Morose

The Uncanny X-Babies - Concluded

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John Watts

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Location: Serval Industries Engineering Lab
Skills: Parenting and Perception

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Watts' eyes flickered over to Belladonna as she came into the lab, took a cupcake, and sat down with her book. "Don't touch anything," he warned her. He didn't like people messing around with things in the lab, but as long as Belladonna was quiet and didn't touch his things - she could touch Andrew's work, he didn't care - then that was fine with him. His eyes returned to Andrew, able to discern that he had hit a nerve. It was probably tied to Andrew's lack of a real father figure. Watts didn't sign up to be the parent of the team, however, so he let Andrew go without much of a fuss. If Andrew wanted to go throw a temper tantrum, someone else could go deal with it. He had dealt with enough screaming babies for one lifetime.

However, it seemed that the interruptions weren't going to cease. The intercom crackled to life, telling the team that they needed to report to the main briefing room. Watts never understood why it was called that. They never went anywhere else for briefing - so why add on the redundancy of calling it the main location for that? "Come on, I need to lock up the lab before we head out," Watts told Belladonna. He didn't want to leave their ideas and work unguarded. The regular employees worked in a different lab - Watts begrudgingly shared this one with Andrew.

🦄 Machiavellian Masquerade - Chapter 1

Professor Walnut

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Location: Shadowell Manor: Confinement (Attic)
Skills: N/A
Hit Points: 3
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While Titian was correct that the people of the house hadn't killed anyone yet, they have been more or less threatened with death on a regular basis since they arrived. The threat of violence loomed in the background constantly, which was understandable with the revelation that the Lord of the Manor supposedly had not been the one to send out the invitations. Before his death, he had even praised whoever had killed Kindle for giving him one less mouth to feed. She had to wonder if with the regime change inevitably following his death, would that attitude be held by whoever replaced him? Her eyes followed Titian as he propped himself up against the wall near the door. It gave her a slight idea. Penance's flattery of Titian made her want to gag.

At the mention of the list, Walnut's thoughts turned slightly towards Amaranthine. She wasn't going to ask Blush to confirm that her own name had been present. But Amaranthine? Oh, she hated the woman and she knew her real name. With the agreement to share information in mind and an equal amount of spite, Walnut glanced at Blush once more. "Was there a Diva Miranda Manchester on the list?" Walnut asked. "That is the real name of the Chanteuse Amaranthine." She then paused, thinking on Swamp as she looked at Rave again. "If none of us have the title of doctor, then I think Swamp is more and more likely to be the guilty party. He attacked Plum in cold blood, killing a defenseless and pitiful man. He claims to be a doctor but is nothing of the sort. I would not be surprised if he orchestrated the death of the woman earlier with the chairs... And perhaps he is somehow involved in the Lord's demise. A crafty individual like Swamp seems to operate from the shadows, pulling strings... and when I refused to let him murder an innocent, he has attempted to discredit me as mad."

🦄 Deeper Than The Sands - Merged With T.S.

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Gene Benaszewski & Nora Kingston

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Location: Athribis
Skills: Pattern Analysis, Cryptography, Mathematics, Decipher hieroglyphics, Acute Observation

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"I am certain," Nora replied to Mahendra, as he asked if she was certain. She had faith in her calculations and her analysis. He then once again brought up the idea that she could have been onto something, but to be careful. Her thoughts flickered back to Josephine briefly and the advice she had given her. Would Mahendra have been saying the same sort of things to her now if she were a man? Why caution her? She wasn't the one who had jumped into the void. She was being careful and methodical as she always was. It irritated her slightly. Less than a week ago, she would have resigned this as just being a part of the world, another reason to retreat and to not put herself out there. Now, her eyes flickered towards Mahendra and she returned to what she was doing, filled with determination instead of reluctance.

Gene didn't really see anything in the void, but the echoes on her voice seemed premature. "Maybe there's a bunch of birds down there," she mused, though she doubted anyone else would get her thought process there. "Are you afraid of birds?" she asked Lauren, peering up at her. She recalled the way the fog had risen up and she was confident that Belladonna was fine, even though she hadn't been able to hear her. It would take more than a little fall to kill her - though the same probably couldn't be said for the Lord Major. He seemed exceptionally fragile and dumb. His laughter was a bit grating. "You are welcome, Old Man," she responded.

