Marvel, Rebirth:

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

Antarctica. Antarctica. The name could not even be spelled without arctic.

 

Ophelia Sarkissian had learned many things about Earth's fifth-largest continent from books. The wonderful thing about books was that, if you were possessed of keen intellect and determination to succeed, you could learn many things from books if only you chose to open them and look at the words on the pages - which were those things that were made out of paper. Open book; look at page; learn things. It was a simple process, and one that had been serving her well since the tender age of one and a half. 

 

One day, swore Viper, I will instill that process into Schmidt if I have to face ###### him with it.

 

She had refused to land on the pathway Red Skull had ironed out - she had covered herself in three extra layers, but that did not excuse the fact that she had been flown, unceremoniously, right back to HYDRA's secret base in the world's southernmost, coldest, windiest, and driest continent. Despite the fact that the Red Skull had decided to settle on the world's largest known population of emperor penguins, and the fact that the construction of the Sleepers had required raw materials that could have built a road from here to Sydney, the world's most wanted man was sure he would never be found here. But for a scientist, Johann Schmidt had always been a bit...loopy. Like the Sleepers - the power sources for those had been astronomically expensive even for an organization of HYDRA's resources, and the Red Skull had come to his senses long enough just before their deployment to put three of the cores on ice (oh, Christ, it was happening to her now too) for the drone project. At least he'd come to his senses. After the attack, he had meant with the utmost sincerity his threat to pull the moon down with a tractor beam. Ground Zero was meant to be somewhere around Pakistan. Eleven hours and eleven aspirin later, it had been up to Viper to impress on him how ludicrous his ultimate threat was. Cut off one head, two grow back, Sarkissian had reminded Herr Schmidt, but if you smash the heads, or melt them, or vaporize them, you should not hold your water waiting for replacement heads.

 

Then there was the debacle in the Midwest, where they had lost the last surviving clone from the X-gene replication project. Patient Zero had been Conrad Kaufmann's job, and the pickled brain behind that supreme failure was safely contained in a sack sitting across the jet from her. The vials of Archangel blood, she had kept for herself, after making sure they were safely contained. Stark had radioed her to say the battle was lost; a majority of the drones had been obliterated and the Helicarrier stationed above Manhattan hadn't sustained a tenth of the damage its predecessor had taken in Hydra's original strike. New York... New York had been glorious. That was all the Skull's doing, as was all the pre-game work. Sarkissian had been in the Midwest at that time, laying groundwork for mutant operations there, while outside the facility MACE had risen and fallen, Pietro Maximoff had met his end (part of the payment for the Sleeper cores) and the X-Men had crumbled under the weight of teenage jealousy and a mission gone wrong. And then, to cap off the biggest month in American history since 9/11, an attack on New York City, jewel of America, and home to the Avengers and the X-Men. Half the number of the former had been laid to waste...save one.

 

Viper had gotten the call two days afterwards to come down to Antarctica and monitor Howard Stark. Before yesterday, Johann Schmidt hadn't sent her out since.

 

Was he punch drunk off his greatest victory since 1944? Was he breaking down? Some days she thought for sure she knew. Some days, she was more comfortable getting the call, flying out, and doing the job. Maybe bringing home a little extra. She felt at the vials of blood in her bag and leaned her head back against the seat of the jet. 

 

*****

 

"Give them a taste of the bees!"

 

That was never something she wanted to hear upon arrival.

 

Of the several dozen computer and projector screens spread out across Red Skull's control room - a less-well-lit, more darkly-colored mockery of the old Helicarrier bridge - only eight or so were still lit, with one projector displaying the feed from the final Helibuster. Too late, and with a clenched fist, Sarkissian realized what she was seeing - most of Red Skull's drone legions had gone dark. Desperately, she cast a look at Howard Stark, standing beside the door, but Iron Man looked about as surly as a reanimated cyborg could look; his mechanical forehead and right cheek gave way to a human mouth, left eye, and hair that fell down to shoulder length. Unkempt, with a Terminator's strength in his limbs and a computer processor's power linked into his brain, Stark wasn't one for base emotion anymore. All the same, Viper could see from his stance - one foot against the wall, arms crossed, human eye tracing the Helibuster's feed, that he had a bit of swagger in him still. She'd heard the HYDRA techs were beginning to show him movies now, as rewards for missions well done. Maybe he'd been watching a bit of James Dean. 

