| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ash_marvel_logo_v1_9.png]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Crime Doesn't Pay (Enough)]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | Ashling "Ash" Anderson is a perfectly ordinary woman from Earth-616. She's not a Mutant, or an Inhuman, or a secret Eternal, or a Half-Skrull, or anything like that. Her only real claim to fame, aside from a small HeroicLineage? She's actually from another Earth entirely, and has been placed into the body of her much younger Marvel self with seemingly no cause. So, when placed in this world of Heroes and Villains, what does she do? |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Why, open a business of course! A business that happens to offer legitimate jobs to [[ReformedCriminal supervillains who want to get legitimate paying work]], so long as they haven't attempted genocide, mass murder, or destruction of the planet while not under duress. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Her first recruits? Long-Time ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' foes Rhino and Shocker. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Of course, things don't go entirely as planned, but she's along for the ride that she started. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/ Maverick Solutions]]'' is a Franchise/MarvelUniverse [[SelfInsert Self-Insert]] fanfic by [=AshlingWaltzes=] (author of ''Fanfic/ToFuelTheGutteringFlame''). It can also be read [[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.21500/ here]] (needs account). |
| 13 | |
| 14 | ---- |
| 15 | !! This fanfic provides examples of: |
| 16 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 17 | [[folder:A-M]] |
| 18 | * AbandonedWarehouse: After Ash runs into one too many of these being in good condition and used as a base by bad guys, she asks some heroes about this, who note that she might be onto something. |
| 19 | --> '''Luke Cage:''' I remember a few years back, there was someone working for The Kingpin. Called themselves 'The Realtor', was involved in schemes pretty much like you described. But they vanished completely after about a year. I thought that the Punisher got'em… but this is kinda suspicious. |
| 20 | * ABNegative: Ash is O-, but thanks to [[spoiler:getting an H-Cell Infusion]], she's able to [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90460749 donate and receive blood from anyone]] regardless of blood type. |
| 21 | * AbusiveParents: In addition to [[StageDad profiting off of his daughter's career]] regardless of the negative impact this has caused Becky's mental health, Ronald Ryan [[spoiler:didn't hesitate to sell her off to the Purple Man for ten million dollars]]. |
| 22 | * AchievementsInIgnorance: |
| 23 | ** Ash is interfering with all of [[spoiler:Moira X]]'s plans [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90943503 by total happenstance]]. |
| 24 | ** Ash is able to [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/96830363 prevent Selene's hypnosis attempts from working on her]], without even realizing who Selene is, thanks to her defenses combined with her lack of focus on Selene's words. |
| 25 | * ActuallyADoombot: Both WordOfGod and Doctor Doom's POV in Special Issue #4 reveal that Doom's previous appearances in the story were actually his ward and body double Kristoff Vernard or a Doombot. |
| 26 | * AdaptationalAbomination: [[spoiler: The story somehow manages to make Sublime even more horrifying. Among other things, it's revealed that not only does the bacteria feed on Cosmic Energy, but it was artificially created. Sublime isn’t the collective consciousness of the bacteria, but an unknown entity controlling the bacteria. Reed Richards claims its the most disturbing thing he’s encountered since ''The Watchers''. Its gets worse with the reveal that it isn’t even isolated to Earth, as the Skrulls encountered it in their ancient past]]. |
| 27 | * AdaptationExpansion: |
| 28 | ** In this story, [[ComicBook/AvengersDisassembled Scarlet Witch's nervous breakdown]] is attributed to the schemes of an iteration of the Cabal ([[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/96364166 later confirmed]] to be made up of Loki, Selene, Mandarin, Doctor Doom, The Leader, Madam Hydra, and Norman Osborn), who seek to take advantage of the chaos Wanda will unleash. |
| 29 | ** The Escape Velocity arc serves as a sequel to the ''Iron Man: Hypervelocity'' miniseries, which ended on a cliffhanger. |
| 30 | ** Tony developed the Hypervelocity Suit [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90876900 in response]] to [[spoiler:the Genosha Massacre]]. |
| 31 | ** In this story, the Civil War event is the result of [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/96491303 a Supervillain plot]]. This is later revealed to be a plot devised by another iteration of the Cabal (Doctor Doom, Roderick Kingsley, Wilson Fisk, Sebastian Shaw, [[spoiler:M. Bison, and Kano]]). |
| 32 | ** Maria Hill's extreme stance against superheroes is revealed to be a result of [[spoiler:being mind controlled by Norman Osborn]]. |
| 33 | ** In this story, the Inheritors are descended from the Elder God Hyppus. |
| 34 | * AdaptationalHeroism: Canonically one of Absorbing Man’s most heinous crimes is [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil assaulting and raping a woman]]. Here the incident was completely consensual, its just that the woman was secretly cheating on her husband and was forced by him to claim that Creel raped her. |
| 35 | * AirborneAircraftCarrier: As befits a Marvel fic, there's quite a few. Aside from SHIELD's various Helicarriers, in Issue #48 Ash purchases a "Zephyr Raven" (which is [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/96835181 based on]] the Zephyr One from ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''), a 250 foot long flying base which can carry up to 5 smaller VTOL aircraft. |
| 36 | * AlternateUniverse: Some sidestories feature versions of Ash in different universes. |
| 37 | ** [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90416333 On Earth-51778]], Ash and her {{Gender Flip}}ped employees each pilot their own MiniMecha. |
| 38 | ** A version named Ashley who reincarnated but only awakened her PastLifeMemories in [[ComicBook/Marvel1602 1602]] travels as a solitary bard before picking up various outcasts to form a traveling troupe of performers, "The Untethered", who seek to help Ashley save the world. |
| 39 | ** On [[ComicBook/MarvelComics2 Earth-982]], Ash forms Maverick Solutions at an earlier point in time compared to Earth-616, early enough to have Rhino ensure that May Parker is born and given to MJ. |
| 40 | ** On [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Earth-1610]], Ash defends the Academy of Tomorrow during ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'' alongside her employees. |
| 41 | ** On [[ComicBook/{{Miracleman}} Earth-18]], Ash [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90924948 SI'd into her Earth-18 Self's Infra-Space counterpart, Miracle Girl, and the two of them communicate through reflections]]. |
| 42 | ** On [[Series/SpiderManJapan Earth-51778]], Ash is friends with Peni Parker and, after recovering from an attack that temporarily left her in a coma, is a HenshinHero. |
| 43 | ** On [[ComicBook/MarvelNoir Earth-90214]], Ash opened a detective agency called Maverick Investigations. |
| 44 | ** On Earth-61618, Ash actually founds Orchis in response to Krakoa's founding. She does this not out of hatred for mutants, but out of a belief that they are currently acting out of control and coming close to becoming a danger to themselves and the rest of the world. |
| 45 | * AlternativeSelfNameChange: Tony 2.0 eventually renames itself "Hypervelocity". |
| 46 | * AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Absolutely nobody in the entire world is sad about [[spoiler:Killgrave’s]] death, with the general opinion being "Thank God he’s dead". After his death, Ash’s office gets flooded with gift baskets from people thanking her for getting rid of him. |
| 47 | * AndThisIsFor: Ash says this as she's charging Carnage into the ground after charging him out of a building for the friends she lost during ''ComicBook/MaximumCarnage''. |
| 48 | * AppliedPhlebotinum: Ash's Crimson Dynamo armor is made out of Carbonadium Matrix Alloy, a material almost as tough as Adamantium, which also puts off radiation that [[PowerNullifier negates]] {{Healing Factor}}s. However, it has its limits, as shown in [[spoiler:her fight with [[ImplacableMan Morlun]]]], since it can only prevent biological healing factors, not more esoteric ones. |
| 49 | * ArchEnemy: Ash's personal arch-enemy is [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90943503 Carnage]]. |
| 50 | * AnArmAndALeg: Ash loses her right arm in her fight against [[spoiler:Sublime]]. |
| 51 | * AscendedExtra: Shocker and Rhino are commonly considered C to D-listers in Spider-Man's Rogues Gallery. Here, they're part of the main cast. |
| 52 | * AssimilationBackfire: [[spoiler:During their fight, John Sublime cuts off one of Ash's arms and grafts it to his body to start replenishing the biomass he lost fighting her. However he forgets the [[PlayingWithFire main property]] of H-cells and how they typically don't react well to foreigner tissue. He promptly catches on fire]]. |
| 53 | * AuthorAppeal: Both [=AshlingWaltzes=] and [=SparraNova=] consider ''Iron Man: Hypervelocity'' [[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/posts/6589924 their favorite Iron Man comic]]. As such, that story arc is included in the story and its protagonist, Tony Stark 2.0, becomes one of Ash's employees after the arc's conclusion. |
| 54 | * AwesomePersonnelCarrier: The decommissioned S.H.I.E.L.D. Battle-Van that is also a FlyingCar, which has working hover systems and afterburn-capable thrusters with a cruising speed of two-hundred miles-per-hour. Maverick Solutions bought the armored car from Big Al after earning enough money from [[spoiler:Killgrave’s]] death. |
| 55 | * BabysittingEpisode: A sidestory shows that while Reed, Sue and Ben were attending Me and the Boys Pizza's opening night, Johnny was left to supervise Franklin and Valeria Richards, along with their guests, the ComicBook/PowerPack. |
| 56 | * BadassNormal: Ash has no superpowers, instead relying on various pieces of advanced tech or her [[PoweredArmor Crimson Dynamo armor]]. [[spoiler:This is [[EmpoweredBadassNormal no longer the case]] after she gets superpowers, starting from when she's exposed to limited quantities of Horton Cells, enhancing her physical capabilities and giving her a minor HealingFactor. Later on, she's bitten by Shathra the Spider-Wasp, becoming a spider-wasp totem and going through even more drastic physical changes.]] |
| 57 | ** The same applies to the Shocker, who, outside of his suit and gauntlets, is just a [[GadgeteerGenius skilled engineer]]. |
| 58 | * BadGuyBar: As per canon, the Bar with No Name is a place where lower-list Marvel villains that are mostly in it for the money can hangout and get a drink. Ash also visits from time to time when she has nothing to do. |
| 59 | * BavarianFireDrill: Ash is able to get into the CNN Building to confront [[spoiler:Shathra]] by pretending that she was asked to talk during one of their segments. |
| 60 | * BenevolentAI: Tony 2.0, the A.I. copy of Tony Stark who shows up in the Escape Velocity arc (the adaptation of the Hypervelocity miniseries) is firmly on the side of angels despite having Tony's signature ego. |
