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.
The water he'd doused himself with before he came into the apartment building was already evaporating off of his skin, forming brief-lived steam that was overwhelmed by the uncomfortable heat of the environment. Embers crackled through plaster and wood as flame tongues climbed along the wall and flicked out from any structural weaknesses they could find. Smoke rolled thick along the ceilings and filtered down with enough heat and concentration to burn the eyes and the choke the lungs with every breath. The distant groans of support beams and doorways suggested that the building didn't have long.
Pulling in a breath through a barely damp cloth that he had over his mouth and nose, Steve blitzed it. Ducking down, he narrowly dodged the flame of the smoldering doorway. Inside the room, behind a wall of flame and on the other side of a sagging floor was a mother huddled down with her son, shielding him from the heat with her own body. Their section of viable floor was narrow and weakening fast, leaving Steve with the realization that leaping across the gap could bring the entire floor of the room down.
Before he could puzzle out a split-second work around, the wall nearest him bowed and then exploded out, spitting large chunks of flaming rubble his way. Bringing up the shield in an instinctive movement, he watched as the faintly luminous white of the energy construct rebuffed the debris without so much as a sound. That was it. He couldn't waste anymore time and would have to risk the collapse of the floor. Fortunately everyone on the first floor had already been evacuated.
"Nat, get the kid!" Steve yelled. Turning her way to give her a look, he nodded signaling that it was time to leap across the gap and grab them. In one movement Rogers bounded across the sagging floor. The moment he landed on the other side he heard a crack and felt a rather ominous dip. Grabbing the mother and pulling her from her son even after her wail of protest, Steve immediately leapt back across the way as he felt the floor dissolve beneath his feet. Landing back on the side they came from wasn't much better, but the floor was sturdy enough for him to rush into the hall and put the mother in front of the stairwell that wasn't ablaze.
"Get to the street. There're first aid workers outside." They unfortunately didn't have time to show everyone out if they were capable of moving on their own, which she clearly was. Even with the majority of the building cleared there were still close to a dozen still trapped behind walls of fire and collapsed sections.
"The propane..." The mother started, clinging to her child once he was returned to her.
"What?" Steve asked, eyes widening. As impatient as he'd been to return to the other survivors, she had his attention now.
"In the boiler room the apartment keeps a few barrels of propane for our backup generator. If the fire gets to them..." Her voice broke and she didn't even bother finishing. Instead she gathered the six-year-old in her arms and hurried down the stair well and presumably out the door.
"Guys," Steve called over coms to Bucky and Peter. "We've got propane tanks in the basement somewhere in the boiler room." He didn't need to say that that was going to be their new priority.
Natalia RomanovaJames BarnesPeter Parker the way the names are listed will be our posting order. Just remember you have 72 hours once it's your turn to post to do so before you're skipped.
Last Edit: Mar 9, 2017 21:57:30 GMT by Steve Rogers
Post by Natalia Romanova on Mar 10, 2017 16:40:53 GMT
She hadn’t gone into the inferno completely unprepared, but even the layer of water she’d poured over herself wasn’t enough to stand against the heat. Fire had never really unnerved her, but ever since the hospital, she’d felt a pang of guilt when surrounded by flames. It was her natural neurological response, and one she’d long since come to terms with by now to the point where it didn’t affect her actions when barreling headlong into a burning building. Narrowing her eyes, she took a look around at their surroundings, pinpointing the weakest areas while keeping her ears alert for the sounds of anyone trapped.
The wet rag clutched tightly at her mouth seemed, at least, to be faring better than her suit. It had been drenched when she came in, but now she knew the only moisture clinging to her flesh underneath the protective layer was sweat. A few beads trickled down from her temples, too, as she followed Steve through the building, her petite form easily missing the door frame Rogers had nearly shouldered into.
Her eyes landed on the mother and child the instant they reached the room, but something dragged her attention away. Instinct, perhaps. “Steve!” she called out, just as the wall beside them exploded outwards. Curling up close to the super soldier, she silently thanked the elder Stark and his German scientist friend for imbuing Steve with such quick reflexes as the shield he raised protected them from what could easily have spelled disaster for them both. That miniature explosion seemed to be the last bit of persuasion Rogers needed to decide jumping across the open flames was the best course of action.
He didn’t need to tell her to get the little boy. She’d already decided that no matter what, she’d make sure he got out alive the moment she laid eyes on him. He was a few years older than Ilarion, but through the haze of the smoke, her eyes attempted to convince her that his skin was a pale blue color. Gritting her teeth, she raced along beside Steve, hurling herself over the flames to reach the pair.
