HenryJonesJr

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

Post will be up tomorrow. Sorry, work was crazy with a bunch of meetings before the holiday week. Planning on catching up on the IC a thread this week too so I can actually write up some awards

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

W E E K L Y A N N O U N C E M E N T S:

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POST CHECK-IN:

As with last week, I'm doing a weekly check-in on players who have not posted in the past seven days. Again, this is not intended to be punitive, just checking in to keep the lines of communication open. The GMs will be doing this weekly going forward.

◼ @Moskau Spieluhr as Vixen - Last Posted 33 Days Ago, 19 Days Overdue.

◼ @IceHeart as Batgirl - Last Posted 21 Days Ago, 7 Days Overdue

◼ @ComradeMaxx as The X-Men - Last Posted 20 Days Ago, 6 Days Overdue

◼ @ComradeMaxx as Dr. Fate - Last Posted 17 Days Ago, 3 Days Overdue.

◼ @Xandrya as Raven - Last Posted 15 Days Ago, 1 Day Overdue.

◼ @Natty as Magick - Last Posted 10 Days Ago, 4 Days Remaining.

◼ @HenryJonesJr as Thor and the Guardians - Last Posted 8 Days Ago, 6 Days Remaining.

◼ Both @Byrd Man & @Roman are on self-stated hiatus until Season Two starts.

@Lord Wraith

Should have a post up wrapping up my season later in the week

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Previously...

roleplayerguild.com/posts/4875293

The four siblings stood over a warehouse along the San Maria Bay as the customary thick, rolling fog of the night flowed lazily along the ground. Lud rolled his shoulders back and forth, clearly itching for a fight only he knew was coming. The other three had come on his request, after Art had called Clara and Bach out. While the visions of his prophetic dreams still rattled in Mozart's head, his larger brother was ready to put the frog's efforts into more tangible efforts.

"So, I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you guys to come with me here," he motioned his large, bullfrog head towards the warehouse.

"Figured you wanted a family stroll along the water," Bach shrugged.

"I was just happy to get away from fixing the water purifier," Clara said absentmindedly, her eyes trained on the building. She was always thinking. She was always working out what would happen next. "Art said something about a fight. Dunno if that's such a good idea, but hey, I'll hear my brother out."

Ludwig's eyes rolled slightly, but he continued, "Yea, there's gonna be a fight alright. You guys know the Bayside Bandits?"

"Those weirdos in the wrestling masks we ran into a few weeks ago?" Art nodded. "They're a Pinebluffs gang who are moving into San Maria. Yea I remember them."

"Well they're using this warehouse to run guns into the city," Ludwig explained. "I took down one of their dealers trying to recruit and arm a bunch of guys in an alleyway the other day. He pointed me towards this building when I asked him where the guns were getting brought in. I figured we could cut the shipments off at the source and clean the city up a bit."

"Sounds like a sweet idea to me," Bach shadowboxed, throwing a few punches. "Ever since our fight with the big lizard I've been wanting to go a few rounds."

Mozart had brought the other two here without knowing Ludwig's plan. His brother wanted to funnel Art's desire for purpose into this, and for that the eldest Frog was grateful. And this was still fighting the darkness like his dream had warned of, albeit a different form of darkness. Making San Maria safer for those that lived in it was a noble goal, and one he would happily support.

"I don't see a problem with it," Mozart nodded. "A safe San Maria is as good for us as it is for the other people who live here."

"No," Clara was unmoved. "We start doing this superhero thing, and we're bound to attract more attention than we already have onto ourselves. I mean look at what happens to all the other ones across the world. They get nonstop media coverage. They get targeted by terrorists and the government more often than not. Their lives are in constant danger. We already have some of the greatest and most dangerous science minds in the world after us. Do we really want to bring down more our way?"

No one said anything for quite a while. Clara's fear was palpable. Not of fighting a group of thugs. Art knew as well as she did they would be able to do so with ease. But she was scared that she was going to lose her family by fighting. By shining the bright spotlight onto themselves, they would be putting each other in danger. He understood how she felt. They had suffered long inside of IDRG, and they had fought hard to get to this point of freedom. But he also knew that freedom meant nothing if all they did was hide from the world around them.

"Clara, I get it," he put his hand on her shoulder. "But if we wall ourselves off from the world, what good was escaping? Having our family is great, but if we spend our lives hiding in our bunker, we're wasting our freedom. We have to have a purpose, and if that purpose is being heroes in this city, so be it."

She returned Mozart's stare, almost angry that he knew exactly what she was feeling. They were close, the two of them. They had the twin-like bond of feeling what the other did, even if they were technically not related at all. She then glanced at her other two brothers, both of which were clearly ready to jump into the fray.

