Anubis' "How would you do it?" Thread.

Batman: Shades of Change

Gotham. It's been over a month since Nyssa Raatko wrested control of Wayne Enterprises from Bruce Wayne forcing the Caped Crusader to adopt a new identity and wage his war on crime from a different approach but the Bat-family are not happy with the current situation, Nightwing in particular confronts Batman for his inaction. Bruce explains to his oldest ward that if he attempted to dethrone Nyssa by revealing her true identity, he risks exposing his own which would be secondary to the possible corporate meltdown of his parents' company following the wake of such a revelation. Too many livelihoods would be at stake. Moreover, despite everything she has done, Nyssa's takeover of WE is completely legal and Josiah Power, Nyssa's new head attorney is blocking every loophole Wayne loyalists try to exploit. Urging a 'wait-and-see' strategy, Batman flatly declares that Nightwing and the Bat-family focus on their jobs while he handles Nyssa. Unconvinced, Nightwing leaves Bruce to his own devices while preparing to launch an investigation of his own.''

Elsewhere, the Great White Shark, recovering from his fight with the Batman gets his penthouse stronghold assaulted in broad daylight by none other than Two-Face and his twin thugs who make quick work of GW's goons. GW escapes with his gills intact knowing he can't risk taking on Two-Face head-on and formulates a plan to eliminate both of his enemies.

Meanwhile, Bruce continues to establish his new persona "Grey Hendricks" by being seen in the neighborhood, making grocery runs, having breakfast at the nearby diner etc. etc. The locals don't seem to recognize him partly due to his new look (natural silver-grey hair+stubble. Think Gaff Morgan from the B:TAS episode: "The Forgotten" except he dresses way better) and partly because Bruce Wayne wasn't a public figure per se. Traveling back on forth between the Scrap Yard and his apartment, he continues to encounter and interact with Marianne Diaz. Slowly a friendship begins to grow between the two neighbors as Marianne talks about her job taking care of dying people while Bruce, as Grey finds it hard feeding her half-truths.

A short interlude introduces the reader to Marianne Diaz, widowed mother of one, a hospice nurse with a heart of gold. She shares a short moment with one of the patients whom she's known for a long time, nearing his expiry date in a solemn scene of inevitable death, acceptance and finally peace.

Gordon eventually contacts Batman over Two-Face's assault and notes that Harvey is getting bolder and more vicious since GW's release. Batman agrees and decides that the quickest way to find Harvey is to find GW. With GW's Primal racket in shambles the only defensible stronghold is a warehouse off the Gotham docks registered under one of GW's false names. Not too far away, Two-Face watches through a pair of high-powered binoculars as Batman takesoff from Gotham Central's roof, confident that his old friend wouldn't fail in tracking down the fish he intends to gut.

Sensing something amidst, Batman waits in the shadows of the docks when a cargo truck comes into to view then all pandemonium breaks loose when the truck loaded with explosives smashes into the warehouse and erupts into a blaze. Two-Face appears from the smoke and fire, Thompson in hand, twins looking for a scrape...only to find out that GW's nowhere in sight. Seconds later the twins and 'Face are covered in targetting lasers, GW appears with the Tally Man and his goons and prepares to fill 'Face with hot lead when Batman intervenes. A three-way dance between Two-Face, Batman and Great White ensues but Two-Face gets the upper hand. With only one bullet and two choices, Harvey decides to flip for it; Good Side: Batman gets it, Bad Side: Great White gets a new hole in his head. Batman tries to appeal to Harvey but to no avail. Harvey is dead. Two-Face flips the coin but Batman wastes no time reaching for Two-Face. 'Face makes his decision before the coin hits the ground...and shoots Great White. The shot nails GW near the heart before Batman makes his own decision, give up Two-Face to save the Shark. "Wrong choices Bruce," whispers Harvey as he takes off. "Always the wrong choices."

A rough night ends for Bruce, returning home while Great White is in protected custody and Harvey is still on the loose in Gotham. Coming to the front steps of his apartment, he sees Marianne, cigarette in hand who looks like she's had quite a day herself. After a little consoling talk, Grey suggests coffee to which Marianne heartily agrees to and the two head off into the heart of the Spanish Quarter appreciating each others' company.
 
Good stuff Sand. I really admire the fact that you chose not to go with Bruce not caring about all this stuff with Nyssa. I find it kinda similar to his whole murder/fugitive thing from a few years back where Bruce basically just gave up his secret ID rather than try and clear his name. He's taking this seriously, but being cautious because his head isn't the only one on the line if she exposes him. Damn good quagmire you've gotten Bat's into. And I really can't wait to see just how far Nightwing takes this whole thing. Good stuff man. I'd be really into this if it were an actual comic.
 
I'd be into to it too...but DC would find it counterproductive and tell a story about Damian's secret twin sister instead. I dunno. These days writers just don't seem to get Batman. Dini's an exception but his single issue stories while rich in character and storyline, lacks a certain depth. Don't get me started on Murderer/Fugitive. It was one of the poorest executed and ended Bat stories ever. Made me lose faith in Rucka though Brubaker's parts were pretty good. I'd say my story sorta resembles that really old Daredevil arc, "Siege of Darkness" where Matt Murdock's identity was uncovered and he had to fake his death and resurfaced as a conman on the streets. He sported that blue-red costume most DD fans hated.
 
Tony collapsed into his chair feeling like hell. What was wrong with him. Sure he had put redundancies in his armor to prevent him from flying drunk, but the fact of the matter was he wasn't supposed to be able to BE drunk, much less have a hang over. Then the way Osborne had punched him. What was wrong with him?

The buzzer on his desk gave a loud head splitting buzz. his secretary informed him that Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Richards were here to see him. Tony allowed them in while he dimmed the lights in his office.

Rhodey walked with a grimace and a swagger. He went to the light switch and not only undid Tony's dimming, he turned the lights up and let the morning sun in. "Morning sunshine," Rhodey spat coldly. "Anything to confess to Father Rhodes today?"

Reed stood in the corner, looking mildly guilty.

"Get out," Tony growled.

"You're hung over," Rhodey needled, his eyes glaring into the those of possibly his best friend.

"I can't be hung over," Tony grunted.

"Can't be drunk either, but you were," Rhodey spat back. "Tony, you're supposed to be stronger than this."

"Well I'm NOT DAMNIT!" Tony yelled. "I'm not a strong man, just a smart one," Tony growled.

"Well after setting yourself up as leader of the world's biggest meta-human army, you're gonna have to find some strength... I don't mean build it."

Tony finally connected something. "You dissabled it!" he gasped. "You dissabled part of my Extremis!" puzzlement crossed his face. "But how... how did you..." His eyes drifted to Reed, who had been very quiet since his arrival.

"I went to the one person I knew who was smarter than you," Rhodey admitted.

"Why?" Tony asked them both.

"Because you've been playing god, and it's time you lived with the consequences," Rhodey said. "For someone so smart, you should have seen this coming."

"Osborne tricked me," Tony deflected, getting up and trying to shut the blinds.

"You shouldn't have sent them after the kid. You shouldn't have made him an outlaw," Rhodey said, jerking the small rod out of Tony's hands. "I had Mr. Richards shut down the portion of your extremis defenses that granted you healing, strength, and inability to become inebriated. How long have you been drinking?"

"That's none of your business," Tony denied, marching back to his desk.

"Fine," Rhodey relented. "As much as you want to tell yourself that it was just because you like the taste, and you can't get drunk anyway, and it wasn't hurting anyone... you're lying to yourself, and you know it. And when you are ready to be honest, and to face not just your self, but the kid... I'll be waiting. I always am."

Rhodey left, but Reed didn't. "Tony," Reed began, but quickly fell silent. he started again. "I over rode you with Hank. Sierra-Sierra-Bravo-Romeo is not being activated until it has the same memory mods as the rest of them. We aren't going to insult him like that. I know how he felt about clones, and while I don't mind sending out the brainwashed drones we have been in those Scarlett-Spider teams, I'm not sending out one that thinks its him... or his brother. Peter deserves better than some cheap ressurection. He deserves to rest... to finally rest, and I won't take that way from him."
 
Not a bad way around the whole drunk thing, but it seems a bit unnecessary. Overall, :up:
 
I'm the kind of person who when he recieves critisism either gets really pissy and weepy... or I screw on a pair and see if I can't work with it. Hopefully the Pair I screwed on for this one worked.

yeah it is a bit "Oh, and"-ish, but I felt, after what I was told, that I needed to clear things up.
 
