The windows blew out as glass peppered the sky, wind rushing past Kwassi as someone inside created the blast. Blows were struck and in an instant a stranger with an metallic arm came flying out the escape. Without hesitation he shot a round into the vigilante, paralyzing him and causing his stiff body to bounce lifelessly onto the fire escape. Kwassi didn't bother to look the man in the eyes, not needing to humanize him so that he could more effectively move in and do his job. Agent Moss went charging in, immediately going for the big threat that was Captain America. Loud thus could be heard coming from the room as his hits made contact with what Kwassi could only assume was Caps sheild. He took a deep breath and quickly turned the corner, his eyes focusing in on an opening created by the chaos and firing his paralytic dart into Captain America. The dart made contact and began to do its work, though one wouldn't be enough to do the job.
Kwassi turned around the corner again, keeping his back to the exterior wall and focusing his mind once more. It seemed that his teammates were all focusing down on Captain America, making it easier to find openings and using them as distractions for his end plan. If he could slow The Cap down enough, perhaps Agent Moss would be able to get a hold on him and use his powers. Kwassi did a similar technique to aisianic archery, closing his eyes until after he turned his body, only opening them up to see his target and shoot. First shot was too high, clanking against the vibranium sheild of Cap. The second round flew wide and just hit the ground. Things weren't going well for them and he wondered if he should enter the fight with his injuries or just kay down suppressing fire from outside.
Oliver forced a smile at Captain Britain, saying, "We appreciate that, thank you Sir." Even under the pretenses of their visit, Oliver was a Cardiff Native, he was raised with a certain degree of respect for this institution in particular. He was the hero of Cardiff, and after the protection he provided in the attack a few months ago, he could only assume he'd gotten even more popular. Nodding at the two of them, he was about to echo Niah's sentiment, before pausing and saying, "I'm tuned into a lot of feeds and places, send along your daughter's information, and if you'd like, I can see if I can pull anything up. Last known location, photos, that kind of thing." He said, before stepping over to the desk, and jotting down his number and email on a scrap of paper.
Handing it over to Britain he said, "Anything I can do to help, you know?" Before turning back to Niah. "Yeah, of course. St. David's." He confirmed gravely. "It shouldn't take long to get there from here." He confirmed, before starting forward, and stopping. It felt like he wanted to say something, to come up with a reason to stop and stay, but he knew there were none. Anything he could come up with would be excuses, and he knew he owed his mother more than that. Drawing breath, he continued forward, and just said, "Let's go then. No point in delaying the inevitable."
1. ALL SUPERHEROES MUST REGISTER WITH SHIELD AND REVEAL THEIR SECRET IDENTITY
2. SUPERHEROES MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD
3. SUPERHEROES MUST PASS SHIELD TRAINING - EXCEPTIONS INCLUDE TRAINING FROM THE X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, AND AVENGERS
4. ALL SUPERHEROES ARE SUBJECTED TO THE SUPERVISION OF SHIELD
VIOLATION OF THESE WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION TO THE RAFT. MINIMUM SENTENCING IS THREE YEARS HOUSE ARREST. JUVENILE OFFENDERS WILL BE TRIED AS ADULTS. REPEAT OFFENDERS HAVE A RECOMMENDED SENTENCE OF TEN YEARS IMPRISONMENT.
ALL VIGILANTE ACTIVITY KNOWN TO SHIELD PERSONNEL MUST BE REPORTED TO THEIR SUPERVISOR OR LEAD IMMEDIATELY.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!
CAPTAIN AMERICA ON THE RUN?!?! IRON MAN TAKES CHARGE!
5:59 PM Update - Iron Man is holding a press conference at the Stark Foundation Headquarters. He is joined by superheroes Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Mister Fantastic, the Human Torch, She-Hulk, the Invisible Woman, and the Wasp. CLICK HERE to view the livestream!
We here at the Daily Bugle just got a tip from an anonymous source that the Avengers have split up!
Iron Man has claimed leadership of the group - we haven't been able to get a quote from the Playboy Billionaire, but our plucky team is on the case!
We'll be updating this story once more details come in, but please if you know anything about this situation or have spotted Captain America, call us out our toll free hotline here: 1-800-SPIDER.
If you want to read about more Avengers news, check out our piece from last Thursday where we explored the affair between Iron Man and Black Widow!
J.J.J.
TO: jjj@dailybugle.com FROM: jewel@thepulse.com SUBJECT: [Pulse] Iron Man's Press Conference --- ---
Jonah,
This isn't going to be pretty. I can cover this beat for you, but you need to promise no civvies will be out on reporter duty. I'm sure you've seen the conference - Captain America is public enemy number one. The Avengers are going to war.
Also, my usual fee will be doubled for this - let's call it hazard pay.
Keep it sleazy, Jewel
P.S. I mean it. If I see a single civvie pounding pavement for this, I'll break your face in :-)
St. David's Hospital - Cardiff: 1:10 A.M.
The ride had been relatively short to the hospital. Once both Niah and Oliver left the vehicle, the chauffeur gave them his card and said they could call if they needed another ride. The car then left, leaving the two of them on the pavement outside of the hospital. As it was the middle of the night, there weren't very many visitors present if any. In fact, the hospital was relatively empty. They wouldn't see anyone else there to visit a loved one. The front desk was unattended, with a piece of paper next to the sign in sheeting saying Be back soon!! :) in purple pen.
Per the map nearby - and due to Oliver's familiarity with the hospital - they would know that his mother's room was on the third floor at the end of the corridor. Easy listening music played from the speakers, creating a relatively pleasant and calm environment. The hospital gift shop was closed, but the vending machines were an option if either of them were hungry.
Neither of them would see any doctors or nurses - but then again, they were in reception. It wouldn't make sense to see them here anyways.
The Gates - Mojoverse: ???
Had Maria ever talked extensively to the original X-Men team or perhaps Serval Industries' X-Factor group, she might have heard about the Mojoverse before. Unfortunately, she hadn't. This would all be new and strange to her. If social media and reality television could have comprised a universe, this was it. Floating advertisements covered the skies. Everyone dressed like they were characters from the Capitol in the Hunger Games. There wasn't much to do here besides getting into the line and heading towards the gates.
