Morose

🌠 Once Upon A Time 🌠(Concluded)

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🗡️ Megan Pendragon 🗡️

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Location: High Rise Apartment Building
Skills: N/A

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Megan pretended to choke to death as Jack mentioned that Isabella was going to be joining them. "The fairy's better than your partner," she said, her nose turned up slightly. "If Isabella's stiff ever came into my office, I think I'd have to keep her apart from the other corpses. She doesn't socialize well and her manners are terrible." Maybe it was a strange thought, thinking about having to keep corpses apart that wouldn't mix together as if they were alive - but Megan tended to speak to the dead bodies. She also had done it before, separating off a corpse that she thought would ruin the chill and mellow energy the rest of the bodies in the morgue had.

She followed him inside, noticing how nice everything here was - it was painfully extravagant. She liked the apartment building she and Jack rented in much better. There were cobwebs up on the ceiling there with spiders, meaning that flies and other pests very rarely troubled them. The hallways had dark wall paper that seemed to throw shadows as you walked. The doors were stiff, hardly swinging open, and the floorboards creaked. It was complete paradise. This was just too new and clean by comparison. Megan got into the elevator after her adopted brother with a sigh. "I expected more from an evil witch than some Paris Hilton-esque lair," she complained.

The Uncanny X-Babies - Concluded

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⚡John Watts⚡ and 🏹 Arthur Twist 🏹

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Location: Mojoworld - Hobo Camp
Skills: Superspeed, Chemistry, and Perception

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Arthur nodded curtly at Sapphire. "My mother was his CFO," he told her plainly. Harrison Snow had had an affair with the CFO of his company, something that comprised a great deal of the office gossip among the higher level executives. His mother's husband was unaware that Arthur wasn't his child, with only Snow, his mother, and an attorney aware of the fact. Arthur himself hadn't known when the Sisterhood tried to kill him, marooning him on the horrible island of Krakoa. It was only after he escaped that he found out his true parentage and how the Sisterhood had known - he had been written into Harrison Snow's will. With his father dead, Serval Industries was legally Arthur's - the only problem was that Arthur had been declared dead years ago.

Watts' eyes widened a bit, hearing Arthur's mention that his mother had been Harrison Snow's CFO. It was eerily similar to Watts' own childhood but in reverse. He too had been the product of an affair, only his father was the CFO of a weapons company and his mother was just a young intern. His step-dad, a news anchor in Seattle, had been more of a real dad to him than his birth father had ever been. Watts didn't say a word to Arthur however. He was about to go make explosives as Sapphire had strongly suggested, only for Andrew to explode at him in turn, accusing Watts of not actually caring about him.

His child's body betrayed him, as tears welled up in his eyes. "You think I didn't care about you?!" he screamed. "...You're right. Why would I care? Go blow yourself up to kingdom come, it doesn't matter. You just want to go back into a coma and die!" Watts snapped, before rushing off at superspeed. He worked as fast as he could, relying on several of his doctoral degrees as he constructed six bombs. The people here didn't want him around, that was fine. He had to make it back home. He had to be there for Stephen and Leda. They needed him - Serval didn't. He then sped back on over with the bombs, his eyes a bit red and his face was contorted by anger. "Here. Six bombs. If you blow yourself up, don't come crying to me about it. Spiral can transport these to where they need to go."

Arthur was contemplating what they could do. "The bombs will serve as a distraction. We don't need to worry about getting in - Spiral can get us to the machine directly. Once the bombs activate, they'll know we're in the building, so we want to have those bombs go off after we've used the machine. Spiral, how long will it be until Mojo notices we're using the machine? However long that is, that's when the bombs need to go off to draw his troops and create a diversion. From there, we stay in one group and fight our way on out to a rendez-vous point where Spiral can transport us away."

Harry Potter and the Alchemist's Quest - Discontinued

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@BlueSky44@FantasyChic@Achronum@Nallore@Natsu@Kirah@TrainerBlue192@Framing A Moose

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September 1st, 1984 - 2:40 P.M.

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Location: the Seventh Floor - Dumbledore's Office ->> Dungeons - the Slytherin Common Room: Fifth Year Girls Dormitory
Magic: Pocket Sneakoscope

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Dumbledore pushed his half moon spectacles further up on his nose, his expression grave and serious as he peered at Artemis. He didn't say a word back to the young Hufflepuff student mentally, but there was no doubt that the Headmaster had heard him. Yet a moment later, the tension vanished and Dumbledore smiled at Apollo, nodding at him in acknowledgement. "Miss Crane, we will be meeting here in my office on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 o'clock," Dumbledore said.

