Operations - Seiga, Nitori & Toph

Nitori nodded sagely as Fletcher gave the rundown on the neighbours of their targets. She considered the names dropped for a bit. All of the Overlords seemed troublesome as things stood right now, there was no denying.

Ugh, going to the Eastern Seaboard and getting frozen for her trouble was right out. Similarly, she was not keen on sneaking through New York, even if it would mean a great opprtunity to test out her new optical camouflage suit. She reminded herself that such opportunites would be abundant anyway, so New York was out then. Neither China nor Kahndaq seemed too appealing, but the Saigyouji... would she be the same carefree one as she saw in that newspapar that one day?

"We should visit the princess, give her our regards in person," Seiga remarked, peering over at the Kappa.

Nitori just nodded. Maybe they could get her to agree to a spellcard duel with very favourable terms. Maybe. It was a pure hypothetical, needless to say. That said, a spellcard duel would mean not getting perforated by a metal controlling abomination or a megalomaniac kung fu freak, so there was that.

Toph meanwhile, was leaning in favour of China. With his metal powers, Teridax was a poor match-up. Although it might mean an opprtunity to get Elsa back...

She shook her head, no guarantees how that would go, Ice Queen had been with Teridax longer than she had with them, so as much as she hated to do it she drowned her hopes of an easy redemption. They'd probably have to resort to restraining her. She shot Sokka a pained look at the thought.

With a gesture, Yuyuko motioned for Youmu to leave with her. The pair said nothing until they teleported back to their home over the fertile crescent. It relieved Youmu to be away from the other Overlords, but she wondered what they would do about the newfound threat. She was about to say something, but the princess cut her off.

"You know Youmu, I think the tailor's finished by now. Could you go and check on him?" said Yuyuko, the ever present smile directed at her gardener.

"Uhm... of course, Lady Yuyuko. I will be but a moment."

While exiting the main building, it took her a moment to recall where the tailor was based within the complex, but when she did she sped there with all due haste. She would just have to ask her employer on returning with the new clothes.

Tira looked up as her ravens returned to the room, She held out her arm for them to land on as they started screeching at her. She nodded alone and smiled as an idea came to her head. She quickly left the room, scurrying to the hallway that contained the Overlord rooms. She returned a few moments later, carrying a gigantic Anti-Material Rifle◊, which she had loaded up with high-explosive incendiary armor piercing rounds. She walked back over to the window, rifle slung over her back and carrying Soul Edge in one hand, with her grapple gun in the other. She waved at the remaning Overlords.

Bye guys, I'll be back later once I've turned deady into a funny looking blood pile!

With that, she aimed her grapple gun out the window and fired, zipping away. Quickly she made it to Times Square. Arriving via the rooftops, Tira expertly sneaked over to the edge of a roof overlooking the square, behind Deadpool. She went into a prone position, deploying the gun's bipod as she set herself up and looked through her scope, watching Kieri and Deadpool taunt one another as she waited to take her shot.

edited 10th Feb '16 1:16:51 PM by Meanken

Operations Room

Riesbyfe (now clad in her full battle wear, including both shields with only a little awkwardness, thanks to her trip to the armory) listened to the plan and nodded once it was finished. It made sense to her.

"Can do. China... not a circuit I've played before. Wish I were going under better circumstances. Who have I got on my team?"

edited 10th Feb '16 7:09:54 PM by RhymeAndTreason

Training Room

-Iroh reflects that learning local geography was probably low on his nephew's priorities during the past year, and now is perhaps not the best time to draw attention to it.-

I will explain later, Prince Zuko... You want our help? How many others are with you? What are your plans?

Operations

Oi finks dey's lyin' or stupid on dat wun, s'not much of a skwadron if dere's only two of em an' dey don't look like flyboys anyway. Git movin', you lot! If dey's killed da sponn already I gets da klaws!

-The mekboss leads the way back to the training room, working out how to fit a pair of klaws on hid armor without affecting ballistic output.

Overlord HQ

-Anub'arak sends a tendril of vermin into the portal under the Arctic Circle, the rest of his body and his bodyguards moving towards the China portal. A Nerubian seer comes to receive the Crypt Lord's orders.-

The day has finally come. Reinforce all our borders and send forces to the southern outposts of the great continent. Our enemies strike at last.

Lord Anub'arak, there are many still overseeing excavation and guarding prisoners.

Slaughter the prisoners and raise them. If we are victorious they will no longer be needed, if we are defeated they must not be used against us.

-As the order is transmitted and obeyed, the Nerubian vanguard enters the portal to China, readying themselves for battle.-

South America

The portal opened and Desco popped out with Schala at the main lab in the capital. Zombies and other demons were busy at work as usual, and Des X was already standing there waiting for them. "Daddy already told me what you need. Let's get this over with. I'll magichange for Schala if we need to but not before, I'm sure this 'Deadpool' will be easy to handle without it." "Okay! Come on Schala, Des X, let's go get them!" Desco opened another portal and away again, back to Times Square!

Times Square

A chaos portal opened behind Kirei and out came Desco, Des X, and Schala. They looked around a bit and spotted Kirei and Deadpool, then Desco stepped forward. "Hey hero, you ignored my magic! Desco wants you to know that she won't tolerate that. So prepare yourself, to fight the Final Boss!"

Chaika Trabant and Raven - SHIELD Operations Room

"...not feline."

For a wizard, memories were absolutely essential. So naturally she remembered every single detail about that night the previous year. The fight against the metallic enemies, how they were attacking the civilians, the people that sought a fight, the armored man that approached them alongside a black panther, the black panther turning into a man dressed in red with a mere snap of fingers.

And, of course, the gigantic metallic structure coming towards them at the very end.

That last part still troubled her a bit, and she still considered it to be unfair. It was unsurprising that the main target of their new plan was the man that had caused it (it was him, right?) but if some people were to fight the armored man, they needed to know just what to expect from him. Not telling them what she knew just didn't feel right.

"Transformed person," the young wizard spoke, trying to recall what she'd seen. "Name unknown; method unknown. Clothing... strange."

As for where to go... she had no idea. She was somewhat concerned for that person, but not as much as she was for, say, Elsa or... the person Armani wanted to get back (she hadn't quite caught the name). But she didn't mind going wherever she was needed.

As for Raven, he was in a bit more of a predicament. He wouldn't be able to pass up as a normal man, and his metallic body meant that, while he could withstand Elsa's power by spreading the heat generated by Ignis' nuclear core to his entire anatomy, going against Teridax would be downright suicidal. So Kahndaq and China were the only two choices he was actually considering.

Needless to say, neither of them had their destination set in stone.

Chase Young - Overlord HQ

There was something Chase Young didn't like about his cloning abilities.

