Darkholme had forgotten she was still gripping his arm. She snorted, tossed the arm away, and sat down in her seat. She immediately straightened up, relaxed, and started acting more like a professional businesswoman. "Next question."
The room inside the sound stage was dark and gloomy, with huge set pieces still stacked up and towering. Jamie, of course, had the feeling he wasn't alone.
edited 7th Nov '12 2:44:26 PM by LizardOfAus
And a Strange Figure Emerges.The Blue Beetle began walking in the direction he sensed Mysterio was in.
"Hello. Are you all right?"
The trench coat and hat dissolved as he walked.
"It's me, Blue Beetle. I just wanted to make sure everyone made it through last night alright."
Tv Tropes Powers. Activate!!!!!Jack sat down across the desk from her and let the camera crew get into position then asked. "Fisrt one is the simplest, or maybe the most complicated. 'Who is Raven Darkholme?' I've never heard of you and probably neither have most of my human viewers. So tell us how you came to be where you are and why you hold the views you do on the human/mutant divide."
Trump delenda estAs Jaime went further in, he came upon a small area to the side, with three large mirrors set up inside. For a moment, the middle one showed his reflection. Then, it melted into a woman dressed in red bellydancer clothes swaying about. This bit of pointlessness faded into the image of a Quentin Beck in his customary dark suit and ball mask.
"Ah, yes. The Blue Beetle from the meeting, correct? And how did you find me, boy?"
Darkholme considered her answer for a moment.
"I have...been ostracised for a lot of my life. You might not think it, but not long ago I wasn't as regular looking as I appear to be. As you can imagine, it wasn't easy growing up in a world that judges from looks, especially for someone like me. I ended up travelling for a lot of my life, trying to find somewhere I belonged, and staying close to any friends I made along the way. For a period, I decided I didn't belong anywhere, not the way I was. So I changed myself, washed over my appearance, constructed a new life for myself." She looked away, and exhaled. "It didn't take me long to realise...how dishonest I was being. With myself, most of all. I took on board advice from my acquaintances, and from some people I won't mention but greatly respect. They helped me see that I shouldn't to just blend in... Of course, I've kept some of my 'regular' qualities. I've settled down, I've opened a cafe, I've dressed a little more conventionally than I used to. But it's for convenience's sake more than anything, you understand. I'm still..."
And a Strange Figure Emerges.From Darkholme's reaction, Rocket was now very much convinced he needed to ask Pyko to research more on the connection. At least the subtle blackmail threat was enough to get the interview going. After Ryder, Darkholme, and the camera crew went inside the garage's office, Rocket merely stood right outside the door and was leaning on it.
He had no idea if Darkholme was serious about the crack about only coming in if there was screaming, but the circumstances did not make the raccoon wish to take chances. Rocket, being so close to the door, allowed him to listen into the interview within. Hopefully here two goon did not notice......
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HITTING HELPY!!Blue Beetle smiled and clapped a couple of times.
"That was pretty cool. I can uh, I can find anyone I've met before. I know that's a little creepy, but it's not really a thing I can turn off."
He rubbed the back of his helmet with his right hand.
"I'm glad to see you're alright. Do you mind if I ask how you did that?"
Tv Tropes Powers. Activate!!!!!Five hours later.
The TV in Karen's apartment was still on at minimal volume, currently showing an old movie about 'digital beings'. It was the only light in the living room area; Karen had turned the lights out and pulled the curtains to maintain her and Megan's privacy.
Speaking of Karen... the programmer was asleep on the couch as well, her empty plate and glass left on the folding table in front of them. She had buried herself into the couch a bit, slouching down past the backrest; her arms were folded, and her legs lay straightened out along the floor. She thankfully didn't snore, ensuring that she wouldn't accidentally wake Megan up.
You could almost see Quentin's chest swelling up.
"Well, thank you, boy. But a good magician never reveals his secrets, you know."
Meanwhile...
The time of day was indeterminable. The room was tucked away inside of an opera house, and after a while indoors you tended to forget how light it was outside. The room itself was large, clean, and well lit, with classical paintings hung upon a wall each, rich red carpeting, and an ornate table with equally ornate chairs sat around it. This was the meeting place the Rose had decided upon.
