Xaviers!

Nailah Weaver wrote:Nailah punches the bundle of cash out of the air with an almost smug grin on her face that falters a bit when that hurts way more than she anticipated. "Oww! Hey, I don't want to fight, we're just saving our friend. Really! He's a shapeshifter and he accidentally got into your money!" Even just saying it out loud Nailah realizes how ludicrous that story sounds and she finishes with a labored smile.

"Pull the other one; it's got bells on."

Domino opened fire -- aiming to wound, it appeared, but still going with bullets over other options.

Toshiro Narumi wrote:Bruce completely ignored the electric shock. In fact, it's possible a larger shock traveled back to the taser. He leapt onto the train, rushing to grab the WillPile with no regard for inanimate obstacles.

The guard who fired the taser fell down, shocked by the backfire from the tazer. Serves him right!

The other guard ran towards the door connecting the two cars, hitting a large, shiny red button as he did so. "Code Seven, Code Seven, lockdown and gogogo!"

The doors of the armored car began to rapidly close.

Sam curses under her breath and reaches out with her mind to try to knock out the workers and guards in the loading dock.

"Oh no you don't!" he shouted as he took a powerful leap for the gap, holding Will tight.

Samantha McManus wrote:Sam curses under her breath and reaches out with her mind to try to knock out the workers and guards in the loading dock.

That's a fair number of minds -- and minds in a state of panic, at that -- but Sam would find some notable success, especially with the run-of-the-mill security guards. Domino, being a named character mutant, was a little harder to crack.

Toshiro Narumi wrote:"Oh no you don't!" he shouted as he took a powerful leap for the gap, holding Will tight.

Tosh was going to make it, too...except for a spot of bad luck. One of Domino's bullet ricocheted off the wall, off the ceiling and into the bundle of bills Bruce was carrying! It made it's way through the bindings keeping the bills together, through a large stack of the bills themselves, through the OTHER bindings, and into Bruce's (tougher than normal) skin.

The resulting billsplosion (Will-splosion?) sent bills flying in all directions in the train car, as the doors slammed shut. Now, Bruce was locked in an armored car with a guard, a bunch of flying five-pound notes, and a bullet wound -- or, perhaps more accurately for Bruce, a stupid bruise -- on his side.


The train chugged into motion, and Bruce could hear commotion in neighboring cars.


Natalie
Medics arrived on scene, and were able to load Natalie into a waiting ambulance. They were about to take her to the hospital...when the gunfire erupted inside. The ambulance stopped just outside the loading dock, as the medics went out to see if anyone was hurt.


Security Office
Finally, with a whir, the backup generator kicked in -- possibly due to Natalie no longer being in the security office per se -- and the lights flashed back on.

Nailah, having narrowly dodged out of the bullets path tries to make a break for it. She's not even sure what for (not really having line-of-sight of Tosh at the moment) but it's what her power is telling her for getting away with the Will money. And so she finds herself breaking into a sprint towards Domino, trying to duck past her and make a break for the big warehouse gate and towards the train.

Domino was not prepared for someone to be running at her, and tried to sidestep out of the way.

The extended roll of expensive security paper from before, however, caused her to lose her footing and sprawl to the floor...

...where her flailing legs kicked up and slammed into Nailah's side.

Nailah goes tumbling but manages to land on top of the pile of bills from when it had spilled out towards Domino earlier, rolling down the other side of the pile and landing on her feet.

Sam finally abandons the guise of Oliver, at least thinking to remove his uniform jacket before she starts to shift upwards and outwards, bony plating forming on her shoulders and arms before she attempts to bull the door open.

It makes quite the racket, most likely.

With a resounding bang and a thud, the door fell off of it's hinges and thudded to the ground, Sam bursting through the door like the Kool-Aid Man (oh yeah). Domino -- more out of surprise than anything else -- let loose a round of gunfire at Sam as she came through the door.