He chuckled lightly at Fae's glee over being able to beat people up without receiving detention. "The society is named in honor of an old friend of mine, Newt Scamander. I imagine Mr. Harrington named his cat in honor of Mr. Scamander, as he is a famous magizoologist. Perhaps I can arrange for him to come serve as a guest lecturer one class..."

"Seriously? That'd be wicked!" Paige gushed. She adored magical creatures and if Newt Scamander was going to come talk to them, she was definitely going to get him to autograph her copy of Fantastic Beasts. She'd have to use one of the school owls to let her dad know about it as well, that way he could send along his copy or something to be signed as well. Newt Scamander was his hero more or less, the person who inspired him to go into his line of work.

Paige then gave Elizabeth the side eye, hearing that she and Fae had managed to get detention already somehow. She had to wonder why Snape had given the job of Quidditch Captain to Elizabeth, since she knew their head of house didn't really like her that much. Snape wasn't keen on muggleborns, one of his nastier traits. And of course, Paige didn't use blood status to question Elizabeth's qualifications, it would have been hypocritical of her. No, she was just more shocked that Elizabeth was already putting Slytherin danger of losing house points before they had even started term.

"Oh, I can do such a thing, yes," Dumbledore replied cryptically. "However, whether I will is another matter entirely..."

Paige flinched slightly as Fawkes burst into flames and died. She couldn't help but stare, watching as the majestic bird crumbled down into ashes. Logically, she knew that Fawkes would just be reborn as a baby bird in a few minutes, but it was still rather unsettling to see.

"Now, I am afraid I am rather busy with the events that occurred on the train and will have to dismiss you now. Please proceed to your common rooms and change into your robes. Prefects, once you have done that I believe Professor McGonagall is planning an impromptu question and answer session of sorts for the first years in the chamber off of the Great Hall that you should participate in. Oh, and, Mr. Harrington?" he added, looking at Artemis. "I would like to speak to you privately once the others leave."

"Thank you, sir," Paige said, as she rose from her stool. She shot a glance at Artemis, as if staring at him could reveal why Dumbledore wanted to talk to him alone. Maybe Dumbledore was really planning on removing his memories and kicking him out of the Scamander Society for being a coward. Or maybe there had been some sort of mistake and he hadn't actually meant for both Apollo and Artemis to be recruited and only one of them could stay, as they had an odd number. Either way, it wasn't any of her business and yet she was dying to know.

She left his office and walked down the spiral staircase, emerging onto the seventh floor. The portraits were looking at her and the others with interest, whispering and gossiping about what must have gone on in Dumbledore's office. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws in the group were lucky. The entrance to Ravenclaw Tower was on the western side of the fifth floor, at the end of a spiral staircase. Gryffindor landing, the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower, was actually on the seventh floor - not too far of a jaunt from Dumbledore's office. The Hufflepuff Common Room was accessible via the kitchen corridor, about eight flights of stairs down from their current location.

"I'll see you later, then? For the duel?" Paige whispered to Zelda, before beginning the long trek. She had to climb the grand marble staircase down seven flights until she emerged in the entrance hall. The first years hadn't arrived yet, though loads of older students were pouring into the hall, separating off like streams as they went to their common rooms. Paige took the door on the right side of the hall, opening up a dark and dingy staircase that descended directly to the dungeons. She half ran, half hopped down the seemingly endless amount of stairs until they finally leveled off. She continued onwards until she found a seemingly blank stretch of hallway and waited. She didn't know the password.

"It's Merlin, you tosser," Merula Snyde said, appearing out of the crowd and purposefully shoving past Paige. "You better tell me what Dumbledore wanted with you lot," Snyde then added. She addressed the wall clearly: "Merlin!" and the wall seemed to shift, until the passageway to the Slytherin Common Room appeared.

"We were talking smack about you, gossiping - that's all," Paige told her cheekily as she walked down the passage until she entered the common room. The light in the common room was slightly green as they were underground and partially under the Blake Lake. It was long and low, with dark wood and tapestries featuring famous Slytherins such as Merlin. The room was cold and dark, depressing by some standards, but Paige adored the decoration scheme. It seemed like the sort of place where mysteries would happen.

"Bag your face, Atwell," Merula growled. Ismelda had appeared at her side, grinning evilly.

Paige just rolled her eyes. "You asked, Snyde," she reminded her, before taking the staircase to the fifth year girls' dormitory. Her belongings were somehow already placed at her bed, with Hestia taking a nap on her pillow. Paige knelt down onto the ground and undid the latches on her trunk, quickly pulling out her school robes and getting changed. She didn't particularly care if any of her roommates saw her changing. They'd all been living together since the first year. She had seen Ismelda's flat chest a million times.