"Fine," she relented with a wave of her hand. "Someone needs to make sure you idiots don't get killed anyway."

"Sweet," Bach laughed.

**********

Dubai

The Jackal sat silently in a chair that was far too plush for his liking, though he found that during time's passage, the world had become more comfortable. Humanity thrived. Too-little food in his time had been replaced by too much. Few struggled to survive. It had made humanity weak. That made him smile. They were lambs ready for the slaughter. Ready to be swallowed by the unfathomable madness the waited to be released.

Still, they had done wonderful things.

The city that laid below the penthouse he now occupied sprawled like the galaxy shining in the night sky. The lights were infinite and the buildings were sleek and rose to the heavens as if they believed they could touch the cosmos itself. It showed their arrogance, their belief that their lives mattered. Still, he was impressed they tried. It was beautiful, their defiance in the face of certain death. A part of him admired them for it.

The apartment he now sat in, the most oppulent in the building he was told was called the Burj Khalifa, was fit for the king he was. From here he could not only see the city, but the world. Once he desired to rule all he surveyed, and had succeeded in doing so. But in the process he had learned of a far greater prize. Not the world. The power to reshape all the worlds.

All he had to do was destroy them all first.

"Is the apartment to your liking, grandfather?" a voice asked behindhim. He turned to find Kemsit, the young woman who had led his recovery. She was now dressed in a form-fitting black business suit instead of the ritualistic armor she had worn during his Resurrection. She was his final, worthy descendant, a fact he could scarcely believe. How had his line failed so?

Yet she seemed to be worthy of his blood. She had found him, after all. He could not say the same about any of his other progeny.

He smiled at her, "Yes, child. It is fit for a king."

"As you are," she bowed to him. "As you will be again."

He studied her. There was a confidence in her he admired, but too much of a willingness to please. She may have been ambitious, but if she deferred to him all the time she could not give good council.

"Tell me," he turned back to look over the city, "how did we come to have such power, yet not use that power to bring about the Eye's rise?"

He could feel her wince behind him. It was a question she figured was coming, but had hoped it wouldn't come up.

"After you were entombed, my ancestors wandered and looked for a new home, hunted by the Medjay the entire time," she began to tell the tale. "We offered our services as mercenaries, and attempted to regain our power wherever we went. We learned from the Greeks, Romans, and Huns, among others. But we were never able to get the foothold we needed to. After a failed attempt to infiltrate Egypt was repelled, we settled in North East Africa. And where we did happened to be rich in oil. As the years progressed, we leveraged that into Iris Energy. My great great grandfather had used the symbol of the Eye in a perverse way to promote his business, ending our true heritage in a mockery."

He had noticed that his family's company had a red eye as its sigul. But it did not have the power of the one he wore into battle. This was merely a stylized human eye, not the representation of the true god.

"In the past we decades we have diversified," she continued. "Two of our child companies, Northern Continental Electronics and Sundra Weapons Systems, helped to make us a player in the defense industry, which in turn helps arm our soldiers in preparation for the cleansing of the planet."

She had a killer instinct and the raw, fanatical drive he desired. That was good. But she still did not know his goals. Not his real goals. Only his priests in the ancient times did, and now they too were gone.

"And how did you discover our true purpose, child?" he asked, fascinated by what she would say. "How did you discover the glorious purpose of the All-Seeing Eye?"

The Jackal turned to face her, and he found a fire burning in her eyes, "It spoke to me. At least I believe it did. The great, red eye came to me in a dream. It told me I was meant for greater things. It told me about the book of our church that my father had kept hidden in his private vault. I read it and began recruiting for your church. Once I had our reavers, our harriers, I came to my father and uncle with an ultimatum. We use our vast resources to bring about you and your dream, or they die. My father refused. He died. My uncle quickly agreed. He lived."

The Jackal laughed. It was a deep, loud crack of rolling thunder that seemed to make the windows of the apratment shake. He couldn't help it. He liked the girl. He was proud of her. To kill ones own father was a grave sin for the sheep of this world. For her to do so and brag about it meant she was surely of his blood.

"And what is my mission, granddaughter?"

It was the question he was most curious of her answer.

"To remake the planet," she looked at him, unsure of why he was asking. "To bring about the world the great Eye showed you."

"It is so much more than that," he turned and put his strong hands on her shoulders. "It is not just to remake this world. It is to remake all the worlds that twirl on the beam."

"All of them, grandfather?" she looked up at him, puzzled.

"Yes, my dear. There are other worlds than these."

**********

Mozart climbed down the fire escape of the North side of the building, as the other three frogs took up position on the other sides of the warehouse. As he got closer to the door, he felt his heart pound in his chest. They had never done anything like this before. Not really. Their attack on IDRG was nothing more than a desperate attempt to save themselves. Otherwise the few times they busted some of the Bandits on the street it was a chaotic mistake.