When he had first met Multiplex, Chase assumed that the lack of coordination between the clones was purely because of the bankrobber's own lack of discipline. However, the actual reason was far more complex than just that.

Even though they were all the same person, each clone lived its own experiences, its own memories, and in a way they had control over the choices they made. Which meant that the more time he spent cloned, the more those clones would differ from each other. And over the course of the year, he'd spent a very large amount of time cloned. Surely, he still had some control over what they could do, and all his clones' experiences and memories were still passed on to him, but overall he felt as if they were becoming more... independent the more they stayed out. And that was definitely a significant problem.

But right now he had more things to take care of. Five, to be more precise.

And so four different clones were made. The first three departed to the different areas shown by Sinister merely moments earlier, to survey the situation from afar without intervening. He had little to no interest in protecting anyone from anything unless it was necessary. The fourth one teleported to a rooftop to spectate the duel between Kirei and Deadpool, again from a relatively safe distance and without interfering with the actual battle. It was Kirei's battle, not his; and he had the feeling that it would be something worth watching.

As for the real Chase... he merely stood where he was. It wasn't like he left his lair alone at any given time; if anything, the clone he had left there before heading to New York would take care of whatever inconveniences appeared for the time being. And with the simple instruction he'd given the Flash, there was virtually nothing that could catch him off guard.

"I have to say you are the most competent floating head I have met in the past fifteen hundred years," the heylin warrior stated, facing towards the screen with a mildly interested look. " However, you stated that Deadpool would make sure none of us could, in his own words, 'steamroll him;' yet you have only shown footage of three attacked territories. Now, if I may ask, what prevents the rest of my... colleagues from heading to Times Square and turning him into a smoldering crater in the next... three to five minutes?"

Chase's Lair, Somewhere in the Himalayas

The Flash stared at the scene in front of him with a mix of concern and astonishment. He knew Chase had acquired many warriors over the past year, but he had no idea they were so many. Yet there they were: hundreds upon hundreds of jungle cats, standing tall while they waited for their master to give their orders.

Hundreds upon hundreds of people who willingly chose blind obedience over freedom.

Most of them were originally family men who had offered their loyalty to Chase Young in exchange for protection to their families, friends or loved ones; although the number of women in the group was by no means small. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, all of them fighting to protect their kin from their own leader... yet it had somehow worked out for them.

So far, Chase had remained true to his word. He had gathered all the people he had agreed to protect in a single location, keeping its exact whereabouts completely secret from absolutely everyone and everything. The only way to get there was by asking the heylin warrior himself, and he always used his teleportation to prevent unwanted eyes from following him. In fact, not even the people who had already been there knew where it was located.

A hand suddenly patted his head; a reward for a job well done. Chase Young himself strode forward, taking a moment to assess his army before speaking.

"Our final challenge begins today," the martial artist spoke, his face solemn and his tone serious. "Which means that, as of this moment, all of you-"

Some movement nearby caused him to abruptly interrupt himself, and virtually all the heads instinctively turned to the recently arrived Anub'arak and his cohort of Nerubians.

"You pick an odd time to visit, Anub'arak," Chase stated, raising an eyebrow. "What brings you to my palace?"

edited 12th Feb '16 8:03:47 PM by Katarsus

Helicarrier

So he’d made the same offer to the two of them, had he? And they’d both refused him. That was almost comforting, assuming he hadn’t been lying. Despite her every instinct, Gavrill found herself hoping that it really was true, that he’d had the chance to betray her for the chance of power and refused... the fleeting feeling only served to make her angrier, this time at herself.

"I'm always angry. You should know that by now. But right now, I've got a certain red motherfucker weighing on my mind. Looks like he’s on to us. So, shoving that sword in his belly might be a bit harder than we thought."

"Dumb son of a bitch tried to bribe me into-"

Killing you? He seemed pretty certain that I would do it. More certain than I was, that’s for fucking sure. Could I have done it? I really don’t know. Well, that's not true. I wish I didn't know.

"-becoming a god. Can you fucking imagine? I'm starting to wonder if that's the only thing he can think of to offer people."

In this instance, he’d really misread his audience… sure, Gavrill thought godhood was the kind of thing that could be fun to try out, but that being the case she had no intention of doing so on anything other than her own terms. Who knew what kind of bullshit caveats and binds Tatu would have in his 'gifts'?

“So… what do we do now? He doesn’t want to kill us yet. Either he has another use for us, or maybe he just thinks all of this is funny.”

Well, it was kind of funny. Letting them know he had them dead to rights, just to watch them squirm... it would have been Gavrill's kind of joke, if it had been happening to someone else.

edited 12th Feb '16 8:31:25 PM by Vox

Vile

"Lead the way then"

Vile followed Bigrench towards the training room wondering exactly how this situation would go and what was there purpose for being here.

But the biggest question in Vile's mind was how the hell they even got into this facility?

SHIELD HQ- Icarax

The Makuta folded his arms and stood stoically to the side, his mask concealing the growing smile on his face. He was glad to have such a mask at this time- smiling was something quite unfamiliar to him and he was sure, that if others saw him with that expression, they would become quite uncomfortable. Yet he could not help but smile- to see his teammates carefully addressing the problem with logic and contemplation, as opposed to simply rushing in and hoping for the best.

Well, dying could change a man. Or a Makuta for that matter.

He ignored Sokka's dispassionate attempts at justification- the child had taken a turn down the road of self pity; no doubt related to the man he had inherited his powers from- Wolverine; a well documented individual in the SHIELD database. But Icarax cared not for the man's past. terrible as it was, it was not Sokka's past and Icarax intended to have the child bear the full weight of his stupidity in accepting it as such. While Sokka went on about hos he would save Elsa, Icarax turned his attention to the offerings of the others- those that cared to listen and contribute, that is. The Ork was pointedly ignored.

The Makuta mulled the suggestions laid before him:

Riesbyfe was to head for China. Good, she had inherited the powers of Captain America- a natural leader. Combine this with her pre-existing veteran air and a powerful individual was born. She would be a good choice to lead the assault on Chase in china.

At this point, Teridax turned his gaze on Armani, and then on Mira. For his thoughts could not wander without returning to dwell on Teridax- that old Makuta; most ancient of foes. Armani as he was now, was nigh indestructible. Teridax was a schemer, but few plans remained in tact in the face of overwhelming power- If Armani went for Teridax (Icarax suspected the presence of Elsa might be just the right trigger), the lord of the brotherhood would be given a run for his money. As for Mira, Icarax had read up on his inherited powers- metal manipulation? Nothing like the same power-set to put Teridax in a stalemate.

That left Amon and Kahndaq. On this matter, Icarax had settled his opinion.