The group's mathematician was examining the circular tile, pressing slightly tiles 17 and 28. As the numbers moved, there was another click that reminded her of the one from before and she braced herself for a plunge into the void. The shaking of the wall didn't help her nerves and even Gene looked a bit nervous, given that there wasn't really anything around to hold onto if they were about to fall to their doom. Maybe they'd all get lucky and get caught from their underwear? Nora's shoulders relaxed, the tension vanishing from them as the wall lifted upwards, revealing a hallway that they could continue to venture down. "Thank you," she said, accepting Mahendra's praise this time. "As for these markings... I imagine they will. Whether it be fate or just coincidence... Wherever this group travels, there seems to be a connection to the larger puzzle."

Gene's eyes lit up with excitement as the wall came down. Now THIS was a vacation! This was what she had come here for! A secret puzzle that could be solved by this Lady Kingston, followed up with a wall moving and bringing them closer to the unknown? It was positively tantalizing. Gene adored not knowing what came next. So many people back home would pester her to see what was ahead, but it sometimes could take away a bit of the fun, always knowing what was going to happen. She adored the mystery and the allure of the unknown.

Roll Request - Gene

Character current location: Athribis, Underground
Characters attempted actions: Gene is going to do a spot check of sorts, looking for traps/trip wires and the like that might make them entering the hallway a bad idea
Any and all skills being used: N/A
Why each skill is being called: N/A
Desired location of the character: Athribis, Underground

Roll Request - Nora

Character current location: Athribis, Underground
Characters attempted actions: Nora is examining the new markings Mahendra pointed out to her
Any and all skills being used: Pattern Analysis, Cryptography, Mathematics, Decipher hieroglyphics, Acute Observation
Why each skill is being called: Pattern Analysis - to see if these fall into a pre-established pattern or to detect a new one. Cryptography - cypher patterns and the like, drawing on these. Mathematics - seeing if there are more numbers to find. Decipher hieroglyphics - in order to read these/understand them. Acute Observation - essentially perception.
Desired location of the character: Athribis, Underground

🦄 Soulless Regency - Merged With T.S.

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Virginia Crypt

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Location: Gretna Green
Skills: Deduction

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As Virginia was heading in the direction she saw the horses coming from, she stopped for a moment as Ny made a comment about the circus being in town. How had the Russian Circus managed to travel this distance to Gretna Green and arrive what felt like moments after them? Had they experienced some sort of anomaly as well? Her mind was racing as she spotted Vlad, trying to understand what could have happened. It seemed that he had spotted them as well, from the larger than life personality's shouts and exclamations directed at them. As he called her a wolf, however, Virginia's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Was it just a coincidence or could... could Bazhooli have been behind the wolf carcass sent to threaten her brother?

Her expression softened, hearing that one of the Circus' people had died. "Great Bazhooli... I regret to tell you this, but your comrade is not the only one who went to begin the next adventure. I am so sorry for your loss," she said softly. "Dame Mary Hale perished fighting the Soulless along the way... and I must ask... Is the Grand Duchess well? Last I saw her, she had been spirited away by some creature and... Well, it seemed that she was likely dead." Virginia studied Bazhooli for a moment. She felt her was telling the truth about Elizaveta, though she wanted to make sure that the Grand Duchess was alright. So much had happened to their initial trio that she felt it was her duty to make sure.

Roll Request

Character current location: Gretna Green
Characters attempted actions: Virginia is going to be studying Bazhooli, trying to figure out if he could have been the one to send the wolf to her home
Any and all skills being used: Deduction
Why each skill is being called: For sleuthing!
Desired location of the character: Gretna Green, heading in the direction she first saw the horses come from

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Maeve Brennan

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Location: House Kirkpatrick - the Parlor -> hunting down the butler!
Skills: Deception

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Maeve nodded, standing from where she had been seated. "Aye, m'lady," she told her. She hadn't been able to pick up any flaws in Colette's logic or what she had been outwardly saying, so it seemed that perhaps she was being genuine. If Colette really was just a naive and innocent, sheltered daughter of a peer, then her job would be all the more easier. She didn't doubt though that there could be something more sinister hiding behind that pretty face. She gave a nod to Colette as her thanks, Maeve's hand running along the brim of the letter for a moment.