This was them tapping into the skills that were embedded into them from birth. They knew they were supposed to be warriors. That wasn't even considering their vision from the other night. No, they were bred to be superhuman soldiers in service to the IDRG for some nefarious reason. Now they were going to use those skills for good.

He had never been so excited.

The door leading in from the fire escape opened easily, creaking only slightly at the pressure he put on it. Across the catwalks of the building he could see his siblings enter as well. He motioned down to the floor below, where the men of the Bayside Bandits were moving crates from one large truck to other, smaller vehicles. Ludwig was right, they were certainly moving a lot of merchandise into San Maria.

Most of them didn't look all that important, but two of the Bandits stood out from the rest. One was a hulking individual almost as large as Ludwig. His bare, dark-skinned arms were bare, and he merely wore a tanktop and a pair of jeans, with combat boots. He looked like he could handle himself in a fight. Next to him, a smaller, skinnier man swung his legs off one of the crates and lounged back, his hands behind his head. He wore a tatty vest and a dirty t-shirt underneath. An electric orange mowhawk sprouted from the top of his head. He didn't look like a threat, but an unpredictable energy jumped off him.

Mozart caught the eyes of his siblings, and gave a nod. The four of them dropped down to the lower level, hiding in the darkness along the side of the warehouse. Mozart slid up next to some of the stacked crates. He knew the others were probably doing the same. They all knew what they had to do. It had been baked into their brains since birth.

Suddenly, one of the Bandits turned the corner. At first, he walked right by Art. But once he did, he double-taked and his eyes went wide at the big, blue frog. Before he could yell and alert the others, Mozart snapped out with his nad, delivering a dose of his paralyzing poison. The man crumpled towards the floor, but Art made sure to catch him before the sound alerted the rest of the men.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't matter. He heard a crash from where Bach had dropped down.

"Sanchez!?" the big man in the tank top yelled that way.

"Yea, man!?" Bach responded, putting on a ridiculous ice.

"Well, that's weird," the one with the mowhawk chuckled. "Sounds like you bumped your head and learned English, Sanchez!"

"Oh..uhh..donde esta la biblioteca!?" Bach responded. Mozart covered his face with his palm.

"Kill whoever the hell that is," the big guy ordered.

Art couldn't wait around any longer. Not after he heard the sound of guns cocking. He sprung off his powerful legs and flew through the air, landing in the center of all the Bandits. He rolled, grabbed the closest one by the shoulders, and tossed him into another. The two of them slammed through a crate, spilling its contents and knocking the two of them out. He heard others moving behind him, and a giant crash. He turned to see Lud smash through a tower of crates, causing them to topple down to the floor, creating a blizzard of splinters. Bach and Clara came next, trying to clean up the remaining Bandits.

"Get the merch out of here!" Mowhawk yelled to the men. Those that were still conscious ran for the trucks and sped off. Art tried to cut off the Mowhawk and the Big Guy, but before he could, Mowhawk lobbed a fiery projectile into the crates still in the warehouse. It exploded into a blaze, which quickly started to engulf the entire warehouse.

"Come on!" Lud yelled at Art. "We can still catch them!"

"No, we have to get everyone who's in here out!" he yelled back and picked up two of the Bandits and headed towards the exit. Lud gave him an angry look, but did the same.

Before long, the Bandits left behind were tied up and left for the authorities. Meanwhile, the Frogs headed back towards the hills.

"What the hell was that?" Ludwig spun Mozart around with a sneer. "We could have caught up with the ringleaders."

"We weren't going to leave people to burn to death," Art shook his head.

"They were criminals, Art," Clara added in.

"Who were laying unconscious," he shot back. "I'm not afraid to kill someone who deserves it. But I'm going to do that face to face. I'm not going to leave a defenseless person burn to death."

The four of them stood in silence, allowing the words to sink in. Art meant every word he said. He had no issue killing a human that posed a threat to an innocent or one of his siblings. But he would do it with honor. That much he was certain of.

Ludwig nodded and looked at the ground, "You're right. We're not murderers. Not in cold blood."

Mozart put his hand on his brother's shoulder, "We'll find them, and take them off the street. I promise."

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

THOR AND STAR-LORD

IN

RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE

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Draaga and Thor sized one another up. The alien gladiator had a hideous, gap-toothed, fanged smile on his face as he did so, and Thor knew exactly why. The creature had his old weapon, the battle ax Jarnbjorn, and intended to kill the God of Thunder with it. The weapon was what he sought when Quill took him to the dead planet with the Asgardian cache on it, yet here it was in the hands of a mortal unworthy to hold it. It made Thor's blood boil at the thought of being cleaved in two by his own blade.

