Morose

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@FantasyChic@Natsu

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The Hub - San Fransisco: December 24th, 2020 - 5:20 P.M.

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Raynor Blake

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Location: the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Raynor felt Sparky place her hand on his shoulder and he forced himself to try to relax slightly. He knew rationally that Harry hadn't done anything to him and that no one in the room knew why the damned mistletoe was bothering him so much, mostly since he hadn't said a word. Harry didn't even fight back, leaving Raynor slightly disappointed. He could have used a good brawl. "Sorry, Abercrombie," he apologized, but he didn't mean it. "Happy Yule, everyone," he then added, forcing a smile onto his face. "I've been told you sit on Santa's lap to make a wish so... I guess if you really want to sit in my lap, be my guest."

He then sat back down on the couch, taking a slight breath. Raynor was considering burning up the mistletoe with a blast from his powers, but it wouldn't really change the anger he was feeling. The reminder of his parents' tragic deaths had already come - even without the annoying little plant there, it wasn't going to leave his mind for a little while. The public shaming of playing Santa didn't help matters either. However, his eyes darted over towards the tree, seeing the presents that he was supposed to hand out and he heard a clear set of barks. "... Did someone lose a dog?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do Midgardians here give dogs as gifts?" he then asked Sparky, having never really celebrated the holiday season this way before.

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Bonnie Chase

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Location: the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: Perception, Emergency First Aid

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Bonnie shook her head slightly. "Well if it wasn't him, it probably would have been you," she teased. She knew that Flynn could have a bit of a fiery temper and he was terrible when it came to taking orders. Bonnie was good friends with Tinley and she sometimes had to wonder how Tinley hadn't completely snapped at Flynn and lost her mind with some of the things he did. The fight had at least been broken up, thanks to Tinley's reminder that this was supposed to be a party, with Harry and Raynor going their separate ways. "I'm going to go check on Harry," she told Flynn, before heading on over to the bar.

Harry had always been there for her, helping her through the darkest times in her life and the very least she could do would be to check that he was okay. "Hey, let me have a look?" Bonnie asked Harry, noting that he was rubbing his jaw slightly. She scanned his face for a moment, relieved to see that there wasn't any bleeding from Raynor's punch. Asgardians were known for their strength, so either Harry had been lucky or Raynor had pulled his punch slightly. "Put some ice on it, it'll keep the swelling down - I think you'll likely just get a nasty bruise in the morning." She gave him a slight smile. "Do you want to go play the game with the others? I haven't played since I was at the academy."

She then heard the barking coming from the gift pile and instantly, Bonnie was severely concerned. "...Who would be so irresponsible as to give a poor animal as a Christmas gift?" she asked incredulously. So many animals were given as presents on Christmas and then taken to the shelter the next day - it was cruel.

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Dominika Novikova

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Location: the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Novikova snickered at her girlfriend's comment. "You think he'd stop at punching only one more person?" she whispered back. However, Tinley's comment about them all being a team smarted - Novikova wasn't a part of that team anymore. She had been fired, terminated, dismissed - and from what she knew, Tinley hadn't said a word in her favor. Novikova couldn't help but glare slightly in the direction of the bar, wanting to call out the hypocrisy but she decided instead to take the passive aggressive approach. She didn't feel like getting into a physical fight with someone who could control minds on Christmas Eve anyways.

"Yes, Never Have I Ever, let's do it," Novikova said eagerly. She wanted to down shots of vodka right now, until the sting of the comment would inevitably fade away. It would also be much easier to be here if she was wasted - in that regard, she was in complete agreement with Raynor. The blonde Sci-Tech alum, Bonnie, had come on over and taken a seat in the middle of the room. Various couches and chairs were arranged in a circle, ideal for them to play the drinking game.

"What are the rules?" Raynor asked, sitting up slightly.

The Gifted - Concluded

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@Nallore@FantasyChic@BlueSky44@Achronum@Trainerblue192@KazAlkemi@Framing A Moose

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Washington D.C.: September 10th, 2020 - 10:30 AM

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The Amtrak Station...

"His sister is in the next car, the third cage with an alpha label," the Three-in-One's voices echoed into the minds of Anastasia and Jinx. A brief flash of images would follow, showing them exactly where the cage was and in which car. David was still safely secured in the cage that Jinx had found him in - at least he was for now. The horrifying and enticing thing about Legion was that he had every power, only each of his multiple personalities could control only one of those abilities. It was entirely possible that one or more of them was capable of blasting the containment box to shreds, mutant control collar or not.

"You know what's rude? Being confined in a cage and being deprived of nature," David pointed out to Jinx. "There aren't any squirrels in here..."

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JFK Memorial Hospital - Gift Shop...

"Really? Hiding in the corner?" Vulcan admonished, shaking his head slightly. "If this is the best the Mutant Underground has to offer, then it deserves everything that's coming to it," he boasted. He sent another blast of energy at Colossus, the metallic mutant having hardly gotten back on his feet before he was thrown backwards again, hitting the wall and sending bits of plaster coming down from the ceiling. "Come on, Piotr! I'm not even breaking a sweat!"

