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7 yrs ago
My power grows exponentially each day as we come nearer to Halloween.
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Guin Stark


Location: Stark Tower
Skills: Telepathy
Carolina at the very least seemed to be thinking along similar lines as Guin, though she disagreed with the choice of killing the Silver Surfer. They didn't have a choice to become Galactus' herald, making them essentially another victim. At the very least by simply mind controlling someone on Death Row, it was a known criminal who had been sentenced to die by the state that was serving as the other casualty with Galactus. However, her attention was then caught by Elizabeth, who professed not being old enough to drive. How old was the new X-Men recruit then - twelve, thirteen maybe? And then with Akane's suggestion of peppers, Guin couldn't help but concede slightly that at least some of the X-Men were probably too young for this sort of thing. The newcomers weren't seasoned veterans like the rest of them.

I accept your apology - and don't worry about it too much, my love isn't fragile, Guin replied to Pietro via their mental link. Okay... If you say so Guina... She nodded slightly at the proposed teams. "Those are good - nice balance of raw power, skills, and experience," she commented. Guin was pleased with her own team of course - she trusted everyone on it and she had done countless missions with them at this point. J.A.R.V.I.S. would probably be done with the suits in a few minutes, meaning that it was just about time for them to get suited up and use Richards' device to get up to Galactus' ship.

She went over to Allison and put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a quick squeeze. "Glad that we get to do this together - maybe give Oshea a call," she suggested gently, before heading on over to her father. He was talking to Elizabeth, but she didn't know how much time they'd have. "Hey Dad, can I steal you for a second?" Guin asked a few feet away from the two, not wanting to be rude.

"Sure Penguin," Tony said, walking over to her.

"I just wanted to say... Y'know, if this stuff goes south and either one of us doesn't make it... I'm glad you're my dad," Guin told him awkwardly, tugging on her hair slightly.

"This is not going to go south, so don't worry about it."

She rolled her eyes slightly. "You realize you can't control the universe, right?" she couldn't help but point out. "If something happens to me, promise me you won't drink yourself into a coma, okay? People need Iron Man more than they do Iron Star."

"Well I know I can't control the universe, so sorry for trying to think positive."

Guin chuckled slightly. "Apology accepted, Old Man."

"I am not that old!"

Neil Spellman


Location: Stark Tower
Skills: N/A
While Neil was old enough to drive, he did realize that most of the other X-Men had way more experience than he did when it came to saving the world. He had only ever really fought against Mesmero, having no recollection of the House of M reality. He wasn't that different from the other newcomers to the team - from Akane, Elizabeth, and Iris. His girlfriend, Sara, was the niece of the legendary Jean Grey, the One True Phoenix - she was badass no matter what. Thankfully, they were sorted into the same group - he even got to be in the same group as Mira, one of the friends he made through Dungeons and Dragons sessions. He didn't really want to be on the same team as Guin and Pietro anyways - those two usually had some sort of soap opera type drama going on that he didn't need to deal with.

"Any tips or advice?" he asked Sara, trusting her with his life and more or less seeing her as the defacto leader of their little team. "You can copy my powers, if you want," he then offered, knowing that telekinesis and minor molecular combustion were pretty decent powers as far as combat went. He wasn't exactly sure how much time they'd have before they'd need to leave - hopefully they could come up with some sort of consensus on a strategy to try for their little group. Working together would make things easier in the long run, right?


🏹 Arthur Twist 🏹


Location: Big Bad HQ - Lowest Level: ???
Skills: Survival, Archery
Arthur had seen things on Krakoa - strange things. The inhabitants of the living island were by no means ordinary creatures. But even then, he couldn't help but be a bit surprised of the mighty creature in front of him. He hated the exposed position that he had been reduced to, but luckily this dinosaur had small arms - that would give it some challenges when it came to grabbing them in order to eat them. The other challenge - although Arthur wasn't sure yet if this was in his favor or not - was the fact that a large number of people were in the expansive room with him. Some of them at least had made preliminary attacks.

Judging that the dinosaur would most likely be attracted to movement, Arthur shot an explosive arrow at one of the walls of the room without an explanation. The arrow hit the wall and the explosion triggered, drawing the attention of the T-Rex and luring the dinosaur on over. Arthur then emotionally aimed another arrow and let it fly, hitting the dinosaur with the explosive payload. The mighty beast roared loudly and stumbled backwards, bleeding but it hadn't been a fatal blow. He didn't dare let his guard down for one moment, especially with so many unknown quantities here. His father's killer wasn't here and that just delayed his mission of vengeance - he couldn't tolerate that.