"I have no quarrel with you, Draaga of Warworld!" the Asgardian called out to his foe. "Let me pass. It is your master I would have words with."

Talking usually wasn't Thor's thing. He was a being of action, not of discussion. But he needed to keep all the eyes of Warworld on himself for as long as he could. Heimdall and the rest needed the opportunity to get to the spaceport. As long as that happened, he would do what was needed of him.

The gladiator laughed loudly. He was clearly putting on a show for Mongul, "Do not make me laugh! You are not worthy enough for my master to leave his gilded seat and crush you like the insect your are. He has sent me, one who needs to earn his freedom, on this task!"

Freedom? So Mongul has offered Draaga out of the Warworld game in exchange for killing Thor. That made sense. But the way he talked about Mongul, it was like he thought the tyrant was a god.

"Come, cretin!" Draaga called to Thor. "Face your end with honor!"

"Aye!' Thor called back. "An end it shall be. But not mine, gladiator! You have brought the wrath of Thor, and thou shalt rue the day thy did!"

The two combatants rushed at one another. Thor was surprised to see how fast Draaga was. The video highlights that Mongul played night after night of the gladiator killing others were misleading. Thor had assumed that his foes were just normal, which was why he seemed so unstoppable. But here, face to face, Thor realized that the warrior merely was incredible. He was the planet's champion for a reason.

Draaga swung Jarnbjorn with ferocious strength, missing Thor by a hair. He rolled beneath it and drove his fist up into the chin of Draaga. The blow was usually enough to send a mortal dozens of feet into the air, but instead Draaga merely stumbled back a few feet. He growled at the God of Thunder, and swung the ax again in a horizontal, circular sweep that almost disemboweled the Asgardian.

Thor tried to close the gap between the two of them, knowing that if he could stop Draaga from swinging Jarnbjorn with his full strength, he could win this fight. He delivered a few body blows to Draaga's exposed midsection, and the gladiator panicked and swung the blunt end of the ax around, catching Thor below the chin. The blow sent stars flying through his vision, and his body flying through the air.

He landed a few yards from Draaga, and had to roll out of the way of another axe swing that would have cleaved him in half. He felt something, deep inside, that he had not felt in a long time during a fight.

Fear. It was just the smallest flicker, but it was there.

He pushed it down and stood, "You want to kill me, warrior!? Then come and kill me!"

**********

Quill took a giant, relieved breath as he climbed out of the manhole and into an alley of Mongul's imperial capital city. Sure, it still smelled of piss, but at least he wasn't wading through it any more. He looked down and saw a strand of...something hanging from his boot, and gagged for the millionth time in the past half hour.

"Okay, that is the last time I ever let you come up with a plan," he said to the raccoon that had been sitting on his back the entire time. "Seriously that was disgusting."

"Oh I don't think it was all that bad," Rocket chuckled to himself and hopped to the ground. "Just a little smelly."

"Easy for you to say when you're a trash panda," Quill gagged again. "That's probably like a five course meal for you."

"What the hell is a panda?" Rocket's nose scrunched up.

"Would you two shut up?" Hawk grumbled as she climbed out as well. "Might as well alert the whole damn city we're here."

She was right of course. The whole idea of coming through the sewers was so they could enter the city unseen. Squabbling amongst one another would do nothing to help.

Still, Quill looked around and saw that there seemed to be no one out on the street next to them. In fact, the entire city seemed quiet.

Silently, he siddled up to the side of the house closest to him. Peering into the window, he saw that the inhabitants were all huddled around their view screens, watching some kind of fight.

"Mongul must be pushing some big pay per view fight or something," he hissed in a whisper. "Looks like everyone in town is preoccupied."

"Well then it's our lucky day," Rocket grinned broadly, which looked wholly unnatural coming from a raccoon. "Should give us less to worry about in the city."

They started to move in a single file, keeping to the alleys when they could. What little guard presence they saw seemed to be just as distracted by the prize fight as the citizens were. They were all looking down at their personal, hand-held screens rather than paying attention to their patrol routes. Whatever had possessed Mongul to do this today had clearly worked in their favor.

They snaked their way through the city, keeping an eye on the tyrant's palace in the distance as it continued to get closer and closer.

Suddenly, they turned a corner and came to a huge crowd, all watching a gigantic view screen. While Rocket and Hawk kept moving, what Quill saw stopped him in his tracks. There was Thor, his new traveling partner, going toe-to-toe with Draaga, the champion of Warworld. From the looks of it, both fighters had gotten their licks in on one another, but Thor certainly seemed to be taking the worst of it so far. And that wasn't surprising considering Quill could see that the gladiator was wielding a gnarly-looking battle ax.

"Peter," Hawk half-whispered, half-yelled. "What are you doing!?"

