[IC] X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

[BlueSky44]

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@Morose@Nallore@FantasyChic@KazAlkemi@eclecticwitch
@Kirah@Trainerblue192@Achronum

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Inside the Palace
"Prince Pietro is engaged to Tony Stark's daughter, Guinevere," Jade recalled, glancing at Niah. She was glancing around the room herself, making notes under her breath. While she didn't have any powers, Jade's deductive mind had carved her out a career as a private investigator. "But this is good - we know that Princess Wanda did this and we have her pressure point now - her brother."

Just then, there was the sound of someone else at the door to the room, and it opened up. "I thought I heard voices of people who don't quite belong here," Klara's voice called before she stepped into the room, her sword hanging at her side and a sling ring was currently in her hand. "So, did you find anything interesting about this place? Well, we can talk about that later, but you might want to know that the fighting outside is over, there are people inside the Palace again, so if you want a quick exit, speak now, as the longer we stay here the quicker we'll get caught."

Goose had been rubbing his head up against Niah, purring, before he ate a few of the treats that she had given him. When he saw Klara he jumped out of Niah's arms and went to investigate the new person. "...Is that what I think it is? Why the hell is there a freaking Flerken here? Awww he's so cute! I haven't seen one of these guys in what feels like forever! Be careful though, you don't want to have him scratch you, as you will definitely feel it in the morning... Now, back to getting out of here. If you want I can use my sling ring to portal us directly back to the HQ." she said, having bent down and picked Goose up sort of snuggling with the cat.

Outside the Palace
"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she could, I mean from what I can tell her power is Chaos Magic which is a fairly unstable thing, she could probably accomplish more than people give her credit for if you ask me," Flynn said with a shrug, before looking at Carolina before she went into her astral form. "Just be careful, who knows what she'll do if she catches you trying to possess her again or something..."

Pietro looked dazed for a moment, before shaking his head and looking more of confused then anything. "...Wait, what just happened? Wanda what did you just do?" he said, looking at his sister before looking over at Allison, hearing her words about things. "Why would Wanda change the world for me of all people?" He then switched to his mental link, deciding to just talk to Guin for a few moments. Guina... I don't know what to do, but I don't want you to hurt Wanda, but I don't want Wanda to hurt you either... with his words, Guin would easily be able to tell that he was more or less torn about what to do in this situation. It was almost like Guin and Wanda at this rate were playing a game of tug-o-war and he was caught in the middle, or maybe a game of ping pong and he was the ball.

"You are my brother and I care about you," she responded, before coughing up some blood from how many injuries she had gotten between the attacks from Guin and Allison. "However, I will not lose you again my brother," Wanda added, before her hands started glowing slightly, and there was a slight flash of red once more. "Let's get out of here Pietro."

His eyes sort of went red, before he nodded his head simply, raced over and picked Wanda up, and took off again, leaving the others in the dust. Oshea had been fairly quiet for the most part, just sort of looking at the two of them. "...So what should we do now? Since those two kind of took off and she did some weird thing with her powers or something..."

The Resistance
"I'm glad you're okay Runa," Lance said, giving her a slight smile before he turned to look at the others, rolling his eyes slightly at Cass' words. "And no, not necessarily. She might not actually need another source to potentially boost her own power. I think you might be under estimating her strength. She's caused a lot of problems in the past, but not really anything of this scale sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Or she just never thought to attempt something like this before. You are making assumptions, and in a case like this it is likely you should be better prepared for her potentially accomplishing it without any aid, otherwise you likely would be under prepared to actually fight her. Like that's just common sense. It is better to over estimate an opponent than to under estimate her. Thing is we don't know just how powerful she is, but honestly, when you think about other powerful forces that have come to Earth in some way or whatever, then would it really be that surprising for her to actually pull it off?"

"For the record only one of those brothers is actually related to Xavier, the other one is kind of the oddball and isn't considered crazy," Wolverine said to Max with a slight shrug, before looking at James. "You want my honest opinion? That plan is horrible. Why do you think attacking SHIELD would fix this? It's not going to, the only way to do it is to go against Wanda Maximoff directly if she did cause this."

Hawkeye sighed slightly, glancing around the room. "We don't have the resources to attack SHIELD bases," he then said bluntly. "We were lucky to make it out of the encounter at the Palace - the SHIELD bases are heavily guarded and the mutants there are bred for combat. I want everyone to prepare for recruiting tomorrow, divvy up into teams, and then take a break for lunch. You've earned it."

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"No need to throw accusations around Ana, it might make people think you are up to something," Mary said to her with a bit of an eye roll. Turning to look at the others, she seemed to think for a moment, before answering them. "If you are lying about having the crown or not, there likely will be more repercussions for you all... But I think that if you were lying, you'd probably have a reason for it, so honestly, not going to pry too much into it... However I do suggest that we get out of this room now, we've been here for a little while, and if we stay here much longer, it might end horribly."

"We don't have the crown," Jack said bluntly, knowing perfectly well that he was more used to these sorts of things then Casper was. Also part of him really wanted to smack Casper across the head, because to him that didn't sound too convincing in his mind.

"Alright, if you say so, now let's get out of here," she said, before she headed back to the door, poking her head out, and seeing that it was all clear at the moment.

[eclecticwitch]

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Location: The Crown Room - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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Bobbi was having trouble processing. Her memories were all meshing together and she was having trouble drawing lines between what was real and what was fake. She rubbed her fingers of her free hand over her temples and shook her head. The Thieves Guild was family. They had always been there for her. Well... No... Not always. She used to fight in the underground, didn't she? Was she on drugs right now? Bobbi felt like throwing up.

She turned her attention on Mary and Ana and realized that she knew neither of these women. Wait. She knew Mary right? But Ana... Not really. She was alone in a room with people she didn't know. Her grip on the handle of the hammer tightened. Her loyalty to an organization she was never really a part of and her desire to do the right thing were battling inside of her. In silence, she followed the rest. Once she was out of the building she was going to have to disappear.

[Morose]

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Guin Stark

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Location: The Palace Grounds - New York (Guin's Outfit)
Skills: Telepathy

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"It looked like it felt good," Guin agreed with Allison, thinking a bit about the scene in the Prisoner of Azkaban where Hermione punched Draco in the face. There was a similar rush from just seeing Wanda get decked by Allison. She wasn't really sure what this other world was like that Allison was talking about, but Wanda's behavior forced Guin to make a choice. She wasn't going to help a villain. Pietro spoke to her via the mental link, evidently refusing to take a stance of his own. She's already hurt me. Too late. Pausing for a moment, she then added a bit more gently: You need to decide, Piet. I'm giving you an out if you want one. If you want to go with your sister, I get it - she's family.

Guina, I love you both, but I really don't want to have to choose between the two of you... But if she did change the world, then I think we should change it back to whatever it was before...

