Penny: Log

Who: Simon, Bobby, Lex, Emma, Mort, and NPCs by Hermes
What: Sauron turns a peaceful pro-MRA rally into a free-for-all.
When: March 12th, 2010
Where:
Central Park - Manhattan

Central Park is an oasis of green in the middle of New York City with over 800 acres of scenic views, playgrounds and ponds. It's a great place to take a break from the busy city, as there are bike and jogging trails, athletic fields, and even a boathouse. The recently restored Wollman Rink is the top choice skating environment. Bethesda Fountain is located by the Mall and near the lake, while the Water Conservatory also make its mark in the vicinity. The most esteemed place of interest though, usually is none other than the Belvedere Castle.

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Youve heard about on the news. Youve seen the flyers littered around the city. Today is one of the largest MRA rallys to be held, yet. The large, open area of Central Park (aka The Green) has been transformed into a political carnival for the remainder of the afternoon. A large stage has been built to the north of plot of land, where a podium and some sound equipment have been put together for the speechmakers. Stands have been set up from various MRA-supportive groups, where buttons, stickers, and flyers are handed out. Food and drinks are also being sold to the hefty crowd that has decided to show up. Signs and flags and banners of all shapes and sizes flutter in the wind. For now, the crowd is busy making acquaintances while a young man stands on stage, tapping the microphone with a finger and sending a loud thudding sound throughout the area.

Testing. One. Two. Three. Testing.

Simon looks out towards where he had seen all the people gathering earlier. He just sighed, sounding annoyed. "Oh great, the idiots are about to get started..." He says in an annoyed tone. "You know, things like this practically are screaming for something to go wrong."

Her people! Penny mills through the crowds, enjoying for once actually being with the majority opinion of this divide. A drink is purchased from one of the vendors, a sticker taken with a grin and a nod, before she starts over towards the stage area where it looks like things are supposed to be getting started. She adds the sticker to the strap of her purse where she already has her own pro-MRA-type buttons affixed.

Mortimer Toynbee certainly has heard about the rally today, and he's come to show his own appreciation for the cause. Of course, that's not saying much when you're a mutant with more than a general dislike for these MRA supporters. However, he's behaving himself for now, standing upright, despite his dislike for doing such a thing. While he says nothing to the others around him, he watches the crowd intensely, hanging on the outskirts so as not to be completely surrounded by these...people.

While out on her jog earlier, Emma saw the flyers, even if she wanted to deny their existance. Yet, after her outting before, she decided to head home, change into something more formal, and head back down to catch the event. When she reaches the crowd though, Emma tries her hardest to hide the frown from her face as her eyes drift towards the banners and flags waving, even towards the buttons on people's shirts and hats. "Ignorant, the lot of them," is said within a low tone towards herself as she pushes her way through the crowd to see what else she can find going on with this event, particularly, the stage.

Bobby is wandering throuhg the middle of the crowd, looking around at the various booths. He picks up various flyers and brochures at the booths, but politely waves off anyone who tries to go into their own private sales pitch on the MRA, often using the line, "Just looking." Right now he's considering it a challenge to his acting skills not to react with disgust to some of the comments he hears being made, but has a strange little smile for the private joke of being what he is, in the middle of this particular rally.

Lex is there (well of course he is! Where else would be to protest against the MRA?) with his own button fixed to his jacket: Mutant Freedom Now! He gives whom ever tries to get him a pro-MRA button a meaningful glare as he points to his own button and he starts to make his way closer to the stage, watching the people whom are there and the booths with a somewhat sad look.

Simon gets up and walks towards the event, looking around with a raised eyebrow. When someone approaches him with buttons and flyers he shakes his head. "No thank you, I am not rascist." He says to the people and just heads to the stage as well, wanting to hear what the idiots were going to say about his kind.

With nothing to lean against here in the middle of the clearing, and the ground a little too wet for sitting (and ruin her skirt?!), Penny makes do with just standing in the thick of it all, certainly not one for clinging to the fringes. She takes a sip from her drink, glancing around at others, even occasionally handing out a flier of her own - carrying her literature everywhere pays off once in awhile - while she waits for the presentation to get started. As much as she's here to hear what they have to say, she's taking notes on how they run the whole operation.

A hushed silence slowly falls over the crowd as a young woman in a strikingly crimson pantsuit walks to the podium. She stands there a moment, her mere presence seeming to demand attention. After her gaze slowly washes over the crowd, she clears her throat and addresses the masses.