He needed to avenge his father, no matter the cost.

⚡John Watts⚡


Location: Big Bad HQ - Lowest Level: ???
Skills: Superspeed, Hand to Hand Combat
To say Watts was in a terrible mood would be an understatement of epic proportions. Not only had they found themselves in some new area with a dinosaur, Andrew was missing and had been replaced with more of Gardner's mindless drones. The red coloration of his eyes while using the speed serum matched his mood - he was seeing red. He agreed with Belladonna at the very least - this wasn't the time for arguments. The explosion the hooded figure had caused had wounded the dinosaur and Watts injected himself with more of the speed serum by double tapping his watch, before taking off at top speed to punch the creature in its wound. His speed gave a lot of momentum and force, causing the dinosaur to stumble.

That answered one question then - this creature was seemingly real and he didn't need to throw a wrench at it to come to that conclusion. Dashing backwards at super speed, he then charged forward again, missing with this punch but that didn't deter him, even as the dinosaur whacked him with its tail and sent him flying. Watts spat slightly at the ground and delivered another blow to the beast, not as strong as the previous blow but it was still something that moved them closer towards defeating this creature. The sooner they killed the dinosaur, the sooner they could retrieve Andrew and get the hell out of this place. And like Belladonna, he had no intention on returning to Serval after this. He'd rather work for Hammer Tech.


Leda Storm

Location: Camp Fire Pit -> the Car

"Please, like mortals could pay attention to something that isn't an iPhone these days," Leda scoffed, though she did snicker at Zeke's teasing of Kristin. She didn't care for the child of Apollo too much, but she had to agree with him - Kristin's perfection was insufferable at times. "Anything from the 80's - as long as it isn't country," she then added. Leda adored listening to music and truthfully, she could lose herself in just about any song that was playing, but the sweet melodies of the 80's spoke to her soul. She had a soft spot for the 60's and 70's as well - and on the days when she felt a little less colorful than normal, the rock music of the 90's filled the hole inside of her heart.

She climbed into the shotgun seat of the car, not really wanting to sit next to either Zeke or Kristin - though she knew it would have to happen eventually, at least she could prolong it for now. "Hey Argus, luv, what sort of music do you listen to?" she asked him. Leda doubted that he would answer her, but she couldn't help but poke fun at the silent man with an eye on his tongue, a little bit of a smirk coloring her face.


🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

Location: Camp Half-Blood - the Arena
Skills: N/A

Leda couldn't help but smirk slightly at Arthur and Demetri's pleas that she give them more warning next time. While the circumstances were dire, she got a bit of satisfaction out of their wobbling limbs and slightly green complexions. Andy was handling it much better than the boys from what she could tell, a testament to female strength (and male weakness, Leda couldn't help but muse). "The dizzy spell will pass - it happens to everyone the first time they run with me, well, most everyone," she told them, putting a steadying hand on Arthur so that way he didn't fall down and skin his knee - or worse, summon another undead creature to help him get back up. "You've got some vomit on your chin," she then informed Demetri, figuring he would rather know.

While Leda could have gone to go and sit with her siblings, she decided to sit with the children of Zeus and Hades instead. They were all relatively new to Camp Half-blood and grieving from a tragedy - in other words, they could use the emotional support. She took a seat down next to Andy, having bonded with her the most as she had been helping to teach Andy about the mythical world she was now a part of. Chiron's announcements made her grimace - sure, she knew that she couldn't keep the information on how Ash died away from Andy and Arthur forever, but she had been hoping to break it to them gently... Though if she was being honest, she was never intending on telling them the truth around Ash's death. The Oracle's prophecy confirmed more or less what Demetri had told her - and curiously, it didn't involve any children of the Big Three like Leda had anticipated.

"I'll go to Jupiter," Leda volunteered, standing up at that part. She was one of the fastest in the camp and she knew a lot about the different deities - and she had never gotten to see New Rome before.

