2015-08-28 Party Crashers
This scene is rated Everybody
Warning: N/A
2015-08-28
Players: Peggy, Steve, Natasha, Mike, Sue, Tony, Clint, Ophelia, James
GMed by Steve
Title: Party Crashers

[* Avenger's Mansion: Gallery *]

A display hall curving from the Dining Hall to the Kitchen is the Gallery. Shards of items of interest of history, a piece of an old submarine hull that shows part of its name and ID number, a shard of a Sentinel's armor, etc.

This room is not yet fully filled, many display cases and walls left bare to allow for placement of the Avengers' future achievements.

The Avengers have all received texts urging them to come for a Very Important Meeting taking place in the Gallery this evening. It came from Agent Romanoff's personal number, so it's definitely legit. It's just that this place doesn't seem… ready, exactly, for a meeting of the Avengers. Why wouldn't they have it in the conference room, for that matter?

What there is? Is streamers. Balloons. Red, white, and blue balloons. There's a buffet with some really quite nice food — some kind of roast, some kind of chicken, and some delicious butternut squash pasta — and large, comfortable chairs. There's a full bar, though no bartender in sight. This seems to have been catered, but there's no sign of the caterers.

There is, however, a cake.

It's a big cake. It's quite tall and not terribly wide; this isn't meant for a large crowd, after all. But it is a remarkably cake replica of the Chrysler Building, elegant and refined.

And hanging from the ceiling, of course, a big banner:

"Congratulations Peggy and Steve!"

Steve and Peggy had barely unpacked from their sudden abscence to head to Niagra Falls. Still dressed in his 40s era military uniform, though his jacket is unbuttoned. Coming into the gallery, the Captain looks around in a bit of bewilderment and shock, before his eyes grow wider. "…Clint promised not to tell." he mutters quietly towards his new bride. "I made him promise not to /tell/." He's not sulking - at least not too much as he looks around, "Uh. Do we serve ourselves?" he asks Peggy in amusement.

Despite the promise of a resolution to the DemonInfest problem with the introduction of some much needed information. There is always the delay that comes with such matters. While he waits for certain parties to gather up the strength for what support is needed, Mike is coming back from a much more earth bound responsibility. A meeting with his agent and an exec for the film he has been slated for. Perhaps this is a fortunate coincidence as Mike shows up in the Gallery, better dressed than he'd typically be for an impromptu / important meeting of the Avengers. Dressed in designer clothes and his hair pulled back neatly, he steps into the room, pausing behind the couple. "What's the occasion?" The muscian asks, a hand resting on the strap of a bag he is carrying with him.

Tony is there off to the side refusing to sit down as Happy is trying to get him too. He is wearing black jeans, a loose white tshirt with a black blazer draped around his shoulders to hide the thick bandaging apparent through the material and on his left shoulder. Once their pair of the hour appears he steps towards them, "Congratulations." he waves Happy away as he tries to assist the walk. Something in his right hand he places it into Steve's hand with a look of understanding that he should know what its in the small box. Offering Peggy a nod he steps back smacking Happy with his right hand, "I'm not a fragile old man. Now stop it or go home."

Unlike some of the others, Sue didn't seem to get out much. As usual, she had been in her lab when the meeting was called, right in the middle of a biology experiment. After plenty of grumbling, she got to a point she could pause it at and put it aside before rushing up to the gallery, still dressed in her lab coat and glasses with her hair pulled back in a short ponytail. "Looks like…oh, Steve, Peggy, congratulations!" she flashed them a smile as she paused and looked for a place to sit or stand.

Still dressed in her SSR outfit, Peggy follows in right next to Steve. Her hair is done up nicely, make up perfect, heels clack on the wooden floor. "What's—" Her eyes immediately go to the banner. They widen and then narrow. Then, she takes a deep breath and laughs. An arm slips through Steve's and she moves toward the cake. "Well, it seems as if you can't keep anything from either spies or Avengers," she tells him softly. "Might as well enjoy the cake." As Tony approaches, she gives him a bit of a worried study, a curious look at the box and then a raised eyebrow to her new husband.

Clint enters just behind Steve and Peggy. To his credit, he does look, well, just as shocked as they do. He purses his lips, makes a smacking sound, then, "I didn't tell her. Buuuuut she probably bugged my phone. So there's that. Sorry, guys. I swear to god I had nothing to do with it." He did, however, have everything to do with the gift basket they found at their hotel.

She was here all the time, clearly, but Natasha seems to actually dematerialize as she approaches the happy couple. "Clint kept mum," she says quickly, "but I have my ways of finding things out. I know you didn't want anyone to know, but your team was going to find out eventually. We're the closest people to you guys after all, right?" She's beaming to beat the band, dressed quite beautifully in a deep royal blue dress with a full skirt for dancing. "Peggy. Steve. Congratulations. Now, I've done as much as I can to make sure no one outside this building knows. Just Avengers were invited. The cake… would be more obviously a wedding cake, but it would have caused too many questions. …Well? I hope it's not too much."

Said basket is up under Steve's free arm. As Tony comes up, the Captain accepts the ring and then turns to hand him the basket of profolactives in return. "You probably need this more than I do." he says with a small smirk, before his expression turns grateful. "Thank you." he mouths quickly, before he turns his attention to the gathering crowd. "Uh, well. We didn't really want to bring attention to us.. but we decided to head to the Justice of the Peace and marry yesterday." he explains to the gathered Avengers. "So.. sorry for not sending out invitations, but after six decades, we really didn't want to wait anymore." he confesses with a blush, before he pops open the box. It's a matching set of wedding bands made from one of Steve's older shields. "Here you are, Missus Carter-Rogers, since you were wondering when you'd get a ring." he teases her.