"I will go to Kahndaq as a direct foil to Amon. My abilities allow me resistance to any mental manipulation he may attempt, and my skill should be enough to hold his attention long enough for the generators to be found and destroyed. I would ask that you decide quickly where you want to go- we will need much time to plan and prepare."

Overlord HQ

There was nothing so exhilarating as the challenge issued by a rival of equal power. For Teridax, the sensation of being pushed back by so fast and so ruthless response, left him in a certain way, breathless. So impressed was he by the power the talking head still possessed he was content to simply sit back and allow Sinister his hard earned fruits of labor. The Ultron program in him stirred, dragged into action by Sinister's two-fold attack. Static clouded his mind, the ringing of discomfort knocking away all other sensations- Ultron was online.

Teridax simply smiled.

He really hoped that Sinister wasn't trying to unnerve him by resuscitating the old Ultron program once used in an attempt to destroy him. Did he think teridax to be so stupid as to incorporate into himself a potentially lethal artificial intelligence without working out every kink of the chain first? Half a second later, and the Ultron program Sinister had so laboriously dragged back into wakefulness shut down. It was like someone had simply hit the 'off' switch.

But by now Sinister had his coordinates.

Or perhaps Teridax had fed it to him on purpose. Nevertheless the result was the same, and the Makuta's smile took on another level of triumph.

"Well, Mr Sinister, would you care for a visit?"

-Ω-

When people began suggesting that he should lead, Armani swallowed.

This had never been his forte. Well, admittedly, that was less due to natural talent and more due to him never having a taste for leading. Artemis had been great at it. Armani hadn't inherited that particular joy.

But, he noted as he closed his eyes and softly shook his head, that wasn't him anymore. Armani might not have liked it. But, Thor sure did. Liked it, and was good at it.

"I haven't exactly taken the correspondence course on leadership", he shrugged to himself, "But if there's no one else that can do it, Thor had plenty of experience I can rely on."

He glanced up at the map, and his gaze turned into a glare. A controlled glare that didn't reveal too much fury, but the literal lightning blazing in his eyes for those moments showed just what he was feeling.

Teridax. He hated him just about more than he hated any of the others. He hadn't really met him for long, but it had been enough for him to want to cave his thick metallic skull in.

And, a chance to get Elsa back. That was the most important thing, above all. Some part of him flickered, reminding him that he was technically biased and might not make a good commander for it — who knows, he could wind up endangering the mission in order to save her. He might even do it, if it came to it.

But first, they'd have to find them. They didn't have time to track her or Teridax down. They only had time to hit the generators. So, that's what they would do.

"Eastern seaboard, then." He nodded, glancing around. "Whoever goes needs to be capable of getting around the whole 'metal control' thing. I'd say something like 'you also need to be prepared for a serious fight', but I think that's kind of inevitable no matter where you go. If someone could help counter shadow magic, that would be great."

"Course", his voice dropped a shade as he glanced towards Fletcher, "Who's to say how long the lineup will last. They have a teleporter too, and once we start hitting the generators hard we're bound to see a lot more show up. Teridax might not even be the first to show up. So it's kind of hard to set down specifically what we need." He snorted. "Unfortunately."

He stopped flipping around Mjolnir, and set it on the table. "Oh well, those are the kicks. If anyone's willing to take those odds on with me, join the club. We have a generator to blow up. Speaking of which, Fury, please tell me we know exactly where the generator is on the eastern seaboard and we're not going to have to go playing hide and seek for it."

-I-

The shade had long since drawn a good distance away from the others. She picked at the long isles of food, thinking and hoping to not be noticed and thus ordered into action.

Internally, thoughts played, struggled for dominance in her mind. So, there was another revolt. They had seen their fair share — but none that had been as audacious as this, nor as quick to draw alarm.

Perhaps...it could actually succeed? That old anger, continually smoldering inside, flared up like a toxic snake in her. Oh how she yearned to see retribution! If only this one could succeed!

But, she forced it down as quickly as it came. Hope brought pain. And even if they were powerful, she still saw nothing that could bring down the cub slayer. She breathed, grit her teeth. She could not hope, not yet. Especially since she herself could be called to help cull it.

It was the best she could do to just keep the stirrings of emotion settled, and wait and silently see what was to happen next.

Queen Zeal, Los Angeles

Queen Zeal scanned the general scene when her loyal subjects stop escaping to bask in her glory. However, she had little time for this, so she cut to the chase with them.

"My loyal subjects!" Queen Zeal yelled to the crowd using her enchanting voice on them. "Please evacuate the city... Your queen would not wish any of you to be harmed in the battle that will happen soon."

Once her loyal subjects resumed evacuating the city, Queen Zeal turned to Menardi and Greed, "You will need to distract her while I try to calm her mind... Be mindful though, the Enchantress knows something of Storm's power and I know that her powers will continue to be active even if I turned her into a statue or something... We need to either calm Cheetah down or kill her."

Schala, Times Square

"Wait, Desco & Des-X," Schala said to the two artificial demons. "We should see if Mr. Priest and his friend can handle him first."

It was a mere suggestion to Desco and Des-X, but if her friend and mistress insisted, Schala would do as she willed.

Maria Renard & B.B. Hood, SHIELD HQ

"I believe the Soulsword will be able to cut through any shadow or ice magic with ease," Maria said to the others with confidence as she removed any sort of metal from her own outfit, obviously deciding to head to confront Elsa. "And it is not made of metal."

"I suggest you take Ryuko with you, Kitana," B.B. Hood gave advice to Sokka and Kitana. "She's pretty superhuman already while still looking human, and I've been training her to use guns, so she will be able to use the Ultimate Nullifier effectively if it came to that."

"If she doesn't want to, I'll go, but I'm not as superhuman as she is," She then listened to Chaika's explanation of one of Chase's servants, "I'd like to head off to China... If this feline is a transformed person, maybe Wolfie Hood can talk sense into Kitty Guy."

edited 15th Feb '16 8:25:46 PM by GameGuruGG

Los Angeles, Greed

As the citizens of Los Angeles began evacuating all around him, Greed stretched and craned his neck. Not as if he needed to, it was really all a part of his braggart approach, topped off with his wide, sharp-toothed grin.

He flashed a more sincere smile Zeal's way before approaching the carnage, hands in his pockets and Ultimate Eye observing the Cheetah's every move.

Operations Room -> Training Room

This mercenary had always made a point that his employer was everything if he was going to put money on the table. Grumbling, but recognizing that the big cheese gave him a job to do, Hol Horse vanished in a puff of smoke...

...and reappeared in the same chair, realizing that it was never clarified where these folks were. He figures walking shouldn't be too much of a problem, and follows the mekboss.

His knees only ache slightly.