Her hands curled into fists as Wanda put Pietro under her control again. "Bitch, if you have to control him then you've already lost him! He's not Pietro anymore, he's a goddamn puppet!" But her words were useless. The twins were gone and Oshea hadn't moved a muscle to stop them, despite being a speedster himself. "GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!" Guin cursed, kicking at the ground as hard as she could and sending bits of grass flying up into the air.

"I'm going to fucking kill her." Princess Wanda could be killed like any normal person, they would just need a way to shut down her powers. To do that, they would need to get an inhibitor and those were not exactly legal. The lab here wouldn't have all of the components, but they would have the items at Stark Tower for sure. Her nostrils flared slightly and Guin took a deep breath, focusing on the mental connection she had with Pietro. It took her a few tries, but she managed to free his mind from Wanda's influence. There was something fighting against her though. Pietro? Get back here!

What just happened? he responded, sounding confused.

Your sister is controlling your mind. Come back to the Palace now, it's harder to defend you at this distance.

...Uh, okay... After a few moments, Pietro raced back up next to them. He was still somewhat confused, and wasn't even sure what the hell was going on anymore. "...So, now what?"

Guin looked at Allison. "Your call, boss lady."

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Dominika Novikova and Runa Blake

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Location: The Human Resistance HQ - New York
Skills: N/A

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Novikova was one of those who had asked for a new outfit, getting a nice kevlar stealth suit. She didn't see much of a reason in wearing anything else - since at least this would present her from being shot and killed. They weren't all bulletproof like Cass was with her dermal armor. "Thanks," she told Max simply. It was clear that a lot was being taken out of him, with all of the magic he had done that day. He seemed young, so she figured that he was just inexperienced and didn't have the reserves that more seasoned practitioners had. "So who would you rather go with - James' team or the other group?" she asked Maria.

She figured she might as well let her girlfriend pick - happy girlfriend, happy life right? James still struck her as at least mildly psychotic, whereas Max seemed to be a bit naive and bumbling. The real dividing line though seemed to be in the locations they would go to - New Orleans and then just here in New York. She didn't know if Maria would have a strong opinion either way, though of course in the end it wouldn't matter too much. The job needed doing, so it would be done. Barton had shot down the plan on invading and attacking SHIELD bases to distract Wanda, so Novikova didn't even give it a second thought. He was the highest rank here so at the end of the day, it was his call what they did. He seemed to think their best shot was to just amass a large force and move directly against Wanda and she trusted him to make the right decision.

Runa meanwhile also got a new outfit - a gorgeous black blouse with white lace, boots, ripped tights, and a frayed red skirt. The clothes were certainly different from what she was used to growing up on Asgard, but she really liked the fashion options available here. Most of the edgier outfits back home were just different variations on green and black, similar to what Loki and her cousin Hel would wear. From the conversations going on, the decision seemed to be that they were just going to recruit and then attack Wanda all at once. She bit her lip again, looking at Lance.

"When you have a moment, I need to talk to you - alone..." she requested softly. Max and James were on the New Orleans team, meaning that she was going to be staying here in New York for the recruitment drive. Either location was fine with her - she hadn't really been to New Orleans or New York in her real life and she had spent her fake life here in Norway and then Australia. It would be a new experience, hopefully one she could focus on to take her mind off of the inevitable demise of whatever affection Lance held for her. She took a slight breath, wondering what Klara would say about all of this. Her cousin always seemed to know what to say, especially when it came to matters of the heart.

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Casper Theriot

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Location: the Crown Room -> the Hallway - Baton Rouge
Skills: Mediumship

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"Lying?" Casper asked, his eyes widening as he pressed a hand to his chest in apparent shock. He felt a slight pressure as she tried to enter his mind and he hoped that she hadn't managed to find or uncover anything interesting in there. He wasn't really sure how her powers worked, since he had no memories of her - she easily could have been a telepath like his father. "Also, stay out of my brain - please," he requested, after Marygold and Jack had apparently managed to smooth things over.

"I didn't know you had a brain," Ben teased.

"Ben! Rude!" Casper complained. Bobbi was being incredibly quiet and he wasn't sure whether to be concerned about that. She was probably just processing everything, since she apparently had just remembered the real world, and maybe her life was vastly different between the two realities. Maybe she turned out to be the mother of the little girl Jack was claiming was his daughter. Casper had to wonder for a moment what would happen to Lexi if they changed the world back to normal - would that kill her? Would she be erased from existence?

He then went out into the hallway, not really seeing anyone else out there. That worked for them - the sooner they got out of this place, the better. Of course, he wasn't that stupid. Only someone who had lied about finding the crone would just agree to leave the facility empty handed without trying too much. "Okay, so where should we look next?" Casper asked. He didn't know if they were just bailing on the mission entirely.

[Trainerblue192]

Maximillian Gray

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Location: Human Resistance HQ: New York City, New York.
Skills:

ConjurationUpdated Outfit

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Max used the cane as leverage while he slowly allowed himself to sit on the floor of the building. He laid the cane before him and just sat and listened to the others and their opinions on the matter of what they should do next. Jame had decided that it was best the press forward as quickly as possible, and more hopefully as soon as now. His heart sank a little as he wondered if James was callously ignoring Max’s exhaustion or if he just hadn’t heard him, he was quite the thinker usually. Max leaned back, his head now resting against the cool surface of the wall pressing up against his blonde hair. He closed his eyes, listening to the voices around him and hearing Hawkeye completely dismiss James idea. On one hand Max was glad to gain some rest, on the other hand he knew James plan was actually quite smart. Clearly the healer had gained more leadership and strategy skills since they first met, and this worlds S.H.E.I.L.D. training must’ve helped along with that as well. Perhaps that was smarter, to mix the two realities and use as much knowledge as possible to help influence the tide of this battle.

A lot had transpired in the course of two days, and Max had to get back into the habit of using his powers more frequently than just his usual fashion shows and trips around the world. Teleporting one person was one thing, he could do that forever, but to have done this scale so quickly after having his ass handed to him? That was a bit of a larger task. But with Jame’s healing, the rest he was now getting, and the food to come, Max knew he would be in fitter shape to do more the next day. One last trick, a little recon to help the mission to come. Max looked down, cupping his hands over his mouth and whispering into them as if telling a secret. He focused on Casper, having trouble finding him at first with all the clutter in his mind, but soon finding purchase and sending off a message to him. Hey Casper it’s Max. I don’t know if you remember me...and I really hope you do, but I have James here with me and I wanted to know if you can remember either of us. We want to find you, we need to find you. You can reply to this message

[FantasyChic]

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Allison Andrewss

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Location: The Palace Grounds - New York (Outfit)
Skills: N/A

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Allison rubbed her hand after Wanda stormed off with Pietro in tow. Thankfully, Guin seemed to bring him back to his senses, though the poor guy still looked lost. "As I am sure Guin already told you, this reality is not real. Or rather, it is not the original reality. We have just confirmed that your sister changed it to this with one of the biggest reasons being that she wanted you closer to her and not part of the X-Men. In the original reality, you joined us and she didn't handle it well."

