[storm] come get steve he's a menace

[pursuitofcappiness]

WHO: Steve Rogers + You ?
WHERE: Around Temba
WHAT: Catch-all for the event
WHEN: During the event
WARNINGS: Well Steve is losing his powers for a bit I guess. Violence, maybe?

Oct 10th - ~14th

Someone probably should have told Steve Rogers to stay put, but it's Steve Rogers, so he's doing no such thing. Unfortunately for everyone around him, he's lost his serum, which means that he's currently swimming in his shirt and had to cut a new hole in his belt just to hold his pants up, because he doesn't have time or resources to go to Alien Target to get a new set of clothes.

If you're lucky, then you'll meet him at the hospital, where he'll be tending whatever wounds you have, extremely carefully.

And if you're unlucky, then he's out on town trying to gather supplies or find food to bring back, or even just to check in on other people. It seems that no one remembered to remind Steve that he's no longer resistant to whatever's in the air, so he doesn't travel long distances. And whether he ducks inside wherever you are just to breathe a little easier, or whether he's outside looking like whatever he's carrying is bigger than he is, well. He's struggling a little.

And if you're really, really unlucky, Steve might be in the middle of engaging with one of the creatures. What he lacks in combat ability, he has in spades in actual learned skill, so even though he's having a real hard time with it because there's no power in his kicks and he'd absolutely get bodied by a large rodent, he's still out here trying. He's just in need of an assist.

Oct 15th, by Alien Target Gate

Somehow, luckily, Steve's managed to stay alive, and he's run into a couple uh, familiar-adjacent faces. After he parts ways with them, he heads on over to the department store in order to find the gate so that he can help shut it down. With his acrobatic skill, resistance to poison, and newly-acquired energy shield, he's much-better equipped than he had been to run around town.

He makes it late enough to see people gathering around it, though the creatures keep coming out so it's not like it's hard to miss. "Behind you!" he shouts as he tosses his shield at one of the demo dogs, knocking it to the side and catching his giant laser frisbee.

Wildcard

[ HMU with your own prompt or at assemble for me to write you one! ]

Comments

Oct 10th - ~14th

[newmemorywhodis]

Link, as it turns out, is unlucky.

He's on patrol, circling around the Hospital. Looking for any monsters that might try to to make their way in. And he finds them in the form of a pack of demodogs and a skinny little man that's valiantly trying to fight them.

"Hyah!" A sprint full speed, then a leap, before Link swings the Sword that Seals the Darkness down on the demodog that was just about to try and take a big bite out of Steve.

Sword that Seals the Darkness isn't particularly magical right now. It's just a sword. But it's still a sword, wielded by someone who knows how to use it.

[pursuitofcappiness]

Good thing Link arrives, because even though Steve could normally dodge one of those easily, right now his reflexes aren't the best.

Also, since he's completely devoid of weapons for the moment, he's fighting with a piece of rebar he'd gotten from a destroyed building. Thank the volcano, he supposes.

"Thanks," he says, taking a breather though the creatures in the distance might descend soon. "Where are you headed?" he asks.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link pauses, just for a moment, to look at Steve with a perplexed tilt of his head. Where is Link headed? He's not headed anywhere - he's on patrol. More importantly, Link wasn't the one being attacked alone. Surely the more relevant question is where Steve is headed.

So he just...shrugs. Glances off to where the creatures are lingering in the distance, keeping an eye in case they decide to get in too close. He does not sheathe his sword.

"...You?" Link asks instead. Clearly, the man is in need of protection. Link certainly doesn't plan to leave him alone, not until he's somewhere safe.

[pursuitofcappiness]

A man of few words. That's all right with Steve, since Link is perfectly fine communicating what information he needs. "Making sure there's enough food for everyone." The amount is usually not the problem but currently the distribution is not going all that well.

"And seeing if anyone can't make it to the hospital." But needs to go.

It does look incredibly short-sighted because Steve absolutely appears less like a fighter and more like a lost korok, but he really can take care of himself! Sort of!

[newmemorywhodis]

At that statement, Steve gets a look of doubt.

