Scene #1467:

Owner	Pose
Yunomi Stadler	RAVNICA: THE IZZET QUARTER Off the main path in the maze of buildings, mixed with newer buildings with Japanese-like facades, there is an unusual sight -- a travel caravan, pulled by a simple, old-style Mitsubishi truck with one wheel in the front and two in the back, hooked up to a smallish trailer. It beeps at intersections, drawing a little attention from the passer-bys in Ravnica whose colorful costumes point to affiliation witht he Izzet League, dominmant in this area. However, strangely there are a few black-garbed men walking alongside the shipping box, which has the smallest, ittiest, bittiest 'live animal' sticker in it.
Steve Rogers	It's a way off the beaten path for Captain America, but he's been trying to familiarize himself more with the Multiverse, and Ravnica seemed like a good place to visit. Parts of it sort of remind him of New York, both old and new - at least, if New York were stuffed to the brim with magic and magic-users. Other parts, not so much ... And he has to actively stifle the impulse to internally compare the Izzet Quarter to any of HYDRA's old bases. That's just being paranoid for no good reason. He is, however, wandering around in his Captain America uniform. He's probably being mistaken for a member of at least one guild - after all, he's basically wearing Izzet colors plus white. (Or red-and-white with added blue, or blue-and-white with added red, for that matter.) The cart with its escort do draw his attention, in any case ...
Striker Eureka	With a defiant huff, Chuck Hansen crosses his arms and glares out at the streets of Ravnica. It's not an unusual look on his face, nor is it anything remotely unexpected. He's just never pleased unless more than a few people are telling him he's the best Jaeger pilot ever. And... that's not happening, as best as he can tell. He takes a moment to adjust the wool collar of his leather jacket before busying himself with staring at Captain America. Well, someone's feeling patriotic. Americans. Bah. They don't even have a half-decent Jaeger. His eyes wander to the black-clad men, who seem to be just too casually walking along with that shipping box. What even is that?
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi, however, was accompanying Chuck, and gives a turn of her head, her ears picking up on the foreign sound of a motor vehicle that has substantially less chances of explosion than anything that comes out of the Izzet League. And she purses her lips a moment, her head tilting. "That's odd... there shouldn't be any shipping of live creatures through the sector today." she mumbles to herself, giving a look up to Chuck Hansen's simply adorable pout. Yep. Adorable Aussie. You can't escape it, Chuck. Yunomi keeps the good Captain in her sights though, and as she steps away from Chuck, and circles around, sliding through the crowd and flanking the Star Spangled Avenger's left side, she goes to catch up with the group. And as she does, her armor shifts to be decked-out in the brilliant azures and scarlets of her guild. She lowers her goggles. "Gentlemen! How do you do? I'm a representative of the Izzet League, hello!" she smiles. The group stops. A few of the guys in black robes look at one another, faces obscured in shadow.
Steve Rogers	Cap glances towards his left at Yunomi's words, and notices Ms. Stadler herself, as well as Chuck Hansen. Not that he knows the Hansens yet, or any of the other Rangers from the PPDC. Then he shifts his attention back to the three-wheeled vehicle with its walking escort in their black robes, and the box itself ... and he subtly moves to where he can back Yunomi up if the guys in robes try bringing their 'heat' to bear. ... around here, that could well mean fireballs or the like, he realizes.
Striker Eureka	Chuck follows just behind. This is Yunomi's turf, so, he'll let her handle it. He might be pigheaded, he might be stubborn - but he's not /stupid/. Most of the time. His armor isn't nearly as flashy - black leather jacket, riding pants, boots- but he does have six feet of muscle and surly temperament that they might be able to leverage!
Yunomi Stadler	Fireballs, lightning, summonable beings that replicate themselves in fleshy little spriggans with ripping claws that bulk up each other! Cap is flashy in his get up, and wearing appropriate colors. One of the hooded figures is keeping his attention on the Captain, but Chuck doesn't warrant much attention -- with the rest of the folks milling around, he doesn't stand out as much. The hooded figure appears to say something to Yunomi, who raises her eyebrows and begins to raise a hand -- When there's the sudden CRACK of /something/ hitting the inside of the container. It bellows, its cry echoing as the crowds still, and then begin to move away slowloy from the container. Yunomi's brow raises up, and she gives the hooded figure she's speaking with a critical look. "That certainly does /not/ sound like a colony of ferrets." she replies suspiciously. "Who sent yo--" ANd then there's a sharp BANG! and her head snaps back, her arms pinwheeling in the air as she stumbles. Flecks of red and blue glass and brassy bits fly out. Much probably to the releif of some, they appear to be armed with just guns. On the other hand, they appear to have shot the young woman inquiring to their cargo. The men in black jump up, grabbing onto handholds on the cargo crate, and the truck roars into gear and begins to take off!