A mock glare is given towards Natasha. "You could have given us a few days to at least settle into a routine first." he teases, and then the glare melts into a grin. "Thanks. It.. means a lot to share this with the closest thing that either of us called family, so forgive our impulsiveness, but well, we just didn't want to wait."

Tony has Happy grab the basket for him and gives Steve a nod. No telling what might be in it but he won't question as he listens. "Sixty years in the making. About damn time, Cap. Next will be Carter-Rogers babies! Maybe you have twelve and all be born naked." he grabs a glass of anything non alcoholic and raises it.

Sue claps once, "Peggy, you're going to have to spill on all the details later. But I'm so happy for you two." She brushes some of her hair back behind her ear and looks around the room, "Now I wonder who is going to be getting married next." Seeing Tony move for some alcohol, she also takes a glass for herself and steps back out of the way.

Mike's brows lift momentarily at the explanation before he breaks into a smile, looking to the two of them tiredly, "Congrats you two." He gives a sheepish grin, "I'll have to get you two a gift later." At Sue's comment, Mike glances around at the rest of the team with an appraising eye. Good question. He pauses, looking to Tony for a moment. "In this room or on our team as a whole?" He asks of her.

The traffic was normal enough for an evening in the Upper East Side. The streets started to quiet down in this area of town as vehicles moved out to various locations for the New York City Night Life, or as various patrons of the Big Apple bedded down for the night in thier own homes. That image remained somewhat the same in spite of several short columns of vehicles moving in from the outskirts of the Upper East Side.

Alone, the large Industry-Sized pick up trucks with covered beds might not have looked out of place, what for all the rich kids and thier expensive toys. However, moving three by three in seperate columns throughout the east side, the formations of vehicles might have seemed odd to anyone who might have bothered to notice. The drivers moved the vehicles with lights off in some columns, on in others, all converging quickly on the perimeter of the Avenger's Mansion from thier various sources.

"Nat. My memo didn't say anything about evening gowns. Seriously. I have one all back from the dry cleaner and everything. Backless. Makes my ass look fabulous. We really need to work on team communication." If there's proof that Clint really didn't know about this, it should be proven by the jeans and t-shirt he's currently sporting. He may be a smartass, but he's a smartass who usually dresses appropriately.

Goggled eyes train on the back gate of one of the trucks moving in formation. The Soldier's black uniform serves as a shield from prying eyes that may wonder about the contents of the truck itself. The camouflage afforded by the black on black ensemble provides a shadow in which to dwell. The shroud of black that occupies the Soldier's face eliminates any expression behind the muzzle-like mask.

Metal fingers ball into a tight fist, and then release as the mission is given consideration. His breathing stills as the truck zeroes in on the mansion, stopping shy of the building's Eastern wall. Slowly, the Soldier brings himself to a seated position, eyes honing in on the building as the weapons are considered. The words spoken are muffled to those without a comlink, but clear as day to those in the vehicles, complete with his trademark deadened tone, low voice, and even cadence, "We are in position."

Peggy smirks at Steve. "I did not," she counters at his assertion that she wondered when he would get a ring. Natasha is given a bit of a raised eyebrow and Clint a shake of the head. "Perhaps we should have known that spies would have other means of information gathering." They were just too excited to sign the certificate. At Tony's exclamation, she blushes and shakes her head at the thought of children. "If they were born with outfits, I believe that would be worrying," she tells him, taking the teasing with good nature.

Sue's happy tidings are met with a grin and a nod, as are Mike's. "No gifts necessary." Clint is given a bit of a wary look. "Perhaps he's off the hook," she tells Steve sotto voce. Though, he also may just be quite the good actor. "But only if he wears this dress we have heard so much about." The trucks and attention outside are - at the moment - completely and utterly missed. She has other things on her mind at the moment.

With most of the staff that usually serves the Avengers away for the evening, those that remain are usually either Avengers that are living here themselves, or those, like Natasha, that summoned others to visit. Taking up one of the glasses of wine, Steve considers for a moment, his arm settling around Peggy's waist as he thinks about what he's going to say. For once, it seems that Captain America, leader of the Avengers, the stalwart Sentinel of Liberty, is out of words to speak at this momentus occassion. Finally, he looks towards Peggy, and lifts his glass to her. "We don't have flowers or a garter to throw, so we're not going to be making any guesses at who's next to be bitten by the wedding bug, but if I could, I'd curse Natasha for being a wily old cat lady." he tases his friend clearly, before he continues.

"There has been a lot of history between Peggy and I. And I couldn't be happier that she is part of me now. With her, there's much that we can do - and not much that will stand in our way - so to you, Peggy Carter-Rogers, I say - May the best of our past be the worst of our future."

Outside the mansion, there seems to be an access point for the strike team, as the cake delivery is loading up their truck to pull out for the evening. Their truck pulls out of the driveway, with the gate remaining open behind them, before the chains creak to start to close, allowing the HYDRA agents to come forth and secure the gate for the truck to roll in, if so directed. The back entrance of the Mansion opens into the kitchen area, with the Gallery laying just beyond.