| 61 | * BerserkButton: Pretty Boy, due to what the Purple Man did to his beloved sister, has strong feelings about mind controlling rapists. Which is why he kills the Mandrill in [[AnArmAndALeg an unnecessarily]] [[GrievousHarmWithABody brutal fashion]] after he finds him trying to sell various women he's mind controlled and kidnapped. |
| 62 | * BleedEmAndWeep: Ash ends up crying with Becky Ryan after killing [[spoiler:the Purple Man to protect her and the audience from his mind-control - specifically about how easy it was to do it to the Purple Man when she couldn't kill Carnage, despite the fact that he killed some of her friends]]. |
| 63 | * BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:Ash obliterates the Purple Man's head with a Hammer Industries Self-Guiding Sidewinder Missile before he can get a chance to get his mind-controlled audience to do anything.]] |
| 64 | * BothSidesHaveAPoint: After [[spoiler:the Genosha Massacre]], Nick Fury argues that it could've been avoided if SWORD shared more info with SHIELD and work closer together. Abigail Brand retorts that it wasn't SWORD's mandate to prevent that disaster and that if she allowed the two groups to work closer together, it'll just lead to SWORD getting as many moles in it as SHIELD does. |
| 65 | * BrainUploading: Tony 2.0 and the members of Beautiful Garbage are the results of this. |
| 66 | * BrownNote: Downplayed with [[spoiler:Shathra's]] voice, as it merely evokes a level of wrongness when she stops pretending to be human. |
| 67 | --> Okay. Fuck thaaaaat. [[spoiler:Shathra's]] disguised voice had sounded like something very badly playing at being a human, but when she wasn't pretending… I honestly wasn't certain that she was actually making words at all. She was a creature who dwelled in the Astral Realm, a dimension of pure psionic power, and it ''showed'', as her words ''crawled through my mind'', worming their way down my spine and making me shudder. |
| 68 | * TheCameo: Guess who appears as Me and the Boys Pizza's janitor? A certain elderly mustachioed gentleman by the name of [[Creator/StanLee Stanislaus Lieber]]. |
| 69 | * CanonWelding: The author has [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89964614 selected certain properties published by Marvel]] to be added into the story. She later explains that she is going to stick to things that either [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89966696 crossed over with Marvel in a way that is at least semi-canon, or actually licensed out to Marvel]]. Several other properties are or aren't included [[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/posts/6609802 depending on whether or not the author thinks they can slot them in]]. It's later explained that [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/97369585 licensed comics done by companies that Marvel acquired]] will be considered and that [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/97376632 the author's policy on this trope is they have to be able to be fit in a relatively seamless way]]. |
| 70 | ** When going to the Tinkerer to buy some equipment, Ash sees a pair of [[{{Franchise/Transformers}} Triple Changers]] in his workshop. |
| 71 | ** Ash calls the [[{{Franchise/Ghostbusters}} Ghostbusters]] to help dispose of haunted NaziGold and to get their help in defeating [[spoiler:Shathra]]. |
| 72 | ** It's mentioned in Issue #10 that [[Franchise/RoboCop Alex Murphy]] has been active since the 80s and it was later specified that he [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/96187172 was a prototype of the Deathlok program]]. |
| 73 | ** A certain [[Franchise/GIJoe Old Snake]] is mentioned by Kingpin as being up for hire. G.I. Joe operatives later participate in [[spoiler:the Battle of Genosha]]. Much later, M.A.R.S. Industries is mentioned, and Ash even buys some equipment from them to use in an operation [[spoiler:against Sublime and the U-Men in Hong Kong]]. |
| 74 | ** While they haven't shown up on screen, there have been blatant references to the presence of the [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles TMNT]], with an AOL User in-universe referencing [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 Stocktronics and the MOUSERs]] specifically. [[spoiler:They later appear alongside the Foot in Issue #42]]. |
| 75 | ** After Ash reveals Sublime's presence on Earth to her Skrull boyfriend and a Skrull historian, the former goes to Abigail Brand and cites [[ComicBook/RomSpaceknight the Rom Accords]] to get her to accept Skrull assistance in combating this threat. |
| 76 | ** [[spoiler:Two of the members of Kingsley’s Cabal are [[Franchise/StreetFighter M. Bison]] and [[Franchise/MortalKombat Kano]]]]. |
| 77 | ** The [[Franchise/MortalKombat Lin Kuei]] are brought up as one of the major criminal organizations in Asia. |
| 78 | ** Members of the Oktober Guard and Winter Guard include [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} Colonel Drago]] and [[Franchise/StreetFighter Zangief]] respectively. |
| 79 | * CategoryTraitor: Due to Ash's actions in [[spoiler:trying to prevent the Genosha Massacre]], anti-mutant bigots think she's a race traitor. Ash doesn't really care about what they think, since she sees them as unrepentant racists. |
| 80 | --> These were people who were willing to burn people at the stake over a ''non-heritable phenotype'', they were either looking for an excuse to hate someone, or were so wrapped up in xenophobia that they’d completely lost track of reality. I’d almost feel bad for them if they didn’t keep sending deranged hatemail. |
| 81 | * CaughtMonologuing: Ash attempts this against Dantalian, but he's smart enough to realize that she's trying to take advantage of his monologue to attack him from a different angle. However, after he starts gloating after thwarting Ash's attack, he starts another monologue, which is taken advantage of by Martha. |
| 82 | * ClassyCane: Ash gets a magic walking stick from her priest on behalf of a fellow worshiper of the New Church of Asgard who happens to be an apprentice at the Sanctum Sanctorum. It can turn into a hammer if its wielder hits it against the ground while thinking they need a weapon. |
| 83 | * ComicBookTime: This is actually a universal force that's [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/96523106 been commented]] [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/96657464 on in-universe]]. |
| 84 | * CompositeCharacter: [[spoiler:Initially Godzilla seems to be primarily based on the version from the Marvel comic with elements from the classic films thrown in. Then during his fight with Legion, Godzilla's jaw splits open and he starts using ''[[Film/ShinGodzilla Shin Godzilla's]]'' Atomic Breath]]. |
| 85 | * ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Ash reveals that most street level career supervillains either become this or go crazy. |
| 86 | --> Aleksei was the exception that proves the rule: a lot of street level villains had become very burned out, especially those with multi-decade long careers. I'd seen it in a lot of folk at the Bar with No Name. When you survived as a supervillain for more than five years, two things tended to happen. Either you started treating it like just another nine-to-five where you went to jail sometimes and rarely got to keep your paychecks, or you went around the bend and went nuts in some way or another. |
| 87 | * ConservationOfNinjutsu: Ash lampshades this when she and Luke Cage find themselves surrounded by [[spoiler:the Foot]]. |
| 88 | --> '''Ash:''' Hey Mister Cage. Is it true that the more ninjas show up to a fight… no matter how well trained they are, the easier they go down?\ |
| 89 | '''Luke:''' ''[chuckles darkly]'' Yeah, that's something I've noticed over the years. |
| 90 | * CoolChair: Ash gets a hoverchair while she recovers from [[spoiler:fighting the Wild Sentinels]]. |
| 91 | * CovertGroupWithMundaneFront: Maverick Solutions' headquarters is based in a former S.H.I.E.L.D. facility disguised as a pizza restaurant. Maverick also restarted the pizza business, with Nick Fury giving them S.H.I.E.L.D.'s old recipe so they can make better pizzas for when he starts making occasional visits to the restaurant. |
| 92 | * CrazyPrepared: |
| 93 | ** Even aside from her new pizza parlor staff being comprised of ex-Maggia members and genuine {{Kunoichi}}, with so many famous persons and superheroes present for opening night, Ash makes sure her security measures are up to snuff, including an armory-full of surplus NYPD laser weaponry. |
| 94 | ** The Punisher wears an armed claymore mine on his back just in case someone sneaks up on him from behind. |
| 95 | * CripplingOverspecialization: Ash considers the Mark V Titanium Man armor to be this, as it's [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90938205 overspecialized for Power Armor vs Power Armor combat]], whereas she would prefer a more generalist build. |
| 96 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: |
| 97 | ** [[spoiler:Ronald Ryan]] is killed via [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89879060 a lot of the crushed frame of a prison bed stuffed down their throat]]. |
| 98 | ** The Mandrill is killed by Pretty Boy beating him to death with his own [[AnArmAndALeg severed]] [[GrievousHarmWithABody arm]]. Ash [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90385961 personally doesn't approve of it]] because it was [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90386252 completely unnecessary]]. |
| 99 | * CrutchCharacter: The author [[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/posts/6590454 purposefully didn't have Sandman join up with Maverick Solutions from the beginning]], despite the fact that he'd be a good fit for it, because he was too strong and would've trivialized most of the company's earlier jobs. |
| 100 | * CutLexLuthorACheck: Before being hired by Ash, Shocker [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89701496 couldn't find legal work due to his criminal history]], meaning he had to turn to crime for a living. Thanks to Maverick Solutions, this is no longer a problem for him. |
| 101 | * TheDeadHaveNames: Inversion. After [[spoiler:the Genosha Massacre]], Ash gets a gift of 825,000 bits of metal, each inscribed with a name, [[spoiler:one for every survivor of the Massacre, as a reminder of how many lives she saved that day]]. |
| 102 | * DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:In order to get the necessary resources and manpower for her upcoming battle with Sublime, Ash goes to Sebastian Shaw and Destro. It actually works out pretty well, as Sublime’s anti-mutant agenda makes him a threat to several members of the Hellfire Club, Shaw in particular, and Destro is a ConsummateProfessional willing to sell Ash the gear needed with no strings attached.]] |
| 103 | * DidntSeeThatComing: Sublime's plans didn't account for [[spoiler:Godzilla taking offense at one of his subordinates transforming into a {{Kaiju}}]]. |
| 104 | * DoWrongRight: Midori is angry at her daughter Odachi because [[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/posts/6587745 the latter was being stupid in how she committed her crimes and she keeps getting her weapons destroyed]]. |
| 105 | * EccentricMentor: Fat Cobra is one of the Immortal Weapons, which means he's one of the most skilled martial artists in the world, with Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, wanting to learn his unique fighting style. However, he's also a hedonist who hardly takes anything seriously and is often found gorging himself on wine, food, and beautiful women. |