✨ Rebecca Eventide ✨

Location: Camp Half-Blood - the Big House/Infirmary -> the Arena
Skills: N/A

"I trust your craft, Zeke - I'd ask that you trust mine in exchange," Rebecca murmured. While there were no lines furrowing on her face and her tone was calm and steady, he likely would be able to guess that she had been slightly annoyed with that stray comment. Rebecca had studied and perfected her craft ever since arriving at Camp Half-blood and she prided herself on her magical abilities. Once at the arena with the others, Rebecca gave Rosie a slight smile. "Blessed day," she wished her, before going to sit with her siblings from the Hecate Cabin.

Rebecca was not surprised by the prophecy, as she had experienced the vision herself and had already discussed it with Rosie, Zeke, Mary, and others. However, the news that a camper had been killed by a talking skull was perplexing. That factoid definitely caught her attention and she had to imagine, due to the high degree of cooperation and balance in the universe, it had to be connected to their prophecy. Yet given the demigods specified by the prophecy, it was not a mission that she could embark on. The journey to Camp Jupiter, to visit the Roman demigods, that was within her power - and Rebecca felt that it was her duty to go as well. She had no doubt that Zeke would undergo the quest and Rosie, their Oracle, would remain at Camp Half-blood. Rebecca then was the only one who had personally experienced the vision who could leave to go share the information with the Romans.

She then rose with the other volunteers to go to Camp Jupiter, smiling slightly as she saw her ex-girlfriend standing up as well.






Washington D.C.: September 10th, 2020 - 11:30 AM



The Amtrak Station...

"What? I'm not going to hold your jacket, I'm not a coat hanger!" Bonnie complained, unceremoniously dropping Flynn's jacket onto the ground. She needed her hands free anyways for this fight - thankfully, Cass had volunteered to cover them but she wasn't really sure there was much need anymore. One of the triplets had been shot in the stomach and Flynn had just set all of them on fire. The triplets collapsed to the ground, unconscious from the extreme pain, and the telepathic link they had set up between Anastasia and Jinx vanished. "Cass, put them out!" Bonnie requested, hoping Cass could use her powers to send some water down. They might have been evil, but they didn't need to die.

"Thing is for it to be a warning shot, I need to feel threatened," Hawkeye explained to Jinx. He sent another taser arrow off at Jinx, only for the arrow to whizz by Jinx's ear. "See? Warning shot. Now you try," he quipped.

As Maria was looking for the mutants who had escaped, she would notice Val and Ksenia (David). Val tilted her head slightly at all of them, before letting out a shrill whistle. The whistle was more like a blast of sound however, knocking all of the agents backwards onto the ground. Ksenia smirked slightly at Val, brandishing what looked like claws made out of psychic energy on the ends of her fingers.

"Cat fight!" Ksenia laughed, before pouncing at Maria. Ksenia missed, going a little too wide but it hardly deterred her. She hadn't gotten to have fun in a long, long time.

"Stay away from her, crazy!" Novikova shouted, trying to control the Earth to throw a rock at Ksenia but it didn't work. The Russian agent then tried the next best thing - she tackled Ksenia to the ground.

On the Road...

Thinking on James' suggestion, Casper wondered if a good idea might have been to wake up Vulcan and toss him out the back - he'd offer a decent distraction to the cops just by killing them all. Feedback seemed to have it more than covered, something that he found surprising given that her mother had been killed in similar circumstances recently. The stray thought though proved too much for Casper, as the ghost of Feedback's mother appeared in front of him, her face covered in blood and he couldn't help but scream, "Leave me alone!! I can't bring you back! No one has that power, so just go away!" His hands were shaking and he wished there was more room in the car - or at least a little privacy - that way he could down some of the pills he had stolen.

"Casper, deep breaths - she can't hurt you!" Ben pleaded. He couldn't stop Casper from hearing the awful cries of pain Waverley's mother's ghost was letting out, cries that no one else in the car would be able to detect. And unfortunately, no one could stop her pain either. Unlike the living, the dead could never really move on - they could never move forward, evolve and change, become better...

"Police are following," Colossus observed. Despite Waverley's transmission, the cop cars were still tailing them - maybe because they were speeding, maybe because mutants were involved, maybe they had figured out someone was tampering with their radio signals? Either way, it wasn't going to be as simple as Feedback sending out some vibes this time.

More bullets were flying, grazing Sapphire and leaving a cut on her cheek. One of them hit Colossus and bounced off of the metal mutant, luckily ricocheting out of the car and just breaking the window rather than hurting anyone else. "We need plan - we cannot bring police to Underground."

To make matters worse, Magik let out a scream of pain, as... something glowing started to come OUT of her chest?!