Colossus spit out a silver liquid - it must have been his blood - as he got back up on his feet again. He grabbed the nearest display cabinet and ripped off one of its doors, before chucking it at Vulcan. The egotistical mutant tried but failed to dodge it, the jagged glass cutting up the front of Vulcan's shirt and leaving some serious wounds. "Ve vill not be bullied," Colossus informed Vulcan, before leaping at him and tackling him to the ground. Vulcan's shirt came off entirely in the struggle, and he tried but failed to blast Colossus off of him.

JFK Memorial Hospital - Fifth Floor...

Casper couldn't help but stare at Sapphire for a moment. "...It's open sesame," he corrected her. He didn't mind her jumping down his throat over asking her to break the lock open, but the little slip of her tongue there annoyed him slightly. And since they were in a room filled with beautiful, wonderful drugs, he would much rather be focusing on that than the bottles all around him. They were calling out to him and testing his resolve. Unfortunately, while he was sober, it wasn't by choice... He hadn't been in rehab because he wanted to be there.

Wandering up and down the rows, he peaked in the various cabinets as he searched for the drugs that Magik would need. Spotting a bottle of some pretty potent painkillers, he slipped the bottle into his pockets. Sure, his pockets were pretty loose and horrible at containing things, but his phone hadn't fallen out (yet) so he figured the drugs would be fine in there. Heading back on over to Sapphire and James, he smiled slightly when he saw that Sapphire had one of the things they were looking for. "I think we're good with just the one."

"Casper, put those back..." Ben urged. "You don't need those. You've been clean."

By some miracle (a 17 out of 20, to be precise), Casper reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Ignoring any other messages (namely those from Jinx that he had yet to reply to), he looked at the one that came from an unknown number. "Guys, we got problems... Sparky Sparky Boom Man is downstairs trying to kill the others," Casper explained, looking sheepishly at his companions. "We're gonna have to go help them like now."

The Cherry Bomb - Barroom...

Havok raised an eyebrow, finding it slightly creepy how the bartender wasn't moving anymore. Behind the bar, Luna would stumble on some paperwork detailing who owned the property. The bar belonged to a shell corporation - it must have been a front for one of the companies that backed the Hellfire Club, Frost International and Shaw Industries. Under owner names, there were two listed: Sebastian Shaw and Michael Milbury. "Look, I appreciate that you're being all Hermione Granger here, and I'm not going to leave you by yourself to get killed... But we ought to head downstairs. The others might need our help."

The Cherry Bomb - Basement...

Sunshine's face was bright red as Jack helped her to her feet - while she appreciated that he helped her, she felt ashamed for needing help in the first place. Her entire life had taught her that she couldn't rely on other people and to have someone even show her the slightest kindness... it brought up all sorts of emotions and feelings that she could not accurate describe or even understand herself. "Ugh, there's like no light down here..." Sunshine complained slightly. Despite what her name might have suggested, she couldn't conjure up balls of light like Glow could. This ironically was one situation where James' generator would have come in handy - or a bunch of flash lights.

Squinting in the darkness, Sunshine could dimly make out a figure in a glowing poncho charge at someone with a sparkly pink stick. She realized a second later that was Max and she couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly. Of course he would have conjured a poncho and a stick for himself, instead of something practical like a flashlight. "Uh, sure..." she said awkwardly. She couldn't make out where the guy Max was talking about was in the dark, but she knew where Max was and she hoped she would get lucky. It took her a moment but she made a swirling ball of green smoke in her hands and she aimed for the ground by Max's feet.

Beyond disease manipulation, perfect aim just so happened to be one of her mutant powers. She hit her target - and luckily enough, Nightcrawler was right there! The teleporting mutant broke out into hives and started sneezing nonstop, not moving from his position on the floor after Max had severely bruised one of his kneecaps. "So is this guy a Nazi?" Sunshine asked. Her head was throbbing and she put pressure on it with one of her hands.

Veil let out a breath, her shoulders relaxing slightly. The attacks seemed to have been stalled and she could see their foe clearly - Nightcrawler. "...That's Nightcrawler - he's usually with Xavier and the X-Men..." Veil informed the others, a bit surprised that was him. However, with everything they had heard, she sadly realized it wasn't too shocking. It wasn't just ordinary mutants that were being abducted - Shaw seemed to have a penchant for more high profile ones. Not even the X-Men were safe from him. "Spark Plug, can you put the lights back on?" she asked, still unaware of Callie's high.

The Uncanny X-Babies - Concluded

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⚡John Watts⚡

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Location: Big Bad HQ - Lowest Level: Elevator Room -> Hallway
Skills: Hand to Hand Combat, Superspeed

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The efforts of his teammates had taken care of Lady Deathstrike, leaving Mastermind to him. His glowing red eyes observed the ceiling starting to cave in on them and Watts reacted as fast as he could. His teammates could run to safety and if they didn't, he could grab them in a second - but he needed to take Mastermind off the board. He dashed forward and grabbed her, wrapping his hands around her neck as he choked the oxygen out of the poor villain. He was out in the hallway, not too far away from the room they had all been in, when Mastermind fell unconscious and the ceiling cave in stopped, as if it never happened in the first place. "...It wasn't real..." he muttered, before eyeing Deathstrike.

