"Nah, let's go straight on there - not that I doubt my genius or you guys' skills, but I don't wanna push our luck that we can get this thing up in the air again on short notice." Something always had to go wrong while off on a quest after all. She had this horrifying - and admittedly amusing - image of them falling from the sky and impaling themselves on the Golden Arches if they tried to make a stop for fast food. Maybe they could hit up one on the way back and she could get a Happy Meal Toy. It'd be a fun sarcastic entry to the relics of Camp Jupiter collected from ages of demigods.
"We can always get food afterwards. Or wait! It's a tourist trap, right? There's probably some sort of food court nearby for all the sweaty white families who roll on through for the photo op." She was a little bit disappointed she hadn't brought her camera. It would have been fun to stage some ironic photos at Mount Rushmore. She would have definitely wanted one of her flipping off the Founding Fathers. It would have become one of her treasured possessions.
Leda grunted slightly, groaning a bit as she was knocked to the ground. Before she had time to contemplate how seriously screwed and vulnerable she had been in that situation, a hail of silver arrows came from out of nowhere, finishing off the rest of the cyclopses. Marysas was the only enemy combatant left standing. Zeke apparently was expecting Marysas to just yield. She felt like it was the set up for Marysas to monologue about how Apollo had wronged him and that he would never yield. Her muscles twitched as Leda just went for it. She quickly got up from the floor, her natural agility helping her.
She then dashed forward, not giving Marysas a chance for last words, as she swung Ultraviolet and beheaded the enemy of Apollo. The satyr went poof, turning into dust like any other monster. His pelt fell to the ground with a soft thud as a trophy. "As expected, I had to handle it. Leave it to the children of the minor gods to get things done," Leda joked. She was breathing a bit heavily, exhausted from the overuse of her speed that day. Her sword transformed back into a necklace, appearing around her neck. Leda's stomach growled, demanding fuel. Hopefully the Hunters of Artemis brought fruit snacks with them or something.
Leda picked up the pelt and slung it over her back. "If it's not magical, one of you tossers can have it," she added, speaking to Kristin and Zeke.
Location: Xavier's Institute - the Garden -> to the Kitchen Skills: N/A
"Damn, who knew that Loki was a cheap movie junkie?" Guin said with a laugh. Jumanji was having a resurgence lately, thanks to the Rock and Karen Gillian. Guin admittedly loved the video game concept that they had adapted in the new movies. One of her favorite animes was Sword Art Online. And of course, her favorite Spy Kids movie was the one where the kids were trapped inside of the video game and ran into their grandpa there. It was just such a fun concept, going from the real world to one made of pure fantasy. "And no, I didn't know that other people have made Loki upset, I'm just really unobservant and thick," she replied, sarcasm dripping from each and every word.
"Look, no one has made Loki as pissed as my dad has. The Hulk isn't even around right now, Banner's MIA. Loki isn't going to bother messing with Lance if Banner doesn't know what's going on, that's half the fun. So he's doing this to get back at my dad, knowing that my dad probably has a way to monitor everything going on here, so it can be emotional torture for him and physical for me." It was a logical and rational way for Guin to think of all of this - and of course, her ego and pride did feed slightly into it. Her family thought of themselves as the center of the universe. The only issue was, they were usually right about that.
She then headed inside with Mary, holding Pietro's hand and dragging him along.
Neil Spellman
Location: Xavier's Institute - Neil's Room -> Outside Annie and Carolina's Room Skills: N/A
Neil looked downcast, hearing that Carolina had suffered so much at the hands of O.M.E.N. He hadn't been at the school when O.M.E.N. tried to kill the X-Men. His only real experience with the organization was when they tried to take his cousin Rebecca away, accusing her (rightfully) of being a witch. His aunties had managed to handle it, but they started homeschooling Neil and his cousin afterwards. O.M.E.N. didn't care who they hurt in the name of keeping the world safe for normal people. Anyone who was different was a threat, a liability... He shuddered a bit, knowing that the current president was ex-O.M.E.N. He didn't know whether to believe if Jakobsen had changed or not.