The Cube in her hand had one side - the side she touched - glowing a soft, eerie green.
The man with the metal arm was out on the fire escape. Kwassi had hit him with a paralytic, and at first, it seemed to have worked. Unfortunately, the Winter Soldier wasn't so easily defeated. The compounds pumping through his veins, keeping him alive, weren't going to let him lose the fight so easily. He rose to his feet, looking around quickly before moving forward and turning the corner, spotting Kwassi. He threw a punch, narrowly missing - his fist hit the brick wall of the apartment building, leaving a small crater.
Meanwhile, inside the apartment, "I don't like hitting a woman, but I'll do it if I have to," Captain America said to Cass, shaking off the paralytic that he had been hit with. Only one of the three shots made at him had hit and it didn't slow him down at all. Another agent had tried to do something, although he didn't quite know what. It seemed like he was trying to poke him? Definitely an unusual fighting style.
Bonnie noticed the slight glance Matt gave her. It telegraphed his intentions and she nodded ever so slightly. She did a dramatic and attention grabbing leap over towards Captain America, spinning as she aimed a butterfly kick towards his head. He deflected it with his shield, but his attention was all on her. It was the perfect opening for Matt to attack and he would be able to move flawlessly.
Hawkeye let three arrows fly - one went towards Bonnie just as she spun for the butterfly kick so it missed, another went for Cass and although it hit, her skin was impenetrable. The last arrow went for Matt and hit him square in the shoulder, lodging itself painfully and limiting his range of motion. "Would it kill you all to just surrender and realize you're on the wrong side of history?" Clint called out.
The Falcon had gotten up from the ground and he went in for a punch, targeting Bonnie. She ducked under his fist. She tried to sweep his legs again, but his reflexes were fast this time and he grabbed her leg, knocking her to the ground on her back as she struggled to get free from his grasp.
Strange's mouth twitched into a smirk. He couldn't help but laugh ever so slightly. Among heroes, he wasn't known for having a particularly helpful bedside manner. "I was wondering when you would come to ask for that favor," Strange mused. "I suppose you finally decided to go fetch the boy?" He traced a circle in front of him, glowing golden lines appearing, before he tossed the trap containing Mephisto on through. Strange then retraced the lines and the hole closed, as if he had just accessed an interdimensional closet.
"Where did that thing go? Do you have a special magic shoebox or something that you can hide things in?" Amelia asked. She then experimentally waved her arms through the space where the glowing portal had appeared, half expecting to feel the cage with her fingers - but there wasn't anything there except for air. She grinned, completely and utterly bewildered. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that she had left S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe she could stick around here and enjoy the craziness of the wizard's stuff.
"It's in my vault, of course," Strange answered her. "Don't - " he began to say, as Maria picked up what looked like an ordinary cube, "touch that... Oh well. I'm sure she can figure out how to come back." He had warned them after all not to touch things that didn't belong to them. And in the order of things he absolutely had to do, helping an agent undo their own mistake was low on the list. His daily schedule was rather full as Sorcerer Supreme and he just couldn't miss his haircut appointment later that evening.
"... Is she also in the vault?" Amelia asked, her eyes wide. She glanced at Astrad, as if to say are you seeing all of this too?? Sparky seemed right at home with all of this weirdness. Amelia backed away slightly from a pillar near her that contained a bottle with a rose inside of it, not wanting to touch it and end up vanished to Doctor Strange's magic closet. She'd rather get a closer look at his cloak anyways - it let him levitate. How cool was that?
"Hmm, there are five possibilities. She could be in the astral plane, Otherworld, Limbo, the Mojoverse, or Nightmare World," Strange answered with a shrug. "Now, Dr. Sparks, do you have anything of his? I'll require something that belonged to him for the tracking spell. If you don't, then the hair of someone related to him would also do nicely." He paused for a moment, tilting his head. "Although I don't suppose your baby has any hair yet."
"Wait Maria don't!" Sparky said instantly, but she was too late, as Maria disappeared by touching a cube. Letting out a sigh, she thought about what to do now. Truthfully, she couldn't do anything about it, but to be honest she had expected Amelia to do something stupid and poke something, that was just her opinion. Now though, she turned to look at Strange and rolled her eyes slightly at the first thing he said to her, before he mentioned where Maria likely had gone. "I mean, there are worse places to end up, guessing those aren't the worst possibilities? It was her choice, and truthfully after she knocked me out of the sky earlier, and I can't do anything to bring her back yet anyway..."
Sparky glanced over at Astrad, glad that he's decided to shut his mouth and stay quiet about things, before turning back to Strange, rolling her eyes yet again, "Uh yeah, there is no way the baby has hair yet... Would this work though? It is his, not sure if you can use it or actually hold it though, since it is an Asgardian thing," she said as she held out the dagger towards him, "If this works that's great... But it should right? I mean yeah, he didn't make it, but it does belong to him..." she finished, really hoping that the dagger would work and that Strange could help her.
Location: 616 169th Street, Queens Skills: Hand to hand combat, enhanced condition
"I'm a lot tougher than you think." Cassandra said towards Captain America as she watched Matt coming into the room, and attempted to try and paralyze him. Only to be blocked by Cap's shield, as she was about to attack again she felt Hawkeye's arrow harmlessly hit her turning to look at her former team leader. "Has it ever occurred to you that we do needs accountability for everything that we do, like damage New York, and Cardiff?" She said as Falcon started to attack Bonnie, she knew that her best friend could handle herself but she started to think of something seeing Matt and nodded getting what he wanted to do.
Cassandra quickly helped Bonnie back up to her feet again, looking at her for a moment as she saw an arrow hitting Matt's shoulder.She instantly went in and picked up Falcon and attempted to throw him at Captain America. But he dodged her throw as she charged in and tried to kick him, only for him to block her attack with his shield she stumbled backwards and stared at him. "You guys need to stand down, and turn yourselves in." She said.