"I'd like to start by thanking each and every one of you for coming out here to show your support. I could go on about the benefits of the Mutant Registration Act for hours, but lucky for you all it won't be happening. That would take time away from our very distinguished guests, who are here to bring you up to date about the MRA, and answer questions as to the future of the act. So, without further ado, I give you our first speaker of the afternoon. City Councilman Alfred Hayward!"

The woman steps aside and leads the crowd in a thunderous applause that ushers an older man across the stage and to the podium. Many will recognize him from the news and television, as he has been a member of City Council for some time now.

Arms cross in front of Emma's chest as she hears people converse around her. Appearances, its all about appearances, she reminds herself, and right now the job was to try and appear as human as possible that had nothing wrong with the MRA. When the woman appears on the stage, Emma's interests turn towards her and the speech she is giving, until the applause happens and the Councilman steps up to the podium. Unamused by it so far, Emma isn't joining in with the applause as she watches.

Simon just puts his hands into his pockets and watches everyone about him. He smiles when he recognizes Emma from earlier and begins walking to her. He waves once he is a few yards away so she wouldnt be surprised. "Emma, what brings you here?"

The Toad groans nearly imperceptibly under to the applause and cheers from the crowd. His eyes roll back in his head and it takes a high degree of self restraint to keep him from doing...well, something terrible to the people around him. But, no. There's a time and a place for that, and now would be neither. Calm down, Mr. Toad. Calm down.

Lex is not one of those applauding as Alfred Hayward walks up to the podium, no, he's simply walking closer to the stage and when he's found his place, he boos the man up there. It's really bad that he's the only one from the MFO there, but he could have missed someone or they're on their way.

Penny is one of the many who do applaud the man, however. Politely and with curiosity to hear just what he has to say, if not with wild abandon. She takes another sip of her drink and then starts weaving through the throng of people, her large purse serving almost like a newspaper bag in dispensing fliers for her Students for Mutant Accountability group. It's so much less a hard sell than she usually finds, so she's not even so much paying attention as to who she's shoving fliers towards as she keeps an eye on the stage, her mind on the presentation.

Bobby starts picking his way through the crowd again, trying to find somewhere he can actually see the stage, but also here the comments that some of the people in the crowd are making. He grabs one flyer as it gets handed to him. Hmm, Students for Mutant Accountability. He puts Penny's flier into a plastic bag he got from one of the booths, along with all the other papers he's been collecting.

When the familiar voice is heard, Emma just about winces where she stands. The last thing she wanted was to be caught seen here by anyone that she knew, even vaguely. Being who she was though, that was rather hard to acomplish. A forced smile is offered towards Simon as she sees him approach, but as to why she is there, the woman is at a loss for words. She's not there in support, but she couldn't say that she was against it either, now could she? Just as her mouth opens to reply, she suddenly hears someone nearby that is booing against the applause of the crowd. Her attention is suddenly turned towards the sound as she cranes her head to see who was the one soul brave enough to voice against the sea of people, but she sees no one around her through the thick crowd of people. "Looks like things can get interesting," is all that is offered towards Simon.

Simon ehs as he gets handed a flier and looks it over. He groans as it is more antimutant stuff. "Oh come on! Is there anything good about this place, other then stupid papers and buttons?! There isnt even good food or drinks...Bunch of rascist idiots..."

Brave, foolish, idiotic.. It might be either of those things but Lex won't be quiet about his disapproval of it all. There has been some looks, sure, and he knows he probably will have to look over his shoulder at least twenty times after this just in case some of these people decide to try and teach him a lesson. Again. Like he ever listens..

The Councilman begins his speech with a smile that must have done well to woo many women in his time. "It's so great to see you all here this afternoon." Pause for applause and cheers (and perhaps a boo or two). "I truly believe the Mutant Registration Act is a necessary tool for the growth of our great city, and, in fact, this entire country. While we have recently entered into the first stage of the act, the results we have seen so far have not been as expected. The number of mutants who have come forward out of their own free will to register pales in comparison to their actual numbers. However, with help from people like yourself, we can work to make this a safer city for all it's inhabitants."

And as the charismatic man spreads his arms out to the crowd, an applause and cheer like no other witnessed today erupts across the clearing.

"Stop the mutant menace!" is tossed off carelessly as Penny hands off the flier to Bobby, flashing him a quick smile, much like she's been offering periodically to any who take her material. The booing does catch her attention, her brow furrowing a moment before she just shrugs and returns her attention towards the stage, applauding again (one-handedly - hitting a flier against her drink) as the man begins to speak. Hey, who is she to go against the crowd; as the cheer goes through the people, she joins in, lifting the hand holding the flier in the air and waving it about almost like a flag of support.