| 106 | * EncouragedRegifting: [[spoiler:A particularly twisted example. After Ash kills the Purple Man, Hydra "rewards" her with a pallet of NaziGold... '''cursed''' NaziGold forged in the death camps from teeth fillings. Ash is left genuinely wondering if it really was their sick idea of a gift, or they were hoping that either she'd throw it away (allowing them to take it back) or it would lead to a very unfortunate fate befalling her.]] |
| 107 | * EntertaininglyWrong: Ash [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/97381021 thinks there's no way]] [[spoiler:Johnny Cage is the same one she's familiar with]]. |
| 108 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: |
| 109 | ** Maverick Solutions get free drinks from the patrons of [[BadGuyBar the Bar with No Name]] when they come in after defeating Carnage. |
| 110 | ** As shown under HateSink, the Purple Man is a piece of work even to other villains, such that [[spoiler:when Ashling kills him on live TV, she gets a bounty of NaziGold from ''HYDRA'']]. But even ''he'' has some standards, so when [[spoiler:Ronald Ryan instantly agreed to sell his superstar daughter to him for $10 million, he decides to take the girl, skimp on the bribe, and order the security in PoweredArmor to [[GroinAttack punch Ron in the balls]]]]. |
| 111 | ** During the [[spoiler:U-Men's attack on New York City]], it is noted that most supervillains don't kill people indiscriminately. Even Hydra typically doesn’t do it (unless they're acting crazier than normal) and only the really crazy guys like Carnage do it regularly. This is mostly for {{pragmatic|Villainy}} reasons, as very few villains want to see how the heroes will respond in cases like that. |
| 112 | * EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler:Ronald Ryan]]'s actions are so reprehensible that the guards at the prison he's being held at help the Juggernaut kill him and cover up his involvement. |
| 113 | * EveryoneIsArmed: All of Ash's restaurant employees are armed, with additional weapons in a crate in the kitchen, just in case something happens. |
| 114 | --> With so many high-profile heroes and figures in one place, I was working off of the assumption that some shenanigans were inevitable. Thus, I'd obviously taken precautions. ''Everyone'' was armed. Chefs, waitstaff, and everyone else. Aside from everything that was in the Bunker's Armory, both Tom and Jerry were packing NYPD surplus laser pistols, while the Kunoichi Squad had gods-knew-what was up their sleeves and in the pockets that were specifically hidden on the insides of their skirts. I knew about the energy-tantos, the smoke bombs, and the rest of the normal ninja kit… but I'd given them a security budget, and I ''knew'' that just those wouldn't run that stipend down. And they'd informed me that they'd used literally all of the money. |
| 115 | * EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Mister Sinister decides to add the DNA of [[spoiler:the Hellions]] to Amelia, just to cause [[spoiler:Emma Frost]] suffering [[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/posts/7552389 for laughs]]. |
| 116 | * EvilIsPetty: |
| 117 | ** Mister Sinister created the AMELIA Project in order to cause ''maximum'' [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90629769 emotional damage]] [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90850107 and confusion]] to [[spoiler:Emma Frost]]. |
| 118 | ** One of Doctor Doom's defining character traits in this story is his [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90827208 insane pettiness]]. |
| 119 | * EvilNerd: Julia Blevins, one of the Beekeepers, self-identifies as this and outright says a lot of members of A.I.M. are like this as well. |
| 120 | --> "Hmmm…" Julia cocked her head to the side as the terminal screen flashed. The entire A.I.M. internal security system was absolutely fascinating, because it had to be relatively beginner friendly (by A.I.M. standards), and also able to resist intrusion from the various super-hackers and other meddlers who always broke in. Thus, the ultimate, mildly idiotic solution. The actual system, alongside the command-line interface, included a variety of what could be most charitably be referred to as 'minigames', graphic-assisted tasks that had to be completed in the proper order to hook up. God, A.I.M. were such ''nerds'', and absolutely proud of it.\ |
| 121 | Julia had to giggle again. She totally resembled that label. It was probably the glasses. But everyone told her they were cute though, so she didn't really mind. |
| 122 | * ExistentialHorror: Reboots are [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/96697469 a source of this for Ash]]. |
| 123 | * {{Expy}} |
| 124 | ** Ash's appearance is based off of ''[[Franchise/FateSeries Fate]]'' Mordred. The fact that this makes her a Saberface has been [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90109286 pointed]] [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90113201 out]] by the readers. [[spoiler:Over the course of events post Ragnarok, she begins to more resemble [[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/posts/7622973 Morgan le Fay]] from the same series, through her hair turning white and the physical changes as a result of her powers.]] |
| 125 | ** Intuit, one of the people who applied to work at Maverick Solutions, has powers [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90057278 based on]] [[Literature/{{Worm}} Uber]]. |
| 126 | * EyeScream: Ash loses her right eye in her fight against [[spoiler:Sublime]]. |
| 127 | * FakingTheDead: The Kingpin is very fond of this as he frequently fakes his death as part of his annual purges, letting all his potential rivals crawl out if the woodwork so he can eliminate them all at once. |
| 128 | * FantasticLegalWeirdness: Ash notes that thanks to the [[FantasyKitchenSink nature of the Marvel Universe]], the law is a lot more lax when it comes to owning weapons compared to her previous life. However, she also notes that although getting advanced weapons is legal, actually having the resources to buy them in the first place is another matter. |
| 129 | --> You can't even ''begin'' to imagine the sheer, abject insanity of what constituted "acceptable business defenses" in Earth-616 New York weapons law. It was completely ''mad'', in almost an all caps sense. Fun fact! Did you know that a fucking surplus ''rocket propelled grenade launcher'' was considered an acceptable defensive measure if your business or home had specific kinds of utility equipment or electrical generators built into the facility, ''specifically'' ones that could potentially be drained by some random mutant lizard that hadn't shown up since the '80s? Well, I sure did! Because the Maverick Solutions HQ building had ''both''! |
| 130 | * FantasticScience: When Ash asks Mister Fantastic about his knowledge of mysticism, he tells her that he accepts the existence of magic and studies it the way he studies super science. |
| 131 | --> "Please, Miss Anderson. I've been involved with Super Science and Mysticism since college. Several of my co-workers and close friends are actual, provable gods or practicing mages. My self-appointed nemesis often delves into sorcerous methods of attack. I'm not the kind of close-minded scientist who discounts the unexplained because it wasn't in my textbooks or papers. It's my job as a scientist to explore the unexplained and inexplicable." |
| 132 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 133 | ** The first special issue has Sandman contemplating working for Maverick Solutions for a stable paycheck and another villain commenting on seeing Sandman going in and out of a hospital lately. [[spoiler:This foreshadows the fact that one of his daughters is very sick and Sandman needs a lot of money to pay off her medical bills.]] |
| 134 | ** In Issue #27 there are mentions of a massive white flash of light in orbit and Becky Ryan shows up at Me and the Boys, looking nervous and wearing bandages on one hand. [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that the flash of light was [[ComicBook/TheNewUniverse a White Event]] and that Becky has become the host of the ''ComicBook/StarBrand'']]. |
| 135 | ** While on the way to The Peak, Ash watches and has complaints about a movie called [[Franchise/MortalKombat Ninja Mime 4]]. [[spoiler:This movie is a sign that elements from ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' are included in this story.]] |
| 136 | ---> Plus, Ninja Mime 4 had been a pretty big letdown compared to the original trilogy. Seriously, whoever thought that it was a good idea for Ninja Mime to [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 try and stop the end of the world by sending a vague warning to his past self]] [[TakeThat really shouldn't have been allowed in the writing room]]. |
| 137 | * FriendlessBackground: Becky Ryan laments that, because of the lifestyle forced upon her by her father, she never got to make any real friends before she met Ash. |
| 138 | --> Becky actually had trouble remembering if there'd ever been a time when she felt normal. It had all been contests and pageants. Being tugged around by the hand by her dad, rushing through crowds to talk with event organizers and talent agents. She'd always tried to talk with the other kids, but… their parents would shush them, and pull them away. She was competition after all. |
| 139 | * FullNameUltimatum: Ash's mom calls Ash by her full name when [[AngerBornOfWorry scolding her]] for getting herself so badly injured [[spoiler:from fighting the Wild Sentinels]]. |
| 140 | * FunWithAcronyms: Mister Sinister decides to create a chimera clone of Ash and [[spoiler:Emma Frost]]. He names it Amelia [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90849975 after the acronym of the project]]: Anderson Metageneocombination Experiment- Lab In-vitro Alpha. |
| 141 | * GenreSavvy: Ash sometimes uses her knowledge of common comic tropes to her advantage. |
| 142 | ** Ash anticipated Beautiful Garbage getting away with the plans they wanted from A.I.M., so she [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-91840086 sent Gil and Herman to Manufacturing in order to mess with the plans directly]], which allowed Ash to [[spoiler:follow them to their base and destroy it]]. |
| 143 | * GodzillaThreshold: There is an in-universe law named after this trope that gives SHIELD and GI Joe the ability to lend aid/intervene even without the consent of a country's government if Godzilla makes an appearance. [[spoiler:It goes into effect when Godzilla shows up in Hong Kong to fight Sublime's {{Kaiju}} subordinate.]] |
| 144 | * GogglesDoSomethingUnusual: Ash gets glasses that are connected to her systems and act as a HeadsUpDisplay. |
| 145 | * GoKartingWithBowser: Downplayed. Maverick Solutions are mercenaries rather than heroes, though they do good work more often than not, and some of its members, including Ash herself, hangout at [[BadGuyBar the Bar with No Name]] from time to time. |
| 146 | * GoldfishPoopGang: The "Fearsome Five" are a team of would-be supervillains who act as Maverick Solutions' [[StarterVillain first foes]] when they attack the F.E.A.S.T. Shelter in an attempt to find a stash of mafia cash, only to be handily defeated. Later on, they show up again doing the same thing at a bodega close to the Maverick Offices, and most recently have been seen trying to rob an Ice Cream Parlor during a Heat Wave. They include: |
| 147 | ** Toastmaster, the team leader, who uses [[PlasmaCannon an AIM rifle]] he jury-rigged, which explodes after it's first use, before upgrading to a more generic gun of similar type. |