"I'll be back in a moment an' once de carriage is ready, we can depart, miss," she told Colette, before she headed off to track down the butler. Once she found him, she asked for him to prepare the carriage for departure immediately, as well as handing off the letter for him to mail - she stressed that it was important too. She didn't want to have the letter get lost by the post or forgotten about by the butler, since Lady Kirkpatrick had a personal stake in how events would turn out. "Thank ye," she said, having finished telling the butler what exactly she needed.

Darke Magyk - Concluded

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@Nallore@BlueSky44@FantasyChic@KazAlkemi@eclecticwitch

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Present Day - The Castle: November 5th, 12,508 - 8:10 PM

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The Queen's Room...

Once they were all inside of the Queen's Room, the ghost of Queen Meliscente Appeared. She had the same vibrant ginger hair as her daughters, though her mannerisms and demeanor were far more similar to Luna's than Valda's. That much was to be expected of course - Luna had been raised in court like her mother had been, while Valda had been brought up in the Forest by the Wendron Witches. "Valda, it is not appropriate to bring men into this place," Queen Meliscente chided. "Your brother would be one thing but these... these servants?! They're beneath you. And what would people think, knowing the company you keep?"

Whether or not Ahote would be permitted to leave the room would ultimately be up to Titan, as he was guarding the only exit they knew about with a sword. Princess Luna would notice a slight draft in the room, but it wasn't coming from the door. No one else would, so maybe it's just a hallucination... But what could the draft be? Valda and Titan would have their eyes drawn to the Unstable Potions and Partikular Poisons cupboard. It had been there since before even Valda and Luna's grandmother could remember.

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Antonije, Myrus, and Violet

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Location: the Palace Grounds (G10, P7, 8L)
Skills: Telepathy, Running, Arson, Trivia Knowledge, ExtraOrdinary Magyk, Charms and Spells

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Battle Map

You MUST specify where you are on this battle map each time. White text indicates a PC or claimed NPC. Blue text indicates a neutral/good NPC. Red text indicates an evil NPC (vampires in this case). Objects on this map are not necessarily to scale.

Note:
-Oliver is the vampire that killed Mavis and initially attacked Myrus, and then bit Amarantha after Antonije tried to control it
-Nyx is the second vampire to try to attack Myrus, only to get attacked by Sylvi
-I'll be using the vampires names from now on, since they are now randomly generated and listed on the battle map!

With Nyx's spinal cord severed, the vampire was having a few problems with walking. One of his feet seemed to drag slightly, but that didn't stop the creature from continuing to attack Sylvi. In an awkward forward tumble, Nyx clasped onto Sylvi with his hands and continued to tip forward. His teeth sank into the skin on her upper shoulder and he was about to begin to drain her of her blood, when there was a resounding scream inside of his head. "NO!!!!!!!!!!!"

Antonije covered the distance between them in a split second, pulling his Fyre-Making Charm from his pocket and he shouted the incantation, lobbing it at the vampire. Nyx was set ablaze and let go of his grip on Sylvi, allowing Antonije to pull her away to safety as Nyx screamed in pain. He didn't know why, but the Magykal Fyre caused the vampire to crumble into ashes, only the fangs remaining on the ground a moment later. "Sylvi? Are you okay?" Antonije asked her softly, using his telepathy to speak directly into her mind. "I think a vampire bit you..."

Being carried by Lennox, Myrus was getting a pretty good view of all of the destruction going on. The Palace Guard had managed to get the civilians mostly clear, though there were still two pockets of them left at the Palace Grounds. There were dead guards on the grass as well, with only three of them left alive besides Amarantha and Lennox. "Th-there!" Myrus exclaimed, seeing Erasmus right in front of them. The vampire bared his fangs and hissed at Lennox.