He got an idea and he threw Mastermind at the glorified popsicle like a bowling ball, sending the two villains colliding together. His heart was pounding as he looked at Sapphire, Nightingale, and Belladonna. "Are you all alright?" he asked them, a little bit of his rage dealt with during that fight. Anger needed a target and the two villains had been perfect for that, but they still were under a time constraint. He doubted those would be the last ones they had to fight and Andrew was trapped in this facility somewhere, clinging to life - he was certain of it. And while Watts would never tell this to another soul, he blamed himself for Andrew's death... It was his failure - he hadn't been fast enough, he hadn't been smart enough, he hadn't been clever enough. His anger with Bobbi and Wesley had been a way to conceal his own shame.

And now he had a chance to fix things - to be better. "Come on, we need to move."

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🏹 Arthur Twist 🏹

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Location: Big Bad HQ - Lowest Level: Machine Room
Skills: Archery, Hand-to-Hand Combat

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There wasn't enough time for him to get an EMP arrow out as Andrew sent Arthur flying backwards, the heat of the flames continuing to bring him pain even after the initial blow was done. He didn't say a word as Andrew demanded to know who he was, as Andrew smirked about someone else making the machine, or any of the other intriguing statements. Quickly analyzing his surroundings, he noted the robotic glove on one of Andrew's hands and the leather glove on the other. He already had one arrow in his bow and he aimed for Andrew's neck, missing and hitting the wall behind him but it still helped, serving as a distraction. Arthur quickly shot off an EMP arrow, hitting Andrew in the right shoulder and the pulse emitted shut down the flamethrower. Arthur was by no means a science expert, but he was pretty certain that EMP should have killed most electronics in the room as well, unless they were protected somehow.

In a smooth movement, he rushed forward and knocked the flamethrower out of Andrew's hands, his green hood still hiding his face. "You can call me the Hood," he told Andrew gruffly. He wasn't going to tell him who he was - he wasn't going to reveal that he was Arthur Twist, the illegitimate son of Harrison Snow, and supposed victim of the Sisterhood. He hadn't spent five years in hell on Krakoa just to lose one of his major advantages here and now - his anonymity. He knew who the Sisterhood was, but its members had no idea who was under the green hood. "Where is the Red Queen?" Arthur demanded.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω Officially Done

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Camp Half-Blood - Big House -> Zeus' Cabin
Skills: Superhuman Speed

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"A pint of rum wouldn't hurt," Leda said, her quippy nature starting to come through again despite the horrible circumstances. She doubted Chiron would give her any alcohol, but truthfully there wasn't anything she could think of needing from him. She reached into her bag and took out a tiny piece of ambrosia, eating it to heal up the wound she had suffered during the fight. Leda tugged on her braid as she looked at Ash's headless body for a moment. She knew that she ought to go and find her brother, Arthur, and get his opinion on the burial wreath... It was the right thing to do, but how was she going to tell the little kid that his sister had died and they still had no idea why or who had caused it? How should she inform him that Camp Half-blood might not even be safe?

Leda sighed slightly. "I'll go break the news to her brother - he might want to have some input on her burial," Leda stated. She took off at a run, trying to find the surviving child of Hades. It took her a few seconds to do so, which at superspeed actually felt like a relatively long time. She came to a halt outside of Cabin One - Zeus' Cabin. One of the other little kids of Camp Half-blood, Andy, was in there with him. There was no really good way to do this. "Hey, erm, Arthur right? I need to talk to you about your sister..." Leda said, knocking on the wall slightly to get his attention.

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✨ Rebecca Eventide ✨

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Location: Camp Half-Blood - the Big House/Infirmary
Skills: Trivia Knowledge

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Rebecca could understand the hesitation in Zeke's voice as he stated his godly parent's name. As exciting as going on a Quest was in theory, the reality tended to be far more chilling. Failure meant almost certain death for the heroes involved and the unleashing of whatever horrors they had been trying futilely to stop. Mary, one of Demeter's daughters, had come into the infirmary and Rebecca's eyes moved over towards her, the rest of her body remaining still. Thankfully, her mother was the goddess of trivia and while it took a moment to jog her memory, Zeke's description of Echidna and Typhon did the trick.

Typhon was the Storm Giant, the Father of All Monsters, the most powerful son of Gaea. Her expression hardened slightly as she recalled those horrible facts. Most of what she knew about Echidna was that a large number of infamous monsters were her children - her children with Typhon. Her heart started to beat a little more quickly... This had to be why so many children of the Big Three had arrived at Camp Half-blood recently. There was a war on the horizon - one tougher than any they had faced before. She bit her lip slightly. "If it is Typhon and Echidna... I think we need to tell more than just Chiron and Mr. D," Rebecca said, her voice calm. She claimed to not be afraid of anything. "Olympus should know about this... Maybe you should try praying to your parents," she suggested, looking at Zeke and Mary. "I can try contacting my mother. She might know more."

Rebecca then looked at Kiera, not certain who she was. "Sorry, I don't think we've met... I'm Rebecca."