No, Neil was actually certain he hadn't - he was sure that Jakobsen was the same old villain who killed innocent kids in the name of freedom.
"I'm so sorry that happened," he told Carolina quietly. "Maybe... Maybe there's a way we could bring your girlfriend back... I could ask my aunties for a spell." He knew necromancy was serious business, but if it made Carolina smile, it would be worth it. He got the feeling that Xavier wouldn't approve, but what the old man didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Neil followed his best friend down the hall, waiting outside the door to her and Annie's room, since he didn't want to intrude into her personal space.
Megan rolled her eyes at her brother as he dragged her on through the portal. He could have easily hurt himself on her rapier in the process - the tip of the blade had Maleficent's blood on it still. In Megan's experience, such a small quantity of blood would likely dry soon enough. It wasn't a large pool that would remain around for a while. She hadn't ever cleaned a sword of blood before, yet she imagined it wouldn't be a very different process from cleaning her tools in the autopsy suite. Was a rapier really that dissimilar from a bone saw after all? "If Maleficent blows up my car, you have to carry me to work and do my laundry for a month," she told her brother with the slightest hint of a smirk.
She chuckled a bit at her brother's continued annoyance with Tinker Bell. "I think she dies if people don't believe in her - so maybe you just ought to question her reality." It was either that or clapping, Megan wasn't quite sure. She watched Silence of the Lambs more frequently than she did Peter Pan. She never knew that her knowledge of Disney films would be such crucial information, if she had she would have studied up on them all and prepared.
Mild Symptoms: Headache, some splotchiness of the skin, fatigue and exhaustion Moderate Symptoms: Difficulty breathing, dizziness, vomiting, blood shot eyes, prominent veins Severe Symptoms: Vomiting blood, trouble walking, bleeding from the ears, extreme skin discoloration, general looniness
George Washington University: Alleyway...
From the alleyway, Andy could see the back door of the Starbucks. There was a window AC unit from the second story on the ground, smashed to pieces. Maybe Morgan the barista was right - if Andy had gone out the back, she would have died. The AC unit certainly looked hefty enough for it. But as unnerving as that was, the way was clear for her to move forward and get on with her life, to leave these people behind and focus on herself...
That was, of course, until half a car FELL OUT OF THE SKY AND LANDED RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER! Had Andy taken another inch forward, she would have been toast. Maybe someone was trying to tell her something.
Veil
Location: George Washington University: the Street Skills:
"You know what I find insulting?" Polaris growled at Sapphire. "THAT APPARENTLY YOU'RE WORSE AT MONOGAMY THAN JEAN FUCKING GREY!" Veil gulped slightly, aware that Polaris was completely pissed and unhinged in this moment. She wasn't thinking clearly - and rather than being angry with Havok for cheating on her, she was taking out her fury on Sapphire. It didn't help that Polaris had mental health issues and her symptoms were flaring up at the moment. Polaris was choosing to give into them as well - to become the spitting image of her infamous father.
Polaris tossed one piece of the car at Sapphire, only for Feedback's super whistle to deflect it and send the piece of junk crashing into a nearby alleyway. The Mistress of Magnetism was about ten feet above the ground now. She was ignoring everyone, even those who were attacking her, as she threw the other half of the car at Sapphire.
"Lorna, stop, she means nothing to me!" Havok pleaded. He shimmied his hips and sent off a blast of energy at the car, knocking it off course.
Veil used her force fields to catch the remnants just in time, as they had been about to go through the front entrance of the Starbucks where innocent bystanders - and Leda and Watts - were hiding out. The sentinels were handled and Veil bit her lip, doing the mental calculus. The more time they spent here fighting Polaris, the sooner that actual S.H.I.E.L.D. agents would show up gunning for them. They had already lost Moonwalker today. She couldn't accept losing anyone else. They were lucky that Feedback and Sapphire hadn't died. "Polaris, this isn't you - you're a good person, you help people," Veil reasoned, trying to get her old friend to snap out of it.
