Yeah, I'm fine - better than fine, actually, I finally did something with my fucking powers! Guin replied cheerfully. She did a quick psy-scan of the unconscious Asgardian, noting that Runa still hadn't woken up. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to decipher the thoughts to determine whether or not Edus' magic had actually worked. Had he not just brought her husband back from the brink of death, she probably would have teased him for his performance issues - 2/3 isn't too uncommon.
Just don't hurt yourself or something that would be bad. She nodded, brief flashes of the horrific scene from just moments ago echoing inside of her head. Pietro's broken body was merging with Muscles' and she shuddered, the tension rising in her muscles. It was easier to focus on his next question at least - though she didn't have the emotional capacity to appreciate the answer. He has to be her soulmate.
Oh fun.
Yup, looks like he's going to get space herpes! Guin snickered ever so slightly. Lance had never really been the type for relationships, despite her many attempts to set him up. He hadn't gotten with Carolina or Annie or anyone else she had tried to get him to date. Awkwardly, he had been in love with her. It was probably for the best that he fell in love with someone new, since Pietro tended to be the jealous type.
Wow you clearly find that sort of thing incredibly amusing, Pietro responded with a bit of a laugh.
You won't need to be all pissy and jealous around him anymore you know, she couldn't help but point out. They were waiting on Iris or Mira to roll anyways to start the next round off, so she was allowing herself some time to just breathe and telepathically chat with her husband. They didn't get a lot of space to do that during fights, but this fight was clearly a marathon, not a sprint.
I was not pissy and jealous around him, Pietro protested somewhat.
You realize you can't really lie to me, right? Guin mentioned, verbally giggling a bit.
I know that.
Neil Spellman
Location: the Blackbird Hangar Skills: N/A
Neil felt a little bit guilty about lying to Carolina, but she seemed to believe him. The sense of relief for not having to come clean to her about his less than stellar actions was more than enough to outweigh the guilt. He chuckled a bit awkwardly at Bethany's joke, hoping that it really was something okay to laugh at - he didn't want a bunch of people on the team screaming at him if he laughed for the wrong reasons. He was jumpy as Banner threw the magic Asgardian staff around the room. He knew that some magical items could have distinct personalities and he didn't want to see if the staff could attack them without anyone holding it.
They needed Iris or Mira to roll so that way they could continue on with the game. He really hoped that they were nearing the end. Everyone was safe and accounted for. He wanted them to be declared the victors so this nightmare could end and they could call the Avengers and let the adults handle Loki. They weren't equipped for this. They had almost lost a few members - if it hadn't been for Edus, their speedster could have been dead.
Megan hadn't really formed an opinion on whether or not she was annoyed by Colby - until he told everyone to get over it. She raised a slight eyebrow and decided that his mannerisms were distasteful. She loved the strange and unusual, the macabre and the mysterious - but she didn't have a similar fondness for rudeness. He had caused the situation and now he was acting flabbergasted that the others were not pleased, cruelly telling them that they were overreacting. Megan didn't voice these thoughts however. She didn't feel a need to waste breathe on the matter - especially when the boy with wild hair had seemingly appointed himself as Colby's emotional guardian.
"Yes, I do," she answered Willow. "I trained with a foil," she added, referencing her love for fencing. Excalibur was a different sort of sword, but many of the principles were the same and carried over. She had the rapier and excalibur now, with the skull settled in her bag. She wasn't about to abandon her prize. "Here - you may need to be better armed," she said, handing the rapier to her brother. She didn't know if the others could handle a sword, but she imagined that Jack might have picked up some tricks from attending her fencing matches.
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
So far, only two individuals have "cured" themselves from M-Pox. The first was S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Cassandra Reed. The second was Gabriel Summers A.K.A. Vulcan.
Outside the Mutant Underground HQ -
Avalanche and Toad were unconscious. Pyro was barely holding on, his flames becoming weaker and weaker as he fought to keep the snake wrapped around Kristina. He had been losing way too much lately, he needed a win. Mastermind was sort of yawning as he kept Sapphire inside her mental prison. He would have done the same thing to Echo, but the boy put off a gigantic laser light show and seemed to be freaking out over his injuries. He didn't really need to do anything at all to take care of him. He set his gaze on the young girl, Andy, but failed to get inside of her mind.
