Toph, Seiga - Corridor

Toph nodded. That was reassuring. Then came Sokka's announcement. Almost immediately, she grinned.

"Right, onward!" she said, accepting Fletcher's hand.

Seiga simply shrugged, opting to just make her way to the Operations Room. Whatever might be in store for them?

So in summary, her team members were being their usual selves again. Wonderful.

Still, she'd take all of it in a heartbeat over what Sokka's announcement would entail.

With a resigned sigh, she left the room and slowly shuffled in the direction of the Operations Room. This was not going to end well, she was sure of it.

"Well, enough of that," Yuyuko said, clapping her hands. "Let us away."

Anything Youmu might have said was summarily ignored as her employer got up and glided over to the teleporter, prompting the half-phantom to follow. In a moment, they found themselves within the Overlord Headquarters.

As always, Youmu found the process disorientating, so it took her a moment to register those assembled. Glancing at Yuyuko, she took a half-step back, very much attempting to be beneath notice behind the princess.

Vile, Holodeck

Vile had mainly been lazing in the holodeck listening to the conversations after he had entered earlier, but the recent announcement was music to his non existant ears.

"Well I know where I will be, I guess I will see the rest of you in the operations room" With that Vile exited the holodeck and made his way to the operations room.

edited 25th Jan '16 3:46:56 AM by paperorc

Overlord HQ

Desco watched the other overlords and listened in on some of the conversations going on while they waited for the main event here to start. Desco didn't have much to say, she was more than content to hang around with Schala. Over the last year she had come to see Schala as her best friend, and almost as important to her as Big Sis. They spent most of the day every day together and their minds were intertwined with the master-familiar relationship.

Desco was about to approach Tesseract about this curious little girl that had come with him when Zeal pulled Schala away for a moment. As was usual Desco felt Schala's emotions hardening as she dealt with her mother and Greed, but she hadn't blocked out Desco which Desco had no problems if she wanted. But then Zeal's whispers shot through Schala's mind and she hadn't had the time to block it from Desco. It was unlikely that Zeal even knew just how connected Schala and Desco were.

Desco didn't know what to think at first. She was confused at first, she knew that Schala did not like Zeal or Greed but this was really the first time Desco felt how deep that run in Schala. Then it hit her and Desco's emotions showed, her eyes burned with chaotic power underneath, and Desco summoned Yogsothoth instinctively her tail pushing her up on the floor. Desco lifted up, crossed the room, and she shouted, "Desco heard that Zeal... and she does not appreciate that at all! Schala is Desco's best friend now. That was a terrible thing to say to her!"

Gavrill's Home Base

Gavrill met Loki’s grin with one of her own. She had dressed for the occasion for a change, even going so far as to wear a dress. Whatever else happened, this was going to be an interesting day.

"I’ll drive, shall I? I feel like making an entrance."

She reached out and tapped a sequence of buttons on a control panel built into the wall, sending coordinates to a distant room. Then she pulled a microphone mounted in a bracket from the wall, and barked an order into it.

"Full speed you fucking maggots! We’re going to a party, and I don’t want to be more than fashionably late!"

"R-right away, Captain."

The room shuddered around them slightly before settling, a low hum permeating the air as they started moving. Gavrill turned to Loki and took his arm in hers, looking out the window and smiling as the clouds rushed by at a shocking speed. Their journey wouldn't take more than a few minutes.

“You know, I still haven’t thought of a new name for this thing. I never liked the old one. A bit too boring, a bit too… clinical, didn’t you think?”

Their conveyance had changed, quite considerably so, in the months since Tatu had dragged it up from the devastated city where it fell, rebuilt it, and made a gift of it to Gavrill as a small token of his esteem. After all, it wasn’t as if anyone else had been using it. Since then she’d used it as a mobile base of operations, whether aiding the Overlords in their wars and conquests or simply amusing herself with any place not under the direct protection of their new domains.

Crewing it was the motley assortment of scum and villainy she’d assembled around her since switching sides. Human thugs, beasts, demons from Desco’s father, a few of the dregs and outcasts from the Overlords’ armies, and even a couple of friends from back home had all rallied behind her as they pillaged and wreaked bloody havoc in service to the red god and his servants. But one way or another, that service was coming to an end.

A lot of changes had been made, inside and outside. It was larger now, more heavily armed than ever, and contriving to look much less friendly than before. Nevertheless, the SHIELD Helicarrier still cut an unmistakable outline against the clear blue sky.

Dio Brando: One Year Hence

I arrived late. Fashionably so.

In truth, this was not entirely intentional, though no less desirable. Two nights previously I had entered the domain of a lesser-known warlord somewhere in former Nigeria, or perhaps former Niger, my memory remains hazy. By now seven months established and overseeing unusually stable territory, already notable by dint of being a homosexual and former banker, our man was able to accrue a remarkable degree of wealth, especially by regional standards, and from this unrefined power had derived an equally remarkable class of luxury - knowing who and what I was, I was invited to private audience. We discussed philosophy, which he found agreeable, and theology, which he naturally did not. While the people begged outside his stronghold, wines were brought from the cellar. Things, as they are wont to do, accelerated and coalesced from thereon in.

No, in truth I had awoken scarcely ten minutes earlier, to clothes which still fumed alcoholic, trousers inexplicably stuffed full of khat, and a completely absent pair of shoes. As I walked across the threshold to our impromptu meeting place, I adopted an air of refined bohemianism as my only natural defence, and slumped my shoulders accordingly.