"Clint, honey, as much as I'd like to see your ass in a backless evening gown, I don't want you outshining all the other pretty girls in the room." Natasha loops an arm around his shoulders and squeezes one before letting them go. To Peggy and Steve, then: "Sincerely. Many happy returns. I couldn't be happier for the two of you. If you're hungry, please, have a seat. I'll make you up some plates." Why the heck is Natasha being so nice? Maybe she just likes weddings. It doesn't seem to fit. Then again, these are for her, too, as much family as she has. She breaks away, moving to the edges of the party, pausing to snag a bottle of champagne — and one of sparkling grape juice for the non-alcohol drinkers — and pour out some flutes.

"Whew, I guess that means I'm off the hook. Was getting worried there for a second," Sue said with a laugh as she reached up and pushed her glasses back up her nose from where they had been sliding down a bit. Lifting her glass of champagne to her mouth, she takes a sip from it. She had a small smile on her face as she watched the room, quietly enjoying the friendly atmosphere and interaction. Friends, family, a team.

Tony sips at his ginger ale noticing the look from Mike which just gives the man a nod. He is no longer engaged so won't be him getting married and his private business is just that.. "I'm sure my father is watching and smiling down upon his friends today. I have a gift for you both but I'll show it to you later." with that he does finally find a place to sit himself down.

Mike nods at Peggy's dismissal of his gift requirement, turning back to the couple, "Regardless, I'd stil-" He pauses, "Either of you two ever wanted to visit British Columbia? I'm going to be filming there in about a month."

The coverings, both cloth and armored, start to come off of the beds of the trucks as they start to park around the perimeter. Some park in various positions around the mansion, while the Goggled Soldier's column pulls up where the cake delivery is leaving. Large weapons are revealed, large dual-barreled energy-beam weapons that almost seem tailor-made for the large truck-beds. Thier paneling is a signature dark green, and the weapons move on turrets as they all uniformley face the mansion.

The weapons fire almost in synchronized fashion, large dual-blue beams shooting out from them and lighting up the night around the Avenger's Mansion quite brightly. They seem more powerful than HYDRA's typical weapons, the product of months of research and more than a few gem-store robberies - the Sapphire-based technology performing admirably as the beams are fired in rapid succession once the original barrage begins.

Somewhere, Madame Hydra herself slips from the cab of a truck, her dark-green cloak the only sign of her passing. On her flanks, HYDRA Footsoldiers emerge from many of the trucks, either waiting for entry-vectors to be created, or using those that have been conveniently left to them…

As the HYDRA guns fire, the gallery rocks. The whole mansion actually shakes. The lights across the place dim and then flicker off-line as dim red emergency lights flicker on in their place as emergency generators come on line. JARVIS' calm voice transmits over the PA system. "All non-essential Avenger personnel, please report to the hangar for evacuation. This is not a drill." it announces calmly and cooly as another volley shakes the room again, sending unattending drinks and glasses spilling to the floor as a series of loud explosions announces that the armory has just taken a hit.

The Soldier's truck rolls in following the cake-team's departure. Military-grade black boots make purchase with the pavement. The first rounds of the energy weapons have already released their round of fire when the Soldier's military-grade black boots make purchase with the pavement. With one such weapon strapped to his back, he's suited up for this particular mission.

With just a moment's pause, the goggled Soldier turns towards his team, and, with a small tick of his head, motions for them to enter the building.

The team of eight enter the door, two-by-two, to scope out the building itself and funnel through the delivery hallways.

For his part, the Soldier follows behind. Again his voice deadpans through the link: "Start setting the charges."

Fireworks that he knows of wasn't in the plans and then the room begins to rumble. No the party is really getting started and any non-avengers are all running this way and that. "Ah shit. Natasha, did you invite them too?" Tony asks over the noise as the red lights highlight his facial features. Standing up he shrugs the blazer off and reaches up tearing the left shoulder bandage off. He keeps a suit here in this mansion for such occasions as this. Though it does take a moment as he waits trying to keep his balance and direct others out.

"And so, the motives become clear!" declares Clint. And then he's looking for a drink as well. "I already gave my gift to the happy couple. Which they then re-gifted to Tony. I am hurt. Shocked and hurt. And thirsty. Great spread, Nat." He's probably the only person in the world who can get away with giving her hip a little swat without getting punched in the throat. Then he's ambling off to fill his plate.

Snacks will have to wait, though. Because things are exploding and making noises and there's alarms and oh god the humanity. He only has time to shove a few lousy canapes in his mouth before he's taking the stairs three at a time back towards his room. Hey, he's barely useful when he's armed with his weapon of choice. Without that, he's just a guy who sends people gift baskets of condoms.

Feet shifting as the shaking starts, Mike stops talking and instead opens up the bookbag he brought into the (previously not known to be) wedding party, pulling out his escrima sticks. "NAT!" He shouts, before throwing them over in her direction. Once they leave his grasp and set on their path, his form shifts, becoming shrouded in the black and red cloak of his combined abilities.

Clint avoids the punch to the throat at least half because he's been punched in the throat by her so many times he knows how she does it. There's a little twitch of her arm, though, which is almost as good as the punch he would have possibly been able to avoid.

She doesn't get the chance to reply, though — and being denied a snappy reply is heartshattering to her. But here she is, her hair all done up, her dress far more suited to dancing than fighting. The lady /must/ be at a loss, right? …Not so much. For one thing, they don't call her the Black Widow because she never interacted with her victims. She also has able teammates, and when Mike tosses a pair of escrima sticks at her, she catches them nimbly and spins them in her hands, gripping them evenly as she turns to face the attack. "Orders, Cap?" she calls.