Sinister's Lair - Sabretooth's Hallway...

Veil nodded slightly, not too keen on the idea of just leaving Sabretooth in the middle of the hallway. Unfortunately, she didn't really see anywhere to stash him easily or anything that they could use to restrain him. Maybe they could have opened one of the doors at random and shoved him inside, yet the leader of the Mutant Underground ultimately decided that just moving on now would be for the best. With their luck, Sabretooth would be awake shortly - and he probably had their scents.

"We need to find Sunshine - she ran down one of these hallways alone," Veil explained. Max and Havok had gone off to help Leighton, so she was covered but Sunshine was all alone. "Jack, too, if we can - I don't know where he went." The private investigator after all had had the infinite wisdom to split the party and she hadn't seen him since before he got into the elevator alone. "Once we find our people, we can either continue to look for information on Shaw or we can leave while we can. We've been here long enough."

She glanced behind them, only to notice that Sabretooth had vanished - eerily like what had happened with Nightcrawler earlier. "Guys? He's gone..." Veil pointed out, but that was hardly the last of their problems. At the end of the hallway, Mister Sinister was waiting for them, smiling like the cat that ate the canary.

"Welcome, Valery, Callie, Luna... I hope you've been enjoying yourself in my humble abode."

Sinister's Lair - the Laboratory...

Sunshine groaned slightly, a bit annoyed that Jack didn't carry a lock pick on him. "What sort of P.I. are you then?" she snapped bitterly. Sunshine then took a slight breath. "Whatever, sorry," she corrected. The other mutants in the cages weren't any help. The ones that weren't drooling were just muttering to themselves and she didn't feel like asking them if they had any tools for escape - and she definitely did not want to end up like them. Well, if they didn't have a way to pick the lock...

Sunshine eyed the lock on her cage. It was incredibly rusty and old. She curled her fingers around the bars of the ceiling and then gave the lock a hard kick, putting all of her bodyweight into it. By some miracle, the lock broke off and clattered to the ground, letting Sunshine swing the metal door of her cage open and she slid out onto the ground, stretching her legs. "Hold on, I've got you," she informed Jack, picking the lock off from the floor and she went over to his cage, starting to hit Jack's lock with her own. It took about a dozen hits or so, but Jack's old lock came off as well, freeing him.

Sinister's Lair - the Wardrobe Suite...

Emma nodded, understanding that they had their concerns. "Incisive questions, Leighton," Emma praised, standing up from the chaise. An image then appeared floating behind her, a telepathic projection to be precise of a tropical island. "While some are fortunate to live in areas that tolerate, perhaps even celebrate mutants, most of our kind around the globe live in fear. To remedy this, I've purchased an island near Madagascar called Genosha. My vision is for Genosha to be the first mutant nation, a place where mutants may choose to reside if they so wish... I wouldn't dream of forcing anyone to travel to Genosha. And the establishment of a mutant homeland brings no challenge to humanity - I am not here to court war, merely to bring peace."

The image of the island faded and Emma walked across the room for a moment, thinking. "It appears you may have gotten a misconstrued idea of what I do... It is true that one of my former associates, Sebastian Shaw... He wished to profit from mutant and human violence. He is no longer a part of my organization, my vision for what Genosha can be."


🗡️ Megan Pendragon 🗡️

Location: Orphanage
Skills: N/A

Megan rolled her eyes slightly at her brother - she didn't see the harm in asking if they managed to catch the event on the security footage as opposed to asking to see the security footage from that timeframe, but evidently he figured it was a big enough of a deal to make a fuss over. Of course, she imagined partially it was because they were siblings - sibling rivalry and all dictated that they couldn't get along too much, and since they lived together, little spats had to happen from time to time. Of course, her attention was soon captivated by the images on the screen. There was no sound, but a woman with the most exquisite Maleficent cosplay she had ever seen was speaking with their John Doe. And even more surprisingly, the man died from a fireball that seemed to come out of nowhere. "... We'll need a copy of this footage, please."

Her mind was instantly racing. It was just about the weirdest (and arguably coolest) homicide investigation she had ever had the honor to be involved in. A Disney superfan murdered an unknown individual at the orphanage she, her brother, and the other detective on the case had all been adopted from... the same day they received mysterious letters claiming to know about their birth parents. Isabella struck her as far too nonchalant for a situation like this. "Have you seen that woman before?" she asked. There had to be a scientific explanation for that fireball, one she figured she could arrive at once she took the sample back to the lab to analyze.