Allison thought for a few moments. She looked over to Oshea, thankful he stuck around and was, more or less, on board with all of this. "As we are right now, we can't hope to change reality back without her. So we need to find her or find someone just as, if not more, powerful with the ability to alter this reality back to the original. As for those options, I am at a loss. The only thing I have left is possibly trying to get a vision and see if that gives us leads. But you're the scientific one Guin, surely you know some way to fix this?"

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Tinley Abercrombie

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Location: Inside the Palace
Skills: N/A

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It seemed they had a solid lead. Find Pietro, find Wanda. "I guess it would matter if he knew she changed all of this or not. I imagine she kept him in the dark. All of this just to have your brother. Their bond must be pretty solid then. Well, either way, we figured it out. We should see about getting him and having him lead us to her."

As if on cue, Klara showed up and offered them a way back. "Solid lead for sure. Let's get back and regroup with the others then and tell them what we found. They will want to know. Use the ring and let's get out of here before they come in to check and find the lot of us standing around in the princess' bedroom." Tinley gave a cursory glance at Goose, thankful Klara had a handle on him before she waited for transport.

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Anastasia Reinhardt

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Location: West Side Red Guard Base
Skills: N/A

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She didn't much enjoy this obvious teaming up against her. If they wanted to lie and be secretive about it, that was their prerogative and she had to give credit to them. That didn't mean she had to enjoy it though. "Far be it from me to question why you would hide our goal after finding it. After all, if you did have it that would be mission success and we could get out of here, heads held high. But if you don't have it, you don't have it. So where is it then?"

She knew they had it on them. She would find a way to get it later. For now, she would play along with their game. They had to have a reason for hiding it from her. She supposed they didn't trust her too much and she could hardly blame them. She was still new to the Thieve's Guild. And if this was as powerful as spoken of, then maybe they didn't trust it in her hands. They would be right, of course. But still, it stung a bit.

[Nallore]

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Carolina Reed

Location: The Palace - New York City, New York
Skills: astral projection, possession

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Carolina looked towards Flynn as soon as she finished trying to possess Wanda with no luck, as she stood up and dusted herself off looking over at the others who were there. "Hopefully Allison, and Guin have a plan." Carolina said, since she did pretty much nothing aside from trying to possess her to try and stop her from attacking the others. She walked over towards them, seeing that Wanda was gone for the moment. "I tried possessing her, she forced me out you guys have any kind of plan?" Carolina asked looking between Allison, Guin and Oshea there which was weird still to her seeing him alive as well.

"And we should maybe leave wherever you guys are going anyway I would like to come." Carolina said looking over at Allison she remembered the real world just like she did as well. "Once Magneto comes to he's going to probably be really pissed off to." Carolina said having a feeling that he would kill just about anyone who he thought were traitors.

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Cassandra Reed

Location: Human Resistance HQ - New York City, New York
Skills: N/A

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Cassandra just shrugged slightly, she had only met Wanda once during the whole OMEN situation, she didn't know to much about her powers in the first place anyway. "Just trying to throw ideas around how she did it on such a large scale, otherwise wouldn't she have done something like this before?" She said as she leaned herself up against the nearby wall and rubbed the back of her neck slightly, looking over at Hawkeye turning down the suggestion of attacking SHIELD bases which she did now thinking about it was a bad idea.

"I'll stay in New York and recruit whoever is here, my sister is somewhere still here anyway." Cassandra said, she did see her back at he palace during the fighting but she couldn't get to her in time at all either and hoped that she was okay still. Looking over at Max who seemed to be young and inexperienced still having been worn out from using his powers to much.

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Maria Smith

Location: New York City, New York, Human Resistance HQ.
Skills:

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Maria looked over towards Novikova when she asked her which team she wanted to be on, looking around at the others she wasn't really sure and eyed both James and Max for a moment. To her they both were still kind of wildcards to her and she didn't trust them with watching her girlfriend's back, even though Novi was a completely capable SHIELD agent as well. "I'll go with the clowns to New Orleans." Maria said, looking over at Cass when she said she would be staying with those whoever chose to stay in New York.

She didn't think that attacking SHELD assets would be a good idea either since they were looking for recruits they would be going against highly trained agents as well if they were to do that. "Yeah no on the attacking SHIELD assets thing, since i'm pretty sure the agents would be mutants, or humans as well highly trained ones trained it wouldn't be a good idea."

[KazAlkemi]

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Antoinette McCarthy

Location: The Palace Grounds -- New York City, New York.
Skills:

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Antoinette watched as the intensity grew around Wanda. She was alarmed when Carolina left her body again and tried to astral project into Wanda. It didn’t seem to work but it only made them being their more precarious. Antoniette shuffled in front of Carolina, just encase Wanda decided to retaliate but it seemed she was much more busy with Guin and Allison. Antoinette cringed when Allison attacked Wanda and punched her repeatedly. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it but who could blame her. Wanda had plucked them out of their life and plopped them into her man made one. Antoinette bowed her head, feeling a bit guilty of the whole situation. She had liked Wanda in this reality, she was happy and friendly. Perhaps even a friend of Antoinette’s. Antoinette looked up in time to see Wanda snatch up her brother and take off. She was still watching when Carolina made move to go stand with Allison and Guin. Wanda was now gone and that left them all at square one, still trapped in this reality. As of right now, Wanda was the only one who could get them out.
Antoinette looked back, wanting to discuss this with Carolina when she saw she was gone. She turned around, still not finding her until she came full circle and saw that Carolina had joined the other group. Antoinette quickly scrambled over to them just as Pietro returned. Well that was good that he was back but would that mean Wanda’s imminent return as well? She heard Carolina speak up and turned to focus on what was being discussed. ”We should all go. We can’t finish this on our own. We need to find the others,” Antoinette stated.

[Kirah]

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Niah Bautista

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Location: The Palace
Skills:

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"Engaged here yes, but I can't remember if they had gotten married or not in the real world. My memory is a jumble of...a lot of memories." She paused uncertain how to explain she had just time traveled. God, she needed a vacation. "Klara." She nodded at Runa's cousin. "I'm glad you're okay, that's Goose. I don't know what a Flerken is but he has tentacles that shoot from his mouth and has been alive well over forty years." It was odd to think of Fury in that moment holding the younger Goose.