The mother’s wail of agony as Steve pulled her from her boy sent pangs of emotion through her chest. Which emotion, she wasn’t sure at the moment. There were more important things to contend with - namely, scooping the little boy up and launching herself back across the open expanse that had once been a floor. Once her feet were back on mostly solid ground, she loosened her grasp on the boy and crouched down, placing her damp rag to his face. “Breathe deep,” she told him, her voice soft despite the volume needed to convey her message over the roar of the flames. Only after she saw the rise and fall of his chest a few times did she nod as a way to say ‘good job’ before ushering him back over to his mother.
Propane?
Natalia’s eyes slowly widened with realization and she turned to look at Steve. This was quite possibly a suicide mission. If any of the fire had spread below, they could have as little as seconds to get the flammable gas out of the basement. She heard Steve’s voice echo in the comm planted securely in her ear, but she already knew with certainty that their new destination was down, and not up.
“Cap,” He was called Nomad here in this dimension, but all four of them had been shunted from their own, so there was no question whom she was referring to. “..and I are en route,” she added, not bothering to visually confirm with the super soldier. She knew Steve, and she knew the stories about him. This was the man who, even before he’d been enhanced, had jumped on a grenade not knowing it was a dud. For all intents and purposes, those propane tanks were a live grenade. Clutching the damp rag back over her own mouth, she took a deep breath before hurrying towards the stairwell. There was no time to waste with taking each stair one at a time, but launching herself from one landing down to the next could be dangerous if the floor was weakened by the blaze.
Opting for two at a time, she barreled past the mother and son as they neared the bottom stair. Reaching the ground floor, she looked this way and that before darting to the right. She vaguely remembered seeing a door panel marked ‘Basement’ in that hallway when they’d made certain this floor was clear. Not bothering to try the handle, she paused just long enough to get a solid base before smashing the door in with the heel of her boot. “We’re in. Heading down now,” she called out to her comrades before engaging the blue luminescent trim on her suit and starting down into the darkened belly of the building.
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
It was a horrible scene. All of the destruction and fire and to see a place go from it’s former glory to nothing but smoldering ashes was hard. But they were here, and they were the protectors. Who, if not them, would help? They were there, they were capable, and they were doing their best. James had had a uniform, a surprise to him, lying about when the call came, and it was all but thrust at him as they prepared to go into the smoky mess of the city. Four of them, and they took the time to cover cloth to wrap around their mouths. It wouldn’t matter, several minutes in, as the heat licked away any moisture they provided that wasn’t their own sweat, collecting in the fibres of their clothing.
James’ outfit was designed with several factors in mind, it had seemed. Goggles that provided heat signature detection, night vision, and a HUD. All of which were proving useless in the hot smoky halls of the buildings. The mask covering his mouth, thankfully, filtered the air he breathed, but did nothing for the heat that came with it. Outside of the building that Steve and Natalia had gone into, James kept a look out for the spider boy -Paul or something- eyes scanning the melting and crumbling buildings around him.
Between his searching the air above himself, he was helping civilians to the appropriate collection areas where there were more medical staff. He couldn’t image yet the kind of injuries that would come from all of this. Or, he could, but he was prioritizing. Before he could focus on a woman coming towards him, Steve’s voice crackled through his ear and he straightened. That was his priority now, and it didn’t matter where Peter was any more. He did hear Natalia’s voice crackle next, but didn’t bother to respond as he knew Steve was with her and would pull her back.
The building inside was worse than it was out, and James struggled to see very far in front of him, opting for one eye on his mask to show heat signatures and the other to show what was actually in front of him. Less smoke than in the building above, thankfully, but it only made him keenly more aware of how much danger he’d be in if the roof collapsed. He could take it. Most of the doors were opened as he walked through the basement, but he stopped when he heard Natalia’s voice over both the intercoms, and behind him. Gritting his teeth, he waited for her to catch up to where he was and looked behind her, expecting to see Steve and Peter behind her. <There are four people on your team, Natalia, you don’t need to do everything.> He snapped in Russian, jerking his head in the way of the boiler room and continuing on before he heard what she had to say in defense. Wherever the miscommunication had occured, they could sort it out later. “Peter, where are you?” The boys skill with his webbing would come in handy for wrapping the canisters together, and James was strong enough himself to take at least two or three at a time.
When the team charged into the building Pete didn't rush through the door with Nat and Steve. He was learning still sure but one thing that had been sticking with him the most was that being part of a team wasn't about being all around effective. You had to play your specialty. Letting out a web from his right wrist he shot himself into the air, landing outside an already broken window. No reason to feed the fire more oxygen than it already had.