"I see you have delivered me a meal - thanks!" the creature taunted, pulling two back handed swords and sliding into a fighting stance. He wasn't close enough to strike Lennox yet and was more or less daring the guard to move forward. Moving backwards would put Lennox's precious cargo closer to the heart of all of this violence and chaos.

As for Amarantha, she succeeded in dislocating Oliver's shoulder, but as she went in to sever his elbow joint, the vampire grabbed onto her tightly and used her momentum to bring them both to the ground. Amarantha was on top of the creature, his mouth stained with her blood and he grinned up at her. "You're one of us now, so stop fighting," Oliver boasted. The bite mark on Amarantha's neck was completely gone, as if it had never been there. Her senses were heightened, as was her strength, and there would be an immense pain in her mouth - pain like she had rarely ever felt before. Coupled to that pain was a sense of hunger and need - a sense of bloodlust.

Close to the boat launch, the last member of the Palace Guard attempting to protect the civilians there was slain. Julien had drained him entirely of blood, letting the pale corpse drop at his feet. "This was too easy a job," he commented to his friend, Nicolai. The other vampire nodded in agreement. "I don't care though, we're getting paid to do this."

There was a mist of purple as someone Transported to the area. Wearing a black cloak, the hood covered the figure's face, though purple-yellow eyes peaked out from underneath the brim. "You have failed the Castle," Violet, one of two famous vigilantes active in the Small Wet Country Across the Sea, warned the vampires. The air was thick around the woman as she took a breath, feeling the Magyk pumping through her veins.

Punish them... a voice whispered in her mind. They have failed the Castle... Kill them... Burn them... Destroy them all...

The purple Magykal aura around her became Darke. "Melt," she cast, pointing at the two creatures. Slowly, the vampires became warmer and warmer, until it was so hot that their skin started to ripple. Their blood was boiling and their eyes turned to puddles, dripping down their face as they then sagged to the ground. The vampires clothing mixed with the melted flesh, coated with blood and muscle and gut, until there was just a pile of liquified monsters and shiny white skeletons remaining.

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The Witch Country: November 5th, 12,508 - 10:10 PM

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Asha brushed off Fleur's comment about the guard, since she didn't have any guards there with her. She figured that it was a veiled way to refer to the power source she wore around her neck, the jewel that guided her Magyk and granted Asha the position of the most powerful wizard on the planet. "If I was here to kill you, you would know it," Asha answered. She was confident that she would be able to kill Fleur if needed, but she doubted it. The woman was not the most conventional force of good in the world, but she had heard that Fleur helped to save the Castle six months ago from Chthon, the elder god of chaos.

"I am here to instruct you of the path you walk on - as a holder of an инфинити стоне," she explained. "As long as we speak soon, that is no problem. It is not too long a distance to return to my country," she winked slightly. Asha must have figured out some way to travel across the world instantaneously, something that not even a Transport could accomplish. Magyk had limits on distances that could be traveled, with even the Badlands barely being in range of the Castle. To travel across continents... Asha must have discovered something huge.

Asha stepped aside, allowing Fleur to walk down the mountain. "After you, Witch Queen."

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Asgard: November 5th, 12,508 - 9:10 PM

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The Bifröst...

"A lot can change in six months," Halley commented, taking Cuyler's advice with a grain of salt. Heimdall hadn't been able to see Loki, and supposedly, no one in the Nine Realms was supposed to be blocked from Heimdall's sight. The difficulties Runa and Klara had had in tracking Loki - or whoever had stolen the Tesseract - didn't bode well for this just being as simple as going to Snake Slipway and knocking on doors. "And don't forget, Loki can disguise himself to look like anyone," Halley reminded him. "He could even look like you."

The trio didn't take too long, leaving the Palace and then heading across the Rainbow Bridge. Heimdall was there at the end, holding his sword at attention and he bowed his head slightly, greeting the demigods.

"Princess Halley," Heimdall greeted. "Master Cuyler and Mistress Arnora... The All-Mother informed me that you would need to travel by Bifröst. Do note that if you are in mortal peril and wish to open the Bifröst, if I judge that doing so would endanger Asgard and the Nine Realms, you will be left to die."

"Of course," Halley responded. "We need to travel to the Castle of the Small Wet Country, if you would open the Bifröst."