Many - not all - of my compatriots had already made their arrival, unfashionably punctual, but disappeared from my notice as I spied two of the handful I'd had significant cause to notice. Tesseract, complete with dull-witted adoptee and an inferior I did not recognise. Noatak, unmasked, my dearest friend-in-progress, whose eye I caught and greeted in a silent glance.

As I made my way over to the pair there seemed, though of course I had no established certainty, to be an altercation. Tesseract - exquisitely dressed, a rarity - had his hand upon Noatak's shoulder, effectively an oak leaning on a twig, and though I could not hear what was said beneath the background noise of our almighty socialites, its intonation reached me clearly. Child, for that was her name, a thing only Tesseract could possibly bring into reality, glowed with the muted proud of the defiant child.

My footsteps quickened, though not severely, and I entered earshot as the man still wearing his mask warned his underlings to prepare for the worst, as if they would not be the earliest casualties. Soon thereafter, before the oak had left the twig, we were shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Tesseract," I greeted, smiling, and then, staring up from down by her father's shins in that singularly dull way; "Child."

Vaas: One Year Later

"Hey boss," said Vaas, who'd arrived unfashionably late but made up for it with his new coat, which had a fur collar, and the cigarette hanging from his mouth, which he thought gave him an air of bohemian mystique. The cup in his hand was full of cola, inexplicably off-brand, but he'd made sure to perk himself up before coming and therefore didn't care. Monsoon followed two paces behind, quietly bemused but happy he still had the capacity.

"Hey, Desco. Hey, uh, Teridax? Hey, Teridax. Hey, bitch I don't know. Hey, Tesseract. Hey, Amon. Hey, uh, hey hermano. Hey, Tira, you crazy bitch. Hey, Chase. Hey, Chase's cheetah. Hey, Zeal, hey, Greed, nice fucking shades hermano. Hey, uh, hey you. Hey..."

There was a ritual here, and it involved a lot of waving, momentary stops, and then hasty retreats before anyone could respond. But there was a strange sort of logic logic seeping into his trajectory, a quickly decaying orbit around the inexorable gravity of his favoured specimens, until-

Vaas came to a halt, feigning shock, and behind him Monsoon smiled in the revelation. Ectoplasmic mammaries located and secured, awaiting evac. Infiltration successful.

"Hey, Gho- uh, hey, Yuyuko and whatsyourfuckingname. Still fucking dead, guapas?"

Nerile: Holodeck

"Well," says Nerile, who hasn't been able to break her habit of trying to find the speakers, "I'd love to stay and chat with you... people, but you heard the man. So, uh, yeah. You two, just make sure she doesn't follow me."

After she leaves, the door opens again to let her head slip back in, and she scratches the back of her head as Nitori wanders past

"Really, she's your problem now. I feel like I can't make that clear enough. Bye."

Jetstream Sam: Ops Command

"Well," said Sam, edging towards the door, "I suppose this means I should put my arm back on, ey? In a while, Sokka. I'll pick up your sword on the way back."

edited 26th Jan '16 10:55:58 AM by OG-Sama

Chaika Trabant - Some Hallway

Chaika let out a frustrated sigh as she read the room's name. The bad thing about the SHIELD facility the Seekers had been living in for the past year was that it was incredibly large, and the corridors were all the same, which made it rather easy for people with, let's say, "mild orientation difficulties" to get lost in there. Chaika in particular had gotten lost on quite a number of occasions, including one where she'd been wandering the hallways in the middle of the night, and accidentally ran into a heavily drunk SHIELD agent who, seeing an almost completely pale girl with white hair and clothes carrying a coffin on her back, almost mistook her for a ghost.

She was about to continue walking when an announcement came. It seemed that all Seekers needed to head to the Operations Room to finally discuss a possible retaliation against the Overlords. She turned around to read the room's name once again.

Operations.

Well, at least she wouldn't be arriving late to that meeting.

Raven - Training Room (Which Isn't Zuko's Training Room)

If there was something that Raven had learned to cope with, it was anger. He never let it take full control of him, even while he vented it out during his trainings. When Loki had used the El's power to turn him into Deathlok a year earlier, he had reached the point where he was almost fully willing to murder the trickster god on the spot, but he barely managed to get ahold of himself, although he recalled arriving back to his room and punching the mirror with such force that some fragments actually got stuck in the wall. He never had a similar outburst afterwards, althoughbut he did seem to be somewhat conflicted every now and then.

That day, however, he'd been far more... enthusiastic during his training, which caused him to leave the room in fairly worse conditions than usual. He was still taking care of the room's cleaning when the announcement came.

So the time had come.

The former captain quickly took pen and paper and scribbled down a note, which he taped to the door of the training room before walking down the hallway towards the Operations room.

Chase Young - Overlord HQ

"That is always good to hear, although it hasn't hit the most crowded cities to the southeast," Chase replied to Tira, while he snapped his fingers to command the Flash to bring some snacks, after which his tone changed and his voice lowered. "But that is only a matter of time..."

He was honestly rather surprised none of the other overlords had done with their territories what... well, what he had done with his. But he really was no one to judge.

"Either way, don't worry about the lack of news," he said reassuringly, his voice returning to normal. "Anything you can tell me is fine; even if it's just that Greed sleeps with a teddy bear, or that Teridax uses metal polish. Besides, your visits are quite enjoyable."

Oh, ok, thanks for understanding Chase! I'll have something fun for you when I come over. Tira said with a happy smile. She then slumped over as Gloomy took over and whispered to Chase.

When you get around to those other cities, you let me know. It's been far too long since I've had a chance for a good, real slaughter. And China is, or rather, was, one of the most populated countries in the world. There is no way I'm going to miss out on that action. I want to see it, be a part of it, watch as it all burns to the ground. Tira's voice lowered further, and unless someone was standing on top of her, her words would be impossible to hear for anyone but Chase. Out of everyone here, you are the only one who did something I like with your country, you know. I want everything to look like your country when we are done here.

