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.
Stephen put much of his attention on maintaining the barrier around himself and Draconia, while also being sure to open it in places as she tossed aside pieces of the Leviathan's armor. At the same time, he would deflect any incoming Chitauri from the bubble by channeling his energy bolts through the shield and into them. It all required a certain degree of multitasking, but no more than he needed when he had someone whose head was quite open on his operating table. To know what needed to be done, communicating the need to his team, and then being sure to take what he needed from them while maintaining his focus on his patient... Using magic in battles as chaotic as this had a familiarity to it that Stephen actually enjoyed. "My friend, you've nothing to fear from me, if today is any illustration of your moral leaning. Anger is not the thing that prompts me to action, I assure you..."
She didn't seem too concerned about her own well-being, but even if she was as sturdy as she claimed, these attacks could be distracting. Stephen didn't know how her particular mutation worked, and for the most part it seemed to be physical, rather than anything that required an intense amount of focus, or was controlled by the mind. Still, he would want to keep her protected while she worked, even if she wasn't in any real danger. It was something of a knee-jerk instinct of his, and this task seemed all too important. To that end, Stephen made sure to telekinetically hold onto a particularly large piece of armor that she tore of, holding it in the air as he continued to open his shield for the other pieces she threw.
When she was done, Stephen dropped the barrier entirely to allow her to lift off of the Leviathan. When she mentioned the possibility of him "having something" that could eliminate the Leviathan, Stephen couldn't help but smirk. He was silent as he moved the piece of armor he'd held onto over the exposed part of the Leviathan, turning it in the air so that its sharpest edge was pointed straight down. What he needed now was surgical precision, and luckily he'd trained for years - even before meeting the Ancient One - to have exactly that. He lifted his hand in the air before swinging it down, the piece of armor following suit and plunging into the Leviathan, causing the beast to buckle before starting to fall out of the sky.
He would move on, were it not for the fact that more mutants were fighting below. He moved around to the underside of the Leviathan to begin breaking it apart, but more Chariots arrived and began firing on his position. He shielded himself from them, but the pilots continued to circle around, taking his attention away from casting any spells that might break up the remnants of the Leviathan. He looked around to try and find Draconia, but - whether because she'd moved or because of the chaos - he could not find her. So instead of using his eyes, he reached out to her with his mind, two fingers pressed against his temple as one hand remained outstretched to uphold his shield. Wherever Draconia was, Stephen's voice would enter his mind - as though it were one of her own thoughts but in a different voice. Draconia, I need support so that I may destroy the Leviathan before it hurts anyone below. Although I wouldn't be averse to someone else taking care of the beast, if you are able or know of one below who is.
The streets of Manhattan were littered with Chitauri. Small pockets of resistance were beginning to build here and there, but for the most part, the aliens were outnumbering those willing to fight for their survival. Morlocks were continuing to pour out of the woodworks, at least, in pairs or small groups. From her vantage point above the streets, Rogue could see the looks of fear on the humans’ faces as more seemingly disfigured creatures joined the fray, but every ounce of revulsion seemed to disappear once they noticed that the mutants were there to save them.
Her first priority was to destroy as many of the aliens as she could - namely the ones still flying about causing a ruckus. She couldn’t help deep down that if they all made it out of this alive, the humans might finally see that mutants really weren’t so bad. Every race had their bad apples, of course, but for the most part, mutants were just like humans in their desire to live in peace.
As the chariot rounded another corner, Rogue spied a Leviathan slowly slithering through the air in their direction. For all of half a second, she contemplated throwing herself off the chariot and into the beast’s mouth in order to drop fireball after fireball down its gullet, but her sanity returned before the thought could even fully formulate. Instead, she pointed towards the next block, signalling to her pilot that he turn in that direction to avoid the massive creature. He seemed to agree and worked towards turning the chariot while she hurled a few flaming blue spheres into the beast’s mouth from afar. They definitely seemed to agitate the creature, but it was far too slow to turn in time to give them proper chase.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Rogue took a few moments’ reprieve from hiccup-burping out blue balls of death in order to gather her wits and take a deep breath. If she kept up at this pace, she’d be blue in the face (even more so than she already was) from lack of oxygen.