Mordin Solus - Apparently outside the Base

Mordin put his hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat, fingering the playing cards he kept in there as the fingers of his gloves retracted. If Teridax turned on them, they wouldn't have much time, so it was better to throw something at him that he couldn't block with his magnetism powers.

If he had even received those in that universe.

"Twice." he replied to Teridax. "Potentially thrice."
——
Tesseract - Also Talking to Teridax. Huh.

"Tell us your location and I will personally guarantee your survival." Tesseract told the television screen, noting that Teridax's attempts seemed to have been countered.
——
Child - Everybody wants to talk to the girl

Child jumped away at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder, and scooted even further across the couch as she realized who it was. She shot a quick glance at Sense, who looked up at the Nomad.

"...should I even bother telling you that Tesseract doesn't want anyone speaking to her, or would that get me vaporised?"
——
Fletcher Renn - Operations Room

Fletcher stood there and said nothing, taking in all the opinions.

On the one hand, they needed him for transport. On the other, wherever the Winter Faker showed up, that's where he had to be.
——
Sy Duir - Guantanamo Bay, Imperial Armed Forces Main Headquarters

"Fuck."

So, it couldn't speak. Everyone inside was trying to talk at once. There went "talking it down". Unless someone on the inside could speak up over all the-

"...shit."
——
Ninjas of the Hand - Koka

After it's master had sent out a message informing his friends of the plan, a single ninja dropped from the rooftop and sheathed it's weaponry. It slowly began to walk towards Molly Hayes, aiming to intercept her, and come close enough to be absorbed.

The Hand was a hivemind, numbering many hundreds. Molly Hayes only had a few dozen in her. If they got inside, there was a chance to actually communicate, and if not, forcibly take control.

Los Angeles - Menardi

"Leave the elements to me," Menardi said, flexing her gauntlet with the Philosopher's Stone. "You take care of the Cheetah."

With that, Menardi went down on one knee, putting her left hand to the sidewalk and raising her right to the sky. Sending out tendrils of Psynergy in a spherical net around her, she scanned her surroundings to analyze the forces involved. A moment later, she had a good idea of what was going on, and what order to go about fixing it in.

First of all were the earthquakes. If left unchecked, they could inflict damage that made the whole area unliveable for years, so they had top priority. On the other hand, it was not enough to simply stop the ongoing quake. With Storm's power surging like this, Cheetah was likely to set another in motion soon. So instead of simply stopping the ongoing quake, Menardi started channeling waves of Venus Psynergy into the foundations of the city, seeking to continually keep the earth pacified. The ongoing quake would lose power and fade before causing more damage, while at the same time making sure that a new epicentre wouldn't arise.

However, Menardi had not spent this year training as an Alchemist just to be able to handle one element at a time. Raising her right, gauntleted hand to the skies, she grasped for the currents of wind at the same time as she was forming Venus with the left.

Storm in name and nature alike, wind and water lay at the heart of the ongoing cataclysm. But with careful wielding, Menardi could dismantle it all with the exertion of just one element. Catching Jupiter in the heart of the storm, the Alchemist started a new pattern within the old one, pouring Psynergy into the weave.

To attempt to dissipate these ferocious winds was useless, for the Cheetah would surely just make them blow again. Instead, Menardi redirected them, sending the currents in less volatile directions in an attempt to lessen the destructive force and opening a path for Zeal and Greed. The currents became bearers of waters in truth, taking advantage of the affinity of Jupiter and Mercury, and redirecting the masses of water that threatened to drown the city into extinguishing the wildfires that were left in the wake of the elemental mayhem.

Sky and Sasuke, sharing opinions together:

"Yeah... We'll go with anyone's team, depending on the vacancy." Sky said when he raised his arm up so that he can voice out his opinion. "But I'll help out Urza if and when I can."

"Can I volunteer myself to help out with sneaking around just in case?" Sasuke said after Sky made his point.

"Guess you could." Sky looked at Sasuke. "After all, you're dressed like a ninja."

Helicarrier

"That is unusual. He... he made the exact same offer to me and I... rejected it." The realization of what this meant dawned on Loki, which was enough for the god to tenderly grasp Gavrill's chin and give her a quick kiss, the kind which spoke more to his delight than to his surprise. "Sorry. I just needed to do it."

Taking her hand in his and clutching every finger with the tenacity of a man floored by his feelings, Loki replied to her question with a hushed whisper. "We could fight him. Shove this sword right through his heart, even if it kills us. Or... we can put this all behind us and just go. My staff, that's all it would take. I promised I would show you the multiverse, and I certainly don't mind starting right now."

"Think about it. We could pillage other lands, other Earths. Make them follow our terms. Free to do whatever you— we desire. We don't have to play by Tatu's rules. We have the power to just leave him behind."

Overlord HQ

Teridax's rebuttal surprised Mr. Sinister, and that surprise gave the Makuta the doorway into the data he wanted. Whether said doorway was on purpose or not, it was hard to tell, since the head's reaction to this invasion was to give the Overlords a sly smile. His location had been revealed, and it was a familiar place: the dump in Saranac Lake Village.

"I'm afraid this conversation is over." Mr. Sinister giggled, his face disappearing from the screen as he waited for the Overlords' next step.

"Come with me," Amon breathed raspily to Dio, clutching his wrist in a way that made it clear the masked man wasn't messing around. He glared up at the vampire, his eyes displaying a controlled fear as he held back the urge to scream in terror. "I need your help." He breathed again, pulling Dio towards the portal they had used to get there, which would also take them to Kahndaq.

   "No. I won't disintegrate you. I like you."    Tatu said to Sense, leaning down and patting him in the head.    "Could you please go get a piece of cake for me?"    He slumped down on the sofa, crossing one leg over the other.    "Aw, come on, Child. It's me, Tatu! I'm the guy who brought your father to this reality!... listen, I've got a present for you and..."    He patted his own chest, before stopping halfway through.    "Ah, heck. I forgot about it."   

The god raised his hand in the air, snapping his finger to get Instinct's attention.    "Instinct, dear. Could you please go to the Baxter Building and get me the gift I asked Menardi to make?"    He asked his servant, before grabbing her by the arm.    "It's on the pedestal labeled 'gift'. And right next to it is a surprise. Don't forget to say thanks to me."    He whispered, letting Instinct go so he could go back to smiling to (and at Child).    "Sooooooooo. What do you like to do on boring days like this one?"   

Times Square

"What a shock. You need sidekicks to handle this battle." Deadpool said as he pointed one sword at Desco and the other at Schala. "The overglorified plush doll and the one-note sidekick. You two think I can't handle all three of you?!" He yelled, laughing madly. "I've killed so many people I can't go to sleep without stabbing part of my head to drown out the voices! So bring it on!" He adopted a battle position, grinning behind his mask. "It's not like you've got anything to lose, right?"