An eyebrow arches upwards at Simon's words, as Emma did not expect to hear anyone here say something like what he just did. Then again, she did not expect booing either. "You're ... Against this?" Attention is turned towards the Councilman once again as the speech is heard. Now Emma's nose wrinkles in distaste, especially when he makes the gesture with his arms like he was a preacher. The woman's mood suddenly seems to change though, and she smiles as though she had friends nearby, and she possibly did. Taking the plunge and doing something that was unlike her, participating in the booing. An elbow hits into Simon's side in an attempt to encourage him on, "Well, you going to let these racist morons win?"

Simon boos as well, actually taking a flyer about the Students for Mutant Accountability offered to him from penny. He wads it up as best as he could and just throws it towards the stage, still booing at the man. He then turns to look to Emma. "Totally against this thing." He says and when he is elbowed he smiles to her. "Hell no, these guys will lose!" He yells out, boing once more.

Mort is getting just a little woozy from the councilman's words. So much, in fact, that he flops down onto the lawn and takes a seat. His arms drape across his knees as he lets out a long sigh, muttering a few thousand obscenities or so under his breath. When the cheer breaks out, he sarcastically joins in, raising a fist lazily in the air. "Hooooray. Burn 'em to tha ground. All o' them."

Bobby looks around, as does half the crowd, for the source of the booing. His eyes go wide with surprise for a moment when he realizes that the closest source is a friend of his. The shocked look fades after a moment, and that little grin comes back. After all, if anyone can 'disappear' into the crowd if something goes wrong, Simon would be the one to do it. Bobby doesn't approach his friend though, going back to moving through the milling crowd. As the crowd has gotten more packed since the speaker started, Bobby is now walking with one hand in his right pocket, not by coincidence the one with his wallet. He's sure that there's more than one or two pickpockets working a crowd this size.

Lex grits his teeth at the speech and boos when ever people applauds, though hearing other boo makes him cast quick glances around to see if he can spy who ever it is who's on his side in all of this. How ever, it's too crowded around him now to get a clear look at his fellow booers, so Lex turns his attention to the scene again, booing.

Penny watches the arc of her flier go, well, flying towards the stage, her eyebrows lifting a little. "That's littering," she informs Simon, matter-of-fact instead of insulted. But one Cause at a time, so with a shrug, the blonde just continues on her way, shoving fliers towards anyone who'll take it. "Mutant Accountability Now!" she exclaims a little more enthusiastically to counter the spattering of boos.

While the councilman is too busy bathing in applause to notice the booing, the security that was hired to maintain the crowd certainly has. Those participating in the rude and annoying act have been targeted, and beefy men in uniforms make a beeline for them.

"I would like to share with all now some statistics that I am sure you will find enlightening. They are are meant to bring you all up to date on the mutant situation in New York, and should help clear some things up regarding recent events you may have seen or read about in the news." The councilman begins to give a rather boring speech that is filled with numbers and figures. Halfway through, though, he pauses when he notices a great number of people in the crowd looking to the north. To the sky. Even the security has forgotten about the booers and the paper ball throwers. And for good reason.

It started as a tiny spec in the distance, and has grown to resemble neither a common creature of the city, nor a manmade device of any kind. Large, leathery wings beat the air. Claws and teeth as sharp as razors glitter in the sunlight. Anyone who has watched the news lately will recognize this menace as it comes clearer into view. Sauron has arrived.

"Late. Late. LATE! Sssauron is late to kill the humansss!" And once that simple combination of words is uttered, a great screech tears through air, and a wave of fear quickly washes over the crowd.

Simon looks up and acks when he hears the creature. "OH GREAT! Big bird again..." He says. He then looks to Emma and goes to grab her hand. "Emma I know you dont know me, and I probably seem really strange, but I need you to take my hand, or else I cannot protect you from this thing..." He says to her softly.

Penny is actually interested in all the boring facts and figures, wishing for the moment that she hadn't taken her notebook out of her purse to make room for more SUFMA fliers. But it's a flyer of another sort that gets her attention when the man pauses. Following the eye-line of the crowds, she turns to see the creature bearing down on them, her eyes widening a little. "Crud," she offers simply, attention torn between Sauron and the crowd, not sure whether the maniac or a stampeding crowd are going to prove the more immediate threat. And her stuck in the middle.

