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Don't leave me, baby! Middle of winter, I'm freezin' baby! - It's cold, and Gucci Mane lyrics work for most any context when slightly edited.

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M I L E S M O R A L E S

L O S A N G E LE S

? ??, Present Day | 9:30 A.M. | California


Miles sat in the back seat; Jefferson, his father, and Gloria, his mother, sat in the front. Mushed beneath luggage: dufflebags, suitcases, laundry baskets, Miles found no comfort and was sitting in quite an awkward position. As they passed through the city, Jefferson turned down the radio and twisted around in the front seat,

“Miles.” Miles had his headphones in, eyes closed.

“Miles!” his eyes shot open, he pulled the earphones out, an eyebrow raised at his father’s beckon. He was sure he had not done anything wrong, though his list of things he had probably done was much longer than he could likely remember.

“S’up?”
“Don’t ‘s’up’ me, boy.”
“Yes, sir!” Miles saluted,
“Miles.” Jefferson’s tone was flat, Miles knew.

“So, this new school you’re going to, I don’t want Tony Stark calling my phone talking about you’ve been acting up, hear me? You ran me and your mother ragged the last time you were in school and if we have to come up here to collect you, neither one of us are going to be happy about it. Understood?”

“Yeah, totally, pop. T-o-t-a-l-l-y.” Miles gave a grin; Jefferson knew the mischief hiding behind that smile.

Gloria added, “And mijo, make sure you call. You don’t want me writing you letters all the time, do you?” Miles was shaking his head frantically in the back; in a nest of peers, recieving letters from one’s mother was rife for becoming the hind of many jokes and many cruel pranks,

“Do you?” she re-iterated, an eyebrow raised,
“No. No letters… no giftbaskets with flowers and roses either” he muttered,
“Excuse me?” nothing was hid from Gloria Morales. Nothing.
“I didn’t say anything.” the car pulled up to the facility.

Miles uncorked himself from the puzzle that was the luggage between which he was trapped and threw the dufflebag strap over his shoulder so it sat at his hip; he grabbed one of the suitcases and pushed the door nearest the curb open where he stepped out and gazed over the gleaming facility. From the front seat his father and mother exited; his father grabbed one of the suitcases and handed it to his son. Gloria hugged and kissed her son,

“Be safe,” then Jefferson came around and finished the departing gestures with a firm hug. He patted Miles on the back a few times, Miles’ hands were indisposed with suitcases otherwise he would have hugged back. Jefferson kissed Miles on his forehead,

“Remember what I said. Don’t make me come up here, boy!” a smile,

Gloria waved Miles off, “Well, go go! Go have fun!” both his parents got in the car and sped off at a pace which made Miles believe they had been desperately waiting for this day for months. There was but smoke and screeching tires.

“Wow, love you guys, too.” he coughed, exhaust smoke aggravating his lungs. He turned and faced the looming Avengers facility with the large A imprinted on the front,

“Well… here goes nothing.”

Thank you! You guys all seem really nice already! I'll join the Discord once I'm on my laptop ^^. Just as a warning though, I'm not much of a talker on there (I'm actually really shy and nervous to, sorry \(>///<)/ ) so if I'm really quiet on there, that's why.

Also, where would be a good place to jump in, or should I just make an introductory post and go from there?


just do an introductory post and go from there
M A H A R A

S H I R U T A, K H A N D A Q

January 1st, 2052 | 0510 Hours | Shiruta, Kahndaq, Egypt, Africa


Mahara left her helm in her room, and followed the trail of the young girl toward the general area of her father’s throne room. Each step there felt heavier than the last, but that was just the armor and the fatigue. Through the curtains the sun caught her face, it only highlighted the sloppy strands her black hair sat in and the practiced look of deference she needed to apply when speaking to her father--when she rehearsed, it made it easier to hide the fear and the scowl that had found impression on her countenance.

The walk to the throne room was shorter than she remembered. All things were shorter when one had not slept, as if time itself had dislodged from linearity and moved in one ethereal, oblong shape. Around, and stretching, and then down where it hung for a while and raked Mahara’s nerve. She hated how time kept up such games; never moving fast enough for her to try again at resting, and always moving slow enough for her to count how little she had been able to accomplish on this quiet frontier of this cold war.

