El!
El has been with the site for nearly two years now and has continued to prove her value. Currently, she is heading up our site event, Battle for Liberterram, on top of keeping up with her own personal plots.
CHARACTER
SPOTLIGHT
Peggy Carter!
Lux's posts are all wonderful to read. She has done a wonderful job of grasping the new universe and incorporating Peggy into it.
CHARACTER
SPOTLIGHT
Peter Parker!
It's good to see Spidey back on the site. Watching him deal with the universe shift in his own snarky way has been nothing short of entertaining.
THREAD
SPOTLIGHT
Eight O'Clock on the Dot!
El and Lux are making magic in this thread. Straight up fireworks, and the way they've played with drawing out the reveal is top class.
As the West Coast attack hits its stride, Chitauri have begun an assault on the East Coast as well. With SHIELD having focused the brunt of their strength on the West Coast, it is the heroes left on the East Coast that must take up arms against these forces.
The few SHIELD Agents on this coast are also armed with bullets that contain nanites that should be able to shut down both the biological and electronic systems of the Chitauri at once, they are more prepared for that threat than before, but the Chitauri have brought with them beasts that Earth has not seen before.
You are allowed to control as many enemies, allies, and civilians in your posts as you need to.
Event thread should take priority over other threads.
You will have three days to post once its your turn. If you miss, the next person can post. If you miss twice, your character may receive a more serious injury that will disqualify them from further phases.
Available Enemies:
Chitauri: Garden-variety Chitauri soldiers; the bioweapon crafted by Tony Stark and Bobbi Morse will work to shut them down. They are hive-minded. Armed with Chitauri guns or spears. (Approx. 300)
Leviathan: Large, flying, whale-like creatures built for destruction, the bioweapon is not effective on them due to their size. Armed with teeth and size. (Approx. 3)
Chitlian: Bulked-up Chitauri soldiers that are more machine than biological. The bioweapon will take them down for brief periods, but they do reboot the system. Stronger than regular Chitauri and exempt from the hive-mind. Armed with Chitauri guns and spears. (Approx. 150)
Available Allies:
New York Police: Armed only with their issued weapons, the police will mainly handle crowd control.
National Guard: Armed with the weapons of their trade, the National Guard is attempting to hold down the fort in DC, but could use assistance.
SHIELD Academy Members: With only basic training, they are not the most efficient agents, but they want to help.
The attack on the West Coast did its trick. With SHIELD's eye drawn away from home and the Avengers dispatched on the other end of the country, the nation was barely prepared for the attack on the East Coast. Though some of the National Guard was already mobilized for defense purposes, the military is less effectively outfitted for the threat it faces.
Emergency sirens wail throughout the entirety of New York City as the armies of Thanos move in. In a metropolis as sprawling and filled to the brim with people as the Big Apple, getting people off the street isn’t easy, but the men and women of the NYPD are certainly doing their best. It certainly helps that some of them have been through this exact scenario before. Members of the National Guard stationed in the city also help, bringing military-grade weapons to the fight. The last leg of defense in the city are the young men and women of the SHIELD Academy, and any remaining Agents left in range, bringing with them top-of-the line tech and weapons, as well as some of the best training around.
A third attack lands in Brooklyn and in no time, the borough is crawling with Chitauri and Chitilian. Coney Island doesn’t stand a chance, and soon enough, the Wonder Wheel can be seen rolling away from the pier, towards the city proper.
The National Guard, NYPD, and the remnants of SHIELD are doing all that they can, but it’s quickly clear that it’s not enough…
Post by Wanda Maximoff on Feb 6, 2016 15:01:03 GMT
'cause your soul is on fire
### WORDS
@brynja
time to kill aliens
There were creatures coming down from the sky. The sight felt unreal, and it was only the shouts of the people around her that led Wanda to the realization that these were the same creatures that had attempted invasion before. She had seen footage, long after the fact, but it was something else completely in person.
Wanda wished that her brother was with her, but she knew that she had to step up herself. With her natural powers and the training that Stephen had been giving her, Wanda knew that she would need to assist the civilians in the area. Paying no mind to the fact that revealing her abilities might make her a target later, Wanda lifted herself in the air in order to gain attention. "People of Brooklyn; we must get the youngest of us to safety!" she announced, catching the attention of those around her, "We must assist those that we can. Now!" The shout that she finished with seemed to kick those around her into action, and soon they were scrambling to assist the small and the more helpless among them towards the places that the National Guard had already set up to assist.
Alighting back on the ground gracefully, Wanda watched as the creatures streaked across the sky before calling her power to her hands. The pink tinge of her magic wrapped through her fingers and crackled through the air around her. Harnessing the power, she shot it at the aliens in the air, one by one. The bolts struck the creatures, knocking some from their path and others off their chariots entirely.