Guin Stark


Location: Stark Tower
Skills: N/A
Barely seconds after Guin asked if they had a rough idea of where the device was on the ship given travel and distance concerns, in a similar sentiment to Carolina's question, Annie had to ask the same exact thing. The repetition of questions probably wasn't helping their case that they were competent adults capable of saving the world without a babysitter (i.e., Professor X). One of the new girls, Iris, called Guin's idea evil and she raised a slight eyebrow. Was it the most ethical idea? Not at all - but at least it was an option that would keep this World Eater from gobbling up some other planet like it was Thanksgiving Dinner.

Pietro reacted way more harshly to her suggestion than Guin had suggested and she sighed slightly. A year or so ago, she might have dug her heels in and continued to argue for the competency of the idea, but they just didn't have time to argue about this. I'm sorry, Piet - I didn't mean to hurt you... Guin apologized, whispering into Pietro's mind but he had blocked her out - meaning that she couldn't even talk to him. He was incredibly pissed at her. "Alright, alright, I get it - you guys all hate that idea," Guin said, raising her hands slightly to show physically that she was backing away from the subject. She did agree with Sara that they needed a back up plan, but the entire I'm smart justification was a little bit weird, but whatever. To each their own.

Her father's mention of him working on a suit for her caught her attention. Guin had been working on her own suit, currently dubbed the Iron Star Mark I, ever since they returned from the House of M reality. But given that her powers were easily the most useless ones on the team, as her primary skill was just body hopping, she didn't really see the motivation for her dad to make a suit that would let her use them - especially since that meant anyone she switched bodies with would end up inside of a fully outfitted Iron Man suit.

Pietro clearly didn't want anything to do with her at the moment, so Guin imagined that they wouldn't be in the same group this time... and that was fine. As painful as some of the moments in House of M had been, she had rediscovered her native resiliency and independence. Her real skillset she had to offer for this mission would be her tech skills - everyone else pretty much had combat powers that would be useful. She shoved her hands into her pockets. "Lance, Mira, and I should be on separate teams - since we're the techies of the group and I have a feeling that'll be important in the crazy space zoo scavenger hunt."

Neil Spellman


Location: Stark Tower
Skills: N/A
Neil grimaced slightly as the speedster went off on his rant, reminding everyone of his questionable mental stability. He was the son of Magneto after all, one of the X-Men's most well known and frequent villains, and his sister had just warped all of reality for her own benefit less than a year ago. From what he could tell, the only reason Pietro decided to be on their side was because of his fiancée. Neil couldn't help but be slightly excited at the talk of all of them getting to use Iron Man suits, the most iconic piece of equipment that the Avengers had.

His heart sunk a little bit as he realized something - Sara was right, no one had mentioned an alternative plan that didn't require getting this device. If the X-Men failed, then... Well then the world would be consumed by Galactus. "This is our only shot then - the only way to save the world," he said quietly, wishing that they had a Plan B or a Plan C but it didn't seem to be the case. If there was a different way to handle things, Richards would have proposed that right? Rather than sending the X-Men up onto the ship alone while the rest distracted the Herald?






Washington D.C.: September 10th, 2020 - 11:20 AM



The Amtrak Station...

Cass' worry about the police showing up was unfounded at the very least - S.H.I.E.L.D. had officially taken control of this operation, with local police being instructed to avoid the area. Novikova gave Maria a nod. "Sure, just try to avoid the eye problem," she recommended, knowing that realistically Maria couldn't pick and choose which of Novikova's powers to absorb. And of course, neither of them knew about Jinx's jinx he had placed on Maria trying to absorb Novikova's talents.

Bonnie practically gagged at Jinx's jeers. And while she was a bit unnerved at how much she resembled the triplet mutants, strange things had happened before. Captain America had an uncanny resemblance to the Human Torch after all. "You can do better than him," she informed Flynn. "Like really, anyone can do better than that guy."

"Yeah, don't really care about this idle talk," Barton admitted. "Chance to surrender is over," he informed the Hellfire Club. He pulled a taser arrow and let it fly, hitting Jinx dead on in the chest and shocking the mutant severely, enough to knock Jinx down to the ground and get him to see stars. The Russian agent then caused basketball chunks of earth to shoot up from the ground into her hands and she chucked them at Anastasia, grazing the White Queen but not making enough contact to hurt her.