From the minute he was inside the building the air scrubbers in the fabric of his mask were working overtime filtering out the smoke that was blanketing the upper floors. That didn't stop him from getting right to work. Luckily he didn't have to rely on the rapidly weakening floorboards to bare his weight. Peter moved quickly From room to room, shifting from floor to wall and back again to navigate the flame soaked corridor, though making special care to avoid the ceiling where he could. The newly enhanced Spider-Suit may have been fire retardant but that didn't stop the gathered heat from trying to cook him inside the material.
He didn't get halfway through the first hallway when he came across his first rescue. A young woman, couldn't have been much older than the hero himself. When Pete walked into the doorway he almost stepped through the already collapsed floor of the building. Only a few beams and open air hung between the two. To woman sat in the far end, in the remains of what seemed to be a closet, the walls around her seeming to be the only reason the floorboards seemed to be holding her still. Pete moved to the wall, testing the weight on each hold before moving to the next. The Wall-crawler was only halfway across the edge of the room when he first saw the ceiling starting to bow.
Without a moment of hesitation Pete jumped to the opposite wall in the room, where several windows already stood shattered. There was a small part of the Spider that was very pleased he had modified the formula for his webbing, specifically for situations like this. Preparedness. That's what the Avengers had started instilling in him, and you can't help people in a burning building if your webbing is falling apart at the first sign of intense heat. Casting a wide net of webbing out he caught hold of the woman, the netting wrapping her limbs safely so when Peter pulled back the webbing she was properly secured. As she reached his embrace the roof finally gave way a familiar tingle went off in the back of his head, chunks of flaming building breaking through and spreading sparks and flames across the room. Pete was already out the window with the civilian in hand his free hand catching a web to the building allow them to swing safely to the ground. Once there the Spider was rushed by people waiting to take the victims of the fire to safety.
"She's safe, make sure you use this." Reaching into his suit Peter pulled out a small spray canister. "Two pumps should dissolve the web. Stay frosty." With that the Spider was gone again bounding back to the upper floors to look for more survivors. He was barely through the window when he heard the call over the com. Propane tanks... that kind of an explosion at the base of the building already structurally failing would no doubt mean the instant destruction of the whole building. Even if there were more survivors they would never get to them on time. Priorities just took a turn. He bustled into the building, not worrying about the structure as much as before. He ran door to door til. YES! Staircase. He could hear the team calling to one another on the communicators making there own way down when he heard Bucky call out his name.
"I'm en route Strong-arm. Taking the express down." Climbing onto the railing of the staircase he looked down at the small space between the stairs. He could do it. It was their best chance, he didn't have time to even worry about the risk. 6 stories wasn't that tall right? Taking a deep breath Pete dove between the railings, passing the stairs all together and allowing his small frame to slip between the spaces of the stairs. His free falling caught speed quickly. Careful not to move his body more than necessary Pete cast out several webs as he passed blurrs he could only assume were his teammates already making their decent. As the bottom of the staircase approached Pete took a hold of the webs, the elastic strand pulling him slowly to a stop as he placed his feet carefully on the bottom floor. The concrete base of the building thankfully couldn't get engulfed by the flames themselves but the series of flames begging to flake through degrading ceiling didn't make him feel any better. The large steel door clearer marked as the boiler room broke away easily as Pete forced his way into the large open room.
There were already points in the room where the building had fallen through. Piles of burning beams were already starting to spread around the room. Without a second thought Pete made his way for the tanks, casting webs as soon as they came into view. First came the ones closest to the flames. One, two, three... Pulling his web around he wrapped them into a bundle and started on to making another one.
"At least a dozen i can see. We have to move quick though." Once the second was prepared he grabbed the other and started tossing them to the first pair of hands at the ready.
Steve didn't catch all of whatever Buck snapped her way, but his Russian was good enough to recognize the tone and he didn't like it. "Lay off." Steve grunted. Buck might've been his favorite between the two but that didn't excuse him from acting like the back end of a horse. Feeling heat's talons claw at the back of his neck and prickle at his hairs, Steve rushed with as much haste as his leg muscles allowed. Every footfall was agony as they burst through to the boiler room. The metal of the room was conducting the heat of the fire magnificently, and in some distant places of the room, some of the metal piping was beginning to glow red-hot. Little tongues of flame were beginning to lap down along the walls through the floorboards.
Sweat began to relentlessly pour from his skin, his hair plastered to his forehead as he began to scour the room. Not a moment later did he catch Pete swing down from another section of the overlarge boiler room. With a quick application of his web, the young hero bundled a few of the tanks together and tossed them his way. The barrels were uncomfortably hot but not scalding for a brief touch. Twisting around, he whistled for Buck and tossed the bundle back to him. "Pass that back to Nat and tell her to run it out the door--"
He didn't get to finish the sentence. The nearby, industrial-level boiler exploded out in a flashbang of light and shrieking metal. For a moment there was nothing as all of his senses were dulled out and his mind numbed, as though the cold arms of the sea had found him again. But a moment later his senses were back, his ears shrilling screaming their protest as blood trickled out from his ears. His vision was a vibrating blur of colors as he turned to face what had felt the point of origin.