Lex had his eyes on the beefy security men that had gotten close to him, but as more and more people started looking to the north, so did he and for a minute, he just stares and then he sighs "This'll really help my cause.. Oh crap.." Why the hell did the gene pool or what ever skip the oldest kid right now? No, make the two other kids mutants, give the older one a brain. Lex attention is all on Sauron now and when the screech comes, he instinctively covers his ears and starts moving backwards slowly, or at least he tries to.

Bobby lets out a string of words that his mother would not want to hear him saying, ending it with, "... is he TRYING to give them more ammunition?" He looks around for Simon and pushes through the crowd towards him. The bag with all its papers gets dropped and forgotten in a moment. He grabs Simon by the shoulder, and quickly says, just loud enough to be heard, "If they can't see you, this crowd will run right over you." No explanation is offered for Emma's benefit.

Emma's eyes dart towards the security as she sees them coming her way, but she makes no attempt at running away from them. She is too distracted by their approach to notice the winged creature. When her hand is taken by Simon, Emma's eyes instantly fall upon him and she pulls away from him in an arrogant manner. "No one touches me!" is shouted at him before she even listens to his full explaination. Then the screech is heard and she looks towards the sky to see the creature get closer towards him. Blue eyes widen in a mix of fear and dismay before she pratically throws her hand in Simon's direction, "Holy ... Here, lead, go!"

Mort has just about drifted off to sleep when he hears the demonic screech. He blinks and shakes his head a moment as he follows the gaze of the crowd to witness Sauron flying into view. "Great. I was wonderin' when someone would shut the geezer up." He slowly stands to watch the creature fly into view, while baking away ever so slowly.

A single, high-pitched scream is given by one of the members of the crowd, which puts everyone into a panic. In the blink of an eye, the mass of people spreads out in all directions. People push past each other to make it out of the park. Some fall, other stumble. They all, though, are trying to escape. Security officers bolts onto the stage as the half-man/half-pterodactyl mutant descends upon the councilman.

"Puny humansss are no match for the might of Sssauron!"

And, sure enough, councilman and security guards alike tumble to the floor of the stage under the gale of the winds created by Sauron's mighty wings. So much for the peaceful demonstration this was meant to be.

Simon grabs Bobby's wrist. "Well see Tweety over there? I would rather try and get her away then try and take this bird down once and for all." He says. He then closes his eyes, feeling his heart beat quicken. "Whatever you both do, dont let go of me." He says as he moves with one of the crowds going to the side. Silver liquid begins to pour from his body and heading to the two people he holds.

Being a petite blonde has its advantages, but not one of them comes up during a riot. Penny does her best not to get knocked to the ground as people begin pushing and shoving around her. "Hey!" she exclaims, elbowing a larger someone back out of her personal bubble. Whenever she gets a moment, she pushes to her tiptoes, trying to get her bearings and figure the quickest way out of the heart of the panicking throng. But every time she manages to get enough altitude, someone comes rushing by sending her stumbling again. And so she just starts trying to edge her way out of the crowd, except she keeps finding herself getting bumped nearer to the stage as people rush the other way.

Lex is almost knocked to the ground by people trying to get past him, on one of those occasions, he catches a glimpse of Penny being bumped closer to the stage and that is bad. So what to do? Well, help her of course.. Lex makes his ways between the rushing people (Lacrosse is a good game right now) and soon he reaches her and he takes a hold of her wrist "Come on, this aren't the best seats in the house anymore.."

Bobby yells at Simon, "He's gonna kill someone!" Tugging away from the other boy, he gives up the safety of vanishing from sight and turns towards the stage now, pushing his way through the crowd as fast as he can. When he's a little less than forty feet from the stage he mutters, "I'm going to regret this." He raises his arms in a sudden gesture towards the stage and a curving wall of ice, kind of a half dome, appears suddenly in front of the councilman and the security guards, protecting them from the worst effects of the continued wind blast. Pretty sure there's going to be retaliation, and very sure that he's going to get run over if he doesn't do something dramatic, he ices up as well, covering himself in a protective sheet of moving ice.

