Shimmer blinked a few times as she processed her new location. The AEGIS agents looked at her with concern and she gave them a small smile to let them know that she was alright. "I just had a psychic encounter with an altered ape. I think that someone has injected some of these animals with..." Her voice trailed off realizing that she didn't have enough time to explain her suspicions. "I've got a date with a primate."

Paladin and Wild Lotus flew in as they saw Shimmer running toward them from the command post. Iron Maiden, Singularity Man and Sniper had put the two giant crocs down. At Shimmer's instructions, AEGIS agents were running into the zoo to pull out everyone they could in their 5 minute time span. In the distance, they could see the first of the paramedics pulling into the parking lot.

They seemed to have only one problem at the moment: the giant gorilla himself. The gorilla seemed to angrily protect his "ground" and that included the area around the gates. For now, with no one approaching his position, he seemed happy enough to stand there, beat his chest and strut about. The team knew that the AEGIS agents were on a 5-minute clock to get the people out of the zoo; and that the gorilla was going to (most likely) take offense at that encroachment.

As Anna lifted into the air towards the primate's habitat she activated her communicator. "This is Shimmer." It was a bit awkward using the communicator and she wasn't exactly sure what proper protocol was when using it. "I've had a psychic encounter with one of the primates. I believe it was a young Gorilla that had been injected with some mind altering chemical. The Gorilla wants us to retreat and is going to call off the animals that will listen to him. We should have a few minutes to clear out the civilians if they listen to his call. I'm going to try to find his habitat and see if I can find out who is responsible for this."

I volunteer to go with her," Wild Lotus said, glancing at Paladin and Iron Maiden as she did so. "If you think it's the best use of my resources. I'll be more useful in the zoo than I will be against that thing."

Paladin thought for a fast moment and found that he had to agree - she didn't match up well with the gorilla.

"Agreed," he replied, nodding once.

Shimmer nodded gratefully when she heard WiLo's intentions to join her, shifting her course to land next to her on the ground. "If you don't mind me connecting our minds together I can send you an image of the habitat. Could you get us there if I give you a mental picture?"

"Inside a heartbeat," the tall Hindu woman agreed. She began relaxing her perceptions into the plants in the area around them, waiting for Shimmer's mental sending.

The plants inside the zoo were confused. The order of life inside was expected, and was peaceful; but not today. The green world opened up to Lotus. She saw the AEGIS agents moving as wary groups of (seemingly) organized primates watched them. The agents had set up a central place to move all the zoo visitors. It was just out of sight from the large gorilla. The animals inside the zoo seemed to be waiting and watching. After a few seconds of searching, Lotus had an "eye" on all the humans still inside the zoo. There were about 50 left inside and all were being located by the agents.

Shimmer looked at the others, extending the invitation to connect to her mind link. "Anyone else want to link up?"

After hearing from the others, Shimmer extended her mind and connected with those that didn't mind the intrusion. They felt a soft gentle brush in their mind before her presence disappeared. Wild Lotus and the others that joined her could then see the encounter that Shimmer had only moments before in their mind. The streaming feed was four dimensional as they felt the emotions she had for the beast in addition to the traditional sights and sounds that one would experience at a movie.

Shimmer braced herself for whatever Wild Lotus had in mind after she shared her vision.

Wild Lotus concentrated on the images Shimmer sent her, trying to separate the emotion from the data to give her a better chance of finding the place they needed to go. It was not easy to match up weird astral images from one mind that were transferred through another and then into hers. In a few moments, however, she was certain that a growth of monstera deliciosa in the ape/Shimmer encounter was distinctive enough to match with the one she was seeing in the primate habitat.

"Let's go," she said, offering her hand to Shimmer. "We need to find some plants."

Lotus led Shimmer into the bushes in front of the main entrance, squeezing her hand gently. "Just like in practice," she told the smaller woman with a grin. "We'll be through before you know it."

Recalling the monster monstera plant to mind, WiLo flexed her power and slipped them through the "world root," a realm of vegetative consciousness quite unlike animal or human consciousness. But before her companion could even begin to quantify the differences they were stepping out of the monstera and into the deserted primate habitat.