 

But what the lab rats had been doing to HYDRA's latest and greatest success wasn't important right now, because then she saw what Stark's techno-organic eye was tracing - Red Skull himself, standing in the control room's nucleus. Tall and broad, with an athlete's cocky gait, Red Skull was hard to look on even if you had been steeling your eyes to do so for years. From the back, it almost looked like some pullover mask he wore, too smooth and seamless to be anything but a pullover mask. It was only when he turned around that you could see the gaunt cheeks, the swollen brow, the eyes - cold eyes, pale and blue like frozen tap water. It was always frozen in some snarl-like expression, but when he located his two lieutenants he waved them forward, looking as close to affable as Johann Schmidt ever came. Over his shoulder, she could see vitals (Angela Appinai Parker - explains the bees) and the shaky feed from the last Helibuster. Its reactor had been pricked, and was leaking into the robot's innards; the unibeams, which it was firing desperately, weren't piercing the Helicarrier's armor even as their power supplies dwindled. Red Skull didn't seem to be paying a lick of attention.

 

"Madame Hydra! Mister Stark!" the Skull yelled, half-waving half-beckoning for them to enter the command center. She saw Stark glance at her as they walked forward, and heard his right leg clank every time it hit the metal ground. "Come! See the fruits of HYDRA's good work!"

 

She touched the vials of blood in her bag once for good luck, but Stark voiced what she was thinking.

 

"I see us losing," he said bluntly. His voice had not undergone any tonal adjustments during reanimation, but something about it was different all the same; calm and collected, never shifting, it sounded more robotic than his body motions. "That buster's going to hold out another minute tops. Smaller drones won't make it past the Helicarrier's small arms fire in time. You're lucky there's no Avenger activity as it is."

 

"Bah! The Avengers. Let them earn their fates in due time - they will come later."

 

"I'll bet on it," Stark said quietly, sitting down against the rail. Sarkissian cleared her throat and looked up at the feed again. Loudly - as though it were right above them - there was a screech, like a whistle trying to drown out the sound of jet noise. The Helibuster's feed lit up with color, cut in and out of static twice, and then buzzed itself to death. The control center darkened a bit without the projector's light to keep it illuminated. She could almost feel Stark smiling, even if his mouth wouldn't allow it. He wants us dead, she realized quietly. We programmed him to want them dead, but he wants us dead just as badly. And more than anything, he wants to be dead.

 

"I think what Stark means is that we don't exactly have infinite resources, even down here," Viper ventured. "And we don't know how long it will take to develop another legion. With the Midwest center fallen, no viable clones and Project Trinity out and about with impun--"

 

"No fear, Madame, no fear, our girls are well in hand. We have more pressing concerns..." Red Skull turned and held his arms out magnanimously in front of the assembled commandos, techs, and lieutenants. "HYDRA! When we emerged from slumber a year ago, and New York fell to ruin in our shadow, I promised you further glory! When the Sleepers bellows out their fury, the whole world shook! When we unveiled our new drones, SHIELD knew they no longer held domnion over the skies with their silly Archangels! We took from them the comfort of their homes! The comfort of their heroes! And now...now, brothers and sisters, we will take their symbols! We have Iron Men aplenty...now let us look to the heavens! Let us claim the power of the gods for ourselves! Let us claim Mjolnir!"

 

One...two...three...four...five... Sarkissian was counting how many jaws had gone slack. Stark's shoulders shook once, like his mechanical half had suppressed a laugh.

 

"Mjolnir's gone," Stark said. "Siegfried told me it's in Asgard. He'd have known for sure. You can't grab it unless you mean to muscle your way into Asgard and grab it."

 

Viper tried to keep her head from spinning around on her neck. "But...that's madness. Norman Osborn tried laying siege to Asgard. It nearly got him killed. He's lucky he's even allowed into society after a stunt like that. Asgardians had him outmatched, outgunned, and outmaneuvered, and that was when he was running SHIELD."

 

"Therein lay his difficulty, Madame," Red Skull explained, as though he were talking to a child instead of talking like one. "Osborn overreached. He has been taught the lessons of his low ambition. He failed - because he ran SHIELD! We are not SHIELD! We are HYDRA! And Asgard will be ours!"

