Sentinel spent the next twenty minutes in total silence. There was a lot on his mind; mostly all the things that had happened in such a short time frame. The team had only been together for a few weeks. Not even a month. Yet so much had happened. There was the battle with Lobo and the alien mech suit, that ended with Isaac taking matters into his own hands and screwing things up, as per freakin' usual. The city being invaded by an army of what was assumed to be zombies, yet turned out to be normal people who had been transformed into life sucking parasites. These same parasites caused the deaths of Lock and Load. Sentinel hadn't know the girls very well, but...But he had watched them die. They were totally torn apart. Limb from limb, blood flowing like a river of gore. Sia's intestines had been scattered across the floor of the T-Wing when one of the creatures ripped her stomach open. Gem had all of her limbs and her head forcefully pulled from her body, bone snapped and broken by the inhuman strength of the monsters. Oh God... Sentinel thought. He nearly tripped over a rock as his mind wandered to the horrific details of his fellow Titans' deaths. At least the asshole who had started it all was dead. Simone made sure of that; one clean shot, from the safety and comfort of the vents; where she doubtlessly hid, undetected, without telling her teammates where she was. Not telling them they could hide. Maybe...Maybe if Pistolera hadn't run off-
Focus. Remember your mission.
The mission. More like a fool's errand. President Luthor had declared the Teen Titans enemies of the United States once it was revealed that the beings that had attacked San Francisco were humans underneath all of the fangs, claws and blood. The Titans had been attacked, and they defended themselves accordingly. But of course, it's all their fault. A bunch of stupid teenagers should have known the difference between zombies you can save and zombies you can't save! It's so simple! They obviously committed mass murder on purpose. That has to be it. Logically speaking, of course. Sentinel wouldn't have gone berserk at the brutal murder of his friends unless he knew that he was killing a bunch of innocent people. Right? NO! NOT RIGHT! NOT RIGHT AT ALL! I had no idea what I was doing. If I had known- if I had the smallest inkling that they were still aliv-
Who am I kidding?
I'm a murderer.
Sentinel and Accelerate had arrived in Star City. The home of the famous hero, Green Arrow: the world's greatest archer. Maybe we'll run into him while we're here? Sentinel thought, his mind allowing a small, minuscule piece of hope escape into the front of the Kryptonians consciousness. He could help us. If he's anything like Kara describes, Green Arrow wouldn't waste a chance to give Luthor's regime the finger by helping out a bunch of teen fugitives. As the heroes got closer to their destination, Rufus signaled Sentinel to stop. Kid Krypto begrudgingly complied. He'd had a minute to let his depression die down. Now Isaac had the chance to be mad at Rufus again. What a douchebag. Isaac had poured his guts to Accelerate, hoping the speedster would see Isaac's dilemma and offer some kind of inspiring advice. Fat chance. Accelerate seemed to blame Isaac for everything that had happened. Worse, Rufus said that Sentinel had whined. I don't whine. Rufus and Isaac made their way into a nearby alley and hid away from any prying eyes.
"I don't feel right about any of this. Use your super senses and figure out what's going on, both with the team and in the surroundings. I don't wanna risk bringing Luthor right to the team if we can help it. You gotta be our eyes and ears."
So Sentinel focused.
He closed his eyes and opened his ears. Sound distorted for a moment as Isaac's mental blocks allowed Isaac access to his full power. He could hear everything. Ten blocks from where they were standing, a couple was arguing about rent. Eight blocks, a small dog was barking. The houses next to them, though? There wasn't a thing they could hide. Once Isaac filtered through the useless sounds, such as televisions, radios, and footsteps, Isaac began to work. He was listening for specific things. Whispers. Radio communication. If anyone was spying on them, he'd hear the gain from their audio equipment. Across the street, he could hear the other Titans..
"My vote goes to Pistolera, she is the only one who has made any sense in this whole mess." That was Zane. What was he talking about? Votes? "Back at the tower I said that when we voted for leadership I'd gladly step down. That was before shit hit the fan. Now I'm just keeping my pride in tact and proudly stepping down." Ah, now Sentinel understood. Sort of. There's some sort of leadership dispute, and they chose to resolve it by voting. Why didn't they wait until Rufus, Isaac, and Eric got back? Perhaps they underestimated their speed. Eric isn't exactly a speedster himself. That's gotta be it. "So now that, that's settled, what's the plan now?"