Maria Novikova
Location: Mojoverse -> The Astral Plane Skills: N/A
"Oookay note to self dont touch things that you arent suppose to touch." Maria said mostly to herself as she looked at all of the screens and people as well. She didnt want to be here any more than she needed to be at all as Maria looked down at the cube seeing one side that she was touching was glowing green. She inspected it somewhat some more as Maria touched the other side of the cube looking at the scenery once more.
Before Maria found herself in yet another new location that she had never seen before at all either, she looked around everything looked really ghostly looking as she looked around a little bit confused again groaning to herself as she stared at the cube again wondering which one would actually bring her back to the normal world.
Location: Braddock Academy -> St. David's Hospital - Cardiff Skills:
Niah had given Oliver's shoulder a little squeeze before they got into the car. She was trying to be comforting. It was awkward though. Death always was. Even for people who had someone close to them die. She took the card from the driver and thanked him. Inside she let Oliver lead the way. She didn't know this hospital, but she did know hospitals.
It was ridiculously early in the morning so it being empty made sense, but it made her feel more uncomfortable. It reminded her of liminal space. The music reminded her of a youtuber she watched sometimes when she needed something silly. At first, she couldn't figure out what the connection was, but then she realized the music was the same as what the youtuber used as their unboxing music. Now she wanted to watch a video of Jackie giving some review on a crappy craft kit. It would provide some levity.
"Do you want me to go with you? Or wait out here?" She asked as they neared the door to the room where Oliver's mother was dying.
Matt's point had gotten across. It was nice to be working with people who understood each other. Bonnie had taken the offensive and Matt was able to step in and touch Captain America. He had figured with the super-soldier serum Rogers would probably be a bit more immune to his power than most. Because of that, Matt let out about as much of his power as he had the time he had almost killed Cass. Together they had made it possible.
Matt watched as Rogers limbs seemed to stop replying to him, as an arrow dug into his shoulder. He hissed painfully. "The rules are there to help people, to protect them. You can't tell me you think it is a good idea to have kids out there fighting. And people just decide whoever they want is an enemy. There have to be checks and balances."
He needed to pull the arrow out of his shoulder. He reached back with his opposite hand and gently pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. He was now bleeding, but at least he didn't have an arrow sticking out of it. He put his hand over the gash.
There was pretty nothing for Astrad to do as Theresa began to speak with the Sorcerer in earnest, as he had no real connection to any of these people so far. Sure, Amelia was way more accommodating than the other two, but he just met all of them just this afternoon, and though he may be of a warm disposition at most times, the manner at which he had encountered the trio of women were not exactly conducive to a good kind of conversation. He had pretended to be an ally, and then threatened them with incarceration as soon as he had the chance. Of course, this was circumventing his actual orders, as he was told by Sitwell to take them out if he had a clear shot, but he didn't. Was it gut feeling? Who knows. Maybe it was fate or the hand of God that has stayed his trigger finger. It was really fortunate that he had followed his instincts, or else there would have been an incident of friendly.
Funnily... no, horribly enough, Maria had disappeared into another dimension, if the Sorcerer's seemingly unconcerned statements were of any indication. At this, Astrad kept his hands to himself even as he browsed Twitter on his personal smartphone...
Kwassi had hardly noticed when the paralytic began to wear off of The Winter Soldier. There was no real indication that he could shake off the drugs effects like a Super Soldier could, nothing save for the fact that he was in that room with the other Avengers, but even Hawkeye could fall prone to Bio-Engineering. At first there was a slight twitch and then the sheen of light that came off the metal caught Kwassi's attention. Barely avoiding the hit from his metallic arm that caused damage to the brick exterior of this apartment. "Demethi! What are you people made of." He tried to kick The Winter Soldier off of the fire escape, back to the wall and legs using full force, but the metal armed man simply dodged the hit. Before any counter attacks could be performed Kwassi went for a sweep, locking legs with the soldier and inevitably failing to knock him down, being dropped in the process.
Kwassi used the momentum of the fall and his various skills to catch himself in a push up position. Using his hands for stability he quickly ran his legs up the wall, landing a small backflip before jumping up and performing a spin kick to Soldiers head. His foot connected but The Winter Soldier was too fast, allowing for the impact to be softened and for him to stay standing as Kwassi landed down on his two feet. The over exertion was beginning to call upon a dull sting in his abdomen, he wasn't sure how long he would last in a one on one fight with what appeared to be a super soldier. "Stand done, I do not wish to fight you. I am simply defending my own."
Location:Braddock Academy - Study -> St. David's Hospital - Cardiff Skills: N/A
The ride over, Oliver was quiet. There wasn't much to say, and he was worried that if he tried to get any words out of his mouth, nothing but tears and sobbing would come instead. Somber and quiet, he looked out to the city before him, memories of growing up and having a life here before the world got so complicated. In what would shortly be following, he knew it would be the final sentences of his story here, leading to the start of a new story that began when he found out about his pedigree. Wherever S.H.I.E.L.D was taking him, he knew that he's be going at it without his roots. This was his unearthing.
As they entered the Hospital, Oliver sighed. This place was sterile; life wasn't meant to take place here, it was meant to end here. The smells, the walls, even the music, there was nothing real here, just attempts for comfort in the most uncomfortable place a person could be in. "If you could wait outside the door, I'd... no." He said, shaking his head. He wanted somebody with him, he didn't fully understand why, but being in that room alone, it didn't sit right. He needed somebody who wasn't in pain, and that would be Niah. "I... please join me." He finished, looking at her, holding back tears, as he lightly knocked on the door.
1. ALL SUPERHEROES MUST REGISTER WITH SHIELD AND REVEAL THEIR SECRET IDENTITY
2. SUPERHEROES MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD
3. SUPERHEROES MUST PASS SHIELD TRAINING - EXCEPTIONS INCLUDE TRAINING FROM THE X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, AND AVENGERS
4. ALL SUPERHEROES ARE SUBJECTED TO THE SUPERVISION OF SHIELD
VIOLATION OF THESE WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION TO THE RAFT. MINIMUM SENTENCING IS THREE YEARS HOUSE ARREST. JUVENILE OFFENDERS WILL BE TRIED AS ADULTS. REPEAT OFFENDERS HAVE A RECOMMENDED SENTENCE OF TEN YEARS IMPRISONMENT.