It wasn’t long before she and the makeshift Morlock pilot arrived back to the same area where she’d left Trinity and the floating mutant with wicked white sideburns. (As someone with a striking hair coloration, she tended to notice when others bore similarly distinguishing physical features.) They seemed to have done a good job at taking out the Leviathan, but… wait… What the hell was going on? This didn’t look good…
Rogue didn’t even need to offer her pilot directions. He sent the chariot whizzing towards the group currently making a wide circle around the salt and pepper haired magician while Rogue worked on hiccuping a ball of fire. “Rogue Leader comin’ in hot!” she called out, grinning despite herself as they neared the small swarm of enemy chariots. One chariot was shot down the moment she got in range, its hull breached by the bright blue flames gifted to her by the true draconian Morlock. Two more fireballs followed suit, quickly decimating the remaining foes keeping the cloaked man from doing… well… whatever it was he was trying to do with the dying Leviathan. “Well, look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time! What does that make us?”
Down below, Jason was keeping himself busy. His gun sang out each time he pulled the trigger, and more often than not, the bullets hit their target. They didn’t always go down with a single bullet, unfortunately, and soon enough, he was out of ammunition. There were still civilians to help, though. Weaponless or no, he was still one of New York’s finest - protecting and defending was in his blood.
It didn’t take much convincing to to sway the the people around him to continue on inside the cafe where the walls would at least offer an extra bit of shelter from the energy blasts flying this way and that throughout the area. There weren’t any aliens currently encroaching on this area - they were all too busy dealing with the fanged and frightfuls. Jason found he didn’t mind the slight break so much. It gave him a moment to breathe, and to reevaluate the situation as a whole.
He didn’t have long to think, however, as something large, metallic, and on fire (blue fire, to be precise, he noticed at the last moment) came careening towards his current location. Sheer instinct kept him alive as he flung himself over a pile of rubble to avoid getting splattered by the downed chariot. Pain lanced through his arm as it connected with a piece of rebar sticking out that he hadn’t noticed before making his dive. He heard the familiar crack of bone splintering and felt the sharp sensation of flesh ripping apart just before the scent of blood hit his nose.
Fuck...
A growl built up at the back of his throat as he tried to suffocate the pain. He could feel the shift beginning and continued to swear inwardly, but was cut off by a large chunk of concrete sliding down the slight hill, stopping only once it connected with his temple. The world disappeared then - the pain, the shift, the battle - as he slid into unconsciousness.
Two nearby Morlocks who’d witnessed Jason’s incident rushed over, one defending them from any approaching Chitauri while the other carried the injured detective inside the cafe where a doctor who’d been out on a coffee run beckoned them towards her. There wasn’t much she could do without an actual medical kit, but there was water, wood, and plenty of cloth to create a makeshift sling for the wounded warrior…
ADMIN NOTE Character Injured: @jason Injuries: Broken arm (player chooses which); Concussion Next Up: @trinity OUT FOR REMAINDER OF THREAD.
When united we come to the land of the sun With the heart of a dragon we ride
"Don't be too sure about that, it ain't just my outsides that look like a dragon." Trinity smiled as she said the words though, she knew she had a temper on her, and though her smiles tended to look more menacing with all the sharp teeth she wouldn't really hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. Without the distraction of energy blasts and Chitauri, Trin made quick work of the armor along the Leviathan's back. When she asked Stephen to find something to take it out with, she certainly hadn't been expecting him to do it himself with whatever magic powers let him lift things that heavy with his mind. She very much liked this man, whoever he was and that was a rare thing indeed.
However, before she could properly finished admiring the sorcerer's handy work, two Chitlian lept off the side of the building nearby and both piled onto of her. One of them caught her in the back, his arm wrapping around the base of her wing and keeping it from moving while the other came at her from the front. With both of their weight and one wing useless, Trinity fell from the sky. She did not go down with out a fight however. Roaring in rage she punched the Chitlian in the face and Sparta kicked him away from her just in time to see the ground come rushing up. She only just managed to use her remaining wing to spin herself so that she didn't land wrong and potentially break something she was going to need in this fight.