 

Johann Schmidt, both fists clenched, raised his arms above his head and walked out of the room. People saluted where he went, with a few notable exceptions - several of the commandos who had walked Viper in didn't salute, and neither did Ophelia Sarkissian herself. Howard Stark remained singularly unmoved, sitting up on the railing and watching Red Skull leave the room. When he turned back to Viper, both eyes adjusted on her for the first time since she'd arrived from New York.

 

"What's the matter?" Howard Stark asked. "Where's your team spirit?"

 

Sarkissian couldn't tell if it was his human half or robot half, but either way, she had the distinct feeling she was being mocked.

 

...

 

-Tyler

Edited November 2, 2014 by Tyler Durden

[Blair the Cat]

IC:

 

Sierra's expression was unreadable. "It's funny how the headmaster of this school sounds a lot like the first person I killed."

 

IC:

 

Lunar stared at Nicole for a moment, seemingly captivated. "Sparkly." she shook her head. "Geez, she's a person. What's wrong with me?" Lunar caught the ball and smiled.

[Flex Lord Splash]

IC:

 

"Why thanks non Ultimate Card," Johnathan grinned as he tore into another wing.

 

"So what are we all going to do with ourselves now that we got the gang back together and there is no alien invasion?"

 

IC:

 

Kane scanned his menu for a moment before looking up. "Not really, I'm trying something new. Trying to make some friends within the Brotherhood, I mean if we're all on the same side, might as well be acquainted right?" the waitress walked up and asked for their drink orders, Kane ordered sweet tea.

 

IC:

 

"Who was the first person you killed? It wasn't your sister?" Christine asked.

 

IC:

 

"Are you getting in or just standing there?" Nicole asked as some beachy pop tunes began to play.

[Eyru]

IC

 

Rene ordered a Coke.

 

"Sure," he replied after the waitress left. "Might as well. So what's your history?"

 

* * *

 

IC

 

"I thought it was obvious. Eat wings and drink beer."

[Blair the Cat]

IC:

 

"No." Sierra closed her eyes and sighed. "He was a grown man, another mutant, actually. He had his back to me, and I guess seeing him fire his gun into an eleven year old's head was shocking to me at the time. Of course I ended up finishing off the child too, but..." Sierra opened her eyes and looked at Christine. " Sorry. TMI."

 

IC:

 

Lunar just shrugged and jumped into the pool, but not before saying "As long as diamond is electricity resistant."

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"Alright, eye infection." Alecto swiveled his head suddenly, meeting Damian's gaze. "First off, people normally have to buy me dinner before they get to stare at me like *that*. Second, eye-drops. They exist. I suggest you look into the concept. You look like you need it. Badly." The bat-winged merc paused for a moment, took a sip of the soda he'd came here for (the people, most certainly, were not it-when someone who looks a little too much like a wolf starts drinking moonshine, it's just a matter of time before he invites you to his 'special' van and it all goes downhill) before shifting his gaze back to his new stalker. "So, man up and ask for a date, or whatever it is you want or kindly bug off."

[Flex Lord Splash]

IC:

 

Christine couldn’t help but look shocked at this new information. “Oh my god, Sierra… that is terrible, Ah can’t believe you had to see that, and that you had to put that poor child out of its misery.” She said, deciding that the young girl had seen more tragedy than any normal sane person could handle.

“Mah first kill happened to be Mah first kiss…” she trailed off. “My first intentional kill was this police officer scumbag who killed anyone he found to be a mutant, if they were a mutant he killed em’. Found out he gunned down my friend who was a Brotherhood member, so I repaid the favor one night.” She didn’t look to proud of the fact.

 

“Ah was never big on killin. Anyway Ah’m gonna go look for Aleks, you take care, alright?”

 

IC:

 

“My life was normal till I turned twelve, I lived with my brother Caden, we played had fun. When I turned twelve my hands caught on fire, my dad then took me to Weapon-X, implanted a bomb in my skull and started training me to be an assassin. I became X-5, in my father’s new regime of weapons. My brother escaped his grasp, and was a Brotherhood member for a long time. He’s the reason I signed up for this but he’s dead now. I spent the rest of my life killing whoever my dad told me until the Brotherhood and X-Men showed up and liberated me.” He finished before taking a sip.