Like I said, it didn't really matter. Most writers have seemingly forgotten about the heart and if all Extremis does is give him a massive healing factor, then he would simply have to buy out a bar to get drunk like Logan tends to do. Could Reed hack him? Why not? Ultron seems to have done it. Some Chinese kid did it with some magnets a couple of months back. Not entirely impossible. If anything, this whole thing makes him a bit more susceptible to corruption.
 
I'm just feeling a bit drawn on ideas lately as... I can't afford to go comic book shopping (I'm finding this is a problem with summers; I have to chose between movies and comics... it's not fun).

So I've been without the latest stuff for two weeks. and I can't do either next week because of the book coming out on saturday.
 
That's a bummer there Zoke. If you want any spoilers, I can provide. I'm reading just about everything anyway.

Thundercats part 2

Okay, so previously, I gave you the characters formally known as "the Mutants" side. So, now, I give you the Thundercats


So, yes, the Thundarians did in fact enslave the beings of the many worlds in their systems and used them to mine Thundrylium. I chose to take it that way to give a little more meaning to the rebels cause. I talked this over with my brother a couple of days ago and he said it was kinda like the Lion King, where instead, all the other animals decided to rebel against the so called "Circle of Life". While they may have been in the right to bring down the Thundarians, this, pilgrimage of genocide they've chosen to take firmly puts them in the role of the bad guys.

Anyway, I wont go into that again, instead I'll start at the siege of Thundara. The planet was already besieged by refugees from the outer colonies falling back to Thundara after the start of the war. The Rebels took advantage of this and sent in bombers, who destroyed key military targets and Thundrylium supply depots. (Thanks to a Traitor to the Empire, Pumar) By the time the invasion started, much of the work had already been done. At this point, the Thundarians were all about the evacuation. King Leonidas, chose to stay and defend his home until the bitter end, ordering the Thundercats (The Thundarian Royal guard) to take his son, and as many Thundarians as they could take, off the planet and to safety. He entrusted the wise and powerful warrior mage, Jaga as his eleven year old son's guardian. Train him how to be a king he said, for it will be up to him to protect the Thundarian race. Leonidas takes on an army of Rebels, armed with the fabled Sword of Omens. He finally fell at the hands of the Traitorous Pumar. Before he gave his last breath, he banished the sword to the far ends of the Galaxy using the Swords Magics. Only the rightful ere to the thrown would be able to locate it now.

So, For ten Years, The Thundarians ran. Being hunted down by the Insurgents hell bent on extinction of the their entire race. During this time Lion-o was trained how to be a warrior, a leader, and a hero. Earning the respect of the Thundercats in battle, and the love of his people through his kind heart and selflessness. Then, that fateful day where they found themselves near a far flung world on the outer rim of the Galaxy. Trapped between two insurgent frigates, their shields damaged, and hanging on solely by the magics of Jaga's protection spell. Then, out of nowhere, a massive wave of dark energy emanating from the planet below, ripped through both the Thundarian ship, and their pursuers. Both ships crashed upon the planet below. The Thundarians owe their survival to Jaga pouring his entire life force into his shields. Lion-o took Jaga's death hard. He was like a father to him. Little did he know that their bond was a lot stronger than he realized.

So, the Thundercats are stuck on Third Earth along with a small army of their sworn enemies, and something else. Something incredibly powerful, ancient, and a bit curious of it's new found guests. With nowhere left to go, and pretty much no way to get off the planet, they try to build as best they can. (with the great Panthro there, they get by just fine.)

More later. I'm drained.
 
In a small temple a woman knelt in meditation. all was silent. her face showed no signs of age. she looked to be perhaps in her late twenties, early thirties. beautiful and young.

suddenly, he amber eyes snapped open as she gasped. she stood and rushed to a near by cabinet. she grabbed six rolls of parchment and threw open the nearby doors. outside, six women sat, also deep in meditation. upon hearing the door open they looked up. the first woman handed each of them a scroll. "God's Speed my daughters," she whispered.

they stood one by one. the first bowed, and in a brilliant dazzle of light, she dissapeared.

the second climbed up a ladder, and, perched on a balcony lept, off beating gossamer dragonfly-like wings which held her aloft while she zipped off.

the third walked to the outer doors of the sanctuary, but once she set foot on the ground, she began to run at inhuman speeds.

the fourth also ascended to the balcony, this one shrank and shifted into the form of a snowy owl, that then soared from the balcony.

The Fifth lept from the balcony as well, though she flew under her own power, like some comic book super-hero.

the sixth flew from the balcony on white feathery wings, with blonde hair flowing behind her, making her appear like an angel.

the woman who gave the scrolls bowed her head, "now the world enters its darkest hour."

the first woman reappeared in an equally dazzling show of light in Montreal Canada. she handed the scroll to a nearby woman, older than the messanger. this older woman immediately took the scroll to a room full of girls, in their late teens, all wearing school uniforms. she walked down the row and handed the scroll to one with black hair with purple streaks.

the second woman with the gossamer wings landed in a shinto temple in Kyoto Japan. she handed the scroll to another older woman and bowed deeply. the older woman took the scroll to a dojo where at least sixty girls, ranging in age from fifteen to twenty six, were all practicing martial arts and wearing temple maiden uniforms. she approached one girl who actually appeared to have orange fur with black stripes, and presented the scroll. both bowed deeply.

the third woman ran quickly to a temple in a rural part of India. She delivered the scroll at the temple steps and quickly sped off again. the elder woman entered a large open air room and walked to the front, and handed the scroll to a woman in her mid twenties, who seemed to be teaching.

the fourth woman landed and transformed back into a human. she removed the scroll from her teeth and put a near by robe on to cover her nude body. she picked up the scroll and walked out into the clifside town. she landed in a greek fishing village. she goes into a field at the top of the cliff and handed the scroll to the elder woman watching over the training of several young women. the Elder then pointed at a dark haired girl in her early twenties. the selected one ran forward immediately, eager to know what her Elder had called her for.

the fifth woman landed in a misty moor in the country of ireland. she removed the note from her belt and handed it to a very old grey haired woman. the old woman read the note slowly, and Hobbled across the moor slowly, coming upon an outdoor amphitheater where many women of all ages were listening to a lecture, by another woman. as the old woman descended the steps, the lecture came to a stop, all holding their breath, waiting to see who the old woman approached. she stopped beside a girl who had flaming red hair, a common quality in this group, and handed the note to her with a heavy serious expression.

The sixth woman soared over a desert area of Australia, landing in the middle of villaige where women of all ages, all with dark aborigonie skin sat in a circle around a fire, singing. She handed the note to the oldest woman, looking to be in her mid fourties, and took the empty place in the circle. the older woman took the scroll to a woman wearing a mask. the mask wearer lifted her visage and recieved the note, and expression of honor and pride covering her true face.

"God help my daughters," whispered woman who'd started all of this. an odd choice of jewelry that she, and all these women shared... around their necks they all wore a simple string pendant of a jade sliver.
 
Dr. White held his case closely. he was taking the Metro-rail to where his car was parked. He never drove in the city, mostly because there wasn't a garage close enough to the museam he was working at, and every time he did drive up there, someone did something to his car.

Of course today it seemed he should have taken whatever hazing or vandalism could have been unleashed against his car. He was being eyed by two rather large teenagers. this normally wouldn't be so much of a problem because he nevered carried more than twelve dollars in ones and assorted change for vending machines. today however he was brining home work. his work was antrhopological jeweler. he worked in the Smithsonian Institute.

What he had was a glass case with six jade statues of women with halos. He was bringing them home to study them for a private client that had requested him through the institute. because of this the Institute was getting a fat bonus for his time. Dr. White wasn't getting a penny. he was one of the youngest experts working for the Institute, but also one of the most proficient. at only 29 he was extremely professional... and an extreme doormat.

"Hand it over, Mac," Demanded one, a white kid wearing a blue bandana and a leather jacket.

"N-no," Jack White stammered.

"We ain't askin', Buddy," growled the accomplice. He was heavier set and asian. "Hand it over or we rearrange your features.

"I-I can't." Jack was crying at this point. "I-It isn't mine."

"Didn't ask that," Growled the first.

"Step away from him," said a new voice. It was a girl with black hair with purple streaks. she wore a uniform, like some prep-school uniform. it looked strict and straight. she definitely looked to mean business. "Or else," she snarled.

"Or else what?" asked the Asian kid.

"Or else you spend many months in physical therapy," said another girl. she was wrapped in a kimono with a japanese style straw hat pulled low over her face.

The first girl glanced at the second but then returned her eyes to the muggers.

"Oh this is rich," said the white guy. "I'm gonna use you ladies once I hock his dolls." he threw a punch at the girl in the kimono. What he didn't expect was a hand to grab his before his fist met flesh. what he REALLY didn't expect was the hand to becovered in soft orange and black fur, and to have claws at the tips.