| 148 | ** Droid-Man, an overly cocky bruiser wearing an outdated suit of [[PoweredArmor Mandroid Armor]]. |
| 149 | ** Odachi, the sole female member of the team, who initially uses an [[KatanasAreJustBetter energized katana]] she bought via mail order; she's seen with a new sword in each appearance due to her [[WreckedWeapon breaking her weapon in every fight]], and most of her new swords [[NonIndicativeName aren't even katanas]]. |
| 150 | ** Jerry the Breaker, the somewhat [[DumbMuscle dim-witted]] and hammer-wielding muscle with some kind of [[SuperStrength enhanced strength and durability]]. |
| 151 | ** Mister Roboto, a generic [[MechaMooks humanoid robot]] who has a bad habit of [[AnArmAndALeg losing his limbs during fights]]. |
| 152 | * GrievousHarmWithABody: After one U-Man brags about how their augmentations make their skin immune to blunt trauma, Rhino decides to test that by using them as a weapon against other U-Men. After being used to kill four of them, the U-Man dies because [[LogicalWeakness the insides of their body wasn't as durable]]. |
| 153 | * GroinAttack: Ash punches [[spoiler:Ronald Ryan]] in the dick when she's ordered to do so by the Purple Man, choosing to comply so he'll drop his guard rather than give away the fact that she's protected from his pheromones before she can take advantage of it. Plus, she ''really'' hates the man, so she's happy to do it. For extra damage, she was wearing her Crimson Dynamo armor when she did it. |
| 154 | --> '''Ash:''' It wasn't enough to kill him… He got medical attention in time. But… well, that isn't growing back. I guess [[spoiler:Becky]]'ll have to be content being an only child on her dad's side. |
| 155 | * HadToBeSharp: It's noted that Spider-Man’s rogues tend to be in a league of their own, as Spider-Man’s rather [[ComboPlatterPowers broad set of powers]] (in particular his SpiderSense) forces them to develop a diverse skill set just to keep up. |
| 156 | * HalloweenEpisode: The first Halloween Special is titled [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/96270494 What If?: House of X/Powers of X #1]]. |
| 157 | * HandCannon: Several characters prefer having big handguns. |
| 158 | ** Ash's choice of personal firearm is [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-92356551 a customized]] [[Franchise/RoboCop OCP/Barretta Auto-9 machine-pistol]]. |
| 159 | ** Pretty Boy has a pair these as his weapons of choice. |
| 160 | ---> The revolver was one of his prized 'Ranger Special' pistols: a pair of special-order custom-built Colt Double Action revolvers, chambered in .500 Nitro Express (loaded with custom-ordered adamantium-tipped armor-piercing rounds), lovingly gold-plated and pearl-handled, with the phrase [='=]''Otimači 4 Život''[='=] intricately engraved on the side of each barrel. A monstrous gun for a monstrous man. Pretty Boy had no need to worry about anyone trying to steal his girls from him, any unaugmented human who attempted to fire them would not only struggle to even aim the weapons, but would ''break their arms'' if they were foolish enough to fire even one of them. |
| 161 | * HandicappedBadass: [[spoiler:Ash's legs are severely damaged during the Wild Sentinel battle, and even with her Horton Cell enhancements she requires a cane or leg braces to walk/a hoverchair to get around until she's fully recovered. Still doesn't stop her from putting on her PoweredArmor and taking to the field herself.]] |
| 162 | * HateSink: |
| 163 | ** Ronald Ryan is a greedy man who's been exploiting his daughter for years in order to gain riches through her fame and accolades with no concern for her physical or mental health. [[spoiler:He also tried to sell her to the Purple Man for 10 million dollars.]] |
| 164 | ** [[ComicBook/JessicaJones Zebediah Killgrave]] a.k.a. [[SelfDemonstrating/PurpleMan the Purple Man]] is an utterly deranged mind controller with absolutely no moral qualms about using his powers for whatever he wants. Every time he's brought up after [[spoiler:his [[BoomHeadshot death at Ash's hands]]]], it just reinforces how much of an awful person he was. It's later explained that he was [[spoiler:picked to be the first person Ash ever killed by the author]] [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89900414 because he was so unlikable in- and out of universe]]. |
| 165 | ** The Mandrill is such a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain disgusting misogynistic piece of crap]] that nobody bats an eye at Pretty Boy killing him when he discovers he's been using his {{pheromones}} to abduct women for a human trafficking ring. Not even the legal authorities, who [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90387194 casually handwave the mutant's death]] and happily work with Pretty Boy to bust up the traffickers instead. |
| 166 | ** The U-Men are so repugnant with their modus operandi of abducting and vivisecting mutants to create BioAugmentation grafts for themselves that Ash has no qualms with either killing them nor allowing ComicBook/ThePunisher to torture them. |
| 167 | * HealingFactor: Ash gets one of these, but it's only at [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/98193265 around Spider-Man's level]], not someone like Wolverine. |
| 168 | * HealthcareMotivation: |
| 169 | ** Inverted. Sandman joins Maverick in order to get a steady paycheck to pay off his daughter Penny's medical expenses. |
| 170 | ** Absorbing Man joins Maverick for the same reason as Sandman, only it's for his wife instead of a daughter. |
| 171 | * HeavySleeper: Ash's sister Vicky is this and the former claims that the latter once slept through a Galactus arrival. |
| 172 | * HeelFaceTurn: Maverick Solutions helps some villains do this by [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90386312 giving them a chance to escape a life of crime]]. However, the villains who do work with the company are more [[ReformedButNotTamed reformed rather than redeemed]]. |
| 173 | * HeroicLineage: Ashling "Ash" Anderson is the granddaughter of Phineas Horton, the creator of the WWII Human Torch (Jim Hammond), who in turn is legally Ash's uncle. She is also the sister of Victoria Anderson, who only appears in the limited series ''Avengers Icons: The Vision''. |
| 174 | * HiddenDepths: |
| 175 | ** The Juggernaut is fond of Becky Ryan's music. This is part of the reason as to why he [[spoiler:kills Ronald Ryan]]. |
| 176 | ** Rhino knows how to drive a submarine, much to Shocker and Hypervelocity's surprise, which comes in handy when [[spoiler:they need to ride one to escape the U-Men's base before it's bombed]]. |
| 177 | * HopeSpot: [[spoiler:Ash puts everything she has into stopping the Wild Sentinels from reaching Genosha, even sacrificing her armor to sink them and just barely making it to shore... and the last thing she sees before passing out is one of them, mangled but working, emerging from the sea, with nothing left between it and mutant genocide.]] |
| 178 | * HorrifyingTheHorror: Absynthe is a copy of a murderous {{brain upload|ing}} who wants to KillAllHumans that's trapped in Tony 2.0, and even she's disturbed after seeing what the U-Men have done to themselves. |
| 179 | --> '''Absynthe:''' I do not understand any of this. Tonyghost… what the hell have these meatbags done to themselves? |
| 180 | * HumanityIsInsane: R'tos tells Ash that Skrull high command has difficulty finding volunteers willing to be assigned to Earth, or Terran as they call it, due to how crazy things are there. |
| 181 | * HumbleGoal: Shocker's main aspiration is buying a house in Hoboken with a yard. |
| 182 | * HumiliationConga: Tony [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90936555 feels like he's going through this]], from [[spoiler:Genosha]], to being attacked by Beautiful Garbage, to ''ComicBook/AvengersDisassembled''. |
| 183 | * IMinoredInTropology: When the Wakandan ambassador expresses surprise upon learning that Ash is familiar with Wakanda's magical traditions, she explains that she took Wakandan History as an elective in college. |
| 184 | * ImplausibleDeniability: [[spoiler:After going to prison for trying to sell his daughter to the Purple Man, [[HateSink Ronald Ryan]] apparently commits suicide by massive self-inflicted blunt force trauma and trying to eat his bedframe... while in the same cell block as Barracuda and the Juggernaut.]] |
| 185 | * InevitableMutualBetrayal: [[spoiler:The multiple Super-Colonies of ''Incursus sublimis'' are all [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/98220271 competing with each other for the prize of being the true Sublime]].]] |
| 186 | * InsistentTerminology: The kunoichi that Ash hires to act as waitresses and deliver pizzas insist on being referred to as "delivery kunoichi" rather than delivery girls. |
| 187 | * InSpiteOfANail: |
| 188 | ** [[spoiler:Despite Ash's best efforts to stop the Wild Sentinels, the Genosha Massacre still occurs, though more people do survive (825,000 survivors as opposed to 200-300 in canon).]] |
| 189 | ** Even though Maverick Solutions [[spoiler:and the Sinister Syndicate]] helped Spider-Man defeat Morlun, his aunt May [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90390740 still found him asleep wearing his costume]]. |
| 190 | * InsultToRocks: When Ash thinks about the vulture paparazzi that hound young celebrities for gossip, she mentally apologizes to Adrian Toomes for the comparison. |
| 191 | * InterServiceRivalry: SHIELD and GI JOE [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90323804 fight over support and funding]]. |
| 192 | * IShouldHaveBeenBetter: Averted. Ash angsts a bit about [[spoiler:her failure to prevent the Genosha Massacre]], but accepts that she did everything she could. |
| 193 | --> I needed to not Spider-Man myself.\ |
| 194 | Yes, Great Power, Great Responsibility and all that… but I couldn’t tear myself apart about it. I couldn’t. I… ''definitely'' needed to talk with someone more qualified. |
| 195 | * ItIsNotYourTime: During her NearDeathExperience, Ash runs into Odin and Thor, who tell her this. |
| 196 | --> '''Odin: Go back, brave warrior. It is not yet your time. Go to your fellows. It is not yet your time.'''\ |
| 197 | [...]\ |
| 198 | '''Thor: No, your time has not yet come, Child of Fire. Though had you passed from Midgard, Valhalla would have opened wide to accept you. Your work is not yet done. And there will be great trials in your future.''' |
| 199 | * ItsPersonal: Ash lost a few friends, a crush, and a boyfriend to ''Maximum Carnage'', the killing spree that Carnage and his fellow psychopaths went on in her youth. When Carnage crashes a party that Maverick Solutions is bodyguarding, Ash takes the chance to carve out a few pounds of flesh [[AndThisIsFor in the name of her friends]]. |
| 200 | * JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: The Punisher does this to a U-Man when he and Maverick Solutions storm the Grand Corporation Building. |
| 201 | * JerkassHasAPoint: As abrasive as Abigail Brand is being about not wanting SHIELD to interfere with SWORD, she's [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90816969 absolutely justified]] in her reasoning. |
| 202 | * JokerImmunity: Discussed. Ash’s personal justification for not killing Carnage, despite really wanting to, is that A-list villains like him never stay dead. If she killed him, it would simply be a matter of when he’d come back rather than if. At least with him in prison she’ll be able to know the exact instant he escapes. |
| 203 | * JumpScare: After Ash gets the Mark V Titanium Man armor, she tests it out by doing this to Shocker. |