 

“Kind of a sad history, I didn’t get out much other on missions. Skateboards and my SP were my only sources of entertainment other than training. How about your past? Anything exciting?"
 

IC:

 

“No I mean after this, what are we supposed to do with our lives? Should we go out for Ultimate fighting or something? We already have the fighting skills down and the Ultimate part."

 

IC:

 

"I'm pretty sure it is," she said as Lunar got in the pool and she wasn't shocked, though she felt a slight tingling sensation.

Edited November 3, 2014 by Flex Likes Groot

[Constructelf]

IC: Damian

"Huh? ... Oh." Damian realized that his eyes were still "on". They faded back to normal, but the bat-man was right; he did need eye drops.

 

"Sorry about that sir... Just, I-I sometimes forget to turn them off after I use them... The eyes." Damian's eyes flashed again as he slowly averted his gaze. "Your wings are nice, by the way. Also..." Damian slowly looked back at Alecto. "Given that you're a magic user, would you know anything about the Staff of One-oh !!! I said it!!!" Damian hit himself in the head. "You're probably wondering how I know all this-gah, I'm not supposed to tell anybody about my eyes..." Damian proceeded to have a stern talk with himself.

 

"... Calmato.

 

... Sorry."

 

Damian sat down at his table.

Edited November 3, 2014 by namcurtsnoC

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

Alecto smiled, just slightly, and leaned forward. "Your eyes are telling me everything I need to hear." He took another sip of his soda. "So, Staff of the One? I might have heard of it. I'd need to do some research to be sure. I do have some experience with....ah, rituals of enchanting regardless, so I might be able to work something out even if I'm mistaken. The waitress, meanwhile had taken a cellphone call from....she..." Alecto strained his eyes slightly, trying to make out the name on the cellscreen.

 

Ah.

 

'She-harpy from the bowls of the underworld-AKA mom'. Charming,

 

"No mom, I don't know anything about...penguin wrangling....why would you even need to know that? I mean it's-no I agree, a penguin sitting on your desk is...I don't think you need to throw it into the ventilation fan. What do you mean you can make the owner clean it up? Other call...mom this phone...two phones...how are you even doing that?"

 

A few other snippets of the conversation, evidently three way on one end could be heard.

 

"Young man, get back here. Get back here this instant. I know you're responsible for this foul turn of events!"

 

"Don't you mean a......fowl turn of events?"

 

"Mom who is that?...What?! I'm at work right--don't you DARE set the wolves on me, -I- certainly didn't put a peng--oh, okay."

 

"What? NOT okay!"

 

Alecto cleared his throat. He'd need to get the story behind that later. "Erm, yes. Anything specific you can tell me?"

Edited November 3, 2014 by Basilisk

[Constructelf]

IC: Damian

"Um...

 

It's last major user was my mom. And... I have it."

 

*beat*

 

Damian proceeded to get a knife to cut himself with just in case he needed to take the staff out.

[Eyru]

IC

 

"Nah, not really."

 

* * *

 

IC

 

"Obi-Wan, keep your mind in the here and now where it belongs."

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

Most people would have called the police when someone randomly began to cut themselves. But then most people also did not need to ritually stab themselves in the chest to work some of their better healing magics. "See. That tells me something. It tells me this staff works off blood or least, can work with the power of blood. Anything else along those lines I should know?"

 

The waitress meanwhile, had titled her head slightly. "Who is that? He sounds cute, is he cute? If he's too cute, don't put the wolves on him. What do you mean you-see mom, this why your only friend is your boss."

Edited December 28, 2014 by Basilisk

[Constructelf]

IC: Damian

"... Normally, it should be able to do anything that would not fall outside the power of a god if the user is skilled enough and enough blood is given. However... I can only use wind related powers with it. It seems the staff is racist. Racist to mutants, I mean. Or maybe it just doesn't like me...? From what my adoptive father gathered from what was left of my mom's journal, the staff is very choosy with its bearers. I was hoping you'd have some answers, but my mutation tells me you're also a mutant..."

Edited November 3, 2014 by namcurtsnoC

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"....Well, first thing that comes to mind is that the staff has simply run itself down. Burnt out. You know, like an elementary teacher near the end of theie career. Dead but still moving. Seems to me, if it was choosy, it wouldn't let you access it's powers at all. Perhaps what it can do now is simply all it can do." Alecto clasped his hands together. "Now, I can't really confirm any of this right now. Has it attempted to communicate?"