She had plans in case the Neo-Thanagarians sought outright invasion, a good general would. That was the least of what was required of her; she had not the slightest idea of what to do should the Neo-Thanagarians, say, infiltrate the Kahndaqi network of spies or cause some sort of insurrection. There was also the matter of her father’s seat on the council. He was a temperamental man, and would risk outright war for the smallest offense; it was good, at least for that reason, that Doctor Sivana was on the Council. It was better, for that very same reason, that Black Adam could defer the duties of ruling an entire kingdom--though Kahndaq itself was small in comparison to the other nations beneath the Legion--to his children and what ‘allies’ he had.

As she approached the outer doors which lead directly to the throne, she was greeted by two soldiers who were adorned in gold plated armor and long halberds which pulsed with unidentifiable energy. A nod of her head, they moved aside and the large ornate doors swung open. Mahara walked in, her ebon armor clanging with each step.

”Father, you have requested my presence?”

The royal herald, dressed in traditional Khandaqi robes, banged his staff and cried out, “The Princess Mahara, General of the Royal Army.”

King Teth-Adam, Black Adam, known as hero and conqueror, villain and liberator, savior and murderer, inclined his head, “I am not blind herald, I know who my daughter is.” Adam was a powerfully built man, with an ageless austere cast to his features and a hard steely gaze that declared his true nature. That of a warrior, before all else. He wore no elegant robes, no ostentatious crown. His kingly garment was a simple black vest and his crown was an unassuming golden band adorned with a lightning bolt. His throne was smooth black stone. By his side was his wife, the Queen Adrianna, beautiful and elegant and only slightly more rich in appearance than her husband.

The Queen, with her smooth olive skin, long black hair, and striking green eyes favored her eldest child with a smile. Mahara’s Kingly father was not so warm and only nodded at Mahara. His right hand was scarlet red, heartsblood still dripping to stain the throne he sat on. Directly in front of the throne was the dead man, a hole in his chest where his heart used to be. A washbasin stood next to Adam’s throne but he made no move to clean himself, instead gesturing to Mahara to stand before him next to the corpse.

“A traitor to our kingdom. This officer was going to defect to the Thanagarians. His head will be placed on a spike for all in Shiruta to see. They will see the price of treachery and sedition.”

Black Adam looked his daughter in the eye, “And as for you, my General, there must be a price for your failures. For five years, this war of shadows and lies has seen the Hawkmen strike at us in a thousand subtle ways. We are losing. It is clear that you are a warrior and not a sneak-thief. This is commendable and fitting for my eldest child. But your talents lie elsewhere.”

The King of Kahndaq gestured to waiting servants, who quickly and quietly pulled the body away, “Sivana tells me that with the assault on Thailand, this war is beginning to spill out from the shadows. We must take action, if we are to crush the Neo-Thanagarians and their allies, and secure Kahndaq’s safety. You will go to the Fortress of Doom and you will make yourself available as an operative to the Legion. You will help them in their fights. You will disguise your identity to deny any ties from Kahndaq to the Legion. And you will keep an eye on our so-called comrades, including Sivana, and report back to me all you see and hear.”

He paused for one weighty moment, “Do you understand?”

In the thralling throne room she felt no greater than an insect. Her feeling was true, for she was not. Unmitigated power graced the seat of the throne. Khem Adam, the most powerful tyrant the middle east and northern Africa had ever seen. Before him, Mahara felt weightless, when beckoned closer, her steps clinked with the shifting of the plated black armor. She stopped before the steps of the throne, not even she was permitted to touch them. She had half mind to bow to a knee, but she did not. Prostrating in front of her father was something she would not do, no matter how powerful he was.

A traitor’s head to be put on a spike, the heart of the traitor clutched in his father’s hand. A gruesome sight, but not one she had not seen before; she was numb to the violence. Still, watching mutilation of human bodies was something which kept her up at night, nevermind the nightmares and the paranoia.

