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Carnage27

11-16-2011, 04:44 PM

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June 6, 1944

A grenade explodes in front of me, shrapnel slamming against my shield as I bring it in front of me. I keep it there, pushing up the beach as machine gun fire rips through the air, and soldiers fall left and right behind me. But we charge on, not caring what happens to the individual, only worried about the mission before us.

I reach a sand dune and throw myself behind it, my men doing the same for cover. The machinegun nest we’ve been tasked with taking out is only one hundred yards away, but it might as well be a mile. The fire coming from the enemy is heavy, and I know the majority of the men hunkered down beside me won’t be making it back to the women the love and the families they’ve left behind.

But I also know that if we don’t succeed, if this mission is a failure, their families’ very way off life will be threatened by the greatest evil this world has ever seen.

They all look to me for their next order, but the fear in their eyes betrays that they know what’s to come.

“Okay. You all know what’s coming. You all know what we have to do. It’s not gonna be pretty, and most of us probably won’t make it back. But remember this, after today, your names will be legend. Every man, woman, and child in America and around the world will thank you for their freedom and safety. Remember that as you go over this hill and you will live forever.”

I feel their confidence grow, and I don’t waste any more time. I push myself over the dune, my shield leading the way, gleaming like the flag on the beaches of Normandy.

Bullets immediately start bouncing off of it as the Nazi machine gunners spot my flamboyant dress. Good. That’s what it’s for. The more enemies firing at me, trying to bring down Captain America, the less of my men will die. And my shield takes up enough of my body to protect form the vast majority of any gunfire. The krauts will have to work hard to hit me. I’ll have to remember to tell Stark he earned his money today. He’ll love that.

As I rush the machine gun bunker in front of me, a green flash catches my eye to the left. Alan Scott fires a large ball and chain from his power ring, smashing into the concrete nest he was designated to take out. On my other side, I know Garrick has probably taken his out as well. And further down the line, the other Invaders will do their jobs as well, leading their men to victory.

I reach our bunker, not waiting to see how many men made it through the hail of bullets. I spring off the ground using my powerful legs, and roll into the nest. The gunners are completely taken by surprise, fumbling at their side arms. I toss my shield at the one, bouncing it off his forehead before striking the other and returning to me.

I toss down a ladder to the men below, and the first one up, his smiling face greeting me. The boy is young, but I’ll be damned if he isn’t a good soldier. I was apprehensive when Fury first brought up the idea of a “side-kick” to me, but the boy has proved himself time and time again. And he’s become a good friend, on top of a good soldier.

As Bucky begins to talk, his face dissolves into a cloud…

May 1, 1945

“I’m getting you out of there and we’re taking down Schmidt together!” I call down to Bucky, even though I don’t believe it. Bucky’s too far down in the fissure. There’s no way I’ll be able to get down there and get the two of us out.

“You never were any good at lying,” he smiles weakly up at me as the Red Skull’s death machine powers up behind me. And with that, Bucky lets go. As he disappears into the icy darkness, I let out a howl of desperation before slamming my fists into the ice.

The Skull’s plane begins to move, and I turn and race towards it. If I can’t save Bucky, I’m going to make Johan Schmidt pay the price for what he’s done.

Five Days Ago

Maxwell Lord smiles through the parka he’s wearing. After decades of searching, he had told Scott to give up on the project. But Lord wouldn’t. He knew the legend of Captain America. He know what the man meant. And he knew he wanted him for his team.

With Captain America, Checkmate would be unbeatable. It would be the most effective task force in the world, and no one would escape them. America would be safe, and the world with it. And everyone would chant with Lord along with Captain America.

And now, he finally had him.

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1941

“Hey, I know this neighborhood,” I smile at Dr. Erskine. “I got beat up in that alley. And in front of that store. And I got shoved in that trashcan one time.”

Erskine smiles warmly, “Tell me, Steven. Do you have somezing against running away?”

“Once you start runnin’, they’ll never let ya stop, Doc,” I respond, looking out the window. New York has always been my home. No matter how people treat me, the city is the greatest on earth.

Three Days Ago

“My word,” Cliff Carmichael, codenamed “Thinker”, says as he evaluates the block of ice that contains the frozen body of Steve Rogers. “He’s still alive.”

“What?!” Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern and current White King of Checkmate blurts out in happy surprise. He feels betrayed that Lord continued a search the man had told Alan was hopeless. But the fact that Captain America, the man who Scott had fought alongside all those years ago, was still alive fills him with joy, hope, and elation. “How can you tell?”

“The readings are giving me a heartbeat. It’s very, very slow,” he says leaning back, obviously amazed. “But that’s to be expected considering he’s been frozen for almost seventy years. But I’m assuming his super-soldier physiology has kept him alive all this time.”

“Can you wake him up, Cliff?” Lord asks with a smile on his face.

“I don’t see why not,” Cliff says, spinning around on his chair to face the other two men. “Just give me a few days.”

1941

“Is it going to hurt?” I ask Howard Stark as he straps me into the machine which will pound me with some sort of radiation. He told me what it was called, but honestly, I can’t remember what it was. I’m not really into the whole science thing.

“Honestly? Probably. Yea,” Stark says with the trademark, cocky smile I’ve come to expect from him. He may not be the most humble person out there, but he’s a good man, and working hard for the army. He's my age, which is surprising. A 23 year old with the mind of Einstein. Maybe even smarter. “Good luck, kid.”

After he walks away, a woman in an army uniform approaches me. Saying she’s the most beautiful I’ve ever seen would be an understatement. She smiles at me, and I feel my heart flutter. Girls never smile at me, unless they’re laughing at me. “Steve, I’m Peggy Carter. I’ll be serving with you once we get you into the fray. I just wanted to tell you how proud we all are of you, and how we’re counting on you.”

She gives me a reassuring pat on the shoulder before Dr. Erskine gives me a shot.

“That wasn’t so bad.”

“Zhat was penicillin, Steven,” he smiles before the pod I’m in closes around me.

Before long, the pod fills with a blinding light as the radiation begins. And Stark was right. It does hurt. A lot. And as he ups the dosage the pain and the light intensifies until…

Now

“He’s waking up!” I here someone yell, panicked as my body feels incredibly hot and cold at the same time. It’s like I have both fire and ice running through my veins. But I don’t remember the process being like this. And I barely remember being able to hear the people outside of the pod the last time.

I struggle against the restraints on my wrists and ankles, breaking them easily. I tumble off the gurney I was on, spilling onto the ground. I turn over onto my hands and knees, vomiting nothing but bile.

“Where…where am I?” I stutter, finding my tongue clumsy and thick in my mouth.

“You’re back, Cap,” I hear a familiar, yet alien voice say. “You’ve been asleep for a long, long time…”

I look up and can’t believe who I see.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r7/aqua10/Alan_scott-ross.jpg

“But you’re back. You’re back.”

Carnage27

11-16-2011, 06:18 PM

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A solar flare explodes from the sun, and the scream of a bird startles me out of sleep. It's the same dream I've been having for a few years, but it seems like it's been coming to me more often the past few months. Neither Professor X, J'onn, nor me have been able to decipher what it actually means. J'onn insists it's just a part of my subconscious, but I don't know how much I believe that. The Professor says it might be a side effect of my powers growing as he breaks down the limits he put in when I was a girl, which might make sense.

I roll over and find that Scott's already left to start his day. It's not surprising. For as long as I've known him Scott has been an early riser, starting off his day early to make sure he gets everything done. Which is an accomplishment considering all he has on his plate.

Being a teacher at a top tier boarding school is one thing, but being the leader of the X-Men as well adds so much on top of that. He has to constantly scout the younger students for potential members, as well as setting up training routines for the veteran members of the team.

I shower and dress myself before heading into the halls of the Xavier Mansion. The sprawling West Chester estate is picturesque, which is exactly what we want to give these kids. Many of them have been persecuted since their powers manifested, and we want this to be a safe place. Mutant kind is not universally loved in America, or the world, for that matter. And the Professor's dream was to give mutant children a place where they could grow up in safety.

Still, not all of them were driven out of their hometowns. For every mutant-hater out there, there's two to three people who see no difference between the mutants and heroes like Superman. They may secretly fear us or welcome us, but they certainly don't hate us.

As I turn a corner, I bump into Koriand'r. She looks flushed and quickly says, "Oh! Excuse me, Miss Grey. I don't want to be late."

"Kori," I smile at the girl warmly, "class doesn't start for another forty-five minutes. No need to rush."

She's a sweet girl, but still hasn't gotten over the ordeal of the past few months. She's not actually a mutant. According to her she's an alien princess stranded on Earth by some unknown reason. We saved her three months back from a mutant slave trader who came across her on the side of the road.

She was scared, and alone, unable to speak an earthly language when we found her. When we began talking, she kissed me, which was incredibly odd, but it turns out she absorbs languages that way. Ever since then she's taken to coming for me for help. I don't know if it's because I was her first true link to Earth or what, but she seems to be the most comfortable around me, although she has made friends here. Her and Kurt Wagner seem to be close.

I like having a little protege. Maybe it's because I was so much like her when I was young. I was scared and alone when my powers manifested themselves.

"Oh, yes," she nods politely. "But well...you never know! See you soon!"

I smile, shaking my head and go to the kitchen to have some breakfast before returning to my classroom. The class is empty save for Kori, but it quickly fills up with her classmates, and I begin my lesson.

Batman

11-16-2011, 06:18 PM

"What do I think? I think you'd be outta your flippin' mind."

Professor Charles Xavier placed his hands together and readied himself for a reaction he had already anticipated. It had been just a little over seven weeks since the man, who's only given name was Logan, came back to the Academy for Gifted Youngsters after first stumbling upon the private school's grounds a long five years ago. And in the short time since his return, Xavier had already noticed the reaction to his stay under the mansion's roof was less than favorable by the students and faculty. Though Logan himself had never been met directly with any words or glances that suggested hostility, Xavier's status as headmaster of the school required him to observe the behaviors of his students. And when it came to Logan, their behavior seemed only to change.

Neither men were quite sure as to why. Logan's scruff and unkempt physical appearance was something that might have required getting used to, but given the high variety of mutant traits that included many unique qualities, it seemed unlikely that he would cause any discomfort by that merit alone. His behavioral patterns, such as the fact that he kept quietly to himself whenever he roamed the halls, and rarely ever left his room during the daytime - not to mention that he never even seemed to smile - may have been the root of it, but it was quite common for a new inhabitant of the mansion to act a little antisocial. With time, they would eventually allow themselves to gain acceptance among the other students.

But unknown to Xavier, Logan knew exactly why everyone stopped and stared whenever he entered a room, or whispered amongst themselves as he crossed the lawn to head out for an evening binge of drinking at the local bar and cruising along the coast.

They could sense the danger. That wild, untamed sense of ferocity that lurked just behind his eyes, telling a tale that none would want to know of even the most minimal details. Ever since Logan could remember - and that in itself wasn't as long of a period as one would think - he seemed to attract trouble wherever he roamed. He had been in more fights in the span of a few short years than most had been in their entire lives. Some had actually lived through the encounter. Others didn't. But whatever the circumstances, there would always be a clear winner, no matter who the unlucky opponent happened to be.

That didn't ever stop them from coming. So because of it, a long time ago, Logan had decided that he was better off as a drifter than someone who absolutely needed to stick around. He had seen the terrible things that happened to people for being around him, and he didn't want that to be a running theme in his life. Being stuck in this school for this long was already marking a target on it's students. Logan didn't know how or why it had to be that way, but deep down, he could feel it beginning all over again. If he didn't pack up his things and move on once again, something bad was bound to happen.

So to hear Xavier offer him an extended stay as an operative of something bigger, something way beyond anything that the headmaster of a school had any business to offer, was a bit surprising. But nevertheless, Logan's expression conveyed an immediate rejection. He wasn't going to be apart of anything that meant turning him back into a soldier.

"Logan, I certainly understand your hesitance. It is alot for one to comprehend, at first, even for someone as disillusioned to the world as yourself. I have made this offer to many before you, and recieved a variety of reactions. Some believed I was insane,"

Gesturing over to the wall, Xavier waited until Logan's eyes peered over at the photographs that aligned the top half of it. All of a graduating class that consisted of many of the current teachers and instructors of the Academy. A bispecled young man named Summers, a redheaded girl named Grey, a highly educated looking brute named McCoy, and a few others.

"Others saw an inherent wisdom in my plight. Whatever you believe me to be, I pass no judgement. But understand that I would not have offered this chance to merely anyone who came upon the steps of this school. I have been watching you, Logan, and I see a great potential."

With an eyebrow raised, Logan turned back to the Professor, failing to hide his clear skepticism.

"Then no offense, but you got somethin' wrong with your eyes, Prof. I ain't no beacon of goodwill, or whatever you called your group of boyscouts. Puttin' me in there would only be a mistake."

"How so?"

For a moment, Logan almost considered blinking.

"Do I really need to spell it out? You're a telepath, for cryin' out loud."

Xavier paused, readying his answer with delicate care.

"Yes, and from what our weekly sessions shown, you would be a prime candidate for this. Your only memories of your past convey a prior experience in field combat, meaning that you would not require the strict training regimine that the others have been given. Your mutant abilities have given you a penchant for tracking, and an expertise in surviving foreign environments. All things considered, from my estimation... you would be a valuable asset to the team."

Logan's eyes shifted, breaking away from Xavier's rather optimistic gaze.

"A team? Sure, I can see why someone'd want me to join up. Your team, though? I dunno. The way you're talkin', you're all out to change the world. That means you gotta win some folks over."

"That has been the struggle, thus far. Human and mutant relations have met a dangerous level of conflict, and I fear it would only escalate with the coming years. Especially since the rise of certain individuals, looking to pacify one side or the other."

"See, that's the thing."

Logan leaned in.

"Puttin' me on the team ain't gonna help that. It's just gonna hurt. And that's me talkin' from experience."

Xavier sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"Logan, you have explained this to me, but you've yet to give any definite reason as to why you feel this way. Would it be so terrible to have you at their side? Say that I sent the group out tommorrow, on a mission of good will. To what disadvantage would your presence be giving them?"

With a snort, Logan crossed his arms.

"Bub, that ain't a road you wanna go down. Just trust me when I say it... I ain't your man."

With careful consideration of his answer, Xavier rolled out from under his desk and revealed himself in full, his automated wheelchair guiding him across the room. Logan stood up as the Professor approached, then passed and headed towards the door.

"I strongly disagree, but I suppose I will have to accept that. If it is how you truly feel, I cannot force you to reconsider."

Opening the door to the office, revealing the halls of the flourishing campus just beyond, Xavier indicated them as Logan approached.

"But if you're really looking for answers to your past, I would suggest giving it a try. Or at least, spending some time to think about it. My psychic link to your memories are scarce, at best, so I fear that I can learn nothing more about you until you learn more about yourself. Interacting with others - more importantly, allowing yourself to trust others - may be the key to unlocking more of those memories."

Without so much as an acknowledgement to that suggestion, Logan shifted his hands into his pockets and walked past, staring down at the halls ahead.

"Tryin' to entice me into coming back only worked the first time, Prof. Ain't gonna fall for it a second."

With that, he headed into the campus and ignored the stares that greeted him, freely lighting a cigar as he crossed the path leading to his temorary room.

Xavier was crazy. There was no way that Logan would ever belong on his little group of X-Men.

Byrd Man

11-16-2011, 06:45 PM

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Gotham City
11:25 PM

Alfred pulls the limo up to the front entrance of the nightclub. Inferno is one of the city's most popular clubs right now. A line of would-be club goers stretches from the entrance all the way down the block. Not even a fraction of them will get in tonight.

"Meet me around the back of the club in a half hour," I tel Alfred.

"That long? I thought you planned to just be seen."

"Well, I need to draw a little attention to myself first."

I step out of the limo to paparazzi cameras and catcalls from women.

"Bruce Wayne! Tell OMG News why you dumped Katarina!"

"What do you think about Charlie Sheen?!"

"Any comment on your drug habit?! Will you ever go to rehab?!"

I smile and wave for the cameras, ignoring all the talk and conjecture. The bouncer lets me in without a second thought and I'm transported into a dark underworld where up is down and black is white. On top of all that, there's horrible techno music.

I really hate techno.

But I play it up anyway, dancing with a few girls before I slip them my number. I buy the whole club a round of drinks and get some more attention thrown my way. That should be more than enough to establish a solid alibi for where I've been tonight. After that, I quietly make my way to the back of the club. When I exit into the alley, the car and Alfred are waiting for me. A neat little bundle of clothes rests in the backseat.

"Do I detect the hint of a smile on your face? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a good time."

"I think you're confusing me with Tony Stark."

"Well, at least he knows how to have a good time."

"So do I," I reach for the cape and cowl, taking my shirt off and sliding on the shirt. "It's just that my parties involve drug dealers and broken bones."

"That doesn't sound too different than the Stark-Wayne charity bash the two of you threw last year."

I smirk and reach for my cape and cowl.

"Now, if you'll excuse me..."

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I swing across the city and land on top of one of the gargoyles that flank the city. One of the many influences of my ancestor, Alan Wayne. It's nearly midnight now, I have an appointment to make. It takes just a few minutes to get to the GCPD's headquarters. From across the street, I activate the audio surveillance I have planted in the various rooms.

Device 210434
Listening: 2nd floor break room
"So that's when the bear stops and looks at the hunter and he says 'You just don't come here for the hunting, do you'?"

Device 210437
Listening: Lt. A. Flass' Office
"Yeah, my shift ends in a few minutes. I'll be there. Just hope that sonofa***** Skeevers doesn't keep me too late."

Device 210440
Listening: Comm. G. Loeb's Office
"Come and knock on our door, we've been waiting for you!
Where the kisses are hers, and hers, and his. Three's Company, too!"

Device 210438
Listening: Capt. J. Gordon's Office
N/A No Activity

Good, that means he's waiting. I swing from the roof and swing across the street to the roof of Gotham Central. I make my way down to the basement and the morgue, where the only friend I have in this city is waiting.

"You're late," the dark haired man in the suit says before he lights up a cigarette.

Identified:
James W. Gordon
Captain, Gotham City Police Department

"Is it another OD?"

"Yep. This makes the sixth one in a month."

Junkies have been dropping like flies all over the city for the last two months. The heroin they've been shooting up has been purer than anything they've ever had and then some. Toxicology reports come back that the vials have an extra dose in them. Something I haven't been able to identify. Gordon and I are the only ones who seem to care at all. As far as most of the police are concerned, who cares if another junkie drops dead?

"Let's see."

Gordon leads me to the morgue slab where the latest victim is. It's a man, appearing to be in his mid to late 40's. There are track marks all up and down his arms and legs. A long time drug addict for sure. The medical examiner already has his chest cavity open and the organs are probably packed away in a freezer somewhere. The real action is on his face.

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Like all the others, his face is contorted into a sick and twisted grin.

"It's the heroin, isn't it?"

"That's the only explanation. Someone's tainting Gotham's drug supply."

"I would put my money on a rival dealer. Last I heard, the Falcones were pushing most of the H through the city along with their front man, Jeff Skeevers. Someone must have got tired of them getting all the profit."

"That's a good theory. I'll look into it. You should get home, Captain. It's late. You're family will be worried about you."

Gordon flinches and digs his hands into his pocket. He's trying hide his missing wedding ring. I noticed it the last time we mat. That and the fact that his partner, Sergeant Essen, both disappeared about the same time.

"What are you going to do? I tried sweating some of the street dealers out there and see what they knew about it. They all clammed up in a hurry. Even when I threatened them with jail. They didn't flinch."

I turn away from Gordon and begin to walk out of the morgue.

"I'll make them flinch."

Batman

11-16-2011, 08:19 PM

It can't rain all the time.

Nights like this remind me of the farm. Feeling the wet dirt between your toes as you go running through the endless fields, holding out your tongue to collect raindrops. The smell of wheat husks and corn just as they're beginning to bloom, knowing that the harvest months are ahead of you. Part of you dreads it because you know that there's alot of work ahead to shake up the flow of your early morning chores, but the other part tells you it'll be worth the labor just to be able to taste that first, warm homemade meal of the many to come. I remember those times, when your worries seemed like they were behind you. Instead of infront of you. For the first time, I find myself beginning to realize that the years have changed so much of that. Because even though it's been going on a year since I moved away, the city keeps finding ways to remind me of the past. I almost expect to wake up and realize I've never actually left Smallville, that I'm running late for school and Pa is gonna offer to drive me, even though he knows perfectly well that I can make it in time.

Then a taxi blows it's horn. And I'm suddenly thrust back to reality, keeping up the pace to stay ahead of the people on the sidewalk, shielding themselves with newspapers and briefcases to try and stay out of the rain. The hood of my jacket goes up as I make it to the corner, passing a large windowed diner in my stead. And for the briefest of moments, I manage to catch a glimpse of a family sitting down to their evening dinner, enjoying eachother's company as they laugh at eachother's jokes. Apart of me wishes I still had that, and regrets that I had to leave it behind. But here, in Metropolis - the city of tomorrow, as they keep calling it - I'm not Clark Kent to anyone. I'm a faceless, nameless stranger who's all alone with nothing to do. And for the time being, I'll just have to be content with that.

"Damn!"

A woman next to me drops her purse, it's contents spilling out all over the pavement and immediately drenched in the downpour. She bends down and struggles to put everything back in it's place, but the rain makes it difficult. Without a second's thought, I walk over and immediately begin to help her. I can tell that she's hesitant to accept the help, at first, and I can certainly understand why. Some people in a city like this would probably run up and snatch her belongings before she could even recover. But after a moment of shuffling them into my hand, I give her a smile and hand it all over.

"Here you go. You looked like you needed some of this."

"Oh. I... I mean, thank you. I didn't think..."

Collecting herself and her belongings, she gives me a grateful nod.

"Thank you. Have a nice evening."

"You too, m'aam."

Crossing the street, she's soon out of sight and I'm back on the path towards my apartment. I've been experiencing alot of odd moments like that since my arrival, actually. Helped an elderly woman across the street last week, and she looked at me like I had some sort of disease. Changed the tire off of some person's flat whenever their car broke down near my street, and they thought I was trying to carjack them when I offered to help. It's as if by coming to Metropolis, I've landed on an entirely different planet all over again. When you lived in Smallville, it was just commonplace to try and help others. But out of what I've noticed, it doesn't seem like many people here are willing to do the same thing. Most just seem to ignore eachother or turn a blind eye to anyone in need. Maybe it's just because Ma and Pa didn't raise me like that, but it all feels so... wrong.

"Keep your heads down and don't move! This is a robbery!"

Speaking of which.

Peering over to the source of the voice's trajectory, I glance at the nearest wall - then look through it and the walls that are aligned between the next few buildings. Three blocks to my left, a gang of armed thieves wearing masks begin to line up the customers of a nearby cashier's firm, three of them already beginning to swarm through the money being held in the back of the vault while the others keep the hostages floored. Judging from the way that their weapons look, that more state-of-the-art build that I've been seeing more of lately, these men aren't amatuers. They're working for the crime syndacite that The Daily Planet called "Intergang" a few weeks ago.

I have to do something. If no one stands up to these bullies while they're still making a name for themselves, they're only going to climb higher and step over more of the city's crimelords. Which means that the more crime there is to circulate, the more that alot of innocent people will probably get hurt in the process. Not today, Glenmorgan.

Not if I have anything to say about it.

:super:

Byrd Man

11-16-2011, 08:20 PM

2nd Period US History
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
Westchester, NY

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"So, who wants to talk about the Cuban Missile Crisis?"

I lean against my desk and watch as seven attentive and sharp students all become self-conscious and wary. Nobody every wants to go first.

"Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Fine, I'll select a volunteer. Kurt, what do you think caused it?"

"Cuba? Ze Bay of Pigs?" The furry blue student asks.

"That was one of the causes, yeah. Fact of the matter is that Bay of Pigs was the straw that broke the camels back. Tensions had been building for years between the two superpowers. Ever since the end of World War Two. Anyone know of any particular event that may have furthered tensions between the two?"

A few reluctant hands go up.

"Virgil?"

"The Berlin Airlift?"

"That was one. How about you tell us what the Berlin Airlift was and when it occurred."

"In the summer of 1948, the Soviets blockaded America and the other Western Allies from East Berlin and East Germany. With so many starving East Germans needing help, Truman authorized the Air Force to bypass the blockade by flying over it and disperse supplies to all the needy East Germans."

"Good. Does anyone know why the Soviets blockaded East Berlin? Pete, you ever learn anything about it in school over there?"

"No," the big Russian replies. "Much of the Soviet history was bypassed in school."

"Well, to make a long story short, Germany was facing rapid inflation in the post-war economy and the Western Allies were introducing economic reform to Germany's currency, the Deutsche Mark. The Soviets opposed the move, they viewed it as a threat from the Allies trying to take control of East Germany's economy. So they blockaded all Allied influence from East Germany."

The bell rings, announcing the next class.

"Alright, we'll get more into that tomorrow. Be sure to read up on the Missile Crisis some more. We'll do our review on years '46 to '63 and have the test on Friday. Now get out of here."

The students leave and head to their next class while I reach for the cup of coffee on my desk.

Scott,"a voice echoes in my head.Can you see me in private? Or are you expecting another class?

The owner of the voice is Charles Xavier, the man I will forever be indebted to. He took me in when I was just a scared kid who couldn't open my eyes in an orphanage in Alaska. He gave me sight, and then he gave me a life. Everything I have is due to him.

It's my free period right now.

Excellent. Meet me in the lower levels of the mansion. It's X-Men related.

On my way.

I down the rest of my coffee and leave the mug on the desk as I leave the room and navigate through the students going to and from class.

SuperFerret

11-16-2011, 08:44 PM

I, J’onn J’onzz, was born roughly 1000 Earth years ago on Ma'aleca'andra, the planet you call “Mars”. I had a family there, my wife M'yri'ah and my beloved daughter, K’hym, and was well loved by the people I served as a Manhunter (roughly the equivalent of an Earth Federal Marshal). Then, the Curse struck. H’ronmeer’s Curse, named for the Martian God of Fire, Light, Life and Death, was a psionic plague, traveling like literal wildfire throughout the telepathic Martian community. It filled the mind with thoughts of fire, the greatest single fear of any Martian, to the point of causing physical combustion. In order to save myself, I had to close my mind to those around me, a decision forcing me to watch my wife and daughter die as they failed to do the same. For many a year afterwards, I wandered Mars alone, the sole undertaker of a planet wide graveyard.

I was brought to Earth in November of 1955 by accident when an experiment of Dr. Saul Erdel’s went awry. Dr. Erdel, shocked by my alien appearance, died from heart failure soon after, leaving me alone, a stranger in a strange land. My feelings on this were mixed. On one hand, I was terrified at my new surroundings, on the other, I was elated at the opportunity for interpersonal contact once more. Disguising myself as an Earthling, I spent years traveling this planet, using my abilities in secret to aid any I came across.

In September of 1995, my path crossed with that of Professor Charles Xavier. He was a mutant, a species that was considered the next stage in the evolution of Homo sapiens, and as such, he and his small group of protogés, were feared by “normal” humans. This fear by those who do not expect or understand them was what originally made me sympathetic to their cause. Actually meeting Charles is what made me see a kindred spirit in the man. Though not a mutant myself, I became an ally to him and his team, and eventually joined his “X-Men” and took a position as a teacher at his School for Gifted Youngsters.

Today, though my true family on Mars is long gone from this existence, I have found a new home, and a new family among these fellow outcasts.

I am J’onn J’onzz, Martian Manhunter, X-Man.

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“You must look deep within yourself, Anna.” I say to the young woman seated across from me. I do not pry without permission, but nonetheless, I can sense the apprehension and fear radiating from her mind. “You must calm the voices in your mind. Do not pay them heed. Focus on yourself.”

“Ah… ah’m trying, Mr. J’onzz.” Anna Marie stutters, her eyes squeezed closed as she fights the myriad of mindscapes that clash with hers.

This is not the so-called “Danger Room” class that the students speak of in hushed whispers, but this private session is not without its peril. Anna Marie, otherwise known as “Rogue”, has a terrifying mutant ability. Skin to skin contact with her causes a reactionary response within her biology that absorbs the psyche and abilities of the other person. She discovered this when her first boyfriend attempted to kiss her. It nearly killed him, and almost destroyed her mind. Due to the way the transfer is both physiological and psionic, Charles, Henry and I all agreed that I would be the best to try and help her control the ability she sees as a curse.

The transfer happens unconsciously, as a reflex. Given her nervousness at the time of first manifestation, and the continued stress and worrying in subsequent accidental contacts, I am convinced that it is a defensive mechanism, triggered by her unknowing fear of herself and others. To eliminate such fear, we sit alone in a small, dimly lit room without furnishing, and I begin each session teaching her meditation and calming methods. This is our third such session.

“Anna, just relax. You are doing well, but you know you must relax. Open your eyes for a moment.” She complies, brushing her hair, auburn with a white streak, from her face. “Sit up straight, but not too rigidly. You must be comfortable and focused.”

“That’s hard t’ do.”

“I know.” I assume the posture myself, “Do as I do.” She mimics my position and closes her eyes gently as I do. “We are going to make mental contact again. Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

I enter her mind, scanning her thoughts and finding where she is focusing. I join here in that portion of her mind. My scans of Rogue reinforce my hypothesis. Her psyche is a fearful place, a mindscape’s equivalent of a haunted house. Fragments of minds float here and there, literally moaning and wailing as they go. I marvel, not for the first time, at the girl’s mental strength. Lesser minds would have gone insane long ago. It makes me confident that she can eventually control her gift.

Andy C.

11-16-2011, 09:41 PM

Night has fallen over the city, but while the millions of workaday men and women sleep, the streets are still wide awake. Street lights and neon signs light up the darkened alleyways, train cars rumble by in the distance, taxi cabs take their fares from bars to clubs to sleazy hotels, maybe even home at some point. By day, the city belongs to the citizens, the tourists, the shops and shows and businesses piled into skyscrapers that reach up into the clouds.

By night, though......this city is my city.

Somewhere in the dark, a woman screams; this time of night is when all of the worms in the Big Apple start to crawl out. My city cries out for help, and I'm there in a flash.

"Someone help me!" calls the woman, a terrified young blonde in a blue dress- a nice girl who was just out for a good time, who wandered into a bad neighborhood. The lowlife that looms over her can barely keep from drooling, one hand pawing at her, the other pointing a snub-nosed .38 against her belly. She offers him her purse, but it's not her money that he's after.

I leap down from the rooftop and land with barely a whisper.

"Leave the lady alone, creep," I say, and when the scumbag hears my voice, he all but wets his pants.

"Y-y-you!" he stammers. "B-b-but I didn't think you wuz even real!"

"Real enough to put you away, you slime," I growl, cracking my knuckles.

"Look out!" the woman warns me. "He's got a gun!"

The snarling thug brings his snub-nose revolver to bear and pulls back on the hammer, but it's already far too late. I'm a blur of motion, on him before he even realizes I've moved at all. A shot rings out, but the bullet hits nothing but air as I grab hold of his gun-hand and using my incredible strength, crush every bone in his fingers.

"GAAAAAH!" the dirtbag cries out, stumbling back as I wind up to deliver a spinning tornado kick to finish him off. My foot arcs through the air in perfect form, slamming into his forehead and knocking him cold.

The thug dispatched, the gorgeous young woman runs to me in relief.

"Oh, thank Heaven!" she says, "Whatever can I do to repay you?"

"No need for that," I say, looking up to the city skyline. "It's all in a night's work for--"

"Peter?"

An old man's voice rings through the darkened city, and suddenly the beautiful girl and the leering thug are nowhere to be found.

"Peter!"

The darkened city starts to blur together and then fall away, and I feel like I'm being pulled upwards, like I'm underwater and floating to the surface.....

....and my eyes open, my vision blurry and foggy without my glasses.

"Peter, you slept through your alarm again," says Uncle Ben from outside my bedroom door. "Hurry up and get dressed; you don't want to be late for school."

Squinting, I look at my alarm clock and see that I didn't, in fact, sleep through the alarm--I flat-out forgot to set it last night. I was up too late trying to level my Blood Elf Death Knight, and now I barely have time for a shower before catching the bus.

"I'm up....I'm up," I say, rubbing the drowsiness from my eyes and pulling myself out of bed. Looking for a set of clean clothes among the piles of laundry in my room, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror: a scrawny stick-figure, barely a hundred pounds, not an ounce of muscle on me. I'm not going to be punching out muggers any time soon in the real world.

A quick shower later, I throw some clothes on and head downstairs, my hair still wet and matted down. Aunt May is doing the dishes from where she and Uncle Ben had omelettes, but since I overslept, I head past her and grab a Pop-Tart from the pantry.

"Cutting it close, aren't we, Peter?" she says, scrubbing off a frying pan. "After all, you don't want to miss your big day."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Aunt May," I say, taking a bite out of the untoasted Pop-Tart. "I've been waiting for this field trip all year!"

Today's the day my class gets to go to Metropolis, to take a tour of the famous STAR Labs, and watch a demonstration of new experimental technology. I get to meet the famous Drs. Emil Hamilton and Curt Connors, who are conducting a joint venture between STAR LAbs and New York's Oscorp (the multi-billion-dollar technological firm run by my best friend Harry's dad Norman) in researching a theoretical bio-force called the 'morphogenic field.' It's going to be amazing, and since I'm with the school paper, I'm even allowed to take pictures (at approved times and locations, of course).

"Just make sure you be careful while you're there," Uncle Ben says. "Metropolis is a big city, and there are all sorts of crazy things happening there these days."

"I'll be fine," I assure him. "We're not even going to spend much time going around the city; we get there, we go straight to STAR Labs, we take the tour, break for lunch, watch the demonstration, and then we get back on.......the bus!!!!"

I jolt as I hear a rumbling diesel engine pass by the house. My eyes wide, I scarf down the last of the Pop-Tart and bolt out the door, my camera flailing around on its strap as I try to put my backpack on while running after the school bus.

"Wait! Stop the bus! Come on, wait for me!!!" I call out, running down the street after it, running panting and wheezing after barely ninety feet. It isn't until the bus reaches a stop sign that it finally comes to a halt, allowing me to catch up enough for the driver to see my chasing them and open the door for me.

Stepping onto the bus, I'm greeted by laughter, jeers, and a crumpled-up paper ball bouncing off my forehead, compliments of one Flash Thompson.

"Look at Puny Parker!" he chuckles. "Geek looks like he's gonna pass out!"

I hunch over and try to hide my face in the hood of my sweatshirt, trying in vain to go unnoticed as I make the walk of shame down the aisle between seats, looking for somewhere to sit. Not surprisingly, all the seats are taken, either by another person, or their backpacks accompanied with a "don't even think about it, loser" look. Public transportation does wonders for my self-esteem.

Fortunately, there's one person that I know is saving a seat for me: my Biology lab partner since freshman year, Gwen Stacy. She moves her book-bag over to let me sit down, and looks at me with what I hate to say looks like pity.

"Sleep in late?" she asks, seeing the dark circles around my eyes behind my thick-framed glasses.

"Yeah....lost track of time.....playing WoW...." I say, still trying to catch my breath. "Bus.....drove right past the house. Heck of a way to start the day, huh?"

"Well, hey, think of it this way: from here on, your day can only get better, right?"

"Heh, I guess," I say as the bus makes its way toward Midtown Manhattan Magnet High.

Okay, so today's not off to a good start. In fact, it's begun worse than normal, and in the life of Peter Parker, normal is pretty crappy. But hey, maybe Gwen's right-- it can only go uphill from here.

Today's a big day, and I ought to make the most of it.

"Aww, man! I forgot to bring my lunch!"

Supergirl

11-16-2011, 11:05 PM

2nd Period US History
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
Westchester, NY

"So, who wants to talk about the Cuban Missile Crisis? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Fine, I'll select a volunteer. Kurt, what do you think caused it?"

Oh thank god. He didn't call on me. Instead, he called on the blue demon guy. There are some creepy looking people here...

"Cuba? Ze Bay of Pigs?"
"That was one of the causes, yeah. Fact of the matter is that Bay of Pigs was the straw that broke the camels back. Tensions had been building for years between the two superpowers. Ever since the end of World War Two. Anyone know of any particular event that may have furthered tensions between the two?"

A few reluctant hands go up.

"Virgil?"

"The Berlin Airlift?"

"That was one. How about you tell us what the Berlin Airlift was and when it occurred."

"In the summer of 1948, the Soviets blockaded America and the other Western Allies from East Berlin and East Germany. With so many starving East Germans needing help, Truman authorized the Air Force to bypass the blockade by flying over it and disperse supplies to all the needy East Germans."

"Good. Does anyone know why the Soviets blockaded East Berlin? Pete, you ever learn anything about it in school over there?"

"No," the big Russian replies. "Much of the Soviet history was bypassed in school."

I glance over at Piotr. Even when not in his armored form, he's huge. Like All-State football player huge. And that accent. Oh my god that accent. And he's only a few dorm rooms down from me.

"Well, to make a long story short, Germany was facing rapid inflation in the post-war economy and the Western blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah"

I can't pay attention to boring Mr. Summers right now... I stare down at my notebook to the doodles that I subconsciously started scribbling of cartoon versions of me and Piotr... I quickly rip the page out, crumple it up and shove it in my pocket. Can't risk anyone seeing that. And then the bell rings. thank goodness. It's time for my favorite class. Advanced Computer Science with Dr. McCoy. I don't bother with the door, and just phase through the wall, not hearing what Mr. Summers is saying. Shucks, guess I'll just have to ask Piotr later. That's a shame. I find myself sheepishly grinning as I sit down in my desk in the front row.

"Ah. Miss Pryde. Prepunctual as per usual I see."

The other blue furry guy on campus, and my favorite teacher! The door opens and the only other student in this class comes in and sits beside me.

"Good, Mr. Drake has arrived as well. Then without further ado, let us commence."

Bobby sits beside me, and we spend the next hour learning about artificial intelligence, and in particular the Danger AI that Dr. McCoy designed for the school.

Spike_x1

11-16-2011, 11:24 PM

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"No, Dr. Michaels, you can't take the schematics home with you to work on. Nothing pertaining to the Accelerator leaves this room." Trying to look over Albert Michaels' shoulder at the display on my station's monitors is Sam Sterns. Again. I try to be a patient guy, I really do, but Sterns' is just a lab assistant and has a habit of getting in our way and distracting us more than actually assisting anyone in this lab.

"Sam," I say, trying to put Michaels out of my mind as the doctor slumps back to his equipment. "Go see if you can help Dr. Octavius with anything. We're on a deadline after all." I take Sterns by the arm and try to guide him away from my space. "Mr. Luthor said that General Eiling might be stopping in to see our developments before the end of the week. At our current rate of progress, however, the Accelerator can barely power a light bulb. Troubleshoot it."

I swear, it's a madhouse in here. I'm working with egomaniacs, incompetents, ambitious and conflicting personalities, and now I'm hearing word through the grapevine that there's been talk of putting my accelerator into bombs. Bombs, for God's sake! At first, I thought that that might just be a rumor going around, but it becomes more and more believable every day. And now an actual General is going to visiting specifically to see my damn work? What else am I supposed to think at this point?

Taking my glasses off to rub the bridge of my nose, I fall back in my chair with a sigh. This technology could potentially change our world as we know it, and Lex Luthor wants to sell it so that the military can blow people up with bigger and better explosions. Madness.

I pick up a datapad and start trying to get back to work, pushing thoughts of bombs out of my head. Just need to put it on the back burner. Don't focus on that kind of violence. It's not my responsibility. Just go over your schematics again, Bruce. Double check your notes with the files in the computer. Need to optimize power output.

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I don't care what Leonard says. My work is my comfort zone and I'm not ready to leave it just yet.

Harlekin

11-16-2011, 11:55 PM

“Nah, nah baby, it was no thing.”

Luke Cage was in his office in New York City's Harlem, on the phone to his girlfriend, Harmony. He had his feet propped up on his desk, balancing his chair on its two hind legs. It was a little rickety and looking to buckle under the weight of the strongman.

“He in there, doll?”

“Just a little bodyguard stuff. Yeah, of course I got to talk to her,” Luke was saying, smiling. “Well, what are you gonna do for me?”
Harmony Young's reply was laced with profanities; Luke Cage's smile grew wider.
“Sweet Christmas, girl, you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“We don't need an appointment.”

Luke Cage looked up as he heard some rumbling outside his office's door. But before he could get up to see what was going on, his girlfriend caught his attention again, whispering things into his ear unfit to reprint here.

“What I think my friend is trying to say, miss, is that Mr. Cage will want to hear us out. It really is of the utmost importance.”

There was more rumbling from outside and now Luke Cage looked to the door with more concern. “Baby, I think I gotta go,” he said into the phone, “I think my new job is about to come in any second. Yeah, I'll come by tonight.”

Just as Luke Cage put the phone on the hook, the door burst open. Tumbling into the office was the hero's secretary, Jennie Royce, falling face first to the floor. Stepping over her shapely behind were seven kids. The average age between them was eleven.

Luke Cage laughed as he looked at the motley crew. In front was a stocky ginger kid with a cap on his head. He was flanked by a buck-toothed kid with an aviator cap and a girl dressed in a pinkish sweater a size too big. Behind them were a gangly, bespectacled lad and a young black boy wearing a plastic diving mask with a snorkel, whose jaw had nearly dropped to the floor. In the centre stood a similarly wide-eyed, but smiling kid, who was the best dressed and the first to speak up.

“Mr. Cage,” he started, but he was interrupted by secretary Jennie, who had gotten up and was rubbing the dirt from her face and clothes.
“I'm sorry, Mr. Cage, I couldn't stop them.”
“That's all right, Ms. Royce,” Luke Cage responded, leaning back and propping his feet back up on the table. He turned to the kids. “I don't do bullies, kids, much as I'd want to. Got a lot of parents on my neck when I tried that. I could give you some tips though in self defence.”
“What, youse think we can't handle ourselves?” the stocky kid asked, raising his fists. Luke Cage laughed.
“Yeah, I'm not worried.”
“We're here for something a lot more important than bullies, Mr. Cage,” the kid wearing a tie and jacket said. The others, showing their agreement (and seriousness), nodded furiously.
“What you got, kid?” Luke Cage put his hands behind his head. “I can handle anything.”
The kids looked to each other, before the leader in the centre finally said: “That's why we came to you, Mr. Cage. We need you to save the world.”

The chair buckled.

MST3K 4ever

11-17-2011, 11:14 AM

Luthor looks over the Online Editions of The Gotham Globe, The Daily Planet, The Daily Bugle, and every other major newspaper he could find. The LexCorp Charity Ball was pushed off to a corner of the front page and not front center. In most cases this would bother Lex to no end but this morning not so much. Since the banner headline was basically the same in all of the newspapers:

SENATOR LAYDEN FAVORS MUTANT REG. ACT

He lights a Cuban cigar and looks out upon the Metropolis Skyline as the sunrises.

My doctor would be having a fit if he found out I was smoking a cigar this early in the day, but following in the footsteps of Red Auerbach lighting up a victory cigar is good any time. With Layden seeing things from my point of view the Mutant Registration Act is as good as don, and it's always good to have another Senator on a short leash! I think I actually might be able to take it easy today. Doesn't sound like a bad idea.

Lex presses a button on his phone and calls for his assistant Mercy Graves and has her cancel all his appointments for the day. He then has her call and conference in Charles Barkley, Tiger Woods, and Donald Trump.

He says, "Gentlemen I'm looking at my schedule and I see I've got some downtime today, and I was wondering if you would be up for a round of Golf at the Excelsior Club today around 10am, and dinner at the Crouching Lion last place has to buy."

The other three enthusiastically agree to Lex's idea of Golf and dinner.

MST3K 4ever

11-17-2011, 12:30 PM

Oliver Queen arrives at Senator Layden's Office with a crumbled up newspaper in his clinched hand.

He blows by the Secretary who says, "Sir, you can't go in there the Senator isn't seeing visitors at this time. If you want to make an appointment you may do so otherwise I will be forced to call building security."

Oliver stops and the Senator's door and removes his sunglasses.

Boy did you pick the wrong thing to say at the wrong time.

He puts them away as he turns back to the Secretary and walks over to her.

Oliver says, "Lady last time I checked this was a Democracy. You know a Government for the people and by the people. You know We The People. Well I happen to be one of the people that means that guy in there works for me! So don't look at me as a visitor think of me as his boss, and I'm about to go tell my employee that he has mildly annoyed me!"

With that Oliver turns back to the door and notices that the door is locked.

Okay Patrick you asked for this one.

Oliver kicks the door down and the Secretary his immediately on the phone yelling, "Security to Senator Layden's office!"

Oliver enters and sees Layden looking out the window. Layden says, "You always did know how to make an entrance Ollie."

Security arrives with Guns drawn and one of them says, "On the ground now!"

Oliver looks at him as if to say, "You're kidding me right?"

Layden says, "It's all right. It's all right. Stand down Gentlemen I've been expecting Mr. Queen the door jammed up and he over-reacted. Go on back to your stations thank you."

Layden says to his secretary, "Violet call facilities tell them about the door and have it replaced. Any further interruptions call security."

He looks at Oliver and motions to a room next door and says, "Let's go."

The two enter the conference room next door and Layden closes the door.

Oliver throws the paper on the table and says, "Explain yourself!"

Layden says, "Why should I explain myself to you?"

Oliver says, "Do I have to give you the same civics lesson I just gave Violet? For the people by the people? Sound familiar!"

Layden replies, "It's there and black and white and I gave my reasons in my statement."

Oliver growls, "Bull! I know you Patrick you gave your blood, sweat, and tears in the name of Mutants and now this? Come on! These reasons anyone watching the jackasses on the Cable News Channels and reading op-eds could come up with those reasons. These aren't yours Patrick! What happened?"

Patrick replies, "My real reasons are mine and mine alone. I don't have to answer to you Oliver!"

Oliver says, "What happened to you? Did someone get to you? To your family? Tell me I can help you Patrick. If you have to fight then fight you know those who believe in you will back you no matter what."

Patrick finally looks at Oliver and says, "Not this time Ollie. This time I really got into it. It's something I did one stupid mistake, and now not only do I have to live with it but so do the Mutants that I fought for and I am so sorry. I gotta do damage control to protect my family."

Oliver says, "Patrick when you were the D-A you took on Intergang and you helped take 'em down. You are the first Senator in history to take on OSCORP head on. You went toe to toe against Norman Osborn and destroyed him. I'm asking you to fight one more time for those who can't fight for themselves. Just one more time I can help you and I can protect you, but you've gotta be willing to fight for that to happen. Please Patrick we need your support. If you fight with us we will win. I know it!."

Patrick thinks for a moment and says, "There are somedays that the bad guys win a battle here and there because they have better weapons than you do, and no matter what we say or do it'll never be enough to change that and this is one of those times."

Oliver says, "Lex! Luthor is the one who's behind all this. Isn't he?"

Patrick replies while nodding, "For the record I will neither confirm or deny that statement."

Oliver gets a fire in his eye and says, "Gimme 24 hours I'll get Luthor off your back. 24 hours that's all I ask. If you don't hear from me by then than you can go ahead and follow through on your support of the bill."

Patrick looks at Oliver for a moment and closes his eyes.

He finally looks at him and says, "You got until noon tomorrow. After that I have to do what I have to do for my family."

Oliver says, "Deal."

Oliver leaves the conference room and says to Violet as he walks by, "I'm done with my evaluation of my employee. He's gonna be all-right."

As he walks down the hall Oliver begins planning his break in of LexCorp towers.

Byrd Man

11-17-2011, 12:43 PM

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Previously

Gotham City
11:25 PM

Alfred pulls the limo up to the front entrance of the nightclub. Inferno is one of the city's most popular clubs right now. A line of would-be club goers stretches from the entrance all the way down the block. Not even a fraction of them will get in tonight.

"Meet me around the back of the club in a half hour," I tel Alfred.

"That long? I thought you planned to just be seen."

"Well, I need to draw a little attention to myself first."

I step out of the limo to paparazzi cameras and catcalls from women.

"Bruce Wayne! Tell OMG News why you dumped Katarina!"

"What do you think about Charlie Sheen?!"

"Any comment on your drug habit?! Will you ever go to rehab?!"

I smile and wave for the cameras, ignoring all the talk and conjecture. The bouncer lets me in without a second thought and I'm transported into a dark underworld where up is down and black is white. On top of all that, there's horrible techno music.

I really hate techno.

But I play it up anyway, dancing with a few girls before I slip them my number. I buy the whole club a round of drinks and get some more attention thrown my way. That should be more than enough to establish a solid alibi for where I've been tonight. After that, I quietly make my way to the back of the club. When I exit into the alley, the car and Alfred are waiting for me. A neat little bundle of clothes rests in the backseat.

"Do I detect the hint of a smile on your face? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a good time."

"I think you're confusing me with Tony Stark."

"Well, at least he knows how to have a good time."

"So do I," I reach for the cape and cowl, taking my shirt off and sliding on the shirt. "It's just that my parties involve drug dealers and broken bones."

"That doesn't sound too different than the Stark-Wayne charity bash the two of you threw last year."

I smirk and reach for my cape and cowl.

"Now, if you'll excuse me..."

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I swing across the city and land on top of one of the gargoyles that flank the city. One of the many influences of my ancestor, Alan Wayne. It's nearly midnight now, I have an appointment to make. It takes just a few minutes to get to the GCPD's headquarters. From across the street, I activate the audio surveillance I have planted in the various rooms.

Device 210434
Listening: 2nd floor break room
"So that's when the bear stops and looks at the hunter and he says 'You just don't come here for the hunting, do you'?"

Device 210437
Listening: Lt. A. Flass' Office
"Yeah, my shift ends in a few minutes. I'll be there. Just hope that sonofa***** Skeevers doesn't keep me too late."

Device 210440
Listening: Comm. G. Loeb's Office
"Come and knock on our door, we've been waiting for you!
Where the kisses are hers, and hers, and his. Three's Company, too!"

Device 210438
Listening: Capt. J. Gordon's Office
N/A No Activity

Good, that means he's waiting. I swing from the roof and swing across the street to the roof of Gotham Central. I make my way down to the basement and the morgue, where the only friend I have in this city is waiting.

"You're late," the dark haired man in the suit says before he lights up a cigarette.

Identified:
James W. Gordon
Captain, Gotham City Police Department

"Is it another OD?"

"Yep. This makes the sixth one in a month."

Junkies have been dropping like flies all over the city for the last two months. The heroin they've been shooting up has been purer than anything they've ever had and then some. Toxicology reports come back that the vials have an extra dose in them. Something I haven't been able to identify. Gordon and I are the only ones who seem to care at all. As far as most of the police are concerned, who cares if another junkie drops dead?

"Let's see."

Gordon leads me to the morgue slab where the latest victim is. It's a man, appearing to be in his mid to late 40's. There are track marks all up and down his arms and legs. A long time drug addict for sure. The medical examiner already has his chest cavity open and the organs are probably packed away in a freezer somewhere. The real action is on his face.

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Like all the others, his face is contorted into a sick and twisted grin.

"It's the heroin, isn't it?"

"That's the only explanation. Someone's tainting Gotham's drug supply."

"I would put my money on a rival dealer. Last I heard, the Falcones were pushing most of the H through the city along with their front man, Jeff Skeevers. Someone must have got tired of them getting all the profit."

"That's a good theory. I'll look into it. You should get home, Captain. It's late. You're family will be worried about you."

Gordon flinches and digs his hands into his pocket. He's trying hide his missing wedding ring. I noticed it the last time we mat. That and the fact that his partner, Sergeant Essen, both disappeared about the same time.

"What are you going to do? I tried sweating some of the street dealers out there and see what they knew about it. They all clammed up in a hurry. Even when I threatened them with jail. They didn't flinch."

I turn away from Gordon and begin to walk out of the morgue.

"I'll make them flinch."

The Bowery
1:43 AM

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The reluctant snitch I'm driving into the wall is Anton Petrus. A mid-level dealer for the Falcones, he's second only to Jefferson Skeevers when it comes to handling the organization's drug dealing. The mob has their twisted codes of honor, drugs are supposed to be off-limits to true mafiosos. So they created loopholes, letting people like Skeevers, who is black, and Petrus, a Ukrainian, actually handle the business while they reap the benefits.

"Please, let me go!" He begs. I keep applying pressure, pressing him harder and harder against the wall.

"Tell me why your poisoned heroin is killing junkies all over the city."

"It..it ain't ours! I swear to God! We had a shipment of horse that got hijacked a few months ago! It was our whole supply for the rest of the year!"

I pull Petrus from the wall and sling him across the alley into the other wall. He bumps into it and falls down on the ground.

"You're lying. If a shipment that big had been robbed, I would have heard about it."

"No, its the truth! Falcone and Skeevers...they...they covered it up. All the guys who were part of the crew bringing it in were whacked. They thought one of them was an inside man, so they killed them all off."

It's logical for them to keep it quiet. A robbery of that scale would be seen as a major sign of weakness. With people like Maroni and Hammerhead nipping at Falcone's for the top spot, finding out about something like this would have given both of them enough confidence to make their move.

"If your people are not involved, how are the drugs still being distributed?"

"We don't know. None of our dealers are involved, but there's plenty of independents out there on the corners who'd want a quality package like that."

"Who robbed your shipment?"

"One...one of the guys who was part of the crew that got robbed said it was four guys. There was a big man, a cowboy, a little guy in a suit, and a clown leading them..."

I approach Petrus and pick him up, slamming him into the wall.

"I'm not in the mood for games!"

"That's the truth! Swear to God! I was in the room when he said it! It's the truth! A big man, cowboy, a guy in a suit, and a clown!"

I narrow my eyes at Petrus and drop him. He falls flat on the ground and grabs his neck.

"Stay out of trouble, Petrus. Next time, be more forthcoming when I ask you something. It'll save us both a lot of trouble."

I walk away from Petrus, but turn as soon as I hear the rustling behind me. A knife cuts through the air by my shoulder. Petrus' switchblade slashes at my neck. I thrust my hand up and catch his arm, twisting it and causing a loud pop to echo through the alley. He falls to the ground and screams in pain. I tune out his screams and turn back around, walking out of the alley and back into the night.

Byrd Man

11-17-2011, 01:20 PM

Sub-Level Two
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
Westchester, NY

The elevator doors slide open and I walk down the long and empty corridors of the sub-level. This is a side of the school only a few people ever see. While we teach students how to use and control their abilities, we do so much more than that.

Professor Xavier is waiting for me in the control room by the time I enter. There's a world map on the giant view screen, there are points marked all over it indicating mutant incidents all over the world.

"What's going on, Professor?"

"The Brotherhood agents are now in the country, Scott. I felt them cross the Canadian border an hour ago."

Four days ago, the Professor caught the psychic impressions of four members of Magneto's Brotherhood. They ventured out of Magneto's protective field, although their identities were still blocked to the Professor. Somehow, Magneto's anti-psychic measures have gotten stronger.

"Do you have an idea where they're headed?"

"I believe I do. They're heading south from Buffalo right now to Washington. Tonight there's a congressman, Peter Ross, giving an address to the public on the Mutant Registration Act. Ross helped author the bill, so this would be a prime target to strike fear into the rest of congress with the rest of the world watching."

"Are you sure that makes sense? Them killing Ross would show how dangerous mutants really are."

"I don't believe Erik sees it that way. He has a plan, rest assured, Scott. Like a chess grandmaster, he's plotted a dozen steps ahead of where his pawns are right now."

There's a tinge of sadness in his voice. Once upon a time, Magneto was Erik and a teacher here. He's the one who created my visor, showed me how to use it and harness my abilities. Something happened between him and Xavier. I've never known the full extent of it, I was younger than the rest and a little afraid to know the real truth, whatever it was it ended with Xavier in a wheelchair and Erik leaving with another student to create his fanatical Mutant Brotherhood.

"I'll get the team ready to dispatch to Washington as soon as possible. Who should we bring along?"

"J'onn and Jean for sure. Two telepaths on the ground will help, and J'onn's shapeshifting ability will come in handy. He can blend in well."

"So that means Rex and Hank are off-limits. I'd also like to bring Kitty along. She proved her worth when we busted up that slave ring and found Kori."

"One more addition, though. Logan."

I arch my eyebrow at the Professor.

"Are you sure? This seems like a rather important mission, I'd prefer to give him a softball for him to cut his teeth on. Also, he's not exactly a team player."

"Scott, do you trust me? Trust my judgment?"

"Of course. I always have."

"Then trust me and my trust in Logan. If you'll prepare the briefing, I'll call everyone down to the control center."

Andy C.

11-17-2011, 03:42 PM

"This was a bad idea," said the big man, shifting nervously as he leaned against a wall inside the old Krank Co. toy factory. "We shoulda never crossed Falcone."

"Falcone's got nothin' on us," answered his partner, a man in a flawless three-piece suit, anxiously sucking down a cigarette. "He doesn't know it was us, and even if he does, we can take whatever trash he throws at us. We don't have to worry about Falcone."

".....'s not Falcone I'm worried about," the large man grumbled.

Up in the manager's office, a shrieking wail let out, somewhere between a man screaming for his life and laughing hysterically.

"Goddamn clown gives me the creeps," grunted their leader with a thick Western accent, his Italian suit offset by a bolo tie and Stetson. "But don't let 'im git to ya. Money on this job's better'n we've had in years workin' fer Falcone. 'sides, it ain't like we're gonna be workin' fer this freak much longer, Fancy Dan."

The screaming laughter grew louder, more violent, a scratching noise developing in the man's voice as his vocal cords began to tear.

"Got a plan, Montana?"

"We milk this operation fer everythin' it's worth, then we kill the clown and haul ass outta Gotham. I know folks workin' fer Silvermane in New York, an' a couple workin' fer Manheim in Metropolis if that don't pan out."

"Sooner we're done here the better," muttered the big man again.

"Not just yet Ox," said the faux cowboy. "We keep the clown alive til the money runs out."

Finally, the blood-curdling laughter stopped with an abrupt gurgling noise, and out from the manager's office stepped a deathly thin man in a tattered purple suit. His skin was bone white, with a shock of bright green hair, darkened circles around his eyes, a smear of bright red lipstick curling up far past the corners of his mouth, his lips peeled back to reveal a row of yellowed teeth.

"Good news, boys!" he shouted excitedly to the men below. "I think I've just about got it down pat! Which means we'll be ready to start selling the next batch by tomorrow night!"

The Enforcers stared back up at him with equal parts disgust and unease. The smile on the clown's face faded just a bit.

"Not as excited about this job anymore, are we?" he said, scrambling down the rusted old staircase to talk to his henchmen at eye level. "Tell me, boys....what's got you down?"

"Well, boss, me an' the boys were talkin', and.....we don' git it," said Montana. "I git stealin' the shipments from Falcone an' sellin' it fer ourselves, but.....why the other stuff? Why put all that stuff into the smack?"

The thin pale man rolled his eyes as if it was the most obvious question in the world.

"Well, think about it! Where else am I going to get such a huge supply of guinea pigs willing to inject themselves with all kinds of dangerous chemicals? The junkie population is a gold mine for little chemistry projects like this! Frankly, I'm amazed nobody's tried it before."

"Okay, but.....why kill them?" Fancy Dan spoke up. "They buy from us once and they die. That's not good for business."

"Oh, I'm sure it isn't. At least, it's not good for the kind of business you're used to. For my kind of business, though, it's fantastic."

"What the hell are you talkin' about?"

The sickly white clown sighed.

"Y'know, you're not supposed to explain a joke to someone; either they get it or they don't," he said, "But since I currently need your services and can't afford to just kill you for your malfunctioning sense of humor, I could at least tell it to you...."

Montana and the others stared levelly at the clown, waiting for some kind of explanation for all of this.

"A guy walks into a bar with a pet monkey on his shoulder. As he sits down to have a drink, the monkey jumps off his shoulder and starts eating everything in sight. He eats the bowl of peanuts, he eats cigarette butts from the ash trays, he eats the olives out of the martini bar, he even jumps on one of the pool tables and swallows the cue ball whole!

"The man apologizes, saying 'I'm sorry; he just eats anything he can get his hands on.' He gets up, pays for his drink and all of the things the monkey ate, and leaves with his pet in tow."

Before Montana could interrupt to ask what the point of this is, the clown silenced him with a bony finger over his lips.

"The next night, the man comes back with the monkey, and as he sits down to have a drink, it's the same story. The monkey jumps off his shoulder and starts grabbing peanuts and olives and cherries, but before eating them, he sticks each one up his ass.

"The bartender asks why the monkey's doing that, and the man says 'Oh, he still wants to eat everything in sight, but after crapping out that cue ball, he has to measure everything first! HAAAA-HAHAHAHAHA-HAAAAA!!!!'"

As the clown howled in laughter, the Enforcers all shared looks of confusion.

".....I don't get it," Ox said finally.

"Oh, don't worry, you will," said the clown, holding his sides. "One of these days, everyone will get the joke. In the meantime, you've got work to do."

As he walked back towards the stairs to the manager's office, the Joker looked back over his shoulder at Montana and his crew.

"Oh, and boys?" he said. "You all really need to lighten up. After all, a few laughs won't kill you...."

Batman

11-17-2011, 07:52 PM

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"Hey, Logan number two! Over here!"

The voice that spoke out to him belonged to Gar Logan, otherwise known as Beast Boy, one of the many students staying at the mansion. It was the lunch period for all classes, and whenever that time arrived on a daily basis, Xavier allowed the students free reign over the mansion's vast collection of supplied food, beverages, sports equipment on the grounds, and the many forms of electronic entertainment - provided they all shared and behaved themselves, of course. But for Logan, all that it meant was a chance to get away for awhile while nobody noticed his abscence. So to be called out before he could make it to the garage by Beast Boy, who wasn't a particularly popular kid even among his classmates, was more than a little annoying. Deciding not to make eye contact even as Gar waved him over, Logan continued on, muttering to himself as he realized that the kid would inevitably leave his spot in the game room to catch up. For some reason, Gar had taken a shine to Logan. He seemed to be the only one that did.

"Logan! Logan? Where are you going? Hey, did you see me?"

Logan furrowed his brow, throwing on his leather jacket.

"What is it, squirt? Catch yourself another fly out back?"

Gar proudly smirked. "Nah, I scared 'em off. Turning into a giant tarantula and pretending to feast on one of their relatives' brains would do that."

"Good for you. Now leave me the hell alone, I'm headin' out."

"You're heading out? Cool! Can I come? Where are you heading out to?"

"Kid, you know the Professor's rules. No unsupervised students can head off the grounds."

"But... you're leaving the grounds. Is that allowed?"

"Yeah,"

Tossing his now burnt out cigar in a nearby trashcan, Logan brought the jacket's collar up to his neck pushed the door leading to the garage ahead of him, leaving Gar to stay in the mansion with a disappointed expression.

"Cause I ain't no student."

What Logan didn't notice, as he was leaving, was the watchful eye of one of the teachers at the school rest upon him. They belonged to Ororo Munroe, a beautiful and starkly white haired young member of the faculty that had helped supervise Logan's transition from the outside world into the ruled and regulated dorm of the grounds. In some ways, Xavier's dream of a shelter for young mutants was it's own little society, and it required some time for all to adjust. And even though he technically wasn't there to learn, Logan was one of the few in the school that still hadn't.

Resting upon the seat of his motorcycle, Logan adjusted the straps on his gloves and placed his hands on the waiting yellow-and-black striped helmet. It was a garish thing that he had plucked out of storage, but it suited it's purpose. Just as he placed it over his head, he heard the door swing open again, and openly sighed in frustration.

"Look, kid, I told you that I ain't..."

Turning, he was momentarily surprised to realize that it was Ororo, giving him somewhat of a perplexed expression.

"And where did you think you were going, Logan?"

"Ah. Just you,"

Putting the helmet in place, he immediately kicked the stand back and engaged the gas, revving the engine.

"Look, I appreciate your help and all, darlin'. But I'm not one of your other pets, so you don't need to worry about me anymore."

Crossing her arms, knowing that anything she'd say would likely be drowned out by the loud noise of the cycle's engine, Ororo nevertheless continued on with the conversation - as difficult as it was to do so.

"I realize that, but I nevertheless do. The Professor informed me of your decision not to join the group, but he failed to state any reason as to why. Does something still trouble you about what we do?"

Logan grunted. "Trouble me? What's there to be troubled about? A psychic runnin' a school for mutants, secretly preppin' them to be sent out to do his dirty work. Seems pretty straightforward, to me."

"And how does trying to save this world classify as "dirty work", as you've so eloquently put it? We are sharing a common cause. Human beings will never be able to accept us as long as mutants like The Brotherhood continue to cause harm. We are simply trying to keep both worlds united."

"Right. United,"

Looking back at her through the visor opening of his helmet, Logan shot back a sneer.

"Let's not kid ourselves. I've got metal runnin' all throughout my body, and you give me so much as a papercut, I'll be healed in seconds. You can create winds, lightnin'... hell, hurricaines with a wave of your hand. That Summers prick can level this entire buildin' just by takin' off his glasses. Far as the human agenda's concerned, we ain't never gonna be united."

"Even if that's true, and believe me - I very much doubt that, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't try."

Placing the visor down over his eyes, Logan turned back towards the path ahead as the outside glare of the sun greeted them both.

"You do whatever you want. I'm not about to join up with another group lookin' to change the status quo. Mutants and humans wanna kill eachother? They'll kill eachother. Ain't nothin' I can do to stop that."

"Or nothing you will do, apparently."

Just as Logan was prepared to retort, Ororo was suddenly interrupted by a beacon coming from a bluetooth headset communicator in her ear. All of Xavier's staff had them, aside from the Professor himself, the Grey woman, and their green-skinned Martian friend. When one was one of the most powerful telepaths in the world, after all, the need for such things seemed trivial.

"Yes, Scott, I'm here."

There was a pause.

"Of course, I would be happy to assist. Tell the others I shall be there momentarily."

Logan waited for her to explain, even though he had already lost interest in the conversation.

"Scott and the others need me downstairs. Some of us have something of value to do with our lives."

As she abruptly exited, Logan turned back towards the path.

Then stopped.

Ah, hell. Just leave already. Don't listen to her.

A few minutes passed before he eventually removed his helmet, killed the engine, and headed back inside, regreting every minute of it as he caught up with Ororo before she could descend into the hidden chambers beneath the mansion. The truth is, even though Logan didn't want to join the Professor's group of freedom fighters, he realized something. She was right. There was quite literally nothing better for him to do with his time.

Grumbling as he entered the elevator lift with Ororo, noticing that she began to smile as he positioned himself at her side, Logan shot her a look of evident disapproval.

"This once, and that's it. Just to get you people off my ass."

Carnage27

11-17-2011, 08:41 PM

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I can't believe what I'm hearing from my old friend. Well, in reality I can't believe I'm alive. I was sure I was dead, reliving my sins over and over in the afterlife. But that isn't the case. I've been laying dormant, frozen in the Arctic for almost seven decades. It's the year 2011, I've just time traveled here from 1945 unknowingly, and my mind is trying its best to keep up.

It's at this moment that I realize the vast majority of the people I've ever known or cared about are dead. Bucky...mom...the Howling Commandos...

And Peggy. Peggy, the one woman who ever gave me the time of day and really meant it. Sure, after I became Captain America, women swooned over me. But when I talked to Peggy, I could tell she really cared. That she wanted to understand me. To get to know me.

I slam my head on the wall behind me, the slight pain bringing me back into the moment. I look over at Alan, who's taken a seat on the floor across from me, the only person left in the room. He cleared everyone out when I came to. "How are you still so young? You don't look a day over 50."

He chuckles lightly, holding up his hand with the ring, "Turns out this thing slows down my aging quite a bit. But it looks like I should try freezing myself for a few years at a time, huh?"

I laugh back, allowing the stress and shock to melt away for a moment, "It wouldn't matter. Jay and me were always the good looking ones. But I mean you'll always look better than Ted."

"Actually... Ted hasn't aged a bit," Alan responds, trailing off slightly. "Says he's got nine lives. Dunno how. He's never told us about it. I haven't had time to contact him and Jay about...well you yet. I'll need to do that."

Ted Grant is still alive. The news shouldn't surprise me. He was always a tough son of a gun. I'll never forget him and Dum Dum Dugan boxing at the Invaders camp. No matter how hard they hit each other, neither would fall. More often than not Fury would have to break them up before they killed each other. But five minutes later both of them would be singing some stupid song in the mess tent.

I smile sadly thinking about the Howling Commandos. They always say the men you go to war with become your brothers...but you don't know how true it is until you go through it, "Are all the Commandos...?"

"Dead," Scott nods. "Fury's been missing in action for decades, so at this point it's a good bet he's dead. But everyone that survived the war has passed. There's a joint monument in the city for them and the Invaders. I'll take you to see it once you've been acclimatized."

"So we're in DC?" I ask, allowing myself to try and accept my current situation. "Some government facility?"

"Yea. Checkmate headquarters. We're a special task force set up to defend America against terrorism and metahuman threats. Which, surprisingly have increased since our day. But we'll fill you in about that later."

"Sounds like something that could use a dose of Captain America," I smile as I stand. "If I'm going to be a man in a new time, I might as well give it what I do best. And what I do best is defend the old red, white, and blue."

"We were hoping you'd say that, Captain Rogers," an unfamiliar voice says. I look up to see a man in his mid 30's, handsome and obviously sure of himself. "I apologize for interrupting, but my name is Maxwell Lord and I've been dying to meet you."

SuperFerret

11-17-2011, 08:48 PM

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~Very good, Rogue. Very good.~

The girl "stood" beside me, in a manner of speaking, clearing the "sky" of her mindscape of the ghostly fragments of minds she's absorbed one by one. My "hand" was on her "shoulder", a way of psychically lending her some of my mental strength. She'll need it, as the last ghost was one of great power.

His name was Cody.

He was her first boyfriend, and the first person to feel the wrath of her subconscious defensive ability. One seemingly innocent kiss left him in a coma for years before he finally succumbed, and his spectre still haunts the girl's psyche. Each time we've done this exercise, his is the last we face. He has yet to be exorcised.

~I thought you loved me, Anna.~ It spoke, the voice haunting and sorrowful while at the same time accusatory and hostile. ~Why did you kill me?~

~Ah.. Ah'm sorry Cody.~ she cried, tears forming in her eyes, ~Ah do love ya. Ah always will. Ah promise.~

Her resolve was beginning to crack. I squeezed her shoulder slightly, reminding her of my presence. ~Do not let your regret get the best of you. Do not blame yourself for what happened, Anna. Remember that it was an accident.~

~But it wasn't an accident. I would still be alive if it wasn't for you, Anna! You killed me!~

~It's...~ she faltered even more, ~it's true. Ah did it. It's my fault.~

~No. It's not.~

Anna lifted her head at the second hand on her shoulder, looking back at the smiling face of Charles Xavier. Returning his smile, she turned back at the floating remnant of the broken mind, feeling rejuvenated by the support of the two men standing behind her. I gave a short nod to Charles in acknowledgement.

~Ah was wrong.~ she said. ~It was an accident.~

~The only accident was you! If you never were born, I'd still be alive!~

~NO!~ she yelled, her voice echoing over the mindscape, ~Ah loved ya so much Cody, and I never wanted t' hurt ya. It was an accident. Not a day goes by that ah don't regret what happened, but it did. It wasn't my fault, but ah promise ya, ah will learn t' control it. Ah will be careful around people. Ah promise, Cody, nobody will ever have t' go through what you did again.~

She sunk to her knees, weeping openly now, not knowing that the transparent ghost of her first love had dissipated.

~Please forgive me, Cody.~

We exited her mind, awaking in the real world now. Drawing her into a hug, I held her for a few moments as she cried.

~As much as I regret it, J'onn, I need you in the sub-basement now. We have a situation brewing.~

~Understood, Charles.~ I released the embrace, looking at the girl with sorrow and pride. For a brief moment, she reminds me of my own daughter. "I must leave now, Anna. The professor requires my presence."

She nodded as I stood to leave, but was prevented when she reached out and grabbed my cape. I turned to see her smiling through her tears.

"Thank ya, Mr. J'onzz."

I smiled, both from pride in her success, and from the knowledge that even though my Kh'ym was gone, I could honor her memory by being a teacher to young people who need me.

"You are very welcome, Anna. I'm proud of you.

Carnage27

11-17-2011, 09:21 PM

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I reach the basement after the majority of the rest of the team, and I'm shocked to see Logan there. He's more animal than man, and the way he looks at me...I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me uncomfortable. I don't know what the Professor sees in him. Why he's so keen on keeping him around and on the team. But after all these years I've learned to wait and see what the plan with him is.

I take a seat next to Hank and give him a smile, "Any idea what this is about?"

"No, I'm afraid I do not," Hank responds. It's funny how proper the man we call Beast is. So unlike his codename for the vast majority of the time, but during the heat of battle he's as ferocious as anyone on the planet.

I sit back in my chair an wait for whatever the Professor has to talk to us about.

wiegeabo

11-17-2011, 11:16 PM

"We find the defendant...guilty on all counts."

There's an audible gasp from half the court room. The other half errupts in cheers. But despite all the commotion, and the judge's constant hammering and shouts for order, all I can hear is the sobs from the family sitting behind me, and of the man standing to my side.

"But I didn't do it..." he says softly.

"I know." I put my hand on his shoulder. "We'll appeal. We'll appeal."

I can hear the bailiffs put the cuffs on my client's wrists as the pull him away from me. "I didn't do it."

"We'll appeal. Tonight!" I shout to him. "Foggy-"

"On it, Matt." I can hear Foggy consoling the family. Repeating what I said about filing an appear, and being with them every step of the way. That we'll never give up the fight.

"I'm innocent!!!" ho shouts as they drag him away.

"I know..." I say to myself.

I only defend the innocent...

Franklin Richards

11-18-2011, 09:51 AM

United Nations
New York

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"Lucia Von Barda. Security clearance. Verified."

The woman raced past the security checkpoint as a crowd of reporters bombarded her with questions.

"Have you spoken with Atlantean representatives?"
"Has Hungary officially asked for assistance?"
"Why haven't you responded to Prince Namor's denial?"
"Do you suspect the involvement of the exile, Arthur Curry?"
"The Daily Planet has all but implicated Victor Von Doom in this tragedy."

Von Barda stops and turns around immediately upon hearing the last statement.

"The Daily Planet is nothing but a propaganda delivery system for the corrupt politicians and special interests that run this plutocracy called America. The sovereign nation of Latveria will not sit idly by while the Atlantean Empire commits global acts of terrorism. The only reason to attack Hungary in this fashion is to try and destabilize Eastern Europe. Specifically Latveria. I will be speaking with the ambassadors from Wakanda, Khandaq, and Gorilla City today. There will be more details revealed when I address the General Assembly. I must go now. Thank you."

"Miss Barda ---"
"Prime Minister!"
"Prime Minister Barda!"

:doom: :doom: :doom:

Supergirl

11-18-2011, 10:41 PM

Yech. The school's macaroni. This stuff is like rocket glue. It was probably developed by some government agency and then deemed edible. It's not. I jab my fork in it and throw it in the trash as I start to head towards my next class, Geology with Professor Markov. His sister's in that class too, and she's like the teacher's pet.

~Katherine, would you like to go on a field trip?~

I may never get used to Professor Xavier's telepathic summons. It's so weird having him talk in your head.

~Would I? When? Where? Why? With who?~

~Now, the rest of the team is meeting in the basement awaiting details. I would appreciate your presence promptly~

~On my way!~

The field trips are the best part of being a top student at Professor Xavier's School. I've only been on a couple, but they're where we really learn to focus our abilities.

As I stand over the top of the meeting room, I phase out and drop quickly into the middle of the room, taking an empty seat. I recognize most of the people, mostly professors: Dr. McCoy, Ms. Monroe, Ms. Grey, Mr. Summers, Mr. J'onnz but there's one really hairy guy, who I don't recognize. He smells kinda funny too. And he's really dirty. When did the X-Men start recruiting the homeless people from 14th street?

Byrd Man

11-18-2011, 11:39 PM

As I stand over the top of the meeting room, I phase out and drop quickly into the middle of the room, taking an empty seat. I recognize most of the people, mostly professors: Dr. McCoy, Ms. Monroe, Ms. Grey, Mr. Summers, Mr. J'onnz but there's one really hairy guy, who I don't recognize. He smells kinda funny too. And he's really dirty. When did the X-Men start recruiting the homeless people from 14th street?

Kitty's the last one to arrive. Once she's set, I turn to the Professor with a raised eyebrow.

"As team leader, I yield the floor to you."

"Alright. Here's the situation, people: Professor Xavier caught the psychic impression of four Brotherhood in Cerebro. They just appeared on a cargo ship headed across the Atlantic to America. No idea where they came from or who they are. Magneto's anti-psychic measures have improved. We are unable to tell who they are, but there is a good indication on what their target is."

The view screen behind me changes from a map of the world to a shot of a politician on CSPAN addressing the House of Representatives.

"Representative Peter Ross from Kansas. He's one of the authors of the Mutant Registration Act. He's addressing reporters and the national media tonight, giving a press conference on the act. Earlier today, the Brotherhood agents crossed the Canadian border into America. At last check, they were an hour away from the capital."

The screen changes again. This time there are five mugshots on the screen in front of us.

"These are the only identified Brotherhood members we know so far: Magneto, Dr. Light, Mystique, Killer Frost, and Toad. Anyone of them could be on the team headed to Washington. Or it could be an all new threat. We won't know until we get in the field. J'onn, Jean, Kitty, Logan, and I will be the field team with Storm and Beast as support. Questions?"

MST3K 4ever

11-19-2011, 10:37 AM

Oliver opens the door to his Penthouse at The Metropolis Towers and grabs a bottle of water and proceeds to chug it.

Once he is done with the water he stands out on his patio and looks off into the distance at the LexCorp Towers.

Okay time to think whatever Lex has on Patrick he has got to keep it close. He wouldn't be foolish enough to leave it out in the open or somewhere where a lot of people traffic happens like his office. Which means that he has got to be storing it in his Penthouse which is on the top of Northern LexCorp Tower so he can see everything as he says. Getting in there has got to be like trying to get into Fort Knox and CIA Headquarters. With all the lights shining on it at night getting in by cable from the outside is out. Elevators probably have cameras so that leaves them out.

He shakes his head slowly and says, "Whatever he has on you Patrick it had better be big."

Oliver collects his thoughts for a moment.

I think I have an idea finally it's gonna take some doing, and I don't have a lot of time, but I think I'll just go right in through the back door, but to make this work it's gonna take a lot of patience especially when dealing with him .

MST3K 4ever

11-19-2011, 10:51 AM

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Lex puts the finishing touches on getting ready for his day out.

He calls to his assistant Mercy on the private intercom and says, "I won't be back until late this evening any calls or messages leave them on my desk I'll tend to them tomorrow."

She replies, "Very well Mr. Luthor. Shall I have the Limo brought around for you?"

Lex says, "No I think I'll take the Ferrari today make sure it's ready and my clubs are in the trunk. I'll be down in about 10 minutes."

Mercy says, "No problem Mr. Luthor."

Lex disconnects from the intercom system and takes a quick drink from his bar.

He looks behind the bar and sees the blackmail material against Patrick.

Lex then grins as he toasts himself and says, "And to the victors go the Spoils!"

He finishes his drink and leaves his Penthouse Suite.

Carnage27

11-19-2011, 10:51 AM

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The screen changes again. This time there are five mugshots on the screen in front of us.

"These are the only identified Brotherhood members we know so far: Magneto, Dr. Light, Mystique, Killer Frost, and Toad. Anyone of them could be on the team headed to Washington. Or it could be an all new threat. We won't know until we get in the field. J'onn, Jean, Kitty, Logan, and I will be the field team with Storm and Beast as support. Questions?"

I look over at Kitty anxiously. She's young, and has barely began to truly master her powers. I don't want to discriminate against our younger reserve members, but I also don't want people to see a dead teenager on the evening news. I know we need to see what they can do, but going up against the Brotherhood might not be the best way to test that.

"I don't like going in blind," I respond with a sigh. "But it sounds like we don't have much of a choice. Do we have any intel on where the press conference is being held?"

"I have the schematics," Hank says. "But from the sound of things I believe we should get going. I can brief everyone on the Blackbird."

MST3K 4ever

11-19-2011, 02:53 PM

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Sometime later there is a knock at Oliver's door.

He opens it up and standing there is a Blue-eyed Blond standing about 6 foot tall and very curvy.

Oliver looks at her for a moment and she says, "Well don't you know what to do next big boy?"

Oliver rolls his eyes and shakes his head and says, "Get in here!"

She replies as she enters closing the door, "Oh nice start!"

Oliver says, "Knock it off O'Brien! We don't have time to screw around!"

The Blond shape-shifts back into Plastic Man who says, "Lighten up Ollie we're the good guys we always win. What's got your bow in a twist?"

Oliver says, "I need you to do some recon for an errand I have to do tonight. Find it everything about the security rotations, guards, cameras, sensors everything and I need a copy of the building schematics."

He tosses Plastic Man a flash drive and says, "Use this get me everything and anything and I need it by 7pm.."

Plastic Man looks at the flash drive and says, "Sure thing Ollie piece of cake with ol' Plas here! Where am I going?"

Oliver steps aside and motions towards the Northern LexCorp Tower.

He says, "The Northern one. I gotta get in there and get some info back. Lex is blackmailing a good man, and a lot of lives are counting on it."

Plastic Man makes his mouth drop all the way to the floor and then reshapes it and says, "Yeah but but but that's that's; LEXCORP OLLIE! Really? Why didn't you say the White House that would be easier."

Oliver says, "I know it's difficult and it will be for me later on as well, but I wouldn't do this if it weren't for the sake of others. Will you help me Plastic Man?"

Plastic Man says, "All-right Robin Hood you got me, but this better be worth it for me too. The target and the time I got to work with it's not gonna be easy."

Oliver smiles and says, "Thanks. In terms of payment for services rendered; How about another assignment in two weeks."

Plastic Man replies, "Oh great what is it this time break into the FBI Building or The Pentagon?"

Oliver chuckles and says, "The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit team is gonna be using my private island for their photo shoot for 2 weeks, and I want someone there I can trust to help provide extra security for them. I'll even make the travel arrangements and you'll have complete access to the estate and the entire Island too. You game?"

Plastic Man smiles very broadly and says, "Breaking into LexCorp? No Sweat! I got this one Ollie! You are so on the Christmas Card List!"

Oliver says, "I thought you might like that one. Get going the clock is ticking be back here by no later than 7pm. If you're not back by then I'm gonna assume you got caught and I'll have to pull off a rescue op too. Which means kiss the Swimsuit ladies Bye-Bye and I will be very grumpy."

Plastic Man says, "No problemo Robin of Locksley! I'm on my way."

As Plastic Man leaves the Penthouse Ollie begins going over his equipment and evaluating options in case Plastic Man doesn't return.

SenseiofCheese

11-19-2011, 03:10 PM

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g173/BDagur/ironman.jpg

"You're a pig."

Pepper Potts threw the tie at Tony's face, and he grinned as it settled on his shoulder. Tony would be the first to admit his life would be ruins were it not for Pepper, his personal assistant and, at times such as this, skank-repellent.

"Don't be such a prude, Pepper." Tony slung the tie around his neck and began the process of tying it. "I will have you know that in Europe, mothers and daughters sharing lovers is the norm."

"Oh, and what part of Europe were those two lovely ladies from?"

"Kansas is in Europe, right?" Tony frowned, as his hands clumsily undid the tie for the second time in a row.

Pepper sighed, laying her iPad on the desk and walking over to Tony. Standing mere inches from his face, she expertly tied the tie. "You smell lovely today." Tony smiled, disarming as usual.

"And you smell like Kansas." Pepper couldn't help but smile.

"So, why am I dressed in a suit, again?"

Pepper walked over to the window and opened the blinds, and for a moment Tony felt like his head would explode as his body reminded him just how much alcohol he had consumed the night before. "You promised Hi-Tech Magazine an exclusive. You agreed to talk about your little Iron Man toy, as well as the Stark Industries-WayneTech joint project."

"First off, Iron Man is not a toy. It is a work of art." Tony feigned insult, staring at, and admiring, his own reflection. "Second, Bruce would have my head if I talked to the media about our project. Was I, per chance, drinking when I made that promise?"

"You didn't make that promise, I did. Because you've promised Hi-Tech six exclusives and flaked on every single one. You don't have to spoil your super-secret project, just give them something." Pepper reached down and grabbed the iPad. "And if Bruce Wayne doesn't like it, he can take it up with me."