One thing Sam would probably notice, after having knocked most of the workers to sleep, was that the only active minds she could sense in the room were Nailah and Domino's. There was Natalie outside in the ambulance, yes, and two medics seeming very, very concerned about what was going on, and Bruce and all the minds in the train -- many minds, very angry -- but no Will, as far as she could tell...

Not that such things were high on the list of priorities at the moment -- bullets and all that.


Nailah landed on her feet and was clear of Domino -- Domino would have turned to stop her, but a monster coming crashing through the walls is slightly distracting. Just like Nailah planned!

"Dang!" Nailah gawks at the door-busting monster for a moment herself before she recognizes it as Sam. "Hurry up! I dunno why, but we gotta hurry!" she shouts at her before booking it towards the big gates.

Sam winces as she catches a graze in the shoulder. She's a bit more durable at the moment but it hurts still. She hefts an empty pallet and flings it at Domino as she attempts to rush past.

Domino dove out of the way, the pallette splintering above her head.

"Jesus Christ! I'm gonna blow your freakin' head off!"

"So sorry!" Nailah yells at her as she runs over to the palette of money that Tosh was scanning earlier. "I think it's this one!" she tells Sam and proceeds to try and push it with little effect.

Bruce stumbled back, holding his side in confusion at the incredibly lucky shot that winged him. He looked at his hand, expecting much more blood than the tiny amount that was actually present.

He sheepishly (for Bruce) smirked to the guard, "Would you believe I'm actually a superhero and not try to fight me? I'd just assume not hurt you dudes."

"Move," the still-monstrous Sam says, reaching out to heft the pallet.

Toshiro Narumi wrote:Bruce stumbled back, holding his side in confusion at the incredibly lucky shot that winged him. He looked at his hand, expecting much more blood than the tiny amount that was actually present.

He sheepishly (for Bruce) smirked to the guard, "Would you believe I'm actually a superhero and not try to fight me? I'd just assume not hurt you dudes."

"No! No I wouldn't believe that at all! That's a preposterous thing to believe!"

It sounded like the guy was trying to stall him--and there were some heavy-sounding footsteps coming from the car one over from Bruce. Reinforcements? If they were just armed with tazers, that wouldn't be a problem, right?

Samantha McManus wrote:"Move," the still-monstrous Sam says, reaching out to heft the pallet.

The pallet is fairly heavy, but not for MuscleBound MonsterSam -- plus, the thing was designed to be loaded into a truck, so wheels helped. Sam was still getting no feedback from the dang thing, so it's entirely possible they're just actually stealing cash, but at least the thing was moving.

Now they just needed a plan as to what to do with it.



The two medics, seeing the giant monster bust through the walls and shrug off some gunfire, chose this time to run away. They would live to medic another day.


Domino was less smart timid, and ran towards Sam, leaping to try to jump on her back, presumably for some kind of sick martial arts move.

Narrator wrote:"No! No I wouldn't believe that at all! That's a preposterous thing to believe!"

It sounded like the guy was trying to stall him--and there were some heavy-sounding footsteps coming from the car one over from Bruce. Reinforcements? If they were just armed with tazers, that wouldn't be a problem, right?

"Typical. The ugly heroes get no respect," he lamented, preparing for the unavoidable conflict.

"Come at me bro," he sighed.

Nailah, not even really seeing Domino charge at Sam, steps back from the palette a bit and shoulder-checks the one nearby. It barely moves but the wrapping tool someone left on top of it gets jostled enough that it falls down on the far side. Right onto the controls of the forklift that is poised to move the adjacent stack of money. Which jerks to life and throws the whole stack of money forward into Domino's path.

"Gah!" Domino said, slammed into a wall by the big stack of cash, allowing Sam and Nailah free passage to...wherever they wanted.


"God damn it, this is not how you use money!" she shouted, firing a few rounds from her assault rifle, as she started backing towards the train, which was beginning to pick up speed...

Toshiro Narumi wrote:

Narrator wrote:"No! No I wouldn't believe that at all! That's a preposterous thing to believe!"