Still, this meant there was a Chitlian on top of her now and he wasted no time in trying to bash her brains in, her tail came up, trying desperately to stab at him from behind. Finally, she made contact, plunging her tail through his torso and using her dense muscles to throw him off her. That temper she had been thinking about before reared it's ugly head, which basically matched hers as she slowly stood up, stretching out her wings to test that nothing had been damaged before descending on the Chitlian like a monster from a Grimm Fairytale. Her teeth sank into his neck as her claws nearly ripped him in half. One there were only pieces of him laying on the sidewalk, Trinity stood there for a moment, regaining the human side of herself and reigning in the Dragon.
And then Stephen's voice was there in her head and it made her shake her head as if trying to get a bug out of her ear. It did manage to bring her out of the darkness though, and catching a glimpse of herself in the reflection of a broken window she eyed the space over her head where one of her horns used to be and the mess of sticky black blood that now covered her front. By the way, Chitlian tasted like metal and tar...disgusting. Wiping at her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket, Trinity turned her gaze upwards, her lips curling into a cruel, sharp grin before she launched herself skyward, breaking the window the rest of the way with the force of air displaced.
"Blue Leader, Got yer six!" Draconia replied to Rogue's call out as she flew past the woman to barrel into the chariot on the other side. The sheer momentum of Trinity's movement pushed the Chariot into the one behind it, much like a pile up on the highway. she dispatched the Chitauri on board with less grace and more force then she normally would have but her patience was wearing thin. She made a circle around the Sorcerer, clearing out what she could before she came to a stop at his side. "I think that makes us Big Damn Heroes." She answered Rogue's question, before bringing her hands up to cup around her mouth. Instead of hiccuping, she opened her throat and simply let the fire flow.
It was far less accurate this way, but the flames tended to burn hotter. She blew the azure flames upwards, incinerating large pieces of the Leviathan before they could reach the ground. What fire wasn't put out by their fall to the ground would burn out soon with little in the way of real fuel to burn. She spied a Chitlian attempting to leap off a building, aiming right for Stephen as he focused on trying to pull the Leviathan apart. With an incredible thrust of her wings, Trinity launched herself between the two, catching the Chitlian around the throat with one hand. "Going somewhere?" She asked him, facing the roaring mix of alien and computer as it fought her grip on it's throat. She thought seriously about ripping it's head off but a new idea sparked her interest.
Allowing a small stream of fire to leave her lips, she used her free hand to guide the flames around the Chitlian. His roars of anger turned to roars of pain as she cooked his goose. What flames touched her merely burned the skin off her scales, the rest of her was immune to the heat, she actually found it kind of comfortable. Once the Chitlian was fairly well done, she tossed him at a chariot flying past, causing it to explode and take it's Chitauri occupants with it. Trinity may have had a good heart, but there was a reason she was called Draconia. It wasn't a bright idea to meddle in the affairs of dragons, or interrupt their post concert breakfast.
Done with her alien BBQ, Trinity returned to Rogue and Strange, she knew this fight wasn't over yet but she was seriously hoping it would be over soon. This Dragon was in dire need of a nap. "This city is still crawling with Aliens." Trinity said out loud as she returned to them, though her words seemed oddly punctuated by the massive shadow that floated over top of them as a third Leviathan meandered along above them. "There is just an ocean of you fellas isn't there?"
Stephen was of course thankful when his allies arrived to aid him - Rogue dispatching the various chariots that had decided to surround the Sorcerer, and Draconia making short work of the remnants of the Leviathan before they could hit the ground. It was a victory for the three of them, of course, but in the grand scheme of this invasion, the victory was all too small. Aliens flooded the streets, warring with the Morlocks - Mutants whose mutations were so severe that they might very well be mistaken for aliens themselves, were they not seen fighting back against the invaders. That was the tragedy of mutants, really - to have no control over their abilities or their appearance, and to be so hated for it. But then, that was the tragedy of men and women everywhere - it was just a shame more people couldn't understand that.