He motioned up to the screen, "That's my...friend? I dunno. But he's my meal ticket. I gotta go help him."

"Are you crazy! We're getting so close!" Rocket protested.

"You guys can keep going if you want," he shrugged. "I'm going back there."

"No way," Hawk grabbed him. "I'm at least getting the bounty on one of you."

"Would you two stop it!" Rocket pleaded. "You're gonna draw too much attention!"

"Hey you!"

The three of them froze and looked up to see five of Mongul's guards coming towards them through the crowd. They were clad in purple and yellow riot gear, and to Quill they looked like what Prince's secret police would look like if he became a Nazi. The thought brought a smile to his face right before he ran, with Hawk and Rocket on his tail.

"Freakin' humies!" Rocket yelled. "Always messin' up my plans!"

Another pack of guards cut off their escape, but were shredded by fire from Quill's Element Guns and the pistols Rocket was packing. The two gunslingers looked at one another with wry smiles.

"Okay, not bad," Rocket had to admit.

They turned to find Hawk engaging the first group of guards. Her mace made short work of them, and before long there were no guards standing.

But Quill noticed something off. As the sun poked through the clouds above, a glint on a rooftop drew his attention, "Hawk get down!"

His warning came out just in time. The Thanagarian hit the ground as a blast sailed right past her shoulder. Quill responded with a shot of his own, and a dead sniper fell from a third story window down the block.

From the ground, Hawk looked up, "You...saved me."

"Yea, well, you're good in a fight," he helped her up. "Come on, we need to get to cover."

The three of them headed back into the alleys of the city, hoping to get towards the main gate where Thor was fighting for his life. Unfortunately, they found themselves face to face with a whole battalion of troops. They turned to retreat, but found their way back had been cut off by another group.

"You think you can walk into Mongul's city undetected!?" the leader of the guards called to them. "He knows all! He is the god of Warwo-"

Before he could finish, his head became a smoking crater, courtesy of Rocket Raccoon. Without another word, the guards charged towards the three fighters, who all looked at one another before starting the fight. They knew this was the end for them, but they would go down fighting.

The guards were on them quickly, and even Hawk's sweeping flight couldn't keep them off. Quill took down a few, but before long he was dogpiled, and was being beaten and kicked repeatedly. He would surely die here, on the ground, being pummeled by these glorified backup dancers. This was not how he ever thought he would go out.

Then, suddenly, the kicks and punches lessened, and he heard the guards yelling. He managed to get to his knees. What he saw made him sure he had suffered brain damage. A tree, a pile of rocks, a bug, and another dang space Viking were tearing through the guards' rear flank. Quill managed to pick up his guns and rejoin the fray, taking revenge for the beating, and Rocket and Hawk did the same. Before long, the two groups of off worlders met in the middle.

"Groot! Buddy! You're okay!" Rocket said to the tree, with genuine happiness in his voice.

"I am Groot," the tree responded.

"No, my flying did not get us into this," Rocket snapped back. "How dare you."

"I am Groot!"

Quill approached the new Viking warrior, "You have to know Thor."

"Aye," he smiled warmly. "The God of Thunder is a very old friend."

"Well we need to go help him," Peter motioned to the large screen. "He's getting his ass kicked out there."

The new friend just smiled, and pointed to the sky, "For now. Thor can take care of himself. We need to get to the hangar. He will meet us there."

As the newly assembled group started off, Quill noticed the clouds in the sky were thickening quickly, swirling into an inky black layer.

In the distance, thunder rumbled.

*********

With every strike Draaga landed, Thor could feel himself losing the fight. He had been too overconfident coming in. He was sure of that now. The gladiator was a formidable opponent, but he believed the mortal did not stand a true threat to him. His over confidence had always been his downfall. It was why he couldn't see Ragnarok coming. It was why he could not stop it. It was why his family was now dead along with most of his people. Thor, the God of Stupidity was more like it.

Quit your self pity.

The voice was so distant, but so familiar. His father's voice had echoed into his ears. He was not sure if it was a hallucination from the pain, or if his father was truly reaching out yet again through some ancient magic that could pierce the veil of death. In truth, it did not matter which one it was. It was right. He was the God of Thunder. This rock would not be his grave.

Draaga missed with another potential death blow with Jarnbjorn as he had the entire battle. But he let go of the ax with one hand and back handed Thor with it as the Asgardian dodged the blade. The blow did nothing but harden Thor's resolve.

The gladiator brought the hand back around, but Thor caught it. The two warriors snarled at one another, and Draaga kicked out, catching Thor in the midsection. The god rolled back, and regained his footing with a smile. He did not know how, but he felt the electricity rolling through him as if he held Mjolnir in his hand once more. Every blow now seemed to energize him, more than cause pain.