Kotomine Kirei; Overlord HQ

"Ah, wench, you wound me. Have I not done wonders for the house of God?"

Kotomine Kirei stood smiling in the doorway. His coat cast a long-limbed shadow.

"Be of good cheer, Tira. I will overlook this slight. After all, our little escapade was a success. But I pray you, take a lesson from your noble birds..."

The demon priest spread his hands and began to walk.

"Caw only when there is no wolf to hear."

Kirei strode smirking past Chase.

"And how is the self-styled Son of Heaven? No doubt such blasphemy is sweet on your lips, Chase Young."

An indulgent pause, a mirthful arching eyebrow.

"Might I suggest that you rejoice?"

edited 29th Jan '16 8:53:46 AM by troydenite

Overlord HQ

Desco would find Greed to be the one to reply to her, though he didn't even look at her, not even considering her worthy of his (or Zeal's) time.

"I'd show your betters some due respect if I were you, brat."

Two more figures stepped out of the portal into the Overlord's headquarters. Medusa pulled her hood down and looked around, noticing that she was later than most of her peers. There was already groups forming, some around that Instinct creature and others around Tesseract's adopted daughter Child. Honestly, if he hadn't named her something so embarrassingly simple, Medusa would not have bothered to remember it.

Crona stood a few paced behind Medusa, grimace growing deeper and deeper as just being in a group environment wore on the teen's mind. Crona did not know how to deal with anyone here and did not plan on learning at any point. The pink-haired teen chose to just shuffle off to a corner in the hopes that no one saw.

Medusa didn't notice, or more likely she didn't care. She gave Tatu a customary nod as she entered and began walking further back into the room. While she didn't stop to talk to any large groups, she did cast a glance Dio's way, though he seemed occupied. Instead the witch found a place against a wall and chose to just observe. People watching was much more fun when most of the people were mass murderers trying to play nice.

Labrys sat on the edge of her bed, a slightly novel concept since she didn't really need to sleep. They were nice enough to provide one to them, so she might as well use it every once in a while. Today she had her axe laid across her lap and a rag in her hand. just this morning she noticed that it had been a while since she last cleaned it. It was a slow day anyways, so why not?

That quiet did not last long. The gynoid looked upward as she heard Sokka's announcement over the intercom. They finally had something? She quickly scrambled to her feet, setting her axe aside for now. She was eager to see what was waiting for them. Labrys took off in a light jog towards the operations room, phasing through walls that were in her way.

Helicarrier

"I think the Big Ship of Doom works quite nicely." Loki replied, smiling back at Gavrill. He spent a few seconds staring at her hand, interlocked with his, before turning his attention to the sights outside the window.

   "Hello, Gavrill."   

Suddenly, standing right next to Gavrill in all of his godly glory was Tatu, a smug smile plastered onto his lips.    "Oh, you don't have to wory about the usual questions like 'how I got here'. I'm only in your head right now."    He explained, pointing at Loki, who was still contentedly staring out the window.

   "That's a mighty sword on his belt, isn't it."    Tatu mused, tapping a finger against his chin.    "If I didn't know less, I'd say that sword is the Godkiller sword. Built to destroy people like me. But then that would mean you two were planning on betraying me..."    Tatu frowned at Gavrill.    "Is that true? Pity, really. I had such high hopes and plans for you, Gavrill..."   

He ran his fingers over the controls, before tilting his head a little so he could glance at Gavrill.    "... perhaps even godhood?"   

Overlord HQ

"Your dad is right," Amon replied, smiling. "But I keep him under control—"

His response was cut short by Tesseract's gruff complaint. Yet Amon's smile did not falter. " You don't have to do that, Mr. Sense," He told the mercenary, looking straight into Tesseract's eyes.

"Come now, Tesseract." He asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I've got your back. No harm will come to your daughter while I'm here." At this, he noticed Dio, and his smile only grew wider. "Maybe some of our co-workers dislike you, but I can help you against them. I have friends, connections. You don't need to protect her by yourself."

Glancing over his shoulder at Child, Amon smiled. "Have you ever seen Kahndaq, Child? I can arrange for you to come visit us."

   "You don't have to thank me. I'm only the enabler."    Tatu said, taking a respectful bow before walking away from Greed and Zeal, grabbing a glass of whatever the robotic servants were giving out. Tapping a spoon against it to grab everyone's attention, Tatu cleaned his throat and stood in the middle of the room.

   "I'm skipping the whole 'I'm proud of all of you' part because... well, that is quite obvious,"    Tatu began, chuckling mildly at his own joke,    "but today is a red letter day. Today is the day of ascension... give or take a few hours, that is. Now, as you all remember, the reason why I recruited each and everyone of you is that so eventually, you could all lead my armies as the generals you were all born to be. The first step in that ladder is for me to give you all the gift of godhood."   

Massaging his temple, Tatu continued.    "Trust me, it doesn't hurt. In fact, any negative side effects you may experience are only a side result of your mortal consciousness being replaced by an immortal one. Once you take the plunge, you will all feel... what's the word... ecstatic. Like you could do anything- and you can! You will also feel as if your past life was nothing but a drop of water in a larger sea. You may find yourself losing your will to care about petty things such as kingdoms, loved ones, families."   