"Okay," Lotus whispered, stretching out her sight to all the plants in the building. "What now?"

Paladin turned to the rest of the assembled team. A memory of one particular Discovery Channel show he'd caught in the motel during one road game in Tennessee came to mind, and as simple an idea as it was, it at least had the virtue of being scientifically sound - at least, as far as he knew.

"Gorillas are big bullies, basically," he explained to them in Discovery Channel-ese. "They typically don't fight to the death because they're smart enough to know when they're beat. If we can frustrate this one enough, he might back down."

"You two," he said to Singularity Man and Sniper, "keep your distance. Try whatever disorienting stuff you have. Go for the vitals - the eyes, neck, and stuff. Give him something to think about other than us," he stressed, using a thumb to define 'us' as himself and Iron Maiden.

To her he said, "You can probably take whatever he can dish out and I'm not exactly squishy, so we'll get in close and see how bad we can hurt him. If we can get him off his feet that might increase the fear factor and get him to that tipping point faster."

"Sounds like a plan," Leah said. She looked up--and up--at the gorilla. Eighty feet tall if he was an inch. (That's a hell of a lot of gorilla.) Gorillas and chimps were heavier for their size than humans, with heavier bones and denser muscles. An eighty foot gorilla--he had to weigh a lot. She wondered if she could lift him.

If she could, that would be the easiest way to neutralize him--just get him the hell off the ground and up in the air where he had no leverage. Even if she couldn't, she could definitely get his attention. The crocodiles had been easier to handle than she'd expected. The gorilla probably would be too. And if not, well... (That's why we get the big money.)

Iron Maiden looked at Paladin again. "Ready when you are. Just say the word...."

He paused and looked at them as a group and only then realized he'd done what he'd always done, what he'd been trained to do since he was a teenager. He got in the huddle and took over, called the play. He'd done it without thinking, like breathing, just assuming it was his role because that had always been his role.

But he wasn't in charge here, and while he hoped he hadn't come across as bossy, dammit, somebody needed to call something and run it before some innocent person got killed. There was only one way he knew to gauge a team's level of buy-in. What the hell, he thought with a careless smirk behind his mask.

"Guardians...are we ready?" he asked, placing a gauntleted hand palm-down in the space between them.

Singularity Man had been listening. Honestly. Even if he'd spent the whole time staring at the huge beast over Paladin's shoulder. Even if he had to wonder about just how fast, just how strong, just how angry something that size could be. He was mesmerized just by the breadth of its fur, the size of it's huge hands and fingers. Were it to try, it likely could've crushed him with little effort.

Still, Jack put his hand atop everyone else's. He nodded, resolute, and steeled his jaw.

"I'm ready."

Sniper wasn't a leader. He wasn't the playmaker. He didn't motivate or manage. He didn't do paperwork or coordinate team strategies. That wasn't his style. He shot stuff.

He was glad that Paladin had stepped up to the plate with a plan, regardless of how sound it was. As long as it gave him a target, he was good.

A smirk stole across his face as he brought his eyes down from the giant primate to scan his team. Hit him in the vitals. In a smooth motion, he ejected a spent shell from his rifle and chambered a new round as he stepped forward.

He placed his hand in with the group.

"Ready."

Clock: 3:58

Sniper turned and spotted up the target. He was in range from here. His electronic eye scanned the creature taking note of where the animal seemed vulnerable and where he seemed toughest. He dropped to one knee and awaited orders to shoot.

Sniper’s first shot his the gorilla center mass. The gorilla looked up angrily and howled in Sniper’s direction.

Everyone else needed to move into position. The three other Guardians took to the air moving closer to the gorilla.

Singularity Man looked up. Again, he felt for that innate connection to the Ribbon. A sensation of something greater, like family or religion or air. Something that could be as easily quantified as it could be dismissed. Something ethereal, that had a different definition to everyone.

There it was.