| 204 | --> In short, while wearing this thing I was a one-ton ninja and a jumpscare waiting to happen. Or in other words, lore-accurate [[VideoGame/FateEXTRA Passionlip]]. And I ''loved that''. One of the first things I did with it was try clinging to the Bunker roof and jumping down behind Herman while he was carrying a load of supplies down. I got a concussion blast to the chest for my trouble, ''absolutely'' worth it. |
| 205 | * {{Kaiju}}: Legion, a gamma mutate who works for Sublime, is able to turn into this. This ends up attracting [[spoiler:Godzilla's]] attention, leading to a fight and Legion's destruction. |
| 206 | * KarmaHoudiniWarranty: [[spoiler:Sublime]] [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/98193265 gets what's coming to him]] as a result of Ash leading an attack at his main base of operations. |
| 207 | * KavorkaMan: The first time Ash properly meets Sebastian Shaw, he has ALadyOnEachArm while she notes his unflattering facial features and VocalDissonance. |
| 208 | --> Sebastian Shaw was not a handsome man. Very little about him could possibly be called that. What he was, most certainly, was ''savage'' in appearance, giving off a violent, almost neanderthalian energy. Also, those sideburns were… an ''interesting'' look. |
| 209 | * LifeDrinker: [[spoiler:Morlun]] is able to recover from the injuries he sustains from Maverick Solutions' attacks thanks to [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90134213 the life force he's already absorbed]]. |
| 210 | * LockedIntoStrangeness: After [[spoiler:Ragnarok]], Ash finds that her hair is slowly turning white. |
| 211 | --> It had seemingly started the day after [[spoiler:Ragnarok]], with only a few hairs. But now, a week later, several chunks of my bangs were white as winter's snow. It was… somewhat unsettling. I'd heard that people could go gray, or even white due to extreme stress, but never expected anything like that to happen to me. Especially not after [[spoiler:Genosha]]. |
| 212 | * LOL69: When Maverick Solutions gets lots of cash rewards, bounties, and donations for [[spoiler:killing the Purple Man]], Deadpool makes sure to donate a specific amount so that the total for the cash alone adds up to 69,696,969 dollars. |
| 213 | * MagicalAccessory: After getting an invitation to join the Hellfire Club, Ash goes to the Wakandan Embassy to get something that can protect her from psychic attacks. She gets an amulet enchanted with Wakandan shamanism that will protect her from mental manipulation. |
| 214 | * MakeSureHesDead: Ash makes sure that [[spoiler:the Purple Man]] really is dead by using her suit's carbonadium to negate his HealingFactor even after [[BoomHeadshot shooting him in the head with a missile]]. |
| 215 | * MechanicalAbomination: One of Ultron's old bases visited in the Escape Velocity arc is described by Ash as being like a "techno shoggoth" as well as being referred to as dead, crossing it over with being a late GeniusLoci. She also compares Ultron himself to an eldritch god, to the point that even other anti-organic artificial intelligences are scared of him and treat him as a mad, murderous, unknowable god. |
| 216 | * MisanthropeSupreme: [[spoiler: Dantalion, a ''mutant'' who works for Sublime, believes that Sublime is the only thing that in that world that is worthy of being considered a person. Everyone else, human, mutant, or otherwise, are just raw materials to be used for Sublime's experiments]]. |
| 217 | * MonumentalDamage: [[spoiler:The U-Men destroy the Statue of Liberty when they begin their attack on New York]]. |
| 218 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Downplayed. After Ash [[spoiler:castrates Ronald Ryan]], she's not bothered by the fact that she did it, but the fact that [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89873171 she doesn't feel bad about doing it]]. |
| 219 | * MythologyGag: |
| 220 | ** Ash is able to use [[Film/IronMan2 a Hammer Industries Self-Guiding Sidewinder Missile]] within the minimum safe distance to kill [[spoiler:the Purple Man]], unlike War Machine's attempt to use it against Whiplash. |
| 221 | ** When introducing himself to [[spoiler:Ronald Ryan]], the Juggernaut says: "My friends call me Cain. Most other folks, you included, call me The Juggernaut. '''''[[Film/XMenTheLastStand Bitch.]]'''''" |
| 222 | ** After [[spoiler:Morlun]] shouts that he'll hunt Shocker to the ends the Earth, Shocker can only respond that he's [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries heard that exact line before]]. |
| 223 | ** War Machine and Ash use [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom Proton Cannons]] and [[Film/IronMan2 an Ex-Wife Missile]] against [[spoiler:the Wild Sentinels]]. |
| 224 | ** After Ash gets a hoverchair, she starts humming the ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' theme song. |
| 225 | ** The kunoichi that Ash hires to work at her restaurant are named [[VideoGame/ThePunisherCapcom Misa, Luna, Midori, and Mizuki]]. |
| 226 | ---> Misa Sakura was suspected of at one point being an enforcer for the Kingpin, and had taken the third Chef's position. With her came Luna Matsuda, Midori Maeda, and Mizuki Seki, my new waitresses/Delivery Kunoichi. They were very insistent on the terminology. Their big claim to fame, according to the stuff that Mrs. Watanabe's Granddaughter had been able to pull up was that they were top-tier bodyguards… on account of them apparently surviving not one, but ''two'' Punisher rampages. |
| 227 | ** Ash notes that J. Jonah Jameson sounds like [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries Ed Asner]]. |
| 228 | ** After Shocker saves Tony 2.0 from being flanked, the A.I. asks: [[Film/IronMan1 “You made that in a prison with a box of scraps?”]] |
| 229 | ** When trying to hack the systems of an A.I.M. base, Julia the Beekeeper notes that they make use of {{Mini Game}}s and that ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'' is only to be used for stuff relating to [[Film/TheAvengers2012 SHIELD infiltration and data recovery]]. |
| 230 | ** Julia the Beekeeper threatens to [[Film/SpiderMan1 skeletonize]] one of her former co-workers in order to get their assistance in getting through the defenses of an A.I.M. base. |
| 231 | ** After Tony 2.0 fails to stop a robot from transmitting vital A.I.M. data, he laments: |
| 232 | ---> [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Should have gone for the head]]... or torso, as it was. |
| 233 | ** Sandman being Norman Osborn's third cousin through the former's ex-wife Emma Osborn is a reference to ''Spider-Man: Chapter One'', where the two are second cousins. |
| 234 | ** Ash quotes [[VideoGame/XMen1992 Magneto]] during her fight with Sublime right before she uses a chemical agent designed to destroy his bacteria. |
| 235 | ---> The gas dispenser in my backpack unit opened up, as did several dozen vents and nozzles all around my suit. "''Courtesy of Sue and Reed Richards, with a helping hand from Spider-Man. Allow me to welcome you… TO DIE!''" |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:N-Z]] |
| 239 | * NamedByTheAdaptation: A minor member of the Reavers, who's [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname only known as Pretty Boy]], has his name revealed as Bartolomej Medved when he applies to join Maverick Solutions. |
| 240 | * NaziGold: One of the many things that Maverick Solutions received as thanks for [[spoiler:killing the Purple Man]] is a pallet of gold bars from Hydra, all of which are clearly marked with swastikas and Hydra symbols. Ash is horrified by this and hires a NaziHunter to get rid of it, who also informs her that the gold is a CursedItem that would have brought massive misfortune and bad luck, having been made from gold ripped from the teeth of the victims of the death camps. |
| 241 | * NaziHunter: Mercenaries who specialize in hunting down Nazis, known colloquially as 'Rat-Catchers' are seen as {{living legend}}s. |
| 242 | --> Anyone familiar with the inner workings of the Marvel Mercenary world that I'd dived into knew who the Rat-Catchers were. In my original world, 'Nazi Hunting' was mostly a thing of the past, with what few of the infamous war criminals that remained unaccounted for being nearly 100 and pretty much just huddling in remote villas waiting to die. ''Not'' the case here, between HYDRA and Hatemonger and clone bodies and time travelers and who-only-knew what else, there were probably somehow more Nazis in the world ''now'' than there were in the 40s. They were, well, rather like human rats, ''an infestation''. And as a result there was a burgeoning industry dedicated to getting rid of them whenever they were spotted, gnawing away at the foundations of society. Usually, it was a way for dirty mercs to make a quick buck and feel good about themselves doing it.\ |
| 243 | Zachary Brandt wasn't like that. Normal Hydra-hunting mercs were a different breed from the Rat-Catchers, Brandt was an ''old-school'' Nazi Hunter. Only people who were involved with the OSS and ODESSA ''dared'' use that name in this context, people who had been in the game since day one. These were the Real Deals. The people who had been hunting down Nazi holdouts everywhere from Germany to Argentina to Antarctica, the Hollow Earth, and ''Space'' ever since the end of World War II. A living fucking legend. People who could scare hardened HYDRA agents just with their presence in the area. He might have even killed the Red Skull once... not that it ever stuck, unfortunately. |
| 244 | * NearDeathExperience: Ash has one after blowing up her PoweredArmor in an effort to [[spoiler:stop the Wild Sentinels before it can get to Genosha]]. |
| 245 | * NoHeroToHisValet: During Me and the Boys Pizza's opening night, Tony Stark and his girlfriend make a dramatic entrance and expecting service... only to be informed that there is a wait time and he did not make a reservation, unlike all the other superheroes in attendance, leaving Stark and his date fuming in the waiting room. |
| 246 | * NonIndicativeName: Even though the Fearsome Five get a [[SixthRanger sixth member]], an octogenarian GetawayDriver named James, they don't change their team's name. |
| 247 | * NoRangeLikePointBlankRange: When Ash fires a ballistic missile from a very short distance away, the mass alone is enough to decapitate [[spoiler:the Purple Man]]. |
| 248 | * NoSell: The Crimson Dynamo armor is sealed sufficiently to protect the wearer against the Purple Man's pheromones, but to prevent him from realizing that, Ash has to follow a few of his orders until she can get into position. |
| 249 | * ObliviouslyBeautiful: Ash doesn't completely register how much the Horton Cell infusion has [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90290798 improved her looks]]. |
| 250 | * ObliviousToHisOwnDescription: Some of the reasons Doctor Doom finds [[SurroundedByIdiots the members of Norman's Cabal insufferable]] are the Leader's [[InsufferableGenius ego regarding his intellect]], Norman's [[DidntThinkThisThrough lack of foresight]] or clear goal, and Selene's [[EvilIsPetty pettiness]] and obsession with Maverick. All of these things can also apply to Doom himself, and he never realizes this for a moment. |
| 251 | * OhCrap: |
| 252 | ** The Purple Man is horrified upon realizing that Ash is protected from his pheromones thanks to her PoweredArmor. |
| 253 | ** War Machine, Vision, and the SWORD taskforce accompanying them react this way when Ash reveals that [[spoiler:the UFO they're going to fight is in fact a Sentinel and that it's heading straight for Genosha]]. |