Peggy gives Steve a grin as he makes a speech. At the arm around her waist, she leans against him with an easy familiarity. Taking a glass of champagne when it's offered, she - of course - raises a glass. She's not sure what, exactly, to think of this gathering, but she rather looking forward to the cake.

That's about when the entire building shakes from the force of the HYDRA weapon. Her hand grips onto the champagne, which sloshes over the sides of the flute and she holds tighter onto Steve to keep her balance. It looks as if party time is over. Quickly setting aside the glass on the nearest surface, she looks to Steve, then her other Agents before crouching down, already expecting gunfire or worse through the windows.

Immediately, she moves for the doorway, putting her back against the wall and peering out to see what is happening in hopes of clearing an exit through the back. However, as she starts to move, she hears people beyond. Looking back to those inside, she informs, "I believe they're already inside the building."

As the rumblings catch the Captain off-guard, he has to adjust his footing, catching Peggy in his arms before he frowns deeply. An earthquake in New York? Mole Man, maybe? As he races through the ideas, the second volley snaps his attention. Now he realizes what's going on.

Recognizing an attack for what it is, Steve immediately clicks into command and control mode. "JARVIS, radio the local authorities, have them close off a two block radius around the mansion, I don't want civilian casualities. Have fire and medical on standby for possible unit and continue the evacuation." As he removes his jacket, he tosses it to the side and takes a quick assessment. "Mike take the main doors. If they're knocking, I want to know what we're dealing with and numbers. Sue, go with Tony, lets make sure the evacuation goes smoothly, and take down anything you come across. Get the lab locked down as fast as you can. And see about getting some automated defenses up and running - even if it's the LMDs from the training room."

Looking around the room, Steve has none of his gear here. "Dammit." he whispers to himself before he goes over to a glass case that contains a different round shield. Taskmaster's. Balling up his jacket around his fist, he smashes the glass and withdraws the item, before settling it on his arm. "Not as balanced as mine." he mutters in frustration, before he returns to the orders. "Clint, Natasha, do you have any extra guns? Peggy didn't really come packing tonight." he admits as he adjusts the shield to get used to it. With Clint running off, Steve amends his orders on the move. "Natasha, go with him, do what you two do best." Besides wedding party planning. Once they're on their way, Steve turns to his new wife.

"Peggy.." and he recognizes the look that she's giving him, and he relents. "Find a weapon. You're with me." he offers quickly. Looking over his team as they start to deploy, the Captain frowns and glances at the cake, swiping his finger into the frosting and takes a taste. Lemon and Amaretto. Sigh. Bliss. "Everyone, keep your channels open, and call out targets as you come across them. Without a coordinated effort, this surprise party is going to become a blood-bath!" Then he turns to head towards the quickest way out of the mansion, set on a path that will bring him into contact with the Soldier that Madame Hydra has deployed.

The Weapons continuing firing, the truck-mounted beams making work of the Mansion's exterior even as the Goggled Soldier prepares to level it from the inside. Their bright-blue, flowing energy, as much concussive blast as they are overwhelming heat. A corsuscating swirl moves around each beam, the weapons surprisingly stable for having so mouch power

Ophelia finds her own entrance into the building, but that doesn't mean that her HYDRA Soldiers don't catch up soon enough. She starts heading for the Lab, as much to intercept the heroes as to wreack havoc and steal whatever she can while she's there. Her Bow is already at the ready, an arrow knocked as she heads into the room, giving verbal instructions on just exactly she wants to steal. her instructions on what to destroy are simple - if it's not what she's looking for, it's done.

Smoke meets Steve and Peggy as they tread towards the entranceway. The assault on the outside of the building has begun to waft in an array of smoke and dust. The HYDRA soldiers ahead of the Soldier continue to set their charges, prepping it for imminent destruction. As he follows behind, the Soldier murmurs into his comlink, "Get the art we already identified."

His steps become heavier as he reaches for the hunter's knife clipped just above his metallic arm. While not typically used for things like theft, the knife is run along the edge of a frame, slicing the painting from it.

The suit attaches in pieces making him wince at it locks about his injuries. Faceplate being last the eyes light up as Iron Man comes on line. "Don't think I'm going to miss the party, Cap." Tony says towards him but will be sure at least Sue does get to the lab safely and whatever she needs. "JARVIS! Protocol 198-WS-49B." he calls out and secret panels move to reveal waiting weapons of guns and anything else they may need. Like he wasn't prepared, "Lets go Miss Storm! If we have uninvited guests lets not keep them waiting.

In his helmet is JARVIS chirping in his ear - [Sir, the suit has already torn your stiches. Are you sure this is wise?] - "JARVIS, you know I never turn down a good party." Tony answers him as he begins heading for the lab though as smoke begins to fill the room. "You really think I'd keep art worth something here? Welcome to the party though. Want some cake? Forgive me, Nattie." he then using a pulse beam to make the cake fly and explode towards the intruders. "Thirsty?" taking a bottle of champagne he makes the cork pop in the face of one of them before smashing the bottle ove rhis head.

Sue gives Steve a nod in reply as he directs Tony and herself to cover the evacuation. "After you, Tony, sounds like my kind of party now." She cracks her knuckles as she follows after him. "I'll stitch you up again if you start bleeding out in that suit," she grumbles at him. Seeing the intruders pop up and Tony's…unconventional attack, she follows it up with a pulse of a forcefield behind the cake, giving them a shove backwards in an elegant two-step with the metal-suited Avenger.

