Marvel, Rebirth:

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

The Red Skull was, perhaps, remembering somewhere within his scrambled egg of a brain that even an ant can pose a threat, if there were enough of them. Perhaps he was also realizing, as the paper cut count neared the six hundreds, that his only backup was rapidly being overwhelmed and dispatched by disparate forces across the city. Radio frequencies unused in years flickered to life, and so too did the resistance to his efforts. Perhaps he was also realizing, deep underneath the mask, that he might be about to die.

 

Nothing served to drive that point home more than the titanic mass of metal that was revealing itself above the city of New York. Rotating panels swiveled to reveal its vast underbelly, hovering high above the city, even out of the Hydra leader's reach. Its surface swarmed with activity, the surviving Archangels of the first wave breaking off the attack. Even an idiot could tell why, and while Skull might have struggled with the concept anyway. missing the 155mm cannons unfolding and swiveling to face him was impossible. Easily half a dozen, perhaps more, barrels promised a rain of hot lead. A squadron of Harriers could faintly be seen taking off from its deck, proceeding in short order to start strafing the super-sized villain, careful to stay out of his reach.

 

"Bring guns five through twenty online." Nicholas J Fury ordered, glaring at the Hydra leader through the viewing monitor as if he could see him. "Leave one through four offline. Keep anti-air defenses on standby."

"There, gentlemen," He pointed at the monstrous giant. "If your target. Fire at will. Anyone who misses will be fired on the spot for missing a target that big. Line your shots up carefully, I don't want a stray shot hitting the city. He's a big guy. He'll stop them just fine."

"Get to it!"

 

Dutifully, the promised rain arrived.

 

IC:

 

Rebekah paused, for the first time in over a minute solid. Not out of a desire to stop, but firstly, she had run out of surplus ammunition, and secondly, she could see the shells starting to fly. Calmly, almost serenely, she turned and stepped over the pile of hot shells that her weapon had left on the ground.

"We should fall back a block. If one of those misses the effects will be hazardous to our health."

IC:

"That one right there'll do." I said to Michael, pointing at a rooftop coming up on the machine's right. Tall enough to give me a nice, clear shot, not so close as to put me within the line of fire. Because, you know, the size of the bullets getting slung are a bit larger than this gunlinger's entire body. Briefly, I switch my headset back to the open channel.

 

"Ay, tank lady. Might be a good idea to watch your , because the big guns are about to start."

 

IC:
 

"I'm not sure it's score one, anymore." The former Weapon provided helpfully, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend.

[Constructelf]

IC: Damian

"So. Uh. End of an era huh?"

 

"... Heil U.S.A."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:
 

What was the difference between a Johann Schmidt and a schnitzel?

 

One was a thick tube of ground meat in a spicy, thick casing of old skin; upon the end of preparation it was seared maroon-and-black from long and careful grilling, and too little or too much time on the burner would leave it an unrecognizable crisp or still overflowing with hazardous juices.

 

The other, for many of the survivors and fighters on the ground in Times Square, would have gone really well with some deli mustard right about now. 

 

Under Helicarrier fire, ground fire, Ultimate and regular X-Men focusing offensive powers and heavy weapons on him, and the creeping sense of weariness and disgust that lends the greatest betrayals their weight, Red Skull buckled to his knees at last, and slumped sideways. The ground audibly creaked beneath his weight like an old floorboard, enough to drive the bystanders nearest to cover their ears and yell in pain, but Johann Schmidt paid as much attention as he would have to a fly.

 

"H...Hei...Oh, HeII...*koff koff*...Heil...oh...oh my...I...feel...a little strange..."

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

Slowly, on opposite ends of the world, two fully-formed heads reared. Their breathing was low and bated as the Skull sank further, further...and tumbled to the ground with a thud that carried, long and low like cannon fire, all the way to the remains of Lady Liberty. The heads nodded, to themselves as much as each other, and lazily grew up into place like weeds.

 

IC:

 

"That was the Helicarrier," Brando informed Siegfried as he turned off his communicator and checked his magazine. Not for the first time, he himself for wearing only a Thursday-night pair of jeans and a t-shirt. The old Stark Tower had been significantly more well-stocked in case of an attack, but Tasha was new to the team and hadn't fitted the upstairs yet - and even so, it wouldn't matter, seeing as they controlled the upstairs. "Red Skull's dying, but the drones weren't networked to him. Given that we're sitting in the only confirmed HYDRA territory in the city, the boss has officially issued Code Fuggit. As soon as Rogers radios in we can hit the penthouse. Rogers. Rogers, come in. It's Brando."

 

"James here. Little busy." A pause. "If you're headed for the penthouse, I'm already here. Keep you updated if I can."

 

...

 

"You --"

 

BEEEEEEP.

 

"Aw, c'mon, you could have at least turned on the elevator!"

 

IC:

 

"I hope Alec hears Red Skull hitting the ground from here, ahahaha. One irritating spoopy motherer down, only one more to go, babe. And what about you? With the minigun!? Holy , that was so hot that if I still smoked I could light a cigarette on your ." Dallas grinned and threw his non-bleeding arm around Rebekah. "So. Breakfast! Bacon, egg, cheese, pancakes shaped like dead skulls, some coffee. Tu y moi, gorgeous, don't be late." 