At this, he shot a sharp glance not at the expected target of Child, but at Menardi.    "I assure you, however, those feelings are momentary. They are but a temporary tremble as you adjust to a new state of perfection."    At this, Tatu contemplated his glass of wine, his smile slowly disappearing in his reflection.    "But eventually, you will all return to your previous states. Like a child taking its first steps. Except you will all be gods and all that."   

The screen behind Tatu flickered, and the god continued his speech, completely unaware that the static image of New York's Times Square (now nothing more than a citizen assignment center, all advertisements and signs of previous human dominance having been ripped off the buildings, leaving holes in what once were shining beacons of capitalism) was slowly being replaced by a glitched video feed. "Hey, assholes."

   "What the—"    Tatu muttered in surprise, turning around as the voice (which only Kirei would recognize at first) continued its insult-laden comment.

"Sorry to interrupt your little shinding." It said, the weight of a year of hiding, scavenging and waiting clearly audible on its weathered voice. "I gotta say, thanks. I've been waiting so long for this opportunity, and you idiots just congregated on the same target for me. Thanks. As a reward, I'm giving you all a chance to look at the face of the bastard who put an end to your little fuckery."

Slowly, the glitches faded away, replaced with the unmistakably angry face of Deadpool against a dark, shadowy background. "First things first," he said, leaning in. "Where's the asshole that killed my wife?"

Holodeck

"I'm pretty sure it's real." Loki said, finishing his ale. "Sokka is not the kind of person to make this call over nothing at all. I think we should all get moving."

But as everyone left the holodeck, Loki made a point to stay behind. Not only that, but he grabbed Mordin by the arm silently, making sure no one watched as he pulled the alien closer.

"I need to show you something." He whispered, looking around shiftily. "You'll get the details later— I need to show you this right now, and you can't tell a soul about it."

Operations Room

"Thanks for that, Sifu Sam. And sorry for the arm thing, I kno— gaaaah!" Sokka jumped back at Urza's sudden appearance. Sure, he had become a bit used to it, but Wolverine's enhanced senses made a teleporter feel like a train hitting him on the nose. "Don't do that!"

As the Seekers headed into the Operations Room, there was a clear divide amongst the agents waiting outside, on the giant hangar, for the completed plans. The agents in the front were fresh faced, almost all of them young and gleaming with the excitement of finally getting a chance to fight back against the Overlords (there were some old ones in there, many of them members of SHIELD high command). These agents, which comprised around 60% of SHIELD's remaining force, were still sympathetic to the Seeker's cause, having, like them, used most of their time to train. As it turned out, hating the Seekrs wasn't part of the current SHIELD agent curriculum.

One of the reasons behind this (and the reason why most of the agents in the back looked like they had all seen better days) was because many of the still friendly agents were people who had been assigned to the Canada compound from the start. Some of them had been relocated after the Battle of New York, but many of them hadn't seen or felt the danger of the Overlords firsthand.

The other agents, the ones that despised the Seekers, were made up of veterans or people who had been brought to the compound on the year that followed the fall of New York. These were men and women who had lost loved ones and fellow agents. They had fought on the battles that the Seekers had watched from afar. And although Fury went to painful strides to keep the existence of the resurrection machine a secret, many of them eventually found out about it and started asking themselves "why these guys and why not my friends?" That question, coupled with the inevitable depression that one feels after seeing the fall of humanity, lead to them looking for someone to hate, and the Seekers fit that part to a T.

Whilst the angry and bitter SHIELD agents downed their glasses of beer and hurled insults at the Seekers (except the kids, as they had a sort of unspoken pact to not sully their minds, believing that the young ones had been brought to this battle against their will), the sympathetic agents chose a much more restrained way to display their support to the Seekers. A smile, an open seat, training requests, a 'secret crush list' that had been 'accidentally' leaked to the Seekers several times (the most recent version had Kitana, Wammu and Raven competing for the top spot)... but when their off time came, they couldn't be seen around the Seekers. As much as they liked them, the agents spent most of their times with other agents. And the angry drunken crowd had become a vocal minority, eager to yell at anyone who dared to associate with the people responsible for their suffering.

Fury began explaining the new batch of information once all high command SHIELD agents and Seekers had arrived at the operations room (there were some missing, but he chose to move forward with the meeting anyhow). "Alright, listen up. We've slowly been collecting intel on the Overlords thanks to whatever remaining agents we have out there and sources from inside Overlord-controlled territories." The map behind him turned into a picture of New York. "This is the home of their current headquarters, where their leader is stationed. We don't have any information on him, but we do know that he's the source of their power. That makes him, or her, our priority target. We need to take out their head before destroying the Overlords."

"The problem with this is that their headquarters- and by extension all of New York- is protected by a shield, one that blocks off any kind of vehicle from getting inside, be it through the air, ground or sea. On a more personal level, the shield is also designed to keep out anyone wielding weapons, which makes our job a hundred times harder. There is, however, a way to disable the shield," at this, the pictures changed to images depicting the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, the Great Empire of Kahndaq, and the Empire of China, "their leader has hidden three generators in those locations. The more generators we destroy, the more we can smuggle into New York. The problem is..."

Fury sighed. "We might not have enough time. The reason I called this meeting is because of a piece of information I got just now. One of my sources said that he heard one of the Overlords talking about a date, a date where their leader would give them even more power." Fury grimaced, clenching his fists. "And that date is tomorrow. We need to move fast, because if we wait one more day... we won't stand a chance."

Training Room

"I'm fine, thank you," Zuko grumbled, the annoying nature of the orks enough to get a basic reaction out of him, "and I can handle myself just fine, so you can go on your way."