If there's one thing you learn in this line of work, it's to dress in a hurry. And always pack your pockets with LARBARs. And listen to Cap. Clint quickly shrugs out of his t-shirt and into his vest. The jeans will have to stay for now. No time for pants-change, but the protection the vest affords might be a matter of life and death. He grabs his bow, his quiver and slaps on his guards. Then he opens a weapons locker with his thumbprint and pulls out three pistols, one of which goes into the waistband at the small of his back.

All of this happens in the time it takes for Natasha to listen to Steve's orders and come up the stairs. When she hits the landing, he's already been in and out of her room, dug out a pair of ballet flats and a belt with her Widow's Bites. The flats are waiting for her to drop out of her heels and put the flats on. He tosses her the pair of pistols and the Bite belt and is already headed down the stairs.

In his wake, he also leaves one full LARBAR and a half of one. Oh well. Things can't be perfect every time.

Get a weapon to Peggy? Easy as pie. Natasha flips one escrima stick into the air, reaches into that full dancing skirt of hers, and draws out an honest to goodness 45. This is flung through the air toward Peggy, and by the time the gun is out of her hand, the escrima stick is back in it. She has some small delay on her way to Clint: balancing on one foot, she kicks the heel of one stiletto rather ferociously into the neck of one HYDRA agent; then, balancing on the toes of one foot, kicks the other shoe into another man's face. It takes her seconds to get out of the room, but those seconds involve a whirl of blue silk and a clatter of sticks against joints and skulls. By the time she's out, she's slipping neatly into the flats he left her — much better than being barefoot — and pulling on the belt and bracelets. The sticks get stuck into two little loops, one on either side, and though she may not be in the famous Widow suit, she looks a /lot/ more like herself now.

Phantasm nods, With a flick of his hands, claws juttison out as the red glowing eyed figure makes his way over to the main entrance quickly, the dust doing little to him right now. As he comes across one of the soldiers that are DEFINITELY not SHIELD, he clotheslines him, concentrating his force into the impact area to get a football player-esque effect. Whatever charge that guy was setting up isn't making it to where it was supposed to go. "We got people setting up stuff in here." Yeah. Stuff. Mike's not an explosives expert.

There's not much for Peggy in the way of artillery. As the guns outside continue to assault the exterior, she quickly looks around for something she can use to defend herself. Her heels are not kicked off just yet. With all the shattered glass and wood, it's more cumbersome to try and fight with cut up soles than in heels. Instead, she grabs for the cake knife - getting splattered with the remains of the lovely Chrysler Building cake as she moves away from Tony's defense plane. At least that's something.

The look Steve gives her is met with a quiet look of 'just try and tell me to sit out'. There really is no question as to where she will be in this fight; new wife or no. Then, Natasha is tossing her a weapon. As if they practiced, she snatches it easily out of the air. She moves through the hallways with Steve and Mike, carefully checking ahead of them through the smoke and the chaos. The borrowed gun is kept level, the cake knife gripped in her other hand. She can hear the scraping sound of the hunting knife across the walls and paintings, but she won't shoot until she has an actual visual.

As Mike moves with Peggy and Steve, the Captain alters his orders as he comes out of the smoke and slams into the first HYDRA agent with his shield, driving him backwards towards James. "Mike, take out that artillery before it turns the Mansion into a pile of rubble." he comments.

Noticing the Soldier's approach, the Captain frowns, "If you really wanted cake and champagne, you should have called ahead first. And really, Clint was entertainment enough." he says, trying to taunt the Soldier into focusing on him instead of Peggy or Mike, to allow Mike the chance to get by and out onto the main grounds to start taking out the trucks. He plants himself between Peggy and the soldiers and takes on a quiet resolve to hold his ground.

Madame HYDRA moves quickly, any pretense of lack of grace given by her armor completely removed when her Soldiers can barely keep up with her. She's darting through the mansion, towards the Lab, bound on an intercept course with Tony and Sue. She sends her Soldiers in a sweeping formation, engaging anyone who gets in her way as she quickly slips through the Mansion. She quite seems to know where she's going, and no one has managed to intercept her just yet.

Meanwhile, the energy-artillery is doing it's level best to make a pile of rubble out of the mansion in spite of the Captain's orders. Several soldiers hide in the shadows, ready to ambush anyone that should attack thier new, shiny weaponry.

The Soldier narrowly dodges the HYDRA agent stumbling backwards towards him. His head turns with silent scrutiny before he thrusts the now-rolled-up canvas towards the agent on the floor. He twists towards the hallway at the Captain's taunting, exposing his one truly defining feature: a very distinct large metallic prosthetic arm, complete with a signature red star emblazoned near the shoulder.

The goggles, becoming ever inconvenient inside the mansion, are tugged away from the man's eyes, exposing his distant blue eyes. A single beat passes as the HYDRA agents seem to pause. The hunter's knife departs the Soldier's grasp, aiming straight for the target who has gained his attention: straight towards the Captain, with unusually sharp accuracy.

The action prompts the other HYDRA agents (minus the one on the floor) to engage. While several charges have already begun to line the wall of the entrance, attention moves to the Avengers in front of the crew of (now) seven. The one in front (now abandoned by his partner), draws his weapon, a sharp knife that is wielded towards Mike and he lunges forward, as if the Soldier's action was its own silent call.

The pair of two behind him draw a pair of energy-based weapons, but their target isn't the Avengers themselves, but rather, the roof above their heads. Blue energy, laser-sharp and fiery-hot rips at the crown moulding, causing it to crumble from above.