 

IC:

 

"I think we'd break the world karma reserves if we counted everything we got," she giggled softly, curling up her shoulder blades under Bekah's arm and scooching closer to the former Weapon. "Outside...I just heard..."

 

She chewed on her lip for a second and looked up at Bekah cautiously.

 

"Do you think everyone else is out there?"

 

-Tyler

[Eyru]

IC (Rene LeBeau)

 

"Sis. Don't look now, but I think we won."

[AuRon the champion]

Ic:

 

With everything seemingly over, Kristen wanted to head home now.

[Snelly]

IC: Jeffery Pryde

 

It was over, well at least for Red Skull it was. The morale of the HYDRA soldiers who had survived thus far was at an all time low. Most of them likely were retreating, surrendering, committing various acts of suicide, or something like that. Jeff wiped blood off of his rapier with his shirt. He hadn't seen so much blood before, well maybe at Vegas. He leaned against a nearby wall and laughed. 

 

"I feel so ######in alive right now you have no idea...don't tell my mother I said that." 

 

IC: Shiloh Lebeau

 

"Oh...would you look at that." Shiloh said with a tint of surprise. "I think I'll take a nap then..." 

 

The machines that had survived the fight cheered in mechanical victory, before suddenly slumping over and becoming lifeless objects once more, bringing an eerie silence where their laughter had once been. 

 

IC: Aella

 

There was suddenly a lot of noise, and shaking. I couldn't take it anymore I...felt really, really sick. I found myself becoming very, dizzy, my vision darkening as the floor suddenly got really close to my face...then there was darkness. 

 

IC: Tasha Stark

 

Tasha thought the dead of Red Skull would have brought her more comfort than it did. But her mind was still on her brother. He's still out there...

 

"Let's get moving then."

[Eyru]

IC (Rene LeBeau)

 

Shiloh went limp and started snoring softly; exactly two seconds after, the remaining construction-bots followed suit. Rene adjusted his sister's kinetic energy to compensate for gravity, then breathed a sigh of relief. Now to see who else had survived...

 

 

IC (Cody Jackson)

 

"We... we did it?"

 

 

 

IC (Rachel Thomas)

 

The counsellor and her students let out a cheer as the fuzzy image of Red Skull toppled to the ground.

 

"They did it," Rachel said, removing her glasses and attempting to inconspicuously wipe her eyes. "They did it."

 

 

 

IC (Angela Dean)

 

wakka wakka wakka

[AuRon the champion]

Ic:

 

Trinity took that as a sign of "not okay" and immediately ran to the next room.

 

"Tera!!!"

[Constructelf]

IC: Peter

"Well... Technically SHIELD and the Archangels did it. But...'

[Eyru]

IC (Cody)

 

Cody punched Peter lightly on the shoulder. "It's okay, big guy. Take some credit."

[Constructelf]

IC: Peter

Peter rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously.

[Hanako Herupa]

IC: (Sakuya Harada)

 

I made it my job handling Hydra soldiers that I could reach, and keeping them away from Dallas and the others helping with the evacuations. I drew their attention away, slicing away at the Hydra soldiers. I made sure to keep relatively close though to my fellow X-Men, rather that get myself lost in the fight. I made my way back to Dallas and the others when The Red Skull fell. Finally for once, I felt like was doing what I was supposed to, helping others, working alongside others. Maybe it wasn't a big contribution, but I had helped nevertheless, wished I could have done more.

[Light]

IC: Deep in the recesses of her mind, the darkness lurked, its tendrils running into every crevice of her brain, feeding on her memories, on her emotions, on her hate, on her. She was ravenous–she was always ravenous now, that creature’s voracious hunger pounding through her brain, dominating her mind–she had to find it food, had to create hate. Had to keep it from consuming her anymore. She looked down at her hand, pale white, normal, then glanced into her car mirror. Ice blue eyes, now pure black, the crystalline, azure beauty now frozen pollution. The King had her, his ethereal grip tightened around her brain, her head pounding. It hurt. She could feel shadows running down her spine, along her nerves, everywhere. She didn’t fight it, not anymore, all that led to was pain, pain so excruciating she couldn’t bear to take anymore–

 

A metallic shape came hurling out of the sky, the King forcibly turning Lynae’s attention to the metal humanoid that had landed in front of her, aiming his repulsor glove at her face–if only she had her sword–and at will a black, shadowy mass appeared in her left hand, solidifying into a long blade. Her other hand snapped forward as the darkness wrenched control of her, a massive blast of gloom coming out of it and throwing the drone backward into a building. The shade reached into her legs, propelling her forward as fast as her physiology allowed her to run, her blade behind her, lancing out–slicing the drone in half as it tried to stand.

She could get used to this…

Edited April 15, 2015 by Sam Vimes

[Eyru]

IC (Cody)

 

Cody smiled, then violently threw up.

 

"Okay," he said, wiping his mouth. "I think I might not be as -urk- healthy as I thought."

[Constructelf]

IC: Peter

"Maaaybe we should get you back to the hospital."