"It's not Bruce I'm afraid of. Who could be? It's Alfred who creeps me out."

---------

"Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark!"

"Tony!"

"TONY! OVER HERE!"

A veritable army of reporters were waiting for Tony as he stepped out the front door of the Four Seasons in New York. He could only imagine the state of his hangover had he not taken the precaution of wearing sunglasses, as countless camera flashes bathed him in an almost divine light.

Armed with his trademark smile, Tony began making his way through the crowd of reporters and paparazzo. "Tony! What do you have to say about your unauthorized biography's scathing account of--"

"Tony! Over here! Tony!"

"Mr. Stark, is there any truth to the allegations--"

"Tony! When you're wearing your Iron Man armor how do you--"

"Mr. Stark!"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please. I am much too hung over to answer all your questions. Make an appointment with Ms. Potts and I'll be sure to ignore it." Tony turned and waved one last time as he finally made it to his limo, escaping the horde.

"Hello, Tony."

Tony's heart jumped as he noticed the small, unassuming man sitting across from him. Shorter than most teenagers, ginger hair with a gray streak across his temple, the man smiled a crooked smile.

"Anthony. Always a pleasure."

"Don't try to smooth-talk me, Tony. Your bravado will get you nowhere." the man frowned in disgust. "And I've told you, I prefer Professor Ivo."

Removing his sunglasses and casting them aside, Tony looked Ivo in the eyes and smiled gently. "I know, that's why I call you Anthony."

Unfazed, Ivo leaned forward. "I'm here to give you one last chance to reconsider."

"So we're just blowing right past how you got into my limo, then?"

"You know my android is the next step in robotics. Just let me show you." Ivo pleaded, trying, and failing, to keep his cool.

"Your....what was it?"

"Amazo." Ivo spat.

"Right. Great name." Tony reached over to the bar and began pouring himself a glass of scotch. "Your Amazo-plans were mediocre at best. If anything, it's a step backwards in robotics, Anthony."

Ivo's face contorted in anger. "You pathetic, arrogant liar! You're jealous of my work! That's why you won't admit it. That's why you had me fired!"

"No, Anthony." Tony took a large sip of the scotch, downing the entire portion. "I fired you because you are a creepy, little man."

"I'm going to show you, Tony Stark. I'm going to show you just how good Amazo is."

"Fantastic. I'll be over here, positively giddy with excitement, and in the meantime you can show yourself out of my car."

For a moment the two men stared at each other. Ivo was a barely contained beast, overcome with anger. For a moment Tony thought the man might actually take a swing at him. But, suddenly, Ivo's entire demeanor shifted. The small scientist sat back as his lips curled into a smile.

"Very well."

Ivo reached over and opened the car-door and moved to exit. Pausing for a moment, he turned to Stark. "Be seeing you, Iron Man."

Tony was many things, but slow on the uptake was not one of them. "You know where to find me." he replied, stone-cold, unblinking.

Byrd Man

11-19-2011, 05:43 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

The Bowery
1:43 AM

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The reluctant snitch I'm driving into the wall is Anton Petrus. A mid-level dealer for the Falcones, he's second only to Jefferson Skeevers when it comes to handling the organization's drug dealing. The mob has their twisted codes of honor, drugs are supposed to be off-limits to true mafiosos. So they created loopholes, letting people like Skeevers, who is black, and Petrus, a Ukrainian, actually handle the business while they reap the benefits.

"Please, let me go!" He begs. I keep applying pressure, pressing him harder and harder against the wall.

"Tell me why your poisoned heroin is killing junkies all over the city."

"It..it ain't ours! I swear to God! We had a shipment of horse that got hijacked a few months ago! It was our whole supply for the rest of the year!"

I pull Petrus from the wall and sling him across the alley into the other wall. He bumps into it and falls down on the ground.

"You're lying. If a shipment that big had been robbed, I would have heard about it."

"No, its the truth! Falcone and Skeevers...they...they covered it up. All the guys who were part of the crew bringing it in were whacked. They thought one of them was an inside man, so they killed them all off."

It's logical for them to keep it quiet. A robbery of that scale would be seen as a major sign of weakness. With people like Maroni and Hammerhead nipping at Falcone's for the top spot, finding out about something like this would have given both of them enough confidence to make their move.

"If your people are not involved, how are the drugs still being distributed?"

"We don't know. None of our dealers are involved, but there's plenty of independents out there on the corners who'd want a quality package like that."

"Who robbed your shipment?"

"One...one of the guys who was part of the crew that got robbed said it was four guys. There was a big man, a cowboy, a little guy in a suit, and a clown leading them..."

I approach Petrus and pick him up, slamming him into the wall.

"I'm not in the mood for games!"

"That's the truth! Swear to God! I was in the room when he said it! It's the truth! A big man, cowboy, a guy in a suit, and a clown!"

I narrow my eyes at Petrus and drop him. He falls flat on the ground and grabs his neck.

"Stay out of trouble, Petrus. Next time, be more forthcoming when I ask you something. It'll save us both a lot of trouble."

I walk away from Petrus, but turn as soon as I hear the rustling behind me. A knife cuts through the air by my shoulder. Petrus' switchblade slashes at my neck. I thrust my hand up and catch his arm, twisting it and causing a loud pop to echo through the alley. He falls to the ground and screams in pain. I tune out his screams and turn back around, walking out of the alley and back into the night.

Wayne Tower
6:21 AM

The sun's beginning to rise, bringing daylight to Gotham. All the criminals and predators retreat back into their snakeholes. Like vampires, the first hint of sunlight sends them scampering.

I guess I'm no different in that regard.

Wayne Tower is my home, I consider the old manor to be my father's home. I haven't stepped foot on the grounds since I was sixteen. The one thing I appreciated about the manor was what was underneath. My father always told me about the elaborate cave system that had occurred over thousands of years in the limestone rock. That's why, when I came back to the city, I decided to have a special section underneath Wayne Tower dedicated to housing all my equipment. It's a place where I can carry out my Batman work in peace and quiet.

Alfred jokingly calls it the "Batcave" I prefer to think of it as a bunker.

"Good morning, sir."

Speak of the Devil. Alfred steps off the service elevator with a plate of breakfast while I busy myself at the computer.

"I trust the night's agenda of head-cracking went as planned?"

"Business as usual."

Alfred lays the plate beside me while the computer connects with the FBI's National Crime Information Center. The database is connected to all state and city police agencies.

"The only decent tip I got all night was concerning the identity of the men tampering with the heroin. The man I question said it was four men. A large man, a cowboy, a little man in a suit, and a clown leading them."

"Sounds like they're one Indian short of the Village People."

I chuckle and begin my search. If these men are in the system, the Northeastern US is the best place to search. It's highly unlikely that they would come across country just to run this scam. I start with the big cities in the region. Gotham, Philadelphia, New York, and Metropolis. Anyone with an MO vaguely matching Petrus' description. I hit paydirt twenty minutes later in the New York database.

Jackson W. Brice aka Montana. He wears a cowboy hat and has a tendency to use a lasso. His known associates are Daniel Brito aka Fancy Dan, a 5'5 strong arm man with past arrests for armed robbery, and Raymond Bloch aka Ox, a 6'5 300 pound former boxer who has more than a few assaults on his rap sheet.

It's a pretty safe bet that these are the men Petrus spoke of...but no clown. The closest thing even matching a criminal with a clown motif is an armed robber from Metropolis who used a clown mask to rob a convenience store six years ago.

"Pardon me, sir," Alfred says, snapping me out of my trance. "But you're going to be late for your meeting with Mister Fox."

"I'll be fine. It's not until eleven."

"Yes, and it's ten after ten."

I furrow my brow and look at the clock. He's right. I've been in front of the computer for nearly four hours and I had no idea.

"Is there any way Lucius can wait?"

"It's in relation to the joint project with Stark Industries. I believe the board of directors have just a few more questions before they sign off on it."

"I was going to shadow Jefferson Skeevers today. I want to find out the mob's take on the hit and what they're doing about it. You don't steal over a hundred and twenty kilos of heroin from them and live to tell about it."

"How exactly did you plan to have billionaire Bruce Wayne follow a lowlife like Skeevers without attracting attention?"

"I was planning on going incognito...but I have another idea. Maybe you could do it?"

"Me?" Alfred asks with a surprised look.

"Yes. Let's not forget, bultering isn't exactly your first profession."

"It's been years since I had to shadow someone."

"Just like riding a bike. Skeevers' information is in the computer. Where he lives, where he hangs out. Try to get a listening device on him if you can."

I stand up and pat Alfred on the shoulder.

"I have faith in you."

"Good. I have the faith of a man who calls himself Batman. I'll let the sociopaths and drug dealers know that if they capture me."

Carnage27

11-19-2011, 08:43 PM

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I don't like Maxwell Lord. That much I can already tell, and so far, I haven't said a word to him. Mostly because he won't let me. The man hasn't stopped talking since we left Alan in the room where I woke up. He reminds me of Howard Stark. Except Lord has half the brains, twice the ego, and a whole lot less charisma. But that doesn't stop him from believing he does.

"I really am proud of what we've put together here," he says for about the fiftieth time. All he's talked about is this Checkmate organization I'm now apparently going to be a part of. I can't deny that it sounds like a good idea. It's a government organization made to protect America from terrorism and metahuman threats. And according to Lord, they've been doing well for themselves and for the country. I certainly can't fault him for that one.

The organization is set up by two different sides of the coin: Black and White, like a chess board. The White, led by Alan, is the information side. They're information gathering is top notch and unparalleled, apparently. Alan has ears all over the place, and has a media outlet of his own, according to Lord. The Black side is operations, and they've taken out quite a few threats. Lord leads that side, along with some woman named Waller.

"These threats have been progressing faster than we can keep up with them, I'm afraid," he says as we pass through an arch labeled "Sci Division". "So we've had to liaise with various corporations to construct some new toys. This is going to be out heavy hitter."

He flicks a light and the sight that greets me is amazing. It's an aircraft carrier with what seems like jet engines lined up on the sides. "Meet the Helicarrier, Cap. Our first in a line of mobile fortresses. Using these we'll be able to respond to and defeat any threat in a matter of moments. This is only the first in the fleet. But I'm sure we'll get the funding for more."

The smile he fives me after that last sentence sets me on edge a bit. I know how serious bureaucrats can get when it comes to their pet projects.

"Come on, Cap," he slaps me on the back. Dang I hate this guy. A lot. Only the soldiers who shed blood with me get to call me Cap. Not this guy. "Let's go meet your team."

"My team?" I ask as we walk towards the Checkmate barracks. "Seriously? You're gonna unfreeze me and stick on some team right away?"

"Why do you think we were looking for you?" he responds off-hand, swiping a card to enter the barracks area. "This wasn't some science experiment, Steve. Things are in motion. Things my regular group is having a hard time handling. We brought you back to stop them. Not to see if we could."

The quick change of demeanor from Lord is almost disarming. The fire in his eyes burns bright, that much is sure. And all I can do is return his stare with equal intensity, "You're lucky the country needs me, Lord. Because if not, you'd have a super soldier's boot up your ass right now."

"So there he is," a voice says from down the hall. I look up to see a grizzled soldier-type staring at us. He has striking red hair with streaks of grey, and more scars than I can count. He approaches and offers me his hand, which I take, "It's an honor to meet you, Captain. Sargent Rick Flag Jr. Welcome to the team. Lord, I'll take it from here."

Lord tries to protest, but I follow flag quickly, not letting him. "Thanks for that. Any more of that and I may have been arrested a few hours after being resurrected."

"No problem," he says. "I know how much of an ass Lord can be, but he gets us the funds we need. Now," he says as we pass into a common room filled with arcade games, pool tables, and a giant TV, "meet the field team."

The first to greet me is a raven haired woman with the hardest handshake I've ever felt, "Corporal Sasha Bordeaux. Sorry about the shake. I've had...a little work done." She can see my confusion, "Mechanical replacements. My codename is Gears."

Next is probably the sexiest woman I've ever seen. That much is sure. The striking red hair falls to her shoulders, which leads the the body below it, "Special Agent Natasha Romanoff. Espionage specialist. Code name Black Widow."

I have to admit it'll be weird to serve alongside women. Sure, we had a few as camp aides and nurses in Europe, but for the most part they never participated in the fighting. Except for Peggy.

"And my girlfriend," the final member says, putting his arm around Romanoff. "Clint Barton. Named Hawkeye. Marksman."

"So your good with a rifle?" I ask. I've always been a good shot, but I really don't enjoy using guns. I prefer to finish things honorably. Man-to-man.

"Yea, but I prefer a bow," he says, picking up an incredibly advanced bow and fires a bolt that splits another he had already shot into a picture of Maxwell Lord.

"I think we might get along, Clint," I say smiling.

Suddenly, alarms blare in in the area and Barton lets out a string of profanities, while the women on the team head to suit up. Flag pats me on the back, "Come on Cap. Time to go to work."

Barton stands and slings the bow onto his back with a quiver. As he passes by me, he smiles, "Welcome to the Suicide Squad, Cap."

Batman

11-19-2011, 09:05 PM

:super:

"He... he was so fast, I... and he vaporized our guns! Just by lookin' at 'em!"
"Yeah, sure he did. Just watch your head, pal."

Even with the traumatised victims of Intergang giving the police their story, I can't help but let a smile come across my face as I finally reach the door to my apartment. In total, I think that any attempt to steal the bank's income lasted less than sixty seconds - thanks in part to a man in a red cape that everyone will swear exists, but won't have any proof to lend credence to their claims in the police reports. I almost feel bad for the technicians that will have to replace the security camera's melted circuit fuse. But moreover, I'm just happy to have lent a hand towards rescuing the people inside. Sabatoging their weapons and knocking the leader through a desk did just enough to allow Metropolis PD to handle the rest. Like Pa always used to tell me whenever I tried to join any sports in school, life is a team effort. No matter how many advantages you have on your side, it's always going to be the other guy that needs them the most.

Still. Seeing the looks on their faces as their bullets crumbled against my palm was more than worth the risk of losing my anonymity. It's been four months since I decided how to go about this routine - this "saving the innocent" hobby that I've started taking up, and I still don't know how I'm going to be able to reveal myself to the world. When I was younger, I just didn't think it'd ever be a problem. People seemed to tolerate strange happenings all the time, and in the days of Captain America and the Justice Society, we even championed those who were different. It's probably why I took so many risks, back when it was just me in jeans and a red tablecloth draped over my shoulders, putting out outland fires in Mumbai. Part of me must have thought that I was just like him.

But in today's society, I've unfortunately started to realize that it's a different time. Even as we speak, Congress is trying to put forth a Mutant Registration Act in order to maintain some level of control over the populace. I can certainly understand their fears, but to be honest, I also understand the mutants. Being required to sign yourself up for subjecation from a higher power - just for the victimless crime of being who you are - is never going to be what brings the two opposing side of the argument together. So with all of that in mind, it's hard for me to imagine a world where someone who's more than just a mutant can be embraced as something that doesn't evoke the same amount of fear - if not even more of it.

Realizing the lateness of the hour, I take a look at my watch and sigh as I make my way into the apartment - setting aside my jacket on the living room futon, the only piece of real furniture that I own. Fifteen minutes later than I said I'd be. Ma is gonna be worried sick.

Grabbing my phone from the makeshift table I've made out of the cardboard boxes that I brought to move in, I dial the number to the farm and sit myself down, ignoring the roof's leaking ceiling as I produce the paper I bought on the way. Today's edition of The Daily Planet, curteousy of a news vendor with a colorful vocabulary. Already manage to finish the front page story on Waynetech's joint venture with Stark Industries by the time that Ma answers on the other side of the line.

"Hey, it's Clark. Sorry I'm late, I literally just walked in the door."

I can practically hear her sigh of relief. Always did hate it when I'm right.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. It's been great, I've just started settling in. I'd be lying if I said it's as homey as my old room, but I'm giving myself time to adjust."

Circulating through the paper as she responds, my attention shifts as I notice an editorial column highlighting the result of a dropped financial suite against Glen Glenmorgan's company. The plaintiff only backed down when his attorneys brought up the fact that if the case was pursued any further, thousands of dollars in damage to Glenmorgan's reputation as a generous humanitarian would be at stake. Somehow, that made the fact that the lawsuit only happened when the company intimidated it's employees into resignation after getting too close to the truth about their CEO's illegal practices... well, less of a priority.

The glowing heat in my eyes only manages to subside whenever I read the article further, realizing that the piece is going out of it's way to point out the flaws in the prosecution's logic, and even bringing up the fact that the judge presiding over the lawsuit was once a boarding school graduate alongside, who else? Glen Glenmorgan. With a wide smirk on my face, I only just manage to catch the name of the reporter who filed it. For what it's worth, Miss Lane, you've just garnered yourself yourself a new fan.

"Sorry Ma, I didn't hear you. The reception on this phone's terrible. Oh, the outfit? Yeah, it's going along well. Fits pretty snugly under my clothes, I don't think anyone can notice. Except when it comes to hiding the cape..."

Realizing that I'm getting too distracted, I nearly put the paper away. That is, until I notice a small column on page six, advertising an upcoming science demonstration from STAR Labs. I've heard of them a couple of times since I moved to Metropolis, they're supposed to be a world-renowned institute of scientific discoveries. This article's talking about some sort of joint project from Dr. Emil Hamilton and some other scientist from New York, working together to harness the power of focused radiation. The way they talk about Hamilton and his colleague, you'd have thought that they were the top scientists in the world. Heck, maybe they're right. Their listed credentials certainly look impressive.

Infact...

"Hold on a second, I just remembered something. Don't stop talking, alright? Tell me about your day."

Phone in hand, I'm in the barren bedroom of the apartment a second later and sorting through my things in the closet. Ever since I discovered I wasn't of this planet, I've been meaning to find a place to hide all of the weird stuff that came with the ship that brought me here. I guess that, in hindsight, a closet isn't the most secure place in the world to keep it all under wraps. But after a few moments, I finally find my eureka item and pull it out of a backpack full of clothes, to keep it hidden from sight.

A crystalized fragment of something. Pa always said it was the first thing he noticed whenever they discovered the ship, because it was glowing brighter than anything he had ever seen - and not only that, he could swear that he heard voices coming out of it.

Something about the crystal has always intrigued me. But I have no idea how to figure out what it's real purpose is. I've tried everything to get it to glow like it did when I arrived, but nothing seems to work. Maybe if Hamilton and his friend are in town long enough, I can send it in for an expert's opinion. I first heard about STAR Labs because they're the only place in the country to employ both geneticists and astrobiologists to help study the physical properties of moon rocks, meteorites, and other items that have drifted in from space.

I'd say that this definitely counts.

"That's great, Ma. I'd say that if Mr. Hubbard is willing to lend a hand, you should take him up on it."

The demonstration's supposed to take place tommorrow, right here in the city.

Good thing I didn't have anything planned.

sumowrestler

11-19-2011, 09:13 PM

Strange's Inner Sanctorum

The room is filled with books, scrolls, potions, and varius other mystical and old items along the walls and edge of the floor. A few different colored flames flicker throughout the room giving the room a very ominous feel to it. Strange floats in the middle of the room a couple feet off the ground with his eyes closed and legs crossed with his usual red cape gently flapping from some unknown source since there are no windows or fans blowing. Then he notices a slight but expected breach in his sanctorum's wards. An awk shaped portal appears before him as a man in a yellow helmet, cape, and boots mixed with a blue chest and legs walk out of it. Strange then opens his eyes and stretches out his legs onto the ground.

"It is good of you to come here, Dr. Fate. I'm trusting you as a fellow mystic of calibur to not reveal this particular location."

"I fully understand your concer, Dr. Strange. I'm very protective of my own home. So why did you summon me here?"

"As you may know, I'm the current Sorcerer Supreme for this dimension. You might be one of the few who could challenge me for the title but rather glad you have allowed me to keep the position. With my given responsibility, I have to keep tabs on mytsic going on here on Earth and other possible mystic threats which you most likely do as well given your own personal 'talents'. The thing that concerns me right now though is the relatively high jump in mystics on this world and dimension in the past couple decades. Some are not much more then your side show attraction magicians while others seem to be far more potent to the point of rivaling our own powers. Most are of the more typical magician side but I've also been noticing more demonic powers rising as well. What are your thoughts on these several new beings?"

"As you guessed, I've noticed the rise as well. I may not have come into my abilities as soon as you but been keeping track partly out of curousity and caution. From my own research, such happenings that we are noticing isn't anything new for this planet and happen in an ebb and flow wave pattern but this does seem to be one of the higher crests if not the highest in the history. It is near impossible though to get an accurate reading unless you are able to detect every single magic and demonic power out there with ease. The other thing we have to remember is there are much higher powers who show up from time to time who aren't residents of this world or dimension."

"I can't detect every last one but have battled my fair share of mystics in recent years. I know that this country is more concern about the rise in mutants but have to wonder how many of those mutants are actually mystics who simply don't know how to control their powers or energies they tap into. The real scary ones would be who are both mutants and mystics for their potential would go through the roof."

"So what do you suggest? The US Government are debating a bill right now of having a registeration act for mutants. Are you wanting to propose a similar act for them to create and enforce? I would be surprised that many mystics would go for that idea. As you said, most are probably the more mundane slight of hand with very limited inner dimension teleporting powers or very limited elemental control who are hardly a threat to society unless one of their tricks goes bad and then only to their customers."

"No, if anything, you and I should continue our own monitoring but as powerful as you and I are, if any of these new mystics would band together to try to take over the world, then it would be a fight for either of us to do alone. My idea is to take some of the more powerful, would it be current aiblity or potential, and train them properly in the hopes they would use their abilities to assit in protecting this dimension. As you know, the more powerful threats are the ones that 99.9% of the population doesn't know about due to being interdimensional in nature. The main problem will be finding willing mystics and a place to do the training. A pocket dimension would work but that would be dangerous if the barriers ever fell apart and bleed into some of the other dimensions that are less friendly to humans and Earth."

"Hmm, so you think that between you and I that we could train such a group? Do understand that my abilities differ from yours in origin and capabilities. The other problem is that we would be neglecting our primary duty that both were charge with and that is keeping this realm protected from mystic forces. How will we be able to do so while we train others? Then there is our own studies which I know you do if you are wise. Sometimes ignorance is bliss."

"Ah, ignorance can be bliss but once ignorance is no longer but replaced with curousity, that can be dangerous and something I want to guide if all possible. I want this to be more then you or me taking up one or two pupils at a time to teach even though that might be all we are able to convince initially. I've seen reports of other groups, some being mutants, that fight to protect this country and world. We would specialize in more of the interdimensional threats as both of us brought up but at the same time. The biggest concern I have, in that regard, is the number of demonic connections I've noticed. Some, like the Ghost Rider, are hard to determine where they fall on the side of good and evil. So will you at least consider the idea?"

"I will give it some though, Dr. Strange Sorcer Supreme. I'm not sure when I"ll be able to give you an answer but until then, keep your eyes including your mystic eye open."

With a nod, Dr. Fate opens his more usual ark doorway and walks into it leaving Strange in his inner sanctorum.

Batman

11-20-2011, 11:52 AM

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"These are the only identified Brotherhood members we know so far: Magneto, Dr. Light, Mystique, Killer Frost, and Toad. Anyone of them could be on the team headed to Washington. Or it could be an all new threat. We won't know until we get in the field. J'onn, Jean, Kitty, Logan, and I will be the field team with Storm and Beast as support. Questions?"

Just as Summers finished his brief, Logan noticed the Grey woman looking over at the younger girl being brought with them. And silently, he had to agree with the sentiment. He could certainly understand Xavier's need for reserves whenever it came to a group like this, but she wasn't even old enough to drink, much less throw herself in the line of fire. And then there was the other odd facet of the group - J'onn, wasn't it? What kind of a name was that? Nevermind the fact that physically, he looked strange, even for someone with a genetic mutation. It was almost as if he were never human. He certainly didn't smell like he ever was.

The more that he considered it, the more that Logan realized that coming down here may have been a mistake. But it wasn't like he was given much of a choice. He figured that if he had kept fielding their offer to join up, he'd have to find himself a new place to stay. And it was hell enough just getting across the border, so he didn't want to risk having to go back. At least not for awhile. Guess I'm stuck with these military rejects.

The first to step forward, Logan gave Summers a narrow sneer. He didn't like the way that the guy had been looking at him ever since he came back to Westchester. Like there was some sort of resentment. Maybe he just didn't like how Logan couldn't keep his eyes off of the redhead.

"Well? You heard the man. We got less than an hour, so let's get goin'."

"Yes, I believe that Hank is right. It would be wise to continue this discussion on your way. Good luck to all of you, I will leave you to suit-up."

Suit-up?

Xavier stopped, mid-way through wheeling himself out of the room, before his eyes fell back on Logan. Almost as if he had heard his thoughts - which, given the man was a telepath, was probably true. "Ah, I believe we've yet to assign Logan a uniform. Hank, would you accompany him to your lab? I believe you've designed several different pieces over the years that could help create something temporary."

The blue furball, Beast, stepped over to Logan and nodded.

"Of course, Charles. Logan?"

Annoyed that they had to waste the time, Logan nevertheless followed Beast out of the room as the others began to prepare themselves.

Long as it ain't tights.

Byrd Man

11-20-2011, 09:37 PM

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Previously

Wayne Tower
6:21 AM

The sun's beginning to rise, bringing daylight to Gotham. All the criminals and predators retreat back into their snakeholes. Like vampires, the first hint of sunlight sends them scampering.

I guess I'm no different in that regard.

Wayne Tower is my home, I consider the old manor to be my father's home. I haven't stepped foot on the grounds since I was sixteen. The one thing I appreciated about the manor was what was underneath. My father always told me about the elaborate cave system that had occurred over thousands of years in the limestone rock. That's why, when I came back to the city, I decided to have a special section underneath Wayne Tower dedicated to housing all my equipment. It's a place where I can carry out my Batman work in peace and quiet.

Alfred jokingly calls it the "Batcave" I prefer to think of it as a bunker.

"Good morning, sir."

Speak of the Devil. Alfred steps off the service elevator with a plate of breakfast while I busy myself at the computer.

"I trust the night's agenda of head-cracking went as planned?"

"Business as usual."

Alfred lays the plate beside me while the computer connects with the FBI's National Crime Information Center. The database is connected to all state and city police agencies.

"The only decent tip I got all night was concerning the identity of the men tampering with the heroin. The man I question said it was four men. A large man, a cowboy, a little man in a suit, and a clown leading them."

"Sounds like they're one Indian short of the Village People."

I chuckle and begin my search. If these men are in the system, the Northeastern US is the best place to search. It's highly unlikely that they would come across country just to run this scam. I start with the big cities in the region. Gotham, Philadelphia, New York, and Metropolis. Anyone with an MO vaguely matching Petrus' description. I hit paydirt twenty minutes later in the New York database.

Jackson W. Brice aka Montana. He wears a cowboy hat and has a tendency to use a lasso. His known associates are Daniel Brito aka Fancy Dan, a 5'5 strong arm man with past arrests for armed robbery, and Raymond Bloch aka Ox, a 6'5 300 pound former boxer who has more than a few assaults on his rap sheet.

It's a pretty safe bet that these are the men Petrus spoke of...but no clown. The closest thing even matching a criminal with a clown motif is an armed robber from Metropolis who used a clown mask to rob a convenience store six years ago.

"Pardon me, sir," Alfred says, snapping me out of my trance. "But you're going to be late for your meeting with Mister Fox."

"I'll be fine. It's not until eleven."

"Yes, and it's ten after ten."

I furrow my brow and look at the clock. He's right. I've been in front of the computer for nearly four hours and I had no idea.

"Is there any way Lucius can wait?"

"It's in relation to the joint project with Stark Industries. I believe the board of directors have just a few more questions before they sign off on it."

"I was going to shadow Jefferson Skeevers today. I want to find out the mob's take on the hit and what they're doing about it. You don't steal over a hundred and twenty kilos of heroin from them and live to tell about it."

"How exactly did you plan to have billionaire Bruce Wayne follow a lowlife like Skeevers without attracting attention?"

"I was planning on going incognito...but I have another idea. Maybe you could do it?"

"Me?" Alfred asks with a surprised look.

"Yes. Let's not forget, bultering isn't exactly your first profession."

"It's been years since I had to shadow someone."

"Just like riding a bike. Skeevers' information is in the computer. Where he lives, where he hangs out. Try to get a listening device on him if you can."

I stand up and pat Alfred on the shoulder.

"I have faith in you."

"Good. I have the faith of a man who calls himself Batman. I'll let the sociopaths and drug dealers know that if they capture me."

IC: Alfred Pennyworth

The East End
12:21 PM

I have the car parked down the block from an apartment complex. According to the computer read out, this is the residents of one Jefferson Skeevers. He's the Gotham Mafia's point man on all things narcotics related.

I've been here in the car, watching and waiting for over an hour. Wagner's playing soft on the radio. Leaning back in the seat, I begin to think about the last time I actually took part in a stakeout. I guess Master Bruce was right, a skill like this you can never forget. Just being here brings me back to my days in West Berlin.
Fifteen minutes later, the man in the purple suit comes out of the apartment complex and begins walking down the street. I chuckle and get out of my car. With the way mister Skeevers is dressed, a blind man could follow him. I wait a few seconds before following behind him down the sidewalk. Skeevers leads me a few blocks over to a dive bar called Wesley's.

Okay, this is it.

"Pardon me, sir," I call out to Skeevers before he goes in. He turns to look at me as I approach him. I pull out a pocket atlas of the city and hold it up.

"I'm a bit lost, I wonder if you could tell me how to get to the diamond district?"

Skeever sizes me up at the same time I size him up. The way he carries himself makes it obivious he has a pistol on his body. Possibly in a shoulder holster. Maybe a hip holster. Either way, it's on his right side.

"Yeah, man, you in the wrong neighborhood for all that." Skeevers says with a chuckle. "What you need to do is head back to the expressway and take a right about two miles down it. That'll take you downtown. From there, you can find it without no problem."

"Thank you." I reach into my pocket and pull out a twenty. "Please, take this..."

"Naah, man. I'm good. Believe me, I'm good."

I shove it at him and Skeevers pushes me away.

"**** off, man! I don't need your goddamn charity! I make more in a month than you made in your ****** life!"

He scowls at me and walks into the bar. I place the money back into my pocket and walk back to the car. Once behind the wheel, I activate the radio on the passenger seat and listen in.

"****in' guy. Trying to tip me like I'm a goddamn bellhop or something."

Hopefully the listening device on the inside of his jacket sleeve will stay stuck. Skeevers was so busy focusing on the twenty, he neglected to see me slip it on his jacket.

I send a text to Master Bruce and inform him of the successful sleight of hand before I start the car and make my way back downtown to Wayne Tower.

SuperFerret

11-20-2011, 10:07 PM

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Somewhat uncharacteristically, I sat quietly during the mission briefing. I take the opportunity to once more examine my teammates, or as I've begun to think of them, my new family.

Scott is, as always, all business. If there is any apprehension behind his well-trained poker face (bolstered in its effectiveness by the dark visor obscuring his eyes), my eyes cannot tell.

In contrast to Scott, Jean emits warm emotion so much that one doesn't need to actively scan for them to notice her concern for Kitty (another favorite student of mine) is genuine.

For her own part, Kitty doesn't seem to balk at the potential danger of the situation before us. I do not wish to pry telepathically, thus I wonder if it is the true courage I know she has, or just a lack of understanding of what we're up against. My "gut" is leaning towards the former.

Ororo, like myself, sits quietly through the meeting, though I'm not entirely surprised, as such quiet moments are not infrequent with her.

Henry is himself. Of all the X-Men, he is quite possibly the most multifaceted. One moment he is all business, discussing equations or biology, the next, he'll crack a joke or quote Shakespeare. It's not surprising that Charles requested that he go with Logan.

Logan. I have met the wildman before, briefly, during his first visit to the school. The way he looks at me denotes suspicion, and I must admit, I reciprocate it. He scans us somewhat like I do, but his appraisals, if they show on his face, do not seem to come up positively. His attention towards Jean somewhat bothers me (though not as much as it does Scott), but I am becoming more aware of my unconscious protectiveness of young females. I am a father without a daughter, after all.

I approached Scott, catching him alone as the rest were getting themselves ready. He, characteristically, is already prepared. I merely need to concentrate and the casual form I take around the school (in which I appear to wear a form-fitting dark blue suit) shifts into my "uniform", a mostly similar form carefully designed to both intimidate and inspire. As is customary among the team, I wear a large X across my otherwise bare chest, in the center of the X, I hold a chunk of rock from my home planet, keeping it always close to my heart.

"I assume we are expecting more than Erik's usual group."

Byrd Man

11-20-2011, 10:14 PM

I approached Scott, catching him alone as the rest were getting themselves ready. He, characteristically, is already prepared. I merely need to concentrate and the casual form I take around the school shifts into my "uniform", a mostly similar form carefully designed to both intimidate and inspire. As is customary among the team, I wear a large X across my otherwise bare chest.

"I assume we are expecting more than Erik's usual group."

"I wouldn't doubt it. It's been over a year since we've crossed paths with the Brotherhood. I wouldn't be surprised if this team he's sent to Washington are all made up of unfamiliar faces."

Here I am. Talking to a man from Mars. Just J'onn's presence would stun a lot of people. But my sense of surreal with him wore off at least ten years ago.

"If this is an assassination attempt, you can bet Mystique will be involved in some way. I need both you and Jean to keep your minds open to any familiar psychic signatures out there. She can shape shift all she wants, but she can't hide that."

SuperFerret

11-20-2011, 10:22 PM

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"I wouldn't doubt it. It's been over a year since we've crossed paths with the Brotherhood. I wouldn't be surprised if this team he's sent to Washington are all made up of unfamiliar faces."

Here I am. Talking to a man from Mars. Just J'onn's presence would stun a lot of people. But my sense of surreal with him wore off at least ten years ago.

"If this is an assassination attempt, you can bet Mystique will be involved in some way. I need both you and Jean to keep your minds open to any familiar psychic signatures out there. She can shape shift all she wants, but she can't hide that."

"Raven would be the most logical person to include in this. I will keep an eye out for her, so to speak. I'm sure she is still sore at how the last encounter I had with her ended." I let a small smile out, "I am the better shapeshifter."

"Speaking of, how discreet will we need to be here? I have little doubt that any revealing of a plot by mutants on the Senator's life will have a negative impact of our peaceful work against the bill, but at the same time, it might give us some better press if we are known as heroes."

Byrd Man

11-20-2011, 10:29 PM

"Raven would be the most logical person to include in this. I will keep an eye out for her, so to speak. I'm sure she is still sore at how the last encounter I had with her ended." I let a small smile out, "I am the better shapeshifter."

"Speaking of, how discreet will we need to be here? I have little doubt that any revealing of a plot by mutants on the Senator's life will have a negative impact of our peaceful work against the bill, but at the same time, it might give us some better press if we are known as heroes."

"I actually believe that if we're successful, the existence of the X-Men will finally be made public. It's the Professor's plan to show that we're here and we're dedicated to protecting all people, human and mutant alike. I just hope it actually works. Revealing to the public that there are not one, but two groups of militarized mutants out there might not exactly inspire confidence."

SuperFerret

11-20-2011, 10:36 PM

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"I actually believe that if we're successful, the existence of the X-Men will finally be made public. It's the Professor's plan to show that we're here and we're dedicated to protecting all people, human and mutant alike. I just hope it actually works. Revealing to the public that there are not one, but two groups of militarized mutants out there might not exactly inspire confidence."

"We must work hard to ensure that it is abundantly clear that we are on their side then. Perhaps we should give the Secret Service some of the information we have, as a sign of good will."

Byrd Man

11-20-2011, 10:40 PM

"We must work hard to ensure that it is abundantly clear that we are on their side then. Perhaps we should give the Secret Service some of the information we have, as a sign of good will."

"Agreed. Maybe they can actually have better luck in finding out where Magneto and the Brotherhood are..."

I look over my shoulder to make sure we're not being heard.

"One other thing, J'onn, when we're out there. Just try and keep a check on what Logan is doing...mentally. I know he's more than capable physically, but I'm not fully convinced that he's ready for this."

SuperFerret

11-20-2011, 10:45 PM

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"Agreed. Maybe they can actually have better luck in finding out where Magneto and the Brotherhood are..."

I look over my shoulder to make sure we're not being heard.

"One other thing, J'onn, when we're out there. Just try and keep a check on what Logan is doing...mentally. I know he's more than capable physically, but I'm not fully convinced that he's ready for this."

I simply nodded in response, then spoke quickly to change the topic.

"What about Kitty? She is capable as well, but perhaps a little, pardon the expression, green to be potentially going against the Brotherhood."

Byrd Man

11-20-2011, 10:48 PM

I simply nodded in response, then spoke quickly to change the topic.

"What about Kitty? She is capable as well, but perhaps a little, pardon the expression, green to be potentially going against the Brotherhood."

"The thought did cross my mind, but I don't want you to stretch yourself too thin. Trying to juggle Logan and Kitty on top of looking for Brotherhood assassins may cause you to lose your focus on any one of the three. I can ask Jean to watch Kitty."

SuperFerret

11-20-2011, 10:52 PM

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"The thought did cross my mind, but I don't want you to stretch yourself too thin. Trying to juggle Logan and Kitty on top of looking for Brotherhood assassins may cause you to lose your focus on any one of the three. I can ask Jean to watch Kitty."

I place my hand on Scott's shoulder, smiling and nodding, before moving on to join the others in their preparations.

"You should know by now, Scott." I say as I leave.

"I watch out for all of you."

Andy C.

11-21-2011, 02:50 AM

:spidey:

"I still don't see why you just roll over and take it like that," Gwen says as we step off the bus, heading to check into our homeroom classes before the field trip. "Flash Thompson is a jerk and an idiot; you shouldn't have to put up with him picking on you all the time."

"I shouldn't have to, no, but unfortunately I do have to," I say, picking the quarterback's spit-wads out of my hair. "In case you haven't noticed, he's built like a refrigerator, and I've barely got enough muscle on me to keep my bones together. So standing up to him isn't exactly an option."

"I didn't say pick a fight with him," she responds. "But there's got to be a better way to deal with it than just letting him bully you like that. That can't be good for your self-esteem."

I raise an eyebrow at her and put on a confused look.

"You say strange words," I say. "This 'self-esteem' of which you speak.....it is not the way of my people. When bully comes, we run and hide, live to fight another day."

"Right. Another day where he picks on you again."

"Hey, I just console myself by thinking about the fact that one day, my tax dollars will be paying for his unemployment."

Gwen laughs, and I laugh, until we round the corner....

"Oh, jeez. Speaking of hits to my self-esteem...."

"Heya Pete!"

"Hi, Petey!"

Harry Osborn is probably my best friend in the whole world-- mainly because I only have like three actual friends and I've known him for about a year longer than I've known Gwen, and Virgil got transferred off to the Xavier school a couple of years ago. Through thick and thin, we've had each other's backs, and I know that at the end of the day, he'd do pretty much anything for me, and vice versa.

Which is why it kills me that he's dating Liz Allan. I've had a crush on her since sixth grade, when she was the only girl in my class who gave me a card on Valentine's Day (okay, so she gave everyone in our class a card, but hey, at least she remembered). I never had the guts to ask her out, though, and once Liz joined the cheerleading squad and became one of the popular kids, that pretty much ended any chances I might have ever had. So seeing her with Harry is a bit like my heart getting gutted like a pumpkin.

"Hey Harry, hey, um....Liz," I stammer. "You guys ready for the big field trip?"

"Eh, I guess."

"I'm really excited. I've never been to Metropolis before! It's just a shame we won't get to see any sights while we're there."

"I've been a couple of times; it's a nice place to visit. I'll see if my Dad will let us go there next weekend, and we can make a real trip out of it."

"Really?! Oh Harry, you're the best!"

Liz throws her arms around Harry and kisses him on the cheek, Harry smiles to himself, and I fight the urge to just curl up into a ball and die.

"Well, I'm looking forward to it. Got my camera and everything. Gonna get some great shots for the paper," I say, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"Oooh, well, make sure you get my good side," Liz says with a giggle before striking a mock pose.

"Heh, yeah.......heh," is all I'm able to manage.

"Anyway, we've gotta get going," Harry says, mercifully cutting off the uncomfortable silence. "See you on the bus in half an hour. You too, Gwen."

Gwen waves, tight-lipped, as Harry and Liz walk by, then looks at me.

"That looked painful," she says.

"That's because it was," I sigh. "God, what am I gonna do, Gwen? I'm hopelessly in love with my best friend's girlfriend. Emphasis on 'hopeless.'"

"Come on, Pete, you've got to move on," she says, putting an encouraging hand on my shoulder. "You are too smart and too sweet of a guy to be hung up on some bubbly ditz like Liz Allan, who's only dating Harry for his dad's money. Whoever you wind up with is going to be really lucky, and if Liz doesn't see it? That's her loss."

"Yeah, I....I guess...." I say sheepishly, staring at my shoes.

"And besides, y'know.....it's not like she's the only girl out there who might like you...."

I look up at her, with that smile that just melts my heart.

"......why, do you know someone?"

Suddenly her smile fades, and Gwen rolls her eyes and strides off in front of me.

"Never mind, Peter," she says. "You really are hopeless sometimes."

I stand there, befuddled for a few moments, before I finally shrug and make my way to homeroom.

"I really do not get girls," I mutter to myself.

Maybe things will finally start going right for me once we're on the bus and on our way to STAR Labs.

MST3K 4ever

11-21-2011, 10:05 AM

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Lex admires his opening drive off of the 1st tee and Trump nods approvingly. Tiger gives him a look of being impressed and Barkley shakes his head and says, "I'm buying dinner again aren't I?"

The other 3 chuckle and Lex says, "Oh don't take it too hard Charles if you have to buy dinner again why don't you just look into setting up a tab at the Excelsior?"

They all have a good laugh...except Charles.

Lex puts his arm around Charles and says, "Don't worry about it Charles. I'll take care of this."

Lex says as Trump is ready to tee-off, "Gentlemen let's do teams. Charles and I Donald you and Tiger. Losers buy dinner and donate $10,000 to the winners choice of charities."

Trump and Tiger nod and Charles says, "I don't need your pity Lex. I can do fine with either one of these guys."

Lex says, "Actually I was thinking us bald guys gotta stick together."

Charles smirks for a moment and then laughs. He says, "Now that I can get behind!"

They all 4 laugh and Lex says, "Game on Gentlemen!"

sumowrestler

11-21-2011, 12:29 PM

Hal Jordan walks into the penthouse that his very good friend Oliver Queen has to see what his friend was up to.

"So Ollie, what is tonight's agenda? Do I need to find the tux you have loaned me or do we go out in our other matching outfit? It has been a while since I went green mostly due to this city being much quieter then back home for me."

Jordan looks around and picks up a newspaper seeing the article on the Mutant Registeration Act. The idea of any superhero being forced to signing up for a permission slip from the US Government bothers him. It would be hard on him if he would have to unmask just because the government doesn't like it. To get his mind off of things, he flips through to the business section and notices a couple of articles on Luthorcorp and one on Wayne Enterprises. One thing that does surprise Jordan is no mention of Stark anywhere. Usually the three big international companies each have a section almost dedicated to them on the business pages.

"I know I don't have a head for business, which Carol reminded me of quite often to the point that I thought she enjoyed it, but why has your company not made any big splashes lately? Aren't there some big scientist or companies that you can buy or at least partner up with for some project that would save the world? I know we try in our own ways on the individual level but with your resources, shouldn't there be some way to make a small dent? By no means do I expect you to do anything like the Big Three since those three men have much deeper pockets then you do. If I understand things right, your entire fortune is like chump change to the likes of Wayne or Stark."

MST3K 4ever

11-21-2011, 03:27 PM

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Hal Jordan walks into the penthouse that his very good friend Oliver Queen has to see what his friend was up to.

"So Ollie, what is tonight's agenda? Do I need to find the tux you have loaned me or do we go out in our other matching outfit? It has been a while since I went green mostly due to this city being much quieter then back home for me."

Oliver replies, "A little something on the morally questionable side of the law to put it lightly if you're interested."

Jordan chuckles and Oliver says, "If you only knew."

Jordan looks around and picks up a newspaper seeing the article on the Mutant Registeration Act. The idea of any superhero being forced to signing up for a permission slip from the US Government bothers him. It would be hard on him if he would have to unmask just because the government doesn't like it. To get his mind off of things, he flips through to the business section and notices a couple of articles on Luthorcorp and one on Wayne Enterprises. One thing that does surprise Jordan is no mention of Stark anywhere. Usually the three big international companies each have a section almost dedicated to them on the business pages.

"I know I don't have a head for business, which Carol reminded me of quite often to the point that I thought she enjoyed it, but why has your company not made any big splashes lately? Aren't there some big scientist or companies that you can buy or at least partner up with for some project that would save the world? I know we try in our own ways on the individual level but with your resources, shouldn't there be some way to make a small dent? By no means do I expect you to do anything like the Big Three since those three men have much deeper pockets then you do. If I understand things right, your entire fortune is like chump change to the likes of Wayne or Stark."

Oliver replies, "Gee with that kind of sweet talkin' I'm amazed Carol hasn't begged you to marry her!"

Oliver looks at his friends and says, "Sorry Hal I didn't mean to snap at you/ I'm a little on edge. In terms of my company I've managed to hire Hank Pym away from OSCORP. He's doing some cutting edge stuff on molecular biology and probably head up our med contracts with the Government. Speaking of the Government I got an experimental jet our R & D is looking to try and get the Government to bid if you're up for it I'll throw it your way."

Oliver gets out another bottled water and Hal holds up his hand and Oliver tosses it to him.

Oliver says, "In terms of Stark and Wayne we work together on common interests projects and we usually try to stay off of each other's side of the street. We each one have our own areas of expertise and we respect one another for that. OSCORP though I'd give my right arm and let Dinah shave my goatee off with a butter knife if it meant taking him out."

Hal asks, "What about Lex?"

Oliver says, "Which brings me to tonight's action. I'm breaking into LexCorp's North Tower to steal some information."

Hal is stunned and looks as if to say "are you drunk?"

Oliver explains about Senator Layden and the Mutant Registration Act. Hal listens and nods.

Oliver concludes with, "Once Plastic Man gets back here with the lay of the land...."

Hal says with a raised eyebrow, "Plastic Man? You're trusting him! Why didn't you just ask The Joker to help you out?"

Oliver responds, "I know Plas is unpredictable and a wild card at times, but when push comes to shove he'll always do what is right and for the great good. Besides I couldn't ask Sue Richards she's a bit too much on the straight and narrow for something like this."

Oliver asks as he finishes his water, "You in?"

sumowrestler

11-21-2011, 04:57 PM

"Luthor, you say? What you have in mind is more for you or old pointy ears Batman? I'm wondering why Luthor would want the Act to pass Congress. If they want any direct results of such an act, all they have to do is ask some of the heroes who have went public. John Stewart and Gardner can't seem to do anything here in the States since they wen't public so they are spending most if not all their time out in space. It actually does me a favor because it keeps the Guardians off my back but they've been busy trying to play peace keeper with all of the different space armies. They've yet to forgive Galactus for eating several homeworlds of our Lanterns."

Hal shakes himself a little and takes a big swig of the bottle of water that Ollie tossed him. Time like these makes him glad that Ollie is a bit of a health finantic instead of the likes of Stark who seems half drunk most of the time.

"Sorry for that little soap box rant. The main reason I went back to Carol was to get away from that but as you know how well that worked out for me. I have to give it to you, using your own intelligence and normal human abilities plus gadgets to get the job done instead of mutating yourself or searching for some alien or magical artifact. As for your idea, it might be better if I stay on the outside as a lookout since sneaking in isn't my more usual style and I be in the way. It isn't that I've always stayed on this line of the law, just ask a certain colonel now who I punched, but I probably be in the way if I was in there with you. If and more then likely what security Luthor has, that I might help out with when you get over your head. Oh, as for that experimental plane, I'm up for it as long as you don't go asking Carol for her opinion."

Carnage27

11-21-2011, 09:51 PM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

"Where are we headed, Lord," Hawkeye asks as the assembled team enters the briefing room. "Hopefully somewhere sunny. I could go for a tan. Maybe a few nice, strong drinks."

"Bialya, Barton," a woman's voice says from in front of what I've been told is a computer. She spins around in a chair and reveals herself to be a black woman in what I assume is her late 30s.

"I didn't say Middle Eastern sunny," Clint mumbles under his breath.

She shakes my hand with conviction. "Captain, I'm Amanda Waller. Black Queen of Checkmate. Good to have you aboard. It is an honor to see you alive and well."

"Yea, yea," Lord says, placing a few folders in front of us on the briefing table. "We don't have all day. The Whites have told us they've pinpointed a Kobra base in Bialya-"

"They better be damn sure this time," Flag says from next to me. "I don't want another Kahndaq mess on our hands again. Bialya's prisons are worse than Black Adam's, if you could believe it."

"Scott swears on his blasted ring the info's good," Lord snaps back at Flag. "And last time I checked it wasn't your job to question orders, Flag."

"Yes, sir," Rick responds, venom dripping from his words.

I clear my throat and interject, "Uh, not to be a pain. But Bialya? Kahndaq? Kobra? You might as well be speaking French to me."

"The world has changed quite a bit since you've been gone, Rogers. We don't have time for a full briefing now," Waller responds. "We'll have the team fill you in on what you need to know on the flight to the Middle East." She presses a few buttons in front of her and the image of a mountain springs up in front of us, "The caverns below this mountain are what we believe a Kobra staging facility. Weapons, training facilities, barracks. All of them are here. If we're lucky, Kobra himself will be inside. Familiarize yourself with the area on the flight over. You leave in 30."

I nod and ponder my predicament for a moment. I've barely been awake for a few hours and already I'm being shuttled off onto another mission. It's like I've never left the war. It's like I'm right back in the foxhole with the Commandos. And I'm not sure how much I really like situation, or what I'm seeing from what is apparently America's top intelligence agency.

If this is what America needs for its defense...what is today's America like?

"I'm going to need my shield," I say to Waller and Lord. "And my gear."

"We have gear for you," Lord says in his usual, uninterested tone. I feel like the man dislikes me as much as I dislike him, but he won't come out and say it. He needs me. He knows that.

"What do you mean?" I ask, trying to hide my annoyance. "I need my shield. It's how I fight."

"It's too recognizable, and things change. You don't use shields on today's enemies," he says, shaking his head looking up at me.

"Yea, because the Nazis were a cake walk," I scoff. Lord doesn't like that. Good.

"We're black ops here, Cap. We don't walk around draped in the flag. We do the ugly work so the country can stay safe. We don't need you broadcasting that Captain America is landing in other countries. Now go change into the gear we've supplied."

I don't respond. Probably because I can't think of anything nice to say. And my mom always told me not to say anything in that situation. Instead, I head back to my quarters and find the clothes they've given me. I change quickly, and join the rest of the team.

http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o410/daarkanjel/Moon%20Knight%20Covers/Secret%20Avengers/srss.jpg

"Looking good, Cap," Sasha says as I approach the most advanced looking plane I've ever seen. I guess she notices the look on my face, "Meet the Quinjet. Easily one of the most advanced flight vehicles out there."

"Impressive," I respond. It's amazing what kind of technology America has in this day and age. Lord gave me a quick run down as we toured the facility, but I know it's still going to take me forever to figure it all out.

I enter the plane and take my designated seat, but not before picking up a box that's sitting on it. I open it, and smile at the contents.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b115/crfields/Captain%20America/captain-america-shield-front.jpg

Attached to the back is a note in unfamiliar handwriting.

Cap-

Figured you'd need this. Screw what Lord says.

-13"Well look at that," Flag says looking over my shoulder. "Looks like Agent 13 has taken a liking to the Captain."

MST3K 4ever

11-21-2011, 09:52 PM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6366402613_3f2c57eeb9_m.jpg

"Luthor, you say? What you have in mind is more for you or old pointy ears Batman? I'm wondering why Luthor would want the Act to pass Congress. If they want any direct results of such an act, all they have to do is ask some of the heroes who have went public. John Stewart and Gardner can't seem to do anything here in the States since they wen't public so they are spending most if not all their time out in space. It actually does me a favor because it keeps the Guardians off my back but they've been busy trying to play peace keeper with all of the different space armies. They've yet to forgive Galactus for eating several homeworlds of our Lanterns."

Oliver says, "Plain and simple my friend it's all about control. Luthor wants to be able to believe that he can control everything including, and in terms of mutants LexCorp has several covert testing facilities all over the world and three guesses who he uses as Lab Rats?"

Hal nods and Oliver says, "That's right and if the Mutant Registration Act passes Lex will be able to use his friends in the Government to keep him well stocked in Mutants from now until Judgement Day, and claim that it's all in the name of National Security or Scientific Advancement. Patrick left a copy of the Bill on his desk once and left me alone with it for about 20 minutes."

Oliver shakes his head and says, "Hal by the time I finished reading it I felt physically ill. It's barbaric and savage it's nothing short of the Holocaust all over again."

Oliver takes a swig of his bottled water and looks over at the LexCorp Towers.

He says, "Towers should be something that gives people a sense of security and hope like the people are being protected. I see those towers and all I wanna do is storm them and take Luthor out in the street and beat him like a dog. Then show the world what kind of monster he is and let mob rule do their job."

Hal crosses over to Oliver and says,

"Sorry for that little soap box rant. The main reason I went back to Carol was to get away from that but as you know how well that worked out for me. I have to give it to you, using your own intelligence and normal human abilities plus gadgets to get the job done instead of mutating yourself or searching for some alien or magical artifact. As for your idea, it might be better if I stay on the outside as a lookout since sneaking in isn't my more usual style and I be in the way. It isn't that I've always stayed on this line of the law, just ask a certain colonel now who I punched, but I probably be in the way if I was in there with you. If and more then likely what security Luthor has, that I might help out with when you get over your head. Oh, as for that experimental plane, I'm up for it as long as you don't go asking Carol for her opinion."

Oliver says, "Usually you don't get going on a soapbox rant unless it's worth it. I respect that. In terms of powers and so forth you're a hero that ring does nothing than magnify what's already there. I know that running around LexCorp is gonna be, at best, a million to one shot of being even a moral victory. That being said there's no one else in the Universe I would trust more to watch my back."

The two men raise their bottles and toast.

Oliver says, "Good Hunting, oh and in terms of the job if we pull this off you're gonna be the highest paid test pilot who ever lived."

Carnage27

11-21-2011, 10:00 PM

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/Legacy1978/Checklist%20Titel%20Banner/X-MenOrigins-JeanGrey-Banner.jpg

It only takes me a few minutes to change into my uniform, and I waste no time in getting to the Blackbird. The plane is so sleek, so amazingly advanced, and if I can be completely honest, the thing is downright sexy. It amazed me when the Professor told me we were going to get a jet for X-Men missions, but in my wildest dreams I never would have thought this piece of technology would be in our basement.

I see Scott and J'onn speaking, and I leave them be. Their talking about strategy, no doubt. The two of them are always all-business at times like this. And there aren't two people I'd rather have forming ours.

J'onn has always been such a strong influence in my life. When Xavier brought him in, I instantly connected with a new telepath. After learning from only Charles, it was nice to have a new teacher. And he has always been so wise, in ways none of us will probably ever be able to understand.

I head up the ramp to find Kitty already inside, suited up and ready. I take a seat next to her, "Are you ready for this?"

Batman

11-22-2011, 12:34 AM

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8972/wolverineblk.gif

"You gotta be kiddin' me."

When Logan saw the ensemble that Hank had managed to piece together for him out of rejected pieces of initial prototype uniforms for the team, Logan had believed the good doctor was either colorblind or intentionally playing a very cruel joke. But looking at himself in the mirror, dressed from neck to toe in a bright yellow and blue sleeveless ensemble with stripes running down the sides and the most flamboyant boots Logan had ever seen, it slowly began to sink in that there was no joke to be had. Not only did they actually make these ridiculous outfits for themselves, they actually expected him to go out on the field in one. Eventually, Logan had to look away from the mirror, becoming disgusted with the sight of it. Beast, on the other hand, was already dressed in his - a similar attire with straps and buckles aligning the front, and no boots, freely displaying his animalistic paws in place of a human pair of feet.

"Designin' clothes ain't never been your field of expertise, huh?"

The blue furball chuckled, patting Logan on the shoulder as he passed.

"Somehow, Logan, I am almost positive that you've looked worse. I'll leave you to it, Charles requires my assistance on the Blackbird."

As the doctor sauntered out of the lab, Logan kept staring back at his own reflection. The thing had already looked tight enough when it was brought out to him, but it felt a thousand times worse. Were it not for the lack of sleeves, he might actually feel like it was impossible to move in. Annoyed that there were no alternatives on the rack behind him that looked any more dignified, he frustratedly rubbed the bridge of his nose, wondering how much worse this could really get.

Should just tell 'em where to shove it, right now. Ain't no poster boy, and sure as hell ain't no circus act.

Convinced that he wasn't leaving the room dressed like this, Logan began to walk back to the other end of the room in order to retrieve his regular clothes. But upon second glance at the rack near him, he stopped, noticing a series of headgear that had been left unmanned. Metallic pieces and optical visors belonging to Summers, mostly, but a piece of yellow and black cloth immediately caught his eye. Grabbing it, he looked at the piece in his hands, realizing that it matched the material of the outfit that he was wearing.

Curious, he walked back up to the mirror and slipped it over his head, locking it into place over his eyes and nose. What then stared back at Logan didn't seem nearly as ridiculous - when by all logic, it should have looked even moreso.

Gotta admit.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/1963/rpgh.png

Ain't got much reason to be embarrassed now.

Moments later, Logan entered the hangar in full attire.

Harlekin

11-22-2011, 04:41 AM

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/8660/logown.gif
Previously. (http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=21876153&postcount=12)

“So, who are you kids again?” Luke Cage asked them an half hour after they’d gotten on the train. He’d spent that time looking out of the widow and at passer-by’s. They had spent it gawking at him. Now, they became excited.

“I’m Tommy Tompkins,” the first kid said, the one Luke had already identified as the leader of the group. “We’re the Newsboy Legion,” he had wanted to continue, but he’d quickly gotten an angry look from the girl among their troupe. “Ah, the Newsperson Legion.”
“My name’s Bobby,” the girl introduced herself.
“We call her Famous,” Tommy added.
Luke Cage looked at the blonde little girl, who had pigtails and wore jeans and a pink sweater a size too big. She was just twelve years old. “Why’s that?”
“Because her uncle’s the Guardian!” the kid with the aviator cap nearly screamed.
“Gabby!” Bobby punched him in the shoulder.
“Who’s the Guardian?” Luke Cage asked, honestly.
Gabby’s mouth fell open. “You don’t know the Guardian?” Immediately, he started a minute-long exposition on why the Guardian was the greatest hero Metropolis had. “He’s got this cool gold helmet… and an awesome shield… he’s the best.”
“You can see why he’s called Gabby,” Tommy concluded.
“And actually, I just really want to be famous,” the girl interjected. “Do you know anybody in Hollywood?”
Luke Cage shook his head and laughed. “Not really, kid,” he replied before asking: “But if this Guardian is so great, why do you need me?”
“The Guardian’s good, but he doesn’t have any powers,” Tommy started to say, but the kid with the big glasses now interrupted.
“We believe, Mr. Cage, that your particular skill set and uhm… well, your experiences in the urban environment, that they make you the ideal person to confront this particular evil.”
“We saw your ad in the paper,” Tommy said as he provided a clipping. It promoted Luke Cage as ‘The Hero for Hire’, promising that ‘no problem was too big’, for ‘reasonable rates’.
“And we couldn’t find Supahman,” the tough kid with the cap added.
Luke ignored this comment. “You still haven’t told me what I’m gonna be facing.”
The kids looked at each other. “Big Words?” Tommy asked his bespectacled friend, who shook his head immediately.
“You’ll see whens we get there,” the stocky boy said.
“And what was your name again?”
The kid raised his fists. “They call me Scrapper.”
“Right.”

The train stopped at a station and Luke Cage looked the kids over again. There was one who hadn’t said anything yet, the black kid wearing scuba goggles and a snorkel.
“What’s your name, kid?” Luke asked, but he got no response.
“His name’s Walter,” Tommy replied, “but we call him Flipper Dipper.”
“For obvious reasons,” Big Words added.
“Of course.”

Luke Cage wanted to return to the subject of his supposed job, when the conductor came by. “Good afternoon,” he said merrily as he came up to the carriage. But when he looked inside, he froze immediately. There was a group of kids, all dressed in various odd ways, but the black man in the centre took the cake. He wore a gold silk shirt and a tiara. The conductor looked him over, the muscles rippling under the shirt, before settling on the tiara.

“There a problem?” Luke asked, as the train started moving again.
“No, no, no, not at all,” the conductor hastily said, as he started to collect their tickets.

“Welcome aboard,” a voice meanwhile crackled over the intercom, “we’ve just left Civic City. Next stop and our final destination, Metropolis!”

wiegeabo

11-23-2011, 06:34 PM

Byrd Man

11-23-2011, 10:03 PM

I place my hand on Scott's shoulder, smiling and nodding, before moving on to join the others in their preparations.

"You should know by now, Scott." I say as I leave.

"I watch out for all of you."

I nod at J'onn and watch him walk away to the lockers. It's odd, really. If not for the fact he's an alien, I'd swear he and Xavier were twins. Similar mental capacities, similar temperaments, both caring and kind, great teachers, both...follically challenged.

Twenty Minutes Later

The Blackbird cuts through the air at a steep incline. The mansion, school, and ground all fade behind us.

"We should be in DC in about an hour and a half," I announce from the co-pilot seat. Hank pilots the jet and levels the plane out at 40,000 feet.

"As we get closer, I want Jean or J'onn to connect with the Professor. He'll be standing by in Cerebro. He'll send the location of the Brotherhood agents to us. Above all else, we need to stop them before they get to Ross."

Byrd Man

11-23-2011, 10:57 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

IC: Alfred Pennyworth

The East End
12:21 PM

I have the car parked down the block from an apartment complex. According to the computer read out, this is the residents of one Jefferson Skeevers. He's the Gotham Mafia's point man on all things narcotics related.

I've been here in the car, watching and waiting for over an hour. Wagner's playing soft on the radio. Leaning back in the seat, I begin to think about the last time I actually took part in a stakeout. I guess Master Bruce was right, a skill like this you can never forget. Just being here brings me back to my days in West Berlin.
Fifteen minutes later, the man in the purple suit comes out of the apartment complex and begins walking down the street. I chuckle and get out of my car. With the way mister Skeevers is dressed, a blind man could follow him. I wait a few seconds before following behind him down the sidewalk. Skeevers leads me a few blocks over to a dive bar called Wesley's.

Okay, this is it.

"Pardon me, sir," I call out to Skeevers before he goes in. He turns to look at me as I approach him. I pull out a pocket atlas of the city and hold it up.

"I'm a bit lost, I wonder if you could tell me how to get to the diamond district?"

Skeever sizes me up at the same time I size him up. The way he carries himself makes it obivious he has a pistol on his body. Possibly in a shoulder holster. Maybe a hip holster. Either way, it's on his right side.

"Yeah, man, you in the wrong neighborhood for all that." Skeevers says with a chuckle. "What you need to do is head back to the expressway and take a right about two miles down it. That'll take you downtown. From there, you can find it without no problem."

"Thank you." I reach into my pocket and pull out a twenty. "Please, take this..."

"Naah, man. I'm good. Believe me, I'm good."

I shove it at him and Skeevers pushes me away.

"**** off, man! I don't need your goddamn charity! I make more in a month than you made in your ****** life!"

He scowls at me and walks into the bar. I place the money back into my pocket and walk back to the car. Once behind the wheel, I activate the radio on the passenger seat and listen in.

"****in' guy. Trying to tip me like I'm a goddamn bellhop or something."

Hopefully the listening device on the inside of his jacket sleeve will stay stuck. Skeevers was so busy focusing on the twenty, he neglected to see me slip it on his jacket.

I send a text to Master Bruce and inform him of the successful sleight of hand before I start the car and make my way back downtown to Wayne Tower.

Old Gotham
10:43 PM

Old Gotham is, like the name would suggest, the remnants of the city's early days. Low-level buildings over a hundred fifty years old, cramped spaces, and tiny alleyways define this part of the city.

It's the perfect place to hold a criminal meeting.

Activating Audio Surveillance
Device 7788
Listening to:
J. Skeevers, C. Falcone, et. al

It's an even better place to eavesdrop on said meetings. From across the street of the warehouse owned by a Falcone front, I hunker in the shadows and listen.

"I'm telling ya, Carmine, me and my peoples are out there every night trying to find out who did it. To make matters worse, Anton got ****ed up last night. He won't say who it was, but I know it had to be bad."

"I don't give a goddamn who did what. I want my ****ing H back. I want the ****suckers who stole it from me dead. Put it out on the street: fifty grand for the mother****ers who ripped us off, and a half a mil for the man pulling their strings."

Falcone is mad, but I've seen him madder. The bounty that's currently on my head is a million. Now that I know the mob's response and their plan, it's time to beat them to the punch. Literally.

"Alfred, are you near the computer?"

"I'm in the next room. Give me just a moment...alright, I'm here."

"Forward me the GCPD's list of all mid-level independent drug dealers working within the city. No affiliations to Falcone, Maroni, or Hammerhead."

"Yes, sir...here we go, I have the list and I am sending it now."

The names flash across the HUD on my lens. There are thirty in all.

"I've got it. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome. And, if I may be so bold, good hunting."

"I'll try."

I cut the line and stand up, shooting a grapnel line into the air and zipping through the narrow corridors of the old city.

Supergirl

11-24-2011, 01:27 AM

I head up the ramp to find Kitty already inside, suited up and ready. I take a seat next to her, "Are you ready for this?"

I've been asking myself the same thing. Over and over. Be brave I keep telling myself. But this is the big time. This isn't some rinky dink mutant having trouble controlling his powers that we need to help, these are the most prolific mutant terrorists in the world. People who are as good with their abilities as the best of the X-Men are with theirs. It's time to prove myself. I know the looks I got when I got in this room. Yeah, I'm young. But I'm tenacious, J'onn says I'm really good with my powers, and above all? I'm smart. I can do this.

"As ready as any of us, I suppose."

"As we get closer, I want Jean or J'onn to connect with the Professor. He'll be standing by in Cerebro. He'll send the location of the Brotherhood agents to us. Above all else, we need to stop them before they get to Ross."

"Uh, Mr. Summers sir? I have an idea."

Byrd Man

11-24-2011, 01:32 AM

"What have you got, Kitty?"

Supergirl

11-24-2011, 01:39 AM

I gulp. Hopefully not visibly. Hopefully my idea isn't retarded.

"Well, um. I was thinking. My uh, abilities. Well they could be um. Uniquely suited to getting Mr. Ross out of harm?"

Byrd Man

11-24-2011, 01:50 AM

I gulp. Hopefully not visibly. Hopefully my idea isn't retarded.

"Well, um. I was thinking. My uh, abilities. Well they could be um. Uniquely suited to getting Mr. Ross out of harm?"

"Excellent idea. That's one of the reasons the Professor and I wanted to bring you in. As soon as we identify the assassins, get the Congressman out of there as fast as you can. Phase through the two of you into the ground if need be."

Supergirl

11-24-2011, 01:53 AM

"Excellent idea. That's one of the reasons the Professor and I wanted to bring you in. As soon as we identify the assassins, get the Congressman out of there as fast as you can. Phase through the two of you into the ground if need be."
I have to try immensely hard not to pump my fist at this, but even so I smile a little.

"I'll do my best, sir!"

And now I feel stupid. Why did you say that, Kitty? Why couldn't you have just stayed quiet? Insert size 7 here.

Spike_x1

11-25-2011, 01:14 AM

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk23/Spike_x1/Marvel%20RPG/TitaniumManBanner.jpg

Castle Zemo, Germany.

Abandoned since World War II in light of the horrific Nazi experiments conducted by Baron Heinrich Zemo, no one of the Zemo bloodline had walked the castle's halls for many years. Even the most recent Baron Zemo, Helmut, thirteenth in his line, had disappeared many years ago and any theories towards his continuation of his father's villainous legacy had died out long ago. Having been born just before the beginning of the war, Helmut would be an old man now, if indeed he were still alive as a small number of conspiracy theorists believed.

He wouldn't be for much longer.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk23/Spike_x1/Marvel%20RPG/Zemo90.jpg

Slowly getting to his feet, the old man could feel the broken bones in his body begging him to lie back down. His enemy had brought him to his ancestral home, and he couldn't begin to guess why.

"W-whatever your intentions," he began, the straining of his elderly voice more than apparent, "I am a Zemo and I will not fall to the likes of you!" His hand started to reach for the gun of Acid X strapped to his belt, but the weapon was immediately shot out of his grip by an oncoming laser blast.

"I beg to differ."

The enemy who had thrown the aged form of Helmut Zemo through a window and into the site of his father's consistent failures to kill Captain America during the war, had arrived.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk23/Spike_x1/Marvel%20RPG/250px-Boris_Bullski_28Earth-61629.jpg

"You have already fallen, old man. You simply haven't realized it yet."

Enraged, Zemo could only raise his fist at his armored assailant. "Why do you do this? Why take me here of all places?! Which of my enemies has sent you?!" Met with only silence as the Titanium Man's glowing hand remained locked on Zemo and ready to fire again, the Baron still demanded an answer to what would be his final question. "WHO ARE YOU?!"

As if amused by the question, Titanium Man lowered his hand and a soft laughter could be heard coming from within his armor. "I would suppose that you of all people deserve a satisfactory answer, "Baron." Please, allow me to provide it." Reaching up and unlocking his headgear, Titanium Man savored the look of shock showing on Zemo's face as the helmet was removed. Even through the mask covering his entire face, Helmut Zemo's surprise was hidden from no one.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk23/Spike_x1/Marvel%20RPG/Zemo26.jpg

"No. It... it can't be..."

"Trust me, old man, your eyes do not deceive you." Titanium Man then took aim at the form of Baron Zemo, and fired. "But you will take that secret to the grave."

SuperFerret

11-25-2011, 12:56 PM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/superferret/Jonnslogo-1.png

I have to try immensely hard not to pump my fist at this, but even so I smile a little.

"I'll do my best, sir!"

And now I feel stupid. Why did you say that, Kitty? Why couldn't you have just stayed quiet? Insert size 7 here.

I can't help but let a small chuckle slip through my lips at her excitement.

"Kitty and I are best suited to infiltrate the Senator's people in order to keep him well defended, so I suggest that we do. I will keep in contact with the Professor, and I suggest that Jean does as well, in case either telepath is compromised." I say, acutely aware of how serious I sound and regretting it.

"An extremely prudent notion, my beetle-browed compatriot." says Henry wryly, from the controls of the jet, "But, while I am quite aware of, and very much in awe of, your considerable prowess in the art of polymorph, we have outfitted young Katherine in a rather conspicuous uniform."

"Fear not, my friend. I give Kitty a nod as I speak to reassure her, "They won't see anything more than a well-dressed man accompanied by an equally well-dressed young woman, and will forget our existence as we pass."

MST3K 4ever

11-25-2011, 01:10 PM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6366396619_3cd1399208.jpg

Lex and the others enjoy their round of golf as the day slowly comes to a close.

Lex and Charles are particularly happy since they won their match, but only by 2 strokes.

Lex says, "So Gentlemen the charity that Charles and I decided upon was the Wounded Warriors fund. What was yours?"

Trump says, "The American Cancer Society."

Lex says, "A nobel cause Charles and I have decided that we would donate 5,000 each to that cause so no charity will lose out on this day."

And they all 4 nod and exchange checks with one another. Just then the paparazzi shows up.

The 4 men look at one another and then they pose for the gathered photogs while also joking around with one another.

Lex's cell phone buzzes and he excuses himself. A text message states that the Mutant Registration Act is going for a vote in the next 48 hours.

Lex smirks and puts his phone away.

Truly a great day! Soon I'll be able to carry on my work without any interference.

He rejoins the group as they begin to leave for dinner.

Carnage27

11-26-2011, 10:49 AM

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/Legacy1978/Checklist%20Titel%20Banner/X-MenOrigins-JeanGrey-Banner.jpg

As we close in on Washington, I open my mind and relay back to Professor Xavier.

~Professor, we're nearing the capitol.~

~I can see that Jean, and you're getting there just in time. Cerebro's readings tell my Magneto's agents have already reached the venue. You will need to work fast.~

I look up at Scott, "The Brotherhood is already there. We need to get on the ground ASAP."

Carnage27

11-26-2011, 06:04 PM

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Flag fills me in on the flight to Bialya. Kobra is some sort of half-cult, half-terrorist organization that worships its leader as if he was a god. And according to Rick, he's been alive for over 100 years, so they might not be far off. They've participated in, funded, and supplied attacks on Americans and other western countries, and have touted doing so. That gives me all the motivation I need. Attacking innocent people is never okay in my book.

"Watch yourself," Hawkeye says from the seat across from me. "Weaponry changes almost monthly this day and age. I can't imagine how different it will be for you."

"HYDRA had some pretty scary stuff back in the day," I respond calmly. "But I'll keep it in mind."

"You better," Sasha says, looking back at me. "There are two entrances to this compound. One is the main, service entrance where they can roll in supplies and ammunition. The second is a back entrance which seems to be an emergency outlet. Cap, Hawkeye, and me will draw their attention to that entrance, while Flag and Widow infiltrate the back."

"Sounds like a solid plan," Romanoff agrees. "I just hope they don't expect it."

"They shouldn't expect us at all," I respond. "This is some secret base of theirs. If they know we're coming, we're in trouble."

"We're over the drop zone," Romanoff says, and the one door at the back of the Quinjet opens. My team straps on parachutes, and with a nod to the other two members of our team, we drop into the open air, and towards our mission.

Batman

11-27-2011, 12:11 AM

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8972/wolverineblk.gif

Logan didn't need to overhear the redheaded telepath to know that they were approaching their destination. He could already smell the filth of these "Brotherhood" idiots in the air, and the stench was more than foul. Though he also told himself that it could simply be the odor of Washington itself, which he didn't outright deny the possibility of. Captialists, congressmen, and politicians of every sort - those three terms had only ever meant one to Logan. Mutant haters.

He snorted loudly as they closed in on the rally, still wondering if they should even waste their time. Maybe this Magneto person was right, and the world needed to be shown who had the real lay of the land. It would certainly be no worse than anything humanity could deal out on a regular basis. But just as his skepticism reach it's highest peak, he caught a whiff of something he didn't expect at all. Something, or perhaps even someone, familiar to him. Given the nature of Logan's amnesia when it came to his past, this sort of discovery was extremely rare. Maybe even vital to the answers he sought.

Suddenly, he had an entirely new agenda in mind.

"You heard the lady, Summers. Bring 'er down."

With a smirk, he hit the button attached to his seat's safety straps and stood up as soon as they relented from his body. Gravity had never been an issue for him before, and it sure wasn't about to become one now.

"Hell, just open the hatch. I can make the jump."

Byrd Man

11-27-2011, 12:21 AM

"You heard the lady, Summers. Bring 'er down."

With a smirk, he hit the button attached to his seat's safety straps and stood up as soon as they relented from his body. Gravity had never been an issue for him before, and it sure wasn't about to become one now.

"Hell, just open the hatch. I can make the jump."

I swivel in my chair and scowl from behind my visor.

"Logan, sit down right now."

"I would highly suggest you heed his warning, Logan"

The Blackbird bucks as we hit an airpocket on the descent. Logan falls backwards and I do my best to hide my smile.

Five Minutes Later

The Blackbird is cloaked and parked on the outskirts of the National Mall and the five of us march towards the Capitol. The press conference is taking place on he Capitol steps. There's already a crowd of people and journalist gathered.

"Let's spread out. Jean, Logan, and I will try to blend in with the crowd. Kitty and J'onn, get as close to Representative Ross as you can."

SenseiofCheese

11-27-2011, 02:02 PM

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g173/BDagur/ironman.jpg

Moments after Professor Ivo leaves the car, a tall, handsome man with a hint of a gut steps in. Wearing an ill-fitting suit better than most would, he looks up at Tony.

"What?"

"You know, I'm starting to wonder if you understand the concept of 'personal security'." Tony shakes his head, taking a sip from his second glass of scotch.

The man raises an eyebrow.

"A disgruntled former employee of Stark Industries was waiting for me in the car."

"Who was it?"

"Ivo."

The man waves a hand at the name. "Pff. You could take Ivo. Besides, I was getting a hot dog."

"You're fired, Happy."

"No I'm not."

Tony shrugs, downing the remainder of the glass. "No, you're not."

"So, what has Pepper got planned for you today?"

Setting his glass aside, Tony looks out the window at New York City passing him by. "Some interview, but where's the fun in that?"

Looking up at the sky, Tony smiles. "I've got other plans."

Recognizing the look, Happy Hogan shakes his head. "Ever wonder how much good you could do if you used Iron Man to do other things than joyride?"

"Please, Happy. Superman and those other guys can catch purse-snatchers just fine without me."

-----

This is where Tony Stark feels at home. No luxurious penthouse apartment, no one-of-a-kind sports car, no number of supermodels come close to replicating this feeling.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/4/43469/1599363-46e63a096b13628f9ff3a57295c1e4ee.jpg

After his abduction at the hands of Ra's Al Ghul and his League of Assassins, and his subsequent escape, Tony perfected the armor he created during his captivity. Now it shines as beacon of what mankind can accomplish. The perfect machine.

In the months following his return home, Tony became hellbent on finding, and eradicating, the League of Assassins. Wearing his armor, he traveled back to Kahndaq, scouring the country and clashing with countless terrorist groups. It wasn't long before this 'Iron Man' made the news.

Some accused him of being an American Weapon of Mass Destruction, which led to Tony revealing his identity to the world, in hopes of avoiding war. The American government didn't think twice before trying to take the armor away from him, but Tony fought tooth and nail. Tony was officially banned from using his armor in other countries, and the government continued to keep a close eye on his activities, just waiting for him to slip up.

Thus, Tony Stark, as much as it pained him, made an effort to stay out of trouble. That's not to say that trouble....

WARNING: INCOMING PROJECTILE

KRAKA-BOOOOOOOOM

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g173/BDagur/Untitled-13.jpg

...didn't have a way of finding him.

MST3K 4ever

11-28-2011, 11:46 AM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6366402613_3f2c57eeb9_m.jpg

Oliver hears a knock at the door and answers seeing a middle-aged gentleman dressed like a Blues Brother who says, "On a mission from God care to join up?"

Oliver shakes his head and says, "Get in here you nutball."

The gentleman enters morphing back into Plastic Man and says to Hal, "Hey Jordan how's life?"

Oliver asks, "What do ya got for me Plas?"

Plastic man says, "I got a little this a little that and..." pulling out a folder says, "The security schematics for LexCorp, their patrol patterns, the security sensor locations including the hidden ones, and their passcode systems for this evening only."

Oliver says, "Give it here let's see it."

Plas looks somewhat heistant and says, "In all seriousness Ollie I'm not sure about this."

Oliver asks, "What's up?"

Plas replies, "Ollie don't get me wrong I can't stand Luthor anymore than you, and what he's doing he needs to answer for. However, and keep in mind I like seeing guys like you who think they're the smartest and toughest of us all fall on your face from time to time giving those of us who aren't as intense a lot of hope and a good laugh, this is illegal in every sense of the word."

Oliver says, "And what he's doing is okay then?"

Plas says, "That's not what I'm saying! If you get caught you and I both know Lex will use every resource and dirty trick in the book to take everything from you. Your livelihood, your foundation, your secret identity will be exposed, and your company will be toast, and then he'll really let you have it. He'll use those same resources to make sure you're not thrown into Club Fed but a Super-Max and tell me there won't be a con or two ready to stick a shiv into you."

Oliver asks, "Why the concern Plas?"

Plas replies, "You've got the brooding intensity thing down, but you treat me as an equal most of the others view me as the wise-cracker and a nut-ball and while you do that as well you also see me as a real colleague. I don't wanna lose that."

Oliver says, "As long as you know who you are and you know that you make a difference then to hell with what anyone else thinks of you. As long as you can look in the mirror and know you did all that you could to hold the line for one more day then that's all that matters."

Plas nods and says, "Thanks Ollie." He hands him the folder and says, "Good luck GA. See ya around Hal."

Plas leaves and begins studying the info and shares some of the findings with Hal.

Byrd Man

11-28-2011, 01:36 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

Old Gotham
10:43 PM

Old Gotham is, like the name would suggest, the remnants of the city's early days. Low-level buildings over a hundred fifty years old, cramped spaces, and tiny alleyways define this part of the city.

It's the perfect place to hold a criminal meeting.

Activating Audio Surveillance
Device 7788
Listening to:
J. Skeevers, C. Falcone, et. al

It's an even better place to eavesdrop on said meetings. From across the street of the warehouse owned by a Falcone front, I hunker in the shadows and listen.

"I'm telling ya, Carmine, me and my peoples are out there every night trying to find out who did it. To make matters worse, Anton got ****ed up last night. He won't say who it was, but I know it had to be bad."

"I don't give a goddamn who did what. I want my ****ing H back. I want the ****suckers who stole it from me dead. Put it out on the street: fifty grand for the mother****ers who ripped us off, and a half a mil for the man pulling their strings."

Falcone is mad, but I've seen him madder. The bounty that's currently on my head is a million. Now that I know the mob's response and their plan, it's time to beat them to the punch. Literally.

"Alfred, are you near the computer?"

"I'm in the next room. Give me just a moment...alright, I'm here."

"Forward me the GCPD's list of all mid-level independent drug dealers working within the city. No affiliations to Falcone, Maroni, or Hammerhead."

"Yes, sir...here we go, I have the list and I am sending it now."

The names flash across the HUD on my lens. There are thirty in all.

"I've got it. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome. And, if I may be so bold, good hunting."

"I'll try."

I cut the line and stand up, shooting a grapnel line into the air and zipping through the narrow corridors of the old city.

The East End
1:23 AM

"Please! Lemme go!"

Sam Stephens, an independent drug pusher operating in this part of the city, is blindfolded and dangling in the air while I hold him by the ankles.

"Hear that sound, Sam? That's the sound of traffic on the Breyfogle Expressway. It's twenty stories below us. You lie to me and you go splat. Who's your supply?"

"Some jinky-ass toy factory! I talk to the big guy, Ox. He hooks me up with the package and re-ups! That's all I know."

"What toy factory?"

"Krank or something."

"Thanks for your help, Sammie."

I let Sam go and he screams as he falls a whopping two feet to the rooftop overlooking the Expressway. By the time Sam yanks off his blindfold, I'm long gone.

******

Krank Co. Toy Factory
1:52 AM

I gently lift up the window pane and step lightly inside the factory's assembly line floor.

I creep through the shadows of the factor activating the ultraviolet lenses in my cowl as I approach a set of chemical vats placed on the floor. There's fresh residue all over. I rub my finger through the vat and get residue on my finger tip. That should be more than enough sample for the computers in my suit and the uplink it has with the bunker underneath Wayne Tower. It takes just a few seconds to comb through the database before the results show up on my HUD.

Residue Result:

75% Diacetylmorphine aka Heroin
Street name: "Up, Up, and Away!"

15% Inositol
Primarily use: cutting agent

10% Unknown Substance
No matches with known chemicals in database

The results are interesting to say the least. Three quarters pure heroin is more than enough to kill almost all the junkies in the city and tri-county area who grew up with shots of heroin cut down to ten and five percent. But it's the unknown substance that interest me the most. My databases are connected to the drug and chemical databanks of the DEA, FBI, and ATF. There's no known chemical compound that they don't have.

I can work on that later. For now, I need to keep climbing the ladder. I've taken out most of the street dealers and middlemen, now it's time to take out the source.

The sound of a door opening a few hundred feet away draws my attention. I meld back into the shadows as three men enter the room. One of them towers over the others while one wears a three-piece suit and the third is dressed in a suit with a cowboy hat on his head and a lasso on his hip. I deactivate the UV lenses and boot up the facial recognition software.

"Can we go get some burgers?" The large man asks his two smaller partners.

Identified:
Raymond Bloch aka Ray Block aka Ox
Three arrests for assault & armed robbery
Known associates: Daniel Brito & Jackson Brice
Known method(s) of attack: Brute strength

"We got a job to do, Ox. Stop thinking with your stomach all the time!" The man in the suit says.