It sounded like the guy was trying to stall him--and there were some heavy-sounding footsteps coming from the car one over from Bruce. Reinforcements? If they were just armed with tazers, that wouldn't be a problem, right?

"Typical. The ugly heroes get no respect," he lamented, preparing for the unavoidable conflict.

"Come at me bro," he sighed.

Bro didn't come out at him--Bro saw what happened to tasered guy, and was not looking for a piece of that.

But the door to the adjacent car did open, and in stepped...well, a gorilla. A man. A...Gorilla-Man.

"Buon giorno. Come at me, bro."

"Oh. My. Grodd," he gaped, eyes widening before quietly by excitedly adding, "I've dreamed of this."

"Yer gonna be having sweet dreams tonight when I knock. You. Out!"

And then the gorilla lept at the shark, swinging a massive fist.

"Are you sure this is the one we want?" She asks Nailah.

"And where'd Tosh get to?"

Bruce sent forth his own massive fist. The gorilla knocked him back with a blow to the head, knocking a tooth free, but hopefully not without taking a hit himself.

"Yeah and I dunno. The train I think! Just trust me and take the money outside."

"I just..."

"I can't feel him," she mumbles, and does as Nailah asks by lugging the pallet outside.

The two lugged the pallette outside...just in time to see the train beginning to pick up a substianal amount of speed, carrying Tosh and the rest of Will heading north.

Toshiro Narumi wrote:Bruce sent forth his own massive fist. The gorilla knocked him back with a blow to the head, knocking a tooth free, but hopefully not without taking a hit himself.

Wha-BOOM! The air rippled with the sound of two might animalmen making contact, and both shark and gorilla were sent staggering backwards, slamming into the armored walls of the car. Everything shook quite significantly, which was a bit alarming.

With a roar, the Gorilla Man picked up one of the large palettes of money and tried to use it as a battering ram to smash into Bruce's grinning face!

Narrator wrote:The two lugged the pallette outside...just in time to see the train beginning to pick up a substianal amount of speed, carrying Tosh and the rest of Will heading north.

"Uh-oh, spaghetti-os..." Nailah says as she watches the train pull away. She looks around and spots the abandoned ambulance. "Over there!" she tells Sam before turning around to see where Domino is and try to delay her if need be.

Domino was charging for them, yelling something loud, angry and incoherent into her walkie talkie. She did not look happy.

"...you seriously did not just say that."

Sam makes haste for the ambulance with the pallet of bills.

"Complain later, hustle now!" Nailah says as she charges at Domino. Reaching into her belt pouch (it's not a fanny-pack, shut up) she pulls out a throwing knife and proceeds to chuck it almost straight up into the air as hard as she can before moving in on Domino to throw a punch at the convenient bullseye on her face.

Domino looked to dodge out of the way, and use Nailah's momentum against her to throw her away from the escape vehicle.

Kenneth Hale wrote:Wha-BOOM! The air rippled with the sound of two might animalmen making contact, and both shark and gorilla were sent staggering backwards, slamming into the armored walls of the car. Everything shook quite significantly, which was a bit alarming.

With a roar, the Gorilla Man picked up one of the large palettes of money and tried to use it as a battering ram to smash into Bruce's grinning face!

Bruce somehow managed the agility required to dodge enough to not take more than a glancing blow to the shoulder. He roared back and plowed into the gorilla, pulling back a crackling fist for a shocking blow.

"It's time for some electro-shark therapy!"

Bruce and the Gorilla slammed into the wall at one end of the carriage, smashing into the door and opening it, letting them feel the wind in their...I'm going to say hair...as the train rolled along.

Bruce used his momentum to deliver an electric, arcing punch to the Gorilla, who howled as the electricity arced through his body.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed at the shark-boy with his feet, and tried to throw him into the next car.

"Found Bruce!" Sam calls out to Nailah as she finishes loading the ambulance.

"He's... fighting a gorilla in a leisure suit!"

Natalie was also in the back of the ambulance -- overwhelmed, but it didn't look like any permanent damage had been done.