Sentinel looked back at Accelerate, placing his mental blocks back up. The tidal wave of sound became little more than a buzzing in Isaac's ear. He'd learned to ignore the buzzing when he was younger. If only it was as easy to control his emotions as it was to control his senses, Isaac could get a handle on his other powers. That's why he struggles with using too much force: emotion. When Sentinel frees himself from the binds of frustration, anger, or even livid rage, everything becomes so much clearer. So much easier to understand. To control. "We're clear." Sentinel told Rufus. He didn't bother with X-ray vision. There was actually a shower running two houses down and he didn't want to impose. "There's nothing weird nearby. Come on." Sentinel looked at all the windows and made sure no one was looking outside before he sped across the street into an alley. He switched to X-Ray vision and gave the building the once-over (although he made sure to avoid looking too far left: the house with the shower was over there) before stepping over to a nearby dumpster. He pushed the dumpster out of the way with the greatest of ease before bending down and looking at the wall. Sentinel placed a hand on one of the bricks and pushed; if he had to guess, the only way to get the brick to move was to deliberately push with all of your might. If you happened to be human, anyway.
A small, square hole opened in the wall. It was just large enough for a grown man to squeeze through. Sentinel glanced back at Accelerate before sliding into the hole. When the Kryptonian stepped out, he found himself in a three-foot tall crawl space under a stairwell. The 'hallway' led down into what appeared to be an actual room. Sentinel ducked down and made his way inside, standing to his full height of 6'1. He was in a room made entirely of metal, with a large reinforced metal door and a camera being the only thing inside. Isaac knocked on the door, stepping into clear view of the camera. "It's us!" He yelled. When someone came to the door, he stepped inside and nodded in their direction before approaching the rest of the group. "You guys heard from Eric yet?" He asked, glancing over at Rhea before quickly averting his gaze.
I promised to do better...Then I go and attack the military. Rao, she must be so disappointed. I promised her and my uncle that I'd straighten myself out.
The pterodactyl didn't seem too keen on the idea of leaving. Hyperion glanced over at Captain America as he hovered out of a hole in the wall on falcons' wings. It would seem the Captain had finished with his opposition quickly and efficiently; what a good little soldier. Perhaps I'll keep him. He'd make a decent enforcer when I take over the earth. Zhib-Ran thought. In that brief moment, when Hyperion let his mind wander, he left himself open to attack. Sauron charged forward with unexpected speed and slammed into Hyperion's midsection. The two supers went crashing into the nearby jungle, knocking down trees and scattering foliage as Sauron blitzed his attacker with all he had. "You're stronger than you look." Zhib-Ran commented non-nonchalantly as the two came tumbling to a halt. Hyperion and Sauron both took to the air, floating away from each other. A smug look crossed Zhib's face, while Sauron continued to glare on in silence. "You want a fight, then, reptile?" He asked. "I'll give you a fight. You can even have the first punch." Zhib taunted and tilted his face in such a way that his cheek was left wide open.
"I can practically taste the power oozing out of you." Sauron spoke. The creature's voice was dark and gravelly. This caused Agent Milton to raise an eyebrow. "You can speak?" But Sauron didn't care enough to answer Hyperion, and carried on talking. "Solar power. Yes. It's as plain as the beak on my face." Sauron's eyes began to glow, and Hyperion's instinct was to look away; he believed the flying extinct beast was trying to hypnotize him. Then Zhib began to falter. He fell out of the air and onto the dirt and mud below. His arms shook as he pushed himself to his feet. "What's happening to me?" Zhib-Ran questioned, a feeling of panic briefly rising up in his throat before Milton forced it back down. "I'm feeding off your energy." Sauron said simply. Zhib-Ran took one last look at Sauron before turning on his heel and sprinting towards the nearest source of sunlight. He wasn't used to feeling this slow. This weak. Zhib-Ran was Hyperion, champion of the gods! A deity among mortals!
Sauron soared over Milton's head, flying in front of Zhib-Ran to block off his path towards the clearing. Hyperion didn't skip a beat as he charged towards the meta-powered dinosaur. Sauron reared his head back to unleash another torrent of flame. Luckily, Milton was still pretty quick on his feet - he managed to reach Sauron before he blasted him, and slid between his scale-covered legs. A quick glance at the creature's talons told Zhib-Ran that he was still in danger, and needed to get moving. Now. The SHIELD agent tucked and rolled forward, bouncing up to his feet and using his previous momentum to continue sprinting forward. By now, Sauron had turned around and was flying head first towards Hyperion's back. He was more than likely planning to bite Zhib's head off in one go. Milton could feet Sauron's talons sink into his shoulders, and he reached his fingers towards the light in one last, desperate attempt at freeing himself. The tip of Zhib-Ran's middle finger bathed in the light of Earth's star for less than a second. But that was all Hyperion needed to catch Sauron off guard. Hyperion slammed the back of his head into the pterodactyl's snout, causing Sauron to reel backwards and release his prey from his grip.