Myth and Bruce's Home...

Runa shook her head at Myth, taking Halden carefully. "No one is all good or all bad," she said softly, thinking back for a moment. She had made some horrible choices in her life - evil ones, even. "As for Fleur, though... I believe that there is more good to her than most believe," she finished. She knew the bad that Fleur had done, but from what Runa could tell, it had been for her coven - her family. Wouldn't she have done the very same things, had their roles been reversed? At any rate, once Myth and Bruce are out the door, they'll want to hurry to get to the Bifröst - they should be able to get there just in time this round to see Heimdall chatting with Cuyler, Arnora, and Halley.

🦄 The Paradoxical Emendation - Merged With T.S.

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Andromeda Aldrich

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Location: Ville au Camp - Outside the Gate
Skills: N/A

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Hearing that Giouse more or less had no idea what to expect as they walked away from Ville au Camp and the loop closed wasn't doing much to help Andromeda's nerves. She had a slight temptation to ask him why his abilities were only able to impact space, when at least in her time, space and time were inherently linked concepts. But she knew better than to argue with an Emendator over that, at the very least - they had bigger things to worry about and to occupy their minds with than the finer points of physics and astronomy. Gilbert at the very least was proposing a plan of action - going to scavenge through the 'remains' of the loop once it was safe to reenter.

At James' slight softening, Andromeda nodded slightly. "I know - I was just teasing you back," she clarified. She then nodded again as he asked again about the superhero teams. "Yeah, actual teams. Did you guys have that huge thing in New York?" she prefaced. "After that, they kinda started popping up all around... Of course the government tried to keep people from knowing about the real spooky stuff, like demons and ghosts and vampires and all, but they had a harder time after Altsoba to really keep that up.... That's when the devil tried to end the world, ended up just killing a small town's population in Washington... My uh... my half-brother was the one who summoned him."

"But on the team subject - the Avengers are a pretty big deal. O.M.E.N. kinda leaves them alone, but honestly I think it's just because of the money the team has backing them..."

🦄 Darker Than Black - Merged With T.S.

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Cecily Ashworth

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Location: The Asylum - Outside
Skills: Deduction

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Cecily nodded slightly at Roy's rant about essentially going in with no plan, and truth be told, it freaked her out. One of her fears was being asked to improvise - to produce an answer without really knowing what was going on. The barebones of the plan were pretty much fine - go in, find their friends, and get out. But what if they ran into trouble? Did Roy want her to hide behind him or try to do science on the fly to throw a bomb at someone worthy of being shown on MythBusters? God, she missed watching that show and it hadn't been too long since she binge watched a bunch of reruns. "Yay..." Cecily said quietly as they pulled up at the asylum and it looked pretty much like Arkham. Was that a coincidence? Was this place inspiration for Arkham Asylum? Or did every creepy asylum just have to look the same?

She got out of the car, closing the door and she tried her best not to have an internal monologue about how the car door shutting signaled the start of the next round of crazy, life threatening shenanigans. What would Jessica Jones do? She would take a deep breath, stay calm, and try her best in a shitty situation. Cecily repeated that answer to herself in her mind a few times, trying to work through the enormous nerves that were buzzing around inside of her like bees. Now wasn't the time to freak out and run. Riley needed her. Roy's partner needed her. Roy needed her. "...Ladies first?" Cecily suggested, before motioning for Roy to go first. A little bit of humor would help to soothe her nerves, hopefully.

Roll Request

Character name: Cecily
Characters current location: The Asylum - Outside
Characters attempted actions: Cecily is going to head into the Asylum with Roy, trying to keep calm and keep an eye out for any funny business
Any and all skills being used: Cool Headedness, Deduction
Why each skill is being called: Cool Headedness for staying calm in the field, Deduction for sleuthing
Desired location: The Asylum - Inside

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@FantasyChic@Jasonhero

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New York Sanctum - New York: July 15th, 2021 - 7:30 P.M.

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The Brilliant Minds - Left Side of the First Floor...