One by one, the made men had once again filed in. Silverman had taken the seat to the left of Rose, and the Owl had taken a seat to the right. There was a while of waiting, and some small talk, such as it was, before the Enforcers filed in. Each of them had some minor burn marks that they'd tried their best to conceal. Fancy Dan had a huge patch covering his left cheek. He attempted to sit in one of the chairs, but the other guards intervened. Some grim glances were exchanged as he stood back up again.
Rose spoke to the group. "Gentlemen, I don't believe I need to tell you, we have had a catastrophe on our hands. Despite our best efforts we could control neither the Joker, nor his army of devil bats. We couldn't order what they attacked, and we couldn't stop when they died.Not only that, but the riots that followed lead to tremendous levels of property damage, including our properties, and sent the remainder of our best men into casualty. Of course, some of us have been hit harder than others. There was a rumour about an explosion last night, which may have cost us one of our corners. This rumour appears to have been-"
"If I could butt in here," said Fancy Dan, "It's true that the Big Man got caught in an explosion last night, and it might be true that he's had some damage, to himself and to a lotta his things. But he's told us to let you all know that he's currently recuperating at a nearby hospital, with plenty of life insurance to get him back on his feet again. He ain't out of the game just yet, he's just taking a more managerial approach is all. Oh, and one more thing: He told us to tell you all he told you so."
A murmur went across the room. Phrases that could be picked out included "Wonderful, another Ma Gnucci," and "Who's he think he's kidding? His territory is ripe for snapping up." Rose eventually managed to restore some order and gain some attention.
"Now, the losses are very obvious, but why not think about the positives for a change? We did indeed get some thefts accomplished in all the chaos, and with the criminals broken out of the raft, our ranks have swelled again. And did we not set out to deal with the mutants? Besides the damage to that district, we also have our mystery pulse to thank for keeping the mutants under control. That is to say, the mutants that weren't already under control, thanks to Mr Owsley. So there you go, not all bad news. However, some bad news is that we're now stuck with the other half of the question we started with: Dealing with the vigilante element. The super-powered heroes and costumed crime fighters were able to hold their ground last night, and provided great assistance in quelling the mobs. Like a tick, they've sunk their teeth in, and nothing can knock them away. The only question for us, is where we go from here?"
And a Strange Figure Emerges.Jaime sighed and stopped scratching his head.
"It was pleasure to meet you again. I just came here to make sure you were alright and I still have a couple of things I want to do today so I'm gonna get going, but if you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask. Have a nice day."
Jaime turned around and began to walk to the exit of the studio, regrowing his trench coat and hat as he did so.
Tv Tropes Powers. Activate!!!!!At that point, a rather muscular woman entered the fray, in the opera house. She stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of all the made men and their leaders, since she was the lone female in the opera house, less than 23 years of age. But there was no doubt she was in line with a criminal gang, as she wore a gang outfit. She donned a posh white trench coat, with the left side roasted black.
"Sorry if y'all were expecting my boss," she stated, with a thick southern drawl in her voice. "Two-Face's mighty busy in Gotham. He's told me to be his stand in."
The black collar around her neck started making an electronic beep noise. She grit her teeth and yanked on it until it stopped, then rememberer she was going to say something in response to Rose.
"Belle Reve piece of shit... Oh, right. In the back of the place, I gotta real special surprise for you all, but I ain't sure if I should show it to you just yet. It's a real show stopper, and if it goes the way Two-Face intends, it'll be one solution to your crimefighter problem. I'm not tryin' to be suspenseful here or nothin', it's just that, well, it'll scare the bejesus out of you, wreck your train of thought and all that. I'd best show you after you've tossed out all your ideas on the table."
"@[=g3,8d]&fbb=-q]/hk%fg"It's possible that the Rose smiled under his lilac leather mask. "At this point, madame, I doubt anything would come as a surprise to us. Delilah? Would you get this girl a seat."
Delilah, Rose's thug-in-chief and the only other muscle-bound woman present, brought a chair over to the table. She was wearing one of her customary skin-tight maroon tops and a pair of black dress trousers. She sat the chair by the table, grimly ignoring the appreciative glances from the men, and passed by her boss as she went. "So this is what I am now, Rose? Eye candy and a table setter?"