Sure, the man was small and skinny - but so was Link, so that wasn't why he was so dubious. Nor was it a judgement on his apparent fighting ability, as the man had also moved like someone who knew how to fight. No - it was the way the man breathed, like he had a little trouble getting enough air. He didn't look like someone who was in top fighting condition.

"Diner has food," Link says. "I'll take you." Because Link certainly wasn't going to leave the man to go alone, and undefended.

[pursuitofcappiness]

"I'm going to the diner," he says. "It'll be fine." He has great fighting ability but yeah, his current condition? Sheet of paper. Could be beaten by a car in neutral backing up. Would take damage from a determined squirrel.

"Sure you've got somewhere else you need to be." He's also about as stubborn as a mule and feels like he's got a whole lot to prove when he's like this.

Oct 10th - ~14th (cw: blood, injury, being painfully uncool)

[spinsandneedles]

Hospitals are probably Sonic's second least favorite place, but seeing as he's had some bad luck with some nasty dogmonsters, it's kind of where he really should be right now. Whether he managed to drag himself in our was dropped off by someone else, he's here now, uselessly pressing some cloth he'd come across outside to his leg in and attempt to stem the bleeding. Seeing as the entire circumference of his leg is covered in puncture wounds, he's not having a whole lot of luck.

"Yo, can someone toss me a band-aid? Or seven?"

It's probably fine.

[pursuitofcappiness]

Uh, yeah, Sonic, this isn't looking great. Steve stops to look at him and - oh boy. Nothing in the book trained him for this.

"Kid, I think you're gonna need more than a bandaid," he says, though he's honestly not that much taller or less kid-looking than Sonic. "Stay right there, I'll get you a wheelchair. Think you can stand? Or do you wanna sit down?"

[spinsandneedles]

Oh buddy I hope you're at least two feet taller than Sonic, he's only like 3'3". An absolute gremlin. But yeah this guy looks like twelve. Kid, huh? Under different circumstances Sonic wouldn't just be letting this slide.

"Uh. Y'know, I think I'm gonna stay right here on my butt. The adrenaline's wearing off and the ow is setting in something fierce."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Yeah, okay, just hold on, one second." He runs as fast as he can to go get one of the wheelchairs, and comes back. "Think you can get on this or do you want me to lift you?"

Dude looks like he'd have trouble lifting a sack of flour so Sonic should probably try his best, however, Steve will invariably make the attempt.

"Looks like you're gonna need a splint, how did this happen?"

[spinsandneedles]

"I'm fine, bud, I got this-- well, I'm not fine, but I can manage." And for the most part he totally does! But since Steve seems hell bent on helping anyway, Sonic won't complain if he's offered a hand up.

Once he's settled he takes a couple deep breaths to just steady himself before responding, "Man have you seen what's outside? That's what happened! See, normally I'm real fast, but these storms like, block your powers or something? A bunch of those freaky flower faced monsters chased me outside and I've been trying to dodge them all day! Not easy since I'm all slow now-- what do you mean, splint?"

That doesn't mean it's broken, does it? Nah, that's not like needing a cast, right? Sonic has no idea, he's normally way more durable than this!

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Yeah, I know the ones." But that's bad because he doesn't know what's in their claws or saliva and it's not in his manual. He'll still trying to clean out Sonic's wounds as best he can and get him something to put up as a barrier.

"What's your name?" he asks, as he rolls Sonic towards a room and realizes that he's so small that it'd probably work out better if he just sat on the counter where the sink is.

He gets out the step stool.

wildcard, lmk if I need to change anything!

[quark_assassin]

It's late into October 15th in the Upside-Down. Dustin doesn't have a name for the place, but he's definitely aware of the passage of time. He's been keeping track - one hundred and twenty hours since he took a cautious step through the rip in space near the Alien Target and discovered, in a flood of memories, that his powers worked on the other side, and one hundred and eight hours since he went in a second time with some basic tools, a knife and the remains of a crossbow, and a hastily-built breathing mask.