However, now was not the time for thinking on tragedies, or bemoaning what might have been or what still could be. Now was the time for war - war against the aliens that now flooded the streets. One question, though, scratched at the back of Stephen's mind: when last the Chitauri had invaded the Earth, they had a figurehead in Loki. He had gone through the workings to bring the Chitauri here before, and had generally let them loose upon the city. But Loki was not present, not as far as Stephen could tell, and that simply begged the question: If Loki wasn't leading these Chitauri, guiding them in their attack, then who - or what - was? Any attempts he made to breach their mind was met with too many voices for him to sort through for relevant information. A hive mind that he could not read, meaning they were organized and would betray no secrets. So their best hope was to stop the invasion, and worry about who commanded it later.
The third Leviathan reared itself above them, and Stephen scowled at the beast. How many of them were flying through this city, and others? How many people would be killed in the destruction, and how many people would he not be able to save? He could only hope that in destroying these beasts, he might spare more lives - and with that thought, he took off towards the Leviathan, intent on re-enacting their previous plan. Unfortunately, a Chitlian riding on the back of a chariot had different plans for the Sorcerer: the amalgam of flesh and metal leapt from its vehicle, wrapping its arms around Stephen and dragging him back to the Earth by only its own weight being too much for him to carry so suddenly.
They might both have died in the descent, had Stephen not gained enough composure after the initial shock to slow their momentum before crashing into an abandoned city bus on the street below. Bones ached in ways they hadn't since a fateful night when rain had made the road slick, and was so heavy that the headlights on Stephen's car couldn't illuminate more than a few feet ahead of him. The sound of the metal crunching and the windows shattering as their frames shifted shape in ways the glass could not, it was all too familiar, and Stephen - rather than retaliating against his attacker - found himself in a panic.
From there, everything seemed to happen in a moment - and yet, it all moved in slow motion. The Chitlian screeched in Stephen's face, lifting a mechanized fist with which to crush the Sorcerer's head against the metal frame of the bus. Stephen saw many things: parents he never appreciated, and a sister he cared for perhaps all too much, making her loss all the more bitter for it being his fault. A crash, a man who'd sacrificed everything that he'd always hoarded so closely, people who saw in him a chance for some renewed purpose... A man who had the respect of a Nation that would call him "friend," a girl who had no home but was seemingly destined for greatness, a woman like a Goddess coming to him for help. But where those were flashes of moments passed, what Stephen saw next he new to be reality - a sword gleamed as it ran through the raised fist, pinning forearm to bicep so that the arm couldn't move, and then a foot slamming against the side of the Chitlian, knocking it away and off the bus as the sword was removed. Then, a hand, open and coming out of a familiar - if bloodstained - green and gold sleeve, which Stephen grasped readily before being pulled up. "Doctor? Doctor, are you alright?"
Regenerative magic washed over Stephen, as he looked into the face of his loyal assistant. He'd never been a man to believe in fate above making his own path in life, but what else but fate could have put him so close to where Wong had been in all this chaos? Stephen was sitting upright, but soon enough he was standing - for the most part, rejuvenated, but there was only so much Wong could do without proper time to heal him. The Sorcerer shook himself back to reality, scanning the scene of the battle around him. "Better now that you are here, my friend... But I am afraid I must leave you again. This diversion took me from an important task that I must return to - you have my eternal thanks, and I will see you back at the Sanctum when this is all over. Good luck, Wong - and please, stay safe."
He looked back to the sky, floating a bit more shakily into the air before his motions became fluent once again. He picked up speed slowly, but soon he was back where he was, looking for the Leviathan though somehow he seemed to have lost it. How far had he moved during that fall? No matter; he had allies, and now more than ever he needed to rely upon those around him, damning the person he used to be who might scold him for such a line of thinking. His eyes closed and a shield formed around him in case more Chariots arrived, as he reached out with his mind to both Draconia and Rogue. Draconia, Rogue - apologies for my disappearance, I am quite recovered. We must find that Leviathan and put a stop to it before it topples this whole section of the city. Do either of you have it in your sights?"