The screams and rushing mob cause Emma's heart to quicken. She closes her eyes while holding Simon's hand and mutters lowly to herself, something that resembles a chant of sorts to prevent her from panicking. The eyes open and a hurried glance is given around her as she watches people fall and push to get out of harm's way. "I should have stayed home," she shouts over the frantic mob. The woman's eyes glance downwards at her hand, and there she sees a strange liquid come over from Simon's form, which appears to be the final straw for her already panicking state. Suddenly, Simon's hand slips out of Emma's grasp and she falls to the ground, where others pass over her, trying to get away. The woman shuts her eyes tight as she prepares for impact of the worst kind, but then re-opens them to find herself unscathed... She then attempts to get up, but unfortunately, it feels too difficult. "Not now..." is muttered lowly as Emma soon realizes that she lost control of her powers and is now stuck on the grass within her diamond form as humans were running past her.

Mort is not about to be made a pancake by any of these pansy MRA supporters. No way. As the crowd rushes against him, he quickly hops to the nearest tree that can support his weight. Luckily, he has stayed on the outskirts of the crowd and the event, making this an easy enough task. As he gets bumped and shoved, one mighty leap gets him enough air to grab onto a branch, which he quickly climbs onto. This will be his perch for now.

Temporarily shielded by the wall of ice, the security guards rush to get the councilman to his feet. They're escape is followed by a pounding on the ice wall that sends chunks of the frozen water flying in all direction. Annoyed by the distraction, Sauron takes to flight and leaps over the ice wall with the grace of a dancer from hell. His teeth snap at his prey and as the terrified people make one last desperate break for freedom, he barrels down onto them, grabs the councilman with a grip of steel and takes off into the air.

The crowd is proving just as menacing a foe as the winged mutant. Penny and Lex have survived a major wave of humans, but remain too close to the carnage on stage for comfort. Emma is taking a beating from the trampling feet of the crowd. Good thing for her armor coating. For those exhibiting mutant powers, these things do not go unnoticed. Fingers are pointed and voices are raised among the screams. "Mutants! They're everywhere! Run!" And, while most of the crowd is busy running right now, there are a few who stick around. They're all members of the press, and unfortunately for most, they're armed with cameras.

Simon looks to Emma and his eyes widen. He then is covered completely with the silver liquid which he produced and then completely vanishes into thin air. Emma then could hear a voice speaking to her, Simon's voice. "Emma, Can you move? I can make you invisible so people wont know you are a mutant." He speaks quietly to her, speaking into her ear. He only could hope that Bobby could keep the bird busy while he helped Emma.

By the time Lex reaches her, Penny has already taken a sharp elbow to the side of the face and had some enterprising soul try to grab her bag on the way past. Proving herself not quite such a lightweight as she seems, she actually manages to fend off the later until the crowd can carry him away, but she's feeling a little on edge when Lex suddenly grabs her, and he almost ends up with an elbow to the solar plexus for his efforts. Fortunately for them both, she's able to discern his intent a moment before making contact and drops the elbow, letting her drink fall to the ground and get trampled as she tries to follow Lex. "Yeah, front row just doesn't seem so great anymore," she comments with a cringe, watching the goings on on stage with wide eyes. Unfortunately, it's hard to both watch what's going on and successfully navigate the crowd, so Pen's trying to divide her attention as best she can, stumbling occasionally when her attention is in the wrong spot. "Christ," she murmurs as the councilman is grabbed and taken into the air. "This is insane."

One of the chunks of ice scattered against the scene and Lex was unfortunate enough to stand in its way, and he was hit in the shoulder by it. But there's no time to actually take time to feel if it did much damage and he follows her through the crowd, trying to keep them both on their feet as they flee. Lex looks over his shoulder as the councilman is caught, and he tries to pick up speed "We need to get the hell out of here ten minutes ago.."

It was probably too much to hope for that Bobby might get through a major display of his powers without resorting to horrible puns. He yells out, trying to get Sauron's attention before he gets high enough that just the fall would be enough to kill the councilman, "Hey buddy, you need to chill out!" With that, he starts throwing what look like snowballs, but are actually solid ice. He throws them as fast as he can and as hard as he can, and they actually grow a bit on the way to their target, which leaves the pterodactyl man in the path of flying five to tend pound chunks of ice that are harder than most stone.

Emma continues to shield herself against the people running over her. Although her hearing is dampened, making everything sound like it is at the end of a tunnel, Emma makes out the cries of those remaining. Unfortunately, she makes the mistake of looking up at one of those that called out, and she is instantly blinded by a white light, which is amplified by her armor, causing her to see stars for a moment. Certain members of the press would surely recognize the daughter of Malcom Frost, and those few members take a liking to seeing the young woman in her mutant form. "Stop it!" she cries out as she tries to stand, but the constant flashes and the fact that her father is well known is not helping to put an end to her panicking state, only amplifying it tenfold. Suddenly, a voice is heard within her ear. "Simon?" she calls out through bewildered eyes. At his offer, she instantly nods towards him to the best of her ability. "They can't see me like this, please..." She's certain that the damage is already done for the most part, but why make it worse at this point?