Striker Eureka	It takes Chuck a moment to realise what happened - but he immediately shouts - "NO!" - and hurries forward to grab Yunomi. Without being too acquainted with the range of the Multiverse, Chuck isn't the one to think that getting shot in the head is anything but a serious thing! They've got guns, and he can't exactly get himself shot. He checks on Yunomi, allowing Captain America to dispense some red, white and blue justice!
Steve Rogers	Cap didn't even SEE the gun or guns being drawn in time to protect Yunomi. This does not sit well with him at all - he's usually faster to react than that, but the robes and the hoods did all too good a job of hiding their intentions, along with their weapons, until it was too late. That may be directly related to the force with which Captain America's shield immediately flies, ricocheting off of all three hoods and (presumably) the heads underneath them, from the guy in front to the guy on the far side of the cart to the guy on the near side of the cart, rebounding back to Cap's waiting hand. And if there were more than three guys, well - as soon as Captain America has his shield back, his left forearm slides into the straps to hold it as he charges, shield ready to protect himself from gunfire. and his right fist cocked back to punch a robe-wearing bad guy in the nose ... again, possibly harder than he actually NEEDS to, but they just shot a girl in front of him. Can you really blame him for being angry?
Yunomi Stadler	There's blood, and there's a bit of it, but as the truck roars off, Yunomi is pulled up into Chuck's arms, stunned. She brings her hand to her head to try and sort out what happened, blinking away the fuzziness of a brush with her good friend Death, and -- oh hey, it's Chuck. The world comes back into focus as her adreniline kicks onIsn't he handsome? While Chuck checks on Yunomi, three of the guards are riding on the side, when the Cap's shield goes flying in a flory of all that is paticularly awesome about Truth, Justice, and the American Way, rattling them up like a pinball machine. They fall off, one stunned, one getting up in order to try and wander his way back to the truck, and the other pulling out the offending firearm, pulling back the hood to reveal a reptilian set of golden eyes beneath a human's face. When its mouth opens, there's fangs and a long, black tongue, and it fires off a round at the captain as the truck gets moving, knocking over onew of the fruitstands. Some poor sap screams about his mellons. -- wait, there was something to be saved! The big-bellowing-possibly-dangerous-thing that was certainly NOT a colony of black-footed ferrets like the guy in black said it was. Yunomi snaps up, hand covering the side of her head. "Chuck, Steve, we have to save the probably-not-a-ferret!" -- and then the girl swoons, and reaches to steady herself on Chuck's shoulder.
Steve Rogers	Say one thing for Steve Rogers and Captain America alike: he doesn't discriminate. The reptilian appearance of the remaining gunman's eyes and mouth doesn't even faze him; he just angles his shield to deflect the bullet (into something that will STOP it without anyone else getting hurt, ideally) and punches the serpent-man, or whatever he is, as hard as he can in the face. That had better have done the trick, because he turns to pursue the three-wheeled truck ... on foot ... and he might actually be able to keep up, or better still, CATCH up.
Striker Eureka	"Hey, wait just a minute," Chuck cautions. "You just got shot. You okay? Might not be time to go runnin' about chasin' ferrets or whatever." He glances over the way, catching sight of Captain America laying out, well, virtually every bad guy he comes across, and says: "How're we gonna catch a truck when all we've got is our feet anyway?"
Yunomi Stadler	"Glancing headwound. Richochet off my goggles... oh, thank you Niv for these things..." Yunomi mutters, feeling along the broken edges of the glass and brass that held one of the frames of her goggles. She winces, but goes to push herself to a stand. "And... -- seriously, did you /forget/ our first date?" Yunomi inquires, shakily taking a step forward, and reaches to grab Chuck's hand. "We're going to fly!" ANd, provided Chuck doesn't want to stay firmly on the ground, Yunomi's going to pull him up with her! The truck speeds off, trying to outrun Captain America! In the crowded streets, it's a little more difficult. Lights flash, horns blare, and there's really not much room for a regular freeway here! Someone does hang out the window, and this time there's a loud, high-pitched electric sound -- followed by a BOOMF! of air! A shockwave begins, hugging the side of the cargo container (which gives a loud bellowing and yowling noise!) and the wave travels back, threatening to consume Rogers!