[Flex Lord Splash]

Jennifer couldn’t help but watch as the plane Terrance had hijacked from her impacted into the back of Red Skull. The plane instantly was blown apart, raining fire and shrapnel down upon the ground. That was before Red Skull had even been hit with the Hellicarrier’s guns, not that Terrance’s sacrifice had done much.

 

Jennifer closed her eyes and sighed as she lowered her rifle. Terrance was gone, he’d sacrificed himself but for what? He’d taken his own life and it had hardly phased Red Skull, instead it had been the Hellicarrier’s guns that finally brought the red giant down.

She couldn’t help but feel guilty for Terrance death since he’d hijacked her personal aerial vehicle before slamming it into Red Skull’s back.

 

“Okay, my transport is gone. Can anyone give me a ride back up to the Hellicarrier?” Jennifer radioed. Terrance had wanted to join SHIELD but he’d lost his life fighting Hydra before he’d even gotten a chance. She turned away from Red Skull’s massive body, not wanting to look anymore.

 

“YES! WE DID IT!” Christine shouted, unaware that her borrowed sonic powers caused this to pretty much broadcast around the entire square, the square was in a state of devastation but still they’d saved a lot of lied and killed Red Skull. That was something.

“Anyone seen Aleks?” she asked as she looked around at her fellow X-Men.

 

“Aleks? Are you okay?” she asked over the com, noticing that he hadn’t responded to her in a while.

 

Johnathan lowered his severed Hydra hand and smirked. “Red Skull’s dead, good ######.” He grinned at his fellow Ultimates. He glanced at Ashlynn who was standing a few feet away wiping off her face from where she’d torn into the jugular of a Hydra soldier a few minutes before. Without warning Johnathan moved forward before pulling the redheaded vampire into a long kiss. He pulled away without saying anything though from the look on her face Ash approved.

 

“It felt good fighting with you guys again.” Ashlynn said.

 

"You can say that again." Johnathan nodded before he pulled out a cigarette lit it and began to puff on it.

 

Quinn walked up to Sakuya and smiled at her. “Well we survived our first battle as X-Men, not bad right?”

 

"So, does that mean we can all head back to the Blackbird now?"

 

-----

 

On the lone rooftop Kane and Maverick continued their deadly dance. Unaware that the giant Red Skull had just been taken down. Too busy on continuing their fight.

 

Kane lashed out with his flame covered katana; only to have it be deflected by a machete that Maverick had pulled out from within his coat a few minutes ago. Sparks flew in the air as the two fighters stared each other down.

 

Kane could see fury in Maverick's brown eyes.

 

"Just die already! I need the money from this contract!" Maverick said as he raised his palm and the mini-gun barrel began to spin bullets quickly spitting out and flying at Kane.

 

Kane burst into the air on a small plume of flame though he felt one of the bullets fly into his right thigh before he touched down on the ground several feet away. Pain blared through his leg and he forced himself to stay standing as he gritted his teeth. He then launched himself forward raising his opposite hand as he unleashed a massive blast of flame from his hand at Maverick, the assassin was forced to jump to the right to dodge the flames which Kane in turn just charged through striking with his sword.

 

He caught Maverick off guard and knocked the machete out of his hand.

 

"You're going to remember! You have to remember what they did to you!" Kane shouted as he suddenly smashed his forehead into Maverick's.

 

Blinding pain filled Maverick's forehead as Kane's impacted his. He stumbled back and was about to retaliate when sudden flashes of vision filled his head. He saw bright lights and a man standing over him with a bloodied surgical mask. Novocain. He remembered the man's name...

 

Maverick bent over and wretched onto the rooftop as all of the memories of Weapon-X hit him full force. Memories that he'd shut away, memories that he had naturally repressed due to how awful they had been.

 

Now he remembered why he didn't know his real name. Now he remembered why he only went by Maverick, and there had been another name for him. Something Novocain liked to call him which had simply been X.

 

"I... I remember." Maverick looked up at Kane.

 

"Good." Kane said as he let the fire die down on his sword. "You know what this means right? Weapon-X is still active somehow. They hired you to kill me to clean up loose ends. We need to investigate this, work together. There has to be others who have been attacked or silenced. We need to find them and we need to kill them."

 

"I'm in."

Edited April 17, 2015 by FleX-Man

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

good morning

(hustlas that's if ya still livin

get on down)

every time that we hit em

 

gooD MORNINg

(hustlas that's if ya still livin

get down on get on down down get on odown get hit em-get-get-get)

skreeeeech

 

Owwwwww.

 

"This is Dallas," groaned a pile of rubble on the fourth floor stairwell of an apartment building near the site of Red Skull's Beanstalk Boogaloo. "I'm alive...if you were wondering...which you weren't. Owwww! Oh man, the Nazis got my iPod...noooo...hello? Ouch...let me get out...anyone alive?! Anyone need...koff koff...friiick...anyone need help?"