"Get used to it, Lady. Mutants are always 'round ya." Mort grimaces and hangs on tight as the branch he's on sways as the crowd continues to run past and around it. He eyes the stage wearily for a moment, before a smile crosses over his face. Yes, Mort would be the one person around who is actually glad to see Sauron doing what he does best. "Godspeed, ya big, green lug. Take 'em all out."

Sauron is in the air faster than most people can blink an eye. His screech is heard loud and far as he circles the crowd with the councilman in his grasp. The elderly man writhes and screams in vain as he goes on the ride of a lifetime. Sauron eyes the other mutants on the floor, happy to see the comradre for a moment, until one of them starts hurling snowballs in his direction. Like the ariel gymnast he is, Sauron manages to dodge most of them, though one well-placed ball of ice hits home. He stumbles, fumbles, and starts to fall. His grip, too, falters, and the councilman slips from the monster's grasp. The fall is short, and not sweet at all. With a thud, the councilman hits the earth not far from the retreating humans, Penny and Lex. While the fall was short, it most certainly has harmed the man, though to what extent is unsure at the moment.

After a brief tumble through the air, Sauron adjusts himself and zeroes in on his new foe: Bobby Drake. Tucking his wings behind him, he flies at Bobby like an airborne missile. While the press are having a field day and the battle rages on, the sound of helicopter rotors can be heard in the distance. Someone was smart enough, it seems, to have called in the MCU.

"Alright, boys. We have multiple targets identified. Mutants, all of them. The time for subtleties is long gone. Today, we teach the mutants a lesson. And before we're done here, I want that lousy piece of trash that calls himself Sauron delivered to Ryker's on a silver platter." Captain Richard Van Allen addresses his men as they approach they're intended destination.

Simon nods as he wraps both arms around her, silver liquid seeming to appear over her intending to completely cover her. Once she is completely covered she vanishes completely from view. The feeling of being like this is a sorta cool feeling, light seems to shine brightly around everything, color gone to be replaced with silverish black and white. He hears the helicopters and tries to pull her with him, keeping an arm around her to make sure he didnt let go as he fights his way towards Bobby "HEY FREEZE, WE GOT TROUBLE COMING!" He yells out to Bobby, hoping he would hear him over the crowd.

Penny ducks at the chunk of ice comes flying in their general direction, then offers a sympathetic wince as she sees it make contact with Lex. "For once, I'm not arguing," she comments, as to them getting out of there immediately. At least it's a little easier pushing through the crowd when following in Lex's wake, but it's still a little like trying to swim in molasses. "Is he going to kill him?" she wonders aloud, sounding a little perturbed as she slows enough to look upwards again and see what's going on, just as Sauron loses his grip on the man. Wide-eyed and with a helpless grimace, Penny watches the politician fall to the ground. "Oh shit," she announces, altering course to see if the man's okay without hesitation, whether or not Lex chooses to come along. "We've got to help him," is tossed over her shoulder in case that wasn't clear enough.

Bobby lets out a quick curse. All Bobby's problems seem to be airborne at the moment, but the more pressing one is scaly and green. He throws up his arms as if to ward off a blow, a gesture that looks totally futile. Or it would if not for the thick wall of ice that appears in front of him, right in Sauron's flight path. This wall's a lot bigger, over 6 feet high and more than half a foot thick. It's oddly shaped on the side closer to Bobby, and it might take an onlooker a moment to figure out why. Butresses. Suddenly, the complaints he's been making over the extra work from the independant study paper on Architecture that Sally suggested go out the window.

Lex stops as the councilman falls to the ground so close to him and Penny, and he looks from her to the people around and he follows her, reaching out his arm to catch hers "Do you think you can get out of here by yourself?" It's Lex's 'opponent', enemy in many ways, but he can't just walk away from someone who needs help, not even assholes like the councilman so he'll help. "I'll get him, you make sure to get out of the park." Then he leaves Penny's side and makes for the councilman, and he'll squat when he reaches the man to help him up, putting the older mans arm around his shoulders "I'll get you out of here, don't you worry.."