"Ssshhh..." Rose leaned back in a relaxed manner, while Two-Face's emissary took her seat.
"It's good to know that our friends in Gotham take concern in our dilemma," said Silvermane. "I understand the city has had similar problems for some time."
The Owl scoffed. "If the double header can't deal with one man dressed like a basement dweller over there, how does he think he can help with a dozen of them here?"
"If we could stay on topic," said Silvermane with a disapproving glare, "I will put forward my suggested action first...Ladies and gentlemen."
"And Owsley," added Fancy Dan, gaining a chortle from Ox.
"We must not mistake these 'super heroes' for being a part of the law. As a matter of fact, they are outside of the law. They are ordinary civilians, some with abilities no one can understand, and they have taken it upon themselves to battle criminal elements. They are not police, they are not government officials, and few of them are sanctioned by authority. So, as I see it, the best method of disposing of them is to discredit them. Turn the Powers That Be upon the superpowers. There are precedents for this. There are bills being signed for mutants, smear campaigns from media, and some vigilantes whose methods are deemed unethical. Once they are gathered, they can be dealt with. Quickly, cleanly, efficiently."
And a Strange Figure Emerges.Jaime walked a couple of blocks away, dissolved the clothes, and began to fly in Rocket Raccoons general direction.
Tv Tropes Powers. Activate!!!!!Jack frowned. "You said, "judged by your looks". I've met some mutants, including one of my current body guards, Darwin who could make that claim, but at the risk of sounding sexist, I see absolutely nothing wrong with your looks. Which leads into of course, what a lot of my viewers are going to be curious about, does this have something to do with your 'mutant powers'?"
Trump delenda estBy the afternoon, having cheerfully parted ways with Storm for them to both go about their own business, Tony was on a roll. He'd taken the paperwork given to him by Ms. Hoag on the superhero damage business and faxed it to Pepper in Japan, letting her know that yes, he absolutely wanted to be involved in this, please dot the i's and cross the t's for him. He also asked her to draft a press release for it, and to send out an announcement to the Stark Tower employees that they could return to their jobs the next day, if they were able, and if not, to just leave a message and that they would be welcomed back as soon as they were able.
He spent a few minutes studying the envelope he'd been given by Shaw, contemplating it for a while. He wasn't really sure about the club itself, he hadn't really known what to make of it as a child and he still didn't. But then again, Shaw's proposal for a power source added into the city was promising, especially if Tony could get in on the ground floor of it and use his reactors instead of old fashioned nuclear...it would be a good start on getting the clean energy out there. Still...he decided to attend to that one later, in a day or two maybe, and for the time being just left the envelope in a desk drawer in his workshop.
Finally, he took his leave of the mansion for the time being (though leaving a notice for JARVIS to remind the others they had free roam of it all they wanted), Tony marched out in a pair of jeans and a button-up workshirt, carrying a large red briefcase at his side, heading back into the disaster zones. Typically civilians wouldn't have been let near the area, but he did have two factors going for him: he was Tony Stark, and he was Iron Man, so he basically went where he wanted to go.
There was still plenty to do. Some of his heavy lifters needed work, which he set to on them, and some of the hospitals needed more machines, which he arranged to have brought in. He tried to keep up with it, he was sure Pepper and Obie would want the numbers for tax write-offs later on, but honestly, what difference did it really make? It wasn't like they couldn't afford a little no-strings-attached charity at this point.
And in a few places, there were scattered reporters who'd come running as soon as they saw him, and he took care to answer the questions the same way every time: he had no affiliation with the group yesterday beyond coming together to stop the riots, he didn't know who any of them were, he was going to do his part to make things right, and he had built the suit to do exactly what it had done...help people. And always repeating: this was not the time for any more questions than that, it was the time for rebuilding and recovery.
Aside from an occasional fleeting thought that he had way too much practice at telling the media what they wanted to hear, he concentrated on nothing else but exploring the damage and doing his best to bring what help he could. As tempted as he was a few times to throw on his suit and start sifting through wreckage with his own hands, he held back...right now, that wasn't what the city needed.
