Inside [the] F.I.R.E. (Colossus)

[hulk]

Los Angeles, California: Not a whole lot to do unless you're looking for a good fight. Dr. Banner wasn't particularly the fighter and has been learning to attempt to control his anger. It was difficult, just ask MACH V and Juggernaut. But it wasn't like he hadn't been trying because he has and it's been a long, difficult road for him. Nothing could have ever prepared him for the battle of his life or the after effects of World War III; even then, the dust was settling. It wasn't very normal for him to feel so alone and he knew that he walked the path of the lonely man so many have seen before.

New York wasn't exactly the happiest place on earth, and it wasn't the safest in terms of suppressing his anger. So many criminals, so many thugs and gang-bangers in New York, it wasn't safe for anyone to be there. However, Dr. Banner has noticed how some of the people there have reformed from being the "famed criminal" to something of a superhero. But that didn't make anything right, it didn't help that there would always be some crazed psycho who wants to do damage to you or the ones you love. He tucked his hands inside of his pockets and began walking down the street.

Come on, Banner, think! Los Angeles... Where would I go to find peace? Well, not much of it anywhere these days. he thought to himself. It was becoming increasingly difficult to find a "safe haven" where he could just relax and be left alone, albeit from Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross. Somehow, Banner felt that was going to be easier said than done. Most things were this day and age. It didn't help that his heart rate was increasing due to the stress and constant frustration level. Glancing at his timer, he realized that maybe it was time to just cool it for a while. Again, easier said than done, but it had to be done.

He found a nice shady spot beside of some trees in a nearby park. It seemed like the perfect resort since this side of L.A. was hardly dangerous. The sound of children running, screaming and playing caused him to turn his attention to the rest of the park and he gave a half smile at their expense. Everyone was safe, nothing was out of the ordinary and nothing suggested that he would have to transform any time soon. He swung his backpack over and unzipped it, removing an apple from the back. He took a bite out of it and was enjoying himself today. The familiar "crunch" could be heard and he was content.

Though, that short-lived relaxation and state of peace was interrupted when a towering shadow loomed over him. The parents noticed it, even the kids were pointing and crying, but one of the older children asked his mother if she could buy him one for Christmas. This caused Banner to turn around and he was greeted by the sight of a gigantic rusted metal boot as big as the trees he sat beside of enjoying his apple. Apparently, though there wasn't much criminal activity, there sure was quite a bit of mutant activity. His eyes widened as he looked up at the towering cyborg soldier. It shocked him, confused him.

Sentinels?... In Los Angeles? he thought to himself, tossing the apple and grabbing his backpack. He wanted to get out of there before he became angry, because no one would like him when he's angry. However, his sprint towards safety was noticed by the Sentinel and the robotic giant thought him to be a mutant fugitive. "Halt, mutant!" it shouted in a demanding tone of voice. But Banner was unresponsive and wanted to get the hell out of dodge. As he attempted a run for safety a yellow beam was shot down towards him at an angle and nailed him in the back.

The impact caused him to fall flat on his stomach and he clutched his lower back best he could. The "thumping" sound of footsteps began to arise and the Sentinel was making its way for Dr. Banner. "Target is unresponsive. Must destroy!" the robot threatened in a cybernetic tone. Banner put his hand up and he crawled backwards trying to reason with it. "No, no, you have me all wrong! I-I'm not a mutant!" he shouted angrily but his plea fell on deaf ears. The Sentinel slowly brought its gigantic hand up and shot another beam as Banner darted towards an alley... Unfortunately.

The impact of the beam barely missed him but crashed into the concrete behind him, causing it to create a small quake-like feedback and banner went flying into the alleyway. Unfortunately for the robot, Banner's eyes were already emerald green.

All was silent. The people in the park noticed that the Sentinel blatantly attacked Dr. Banner wrongfully and in an unjust manner. Suddenly, a low bestial growl emerged from the darkest alley and transformed into a thunderous roar just seconds later. The Hulk tossed a dumpster out of the alleyway and leapt from his current restrained state and aimed for the Sentinel. The green goliath climbed onto the Sentinel's arm, making its way across its shoulder and he began pounding his enlarged fists against the robot's head. "Stupid robot! Hulk SMASH!" the beast roared as the Sentinels' head come flying off.