"Jade are you satisfied with what you've learned here? Or do you want to check out the other rooms still?" She knew the woman didn't have any powers, but she was smart. Niah still wanted to look at Flynn's room, mostly out of curiosity. Why would Wanda make him a sibling? Though if Flynn remembered the real world it would be nice to talk to him because he was the only other person she knew remembered the age of Ultron. He could possibly help her get her memories in order.

roll request

Heightened senses - sight
Glance around the room with it to see if she notices anything odd

[Achronum]

James Kingston

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Location: Human Resistance HQ, New York, New York
Skills: N/A

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James only shrugged in response. The plan wasn’t meant to kill so clearly the finer points got swallowed up by the single focus these people had. It seemed everywhere he turned, these people couldn’t handle more than a single objective but so be it. James made his way over to Max and slid down to the floor next to him. The exhaustion of healing so much was creeping up on him now that everything slowed down for a moment. James nudged the other man with his shoulder and chuckled. “Out of the frying pan and into the fire, huh? Christ this is one shitty situation.” James shook his head with grim humor.

“What exactly determined all this nonsense?” James asked quietly. James didn’t want to reflect on everything that had happened in this life, not with an objective so close at hand so in typical James fashion, he shut those emotions down real quick. That would be something to focus on later when he had time to unpack all those things. Maybe he wouldn’t have time until they fixed it and then hopefully he could forget all of it. Hopefully, he’d forget all of it.

[BlueSky44]

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@Morose@Nallore@FantasyChic@KazAlkemi@eclecticwitch
@Kirah@Trainerblue192@Achronum

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Inside the Palace
"A Flerken is just like your typical house cat silly!" Klara responded to Niah with a bit of a giggle. "Except for a few key differences that is. The tentacles that shoot out of their mouth is one thing, like think about it, where does all of that stuff they swallow go? They actually have almost a little bit of a pocket dimension inside their stomach, so they also tend to be bottomless pits when they actually are eating food."

"I don't think we have time to check out the other rooms, luv. We best get going."

"Yeah, with all the chaos outside gone, then we've got to get out of here now," Klara agreed, before she used her sling ring opening up a portal that led to bright where everyone was in the Human Resistance group. When Niah took another look around the room, she wouldn't find anything else out of the ordinary or strange, seemed like the picture was the only thing that

Outside the Palace
"...Yeah, Guina already told me that much..." Pietro said, looking over at Allison for a moment before turning to look at everyone else. "...Also my head kind of feels like a ping pong ball or something, going back and forth and whatever..."

Flynn had made his way over to the group now, not really sure what to say about everything that was going on. He felt more then just a bit out of place, "Yeah, any place would likely be better than here, since otherwise who knows what could happen."

"The question is where would we go? I mean the trying to find the resistance group's headquarters is one idea, see if they could help, or we could do something else and hope that Wanda doesn't try and kill us all or wipe us from existence, since that would suck if you ask me."

Human Resistance HQ
Things were winding down here for the most part. Lance just glanced over at Cass, shaking his head, "I don't think anyone truly knows what goes through the mind of Wanda Maximoff, doubt her brother would even know. Sure, maybe she had help, but that's just it, no one knows how powerful she is, but what we do know is that she was able to easily hold her own against a lot of people all at once. That says something about her power level, and probably shouldn't be ignored at all. I don't know much about her powers either, but over estimating her would probably be better over all still..." he said, before looking over at Runa. "Alright, we can talk now if you want to," Lance said to her, nodding his head at her.

There was then the swirling sound of someone using a sling ring, and a portal opened up nearby, showing a what looked to be a bedroom at the Palace, as well as the stealth team that had been inside of the Palace when everyone else had teleported away from the chaos outside.

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"Well if the crown isn't here for whatever reason, there isn't really a point in us actually sticking around here, we are better off getting out of here and hope we don't run into any others, otherwise we might be stuck fighting it out and probably drawing even more attention to us," Mary said, looking at the others. "We've already spent a lot of time here, so I think we need to see about getting out of here now before they catch on that we are here."

"You sure? We could look around in a few other rooms or something," Jack commented.

"We can look through a few other rooms on our way out of here if you guys want to," she said with a shrug, before she turned to look at Bobbi. "Bobbi? Are you okay? You kind of seem oddly quiet..."

Jack followed his brother out into the hallway, before whispering to him, "So, any ideas of what to do with this thing once we get out of here?" Jack asked him quietly. After all, it wasn't really the easiest thing in the world to get rid of an infinity stone. Even more difficult to get it far away from the hands of a group of thieves.

[Morose]

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Guin Stark

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Location: The Palace Grounds - New York (Guin's Outfit)
Skills: Problem Solving, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Deduction, Mechanics, and Engineering Design

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"Oh sure, let me just write down some equations on a chalkboard, throw around the word quantum, and I'll have a scientific fix done within a few hours," Guin snarked. People had this conception that monumental scientific discoveries could be produced on demand, usually within some arbitrary time limit that was never more than twenty four hours. Maybe her father could come up with a device that would reverse everything Wanda had done at the drop of the hat, but Guin knew that wasn't within her capabilities - at least not now. But hey, if she did manage to come up with something, that would almost guarantee she would win the Nobel Prize in Physics.

"Alright, the only things coming to mind would be finding one of the Infinity Stones and using it to change the world back forcibly - or we go and talk to the smartest guy on the planet and ask him, Reed Richards," Guin answered, this time without the biting malice of sarcasm. She wondered briefly if her father would be offended that she declared Reed Richards to be the smartest guy on the planet. He probably would be - his ego was one of the few things larger than his personal fortune. It wasn't too much of a plan, but the girls that approached them and Flynn had asked for a plan as well.

"Going to the resistance would be a bad idea," she argued. "One, they already tried to take on Wanda and Erik and they lost - badly. Two, if they had a way to change back the world, then I bet they would have done it already. And three, who do you think Erik is going to be pissed at when he comes to and order the execution of?" she pointed out. "Our best bet is either to go hide out at Stark Tower or see if we can track down Richards, he's probably at the Baxter Building."

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Dominika Novikova and Runa Blake

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Location: The Human Resistance HQ - New York
Skills: N/A

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"Isn't that cultural appropriation, if they went as clowns to New Orleans?" Novikova whispered to her girlfriend, teasing her lightly. Both of them had died before in another timeline on a mission. But she didn't like to dwell on that - rather than think about the failures, it was better to focus on the here and the now. Even thinking too much about the missions they had succeeded on would just be an unneeded distraction and the only distraction Novikova wanted was Maria.

Her gaze was redirected over towards the sling ring portal, not really having much interest in Cass and Lance/Sparky's conversation about the power levels of Wanda Maximoff. There were some mutants whose powers defied quantification, who broke the scales each time a new one was established. They were designated as omega level and after all of this, Novikova didn't doubt that the Scarlet Witch qualified. The Sorcerer Supreme and those who practiced the Mystic Arts should have been able to stop her from doing something like this - cosmic threats and ones that endangered the multiverse were their responsibility - but for some reason, they had failed to do so. She had to imagine that only the wizards really had an idea as to how powerful she was. "Max, can you locate Doctor Stephen Strange?" Novikova called out. She knew from the mission reports that Strange had helped with the alternate Age of Ultron timeline. Maybe he could help here too.

