HenryJonesJr

Independent Comics Universe RPG

I'm gonna allow Cole. He fits in well.

Sloth, did you ever finish The Killer's CS?

Also, I lost my CS. So I'll be writing it again

Independent Comics Universe RPG

DeathstrokeSW said
Hey henry, mind responding to that Cobra Commander/Storm Shadow questions/answers PM I sent?

Yea. I'm on travel for work tonight and tomorrow so I have time with nothing to do. I'll definitely get that to you tomorrow.

Independent Comics Universe RPG

Approved

Finishing up a Cobra post as well as my other CS.

Independent Comics Universe RPG

Assembling a Team
~Part 1~

The man in the hat sat quietly next to the hospital bed, taking turns staring at his feet and back at the elderly man laying in it hooked up to the respirator. He had never been good in situations like this. He had watched his father and two of his best friends go, and he never knew what to say. Luckily the man in the bed spoke up first, "You never were good with the feelings, were you?"

"I guess not," he smiled at the wrinkled face staring back at him. It pained him to see his old friend, once so vibrant and full of life, reduced to withering shell. Cancer would do that to you, however, especially at his age. It was a miracle he lasted long enough for the man in the hat to come say goodbye. He hated saying goodbye.

"It's time though, doctor," the man said before going into a coughing fit. When his breathing stabilized, he smiled, "I'm old. And we don't all get extra innings."

"Trust me," the man in the hat's mood turned to a mix of sadness and seriousness, "you don't want them."

"Maybe," the other man matched his tone, "but we both know you were given this gift to change the world. You've done it so many times. But when you're in this bed, you'll look back and realized your long life was the work of God. You were the knight, remember?"

The man in the hat looked away. He hated the talk of destiny, gods, and gifts. There was a time when he would scoff at such talk, but he had learned too much in his long years on earth. He knew all of those things were real. But he hated the idea that he was some special warrior chosen by the forces of good. He was who he was.

"Yea, how can I forget."

"Excuse me," a nurse said from the door apologetically, "he has more visitors. If you wouldn't mind."

"Sure," the visitor nodded, standing and hovering over the bed for a few moments.

"You really are awful at this, Dr. Jones," the sick man hacked.

"We all don't have a way with words like you do, Shorty," Indiana Jones joked finally with his old friend. "I"m glad I got to see you. And...and when you get where ever you're going, tell everyone I said hi."

"I will, Indiana," Kennon "Short Round" Wong nodded as he squeezed Indiana Jones's hand with what feeble strength he had remaining.

Henry nodded, turning and leaving the room, barely acknowledging the people waiting for their turn to say goodbye to his old friend. Shorty was the last one to go. He was the last person from Indiana's past to make it. And now he was gone.

And now Indiana truly was alone.

**********

Buffy sat in the dark room, a small light bulb dimly illuminating the dingy walls faintly. This was where Hellboy had told her to meet him. It was out of the way, and about as official as a DVD from Chinatown. It wouldn't draw attention, and she'd be able to slink back into the shadows once the meeting was over. Still, he could have cleaned the place a little bit.

The rusty door screeched as it opened. The red demon and Kate Corrigan, one of the top BPRD agents, entered, taking the other two seats.

"Well," the Slayer asked, "did it work?"

"As far as we can tell it worked flawlessly," Corrigan nodded. "The spell Willow has put on you will conceal you from being recognized for a few weeks, plenty of time to put together the team."

"About this team," Buffy started to protest before being cut off by Hellboy.

"This is the team, Buffy," he shook his head. "We need people fairly off the radar."

"Why can't I have Willow and Xander?" she asked impatiently.

"Because they're agents," Corrigan explained. "They'll be in constant contact with you. But bringing them on the team almost insures our little plan here will be found out."

"Fine, but I'm adding Giles," she was adamant.

The two BPRD agents shared a glance before relenting.

"Now that that's sorted out, I'll be on my way."

"Buffy, you know how important this is, right?" Corrigan asked.

"Saving the world?" Buffy laughed. "I think I'm pretty aware."

**********

Henry Jones Jr. stood in the back of the group assembled in front of Shorty's grave. The rain came down on his hat, splattering and dripping from the rim onto his shoulders. He didn't want to go closer. He had said his goodbyes yesterday and was only here to pay his respects. He had spent nearly his entire life around tombs and graves. He didn't have any desire to be near them again. But Kennon Wong was the closest thing Jones had ever had to a son, and he was going to be here to pay his respects. He had saved the boy from the streets of Shanghai, put him through school, and the two even fought side-by-side in World War II. He wouldn't miss this. Not for Shorty.