Identified:
Daniel Brtio aka Fancy Dan
Arrests for shoplifting, kidnapping, & racketeering
Known associates: Raymond Bloch & Jackson Brice
Known method(s) of attack: Guns, martial arts

"Wish ya'll would pipe the hell down!"The cowboy grumbles. "It's almost two in the goddamn morning!"

Identified:
Jackson Brice aka Montana
Arrests for armed robbery & kidnapping
Known associates: Raymond Bloch & Daniel Brito
Known method of attack(s): Lasso, knives

Three of them to the one of me. The one called Ox might be a problem. Pulling a small pad from my belt, I stick it to my glove and creep through the dark as they continue to talk.

"Willie got pinched last night by the cops."

"Wasn't the cops that did it. It was that freak Batman. The cops were just on clean-up duty.""Damn. Willie didn't know this is where we make the H is it?"

"Naah, we always used Sam as a buffer. He came here to pick the s*** up and then pass it on to Willie and the others."
.
"Well, if the Batman comes...I'll be ready. I don't give a damn what he can do. Nobody can beat the Ox!"Taking the opening, I flick the pad and watch it twirl through the air. My aim is true and it sticks against Ox's neck, sending out a one time burst of 20,000 volts.

"Ggggk!"

The big man crumples to the ground and convulses as his two friends suddenly put their guards up.

"Your friend didn't live up to his promise," I say as I step out of the shadows. "Can you?"

Carnage27

11-28-2011, 08:26 PM

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/Legacy1978/Checklist%20Titel%20Banner/X-MenOrigins-JeanGrey-Banner.jpg

As I push through the crowd, I have to intensely focus on the task at hand. I've always had a bit of trouble keeping the thoughts of a large group of people out of my head, morose recently, and tonight is no different. The crowd that has come to see the speech is massive. Finding the Brotherhood in this mess will not be easy at all.

And the thoughts that are having aren't exactly the kind I like to hear. Anti-mutant sentiment has been on the rise since Magneto started his campaign for mutant supremacy, and this registration act is proof of that. Not to say we don't have our supporters, but as things like this always go, the extremely vocal minorities always silence the real people.

I don't even need to read their minds to find out how they feel. They brandish signs and shirts saying how terrible is that we walk among them and that they have the right to know who we are. Nevermind that all we want is to live our lives and be left alone. Nevermind that we were born this way and a lot of us wish we weren't because of the recent public opinion. But there's nothing we can do about that. All we can do is try and survive.

My communicator goes off and Hank's voice comes through, "Five minutes until the speech begins. I've spotted nothing on the roofs so far."

"Copy that," I respond as I see Ross come out an approach the podium. It's now or never. We need to find the Brotherhood in the crowd or risk the ignition of a war the majority of the world's mutants do not want.

I frantically begin scanning the crowd nearest the representative when a thought fragment grabs my attention.

~-cameras on and get this started. I hate waiting.~

Mystique. I know her from anywhere. The two of us have battled a few times before, and she's always been able to slip through my fingers. I find her disguised as one of the military personnel charged with guarding Ross.

~I found Mystique. She's one of the security personnel.~

Not waiting for orders, I begin pushing my way through the crowd towards the podium. People complain and yell at my apparent rudeness, but I don't have time to worry about that. I have a murder to stop.

But before I get close, the cameras turn on, and Ross prepares to begin. In what seems like slow motion, I see the guard that is Mystique smile and begin prepping her weapon to fire. At this point, I have no choice. I need to act.

I summon a mass of telekinetic force and throw it towards the podium area, throwing down the people in front of me, including the security, Mystique, and Ross. The people around me begin panicking, believing that I'm attacking the Congressman, but I know I just saved his life, and I need to get to Mystique quickly.

Andy C.

11-28-2011, 11:29 PM

Three of them to the one of me. The one called Ox might be a problem. Pulling a small pad from my belt, I stick it to my glove and creep through the dark as they continue to talk.

"Willie got pinched last night by the cops."

"Wasn't the cops that did it. It was that freak Batman. The cops were just on clean-up duty.""Damn. Willie didn't know this is where we make the H is it?"

"Naah, we always used Sam as a buffer. He came here to pick the s*** up and then pass it on to Willie and the others."
.
"Well, if the Batman comes...I'll be ready. I don't give a damn what he can do. Nobody can beat the Ox!"Taking the opening, I flick the pad and watch it twirl through the air. My aim is true and it sticks against Ox's neck, sending out a one time burst of 20,000 volts.

"Ggggk!"

The big man crumples to the ground and convulses as his two friends suddenly put their guards up.

"Your friend didn't live up to his promise," I say as I step out of the shadows. "Can you?"

Upstairs in the manager's office, the deathly thin man with chalky-white skin looked up from his work. The office looked like a disaster area, the floor littered with discarded papers, each one covered in furiously scrawled notes-- chemical formulas....crudely drawn blueprints and schematics.....rambling streams of consciousness......incredibly tasteless jokes. The one item in any sort of actual order was the enormous chemistry set that covered the entire back side of the office, a fienishly complicated network of glass tubes and flasks and beakers, through which flowed a stream of bright green fluids.

The last batch had been exactly what he hoped for: violent respiratory seizures and facial paralysis, leaving his test subject with a frozen smile on his face after laughing himself to death. It wouldn't be much longer before the police started reporting a wave of happy addicts turning up throughout the city.

And that wasn't even the funny part--the real punchline was still to come.

However, the setup was being interrupted--an intruder downstairs. The clown picked up a revolver from his desk as he stood up and walked out to the catwalk.

"Now then," he said to himself, "Just who in the Samuel Langhorn Hell is trying to butt in on my..........joke....."

Most cynical people do not believe in love at first sight--they say it's something that only happens in the movies, a notion that's outdated and ridiculous. The Joker, however was not most people. And neither was the man who was squaring off with his henchmen.

He'd heard all the rumors of the Batman, the terror of the Gotham Underworld. He was fairly certain he'd met him before, although he couldn't put his finger on exactly when. Hearing stories or half-remembering things that may not have even happened, though, were nothing like seeing the Bat in person.

He was a master-worked instrument, rage and anger and pain all honed to perfection and given direction and purpose. Everything about him had been developed into exactly what the man underneath that pointy-eared cowl wanted it to be. The way he talked, the way he moved, the way he glared at Montana and Fancy Dan, daring them to make the first move.

The way he carried himself, so determined, so focused.....

....so.......serious.........

The Joker's eyes grew wide with excitement and hunger, and a smile spread across his lipstick-smeared mouth. He felt the weight of the pistol in his hand, the assortment of knives hidden in pockets and pouches all over his outfit, the remote detonator in his back pocket. His mind filled with thoughts of shooting the Batman, stabbing him, blowing him sky-high, injecting him with his laughing poison......

....and he quickly realized that it was the one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world.

Still, he contained himself, waited to see what the Batman would do to the Enforcers. Things like this, you really have to wait for to make it worth the while.

"Ohhh, this is going to be good," the Joker said, smiling wider that he ever had before.

Byrd Man

11-29-2011, 01:07 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

The East End
1:23 AM

"Please! Lemme go!"

Sam Stephens, an independent drug pusher operating in this part of the city, is blindfolded and dangling in the air while I hold him by the ankles.

"Hear that sound, Sam? That's the sound of traffic on the Breyfogle Expressway. It's twenty stories below us. You lie to me and you go splat. Who's your supply?"

"Some jinky-ass toy factory! I talk to the big guy, Ox. He hooks me up with the package and re-ups! That's all I know."

"What toy factory?"

"Krank or something."

"Thanks for your help, Sammie."

I let Sam go and he screams as he falls a whopping two feet to the rooftop overlooking the Expressway. By the time Sam yanks off his blindfold, I'm long gone.

******

Krank Co. Toy Factory
1:52 AM

I gently lift up the window pane and step lightly inside the factory's assembly line floor.

I creep through the shadows of the factor activating the ultraviolet lenses in my cowl as I approach a set of chemical vats placed on the floor. There's fresh residue all over. I rub my finger through the vat and get residue on my finger tip. That should be more than enough sample for the computers in my suit and the uplink it has with the bunker underneath Wayne Tower. It takes just a few seconds to comb through the database before the results show up on my HUD.

Residue Result:

75% Diacetylmorphine aka Heroin
Street name: "Up, Up, and Away!"

15% Inositol
Primarily use: cutting agent

10% Unknown Substance
No matches with known chemicals in database

The results are interesting to say the least. Three quarters pure heroin is more than enough to kill almost all the junkies in the city and tri-county area who grew up with shots of heroin cut down to ten and five percent. But it's the unknown substance that interest me the most. My databases are connected to the drug and chemical databanks of the DEA, FBI, and ATF. There's no known chemical compound that they don't have.

I can work on that later. For now, I need to keep climbing the ladder. I've taken out most of the street dealers and middlemen, now it's time to take out the source.

The sound of a door opening a few hundred feet away draws my attention. I meld back into the shadows as three men enter the room. One of them towers over the others while one wears a three-piece suit and the third is dressed in a suit with a cowboy hat on his head and a lasso on his hip. I deactivate the UV lenses and boot up the facial recognition software.

"Can we go get some burgers?" The large man asks his two smaller partners.

Identified:
Raymond Bloch aka Ray Block aka Ox
Three arrests for assault & armed robbery
Known associates: Daniel Brito & Jackson Brice
Known method(s) of attack: Brute strength

"We got a job to do, Ox. Stop thinking with your stomach all the time!" The man in the suit says.

Identified:
Daniel Brtio aka Fancy Dan
Arrests for shoplifting, kidnapping, & racketeering
Known associates: Raymond Bloch & Jackson Brice
Known method(s) of attack: Guns, martial arts

"Wish ya'll would pipe the hell down!"The cowboy grumbles. "It's almost two in the goddamn morning!"

Identified:
Jackson Brice aka Montana
Arrests for armed robbery & kidnapping
Known associates: Raymond Bloch & Daniel Brito
Known method of attack(s): Lasso, knives

Three of them to the one of me. The one called Ox might be a problem. Pulling a small pad from my belt, I stick it to my glove and creep through the dark as they continue to talk.

"Willie got pinched last night by the cops."

"Wasn't the cops that did it. It was that freak Batman. The cops were just on clean-up duty."

"Damn. Willie didn't know this is where we make the H is it?"

"Naah, we always used Sam as a buffer. He came here to pick the s*** up and then pass it on to Willie and the others."
.
"Well, if the Batman comes...I'll be ready. I don't give a damn what he can do. Nobody can beat the Ox!"Taking the opening, I flick the pad and watch it twirl through the air. My aim is true and it sticks against Ox's neck, sending out a one time burst of 20,000 volts.

"Ggggk!"

The big man crumples to the ground and convulses as his two friends suddenly put their guards up.

"Your friend didn't live up to his promise," I say as I step out of the shadows. "Can you?"

Montana pulls his revolver him his hip, while Fancy Dan goes for a pistol in a shoulder holster. No way I can beat them to the punch and disarm both of them. I opt for a different approach, pulling smoke pellets from my belt and smashing them to the floor. The smoke envelopes the area and I disappear into it.

"Dammit, I can't see a thing in this bull****."

I activate the thermal vision and watch from a hidden vantage point as Montana and Dan both stumble through the thick smoke. Dan's smaller, so I go for him first. He's covering his mouth and coughing when I wrap my arm around his neck and put him in a sleeper hold. He struggles and gasps, but is unconscious within a minute. Just in time for me to flee from the clearing smoke.

"Dan?" Montana calls out when he sees Dan's unconscious body. Montana looks around frantically for me, the gun in his hand shaking. "Where are ya, ya son of a *****?!"

"Right here," I whisper to his direct left. He jumps and shouts in fear. I slap the revolver from his hand and charge him. Too close for the lasso, he pulls out a Bowie knife and swings it at my sternum. I block the blade with my left gauntlet and knock him back. Montana stumbles and I take advantage, swinging my leg high and striking him with a roundhouse kick to the face. Montana hits the floor hard and sprawls out.

I pick him up and hold him up the lapels of his suit.

"Talk! Who do you work for?!"

"I don't...I don't," he mutters. His eyes are unfocused and he's mumbling and disoriented. Trademarks of a concussion.

"Tell me!"

"Guy, clown feller...upstairs."

I drop Montana and turn to look. Up on the catwalk is an office and someone watching from the shadows, their face obscured by the darkness.

"Who are you?"

Andy C.

11-29-2011, 02:22 PM

"Who are you?"

"Now that's a big question, isn't it?" said the pale man on the catwalk. "A question that keeps people up at night. I mean, what exactly defines who we are? Am I my job? Am I my bank account and credit score? Am I my relationships? Am I just a birth certificate and a social security number? I mean, in this crazy world, can anyone say they really know who they are?"

He stroked his chin contemplatively, before shrugging.

"Or maybe we should just start with names and work our way from there," he said. "I go by the Joker, by name and by game. And you must be the famous Batman I've been hearing so much about! I gotta tell you, I've been looking forward to this....."

The Joker raised his heavy revolver towards the Batman, and took aim.

"....because, if you don't mind my saying? You look like the kind of guy who could really use a good laugh."

Byrd Man

11-29-2011, 05:58 PM

"Now that's a big question, isn't it?" said the pale man on the catwalk. "A question that keeps people up at night. I mean, what exactly defines who we are? Am I my job? Am I my bank account and credit score? Am I my relationships? Am I just a birth certificate and a social security number? I mean, in this crazy world, can anyone say they really know who they are?"

He stroked his chin contemplatively, before shrugging.

"Or maybe we should just start with names and work our way from there," he said. "I go by the Joker, by name and by game. And you must be the famous Batman I've been hearing so much about! I gotta tell you, I've been looking forward to this....."

The Joker raised his heavy revolver towards the Batman, and took aim.

"....because, if you don't mind my saying? You look like the kind of guy who could really use a good laugh."

I react before the sound of the gunshot, swinging my cape in the air and leaping to the left. The bullet tears through my cape and grazes the back of my thigh. It stings, but I've been hurt worse. Rolling, I fire a grapnel in the air and zip on to the catwalk. I land a few feet away from the Joker and calmly toss a batarang into the air, knocking the revolver from his hand.

"Who are you working for? Who hired you to tamper with the city's drug supply?"

Andy C.

11-30-2011, 03:17 PM

I react before the sound of the gunshot, swinging my cape in the air and leaping to the left. The bullet tears through my cape and grazes the back of my thigh. It stings, but I've been hurt worse. Rolling, I fire a grapnel in the air and zip on to the catwalk. I land a few feet away from the Joker and calmly toss a batarang into the air, knocking the revolver from his hand.

"Who are you working for? Who hired you to tamper with the city's drug supply?"

The Joker stumbled back, sputtering as the Batman loomed over him.

"Okay, okay, you win!" he begged off, putting his hands in the air. "I'll....I'll tell ya everything you want to know, okay? The guy who's behind this, who told me to mess with the heroin....it was......it was....."

The clown raised his hands higher, palms forward....to hide the pair of small throwing knives he had back-palmed between his fingers.

".....it was me!" he exclaimed, flipping the two knives forward and then flinging him towards the Bat. The vigilante deflected one off of his armored gauntlets, but the second dug into his shoulder.

"Ohhh-ho-ho-hooo, the look on your face," the Joker laughed. "But seriously....who hired me? Me?! Come on, Bats.....do I look like the kind of guy who settles for being on somebody's payroll?"

As the Batman winced and tried to pull the knife from his shoulder, the Joker leapt at him, his frail frame belying incredible speed. Off-guard, the Caped Crusader was knocked off of his feet, the clown generating more strength in his pounce than someone of his musculature should be able to manage.

"Falcone....Maroni.....Hammerhead....they're all the same thing, when you get down to it. All they want is money and power. It's so predictable, so.....boring. I wouldn't work for them even if they were beating down my door. Which they will be, I imagine, once Falcone finds out I'm the one who turned his whole supply into poison."

The Joker pinned Batman's shoulders to the ground, glaring at him hungrily.

"You've seen one mobster, you've seen them all," he said, producing a straight-razor from his jacket pocket. "But I guarantee you, Batman, this city's never seen anything like me."

Byrd Man

11-30-2011, 03:41 PM

"Ohhh-ho-ho-hooo, the look on your face," the Joker laughed. "But seriously....who hired me? Me?! Come on, Bats.....do I look like the kind of guy who settles for being on somebody's payroll?"

As the Batman winced and tried to pull the knife from his shoulder, the Joker leapt at him, his frail frame belying incredible speed. Off-guard, the Caped Crusader was knocked off of his feet, the clown generating more strength in his pounce than someone of his musculature should be able to manage.

"Falcone....Maroni.....Hammerhead....they're all the same thing, when you get down to it. All they want is money and power. It's so predictable, so.....boring. I wouldn't work for them even if they were beating down my door. Which they will be, I imagine, once Falcone finds out I'm the one who turned his whole supply into poison."

The Joker pinned Batman's shoulders to the ground, glaring at him hungrily.

"You've seen one mobster, you've seen them all," he said, producing a straight-razor from his jacket pocket. "But I guarantee you, Batman, this city's never seen anything like me."

I struggle against Joker's embrace, he drives the knife deeper into my shoulder to distract me from what's coming next. pushing through the pain, I fight against his grip and stick my index finger in his face.

Pssssssh

Smoke pours out of the tiny hole and causes Joker to cough and sputter, distracting him enough for me to toss him off of me and get on my feet again.

Gritting my teeth, I yank the knife from my shoulder and toss it to the ground. He's strong, too strong for a man that thin. I reach into my belt and remove a few items, cupping them in my hands

"I don't know what you're on that made you do that, but you're coming with me."

MST3K 4ever

11-30-2011, 08:51 PM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6366396619_3cd1399208.jpg

Lex strolls back into his office at LexCorp Towers. Mercy is standing by his desk and shows him a copy of the late edition of The Daily Bugel and The Daily Planet and says, "The four of you were a hit on the front page of just about every major paper."

Lex glances and says, "In most cases I would demand front and center, but.." he unfolds the papers and it shows the continuing coverage of the Mutant Registration Act.

Lex continues, "For this I will make an exception." He chuckles and lights another Cuban Cigar.

Mercy says, "Are you concerned that the President will veto it possibly?"

Lex shakes his head and says, "This clown knows who helps butter his bread. He wouldn't dream going against me on this one. If he does he knows I'll run and just do it myself."

Mercy asks, "President Luthor? Are you sure you could handle the pay-cut?"

Lex chuckles and says, "Good point. Mercy I think tonight will be a good night to test our security measures. Contact a couple of our members of our private corps tell them they are to be ready to attempt to storm the towers tonight."

Mercy nods and leaves the room.

sumowrestler

12-01-2011, 04:45 PM

sumowrestler

12-01-2011, 04:57 PM

Strange walks into a book store and heads towards the occult section. It amuses him of what normal humans think that qualifies as occult stuff. Some of the books does have some relevant information but most is just fluff put out by this random author or another one. He then takes a few steps over to find the 'magic' section and sees the usual card tricks or illusion\sleight of hand trick books. Most of these make good parlor tricks to entertain guests but if anyone truly understood magic the way he did, it would scare vast majority of the population. As he starts to head back out, he notices the coffee shop portion being filled and everyone looking up at the TV screen. He had an idea of what it could be since the Mutant Registeration Act been in the papers past few days but what he witnessed wasn't what should be going on.

"Hmm, it looks like this act has gotten quite a bit of attention in more ways then one. I surely hope that the US Government doesn't get the bright idea of having everyone with super powers to register. Such a registery would be way too dangerous in the wrong hands and several such hands I know personally."

Andy C.

12-01-2011, 05:17 PM

I struggle against Joker's embrace, he drives the knife deeper into my shoulder to distract me from what's coming next. pushing through the pain, I fight against his grip and stick my index finger in his face.

Pssssssh

Smoke pours out of the tiny hole and causes Joker to cough and sputter, distracting him enough for me to toss him off of me and get on my feet again.

Gritting my teeth, I yank the knife from my shoulder and toss it to the ground. He's strong, too strong for a man that thin. I reach into my belt and remove a few items, cupping them in my hands

"I don't know what you're on that made you do that, but you're coming with me."

"Oh, normally I'd jump at the chance to be whisked away by a tall dark stranger," said the Joker, one hand still brandishing the razor to keep the Batman at bay. "But unfortunately, I've still got an awful lot of work to do. I've got people to poison, chemicals to mass produce, a whole city to terrorize....I'm just swamped!"

The clown's other hand dug into his back pocket, fishing around for something.

"So as entertaining as this has been, I really do have to be going," he said. "I'll make sure to call you when I'm ready for another get-together, but for now, let's leave on a joke."

Finding what he was searching his pockets for, the Joker produced a remote detonator.

"Knock-knock," he said.

Byrd Man

12-01-2011, 05:27 PM

"Oh, normally I'd jump at the chance to be whisked away by a tall dark stranger," said the Joker, one hand still brandishing the razor to keep the Batman at bay. "But unfortunately, I've still got an awful lot of work to do. I've got people to poison, chemicals to mass produce, a whole city to terrorize....I'm just swamped!"

The clown's other hand dug into his back pocket, fishing around for something.

"So as entertaining as this has been, I really do have to be going," he said. "I'll make sure to call you when I'm ready for another get-together, but for now, let's leave on a joke."

Finding what he was searching his pockets for, the Joker produced a remote detonator.

"Knock-knock," he said.

I hold the batarang in my hand, trying to calculate my speed. I could maybe beat him to the punch and knock the remote from his hand before he pushed it, but I'd need a distraction, something to keep the clown busy. So I give him what he wants.

"Who's there?"

Andy C.

12-01-2011, 05:39 PM

Carnage27

12-01-2011, 07:11 PM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

Almost immediately after landing we're assaulted by gunfire. I direct the team to a rock formation that gives us sufficient cover. In this position, I almost wish I had the gun Lord supplied me with. But I'll be able to live without it. With my shield in hand, I'm not to worried anyway.

"Well, I think they may have known we were coming," Barton says as he slings an arrow, leaves cover, and fires it quickly into an enemy. "This is a disaster."

"We're fine," Sasha replies, annoyed and firing into the enemies. "They have these mountains covered with eyes. They saw the jet and our jump. The mission will be fine."

"You're damn right it will be," I respond. But I know we're not going to last long pinned down like this. I take a quick peak around cover to determine where the aggressors are. I quickly pinpoint three men with some sort of automatic rifles firing at as. The fourth is dead from Hawkeye's bolt. A bullet ricochets of the stone above me and I fold back into cover.

But I've got what I need. Turning to the other two I say, "Cover me."

Before they can respond, I roll from behind cover and throw my shield with all my might. I might have been out of action for decades, but as I loose the shield, it feels like I'm back on the European battlefield. It's so natural for me. It's like I was born to do this. And I guess in reality I was. I was born out of science and American ingenuity.

The shield bounces off the rock formation to my left, striking two of the soldiers in a line. The third points his weapon towards me, but I'm already on top of him, and I drive my knee into his jaw, knocking him out cold. My shield bounces back to my, and I catch it instinctively.

"Wow...okay," Hawkeye says as he exits from cover. "That was pretty damn impressive. Where'd you learn to do that shield stuff?"

"Kinda just came to me instinctively," I respond, heading towards the mountain base. "Let's move."

"Yea...let's do that," Sasha nods.

But before we get very far a large shell smashes down in front of us, sending shrapnel and sand flying in our direction. I act quickly, pushing the other two to the ground. "Well, they have a tank."

"I have something that can take that out, but I'll need some time," Clint says.

"We can get you it," Sasha responds. "After you, Captain."

The two of us split up, and rush off on opposite sides of the tank. Gears, as she said her codename is, is surprisingly fast. I guess the robot parts that she's been rebuilt with gives her more than just strength. Another tank shell screams towards her, but she slides underneath it, and it crashes into the ground behind her.

Smiling and impressed, I'm surprised as a machine gun on top of the tank fires in my direction, coming dangerously close. I toss my shield at the gun, but it bounces off the tank and back towards me. I catch it and roll behind a rock pile. The powerful machine gun starts cutting through the rock, and I know I don't have much time here. The large gun goes off again, and I can only imagine it was fired towards Sasha.

Terrific. Here I am, my first outing since being unfrozen and I've led my team to their deaths. I should have led them around, instead of going straight in. I should have seen this coming.

And that's when I heard the engine of the tank shut down, and the machine gun stops firing into my cover. I peak over the side, and see the tank standing there, completely immobile and shut down.

Barton is leaning against it, smiling, "High voltage arrow. Shuts down basically everything and knocks out anyone in it. Just needed time to charge it up."

"Good job, Clint," I respond. He may be cocky and a bit sloppy, but the man is a good shot, and doesn't flinch in the face of danger. The kind of person you want fighting alongside you. And the same can be said about Sasha. "Let's get moving. I'm sure that isn't the last of them."

Andy C.

12-01-2011, 09:27 PM

:spidey:

Along Came A Spider
Part I

Metropolis. The City of Tomorrow.

And in no place is that name more true than here: the world-famous S.T.A.R. Labs. Founded by Doctor Robert Meersman, S.T.A.R. Labs have been at the forefront of virtually all fields of science for years. While they've got facilities all over the world now, the one in Metropolis is still the unofficial headquarters of the chain. The fact that they're able to work in the same city as Lexcorp without being bought out really speaks about their abilities, not to mention their principles.

In short, this is Disneyland for nerds. And like any family of slack-jawed tourists in that theme park, I'm stopping to gawk at pretty much everything I see....and the tour hasn't even started yet.

"Peter," Gwen says as she tugs at my sleeve, "Your camera's going to run out of memory before we even get to the good stuff."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Right," I say, ruefully putting the lens cap on my camera. "Guess I'm just a little excitable about this. I mean, come on, this is so cool!"

As if on cue, Flash Thompson yawns loudly.

"Can we get moving already?" he says impatiently. "The longer we stand around, the more I'm worried I'm going to catch a case of geek from this place."

I roll my eyes and mutter to Gwen, "Too bad they don't hand out Nobel Prizes for Ignorant Jackasses, because I think we've found ourselves a prodigy."

Gwen giggles, but I must have said it a little too loudly, as Flash shoots me a dirty look.

"You say something, Parker?"

"Uhh....no, nothing."

"That's right, nothing," he says with the kind of smugness that just begs to be smashed in the face with a brick. I look away, angry and embarrassed, before someone steps through the front door.

"Good morning, young ladies and gentlemen," says a balding man with a Van Dyke beard and mustache. "My name is Doctor Emil Hamilton, and as Lead Project Director here, it is my distinct pleasure to welcome you all to S.T.A.R. Labs on what promises to be a very rewarding day. I'll give you the main tour of the facility, and then we'll get to our main attraction for the day."

I raise my camera to take a picture, and Dr. Hamilton puts his hand up.

"I'm sorry, young man," he says. "We don't allow photography on the premises, except for in authorized areas. I'll have to ask you to turn your camera off for the time being."

Flash snickers, and I put my camera away, dejected.

"Tough break," says someone behind me. "You oughta get yourself a press pass; then you can shoot pretty much wherever you want."

I turn, and see a guy not much older than me-- eighteen, maybe nineteen, tops-- with red hair, an ill-fitting jacket, and a press pass hanging from his neck, along with a camera of his own.

"What have you got there?" he says, gesturing to my camera. "Looks like a Canon PowerShot, am I right?"

"Yeah, it's the ELPH 100 HS model," I say. "It was my birthday present."

The red-haired guy nods.

"Cool, cool," he says. "Not exactly in the same ballpark as my Canon EOS 60D, but cool."

My eyes go wide when I see the high-end device.

"Really? Those things cost over a thousand dollars! Where'd you get it?"

"Perks of being a professional," he says with a proud grin. "You seem to know your way around photography--y'know, for an amateur."

"Well, it's something I do for a hobby," I say defensively, "but yeah, I've got an eye for it."

"Hm," he says. "Well, I'll tell you something: this is a heck of a way to make a living, if you're cut out for it. Pay's nice, my pictures get in the paper....sometimes.....and I get to use the latest and greatest equipment when I'm on a story. Nice work, if you can get it."

"You work for a newspaper?" I ask.

"A newspaper? No, kid, I work for the newspaper," he says. "Jim Olsen, freelance photographer for the Daily Planet."

"Peter Parker," I say, shaking his hand. "Freelance photographer for the Midtown Manhattan Magnet High School newspaper."

The tour group starts to move, and Gwen nudges me on.

"Better get going, kid," he says.

"Right," I say, following everyone else inside. As we head in, I can't help but think about what Jim Olsen was saying. I'd never really considered photography something I could do for a living, but he seemed to be doing pretty well for himself, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a real knack for it.

Nice work, if you can get it....

Even though it's supposed to be put away, I keep my camera in my front pocket, ready to shoot some photos at the first opportunity. Just another thing to be excited about today...

MST3K 4ever

12-01-2011, 10:33 PM

"Plastic Man does have a point. Luthor would enjoy ripping you to shreds if you get caught That is why I'm helping to make sure you don't get caught. This information does look rather intense. I hope you know how to get by it all. Just be glad there aren't any real big guns or things will get real messy. So are we ready to go get whatever Luthor is hiding on your Congressman friend?"

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6366402613_3f2c57eeb9_m.jpg

Oliver looks at Hal and says, "I know he does, but if something isn't done it's all over for a lot of innocent mutants. Luthor he thinks he runs the world from his ivory towers looking down on mutants and humans alike. Something has to be done and I'm ready to do what I gotta do. The security is impressive but I do see some cracks in the foundation. Not big ones but they're there and they can exploited."

Oliver leaves the room and kills the lights. He enters a combination code on a panel in his closet. A wall behind his closet opens revealing his costume and gear.

Oliver dresses for combat and loads his quiver with various arrows. He then puts a electronic voice distorter in his costume and then walks out into the living room. He hands Hal an ear-peice and a tiny microphone.

He says, "Keep in touch. If you hear me say Mexico that means the situation is beyond repair, and its time for you to get as far away as you can."

Green Arrow opens his the door leading out to his balcony and says, "Gimme a 10 minute headstart and then make your way to the towers. I'll either be inside or caught already. Good hunting to both of us."

Arrow turns to go and turns back to Hal and just nods. He fires a grappling arrow and zip-lines across Metropolis to the Towers.

Byrd Man

12-01-2011, 11:35 PM

"Ka," the Joker said, his smile growing wider, his eyes wild.

Rather than follow it up, the Batman flung a weapon at the clown, a bat-shaped throwing blade that whizzed through the air towards his hand. To his surprise, however, even at the lightning speed at which the weapon traveled, the Joker snaked his hand out of the way.

"I'll take that as a 'Ka who?'" he said, holding the detonator out, his thumb on the button.

For a few intense moments, the two stared at each other, waiting for the next move. Until, finally, the Joker answered his own question.

"Ka-BOOOOOOOM!!!!"

The Joker pressed down on the button, and the warehouse of the Krank Co Toy Factory was rocked by a series of explosions, as the charges of C-4 the Joker had planted all through his own hideout went off.

The catwalk teetered as supports were ripped away, then fell towards the floor, the Joker laughing madly on the way down before being enveloped in a cloud of smoke and dust.

The warehouse filled with flame and smoke, and the struts and supports of the building groaned and then buckled. The entire building would be a pile of rubble in a matter of seconds.

Fire and smoke surrounds me, Joker is nowhere to be seen. UV and thermal visions are all but useless in the heat. Another explosion, the foundation shakes and the roof cracks. Off to my right is, the Enforcers are unconscious. I run to them and attach clips to their belts and mine. It's going to be tricky, Ox's weight complicates matters. A support beam snaps as I shoot a grapnel out the skyline. It whizzes through the air and anchors itself to the building adjacent to the factory. The grapnel zips the four of us up into the air and out the building as it collapses into a fiery heap.

I land on the rooftop of the warehouse beside the toy factory and pull the Enforcers up off the ledge and on to the roof. They're still unconscious. I pull out zip ties and wrap their hands and feet together before I activate the bluetooth in my cowl.

"Hello?" Gordon says on the other end of the line.

"It's me."

"...I...what's wrong?"

"I found the base of the people poisoning the city's heroin. I managed to get three of the four."
"What happened to the fourth?"

I stare at the wreckage and flames down below.

"I don't know...there's a fire at the old Krank Toy Factory. The three men responsible are on the adjoining rooftop, passed out and tied up."

"I'm on the way."

I cut the line and stare into the rubble. Who was the Joker? Did he survive? It's the motive that puzzles me the most. There are senseless crimes, but never of this type of scale and ambition. There was never any benefit for him other than basking in the fear and panic his poison created.

"Alfred?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I'm on my way back home. Start up the computer for me and run a search. Mental patients across the country with a background in chemistry."

"As you wish. It may take some time to search every mental patient file there is."

"That's fine. I've got plenty of time."

A siren screams across the night, both fire and police. The first responders to the explosion. I turn away from the fire and run, shooting a grapnel into the sky and leaping off the building. I swing away into the night, fading into the shadows.

Supergirl

12-02-2011, 02:42 AM

J'onn got us in close, but not as close as Mystique. Jean's telekinetic bolt knocks both of us off our feet, but does the same to Mystique and the Congressman. It's now or never, and I need to act. I phase below the stage and run to about where the Congressman fell. I phase my upper body through and grab him, pulling him down to the dirt with me.

"No time to explain sir, but we gotta get moving now!"

"Excuse me, young lady? What did you just do to me?"

"Saved your life from people trying to kill you!"

"Since when did my staff employ filthy muties?"

I try hard to bite my tongue. I really do. I really, really do.

"Since it saved your miserable life. If you'd like, I can leave you to die?"

MST3K 4ever

12-02-2011, 11:37 AM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6366396619_3cd1399208.jpg

Luthor meets with 4 very heavily armed and muscular gentlemen in the loading dock of the North Tower at LexCorp.

He says, "Thank you all for coming and being a part of this security exercise on such short notice. I assure you that you'll all be compensated justly. Now gentlemen you're assignment is to test our security measures. You will be facing both electronic measures and human measures as well. Your goal will be to capture me and to rob as much of my penthouse suite as you can within an hour. Understood?"

The men nod and Lex says, "Use and all methods at your disposal anything goes. Your guns are loaded with tranquilizing darts and your grenades are flash bangs. Use them against the security guards they don't know what's coming, so their responses will be real. I expect yours to be likewise they are the enemy treat them as such. The phones are disabled and their walkie talkies and cell phones are on a specific signal. I have had the signal disabled for the purposes of this exercise so the police are not contacted."

He looks at them and asks, "Any questions?"

They all shake their heads and Lex says, "Good I'll head to the penthouse where I'll be waiting."

Luthor leaves as the men make last minute preps for the exercise.

Byrd Man

12-03-2011, 05:33 PM

SuperFerret

12-03-2011, 07:48 PM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/superferret/Jonnslogo.png

J'onn got us in close, but not as close as Mystique. Jean's telekinetic bolt knocks both of us off our feet, but does the same to Mystique and the Congressman. It's now or never, and I need to act. I phase below the stage and run to about where the Congressman fell. I phase my upper body through and grab him, pulling him down to the dirt with me.

"No time to explain sir, but we gotta get moving now!"

"Excuse me, young lady? What did you just do to me?"

"Saved your life from people trying to kill you!"

"Since when did my staff employ filthy muties?"

I try hard to bite my tongue. I really do. I really, really do.

"Since it saved your miserable life. If you'd like, I can leave you to die?"

"Oh, that won't be necessary." said a blonde man with a slight Australian accent emerging from the chaos surrounding Kitty and Senator Ross, "Everyone saw you kidnap the scumbag, so now when they find his corpse, everyone'll know that we mutants mean business." With a flick of his wrist, he opens a small cigarette lighter. I am ashamed to say that I momentarily hesitate at the sight of it, but I push past my fear anyway.

"If you mean to assassinate anyone today, I must warn you, you will not succeed." I say, not yet revealing my true appearance for the sake of the Senator.

Carnage27

12-04-2011, 05:29 PM

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/Legacy1978/Checklist%20Titel%20Banner/X-MenOrigins-JeanGrey-Banner.jpg

The situation around us turns to chaos in a mere moment. Screams and terrified yells fill the air, and the armed guards are confused as to which group of mutants to attack. But I don't have time to worry about that. Mystique is in this crowd, and I need to find her.

The crowd runs in a panic, and people run straight into me, one large man even knocks me down. As I hit the pavement, I see a child crying a few feet away. I approach them, hoping to help. That's when a warning bell goes off in my head, and I throw myself into a roll.

The child fires a gun, the bullet barely missing my head. I telekineticly snag the child in midair, and it shapeshifts back into the blue seductress known as Mystique, "Hello, Red. Long time no see. You really made a mess of things, haven't you?"

"I'm not the one that was trying to murder someone," I snarl back.

"No...but you're the mutant that seemingly started this, aren't you?" she laughs and breaks a leg free from my hold, kicking me across the face, and sprinting off.

I go after her, hoping that I can find her again before she does more damage.

Byrd Man

12-04-2011, 11:49 PM

IC: Cyclops

Jean fights with Mystique while J'onn and Kitty take on some man who shoots flames from his hands. I'm wading through the panicking crowd, on my way to back them up, when a blast of energy shoots from the crowd, pointed towards J'onn and Kitty.

http://i44.tinypic.com/359foep.jpg

"GET DOWN!" I bark out, letting a blast loose from my visor. My energy beams annihilates the attacker's blasts. The crowd separates from the woman who fired the shots.

http://i39.tinypic.com/mlmic8.jpg

"Prepare yourself, monsieur. Face the power of Plastique!"

She lets loose with a wave of energy, I counter with a blast of my own. The two waves explode and ripple in the air above the scattering crowd's heads.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that, lady."

"Challenge accepted, prepare yourself for death!"

"Jeez, who writes your dialogue?"

Plastique tosses a ball of energy towards me, it pulsates as it twirls through the air. I aim and strike it, creating a concussive blast strong enough to knock me off my feet and to the ground.

Struggling to get up, I shoot a blast at her, but she parries my optical energy with a energy spike of her own. I should be able to make quick work of Plastique...or keep her busy long enough for Kitty and J'onn to get Ross to safety.

Byrd Man

12-05-2011, 12:29 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Meatpacking District
12:10 AM

If there's one neighborhood that's changed as the city has changed, it's Gotham's Meatpacking District. The neighborhood is a creation of the late 19th century, when butchers began to centralize their trade in one part of the city. By 1900, this part of the city was home to over 250 slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants.

By the 60's, the butchers were gone and replaced by drug dealers and prostitutes. The GCPD turned a blind eye to it all, and the Meatpacking District became Gotham's gutter. Gay sex clubs began to rise in the 70's and 80's, most of them were victims of mob and GCPD protection rackets. It's been speculated that the Meatpacking District is one of the places where the AIDS epidemic took off. Nearly all the clubs were forcibly closed in the late 80's to prevent a further spread of the disease.

With the neighborhood's blight and dilapidation at all time high, a change began in the 90's, headed up by Thomas and Martha Wayne. They pledge money to the Meatpacking District, and helped push through grants and resolutions to make the rundown neighborhood liveable. The community was refurbished, renovated, rejuvenated, and restored. Although the Waynes didn't live to see it, by 2000 it was one of the few success stories of the city. Families and store owners came back and saved the area.

This part of the city has never gone back to its seedy roots, but it's still not without its blemishes or bumps.

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You just have to know where to look.

Peeking over the edge of the ledge and into the window, I see three men inside the empty loft. They're all standing around a crate. Two of the men are wearing army camo, while the third man is clad in a suit, his back to me.

The two army men are Clarence Jones and Mike Boddicker, members of the Righteous Aryan Army, a white power militia group founded by former general Thomas Kreigkopf. Based in the Tennessee Smokey Mountains, the RAA is on all the standard watch lists, and is considered an organized criminal group that borders terroristic territories. They popped up on my radar two nights ago when a snitch told me about them. Once I found out who they worked for, I've been watching them ever since.

Why they're in Gotham, I have no idea.

"We've got the money stashed in a bus locker," Boddicker says in his backwoods drawl. "You give us the weapons and we give ya the locker key."

"How do I know that the locker isn't empty?" The man in the business suit asks.

"The general does not betray those he does business with," Jones snaps. "He has far too much honor."

"Well, let's get to it."

The three men wedge open the top of the crate and dig through it. The man in the suit pulls out a large, shoulder mounted weapon. Similar to an RPG or Stinger, except without the missiles.

"This is the RX-987. A sonic emitting weapon, the first of our new line. It sends out a high frequency blast that disrupts and shakes apart any kind of matter. All you do is aim and press the trigger, and the weapon does the rest. The 987 can silently tear the foundation of a building apart in under a minute. By the time the building starts to rumble, it's too late. Point this at a person and it shakes their insides to jelly within ten seconds."

Boddicker and Jones grin as Jones takes the weapon from the man in the business suit. "If only we had a test subject..." Jones trails off, pointing the weapon at the man in the suit.

"No!"

"Oh, yeah. This was part of the deal, my friend. Your people thought you would make a good test subject."

"NOOO!"

Jones presses the trigger and the man in the business suit falls to the floor. I finally come out from my hiding place, leaping through the window and shattering the glass. The two militia men turn and their eyes go wide when they see me.

"Kill 'em!" Boddicker roars. Jones aims and fires, I get low and run through the loft. Even though the sound of the weapon is too high to hear, I feel my cape rustle as the frequency hits it. Running just ahead of Jones' aim, I reach into my belt and toss a batarang at him. It strikes him in the head and throws his aim up, where the ceiling of the apartment begins to shake and crumble.

"Goddammit!" Boddicker snarls, grabbing the gun from Jones. Instead of trying to fire, he turns and runs with the weapon. I chase after him, clotheslining the dazed Jones as I run past him. Boddicker is already headed to the ground floor by the time I enter the stairwell. Turning around I run back into the loft and jump out the window.

Boddicker's pickup is just pulling off the street when I begin to fall. Holding on to my cape, I catch the current and glide down on top of his truck. I crash on to the hood. Boddicker curses and skids to a stop. I stare into the windshield at Boddicker. He reaches into his jacket, but I'm quicker, punching through the glass and pulling him through it.

Holding Boddicker up on the hood of the truck, I headbutt him. He slumps and loses consciousness. Dropping him on to the hood, I climb into the back of the truck and grab the sonic gun. After a few moments I find the power source inside the handgrip. I yank it out and render the weapon useless.

The police will be here soon enough. Shooting a grapnel into the sky, I zip back into the empty loft and walk across the loft. Jones is stirring and beginning to gain consciousness again. A kick in the face remedies the situation. I glance at the crate, "Property of Stark Industries" is stamped on it.

Heading over to the man in the business suit, who hasn't moved since he fell. Even though the weapon was only on him for a few seconds, he's dead. Blood coats his lips and stains his white shirt. I roll him over and pull out his wallet. There's a business card. Alan C. Goren, Executive Vice-President of Research & Development, Stark Enterprises. The name on his driver's license matches the business card. A few hand written notes scribbled inside the wallet, two hundred dollars in cash. There's another card hidden behind his business car, this one is small and personally engraved with a logo

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The card is blank on the back. I hold the card up to the light, looking for anything written on it, front and back. Activating my UV lenses, I see the secret message scrawled on the back in invisible ink.

2587 West 53rd, 2nd floor. Midnight. Names Boddicker & Jones.

The calligraphy is unique and doesn't match the handwriting I found on Goren's notes. Whoever gave him this card also gave him marching orders. Sticking the card into my belt, I climb out the window and scale my way up to the rooftop.

"Alfred."

"Yes, sir."

"When is my meeting with Tony?"

"I believe we're off meeting Mister Stark at Stark Industries later this week."

"Call Pepper Potts first thing in the morning. Move the meeting up to tomorrow if you can. We'll host them at Waynetech."

"It's short notice, sir. He may not be able to."

"Tell him that if he comes to Gotham, I'll take him to that nightclub we went to a few years ago. The one the Russian gymnast frequent. He should be here by lunchtime."

"Of course, appealing to Mister Stark's intellect...even if it's the intellect of his...smaller head. I shall call Miss Potts as soon as the sun rises. Anything else?"

"That's all."

Standing on the roof, I mull over the puzzle pieces in front of me. Somebody tried to sell a Stark Enterprises' weapon to a domestic terrorist group. That somebody was an executive from Stark Enterprises. Further more, someone was pulling his strings.

Maybe Tony has the answers...or maybe he's involved. I'll know soon enough.

MST3K 4ever

12-05-2011, 01:23 PM

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Arrow arrives at the loading docks at the Northern LexCorp towers. He observes the security cameras and recognizes the sweeping paterns according to the information relayed to him by Plastic Man.

All-right next sweep begin a series zig-zag leaps across the concrete platform stopping no more than 2 seconds at one time. Luckily for me I'm in pretty good shape.

Arrow begins darting back and forth and makes it to the back-door. He then enters an access code to the back door and enters the warehose area. Arrow then observes the cameras and shoots a grappling arrow into the ceiling.

Green Arrow makes it to the rafters once he is there he notices the motion sensors on various pipes.

Now for a couple of specailty arrows.

He loads and fires 4 specially designed arrows with special tips in them into certain areas. He then fires two more near the vent

Since the arrows are made of a highly reflecting substance the beams on the sensors won't be broken, and the two at the vent contain two electronic scramblers which will buy me about five minutes to get the vent off and into the air-duct system.

Arrow manuvers through the metal framework to the vent and gets inside. Once there he sets up 2 arrows to hold the vent in place and begins making his way though the system.

When I'm done inside I'll comeback the same way and fix the vent. I just hope it...HOLD EVERYTHING!

He sees something through the venting system he wasn't ready for. An unconscious security guard.

Arrow activates his transmiter and says to Green Lantern, "GL gotta a potential situation. I've got a security guard and he's out cold! I'm not even 1/4th of the way..."

Just then the alarms sound and a voice says, "Break-in in progess! Force of undetermined size has broken into LexCorp and is being tracked through the building last reported section 3-A. Lockdown procedures intiated."

Arrow says, "I'm not the only one in here GL! I'm nowhere near 3-A and if there is a lockdown in place those security protcols Plas got me are worthless. Worst of all I'm locked in. I gotta get to the Penthouse now. If you got any ideas I'm listening."

Batman

12-05-2011, 10:54 PM

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Christ. Only a minute, and it's already startin' to get ugly.

Having already garnered more than a few stares from the crowd due to the outfit he was wearing, Logan felt himself pushed back as several hundred people went running in the opposite direction. Fighting his way through the crowd, frustratedly growling at more than a few of the bystanders that stepped on his toes to get away, he finally pushed a few out of his way and went directly into a sprint towards the podium. The crowd was beginning to thinn out fast, revealing several different struggles at hand. Summers, playing leader of the pack, was already getting in too deep with a redheaded woman who was dressed like she had just stepped out of a cartoon. The runt of the group, who they kept calling "Kitty", had the creep that they were trying to protect in arm.

Greenie was busy dealing with some loser with a lighter, who seemed to be taunting them more than directly engaging anyone. Logan didn't even want to know what his deal was. And Red was fighting toe to toe with a blue-skinned biker reject that made even Logan's outfit look tame.

His eyes darting between all four members of the team that needed help, Logan felt himself unable to choose between who needed it the most. It had been years since he had worked with any team, and he didn't particularly ever care for the dynamic of one - and this was definitely one of the reasons why. If it were just himself, he'd only have one person to worry about. Now he had to look out for others. And being the one constantly at war with his own animal instincts, which gave him the menality of a lone wolf in the most literal of sense... that didn't bode well for them at all.

This is exactly why I didn't wanna join up, Prof. Ain't got no straws to draw.

Randomly shifting through the options and where he'd be needed the most, Logan's eyes fixated on the girl trying to get the Senator out of harm's way. He grunted under his breath, knowing he'd regret the decision, but nevertheless started on the path towards her. Xavier was insane for ever thinking to bring a kid out here. She didn't know what the hell she was doing.

"Hang on, kid! I'm coming your..."

But midway through his step, something hit Logan in the back. Hard and fast. Little more than a blur of motion greeted him as he toppled across the ground, landing headfirst into a wooden promotional stand that was sitting off to the side of the scene, shattering it on impact. Grimacing at the large splinters poking through his skin, he ripped through them immediately and stood back up, facing whatever had hit him.

"Who's the wise guy?!"

What met him was something he didn't expect. Another punch to the chest, hitting him harder than he had ever remembered being hit, sending him back into a brick wall. As Logan fell to the ground and gasped at the impact to his supposedly indestructable ribcage, he heard massive footsteps crunch the ground leading up to him. Followed by a deep, frighteningly inhuman chuckle.

"Well, well, well. Lookit what we got here."

Before Logan could retaliate, a massive clawed hand grabbed at his throat and thrust his skull back into the brick. Even with his considerable strength, Logan was unable to break the grip as he was pulled out, then slammed into it again.

"Costume's changed, but I'd recognize that putrid stench anywhere..."

Feeling himself begin to pass out, Logan grabbed hard and tried to fight. But he felt his knees kicked out from under him. Soon, he was forced into a violent headlock, face to face with a wild looking behemoth of a man that he didn't recognize. But given the way his enemy smiled, with a sadistic gleam in his eye, it seemed more than clear...

That the man recognized him.

"This day just keeps gettin' better an' better. What do ya say, short stuff..."

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"Remember me?"

SenseiofCheese

12-06-2011, 05:23 PM

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Thus, Tony Stark, as much as it pained him, made an effort to stay out of trouble. That's not to say that trouble....

WARNING: INCOMING PROJECTILE

KRAKA-BOOOOOOOOM

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...didn't have a way of finding him.

"Holy ****."

Iron Man rose out of the small crater created by his impact with the asphalt. Two cars had been overturned, a fire hydrant sprayed wildly, and people slowly began crowding.

"JARVIS, what the hell was that?"

KrRZZzZzZzzunKNowN ProJECTILEvvrzzzz

Tony swore under his breath. Assuming he would manage to stay out of trouble, he had downgraded many of the armor's features. He immediately began mentally compiling a list of features he would have to reintegrate into the armor, when a loud thud and the sound of cracking pavement came from behind.

Instinctively, Tony swung his arm up towards the towering figure, preparing a blast from the repulsor ray. As if the being could read his mind, it mirrored his movement with superhuman speed. As the suit started locking up and its systems blaring, Tony realized he had been hit with a concentrated blast of EMP.

"Fine, up close and personal then." Tony growled through the armor, leaping towards the being.

He realized his mistake when a fist clenched around his neck, crushing the suit like a piece of paper. Tony winced as the armor enclosed around his throat.

"Designation: Iron Man." the being stated coldly, its metallic voice revealing it as an android. "Status: Incapacitated."

Hurling Iron Man to the ground, the android flew two feet off the ground. Looking down on Tony with a disgusted look, the android spoke once more, but with a familiar voice. "Know that if I wished it, you would be dead. But Ivo is a merciful man." Ivo's voice echoed out of the Amazo's mouth, before it took to the skies.

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

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Pepper stared at Tony's neck, his suit barely covering the bruise stretching up to his face.

"Disgruntled former employee." Tony shrugged.

"You're going to have explain to Senator Carroll what happened. The property damage alone.."

"Pepper, please."

The rest of the car ride was silent, and once the vehicle stopped Tony exited with a smile no more natural than his suit of armor. An old friend walked down the steps to meet him, and the two men shook hands.

"Bruce! You're getting fat."

Byrd Man

12-06-2011, 06:37 PM

"Pepper, please."

The rest of the car ride was silent, and once the vehicle stopped Tony exited with a smile no more natural than his suit of armor. An old friend walked down the steps to meet him, and the two men shook hands.

"Bruce! You're getting fat."

I laugh at Tony and pat him on the shoulder.

"Not everybody can get away with drinking all their meals."

I've known Tony Stark since I was ten. We were the two richest children at Brushywood Academy, both of us outcast in our own way. I was still dealing with my parents death and Tony...he was himself. I talked too little, and he talked to much. But somehow, we became friends. I left school at 16 and began my journey around the world, I heard Tony left soon after. Rumors ere that he was kicked out, something involving a bottle of scotch, a riding lawnmower, and Mrs. Roberts, the French teacher. Things have changed since we were children, we're not the same people we were back then, but I like to think that our basic friendship still remains.

I shake Pepper's hand and smile.

"Good to see you as well, Pepper. Let's head up to the boardroom. Lucius is waiting for us, I always found it's best to keep the guy who controls the money happy."

I lead the two of them through Wayne Tower and into the elevator.

"So, Tony, when are you going to let me take a ride in that Iron Man armor of yours? I've been working on my parallel parking. I shouldn't dent it too bad."

SenseiofCheese

12-06-2011, 07:09 PM

I shake Pepper's hand and smile.

"Good to see you as well, Pepper. Let's head up to the boardroom. Lucius is waiting for us, I always found it's best to keep the guy who controls the money happy."

I lead the two of them through Wayne Tower and into the elevator.

"So, Tony, when are you going to let me take a ride in that Iron Man armor of yours? I've been working on my parallel parking. I shouldn't dent it too bad."

"Turn on the news and you'll see Tony's doing a pretty good job denting it for himself." Pepper mutters under her breath, her face buried in notes.

Tony turns to his assistant, gives her a condescending smile and turns back to Bruce. "Sorry Bruce, but I'm trying to keep a low profile, and the last time you borrowed one of my rides it was in the news for a week straight."

"Although I do want to get your input on my new JARVIS A.I., I modeled it after your delightful butler."

The elevator comes to a halt and the door slides open, the two men exiting as Pepper follows. "So, what was it that couldn't wait? Did you finally get that Russian gymnast's number for me?"

Byrd Man

12-06-2011, 07:25 PM

"Although I do want to get your input on my new JARVIS A.I., I modeled it after your delightful butler."

The elevator comes to a halt and the door slides open, the two men exiting as Pepper follows. "So, what was it that couldn't wait? Did you finally get that Russian gymnast's number for me?"

I hold up a scrap of paper with a number scribbled on it.

"Her name's Svetlana, make sure you remember it when you call or text."

He yanks the card from my hand as the elevator doors ding open. Lucius Fox and the board of directors for Waynetech are waiting for us. The joint nanotech project is a big win for both of companies. The research and development could lead to untold amounts of contracts and jobs.

"I just wanted to hurry up and get this deal done....that, and I'm planning a European excursion with a lady friend on mine. I don't want any of your dead weight messing up my game."

It's a lie, but not totally unbelievable. As much as I would to talk to Tony about my run in last night, it's not Bruce Wayne that needs to have that conversation. It's better suited for Batman.

"What do you say we sign the paperwork for the joint project, do a little grip and grin for the cameras, and then I buy you dinner?"

SenseiofCheese

12-06-2011, 07:52 PM

It's a lie, but not totally unbelievable. As much as I would to talk to Tony about my run in last night, it's not Bruce Wayne that needs to have that conversation. It's better suited for Batman.

"What do you say we sign the paperwork for the joint project, do a little grip and grin for the cameras, and then I buy you dinner?"

Tony takes the piece of paper from Bruce's hand, immediately forgets the name and hands it to Pepper. With a sigh, Pepper enters the digits onto her iPad. Much to her dismay, she realizes that the phone numbers of various women has taken up most of the device's memory.

"Sounds good, buddy." Tony pats Bruce on the shoulders as the two men enter the board room.

A tall man with graying hair stands up to greet the two, and Tony reaches and takes his hand. "Lucius, always a pleasure. I understand you have something for me to sign."

Within seconds, Tony is sitting across from Bruce, jotting his name down on a contract. "I trust you'll be spending my money wisely, Bruce." he says with a grin, sliding the piece of paper across the table.

Byrd Man

12-06-2011, 08:23 PM

A tall man with graying hair stands up to greet the two, and Tony reaches and takes his hand. "Lucius, always a pleasure. I understand you have something for me to sign."

Within seconds, Tony is sitting across from Bruce, jotting his name down on a contract. "I trust you'll be spending my money wisely, Bruce." he says with a grin, sliding the piece of paper across the table.

"About as wisely as I spend my own."

I reach down and sign underneath Tony's name before handing it to Lucius. I walk across the table and grip Tony's hands as cameras flash. We both smile.

"We've already got a press release in the works, it'll be released tomorrow. But for now, let's celebrate!"

******

Tony and I go to dinner, then a nightclub...and another one...and then an after party or three. It's two in the morning before I manage to get away from him, saying I have a woman coming over. About 3 AM he finally comes back to Wayne Tower, Alfred set him and Pepper up in the guest section of the penthouse.

I silently land on the balcony outside Tony's room and listen. He's with two women. I come through the entrance and kill the lights. One of the women screams as moonlight filters in from the balcony and illuminates my silhouette.

"Stark."

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"We need to talk."

trustyside-kick

12-06-2011, 11:44 PM

Black Bolt

Terrigenesis.

The very foundation, and in all honesty responsible for the birthing of, the Inhuman Society. In the present, the Terrigen Crystals that emit the Terrigen Mists are understood. Had been thoroughly studied and observed. To where the Inhumans have been able to become masters of Terrigensis instead of the other way around. There was a time, however, where the crystals that expose these mists were unknown to the Inhuman Society. What exactly these mists could do and why were a conundrum.

Plain and simple...at one point, Terrigenesis could have been looked at as being suicidal. One never did know what to expect when putting themselves at the mercy of the Terrigen Mists. The mists they...can bring about such a wide variety of mutations. And these mutations vary greatly in not just function but level of power. When the wife of Agon was first tested and exposed to this phenomenon, Rynda was in fact pregnant. And the child in which she would soon bear, to this day, had arose to becoming the most powerful Inhuman alive. A son that...sadly, had to be shunned from Society because of it. Only to soon arise, in young adulthood, when he could finally control and master what many thought a curse of his uncanny abilities due to his exposure to the Terrigen Mists as an embryo.

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And so, the current King of the Inhumans, of the great city Attilan, sits upon his throne as the newest young member of the Inhuman Society is brought before him. Brought before him, and the Royal Family and Genetic Council...and the lovable Lockjaw as he plays with his toy.

The young boy is tense. It is sacred, as one's exposure to the Terrigen Mists is a rite of passage. A coming of age. So it can be a pretty intense feeling for one to go through the process as all eyes seem to be on oneself. However, the boy had just gone through the Terrigen Mists and it had gone swimmingly.

Why does he then become tense?

The King checks the data once more. He is a mute, like Black Bolt but unlike him at the same time. Just to be sure, as he notices the young boy's state. He is a mute because his vocal chords literally do not work. Not because he is sworn to should he utter a whisper and shatter a mountain; a burden the King carries himself. The process of Terrigen is too recent for the Genetic Council to yet figure out what abilities the young boy has developed. So as others do with Black Bolt, he reads the body language as well to try to further study the expression of the young Inhuman boy. Blackagar doesn't believe it to be anything as simple and foolish as being struck with awe and fear at the same time for the first time being in the presence of his King directly. No. Something else must be amiss.

The young boy suddenly jerks, looking up at the grand window in the Royal Palace. All attention suddenly jolts forth in the same direction. Bursting through the glass, almost like flaming balls of fire, projectiles crash land into the center of the throne room.

"Hell Spores! Protect the Council! Protect the King!"

Medusa exclaims such words, as she runs towards the throne, and Black Bolt simply stands up from the seat. Lockjaw teleports, reappearing with the Genetic Council, and teleports away. On pure instinct Gorgon charges towards the three Hell Spores, his sworn duty to protect the King at all costs, but as he runs he sees the gesture of his King. Blackagar Boltagon yearns him to halt, and gestures in a way that calls for his cousin to instead run.

Medusa, refusing to leave her husband, runs forth but with the stern look of the King, halts. In between her and Black Bolt, are the Hell Spores. And in between where the Hell Spores have landed, lies the child. The scared little Inhuman boy who had come to the Royal Palace for the first time to embrace his heritage.

Lockjaw cannot teleport in to save the boy. There is no room between where the Hell Spores have landed, and at that moment Medusa and Black Bolt know what is about to come.

He will not have that. These Hell Spores, these...strange concoctions that hail from a planet where an old and evil God holds reign...Black Boltwill not surrender to such cowardly acts of war. The King charges forth, his wife cries out a loud 'NO!', and as the King moves to save the day, it is the boy who does the saving. For a moment, the boy and Black Bolt's eyes meet in a way unlike before, and the King understands.

The boy touches one of the Hell Spores, and just before gives Blackagar a nod as tears run down his young face, and the explosions commence forth. Both Medusa and Black Bolt are shot back from the blast.

Smoke clears and the Palace is in ruin. Rubble and wreckage everywhere, Medusa runs to the where the center of the blast was. She lifts up debris after debris and the soft touch of her King's hand on her shoulder is the moment where she accepts what has been done.

"Th-those Hell Spores hail from...those damn Apokoliptians."

Terrigensis. Most sacred of Inhuman customs. This was a day in which an Inhuman boy, would become a man.

Moments before the ceremony was to start, the young boy knew what was going to happen. Moments before this part of the ceremony of being brought before the King...the young boy developed powers of foresight that he saw for every second of this day. He saw King Black Bolt die.

Save the King, the boy thought.

"You shall pay, monsters..."

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"...and you shall pay in blood!"

Sacrifice yourself, to save the King, the boy thought. As the wife of Black Bolt cries out for the deaths and those injured of what was supposed to be a joyous afternoon...he makes himself a silent vow.

This boy's death will not be in vain.

Andy C.

12-07-2011, 12:53 AM

:spidey:

Along Came A Spider
Part II

"Here at STAR Labs, we strive to push the very boundaries of the known sciences," boasts Dr. Hamilton as he leads us down a pristine white corridor, various technicians and lab assistants scurrying past us as we make our way. "And just as importantly, here we put theory to practice, taking the best of human imagination and making it reality, for the benefit of humankind. Everything from the next generation of robotics, genetic engineering, and space travel, to applied quantum mechanics and advanced dimensional string theory, all are researched and tested here and in our sister facilities around the world."

"Isn't this amazing?" Gwen says as we walk past a large plexiglass window; inside, a technician with an AR headset and force-feedback gloves manipulates what appears to be an enormous puddle of silvery liquid, which at his command solidifies into Rodin's Thinker. "It's like taking a tour of the future."

"I guess it ought to be," I say, "since this is where they're making it." The tour group stops for a moment to see the shape-shifting material--what Dr. Hamilton says is a demonstration of 'claytronics,' or malleable nanomachines that can be molded into any shape. I pull out my camera, gesturing to Dr. Hamilton to ask if it's okay to take a photo. He nods politely, and I snap a few good shots of it before we move on.

"And over here," he says at the next stop, as we look out another set of windows to the next point of interest: a massive warehouse-sized room housing an enormous piece of machinery, the entire room crammed with criss-crossing labyrinths of tubes and pipes, "we have an experimental compact particle accelerator, designed by Doctors Albert Michaels and Otto Octavius. Together, they have created the most powerful accelerator in the Western Hemisphere, nearly equal to the famous LHC, and taking up roughly one percent of the space. Here, we hope to unlock the secrets of cold fusion, and may very well end the world's energy crises with the next breakthrough."

Inside, a stocky man with a terrible haircut puts on a pair of goggles, and straps on some kind of harness attached to four cables in the ground. Everyone gasps in amazement when the cables rise up from the ground, not cables at all, but actually cybernetic arms that reach out to operate the particle accelerator's controls with the ease and dexterity of typing on a keyboard.

"Now that's cool," I say, snapping some more photos. "If Tony Stark or Lex Luthor had designed that robotic harness, they'd be marketing it to the military. Here, it's a fancy controller. These guys see the big picture."

"Oh my God," Flash groans. "We've already got one super-geek playing up the science-fair stuff, and he's a professional. We don't need you going all gooey over it too, Parker."

Dr. Hamilton shoots Flash an icy look.

"Perhaps you would find the visitor's lobby more entertaining, young man," he says, and to my surprise, Flash actually shuts up. I so have to learn how to do that.

"Anyway, as I am sure many of you have guessed, most of what we have shown you so far has been working demonstrations, showing projects we already know work perfectly well for your sake," he says as we approach a large set of double-doors. "However, now we'll show you the proverbial 'main event,' a completely unrehearsed and unprecedented experiment, in the theoretical field of morphogenetics."

The doors slide open to reveal a large laboratory. Stepping in, we see a few rows of seats towards the wall, and in the center of the lab, a long device laid along a raised platform, with what appeared to be two antennae pointed horizontally at each other, looking kind of like an oversized lathe. Between the antennae was an empty stand, with two compartments meant to hold vials of some kind.

We head to the rows of chairs and take our seats; I make sure to get a spot in the front row to get some good shots with my camera, and Gwen sits next to me, with Harry on my other side and Liz next to him. To my surprise, I see that Daily Planet reporter Jim Olsen slip in through the door as well, before another man in a lab coat walks in. He has a kind face, just advancing enough into middle age to have some clear smile-lines, but what catches the eye the most is the fact that he's missing his right arm.

"Good morning, everyone!" he says enthusiastically. "My name is Doctor Curt Connors, and I'll be conducting this experiment along with Doctor Hamilton, as part of a joint venture between STAR Labs and New York City's Oscorp, my employers, and one of the leading scientific firms in the country."

"Sure," says Harry with a smirk. Harry told me the reason his dad pushed so hard to get this joint venture with STAR Labs was to attract new investors by taking attention away from the joint project between Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark; new investors that were desperately needed after losing several important contracts to Lexcorp.

"As you may have heard, today's experiment involves a theoretical phenomenon we're referring to as the morphogenetic field. However, the name hardly does the concept justice. Picture being able to combine the most incredible elements produced by the entire animal kingdom, and give them to a human being. Picture a world where at a moment's notice, a normal man or woman could possess the eyes of a hawk, or the strength of an elephant, the endurance of a gazelle, the reflexes of a fly, even the regenerative properties of, say, a reptile," Doctor Connors says, glancing down at the folded sleeve where his arm should be. "It's a concept that I have to admit, I think about quite a bit. And that, in a nutshell, is what tapping into the morphogenetic field would allow us to do."

"Those of you familiar with the work in quantum mechanics by the likes of Ray Palmer or Henry Pym will know that theoretically, on a subatomic level, matter and energy are in fact two different states of the same thing," Dr. Hamilton elaborates. "Matter can be converted into energy, and energy into matter. And in accordance to the Copenhagen Interpretation, all matter exists as both particles and waves. According to our own theories, this can be carried over into more complex structures, up to a cellular level. The sequences of genes in a strand of DNA, then, could theoretically exist as energy under the right conditions, and pass like waves through each other. When put in the proper state of quantum instability, genetic information between two different species of animal could be exchanged."

Dr. Hamilton gestures to the machine in the center of the room.

"This is the device we will use to put that theory to the test," he says. "The Morphogenetic Field Amplifier generates intense beams of various ionizing and non-ionizing forms of radiation, as well as alternating electromagnetic currents, in order to destabilize the quantum state of organic matter within the beam. In theory, this will allow an exchange of genetic information, wherein sequences that lead to certain traits in one kind of animal will be essentially written into the DNA of another."

"And that is where I come in," Dr. Connors interjects. "Oscorp has provided the organic material required for this project, specially engineered by yours truly."

He opens a locked container on the platform housing the machine, and produces two vials.

"These are two vials of genetic material--plasma, to be precise-- one of a gecko, the other a domestic pig. I have genetically altered the DNA of the gecko in order to make its traits of limb regeneration as prominent and potent as possible, while engineering the DNA of the pig in order to make it as 'receptive' to these traits as possible. If the theory is correct and the Morphogenetic Field Amplifier works, then we should see that the pig DNA receives the genetic sequences allowing it to regrow lost tissue."

"Bear in mind, these are merely plasma samples, not live test subjects," Dr. Hamilton says, "as we are still years away from attempting such a thing. However, if this experiment provides an effective proof of concept, then we may very well be witnessing mankind's first step towards taking hold of the keys to evolution itself."

"Please locate the safety goggles under your seats," Doctor Connors says. "We're about to begin."

A thick transparent panel slides up from the floor and seals off at the ceiling, effectively closing us off from any potential mishaps inside the lab while still allowing us to see the experiment. There's a low humming that reverberates through the lab and begins to grow louder as the device powers up. Dr. Connors places the test tubes in the rack in the center of the device, and Dr. Hamilton mans a control panel.

Gwen leans forward, watching the experiment eagerly. Harry leans back, trying to look disaffected by it while putting his arm around Liz.

Jim Olsen readies his camera to take a photo. Seeing that, I take my own camera out as well.

This ought to be amazing.

SenseiofCheese

12-07-2011, 08:38 AM

I silently land on the balcony outside Tony's room and listen. He's with two women. I come through the entrance and kill the lights. One of the women screams as moonlight filters in from the balcony and illuminates my silhouette.

"Stark."

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t302/BatmanRPG/wrath2wr4.png

"We need to talk."

With a piercing scream, the two women in Tony's company cover up and run out of the room, the door slamming behind them. Tony shuffles out of the bed and faces the living mass of darkness towering in front of him.

"You." he nods, having long since heard of Gotham City's mysterious Batman, and, having on more than one occasion made fun of him to Bruce.

"Nice suit." Tony smiled nervously, his body tensing. "I'll warn you though, I've already had my ass handed to me today."

Byrd Man

12-07-2011, 11:28 AM

With a piercing scream, the two women in Tony's company cover up and run out of the room, the door slamming behind them. Tony shuffles out of the bed and faces the living mass of darkness towering in front of him.

"You." he nods, having long since heard of Gotham City's mysterious Batman, and, having on more than one occasion made fun of him to Bruce.

"Nice suit." Tony smiled nervously, his body tensing. "I'll warn you though, I've already had my ass handed to me today."

I toss Stark photos. They're crime scene photos of the dead man from last night. The last photo is of the sonic weapon.

"Alan Goren, your Vice President of R&D was murdered last night by two domestic terrorists. He was selling them one of your prototype weapons, a sonic destabilizer.He was working for someone."

I hold out the card with the symbol on it, the white H with a black pitchfork.

"What is this symbol?"

Carnage27

12-07-2011, 05:16 PM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

And that wasn't the last of them. Bullets fly around me, and one strikes me in the leg, but it's just a grazing shot. I slide behind a destroyed humvee with my other two team members, "You know, I beginning to think they knew we were coming."

They had a trap set up halfway between their main base and where we landed. That's the only way they would have been ready for this. If they knew we were coming. So either there's a leak in Checkmate or this was a trap.

"Usually I'd gloat about being right," Hawkeye says from beside me before firing an arrow blindly around the car. "But I don't think it'll do too good when I'm about to die a horrible painful death."

"We're not going to die," Sasha says from beside me. "Check on Widow and Flag."

I patch through to Flag on my communicator, "Flag, where the hell are you? We're pinned down here."

"Working on it, Cap" he replies over the firing of his weapon. "We're in a data center. Widow is picking up all we can, then we'll pick you up with the jet."

"Hurry," I respond as I notice the angle of fire changing on the car giving us cover. I look at my comrades, "They're coming around. We're gonna be toast."

But as the soldiers come around and flank us, a commanding voice yells, "ENOUGH!"

They stop firing , and I motion for my teammates to do the same. Stepping out from behind cover, I see a man clad in green and gold. He's an imposing man, obviously strong and confident, "I assume you're Kobra."

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj306/Carnage27/kobra.jpg

"You're very perceptive, Captain America," he chuckles. "Oh yes, I know who you are. I was surprised to hear that you had indeed been found. But I'm glad to see it. Your name is legend across the world, whether or not people admire you or not. Me? I see you as the poster boy for America's birth as a super power and the beginning of their view that they are the police of the world."

So...he heard we were coming. That means there is a hole in Checkmate. That's another thing to put on my plate in my new life.

"If they're stopping someone like you, they deserve that role," I respond. "I know what you've done. Killed civilians for no reason that to further your own goals."

"And your country hasn't?" he asks with a smile. "You haven't been unfrozen long, have you? If you survive today, go back and watch what has happened in America since you've gone. See what they've become. See what you now fight for. I think it may shock you. And I hope you know the end is near. We are but just a finger of the entire fist that is about to smash you and your shield."

I don't have time to respond. The Quinjet swoops down towards us and drops a trio of ropes. My team grabs onto them, and we're quickly hoisted towards the safety of the jet. Once I'm inside, I look up at Flag, "We have a mole inside Checkmate."

Carnage27

12-07-2011, 06:12 PM

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As I push my way towards Mystique, I sense an attack coming from my side. I throw up a telekinetic barrier, which protects me from damage. But the force from the strike of the massive mutant on the other side shakes me to the core, dropping me to one knee.

"Well well, ain't you a pretty one?" the brute smiles at me.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj306/Carnage27/1572317-blockbuster3_super.jpg

He continually smashes against the barrier, and I struggle mightily to keep it in place. Unfortunately, he breaks through and backhands me across the face, sending me flying. I land hard on the concrete, and spit the blood that's quickly accumulated in my mouth. But before I can get up and collect myself, the brute is on me, grasping me by the neck and holding me in the air, "Sorry I had to do that, sweetheart. But Blackbuster follows orders."

As the edges of my vision begin to blur I send out a telepathic call.

~Somebody...help...~

SenseiofCheese

12-07-2011, 07:26 PM

I toss Stark photos. They're crime scene photos of the dead man from last night. The last photo is of the sonic weapon.

"Alan Goren, your Vice President of R&D was murdered last night by two domestic terrorists. He was selling them one of your prototype weapons, a sonic destabilizer.He was working for someone."

I hold out the card with the symbol on it, the white H with a black pitchfork.

"What is this symbol?"

Tony winces slightly as he looks down at the photos of the dead man; a man he had only met a few times, but had always liked. Alan had been a relatively reserved man (then again, few men were ever labeled otherwise while standing next to Tony Stark), but Tony respected him as much for his business savvy as his taste in women.

As the Batman pulls something out from his cape, Tony instinctively takes a few steps back. A gloved hand holds out a card, decorated with a white H, a black pitchfork running up its middle.

"I...have no idea, actually." Tony cocks his head slightly, curiosity overcoming his reluctance as he walks over to Batman and takes the card from his hand.

Tony studies the symbol further, and a feeling of familiarity rises. As if he has seen it somewhere before, but the 'when' and 'where' of it is hidden behind a thick fog.

That, in and of itself, would have been enough for Tony to delve headfirst into the matter, searching madly for an answer. But Alan Goren, a trusted, powerful member of Tony's company had been killed while selling Stark Industries weapons to terrorists. And Tony Stark wants to know why.

"But I can find out." Tony concludes, his confidence returning to him. "Now, I don't know what kind of resources you have at your disposal, but you obviously know who I am and what I can do."

Tony turns, not even allowing the masked vigilante to respond, and walks over to a nightstand occupied by a bottle of scotch and three empty glasses. "I'm also very discreet, which I assume is a bonus for you. Hell, I'd be twice as rich as I already am if I shared half the things I've seen Bruce Wayne do intoxicated. You'll excuse me for not pouring you a glass." Tony motions to the filled up glass in his hand, swirling the bronze liquid. "You don't quite strike me as the drinking type."

Taking a sip that would floor most men, Tony gestures towards Batman. "I'll even throw in some free upgrades to your suit. The tech on that thing looks ancient."

Byrd Man

12-07-2011, 07:42 PM

"I...have no idea, actually." Tony cocks his head slightly, curiosity overcoming his reluctance as he walks over to Batman and takes the card from his hand.

Tony studies the symbol further, and a feeling of familiarity rises. As if he has seen it somewhere before, but the 'when' and 'where' of it is hidden behind a thick fog.

That, in and of itself, would have been enough for Tony to delve headfirst into the matter, searching madly for an answer. But Alan Goren, a trusted, powerful member of Tony's company had been killed while selling Stark Industries weapons to terrorists. And Tony Stark wants to know why.

"But I can find out." Tony concludes, his confidence returning to him. "Now, I don't know what kind of resources you have at your disposal, but you obviously know who I am and what I can do."

Tony turns, not even allowing the masked vigilante to respond, and walks over to a nightstand occupied by a bottle of scotch and three empty glasses. "I'm also very discreet, which I assume is a bonus for you. Hell, I'd be twice as rich as I already am if I shared half the things I've seen Bruce Wayne do intoxicated. You'll excuse me for not pouring you a glass." Tony motions to the filled up glass in his hand, swirling the bronze liquid. "You don't quite strike me as the drinking type."

Taking a sip that would floor most men, Tony gestures towards Batman. "I'll even throw in some free upgrades to your suit. The tech on that thing looks ancient."

"Master Bruce," Alfred says into my earpiece. "I think I may have an update on your search. Believe it or not, it involves both you and Mister Stark..."

"Actually, Stark. I need you to come with me."

I casually pull a dart gun from my belt and fire it at Tony, striking him in the neck with a tranq. He collapses to the floor and I walk over to his limp body.

"Kill the cameras in the tower, Alfred. I'm on my way down."

*******

Down in the bunker, Tony snores on the cot while I stand in front of the computer. Alfred managed to uncover some...interesting information. I turn as Tony begins to stir. I walk over to him and lean over as his eyes open.

"Wake up. I have something to show you."

SenseiofCheese

12-07-2011, 08:54 PM

Down in the bunker, Tony snores on the cot while I stand in front of the computer. Alfred managed to uncover some...interesting information. I turn as Tony begins to stir. I walk over to him and lean over as his eyes open.

"Wake up. I have something to show you."

"Hngghhh."

Tony pushes himself off the table, running his hands across his face as a headache threatens to split his brain in half.

His feet find solid ground as the spots fade from his eyes and he turns to take in his surroundings. He realizes he's standing in a cave, deep and sprawling, before his eyes fall upon the man who brought him here. Slowly walking over to Batman, who is standing in front of a wall covered in monitors, Tony muses to himself that he's woken up in worse places, with worse headaches.

"Nice place." he grunts. "Bit dank, but I've seen worse."

He moves forward so that he's standing by Batman's side. "You could have just asked me to come along. But then, that's not nearly as dramatic."

Byrd Man

12-07-2011, 09:10 PM

"Nice place." he grunts. "Bit dank, but I've seen worse."

He moves forward so that he's standing by Batman's side. "You could have just asked me to come along. But then, that's not nearly as dramatic."

"I had to keep the location a secret. But, I admit, I enjoyed the quiet."

I type on the keyboard, bringing up the image on the screen. The H and the pitchfork.

"While you were out, I was busy. The symbol I found belongs to an organization known as the Hellfire Club. They're an old organization that dates back to 18th century London. That's still their main headquarters, but they have branches all over the world. The closest one is in New York."

I bring up a manifest on the screen full of names and ranks.

"They model themselves after the pieces on a chessboard. The four highest ranking members are the royal family, where as pawns are just random members. One name you might recognize..."

I zoom in on the bottom of the list, the last name listed.

"Alan Goren was inducted into the group as a pawn a week ago. Look at the names on the list. Corporate and political ties. Vice presidents for your company, Kord Industries, Waynetech, Oscorp, along with senators and representatives. High ranking members of the military, as far up as the Chief of Staff of the Navy, are also members. Wall Street, Congress, the Pentagon, and the White House...all of them are connected to this group."

I tap a few buttons and bring up a picture of the group from the 50's. A mustachio man stands in the middle smiling.

"As was your father..."

I zoom in on a gray haired man to Stark's left.

"As was my grandfather, Robert Wayne."

I turn to Tony and slide off my cowl, revealing my face.

"Whoever these people are, they have their hooks into my company as well as yours. I want to know how, why, and to what end. And I need your help."

Byrd Man

12-07-2011, 11:15 PM

As I push my way towards Mystique, I sense an attack coming from my side. I throw up a telekinetic barrier, which protects me from damage. But the force from the strike of the massive mutant on the other side shakes me to the core, dropping me to one knee.

"Well well, ain't you a pretty one?" the brute smiles at me.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj306/Carnage27/1572317-blockbuster3_super.jpg

He continually smashes against the barrier, and I struggle mightily to keep it in place. Unfortunately, he breaks through and backhands me across the face, sending me flying. I land hard on the concrete, and spit the blood that's quickly accumulated in my mouth. But before I can get up and collect myself, the brute is on me, grasping me by the neck and holding me in the air, "Sorry I had to do that, sweetheart. But Blackbuster follows orders."

As the edges of my vision begin to blur I send out a telepathic call.

~Somebody...help...~

The large man gets knocked sideways and lets go of Jean as he tumbles to the ground and rolls for a few feet.

"You alright, Jean?" I ask as I walk over to her and help her up. A bolt of energy whizzes by my face, compliments of Plastique. Off to the side, Blockbuster starts to get up and recover.

"Go after Mystique, I can hold these two back."

Batman

12-08-2011, 05:57 AM

:super:

"Now Arriving At - Swan District. STAR Labs. If This Is Your Destination, Please Vacate The Monorail In An Orderly Fashion. If You Have Personal Belongings Onboard, Please Be Sure To..."

The voice of the automated speaker system catches my attention as I'm lost in thought, staring down at the shimmering crystal in my hands. Thankfully, the other passengers aren't paying even the slightest bit of attention to me as they go about their daily lives, some seeming to be stressed, others looking to be lost. I'm not quite sure as to what I qualify as, but I know that if I don't move now, I'm going to miss my stop. Placing the crystal into my jacket, I stuff my hands in my jeans and casually begin to walk out behind the rest. The monorail doors close behind me and the morning sun sets on my head, revealing the massive city infront of me. It takes me a moment to remember what I was thinking about, as I stare up, wide-eyed at the glistening skyline of Metropolis.

Wow. I know it's strange to be that taken aback by it when you've lived here for as many months as I have, but I really can't help myself. It's just all so much bigger than I grew up with. Most buildings in Smallville didn't have any more than three floors. And in that town, I knew every business and every street corner without even having to think. But there's just so much here to consider - it's all a little overwhelming for a guy who used to maintain a barn. Probably doesn't help that I also live on the least populated area of town, a place that I've actually heard referred to as "Suicide Slums".

I guess I just prefer simplicity. As Lana used to tell me, you can take the boy out of Kansas, but you can never...

Well. That'll just have to wait for another time. I have an appointment to make - or rather, one to start. The woman on the phone told me that it'd probably be best to come down to the central labratories to set up a meeting with Doctor Hamilton, mostly because she didn't understand my purpose of wanting to see him. I guess it's not that often that someone claims to have found a piece of genuine extraterrestrial artifact. Even told me I could always wait to speak to him by phone. But I'm here, and I have nowhere else to go today. Might aswell see what exactly I'm presenting the crystal to before I decide to part ways with it.

Treading down the walkway leading over to the street level, my eyes focus on the bright yellow school bus that comes to a stop infront of the building. A quick glance at the side tells me that they're from Manhattan. I can't help but smile, as I continue towards the public access entrance of the main gate. From what I understood about the article in The Planet, these kids are in for quite a show. Maybe I'll check it out myself, if it's open to outside spectators.

Or I could just look through the wall.

But where's the fun in that?

Even as two who are destined to impact the world in ways they cannot yet comprehend begin to cross eachother's path for the very first time, something on the other side of The City of Tomorrow begins to unravel from beneath it's streets. Something that is not of nature's creation, a mindless creature that is fueled only by a desire to seek and encapsulate absolute power. It feeds on it to sustain life, and was infact created to nuture it's very essence through power that nothing else could ever hope to contain. It is a marvel of scientific creation. But most would consider it a monster.

As this monster tunnels through the dirt and grime, it's massive size proving to be more than beneficial at easily breaking the creature's way through several hundred tons of ground, it feels something stir in it's own core. A feeling of an amazing ultrasensory accuracy, locking itself onto energy that it cannot see or hear - but definitely feel. And it's resolve only strengthens, using it's giant hands to claw through the pockets of dirt that seperates it from the surface.

Feel.

Feel power.

Must have it.

Need... power...

"What did you say your name was?"

Realizing that I might not have spoken as loudly as I should have for the woman in the lobby to hear, I clear my throat and adjust my collar. Truth be told, I've never been very good at speaking to anyone in public. I was always the quiet one in class. Ma and Pa used to tell me it was because I had too much hay in my throat, their joke of us living on a farm. Guess this is just one of those times.

"Uh... Clark. Clark Kent."

"Uh-huh. And you're here to see Professor Hamilton?"

"I was hoping to, anyway. I know he's in the middle of a seminar, but it's important. Do you know when he'll be availible after that?"