Mystique decided to take care of Andy. She fired off several bullets at Andy, but Andy was too quick - her reflexes let her dodge every shot.
"Enough, Mystique," Magneto announced, as he emerged with Polaris. "Our work is done here. Let them lick their wounds. I doubt they will challenge us again."
Magneto swept into the entranceway, quickly observing the scene. His daughter appeared to be unharmed - a sense of relief rippled through him. He had lost too many of his children already. He wouldn't let any danger befall his favorite child. Her ex-boyfriend Havok was unconscious on the ground. One of Charles Xavier's children was here, the drug addled one, along with a young girl Magneto didn't know. His resolve strengthened whenever he saw mutant children. It was for them that he had to fight, that he had to take on the label of supervillain in order to ensure they could grow up safe and protected.
"I'm not dead," Polaris told Zarina a bit incredulously. "My stupid ex-boyfriend fucking kidnapped me and drugged me. And you all fucking helped him do it?? Honestly, no wonder the Mutant Underground can't make any change happen."
"... Huh. You know, you do have a point," Casper chimed in. He was holding back from his usual rambles, as he didn't want to mansplain anything. He also couldn't help but feel guilty as well. They would have been so angry if Magneto had done something like that to one of them, they would have stormed his fortress and fought to bring them back. Why was it okay for them to break the rules and be mad if other people did it? "I can't speak for Havok, but on behalf of the Mutant Underground, I'd like to offer an apology, Miss Polaris - oh, hi babe!" he perked up, seeing that James had come inside.
"Are you alright?" Magneto asked his daughter, his voice somehow both cold and tender.
Polaris was ignoring Casper. "Yeah, I'm fine," she grumbled. She then looked at James, as he seemed to be the only competent one here. Casper looked as sane as a bag of cats and the kid apparently couldn't tell the difference between the living and the dead. "When he wakes up, tell him it's over - for good this time. And if he tries anything like this again, I'll kill him." She trusted that he would relay the message to Havok.
"Jesus... Remind me to never fall in love with someone from Magneto's family," Ben whispered to Casper, whistling a bit.
Casper gave him a nod. The tension in the room was high, even with Havok unconscious and drooling on the floor. Magneto and Polaris left the entranceway, going back to the surface. Casper didn't make a move to stop them. He didn't see the point in channeling Ben and trying to help Havok keep someone hostage. The entire situation just made him feel dirty - it made him feel like his own father. He shuddered, trying to get that mental barf off of himself.
Veil
Location: Outside Jack's Office Building Skills: N/A
Veil staggered backwards, feeling a piercing pain in her back for a moment. It faded almost instantly and as near as she could tell, nothing had struck her. She frowned slightly, unnerved by the experience. Something seemingly had effected Waverley too, as Waverley was doubled over in pain not too long after breezing through the airwaves looking for signs of trouble. "I've got her," Veil said instantly. She wasn't about to lose anyone else. Her heart was pounding at the idea that Waverley had contracted M-Pox.
Veil only would have herself to blame if that were the case.
She picked Waverley up bridal style, struggling slightly with the weight but she didn't make any comments. She carefully and slowly walked over to their car, loading Waverley into the backseat. She buckled Waverley in, not giving her any chance to protest and claim that she didn't need help. "Jack, can you ride shotgun? I'll stay in the back with her," Veil explained.
"I can't catch a cold, it's impossible," Sunshine corrected Max. She was dressed in the clothes that Max had given her. She had more or less jammed the hat onto her head, looking out of place in the indie-esque outfit. Well, it was more that she didn't really look right in clothes that didn't have several layers of grime on them. Sunshine scratched a bit at her arms, feeling uncomfortable with the fabric. It felt freshly laundered - and was that a hint of lavender scent? She didn't look like a little kid - she actually looked her age, 18 years old, ready for college. She could've been an ordinary person complaining about teaching assistants and their annoying policies, or how hard the chemistry midterm had been, and who was going with who to the engineering formal.
Sunshine didn't answer his question about Jack, just sort of shrugging her shoulders. He was weird all of the time. He had traveled back in time and hadn't been careful about not accidentally fathering and then abandoning a kid. His dad was a supervillain. Normal people didn't really do any of those things. She kept a wary eye on Max as they headed towards the palace, making sure that he didn't fall over and die. If he died, her odds of survival went way down. She needed him or she'd be stuck here forever.