ALL VIGILANTE ACTIVITY KNOWN TO SHIELD PERSONNEL MUST BE REPORTED TO THEIR SUPERVISOR OR LEAD IMMEDIATELY.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!
CAPTAIN AMERICA ON THE RUN?!?! IRON MAN TAKES CHARGE!
5:59 PM Update - Iron Man is holding a press conference at the Stark Foundation Headquarters. He is joined by superheroes Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Mister Fantastic, the Human Torch, She-Hulk, the Invisible Woman, and the Wasp. CLICK HERE to view the livestream!
We here at the Daily Bugle just got a tip from an anonymous source that the Avengers have split up!
Iron Man has claimed leadership of the group - we haven't been able to get a quote from the Playboy Billionaire, but our plucky team is on the case!
We'll be updating this story once more details come in, but please if you know anything about this situation or have spotted Captain America, call us out our toll free hotline here: 1-800-SPIDER.
If you want to read about more Avengers news, check out our piece from last Thursday where we explored the affair between Iron Man and Black Widow!
J.J.J.
TO: jjj@dailybugle.com FROM: jewel@thepulse.com SUBJECT: [Pulse] Iron Man's Press Conference --- ---
Jonah,
This isn't going to be pretty. I can cover this beat for you, but you need to promise no civvies will be out on reporter duty. I'm sure you've seen the conference - Captain America is public enemy number one. The Avengers are going to war.
Also, my usual fee will be doubled for this - let's call it hazard pay.
Keep it sleazy, Jewel
P.S. I mean it. If I see a single civvie pounding pavement for this, I'll break your face in :-)
St. David's Hospital - Cardiff: 1:20 A.M.
The door creaked open softly as Oliver knocked. Inside, the room was cast in shadows. There were two living figures in the room - one was on the bed, covered in blankets and breathing softly. The other was sitting on the chair, a solemn expression on his face. It was hard to identify any features in the dark, but the figure would look almost familiar nonetheless.
"Olly, Olly, Olly... I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up," the seated figure said, his voice tinged with relief and sadness. His voice was so incredibly familiar, it was as if... The figure stood up, stepping forward and into the light. He looked just like Oliver, only older with a gigantic burn scar on his right eye. "There are so many things I could say to you... But even now, I just hear these words echoing back to me. The good news is, you're right. Iron Man was replaced by a skrull last week. The bad news is, well... You won't like what I do next. But you can't avoid or change destiny," the man said.
There was a sudden blur of movement. The form on the bed was no longer breathing.
The Astral Plane: ???
Maria had so far touched two different sides of the cube. The first side she touched was no longer glowing. The second one currently was. With only four sides left remaining, she essentially had four more possible options for returning to Earth - assuming that one of these was even designed to return her there. Fortunately, there weren't any issues with oxygen in this ghastly and spooky looking plane of existence. Ectoplasm was floating through the air and every now and then, a face would be illuminated - some of them would even be identifiable to her as different prominent psychics.
"Funny, we weren't the ones who started this fight," Bucky pointed out to Kwassi. His super soldier serum was pumping through his veins, keeping him from succumbing to the paralysis. His limbs were a little stiffer, his reaction times just a little slower. But while he wasn't an official member of the Avengers, it was clear that Bucky was of the appropriate caliber to go toe to toe with people like Thor and the Hulk. "But we will be the ones to end it," Bucky threatened. He swung a punch and missed, but then managed to grab Kwassi's right wrist with his metal arm. Bucky applied pressure, starting to twist it.
"Ma'am, when was the last time S.H.I.E.L.D. was held accountable? Signing ourselves over to their command would just be a way for us to shirk our personal responsibility and let others take the fall for our actions," Captain America argued. One of his legs and one of his arms wasn't responding at all, but he wasn't going to stop. He could do this all day. "What checks and balances are there for S.H.I.E.L.D.? The safest hands are our own." He then threw his shield, aiming for a non-lethal blow but he put too much power into it. The shield went THWACK against Cass' head and her skull would feel like it was vibrating.
Hawkeye was quick to read the room. They couldn't be taken prisoner. He shot an arrow through the hole in the window and the arrow attached itself to the roof of the building next door. He grabbed onto Cap with one hand and helped him along, running out the window as they crashed on through. The arrow/bow/cable combo served as a grappling hook, swinging them on across the way.
The Falcon had Bonnie pinned. She tried to break his grip, but his strength was too much for her. She needed to find some way to trick him, to be clever, in order to get free. She wasn't able to do this by brawn alone. But as fate would have it, Falcon noticed his buddies fleeing the scene. He got the idea. He had giant metal wings folded back on him already, so escapes were easy. He got up off of Bonnie, heading for the exit.
She threw three throwing knives after him - two missed, but one hit dead on. It was lodged into the back of his neck. But by some miracle for Falcon, it didn't hit anything vital. He was able to keep on running outside, his wings splaying as he reached out a hand to grab the Winter Soldier, and the two of them then flew over to the next building to rejoin their allies.
Unless they went in pursuit, the fight was over. Bonnie silently cursed. They had needed a win there. Now, Captain America was going to go and radicalize even more people. They would have the Civil War that Hill had been so afraid of. Hero would fight hero and at the end of the day, there wouldn't be anyone left to protect the people. They would cause so much destruction instead of being able to build something better.
Strange waved his hands and a bubble of sorts formed around the dagger. The bubble pulsed with light, followed by a similar glow from the blade. "This blade is named Lyting, owned by Raynor, God of Light and Lies... Previously by Frigg, Goddess of Witchcraft and Marriage and forged by... Eitri of Nidavellir," Strange murmured. "The blade was cursed by Frigg so that way only the soul bound to it would be able to hold it without pain. It's more effective than a worthiness enchantment, although not foolproof as I imagine you have learned, Dr. Sparks. It cannot distinguish between its bound soul and their soulmate."