"You have fought well, Draaga," Thor admitted. "But now is the time for you to surrender. Or die."

Draaga laughed, "You have not been paying attention to this fight. But one of is is about to die."

The gladiator rushed at Thor, holding Jarnbjorn above his head, sure that this would be it.

Thor felt the lighting coming. He couldn't control it as well as he could when he had Mjolnir, but in the moments since it started calling to him once again, he knew he could call it down. Every footfall of Draaga's sprint brought him closer, and with each one Thor waited. That is until he could not wait any longer.

With a blinding flash of light and a deafening crack, Draaga of Warworld was no more.

Jarnbjorn clattered to the ground, before it was picked up by a hand, glowing blue.

**********

The new, motley crew of Warworld rebels stood in the hangar of Mongul. The seven of them stood shoulder to shoulder. On the other side of them, blocking their path, was ever last guard that remained in the city.

At their head stood Mongul himself. His large, imposing frame dwarfed everyone in the room.

"Impressive," the tyrant admitted. "No one has ever made it here before. But here is where it ends."

"No," Heimdall assured him. "This is where your empire ends."

"Fool," Mongul seethed. "I am Warworld."

He waved his hand, and the guards charged. The escapees charged as well.

Before the two groups could meet, however, a bolt of lightning crashed through the ceiling of the monstrous hangar. It struck directly between the two groups, but exploded out towards the guards. The seven tired fighters covered their eyes as the energy dissipated, revealing Thor, cloaked in arcs of electricity and holding the battle ax that Draaga had wielded. In front of him, all of Mongul's army lay motionless, with only the leader of Warworld still standing.

"Bad. Ass," Quill smiled broadly.

Thor strolled confidently towards Mognul, his ax jumping with energy. The alien warlord fired his weapon, but every shot was deflected by Thor. When he reached his enemy, he cleaved the gun in two, and grabbed him by the throat. Thor lifted Mongul off the ground by his neck, "Mongul of Warworld, you have angered the God of Thunder. For that, I leave you to the people you force to kill one another for sport."

With that, he raised his ax and called down another bolt of lightning. He directed it with the ax towards Mongul's chest, and the alien, seemingly shot from a canon, flew from Thor's grasp and through the ceiling once more. The group watched as his body disappeared over the horizon.

Thor turned to the rag tag group and smiled, "Shall we get off this rock now?"

And with that, the God of Thunder passed out from the exhaustion, and hit the ground hard.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

<Snipped quote by HenryJonesJr>

Unfortunately we've tailored this first Crisis in such a way that we can't really extend it to that sort of scope. A certain part of the fallout may be felt by the Guardians, though, depending on a lot of different factors that verge into spoiler territory. Once the cat is out of the bag we'll be able to discuss that connection, in-depth, though!

@ComradeMaxx

Okay, I'll probably sit on the sidelines of this one then. I just don't really have a good reason to have them head to Earth.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

@HenryJonesJr
Here's Wraith's announcement from last Sunday I'm definitely not behind on writing that Crisis post, though- damn you employment

<Snipped quote by Lord Wraith>

With the coming end of the season we're doing awards, too. Though I'll note here that the end of the season will not necessarily mean you have to be finished with your current story arc, either. There won't be any gamewide time-skip or anything like that, and the season's end will not be marked by a change of thread like it was in UOU. It'll be more of a milestone for the RP and an easy jumping on point for any new applicants who want to come in for the next season

@ComradeMaxx

Okay cool. In that case I'll say I'm in for the crisis as long as it can affect me out in space and I don't have to get the team to Earth. Once this next post is up, the Guardians will be together, and if the season is almost at a close I won't bother jumping into the next arc for them.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

Hey all, just checking in. The honeymoon was great but I feel like I lost a huge chunk being ex-communicado for so long haha. Actually going to have a post in the next few hours finally finishing up my Warworld story. Can someone update me what's going on in-game? And is the season almost over? Considering the awards? lol

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

THOR AND STAR-LORD

IN

RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE

---

Peter pushed forward with the jungle, his headphones hanging loosely around his neck, the music coming from them audible only to him, or so he thought. The three unlikely companions had been walking for what felt like days, treking towards some goal only the raccoon had any idea of. Rocket, was his name, which made Quill chuckle. The little creature was named after a Beatles song, and he didn't even know it. Probably didn't even know who the Beatles were, Quill realized. Peter would have to rectify that situation, as long as the psychopathic little trash panda didn't murder him first. Rocket liked to threaten that as much as possible. Still, there was something about the cute little demon that Quill liked. The raccoon was resourceful, witty, and didn't care what the other two thought of him. Peter could respect that.