"We can't get into their minds - they're wearing some sort of device to block out psychic powers!" the Three in One whispered into the minds of Anastasia and Jinx. Since Anastasia's powers of morality manipulation functioned by her delving into people's psyches, this would spell trouble for her as well.

Bonnie advanced towards the Three in One with her knives, looking for a good opening but the triplet mutants closed ranks. Bonnie frowned slightly, not wanting to throw the knives since that would greatly increase the odds of a fatality. "Flynn, back me up," Bonnie requested, figuring that with Flynn's flames and her knives, they'd have a good chance of defeating the triplets.

On the Road...

"No one, Ben was being dumb," Casper answered Feedback quickly. They were in the van, they had the medicine they needed for Magik, and Casper had even managed to swipe a pick-me-up for himself for later. Sure, they hadn't planned on bringing Vulcan along too but someone would figure out what they should do with the villain eventually. Sapphire at the very least had the good sense to floor it, especially as -

"Duck!" Ben shouted, Casper reflexively putting his head down as a spray of bullets hit the back of the van. The bullets missed all of the van's occupants - maybe it was their lucky day after all. Colossus turned back into his metal form, feeling a bit cramped but it was better than taking a bullet to the back of the head. "Ve cannot lead them back to Underground," Colossus said. Even though they were getting a new headquarters, it was dangerous to lead the police there. And without Veil, they couldn't just turn themselves invisible.

"Uh maybe Feedback can do her radio thing again?" Casper asked, though he was skeptical. The cops were right behind them and shooting at them from their cars, their lights flashing and sirens screaming. It wouldn't be too easy for them to just get the police to change directions, would it? Angel of the Morning had only worked for so long as well, they'd need another strategy. "Wait, Metal Mind, what powers does your sis have exactly?" Casper asked, wondering if maybe Magik could stop the cops.

"...I am not sure," Colossus admitted. "I can jump from car, distract cops and then you can escape," he offered. As to Cayden's question, that was ultimately Sapphire's call - she was the only one there with real medical experience. But if they wanted to use Magik's powers, as ill defined as they were, then treating her now would enable her to help with the cops.

Sinister's Lair - Sabretooth's Hallway...

Veil looked up, seeing what looked like a sprinkler system. She created another pressurized frisbee force field and flung it up at the sprinkler, hitting her target and causing it to rain down on poor, poor Sabretooth. She then gritted her teeth and made the strongest force field she could, pinning Sabretooth down and preventing him from moving, but of course Glimpse had already accomplished a similar effect telepathically. "If this doesn't work, we might want to come up with a Plan B!" she shouted.

Maybe if they couldn't keep Sabretooth from healing, they could try to just knock him unconscious - or fling him far, far away somehow? But since they were underground, sending him into dreamland seemed like the most practical idea to her. If Spark Plug shocked him just right, they might be able to pull it off - that or Glimpse could change her attempts as well and start trying to telepathically knock Sabretooth around.

Sinister's Lair - the Music Room -> the Laboratory...

Sinister smirked slightly at Jack, seeing the helpless detective sitting obediently. The mind was such a fragile and easily manipulated thing - he was almost disappointed that he hadn't gotten at least a slight resistance from him. "All will be revealed in due time, Jacques," Sinister promised, snapping his fingers and the scenery shifted. They weren't in the music room anymore - no, this must have been Sinister's laboratory. Gigantic cages lined the walls, most of them occupied. Sinister telekinetically pulled Jack along until he reached an empty one and he shut Jack inside, locking the cage firmly. Once inside the cage, Jack would begin to feel slightly ill - there was a power dampening field within the cage, keeping Jack from using his mutant powers to escape.

"Now to find the rest of your little friends..." Sinister murmured, before vanishing.

"Hey, Marshmallow!" Sunshine called out. She was inside a cage next to Jack, a noticeable bruise on her head from her fall down the stairs earlier. "Do you have a lock pick or anything on you?" she asked him without a moment's hesitation. Sunshine was too calm for a kid in this situation, but then again, this was hardly the first time she had been kidnapped by some sort of human extremist. The rest of the cage occupants were quiet and docile for the most part, though some of them were twitching and looked less than sane.

Sinister's Lair - the Wardrobe Suite...

Emma was waiting for her niece's response, though she didn't seem surprised to see Max there. "Mr. Gray, how pleasant of you to stop by... I am here to speak to my niece and while I would prefer to do so privately, if she would like you to be here then that is fine by me."