Polaris didn't seem to hear them. She ripped up metal from all around her, bits of streetlights floating in the air like a deadly haze of weaponry. The ground shook as another Sentinel approached and Polaris narrowed her eyes. She focused her efforts on the Sentinel, trying to make it budge so she could throw it at Sapphire and take care of two birds with one stone, but it resisted her. It must not have been made out of metal, she realized, her eyes widening.
"This is why we can't have nice things," Veil muttered under her breath, seeing that they had another challenger added into the fray. They still had a chance to escape imprisonment in the Raft if they cut their losses and ran, but Polaris wasn't allowing them to do that. She wasn't giving up her assault on Sapphire. "Polaris, if we keep on fighting each other, we'll all be thrown in a Mutant Super-Max!" Veil pointed out. "You have to stop this!"
"I'm done running." Polaris sent her metal shards flying at the newly arrived Sentinel, aiming for its critical joints. Just because it wasn't made out of metal didn't mean she couldn't hurt it. She was as methodical as a surgeon and as ruthless as a butcher. The Sentinel collapsed where it stood and Polaris flew over to it via her powers of magnetism to pay a personal visit to its human pilot. She was out for blood.
Sunshine barely heard her father as he told her they needed to get out of there, that they needed to leave. The sound of tires screeching against the pavement nearby could have signaled cops or Purifiers, although there wasn't really much of a difference at this point. Just about every officer in Washington D.C. was a human supremacist - and the ones who weren't were complicit, allowing their fellow cops get away with hate crimes and not telling a soul what happened. "We can't leave her!" Sunshine screamed at Jack, having a death grip on Magik's body. She kept praying to any god that would listen to restore Magik to life.
Apparently, the gods only listened to humans. Were there any mutant religions? "You should have saved her!" she yelled at Spark Plug, blaming her for Magik's death. Spark Plug was the second in command, she was the one in charge after Veil. It didn't matter that Spark Plug was sick. She should have done something. "Max should have been the one to die!" Her eyes darted over towards the mutant sorcerer, as if the Fates would realize their error and have him fall dead and allow Magik to open her eyes. "No one even wants him around, he ruins everything he touches! He's probably the reason we're all sick! He's cursed!"
The portal opened up and Sunshine wanted to strangle Max. He had power. He could have saved Magik. He could have gotten her somewhere safe, somewhere with medical care. The humans too, she blamed them for this. Her heart hardened more as her hatred for humanity grew. Mutants couldn't live with them. Humans were why Magik had died. She landed on that conclusion and liked the way it felt. She could kill humans easily enough for revenge. They could have been responsible for M-Pox too. They stole Magik's life. The Hellfire Club had the right idea there with killing humans - if it wasn't for the fact that they killed mutants too, Sunshine would have joined.
Casper crumbled into James, clinging to him like a lifeline. The horrifying image of the demon was burned into his mind. When he closed his eyes, he saw the horns that had sprouted from Magik's head and the tail. He wasn't coherent enough to comprehend that the others had likely seen something very different, that they hadn't been so deeply traumatized. Casper had seen death before. That wasn't normal. That wasn't how it was supposed to go.
"Casper... What was that?" Ben asked nervously. "... Do you think it'll come back?" He didn't know if the thing would come for his own soul. Ben had his issues with the afterlife, but he also didn't want to downgrade to something like torture for all eternity.
"I-i-it was a demon," Casper mumbled. He was trying to communicate, but his mouth felt like someone had jammed it shut with cotton balls and peanut butter. "Oh gods, oh gods, what did it do to her... Th-th-the horns..." he sobbed. He hadn't been friends with Magik. He hadn't minded her. But Casper wasn't a stoic and heartless person - he was deeply empathetic, terrified of what he had seen and horrified by what had happened to the soul of a young girl. He didn't know how to describe what he had seen really.
He went through the portal with James, finding himself in the entranceway back at the Mutant Underground. Negasonic and Colossus were playing Guess Who. It seemed to be some sort of custom edition though, as the faces were all prominent superheroes, like the Avengers or the X-Men. Negasonic pushed down the Invisible Woman's face and Colossus turned to wave at them, smiling, only for the smile to fade.
