Morose

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Neil Spellman

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Location: Xavier's Institute - Outside Annie and Carolina's Room -> the Living Room
Skills: Minor Molecular Combustion, Telekinetic Combat

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Neil was deeply confused as Carolina kissed him on the cheek. He knew that she was British, so it must have been something that friends did to other friends, right? He never looked at her in any sort of romantic light before - his heart stung, thinking briefly about the coy little smile on Sara's face whenever she would kiss him. Besides, Carolina had an dead girlfriend/wife, she was clearly gay and wouldn't have been interested in men. Neil didn't blame her for that. Men were the worst. He always got along better with girls, never really fitting in with the guys. "Alright," he said, smiling slightly. Carolina's optimism was a little bit contagious.

He went along with her until they arrived in the living room. Neil was instantly a little bit wary, seeing that the entire team had gathered there. Edus was present to and his mind jumped to conclusions, wondering if this was some sort of intervention for him? Were they going to kick him out of the X-Men too, just because his aunties and cousin practiced black magic? Was there a rule against burning candles in the rooms here at the X-Mansion? However, his anxiety fueled worst case scenarios were nothing compared to what was actually happening. He peered over Carolina's shoulder, his face draining of color as he read the letter.

Neil's face twisted into one of disgust and horror, seeing that he was paired with the most unstable and foul tempered member of the team - Lance Banner. He would have much preferred being partnered with someone from the D&D group. He even would have traded with Mira to be paired with Iris. At least it was a board game - if he had to be killed by the God of Mischief, playing a board game wasn't the worst way to go. He picked the Crystal Serpent for the two of them, since Lance didn't seem to care, and Neil liked snakes. They symbolized wisdom.

Mary and Bethany went first. Neil studied the riddle, instantly thinking of something to do with bugs - he wanted to say mosquitoes, but then again, a lot of different bugs could cause things like that. And when he saw the bugs appear not too long afterwards, his eyes widened. They were huge, easily each of them bigger than a baseball. He got in front of Annie and Carolina to try to protect them, gritting his teeth as he moved his hands like he was tearing paper. Nothing happened. He tried again, the bugs hard to focus on, and he managed to make ten of them explode like fireworks. There were so many though that it seemed like a futile effort. "We need to go!"

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Guin Stark

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Location: Xavier's Institute - the Living Room
Skills: Telepathy (Mental Link)

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I get that the world doesn't revolve around me - but I'm telling you, this is personal, Guin argued, her words filling Pietro's mind and his alone. She didn't want to make a bigger deal out of this or waste more time on it. In fact, at this point was she basically determined to try to read Loki's mind when they inevitably caught him to confirm that she was right and Loki was doing this to target the Stark Family. He had no reason to want to bother with the rest of the X-Men. They were a young team and while they weren't brand new, they were so unknown in the cosmic grand scheme of things that Galactus hadn't even paid much attention to them until they secured the Ultimate Nullifier.

She glanced at the pieces still available, a bit miffed that the Jade Monkey had already been claimed. She wished that a Ruby Hippo had been an option, but she then spotted the next best thing. It was a bit over the top and loud, but she loved that, scooping up the Gold Lion. "We get to rule Narnia now, right?" she joked, before putting her piece down at the starting position. "I think we should institute some public drinking festivals and fish slapping competitions. Oh and pin the tail on the white witch!" She vastly preferred the Chronicles of Narnia to the Middle Earth books like the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, even if Turkish Delight did not taste good enough to warrant betraying her family.

Guin jumped slightly as the shockwave went off, her ears ringing a little bit. "I think that was the magic McGuffin," she told Mary. She spun around what felt like seconds later, coming face to face with a swarm of mosquitoes. Guin quickly flipped her visor down, very grateful that she had been testing out the Mark 1 Iron Star armor earlier. "Stay back, bae," she warned Pietro. Mary was tangling the bugs in vines, Neil was exploding them, and Guin aimed for a big clump of the bugs. She unleashed a sonic pulse, loving the weapons systems in her armor.

Forty of the bugs were knocked out, dropping to the ground like flies. "I fucking love this."

"You're welcome, lass."

