Booster shrugged upside-down. "Fair enough, just curious." He said to Wasp, then turned back to Arrow. "First off, he's not a thing. He's Skeets. I built him. Second, there's about fifty things I could tell you personally that would be proof that I'm from the future and have read about you in the history books, but I'm not allowed to." He pointed to the STRIKE badge attached to his suit. "I'd get in trouble with my boss and stuff."
My various fanfics.Booster took a minute to think about that one. He'd been able to get away with a lot because he'd told Coulson that whatever he did, he never brought up STRIKE. What would happen if he just started blurting about it to random superheroes in the open street? What if civilians overheard, and it was all over the tabloids? Would Coulson make Booster pull his endorsement deals? His merchandise? His Japanese TV show??
"Uhhh...." Booster quickly flipped upright, flying high overhead, and took out his cell phone to call Mark. "Yo, Moon Pie!" He said when Mark picked up. "Anything goin' on?"
My various fanfics.Sivana chuckled with glee at Godfrey's description. "Ooh, marvellous, Mister Godfrey, quite marvellous. That public appeal will be falling right into our-y-your lap, oh yes indeed."
Starr rolled his eyes in disgust at Sivana's display. "Second issue: the monster. If we're to do this properly, we'll need a rundown of what this girl can and can't do. That way, we can tailor the beast to a target that she alone can take down."
"Well, for..." The boy searched for the right words for a while, before throwing up his hands and saying "You know what, I could talk about it, but maybe it's better if I just...necronom hezberek mortix!"
The boy launched five feet in the air, propelled by a mass of shadowy tendrils. He slammed into the other wall, and slowly slid down again by his fingertips.
The attorney didn't seem entirely happy about ending it there, but turned to the judge and said "No further questions."
"Does the defence have anything further to add?" asked the judge as Greenleaf returned to the bench.
The defence nodded and said "Your honour, I'd like to call Mister Joe Oxley to the stand."
"Joe Oxley!"
"Joe Oxley!"
"Joe Oxley!"
Joe Oxley, as it turned out, was one of the brutes who Mercury had seen working at the Orphanage. A light haired, square jawed, muscle-packed thug who seemed built for the role of beach bully. As he entered the room and was sworn onto the stand, Greenleaf could be noticed eyeing him up and down.
Gambit's plan worked all right. Maybe even a little too well: he could feel the heat from the blast even where he was hiding. Still, the clockwork men were gone, and that's what mattered. One pitied the poor schmuck who would have to clean up all the bits of melted copper. Meanwhile, Bushman was taken by surprise, and put all his strength into a shoulder-roll that would either break him free, or flip this new attacker onto the ground in front of him. "Who the hell are you?!" he barked.
And a Strange Figure Emerges."No," replied Arrow, whipping out his bow and taking aim in record time. "No he ain't." The arrow flew and off and fired without a hitch, spreading a large net over Booster that started to wrapp around him quite tightly.
"Back when I had the cash, I was able to whip up this little doozy, along with quite a few other beauts'. Now... YOU GONNA' COME DOWN AND TELL US ABOUT THIS 'STRIKE' ALL CIVILIZED LIKE?! 'CAUSE LET ME TELL YOU, I DON'T WANT TO GET ROUGH, BUT IF YOU DON'T PLAY NICE, THEN CAN YOU REALLY EXPECT THE SAME OF ME?!"
edited 29th Jun '14 5:08:41 PM by kkhohoho
Gang Fight
Jonah managed to dodge all of Bushman's shots with the exception of a few minor grazes that wouldn't impede him terribly. After a brief moment spent reloading his pistols, Jonah pointed one at Bushman's head before noticing the latest addition to the brawl. Leveling his other gun with the newcomer's head, Jonah said "Let go of him or you'll be findin' out whether or not there's an afterlife."
"What the fuck?!" Booster shouted as the net wrapped around him. Quickly, he turned red with aggravation. This was NOT how Booster wanted to start his morning. What the fuck was Arrow's deal, even? Scowling, Booster clenched his fists and created a bursting bubble of energy to rip the net apart, throwing his arms out wide. He looked down at Green Arrow, and decided if we were screaming now, then so be it.
"THE FUCK IS YOUR DEAL, BUDDY?!" He hadn't had enough coffee to care much about his image right now. "IS THIS HOW RICH PEOPLE ACT, QUEEN? JUST ASSAULTING PEOPLE WHO DON'T TALK TO THEM?! I'M TRYING TO MAKE A PHONE CALL OVER HERE!"