"Illyana...?"
Sunshine was clutching Magik's corpse, having begrudgingly gone through the portal. "Max killed her!"
Colossus stood up abruptly. He looked at his dead sister. He looked at Max. He looked at his sister again. And then, the metal giant charged at Max, clearly out for blood. He rushed out the portal and slammed into Max, breaking Max's concentration and closing the portal.
The Triskelion - Washington D.C.: May 17th, 2021 - 1:40 P.M.
FROM THE DESK OF DIRECTOR HILL
THE FOLLOWING IS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY:
1. ALL SUPERHEROES MUST REGISTER WITH SHIELD AND REVEAL THEIR SECRET IDENTITY
2. SUPERHEROES MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD
3. SUPERHEROES MUST PASS SHIELD TRAINING - EXCEPTIONS INCLUDE TRAINING FROM THE X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, AND AVENGERS
4. ALL SUPERHEROES ARE SUBJECTED TO THE SUPERVISION OF SHIELD
VIOLATION OF THESE WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION TO THE RAFT. MINIMUM SENTENCING IS THREE YEARS HOUSE ARREST. JUVENILE OFFENDERS WILL BE TRIED AS ADULTS. REPEAT OFFENDERS HAVE A RECOMMENDED SENTENCE OF TEN YEARS IMPRISONMENT.
ALL VIGILANTE ACTIVITY KNOWN TO SHIELD PERSONNEL MUST BE REPORTED TO THEIR SUPERVISOR OR LEAD IMMEDIATELY.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!
Bonnie Chase
Location: the Triskelion - Hallway -> Hangar -> Quinjet Skills: Blessing of Athena, Intuition
Bonnie couldn't help but be confused when Niah announced she was going to use the bathroom - and that she called Flynn's attention to it specifically beforehand. A few possibilities whizzed through her mind rapidly as she tried to figure it out. She quickly dismissed the notion that Niah was inviting Flynn to join her in the restroom for some risque activity. Niah wouldn't hurt her like that. She didn't know about Flynn though, not after he yelled at her in the conference room.
Un deux trois quatre cinq six sept huit neuf dix...
The idea that Niah wanted Flynn to know about her bowel movements was equally perplexing. The only things that made sense was that maybe Niah wanted Flynn to go off somewhere so she could shout at him for shouting - but why would Flynn willingly do that? He didn't willingly do much. There was some secret there being kept, that was what Bonnie had to conclude. And then out of the corner of her eye, she saw a barn owl for a split second, only for it to vanish.
"Just try not to get a speeding ticket," she teased Cass gently, as her best friend announced she was going to have to be the taxi driver for the team. While Bonnie didn't doubt that Amelia was a terrific pilot, it was nice having someone she knew and trusted behind the wheel on a mission like this. There was so much tension among people she had known for over a year, it was like seeing the fault lines before an earthquake. In the hangar, she stood next to Cass outside of their quinjet, avoiding making eye contact with Flynn. She could perform an emotional autopsy later - it was too late for surgery she feared.
She then got onto the quinjet and took the seat closest to the pilot's chair, that way she could support Cass however needed. They really needed to get a move on, Captain America probably was going to be long gone by the time they got to his apartment, but maybe Niah would be able to give them some clues as to where he went using her powers. Of course, they could always do old fashioned detective work sans powers if needed.
There was a bathroom on the quinjet for Niah to use. It was towards the back and Bonnie was staring in that direction, watching to see what would happen.
Amelia Baptiste
Location: the Triskelion - Duck Pond Skills: Aerokinesis
The duck pond wasn't very deep - it was fairly shallow, maybe three feet of water at most. Amelia was grateful for that, as despite her daredevil tendencies, she had never learned how to swim. Water never had much pull for her, her ambitions had always been directed up towards the sky and beyond. Her persistent daydream upon joining S.H.I.E.L.D. was to fly space missions like in Star Wars, weaving in and out in a large battlefield, gunning it and trying to be a leaf on the wind.