Yet, even as much of a son Wong was, Jones still stood here, a man over one hundred years old in the body of a fifty-something. The damn grail had given him a life longer than any man should have, and what originally felt like a blessing was now a curse. He watched his father die. He watched Marcus die. He watched Sallah die. He watched Shorty die. And Mario...well Marion was Marion.

He had barely aged fifteen to twenty years since he drank from that accursed cup. He took up a calling after the war, fighting with Hellboy and the BPRD against the forces of darkness. But after decades of that, he was tired. At his age most men would be moving on to the comforts of old age. He had barely started to turn grey. He decided it was time to disappear after a while, and has been in voluntary isolation ever since.

The crowd began to disperse and head for the luncheon that was to follow the funeral, but Indy had no plans of joining them. This is where his journey would end. He couldn't reminisce with others over his friend. Once everyone else was gone, Jones approached the casket, gave it a silent nod before turning back toward his car.

Before he could reach it, however, a familiar voice called to him from beneath the shadows of a large willow tree, "He was a good man."

Jones turned to find the woman standing, draped in darkness. Her raven black hair fell pas her shoulders, and the bright red scarf she always wore around her neck was like a beacon in the dim light. Jones approached, pushing away the cascading branches, "Mina Harker. What are you doing here?"

Wilhelmina Harker was not someone who often appeared during times of good fortune. Once the thrall of the legendary vampire Dracula, Haker had been saved by her husband and a group of vampire hunters. The scarf she wore was to hide the scars she still bore from the encounter. She was now immortal thanks to some accident from her days as a member of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Indy and her had dealings in the past.

"Good to see you too, Jones. Is that how you greet old friends now?" the immortal woman rolled her eyes at the adventurer. "I am here to pay my respects. Kennon and you helped me in the past. It was the least I could do."

"Come on, Mina," Jones laughed. "I know you. Something's up. Now tell me what it is so I can say no and get home."

The woman's face showed the annoyance at being brushed aside, but also worry. Mina was always involved in some sort of trouble, but she was rarely worried about it, "Jones, the Veil has been damaged."

"What veil?" the adventurer raised an eyebrow.

"The vein between worlds. Demons, or worse, now have a much easier time getting to our side," her tone betrayed the importance of the matter. "Rasputin nearly succeeded in getting Hellboy to unleash the Dragons. Red was able to snap out of it before he did so, but it may have only temporarily stopped their emergence. We're putting together a team to try and fix this."

Jones was taken aback. He had heard from Red, who told him things had gone south for a while, but Indy never thought it was something this bad. If what Harker was saying was true, the world could slowly be ending around them right now. Indiana cursed under his breath. He cursed that his damn honor and sense of righteousness was going to force him to help. He cursed his damn long life. He cursed that his friends weren't here to help him this time. But he was going to help. Because he was Indiana Jones and that's what he did.

"Fine," Jones grumbled. "But I need to go pick up my whip. And a gun."

Independent Comics Universe RPG

It had been a completely boring night of patrol. Most nights ended up being busts, but tonight had been notably dull. Leo hated nights where they didn't come across anything. It made it nearly impossible to keep his brothers focused on the task at hand. If he was being honest with himself, he couldn't focus much on patrolling when the bad guys weren't biting. They were kids after all, ninjas or not. Their attention spans were a bit on the short side.

"Ugh," Mikey whined. "Can we go meet up with Casey and April? I'm bored."

"Are you bored or do you just want them to order you pizza?" Donnie looked over at his brother.

"A little from column A and a little from column B," Mikey smiled mischievously.

"They're in class numbskull," Raph sighed.

"Only for another hour!" Mike pleaded.

Leo fought his urge to reprimand his brothers. He didn't want to wait around here forever either. Yelling at them wouldn't do anything but elicit grumbles from Raph and Mike.Donnie would be fine with it. Leo can always count on Donnie. But no, he wouldn't yell at them. Instead, he'd give in to Mikey's plea. The team needed some downtime after the stressful weeks they've been having.

"We'll go wait for them," he said, sending a shocked silence over the group.

"What?" Mike blurted out.

"Who are you and what have you done with Leo?" Raph asked, dumbfounded.

"The fish aren't biting tonight," the eldest turtle shrugged. "Let's go hang out a bit. We could use it."

**********

The four turtles waited around on the roof of the building of Empire State University where April and Casey were attending class. The two of them had been the best human allies the four brothers could have ever asked for. Neither of them recoiled at the sight of the mutants, and they even wanted to hang out in the sewer lair. That was really weird. Donnie had done his best to get rid of the smell, but some of it still lingered. The fact they wanted to go down there proved they were real friends.

