the energy gathers and draws from the power that the creature feasts upon...
    Then the hammer comes down and smashes into the tendril all while drawing away its magic and power into the ancient weapon.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"That's a big fungus," Natasha murmurs. They likely don't seem like much of a threat at all. They are both pretty small compared to the monstrosity in front of them. The communcation from Thor explains some things.

<<With it feeding on energy, this thing is powering up constantly. Even if we blow it, it won't do any good unless Thor does manage to sever that connection. When he does, we have to blow it's brain before it has the chance to reach for that source again.>> At least that's her take on matters. She's not really an expert on any of that. <<We can try to set the charges on all the major points and especially that center.>> She looks to Hellboy, wondering if this is even going to be feasible.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy was now focused on taking this thing out, no matter the cost. Looking quickly at Nat, he tossed her the grenades he had before rushing into the fray, even as he called out behind him.

    "I'll play pattycake with this thing, get its attention on me. If you see an opportunity, don't hesitate."

    And with that, he was getting into the thick of things. Hacking, slicing, blasting, and when the rifle ran out of charges, he'd resort to the sword entirely. It was dirty work, but somebody had to do it.

Iron Man has posed:
    The unexpected assault of magical hammer draining power from his energy source is a big shock. How did this happen? All attention is suddenly on Thor below. The creature starts to send all tentacles down, in an angry response, trying to get a lock on the 'hero' below that's trying to destroy his most delicious, most decadent meal of energy. His mind reaches out, even to the point of letting go of many of those above that he'd had in control.

    The Shadow King can take on any mind. ANY. The infinity stone will power through any feeble guard. Range is infinite, when strength and focus is truly applied. And the fungus can reach worldwide to its fellows.

    Infinite Range, infinite power. He will take over this fool below and make him slowly pay. God of Asgard? Pfft. Not to infinite power. He'll turn his mind into nothing, and devour it slowly, only to rebuild and do it again. The infinity stone means that there are no limits, there-----

    Something changes. Thor is not assaulted mentally. The tendrils in the lower cavern grasp blindly, wildly, in a panic and rising emotion of confusion, unable to defend themselves.

    The assault of Hellboy now putting a big hole in the side of the main mass makes it roil, and some of the pulse of the room is lost: and through that gap of weakness, magic fills the cavern with Natasha and Hellboy. Runes glitter, space warps. Perhaps Dr. Strange has come after all. The tentacles were nearly all reaching into the earth as the power source is threatened; the center of the frothing body, the maw, is there, exposed. Sure, it's bigger than a building. But it's easy to hit the broad side of it at this size. It is a flaw of being so very immense.

    From the communicator, Tony calls back, "It's retreating! People are clearly being freed from control! Keep pressure!"

Thor has posed:
    At the first blow some of the tendril started to wither as the Uru metal absorbed the energy that was keeping that connection live for the creature. The second one started to tear it apart. Yet now... /now/ with the attention of the Shadow King upon him that amulet upon his breast blazed and burned even against the dense flesh of an Asgardian. Yet he bulled through the pain, teeth bared and gritted as he brought the hammer down over and over, wisps of the power being drawn into the bludgeon...
    Until with the final stroke the connection is severed, a great cracking splitting even the cacophony in that chamber as the tendril frays, strands still reachout out and upwards, then its dead husk falls back and down upon the cavern floor with a snap like high tension wires severing.
    <<< Its hold is broken, strike now! >>> He calls across the comm link.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Taking the grenades, Natasha would protest but the truth is, this is the tactically sound way. She wouldn't be able to do what Hellboy is, wading in there and doing combat that way. Not against something of this immensity. <<Grenades being prepped.>>

She quickly draws her line out of her wristband, using it to start hooking all the grenades together. The ones from her wristbands are added to what is basically an oversized bomb. When she stands, she hefts the weight experimentally and finds it is enough she can handle.

Without seeing him, she knows Bucky is there. She knows she can rely on him to do his part with his own grenades. As that maw opens, as that opportunity is presented, her calm voice comes across the comms. <<Bucky, Now. Fire in the hole!>>

She flings the mass of grenades toward that opening and turns immediately to head the opposite direction, down a tunnel and hopefully to find a turn or a niche to hide in when things go boom.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy was not a terrific swordsman, but the way he was using that tool, he really didn't have to be great. With that powerful stone hand, and with his immense strength, he was essentially hacking away plant growth with an oversized machete. He wasn't getting tired, he wasn't wavering, he was focused on tearing through this thing as much as possible.

    "Hraaagh!"

Iron Man has posed:
    None of this was supposed to be possible. Infinite power. INFINITE. He'll show them. If only this fungus could do mind blasts. Still. It can control, and that's all that's necessary. Energy is cut off, and the fungal body is being sliced a little, but it has such power still, and the stone. Tentacles pull in as it tries to rally. The magic binds it, though. Everything is going wrong!

    Poison seeps into its body as one set of grenades explode, horrible and awful, and it can't escape. Poison fills the long cruel cuts made by Hellboy. ---- Surely the infinity stone will be enough, though, to make these enemies turn to its side! The next set explode from Bucky's application, and the pain is too intense to ignore, as the poisons engulf the fungal creature, and parts of its brain are being cut away in ragged slices by the demon. The Shadow King tries to force the fungus body to heal, and he does begin the process. And releases an angry command to all nearby, to stand down, and then...

    The command goes out, but not all of it. The infinity stone is ... is gone?!

    The ground heaves, and the tunnels begin to collapse, as the tantrum of powerful agony is thrown.

    "On the way, get to the surface if you can!" comes Tony's voice over the communicator, as suits and droids are sent rapidly to try to rescue them. Waves of agony go out from the dying fungus, churning the world to black for anyone too close to it, but surely rescue was on the way ..... ..... and if not, perhaps saving the world was worth it?