Darke Magyk - Concluded

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@Nallore@BlueSky44@FantasyChic@KazAlkemi

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The Small Wet Country Across the Sea: November 6th, 12,508 - 12:40 AM

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Myrus Silvers

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Location: Dungeon One -> Outside the Vault - the Palace
Skills: N/A

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Myrus nodded, leaving Dungeon One with Ahote. Once they exited, the guards helped Myrus to secure the locks, turning Amarantha's new home truly into a prison. Two guards were stationed at the door, given the high probability that she would make some sort of escape attempt. Myrus stared at the door wordlessly, his hands still shaking as tears threatened to well up in his eyes. He hadn't wanted Amarantha to see any signs of weakness or hesitation - he had to be strong for the Castle.

But as he quietly left the dungeons and went upstairs to rejoin his siblings, Myrus just felt weak.

Upstairs, Apollodora didn't say a word as Luna pleaded with her sister to hear her out. She had already decided this would be her last attempt to get Queen Valda and Princess Luna to help her. If they wouldn't, then she would do this alone - she had had to rely on herself her entire life. Why would now be any different? She was here to do a thankless task. Unsurprisingly, Valda's argument amounted to a childish declaration that she was disliked. "Funny, you sound like my parents," she said simply. "If you decide you've changed your mind, hang a lantern from the tallest tower in the Castle - I'll find you," Apollodora said, before she walked down the corridor and vanished from sight, leaving the Palace.

"Amarantha's secured in Dungeon One," he informed Valda and Luna, his heart heavy. "...I can search the library, see if we have some book that might give an idea on how to help her but... Lu I... I don't think we'll be able to save her," he admitted, looking down at the ground. "I don't think she'll ever be Amarantha again... I'm so sorry..."

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Violet

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Location: ???
Skills: ExtraOrdinary Magyk

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Lord Hellfire's mind remained free of Fleur's control and the vines around him vanished, crumbling into dust. Violet nodded, conjuring a ball of purple Fyre in her hand - it seemed an appropriate method to deal with this monster. Yet as she threw her first volley at Lord Hellfire, his body seemed to absorb it. His bones cracked and his skin stretched and distorted, a horrifying and revolting transformation to witness as he expanded greatly in size until, where there had been a man, there was a gigantic onyx dragon.

"...He's a ShapeShifter," Violet concluded, her eyes wide. She didn't have the time to put up a protective Charm, neither did Fleur, as Lord Hellfire roared and sent a gigantic column of bright blue flames at the pair. Yet thankfully, instincts took over and Violet grabbed Fleur as she dived to the ground. The flames narrowly missed the two and Lord Hellfire took up into the air, circling the Hellfire Circle. "...This seems familiar," she then murmured. She couldn't remember ever fighting a dragon in her life, but then again, she couldn't remember her life. But all the same, there was a prickling sense of déjà vu.

Violet began to chant in an old language of the Castle, misting ice forming in the air around her hands. Her goal was simple - if Lord Hellfire was going to be a fiery dragon, she would try to freeze the ShapeShifter alive. She sent icy blasts up at the beast, but it was to no avail - Lord Hellfire kept on dodging her attacks and he came around, sending more fiery rain down on the two girls. While the DragonFyre missed the pair, the ground around them had started to burn and the immense heat was enough to give slight burns to the girls from just being nearby.

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Asgard: November 6th, 12,508 - 1:40 AM

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The Palace Dungeons...

Forseti smiled charmingly at Myth, vastly preferring her company to Halley's. While some of the gods and goddesses on Asgard were rather picky about pedigree, finding fault in the mortals who dwelled amongst the divine, Forseti did not. He judged people purely on their moral character rather than their pedigree. After all, his own grandmother had been possessed by the Eternal Flame when she gave birth to their mother, Nanna. Traces of that Fyre rushed through his veins, as it did through his sister's.

"Unfortunately, unless there is some proof of a crime Loki has committed, she cannot stay in my jail," Forseti told her apologetically.

Halley thought for a moment, trying to come up with some sort of crime that she knew Loki had committed since Loki had last been imprisoned. "I have proof," she then said suddenly, despite not having any idea of a crime that she could come up with. "Actually, Myth has proof... Don't you?" she asked, hoping that her sister-in-law was a better liar than she was.

"Oh, by all means - what is the crime and where is the proof?" Forseti asked Myth, smiling slightly at her.

The Palace Entrance Hall...

A morbid thought occurred to Antonije. If Nova could raise the dead, yet had trouble with the undead... What if they just killed Sylvi so that way Nova could bring her back to life? Was that a feasible option? He didn't want to suggest that, mostly because he was terrified of what would happen if Nova couldn't bring her back to life. "Please, try," he requested, still holding onto Sylvi tightly. He didn't know either if this little girl was capable of something like this... but he hoped that nothing bad could happen from Nova just trying to return Sylvi to a full state of life.

And if nothing worked... Maybe he would just ask her to bite him and they could be undead together.

The Rainbow Bridge...

"Sága..." Heimdall greeted. His expression was neutral, but there was a slight tone of surprise in his voice. He stood at attention with his hands on his sword, ready to reopen the BiFrost at a moment's notice. "The All-Father will wish to know of your presence on Asgard."