Kahndaq

The dusty streets of Kahndaq were in disarray, as citizens ran from every corner in search of shelter. Rampaging underneath the late afternoon low-light was a giant grey-skinned hulk of a man, muscles bulging out, eyes brimming with rage as drool dripped from his teeth. Innocent men and women cowered in fear or attempted hasty retreats as he tore through every shop, every stand, every public place, destroying things simply because he could. When he opened his mouth, it was so he could roar and scare a thousand more citizens back into their homes.

The Hulk's every step caused the earth to shake, even as Amon came into view. The sudden appearance of their leader caused people to peek out and take a step forward out of sheer surprise. He walked out of the portal (thin air for them) and just as suddenly raised his hand into the air, beckoning for the people to hear him. "My citizens!" He bellowed, his voice carried through the devastated grounds of Kahndaq by sheer force alone. "Do not worry. I will protect you, your fellow brethren will protect you and God will protect us, like always. Return to your homes, and await for my command. We will step back into the sun, just like we have done before!"

However, Amon's rousing speech didn't come with applause and cheering. This time, it came with the sound of the Hulk's massive fist hitting him in the chest, sending him flying through the main square and into a set of stands, making sure that even the courageous ones shut their windows and hid underneath their tables.

Los Angeles

Greed would notice that Cheetah herself wasn't moving, and the weather control was happening inside her body, in a level that the Ultimate Eye could not grasp.

As he watched Cheetah, Greed would also notice subtle physical cues preceding every move. For every quake, she moved a finger. For every storm, she batted an eye. For every flash fire, there was a twitch of the shoulder.

Once Cheetah found her advances held back by Menardi's able alchemy, she didn't just double down and try to fight the alchemist on her own field. Instead, she focused on using Menardi's attacks as a spring for her next moves.

The walls of the corridor Menardi had built up began to gain strength, turning into whirlpools that started throwing around everything not stuck in place and threatening to turn into bigger tornadoes. The earthquake began to lose power, but Cheetah used her last control over the Earth to create a crack in the pavement that led from Menardi to a nearby gas station. With one command of the flash fire, the gas station was consumed, devouring everything around it and creating a giant blast, part of which spread through the cracks, heading towards the alchemist.

Cheetah knew Menardi would falter, and once she did, nature would respond only to her.

Japan

With every step the ninja took, the voices that Sy Duir had heard got louder and louder and louder. The bodies around the streets began to pile up, human beings whose minds and consciences had suddenly left them, yelling, blaring, begging right into the ninja's eardrums. And then, like the last bits of water being sucked up into the drain, there was a fell swoosh, and the ninja fell down, lifeless.

The voices went silent, but then came back again, clearer than ever.

They were still a tangled mess of cries and demands, but now Sy could parse through them, focus on certain ones, and even blur out each of them. But the voices were still there, still clamoring at a chance to be heard. Even the ninja, try as he might, began to feel the urge to beg for release from this indefinite hell.

At the center of it all was a singular, poignant voice. The voice of Molly Hayes, muttering one thing over and over.

"What did I do? What did I do? What did I do?"

Training Room

Before Cold could answer, SHIELD officers (and Vile and the Orks ) streamed into the room, prompting the Scorpion to hiss in anger. "Doctor!" Cold barked at the Scorpion as he dropped his ice gun. "Simmer down. Friends, remember?"

"What are you two doing in here? State your intent right now!"

"Like I said, we're part of the Squadron Supreme. Turns out our common enemy forgot to eliminate the supervillains." Cold tried his best to smile, but that just prompted more quasi-trigger happy behavior from the agents. "Listen, let's cut the crap. We found your base two weeks ago. We also just launched an attack on the Overlords in Los Angeles, Kahndaq and Japan. Check your information with your surveillance team and tell Fury we're here to help."

The lead agent took a step back, placing his finger on his ear and muttering into it. "... right, right, relay that to the Director." He glanced in slight disbelief at Cold. "Why?"

"The distraction?" Cold shrugged. "So you people could pull of the plan you've been waiting a year to put into action."

"No. Why help us?"

Cold looked over at the Scorpion, and then at the agent, before giving him a lowly chuckle. "Where's the fun in being a bad guy if there isn't a world for you to terrorize?" He seemed to hide something in his smile, but whatever it was, it went unsaid. "Listen, we don't have enough time. Right now, I have a teleporter wrapped around my belt-" The agents raised their weapons again, and Cold grumbled. "-not to run away, but to help! It'll take me and a group of people, probably your little group of misfits, to wherever you want. We need to act now. The more we wait, the easier we make this for the Overlords."

"Alright." The agent nodded, glancing back at his agents. "Lower your weapons. Director Fury's sending out Seekers to Kahndaq, the Eastern Seaboard, China and New York." He said to the Seekers, also relaying any other necessary parts of the plan. "So we could use the help."

"Good." Cold reached for his gun, one hand still in the air. "Safety's on!" He yelled out, before putting his glasses back on and turning to Iroh. "So, grandpa..." And then to Wammu. "... Arnold Schwarzenegger..." And finally, Vile. "... robot guy? Whatever. Where do you want us to go?"

Outside the Base

"Ye of little faith." Loki whispered under his breath.

"This is not my world, is it?" Teridax looked around, stepping out of his pedestal. He stopped, looked down at his feet, moving each of his 'fingers'. "My body... it is not weathered by time and battle. This, coupled with the lack of nuclear radiation seeping through our bodies..." He grinned down at Loki. "Have you brought me back in time, foolish god? Ha ha! You have just given me everything I've ever wanted!"

"Yes, I could see how you would think that... if there wasn't another you in this time already." Loki said, moving back and forth like a little kid who knew a big secret. "A younger, weaker and certainly dumber you."

"Is that what became of your fabled silver tongue, Loki?" Teridax took a few steps forward, the red behind his eyes glowing brighter. "Maybe I should let my younger self kill you. Or we'll both kill your younger self together. Yes, that sounds like something I'd enjoy."

"Again, if we were talking about a complete copy of you, then yes, I'd agree with all of that. But this isn't you. This is a you that makes mistakes. Like how he has taken in a young ward... more specifically, one of the Seekers, who I'm pretty sure is ready to betray him at any moment and bring down all that you worked for. Your entire empire... gone in sixty seconds. Or less!"

Teridax stopped, fingers clutching into a fist. "Cease. Your. Lies."

"Yes, I'm a liar!" Loki suddenly wrapped a hand around Mordin's shoulder. "But as you remember, Mordin is infatuated with the truth. Tell him, Mordin. Tell him about how idiotic your Teridax is, and how he doesn't compare to my Teridax." He said, as Teridax straightened up, looking down at Mordin with half-interest.