However, in spite of his frequent light-based communications with Donnie, no one's informed Dustin that there's now a time limit on him getting back. All he knows is that the local wildlife has become extremely agitated and he's stopped getting shouted responses to his requests for updates, so obviously some Shit Is Going Down. But Dustin isn't exactly prepared to leave. It's not just that he isn't done with his research (bringing back samples is only going to do so much, and if he could just get electricity working long enough to build a rotating mixer...) - mostly it's that Dustin is a noodle on legs armed with a dagger, and he was jumped by a pack of demodogs as soon as he opened the door to his impromptu base of operations. Stubbornness and a near constant stream of adrenaline are the only things keeping him shuffling around right now; he couldn't make a run for the gate if he tried.

At least he's got his assorted traps set up around the perimeter of the building. The rubble pits, snares, and nets have been surprisingly effective in keeping unwanted guests out, as well as providing biological samples for Dustin's continued study. As long as he stays hidden, he should be able to weather whatever the fresh hell is happening now.

There's a horrifying clatter as a pan balanced over the outside doorway shifts and falls.

Something's trying to get inside. A kick of panic flutters through Dustin's aching chest and he scuttles towards the center of the room, behind a previously overturned table, levels his now repaired crossbow on the lip and aims it at the door. There's a few mechanical locks on it, so, that should keep whatever's on the other side busy for a few minutes while he tries to think.

[pursuitofcappiness]

Steve is just out here trying to clear the area and get all the civilians while they handle the gates. He knocks again. If it's locked, someone has to be in there. "Hey!" he shouts, batting off some of the demo bats who come from the noise.

"It's time to go!" He tries to open the door again, and since they don't actually need this lock, he just opens it the easy way - with his shield.

Should Dustin actually shoot him, he'll be hitting that instead. It's made of energy and so it's transparent and not like his normal one, but it comes in handy as a gift that Tony had bequeathed upon him in the upside-down.

And if not, he should at least be able to spot him easily. "Come on kid," he says. "Let's get out of here."

[quark_assassin]

A shout - and not just one of the sort of ethereal ones that seems to permeate the boundaries between this world and Temba. It's something very close. Was he followed? Who is this? He doesn't recognize their voice.

Could be a storm ghost, is where Dustin's mind instinctively goes next. They generally represent people their targets are familiar with and would want to follow, but this is a new world, new rules. It might just be enough to get him to leave the building.

That theory doesn't hold quite so much water when the supposed energy ghost just slams the locked door open anyway. Dustin doesn't shoot at him - an arrow would fly right through a storm specter and waste precious ammunition and reloading time. Also, he recognizes the guy now as recently-returned Steve Rogers. Chances of the storm summoning a version of someone he only knows from network appearances and Dick Shun Airy entries are very low, but again, nonzero.

So Dustin reacts accordingly. "Fuck off!" he shouts back. Or, attempts to shout; his voice is hoarse, and just the act of trying to turn up the volume makes his side hurt so badly that he sees stars and tears spring to his eyes. Dustin doesn't move, doesn't turn the crossbow away, taking a few moments to wheeze and catch his breath.

"--W-Why the hell should I?" he rasps. "Prove you're even real, you fucker!"

[pursuitofcappiness]

"You sound hurt, son, I've gotta get you back over to the other side. Come on." The kid doesn't shoot at him for some reason, and he's not entirely sure if he just got cold feet or if he doesn't know how, but he weighs out the probability of if he gets shot in the leg and how awful that would be. Just in case.

"I'm not leaving anybody behind, and that includes you." Steve, who has never gone through the Dick Shun Airy, actually does not know of Dustin at all, but he might have seen the back of his head or something around town before all of this started.

"You can take the bow with you, if it makes you feel better," he tries. "But I don't know who else is out here." Which means they've gotta get a move on. If needed, Steve will pull out a pep talk, but he'd really rather not have to - it'd be a terrible use of time he doesn't have.

[quark_assassin]

Dustin makes a noise that was intended to be a derisive laugh, but it ends up being a weird, huffy groan instead. He suspected the day after being attacked that he'd cracked a couple of ribs, and getting the opportunity to actually talk to someone days later is more or less confirming it. This sucks. He should just shoot him.

