Exiles in Elseworlds

Scott, squared off agaisnt two of the mystery assailants, doesn't outwardly react to either Lensherr's bellow or the flaming motorcycle, but suddenly things begin to click into place for him.

He speaks calmly, conversationally, even as his optic bolts blast.

"So that's the plan, huh?" he says, as he trains between the two invaders. "A kidnap job. So what's the deal? Bribery? Revenge?"

He doesn't sound convinced on either, actually. Something about his tone.

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hulksmashed.livejournal.com

Mr. Fixit pounds his fist, looking squarely at the little girl that's been so much trouble, although he's not about to count out these self-righteous 'Avengers.'

The idiot in the flag costume in particular.

He stalks, picking his moment. Letting Redeye talk his game.

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Deadpool has set up some cover to make sure his women are tended to - Terry took a hell of a shot.

He's got two guns out, training tightly on these newsreel darlings that just showed up.

Figuring he should wait until they're done talking before popping their heads like casaba melons.

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Sarah is trying to buy Roxy, and the others some time. Staying out of melee reach, now that people have had time to come to their senses, she's collapsing sections of the celing, and tossing a couple of the bigger pieces the way of Fixit and Cyclops, trying to keep their attention a little longer.

She speaks quietly into her coms towards her allies still on ground level. "We need to make this quick, this isn't a good place for a big stand. Do whatever you have to, and start heading for the exits."

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Cyclops responds by incinerating the chunks of debris tossed their way, but he knows as he does that their ruse is working.

"They're making with the 23-skidoo!" he shouts, even as his eyes blaze.

He doesn't know or trust Fixit. But right now, the pair have to be a team.

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hulksmashed.livejournal.com

"Let's make it a 23-skiddon't."

His hand slap together, creating a mini sonic boom - yeah, it'll hurt everyone in the vicinity, but he's trying to overload whatever communicator she's using and fry it - cut her off from her squad.

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Owww!!!! He feels some of the force of Fixit's attack, costing him his concentration on the rubble. Thankfully, he got the worst of it immediately, and being slightly behind the hulk of an enforcer, he got the least of it.

Summers recoups to train in on the man that's with the flying woman.

They only need one of them alive.

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wwii-hero.livejournal.com

He seems to have vanished into the shadows...

But there he is. Right there.

Bringing a fist towards Cyclops' jaw.

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Scott's fast -- faster than the onlookers seem to think, in fact -- but he's not in his assailant's league. The punch lands across the jaw, knocking Scott backward.

The optic blast goes wild for a moment, blasting upward into the sky, before Scott gets enough of a grip to close his visor. The ruby-red beam ceases as Scott thuds hard to the ground.

"That ... all ... y'got, mook?" he says, forcing himself back, training his beam to kill.

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wwii-hero.livejournal.com

He's familiar with this guy. Fought alongside him during the Mutant Purge, and saw him die along with dozens of good men and women. That might have been back in his world, but the powers are the same.

He knows how to avoid a shot like that. He's good at staying out of sight... he learned from some of the best warriors out there.

"Nope," he replies, moving behind him and jabbing an elbow to the back of his skull.

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And with that, Scott Summers falls unconscious, his head hitting the ground with a solid thud, his hands still clenched into fists.

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Sarah has had enough of this. Her plan is going to hurt like a bitch, but hopefully she can take Fixit out of the fight, and gain a measure of revenge on the Hulks.

She's thrown back by the sonic boom... but then keeps flying up and away... until she's cleared her head, and reached lower Earth orbit. Then, bracing the shield, she dives. Fixing back on the party, and on a giant grey skinned body guard in general, picking up speed and momentum as she goes, and trusting the vibranium aspects of the shield to protect her from the worst on impact.

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hulksmashed.livejournal.com

Fixit had figured on the slip of a broad being good and gone, and had just started to turn his attention to the mook battling One-Eye - then got distracted by the sight of the flaming biker crashing through.

Damn, they're comin' outta the woodwork!

He takes a few steps toward the skullhead when suddenly his lights are knocked right out.

Didn't even see what hit him as he falls face first onto the floor.

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wanda-maximoff.livejournal.com

Wanda returns from whisking her sons away to safety. "Father--?" she asks, waiting for orders.

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"Her magnetic pattern is no where nearby." He is quietly seething now after his original outburst.

"Where is the Summers boy?"

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"Here, sir," says Alex, moving closer to his future father-in-law. "I'm sorry, sir--I wasn't watching--"

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"No, this is not your fault there were people whose duty it was to guard her." He can spare no more time to comfort him than that.