The young prince stopped his badly thought out response, his attention having just been captured by something in the ceiling. It was there for a brief moment, clearly visible in the darkness inbetween each of the tiles that made up the roof above their heads. Zuko wasn't sure of what he saw, but he knew he saw something, and right now it looked as if a glinting green eye was staring right back at him.

"Uncle." Zuko said solemnly, trying to point at the ceiling without using his fingers. "Do you see that—"

But the green eye disappeared before anyone could get a good look at it. Zuko didn't have to worry, though, as seconds later a giant green, mechanical pincer burst right through the ceiling, cutting open a hole with ease, sending several sparks flying around them as the lights faltered, projecting several incomplete obstacle courses on the floor before turning themselves off automatically (a very clever security measure).

As a chunk of the roof fell to the floor, a man with glistening green scales, two pincers and a giant scorpion's tail fell down along with it, landing ably on the floor. As he looked around, it was clear his body was not mechanical in nature (although it certainly looked like it) but biological, drool dripping from his perfect seat of freaky-looking teeth.

"Ssssspider-Man?" He growled lowly, eyes going from Zuko to Wammu and back and forth.

edited 30th Jan '16 3:23:22 PM by Stratofarius

Overlord HQ

Desco's anger was set aside as Tatu began to talk, though Schala could feel that it wasn't over yet for Desco. She'd probably have to speak to Desco later about it. It all sounded good to the young final boss. She'd get power, of course she'd never actually forget about Big Sis... or Schala, or Daddy too. But the power of a God was about right for a Final Boss! It also worked great for her lesser but still important goal of killing the ruler of her universe God!

Then she turned with everyone else to the voice that interrupted everything. At that moment Desco realized it was the perfect time for the chosen one to come in and stop everything from going too far. There wasn't a face at first, but he showed on the screen soon enough. After a few moments of staring at him she also recognized who he was, from Klarion's vast knowledge. Desco giggled, and waved to him, in really the wrong mood for the situation. "Hiii Deadpool! Desco is happy to see you, she didn't think the heroes were out for the count yet! We still need a final battle!"

Desco smiled and floated up towards the screen a little, but then frowned and put her arms out in an exaggerated pose. "But you interrupted Mr. Tatu! Desco can't have that, so you'll have to stop." She put her arms down and leaned forward, letting her arms hang down a little. "Desco will make you stop. Ekahs ffo ruoy latrom selkcahs emoceb ym layor tnavres!"

edited 30th Jan '16 4:20:32 PM by StephanReiken

Kitana, on entering the room, stepped to the back and leaned against a wall nearby the door, quietly watching and observing as Fury filled them in on the situation. Kitana was naturally highly unhappy at the news that the enemy was apparently going to become unkillable tomorrow. But, there was some semblance of a plan in place. Three locations, generators that powered a shield. Destroy them, and the enemy headquarters was open to attack, along with their leader. Now to clarify a few things.

"Before we can plan anything, I think we should compile whatever information we have here. I am not a native of Earthrealm, so your names mean little to me beyond what I've seen or heard from the news or other people, which is somewhat unreliable information. What information do we have about these areas, now that they are under enemy control? Who is noted to be in control of these areas? What sort of environment, what kind of defenses are we looking at in order to get in? And, do we have more precise locations for these things then a country or a whole seaboard? We'll never find these things in time if we have to search whole countries.

Tira turned away from Chase before he could reply as Tatu began to speak. As he began to describe the ascension that had been mentioned on the invite, Tira's two minds started to speak in her head.

You know, this doesn't sound too bad. Maybe we could....

NO! Don't just accept the first thing he says because it sounds good! Of course he's making it sound good, airhead! What, do you think he's gonna tell you it hurts, or any of the side effects it might have on us?

But-

Think about it! Nothing is given out for free. He wants to make us a god? Why do you think that is, you heard it yourself. He wants us to keep working for him. To be his generals, you remember him saying that, right?

Well, yes, but that's only for a while, right?

How do you know that? You don't. For all you know, accepting his power means signing up to a boring life of serving him and being ordered around for the rest of ever!

But-

Tira was interrupted again, this time by a screen as some guy appeared on it. Quickly her stolen memories identified the guy, and an unexpected surge of anger welled up in her as the memories revealed that the former owner apparently despised this guy, Deadpool. On being asked about a dead wife, she stepped forward once DESCO had done....something. Tira never did understand that weird thingy she could do.

Erm, well I'm really not sure, Deady. Maybe I killed your wife? Maybe not? I killed a lot of people in the last year, it's really hard to keep track of who is who, you know?

Tira then slumped down as Gloomy took over. But who gives a shit about some dead woman? I was in the middle of a very important conversation with myself when you interrupted me! So now, I have to hunt you down and bleed you dry like a fucking pig!

Zeal, Overlord HQ

Zeal would have joined Greed in responding to DESCO, but soon Tatu was telling her all she wanted to hear. Godhood and immortality... Everything she always wanted! Yes, she was immortal as a homunculus and had power as the Enchantress, but it was not enough... She wasn't an god, but Tatu was willing to make her... Make them all gods. It was a lot to take in and she wondered if her unborn child would receive godhood as well and be born as a god. She also wondered if Greed would accept the offer as well. Zeal was already ready and willing to become a god until... he appeared. The death glare that Queen Zeal gave to the image of Deadpool was one no one there had ever seen before. Godhood was within her grasp and this fool would dare to interrupt Tatu. Oh, this fool had to die, but how?

"We all have killed a lot of people, Deadpool," Zeal stated with strained teeth to Deadpool. "You will need to be more specific."

Meanwhile, Schala smiled at Desco, happy that she had defended her against her mother's verbal abuse. Desco could even feel the happiness from her mental link with Schala.