The woman in the kimono raised her face to show that it to was covered in soft orange and black fur. a smile showed fangs in her mouth. She squeezed his arm until the white guy was on his knees. "I don't think you're going to be using anyone... I can make sure of that."

"Don't bother Japan," the first girl said with a Canadian accent. "The punk isn't worth shedding blood." She pointed her hand at the asian kid began to shiver, fell to the floor nursing frost bite on his chest. the doors opened and a third girl looked at them. She was black, and not wearing much. Enough to preserve modesty, but not much more. "Australia?" asked the Candian.

the black girl nodded, jerking her head.

the tiger girl grabbed Jack around the wrist, "C'mon, Cutie, this is your stop." she pulled him, gently this time. they left the two pathetic muggers on the floor of the train.
 
they piled into Dr. White's SUV and simply said "Take us to your place." the Canadian seemed to be the best with english, though she, as many Canadians did, had a french lilt to her voice. "I'm Celia," the Candian introduced herself.

"Keiko," chirped the Japanese tiger.

"Oona," grunted the black woman.

"I-I'm D-Doctor J-J-Jack White... please don't hurt me."

Celia, who was sitting beside Jack shook her head, chuckling, and looking out the window.

Keiko and Oona both paused for a moment, obviously to translate what the man had said. Oona just rolled her eyes, but Keiko started giggling incesantly. "We're not here to hurt you, Cutie," she said. "We're here to protect you!"

from the back seat she leaned forward between the two seats and nuzzled his face, purring, and causing a startled Jack to jerk the wheel.

Celia batted Keiko on the head, "Knock it off," she said. "I don't know what your sect teaches, but to protect him he has to stay alive."

Keiko stuck out her tongue and leaned back in her seat. Oona just muttered angrily in a language none of them knew.

"Are... are you an aborigone?" asked Jack, looking at Oona in the rear view mirror.

she looked at him, again pausing to translate it in her head, then nodded her head absently. "Black," she responded. "Australia."

when they piled out of the car, to his house they walked to the door in silence. he reached for the nob and was shocked when the door opened for him. there was a beautiful woman, and if her clothes and make up were any hint, she was from India. "Please come in," she said.

it didn't even register with Jack that a total stranger had just invited him in to his own home. what did register is that four women (All of whom he he had to admit were extremely attractive) seemed to be familiar with each other, but did not know each other.

he was corrected a moment later as a woman with flaming red hair came around the corner " 'at's all done then," she sighed. "Don' know when I've needed tae use the lav more." The way she elongated her O's hinted to Jack that she was Irish.

That was when something began clicking with Jack. the six small statues he carried had markings that he'd identified as Celtic, Greek, Japanese, and Indian as well as two other languages he didn't know. the small amount of research he'd done so far had told him that the other two languages were tribal languages of Northern Northamerica (what would now be considered Canada, and Aborigone (Natives of what is now Australia).

his suspicions were confirmed when a Girl walked in speaking Greek to the Idian girl. the Indian spoke Indian right back, but apparently she was understood. the Indian caught the confused expression on Jack's face and said, "I'm sorry. My gifts help me to allow others to understand me, and others around me." with a nod of her head she smiled and said. "That should take care of our languages."

when faced with the utterly astonishing idea that six beautiful women were addressing him with respect, and that apparently one of them had done something to his brain to make him understand Indian, Jack did something he'd done a total of five times in his life; he fainted dead away.
 
"Oye, Inara. last time I let you addle someone's 'ead," sniped Reilly's Irish lilt.

"He will be fine," said Inara's calm tranquil voice. "He was simply overcome. I'm afraid this day is somewhat surreal for him." Jack felt a dab of a cool wet cloth on his head. he opened his eyes to see three of the girls sitting over him, and somehow he knew their names.

"I hope you do not mind," Inara said. "But I took the liberty of teaching you our names while you slept."

"F-fine," he said. "Now what are you doing here?"

Inara turned to Leila, who took a breath. "We are sisters of the Order of Jade. Many thousands of years ago, when man kind was young, a star fell to this world, and landed at the feat of the Mother. she was filled with knowledge that dark beings were set to come upon this world, and she must seal them away by performing the ceremony of the six sisters. she carved from the star, which was made of the most beautiful jade, six statues. she was careful, however, to keep the shards that she chipped away, for when presented to a woman, they blessed her by releasing a gift inside of her."

she dug around inside her blouse and brought out a large shard of jade. Inara and Reilly did the same, showing him that they each wore the jade shards from thos statues.

"She went to the six corners of the world to perform the Ceremony of the Six Sisters, banashing the dark beings from our world. but one of the Sisters who had joined her quest had been blessed with prophesy. She stated that many thousands of years from that day, the doors would reopen. And at that point, neither the Mother, nor any of the Sisters, would be able to reseal them. a man would be born, different from other men, made low, with pure heart, and wise mind. He would be able to reseal the doors, perform the Ceremony of the Six Sisters. It was said that Six Sisters must of course take up their arms, leave their Temples and go to protect this Man when he is revealed to the Mother. He will save our world, and then, when the last door has been shut, he will take one of his six guardians into his wedding bed, and they would be forever bound."

all three looked at him with bright smiles.

"If you want the statues, take them..." he said, having seen what the girls could do, and that Keiko girl, he was apt to believe the story. "It sounds like you need them more than I do."

"We are not here just for the statues, Master," Leila said. "You are the one the Prophesy speaks of, you are our savior."

all three girls moved away from his bed so that they were in the middle of the room. the knelt, and then bowed themselves against the floor.

"We are yours, do with us whatever you please," spoke Inara.

"Oh boy," Jack whispered in a scared tone.
 
Jack was drinking coffee, fixed by Celia. for some reason she was the easiest to talk to. from what he could tell, the most intelligent of the girls was Inara, who was from india, the strongest was Oona, an aborigine from Australia, but the ringleader of their group was Leila, from Greece.

"And you girls are sure its me?" he asked Celia for about the sixth time.

"yup," she said. she was perhaps the most relaxed one there. Oona acted like a marine, stiff and rigid. Keiko was acted like she had a diesel powered libido, and the others just seemed to look at him wiht aw and expectation. Celia was from Alberta Canada, or at least thats where she said her temple was.

"And we're spending a few days waiting here because..." Jack asked.

"We have to arrange travel," Celia explained. She explained things to Jack like one might explain to a six year old, but she never seemed impatient. at worst she was apathetic. "We're taking you to Menos, an island in the meditaranian. there you will meet ther mother, and she will teach you how to do the Ceremony of the Six Sisters." Celia took another sip from her mug.

"And this thing about my wedding bed?" Jack asked.

Celia set down her mug and shifted uncomfortably. "Ah... that is probably just a figure of speech."

Jack sighed. he'd had sex a total of five times in his entire life, with only one woman, and he still had feelings for that woman. he sipped his coffee again.

"You'll probably be banging us before then," Celia said nervously.

Jack spat his coffee out. "Wha-what?"

Celia sighed. "Listen our..." she paused in looking for the right word. "society give a lot of attention to sexuality. talking about it is not just acceptable, its encouraged. We do encourage discretion in partners, and that there should be a strong emotional bond, but we also recognize the fact that the body has certain urges that must be... my god you are pathetic." she smiled pitifully while stifling laghter.

Jack was bright red as he listened to her.

"Sex is as natural as breathing," Celia continued. "I mean, by the age of thirteen, all of us girls are... self-suficient. We talk about it, trade fantasys, and even compare methods. If one of us looses her maiden-hood there is a ceremony the next day. You have to loosen up Jack," she said, putting her hand on his arm.

"But you talked like you expected... me and... one of you to...." he couldn't even bring himself to say it.

Celia shook her head. "Well, we are normally taught to be in control of our sexuality and to be independant, and self-reliant. the one big contradiction in our world, is when it comes to you, or the chosen one. we are told of what an honor it would be to be chosen as THE bride."

by the tone of her voice, even Jack could tell she didn't think so. "You don't want to be chosen?" he asked.

she took a deep breath. "Well, I would be honored, and I would of course submit if you chose me... but lets just say you're missin' a few thing's I'm interested in."

he paused for a moment, decrypting her statement. "Oh..." he said sagely. "Is that looked down on in your world?" he asked.

"No, no," she assured him with a smile. "But I was rather surprised when I was chosen as one of your guard as I wasn't particularly interested in laying with you."

"Well... if it makes you feel any better," he said, trying to force a smile. "I'll never ask you to... lay with me."

she smiled and smacked him in the arm. "Thank's Jack-O."

suddenly there was a loud banging at the front door. Jack looked up in surprise, and then in shock. "Damnit," he cursed, a rare habit for him. "I'm late!"