Operations Room

Sokka noticed Toph's pained glance, and he gave her a subtle thumbs up... before remembering there was a big chance she couldn't actually see it. Slinking past Armani to stay besides her, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Why don't you come with me to New York?" He asked. "You're a living weapon too, the woman with the iron fist. I could really use your help." He glanced worriedly at Kitana. "We could really use your help."

"Right... sure." Fury nodded to himself, tapping his ear before pressing a few keystrokes on the holographic display. Three red dots appeared- one over Japan, one over Kahndaq, and one over Los Angeles. "We've got a big opportunity. Turns out the folks the orks saw are actually here to help us, and they've set up a big and nice distraction. These three areas are being attacked, which gives us a chance to go after those generators."

"It also means we don't have as much time as we thought we did, because there's something I realized." Fury clasped his hands. "These two guys who showed up... they found us with their equipment. And yet, the monsters who took over the world didn't find us in an entire year, when there was an all-powerful god by their side."

"What are you saying?" Sokka asked out loud. "That Tatu doesn't know about us?"

"That's what I'm hoping for, kid. But chances are he's actually expecting us... which means we need to be ready." Fury slapped the holographic display away. "Fletcher, Riesbyfe, Urza, Kitana. I'm setting you guys up as the leaders of each of your respective operations. Which is why I'm giving you these." He held out four headsets. "Yes, I know, clunky. But these are connected directly to me through an antiquated line, which means our friendly Overlords won't be able to hear us unless they just happen to have a machine from 1963 hanging around." He slid the headsets over the table, before turning to Riesbyfe.

"Cap, starting with you. China's a wasteland right now, but we've located the generator near the mountains... well, near's the wrong word, it's halfway into one of them, right next to Chase Young's palace. These generators cannot be underground, so look for a metal cylinder sprouting out of the mountain." He smiled. "You've got natural leadership skills, so take as many SHIELD agents as you want to help you. Your method of transport is something we worked on with Loki, like a smaller version of the Bifrost. It'll feel instantaneous and drop your group near Chase Young's palace. A bit chilly too. Arm up and move out- the SHIELD officers are waiting outside."

Then, Kitana. "You may be immortal, but don't assume anything. Take your group with you and use this." He gave her a wrist device with a pink gem in the middle. "Good for small groups, it'll put you right in the middle of New York. Destroy it the moment you get there, or it'll trip up the protective shield around the place. The Baxter Building will be nearby, so get to it and find the Ultimate Nullifier. Once you're done, contact me. Before you leave, be sure to dress up... need you and your group to look as ragged as possible. Move out."

"Urza," Fury spun around to face the Planeswalker. "The generator is hidden in the main square in front of the palace, disguised as a statue. You'll have to deal with two problems: Amon's powers and the distraction sent by the Squadron- a hulking mass of anger who wants to destroy everything in his way. Good thing is if you don't poke it, it won't attack you. As for Amon, he channels his power through his mouth, close it up and you've got yourself one useless dictator. Take your group and head to our mini-Bifrost, move out as soon as possible."

Turning to Fletcher and to Armani, Fury began. "No offense, Thor boy, but I've seen Fletcher grow and grow this past year. He's got what it takes to lead all of you into this dangerous operation. The location of the generator is in the capital, near the place many people believe Elsa and Teridax live in. City of Saranac Lake Village... and all we've got are images of what the place was before it got taken over." The holographic display showed a picture of a supermarket. "The generator is located in this place. Should be pretty easy... but as for your secondary objective," And at this, he stared right into Armani's eyes. "Rescue your friend. No maybe, no try. You've spent this past year believing in her. I trust you." Turning back to Fletcher, he continued, snapping right back into general order. "You people will be going through boom tube. It'll leave you on the outskirts of the city. Problem is, it might draw Teridax's attention, so be quick. Take a few SHIELD units with you, Fletcher. If they refuse to respect you, show them why they should. Move out too."

"And to everyone... don't fail."

Sokka used this chance to walk up to Fletcher and give him, of all things, a hug. He slung one arm around his neck, and one around Armani's neck, bringing the two closer. "You guys bring Elsa back, alright? I said we'd all get back to our homes safely, and that still includes her!" He chuckled, though there was a hint of disbelief behind his voice. Whether that was about Elsa or about his own attitude, not even Sokka could tell.

edited 19th Feb '16 2:00:55 AM by Stratofarius

Tira smiled behind her scope as the man started ranting. From way over on the roof, she could not make out the words, but based on the fact he was pointing at people, he appeared to be calling out those who had showed up to fight. And she had gone completely unnoticed. Just as planned.

Come on, shoot him, shoot him! Jolly yelled in her head.

No, no, not yet. Let's let the others fight first, let them tire him out. He's a strange one, and we're only going to have one shot before he knows we're here. We need to make it count.

Kitana took the device handed to her by Fury and nodded. "I understand." She turned to the rest of the seekers, looking for Ryuko, as per Hood's suggestion. "Ryuko, if you wish to come with us to assist in the operation of this weapon, then get ready. Anyone else who wants to join my team, you have 1 minute to make your decision and ask. I am not wasting any more time." With that said, she walked into a side room where some SHIELD agents had provided suitable clothing for their mission and quickly got changed."

Ryuko - SHIELD Base

Drifting in and out of sleep as the meticulous planning for their counterattack took form, Ryuko snapped back awake as she heard her name being mentioned by Hood. She was then called forth by Kitana to help her with her mission. As Kitana asked for her, Ryuko smirked an nodded.

"You don't need to tell me twice. I've been waiting for a chance to fight those Overloads back." she answered Kitana back as she got her weapon ready. "Let's just be sure that the planning here don't fall apart while we're there..." she added as she waited for Kitana.

Erza - SHIELD Base

The knight's nearly yearlong training once she gained the powers of the Amazonian warrior Wonder Woman never seem to truly end, and today looked as no different. She had learned much from the training, but she felt to push herself further as to make sure she knows all of the princess' abilities to make it her own.

However, her tireless training today had to be cut short for this seemingly would finally be the day that the Seekers will make their move and start their counterattack. With many fellow Seekers following the lead over to the operations room, she simply stood and listened in on the conversation from the fellow Seekers.

-Ω-

A couple of guys had managed to find our compound, on their own? My eyebrows shot up through the top of my head, then I slapped a palm to my face. I opened my mouth to say voice my, shall we say, feelings on the matter — but paused before I could.. My inner Thor reminded me that now would be a pretty bad time to start making snappy remarks along the lines of 'gee, good job with the whole hiding thing guys, you are truly the best in the black ops market, super villains everywhere beware'.