"You may be a secondary target stay close."

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"Yes, sir." Alex has a determined line to his jaw, a sight usually reserved for his brother, as he stands near the Master of Magnetism.

He still hasn't sorted out how he feels about Lorna--not girlfriend, possible ally--but he knows one thing:

We black sheep need to look out for each other.

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Despite himself he likes this boy. Obviously he hadn't completely disliked him if he was going to marry Lorna but there is character there he didn't realize.

The one on the flaming bike seems to be causing the most troubles but Charles seems to be her goal and he will not interfere in that.

"Do you know who these people are?"

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Alex shakes his head, studying the chaos of the crowd. "No, sir. But--" Automatically he catches himself before he can articulate what this might mean to his older brother. Despite the years of practicing denial, he can't quite extinguish that flicker of hope. "But I think we should make sure your guests and employees don't get hurt," he finishes.

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He nods, that is of course the most important function at the moment.

Magnetic barriers spring up through the room separating out guests and combatants and driving them apart.

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It's the biker that's on fire that does it.

He was fine just sitting to the side, letting the drama play out, and figuring out what the hell went wrong after the fact. The whole distraction of Logan and Raven back at the Mansion wasn't helping. And then a biker with a face like a flaming skull crashes through the window, Erik's gone into full on 'I am King of this here Hill' mode, and the Avengers are here.

Right. That's Xavier's limit. Everyone dies.

"That." It's meek at first. "Is." The echo kind of reduces the effect. Bad accoustics. "Quite." And then you realize. "/Enough./" The echo isn't from the room, the words are simply being spoken out loud...and in your /mind/.

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wanda-maximoff.livejournal.com

Instinctively, and with a mother's fear for her children driving her, Wanda raises a hex shield about herself and her father.

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Deadpool's mind isn't conducive to telepathy at all... but this is even strong enough to buckle his knees.

"OW! What in targoddamnation son of a motherless - !"

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He has his own means for dealing with the telepathy that he has built over the years, even still there is an echo in his mind from Charles' anger.

He will back it by sending a wave of magnetism through the room destroying communicators and cell phones (the Lehnsherr's communicators are shielded to prevent this)and not a few digital watches as well.

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The enraged Ghost Rider is not amused. Xavier can feel something inhuman and powerful riding this woman and it delights in the chaos and injury. Roxanne herself can only guide what she becomes and make it focus on:

"Murderers! Worshipers of Greed and Power!"

As the Ghost Rider jumps into the fray.

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A bellhop in the Hotel Transia's uniform approaches, his eyes unfocused, as if someone else is directing his steps.

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"Zombie," is the only thing that registers briefly in the mind of the Rider. She tries to move past him towards the greater evil.

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A pompous-looking man in a 3-piece suit advances on her. "Now, look here, whatever you are," he says, giving her his best glare. "You've made a big mistake, coming ... here...."

His voice falters as he looks into her eyes. Instead of his reflection, he sees a dozen crying faces. Children. Their sobs tear at his heart.

Other faces join the children's. Men he had ruined with the stroke of a pen or a single phone call, or even a simple gesture and nod. Nameless, faceless victims of the slums: nameless, faceless, and voiceless no longer.

He sinks to his knees with the force of their pain.

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No sinking to the knees allowed. His lapels are grabbed and used to remove his whole body from the floor as the Spirit of Vengeance brings him face to face - eye to eye...

His store burned to the ground with his wife inside...having his clothes ripped off while other him laughs on, boasting he can do anything he wants...the neverending banality of evil as it runs ramshod over dozens, maybe hundreds of good people now forced to do terrible things...The feeling of paper with a weight so heavy it feels like water in the lungs...

...And then there's the children...the terror of not being home, the overwhelming unbearable feeling of this moment being wrong and nothing will be right again...the desire to please, if only to be able to live through the moment, not knowing if there is a life outside of this...the screams of those broken enough by his actions to force them on others, to walk the streets, to drink or shoot up in order to try and forget...

This is only a moment's glance into the Hell he has made for himself. She tosses him aside like just another ragdoll to leave him to it.

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Landing hard on the floor against a terracotta planter, he curls up in the fetal position, moaning and rocking with the terror and shame blazing across his mind.

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Really, this is just too annoying. Although Jean supposes it's further proof that the Lensherrs are the old who should be swept aside in favor of the new. Xavier was, as always, correct about such things.