The Soldier steps around the agent-on-the-floor.

Tony now heads out with Sue towards the lab taking out those they need to as they go. "Cap, we seem to be surrounded. Maybe we should get out what we can and evacuate. Get to the tower…" no he doesn't like the idea of losing this place but losing people would be worse. The labs of course just had to be downstairs so they had to use the stairs to get there. Kicking the door open to the appropriate floor he goes out first letitng Sue go past to the lab.

Shoving the door Tony opened with a forcefield, Sue brushed past him into the lab, immediately heading to her computer and starting a dump of the data to Stark's servers. "I just need a minute, Tony, then we can keep going…" The screen on the computer displays a moving status bar that slowly fills, "We can't really take a lot with us, but we can't let any of this fall into their hands. Though I hate to do it, how do you want to get rid of it?"

It soon becomes painfully clear that the building is going to come down around their ears. The building is full of sensitive material and also sensitive equipment - some of which is very top-secret. He trusts his teammates to be competent, badass individuals, so he knows he can leave them to take out HYDRA. He's got some things to secure that can't end up in the hands of the enemy.

He does however, pause at the top of the staircase to launch a barrage of perfectly-placed arrows down at the attacking agents. Then he's climbing up the stairs again, disappearing behind a false wall and down a narrow hallway. He can only hope he can get his ass out before the building becomes a failed game of JENGA.

There's smoke. There's shooting. There's Clint booking it upstairs as he does one of the important things: taking care of sensitive files. It's Natasha's job, therefore, to block off the stairwell from anyone following. He's her partner; she has his back. And she wouldn't move from the spot if the smoke wasn't parting to show her something familiar enough to sink into the pit of her stomach.

Her cheeks go pale. Red star and what looks like a metal arm, but it can't be, can't /possibly/ be. "Bozhe moy," she mutters under her breath. But it doesn't stop her firing two little cables from her wrists up into the ceiling, then swinging from those down into the fray. With luck — or skill, which she has more of — she should be able to knock someone over nice and cleanly that way.

Steve gets a growl of agreement as Phantasm spins on his heels, running straight for the door, sliding across the floor momentarily to slash the back of knife boys tendons before continuing on. He starts to fade from view. For a clawed figure with an appearance that could give some people nightmares, he seems to be a little considerate sparing the people outside a view of his appearance. Out out he goes, where and what he stops, nobody knows!

Peggy doesn't object when Steve steps between her and the soldiers. He has the shield and is better defensively. This also gives her the ability to stay behind him and plan her shots. The more Madame HYDRA's actions shake the facility, the more she's determined to stop and contain those attacking. It's clear the building will not hold against the assault unless they can get through these soldiers and to the weapon causing all the destruction.

For now, her attention is on the HYDRA agents in the hall. From the safe position behind Steve, she aims over his shoulder and starts shooting. Her brow is furrowed in concentration, brown eyes hard with resolve as she chooses her shots, arm straight against the recoil as only an experienced shot could have. Her gun finally trains on the soldier, attention narrowing until she sees the metallic arm with the distinctive red star. That's all it takes for her to pause in surprise, spoiling her shot.

That's about when the ceiling starts to come crashing down above them. Phantasm is already out the door, but she is quick in her attempt to shove Steve out of the way of the heavy debris crumbles, cracks and the crashes down around them.
Well, Steve, you got bulky, metal and dark's attention. The metal arm and red star on his shoulder grabs Steve's attention. "What the..?" he asks quietly, but the rest of his thought is lost as the Soldier starts to move on him. There's something familiar about the attack, however, as the Captain seems to know exactly where it's coming from, and he brings the shield around to defend against it. He remains only on the defensive for a moment, however, using the shield to push off of James and create space

In the meantime, he's tagging his radio. 'Situation update, folks. JARVIS, how's the evacuation. Tony, Sue, labs? They secure? And does anyone know a guy on HYDRA payroll with a metal arm and a big red star?' he asks as he backpedals to place a little space between himself. Once set, he judges. Taskmaster's shield is smaller than his usual red, white and blue, so he doesn't want to throw it, instead he moves forward, shield at the ready to try to barrel into James and drive him backwards.

That is until he feels Peggy shove him forward and he twists, trying to see where she went, the first Avenger's eyes wide in worry and shock.

It was a quick trip for Ophelia, but the battle was already raging as the Avenger's Mansion was falling around her and the 'party guests.' Her Soldierse struggled to keep up with her still, but she scarcely made allowances for them as she skirted her way through the Mansion. Her cape swished after her, and her bow was held in front before she finally found the open door to the lab. She was careful, taking a moment to aim diligently, before letting loose a pronged and toothed arrow towards one of the open ports on a computer in the room, immediately starting a download of vital data - perhaps the very same data Sue was about.

Meanwhile the Mistress of Disaster herself steps back, knocking three arrows at once while she backs up and waits for her own 'Squad' to catch up, setting up an impromptu EMP Ambush for the man of steel..or Iron…or off-Gold/Crimson…THAT GUY. For the other, well, she wasn't banking on her being there, but she'll have to figure something out.

The metallic arm grasps the shield, easily clamping down on it with inhuman strength, and crushing it in his grasp, around the Captain's arm. The weaker metal is like putty in the prosthetic hand, all too malleable within his grip. Those blue eyes, as Steve closes the distance, continues to reflect steely resolve, detached yet weirdly determined.

The HYDRA agent closest to the door collapses underneath Natasha's machinations, and bounces back up, offering a round kick in turn—clumsy, but still present. Evidently this one isn't falling so easily.