 

The waitress, who had somehow produced a length of rope from underneath the table, began to squeeze out of the booth. "Sorry hon, mom needs my help with something. Bruce!" She shouted in the general direction of bar. "I'm taking a break! Be back in an hour!" Then she walked towards the door, muttering about penguins and insane mothers.

Edited November 3, 2014 by Basilisk

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

IC: U! Julia

 

Julia twirled an onion ring around her index finger.

 

"Well, it's a fair question," She said. "Not the part about Ultimate Fighting, but...I mean, we're all here, and from what I've gathered since I got back, this timeline's X-Men have disbanded."

 

She stopped moving her hand and caught the ring.

 

"What if, and I'm just putting it out there, but what if we actually did something about that?"

Edited November 3, 2014 by Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Hey, you can try and talk to 'em if you want, but Alex barely listens to me as it is. None of the others like me much, and, with all the love in the world, guys...we're not exactly the type of people to get everyone in a circle and start piping out Kumbaya."

 

Dallas was halfway through grinning at Julia roguishly when he started to grasp her meaning, and the look slid off his face.

 

-Tyler

[Eyru]

IC

 

 

Angela tossed a clean pair of bones onto her plate. "Well, y'know, you did say in your text we'd be singing Kumbaya..."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Don't hold me to my sales pitches. What am I, Ultimate Billy Mays?"

 

-Tyler

[Flex Lord Splash]

IC:

 

“And this is why I love you sis,” Johnathan smiled at Julia’s words. “Shows’ were related after all.” He beamed.

 

“Yeah the X-Men from this universe always were push overs compared to us, not surprising they all folded.”

 

IC:

 

"Haha, fair enough." Kane chuckled. Soon the waitress brought their drinks and Kane ordered a small pepperoni pizza with black olives and mushrooms.

 

"So, seems like you and Shiloh are close. What do you think of her and Dom?"

Edited November 3, 2014 by Flex Likes Groot

[Constructelf]

IC: Damian

"No."

 

...

 

"... It can talk?"

 

"Though something else to note is that I have no magical training whatsoever, aside from what I could decipher from that horrifically indecipherable book Agrippa wrote. The Minoru's magical legacy died with Nico."

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"Sometimes enchanted objects are....well, used to bind an intellect. It increases the power of the object, but tends to make using it quite tricky. Also deadly to use if you aren't quite careful. I thought this was the case here, and that the bound intellect-creature if you will-had expired. Now, I do know a thing or two about old languages and texts. Do you have this book on you?"

[Constructelf]

IC: Damian

"... It's public domain. Three books of occult philosophy. Google it. Unless you don't have your smartphone."

[Eyru]

IC

 

"We grew up together. Yeah, I'd say we're close. She's an adult, though; she can make her own decisions."

 

* * *

 

IC

 

"You mean you're not?"

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"Those?" Alecto gulped down the last of his soda. "Honestly, when I read through that...well, let's just say it's no wonder you didn't glean much from it. If there is anything about that staff in there, I'd guess it was hidden behind a very clever cipher. That you found out anything at all is impressive. So, we know it works off blood, is quite powerful normally, but seems less so in your case. But not entirely powerless....Hm. How much blood have you worked with? It could be a matter of feeding it more power I suppose."

[Constructelf]

IC: Damian

"Most I've given it was... I don't measure how much blood I bleed. There was this one time though when I got caught in a bank robbery and got run over by the getaway car. Five minutes later, when the ambulance arrived, a Class 0 tornado formed in around wherever the robbers were. I dunno, the news said something about a random tornado around a mob hideout. I don't think I could do that consciously though."

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"Hm. And I doubt we could fill a pool with blood in this city without crossing quite a few lines...I assume only human blood works? If not, well, then we could try that approach. Not like the butchers *use* all that blood right?" Alecto grinned again, slightly. "Now, I do have another idea. Those bindings I mentioned? We could attempt one with it. We'd have to be very very careful of course and even then the risk is extreme."

[AuRon the champion]

Ic:

 

"John if you say ultimate one more time I'm gonna-" she was cut off by the sudden pushover comment. Considering how she'd actually poked around her duplicate's head before and was still trying to keep up the disguise of being the other Wild Card, she took offense to John's comment.