All of this magic talk was going completely over Amelia's head. The names all sounded like people from Lord of the Rings to her. She knew that gods and all were real - everyone did since Thor was a member of the Avengers and not at all camera shy. Still though, she hadn't ever really heard of Frigg and all. Raynor was apparently Sparky's husband - meaning she was married to a god? She looked over at Astrad, hoping he would be just as confused and baffled, but she couldn't see much of an expression on his face. Her only hint towards how he was doing was the bit of snow he had conjured up and that probably spoke more towards boredom than anything else.
"... Sorry, what's going on again?" Amelia asked, really hoping that she could get a quick recap. She got that Sparky wanted Strange's help in finding her husband, but she was really confused as to why Strange was going all in depth on the lore on this knife. It certainly looked like a cool knife, but she wasn't sure how it was going to help them.
"Ironically Dr. Sparks, you do not need my services. This dagger would suffice as a compass on its own. But as you have come all this way, I will at least cast the spell for you as asked," Strange announced. He started to levitate and suddenly, it looked like he had ten arms as he began some intricate magic. A third eye appeared on his forehead. "He's on Asgard. Now, I am very busy, so I must," Strange began, as suddenly the scene shifted and they were all out on the sidewalk, "ask that you do not call again unless it is a dire emergency. Good luck!" the door then slammed shut.
"And what checks and balances would you have then, and when was the last time that you were held accountable for a civilian getting caught in the crossfire during one of your fights with other villains?" Cassandra asked staring at Captain America for a moment, as she was about to get ready for another go. Captain America threw his shield at her head, knocking her down on the ground, her head felt like it was ringing like a jackhammer. Groaning a little bit as she was dazed for a moment as she watched Hawkeye suddenly fleeing with Captain America. And then a few seconds later Falcon had gotten off of Bonnie and went through the window picking up The Winter Soldier the four of them going to the rooftop across from them.
Cassandra got back up to her feet now looking at the others. "We cant loose them." She said as she quickly went through the window that Hawkeye had used grabbing onto the rope that he had left behind and swung as far as she could. Managing to catch up to the Captain Rogers and the others. She didnt want to come up empty handed, and she didnt want to get demoted like Tinley had done either, drawing out her ICER, and fired off five shots at Hawkeye managing to knock him out easily. She did feel bad for shooting her former team lead, but he had chosen a side.
Maria Novikova
Location: The Astral Plane -> Otherworld - Kingdom of Avalon Skills: N/A
The weird world that she found herself in now felt like she was in the cartoon show Danny Phantom, as she looked around everything was covered in ectoplasm and other ghostly looking things. "Oookay wrong place to be as well.." Maria said as she could recognize a few faces were some other powerful psychics. She looked down at the cube again and then inspected it again, as she touched another side of the cube again and started to glow again before the world changed around her again.
Maria found herself in some kind of medieval world, she looked down at herself seeing that her clothes had mysteriously changed as well. She started to get a little bit nervous she just hoped that the next thing she touched she'd hopefully be able to get home as Maria looked around slightly while still holding the cube.
Location: St. David's Hospital - Cardiff Skills: pistols, agility and blind sense
Niah put her hand gently on Oliver's shoulder. She understood. Niah nodded when he asked if she'd join him in the room. She had stepped into the room when a voice spoke to Oliver. It sounded like him. And he moved so fast. Her heart felt like it was in her throat and it was pounding in her ears. Memories of Luminous killing so many of her friends with that frightening speed made her brain feel numb. Did Oliver have an older brother? Was this a Skrull who could be more creative? Or hell was Hill messing with Oliver with some twisted LMD?
Why this person was here didn't matter. He had killed the person Oliver had come to say his last goodbye to. That goodbye had been taken from Oliver. And Niah knew how much one last goodbye could mean. She had so few people she had gotten to say it to. Her hand rose with the pistol she carried since the fight with Ultron. It carried actual bullets. She only pulled the trigger once, instead of her normal three. And her aim was based purely on instinct.
Niah had a third power, one that had come to her before the House of M, she had only used it a few times. It gave her the ability to know where things were even if she couldn't see them. It was clearly a part of her heightened senses but didn't require activation. So, with just that her pistol was pointed right at chest level of Oliver's copy. Miraculously, from Niah's point of view, the bullet crashed into Evil-Oliver's chest just a bit below his clavicle.
It was clear Matt had done some slowing down to Captain America. They were getting the upper hand, even if they were outnumbered. Asokho had been dealing with the Winter Soldier on his own, which gave him a point in Matt's book as not totally useless. The newest member of the team didn't seem to agree with Hill's laws, but he did seem to be following orders. It was clear they had the upper hand though because the rogue heroes were running away.
Cass, had Hawkeye well in hand so Matt dashed to the window after the rogue heroes jumped from it. He drew his handgun. Not wanting to actually kill Falcon, but needing to slow them down. He pulled the trigger once, missing, twice hitting the wings of Falcon's tech, on the third pull of his trigger it hit the wings again. Neither had done any damage. It wasn't even causing Falcon to slow down. He cursed mentally. Of course, the wings would be bulletproof.
Matt climbed back out the window. He wasn't as graceful, or acrobatic so he could only run after them, but they were still several stories up. He started climbing down. Knowing they were going to loose Rogers and the others now. They wouldn't have another lead he suspected. They had come here to get something or someone and there would be little chance of figuring out their plan again.
"...Wow, you clearly know way more about the dagger then I do, which is to say I don't know a whole lot, mainly just the fact that I can hold it and channel electricity through it," she responded as Strange started talking about the dagger and what exactly it could do, and mentioning why it was that she could hold it when no one else (aside from Raynor) could. It was somewhat interesting for her to learn more about the dagger. Since Raynor hadn't really told her too much about it aside from the basics, so this definitely was some information she wouldn't mind knowing.
However, it was the instant when he said that the dagger could act as a compass by itself without the aid of something else to find him, that surprised her. That also would have been useful to know several months ago. "...If I knew it could do that I might have been able to find him a few months ago, so that would have been helpful to know then," she said, before he did the spell and simply stated that he was on Asgard. Asgard??? Why the hell was he on Asgard of all places. She knew that it was his home yeah (he was Asgardian after all) but if he could, she would have hoped that Raynor would have said something to her, or at least let her know that he was okay.