Runa motioned for Lance to come with her, walking through the crowded place until she found a quiet little corner where they could talk and be alone. She didn't want to have this conversation in front of everyone. Before she went on over there though, she saw Klara through the sling ring portal and she smiled slightly, relieved to see that her favorite cousin was alright. Once the pair of them were alone though, she took a deep breath and then purposefully looked at the wall that way she wouldn't see Lance's reaction to what she was about to say.

"My real name is Runa Baldurdattir, Goddess of Lies. I have a compulsion to lie and each time I tell a lie and someone contradicts me, there's an urge for me to use my powers to turn that lie into reality. I could have done something like this easily to get my happy ending..." she confessed. "I'm no different than Wanda Maximoff. And if you hate her, then you hate me and I understand... I... I don't expect you to continue to feel things that were forced upon you by her magic... So... So I believe that it is for the best if we end our courtship right now. Before you get hurt. And before I do something to hurt you, since it's only a matter of time... Everything I touch rots, Lance. I don't want that to happen to you."

---

---

Casper Theriot

---

---

Location: the Hallway - Baton Rouge
Skills: Mediumship

---

Casper's eyes widened slightly as a familiar voice began to speak in his head. Instinctively, he tensed up and his hands curled into fists. His father used to do this - just break into his mind without permission and start messing around in there. He always hated it. Moving away from the rest of the group, his back collided with the wall and it felt like a jolt of electricity going up his spine. "Fucking hell, Max! Don't you know to ask for consent before probing someone's mind?!" Casper snapped reflexively. Closing his eyes, he took a breath for a moment. "Sorry, it's just... Anyways, of course I remember the both of you! I'm currently in some SHIELD base in Baton Rouge trying to steal an Infinity Stone. I know, I know it's crazy for even me. Tell Baby Boy I love him, okay?"

He missed Mary's seeming reluctance to actually go and look for the stone, but he supposed Rogue and Gambit were still around and he doubted they would give up so easily. His eyes darted over towards his brother and he held up a single finger, before realizing that since Max was speaking in his head, he would be able to hear both him and Jack fine if they spoke at the same time. "My boyfriend's disastrous friend is in my head," he whispered to Jack. "You remember Max, right? The walking calamity? The untrained magician whose magic goes nutso and killed those cops back when he went to go probe at Shaw?"

But when it came to the question of what to do with the Mind Stone, Casper tried to think of the most trustworthy person in the world to deal with that sort of thing. He started to whistle a familiar tune and he smiled slightly, having found the answer on what to do with it. "We give it to Captain America, Jackie! No one can get past him and his mighty shield!" he whispered eagerly.

"What if Captain America isn't Captain America here?" Ben pointed out. "How do you know you can trust him?"

"...What, you think someone like Cap can go bad? I doubt there's a single bad bone in his body, hell he probably couldn't say Hail HYDRA even if he tried to!"

[eclecticwitch]

---

---

Location: The Crown Room - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

---

---

Bobbi was zoning out and not following the conversation at all. Her thoughts were on sorting out the resources she had in this world. Most of them revolved around the Thieves Guild which would do her no good. She started when Mary called her name and asked if she was alright. Bobbi gave a soft smile as she turned eyes bloodshot from her tears upon the plant aficionado.

"Sudden headache," she responded. She used a poor excuse for a Cajun accent as she spoke. She winced at the unnatural harshness of it and rubbed her brow. "I'll just follow," she whispered. She watched the brothers leave the room and wondered if she should follow them. Or perhaps she should stick close to Mary. She kind of new Mary.

[KazAlkemi]

---

---

Antoinette McCarthy

Location: The Palace Grounds -- New York City, New York.
Skills:

---

---

Guin rose some really great points about going to the Human Resistance group. Antoinette sighed. Things were very different here. A Human Resistance group rather than a mutant resistance group. How strange. ”And this Reed Richards, he could discover something that would help us change back the realities? Why don’t we try and find him and while he is working on something, try plan B and find one of these stones. There must be some tale of sorts that tells of where each could be.” Antoinette was feeling a bit better being in a crowd like this. With multiple like minded people. It didn’t seem so, fake anymore.
She looked around at each of them individually. There was one she didn’t recognize but they all seemed friendly with each other. They all seemed to know this was not their reality and they were all trying to work the problem again. It made her proud to be with such a group that could think on their feet like this. Sure they were all a little worse for the ware and probably a bit scared but that was what made being in a group better. Everyone was something but they all helped and supported each other.

[Trainerblue192]

Maximillian Gray

---

Location: Human Resistance HQ: New York City, New York.
Skills:

ConjurationUpdated Outfit

---

---

Max leaned his head against the cold wall of the warehouse, eyes closed, as he heard someone approach him and sit down next to him. The warmth of another body’s presence was welcome in these cold times, yet the fact that so many people were asking him what he could or couldn’t do, made him want to tell whoever it was to go away. He was exhausted, and his pride was a bit hurt if he was to be honest. Sure, taking on Wanda was a huge task but...he really thought he could do it. Mano y Mano, spell for spell, but all he did was fizzle out in the face of adversity as he tends to do. Chaos magic...he never truly cared to go to Xaviers or most others in this reality to help quantify his powers, his x-gene, and it seemed he continued to use the same descriptors in this reality as he did in the original. Magick, Conjuration, Spells, but his powers always seemed more sporadic, chaotic in nature, and he did things he couldn’t always categorize. Before he could say anything the person near him spoke, a familiar voice starting a casual conversation with him in a time like this; leave it to James to have casual conversations when the fate of the worlds at stake.

Max’s eyes remained closed as he spoke, keeping his breathing steady and slow to help regain some portion of his energy back. His lips were moving but no sound was coming out of them, almost as if he was speaking to himself in a silent tone. A moment passed and he turned his head towards James to show that he was speaking to him but his eyes remained closed as he relaxed. ”Heh, you can say that again. What a fine mess we found ourselves in isn’t it? I don’t know the why of how this all happened. The reason escapes me. But that’s to be expected, I don’t personally know Wanda Maximoff. I don’t know why she would have done thus, but I do believe it was her who did it. Her mother...she restored my memories, gave me back who I was, who I am, and I feel that...felt that...it was because she thought I could change the world, take it back from the hands of who ever had done this. It wasn’t till later that I began to suspect Wanda. She was one of the few that I personally knew knew about the alternate reality and yet she kept denying it. So i figured it was either her, or she was afraid to speak of if before the king. The fight today though? That solidified my answer as to believing she did it. The raw power i felt from her spells, what she said to me, and her willingness to fight for this world...it has to have been her. It appears however, that I am not the saviour, I’m not the chosen one, the one who can vanquish her and return reality to its rightful place. I’m just Max from Washington, D.C. The kid who’s help only hurts...hell I’m surprised that I didn’t slaughter half the people during the teleport. I am gonna miss this power though, when we return back to where we belong and I’m back to simple tricks like setting places aflame. Oh, by the way, I just spoke to Casper. He’s fine, hiding away in some S.H.E.I.L.D. base in Baton Rouge trying to get an item that sounds like it came from a legend. Oh and he told me to tell his Baby Boy he loved him.”