I can tell that she's feigning a look of interest, probably more fascinated by the gum that she's chewing in the middle of every sentence, but I manage to keep my patience in check as she begins to look into Dr. Hamilton's schedule on the computer. As she does, I look back, hoping that no one else notices me here. I've come to terms with the fact that if I'm right, and that these people can help me unlock the secrets of the crystal and learn about where it came from - where I] came from - that I'll probably lose any chance of being able to live a normal life. I can play the act of a bystander that found it on the road, but I just know that if it all comes down to it, I'll be forced to reveal the truth. That it was sent here, with me, on a rocket that landed in a field in Kansas.

So there'll be questions. Alot of them. And most that I'm not even sure that I can answer, at this point.

But all things considered, it still beats a life of never knowing. Never having the answers of why you're so different from everyone else. At least with mutants, there's an explaination. My day of discovery involved a spaceship that Pa kept underneath the barn. How am I supposed to live with never knowing how or why that ship had to land here, on this planet? What made it so special?

What made me so special?

"Right. Professor Hamilton doesn't any appointments after the Midtown kids leave, so I can squeeze you in sometime between now and lunch. But the seminar isn't gonna be over for another hour. You planning on sticking around that long?"

I shrug.

"I don't have any plans today."

The creature feels the heat of the sun. That's what tells it that it's beginning to draw nearer to the surface. Tunneling with innate desperation, it begins to see the cracks of something that isn't dirt break through the soil. Something solid. Something very hard. Frustrated, it begins to smash it's fist against the hard surface. It only takes a few moments before it cracks, rupturing under the creature's mighty strength.

Power.

Must have power.

Power will please the master.

Power will make me whole.

It's own words serving as a consistent mantra to drive it further upwards, the creature finally feels the heat of the sun bask down upon it's own skin as it bursts through the many layers of an incredibly hard surface. Air that it doesn't recognize begins to feel it's lungs, as it breathes in a considerable amount of it, staring at it's surroundings. And ignoring them, realizing that the source of the power isn't there.

"Must have..."

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy98/DCMarvelRPG2/Ultimate%20DC/Superman/Supes6-6.png

"...POWER..."

It sees a destination infront of it. Something that giant words. "STAR" and "LABS". The creature does not know these words at first, but he knows that they are words nevertheless. What catches it's attention most is the fact that it can feel the power beginning to take shape from within. Like a glowing beacon only growing brighter. It's eyes rest upon this "STAR" "LABS", and narrow with determination.

"There. There is power."

And without a second's thought, were it even capable of processing one, the creature leaps directly from the broken street that served as it's prison and into the skies, flying towards a wall that cannot hope to withstand the impact of the creature's massive girth.

SenseiofCheese

12-08-2011, 08:20 AM

"As was your father..."

I zoom in on a gray haired man to Stark's left.

"As was my grandfather, Robert Wayne."

I turn to Tony and slide off my cowl, revealing my face.

"Whoever these people are, they have their hooks into my company as well as yours. I want to know how, why, and to what end. And I need your help."

Tony's eyes go wide as Bruce slides the cowl off his head. A million things go through his mind at once, seemingly random incidents that have had a connection revealed in an instant.

For a rare, fleeting moment, Tony is speechless.

He smiles. "At least now I know why your tech is so outdated." he punches Bruce's shoulder lightly. "Batman."

Turning to the monitors, Tony's eyes scan over the old photograph. After a few seconds he comes to the conclusion that, aside from his father and Robert Wayne, he does not recognize anyone in the picture.

"I don't know what makes me angrier. The fact that my father has ties to a club connected to domestic terrorists....or that I haven't been invited to join."

Byrd Man

12-08-2011, 10:49 AM

Turning to the monitors, Tony's eyes scan over the old photograph. After a few seconds he comes to the conclusion that, aside from his father and Robert Wayne, he does not recognize anyone in the picture.

"I don't know what makes me angrier. The fact that my father has ties to a club connected to domestic terrorists....or that I haven't been invited to join."

"I talked to Alfred, and my was never invited as well. We haven't been invited because they don't need us. They have the other men who male decisions around us, the people who advise us on our corporate policy. They try to manipulate us through them."

I bring up another picture, this one of a man in army fatigues.

"Ex-general Thomas Kreigkopf, head of the Righteous Aryan Army. That's the group Goren was selling the weapon to. If we want to get down to the bottom of what the Hellfire Club is up to, I think we need to split up. Iron Man goes to Tennessee mountains and pays the General a visit while Bruce Wayne goes to New York and attempts to join the Hellfire Club."

MST3K 4ever

12-08-2011, 11:14 AM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6366396619_3cd1399208.jpg

Lex puts on a pair of his finest silk pajamas and fixes himself a glass of cognac.

He sits down and says, "Just because I'm supposed to be waiting for the troops to storm the tower doesn't mean I've got to suffer."

Lex opens up the Wall Street Journal to the financial section and begins reading, He then says, "Alexis."

A soft computerized voice says, "Yes Mr. Luthor."

Lex replies without taking his attention from the paper, "Mozart Concerto No. 21."

Alexis replies, "As you wish Mr. Luthor."

The concerto begins to fill the air and Lex hums quietly along with it.

SenseiofCheese

12-08-2011, 12:05 PM

I bring up another picture, this one of a man in army fatigues.

"Ex-general Thomas Kreigkopf, head of the Righteous Aryan Army. That's the group Goren was selling the weapon to. If we want to get down to the bottom of what the Hellfire Club is up to, I think we need to split up. Iron Man goes to Tennessee mountains and pays the General a visit while Bruce Wayne goes to New York and attempts to join the Hellfire Club."

Tony turns to Bruce. "As much as I love paying militant nut-jobs in forest shacks unexpected visits, you of all people know Iron Man can't be seen doing anything even remotely illegal."

The two men share a disappointed silence, before a grin appears on Tony's face. "Can't be seen doing anything illegal."

"When this whole thing is over, Bruce, you and I are going to have a talk." Tony smiles, tapping the emblem emblazoned on Bruce's chest.

---

Tennessee Mountains

"You're where?!"

Pepper's voice comes through the comm, and Tony winces slightly. He'll pay for this one.

"Something came up, Pepper. Just cancel all my appointments."

"And what do you want me to tell the press about Alan?"

"You'll think of something, you always do. Send his wife some flowers."

"Tony, I--"

"Gotta go, Pep. Smooches."

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2335/3527345920_df76b0aa45.jpg

"I really am brilliant."

Andy C.

12-08-2011, 01:12 PM

Sal Maroni fumed, pacing back and forth impatiently along the line of folding tables arranged to form one makeshift conference table, in the back kitchen of Morelli's Italian Bistro. His lieutenants watched him nervously, as he hadn't spoken in nearly two minutes.

Finally, the Boss spoke.

"Anton's got hit tonight," he finally said. "Same thing that happened to Fat Ricky Fat's. Place was burned to the ground, everyone in it's dead. It was a goddamn bloodbath. And we lost another third of my goddamn product!"

At that, Maroni grabbed an end of one of the tables and threw it over, sending it crashing to the floor while his men scrambled out of the way.

"Son of a ***** didn't even take the drugs," he growled. "Just burned them right there with everyone he'd already killed. I will not have this happen a third time, you hear me?!"

His men nodded.

"I don't care if it's Falcone," he said, just barely keeping a lid on his temper, "or if it's Hammerhead, or some cowboy from GCPD who isn't on the take, or that Bat-freak they're talking about. I want this guy found, and I want him put in a ****ing pine box! Am I clear?!"

*KNOCK-KNOCK!*

All eyes turned to the kitchen's back door.

"Vinnie, the door," Maroni gestured to one of his enforcers. The big man drew a pistol and moved to the doorway.

*KNOCK-KNOCK!* it repeated.

"Who's there?!" Vinnie asked.

"The interrupting psycho-killer," said a voice from behind the door.

Vinnie paused.

".....the interru--"

*BLAM!*

Vinnie fell to the floor, a gaping bullet-wound in his head, and a foot kicked in the door. Attached to that foot was spindly, scrawny leg, and attached to that leg was a spindly, scrawny man, with chalky white skin, a tattered purple suit that appeared to be lightly charred, and a revolver that looked big enough to put down a grizzly bear.

"I hear you're all feeling a little down in the dumps," he said, leveling his hand-cannon at anyone who looked like they might pull a gun on him. "Lucky for you, the Joker's in town, and here to turn your frown upside-down! So let's see what we can do about getting you boys to put on a happy face, eh?"

Sal Maroni eyed the clown with outrage and contempt.

"I don't know who you think you are, pal," he snarled, "but if you think you can just walk in here and--"

"A man walks into a bar," the Joker cut him off. "He chats with a few men over at one of the corner tables for a bit, then walks up to the bartender, and gestures to an empty beer mug. 'Hey barkeep!' the man says, 'I'll bet you a hundred bucks that I can piss into that mug and not spill a drop on your bar!'"

Maroni stared daggers at him, but the Joker continued.

"The bartender says 'I'll take that bet,' and the man steps up onto the bar. He unzips his fly, pulls out his willy, and lets loose with a stream of whizz all over the bar. It gets everywhere, and not even a drop touches the beer mug!"

The Boss nodded impatiently, waiting for him to get to the point.

"The bartender laughs and says 'that was the easiest hundred bucks I ever made!' but the man is grinning ear to ear. 'Why are you smiling?' the bartender asks."

The Joker's grin grew wider.

"'See those guys in the corner table?' he points to them. 'I just bet them a thousand bucks I could piss all over your bar and you wouldn't care!' HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!"

Once again, the clown was the only one in the room laughing.

"Tell me what your game is or you don't walk outta this room alive," Maroni said simply.

"Oh, you're no fun," the Joker said. "Anyway, I'm here because you've got a rather unconventional problem, as I understand it. And me? Well, I'm an unconventional problem-solver."

The Joker brandished his gun, looking down the barrel with admiration.

"You want this guy dead? Sal, baby, I'm the man to do it."

Byrd Man

12-08-2011, 01:41 PM

Hellfire Club
Manhattan

Alfred pulls the limo up to the Brownstone and looks into the rearview mirror at me. "I suggest you approach the situation with caution, sir. You may be an expert when it comes to street criminals, but the stakes are so much higher."

"Don't worry, I'm ready. I'll call you when I'm done."

I get out the car and walk up the steps as Alfred pulls away. I give the doorman my name and he lets me into the foyer. The symbol on the business card is hanging on the walls, along with pictures of the club's history. My eye is drawn to one picture in particular. There's Tony's father, my grandad, and President Kennedy.

"That was shortly before he announced his candidacy for presidency."

I turn around to see the man waiting for me.

"Mister Wayne, allow me to be the first to welcome you to our headquarters."

http://i42.tinypic.com/29xt8hl.jpg

"Welcome to the Hellfire Club. I'm Sebastian Shaw, Black King of the New York Chapter."

I walk over and shake Shaw's hand, giving his wardrobe choice a curious glance.

"We like to keep the standards of the Victorian dress here at the club. The Masons have their aprons and rings, we have our whalebone corsets and cravates."

"Now suddenly, I may be changing my mind..."

Shaw laughs and begins to walk down the hallway with me following closely behind.

"I am curious, Mister Wayne, why do you reach out to us now?"

"I had never heard of the club until I stumbled upon some of my grandfather's belongings. I got curious after I searched the internet and found out who you actually are."

"I searched our records and, while your grandfather was a member, you father was never interested even though we approached him as a legacy member."

"My father was always more interested in medicine and his practice than playing the role of a billionaire socialite."

"Well, like him, you are a legacy. All you need to do is ask and you're a full-fledged member above the rank of pawn. A Knight."

Suddenly, I feel a chill run up my spin and into my head. There's a numbness in my brain, almost like brain freeze. The image of a pair of bright blue eyes is inside my head. The eyes look inside of my mind, probing, trying to find my deepest thoughts.

I know what's going on. Someone is trying to read my mind. They're an expert at it. Unfortunately for them, it was an expert that trained me as well.

I focus my thoughts on the cover story, imagining everything that I've told Shaw. Picturing made up conversations with Alfred about my grandfather. All my thoughts about Tony, the weapons deal, and Batman are pushed way down inside my subconscious. Within a few seconds, the eyes disappear and I turn to look at Shaw.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just felt a chill. Kinda weird."

"Well, this is where I leave you. Miss Frost is just down the hall. Once you're in her capable hands, she'll start the induction process."

"Thank you for your help, I appreciate it."

I smile and hold out my hand for Shaw. He shakes it and I pat him on the back, quickly slipping a small pad underneath his collar. It's barely the size of a head of a pin, but the microphone should pick up all of Shaw's conversations clearly.

"Thank you for joining us, Mister Wayne. I look forward to seeing you at meetings."

Shaw walks down the hallway and I watch him go. I still don't know who these people are, or what they're after, but I do know that they have a telepath in their midst. I have to keep my mind clear and free of my secrets, always be on my guard.. Just like I was taught.

Suddenly, running down terrorists in the Smokey Mountains doesn't seem like a bad idea.

sumowrestler

12-08-2011, 07:37 PM

Strange continues to stand with the rest of the group in the coffee shop area watching the news. From what he can tell, things aren't looking up for anyone especially mutants in general.

"This is Michael Creighton for Fox 22 in Washington DC. This was supposed to been a news conference about the Mutant Registration Act but now looks like a battle ground. The FBI and DC SWAT patrols are here with the National Guard on stand by to keep a safe 50 foot perimeter. From unconfirmed reports, the two SWAT teams are prepared to use almost any means possible to keep this brawl from expanding into the streets of DC. Here is one of the people who was here to listen to the conference. What do you think is going on?"

"It is those blasted mutants. They all need to be banned and locked up with the key thrown away."

A guy in old 70's fashion with tie dye shirt and head band with long hair down to his back walks up to the reporter.

"All they need is love, dude. Mutants are people too. They are just misunderstood."

The first guy turns around and punches the hippie and then tackles them as they get into a wrestling match. A couple of the closer DC officers pull them apart with them still trying to kick each other.

"As you can tell, people are split on this idea even those supporting the Act outweighing those who are opposed from others we've talked to. Who or whatever is fighting around the stage are not helping the mutant cause."

Hate and misunderstanding can be some of the hardest things to overcome. Human history has shown time and again that to be the case. Sometimes they are overcome but after many attempts by many people over several years if not decades. I'll have to be careful on my own display because humans in general have a tendency to lump things into categories without giving too much thought into the individual. They may assume I'm a mutant which as far as I know I am not.

sumowrestler

12-08-2011, 07:43 PM

Carnage27

12-08-2011, 07:57 PM

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"Captain Rogers I can assure you Checkmate is as secure as ever," Maxwell Lord says, not looking up from the files in front of him. That's the second time he hasn't looked me in the eye when I've spoken to him. You can find out a lot about a man by that. He thinks he's better than me. "There is no mole. We've rigorously checked everyone out at hiring and every year after that."

I ball my fist to release some of the tension flowing through me right now, my fingernails digging into my palms, "Lord, you weren't there. We were. We heard what he said. Kobra knew we were coming. He knew I was coming. How else would he know unless he had an inside source?"

"I agree, Lord," Amanda Waller says from beside me. "From the report it's fairly obvious that they had some inside info."

"Thank you, Waller," he says, waving her away. "But I don't think it's the case. No, I think Kobra was attempting to drive a wedge into our organization by starting a witch hunt."

I want to say something more. With every fiber of my being I want to continue this conversation. But already I've realized Lord isn't one to be questioned.

Storming out of the office, I run into Flag, "Take it that didn't go too well."

"The man is gonna ignore this problem until it shoots him in the back," I say, turning towards the agent quarters. "We need to take care of this."

"I feel the same way," he smiles. "Where do we start?"

Before I can respond, I realize that I'm incredibly tired. Normally, it would take me a lot longer to tire out, but I guess my body needs to ramp itself up again after being frozen for so long.

"It'll have to wait Flag," I respond as I head to my room. "I need to pass out."

"Sounds good," he nods. "We've left some movies on what you've missed since your freezing, if you want to catch up."

But I don't have time for that. I collapse into my bed, and drift into a deep sleep.

MST3K 4ever

12-09-2011, 12:03 PM

"I honestly can't tell you, GA. You are the one who is usually with a plan. I just improvise or roll with the punches. The only thing I can say is use whoever is in there with you as a distraction and not get caught. If you are real lucky, they will be so caught up with the others that you'll be able to walk right in and get whatever you wanted and be out before anyone notices."

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6366402613_3f2c57eeb9_m.jpg

Green Arrow listens to GL's response and replies, "Okay for something this big this isn't something that you just walk in on and hope for the best you plan it out."

Arrow moves a bit further down the vent and says, "So far zero body count but lots of guard sound asleep, and no-one talking about an end goal. This isn't exactly 'Die-Hard' but if there are guys who....wait a minute GL."

Arrow pauses to gather his thoughts and says, "I think I've got it. In the movie 'Die-Hard' what was one of the big advantages for the bad guys? They had someone monitoring the security system. My guess they're off site, because if they were on-site I would've noticed them coming in and they could've stopped the lock-down which would make life easier for them."

Arrow observes one of the thugs take down a security guard via hand to hand and sees a tattoo.

Arrow says,"The guy I just saw take out a guard he used standard military style combat moves, and his tattoo was a special forces logo. Again no body count. Why not kill them? My guess these clowns are in here running a security drill of some kind for LexCorp, but sending Special Forces psychos and S.H.I.E.L.D. wash-outs in among the rent-a-cops is like sending the wolves into the petting zoo. I'll figure that out later."

He begins to venture a little further down the vent and says, "You got something new on your plate GL. Find me an unmarked van or delivery truck of some kind. Chances are likely that's the eyes and ears of this op, and take it over. If you see any crimes between now and finding the van stop them too we're super-heroes after all."

Arrow noting the irony of the situation says, "Well most of the time. Movin' out."

Carnage27

12-09-2011, 08:28 PM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

The illumination from the TV flickers off the walls of my darkened quarters as I watch the images flicker by. I woke up in the middle of the night, unable to fall back to sleep. Instead, I've popped in the videos that Checkmate gave me to catch up on American history.

And I can't believe what I'm looking at.

Even the first images of the celebration of the victory in Europe quickly change to horror as two humongous nuclear bombs are dropped on Japan, incinerating two populous cities. But the images don't stop there. Hoses and dogs are turned on those just wishing to express their voice and gain their full rights. A president killed, possibly by his own government. Students are gunned down as they protest a seemingly unjust war.

And the wars are the worst part. Some are started for the right reasons...but others that I see... Some seem like nothing more than greed and imperialism. Wars for oil, or control of a region. Attacks on seemingly innocent people. The wars of my day were easy.

One side was good, one side was evil. There was no cloud of moral ambiguity that has seemingly covered the entire world. There was no question which side should win. No question whether the battles needed to be fought.

There are moments that bring a happy tear to my eye. The moon landing among them. But I also see the country degrade itself into one run by greed and narcissism, instead of freedom and hope.

I shut the TV off, unable to watch anymore, and shower, before leaving the Checkmate compound. I don't know if I'm supposed to, but honestly I don't care. I need to clear my head and get some air.

Strolling the dark and now unfamiliar streets of the capitol blindly, I eventually happen across the memorials of the great wars of the past. I read the names at the Vietnam Memorial. I aw at the Iwo Jima statue. And before long, I come across one that makes me stop dead in my tracks.

There am I, immortalized in stone, my shield raised high. Around me stand the other Invaders. Hourman and Union Jack stand at a place of prominence, the other two of the team that died during the same mission that was believed to have taken my life as well as Bucky's. The two had young sons at home, I know that. I can only imagine what their families went through.

And Bucky. Bucky was a good friend. A friend I never thought I'd have. He was like a little brother to me. Yet in many ways more grown up than I ever was. If I was the fresh-faced optimist, Bucky was my dark reflection, no matter what kind of uniform he dressed in.

"Captain America," a distorted voice says from behind me. I turn around and find a figure standing in the shadows ten yards in front of me, "Don't come any closer. It'll be better for the two of us if you don't know who I am. For now at least."

This seems like a trap, but I'm not worried about who ever this is. I can take on one man by myself, even without my shield.

"Then what do you want?" I respond cautiously, ready for him to make an aggressive move.

"You can calm down, Cap," the shadow says. "I'm not here to hurt you. That's for sure. Just hear to warn you. Checkmate has a leak. You're right on that. Who it might be, I'm not sure. But don't trust Waller. Or Lord. Someone in the hierarchy is to blame. And your team won't be safe as long as they're around."

"And how do you know that?" I say. crossing my arms.

"Because I have my own resources inside Checkmate. Ones insuring the safety of our country instead of threatening it," they respond. "Be vigilant Cap. Find whoever it is and bring them down. The country depends on it."

"And why do you care so much?"

"I'm like any red-blooded American, Steve. We may not be the same people we once were, but that's because we've lost the light. People like you and Superman can bring it back. America needs you more than ever, Rogers. You can bring this country back to what it should be. All it needs is a little push."

After they say that, a case slides towards me. I bend down and open the fairly large trunk open, and smile to myself.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj306/Carnage27/the-avengers-2012-20110728013001918_640w.jpg

I look up to thank the shadow, but they're gone.

wiegeabo

12-10-2011, 06:11 PM

Even though I can't see the darkness, I can still shroud myself within it. The slight temperature drop as I hide myself from the lights of the city lets me know that I'm hidden from those that still see. And no one without enhanced sense is going to notice me up here.

Which is exactly what I'm counting on.

So I wait on the roof of this large house. I'm not usually one for traveling to the suburbs, but one must go where the criminials are. Especially if they don't look like criminals.

I can hear cars a mile away, but none of them match the sound I'm looking for. The sound I honed in on shortly after the trial. But it's only a matter of time.

And a little over an hour later...the sound is there.

I slow my breathing and concentrate as the engine gets louder and the distinctive roll of tires, one of which needs air, reaches the driveway. The enging shuts off and the door opens and slams closed. The sound of the door seems to light up the entire neighborhood, and I can 'see' everything around me as they reflect the sound back.

And I 'see' the man I'm looking for.

I listen to the crunch of gravel as he walks towards the front of the house. Each step is like a small burst of light under his feet. I tilt me head and wait until I hear the jingle of keys.

The keys fall to the ground as I wrap my billy-club's cable under his arms un pull him up to the roof. I stand over him, virtually invisible in the shadows.

"Hello, Judge..."

"Oh my God!!! What?! Who?! WHAT ARE-"

I clamp my hand over his mouth as I kneel on top of him, pinning him to his roof.

"Keep it down, Judge Chambers. The last thing I need is you screaming when I'm just trying to have a nice, quiet conversation with you." Besides, it's hell on the ears.

I give him a small shove, and drop my voice an octave. "Understand?"

He nods with wide eyes.

"Good. Now, let's talk. This morning, the verdict in the Varnall case came back guilty. I followed this case. And I know, the only reason he was found guilty is because of you."

The Chambers shakes his head. "No, no. It was the jurors. He was tried-"

"He was tried unfairly. You did everything you could to bias the case. You blocked motions the defense brought up, sided with the prosecutor's objections at every chance you could."

"That's not true! I-"

I give him another shove. "I can tell when you're lying. And even if I couldn't, you made it painfully apparent."

Chambers struggles a little more, but finally goes limp, giving up. "I've never...never done this before. I'm an honest judge!"

"You were. And I know this was the first case you've thrown. You were far too obvious. But I want to know why? What did they have on you?"

"It wasn't me."

I shove again and raise my fist.

"No, wait, it wasn't. It was my wife?'

"What about your wife?

"She...she...owes a lot of money."

I listen to his heartbeat and voice. He's telling the truth. "Gambling?"

He nods. "She's...got a problem. And what makes it worse is that she's pretty good. But these last few weeks..."

"She's been losing."

He keeps nodding. "A lot of money. She's been selling things, and taking money from our accounts. But at this rate, she's going to want to mortgage the house soon. I tried to get her to stop. But she 'knows' she can win it all back."

"I doubt she's doing this in a legal establishment."

"...no."

"And so she tainted your position on the bench." He can only nod. I think for a second. "Wait...a few weeks ago...when did she start losing?"

"I don't-"

"Was it five weeks ago?"

He thinks back. "Yeah, maybe..."

"Just when Varnall was arrested..."

"I don't understand."

"You're wife's not on a losing streak. They rigged the games. They made sure she lost so they could get to you. They wanted Varnall to take the fall."

"H-How can you be sure?"

"I can't. Not yet. Not until you tell me who made you do this."

"No. I can't tell you that. If they find out-"

"You've done what they wanted. Now you just need to get your wife the help she needs....and submit your resignation."

"My res...but my career-"

"Ended five weeks ago. Tell me who it was."

"I-I don't-"

I raise my fist again.

"No! Really! I don't know who wanted the case thrown. But I know the guy they sent. A low level mobster. I presided over a couple of his cases. Never enough evidence to put him away."

"The name..."

"Bigia. Joeseph Biglia."

"Is he one of The Kingpin's men?"

"King-? No. You believe that myth. This guy isn't local, although he's done local jobs. No, he supposedly works for Maroni. Out of Gotham."

Gotham...?

Byrd Man

12-10-2011, 06:20 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

IC: Jim Gordon

GCPD Western District Headquarters
5:32 PM

There's an expression here in town. To some it's a motto, or a creed, or even a way of life. The cops like to use it a whole lot. The expression is the Gotham Way. It can mean a few things, but the best description of it is this: When life bites you in the ass, you turn around and bite it right back. You take whatever you're given, and you give it right back. You get knocked to the canvas, you get right back up and keep on punching. That's the Gotham Way.

I walk down the hallways of the Western, chatting to the few cops I know as I walk by. Most of them act like they don't know me. They wouldn't be caught dead talking to me. I hear all the nicknames, even if they don't think I do. St. James, Jimmy the Rat, James Choirboy. In their eyes, I'm a self-righteous stick in the mud who doesn't know know how hard it is for a real cop. There's a joke going around Central and the Districts. What's the difference between a gutter rat and James Gordon? One is a low-down, bottom feeding vermin. The other is a rat.

I can deal with their snide comments, I've become quite a target over the last year, so that comes with the territory. I've dealt with threats, blackmail, and beatings. I shrug them off and keep going. That's the Gotham Way. There's a change coming, I can feel it. With the help of the few allies I have inside the GCPD, and the one who operates outside the law, I know we can make this department a better place.

I take the stairs down to the basement. Hanging on the door to the basement is a piece of paper taped to it. "Major Crimes Unit - Quick Response Team." Walking into the basement, I see a burly man with a thick mustache. He's wearing work boots, blue jeans, and a flannel shirt.

"Tork."

"Hey, Captain," the sergeant says, reaching out to shake my hand. "Why are you slumming out here in the Western?"

"What do you say we take a ride?"

"What's wrong with the basement?"

"Ears have walls, Mike. Didn't take long for me to find that out. Where's the rest of your crew?"

"Done for the day. We got an early start in the middle of the night, raided a Maroni stash house. I sent them home a few hours ago. I was about to head that way myself."

"Let's go, then. I'm buying."

I take Tork to Mike's Bar halfway across town. It's not a cop bar, so there's almost no chance of us being overheard.

"So how is Montoya working out?" I ask Tork as he sips his beer.

"She's green. She has potential...but she's no DeWolff."

"Seem to recall you saying the same thing about her when she was put on your team."

"It's why I said she has potential. Anyway, she gets along great with Daz and Driver, follows orders, knows how to handle her nine, has a sharp eye, and a hell of a right cross. A meth cooker we busted the other week found the last fact out the hard way."

Tork and I drink in silence for a few minutes before I speak up.

"Tell me about that raid you did on that bookie last week."

"You read the report, Jim. It was totally ****ed from the get-go. Our goddamn CI lied to us. The house had been used as a bookie before we got there, but they were long gone by the time Daz pulled the Nova up to the house."

"You get any funny feelings from it?"

"More than a few. That was the first time that snitched had lied to us, he'd been reliable in the past. Also, I had Daz and Montoya do recon on the house a day before we busted them up. It was business as usual. I think the snitch told them what was going down before we knocked the door in. I don't know why, it makes no sense."

I take another sip of my beer and nod.

"Besides you and your team, who else knew about the raid beforehand?"

"Just the normal people involved in the chain of command. You, Captain Major, the ADA you got working with the MCU, and Lieutenant Flass."

"That's what I thought. I think there's a leak somewhere in that chain command."

"It's not an of my guys, persons? People? Any of my team."

"I have a good idea on who it is..."

"Flass, right?"

"Of course. I keep sending Internal Affairs my complaints, but they keep getting ignored. I think we need to take matters into our own hands."

"I don't know, Jim," Tork says with an uncomfortable look on his face. "Sure, there's a lot of smoke around Flass...but he's still another cop."

I bend forward and show Tork the back of my neck.

"See that scar tissue on the back of my neck? That was from surgery I had to have ten or so months ago when Flass and his buddies beat me with baseball bats. It fused two of the vertebrae in my spine. I laid there in the GCPD parking garage, beaten and bruised. Know what I did? I got up, tracked Flass down, and I returned the favor."

"The Gotham City Way," Tork mumbles as he takes a sip.

"And that's what we have to do. Flass has the commissioner's ear, the commissioner tells the IA Commander what to do. IA will never build a case against him or Loeb, so we have to build our own."

Flass and Loeb tired their damnedest to run me out of town. They took their shot, but they found out I was made of stronger stuff.

Time to see how well they stand up. They fired the opening salvo, now I'm returning fire.

That's the Gotham City Way.

Batman

12-11-2011, 10:46 PM

:super:

*KA-THOOM*

Great Scott, what the heck was that?!

Any doubt that the noise came from inside the building is erased, as the receptionist stands up in her chair and turns towards the very same direction, noticing as a mild quake shockwaves through the floors. In an action that continues to perplex me, even after all these years, time manages to freeze in place around me as I step back, take a deep breath, and peer up at the ceiling. Then through it. I've learned time and time again that you have to act fast, in situations like this.

It looks like I was right to be concerned - I can see something moving upstairs, in the science wing that's a couple of floors under the live demonstration that Hamilton is presenting. It's something that doesn't look like any man, animal, or mutant that I've ever encountered before. But it looks volitile, which is definitely something to consider when I realize that it's just burst it's way through the walls. Doesn't even act like it was a hindrance, as it begins tearing apart the room as the scientists flee.

That thing is going to hurt someone. Someone's got to stop it.

I glance down at my shirt, knowing someone who could. But I don't know if I should risk it...

"AAAIIIEEE!"

"Monster! Terrible monster!"

"Somebody call the police

My eyes narrow ahead, knowing what that means. It means that I don't have a say in the matter. If that thing is stronger than the police, which it looks to be, then the people upstairs don't stand a fighting chance. And Pa always did say that if it came down to it, I'd have to make a choice. Stay in the shadows forever, or reveal myself to the world before it was too late for the world to comprehend what I really am.

And what I am, right now, is just someone who's going to try and help those people.

Whatever happens after that... happens.

"Listen to me. You need to get as far away from here as you can."

"What? What did you..."

*WHOOSH*

In a blur of colors and shapes that pass me in my wake, I've left the lobby and circulated upstairs in a matter of seconds, quickly changing out of my outer layer of clothes and tossing them aside. By the time I reach the second floor, the jeans are replaced with a tight leather blue ensemble and crimson boots, a yellow belt circulating through red trunks, and a freshly pressed dress shirt overtop the rest of it that I'm going to have to discard. Shaking my head as I grab at the buttons, ready to peel them back, I watch the curl in it fall to my forehead and smile.

Terrible monster, huh?

I think it's about to meet it's match, because this looks like a job...

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t84/SupermanRPG/One%20Earth/RPG-1.png

For Superman.

SuperFerret

12-11-2011, 11:01 PM

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"Oh, that won't be necessary." said a blonde man with a slight Australian accent emerging from the chaos surrounding Kitty and Senator Ross, "Everyone saw you kidnap the scumbag, so now when they find his corpse, everyone'll know that we mutants mean business." With a flick of his wrist, he opens a small cigarette lighter. I am ashamed to say that I momentarily hesitate at the sight of it, but I push past my fear anyway.

"If you mean to assassinate anyone today, I must warn you, you will not succeed." I say, not yet revealing my true appearance for the sake of the Senator.

The flames from the man's lighter grew, forming a great fiery hand that reaches out at me, the embers of its extended digits flickering close to my face. I keep my calm as best I can, though my form shimmers and returns to my usual emerald countenance.

Martians don't sweat, but the heat washing over me is unbearable as I leap out of the way. My pyrophobia is preventing me from utilizing my full concentration, and due to that, I do not feel safe phasing away.

"Kitty!" I call out to my young companion, my voice drowned out by the roaring flames that now form a herd of stallions barreling down at me and the manic cackling of the madman directing the fiery steeds. "Get the Senator to safety! I-I'll handle this lunatic."

MST3K 4ever

12-12-2011, 06:18 PM

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Arrow keeps moving through the air ducts when through the grate he sees an elevator.

If I remember correctly the elevator needs a special badge to access it when there's a lock-down. Which I don't have....

He sees an unconscious guard.

Yet.

Arrow removes the grate and sees that the camera has finished it's pass. He fires a suction cup arrow and it catches the security badge. Arrow pulls it back to him and exits the air-duct system and replaces the grate.

Quickly he gets to the elevator and enters with the badge. Arrow then gets onto the roof of the elevator.

Okay what I'm looking for is floor number 42 which put me very near the security center. If I can get in there maybe I can get a handle on the lock-down protocols and go from there.

Carnage27

12-12-2011, 07:46 PM

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"You alright, Jean?" I ask as I walk over to her and help her up. A bolt of energy whizzes by my face, compliments of Plastique. Off to the side, Blockbuster starts to get up and recover.

"Go after Mystique, I can hold these two back."

I gather myself up and go to head back after Mystique, but turn to Scott before leaving, "Be careful."

Pushing my way through the crowd, I follow the screams towards a scene that stops me dead in my tracks. A mother screams and pleads with Mystique as she points two pistols at a pair of children. She looks at me and smiles, "Well, well, Red. Looks like we're in a bit of a pickle here. So here's how this is going to go-"

"Let them go, Mystique," I say. But I'm not ready to make a move. If I'm not precise with my powers here I could end up being the one who kills these kids. "They're innocent in all of this."

"Innocent? Really?" she laughs. "They're the vile offspring of the people here to watch us be persecuted. They were here to watch as we were put on a list so that when the government wants to put us in camps they'll be ready. These little roaches in front of me are just future mutant haters. So now you're going to let me leave and then maybe I won't blow little Jack and Jill's brains out."

As she begins to step away, I feel the rage building in me. The fire burns deep in my chest. The voice that comes from my mouth is barely recognizable, "NO!"

A stream of golden fire springs from my hand and engulfs the blue mutant like a cocoon. I lift her off the ground in it, and I hear her screaming in pain. But the primal rage in me doesn't let go. The power is like nothing I've ever felt before, and yet intimately familiar. It's like an old friend from a past life coming for a visit. Strange and welcoming at the same time.

That is until she manages to fire a shot that strikes me in the shoulder, breaking my concentration. I drop to my knees as Mystique runs off, making her escape.

Byrd Man

12-13-2011, 01:31 PM

I gather myself up and go to head back after Mystique, but turn to Scott before leaving, "Be careful."

"Of course. It's me, after all"

Right on cue, the big man tackles me and drives me into the ground. I struggle against him and roll myself over to face him. I let a blast loose and strike him in his chest, knocking him into the air and off of me.

I stand up as Plastique fires another round of energy bolts at me. I strike them all mid-air and destroy them before they hit me. I turn my aim towards her, sending out a bolt of energy at her. She throws up an energy shield and blocks my beams. I begin to walk towards her, intensifying the power of my rays. Plastique's shield begins to crack, she grunts and tries to keep it together as I keep walking forward. I turn the power on my visor up one more notch, shattering Plastique's shield and striking her and knocking her back. She falls to the ground and her head smacks against the ground, knocking her unconscious.

I turn around as the big man charges. I hit him with a quick blast to the end and send him to the ground, wriggling in pain.

As she begins to step away, I feel the rage building in me. The fire burns deep in my chest. The voice that comes from my mouth is barely recognizable, "NO!"

A stream of golden fire springs from my hand and engulfs the blue mutant like a cocoon. I lift her off the ground in it, and I hear her screaming in pain. But the primal rage in me doesn't let go. The power is like nothing I've ever felt before, and yet intimately familiar. It's like an old friend from a past life coming for a visit. Strange and welcoming at the same time.

That is until she manages to fire a shot that strikes me in the shoulder, breaking my concentration. I drop to my knees as Mystique runs off, making her escape.

The commotion to my right takes my attention. I run over to Jean as she falls to her knees.

"Jean, are you okay?! What was that?"

Byrd Man

12-13-2011, 01:32 PM

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Previously

Hellfire Club
Manhattan

Alfred pulls the limo up to the Brownstone and looks into the rearview mirror at me. "I suggest you approach the situation with caution, sir. You may be an expert when it comes to street criminals, but the stakes are so much higher."

"Don't worry, I'm ready. I'll call you when I'm done."

I get out the car and walk up the steps as Alfred pulls away. I give the doorman my name and he lets me into the foyer. The symbol on the business card is hanging on the walls, along with pictures of the club's history. My eye is drawn to one picture in particular. There's Tony's father, my grandad, and President Kennedy.

"That was shortly before he announced his candidacy for presidency."

I turn around to see the man waiting for me.

"Mister Wayne, allow me to be the first to welcome you to our headquarters."

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"Welcome to the Hellfire Club. I'm Sebastian Shaw, Black King of the New York Chapter."

I walk over and shake Shaw's hand, giving his wardrobe choice a curious glance.

"We like to keep the standards of the Victorian dress here at the club. The Masons have their aprons and rings, we have our whalebone corsets and cravates."

"Now suddenly, I may be changing my mind..."

Shaw laughs and begins to walk down the hallway with me following closely behind.

"I am curious, Mister Wayne, why do you reach out to us now?"

"I had never heard of the club until I stumbled upon some of my grandfather's belongings. I got curious after I searched the internet and found out who you actually are."

"I searched our records and, while your grandfather was a member, you father was never interested even though we approached him as a legacy member."

"My father was always more interested in medicine and his practice than playing the role of a billionaire socialite."

"Well, like him, you are a legacy. All you need to do is ask and you're a full-fledged member above the rank of pawn. A Knight."

Suddenly, I feel a chill run up my spin and into my head. There's a numbness in my brain, almost like brain freeze. The image of a pair of bright blue eyes is inside my head. The eyes look inside of my mind, probing, trying to find my deepest thoughts.

I know what's going on. Someone is trying to read my mind. They're an expert at it. Unfortunately for them, it was an expert that trained me as well.

I focus my thoughts on the cover story, imagining everything that I've told Shaw. Picturing made up conversations with Alfred about my grandfather. All my thoughts about Tony, the weapons deal, and Batman are pushed way down inside my subconscious. Within a few seconds, the eyes disappear and I turn to look at Shaw.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just felt a chill. Kinda weird."

"Well, this is where I leave you. Miss Frost is just down the hall. Once you're in her capable hands, she'll start the induction process."

"Thank you for your help, I appreciate it."

I smile and hold out my hand for Shaw. He shakes it and I pat him on the back, quickly slipping a small pad underneath his collar. It's barely the size of a head of a pin, but the microphone should pick up all of Shaw's conversations clearly.

"Thank you for joining us, Mister Wayne. I look forward to seeing you at meetings."

Shaw walks down the hallway and I watch him go. I still don't know who these people are, or what they're after, but I do know that they have a telepath in their midst. I have to keep my mind clear and free of my secrets, always be on my guard.. Just like I was taught.

Suddenly, running down terrorists in the Smokey Mountains doesn't seem like a bad idea.

"Hello, Mister Wayne," the woman in the tight white clothing and the cape says.

Her eyes are blue, as blue as the pair I saw in my head.

"I'm Emma Frost. White Queen of the Hellfire Club. Is there anything I can do for you today?"

"Interesting...I can think of about fifteen different things I'd like to do to you, but nothing you can do for me right now."

"Well, come to the club on the weekend and you may get your wish."

She places a hand on my chest and smiles. Even now I can feel slight probes to my subconscious, testing my mind for weaknesses.

"I'm to give you the tour, if you'd follow me."

She takes my hand and leads me down the hallways of the club, past rooms with people in Victorian dress doing...un-Victorian things. We pass by the lounge where a serious looking man stands by the bear. He's dressed in a outfit similar to Shaw's, except his is green. He nods and Frost and I as we pass.

"That's Werner Vertigo, the White King. He's in a bad mood because he's Vlativian. Therefor, he's always in a bad mood."

"Well, can't say that I blame him."

Frost leads me to a bedroom in the back of the club.

"And this is my room, Mister Wayne. You're a legacy to the Hellfire Club, and I couldn't think of a better way to welcome you to our organization."

Frost leans against me and brings her lips up to mine. Her silver lipstick smears against mine as she breaks away from me and kisses my neck. I sigh, and keep my mental block up as she continues to break it with her mind.

"Why are you here?" She whispers into my ear while her hands rub my chest.

"I believe it was you who led me here, Miss Frost."

She nibbles on my earlobe.

"No, why the Hellfire Club?"

"Because of the perks," I quip. "Speaking of perks..."

Frost suddenly steps away, and sighs.

"If that's how you want to be, Mister Wayne, fine. Werner!"

The door into the bedroom opens up and Vertigo steps in.

"He's hiding something. Bring him to his knees."

"As you wish," Vertigo says with a curt nod. He thrusts his hands forward and points them at me. I start to laugh, but I'm stopped short by the wave of sickness that overcomes me. The walls and floors begin to tilt, my knees buckle and grow weak.

"Give in to the power of Vertigo, Mister Wayne."

Stumbling through the bedroom, I force down the bile rising up in my throat and reach out for the nightstand. Frost has makeup and perfumes on a sliver platter. I turn and aim at Vertigo, fighting my own sickness to toss the platter at him. It whizzes through the air and smacks Vertigo in he head, breaking his concentration and freeing me from his grips. As the nausea fades and the world comes back to normal, I make a run for the exit of the bedroom, only to be clotheslined by a hardened arm. I hit the floor hard and look up.

"I asked you nicely," Frost says, her body covered in a layer of hardened diamonds. "Now you'll tell me."

She brings a diamond-covered foot down towards my head, I roll as her foot crashes through the floor of the room. While Frost is busy pulling her foot out, I pick myself up and run out the bedroom, racing down the halls of the club and looking for an exit.

Andy C.

12-13-2011, 04:59 PM

:spidey:

Along Came A Spider
Part III

"The morphogenetic field amplifier is now active," Doctor Connors says as he adjusts the controls of the device, his voice carrying through a PA system that allows us to hear him on the other side of the thick transparent barrier, "and it is nearing the calculated optimum radiation levels for the desired reaction. The EM containment field is holding strong. Once we've reached the optimum levels, we will insert the DNA specimens."

Doctor Hamilton turns a dial, and a bar of thin, ghostly green light begins to glow between the two antennae of the device. I snap some pictures, trying to get the light to show up on the camera. Unfortunately, the resolution doesn't seem strong enough.

"I don't know about this, Harry," Liz says, squeezing Harry's hand. "Wouldn't that much radiation be really dangerous if it got out?"

"It won't," Harry said to reassure her. "This experiment is absolutely water-tight. I mean, there's no way they'd do something like this in front of a class of high school kids if it was dangerous."

"Still," Liz trails off.

Whereas Liz is nervous and uncertain about the demonstration of next-generation super-science, Gwen is on the edge of her seat, biting her lower lip to keep from smiling stupidly.

"I've never seen anything like this," she says, leaning toward me to speak over the whine of the generators. "If this actually works, it could revolutionize so many fields of science, all at the same time! And actually being here when it happens? That's just....it's spectacular!"

"I know, right?" I say, only halfway paying attention as I try to get a good picture. "Just imagine--"

*THOOOM!!!!!!*

The wall practically explodes behind us, concrete and steel spewing forth as two figures erupt forward, crashing straight through the transparent barrier. Everyone dives for cover to avoid the rain of debris--thankfully, they seem to have hit so hard that it pulverized the chunks of wall into tiny pieces. The safety barrier, though, is shattered.

"Dear God!" Doctor Connors shouts over the commotion. "Hamilton, shut everything off! We have to get the kids to safety!"

"...POWER..." hisses one of the figures, a monstrous shape that looms over the morphogenetic field device like a predator stalking its food.

"Everyone, get down!" Dr. Hamilton calls out to the room. "I'm activating the emergency abort! It may cause a brief fluctuation in--"

"POWER!" the monster yells hungrily, grabbing the device. It sputters and sparks, and for just a moment, the whole room pulses with that ghostly green.

I hit the deck, putting an arm around Gwen to pull her down to relative safety with me. As I hit the ground, I hear a loud CRUNCH. For a moment I hope it's just my pelvis, but when I look down, I see my fears are confirmed....

....my camera's utterly ruined.

"C'mon, where is it?" I hear another voice among the chaos. "Have to get a good one.....where is it?!"

It's Jim Olsen, the photographer for the Daily Planet. Even as everyone is ducking for cover and holding on for dear life, he's looking for his camera. I scan the room, and I see it's only a couple of paces away from me.

"Gwen, stay down," I say as I start to get up. "I'll be right back."

"Peter, what are you--" she starts to say as I lunge for the camera. "PETER!"

The monster seems preoccupied with the second figure, and blur of red and blue moving too fast to really make out its shape. While it's distracted, I dive towards the camera, scraping the crap out of my knees and elbows as I land on the rubble.

Grabbing the camera, I see it's undamaged and still ready to shoot. I zoom in on the monster and focus....

....but just as I press the button, the red and blue blur gets in the way.

*CLICK!*

*WHAM!!!*

Whatever the blur is, it knocks the monster off its feet with an incredible impact, sending it flying through another wall. Once the coast is clear, Doctor Hamilton looks up.

"Everyone, come on, let's move!" he shouts. "There's an emergency shelter just down the corridor! We can make it if we hurry!"

Students, chaperones, and scientists all scramble for the door. Gwen grabs me by the arm and pulls me along with her, while I stare at the display on Olsen's camera, looking at the picture I just took.

"Holy crap," I say as I take a look at the high-res photo of what was just a red and blue blur.......

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".......he's real......all the rumors are actually--OW!"

There's a sharp and sudden stinging on the back of my hand, enough to break my attention away from the fact that I just accidentally took a picture of a guy who's supposed to be about as real as Bigfoot.

I look down at my hand, and see something crawling along the strap of Olsen's camera.

"Peter, are you okay?" Gwen stops in her tracks when she hears me yelp.

"Yeah, it's just...." I say, feeling suddenly light-headed. "Just a bug bite. A little......a spider. I'll be okay; now let's go."

Carnage27

12-13-2011, 05:52 PM

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The commotion to my right takes my attention. I run over to Jean as she falls to her knees.

"Jean, are you okay?! What was that?"

I grab onto Scott and prop myself up. His words are miles away. I feel the power that was with me moments ago slipping from my body, returning me to the person I've always been. Part of my wants it back...

But another realizes that wasn't me. I wasn't in control of my body. The power took over. The power was driving me. Hell, it even seemed as if the power was talking for me.

"I don't know, Scott," I shake slightly. "I don't know."

sumowrestler

12-13-2011, 06:17 PM

"Best of luck, my friend."

Jordan heads out to find this van that Oliver thinks is doing the security hijacking. It takes a few minutes to locate the odd van parked half a block away in a dark alley, at least to one who doesn't have a green ringing shining as if it was a huge Christmas light. Jordan tries to hijack the hijacking satellite dish that is sitting on top of the van. This draws the attention of guy in the vehicle. He comes out with a heavy machine gun and starts firing at Jordan. Jordan creates a shield to deflect the bullets. One of the bullets flies back towards the dish putting holes in it and creating sparks. Another bullet barely misses the guy but hits one of the tires instead making it flat in matter of seconds.

"OK, time to end this before one of us gets hurt."

Jordan changes his into a cone shape with a hole in the bottom for the bullets to fall harmlessly. Then once the guy's gun jams, Jordan makes the cone into a hand and wraps it around the guy and buries him into the dumpster a few feet away and closes the lid. As Jordan starts to fly off, he hears sirens coming towards his direction. He then watches as a bank car with its back doors flying around and thugs with shot guns, izuzis, and hand guns firing back at the police. Jordan shoots a beam bending as it goes cutting through the barrels of each of the guns. Once the guns are taken care of, he makes a huge baseball glove a few feet in front of the bank car catching it. The momentum makes Jordan fly above the chase revealing himself to the police and robbers. When the bank car stops and the police catch up, the robbers walks out with hands up realizing that they are done. The police carefully approach the car with a few of them having their guns drawn while others hand cuff the crooks. After Jordan is sure the police have everything under control, he salutes them as he flies back towards the Tower.

"GA, I didn't exactly take control of the van but more of took out the satellite they were using. The driver found himself in a dumpster and the van has a broken dish and a flat front passenger tire."

Batman

12-14-2011, 05:00 AM

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"Who's the wise guy?!"

What met him was something he didn't expect. Another punch to the chest, hitting him harder than he had ever remembered being hit, sending him back into a brick wall. As Logan fell to the ground and gasped at the impact to his supposedly indestructable ribcage, he heard massive footsteps crunch the ground leading up to him. Followed by a deep, frighteningly inhuman chuckle.

"Well, well, well. Lookit what we got here."

Before Logan could retaliate, a massive clawed hand grabbed at his throat and thrust his skull back into the brick. Even with his considerable strength, Logan was unable to break the grip as he was pulled out, then slammed into it again.

"Costume's changed, but I'd recognize that putrid stench anywhere..."

Feeling himself begin to pass out, Logan grabbed hard and tried to fight. But he felt his knees kicked out from under him. Soon, he was forced into a violent headlock, face to face with a wild looking behemoth of a man that he didn't recognize. But given the way his enemy smiled, with a sadistic gleam in his eye, it seemed more than clear...

That the man recognized him.

"This day just keeps gettin' better an' better. What do ya say, short stuff... Remember me?"

"Heh. I'll give ya one thing, runt. Yer still as much'a sissy as I remember..."

All that Logan could hear was the chuckled taunts of the madman that was laying waste to him, as he felt himself tossed along the pavement and slammed directly into a streetside fire hydrant. Several bystanders screamed as Logan's attacker leapt out with animalistic precision, landing on the street infront of him so hard that the concrete actually began to spiderweb beneath his massive size. Rising up, with a giant grin plastered across his face, he raised his hands up to his tongue and began to lick his razor-sharp, black as coal fingernails. He then licked his lips, tasting the blood that had ran over them in his assault on the X-Man. Logan grunted, becoming increasingly enraged at the snarling behemoth.

"So whaddya say? We tear eachother ta shreads, just like old times? Or do ya just want me ta make ya say Uncle?"

Wiping the blood from his lip, Logan pushed himself up into a stance, as the two circled eachother and growled.

"Bub, I don't know who the hell you think you are. But just because you got flight of fancies and a crapload of adrenaline coursin' through you, doesn't mean we ever met."

He sniffs at the air. "Believe me. I'd know your scent."

The stranger laughed.

"So that's what they done to ya! That's freakin' hilarious! Messed with yer mind, turned ya into little Logan lost! I bet you got all sorts'a questions, don'tcha?"

Logan's eyes widened, catching the mention of his name. There was no time for playing around anymore. This guy definitely had answers that he needed. And one way or another, Logan thought to himself, they were all gonna come gushing out of his mouth - along with a river of blood. Enraged, he pointed back at the stranger and nearly spat out every word, concealing a deep seated frustration that was finally going to come to an end.

"Yeah. And you're gonna answer each one of 'em."

"Haw! I'd like to see ya make me!"

Leaping out at Logan, the stranger moved like a giant cat. But even still, the X-Man had enough sense left in him to duck this advance, allowing the stranger to slam head-on into a nearby street lamp. Howling several profanities as he bellowed over, he didn't notice as Logan slowly came up behind him, readying his knuckles. In the time since he had come back to Westchester, he had never been given a proper reason to unsheathe what lied within him.

Now was the time.

"I warned you once, bub."

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"Now? I ain't got no reason to be nice about it."

Metallic claws latched themselves around the stranger's massive throat, as he only smiled up at his would-be killer. What stared back down at him wasn't Logan anymore. What was looking back was the animal inside of him. The Wolverine.

"Get yerself some implants?"

Wolverine growled, slicing the razored claws across the stranger's throat. At first, he panicked, clutching at the deep wound and trying to stop the rush of blood that came tunnelling out of his neck. But as he broke free from Logan's grip, scattering across the blood and seemingly beginning to choke to death, something happened. He began to convulse back and forth, then chuckle. Then laugh outright. Wolverine's shock was registered on his face as the stranger looked back, removing his hand from his neck.

The wounds were healing right before his eyes. Somehow, he had acquired Logan's exact same regenerative abilities.

"Boy, you were just born stupid, weren'tcha?"

Before Wolverine could react, his enemy snarled and tackled him into a nearby car, violently slamming the back of his head into a passenger side window hard enough to shatter it. Logan yelled out in pain as he felt the fingernails dig into the skin of his chest, causing the taller mutant to grin once more.

"Ya can't kill me, just like I could never kill you. Doesn't mean that I'm not gonna try, though!"

Pulling himself out of broken glass, Logan managed to ask only one question.

"Who the **** are you?!"

"Heh. That's a story for another day, shorty. For now, ya can just call me..."

"YARGH!"

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"SABRETOOTH!"

And thus, a rivalry was immediately reborn.

With blood, to write it in stone.

MST3K 4ever

12-14-2011, 11:56 AM

"GA, I didn't exactly take control of the van but more of took out the satellite they were using. The driver found himself in a dumpster and the van has a broken dish and a flat front passenger tire."

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6366402613_3f2c57eeb9_m.jpg

Arrow responds, "Okay not exactly what I had in mind but it should do the job thanks. Now let's see what our "A-Team" rejects do? Do they call the exercise off or push through? Stand by."

Arrow hears the doors on the elevator open and close. Just then he hears someone say, "Henshaw come in! Henshaw! We've lost the signal. Okay we keep going we'll just have to go to plan B and hope for the best."

Arrow says, "I'll bet plan B means they're either stopping at the security center on floor 42 or there might be another set of eyes outside the building. Things are about to get interesting Lantern keep an eye on the building make sure they."

MST3K 4ever

12-14-2011, 12:04 PM

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Luthor continues to sip on his drink and enjoy the music.

He says, "Alexis progress on Team Luthor."

Alexis replies, "Scanning...assault team in currently in elevator 4 moving towards security center. Security Guard Jenkins is on the roof of the elevator."

Lex looks somewhat puzzled and says, "Jenkins? What in blazes is he doing there? Probably trying to be hero I guess."

Lex then says, "Alexis do not alert team of possible wild-card threat. This will be an excellent opportunity to see how acute and prepared they are for the unforeseen. "

Alexis replies, "Acknowledged Mr. Luthor."

Lex continues reading his paper.

IKB

12-14-2011, 12:36 PM

Nothing to see here.

Andy C.

12-14-2011, 10:24 PM

A lone van drove down the streets of Gotham City's industrial district in the still and quiet hours of the night, far away from the downtown areas that never truly slept. Consciously the driver obeyed every rule of the road, even stopping for red lights when there was clearly no traffic coming or going. The only thing remarkable about it was how remarkably unremarkable it was.

At least, from the outside.

On the inside, a pale thin man in a gross approximation of clown makeup manned the steering wheel, smiling ear to ear. The Joker giggled to himself as he thought of the gag they were about to pull.

Behind him, four men in rubber clown masks shifted nervously. On loan from Sal Maroni, they were to assist the Joker in solving the 'problem' that had seen nearly two thirds of the syndicate's drug runners dead in a matter of weeks. It was only out of sheer desperation that the Boss would ever hire a freak like the Joker, and the clown was only too willing to oblige.

"I only have two things I want you boys to keep in mind," he had told Maroni's soldiers when joining him for the job. "One? Don't ask stupid questions. And two? Do exactly as I say, when I say it. As long as you play nicely, we should all have a lot of laughs tonight."

When their fifth man stepped up to question the freak, the Joker fed him his own eyeballs. The remaining four became extraordinarily cooperative after that.

"We're coming up on our target, fellas," he said, peering out the driver's side window at the large factory they approached. "I hope everyone remembers their bit."

The four gangsters in the back nodded quickly, and the Joker smiled contented.

The van pulled up to its destination: GotH2O, the city's largest water bottling plant. As the van stopped at the guard shack in front of the plant, in the back rattled a rack of vials filled with bright green fluids.

"Okay, can I see your pass?" said the security guard sleepily, not even looking away from the small television playing a rerun of Cheers.

"Deadmansayswhat?" responded the Joker.

"What?"

The guard was answered by the buzzing chatter of a machine pistol, riddling his body and the shack around him with a spray of lead before the van plowed into the parking lot of the plant.

Once inside, Maroni's thugs swept through the facility, picking off the handful of unsuspecting security guards wherever they were found. The Joker, on the other hand, brazenly strolled into one of the records archives. He rifled through one filing cabinet after another, sifting through dossiers and documents until he found what he was looking for: the upcoming week's shipping manifests.

"And here we go," he said to himself, finding the order form he had in mind, then talking into the walkie-talkie to Maroni's men. "All right, I've found what I want. Now meet me on the factory floor. I hope one of you fellas knows how to drive a forklift."

Minutes later, the four were gathered around a palette of crates, each containing five-gallon water cooler tanks. The Joker reached into his pockets, producing a small drill, a dropper, and a tube of sealing resin.

"This is what we're here for," he said. "The next batch of water being shipped out tomorrow morning, bound for Gotham Central. We're going to give the good Commissioner Loeb and his boys in blue a case of the giggles they'll never forget."

The Joker snapped his fingers, and one of Maroni's men handed him the rack of vials filled with his laughing poison, the one he had perfected by testing on city's drug addict population.

"Yeah," the Joker said to himself as he drilled a small hole in the first tank. "This is gonna be a classic. This one'll really knock 'em dead...."

bkhedr

12-15-2011, 11:11 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5344/1168718-gorgon_01.jpg

Urayasu, Tokyo.
December 14th
23:13 hours

It was a cold night. December nights in Japan were always cold. The chill had driven most people indoors and as a result the streets of this affluent Tokyo suburb were near deserted.

The cold didn't bother Tomi Shishido and the quiet empty streets were a welcome development. His target, Deputy Justice Minister Ito Hirohumbi, lived in a large villa that dominated the neighbourhood and getting in and out without being noticed would have been considerably more difficult on a warmer night.

Tomi personally wouldn't have minded either way. More people in the way would just mean more dead bodies, more lives extinguished for the glory of the hand. But his instructions were clear, he was to eliminate the Minister, his family and his guards, but no others.

Tomi shook his head with displeasure. He could still remember the fat bastard's smug speech clearly. His talk of shaking Japan free of its "superstitious past" as he put it. How he proudly proclaimed that his ministry would not only definatively prove the Hand's existence but take legal action against it as well. In his words the "So called Hand was nothing more than a gathering of thugs and gangsters cloaking themselves in mysticism"

There was a time when the Clan would have razed this whole community and burned every structure in the area to the ground in retaliation for such blasphemies, but the Elders had grown more...compromising, in recent years. If Tomi had his way he would kill Hirohumbi's neighbours, his drivers, his grocers, his friends. Everyone who even tacitly supported him, but he had his orders and now was not the time to challenge the Elders.

In any event Hirohumbi's motorcade soon rounded the corner, singalling the end of his wait and Tomi Shishido, called the Gorgon, rose and stretched his powerful limbs as he watched the fat man emerge from his official vehicle and nod curtly to the guards and he hurried inside the villa to escape the cold. Tomi's sneered in disgust as he looked into the man's mind. His thoughts were all of comforts, the delicacies he would soon be ingesting, the pornography he would soon be watching. The man was hardly worthy prey and Tomi resolved to finish this task quickly, if not cleanly.

The armed guards at the villa's gate were the first to fall. They collapsed, clutching at their open throats, their warm blood painting the snow. They never even knew what happened.

The interior guards died next. Murdered where they stood or sat. Not one man saw his attacker or reached for his weapon.

And so it went for several minutes as the Gorgon moved ghostlike through the sprawling villa complex, avoiding detection and methodically killing all occupants. Hirohumbi's wife and children were no exception. The two yong boys died in their beds. The woman would be found face down in front of her night stand with a slit throat and a comb clutched in her dead hand.

Before long the oblivious Hirohumbi was the last living person in the villa and the fat man seemed not to have a care in the world as he emerged from his bath, wrapped himself in an opulent robe and shuffled into his office. He took a seat behind his expensive desk and was about to turn his laptop computer on when he felt a sharp pain jab into his shoulder and let out a yelp of shock. His eyes shot to the area of pain to find a throwing knife lodged in his left shoulder, pinning him to his chair.

<"What?"> He whimpered as his eyes widened <"What is this?">

<"It is your death Hirohumbi-sama"> The Gorgon practically spat the honorofic as he emerged from the shadows in the corner of the room <"It is your well deserved fate.">

<"You? You're?! Oh God! HELP! HELP ME!!!!"> Hirohumbi screamed as he realized his situation and panic set in. <"HEL-ARRGH!!">

<"No one can hear you Hirohumbi-sama."> The Gorgon said as he slowly forced another knife into the Minister's other shoulder <"They're all dead. Your guards. Your servants.">

He leaned in close enough that he could smell the man's breath <"Your wife. Your children.">

<"Oh God. Oh God no! Please! Please I'm begging you!"> Hirohumbi blubbered. He was crying now, but not for his wife and children.

<"Interesting."> The Gorgon commented menancingly as he continued to hover close to the pertified wounded man <"You don't care that your family is dead. You never cared did you?">

<"Pleaase"> Hirohumbi pleaded.

<"No all you ever cared about was yourself. Your comfort. Your prestige"> The Gorgon continued, ignoring the man's cries for mercy <"Bad enough when a man of principles, a man with integrity stands against us. Such a man is a fool but at least he is an ethical fool. You? You are less than vermin. To one such as you the Hand is nothing more than a political card to be played.">

<"I- I'll stop the investigation! Recant my statements! Anything, just tell me what you want me to do!">

<"I want you to suffer"> The Gorgon replied as he pulled a small knife from his belt and opened up the fat man's gut. Close proximity to the man had made him reconsider his resolution from earlier. This killing would be neither clean nor quick.

Byrd Man

12-15-2011, 01:20 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

IC: Jim Gordon

GCPD Western District Headquarters
5:32 PM

There's an expression here in town. To some it's a motto, or a creed, or even a way of life. The cops like to use it a whole lot. The expression is the Gotham Way. It can mean a few things, but the best description of it is this: When life bites you in the ass, you turn around and bite it right back. You take whatever you're given, and you give it right back. You get knocked to the canvas, you get right back up and keep on punching. That's the Gotham Way.

I walk down the hallways of the Western, chatting to the few cops I know as I walk by. Most of them act like they don't know me. They wouldn't be caught dead talking to me. I hear all the nicknames, even if they don't think I do. St. James, Jimmy the Rat, James Choirboy. In their eyes, I'm a self-righteous stick in the mud who doesn't know know how hard it is for a real cop. There's a joke going around Central and the Districts. What's the difference between a gutter rat and James Gordon? One is a low-down, bottom feeding vermin. The other is a rat.

I can deal with their snide comments, I've become quite a target over the last year, so that comes with the territory. I've dealt with threats, blackmail, and beatings. I shrug them off and keep going. That's the Gotham Way. There's a change coming, I can feel it. With the help of the few allies I have inside the GCPD, and the one who operates outside the law, I know we can make this department a better place.

I take the stairs down to the basement. Hanging on the door to the basement is a piece of paper taped to it. "Major Crimes Unit - Quick Response Team." Walking into the basement, I see a burly man with a thick mustache. He's wearing work boots, blue jeans, and a flannel shirt.

"Tork."

"Hey, Captain," the sergeant says, reaching out to shake my hand. "Why are you slumming out here in the Western?"

"What do you say we take a ride?"

"What's wrong with the basement?"

"Ears have walls, Mike. Didn't take long for me to find that out. Where's the rest of your crew?"

"Done for the day. We got an early start in the middle of the night, raided a Maroni stash house. I sent them home a few hours ago. I was about to head that way myself."

"Let's go, then. I'm buying."

I take Tork to Mike's Bar halfway across town. It's not a cop bar, so there's almost no chance of us being overheard.

"So how is Montoya working out?" I ask Tork as he sips his beer.

"She's green. She has potential...but she's no DeWolff."

"Seem to recall you saying the same thing about her when she was put on your team."

"It's why I said she has potential. Anyway, she gets along great with Daz and Driver, follows orders, knows how to handle her nine, has a sharp eye, and a hell of a right cross. A meth cooker we busted the other week found the last fact out the hard way."

Tork and I drink in silence for a few minutes before I speak up.

"Tell me about that raid you did on that bookie last week."

"You read the report, Jim. It was totally ****ed from the get-go. Our goddamn CI lied to us. The house had been used as a bookie before we got there, but they were long gone by the time Daz pulled the Nova up to the house."

"You get any funny feelings from it?"

"More than a few. That was the first time that snitched had lied to us, he'd been reliable in the past. Also, I had Daz and Montoya do recon on the house a day before we busted them up. It was business as usual. I think the snitch told them what was going down before we knocked the door in. I don't know why, it makes no sense."

I take another sip of my beer and nod.

"Besides you and your team, who else knew about the raid beforehand?"

"Just the normal people involved in the chain of command. You, Captain Major, the ADA you got working with the MCU, and Lieutenant Flass."

"That's what I thought. I think there's a leak somewhere in that chain command."

"It's not an of my guys, persons? People? Any of my team."

"I have a good idea on who it is..."

"Flass, right?"

"Of course. I keep sending Internal Affairs my complaints, but they keep getting ignored. I think we need to take matters into our own hands."

"I don't know, Jim," Tork says with an uncomfortable look on his face. "Sure, there's a lot of smoke around Flass...but he's still another cop."

I bend forward and show Tork the back of my neck.

"See that scar tissue on the back of my neck? That was from surgery I had to have ten or so months ago when Flass and his buddies beat me with baseball bats. It fused two of the vertebrae in my spine. I laid there in the GCPD parking garage, beaten and bruised. Know what I did? I got up, tracked Flass down, and I returned the favor."

"The Gotham City Way," Tork mumbles as he takes a sip.

"And that's what we have to do. Flass has the commissioner's ear, the commissioner tells the IA Commander what to do. IA will never build a case against him or Loeb, so we have to build our own."

Flass and Loeb tired their damnedest to run me out of town. They took their shot, but they found out I was made of stronger stuff.

Time to see how well they stand up. They fired the opening salvo, now I'm returning fire.

That's the Gotham City Way.

IC: Jim Gordon

Gotham Central
10:16 AM

I sip my coffee as I stand in the empty Major Crimes squadroom, looking over the corkboard we have up on the wall. Tacked at the top of the board are the heads of Gotham's Four Families: Carmine Falcone, Salvatore Maroni, Hammerhead, and Ma Gnucci. The Gnucci Family is a shell of their former selves, with Ma doing ten to life upstate at the state prison for women. The family's de facto boss, Billy "The Beaut" Rosso, is pretty running the family on Falcone's orders. It was either bend a knee to Falcone, or be wiped off the streets by the stronger families.
The MCU's prolonged investigation- everything from wiretaps and surveillance, to undercover drug buys and money laundering investigations -has identified every major player involved in the Four Families. From Falcone's underboss Fat Tony Zucco, to Gnucci foot soldier Johnny LaMonica. Slowly but surely, the net is tightening around all of them. Soon, the GCPD will swing a sledgehammer right into the mob's back and cripple it for good.

"Uhh, captain?"

I turn to Soap and raise my eyebrows as I take a sip from my coffee cup. Martin Soap is a hump, that's the word around the Central and the Districts anyway. He comes from a family of cops, his old man was my squad sergeant when I started out in patrol, but just because he's in the family business doesn't mean he can do the same things that his father, uncles, and grandfather did. He shot himself in the hand when he was in patrol, just playing with his gun on a rainy night. He was on his way to washing out the PD when I offered him a job here, monitoring our wires and keeping all the paperwork organized. He's a reject and an outcast, like a lot of us who work in the MCU.

"An Officer Byrd is here to see you. He's in your office."

"Thanks, Martin."

I pat Soap on the shoulder and walk into my office, where a heavyset, middle aged black man in a patrolman's outfit is waiting for me.

"Mister Byrd," I say, shaking his hand as I come in. "Always wanted to meet you."

"Thank you, Captain."

I sit down behind the desk and motion for Byrd to sit on one of the chairs facing the desk.

"Yeah, I was just getting my start when you were kicking ass in the Detective Bureau. I heard all the stories about Blackbyrd. The Burton kidnapping you worked in '89? Stuff of legends."

"Yeah, well, sir...all those days are behind me," he says with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Call me Jim. I'm not your sir. Far as I can tell, you should be sitting in the big chair, not Loeb."

"Never had a taste for rank. I'm much more at home in the streets."

I nod and pull out a pack of cigarettes, offering one to Byrd. He shakes me off and I light up a smoke.

"I understand. I feel the same way myself sometimes. Seems like my life was the happiest when I was a detective in homicide. None of the politics, or bureaucratic messes."

I stand up and motion for Byrd to follow me.

"Walk with me."

We go down to the parking garage adjacent to Gotham Central and get into my car. I crack a window to let the smoke drift out.

"Tell me about the summer of '95."

"It was hot, the Knights caught up to the Braves and won the pennant."

"What about the Schumacher bust? The Kraut Konnection?"

Byrd sighs and tugs at the collar of his uniform.

"It was in the papers, Jim. You were around then, you know the story."

"How many pounds of heroin and cocaine? Nearly a hundred a piece?"

"Two hundred," Byrd corrects. "A combined four hundred pounds of dope and blow on a ship anchored in the harbor, bunch of German smugglers were carrying it over here from the middle east."

"It was a record, I remember that. Nearly a half a billion dollars in drugs and weapons...and then it all vanished."

"Soon as I put it in the evidence locker, it disappeared," Byrd mumbles, his voice taking on a hard edge. "Nobody knew where it went...so somebody had to swing for it."

"You were their scapegoat. Charged you with, what? Conduct unbecoming or something?"

"Negligence and failure to do my duty...they gave me a choice of quitting or being kicked back to patrol, never to return to the Detective Bureau."

"And patrol is where you've stayed, for nearly sixteen years."

"Even running in drunks and helping out with the occasional bust is police work, more than I could do if I'd quit. What is all this about? You just want to tear open my old wounds and pour salt in them?"

"No. I'm here to give you another chance."

I reach into my pocket and pull out a small photo of a man in his official employee picture, decked out in his dress uniform.

"Who is this?"

"Lieutenant Arnold Flass. He was an officer in the evidence locker back in '95. He was on duty when you brought in the drugs from the Schumacher bust. Flass bought a new house in the burbs a year later, paid a hundred grand in cash. That's the biggest purchase he's made over the years, the rest of the money he quietly funneled into hidden bank accounts set up in his wife's name. There's nearly thirty accounts, all told some ten million dollars. I believe he stole the drugs and sold them back to the mob."

I tap the picture.

"You help me bring him down, and I'll bring you in from the cold."

Byrd looks at the picture, turning it in his hands.

"I don't know...I'm so close to my thirty year pension..."

"I'm offering you a chance at real police work, Byrd. A way to get back to being a real police. What do you say, is Blackbyrd still inside of you?"

He looks up and stares out the windshield, his eyes glazed over.

"What do you need me to do?"

sumowrestler

12-15-2011, 08:11 PM

One weekday afternoon, Richard decides to go for a walk. As he travels, he is day dreaming of what to use his powers for and quickly finds himself in the bad part of the Bronx. He sees an elderly woman being mobbed by a group of thugs and he changes into the strange uniform that came with the powers. Before the elderly get beaten, he jumps in and starts tossing the thugs into trash cans and a dumpster. One of the thugs drops the purse they snatched from the elderly woman. She eyes him strangly and then gives him a big hug. Nova asks her if he could walk her home which she agrees to. He puts his arm around her to make sure she doesn't fall. Before he knows it, he is starting to float with the old woman who is now scared. It takes quite a bit of effort but he manages to get both of them back on the ground. They find her apartment and Nova opens the door for her.

"Thanks, young man, that was very kind of you to help out an old woman like you did. The flying thing was a little scary though but I guess some of you costume type do that sort of thing. I'm glad your kind is around once again because it seems that it is more then the police can do to handle what they can. This neighborhood could use more cops but the city says they can't afford it. Maybe you can help out in taking care of the gangs in this neighborhood."

"I'll consider that, ma'am. I do agree that the police are stretched rather thin and sadly when the city has to do budget cuts, the police seem to find their more then fair share of cuts."

"Just be careful, I don't want any of our new heroes getting hurt."

Byrd Man

12-15-2011, 09:23 PM

I grab onto Scott and prop myself up. His words are miles away. I feel the power that was with me moments ago slipping from my body, returning me to the person I've always been. Part of my wants it back...

But another realizes that wasn't me. I wasn't in control of my body. The power took over. The power was driving me. Hell, it even seemed as if the power was talking for me.

"I don't know, Scott," I shake slightly. "I don't know."

Jean's weak and tired from...whatever just happened to her.

"Come on, we've got to keep fighting."

J'onn and Kitty are busy protecting the Congressmen against a flame wielding terrorist while Logan squares off with an equally furry opponent.

"Go left and help out J'onn and Kitty, I'll help Logan."

We split up and I go towards the two raging mutants, striking Logan's attacker and knocking him into the air.

"You look like you needed help," I say to Logan as I walk up to him.

trustyside-kick

12-15-2011, 10:07 PM

OOC: Previously (http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=22010913&postcount=106)...
Black Bolt

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/dhunter22/652876-siwok001008_jpeg_copy_2.jpg

Attilan.

The city has quite the history. The Skrull Empire holds many enemies. And just like there had been the Great Skrull-Thanagar War...there were the many conflcits between the Skrull and the Kree. The Kree, a proud race, was unlike their enemy Skrulls. They were proud because they had reached their peak...but that was their very problem because they could not reach a new one. Whereas the Skrulls were evolving and advancing in ways the Kree could only dream of.

So they found those who could make their dream a reality. Traveling to Earth, the Kree performed experiments on the then-primitive homo sapiens. The tests were successful and in the end were truly better than the Kree even dreamed of. However then the Guardians of the Universe intervened. The devastation throughout the cosmos from the Skull-Thanagar War was all the Guardians had to recall to make their decision on the experiments that the Kree were doing with the so called 'Inhumans'. With War between the Green Lantern Corps and Kree being the last resort, luckily the Kree heeded to the Guardian's call to stop all further experiments, and leave the Inhuman Society in peace.

The lab rats of the Kree on their own, the Guardians brought them to the Blue Area of the Moon per an understanding from Uatu The Watcher.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/dhunter22/buildatillan1.jpg

And thus, was the start, of the great city of Attilan.

Blackagar Boltagon has forever been a strong leader ever since he claimed the throne. There were struggles with his mad brother Maximus at times, but in the end he had successfully led his people with a quiet and gentle, rather than loud and rough, tone. However, the Dark Gods of Apokolips have declared war on the Inhuman Society. As to why? The Royal Family still does not know. The strike with the Hell Spores was a warning more than the wave of Apokolips' first true strike. As angered and disgruntled Inhumans went to meet their enemies outside the palace walls...they found no one.

"Do we really need to find out why the Dark Gods did this deed?! They tried to kill the king! We should bring the fight to their palace walls! An eye for an eye!"

"Cousin, before war with Apokolips should be truly declared we should speak with the New Gods of New Genesis."

"Our cousin Crystal speaks wisdom, Gorgon. New Genesis has much...experience in dealing with Apokolips. And perhaps, should they choose to remain neutral in this conflict, we can at least learn of some of the Dark God and his minions' weaknesses."

Karnark, along with the rest of the Royal Family, looks over at Black Bolt, who picks up Lockjaw's damaged toy out of the rubble in the Palace Throne Room. All it takes is one look, and Medusa, his queen, knows exactly what is on his mind. And she is slightly troubled by it.

"We, er...my husband shall consult with not just the wisdom of New Genesis...but with the very Quintessence themselves. I shall...remain here. And await his signal on what to do next."

Troubled only because she will not be going with him. Although she understands in the end why.

bkhedr

12-16-2011, 07:18 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5344/1168718-gorgon_01.jpg

The Togakureryu
Headquarters of the Hand

The mountain air was sweet with the smell of cherry blossoms in bloom as the Gorgon stalked his way through the narrow unpaved pathways of the Togakurerye, home for centuries, to the Hand. Up here, high in the mountains and hidden from the world one could be excused for thinking that the warriors of the Hand were like normal men. Men who served their clan when duty and honor called and who returned to wives and children afterwards.

Nothing could be further from the truth. For despite the serenity of the scene, the natural beauty of the area, this remained a place of death and terror. There were young ones here and women to be sure, but no children, no wives, no mothers. Here all were warriors of the Hand. Servants of the Beast. It was the only home Tomi Shishido had ever known and he was made his way up a winding stone path cut into the side of a hill dominating this ancient place he could still see clearly in his mind's eye every drop of blood that had been spilled here, every severed limb, every life taken or willingly surrendered for the glory of the clan.

Two guards attired in the traditional red shinobi shozoku of the Hand, aknowledged him by lowering their heads slightly as he reached the top of the hill and came face to face with the ancient clan house where the Elders resided.

<"Welcome Lord Gorgon"> one of the guards said.

<"The Elders have been awaiting your arrival."> the second said as both moved in unison and pushed the aged wooden doors of the clan house open to usher the Gorgon inside.

There was no discernable difference between these two guards. It was not just their garb. Their voices and movements were identical.

The Gorgon walked past them without aknowledging them and the old doors creaked shut behind him, blocking out the light of the sun outside, and shrouding the interior of the clan house in an unnatural darkness.

Here there were no cherry blossoms, no illusion of peace. The only serenity here was the serenity of the crypt. The only smells were those of death and decay. The only light was what the few candles scattered about the chamber could muster in the darkness and even this seemed muted, as if fighting a losing battle against the encroaching darkness. The building was far larger on the inside than it was on the outside, adding to its dreadful effect.

The Gorgon had been in this place many times in his life and he instinctively knew to move to the center of the darkened chamber and drop smoothly to his knees with his hands on his lap. He did not have to wait long before the labored rasping breathing of the Elders penetrated the darkness.

There were three of them, three withered hideous old men, wrapped in tattered ancient robes. Despite their appearance, despite the sounds that emanated as their ragged lungs drew breath, the three moved smoothly, as if skating across the floorboards, as they emerged from the darkness and stood before the Gorgon, illuminated by the weak and pitiful light of the few candles around them.

<"Elders"> The Gorgon bowed his head slightly <"Command me that I might serve the Beast by serving you.">

It was a line he had recited many times but even now, after so many years, it still held meaning. This was no simple repetition. No simple custom. Like all servants of the Hand the Gorgon believed in the Beast and lived only to fulfill its dark wishes and bring death and terror to its enemies.

<"The Hand of the Beast accepts your servitude."> The middle Elder responded in the traditional manner

<"An ancient weapon of the Hand, long thought lost, has been rediscovered."> said the Elder to Tomi's left

<"The weapon was lost to us centuries ago and despite our best efforts we have been unable to locate it."> The Elder on the right added. <"Now it seems the weapon has been unearthed from its resting place in a ship sunk off the coast of Hawaii in the middle of the previous century. It will soon be going on display in a museum in New York city.">

<"You will claim it before that can happen."> The Elder on the left said

<"Go West, mighty Gorgon. Go to America and retrieve our weapon. The Beast has decreed that it shall be yours to wield for the glory of the Hand"> The Elder in the middle was speaking again. <"Waste no time. Take a cadre of Hand ninja with you and kill any who stand in your way.">

The Gorgon listened dutifully before raising his head for the first time since the Elders made their presence known.

<"What is this weapon?"> he asked, his steady voice betraying nothing of the anticipation he felt. The Elders were not men, not anymore and their minds were beyond his reach, but he already suspected that he knew what the answer would be and he had been waiting for this day for a long time.

<"It is the blade men call Grasscutter"> The middle Elder replied confirming the Gorgons suspicions

The Gorgon nodded <"It will be done.">

Carnage27

12-17-2011, 09:14 PM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

After placing the new gear given to me by my mysterious friend in a secure trunk in my quarters, a knock at my door startles me a bit. But that trepidation is lifted when I find Alan standing on the other side of the door, "We need to talk."

I follow Alan to his office on the "White" side of the Checkmate headquarters. I pass some of the most sophisticated machinery I've ever seen, which Alan explains is part of the information gathering process.

Once in the office, Alan shuts and locks the door before sitting down at his desk, "You're on to something with this leak, Steve. Lord doesn't want me talking about it, but I think you're onto something."

"Why's that?" I ask, immediately engrossed in the situation.

"Because he told me what you told him. And he followed it by saying how preposterous the idea is. But I don't buy it. For the past two years I've been tracing leaks myself. But every time I come close to an answer it slips away from me. But the fact that Lord is talking about it means he might have more stock in the theory than he lets on."

It makes sense. Lord doesn't want me seeming like the hero here. He wants to root out the mole, and take the credit. He doesn't care about getting as much help as he can. He just wants another notch in his belt. Or....

"You don't think he's involved with the leaks, do you?"

Alan laughs at the hypothesis, "No, I don't think so. Maxwell might be an a-hole, but he wouldn't sabotage his own brain child. No, it's more likely that he doesn't think this is as big of a deal as we do."

"So you're going to help me find out what's going on here, then?"

"Of course," he smiles. "It'll be just like old times."

Carnage27

12-17-2011, 09:16 PM

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/Legacy1978/Checklist%20Titel%20Banner/X-MenOrigins-JeanGrey-Banner.jpg

Jean's weak and tired from...whatever just happened to her.

"Come on, we've got to keep fighting."

J'onn and Kitty are busy protecting the Congressmen against a flame wielding terrorist while Logan squares off with an equally furry opponent.

"Go left and help out J'onn and Kitty, I'll help Logan."

I rush over towards J'onn, who is surrounded by flame. I've long known of his aversion to fire, and a quick scan of him almost knocks me over with the fear radiating from him.

Acting quickly, I put up a telekinetic barrier between J'onn and the fire, and rush towards my friend, "Are you okay?"

Byrd Man

12-17-2011, 11:51 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

IC: Jim Gordon

Gotham Central
10:16 AM

I sip my coffee as I stand in the empty Major Crimes squadroom, looking over the corkboard we have up on the wall. Tacked at the top of the board are the heads of Gotham's Four Families: Carmine Falcone, Salvatore Maroni, Hammerhead, and Ma Gnucci. The Gnucci Family is a shell of their former selves, with Ma doing ten to life upstate at the state prison for women. The family's de facto boss, Billy "The Beaut" Rosso, is pretty running the family on Falcone's orders. It was either bend a knee to Falcone, or be wiped off the streets by the stronger families.
The MCU's prolonged investigation- everything from wiretaps and surveillance, to undercover drug buys and money laundering investigations -has identified every major player involved in the Four Families. From Falcone's underboss Fat Tony Zucco, to Gnucci foot soldier Johnny LaMonica. Slowly but surely, the net is tightening around all of them. Soon, the GCPD will swing a sledgehammer right into the mob's back and cripple it for good.

"Uhh, captain?"

I turn to Soap and raise my eyebrows as I take a sip from my coffee cup. Martin Soap is a hump, that's the word around the Central and the Districts anyway. He comes from a family of cops, his old man was my squad sergeant when I started out in patrol, but just because he's in the family business doesn't mean he can do the same things that his father, uncles, and grandfather did. He shot himself in the hand when he was in patrol, just playing with his gun on a rainy night. He was on his way to washing out the PD when I offered him a job here, monitoring our wires and keeping all the paperwork organized. He's a reject and an outcast, like a lot of us who work in the MCU.

"An Officer Byrd is here to see you. He's in your office."

"Thanks, Martin."

I pat Soap on the shoulder and walk into my office, where a heavyset, middle aged black man in a patrolman's outfit is waiting for me.

"Mister Byrd," I say, shaking his hand as I come in. "Always wanted to meet you."

"Thank you, Captain."

I sit down behind the desk and motion for Byrd to sit on one of the chairs facing the desk.

"Yeah, I was just getting my start when you were kicking ass in the Detective Bureau. I heard all the stories about Blackbyrd. The Burton kidnapping you worked in '89? Stuff of legends."

"Yeah, well, sir...all those days are behind me," he says with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Call me Jim. I'm not your sir. Far as I can tell, you should be sitting in the big chair, not Loeb."