"...Okay, thank you Doctor," she managed to say, before Strange more or less ushered them out and left them outside. Amelia seemed more concerned about Maria, but Sparky wasn't really thinking about her (after all, Maria had kind of done what she had herself). Nope, now Sparky was trying to figure out how the hell she was going to get to Asgard. She sat down on the sidewalk, trying to think and twirling the dagger a little bit in her hand, "...How the hell am I supposed to get to Asgard in order to find him..." she muttered, trying to think about what she should do now but not able to really think of anything.
Astrad coughed up a bit as the Doctor Strange simply kicked the four, no, three of them out into the streets of New York City. He had just closed them door on them right after doing what Sparks here had asked for him to do: to look for her husband, whose name was... Raynor... God of Light and Lies? And the dagger was forged by Eitri of Nidavellir, not to mention was wielded by Frigga, a goddess of Asgard? These were names that he had heard in grade school and from the bedtime stories of his grandparents. Astrad was, after all, Scandinavian, and was no doubt rather familiar with the stories that his people had passed down from generation to generation. Now that Thor himself had come down to be a member of the Avengers, it was clear that the gods that his ancestors worshipped during their days as Vikings were no more than aliens that descended from the skies through the rainbow bridge. Amelia would find him mildly intrigued by the fact that her friend was married to an Asgardian, though not at all shocked or surprised.
"So there's that.", Astrad shrugged whilst pulling out his statphone. "I'm just going to... go and make a call."
Hurriedly, the Swede searched for Agent Sitwell on his contacts, seeking to inform his superior that the mission to capture the twins was botched and that all of Levittown was a festering cesspit filled with HYDRA agents. In a few moments, the phone was ringing; Sitwell better pick this call up...
Astrad looked back at Amelia while the ringtone rang. "Your friend was probably taken to another dimension by the cube she touched. The good doctor said it himself... Mojoverse, was it? Hm. How'd you three ended up together anyway?"
Entering the room, Oliver was immediately put off guard. Hearing one's own voice talking to them and seeing their own face just isn't something people have to deal with. He didn't realize that this person, this thing was somehow himself before things were too late. He should have prepared for this, he thought. At some point the Skrulls would make a copy of him, it only made sense, given how he was preparing for them, but as he drew breath, time slowed down, and he watched himself commit the horrible act. As he witnessed everything unfold before him however, he noticed something, something that kept his rage from spilling over and destroying all his self control.
As the act was finished, his mind raced. Whatever Evil Oli had just killed was not him mom. Best guess at the moment was some kind of LMD, but as he parsed this, he'd already started charging at his doppleganger, only for the creature to have skirted to the other side of the room by the time he had crossed it. Seething, he wanted to cry out, to demand answers to the situation, but before he did, his thoughts caught up with him. He had to choose his next actions carefully; if he was right, the life of his mother may hang in the balance. He'd felt, for a fleeting moment, what it was to lose her, and he would not do that again.
Three clues, all which led to one possible answer, or at least, one class of answers. One: This hospital was totally empty, a sight that was rare, or otherwise totally unheard of. Two, his father was nowhere to be found, and three, his mother was no longer here, but she could be alive. These all pointed to one obvious conclusion. Somebody very much wanted Oliver to believe his mother was dead. They couldn't have witnesses, and for some reason, they weren't going to the trouble of actually killing her. If he wanted his mom to live, he had to act as if he believed she was dead, anything less would give whoever was behind this a reason to actually kill her.
"Why?" Oliver choked out, his eyes brimming with rage, still wet from the tears he has started to shed when he entered the room, "Who the hell are you, and why-" he gestured at the facsimile of his mother's corpse, "do you care so much about me? If you're skrull, you could have just put me down, you didn't need to involve her." He said through gritted teeth, "You from Thanos? Is this your way of making me suffer for escaping you on the moon? What goddamn cosmic forces give such a fuck about me, that my mom can't die in peace?" His words, though chosen, and not representative of his complete understanding of the situation, did reflect very real feelings he had right now. Why was the universe conspiring to make his life a living hell?
1. ALL SUPERHEROES MUST REGISTER WITH SHIELD AND REVEAL THEIR SECRET IDENTITY
2. SUPERHEROES MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD
3. SUPERHEROES MUST PASS SHIELD TRAINING - EXCEPTIONS INCLUDE TRAINING FROM THE X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, AND AVENGERS
4. ALL SUPERHEROES ARE SUBJECTED TO THE SUPERVISION OF SHIELD
VIOLATION OF THESE WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION TO THE RAFT. MINIMUM SENTENCING IS THREE YEARS HOUSE ARREST. JUVENILE OFFENDERS WILL BE TRIED AS ADULTS. REPEAT OFFENDERS HAVE A RECOMMENDED SENTENCE OF TEN YEARS IMPRISONMENT.
ALL VIGILANTE ACTIVITY KNOWN TO SHIELD PERSONNEL MUST BE REPORTED TO THEIR SUPERVISOR OR LEAD IMMEDIATELY.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!
CAPTAIN AMERICA ON THE RUN?!?! IRON MAN TAKES CHARGE!
5:59 PM Update - Iron Man is holding a press conference at the Stark Foundation Headquarters. He is joined by superheroes Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Mister Fantastic, the Human Torch, She-Hulk, the Invisible Woman, and the Wasp. CLICK HERE to view the livestream!
We here at the Daily Bugle just got a tip from an anonymous source that the Avengers have split up!
Iron Man has claimed leadership of the group - we haven't been able to get a quote from the Playboy Billionaire, but our plucky team is on the case!
We'll be updating this story once more details come in, but please if you know anything about this situation or have spotted Captain America, call us out our toll free hotline here: 1-800-SPIDER.
If you want to read about more Avengers news, check out our piece from last Thursday where we explored the affair between Iron Man and Black Widow!
J.J.J.