Hyperion leaped forward into the clearing, letting his body absorb the rays of the sun.
"NO!" Sauron cried in a fit of rage. The pre-historic beast took to the air once more, blasting a stream of fire into Hyperion's chest in an attempt to kill the powerful alien. Hyperion was sent flying by the strength of the attack, landing with a thump on the other side of the clearing. Zhib-Ran floated off his back and into the air. He tore his burnt shirt off, tossing it into a nearby bush. His tie had already been eviscerated in the previous fighting. Hyperion and Sauron's eyes met once last time, before they both flew head on at the other. Beams of heat and waves of napalm covered the jungle as the two powerhouses poured on the heat. Flames spread over the trees and bushes, consuming any organic material in their path. Hyperion used his physical might to keep Sauron knocked off balance. He used his speed to stay away from the flying reptile's sight, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. Milton wouldn't give the creature a chance to drain him again. The battle was taken back into the darkness of the jungle as Hyperion slammed Sauron around like a pinball machine.
"Enough, you stupid brute!" Sauron spun around mere moments before Hyperion hit him again, and used his talons to slice Hyperion's face. The Adamantium-like sharpness of the claws was enough to cut Zhib-Ran into ribbons if he wasn't careful. Three long slash marks formed across Hyperion's face, blood leaking out of the wounds. It was then that Hyperion realized he was not yet at full strength. He couldn't have suffered such a grievous wound from any mere mortal at his full power. Hyperion brought a hand up to his face, wiping the blood out of his eyes. "Cant...See.." He muttered. Sauron racked his talons across Hyperion's chest thrice more, before firing off another steady wave of burning napalm into Hyperion's face. The enraged alien backhanded Sauron's face with the full force of his strength, sending his enemy flying. Trees snapped and broke as Sauron's body smashed through the jungle. Hyperion gave chase, though his flight speed was staggered due to the blood in his eyes. Zhib-Ran landed, slamming his boot into Sauron's windpipe. He should kill this...thing. It would be easy. Just fire off his lasers into the thing's eyes, and melt its brain. "P-Please." Sauron sputtered. "Don't." Sauron could tell what Milton was thinking. There was rage in the agent's eyes. "Take me prisoner. Take me back to SHIELD."
A smile crossed Hyperion's face. He knew what to do with Sauron. "I am no mere agent of SHIELD," Hyperion began, a look of pure madness growing on his face. "I am called Zhib-Ran, Hyperion of Tok and displaced king of my crime empire. I plan to conquer this planet, and make myself it's king. Your world is the perfect place to launch my new empire. I will conquer this galaxy, and there is no one who can stop me." Hyperion took his boot off of Sauron's throat. The doctor began to crawl backwards, desperate to escape the insanity standing before him. Hyperion grabbed the back of Sauron's head and tossed him back into the dirt. "There will come a time when I call for aid in my conquest. If you answer that call, I will reward you handsomely. Perhaps your own city. Or maybe you want to direct AIM. Whatever you wish, I can fulfill it. But only if you join my regime when the time comes. If you don't, though?" Hyperion leaned down to Sauron, grabbing his beak. "I'll tear you in half." Zhib-Ran let go of the Pterosaur. He turned around and took to the air, looking towards the AIM base. "Leave. And do not return." Sauron took to the sky, and didn't look back.
With that done, Hyperion flew off to find Captain America. Perhaps the good captain needed his assistance destroying this facility.
---
Kestrel sat up in the pilot's seat, a look of worry on his face. The helicarrier was no longer on their radar. The modified Boeing C-17 was much too fast for the helicarrier to catch and the stealth technology on board would mask them from any sort of electronic tracking. However, that wasn't the problem. The problem was a fume leak in one of the engines. The engineers hadn't seen it before they left the compound, and Kestrel hadn't bothered looking over the engines on his own before they took off. Team X had been in a hurry to get to the Hulk before he moved again. He pressed the intercom button, deciding that he should inform Logan of the issue. Fume trails could be tracked, especially if someone was looking for them. And if Kestrel knew anything about SHIELD, he knew that they were thorough. He didn't doubt that they would find the trail with their advanced instruments. The real question was if they would find the trail before it dissipated. If it dissipated before they looked into that particular method of tracking, SHIELD wouldn't be able to follow for very long. "Hey, Wolverine. Get up here. I need you in the cockpit."