"Let's get the game to the Danger Room, we can seal it up tight and keep the bugs out," she suggested to the team. "Oh and someone should make sure Professor X isn't trapped in a bathroom or something, it'd seriously suck if he took a bunch of bugs to the groin."

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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✨ Rebecca Eventide ✨

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Location: Argo III - the Ground -> Upper Deck
Skills: N/A

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Rebecca returned the salute that the undead soldiers gave her, smiling at them. "Go in peace," she bade them. They crumpled into dust and returned to the ground from whence they had come. The storm had largely subsided, without the Anemoi Thuellai to fuel it. She could feel the angry spirits moving around some in the contraption she had on her back and she wondered how quickly they could stir up a new storm if released. "Thank you for partnering with me, Marygold. You're a formidable warrior with the makings of a sorceress." Demeter and Hecate were rather close deities. And of course, Rebecca expected that Marygold would excel at herbalism and potion-making due to her talents with plants.

She frowned ever so slightly, seeing Kiera kiss Leda on the cheek. She felt a tinge of anger deep in her stomach, the emotion shocking Rebecca. She and Leda had ended things amicably. She had performed a cord cutting ritual as well, to ensure that there wouldn't be any remaining ill feelings. And as for public displays of affection, Rebecca never minded them. Yet she couldn't shake the sour feeling from seeing the daughter of Poseidon kiss her ex-girlfriend. She climbed up the rope ladder and set her canister of spirits by the others. She then pointedly went back over by Marygold, trying to clear her thoughts slightly.

"How are you faring, Marygold?"

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Argo III - the Ground -> Upper Deck
Skills: N/A

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Leda accepted Kiera's hand, getting back up to her feet. Her shoes were securely tied, but the battle was pretty much over by now anyways. She was pretty chuffed with how she had done, adding a few more monsters to her kill list. Marysas the Satyr was probably the most famous thing she had killed with her sword, Ultraviolet. She only regretted slightly slaying him, since he had been an amazing breakdancer, enough to put Zeke to shame (which she had loved). "Thanks, it was rather smashing," Leda agreed. "You weren't too shabby yourself, mate."

She blushed ever so slightly as Kiera kissed her on the cheek, but she was beaming with pride. Not only had she killed a bunch of monsters and gotten to burn off some restless energy, she also got a kiss from a cute girl. Even having her ex-girlfriend, Rebecca, just a few feet away from her wasn't enough to sour her mood. She climbed up the rope ladder and reemerged on the deck of the Argo III. She set down her container of venti-juice next to the others carefully, not wanting to find out what would happen if the containers broke and a bunch of angry venti popped out.

"Oi, who's turn is it to do watch?"

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: New Rome - Coffee Shop
Skills: N/A

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Nancy raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear Waverley defending Satan's Niece, Leandra. Most of the Senate didn't even really like Leandra. The other praetor for the Fourth Cohort also didn't really jive with her from what Nancy could tell. Though she supposed that Waverley was naive enough that maybe she had fallen for Leandra's Hero of the People act. "If I didn't think she'd do it, I wouldn't have said it," she told Waverley a bit harshly. "All she cares about is undermining my authority because my dad is Apollo. She wants power for her own sake. Don't let her fool you into thinking there's anything philanthropic about it. That bitch is grody to the max."

She made sure that she had finished every last drop of her drink, before somewhat reluctantly rising from her seat. The Senate Building was probably her least favorite place in all of New Rome (her favorite being the shrine to her aunt, Diana, on Temple Hill - or the coffee shop. It was a toss up). At the very least, they shouldn't need to have too long of a meeting. She wanted to hit the ground running, find out what they could from Atlas, and face this nightmare of a prophecy head on. Running away and hiding behind budgetary meetings wasn't going to solve their problems. "I'd rather someone gag me with a spoon than go on a date. Just seems like a waste of time and energy. Monsters to slay, places to see, and all that jazz," she told Marco.

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@Natsu@Trainerblue192

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The Triskelion - Washington D.C.: May 17th, 2021 - 1:50 P.M.

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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!