Backlit with an orange-red glow from the heated, blown out metal behind him was a titanic figure of muted purples and greys. His beady eyes would have blurred completely into his flesh were it not for their otherworldly glow. As soon as he seemed to notice that he'd captured their attention the figure seemed to sneer, and a moment later his mind was slammed into. A caving pressure cracked some outer surface in a more efficient way than HYDRA had ever even half-managed.
[ Ah, Defenders. I'm glad so many of you have arrived. And with such an esteemed colleague. ] The luminescent eyes turned to Peter Parker as he kept hold of their minds, a psychic sort of netting braced against their consciousnesses, leaving them bound. [Pity that Green friend of yours isn't here. He would have made an invaluable ally to our cause. ] Walking forward with a fluid stride for a hulking figure in armor, he strode closer to the line of heroes he kept suspended in the air and held by telekinetic restraints. For a moment he surveyed the lineup before he approached the smallest figure in the group.
[You are the most understanding. You more than any of them realizes what needs done. ] As he spoke to her, he began to delve deeper into her mind...
Natalia RomanovaJames BarnesPeter Parker I figure each one of you can have a psychic-battle with Apocalypse, which eventually turns you into a horsemen. Except for Bucky, I'mma skype you, Jeoff .
Post by Natalia Romanova on Mar 19, 2017 2:02:21 GMT
Surprise colored Natalia’s face beneath the rag clutched at her mouth, but it was quickly replaced by a look of anger. <“Excuse me?”> A dark frown took over on her face and she pulled the rag away so that James could hear what she said next. <“You’re right, James - this is a team. I’m here to help that team…>” She was about to continue, to turn the tables and make sure he was aware that his presence was not the only one required for this task. James had already continued on, however, and Steve’s voice broke through the smoky air, bringing his words to a definitive halt.
The boiler room was not a happy sight. She counted the canisters - fourteen in total that she could see - and frowned as her eyes traveled around the rest of the room. The bulk of the fire hadn’t made its way into the room proper, but there were more than a few signs. Red hot pipes, smoke, and more than a few tendrils of flame licking their way down were the more notable ones at the current time.
If she hadn’t been drenched beneath the catsuit before, she certainly was now. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Pete began the process of wrapping some of the tanks into bundles for other members to cart out of the basement. One, two, three canisters… At nearly forty pounds each, she wagered… Her strength was not nearly as enhanced as James or Steve’s, but as she heard Steve’s order, she braced herself to catch the weight of the load.
On the one hand, she was thankful that she didn’t have to face the brunt of a propane canister trio being tossed at her. On the other, however, the nearby explosion was considerably worse than anything she might have suffered otherwise. Sight and sound disappeared, save for a blinding whiteness and a sharp ringing. It took her a few moments, but she managed to catch her breath - not an easy task now that her damp rag was missing. Her lungs tightened instantaneously against the smoke and heat, but she fought past all the pain in order to turn and squint in the direction she thought the explosion had emanated from.
She didn’t have to search hard, and for the first few heartbeats, she thought perhaps her senses were playing tricks on her. Was that a man? No, he was far too large. Too dark. Too… Thanos? She’d seen pictures of the Mad Titan after his appearance in Central Park. Large, blueish purple, and prone to making big statements. Before she could offer out a strangled attempt at suggesting who their foe was, a new pain accosted her.
It was a familiar pain, but one she hated all the same. Sobs wracked her body as the figure seemed to insert himself into her mind without a care. Memories of the graduation ceremony filtered through her mind. Both hands reached up to grip at the sides of her head, but she found herself unable to move. More agony laced with fear tugged at her as the figure began to speak directly into their minds, and she thought she managed a verbal groan.
Fighting against him was hard. In the grand scheme of things, she’d only recently broken the mental traps that had bound her to her previous masters for so long. This wasn’t like those traps, though. There were no code words, no subliminal messages. It was sheer force of will, and as he turned his attention towards her, she could feel hers beginning to falter.
The heat of the room disappeared as he stepped closer. It was a relief, especially for someone like herself who preferred the cold. Her jaw clenched tightly as she realized what he was doing, trying to manipulate her mind by affecting her body, but still she couldn’t find it in herself to so much as shake her head in an attempt to shake him out. “No…” she whispered, feeling the tendrils of his mind seep deeper into her subconscious - like the tendrils of flame slowly licking their way closer and closer to the tanks of propane.