Meanwhile, in the back of the plane, Wolverine sat next to a sedated Bruce Banner. The doctor had been placed inside a special containment unit, built from some of the strongest materials available. The containment unit was a large metal box attached to the center of the cargo area, with large panes of (very durable) glass in place for observation purposes. Bruce himself had a pair of magnetized cuffs attached to his hands. The cuffs were made in such a way that they could alter their size to fit either form of Banner, and contained traces of Wakandian Vibranium so as to keep the Hulk from escaping using sheer brute force. Whenever Bruce needed to be contained, the cuffs would activate and the powerful magnets within the cuffs would pull the Hulk to the largest piece of metal nearby. The cuffs could even be put in an 'overdrive' mode that would pull the Hulk towards the Earth's core. The cuffs were worth billions of dollars. But money was no object to Romulus and his organization. "D-Don't do this." Wolverine immediately stood to his feet, his claws extended. "He's wakin' up!" He warned. Maverick pressed a combination into a number pad located on the side of the containment unit, and the IV attached to Bruce's arm flooded him with extra sedative. "You c-can't c-control the Hulk... It's t-too much p-power..." Wolverine looked the doctor in the eye, melancholy beneath his mask. "I know, Bub. I know." It was then that Kestrel called Wolverine to the cockpit and he turned away from Bruce and made his way to the front of the plane.
"What's goin' on?" Logan asked. He pulled his mask down, ruffling his own hair. "We're leaking fumes." Kestrel responded. "Anybody on radar?" Wolverine had a buddy in the air force during Vietnam. He knew a bit about planes. "No, but that doesn't mean we aren't being followed. If SHIELD picked up the trail less than twenty minutes ago, then they could follow us out of range of radar. Or maybe their craft is using some kind of experimental stealth technology we haven't run into before. Something like ours." Logan thought about it for a moment. "How far are we from Weapon X?" Kestrel double-checked at his instruments before responding. "We've been in the air for about six hours. 'Bout half way there, if I kick it into high gear." Logan did a double take at that. "Planes aren't that fast." Kestrel smiled at that. "Most planes. But we modified this baby ourselves with the best stuff available. No government in the world could compete; well, 'cept the U.S. But the Blackbird don't count. Cruise speed is Mach 2.5, but if we wanted we could go up to 4.0. Cruise altitude goes up to 45,000 feet without activating our anti-gravity engines-" Logan interrupted Kestrel. "Wait, we have anti-gravity engines?" Kestrel nodded. "Yup. We also have an energy shield that protects the plane from the increased drag of flying at above the speed of sound, and our own source of oxygen to burn when we fly above 80,000 feet. There are two photon lasers mounted to the bottom of the plane, and we have 21 plasma missiles in case we really need to bring on the heat. We have enough fuel to fly around the world three times without needing to stop, and the most state of the art stealth technology in the possession of humans." Wolverine blinked a few times before he could respond. "Don't sound like much of a plane 'ta me. Sounds more like a UFO." Kestrel shrugged. "That's because we got the tech from aliens. I've been trying to get Doctor Cornelius to modify my baby's appearance, but he won't budge. The C-17 look is less suspicious than a design of our own."
"What do you call her?"
"Azrael. The Angel of Death."
"Heh." Wolverine chuckled. "What?" Kestrel asked, a bit insulted. "Oh, nothin' 'bout your baby. She's a fine craft. Just reminded me o' that clown I killed back at Ypres. Called himself the Angel of Death too; carried some blade called the Muramasa. Stung like a bitch when he stabbed me with it." Logan reminisced, involuntarily moving his hand down to his chest. "Took months to heal those cuts."
"Weird." Kestrel responded. Something was off about him. Wolverine could hear his heart rate climbing. Why was he nervous? John was never nervous around Logan. "You okay, bub?" Wolverine asked. John Wraith only nodded. "But yeah. I'm worried SHIELD might be following us." It was Wolverine's turn to nod. "Kick us into high gear. Use them fancy Anti-gravity engines o' yours. When we get back, we'll put the guards on high alert."
Kestrel sat up in the pilot's seat, a look of worry on his face. The helicarrier was no longer on their radar. The modified Boeing C-17 was much too fast for the helicarrier to catch and the stealth technology on board would mask them from any sort of electronic tracking. However, that wasn't the problem. The problem was a fume leak in one of the engines. The engineers hadn't seen it before they left the compound, and Kestrel hadn't bothered looking over the engines on his own before they took off. Team X had been in a hurry to get to the Hulk before he moved again. He pressed the intercom button, deciding that he should inform Logan of the issue. Fume trails could be tracked, especially if someone was looking for them. And if Kestrel knew anything about SHIELD, he knew that they were thorough. He didn't doubt that they would find the trail with their advanced instruments. The real question was if they would find the trail before it dissipated. If it dissipated before they looked into that particular method of tracking, SHIELD wouldn't be able to follow for very long. "Hey, Wolverine. Get up here. I need you in the cockpit."
