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.
It took a couple of minutes for Ben to move the dead Leviathan out of his way, but he wasn't the Thing for nothing after all. Once he was out, he tried to look around, get a read on his surroundings - he didn't feel much any more, at least not as far as the five senses went. He was pretty sure that he hadn't moved too far, but he couldn't exactly be sure when it came to knocking a flying whale off course. Everything looked about the same, the buildings across the street after the huge parking lot. Lights were flashing somewhere behind the tail end of the Leviathan, and Ben was guessing that that was probably Jubilee.
So that was the direction he went in, a bit more slowly because of how winded he was after dealing with the whale. He probably could've leapt across the whole lot if he wanted to, but after that, he felt like a 'brisk pace' type of Thing. At least, he did until he heard the screaming - the panic of the girl that had come to join them before Ben set off. Someone was introuble, and in this situation, trouble could usually be paired with death or maiming without much argument. Stone feet hit the ground faster as the Thing charged, skirting around the end of the Leviathan's tail to come across a scene of one girl being choke-held, and the other trying to... What, talk the big fella into giving up? This is what he got for working with kids... Or, well, people that close to being kids.
He took a step forward to go and break up the whole fiasco - and the Chitlian that was causing it, for that matter - when another one of the big guys came from Ben's right, slamming a fist into the side of the Thing's head. None of these freaks knew how to fight fair, did they? But Ben didn't have time to fight fair either, not when people's lives were at stake. So he didn't really fight the Chitlian, so much as say 'not now' buy lifting his arm to knock the thing away and into the nearest wall. He chanced a glare in its direction, maybe make sure it didn't get any bright ideas about 'Round 2,' and by the time he looked back, the Chitlian that was holding Jubilee was down, and the both of them were fine. Well, at least now Ben knew that both of them were reliable.
It only took Ben a few seconds to jog back over to the girls, staring a bit at the work the one without powers had done on the Chitlian. Impressive, really, but they didn't exactly have times for patting people on the back, and Ben didn't have time to un-break the backs that would break from his back-pats. As things were, it seemed kinda like he was supposed to be coming up with a plan, but... Well he didn't have a plan. Reed always came up with the strategies for the FF, he and Sue were the geniuses, after all. But Ben had to take charge, so he stood up straight, puffed out his chest a bit, and did everything that his brother told him would get him shot when he first joined the Yancy Street Gang. "Alright, good work, uh... Team... Alright, we need a plan of action now - lots'a aliens in the streets, not a lot o' us. I'm open ta' suggestions, so let's hear 'em."
Where were the rest of the Four when Ben needed them for a crisis beyond "Where did Johnny put the remote?"
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!
Jubilee coughed as her body hit the pavement hard, and the rush of air that found its way into her lungs was a great feeling. "Nice one," she rasped, sticking a thumbs up in the relative direction of her friend. "You okay?" she asked as she crawled over to Kayley, pulling her upright as carefully as she could. Jubilee noticed a small trickle of blood making its way out of her mouth, and she reached out to wipe it away with her sleeve. "I owe ya big for the save, but right now we gotta keep it goin'."
She got to her feet, pulling Kayley with her to face Ben again. "I would make some snarky comment about your words bein' a true inspiration but right now I just want this shit done with. There's some nasty mammoth alien fish in the sky and unless you're thinkin' of a fastball special slash Jonah and the whale type shit Stark pulled last time, I got nothin' there. Kayley's got the gun and I'm pretty sure she's got some internal bleeding, so I'm thinkin' she should pull some sniper shit, somewhere she's not gonna get smacked around anymore."
Not waiting for Ben to agree with her, she steered Kayley away from the front line, so to speak. There was a police cruiser laying on its side near the mall, so Jubilee stuck the younger girl behind it. "There's no way for anyone to sneak up on ya, so you just focus on takin' out as many of those fuckers as ya can." She marched back to Ben, slipping her sunglasses over her eyes. "Put me in, coach. I'm mad as hell and I ain't gonna hold back anymore."
When her powers first started transitioning from dinky little fireworks to the burning balls of plasma they were now, Big Blue over at Xavier's had run her through a myriad of tests that had her feeling like a damn pincushion. The results showed that at the peak of her powers and pissed off state, she could have the potential to do some major damage. Alpha class, bomb-type damage. She wasn't there yet, but she could push her limits and hopefully take some of those big fudgers out. Jubilee raised her hands from her sides and summoned her plasmoids, the normally pink and yellow orbs increasing in strength and glowing white hot.
I can get a little drunk, I get into all the donts But on good days I'm charming as fuck
Don’t get her wrong, she appreciated being put on the sidelines by Jubilee. But at this point, with Jubilee having been seconds away from death herself, and the rock guy also having his hands full with destroying alien scum. She really didn’t want to sit on the sidelines, even if her body was telling her to stop being an idiotic and not kill herself.
