Fighting the wave.
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He turns to the Avengers deputy leader, "Aegis, I want you to use your armor's anti-gravity powers to similar effectit might be possible for your anti-gravity to alter the tsunami's waveform, which would have the same effect of disrupting its force. Try disrupting from the back of the wave, along as great a stretch as you can manage. If that doesn't work, get out of there and move any boats you can from wave's pathit's going to shallow out the area as it gets closer, and those boatsand anyone on them, are going to get crushed when the wave comes on. I have my armor's transmission systems tuned to yours, so we can coordinate the actions of the both groups. Oh, and try and, I guess, keep yourselves 'Open' for telepathic contact. I expect Ravdna will try and reach us once she shows up. Get going nowthe further away you get started, the easier this will be."
"Aye-aye." _I suppose it's worth a shot._ Aegis streaks eastwards in search of the nascent tsunami, with Emerald following behind. As Aegis speeds out over the ocean she strains to see her contact. At first it's hard to pick out the tsunami, but it's moving significantly faster than the other waves, and continues to grow and grow as she gets closer. _At that speed, it won't be long before it reaches land._
"Duststorm, get down to the wave's point of impact. Use your Earth Manipulation to shore up the buildings where it's going to hit, and close up any tunnels or the like that are down there. Even if we do manage to decrease the wave's force there's still going to be a lot of water and a lot of energy hitting those structures, and the stronger they are the better for the people trapped down there.
"I'm going to be working with the rest of the team to help with the evacuation, maintain calm, and to try and minimize the chance of mishap when the wave hits the city's power grid. We don't want fires or any thing else to deal with when we're cleaning this mess up."
Union looks the young heroine "Got it? I'll stay in touch with the emergency services people to try and coordinate our efforts, and get the rest of the team organized as I find them. "
Union is watching Duststorm fly off, wondering where he should hit first to help with the effort when he sees Delta V appear almost without warning on the rail of the ESB observation deck
"Delta! Great! Duststorm is heading for where the wave's going to hit. Get down there and clear out everyone who hasn't already left the impact zone. We need as many people as we can move out of there as fast as we can. Since you're the fastest thing we've got..."
Meanwhile, out at sea, Dark Angel has arrived at the wave, and stares awestruck and feeling powerless in the face of the great bulge of sea water heading towards the coast. It is at least a twenty foot swell, and surely is at least a mile wide.
Dark Angel hovered above the ocean, his triad of wings outstretched and unwavering. "Lord, hear me!" he shouted to the heavens. "This cannot be Your doing. Guide me, O Lord, guide my hands to do Your work! Your childrenthough misguideddo not deserve this injustice!"
Dark Angel stared out at the oncoming wave. "Help me, Lord, tell me what to do!" he screamed.
No booming words come from the heavens, nor is there any sort of vision, but Dark Angel does hear a familiar voice as Aegis pulls up nearby. "We need to try to break it up, slow it down somehow! Can you do like this?" She makes a V with her hands, pointed into the oncoming wave. "Like a line of break-walls, with thatstuff, whatever it is, you use?"
Aegis doesn't really wait to see if he got her meaning before flying a little ways off to make her own attempt. Triangulating as best she can, she focuses the armor's beams well beneath the surface, where the wave's true energy lies hidden, and fires rapid, repeated pulses of gravitational force against it, trying to attenuate its base. Moving slowly along the line, she glances back to see if this is having any effect.
"Break-walls...yes!" Dark Angel yells over the rising roar of the ocean. Extending the Darkforce outward like some giant snow plow, Dark Angel flies at an oblique angle into and across the tidal wave. He makes several passes as fast as he's able given the resistance he has to overcome.
Emerald flies after Aegis and arrives just in time to see Dark Angel attacking the wave. He concentrates for a few seconds, and a large brick wall appears out of nowhere and drops to the edge of the water ahead of the onrushing wave.
The impossibility of their assault weighs heavily on the minds of Emerald and Dark Angel, but they do not waver. Time and time again, Darkforce and telekinetic energy slam into the waters, and time and time again there is no visible effect. Aegis joins in the attack against an unstoppable force of nature.
Meanwhile, Ravdna responds to the Avenger's Flare. Patsy hated abandoning Hank and the other infirm in a time like this but she knew she had to respond to the call. The transformation went quickly and Ravdna's Asgardian athleticism allowed her to cover the mile distance quickly.
Union breaks in again on the police and emergency services, "Captain, this is Union. The Avengers are currently doing everything they can to clear people out of the immediate danger zone and strengthen the buildings down there. We also have some people doing their best to blunt the force of the wave. I'll be in contact every few minutes to let you know where we stand and what the wave's ETA is. Thank Dr. Hitachi for his help on this. Union out."
Knowing that none of the other Avengers can quickly make it to the Empire State, Union abandons his post there and starts heading for the impact zone to do all he can. _That's it, try and sound like you've got things under control. Don't mention that you don't even know where some of your team IS right now. I think I can trust that Sam is keeping things calm in Harlem, but I don't even know where Mrs. Walker lives, so it's not like I can make sure she's OK or see if Ravdna's active..._
A cybernetic command shifts his helmet's new Radio system to match Aegis' radio. _It's a good thing I set this radio up over at Stark's...._ "Aegis, this is Union. Delta V is new clearing everyone out of the impact zone, still no word from Malachi or Ravdna. Have you had any luck finding Dark Angel?"
"He's here... not sure if this is working yet."
"Great. Keep up the attacks on the wave. Once it starts draining out the water from the shallows we have about 5 minutes before it hits. Get Emerald and Dark Angel to make as many separate breakwaters as they can before then. Once the cresting starts, get the two of them to put up as big a wall as they can from a safe distanceI have no idea what their limits are, but this will probably push them to their limit. I expect their wall to get crushed, but that will use up even more of the wave's energy."
Union, Delta V, and Duststorm have arrived to find emergency crews already at work. Union recognizes the city's deputy mayor on site, his shirt sleeves rolled up, sweat beading on his brow, a walkie-talkie in one hand and a bull-horn in the other. He alternates shouting instructions and questions into both. Police and firemen are busy evacuating buildings near the water's edge. City workers are pulling heavy trucks into double lines, trying to form a makeshift wall across the streets between the buildings.
"Thank God you're here!" the deputy mayor shouts upon seeing the Avengers arrive.
In short order, the superheroes are lending a hand. Duststorm shapes the very ground into solid walls. Delta V searches buildings at hyper-speed, spreading word and assisting people to move inland and to higher ground. Union assists the city workers in sealing off subway tunnels and adding jury-rigged insulation to power boxes.
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© 2000 Mark L. Chance et al
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