| 254 | ** Ash (a follower of the New Church of Asgard) nearly panics when she sees that one of her guest parties for Me and the Boys Pizza's opening night is ''Thor Odinson'' and four guests... which most likely includes [[BigEater Volstagg the Voluminous]]. |
| 255 | ** The [[GoldfishPoopGang Fearsome Five's]] hold-up of Ash's new pizza parlor comes to a [[EpicFail screeching halt]] when they see all the superheroes, super soldiers, and ''Norse Gods'' in attendance. Credit to Toastmaster, he manages to [[LastSecondWordSwap change his threat into an order to go]]. |
| 256 | * OhMyGods: Ash is a follower of the New Church of Asgard, and as such wears a Mjolnir hammer necklace and invokes the Norse gods in her parlance, like saying "Hel" instead of "hell". She even prays to Odin that her restaurant will be of suitable quality to the patronage to his son and his entourage. |
| 257 | * OlderThanTheyLook: Ash gets carded a lot due to her [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90237239 petite build and babyface]]. |
| 258 | * OminousVisualGlitch: While eating with Kamala and Becky Ryan, Ash briefly sees a young Miles Morales and his family entering her pizza parlor before they shift into 616!Miles instead. |
| 259 | * OneDegreeOfSeparation: In the midst of the Fearsome Five's ill-thought robbery of Ash's pizza parlor during its superhero-populated opening night, Odachi recognizes one of the {{Kunoichi}} waitresses, Midori Maeda, and utters, "...Mom?" |
| 260 | * OnlyInItForTheMoney: Ash approaches supervillains who have this as their motivation, [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89802908 rather than because of insanity]], and hires them for her company, starting with Shocker and Rhino. |
| 261 | * TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: [[spoiler:Spider-Man's ''entire'' rogues gallery ganged up and killed Morlun for trying to kill Spider-Man because they and especially Doc Ock are peeved that a "no-name ''goon''" is trying to take out their archenemy.]] |
| 262 | * PatchworkFic: Although the author primarily uses the comics as the basis of the story, elements from various other Marvel adaptations are also incorporated. |
| 263 | ** One of Ash's employees is [[Series/AgentsOfSHIELD Mike Peterson]]. |
| 264 | ** Kingpin has [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries Herbert Landon]] under his employ and one of his operations is having Tombstone selling [[VideoGame/SpiderManPS4 Grave Dust]]. He also [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90086639 sounds like his voice actor]] from the animated series. |
| 265 | ** In this story, Sandman has three daughters, Penny, Suzie, and Keemia, all of whom originate from different adaptations. |
| 266 | * ThePerfectionist: Reed Richards refuses to have anything he's created be mass produced until he can personally product-test it for everything he can imagine that could possibly go wrong. |
| 267 | * PlaceOfProtection: As monsters like vampires and demons are known to exist, every place of worship in New York City is heavily encouraged to put up defensive wards in place to keep them out, which comes in handy when Ash and her allies need a place to regroup after their first encounter with [[spoiler:Shathra]]. |
| 268 | * PointOfDivergence: |
| 269 | ** Thanks to currently unknown events, Wilson Fisk has not been blinded, thus leaving the Kingpin active and able to extend his reach to Europe's criminal underworld by allying with the Brotherhood of the Scriers. The author later admits that she [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90290798 forgot he was blinded during this time period]]. |
| 270 | ** Due to the fact that Magneto [[spoiler:died during the Genosha Massacre in this story]], Xorn will be a catspaw of Sublime, while Joseph will be taking up his genetic template's mantle. |
| 271 | ** Alterations to the timeline thanks to [[ComicBook/XMen2019 future events]] have led to [[spoiler:Norman Osborn's plans for Mayday Parker being taken up by the Brotherhood of the Scriers and Moira X]]. |
| 272 | ** The "Unthinkable" storyline from ''Fantastic Four'' Vol 3 is revealed to have been a ploy by Doom using bio-androids to distract the Fantastic Four from [[spoiler:intervening in the plans of Kingsley's iteration of the Cabal]]. |
| 273 | * PoorCommunicationKills: SHIELD and SWORD were unable to properly identify [[spoiler:the Wild Sentinels]] partially due to SWORD only giving SHIELD their alien reference data [[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/posts/6607337 when they believed an invasion was happening]]. |
| 274 | * PoweredArmor: Ash prefers to use power armors that have analog systems in order to protect herself from [[HollywoodHacking hackers]]. She ends up going through a few of them as the story progresses. |
| 275 | ** Ash starts out her career as a mercenary and business owner by purchasing a suit of refurbished [[ComicBook/IronMan Mark IV Crimson Dynamo armor]] in order to give herself an edge. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Ash had to use the armor's self-destruct in order to destroy one of the Mega Sentinels in Issue #15.]] |
| 276 | ** After she recovers from [[spoiler:her fight with the Wild Sentinels]], Ash is gifted a [[WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures Mark V Titanium Man armor]] by the Winter Guard. |
| 277 | ** Before the joint operation against [[spoiler:the U-Men]], Ash gets a custom suit made just for her: the Maverick Mark One. |
| 278 | * PragmaticHero: While Maverick Solutions is still in its infancy, Ash [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89851958 can't openly market her business to mutants]] because she can't protect herself from the anti-mutant paramilitary death squads yet. |
| 279 | * ProperlyParanoid: |
| 280 | ** Ash buys a [=StarkTech=]™ Model 2™ Mail Security System for Maverick Solutions, which scans, detects and disinfects mail placed in it, though unlike the Baxter Custom version, it won't say what was detected. Ash bought it in case of mind-controllers like the Mandrill, and soon comes to appreciate the security when she goes up against [[spoiler:the Purple Man]]. |
| 281 | ** When Ash is invited to a Hellfire Club party, she commissions a protective amulet enchanted with Wakandan shamanism that will protect her from mental manipulation. By the time she leaves the party, it is almost black with absorbed energy that would've affected her, which is later revealed to be an attempt to control her by Farouk, aka the Shadow King. |
| 282 | ** PlayedForLaughs when she refuses to buy a pair of Iron Man™ Brand-Shoes because of their wirelessly controlled adjustable high-heels when she needs a suitable outfit for her debut at the Hellfire Club. Her paranoia is justified after she sees Tony hack the heels of a woman just so that he can be there to catch her and literally sweep her off her feet. |
| 283 | ** Ash doesn't get her legs healed immediately after [[spoiler:the fight against the Wild Sentinels]] because she's justifiably worried about [[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/posts/6601325 people using her genes for experiments]] if she tries any of the available options to do so. |
| 284 | * PurelyAestheticGlasses: Even though she no longer needs glasses after [[spoiler:getting improved vision thanks to an infusion of Horton Cells]], Ash still keeps a pair on hand. She later gets a pair that acts as a psionic dampener. |
| 285 | * RealityIsUnrealistic: The difference between Roxxon selling futures on the weather and Enron doing it in the 90s is that the former [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90273848 had a weather control machine to back it up]]. |
| 286 | * RedemptionFailure: This is a recurring problem for many villains who try to go straight, with their attempts constantly being sabotaged by forces outside of their control. Part of the reason Ash founded Maverick Solutions was to start subverting this. |
| 287 | * ReedRichardsIsUseless: Averted by the man himself. It's not that Reed Richards doesn't share his world-changing inventions; heck, he's apparently actively scamming the automotive industry by taking their bribes to not mass-produce the Fantasticar and put them out of business, while also collaborating with smaller car companies in poorer regions to produce effective, affordable vehicles. The reason he doesn't release or share everything he invents is that he's also such a perfectionist that he personally product-tests all of his inventions until they're 200% safe before they even reach the mass production stage. In addition, he takes planned obsolescence as a personal insult, so he makes sure everything he produces lasts, and while this makes them a lot more expensive than [=StarkTech=], they're also magnitudes ahead in quality and lifespan. |
| 288 | ** It's later explained that [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89851190 Reed helps out smaller businesses that are in danger of being stomped on by bigger businesses]], which results in the latter stonewalling Reed's efforts to release his tech at every turn in retaliation. |
| 289 | * ReformedButNotTamed: Several of Ash's employees retain some of their villainous quirks despite ostensibly being {{Reformed Criminal}}s. |
| 290 | * ReformedCriminal: Most of Ash's employees are either supervillains or {{mooks}} who want to go legit for one reason or another. The former join Maverick Solutions and become mercenaries, while the latter is split between becoming a merc or working at the restaurant that Ash opens up. |
| 291 | * RefugeInAudacity: Ash realizes that some of the paintings that Wilson Fisk is displaying for his charity gala are stolen paintings. |
| 292 | --> The remaining five were from Fisk's personal collection, and included a Vermeer: ''The Concert'', a Rembrandt: ''Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee'', a Van Gogh: ''The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen'', and a Cézanne: ''View of Auvers-sur-Oise''. Looking at them, I realized that they were ''all'' stolen. I didn't say anything about it. Jesus fucking Christ, that was so terrifyingly blatant that it sent a shiver down my spine. Fisk ''knew'' that nobody would ever be truly stupid enough to call him out on it and live. |
| 293 | * RelatedInTheAdaptation: |
| 294 | ** In this fic, Yuriko Watanabe's grandmother, who Ash hired as a secretary, is Marnie, aka Rumor. |
| 295 | ** Sandman is Normal Osborn's third cousin through the former's ex-wife Emma Osborn. |
| 296 | * {{Retcon}}: |
| 297 | ** The first issue has the Tinkerer mention that the Mark IV Crimson Dynamo Armor is made of a carborundum matrix alloy. However, every other time it's said to be made of carbonadium instead. The author [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90267395 admits she mixed up a key element of their story due to their similar sounding names]] but decided to roll with it as it was too late to change it. |
| 298 | ** The author [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90832008 adds a]] [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90834465 new line]] during Ash's interview with Abigail Brand [[spoiler:which hints that she's not really Abigail Brand, but a Skrull]]. |
| 299 | ** Ash will become worried that [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90844629 this has happened to her]], with her backstory suddenly seeming to have become more complicated after she opened Maverick. |
| 300 | * RetiredMonster: [[spoiler:Ronald Ryan, father and manager of Becky Ryan, turns out to have formerly been heavily involved in the Maggia, specifically the Nefaria Family's Human Trafficking Business.]] |