She focuses on this burning rider, trying to probe the stranger's mind. Give me the proper lever, and I can move anyone....

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"All of my work...damn your rage, Erik! We'll find her! Just calm down!" Xavier shouts, noticing...vaguely...that Jean is, at least, doing as she's told.

Unexpected resistance from the scarred man. Xavier turns to /look/ at Deadpool, focusing his mind...

'Destroy her.' The Voice of Xavier commands. 'Destroy the woman on the motorcycle. Xavier commands it! Heed me!'

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Deadpool's mind is normally resistant to telepathy, but Xavier is strong with the mental hoodoo.

He looks squarely at the man as he gets up and pulls out swords.

"Pay me! Deadpool commands it! Heed ME!"

Still, seeing Red knocked cold and Nessa losin' it - it's about time somethin' else died.

Springing forward into a flip, he makes a concerted effort to deftly scissor-chop that flaming head right off that flaming spine.

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Ghost Rider has more important things to do than deal with Deadpool.

Sarah doesn't have a lot left. Her left arm is hanging loosely, her shoulder swollen and hideously out of joint from the impact. She's bruised and scarred. But she's up, and Fixit isn't.

Pulling the shield off her left arm, she sizes up the conflict, and prays that Deadpool's healing factor is as good as the claim.

She doesn't hold back, using her full strength when she throws the shield towards Deadpool's waist, trying to catch the man while his attention is elsewhere, aiming for somewhere around the base of his spine with the discus, thrown hard enough to chop through cinderblock without slowing down... and hoping it gives Roxy the time to do whatever it is she needs to do.

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The Ghost Rider isn't a slouch in a fight. Super strength is fueled by righteous fury. The probe to the possessed woman's mind by the telepath will reveal a smiling demon. Rich bitch wants to understand power? There is a reason Jean Grey is both chosen and weak against the Phoenix Force. Whatever that fissure is, hellfire now licks at it.

The skull is whipped back by the scissor kick. The Spirit of Vengeance then turns it's attention to the merc.

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The faces. The bodies.

VoicestoucheskissestearstoomuchtoomuchTOOMUCHTOOMUCH!

Jean Summers falls to her knees, vainly squeezing her eyes shut against her husband's reproachful gaze ... her son's innocent trusting eyes ... Xavier's devouring mind-voice....

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The difference between this Charles Xavier and the Charles Xaviers who can normally be found throughout the universes can be summerized in a single word, as he sees Jean Summers's fall.

"Useless." He sneers, not even having a moment to amend his master plan. Obviously he had chosen his pawns too quickly. Take a moment to think: Scott is ignoring the biggest threat in the room. So he's finally making his move, eh? Good for him. The Rider can consume people with forced guilt with a glance, so direct mental contact may not be advised. Also, she's on a motorcycle that is made of fire.

A trio of blank faced employees turn fire extinguishers on Roxy and her bike's flaming wheels, while another trio of party guests...a man, his wife, and their ten year old girl, to be precice, stand at attention, blankly moving in front of Xavier's wheelchair!

"You will not undo my work." Xavier snarls at the interlopers, "Not when I am /so close/. The world /needs/ this, don't you understand? I can finally bring peace to this mad, angry, twisted little planet! And none of you meddlers will stop me, do you understand?! None of you!"

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The family is brushed aside. He's grasping while the Rider is focused.

"Look at me, Charles Xavier and tell me what it is!"

Everyone else got a glance into their wickedness. This is a long hard stare at it.

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Deadpool, meanwhile, has been cleaved in half by the mighty throw of that shield... but what little sense he has left as he bleeds is to earn his paycheck.

A sword is hurled at the back of the Rider's head as she roars past him...

"FIRE BAD!"

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Eye contact. That's all it takes.

But, amazingly, impossibly, the mighty mind of Charles Xavier /struggles/ with the Ghost Rider's psychic invasion! Sizzling neural lightning manifests around the mastermind's wheelchair as he fights for his own sense of self, his beliefs, his DREAM...it's a world where crime is the only way to do busniess, he had to...

"Aaaah!" Xavier shakes in his chair, blood starting to frip from his nose, his mouth...his eyes...

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Its all Sarah can do to retrieve the shield, completely shocked at Deadpool somehow still acting, despite being in two pieces...
She's not fast enough to stop the thrown sword, just hoping somehow Roxy will be able to take it.

Over the coms, she calls, "We need to fall back, with the Hulk and Deadpool down, they'll bring reinforcements... please tell me we can get Ghost Rider out... somehow?"

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