April was smart, possibly smarter than Donnie even was. A whiz with computers and mechanical structures, she was studying computer science and engineering. She had be the first human Leo had ever really talked to, and she was more than happy to explain the outside world to the brothers. Plus her family had a great antiques shop filled with neat things. They enjoyed it there.

Casey, on the other hand, was more in line with the turtles' fighting side than their teen side. He came from a broken family, and one involved with the mob at that. He and Raph had been going on patrols when Raph was frustrated with the team, and Casey was a capable fighter even though he wasn't trained well. He was also one of the star hockey players on the ESU team, though he needed April's tutoring help to keep his grades at acceptable levels. April and him had become good friends since meeting.

The doors of the building swung open and a mass of students exited, and Leo spotted the two of them laughing in the crowd. Leo pressed his hands to his face and made the call that the group had created as a signal. April and Casey swung around, locking eyes with the group, motioning to the alley on the side of the building. The turtles swung down the fire escape, landing softly.

"Don't you guys ever text?" Casey asked, slapping hands with Raph. "Seriously, we need to get you guys a data plan."

"Have you seen our fingers, bro?" Mikey waved. "Talk about the ultimate fat finger issue."

"What's up guys?" April pondered.

"We were bored," Raph explained.

"No crime to fight. We decided socializing was the best course of action," Don continued.

Leo shrugged, "We thought you guys might be doing something."

"Unfortunately I have to go home and go to bed," April smiled. "Remember that special project at StockTech I was intern on?"

Leo nodded, "The rat hunting robots? I remember. Supposedly there for the cleaning of buildings and the subway."

"Yup. We're turning them on tomorrow in a big ceremony in Central Park. Should be fun. But I need rest. So I can't stay."

"Neither can I, bros," Casey grinned. "I get to be Red's date. Or friend. Or whatever."

That made Leo's eyes spring open. The two of them looked at each other awkwardly and then looked away. Something was there. Leo was happy for them, but it was obvious they wouldn't act on it. He'd come back to that later, "Well, I guess that means this is an early night for us too. Come on, guys. Let's head back."

Independent Comics Universe RPG

Posts and my fourth CS will be up tomorrow.

Independent Comics Universe RPG

Kal-El said
He-Man. He was in his own comics before DC and Marvel took a swing at him. He-Man applies to the rules. I'm making He-Man.

Isn't He-Man set in a parallel universe?

Independent Comics Universe RPG

I just want to say everyone's doing a great job so far. Deathstroke, I'll get back to your PM later tonight.

Also, I'm working on my fourth CS...

Independent Comics Universe RPG

The Commander stood in his operations bay, staring out over the subterranean base he had built with the sheer force of will only he could have mustered up. The Springfield compound would be viewed as a world wonder if its existence ever was discovered. But he had made sure that would never happen. Layers of lead and dense bedrock were layered on top of the massive underground base keeping it sage from all satellite detection. Even the Joes didn't have the technology to penetrate the veil he had pulled over their eyes. The Commander was quite safe here. His army grew, they were trained, and provisioned.

But he couldn't win a war from underground, and the Joes were making it increasingly difficult to win the war above.

The door to the operations room slid open, and in sauntered Firefly. The fly had been the Commander's most trusted ally since his days in the war. He was the only one in his army that had ever seen his real face. Even Destro and Bludd had never gazed up his true form. Firefly was dedicated to the cause to the point of fanaticism, which didn't always make him the best counsel. On the other hand, he was the only once he felt comfortable talking to in a normal matter.

"So, you've been up here for a while," the demolitions expert mused as he sliced an apple with his trusty hunting knife. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"I don't have time or the patience to deal with sarcasm, Firefly," the Commander snapped at his lieutenant. "The Joes have been weighing on my mind."

"Figured as much," he replied, biting into the fruit. "You haven't been above ground since they stopped you from getting the bioweapon."

The Commander clenched his fist at the mention of his last, failed attempt at shifting the balance of power in his favor. The bioweapon being developed by a secret think tank could kill millions at a whim, and the Joes destroyed it and the research facility where it was being developed. It was the latest in a long line of setbacks that were driving the Commander mad. The Joes only had him to worry about. They spent day and night worrying about his movements and his plans. He had started planning a way to distract them, but it was still in its infancy. For now he had to deal with them.

"I think it's time to change that," the Commander said after a long pause. "It's time to remind the world, and the Joes, why they fear Cobra. Ready the Crimson guard."

"I thought you'd never say that," Firefly smiled, tossing the core of the apple aside.