Her own grey eyes--ones she had not inherited from either of her parents--rested upon the matriarch; she truly had gotten most of her looks from her mother (and thank goodness because her father was an ugly man), the smile her mother gave to her warmed her heart. The callous distance her father countered still that warmth for but a moment. As always, her father’s words sliced the deepest,

”A price for my failures? How have I failed? YOU--I have done--” and she caught herself. About the room she had glanced, first to the window--no purpose behind such a move, merely a buffer, something to stare at other than her father who sat mighty and earthed in front of her. Then her visage switched to her mother, the green in her own eyes suddenly lacking warmth. Adrianna could be as gelid--and even more--than her husband.

Mahara closed her eyes for a moment and exhaled to release tension,

”Very well. Where am I to be sent?” she cleaned her diction and scraped the laiase with which she spoke around peers and commoners when speaking to her father.

Adam, regarded his eldest with his coal-black eyes and replied, “The Fortress is hidden by powerful magic, in a land apart from ours. I will open the way.”

The King rose from his seat, floating from the throne to stand beside his daughter next to the emblem carved into the throne room floor in the shape of the House of Adam’s sigil, a black fist clenching a thunderbolt. Adam uttered one word, which came as both a whisper and a deafening shout, “SHAZAM!

Out of nowhere, a dark cloud materialized from above the open skylight and lightning streaked down to strike the emblem. A portal of static opened up, revealing a world of red skies and dark forests. Queen Adrianna stood and said, “Go with our blessings and our love daughter. Send us communications via your magicks. And return to us in triumph.”

Black Adam turned to his eldest child and a spark of warmth seemed to spark in his gaze, a flicker of candlelight that was gone in an instant. He grasped Mahara’s cheek with his bloody hand and said lowly, “Do not fail me.” With that, he returned to his throne, not sparing his daughter another glance.




But First, the Smallest of Steps


Hounds Base, Helipad


Bullets bouncing off him awoke him from his trance; his iris returned to their arrayed colors. Around went his attention with gained rapidity, it took him a moment to adjust to the changed scene. There was Iron Knight beside him suddenly and he was sure he felt some cold fly past his head some moments earlier, the black and purple-pink streak disappeared long before he could register--or rather, bothered--to register its presence. Up to a vertical position he got. Whatever helicopter the group of men were supposed to be retreating to had disappeared over his head.

Eyes beheld the remnants of the Hounds as the backpedaled into their new nothingness which was formerly an escape plan. Pantheon was already unnerved and annoyed. What he normally saw as trifle had become hindrance; this was all taking too long. Toward them he marched; the lightning which coursed down his arm ceased. He paused in stead. Her image burned in the back of his and Hassan’s conscious.

It is time to leave. Let them deal with this.
No way we’re leaving! We’re here to help!
And all we have done is kill.

Break the child’s resolve.

Pantheon put the image in their mind of the mangled Hounds, the ordeal with the bat; the man Pantheon had tossed out of the tower at LHU, the dead mecha pilot--who Hassan was sure he had let live.

No, no. YOU did that! Not me! I--”

Pantheon was not so impregnable.

Find the separation, find himself. Fear; Hassan could smell it. A grip was easier now. Perhaps this woman was his key to being done with Pantheon, with this monster.

And? Th--”

Focus, Hassan! Fight! Pantheon’s feet grew heavy, the rainbow iris grew hazel--the color of Hassan’s eyes. The world he saw as dissonance and shades of emerald, blue, red, yellow was now one congruous color. Hassan felt something akin to himself--his own thoughts, his own feelings, just as he did while in that… place. Woah.

He tried to move, he could manage but a few steps. His gait resembled more an infant gazelle than a grown man. Although… his circumstances were special.

“What the? Hooo-leeee shit! Is this real? I--I’m doing it!” as the Hounds continued to fire at him, he turned stiffly to the Iron Knight,
“Mr. Tinfoil, I’m doing it! It’s me! It’s really me!” excitement high and fresh thoughts blooming a mile a minute, he suddenly bulleted toward the Hounds in front of them and scooped two into the nooks of his elbows and flew them upward.