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!
A lopsided grin slid into place on Rogue’s face as Trinity not only joined her in the air around the magician, but responded in kind with an equally nerdy response. Neither of them were pilots of any kind, but over the course of the past few hours, and during the concert shenanigans, they’d quickly realized that both of them were complete and utter nerds at heart. That dorkiness certainly helped right now - she should be scared half to death while soaring through the New York streets so high up with aliens intent on killing her (and every other human on the planet) attacking from every which way… and yet, with the wind in her hair and the blue sky above, she was halfway to Cloud Nine. Although… Perhaps that was a bit of Trinity’s personality leaking through, now that she thought about it…
“Ain’t we just,” she purred, watching with piqued curiosity as Trinity let out a gout of flame, instead of her normal blue fireballs.
Well now… That looked like fun…
Mimicking the dragonian’s moves, Rogue steadied herself on the chariot as they soared down low before letting loose with her own river of flame while Trinity worked at finishing off the Leviathan. Her attack seared through a few groups of Chitauri, burning them where they stood before they could leap up onto the surrounding buildings in an attempt to grapple any of the flying heroes.
Okay. So, it wasn’t actually as fun as she’d thought, but it certainly did the trick. Thankfully, the inside of her mouth was currently suited for such a high temperature - higher even than the hiccuped fireballs were.
The chariot being as difficult to manage as it was, Rogue nodded to her pilot as he turned to shoot a concerned look in her direction. Pointing towards a group halfway down the block, she waited for him to adjust their trajectory before grabbing the mute mutant and leaping off. With Trinity’s dragonian strength and resilience running through her veins, sticking the landing with her new buddy in hand was easy enough. As soon as both of their boots were on the ground, they were both on the move, hauling ass towards the section of the street where Trinity and the magician were finishing up with what remained of the deceased Leviathan.
By the time they reached the magician, a third monstrosity was rearing its ugly head as it slid against a nearby skyscraper heading their way from a cross-street. “Shit… Trin, Ah thank I’m gonna run outta juice ‘fore we can finish this one… Can Ah get a boost?” Her eyes wandered towards the man with salt-and-pepper sideburns and she arched a brow as she lifted one hand. “‘Less ya thank ya’d be a better choice fer me t’ suck the life outta,” she grinned, her tone playful rather than threatening.
She honestly had no clue what this guy was, or what he was capable of, which was a risk she honestly wasn’t sure she was willing to take. The last time she’d absorbed someone with powers unlike those she’d grown accustomed to during her time at Xavier’s, she’d ended up with over three thousand years’ worth of memories in her brain, a set of broken ribs, and personally gotten herself on the shitlist of Odin Allfather. Yeah… Trinity was definitely the safer choice…
While the magician rocketed off towards the Leviathan, Rogue cast a quick, worried glance in Trinity’s direction. They’d just have to catch up in a few moments, after she snagged a bit more of Trinity’s get-up-and go juice. Grasping the dragonian’s hand, Rogue focused on the little nugget of power lodged deep inside of her, letting it spread out towards her fingertips. It didn’t take long to start feeling the effects, and soon enough, the fire was flowing hotter through her veins once more.
Releasing her hold on Trinity’s hand, Rogue growled deep in the back of her throat as she worked to center herself again. Her body continued to burn from the inside out, but the pain slowly centered on two spots in her back. Glowing sapphire eyes shot open as realization struck her and Rogue had just enough time to crumple to the ground as the flesh of her back cracked open.
The sound of flesh and cloth tearing erupted throughout the small area as a pair of giant wings began to grow from her shoulderblades. Tears streamed down her face for the second time today, but she managed to strangle the cry of pain before it could turn into an outright howl of distress. She was panting and flushed by the time the wings stopped growing. She needed to move, though, she told herself. This was still a war, and she still had a job to do. Even as the shirt fell away, the back entirely shredded, and the front not worth trying to maneuver in, she wobbled to her feet and attempted to steady her breathing. “This… is new…” she murmured, wincing as she felt unfamiliar muscles in her back force the wings to flex and turn.
