elseworldexiles | Phoenix Under Attack!

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Phoenix Under Attack!

That's the headline people are trying to avoid.

The Hulk doesn't care. His gait brings him ever closer to the populated city, and so far, nothing seems to stop it.

There's hope that the sandstorm that just kicked up might buy them more time. A sandstorm that's the doing of Crusader, the new girl carrying Thor's hammer and Captain America's shield, who's crazy enough to try to face the Hulk without the help of her team, who have been held up by dealing with some other U.S. agent.

The storm doesn't stop him. It only slows him.

Slightly.

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Crusader, however, is not alone.

A sweeping horde of robots springs forth out of the sand, unleashing a powerful barrage of technological weaponry at this monstrosity's legs, trying to upend it and keep it from advancing.

Some of them launch themelves at its head.

Sarah keeps up the sandstorm, and waits until the first barrage of robots has sprung up, then she flings the hammer, aiming for the Hulk's chest, trying to help them upend it and push it right into the swarm.

It does manage to upend him - all the robots getting underfoot, the strong winds, the forces unleashed, the hammer's impact - it knocks him on his back...

And then another set of massive arms bursts forth out of the sand, wrapping themselves around the Hulk's giant frame, trying to hold the beast in place.

She was about to toss some lightning in, but hesitates when she sees the new combatant, a little limited in options for the moment.
So she dives down, hammer in hand, for a more precise attack, trying to lay into him while he's held, however briefly.

The Hulk's chest is jutting out as he struggles for leverage against his tormentors, and that makes it a great target for another hammer charge.

The earth cracks beneath them, and sand whooshes out into the beginnings of a crater.

Still, the Hulk struggles. No noises of pain, barely audible grunts of exertion.

She can't believe how little he's reacting - how strong he must really be. But she knows that if he gets past her, he dies... or most of a city does.

She lashes out time and again with the hammer, putting all her strength into it, no restraint now that she knows that he can take whatever she dishes out... and will keep coming.

A thin, bespectacled man is running the show.

"Hank, get me visuals from Ultrons 20 through 40. Iron Man, quit dragging your ass, this is where it counts. Logan, get the hell out there and start doing what we pay you for - and somebody get me an ID on who this girl is! She can't be fifteen and she's got Thor's hammer! NO ONE is worthy at fifteen!"

"Bringing up visuals now," Dr. Pym replies, tugging on his uniform, in case they need backup.

"Cap's shield, too. Did she steal it from him? Is that why Cap was so weird with Heather?"

"No," Samson answers.

"He would have been a lot louder and used a hell of a lot more profanity."

"Could not be less important right now. Focus, guys. Are you juiced, Leonard?"

"Yes, Bruce, I'm 'juiced.' I'm prepared to take my lumps for this. But let's see what this girl is capable of. Maybe we won't have to kill him."

That gets a scowl.

"It's not a 'him,' Leonard. I'm the 'him' in that equation. This is just a byproduct that needs to be cleaned up, all right? We're not 'killing' anything. We're eliminating waste. We're the environmentally-friendly Hulkbusters, and once we destroy this thing, we're that much closer to getting real jobs."

"You that eager ta park your ass behind a desk, Banner?"

"I'm that eager for the day I don't have to smell you anymore, Logan. Get to snikting."

"Bi-Beast is holding. Ultrons 42-50, flank right, engage restraining protocols..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Time to clean up your baggage, Banner."

Then, he's gone.

"Harder, small woman!" calls the Bi-Beast. "This creature will not be slowed by pain! It is a mindless brute, in literal terms! Nothing short of total annihilation will stop it!"

That's all the two-headed android gets out, before it finds itself hurled like a rocket up towards Crusader - along with a hail of these robots.

No roar of defiance.

"I'm not here to kill him, I'm here to redirect him until... OOOOFF!" is all she gets out before she's nailed by the suddenly flying bi-beast. She crashes hard, but struggles back up. Too many lives are at stake to waste even a second.

With bi-beast no longer hanging on, she slams the hammer down, and one bolt of lightning, then a second slash down at the Hulk.

She's following it a moment later, lashing out towards his head, trying to find somethinhg that even slows him down.

The sound of crunching metal echoes into the desert sky as the Green Goliath tears through these Ultron prototypes like tin foil.

The lightning strikes, frying many CPUs along with the Hulk, and the second shot hits even harder.

As he clears his vision, the hammer clouds it up again, staggering his smoldering form backwards.

But he's got footing now. He doesn't fall... but at least he's not attacking.

A turn back to the screen as the teenager's hammer calls down the storms.

"Goddammit, girl, don't use lightning, you'll fry our monitors..."

She's not sure why he's not attacking. Maybe he still has some hint of a mind, buried deep, and heard that she's not trying to kill him? Maybe she just actually got him to feel something in there. Regardless, she presses that as best she can - she treats it like facing an animal who knows you could threaten it, but she doesn't. Instead, she backs off a couple steps, but stands her ground, hammer and shield up. The wind stirs up another dust storm behind her, making the way look foreboding - and neatly blocking most of the cameras, not that she realizes it, while the Hulk himself just gets a nice warm breeze which blows off into the desert - a clear message, through her lies a fight, and adversity, but he could turn, take the path of least resistance, and she'll let him be...
after all, she remembers a few, rare talks with Dr. Banner, and something about the Hulk's real desire, deep down, was to be left alone.
"I can't let you kill all those people. But I don'twant to fight if you don't make me. Just... turn, start walking." she urges as gently as she can.

Too late, she'll realize the only reason he wasn't attacking is that the lightning messed with his motor control.

Briefly.

The fist comes straight out at her, larger than the shield she's carrying. With force enough to crack the earth itself.

There's nothing present to reason with.

The only thing that saves her is the shield, and a lot of training. Its more reflexes than anything when she partly blocks the hit, though the fist still drives her back off her feet and sends her skidding through the sand.
Still, there's a city depending on her, and, so far as she can tell, no one else in the way. She ignores the pain, pushing it back, and flings the hammer - then flies right after it, trying to deliver her own impact right after the hammer collides with the behemoth.

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Phoenix Under Attack!

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In a makeshift bunker, some distance from the fight...

Re: In a makeshift bunker, some distance from the fight...

Re: In a makeshift bunker, some distance from the fight...

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Re: In a makeshift bunker, some distance from the fight...

Re: In a makeshift bunker, some distance from the fight...

Re: In a makeshift bunker, some distance from the fight...

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Re: In a makeshift bunker, some distance from the fight...

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Re: In a makeshift bunker, some distance from the fight...

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