"Are ye' suppose' tae be goin' somewhere?" asked Rielly.

"no," he said, getting up. "my alimony payment is late, I was supposed to drop it off two days ago."

he got up and hurried through the house to the front door, hearing Celia explain to Oona what "Alimony" was.

Rielly put a glare on and looked into the living room at Inara who was giving her a signifigant look back.

"Late again you worthless idiot," the woman at the door grumbled. she counted through the bills he had handed to her. "You make enough, so I don't understand why you can't ever hall your sorry butt over there on time."

"If you'd let me just mail you a check," he started meekly, but she cut him off with a derisive laugh.

the truth was she wouldn't let him mail a check because she wanted him to see her in his old house, with her new boyfriend (Who he knew for a fact she'd been dating when she was still married to him). This woman was Molly Richmond, Jack's ex-wife. she was cruel and sadistic. she enjoyed twisting Jack around her finger. In fact she had told her boyfriend that she wouldn't get married because then Jack would be able to stop his alimony payments.

"Quit whining and just take it like a man," Molly sniped.

"so..." he said, making small talk. "How's things with Roger?"

"Not that it's your buisness," she growled, but then smiled. "But better than it ever was with you."

"Jack m'love," Rielly said suddenly. "I thought you were coming back to bed." she opened the door wider for Molly to see inside as she draped herself across Jack's shoulders, like some arm candy bimbo. "We're waiting."

"We?" asked Molly, looking up from the money.

"It got cold," cooed Inara, coming up and putting her arm around his waist. "You're supposed to come warm us up."

Molly had turned absolutely red, she was practically shaking. "Next time don't be late," she snapped and headed for her car (that Jack had bought her).

Rielly burst out laughing as she backed away. "Didja see th' look on her face?" she asked.

Inara, while more composed, did chuckled slightly. "I think she was displeased at the thought of you having lady callers," she said teasingly.

Jack had been completely still since Molly had stormed away. he slammed the door and stormed past them with tears in his eyes.

Celia, who was actually planning on joining in before Molly left, gave a questioning looked to the other two women, before giving chase.

Jack retreated to the library of his sister's house. "Jack, what was that about?" she asked. "They were just having a go at your Ex."

"Molly probably hates me now," he said, tears sliding down his cheeks. "I was hoping that... that..."

"Don't tell me you want that harpy back!" Celia exclaimed. "Jack-O, that woman is weapons-grade, enriched, *****-anium. she's no good for anyone."

"She married me," he argued. "She loved me at one point."

"I overheard what she said to you," Celia said quietly. "You can't say something like that to someone you once loved. I've broken up with girls I thought I loved before, and I've not treated them like that. There are some who broke my heart, and I'd never treat them like that, and not one of them as ever treated me the way that... that... that shrew treats you."

"I love her," was all Jack could muster.

Celia gave him a hug, that he was surprised he returned. "I can only think of shakespear at times like this," she said to him.

"A midsummer's night dream?" he asked.

"No, Mercutio, from Romeo & Juliet: "If love be rough with you, be rough with love. prick love for pricking you, and thusly beat love down."

Even Jack couldn't help but smile at that.

"Tell Inara and Reilly that I'm not mad at them," he asked her.

"Yeah, yeah," Celia agreed. "Just be glad we made it clear to Keiko that she couldn't be seen. she would freak the ***** out."

"Yeah," Jack commented. "And her appearance wouldn't have helped either."
 
A few hours later Jack greeted his sister at the front door. she was in khaki shorts and matching blouse. She was back from a two month dig in Utah. she was sweaty, and cramped from her plane ride. she wanted to get inside, shower, and chat with her brother and see if she can't get him to stop pining for that ball-buster he had the misfortune to marry. "Hey Jack-O," she called, hugging him at the door.

"Um... Evie," he said "Something's kinda happened."

She leaned her head back. her brother's grammer only went down hill when he was stressed. "What's going on?" she asked. "Is Molly messing with you again?" she asked.

"No... well yeah, she was here, but... oh boy..." he took a deep breath. "Maybe it'd just be easier to show you."

he opened the door and lead her in. sitting in the living room was Riley, who was showing Oona how to work the television. Aparently Oona's tribe rejected most modernization and remained in the Australian outback. She had some experience with the modern world through women who joined her temple from the outside, but she had never been to a city herself.

Inara passed through holding a cup of tea. she closed her eyes and, and took on a strained impression. she then opened them and greeted Evelyn. "Greetings. We hope we are not an imposition. You have a very lovely home."

"You hired three hookers?" Evie asked flatly.

Oona and Riley turned around, Riley chuckeling, but Oona looking confused. Inara grimaced, the first sign of a negative emtion Jack had seen the indian woman wear."

"One of them better be for me bro," she said, eyeing the women.

"We aren't hookers," Said Leila coming from the kitchen. she was dressed in blue. "We're guardians for your brother. He is the Chosen One foretold in prophesy thousands of years ago. We are his guardians on his quest to seal the six gates and halt the flow of demons into your world." she stood tall and strong. Leila was definitely an imposing figure.

"You hired role-playing hookers?" Evie asked Jack.

Celia snorted as she sat on the stairs. "She ain't gettin' it Jack-O," Celia called.

Leila gave a fake smile and knocked on the kitchen door.

"Someone knock for me?" asked Keiko as she came out of the kitchen. she'd changed since she had arrived. she was now wearing a black sundress. this of course showed off every inch of her furry, muscular body, and did nothign to hide her cat-like face.

two hours later Evie finally understood what was going on.

"That doesn't mean I like it though," she growled at Leila. "Why should I trust you jumped up Brownies can take care of my brother."

"Because of what he means to all of us," answered Celia. "He is the fullfilment of a prophesy many thousands of years old. we will help him to fulfill it or we will die trying." she shrugged. "it's what we've... embraced. this is what we've grown up believing in."

The other girls nodded.

"Plus," added Keiko taking Jack's head in a hug that pressed his face into her massive bust, "He's just so kawaii!"

Jack struggled from her arms, stammering an apology, blushing profusely.

"The lad's a right catch too," Riley added. "Rich, polite, I'm bettin' he ain't a bad shag either," she mused the last part.

"ew... my brother you're talking about," Evie threw out.

"Don't worry," Celia said with a bright smile. "I'm sure not all of us ahve indescent plans for your sibling."

Inara smiled as she blushed slightly. "I believe I will start dinner now. Oona, would you care to help me?" the two women left, Celia joining them.

Keiko gave one last wink before scampering out of the room flashing every one her back side. Riley planted another kiss on Jack's cheek before heading off to the room she had claimed.

"Okay," Evie said. "You can have most, but I got a thing for that Canadian chick."
 
Zoken said:
The Herald

We can never truly start anything, because all begginnings are really just the ending of some other part of our life, or chapter in a story. In the same tone, nothing ever truly ends, for every ending is the beginning of something new. And so life is cylical, beginning and ending in a grand circle that spins and spins, and occasionally leaves us with mile markers, to show where an Journey ended and a new Adventur began.

It was a crystal clear night in the mountains just north of Portland, Oregon. An Astronomy club from Portland State University was camping out for the weekend to do some stargazing away from the light pollution of the city. from here stars were endless. Many had taken a fifteen-seater van up, some had driven themselves. they were in a clearing working with their telescopes, filling in star charts, and just generally having a good time.

"That's not right," Terry Winters observed, looking at his star chart, and back through his telescope. he gazed up at the sky and blinked at moving light in the sky. it was moving too slowly to be a meteor, comet.

"What have you treed there Terry?" asked the Professor, Dr. Elenore Hubing.

"That light is getting... bigger," he said of a large light that was moving.

Elenore crouched down to get a good look through the scope. "I think you must have picked up a satelite, or peice of space junk re-entering," she said as she adjusted the sight. "Keep an eye on it though, see what happens," She instructed him as she walked off to tend to the other members.

Terry did so, and more and more he realized this wasn't something that could be happening. "It's a ship!" he yelped. "I've got details... there are engines... It's a ship!" he quickly rattled off the coordinates to the others who fixed their telescopes on it.

"Holy crap," Beccy Long yelped. "he's right."

"Hold up!" Nathan Wright inturrupted. "I'm in AFROTC and that is no kind of ship I've ever seen before."

"Um..." Terry had now taken to switching between a notebook he was jotting numbers down in and his telescope. "That thing is headed this direction... roughtly..." he checked his map. "one mile south of here."

