As the tornado fades away and visibility is restored, the flaming wreckage of the modified helicopter is found some distance away in the tree line. Gwenyth seems to have gone down at some point; it is not exactly clear when, or if she is okay.

(( Gwenyth got Complication'd out and apparently her ability to be untouched by natural forces doesn't apply to tornadoes I guess. It's the weekend and with Riptide down I don't have any good things to do anyways, so maybe it's better this way. ))

Tank turns his back on Riptide, and he's spared from seeing the Zombies empty the clips of their rifles into his body.  It's one less problem to worry about, at least for now.

On the other side of HQ, Scalphunter plummets into the ground.  The gravitational force doesn't merely pin him down - it squishes him out of shape.  He can't so much as open his mouth to scream as his bones are crushed and the reinforced titanium (or whatever his body is made of) begins to buckle under the pressure.  But just before he would become a human pancake the pressure mercifully stops.  The Scalphunter isn't dead, but pain makes him wish he was.

OOC: Scalphunter stress exceeds 1d12+, and he is eliminated.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 228):

Shiva let's go of Scalphunter's leg lest it tear off as Black Hole pulls him down. It was then he got information about Riptide, Tank, and more importantly the helicopter. That took him out of the shock of seeing the villain's crushed form.

"Gwenyth!" He said, his limbs giving him vast distance. Moving like a huge daddy long legs spider with four of his limbs. The other two still carrying long Blockbuster as they wrapped around the villian.

OOC-what do I need to do to find Gwenyth? Senses roll?

Johnson only stepped out of cover once all the Marauders were either dead or incapacitated.  He knew he was unable to impact the result of the fight, and the best thing he could do was get out of the way and avoid becoming a causality.

"Agent Ohm, find out what happened to Agent Blake. I called for urgent medevac one minute ago.  They'll pick up whoever requires medical attention to the nearest hospital"

OOC: no need for a roll.  She should be at HQ grounds, somewhere. 
This message was last edited by the player at 04:08, Mon 30 May 2022.

In reply to Agent Johnson (msg # 230):

John does not reply, as he is focused on finding Gwenyth. His arms carrying him and BlockBuster, and scanning various spectrums and sound waves. Looking for traces of biological material until she can be tracked down and pulled out of any wreckage John can find. Assuming she even needs to be rescued that is.

John was trying to convince himself that she was more than agile enough to leap out of a crashing helicopter, in the midst of a tornado. It had to be, because...because she could do that. She was as agile as Tank was strong. He could not let himself believe anything else.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:55, Mon 30 May 2022.

Tank spots the helicopter by the treeline and races to it. Between Riptide's tornado and his own shockwave, Tank isn't sure if this is rescue or recovery. He gets to the fallen gunship and rips the door off.

"Gwyneth? You okay?"

Black Hole runs after Shiva, though without his flight he lags well behind.

Precious minutes later he arrives at the gunship, gasping and pale. He watches silently.

There is a softly glowing purple silhouette visible through the smoke and dust, which soon resolves into the actress-turned-superhero as she breaks free of the obscuring cloud. Her ponytail has come undone and her iridescent hair blows mesmerizingly in the breeze, glittering in the sun.

"That didn't go as well as I had hoped," she says casually, punctuating with a light cough into one hand. She looks around at the worried faces staring at her. "What's with the looks? Don't tell me you thought a little crash was going to... to... wait-" A hand flies to her unbound hair and she looks around frantically. "What happened to my tiara?!"

In reply to Gwenyth Blake (msg # 234):

Shiva felt relief once his sensors picked up her actual location. He did not tell Tank she was not inside the wreckage, as he was too busy rushing over to where she had bailed out of the doomed aircraft. He sent a message via the comms to the entire team that she was ok.

"Dont worry, I will find it." Shiva says, laughing as Gwenyth looks about for her hair placement device. He sends one of the limbs searching for the item, able to dectect it from pervious scans.

"Its amazing how you are the only person on earth able to look photo quality good after  a near deadly helicopter crash." He sighed and shook his head. "I suppose I will have to build you a new one with better armor...Six! NO!"  He suddenly said.

While one arm was searching the wreckage for a lost item, two arms where high in the air holding BlockBuster helpless, two other arms where needlessly scanning for threats and spies...Six was doing something odd.

It rushed over to Gwenyth, and tired to wrap around her shoulders. Not in some sort of restraint grasp like Blockbuster was being subjected to. Instead it was more like a firm but warm hug, with the end of its length formed into a hand to gently stroke her hair.

"SIX! Get off her!" Shiva yelled, and one of the other two scanning limbs moved over to Six. The three arms seems to regard each other for a second like cobras about to fight over food...but then six disentangled itself from Gwenyth. The end of its length forming an emoji face of a big smile with a teardrop.

"I am so sorry about that! It wont happen again, I promise!" Shiva said quickly, uselessly tugging on Six's length. As if it was a rope he could somehow withdraw.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:51, Tue 31 May 2022.

Black Hole watched in stunned silence, "Is it always like this?"

"I'd love to tell you that it's not," Tank replied. "But I'd be lying."