Havok meanwhile was trying to figure out how to fight an astral projection. He couldn't just send an energy blast at Emma - she wasn't actually physically there. Eventually, he determined that their only real way to fight Emma right now would be to walk off and ignore her. Someone like Glimpse with telepathic powers would be capable of doing more. "Leighton, Max, ignore Emma - she's a snake - let's get back to the others. This place gives me the creeps."



The Royals had met with Rowland in the Pyramid Library of Wizard Tower the morning of November 6th. Rowland succeeded in placing a protective Charm around the Castle, preventing further members of the undead from coming within the walls. As far as he and the other wizards could tell, Amarantha was the only remaining vampire in the Castle. The ghost of the great alchemist, Marcellus Pye, along with the ghost of an old ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Septimus Heap, managed to devise a temporary cure of sorts for Amarantha. It was a potion that she would need to drink once each month, suppressing the blood lust that ravaged her body - yet it did not get rid of her vampirism. Raw meat and animal blood seems to be sufficient for giving her energy thankfully.

The Saecular Games are due to begin at 11:00 AM on November 10th. Wooden stands have been erected on the Palace Grounds, forming a semi-circle. Foreign leaders and their champions have come to the Castle from across the globe, all vying to bring home a victory in these games. This includes the leaders of the Eastern SnowPlains and the Land of Long Nights, despite the war that continues to rage on. Of course, those aren't the only ones in attendance.

On Asgard, the search for the Space Stone was ultimately futile - they couldn't find it and Loki was being less than cooperative. The All-Mother, Runa, and Heimdall sensed the presence of one of the Infinity Stones at the Castle on the morning of November 10th, so they dispatched a team to go and retrieve it. Most likely, the stone is the Tesseract... and even if it isn't, the visions of Ragnarok indicate that the Castle will be the sight of a significant battle. While the team is on Midgard, those on Asgard are gathering an army from across the Nine Realms in preparation to stop the end of days.

In the Forest, Fleur's army is ready and waiting for her orders. Violet had left Fleur's flock to attend to her own mission, promising that she would return to Fleur once the time was right. More of the Castle's criminal element has turned up dead in various manners, increasingly violent compared to the benevolent initial strikes that amounted to nothing more than natural causes on cursory inspection.

No matter what happens, today will be a day to remember - a day in which our heroes and villains become legends.
The Small Wet Country Across the Sea: November 10th, 12,508 - 10:00 AM


The Throne Room - the Palace...

In the Throne Room, the Royals and their friends were gathered... as well as some enemies. Empress Astris of the Eastern SnowPlains was present, a frown marring her otherwise beautiful complexion. Next to her stood her chosen champion, Anna Rasputina. She was a noted sword fighter, but given the secret gifts of those from the Eastern SnowPlains, there was likely more lurking beneath the surface.

Emperor Taj of the Big Wild Land Over the Ocean was there with his champion and sister, Asha the Magykal. They had traveled through the Ancient Ways, emerging seemingly out of nowhere in the Palace earlier that day. Next to them stood the Royals' cousin, King Nicholas of the Lagoon. Should anything happen to Valda, Luna, and Myrus, the throne would pass to him. His champion, Kai Ricci, stood silently by his side.

Lastly, sending a chilly gaze from across the room at those from the Eastern SnowPlains, King Alvis of the Land of Long Nights was accompanied by his champion, Freyr Askelson. Some countries had declined to attend, fearing that it simply wasn't safe to be at the Castle, especially with the Eastern SnowPlains and Land of Long Nights in attendance.

Rowland and Myrus were next to Valda at the moment, with the ExtraOrdinary Wizard looking around those assembled for a moment. "I have my wizards dispersed throughout the crowd should anything occur, my Queen," he reassured Valda.

"Erm, Valda... One question... Who are you picking to be your champion for the games? I'd like to volunteer," Myrus then explained.

The Saecular Games - the Palace Grounds...

Behind the stands, the Asgardians appeared in a beam of light, an intricate sigil burned into the grass signaling their arrival. Nova had made a full recovery but had been asked to accompany Astrid and others on Asgard in assembling a force to match whatever might await them on Midgard. Astrid and Nova even had brought the twins, Marya and Medea, with them on the intergalactic quest - something that Antonije was less than thrilled about. "Alright, there are a lot of civilians in this area so we need to be careful. Loki stashed the stone somewhere nearby - Arnora, any idea where it is exactly?" Halley asked, trusting Arnora to be the best tracker of the lot.