With her appearance, some of the aliens set their sights on her, spears in hand, and she turned attention to them, eyes flashing red as she harnessed power to lash out at them. As those aliens began falling to the ground, Wanda looked around for someone else who could assist her in actual fighting. Catching sight of some armed men from some branch of the military - Wanda was not familiar with the American units - she approached them carefully.
"You will assist me, yes?" she questioned, doing her best to keep her accent light so they would be sure to understand, "We need to keep the creatures away from the people as they try to help each other out of the way. Focus on the ones on the ground and I shall focus on the air." With their agreement, she lifted herself off the ground again and focused on the creatures flying through.
Brynja was no stranger to battles and wars. When they happened somewhere relevant, she typically sped off to arrange right at the center, a living vestige of ancient defense against forces that initiated conflict. Despite this, it was rare for the muscular blonde to be a direct witness of the birth moment of invasion. Thanos’s forces poured in from the sky just as she watched it with ice cream in hand and gaze slightly distant. For a split second, her mind mistook the fog sight just beyond full awareness as a rush forming of clouds. Then understanding shaped quickly, gathering together the notions that immediately pointed out what was happening, or rather, happening again. Tossing the ice cream to the ground, Brynja jumped to her feet, the familiar anticipatory rush of adrenaline sharpening all of her senses just as she slid a sword free from the sheath on her belt.
Somewhere not far from her she could see a woman glide off the ground to shout instructions to the surrounding masses, but Brynja would not await to see what happened next. Her next thought had led her to sprint towards the closest grouping of quarry, sword slicing them to pieces in a rapid succession of precise metallic strokes. Seven bodies fell to the ground in short order and she was upon the next and then the one after that, eyes quickly assessing the surroundings and taking note of potential victims. Unfortunately, the fighting field glowed of them to her eyes, and a few times she had to make a choice. On one occasion she selected the closest and thus likeliest for her to save, but on the other she prioritized a young girl to an aging man. As on any such occasion, she felt the pang of unspecific emotional churning deep within her being, reminding her always of the discomfort she felt whenever having to make a judgement.
The sensation was the fleeting plop of one falling of rain, gone within an instant. The next moment she was making use of an unoccupied car, taking it to throw at a chariot. As a human ran past her, she stepped into the line of their wake to meet with the blade the Chitilian that rushed in pursuit. It ended up decapitated and then was used as a launch prop to propel her onto something more relevant as a threat to the buildings and people of this planet – a Leviathan. It had already bumped the Wonder Wheel off Coney Island. She slid onto its hard plating and anchored herself by a hold when it tilted in an effort to shake her off.
In the background, police were organizing civilians around the conflict, trying to direct them towards the nearest available resources for safety – like the underground. A couple of rookie Shield agents began testing their gear on the invaders, one of them blowing up a chariot with particular satisfaction. All the while Brynja stabilized on top of the Leviathan and then began to cut through its armoring like someone trying hard and succeeding to open up a can. The disturbance set the whale-like creature reeling and ultimately into a downward dive. It was heading straight for z inactive ashermaestas and a few other civilians. “LOOK OUT!”
Post by z inactive ashermaestas on Feb 11, 2016 22:14:56 GMT
ELECTRICKERY
As if the Chitauri alone hadn't been bad enough, the moment he saw the first of the Leviathans, Asher knew things had gone to hell. A repeat of Manhattan.. only worse, because it didn't look like the Avengers were anywhere to be found. The only SHIELD agents he could see looked like they didn't have a whole lot of training, even if a lucky shot occasionally sent one of the aliens sailing from their chariots. Well, he thought. So much for keeping my powers under wraps.
Luckily, his run in with Barney had taught him an important lesson about not leaving himself vulnerable outside of the danger room, and the weight of the hand tazer was comforting in his pocket. Probably useless against the Chitauri on its own, it could at least function as a power source for an electric mutant. And though it looked like he was hardly alone in this fight, they didn't have the forces that were around during the first attack, so he needed all the power he could get. No time to worry about making the world aware of what he was--that was something he could deal with when aliens weren't trying to destroy Brooklyn.
So while trying to guide some civilians toward the subway stations where he thought they'd be safest, he stopped only long enough to slip the tazer from his pocket, hesitating for but a moment before his thumb was on the button and he was jamming the thing up against his wrist. Ash's teeth clenched as the voltage passed through his skin, traveling along the network of veins beneath--at least until the tazer was drained, at which point he discarded it. Should be enough to keep him charged for a little while, at least.
