2013-12-18 - Why Baron Zemo Is Not Allowed To Watch Cartoons

Just after sunset. On the island of the Statue of Liberty.

Black Widow is dressed for stealth, in her normal bodysuit and weapons, her hair tucked under a black knitted hat. She is taking point, though she's not the one with the plan.

That would be Pete Wisdom, newly minted Agent of SHIELD. His intelligence, his mission.

"So, explain this to me one more time," she says lowly into her throat mic. Both of them have comms in their ears and throat mics. "Zemo /and/ Strucker should be trying to steal the Statue of Liberty tonight?"

"In a word, yes. They're trying to animate it, and use it to destroy the Helicarrier. How it'll stay structurally sound on it's venture, I have no idea. But I have teams ready to shut down the power grid on my order. Wish I had someone with better senses than... all of us, to ensure I'm right, here." He hated doubt.

"So, Zemo's got a new weapon that... animates things. I couldn't get close enough to sabotage it completely." Even he had a cap over his head, and his sunglasses were off. Even his suit was more form-fitting, and without a hint of white or red shirts beneath. Sometimes stealth really called for stealth.

One such person, clueless of SHIELD, clueless of stealth or need of it, is Grace Choi. Why is she on Liberty Island? She was meeting up with a friend, someone who'd wanted a safe place to meet and tell her about the new drug that was hitting the streets; that could soon be infiltrating her bar. And she wasn't happy about the news. Even among the tourists, Grace stands out; literally. It's hard not to, when you're a 7 foot tall woman and a walking moniker for the song, "She's A Brick House".

Seriously! What the crap?!

Clint had gone out to the Statue of Liberty on a whim, he was bored, he was wandering the city and he found himself at the ferry dock, and what does he find when he gets there? Fricking Hydra. It hadn't been much of a fight a wave of Hydra goons swarming all over him, and then he's tied up and presented to both Zemo and Strucker.

Zemo struts in front of the bound Clint his animating weapon set up nearby "I trust there will be no objections if we use Mr. Barton here as Lady Liberty's first victim," he says speaking to Strucker.

It's Clint who speaks first though "I object!" he says as he struggles against his bonds. "And seriously, aren't you in jail? I mean we locked you up like two-"

Thak. Zemo's boot finds Clint's face. "Gag him," he say to one of Strucker's Hydra minions. Strucker sneers. "Only if she leaves enough of him left for me afterwards." Oh, he owes Barton. So much.

"So," Natasha asks Pete quietly. "Where do you think they are holed up?" She looks around. "And there are so many civilians. If we get into a firefight, there will be casualties." Her brow furrows. "Do we have time to evacuate the island or should we just hope we get in and out quietly?"

"I'm hoping to get in and out quietly. But with how things've been going lately, I'm only successful at quiet when I'm by myself. Shouldn't you still be recovering?" Not like Pete really had room to object, though. "I don't mind destroying the Statue of Liberty if I have to." She's French, after all.

Grace is too focused on being angry at the problem at hand, to notice Goons of HYDRA planted about, ready to take action. She turns from her stance looking out over the ocean to glance disapprovingly at the ferry as it departs, grumbling underneath her breath at having missed it. Which means she'll need to wait awhile yet, to leave. The Amazonian steps in line to get a hot dog, while she waits, looking none too pleased.

Clint is gagged and given a kick by the Hydra goon while he waits. Him, Zemo, Strucker, the weird science gun, and the HYDRA goons are all hidden under a tarp, their little section of the island at the foot of the statue, is fenced off and signs announce to the civilians around them that the area is undergoing renovation.

"The wonderful thing about being a super soldier," Widow replies with no small amount of amusement, "is that you recover fast. It hurts a bit still, but Ward and Mitchell... and Drew, it seems, are still in DC, and the director couldn't get ahold of Barton. There are no other field agents besides Rogers in the area, and he wasn't responding either. So, you'll have to deal with the crippled old lady." She smirks.

Natasha skims the crowd. "...I think the Director would be upset with me if I allowed a landmark to be destroyed, so let's make that plan B," she comments wryly. "Well, you saw the specifications for the weapon-- inside the Statue, or at the base?"

Strucker moves over by Clint, looking down at his bound form. "Soon enough, Barton. You cannot stop /this/ triumph of HYDRA..."

"It's at the base," Wisdom said, staying relatively low. "Likely in that renovated zone. You know how villains like to pretend they're civil servants." Much like civil servants. "Come come, crippled old lady - but I daresay you don't look a day over twenty-two." And forward he went, trying to stay hidden, from both security and potential HYDRA scouts.

Clint grinds his teeth against the gag, and his only reply is to kick at Strucker's leg. It's not a wild helpless kick, but one hard and aimed for the back of the knee.

Natasha curses under her breath in Russian as the two spies near the tarp. "Two Barons, two dozen goons, and more technology than I strictly want to have weapons discharging around," she mutters. "And a hostag-- Clint?"