After the liquid flowed over Emma's form, she was afraid to look up, but she did anyway and saw the confused looks on the reporters faces as they realize that she is suddenly gone from their sight. "Thank you, Simon," is offered lowly as she rises to a stand with his aided support. Then the Councilman comes to a crashing hault into the ground and she is able to hear the impact. Emma looks over in the direction of him, seeing others going to help the man. Her attention is then turned towards Bobby as it seems that he's caught the winged creatures attention head on. "We have to help him," she offers Simon, even if she couldn't be much help at the moment. "That thing might kill him..."

Mort watches the fight rage on from the safety of his tree. While he's rooting for Sauron at the moment, he's not above considering the other mutants in the area, and the press. The latter prove a target worth focusing on. Even through the MCU copter draws near, The Toad is ready for action. He leaps from the branch he's on with all his might, sailing over the heads of the stunned and retreating crowd. He's focused on one of the reporters who was just snapping away at Emma, and a second leap is meant to tackle him to the ground. "Take a picture o' this, why don't ya?"

Sauron opens his wings wide and slows his approach as the wall of ice is formed around Bobby. He screeches like a madman and pulls up to fly over the wall. However, he's just moving too fast to accomplish this task. While barreling into the wall, Sauron raises his shoulder and shatters the weaker, upper part the contraption, sending ice falling to the ground. While he's not down just yet, the trick certainly has protected Bobby for the time being. "You ssshould not fight me, mutant. The humansss are our enemiesss." Now in close combat with Iceman, Sauron pumps his wings hard, sending a powerful blast of wind at the young mutant.

Penny and Lex reach the councilman at roughly the same time, finding him unconscious, sprawled on his back, with one leg bent back in a very unnatural position. As Lex moves him, something pops in that region. You don't need a doctor to tell you that something very bad happened.

As the reporter looks wildly for Emma, who has just vanished on sight, he is unaware of Mort, who plows right into him, crushing him against the ground and sending his camera flying.

It's now that the Mutant Crime Unit's helicopter has reached the park. Lines of high-grade wire descend from the vehicle, and the members of the MCU slide down them, hitting the ground with a thud. Captain Allen gives a brief look at the surroundings before issuing his order. "Move out, boys! Let's wrap this thing up nice and neat." Weapons are readied and the team moves out, members headed for Mort, Bobby, and Sauron, since Emma and Simon are unseen, and Penny and Lex do not present a threat.

"I agree." He says. He moves to Bobby just as the great winds blew, grabbing onto Bobby's frozen arm luckily to avoid being blown back hard. Simon then looks to Sauron and chuckles. "Bye Tweety." he says to Sauron before he begins to focus the liquid, silver liquid which oddly doesnt freeze on Bobby begins to cover his entire frozen body.

Penny is not that easily dissuaded. "I know first aid," she says with finality, continuing on towards the councilman herself without hesitation. "Woah! And clearly you don't. Careful. If he's hurt his spine, you could have paralysed him," she chides bossily as Lex swoops in to get the man to his feet. "I'm all for getting him out of the way here, but we should check how badly hurt he is first." Dropping to her knees in the mud, ignoring the damage it's doing to her ensemble, she starts doing a preliminary survey of the area. "Try to keep people away from here. If you can't see any paramedics nearby, call 911 and give them our location here," she instructs as she works.

Lex frowns as something snaps in the councilman's body and he stops for a moment, thinking about whether it's better to lay the man back down or continue and get him away from the part, but he listens to Penny and stops. Looking around, he starts feeling in his pockets for his cell phone, just to remember that it's back in the apartment. Crap. "I don't have my phone on me.. And I don't see any paramedics." This isn't good, they shouldn't stay here, especially since the target Sauron just had went invisible!!! Oh... Crap... Lex can only hope that Sauron has forgotten all about the councilman..

Bobby's head turns as he hears Simon's voice. That frozen face breaks into a grin and starts to revert to his normal self, the ice disappearing in patches that rapidly spread as Simon's invisibility coating covers him. Wouldn't do any good to freeze his friend's hand. He calls out just before vanishing from sight, "Bye bye, birdbrain." Then he falls silent, and lets Simon lead the way out of here. He does say in a much quieter voice, for Simon's benefit, "Head for the trees." He doesn't feel it necessary to add that speed would be a good thing.

Hearing a noise from behind her as she is dragged along with Simon, who just grabbed Bobby, Emma turns to see Mort taking care of the reporter for her. An appreciative glance is given in his direction, despite the fact that he cannot see her. Then something occurs to her and her face sobers, "the camera..." she lets out lowly. Her whole future could be held within that small device, and the woman had to get her hands on it. "I need that camera," comes out in almost a shout as she starts to fight against Simon's grasp, trying to pull him in the direction of the press since she is far too afraid to let go of him and risk being seen again. She feels resistance though as Simon tries to get them out of the park, especially with the helicopter now hovering over the park and men with guns running around. A frown overtakes the woman's face as she sighs and gives in towards Simon and Bobby's movements and leaves the camera alone.