None too soon, either, since he had the fortune to find one of the Leviathans diving straight for him before he could even start fighting. Even fully charged, Ash didn't think he could hope to stop the thing head-on, so he opted to shove the other civilians out of its path first. Not left with enough time to dive out of the way himself, he found a different way to avoid that over-sized mouth of the Leviathan, using his electricity like a grappling line to hook on to the metallic plating covering most of its body. Whether it was armor or actually part of the creature, a bit of electromagnetism kept it from throwing him off.
He'd ended up on top of its head, but he climbed higher before it could try and smash him into a building, at which point he spotted the woman already clinging to its back. Though she looked ordinary enough, the fact that she was riding the whale-like creature told him she couldn't be human. "Need some help?" He managed a grin despite the situation, the hand that wasn't keeping him glued to the beast shooting out, a bolt of electricity short-circuiting the nearest chariot, sending it spiraling into the pavement.
Darcy stared up as the swarms of familiar aliens filled the sky. The bastards were everywhere. Sitting in the back of a yellow taxi cab, Darcy vaguely realized she should probably be pissing herself with fright right about now. Unfortunately, that emotion wasn’t able to surface past the anger.
She now officially owed Thor five bucks.
Why couldn’t the aliens have waited until next year to attack?! After all of Thor’s bellyaching about this Thanos dude, and trying to make sure Jane was in the safest place he could find here on Midgard, Darcy had finally snapped and informed the Asgardian that 1) Jane was fine where she was, and 2) the aliens weren’t going to come back anytime soon. They’d just got their asses handed to them by the Avengers like three years ago. An entire army. Demolished by six.. well, yeah, the Hulk was technically a person, too, she supposed. Sure, NYPD and the military had helped, but everyone knew it was the heroic efforts of the Avengers who’d kept the invasion at bay before they could get their shit figured out.
She’d finished returning her books to the library in a timely fashion this morning, and stayed to see if there were any other tomes she might need to inspect for class. In the end, she’d spent nearly four hours browsing the shelves while her iPod shuffled through a mix of music that was more eclectic than she’d really like to admit. She didn’t end up deciding to take anything home, so with a casual wave to the librarian, she’d headed out to snag the first cab on its way back towards Manhattan, where her adorable new apartment overlooking Central Park was waiting for her.
The invasion started shortly after entering Brooklyn, and Darcy realized not too long after swearing aloud that she had, in fact, used her outside voice. Offering the cab driver a tight smile of apology, she quickly returned her attention to the Chitauri flooding the streets. A part of her wondered just how long she could stay hidden in the cab before they found her. The more sensible part of her mind, however, knew that staying in a stationary vehicle was probably the absolute worst place to be right now. She’d seen the footage. Cars barely stood a chance against the ferocity of these aliens.
“Shit!” she screamed, ducking as a chariot whizzed past their location. Her hands fumbled around inside her bag for a moment before she found the item she was looking for and she almost sagged with relief. Explosions were filling the street, mingling with the shrieks of humanity and the horrid groans of heavy metal objects being tossed about. “Oh hell no…” The shadow of something big fell over the street and Darcy reached forward, grasping the cabbie’s shoulder. “We gotta go, dude. C’mon! Curbside! Move it!”
Sliding across the back seat of the car, Darcy threw herself out of the cab. She hissed as her knee connected with the pavement, but tried her best not to focus on the pain too much. The driver was still clambering towards her, so she helped him by throwing the door open before grabbing him by the shoulder again and hauling him out. Just as they both collapsed onto the sidewalk outside the cab, a blast from a nearby Chitauri weapon sent the vehicle exploding into the sky.
Darcy spread herself out over top of the older gentleman, pressing her face into his back to keep the worst of the heat away from it while she shielded him. As soon as it was clear the car would not be crashing down on top of them - its target was apparently the car in front of them - she began pulling the man to his feet. “Move, dude! Move!” Fear was all she could see in the man’s eyes as he joined her in standing, so Darcy tried to put on her best comforting face - not an easy task when aliens were running around, killing everything in sight. “Come on, dude. We gotta get somewhere saf -”
Her words were cut off by the high pitched shriek that exploded out from her throat as the point of a spear came way too close for comfort… through the cabbie’s chest. Dear god, these things were burlier than she’d imagined up close! And more cybernetic than she’d anticipated. Jesus! It was like a love child between a Tim Burton version of Marvin the Martian and the fuckin’ Terminator!
The hand that had been resting on his shoulder fell away while the other thrust at the alien out of sheer panicked instinct. Sparks flew between the prongs of the handheld taser as she pulled the trigger and it connected to the creature’s right hip. She was fairly certain this is where she would die, but something magical happened.
No, not magical.
Scientific!
There was no way of knowing if she’d hit a weak spot in the beast’s defenses, or if the electrical current of her military grade taser (SHIELD upgrade - fuck yeah!) was just enough to short circuit the whole damn thing. Either way, she wasn’t going to stop and try to figure it out. Being brainy was Jane’s job. Darcy’s job was staying alive. Thankfully, that task was made a smidge easier as the alien convulsed and dropped to the ground, sparking in death. Of course, this was just one in a sea of so many she had no intentions of even bothering to count.