 

A boy, young and lean, short on breath, pushed himself out from under the rubble with his head and left arm, right arm clutching an obliterated iPod. Dallas dropped it and pushed earbuds from both ears with his respective shoulders, rolling over on top of the music player and taking a long, shallow breath. Above him, the stairwell spun and wound in ways he was sure it hadn't when he had started doubling back up the apartment building Alex had gone into...but then again, he was pretty sure that the last time he'd checked, he hadn't been buried underneath the stairwell wheezing in mouthful after mouthful of dusty air, and the last time he checked his mouth hadn't been full of Skittle-sized chunks of gravel. He'd have to...work on that.

 

Cough.

 

Only gravel came up. No blood. That was always good. That meant he had time to help. Dallas ran his tongue along his canines, incisors, and molars (he had sliced open his tongue horizontally, but it didn't seem deep enough to bleed much; just avoid spicy and salty, Dal) and reached up with his right arm to grab the battered rail. He had two-thirds of a second between the movement and impact - which was just long enough for the chronokinetic to realize that his arm was moving more like a fishing rod mid-cast than it was a limb. Clang.

 

Dallas Green had once taken a tumble off a Sentinel's shoulder blade all the way to the marshland below; Dallas Green had been punched in the face, kicked in the face, nearly left to smother in a cocoon by spider-mutants from Weapon-X, and sexually assaulted. Dallas Green was sure that no broken arm, no matter how badly twisted or how a bone protruded, could make him cry.

 

Dallas Green pressed his bloody forehead to the rug and cried.

 

No. No. Don't cry. Don't think that it hurts, or that you want to die, think that there are people somewhere on this floor, or maybe the floor above you, maybe even the floor back below. You still have three limbs left. That's three more than Red Skull has to hurt them.

 

Get. To. Climbing.

 

Dallas pushed his hair, colored a unique strawberry-dirty-blonde by dried blood and ash, out of his eyes with a shoulder as he began to climb.

 

-Tyler

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

So.

 

Yeah. He'd excused himself around the time Hitler's Lil'boy face-planted. He'd done a few ops on the wrong side of the law, so Alecto wasn't exactly keen on sticking around and answering questions for the Amazing Flying Smurf Brigade. He'd done his part, swore at Red Skull, implied his mother and his father had a heritage unusually rich in species diversity and shot at him uselessly for the duration of the battle. It always felt good, giving back to the community. Though, judging from the jig one of those corporate mercs was doing onto of...a tank? It was probably a tank. After Ol'Red and Compensating made sweet sweet love to the asphalt, some folks had been enjoying it just a little too much to be healthy. Anyway. Any other day he'd have stuck around, found some man in uniform to flirt with and roast something on the soon-to-burning pile of failure and sauerkraut.

 

Then he'd tallied up his day. Drained himself doing a ritual for a cute guy with a magic staff, promptly had his hopes for a date dashed by a wall of pure ignorance and obliviousness. Then vampires had decided it was time to play neighborhood watch. And then ruin his lamp (it was cheap, but the principle of the thing matters) and then, evidently, decided to hightail it out of there for...reasons. He almost pitied that other vampire, the one who'd been tagging along with the crazy one. Then, as it turned out, the vampire who'd mistaken her nose for a sprinkler and blood for water turned out to have bought a place in the same building. If that wasn't a sign the neighborhood was on the way out, he didn't know what was. Sure, he'd met Snow, who seemed pretty sensible as cybernetic commando's went, but with his luck, she'd be burning down his apartment this time next week.

 

Aaaaaand then the Nazi's had invaded. Again. Speaking of, his apartment looked like it'd seen better days. A few holes in the walls, a teed off doorman prowling around the entrance with a musket and a bloodthristy glint in the eye....yeah. He'd be going in through one of the holes. He didn't feel like messing with old man ###### right now. He'd been brave enough for one day. Hm.

 

Oh happy day. It looked like his floor had gotten the worst of the fighting.

 

Rejected. Invaded and shot at. all in the same day. Alecto fancied himself something of an expert on medical issues.. Trustworthy when it came to the medical field. So considering that, in his professional medical opinion, he needed to get drunk-quickly-he rather hoped his vodka had made it out okay. If it didn't...well. Time to crawl into bad and have a good long cry. Then find something to punch. And stab. And maybe burn. Yeah. Burning sounded nice.

 

Alecto sauntered through the halls of the building, taking note of the damage and hoping some of his neighbors (the old lady who kept leaving bibles at his door in particular) had gotten their fair share of property damage. Finally. He to the stairwell. He wasn't feeling brave right now. The elevator wasn't gonna be an option for awhile now. With his customary smirk stretching over his face, he started to climb the stairs.

 

Then he stopped.

 

Huh. 

 

Okay. Someone clinging to the rug....yep that was blood. 

 

....And yeah, that arm was probably busted.

 

######.

 

And he was trying to climb. That wasn't gonna do him any favors. At all.

 

Alecto sighed. Looked like he was due for one more good deed.

 

"Look. Uh. I know that's a nice rug. But I don't think it can set your arm. And I'm pretty sure if you keep trying to move it, you're gonna be in for a bad time. I mean, I don't know you, but going from the lack of leather and a gimp mask, you don't seem like the sort to enjoy pain..."