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@FantasyChic@Natsu

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The Hub - San Fransisco: February 14th, 2021 - 10:50 A.M.

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Bonnie Chase

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Location: Virology Lab -> Fury's Panic Room
Skills: Jack of All Trades (Medicine), Emergency First Aid, Perception, Intuition

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Bonnie had hurried after Goose, wondering if Oliver being carried in his tentacles would improve or worsen his shellshocked state. Niah was doing her best to assist Sparky in the move. They went down staircase after staircase, through doorway after doorway, and even a few hallways that were obscured by bookcases and the like that Goose opened by pressing a discrete button with his tongue. By the time they reached Fury's panic room, it felt like they had gone through a labyrinth of twists and turns.

The walls were thick and reinforced with virbanium. Security systems were all over the place, allowing them to monitor everything that was going on. One of them showed the fight going down in the hangar. Bonnie was grateful to see that there was an abundance of medical supplies - which made sense. This room was designed to keep Fury alive if he were in a hostile situation, he needed to be prepared for anything. "Sparky, let's get you onto the bed," Bonnie said, going into high alert as Sparky toppled off of the stretcher and vomited blood onto the ground. She helped the agent up to her feet and got Sparky onto what must have been Fury's bed, since the other was covered in cat toys.

Her heart went out to Oliver. She wanted to reassure him that Cardiff was probably fine, that there were superheroes all over the world and she didn't doubt the people there would be okay... but Oliver had seen it. Cardiff was apparently gone, destroyed. All she could do was move forward with helping Sparky.

Strange wasn't here to repeat the magical blood transfusion. Cass' blood hadn't been made into an antidote yet. Bonnie refused to let Sparky die. A few ideas came to her as to what they could do. They could give Sparky another hit of some Wolverine blood, she bet that Fury would have some on hand in here. The other idea was a bit more unorthodox. Since M-Pox was caused by terrigen poisoning, maybe activated charcoal - what hospitals used for poisoning victims - might help to stabilize Sparky some more. The charcoal in practice would bind to toxins and then excrete the poisonous terrigen crystals.

Bonnie looked through the medical supplies, finding both a few vials of Wolverine's blood and some activated charcoal powder. She went over to Sparky. "I'm going to give you some more of Wolverine's blood so the temporary boost to your healing will help. The activated charcoal powder you digest will help to remove toxins from your system in theory," she explained. Bonnie poured out a bit of the charcoal into a paper cup and gave it to Sparky to swallow. She then carefully opened up the arm of Sparky's suit and injected the full dosage of Wolverine blood.

On the security monitors, Dalisy Bautista would be clear as day.

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Dominika Novikova

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Location: the Hangar
Skills: Metal Bending

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Out of nowhere, the feisty bomber responsible for the explosions revealed herself. Novikova was instantly taken back by the striking resemblance the bomber had to Niah Bautista. The terrorist was aiming a gun at Cass, demanding to know where she was and Novikova put two and two together. She had seen visions of Niah's sister before, back when she first woke up from the Phase Three Experiments. In the vision, Niah's sister had had dozens of copies of herself. Maybe the bomber was able to clone herself at will. "She's Niah's sister - Dalisy," Novikova said coolly, as Cass disarmed their foe.

Her wife had tried to absorb her metal or earth powers from what Novikova figured, though Maria clearly had gotten the dimensional sight instead. Novikova shut her eyes and removed her shades, placing them blindly onto Maria's face. The ruby tinted glasses were the only thing that could stop Novikova's power from running rampant and she wasn't going to let her wife be defenseless. Besides, Novikova had watched Avatar. Maybe she could use her earth manipulation to see. Matt was doing his best to help Tinley off of the stretcher, putting an arm around her so that way she could lean on him for support.

"I wouldn't have detonated the bombs if she were in this room. Bring me my sister Niah!" Dalisy demanded. She then eyed Flynn. "Do I look like I care what you're dealing with? I've been through hell to get here. The only thing that matters is her."

Novikova's eyes were still shut tightly. She remembered where the last flaming vehicle was and even though she couldn't see it, she could still feel the metal. She lifted it up into the air and flung it out through the gaping hole in the hangar she had made. The vehicle crashed into the remnants of the other one, though rather than exploding the fire continued to burn. At least now there wasn't any risk of the hangar exploding, with all of the fuel it contained.