Post by Wanda Maximoff on Feb 15, 2016 18:58:44 GMT
'cause your soul is on fire
### WORDS
@brynja
It did not take long for another super-powered individual to join the battle. Wanda caught sight of a blonde woman fighting with a sword on the ground in the edge of her vision before she refocused on the task at hand. There were many of the creatures in the sky on chariot-like vehicles and Wanda took to taking them and their chariots out together so another alien couldn't decide to use the vehicle later to create trouble in the air.
She could hear gunfire below her, no doubt from the armed forces that she had just been speaking to, and she hoped that they would be able to protect those citizens that were not able to get to safety on their own. Despite her past Wanda wanted nothing more than to protect people to the best of her ability and utilize the power she’d been given for good. Since escaping HYDRA and beginning her training with Stephen this was her first big chance to prove her dedication to this task.
Suddenly she heard a shout from the blonde’s direction and her eyes widened at the sight of the giant creature the woman was perched upon. She and the creature were headed towards the ground, where a group of civilians was in their direct path. With her power still crackling around her hands as she floated in the air, Wanda began a movement towards the large creature before an electrical current lashed out at the beast, revealing another combatant to aid the blonde. She directed her attacks back towards the smaller creatures in the sky, but her gaze alighted on another of the giant sky-beasts a few blocks away. She knew that they would need to take it out as well and began thinking of ways to do so as she blasted Chitauri from the sky.
One such beast, however, was not deterred by the same blast that had taken care of the others, and grabbed hold of her to take her to the ground. Wanda struggled against the creature, who was more powerful than her physically, before gathering energy on both her hands and simply shoving them into the creature’s neck. The creature jolted and its attack stopped as it slumped to the side and Wanda scrambled out from underneath it.
It seemed that the larger ones were not simply larger, but more powerful. She made note of that as she stood, catching sight of a young woman with a taser nearby. “Are you alright?” she asked the woman, “There is a military blockade behind some way that is more protected.”
The Asgardian Valkyrie was surprised when one of the civilians she’d been trying to warn leapt into action. His valor was notable, but not more so than the lightning crackling out from his hands! “Well met!” she called out, continuing to hack and tear away at the thick plate-like scales coating the back of the Leviathan’s skull. At the sound of the young man’s question, Brynja turned and, thinking for a moment, nodded. “Get ready for my mark…”
In no time, there was a decent enough gap between the scales and the hide for her to shove her spear into. The Leviathan lurched from the impact, but seemed to shrug off the attack easily enough. Turning towards the young man, Brynja nodded and pointed towards the end of her spear. “Strike there now!” she called over the deep, agitated shriek of the whale. Removing both hands from the spear, she pointed towards the place where the metal of her spear tip was lodged in the beast. With enough power, the electricity could surge through the beast, the metal of her spear posing as a conduit to send the energy coursing through its body.
As soon as it was dead - or at least in its final throes, hurtling towards the base of a building - Brynja leapt free of the beast, taking the young human with her if he seemed to need assistance. Once back on the ground, she turned to face the mutant and pressed her right fist to her breast in a crisp Asgardian salute. “It has been an honor serving beside you. May the gods watch over you this day. Should they fail, I will find you after the battle, and personally escort you to Valhalla.”
With that, she pushed off from the ground, her powerful legs giving her enough of a vertical leap to catch on to a passing chariot. Swiftly clambering up, she planted herself on the vessel and made quick work of the two Chitauri manning it. There seemed to be more foes on the ground to deal with than before and not nearly enough people who had the ability to reach those in the air, so Brynja focused her energy on those - namely, the chariots and any other Leviathans who got in her way...
ADMIN SKIP Character Skipped: @brynja Reason: Player dropped character Next up:z inactive ashermaestas
Last Edit: Feb 20, 2016 3:49:01 GMT by S.S.A. Aech
Contact with member issues and questions relating to site events and character development.
Post by z inactive ashermaestas on Feb 21, 2016 7:11:54 GMT
ELECTRICKERY
Had her riding a Leviathan through the air not marked her pretty clearly as some sort of non-human, the woman's ability to cut through the beast's armor plating certainly did the trick. Not much besides superhuman strength that could accomplish that, since so far all the gunfire aimed at the whale-like creature hadn't made a dent. Even the modified SHIELD weapons seemed to have little to no effect on it. But then, it was supposed to be some kind of warship, right? It'd take a little more to bring it down.
Like a rather convenient pair of inhuman abilities, for example. On its own, the spear was little more than a sliver to something so large, and the leviathan's scales would've shielded it from Asher's electrical attacks. Together, however..