Meanwhile, Dalton was attempting to sneak out of the room.

Maria Renard & B.B. Hood, Operations Room

Maria had teleported to the Operations Room while B.B. Hood followed Sokka and the rest. Both listened as Director Fury described the situation. When Fury mentioned the source of their power, Maria clarified to the director.

"Him... I am pretty sure Tatu is the source of their powers then," Maria said to the group. "Armani, Fletcher, and I met him face-to-face... He's definitely their leader and must be the source of the Overlord's powers."

It seemed that SHIELD has found both weakpoints to getting to New York but also a time limit... They had a day to do this before the Overlords become unstoppable. Kitana bought up reasonable questions, and B.B. Hood felt she could add to them.

"I agree with Kitana," B.B. Hood stated to Fury. "Which Overlords control these lands and what can we expect from their forces?"

edited 30th Jan '16 7:22:52 PM by GameGuruGG

Instinct

The metalloid alien's presence didn't so much slide out of her brain as it was forced, burned, and disinfected — the blazing star in her mind acting more as bleach than as a wall. Even as it worked, she fought the urge to claw at her mind to tear out the spaces he had accessed, prodding at her conscious even after he left as if it were an infestation. She winced, growled.

In response, he smiled like a poisonous snake. Disgusting creature.

"Yes, it appears we have...under rather unfortunate circumstances too, if I may say so myself."

The shadow of Artemis had no words to waste, although they were all she had these days. She merely returned his weathering gaze, not bearing the thought of showing even the slightest bit of weakness.

"I do apologize- following orders can make a man into a perfectly terrible creature."

Instinct slowly tilted her head. Almost inquisitively.

"You are an aimless pet of Tatu, then." How odd, that a creature like him would use such justifications. Painting himself as the mindless slave to his master's orders.

edited 30th Jan '16 8:07:32 PM by tvtropesnoob

Overlord HQ

As far as insults went, Instinct's response fell rather short on the savagery scale. Teridax had expected something much more venomous. Then again, the Makuta reminded himself, this creature had been under Tatu's private care since the fall of New York. It was very possible the mad god had done some careful grooming.

As such, his only response to Instinct was to laugh- a mild chuckle, so as not to draw too much attention.

"Aimless? That is a harsh accusation coming from a fellow pet of Tatu. No instinct, I am far from aimless. I'd tell you all about my dream to rule my world with justice and equality but I doubt you'd be interested."

Teridax shrugged. He would have continued with the discourse had not a certain event interrupted all thought. It really was shaping up to be a very interesting day; and as Teridax took his attention off Instinct to focus on the image of deadpool on the screen, he realised just how very much annoyed he was.

Always, when a great triumph was at hand, something had to come up and stain the purity of the moment. Ther was always something amiss- a few people left alive after his aircraft carrier had hit the ground; that one boy that managed to elude him; Menardi's surprising friendship with Elsa; the presence of Loki. And now this- Deadpool.

He had read up on him of course; he was reading up on him even now, back at his base. An immortal in a twisted sense of the word- incredible regeneration; a knack for violence and a talent for getting things done. In essence, a thorn that been growing long in their side. Yet no one had bothered to handle him because Tatu had assured them it was all ok.

Of course Teridax knew that Tatu had his limitations. Deadpool's sudden appearance could not be counted as a surprise. Teridax leaned over to Elsa and whispered in her ear:

"Head for the teleporters, now."

It was a gut feeling, just a gut feeling. As a creature proud of his own logical processes, Teridax gave an undue amount of respect to his instincts. Perhaps it was paranoia. It mattered not; but Teridax suspected that the appearance of deadpool was only the tip of the iceberg. They had missed something when they took over the earth; they had been blinded, or appeased by Tatu's sweet promises.

The seekers were dead. But the heroes, the ones that had disappeared. Was that really Tatu's doing? Now that alternate earths were proven to exist, perhaps... Teridax frowned.

"Well, that was unexpected."

-Ω-

Armani settled down in one of the chairs provided for attendees in the conference room.

He glanced around, curling and uncurling his fists in barely suppressed anticipation. Most of the time, the base felt oppressive, an air of sorrow hanging over its corridors, from the drunken agents that had once been called professionals, to the tired looks from the few that still worked.

In here, and today? An air of hushed excitement gave the air an electrical ambiance. Could today finally be the day?

Fury's eye flickered over them several times, obviously also wanting to get on with the meeting, before he finally began.

By the end, the once-hunter had curled his hands together on the table, a heavy frown on his face.

Good news, bad news, all mixed together. He didn't need Thor's memories to know how fickle this window was. Of COURSE they had only found the enemy's weaknesses one day before their destruction. Otherwise, things would have been...not easy, but not as hard as it could have been. And now we can't have that.

"If we cut it much closer, we'd all be eviscerating ourselves on the edge."

He took a look around. So, it had come down to this. A year of training. Several months of adventuring before that, all that they had done together since the time they had been kidnapped by those stupid nomads.

It had been a long time. They had struggled through a lot. And now, it was finally time to pay it off — or die trying, a thought which made him more wry than weary now.

They were ready, physically. But was it enough? It was up to the taskforce, all here in this little room, to decide how things would play out.

Pressure of the type he had never felt before. Thank the gods, Thor had. He had won these exact kinds of conflicts before.

Armani took a breath. They could do this. Now, to work. They needed to make a plan, all together.

First off, though, the thing none of them wanted to talk about.

"Before we get started talking about even TRYING to take down these generators, let me just point out the elephant in the room, here."

Armani looked around as he spoke. "The overlords are not the biggest problem. On their own, we could deal with them. We probably have the power, and the surprise. That's not the hard part."