At the moment, he was crouched on top of a bulldozer that had been clearing out a street, elbow-deep in the engine. Something had gone wrong with it while it was working, and rather than waste time trying to call in a mechanic, he'd decided to jump in himself and repair it, while the bemused driver just sat in the seat, holding Tony's briefcase for him, and watched the famous playboy multi-billionaire owner of one of the world's largest companies rewire his construction equipment.
edited 8th Nov '12 1:45:34 PM by MystyGlyttyr
Easing back into life one step at a time"Well, obviously, I don't exactly look monstrous. But I've changed quite a bit over the years."
Suddenly, the woman's form warped, her features altered, and her clothing shifted.
"The key word being 'changed'," said the mirror image of Jack Ryder, before she changed back into Darkholme.
And a Strange Figure Emerges.Please... you have to let me come with you.
I don't understand. You claim to be my niece... yet I have only known you for three days.
It's important to me. You're my uncle, you... you can feel it, right? Please, take me to Earth. That's all I ask.
Your desire to go to Earth is almost palpable.
... I-I want to be someone down there. I've spent all my life watching documentaries about superheroes... I want to be one. Like you. I want to go to New York and meet my idols. I want to fight with them.
A noble cause, yes—
And there's nothing left for me here! Please, uncle, please. I beg you! Take me to New York. I'll grab my Bio-Ship and leave you alone once we get there. You won't have to see me ever again.
... no, no. In fact, I do hope I will see you again, niece. I hope I'll see you again, shining in a news report all about you.
T-thank you... thank you so much.
Megan slowly opened her eyes, letting out a quiet groan. She rubbed her eyes, blinking and opening and closing her mouth, almost as if she wanted to make sure she was awake. She scratched her hair and looked at the blanket that was covering her. "Now, how did this—" It was then that she noticed Karen. A smile appeared on her face as she stood up, and gently levitated Karen's arms and legs so the couch was all hers.
She stood, yawning and stretching her arms, pulling up a mental list of things to do while she switched the TV to the news channel. Have to keep an eye out for trouble. she said, before walking over to the kitchen, taking the bucket filled with dirty clothes with her. The empty plates and glasses followed her after she flicked her wrist, and the sound of the sink being turned on could be heard. Megan made sure to turn it on at "half-power", so she could hear the TV, but quickly got to work on scrubbing the dirt off the clothes with one pair of hands and cleaning the dishes with another.
"This is easier than I thought." She said to herself, smiling. "I'll make her proud. Then maybe I can ask her for some lessons in how to be a super hero. Or is it super heroine?"
Rogue seemed to have crossed her arms and frowned at having to wait outside until they heard screaming. Becoming more distrustful of the group they found, Rogue used a window to keep an eye inside when she saw it. A morphing of physical features that would be very familiar to her. It was as if Anna Marie was reliving a childhood nightmare, almost stumbling to try to back off from the window. Rogue looked a bit antsy and a bit nervous now.
edited 8th Nov '12 3:32:28 PM by GameGuruGG
Wizard Needs Food BadlyJaime floated miles above the building Rocket Raccoon was in.
edited 8th Nov '12 3:22:16 PM by luckybreak91
Tv Tropes Powers. Activate!!!!!Jack smiled. That was, as they said, thge money shot. But onto other things.
"So, give your impression of last night and of the rebuilding. Do you think the authorities should be quarentining District X less and building more? If so, do you think the neglect is deliberate or simply thoughtless?"
Trump delenda est"Impressive, Doctor Wade, impressive. I'd say you were a genius if I wasn't in the room."
"I built it for you. Very quickly. Please let me go."
"Hmmmm......no. I need someone to test this on."
Before the doctor could even speak, the Riddler activated the device. Doctor Wade began bleeding from every orifice, horror and shock on his face, before he violently exploded.
"Oh for goodness sake! This is my best suit! Daniel, get this dry-cleaned!"
"Yes, Mr Nigma," Stabby Danny said as picked some of Doctor Wade out of his hair.
And so, a short while later, the Riddler (dressed in a clean, identical green suit and with a bottle of wine clenched in his hands) and Danny drove a bright green car through the streets of New York, the device loaded into the trunk.

Wesley paused. She laughed a little.
Gimme yer lunch money, dweeb."Really? Um, not much to tell. He was at this charity thing Bruce Wayne was throwing in District X. I was too. I got a little drunk and got in a fight with Tony Stark, he helped me to the cab. All there is to it."