Edited April 17, 2015 by Havelock Vetinari

[otter]

IC:

 

Erin, quite well thrust entirely out of his element, was simply walking around near Brando and Siegfried wishing he had specific orders, such as 'go punch that tool in the neck and then follow me,' which was the sort of thing he normally expected Brando to tell him.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Grochi ad Infinitum

[Blair the Cat]

IC:

 

Sierra nodded as Ashley spoke and waited until she was finished to reply. "Would you say that he is an accurate representation of this school, or is he just one in a million?"

[Snelly]

IC: Ashley

 

"I could search the entire world and I don't think I'd meet anyone quite like him. Couldn't replace him if I tried." Ashley glanced at the TV nervously, debating whether she should risk turning it on or not. 

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC(Drachentocht - Congo Flashback):

 

The convoy of the walking wounded made their way, slowly, through the dusty underbelly of the city. Few among them could move silently unassisted, sharp hisses of pain or low groans coming at predictable intervals as they walked or hobbled along. None of them could avoid leaving a trail, drops and smears of blood staining the alleys they moved through.

 

They were not a group that could move undetected.

 

They weren't supposed to be.

 

Elsewhere in Kinshasa, Saif Kipsefu was leading the rest of the survivors - all those who showed no external injuries - to complete the objective. Throughout the occupied parts of the city, the Brothers of the Yellow Sign were on high alert, searching for the interlopers that had taken out their patrols, that had put down one of their pet monsters. Cultists in their yellow robes had to be moving frantically, desperate to keep the intruders away. Other strange beasts, like the flying monster she had killed on the market street, could be heard moving through the city, on the hunt, utterly focused on protecting the ritualists Drachentocht had been sent to assist in the elimination of.

 

They could not be allowed to succeed. They could not find the group on their way to finish the job. In order to guarantee that didn't happen, they had to be put on a different trail - clearer, easier to follow. A trail of blood.

 

They hadn't gone far when they heard it - a long, ululating cry, joined quickly by a chorus of excited shouts, faint behind them but growing louder by the second. Without a word exchanged, the members of the decoy group ducked into position, taking cover in doorways, behind trashcans, wherever they could find a spot to crouch. Looking back down the alley as the sounds of pursuit grew nearer, aiming down the alleyway, waiting patiently for the howling pack to come into sight.

 

It was another of the ghastly winged monsters that arrived first, barreling down the alleyway, eating up the distance with a great, lurching stride that turned into a graceless tumble as it took several high-caliber rounds to the face before it knew that the fight had begun. It screamed, the same evil sound as before, but the rate of fire did not slacken, not while it struggled to regain its feet, not until it sank to the ground and moved no more.

 

When the next of the monsters came, the mercenaries were already engaged in a firefight with the cultists, too busy with one problem to focus all of their attention on the other. It came down from above with a triumphant cry, shattering nearby windowpanes as it descended upon the group pinned down in the alleyway. Before it had even landed, the monster was on the attack, tearing away at the door frame that served as cover for one of the mercenaries.

 

It picked the wrong door.

 

Before the monster had finished tearing out the door, Drachentocht made her move. using the remnants of the wall to propel herself up and over the beast's malformed head, landing on the bristly, chitinous surface of its back, between its wings. Her knife abandoned in the corpse of a different monster, Drachentocht had to make do with a length of steel re-bar, swinging it down as the monster reacted to her presence, rearing back and bucking wildly in an attempt to throw her off. Its jaws snapped uselessly at the air in front of it as the rusted steel connected with a dry crack, fracturing the beast's exoskeleton. Desperate to remove the clinging pest, the creature backpedaled, making to crush her between its armored hide and the concrete wall. Anticipating this, Drachentocht jammed the re-bar as far as she could into the crack in the monster's armor, and slid sideways off of its back just before impact.

 

With a wet crunch, the impact with the wall drove the re-bar further in, bowing out the grey, scabrous skin of the monster's softer underside as the steel rod penetrated through its torso, causing a spray of green-orange ichor on the wall as the beast screamed hideously and convulsed, limbs twitching wildly as it slid to the ground.

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"This is Aleks," the mercenary called into his mic as he paced about the top floor. "Headed up to the emergency exit. Christine, get everyone back onboard the Blackbird and then pick us up here, the Helicarrier is accidentally providing us a sweet distraction from the left. I'll secure the roof and meet you up here in eight. Turning comms off, I want to avoid crossing any wires with Hydra goons who might be around." The second he flicked the comm off, Aleks pulled out his phone and tapped in a number. Outside his mother, any of Aleksandr's important numbers remained solely in his head. Made things simpler. Let contacts just be contacts. Important ones...

 

Hey

It's me. Two New Years Resolutions.

A. Survive the night. B. Take you out for dinner

This is the only chance you have to see me eat ice cream. It will self destruct in five seconds. Happy hunting, Miss Laurent

*grin emoji*

 

Aleks held his ear to the door, listened hard for movement, and heard at least one pacing set of footsteps through the thick metal door. With long fingers (my boy could be a pianist) he drummed on the door three times and waited for the familiar clang that meant his mutation had done i--

 

CLANG.

 

Aleks raised his gun to neck level, fired once, and then dropped it and fired twice more. Three hollow point rounds rang loudly in the confined space of the hallway while the mercenary waited for the--

 

Slump.