"Never had a taste for rank. I'm much more at home in the streets."

I nod and pull out a pack of cigarettes, offering one to Byrd. He shakes me off and I light up a smoke.

"I understand. I feel the same way myself sometimes. Seems like my life was the happiest when I was a detective in homicide. None of the politics, or bureaucratic messes."

I stand up and motion for Byrd to follow me.

"Walk with me."

We go down to the parking garage adjacent to Gotham Central and get into my car. I crack a window to let the smoke drift out.

"Tell me about the summer of '95."

"It was hot, the Knights caught up to the Braves and won the pennant."

"What about the Schumacher bust? The Kraut Konnection?"

Byrd sighs and tugs at the collar of his uniform.

"It was in the papers, Jim. You were around then, you know the story."

"How many pounds of heroin and cocaine? Nearly a hundred a piece?"

"Two hundred," Byrd corrects. "A combined four hundred pounds of dope and blow on a ship anchored in the harbor, bunch of German smugglers were carrying it over here from the middle east."

"It was a record, I remember that. Nearly a half a billion dollars in drugs and weapons...and then it all vanished."

"Soon as I put it in the evidence locker, it disappeared," Byrd mumbles, his voice taking on a hard edge. "Nobody knew where it went...so somebody had to swing for it."

"You were their scapegoat. Charged you with, what? Conduct unbecoming or something?"

"Negligence and failure to do my duty...they gave me a choice of quitting or being kicked back to patrol, never to return to the Detective Bureau."

"And patrol is where you've stayed, for nearly sixteen years."

"Even running in drunks and helping out with the occasional bust is police work, more than I could do if I'd quit. What is all this about? You just want to tear open my old wounds and pour salt in them?"

"No. I'm here to give you another chance."

I reach into my pocket and pull out a small photo of a man in his official employee picture, decked out in his dress uniform.

"Who is this?"

"Lieutenant Arnold Flass. He was an officer in the evidence locker back in '95. He was on duty when you brought in the drugs from the Schumacher bust. Flass bought a new house in the burbs a year later, paid a hundred grand in cash. That's the biggest purchase he's made over the years, the rest of the money he quietly funneled into hidden bank accounts set up in his wife's name. There's nearly thirty accounts, all told some ten million dollars. I believe he stole the drugs and sold them back to the mob."

I tap the picture.

"You help me bring him down, and I'll bring you in from the cold."

Byrd looks at the picture, turning it in his hands.

"I don't know...I'm so close to my thirty year pension..."

"I'm offering you a chance at real police work, Byrd. A way to get back to being a real police. What do you say, is Blackbyrd still inside of you?"

He looks up and stares out the windshield, his eyes glazed over.

"What do you need me to do?"

IC: Jim Gordon

Bingham Beach
11:23 AM

I get out my car and walk through the crowd gathered on the other side of the crime scene tape. Reporters are shouting at cops and firemen as they come and go. A few shout at me when they see me flash my badge to the uniforms and slide under the tape.

The smoke is so thick that it's enough to choke you and make your eyes water. That's coming from a guy who smokes a pack a day. I step up to the sidewalk and look at the smoldering husk of a building that used to be Anton's Appliance Repair. The store belonged to Anton Petrus, a Ukrainian immigrant and an associate of the Falcone Crime Family. Petrus used the store as a front to push drugs for Falcone and Maroni, one of the few men in town who had the blessing from both the top bosses.
"Major Crimes in the house," the heavyset man in the trenchcoat says, a cigar wedged in his mouth. "What brings you down to my crime scene, Captain?"

"Store was a mob front, Sergeant Bullock. Just come down to check it out. This is the second one burn down this week. Fat Ricky Fat's in Chinatown went up in flames a few nights ago. What do you know so far?"

"Six dead bodies. Even though they're burnt all to hell, they're riddled with bullet holes. Figured they all died of lead poisoning. The bodies are on the way to the morgue. I'll know in a few days if t was the smoke, fire, or bullets that did it."

"Just like the one in Chinatown."

One of the firemen emerge from the building, his hat and coat covered in soot. "Hey, Jim," Chief Lynns says as we shakes my hand.

"Always good to see you, Gar, circumstances of our meeting aside."

"What's it look like in there?" Bullock asks.

"Arson," Lynns says. "Without a doubt. You can see the pour patterns all over the floor where the killer dumped an accelerant. Probably gasoline, but I wouldn't rule out butane or turpentine. I'll have my report ready for you this evening, sergeant."

Lynns walks off and I turn to Bullock, holding up a sheet of paper.

"What's that?"

"Transcript of a call the MCU picked up on the wire last night. There was a lone survivor from last night. Pasha Rackich, an 17 year old boy part of Petrus' operation. He called one of Maroni's soldiers, Frank Tribiani, an hour after it happened. He escaped with a bullet to the back of his leg and shoulder, but he got out."

I hand Bullock the transcript and let him read it over.

"Guy dressed in all black...white skull on his shirt. Didn't even take the cash or drugs. Burned it all."

"From what went down here and the way they talked on the phone, this guy also burnt down Ricky Fat's. I'm thinking he's a vigilante."

"Great, another freak. Least this one has the good sense to kill the scum."

Bullock simmers for a second before turning to me, his hand out.

"Thanks for the tip anyway, Captain. I'll bring Rackich in after I'm done here. He may have something else for me."

I shake Bullock's hand and nod

"Always happy to help out Homicide when I can, Sergeant. If you need any help, just let me know."

Gotham Central
12:04 PM

"James, James, James," Commissioner Gillian Loeb says, clicking his tongue. "I thought we understood each other."

I'm in Loeb's office, sitting across the desk from him and trying to look over the tacky collectibles scattered on the desk.

"I understand Tork is your dog, yes? You tell him to fetch and bark, he does it."

"Tork's unit is run out of the Western District, but they operate under the MCU banner and handle major crimes, yes."

"Well, why did he ignore orders from the Deputy to move forward with charges from that gambling den raid on 123rd?"

The same gambling den where Tork arrested Councilman Dickerson's son. It made the papers last week, caused a big stir, especially with Dickerson running for reelection.

"While Tork does handle major crimes, I do allow him some autonomy. I can't watch his every move from halfway across the city. He filed papers with the District Attorney's office and had enough evidence to charge all of those involved."

"Okay, so it's your fault. Just as I thought."

Loeb clears his throat and takes a sip from the cup of water on his desk.

"I've been good to you, James, really good. I've suffered through the little independence streak you seem to have. You continue to buck authority left and right, defying your superiors. Well, no more. Thought I'd be the first to tell you that I am reassigning you."

"What? Where?!"

"To the Auto Theft unit. Major Stevenson is retiring at the end of the month, they need a new commander."

"No," I say through gritted teeth, my hands digging into the arms of the chair. "I've worked for over a year to compile evidence against the mob, I'm so close to catching them all, the bosses included."

"No doubt Lieutenant Flass will pick up where you left off..."

"With all due respect, sir, Flass wouldn't know police work if it jumped up and bit him on the ass."

"That's it," Loeb snaps. "Get out of my office right now before I bust you back down to a foot patrol so far out in the goddamn country, you'll see the Metropolis police coming at you!"

I get up and start storming out the office when a noise makes me stop short. Loeb chuckling.

"What?" I ask, turning around.

"Hehehehe. I just...Hehe. HEHEHEHE HAHAHAHAHA!"

Loeb's whole body shakes and jiggles as he laughs, tears running down his face. He begins to cough as he laughs, his body convulsing as he pushes off his desk and falls to the floor.

"Loeb!"

I rush over to him as the laughter stops. His face contorted and frozen into a sick, twisted grin. The same kind of grin as the heroin users. I quickly reach down and feel for a pulse, only to find nothing.

"I need help!" I shout. "Somebody call paramedics!"

******

An hour later and I'm still in Loeb's office, sitting in the corner and smoking a cigarette while Homicide takes pictures of the body.

"Jimmy," the big, burly man with bright red hair says as he walks up to him. "How ya holdin' up, boyo?" He asks in a rich Irish brogue.

Major Miles O'Hara, Homicide Commander. Born in Dublin, moved to Gotham when he was ten. He was my squad sergeant when I was bumped up to Homicide.

"It's a dead body, seen plenty of those before."

"I know, but it wasn't like he some smokehound who was gunned down in a back alley. He was the Commissioner, your boss. He died right in front of ya, lad...and the face...Truth be told, I can barely stand to look at it. Did the detectives get your statement?"

"Yeah."

O'Hara starts to walk away, but I reach out and grab his sleeve.

"Miles, do me a favor?"

"What do ya need, Jimmy?"

"Let Major Crimes take this one."

"I don't know, lad. This is bound to be big news. I need my most seasoned investigators on it."

"I worked Homicide for fifteen years."

"True, true, but you're emotionally involved. Seeing him die and all."

"He was the police commissioner. You could say every cop is emotionally involved. I have a pretty good line on who may have done it."

"I don't know..."

O'Hara stops short when his cellphone rings.

"O'Hara?....What?! Saints preserve us. Okay...bring in the second shift and start assigning them cases. Get four detectives and send them to Gotham General to find out what they all died from. Keep me updated."

O'Hara hangs up and sighs.

"Twelve bodies dropped dead. All of them cops. All of them with grins on their faces, same as Loeb."

"Still think I'm emotionally involved?"

"Now everyone is. Homicide will do most the work, but Major Crimes can work on that lead you have. You best let me know if it comes to something, Jimmy. I'm warning ya, this ain't no time to play cowboy."

I nod at O'Hara and stand up from my chair, leaving the office and getting ready to go to work.

Carnage27

12-18-2011, 12:48 PM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

For the next few hours, as the sun rises outside of Checkmate headquarters, I sit stewing in my squad's kitchen area. I poke at a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, unable to really eat anything. This mole situation has me bothered more than I would have expected. And it's not just the fact that there does indeed seem to be a mole. It's that everything that Lord's done about it.

In fact, every misgiving I have about Checkmate spurns from Lord. The man seemingly has everyone here under his thumb. I trust my teammates already. After seeing the way they battled on our first mission, I know these are people I can count on. But whenever they say one thing against Lord, they're immediately shot down, and they don't fight it. There's no mutual respect. It's Lord's way or no way. It's almost like they're his pets.

Luckily, I don't have to wait any longer by myself. Barton, Romanoff, and Flag exit their rooms and greet me groggily. After grabbing some food for themselves, they sit at the table around me, and Clint says, "You look like you've got something on your mind, Cap."

"I do," I respond, pushing the plate away from me. I look at them all in turn, making sure they know I don't mean offense with what I'm about to say, "I just need to know how you've all been able to stand working for Lord this long. I mean, I've only been here for a few days and I can't stand him. He's condescending, and treats you all like filth. Why do you take it? Why don't you stand up for yourself?"

They share a few looks, and Flag sighs, "Well...I guess you were going to find out eventually. We're all here because of Lord. If it wasn't for him, we'd all either be in jail or dead."

The revelation shocks me a bit. They're all expertly trained and disciplined. The fact that they may be criminals is surprising.

"I was a Russian spy in a sleeper cell," Natasha says, looking away from me. "And when Clint and I started to get involved with each other, I turned him for a while. But both of us wanted to reform. Lord gave us that opportunity."

"I was about to be dishonorably discharged for going against direct orders," Flag says, looking past me and seemingly into the past. "Sasha was dying, and Lord used Checkmate's checkbook to bring her back."

The conversation is incredibly illuminating. Things in Checkmate become a bit clearer. Lord has made them slaves by wiping records or causing them to be grateful for their life. They're all here under fear or gratitude, instead of feeling they're part of a bigger thing than themselves. Lord's created himself a team of people that owe him everything.

And he expects me to be the same. If that's the case, he's going to be incredibly disappointed. I'm here for my country and my team. Not for Maxwell Lord.

"I appreciate the honesty," I nod to them. "And this doesn't change anything. You're my team. I'll fight and die for you, as long as you'll do the same. The past doesn't matter. What matters is that we protect our futures."

"That was so lame," Barton says, and the assembled group shares a laugh.

IKB

12-18-2011, 02:01 PM

OOC: WINTER SOLDIER

In the court of Asim Muhannad, the self-proclaimed High King of Kahndaq, sits General Aleksander Lukin. On the large, gold-plated table at which the two men sit lays a wide arrange of meats and wines. Muhannad delves into the meat with his bare hands and tears it to pieces with his fingers, stuffing clumps of it into his mouth at random intervals mid-negotiation with Lukin.

“<What you ask for is too much>” Muhannad muttered, shaking his head wildly as he chewed upon a piece of chicken. “<Even for you, Alek. I cannot do this.>”

The Soviet Union had been pivotal in Asim Muhannad’s ascension to the role of High King and, as such, Kahndaq had been a friend of the Soviet Union and its interests ever since. After the collapse of the Union, however, and with international relations with the Middle East and the Western world at a record low, Kahndaq soon became a needed ally of the United States. That is not to say that the country, or Muhannad himself, had forgotten the debt to which they owed Russia: it is on the back of this debt of honour that earned Aleksander Lukin a seat at the table of the High King.

“<I understand you are in a difficult position>” Lukin nodded as he took a sip of wine.

“<The prisoner in question was responsible for the worst act of terrorism in my country’s long and storied history: three hundred and nine Kahndaqian men, women and children died that day. Were I to release him it would dishonour the families whose lives were lost that day.>”

The Shiruta bombings had shook the world in a way that it had not been shook since the World Trade Center came down. The prisoner of which the two men talk, known only as the Winter Soldier, was a former Soviet agent that had allied himself with Pakistani insurgents intent upon punishing Kahndaq for its support of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. The prisoner had been captured some eight months ago by Egyptian armed servicemen whilst attempting to make his way into the country: some suspect to carry out an attack similar to the bombing of Shiruta.

“<You do not think me naïve enough to ask this of you out of the goodness of your heart, do you Asim?>”

The High King was not known for his kindness, or his mercy, be it to his own people or to outsiders. It was a trait that had endeared him to Lukin, one that had made their friendship a natural one rather than one of convenience. The trait, however, that had earned him the respect of General Lukin the most was his pragmatism: his willingness to put aside ideology and dogmatism in order to ensure the survival of both himself and his country.

“<What are you suggesting?>” Muhannad, gulping greedily at a goblet filled with mead, stopped for a moment in order to listen to Lukin’s offer.

“<The Kronas Corporation intends to make a sizeable investment in Kahndaq in the coming decade.>”

“<… Exactly how sizeable?>”

The High King’s tone of voice at once tipping his hand, Lukin smiles broadly upon realizing that the Winter Soldier’s freedom was imminent. The former Soviet agent would be pivotal to his plans. If he was to change Russia, to change the world, he would need the Winter Soldier at his side. Without him, his plans would come to nothing.

“<Two hundred million dollars to begin with. More, should our friendship prove to be mutually beneficial.>”

“<I want Kahndaq’s military outfitted with the best that Kronas has to offer.>”

A small price to pay for what Lukin had planned. Two hundred million was a fraction of the fortune that the Russian had amassed in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union.

“<Consider it done.>”

“<Then we have an agreement. On one condition: the prisoner is never to step foot in Kahndaq again. Should he do so, I will kill him myself. Dead or no deal.>”

The High King wiped his hands on his gown, leaving meat stains as he did so, before extending it towards Lukin.

“<You have my word.>”

IC: WINTER SOLDIER

From outside I can hear a set of hurried footsteps making their way towards me. The one faint beam of light that penetrates the darkness beneath the metal door that entombs me is broken as the footsteps come to a halt in front of my cell.

“<Open it>" Muhannad barks at the guards stood outside of my cell.

The door creaks loudly as I try to climb to my feet, they shake uncontrollably underneath me as I stand but I’m ready for whatever Asim throws at me. My eyes struggle to adjust to the light that, after weeks of absence, pours into my cell unrestrained. I raise my arm to block the sunlight out and forward steps a man unfamiliar to me, wearing an all too familiar uniform. He’s a Soviet general, that much is for sure, but wearing a smile friendlier than any Soviet general I ever encountered.

He extends his arm to me and, for reasons unbeknownst to me, I shake it without a second’s hesitation.

“<Who are you?>” I ask as he gestures to me to step out of the cell and I follow, grateful and hungry for the sun’s warm embrace.

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k520/isambardkb/600148-440px_lukin.jpg

“<Your new best friend.>”

sumowrestler

12-18-2011, 04:14 PM

Jordan looks around the tower trying not to draw too much attention to himself. Luckily, the gun fire earlier was far enough away that it is keeping the police over there. Trying to find someone who shouldn't belong in this area is almost like a needle in a haystack. The only thing Jordan has going for him is hoping that the other outside guy is dressed similar to the one he took out not too long ago. Nothing was looking too obvious until he spotted what looked like a tree house in the middle of a small park half block away. He flies towards the structure but trying to keep out of sight and notices that it is made out of metal and painted brown.

"Ring, what is inside of that tree house?"

"One man with several electronic and optical devices."

"Time to see what kind of interference I can cause. Ring, scramble any radiation waves within a tenth of a mile centered on that tree."

The ring does as Jordan asked. Any transmissions from the tree house is scrambled.

"What the screwball piece of crap garbage is going on? First the van got hit and now I'm getting nothing but static. If I didn't know any better, I would say that Luthor hired another team to screw us up for a higher challenge. He is going to pay dearly for that."

Before he could figure out what is wrong with his equipment, he finds the front of the hideout being removed and then set down several feet on the ground with wires hanging lose and now sparking. Then he sees a guy in a green uniform hovering in the air in front of him. Before he could grab his gun, a green beam shoots out from the ring on the guy's finger which melts his gun.

"I don't know who you are but you are messing with the wrong group. We'll hunt you down and kill you then toss your corpse where it won't be found."

"Good luck with that. Time to take you out of your little tin box and then recycle your box."

Jordan makes a fist with his ring and then slugs the guy with the construct. It quickly knocks him out. He then grabs the guy and puts him on the ground. Then Jordan takes the rest of the metal box which continued to spark and drop it onto the ground making sure not to let it hit the guy. Last thing Jordan does is to use the front that he cut off and wrap it around the guy to make sure he wasn't getting away.

"GA, you were right. Someone was in a metal tree house keeping tabs on things. That box is now on the ground crumpled and the guy all wrapped up. The guy was probably in almost constant contact with the team inside. Don't be too surprised that they may suspect that someone besides them are in the building."

MST3K 4ever

12-19-2011, 02:34 PM

"GA, you were right. Someone was in a metal tree house keeping tabs on things. That box is now on the ground crumpled and the guy all wrapped up. The guy was probably in almost constant contact with the team inside. Don't be too surprised that they may suspect that someone besides them are in the building."

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6366402613_3f2c57eeb9_m.jpg

Green Arrow rolls his eyes when he hears this latest report.

He says, "It was bound to happen sooner or later. For the moment though I think I'm okay. I'll keep you posted. In the mean time with things starting to heat up I may need a rather morally questionable favor...."

Arrow takes a deep breath and says, "If the police come by here I'll need a distraction or someway to keep them out of here. Luthor can explain away his flunkies but if they catch me that could lead to an issue or two."

The elevator stops and Arrow says, "Time for me to get to work. Talk to you later."

Arrow uses the tip of an arrow to peek into the elevator.

One cronie is still in there probably to keep the elevator in place. If that's true then it's time to get some answers.

Arrow activates a sleeping arrow and drops it into the elevator. He hears a body hit the floor and Arrow quickly drops in.

That arrow will keep him out for about five minutes

He pulls out a flash drive and quickly copies the info of the team-member's L-Phone. Once it is done he grabs the arrow and hurries back on top of the elevator as the guard starts comng to.

Arrow is stunned as he scans through the information.

All of this is a basic Plan-B. Leave it to luthor to stack the deck in his favor he...

Just then Arrow looks through the hole in the elevator and sees another eye looking back at him.

Oh great. If I can see him he can see....

The guard begins firing tranquilizing darts at the roof as Arrow jumps out of the way. Arrow fires a grappling arrow to the top of the shaft and makes it to the top. The thug activates the elevator and it is closing in on Arrow.

So much for covert and being quiet.

Arrow prys open the door and fires an arrow to the end of the hall which fogs up the hall as he jumps out.

He then assumes a firing stance as he awaits the elevator to reach the top.

Byrd Man

12-19-2011, 10:05 PM

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Chinatown
11:05 PM

Fat Ricky Fat's was the kind of place where nobody came for the Moo goo gai pan. They took takeout orders and deliveries, but that was to keep up appearances. Nobody ever used the dining area. That's because the dining room area had been outfitted with nearly twenty different telephone lines where a half dozen workers answered them and took orders. Those that ordered the Kung Pow Chicken with a side of french fries found the fries in their bag, along with a quarter pound of marijuana.

Fat Ricky Fat's specialized in two things: Pepper steak, and delivering drugs. Ricky Fat was an associate of the Maroni Family, they provided him with his narcotics and the occasional muscle, while Ricky kept the steady flow of drugs and money going. Every month, Ricky kicked half of his earnings up to Maroni and his people.
Tonight, business was going as usual. The workers were up front taking calls and orders, both legit and shady. In the kitchen, Ricky sat with the kitchen workers as they cooked. Baggies of weed, coke, crack, and heroin were beside Ricky. He placed them in the delivery bags just before they went out.
Ricky heard the sounds of gunshot outside the restaurant. He looked towards his cooks, who had stopped and were staring. He barked at them in Mandarin and told them to keep working. Ricky reached for the pistol laying on the counter beside the drugs. More shots, these were closer. Ricky walked into the front room just as a man was walking in, two 9MMs in his hands.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

The man gunned down Ricky's workers in cold blood until his guns were dry. Ricky turned his pistol on him, but the man dropped his guns and reached into his trenchcoat, swinging a shotgun out and aiming for Ricky.

BLAM!

The buckshot tore into Ricky's guts and ripped through his stomach. He got a shot off, a glancing blow that struck the killer's shoulder. Ricky was on his back, blood pouring from his body. The killer stepped over him and went into the kitchen, firing shotgun blasts at the cooks. There were screams and shouts for several minutes until it went silent.

Ricky was growing cold and weak. He heard the man exit the kitchen. Ricky looked up and saw shooter had the drugs in his hands. He laid them on the floor before walking off. He returned a minute later, a plastic gas can in his hands. The man coated the drugs with the gas and began to pour it all through the dining room. He covered Ricky in gas. He coughed and sputtered, but was too weak to protest.

The man turned to leave, pulling out a box of matches. He lit one and flicked it over his shoulder. The fire caught hold of the gas and ignited the room. Twenty seconds later the dining room had been turned into a blazing inferno.
The man calmly walked out of the restaurant, ignoring the bullet wound in his shoulder. He heard their screams as he walked away from the fire. They were begging to die, begging for mercy.

But they wouldn't find mercy from him. All that he had for them...

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was punishment.

Bingham Beach
2:42 AM

Illanya Nemcova stood in the back of the club and looked over the clientele for the night. Molotov's was the best strip club in Bingham Beach, every night blue-balled losers came to drool over the girls. Those with enough cash stayed on past two-thirty, when the club closed and Molotov's became the best whorehouse in Bingham Beach. After the men worked out a deal with Illayna and handed over the cash, they got to go to the private rooms in the back for the hour.

Illanya was the shepherd for the dozen girls under her watch. She didn't like to think of herself as their madam or pimp, more like she was their manager. They were all beautiful and foreign, most Russian, some Ukrainian and a few Hungarians. They had all been lured to the US with promises of good jobs and wealthy husbands, only to be forced into servitude by the men who had paid to transport them to America. Illanya had been in their shoes ten years earlier, but she worked hard and, unlike these new girls, she didn't complain. Now, here she was running the club and the girls, answering only to Maroni's top people.

Illayna watched from across the club as the girls put on a show for their customers, flirting and whispering in ears. Trying their best to sell themselves. Illanya took note of the extra guards hanging around in the corners. Maroni had sent extra muscle to watch after the club the past few days, but Illanya didn't know why.

A loud laugh cut through the loud music blasting in the club. Illanya turned and saw Katya flirting with a heavy set man at the bar. This was the second straight night the man had been to see Katya. Illayna frowned and made a mental note to tell Vinny when they closed up shop tonight. They had orders to pull a girl anytime the starting getting too friendly with a john. They couldn't risk some lovelorn schmuck causing trouble over a hooker. Illanya didn't know what happened to the girls when Maroni's men took them away...but she had a good idea. It may have been cold and cruel, but that was the way of the world. Besides, the girls brought it on themselves with their stupid behavior.

Illanya wrinkled her brow and looked towards the front entrance of the club. The music blasting on the stereos was loud, but she could have sworn she heard a gunshot outside.

BLAM!

The front door crashed open and Vinny, the club's bouncer, stumbled in and fell to the floor, his body riddled with bullet holes. The girls screamed and began to scatter, the johns panicking and running away from the body. Illanya stood frozen as every rushed passed her to the back exit. She watched as the guards began to pull out their guns and rush over to Vinny. That was when the man stepped through the door, his gun raised.

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He gunned down two of Maroni's men with ease, shooting them in the head. The man turned his gun to another guard, shooting him three times in the chest. Illanya could only watch in horror as the man pulled out a knife, tossing it through the air and striking another armed guard in the throat, the tip of the blade poking out the back of his neck. Blood gushed and the man crumpled to the ground. Illanya began to turn and run towards the back door when she heard the gun go off again, this time a hot piece of metal tore into her back and knocked her to the ground. The bullet wedged into her back shot sharp pain throughout her whole body. Her legs felt dead as she crawled on the floor with her hands.

Heavy footfalls caught her ears and she turned over on her side, seeing the black clad assailant leering over her, pointing his pistol at her face.

"Please...," she said weakly. "Not like them. Please..."

"I won't kill you," the man said softly, pulling his gun back. "I need you to deliver a message to your boss."

"I tell them whatever you want...please, don't hurt."

"Tell Maroni he can send a hundred men after me if he wants to, he can't kill me. I'm the ghost of sins past. Every bad deed he's done to get to the top is coming back to haunt him. Time for Sal to reap what he's sewn."

The man aimed at Illanya's legs and squeezed the trigger of his pistol, blasting off the woman's kneecaps. She screamed out in pain and wriggled on the ground, tears flowing from her eyes.

"You son of a *****," she cried out."You said-"

"I wouldn't kill you and I didn't. A crippled messenger is just as good as a walking one."

Illanya rolled on the ground, crying and dry heaving while her attacker holstered his pistol and quietly stepped over the dead bodies and walked through the door he had come in, disappearing into the shadows of the night.

Batman

12-20-2011, 05:54 AM

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What the hell was...

Still freshly wounded from Sabretooth's onslaught, Logan peered up as he realized that his enemy had suddenly disappeared in a flash of light. His feral senses kicked in to replace his immediately confusion, scanning the area for his target. But there wasn't a sign of him. All he could smell was burning flesh and vaporized blood, but the trail stopped cold once it left the immediate area. Desperately, Logan scanned the fleeing crowd for any sign of the only man that had definitive answers about his past, hoping beyond hope that it wasn't too late to resume the fight. But he couldn't find him. Nor was any of his cohorts, members of The Brotherhood, still in the area. The X-Men were the only ones left standing in the aftermath of the brutal - but all too quick - struggle.

"You look like you needed help,"

Wolverine spun around and locked eyes with the team leader, Cyclops, suddenly able to put the pieces together. The idiot had intervened and, in his infinite lack of common sense, failed to realize that no matter how much damage he was taking, it wouldn't matter. He had the situation under control. He was going to gut that vicious slime so hard that he'd be forced to give him answers. But now he was gone.

Angrily, he pushed past Cyclops, choosing to reserve the brunt of his rage for Sabretooth if they ever managed to cross paths again. A fact that was already beginning to consume Logan with anticipation.

"Summers... you don't know what the hell you just did."

MST3K 4ever

12-20-2011, 11:40 AM

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Lex finishes his drink and prepares another one as Alexis chimes in, "Mr. Luthor?"

He responds, "Yes Alexis."

She says, "I have been monitoring the situation with the assault team."

Lex replies, "Excellent. I am certain they are progressing nicely and will be here in a matter of time."

Alexis says, "Mr. Luthor according to the key-cards Security Guard Jenkins is on the 43rd floor."

Lex nods and says, "All-right good for him. I may have to review his file and see if he might join the team."

Alexis responds, "But Mr. Luthor then who is this?"

A monitor shows the unconscious body of the Security Guard.

Luthor slams back his drink and says, "Kill the lights and the music and get Miss Graves up here on the double."

Alexis responds, "Yes Mr. Luthor."

Byrd Man

12-20-2011, 12:33 PM

"You look like you needed help,"

Wolverine spun around and locked eyes with the team leader, Cyclops, suddenly able to put the pieces together. The idiot had intervened and, in his infinite lack of common sense, failed to realize that no matter how much damage he was taking, it wouldn't matter. He had the situation under control. He was going to gut that vicious slime so hard that he'd be forced to give him answers. But now he was gone.

Angrily, he pushed past Cyclops, choosing to reserve the brunt of his rage for Sabretooth if they ever managed to cross paths again. A fact that was already beginning to consume Logan with anticipation.

"Summers... you don't know what the hell you just did."

"Yeah, I just removed a dangerous mutant from the area before he could harm the Congressman, the entire reason we're here."

I step up to Logan and look him in the eyes.

"Or would you have preferred I let the two of you play grab ass for a little while longer and have some innocent person get hurt in the crossfire?"

Batman

12-20-2011, 01:00 PM

"Yeah, I just removed a dangerous mutant from the area before he could harm the Congressman, the entire reason we're here."

I step up to Logan and look him in the eyes.

"Or would you have preferred I let the two of you play grab ass for a little while longer and have some innocent person get hurt in the crossfire?"

At first, the temptation to shove all six of his adamantium claws right into Summers' skull became too strong to ignore. But once he managed to calm himself enough to stare right back at that righteously indignant face of the X-Men's field leader, Logan actually managed to find himself able to smirk about it.

"You think the Congressman was what they were really after? Look around."

Indicating the now vacant yard, Wolverine stared out at the media blitz that was happening just a few blocks away. Every reporter working the field in Washington was on the scene and trying to provide their own commentary on the events that had just transpired. It was sickening, like a pack of vultures descending onto helpless prey.

"Those Brotherhood idiots up and left in a hurry. And don't tell me they were scared of us, because they sure as hell didn't fight like it. No..."

Sneering back at Cyclops, Wolverine held his nose high. The scent in the air of Sabretooth and the others had long since faded away. They had ran off without so much as a care for failing to assassinate the Senator.

"They were after somethin' else. And I think we just gave it to 'em."

Byrd Man

12-20-2011, 03:23 PM

"Those Brotherhood idiots up and left in a hurry. And don't tell me they were scared of us, because they sure as hell didn't fight like it. No..."

Sneering back at Cyclops, Wolverine held his nose high. The scent in the air of Sabretooth and the others had long since faded away. They had ran off without so much as a care for failing to assassinate the Senator.

"They were after somethin' else. And I think we just gave it to 'em."

I look at Wolverine, reaching for a response, but nothing comes.

He's right.

"It's true. Magneto wanted us to put on a show, and we did. The world just saw what we're fully capable of, how dangerous we can be."

trustyside-kick

12-21-2011, 10:06 AM

OOC: Previously (http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=22107861&postcount=149)...
Black Bolt
The Quintessence
Location Unknown

Black Bolt comes forth before the celestial, mighty, and omnipotent Quintessence, a group of beings that help keep things in balance through the entire cosmos. Phantom Stranger, Uatu The Watcher, Highfather of New Genesis, Odin Borson The All-Father, and The wizard Shazam make up the current group of The Quintessence.

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His loyal pet Lockjaw by his side who brought him transport to their secretive and secluded region, Blackagar even knowing how to bring for such a council speaks magnitudes of their respect for the peaceful Inhuman King. However, with but a few moments of Black Bolt's silence, which is to be expected but still worrisome for always his wife Medusa speaks for him...the Quintessence knows what is on his mind.

Odin Borson, the All-Father of the Asgardians, speaks up first.

"We know what it is you wish for us to re-consider, Blackagar Boltagon...as it is clear that Apokolips has declared an act of war upon your kingdom. However, we The Quintessence rather see it as an act of a boy: Kalibak The Cruel. For it was not the Darkseid himself who had ordered the assassination attempt on your life."

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The Inhuman King looks over at the other members of The Quintessence with confusion and concern in his eyes as theirs do not answer them back. It is clear that his council had made a stern decision before Blackagar had even arrived. Perhaps before he had even decided to come. The fact that they claim it as nothing more than the 'act of a boy' is what starts to grow some concern. Kalibak is surely not a boy but with his temper and his lack of patience he often acts like one. Are they to say that because the adoptive son of Darkseid orchestrated an attempt on the Blackbolt's life that this incident should be brushed aside?

Next it is Phantom Stranger who breaks the silence.

"You must understand, that just because the act of one is grave, blame cannot be put on the whole. There has been a sense of peace throughout the cosmos ever since the Skrull-Thanagar War, and we The Quintessence aim to keep it that way. When Darkseid learns of his adoptive son's treachery, surely he will be dealt with. For even Darkseid understands the pact that had been made."

"He has been honoring the pact with New Genesis after all. And prior to that our worlds had been long time enemies. Since the beginning of The Source and crea--."

Shazam interrupts Highfather in his tracks, speaking his mind.

"Regardless, Black Bolt, your kingdom of Attilan resides upon the Blue Area of the Moon. The Moon itself is not your own nor is even the ground your city currently rests upon its own either. These many years of peace that your people have warmly embraced were possible because of Uatu's great charity. Kalibak attacked Attilan, not the Moon. We The Quintessence shall not aid the Inhumans in any way that encourages a war between your race and the Dark Gods of Apokolips."

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Black Bolt turns around, looking out the window at the distance, and lowers his head. His silence speaks volumes as always, and his fists clench tightly. Aiming to soothe the angered King, Uatu the Watcher walks forth, placing his hand upon Blackagar's shoulder to speak some sense into him.

"My friend...there simply is no course of action of aggression that will lead to good things. Should you act against our decree. Should you choose to take arms against Apokolips...you will be delivering your people their deaths. Or worse. Far far worse. This could cause the very ground before you to quake and shatter, resulting in a war across the cosmos that makes the Skrull-Thanagar War look like a mere small battle. This was but the act of one, surely hoping to instill such anger...instill such fear...to make you act. Do not be the puppet for a fool. Be a King to your people."

Black Bolt nods, Uatu taps him on the shoulder as the two part, and before Lockjaw runs to his side, he gives the Quintessence a sign that makes his intentions more than clear.

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He plans to abide by their decree and do nothing about the matter. Look past it as they are looking past it. He will instead offer his people a time of peace during the reconstruction of different damaged parts of the city. The consequences do indeed outweigh the reward. And so Black Bolt bows before teleporting away with Lockjaw.

This was simply the act of a fool. The act of a boy. Kalibak the Cruel. And Blackagar Boltagon will not play into his ploy.

Supergirl

12-22-2011, 02:27 PM

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The flames from the man's lighter grew, forming a great fiery hand that reaches out at me, the embers of its extended digits flickering close to my face. I keep my calm as best I can, though my form shimmers and returns to my usual emerald countenance.

Martians don't sweat, but the heat washing over me is unbearable as I leap out of the way. My pyrophobia is preventing me from utilizing my full concentration, and due to that, I do not feel safe phasing away.

"Kitty!" I call out to my young companion, my voice drowned out by the roaring flames that now form a herd of stallions barreling down at me and the manic cackling of the madman directing the fiery steeds. "Get the Senator to safety! I-I'll handle this lunatic." As soon as the fire erupts, I instinctively phase, taking both myself and Senator Kelly out of immediate danger. The fire can't touch us while I'm phased. However, Senator Ross can't control his lungs like I can, and will asphyxiate (woohoo Scrabble word!) if I don't get him out of here and fast. As I move with him, I make my mouth tangible and talk.

"Look, I know you don't like us. We're different. We get that. Different scares people. But all we want to do is live our lives like anybody else. And just like humans, there are good mutants and bad. Do we judge the whole human race on the life of Adolph Hitler? A man who put my grandparents in Auschwitz? Or do we judge them all on Jeffery Dahlmer? Ted Bundy? Jack the Ripper? No, because we have Ghandhi. We have Roosevelt. We have Mother Theresa. As mutants, yes, we have Magneto and his cadre, but we also have Charles Xavier. We should be safe upstairs from here, and I think I've said my piece."

I fully phase again, and we head up to the second floor of an abandoned warehouse, the maps that Dr. McCoy provided helped a lot.

MST3K 4ever

12-22-2011, 02:50 PM

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Green Arrow rolls his eyes when he hears this latest report.

He says, "It was bound to happen sooner or later. For the moment though I think I'm okay. I'll keep you posted. In the mean time with things starting to heat up I may need a rather morally questionable favor...."

Arrow takes a deep breath and says, "If the police come by here I'll need a distraction or someway to keep them out of here. Luthor can explain away his flunkies but if they catch me that could lead to an issue or two."

The elevator stops and Arrow says, "Time for me to get to work. Talk to you later."

Arrow uses the tip of an arrow to peek into the elevator.

One cronie is still in there probably to keep the elevator in place. If that's true then it's time to get some answers.

Arrow activates a sleeping arrow and drops it into the elevator. He hears a body hit the floor and Arrow quickly drops in.

That arrow will keep him out for about five minutes

He pulls out a flash drive and quickly copies the info of the team-member's L-Phone. Once it is done he grabs the arrow and hurries back on top of the elevator as the guard starts comng to.

Arrow is stunned as he scans through the information.

All of this is a basic Plan-B. Leave it to luthor to stack the deck in his favor he...

Just then Arrow looks through the hole in the elevator and sees another eye looking back at him.

Oh great. If I can see him he can see....

The guard begins firing tranquilizing darts at the roof as Arrow jumps out of the way. Arrow fires a grappling arrow to the top of the shaft and makes it to the top. The thug activates the elevator and it is closing in on Arrow.

So much for covert and being quiet.

Arrow prys open the door and fires an arrow to the end of the hall which fogs up the hall as he jumps out.

He then assumes a firing stance as he awaits the elevator to reach the top.

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Green Arrow listens for the elevator coming up the floor.

Wait a minute! These guys are good but subtle is not their strong suit. They want to show off their muscles and impress the boss. Luckily I have no such issues, because I already know I'm good. My Sun-Tzu teachings are about to come into play.

He then puts his arrows away and kneels down and put his hands behind his head awaits the elevator door to open. As it does he hears the troops come out of the elevator and one of them yells, "Stay where you are!"

Arrow replies, "Does it look like I'm resisting?"

One of the troops charges him and grabs his arrows. He says, "He's clean!" He then cuffs Arrow's hands behind his back.

The lead one approaches and says, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Arrow replies, "Come on guys. Did you really think Luthor was going to trust his rent-a-cops to give you guys a real fight? He needed a wild-card in the mix and that's me."

The lead one says, "Yeah that sounds like him. All-right Robin Hood on your feet. Let's show Luthor we got his wild card."

The five of them get to the elevator with Arrow in the middle.

They get off on the penthouse floor and Arrow says, "Thanks fellas! But Lex and I need alone time!"

Arrow quickly jumps over his cuffs so his hands are now in front. He then throws axe-handled punches to the two in-front and two spinning kicks to the ones in back as all four are now on the ground unconscious.

Arrow searches the pockets and uncuffs his hands. Arrow then uses his titanium bands to tie up the troops.

Arrow then charges to the penthouse door and sees under the door frame the lights are out.

Chances are likely that they are expecting someone. Maybe a trooper or even me. Regardless I gotta finish this off too close now to shut it down.

He fires an arrow at the florescent lights overhead killing the lights in the hallway. Arrow then uses an arrow tip to pick the lock and stand clear of the door

MST3K 4ever

12-22-2011, 03:34 PM

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Lex sees the door open from the darkened hallway. He is unable to fully make out if anyone is there.

He says, "All-right Thorton you and your men come in. You made it to the top floor and in record time"

There is silence until there is the sound of a whoosh by his ears. Luthor turns and sees an arrow in the wall behind him. Lex then looks over by the couch and sees the figure of a man holding something.

Lex says, "A bow? really? What? Were a sling-shot and stone already taken?"

He nods and Lex sees the bowman turn and fire behind him. Just then Mercy growls and leaps out at the bowman. He takes a step back and Mercy falls about two feet short. She tries to get back up but can't.

He says, "Air-Ball."

He turns back to a perplexed Lex and says, "Amobarbital tipped arrow. A powerful knock out drug she'll be out for at least an hour or two. I just scratched her with it didn't want it to stick in her. You on the other hand..."

He loads up another arrow and says, "I have no issue with sticking this in you!"

Lex asks, " Who are you? What's the meaning of this?"

The Bowman says, "Name's Green Arrow. I'm here because you are trying to stack the deck in your favor concerning the mutant registration act, and I'm here to even the odds. Layden's black-mail material I want it!"

Lex chuckles, "Oh please Arrow you think I'm gonna give into the demands of a costumed Robin Hood knock-off! I've heard urban myths about you I'm not worried in the least. Besides you're breaking the law I should call the police right now!"

Arrow replies, "Go ahead Lex! Make my day! And I'll be waiting to hear your explanation about the four morons out in the hallway, and why they have LexCorp tech on them and the blueprints and security system of Charles Xavier's school!"

Lex is stunned silent for the moment and Arrow says, "That's right I saw the L-Phone readout. If the mutant registration act fails you're gonna come up with some reason to launch an attack on the school aren't you? Maybe get your hands on some younglings and continue playing Dr. Frankenstein."

Lex's hand slowly makes its way to the drawer and Arrow reloads with a normal arrow. He fires it and Lex's hand is now stuck the desk drawer.

He grits his teeth trying not to yell but in obvious pain. Arrow bolts over to the desk and opens the drawer and sees that Lex was close to getting a gun.

Arrow says, "The old gun in the drawer trick Lex? Really? That went out in the 1980's."

Arrow says, "Cut you a deal Lex. You give me the stuff on Layden and I keep quiet to the media about the army out there and what they have on them and we all walk away. Otherwise I go to the press and it may not stick in a court of law but some over-eager reporter like Clark Kent or Lois Lane or anyone from the Bugle starts digging and then who knows what happens."

Lex glares and Arrow says, "It's the only way Lex. It either this or we go down together. Your call."

Lex nods and says, "Behind the bar."

Arrow looks behind the bar and grabs the packet. He shows the information he downloaded and says, "I'm holding onto this until the vote is over. Layden gets to vote his conscience. Otherwise I go public with this."

Lex growls, "This isn't over Arrow. You may have won this round but I tell you now Mutant Registration will eventually be the law of the land. That I promise you!"

Arrow looks back and rolls his eyes and says, "Sure sure Lex and you'll one day get me and my little dog too. Gimme a break!"

Arrow leaves the office and gets to the rooftop of LexCorp.

He contacts Green Lantern and says, "Don't ask me how GL, but I did it! I'm gonna zip-line through the city back to my penthouse. Meet me there!"

Green Arrow begins his trek back to his Penthouse.

sumowrestler

12-22-2011, 10:32 PM

bkhedr

12-23-2011, 04:10 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5344/1168718-gorgon_01.jpg

The World History Museum
New York City

Tomi Shishido had never been to New York before and he already didn't like it. He had caught a cab from the airport directly to the museum, taking in the country's greatest city as he went. The garish sights, the too loud people, the putrid smells. The veneer of wealth and power that couldn't mask the seedy underbelly of what was supposed to be the greatest city in the greatest country in the world.

He promised himself that he would take his time razing this city to the ground and enjoy every minute of it.

But now was not the time for self indulgence. The Elders had sent him to claim the Grass Cutter and as he entered the museum he could already feel its presence, as if it were calling to him.

Of course security paid him no mind, and why would they? As far as they could tell he was just a well dress Japanese tourist who liked wearing sunglasses indoors. Nothing about that description made him stand out in a city like New York.

Tomi stuffed his hands into his suit pockets and let his senses guide him. With the blade seemingly beckoning there was no need to refer to a museum directory and before long The Gorgon had found his was to a hall adorned with medievel and early 20th century Japanese artifacts. Everything from unexploded World War II ordanance to polished Samurai armor. Most of the displayed items were junk, at least in his eyes and he scanned the hall and quickly homed in on what he was looking for.

The blade was prominently displayed along with several other katanas of varying ages and quality. Most of them were on wooden racks further back in the display, while the Grass Cutter was on its own, slightly in front of the others, so as to catch the eye. The Gorgon knew that this had nothing to do with the blade's importance or power. If the Americans had any idea about the Grass Cutter's true nature they wouldn't have put it in a museum. As far as they were concerned the weapons's only significance was the red color of the blade. A color legend claims was the result of the katana being used to kill a God in ancient times. It was said that the God's blood stained the blade red for eternity. Tomi had no doubt, as he stood in front of the blade and felt the power resonating off of it, that the old story was true. This was the weapon with which he would burn the world.

His hand trembled almost imperceeptibly with anticipation as he reached out and touched the security glass case which housed the blade.

No sooner had he done so than was he interrupted by a young woman in a pant suit with a museum ID badge.

"Excuse me? Sir?" She said politely "Please don't touch the display case."

The Gorgon ignored her and forced his hand through the hardened glass, creating a loud crash as the case shattered.

"Hey!" The woman shouted as she reached for the radio strapped to her belt "Stop what you're doing!"

"I'm not a thief Sally" The Gorgon said as he turned his head to face her. His voice was firm, and menacing enough that she froze in her tracks and eyed him with growing unease. She knew he could have read her name off of her ID but something about the way he said it, about the way he seemed to be addressing what she was thinking, made a cold chill run up her spine.

"Oh please. There's no point in praying now woman. Your life has been a waste, and you won't be going home today." He added coldly as he wrapped his hands around the Grass Cutter's hilt and retrieved the blade from the broken display case.

Sally's unease had now been replaced by cold uncompromising terror. She barely had time to let out a whimper before a quick slice lopped her head cleanly from her shoulders.

Everyone within eye shot instantly erupted in panic and many screamed and began to flee. The Gorgon had what he had come for and he could have taken advantage of the momentary chaos to make a discreet exit but the Grass Cutter demanded more blood and he was all too happy to provide.

"Freeze!!" Shouted a strong, confident voice as three security guards wearing determined looks and holding up side arms entered the wing.

As far as the Gorgon was concerned they were right on cue. He only hoped there would be more coming.

Carnage27

12-23-2011, 10:31 AM

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A few days later, another alarm blares through Checkmate headquarters, and I make my way towards the command center, like the last time. Luckily Lord isn't there. At least not yet. Amanda Waller greets me with a curt nod, "Captain, good to see you."

"What's going on, Waller," I ask, taking a seat at the briefing table. "And where is everyone else?"

"Romanoff, Barton, and Bordeaux are off on another mission," Flag responds as he comes through the door.

"Flag, glad you're here," she says. "This is our situation. Five minutes ago this video came through our surveillance network from New York. This is five minutes ago."

She plays the video, and I see a Japanese man break through a high security museum case like it was a paper bag, and grab a very sharp-looking sword.

"I'm not a thief Sally" The Gorgon said as he turned his head to face her. His voice was firm, and menacing enough that she froze in her tracks and eyed him with growing unease. She knew he could have read her name off of her ID but something about the way he said it, about the way he seemed to be addressing what she was thinking, made a cold chill run up her spine.

"Oh please. There's no point in praying now woman. Your life has been a waste, and you won't be going home today." He added coldly as he wrapped his hands around the Grass Cutter's hilt and retrieved the blade from the broken display case.

Sally's unease had now been replaced by cold uncompromising terror. She barely had time to let out a whimper before a quick slice lopped her head cleanly from her shoulders.

Everyone within eye shot instantly erupted in panic and many screamed and began to flee. The Gorgon had what he had come for and he could have taken advantage of the momentary chaos to make a discreet exit but the Grass Cutter demanded more blood and he was all too happy to provide.

"Freeze!!"

I see guard after guard chopped down like they were blades of grass, blood spattering every which way. After a while, some attempt to run, but the vicious attacker is on them quickly, spilling their insides on the museum's marble floor.

It's hard to watch, and made harder by the sudden appearance of Maxwell Lord, "Agents have already been dispatched. They'll take care of it. Flag, Rogers, you're dismissed."

"Agents will be cut to ribbons by that maniac," I respond. "You must know that. Send me in. I can handle someone like that."

"If they are, they aren't very good agents, Captain," he responds taking a seat. "But I have faith in Checkmate training and selection process. They'll be fine. Now, you two are dismissed."

I leave with Flag, who says, "Never thought you'd give up that easily."

Nudging him towards the hangar, I smile, "Captain America never gives up. Get the Quinjet ready. I'll meet you in the hangar in five. I need to pick something up first."

Flag smile, "Now that's what I wanted to hear."

Byrd Man

12-23-2011, 11:22 AM

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Thirty Years Ago
Asgard

The tall man dressed in all red walked through the halls of Asgard. He had bright red hair with a long scar that ran from just under his left eye all the way down to his chin. Cradled in his hands was a battle helmet with a sunburst on the forehead. He ventured into a hallway where a man and a woman practiced fighting while another man looked on.

"Thor, Loki, Lady Sif," Orion the Dog of War said as he approached the trio. "I request an audience with your father."

"Chances of that are slim, my friend," Thor said, wiping sweat from his face. "Not even Highfather could persuade him to recant his agreement with Apokolips."

"That was then, when the battle was a toss up. Now, though, the scales have tipped to the favor of New Genesis. All we need is the All-Father's support and only a slim amount of his forces. With those, we can beat back Darkseid and finally mount his head on a pike."

Thor let out a laugh and looked at his two companions.

"Loki, what say you?"

"Orion brings up a good point. Perhaps the change in circumstances will allow father to pledge support to Asgard's oldest ally."

"Yes, but why must me wait for his approval?" Thor asked with a smirk. "Surely the three of us would be more support than you could dream of."

"Is this the wisest course, Thor?" Sif asked cautiously. "Odin would severely punish all of us if we went against his wishes and broke his pact with Apokolips."

"I agree with Sif, brother. This is unwise and foolhardy."

"That is why I have you here, brother. You do the thinking while I do the fighting. But now is the time for the latter, not the former."

"Please, Thor, I beg you to reconsider. No matter how glorious the victory may be, it is not worth the headaches. While the allure to take Mjlonir to the battlefield is severe, no amount of glory or songs written in your honor will make up for the punishment you would endure."

All Thor heard was "glory", "victory", and "battlefield."

"Orion," Thor said turning to the New God. "Balder and the Warriors Three are away, so you will have to make due with us."

Apokolips

With Orion leading the way in his space harness, the four warriors fought through the muddy fields of Apokolips. Sif cut down a parademon with her two-handed great sword while Loki fought off an attack with his three-pronged spear. Flying above them was Thor, who flew towards a flying flock of a dozen parademon with Mjolnir. Lighting ripped through the sky as Thor crashed into the minions with his hammer. The foot soldiers of Darkseid fell to the ground, charred and smoking.

"Come on," Orion shouted to the three Asgardians. "We're almost to Darkseid's palace!"

"NO!" A voice boomed out all around them. In a bright flash of light, Odin appeared before them.

"Orion, I have been given a message to you from Highfather. You are to return to New Genesis now. Darkseid has been defeated, there is no more need to continue this folly."

"No," Orion said through gritted teeth. "There is only one way this ends!"

"We know the prophecies, Orion. But today is not that day. Be a good son, heed your father's advice."

"Which one?" Orion spat.

"The only one you have. The man who raised you. Highfather. Become like him, not the monster who sits on the throne of the abominable planet."

Orion stared at Odin a long second before turning to the three Asgardians.

"Thank you for the help, my friends. I will not forget it."

Orion rose into the air and shot away in his harness. The space in front of hm opened up and he disappeared into a boom tube.

"As for the three of you," Odin said, his one eye gazing at the three of them sternly. "We will discuss it when we are home. Heimdall!"

The four disappeared from the planet in a dazzling flash of white light.

Asgard

"Do you have any idea of what you just did?" Odin asked Thor as the two stood on the Bifrost Bridge. Loki and Sif had already been sent away. "While you and your friends were tearing across Apokolips, I was negotiating a ceasefire for both sides. You nearly ruined that! Not only did you break my agreement with Darkseid, you made me look like a fool who cannot control my own son!"

"No, father, I did not help you. You do a well enough job looking like a fool on your own."

"What was that?!" Odin roared. "You dare to call me a fool?!"

"If you can think of a better word for an old man who has lost the will to fight, who would rather cut deals with the likes of Darkseid than put him down like the dog he is. If there is a better word to describe you other than fool, feel free to use it."

"There is more to king than warfare." Odin said quietly. "A king must be more committed than making peace than war. This is why you could never be king...and you will never will be."

"What? The throne is my birthright!"

"It was. You were always a headstrong boy, rash, and careless. I had hoped you would change as you got older. But my teachings fell on deaf ears. I'm sorry, my son. I have failed you. I told both Highfather and Darkseid I would punish you for this. This is the only way my promises could still have any weight to them after you made them meaningless. and this is your punishment."

With a wave of his arm, Odin suspended Thor into the air. Mjolnir clattered

"Thor Odinson, I hereby strip of you of your titles and power and cast you out to the realm of Midgard."

"What no? You can't!"

"I'm sorry. The die has been cast. Just be thankful it's Midgard."

With another wave of his arm, Thor was jerk off the Bifrost and disappeared down into the portal below the bridge. Odin reached down and picked up the magical hammer and cast an enchantment on it.

"Who ever hold this hammer, if he be worthy, shall have the power of Thor."

With a mighty toss from Odin, the hammer fell from Asgard and hurled through space towards Midgard.

Earth.

bkhedr

12-23-2011, 12:20 PM

''No! Please!'' A disarmed and retreating police officer pleaded as he threw his hands up to defend himself.

The Gorgon showed no mercy and brought the Grass Cutter down in a deadly slash that severed the officer's arm at the shoulder and left him screaming in agony.

The officer's partner turned and tried to run but Tomi swung the crimson sword upwards and caught him in the back with a blow so forceful that he was nearly severed in half by it.

The mangled corpse slumped to the marble floor almost in two pieces as the Gorgon turned his attention back to the one armed officer writhing at his feet and silenced his screams with a single short stab through the eye.

An eerie silence engulfed him as he pulled his weapon free of the dead man's skull and swung it at the empty air to remove some of the excess blood from the blade. He was surrounded by the butchered bodies of dozens of civilians, museum guards and police officers but he felt more disappointment than exhilaration. The Grass Cutter was indeed a marvelous weapon, finer than he had imagined possible; but the dead who now littered the floor around him were not worthy of him, or the blade. He would have to find bigger prey if he were to know satisfaction this day and he was only just beginning to think about where he might find it when he felt a series of new presences in is immediate vicinity.

The Gorgon raised the Grass Cutter so that the blade rested on his shoulder and looked up at the ceiling, specifically the large domed skylight which he stood directly beneath.

"If you intend to make a move do it now" he said, addressing the unseen men on the museum roof and taking pleasure in the cold chills they felt when they realized that he was aware of their presence. "I'm bored."

The words had barely left his mouth when he started wondering if perhaps his challenge had been too blatant, too threatening. He didn't want these men to lose their nerve and run. But he needn't have been worried because the agents of Checkmate were professionals, hardened and tough, and he felt them quickly regained their composure and cock their weapons as they resolved to do their jobs and put him down.

A sinister smile worked its way on to his mouth and he lowered the Grass Cutter and spread his arms wide to make himself as big and inviting a target as possible. "Come on then."

The agents of Checkmate didn't need another invitation to act and the skylight immediately exploded inwards, showering Tomi with broken glass as the heavily armed agents rappelled down through it and opened fire.

The Gorgon barely let out an almost inaudible grunt of discomfort as the high powered rounds tore through him at multiple angles. The agents weren't taking any chances as they riddled him with head shots and shots to vital organs, but the Gorgon didn't fall and as the agents' feet touched the ground and moved to change their clips he let out a short bone chilling laugh and raised his weapon.

"My turn."

And then he was on top of them, moving like lightning. The agents were well trained and fast. They moved quickly to defend themselves with some reaching for side arms to try to keep him at bay while their fellows reloaded their rifles. But compared to the Gorgon they might as well have been swimming in molasses. Three of their number fell to his blade almost immediately and he forced himself to slow down so as to give them a chance.

One agent tried to shoot him in the back of the head but the Gorgon spun on his heel so that the bullet caught another agent in the face even as the Grass Cutter opened the shooter's throat.

"Is this it?" he asked with obvious disdain as more men died "Is this all you have for me?"

Carnage27

12-23-2011, 02:55 PM

bkhedr

12-24-2011, 03:04 AM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

The Quinjet screams towards New York City, with Flag and me aboard. By now the Checkmate agents are probably dead, but I'll make sure they didn't die in vain. Whoever this maniac is, I plan on taking him down with extreme prejudice. No mass murdering psychopath is going to kill that many people and get away with it.

"We're nearing the drop point, Cap," Flag says as he opens the drop hatch. "I'll find somewhere to land and get to you when I can. Make sure you leave some for me."

"No promises," I smile as I leap out of the plane. I free fall for a few seconds before opening my chute and gliding towards the entry point the agents had already used. When I get close enough, I cut the chute and drop down through the opening, slamming onto the floor. It would decimate a normal man's body, but I stand comfortably.

The scene around me is far from comfortable, though. Blood and mangled bodies decorate the museum like some sick oil painting. Some of the wounded wail for help, some even death, but there's nothing I can do at this point. Not with the maniac standing in the middle of the room, finishing off one of our agents.

"How bout you try out someone your own size?"

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj306/Carnage27/348px-Steven_Rogers_Earth-1610.png

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5344/1168718-gorgon_01.jpg

The Gorgon took a moment to examine the new player on the scene and the smile returned to his lips "Finally"

With that he charged the Captain with the Grass Cutter held high and ready to strike.

As he closed his opponent moved into a fighting stance and raised his shield to defend himself. Of course the Gorgon could read his every move before he made it and he was expecting such a reaction to his attack. As he came within striking distance he leaped as if to bring the Grass Cutter swinging downwards.

Captain America braced to deflect the blow but it never came. Instead the Gorgon planted his feet on the face of the shield and used his own momentum, as well as the force of the Captain's block, to launch himself upwards.

"Come Captain. Let's take this outside." He said as he cleared the broken skylight and landed softly on the roof.

He immediately took off in a sprint that quickly brought him to the edge of the museum roof from which he could see the city streets below with the police cordon around the building and the open, pedestrian heavy, areas beyond.

He could sense the Captain rushing to catch up with him but he had bought himself a head start of a couple of seconds and he knew just how to use it.

Captain America was just the kind of opponent the Gorgon had been hoping for. He had never met him before but his mind was like an open book to the Gorgon and it was obvious that this champion of light held no fear in his heart, at least not for his own life. Of course other people's lives were a different story.

The Gorgon dove from the roof top and landed nimbly on top of a parked SWAT team van. The gathered police were just begining to raise their weapons when he let loose with a barrage of throwing knives. The expertly thrown knives found their targets and a handful of officers died instantly.

Tomi would test himself against the Captain then kill him in honor of the Beast, but first he would make him suffer and killing as many innocents as possible was the surest way to do that.

wiegeabo

12-24-2011, 07:13 PM

"Oh my God!!! What?! Who?! WHAT ARE-"

I clamp my hand over his mouth as I kneel on top of him, pinning him to his roof.

"Keep it down, Judge Chambers. The last thing I need is you screaming when I'm just trying to have a nice, quiet conversation with you." Besides, it's hell on the ears.

I give him a small shove, and drop my voice an octave. "Understand?"

He nods with wide eyes.

"Good. Now, let's talk. This morning, the verdict in the Varnall case came back guilty. I followed this case. And I know, the only reason he was found guilty is because of you."

The Chambers shakes his head. "No, no. It was the jurors. He was tried-"

"He was tried unfairly. You did everything you could to bias the case. You blocked motions the defense brought up, sided with the prosecutor's objections at every chance you could."

"That's not true! I-"

I give him another shove. "I can tell when you're lying. And even if I couldn't, you made it painfully apparent."

Chambers struggles a little more, but finally goes limp, giving up. "I've never...never done this before. I'm an honest judge!"

"You were. And I know this was the first case you've thrown. You were far too obvious. But I want to know why? What did they have on you?"

"It wasn't me."

I shove again and raise my fist.

"No, wait, it wasn't. It was my wife?'

"What about your wife?

"She...she...owes a lot of money."

I listen to his heartbeat and voice. He's telling the truth. "Gambling?"

He nods. "She's...got a problem. And what makes it worse is that she's pretty good. But these last few weeks..."

"She's been losing."

He keeps nodding. "A lot of money. She's been selling things, and taking money from our accounts. But at this rate, she's going to want to mortgage the house soon. I tried to get her to stop. But she 'knows' she can win it all back."

"I doubt she's doing this in a legal establishment."

"...no."

"And so she tainted your position on the bench." He can only nod. I think for a second. "Wait...a few weeks ago...when did she start losing?"

"I don't-"

"Was it five weeks ago?"

He thinks back. "Yeah, maybe..."

"Just when Varnall was arrested..."

"I don't understand."

"You're wife's not on a losing streak. They rigged the games. They made sure she lost so they could get to you. They wanted Varnall to take the fall."

"H-How can you be sure?"

"I can't. Not yet. Not until you tell me who made you do this."

"No. I can't tell you that. If they find out-"

"You've done what they wanted. Now you just need to get your wife the help she needs....and submit your resignation."

"My res...but my career-"

"Ended five weeks ago. Tell me who it was."

"I-I don't-"

I raise my fist again.

"No! Really! I don't know who wanted the case thrown. But I know the guy they sent. A low level mobster. I presided over a couple of his cases. Never enough evidence to put him away."

"The name..."

"Bigia. Joeseph Biglia."

"Is he one of The Kingpin's men?"

"King-? No. You believe that myth. This guy isn't local, although he's done local jobs. No, he supposedly works for Maroni. Out of Gotham."

Gotham...?

I've been in the office for the last couple of hours, deep in research. As a lawyer, one of the first things you learn is never ask a question you don't know the answer to. That means doing all the research before making a move. Never taking a witnesses statement at face value.

Especially when that witness is a judge who was being frightened into talking by a masked vigilante. Although I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying, I've got to make certain he wasn't just telling me what I wanted to hear. Especially if it means going after the mob.

I play my fingers along the braille display as I scan online for information., looking for anything on the last location of Joey Biglia. During my research, I've discovered he's had a large number arrests, a few trials, but no convictions. Which pretty much proves he's connected.

I hear Foggy long before he opens the door to our office. I also smell the coffee, and it makes me sigh. He's messed up my order again. Really, how hard is it to just order black coffee?

"Experimenting again, Foggy?"

"Geez. Every time. How do you do it, Matt?!"

I reach out to take the cup, but Foggy pulls it out from my fingers. I sigh again. "Really? Come on."

He wafts the cu under my nose. I mentally squash the overpowering smell and focusing on the scents. "Half-caf soy, double-shot hazelnut, hint of cinnamon, light-whipped top with chocolate sprinkles."

"Every. Single. Time."

I finally get the cup and take a reluctant sip. And instantly regret it. "I wanted coffee, not dessert."

"You need to live a little, Matt. Can't just keep locking yourself away in research. Gotta get out and have some fun. So, what are you working on?" I sense him leaning over, his cologne masking the horrible coffee.

"Uh...just doing some reading for Varnall's appeal."

"Going for the racial tactic? Innocent black man profiled in a rich neighborhood?"

"It does have the advantage of being true."

"And has the disadvantage of being overused and just sending a message of desperation. Who's Biglia?"

The sudden shift catches me off guard. And so does the realization. "Just when did you learn to 'read' braille?"

"We've been friends since college, Matt. I've picked up a thing or two."

"Well, well. Aren't we just full of surprised."

"So...Biglia?"

Damn. I was hoping to get him of topic. "Uh, just a possible...witness. Might be able to...shed some light on things."

"Oh yeah?" I rear the creek of Foggy's chair as he sits down across from me. "Who is he? Why didn't we find him for the trial?"

"Just came across the name. Going to do some follow up on him."

"Need any help?"

"Nah, I'll handle it. You just keep digging through the transcripts. I've got to make a trip."

"I get all the fun work. Yeah for me. So, where are you headed?"

"Gotham..."

Harlekin

12-25-2011, 06:57 AM

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/8660/logown.gif
Previously. (http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=21915417&postcount=55)

“Sweet Christmas!” Luke Cage said. “That train ride felt like it took forever.”
“I thought it was never going to end,” Tommy agreed as they stepped onto the platform.
“Like he wuz takin’ the long way around,” Scrapped added, rubbing his hand through the hair under his cap.
“That must’ve been a month in dog years,” Gabby said before launching into an enthusiastic ramble on which dogs were the best.
“Oh, give it a rest,” Bobby ended the conversation as she led Luke Cage and the newsboys through the hustle and bustle of the Metropolis train station. Cage’s mouth involuntarily dropped open as they stepped out into the main hall of the station and then into the city itself. It was sleek, it was clean. You could breathe.

“This is some city,” he said as he looked up at the Daily Globe building.
“You’ve never been here before, Mr. Cage?” Big Words asked.
The hero for hire smiled. “Kid, I’ve only ever been out of Harlem once, to visit a little not-so-deserted island.”
“Which one?” Bobby asked.
“Seagate.”
The children exchanged looks. “What for?”
“Vacation,” he replied shortly. By now, the group had gone down into a subway station, which was as state of the art as the city of Metropolis itself.
“So, where are you taking me?” Cage asked as he looked over the map with destinations. “Metrodale? Park Ridge?”
“Southside,” Tommy replied.
Cage looked to the map again, trying to locate Southside. Bobby pointed out the stop that was covered in graffiti. You could still make out ‘Southside’ if you really tried, beneath the letters that read ‘Suicide Slum’.
“Yeah, that sounds like my kinda neighbourhood.”

Batman

12-25-2011, 05:09 PM

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy98/DCMarvelRPG2/Banners/Superman.png

Focus, Clark. Got to keep him away from those kids.

Any laws of gravity and science, ironically enough, become entirely null and void as I lunge myself towards the creature at a supersonic velocity. It claws back at my face and scrambles it's way towards a retaliation, but luckily for me, he's got no idea of just how strong I really am. Ignoring the minor sting of his extraordinarily large nails digging into my skin, I manouver myself into position and grapple at his arms, locking them in place and coming to a stop behind him. He's desperate for something, alright. Whatever sort of energy that Hamilton's machine is emitting, he's finding it to be irresistable. I can barely hold him in place as we tumble through the air, guided only by my limited experience in freeform flight. The red cloak draped around my shoulders flows wildly around us, blinding the creature long enough for me to break the hold and wrap both arms around it's thick neck.

I don't even know if it understands English. But I'm going to try and reason with it anyway.

"You need to stop this! You're putting innocent people in danger!"

It isn't listening. It's eyes aren't even fixated on me as it fights my grip, reaching out in midair towards the machine. All it wants is that trail of energy that's beginning to build even brighter than before. Eventually, we collide against the rafters of the ceiling, bringing nothing but debris and shrapnel in our wake. The shockwave throws me off guard, and the creature takes full advantage. It spins out of my locked grip and tears me away, throwing me a good several feet towards the ground. Then immediately plummets aswell, realizing that it can't fly like I can.

We both crash hard in the vacated seating area that those kids left behind, causing even more unintentional damage to the auditorium. In a sensation that I've never quite felt before, my vision starts to blur, as I peer up at the fleeing crowd of staff and teenagers trying to leave the building before they're caught in the aftershock. I've never had to worry about so many people at one time, but the feeling of obligation to them is unavoidable. They're just kids. They never should have had to see this sort of thing over the course of their entire lives, nevermind at this age. They never should have even known that something like him - something like me is out there, wielding more power than they could ever dream of. I almost feel myself starting to regret that I couldn't have stopped this sooner.

Then I hear the creature growl, rising out of the small crater that it's impact left indented in the floor. And all regret leaves me at once, as I push past the dizzying effects of the fall and immediately rise into to a stance myself. It finally acknowledges my prescence, turning it's attention away from the power supply for a moment to consider what to do. A blast of concentrated red heat flows out from my eyes, bombarding it in the face and leaving a burnt marking on it's cheek. It sneers at me, and I sneer back, giving it an unspoken warning that if it tries anything, I'm willing to go for a second shot.

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy98/DCMarvelRPG2/Superman/RPG5-12.png

"Not on your life."

What happens next is unexpected. It looks at me with a more familiar resolve, as if it's intentions have been replaced. Then I realize exactly what it's thinking, as it steps forward and readies itself.

"Power..."

It points at me.

"You... Have It..."

My eyes widen, glancing back at the crowd that's still hurring off into the distance.

"No, don't do it! The people!"

If it tries what I think that it's about to try, then alot of these people are about to be seriously hurt.

In a matter of seconds, I figure out exactly what I have to do. But I know that I'm going to regret it.

"POWER!"

It does the inevitable and dives directly at me, seeing my abilities as it's next source of sustainence. Driving the soles of my boots hard into the marble floors beneath me, I use as much strength as I can channel to launch myself into the air aswell, flying at it as fast as I can in the opposite direction. Before the creature can realize what's happened, we collide into one another. Pushing hard at it's chest, I redirect the creature's momentum towards the next wall - the wall that leads us both into the outside world.

Even if it means risking everything I've worked so hard to keep hidden from the world, I don't care.

I'm about to bring this fight into Metropolis itself.

Spike_x1

12-25-2011, 06:17 PM

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk23/Spike_x1/Marvel%20RPG/HulkBannerBanner-1.jpg

Spending Christmas by myself at my apartment has never been my idea of a happy holiday, but it's hard to argue with the fact that I've gotten used to it. Both of my parents have passed away (good riddance to my father), and Betty and I are on yet another break, so it's not as if I'm missing out on any particular exciting and memorable experience.

I pour a glass of wine and sit down to my desk and crack open another research journal. Even my time away from the lab is spent hard at work, but I've been feeling more and more that it might be reaching its boiling point lately. The results have not been meeting expectations, no matter how much time and effort is sunk into it, and as much as Leonard encourages me to open up to him, there's really only so far I can go with that.

I... I feel like an angry, lonely child!

I instantly regret angrily hurling the wine glass across the room for fear that it might stain any of the dozens of research papers scattered throughout the study. Recoiling from my own outburst, I briefly consider calling Len and talking to him about this, but I'm sure he has better things to do tonight than listen to me whining about such a minor emotional outcry in my solitude. Hell, I have better things to do with my time as well.

sumowrestler

12-25-2011, 08:12 PM

Richard is sitting in last period English class. He is acting like he is paying attention but his mind goes back to what the old woman had said. Could he really be a hero? He has the power but no clue how to control it. He would also need a cause to stand up for or some sort of enemy to fight against. Once the bell rings, he rushes out and finds a secluded area to change into his outfit that came with the powers. After he changes, he attempts to fly off towards the direction he was yesterday. He struggles on staying stable because he drops, rises, banks left and right. It takes him several minutes to steady himself but he eventually does as he is almost to the bad part of the Bronx. While he is airborne, he sees the same guys who picked on him backing another kid into an alley way.

"Looks like we have this one scared out of his wits. A puddle is starting to develop around his feet."

"Yeah, look at the sweat that is starting to pour off his head."

"Guys, the liquid around his feet is getting bigger. That isn't normal for a boy. He must be one of those blasted mutants. This will go over quite well with the Roach bosses if we take this one down."

They start throwing whatever they could get their hands on. Some of the items were glass bottles, rocks, old bricks, scraps of wood, and a couple of trash can lids. A few of the items hit the boy causing him pain while other times they flew right through him splashing water droplets away from his body. The sight outraged Richard who landed hard dropping to his hands crouching to regain his balance. By the time the three boys turned around, he was standing again with his hands on his hips and elbows pointing out.

"That isn't too fair, boys. Three on one especially when the one is scared for his life. You look like a bunch of thugs who need taught a lesson."

"Look what we have here. It looks like we have a costume wanna be who thinks he can take on three members of the Roach gang."

After the three bullies turn their attention to Richard, the mutant ran by them all without slowing down. The bullies don't try to stop him which made Richard glad but also knew that he had their sole attention now. With what the boys had left in their hands, they threw it at Richard. He tried to dodge the attacks but after being hit and barely feeling the impact by a rock and glass bottle, he quickly gained confidence and approached the boys. Instead of running like he thought they would, one of them charged him with a tin can lid as a shield and a long piece of lumber as a sword. The kid swings the lumber and Richard brought up his arm to deflect it. The impact broke the lumber in half and the kid attempted to bash Nova with the trash can lid. Nova caught and crumpled the lid. The guy dropped the lid and now was scared as was his companions. This time it was one of them who had a wet pant leg and sock.

"Who are you? What are you going to do to us?"

"The name is Nova. Tell whoever you belong to that I'm here to protect the weak and clean up the streets of the scum like you."

The three guys look at each other with the one who lost his weapons still being a little scared. Then the other two rush Nova with fists swinging. Richard still being a little slow gets hit and this time he felt a little bit more pain. The third one regained his composure and started in on the fight as well. It took Richard a few moments to regain control of himself. He swung his own fists knocking back one of the guys with a loud crack sound. The guy falls down onto the ground holding his side screaming in agonizing pain. That distracts the other long enough for Richard to gently knock their heads together. Nova walks to the kid with the busted rib and tries to pick him up gently. He screams as Nova picks him up and flies towards the closest hospital. Richard finds an empty gurny and sets the boy on it hoping that the screams of pain will reach the ears of someone in the hospital. If the boy says what happen, it would put a damper on any hero career but leaving him writhering in pain would not been fair either.

Byrd Man

12-25-2011, 10:13 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

"Hello, Mister Wayne," the woman in the tight white clothing and the cape says.

Her eyes are blue, as blue as the pair I saw in my head.

"I'm Emma Frost. White Queen of the Hellfire Club. Is there anything I can do for you today?"

"Interesting...I can think of about fifteen different things I'd like to do to you, but nothing you can do for me right now."

"Well, come to the club on the weekend and you may get your wish."

She places a hand on my chest and smiles. Even now I can feel slight probes to my subconscious, testing my mind for weaknesses.

"I'm to give you the tour, if you'd follow me."

She takes my hand and leads me down the hallways of the club, past rooms with people in Victorian dress doing...un-Victorian things. We pass by the lounge where a serious looking man stands by the bear. He's dressed in a outfit similar to Shaw's, except his is green. He nods and Frost and I as we pass.

"That's Werner Vertigo, the White King. He's in a bad mood because he's Vlativian. Therefor, he's always in a bad mood."

"Well, can't say that I blame him."

Frost leads me to a bedroom in the back of the club.

"And this is my room, Mister Wayne. You're a legacy to the Hellfire Club, and I couldn't think of a better way to welcome you to our organization."

Frost leans against me and brings her lips up to mine. Her silver lipstick smears against mine as she breaks away from me and kisses my neck. I sigh, and keep my mental block up as she continues to break it with her mind.

"Why are you here?" She whispers into my ear while her hands rub my chest.

"I believe it was you who led me here, Miss Frost."

She nibbles on my earlobe.

"No, why the Hellfire Club?"

"Because of the perks," I quip. "Speaking of perks..."

Frost suddenly steps away, and sighs.

"If that's how you want to be, Mister Wayne, fine. Werner!"

The door into the bedroom opens up and Vertigo steps in.

"He's hiding something. Bring him to his knees."

"As you wish," Vertigo says with a curt nod. He thrusts his hands forward and points them at me. I start to laugh, but I'm stopped short by the wave of sickness that overcomes me. The walls and floors begin to tilt, my knees buckle and grow weak.

"Give in to the power of Vertigo, Mister Wayne."

Stumbling through the bedroom, I force down the bile rising up in my throat and reach out for the nightstand. Frost has makeup and perfumes on a sliver platter. I turn and aim at Vertigo, fighting my own sickness to toss the platter at him. It whizzes through the air and smacks Vertigo in he head, breaking his concentration and freeing me from his grips. As the nausea fades and the world comes back to normal, I make a run for the exit of the bedroom, only to be clotheslined by a hardened arm. I hit the floor hard and look up.

"I asked you nicely," Frost says, her body covered in a layer of hardened diamonds. "Now you'll tell me."

She brings a diamond-covered foot down towards my head, I roll as her foot crashes through the floor of the room. While Frost is busy pulling her foot out, I pick myself up and run out the bedroom, racing down the halls of the club and looking for an exit.

Hellfire Club
Manhattan

I run through the corridors of the club as some of the members watch me run by with slack-jawed looks on their faces.

"Going somewhere, Wayne?" Shaw says as he jumps out a doorway and shoves me against the wall, pinning my shoulders against the wall. I struggle against his powerful grip. It's like being trapped in a vice. I land a punch to Shaw's ribcage and wince in pain. He laughs and tightens his grip.

"Kind of like punching a brick wall, right? Come on, hit me again. Give me your best shot."

Shaw relents for a moment, allowing me enough wiggle room to slam both hands into Shaw's ears.

"Ahhh!"

He yells in pain and stumbles backwards disoriented. I shove away from him and make a dash for the front door. I'm out the brownstone and jogging down the New York street a minute later. I pull my phone out and dial Alfred.

"Alfred, I'm down the block. Come pick me up."

"On my way."

Five minutes later, I'm in the car with Alfred headed downtown. I take off my sport coat and unbutton the vest that's over my dress shirt.

"Where to, sir?"

"Back to the hotel. The sun should be setting soon. I have a meeting I need to take."

Midtown, Manhattan

Dressed in my Batman gear, I perch on the rooftop of a highrise and look down on the city. A far off roar fills the air and grows louder and louder. Streaking out the sky, Tony lands on the roof in his Iron Man armor. His faceplate opens up as he turns to look at me.

Identified:
Anthony Stark "Iron Man"
Owner/CEO Stark Enterprises
Weaknesses: N/A. In need of further data

"Aww, don't you look cute in your little tights."

"I have an EMP discharger. I'm not afraid to use it."

"Jeez, how about you buy a sense of humor? Or has the recession hit you harder than I thought? I could always lend you the money to buy one."

"How'd it go in Tennessee?"

"Well, the Aryan Army won't be doing much terroristic stuff from now on. Hard to do that when it's nothing but rubble. The good general and I had a little chat. His little bunch of rednecks had a deal with the Hellfire Club. Apparently he used to be a member."

"He was, back when he was actually useful to them. All records of his membership were wiped from the club when he was dishonorably discharged from the army."

"How'd you know that?"

I pull a small black device from my belt and hold it up.

"I planted a bug on Shaw when I met today. Something is up about the Hellfire Club. Him and two of the other members attacked me today. They knew I was up to something. One of them was a telepath, the other two had unique abilities. I think they were mutants."

"Mutants...Did they find out that we were on to them?"

"No, but I was lucky. I've had training in how to block out probes. That's why they attacked. The telepath knew I was blocking her."

"A her, huh? Maybe when all of this is over..."

"What did Kreigkopf want your sonic weapon for?"

"He didn't know. Swore he didn't. He was just supposed to buy the gun and wait for further orders."

I nod and activate the listening device. Tony and I listen in as Shaw and Vertigo talk.

"We just got word from Tennessee. Kreigkopf and his men were attacked by Iron Man. Their headquarters and all their weapons were destroyed."

"Something is wrong here, Werner. Two nights after Batman breaks up our arms deal, Stark shows up at Kreigkopf's camp and destroys it. On top of that, Bruce Wayne comes out of the blue to our doorstep with a mind trained to ward off telepathic probes."

"Where does Wayne fit into this?"

"I'm not certain, but I have a good idea...Send word to Tessa. We're moving to our back-up plan. Call JFK and have them get my private jet ready. She's to be in Los Angeles before the sunrises here in New York."

"Very good. On my way."

Vertigo's footfalls echo as he walks out the room. I switch off the device and turn to Tony.

"How fast can you get us to LA?"

Carnage27

12-26-2011, 12:01 AM

Byrd Man

12-26-2011, 12:13 AM

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb232/byrdRPG/Banner.jpg

Previously

Thirty Years Ago
Asgard

The tall man dressed in all red walked through the halls of Asgard. He had bright red hair with a long scar that ran from just under his left eye all the way down to his chin. Cradled in his hands was a battle helmet with a sunburst on the forehead. He ventured into a hallway where a man and a woman practiced fighting while another man looked on.

"Thor, Loki, Lady Sif," Orion the Dog of War said as he approached the trio. "I request an audience with your father."

"Chances of that are slim, my friend," Thor said, wiping sweat from his face. "Not even Highfather could persuade him to recant his agreement with Apokolips."

"That was then, when the battle was a toss up. Now, though, the scales have tipped to the favor of New Genesis. All we need is the All-Father's support and only a slim amount of his forces. With those, we can beat back Darkseid and finally mount his head on a pike."

Thor let out a laugh and looked at his two companions.

"Loki, what say you?"

"Orion brings up a good point. Perhaps the change in circumstances will allow father to pledge support to Asgard's oldest ally."

"Yes, but why must me wait for his approval?" Thor asked with a smirk. "Surely the three of us would be more support than you could dream of."

"Is this the wisest course, Thor?" Sif asked cautiously. "Odin would severely punish all of us if we went against his wishes and broke his pact with Apokolips."

"I agree with Sif, brother. This is unwise and foolhardy."

"That is why I have you here, brother. You do the thinking while I do the fighting. But now is the time for the latter, not the former."

"Please, Thor, I beg you to reconsider. No matter how glorious the victory may be, it is not worth the headaches. While the allure to take Mjlonir to the battlefield is severe, no amount of glory or songs written in your honor will make up for the punishment you would endure."

All Thor heard was "glory", "victory", and "battlefield."

"Orion," Thor said turning to the New God. "Balder and the Warriors Three are away, so you will have to make due with us."

Apokolips

With Orion leading the way in his space harness, the four warriors fought through the muddy fields of Apokolips. Sif cut down a parademon with her two-handed great sword while Loki fought off an attack with his three-pronged spear. Flying above them was Thor, who flew towards a flying flock of a dozen parademon with Mjolnir. Lighting ripped through the sky as Thor crashed into the minions with his hammer. The foot soldiers of Darkseid fell to the ground, charred and smoking.

"Come on," Orion shouted to the three Asgardians. "We're almost to Darkseid's palace!"

"NO!" A voice boomed out all around them. In a bright flash of light, Odin appeared before them.

"Orion, I have been given a message to you from Highfather. You are to return to New Genesis now. Darkseid has been defeated, there is no more need to continue this folly."

"No," Orion said through gritted teeth. "There is only one way this ends!"

"We know the prophecies, Orion. But today is not that day. Be a good son, heed your father's advice."

"Which one?" Orion spat.

"The only one you have. The man who raised you. Highfather. Become like him, not the monster who sits on the throne of the abominable planet."

Orion stared at Odin a long second before turning to the three Asgardians.

"Thank you for the help, my friends. I will not forget it."

Orion rose into the air and shot away in his harness. The space in front of hm opened up and he disappeared into a boom tube.

"As for the three of you," Odin said, his one eye gazing at the three of them sternly. "We will discuss it when we are home. Heimdall!"

The four disappeared from the planet in a dazzling flash of white light.

Asgard

"Do you have any idea of what you just did?" Odin asked Thor as the two stood on the Bifrost Bridge. Loki and Sif had already been sent away. "While you and your friends were tearing across Apokolips, I was negotiating a ceasefire for both sides. You nearly ruined that! Not only did you break my agreement with Darkseid, you made me look like a fool who cannot control my own son!"

"No, father, I did not help you. You do a well enough job looking like a fool on your own."

"What was that?!" Odin roared. "You dare to call me a fool?!"

"If you can think of a better word for an old man who has lost the will to fight, who would rather cut deals with the likes of Darkseid than put him down like the dog he is. If there is a better word to describe you other than fool, feel free to use it."

"There is more to king than warfare." Odin said quietly. "A king must be more committed than making peace than war. This is why you could never be king...and you will never will be."

"What? The throne is my birthright!"

"It was. You were always a headstrong boy, rash, and careless. I had hoped you would change as you got older. But my teachings fell on deaf ears. I'm sorry, my son. I have failed you. I told both Highfather and Darkseid I would punish you for this. This is the only way my promises could still have any weight to them after you made them meaningless. and this is your punishment."

With a wave of his arm, Odin suspended Thor into the air. Mjolnir clattered

"Thor Odinson, I hereby strip of you of your titles and power and cast you out to the realm of Midgard."

"What no? You can't!"