My various fanfics."ONE,", shouted Arrow, "I ALREADY TOLD YOU, I'M NOT RICH ANYMORE! FLAT BROKE, EMPTY POCKETS, ZADA, ZILCH, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT! AND TWO, I'M NOT JUST GONNA' LET YOU WALTZ AWAY WITHOUT KNOWING UP WHAT'S UP WITH THIS 'STRIKE', WHATEVER IT IS! AND THIRD,WHAT THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK I'M BOTH THE OPPOSITE GENDER AND A MONARCH?!"
edited 29th Jun '14 5:36:39 PM by kkhohoho
Booster floated down until he was on the ground, looking Arrow in the eye, and he was no longer screaming. He was being very quiet, in fact. Quiet was not something Booster normally was.
"Look, I can't tell you what STRIKE is, okay? Literally, I legally can't. Ollie." He folded his arms across his chest. "That's one of the things I could tell you to let you know I'm from the future. I know who you are. I know when you're born, I know when you die. Now, if you don't mind, I still have a phone call to make." And with that, he went back into the air.
My various fanfics.Okay; so maybe Booster was from the future. He couldn't think of anyone else who could know who he was; not unless Speedy gained a sudden growth spurt and a split personality. Hard to believe, but there it was. But that still didn't change one important fact; he knew was STRIKE was. And Ollie wanted to know what STRIKE was. And there was another fact; legally, perhaps he couldn't tell Ollie, but un-legally? Now that was a different matter. Still, perhaps firing volley after volley at Booster wasn't the best approach.
"Wasp, you know anything about this 'Strike?'"
edited 29th Jun '14 5:43:09 PM by kkhohoho
Wasp was momentarily stunned as Arrow drew and nocked an arrow faster than she could blink. "Wait, don't-" She winced as the pair got into a shouting match in the middle of the street, giving several confused and nervous-looking commuters a sheepish wave as they passed. She rounded on Arrow once the spat was over, waving one miniature finger in his face.
"Jeeze, is every super in this city as twitchy as you guys? You didn't have to shoot at him! You trying to start a super-fight in the streets or something?" She admonished, swiping some hair out of her face as she huffed. "And no, I've never heard of it before today. It sounds like a cheesy reverse-acronym, though, and that badge looked official. It's probably some government thing, who knows?"
edited 29th Jun '14 6:02:42 PM by gaunt88
The Gangfight
"Huh" was Access' reaction to Question's discovery. "Why would he have two phones that call each to other? Also, does he look... familiar to you? Like someone from TV?"
-BOOOM!-
Whoa! Those explosions are getting louder!!" he then reacted to Gambit's latest attack. "Stay here with him, I'm going to investigate that!" *pop*
He then reappeared on the rooftop over the alley again, trying to spot who was left still standing.
edited 29th Jun '14 6:16:50 PM by Sijo
When Owl hit the pavement, Rocket could not help but smirk. "Finally caught ya!" he said. The raccoon then got a pair of shackles and cuffed them on Owl's wrists.
There was even an explosion right behind him as he stood victoriously over the fallen crime boss......it took Rocket a second or two to realize the explosion actually happened.
"Oh bugger," he said, looking behind him, seeing the crater from Gambit's attack. The raccoon then saw someone battling Bushman with Jonah pointing his gun at him. However, the bounty hunter recognized the scent of the trenchcoat clad being and ran up to Jonah, firing his pistols at any remaining thugs as he did so. "Slow down there cowboy, this one's personal!" he called out to Hex.
It was at this moment that the police and SHIELD arrived on the scene, surrounding the area. "NYPD, we have you surrounded!" cried out a voice from a police helicopter.
edited 30th Jun '14 4:48:00 PM by UdtheImp
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HITTING HELPY!!"What was I supposed to do," said Arrow, "just wait patiently and hope he sticks around when he's done? He could have flown off at any moment, leaving me out in the cold! If he wasn't flying up and above where I had to holler at him, I probably would have been a lot more civil." He thought about mentioning that he could have used his one-of-a-kind Nuclear Warhead arrow, but he thought better of it; not only was he not actually in physical possession of the damned thing, but it was probably best not to mention he possessed such a object, one which, given his recent change of heart, he'd likely have dismantled one of these days. Not to mention the Fake Cat arrow...
"But you know who knows what Strike is?", said Arrow, his eyes narrowing. "Booster, that's who. And do you know what Booster knows? Our secret identities. I don't know if you heard him, (and I'm hoping you didn't,) but he knows mine, because, if he's telling the truth, he's 'from the future.' And if that's so, then what's to stop him from knowing the real names, the personal lives, everything, of just about every Superhero to have ever lived? And if he's working for STRIKE, and if STRIKE's working for the Government, then what's to stop the Government from getting it's hands on every one of our identities?"
edited 29th Jun '14 7:18:19 PM by kkhohoho
Aurora, Missouri; 11 days after the 'incident' on TV.