Soon it was obvious to all looking through their telescopes that it was a ship of some sort of unknown designs. Terry pulled out his GPS, which he'd brought on the trip in case they had gotten lost (Terry was not a wilderness person, and as such was terrified of such instances). He tracked their movements as they rushed through the brush and trees to the spot that he'd calculated. they found another clearing. the ship was very low now, and it wasn't alone. Two jets criss crossed over head.

The ship they had been tracking was shaped like an egg, as tall as a mobile home and about half as long, laying long ways. It had four thrusters, spaced evenly around it, that were slowing and controlling it's descent. on the fat rear of the egg were three long rods sweapt backwards. They had a faint green glow to them that made most of the college students fear radiation in some parts of their minds. Landing struts folded out from the under side of the egg. The egg itself was collored a light gray with a black stripe running the length. there was an obvious cockpit, though in the darkness all they could see within were tiny red and green lights. The egg touched down suprisingly gently.

They saw the lights in the cockpit shut off. The reflectie dome gave a hiss and was then knocked away. That was when the students got their first look at it. It had gray-ish blue skin with an elongated head with no hair. it was the size of a slightly tall man. It had two large dark eyes toward the front of it's long head, over top two large nostrils that were flaring. it's jaw protruded and seemed to curve upward some. It was wearing a breathing apparatus with a hose running from a mask covering it's face, down to a large machine hooked on the left side of it's waist. It wore a suit with four fingered gloves, heavy boots, and some sort of writing down the sleeves, and ornaments on the Right leg.

It looked around, taking in the surroundings. It seemed to nod, then looked at those present. It regarded the seven human beings individually, then it looked to the one in front, Terry. It hopped down from it's ship, landing in a crouch. The machine on it's waist emmitted several long deep noises. It snapped it's jaw twice, and spoke a string of unknown words as it removed the mask.

Someone behind Terry shoved him further forward. "H-h-hello," he stammered.

The alien jutted it's head forward. "Hu-ldo," it repeated.

Terry looked around and thought for a moment. How the hell did you handle something like this. In the movies all the aliens spoke english... or didn't bother to speak at all. he patted his chest. "Terry," he introduced himself.

The alien jutted his head forward again and blinked it's eyes at Terry. Then the alien snapped it's jaws twice, and clenched it's eyes. It patted it's own chest and said "Skraldin."

Terry pointed his finger at the alien. "Skraldin?" he asked. then he pointed at himself "Terry?"

the alien mimicked. he pointed at Terry, "Ted-Ree," and then pointed at himself saying "Skraldin."

Terry reached behind himself grabbing the first person he could, Michelle Nguyen. "Michelle," he said, pointing to the girl. He pointed back at Skraldin, stating what he believed to be the aliens name, then pointed at himself giving his own name.

"Me-Chel," Skraldin said, pointing at the girl. "Ted-Ree," he pointed at the only human who would speak with him. He gestured to himself. "Skraldin."

"His name is Skraldin," Terry told everyone.

"Duh," snarled Nathan. "But why did you drag Michelle in?"

"I wanted to make sure he was saying his name, and not his species," Terry whispered.

Terry turned back to Skraldin, not sure what to say. Luckily, he didn't have to.

"Skraldin," the alien began. "Dooska," it pantomimed giving something. "Ted-Ree po Me-Chel." it pointed to both of them.

"It wants to give us something," Terry gasped in astonishment. "Welcome," Terry smiled, extending his hand.

Skraldin jutted his head forward again, in what Terry was beginning to guess was an expression of confusion.

Terry slowly took Skraldin's hand, and placed it in his own, and shook hands.

Skraldin snapped his jaws twice and gently returned the shake.

this was as nice as things got. This was the moment the governement decided to step in. Jeeps rolled in, unloading soldiers who put everyone at gunpoint.

Terry's arms flew into the air as a natural reaction. Skraldin, sensing it was the appropriate thing to do, followed suit as all the others who had greeted him when he first arrived had done the same as Terry.

A tall black man in fatigues strode forward. "Who made first contact here?" he barked.

"He did!" yelped Beccy Long, pointing at Terry.

"I'm Lt. Col. Ivory Markham," the tall black officer said, walking toward Terry and Skraldin. "What have you learned from him?"

"His name is Skraldin," Terry answered, at which point Skraldin tapped his chest with his hands. "And I think he wants to give us something."

Markham looked at the alien closely, which caused Skraldin to blink rapidly as he leaned away from the officer. Markham patted his chest. "Markham" he said coldly.

"Mard-Kome" replied Skraldin.

~*~

'Well that was fast,' Skraldin thought. He had expected to have to actively search out the planet's military forces. Now here he was standing in front of one. He couldn't be sure, but judging from the way the humans who just arrived were holding the sinister looking black devices, they were weapons of some sort. Skraldin had no intention of giving the humans reason to discharge them. Skraldin looked around at the activity. the humans were moving fast, setting things up, errecting small for legged structures. Skraldin wasn't sure about their purpose, but turned back to his new aquaintance. He tapped his right leg, where the decorations were.

"Seetu," he said. "Seetu Skraldin." Then Skraldin pointed at the man's chest, where his own decorations were.

~*~

"What's that mean?," Lt. Col. Markham asked Terry for no other reason than the young man was there. "Seado?"

Terry studied Skraldin's motions carefully as he watched the alien repeate it. "Rank," he finally gasped. "'Seetu' must be his rank."

"Lieutenant-Colonel Markham," replied the officer.

"Duten-Dant Kurd-Ahl Mard-Kome," Seetu Skraldin replied as it's posture straightened, it's left hand snapped to it's side and it's right extended out to his right at the shoulder, then bent up at elbow perpendicular to the rest of his arm. it's fingers were straight.

Markham saw it for wat it was and returned with a salute of his own.
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Terry was sitting in the observation room of building five of the facility he, and all the other civilians here, had begun to refer to as "Area 51". He was behind a pane of one-way glass watching Skraldin work with a computer to improve his english.

"How's he doing?" Lt. Col. Markham asked, as he took a seat at the table beside Terry. both were drinking from coffee mugs, only Markham's had tea in it. apparently coffee was no longer good for him, according to the wife. He grimmaced as he took another sip of what was supposed to be really good tea.

Terry sipped his coffee sighed. "His english is improving, his vocabulary is up to sixty or so words that he fully understands, and recalls without hesitation. another hundred or so that he can use haltingly. Fact of the matter is that, from what I've read, this is really..."

Markham stopped the young man he'd gotten to know fairly well in the three weeks since the landing. "Spare me, I need him fluent and able to talk about where he's from, why he's here, and explain his craft."

"You do realize that a 160 word vocabulary is amazing for having never heard the language before three weeks ago," Terry countered.

"I need information that he has to give me," Markham replied. "You eggheads are the ones who can gather it from him." He shrugged. Perhaps his greatest vice (At least the greatest one his wife still allowed him to have) was impatience. Not really a good characteristic in a commanding officer of a research facility, however he was the only C.O. the brass would allow.

In the three weeks since the landing, The governement had done their best to keep the number of people who interacted with Skraldin to a minimum. Not for coverup purposes (He'd already been trotted in front of every person holding a camera they could find on their way to Area 51), but for a number of other reasons, cheif among them was Skraldin's comfort. They believed that Skraldin would probably fair better if he were surrounded by faces he recognized, rather than a continuous barrage of unconnected strangers. Another reason was Bio-hazard. They needed people to interact with Skraldin, and until they could safely affirm that he was carrying not deadly alien micro-organisms, he was considered a walking biohazard that everyone from the landing had already been exposed too.

They did everything they could to ensure that Skraldin didn't feel like a prisoner, that was not the impression they wanted to make on their first alien visitor. The governement didn't want the public worried about Skraldin's safety. so he had copius amounts of free time where he was free to wander a large portion of the facility, including a sun room. He wasn't escorted by an armed guard, but there were some, like Terry, who took to taking him around.

His first medical examination had been interesting. They had prepared a video tape for him to watch, so that he knew what would happen. and even then they demonstrated everything on a male nurse first. That was when they had confirmed that Skraldin was, in fact, a "He". even still, Skraldin had leapt almost a foot in the air when they pressed the stethescope to his chest. it was aparant, as soon as they took his temperature, that his species were used to warmer tempuratures.

Terry, along with half the Astronomy club lived in this facility too. It was actually not in New Mexico, or any desert. This "Area-51" was, in fact, in the mountains of Montana. Everyday a large horde of press-mongols, UFO-fanatics, Paparazzi-pests, and religious zealots were gathered at the gates 3/4 of a mile away, making an awful din. Those who didn't want to stay in the facility with Skraldin were housed in another of the building. Skraldin didn't seem to mind people getting a good look at him as he would wave to the assembled crowd, who were just barely visible from the sun room.