Using the alien-gun-stabby-thing to straighten herself and help her stand on two feet, she let out a strained but determined smirk at her friend. ’If you think you can just put me on the sidelines and watch you and rock-guy have fun, then you’re badly mistaken, sparkles.’ this was firmly her ego talking, because she was pretty sure less than ten minutes ago she was fully prepared to run away and hide until hell would leave town again. But something about saving her best friend had made her feel overly bold, and she wasn’t just going to let her steal the show if she could stand.
However, her body had other ideas as she took one step and fell over in a pained daze. ’On second thought, how about you just do your thing and I’m going to find some pom-pom’s…’ raising her hand to show Jubilee that she was fine and she ‘stumbled’ over some rocks, she instead scurried back to where Jubes had dropped her off. The zappy-gun at the ready to shoot any beast that came too close in the back.
Spitting away some more blood, she let out a grimacing smile as she got the attention of Jubilee before she was going to do what she was going to do. ’Jubes, I think now would be a fantastic time to get sparkly.’ Jubilee had always been the more talented one of the two of them, so if there ever was a time for her friend to ‘do her thing’, this time would be the best time…
One week deadline warning! 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!
The girl was determined, Ben would give her that - but with one of them already sort of "down," Ben wasn't about to take away one of their only two heavy hitters away. His face contorted as he thought, weighing his options against each other. Taking Jubilee with him would be better for making sure the aliens were kept off him so he could take down the Leviathan, but that would leave the other girl alone with just the gun, and if she got swarmed, he didn't even want to think about what might happen. But the Leviathan was dropping off more of the troopers, so that had to be a priority - BUT, Ben couldn't leave Kayley alone in good conscience. It seemed like a question of one life versus many, and honestly that decision was a bit harder than he'd have expected.
No, he wasn't going to be that guy - he wasn't going to be the guy who made sacrifices when he could just try a little harder and handle a situation himself. He looked at Jubilee when she started talking about where he wanted her, and well... That was his queue to probably get on the girl's nerves. The Thing's eyes looked over to where Kayley was getting into cover - Ben could tell she wanted to help, she made it pretty clear. But the fact that she didn't even have enough energy to pretend she could come with him? Yeah, there was no way in hell Ben was leaving her all by herself. "I want ya' right here, Sparkler. Listen, I appreciate that ya' wanna help, but ya' can't just ditch people like that. Stay wit' yer friend, or better yet, get her somewhere safer'n this. Don't think I'm thinkin' ya' can't handle the fight, ya' did good - but keepin' people alive is more important than makin' sure aliens're dead."
The familiar screech of one of the Leviathans caught his attention, and Ben turned to look over to where the monstrosity was flying, dropping off more of the mini-monstrosities. His upper lip pulled back in a snarl - that was his cue to leave, since he was the only one of these three that could take the thing down. Well, maybe Jubilee could, but Ben was way more bullet proof. He turned back to Jubilee, giving her a very careful pat on the shoulder, and a quick nod, before turning to march off in the direction of the Leviathan. Did Ben wish he had the rest of the Fantastic four with him? Sure, they were his family - he'd wish they were there only 'cause it meant he knew they were alive, and safe. But right now, he had to fight - and it was probably in everyone's best interest if he fought something that big alone.
Jubilee clenched her teeth, biting back the word vomit that so desperately wanted to escape her lips. She knew Ben was right, she knew she had to make sure Kayley would be okay, but there were still so many of these nasty fuckers that she felt next to useless staying here on the ground. She let out a heavy sigh and looked down at her hands, which were still glowing brightly with the intensity of her power. Making up her mind, she steeled herself and spun back to where Kayley was lurking behind the cop car.
"Changed my mind, chica. I need you inside." Her gaze, shielded by hot pink sunglasses, raised to examine the mall's exterior. There was a large window on the second level that had a single broken panel. "I'm gonna draw out whoever's left in there, and then I need you on the second floor covering me. I'll signal you when ya need to take cover, okay? And you gotta promise me, when it goes down, you stay safe. Got it?"
Jubilee once again did not wait for an answer, thrusting a hand in the air and releasing a series of loud, brightly colored fireworks. The remaining Chitauri and Chitlian ran to the source of the noise. "Kayley, go now!" Hoping the younger girl listened to her, Jubilee turned in a slow circle, trying to count as quickly and accurately as she could. There seemed to be at least a hundred of the smaller aliens left, give or take ten or twenty. The big and mean fuckers though, there were only about fifty. She could handle that. Maybe.
Her gaze slid back to that window that she hoped and prayed Kayley was behind. Charging up her hands again, she let the white hot orbs each grow to about the size of basketballs before she nodded at the window, swinging her arms up from her sides to bring her hands together in a deafening clap. The plasma exploded and enveloped her, keeping her protected while dropping nearly all of the still attacking aliens. After about ten seconds, the burning plasma dissipated, leaving a winded Jubilee swaying in the middle of her very own small crater. "Big boom," she muttered to herself, half heartedly kicking at the still twitching body of a Chitlian. She was singed and sooty, her clothes bound for the trash can as soon as she got home, but aside from suddenly being very, very tired, she seemed to be all right.