... Wherever here was.
It wasn't too long until they reached the ruins. Up close, it became obvious that the place hadn't been built by humans. Every portion of it was constructed from metal, aside from the glass of the windows. There were cameras all over the place, but Sunshine didn't see any indication that they were on. The front doors weren't even locked - she was able to push them open easily. Everything was pitch black, but she could spot the glint of a ruby red helmet and cape.
She stiffened, recognizing who they belonged to. Magneto. This was Magneto's palace. "Max... Why the fuck did you take us to Magneto's lair?" Sunshine whispered tersely.
Runa wasn't really comfortable with people asking her permission to go off and do things. She was the least experienced of them all. They had known they were demigods for a long time and they had gotten used to things in Valhalla. Runa only really brought to the table her knowledge of Wicca and its slight correlations with mythology - although, she supposed the myths weren't really myths now. Her only qualifications for this were that she apparently was the child of a missing god and she had been designated via prophecy for this effort. Her one and only encounter with the supernatural had resulted in her death. The mission seemed doomed to fail.
The universe was going to end and Runa could only blame herself.
"Erm, please go ahead?" she told Lara. Arnora reiterated the plan and Runa tried to have confidence in it, rather than a horrid sense of overwhelming anxiety. There weren't any belongings that she needed to get. She had the only two possessions she owned on her - the jacket that doubled as armor and the magic staff. She had no idea what else they would need. Did dead people need to eat? She supposed they did, since they were feasting, but maybe that was just out of a sense of routine? Would they need changes of clothes? A GPS? "... I have no idea what supplies we need..." she then added quietly, looking at Klara.
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!
CAPTAIN AMERICA ON THE RUN?!?! IRON MAN TAKES CHARGE!
5:59 PM Update - Iron Man is holding a press conference at the Stark Foundation Headquarters. He is joined by superheroes Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Mister Fantastic, the Human Torch, She-Hulk, the Invisible Woman, and the Wasp. CLICK HERE to view the livestream!
We here at the Daily Bugle just got a tip from an anonymous source that the Avengers have split up!
Iron Man has claimed leadership of the group - we haven't been able to get a quote from the Playboy Billionaire, but our plucky team is on the case!
We'll be updating this story once more details come in, but please if you know anything about this situation or have spotted Captain America, call us out our toll free hotline here: 1-800-SPIDER.
If you want to read about more Avengers news, check out our piece from last Thursday where we explored the affair between Iron Man and Black Widow!
J.J.J.
Braddock Academy - Cardiff: 12:40 A.M.
Psylocke looked at Oliver with sympathy. There wasn't much privacy when it came to telepaths, especially with how loudly both Niah and Oliver were thinking about the situation. It was almost a challenge to block it out. "Our driver can take you wherever you need to go," she said. It was the very least her brother and she could do for them, without confessing to having read their minds on that matter too.
"Whatever it is, I hope it goes well," Brian said earnestly. "Now... I'm going to go to bed. It's past midnight and traveling to Otherworld and back always leaves me a bit jet lagged these days."
"Old man," Psylocke said with a chuckle. While they were twins, she looked extremely young next to him - and of course, she appeared to be Asian. There was probably a long story there.
It was two on four. Bonnie didn't like the odds of their victory. They increased should Matt and Kwassi join the fray, but even then, things were definitely tipped in the favor of the Avengers. Cass' powers were impressive, yet Bonnie couldn't help but feel that they wouldn't be enough to give them an edge. The knife in Captain America's hand hadn't slowed him down at all. Rogers had just pulled it out and it dropped on the floor, the blood from his wound trickling down his hand and spilling onto his shield.
Bonnie quickly calculated their chances of success being 46% - dropping exponentially with every second that they didn't take out one of their opponents. Captain America threw his shield at Cass, hitting her in the throat and temporarily stopping her ability to breathe. Thanks to her dermal armor, the shield bounced off and hit the wall, before snapping back into Captain America's hand. It all had happened in the blink of an eye. The stranger with the metal arm unloaded a clip of bullets, hitting Cass in the stomach - it was a good thing she was bulletproof.