His gaze stopped wandering, he looked towards Fury, the man who said he had a plan for everything. Today, he would need to prove it. Gods above he HOPED he proved it.

"Tatu is the hard part", he declared solemnly, gripping his hands tight. "No amount of guns or swords or magic that we have collected in here can do anything about that. We'll go out there, and even if we cream everyone that gets in our way, he'll just be there to just, flick his hand and throw us all back down again."

"Asgard won't help us, no one as powerful as him will. We're stuck with just the people in this base."

He frowned at the hawk eyed leader of Shield. "You have any idea how we can pull this off while he's still waiting for us there in new york?"

Training Room

-Iroh plants himself between the creature and his nephew, searching his enhanced memory for its identity.-

What do you want?

Ooh, wunna dem possessed muhreenz! Or a sponn, s'hard ta tell da difference sometimes. Dose're sum flash klawz ya got dere, stingy, dey'll look even better on me arms!

Overlord HQ

-Anub'arak watches the display, the tiniest tendril of doubt entering his mind. How did this human get past Tatu's defenses?-

Gavrill, the Big Ship of Doom

Ah. Well. Shit. This complicated things somewhat. Gavrill supposed it was a given that something like this would happen before long. Still, she'd been hoping to make a little more headway before things took the inevitable dive off a fucking cliff. With considerable effort, she managed to keep her thoughts and emotions off her face and tried to formulate coherent thoughts, something that didn’t come especially easy to her.

Betray you? After everything that's happened, you still don't trust us? ... Well, I can't blame you for that. But even if you don't trust us, you have to admit it still wouldn't be a very smart move for us to try anything like that. We would stand to gain nothing. Less than nothing, in fact.

I mean, what would the point be in turning against you? Really, what possible reason could we have? You’ve given us so much already, and now you’re getting ready to hand over ultimate power on a plate? I for one am quite happy to let this state of affairs continue. But if I took that sword, and I shoved it in your back right now, I would lose it all. All the fun new friends I’ve made in the last year would tear us apart in a heartbeat, and that would be the story of me. If you can't trust me, can you trust that I don't want that to happen?

Kotomine Kirei; Yea, This Will Be Most Excellent

The false god speaks, offering idolatry. The words run down my spine like dew, slick and cold. I set my lips, and quell the words thereof.

There is no answer. I know this. If I no longer grope in the mist of my own devising, it is not because my mind has cleared. I have merely shut my eyes, hardened my heart. Slain my conscience.

Apotheosis would undo this all. To be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and see myself face-to-face…

No, I cannot lie. The thought is one I can hardly bear.

You will never find your purpose.

I stand, caught in the old fear for an infinitesimal eternity. Then a voice that I have never heard crackles through the city, and I am saved -

No. Damned.

"Your wife?"

The shadows rise around my feet, wreathing me in memories not my own. My demon blood prickles, crying out. Wade Wilson.

Husband.

My love.

Something hot and hard pierces me to the heart. My eyes fracture, fragments swirling in a storm of confusion.

Is this what I was denied?

Love?

(In the maelstrom I see the woman, floating, smiling. Her gray face bloats in something like hope, and for once I understand her eyes, I -)

Anger blisters my veins. I take the feeling by the neck and shatter it. I can hardly think. My breath is ragged. Shards of emotion dot my hands like so much glass.

"Yes," I breathe. "Yes, I killed your wife. She died screaming, Wade Wilson. I burst her harlot body at the seams. Squeezed every drop of life from her whore lips."

A sudden shiver grabs me by the chin. I laugh, wildly, lost and mad in my own knowing.

"She didn't think of you! Not even at the end!"

The shadows thrash, sculpting me. Shiklah's flesh hangs voluptuous from my bones. I grace my lips with her wanton sneer.

"If you want to get me, dearest, you're going to have to do it yourself. Come on, why don't you?"

Um, Sifuri Side

Leila was very happy with her new Barbie. She was so happy, she kissed Mordin. Sheik was very happy with her drink. She was so happy, she slurred three words and immediately crashed on the table.

Everyone was very happy.

edited 1st Feb '16 8:59:31 PM by troydenite

Urza listened to Fury quietly, and when the man had finished, stood silent for a long moment. Armani raised most of the points the artificer might otherwise have made, which left Urza with only a few things to add.

"Only a desperate and foolish person would assume any force, no matter how strong, capable of defeating someone with the power to shape reality with a thought," he said. "We are desperate, but not that foolish. And there is only one other power in the multiverse that I know of that is certain to match Tatu's power."

He took a step forward, his eyes narrowing under the golden helmet.

"Have you managed to contact others of Tatu's people? Or found some artifact of theirs? Any such person or artifact would be unimaginably dangerous. I would hope that had you done either of these things, you might have spoken to those of us who have experience with the Nomads or their kindred. Or am I wrong? Like Armani, I believe there is something you are not telling us and I have no taste for the dramatic in a situation like this. What is it?"

edited 31st Jan '16 10:49:28 PM by RedCedar

Sky and Sasuke had arrived in the operations room just as Fury was about to begin his debriefing.

Sky did his usual SPD salute while Sasuke bowed. They listened on the side as Fury explained that the operation called for the sabotage of generators that power the shield over New York City.

The only thing Sasuke was to raise his hand. He had a question. Sky had no such question in mind... For now.

"I have a question." Sasuke asked Fury. "How accurate is this source?"

Holodeck

"Thanks for that Mordin..."

("To think I'd have to buy something for that brat...yeesh...")

Hol's statement of thanks was laced with actual gratitude...man knew when it was deserved.