"I'm afraid you aren't in the position to make threats, Dalisy - whichever one you are," Strange said cryptically. He had abandoned the search for Hill. He was floating in the air above the agents, staring down the bomber.

Dalisy gave Strange the middle finger, before she flickered. Suddenly, she was right behind Cass and she punched her in the back. Unfortunately, Cass was both 1) wearing armor and 2) had unbreakable skin. This ended up bruising Dalisy's fist far more than it actually hurt Cass.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Stolen Muse (Nallore, Morose & KazAlkemi) Ω

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Wendy's - Atlanta, Georgia
Skills: N/A

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Leda's eye twitched as Zeke returned from the washroom, asking her if she was finished swooning over Artemis. Ordinarily, she did her best to just ignore Zeke and not let him get to her. However, she wasn't in the best of mental states. They were hundreds of miles from the safety of camp, pursued relentlessly by monsters, and they still hadn't managed to free Calliope yet. A switch in her flipped and she let her emotions explode. "You think I kiss the arses of the gods because I think it's important to respect all of them, not just the Olympians? You're both the children of major gods, you've never had your parents denied a throne or told that they were less than. My mother has less sacred symbols than the rest of the gods because she spends all of her time running messages! So excuse me if I think that showing some respect and appreciation to every god is a fucking good idea! And for the record, gods aren't always the most nice and understanding people. My namesake, Leda? She was raped by Zeus in the form of a swan and honestly, she was one of the lucky ones. Hera never turned her into a cow or a tree or anything. She didn't die a horrible and painful death."

"And your father, Zeke? He's one of the worst offenders. Even Artemis has her grudges. Do you know how many young boys have accidentally stumbled upon her, only to be turned into a stag and slaughtered? The gods aren't going to hold off on smiting you just because you scraped some food into a bowl and went on a quest for them. Giving them lip to their faces is just asking to be killed, along with everyone around you! And maybe you're ready to be judged by Minos and the others as to where you get to spend eternity, but I'm not ready to die yet! So forgive me for fucking giving a damn!" Leda screamed. She got up from the table and threw her trash into the trash can violently, before getting into the truck and turning the engine on, waiting for Kristin and Zeke to get buckled up.

🌳 Hotel Valhalla: & the Gods of Asgard 🌳

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Runa Johansson

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Location: Hotel Valhalla - Floor Twenty One: Runa's Room
Skills: N/A

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Runa nodded slightly, considering what Nadia and Klara were saying. She was always like this around new people, a bit muted, guarded, and shy. It didn't help that she had just been killed trying to save people from the vatnavaettir earlier that day, only to then be told by a mysterious gatekeeper in another afterlife that her father was the god Balder. It would take her some time to adjust and get comfortable, to get used to this life - well, afterlife. She would get there eventually, Runa knew that logically. At some point the axes flying everywhere and games to the death would just be normal, not the sort of thing that would give her a panic attack. She thought for a moment, before sitting down on a couch. She pulled her feet up, so that way her knees were pushed up against her chest.

"So the Norse gods are real," Runa said softly. "Where are they then, exactly? Like... Balder? Where's he?" Runa asked. She didn't want to tell them about her visions, she didn't know if she could trust them yet - maybe they wouldn't believe her as well and laugh if she told them she had just found out her father was Balder. "Do the gods have children here - like half gods?" she pressed on, the term coming a bit unnaturally to her as English wasn't her first language and demigod wasn't something they covered in vocab quizzes.

Forgotten Space

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Location: Galley -> Room 2
Skills: N/A

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Zarina was definitely insane and Vinnie actually felt a little bit bad for the space roomba. Cal seemed to be a different sort of crazy, wearing the fetish collar of the dead android. Vinnie shuddered, wondering if that was even sanitary. Vinnie considered herself to be the epitome of sanity as she cut off a hunk of her steak with her bloody knife and popped it into her mouth. She then got an idea and cut the rest of the steak up into small, nugget sized pieces that way she could bring the food with her on the search and continue to chow down. With everyone assigned into groups, Vinnie went with Sophia to room 2.

"So, this seems like the same abject design horror that was in my room," Vinnie commented, looking around. She popped another steak nugget into her mouth and swallowed it, before holding out the plate to Sophia. Sophia had been proven to not be a zombie robot and she had given Vinnie a cherry soda, so her loyalty was at least temporarily assured. "This steak is really good if you want some. It's like little nugget sized pieces now too, so you can just pop it in and chew, no bloody knife needed! Wait, no, don't eat those. These probably have my blood on it. So unless you're a space vampire witch, they're all mine."