“Fuck… That weren’t fun…”
This was the first time she’d absorbed a physical mutation and honestly, even if she spent the rest of her life without going through this ordeal again, it’d be too soon. It didn’t take her too long to figure out just how to utilize the wings, sifting through Trinity’s memories with seeming ease. Swallowing down the last of the sharp pain, she let out a deep breath and with a nod to the other azure dragonian, sent herself rocketing into the air.
Gaining the wings certainly hadn’t been fun, but damn, flying sure as hell was!
Rogue sliced through the air, ignoring the ache of her blood-stained back, using teeth and claw to tear through chariots as she and Trinity passed them on their way towards the Leviathan that was still easing its way down the street as if it hadn’t a care in the world. Flap wings, rend flesh, fireball here, on to the next… Flap wings, rend flesh, fireball there… It was like an aerial dance of death, the two winged dragonians raining death and destruction upon the aliens swarming the city.
“We’re on it!” she called out both verbally and mentally as her azure orbs landed on the beast half a block up. “We’ll keep it distracted until you get here, Doctor!” Shooting a knowing glance towards Trinity, she flashed a grin and banked right so that they could each fly up towards its head along opposite sides. Rogue inhaled a deep breath as she continued moving, and let loose with a gout of flame along the length of the beast. The flames didn’t penetrate the thick scales, but judging by the rumbling screech, the Leviathan had at least noticed their presence.
Good. Now that they had its attention, all they needed to do was keep it until the magician showed up to join in the Trifecta of Badassdom so that they could take it down like its other two brethren…
When united we come to the land of the sun With the heart of a dragon we ride
Draconia could not stop to think about the toll this attack had on the city, she couldn't stop to think how many of her friends were giving their lives to protect a city that hadn't wanted them in the first place. If she stopped for even a moment to think about then she would fall apart and the last thing they needed was a weepy dragon...who was ever afraid of a weepy dragon?
Trinity was about to join the Sorcerer in attacking the Leviathan when Rogue's voice reached her ear. Turning her scaled head to Rogue, she nodded and flew over to stand in front of Rogue, holding out one hand to her. The other hand she kept at the ready to toss fireballs if anyone got too close. She didn't know if being interrupted would mess with rogue's abilities and now was really not the time to find out the hard way. It was all she could do to keep her eyes open as she felt Rogue's power drain her own away. If she'd been human, she could see how it would be very debilitating.
She only had to throw a couple of fireballs before Rogue released her hand, but before Trinity could turn away she noticed Rogue crumple to the ground. "Rogue!" She exclaimed, reaching down to grasp the woman's shoulders only to be thrown back as wings sprouted from Rogue's shoulder blades. Trinity's wings had taken time to grow and they had been painful then so she could only imagine the pain that Rogue was facing now. Her own wings caught her before she could be thrown very far and she flew back to Rogue's side in the blink of an eye. "Are you alright?" She asked of her friend.
"I warned you becoming a Dragon wasn't a picnic." Trin reminded her, though she was glad to see that Rogue was working through the pain. Her surface wounds would heal fairly quickly, though Trinity wondered how rogue would return to normal once it had worn off. She waited until Rogue had pulled herself together before the two of them launched into the sky. Draconia stayed close to Rogue, just in case she hadn't quite gotten a handle on the whole flying thing, it could be pretty tricky. Fireballs rained down as the two of them went in search of the Leviathan, not that it took very long, hard to hide something that large and destructive for long.
Stephen's voice in her mind once more had her frowning, it was a bit disconcerting but now was not the time. She did as he directed, splitting off from Rogue so they could flame both sides of the Leviathan at once. Trinity's hands came up to cup around her mouth, easier to direct the wild stream of fire with her hand movements. Honestly, she figured it looked a bit like Firebending and she was perfectly fine with that. As they reached the head, Trinity cooked up a rather large fireball in her cupped hands and tossed it right at it's eye. At the most it would blind it, at worst it would just piss it off more which was exactly what she wanted at this moment anyway.