"I'm sorry. The die has been cast. Just be thankful it's Midgard."

With another wave of his arm, Thor was jerk off the Bifrost and disappeared down into the portal below the bridge. Odin reached down and picked up the magical hammer and cast an enchantment on it.

"Who ever hold this hammer, if he be worthy, shall have the power of Thor."

With a mighty toss from Odin, the hammer fell from Asgard and hurled through space towards Midgard.

Earth.

Present Day
Foster-Blake Free Clinic
Spanish Harlem

"Good morning, Mister Garcia," I say as I limp into the examination room. The elderly Latino man is sitting on the table.

"Good morning, Doctor Blake."

Juan Garcia is an 80 year old widower and Cuban expatriate. He's been through some stuff in his eight decades on this Earth. He worked fields in Cuba, fought a revolution, sailed across the ocean on a raft with his pregnant wife and two kids, found the American dream, and buried his wife four years ago when she gave in to the stomach cancer she had been battling for over five years. He's as tough as nails, and isn't afraid to speak his mind. Of all the patients I see, he is without a doubt my favorite one.

"How are we today?"

"Good. My neck is bothering me again."

Six months ago, I found out that Mr. Garcia had a ruptured disc at the top of his spine.

"Same place as before?"

"Si."

"Well, let me check it out and I'll see what I can do."

I limp over to Mr. Garcia and gently place my hands on the back of his neck.

"Hmm...yeah, I can feel it. I think it's flared up again. Alright, let me write you a prescription."

"...No, please. I cannot afford it."

"It's okay. I know this pharmacist in Midtown. He owes me a favor. He'll cut you a deal on your medicine. I'll also call up a friend of mine at Lenox Hill, he can see about getting you an MRI. I want to get your neck looked at in case it's something else."

"Thank you, Doctor Blake. I'm sorry I cannot pay."

I nod and write out a prescription, handing it to Mr. Garcia.

"Don't thank me and don't be sorry. You want to pay me back, get me some tickets to the Mets game. I thought your grandson had at New Shea."

"He walks around the park, selling hotdogs."

"Well pay me in hotdogs."

"I can do that," he says with a laugh. I follow him out the examination room and watch as he heads down the hallway.

"How's his neck?" A voice behind me asks.

I turn around and smile at the dark-haired woman in a lab coat. Dr. Jane Foster, my partner in this little experiment of ours. We worked together at Beth Israel for a few years before striking out on our own. The free clinic is a part-time job, a little act of kindness to balance out our pay clinic downtown.

"I don't know," I say with a frown. "I thought his disc was inflamed...but feeling it, it feels pretty bad. I think it may be in his vertebrae. I'll call Jeff over at Lenox Hill and have him put Mister Garcia through the MRI machine. Hopefully he'll have some results when I get back from Norway."

"Oh, Norway? Getting in touch with your roots, Don?"

"Always wanted to go. I think backpacking through the country for a week should be a good chance to recharge my batteries."

"And you're just leaving me to deal with the two clinics while you tromp through the snow. I see how it is..."

Jane elbows me in the ribs playfully and I laugh.

"Well, you were always the better doctor..."

"True, very true. But compliments aside, when do I go on vacation?"

"Tell you what, I'll let you go when I beat you in a foot race."

"Ha. Very funny."

"I thought so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have patients to see..."

*****

Finnmark County, Norway

The snow crunches beneath my feet as I climb up the hill. Even though it's cold, I've worked up quite a sweat. Maybe backpacking across Norway in the dead of winter with a lame leg isn't the best of ideas, but I wanted to do this. It's something I need to prove to myself. I finally come to the top of the hill, panting and sweaty. I start to limp down the hill when I hit a patch of ice.

"GAH!"

I smack down on the ice and begin to roll down the hill. I come across a patch of semi-melted ice that gives way. I fall down into the dark. My body slaps against the cold ground and I groan. I self-diagnose myself as I lay there on he ground. My ribs are bruised, but not broken, and my legs feel relatively alright. My head is okay, doesn't feel like I have any signs of concussion. Picking myself up, I look around the cold, dark cave I managed to fall in. The air inside is stale, like it's been sealed off for sometime. Looking up at the hole I fell through doesn't make me feel any better about where I am. The hole is too far up to climb through.

I limp through the dark and see a shaft of light peeking through another crack in the ice. Resting inside the cave is a wooden stick.

"A walking stick," I mutter under my breath. "How hilarious."

I made vow not to use a walking stick after my accident. I didn't need one. But with how I'm feeling, I could use one. I pick the stick up and run my fingers up and down it. Even in the dim light I can see something engraved on the stick. Their words, but I don't know what language they're in. Looks like Norwegian...but just a bit off. There's something about it. Maybe my hands are shaking, but there's a soft vibration coming from that. I swear I can hear quiet hum coming from the stick. Like...like it's calling to me.

Tap it, a little voice says from inside my head. Tap it and be chosen.

I rap a knuckle against the stick. Feels solid. I bring the stick down on the cave floor and tap it twice.

KRAKOOOM!!!

Bright white flashes through the cave and blinds me. Suddenly....

I remember.

I remember it all.

Carnage27

12-26-2011, 12:27 AM

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/Legacy1978/Checklist%20Titel%20Banner/X-MenOrigins-JeanGrey-Banner.jpg

In a flash of light the pyromaniac is gone from in front of us, and his fire dies down as he disappears. I make sure J'onn and Kitty are all right as the FBI and SWAT begins rolling into the area. But before they can get to us, the Blackbird drops out of the sky and picks us up.

"Thanks, Hank," I say to the mutant at the controls.

He smiles as we take off into the sky, "Indeed. I thought we had overstayed our welcome."

***********

We're all in a somber mood after the debriefing. We all realize we were lured into a trap, and we all realize we went along with it just as the Brotherhood had planned. Everyone is devastated, save Logan. He just seems angry that he didn't get to tare the feral mutant apart limb from limb.

Scott immediately heads for our room after the debriefing. I'm tempted to follow him, but I know that wouldn't end well. Sometimes he just needs his time to decrompress and calm down.

Besides, I need to talk to Xavier, "Excuse me, Professor... I was wondering if I could talk to you."

"I know, Jean," he says. "I sensed the disturbance easily. Come. Let's go somewhere more private."

Andy C.

12-26-2011, 12:38 AM

:spidey:

Along Came A Spider:
Part IV

Amid panicked screams and blaring alarms, we're herded down one the corridors of STAR Labs. Light headed and bleary-eyed, I have to stumble along, Gwen practically dragging me in order to keep up with everyone.

"Pete, come on!" Harry calls from up ahead, Liz clinging to his arm.

"I'm okay......I'm okay....." I keep repeating, barely able to stand. What the heck was that spider packing when he bit me?

As we round a corner, a massive wave of nausea washes over me, and I stop to dry-heave.

"Peter, we have to keep moving!" Gwen pleads before the hallway resounds with another deafening BOOM from the fight between the monster and the caped super-man.

Finally, Professor Hamilton motions to a door at the head of the group.

"Everyone, in here!" he shouts, before Flash Thompson practically shoves Sally Avril and Glory Grant through the shelter door.

My vision blurs, and the dizziness and nausea only get worse.

"Hey, Gwen?" I say as we make it inside. "You know......how I was saying I was okay?..........I might have been lying...."

"Peter, don't say that," she says, before calling for one of the scientists. "Can someone help? My friend's been poisoned!"

"Poisoned?!" Doctor Connors says before rushing over to me. "But how?!"

"He was bitten by a spider in the middle of all the chaos," she explains.

"A spider?! Seriously?!" Flash says angrily. "We're in the middle of Arma-freaking-geddon, and Puny Parker's going faint because of a bug bite?!"

While the world starts to go into bright flashes and fuzzy blotches that used to be shapes, one of the five spinning images of Doctor Connors I can see gives Flash a cold glare.

"Young man, if you're not going to say something helpful, then I think we'd all appreciate it if you'd stay quiet."

"There should be some first-aid supplies in here somewhere," Hamilton says somewhere in the increasingly indistinct world while my head starts swimming.

As my senses and thoughts slur and fade, a sudden thought shocks my system.

"Olsen!" I say with a start. "The.....the photographer.....Olsen....."

There are murmurs until I think I hear the Daily Planet photographer's voice.

"I, uh, I'm here, kid," I hear him say. "What's going on?"

With the last of my fleeting strength, I hold up the almost impossibly heavy object in my hand.

I.....got......your camera....."

.......and then everything goes black.

Byrd Man

12-26-2011, 09:38 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

Gotham Central
12:04 PM

"James, James, James," Commissioner Gillian Loeb says, clicking his tongue. "I thought we understood each other."

I'm in Loeb's office, sitting across the desk from him and trying to look over the tacky collectibles scattered on the desk.

"I understand Tork is your dog, yes? You tell him to fetch and bark, he does it."

"Tork's unit is run out of the Western District, but they operate under the MCU banner and handle major crimes, yes."

"Well, why did he ignore orders from the Deputy to move forward with charges from that gambling den raid on 123rd?"

The same gambling den where Tork arrested Councilman Dickerson's son. It made the papers last week, caused a big stir, especially with Dickerson running for reelection.

"While Tork does handle major crimes, I do allow him some autonomy. I can't watch his every move from halfway across the city. He filed papers with the District Attorney's office and had enough evidence to charge all of those involved."

"Okay, so it's your fault. Just as I thought."

Loeb clears his throat and takes a sip from the cup of water on his desk.

"I've been good to you, James, really good. I've suffered through the little independence streak you seem to have. You continue to buck authority left and right, defying your superiors. Well, no more. Thought I'd be the first to tell you that I am reassigning you."

"What? Where?!"

"To the Auto Theft unit. Major Stevenson is retiring at the end of the month, they need a new commander."

"No," I say through gritted teeth, my hands digging into the arms of the chair. "I've worked for over a year to compile evidence against the mob, I'm so close to catching them all, the bosses included."

"No doubt Lieutenant Flass will pick up where you left off..."

"With all due respect, sir, Flass wouldn't know police work if it jumped up and bit him on the ass."

"That's it," Loeb snaps. "Get out of my office right now before I bust you back down to a foot patrol so far out in the goddamn country, you'll see the Metropolis police coming at you!"

I get up and start storming out the office when a noise makes me stop short. Loeb chuckling.

"What?" I ask, turning around.

"Hehehehe. I just...Hehe. HEHEHEHE HAHAHAHAHA!"

Loeb's whole body shakes and jiggles as he laughs, tears running down his face. He begins to cough as he laughs, his body convulsing as he pushes off his desk and falls to the floor.

"Loeb!"

I rush over to him as the laughter stops. His face contorted and frozen into a sick, twisted grin. The same kind of grin as the heroin users. I quickly reach down and feel for a pulse, only to find nothing.

"I need help!" I shout. "Somebody call paramedics!"

******

An hour later and I'm still in Loeb's office, sitting in the corner and smoking a cigarette while Homicide takes pictures of the body.

"Jimmy," the big, burly man with bright red hair says as he walks up to him. "How ya holdin' up, boyo?" He asks in a rich Irish brogue.

Major Miles O'Hara, Homicide Commander. Born in Dublin, moved to Gotham when he was ten. He was my squad sergeant when I was bumped up to Homicide.

"It's a dead body, seen plenty of those before."

"I know, but it wasn't like he some smokehound who was gunned down in a back alley. He was the Commissioner, your boss. He died right in front of ya, lad...and the face...Truth be told, I can barely stand to look at it. Did the detectives get your statement?"

"Yeah."

O'Hara starts to walk away, but I reach out and grab his sleeve.

"Miles, do me a favor?"

"What do ya need, Jimmy?"

"Let Major Crimes take this one."

"I don't know, lad. This is bound to be big news. I need my most seasoned investigators on it."

"I worked Homicide for fifteen years."

"True, true, but you're emotionally involved. Seeing him die and all."

"He was the police commissioner. You could say every cop is emotionally involved. I have a pretty good line on who may have done it."

"I don't know..."

O'Hara stops short when his cellphone rings.

"O'Hara?....What?! Saints preserve us. Okay...bring in the second shift and start assigning them cases. Get four detectives and send them to Gotham General to find out what they all died from. Keep me updated."

O'Hara hangs up and sighs.

"Twelve bodies dropped dead. All of them cops. All of them with grins on their faces, same as Loeb."

"Still think I'm emotionally involved?"

"Now everyone is. Homicide will do most the work, but Major Crimes can work on that lead you have. You best let me know if it comes to something, Jimmy. I'm warning ya, this ain't no time to play cowboy."

I nod at O'Hara and stand up from my chair, leaving the office and getting ready to go to work.

IC: Jim Gordon

Robinson Park
1:48 PM

I walk down the jogging path, stepping aside as a woman jogs up the trail. She shouldn't be here by herself, even in the daytime. Robinson Park isn't the safest place to be in the day, but at night? It becomes a war zone filled with drug dealers, male and female prostitutes, and stick-up boys looking for prey.

I duck into the bathroom off the path and walk to the stall on the far end of the bathrom. There's graffiti spray painted all across the wall. I slide my hands across it and pull a loose brick out of its place. The brick is hollow in the center. I pop open the core and pull out a folded up paper.

Jim,

No ID on heroin poisoner aka "Joker." No matches at all. Level of skill and expertise hints at a chemistry background. Expect further tamperings to follow. Dead drop will be updated when I have more.

B

This is how you communicate and set up meeting times when your partner works outside the law. I have another way we can meet...but it's going to take some time to get it together. In the meantime, this works well.

I take Batman's note and stuff it into my pocket before I leave the stall and go back out to the jogging trail.

Gotham Central
3:10 PM

"What's the count, Soap?" I ask the sergeant inside my office.

"Twenty, sir. Sixteen cops and four suspects."

Sixteen cops and four criminals, Commissioner Loeb among them. They all died in the same way. All of them poisoned. Why them and not everyone else? What did they all get exposed to?

Soap goes to drink a cup of water and it all clicks.

"No!" I knock it from his hands, letting it spill to the ground.

"That's it. That's the only thing it can be."

"What?"

"The water coolers. They all got water from the water coolers. Go get someone to take them all down. NOW!"

Soap runs off and I follow behind him. While he goes down to get help, I go down to the holding cells in the basement. The three men that were working with Joker are sharing a cell. Known as Montana, Fancy Dan, and Ox, they call themselves the Enforcers.

"The three of you are going to tell me all you know about Joker right now."

"Or what?" Ox sneers.

"Or the three of you are being charged with forty counts of murder. Twenty of the junkies, eighteen cops, and two criminals. Forty consecutive life sentences...Now, who wants to go first?"

bkhedr

12-27-2011, 04:11 AM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

The attacker throws a second barrage of throwing knives, but this time I'm outside of the museum and ready. I toss my shield, and it deflects the knives harmlessly away, two even end up striking the aggressor.

As he's pulling them out I rush towards him, catching my shield in the process and drive myself into him, sending him crashing off the SWAT van and through a bus on the opposite side of the street. As he regains his feet, I toss my shield at him again, striking him in the head, and rebound to me.

But he gets up again. This guy can take a beating. That much is obvious. But he's already killed too many people for me to stop now. I'm taking him down or I'm going to die trying.

The man charges me, striking precisely at me with his sword. It's almost as if he knows where I'm going to go before I go there, and within a few moments I have cuts on my arms and legs to show for it. And yet I land my fair share of hits as well. He may be able to read me like a book, but he underestimates my drive.

After I manage to sidestep on of his downward slices, I drive my boot heel into his sword, embedding it into the ground. I then drive an uppercut into his chin, raising him off the ground. He lands with a thump, but quickly regains his footing.

"Who the hell are you," I say, preparing myself for his next offensive. "And what the hell have these people done to deserve this?"

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5344/1168718-gorgon_01.jpg

"I am he who walks in death's footsteps." Tomi said as he charged again and lashed out with both fists and feet "Honored servant of the Beast. High Priest of the Hand."

The ferocity of his attacks was keeping Captain America on the defensive and he seemed unharmed and unfazed even when his fists impacted loudly on the Captain's red, white and blue shield.

The Captain moved to parry a blow but the Gorgon was ready and he chose that moment to execute a spinning backhand that caught the Captain on the temple.

The Gorgon quickly followed with a strong kick to the mid section, just under the defence offered by his opponent's shield. The kick staggered the Captain slightly and the Gorgon took advantage of the space provided to grab a hold of his sword hilt and pull it from the concrete it had become embedded in before shifting into a new fighting stance with two hands wrapped around the crimson blade's hilt.

"I am the Gorgon, Captain America; and it is a true pleasure to make your acquantance."

The Captain roared and came at the Gorgon hard, who took a punch to the jaw and a kick to the ribs. He rolled with the kick, spinning away from the Captain in the process

"As for the people I've killed." He said as the Grass Cutter impacted the Captain's shield once again. If he was suffering any ill effects from Captain America's attacks he wasn't showing them. "Their deaths are a gift, a liberation. No longer will they suffer through meaningless lives forced upon them by an imperfect uncaring God."

The Gorgon took a step back and slashed the street with his blade. The slash cut a gash in the concrete and showered the Captain with dust and tiny pieces of street.

"Life is God's mistake Steven. It is my pleasure and my privilege to undo it."

By now the police had organized themselves and the Gorgon could sense nearly two dozen minds training their weapons on him. He could have easily deflect the bullets with Grass Cutter, but his ninja, who had been trailing him in the darkness since he first set foot in the city, were growing restless and this was a perfect opportunity to show Captain America a small part of what it meant to oppose the Hand.

"Genzai"

At their master's command more than two dozen hand ninja emerged from the shadows and rooftops. Police, journalists and bystanders immediately began falling to their blades and Captain America was about to turn to face the new attackers when the slashing Grass Cutter demanded his attention.

"Stay focused Captain." The Gorgon said with a grin as the screams grew more desperate and the ninja spread out looking for more victims "Your fight is with me."

bkhedr

12-28-2011, 04:08 AM

http://s14.postimage.org/xi1c9e38f/wonder_man.jpg

Waiting for my cue has always been the hardest part. I'm standing off stage listening to Jay Leno ramble on about a nobody that noone cares about and eyeing the director impatiently.

Simon Williams is not a man you keep waiting. Not in this town at least.

It takes what feels like forever, but Jay finally introduces me and the director waives me on stage. Showtime.

Just like that my frustration and anxiety washes away.

I flash my best super star grin and step into the bright lights, waving to the crowd as Jay gets up to welcome me. I walk slow, taking my time in getting to him and taking in the applause and adulation that I've earned.

Jay shakes my hand and leads me to my seat and the applause continues for a few seconds more before dying down.

"Wow!" he has to shout to be heard over the last of the applause "How's that for a welcome back?"

"Oh its not bad, not bad."

"Not bad? I haven't had a studio audience applaud like that since Bill Clinton." He leans back in his chair and points a fat finger at me "My friend studio audiences don't get more welcoming than this."

"Uh huh." I nod dismissively before turning my head to face the studio audience. "I think they can do better."

I flash a grin and the audience responds, proving Jay wrong and giving me what I need.

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081016235354/marveldatabase/images/thumb/f/f9/House_of_M_Vol_1_2_page_5_Simon_Williams_%28Earth-58163%29.jpg/381px-House_of_M_Vol_1_2_page_5_Simon_Williams_%28Earth-58163%29.jpg

Later:

"Mr. Williams!!"

"Mr. Williams!"

"Simon!"

"Just one question!"

"Sorry guys, but its been a long few weeks and I just want to get home and enjoy some well earned R&R." I say in an overly friendly tone as my security guides me through the crowd of reporters and towards my waiting limo.

They quiet down briefly while I talk, hanging on my every word, but as soon as I finish speaking its chaos all over again with microphones and recording devices thrust in my face and a dozen questions being shouted from every direction.

"Simon is there any truth to the rumors that you're now dating Whitney Frost?"

That last question catches my attention and makes me grin as I enter the limo. Mostly because Whitney's waiting for me inside.

One of my bodyguards shuts the car door behind me and Whitney leans forward, wraps her arms around my neck and puts her weight on me so that I lean back in the leather seat with her on top of me.

"Hey handsome." she says before giving me a kiss on the lips.

"Hey yourself beautiful." I reply before returing her kiss "You see the show?"

"Of course." She grins and I'm amazed yet again by just how beatiful she is. I mean, I've had alot of women, but none with the smarts, the charisma and the looks that Whitney Frost possesses.

"Daddy caught some it too." she adds and just like that she's put a damper on my mood. "He says you looked like a con man out there."

She immediately picks up on the sour look on my face and gives me a playful shove

"Oh come on you big grump. You know he means it as a compliment."

"Yeah, yeah." I nod. Whitney thinks the world of her father and why shouldn't she? Besides being her Dad, 'Count' Lucio Nefaria is one of the most powerful business men in California and while rumors persist that he has ties to organized crime, no one's ever been able to prove anything. Not that it would matter to Whitney if they ever did.

Truth is it wouldn't matter to me either. What I care about is the fact that he doesn't like me and doesn't think I'm good enough to date his daughter. Oh he's polite enough about it, even when Whitney's not around, but it pretty clear he's just being civilized rather than showing approval.

"You're unbeleivable sometimes Mr. Williams. You know that?" She says as she puts a hand on my thigh. I had practically zoned out but she brings me back to the hear and now "I just mention my Dad and you go into a collosal funk."

I manage a half hearted smile "Ahh you know he's not my biggest fan..."

"And that's your problem. Superstar Simon Williams needs everyone to be in love with him. Everyone's got to be your biggest fan or there's something wrong with them."

Gotta admit she's hit the nail right on the head.

"Fine." I grin "You got me."

"I know I do silly." She says as she jumps into my lap "Now stop being so boring and show me how much you've missed me."

I happily comply and there is very litte conversation for the rest of the ride.

Carnage27

12-29-2011, 09:09 AM

"Genzai"

At their master's command more than two dozen hand ninja emerged from the shadows and rooftops. Police, journalists and bystanders immediately began falling to their blades and Captain America was about to turn to face the new attackers when the slashing Grass Cutter demanded his attention.

"Stay focused Captain." The Gorgon said with a grin as the screams grew more desperate and the ninja spread out looking for more victims "Your fight is with me."

After listening to this maniac go on and on about this Hand, Beast, and life being God's mistake, I immediately realize that this isn't going to end with a capture. This guy is going to fight till the end. Which means I'm going to as well. He isn't taking me down, and he isn't going to kill any more innocent people.

"I'm never unfocused," I say as I push off the Gorgon with my shield and go into a backflip, gaining some room between the two of us. Then I perform a risky gambit.

I toss my shield diagonally towards a building across the street and rush my opponent unprotected. His attention is focused squarely on me, which allows my shield to strike him across the face. I then drive my knee into his chin, staggering him backwards.

But my advantage is short lived, as one of his ninja allies attempts to attack me from behind. I manage to dodge his strikes, and as he raises his blade for another slice, an arrowhead emerges through his chest. I look up to see Hawkeye and the rest of my team engaged with the members of the hand, "Go get him, Cap. We'll take care of the riff-raff."

"Thanks, Hawkeye," I respond, turning back as the Gorgon slices at me with his sword. "Looks like it's just me and you now."

I manage to deflect most of his strikes with my shield, but eventually he lands a gash across my chest. It's not life-threatening, especially with my powers, but it sends a wave of pain through me, breaking my concentration for a second, allowing another slice across my thigh.

The second slice puts me into desperation mode. This man won't think twice about killing me, and I need all my wits about me to survive. He moves like lightening with another downward strike, which I evade by pushing off on my bad leg, with another spark of pain.

But I still have the time to attack, driving my shield under the Gorgon's chin with a sickening crack. I stand and fall into a defensive position, ready for the inevitable next attack.

MST3K 4ever

12-29-2011, 12:41 PM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6366396619_3cd1399208.jpg

Lex has Mercy stitch his wound recieved by Green Arrow and then goes into the hallway to find his four mercs still bound.

He shakes his head and re-enters his office.

Lex asks, "Are you feeling better?"

Mercy nods and says, "I'll survive."

Lex replies, "Good. When you're ready knock out those four rejects. Take Lexcorp one out for a test flight. Right over the island of Coasta Mirada drop them off at the Palace steps and tell his excellency he can do whatever he wants to with those four fugitives from his Governement. Stay at the villa overnight and then get back here a-s-a-p."

Mercy bows and leaves. Lex prepares himself another drink and hears Mercy beat each one of the mercs unconscious. He pauses for a moment and shrugs his shoulders.

I would've used a tranquilizer, but her way works too.

He then finishes his drink and slips a glove over his wounded hand as he sits on his couch and watches the lights of Metropolis.

Operation New Life has been dealt a serious set-back tonight no matter. I will find a way to win I always do.

MST3K 4ever

12-29-2011, 01:02 PM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6366402613_3f2c57eeb9_m.jpg

Green Arrow hears Lantern's situation and smirks.

He's gonna be busy for a while. On the bright side for him he's about to become the highest paid test pilot in the world.

Arrow arrives back at his penthouse and changes back into Oliver Queen.

He quickly takes off to Senator Layden's house. He knocks on the door and Patrick answers and says, "Oliver this is an unexpected pleasure. Come on in."

Oliver replies, "Out here."

Layden's wife Donna asks, "Patrick who is it?"

Layden replies, "It's nothing dear. Oliver Queen is bringing me some stuff from his office for me to look at."

Layden closes the door and Oliver shows his the packet. Oliver says, "Lex is out of your situation."

Layden's eyes are huge and he says, "How? Oliver you're a miracle worker!"

Oliver says, "Don't sing my praises yet, because I'm not giving this to you."

Layden asks, "Why?"

Oliver replies, "Because what you did Patrick is wrong. You're an elected official you're supposed to be above this crap! People are counting on you to do the right thing and they hold you to a higher standard! If I give this back to you then you'll get away with it free and clear."

Layden says, "Don't be so naive Ollie! No one's perfect. I made my mistakes so have you!"

Oliver replies, "Yes, but I'm not someone who's bosses are the people I've sworn to serve and to do right by you are Patrick!"

Oliver composes himself and says, "I'm holding onto this until after the vote. You get to vote your conscience once again, and I expect you to do the right thing like you said you would. After that I give you 48 hours to tell your wife otherwise she will get this information."

Layden says, "You wouldn't dare!"

Oliver replies, "Try me! Or do you think I'm bluffing?"

Layden sits on the bench and bows his head and says, "No you're not. All-right just keep it out of the media please."

Oliver says, "I'll do that for your children. 48 hours after the vote Patrick or you'll regret ever meeting me."

With that Oliver hops in his ferrari and takes off.

trustyside-kick

12-29-2011, 10:43 PM

OOC: Previously (http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=22155239&postcount=164)...
Black Bolt

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/dhunter22/attilanbomb1.jpg

Black Bolt returns with Lockjaw to their home, teleporting to an area within the blue area of the moon, only to find it currently in battle with invaders of another world. Instantly the Inhuman King springs into acting, flying towards the city of Attilan and stopping all who come his way. A parademon aims to attack him from behind, but he response quicker than the fiend could have predicted, and gives it but a mere ounce of his power as he harnesses his destructive powers and punches its head clean off as he swings around.

He gives Lockjaw one stern look, and the obedient animal teleports away to check on the Royal Family. All the while Blackagar carries out the rest of his plan, now having no nearby victim he can harm...say for the small batch of the armies of Darkseid that have decided to attack his home while he was away. This time on a much greater scale as their are a few Apokoliptan space ships entering through various boom tubes. Not the mighty Dark God's full fleet of course, as this attack must once again be nudged along by the foolish son known as Kalibak, but still a threat to his home and kingdom.

He ascends, staying within the atmosphere of the moon, and takes a deep breath and channels his raw quasi-sonic powers just before letting it rip. With a whisper, he can shatter a mountain...and with an all out wide-radius scream...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/dhunter22/bboltscream1.jpg

It would appear he can take out an entire battalion of ships.

Wasting no time at all, he flies swiftly and urgently down towards his precious city. Blackagar dispatches a few parademons trying to harm some inhuman children near the great steps of the palace. He scours the palace, finding injured, but still living, people of his kingdom all over with no sight or sound of Kalibak the Cruel. It would appear that the impatient and brash son of Apokolips had again chosen to play the coward and not face Black Bolt himself. As he makes it to the palace throne room, he opens the large doors slowly and with caution for what he might see inside.

The thought of any one of his relatives being dead from the attack worries him. He shouldn't had wasted his time seeing The Quintessence. He should have known that it would have been futile. What they would have decreed. But...would it still had prevented this? Even if not...at least he would have been here sooner.

Entering the throne room, which of course was still damaged from the first cowardly Apokoliptian attack, Blackagar would sigh a sigh of relief would it not bring forth further damage and destruction to his glorious and beloved city.

"The King! He is back!"

Karnak lowers his defenses as he sees that it was their Inhuman King that had walked through the large doors and not Kalibak himself or group of parademons barging through. And he happily embraces Black Bolt in a hug and Medusa, Gorgon, and Triton come forth as well, confusion stirs within Black Bolt's mind. There is no further damage to the palace throne room. It is almost as though--

"The siege had lasted not for too long, love. Immediately we made sure that the Terrigent Crystals were safe as well as the Council, then when we got back to the throne room it was like--"

Running into the throne room, Crystal, younger sister of Medusa, begins to weep as she stumbles to the floor. Medusa walks over to her weary sister, helping her stand up with her hair as something has overcome Crystal that could bring her to such a state.

"As Medusa said, cousin, the crystals remain safe and--"

"He took him! Kalibak himself!"

Letting go of Medusa who has been trying to do nothing but keep her calm, Crystal rushes over to Black Bolt and falls into his arms as she weeps and speaks.

"They took Ahura! Your son!"

Shocked, Black Bolt looks over at his family, who look away from their King in shame. He does not blame them, as once the family was gathered and safe it only made sense to make sure the crystals and the Council were safe. Not many give much thought to the forgotten son of Black Bolt and Medusa. Like his father, when Ahura was born, it was clear that his powers were dangerous and unstable. And so the Council decreed that he be locked away...similarly to how Black Bolt spent his childhood only much more secure and guarded. It was fear of what the son of the King could do.

And the truth of the attack is then revealed. It was all a distraction. A way for Kalibak to go to the one place that no one would expect. Outside the Royal Family and the Council, no other Inhuman even knew of Ahura's existence.

"My lord? Did...did you not hear me?"

All the while, Black Bolt has held a strong and firm posture. While Crystal has been weeping uncontrollably, Medusa instilled with great anxiety and rage, he remains calm and quiet. As always. He gives his wife one look, and for a split second, he almost falters and breaks down, but he does not. Only for that split second. Medusa covers her mouth as she thinks of what the Apokolipitans could do and will do with her little boy, and Blackagar Boltagon lets go of Crystal and slowly walks outside the palace doors.

He walks down the large steps, where now the injured are being tended to and strucken with relief as they are now safe. They know not what has transpired. None of them know of his son, so none of them know of his pain. Correction.

None shall know of his pain.

He ascends into the atmosphere of the moon, staring off into the black abyss.

Minutes pass by and he simply waits. Waits for a boom tube to open up, so that Apokoliptian ships can pass through and he can bring them to their doom. Punish them. Punish Kalibak the Cruel in any way possible by destroying more and more of his forces.

Come through, Black Bolt thinks. He yearns. His blood starts to boil, and his powers start to charge up and swell in a way they rarely do as the King of the Inhumans is forever always in control.

Come through, Blackagar pleas.

Take me instead, he wishes. Give back my son, and take me, he cries.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/dhunter22/467729-black_bolt_cliff_rathburn01.jpg

"COME THROOOOOOOUUUUGGHHHH!!"

Come through. Simply...would you please come through?

The King is broken.

bkhedr

12-30-2011, 03:39 AM

After listening to this maniac go on and on about this Hand, Beast, and life being God's mistake, I immediately realize that this isn't going to end with a capture. This guy is going to fight till the end. Which means I'm going to as well. He isn't taking me down, and he isn't going to kill any more innocent people.

"I'm never unfocused," I say as I push off the Gorgon with my shield and go into a backflip, gaining some room between the two of us. Then I perform a risky gambit.

I toss my shield diagonally towards a building across the street and rush my opponent unprotected. His attention is focused squarely on me, which allows my shield to strike him across the face. I then drive my knee into his chin, staggering him backwards.

But my advantage is short lived, as one of his ninja allies attempts to attack me from behind. I manage to dodge his strikes, and as he raises his blade for another slice, an arrowhead emerges through his chest. I look up to see Hawkeye and the rest of my team engaged with the members of the hand, "Go get him, Cap. We'll take care of the riff-raff."

"Thanks, Hawkeye," I respond, turning back as the Gorgon slices at me with his sword. "Looks like it's just me and you now."

I manage to deflect most of his strikes with my shield, but eventually he lands a gash across my chest. It's not life-threatening, especially with my powers, but it sends a wave of pain through me, breaking my concentration for a second, allowing another slice across my thigh.

The second slice puts me into desperation mode. This man won't think twice about killing me, and I need all my wits about me to survive. He moves like lightening with another downward strike, which I evade by pushing off on my bad leg, with another spark of pain.

But I still have the time to attack, driving my shield under the Gorgon's chin with a sickening crack. I stand and fall into a defensive position, ready for the inevitable next attack.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5344/1168718-gorgon_01.jpg

"Most impressive Steven." The Gorgon said, recovering quickly from the Captain's most recent blow "But you're wrong about one thing..."

The Gorgon launched himself towards the Captain with incredible speed. Moving far faster than he had at any point in the battle thus far. Captain America impressed the Gorgon yet again by following his movements and bringing his shield around to defend himself.

But he wasn't fast enough.

"...I'm not going to kill you yet." he added as the Captain let out an involuntary yell of pain and dropped to one knee with an angry red gash across his back.

The Captain fought through the pain and swung his shield, aiming for the Gorgon's head, but the Hand master weaved away from the blow with precision smoothness then jumped on top of a street bus that had been abandoned nearby when the fighting started.

"Be thankful that allowing you to live serves my purpose for the moment Captain." He said as a pair of ninja took up positions on either side of him and brandished their weapons.

"I leave you now in the capable hands of my clan brothers" He said as the ninja attacked the Captain, preventing him from reaching the Gorgon "I assure you they will fight to the death."

The Gorgon was then engulfed in a bright light and in an instant he was gone by means of a personal teleportation device leaving Captain America and his team occupied with a dozen hand assasins.

bkhedr

12-30-2011, 05:25 AM

Byrd Man

12-31-2011, 12:25 PM

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb232/byrdRPG/Banner.jpg

Previously

Present Day
Foster-Blake Free Clinic
Spanish Harlem

"Good morning, Mister Garcia," I say as I limp into the examination room. The elderly Latino man is sitting on the table.

"Good morning, Doctor Blake."

Juan Garcia is an 80 year old widower and Cuban expatriate. He's been through some stuff in his eight decades on this Earth. He worked fields in Cuba, fought a revolution, sailed across the ocean on a raft with his pregnant wife and two kids, found the American dream, and buried his wife four years ago when she gave in to the stomach cancer she had been battling for over five years. He's as tough as nails, and isn't afraid to speak his mind. Of all the patients I see, he is without a doubt my favorite one.

"How are we today?"

"Good. My neck is bothering me again."

Six months ago, I found out that Mr. Garcia had a ruptured disc at the top of his spine.

"Same place as before?"

"Si."

"Well, let me check it out and I'll see what I can do."

I limp over to Mr. Garcia and gently place my hands on the back of his neck.

"Hmm...yeah, I can feel it. I think it's flared up again. Alright, let me write you a prescription."

"...No, please. I cannot afford it."

"It's okay. I know this pharmacist in Midtown. He owes me a favor. He'll cut you a deal on your medicine. I'll also call up a friend of mine at Lenox Hill, he can see about getting you an MRI. I want to get your neck looked at in case it's something else."

"Thank you, Doctor Blake. I'm sorry I cannot pay."

I nod and write out a prescription, handing it to Mr. Garcia.

"Don't thank me and don't be sorry. You want to pay me back, get me some tickets to the Mets game. I thought your grandson had at New Shea."

"He walks around the park, selling hotdogs."

"Well pay me in hotdogs."

"I can do that," he says with a laugh. I follow him out the examination room and watch as he heads down the hallway.

"How's his neck?" A voice behind me asks.

I turn around and smile at the dark-haired woman in a lab coat. Dr. Jane Foster, my partner in this little experiment of ours. We worked together at Beth Israel for a few years before striking out on our own. The free clinic is a part-time job, a little act of kindness to balance out our pay clinic downtown.

"I don't know," I say with a frown. "I thought his disc was inflamed...but feeling it, it feels pretty bad. I think it may be in his vertebrae. I'll call Jeff over at Lenox Hill and have him put Mister Garcia through the MRI machine. Hopefully he'll have some results when I get back from Norway."

"Oh, Norway? Getting in touch with your roots, Don?"

"Always wanted to go. I think backpacking through the country for a week should be a good chance to recharge my batteries."

"And you're just leaving me to deal with the two clinics while you tromp through the snow. I see how it is..."

Jane elbows me in the ribs playfully and I laugh.

"Well, you were always the better doctor..."

"True, very true. But compliments aside, when do I go on vacation?"

"Tell you what, I'll let you go when I beat you in a foot race."

"Ha. Very funny."

"I thought so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have patients to see..."

*****

Finnmark County, Norway

The snow crunches beneath my feet as I climb up the hill. Even though it's cold, I've worked up quite a sweat. Maybe backpacking across Norway in the dead of winter with a lame leg isn't the best of ideas, but I wanted to do this. It's something I need to prove to myself. I finally come to the top of the hill, panting and sweaty. I start to limp down the hill when I hit a patch of ice.

"GAH!"

I smack down on the ice and begin to roll down the hill. I come across a patch of semi-melted ice that gives way. I fall down into the dark. My body slaps against the cold ground and I groan. I self-diagnose myself as I lay there on he ground. My ribs are bruised, but not broken, and my legs feel relatively alright. My head is okay, doesn't feel like I have any signs of concussion. Picking myself up, I look around the cold, dark cave I managed to fall in. The air inside is stale, like it's been sealed off for sometime. Looking up at the hole I fell through doesn't make me feel any better about where I am. The hole is too far up to climb through.

I limp through the dark and see a shaft of light peeking through another crack in the ice. Resting inside the cave is a wooden stick.

"A walking stick," I mutter under my breath. "How hilarious."

I made vow not to use a walking stick after my accident. I didn't need one. But with how I'm feeling, I could use one. I pick the stick up and run my fingers up and down it. Even in the dim light I can see something engraved on the stick. Their words, but I don't know what language they're in. Looks like Norwegian...but just a bit off. There's something about it. Maybe my hands are shaking, but there's a soft vibration coming from that. I swear I can hear quiet hum coming from the stick. Like...like it's calling to me.

Tap it, a little voice says from inside my head. Tap it and be chosen.

I rap a knuckle against the stick. Feels solid. I bring the stick down on the cave floor and tap it twice.

KRAKOOOM!!!

Bright white flashes through the cave and blinds me. Suddenly....

I remember.

I remember it all.

Brooklyn
Now

I wake up on the floor of my apartment, my hiking gear still on and my head pounding like I've been on a two-day liquor binge.
"Ohhh," I moan as I pick myself up off the floor. I'm aching and sore all over, barely able to limp to the couch. I flop down on the couch and sigh, reaching for the remote on the couch's arm. The TV flicks on and I turn it to CNN.

"-pressed for comment, the Navy spokesman declined to comment on the identity of the figure seen in the amateur video. He would only say that the person, whoever they are, was not affiliated with the US Armed Forces."

I groan again and lean back on the couch. I feel like the floorboard of a taxi physically, but inside I couldn't feel any better.

Finnmark County, Norway
24 Hours Earlier

The entrance to the cave Donald Blake fell into crumbled as the figure shot out of the cave and flew upward into the sky. The large man had the hammer in his steel grip as the two rocketed into the stratosphere.

The mortal man Donald Blake had been replaced by his true identity, the god that he had been for thousands of years. Thirty years he had spent inside his mortal form, and now he was back.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb232/byrdRPG/Thor.jpg

Thor Odinson, the God of Thunder had returned.

Brooklyn
Now

I pick myself up off the couch after an hour's nap. I limp into my bedroom where, among all the clutter, is the wooden walking stick I found in Norway. I sit down on the bed and pick the stick off the floor, running my hands over its carvings. The past day has been...crazy, to say the least. All these memories, running through my head. What am I, exactly? Am I Donald Blake? Was I ever truly him, or was he just a vessel for my other self?

Off the Coast of Japan
8 Hours Earlier

Panic was beginning to strike the island nation, after another earthquake had rocked the country. Not as bad as the one earlier this year, but enough to send out the dreaded warning that a tsunami had been spotted in the ocean, heading west towards Japan.

Three miles off the coast, eighteen ships apart of the US Navy's 7th fleet were pulling up their anchors and preparing to move out. On the bridge of the USS Blue Ridge, Vice-Admiral Marcus J. Peters nervously watched as the small fleet began to move in the water. The tsunami was thirty miles out, hopefully there would be enough time for the ships to escape it.

"Incoming, sir," Lieutenant Jacobs on the bridge announced. "It's the tsunami wave. Ten miles out!"

"What?!" Peters roared. "You said it was thirty miles out!"

"They must have miscalculated, sir."

"Send word to the fleet. Kill their engines, embrace for impact," Admiral Peters said with a sigh. Peters began to pray under his breath.

"Wait," Jacobs announced. "Something else is coming in."

"What?"

"A storm..."

Peters walked across the bridge and looked down at the weather radar display. A huge storm, nearly ten miles wide and twenty miles long, was racing across the Pacific to meet the tsunami. Hurricane level winds and rains were just two miles away from their location.

Peters jumped up and looked out the windows of the bridge. Massive black clouds were forming off in the horizon. Lightning flashed and streaked across the sky, thunder boomed and the winds from the storm made the ships bounce along the choppy waves.

"Where's the wave?" Peters asked. "Why isn't it hit us yet?"

"I don't know," Jacobs said. "But...the storm...it's pushed the tsunami back."

"How?"

"I don't know, sir."

The two Naval officers looked outside the window as there was a break through the clouds.

"Admiral," Jacobs said dumfounded. "I don't-"

"I know, Lieutenant...I see it, too."

There, amongst the lightning, the rain, and the winds, a figure tore from the clouds and flew over the 7th Fleet, the storm dissipating as soon the figure departed from it. Peters and Jacobs watched the man fly over their ship, lightning crackling from his body as he flew.

http://i43.tinypic.com/wk44rc.jpg

Brooklyn
Now

My stomach rumbles, putting all other speculation to rest. Picking myself up off the bed, I head towards the kitchen. After a breakfast of cold pizza, I limp back to the bedroom and pick the stick back up.

I've been limping since that accident ten years ago. Ten years as a semi-cripple, always having to limp where ever I go. Now, I have a chance to become something else...something more.

I take the stick and limp up to the roof of my apartment building. Making sure the coast is clear, I take the stick and tap it twice on the roof.

KRAKOOM!

In a dazzling flash of lightning and wind, the Son of Odin took to the sky an disappeared off into the distance.

Asgard

http://i43.tinypic.com/124vhcj.jpg

Positioned on the edge of the Bifrost Bridge, the guardian Heimdall kept his faithful watch, his all-seeing eye gazing over all that transpired in the Nine Realms and Fourth World. He had watched the events of the last 24 hours with interest.

"My king," he quietly said, knowing that his words would find his ears. "Your son has awoken. Thor Odinson is back."

Byrd Man

01-01-2012, 12:52 AM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

Hellfire Club
Manhattan

I run through the corridors of the club as some of the members watch me run by with slack-jawed looks on their faces.

"Going somewhere, Wayne?" Shaw says as he jumps out a doorway and shoves me against the wall, pinning my shoulders against the wall. I struggle against his powerful grip. It's like being trapped in a vice. I land a punch to Shaw's ribcage and wince in pain. He laughs and tightens his grip.

"Kind of like punching a brick wall, right? Come on, hit me again. Give me your best shot."

Shaw relents for a moment, allowing me enough wiggle room to slam both hands into Shaw's ears.

"Ahhh!"

He yells in pain and stumbles backwards disoriented. I shove away from him and make a dash for the front door. I'm out the brownstone and jogging down the New York street a minute later. I pull my phone out and dial Alfred.

"Alfred, I'm down the block. Come pick me up."

"On my way."

Five minutes later, I'm in the car with Alfred headed downtown. I take off my sport coat and unbutton the vest that's over my dress shirt.

"Where to, sir?"

"Back to the hotel. The sun should be setting soon. I have a meeting I need to take."

Midtown, Manhattan

Dressed in my Batman gear, I perch on the rooftop of a highrise and look down on the city. A far off roar fills the air and grows louder and louder. Streaking out the sky, Tony lands on the roof in his Iron Man armor. His faceplate opens up as he turns to look at me.

Identified:
Anthony Stark "Iron Man"
Owner/CEO Stark Enterprises
Weaknesses: N/A. In need of further data

"Aww, don't you look cute in your little tights."

"I have an EMP discharger. I'm not afraid to use it."

"Jeez, how about you buy a sense of humor? Or has the recession hit you harder than I thought? I could always lend you the money to buy one."

"How'd it go in Tennessee?"

"Well, the Aryan Army won't be doing much terroristic stuff from now on. Hard to do that when it's nothing but rubble. The good general and I had a little chat. His little bunch of rednecks had a deal with the Hellfire Club. Apparently he used to be a member."

"He was, back when he was actually useful to them. All records of his membership were wiped from the club when he was dishonorably discharged from the army."

"How'd you know that?"

I pull a small black device from my belt and hold it up.

"I planted a bug on Shaw when I met today. Something is up about the Hellfire Club. Him and two of the other members attacked me today. They knew I was up to something. One of them was a telepath, the other two had unique abilities. I think they were mutants."

"Mutants...Did they find out that we were on to them?"

"No, but I was lucky. I've had training in how to block out probes. That's why they attacked. The telepath knew I was blocking her."

"A her, huh? Maybe when all of this is over..."

"What did Kreigkopf want your sonic weapon for?"

"He didn't know. Swore he didn't. He was just supposed to buy the gun and wait for further orders."

I nod and activate the listening device. Tony and I listen in as Shaw and Vertigo talk.

"We just got word from Tennessee. Kreigkopf and his men were attacked by Iron Man. Their headquarters and all their weapons were destroyed."

"Something is wrong here, Werner. Two nights after Batman breaks up our arms deal, Stark shows up at Kreigkopf's camp and destroys it. On top of that, Bruce Wayne comes out of the blue to our doorstep with a mind trained to ward off telepathic probes."

"Where does Wayne fit into this?"

"I'm not certain, but I have a good idea...Send word to Tessa. We're moving to our back-up plan. Call JFK and have them get my private jet ready. She's to be in Los Angeles before the sunrises here in New York."

"Very good. On my way."

Vertigo's footfalls echo as he walks out the room. I switch off the device and turn to Tony.

"How fast can you get us to LA?"

Los Angeles, CA
3:29 AM

Tony's private jet touches down at LAX and begins to taxi. Inside the jet, Tony has a red briefcase in his lap and I have a briefcase down by my side.

"Do we know what we're looking for yet?" Tony asks.

"Not yet. Alfred," I say into the bluetooth in my ear. "Have you found out who Tessa is?"

"I believe I have, sir."

"Let me talk to him," Tony says as he gets up and reaches for my bluetooth.

"No. You don't like Alfred."

"That's never stopped me before! C'mon, let me talk to him!"

"Stop!" I growl, grabbing Tony's wrist and using his momentum to toss hm to the floor of the plane.

"Go ahead, Alfred."

"Tessa is a listed member of the Hellfire Club. From the what I'm seeing on the computer, she acts as Shaw's right hand woman."

"Ow...I think you broke my wrist..."

"It's not broken, its just sprained. A light sprain at that. Do you know if her flight has left New York yet?"

"Yes, sir. I've pulled up the FAA radar and her flight is just passing over the Rockies now. I say, how did you beat her to LA?"

"Tony's plane is faster."

"Stark X-01, fastest private jet in the world."

"Well, according to the flight plan her pilot filed with the FAA, there are five other passengers on her flight."

"I expected some sort of escort or security force to accompany her. Keep digging into what's going on in LA that the Hellfire Club may be involved in. Find out what Shaw and his interests have been doing over the past year. Whatever he's up to, this isn't an overnight thing. He's been planning it. Tony and I are on the move."

"Very good, sir."

I disconnect the bluetooth and turn to Tony, who's sitting on the floor and rubbing his wrist. I hold my hand out and help him up on his feet.

"What did Jeeves have to say? He complain about having to dust?"

I ignore Tony's quip and grab my briefcase. Inside the case is all the equipment and gear I may need.

"Why do you even have a butler? What kind of butling does he do for you?"

"Enough," I bark out. "Tony, you're my friend and I've always liked you, but enough about Alfred. We need to focus. We have work to do."

"Master Bruce, I just found something of interest..."

"What is it?"

"Over the past two years, Shaw has been buying diamond mining companies and the mining rights to countries all over the world through shell companies. The odd thing is that he hasn't bought any in Africa. I was under the impression that African countries produced the largest amount of diamonds..."

Alfred's voice fades away and something from a few weeks ago comes back to me. An investment opportunity Lucius told me about....African diamonds...Suddenly, it clicks.

"Alfred. I know what it is..."

I turn to Tony and grab him by the shoulders.

"I've got it! I need to take your jet back to New York."

"We just got here..."

"I know, which is why I need you to stay out here and stop Shaw's plan. I'm going back to New York to take the fight to him."

"So you know what he's up to?"

"Yes. You need to put a stop to it. Here's the plan, listen very carefully..."

IKB

01-01-2012, 10:07 AM

IC: WINTER SOLDIER

Something's wrong.

For the first time in my life, with an enemy between my sights, I can't pull the trigger. His name is Gavril Ivanovich, better known as Rocket Red. For the past hour Ivanovich has chased me across the rooftops of Moscow, attempting to sear my very being from the face of the Earth.

He thinks I murdered his Prime Minister.

He's right.

Now, laying broken and beaten before me, I can't do what he would have so easily have done to me.

A well-timed EMP had taken him out of the sky and my robotic arm had taken care of the rest, tearing the suit open like a can of tuna.

I holster my Luger and prop his crumpled and bleeding body up against a wall. He's alive, but at this rate he'll bleed out within half an hour. Drifting in and out of consciousness he looks at me, confused, before gathering up enough effort to spit in my face.

"<Murderer...>" he mutters with malice.

I wipe the blood from my face and retrieve a cell phone from my satchel. I tap in a few buttons and place the phone next to my ear as I kick some snow over the ledge of the rooftop and watch it tumble down to the sidewalk below.

"<That favour you owe me? I'm calling it in. I've got a friend in desperate need of medical help. I'll send you the location.>"

I flip the phone shut and place it back inside my satchel as I glance across Moscow's skyline.

I take one last look at Gavril Ivanovich; his archaic armour, covered in blood, and emblazoned in the hammer and sickle. A man out of his time, as I am. A relic of an age long since passed. He nods at me, as if to acknowledge our kinship despite his personal dislike of me, and I disappear off into the snow.

There is work still to be done.

sumowrestler

01-01-2012, 05:33 PM

As Jordan continues to keep watch on the streets, something flies over the city with fire and smoke trailing it. He then sees fire trucks and police cars drive by along with a police helicopter fly by trying to see where the UFO lands. Expecting a huge explosion with a bright flash, Jordan flies up a bit higher to watch where it lands. To his surprise, all he heard was a loud thud with some metal being smashed with the object landing in the city garbage dump. Dust and small debris flies up from the landing. Then what looks like a green energy field surrounds the craft as the police and fire trucks arrive.

"Good to hear that things went smoothly, GA. You won't have to worry about the police bothering you. A space craft just landed outside of the city in the city dump. If anything, you have as much of a clean exit as one could ever expect. I'm going to investigate unless you really want me to join you in your next location. Another option is that you can come and play hero with me and investigate this object before too many people get their eyes where it may cause them trouble. You shouldn't be poking your head but space is sort of my realm and my bosses be upset if I ignored this craft."

Not really waiting on Arrow's response, Jordan flies towards the landed craft. He notices that the police and fire department have already surrounded the craft. Jordan lands next to the ranking police officer.

"Excuse me officer, do you have any idea what that thing is?"

"I don't know, it just landed a few minutes ago. We haven't heard anything threatening come from it. A rookie was brave or crazy enough to walk up to the force field. He touched it and no harm came to him but a strange message about not enough will power came from the ship."

The commanding officer then turns to Jordan and jumps back.

"Who in tarn heels are you? Wait, I think I remember hearing over the radio of someone like you helping stop some bank robbers over the radio."

"The name is Green Lantern. I'm a visiting hero to this city. I usually reside in Coast City but looking for a new place to call home. You said something about will power and the ship."

The police officer recomposes himself a little bit more as Jordan introduced himself and asked about the message again.

"Yeah, Green Lantern, it mention something about not enough will power, whatever that meant. The only other strange thing is that it seemed to be absorbing some of the materials around. People reported it as possibly burning on the way down with smoke."

"I saw the same thing and that is why I came to investigate. Since it hasn't shown to be hostile, have you tried to contact it"

"This isn't usually my area of expertise. Our hostage negoiator is coming to talk to it. We have also alerted NASA so they probably be here shortly."

"Hostage negoiator? I would be surprised there is anyone in there that it has kidnapped, at any humans that we know about. I'm not sure if NASA would have been the best to contact either. Let me see about this, ok?"

"Um...sure it will be a few minutes before anyone else will get here besides the gockers."

Jordan starts walking towards the force field. The energy almost looks exactly like he uses. As he walks, a green beam shoots out of the top of the ship and hits Jordan. Showing no fear, he stands there letting the beam scan him. He then hears guns load and readied to fire. Hal then turns around.

"Put the guns down. I am coming to no harm. I think it is just looking me over. Do not aggravate this circumstance."

Jordan then turns back around. The beam latches on to his green ring.

"Great will power and lack of fear detected. You may enter ring bearer of the emerald light."

A hole a couple inches taller and wider then Jordan opens in front of him. He walks towards it and enters the dome. The hole quickly closes behind him.

Jordan walks up towards the alien craft. As he approaches it, he sees a very familiar symbol on what looks like a door. It is the symbol that is on his chest and the ring. This puzzles him but he knows very little about the Corps since he only been a member for a year at most. Maybe this is a ship they use but the Guardians would have notified him that they were sending a ship to him. However, this idea still didn't make sense because he has yet to see any such ships on Oa and all of the GLs use their ring to fly. So the big question is who sent this ship that has his Corps' symbol on it. There is only one way to find out and that is to see who is home. Hal floats up to the symbol and puts his ring hand on it. The door immediately opens up. He then enters the ship expecting something but not really sure what. There was no welcoming committee even though he is certain that whoever is on board knows he is there. His shield is up and ready for anything on the inside but trying to remain calm on the outside. Inside of the ship was mostly a white but had seven lines going all over it in what looks like random patterns. Jordan recognized the colors as the same ones in the rainbow including what he thinks is indigo. He never really paid that close attention to the rainbows unless he was flying and saw one. The colors seem to jump from one line to the next but whenever the green was close to his ring, it seemed to brighten up.

"Hello, anyone flying this thing? What do you want with me?"

A holographic green arrow shows up a few feet in front of him pointing down the hallway. Not know what else to do, he decides to follow it. The arrow guides him around the corridors and up a set of stairs to what he figures is the bridge. There he sees a robed figure who turns around. Before him stands a very beautiful woman who has four arms, a smooth tail, blocky ears and possible translucent skin. The green pigment seems to be almost moving underneath her skin as if it was a liquid.

"Welcome, wearer of the green light. I have urgent business with you. My ship is almost fixed thanks to the supplies that this patch of land has provided. They aren't the best quality but will work just as well. It does surprise me that so many operational things are mixed in with what appears to be dysfuntional items. This is a very peculiar planet from my scans when I entered the atmosphere."

"Yeah, we have a tendency to toss out perfectly good pieces of equipment or people just because we bought the newest thing. We, as Americans, can be very wasteful. So what business you have for me? By the way, prefer to be called Green Lantern if that helps."

A series of beeps ring out in the bridge and the ship shakes a little.

"Ah good, the ship is fully repaired and refueled. The wonders of energy converters and multi-fuel adapters. You mgiht want to take a seat over there."

"Will the take off harm the police and fire departments that are around this ship?"

"I've got no intentions of harming anyone. A green field will be around the blast zone to make sure only the ground and possibly surrounding debris will be affected.

Jordan takes the indicated chair as the alien takes the center chair. He now sees part of the officers and the green shield through what looks like a window. The green shield starts coming towards the ship as he feels it slowly take off. The alien kept her word as the only thing affected from the lift off was whatever was inside the green shield which created a good size hole in the ground. Once they were several hundred feet above the ground, the remaining green energy came back into the ship. He notices that right after the energy entered the ship, the woman sighed relief and looked brighter then a few moments ago. Once they were out of Earth's atmosphere, the alien gets out of her chair and indicates to Jordan to follow her.

"Green Lantern, my name is Hezolya. I'm one of seven left of my race. We are Priests of the Light. We can tap into the Emotional Spectrum similar to your Guardians of Oa but in a different way."

"Emotional what? You lost me there lady. How do you know about the Guardians?"

"The Emotional Spectrum is seven lights that represent seven emotions or motivations. The center, green which is will power, isn't really an emotion but the balance of them all. Your Guardians believe it is the complete removal or ignoring of emotions which had cost them once already. You will be amazed at the history your Guardians have and to my surprise they almost treat it with disdain due to their arrogance. This is why I needed to find one of your light bearers so you will know the truth. The truth will be revealed once we reach our destination."

"What destination is that? Why did you glow as the energy from the force field re-enter the ship?"

"The Temple of Light, of course. As for my sudden radiance, my race can directly tap into the light of their choosing but in doing so they are permanently bonded to it and it becomes their life force. We were chosen to keep up the Temple of Light and watch over the seven entities that rested their. Ion, the green entity, recently woke up and left its resting sancutary. I wouldn't be too surprised that it heads directly towards Oa to enter the main green energy chamber. This was fortold long ago in the Book of Light with a warning that soon the other Lights would reawaken as well. The Reawakening is proper and good but a concern among my people is that the Lights will come into conflict again and history will repeat itself. This is what we want to avoid. If the Lights can co-exist, then the universe will be truly blessed. If not, then the universe will be at a very dire state once again.

"OK, right now you are sharing more information then the Guardians usually do but still in the same cryptic way. I've only been a Green Lantern for about a year so not totally used to how they go about things. The Guardians never said of any other races being able to tap into the Green light like they can. As far as I knew, only the ones with the green ring or one of the Guardians could tap into it. What other colors are there? Are these other six entities part of the colors? Will anything happen to the Central Power Battery when this Ion enters it?"

"My race can tap into the Emotional Spectrum but nothing like the Oans since they were granted control over it. I can use it to partially power this ship but as you can imagine with the Light being my life force, I have to be very careful. It would surprise me that Ion would intentionally harm anyone on Oa or would destroy the main green energy chamber on purpose. If anything, Ion is very laid back and gentle as your race would understand. If I could see an example of this chamber so I know for certain that it would be able to hold Ion, it would help me explain things."

Jordan looks at the alien and hesitates about summoning his battery from subspace. He then remembers that it has been a while since he charged up and if this little adventure proves to be either a trap or dangerous, it would be better to be on a full charge. Could he trust this alien to not somehow steal his battery especially since if the alien is correct it would basically be a huge banquet for her? He then decides to bring it out. If the alien tries anything, he could escape the ship and seriously damage it. It didn't look like it had any weapons. Then he realized that if the alien wanted the energy, she could have tried to take his ring and suck it dry. Jordan turns a little to his side as the green battery appears. Hezolya's eyes light up as she sees the battery appears. She then begins to glow and have an expression of ultimate joy all over her body. Jordan recites the oath before anything could happen.

"In Brightest Day, in Blackest Night
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power...Green Lantern's Light."

After the ring is charged, Jordan puts the battery back. He then turns his attention back to a very much glowing Hezolya.

"That...that was exhilerating. I've never been so close to an concentrated source of the green energy. I'm not sure if I ever felt this alive or young. If your main green energy chamber is of same or similiar shape but bigger, it should easily hold Ion and its vast amount of power."

Jordan takes a few steps back and looks at her funny. The glow is a little bright and she does look younger and even more beautiful once you get past the extra set of arms.

"Yeah, the Central Power Battery is probably hundred fold bigger then mine and about the same shape even though I don't think it has the handle. It would have to be someone pretty big to hold it like I was holding mine."

"Good to hear. Ion will have plenty of room then to float around and enjoy being around a concentrated amount of the green energy of will power. It is very possible that the Guardians will notice Ion in the battery even if they don't see it go in."

"So what will be the signs of these other lights showing up? What emotions are tied to them? What other colors are they?"

"You probably could guess the colors since you seen them along the pathis in the walls of this ship. The emotions are rage, avarice, fear, will power, hope, compassion, and love. Their respective colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. That is the Emotional Spectrum. As for any signs of the other six showing up, it is uncertain except that colors of all seven will be flying through the cosmos. My brothers and sisters don't know what forms the lights will take but most likely they will follow the pattern of the Oans and be rings of some sort."

Andy C.

01-01-2012, 08:47 PM

"Twenty dead cops.....twenty dead ****in' cops......" Sal Maroni groaned to himself. He had no love for the GCPD, of course, but a body-count like that was going to come back to haunt him. When that many police officers die--one of them the Commissioner himself--it wasn't simple cops and robbers anymore, but an outright declaration of war. "You said you were gonna help me get rid of this ****ing looney-toon that's been shooting up my businesses, and instead you bring a goddamn war on us?!"

"Heh, you can question my methods," said the Joker, on his knees before Maroni with two of the Boss's henchmen aiming shotguns at his head, "but you can't question the results. Well, heh, I guess you can at the moment, but this is still the setup!"

"Well, you'd better have a really ****ing good punchline, clown," Sal sneered, "or I'm gonna be very upset."

"Oh, my punchlines are the best, Sal," the Joker said. "But if you think I'm giving away the gag now, then you're crazy! Well, maybe I'm crazy, heh, but I'm still not going to tell. Timing is everything, y'know."

One of Maroni's thugs chambered a slug in his shotgun, ready to blast the clown's skull clean off.

"Talk," Maroni growled, his patience long gone, "or die."

The sickly pale man rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but I'll only tell it to you directly," he said with resignation.

Just as the two henchmen lowered their shotguns, the Joker leaped to his feet, snatching the chambered shotgun out of the hands of the first thug and pulling the trigger. The noise from the blast was deafening in such a small room, as the lead slug punched through the gangster's chest, gibbets of gore and shredded organs exploding out of the gaping exit wound in his back.

Before the first henchman could respond, the Joker spun and slammed the butt of the shotgun into his nose, pushing the cartilage up into the man's brain. The man shuddered violently for a moment, blood pouring from his nostrils, then fell dead to the floor.

"Now that it's just you and me," the Joker said, his smile growing as Maroni fumed impotently, "I guess I can tell you a little bit about the gag. I'm here because you wanted this vigilante of yours out of the way, right?"

Maroni nodded frantically.

"Well since we don't know where he is or how to find him, the obvious solution is to bring him to us!" he said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "The city's in uproar, everyone wants the cop-killer brought in and strung up, and then it just happens to be let out that the butcher of Gotham Central is working for one Salvatore Maroni--say, from an anonymous tip that I called in before you and your boys dragged me here."

The Boss looked at the Joker with shock and horror.

"The police will start organizing a raid to take you in, but our friend the gunslinger will be sure to beat them to the punch," the Joker explained. "He comes looking for you, but surprise! All he gets is a dose of me."

"Right....right...." Maroni said, trying to muster as much bravado as he could, "So what about the goddamn army of cops coming down on me?!"

"Well, I'd say you should get on the phone with your travel agent," the clown grinned. "I hear the Bahamas are really nice this time of year!"

"You....you ****ing bastard," Maroni sputtered. "You're running me outta town?!"

"Well hey, at least I'm taking care of that vigilante like I said, right? HAAAAHAHAHAHA!"

Still giggling to himself, the Joker turned his back on Maroni and made his way to the door.

"You're dead, clown, you hear me?!" Maroni shouted after him. "You're ****ing dead!"

"Comedy never dies, Sal," the Joker said, turning back to Maroni with a wink. "But you might, if you don't catch the next plane out of Gotham before our friend gets here. And don't worry--I'll take good care of your empire while you're away."

The Joker laughed again, shutting the door behind the Boss as he left. It wouldn't be long before the vigilante came for Maroni. Once he was dead and Sal was disposed of, the Clown Prince of Crime would have a pretty little throne to sit on.

First things first, though; there was still a gun-toting crusader out there who was in desperate need of cheering up.

Byrd Man

01-02-2012, 12:42 AM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

IC: Jim Gordon

Robinson Park
1:48 PM

I walk down the jogging path, stepping aside as a woman jogs up the trail. She shouldn't be here by herself, even in the daytime. Robinson Park isn't the safest place to be in the day, but at night? It becomes a war zone filled with drug dealers, male and female prostitutes, and stick-up boys looking for prey.

I duck into the bathroom off the path and walk to the stall on the far end of the bathrom. There's graffiti spray painted all across the wall. I slide my hands across it and pull a loose brick out of its place. The brick is hollow in the center. I pop open the core and pull out a folded up paper.

Jim,

No ID on heroin poisoner aka "Joker." No matches at all. Level of skill and expertise hints at a chemistry background. Expect further tamperings to follow. Dead drop will be updated when I have more.

B

This is how you communicate and set up meeting times when your partner works outside the law. I have another way we can meet...but it's going to take some time to get it together. In the meantime, this works well.

I take Batman's note and stuff it into my pocket before I leave the stall and go back out to the jogging trail.

Gotham Central
3:10 PM

"What's the count, Soap?" I ask the sergeant inside my office.

"Twenty, sir. Sixteen cops and four suspects."

Sixteen cops and four criminals, Commissioner Loeb among them. They all died in the same way. All of them poisoned. Why them and not everyone else? What did they all get exposed to?

Soap goes to drink a cup of water and it all clicks.

"No!" I knock it from his hands, letting it spill to the ground.

"That's it. That's the only thing it can be."

"What?"

"The water coolers. They all got water from the water coolers. Go get someone to take them all down. NOW!"

Soap runs off and I follow behind him. While he goes down to get help, I go down to the holding cells in the basement. The three men that were working with Joker are sharing a cell. Known as Montana, Fancy Dan, and Ox, they call themselves the Enforcers.

"The three of you are going to tell me all you know about Joker right now."

"Or what?" Ox sneers.

"Or the three of you are being charged with forty counts of murder. Twenty of the junkies, eighteen cops, and two criminals. Forty consecutive life sentences...Now, who wants to go first?"

IC: Jim Gordon

Gotham Central
7:25 PM

I check my watch and then look up at the dozen or so cops crowded inside the MCU squadroom and chatting amongst themselves.

"Alright, listen up." I shout. The room goes quiet and I nod.

"We received an anonymous tip that the poisoner responsible for contaminating the water coolers is being harbored by the Maroni family. This is being corroborated by the accounts of the three men who worked with the tamperer to poison the city's drug supply."

I begin to walk around the room, handing out sheets of paper.

"At nine o'clock, Major Crimes, Homicide, and SWAT will carry out raids on known Maroni family safehouses and fronts. These are the addresses and the assignments. The raids are being split up into two different sections. The two Homicide shifts will team up with two of the SWAT units and raid half the places on the list. The other half will be taken by the two MCU shifts and the other two SWAT units. All the assignments are on the paper you all have. Any questions?"

Nobody makes a comment or raises their hands.

"Good. Now, I know this police department has something of a leakage problem. Not a word of this makes its way to Maroni. If it does...I promise you that if I will find out who did it, and I will make you pay...Soap, Tork and his unit are riding with me and Major O'Hara. We're headed to Maroni's key safehouse on Templeton. There's a little over an hour and a half before we move out. Get ready and get focused. Dismissed."

They all scurry around and start to get ready. I turn back to my office and shut the door.

*****

The East End
7:28 PM

He worked in silence, reassembling the Desert Eagle in his hands. He reattached the slide back on to the chassis and slammed the magazine home. It took him two minutes flat to disassemble and reassemble the weapon. He could do it blindfolded, hanging upside down, in the mud, in the rain, and even in the midst of combat. He liked stripping the weapon and rebuilding it, it reminded him of how he had been stripped down and built back up.

Try as he like, he still couldn't get their screams out of his head. He could still see Frank Jr.'s face, frozen in fear and covered in blood. He could hear his wife begging for mercy, the rapid fire of two machine pistols. He could still feel the warm splash of blood on his face, the blood of his daughter. He could still remember hearing the laugh of the man in the courtroom as he had been acquitted of the crime Frank and his family had witnessed.

He didn't know much about the two men until right before he had killed them, when they told him that they were there that day in the park under orders from Salvatore Maroni. The two men had taken all he had cared about from him, but their boss was to blame.

He looked up from his gun as the cellphone on his workbench vibrated. He picked it up and looked at the text message.

From: Soap

Raid at 9 p.m.,
Maroni's safehouse
708 Templeton

He put the phone to the side and went about to work, gathering up his tools and stuffing them into a duffel bag. He grabbed an assault rifle and put his jacket on. Deep down, in what used to be his heart, he knew that killing Maroni wouldn't make him feel better or give him any kind of closure. Closure was a myth. Something people came up with to make them feel better about their lives. He was no longer interested in lives or the living. Death, the deceased, the soon to be deceased, and war were all he cared about now.

http://i39.tinypic.com/25issns.jpg

If there was one thing Frank Castle was an expert on, it was war.

sumowrestler

01-02-2012, 07:19 PM

Richard is sitting at the kitchen table trying to do his homework. His mom was kind enough not to ask where he been since he got home a whole lot later then he expected even with the excuse of staying late at school for help on a few things. It wouldn't been the first time he stayed after school but it felt wrong lying to his mother since he instead played around with his new powers. The idea of helping a boy, who was a mutant, get out of a situation he was way too used to was a good feeling though. If those bullies were apart of a gang like their clothings suggested, then there might be something he can do to break it up. Gangs were never a good thing as his parents kept reminding him when he was young and even now from time to time. All of these stray thoughts kept him from focusing on his homework which he admittedly is having troubles with. If he expects to get out of the junior year, it might be time to find a tutor or set up a weekly meeting with his math teacher to go over things. Trig was simply kicking his tail in which was odd since both his parents were very good in math. How they were able to take calculus in college is beyond his understanding? He again looks at the numbers but all they do is swim in front of him. Then he heard on the TV news about a mutant attack in Washington, DC which really got his attention. The kid in the alley was the first mutant he saw but the rumors of mutants being around and even possibly in school were common. Richard gave up on his Trig homework and went to the living room to watch the news.

"Hey Mom, can you turn it up? I'm curious what these people have to say about things."

She turns it up and shakes her head after the report is done.

"This is why the mutants need to be registered. They are almost as bad as guns. Those powers of theirs can do all sorts of damage if they aren't careful."

The comment caught Richard off guard. It isn't like his mother to be so judgmental of other people. She never been racist or sexist or any of the other discriminate types. There been times where she surprised him by pointing out very attractive Black and Asian women to him. Both parents would be ok if he dated another race so why would these mutants bother her? He fully understands the concept of uncontroled powers since he is still learning his own. A part of him wishes that there was somewhere or someone who could teach him.

"Well Mom, look at it this way, like gun owners, maybe all they need is proper training in their powers. I'm not sure if the government is willing to do that. I think it is discrimination for the government to have a select people to register just because they are different. It would just be like them having the Asian-American or some other ethnic group register just because they are non-white. Until the mutants do something wrong, let them be."

"I still don't know, Rich, people with their kind of power is rather scary. It might be bad if they had training but might be better for some way that their powers be neutralized so they wouldn't hurt themselves or anyone else."

"So you are saying, to contiue using the gun analogy, that you would want to put a safety device on the mutants? Again this screams discrimination which this country has long fought hard against since your teenage days. "

"Yes, but normal humans can't do much without any weapons of their own. Taking away their powers will be like taking away a gun or knife from a bully. Then you can hopefully convince the bully that violence isn't the best way to solve things."

Richard realzing that his mother won't be able to be convinced otherwise, heads back to the kitchen and opens his Trig book once again with hopes of it making since this time around. Sadly and expectedly, it still confused him but he tried to work on it for the next couple of hours until time for supper.
Richard is sitting at the kitchen table trying to do his homework. His mom was kind enough not to ask where he been since he got home a whole lot later then he expected even with the excuse of staying late at school for help on a few things. It wouldn't been the first time he stayed after school but it felt wrong lying to his mother since he instead played around with his new powers. The idea of helping a boy, who was a mutant, get out of a situation he was way too used to was a good feeling though. If those bullies were apart of a gang like their clothings suggested, then there might be something he can do to break it up. Gangs were never a good thing as his parents kept reminding him when he was young and even now from time to time. All of these stray thoughts kept him from focusing on his homework which he admittedly is having troubles with. If he expects to get out of the junior year, it might be time to find a tutor or set up a weekly meeting with his math teacher to go over things. Trig was simply kicking his tail in which was odd since both his parents were very good in math. How they were able to take calculus in college is beyond his understanding? He again looks at the numbers but all they do is swim in front of him. Then he heard on the TV news about a mutant attack in Washington, DC which really got his attention. The kid in the alley was the first mutant he saw but the rumors of mutants being around and even possibly in school were common. Richard gave up on his Trig homework and went to the living room to watch the news.

"Hey Mom, can you turn it up? I'm curious what these people have to say about things."

She turns it up and shakes her head after the report is done.

"This is why the mutants need to be registered. They are almost as bad as guns. Those powers of theirs can do all sorts of damage if they aren't careful."

The comment caught Richard off guard. It isn't like his mother to be so judgmental of other people. She never been racist or sexist or any of the other discriminate types. There been times where she surprised him by pointing out very attractive Black and Asian women to him. Both parents would be ok if he dated another race so why would these mutants bother her? He fully understands the concept of uncontroled powers since he is still learning his own. A part of him wishes that there was somewhere or someone who could teach him.

"Well Mom, look at it this way, like gun owners, maybe all they need is proper training in their powers. I'm not sure if the government is willing to do that. I think it is discrimination for the government to have a select people to register just because they are different. It would just be like them having the Asian-American or some other ethnic group register just because they are non-white. Until the mutants do something wrong, let them be."

"I still don't know, Rich, people with their kind of power is rather scary. It might be bad if they had training but might be better for some way that their powers be neutralized so they wouldn't hurt themselves or anyone else."

"So you are saying, to contiue using the gun analogy, that you would want to put a safety device on the mutants? Again this screams discrimination which this country has long fought hard against since your teenage days. "

"Yes, but normal humans can't do much without any weapons of their own. Taking away their powers will be like taking away a gun or knife from a bully. Then you can hopefully convince the bully that violence isn't the best way to solve things."

Richard realzing that his mother won't be able to be convinced otherwise, heads back to the kitchen and opens his Trig book once again with hopes of it making since this time around. Sadly and expectedly, it still confused him but he tried to work on it for the next couple of hours until time for supper.

wiegeabo

01-02-2012, 07:44 PM

I scan the law journal with my fingers as the train continues to slow down. For half the trip from New York, the kid sitting opposite me has been staring as I read. His mom has been far more subtle, but I can sense the the changes in her heartbeat, the movement of her head, every time she glances at me. And I'm not oblivious to all the quiet admonishments she gives her son for watching me

I have to hold back a smile. Kids are so honest. They'll drive you complete insane, but at least they're honest. The one thing I hate is how adults get so squeamish being around the disabled, to the point of doing everything they can to avoid even acknowledging the disability. It's rather insulting.

Kids put all the ******** right up front. If only they never outgrew that.

The train finally stops and everyone starts getting up, filing their way towards the exits. I take my cane out of my jacket pocket and extend it out.

"Cool."

I give the kid a smile as his mom leads him outside.

I let the crowd thin out before making my way towards the exit. I carefully walk down the steps, taking pains to make it look like I need to be cautious. I wait for a couple of minutes before I hear a voice ask-

"Mr. Murdock?"

"Yes?"

"I have your bags here sir. If you'll follow me, I'll lead you to the street..."

"Thank you. And if you could call a cab for me..."

"Not a problem, sir."

Within ten minutes, I'm in the cab.

"Where to?"

"Robinson Apartments on 40th street."

"You got it."

It's a short ride there, and along the way I count the ticks on the meter. When we get there, I can smell her scent through the cracked open window. "Need any help with the bags?"

"No, my friend will help me, thanks."

"That'll be $23.43."

Hmm, an honest cabby. I reach into my wallet and grab a folded ten and twenty, handing them to the drive.

"Umm, that's two tens."

Not that honest. Feels like home. "Nice try," I say as I get out.

And I'm greeted with a big hug.

"It's so good to see you. It's been ages."

"Good to be here. How've you been, Vicki?"

Byrd Man

01-02-2012, 08:43 PM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

Los Angeles, CA
3:29 AM

Tony's private jet touches down at LAX and begins to taxi. Inside the jet, Tony has a red briefcase in his lap and I have a briefcase down by my side.

"Do we know what we're looking for yet?" Tony asks.

"Not yet. Alfred," I say into the bluetooth in my ear. "Have you found out who Tessa is?"

"I believe I have, sir."

"Let me talk to him," Tony says as he gets up and reaches for my bluetooth.

"No. You don't like Alfred."

"That's never stopped me before! C'mon, let me talk to him!"

"Stop!" I growl, grabbing Tony's wrist and using his momentum to toss hm to the floor of the plane.

"Go ahead, Alfred."

"Tessa is a listed member of the Hellfire Club. From the what I'm seeing on the computer, she acts as Shaw's right hand woman."

"Ow...I think you broke my wrist..."

"It's not broken, its just sprained. A light sprain at that. Do you know if her flight has left New York yet?"

"Yes, sir. I've pulled up the FAA radar and her flight is just passing over the Rockies now. I say, how did you beat her to LA?"

"Tony's plane is faster."

"Stark X-01, fastest private jet in the world."

"Well, according to the flight plan her pilot filed with the FAA, there are five other passengers on her flight."

"I expected some sort of escort or security force to accompany her. Keep digging into what's going on in LA that the Hellfire Club may be involved in. Find out what Shaw and his interests have been doing over the past year. Whatever he's up to, this isn't an overnight thing. He's been planning it. Tony and I are on the move."

"Very good, sir."

I disconnect the bluetooth and turn to Tony, who's sitting on the floor and rubbing his wrist. I hold my hand out and help him up on his feet.

"What did Jeeves have to say? He complain about having to dust?"

I ignore Tony's quip and grab my briefcase. Inside the case is all the equipment and gear I may need.

"Why do you even have a butler? What kind of butling does he do for you?"

"Enough," I bark out. "Tony, you're my friend and I've always liked you, but enough about Alfred. We need to focus. We have work to do."

"Master Bruce, I just found something of interest..."

"What is it?"

"Over the past two years, Shaw has been buying diamond mining companies and the mining rights to countries all over the world through shell companies. The odd thing is that he hasn't bought any in Africa. I was under the impression that African countries produced the largest amount of diamonds..."

Alfred's voice fades away and something from a few weeks ago comes back to me. An investment opportunity Lucius told me about....African diamonds...Suddenly, it clicks.

"Alfred. I know what it is..."

I turn to Tony and grab him by the shoulders.

"I've got it! I need to take your jet back to New York."

"We just got here..."

"I know, which is why I need you to stay out here and stop Shaw's plan. I'm going back to New York to take the fight to him."

"So you know what he's up to?"

"Yes. You need to put a stop to it. Here's the plan, listen very carefully..."

Hellfire Club
Manhattan
8:24 AM

I walk through the shadows inside the Hellfire Club's lounge. Even though the sun is up in New York, Shaw sits alone in the lounge, the window covered by drapes.

"Back so soon, Bruce?" He asks. In front of him is a chessboard. He's playing both sides. "I figured with how we ended thing yesterday, you'd be wary to come back."

"I don't plan on staying long, Shaw."

I walk up to Shaw and look down at him.

"Care to play a game with me, Bruce?"

He looks up at me and smiles, his eyes twinkling in the dim light.

"I warn you, I'm good."

I sit down on the opposite side of the table, taking the white pieces.

"I'll try to keep up."

Shaw slides a pawn across the board and I do the same with one of my pieces.

"It's going down in LA right now, isn't it?"

He smirks and moves one of his knights.

"What do you think?"

******

In Los Angeles, it was still dark. The sun wasn't going to rise for another hour. The dark van sped down the street, coming to a sliding stop outside the building. Six masked and armed assailants leaped out the van, assault rifles in their hands. They ran up the steps towards the building, firing bursts of bullets into the glass doors leading into the lobby. The glass shattered and they raced through the broken doors into the lobby of the newly minted International Diamond Reserve.

******

I counter, pulling one of my knights out into the field of play.

"Diamonds. That's what your after."

Shaw smiles lightly and captures my knight with his pawn.

"Theft? Is that what you think this is about. I'm disappointed, Bruce. Beneath your frat boy ways, I assumed there was some sort of intellect there."

I take his pawn with another one of my pawns.

"No. Buying up the wholesalers, the rights to mining companies all over the world. Theft's not your goal at all. It's destruction."

******

The masked assailants burst out of the stairwell and move through the hallways of the Diamond Reserve with clockwork precision.

"Hold up," the leader of the group said. Turning the face them, the leader demasked, revealing a young woman with dark black hair. "This as good place as any. We don't have long. Let's set it up."

The men under her command nodded and began to go about their work. Within a minute, a bomb was set up and rigged in the hallway. The timer was set to a minute.

******

Shaw moves his rook out, capturing my bishop. I counter with my queen, taking down his rook and a pawn in one swift move.

"All the mines in Africa send their uncut and unsold diamonds to the exchange in LA. Your lackeys destroy the reserve, and 80% of the world's diamond supply. It'll take years to get the worldwide supply of diamonds back to where it is now. The owner of the other 20% of diamonds left? Why, it just so happens to be Sebastian Shaw. You'll dominate the market for years to come."

"Impressive," Shaw concedes. He cuts through one of my pawns with his knight and sets it up just outside of my king. "But it doesn't matter one bit if you're in New York and the diamonds are in LA. Check."

I nod and take my other knight across the board, taking down his queen.

"Lucky for me I have friends."

******

The bomb was in place and armed. The rest of Shaw's goons began to retreat as the woman prepared to activate the timer. Suddenly, she heard from downstairs as automatic fire echoed through the building. A scream went out and more fire followed more screams. She turned just as the armor clad man appeared out of the stairwell.

"I would say stop," he said, striking her with a blast of his repulsor ray. "But I know you wouldn't."

The woman was knocked off her feet and Iron Man hurried across the room. He looked down at the bomb and saw there was only thirty seconds left.

"Dammit."

Picking the bomb up, he activated the boosters in his boots and flew through the hallway, crashing out the window and flying into the sky. He reached the ocean and let go of the bomb, turning and flying as it went off.

BOOOM!

The force of the bomb knocked him off course and into freefall. Adjusting his flight path, he landed hard on the beach and slid across the sand until he stopped.

"Bruce," he said, activating the phone in his armor. "It's taken care of. You're damn sure lucky I like you..."

******

"Thanks for your help, Tony...yeah, I'll see you when you get back."

I hang up my phone, tucking it back into my suit.

"Looks like you're buddies just got caught. LAPD is rounding them up as we speak."

I move a rook into position, blocking his king.

"Check."

Shaw takes one of his pawns and takes out my queen, sliding within reach of my king.

"So, no money? So what? I'm a billionaire...just like you, Mister Wayne. Only difference is that I don't have a big secret. Check."

I look at Shaw, trying to anticipate the thoughts going on underneath his cocky exterior.

"I have no secrets, Shaw."

"Oh, really? Those hillbilly fools I hire to take down the diamond reserve get taken down by both Iron Man and Batman at the same time you visit us out the blue. Emma can't get a reading on you, you're hiding something...tell me, Bruce, how do you spend your nights?"

I chuckle, taking his other rook.

"I spend my nights in bed with three naked women, sleeping on a pile of cash. Whatever you're implying, you have no proof. Even your pet telepath couldn't see anything in my mind besides the truth. You're right though, Shaw, we're similar except one little difference. One of us is a mutant."

He snaps his head, looking at me with intense eyes.

"What did you say?"