Falcon ran at Bonnie, swinging his fist for a punch. The world seemed to slow down before Bonnie's eyes as she ducked under his fist, weaving to the side. The Falcon used his momentum to swing again at her, Bonnie expertly avoiding the blows. She swept his legs and sent the Avenger tumbling down the ground. His head hit the side of an end table as he went down, leaving bloody residue. He wasn't out for the count though. He was a special sort of crazy - the kind that kept on getting up and going back for more.
"Someone's been working out," Hawkeye quipped. He aimed at Bonnie's face, letting a taser arrow fly. She dropped to the ground just in time, narrowly missing being hit by the master archer.
"Why are we fighting a bloody panda?" Amelia shouted. She hadn't managed to give Maria cover earlier, mostly since Maria hadn't given her enough time to even process the words she had said before acting. "Shouldn't demons be something a bit scarier, like maybe a rabid koala bear? Or a dingo? Those things eat babes, you know, it's rather weird. The little cunts have no morals." Her eyes widened as Doctor Strange stabbed the panda through the chest with his magic sword. Rather than shifting into a different animal though, the demon turned into smoke. It looked like one of those horrid gender reveal things, red mist floating and swarming in the air.
"Try not to be possessed, I'm quite sure S.H.I.E.L.D.'s insurance doesn't have me as an approved provider," Strange instructed.
"Oh hell no!" Amelia saw the red smoke coming towards her and she swirled her staff as fast as she could, kicking up quite a current as she tried to blast it backwards. The demon kept on coming though, condensing into a small little sphere of evil smoke. Despite Amelia's best efforts, it was beginning to make headway. It was closing in on her - three feet, two feet, six inches, and it was just about to go into her mouth - until suddenly, it was sucked into the spherical cage like it had been a vacuum.
Strange sealed the little ball and smirked with satisfaction. He was uncomfortably close to Amelia and he backed off. "Sorry about that. What can I do for you all?" he asked, tossing the ball up and down. Every now and then, it would glow red and shake.
Location: the Blackbird Hangar Skills: Telekinesis, Minor Molecular Combustion
Neil's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as Carolina asked him whether or not something had happened. He wasn't ashamed of what he had done - it had made sense, it was necessary in order to get Carolina and Elizabeth back safely - but he still didn't want Carolina to know about it. He was worried that she would start to see him in a different light, just like Sara had when she met his family. He had similar fears about everyone on the team - that, say, if Stark found out he had been raised by Satanic witches, she would demand he be kicked off of the team. Bethany was probably the only one who could truly be cool with it, as that entire thing was basically her aesthetic. "Uh, no idea what Banner's going on about. He's not exactly sane you know..." Neil lied to Carolina.
Runa turned her head, distracted by what Neil had done. It gave Bethany enough of an opening to send her flying backwards and she hit the wall, denting it. Fortunately, her Asgardian constitution meant she didn't sustain any serious injuries. "I'm the original gothic teenager, I'm afraid your entire aesthetic has been based on me," she told Bethany seriously. While she didn't look very old - maybe about fifteen or so - that didn't mean much for Asgardians. Her slight distraction gave another opening, resulting in Marygold hitting her with some vines and then Mira unleashing a sonic screech.
Elizabeth managed to wrestle her staff away from her. Runa smirked slightly, holding out her hand. The staff flew back into her grip. "Children shouldn't touch things that don't belong to them," she chided. "You understand nothing of what is happening here. You are all weak and fragile. Your powers are nothing against me."
"No one say anything to contradict her or her lies become true," Neil said, echoing Klara's earlier instructions as Iris had missed them. He winced as Runa seemingly vanished, only to appear behind Elizabeth and stab her twice, the second stab rather deep. Runa then spun around and whacked Lance over the head with her staff, sending Banner to the ground. He was bleeding profusely and Runa then went for the groin shot with a kick. Neil winced, but the sympathy wasn't needed. Lance kicked Runa in the knee and knocked her to the ground, catching the staff as it fell with her.
Neil frowned, having expected Banner to burst into flames or something, but nothing happened. He saw an opportunity though and he concentrated, trying to make her eyes explode so that way she couldn't see. He failed. But as a trusty DM for his group of adventurers, he knew how to improvise. Neil telekinetically flung Runa up at the ceiling, his movements so quick that she had to let go of the staff as she went flying upwards - only to fly back down, hitting the ground and leaving a dent.