She motioned for rogue to land on it's back and begin to rip off the armor as she had done to the last one while Trin kept it busy by flying around it's head as a distraction. Every so often she would lob a fireball over Rogue's head to hit any Chitauri trying to sneak up on her friend as she removed the armor covering that protected it. Overhead, military fighter jets joined the fight, their engine screams cutting through the air so loud Trin had to resist the urge to cover her ears.
Stephen felt as though he could drop from the sky at any moment, but that wasn't important. If he did die, then Wong would be more than capable of finding someone to take his place. Wanda might have a way to go before reaching Stephen's level of expertise in magic, but with Wong assisting her, Stephen would have no doubt in his mind that the girl could accomplish that, and more. Still, it was better to think positive in these situations, was it not? So optimism is what he would try to have in spades, and the efforts of his allies certainly helped him build his confidence.
He rounded a corner just in time to see the coordination in the two mutant women in distracting the Leviathan. He was fortunate that such people were at his side in all of this, else he might not have been able to defeat the beasts that had claimed Manhattan's skies. His power was great, that was true, but even he had his limits - his body could only take so much, just as even an Olympian athlete can only run so far. But he had to keep fighting - for all the mutants in the streets risking their lives for the people that shunned him, for the world that he'd spurned one too many times when he was supposed to be a healer, for his friend that was down there in the chaos, God-knew where. That was the long and short of his position: no matter how tired he was, he had to fight, for all of the people on the planet worth fighting for.
He flew up the back of the Leviathan, lifting his hands and throwing Chitauri off as he approached the girl with the white streak in her hair. Of all the powers he'd gained in his studies of magic, telekinesis was the most convenient and useful - especially given the state he'd been in upon meeting the Ancient One. The Sorcerer's hands had never truly recovered, though he learned that there were more important things in life than one's own well-being. The ability to move objects with his mind, though? That made for little need of his hands now.
He touched down next to Rogue as he had with Draconia on the last Leviathan, though the more experienced drake of the two seemed to be quite in-control of the situation, as far as defending her comrade went. Stephen mimicked his previous actions, holding onto one of the scraps of armor while assisting Draconia in Rogue's defense. He felt his strength somewhat return to him, as he abstained from calling upon the power of any specific being, though he was still a bit worse for the ware after his fall. Not to mention the memories that it had brought to light, the Sorcerer's bones still ached, despite Wong's best efforts to heal him.
Stephen lifted the armor piece into the air, above the spot that was being exposed - he wanted to be absolutely sure this worked, and didn't just agitate the creature into turning headlong into a building. Once he was sure he had a proper height for the makeshift weapon, he turned his attention to Rogue. "When you are ready, stand back, and I will strike the beast down."
Trinity’s voice trickled down to Rogue, but it was all she could do to keep conscious without paying the dragonian any mind. She had no clue what was being said, but common sense and the excited tone in the other woman’s voice suggested concern - probably stemming from the wings bursting painfully out of Rogue’s shoulder blades. Tears streamed down the Southerner’s face as she choked down the sobs trying to wrack her body, sliding over a few patches of new scales. The area around her shoulder blades also hosted a new section of scales, poking out from beneath the flesh that had been torn apart by the wings. It wasn’t hard to see all the patches of iridescent blue/black scales now scattered across her upper body.
A part of her wondered briefly if she looked anything like a fantasy creature - like the warrior women dressed in nothing more than leggings, chainmail bikini bra, and badassery.
“Ah’ll… manage…” she breathed, nodding to her friend as she pulled herself to her feet. The roar of a nearby Leviathan reminded her that there was no time for trying to find a way to deal with the pain. Swallowing down a lump that had formed in her throat, she sucked in a deep breath and took a few steps forward, acquainting herself with the feeling of two enormous wings behind her. “Ah din’t mean’ta snag that li’l aspect,” she groaned, offering Trinity her best attempt at a smile - which, honestly, was a pretty damn lame attempt.