He grasped it, and with it, took to the skies. The Gorilla was some distance away, and while the prospect of getting close didn't appeal to him, it was the job he chose. He shot like an arrow up into the air, hoping to close as much distance as fast as he could.

Paladin launched himself skyward in a ballistic arc towards the giant misbehaving ape. As he closed, his eyes worked across his helmet's HUD, choosing a target. He closed to optimal range, white metal gleaming gloriously in the Colorado sun, and swept his right arm forward.

"Put this in your banana and smoke it." SSSSHZZZZZZZZZ - A greenish beam of focused electromagnetic power lanced out from his palm, targeted at the gorilla's furry privates.

That got a reaction. The big ape howled, not with rage but in pain as he went ot one knee. He reached down and picked up a Japanese made car and heaved it at the armored Guardian. The flying sedan glanced off of Paladin’s armor, knocking him slightly back.

There is was: contact. It was the first time he'd been struck in a real fight, struck in anger, with the intent not to stop him but to end him. As Paladin's gyroscopic flight controls worked with his own reflexes to right himself in mid-air he let himself feel the pain and realized...he'd taken much harder hits than that. And of course it was the suit talking but that big ugly fifty-ton reject from a King Kong sequel hit like a damned girl.

Behind the faceplate, he smirked, much of that anticipatory fear leaving him. Nice.

Without even checking his shot, Sniper dropped into a run. He reloaded on the fly, weaving between the cars towards his target, and dropped into the bed of a Silverado for his next shot. His flesh and clothing rippled with color, faded, and blossomed to a mix of metallic truck red and rhino, bed-liner black.

Invisibly, he raised the rifle, sighted the beast's furry neck through the reticule, and squeezed the trigger.

The second shot rang true. But, he didn’t notice he tale-tell signs that the drug was working.

Iron Maiden launched herself into the air along with Paladin and Singularity Man. Paladin fired a blast of energy at the gorilla's privates. (Ouch,) Leah thought. (That's got to hurt.) It should also provide a great distraction, making her attack that much easier. Iron Maiden flew at the gorilla's head, hoping to score a knockout or at least to disorient the beast.

Somewhat out of control, she flew right past the Gorilla, missing him but turning around to make a second pass. Closer this time, she was able to control her flight and careened off the giant ape’s noggin: spinning him to his left and leaving him open for what came next.

Paladin saw his teammate circling around and meant to make sure the gorilla was otherwise engaged, to give her a better shot at his back.

"Hey, Bonzo," he called out to the enraged animal, "Next time try a Chevy, you big dumb..." SSSSHZZZZZZZZZ

The armor responded to his mind, compensating for the jolt and quickly correcting his flight. Paladin fired directly into the ape’s face. The combination of Iron Maiden’s hit and his took the big fella off his feet. He crashed to the ground, making a small – but noticeable impact crater in the roof of the third level of the parking deck. For a moment, he seemed prepared to stand – then his head fell back, making a “smack” sound. The gorilla was out – cold.

"Yes!" Paladin shouted in triumph with a quick fist pump. He quickly checked around him for his teammates, knowing their locations from his tactical display, but somehow needing to see them to make sure they were okay.

*Paladin to AEGIS command,* he transmitted, *the big gorilla has been neutralized. You better start thinking about building a bigger cage, though. I'm not sure what you do with an 80-foot ape.*

Switching channels, he sent, *Team one to team two - WiLo, Shimmer, what's up?*

Leah circled around again in time to see the giant ape's head fall back. He was unconscious now, and no longer a threat to anyone. She slowed to a halt and hovered in mid-air to look around. There didn't seem to be any other threats at the moment, and no one in danger. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Leah floated downward to land beside Paladin. She raised a hand for a high five. "'We had the tools, we had to talent!'"

*Paladin, this is Wild Lotus.* Her voice sounded serious, slightly subdued. *We're on our way out with a Ms. Stinnett and a sentient ape named Louie. Louie would appear to be responsible for several criminal acts, but as he suffered severe maltreatment by his former tormentor, Shimmer and I have put him under our temporary protection until his status can be determined.*