Guin Stark
Location: the Blackbird Hangar Skills: Telepathy
Guin raised an eyebrow at all of the Asgardian mumbo-jumbo going on. She didn't see how it made any sense that someone could warp reality by having people call them out on lies. She preferred science and logic over magic and trickery. Still though, Runa was a bit of a beast when it came to fighting, having stabbed Elizabeth and really hurt Lance. People were making some progress against her, but apparently Edus couldn't do magic without getting one of her hairs. Guin was outside of her suit and she took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she reached out. Her telepathy skills were rather undeveloped.
At first, she couldn't latch onto Runa's mind at all. But then she eventually managed to hear her, the thoughts in some ancient tongue and she could tell how old the girl really was. Guin manipulated Runa's mind, sending the Asgardian girl to the realm of unconsciousness. She opened her eyes, a bit of blood trickling from her nose due to the use of her powers. She then walked on over to Runa, bent down and plucked a bit of her hair, and then held it out to Edus. "Here you go, Harry Potter. One bit of hair, taken without consent. I believe it's virgin hair too, doesn't feel like it's ever been dyed or bleached."
Leda had spent the night rotating through various activities - drawing in her sketch book, watching Kiera as she slept, sleeping, and staring at the screen waiting for something interesting to happen. Whenever she got tired of one of those activities, she moved on to the next one and just stayed in that cycle. Her dreams during the night had been uneasy. She had been in Tartarus, watching an assortment of villains and fiends dig. The atmosphere was so humid and thick, the air feeling like it was pressing down on her. The only bright thing was a shrine to Apollo, a fact that puzzled her. How had it gotten there? She doubted anyone in the Pit was praying to the archery god.
"Kiera, wake up, luv," Leda said, shaking the daughter of Poseidon. She was fairly certain their shift on watch duty was over now, meaning they could get out and stretch their legs. If they were lucky, they'd be landing shortly at the next stop on their road trip - er, sky trip - across the country. She was getting bored with being confined to the Argo III and definitely needed a change of pace. She had been thinking some on Arthur's situation, with his lack of a mentor - one person came to mind as a potential solution, only she wasn't sure where in the world he was at the moment.
☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️
Location: Base of Mount Othrys Skills: Strategy and Psychoanalysis
Nancy frowned, hearing that there was smoke nearby on the mountain. California seemed to be on fire just about every summer, as mortals had started doing something called gender reveal parties. The entire concept didn't make much sense to her. It just sounded strange, throwing a party around the supposed gender of an unborn person. Like, what? Why was that celebration worthy? She suspected it ultimately was an excuse to party and ask people to give them lavish gifts. People tended to just act out of self interest like that. "If the mortals started another wildfire, I'm going to scream," Nancy complained.
Madalyne led the way towards the smoke and Nancy followed her fellow praetor. Eventually, she started to hear voices and she saw what looked like some sort of camp set up. Her knee jerk reaction was anger and annoyance at humanity for destroying the outdoors, but once she got a closer look she realized this wasn't a gender reveal party. Her aunt, the goddess Diana, had her bow drawn at some man she didn't recognize. The rest of the people at the camp were the Hunters of Diana. A slight blush colored her cheeks as Nancy instantly felt like they were intruding, but the blush vanished quickly.
"Nah, I think we're going to keep our weapons up," Nancy said, assuming some of the authority of being praetor. "We're from the Twelfth Legion. We don't want any trouble, we're here on a quest." She had to resist the urge to look at her aunt too much. She had been praying to her for guidance quite a lot at Diana's shrine. "I'm guessing this is your monster of the week? How very."
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
So far, only two individuals have "cured" themselves from M-Pox. The first was S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Cassandra Reed. The second was Gabriel Summers A.K.A. Vulcan.
Outside the Mutant Underground HQ -
None of the Brotherhood seemed to really care that Toad had been knocked out. Avalanche kicked at the ground in front of him, creating a chasm that shot towards Andy. Andy would be able to nimbly jump out of the way just in time, but the ground was shaking around her more and more excessively. "You're pretty good... for a girl," Avalanche commented.