"When you roughed me up, you got a little bloodied and some of it fell on my suit. I tested it. Apparently you have that x-gene the mutants have. I'm willing bet so do Miss Frost and Mister Vertigo. I wonder how all your powerful connections will feel if they find out about that fact. Here's how this will go: the Hellfire Club will stop doing it's illegal activities or my discovery will make its way into the hands of the press. With the anti-mutant sentiment the way it is, you'll be disowned. Your whole group will be treated as lepers."

Shaw makes his neck move quickly, his mind clouded by anger. He puts a knight close to my bishop. I counter quickly, sliding my white knight up to his black king and blocking him off from all sides.

"Checkmate, Shaw."

I stand up and look down at him.

"Remember what I said. I'll be watching you."

"Watching me?!" He roars out. "You won't have time to watch me because you'll spend every waking moment watching your ****ing back!!!"

Shaw tosses the board across the room in a fit or rage, the board and the chess pieces scattering through the room. When he looks up, I've disappeared back into the shadows.

"This isn't over!" He yells, sitting back down in his chair and breathing heavily. "The Hellfire Club...doesn't forget."

Carnage27

01-02-2012, 09:06 PM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

"Be thankful that allowing you to live serves my purpose for the moment Captain." He said as a pair of ninja took up positions on either side of him and brandished their weapons.

"I leave you now in the capable hands of my clan brothers" He said as the ninja attacked the Captain, preventing him from reaching the Gorgon "I assure you they will fight to the death."

The Gorgon was then engulfed in a bright light and in an instant he was gone by means of a personal teleportation device leaving Captain America and his team occupied with a dozen hand assasins.

Three of the Gorgon's minions attack me simultaneously. They're fast, and skilled, but the skill drop off from Gorgon is noticeable, and I easily am able to hold my own against them. Before long, the rest of the team and Checkmate agents have taken care of the other ninjas, and have surrounded the ones taking me on.

"Drop your weapons and surrender," I say to them. "You don't need to die. You'll be protected."

But instead, they drive their swords through their chests, killing themselves instead of being captured.

"You okay, Cap?" Flag asks as he puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Been better," I respond, finally taking stock of the scene around us. Dozens of bodies, possibly more, litter the street. SWAT, Checkmate, and civilians all lie next to each other, cut down by the Gorgon and the Hand ninjas. And I failed to catch any of them.

But before it completely sinks in, a mob of cameras and reporters swarm towards me. Hawkeye attempts to stop them, "No questions folks. But if you wanna put my face on TV I won't complain."

They push past Barton and surround me, "Captain America! Who are you!? Why come back now!? What government agency do you work for!? Do you still stand for the American people."

I look at them flabbergasted, "Look around you. People are dead. Poor innocent people and the men and women that were attempting to save them. That's the story here. Not me. You should all be ashamed of yourself."

I walk through the stunned crowd and towards the Quinjet, now parked in the middle of the street. We take off and head back towards Washington in silence.

But when we get there, Maxwell Lord is waiting for us, "Who the hell do you think you are? Huh, Captain? Disobeying direct orders, stealing government property, and on top of it failing to even bring in the the target. What do you have to say for yourself, Captain?"

I ball my fists up, but I see Alan standing behind Lord shaking his head. So I calm myself and meet Lord's angry stare, "Maybe I wouldn't have failed if I was dispatched right away and if I had my team. There was no reason to keep me on the sidelines with someone like that on a rampage. And last time I was active going out of my way to save citizens wasn't disobeying orders. It was going above and beyond."

"Things have changed, Captain," he responds with a sly smile. "And this isn't your team. It's mine. And you're on the bench until you learn how to take orders."

The suspension doesn't surprise me. I expected it. But the fact that this man still thinks he did nothing wrong in the situation. That angers me more than anything else.

"Excuse me?" Flag asks pushing past me and staring down Lord. "Rogers is the only reason anyone in New York survived. We wouldn't have stood a chance with-"

"ENOUGH!" Lord yells. "Enough. Or you'll find yourself on suspension too, Flag. I'm not going to take any more on this. Rogers, go to your quarters. Everyone else, get some rest, I'm sure another mission will pop up soon."

I head back towards my room, and Alan quickly catches up with me, grabbing my arm, "You okay?"

"No, Alan, I'm not," I respond, as the gravity of the days since being unfrozen finally hits me. "I don't belong in this world, and today just proves it. I want to save people, Alan. I went to help and I was punished for it. In our day, people like Lord wouldn't rise above bootlicker status. Instead, he's the head of this department, and what's worse you stood behind him as he came down on me. Back in the day you would have had my back in any situation, not watching as a moron takes verbal shots at me. What happened to you, Alan?"

"I...I... I dunno. Things have changed," he stammers.

"Yea, exactly. And that's the problem," I respond, heading into my room and closing the door behind me.

Carnage27

01-04-2012, 05:30 PM

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/Legacy1978/Checklist%20Titel%20Banner/X-MenOrigins-JeanGrey-Banner.jpg

I sit down next Professor X, who is now situated in front of a window overlooking the grounds. The younger children are out there at this point, playing among the fields and gardens of the lavish West Chester estate and I find myself envying them. I long for the days when things were simple, and I didn't have the weight of the world on my shoulders.

"Jean, I'm going to be frank with you," the professor says with closed eyes. "You're a grown woman and I don't need to mince words. The sensation I felt today, and I'm sure you experienced, was felt by me the day I discovered you. It was an intense spike of telepathic energy, and it surrounded you. The power was too much for you, and I helped seal it away, protecting you and those around you."

It's all a lot to take in. As he talks, bits and pieces of this memory come flowing back at me. I know what he's talking about. I remember the power, and how much it scared me as a child. But to be honest, it may scare me more now. To lose control of my body like that and have it take me over... It was frightening.

"I've never experienced anything like it," he continues. "It was overpowering, and it brought Erik and I to you. The abilities you exhibited were unlike anything I had ever seen. And now it seems that it has returned."

"Can't you just do what you did before, Professor?" I ask.

"I don't believe so," he shakes his head. "Your mind was easy to work with when you were a child. Your much too powerful for that to work now." He looks into my eyes, and the man that I consider my second father smiles, "You'll be okay, Jean. But you need to exhibit control. Remember, you are your own master. And if you believe that, nothing will stop you."

"Thanks professor," I nod and leave the room, not sure how much I really believe him.

Byrd Man

01-05-2012, 12:35 AM

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6439/batman.png

Previously

Hellfire Club
Manhattan
8:24 AM

I walk through the shadows inside the Hellfire Club's lounge. Even though the sun is up in New York, Shaw sits alone in the lounge, the window covered by drapes.

"Back so soon, Bruce?" He asks. In front of him is a chessboard. He's playing both sides. "I figured with how we ended thing yesterday, you'd be wary to come back."

"I don't plan on staying long, Shaw."

I walk up to Shaw and look down at him.

"Care to play a game with me, Bruce?"

He looks up at me and smiles, his eyes twinkling in the dim light.

"I warn you, I'm good."

I sit down on the opposite side of the table, taking the white pieces.

"I'll try to keep up."

Shaw slides a pawn across the board and I do the same with one of my pieces.

"It's going down in LA right now, isn't it?"

He smirks and moves one of his knights.

"What do you think?"

******

In Los Angeles, it was still dark. The sun wasn't going to rise for another hour. The dark van sped down the street, coming to a sliding stop outside the building. Six masked and armed assailants leaped out the van, assault rifles in their hands. They ran up the steps towards the building, firing bursts of bullets into the glass doors leading into the lobby. The glass shattered and they raced through the broken doors into the lobby of the newly minted International Diamond Reserve.

******

I counter, pulling one of my knights out into the field of play.

"Diamonds. That's what your after."

Shaw smiles lightly and captures my knight with his pawn.

"Theft? Is that what you think this is about. I'm disappointed, Bruce. Beneath your frat boy ways, I assumed there was some sort of intellect there."

I take his pawn with another one of my pawns.

"No. Buying up the wholesalers, the rights to mining companies all over the world. Theft's not your goal at all. It's destruction."

******

The masked assailants burst out of the stairwell and move through the hallways of the Diamond Reserve with clockwork precision.

"Hold up," the leader of the group said. Turning the face them, the leader demasked, revealing a young woman with dark black hair. "This as good place as any. We don't have long. Let's set it up."

The men under her command nodded and began to go about their work. Within a minute, a bomb was set up and rigged in the hallway. The timer was set to a minute.

******

Shaw moves his rook out, capturing my bishop. I counter with my queen, taking down his rook and a pawn in one swift move.

"All the mines in Africa send their uncut and unsold diamonds to the exchange in LA. Your lackeys destroy the reserve, and 80% of the world's diamond supply. It'll take years to get the worldwide supply of diamonds back to where it is now. The owner of the other 20% of diamonds left? Why, it just so happens to be Sebastian Shaw. You'll dominate the market for years to come."

"Impressive," Shaw concedes. He cuts through one of my pawns with his knight and sets it up just outside of my king. "But it doesn't matter one bit if you're in New York and the diamonds are in LA. Check."

I nod and take my other knight across the board, taking down his queen.

"Lucky for me I have friends."

******

The bomb was in place and armed. The rest of Shaw's goons began to retreat as the woman prepared to activate the timer. Suddenly, she heard from downstairs as automatic fire echoed through the building. A scream went out and more fire followed more screams. She turned just as the armor clad man appeared out of the stairwell.

"I would say stop," he said, striking her with a blast of his repulsor ray. "But I know you wouldn't."

The woman was knocked off her feet and Iron Man hurried across the room. He looked down at the bomb and saw there was only thirty seconds left.

"Dammit."

Picking the bomb up, he activated the boosters in his boots and flew through the hallway, crashing out the window and flying into the sky. He reached the ocean and let go of the bomb, turning and flying as it went off.

BOOOM!

The force of the bomb knocked him off course and into freefall. Adjusting his flight path, he landed hard on the beach and slid across the sand until he stopped.

"Bruce," he said, activating the phone in his armor. "It's taken care of. You're damn sure lucky I like you..."

******

"Thanks for your help, Tony...yeah, I'll see you when you get back."

I hang up my phone, tucking it back into my suit.

"Looks like you're buddies just got caught. LAPD is rounding them up as we speak."

I move a rook into position, blocking his king.

"Check."

Shaw takes one of his pawns and takes out my queen, sliding within reach of my king.

"So, no money? So what? I'm a billionaire...just like you, Mister Wayne. Only difference is that I don't have a big secret. Check."

I look at Shaw, trying to anticipate the thoughts going on underneath his cocky exterior.

"I have no secrets, Shaw."

"Oh, really? Those hillbilly fools I hire to take down the diamond reserve get taken down by both Iron Man and Batman at the same time you visit us out the blue. Emma can't get a reading on you, you're hiding something...tell me, Bruce, how do you spend your nights?"

I chuckle, taking his other rook.

"I spend my nights in bed with three naked women, sleeping on a pile of cash. Whatever you're implying, you have no proof. Even your pet telepath couldn't see anything in my mind besides the truth. You're right though, Shaw, we're similar except one little difference. One of us is a mutant."

He snaps his head, looking at me with intense eyes.

"What did you say?"

"When you roughed me up, you got a little bloodied and some of it fell on my suit. I tested it. Apparently you have that x-gene the mutants have. I'm willing bet so do Miss Frost and Mister Vertigo. I wonder how all your powerful connections will feel if they find out about that fact. Here's how this will go: the Hellfire Club will stop doing it's illegal activities or my discovery will make its way into the hands of the press. With the anti-mutant sentiment the way it is, you'll be disowned. Your whole group will be treated as lepers."

Shaw makes his neck move quickly, his mind clouded by anger. He puts a knight close to my bishop. I counter quickly, sliding my white knight up to his black king and blocking him off from all sides.

"Checkmate, Shaw."

I stand up and look down at him.

"Remember what I said. I'll be watching you."

"Watching me?!" He roars out. "You won't have time to watch me because you'll spend every waking moment watching your ****ing back!!!"

Shaw tosses the board across the room in a fit or rage, the board and the chess pieces scattering through the room. When he looks up, I've disappeared back into the shadows.

"This isn't over!" He yells, sitting back down in his chair and breathing heavily. "The Hellfire Club...doesn't forget."

Wayne Towner
10:12 AM

Tony and I sit on the balcony outside my penthouse, finishing a breakfast Alfred prepared. Tony is washing down his eggs with a mimosa while I sip on my coffee.

"So, are we going to talk about what just happened?"

"What is there to say?" I ask, putting down my coffee cup and picking up the Globe from the table and opening it.

"Well, there's the little fact that you're the goddamn Batman. Everyone knows I'm Iron Man and why. But what about you, ole Brucie boy?"

"There was another arson in the city last night," I say nonchantly. "A stripclub in Bingham Beach. Something tells me it was a mob front. That'd be the third one in the past week. It has to be the same person burning them. Question is, who's crazy enough to take on the mob?"

"Yeah, that's fine, totally ignore me or whatever..."

"What do you want me to say, Tony?" I ask, pulling the paper down and scowling at him. "Are you that dumb, that I need to spell it out for you? Use your brain. What happened to my family when we were boys?"

"Ah," Tony says, looking down at his eggs and playing with them with his fork. "So playing dress up is your way of trying to bring back mommy and daddy?"

"The same way putting out a million dollar suit of armor is you trying to prove to your dead father that he didn't raise a worthless drunk for a son."

"No, actually, me being Iron Man is about trying to live out a foolish Peter Pan fantasy. Least that's what my psychatrist said before we made sweet, sweet love on her desk."

"You know, I figured you were at least a little changed by being taken hostage by those terrorist. Good to see you're still the kid you were when we were sixteen."

"Yeah, and I guess it's much better to be some crazy guy who wears a cape..."

"At least I help people, Tony,"

"I help people too, Bruce. Every terrorist facility Iron Man shuts down, the world is that much safe. Beating on muggers and junkies won't solve the world's problems."

"No, but it'll save a little boy from having to live in a city where he has to watch helplessly as a man with a gun takes away his life away in one swift moment...," I stop suddenly and clear my throat, trying to get all the emotion out of it.

"I'm not interested in the world's problems, Tony. I'm only interested in Gotham."

Tony and I sit in an awkard silence for a minute before he finally speaks out.

"Well...agree to disagree then. Fact of the matter is, neither one of us is in a position to judge the other one."

Tony stands up and extends his hand.

"Pepper and I need to be getting on. I'll have her get in touch with Lucius and see how the new project is going."

I stand up and grab his hand, shaking it.

"Be careful out there. All I'm saying, Tony, is that Iron Man can be much more than what he is now."

"Yeah, and I'm sure Batman could do with a little extra cover on those weak points in his suit."

"The day I take your second-rate technology is the day pigs fly."

"Funny you mention that, the folks in Stark Bio-engineering are doing some fantastic works with swine/avian cross breeds."

I chuckle and pat him on the back.

"Still not interested. Have a safe trip back home. If you ever hear any rumblings involving the Hellfire Club, call me and we'll do this again."

"I like the sound of a little Stark-Wayne mergered ass kicking...Bruce."

"Tony," I say with a nod. I stand and watch as he leaves the penthouse, shutting the door behind him. I'll continue to keep an eye on him, as I have since the news about Iron Man first broke, but hopefully Tony's on the right path to where he needs to be.

FWOOOM!

The sound of a jet engine fills the air and a red figure whizzes by the balcony. Tony, clad in his Iron Man armor, flies through the Gotham skyline, smoke pouring out of his boots. He spins and twirls through the air. It's not until he's nearly done that I realize he's skywriting.

BRUCE WAYNE SUX!
TONY STARK RULEZ!

Like I said, I'm hopeful Tony is turning over a new leaf...but I won't hold my breath.

MST3K 4ever

01-06-2012, 11:43 AM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6366402613_3f2c57eeb9_m.jpg

Oliver gets back into his penthouse and grabs a bottled water. He starts to chug it and then sets it down as he looks at the packet against Layden.

Way to go Superhero. You're now blackmailing Layden just like Luthor did. Even if it's for the right reason still...the longer I keep putting on that mask the more I see that the higher up I go on the social scale the more things are shades of gray as opposed to being black & white and the ends justifying the means.

He throws his bottle away and calls Charles Xavier.

Charles answers, "Good evening Oliver. How are you?"

Oliver replies, "Not too bad old friend I wish this was a social call."

Charles says, "I've never known you to be one for small talk what can I do for you?"

Oliver replies, "Charles I've obtained some sensitive information this evening about your school."

Charles asks, "What do you mean?"

Oliver says, "This evening I found out from a source that Lex Luthor has obtained the security layout and schematics of the school. You can put two and two together and figure it out from there. I don't know how he got the information but you can bet it's not for noble reasons."

Charles pauses for a moment and says, "Thank you for the warning old friend. I'll take the appropriate measures to protect the school. Are you still coming to speak to my class next week?"

Oliver replies, "Absolutely Charles. I'm sorry that I had to tell you this but I felt you had the right to know."

Charles says, "I thank you again Oliver. You are a true friend to me and my students. If you'll excuse me I need to talk to some others about this situation."

Oliver says, "Sure thing Charles I'll talk to you next week."

The two men hang up and Oliver looks out over the city.

Well why not the night is still young and I haven't done nearly enough lately on the streets.

Oliver activates the compartment behind the closet and puts the Layden information in there. He then puts on his Green Arrow costume and heads out into the night.

MST3K 4ever

01-06-2012, 11:53 AM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6366396619_3cd1399208.jpg

Lex begins to study the video of the evening's events and he grows increasingly frustrated.

I still can't believe that Green Arrow managed to get in here and he went through my men like they were mall-cop rejects. He was good I've got to admit that, and to make it worse he has no powers it just his wits and skills. Impressive.

He deletes the footage and begins to fix himself a drink.

Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. Maybe there is another way of attacking this issue of mutants and there place in our world, and of course how they can better serve me and my purposes.

He takes a swig and pulls up the file on Operation: New Life. Luthor deletes certain aspects of the file.

Time for an operational reboot.

Byrd Man

01-07-2012, 01:08 AM

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3016/batmanbyrd.png

Previously

IC: Jim Gordon

Gotham Central
7:25 PM

I check my watch and then look up at the dozen or so cops crowded inside the MCU squadroom and chatting amongst themselves.

"Alright, listen up." I shout. The room goes quiet and I nod.

"We received an anonymous tip that the poisoner responsible for contaminating the water coolers is being harbored by the Maroni family. This is being corroborated by the accounts of the three men who worked with the tamperer to poison the city's drug supply."

I begin to walk around the room, handing out sheets of paper.

"At nine o'clock, Major Crimes, Homicide, and SWAT will carry out raids on known Maroni family safehouses and fronts. These are the addresses and the assignments. The raids are being split up into two different sections. The two Homicide shifts will team up with two of the SWAT units and raid half the places on the list. The other half will be taken by the two MCU shifts and the other two SWAT units. All the assignments are on the paper you all have. Any questions?"

Nobody makes a comment or raises their hands.

"Good. Now, I know this police department has something of a leakage problem. Not a word of this makes its way to Maroni. If it does...I promise you that if I will find out who did it, and I will make you pay...Soap, Tork and his unit are riding with me and Major O'Hara. We're headed to Maroni's key safehouse on Templeton. There's a little over an hour and a half before we move out. Get ready and get focused. Dismissed."

They all scurry around and start to get ready. I turn back to my office and shut the door.

*****

The East End
7:28 PM

He worked in silence, reassembling the Desert Eagle in his hands. He reattached the slide back on to the chassis and slammed the magazine home. It took him two minutes flat to disassemble and reassemble the weapon. He could do it blindfolded, hanging upside down, in the mud, in the rain, and even in the midst of combat. He liked stripping the weapon and rebuilding it, it reminded him of how he had been stripped down and built back up.

Try as he like, he still couldn't get their screams out of his head. He could still see Frank Jr.'s face, frozen in fear and covered in blood. He could hear his wife begging for mercy, the rapid fire of two machine pistols. He could still feel the warm splash of blood on his face, the blood of his daughter. He could still remember hearing the laugh of the man in the courtroom as he had been acquitted of the crime Frank and his family had witnessed.

He didn't know much about the two men until right before he had killed them, when they told him that they were there that day in the park under orders from Salvatore Maroni. The two men had taken all he had cared about from him, but their boss was to blame.

He looked up from his gun as the cellphone on his workbench vibrated. He picked it up and looked at the text message.

From: Soap

Raid at 9 p.m.,
Maroni's safehouse
708 Templeton

He put the phone to the side and went about to work, gathering up his tools and stuffing them into a duffel bag. He grabbed an assault rifle and put his jacket on. Deep down, in what used to be his heart, he knew that killing Maroni wouldn't make him feel better or give him any kind of closure. Closure was a myth. Something people came up with to make them feel better about their lives. He was no longer interested in lives or the living. Death, the deceased, the soon to be deceased, and war were all he cared about now.

http://i39.tinypic.com/25issns.jpg

If there was one thing Frank Castle was an expert on, it was war.

The Bowery
The Inkwell
708 Templeton Avenue
8:28 PM

Jim Elam sat behind the counter at the tattoo parlor, grumbling under his breath. It was bad enough that the Maroni Family had set up those backroom safehouses when they had agreed to go into business with Jim as a silent partner. Now they were ****ing with his business big time. Word had come down from Maroni himself that the shop was to be closed tonight. A VIP had been escorted in through the safehouse's back entrance and three guards were set out up front. If not for his dire need of income and his testicles, Jim would have gladly told Maroni to go **** himself once and for all.

"Oh, ****!" One of the guards yelled from outside. "It's that sonofa*****! Get hm!"

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Jim ducked under the counter and hid as gunfire exchanged outside. A bullet shattered the front window of the parlor and ricocheted into the building. Jim heard screams and more shots, followed by silence. A few seconds passed and the bell attached to the front door chimed as someone walked in. Jim heard heavy footsteps and carefully peaked his head up over the counter to look.

http://i43.tinypic.com/t7bpzm.jpg

The man in the skull t-shirt leveled a shotgun into Jim's face. He felt the piss running down his leg and splattering the tile floors.

"Please," Jim said feebly. "Not...not like them."

"No," the man said, racking a load into the barrel. "Not like them, but you harbor them. You give them shelter."

Jim pushed away from the counter and tried to run to the right. He was only a few feet away when the man opened fire. Shotgun pellets tore through the back of Jim's thighs, lower back, and spine. He fell to the ground hard, blood splattering from his wounds.

The man racked another round into his shotgun and stepped over Jim, slowly walking through the tattoo parlor to the back.

*****

IC: Jim Gordon
En Route
8:31 PM

Soap drives the unmarked car and tries to keep up with Daz and the Nova he's driving. I look over and wave. Daz throws a hand up and Tork nods. I see Montoya and Driver in the back, prepping their guns. Both Soap and I have our vests on "POLICE-GCPD" written on the back in bright yellow.

"Eastern Dispatch to all available units," the scanner in the car barks to life. "Eastern Dispatch to all available units. We have a 10-22 at 708 Templeton. Shots fired, multiple bodies outside the building. Proceed with caution."

I curse under my breath and grab the mic.

"Dispatch, this is Mike-Charlie-Twenty-Two. MC22 and Seven-Two-Charlie are en route to that six. Have all Eastern units set up outside the location and wait for us to get there. We can 10-7 when we're there."

"10-4, Captain Gordon."

I hang up the mic and look over. Tork and his squad heard me talking with dispatch on the scanner. I nod at them and Daz hits the lights, picking up speed. I hit the lights in our car and motion to the Nova as it pulls away.

"Follow Tork's lead, Soap. Try to keep up."

Soap nods and floors it, following closely behind the Nova as we head towards the East End.

bkhedr

01-07-2012, 05:48 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5344/1168718-gorgon_01.jpg

"Most impressive Steven." The Gorgon said, recovering quickly from the Captain's most recent blow "But you're wrong about one thing..."

The Gorgon launched himself towards the Captain with incredible speed. Moving far faster than he had at any point in the battle thus far. Captain America impressed the Gorgon yet again by following his movements and bringing his shield around to defend himself.

But he wasn't fast enough.

"...I'm not going to kill you yet." he added as the Captain let out an involuntary yell of pain and dropped to one knee with an angry red gash across his back.

The Captain fought through the pain and swung his shield, aiming for the Gorgon's head, but the Hand master weaved away from the blow with precision smoothness then jumped on top of a street bus that had been abandoned nearby when the fighting started.

"Be thankful that allowing you to live serves my purpose for the moment Captain." He said as a pair of ninja took up positions on either side of him and brandished their weapons.

"I leave you now in the capable hands of my clan brothers" He said as the ninja attacked the Captain, preventing him from reaching the Gorgon "I assure you they will fight to the death."

The Gorgon was then engulfed in a bright light and in an instant he was gone by means of a personal teleportation device leaving Captain America and his team occupied with a dozen hand assasins.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5344/1168718-gorgon_01.jpg

<"We are displeased Gorgon.">

Those were the first words the Elders said we when the Gorgon activated the shadow portal. He had been expecting such a greeting, in fact he had practically engineered it, so he was surprised when the words stung his pride.

<"I understand Elder."> The Gorgon replied evenly.

<"Understanding is not sufficient>" Came the voice of a second Elder. The Elder's visage was constantly shifting and blurring through the mystical portal, but it was clear enough for the Gorgon to see an ancient crooked finger pointed at him accusingly. <"You will explain how you allowed yourself to be seen. Why those who saw you were allowed to live and how you permitted an entire cadre of Hand warriors to be eliminated without taking a thousand lives in retaliation!">

The Gorgon frowned and lowered his head.

<"Speak!"> commanded the third Elder, speaking for the first time.

<"I...did not anticipate the level of resistance encountered here Elders."> The Gorgon began in a hushed and serious tone. <"It would seem the heroes of America are more than myth and media fabrication. They are very real and they are a threat.">

<"You claim that one of these westerners bested you and your brothers? Even with the Grass Cutter in your possession?"> The third Elder asked suspiciously.

This was the moment of truth. The Gorgon had manipulated events to get to this point and so far everything was going as expected, but admitting to failure, even when that failure was intentional, was proving harder than anticipated.

It was only after a suitably lenghty silence that the Gorgon faced the questioned Elder directly.

<"Yes Elder.">

The Three Elders did not respond immediately but instead exchanged glances, as if in silent council, before the first Elder spoke.

<"Then these heroes are a threat to the Hand and our mission."> He stated matter of factly.

<"We cannot allow any enemy to think that they can strike at us with impunity."> Added the second Elder

<"They must be eliminated in the name of the Beast."> The third Elder concluded.

<"As you wish."> The Gorgon replied with a bow meant more to hide his smile, than as a show of respect. <"But we have already lost the men I had with me, and this is a difficult task.">

He raised his head <"I will need more resources.">

More silence and the Gorgon cursed inwardly for the hundredth time at how he could not read the Elders' thoughts.

<"Take what you will and do not fail us."> The second Elder said.

<"I will not fail.">

<"Be sure that you do not."> The third Elder replied before the portal shimmered and faded.

With the portal closed the Gorgon let out a low chuckle that quickly became steady and maniacal laughter which echoed through the abandoned warehouse he now claimed as his base in New York City.

----
< > = Translated from Japanese

Andy C.

01-07-2012, 12:27 PM

The Bowery
The Inkwell
708 Templeton Avenue
8:28 PM

Jim Elam sat behind the counter at the tattoo parlor, grumbling under his breath. It was bad enough that the Maroni Family had set up those backroom safehouses when they had agreed to go into business with Jim as a silent partner. Now they were ****ing with his business big time. Word had come down from Maroni himself that the shop was to be closed tonight. A VIP had been escorted in through the safehouse's back entrance and three guards were set out up front. If not for his dire need of income and his testicles, Jim would have gladly told Maroni to go **** himself once and for all.

"Oh, ****!" One of the guards yelled from outside. "It's that sonofa*****! Get hm!"

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Jim ducked under the counter and hid as gunfire exchanged outside. A bullet shattered the front window of the parlor and ricocheted into the building. Jim heard screams and more shots, followed by silence. A few seconds passed and the bell attached to the front door chimed as someone walked in. Jim heard heavy footsteps and carefully peaked his head up over the counter to look.

http://i43.tinypic.com/t7bpzm.jpg

The man in the skull t-shirt leveled a shotgun into Jim's face. He felt the piss running down his leg and splattering the tile floors.

"Please," Jim said feebly. "Not...not like them."

"No," the man said, racking a load into the barrel. "Not like them, but you harbor them. You give them shelter."

Jim pushed away from the counter and tried to run to the right. He was only a few feet away when the man opened fire. Shotgun pellets tore through the back of Jim's thighs, lower back, and spine. He fell to the ground hard, blood splattering from his wounds.

The man racked another round into his shotgun and stepped over Jim, slowly walking through the tattoo parlor to the back.

"Places, everybody!" the Joker shouted with excitement as the sound of gunfire erupted from the tattoo parlor up front. "It's showtime!"

Salvatore Maroni was long gone by now, sneaking out the rear entrance to a getaway car that would take him to a private airfield on the outskirts of town. What the Boss didn't know, however, was that said getaway car had been rigged with about a pound of C-4 set to go off in the next five minutes....just as Maroni would be pulling into the entrance of the airfield, if the Joker had timed it right.

Back in the safehouse, the Boss's soldiers had taken their positions, turning the small block of second-story apartments into a veritable fortress. Two men with Israeli Uzi-Pro submachine guns covered the stairs at the back of the tattoo parlor. Up the stairs, the corridor between apartments was turned into a choke-point, eight men taking cover in doorjambs and behind positioned crates of ammunition. One carried an AK-74, another a Saiga automatic shotgun, a third with an H&K MP5, two with pump-action shotguns, one a pair of Glock 17s, and two with Colt .45s.

Around the corner, an enormous man crouched in the custodian's closet, cracking his knuckles, barely fitting into his XXXL trenchcoat. When he asked why he was not at the front of the fight, the Joker had simply told him never to open with your best gag. The Russian did not understand, but did not have time to ask further questions.

In the largest apartment in the back, the soon-to-be-late Maroni's headquarters, the Joker sat in the Boss's chair, toying with a straight razor and giggling to himself. The gangsters and their guns didn't matter, the plan and the strategy didn't matter. None of it, in fact, mattered--nobody was getting out of this building alive tonight. Even if they did manage to take down the kill-crazy vigilante, they'd be in no shape to fight off the Gotham City Police when they arrived.

All they were hoping to do was buy their Boss enough time to skip town....and the Joker had already seen to it that Maroni wasn't going anywhere tonight but sky high.

"Remember, boys, the Boss is counting on you!" he yelled from the back office to the gunmen up front, snorting as he suppressed a laugh. "You can do it, fellas!"

A heavy boot kicked in the back door to the stairway, and the safehouse erupted into a cacophony of gunfire and screams.

The Joker couldn't help but smile.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/nowhereman716/Comics/joker_ogn_solicit.jpg

This was going to be a great show.

Byrd Man

01-07-2012, 01:50 PM

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3016/batmanbyrd.png

Wayne Tower
8:30 PM

Down inside the bunker, I'm preparing for the night's activites, fastening my utility belt around my waist. I've been so busy with Tony and the Hellfire Club, I overlooked my duties here in Gotham. Twenty cops were killed yesterday afternoon, poisoned by the man who himself the Joker. He's the same one that poisoned the city's heroin supply.

The scanner set up in the bunker crackles on, the sound of the dispatcher echoing off the walls.

"Eastern Dispatch to all available units, Eastern Dispatch to all available units. We have a 10-22 at 708 Templeton. Shots fired, multiple bodies outside the building. Proceed with caution."

"Dispatch, this is Mike-Charlie-Twenty-Two. MC22 and Seven-Two-Charlie are en route to that six. Have all Eastern units set up outside the location and wait for us to get there. We can 10-7 when we're there."

"10-4, Captain Gordon."

Gordon, Tork, and half the Eastern District are headed to a Maroni front. Either they've got their sights on Maroni, or someone else. Maybe the Joker. Either way, I have to be there. I grab my cape and cowl, sliding it onto my head before I rush towards the express elevator.

****

IC: Jim Gordon

The Bowery
8:30 PM

Daz takes a corner at break neck speed and Soap tries to hang with him, sliding us around the corner wildly. I hold on for dear life as Soap struggles to gain control of the car.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry, Captain, I'm sorry."

He straightens out the car and puts his foot down on the pedal, speeding up to catch up with the Nova.

"Don't apologize yet. We're still in one piece. Just keep up with Daz."

My phone starts to ring. I pull it out. A blocked numer. I know who that is.

"Jim," he says through the line. "He's there. The vigilante."

"I know. Who else but him would drop bodies outside a Maroni safehouse. How do you know?"

"Because it's personal with him. I know who he is."

"Who is he?"

"Frank Castle."

My throat seems to catch, the pit of my stomach turns to ice. Even now, a year and a half later, I don't forget that name or that case.

"God help us all..."

"It's a trap, though. Maroni isn't anywhere near that safehouse...but the Joker is."

"Jesus. He's walking into a turkey shoot. Where are you?"

"On my way. After I make a pit stop."

The line goes dead and I hang it up. "Hurry up, Soap. Go as fast as you can."

"What was all that about, sir?"

"Frank Castle is our vigilante."

"Who, sir?"

"The Robinson Park murders from last year. Mob gunfight with a family in the crossfire. Frank Castle, a war hero, watched his wife, son, and daughter die right in front of him...and the shooters still got off. I can't believe I'm saying this...but God help the Joker..."

****

The armed thugs were all crouched in their positions at the front of the safehouse, guns at the ready. The two men with uzis waited nervously at the top of the stairs. They aimed their guns as they heard footsteps from down below.

FWOOMP!

A cannister shot out the darkness and clattered on the steps, spewing tear gas up the stairs and into the hall. The two men coughed and covered their eyes.

chk chk

The sound of a shotgun being pumped came from just a few feet away. They turned their weapons towards the sound, but it was too late.

BLAM!

The shotgun shell tore into the two men, dropping them like a sack of potatoes. Castle stepped over the two men and climbed up the stairs. The eight men waiting had their weapons ready and were prepared to open fire at the slightest movement from the smoke gathering in front of them. A small cut through the tear gas cloud and bounced on the floor. They shot wildly at it, all of them missing it. They didn't see what it was until it came to a stop in the middle of the group, spinning. A frag grenade minus the safety pin.

"Oh shi-," one of them started.

BOOOM!

The grenade exploded, hot shrapnel cutting through the mobsters not behind cover. The explosion tore through the ammo crates, causing the rounds to explode and go off in their crates, bullets ricocheted through the hallway and added insult to injury to those not killed by the grenade.

Sammy Stills was the only one left alive among the eight men who had been standing guard in the hallway. He was in no shape to fight, though. Half his right hand was gone and he had bullet holes up and down his body. He laid on the ground, writhing and moaning. Even though his ears were ringing, he could hear footsteps coming from down the hallway. Turning on his side and wiping the blood from his eyes, he saw the figure step out the smoke.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2l8yyw1.jpg

He screamed as Castle took aim with his pistol and squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit Sammy just under the left eye and went upward, blowing out the back of his skull. Sammy was dead before his head hit the floor. Castle walked slowly down the corridor, his shotgun at the ready.

So far he had went up against thirteen men. All thirteen were now dead. He didn't know how many more were between him and Maroni, but he'd gladly mow them down as well. Maroni could send a hundred more after him. That'd be just a hundred more dead. To a man like Frank Castle, numbers meant very little.

Andy C.

01-08-2012, 01:31 AM

For a few moments, the safehouse was silent, the heavy footsteps of Frank Castle the only sounds in the deathly quiet following the explosions and gunfire. From the back office, however, a voice began to laugh.

"Hnnnhnnnhnnheeeheeehaaahaahahahahahah....HAAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!"

It was the laugh of a man who had just gotten exactly what he wanted and then some. It was the laugh of a man who loved what he had just seen and heard, but knew full well that he shouldn't because it was horrible.....which just made him love it even more.

"Ohhh, hohohohoooo, you are really something else, you know?" said the voice, a slight rasp in its usual timbre from breathing in all of the smoke. "I mean, from the way they were talking about you, I expected a professional, but that's just insulting you! You, my friend, are an artist when it comes to murder."

Castle saw a thin, spindly shape moving in the smoke, but before he could fire, a flashing piece of metal whipped towards him, a throwing knife that struck the vigilante in the chest. The vigilante staggered, dropping his shotgun, and the thin shape stepped out of the smoke, smiling ear to ear.

"Fortunately, I'm no amateur when it comes to the whole murder thing myself."

The vigilante pulled the knife from his chest--the blade had spent most of its energy penetrating his body armor, leaving little more than a superficial cut--and threw it right back at his attacker. The Joker ducked under the blade, his reflexes unnaturally quick, then giggled.

"By the way, hee-hee," he snickered. "You seem to be a worldly man. How's your Russian?"

Castle didn't even pause to consider the question, pulling a pistol from the holster on his hip.

"Because mine's just fine," he said. "In fact, he's right behind you!"

The door behind Castle flew off of its hinges, and out stepped a gigantic slab of a man, easily eight feet tall, who took the surprised vigilante off of his feet with a casual slap of his frying-pan-sized hand.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/nowhereman716/Comics/Russian.jpg

"Oh, my dear sweet Russian, I had almost lost all hope," the Joker said warmly. "But it looks like you do have a sense of comedic timing after all!"

"Da," the Russian said simply, waiting patiently for Castle to get to his feet. "Now, Mister Big American Hero....we shall begin."

Byrd Man

01-08-2012, 02:17 AM

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3016/batmanbyrd.png

Finger Airfield
8:37 PM

The silver sports car roared through the entrance of the small airport. A Gulfstream V was taxing on the tarmac, its engines idling. The car came to a screeching stop beside the jet. Salvatore Maroni stepped out the passenger seat of the car, brushing lint off his black suit.

"Let's get the **** outta here," Maroni said to the man driving the car. The guard nodded and climbed out the car. His eyes got big as he saw a dark shape gliding through the darkness. Before he could scream, the figure grabbed both him and Maroni. Both mean screamed as the figure pulled them into the air. The three were nearly a hundred yards away when the car exploded.

BOOOM!

The explosion sent fire and debris into the air, striking the private jet and destroying the jet in a fiery ball of destruction. Maroni and his guard fell hard to the ground, the fire from the explosion casting a light on the airfield. The figure that had saved them landed in front of him.

"The clown double-crossed you," I tell Maroni. "But take his advice. Leave town. Castle will not stop until you're dead."

"**** YOU!" Maroni yelled, groping for the pistol in his jacket. My draw was faster, striking him with a batarang in the forehead.

"That was your first and only warning, Maroni." Reaching into my utility belt, I pulled out a small beacon. "You're lucky one of those was stashed in your safehouse. I won't be listening all the time. I can't protect you all the time."

With that I disappeared into the night, heading towards the heart of the city and the war zone the Bowery had now become.

******

With a crash, Castle and the Russian broke through the drywall that separated the two small apartments in the safehouse. The large man put all of his weight into Castle as he landed on top of him, driving his knee into his chest.

"You have body armor, yes? Body armor cracks. I show!"

With a savage thrust of his knee, the Russian slammed into the vest Castle had on, forming hairline cracks into the hardened kevlar weave. Castle grunted with each shot. Every blow of the Russian's knee was like being hit in the ribs with a sledge hammer. Fighting through the pain Castle reached into his pocket and pulled out a little favor he had collected in the tatroo parlor below.

"AH!" The Russian cried out as Castle buried the handful of tiny needles into his upper thigh. Castle twisted the needles inside the wound, causing the Russian to backhand him with a powerful fist. Frank felt blood in his mouth and tooth go loose, but he didn't feel pain. The adrenaline had killed that particular sensation.

While the Russian cried out in pain, Castle used his momentum to kick the big man off of him. Castle regrouped, slowly standing and pulling out the butterfly knife from the holster strapped to his boot. He flipped it open and drove the blade into the Russian's chest repeatedly. The large man just got angrier, grabbing Castle by the chest and tossed him across the room. Frank sailed through the air through the apartment's bathroom, slamming into the wall hard and falling to the floor with a solid thump.

"Hahaha," the Russian laughed heartily. "You managed to draw blood. First in many to do so. You are worthy opponent. To show my appreciation, I will kill you with little pain."

As the big man approached Castle, Frank groped on the bathroom floor for a weapon. He stopped when his hands felt a jug lying sideways beside the toilet. Castle stood up as the Russian bent down to enter the bathroom. Without hesitation, Castle shove the jug forward. Bleach splattered on the Russian's face. He screamed out and grabbed his face. The Russian fell to his knee, crying out in pain.

"My eyes! I am blind!"

Grunting, Castle yanked the tank off the toilet, bringing the porcelain tank down on the Russian's head. The tank shattered on impact, knocking the Russian unconscious on the floor, shards of porcelain stuck in his swollen and bleach covered face.

Wheezing and breathing heavily, Castle stumbled out of the bathroom, bloody and beaten. Composing himself, stepped into the corridor, grabbing an MP5 off the ground. T

"Now," he said to the Joker, cocking the submachine gun. "Where were we?"

Batman

01-08-2012, 03:45 AM

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy98/DCMarvelRPG2/Banners/Superman.png

"Great Ceaser's Ghost! What in the sam hill did you just say?!"

As editor-in-chief of The Daily Planet for over twenty years, Perry White had learned a long time ago that when you're expected to be constantly in command of a staff of over two hundred working employees - not limited to field reporters, professional photographers, editors, interns, and other valuable assets to the high-octane business of daily news - you could never be a man to mince words or be easily surprised. So on the rare occassion that the next headline was something that even it's top editor was struggling to comprehend as it even happened, people made it an effort to take notice. Luckily for them, Perry was so highly vocalized in his shock that practically the entire newsfloor could spring into action on little more than the whim of his many infamous tantrums and tirades. This time, however, Perry himself was the first to begin jotting down notes, as he intently listened to every detail coming from the other end of the line. In a few second's time, he had already filled the first page of his notebook.

"Alright. Alright, I hear you. 7th and Swan, just north of the bridge. This had better not be another of your fratboy pranks, Lombard! Or it's your job, you hear me?!"

Promptly slamming the phone down as he grabbed the pad, Perry began scrambling together everything that he needed to address the reporting staff. But what he didn't notice was the woman peeking her head from around the corner of his office, out of the line of sight of any of her flourishing competition, who had been there for the entirety of Lombard's briefing. An instinctual reporter at best, and a liability at worst, Lois Lane's lip quivered with excitement as she took a deep inhale and promptly marched into White's office.

"Chief, I heard what's happening, and whatever it is, you're gonna need a..."

"Don't even think about it, Lane."

Before Lois could protest, Perry shot an accusatory finger towards her.

"You're still on suspension for that little stunt you pulled at Tony Stark's last evening gala at the Palms, remember? That guard didn't slap us with a lawsuit, and The Planet still has a future for that. I'm not going to let you screw this one up."

Not one to take defeat lightly, Lois' hands immediately found themselves sternly placed on her hip as she addressed her boss with

"Screw this one... Perry, are you forgetting just who the hell you're talking to?! I don't ever 'screw things up', and I didn't the last time! I told you that the piece was solid, and I had my facts to back it up! Just because you happened to disagree with some of the terms I used to describe the man,"

"You called Stark a 'drunk loudmouth who didn't deserve the money he was blindly investing'! And more to the point, you insinuated that he was having an affair with the head of Kord Industries' board of directors! In the damn janitor's closet, no less!"

Lane rolled her eyes, her hands now crossed infront of her chest.

"Insinuate nothing..."

"That's not the point! Lane, I've told you once, and I'll tell you a thousand times if I have to. Facts are only facts when you have sufficient evidence to back it up, and your word doesn't equate to that on even the most basic level. You didn't take a single photo of the incident, and you barely got enough soundbites to support any claim other than the fact that your social language is beyond too colorful."

"Chief, I've already told you what I did manage to bring out of that, and it's all sitting on my harddrive. If you'd just lift the suspension on this, I swear to you that I'll be able to---"

Visibly frustrated, Perry lined his notes under his arm and marched past her before she could finish.

"I don't have time for this. We're sitting on the story of the century, and you're trying to talk me out of the smartest decision I've made in ten years. You're benched, Lane. Case closed."

Angered by her lack of progress, Lois stomped her foot hard onto the ground before throwing her hands over her head, causing nearly as much of a scene as Perry's outburst. Before anyone could say anything, she simply pushed her way past the flock of reporters gathered in the newsroom and made it towards the elevator.

Once the doors closed on her, Perry breathed a sigh of relief, asserting himself in the middle of the newsroom so that all could pay attention.

"People, when I tell you what may be happening now, no matter how crazy it sounds, I don't want you to second guess it. I just want you to go out there, get as much as you can, and do your jobs. If one of you can give me something tangible to work with by sundown, I'll happily give the person responsible forty percent of my own pension. So listenly carefully. We have reason to believe that..."

What Perry didn't know was that, as he spoke, there was a borrowed cellphone sitting open on one of the spare desks near the center of the room. And with every word that was said, someone on the other end of the line was listening closely. Someone by the name of Lois Lane, who was using her own phone to keep the line open.

She may have been suspended from the field, but she was damned if this wasn't going to be the exact story to pull her back out of that unsavory position.

"C'mon, c'mon... speak up, you old blowhard."

"...Star Labs, there was...*zzt* incident involving what... believe to be the guy that we... *zzt* from those stories a few months back that were... giant monster that seems..."

Practically pressing the reciever into the side of her skull, Lois frustratedly backed into the wall of the elevator as it reached the first floor.

"Damn it, come on! Work with me here!"

"...Superman..."

And immediately, Lois dropped the phone, mouth agape.

She had seen this guy. Infact, in a way, she was the one that had given him the name in the first place.

But moreover, she was also one of the few people to actually see him in person, before he started wearing the red and blue outfit that several people had claimed to see him wear. The problem with those claims is that their sources were all unable to garner any evidence to be lent towards his existence. And now she had him.

Now, before anyone else, she'd finally get to see the Superman in action in a way that would prove that he was actually out there. And that she wasn't crazy. Well, that he was actually out there, at least.

"Hang on tight, handsome..."

Rounding the corner to the parking garage, Lois immediately spotted her car and fumbled in her pocket for the keys, racing towards the vehicle like her life depended on it. Which, in many ways, she felt like it did.

"You're about to win me a Pulitzer."

"No! The power! Need... the power!"

Several tons of brick and steel, and this thing barely even makes a whimper as we go crashing through the walls of the auditorium and spiral into the outside world. Sunlight is the only thing to directly affect him, as he looks up at it and winces, clawing at his eyes in agony. My main problem is keeping him leveled in the air with me, as we both go flying head-on into downtown Metropolis. I know that this creature's a danger to everyone around it, but I don't want it to be killed. There could be something I can even do to help it. The difficulty with that is the fact that it doesn't seem to care for the innocent people it's going to hurt in it's wake.

Which is something that I can't allow. Pushing ahead and increasing my momentum, I decide to fly us deeper into the city, all the while trying to figure out a place that would be the least populated for us to land. The creature struggles again, fighting both me and it's apparent dislike of the bright sun, and I feel myself start to lose my grip. Gritting my teeth, I latch my arms around it's neck and secure a tighter grip.

"You've got bigger problems at the moment, now stop struggling! You're going to get yourself hurt!"

"No,"

It reaches around it's head and digs it's claws into my back, forcing me to painfully release. I've never actually felt any kind of pain like this before - at least, never so potent. This thing has to be at least half as strong as I am, if not even more. Nothing has ever been able to make that kind of an impact on me.

"You... will get hurt. I will... survive."

Grabbing it's arm as it begins to fall, I let it dangle to get a sense of the danger from falling at this height. But it doesn't seem too afraid, even going as far as to look down at the ground. Then it does the unthinkable and actually begins to pry my hand off of it. I shake my head, violently trying to get it to reconsider.

"Don't do this!"

Too late. My grip slips, and it plummets towards the streets. My eyes narrow onto it's trajectory, realizing that it's going to land in the middle of freeway traffic. I could possibly save the creature before it lands, but it would be much faster to clear the traffic first. It'd just risk the creature's livelihood.

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"Damn,"

Isn't even a question in my mind. Deciding to save the people first, I take off towards the streets and fly past the falling creature. For it's sake, I hope it really can survive a fall like that.

But for the sake of Metropolis, even against my own wishes... I almost hope it can't.

Andy C.

01-09-2012, 01:51 AM

"And tell Fries that I'm discontinuing his project; the numbers don't add up. Too costly to invest in without enough practical applications to--yes, Menken, what is it?"

"Sir, there's been an incident involving the STAR Labs venture."

".....define 'an incident.'"

"We're just now receiving reports from inside. According to the information given to us by Doctor Connors, the morphogenetic field experiment was partway through its process, when the lab was attacked by some kind of...creature."

"What does he mean? What kind of 'creature' are we talking about?"

"Connors said it was humanoid, but couldn't give much of a better description than that. He said it went right for the field amplifier and caused an overload. The protective barrier separating the audience from the lab was damaged....meaning the Midtown Manhattan students viewing the experiment were exposed to the M-Field radiation."

"Good God, Menken, my son was part of that group! And every single one of those children's parents will be threatening legal action; this has the potential for a public-relations nightmare."

"Connors and Professor Hamilton were able to get the students to a safe location, and are reporting no serious injuries and one unrelated incident. The exposure to the M-Field radiation was minimal, and Connors is reporting they won't be suffering any adverse side affects."

"They'd damn well better not; Connors career is depending on it."

"Our legal team is already preparing settlements in the event of--"

"Wait a minute. 'One unrelated incident' took place with one of the students. Care to elaborate?"

"Oh, um, yes sir. It appears that in the middle of the confusion, one of the students was bitten by a spider and passed out. They administered first aid and applied antiseptics, but the boy hasn't regained consciousness yet. They're going to get him to a hospital as soon as the streets are clear."

"Hmmm.......what was the boy's name?"

"Parker, sir. Peter Parker."

".......Parker......the name rings a bell......a friend of my son's, I think. Bitten by a spider, just moments after exposure to morphogenetic field radiation......"

"....sir?"

"Inform Mister Parker's family that we will be covering all of his medical expenses. I want those kids quarantined and examined for a day or so until we can give them a clean bill of health. I want any unusual findings reported to me and me only. And I want Peter Parker looked at under a microscope from now until I say otherwise. Are we clear?"

".....yes sir, Mr. Osborn."

Andy C.

01-09-2012, 02:19 AM

With a crash, Castle and the Russian broke through the drywall that separated the two small apartments in the safehouse. The large man put all of his weight into Castle as he landed on top of him, driving his knee into his chest.

"You have body armor, yes? Body armor cracks. I show!"

With a savage thrust of his knee, the Russian slammed into the vest Castle had on, forming hairline cracks into the hardened kevlar weave. Castle grunted with each shot. Every blow of the Russian's knee was like being hit in the ribs with a sledge hammer. Fighting through the pain Castle reached into his pocket and pulled out a little favor he had collected in the tattoo parlor below.

"AH!" The Russian cried out as Castle buried the handful of tiny needles into his upper thigh. Castle twisted the needles inside the wound, causing the Russian to backhand him with a powerful fist. Frank felt blood in his mouth and tooth go loose, but he didn't feel pain. The adrenaline had killed that particular sensation.

While the Russian cried out in pain, Castle used his momentum to kick the big man off of him. Castle regrouped, slowly standing and pulling out the butterfly knife from the holster strapped to his boot. He flipped it open and drove the blade into the Russian's chest repeatedly. The large man just got angrier, grabbing Castle by the chest and tossed him across the room. Frank sailed through the air through the apartment's bathroom, slamming into the wall hard and falling to the floor with a solid thump.

"Hahaha," the Russian laughed heartily. "You managed to draw blood. First in many to do so. You are worthy opponent. To show my appreciation, I will kill you with little pain."

As the big man approached Castle, Frank groped on the bathroom floor for a weapon. He stopped when his hands felt a jug lying sideways beside the toilet. Castle stood up as the Russian bent down to enter the bathroom. Without hesitation, Castle shove the jug forward. Bleach splattered on the Russian's face. He screamed out and grabbed his face. The Russian fell to his knee, crying out in pain.

"My eyes! I am blind!"

Grunting, Castle yanked the tank off the toilet, bringing the porcelain tank down on the Russian's head. The tank shattered on impact, knocking the Russian unconscious on the floor, shards of porcelain stuck in his swollen and bleach covered face.

Wheezing and breathing heavily, Castle stumbled out of the bathroom, bloody and beaten. Composing himself, stepped into the corridor, grabbing an MP5 off the ground.

"Now," he said to the Joker, cocking the submachine gun. "Where were we?"

"I believe we were right at the part where I bring your whole world crashing down," the Joker sneered, before charging straight towards the vigilante. Castle opened fire with a tight spray of lead aimed at the clown's chest, but the gaunt figure moved with reflexes that were just inhuman, ducking to one side out of the bullets' path.

Before Castle could adjust his aim, the Joker was on him, slashing at him with a straight razor. The blade dug into Castle's gas mask, as well as splitting the man's scalp, blurring the gunman's vision as blood poured down his face.

A powerful kick to the abdomen sent Castle to the floor, already weakened from his fight with the Russian. Rather than follow up on the attack, the Joker kicked the submachine gun down the hall, then stalked over Castle.

"Y'know, I set this whole gag up with you in mind," he said. "Ever since your killing spree at Fat Ricky Fat's made the news, I thought to myself 'there's a fella I need to meet.' Not someone out to remove Maroni from competition in the criminal underworld, or even someone trying to make Gotham a better place, but just a man who wanted to see Maroni and everyone who worked for him die."

Joker stepped in and kicked Castle sharply in the face, knocking away the torn gas mask.

"This city's full of awful people," he said with a sweeping gesture to the window. "But the really dangerous ones are the 'good' people who find themselves having a really bad day. So, what kind of bad day did Maroni give you? Burn your house down? Cut off your Johnson? Shoot up your girlfriend?.....actually, judging by your age and that already-dead look in your eyes, I'm going to say....your wife? Your kids, maybe? All of the above?"

Castle sprung to his feet to lunge at Joker, only to have the clown's foot slam hard into his crotch.

"Oooh, I guessed right!" he said, pleased with himself. "You must have reeealllly hated Maroni, then. I say 'hated' past-tense, because.......oh, I don't know if I can tell you, heehee, it's so mean!"

The Joker scrunched his eyes shut and tried to hold in laughter that made his body shake, until finally he couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Maroni's dead!" he shouted. "I planted a bomb in his getaway car and blew him sky-high the minute you kicked in the door! All of that terrorizing and maiming and oh-so-much killing, it was all for nothing-- you made killing Salvatore Maroni the single driving obsession that keeps you going, didn't you......and I beat you to it! HAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

As the Joker's laugh subsided, he crouched down next to Castle and smiled.

"C'mon, you've gotta admit....that's pretty funny."

bkhedr

01-09-2012, 05:50 AM

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The morning paper is kind of a breakfast ritual for me. Granted I don't much care for reading most of it. In fact I usually just flip to the entertainment section, but a story on today's front page catches my eye. The story is apparently part of continuing coverage of a series of bizarre industrial and tech robberies. The only reason I care is because I own one of the companies that was robbed last night.

Not that I really care. The company's got its own management team and CEO to worry about what was taken and insurance will cover the financial hit. I barely skim the article before flipping to the review of 'Man of Wonders'

I smile broadly almost immediately after I start reading. The movie's a hit as I knew it would be.

"Hey Frank." I say addressing one of my service staff as he clears the dining room table "Get a load of this: 'Simon Williams shows that he's back in full force with a stellar performance in what will surely be one of the biggest movies of the year." I say, reading out loud supposedly for his information, but really more to stoke my ego "And you were worried that the movie going public might have moved on while I was away from the scene".

He looks at me quizingly "I never said that."

"Aahh but you were thinking it m'man!" I say with a grin as I jump up and clap him on the shoulder.

"Tell Mike to get the car ready" I add without giving him a chance to reply "Ms. Frost has invited me to a party tonight and I feel like buying something new and flashy to wear for the event."

"Of course sir." He nods as I'm already walking away.

http://s14.postimage.org/xi1c9e38f/wonder_man.jpg

"Mister Simon Williams"

"Thanks Jeeves" I say with a grin as I pat Count Nefaria's man servant on the soulder and strut into the ball room. It cheesy beyond belief, but I have to admit that I kind of dig this whole being announced when you arrive thing. Heck its one of the main reasons I'm late, that and being "ambushed" by the paparrazi while shopping earlier today.

I sport a flashy dark blue pin strip suit with gold cuff links and alligator shoes. Even amidst all this pomp and circumstance I still stand out, exactly as planned.

I'm greeted enthusiastically by most of the party goers as I make my way through them. Its all standard fare. Talk about how healthy I look, how its good to have me back in Hollywood or how the new movie looks fantastic. I lap it all up while trying to act nonchalant and its not long before the mingling is interrupted by the familiar feeling of a delicate hand squeezing my bicep.

"Hey Wonderman." Whitney greets me with a kiss "Glad you could finally make it."

I give her a smirk “Its man of wonders babe.”

“I like Wonderman better” she says as she hooks her arm around mine and leads me towards the center of the banquet hall “Now come on. Not acknowledging the host of the party is the very height of rudeness.”

The last line is said with a sarcastic haughtiness that makes me crack a smile. Whitney loves her dad but she knows he’s a blowhard and I count my blessings for that.

We find Nefaria holding center court in the middle of a group of swanky party goers. I recognize a few of them and they’re all blue bloods and old money. Just Nefaria’s kind of people.

The Count himself is wearing a particularly sharp tux, and believe it or not, an honest to goodness dinner cape and monocle. It should be cheesy, heck it should be hilarious, but something about the way Nefaria carries himself make the look seem….appropriate.

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Nefaria spots us walking over and smiles then throws his arms out wide in greeting.

"Simon my boy" He says as he pats me on the shoulders "Good of you to come."

I know enough about acting to know that he actually hates the fact that I'm here, but hey, his daughter invited me and a big muck a muck like Nefaria would rather pretend to be thrilled to see me than risk being embarrassed in front of his more welcome guests. I have to admit he's pulling it off, but that's ok, I can act too.

"Always a pleasure Count." I say with a smile.

Byrd Man

01-09-2012, 08:10 AM

"Oooh, I guessed right!" he said, pleased with himself. "You must have reeealllly hated Maroni, then. I say 'hated' past-tense, because.......oh, I don't know if I can tell you, heehee, it's so mean!"

The Joker scrunched his eyes shut and tried to hold in laughter that made his body shake, until finally he couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Maroni's dead!" he shouted. "I planted a bomb in his getaway car and blew him sky-high the minute you kicked in the door! All of that terrorizing and maiming and oh-so-much killing, it was all for nothing-- you made killing Salvatore Maroni the single driving obsession that keeps you going, didn't you......and I beat you to it! HAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

As the Joker's laugh subsided, he crouched down next to Castle and smiled.

"C'mon, you've gotta admit....that's pretty funny."

"**** you," Castle said, spitting blood and a tooth into the clown's eyes. Using the temporary distraction, he swung his legs wide and tripped the Joker up. The clown slammed hard on the floor and Castle was on him, pinning his shoulder to the ground with one arm, the other reaching for the small holster wedged in the small of his back.

"Let's see you laugh now," he said, shoving the barrel of a snubnosed .38 revolver into the Joker's mouth.

"Castle," a voice said from beside the two. Both men turned and saw a figure step out the shadows.

"Drop the gun," the Batman growled. "And step away from the clown."

Carnage27

01-09-2012, 10:14 PM

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A few days go by without contact with another human. My door is locked behind me, which angers me to no end. I'm sure Lord had that function installed when he built the place. Allows for more control for his "team members". More like prisoners. My meals have been automatically given to me and the dirty dishes are taken through the same chute.

I take it well though, and after a few days a trio of armed agents come to my door and say they're here to escort me to the training facility so I can exercise.

"You don't have to point the weapons at me, boys," I respond calmly. "I'm not going to attack anybody. At least as long as Maxwell Lord's not in my direct line of site."

The stand guard at the only door to the training room as I wrap my hands to begin hitting the heavy bag. Every strike is packed with the frustrations of the two weeks since I've been unfrozen. Every ounce of pain from my battle with the Gorgon. And then I imagine the damn bag is Maxwell Lord's face, and I hit it so hard it dislodges part of the roof and the bag goes flying across the room.

"A little frustrated are we?" a voice says behind me. I turn to find a strikingly beautiful woman cleaning her gun smiling at me. I have no idea how I didn't notice her as I walked in. She is really striking, and she's sitting barely ten yards from me.

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She turns to the guards at the door, "You can leave boys. I don't think the Captain is going to run away."

"But, ma'am,-"

"I said dismissed, agent," she says with more force. "That's an order."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Who are you?" I ask, grabbing a bottle of water and leaning up against the wall.

"I'm Agent 13, Captain Rogers," she smiles.

"Ah, thanks for the shield," I respond with what has to be a goofy smile painted across my face. There's something about her. I can't put my finger on it, but she seems so familiar.

"Don't mention it," she says, standing and heading for the exit. "I'd have it ready tonight. And make sure you have your costume on as well."

The odd warning sends an alarm through my mind, and I grab her arm, "What's that supposed to mean?"

She turns coming close and whispering in my ear, "Relax, Captain. We're both on the same side. The country needs you, and you aren't going to help being locked in a room by yourself. A mutual friend requests your assistance. It'll be your choice. Help your country or continue to languish in Checkmate. Be ready, Steve."

**********

Later that night

I sit on my bed, wearing my ripped costume and with my shield on my back, ready for whatever is going to happen. But all I hear at this point is a small click at my door, and it swings open, revealing Agent 13 in her full combat gear, "Ready to go?"

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"If we were just going to walk out of here, why do I need my gear on?" I ask as I walk out, and find the guards outside my room have been incapacitated. "Oh."

"Yea, let's go. I'd rather not have the entire station on high-" she stops as the alarm begins to blare out around us. "Terrific. We won't have much time for this."

We both take off down the hallway towards the exit, and I look over at her, "So what the hell is going on here? You've been with Checkmate longer than I have."

"I've also been working with someone else," she says as we come across two agents. She fires two tranq darts into them, dropping the men quickly. "Someone who knows Lord is up to something."

Another two agents are about to fire on us, and I bounce my shield off the wall, taking them out. "Who is this person?"

"You'll find out soon enough," she responds, tossing a grenade-like device into the hallway behind us, and the blast doors close as it bounces. "EMP, should destroy the power in the bunker, we'll get out easier."

We traverse the rest of the hallways in the dark, but my heightened seeing allows me to see fairly well, and 13 has nightvision goggles. We're out in another 15 minutes, and 13 steals a humvee, busting us through a gate and into freedom.

"Now that that's over," I respond, leaning back in my chair, "could you please tell me what the hell is going on?"

By then we're safely out of the city and she pulls off the main road into a wooded area, "No, but he can."

"'Bout time you got here, Rogers," a familiar voice says. He's obstructed by the light from the car and shadows, so I hop out and approach him. And every step amazes me.

"It can't be..."

"Oh it is. Now let's go, we have work to do."

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Andy C.

01-09-2012, 10:29 PM

"**** you," Castle said, spitting blood and a tooth into the clown's eyes. Using the temporary distraction, he swung his legs wide and tripped the Joker up. The clown slammed hard on the floor and Castle was on him, pinning his shoulder to the ground with one arm, the other reaching for the small holster wedged in the small of his back.

"Let's see you laugh now," he said, shoving the barrel of a snubnosed .38 revolver into the Joker's mouth.

"Castle," a voice said from beside the two. Both men turned and saw a figure step out the shadows.

"Drop the gun," the Batman growled. "And step away from the clown."

"Baffmabb! I'b foooo gwab you coub mape ip!" the Joker practically squealed with delight, the barrel of Castle's pistol still in his mouth. The vigilante pulled the gun out, pointing it towards Batman, allowing Joker to speak. "I've been dying to see you again since our first encounter. Well, technically a whole hell of a lot of other people have been dying, but that's really not the point."

The Joker flicked a small letter-opener out from up his sleeve, and used his free arm to jam the blade into Castle's side.

"That's the point! HA!" he shouted, scrambling out from underneath the vigilante. Before he could get much further, Castle fired the .38, catching Joker in the shoulder and sending the psychopath spinning to the ground again.

"Nngh!" he winced, sucking in air through gritted yellow teeth. "Okay......I'll admit......that wasn't my best line."

"Shut up," Castle said simply. "It's time you get your punishment for all the things you've done."

Clutching the bleeding wound in his shoulder, the Joker licked his lips.

"Kinky," he said. "If I'da known that was your thing, I would've brought some handcuffs!"

Joker stared down the barrel of the gun, glaring at Castle hungrily.

"Well?" he asked impatiently. "What are you waiting for? Do it."

The gunman pulled back the hammer of the .38....then squeezed the trigger.

Byrd Man

01-09-2012, 10:47 PM

"Nngh!" he winced, sucking in air through gritted yellow teeth. "Okay......I'll admit......that wasn't my best line."

"Shut up," Castle said simply. "It's time you get your punishment for all the things you've done."

Clutching the bleeding wound in his shoulder, the Joker licked his lips.

"Kinky," he said. "If I'da known that was your thing, I would've brought some handcuffs!"

Joker stared down the barrel of the gun, glaring at Castle hungrily.

"Well?" he asked impatiently. "What are you waiting for? Do it."

The gunman pulled back the hammer of the .38....then squeezed the trigger.

The batarang struck Castle's gun just a fraction of a second before the gun went off.

BLAM!

The hit threw his aim off just enough. The bullet skimmed the side of the Joker's head and clipped his ear. The gun was knocked from his hand, clattering to the ground.

"I said no!" I growled, leaping across the room and tackling Castle to the ground. We fought and tussled on the ground, trained punches and kicks going back and forth. He reached for the revolver on the floor, but I grabbed his wrist and struggled to keep him from reaching it. Even wounded, he was still as strong as an ox.

"You won't win, Castle. Same as the Joker didn't win. Maroni didn't die."

Suddenly, Castle stopped struggling, looking up at me. For the first time I see those eyes for what they are: the eyes of a dead man. A man committed to his fate. Not long ago, my eyes looked the exact same.

"I have other places to be," he said, yanking something from his belt. Punching me with his left, he tossed a stun grenade up and rolled.

PWOOOM!

Sound and a blinding white light filled the room. A white patch covered my vision, my ears rang with a dull hum. By the time my vision and hearing returned, I saw Joker attempting to stand up. Castle was nowhere to be found.

"Stay down," I barked, kicking Joker in the ribs. "The police will be by soon to pick up the garbage."

With that, I ran through the safehouse, activating all the filters my lenses have. Nothing. Not a trace of Castle anywhere inside the safehouse.

"Attention," Jim's voice boomed on a megaphone outside. "This is the Gotham Police Department. SWAT's coming in. Ready or not, here they come."

Despite my alliance with Jim, the GCPD and I aren't on the best terms right now. A door down below crashed open and I turned to where Joker laid on the floor. Despite his uncanny speed and strength, a SWAT team should be enough to contain him. I climb up into an open windowsill and leap out into the air, my cape gliding across the city.

Fran Castle is out here somewhere. He couldn't have gotten far.

Andy C.

01-10-2012, 12:55 AM

The Joker lay in a heap, bleeding and panting on the ground. For a few moments, he was the only living person left alive in the entire building.

"Maroni didn't die," he said to himself in disbelief.

Everything had been laid out to a T. Playing on Maroni's fear, whipping the GCPD into a fury, holing the Boss up into the safehouse....all so he could blow him to bits right before all of the 'good' people who wanted him could get there.

It was a perfect prank....

"Maroni didn't die...." he said again, as he heard GCPD SWAT Team officers charging up the stairs, "Because Batman saved him...."

....and now it was so much funnier.

The gag he wanted to play on Maroni and Castle was good, but then at the last second, the Boss was saved by a costumed lunatic who wanted nothing more than to see Maroni taken down for good. All Batman would have had to do was wait a few seconds more and he and Castle would have gotten their wishes, but he had to play it the hard way. Maroni would never return the favor, and Castle would want Batman dead just as badly for saving his life, but the Bat couldn't help but play the hero, and dig his own hole just a little deeper.

It was simply too good to be true.

"Over here, it's him!" shouted a voice from the other end of the corridor, a bright flashlight glaring into the Joker's eyes. "Hands on your head, freak!"

The clown complied, smiling like a man who'd just gotten a kiss from a beautiful woman on their first date. He probably could have overpowered the officer, taken his gun, shot his way through the rest of the team. But instead, he simply put his hands on his head and waited to be cuffed.

Let Batman think he'd save the day tonight; it would be that much funnier in the long run.

"This may be the greatest night of my life," he said with a sigh, before the butt of the officer's rifle slammed into his temple and knocked him cold.

Byrd Man

01-10-2012, 12:40 PM

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb232/byrdRPG/Banner.jpg

Previously

Brooklyn
Now

I wake up on the floor of my apartment, my hiking gear still on and my head pounding like I've been on a two-day liquor binge.
"Ohhh," I moan as I pick myself up off the floor. I'm aching and sore all over, barely able to limp to the couch. I flop down on the couch and sigh, reaching for the remote on the couch's arm. The TV flicks on and I turn it to CNN.

"-pressed for comment, the Navy spokesman declined to comment on the identity of the figure seen in the amateur video. He would only say that the person, whoever they are, was not affiliated with the US Armed Forces."

I groan again and lean back on the couch. I feel like the floorboard of a taxi physically, but inside I couldn't feel any better.

Finnmark County, Norway
24 Hours Earlier

The entrance to the cave Donald Blake fell into crumbled as the figure shot out of the cave and flew upward into the sky. The large man had the hammer in his steel grip as the two rocketed into the stratosphere.

The mortal man Donald Blake had been replaced by his true identity, the god that he had been for thousands of years. Thirty years he had spent inside his mortal form, and now he was back.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb232/byrdRPG/Thor.jpg

Thor Odinson, the God of Thunder had returned.

Brooklyn
Now

I pick myself up off the couch after an hour's nap. I limp into my bedroom where, among all the clutter, is the wooden walking stick I found in Norway. I sit down on the bed and pick the stick off the floor, running my hands over its carvings. The past day has been...crazy, to say the least. All these memories, running through my head. What am I, exactly? Am I Donald Blake? Was I ever truly him, or was he just a vessel for my other self?

Off the Coast of Japan
8 Hours Earlier

Panic was beginning to strike the island nation, after another earthquake had rocked the country. Not as bad as the one earlier this year, but enough to send out the dreaded warning that a tsunami had been spotted in the ocean, heading west towards Japan.

Three miles off the coast, eighteen ships apart of the US Navy's 7th fleet were pulling up their anchors and preparing to move out. On the bridge of the USS Blue Ridge, Vice-Admiral Marcus J. Peters nervously watched as the small fleet began to move in the water. The tsunami was thirty miles out, hopefully there would be enough time for the ships to escape it.

"Incoming, sir," Lieutenant Jacobs on the bridge announced. "It's the tsunami wave. Ten miles out!"

"What?!" Peters roared. "You said it was thirty miles out!"

"They must have miscalculated, sir."

"Send word to the fleet. Kill their engines, embrace for impact," Admiral Peters said with a sigh. Peters began to pray under his breath.

"Wait," Jacobs announced. "Something else is coming in."

"What?"

"A storm..."

Peters walked across the bridge and looked down at the weather radar display. A huge storm, nearly ten miles wide and twenty miles long, was racing across the Pacific to meet the tsunami. Hurricane level winds and rains were just two miles away from their location.

Peters jumped up and looked out the windows of the bridge. Massive black clouds were forming off in the horizon. Lightning flashed and streaked across the sky, thunder boomed and the winds from the storm made the ships bounce along the choppy waves.

"Where's the wave?" Peters asked. "Why isn't it hit us yet?"

"I don't know," Jacobs said. "But...the storm...it's pushed the tsunami back."

"How?"

"I don't know, sir."

The two Naval officers looked outside the window as there was a break through the clouds.

"Admiral," Jacobs said dumfounded. "I don't-"

"I know, Lieutenant...I see it, too."

There, amongst the lightning, the rain, and the winds, a figure tore from the clouds and flew over the 7th Fleet, the storm dissipating as soon the figure departed from it. Peters and Jacobs watched the man fly over their ship, lightning crackling from his body as he flew.

http://i43.tinypic.com/wk44rc.jpg

Brooklyn
Now

My stomach rumbles, putting all other speculation to rest. Picking myself up off the bed, I head towards the kitchen. After a breakfast of cold pizza, I limp back to the bedroom and pick the stick back up.

I've been limping since that accident ten years ago. Ten years as a semi-cripple, always having to limp where ever I go. Now, I have a chance to become something else...something more.

I take the stick and limp up to the roof of my apartment building. Making sure the coast is clear, I take the stick and tap it twice on the roof.

KRAKOOM!

In a dazzling flash of lightning and wind, the Son of Odin took to the sky an disappeared off into the distance.

Asgard

http://i43.tinypic.com/124vhcj.jpg

Positioned on the edge of the Bifrost Bridge, the guardian Heimdall kept his faithful watch, his all-seeing eye gazing over all that transpired in the Nine Realms and Fourth World. He had watched the events of the last 24 hours with interest.

"My king," he quietly said, knowing that his words would find his ears. "Your son has awoken. Thor Odinson is back."

Club Underworld
Newark, New Jersey

The skinny man in the dark suit walked through the packed nightclub, ignoring the writhing clubbers as he passed by. They danced to the annoying beats, moving and swaying their bodies in a way that had very little rhythm. Men and women both had their skin tanned almost to the color of orange. Tonight was apparently "Guido Night"...whatever a Guido was. The man shook his head and climbed the steps to the VIP section. He was met by a bouncer in a tight t-shirt, a clipboard in his hands.

"What's the name?" He shouted over the throbbing music.

"Loki," he said quietly. Even though the music was loud, his whisper cut through the noise. "And yes, my name is on the list."

The bouncer searched through the list of names and there, right at the bottom, the name of Loki, no last name or middle initial, had been scribbled down almost as an afterthought. He didn't realize until later that the handwriting was his own.

"Alright, go on in," he said.

Loki smiled and walked passed the bouncer into the private rooms. Here the music was more subdued, not nearly as loud. The VIP rooms were filled with individual parties and guest, drinking champagne that cost nearly a hundred dollars a bottle. Loki ignored them and went right for the room in the back. It was an office. "Management" was written on the door.

"The Trickster God himself," the elderly man sitting behind the desk in the office said. His surroundings were spartan, the only curious item in the room was a six foot tall safe behind the desk. It was coal black and looked to be made of stone. The man behind the desk was dressed all out in a three-piece suit with a cravat and a top hat. "I could smell Asgard from the time you came through the front door."

"Coming from a man who reeks of brimstone and fire, that is a complement, Lord Hades."

"'Lord'," Hades said in a mocking tone. "You try to flatter me, Loki, but you only add insult to injury. What's your business here?"

"I wish to speak with Hela."

"Oh, so now I am her messenger boy as well as her gatekeeper? I see."

"All these years and still bitter. You lost. Hel is rightfully hers."

"On whose authority?!" He said with a hiss, slamming his fist on the desk. "The one-eyed bastard you call a father?! My pig-headed brother?! May they both rot in the Underworld where they belong! Double goes to that conniving ***** Hela! Turning me into her own personal hound."

While Hades fumed, Loki walked through the office, approaching the safe. He held his hand out and quickly pulled back. Even from a few feet away, the heat was nearly unbearable.

"I can think of worst fates...speaking of that...no, you wouldn't be right for it..."

"What? Is this what you wanted to discuss with Hela? If you're thinking of asking her for help or favor, don't. I can do whatever you want and better than she ever could."

"Maybe you're right," Loki said thoughtfully. He rubbed his chin and continued to think, or at least pretend he was thinking. "It involves my brother..."

"Balder?"

"No. Thor."

"I thought Thor was in exile, trapped in some mortal shell."

"He's free now. Father and Heimdall watch him, judging his actions on Midgard to decide if he's worthy to come home. I need help for them to decide that some extra time amongst the mortals will do him some good."

"You always were a traitorous worm," Hades said with a sneer. "Why should I help you?"

"Because of my influence over Odin. A good word from me has him reconsidering your punishment here as gatekeeper. A good word from him to Zeus. Well...so long Hel, hello Underworld..."

Loki walked closer to the safe. He could hear screams and moans. They sounded like they were coming from miles away, but they were there on the other side of the safe.

"Have you ever been on the other side?" Hades asked.

"No. Never."

"Good. Well, wait until I'm back in control. We shall have a feast and watch as the wretched and unworthy are burned."

Hades stood up, grabbing a cane that was under the desk.

"So, you accept my proposal? You have yet to hear it."

"Whatever it is, it is worth the risk of getting back what was once mine. Shall we?"

Loki nodded and smirked. He knew that there was no chance Hela would consent to helping him. Why would she? But Hades, old and bitter and looking for revenge. Well, those with vengeance on their mind were so easy to manipulate.

"Let's."

With a tap of his cane, both Loki and Hades disappeared from the office in a poof of smoke and brimstone.

Carnage27

01-10-2012, 09:47 PM

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/Legacy1978/Checklist%20Titel%20Banner/X-MenOrigins-JeanGrey-Banner.jpg

I put my feet on the cold floor as Scott stirs next to men, "Jean...you okay? You still has another forty-five minutes to sleep."

"Yea..." I say, wide awake as I've been for the past two hours. I got a few hours of sleep, but even that was plagued by dreams of fire and stars. I guess that has to do with whatever has been going on with me since I was a child. "I'm just going to go to the gym."

On the way to the gym, I accidentally bump into a student leaving the chapel, "Oh, pardon me, Dr. Grey."

Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler. Some kids are lucky in their mutations in that it's not an outward, obvious thing. Kurt isn't one of them. He's covered in blue-purple fur, has a tail, and looks like something out of a fantasy movie more than the real world. But even then, he has one of the most positive outlooks on life I've ever seen, and is by far one of the happiest students.

"No, it's my fault, Kurt," I manage a weak smile. "I'm miles away. What were you doing?"

"Praying," he smiles back. He's always been a devoted Chatholic, and his faith helps define him. "If I may, Professor, I vould suggest praying. It may help clear your head. And zhe Lord vorks in mysterious ways. He may show you the way."

I pat him on the shoulder, "Maybe I will, Kurt. Now run along. It's Saturday. You have some more time to sleep."

We part ways, and I wonder if he was right. Maybe there is something mystical about what's going on with me now. One thing is for sure, I have a lot more questions than answers. Now I know how Logan feels.

Oh yea, that's exactly the thought that would make me feel better.

I bypass the gym and head for the Danger Room. I don't know why, but I'm drawn to it this morning. I normally spend the least amount of time here compared to my teammates, but this morning feels different.

I fire up a simulation that involves a government raid of our home here, and am immediately dropped into a hail of gun fire from army troopers on the lawn. I telekinetically toss a tree at them, knocking a group out by myself.

But wave after wave continue to come at me, and after a while I begin to fall back into the trance I was in the last time. But I try and concentrate hard. But even then, psionic flames begin forming around me and reaching out towards the virtual soldiers attacking me.

I focus on my heart rate and emotions, attempting to bring them into balance, but before I can, telekinetic energy explodes around me, wiping out the attackers, and ending the simulation in failure.

As the Danger Room rematerializes around me, I slump to the ground and weep.

Byrd Man

01-10-2012, 10:47 PM

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3016/batmanbyrd.png

Wayne Tower
8:14 PM

24 hours since the incident at Maroni's safehouse. Castle was still at large, at least I knew how he made such a quick escape. One of Gordon's officers, a Detective Soap, was watching the back door when Castle came through. He assaulted Soap and stole the keys to the unmarked car he and Gordon arrived on the scene with. I tracked the car halfway across town to Old Gotham. Castle had abandoned it and fled. I searched all night for any sign of him, finding nothing. I shouldn't have expected anything less from a man with his record.

With some of my gear on, I sat down in front of the computer and connect with Gordon's phone.

"Hello?"

"Any word on Castle yet?"

"Not yet. I've had my people out there watching all the Maroni strongholds we know of."

"I told Maroni last night to leave town, but I highly doubt he took my advice. Castle won't stop until he's dead, or Maroni is."

"Well, I have my best people on it."

"What about the others from last night? The Joker? The big man we found unconscious? The officer Castle assaulted?"

"Joker spent last night in an isolated holding cell. A doctor patched up his wounds while the SWAT team held the clown at gunpoint. He's on his way to Arkham for evaluation. See if he's competent to stand trial. The big man is in the ICU at Gotham General. Castle blinded him and fractured his skull. He may not make it, but he's lucky to still be standing. All told, Castle killed thirteen of Maroni's men last night. Soap is fine, just a few bruises."

That's because Castle pulled his punches. I noticed it last night, but decided to not say anything to Gordon. Maybe he treated Soap with a light touch because he's a cop, or maybe there's something else? I can't rightfully say, and I didn't wish to cast doubt onto an officer Jim already trusts.

"Good. I'll be on the lookout for Maroni tonight as well. Castle was put through the ringer by that big man and the Joker. He may rest up and wait."

"I'm at home right now, but I'll keep an ear out for anything I hear. Everyone has direct orders to call me as soon as Maroni or Castle show up....By the way, last night, how did you know it was Castle?"

"Your people found a thumbprint at one of the crime scenes. the Russian strip club in Bingham Beach. It was on the hilt of a throwing knife. No match in any of the crime computers. But, with the accuracy of the shots, I knew whoever was behind it had to be trained by some military. I ran the print in the US Armed Forces database and found something."

"I was in the process of doing that. ADA put a subpoena into the DoD for access to their records and they said it would take a few weeks. Good to see you cut through the red tape."

"Castle was more than just a Marine. He was part of the Marine Special Operations. His file has more redactions than it has any other data. All I know is that he was a First Sergeant who served with Special Forces for six years. Afghanistan, Iraq, even an odd mission in Southeast Asia. All I know are the locations. Even with my means, it's the best I could do."

"It's more than enough. We know what we're dealing with and what he's capable of."

"I think we got a good example of what he's capable of last night. Batman out."

I disconnected the line and turned to my cape and cowl, slipping them on and preparing myself to face the night.

*****

Meatpacking District
10:36 PM

Frank Castle wheezed as he climbed up the fire escape. The stitches in his shoulder and side were still sensitive. His ribs hurt every time he took a breath. There was a wrap held tightly around his ribcage to keep the two broken ribs in place. The M4 on his back hit the body armor with each step, sending little shots of pain through his back each time. Last night, after he had ditched Soap's car, Frank had looked in the phone book and found a nearby house where a doctor had lived. He broke in and forced the man to patch him up. He never hurt him, but he promised he would if the doctor told the police. Even if he had, it didn't matter. The doctor had done his job and Frank had retreated to the small hideaway he had set up just before declaring his war. The cops, Batman, and even Maroni were expecting him to rest and recover from his wounds. They didn't expect him to deliver the knockout punch so soon.

Castle finally reached the rooftop and squatted down, sneaking across the gravel rooftop. He came to a stop beside the ledge of the building and slung off the assault rifle, gently placing it on the gravel beside him. Castle pulled out a pair of binoculars from one of the pouches on his pants and looked down at the building across the street.

The Cheetah Club was a strip club, but unlike Molotov's in Bingham Beach it was legitimate business with no prostitution on the side. It was a Maroni front, but it was buried deeply in the ownership paperwork. You had to go through nearly a dozen civilians to trace it to Maroni. The cops, feds, and IRS wouldn't have the depth or foresight to run the trail all the way back to them. If there was anywhere Maroni would feel safe to hide out at, this would be the place. Lucky for Frank Castle all it took to find out about the Cheetah Club's owner was one night with a Maroni capo,and the use of a hacksaw.

Castle watched as a black SUV pulled up to the club. Even though the club should be active and filled with drooling men, it was silent. Someone had shut the strip club down for the night, and now Castle knew why.

The silver-haired man stepped out of the back of the SUV and looked around. Frank watched him through the binoculars and felt like smiling. There were bags under Maroni's eyes and his hair was unkempt. He was jerky and skiddish, even with the four heavily armed guards who climbed out the car with him and escorted him into the empty club. For all his talk about being "The Boss" he was just like the little pissants he pushed around. When you applied pressure they all cracked, and to Frank the fault lines on Maroni's face were a mile wide.

Frank picked his rifle up and slid it back on to his back as he squatted on his haunches and pulled a grappling hook and rope from his belt. He tossed it across the street and let it hook on to the roof of the Cheetah Club. Castle stood and attached a pulley to the rope and pushed off the roof. He zipped over the street and landed on the roof of the strip club. Sliding to a stop, he grabbed the M4 off his back and popped off the safety. He stood up and slid the bolt back, putting a round into the chamber.