She hugged her knees to the chest in the pond, just thinking for a moment. All of the ducks were congregating as far away from her as they could. She had been in some form of military unit for the past decade - and she had just quit S.H.I.E.L.D. She hadn't just refused the mission, no, she had quit. She was free of all obligation and responsibilities. Amelia felt the air currents moving around her, so free and flowing, without a care in the world.
She got up out of the pond and shook her legs a bit, trying to get as much water off as she could. "That's wicked," she gushed as she sent a large blast of air down at her pants, drying them almost instantly. She then started moving towards the hangar, so that way she could get the love of her life, Quimbey, and figure out what she was going to do next.
Location: Argo III - the Ground Skills: Necromancy
"Hmm. I'm not quite sure - although there do not appear to be many left, perhaps we are almost done with this task... I would not mind taking a moment to center myself here. The atmosphere of a storm is always quite empowering," Rebecca said. She had gotten back up to her feet, focusing on keeping active control over her skeletal minions. They ranged in time period of origin, but their fighting was largely the same without great variation in skill level. The soldiers killed one of the Anemoi Thuellai and Rebecca sucked up its remnants, getting a bit more fuel for the Argo III. One of the spirits killed her soldier from WWII and Rebecca sharpened her concentration.
"Blessed be, soldier," she said, as a means of thanks. She redirected the remaining trio of undead to avenge their fallen comrade. One of them missed widely, its movements shambling and uneven - yet the other two were victorious, killing the Anemoi Thuellai and Rebecca collected its remnants once more. She wondered what the capacity was for each of these individual packs, if they could accidentally over pressurize them and end up accidentally making a bomb out of pure storms. It was a thrilling possibility.
Her eyes flickered over towards Leda a bit pensively.
🌈 Leda Storm 🌈
Location: Argo III - the Ground Skills: Agility, Sword Fighting
Leda was living her best life, dodging lightning blows from the venti as it ran around her in a circle. Her eyes moved rapidly, tracking its movements as she tried to make the best dashes from side to side in order to come out unscathed. As a daughter of Iris, the messenger goddess, speed was one of her greatest assets. She was a real life superhero, someone with tangible speed and powers unlike those in comic books who relied on abstract things like the Speed Force. "I've got this!" she reassured Kiera. The battle was almost over anyways. The number of venti left had dwindled to under ten. She thought that she had spotted an opening as she rushed, only for her shoe lace to have apparently come untied, sending the demigoddess sprawling onto the ground as she tripped.
"I really do got this!" Leda reassured Kiera - or perhaps herself. She picked herself up from the ground, minding the untied lace that had caused her to trip, and she darted at the venti again. She swung Ultraviolet, the sword shining a bright orange, and the sword passed through the spirit. The venti fell apart and Leda quickly sucked it up using the contraption, with just a sense of static in the air revealing it had ever been there. She took a moment and bent down, double knotting her laces so that way nothing so embarrassing could happen again.
☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️
Location: New Rome - Coffee Shop Skills: N/A
"Well it definitely won't work if you have a piss poor attitude about it," Nancy told Marco bluntly. As much as she wanted to leave the Vegas strip behind, she had been a child performer. Most of being a good entertainer was simply projecting confidence and assuring people that she was capable of doing anything she tried. Doubt just invited weakness. "You've got Venus juice running through your veins. I know you can do this. Titan or no Titan." She raised a slight eyebrow at Waverley's innocence and naiveté with regard to all of this, but it was understandable she supposed. Not everyone knew about everything, although at this point Nancy tended to default to the if there are stories about it, it exists line of reasoning. It saved time.
Nancy did a bit of a double take when Madalyne said Leandra's cohort would be represented. There were six of them - Niah mentioned earlier that the other three were all from the Fifth, Niah was from the Second, Madalyne the Third, and Nancy the First. The Fourth Cohort was the only one that wasn't represented in the Quest, but she assumed her co-praetor had just gotten things a bit confused. Or were one of the others actually from the Fourth? She sized them up briefly, trying to determine who was naturally annoying and vain enough to be from that cohort but she couldn't decide.