“Wait, wait! This isn’t what I wanted to do! Oh, hell… er!” Hassan glanced at both men individually but offered them the same question; looks of horror and amazement plain and recognizable on their face if not covered by their masks and their cries for help,

“Either one of you fellas know how to uh… control a uh… magic man… thing?” they were still screaming. Not helping at all! Hassan would have to take a crack at this thing himself; maybe do it like he saw in the movies!

“Uh, systems off! Uh, power down! ...Gah, big ugly stupid fucking lightning bo--WAAAAH!” the boy wanted control? He would get it. Pantheon brought the trio hurling down toward the helipad at highspeed!

“No, you big dumb idiot! Cease and desist! Abort!” Hassan clutched the two Hounds into his bosom tighter and braced for impact atop the helipad’s surface. It was about to be a boisterous re-entry and a dreadful start to this… whatever had just started--but it had started.


Mr. Terrific
T H E L O T U S

G E N Z O K U P L A Z A

? ??? | Night | Hakuto, Planetside

Jiryu scissored half-breaths as he ran across the rooftops which hung high over Genzoku Plaza. Backlit sun toasted his skin and sweat barreled down the back of his neck; as he neared the edge of a massive shopping center rooftop he prepared to leap. One foot set his balance, the next was his gather, and with the third he soared across the cavity between the two buildings. The red keikogi and hood puffed as he sailed along the long gap and he landed with a roll. From his waist he drew a kunai; a twist of his body and he hurled the projectile with an efficiency gained by only the finest shinobi, for that is what Jiryu of the White Tiger clan was.

Kuroguro had his path impeded by the hurling ninja star, a twist of his body within three seconds of impact helped deter a fatal wound, but still shredded Kuro’s own indigo keikogi along the right arm and left a horizontal open wound to trail blood down his garb's side. He had to re-adjust the angle of his own leap; a roof turbine vent is where he made his new launch pad. Ascending it with a few less-than-calculated-steps, the Lotus leapt high and propelled himself along the same gap over which Jiryu had conquered some seconds before. Kuro landed with a roll and a grunt; he was not as nimble or as fast as the shinobi who was ten years his junior, and his body was letting him know in the most subtle ways these days.

Kuro rose from the ground; Jiryu of the White Tiger had taken off already. He was nearly across the length of a much wider roof when Kuro pulled a kunai of his own, the blade face etched with an eagle; it was the one with which Kuro never missed, or so the legend went. Between his index and middle finger he clutched the throwing dagger and bent his elbow back and then when he had it properly knocked, he let the kunai fly. Its trajectory was blinding, the mechanical ease with which Kuro moved through the throwing motion helped him eject and spring the kunai at a speed which appeared superhuman to the untrained eye. It was not true that he always got his target with this particular kunai but it was true that over the years his hit and miss ratio was above somewhere in the sixty fifth percentile. How shallow and embellished did word of mouth become.

Jiryu of the White Tiger had a kunai pinned in his shoulder blade before he knew it, and the pain which trounced up his spine and back down both of his legs and then settled into the soles of his feet made him drop and fumble on hand and knees. Dust marked the point of Jiryu’s collapse, and from behind it, the Lotus appeared. Hood and fukumen shrouding the ebony man’s face still. Jiryu rolled over and crab-crawled backwards.

“Hurry up and do it! Lord Onaga will fight you Koga dogs to the de--” near impregnable black smoke rose from between Jiryu and Lotus. Both coughed, almost in sync. From the pit of the smoke rose a figure, a man who who was clad in a business suit, bearing a NobuZai signet; his hand was made of metal. Before Kuro could make sense of what happened and the smoke had cleared, the NobuZai agent and Jiryu of the White Tiger had disappeared into the night.

Streetlights flashed below, all Kuro could see was a red keikogi bounced against the melanoid night. He pulled his hood and fukumen from his face and let out a deep breathe; his breathing was rapid and he was hyped on adrenaline. How he would relay to Lord Izanagi how his prey had gotten away concerned him briefly; what had his attention more were the cup of noodles and the ice bath he was about to take when he got home.
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