Hawk, on the other hand, barely said a word an hour. She had only threatened to kill him the one time, but he was pretty sure she'd actually carry it out, unlike the raccoon. For as pretty as she was, she was as cold to boot. Whenever their eyes met, he saw the killer that lurked behind them. They were cool and calculating. Not in a crazy sort of way. She was far too pragmatic for that. No, she knew how to take care of them quickly and quietly. They'd never stand a chance. Quill was on guard, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't matter in the end if she deceded to do something to him.

"So where the hell are we going again?" Peter said after a few more steps. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't used to being his own leader. Following others just was not his style. But Rocket knew this planet better than he did, so he followed.

"We're going towards Mongul's stronghold," Rocket explained. "I knocked out one of that big yellow idiot's drones and hacked into its databanks. It told me where I could find him, so that's where we're going. Now turn that music off before you bring every blasted gladiator on this planet down on our heads."

"You could hear that?" Quill was amazed.

"Yea, basically everyone who isn't a humy could," Rocket laughed to himself. "Idiot."

Quill shook his head and turned off his Walkman.

"How'd you end up here?" he asked his newest traveling partner. "We ended up here because Paul McCartney's Wings here decided to try and kill us."

"What part of 'be quiet' don't you understand?" Hawk snapped back.

"Oh come on," Peter rolled his eyes. "You could probably kill anyone who tried to kill us."

"I should kill you," she sneered.

"Oh do it then, and save me from having to deal with your surly ass," Peter stuck his tongue out at her.

"Heh," Rocket snorted. "You're both idiots."

They continued in silence for a few more clicks. Relative silence, of course. The jungles of Warworld teamed with life. Bugs the size of Peter's hand fluttered around the group, their irridescent purple wings constrasting beautifully against the silver of their bodies. He had seen teal lizards with webbing between their legs gliding from tree to tree. Sometimes the sound of something bigger deeper in the brush. So far whatever that was had kept its distance

"My partner and I were running from some bounty hunters like our winged friend here," Rocket broke the silence, explaining how he came to Warworld. "We made a jump, and ended up here. Split our friggin' ship in half. He got thrown out. Been looking for him for a little over a month now."

"Damn, I'm sorry," Quill shook his head. "My...friend got thrown from our wreck, too."

"Losing me a ton of money in the process," Hawk added.

"You think you friend is at Mongul's fortress, or whatever he has?" Quill ignored her.

"Dunno," Rocket shrugged. "But I figure if I kill that dumbass it'll be a lot easier to find Groot."

"Cut the head off the snake," Hawk considered the plan. "Not a terrible idea."

"Oh sure, great idea. Marching into the unquestioned and all-powerful ruler of a planet's hideout and try to kill him," Quill shook his head. "I'm sure no one ever thought of that. Great plan. We're definitely not gonna get killed."

"Would you relax? This is my plan," Rocket assured him. "There's no way anything is gonna go wrong."

**********

"I am Groot."

"Yes, thank you, Tree," Thor grumbled, wondering why he was stuck with walking with the talking house plant at the back of the column. Still, he was better than some others Thor had marched with. He certainly didn't smell as bad as an Asgardian after a few days out in the field. "Eloquent as always."

"I am Groot."

Before long, their small band came to a clearing of the jungle on the side of a cliff. From the location, Thor could see the large, walled city of Mongul. The white walls and buildings of the city looked like they were carved from the ivory of some gigantic beast. Most were uneven and awkward looking, no doubt made for the slaves and workers that kept Mongul's empire running. Other than that, the two buildings that stood out were two golden ones that sat on top of the hill that overlooked the entire city. The larger one was Mongul's palace. That much was obvious. Its opulence outmatched anything around it. It was like an Asgardian palace that was plopped down in a slum.

But the building next to it was what drew Thor's attention. It too was gilded, shining in the morning sunlight. It looked to be some sort of casino, if Thor had to guess. But more importantly he could see the passage of ships to and from a landing pad on the roof.

"So space travel is possible on the planet," Thor smiled broadly as he joined Heimdall on the cliff's edge. "All we have to do is get into the city."

"Yea, sure. No problem," Korg agreed. "Just have to get past Mongul's death squads. And Draaga. And Mongul. Should be a piece of cake, man."

Miek chatted int agreement, and Groot agreed as he always did. At least he seemed to agree.

"No, guys, that was, like, sarcasm, you know," Korg waved the two off. "We are surely gonna perish."

"No one's going to be perishing today," Heimdall grunted. "At least no one in our group."

"Oh well that makes me feel loads better," Korg grunted, and Thor could not tell if he was being serious.

They were a motley crew, that much was certain. He didn't know how good they'd be in a fight, but Heimdall claimed they were fiercer than they appeared. The tree especially was a force to be reckoned with. Thor had heard talk in the past of tree spirits that could tear gods limb from limb. He didn't know if Groot was one of said spirits, but if he was as formidable as his friend had said, Thor figured he would have to be.