Meanwhile, in the back of the plane, Wolverine sat next to a sedated Bruce Banner. The doctor had been placed inside a special containment unit, built from some of the strongest materials available. The containment unit was a large metal box attached to the center of the cargo area, with large panes of (very durable) glass in place for observation purposes. Bruce himself had a pair of magnetized cuffs attached to his hands. The cuffs were made in such a way that they could alter their size to fit either form of Banner, and contained traces of Wakandian Vibranium so as to keep the Hulk from escaping using sheer brute force. Whenever Bruce needed to be contained, the cuffs would activate and the powerful magnets within the cuffs would pull the Hulk to the largest piece of metal nearby. The cuffs could even be put in an 'overdrive' mode that would pull the Hulk towards the Earth's core. The cuffs were worth billions of dollars. But money was no object to Romulus and his organization. "D-Don't do this." Wolverine immediately stood to his feet, his claws extended. "He's wakin' up!" He warned. Maverick pressed a combination into a number pad located on the side of the containment unit, and the IV attached to Bruce's arm flooded him with extra sedative. "You c-can't c-control the Hulk... It's t-too much p-power..." Wolverine looked the doctor in the eye, melancholy beneath his mask. "I know, Bub. I know." It was then that Kestrel called Wolverine to the cockpit and he turned away from Bruce and made his way to the front of the plane.
"What's goin' on?" Logan asked. He pulled his mask down, ruffling his own hair. "We're leaking fumes." Kestrel responded. "Anybody on radar?" Wolverine had a buddy in the air force during Vietnam. He knew a bit about planes. "No, but that doesn't mean we aren't being followed. If SHIELD picked up the trail less than twenty minutes ago, then they could follow us out of range of radar. Or maybe their craft is using some kind of experimental stealth technology we haven't run into before. Something like ours." Logan thought about it for a moment. "How far are we from Weapon X?" Kestrel double-checked at his instruments before responding. "We've been in the air for about six hours. 'Bout half way there, if I kick it into high gear." Logan did a double take at that. "Planes aren't that fast." Kestrel smiled at that. "Most planes. But we modified this baby ourselves with the best stuff available. No government in the world could compete; well, 'cept the U.S. But the Blackbird don't count. Cruise speed is Mach 2.5, but if we wanted we could go up to 4.0. Cruise altitude goes up to 45,000 feet without activating our anti-gravity engines-" Logan interrupted Kestrel. "Wait, we have anti-gravity engines?" Kestrel nodded. "Yup. We also have an energy shield that protects the plane from the increased drag of flying at above the speed of sound, and our own source of oxygen to burn when we fly above 80,000 feet. There are two photon lasers mounted to the bottom of the plane, and we have 21 plasma missiles in case we really need to bring on the heat. We have enough fuel to fly around the world three times without needing to stop, and the most state of the art stealth technology in the possession of humans." Wolverine blinked a few times before he could respond. "Don't sound like much of a plane 'ta me. Sounds more like a UFO." Kestrel shrugged. "That's because we got the tech from aliens. I've been trying to get Doctor Cornelius to modify my baby's appearance, but he won't budge. The C-17 look is less suspicious than a design of our own."
"What do you call her?"
"Azrael. The Angel of Death."
"Heh." Wolverine chuckled. "What?" Kestrel asked, a bit insulted. "Oh, nothin' 'bout your baby. She's a fine craft. Just reminded me o' that clown I killed back at Ypres. Called himself the Angel of Death too; carried some blade called the Muramasa. Stung like a bitch when he stabbed me with it." Logan reminisced, involuntarily moving his hand down to his chest. "Took months to heal those cuts."
"Weird." Kestrel responded. Something was off about him. Wolverine could hear his heart rate climbing. Why was he nervous? John was never nervous around Logan. "You okay, bub?" Wolverine asked. John Wraith only nodded. "But yeah. I'm worried SHIELD might be following us." It was Wolverine's turn to nod. "Kick us into high gear. Use them fancy Anti-gravity engines o' yours. When we get back, we'll put the guards on high alert."
The rest of the team hadn't heard from Eric yet. Isaac frowned, although somewhere in that screwed up head of his he knew that Pistolera wouldn't know anything. If Accelerate and Sentinel hadn't found him, and he hadn't called Pistolera, then where was Microbat? Was he dead? Captured? Or maybe Eric was hiding out somewhere, waiting for the right opportunity to meet them in Star City. Whatever the case, Sentinel couldn't worry about him now. There were more important things to deal with than a missing teammate, Rao forgive him. All Isaac could do is hope and pray that his friend was alright.