Striker Eureka	With a slight frown and an expression that seems to indicate that if one has a head wound they shouldn't be operating heavy machinery much less flying, Chuck doesn't seem so sure about any of this. "Fine, but they've got guns-!" He's already flying by that point, however.
Steve Rogers	Captain America doesn't even wait for the shockwave to reach him; as soon as he sees somebody leaning out the window to shoot - or anything else for that matter - his first reaction is to hold his shield up to protect his face and torso. That covers both arms, too. His lower body, on the other hand, is not protected. And even a vibranium shield doesn't do that much about gale-force winds slamming into him; the shield's curvature deflects some of the impact, but Captain America is very literally blown clean off his feet and goes down hard on his back, the air driven from his lungs. Once the shockwave's past, though, Cap sucks in a fresh lungful of air and scrambles back to his feet. Rather than stick to ground level at this point, he's looking for footholds further up - signs, jutting roofs or eaves, balconies, ways to avoid the foot traffic that's slowing the vehicle down. ... Other than flying, which is very nice but not something he can do. Absent stepping-stones of that sort, he's running in pursuit again.
Yunomi Stadler	There are overhangs, awnings and balconies that could be used to get over obsticles! "... what, you don't?" Yunomi questions, looking down, and holding tightly to Chuck's hand... and it suddenly occurs to her. "I'm... really, really used to people who don't have powers just carrying weapons around like it's completely a normal occurance to have multiple firearms on you at all times... /thanks dad/." she mutters, slightly cross. The truck takes this opportunity to barrel through a small market, knocking over a pottery stand! Shattering ceramics burst outward, covering the ground! And in the midst of this, there's more bellowing, yowling, yawning sounds, as whatever is in the container rattles outwards!
Striker Eureka	"Yeah, well, my power's a big fuckin' robot, and I don't think we can bring Striker stompin' through here, can we?" Chuck retorts. "I hope you've gotta plan, Yunomi." Pause. Chuck then says, "'course, ol'mate stars and stripes down there seems t'be doin' pretty well for himself, right?"
Steve Rogers	That helps a great deal, in fact. Steve hasn't had much opportunity to get into parkour yet, but he is a veteran (haha) of 1940s U.S. Army obstacle courses, so the basic precepts of 'if you can't go through, go over/under/around as swiftly as possible' are familiar to him - and he has the strength and agility now that he didn't have during basic training when he had to make it through all those obstacle courses. So as soon as he can find a suitable jumping-off point from ground level, Cap will be making his way across the architecture, trying to avoid anything that won't support his weight. That lets him make up for the distance he lost by getting knocked down from the windy shockwave - and the marketplace slows the truck down just a little more ... he can't QUITE close the gap completely yet, but he's getting closer - and having three dimensiojns to maneuver in makes it harder for any more attacks to get thrown his way. Hopefully.
Yunomi Stadler	"Not unless we get the proper permits from the Senate, and we don't have time for that." Yunomi states. "and... ah... I have a plan. You might not like it though." And she picks up speed. "Do you know how to drive stick?" The Captain manages to break out some kickin' moves, launching off a vegetable cart that was knocked to the side, and grabbing onto a gargoyle moulded to look like a yawning dragon wearing a monacle, and then to an awning, and closing the gap with a nice, wide place to run alongside the building. Yunomi zips by, Chuck in tow, as she heads for the truck itself. The truck, however, is running out of space. Ahead, there's a yawning crack in a blacony where repairs have been running a little late... and by 'yawning', it's a ten meter wide gap in the tile, leading down to broken pipes and half-forgotten walkways below!
Striker Eureka	"Yeaaah..." Chuck replies, unevenly, stealing a glance at Yunomi. "Why?"
Yunomi Stadler	"... we're going to steal the truck." Yunomi replies, slightly unsure of the plan. "... for safety?"
Steve Rogers	Cap pours on the speed - spotting the chasm in the balcony ahead as he does so - and has a split second to make a decision. "Stadler, barrier!" he shouts - she has some magic, right? Surely she can do SOMEthing to make a wall or force field or other impediment to the truck's forward movement. Then he leaps, trying to drive the edge of his shield downwards into the truck's back end while the shield is still strapped to his arm ... and he digs in his heels, yelling in exertion (and/or pain) as he tries to slow the truck even a little bit. Hopefully whoever's driving has NOTICED that crack and is already trying to brake to avoid driving over the edge; if not, this is about to get ... excessively interesting.
Striker Eureka	"Alright," Chuck says, with all the exasperated finality of someone who gets that everything here is completely crazy to an outside observer (or just crazy to someone who pilots skyscraper-sized robots for a living), "Fine, we're gonna steal the truck."