It was a lightning rod lodged right in the chink of its armor.
"Good thinking." he said, even as he gathered power in his hands, instead magnetizing his feet and knees to keep from being thrown off as the Leviathan lurched and tossed about in the air, no doubt trying to remove the both of them. Luckily, being so near to the beast's skull meant he had a direct route to its brain and spinal cord--assuming its anatomy wasn't completely different and those things weren't shoved back where its stomach should be.
A chance Asher was willing to take as he let the electricity fly straight down the metal blade of the woman's spear and into the Leviathan below. And by how it began to drop not two seconds later, it'd apparently been a smart bet. Ash rose to his feet as it descended, though the woman relieved him of having to figure out a quick, and less deadly way off, the easy landing leaving him to guess it wasn't only her strength that was superhuman.
Something that seemed all too obvious with her parting words. Gods, plural, and Valhalla? She had to be an Asgardian, though Ash didn't know which one. And if they weren't still in the midst of battle, he might've stopped to figure it out. Maybe later.. if he lived through the day. As she'd so cheerfully reminded him, he might be dead by the end of the battle.
Asher watched, briefly, as she rejoined the fray, then winced as the now-dead Leviathan crashed into one of the nearby buildings. Damn, he hoped he didn't have to pay for that. And that, hopefully, there hadn't been any civilians left in that building. Unfortunately, the destruction had only begun, and as if to prove the fight was far from over, he'd only just taken his eyes off of the Asgardian woman when he had to twist out of the way of a spear aimed for his chest, grabbing the blade and sending a quick jolt of electricity through to its Chitauri wielder.
Which.. was more effective than he'd anticipated. All he knew of the aliens' physiology was a few rumors, and it turned out they were more cybernetic than he'd thought. He'd only aimed to knock it out in order to conserve energy, but.. he was pretty sure he'd just fried its circuits, the way parts of it were smoking where it lay on the ground.
Tucking that bit of information away for now--it'd definitely come in handy later--Asher took a moment to reassess the battle situation.. once he'd determined he wasn't in iminent danger of an alien trying to impale him again. There was at least one more Leviathan, and any number of Chitauri, with some oddly larger than the others. He could spot several lying unmoving on the ground, but countless more still moving. Welp, he was gonna need some back up.
Which wasn't terribly hard to find, since all the non-combatants were either running for their lives, screaming, or cowering away somewhere. That left various people in uniforms, and.. a couple women nearby, surrounded by more than a few dead or twitching Chitauri. "You girls doing okay over there?" he asked, taking note of their lack of uniform, and the fallen human as well.
Well, so much for having a nice, relaxing day to work on getting caught up on studying… This day had gone from ‘not too shabby’ to ‘NOPE, NOPE, NOPE’ in a matter of minutes. Not only did she now owe the God of Thunder money, but the Earth was in danger of being destroyed by aliens… again. At least last time this had happened, she’d been conveniently hidden away at some observatory half a world away with Jane.
Shit - Jane! Darcy should probably try to get in touch with her best friend, but something told her that would be easier said than done. She should also probably try to call her parents. It had been a few days since she’d spoken with them, and although she’d ended that call with the obligatory announcement of undying love, she very well might never get another chance again.
No… To Hell with that way of thinking! She’d survived the frickin’ Destroyer! And the Avengers had dealt with these aliens before. This was almost laughably unfair to the attackers. And yet, as she watched more and more Chitauri swarming the street she was on, she wasn’t laughing. Dammit - where were they?! “C’mon, Stark…” she mumbled to herself, her eyes sweeping up and down the street as she tried to determine her best course of action.
With the cabby more than a little dead, she was alone now, which was… well, it sucked. Mostly for him, obviously, considering the whole “dead” thing. But she also didn’t have anyone to watch her six anymore. (Wow! SHIELD training! Yeah!) Granted, judging by his level of utter failure simply getting out of the cab, perhaps it was better that she wasn’t relying on him to keep her safe.
A flash of lightning in the air caught Darcy’s attention and she gasped with delight. Thor! Thank fuck! Dark chocolate orbs skimmed the top of the flying whale, a huge smile spread out on her lips as she tried to pinpoint her Asgardian buddy. Except… He wasn’t there… But she would have sworn… Realization dawned on her as she spied the pair of people on top of the creature, one of which seemed to be a… Well, his fingers crackled with lightning, but he certainly didn’t look Asgardian. Hell, she’d put money that the woman with him was from the Golden Realm before the kid.