She glanced around the room, setting her plate of blood contaminated steak down on top of the drawers. She started to tear apart the bed, pulling at the sheets and tossing them up into the air to try to shake something out, but nothing came. Vinnie frowned slightly. It had been a surefire way to find things or so it seemed. She turned to grab another piece of steak before she could've smacked herself, opening up the drawers. "Eureka! I found a photo!" she exclaimed to Sophia, pulling out a photograph of a girl sitting on Santa's lap. There was a woman nearby in the photograph, though her face was burned off. "Yikes, she must've been awful to get her face burned."

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Raynor glanced over at Zarina after the others left, seeing that she was pretty happy messing with the little robot. Gordon had decided to clean things up, so Raynor stepped up to the magical vending machine and messed with it for a moment. The steaks were queued up on the machine's menu and Raynor fiddled about with it for a little bit, until he found what he was looking for. He ordered up three things of rum. He downed the first one instantly, setting it aside, before grabbing the remaining two and he sat himself down at a table.

"So are you trying to do anything in particular, kid?" he asked Zarina, nursing the second thing of rum.

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

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✨ Rebecca Eventide ✨

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Location: Argo III - the Galley
Skills: N/A

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Rebecca bit back a slight smile as Arthur called her mother Hestia. She hadn't heard of someone get those two mixed up before, yet it was amusing to imagine her mother tending to the hearth and home - and Hestia awaiting unsuspecting travelers at crossroads, armed with dark magic. Laurynn and Jason both had fallen silent, which Rebecca could understand. Her mother was a titan and had a certain reputation to her. She had even sided with Kronos in the Second Titan War. "What sort of artifact, mother?" Rebecca inquired. There were tons of artifacts and relics in the world sacred to Hecate and Rebecca would have been surprised if only one was present in New Rome. She was happy though to know that Andy would also receive some information about where she came from as well.

Mona, the daughter of Aphrodite, came out of her room and Rebecca smiled pleasantly at her, motioning for her to come join them. Unfortunately, Mona opened her mouth and openly disrespected Hecate. Rebecca winced as her mother changed Mona into a goldfish and then Gale ate Mona, before darting back up onto Hecate's shoulder. It had been a very long time since Hecate had killed a demigod. She remembered something Chiron had told her once - that a demigod could go anywhere and challenge anyone, as long as they were brave enough. Mona certainly had been brave to say the least. And stupid.

"And, blessed be, where might we find this artifact?" Rebecca asked, aware of the cold tension in the room.

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Argo III - Upper Deck
Skills: N/A

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Demetri had turned himself into a gorilla to combat Cow!Mary and Leda snickered, especially as Mary brought up his inability to perform. Mary had turned back into an ordinary human girl, her red hair positively sparkling in the light. For a brief moment, Leda's ADHD prompted her to realize that easily half of the demigods on their trip were gingers. Weren't gingers only one percent of the population or something like that? "I honestly doubt we'll make friends with the Romans," Leda admitted with a shrug. Sure, the camps had better relations than they had in the past, but that wasn't saying much. After the Civil War, where the Romans sided with the Confederacy and the Greeks with the North, the gods had manipulated the Mist to keep the Greek and Roman demigods apart. Their reunion had ended in another fight between the two groups and here they were, flying to New Rome and expecting a new result.

"How goes learning to fly the ship?" Leda asked, leaning back casually. "Or is it still shape shifter fight club?" After all, once she and Keira finished up with the Iris Message, they had come in here to see Mary sitting on Demetri as a cow. She wouldn't have been particularly surprised if they hadn't even gotten started on learning the controls. Demigods tended to have ADHD - that wasn't really helpful for standing and paying attention and listening carefully, when fighting was just so much more fun and engaging.

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: New Rome - the Senate House -> the Augury
Skills: N/A

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Nancy gave Leandra a weird look, a mixture between confused, angry, and disgusted. She didn't really see why Leandra needed to mention bringing up a request for coffee and spreads - that seemed like something she could have just done without needing everyone to know. Of course, everything Leandra did and said annoyed Nancy to no end. She would have complained about Leandra's breathing if there wasn't anything else to be irritated by. She briefly daydreamed about snapping Leandra's acrylic nails. Maybe she'd have to ask Terminus to classify Leandra's nails as a weapon so she couldn't bring them into New Rome. That'd be amusing.