Sentinel's thoughts were averted from Eric as Cell wandered towards him. Rhea looked calm. She looked at peace. Isaac couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of her. How could she hold herself together so well? Why was it that Sentinel seemed like the only person on the planet who couldn't control himself? Her conscious was clear, despite it all. She'd killed as well. Innocents had fallen beneath her blade; mind you, not nearly as many as had collapsed beneath the Kryptonian's might, but that didn't change the fact that they were both murderers. The size and scope of the genocide Sentinel had committed never let itself leave the forefront of Isaac's thoughts. Even as his closest confidant approached him, a look of warm understanding in her eyes, Isaac still felt like the entire world rested upon his shoulders. Death. So much death. And all of it was his own fault. No one else could claim responsibility for the San Francisco Massacre but Isaac himself. No other individual on the team could weigh their sins against Sentinel's and not realize how much guilt truly belonged to the kid from Krypton. Sentinel's powers allowed him to see things that others couldn't see. For instance, facial expressions. There were certain movements people's faces made when they were feeling certain emotions. These expressions were hard to read without training because they moved on too fast for any normal person to examine thoroughly. But Sentinel could see. He could see what Cell started to feel when she looked into his self-stigmatized eyes.
He could see her horror. Her rage. Her guilt. The look in her eye that spoke more clearly than any voice could: It's all your fault. All those emotions disappeared within a moment. The resentment and loathing that had been present before they looked at one another was replaced by a genuine smile. But was it really genuine? Was Rhea just putting up a show, to keep Sentinel from boiling over again and killing the rest of them? It was hard to tell. Her biology did not betray her: Cell appeared to be truly glad that he had returned. His scrutiny turned up no lies. No sign of betrayal. Then why, Isaac wondered, was he so convinced she didn't care? A single flick to Isaac's forehead knocked Sentinel back into the present. He couldn't let himself delve too deep into his own psyche. Not right now. Every time Isaac started to think too deeply about everything that was going on, he would become ashamed and paranoid and angry all at the same time. No time for that, Krypton. Isaac told himself. You've work to do.
A smile crossed Sentinel's face. He couldn't help it. All the distrust in the world couldn't keep him from his genuine affection for the girl. What that affection was, Isaac couldn't tell. But he knew it was there. Whatever he felt for the girl, it was good. Righteous. True and just. The anchor of his sanity. It was in that moment that Sentinel realized that all of his humanity remained in that single, fragile feeling he felt for this girl. Rao, why is everything good and pure have to be so easily broken? "Thanks. I hope you didn't have too much fun without me." Isaac replied to Rhea's greeting. The warmth of her hand caused Isaac to feel at peace. There was a certain amount of hope that allowed itself to drip back into his heart again. There stood a lone, vigilante lighthouse against the tidal wave of chaos within Isaac's heart. A sentinel of truth that Isaac had something to live for. Isaac nodded. He had tried. He'd tried damn hard, and he was afraid all that brought them was more suffering. He didn't know what to say. Isaac had wanted to give up. He had wanted to give up so many times. But that voice inside his head kept telling him: "Keep going, Sentinel. You're not done yet." So he kept moving. One step at a time. Isaac had a duty to his fellow Titans, and to the people of San Francisco. He would redeem their souls. No matter the personal cost.
Sentinel stood beside Rhea as Simone went over the plan. It seemed foolish and hair-brained, but considering the current state of affairs it was their only option. The team was going to Hell. Cell, Accelerate, Stunt-Devil, and Amazon had all been chosen for the assignment. The rest of the team would stay and conduct operations of their own while they waited for everyone else to save the day. Pistolera had explained to Isaac why he couldn't go. Suffice to say, he was angry. He understood, but he was angry. He needed to be there- to protect her- them! His teammates couldn't do this on their own. They'd all die, no doubt about it. Rhea turned towards Isaac, and took his hand into hers. So soft. So fragile. And she was going to Hades instead of him. "'till we be meetin' again." She said. Isaac looked at her longingly. He shouldn't let her go. He should demand to take her place. But in his heart, Sentinel knew that was impossible and moronic and selfish of him. "Come back in one piece, please. I couldn't bear it if you- if you didn't make it back." Isaac whispered. This might be the last chance to talk to her. To tell her the truth. He'd never thought he would tell anyone in a million years who he was. But there was that voice again: Tell her, Isaac. Tell her your name. You might never get another chance. "I'm Isaac, by the way. Isaac Grant. That's my real name. Goodbye, Rhea. I'll see you again. One way or another."