Hulk jumped to the ground and released an angry snort, looking around him. The beast threw his arms out and clenched his fists as he looked up to the sky and released a thunderous roar. Suddenly, many of the same robots come flying towards him and landed around him in a circular manner. "Target acquired!" the line of Sentinels affirmed as they aimed their palms towards the green beast. "Hulk strongest there is!" he roared, proving his dominance and strength through intimidation. He felt alone in this battle, that is until another arrived just in time. But Hulk was confused.

[colossus]

Perhaps the most daunting leg of Piotr’s trip West had been the time he had spent finagling his way through the airport security. They had insisted that he required two seats, but he refused to pay for two when he planned to only sit in one. Though, looking back on the nearly five hours he had spent crammed between an obese woman with a flaky scalp and a short bald man that insisted on talking to Piotr about the different types of nasal hair, it might have been worth it. Thankfully, by the time the plane had finally landed, he had managed to escape as one of the first off of the plane with merely a few well-placed elbows.

”The weather here is most uncomfortable,” he declared to a man near the luggage claim as he tugged at the color of his white shirt. Unfortunately, the small man in a monkey suit merely glanced up at the large Russian before grabbing his pink Dolce suitcase and stalking away. ”And the people are most strange,” Piotr muttered, more to himself, as he hauled up his large duffel bag and slung it over his left shoulder.

Attempting to hail a cab in the City of Angels proved to be more difficult than the X-Man ever thought humanly possible. The small yellow cars all sped directly past him no matter how many times he waved his beefy hand in the air. Finally, he had to resort to stealing a man with blue hair’s cab when it pulled up to the sidewalk. Granted, the incensed look that he received the moment he’d folded himself into the small back seat was not quite worth the trouble that he had gone to.

Unfortunately, the cabbie did not take kindly to Piotr’s inquisitive nature when he asked the man to pronounce his name properly so that he might call him something other than ‘Driver’. This being said, it was not all too surprising when the cab driver simply pulled to the side of the road and demanded that the large and courteous man exit the vehicle immediately. In his confused state, Piotr merely stumbled out of the car and watched as it drove away at two times the legal limit.

Disgusted and thoroughly lost, Piotr Rasputin shouldered his duffel bag yet again before starting off along a virtually deserted sidewalk. At least he dropped me off in nicer place, he admitted to himself as he glanced around at the scenery. The last neighborhood the driver had taken him through tempted Piotr to transform for safety reasons. Unfortunately, the car’s weight capacity caused him to refrain from doing so. Why again did you come to this city? he asked himself as he was forced to sidestep a group of children playing with swinging ropes and hopping about.

Yet, before he could thoroughly answer the question that he had posed, the ground beneath his feet seemed to shake but a bit before the air grew still. Blue eyes narrowed in concentration, Piotr picked up his pace and continued along the sidewalk, passing by a small park where more children and their supervisors lingered. But, he quickly noticed that they were not playing as children should. No, they seemed to be staring off in the distance and skyward.

“What is this?” he asked of himself as he followed the direction of their gazes and felt his muscles tense in anticipation.

The sight he beheld was nothing short of strange. A large green behemoth lept atop the large, and eerily familiar, robot before smashing its large green fists against the robot’s head. Piotr merely lifted a dark brow in surprise as the Sentinel’s head went flying through the air to land near him.

Without another thought, he had dropped his duffel onto the ground and focused on transforming his body into the familiar organic steel that was more like a second skin to him. Some five seconds later, his entire body was a strange silver color, and nearly indestructible. His clothing was worse for the wear, as his shirt was in tattered shreds and his pants were torn below the knee and barely able to stretch over his larger and harder form. His shoes, which before had been brand spanking new and soft to the touch, were simply no more.

Colossus was already running forward when a large group of the Sentinels landed around the green behemoth in a threatening nature. “Target acquired!”[/b][/I] they announced. Their palms were held out toward the large green man, obviously to attack the man. But, before the chaos erupted, he charged forward and ripped a full grown oak tree out of the ground and sent it sailing toward the group.