She had a sword and armor and a vertical leap that would make any Olympian athlete jealous. Daaaamn…
As the Leviathan finally crashed into the corner of a building and the street further down the street, Darcy let out a breath and pulled her phone out. Her fingers sailed over the touch screen, swiping this way and that as she threw together a quick message to the only hero she had on speed dial whom she knew would at the very least see her text. Before she could finish her message, the sound of a female hit her ears and she turned, taser at the ready. “Uhh… Yeah…” she responded, clearly distracted by the swaths of reddish energy glowing around the woman’s hands.
She saw the blonde kid approach before she could formulate more proper thoughts. Coming from a direction she could see, she didn’t offer the sparking end of her taser to him in a defensive threat like she had at the woman’s initial presence. “I… think so?” She wasn’t even sure which way was up right now, if she was completely honest.
She’d spent almost two years at the SHIELD Academy, but none of that seemed to matter right now. These aliens were way burlier than her classmates. And besides, she was a student at the Academy of Communications. Maybe if these aliens wanted to stop for five seconds so she could psychoanalyze them, she’d be of more use. Until then, she was just going to… well… uhh… “You said something about a military blockade?...” she asked, turning back towards the woman.
Motioning for the woman to lead the way, Darcy nodded to the young man to let him know he was totally welcome to join them if he so desired. The more the merrier. And safer. And yeah, no, safer was definitely the better word for their current predicament. And speaking of safer… Turning back to the cell phone in her hand, she finally finished the text she’d gotten one word into previously.
Sooooo… In case you haven’t already heard, shit is gettin’ real here in the city… McGuiness is pretty screwed. No way to get across the bridge back home. Hunkering down with some soldier types on Java Ave. Any chance of y’all joining us here on the ground anytime soon?
p.s. I KILLED AN ALIEN!!!
As soon as the message was on its way to the billionaire, Darcy shoved the device back into her pocket, grasped her satchel tightly, and started hoofing it as fast as her average legs and lungs would take her in the direction the woman had suggested. She’d done a reasonable amount of target practice at the Academy, so if they had any spare guns, maybe she could help out that way. Or, if there were injured people, she knew basic first aid. All these years of keeping her CPR certification valid might actually pay off. Even if she just had to skulk about with her taser, she was an agent of SHIELD (in training), and she’d be damned if she didn’t at least try to live up to the organization’s motto:
“To serve when everything else fails; to be humanity’s last line of defense; to be the shield.”
Still… All heroics aside, hopefully Tony got her text sooner rather than later…
Wanda saw that the blonde woman had succeeded in taking down one of the large creatures, with the added aid of the electrical-powered mutant and that was some relief. After all, the fewer creatures they had in the sky, the more buildings they could save and the more people they could protect. Wanda did not want to see the kind of destruction first-hand that had been wrought upon this place when the aliens had first attacked it. The creature might take out a building on the way down, but that was better than the dozens it could take out if it was not dead.
The young woman that Wanda had approached seemed to be doing okay, even if she was frantic in the face of the attack. Wanda did not blame her for that, however, as it was only her desire to help people and the training that Stephen had given her that was keeping her from being frantic, herself.
The man with the electrical powers was also approaching and Wanda gave him a nod. "I am well, for the moment," she replied to his question. She was not one of the people to be worried over in this instance, as she was in little danger from these creatures.
Wanda nodded slightly as the young woman directed another question at her. "There is a military branch three blocks down that have set up for medical assistance. They are holding back the attackers," she explained. At least, she hoped that was what they were still doing. It would be helpful to have them attacking the aliens as well, but it seemed far more important to protect what civilians they could than to go on the offensive.
She nodded to the young woman and motioned for her to follow, figuring that it could not help to re-group with the military to figure out the next plan of attack. "I am Wanda," she introduced herself to both of her companions as they hurried back to the blockade, her on high alert for anything coming their way.
{MEANWHILE, IN SEATTLE...}
Tony blasted another of the creatures with a grimace as JARVIS buzzed a text into his helmet. He read it as he tracked a couple enemies and took them down before rattling off an answering text to send back.
In Seattle dealing with Chitauri invasion too. Good job on killing the alien. We'll fly back as soon as we clear the West Coast.
"Guys, the East Coast's got company too," he informed the others as he continued through the building.
Post by z inactive ashermaestas on Feb 29, 2016 5:31:14 GMT
ELECTRICKERY
Though the alien assault had probably thrown things out of wack, it was still a relief for the two girls not to freak out over the blatant display of his abilities. He'd taken down a Leviathan--with help--and that would probably scare a lot of people. Though, the lack of any visible guns suggested they might not be human, either. Most people, even with a deadly weapon, would've been running for the hills. Well, lucky for him, he supposed. Mutant powers or not, Ash wouldn't have liked his chances of staying alive if he'd been alone in this fight.