Sentinel turned back to the rest of the team as Accelerate decided to join Evan's team on their mission. He could feel a bit of comfort in knowing that the speedster was there to protect Cell. Isaac might not like the bastard much, but he was a dependable bastard. Sentinel watched as Rufus turned his head and glared at him. The way he emphasized everyone ticked Isaac off a bit. Was he blaming Sentinel for the deaths of the others again? Or maybe the killings in San Fran? Or, perhaps, he meant to tell Isaac that he would keep Rhea safe. That last one didn't fit with Rufus' M.O. The speedster didn't give a care about anyone else. He would only bring everyone back to save his own pride.
A voice over the intercom interrupts Pistolera's explanation. The identity behind the voice was unknown. This seemed to put everyone, especially Simone, on edge. He mentioned Sandstorm. Where had Luke gone? He'd disappeared the night before the attack. During all the chaos, Isaac just assumed he had escaped like Ravager and hadn't bothered coming back. Or maybe he was dead like the twins. There was no way to be sure. Isaac only hoped the guy was okay. Simone looked to Sentinel, and explained how things were going to go down. She wanted Isaac to be on high alert. Okay, Sentinel thought. I can do that. He nodded his understanding before Simone allowed Hellfire to enter. When the unknown uniformed figure entered, Simone made clear that whoever this was had only moments to talk before he died a painful and swiss-cheese like death.
A rush of air knocked clothes and hair about as Sentinel appeared behind Hellfire. Isaac crossed his arms and squinted, watching the man's every movement. Looking for any sign of hostile intent. The man began to speak. He explained his connection to Luke and his reasoning for looking for Sandstorm. Apparently the two kept in frequent contact; contact that had ceased within recent times. Sentinel listened to the beating of Hellfire's heart. He wasn't lying, that much was apparent. But he did seem nervous. And the way his eyes moved...Was he..Checking Simone out? Isaac raised an eyebrow at that one. Certainly, Simone was well-built and good looking. But hormones generally took a backseat when someone threatens to murder you.
"He's telling the truth." Sentinel said after a beat. "And he's piss-himself scared." Isaac half-smiled.
The inside of Sergeant Harvey Smith and Corporal Sal Topp's police cruiser smelled like coffee. Coffee and, un-ironically, donuts. Harvey had a certain affinity for the snack, despite its adverse effects on his body. The coffee was mandatory given the fact that it was six in the morning. There had been an attack the night before at Lost Haven's local Roman Catholic Church of Saint Peter. The church sat on the outskirts of the city, in a little suburban neighborhood. Harvey had never been there, having grown up in the big city, but he'd heard only good things about the place. When the call first came in, everyone thought that the church had been ransacked as a result of the rioting. However, research had shown that the suburban areas were almost exclusively ignored by the rioters. So whatever happened to Saint Peter's is more than likely an isolated incident. Detectives were already on the scene, but Thunderbolt and his partner, Sal, had been called in for crowd control. He'd called his sister the moment he had heard about the incident. Laura and her photographer were already on the way when he did. Harvey took a sip of his coffee as he turned the corner and the church came into view. There was crowd of curious and concerned citizens standing outside, with only a single officer standing in their way. Police tape was already up, but that didn't seem to dissuade some of the more headstrong onlookers from getting in.
Harvey parked the cruiser in the church parking lot, and stepped out. He quickly finished his coffee off before tossing it back into the cup holder. Harvey winced, placing a hand on his chest. He'd been severely injured during the riots, and had to spend an entire day in the hospital. His entire chest had been blown apart by a powerful explosive by that Gray Owl guy. "Let's get to it." Sal commented as she made her way towards the crowd. Harvey quickly followed suit, pushing through the people and crossing under the tape. The officer on the scene offered a reassured smile. "Glad I got backup. Not much to go around after what happened last weekend. All hands on deck with riot patrol." Harvey began waving people to step away from the perimeter. "Yeah, well, the Commissioner seems to think that whatever's going on around here has something to do with the metahuman who attacked the Augusta Police Department." The other officer grew visibly nervous. "Not now, guys. We have a job to do." Sal Topp reminded each of them. Harvey, Sal, and the unnamed police officer continued to keep people at bay until they started to lose interest and leave. Many, probably family of the missing, only moved to the other side of the street and gathered into small groups. They were waiting for more information on the case, it seemed. Poor sods. They'd never see their family again, and there wasn't a thing the police or the superheros could do about it.
A 2000 Honda Civic pulled up into the parking lot and stopped beside Harvey's police cruiser. Laura Smith and her photographer/partner, Terry Gibbs, stepped out of the passengers seat. The two sauntered over to the police tape and produced their Daily Watchmen press passes. "You're not covering the riots?" Sal asked as they all met near the front of the church. "Everyone and their mother is covering the riots. The chief wants something different for the Meta section." Laura informed Miss Topp. "Picture?" Terry asked Sal, motioning with his camera. Sal nodded, and the two walked off and left the siblings to themselves. Laura turned to Harvey and the two walked into the church. Their was a single detective inside, sitting on one of the pews and holding a torn piece of shirt. He looked utterly perplexed. Laura turned to her brother. "What's going on, Harv?" Harvey put his hands on his hips and sighed. "This matches all of the disappearances that have been going on for the past two weeks. Torn clothes, destroyed property, but not a drop of blood or DNA anywhere." Laura pulled out a yellow notepad and wrote a few words down. "Umbraxis the Destroyer, then."