~*~

Skraldin was actually enjoying himself for the most part on Earth. That was what most of the natives called this planet, he found. Earth. It was a nice name, actually. It reminded him of a word from one of the dead languages his mother had made him learn: "Urt" which was a verb that meant "To dote upon or love as a mother".

Their food was not the worst he'd ever tasted. It was far better than the prepackaged rations he'd had to eat the first week, before they realized their food wouldn't kill him. He especially loved the textures. On the home world most food was cooked to firmness; hard, usually brittle, and requiring much chewing.

On earth food could be soft, and despite the fact that they ate frequently with their hands (he couldn't help but shudder at the thought of a non-preparer's hands touching something that would be in his mouth) he had to admit that their food had great texture; especially "Peanut Butter".

He tried to continue his proper training, though it was slightly difficult, making the human excersise equipment work for his body design, he'd managed to get the hang of it after a week or so. He'd even managed to get Ted-Ree up to a mile run.

So far his favorite human was Ted-Ree (He knew he was mispronouncing his friend's name, but he didn't really care. his mouth and jaw were shaped quite differently from theirs). Ted-Ree had an inquisitive mind, and a very good knack for learning. Skraldin's father, a quantum-physisist by trade, would have liked Ted-Ree. Ted-Ree had even managed to learn a good bit of "Pormarsh", Skraldin's language.

As Skraldin thought, he began to realize his parents were part of the reason he was now on this distant world. His father had taught him science, his mother had taught him biology and linguistics. His time in the Pormia Air Defense Command had taught him discipline and control. He'd trained for six years for this mission, and he'd been honored to take it up. His parents had tried to talk him out of it, however he had refused to listen, as he always did when they tried to talk him into leaving the military. His parents had never approved.

He finished the computer program and flared his nostrils in joy. He was finally ready to do what he'd been itching to do for three weeks. He got up from his computer console, pressed the button that he knew connected him to the observers behind the shiney wall (Ingenious invention of these humans. a surface that was reflective, but only from one direction, and completely transparent from the other). "Duten-Dant Kurd-Ahl Mard-Kome, I ask to set up kah-mmoo-nik-kee-shin mah-cheen," he was very careful to pronounce the words he knew by heart clearly. the two new ones he didn't care if he butchered. he'd been waiting to learn them for weeks.

~*~

Terry and Markham instantly forgot their drinks and rushed into the room.

"Communication machine?" Lt. Col. Markham demanded. "You mean you can contact your home world?"

Skraldin jutted his chin forward.

"Big phone?" Terry asked. he didn't like sounding like he was talking down to Skraldin, but sometimes it was necessary to sound infantile. "Call home?"

Skraldin slapped his shoulder while flaring his nostrils, gestures Terry had come to recognize as "Yes" and "Good".

"Was the E.T. dialouge really necessary?" Lt. Col. Markham asked flatly.

"Did you want to know what he was talking about, or not?" asked Terry as he opened the door. the two military men walked out before Terry. they all went to Lab 7, where Skraldin's ship was being kept.

When they entered the lab, there were armed guards just inside, they snapped to action, leveling their weapons at Skraldin. "It's okay," Lt. Col. Markham told them, putting himself between the alien and the guns. "He's got clearance for today."

They approached the ship, and Ivory put a hand on Skraldin's chest. "You point, I do," he said slowly and clearly.

"Yes," Skraldin replied quickly. "I point, you do. Yes. I not touch." Skralding patted his own shoulder again.

~*~

Skraldin understood the reason he wasn't allowed near his ship, though it annoyed him a little. He guided Lt. Col. Markham and a few other scientists (he could tell they were scientists because they all wore the long white shirts) through the extraction of his Trans-stellar communications array. He'd been taught how to assembled the TCA every way one could imagine, blind folded, hearing deprived, with his feet (which proved to be especially tricky) and yes, even giving commands in absurdly simple language.

However, it would all be worth it once the array was together. He would be able to communicate with his home world. And, to top that off, he had two of everything for the array (partly as a redundency, partly in case the species he met wanted to take it apart and fiddle with it, which he'd already let them to with most of his ship). His nostrils were flaring, his eyes were twinkling, and his human friend Ted-Ree seemed to be almost bouncing with joy. This was going to be a fine day.
 
Mutants Lost: Homo-Superior saved

on a small island in the south pacific there is a beautiful island recently located that was never before detected, even by the most advanced earthly sciences. Tony Stark leads a small team to explore it, only to become trapped by the "natives".

Schism: female warrior. a mutant with the ability to divide her consiouness and place part of it in an inanimate object, moving and controling it as if it were alive. She is the most untrusting and seems to be enraged by the thought of these outsiders.

Hertz: A male scientist. a mutant with the ability to recieve, interperet, and manipulate all radio, digital, wi-fi, and other electronic wireless transmissions. basically he's a living hacker, constantly connected to any wireless transmissions, which means that Tony's mind is an open book to him. He is much calmer than any of his other comrades and is the voice of mercy.

Catabolic: female warrior. a mutant with the power to break anything down to to it's primary elements through an explosive severing of their nuclear and atomic bonds. She is very conflicted, with a generally meek demeanor, but an extremely short temper. Her power work on ANYTHING.

Mu: male leader. a mutant who is the island they live on. he is another son of Krakoa, the island that took the lives of Xavier's "Secret" X-Men. Mu is the island, though he has a physical form made of both organic and inorganic matter, including vegetation, rocks, insects, and precious stones. He seems peaceful with his only interest being the protection of the mutant inhabitants of the island.

Restriction: a young boy. a mutant with the ability to telepathically freeze or paralyze people. He is part of the group that first meets the outsiders.
 
I don't normally work in movie verse but...

"Avengers Assemble"


Johnny Storm was not normally an introspective person, however his recent brush with The Surfer and Galactus, and even Dr. Doom had left him wondering what was truly important in his life. He'd realized that his life of short, virtiually anonymous relationships based soley on sex and publicity, while fun, was not fulfilling in the long run. He realized he wanted something like what Reed and Sue had, what Ben and Alicia had. The problem was his reputation meant that the only girls that would be caught dead with him were the ones that were interested in virtually anonamoys relationships based soley on sex and publicity.

That was when his sister had suggested he go back to school and finished his degree. before joining the Air Force, Johnny had been in college. He'd grown bored with academics, and started pursuing the military as a means of adventure and excitement.

Thus he was in a now empty class room with the biggest geek he'd ever met sitting across from him, trying to teach him about physics. normally he would have asked Reed, but he found when he asked Reed for help with his school work he couldn't understand a word that came out of the man's mouth. Sue was busy running the business side of the Fantastic Four, and Ben... Ben wasn't dumb, but Ben had never gone to college. He'd done some classes through the Navy (Ben had been a Navy Airman, as opposed to Johnny who'd been regular airforce).

"Parker," Johnny sighed. "I have to be at a museam opening in like, three days. I would like to appear to know something."

"Well, Mr. Storm, I'm trying to teach you," Peter said testily.

Peter Parker had been laying off the Spider-Man work for the last few months. After the Venom incident and Harry's death, he just couldn't bring himself to put on the mask and actively look for trouble. Thus he had time in his life for this. Dr. Conners had assigned Peter to tutor Johnny and catch him up. This earned Peter extra credit from Connors, and money from Storm.

"Yeah," Johnny replied. "But somehow all I hear is wha-wha-wha-wha?" Johnny did a passible impression of the adults on the old Charlie Brown cartoons.

Peter rubbed his eyes. "You know, I have a girlfriend I could be hanging out with instead of trying to teach some celebrity that I doubt is actually interested," Parker snapped.

Johnny put down the pencil he'd been fiddling with. "Sorry about that," He sighed. "It's just... I'm trying to change a lot right now. Okay, you were talking about atomic structure right?"