Which meant a military blockade sounded good, too. It was probably where the civilians would be fleeing to, and while that made it a prime target for the Chitauri, it also meant a lot more people to watch their backs. Even if the men and women in uniform weren't expert alien killers, they could use all the help they could get. And maybe he could take a few minutes to find another power source without being stabbed and shot at when he had some extra allies. The charge he got from the taser wouldn't last forever, and the only other weapon he had was stashed in his room back at the Institute. He wasn't too eager to be left defenseless in the middle of this mess.
"Asher," he offered in return, trying not to stare when he noticed one of the women texting. Hoping she wasn't quite that addicted to her phone, he wondered who or what could be so important that she'd stop paying attention to the invaders long enough to shoot someone a text. Family, maybe? Ash might've clued in his father as to what was going on the same way, but he'd rather not tell him that his son was in the middle of the battle. He'd probably find out when some news camera caught him anyways.. and Asher wasn't optimistic enough to think he wouldn't get shot the moment he turned his attention to his phone.
"And your name?" he wondered aloud, glancing briefly at the other girl before looking back at the destruction the aliens were leaving in their wake. If they'd come in through a portal again, Ash couldn't see it, or else he would've tried to target that. He knew the Chitauri were hive-minded based on how the battle with the Avengers had ended, but he didn't see how that helped them any if they couldn't attack the command center. Was there really much else they could do besides defend the civilians to the best of their abilities?
Shaking his head, Ash refused to dwell on what seemed like futile efforts based on their numbers. "I don't suppose either of you have a plan?" he asked, turning his attention back to the two girls. In particular, his eyes wandered down to the taser one of them still held in her hand, but he said nothing. Helpful as it might've been, he wouldn't risk draining the woman's only weapon, especially with how effective electricity seemed to be against the Chitauri.
Darcy nodded absently at the dark haired woman as she pointed in the direction of the military blockade. Three blocks wasn’t too far. And if they all stuck together, there was a considerably higher chance for survival. Glancing around at the trio, she couldn’t help but feel incredibly out of her league. as she watched the electricity crackling from the young man’s hands, and the… whatever the hell that was.. crackling from the woman’s. There was nothing to be done about it, though. Hell or high water, she was stuck in this mess, and hell or high water, she’d deal with it as each blow came.
The buzz of her phone going off sent a jolt through her - damn, Tony was fast. Or, at least, she hoped it was Tony. One hand flew to the pocket where the phone was contained, her eyes instantly skimming the screen. “Son of a bitch…” she groaned. Unsure what else to say, she typed out a quick “Stay safe” and called it good.
“Avengers are on the West Coast right now. Tony says they’ll be back as soon as they can, but… I can’t imagine that’ll be anytime in the next few hours… Name’s Darcy, by the way,” she announced, offering the pair a tight smile as they moved through the streets. Yup, that’s right. She knew some of the Avengers well enough to be on a first name basis with them. Nope, she was not ashamed to toss that information out so that everyone knew.
If she was completely honest, Darcy really didn’t have any kind of plan besides find other humans and try to keep each other safe. She wasn’t a hero. She wasn’t even a SHIELD agent for crap’s sake. “Does ‘pray I run into some of my superior officers at the military blockade’ count as a plan?” she asked, a mirthless chuckle trickling out of her full lips.
Dark orbs followed the young man’s eyes as he seemed to be trying to conjure up a plan of his own, especially when they landed on the taser in her hand. Her skills of observation had always been more on point than most people gave her credit for (mostly due to her big mouth, she assumed). For half a moment, she wondered if he thought she might attack him with it, but that was stupid. The kid had electricity sparking out of his fingertips. Ohhhhhh…
“You, uhh… Need a pick-me-up?” Without the taser, she was as good as useless, but honestly, even with the taser, it would take sheer dumb luck to kill a second alien. “I’m totally cool with staying as far away from the big bads, and I’m pretty alright with a gun, so I can steal one from some NYPD or something… So.. if you need this, it’s yours.” She reached towards him with the taser, turning it in her hands so that he could grasp the handle if he decided he wanted it. She’d seen the way he helped take down that monstrous flying whale thing. The hell if she was going to deny him juice, if that’s the kind of stuff he could do with the electrical power from a taser. “This isn’t my first alien invasion… ish…” she assured him, putting on her best ‘I got this’ smile.
The young man who had assisted in taking down one of the large flying creatures seemed friendly enough and a brief brush of her powers told her that his surface thoughts were mostly having to do with protecting others and assisting in the battle; good thoughts for a potential ally to be having in this exact instance.
Blinking a bit at the young woman as she looked up from her phone, she wondered how it was that she kept meeting people connected to Tony Stark by chance. "If they are on the other coast, it seems this attack was planned for a time they were not here," she replied, as that was the thing that made sense to her in that moment. She knew a little of battle strategy from her time in the Brotherhood and under HYDRA's thumb. This seemed to be a pointed attempt at attacking the city while it was down.