Dr. Banner nodded slightly at Niah, with Shuri walking over to join them - as well as the Invisible Woman and Bonnie. It seemed that the heroes were more or less self selecting based on education level, dividing into two groups: the brains and the brawn. Those who could fit into either category could more or less choose where to go, of course - as it would be insane to suggest that the Hulk didn't easily fit into the brawn group. He was practically their figurehead - him or Captain Marvel, really. "I'm all ears, Dr. Bautista," he said, using Niah's title since Niah had a PhD, earning her the right to be called a doctor.

The Black Panther nodded at Cassandra, as she asked if anyone had any thoughts on how exactly to go about building a time machine. "Vibranium," she said simply. "All of our achievements in technology in Wakanda came from it - I see no reason why a time machine wouldn't need that metal as well," she reasoned. At the mention of her home country, the sparkle in Shuri's eyes seemed to dim slightly. The last time they had been in Wakanda... things hadn't ended well. They had lost people.

"I'm not an engineer - so just point me where you need me and I'll do my best," Bonnie said. Time travel and all was out of her skill set, but she had a sharp scientific mind and several doctorate degrees. She had been working at S.H.I.E.L.D. long enough to know that she could do anything if she put her mind to it, and besides, she had Cass with her. Their little partnership was back together.

The Muscles Brigade - Right Side of the First Floor...

"I don't know where the weapon he's building is," Wanda muttered. "If I did, I would have used it to destroy Ultron myself." She didn't like anymore than they did that she had to come to these people for help, but she was out of options. She needed someone to help her upload the virus while she manipulated the probability fields around Ultron. If the X-Men hadn't perished, she would have just asked her future sister in law to help - of course, would Wanda even be doing this if her twin brother hadn't been killed with the rest of his team? If Quicksilver was still alive and working for Ultron as well, would she care?

She then reached into her pocket and paused for a moment, before pulling out a crinkled sheet of paper. "I found this," she said, opening the paper up. It was an email between two Serval Industries employees, discussing the organo-techno virus they were working on developing for a client. "Ultron may know about it, but like your irritating friend, he doesn't think a virus can hurt him." Wanda held out her hands, little wisps of red appearing around them. "I can manipulate the probability fields - make the probability high that this virus will stop him from replicating himself."

Mr. Dibbles, being a turtle, didn't really know what was going on. He just saw a giant red cat in front of him and the turtle decided that he liked the cat, so Mr. Dibbles walked forward slowly and booped Goose with his head.

Dr. Strange hadn't yet walked on over to the other side of the room with the rest of the nerds, preferring to keep the mystical threat in his sights until he knew whether or not she could be trusted. He smirked slightly as Flynn pointed out one of his prized possessions - the Time Stone. He was charged to protect it as the Sorcerer Supreme and he knew the dangers of messing with the laws of reality. From what he understood, using time travel to avert one crisis only ensured that a larger, greater threat would come along one day. The X-Men had stopped an apocalyptic future for mutants - and now, here they were, with an apocalyptic future for all life on the planet.

"Yes, I am in possession of the Eye of Agamotto - a relic powerful enough to contain the Time Stone," Strange answered. "I must warn you - its use cannot be done lightly. To use an infinity stone to unravel time as you described... there will be a price to pay. Not only would at least one of you perish, but a greater crisis will emerge in an attempt to replace this one... The X-Men didn't understand this and now look, Ultron is supreme."

Captain Marvel didn't even hesitate. "And we'll be ready to face that threat when it comes. We're soldiers. This is what we do." She rubbed her fists slightly, thinking about the enormous power that flowed through her veins. She wasn't going to let the world end out of fear - she was going to save it, no matter the sacrifice. Higher, further, faster - that was her motto and she was going to live by it no matter what.

Raynor stared at the Scarlet Witch, before he nodded slightly. She had been a terrorist and she lost someone she cared about. How was that not his own life story? He had done horrible things, terrible things that he couldn't be absolved of no matter how much he tried to put things right. "I can babysit her. If she makes a wrong move, I'll fry her," he offered, glancing over at Tinley for approval.

"Yikes, you guys must really hate her... Anyways, how are we going to destroy this weapon thingy? Or are we going after the Ultron killing virus first? Or both?" Spider-Gwen asked. She was bouncing lightly from one foot to the other, psyching herself up for a day of fighting for their lives.