"I was talking about chemical bonds," Peter corrected flatly. "But we'll start there." with a sigh, Peter and Johnny started over.

~~~*~~~

As the doctor known only as "Joe Fixit" slowly repacked his medical kit a woman walked calmly and confidently toward him. she grabbed his attention immediately. for one thing she was dressed in a fine suit and heels.

'those have to be killing her,' thought the doctor with an empty smile as he watched her walk smoothly over the jungle terrain. He'd heard the jeep arrive, but he'd assumed it was more soldiers there to escort him back to the city.

"Dr. Banner," she greeted him in a measured tone.

"The name's 'Fixit'," He corrected her in a tight tone, quickly. the truth was that with his beard, stragly hair, and the scare on his face, it was likely no one from his old life would have recognized him.

"Sure it is," the woman replied dissmissively as she reached into her brief case. she pulled out a file. "My employer wished for me to give you this."

Joe looked through the papers. It was details of his father's research, combined with his own. the focal point seemed to be Gamma radiation. the scary thing was this was it was recent, and their were human test subjects.

"I recognize this name," Joe whispered. "Sterns... He worked in our lab... but he's running the company?"

"He worked in Banner's lab," the woman corrected almost playfully.

He looked at her flatly. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"My name is Virginia Potts, I'm here representing my employer who believes that Mr. Sterns is cooking up something... suspicious. He'd like an expert on the mutatitve process he's using."

"If you know who I am," Banner replied, shoving the last empty medicine vial in his bag. "Then you know why I can't return to a populated area."

"My employer doesn't think you'd be prohibitively dangerous unless provoked. He's willing to do whatever it takes not to provoke you."

Banner looked at the information in his hands, then at the woman. "Do you trust your boss?" he asked her suspiciously.

"Whole heartedly," she replied. her voice was different when she did. It wasn't that of someone brokering a business deal, as it had to this point. It was honest, true, and without deception.

"I hope you have lots of tranquilizers," Bruce Banner said as he followed the woman to her jeep.

~~~*~~~

Hank McCoy stood in the office, looking around curiously. It was enormous, especially for a waiting room. it might have been tight, but if he was correct, the Blackbird could fit inside this waiting room.

"Doc. McCoy?" came a gruff voice. Hank stood to see a large, well muscled man standing in the doorway.

"Yes?" asked Hank.

"Mr. Stark'll see you now," the man said, unable to quit staring at the blue furred man.

Hank walked past, but paused to comment. "I promise you, sir, I didn't shed on your couch." Henry closed the door, perhaps a little harder than he intended to.

"Forgive Happy, he's not afraid of you, just facinated by the luster of your fur. Quite fetching really," Tony smiled. "Dr. McCoy, and honor to meet you."

"'Happy?'" inquired the mutant as he shook the industrialist's hand.

"If you knew him better, you'd get the name," Tony explained. "Thank you for meeting with me Dr. McCoy," Tony said, offering his guest a seat.

Tony took his place on the other side of the table. "It's my understanding that with the untimely passing of Dr. Grey, Dr. Rao, and Prof. Xavier, you are the world's foremost expert on human mutation."

"Sadly yes, We lost many good friends due to the so-called 'Cure'," Hank replied. "I hope Stark Enterprises isn't considering..."

"Heavens no," Tony replied. "Though we did come out with..." Tony rummaged through his desk, finally pulling out what appeared to be a rolex watch. "here you are, Dr. McCoy, the first one, and absolutely free."

"First what?" asked Hank, examining the device.

"Portable holographic image inducer," Tony explained. "We developed them for the DoD, but they determined that they were impracticle. So, I re-thought my marketing plan. Who would like more to appear as if they were completely unremarkable?"

"Mutants," Hank replied in an astonished voice. he removed his own watch and put on the image inducer. he pressed a button with no effect, then another. there was a flicker, and where Hank McCoy had once sat, was a man that looked exactly like Tony Stark.

"We can down load different 'skins' to the PHII, I'll have someone from software set you something up before you leave," Tony smiled

"What's the catch?" asked Dr. McCoy.

Tony nodded, dropping his smarmy facade. "I keep my eye out for a lot of things, things that could be a threat to my company, my friends, and my country. I've recently caught wind of a company experimenting with mutations using gamma radiation."

"Gamma radiation?" asked Henry. "I was under the impression all testing with that was banned after the incident with the green man in San Fransico."

"It was, however I don't technically know that they're doing this testing," Tony explained, holding his hands out to show he had a problem. "Right now I'm just trying to gather information. I haven't gotten through to Richards, who is really the foremost expert on radiation induced mutation."

"As he should be, given his family's situation," agreed Henry. "What do you need from me?" Henry asked curiously.

"Right now, I'd like to put you on my research staff, you more than warrant it. I'll make sure sufficient donations are made to your school to cover the costs of hiring a new teacher. I'm looking into several ventures right now, but I can't help but feel things are approaching that this world might not be quite ready for."

"Things such as what?" asked Hank as he purused the contracts Tony supplied him with.

"Things like... like a day unlike any other," Tony replied cryptically.
 
Movie "Avengers Assemble" Part II

It was well after dark when the study group finally broke up. Johnny was driving Peter home, stuck in horrible traffic. That was when things went Pear shaped. an enormous explosion ahead of them sent cars flying into the air. Both Johnny and Peter practically leapt out of the car. "Stay with the car, Pete," Johnny told him. Johnny began to run toward the chaos, shouting "FLAME ON!" as he engulfed himself in flames.

Peter looked around. "yeah, right," he muttered as he headed for a neary by alley way, pulling open his shirt.

Johnny was stunned by what he saw. The thing was twice as big as Ben, three times as ugly, and aparantly a great deal meaner. "Who's the loser now?" the thing yelled, throwing a car at a couple across the street, but missing wildly.

Johnny nailed it in the face with a fireball. "Hey, Freak-a-zoid, over here!"

Spider-man arrived just in time to see Johnny's rather untactful way of greeting it. It looked to him to be slightly reptillian in nature, though with the structure of a gorrilla... at three times the size though. it had a long tail, but didn't seem to know how to use it too well. He let Johnny occupy it's attention while he tried to figure out what to do. The odd thing was that when it spoke, it spoke clearly, but with a slight russian accent.

When it grabbed a hold of the Torch, Spidey knew he had to act. he fired a spray of webbing into it's eyes, temporarily blind-folding it. "Hey, so aparantly you found a way to get the whole damn forest of ugly trees to get up and river dance across your face. Sucks to be you," he yelled.

"Spider-Man," the Human Torch greeted him. "You know, despite living in the same city, we don't meet as often as one would imagine."

"That's because you and your 'Posse'" Spider-Man made finger quotes. "Like to travel around and save the world, me, I'm small time. I just save the city."

"Amatuer," the Torch teased Spidey.

"QUIT IGNORING ME!" roared the creature. it ripped the webbing off and delivered a powerful blow, driving Spidey into the concrete.

"ow..." Peter muttered as he dodged the next blow. He had cracked ribs, he knew that much. "Just who the heck are you anyway?" asked Peter as he started leaping around, acting as bait to draw the creature away from the city street and to near by Central Park, were at least property damage would be at a minimum.

"Like I'm telling you mooks!" it roared.

"Ten bucks says it was something embarassing," Johnny called to Spidey.

"My money's on a girl's name," Spidey replied.

They continued to fight the creature, but they were taking a beating and the truth was they were losing. Luckily they were saved. Their savior was heralded by the roar of an engine.

"What is that noise?" Peter asked narrowly dodging another desk sized fist.

"Sounds like a motorcycle," Johnny replied. "Harley if I'm not mistaken." In his youth, he'd been a real gearhead.

"ABOMINATION!" Roared the one who had arrived on the motorcyle. All three combatants stopped to take in this new sight. It was a man in biker leather with a flaming skull for a head, and a bike that had flaming wheels. "Blight upon this earth!" it called again. "You were a monster even before your transformation!"

"Shut up you Torch-Wannabe!" Grunted the creature as it brought it's fist down on the blazing biker.

the Ghost Rider however simply grabbed hold of the massive fist, and flipped the beast over onto it's back.

It scrabbled back to it's feet, rearing to it's full hight, but the Rider whipped it's chain, wrapping around it's neck and pulled it down to the ground.

"Look into my eyes," came the low growl of a voice the Rider possessed. "And burn."

The howls of agony coming from the creature were ear-splitting.

"Friend of yours?" asked Spider-Man.

"Nope, but he's got a way with words," replied the Human Torch.

once the beast was subdued the Rider whipped the chain back around his chest and approached his parked bike.

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" called Johnny, approaching. "Who are you? Where in the Hell did you come from?"

The Rider stopped, chuckling at the irony of the question. "I am the Ghost Rider," he replied. "I don't usually do cities, but I felt something dark and unnatural here."

"Dude," Spider-man replied. "You are dark and unnatural.

"Yes," the Rider answered. "However, I fight against Hell."

"Wait," Johnny objected. "Are you saying that thing was a demon?"

The Rider regarded the massive beast that was still laying on the ground. "no, it was once a man. Science turned him into that abomination, not magic. However, I sense something mystical helped facilitate his transformation. I'm here to kill it."

"If that's the Case," came a voice from above them. all three looked up to see a man in red and yellow metallic armor looking at them. "I might have an intriguing offer. I'm taking that... that..."

"We're going with 'Abomination'," Johnny told him flippantly.