Sága smirked slightly, shaking her head a little bit. "My nephew, the All-Father... He's still but a babe," she mused. "You may run along, Arnora," she then told the demigoddess. "Though... Be wary - your foe is not what she appears."

"His tenure as King of Asgard may be short, but I have no doubt he will want to know why you have ended your exile."

"Self imposed exile," Sága corrected. "And I am afraid that will have to wait." She then looked at Cuyler for a moment. "Come, we need to travel to the highest point of Asgard in order to reach our destination."

Heimdall raised an eyebrow. "And where might that be, Lady Sága?"

"All in good time, Heimdall. I assure you, everything I do is for the security of the Nine Realms."

🌠 Once Upon A Time 🌠(Concluded)

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🗡️ Megan Pendragon 🗡️

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Location: Police Station
Skills: N/A

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Megan was definitely a bit irritated with her brother. Yes, this was a police investigation and Isabella was Jack's partner, but her intuition was telling her that this was something bigger than that. The mysterious letters they had received couldn't have just been a coincidence - somehow, this had to do with their birth parents. Had it not been for the soft, almost completely faded away British accent she spoke with (one of her few clues as to her parents) and the fact that she never remembered having a biological sibling, she might have suspected that she and Jack were actually related. A portion of her wanted to punch Isabella, finding her smug and exasperating, but she couldn't do that.

"I'm going to take my car, actually - I have something else I need to do afterwards," Megan answered, her voice steel. If Jack was going to let Isabella in on this investigation, that was fine - that was his choice. But if Megan wanted to go investigate this on her own, outside of her capacity as the Junior Medical Examiner, then there was nothing that said she had to let Isabella come along anyways. If the mysterious letter and the corpse had something to do with her birth parents, Megan only wanted to have people she trusted by her side.

And she didn't trust Isabella.

Pulling her keys out, Megan headed over to her car - a black Volkswagen beetle - and got into the driver's seat, starting up the engine. She figured that her brother would ride with Isabella. She got music going in her car, one of her favorite songs even - Walking on Air by Kerli and she waited to pull out of the parking lot, figuring she would just follow Isabella's car to the orphanage.

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@FantasyChic@Natsu

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The Hub - San Fransisco: December 24th, 2020 - 5:10 P.M.

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Raynor Blake

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Location: the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: Jack of All Trades (Unarmed Combat)

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Raynor smirked slightly for a moment, taking in Sparky's visage. He rather appreciated that outfit on her, but the smile on his face faded as she took the rum away from him. Yule was supposed to be a time of celebration, but it also served to remind him of the loss of his parents and home planet. He had been on Earth long enough to watch a few movies and he always related to Superman - easily the best person on the planet, but all alone without a family. "I think I'm entitled, Sparks," Raynor replied. He reached into the red sack beside him and pulled out another thing of rum, opening up the bottle and drinking straight from it. Thanks to his Asgardian physiology, it would take forever for any of this to get him inebriated.

He spotted Tempest enter the Common Room, noting that whereas Tinley had gone for a sophisticated take on Christmas, Tempest had gone for something more traditional. He raised a slight eyebrow, amused with the color she had dyed her hair. "I think she's copying Romanoff's look," he mused to Sparky, not wanting to get up off of the couch where he had plopped himself down. Raynor would drink for now and then once he had finally gotten intoxicated, he would drink and try to be festive as a way to honor his parents' memory. Cass' little laugh didn't escape his attention and Raynor raised his middle finger towards her. "Happy Yule, Reed!" he shouted.

It was only moments later that Harry came over and antagonized Raynor over the white monstrosity that was attached to his face. He set down his bottle of rum on the couch, before standing to his full height and he punched Harry across the face, sending the engineer stumbling backwards. "How's the jaw - stinging yet?"

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Bonnie Chase

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Location: Bonnie's Room -> the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Bonnie couldn't help but feel flustered as there was a knock at her door, followed by Flynn's voice. She hadn't felt this way since she had been in the academy and James had asked her to the Agents' Ball. Quickly looking in the mirror, she bit her lip slightly and took off the white cardigan, throwing it on the bed and exposing her shoulders. Clothing was supposed to communicate a message about your intentions... and Bonnie did really like Flynn, but more importantly she wanted to be more open with him. Her gift and purse in hand, she forced herself to smile in the mirror before she dashed on over to the door and opened it.

"Hey," she smiled. "You clean up nicely - I didn't know you even owned slacks," Bonnie teased. She was really glad Flynn had agreed to go to this party. While not everyone in the Secret Warriors celebrated Christmas, it definitely was the dominant holiday at this event regardless of what they called it. The party was on Christmas Eve, after all. She stepped outside of her room and closed the door behind her, setting her gift down on the ground for a moment as she grabbed her keys from her purse and locked up. "Shall we then?"

Once she got the nod from Flynn, Bonnie walked with him to the Common Room. It wasn't as intimate as the one they had at the Playground in Washington D.C., but their team was much more high profile now at S.H.I.E.L.D. - Tinley was even within Director Hill's Inner Circle after all. Stepping into the room, Bonnie's breath was taken away by all of the decorations. "Tinley, this place looks magical..." she complimented, before turning her gaze just in time to see Raynor deck Harry across the face. Wincing slightly, Bonnie tensed up slightly. "Really? Already with the drunken fighting? It's not even six yet!"