 

"I'm sorry? It's not as if I survived weapon X, fighting the other you, and being stuck in this form, as well as trying to help you lot out. Thanks for the vote of confidence John."

[Flex Lord Splash]

IC:

 

“Very neutral of you,” Kane observed as he took a sip of his drink. “So your power is something to do with kinetics? How does that work exactly?”

 

IC:

 

“I didn’t mean to set you off Card; don't worry you’re the exception.” He shrugged; inwardly wishing Card would just tell Ash the truth.

How long you gonna try to keep up this charade? What if she wants to stick around she’d going to find out eventually; he texted her discreetly underneath the table, making sure not to send it as a group message.

 

IC:

 

Ash sipped some more of her blood from her HiC carton but didn’t say anything, instead watching John and Card with a bemused look.

 

“I missed this,” she sighed. Knowing that she’d have to leave them eventually, she knew she had to go to Hellfire, find Jace and find some answers.

[Constructelf]

IC: Damian

*Gulp*

 

"And how would we go about that?"

[AuRon the champion]

Ic:

 

"Riiight."

 

I'm sure I can pretend to be myself from this reality for however long I want. Besides, only you, dal and tali know that I'm one of you guys after all. Unless I missed something, or you keep being a doofus and dropping hints like you've been doing, Ashlynn will be none the wiser

 

The text only went to John.

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

IC: U! Julia

 

Julia took a bite out of the onion ring.

 

"The best part is," She said. "we wouldn't have to answer to anybody but ourselves."

Edited November 3, 2014 by Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo

[Eyru]

IC

 

"I can convert potential energy into kinetic energy, and vice verse," Rene explained. To demonstrate, he grabbed his Coke and tossed it up into the air. The drink, ice cubes and all, froze in midair, rippling gently.

 

"It'll stay there until I let it go, or change the direction of its energy.

 

"It's kinda like really weird telekinesis," he continued, as the suspended beverage funnelled itself back into his cup, not missing a drop. "I can control things with my mind, but it's not like grabbing them. I focus on the energy, not the thing itself."

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

Now Alecto smiled widely, showing off his teeth. "Very very carefully. Up to you if we try it or not of course. But it seems to me like your staff needs a boost in power regardless."

[Constructelf]

IC: Damian

"... What are the risks? Informed consent and all that."

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"Death. Dismemberment. Having our brains shoved into jars. You name it, it can happen. I have experience dealing with such forces....but it is dangerous. Very very dangerous. You have to be clever, quick and know when to run to call upon the Outer Gates. Now, if we take the proper precautions, unless we're very unlucky, we'll probably make it through more or less intact. Maybe. Hopefully." Alecto shrugged. "These rituals are a very complex matter. Miss one detail and...well, you know."

Edited November 3, 2014 by Basilisk

[Flex Lord Splash]

IC:

 

John looked down at his phone and quickly scanned Kristen's text. Alright Kristen, you do you. I just don't see the point, I'm sure she doesn't want to hurt you anymore, why can't you let bygones be bygones? But I'll stop with the hints, I've just never been a fan of lying.

 

He tucked away his phone and then grabbed another ring. "I think Julia is on to something," he said before glancing at Dal. "What do you say, oh captain my captain?"

 

IC:

 

"Hmmm, I guess it would be good for some really neat parlor tricks then." he said after he'd watched the coke with awe. "Pretty nifty power, much more interesting then blasting out fire."

Edited November 3, 2014 by Flex Likes Groot

[Eyru]

IC

 

He shrugged again. "I didn't pick it. But yeah, it's kinda neat."

 

* * *

 

IC

 

"What are we, a dead poets' society?"

[Blair the Cat]

IC:

 

"Alright..." Sierra replied quietly. It was hard to admit, but she liked Christine's company. On the other hand, she didn't feel as tightly wound when she was alone.

 

IC:

 

"I used to tell people that it was static, but I guess it's pointless now."

[AuRon the champion]

Ic:

 

She tried not to to dwell too long on the thought. Standard procedure for dealing with Ashlynn, regardless of universe, was to never make assumptions.

 

Actually, that's probably a life rule, she thought, reaching out to grab a wing for herself.

 

"Julia. We already only answer to ourselves."

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

IC: U! Julia

 

"I know, but the X-Men in this neck of the multiverse don't--er, didn't."