[Brighton Beach] 5:23 AM, EST

The plan was working. Mostly. Her fields did the necessary damage, but not enough to have them all safe from the immediate danger. It was getting frustrating. That something could become as big of a nuisance in such a short amount of time. At the very least, her force fields struck the intended targets, sans Rose. Susan made a note to see her in recovery after. Besides, she was holding perhaps the most valuable source of information they could have at this time.

Susan bore little mind to Kwan and Jenkins, having complete trust in their capabilities and their ability to follow orders. A boon of working with professionals. The trio kept moving, soon enough getting close enough to Astra, Rose, and the shore. Herman was still a ways ahead, yet a brief glance showed that Susan's strike had worked.

Before she could envelop her two colleagues into her field again, there was the pressing matter of her assistant being in danger. Susan could feel herself bubbling with frustration, finding an outlet for it in the form of a trio of force fields, expanded and made dense enough to crush anything below them. While still holding up the field containing her and the two gentlemen, Susan's extra fields appeared above the creatures aiming themselves at Astra. In a swift, dramatic motion of her free hand, Susan slammed the three fields down. Where Astra was, there was now enough solid ground to ensure a serious impact should the fields catch the creatures. She was certain they would. She had to be, there was no time for doubt.

Just as her action was completed, the rift behind them, now over the water, expanded. She looked back, eyes slightly widened. The anomaly certainly liked its element of surprise. Creatures emerged from it, Susan gaining an estimated number when they were suddenly not there anymore. Streams of energy disintegrating them into nothing. She turned towards the source, finding it to be a familiar figure. The Ray.

"A sight for sore eyes, Ray!"

The words simply came out, their unintentional nature not in her thoughts. Her tone made it clear that Susan was definitely relieved. Whether it be a small squad of agents or a capable hero, she didn't care. Help was help and this situation was crying out for some.

As if rejuvenated, Susan made determined steps towards Astra and Rose, hoping to envelop them in her field with no critters around to thwart them. Their next destination would be that of Dr. Hughes'. The end was in sight and if fortune smiled upon them, they could soon begin examining the findings from this mishap of an operation. Sue made another note to herself, relating to responsibility.

"Alright, one final stretch!"

Before she would set off in a direct beeline to Hughes with her colleagues in tow, Sue had one more request to ask of her cavalry.

"Ray, cover us please."

The Ray soared through the air, banking sharply for a quick turnaround. He let out a loud whoop, and unleashed another bombardment on the offending creatures coming out of the rift. Again, he got all of them. Nearly. With quick thinking, subsequent blasts of sun-hot light obliterated the remaining monsters that would have joined the remaining pack. The pack in question stood little chance against Susan and Astra's assault. They made short work of them... though while they continued to their destination, yet more of them emerged on the rift side of the beach. Ray cursed under his breath, and got to work. He would do; for now.

The team quickly piled into the sedan, or at least gathered around the back, its doors flung open. Herman was sitting (more like sprawled) on the computer chair he had set up at the makeshift desk inside. He was hunched over, holding his left arm in pain. Even under his blazer and uniform, it looked visibly swollen. The communicator was somewhere on the floor. Herman had forgotten about it already. When Susan came in, he tried to get up, then doubled back into the chair with a grunt. He grimaced, then jerked his hand in a pointing gesture twice, first at a side table, then back outside, in the direction of the growing rift. On the table was a small, mechanical handheld device, glittering with blue lights. Once Susan and Astra entered the interior, they would be able to hear an odious hum coming from that thing.

Rose, meanwhile, quickly set the stranger on the love seat that somehow fit inside this thing. Once she was sure that he was secure, Rose headed back outside, watching the Ray continue to keep the monsters at bay... for now. It was steadily getting worse.

Astra didn't have time to catch her breath. She looked at Hughes as the doors swung open, noting his swollen arm even as Sue instructed her to tend to it. She put the rifle to one side, grabbing instead a first aid kit from one of the units affixed to the interior walls. Astra was more at home with equipment that saved lives, not that destroyed them. She didn't have time to consider what she had done, and was thankful for it. Guilt would have to wait.

Even as she went about Hugh's injuries, stripping back the sleeves with scissors and applying salve to the bruising and swelling. Astra was rolling gauze around the wound when Susan's words cut through the desperate noise of the outside. She flinched, she had to stop what she was doing because her own reaction was so visceral. Astra had never encountered Doctor Storm's true anger before. She paused, looking towards the object for the first time, across at Doctor Hughes, then finally at Susan, eyes wide with trepidation and fear. She felt like she knew the answer before she asked it. The device was nothing good.

"Doctor Storm... what is that thing?"

That man. That infuriating, stubborn, reckless, petty, envious man. To bring something like the Nullifier, let alone somehow possess it in the first place... What was he trying to prove? That extreme measures were a necessity? That universally destructive forces could be bent to their will? She had answers to those questions, but refused to acknowledge them, because those answers were the simple ones. Susan didn't deal with simple. Because no matter how dire a situation, there was always another way. It was part of her moral center. It was so wholly Susan Storm that she wondered why she was reaching for the device anyway.

Touching the Nullifier felt forbidden. She knew who it really belonged to. She knew what it had been used for before. And had they another, immediate way to stop this possible calamity, she wouldn't have grasped it at all. Yet there it was, in her hands. Her gaze had been on Herman this entire time, but took a moment to look down at what she was holding. Its hum reached the back of her skull, a most uneasy feeling. Still merely a piece of technology, she felt as if it was... aware. A foolish notion brought on by an incredible amount of stress.