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Dominika Novikova

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Location: Outside the Hub -> the Common Room - the Hub
Skills: N/A

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Novikova smirked slightly, adjusting her rainbow fur jacket. Her entire color scheme was inspired by shades of pale blue that day, with the exception of the ruby red tinted glasses that she was forced to wear. The rainbow in the fur helped to tie it all together, one of the reasons why she had gone for that particular piece. "Deal, we can do it in one of the chemistry labs," Novikova agreed. That was definitely one way to get over all the angsty feelings of being back at S.H.I.E.L.D. after she was terminated.

"Want to make a bet? I bet that Cass will make it snow within the hour - loser has to chug from a bottle of vodka," Novikova suggested. It wasn't too long before they were inside the facility, Maria's badge giving them access, and they entered the Common Room. Novikova uneasily looked around, instantly not wanting to really be there. The entire shift to another reality had placed her back at S.H.I.E.L.D. with Maria, meaning that it must have been one of her deepest wishes - and everyone here who had experienced Wanda Maximoff's House of M must have figured that out.

Roman was then the last one to enter the room, carrying what suspiciously looked like a small dog carrier with a bow on top. The mystery was only furthered by the fact that the present was barking as he placed it underneath the Christmas tree. He then looked around the room awkwardly, not really sure what to do or where to go, before he went and stood in a corner by himself.

The Gifted - Concluded

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@Nallore@FantasyChic@BlueSky44@Achronum@Trainerblue192@KazAlkemi@Framing A Moose

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Washington D.C.: September 10th, 2020 - 10:20 AM

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The Amtrak Station...

The Three-in-One rolled their eyes at Jinx collectively. They had been working for the Hellfire Club for a while and they were certain what they had done was right. Leaving those humans alive would have just left a loose end. It was better to kill the staff, grab the prisoners they were interested in, and let free the rest... The media would find someone to blame for the escape, likely the prisoners themselves, and they would have no knowledge of the Hellfire Club's involvement. Kidnapping the children of Professor X without giving the easy explanation that Legion and the Tenth Muse had wandered off would bring down the X-Men, S.H.I.E.L.D., maybe even the Avengers. This was how they were going to keep the Hellfire Club secret - by staging a crime. "We look forward to reading the report," they quipped to Anastasia. Emma Frost was their genetic template, their mother - they doubted she would ever hurt them and she was now the Lord Imperial, the boss.

The mutants on the train were in various stages of stupor. They were all heavily sedated and restrained, collars around their necks dampening their powers and rendering them defenseless. The metal cages that Anastasia noticed had numbers stamped onto them - as well as greek letters. On one of the boxes was an omega - Ω. The rest of the crates had alphas - α. Some of the mutants were muttering to themselves quietly, rocking back and forth slightly as that was all the restraints really permitted them to do. On their wrists, they had bands with either betas - β or gammas - γ on them.

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JFK Memorial Hospital - Gift Shop...

"Da, for Mother Russia!" Colossus agreed. He picked up the cash register, carefully set down its contents neatly on the countertop, before he flung it out of the gift shop and into the hallway, where it skidded only to be stopped by someone's boot. Had Colossus not been in his metal form, the color from his face would have drained as he saw who it was.

"Sick choice in song," Vulcan complimented Feedback, smirking at her. He must have escaped since they left the Mutant Underground, but to be fair they hadn't really left anyone behind to watch him. Everyone had just assumed he couldn't free himself and that he would remain unconscious. His eyes were a bit red and he sniffled, before cracking his fists. "Still gonna kill you though, sorry babe."

Vulcan surrounded himself in energy, lifting himself up into the air as he hovered, staring at the Mutant Underground members. And then, all of the sudden, he shot immense blasts of energy out of his eyes and hands. The blasts were about to hit Feedback when Colossus jumped in front of her, taking the blast and falling to the ground, his metal skin somehow smoking.

"I guess I see why you were never good enough for the X-Men, huh Piotr? Couldn't find your sister... Couldn't even tie up a prisoner properly."

"Feedback, Moonwalker, run," Colossus requested. "I vill handle Vulcan."

JFK Memorial Hospital - Fifth Floor...

A significant part of Casper felt a rush as they arrived outside of the medicine room. He had just gotten out of rehab and while that meant he had already gone through withdrawal, his fingers still itched to grab a bottle of pills. He wanted desperately to pop them, to let himself float along a high rather than deal with the sharp feelings that defined his sober moments. "...Blue Oyster? Sick!" Ben exclaimed, playing an air guitar as the music Feedback summoned played over the speakers.

"Bit of a morbid choice though, don't ya think?" he asked Casper.