For the next 20 minutes, another bout of silence hung in the air of the Starr residence. Lindy sat on the couch, a bowl of her beef stew on the coffee table in front of her - though she had only touched her spoon to eat four times. Nicco sat on the floor once more, his own bowl sitting beside him, documents in one hand as he* leafed through them. And on the opposite side of the coffee table was Karen, her back turned to the two, the rustling of papers the only noise coming from her. Their eyes moved to and from the blonde, both trying to find the right words to say.
The first thing that finally broke the uncomfortable silence was Lindy placing her spoon back into her bowl after her fifth scoop of stew. "...How long, Karen?"
The blonde didn't reply... at first. "............Started a few months after I turned 15," she replied flatly, still keeping her back turned.
Nicco let go of a breath he didn't know he had been holding in. Lindy's expression turned solemn, a hand making its way to her chin. "Sounds about right compared to most other muta... sorry, metahumans," she quickly corrected, realizing that Karen might find the term degrading.
Though she was still giving the two an extended view of her back, Karen shook her head. "Not like it matters anymore. We're done. The verdict's in: people hate mutants."
"Again with the doom-and-gloom," Nicco suddenly interjected, his hand faintly crumpling the papers he held in frustration. "It's not like the entire damn country is suddenly on Godfrey's side, Karen."
A snort of derision was all Karen replied with. Nicco threw his hands up, the papers he had been holding fluttering down around him. "Ms. Danv - Aunt Lindy, please try and talk some sense into her!"
The brunette gave the younger man a look that practically screamed 'What can I say?!' before turning back to Karen. "Karen... honestly, all this stuff about... well, powers and whatnot sort-of confuses and frustrates me - I mean, it's obviously just racism in another form - but I don't see the problem in having powers like yours. Having them can't be all that bad, right? I mean, what about those metahumans who use their powers to help people? Folks like Captain Marvel in Metropolis, or the Flash in Jump City, or Power Girl in New Yo - "
Lindy froze. Her brown eyes began to bore into Karen's* back. She looked at Nicco; as if recognizing the older woman's bout of realization, he nodded quietly. Even Karen herself noticed, as she finally decided to turn her head around and look at her beloved godmother. "Karen... Are you.........?"
Still ever silent, the blonde turned the rest of her body. She then took one sleeve of her oversized sweater, and rolled it up with little fanfare, revealing the bulky, sculpted arm underneath.
"Oh my God..." Lindy's hand went to her mouth. "I-I never thought that... I mean, in school you were always so... And Power Girl's so... I-I always thought she j-just looked like you......"
Nicco's expression became one of concern... as the older woman had suddenly begun to cry. "Ms. Danvers, what's wrong?..." Karen would have responded with an inappropriately-snarky 'then my disguise worked', but soon her own morose look gave way to concern of her own, and the blonde pulled her sleeve back down to her wrist and moved to stand up.
Lindy, however, held a hand up to stop the two. Confused, they looked closer; as the brunette lowered the hand covering her mouth, they would find that in-between her tears, she was now smiling. "Aunt Lindy," Karen spoke, confusion now the dominant expression on her face. "Why are you......?"
"S-Sorry," the brunette replied, wiping her tears away with her hand. "I-It's just..." She cleared her throat once more, pushing the sudden torrent of emotion back to be able to speak more normally. "Karen, Nicco... would you both mind coming with me to my house? There's something I need to show you."
edited 30th Jun '14 12:10:29 AM by Demovere
The Prison
"As if they would listen." Raze grumbled from his spot on the room, glancing at the camera. The red light went out, signifying that the security cameras were now seeing the recorded footage of one of Rogue and Mystique's previous meetings. "Would you ladies mind if I get a bit more comfortable?"
He stretched his arms, moving forward as he slowly transformed back into his blue-skinned self, a smile on his face as he scratched his red hair and sat on top of the table in front of Rogue. "Hi." Raze smirked. "Pleasure to meet you. I'd hold out my hand, but I don't want to end up in a coma."
Raven stayed in place as he started to try and explain himself before giving up. Apparently he didn't feel like talking. Instead he caught her off guard by chanting for a moment before flinging himself across the alleyway with dark tendrils and clinging to the wall as he slid down. To say Raven was surprised was an understatement. His chanting was eerily similar to her own, though he used different words. Considering her chats were just to focus her own powers using familiar words, that implied they were far more similar than she thought.
Raven lowered herself down to the ground once he slid all the way down the wall. "You just...You're part demon too?" She asked in surprise and confusion. She never thought she would meet someone else like her. Raven was happy, confused, and curious all at the same time. This meant that there was finally someone else like her. "Who are you?" She finally asked.