"Oh gods, that sounds fun," Nancy said sarcastically. She wasn't especially close with the other children of Apollo. For the most part, people tended to stick with their cohort. They weren't like the Greeks where everyone lived with their half-siblings. Nancy doubted she even knew all the names of her current siblings at Camp Jupiter. To be fair though, her father was a bit of a slut. She went with Madalyne to the augury, instantly fixating on the painting that Alexandra was making. It was almost identical to the vision she had seen, just with two exceptions. The surroundings didn't look like New Rome or Camp Jupiter. The gem she had recovered with Niah and Madalyne last summer was in the center of the shrine as well.

"That's not New Rome... Or Camp... So where is that?" Nancy murmured. As much as she didn't like her sister, she wasn't going to shake her or demand her to snap out of the trance.

The Gifted - Concluded

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

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December 18th, 2020 - 3:10 PM

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Penthouse Suite of the Hellfire Club -

Polaris hadn't returned yet, leaving just Reeva and Sage. Ordinarily, Sage would have been allowed to just monitor while Reeva - or whichever high ranking member of the Hellfire Club who was present at the time - would sit by idly, giving further directions. Yet with how long this hunt was taking and the extreme importance of it, Reeva's anxiety was high. She stood directly behind Sage, a single hand on her shoulder. Sage couldn't send a single communication out without Reeva seeing. She couldn't warn the Mutant Underground as to what was happening or where they needed to go.

"What in the world is she thinking?" Reeva said sharply, her eyes narrowing. Sage had hacked into the security feed at the Dunkin' Donuts. The image was hardly as pristine as she would have cared for, but she was able to see what was happening.

Sage silently prayed for Leighton to get out of there, to turn and run before it was too late. "She's preventing Pyro from carrying out the hit, ma'am," Sage answered robotically, not a trace of emotion in her voice. She couldn't dare betray where her loyalties really lied.

"Unbelievable... Such a waste of potential." Reeva's grip on Sage's shoulder had tightened, her nails digging into Sage's flesh. "Send the order - Ice Queen is to be eliminated."

Sage hesitated. "But she's Emma's niece..." she tried to interject, wanting to save Leighton if she could.

"Emma will understand," Reeva said coldly. "Send the command, Sage, or we'll need to have another discussion entirely. Do I make myself clear?"

Sage nodded, her fingers flying across the keyboard. The White Queen, Pyro, and Jinx would all receive text messages with updated instructions: ELIMINATE ICE QUEEN. ORIGINAL TARGET IS STILL WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE.

"Good. The sooner we have the girl in custody, the closer we will be to understanding the Children of the Vault."

Dunkin' Donuts -

Desiree's clothing had caught on fire, the young mutant burning alive but she wasn't dead yet. Her abject fear and panic activated her more primal survival instincts and she tried to push out a wave of deprivation, to plunge everyone around her into darkness and absolute silence, but the pain was too much. The fire was burning each and every nerve ending, her organs bleeding as she screamed in pain. "Hey mate, why don't you get me a Boston creme?" Pyro called out to Jinx.

He then tilted his head slightly at the girls as they ran in, especially since Leighton had kicked his fire wolf off of Desiree. He stopped concentrating on the flames that comprised it and the wolf became just ordinary fire, eating away at the wooden bathroom stall. "Oi, princess, they told me dead or alive. Dealer's choice, innit? And I'm the dealer and I choose DEATH!" He finished with a cackle.

The two remaining wolves of fire merged into one, easily the size of a bull. Pyro directed the flaming beast and it pounced on Desiree, extinguishing her life force. The innocent girl Leighton had tried to save was dead. Flames were spreading rapidly throughout the Dunkin' Donuts. The ceiling integrity was wearing out and a gigantic piece was about to hit Jinx over the head, when someone rushed out of nowhere and pushed him out of the way just in time.

"Whoo, that was fun! Such a rush!" Pyro gushed, the flames wildly out of control but he didn't care. His phone buzzed, as did the White Queen's and Jinx's. He held up a finger for everyone to wait a moment as he checked his messages, before grinning cockily. Like a pyromaniac, he gathered all the flames in the small store, turning them into a gigantic creature with several heads - a hydra. Pyro whistled maniacally as the hydra headed lunged at Leighton, biting her. Her shirt caught on fire and two of her ribs cracked from the sheer force.

"Play with fire and you'll get burned! Hahahaha!" Pyro jeered.

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Veil

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Location: the Old Underground Hideout
Skills: Invisible Energy Manipulation (Cloaking)

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Warlock didn't seem to hear Veil asking him to contact Ice Queen about the innocent. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, tapping on her message history with Sage. The first encoded message had been sent at 1:29 PM, the second had been at 1:52 PM. Nothing had come after that. Her phone informed her of the current time - 3:10 PM. Instantly, Veil's stomach was twisted up into knots as she felt positively sick. Whatever chance they had of helping the innocent, it was long gone. Despite her intuition telling her that Warlock had been truthful, this must have been a set up, some sort of trap.