Independent Comics Universe RPG

He could hear every drip of water from the leaky pipes which filled his home.

He could hear the flies buzzing around him. Donnie had done his best to try and rid the lair for them, but it was impossible to rid an entire underground system of the pests.

Next to him, he could hear his sensei breathing slowly.

Meditation had come naturally to Leonardo ever since his transformation. He could easily close out the distractions of the outside world and center himself. His thoughts and worries faded away into a trance like state and complete calm. After the weeks he had been having since the Foot arrived, Leo needed that more than ever, but had not found the time to do his exercises until now. The newly arrived ninja clan was more cunning and brutal than the mob and their Savate lap dogs had been so far. The Foot were the real deal. They were the ninjas everyone talked in whispers about. They were badass, and they weren't going to let anyone push them around. They were here for the city, and possibly more, and they weren't going to suffer anyone foolish enough to get in their way.

Unfortunately for them, Leonardo and his brothers were going to stop them whether they liked it or not. That is, they would if Leonardo could figure out a way to hamper their progress at all. So far it had been one setback after another. The Shredder and his followers were beating the Turtles to ever punch, and were throwing some before the Turtles could even think of their next move.

"You are distracted, Leonardo," Splinter's gravely voice said from beside him. No matter how deep into meditation Leonardo was, he had never come close to Splinter's level of concentration. The Turtles' sensei was the posterchild for focus and control. Maybe it came with his age, Leo didn't know. But he always knew when even the slightest thing was wrong with one of his adopted sons. "What troubles you?"

"The Foot, Master Splinter," Leo responded. "I don't know how we're going to stop them. I don't know if it's even possible."

"Everything is possible, Leonardo," Splinter stood, leaning on his staff. "We are well trained, and we fight for righteousness. We all fall, Leonardo. We all struggle with the darkness in this world. But we will fight it. And we will win the fight. Or we will fall. But we will not let indecision and fear stop us."

Leonardo shifted on his knees. The constant losses against the Foot weren't the only weighing against Leonardo's mind. There was the constant fear he had since being named the leader of his brothers festering underneath. He wasn't afraid to die like his father seemed to be insinuating. No, he was afraid of surviving. He was afraid of surviving when one of his brothers or allies fell in battle. He was also afraid that it would be his fault or one of his orders that got them killed. Leo often wondered if this was the burden of all leaders or if it was just him. Either way, he attempted to fight it just as he attempted to defeat the Foot.

"You're right, Sensei," Leo lied, attempting to hide his true feelings. "Do you mind if we stop for the night? I'd like some time to relax."

"Of course, my son," Splinter smiled.

Leo stood and trudged out of the training dojo section of their lair, entering the antechamber that was once a subway station long ago. Lounging on the couches set up around the old TV they had managed to get working from the dump were Leonardo's brothers. Raphael fiddled with an old video game system, obviously frustrated he wasn't doing better. Donatello was tinkering with a computer motherboard as he attempted to get the Turtles connected to the grid. Mikey sat in front of the TV engrossed in the game.

"Done with your daydreaming?" Raphael said with his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. Raph wasn't a meditating type. Raph was the kind to rush into anything at any time. "Good. Sit down I need a second player and Mikey stinks."

"I don't stink, bro. I just like to smell the roses more than you do," Mikey said calmly. Mikey was a free spirit and a bit of a flake sometimes, but that's what made him special. Still, Raph often lost patience with his baby brother.

"And I don't have time to play games," Donnie said not looking up from the tech he was working on. Leo knew that meant he really didn't want to be bothered.

"I got time for a game," Leonardo smiled and took a seat. There would be time for the Foot and their other worries. But for now he'd be the teenager he was.

**********

The families had enough. They were being squeezed on all sides. The Foot had set up shop in the city and were taking no prisoners. Mutant freaks were fighting each other and the mob. And then there was the Darkness monster. They were getting desperate and had to get creative if they were going to survive.

That's why they were here at StockTech.

"Dr. Stockman," the man said from the shadows, cigar smoke billowing away from his silhouette, "you know why I'm here."

"I have debts," the skinny, nervous scientist said. He was a certified genius with robotics, but he gambled quite a bit, and because of it he was in danger of losing his company. "And you're here to make me pay. But I...I don't have the money. Not yet. Not until I finish my contract for the city."

"Well, that's what I'm here for too," the man laughed. "See, our dear departed police chief told me all about your little pets. And we figure once you turn them on for the city your could give them a new, secondary target. Namely four, big, green ones."

Stockman's eyes shifted from side to side as he understood what the mob was asking of him. He didn't say anything for an answer. He merely nodded his head.