Antonije glanced around, seeing the colorful flags rippling from the tops of the stands. Exotic animals were in cages, most likely involved somehow in the sports. However, something then caught his attention - one of the flags belonged to the Land of Long Nights. Sylvi's father must have been here in attendance. "I'm not hearing anyone thinking about the stone beyond us," Antonije then reported, having used his telepathy to do a quick scan.

However, he frowned and noticed something else. "Baldur and Hodr are here... They're watching the games."

The Forest...

Violet had spent the early morning meditating in Limbo, breathing the swirling energy around her in and allowing it to fill her up. It wasn't Darke or Lyte - it just existed like any other natural force. Labeling it as something completely evil or good was redundant, a belief that had driven Nera down her own path of self discovery. The strongest of Magyk could only be obtained by breaking all of the rules.

Opening her eyes, Violet Appeared in the midst of Fleur's encampment, materializing out of Limbo. "What is your plan?" she asked Fleur, skipping the traditional greetings and going right to the point. Fleur's flock was there, as well as the witches of the Witch Country, and the forces of the Hellfire Circle. She had as many mages on her side as there were traditional soldiers in the Small Wet Country's army.


🏹 Arthur Twist 🏹


Location: Big Bad HQ - Lowest Level: New Room -> Hallway
Skills: Survival, Investigation, Archery
Arthur heard Elara's words, but he made no move to respond to them. He hadn't come here to explain himself to others unwittingly caught up in the Sisterhood's scheme - this wasn't about making friends. His father had been murdered and the only one who would be able to get him justice was Arthur. He didn't reply to Psylocke's comment about her friends calling her Betsy, as strictly speaking, they were not friends. She had murdered his father. And beyond that, he had never met her before - hardly the basis for friendship. Psylocke's presence in his mind was uncomfortable, yet he noticed that she continued to shroud his identity even after what she had learned.

There were two exits in the room - one past the girls (the elevator) and one behind him. There was no way that he would be able to clear getting to the elevator, but he had some trick arrows with him and could make a decent distance by going back through the door he had come from. Shooting off a grappling arrow rapidly behind him, his shot was true and Arthur managed to use the grappling hook to propel him rapidly out of the room and back into the hallway, putting as much distance between himself and the two women as possible. There wasn't really much room to hide here, but his fighting style was based on stealth. It took him a minute to decide on the best location to hide and he used the grappling line to aid him, essentially clinging to the ceiling like a bug. His stealth was so brilliant that he almost blended into the shadows and since hardly anyone would look up, he hoped to regain some element of surprise.

A little nagging voice in the back of his mind asked him why he hadn't killed Psylocke back there - he had had a clear shot. He should have done it.

⚡John Watts⚡


Location: Big Bad HQ - Lowest Level: Machine Room
Skills: N/A
Watts wasn't one to deviate from his first impression of an individual. He decided based on what he had seen so far, Jolene was nice but irritating. Why did she presume he was going to waste his time explaining things to her? Belladonna felt similarly, another sign to Watts that he had been right about her. "One of my Ph.D's is in Bioengineering - which is a lot more experience than your undergraduate medical degree is," Watts reminded Sapphire. This was a textbook bioengineering situation, one that undergraduate students were never prepared for. He didn't believe that Sapphire knew nothing - he just thought that she was kidding herself if she believed that one undergraduate degree in medicine was enough to make a real difference in this situation. "And yes, I do know that you're a mutant - but it seems to me that the two of you forget that our opponents are mutants with psychic powers - the very mutants that I was referencing due to their infamous potential for destruction, unless you've forgotten their names already? Mastermind and Lady Mastermind, and oh, I don't know, all of the psychological hallucination we've experienced thanks to them?"

He was glaring at her as she threatened to freeze him. "Don't start something you can't finish, Popsicle," he retorted. "And please tell me more about how my shouting could be heard throughout the entire facility - since if it had been that loud, we obviously would have had these two show up far sooner. No one heard me outside of the present company. Ridicule me for that once you have evidence to the contrary, Nightingale." He then stopped talking as Casey reported hearing some footsteps from outside. "Stay back from the door," he warned Casey. Sticking their faces out to see who was coming was an idiotic idea if he had ever heard one.
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