“This is like the baseball I have played!” he shouted as the uprooted tree left his fingertips.

[hulk]

It seemed as if these Sentinels were coming out of the woodwork in two second intervals, it was rather annoying. As they had their palms aimed at the green beast he seen a tree fly from the corner of his eye. The Hulk turned his head to look around and noticed a metal-clad heroic who had tossed the tree to save him. Lucky for Colossus, he was now in Hulk's best wishes. The green goliath used his massive legs and stood in a crouch, soon after he leapt into the air with arms held out. The time to attack had arisen and it would only be a matter of time now.

The unsuspecting Sentinel found itself staggering backwards as Hulk hung on tight with one hand, smashing with the other. His fist began pounding the side of the robot's head as its flashing red optics faded to black; the robot had been destroyed. As it tipped over, Hulk used the momentum to leap onto another one where the jump seen his massive feet crash into the cybernetic crown of the Sentinel. He climbed around to the front and used both hands to rip out very important looking wires and pieces of metal flew about aimlessly.

Suddenly, the behemoth jumped down as both feet hit the ground. There were just a few more left and Hulk felt that Colossus may be of assistance. Not in that scientific manner but...

Meanwhile, there were a couple of them stomping their way through the streets and one was about to turn Colossus into a nickel. But as the gigantic foot come down he was already flying through the air with great distance. Right behind Colossus, The Hulk had landed and caught the robotic foot and held it up onto his massive green shoulders. The creature bit his teeth and pressed upward, throwing the Sentinel off balance, as he shoved it backwards. Hulk watched as the cybernetic giant stumbled and staggered. Just then, he felt the need to flex and show his superiority.

"No one is stronger than Hulk!" the beast growled, releasing a thunderous roar with a bestial growl to follow. The people of L.A. were watching closely as the Sentinels were becoming scrap metal rather than carrying out orders and mission objectives. They noticed the familiar green monster and there were a couple of children who knew of his existence standing in the crowd with their parents. The children wanted to see Hulk smash these robotic giants and send them back to their manufacturer... In pieces! Indeed he would, and enjoy it for what it was.

[colossus]

Colossus found himself mighty glad that the large green behemoth was preoccupied tearing apart the Sentinels. In fact, he was relieved that the big green man was on his side. At least, they appeared to be fighting the same enemy. So, for the time being, they were on the same side. Hopefully, it would last.

Yet, he found himself wishing that he had worn his uniform, as he usually tended to do, under his regular clothing. It would have saved him a lot of hassle and possible embarrassment. After all, he could not over stretch his bounds or he would literally be left in an awkward position in front of gathered onlookers.

Thankfully, the Sentinels did not appear to be extreme upgrades from the last he had fought. They had their weaknesses, as all foes did. The easiest way to take one of them down (at least for Colossus) was to merely knock one of their legs out from underneath them before crushing their mighty heads. The process was rather irksome, but it kept him from being thrown across the street and kept the onlookers away from harm.

He’d just finished using a leg (which he had happily removed from an unmoving Sentinel) to take out a second when he heard something from behind him. As he turned and glanced upward, he found himself clutching the leg just that much tighter. Thankfully, the large green man was there to prevent Colossus from becoming a metal pancake, as he merely sent the Sentinel flailing for air.

“No one is stronger than Hulk!” the large green man suddenly proclaimed before releasing a beastial roar that would put even Wolverine to shame.

Yet, it wasn’t until that exact moment that Colossus recognized the large and threatening figure. A wave of trepidation went through the man as he spun in a circle and sent the leg flying down the road to wear a Sentinel had just landed. The momentum and weight of the leg was enough to knock its head clean off, sending it promptly to its knees.

“Good job, comrade!” Colossus shouted toward his compatriot before lifting up a postal box and sending it at a Sentinel that seemed to be reaching for him. Even with the blue postal box lodged in its chest, it still kept moving. Without hesitating, he ran forward, picking up a discarded red wagon on the way, and then drew back his metallic arm and sent the child’s play toy sailing toward his enemy’s head.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t miss.

[OOC: Sorry, not feeling Clossy-ish.]