I closed my mouth and grumbled to myself. I didn't rant quite as much as I used to — Thor had been better at dealing with silly things than me — but the old habit sure wasn't going quietly.

Instead, I nodded along. "Time to get moving, all things considered..."

He went around assigning leaders and all of that — not sure how long that would last among us, but it wasn't a bad effort. We were the last ones addressed — me, and Fletcher.

I twitched slightly as he got assigned over me — just for a moment. I guess some part of me had been looking forward to leading some goons around. The newer parts, that is — I myself had never used to care. Didn't like getting lead around (still didn't, I trusted my own judgement well enough thank you very much), but until now I had never wanted to flip it around either.

I took a small breath, and with practiced effort I shut that part of myself away. I had gotten good at that over the year. Lone wolf was more my style anyway — as long as the group was small, I would be comfortable. "None taken, Fury", I shrugged. "Fletcher knows more about your agents, after all."

There wasn't anyone here I'd rather stick with — he was still my friend, a good one.

Even though I hadn't been able to look at him once this entire meeting, since he started talking about the things he and Fury had known together. Yeah, he sure did know those agents a lot better than I did. I glanced at him, but only for a second and I didn't meet his eyes.

Pushing those thoughts away with the same measured practice, I forced myself to look at the map, getting it down in my head, and then I nodded at Fury when he looked at me. I didn't say anything — just nodded.

And then...we were dismissed. And war was upon us. After a year of waiting, one long year, we were finally going. I was sad. I was angry. I was happy, and eager. I was a lot of things. But most of all, I was BEYOND ready. Ready to do my favorite pastime: hunting down monsters. Free the world. Free yourself from being shackled to it.

I stretched, grabbed the hammer and waited for Fletcher. Or er, at least I intended to — Sokka came around and suddenly threw the guy into a hug. I cocked my head at the sight, then squeeked slightly as he hugged me too.

"You guys bring Elsa back, alright? I said we'd all get back to our homes safely, and that still includes her!"

A cold feeling washed over me, dragging my surprise with it. He was hugging kind of tightly, and I couldn't help but put an arm around him too.

I was afraid. We all were. I couldn't tell which was worse — the thought of losing each other, or the thought of failing the fight. Which would kind of immediately lead to our losing each other, now that I think about it.

"I suppose this would be a bad time to say 'I'll do it or I'll die trying', huh?" I chuckled softly and patted his back, nodding more seriously. "You take care of yourself out there."

I pushed him off and glanced around the people immediately around us — Kitana was a few feet away, everyone else not too far off. "Like I hope we all do. Remember what I said about keeping yourself hidden until you can't help it."

I slid Mjolnir into the sling at my belt. "And if anyone gets in trouble and doesn't signal for help, I am personally going to abandon the East Coast to come and bash your head in along with our clueless friends in New York. Just a fair warning."

Zeal, Los Angeles

As Greed and Menardi focused on keeping Cheetah under control, Queen Zeal began using her illusion spells, amplifying her and throwing her voice for Cheetah to hear and allowing her to see what she wanted her to see.

"Mr. Sinister has used you, Dr. Minerva," Queen Zeal said as she showed Cheetah Zeal's own encounter with Mr. Sinister, being completely and absolutely honest with Cheetah. There was no attempt to control her mind in Zeal's words. "He botched the procedure that gave you your powers... It will likely kill you in addition to wiping out my kingdom."

"However, I can help you... If you stop your attack and let me help you, I can promise that you will become one of my high ranking officials and retain your own free will," Queen Zeal offered to Cheetah, erasing the illusion of Mr. Sinister from Cheetah's eyes. "Reject it and I will have no choice but to stop you any way I can, so please accept the offer."

Queen Zeal glanced over at Menardi... This offer should be satisfactory enough to ease Menardi's issues with Zeal's methods. Zeal offered to Cheetah to help her using Menardi's methods, and was fully willing to follow through with her offer should Cheetah accept it. However, if Cheetah did not stop or rejected the offer, Zeal would show no mercy and begin to channel sweet whisperings of obedience to Zeal straight into Cheetah's head. Zeal had her doubts on if it would work given what she knew of Mr. Sinister, but she had to at least try given how powerful Cheetah had become.

The Meeting

"Acceptable. I'll head on over to where I'll be put to the greatest use, Saranac." Mira stated calmly with the deep gaze of a veteran soldier, his ever practical and often times pragmatic mind mulling over the information and finding it feasible enough to work. It didn't matter if this Teridax was among the strongest of Overlords, for everything had its weaknesses. His particular set of abilities were tuned in just the right way to help deal with this malignant bionic life-form while his training would provide a focused mindset that would be of great use on a mission against a foe with overwhelming power.

Though his past self had various issues with being calm, the new him had purged all such unnecessary tamperings from himself. It was with an unflinching look and a rod straight back that the man accepted this most dangerous of missions, only thinking on how to fulfill the objectives and keep his team safe. A blade that was forged anew, ready to serve once more. That was Colonel Mira, a man who had left a sea of blood and a swath of carnage behind him. A man that yearned for the much brighter tomorrow. A lonely person who wished that others not experience what he himself had gone through. For the better future for all, he would give his absolute best.

Overlord HQ

Teridax stood back from the television set. Turning to Tesseract, he gave a quick nod of the head and beckoned him to follow.

"Saranac city dumps. I will meet you there."

The course of action was determined; Teridax would see if this newest of pawns was willing to play his game.

The Makuta nodded slowly as Fury lay down the groundwork. Having already expressed his desire to go to Khandaq, he felt no need to reiterate. He settled for give a nod in Urza's direction- Urza was to be the leader in the mission; and Icarax, surprisingly, felt no ill-will towards this development. Nevertheless, he was determined to gather the team for a meeting before engagement with the enemy- they needed to know each others powers before anything- he himself was quite out of the loop as far as his comrade's powers were concerned. One point of particular importance was his Mask of Shadows- it's power over anger could give them a degree of control over the raging brute that was their distraction. He would have to bring that up at sometime or other.

But there were priorities. Arming himself was top on that list- his weapons were cached in the armory. They had been there for sometime, and now he was impatient, for he feared that some rascal shield agent may have decided to misplace them in some act of malice. On his way to the door, Icarax passed by Sokka, hugging his friends. The Makuta stopped, waited till Sokka had broken off the hug, then approached him and put a hand on Sokka's shoulder. Looking the wolverine in the eye, Icarax spoke in a low voice such that he and Sokka were privy to his words.

"Forgive me for my harsh words before, Sokka. I meant no malice. I wish you all the luck in your coming mission and hope that you might return in one piece to tell me the tale."

And without waiting for an answer, he was off.

...