Okay, not the first time she's seen Clint bound and gagged at Strucker's whim. This isn't a good thing, though. "Bozhe moy, how did he get his hands on Barton?"

She sees the wild kick, and Baron Strucker's response-- a sidestep to avoid it, and then a backhanded blow across Clint's face with his red gauntleted hand, allowing a small charge of electricity to shock Clint as the blow hits.

"Do you really want this to be worse for you?" he asks, amused. "I can make it so much worse."

"Let's not go in loud, yet. My knives are silent, but they're bright. Do you have anything quiet and hard to see t'take out, or at least distract the bad folks? I'm not sure if you brought the firepower to deal with the technology." While Pete sure did. He had the power of the very sun in his body.

The two people creeping near the tent catch Grace's eye. She's a bouncer. She knows trouble in people's eyes when she sees it. She's not exactly someone who can sneak up on people, well. But then, with Pete and Natalia distracted? She might be able to pull up, after all they're expecting more trouble from within, than without. She crosses her arms, clears her throat. Once, from behind them.

Clint spits out the gag. "Oh, please can it?" he asks Strucker even as he flinches from the electrical burns to his cheek. "Just get on with it, alright, you nutjobs," he curses, as he works at his bonds.

Over by the machine Zemo is adjusting the controls. "It's ready Baron von Strucker, give the command and we will be underway."

"I don't have anything quiet that can take out so many," Widow comments. "But distraction-- well, /that/ I can do. Strucker will be less pleased to see me that he is to see Barton." Don't ask why. It's complicated. Also, she really doesn't want to admit the reasoning as to why. There might be anger.

Then someone's throat clears behind her, and she spins, wrist up and her wristgun pointing at-- uh. Okay, not the face. The face is about a foot higher. Awkward.

"Yes, yes! Activate it now! In ten minutes, the Statue should be charged, and then I-- /we/ will rid the world of those meddling SHIELD agents for good! Starting... with Nick Fury and his precious helicarrier." Strucker laughs evilly.

"As for you, Barton," he sneers, "You keep escaping my clutches. No more. I will have my way with you yet."

PHRASING.

Pete Wisdom spun about, and looked face-first into Grace's assets. He was impressed, but nonplussed, as he glared up at her eyes instead, and was just out with it. "You HYDRA?" he asked her. She might notice that his fingertips were starting to glow, just so.

"Shooting my tits will just make me mad," Grace suggests, towards Natalia. "Or, are you just trying to flirt with me?" Then, she smirks. "Do I fucking look like HYDRA?" With her bare arms, tattoos, and piercings, she certainly doesn't seem to think so. And, without brushing the gun aside, she looks down at it, considering. "Not standard issue. Let me guess. Black outfits. Paranoid delusions of spies. You must be SHIELD agents."

Clint manages to wiggle a hand free but he keeps his face angry, and looking desperate. "You're really going with that line?" he asks Strucker, while he glances around for where they stuck his bag with his bow, maybe if he could get to that and if he got some feeling in his hand, he'd be able to make it out of this. "Cause' seriously, someone could take it the wrong way."

He spots the bag, now what he needs is a distraction.

"Da." Natasha looks up at Grace. "And this is a classified mission-- civilians should not be near this area. There is great risk." She looks back over her shoulder.

"Mr. W.," she says smoothly. "You required a distraction?"

"Of course I need a distraction," but one not so distracting as Grace. Stop staring, Pete. Wisdom looked at Natasha. "At your leisure, luv."

"Yeah, right. Come work a night in my bar. -That's- risky." Grace smirks, and - well, doesn't seem to be going away. Or too terribly worried, even given she's clearly heard of SHIELD, and HYDRA. She asks, "What, you both think HYDRA agents are lurking under there?" She points at the tarp, looking a bit amused, and in a humored tone, clearly joking, "What, like they're going to steal the Statue of Liberty and turn it into a weapon or something?"

"That is /exactly/ it," Widow replies to Grace. "We have less than ten minutes until that happens. So..."

She turns. "Whatever happens, Wisdom..." she says quietly, "the mission is the priority. Get that weapon offline."

And she pulls the cap off her head, dropping it to the ground, runs a hand through her hair, and-- simply walks into the tent.

"Volfgangk," Natasha says, her Russian accent highly pronounced. "Eet has been too longk."

Strucker looks up, and so does Zemo. The goons all train their weapons on Natasha. She pouts, moving towards the Supreme Hydra. "What is it? Are you still angry with me over Munich?"

Strucker's face actually begins turning red with anger. "You traitorous... villianous... whore."

Yep. Distraction.

Pete Wisdom blithely ignored Grace when Natasha did her thing. Noting the sound of lots of weapons training on the woman, and he was off. He was running, and fast. But luckily, his special order shoes did a very good job of keeping him quiet, as he went about for the other side so as to do a surprise attack on the weapon... when he got in range of it, of course.