 

Slump.

 

Pocketing the near-half-depleted magazine in the back of his pants, Aleks reloaded his gun successfully and ran his fingers across the barrel reverently. Boldly, now. Be bold. Give the kids something to be proud of.

 

The kids...

 

Aleks bit his lip and kicked open the door. Five Hydra soldiers - not drones, though three of them were in patchwork Iron Man armor that suggested looting from dead superiors. Each of them was heavily armed; each of them looked at him without remorse.

 

Guns blazing, oldie but goodie. I could take two, maybe three, maybe make a break right for elevated cover by the lip of the building. Would leave me a good ten seconds of my ###### hanging out for the other half of the squad. I could cut through the center and steal a gun - dual wielding ineffective, draws concentration. Definitely draws fire. I could be petulant. Throw the phone, start shooting, don't take cover. Get obliterated. This can't be. I have a date. I could live. 

 

There has to be a way...I could live.

 

"Sorry, lads," Aleks deadpanned, eyes fluidly moving across faces, generators, ramps, rails. "I gotta cut through some of you. Just asked out my crush, want to live to see the text back."

 

One HYDRA mook was kicked back by the force of a bullet through his right cheek in the time as Aleks Belikov waved an iPhone in one hand and an underloaded pistol in the other.

 

"Oops. Sweaty palms." He smiled as dryly as he could ever manage, and swore to himself never to step foot on another rooftop. "I'm taking her to Dairy Queen. Anyone here know what kind of Blizzard to get a gal?"

 

Six guns started to fire.

 

-Tyler

Edited April 22, 2015 by tylerlicious definicious

[AuRon the champion]

Ic: (Kristen Hailey, NYC):

 

I don't think about killing myself on a daily basis. Really. Believe me. I might possibly be insane, and idealistic, and broken, but I'm not suicidal. I like to think that I'm strong enough to abstain from that kind of thinking.

 

Of course, there's the feelings. The ones that I don't ever admit to anyone. The self-doubt, the fear, the hopelessness. The feelings that I shove away in the back of my mind and creep back up on me when I'm at my weakest. Like when I've had a ridiculously unbalanced past couple of days full of donut shootouts and a giant nazi with a skull for a head trying to destroy the known world.

 

Times like these, you know? I had a gun. I'd found it. It would've been so easy. I mean, I barely know the concept of a life without some giant- problem. There was Joey, who did things to me that I barely had the understanding of, or Lynae, who was... Well, a homicidal vampire who was more or less as bad, and I still[i/] feel some sort of misplaced attraction for. I finally made the decision that the John from my universe is a different one than the John that cut off my arm, but that doesn't mean both of them are complete es. I realized that Dallas might hate me for being a stupid , and I can't even begin to describe my feelings towards Julia. There also was the fact that no matter what, I'd have to resign myself to a life without powers... A kind of life that I can't even begin to imagine because I don't have any real skills beyond murdering people in cold blood. And if anyone knew a thing about me, they'd know that the last thing I want to do is murder someone. Other than Nazis, because they're Nazis.

 

In the end, I didn't kill myself. Kinda obvious. I mean I'm stronger than that, even with the muted legion of voices edging me on. I flipped the safety on and tossed it out of my sight. Since that's what I do when I'm alone. I contemplate my death and decide to not kill myself, when I probably should. Especially when I should. So I just left it there. I just left it there and headed back to where the ship was, dodging any remaining HYRDA goons and anyone else that might have a reason to hurt me. I just went back. Kinda like how I always do.

[Flex Lord Splash]

IC:

 

Then Alek's voice came over the com. Calm reassurance coursed through Christine's body as soon as she knew he was alright.

 

"Okay, we all heard him. X-Men let's head back to the Blackbird!" Christina said over the com so everyone would hear her as well.

 

The southern belle began to make her way towards the armored Jet careful to keep her eyes peeled for any remaining Hydra soldiers.

 

--------------------------------

 

Quinn fell in line behind Christine, walking slot backwards with bone shards sticking out of his wrists so he could quickly launch them out if they were attacked. Christine reached the Blackbird before him and walked up the ramp. He followed her inside only to watch as she began to power up the jet preparing it for lift off once everyone was on board.

 

Quinn stood at the bottom of the ramp silently standing watch in case of trouble.

 

-------------------------------------------

 

Johnathan glanced at Ash as the X-Men and Ultimates gravitated towards the Blackbird.

 

"Well, I guess that's my ride darlin. It's been nice catching up. You stay outta trouble and text a ****** if you ever need some company." He winked at her.

 

Ash ruffled her scarlet hair and smiled. "I will John, wish I could go back with you all. I have a nice new apartment though and some interesting neighbors, you can come see it sometime."

 

"Sounds good to me," John nodded. "Oh, and If you're ever hungry and don't want to prick anybody hit me up first, I'll bounce back fast from a feeding." He reminded the vampire turned mutant before he turned away and towards the Blackbird.

 

"Hey Cali, I'll race you back to the Blackbird! No powers either that's cheating!"