Yunomi Stadler	OH GOOD. So, several things happen at once. Yunomi flies in, diving towards the truck, and as the lizard man opens the door, mouth going overly wide, showing his fangs dripping with ichor and blackened tongue sticking out, bringing the air-shockwave weapon out as the truck begins to turn -- and to this wonderful visage, Yunomi delivers a six-foot tall muscley load of exasperated Australian. "I'msosorryChuckI'llberightback!" she calls out, and she goes backwards, on her back, and green mana begins to grow from her fingertips, sinking into the concrete-like tiles of the overhanging balcony of DOOM. and there's a rumbling. The overhang springs sprouts of green, followed by woody boughs and limbs, trees linking together in a softly sloping-upwards barrier that /should/ support truck and load! Chuck, meanwhile, has two very surprised looking, golden-eyed men with black tongues looking at him in a /very confused/ manner.
Striker Eureka	Yunomi might be worried, but Chuck Hansen, one half of the Steel Bulldogs, knows how to handle vaguely reptillian looking things. After all, that's practically his day job. Even without the conn-pod of a Jaeger, Chuck knows what to do - he just has to react on instinct. Abruptly thrown into the van, Chuck acts purely on that instinct. Before the pair of golden-eyed men can react, Chuck punches the one further away from him squarely in the face, reaching past the closer fo the two. From there, before the first one can grab at his arm, Chuck headbutts him. There's no time for anything fancy, not stuck in such close quarters. He goes right for the wheel!
Steve Rogers	Express air-mailed Australian wasn't quite the barrier Captain America had in mind, but hey, it takes the driver's foot off the gas if nothing else. The vegetative wall that Yunomi's creating, on the other hand, is just what the Captain ordered, and Cap keeps his feet dug in and his muscles taut, helping drag the truck to a halt. The branches, should his feet slide that far, will likely provide much better traction to work with. Then it's just a matter of making sure the 'drivers' don't get away. Until their status is determined, Cap occupies himself looking over that box. He doesn't try to guess what might be inside it; for all he knows, its contents could be anything from tribbles to rabid Furbies to an alligator purse.
Yunomi Stadler	WHACK! THUCK! WHAM! The lizardmen give throaty complaints and curse out a fractured jaw, and after trying to bite the Steel Bulldog, the other gets a broken nose for hsi troubles. Hissing, the one with the airgun tries to grab out for the door and tumbles outwards. Yunomi had been building up the barrier, far away from all the danger, a little blood still winding its way to her chin as she breathes out -- well. The truck doens't look like it's in any danger of oging off the side of DOOM now, she relaxes, a little bit, hovering in the air. The other though, still has a gun. And it's still in the truck with Chuck. And he goes for the wheel -- and the gas pedal -- to try and discourage Chuck from control and the Captain from staying still! "Captain!" she calls out, shooting a fireball towards the escaping lizardman!
Steve Rogers	The truck is basically stopped by now, so Captain America can afford to wrench his shield loose, drop it into his hands to throw - and he hurls it, ricocheting it off a wall into the back of the lizardman's head to rebound back to the Captain. He's strongly inclined to go help Hansen with the third lizardman once he's done that - but he wants to make sure the one that tried to run just now STAYS down, without necessarily being dead.
Striker Eureka	For a brief moment, Chuck tries to wrestle the wheel away from the final lizardman. After a moment, perhaps because it's taking too long, Chuck decides on a better plan. He pistons his elbow back into the lizardman's belly, and then jerks his fist back and up, right into his snout for a quick one-two blow. "Get off it!" Chuck snaps, in a similar tone to the one he might use when Max the bulldog is having a particularly recalcitrant day.
Yunomi Stadler	Ka-TOING! That is the sound of one shield hitting! BAM! The lizardman goes down, flattening out and skidding along the walk as Yunomi comes back around. Green mana again forms aroudn her fingertips, looping around wrists and ankles of the downed man, giving a look to the Star Spangled hero as she takes in a deep breath. The Lizardman gives a hiss, trying to wrestle the wheel, and Chuck changes the tactics! The eyes go wide as the breath gets knocked out of the gold-eye man's chest, and then there's another crunching soudn. They aren't made tough. The wheel -- and slightly worn truck -- is now Chuck's! The creature in the black robe doesn't look too inclined to fight him for it a third time.
Striker Eureka	With the lizardman cowed for the moment, it's time for Chuck to slam on the brakes and bring this truck on home! "Easy," Chuck murmurs, trying to bring the truck to a stop without flipping the thing! That would be bad. Not because of the fact that he might damage the truck, or risk hurting Captain Stars and Stripes, more the fact that he said he knew how to drive a manual. Hah. Yeah...