Peggy's bullets clip one of the agent's shoulders, prompting his partner-in-crime to open fire at Agent Carter in turn.

The HYDRA agent that had been on the floor has pushed himself upwards and is busy setting the charges again. Evidently there is a task at hand.

Seems Cap missed his suggestion of them just packing up and evacuating. Tony doesn't have time to answer right now noticing the arrow, "Stand back!" he tells Sue and raising a hand he blasts the computer into bits all the information backed up anyway on cloud servers.

JARVIS chimes in to Cap, "The structure is not sound. Evacuation recommended."

Suddenly Tony has company coming at him and he sends shots at them. Feeling the building shaking, "Sue get out of here!" he calls towards her as one guy manages to get a hold of him from behind and toss him backwards into a wall. This guy is then shot in the leg with a pulse ray.

Sue was gathering a few more things in her hands and watching the computer get closer and closer to uploading the rest of the data, only for Tony to blow it into scrap. "That wasn't finished yet! I still had my most recent data on it. I hope it made it through…" She turned around and started running for Tony and the door just as he shoots the guy. "Whatever, fine, we're done here, let's go, Tony! Men and their patience…"

"I know him. I know him, do not engage, DO NOT ENGAGE!" Natasha's deadly serious when she says this. It doesn't do too much good, though: the metal-armed agent has already closed with the Captain, already crushed the shield around his arm. She still has her own opponent to deal with, but she catches his ankle with one hand and, using that to keep his guard open, pivots him toward the man with the metal arm and gives the lesser agent a firm and fearsome kick somewhere very uncomfortable. If she can propel him toward the Soldier, she can possibly knock him off balance. Reaching down to her belt, she pulls out a little electrified disc and hurls it toward that bright red star. Maybe that, too, will go some way to disabling him.

With the soldiers unable to see him, the Phantasm-Soceror-Supreme finds time to cut to the chase by casting a spell, "The eyes are heavy, but the conscious won't go. Fatigue it wears you, your energy is low. Elijah, grant us peace, cease these problems, let them cease." The Phantasm reappears, clawed hands pointed towards the group manning the heavy artillery, palms facing forward as his voice raises. "Their mind, let not another peep, The sun is gone, it's time to sleep!" There's a blue light, horizontal to the ground that shoots out blanketing the group. As the light reaches them, a sudden sensation of insta-sleep greets them.

The pair make it out of the collapsing part of the ceiling with the push, but it also puts them further into the fight with the Soldier an the other HYDRA agents. Peggy already knows the Soldier is a very dangerous person to fight, but she's also a little busy in trying to dodge all the crumbling parts of the mansion. "Steve!" she shouts as he crashes his shield against the Soldier, firing at those HYDRA still in the hallways. "Can't not engage when he's engaging with us," she informs Natasha dryly and matter of factly.

She and the Soldier's partner in crime exchange fire. She attempts to dodge both him and parts of the collapsing wall to her left. Unable to keep out of the way of both, she moves predictably. A section of wall tumbles toward her and she has to leap forward in order to avoid it. In that moment, the HYDRA soldier has her number. Luckily only one bullet manages to hit, catching her in the side.

The Agent of SHIELD stumbles at the shock and pain of the bullet. But, she's not about to stay down, wincing, she pushes herself up again, throwing the cake knife squarely at the the HYDRA agent that just shot her.

Peggy's faltering caught Steve completely off-guard. As he was turning to assist her, he totally misses the fact that the Soldier has grabbed his — correction, Taskmaster's shield, and started to crush it in place. He feels and hears the breaking of his ulna and radius above the noise of the shield and cries out sharply in pain. 'JARVIS…' he manages into his comm as adrenaline and pain overflood his senses, '…order an evacuation. The mansion is lost.'

Ripping his arm away, Steve uses his good arm to try to grab a hold of the soldier and as he slams the flat of his hand into the Soldier's face, the Captain manages pull down his mask. And that's when the Captain finds himself staring at a dead man. The eyes and face of his best friend. The man he's known since God was a toddler. The one that he was thick as thieves with - that protected a scrawny beanpole Steve through thick and thin, and supported him nearly as much as Peggy did.

A man that died - sacrificed himself to help save the world. And he's staring right at him. "…Bucky?" he manages, even as Natasha's screams hit his ears. There will be words on this later. Probably bad words. Or at least loud words. But for now, protecting his bride overwhelms the need to solve this suddenly strange mystery as he yanks himself away from the soldier, using the broken arm and sheild to protect himself and Peggy as he wraps his good arm around her to try to drag her away. "We need to get out of here." he manages harshly. "Covering fire." Grabbing the gun away from Peggy, he turns and opens fire wildly with his broken arm as he uses the smoke and dust and debris for cover.

Madame Hydra takes stock of the quickly detoriating situation and pauses for a moment. She has one EMP arrow knocked and ready fo rthe Iron Man, but, well, that was alright. As he tussles with and overcomes her Soldiers one by one, she knocks two more arrows. Alone, they weren't a very good area-of-effect weapon, and they certainly weren't grenades. But three of them? They'd give Tony a headache for sure. She fires the Electromagnetic Pulse producing devices and then unclips grenades - flashbang and flechette at once (She has flash bangs?!) - at an alarming rate, pins tinkling into wall and floor as if she didn't care if she got caught in the blast at all.

But then, she was Madame Hydra. "Goodbye Sweet Peas." she says to her two living Soldiers as there is a voluminous puff of dark green smoke.