He was in her memories now, sifting through them one by one. “I can’t… I don’t…” He seemed to pick out every instance where she’d done what needed to be done to succeed, to survive. It wasn’t pretty. She was a monster, inside and out, and he knew it. Although it felt longer than the nearly ninety years it had actually taken to accrue all of those memories, the process was complete in the blink of an eye.
Her body slumped for a moment before she finally righted herself, lifting her chin high and proud. She was free to move again, but that didn’t seem to come as a surprise to the redhead. Stepping forward with graceful confidence, she took her place at Apocalypse’s side. “Everything is going to be fine,” she smiled, breathing deep in the safety and comfort of her new God’s power. Turning her gaze to Peter, she nodded - a tiny, subtle thing, though one that would surely not go unnoticed by Him. “He’s here to save us.”
WORDS: 893 || TAG: James BarnesPeter ParkerSteve Rogers I had her suggest he snatch Pete up next simply so that Jeoff and Icky don’t have to sit through another round of being bound while waiting for him to turn Cap.
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
He was snappy, and it certainly wasn’t Natalia’s fault, and as soon as the words had left his mouth and he saw her shock at the statement, he regretted it. It had already been said, however, and his frustration wasn’t going anywhere. Steve, too, drilled him and James turned to him wondering when he’d learn Russian. Peter had arrived and gotten ahead of them all and they turned to catch up to him.
Inside the room was no better than outside, and James turned off the HUD on his goggles to look at the room as it was. Fourteen tanks. He did the maths quickly. Four of them… it still left two spare tanks unless he and Steve took four each. As he figured out logistics, Pete had bundled three together and passed them back to Steve, who was throwing them back to James and being given orders. It finished halfway through the sentence and, still holding the canisters, he tried to look at Steve and see what had happened. The flash was enough to get him to drop the canisters in his hands, but he doubted that he would have felt if they had even exploded as all of his senses suddenly disappeared. The blinding familiarity startled and scared him from the get go. From the initial emptiness, to the pain in his ears and heads as he came to and started to realize what was going on.
As soon as he started to come to, the feeling he got in his head was both familiar and foreign. Voices that weren’t his own. The only point of reference James had to think that this might have been another Thanos attack would have been the news footage, but his mind did not go to the battles of New York. Instead, he was back in a cold steel facility in the deep of Siberia, unable to move while he was being tortured back into submission.
The voice that awoke wasn’t one that was familiar, but when were they ever? Words he remembered. Vaguely recognized. There was a pause, and James waited for the codewords to come, trying to pull up every memory of people telling him that HYDRA wouldn’t come and take him again, but here he was.
When he was done with Natalia, and she had turned to Peter, the unfamiliar figure turned to him and quirked his head. Look at you. Strong, capable, and so, so angry. Let’s see what we will find in here. The feeling returned and his mind was already fragile enough that he couldn’t even try to expel the man. It was over faster than it had started. You could have been a great addition to my horseman. There was a sigh and James felt like his head was about to explode with heat. Your mind is full of holes… Perhaps you could be used for my amusement. He didn’t understand, and he did. Certain words like strong, and angry, and amusement. Enough to get the idea of what was being conveyed. His breath faltered for a moment and he felt any tense muscles relax. Perhaps that was all he was good for anyway. After a moment, James felt his feet touch the floor and he let himself drop to his knees until he was ordered to stand, and then did so, obediently.
The team fell beautifully into play as the first set of cannisters went into play. Pete had a private moment of pride as he watched the bundle go from Cap over to Bucky. He turned to grab the next bundle when the whole world went to hell. Literally? He wasn't sure but it seemed pretty damn close. For a moment the world was made up of shades of red and yellow, a burnt orange seemingly bathing over everything around them. Pete was knocked to the ground though he felt no pain, no heat from the fire that had surely engulfed them all. The boiler had blown. Or at least that what it had seemed like. When a disoriented Peter went to look around what he saw was far from a boiler. There seemed to be a man, or a small mountain he wasn't sure, standing among the flames.
The Spider froze with fear, the being had a presence to him. An air of oppression and power about him that seemed to make everything else seem to fall from importance. First he went for Nat. Peter could only watch as one of his mentors battled silently against the boiler man. But suddenly there was something...different about her. She moved to the mans side but as her gaze met Peters his blood seemed to freeze. Here to save us? He barely had a moment to process the thought before his spider-sense started sounding off, more powerfully than usual. The ringing shook through his head as Bucky fell under the man's will next. Peters knees shook as the Man's attention turned to him. The sixth sense in the back of his mind rattled on harder than ever as he was approached. His vision blurred and as the man reached out a massive hand towards him Peter cried out in pain as the pain in his head suddenly turned the world white and then there was only darkness.