But Dustin still doesn't shoot him. The way his fingers drum against the crossbow's stock and his brow twitches - definitely a cold feet situation. What if he isn't a storm ghost? Dustin's gotten over killing the Upside-Down monsters just by sheer necessity, but he's never shot a person before. That possibility is nonzero, too, and having to confront the consequences of it makes Dustin feel vaguely ill.

He puts on a stubborn façade, regardless. "'If it makes me feel better,'" Dustin mocks. "Let me bring my tools, too? Before you stick me in the...fuckin'..." Please hold, catching his breath. "...Calibrations again? Fuck you. I know your game."

Gate Team

[work_wife]

Really, she should know better than to turn her back on a gate. Been through this too 'recently' to have made that mistake. But Robin had felt one of the straps on her pack loosening, and you didn't really want to drop two packs full of molotov cocktails, especially when people were likely to already be upset enough with you for using up the precious alcohol supply to make htem

But fuck it, this was what she knew how to do. Knew how to face. No one here except for Steve had more experience than her, and she wasn't going to back down.

Though the flying laser frisbee was cool.

"Okay, you're sorta cool," she says as she looks at the guy. "You joining us on the other side of this?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

"I'm suited up for it, aren't I?" Well, not really. He's just wearing his normal civilians, but the shield is up and that's enough. Should do a lot of damage if they run into a mind-flayer, or worse. Whatever worse is.

"But there's other gates, so I'm gonna go check on the others." He says. He thinks. That won't be how it shakes out, but he has every intention of circling back to the rest and the fountain to find Tony and Janet later.

"You look pretty prepared. What's in the bag?" He should ask because he just wants to know what his team's working with. She can hide behind the shield when they throw them; they can get pretty close to the explosion without getting harmed.

(Peter and whoever can jump in whenever they want, and I'm happy to use that as a tag order)

[work_wife]

Was he? Robin doesn't really know. What she knows is that she doesn't mind another beefy guy who is clearly made to be a shield or whatever. With a shield.

Eddie.

Her heart aches to remember him with his shield and spear.

"No stupid heroics, okay? Already lost people to that before."

As for the bag, she takes it carefully off of her shoulder and opens it to pull out a bottle. Alcohol with a cloth in it. A firebomb. She then produces a lighter from her pocket.

"Like I said. I can throw things."

October 13th

[ziedrich_bearer]

Poor Steve Rogers, needing an assist. The good news was that on this day, during the first flickering of powers, Gladio had grabbed what he needed and found himself back out in the crimson storm. There were always people who might need saving, and with a sword like his? Yeah, he's going to do his best.

Which in this case meant Gladio slamming into the demodog attacking Steve, knocking it aside with a shield almost as big as Steve is and then following up with a wide slash of his sword that cuts a limb off the thing.

"You okay, Kid?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

Steve gets up and nods. "Yeah, doing great. Wish I had a couple weapons like those," he says, trying to catch his breath because it's taken a lot out of him these past few days to be stuck in his original body, and trying to do the things he normally does.

"I'm Steve," he says, trying to hold himself together. He knows more creatures are coming, but he can't really pinpoint from where.

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Yeah, that's fair," Gladio says with a nod. Though he looks at Steve with a scrunched brow. How interesting.

"Not the Steve I know I think. Come on. Let's get you somewhere safe, kiddo."

Listen, little Steve looks young.

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Yeah, well, I'm Steve Rogers," he says. "And if you know one of those and he's a lot bigger, well, don't worry. We get confused for each other all the time." That was sarcasm, but he's not sure it comes across. He's not elaborating.

"Gotta deliver these medical supplies," he says, patting the bag he's holding. "You can come with me if you want, but I'm sure you've got better things to do."

[ziedrich_bearer]

Know one of those that is bigger? Huh? Gladio's never even heard of the guy.

"Where are you and they going? I'll escort you," he says as he shifts his grip on his weapons.