Magneto called his helmet back to him, the strange metal fitting snugly around his head. It protected him from telepaths, namely his nemesis and friend, Professor X. "You kidnapped my daughter. Why would I leave her with her captors? You are too blind to see it, I'm afraid. We are not the villains here. You are." He then sent a hail of metallic shards down at the Mutant Underground members. Andy got some minor scrapes. Sapphire, Glimpse, and James were missed entirely, Kris got a nasty gash in the stomach. Echo took the worst of it - one of the metal shards hit him in the back perfectly and sent him toppling to the ground. He wouldn't be able to feel his legs.
"Oi, you okay there mate?" Pyro shouted at Echo. "Maybe you ought to take a lie down or something." He then flicked on his lighter and shaped a serpent out of the flames, smirking slightly before sending it shooting at Kristina. The flaming snake wrapped around her and began to squeeze.
The well dressed gentleman, Mastermind, set his sights on Sapphire. His eyes twinkled as he invaded her mind, trapping her inside a vision of her own worst nightmare. To Sapphire, it would look like there were heavy steel walls pushing in towards her, like the trash compactor in Star Wars. She wouldn't be able to hear or see anyone else. She wouldn't know it wasn't real.
"Which one of you idiots wants to fight?" Mystique asked, drawing two pistols. She didn't wait for anyone to answer. She fired off four bullets in rapid succession at James. Two of them missed, two of them hit - but his skin had hardened just in time and the bullets fell to the ground harmlessly.
"I don't suppose you'll put up much of a fight," Magneto said, peering at Glimpse. He glided through the air, heading towards the entrance so he could go inside and retrieve Polaris.
Havok carried Polaris down the stairs, heading into the entranceway. The others had already gone on up to the surface, leaving Zarina, Casper, Havok, and Polaris inside the Mutant Underground. Havok hesitated for a moment, trying to decide whether or not he could trust his girlfriend with Casper and the green haired kid. The earthquake had stopped at the very least and the entranceway seemed to be holding up. The ceiling wouldn't collapse on her in here and Havok couldn't stay with her - he was, in his opinion, the best fighter present. He had to go handle Magneto.
"Don't fight with spoons, that's just dumb," Havok interrupted, answering Zarina's question before Casper could. "Look, can you two handle watching Polaris and keep her safe? Shouldn't be much to do, but you know, just in case Magneto sends one of his goons down here. You're not high, right, Casper?"
"Uh, she looks like she was drugged, Cas," Ben commented. He had materialized next to Havok and Polaris, tilting his ghostly head as he tried to listen for Polaris' breathing.
"You're right, Bennie Ben Ben," Casper said, frowning at Havok. "You know that you can't just go around drugging people, right? It's illegal and definitely not chill. I didn't want to do this, but I've decided to vibe check your relationship and.... yiiiikes. It's got worse vibes than a Chipotle during flu season. You need to do a sexual harassment training or something. Do we have HR here? If so, go see HR before you get fired for being a creep. Oh and yes, I'm sober, thanks for asking."
Havok groaned. "Why does anyone bother asking you to do anything?"
"Are you contractually obligated to be a dick?" Casper snapped. His head was pounding and he was exhausted thanks to M-Pox. The adrenaline rush from realizing they were under attack was already beginning to wane, since the earthquake had stopped. He then winced, realizing the kid was in front of him. He really needed to mind his language around children. "Sorry, I meant to ask if you're contractually obligated to be a fucking asswipe," Casper said.
Neither Havok nor Casper saw Polaris' eyes flutter open. Her mind was still addled by the drugs. She didn't recognize her surroundings. The last thing she remembered, they had been outside George Washington University. She could feel metal all around them and she didn't look to see who was holding her. Her heart was pounding and her pupils were small as she sent a piece of metal flying at her captor - Waverley's abandoned rebar - and the metal bar went thunk against Havok's skull. Her captor screamed and dropped her reflexively. He screamed in pain and from betrayal, passing out onto the ground.
"Who the FUCK are you?!" she shouted at Casper and Zarina. She reached her hand back and the rebar flew out of Havok's head, snapping into her hand. His blood was smeared onto her hand now. "And where the HELL am I?!"
Veil
Location: Outside Jack's Office Building Skills: Perception, Investigation, Leadership
"Actually, Max - Warlock - did exactly as I asked," Veil corrected Feedback. She never anticipated that Warlock and Feedback would get along. It was out of the cards for them. Veil would, however, keep them from spreading rumors and lies about each other, whether they were acting with malicious intent or not. Warlock couldn't take back killing Feedback's mother. That deed was over. As far as Veil was aware, there weren't any mutants with the ability to travel through time.