"We're getting into that city," Heimdall looked at Thor. "We know Mongul's disrupting field doesn't cover the space above his city. We get in there, we get off this rock."

"What's the plan of attack?" Thor's eyebrow raised at the other Asgardian.

"Simple," he nodded towards the God of Thunder, "you're gonna walk up to the front door and challenge Mongul's champion. The rest of us will sneak into the city and cause a ruckus. After you kill Draaga you'll meet us in the city and we'll get out of here."

"Why is the plan always sending me into the face of certain doom?" Thor sighed.

"Because you're the best fighter," Heimdall shrugged. "Shoulda thought of that before you won all those wars for Asgard."

"I am Groot," the tree patted Thor on the shoulder.

Thor just grumbled to himself.

**********

Quill and his companions sneaked quietly along the outer wall of Mongul's city, searching for god knew what. Rocket still hadn't really told either of the others how they were actually going to get into the city. He seemed sure he could do it, of course. Then again, Rocket was sure that he could always do whatever he said. Quill figured Rocket would say he could breath in space whenever he wanted to. The little guy was seriously full of himself.

"Ah, here we are," the raccoon presented a sewer grate cover, a large, cartoonish smile painted on his face. A thick, brown-grey sludge flowed slowly from the bottom three inches of the almost four-foot grate. The smell that came off of it was almost enough to knock Quill out right there.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Quill grumbled. "This was your plan? Go through the sewers? Who knows what crazy stuff is living down there!?"

"For once I actually agree with this idiot," Hawk shook her head at Rocket.

"Listen," Rocket explained, "we need to get into that city. This is the only way to do that. It smells. So what. Deal with it. You wanna die on this rock? I didn't think so. Now, let's go walk through some shit. Literally."

"I just met you," Quill sighed angrily, "but man do I hate you."

**********

Thor's boots crunched against the dried, cracked land in front of the gate of Mongul's city. Whatever the despot had done in this area of the planet, it was clear that the rains that fell elsewhere in the jungle of the planet didn't touch this area. Maybe Mongul believed his deified head should never be touched by anything other than sunshine.

Thor shifted uneasily as he approached the gate. He had seen Draaga fight on the clips every night. He was good. Ferocious, fast, and strong, he was the kind of warrior Thor had often looked forward to fighting in the past. But now things were different. He didn't have Mjolnir. He didn't have the powers the hammer granted him. Without them would he be able to defeat the planet's champion?

Now was when he would find out.

"My name is Thor! Son of Odin! The rightful king of Asgard!" Thor called out to the gate. It was Heimdall's idea. He said that telling the world who he really was would draw Draaga out for sure. Mongul wouldn't resist claiming the price on Thor's head. "I come to challenge Draaga, champion of Warworld, to single combat!"

Thor smiled as he finished the short proclamation. It was something he had done countless times before. Once, he called out the leader of the Frost Giants in order to secure an end to a long, bloody conflict. He could barely stand at the time, his strength sapped by months of fighting. Yet he still managed to fell the Frost Giant after three hours of back and forth brawling.

The doors of the city creaked open slowly, and from them emerged Draaga. But he wasn't dressed as he was in the video from before. No, now he was clad in golden, shimmering armor. Mongul was going to make a show of this. Probably send the video personally to the person who had destroyed Asgard.

As Draaga approached, Thor noticed what he held in his hands, and the Asgardian's blood began to boil. The glittering blade of the battle ax shone brilliantly in the sunlight that poked through the clouds above. Thor knew the curve of its handle and blade well. He had used that ax for centuries. It was his first great Dwarven weapon, Jarnbjorn, being wielded by nothing more than a common thug. Whoever had raided the cache had given this gift to Mongul, and now Mongul hoped to kill Thor with his own weapon.

The trepidation that had filled him moments before washed away in rage.

"Mongul accepts your challenge," Draaga sneered and charged at Thor.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

Favorite comics run: The Winter Soldier storyline from Brubaker's Cap, or IDW's TMNT. Brubaker's Cap is just the best, and made me fall in love with the character before Chris Evans made him challenge Spidey as my favorite all-around comic character. Just so much about that run is pitch perfect. And the IDW TMNT has just so much fun stuff I've enjoyed. Its combined the best parts of all the old TMNT properties into the best possible combination.

Favorite comics movie: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE or AVENGERS: ENDGAME. Yes, I know they're both new, but both have just everything that makes me love superheroes. Crazy concepts, awesome characters, touching moments, great humor, and some terrific action to boot.

In other news, my post is getting close to being done. I'm combining two posts into one, so it should be up Sunday.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

Next post should be up tomorrow