Edited May 4, 2015 by FleX-Man

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Leon)

 

Leon was not, to put it bluntly, having a good day. Actual, factual Nazi's had fricking invaded New York....and one them, big, pissy Austrian type had decided to play a riveting game of chase-the-vampire-and-throw-things-at-home until he had, as had become his habit, been chased from the frying pan and into the goddamn fire. 

 

And, just as the...assorted misfits, Neo-Romans and what seemed to be two very very lost Soviet BMP's had turned the cluster-screw that Times Sqaure had become into a slighter manageable screwfest....a giant, evil, Jolly-rancher be-headed Red Skull had shown up. 

 

Granted, he'd bit the dust after, but as with all good things that happened, Leon had suffered for it. In this case by being knocked into the curb, face-first, by the shockwave. 

 

"Uuuugharaglefeh." He climbed to his feet, trying to assess the damage.

 

Okay. Nosebleed.

 

But no fang fragments on the curb.

 

That was.....something.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Havelock Vetinari

[sunflower]

IC: Jesika 

 

So the big bad (haha I'll kill myself later doing something stupid don't worry) was dead, no surprise there.  Alright, it had been plenty surprising, given the fact that she had been right friggin' next to the thing when it came down.  He brilliant idea had revolved around getting right up in his red-ugly-face and discharging some real current right through his eye or something.  Or maybe the back of his head.  Yeah, that probably would have been better, a giant flashing lightning bug (heh) tended to attract attention.

 

She was supposed to be laying low, too.

 

Well, she was, currently.  Kinda.

 

She was indeed laying down, sprawled up against the tiered roof of some building, which thankfully wasn't too far below where she had been hovering... moments before?  Or was it minutes?  The drop did turn out to be far enough for her to knock her brain around, and she knew how to fall correctly.  No blood to be seen, a quick glance around her surroundings as she picked up her lolling head confirmed that, there would be bruises from that, most definitely.

 

Jesika pushed herself up to a sitting position, quietly rescinding some of the fatal curses she had placed against being walking glowstick, she didn't, well, break as easily as most.  She could move her arms and legs... and wings.  Joy.  Still felt like she'd been clotheslined by a freight train.

 

"Alecto?"

 

Another quick glance around failed to bring up the distractingly ha- uh, snarky batboy's face.  Right, he had been... behind her?  Some ways off, right?  Too far away to have been crushed by a giant robot Nazi, which was fortunate because Jesika didn't feel like having to dig him out from there.  Yeah, thanks for having my back, or, y'know, catching me.

 

A grunt of released air punctuated her movement to standing, only to realize that she hadn't actually heard it, only felt through her throat and chest.  It was then that Jesika began to notice the general lack of sound from... anywhere.  The initial knife of panic cutting through her heart was short lived, though, she'd been near explosions before, she'd heal.  Must've been too close to the shockwave, t-that was it.  A hand raised to her ear encountered a warm substance, and came back smudged blue.  Uggggh.  Her shoulders were sore from the impact, but it didn't hinder her too much as she stretched her wings out before taking to the air, being careful to avoid the emergency vehicles as she made her way back home.

 

"Oh for ##### sake, come on."

 

Landing in her "living room" a few minutes later didn't provide any relief, mostly given the fact that she was now sharing the already cramped area with a rather large piece of debris.  And the fact that she had entered her apartment from outside, through a hole in her wall that just so happened to be the same size as said piece of wreckage.  It also just to happened to have made itself right at home just outside the one other room.  Where sanctuary was.  AKA bed.  At least she could still get out of her apartment, maybe she could get some help moving a ten tonne piece of shrapnel.

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

His coming was echoed long before Dallas noticed him.

 

"Heyyy, big spender! Little banged up?"

 

"Help me," Dallas groaned to Alecto. "Forget the arm. Just help--"

 

Ultimate Dallas, sweater ~perfectly~ ruffled around his neck, crouched down to sit on his heels while he pushed up his younger, blonder counterpart's chin and looked his eyes over for any telltale signs of shock. When he didn't seem to find any, he grinned and wiped at a large spot of grime on his cheek in thought. When it seemed he had a good idea, he casually unclasped the leather belt he was wearing and pulled it free in a single swoop.

 

"Oh no," Dallas groaned.

 

"Oh, what? Got a better idea?" Dallas refuted. "C'mon. Let's find something to set this with before I do something lewd in front of Adam West."

 

-Tyler

 

Edited May 4, 2015 by Aikuro Mikisugi

[Eyru]

IC (Rene)

 

Holding Shi up with one arm, Rene dug through his pockets before emerging with his phone. A quick snapchat: himself with a toothy smile, a smoking pile of wreckage in the background, and his sister slung over his shoulder. A hastily-scrawled cowboy hat completed the picture. Only what to caption it...?

 

quick i need a lover and a horse so i can ride away into the sunset

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

Hand on your neck, twist your lips, phone above your head and TAKE THAT PIC

 

Dallas snapped a picture of himself smiling and scribbled a hasty nurse's hat over his long black hair.

 

Find a corner booth and give me twenty, fixing Blondie's arm. I think this merc is eyeboning me too so u should probably fight him mano y mano for morning snuggling privileges 

 

-Tyler

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

Well. The day had just taken another turn. So many X-Men so little time to snark....and yeah, there was no way a belt was gonna make a suitable splint. Someone had taken the *special* late night course to pass his biology class....that someone was also gonna pay for the Adam West crack. Turnabout was fair play. Not that Alecto would care if it didn't.