Her expression softened, hearing Jack explain what had happened. He seemed like he was telling the truth. She didn't know why Emma Frost would want him to cart off Sunshine like that and drug Feedback, but it made more sense than Jack deciding over night to kidnap his daughter. He hadn't even done a particularly good job of it, taking Sunshine back to his office - if he had been the mastermind behind this plot, wouldn't he have taken her out of DC and hidden her away? He hadn't attacked them either. Veil nodded, glad to hear that Spark Plug thought similarly. "We'll get you back to the Underground, Jack, and we'll have Glimpse get Frost out of your head," she reassured him gently. "Do you have any idea why Frost wanted you to do that?" she added, opening up a car door and motioning for Jack to head inside.
They were lucky - no cops or purifiers had shown up yet.
Sunshine was coughing profusely, but that didn't stop her from being mad at Max. He seemed seriously convinced that Marshmallow had drugged her roommate and kidnapped her, which made no sense at all. If Jack had kidnapped her, why would he just take her to his office for doughnuts? Why didn't he tie her up with zip ties and carve out her guts? That's what she would have done as a despicable, maniacal abductor. But even with that information, Max didn't look like he was lying to her. "If - cough - he kidnapped me, then - cough he's the world's worst kidnapper!"
She screamed as they plummeted back into the ocean, flimsy pool noodles appearing. She was clinging onto both Max and the noodle, not too sure which one would aid her survival the best over time. She didn't have to worry about Max killing her mother at least. She would've been happy to see him roast her alive. Max started mumbling something about a boat, but Sunshine didn't see any at all. "What boat, crazy pants?!" she shouted, the waves becoming more wild and thus louder. A large wave of water hit her and her lungs were filled with liquid once again, as she choked and tried to gasp for air. The next thing she knew, she and Max were on the beach. She crawled onto her side and coughed up as much water as she could, her throat feeling like a cheese grater.
"N-no, you can't go to sleep," she said, displaying a bit of concern for Max as she shook him. "Every pirate movie I've seen has had some sort of secret thing to escape the island... M-maybe that palace thing will have a raft," she suggested, her teeth chattering despite the warmth of the shore.
Asha had never seen so many goats before in her lifetime. She knew that this many goats had to exist in the Nine Realms, but having so many in one spot seemed almost recklessly dangerous. If the goats worked together, they could likely overthrow the Aesir and rule Asgard. Klara at the very least could control them and Asha contemplated the limits on her control. Could Klara prevent Ragnarok with a goat army? She filed that away into her mental folder of schemes and plans. As a child of Odin, Asha was always thinking a few steps ahead. "Does this little fellow have a name?" she asked, looking at the goat that had knocked Klara over.
"And his lineage?" she asked. Lineage was rather important in Viking society. Asha more of just found it funny to press people to list all of their ancestors, especially as it usually gave her enough time to come up with a way to kill them. Stalling was one of the finest weapons a warrior had after all. So many einherji forgot that battles were as much mental as they were physical.
Location: Mount Rushmore, South Dakota Skills: N/A
Nancy nodded in agreement, finishing the abandoned food she had found. Unlike her companions, she wasn't picky when it came to eating cold chicken. She didn't really care how long it had been abandoned for - as long as there weren't flies crawling around in it, it was all good in her book. Besides, they ate way too much healthy food at Camp Jupiter. The coffee shop in New Rome was her main outlet for her cravings. It wasn't often she got genuine tourist trap chicken strips and fries. It tasted practically like fresh ambrosia. "I'd suggest we could take the Niah Express again, but I'm gonna doubt you're up for that, doll," Nancy said.
She tossed her trash in the waste can, before looking around at the abandoned equipment the mortals had left behind. Most of it was fairly run of the mill stuff - bags of purchases from a shop, the occasional stuffed animal, a pair of cheap sunglasses. In the back of the restaurant though, she hit the jackpot. Nancy smirked, producing three packs of climbing gear. She slung one over her shoulder, carrying the other two in her arms out. "Did I mention how awesome I am?" she asked her companions. She had the ego of the sun god.
Achronum
kittyluna45
Scrawl Banditta
Not a Sayan
KazAlkemi
Neziul
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BlueSky44