All that's left is a lock of satin-smooth black hair…and she's gone.

Outside, beam-guns either blast on full auto or cease altogether. T he ones that blast on full-auto take longer than might be anticipated to shut down or self-destruct without 'help' from Mike or one of the Avengers - it would seem these models are quite improved over 'standard' HYDRA energy weapons. The trucks are left in place, as are most of the corpses or wounded/sleeping HYDRA Soldiers.

While Steve's expression registers recognition, Bucky's remains stoic, detached, and cool. The mask had concealed any remnants of expression, but even without it, the subtle curve of Bucky's smile, tug of his brow, or mischievous hitch of his smirk have disappeared without a trace. But it is undeniably Bucky's face, complete with his nearly omnipresent five o'clock shadow.

The name, however, prompts a vague tug of his eyebrows, his jaw tightens, and he virtually breathes rather than speaks the single word that emits from his lips, "Who?"

The confusion is interrupted, however, by the agent that thuds against the Soldier, and temporarily knocks him off his balance. Just a stitch. The momentum combined with the strange encounter prompts him to amble a single step backwards, completely releasing the shield and any aggressive stance. His chin drops, and his gaze catches sight of the charges, he nods once. The mission is fulfilled. He makes a quick tick of his head, and he treads back to the entranceway, with the remaining agents following behind.

Warning lights flash all over the mansion, "ALL ARE ORDER TO EVACUATE!! PROTOCOL EMPTY NEST INITIATED!" a loud computerized voice comes across that isn't JARVIS and this repeats over and over…

The different things do cause a bit of confusion and damages the armor making it crush into his wound deepening them. Hearing the evacuation protocol is initiated he activates his thrusters flying forward tos coop up Sue into his arms, "Hold on to me." he tells her now weaving through the hallways rubbing over any of the fleeing enemies that might be in the way with her help if she bubbles them for this. One area is nothing but smoke on purpose and he flies right into it looking as if they might hit a wall the panel opens taking them into a hidden tunnel which he flies through going up through an escape hatch on the outside of the mansion in the front where he lands kneeled setting her down. "Cap.. Get out now." in pain he looks up towards the mansion, "I'm sorry, father. JARVIS.. ENDGAME.. NOW!"

Explosions can be heard in the basements of the mansion and moving up floor by floor.

"I won't give these bitches the satisfaction of destroying this place." Tony says watching and listening as this begin to happen.

Sue lets out a yelp of surprise as she's scooped up into Tony's arms like that, but she's clinging to him tightly with one arm wrapped around his suit's neck, the other held outwards. She grits her teeth and projects a field in front of them, helping to plow through everything as they fly woards the escape tunnel. She staggers for a moment as she's set down, then turns back as she hears the explosions start. "I'm sorry," she whispers to him, hugging him tight, "I'm so sorry."

Well go- Phantasm gets moving, moving over to shut the damn machines off. Yeah, this is going to take some time as he's the only one dealing with having to reach through the machine and tear out or slash anything important looking in each of them.

Yeah he's not a weapons specialist either. So sue him.

Steve's question gives Peggy pause. Even through the pain and the panic of ensuring her team gets out alive, that's something she never thought to see. However, as she looks up at the Solider now that he's unmasked, her sees it, too. "Sergeant Barnes?" She only knew him through the Commandos, but the face is certainly familiar to her. However, the complete and utter blank face the Soldier returns is met with only a shudder.

With the help of Steve's good arm, used to propel her upwards and she takes the help, though she's surly about it. "I'm fine," she huffs, though there's obvious pain in her voice. She's obviously in enough pain that she'll surrender her gun without too much of a fight. Instead, she picks up a brick from the collapsing building, intent on using it as melee weapon should any HYDRA agents attempt to get in too close to the pair. "Your arm…" she trails off, having seen the fight, not sure how badly he's injured.

At the assurance of Natasha, Peggy frowns. "Just come with us," she tells the woman, but the pair are still moving, whether the Black Widow takes her advice or not.

With the mansion coming apart at the seams, Steve withdraws as more debris falls between him and James, cutting them off. As he turns to Peggy, he leads her towards the garage area, even as he continues to transmit orders, 'If you're not wounded, get to the Tower. If you are, SHIELD Headquarters..' he manages as he comes into the garage. As they go down the row of vehicles, he comes across one of Tony's cars, a Mercedes CLK-GRT. He's assuming that Natasha will be right behind them.

Opening the door, he waits for Peggy to settle in the passenger side before he moves to the driver's side. "Keys, keys.." he searches, before lowering the visor and they drop down into his lap. "..there we are. Buckle up, baby, I don't usually drive.." he says as he starts the car.

Throwing it into gear, the tires screech as he races down the path of vehicles before tearing out of the garage and past the attacking HYDRA vehicles before hitting the street beyond.

"Come on Natty.." he mutters quietly. "…where are you…"

As more explosions engulf the mansion, suddenly a motorcycle bursts out of the flames and debris, a redhead on it, a cut above her eye. Because even Natasha couldn't escape unscathed.

More explosions rock the mansion as HYDRA withdraws finally, before police and fire and news crews descend on the location.

Tony raises the visor up staring as the mansion begins to implode on itself. He feels rather numb as Sue hugs him and that does mean he can't even feel the pain. Tears in his dark brown eyes sparkle from the relfection of the lights. "I'm sorry, dad." he sobs a bit before closing his visor and takes off into the sky heading towards the tower.

~FIN~

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