What was worse, this strongly implied that Sage's cover with the Hellfire Club had been blown. How else would Warlock have known to distract the Mutant Underground and keep them from interfering? She wanted to kick herself for being so stupid and naive. She shouldn't have trusted Warlock for this meet up. She shouldn't have brought her brother here and her closest friends. They were all in danger, the innocent could very well be dead or captured, and Veil had no one else to blame but herself.

Everyone was fixated on this notion of bringing Feedback's mother back from the dead. Veil's eyes flickered over to her twin brother's, communicating a clear but silent message: I fucked up. Had she not come to the conclusion that this had all been a trick, a trap, she would've been angry at Spark Plug for manipulating with Warlock's emotions, especially as he was an unstable person. "We're leaving. It's too late. It's been almost two hours since..." she trailed off, not wanting to expose how they knew about the innocent to Warlock. "I expected more from you than this, Warlock. You talk about wanting peace for mutants, but you probably just got one killed."

She took a deep breath and turned everyone but Warlock invisible. She turned the Mutant Underground's van and Echo's car invisible as well. It was a huge strain to do that large of an area at once, but her feelings of shame and horror were helping to fuel her powers. Once they drove off, she would only be able to keep the car she was traveling in cloaked. But thanks to Spark Plug's fog, she figured their exit would be secured.

"We'll rendez-vous back at base," Veil said. She had texted the address to Echo earlier, so he would be able to get there. Veil then walked to the van and got into the shot gun seat, Warlock unable to see her (though the others would be able to see each other and their vehicles like dim, holographic or ghost like outlines).

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Casper Theriot

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Location: Mutant Underground Hideout - First Floor: Training Room -> Entranceway
Skills: Mediumship

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For the first time in ages, Casper was sober and couldn't see Ben at all. It strangely made him feel on edge, like spiders were crawling up his skin and into his ears, spinning their webs all over his brain. His chest was a little tight as well, not from whatever plague Sunshine had given him (as she had removed it). Each breath was a little harder than the one before it and his fingers, they felt as cold as ice. At first, he wondered if it was just that the heating wasn't working properly, with it being winter and all.. yet his chest felt like a sauna, as warm as the sun.

"I'm going to read the room and start my career as a stage musician," Casper said, his voice light and airy though it didn't reach his eyes. "And I'll," he paused, waving his hands in front of his face. He had tattoos on the back of them, saying HELLO and GOODBYE like a ouija board. "make myself disappear!" He then clapped his hands together and skipped on out into the entranceway where James and Cayden were.

He then noticed another strange thing. Even though he had skipped his way on over, his body felt numb - like he wasn't actually moving, but rather watching someone else move. "So just so you guys know, Jackie is about to tell Sunshine that she's somehow his daughter from that incident where Blink sent him time traveling. I know, it sounds like a comic book, but it's real... Aaaand I sense you have some tea of your own to spill, bae, so get spilling and I'll get the paper towels!"

Casper glanced behind his shoulder slightly, expecting to see Ben there, rolling his eyes, but there was no one.

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Sunshine

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Location: Mutant Underground Hideout - First Floor: Training Room
Skills: Greek

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Sunshine rolled her eyes at Casper for his dumb magic trick - her eyes were a bit red from crying. She wanted to run off to her room and cuddle her dead rat, Fred. Sure, she had picked up the rotting carcass purely to annoy the hell out of Max during that supply run, but she was also genuinely attached to the smelly guy at this point. He was like a stuffed animal or a security blanket to her. Maybe she'd find some soap or perfume to clean him up with some, that way he wouldn't smell and attract flies as much.

It was just her and Jack in the training room now. Her anger had left her after the talk with James - at least, the anger towards him. She still had a lot of pain over being abandoned, the horrible situation she had been left behind in. Her father must've been a mutant, she imagined, and he left her behind with a human who hated mutants.

"Στον άλλο κόσμο νόμιζα ότι ήσουν ο μπαμπάς μου. Έτσι ήμουν πραγματικά τρελός σε σένα γιατί ο μπαμπάς μου με εγκατέλειψε και δεν με νοιάζει ποτέ, αλλά συνειδητοποίησα ότι δεν θα μπορούσες να είσαι ο μπαμπάς μου, έτσι είναι οτιδήποτε. Μα εύχομαι να ήσουν επειδή είσαι καλός και όχι φρικτός και όποιος κι αν είναι ο μπαμπάς μου, είναι πιθανώς ένας φοβερός τύπος. Λυπάμαι που είσαι τρελός και χτύπησε τον αδερφό σου, αλλά και ο Casper το αξίζει αφού είναι λίγο αδύναμος και πρέπει να σταματήσει ήδη με τα ναρκωτικά."