She shook her head slightly at the young man's question. "I have no true plan," she replied, "I am simply doing what I can to help in these circumstances; to protect people." That was what Wanda believed was her calling, and she would continue in that conviction until she was given reason to think it was wrong. She highly doubted that would ever happen, but one could never be certain in such things.
"Perhaps if you know them it will help in getting them to work with us," Wanda suggested as Darcy mentioned that she was somehow involved in military operations. Wanda didn't know enough to investigate further, but she was sure having one of their own with her would give her more credibility in asking assistance.
As they neared the barricade she turned her attention to the young man, Asher, again. "Do you think you could assist me in taking down another of the flying beasts? I believe they are the more important targets at the moment." It would be a good idea to get them first, as they could cause the most damage to the area.
Phase 2 threads should be wrapping up by Friday, March 18th, 11:59 PM EST. Try and come to whatever stopping point you can. Threads can also end earlier if you take out the Leviathans. Thanks, and have fun!
Post by z inactive ashermaestas on Mar 6, 2016 6:25:45 GMT
ELECTRICKERY
Belatedly wondering if he should've offered his "codename" instead, Asher shook his head. No. The alias was useful to have for the civilians, but if he was going to be risking his life with these girls, they should at least know his real name. Keeping a lid on his identity was gonna be next to impossible after today, anyways. Given how flashy his fighting style was, chances weren't great that he'd be able to avoid the cameras. Dodging bullets--if he could call what the alien guns shot bullets--and spears got first priority.
Something which he was beginning to think was not the case for one of the women he was running with.. because, somehow, she was on her phone again. He might've been tempted to short-circuit the thing for her own safety, but her reply this time, at least, was quick, and her words explained what had been so important about the text.
The same words that made him slow to a halt and wiped the grin from his face.
"Why are the Avengers on the West Coast?" he asked, however obvious the answer was. The Avengers Tower was here, in the East Coast.. chances were slim that they'd all been on the other side of the country for recreational purposes. Dammit! That end of the country was supposed to be safe. Or at least, safer than New York, where the place was packed with super-powered heroes and villains and everything in between. At least most of the friends Ash had made since moving into the institute had some sort of ability or crazy training that kept them alive. His father back in California was defenseless against the Chitauri.
Sparks flew from his fingers, and Asher reigned in his emotions and aimed his thoughts elsewhere before he could dwell on the worst-case scenario. The aliens might not even be in that part of the West Coast. And either way, there was nothing he could do about it from here. Even pulling out his trump card wouldn't put him anywhere near the other side of the country in a few minutes. Better to focus on what he could fix, and that was the aliens here in Brooklyn. Taking a breath, he caught up with Wanda and Darcy.
"Sorry, ignore that," he offered, as they had far more important things to worry about than his familial concerns. "You're military?" Well, it might explain how she knew Tony Stark.. though he wondered how she was close enough to the man to have his cell phone number. She might have some interesting stories to tell, if they both lived through this mess. "And sure.. but I'd pray they've got some extra firepower, while you're at it," he said, putting the grin back on his face.. though it was less than half-hearted, compared to earlier.
A less devastating surprise was that she seemed to have picked up on how his powers worked. He wasn't the most capable fighter without an external source of electricity, so yeah, the added juice of a second taser would be helpful. Actually.. hers looked modified, now he could see it up close, so it might pack even more of a punch than the one he'd used earlier. But he'd feel guilty leaving her without a weapon if she didn't have any special abilities to fall back on. Even if she had been in another alien invasion--the attack on New York?--that didn't mean she could overpower a Chitauri.
"I'd prefer if you got a gun first.." But then, the other woman wanted to take down another of the Leviathans, and that was gonna be difficult without recharging. He had.. maybe a couple good shots left in him. But maybe there was a middle ground. "How 'bout you just taze me instead?" Okay, that was a weird question to ask. "Yours looks specially made, so you might be able to give me a boost without draining it completely. It'll hurt me a bit, but don't worry about it." Turning back to Wanda, he reached back to push his hood out of the way, exposing the back of his neck. As good of a place to shock him as any, he figured, and letting the current follow his spinal cord might be more efficient. Not to mention, he barely knew the woman, and anywhere else might be kind of.. awkward.
Glancing over Wanda again, he quickly gathered that she had to be some sort of mutant or superhuman. No weapons, and yet she'd had the dead Chitauri around her before. Must've been the handiwork of her powers, since Asher couldn't imagine her taking them down bare-handed. "Yeah, I can help. So what can you do?" he asked, more out of necessity than curiosity. If the two of them were going to be fighting together, it'd be helpful to see how their abilities worked together, too. He'd never established any level of teamwork with this woman, so he had to start somewhere.