From the sound of it, Trinity had grasped the meaning behind her nod. Sure enough, she spied bits of flame licking at the sky from the left flank of the monstrosity. By the time she reached the front of the beast, there was no doubt it had its sights set on the two of them, rather than on the innocent buildings around them. Following Trinity’s lead, Rogue hiccuped a ball of blue flame into her hands and hurled it at the creature’s other eye. The left eye seemed to be seared shut permanently, but her own fireball had landed just above the eye, only blinding it momentarily. It let out a screech - possibly of defiance? - as it opened its right eye and continued forward towards the two dragonians.
Trinity didn’t seem dissuaded by its half-sight, thankfully, and Rogue nodded to her silent suggestion. With a flap of her wings (which was thankfully getting less painful by the moment), she rocketed upwards and then doubled back towards the Leviathan. As massive as the beast was, finding a solid footing wasn’t terribly hard. In all honesty, ripping the scales off was a considerably more arduous task, but one she had no qualms with doing.
Fireballs sailed past her, left and right, and she could hear the squelch of aliens dropping before they got a chance to hit her. Trinity was playing some damn fine defense, it seemed. Better than Rogue probably would have done, were their roles switched - namely because she was considerably more accurate with her throws. Rogue would rather not think how many of her own lobs would have hit her friend rather than the creature attempting to attack her.
By the time Stephen landed beside her, Rogue had ripped away a considerable amount of the creature’s thick plated scales. Rather than simply let them fall, she’d hurled each one away, aiming for the patches of Chitauri scaling the nearby buildings.
Heh… Scaling…
No.
Stop.
Bad pun, Rogue.
As she saw what the magician was working on doing, Rogue nodded her understanding to the man and grit her teeth as she put her back into her work. There were still a few scales that may get in the way, so she pried them back as hard as she could, grunting quietly from the effort as she did. She was panting by the time the gap was large and clear enough for the shard the magician was holding telekinetically, but she nodded all the same and reached forward to grasp the thick plating. Muscles in her arms flexed as she took control of the armored shrapnel, her strength unnaturally higher than normal. With a loud roar, she drove the shard down like a spike, straight into the monstrosity's spinal column.
While she was busy with the shard, Rogue could hear the magician helping to deal with the Chitauri trying to swarm the back of their pet whale. Balls of fire rained down from Trinity, blasting them away just as efficiently as Strange's telekinetic shoves. It all happened rather quickly then. The beast jerked beneath her feet, and she used the well-stuck shard still clutched tightly in her claws to steady herself. Turning to offer Strange words of encouragement, she spied one of the beefy aliens clambering up the side of the beast, its wicked glaive aimed at the magician.
Rogue sincerely hoped the magician was done with his spells because she didn’t give her next action much thought. Lunging forward, she wrapped both arms tightly around the man’s midsection before pushing off with a mixture of leg muscles and wings. She bit back a cry of pain as the glaive sliced through the leather of her right wing and felt herself falter in the air.
In the span of a wingbeat, she recovered, but staying aloft with him in her arms was going to be difficult. Hopefully Trinity could take care of the remaining few aliens on top of the Leviathan until Rogue got herself and the magician down to the ground. She was delicate in setting the man down, but only offered him a cursory glance before turning to lob a few fireballs up to aid her friend as the Leviathan continued its descent. The grumbling crash of the space whale slamming into the bottom of a nearby building as it died echoed throughout the area, a sign of their defeat, albeit temporary.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” she rasped at the magician, her throat tight as she fought the pain still lancing throughout her upper body. “You okay?” Glancing up, she waved both hands so that Trinity could pick out their location easier while they had some time with no more living enemies in the surrounding area. “Ah thank they’re backin’ off a bit fer now… Ah’m gonna check with the military an’ SHIELD - see if they need help clearin’ out their blockades an’ stuff now that the big guns’re outta the air... an' maybe grab some water... Mah throat is killin' me... Y’all wanna come with me?” she asked, a hopeful gleam in her unnaturally bright blue eyes.
EVENT THREAD COMPLETE! CONGRATULATIONS! This thread is complete and has been locked. $200 will be sent to each of you as reward for your participation in this event.
Last Edit: Mar 10, 2016 6:46:21 GMT by S.S.A. Aech: Awarded and Locked!
Contact with member issues and questions relating to site events and character development.