She didn't think Jack understood Greek, so she figured that saying those things, well, he wouldn't know what she had meant. It felt good to say it though. "Okay, your turn to tell me something dumb, Marshmallow Man."

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Guin Stark

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Location: the Reception
Skills: N/A

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Guin was pretty used to being the center of attention at this point. It came with the territory when you were the daughter of Iron Man, a famous X-Men in your own right - and now the wife of Quicksilver as well. She had grown up with cameras flashing in her eyes incessantly, so the little swarm of people gathering around her didn't bother her all too much. Her mother wasn't there and that was all that mattered. "Thanks Cass," she told her former mentor, returning her hug.

That was another thing Guin was glad about - Mary and Cass seemed to have finally buried the hatchet. It had been a few years since Guin worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. and at this point, she had been a member of the X-Men far longer than she had ever been an agent, but she still felt a connection to her former S.H.I.E.L.D. family. Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, had been a mother figure to her, teaching her how to fight and defend herself. She had occasionally spent the night with the Bartons place out in the country, exposing their children to the wonders/horrors of technology.

"Thanks, Elizabeth," she told one of the youngest and newest members of the X-Men with a smile. "You know, I bet you'd get along great with my friend Peter Parker," she then added, before pointing out where Peter and some of her other high school friends were. "Also... If you want to drink, go for it," she finished, her voice lowered so that way only Elizabeth could hear. Pietro returned a split second later with a large platter of food and Guin rolled her eyes. She playfully punched his shoulder. "You're unbelievable sometimes," she said, shaking her head.

Mary came on over to them next, of course electing to tease her about bursting into tears. "I'm human, sue me," she quipped back. Strictly speaking Guin was a mutant, but she still considered the term human to apply, at least in that sort of context. Mary's question caught her off guard for a moment. She was right. Guin hadn't ever imagined herself getting married, tying the knot and settling down. "I mean I don't really feel different?" Guin admitted. "Like I'm not going to turn my body into an incubator and start cranking out babies, or quit the X-Men and become a stay at home mom or anything... That's just not my style. I feel like marriage for me is more like... telling the world mine. No one else is going to get a shot at Piet. No one else is going to get a shot at me. Everyone who had dreams of marrying me to inherit the Stark family fortune, well, sucks to suck y'know? And I'm not changing my name either. I'm no one's property. Plus I always get free stuff whenever I drop my surname in conversation. Can't pass that up."

She smiled and waved at Mira. She still felt guilty for what had happened at the O.M.E.N. facility. If she hadn't told Mira to use her powers like that, then Mira wouldn't have killed all of those people. Their blood was on Guin's hands too. She was glad though to see that Mira seemed relatively sane and normal after that - and not a crazy psychopath.

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Neil Spellman

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Location: the Reception
Skills: N/A

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Neil couldn't help but stare at Vision and the Scarlet Witch. It was weird enough to see the Scarlet Witch in a context where they weren't fighting her - but with a robot laughing and holding her like they were in a relationship? He had no idea what to think about that. Had Guin or her father made a robot boyfriend for Wanda? Shouldn't there be some sort of law against creating a lifelike robot - albeit with magenta skin - and giving them as a gift to an (ex)-super villain? His eyes darted around the reception area and none of the Avengers seemed to be concerned, so he guessed that it was okay - still though, it was weird.

Sara seemed to be gravitating over towards Mira and Allison, so Neil followed. He liked Mira - she was in his Dungeons and Dragons group, so he ended up spending a fair bit of time with her. Allison though he didn't know as well. She was easily one of the most popular people at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Conversely, Neil was pretty sure he ranked somewhere in the bottom ten, if not the outright bottom. He thought quietly for a moment, looking over at Thor. He did seem pretty sad and lonely. Maybe he was homesick, missing Asgard and their wedding rituals. Maybe they didn't have the sort of alcohol or food that he liked here. "I have an idea," Neil said quietly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a travel sized game he had smuggled into the wedding. He didn't know how long the reception was going to last and he figured it was best to be prepared.

"Hey, uh, Thor?" Neil greeted. "We were going to play Cards Against Humanity, do you want to join?" he asked. Neil took a seat down at Thor's table and placed the game next to Thor's hammer.