The gnome in question had jumped from the cart as it careened out the window and stood on the ledge, listening. The entire front of his body hurt, between the bullet impacts, the acid, and the metal shards embedded in the melted goo of his face. It sounded like that time-obsessed fool Etereo had failed, and he didn't have much hope for Geiger, considering no scent of burning flesh or screams had drifted down to him.
He couldn't win alone. At the rate he was losing blood, he might not even survive. He jumped away from the building, but as he did, saw the other two pests stepping off a fire escape. What was worse, they saw him.
The girl moved first, in deceptively slow, loping strides, but covering ground quickly. She still wasn't ready for him to kick off the air and spring above her while a foot off the ground, and passed harmlessly beneath him. He saw her turn in mid-stride to face him and he twisted to be ready for her next move. So he never saw the metal disc when it smashed into the base of his skull. His body went parallel to the ground, face down, twitching uselessly. He was dimly aware the girl caught him as he fell.
The platter bounced off the asphalt parking lot and shot back towards Calvin. He'd wrapped his hand in his handkerchief, so catching it didn't hurt quite as badly this time. He rushed over to Cass. "Oh crap, I didn't kill him did I? I was trying for stunned!"
She shook her head. "Still breathing. Already badly injured, though. Won't last long."
"Don't worry, I'm sure the Savage Avengers are still accepting applications," a voice called from behind them. "Or maybe the T-Bolts."
"Never to the first, and only if Hawkeye's leading the second," Calvin retorted without turning. "Which of you did he attack?"
Rhodez raised her hand. "My rifle blew up."
"Aw shit, really?"
"Yeah, but I think I have a useful power now!" She said with more cheer.
Behind her, Deadpool shook his head "no" emphatically before interrupting. "What'd you bring him down with? Rocket launcher? Novelty cartoon anvil?"
Cassanee pointed at Calvin, who held up the drink tray. "He threw that."
The others gawked, and Calvin rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm not bad at throwing things."
Clever Adolescent Panda arrived at the tail end and swallowed Calvin up in a Hug. "That's so awesome!"
"Thanks pal. Are you OK?"
"Yeah, it isn't good, but we're OK. Pollock and I are gonna take some of the computers in the lab with us. We'll see if we can find anything on them. Where's the one who attacked you?"
Calvin gestured towards the roof. "Hopefully still KO'ed up there. We didn't have anything to tie him up with, and carrying a guy with electric powers down a metal staircase seemed risky."
"At least you know where he is. I think ours sank into the foundation of the building."
A raspy laugh clawed its way out of the gnome's throat where he lay on the ground. Cassanee crouched nearby. "What's funny?"
"You idiots have no idea what you're up against."
"Cliche alert. Are we messing with forces we cannot possibly comprehend, too?" Wade asked, yawning and digging a finger in his ear (through his mask, not sure how effective that is). "You shouldn't stick your finger in your ear, haven't you heard Narrator? Especially not my finger."
Well, OK then.
Calvin and Clever Adolescent Panda exchanged glances, the panda replying, "Yeah, that's not exactly new for us."
"I'm sure you will enlighten us on the nature of the threat?" Pollock stood at the rear of the group, arms folded across her chest.
"Don't count on it sweet cheeks." The gnome's grin, with only a few remaining teeth, through that ruined landscape of a face, was not a pleasant sight.
"Oh no, you've made a demeaning comment about me based on my looks," Pollock stated flatly as she moved closer. "Do you want me to cry, or lose control and kill you quickly?"
Before the gnome could respond, Cassanee shouted "Move!" and tackled Pollock. Clever Adolescent Panda did the same to Calvin, and Deadpool for Rhodez. Electricity arced from above, scorching the pavement in a ring around the Gnome with No More Syringes(?)
Looking at the roof from beneath his furry buddy, Calvin saw the Old Electric Man standing at the edge. Maybe it was the angle, but he felt the man was glaring specifically at him. "Get off," he hissed. "He's gonna fry you to get at me!" He felt the panda shake their head firmly, and began trying to squirm free.
"What are you doing?!" The Gnome found the voice to shout from somewhere. "You know what you're supposed to do!"
The six looked at him, then the frail man as he spread his hands, electricity flowing in greater amounts than ever. He glowed blue now, brighter and brighter, energy arcing down the walls and into the interior of the building through every opening.
It was obvious to Pollock he was trying to destroy it, and possibly them, somehow. She shoved the girl in the hood off her and rose, searching for a cartridge, one to wrap him up. If the foul-mouthed runt was near death, another person to interrogate would help. Maybe she'd finally get Ca-the sullen girl to leave her be.
As she raised the gun, something crashed into her back, sending the shot wild as she was driven to the pavement. She felt two small hands clamp, vise-like, on either side of her throat. Too small to choke her, but more than enough to cut off her carotid arteries. She tried to roll, dislodge him, but no luck. Her head was wrenched back far as it could go, back bowing under the strain. She couldn't concentrate enough to shapeshift. Her fingers clawed at his, but it was as though his hands had grown roots into her skin.
In the corner of her vision, she could see the sullen girl trying to pull him off. Strong as she was - and Pollock had been hit by her enough to know - she wasn't making much headway, though Pollock thought the grip might be loosening slightly. Or she was blacking out already. It only took a few seconds.
She saw a blurred image of the gnome open his mouth to bite one of the hands holding him The moment he did, a red-gloved hand jammed a serrated blade in the opening. The grip tightened for a second, then released. Pollock's head fell forward, she was just able to shift one arm so her forehead landed on it, rather than the pavement.
"I'm gonna go ahead and finish the fun-sized serial killer, OK." Deadpool's tone didn't suggest he was asking permission.
"We still need to stop him," Rhodez gestured at the man on the roof, still flooding power into the structure. "Can you hit him from here, Deadpool?"
The merc ignored her, focused on the gnome. She looked around. "Anybody have anything?"
Clever Adolescent Panda was sorting through Pollock's satchel. "I don't know what any of these cartridges do."
Calvin sighed, pressure situations weren't really his thing, but. . . "Worth a shot." He hefted the tray, took a couple of steps as he drew his arm back, and then let it fly. He pretty much expected it to bounce harmlessly off the building on the first floor. Maybe the second, if he got a tailwind. If that was what happened, he must have gotten one hell of a tailwind, because it flew true, arcing cleanly towards the Electric Man, arms still outstretched.
Rhodez could see the man's eyes widen, but he didn't try to defend himself. Instead, the amount of energy pouring from him increased. Just as the tray reached him, there was a loud rumble from somewhere beneath their feet, and the man slumped, exhausted. The tray flew over his head.
"Shit. Sorry," Calvin said.
"That was a really good throw," his fuzz buddy assured him. "He just moved at the last second. At least we can go talk to him now."
Which is when the entire building collapsed. Whatever his powers triggered, the building couldn't stand under it any longer. It trembled internally first, and as it began to collapse on itself, the ground it stood on gave way, forcing everyone to retreat towards the cars as the rest of the structure fell into the depths. Dust billowed from the hole, before drifting over like a fog bank made just for them.
"Great, we're probably all gonna get mesothelioma," Calvin grumbled as they stumbled through it in the direction of their cars.
"Not me!" Deadpool exclaimed. "Healing factor! High five!" He raised his hand, and after a moment, Clever Adolescent Panda high-fived him.
"You don't have a healing factor, you stinker," Calvin snapped. "Do you?"
"Not really, but I couldn't leave him hanging."
"You're dead to me, Clever Adolescent Panda."
"Does that make Deadpool, Dippy Fresh?" Rhodez wondered.
"He is a very '90s idea of cool, so yes."
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