A deep vast darkness that seemed to engulf all that was around him. Peter sat alone in the void blackness, looking through his surroundings in hope to catch some sort of a clue as to what was going on. Was he dead? Was there still a world around him to be perceived? The young hero went to move when he suddenly found himself held fast where he sat, arms pinned tight to his side. Even a flex of his super muscles didn't even get whatever it was to budge. Looking down at his chest at first Peter didn't see anything that was binding him until a faint shine caught his eye: a web. Panic struck in his mind.
What the hell is this?! The thought reverberated through his. But then there was a shift. Something else in his mind that seemed to respond to the thought. The itch...the intruder...he had felt something like it before. Venom, the way the symbiote implanted itself in his head had a similar feel but this...this was something different.
You of all people should know... The thought was a whisper but Peter froze instantly at the foreign thought glancing across his mind. He was not alone, where ever he was. Slowly his vision began to adhere to the darkness, more and more strands of thin webs branching out into the darkness. Even more connecting those to one another. Piece by piece Peter came to the realization. He was in a web.
This is the best after all...you know you're a danger... A piece of the darkness broke away. An orb of the void becoming autonomous from the curtain that surrounded him slowly began descending down towards the young hero.
Danger? What are you talking about? Let me out of here! Where's my team!?
"Your team?" The voice resonated back though it resonated far more than the whispers before its sound seemed to echo into the actual darkness around him becoming a sound. A chill shook from Peter's core and up his spine as he noticed the object approaching him from above. "You aren't a part of a team any more than a cancer cell is a part of an organism." Eight long thin limbs stretched out from the mass and the being seemed to unfold and come into the light. Before young Peter Parker was a spider, a large spider. It easily was at least ten times his body mass but its colors...it was the spider that bit him that faithful day. The blue and red pattern covering it's abdomen was recognizable instantly.
Wha...?
"You are a disease young spider. A plague on those around you..." The grasp on his mind took hold and Peter lost control. The darkness swirled around him, a blur of shifting colors rushing together. The spider shifted, it's mass twisted and shrunk in upon itself before breaking into two separate forms and as the details became solid Peter Parker recognized his parents standing before him. As the creature spoke again it spoke through them both with perfect unison. "Your parents..." The figured shifted again, this time taking the shape of a familiar old man. "Your Uncle..." Then to Aunt May, the frail woman stood before him looking with tears in her eyes. "Even your prized Aunt couldn't be saved. It doesn't matter what universe you run to, what reality you possess." The creature began shifting again but this time more rapidly, before him he saw Captain Stacy, Gwen Stacy the Avengers themselves. It began to shift quicker and quicker until the being stopped taking corporal forms all together. Faster and faster the form violently seized as the voice continued.
"You can not escape fate young Spider. You may play the hero but..." Peters face frantically sought to follow the blob, fear gripping him as the blob expanded out once again taking the form of the spider. Lunging towards the hero it drove its mandibles into Peter's shoulders as it cried out. "You will always be a PLAGUE!" Peter cried out in pain and with a sudden jolt he was thrown back into consciousness.
Back on the corporal plain the young hero fell to his knees as the massive man moved along. He tried to breath, gasping through the fabric covering his face he struggled for air. Pulling off his mask in a jerking motion Peter wretched over letting out a great heave. Black tar splashing onto the ground around him. Again and again until the pool began to spread. When the breath finally came the pool began to move on its own, Peter watched as it folded onto itself moving closer on to his hand. He found himself unable to pull away from the substance, his body refused to respond to his will. The venom crawled along his arms, moving from the pile to cover the young mans torso.
The dark sludge pulsed as it overtook his neck and onto his face. A last gasp of air before...freedom! Sweet freedom and POWER! Oh the power. The venom formed to his body, long black strands of the muck overtook most of his body, patches of red and blue only partially visible. He stretched his arms as the tar jutted out from his back in long strands, four to be exact. The venom twisted and folded in upon itself into long legs not unlike that of a spider, the quickly took to the ground lifting the small frame of the Spider from the ground, his natural legs curling to his body as he was carried over behind the red haired assassin. The black sludge over Peters face pulled tight, familiar white patches formed over his eyes a fun touch. But it was as his mouth opened that the full extent of the mucks hold showed true. A twisted row of teeth curled into a grin as a long red tongue protruded from his mouth to lick his lips.
"He sure made me feel better." He croaked as he let out a chuckle, pleased to take his place beside his savior.