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Bonnie Chase

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Location: the Triskelion - Quinjet -> Roof of Steve Rogers' Apartment Building - Quinjet
Skills: Blessing of Athena, Perception, Intuition

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Bonnie tilted her head slightly, noticing that Niah had been bright red before going into the bathroom. Flynn didn't join her inside, confirming that there wasn't anything sexual going on between those two. Had she been in a better mood, she would have intended on asking Niah once she finished up if she had washed her hands or not. But as it was, Bonnie kept fluctuating between focused and determined, and heartbroken and frustrated. Maybe romance just wasn't for her. She had already played both the blushing bride and the whimpering widow.

The only new agent to stick things out, Asokho, had taken a spot in the back by Flynn and the bathroom. Bonnie couldn't help but notice that everyone who had decided not to take on this mission was female. Oliver had his laptop out, typing away rapidly. Her thoughts flickered to Tempest, wondering what side of all of this she would have taken. She seemed like the rebellious type - she probably wouldn't have been willing to arrest the Sentinel of Liberty.

The quinjet they were using had stealth mode, so as Cass flew them to their destination, they blended in with their surroundings like a giant chameleon. Bonnie couldn't properly appreciate the views of the city, the Washington Monument jutting out into the sky. She kept running the numbers, wondering who would be the next one to defect, the next one to turn. She was trying to calculate down to the minute when Flynn would turn on them all - when he would use his flames to hurt them. To hurt her.

They landed on the roof of the apartment building. Rogers' was in unit #8, placing him on the top floor by the staircase. A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Agent 13, lived in apartment #10 across the hall from him to watch him. Bonnie had to assume that Agent 13 was unavailable at the moment, since otherwise they would have had to rendez-vous with her. "Wh-what's the plan, boss?" Bonnie asked Cass, her voice cracking.

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Amelia Baptiste

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Location: the Triskelion - Hangar
Skills: N/A

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Amelia's ears perked up, seeing the two agents standing around talking about visiting something called the New York Sanctum and actual magic. The name Thanos caught her attention too, having heard earlier that he was the reason she had her nifty powers over air. She didn't have anything better to do and she was pretty sure neither of the agents could fly or teleport. "Oi, mates, you're going to waste a buttload of money on an Uber - I'll take you to New York in Quimbey, provided I get to get in on whatever magic shenanigans you're doing. And crickey, if there's any fighting or lasers, I also get to help with that." She grinned, convinced that Maria and Sparky wouldn't turn her down. A quinjet had left the hangar already and she was willing to bet the rest of their team was on it, meaning they didn't have a ride.

"Also, Doctor Strange? Isn't he the occultist from the telly? The meme cunt?" Amelia asked. She had seen interviews with an ex-surgeon who claimed to have found himself in magic. They were usually put on YouTube and then made into hilarious autotuned songs and skits. SNL had even done one called Doctor, there's a demon in my belly! She cackled slightly just thinking about it. Strange had been played by Fred Armisen in that one - and the demon in the belly had been Alec Baldwin.

Forgotten Space

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Location: Galley -> Atrium
Skills: Trivia Knowledge and History

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Raynor realized that Zarina hadn't gone back with them and he groaned. For a brief moment, he asked himself why he cared about the kid - he certainly didn't care about the wellbeing of anyone else present. Maybe he was a bodyguard who specialized in protecting children or something. It would explain his muscles. It didn't make much sense to him though, as he really didn't care about other people. He just didn't want to see the little kid of the group hurt and in pain. He knew he wasn't a pedophile, it wasn't anything like that.

"There's no laws in space?!" Vinnie repeated. Had this been a cartoon, smoke would have been going out her ears. Just like before with the history of the hat, Vinnie suddenly had an onslaught of knowledge pour into her brain and spew out her mouth. It wasn't organized or anything - she just blurted it as it came to her, allowing everyone a realtime look at her thought processes. "Okay first of all, space law dates back to 1919 and comes from international law saying countries ruled the airspace above them. Then in 1944, there was the Chicago Convention, where everyone was like yeah that still sounds chill to me! Oh and you know the dog, Sputnik? Him being launched got the US to pass the Space Act, founding fucking NASA! Oh and there also was the creation of international space policy during the Cold War, since y'know, the next logical steps after bombs and nukes is to go all Star Wars on people's ass and raze countries with a mini Death Star."