"that 'Abomination'," Tony finished. "Back to my boss' lab to analyze. I think I know what made him that way, and I think things are only going to get worse if they aren't corrected. I could use folks of your... unique talents."

"If your going to analyze it, maybe I could help, I know a thing or two about genetics and mutation," Spider-Man supplied.

"Sounds good," Iron man replied. "Mr. Storm?"

"Yeah, sure, why not," Johnny shrugged.

"And you... my ossius friend?" Tony asked.

"If you seek what created him," the Rider said pensively. "Then I'll help you, but I won't be much help by day."

"Don't worry, so long as you still have knowledge of what ever gave you your powers."

"Not a problem," the Rider growled.

Iron Man threw the Abomination over his shoulder and flew off, calling to the others, "Follow me."

Spider-Man took to swinging, while Johnny flew and the Rider rode after them, easily keeping pace and navigating through traffic.
 
Zoken said:
I don't normally work in movie verse but...

"Avengers Assemble"


Johnny Storm was not normally an introspective person, however his recent brush with The Surfer and Galactus, and even Dr. Doom had left him wondering what was truly important in his life. He'd realized that his life of short, virtiually anonymous relationships based soley on sex and publicity, while fun, was not fulfilling in the long run. He realized he wanted something like what Reed and Sue had, what Ben and Alicia had. The problem was his reputation meant that the only girls that would be caught dead with him were the ones that were interested in virtually anonamoys relationships based soley on sex and publicity.

That was when his sister had suggested he go back to school and finished his degree. before joining the Air Force, Johnny had been in college. He'd grown bored with academics, and started pursuing the military as a means of adventure and excitement.

Thus he was in a now empty class room with the biggest geek he'd ever met sitting across from him, trying to teach him about physics. normally he would have asked Reed, but he found when he asked Reed for help with his school work he couldn't understand a word that came out of the man's mouth. Sue was busy running the business side of the Fantastic Four, and Ben... Ben wasn't dumb, but Ben had never gone to college. He'd done some classes through the Navy (Ben had been a Navy Airman, as opposed to Johnny who'd been regular airforce).

"Parker," Johnny sighed. "I have to be at a museam opening in like, three days. I would like to appear to know something."

"Well, Mr. Storm, I'm trying to teach you," Peter said testily.

Peter Parker had been laying off the Spider-Man work for the last few months. After the Venom incident and Harry's death, he just couldn't bring himself to put on the mask and actively look for trouble. Thus he had time in his life for this. Dr. Conners had assigned Peter to tutor Johnny and catch him up. This earned Peter extra credit from Connors, and money from Storm.

"Yeah," Johnny replied. "But somehow all I hear is wha-wha-wha-wha?" Johnny did a passible impression of the adults on the old Charlie Brown cartoons.

Peter rubbed his eyes. "You know, I have a girlfriend I could be hanging out with instead of trying to teach some celebrity that I doubt is actually interested," Parker snapped.

Johnny put down the pencil he'd been fiddling with. "Sorry about that," He sighed. "It's just... I'm trying to change a lot right now. Okay, you were talking about atomic structure right?"

"I was talking about chemical bonds," Peter corrected flatly. "But we'll start there." with a sigh, Peter and Johnny started over.

~~~*~~~

As the doctor known only as "Joe Fixit" slowly repacked his medical kit a woman walked calmly and confidently toward him. she grabbed his attention immediately. for one thing she was dressed in a fine suit and heels.

'those have to be killing her,' thought the doctor with an empty smile as he watched her walk smoothly over the jungle terrain. He'd heard the jeep arrive, but he'd assumed it was more soldiers there to escort him back to the city.

"Dr. Banner," she greeted him in a measured tone.

"The name's 'Fixit'," He corrected her in a tight tone, quickly. the truth was that with his beard, stragly hair, and the scare on his face, it was likely no one from his old life would have recognized him.

"Sure it is," the woman replied dissmissively as she reached into her brief case. she pulled out a file. "My employer wished for me to give you this."

Joe looked through the papers. It was details of his father's research, combined with his own. the focal point seemed to be Gamma radiation. the scary thing was this was it was recent, and their were human test subjects.

"I recognize this name," Joe whispered. "Sterns... He worked in our lab... but he's running the company?"

"He worked in Banner's lab," the woman corrected almost playfully.

He looked at her flatly. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"My name is Virginia Potts, I'm here representing my employer who believes that Mr. Sterns is cooking up something... suspicious. He'd like an expert on the mutatitve process he's using."

"If you know who I am," Banner replied, shoving the last empty medicine vial in his bag. "Then you know why I can't return to a populated area."

"My employer doesn't think you'd be prohibitively dangerous unless provoked. He's willing to do whatever it takes not to provoke you."

Banner looked at the information in his hands, then at the woman. "Do you trust your boss?" he asked her suspiciously.

"Whole heartedly," she replied. her voice was different when she did. It wasn't that of someone brokering a business deal, as it had to this point. It was honest, true, and without deception.

"I hope you have lots of tranquilizers," Bruce Banner said as he followed the woman to her jeep.

~~~*~~~

Hank McCoy stood in the office, looking around curiously. It was enormous, especially for a waiting room. it might have been tight, but if he was correct, the Blackbird could fit inside this waiting room.

"Doc. McCoy?" came a gruff voice. Hank stood to see a large, well muscled man standing in the doorway.

"Yes?" asked Hank.

"Mr. Stark'll see you now," the man said, unable to quit staring at the blue furred man.

Hank walked past, but paused to comment. "I promise you, sir, I didn't shed on your couch." Henry closed the door, perhaps a little harder than he intended to.

"Forgive Happy, he's not afraid of you, just facinated by the luster of your fur. Quite fetching really," Tony smiled. "Dr. McCoy, and honor to meet you."

"'Happy?'" inquired the mutant as he shook the industrialist's hand.

"If you knew him better, you'd get the name," Tony explained. "Thank you for meeting with me Dr. McCoy," Tony said, offering his guest a seat.

Tony took his place on the other side of the table. "It's my understanding that with the untimely passing of Dr. Grey, Dr. Rao, and Prof. Xavier, you are the world's foremost expert on human mutation."

"Sadly yes, We lost many good friends due to the so-called 'Cure'," Hank replied. "I hope Stark Enterprises isn't considering..."

"Heavens no," Tony replied. "Though we did come out with..." Tony rummaged through his desk, finally pulling out what appeared to be a rolex watch. "here you are, Dr. McCoy, the first one, and absolutely free."

"First what?" asked Hank, examining the device.

"Portable holographic image inducer," Tony explained. "We developed them for the DoD, but they determined that they were impracticle. So, I re-thought my marketing plan. Who would like more to appear as if they were completely unremarkable?"

"Mutants," Hank replied in an astonished voice. he removed his own watch and put on the image inducer. he pressed a button with no effect, then another. there was a flicker, and where Hank McCoy had once sat, was a man that looked exactly like Tony Stark.

"We can down load different 'skins' to the PHII, I'll have someone from software set you something up before you leave," Tony smiled

"What's the catch?" asked Dr. McCoy.

Tony nodded, dropping his smarmy facade. "I keep my eye out for a lot of things, things that could be a threat to my company, my friends, and my country. I've recently caught wind of a company experimenting with mutations using gamma radiation."

"Gamma radiation?" asked Henry. "I was under the impression all testing with that was banned after the incident with the green man in San Fransico."

"It was, however I don't technically know that they're doing this testing," Tony explained, holding his hands out to show he had a problem. "Right now I'm just trying to gather information. I haven't gotten through to Richards, who is really the foremost expert on radiation induced mutation."

"As he should be, given his family's situation," agreed Henry. "What do you need from me?" Henry asked curiously.

"Right now, I'd like to put you on my research staff, you more than warrant it. I'll make sure sufficient donations are made to your school to cover the costs of hiring a new teacher. I'm looking into several ventures right now, but I can't help but feel things are approaching that this world might not be quite ready for."

"Things such as what?" asked Hank as he purused the contracts Tony supplied him with.

"Things like... like a day unlike any other," Tony replied cryptically.
Click to expand...

Not bad didn't like the Joe Fixit part though it was to hokey with the name in all, but damn good dialogue it felt like a movie.
 
deemar325 said:
Not bad didn't like the Joe Fixit part though it was to hokey with the name in all, but damn good dialogue it felt like a movie.
Click to expand...

I know it seemed hokey, I agree, but I wanted to use one of the aliases that Bruce/Hulk has used over the years. I would have used "David" but that was his father's name and we really didn't like his father.
 
Currently working on how I thought Civil War should have gone down...I'll post it soon.
 
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