Steve Rogers	Cap nods to Yunomi as she winds her vines around the downed lizardman, then - darn it, that truck was supposed to be STOPPED by now; time to give Hansen a hand. From outside. Three wheels, one in front; the two in back are PROBABLY the drive wheels but he can't be too sure. Then again, stopping a vehicle by lifting the end with the drive wheels only works in movies and comic books, and Cap's strength is only on par with the strongest human athletes. He digs the edge of his shield into the crevice he made in the vehicle's rear earlier and goes back to applying the old foot-braking method of time immemorial.
Yunomi Stadler	The truck gently comes to a stop against the barrier. It does not flip. It does take Cap a not insignificant amount of stress. It does take Yunomi lending a hand by wrapping the front in vines. So, the vined truck with the yowling shipping container is halted, finally, not over a cliff and idling roughly in the wrong gear -- but stopped. The thing in the back is now making the most pittiful, snuffling noises, and there's a FLUMP! heard from inside.
Striker Eureka	Chuck levels his forefinger at the final lizardman, still stuck in the truck with him. "Stay there," he warns, setting the truck in park and yanking the keys from the ignition. "Right," Chuck says, boots hitting the ground as he swings the keys around his finger, "Now what? What'd they go t'all this trouble t'steal?"
Steve Rogers	"Good question," Cap responds as he pries his shield back out of the truck's back and studies the crate. "Might be best if we don't open it up outside, though. If it' something that needs to stay contained ..." He looks at Yunomi. "Ms. Stadler, any ideas? This is more your neck of the woods than mine."
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi lands, and wipes at the side of her head with her hand as she approaches the box, and she peels away the 'live animal' sticker. "Whatever it is..." she ventures. "It's probably injured. It could be frightened, it might lash out." And Yunomi jabs a thumb at Chuck, "And as he can tell you, if it charges, I can make it into something more manageable, or even possibly a brief bout of suspended animation." "... open up the door, Chuck."
Steve Rogers	Well, as Cap said, this IS the area of the Multiverse where Yunomi's the resident expert. Cap just nods to her, and moves to stand next to her - ready to protect her if the creature attacks, but he's not going to block her from seeing what happens, and acting to protect herself and the two guys here.
Striker Eureka	Chuck seems somewhat dubious about this plan, but he goes along with it. "Openin' the door, if somethin' attacks me I'm gonna be pissed, Stadler."
Yunomi Stadler	"If something attacks you, I will be very surprised." Yunomi counters, but she preps. THE DOOR SWINGS OPEN. It creeaaaks. An acrid smell comes out, ammonia and stale cherios. AND FROM THE DARKNESS: ... comes a pair of blinking eyes, and the stubby feet of a hippo slip out. Its skin is an odd shade of dusky violet, its dark eyes twinkle like stars, its ears wriggle like aspen leaves in the wind of spring, but one of its wings, discolored from neglet, hangs at its side. It nervously snuffs the air of freedom.
Steve Rogers	Cap's nose wrinkles slightly at the smell from inside the crate. He stays on his guard ... but like Yunomi predicted, it doesn't seem like there's much of a threat here. "Any species you recognize?" he asks quietly.
Striker Eureka	Chuck just mutters about the impossibility of a winged hippo. To Captain America, he snarkily states, "It's a hippo. I just bleedin' said that."
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi reaches out a moment, scooting down to her knees and making calming, cooing sounds to the little thing. "aww, it's okay little one, we're not going to hurt you." she coos, then glances up, and purses her lips at the Captain. "Rogers, I have no idea. But... the medics should be on their way. The Simic might have been toying around with comining strands again, I just have no idea who these other people are." she gives a tilt towards the unconcious golden-eyed lizard man, trapped to the ground. "... or what they're doing with a... baby flying hippo." The little thing isn't more than two feet tall. It wanders over, and plops down at the edge, looking all pitiful and sad up at Chuck, who can't beleive its existence. "... but I'm going to find out." Yunomi states quietly.
Steve Rogers	Cap looks at Chuck - not a glare or anything unfriendly, just a somewhat friendly but otherwise neutral look. "Hippopotami don't have wings where I'm from," he says mildly. "And whatever this is, somebody -" He indicates the captive lizardmen. "- felt like it was worth smuggling through Ravnica of all places." Yunomi seems to have a better grasp on the details of the situation - as he expected - so Cap's content to leave it at that for now, and wait for the medical guild to get here.