Steve's hearing was still gone--completely gone as thick blood poured down his ears and onto his neck, made thicker still by the heat in the air. But he could feel the vibrations and his vision was slowly beginning to return. He could see the giant staring at Nat as she began to tremble and grimace with pain. Rogers twisted hard against his restraints. First he tried to brace against them and push until they snapped. Then he tried to twist and pull until his muscles ached with fatigue and strain. The weight in his mind seemed amused before it pressed harder. Hard enough that for a moment he was gone.
At first there was nothingness and then he felt like he was falling into a black void. The void was natural and instantly familiar. For the briefest moment before he'd lost consciousness and drown in the dark Antarctic waters, he'd felt a sort of numb blackness that smothered the physical terror of his death. It felt right to be here again, and for a moment he couldn't remember anything. And then he remembered Liberterram, the burning building and the propane tanks, and his friends.
[ You're a man of will, Captain. ] A consciousness grazed and spiraled through his own mind, its resonance one of warm admiration. [ And not at all whom I expected. ]
[ It's okay. I'm used to being underestimated by people like you. ] Steve pulled at the edges of himself, gathering his thoughts. The black void began to fade and with it some of his sense of self was restored. Focusing harder, he imagined pulling the invasive consciousness down into a collected point. One that he could violently expel, and then use that expulsion to break free of the telekinetic restraints and find his--
[ Ever a dog of war. ] The consciousness scoffed and the world around him began to bleed and pull sideways. He felt himself be dragged along with the shearing wind and his mind faded for a moment. No. His thought emerged from the widening static of his mind, and the winds were redirected, his sense of self struggling to be maintained as it was reshaped. He couldn't feel or see what was being done.
------
Jolting up from a muddy bank, Steve braced his palms against the wet clay and came to a stand. The rain was pouring buckets and rattled through the broad leaves of the nearby forest. The water rushed brownish white down the nearby river. Heaving a breath, he turned back toward the forest and moved toward the cover of the trees. Disquiet found him as he tracked quietly through the underbrush, and he knew better than to ignore his instincts. Finding the mud-slick rifle that was slung over his shoulder, he pressed his back against one of the broader-trunked trees and kept his eyes peeled.
He caught a flash of red and fired the rifle with a muted blam, earning a return shot that went wide and exploded some of the bark beside him in a burst of splinters. Running around to the other side of the tree to get full coverage, Steve pressed his back tight and brandished the rifle so it was at the ready. He drew a few silent breaths, his heart thumping with a fast rhythm as he waited.
A snap alongside him had Steve swing his rifle around the tree and steal a glance from his peripherals as he canted his head to the side. The almost candy-apple red, withered face of HYDRA's first leader grinned at him.
"The truth of it is, Rogers, we're more alike than you'd think."
Steve scoffed and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit its target again, but Red Skull rounded the tree, blood trickling slowly from the two bullet holes he had in his chest. Pressing his rifle against the Red Skull's abdomen, he fired again and blew a hole into his gut, leaving a mess of gaping gore. But the Red Skull's fingertips found his throat and lifted him up off the ground with a vise grip that crushed his larynx.
"We both belong on the battlefield. Away from civilization. Away from complications. Just survival instinct and bloodshed." Digging his fingers in harder, Steve felt his skin be pierced by dull fingernails as he gasped for breath. "Admit it. The only time you don't feel miserable is when you--"
Steve smashed the barrel of his rifle against the Red Skull's face and tried one last time to put the man down. With a squeeze of his trigger, there was a spatter of blood as the background faded to black. The face of the Red Skull shifted until he was staring eye-to-eye with himself, sporting a bullet wound between the eyes. But he offered a smile anyway and finished his words before everything faded to black.
"Kill."
----
Steve's eyes opened with a fleeting flash of red as he snapped up to attention. The telekinetic restraints were gone, and the faintest flicker of motion seemed to swirl around the Captain, with little wavers of red appearing with the disturbance. But they were too quick and nearly invisible, leaving only the impression of something rather than an observable phenomenon. The feeling of chaos that enveloped him stood in stark contrast to his rather icy demeanor.
"What should be done with Barnes?"
"Make sure he dies with the rest." Apocalypse instructed with a calm, even meter.
For a brief moment there was a pause, as if Steve was grappling with some kind of dilemma. But it was short lived as he strode toward where Barnes was floating as the fire crackled around him, some of the flames poured downward and began to lap toward the canisters.
As Steve neared, Barnes was lowered to the ground and the restraints removed. That same moment Rogers balled his fist and threw a hard punch, his strength extended well beyond his normal limits as violent flits of red lashed out around him.
Natalia RomanovaJames BarnesPeter Parker KAY, so I figure Steve and Buck will square off briefly (the others can join if Jeoff's okay with it), but the fire on the canisters will force them to teleport away before they can beat Bucky to death.