TO: jjj@dailybugle.com FROM: jewel@thepulse.com SUBJECT: [Pulse] Iron Man's Press Conference --- ---
Jonah,
This isn't going to be pretty. I can cover this beat for you, but you need to promise no civvies will be out on reporter duty. I'm sure you've seen the conference - Captain America is public enemy number one. The Avengers are going to war.
Also, my usual fee will be doubled for this - let's call it hazard pay.
Keep it sleazy, Jewel
P.S. I mean it. If I see a single civvie pounding pavement for this, I'll break your face in :-)
St. David's Hospital - Cardiff: 1:30 A.M.
The imposter stared at Niah with shock, as she had just shot him in the chest. "I remember you being a lot more pathetic," he sneered. The bullet was pushed out of his wound and hit the floor lamely. It seemed whoever this was, they had a healing factor as well - or perhaps that was just an artifact of his superspeed?
"And you, I remember I was a lot smarter than this," he told Oliver, shaking his head with disappointment. "You sent me, Oli. I'm you. Just better. Smarter, older, freer. This is just the beginning for us. This is when we stop playing the hero and realize that the only way to get what you want, is to take it."
A loud scream came from the floor below - somehow, Niah would recognize who the scream belonged to almost instinctively. It had to be Dalisy.
"Oh good. It looks like my girlfriend's joined the party. I'm sure you remember Luminous, Niah," he taunted.
Kingdom of Avalon - Otherworld: ???
Most Arthurian Legend can trace its way to Otherworld. A mystical realm, Otherworld serves as the nexus of all realities. Comprised of various kingdoms, Maria had the great (mis)fortune to fall in the kingdom beholden to Queen Morgan Le Fay. Not only that, but Maria had appeared inside of a long throne room lit with green flames. Statues of what appeared to be frightened commoners served as artwork. Knights in gleaming, ebony armor stood at every entrance and exit, with the Queen sitting upon an ornate throne.
The Queen sniffed the air, tilting her head in curiosity. "You look like a witchbreed, but you smell like... something else," she mused. "Now, tell me child, who sent you? Why are you here?"
From the fire escape, Bonnie could clearly see what was going on. Cass was across the way on top of the other building, where the rogue Avengers were. Hawkeye was down for the count. Captain America was limping, one of his legs frozen up. As long as they prevented the Avengers from fleeing the scene, then they would be able to win this. Cass had swung with the rope on across, so it was no longer an option for Bonnie to make her way on over. The gap was far too big for her to leap across.
Their luck turned for the worse though. A quinjet flew over to the top of the building and Bonnie watched as Agent 13 threw a ladder down. One by one, the rogue Avengers made it up the ladder, the Falcon and the Winter Soldier sending out cover fire so Cass couldn't stop them. As soon as they were all onboard, the quinjet sped off quickly and cloaked itself, no longer visible by the naked eye.
"Merde..." Bonnie cursed, feeling a bit deflated. She couldn't help but believe that things were only going to get much, much worse.
Sitwell answered the phone, although it seemed he was a bit busy. Astrad would be able to hear the sound of heavy gunfire in the background, as well as explosions and some heavy breathing. "Damn it, Lungren, can this wait?" Sitwell asked gruffly. "We're having a situation here at the Cube."
Amelia stared at Sparky for a moment, before glancing off in the direction Astrad had gone. No one seemed to really care that Maria was missing and Doctor Strange hadn't lifted a finger to help bring her back. Amelia's face scrunched up in frustration. Did no one care about anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. these days? First there had been Maria's horrible trust falls, now this. She had assumed that Maria and Sparky were friends, but at the very least, shouldn't professional courtesy have dictated at least a little bit of concern? "Are you all out of your damn mind?!"
She marched up to the door and started banging on it. "Doctor Strange, you get out here right now! Our friend is missing because of one of your artifacts and you'll bloody well get her back from whatever dimension she's in!" Amelia demanded. The door didn't open so she started trying to blow it down with a large gust of wind, only for it to remain firmly shut. She backed on up, not noticing that the ring Sparky had on her was starting to glow, before running at the door and throwing her entire weight into it.
Nothing. Amelia was flung onto the ground, the door just as shut as it had been before.
Astrad hesitated for a bit as Sitwell had just confirmed that he was in a rather... tight situation in the Cube. Deciding to keep it short, he continued. "Uh, right, nevermind, then." For better or for worse, it was best not to distract his superior while in the middle of a firefight, though the coincidences were beginning to pile up. HYDRA was probably attacking the Cube right now, and did so right after the botched attempt at spycraft that was the mission in Levittown. Well...
"If I had to guess, the doors are magically sealed.", Astrad said to Amelia as he held out a hand to her to aid the Aussie woman in getting up from the pavement. I'm also guessing that if the Doctor wasn't worried, we shouldn't be... either.
The Swede's gaze had been averted away from Amelia, drawn by the glowing of Sparky's ring. It was getting brighter by the second, and Astrad had been led to believe that glowing objects probably were going to do something extraordinary in the next. "Any chance that the ring is also magical?", he asked no one in particular. "Oh well..."
Sparky looked over at Amelia with her outburst and her attempts to get back inside of the Sanctum. "...The whole building is enchanted... You can't get in unless Strange wants to let you in..." she said a bit softly, given her yelling, Sparky flinched slightly. "I am worried about Maria, believe it or not it's just... Maria for one did the one thing she was told not to do and we can't help her since we don't know where she ended up, and Strange isn't going to help us, at least not anymore..." she said, though she looked like she might be holding back tears at this point. "Damn it I'm always screwing up..."