"In fact, you ableist piece of shit, the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies clearly states that if a country launches a spacecraft up into space, their laws apply to what happens on the spaceship. There are clearly laws in space! It's not like the wild west where you can go around biting people's boobs and drinking whiskey and shooting guns at pigs! Oh and before you go but but but aliens made this ship!, there's the 1998 Intergovernmental Agreement that basically says whatever country the criminal is from, they get jurisdiction. So there IS law in space and it applies directly to YOU whether you're aware of it or not!"

She took a breath. Each second just made her want to be one of the first people to slap a bitch in space - and per the extraordinary amount of Space Law that Vinnie knew, the United States would be the one to deal with her assaulting someone. That was fine. The US Courts loved white women slapping people. Besides, new information about her past came at her! Tessa claimed that Vinnie had been her roommate, they took classes together - that definitely explained the camera from her room - and Vinnie worked for Buzzfeed. She tilted her head slightly. "I wonder if I did a video on Space Law... And if I didn't use a single clip from Star Wars, then I'm going to have to give myself a lobotomy as punishment. Ooo and for the hat video, I could have tried on a bunch of different and weird hats! That would've been so fun!" No memories were clicking in for her - just fantasies of how she could make super cool videos.

With the proposed plan to split things up, Vinnie didn't need to think twice about where to go. She held up the middle finger at Cal and walked on out of the galley, heading back to the atrium. Raynor wasn't that far behind her, going to look for the kid, figuring she might have gone and done something stupid.

🌳 Hotel Valhalla: & the Gods of Asgard 🌳

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Runa Johansson

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Location: Hotel Valhalla - Floor 472
Skills: Perception

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She didn't miss the frown that flashed across Loki's face. It may have only been a few seconds, but the image was seared into Runa's mind. He didn't like her answer. He was hiding something. He seemed pretty desperately to want her to go after Balder - and admittedly, the fear of being responsible for the end of the world was a good motivator. But if Loki was so keen on having her go after him, she was pretty sure there was some sort of trap in store. He didn't seem trustworthy. He reminded her of the bullies at school that would pretend to be her friend at first, only to then steal her stuff and hide them in the net of the basketball hoop. "I don't need to have anyone. I like being alone," she said quietly, just before Loki vanished.

She was lying of course - she missed her mother dearly already. She even missed her step-father. She had the floor number and time Loki gave her committed to memory already, her emotions betraying the facade she had tried to present to the god. Runa tilted her head slightly as the dinner announcement rang. Had she been in the hotel that long already? Did time move differently here? She couldn't be certain. She wanted to take some time to herself to process everything, maybe make a pro and con list in order to figure out the choice to make, but Fate had other plans for her. Nadia and the others had found her.

"I'm f-fine. I just... I just needed to be alone for a little bit."

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Hidden Gem (Nallore, Morose, Kirah) Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: Up! - Fargo, North Dakota
Skills: N/A

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"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.

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

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Houston, Texas
Skills: Superspeed, Agility, Sword-Fighting

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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.

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Guin Stark

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Location: Xavier's Institute - the Garden -> to the Kitchen
Skills: N/A

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"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.

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Neil Spellman

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Location: Xavier's Institute - Neil's Room -> Outside Annie and Carolina's Room
Skills: N/A

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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.

🌠 Once Upon A Time 🌠(Concluded)

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Megan Pendragon

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Location: Trails -> Merlin's Warehouse
Skills: N/A

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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.

The Gifted - Concluded

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

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February 16th, 2021 - 5:40 PM

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M-Pox - Check This Hider Each Time!

Mutant Underground:

• Casper - mild symptoms
• Spark Plug - moderate symptoms
• Jack - moderate symptoms
• Max - moderate symptoms
• Glimpse - moderate symptoms

Hellfire Club/Misc.:

• Emma Frost - mild symptoms
• Vulcan - mild symptoms
• Legion - severe symptoms
• Morgan - mild symptoms

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.

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Veil

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Location: George Washington University: the Street
Skills:

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"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.

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Sunshine & Casper

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Location: Mutant Friendly Clinic - Parking Lot -> Mutant Underground: Entranceway
Skills: Mediumship

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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.