The Gifted - Concluded

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@Nallore@FantasyChic@BlueSky44@Achronum@Trainerblue192@KazAlkemi

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Washington D.C.: September 8th, 2020 - 1:50 PM

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Frost International HQ - Downtown Washington D.C.:

For whatever reason, Jinx seemed to be exactly the guard's type and before he slipped away, the guard handed Jinx a card with his number on it. The unlucky mutant could be getting lucky in the near future, depending on how he played this off. Emma Frost didn't take to Jinx nearly as well, but who could blame her? It was her company, her associates from her less than innocent business dealings were here unannounced, and he had just asked her to run along and not worry her pretty head about it? She seemed to be a bit more receptive to Requiem.

"Of course. I wasn't informed that you two would be visiting my company - it's caught me off guard. However, I will accompany you nonetheless." Her eyes twinkled for a moment, and she then smiled slightly. "I just cleared my schedule with my assistant. Now what is it that you boys wished to look into here?" She then did a quick mental scan of Jinx and Requiem's minds, picking up a few pieces of information but neither mutant would know what exactly.

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Sunshine and Spirit Box

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Location: the Morlock Tunnels
Skills: People Reading, Psychology, Mediumship

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Erg sighed slightly, as Max told him what had happened. The leader of the Washington D.C. Morlocks then gave him a nod and rubbed his face - a tame reaction considering that Erg saw no problem greeting people at gunpoint. One part of Max's explanation stuck out to him - the language that he used. One of our own. "Caduceus is not one of my people," he said bluntly. "I am proud that you, Tome, made him one of yours and protected him." While his words were praise for his actions, his facial expression was neutral and guarded - who knew how Erg really felt about all of this.

Casper gave James a gentle smile though. "If you insist..." he quipped, after James said fuck me upon failing to really do much to heal Casper's injuries. The bleeding on his head had stopped and his eyes were still stinging, with the black eyes pretty much halfway formed by now (courtesy of Leighton's new boyfriend the Purifier). "Not that I'm turning into my father or anything but... Sometimes, if your powers aren't working, it's all in your head. Get your mind in order, whatever it is that's bothering you, and it'll come back to you."

"If you were turning into your dad... Which do you think would go first - the hair or the legs?"

"Better be the legs, Bennie, my hair is beautiful!" Casper told his ghost friend. Casper then flexed his legs slightly, as if that would tell him if there was any danger of him being confined to a wheelchair shortly. His ears perked up slightly again as his brother, Stretch, started talking about letting people crash at his office. Jack's place was one of his favorite places to sleep - it had a consistent supply of doughnuts and it reminded him of when they were little, sharing a room together. He missed those days.

"Don't forget, you wanted waffles," Ben reminded Casper.

"Jackie, can we get waffles on the way back to your place?" he then inquired.

Sunshine, meanwhile, seemed to have escaped Erg's wrath for her bullying of Max. She kept a hold on Fred, her pet dead rat, and judged the terrain more or less around her. Growing up on the streets, she had a pretty easy time when it came to reading people. Leighton and Max were going to go off to the Mutant Underground. She was certain James would follow them or just head on home after all of this. Casper, the idiot, was just going to follow his brother. It meant that she would be the only one of this little group to stay with the Morlocks. She really was the girl that everyone abandoned - and why wouldn't they?

"You guys can be idiots and go join X-Men Little League, I'm staying here where it's safe," Sunshine said, rolling her eyes slightly. The Mutant Underground risked their lives to get mutants to safety, but she knew a lot of them ended up in prison themselves for their actions. Sunshine was just looking out for herself, not others, and joining the Mutant Underground would be a selfless act. She wasn't a selfless person. Maybe she would join the Brotherhood of Mutants one day, kill the humans and destroy their lives just like they had destroyed hers. Maybe one day.

"Knock it off," Blink scolded Sunshine. "Everyone has a right to make their own choices, doesn't make them idiots. And being mean to everyone, kid? That won't make anyone like you and want to be your friend, just saying." She wasn't going to try however to deal with the dead rat Sunshine was carrying around like a trophy - that was a lost cause at this point.