It was something that she had started to think about, about how so many things have gone wrong, or something bad happened, all while she was typically on the team. "Everything I do, it usually ends up with a screw up on my part or something bad just always happens. Like for instance first mission I ever went on, didn't listen to people telling me to get away from the quantum tunnel that was open on the roof of that building, since I thought shutting it down or something like that was a good idea, ended up trapped in the Quantum Realm and Raynor went after me and got stuck too. Then we finally got out, cool great, but there was a lasting effect and when I just lightly zapped Raynor since he was doing something stupid I nearly killed him! Plus couldn't really do anything to stop my best friend from getting fired from SHIELD when all she had been doing was trying to save me from the Quantum Realm because of my stupid mistake. Then the whole terrigen thing happened and well..." she said, still fighting back tears but she was failing at that too as she started crying. "Then that happened and it turns out that he had gotten replaced by a shape shifting alien and I hadn't even noticed that... Now on a mission to find him I can't even get to where he is... And you just reminding me that my best friend's wife is who knows where and we can't get to her either... I can't do anything right..." she said, putting the dagger down next to her and putting her head in her hands.
It was a lot for her to say, since she typically kept to herself at points, but Amelia's outburst had triggered her not so very good emotional state to take a turn for the worst. Sparky blamed herself for a lot of things, and from her point of view at this point, there wasn't even a point in her being on the team. "Don't even know why I'm still a part of the team to be honest, Agent Reed during the whole Terrigen thing... She flat out even forgot what it was that my specialty is and was going to have a bunch of hackers try to put together a LMD, essentially a robot if you didn't know... And I'm an electrical engineer, my doctorate in that is what got me into SHIELD in the first place... But clearly I'm not that important to the team if no one can remember that... I'm just a screw up, and that's the bottom line right there..."
Her mind was just going through everything, when she heard Astrad (who she still didn't like) make a comment about her engagement ring glowing, and she actually looked at it, as she was fighting to stop the tears. "No idea, it's never done that before... It's from Asgard, Ray's grandmother or something like that I think made it or something... I just... I wish I could do something right for once... Just once get to Asgard and find him... Maybe do something right for once in my life..." she commented, managing to stop the tears but her face was still red as she looked at the ring on her left hand as she picked up the dagger once more in her right. "Anything to me at this point would be considered an accomplishment... I just want to get there in order to find him..."
Everything froze for a second as Niah heard the scream. She knew, downright knew, who that screamed belonged to. When evil-older-Oliver said that Luminous was there it felt like her heart stopped and dropped right into her stomach. She wanted to puke and for a moment it felt like her vision would go black and she would pass out. But it didn't matter. What mattered was getting to Dalisy. Her sister. The sister she had risked so much to bring back to life and had been through hell, and was still technically a wanted terrorist by SHIELD.
Niah didn't consider the consequences. If she had thought it through she would have guessed that the scream was a Skrull or some other devious trick. And that what they wanted was to separate her from Oliver. None of that mattered though. Because she turned and ran as fast as she could toward the scream. Toward what was certainly a bad choice, but what she knew she would regret not doing if she hadn't given it her all.
Location: 616 169th Street, Queens Skills:
Matt cursed under his breath. His shot hadn't done any good and they were gone. "So, what now? We've failed as far as I can tell." He looked to Bonnie since Cass was off. "Should we get to the street level and get out of here before local police show up? Or do we want to deal with that hassle?" Matt didn't mind police in theory, he just hated it when they got involved in SHIELD business. He looked at Asokho. "You're going to have to make your paralytic stronger if you want to take a super-soldier down. Not even my touch was strong enough to do much more than put his leg to sleep."
Matt got back down to street level to wait for the others. He didn't care to drive in America except on his motorcycle so it wouldn't be him behind the wheel anyway. He considered what they knew and it was basically nothing. They were always running into a situation blind or with no plan. It had gotten a bit better with Cass as their lead. She could put together a plan that was more detailed than 'don't get killed', they also had gotten some intel this time. He wasn't surprised Agent 13 had turned coat. Who else could they expect to turncoat? Who would be sympathetic to Rogers? That's who they needed to look at now. When the others joined him at the car he said. "Where would he go? It can't be anything SHIELD, but he has to have some old ties, or even the others might have a place. Do any of them have a secret bunker or something they'd go to hide out at to gather resources?" He didn't know Hawkeye or honestly any of the others in Rogers group well. Bonnie and Cass had been with SHIELD a lot longer than him and knew Hawkeye much better than he did.
Cass was about to try and apprehend Hawkeye, when she stopped hearing what sounded like a Quinjet as it flew in and hovered over the ground, for a moment she thought that someone on the team had called up backup. When she noticed Agent 13 again pulling out a ladder for the rogue avengers to climb up. Cassandra backed up when both Winter Soldier and Falcon fired down at her, she wanted to charge after them but the Quinjet turned around and took off and cloaked. "Damnit!" Cass said as she let out a frustrated sigh, as she started to think of how everything could have turned out. She screwed everything up, as she looked up at the sky where the Quinjet had vanished, mentally punching herself.
"Lets regroup, on the ground level, i'm going to call Director Hill and find out our next steps.." Cass radioed to everyone, as she started to expect getting chewed out by Director Hill for failing their mission. She started to make her way into the building and headed down the stairwell, when she was on the ground floor and out of the building Cass pulled out her phone and started to call Director Hill.
Maria Novikova
Location: Otherworld - Kingdom of Avalon -> Outside of the Sanctum Skills: N/A
Maria turned around looking at the throne room that she had found herself in while hiding the cube behind her back she turned her attention over towards the woman sitting on the throne who addressed her. She looked a little bit confused when the woman called her a witchbreed, she gave a slight shrug. "I mean I didnt shower in the last two days thats probably my BO that you are smelling." Maria said as she stared at the frozen people within the throne room and the black looking knights to. "As for why i'm here, no one sent me I found this cool little cube thingy in Doctor Strange's library, and well found myself here." Maria answered as she showed the cube that was in her hands and smiled, she didnt want to be here any longer than she wanted to be.
"Anyway the names Maria, and i'm gonna go now have fun and see you laters!" Maria said as she touched a different side of the cube that she hadnt touched before. She stumbled slightly and looked around seeing her surroundings and instantly recongized where she was now and she was back on Earth just outside of the sanctum. "Well that was fun." Maria said looking at Astrad and Amelia holding the cube out to them, after seeing Sparky sitting. "Anyone got like a bag or something for this thing?" Maria asked, before going over and sat down next to Sparky seeing the ring glowing. "What happened? And why is your ring glowing?"