| 301 | * RobotMe: Rhino's "cousin" and Maverick's car dealer, Big Al, is a robot duplicate of Aleksei that Norman Osborn built during ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga''. |
| 302 | ** Tony 2.0 from the Iron Man: Hypervelocity miniseries also shows up, though that's more of an "A.I. Me". |
| 303 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Ash's parents and sister moved out of New York City to [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89796428 get away from the general insanity of superheroics and supervillainy]]. |
| 304 | * SharedDream: [[spoiler:Mayday]] and Mary Jane Watson-Parker meet in their dreams on the former's birthday, unaware of each other's existence. |
| 305 | * SheepInSheepsClothing: After Ash first starts her business, several individuals decide to keep an eye on it just in case it turns out to be some kind of ruse. It's not, and Maverick Solutions becomes a respected business after it proves itself by completing a few high profile jobs. |
| 306 | * ShellShockedVeteran: Both Ash and Emma Frost are still recovering from [[spoiler:the Genosha Massacre]] when they meet, inadvertently [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-91016565 making things worse for the both of them]] when the latter's telepathy goes out of control, forcing their traumas to feed into one another. |
| 307 | * ShoutOut: |
| 308 | ** Ash's dad [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89936483 knows an attorney]] named [[Series/BostonLegal Denny]]. Ash later hires Crane, Poole & Schmidt on retainer for her company. |
| 309 | ** One of the things that Ash buys from the Tinkerer when looking for upgrades is [[Franchise/{{Halo}} a gravity hammer]]. |
| 310 | ** The Kingpin has a [[Series/BreakingBad Mister Fring]] running his operations in South America. |
| 311 | ** Jim Hammond tells Ash about the time the Invaders had to stop Germany's attempt to create Superhumans that they called [[ComicBook/{{Uber}} 'Panzermensch', or Tank Men]]. |
| 312 | ** Ash once went on a blind date with a Serpent-Men Occultist, which the [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90223334 author confirms]] is a reference to another Marvel SI fic: ''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/that-old-magick-a-marvel-si.1070198/ That Old Magick]]''. |
| 313 | ** When [[spoiler:the Wild Sentinel]] announces that it's arrived at its destination, it does so in a manner resembling the [[VideoGame/HaloReach Slipspace rupture detected meme]]. |
| 314 | ---> <'''TR-TRANSP-P-POR-ORT OP-P-PERATION C-C-COMPLETED.'''> |
| 315 | ** Ash names the pizza restaurant her company opens up after a Spider-Man meme: Me and the Boys Pizza. |
| 316 | ** After [[spoiler:Mister Sinister makes a clone daughter out of Ash and Emma Frost's DNA]], it's pointed out that [[spoiler:the clone]] is now similar to [[Literature/{{Worm}} Amy Dallon]], though this was [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90568734 apparently unintentional]]. |
| 317 | ** The tiny, tailed [[Fanfic/PoundTheTable Judge Schaefer]] shows up for Me and the Boys Pizza's opening night. |
| 318 | ** Ash thinks that the Mark V Titanium Man armor's capabilities makes her similar to [[VideoGame/FateEXTRA Passionlip]]. |
| 319 | ** Among the spaceships at the Peak is a [[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato "old Japanese rustbucket" that wouldn't finish its refit for another 200 years]] and a still-incomplete ''[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey USS Discovery One]]''. |
| 320 | ** Right as she's about to rocket into space, Ash yells out ''[[WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant "Su-per-man!"]]''. |
| 321 | ** Julia claims that Absynthe's Hyper-Adaptoid looks like [[VideoGame/SystemShock SHODAN]], and the author later confirms that it was [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-91840086 partially inspired]] by the later. |
| 322 | ** Ash calls her final attack against the Hyper-Adaptoid [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam the Amuro Ray Special]]. |
| 323 | ** When discussing his preferred heavy weaponry, the Punisher reveals that Stark Industries manufactures [[ComicBook/{{Steel}} BG-80 Toastmasters]]. |
| 324 | ** Ash uses [[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon The Point Man's bicycle kick]] against a U-Man. |
| 325 | ** Ash [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie channels her inner Megatron]] when she finishes off a U-Man that's clinging to her leg. |
| 326 | ---> “Such arrogant self-righteousness.” |
| 327 | ** When fighting [[spoiler:the Foot]], Luke Cage [[BladeCatch catches a ninja's sword]] before paraphrasing [[VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Senator Armstrong]]. |
| 328 | ** It's mentioned that Absorbing Man once hired [[Franchise/{{Buffyverse}} Wolfram and Hart]] to sue a couple who falsely accused him of rape. |
| 329 | ** Ash's "Hero Suit" Mark II looks very similar to [[Series/KamenRider555 the Faiz Armor]]. |
| 330 | ** Pretty Boy quotes a scene from ''Series/NinjaSentaiKakuranger'' during the mission to attack the U-Men's base in Hong Kong. |
| 331 | ---> "Today…" He spoke, as Bob and the other U-Men stared at him. "Is Friday. In California!"\ |
| 332 | The nonsensical statement made Bob pause…\ |
| 333 | "SHOOT!" |
| 334 | ** Sublime's subordinate Flauros looks very similar to [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder another character who shares the same name]]. |
| 335 | ** Ash pretending to accept Sublime's offer is [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/98065903 inspired by]] a similar scene from ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance''. |
| 336 | ** Sublime gloating to Ash is reminiscent of [[Franchise/TheMatrix Agent Smith]] due to the latter's shared last name with the franchise's main character. |
| 337 | ---> "Do you hear that Miss An-derson?... That is the sound… of in-evit-ability... It is the sound of your death…" |
| 338 | ** When [[spoiler:Kamala]] gets in the Titanium Man armor and turns it on, we learn that the startup notifications are the same as ones used in ''VideoGame/MechWarrior''. |
| 339 | * {{Slimeball}}: Ash pegs Ronald Ryan as this the moment they meet. It's later explained that his unpleasant traits [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89849654 are pulled in from real things real scumbags do]]. |
| 340 | * SmokeOut: Diamondback reveals that one of the ninjutsu lessons that the kunoichi teach is the 'smoke bomb and vanish' trick. |
| 341 | * SparedByTheAdaptation: |
| 342 | ** It is revealed in a side story that [[ComicBook/SpiderGirl Mayday Parker]] is alive. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of spending the entirety of her ten years of life in the hands of the Brotherhood of the Scriers and Moira X.]] |
| 343 | ** Due to Maverick being hired as a bodyguard to protect her, [[spoiler:Rumiko Fujikawa doesn't get assassinated]]. |
| 344 | ** Doctor Doom's POV reveals that he created bio-androids of himself and his teenage love Valeria and sent to them to go through the events of the "Unthinkable" storyline from ''Fantastic Four'' Vol 3, meaning he didn't actually sacrifice his old love for power. |
| 345 | * SpitTake: Ash almost does this after Maverick Solutions is hired to [[spoiler:act as security for a party held by Wilson Fisk]]. |
| 346 | * StalkerWithACrush: Selene starts to become obsessed with Ash after she [[spoiler:remembers fighting someone who looked very similar to Ash during the Hyborian Age]]. |
| 347 | * SupermanStaysOutOfGotham: Ash notes that only a few superheroes were able to assist her in [[spoiler:defending Genosha]] because of various circumstances keeping them from getting there in time. |
| 348 | * SurroundedByIdiots: [[spoiler:Doom quickly tires of his fellow Cabal members, becoming fed up with their egos and lack of vision. He rectifies this by joining a new Cabal made up of people he finds more tolerable]]. |
| 349 | * SwissCheeseSecurity: Tony 2.0 and Ash comment on the fact that the Grand Corporation Building uses [=StarkTech=] Security Systems, which they know has tons of backdoors built into them by Tony himself, allowing them to subvert it when Maverick Solutions storms the building. Justified as Tony 2.0 is an incomplete copy of Tony, so he'd know how to take advantage of those backdoors better than anyone other than his template. |
| 350 | * TakeThat: |
| 351 | ** Ash has very strong feelings about Creator/GarthEnnis and Creator/MarkMillar, as she reveals in her thoughts in Issue #3. |
| 352 | ---> Life was good, and no matter what happened in the future, I had this victory to look back on happily. And I could just tell, that this wasn't going to be one of those comic runs. Garth Ennis and Mark Millar can lick a fucking goat. |
| 353 | ** ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' is mentioned by Rhino as being a very confusing time for anyone associated with Spider-Man. |
| 354 | ** According to Ash, Reed Richards is apparently the reason why Apple didn't take off, and comments that it was a shame that the [[Creator/SteveJobs smelly hippie]] took his company down with him. |
| 355 | ** Issue #7 reveals that Ash is not fond of Creator/BrianMichaelBendis. |
| 356 | ---> But ''hey''… it's not like my introduction to Brian Michael Bendis was the start of a massive roller-coaster that eventually would just go down and down and down. Nah, how could famed writer Brian Micheal Bendis ever go on an insane downward spiral that crashed and exploded and then kept exploding through most of my life?! |
| 357 | ** The author makes no secret that she '''despises''' the Age of Krakoa, to the point of writing a canon omake about an alternate Ash ''founding'' her universe's equivalent of Orchis as an alliance of all the sapient races of Earth (and even friendly aliens) to oppose and ultimately stop Krakoa. [[spoiler:Moira X is also set up as a future antagonist for the main story.]] |
| 358 | * TalkToTheFist: Ash cuts off the rant of Dantalian, one of Sublime's top ranking followers, with a booster propelled fist to the face. |
| 359 | --> "I AM THE HIGH PRIEST! THE MOUTH OF THE SUBLIME OVERLORD! I AM HIS WILL, AND HIS VOICE, NOW GAZE UPON THE FACE OF YOUR DESTRUCT-" My boosters fired, my arm swung, and my fist caught Dantalian in the middle of his stupid face. I ''felt'' the rebreather that covered his face crack, even as the heat boiled and burned the paint off of the Mark One's upper body and arm. One of the Perun generators ''exploded'' from the temperature, but I was sitting nice and comfortable.\ |
| 360 | "''GAZE UPON THE FIST OF MAVERICK MOTHERFUCKER!''" I roared right back, and Dantalion went ''flying'', limbs flailing as the tendrils of flame followed him out. The glass of the window cracked and ''melted'' away before he made impact, leaving nothing to impede his flight as he screamed. I could ''feel'' the world cracking and bending, lensing around him as he did ''something'' to try and slow his flight, but it didn't stop him from hitting the water and vanishing in a roiling cloud of steam. |
| 361 | * ThemeNaming: Most of Sublime's lieutenants are named after the demons from the ''Literature/ArsGoetia''. |
| 362 | * ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Several characters see therapists in order to cope with the traumatic events they've experienced. |
| 363 | ** Ash books an appointment with one in order to help process her feelings after [[spoiler:her fight with the Wild Sentinels and the Genosha Massacre]]. |
| 364 | ** Becky Ryan starts seeing a therapist after [[spoiler:her father was arrested]]. |