When Nat enters Clint's eyes go wide. Not again. Still, definitely time to go now. He rolls from where he's laying and grabs his bag, then getting to his feet he sprints for cover. "Don't let me interrupt your reunion!"

From by the machine Zemo shouts "Defend the machine!" The Hydra agents jump to the command some moving to stop Clint the others moving to contain Natasha, waiting for Strucker's order before they grab her.

Grace shrugs, and is -not- about to miss out on a good fight. She doesn't care if SHIELD wants her there or not, and after the two agents tromp off both with intentions on the tent itself? She follows Natalia's path. She spies, then, the HYDRA agents, muttering under her breath, "It's really sad when your jokes about lame attempts at terrorism aren't even jokes." Having said this, she uproots the nearest tentpole, and introduces it to the nearest HYDRA agents head, without much concern for the goons well-being. HYDRA, meet Grace Choi.

"'Whore' is such an unpleasant term," Natasha comments dryly-- but Clint has moved, and SOP for any op with the two of them has occured: total chaos.

"You're mine," Widow purrs at Strucker, bringing her wristguns to bear on the man. She fires, a pair of electric discharges hurtling out at him.

He raises a gauntleted arm, absorbing the energy in the shots. "No, my dear, not anymore." He reaches out to grab her with Satan's Claw, but she has already dodged to the side, preparing for another strike.

Pete Wisdom snuck about, his head peeking out just a moment from the other side of the tent.And there it was. A big, beautiful, mad science gun. A few guards. Wiisdom did a swift head-count, and did some quick ballistic trajectory math based on his powers. Now was a good time to strafe.

So he did. He popped from the other side at a dead run, both hands out. His hands glowed brightly, trailing contrails of orange light as hot-knife after hot-knife launched at Zemo's Animator Machine, and the guards there. It looked like a volley of tracer fire from some sort of heavy artillery, searing into terrorists and valuable machine alike.

Wisdom did not have intent to let these guards survive. If they merely ended up maimed after getting something severed or severely burned, that was their fortune.

Zemo roars "Unacceptable!" the as the knives bear down on the masked Baron he draws a weapon from his holster and opens fire. Covering his retreat as the Hydra goons close up around him and his machine in a suicide stand to keep the plan on course. Some fall, some are wounded some are very much dead. Even Zemo has a searing knife in his arm.

On the other side of the tarp covered area Clint gets his bow free of his bag and fires off some arrows at the Hydra goons coming for him, the sharp weapons finding their knees and hands.

A group of them see Grace coming, and pegging her as definitely /not/ a friend all six rush her shouting "HAIL HYDRA!" and firing their weapons at her.

Grace is resiliant, but hardly bullet-proof. As the guns are leveled at her and shot, she's forced to hit the ground, flat. She rolls forwards, gets up to her knees, and double-fist pounds the ground. Hard. If there wasn't going to be actual repairs going on, there will be, now, as a tremor shakes the enclosed area and as the six HYDRA agents are caught off-balance, she picks one poor fellow up and throws him into the other armed agents like he was a ragdoll, or some overblown entertainment wrestling show. The one or two she doesn't get are met with a meaty fist that will, if they are lucky, only break their jaw.

The ground pounding throws Natasha off guard, too, but she rolls with it, taking advantage and lunging for Baron Strucker. He takes a solid blow, but connects with Natasha as well with his gauntleted hand, knocking her back towards Hawkeye.

"I will relish killing you both," he snarls, letting a blast of energy fly from his hand, directly towards Natasha.

Clint is knocked over too and drops his bow when he tries to steady himself. Seeing the Strucker readying his shot, he leaps and knocks Nat out of the way as he throws the arrow in his hand, an explosive one, at Strucker's claw.

Once the device was handily ruined, Wisdom started to cut down HYDRA goon after HYDRA goon, even threatening Strucker. He yelled something inappropriate in German. "Deine Mutter für Hunde ein Hure ist!" Not something you say in polite company. But maybe it'd get a rise out of the villain. Or Pete could make yet another enemy. He gave support fire of his hot-knives, though, trying to help out Grace and the others, as appropriate..

The shock from Strucker's claw hits Hawkeye dead center, and Barton drops like a stone to the floor. The concussion from the explosive arrow, however, throws Strucker back towards Zemo.

Natasha dives to Clint's side, checking his pulse, her expression concerned. She looks relieved when she finds it, rising quickly to her feet to fire at the nearest goons.

Zemo has already jumped on a small hovercraft, and Strucker joins him. "I told you this plan was foolish!" snarls Strucker.

"But I've seen it work!" argues Zemo, firing up the engines.

"Zemo, you are no longer allowed to watch cartoons!" insists Strucker as the two make their escape, leaving their goons to cover them.