 

"Okay. First off, Fox Ryder, I think you've gotten a bit turned around. The street corners are down by the first floor. Easy mistake to make, I know." Alecto flashed a ######-eating grin as he bent down to examine the the wounded man's arm. "Second, I'm happy to inform you that you can dump that belt right back into the dumpster behind Hot Topic. I've got a splint in my apartment, with a few other things besides. Like painkillers. The good kind."

Edited May 4, 2015 by Havelock Vetinari

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Uhhh, whoa there. Back up a second, because we have some ground to cover. First, Diamond Jubilee. I've been to seventy five different timestreams and I haven't aged a day. Second, you don't want to play this game with me, Fairy Godmother, I've spent three years honing this tongue on anything you can name and I will murk your . Third, people who would seize at the chance to pull my belt off? They don't get to critique my belt." Dallas flared his eyes casually and then rolled them, texting the X-Men to know he'd found Dallas and Alex.

 

"Kids are with me, and I'm taking them back to Westchester so they can all graduate and I can go back to dancing on countertops for quick dough. Did you know for 88 cents a day you can quench a nineteen year old girl's thirst for a week? Just donate to the Dallas Green's Wallet Foundation in one lump payment. 88 cents a day, times...a hundred dollars and we'll call it a down payment."

 

-Tyler

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

Oh. This is going to be fun.

 

"Well, yeah you've got ground to cover. Again. Street corners. Downstairs. Second, on the tongue thing, the mouthwash is upstairs. All you had to do was ask. Though as a medical professional I strongly advise you start watching where you put that thing. Modern medicine can only do much." Alecto let out a faux-sad sigh, then switched right back to the ######-eating grin. "Third, why would folks need to leap for it? Seems to me that belt comes off easy enough."   

 

Then the bat-bewinged mercenary frowned as the full extant of the damage to the arm became clear. "######. Alright, I'm gonna need you to describe the pain." If the pain was bad enough, moving him until he got the painkillers in his system might be out the question.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Havelock Vetinari

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"I can't get a read on you, kid. Over/under on indigo?"

 

"Over. More like a...navy."

 

"Hurts like , not like dog," Dallas told Alecto. "And, for the record, you would totally have to work to get this belt off."

 

"Please don't encourage him," Dallas said, holding the pain in his voice to a minimum. "Either of ya. While I'm sure..., aggh...while I'm sure that I'm about to nip true- love right in the bud, my arm...and iPod...kinda busted."

 

"No worries, kid. Give Alex the puppy eyes, let him tug one out over it a few times and I'm sure it'll be good as new. As for the iPod...we can always get you another."

 

-Tyler

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"I'll need some evidence for that claim I'm afraid." Alecto smiled weakly as he took in the state of the wounded man. "Anyway, gonna assume that means you're good to move." Alecto hooked his arm under the less-snarky X-Man's good shoulder. "Stay steady on your feet, if you're slipping you'll need ta let me know. We'll take this one step at a time, and if you feel something else break, try to get me the location of it. Ya know, somewhere in the screaming." 

 

It wasn't his fault his sense of humor didn't have an off-button. Really.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Havelock Vetinari

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"I'm either gonna kill you or get your number, Sephiroth. I'll ask Bekah what she thinks la--wait. I know you. You're Wild Wings from Wild Wings. Hey, ebag, you heckled my team."

 

...

 

"Good goin'."

 

-Tyler

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"It's nice to be appreciated. I wish I coulda gotten more from fangs n'thangs little splatterfest but it wasn't my best night." Alecto's wings perked up for a moment. "Oooooh. You happen to know Bubba? Big hairy guy? Says bub alot? Reeeeeeal short temper? I swear the guy propositioned me. All that was missin' was the white windowless van. And-watch that step-well, anyway, I told em I'd think about it. Provided he, ya know, put a paperbag over his face. Not my place to tell ya your business, but I'm not sure you wanna be on the kind of watchlists he'd attract." Alecto guided the wounded man through a corner, trying to ignore just how freaking tired he was. 

Edited May 5, 2015 by Havelock Vetinari

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"You kidding? I'm a transdimensional hero. I've fought off robots...Nazis...if there's a zombie apocalypse in Jacksonville I'm going to hit the Sam Raimi hat trick before I'm 22."

 

-Tyler

[25K Now!]

IC: Gabriel

 

"Anyone up for lunch?"

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"No offense, but To Catch A Predator doesn't around. I mean, half the time I was around the guy I was just waiting for Chris Hansen to bust down the door." A slight ruffle of the wings. "Though it turns out I'm not his type. Thank whoever. See, as soon as he was done failing hilariously at insulting me, he crept right into Fangs'n thangs room. Now I'm not against a little interracial mixing, but c'mon, a werewolf and vampire? No way that's gonna end well. Specially because I think he's taking the relationship a little too seriously. Real tragic."

 

He paused.

 

"What I'm saying is you might have a little competition on the street corner champ."