Armory

As Icarax slid on his gauntlets, he mused at his change in fortune. He was once a small time warlord, hording over what he could scrounge from his brethren. Then he was a seeker, searching for a weapon that could end reality itself- the original plan was for him to take it and lord it over his fellow seekers, but that plan was long abandoned. And now; now he was returned from the dead- a hero who would help save the world.

Icarax smirked behind his mask: this was a ridiculous notion. Him a hero? He had grown so used to playing the villain that the thought of saving people from things worse than himself left him bewildered. Yet there was a strange feeling in his essence, a pulsating nervous energy that seemed to change the way he saw the world.

How strange. Perhaps he was happy? Icarax was not aware that Makuta were capable of that part of the emotional spectrum. But he was smiling, and the smile refused to leave his features.

Icarax picked up his great double-sword and watched the artificial light gleam off the serrated edge like white fire. He would have twirled it from habit, had not the low roof stopped him. Clicking it onto the magnetic clasp on his back, Icarax adjusted his mask.

It was time. Finally, it was time. It was the day of reckoning, a day of bloodshed and violence. The overlords had had their way with the world for a year, and after seeing the effect, Icarax agreed that a year was long enough. Today the seekers stood whole once more, ready to defy the tyrants who had so thoughtlessly thrown their weight around on a stolen planet. And he was one of them, he was one of the seekers.

He was Makuta Icarax, and he was going to save the world.

edited 19th Feb '16 12:07:25 AM by biomechtraveler

Los Angeles - Menardi

What was this? Zeal actually seemed to be showing mercy to the corrupted Dr. Minerva, and offering to help her? Was this just because Menardi was present, or had the mad queen had a change of heart after becoming pregnant? Menardi would have been tempted to inquire if not for the fact that she had more pressing issues to deal with.

As expected, Cheetah and Storm's power rivalled Menardi's own when it came to control of the elements. No, when it came to the innate ability to manipulate wind and water, she probably outclassed the Alchemist. Being a Mars Adept since childhood, Menardi had a low affinity with water, and didn't match well with wind either.

However, that meant Menardi's skill with fire was superior.

As Cheetah gave up on fighting Menardi for control of the earth, that freed up half of the Alchemist's concentration to deal with the incoming explosion. A quarter would have been plenty. With a simple gesture, Menardi expertly manipulated the heat and force of the explosion out of the cracks and into the sky, making the blast go to waste as a crude form of fireworks. On the ground, Menardi was left safe and unsinged, her white coat and blonde hair not even touched by soot.

This gave her an opening. Rushing forward, Menardi redirected her attempts at controlling the wind into focusing on creating a safe path forward, heading straight for the nearest tornado, hoping to stop it before it grew too big. The wind roared and whipped at her as she fought to resist its pull, but she forced herself to get as close as possible before plunging her gauntleted right hand into the whirlwind.

The Philosopher's Stone was a powerful catalyst and manipulator of the elements, but not many had over the time realized the potential that entailed. Because where many simply thought of transmuting between solid elements, very few had seen the use in changing the properties within the same element. However, for an Adept, that was only natural. Mercury Adepts could change the state of water from liquid to solid or solid to gas without problems, and the speciality of Mars Adepts was working with the reaction that was fire and the various states of plasma.

So why not do the same with air?

Pouring energy into the Philosopher's Stone, Menardi started transmuting the base gas elements of the air inside the tornado into their solid state, which in short time would leave only a pile of crystal dust on the ruined sidewalk. At the same time, she could use her Jupiter Psynergy to make sure that the air that rushed in to fill the void did not form a new tornado cell.

The mutant ability of Storm was incredible, and in raw power and wind control, she might have Menardi beat. But in pure manipulation of the elements, Menardi had a lifetime of experience compared to Cheetah's recent acquisition.

Helicarrier

"Just leave…?"

The idea was tempting. Sorely tempting. Walk away from this whole clusterfuck and never look back. Just the two of them, starting afresh somewhere far away - go anywhere they wanted, do anything they wanted, to anyone they wanted… it was tempting, a lot more tempting than what Tatu had to offer, certainly.

"Maybe we could. But I don’t feel right about running, or about leaving that bastard alive. Do you?"

“I can't say yes."

Loki bit his lower lip, glancing at the control panel. "We don't know if our former teammates are alive... and I don't really care for the wellbeing of this world. Who cares about his threats? Let him hunt us if that's what he wants to do with his time. I'm done being his or anyone else's pawn."

"I don't care what happens to this world either. But I don't think I could ever really be content while that motherfucker's still alive. His kind dragged us here once, they could probably do it again. I say we go... just as soon as he's dead."

"Even if there's a chance he'll take us to Hel with him?"

"You know… I've been half-dead from the very beginning. I’m not afraid of anything he can do to me. I’m not afraid of anything."

Her last sentence was said without a hint of her usual pride or arrogance; it was simply a statement of fact, calm, even slightly sad.

"No, I’ve decided. I’m not leaving any unfinished business here."

She looked back to Loki, and put a hand on his face with what anyone else would have seen as uncharacteristic gentleness.

"But you don’t have to stay. Maybe you should go on ahead, and leave the sword with me. I’ll take care of Tatu myself. Him, his servants, anyone who gets in our way… I’ll kill every last one of them if I have to, until we’re the only ones left."

Loki placed his hand over Gavrill's, giving her a tired smile.

"If we're going to die, then I very much like the idea of dying with you."

He chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"What, did you think I was going to let you have all the fun?"

His words brought a hint of a smile back to her face.

"Hrm. D’you really mean that?"

"Gavrill... every being on this Earth covers themselves in lies. Small lies, big lies, all designed to hide their true, natural selves. I've terrorized villages, I've caused disasters, I've wrought death and chaos upon every corner of this expansive multiverse. And then you showed up... and for the first time, I saw no lies. I think it's logical I show you no lies as well."

Loki leaned in close, looking deep into Gavrill's eyes. "I want us to take this sword in my belt and shove it as deep as possible into that asshole's chest. And then I want to stomp his face in, so he can spend the entirety of his afterlife knowing he should have never crossed the Gavrill Madaraki and the God of Lies."

"Well, ‘god of lies’, if you were lying to me now… I don’t think I would mind. The truth can be overrated, can't it?"

"And you often find out more about someone through a lie."

"True. I've certainly found out a lot about that red bastard and his flunkies through all the lies we've been feeding them. Would you believe, I've actually grown to like some of them? I really have.”

She took his hand and smiled, for the first time since Tatu’s departure.

“Let’s go and kill them.”

edited 23rd Feb '16 1:29:01 PM by Vox

Training Room

We-

'Oo cares where we go, let's just get ta shootin'!

I will go to Kahndaq.