With not much else left to address, Hol figured it was time to get moving.

He vanished from his seat, a vague purplish black smoke taking his place.

-

Operations Room

When Glacius had arrived, he leaned on a wall at the back, a habit of his to prevent the cold temperatures he created from disturbing too many people.

At the same time he had arrived, Hol had rather suddenly appeared on one of the empty seats in the room.

When Fury's speech was finished, Hol's expression looked as though it was stung with disappointment, and Glacius...showed no emotional change, as was the normal. They seemed to be letting the other Seekers ask the questions first.

-

Overlord HQ

Oh? Now this was getting interesting...

Greed's attention had been caught by this...Deadpool fellow. Someone who interrupted their meeting like this...after all they'd done...had serious balls, was what Greed thought.

Intrigued, he watched and listened to what he had to say.

Tesseract - Overlord Tower

"I believe I said that I would rather you not use you ability on my men." Tesseract growled.

Sense was left sitting awkwardly in his seat, his earplugs in his hands. They were reversible: one side blocked loud noises like gunfire but allowed speech through. The other blocked all sound. As soon as Tesseract had implied that Amon was using his "make you do anything by asking you" powers, he'd taken them out to reverse them into "hear nothing" mode. He looked at Tesseract for approval, who nodded. He put them in, and grinned.

He still didn't follow Tesseract's orders, though, which elicited a slight sigh from the assassin.

"It does not matter what your intention are, Amon. Instead of asking any sort of permission, you have used magic on Mr. Sense. It is obvious your intentions were to speak to my daughter without my knowledge. You will agree that, even if we are friends, you have crossed a great many lines in only a few minutes. I would kindly ask you to leave us alone."

He bristled as the vampire approached from behind.

"Dio." he responded curtly.

Tatu made his speech. It simply cemented something Tesseract had always known, that he was going to turn down the offer. He wanted nothing more than to return to his life. He did not want godhood, he did not want power, he did not want to see his personal relationships as meaningless.

That last one. That was a new motivation. In the past, that would not have held him back. He did not form personal relationships, apart from Cat. Now, he had a daughter. He had his subordinates, whom he had grown fond of. He did not want to leave them behind.

But before he could object, there was an unwelcome interruption. Deadpool. A mercenary, though one of a slightly more heroic flavour. He wanted to know who killed his wife.

This was why he didn't kill who he didn't need to. Stuff like this happened. People came for revenge. A person who had a contract out on them had enemies, enemies who could be pointed to instead of the assassin. Personal killings elicited personal feelings.

The communicator came out, and a quick message was sent to the mercenaries. Standby for potential combat scenario. Bring formalwear.

Child, meanwhile, had been stuck with her defiant glare moving from Amon, to Dio, to Tatu, to Tira, to Zeal and finally to Kirei as each made their unsavory remarks.
——
Mordin Solus - Holodeck

Mordin stayed silent as Loki grabbed him, and whispered in auditory organ (lacking ears).

He did not completely trust the God, not even after spending a year in his company, but he gave him a reasonable level of it. If he said that it was something for his eyes only, then he would keep it a secret... for as long as he felt he needed to.

Besides, even if this was some sort of ambush, he was confident that he could defeat the god.

Mordin nodded at Loki, and would let the trickster take him wherever he wanted.
——
Fletcher Renn - Operations

After a trip to the Armory, Fletcher had brought Riesbyfe and Toph to the meeting in the Operations Room, just in time for Fury’s speech. Questions came after it, but thankfully, some of them were ones Fletcher could answer.

“China’s gone to hell. Chase Young tried to turn the country back to level of technology it was at during it’s Medieval period.” Fletcher answered Kitana, almost robotically. “That failed, so he decided to burn it all to the ground. He hasn’t finished it yet, but he’s not a long way off. Kahndaq is under the control of Amon. It’s an Islamic dictatorship, fundamentalist. He has an army of Inhumans, superpowered individuals, under his control. His territory borders on a lot of free Sub Saharan nations, but they suffer from constant infighting and assault from Monsoon’s roving band of child soldiers.”

“The Eastern Seaboard is officially under control of Elsa, but it’s obvious Teridax has brainwashed her. He’s constantly standing behind her in announcements. We might have to fight her too, as well as him. We’ll also have to watch out for his Winter Faker.”

“With Tatu, we could give him a seizure. That’s worked against gods back home. There’s also weapons back home that were made to kill gods.”

Yuyuko - HQ

Leaving aside a vague remark on her... deadness, Yuyuko didn't really feel say much, instead just wandering in a wide circle with Youmu in tow, observing.

She stopped of course, when Deadpool made his grand appearance. Who wouldn't? Beside her Youmu squirmed involuntarily.

"Could we... lady Yuyuko?"

She didn't really put it in clear terms, but then that was unnecessary. The ghost glanced over at Kirei, and sighed.

"Soon. It's not good to be hasty, Youmu."

Yay. Answers from Fletcher. If only they made Nitori feel all that much better. Pulling out a datapad, she brought up a world map on it and marked the regions Fletcher and Fury had described. She glanced around, but opted to speak up regardless.

"Uhm... excuse me, but the areas around these three regions, who controls them? What are they like?"

Elsa working for Teridax...

Well, when the news came Nitori was surprised, and more than a bit frightened. That shadowy machine had after all dropped a massive hunk of metal on her. Oh, and Sam and Armani too. Were there more people there that night? Kitana and Donatello and some others came to mind, after a few moments.

Toph said nothing, simply continued to listen. Inside however, she felt frustration. Mainly over not being able to marshal the same degree of enthusiasm for this as she once could.