At this point Max had finally opened his eyes, looking over to Novikova who was asking Max if he could locate Doctor Stephen Strange. A slight sigh escaped his lips as he took in the request. ”I can try to at the very least. Can’t promise anything. Oh, while I’m doing that I have a question for the room.” His voice was now louder, no longer his soft exhausted tone but more so the sound of someone who was about to ask a potentially important question. ”Who here knows what an Infinity stone is? And can you tell me what you know. I haven’t heard of such a thing in my life but it sounds like its important and a lot like a magical item from legends old or something. Gather your thoughts on it while I search for Strange and I'll let you know when I'm ready to hear it.” Max closed his eyes and began to search for Strange, finding that he isn't too far off, residing in the city at a nearby hospital as some form of psychologist. He began to speak once more, no sound leaving his lips as he sent a message to Strange.
Hey, you may not know me but my name is Maximillian Gray. I was asked to search for you in an attempt to find allies against the threats of this reality, or I suppose I should say the threat of this reality. You can respond to this message."
Another message was sent, this time to Casper.
"I'm not in your head, well not in the sense of telepathy i should say. Either way I'm not probing your mind, think of this like a walkie talkie. I know Jack is with you but is he...alright? Does he recall us too? We've had a few run ins with people who don't remember us and we just had our asses handed to us, we need allies and fast. Think you can help?" As much as Max hated asking Casper for help, he knew that out of the two brothers Casper was the only one who could speak to himself and not be seen as crazy. After all he does it all the time. "Alright, I'm ready for a lore dump if you have it. Then I'll give you info on this Stephen Strange character you seem to care about."

[Nallore]

---

---

Carolina Reed

Location: The Palace - New York City, New York
Skills: N/A

---

---

Carolina looked towards Guin for a moment, saying that they shouldn't really rely on the Human Resistance group, but she had a feeling that they could be used as well, and her sister was here not to long ago as well. "I think we could still use the numbers though, the more people we have a better chance in defending ourselves in case Scarlet Witch and Magneto find out what we are trying to do." Carolina said as she looked towards Annie, Guin, Oshea and Allison, they were missing a few others from the X-Men team as well. "Maybe we can try and hunt down the other X-Men as well?" Carolina didn't see Lance, Marygold, Neil, Bethany or even Mira here at all.

Carolina didn't know much about the Infinity Stones that were mentioned, she wasn't even sure what they looked like either as well but Reed Richards would be a good lead to maybe try and fix things. "Lets hope that Mr. Fantastic actually does remember the main reality, it would be a whole lot easier to convince him to help us." She was fine leaving this place as soon as possible as well.

---

---

Cassandra Reed

Location: Human Resistance HQ - New York City, New York
Skills: N/A

---

---

Cassandra nodded slightly towards Lance, as she walked over and sat down at the chair and leaned forward slightly as she started to think how to actually fix things. It was certainly way out of her area of expertise as well, she watched as Lance and Runa walked off to talk in private. She watched Max and James for a moment she still wasn't sure what to think of them more so with James since he wasn't good when they all first met back on the Quinjet to Australia.

When Max spoke up asking about the Infinity Stones she raised an eyebrow slightly, she had read up some files on them over her time with SHIELD, and knew that there were six of them in all. "There's six of them in all, Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time, and Soul." Cass said looking over at Max for a moment, she remembered that Strange had one mentioned in the Age of Ultron files had the time stone, and also read up on the Battle of New York was also caused by one. "And if you remember the battle over New York back in 2012? That was caused by one of the stones, which is bad used in the wrong hands." She pointed out, she turned her head to see a Sling Ring Portal open up seeing that the stealth team had finally came back glad to see that they were all okay as well.

---

---

Maria Smith

Location: New York City, New York, Human Resistance HQ.
Skills:

---

---

"Probably, they certainly do act like clowns to me." Maria whispered back to her girlfriend, she looked at her for a moment, they hadn't really had time alone together really either. "Maybe after we fix up Wanda's mess you and I could take a little vacation or something?" Maria said, she listened to Max as he started to ask about the Infinity Stones, she knew their names for the most part and knew that they were dangerous as well. Cassandra managed to beat her to it explaining them, when Novi mentioned about Dr. Strange she wondered if he would be of any help.

Maria turned her head seeing the portal opening up and spotted the stealth team as they all came back in one piece as well which was good and smiled towards them. "Welcome back guys, did you find anything useful?" Maria asked them, she hoped that maybe they all had some more answers as well and maybe figure out how to fix things maybe to.

[FantasyChic]

---

---

Allison Andrewss

---

---

Location: The Palace Grounds - New York (Outfit)
Skills: Accelerated Probability, Precognition

---

"Ok, sarcasm aside, you are still the best bet we have to solving this. I don't know why you expect me to have a plan." But Allison did have something at her disposal at least. She attempted to get a vision and use her powers to find the best course of action for them. In it, she saw them going to see Richards but she didn't see the Human Resistance team.

"Just used my powers and I know our best bet is to find Reed Richards. We didn't go see the Human Resistance team, so I have to agree it is best not to get them involved just yet. We just saw how they handled things already and we don't need them storming the gates just yet. We know who is doing this, we just need to find a way to stop her and get things back to how they were, preferably with all intact."

She sidled up next to Oshea though and took his hand, knowing full well if things got back to normal, he would be gone again. She knew and understood that, even if she hated every minute of it.

---

---

Tinley Abercrombie

---

---

Location: Inside the Palace -> Human Resistance HQ
Skills: N/A

---

Tinley didn't much care for the cat or whatever it was conversation they were having so she entered the portal as it appeared, thankful to be out of the palace less something else happened. She saw the others conversing and wondered how things had gone in the battle. No one appeared dead or severely wounded, so she assumed all had gone well. Though for all she knew, they had suffered loss. She had to remember she was not the leader here. Not as she was before. She was, instead, just another member of the team. But she would be a productive member of the team none the less.

"Well good news ladies and gentlemen, we know who caused this and have confirmation of such. Wanda Maximoff. I take it the attack went well?" She glanced at everyone, wondering what the conversation was before they had arrived. "The woman can shape reality so she is not one to be fucked with so a plan needs to happen if we want to put things back. Any ideas?"