Johnson was the last to arrive at the crash sites.  He couldn't fly, or stretch himself over great distances.  And he wouldn't so much as run to get there faster:  there wasn't anything he could do to help even if he did get there a few minutes earlier.

"Yes, I'll tell them"
Johnson didn't inquire about Gwenyth's condition.  If she was capable of standing on her feet, then she was fine.  He terminated the call with Valerie, and pulled out his earpiece first, before delivering the bad news:

"Mistress is dead.  It's already all over the news.  They have the footage"

"Footage? How?" Tank was furious at hearing that Mistress was dead, doubly so that someone had leaked a tape of it to the news. "Were the Marauders broadcasting?!"

Gwenyth chuckles awkwardly and turns just a bit away from Shiva, a lock of hair blowing in front of her as if to hide her blush. "Well yeah. Mutant powers, y'know? Nothing special..." she says, waving the compliment aside like it's no big deal. It is no big deal. Just Gwenyth doing what she does. Being pretty.

Gwenyth yelps as she is proxy-hugged by Arm Six and makes a token and ineffectual effort to escape. A moment of stillness, then she legitimately tries to scoot away from the glowing appendage while swatting at it (still ineffectually because it is made of energy).

"It's fine, it's fine..." Gwenyth says to Shiva in a tone that suggests it is anything but. She starts needlessly trying fix her clothes, but stops as Agent Johnson draws near. She coughs again and straightens up, crossing her wrists shyly behind herself.

The demure pose doesn't last long as news of the agent's passing comes "NO!" she cries out. "Mistress- t-they couldn't have! I... uwah..." She covers her eyes and bridge of her nose with her hands.

In reply to Gwenyth Blake (msg # 240):

John moved over to Gwenyth, speaking softly. He does not touch her, but just let's her know he is here if she needs anything. "I'm really sorry, Gwenyth." When she tries to hold it togeather.

Five is returning with the Tiara in an energy orb at the end of its length. At once, Six swoops in and grabs the item, placing it carefully in Gwenyth's hand. Five seem to have no reaction to the 'theft', and goes back to scanning. However, it seems to be scanning the tiria as it returns to its owner.

Shiva, while staying close by to Gwenyth, looks briefly upward at BlockBuster restrained and held in midair. He knew who killed mistress, the evidence was literally all over the giants hands. While Shiva had never interacted with Mistress beyond casual greetings, this was a loss to everyone. He wondered if Johnson had just listened to him if she would be alive right now. Likely not, but having two guards instead of just Black Hole on his own might have made the difference.

Second guessing himself was second nature. If he had helped Black Hole, maybe this could have been stopped. He could not think about this right now. Once the stark/pym prison was up and functioning, none of this would be needed anymore.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:46, Tue 31 May 2022.

Gwenyth starts a little as the tiara is plopped haphazardly into her head, where it slides down her bangs and gets stick on her pinky finger. "Oh, um, thank you..." she says quietly. She begins work on bunching up her hair into its signature asymmetric ponytail and securing it there with the intricate hair dec. The bulk of her mind was still on Mistress' passing, slowing her work.

Lost in reverie, Illya mostly just stands silently trying to process the titanic events he just took part in, "I only just met her, but she was so kind. Even in the face of such incredible danger."

But then with a jolt, he exclaims, "Footage?! Oh crap! My phone!"

He hastily attempts to reach out to gravity, but having separated himself from it he can do nothing, "Oh no. The protective cocoon..."

"Wait. You live-streamed it?" Tank asked, equal parts shocked and outraged. "Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?"

The full weight of what he'd done landed on Illya like a crashed helicopter. The young man grew pale and looked at his feet, "I...I just wanted to get the story out there. You're heroes. People should know."

Tears stream down his face, "But...I...I didn't know. I just didn't know." His voice trails off in a whisper.

"Yes, he did. And now the entire world witnessed the brutal murder of a Federal Agent.  Her family watched it. Her friends.  This is not how they were supposed to find out." Johnson spoke in the same deadpan monotone voice he used during their debriefings.  It was as if he was reading his grocery list.
"I'm going to assume you're as dumb as a doorknob, rather than just an asshole.  That's the kindest thing I can say to you today"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:04, Tue 31 May 2022.

While Johnson was berating Illya, Frank got an incoming call himself.  His mother...

Damn it. If he let her ring through to voicemail, his mother would just hang up and call again. She'd probably seen the live-stream and wanted to know if he was okay. With a sigh, Tank stepped away and answered the call.

"Hey, Ma. This isn't a great time...."

In reply to Agent Johnson (msg # 246):

Six looked like it wanted to do soemthing awful, as it was making several angry emoji faces. Instead, Shiva stepped in front of Black Hole and got in Johnson's face.

"Commander, many mistakes where made today. Made by myself and others...and you. How about instead of insulting and belittling people who risk thier lives for you, you save that for later when we have a chance to do an assessment of what went wrong? Otherwise I will ask you to leave and write a report later!" Shiva said in a cold tone, but nonetheless direct.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:45, Tue 31 May 2022.

"You're out of line, Agent Ohm" Johnson said slowly "Back down.  Now"

The only sounds coming from the other side of the line were whimpering