She made a face when Madalyne said she'd have to ask her out. "Can't two best friends bring lunch for each other? Why does romance have to be the only route to free food in this time period?" she groaned. "And right on. I'd rather wrestle a chimera than date someone. Anyways, we can check in with the Senate when they reconvene later today. Shouldn't be any problems with it, unless Leandra decides to run her mouth, but I'm aching to scream in her face and go all Black Canary on her."
Raynor hurried after Zarina - not at a run or anything mind you, more of a concerned stroll. His face didn't show any indication of surprise as she accused Cal of being a drug dealer - or when he took in the fact that apparently Luke had almost died when they were gone. He snorted a little bit at the thought that Luke wasn't stronger than a tiny girl. However, he sensed it wasn't the time to point that out to Luke and open an examination of his masculinity.
Vinnie had a smug sense of satisfaction as Zarina basically confirmed that Cal was bad news. Drug dealers broke the law and caused horrible addictions that ruined families. She didn't know how Cal knew that she took adderal with this information - Vinnie figured it could also have been a lie, since she was fairly certain she was neurotypical. "Ha, I knew it! Vinnie one, Cal zip. There's no court here so we skip right to the imprisonment phase!" She didn't trust Cal and she double didn't trust her now, knowing that she was a criminal. What was to stop Cal from betraying them or selling them out? "... Or I guess community service, since apparently we're cool with working with people who we know aren't trustworthy and could potentially be working for Them. I bet she could have even cut a deal or something! That's what drug dealers do right? They cut things? Isn't that how it is... like you cut a key of coke, right? Am I using that word right?"
"Great, so we can take a dump without Them listening to us," Raynor commented roughly. He doubted they could hold meetings inside of bathrooms to discuss this situation - and if They were listening in on them discuss this right now, They knew to bug the bathrooms. He moved with the others back to the galley, raising a slight eyebrow as Cal filled him in on everything he had just seen. "If you add a shot of rum, I'll take it," he said to Tessa.
Vinnie moved back with the others to the galley as well. "Wait, so for those who have their memories working, what's the last thing you remember? Was their a blinding light in the sky like in Marvel movies? Did ET phone home? What was the date? Did you get some sort of notice from the government that we had been sold to Them? Do you know what They look like - like were They behind the entire Area 51 UFO alien bodies thing? Or Roswell?"
Leda couldn't believe at first that her bluff worked - but apparently, Zeke irritated Marysas so much he forgot about it all. Or maybe he hadn't noticed her go free Calliope in the first place. Either way, she thanked her lucky stars. The fighting started soon afterwards, with Kristin stabbing a cyclops and Calliope using her powers over music. Leda remembered with a bit of a jolt that Calliope was a goddess after all - she had a serious amount of power behind her and no doubt would make this a lot easier.
"How about Marshmallow, if Mars isn't your speed?" With Ultraviolet ready to go, Leda took off as fast as she could run. She weaved in and out of the line of monsters, skewering them with her sword and watching them turn into dust. She killed monster after monster, until eight of them were dead and taken care of. With Calliope's six and Kristin's one, that was fifteen in total that they'd taken out - not bad. And Zeke had managed to trip during dancing.
Location: Junk Yard - Fargo, North Dakota Skills: N/A
Nancy took a bow as Niah exclaimed that the idea could actually work. "I'm a genius, a champion of Minerva in the making," she bragged. "All the gods look at me and go how very!" She wasn't exactly a humble person - nor a subtle one. She was incredibly excited that her idea was a viable one. She helped Madalyne to move their Up!Mobile outside, hoping that the winds would be favorable. She wondered if they would attract any sort of flying monsters - and that was a bit thrilling, more exciting than terrifying. She loved fighting and killing monsters. It was a great outlet for aggression.
Once outside, Nancy went about inspecting Madalyne's knots. She wasn't the best at knot work herself, but she gave the ropes an experimental tug and found that the knots were loose. Nancy untied them and then did her best to retie them tightly, giving them a good tug to make sure that they weren't about to come loose and send them all falling out from the sky. "There, should be good to go, if you wouldn't mind giving the knots a third check, Niah?"
Achronum
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