Post by Natalia Romanova on Mar 22, 2017 15:29:41 GMT
Apocalypse had truly blessed her…
By showing her the truth of it all first, she would be able to watch her friends and loved ones come to the same realization she had. A tiny smile played at the corners of her lips despite the intense heat filling the room. She couldn’t feel any of it. Apocalypse had seen all of her pain - decades upon decades of red - and given her a gift that made certain she would never feel it again.
Small pillars of smoke wafted through the room as Apocalypse turned towards James, their gray tendrils reaching around and through her. Her face shifted ever so slightly at the sight of James attempting to battle her god’s will. Foolish, foolish man. She’d always known he was a warrior and stubborn to boot, but had she not just told him - told them all - that Apocalypse was here to save them? He was here to save the world. All they need do was open themselves to his grace.
After only a moment, she noticed a shift in Peter and finally watched him slump to the floor. As the black goop spewed out from his mouth, a slow grin wormed its way onto her lips and she knew the young man had accepted his gift. Her attention shifted back to the two remaining as Peter skittered on his four new limbs to stand behind her. If she was shocked by this sudden change in his appearance, it did not show on her face.
“Steve…” she coaxed, her husky voice lilting across the space on a tendril of smoke. His chin snapped up then, his eyes shining like little rubies for the span of a heartbeat. The smile that had lurked at the corner of her lips when Peter stepped over widened ever further. He was a stubborn man, but it was good to see that he was not stupid enough to deny such a gift.
Her eyes shifted towards James at Steve’s question, a look of curiosity lurking in their intangible depths. He had shunned the opportunity for a gift. Fool. Frowning slightly, she grit her teeth but remained where she was. He’d spent three years training her - breaking her. She should be more attracted to the idea of vengeance. Instead, all she felt was pity.
James had once told her that he felt he had broken her; looking back now, she saw truth in that statement. But she also saw just how utterly broken he was. Useless. She’d been forged of marble and despite his best attempts, all he’d managed were a few cracks upon the surface of her true self - something easily fixed by the grace of her new god.
Turning her face up to the man, Natalia’s smile returned. “We should go soon.” She had no doubts that he would know precisely of what she was speaking, but her hand lifted all the same, one nearly transparent finger pointing to where the flames were drawing ever nearer to the propane canisters strewn about the room. “The fire will cleanse his stain from this world and even Death will kneel before you in thanks for finally allowing her to embrace him once and for all.”
Character Skipped:James Barnes Reason: Player has exceed 72 hour limit for second time in thread, thus accruing a consequence for character. Consequence: Player's discretion. Next up:Peter Parker (Or no one. We could end the thread here if you guys want and get to starting all the other plot threads)
"You've become a font of truth," Apocalypse spoke to Death, her advice seemingly ignored, but his certainty absolute. Likely he already had plans for what was to come.
Steve's first strike went wide as Barnes narrowly escaped the broadcasted strike. Instead Rogers' fist collided with one of the metal support beams with enough force that the steel crumbled around his hand like a tin can. The whole section of the basement lurched forward and in as the ceiling dropped a few inches, bringing a new spurt of flame that spat as it chewed through the apartment.
Ignoring the strike as flames crept nearer still to the canisters of propane, Steve threw another strike. Without little in way of forewarning, his attack proved difficult to dodge. His reflexes and agility had obviously been enhanced, but the full extent of his enhancements were difficult to gauge until the first strike hit. Connecting knuckle to ribcage, Steve punched his longtime friend with the force of a freight train and sent him hurdling backward until he was smashed against the weakening wall with enough force to come through the other side. Now he was mostly under the stairwell and away from the flame.
Walking forward, Steve's footfalls crunched the shattered concrete underfoot. "Sorry you have to go out like this, Barnes. If we didn't already have a famine lined up, you'd be a perfect candidate. Who better than you to take someone else's hard work and give nothing back?" Drawing near the stairwell, Rogers locked eyes with his quarry and spoke his last line softly, calmly. "You've been a blight your whole life. I'm just the overdue coup de grace."
Before they could engage again, there was a sharp pop. In a fraction of a moment, flames ruptured forward, but so slowly they were almost like bleeding ink through water. Something reached out to seize the horsemen and propel them forward, the whole of space seeming to warp around them as they arrived outside of the apartment complex and on top of a nearby building that stood steadily enough to serve as a vantage point.
With a brilliant explosion of sound and a burst of yellows, whites, oranges and reds, the apartment building scattered up and out. Some sections caved in around each other but most were simply cast through the air with an explosion of glass, metal and debris.
Turning to his horsemen, the hulking figure gave a shallow nod of satisfaction.
"Each of you know what must be done."
Last Edit: Mar 25, 2017 20:43:41 GMT by MINI EVENT