---

---

Anastasia Reinhardt

---

---

Location: West Side Red Guard Base
Skills: N/A

---

Ana didn't trust a word out of any of their mouths, but she had no solid evidence to prove such. If they had the crown on them, they had a reason for it. She would continue this little charade for a few more moments then, but she would see that their lies, if they didn't hold, were outed to everyone. "We didn't see the crown on our way here. So I imagine it would be held somewhere with higher security. Thus far the security here is dreadfully poor quality."

She followed the others, making sure to stay in the background less she see something or someone acting mysteriously. Bobbi did not count as the woman was odd on a good day. The spirit boy was odd too, but he seemed more...competent than normal. Jack hid behind a handsome facade, but he could easily lie and make it look like he was a saint, she felt. A handy skill to be sure. Too bad he wasted such talent among the drabs.

[Achronum]

---

Location: Human Resistance HQ, New York, New York
Skills: N/A

---

---

James felt himself relax, tension he wasn’t aware of seeping out of his muscles and leaking a faint ache behind. Apparently, everything had overwhelmed him more than a little but hearing that Casper was alive and still remembered him and still cared for him if the message was anything to go by. He couldn’t help the smile that played across his face, probably dopier than he cared for, but it was so good hearing that come from his boyfriend that he didn’t bother hiding the relief. Even if the cute idiot was playing around in a S.H.I.E.L.D base. What else would his boyfriend be doing but finding the most dangerous, crazy thing he could do and jump into it head first? He couldn’t hold back a quiet laugh and shook his head fondly at the thought.

James looked up as the stealth team came in and noted Klara led it. He wasn’t particularly attached to the woman but he was glad she made it out nevertheless. She didn’t deserve to die. None of those people did. He refocused on Reed as she explained what she knew, processing the information. An infinity stone cause that craziness in New York? He didn’t know a lot, only that aliens and the avengers were going at it, but that seemed incredible. No wonder S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to keep an eye on them. He cocked his head to the side as the gears in his head started turning.

“Wait a moment. So my boyfriend is pinging near the X-Men while he so happens to be in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility looking for a stone with the power to start wars with alien races while we’re all waking up to realize this is an alternate reality.” James spoke slowly, organizing his thoughts as he did. “One of the stones is called the Reality stone, Cassandra? Or wait. Should I stick to last names? I think that’s what I used to do but it’s kinda weird? You know, I’ll stick with Reed until you say otherwise. Why doesn’t everyone just use first names? It’s the code name crap all over again. Anyways, would this Reality stone have the power to fix our reality? I’m not really sure how powerful these things are but it can’t be a coincidence that S.H.I.E.L.D. has at least one of them and the regime they work for is responsible for this crap situation. And don’t think we aren’t discussing that little pity parade you had.” James’ attention jumped back to Max, slipping his arm around his shoulders. “This is your last call and then call it a night dude. You’ll wear yourself out faster than I do putting the Underground back in one piece.”

[Kirah]

---

---

Niah Bautista

---

---

Location: Human Resistance HQ, New York, New York
Skills:

---

Niah nodded at Maria for her greeting and found a place to stand near her. "We also found Goose, though I feel like that's probably less important right now." Klara's explanation about Goose made sense at least, it also explained something Raynor had said in 1984. Flerkins could live 40 or more years, and Goose as a Flerkin would have lived those many years in SHIELD.

Her attention went to Kingston. She frowned confused by why he was here. Her jaw tightened. There had to be a reason and his personality seemed to have changed. Had he remembered the real world then? And he had been forgiven and brought into the Resistance, which felt less like a human resistance now. She let the tension out of her shoulders and accepted that whatever had happened while they were gone made it okay. "What did we miss?" Niah asked.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

---

@Morose@Nallore@FantasyChic@KazAlkemi@eclecticwitch
@Kirah@Trainerblue192@Achronum

---

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---

---

Outside the Palace -> Outside the Baxter Building
"We can race everyone who wants to go there really quick," Pietro said with a shrug, looking over towards the others now. They probably would want to get as far away from the Palace as possible, and he didn't really want to get caught in the middle of Guin and Wanda fighting again. Actually, that was a good question, what would he do if they had to fight Wanda? Sure, he was against her changing the world and all, but he didn't know if he'd be able to fight her, as he didn't want to hurt her ever unless she provokes him.

"Well if we're going to the Baxter Building, then I say let's get going now," Oshea said, before he grabbed Allison, and Annie, and took off for the Baxter Building. Pietro picked up the others and raced there as well. When they arrived, they'd see a bright red convertible pull up along the curb near them.

Someone got out of the car, and looked right over at the group, before pulling his sunglasses off and they'd see that it was the one and only Johnny Storm, also known as the Human Torch. "So, what is it that brings a few royals and their friends here? Let me guess, you want to go talk to my know it all brother-in-law, or my bit of a genius sister. Top floor, where I'm headed, you can tag along if you want," he said with a bit of a smirk towards them, before he walked inside of the building and went to the elevator inside.

Human Resistance HQ
Lance just listened quietly to what Runa said, and thought about what to really say to her in response to her words. "You want to know the truth Runa? First of all, I understand why Wanda would want to do something like this in the first place, I mean, I think a lot of people if given the option to would try to have their own happy endings, I could see just about anyone doing that. Hell I probably would have to be honest... And if I'm going to be truthful, in the real world I'm not exactly the best person. Take my relationship with my dad for instance... Here, in this world, we get along great, we don't have any problems or stuff like that whatsoever, but in the real world, well... I got mad at him, a lot... And blamed him for people constantly asking if I'd turn into a version of the Hulk like him, and things have been going downhill like that for years... But here's the thing Runa... Give me the chance to know you in the real world, before you decide that I should stay away from you," he said, giving her a smile, before he walked back towards where the others were talking.

"Okay, but there are six infinity stones.... How do we even know he's looking at the reality stone? It could easily be something practically useless to us, like the space stone..." Banner pointed out.

"It better not be the mind stone - fucking hate that thing," Barton muttered.

"Are you referring to the Aether?" Klara asked the group a bit curiously. "At least I believe that is one of the many forms that the reality stone has taken over the years... My great grandfather Bor sealed it away eons ago, after a war with the Dark Elves on Svartalfheim. Though what really became of it afterwards isn't really known, especially since at the moment we are no longer in the main reality. However if by some miracle one was able to find the reality stone, and use it without potentially being killed or destroyed by it, then perhaps it could be used to revert everything back to the way it once was."

Meanwhile with Max, he'd receive a response from Dr. Strange. "Maximillian Gray.... What master do you serve?"

---

---

---

---

"So, you got ahold somehow of Max? That's a good thing, it means that someone else knows that things are kind of crazy and not how they should be right now," Jack said, nodding his head slightly at his brother. However he frowned when Casper mentioned Captain America. "...Casper there is one major flaw with that idea... Captain America is an old war veteran, he's an old man, not the person that you tend to see in the real world... He's not a superhero here or anything like that."