Susan's breathing was as calm as it could be under the circumstances. But her anger hadn't left her once. Her head snapped back at Herman, looking him dead in the eyes again. She ignored every word he said, because speaking to him directly would mean dismantling him entirely. Instead, Sue opted to focus on Astra's brief question. She didn't look at her apprentice, instead letting her stare be glued to Herman for as long as she could. It spoke everything Herman would assume she would've said out loud.

"You'll see."

Her tone was terse. Not because of the question, but because of the implication. Sue's non-answer was a confirmation in every shape or form about the situation and the device. It also carried a promise to explain everything once it was over, should Astra choose to read it as such.

Sue then promptly made her way to the doors, letting her feet touch the sand once more. Before she did the unthinkable, she let her hand rest on one of the open doors, letting out a quiet sigh before looking at Astra proper. Her tone shifted to her more usual cadence, if only barely.

"Run a diagnostic on him. He was hit by an interdimensional god knows what. It could prove volatile."

This time, Susan looked only at Astra and what she was pointing towards. She couldn't even say his name right now. Susan hated feeling like this. It wasn't her, not when it was this type of anger. As she spoke, her hand gestured to the same table the Ultimate Nullifier laid on. There was a smaller version of the scanning equipment they used in the field before. It wasn't exactly made for medical purposes, but it could likely detect what was ailing the other doctor. She took note of the glow before and couldn't consider her a decent leader in any way if she didn't acknowledge it. As much as an inner part of Sue wanted to leave Herman squirming for just a bit longer. No, she refused to stoop entirely to his level. And she certainly refused to have a lost life on her conscience.

Sue had almost pushed her off the door and disappeared back onto the greater battlefield when a necessary thought crossed her mind. Backing up into the pair's view again, she looked at Astra softly. As if looking to apologize, but the time for that was later. Instead, her look and following words were that of gratitude.

"Astra... thank you. I owe you a drink."

She didn't know if Astra partook. Another thing to find out and possibly apologize for. Susan herself did so only on special occasions, but if they all got out of it in one piece? Well, she had a particular bottle on standby. Her words were followed by Susan now finally disappearing behind the vehicle and back into the fray. As soon as she was far enough, a force field formed around the vehicle and everyone they brought to it before. There was only one thing she could muster to think of as she joined the deafening sounds of the battleground again.

Herman, with what dwindling control he seemed to have over his rapidly changing body, regarded Astra with that familiar iciness. "You'll... understand, eventu-uh...ly." His figure slumped, catching itself on the affected arm. It was massive now, proliferated with indescribable growths that could only be described as parasitic. They pulsated, generating a visual shimmering effect across his limb that proceeded to echo across his body. To say the least, he groaned. In pain. The machine began to conduct its analysis of his... "condition". Herman looked back to the girl, barely holding onto his lunch, and even less to consciousness. He stared at her, then his jaw slackened. "Don't... -ou dare..."

Outside, things had gone from bad to worse. There were far too many of these things now. One saving grace was that Susan would not have to endure hordes of monsters. Most of them were airborne now, caught in the centrifugal forces that the rift was now generating. Every few seconds, Susan would be able to make out Rose's suit flying with the fauna and debris. Even the Ray, who was still burning brightly, had been sucked into this current. He hadn't stopped trying to blast every anomaly he could, though steadily, his light grew dimmer and dimmer, his beams less effective. Then an errant electronics cabinet clotheslined him, and he became limp, following the rest of the cyclone.

Whether it was her own force field abilities or her position, Susan had managed to avoid being swept up with these things. She was in the eye. Then, Astra's projection emerged from the enbubbled van, out into this storm. She was unphased by the forces at work here, though she felt other things. Pressures upon her mind, like a migraine that was rapidly bursting at several points in a proverbial hydraulic engine. Lightheadedness soon followed.

It wasn't the kind of darkness she was used to. Astra had explored the stars, the galaxy and the universe beyond. The idea of a void had been well known to her. Something to traverse, to explore, not something to fear.

Until now.

She couldn't move, or at least experienced no feeling of movement. A faint green mist hung listless around her, but Astra couldn't perceive anything more. She felt panic rising in her chest, astral or otherwise. Then she saw it. The figure.

It moved erratically, like a stock motion shadow, closing in on her. She couldn't do anything to resist it, eyes wide with fear as it began to reach out. A purple light bathed her face, and she heard it. Felt it.

Next time.

Then it was all gone. She was back on the beach, or at least above it, her mind reeling. It had all gone back to normal, save for the carnage of their equipment littering the sand. Astra shook her head. The words were imprinted on her mind. Susan's words were fuzzy as she spoke at Astra, but she barely heard. It wasn't until Susan began to run back to the sedan that she came to her senses.

Astra flew across the beach, reaching the van even as Susan wrenched open the door. Herman was inside, and his condition had deteriorated rapidly. Astra felt guilt in her heart over that. She had been put in charge of him... but she had bigger things to think of now. The words.

Slowly, carefully, Astra slipped back into her physical form. Pain sprang up like lightning, dancing through her body as she sat up hard, pressing herself into Susan's form, her own hand covering her superior's and holding on tight. Feeling the physical touch, reminding herself of the anchor to this world. Astra found herself after a few seconds of breathing, pulled back slightly and looked up into Susan's eyes. They were wide, full of fear and trepidation. Indeed, Astra's whole body, as damaged as it had been from the falling sedan, shook like a leaf in the wind.

"Professor... did... did you see it too?"