"...Well unless the hospital likes playing Don't Fear the Reaper, I think they've probably started," he pointed out to James. The reaper wasn't what people needed to be afraid of anyways - it was the souls of those who remained behind. There was nothing more terrifying than a mob of ghosts, all screaming at you for attention, for love, for help with their unfinished business... Just thinking about it make Casper want to scream and run for the hills. He never wanted to be the helpless little boy trapped in a mausoleum again. "Frosty, can you jimmy the lock?" Casper asked, figuring that Sapphire would just freeze it and snap it off.

"I can be look out," Ben offered.

"Ben says he'll watch out for anyone coming."

The Cherry Bomb - Barroom...

Sunshine inhaled sharply as Jack scolded her for going over to him, treating her like an idiotic little kid. She followed him with her eyes as he got out of the booth and turned back to look at her, fighting the blush threatening to form on her face out of shame. Her fingers twitched slightly and she curled her hands into fists, not saying a word as Jack went over to the bar, even as he requested that she go over there with him. All she wanted was to get vengeance for Erg and then someone who had, for whatever reason, attended her trial was here.

The bartender raised an eyebrow at Glimpse, before grabbing the photograph and bringing it on over. "Here ya go," he told her, before stepping away from her and Havok. He had a lot of glassware to catch up on cleaning, especially since his co-worker still hadn't returned from the basement. The bartender's phone buzzed and he glanced down, sighing slightly at the text that came in. "Sorry folks, we've got a burst water pipe in the basement, gotta shut down for the day!" he called out, loud enough for everyone to hear him.

"You two thinking what I'm thinking?" Havok muttered. It was a little bit convenient - some of their people had gone down there to investigate and now, the bartender was asking everyone to leave the bar. It would've just been a coincidence had Yukio not given them a tip about this place and the horrible things being done to innocent mutants here. "I smell a barroom brawl coming on," he then added softly.

The patrons were grumpily leaving the bar, with enough of them getting up and heading for the exit that Sunshine saw an opportunity. Jack, Glimpse, and Havok had the bartender distracted too. She slipped out of the booth and made her way across the barroom quickly, opening the door to the basement staircase and she closed it behind her, emerging into darkness. Holding still for a moment, Sunshine reached her hands out until she felt the wall against her fingertips. She tentatively reached one of her feet forward, trying to gently set her foot down on the next step but she overshot it. Her balance gave out all of the sudden and the next thing she knew, she was falling forward. The darkness of the staircase made it impossible to see as Sunshine fell down the flight of stairs, hitting her head against the closed door at the bottom with a resounding THUD.

"...Oww..." she mumbled, clutching her head. She was incredibly lucky that she hadn't cracked her skull open.

The Cherry Bomb - Basement...

Veil heard the thud near the doorway, but it was too dark for her to really tell what it was - it could have easily been the mutant they were fighting slamming himself or someone else up against the wall. Additionally, she had no idea that Spark Plug had attempted to turn her into a hound, but Max was far less than subtle in his attempts to take on the leader of the Mutant Underground. "Tome, I am not your enemy," Veil stressed, her force fields still up to protect herself. "I need you to calm down."

Nightcrawler was clinging to the ceiling like a spider, shaking his tail as he attempted to warm it up again. The cold didn't really slow down his body, but it did make it harder for him to concentrate which interfered with his skill in teleportation. He instinctively knew that Spark Plug was a hound just like him as well, allowing him to turn his focus to the others in the room. If he didn't manage to kill them or at least knock them out, his master was going to be furious with him...

And he never liked seeing Mr. Sinister like that.

He teleported again, appearing in front of Leighton. "I am not zee covard!" he shouted in a heavy German accent, before his tail shot out and he wrapped it around Leighton's neck.

Veil could dimly see where Leighton was, thanks to the light of her poncho. She dropped the force field she had been using to keep Max at bay, sending one out that slammed into Nightcrawler and forced him to let go of his grip he had on Leighton. "Ice him, I've got you covered!" Veil shouted. Max had been going crazy and Leighton was in a prime position to strike. She had no idea what Spark Plug was trying to do, but she didn't have time to think about it and wonder.

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Guin, Novikova, Runa, and Casper

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Location: Human Resistance HQ -> the Palace - New York
Skills: Mediumship, Telepathy

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October gave her wife a loving smile. "No tears, promise me, dearest," she insisted. She wasn't afraid to die - to die twice was something extraordinary and beyond the realm of normal people, so much so in fact that it was a slight point of pride. Her own family had a healthy relationship with death, but that didn't mean October was blind to the fact as to how hard this would be for Carolina regardless of the outcome of today's battle.

Novikova raised an eyebrow, curious as to what Maria was going to talk to Marygold about but she nodded. The X-Men had a terrible relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. at best - the last they had really seen of her had been shortly after the Phase Three experiments had given them their powers. Marygold had been the one to have the foresight to bring with her glasses that worked to hold back Novikova's dimensional sight, giving her the ability to live a (somewhat) normal life.

While Max apologized to Pietro, he hadn't said anything to Guin - the other person he had attempted to chain up. "No apology for me? Okay, that's cool. Whatever. Glad to know sexism is alive and well regardless of the universe." She doubted she would run into the fashion-conjuring-trigger-happy mutant again in the real world, but if she did, she most certainly was going to hold onto this grudge. It bothered her more that he only apologized to Pietro than the fact that Max had tried to attack them both in the first place.