"Alright, if you say so Bobbi... But let's just get out of here, otherwise who knows what'll happen..." the words were barely out of her mouth, before there was a loud clang coming from somewhere, and then something else happened. The lights went out, aside from what obviously was a siren's light that was flashing along the hallway, illuminating it bright red. An alarm started blaring out loud, and there was the sounds of thundering footsteps that were clearly heading right for them.

"Alright, we have got to go right now, otherwise we'll have to fight our way through!" Mary said, barely audible over the sound of the alarm, before she took off towards the way that she and Ana had come.

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

Location: The Palace Grounds -> the Baxter Building - New York (Guin's Outfit)
Skills: Telepathy

---

"Look, kid, I don't think you realize that this isn't a guarantee... Scientific advancements don't just happen with the snap of your fingers. I'm just saying that Reed Richards is our best shot - he's the smartest man alive, but even he might not be able to do shit." She had already said why going after the Human Resistance struck her as a dumb idea. Having a larger group was fine, they would just need to go after better quality recruits. Carolina's little snub at Richards though made her chuckle slightly. "Mr. Fantastic? Couldn't think of an edgier insult?" she teased. She then thought for a moment about what Allison said.

"I expect you to have a plan since you remember this other world and I trust you. I don't trust those two," she said, motioning towards Carolina and Annie. "And I don't remember that world, so I have no idea what I'm doing. This stuff, hero work? It's all new to me." But regardless, Allison seemed to be on her side with the entire going to Reed Richards thing and it wasn't long before the two speedsters had whisked the group off to the Baxter Building.

Now, when Guin was a little kid, there were two posters in her room that she adored above all over - and when she became a teenager, those pictures helped her to realize her sexuality. The first one was of Hedy Lamarr, the inventor (and actress) who designed a frequency-hopping signal in World War II that would keep Allied torpedoes from being tracked or jammed by the Axis powers. The second one was of Johnny Storm a.k.a. the Human Torch, one of the competitors in the popular Sapien Death Match. Her father never particularly liked that poster, since the Human Torch was one of his competitors (he fought under the alias Iron Man).

And here he was, right in front of her, the epitome of sexual desire himself - Johnny Storm. She was tongue tied for a moment, a deep blush coloring in her cheeks. Sighing slightly, Guin did her best to compose herself. "This'll be interesting..."

"What is that supposed to mean Guina?" Pietro asked, raising an eyebrow at her, noticing the fact that she was blushing.

"Oh, it's just... You know... Johnny Storm."

"So? What about him?"

She bit her tongue slightly. "Come on, let's go inside already, we're wasting time!"

"Why are you changing the subject Guina?"

Guin sighed slightly. "He's hot, okay? He's really, really, really hot."

Pietro frowned slightly at that, falling silent. Guin reached out and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. You know I love you and I'm engaged to you, right? I know that. You're hotter than Johnny Storm - he's just a celebrity crush I had as a teenager.

---

---

Dominika Novikova and Runa Blake

---

---

Location: The Human Resistance HQ - New York
Skills: N/A

---

Runa thought for a moment about what Lance had said, before she grabbed his arm before he could walk away too far. She wanted to continue this conversation a little bit more. There was something that she wanted to ask him now, before they went off on this mission that likely would change everything in the universe again and potentially even kill this fairytale of theirs. "What would your happy ending be, Lance?" she asked him softly.

Lance thought for a moment, before he gave her a bit of a smile, "Truthfully it would be to be back in Australia before all of this happened and before I got my memory back... With you."

Runa blushed deeply, not able to help but smile slightly at that. "Even though it wasn't real?"

"Yeah... Even then..."

"...I would pick that too, except I would change one thing," Runa said, before hesitating. "No, I would change two things." She would want her family to be near - she missed her mother and father, even her annoying brother Forseti. She missed the way the water looked as it fell off of the edge of Asgard. And of course, she would want it to be real and not just falsified memories created by Wanda Maximoff to placate them all.

Meanwhile, Novikova heard Max mention Infinity Stones, asking what anyone in the room knew about them. She knew that there were six of them and that they were incredibly powerful - and that was about it. It wasn't really helpful information at all by any means. Max's phrasing that they would have to give him information about them or that he wouldn't tell them about Strange was... alarming, to say the least. "And I thought James was the arse," Novikova whispered to Maria.

Cass at the least seemed perfectly fine with those demands, giving information that even Novikova didn't remember - an Infinity Stone had been at the heart of the Battle of New York. She nodded at Maria's suggestion of a vacation, but her mind had started to think through what something that powerful could do to help them here. Maybe they could threaten Wanda with it and force her to fix the world? Tinley confirmed their thought experiment - it really was Wanda who had meddled with reality. Apparently the cat was here too - she had to wonder if they could just bribe Goose with catnip to beat up Wanda.

"Okay, so... Dr. Banner - how did you guys find the Infinity Stone back in 2012, when Loki attacked Earth?" Novikova asked. She figured they could just duplicate whatever the Avengers did, track down the Reality Stone, and put things right.

---

---

Casper Theriot

---

---

Location: the Hallway - Baton Rouge
Skills: Mediumship

---

Even if Max wasn't actually contacting him via telepathy, the entire sensation made Casper's skin crawl. "Yeah, Jackie's fine... He has a kid, claims he didn't kidnap her but I think his story doesn't quite add up... But um... Why would you want me to help you? Unless you want me to tell you what the dead are saying, I'm not much use." He purposefully didn't mention the trick he realized he could do with Ben at the moment. It wasn't reliable enough and he didn't know if he would be able to use it to save the world. In the sports metaphor of life, he was a cheerleader - everyone else was on the team. Anastasia was actually helping to distract him enough to keep him from freaking out and she had a really good point. The security here was awful.

"Yeah, I've been in rehabs with better security than this!" Casper chimed in.

"And yet, you still managed to escape from a few of them..." Ben pointed out. The ghost had his hands in his pockets and looked tired and worn out. Sometimes, Ben would just vanish for a few days. Casper thought of it as him going into hibernation, recharging his spirit batteries so he could withstand Casper's hyper active lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll.

"Only the ones that are booooring," he emphasized to Ben.

Ben just rolled his eyes. "Since when have you not been bored in rehab, Cassie?"

Holding up a finger to Ben, he considered what Jack had told him - Captain America wasn't a superhero here. Could he trust Max with the infinity stone? But then again, reflecting on what had happened Max's first night with the Mutant Underground, that was probably a bad idea. That did give him another idea though. "What about that girl you want to bang, Veil or whatever?" he suggested to Jack.

The alarms then started to blare and his first thought was this better be a drill! Then he realized that it wasn't a drill. Those alarms were for the intruders in the building. They were the intruders. "It's just a drill, nothing to worry about!!" he shouted, wondering if maybe the bluff would buy them a few extra seconds. He then turned to start to run, only to trip and plant his face on the ground.

"Oww..."