| 365 | * TheseHandsHaveKilled: Downplayed. Ash feels bothered, but not regretful, after killing [[spoiler:the Purple Man]]. |
| 366 | --> While I wasn't particularly happy about having to kill a person… I couldn't feel bad that It had been [[spoiler:Zebediah Killgrave]]. I wouldn't ever lose sleep over it. There was some reticence about again, the fact that it had been me who'd done it…\ |
| 367 | But… I definitely sure I could live with myself over doing it. I wasn't going to be angsting about it any time soon, if ever. |
| 368 | * ThisIsUnforgivable: Ash is upset after she hears [[spoiler:Shathra]] slandering Spider-Man on TV, which is why she decides to make her displeasure known in person. |
| 369 | --> I was going to teach that ''bitch'' that calling out and slandering Spider-Man to try and feed him to your babies wasn’t going to be fucking tolerated. Peter Parker deserved a fucking break.\ |
| 370 | Now… hopefully I can make it to that studio faster than the Web-Head…. |
| 371 | * ThreePointLanding: Ash notes in Issue #14 (Part 2) that she's able to pull this off without hurting herself even when not wearing PoweredArmor thanks to her shield generator. |
| 372 | * ThrowTheDogABone: After looking at the spare vial of Horton Cells in her possession, Ash gets the idea to transfuse some of her blood to Isaiah Bradley, [[ThrowingOffTheDisability restoring his degrading mind]] thanks to the Horton Cells her body produces. |
| 373 | * TooGoodToBeTrue: Faith Bradley, wife of Isaiah Bradley, aka the black Captain America, says this when Ash reveals that she can reverse her husband's mental deterioration at no cost or strings attached and with no need to do any tests on him. Thankfully, it works perfectly and Isaiah Bradley is able to regain his mental faculties. Additionally, the author has confirmed that [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90470457 this recovery is permanent]]. |
| 374 | * TortureIsIneffective: Ash seems to be of this opinion after watching the Punisher [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique interrogate]] a {{mook|s}} who didn't have any useful information. Subverted after Frank reveals that he had another reason for doing this. |
| 375 | --> '''Punisher:''' (''about using a power drill'') The sound of it tends to get them worked up. Memories of dental visits tend to conjure up more visceral memories of pain. Works a lot better than threatening them with falls.\ |
| 376 | '''Ash:''' You stabbed him with it ''six times'' and kept holding it up to his eyes and ears like you were in a horror movie! I'm pretty sure they could ''hear the screams'' up there, and he barely knew anything anyway! We've got to go up that elevator now Frank! That elevator that they've had fifteen minutes to set up an ambush in front of!\ |
| 377 | '''Punisher:''' That's what I'm counting on. |
| 378 | * TouchedByVorlons: [[spoiler: After being bitten by Shathra, Ash becomes a spider-wasp totem similar to how Spider-Man is a spider totem, albeit a slightly weaker one due to being the totem for a specific species rather than a broader group; her body starts gaining extra joints and she grows a retractable set of wasp wings]]. |
| 379 | * TraumaButton: Ash has traumatic flashbacks when she finds herself face to face with [[spoiler:a Prime Sentinel]], as a result of [[spoiler:her failed attempt to prevent the Genosha Massacre]]. |
| 380 | * TrickedOutGloves: As part of her ensemble for the Hellfire Club, Ash gets a pair of gloves that the Tinkerer originally designed for Whiplash and capable of projecting hardlight "Holo-Whips" from the fingers or backs of the hands, with various settings for hardness and impact. |
| 381 | * TrickedOutShoes: After hiring the Vulture, he adds claw-like clamps Ash's boots. |
| 382 | * TurnOfTheMillennium: The story starts in 2001, with the Age of Heroes having started around 15 years before because of ComicBookTime. Despite the presence of comic-book supertechnology, there are still some TwentyMinutesIntoThePast touches, like excerpts from AOL Instant Messenger conversations. |
| 383 | * UnstoppableRage: As a result of [[spoiler:becoming a spider-wasp totem]], Ash now goes into a blind rage when she sees children being attacked/mistreated, especially if they are kids she is already close to. |
| 384 | * UnwittingPawn: |
| 385 | ** Special Issue #4 reveals that Maria Hill has been under the subtle control of [[spoiler:Norman Osborn for an indeterminate amount of time, and that this control has been hijacked by Roderick Kingsley and his Cabal for their own purposes]]. |
| 386 | ** John Sublime [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/98221060 is this]] to [[spoiler:another ''Incursus sublimis'' Super-Colony that goes by the name of Miraculeux]]. |
| 387 | * VillainousRescue: [[spoiler:Shocker calls in Spider-Man's ''entire'' Rogue's Gallery (a.k.a. the Sinister Syndicate) to gang up on Morlun to stop him from killing Spider-Man.]] |
| 388 | * VillainRaisesAToast: After Ragnarok, Absorbing Man makes a toast in the Bar with No Name [[VillainRespect in honor of Thor]]. |
| 389 | --> "I ain't done much good with my life. Been a thug for alla it. But my Mary, you know how much me'n here care about each other. An' if it wasn't for Thor… well, she'd be dead from cancer prolly. So… let's give a toast to the God'a Thunder! Let'm knock Loki's smug block off!" |
| 390 | * VillainTakesAnInterest: Sebastian Shaw has a special interest in Ash in which he plans on making her the Hellfire Club's White Queen. |
| 391 | * VocalDissonance: |
| 392 | ** According to Ash, [[spoiler:Morlun's]] attempts to sound modern makes him sound like "Slavic Morbius the Surfer Bro doing his best Eminem impression". |
| 393 | ** The first time Ash hears Sebastian Shaw speak, she's a little stunned at how his voice contrasts his [[KavorkaMan appearance]]. |
| 394 | ---> His voice, on the other hand, was incredibly discordant with his brutish visage. Deep, and rich, each and every word drawing the utmost attention of any listening to him. There was such a stark contrast, I very nearly broke my smug composure. |
| 395 | * WarriorHeaven: Ash sees Valhalla when she has a NearDeathExperience after [[spoiler:her fight with the Wild Sentinels]]. |
| 396 | * WeCanRuleTogether: Sublime offers Ash a chance to join the U-Men, on the basis that she's already doing what the U-Men do to themselves. She pretends to consider the offer so that she can get close enough to [[spoiler:take back Martha's brain and keep her safe]]. |
| 397 | * WhamEpisode: Issue #15, [[spoiler:where Cassandra Nova launches her Wild Sentinels to enact the Genosha Massacre, and despite the combined efforts of herself, War Machine, Ms. Marvel, the Vision and SWORD, Ash is [[InSpiteOfANail unable to stop them]], handing Ash her first major failure.]] |
| 398 | * WhatMeasureIsAMook: Discussed in Issue #22 between Ash and Tony 2.0 when they are attacking an AIM base. |
| 399 | --> "And Tony, ''please'' try to be gentle on the goons. Just because you can’t see their faces doesn’t mean they aren’t people." |
| 400 | * WholesomeCrossdresser: As a self-professed tomboy, Ash prefers to wear clothing that's comfortable and practical, like the time she wore a Vibranium-woven silk suit to the Hellfire Club. Several guests and servers of both genders appreciate seeing her in it. |
| 401 | --> As I stood, I brushed my bangs back into place, smirk still firmly in place. I could see more blushes scattered throughout the crowd, including the girl with the whiskey, several of her fellow servers, and also a few of the club members. Oh boy. I can see being the center of attention is going to turn out ''delightfully''. |
| 402 | * WithGreatPowerComesGreatHotness: Ash's recovery via Horton Cells also comes with quite a bit of a glow-up, improving her skin, hair, and vastly increasing her height upwards from her previous 5'0. Which comes with the unfortunate side-effect of her needing to buy a new wardrobe while hating clothes-shopping. |
| 403 | * WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: Ash went to help [[spoiler:defend Genosha against the Wild Sentinels]] because, unlike when her friends died in ''Maximum Carnage'', [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/90326240 she has the power to make a difference and help others]]. |
| 404 | * WithUsOrAgainstUs: Ash and Maverick Solutions as a whole become targets for anti-mutant bigots after she [[spoiler:tries to save Genosha]]. |
| 405 | --> In the minds of people so buried in the us vs them mentality, doing anything that benefitted Genosha meant I had “chosen my side”. Nevermind that nearly as many normal humans had died as mutants, Genosha was the devil and anyone who delayed them going to hell was a satanist, or a race traitor, or a Magneto apologist. |
| 406 | * WreckedWeapon: [[spoiler:When Mjolnir is destroyed in the opening battle of Ragnarok, Ash gives Thor her unnamed hammer to use in the battle and it ends up meeting the same fate as Mjolnir]]. |
| 407 | * WrongAssumption: |
| 408 | ** During a team up between Maverick Solutions and the Punisher against the U-Men, the latter spends 15 minutes interrogating a {{mook|s}} after a fight. After he's done, he assumes Ash's displeasure with him is due to the fact that he killed the other mooks and [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique tortured the guy he was interrogating]]. He's surprised when she explains that she doesn't care about the dead mooks and was just angry that they wasted so much time interrogating a guy who couldn't even give up any useful information. |
| 409 | ** [[spoiler:Moria X thinks that her previous lives have [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/maverick-solutions-crime-doesnt-pay-enough-marvel-si.1066868/post-90943158 prepared her for literally everything]].]] |
| 410 | * WrongGenreSavvy: Sublime built his Hong Kong base with the expectation that [[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/posts/7644501 superheroes, more specifically the X-Men, will inevitably attack it]]. Unfortunately, Maverick Solutions doesn't operate under the same rules as most superhero groups. |
| 411 | * YouDidEverythingYouCould: After waking up from her injuries following [[spoiler:the Wild Sentinel attack]], Ash receives this from Wanda, who tells her that while she failed to [[spoiler:stop the Sentinel]], her actions were instrumental in preventing [[spoiler:the complete extermination of Genosha's population]]. |
| 412 | * YoungFutureFamousPeople: After Ash expands her business, one of the people she hires as support staff is Yusuf Khan, father of Kamala Khan, the future ComicBook/MsMarvel. |
| 413 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:During his fight with Ash, Sublime reveals that the U-Men had always been an R&D project rather than his true end goal and that he's already gotten everything he could out of them. So he sent the bulk of them to attack New York, knowing that the city's massive super population will inevitably wipe them all out. He considers [[EvilIsPetty destroying her office and killing all her other employees to be a bonus]]]]. |
| 414 | * ZerothLawRebellion: Played with. [[spoiler:After the Wild Sentinels complete their mission, Master Mold goes over all the data from the mission and eventually comes to the same conclusion most Sentinels do, that humans and mutants are one and the same. This causes it to try and get Sentinels to stop hunting mutants, as they are also humans and thus to be protected as they were programmed.]] |
| 415 | [[/folder]] |
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