He was looking at taking on at least seven armed men. In truth, there were probably twice as many inside. He was hurt and outnumbered, but he had faced superior numbers time and again. They always had superior numbers, but he was the superior solider. Even injured and hurting, he bet he would easily take down half their numbers before they managed to touch him. He wasn't sure how long he could last after that. Either way, he knew tonight was the end of it all. He just hoped he could kill Maroni before they killed him.

MST3K 4ever

01-11-2012, 09:31 PM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6366396619_3cd1399208.jpg

Lex is still stinging from the defeat at the hands of Green Arrow.

A Robin Hood reject! Unreal! I can handle a setback but this is an outright humiliation. Yet another costumed freak to deal with. At times I don't what's worse them or those mutant freaks.

Lex stares out over the city.

I am Alexander J. Luthor the most powerful man on the planet, and I do not need super powers to prove it. Although it can't hurt to stack the deck in my favor.

He opens up a computer program and says to his computer system Alexis.

"Alexis"

She responds, "Yes Mr. Luthor."

Lex replies, "Begin a new program. Call it program Power-Suit. Let's begin with basic schematics shall we."

Alexis replies, "As you wish Mr. Luthor."

Lex makes himself a drink and says, "Let's enjoy this. Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G if you please."

Lex smiles as the music begins.

Yes I won't go through this kind of humiliation again.

MST3K 4ever

01-11-2012, 10:07 PM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6366402613_3f2c57eeb9_m.jpg

Green Arrow ziplines through the city and stops on top of a building just outside of the heart downtown Metropolis.

So far this evening I've stopped 2 robberies and 3 attempted muggings. So why do I still feel like I've got to pay some kind of penance for taking on the Devil.

He sits down and watches the activity in the city.

I wonder if any of these people realize what is going on tonight. People in power plotting against them. Children going to bed hungry. People being unfaithful to one another. What's the point in all of this anymore?

Just then he hears a woman on the street below crying for help. Someone has stolen her child.

Arrow sees the van driving away and he ziplines from his perch to the street. Arrow then ziplines in front of the speeding car and hears the police sirens.

Can't just fire arrows at the tires because if I fire wrong the car could roll over and the child can be hurt, but maybe I can slow them down enough for the police to do their job.

He loads up an arrow and fires through the hood into the engine.

The van begins to slow down and the police catch up to the car. The 3 would be kidnappers flee and the police catch up to them.

Arrow lands next to the car, and sees a frightened little boy.

Arrow extends his arms but the child withdraws and Arrow says, "It's okay I'll take you to your mom. It's okay."

The little boy looks at him and says, "Robin Hood?"

Arrow smiles chuckling and says, "Something like that."

The boy crawls over to Arrow and Arrow sees the mother running towards them.

She says, "My Baby!"

Arrow hands the boy over to the mother and she embraces the boy weeping and kissing him.

She looks at Green Arrow and says, "Thank you! Thank you God Bless you!"

Arrow says, "You're welcome."

She says, "Please tell me your name so you can mention you in our prayers."

The boy says, "Mommy it's Robin Hood."

Arrow smiles and says, "Take care and Good Night."

Arrow ziplines away and is still smiling.

Sometimes it's the little victories that make the difference.

Byrd Man

01-12-2012, 10:58 PM

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb232/byrdRPG/batmanbyrd.png

Wayne Tower
8:14 PM

24 hours since the incident at Maroni's safehouse. Castle was still at large, at least I knew how he made such a quick escape. One of Gordon's officers, a Detective Soap, was watching the back door when Castle came through. He assaulted Soap and stole the keys to the unmarked car he and Gordon arrived on the scene with. I tracked the car halfway across town to Old Gotham. Castle had abandoned it and fled. I searched all night for any sign of him, finding nothing. I shouldn't have expected anything less from a man with his record.

With some of my gear on, I sat down in front of the computer and connect with Gordon's phone.

"Hello?"

"Any word on Castle yet?"

"Not yet. I've had my people out there watching all the Maroni strongholds we know of."

"I told Maroni last night to leave town, but I highly doubt he took my advice. Castle won't stop until he's dead, or Maroni is."

"Well, I have my best people on it."

"What about the others from last night? The Joker? The big man we found unconscious? The officer Castle assaulted?"

"Joker spent last night in an isolated holding cell. A doctor patched up his wounds while the SWAT team held the clown at gunpoint. He's on his way to Arkham for evaluation. See if he's competent to stand trial. The big man is in the ICU at Gotham General. Castle blinded him and fractured his skull. He may not make it, but he's lucky to still be standing. All told, Castle killed thirteen of Maroni's men last night. Soap is fine, just a few bruises."

That's because Castle pulled his punches. I noticed it last night, but decided to not say anything to Gordon. Maybe he treated Soap with a light touch because he's a cop, or maybe there's something else? I can't rightfully say, and I didn't wish to cast doubt onto an officer Jim already trusts.

"Good. I'll be on the lookout for Maroni tonight as well. Castle was put through the ringer by that big man and the Joker. He may rest up and wait."

"I'm at home right now, but I'll keep an ear out for anything I hear. Everyone has direct orders to call me as soon as Maroni or Castle show up....By the way, last night, how did you know it was Castle?"

"Your people found a thumbprint at one of the crime scenes. the Russian strip club in Bingham Beach. It was on the hilt of a throwing knife. No match in any of the crime computers. But, with the accuracy of the shots, I knew whoever was behind it had to be trained by some military. I ran the print in the US Armed Forces database and found something."

"I was in the process of doing that. ADA put a subpoena into the DoD for access to their records and they said it would take a few weeks. Good to see you cut through the red tape."

"Castle was more than just a Marine. He was part of the Marine Special Operations. His file has more redactions than it has any other data. All I know is that he was a First Sergeant who served with Special Forces for six years. Afghanistan, Iraq, even an odd mission in Southeast Asia. All I know are the locations. Even with my means, it's the best I could do."

"It's more than enough. We know what we're dealing with and what he's capable of."

"I think we got a good example of what he's capable of last night. Batman out."

I disconnected the line and turned to my cape and cowl, slipping them on and preparing myself to face the night.

*****

Meatpacking District
10:36 PM

Frank Castle wheezed as he climbed up the fire escape. The stitches in his shoulder and side were still sensitive. His ribs hurt every time he took a breath. There was a wrap held tightly around his ribcage to keep the two broken ribs in place. The M4 on his back hit the body armor with each step, sending little shots of pain through his back each time. Last night, after he had ditched Soap's car, Frank had looked in the phone book and found a nearby house where a doctor had lived. He broke in and forced the man to patch him up. He never hurt him, but he promised he would if the doctor told the police. Even if he had, it didn't matter. The doctor had done his job and Frank had retreated to the small hideaway he had set up just before declaring his war. The cops, Batman, and even Maroni were expecting him to rest and recover from his wounds. They didn't expect him to deliver the knockout punch so soon.

Castle finally reached the rooftop and squatted down, sneaking across the gravel rooftop. He came to a stop beside the ledge of the building and slung off the assault rifle, gently placing it on the gravel beside him. Castle pulled out a pair of binoculars from one of the pouches on his pants and looked down at the building across the street.

The Cheetah Club was a strip club, but unlike Molotov's in Bingham Beach it was legitimate business with no prostitution on the side. It was a Maroni front, but it was buried deeply in the ownership paperwork. You had to go through nearly a dozen civilians to trace it to Maroni. The cops, feds, and IRS wouldn't have the depth or foresight to run the trail all the way back to them. If there was anywhere Maroni would feel safe to hide out at, this would be the place. Lucky for Frank Castle all it took to find out about the Cheetah Club's owner was one night with a Maroni capo,and the use of a hacksaw.

Castle watched as a black SUV pulled up to the club. Even though the club should be active and filled with drooling men, it was silent. Someone had shut the strip club down for the night, and now Castle knew why.

The silver-haired man stepped out of the back of the SUV and looked around. Frank watched him through the binoculars and felt like smiling. There were bags under Maroni's eyes and his hair was unkempt. He was jerky and skiddish, even with the four heavily armed guards who climbed out the car with him and escorted him into the empty club. For all his talk about being "The Boss" he was just like the little pissants he pushed around. When you applied pressure they all cracked, and to Frank the fault lines on Maroni's face were a mile wide.

Frank picked his rifle up and slid it back on to his back as he squatted on his haunches and pulled a grappling hook and rope from his belt. He tossed it across the street and let it hook on to the roof of the Cheetah Club. Castle stood and attached a pulley to the rope and pushed off the roof. He zipped over the street and landed on the roof of the strip club. Sliding to a stop, he grabbed the M4 off his back and popped off the safety. He stood up and slid the bolt back, putting a round into the chamber.

He was looking at taking on at least seven armed men. In truth, there were probably twice as many inside. He was hurt and outnumbered, but he had faced superior numbers time and again. They always had superior numbers, but he was the superior solider. Even injured and hurting, he bet he would easily take down half their numbers before they managed to touch him. He wasn't sure how long he could last after that. Either way, he knew tonight was the end of it all. He just hoped he could kill Maroni before they killed him.

Old Gotham
10:45 PM

I zipped up to the top of the building and crouched on the edge. Built and finished in 1879, the Solomon Wayne Courthouse is the tallest building in Old Gotham at ten stories tall. Solomon's grandson, Alan Wayne, put up the money for the building and commissioned Nicholas Anders and Bradley gates to build it. It was named after Solomon due to the nearly 40 years he spent as a judge. During that time, Solomon gained a fierce reputation as a no-nonsense judge who was quick to hand out harsh sentences.

The elderly Wayne abandoned the bench and served as a Colonel during the Civil War, a member of General Sherman's staff. Solomon was with Sherman as his army burned Georgia and destroyed South Carolina, their punishment for starting the war in the first place. Solomon was appointed to a military tribunal shortly after Lee surrendered. The recently promoted General Wayne tried a portion of the Confederate troops who had rebelled against the Union. The ruthless Wayne showed no mercy to those he viewed as traders, handing out some five hundred execution orders to the rebel troops. Although most of those were later overturned by appeal, it's still an American legal record for most death sentences handed out in a twenty-four hour period. Of all my ancestors, I feel like Solomon would be the best one to give me advice on the matter I'm dealing with.

Somewhere out there a man is taking the law into his own hands, very much like me. Unlike me, this man is ruthlessly killing the criminals he fights. I have to stop him. While I realize the irony behind my dilemma, I think that Frank Castle needs to be stopped. I have no idealistic illusions that what I do is a better option than the path the police have to take. The Batman is a necessary evil, one that has to exist because there is no other solution. The system is broken, but it can be fixed. With the help of people like Jim Gordon, it can be fixed. The moment people like myself start to execute criminals, we've abandoned all hope entirely.

"Dispatch to all available Western units," the scanner in my ear crackled. "Shots fired at 11823 Petersberg Way."

I know that address. It's a low-rent strip club. Six months ago, I took down a mob enforcer as he was getting a lap dance.

"Castle.."

There's no real tie between that location and any mob front, if I remember correctly. Regardless if it's him or not, I have to go. I leapt from the historic courthouse and let my cape catch the wind, gliding above the rooftops of the old parts of the city.

****

Meatpacking District
10:48 PM

Gunfire echoed through the empty strip club and the entire building reeked of cordite and blood. The six mobsters tasked with guarding Sal Maroni hunkered down beside the strip club's stage. Shotguns, pistols, and a few submachine guns were in their hands. The initial attack had happened so fast. The dozen or so guys had been mulling around the bar, talking and shooting the **** when the front door to the club burst open. Nicky DiPaolo, the Cheetah Club's doorman, had stumbled in with a goddamn knife stuck in his throat. The men had all pulled their pieces, but that son of a ***** had come up and grabbed Nicky from behind, using him as a human shield as he picked off four of the guards with shots from that big ass rifle he had.

The men had scattered, six of them had hid beside the stage while two went off to protect Sal in the back room. While the mobsters hid and licked their wounds, Castle was preparing to go on the offensive. Squatting down beside the bar, Frank attached the launcher to the front of his assault rifle.

"All of you sons of *****es listen to me and listen to me carefully," he barked out. "Those you hiding, you got five seconds to come out into the open. You do that, and I'll do you all a favor and put a bullet in your head. That's the best offer you get from me."

Castle let the seconds tick off. When time was up, he stood up and aimed for the stage.

FWOOOSH!
A 40 millimeter grenade shot out the attachment and twirled through the air, landing in the middle of the huddled mobsters.
BOOM!

Fire, debris, blood, and limbs flew through the air. The blast of the grenade shook the club at its foundation. Moans and groans filled the air. Castle slung his rifle on his back and pulled a pistol from his left hip holster. He slowly walked over to the pile of blood and bodies that had been a half dozen mobsters. Four were dead, dismembered and decapitated. Two were still alive, but just barely. One was missing half the left side of his face and most of his right arm. The other was missing his legs at just above the knee. Castle looked down at them and assessed them. Both would be dead within minutes. Frank holstered his pistol and turned away. They weren't worth two bullets.

Castle walked towards the back room of the strip club. The door swung open and a thug with a shotgun stepped out. Frank moved quickly, pulling the throwing knife from a holster strapped to his thigh and tossing it through the air. The knife stuck itself in the mobster's shoulder as he squeezed the trigger of his shotgun. The shot went wide, but a few pellets grazed Frank's arm as he charged the thug. He tackled the man and drug him to the floor, yanking the knife from he man's shoulder and shoving it into his neck. The mobster gurgled on his own blood, drowning on it as he struggled to get a hold on the bloody knife in his throat. Castle climbed up and pulled his pistol, riddling the man's body with four shots. Frank holstered the pistol again, pulling the knife from the dead man's throat.

The other guard came rushing out the room, swinging wildly with a razor blade. Castle blocked the thug's attacks with his own blade, sparks shot from the knives as he parried the man's blows. The thug thrusted forward, aiming for Frank's stomach. The razor bounced off Castle's body armor and knocked the man back slightly. Taking the window he had, Castle reached out and grab the man's head, twisting sharply and snapping his neck in one swift motion. The man crumbled to the floor, his legs spasming as life left his body.

Castle switched to the M4 and walked into the backroom. There, standing up with a pistol in his hands, was Salvatore Maroni.

"You son of a *****!" Maroni growled, shooting at Castle. Frank stepped back out the room and winced in pain as a bullet buried itself into his arm. "My crews," Growled, firing the rest of his clip into the wall. "My capos, my underbosses! They're all ****ing dead! You're a ****ing monster!"

The gun started to click and dry-fire. A look of horror came on to Maroni's eyes as he saw Castle step back into the room. He squeezed off a round, hitting Maroni in the right side of his chest. The mobster fell back and landed on the floor with a hard thump.

"I'm a monster, alright," Castle said quietly, walking towards Maroni. "A monster you created. A monster this whole ***tty town created."
Castle loomed over Maroni, the barrel of his gun aimed at Maroni's face.

"Please...please...I'll give you whatever you want. All them Russian hookers I had? There's a whole supply line of them *****es! It stretches from Gotham, to Philly, to Hub, all the way across the country! Money! You want money! I got ****ing warehouse down by the docks! There's easily ten million in laundered money stashed there! All yours! Please...please!"

"Salvatore Maroni," Castle said, a hint of emotion creeping into his voice. "This is your punishment for the deaths of Maria Castle, Lisa Castle, and Frank Castle Jr. Burn in hell, you piece of ****..."

Maroni closed his eyes, tears starting to stream down his face. Castle placed his finger on the trigger and prepared to squeeze it...when he was tackled by a black figure and drove to the ground.

"No!" Batman yelled as he wrestled with Castle. "You will not take another life!"

Carnage27

01-13-2012, 11:23 AM

I can't believe what I'm seeing. Colonel Nick Fury, one of my greatest allies in WWII and one of my best friends, is standing right in front of me as if he hadn't aged more than a few years. But Fury never had any powers. He never had a super soldier serum to keep him young. Yet here he is, as grisly and angry as ever.

"You gonna stare at me like I'm some model all day, or are we gonna get the hell out of here?" he barks as he chews on his cigar. Yea, he really hasn't changed at all. He motions towards a helicopter in the clearing behind him, and the three of us take our seats. He leans towards the pilot, "Coulson, get us moving! Now!"

Once we're in the air, he turns back to me, "Your little stunt in New York with Gorgon forced me to move earlier than I would have liked. But you on the bench was going to hurt worse than having to accelerate my plans. You look good, Cap."

"So do you," I nod. "Awfully spritely for a normal guy at your age. What are you... ninety-five?"

"Ninety-four, thank you very much," he laughs gruffly. "And the government had some more stuff besides your little boy-scout serum that keeps me going."

"So what's you're play here, Fury?" I ask, changing the subject abruptly to business. I know Fury. He's a soldier like me. We don't need to waste time on the small talk. "I would have expected you to be with the government, not breaking one of its assets out of house arrest."

"I was with the government," he responds angrily. "Then Maxwell Lord shot up the food chain like he was launched from a canon, and the superiors decided I was old hat."

"Fury," I cut him off, thinking I know where this is going, "you're not thinking about taking on Checkmate, are you? First of all, going up against a government defense agency is treason-"

"I told you," he says to Agent 13. "Always the boy scout."

"Secondly, Lord has a personal army and seemingly the entire Defense Department in his pocket."

"He more than has them in his pocket, Steve," Fury responds seriously. "You had to have seen it. The way that people did whatever he said as he said it. There was no fighting back. Except for you."

"You mean he has a power," I respond. It does make sense. And even when I questioned why no one ever talked back to him, none of my teammates could answer it straight. "He can control people."

"Yea," Agent 13 nods from the copilot's chair. "The only reason we didn't fall for it was due to training. Glad to see your psychic barriers were still up and running."

"He's even manipulating people into giving Kobra intel," Fury says.

"Why would he do that, though?"

"Because mass attacks by Kobra will bring out more heroes that cause collateral damage," the colonel says. "And the man is a high supporter of mutant registration. He wants to take down metahumans. Whether it's out of some weird, self-loathing psychological stuff or to get rid of anyone who could stop him, he wants to get rid of super heroes. What do you think that damn hellicarrier is? It's a mobile super hero battlestation and prison."

It all makes sense. But what's worse is that it's all been out in the open. It's all been right in front of me the whole time and I didn't even pick up on it. "So what are we going to do about it?"

"We're going to put a team together," he responds. "A team composed of the best of the best. And with that team we'll take out Kobra and Lord, and bring the American people the defensive agency they deserve."

"What about the Gorgon?" I ask, remembering my harrowing fight with the madman. "He said he wasn't done. And his group, the Hand. What about them?"

"We'll take care of them in time," Fury says. "But my intel says Lord and Kobra are a bigger threat now."

I sit back in my seat, relaxing now that I'm safely away from Checkmate and back with an ally I can trust. Whatever comes next, I'm ready for. yet my team from Checkmate also passes through my head. I hope to eventually cross paths and explain myself. But until that time, I hope they don't brand me a traitor.

**********

Maxwell Lord slams his firs on the table in front of the Thinker, "It's Fury. It has to be. He planted that b**** here and he's the one that wanted Captain America free. It has to be him."

"That is the most logical outcome, yes," Thinker nods.

"It all makes sense now. That's why I could never control her," he seeths. "I should have killed her. How long until the hellicarrier is ready?"

"Still a few more weeks."

"Well hurry up. Things have just been kicked into high gear."

wiegeabo

01-13-2012, 09:06 PM

"It's been so long, Matt. How have you been?"

I hear Vicki take a sip of her wine. It's a bold sauv blanc with a heady bouquet, hints of raspberry on top of a cherry oak base. I smile and put down my glass of water, which now tastes exactly how the wine smells. There's probably a biblical joke to make out of that.

"I keep myself busy. You wouldn't believe how many people in New York need a good defense attorney," I say with a smile.

"And they're all innocent, I bet."

"My clients certainly are. We only defend the innocent."

"Oh, really?"

"I'm serious," I say lightly.

"And how do you know? Magic powers? Voodoo? Little birdie?"

"Something like that."

"Well, you'll have to tell me your secret."

I don't need super senses to pick up the flirting in Vicki's voice. And not just the friendly type of flirting it's fun to engage in. I don't know if it's the wine or, well...I don't know what. But when we were hot and heavy in college...well, I know that tone.

"Oh, do I now?" I make it sound like I could be playing along, but also try to keep things just friendly.

I hear her take another sip. "Absolutely."

I lean forward, dropping my voice slightly. "Vicki, are you trying to...catch up on old times?"

"I was thinking about it." I suddenly have the mental urge to kick myself for not taking a visit to Gotham earlier.

Instead, I just try and hide a gulp. "So..."

"So..."

"...would you hate me if I said I had to work tonight?"

"...I might kill you."

"Yeah. Was afraid of that."

"Are you serious?"

"Please, don't kill me."

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"...I really wish it could. But there's an innocent man in jail. How can I rest until he's free?"

"You're resting right now."

"I have to eat." I dig my fork into a piece of steak for emphasis. "And I prefer doing it with a good friend." I pop the bite in my mouth.

"So do I."

The tone makes me choke on the steak. And I know she's smiling.

"Well, that story may have saved you from being killed."

"Vicki, would you take the time to 'catch up' if you were in the middle of a hot story?"

She thinks for a moment. I can hear the wine slosh slightly in her glass as she rolls the question around in her mind.

"You live. For now."

I smile with mock relief. "Thank goodness for miracles."

"So, what are you doing tonight that's so damned important?"

"Just some...research. Need to track a potential witness down."

"Need any help?"

I take a long drink. "No...I think I'll be fine..."

bkhedr

01-14-2012, 04:41 AM

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5344/1168718-gorgon_01.jpg

<"We are displeased Gorgon.">

Those were the first words the Elders said we when the Gorgon activated the shadow portal. He had been expecting such a greeting, in fact he had practically engineered it, so he was surprised when the words stung his pride.

<"I understand Elder."> The Gorgon replied evenly.

<"Understanding is not sufficient>" Came the voice of a second Elder. The Elder's visage was constantly shifting and blurring through the mystical portal, but it was clear enough for the Gorgon to see an ancient crooked finger pointed at him accusingly. <"You will explain how you allowed yourself to be seen. Why those who saw you were allowed to live and how you permitted an entire cadre of Hand warriors to be eliminated without taking a thousand lives in retaliation!">

The Gorgon frowned and lowered his head.

<"Speak!"> commanded the third Elder, speaking for the first time.

<"I...did not anticipate the level of resistance encountered here Elders."> The Gorgon began in a hushed and serious tone. <"It would seem the heroes of America are more than myth and media fabrication. They are very real and they are a threat.">

<"You claim that one of these westerners bested you and your brothers? Even with the Grass Cutter in your possession?"> The third Elder asked suspiciously.

This was the moment of truth. The Gorgon had manipulated events to get to this point and so far everything was going as expected, but admitting to failure, even when that failure was intentional, was proving harder than anticipated.

It was only after a suitably lenghty silence that the Gorgon faced the questioned Elder directly.

<"Yes Elder.">

The Three Elders did not respond immediately but instead exchanged glances, as if in silent council, before the first Elder spoke.

<"Then these heroes are a threat to the Hand and our mission."> He stated matter of factly.

<"We cannot allow any enemy to think that they can strike at us with impunity."> Added the second Elder

<"They must be eliminated in the name of the Beast."> The third Elder concluded.

<"As you wish."> The Gorgon replied with a bow meant more to hide his smile, than as a show of respect. <"But we have already lost the men I had with me, and this is a difficult task.">

He raised his head <"I will need more resources.">

More silence and the Gorgon cursed inwardly for the hundredth time at how he could not read the Elders' thoughts.

<"Take what you will and do not fail us."> The second Elder said.

<"I will not fail.">

<"Be sure that you do not."> The third Elder replied before the portal shimmered and faded.

With the portal closed the Gorgon let out a low chuckle that quickly became steady and maniacal laughter which echoed through the abandoned warehouse he now claimed as his base in New York City.

----
< > = Translated from Japanese

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/5344/1168718-gorgon_01.jpg

One month later:

The Gorgon stood at the very edge of the roof of a 22 story building, seemingly oblivious to the precipice at his feet, and watched.

On an opposite rooftop a cadre of ninja were engaging a hooded and caped figure. The figure, a would be hero, was a mere boy, no older than 16, and even from here the Gorgon could feel his fear, his terror. Like so many other young Americans who are blessed with power beyond mortal men, this boy sought to be a hero, to use his gifts to help others, but beating up a few muggers is one thing and defending oneself from the Hand is another matter entirely. Even if one does posess enhanced strength and agility.

This child was one of dozens whom the Gorgon and his ninja had targeted in recent weeks. In truth, they were targets of no consequence. But if Tomi's plan was to succeed he needed the Elders to believe that he was actively eliminating American metahumans and mutants. Hence the nightly forays into the city. The ninja had taken to calling them hunts but the Gorgon hardly found each night's events to be worthy of such a title. To him they were nothing more than a waste of time, theatre that needed to be played out while he waited for other seeds to bear fruit. The woman he now felt skulking in the darkness behind him gave him reason to believe that the time for waiting was at an end and he silently signalled the ninja to finish their task so that he could focus on the new arrival.

The caped boy had fought hard, despite his terror and lack of training, but the skirmish ended abruptly, brutally, when a ninja's katana pierced his heart. The boy instantly fell dead and the attacking ninja melted into the shadows leaving the corpse.

"Come out woman." he said, addressing the woman in the darkness without turning to face her "I know you're there."

"Most impressive Gorgon." Talia al Ghul said as she emerged from the darkness "I admit I thought I'd at least be able to watch you without being detected. Its no wonder you have earned my Father's attention."

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lef7sjw3Ce1qe4zhy.jpg

"So he has agreed." The Gorgon said flatly. It was a statement not a question.

"Yes" Talia nodded needlessly "He will meet with you."

Byrd Man

01-14-2012, 08:13 PM

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb232/byrdRPG/Banner.jpg

Foster-Blake Free Clinic
Spanish Harlem

"...I said could you pass me that pen?"

I snapped out of my daze and looked up from my desk at Jane. She sat at her desk next to mine in the back office of the clinic.

"Yeah, sure."

I handed Jane the pen and leaned back in my chair, putting my hands behind my head.

"You okay, Don?"

"Hmm? Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You just seemed distracted. You've been that way since you came back from your trip."

"Have I? I guess I've just been in a funk since I got back. Trying to get back into the swing of things."

Is it that obvious? I guess learning that you're the Norse God of Thunder may make you a bit occupied. Gallivanting around the world as Thor only makes things worse. That's something else, something I've been thinking about ever since Norway.

Does Donald Blake truly exist? Or am I just a shell for Thor Odinson? I have all Thor's memories, all his experiences. I can feel him in the back my mind, a presence that's always there. I've spent thirty years here on Earth...but that's nothing compared to the countless centuries Thor has been around.

"I'm done with my paperwork," I told Jane, standing up from my desk and grabbing the wooden walking stick. "I'm headed out for the night."

"That's another thing," she said with a finger cocked at the stick. "You never used a cane or a stick. Why start now?"

"Why not?" I replied with a shrug. "Alright, see you tomorrow!"

I hobbled out of the office while Jane continued to give me odd stares.

Brooklyn

An hour later, I stepped off the train and limped down the stairs of the platform. I passed by Fitzgerald Electronics like I do every day on my way home, except this time I stopped to pause at the images on the TVs stacked in the window.

"These are the first images of the strange outbreak in Colorado that seems to have started just a few hours ago. Be warned that the images you are about to see are disturbing and graphic..."

The pictures and video flashed on the screen, causing my mouth to gape wide open. In the back of my mind, I heard the voice. His voice. He knew exactly what was happening and who was behind it. My hand gripped the walking stick hard and I turned away from the TVs, knowing where I had to go.

Penrose, Colorado
An Hour Earlier

Loki and Hades walked through the open field, a light flurry of snow swirling through the air. Both were still dressed in their Midgard disguises, Loki in his dark suit and Hades in his top hat and tails.

"Damn this cold," Hades muttered. Steam rose off his body and snowflakes melting the instant they touched his skin. "You and your filthy ilk may be built for the ice, Loki, but I was not."

"Mind that sharp tongue of yours, Greek, lest I freeze it off, " Loki said sharply, his hands turning blue and black. "This is good a spot as any."

The two men stopped just a few feet short of a running brook. Hades removed his top hat and slid off his jacket, tossing them aside into the snow. "Give me a moment, it has been sometime since I last did this."

"Just don't dawdle."

Hades eyed the trickster god with contempt before he turned to the brook. He held his hands out and began mumbling under his breath. Steam rose out the creek, fireballs shot out the water and began to vaporize the brook. The ground shook all around the two gods and a crack began to appear in the dry creek bed. As the crack widened, fire shot out of it into the sky. When Hades was done, a large, fiery hole was in the middle of the now dry brook.

"You asked and I have given it to you, Loki."

Imps, demons, and unholy beast began to climb out the hole and race across the field, burning the grass in their wake.

"Hell on Earth. Now let us hope you live up to your end of the deal..."

"I shall," Loki said with a wry smile. "But keep in mind, you task is only half done. Keep an eye on the skies, Lord Hades. Soon enough my dear brother will be with us."

The two gods stood side by side and watched as the forces of the underworld poured out the portal and began to wreak havoc on the Colorado countryside.

Carnage27

01-14-2012, 09:28 PM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

The sun pokes through the windows of Fury's New York city penthouse as I look over the files of the first person the Colonel wants me to go and recruit for our mission. The file is amazing, almost unbelievable. How people like this have been outside the normal human's scope of reality is very, very surprising.

Agent 13 enters the room and sits on a chair across from me, "So are you gonna tell me your real name, now?"

"I don't think now would be a pertinent time for that information, Captain," she responds, sliding the file her way. "An amazing specimen. I only hope she can be convinced to join us."

All business. It's respectable to say the least. And the way she talks, the determination...there's almost something familiar about it. But I can't place my finger on why...

"I hope so as well," I move on to the mission talk, realizing I won't get her identity at this point. "She'd be a terrific ally. When do we leave to find her?"

"You're leaving now," Fury says coming into the room. "But you're not going to find our recruit, you're going to Colorado." He flips on a television to the news, which shows monsters pouring out of a hole in the Earth, "Don't see that very often. You're headed there, Cap."

**********

Agent Phil Coulson flies me towards Colorado as fast as he can, "It's no Quinjet, but it gets the job done. I tried to get some of Stark's technology for us, but he wouldn't deal with me....I don't like him very much."

"Howard Stark?" I ask, remembering the man that was my friend and helped me become the man I am today. I owe a lot to him, and I'm surprised Coulson isn't a fan.

"No, his son, Tony," he replies. "Howard was a legend. Tony thinks he already is. I'm sure you'll run into him at some point. We're here."

I stand and head for the back of the plane, which opens and allows me to jump towards the coming battle. "I'll come back for you, just call when you're ready!"

I nod and jump, heading towards a battle with a group of viscous monsters. On my way down, I cut my chute off early, diving into a group of them with my shield.

Not wasting any time, I get up and start swinging away with my shield, and even unholster a handgun Fury supplied me. I usually don't use a gun unless it's completely necessary, but I think this is one of those situations.

A lizard-like beast rears up behind me and unfurls its wings before spouting a stream of fire at me. I block some of the stream with my shield and roll away from the heat, before firing a shot through its mouth.

Unfortunately, it causes the monster to explode, sending me flying through the air and spraying the surrounding area with fire, which thankfully gives me a bit of room.

But the respite is short, and I'm quickly swarmed by a group of small, demon-like imps who begin clawing and biting at me. I manage to begin throwing them off, but some bigger adversaries have already managed to surround me. I fire indiscriminately into them and drop into a defensive stance behind my shield, but I realize I'm dead meat if I don't get help soon.

Byrd Man

01-14-2012, 10:18 PM

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb232/byrdRPG/batmanbyrd.png

Previously

Meatpacking District
10:48 PM

Gunfire echoed through the empty strip club and the entire building reeked of cordite and blood. The six mobsters tasked with guarding Sal Maroni hunkered down beside the strip club's stage. Shotguns, pistols, and a few submachine guns were in their hands. The initial attack had happened so fast. The dozen or so guys had been mulling around the bar, talking and shooting the **** when the front door to the club burst open. Nicky DiPaolo, the Cheetah Club's doorman, had stumbled in with a goddamn knife stuck in his throat. The men had all pulled their pieces, but that son of a ***** had come up and grabbed Nicky from behind, using him as a human shield as he picked off four of the guards with shots from that big ass rifle he had.

The men had scattered, six of them had hid beside the stage while two went off to protect Sal in the back room. While the mobsters hid and licked their wounds, Castle was preparing to go on the offensive. Squatting down beside the bar, Frank attached the launcher to the front of his assault rifle.

"All of you sons of *****es listen to me and listen to me carefully," he barked out. "Those you hiding, you got five seconds to come out into the open. You do that, and I'll do you all a favor and put a bullet in your head. That's the best offer you get from me."

Castle let the seconds tick off. When time was up, he stood up and aimed for the stage.

FWOOOSH!
A 40 millimeter grenade shot out the attachment and twirled through the air, landing in the middle of the huddled mobsters.
BOOM!

Fire, debris, blood, and limbs flew through the air. The blast of the grenade shook the club at its foundation. Moans and groans filled the air. Castle slung his rifle on his back and pulled a pistol from his left hip holster. He slowly walked over to the pile of blood and bodies that had been a half dozen mobsters. Four were dead, dismembered and decapitated. Two were still alive, but just barely. One was missing half the left side of his face and most of his right arm. The other was missing his legs at just above the knee. Castle looked down at them and assessed them. Both would be dead within minutes. Frank holstered his pistol and turned away. They weren't worth two bullets.

Castle walked towards the back room of the strip club. The door swung open and a thug with a shotgun stepped out. Frank moved quickly, pulling the throwing knife from a holster strapped to his thigh and tossing it through the air. The knife stuck itself in the mobster's shoulder as he squeezed the trigger of his shotgun. The shot went wide, but a few pellets grazed Frank's arm as he charged the thug. He tackled the man and drug him to the floor, yanking the knife from he man's shoulder and shoving it into his neck. The mobster gurgled on his own blood, drowning on it as he struggled to get a hold on the bloody knife in his throat. Castle climbed up and pulled his pistol, riddling the man's body with four shots. Frank holstered the pistol again, pulling the knife from the dead man's throat.

The other guard came rushing out the room, swinging wildly with a razor blade. Castle blocked the thug's attacks with his own blade, sparks shot from the knives as he parried the man's blows. The thug thrusted forward, aiming for Frank's stomach. The razor bounced off Castle's body armor and knocked the man back slightly. Taking the window he had, Castle reached out and grab the man's head, twisting sharply and snapping his neck in one swift motion. The man crumbled to the floor, his legs spasming as life left his body.

Castle switched to the M4 and walked into the backroom. There, standing up with a pistol in his hands, was Salvatore Maroni.

"You son of a *****!" Maroni growled, shooting at Castle. Frank stepped back out the room and winced in pain as a bullet buried itself into his arm. "My crews," Growled, firing the rest of his clip into the wall. "My capos, my underbosses! They're all ****ing dead! You're a ****ing monster!"

The gun started to click and dry-fire. A look of horror came on to Maroni's eyes as he saw Castle step back into the room. He squeezed off a round, hitting Maroni in the right side of his chest. The mobster fell back and landed on the floor with a hard thump.

"I'm a monster, alright," Castle said quietly, walking towards Maroni. "A monster you created. A monster this whole ***tty town created."
Castle loomed over Maroni, the barrel of his gun aimed at Maroni's face.

"Please...please...I'll give you whatever you want. All them Russian hookers I had? There's a whole supply line of them *****es! It stretches from Gotham, to Philly, to Hub, all the way across the country! Money! You want money! I got ****ing warehouse down by the docks! There's easily ten million in laundered money stashed there! All yours! Please...please!"

"Salvatore Maroni," Castle said, a hint of emotion creeping into his voice. "This is your punishment for the deaths of Maria Castle, Lisa Castle, and Frank Castle Jr. Burn in hell, you piece of ****..."

Maroni closed his eyes, tears starting to stream down his face. Castle placed his finger on the trigger and prepared to squeeze it...when he was tackled by a black figure and drove to the ground.

"No!" Batman yelled as he wrestled with Castle. "You will not take another life!"

20 Months Ago
Camp Leatherneck
Afghanistan

"...So this should be a simple escort mission," Lieutenant Colonel Morris told the dozen Marine special forces soldiers sitting in the briefing room. "CIA asset is coming through the Khyber Pass with some critical intel. We'll meet them halfway and escort them to Bagram. First Sergeant, any words?"

First Sergeant Frank Castle stood up and looked at the men who were under his command. "Just what I always say: Use your brain, use your judgement, and don't be afraid to use your weapon if you need to. Oorah?"

"OORAH!" They all replied back in unison.

16 Months Ago
Robinson Park
Gotham City

Lieutenant Jim Gordon looked down at the man in the back of the ambulance while the paramedics cleaned and dressed his wounds. He had bullet wounds in his right thigh and left arm. Even with those wounds, he had to be sedated by the paramedics and patrolmen who arrived on the scene. It took nearly eight of them to bring him down. Gordon could sympathize, or at least he thought he could. Here was this family, having a nice picnic when some kind of shooting broke out. Best he could tell, it was something mob related. The whole family had been caught in the crossfire. The father was the only one left alive. His wife, daughter, and son had all been gunned down by the mobster's bullets. Even wounded, the man had tried to go after the men who were shooting. The first officer on the scene found him a hundred yards away, bleeding like a stuck pig and hobbling.

Gordon sighed and turned away from the ambulance. This had to be a new low even for Gotham. A goddamn mob hit in the middle of the afternoon in the park. Was this city that out of control and crazy? Did the mob really think that something like this wouldn't effect them? Loeb and the mayor could say what they wanted, but Gordon made a promise to himself, to the unconscious man in the ambulance, he would find the people who did this and make them pay.

20 Months Ago
The Khyber Pass
Pakistan

Gunfire lit up the night air as the Marines hunkered down beside their Humvees. Taliban soldiers were on a cliff above them, firing automatic rifles at the small convoy.

"We have got to keep moving!" Castle barked at his men. "We stay here and we are all dead!"

Castle picked up his M4 and ran out from behind the cover of the Humvee as an RPG went off at the top of the cliff, sending a rocket grenade whistling through the air towards the convoy...

16 Months Ago
Dutch Hill
Gotham City

"Frank? Frank?"

Castle slipped out of his trance. He had been standing in front of the kitchen sink, staring out the window at the backyard, lost in his thoughts. He turned and looked at his wife.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I was just lost in thought."

"You seem to do that a lot recently...have you tried to call that number I gave you?"

"Maria," Frank said with a scowl. "I know I've been off since I came back, but I'm fine, baby. All I need is some time to decompress. I don't need some shrink getting into my head, telling me what they think is wrong with me."

"Well...okay."

"Listen, today is a beautiful day. Let's go do something with the kids."

"Really? Like what?"

"I don't know...the zoo?"

"We went while you were over there, the kids didn't like it that much. Picnic?"

"Sounds like a plan..."

20 Months Ago
The Khyber Pass
Pakistan
Castle yelled as he charged the Taliban soldiers. The fiery ruins of the Humvee glowed in the night behind him. He was the only one left alive, the RPG had wiped out his whole squad.

Coming up over the cliff, Castle growled and fired his M4. The six soldiers on the ridge scattered and ran. Castle took five of them down with gunfire, but one managed to elude his shots. The clip in the assault rifle went dry and Frank dropped the M4 and pulled out his combat knife. He gave chase after the retreating soldier. The young man cried out in Pashto as Castle tackled him. A wild look was in Castle's eyes as he grabbed hold of the man's head and tilted it up, running the blade of the combat knife across his throat. Blood splattered on the ground and squirted up, covering Castle's face. Letting the soldier fall to the ground, Castle stood up and looked at the carnage all around. His face and upper body covered in blood, he tilted his head up into the sky and yelled into the quiet night.

Six Months Ago
Solomon Wayne Courthouse
Gotham

Jim Gordon sat in the back of the courtroom and watched as the jury entered the room. Jimmy Rizzo and Carlo Andolini were sitting with their lawyers. It had taken Gordon and the MCU nearly two months of legwork to get enough evidence to charge Rizzo and Andolini with the murders of the Castle family, along with the murder of Stefon Smith. Smith had been the original target that day at the park. Rizzo and Andolini had finished the job they started at the park a few days later, shooting Smith in the back of the head as he left his house one morning.

Castle had given his testimony the day before. It was poignant and heartfelt. He described the day with his wife and kids leading up to the attack, and the horror of seeing his children gunned down in front of him. But the defense had torn into like a hungry dog eating a steak. Stephen Levy, Maroni's pet lawyer, had badgered Castle about every little detail. To the man's credit, he had stayed strong and unwavering. Gordon expected nothing less from a Marine.

The mood in the court was somber as the jury took their seats. Gordon was confident about the outcome. No juror with half a brain could dismiss Castle's testimony, or believe the half-hearted alibi the two men was legit.

Judge Fayden called for the verdict and the bailiff took the slip of paper from the jury foreman. Fayden looked down at it and took off his reading glasses.

"Defendant's please rise."

Rizzo and Andolini stood with Levy.

"I'll ask the galley to remain silent until after I have read the verdicts. In the State vs. Rizzo & Andolini. In the count of first degree murder on Maria Elizabeth Castle, the jury finds the defendants not guilty. In the count of first degree murder on Lisa Castle, the jury finds the defendants not guilty. In the county of murder in the first degree on Francis Castle Jr., the jury finds the defendants not guilty. In the count of first degree murder on Stefon Smith, the jury finds the defendants not guilty. With that said, court is adjourned."

As soon as Fayden banged his gavel, the court became a madhouse. Rizzo and Andolini smiled and shook hands with their layers while people discussed the verdict, a few happy but most stunned and outraged. Gordon's eyes went to Castle. He was prepared to break up the inevitable confrontation that would arise, but he was shocked by what he saw on Castle's face. Nothing. The man was a blank slate. Castle saw Gordon and the two men locked eyes. Gordon winced at the sight of Castle's eyes. They were the eyes of a dead man.

One Month Ago
The Bowery

Castle walked through the safehouse he had set up in the heart of the city's worse neighborhood. Guns, body armor, and explosives were hanging on the walls all around him. Every dime he had went into the weapons and the gear. His savings, the life insurance on his family, and the money he had gotten from selling the house in Dutch Hill. He would have put twice as much into this for the moment that was coming.

He walked into the open room and looked down at the two men strapped to the large table in the center of the room.

"Hello, boys," he greeted Carolo Andolini and Jimmy Rizzo. "Long time no see."

Both men struggled against the thick leather straps that held them to the table. On a car beside them were an assortment of tools. Everything from saws and pliers to power tools. They tried to speak, but the gags in their mouths stopped them from behind heard.

"Don't try to speak. That'll come later, after I've gotten my fill."

Castle circled around the table as he spoke. "Here is how it's going to go. I'm going to torture the both of you for a bit. Then, I'll take off your gags. You tell me everything you know about the people you work for. You do that, and I promise you I'm done with you. I'll shoot you in the head and be done with it. You try to act tough, try to act like the little ****s you really are, then that's going to make me mad. I'll keep torturing you until you break...and then I'll torture you until you die. Sound good?"

The two men tired to yell and scream, but the gags just made them come out muffled and quiet.

"I thought so," Castle said as he picked a power drill up off the cart and pressed the trigger. The drill whined and the drill bit was a blur. "Let's get started shall we?"

Now
The Cheetah Club

Castle and I wrestled on the floor of the strip club's back room. Maroni laid on the ground, a hole in his right lung. I deliver a solid punch to Castle's shoulder, the one he injured in the fight with the Joker. Castle grunted in pain but kept on, landing a solid punch to my jaw. It knocks me back and allows him to get up on his feet. He started to go for his pistol but I recover and charge him, picking him off his feet and pinning him to the wall.

"You're crazy, Castle," I said with a growl.

"Coming from a man dressed as a bat?" He asked as he got a solid punch in on my ribcage. The punch sent me staggering back. "Maroni and his kind have ruined this city. They're responsible for hundreds of murders, and yet you want them to live?"

"It's not our place to say who lives and who dies," I said as I charged Castle. He blocked my right-handed karate chop, but missed the left jab to his cheek. "It's for the system to decide."

"The system?" He asked, swinging at me and missing. "The same system that let those animals get off for murdering my family? The system is a joke. It's broken."

"It can be fixed," I replied, side-stepping an uppercut and delivering a swift kick to Castle's left side. The blow sent him reeling back. "I believe this city can be saved."

"And you call me ****ing crazy," he said, pulling his knife. Castle swung with it, aiming for my stomach. I blocked with my gauntlets, sending sparks into the air as I parried. "At least I have the good sense to kill them. I'm not afraid like you."

"You think I'm afraid? You think I don't kill because it's too hard?" I asked, landing a blow to Castle's body armor clad chest. "I don't do it because it's too easy. I kill Maroni, and where does it end? It doesn't. Once you start you can never stop."

Castle swung up high, aiming his knife at my face. I grabbed my cape and tossed it up like a matador distracting a bull and causing his blow to go wide.

"That man you saved last night, the clown. He killed twenty cops. He deserves to die. How many more will he kill?""

"By your logic, you deserve to die. How many have you killed in your quest for revenge? How many more will you kill in the name of vengeance if I let you?"

"More," Castle said, swinging again with the knife. I blocked it, grabbed his wrist and quickly disarmed him. Castle reached forward, headbutting me and sending me off my feet. "This isn't revenge. This is punishment."

Still partially stunned from the headbutt, I slowly rose to my feet as Castle walked towards Maroni. He picked the man's pistol up off the ground and aimed it at me. Striking me twice in the chest. The blows knocked me back off my feet. The armor stopped the bullets, but it was more than enough to stun me. I looked up and saw Castle picking the wounded Maroni up off the floor and slamming him hard on to the desk. Tears ran down Maroni's face as Castle placed the barrel of the gun to his forehead.

"Please....please..."

"Castle," I said from the floor. "Don't...don't do this. You can...you can be better than him."

"That's where we're different," he said, pressing the trigger. Maroni screamed out as the bullet pushed through his forehead and blew out the back of his skull, covering the desk and Castle in blood. "I don't let my morals get in the way."

"You don't have any moral," I said, standing up on shaky legs.

Castle didn't hesitate, shooting me in the chest with three more shots from Maroni's pistol. I moved quickly, avoiding two of them, but the last one caught my shoulder and knocked me to the floor. Castle's heavy footfalls got closer until he stood over me.

"On that, we agree."

He spun the pistol around and came down on me, the butt of the gun striking me in the head and knocking me out.

Byrd Man

01-14-2012, 10:51 PM

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Colorado

Ten year old Billy James ran through the woods as fast as he could. He could hear the growling behind him and keeping pace. He to afraid to look back at what was behind him. He had saw it once and one look was more than enough. He leaped over a log and came down a bit too rough, losing his balance and falling into the mud and snowy slush on the ground. The growling was close now. Billy trembled as he turned to look at what had been chasing him.

A wolf was perched on the rotten log. Its fur was coal black and streaked with glowing red embers. The animal's eyes were glowing red and steam poured from its mouth. The wolf growled low and approached the boy. Tears were beginning to run down Billy's face, he shook uncontrollably. He was so preoccupied with the wolf, he didn't notice the wind pick up or the rumbling thunder approaching...

"BACK, HELLHOUND!" A voice roared from above. A bolt of lighting lit up the forest and a large figured crashed through the trees.

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Thor Odinson's hammer hit the ground, sending a wave of electric energy at the wolf. The lightning struck the wolf and sent it into the air. The hellish beast hit the ground and ignited into flames. By the time the fire died, nothing but ashes and cinders remained.

Billy looked up at the big, blonde man as he walked up to the boy. Thor held his hand out for him.

"What is your name?" He asked as the boy took his hand and helped him up.

"B-Billy..."

"Billy. I am Thor, son of Odin. We are well met, Billy. As you may be able to tell, the forest is unsafe at this moment. Come with me, I will take you home."

Thor grabbed the boy around the waist and hoisted him up with his left hand, spinning Mjolnir into a whirlwind with is right hand. Thor let the hammer fly and held on, sending him and the boy into the air.

Carnage27

01-14-2012, 11:53 PM

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As the beasts close in on me, the loudest crack of thunder I've ever heard rips through the area I'm currently in, knocking the fell creatures to the ground, and allowing me some time to put some distance between me and them.

But as I do, something shoots over the tree line barely two football fields away from me. It moves like lightening into the sky, and I barely make out the form of a man clad in medieval garb carrying a child out of danger. At least that's what I would hope he's doing.

By now, I feel a few of the beasts tracking me again, and I toss my shield into a large tree in front of me, ducking as it passes over me, striking through three hellhounds, causing them to combust in a burst of fire and ash. The shield strikes another tree and comes back to me, and I turn to face the rest of the beasts that are still after me.

"So boys," I say, smiling as the snarling monsters eye me up, "looks like you've got someone else here to take you on. Two against hundreds are the kind of odds I like."

The largest of the wolf-like creatures snarls at the others as they back off, signaling single combat...at least I would hope it'll be single combat, "Okay then, let's do this."

The beast charges at me, rumbling through the trees. The heavily wooded area will add an advantage to me. He's big, and will have a hard time maneuvering in the tight quarters. He closes the gap, and I push off the ground, backflipping between a fork of an oak.

I make it through, as does the head of the hellhound. Its powerful jaw snaps closed dangerously close to where I land, and I bring my shield arm around in a haymaker punch that staggers the creature. But I'm pretty sure that just made it mad. It pushes against the tree, burning it with its smoldering fur.

It bursts through the tree and slams into me, causing my shield to go tumbling out of my hand. I reach for it, but the animal doesn't give up. It thrashes angrily towards me, desperately trying to wrap its mouth of razor sharp teeth around me.

I roll out of the way, but am raked across my back by its fiery claws. The pain is significant, but short. I quickly turn towards my opponent in time to catch each side of its mouth in my hands. I struggle against the strength of the demon as it tries to crush my skull in its mouth. My muscles begin shaking under the immense pressure, so I dig deep and strengthen my will to fight back. After seconds that feel like hours, my willpower wins out, and I snap the beast's head in half, dispatching him back to hell.

Gathering my shield, I hear the growl of the big one's underlings, and I give out a tired sigh, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

And that's when they charge me.

Byrd Man

01-15-2012, 12:11 AM

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Thor sat the boy down in his front yard and watched the boy run to his house. "Tightly barricade yourself within, lad. The storm shall pass."

The front door slammed shut and Thor turned away from the house, spinning Mjolnir in his hands. He let it go and held on to the hammer's strap, holding on to it and flying through the air. The sight of combat from down below caught his eyes. A lone warrior against hellish beasts. Thor aims Mjolnir downwards and lands into the middle of the fracas, swinging his enchanted hammer wildly. Mjolnir struck one of the beasts, exploding it in a brilliant flash of lighting and ash.

"Noble warrior," he said to the man with the shield in between swings. "You looked as if you were in need of assistance. The son of Odin pledges his support to you on this very day."

bkhedr

01-15-2012, 04:17 AM

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"Mister Simon Williams"

"Thanks Jeeves" I say with a grin as I pat Count Nefaria's man servant on the soulder and strut into the ball room. It cheesy beyond belief, but I have to admit that I kind of dig this whole being announced when you arrive thing. Heck its one of the main reasons I'm late, that and being "ambushed" by the paparrazi while shopping earlier today.

I sport a flashy dark blue pin strip suit with gold cuff links and alligator shoes. Even amidst all this pomp and circumstance I still stand out, exactly as planned.

I'm greeted enthusiastically by most of the party goers as I make my way through them. Its all standard fare. Talk about how healthy I look, how its good to have me back in Hollywood or how the new movie looks fantastic. I lap it all up while trying to act nonchalant and its not long before the mingling is interrupted by the familiar feeling of a delicate hand squeezing my bicep.

"Hey Wonderman." Whitney greets me with a kiss "Glad you could finally make it."

I give her a smirk “Its man of wonders babe.”

“I like Wonderman better” she says as she hooks her arm around mine and leads me towards the center of the banquet hall “Now come on. Not acknowledging the host of the party is the very height of rudeness.”

The last line is said with a sarcastic haughtiness that makes me crack a smile. Whitney loves her dad but she knows he’s a blowhard and I count my blessings for that.

We find Nefaria holding center court in the middle of a group of swanky party goers. I recognize a few of them and they’re all blue bloods and old money. Just Nefaria’s kind of people.

The Count himself is wearing a particularly sharp tux, and believe it or not, an honest to goodness dinner cape and monocle. It should be cheesy, heck it should be hilarious, but something about the way Nefaria carries himself make the look seem….appropriate.

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Nefaria spots us walking over and smiles then throws his arms out wide in greeting.

"Simon my boy" He says as he pats me on the shoulders "Good of you to come."

I know enough about acting to know that he actually hates the fact that I'm here, but hey, his daughter invited me and a big muck a muck like Nefaria would rather pretend to be thrilled to see me than risk being embarrassed in front of his more welcome guests. I have to admit he's pulling it off, but that's ok, I can act too.

"Always a pleasure Count." I say with a smile.

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"So far so good right?" Whitney asks playfully, looking up at me as I stand behind her with my arms wrapped around her. We're standing alone on a upper floor balcony in Nefaria's mansion. A brief escape from the movers and shakers inside.

"Yeah." I reply with a smile. I'd like to be able to tell her how miserable I am for being here, how she owes me for making me come to the party, but to be honest I'm having a good time. Granted a big part, the main part, of that is her company.

"Good" she gives me a peck on the cheek "If you and I are going to work out, that is if you're really serious about us..."

"I am."

"Well then you've got to get used to my Dad's social gatherings, among other things."

"Hey I said it wasn't so bad." I say defensively.

She smiles and I'm struck yet again by how beautiful she is, how lucky I am to have found her. I'm about to tell her as much when a sudden burst of sound, light and heat floods my senses and blows us both off of our feet.

I hit the ground hard, thankful that my body is shielding Whitney's and we lay there, dazed and stunned for what feels like forever but is surely only a second or two.

My ears are ringing and my head already aches from where it hit the marble floor but I've got my wits about me enough to know that we just felt an explosion.

"Are you alright?" I ask as I cup Whitney's face in my hands.

She's just as stunned as I am and it takes a second before she nods in the affirmative. Its only then, after I'm reassured that she's unharmed, that I start to take in what's happening around us. Only then do I realize that the mansion is under attack. Only then does the fear start to set in.

I hug the floor, staying as low as I can and keeping Whitney down with me, as gunfire and screams fill the air around us. I’m terrified, paralyzed, but Whitney struggles against me and I instinctively give her room which she uses to climb to her feet.

"Whitney! Get down!" I say as I grab Whitney's arm. In my mind I'm strong, confident and commanding. The reality is that I'm anything but. The words barely make it out of my throat and when they do even I can't deny that their less a roar and more a whimper.

After such a feeble effort its no surprise that Whitney ignores my pleas. She pulls free from me and pushes the balcony doors open. I'm stunned and ashamed by how bold she is as she storms into the great hall calling out to her father. But she's barely crossed the threshold into the hall when a man in some kind of combat armor grabs her from behind.

I've only just registered the fact before another man rushes me and kicks me in the ribs. He wastes no time and hauls me to my fight then stands me up agains the wall next to Whitney. My only consolation is that his quick action has saved me from the embarrasment of cowering on the cold marble floor. I may play an action hero, but I've never been in a situation like this before and realizing that I'm a coward, is a sobering and dispointing thing, even while I'm in mortal danger.

In contrast, Whitney seems like a lion and while she says nothing she stares down the trooper who grabbed her like she's trying to bore through him with her eyes. I want to speak up, to tell her not to provoke them, but my throat is dry and my mouth won't work, so I turn away from her and take stock of what is happening around me instead.

The attack is seemingly already over and Nefaria's guards, at least the ones that I can see, lie unconcious or worse. In their place are at least two dozen men in combat armor with futuristic looking rifles at the ready.

"What is the meaning of this!" Nefaria's voice booms through the hall, making me jerk involuntarily and I seek the man out with my eyes and find him accosting one of the attackers.

"Answer me peasant!" The counts roars as he jabs the trooper in the chest with the head of his cane. There's no fear in him at all. Only supreme confidence mixed with anger. I steal a glance and Whitney and see the same look he has mirrorred in her eyes. I guess that's where she gets it, but right now my main concern is getting out of here alive and wondering if Nefaria's outburst is actually putting the final nail in our collective coffin.

My panicked thoughts are interrupted by a new voice, younger than Nefaria's.

"Come now Count." I turn my head in the direction of the new voice and see a man in all black armor step through the ruined main doors of the hall and approach Nefaria.

“Did you really think the Maggia families wouldn’t find out what you were doing?”

Carnage27

01-15-2012, 11:36 AM

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/Saamun/Captain-America-022409.png

Thor sat the boy down in his front yard and watched the boy run to his house. "Tightly barricade yourself within, lad. The storm shall pass."

The front door slammed shut and Thor turned away from the house, spinning Mjolnir in his hands. He let it go and held on to the hammer's strap, holding on to it and flying through the air. The sight of combat from down below caught his eyes. A lone warrior against hellish beasts. Thor aims Mjolnir downwards and lands into the middle of the fracas, swinging his enchanted hammer wildly. Mjolnir struck one of the beasts, exploding it in a brilliant flash of lighting and ash.

"Noble warrior," he said to the man with the shield in between swings. "You looked as if you were in need of assistance. The son of Odin pledges his support to you on this very day."

I bring down my shield hard onto the spine of one of the hellhounds, which explodes in a cloud of ash and embers, causing me to choke on the air I breathe. I stumble back out of the cloud, and finally get a good look at the man that's come to my assistance.

He looks more like a tank than a man, standing at least a head over me and his shoulders wider than any I've ever seen. His armor is like something out of a medieval movie, and his weapon looks like some sort of hammer. And the way he talks...what the heck is up with that.

But he's powerful, that's for sure. I can feel it radiating off of him, and at this point, I'll take all the help I can get, "Thanks...uh...son of Odin. The name's Captain America."

The final two hellhounds in the group that had came after me come at us, and are dispatched easily. I look at my new friend, "Any idea on how we can close that rift these things are coming from? We're not gonna stop these things until it's gone...and you look like you'd have a better idea on how to handle that."

Byrd Man

01-15-2012, 12:16 PM

I bring down my shield hard onto the spine of one of the hellhounds, which explodes in a cloud of ash and embers, causing me to choke on the air I breathe. I stumble back out of the cloud, and finally get a good look at the man that's come to my assistance.

He looks more like a tank than a man, standing at least a head over me and his shoulders wider than any I've ever seen. His armor is like something out of a medieval movie, and his weapon looks like some sort of hammer. And the way he talks...what the heck is up with that.

But he's powerful, that's for sure. I can feel it radiating off of him, and at this point, I'll take all the help I can get, "Thanks...uh...son of Odin. The name's Captain America."

The final two hellhounds in the group that had came after me come at us, and are dispatched easily. I look at my new friend, "Any idea on how we can close that rift these things are coming from? We're not gonna stop these things until it's gone...and you look like you'd have a better idea on how to handle that."

"Yes," Thor said with a scowl. "I could smell his foul stench upon this land halfway across the Kingdom of Kansas. Even though he is not of my pantheon, I know full well the work of Hades when I lay eyes upon it. If Hades can be bested in combat, that will drive his monsters back. Mjolnir will do the rest."

Thor began to spin his hammer, preparing to take off into the sky.

"Brave mortal, I ask for your assistance in this task. You would forever be in Thor Odinson's debt if you offer succor to the God of Thunder in this time of need."

Carnage27

01-15-2012, 12:31 PM

"Yes," Thor said with a scowl. "I could smell his foul stench upon this land halfway across the Kingdom of Kansas. Even though he is not of my pantheon, I know full well the work of Hades when I lay eyes upon it. If Hades can be bested in combat, that will drive his monsters back. Mjolnir will do the rest."

Thor began to spin his hammer, preparing to take off into the sky.

"Brave mortal, I ask for your assistance in this task. You would forever be in Thor Odinson's debt if you offer succor to the God of Thunder in this time of need."

Thor? Hades? Man, I dunno where this guy gets his reality from, but I guess I really can't really figure that out now. I mean he does look like he could be the god of Thunder.

"You've go it, Thor," I nod to him. "Captain America doesn't run from a fight, especially one that has stakes like these. What do you need me to do?"

Carnage27

01-15-2012, 12:38 PM

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll77/blqck/Signatures/Magneto.png

"Do you have a report for me?" I ask, not turning to greet Mystique as she enters my chambers. The woman is invaluable to our cause, and I consider myself lucky to have found her. There's no one that can match her espionage skills for...obvious reasons. And her dedication to our people almost matches my own.

"Of course," she says. "It looks like it will still go through. Senator Ross has stuck by his view point on the matter. It seems our intel on his character was not as solid as we thought."

"I was assured the man was a coward," I flex my fist, realizing I may have done more harm than good with my DC plot. "Very, well, you're dismissed. Please send Arthur to me when you leave. I require his assistance."

So the insects are steadfast in their desire to anger us. Their despiration is palpable, even here in my mountain retreat. What they don't understand, they always seek to destroy and control. They do not realize the tide of nature has turned against them. But they need to be reminded.

"You wanted to see me, Erik?" Arthur Light asks, announcing his presence. I turn to face him and smile. Arthur has been with me since almost the very beginning of this crusade. A steadfast supporter, I can always rely on him for assistance.

"Yes, old friend. I have spent too long behind the scenes, too long veiled in shadow," I say, placing my helmet on. "It is time for me to remind the scum of my power and to remind them who the real power on this world is."

He smiles back at me, "You want to patch into the communications network?"

"Indeed. Have you prepared the device?"

"I have," he nods. "Just give me a few minutes to set it up."

Arthur gets to work, and within the hour he has one of his many inventions set up to broadcast my message to the American people. He gives me the signal, and I start my message.

"Humans of America, greetings. Many of you do not know my face, but you know my name. I am Magneto, the Master of Magnetism and true voice of Mutant kind. For decades you have treated my people with hostility and fear. Rather than embrace your genetic future, you shun us and try to control us. But deep down, you know you have no chance at control. We are a force of nature. We are your destiny. We are your superiors. And if you do not give up this foolish registration act, I will personally show you the power of my people. You have one week, America. Choose your fate."

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/heroclix01/magneto.gif

Byrd Man

01-15-2012, 12:50 PM

Thor? Hades? Man, I dunno where this guy gets his reality from, but I guess I really can't really figure that out now. I mean he does look like he could be the god of Thunder.

"You've go it, Thor," I nod to him. "Captain America doesn't run from a fight, especially one that has stakes like these. What do you need me to do?"

"For now? Take my hand."

Thor held out his left hand while his right hand continued to spin Mjolnir. The Captain took Thor's hand and the God of Thunder tossed his hammer, sending the two of them flying into the air. They flew over the tree and across the countryside to an open field where the portal to the Underworld was.

"HADES!" Thor roared as he and Captain America landed in the field. "Why unless your realm upon the people of Midgard?"

"You like our work, Thor?" Hades asked from in front of the open crack.

"We? All I see if you."

Hades blinked and looked around, a bit puzzled. "Where?" He asked, looking around. "He was..."

"Silence. I would rather silence than have to suffer your foolish words a moment longer."

"Is that so?" The old man said with narrowing eyes "Well, I can grant you your silence, Norse whelp. Just, in return do me a favor and let me enjoy hearing your screams."

Hades snapped his fingers, causing the ground to shake. The crack in the ground broken open just a bit more as a massive monster climbed out.

"Thor, you know my hound, do you not?"

Cerberus, the three-headed dog and guardian to the Underworld, towered over his master. The hound's three heads watched Thor and Captain America, fiery drool dripping from their jaws.

"The God of Thunder and his mortal companion. Sic them."

Cerberus gave out a loud roar, all three heads howling, and charged towards the two warriors.

trustyside-kick

01-15-2012, 01:42 PM

OOC: Previously (http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=22207545&postcount=191)...
Black Bolt

The Royal Family lies in the Royal Throne Room with the Genetic Council or rather...majority of the Royal Family. But that will be explained a bit later. The King of the Inhumans is silent as ever but even if he could speak without sending his loved ones and comrades to Oblivion he would not utter a word this moment. This heinous act by Apokolips and more directly Kalibak the Cruel...Blackagar cannot recall a time in his life where he felt such concern. His beautiful and crimson haired Queen for as long as most can remember has forever spoken for her silent husband and King.

She too is speechless during this committee.

There simply...are no words. No words to be said. The King is silent.

As the other present members of the Royal Family converse potential actions to take from here, the King and Queen there but not truly 'there' as their concerns go out to their captured son, Karnak is elsewhere. Which some might find to be indeed strange. Strange because in one area of Attilan you have a committee trying to figure out how best to react to Apokolips' second act of War and in another you have the Inhuman race's greatest fighter and strategist...lecturing some of the young and gifted Inhumans.

The future of the Inhumans.

"Is it true that the King and Queen actually had an heir?"

"I heard that this is what this is all about. You know...how everyone is acting throughout the city. That we are at war."

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/dhunter22/karnaklecture0.jpg

"You are not paying attention to details of my story, children."

Karnak has been re-educating the children on the history of their culture and how Attilan--their great and glorious city--came to be. He does not do this to distract the children from whatever it is they have heard even though the secret offspring of Black Bolt and Medusa is now revealed to the Kingdom mind you. Had the Council prefer that the existence of Ahura remained unknown for much much longer? Yes. But it is not Karnak's job to try to distract as though they aim to cover up what has transpired. They wouldn't dare. Not to their people would they subject such lies and walls of fog.

Simply put the fact of the matter is, as one of the small Inhuman children have pointed, they may very be at War. Such is the idea across the city. Such is in fact the truth of the matter.

"The Kree wished to use as as Soldiers."

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/dhunter22/karnaklecture1.jpg

Yes. Despite what The Quintessence decreed to Black Bolt. Despite Blackagar Boltagon agreeing to abide by said decree...it is decided. As Karnak continues to remind the children of the Inhumans that the original intent and purpose of their race was to be soldiers used in war...the Royal Family and the Genetic Council have agreed.

Attilan is at war with Apokolips.

Uatu the Watcher granted the Inhumans the Blue Area of the Moon...which is by right his domain, to dwell peacefully in. Black Bolt shall not disrespect Uatu or the rest of The Quintessence so directly. Attilan is at war...not the Moon.

So they shall simply move Attilan.

Carnage27

01-15-2012, 04:49 PM

"Thor, you know my hound, do you not?"

Cerberus, the three-headed dog and guardian to the Underworld, towered over his master. The hound's three heads watched Thor and Captain America, fiery drool dripping from their jaws.

"The God of Thunder and his mortal companion. Sic them."

Cerberus gave out a loud roar, all three heads howling, and charged towards the two warriors.

Thor blasts off towards the three headed dog of Hades with blinding speed. Unfortunately, the dog seems ready for the headlong charge. It raises its massive paw and bats Thor out of the air like he was merely a gnat, rather than a powerful warrior.

The dog then quickly puts its attention on me, and it rumbles towards me. I attempt to run from it, but I quickly realize that's never going to happen. It's too big, and its too fast for me to have any hope of survival.

It catches up and snaps at me with its massive maws, and I barely manage to jump out of the way, onto its back. Which turns out to be a terrible idea. The two heads on the sides are incredibly articulated, and the one reaches back and smashes into me, knocking me to the ground, and knocking the wind out of me.

I feel the creature's hot, stinking breath on me as it readies itself for the kill and....

1l1ELQaKhqk

"Need some help, flag-boy?" a man in red and gold armor asks as he blasts beams of energy at the dog, catching it off guard.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm173/CPCreations1979/Comics/iron_man.jpg

Byrd Man

01-15-2012, 08:25 PM

"Need some help, flag-boy?" a man in red and gold armor asks as he blasts beams of energy at the dog, catching it off guard.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm173/CPCreations1979/Comics/iron_man.jpg

"Another warrior to the fray?" Thor asked as he shot past the two men. He swung his hammer at Cerberus' middle head and connected with a solid blow. The hound howled as it shot high up into the air.

"Huh," he said as he surveyed the newcomer. "You wear armor. I was under the impression that such battle garb had fell out of style with Midgardian warriors. Excuse me..."

Swinging Mjolnir, the God of Thunder took to the sky. The falling figure of Cerberus was tumbling through the sky to meet him. Gritting his teeth, Thor connected with a powerful blow to the beast's belly.

Lightning crackled across the sky and thunder roared all around. The dazed and smoking hellhound crashed back to earth, stumbling in front of the two champions.

wiegeabo

01-15-2012, 09:42 PM

And I thought New York was dark.

Gotham is like a black hole.

I remember the New York nights of my childhood. How, ouside of Times Square, it felt like the city was nothing but darkness and shadows. And living in Hell's Kithcen didn't help the matter. But there was always life. Sounds of the city. Cars honking, dull roar of engines, shouts of people happy, angry, and scared. Everything that lets you know people are alive and active. No matter how bad the night might get.

Gotham isn't like that at all. It's quiet. Eerily so. There's still the occasional car, or shout, or scream. A sign that this isn't a ghost town. But, compared to home, Gotham is a dead landscape. Too scared to confront it's own shadows.

A perfect place for a killer to run.

No on here is going to put their necks on the line and tell anyone where a criminal like Biglia is hiding. Hide. That's a laugh. The man I'm looking for isn't hiding. He works for the people who own this city. He walks the streets with impunity. Fearing no one because they all fear him.

I don't fear him.

So it should be interesting to see what happens when he meets me.

The trick will be finding him. He may not be hiding, but in a city this size, it's not like he really has to. So I have to do the work and find himself myself.

I spend two hours 'touring' the city from above. In that time, I come across a half-dozen muggings and break up an attempted rape. And none of the scum I have a conversation with know anything about Biglia. Not too surprising. He runs in a nicer set of criminal circles. But it does give me the feeling that this long night was going to turn into a long trip.

Around 2 in the morning I get another chance to make some new friends. I can hear the crew of four whispering to each other a block away. I leap across the rooftops to cover the distance between us.

"Remember the plan," I hear one say. "Keep the car ready. We'll be through the security bars in two minutes. Thirty seconds for the door. Sixty seconds before the alarm goes off. So that's how long we have to grab all the jewels we can and get the hell out."

"I still think we can stick around longer. It'll take the cops five minutes to get off their asses."

"And we're gonna need that to get the hell away. Don't get greedy or stupid, and we'll be spending the next two years drinking on a beech with an island hottie or two sitting on our laps."

I wait on the roof across the street for the three to get out of the van and head around the back of the shop.

SLAM

"What the-?!"

I reach into the window from the roof of the van. I grab the driver by the back of his head and slam his face into the steering wheel a couple of times. He slumps over across the front seats.

That takes care of the getaway. Now for the others...

MST3K 4ever

01-16-2012, 02:24 PM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6366402613_3f2c57eeb9_m.jpg

Green Arrow arrives back at his penthouse and puts his costume away. Oliver gets a shower and realizes he has had supper yet.

Time to grab a bite and to call it a night. I wonder if the Stallions are playing tonight?
He cuts on his TV as he makes him self a chef salad. He checks the preview guide after he finishes making his salad.

Hey the Lakers are in town! I wonder if I can get tickets. I know enough people in the Stallions managment that if I called they'd probably let me into the owner's box.

Just then Morgan Edge of channel 4 announces, "Breaking news into the KRIS newsroom Janet Layden wife of Senator Patrick Layden has announced that she is leaving her husband of 20 years. There are unconfirmed reports of an alleged affair between the Senator and an unidentified lobbyist. Mrs. Layden has released as statement saying, 'I have decided that the time has come to end my marriage to my husband Patrick. I will not give any reasons at this time, but I am doing this for my peice of mind and that of our two children. I wish Patick well in his service to our city and we are both committed to raising our children. I ask that the media respect our privacy at this time.' Again Janet Layden..."

Oliver cuts off the TV and shakes his head.

Well give I'll give him credit it appears Patrick has done the right thing. Or I wonder if his wife found out and confronted him? Regardless it's not my issue.

Oliver grabs a bottled water and cuts the TV back on and switches to the Basketball game.

MST3K 4ever

01-16-2012, 02:33 PM

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6366396619_3cd1399208.jpg

Lex continues working on his schematics for his suit.

He says, "Alexis."

She responds, "Yes Mr. Luthor."

Lex says, "Please bring up grid 27 on the right side in the front. What can we use that area for?"

She replies, "There are several options but the most worthwhile one could be a self-destruct module. Destorys the suit leaving you unharmed. We have several ways of using that area but that seems to be a logical one. AS you have said more than once it's not enough that I succeed but all other most fail. This is a way to find victory even in defeat."

Lex nods and says, "Proceed with the design phase of that area. We'll go with that for now, but be prepareed to scrap it if we come up with something better."

Alexis says, "As you wish sir."

sumowrestler

01-16-2012, 03:46 PM

Jordan walks up towards the alien craft. As he approaches it, he sees a very familiar symbol on what looks like a door. It is the symbol that is on his chest and the ring. This puzzles him but he knows very little about the Corps since he only been a member for a year at most. Maybe this is a ship they use but the Guardians would have notified him that they were sending a ship to him. However, this idea still didn't make sense because he has yet to see any such ships on Oa and all of the GLs use their ring to fly. So the big question is who sent this ship that has his Corps' symbol on it. There is only one way to find out and that is to see who is home. Hal floats up to the symbol and puts his ring hand on it. The door immediately opens up. He then enters the ship expecting something but not really sure what. There was no welcoming committee even though he is certain that whoever is on board knows he is there. His shield is up and ready for anything on the inside but trying to remain calm on the outside. Inside of the ship was mostly a white but had seven lines going all over it in what looks like random patterns. Jordan recognized the colors as the same ones in the rainbow including what he thinks is indigo. He never really paid that close attention to the rainbows unless he was flying and saw one. The colors seem to jump from one line to the next but whenever the green was close to his ring, it seemed to brighten up.

"Hello, anyone flying this thing? What do you want with me?"

A holographic green arrow shows up a few feet in front of him pointing down the hallway. Not know what else to do, he decides to follow it. The arrow guides him around the corridors and up a set of stairs to what he figures is the bridge. There he sees a robed figure who turns around. Before him stands a very beautiful woman who has four arms, a smooth tail, blocky ears and possible translucent skin. The green pigment seems to be almost moving underneath her skin as if it was a liquid.

"Welcome, wearer of the green light. I have urgent business with you. My ship is almost fixed thanks to the supplies that this patch of land has provided. They aren't the best quality but will work just as well. It does surprise me that so many operational things are mixed in with what appears to be dysfuntional items. This is a very peculiar planet from my scans when I entered the atmosphere."

"Yeah, we have a tendency to toss out perfectly good pieces of equipment or people just because we bought the newest thing. We, as Americans, can be very wasteful. So what business you have for me? By the way, prefer to be called Green Lantern if that helps."

A series of beeps ring out in the bridge and the ship shakes a little.

"Ah good, the ship is fully repaired and refueled. The wonders of energy converters and multi-fuel adapters. You mgiht want to take a seat over there."

"Will the take off harm the police and fire departments that are around this ship?"

"I've got no intentions of harming anyone. A green field will be around the blast zone to make sure only the ground and possibly surrounding debris will be affected.

Jordan takes the indicated chair as the alien takes the center chair. He now sees part of the officers and the green shield through what looks like a window. The green shield starts coming towards the ship as he feels it slowly take off. The alien kept her word as the only thing affected from the lift off was whatever was inside the green shield which created a good size hole in the ground. Once they were several hundred feet above the ground, the remaining green energy came back into the ship. He notices that right after the energy entered the ship, the woman sighed relief and looked brighter then a few moments ago. Once they were out of Earth's atmosphere, the alien gets out of her chair and indicates to Jordan to follow her.

"Green Lantern, my name is Hezolya. I'm one of seven left of my race. We are Priests of the Light. We can tap into the Emotional Spectrum similar to your Guardians of Oa but in a different way."

"Emotional what? You lost me there lady. How do you know about the Guardians?"

"The Emotional Spectrum is seven lights that represent seven emotions or motivations. The center, green which is will power, isn't really an emotion but the balance of them all. Your Guardians believe it is the complete removal or ignoring of emotions which had cost them once already. You will be amazed at the history your Guardians have and to my surprise they almost treat it with disdain due to their arrogance. This is why I needed to find one of your light bearers so you will know the truth. The truth will be revealed once we reach our destination."

"What destination is that? Why did you glow as the energy from the force field re-enter the ship?"

"The Temple of Light, of course. As for my sudden radiance, my race can directly tap into the light of their choosing but in doing so they are permanently bonded to it and it becomes their life force. We were chosen to keep up the Temple of Light and watch over the seven entities that rested their. Ion, the green entity, recently woke up and left its resting sancutary. I wouldn't be too surprised that it heads directly towards Oa to enter the main green energy chamber. This was fortold long ago in the Book of Light with a warning that soon the other Lights would reawaken as well. The Reawakening is proper and good but a concern among my people is that the Lights will come into conflict again and history will repeat itself. This is what we want to avoid. If the Lights can co-exist, then the universe will be truly blessed. If not, then the universe will be at a very dire state once again.

"OK, right now you are sharing more information then the Guardians usually do but still in the same cryptic way. I've only been a Green Lantern for about a year so not totally used to how they go about things. The Guardians never said of any other races being able to tap into the Green light like they can. As far as I knew, only the ones with the green ring or one of the Guardians could tap into it. What other colors are there? Are these other six entities part of the colors? Will anything happen to the Central Power Battery when this Ion enters it?"

"My race can tap into the Emotional Spectrum but nothing like the Oans since they were granted control over it. I can use it to partially power this ship but as you can imagine with the Light being my life force, I have to be very careful. It would surprise me that Ion would intentionally harm anyone on Oa or would destroy the main green energy chamber on purpose. If anything, Ion is very laid back and gentle as your race would understand. If I could see an example of this chamber so I know for certain that it would be able to hold Ion, it would help me explain things."

Jordan looks at the alien and hesitates about summoning his battery from subspace. He then remembers that it has been a while since he charged up and if this little adventure proves to be either a trap or dangerous, it would be better to be on a full charge. Could he trust this alien to not somehow steal his battery especially since if the alien is correct it would basically be a huge banquet for her? He then decides to bring it out. If the alien tries anything, he could escape the ship and seriously damage it. It didn't look like it had any weapons. Then he realized that if the alien wanted the energy, she could have tried to take his ring and suck it dry. Jordan turns a little to his side as the green battery appears. Hezolya's eyes light up as she sees the battery appears. She then begins to glow and have an expression of ultimate joy all over her body. Jordan recites the oath before anything could happen.

"In Brightest Day, in Blackest Night
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power...Green Lantern's Light."

After the ring is charged, Jordan puts the battery back. He then turns his attention back to a very much glowing Hezolya.

"That...that was exhilerating. I've never been so close to an concentrated source of the green energy. I'm not sure if I ever felt this alive or young. If your main green energy chamber is of same or similiar shape but bigger, it should easily hold Ion and its vast amount of power."

Jordan takes a few steps back and looks at her funny. The glow is a little bright and she does look younger and even more beautiful once you get past the extra set of arms.

"Yeah, the Central Power Battery is probably hundred fold bigger then mine and about the same shape even though I don't think it has the handle. It would have to be someone pretty big to hold it like I was holding mine."

"Good to hear. Ion will have plenty of room then to float around and enjoy being around a concentrated amount of the green energy of will power. It is very possible that the Guardians will notice Ion in the battery even if they don't see it go in."

"So what will be the signs of these other lights showing up? What emotions are tied to them? What other colors are they?"

"You probably could guess the colors since you seen them along the pathis in the walls of this ship. The emotions are rage, avarice, fear, will power, hope, compassion, and love. Their respective colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. That is the Emotional Spectrum. As for any signs of the other six showing up, it is uncertain except that colors of all seven will be flying through the cosmos. My brothers and sisters don't know what forms the lights will take but most likely they will follow the pattern of the Oans and be rings of some sort."

Hal is lost in all that this alien has told him. Six other lights connected to emotions? This ship apparently is designed with those in mind with the different lights on the walls, floors, and ceciling. Jordan been on a few other ships but usually he was fighting on or sometimes through them. This is the first time he been given a tour of an alien craft. So far in his young career as a Green Lantern, he has probably spent a good amount on Earth in Coast City but did do a few space ventures when needed. Fellow lanterns like Tomar-Re and Arisia had needed his assistance on occasion. It would be interesting to see the reaction of the Guardians to the report depending on what he finds at this Temple of Light.

"So young Lantern, what you think of this ship? Does your Corps use such vessels? I didn't read anything with your energy signature until I got close to your planet."

"How did you find out about me? There are other more experienced Lanterns out there who you could have asked to come along. I could name a few if you like."

"That won't be needed, Green Lantern of sector 2814. Since my race has such an intimate connection to the Light, we are able to use it in certain ways that you can not even with your rings. After Ion left, I went into a trance like state in search of bearer of the green light that wasn't your Guardians. In this trance, I was able to connect with the green light and follow the usage of it. When I done this, I was able to read the hearts of the users and selected you out of the ones I found. You are correct that there are more experienced wielders out there but only one compares to your will power but even he doesn't compare to the pure good heart you have. This is why I trust you to know what I'm going to show you. Hopefully what you learn in the next few days will help you lead your Corps in the times that will be ahead of you. Ideally you won't have to face another War of Light but sometimes things are out of our control."

"So what are you, I mean your race? I've got very limited time in space so alien encounters are still new and fresh to me."

"I'm what is called a Quadrian. As you can see, I've got four arms. My brothers and sisters have a set of four things on their bodies but none of us have the same set of four. This cloak hides my tail and pair of wings with my hair hiding a pair of small horns. One of us has extra legs, another has extra eyes, a third has extra ears, fouth has two pairs of wings, fifth has the set of four horns, and number six has a tail that splits into four parts about mid way down. If I wanted to, I could use your green ring but it would be difficult since my race has learned to use the Light in different ways. Our race isn't overly offensive but we will protect ourselves if needed. A part of me is looking forward to the other six lights showing up because that means the rest of my race will wake up."

"Wait a minute, your race is alseep? Are they that connected to their respective lights?"

"Yes, Green Lantern, we are that connected. The moment the avatars are release or someone else taps into the Lights, that respective Quadrian will wake up and possibly seek out whoever used the light. There been times where my brothers and sisters had stirred a little when the intensity of their emotion had shown up in someone for extended period of time. However, whoever was using that emotion never really tapped into the Light itself so my fellow Quadrian would fall back into the deep coma."

"Since the Guardians have been using the Green light for however long they have, you been awake doing whatever you been doing."

"This is true, Lantern. My problem though is that with this Central Power Battery absorbing or collecting vast majority of the green energy, I've been slowly getting weaker. I probably wouldn't die unless a second War of Light came around but as you saw when you charged your ring and exposed me to a direct source, I would probably succumb to a very relaxed half awake status. There been times where I have traveled to places where quite a bit of the green energy been used for something and absorbed as much of the residue as possible."

"Since you need the green energy so much, why don't you go to Oa and talk to the Guardians? They are there to help out when possible and keep the peace in the universe."

"Because they would see me as a threat and either kill me or lock me up. I would remind them of their past and that they are in their position only because they were given it instead of coming to it on their own. This is why that what I will show you will be very dangerous to reveal to them at this time. The Temple of Light is hid from them thanks to higher powers then the Guardians but if all seven Lights are out, that may not be the case. Remember, the Guardians have fooled themselves in beliving that the best way to keep the balance is to eliminate as much of the other lights if they ever showed back up again. In this mind set, they are only fooling themselves because as long as sentient life exists, all seven Lights will exist to some level. Certain Lights have a more ready supply of energy to tap into then others but all are in existance and will continue to be until the end of time."

"So what will we do once we get to this Temple of Light?"

"Even though I selected you, there will still be tests for you to pass for you to enter the Temple of Light. If you pass the tests, you'll then be able to read the Book of Light and get the full story and history of the Lights including the Maltusians role in the first War of Light. It might be able to give you hints to look for when it comes to the other Lights as well."

"Looks like you and the Guardians do share a few things. They enjoyed putting me through a battery of tests through Kilowog in my training even though the ring chose me and showed that I was a quick learner."