Novikova frowned, hearing Annie's suggestion. "That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard," she said instantly. Luring Wanda with penguins?! She knew that some of the X-Men were underage, but she still hadn't expected them to throw out such a childish and idiotic suggestion. Speaking of idiots, she noticed that one of the boys brought back from Louisiana, Casper, had come on back over while the other one hadn't. She could practically smell the family drama coming off of them.

"Sorry about that, Jackie needed a pep talk to call his kid," he whispered to James, standing by his boyfriend as James healed Niah back up.

"His kid kinda reminded me of someone... I just can't think of who..." Ben mused. He couldn't contribute much to the strategy conversation, but he had noticed something in the little girl's mannerisms that he could have sworn he had seen somewhere before.

And once Maria returned, Novikova couldn't help herself. "What were you talking with Bloom about?" she inquired, using Marygold's codename.

Guin bit her lip slightly, hearing Pietro's outburst and she couldn't help but feel part of it was directed at her. Mary came over to try to calm Pietro down, just adding to the slight feeling of hurt. Pietro was her fiancé - she should be able to calm him down and he should know that she would always be on his side, but that didn't seem to be the case. There was so much about their relationship in this reality that just broke her heart. I don't think you're an idiot... she whispered to him through the mental link. I know that Guina... I wasn't including you in that rant...

"... Let's go destroy our happiness, then," Runa murmured, before walking through the portal Klara had created. She didn't want this dream to end, but she knew that it had to. She would be back to her old life soon enough, shunned by the host of Asgard due to the nature of her abilities... and to a certain extent, her violent temperament. Casper took James' hand and went through the portal, with Novikova heading through alongside Maria.

Guin hesitated for a moment, looking at her fiancé. She still didn't know if he would like the real world once they returned to it. If things go south... I love you, okay? I love you too Guina... Guin gave him a kiss, before she went through the portal and emerged on the other side to see her father squabbling with Queen Miranda. "Hey Dad... Wanna be on the same team for this?" she asked him, a part of her looking forward to the idea of fighting alongside her Avenger father.

The Uncanny X-Babies - Concluded

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⚡John Watts⚡

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Location: Big Bad HQ - Secret Elevator -> Elevator Room
Skills: Cyclone Generation, Superspeed

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Watts was too angry to feel the pain of Evelyn's punch and he wasn't about to just let someone lecture him, when in Watts' opinion their actions were far more likely to endanger Andrew's life. "Punch me again and you'll regret it," he warned Evelyn darkly, acting on pure rage regardless of his feelings for her. "If you believe that my exclamations somehow are more of a giveaway than a fucking jet landing here or the fact that no one has even fucking bothered to deal with cameras, then you are not HALF the warrior I thought you were!" he pointed out. This mission was never about stealth - that wasn't how they were going to beat these people and rescue Andrew. No, it was going to be a game where in the end, someone would most likely lose their life. He hoped that it wouldn't be those on the team he cared for, but he couldn't control that. The universe demanded balance, so if they were going to save Andrew... someone would have to be lost.

He ignored Belladonna's words, wanting the elevator to move faster and get them down to the lowest level. The doors had finally closed after what felt like an eternity of waiting and a moment later, the elevator started to shake, followed by a loud BOOM! He gave Evelyn a bit of a pointed look. He hadn't caused that, meaning that someone else was in this facility - as he doubted Andrew's abductors would make an explosion like that. He stepped out of the room with Sapphire and the others, hearing two female voices nearby. They must not have heard his screaming, only alerted by the explosion - he darted another pointed look over at Evelyn, practically screaming I told you so! at her. "I'll disorient them. You all, attack," Watts instructed, not bothering to wait for their agreement.

Zipping forward at superspeed, Watts flung the door open and then stepped to the side, moving his arms rapidly to create a cyclone that engulfed both Mastermind and Lady Deathstrike.

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🏹 Arthur Twist 🏹

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Location: Big Bad HQ - Lowest Level: Empty Room -> Machine Room
Skills: Stealth

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He couldn't detect any sign of movement towards him, allowing Arthur to take a stealthy peak - his explosion had done more damage than he had predicted. The ceiling had partially caved in, allowing him to glance at the hallway for the floor above. While some might have been deterred by this, Arthur smirked slightly. It would be easiest to perform a fast getaway with that, as it would allow him to use a grappling arrow to elevate himself to higher floors, rather than relying on the elevator being available.

Even better, his targets had left the room of interest and were walking in the direction of the explosion to investigate. He couldn't have planned any of this better. They didn't even pause near his door, continuing to move onwards. Lady Luck must have been smiling on him. Arthur moved silently into the hallway and then through the door Mastermind and Lady Deathstrike had just come from, closing the door quietly behind him. The first thing he noticed was that the room was not entirely vacant - there was a man with dark brown hair standing over at a machine.

His bow extended, Arthur was ready to let loose an arrow and kill this man. "Step away from the machine slowly with your hands up," Arthur requested. He recognized him as a member of the X-Factor team, one who was supposed to be dead. That made him a threat. Whatever the Sisterhood had done to him... Arthur wasn't going to trust him. Period.