Blink then opened a portal and on the other side, they would be able to see Veil and the others at the Mutant Underground. "Everyone heading to the Underground, now's the time," she said.

"Thank you for the generator and the offer to patch ours up, Caduceus," Erg then said, acknowledging James. "If you wish, you can stay and finish and Blink will then take you wherever you want to go... Or if you leave now, Grimlock can extract the information on how to fix it from your head before you go."

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Veil

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Location: The Mutant Underground Main Area - Washington D.C. Station
Skills: Leadership, Perception

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Veil took in the information that Glimpse had more or less failed to mention - her connections to the Hellfire Club. It was concerning, but it wasn't something that would cause her to no longer trust her. Havok had a direct connection to Magneto, as he had an on-and-off again relationship with his daughter Polaris. She didn't remember much but she knew that Sunspot had a connection to the Hellfire Club as well. "Would Shaw suspect something of you, if you were to pay him a visit?" Veil asked her. If Glimpse got them into the building, Veil could keep the others invisible, allowing them to poke around while Glimpse distracted Shaw.

Havok nodded slightly at Sapphire. "Want to make a bet on how long it'll take for her to turn on us?" he whispered to the ice wielding mutant. He had hoped that Colossus would take their side, but he figured that hopefully Moonwalker and the others would see what a huge mistake this all was, trusting Glimpse. She was an unknown element and in an operation as fragile as this, they needed to have every little variable defined and controlled in order to survive. Glimpse was a threat to everyone here.

It was a few moments later that Sunspot, Cannonball, and Negasonic entered the room. Cannonball was there for the food mostly that Moonwalker had mentioned, eager to get something that didn't taste like watered down sweaty socks to eat for once. Sunspot, however, had recognized the name Braddock. He had vowed to take down the Hellfire Club after they resulted in the death of his girlfriend, Juliana. Braddock was the surname of one of the families of the club. The instant he saw Glimpse, he burst into flames, glaring at her. "What the hell are we doing, letting Hellfire scum in here?!" he shouted.

Even though Sunspot knew rationally that Glimpse didn't have anything to do with Juliana's death, it was all he could think about. Cannonball sighed slightly, gently putting a hand on his friend's shoulder without getting burned. "What Sunspot means to say is welcome to the Mutant Underground," Cannonball said, hoping to smooth things over.

Negasonic laughed slightly, shaking her head. "Yeah, that's not what he meant at all..."

And as if things weren't tense enough, a bright purple tear in reality formed in front of them - it was a portal! On the other side, they could see a few people standing in what looked to be the sewers. Had Colossus had a better line of sight, he would have been able to recognize Stretch, the private investigator they had hired. It took Veil a moment before her mind put it all together - the brand on Erg's face was what finally clued her in. It was similar to the one she had on her arm.

"...And they said the Morlocks were a myth," she said quietly. "What can we do to help?" she asked, not hesitating or demanding them to join or pointing a gun at them.

The Uncanny X-Babies - Concluded

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John Watts

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Location: Serval Industries Engineering Lab
Skills: Mechanical Engineering, Perception, Chemistry

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Watts had been reaching for a cupcake before Andrew even offered one to him, taking it and eating the frosting only. He didn't care much for the cake portion of it, thinking them as simply glorified frosting delivery systems. He then chucked the cake towards the trash can, the projectile landing perfectly inside of its intending target and Watts smirked slightly. "It's obvious why it isn't working," he told Andrew. He glanced over the system and its design, noticing a few issues that jumped out to him immediately. A lot of people got so excited about all of the advanced and terrific applications of their tech that they forgot to cover the basics.

"You don't have sufficient insulation on the wiring. While you have thermoplastic NM-B wiring here, you're going to need something more substantial due to the size manipulations in the suit, as well as your specific alloy," Watts explained to him, a slight condescending tone to his voice. Of course, there was a slight smirk on his face - either from being right or just from having a brief little mental exercise. "There's also I think a 10% chance that when you use the suit, you are causing corrosion on your power source which will degrade performance significantly. But most likely, your problem is the insulation."

"Anything else I can help you with, kiddo?" he asked. He didn't use kiddo as a term of endearment.