Mort chuckles as he pushes the reporter deeper into the dirt, using the explosive power locked away in those legs of his. "Serves ya right, buddy." His attention moves, though, as the MCU drops onto the scenes. Apparently, one of them has his sight set for him. Mort is in no mood to run, though, and he faces his oppenent on haunched legs. "You don't wanna mess with the Toad."

Smoke bombs and flash grenades a plenty are thrown through the vicinity as the MCU makes they're sweep. It turns the park into a virtual war zone. Lt. James Thorburn, aka Bulldozer, has assigned himself to deal with reporter-crushing mutant, Mort. "And you should never mess with MCU." In one, quick strike, he lashes out with gauntlet's tipped with spikes. Those punches have got to hurt.

As his prey disappears in front of him, and the world begins to explode around him, Sauron spreads his wings high and lets out a fierce scream. He takes flights, heading for the low-hanging MCU copter. He is chased by the MCU officer Airstrike, but to no avail. Sauron smashes into the copter just moments before Airtrike fires the MCU-patented electro-net, which grapples the mutant and sends him falling back to Earth, this time for good. "Target neutralized." The helicopter, though, has also been neutralized. As the pilot attempts to regain control, it tumbles out of view, losing altitude at an alarming speed. With careful maneuvering, a violent crash is avoided, though the machine still hits the surface of the large reservoir to the south with a smash, sending up a huge spray of water. The fate of the pilot is probably the same as that of the councilman.

Lt. Greg Whitney, Thermos, took it upon himself to melt down the icy mutant with the flamethrower that gives him his name. However, the jet of fire misses its intended target, who disappears without a trace. Instead, it hits one of the stands set up by activists earlier in the day and sets it aflame.

As things begin to wrap up, paramedics arrive on the scene, along with an arsenal of police cars and fire trucks. The media snap their photos and what's left of the crowd are helped off the scene.

Simon heard Emma and looks to the camera. He moves for it, avoiding people as best as he could. When he gets to it he lets go of Emma only for a few moments, getting the camera which gets coated with the liquid and vanishes as well. He then grabs Emma, nodding to Bobby and moves straight for the trees, coughing once he was out of sight with his two friends. Perhaps Simon should have looked at which camera he grabbed, it wasnt the one which had taken pictures of Emma.

Penny gives Lex a flat look as he can come up with neither paramedics nor a cellphone, whether or not that's his fault. "Okay, well-," she begins as she removes her scarf to use to apply pressure to a bleeding wound, weighing the pros and cons. But she doesn't get much further than that before the shit seriously hits the fan. Try as she might to remain focussed on the councilman and his injuries, her gaze watches as the helicopter is brought down. Fortunately, as she's forcing her mind back onto her charge, she spots the familiar flashing lights of the paramedics, and gestures with a nod in their direction in case Lex hasn't spotted them yet himself. "Get them. Fast." In the meantime, she'll just keep doing what she can for the man until the professionals get here, at which point she will actually move aside and let them take over.

Lex watches as the flying mutant gets momentarily wing-clipped as he keeps a look out for the paramedics, and when he spots them he makes sure to get their attention as he waves and shouts. It's not much else he can do then take a few steps back and wait, let the professionals do their job so that he can go home. His shoulder has started to make itself reminded as it throbs painfully, and he rubs it slightly as he watches the others.

Bobby heads out under the cover of Simon's powers. Thank god for the invisible wonder. The one thing Bobby does make sure of as the leave is that he gets a good look at Thermos, remembering that face for any future run-ins with the MCU. Once they get far enough away to re-appear unseen in the woods, it's a relatively simple matter to head home. It takes more than a riot in Central Park to halt the NYC Subway.

Going face to face with the MCU fighter is probably a bad idea in general, though the thought doesn't seem to cross Mort at the moment. As Bulldozer swings, Mort leaps, though it seems that things happen just too fast for him, because next thing he knows he's got a spiked fist in his gut. He reels back and falls onto the ground, breathing hard, hand gripping his stomach, which throbs and begins to bleed. "What...the hell..." It seems bad, but at least there's no light at the end of the tunnel for him. Just a world of pain.