"Ok team, I think we got 'em," she rambled, fighting to keep her eyes open and unaware that probably no one could hear her. Her knees weakened, and Jubilee ended up sitting cross legged on the ground, her chin resting in one of her rapidly cooling hands. "I wonder how Benny's doin' with Moby Dick and Free Willy up there..?"
I can get a little drunk, I get into all the donts But on good days I'm charming as fuck
Her eyes widened, looking at the hands of her friend who were glowing brighter than they had ever glowed. ’Jubilee, what are you gonna do?’ she never used that name, but whatever Jubilee was planning to do wasn’t going to be pretty.
Without a second of hesitation, she pulled herself up and started running limply towards safety, all the aliens had focused their attention on Jubilee instead giving her somewhat of a free lane to run into, before diving for cover, knowing her life depended on that safety.
She had barely settled, as she noticed the world becoming brighter than a summer day, and the sound of explosions were deafening even at the distance she was at. The only thing she thought about was curling up and hoping none of the shrapnel would hit her in the face, and after it she would look up and hope Jubilee hadn’t blown herself up…
’Christ, Sparkles… What did you just do?!’ popping her head up out of cover she could see with her own eyes what kind of destruction Jubilee had just caused, never in her faintest ideas she had a clue that her best friend was able to use her ‘fireworks’ to leave half a block in shambles. ’Please, for the love of god don’t be dead…’ limping slowly she noticed that even the surviving aliens were too shell-shocked to think about continuing their onslaught, not even they had expected this sort of devastation from a tiny Chinese chick.
Rolling into the crater she noticed Jubilee sitting on the ground next to one of the bigger, deader aliens. ’Thank god you’re alright.’ getting closer it was obvious that what she had just done had taken most if not all of her energy, which meant that at this time there was only one ‘thing’ actually being able to stop the big aliens. ’Ok Jubes, I’m here. Recharge your batteries or whatever the hell you do after you blow up half an army, you’re gonna be safe…’ at least she hoped, this time around it was her turn to make sure Jubilee wasn’t going to get hurt.
Taking the staff she was still carrying, she kneeled next to her friend and she was prepared to shoot anything that wasn’t friendly if they decided to come finish them off. ’Let’s hope your friend can finish the job, sparkles...’ breaking out a little smile, she knew that at this point if the big guy failed, they would all be royally screwed. But she wasn’t going to run, cower whilst her best friend was defenceless.
She was a natural coward, but she wasn’t going to sit idly by and watch her friend be killed…
Ben felt bad leaving the two of them behind - like, if it could, hsi conscience would jump out of his chest, punch him in the face, and make him turn back bad. But this was the right call, wasn't it? He was the only one strong enough to take down the big things, and he couldn't do it while watching the girls' backs. He had to end this sooner, before people got hurt, and if that meant he had to go it alone, he would. All he could do for the girls was hope they'd gotten somewhere safe.
Of course, an explosion in the background might have put a few holes in that hope. That was it - he was pissed; he'd made a call, and look where it got him. Look where it got Jubilee and her friend, all because of these God damned aliens, invading his God damned planet, from the same God damned space that turned him into a God damned rock monster! It was all bubbling to the surface, every single thing that had gone wrong since he agreed to fly Reeds friggen' ship to do God knew what. His life was crap, so if he was gonna die, he'd rather go now - fighting off these aliens and making sure they didn't do jack to anyone anymore.
He picked up speed, roaring like the monster everyone seemed to think he was as he stepped up on cars, onto buses, and leapt. Two Leviathans flew by, nearing each other, and Ben was going to use that against him - like a dogfight if he could control the enemy's jet. He slammed his shoulder into the first Leviathan, doing the same as he did with the last one and grabbing onto it to keep tugging it down, only now he added a few blows to the side of the head.
In this way, he directed one Leviathan towards the other - and once the path was was irreversible, Ben kicked off of his Leviathan to punch the other right in the head, just wanting to work out a little more frustration. he didn't grab onto the Leviathan that time, but instead just let himself fall to the ground, crashing into a station wagon in the middle of the street. He stared up as Leviathan met Leviathan, and eventually they both started crashing to the ground. They were moving away from him, though, and around him fighting was going on that would keep the Chitauri off his back... So for a few seconds, he just stared up at the two monsters, crashing to the ground.
Soon enough, though, he was back on his feet - and soon after that, he was back swinging at Chitauri. He may've lost Jubilee and her friend, but he wasn't going to lose anyone else now. He'd die himself, sooner than he'd let that happen.
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 19, 2016 4:38:05 GMT by S.S.A. Aech: Awarded and Locked!