The Present
"Uhm." Megan twiddled her fingers. "I wish I could say I do... but..." She leaned closer. " Mr. Stark is still inside his tower, a-and Power Girl hasn't been going out much. Plus, you know how things are out there. It's a good thing no one here watches Godfrey's shows. "
Boneville
"I will get that information for you, including a lot of her personal details." Godfrey said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and calling the number on Whitmore's letter. "I should be sending it to you later today. But for now... work on something which exploits the weaknessess of our enemies. Sounds feasible to you?"
edited 30th Jun '14 12:56:00 AM by Stratofarius
Rogue's head turned in surprise from Raze's appearance, and she saw the transformation from a mere human to... Rogue looked at Mystique, looked at Raze, and looked at Mystique again. Red hair and blue skin. Shapeshifting abilities. One could already see the look of dawning comprehension on Rogue's face even before Raze pointed out that he knew her... power.
"Well, that's why I keep myself covered up," Rogue replied to Raze, and then asked the next question with the additional subtext of if Raze was who Rogue thought he was. "Who are you?"
edited 30th Jun '14 12:40:42 AM by GameGuruGG
Wizard Needs Food Badly"Ah. I'm glad you asked." Raze said, leaning forward. "I'm your brother. Well, adoptive brother. But that doesn't get you in the way of calling my mother your mother, so why should it get on the way now?" He looked at Mystique, placing one hand on the divider. "We have... approximately twenty minutes. Mother has told me a lot about you. I've been looking forward to this day for a long time."
As the cop cars surrounded the area, the scattered gangsters looked around, a little more uncertain about their standing. Some of them clung to their guns, while others put their hands above their heads. The police swarmed in, pointing their guns in every direction. "Get down on the ground, get down on the ground!" shouted one, loudly. But even as the gangsters were restrained, the cops also started pointing guns at the vigilantes. Rocket found himself with a cop looming over him, pointing a gun down and pushing a boot into his neck. "D'you hear me?! I said down on the ground!"
"Woah, woah, woah, hey..." The familiar voice of Det. Carter came up behind them. "Easy there, sergeant, he's not a vigilante. He's helping us NYPD for bounty. Right, Rocket?"
The boy hopped off the wall, and adjusted his coat. "I'm Blackheart," he said. "...yeah, I know, but I didn't choose the name."
"But of course, Mister Godfrey!" chirruped Sivana. "Nothing simpler! We'll have a way of cracking those metahuman nuts in a snap, you wait and see!" As Sivana pranced off, Egghead and Cale wrinkled their noses in disgust. They knew exactly what his game was: wild rumour had trickled through the grapevine that Godfrey was considering a career in politics, maybe even in the white house. Sivana saw this as his way into the spot of Attorney General, and so was doing everything in his power to get in Godfrey's good graces.
Mystique sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Must you, Raze? You could at least have tried to handle it gently." She looked up at Rogue, half apologetically. "I should explain. I was briefly involved with someone, long before I met Irene. It was so brief, in fact, I'm not sure you'd even call it a fling. Nevertheless, it resulted in Raze, but I was in a bad state at the time and had to give him up for adoption. I would have told you about him, but...it never seemed like the best time to."
"So, Mister Oxley- can I call you Joe?"
"Yeah."
"So, Joe, heh. How long have you worked for Ms Greenleaf?"
"Three, four years, give 'r take."
"What were your main duties there?"
"Uh... cleanin' up, fixin' stuff... movin' heavy things on account o' her back... an' sometimes baby-sittin', but that's mostly Mike's thing."
"Right, right, and how are the children now, would you say?"
"Pretty good, I guess..."
"Have the children complained to you, about their surroundings, their food, their treatment?"
"Well, yeah, the smaller ones keep whinin' about TV 'n' stuff, and-"
"Would you think they're more upset than any regular household? Less upset?"
Joe thought for a moment, then shrugged and shook his head.
"And what about Ms Greenleaf herself? You've worked for her, what do you think of her?"
"Uhh...She's...she's good. Good boss. Pretty strict, but good business sense an' all."
"What do you think of how she treats there kids?"
"...Uuhh-"
"Well, let me put it this way. Has she ever been very angry with the children, shouted at them?"
"Coupla' times, yeah, but only when they did somethin' bad."
"Mm. And would you say that was...abnormal? That she got excessively angry, or more any other woman or mother would do?"
Joe thought for a moment, then shrugged and shook his head. "My aunt was th' same way. Better 'n bein' too soft on 'em, she said."
"No further questions."
edited 30th Jun '14 9:57:26 AM by LizardOfAus
And a Strange Figure Emerges.

"Fishnets?" Wasp pulled a face. "Sure, people might notice that while they're throwing trash at me." She grinned and folded her arms, raising one eyebrow as she pointedly eyed arrow's own outfit. "Not everyone takes costume advice from the Renaissance fair."
Shw turned bac to Booster at his question and shook her head ruefully. "The wings can't lift me if I grow too much. Besides, it's easier than you'd think. "