Harvey walked over to one of the broken pews and bent down, examining the floor at superspeed. "Nothing. Not a sign that there was ever a human being here. Definitely Umbraxis." Just saying that son of a bitch's name made Harvey's skin crawl. Who could do something like this? Something so...terrible. Harvey had to grit his teeth for all he was worth not to scream in utterly livid rage. He'd seen the video from Augusta. Umbraxis had slaughtered countless police officers. And for what? He didn't want money. Or revenge. Umbraxis killed for entertainment. Senseless murder, for no other reason than his own sick enjoyment. "Stop it." Laura spoke in a voice that could command angels to halt in their tracks. "What?" Harvey asked, although he knew what she was going to say before she said it. "You're thinking about how horrible this all is. Brooding never got anyone anywhere. It's self-destructive, not to mention selfish. Get over your feelings and focus on how we're going to find this guy and take him down." Harvey nodded his head in silence. She was right. Laura was always right. "So, Harvey, tell me: how do we beat something we can't find?" Harvey began to think. His mind moved at impossible speeds as thought after thought passed through, with only the most important sticking around long enough for a millisecond to pass. "We let him find us." Harvey said simply. His sister gave him an inquisitive "Go on" expression, so he continued. "Umbraxis the Destroyer said during the video I told you about earlier that he came to earth to test what it has to offer. He wanted our best. He's here to fight superhumans." Harvey explained. Laura caught on immediately. "We set up a scenario where Umbraxis feels obliged to show his face."
"A press conference." The two said in unison. "We need to talk to Commissioner Valdez about this immediately." Harvey said. "I'll go with you as Boom. She'll feel be more easily persuaded if she knows what metahumans are going to be there to help her." Harvey nodded again. "As soon as we're wrapped up here, we'll meet in front of the station."
---
Later at LHPD Central in Little Sicily, Lost Haven
It was late in the afternoon as a crowd of reports stood outside of Lost Haven Police Department's Central Bureau. Commissioner Jessica Valdez stood in front of a podium covered in multiple microphones, each from one of various news stations. Flanking the commissioner on her immediate left and right were two superheroes. The speedsters were dressed in blue, silver and black uniforms with their hands held professionally behind their backs. Standing beside those superheroes were a number of police officers carrying automatic weapons and semi-automatic shotguns. "People of Lost Haven," the commissioner began. "It is with deep sadness and regret that I have come before you. As you know, this city has suffered in recent times from any number of tragedies and displays of violence. Demonic invasions and city-wide riots have crippled our hearts and souls. We thought that nothing could drag us further into despair." Valdez put on a fake look of concern and sadness. "But a monster lives in our midst. An alien creature from another world walks among us, killing people for no logical reason. It doesn't want money. It doesn't want revenge. It doesn't even want to terrorize our proud city. No, this creature only kills for fun." She paused for affect. "This monster, calling itself Umbraxis the Destroyer, seeks to test us. It seeks out the best and brightest of humanity and slaughters it wholesale. But we will stop it. No self proclaimed alien god stands a chance in hell against this city's protectors. Lost Haven's finest have been working around the clock with it's metahuman population to prepare for Umbraxis' arrival; and now that he's here, I have only one thing to say to him...
"...You will be beaten."
The crowd clapped. One man cheered. The broadcast was being sent out to the nation, thanks to the mayor pulling some strings. They wanted Umbraxis to hear them. They wanted to goad out the alien into attacking them when their heroes were at the ready to defend them. Valdez continued. "Here is one of Lost Haven's local heroes, Boom, to speak directly to the metahumans of Lost Haven and the entire United States." Valdez stepped away from the microphone and Boom took her place. She moved with stoic purpose towards the podium, receiving applause from Lost Haven's reporters. "Thank you." She started. "Heroes of Lost Haven, and heroes of these great United States of America, I call upon you. I call you to take up arms against this threat and fight against the darkness. I know many of you are scared. I myself am terrified." A strategic choke-up to emphasize the point. "But that doesn't mean we have a right to shirk our duty to the innocent people of this country. We believe that Umbraxis the Destroyer is responsible for dozens of disappearances that have occurred in the Northeast over the past few weeks. He has shown himself to be an insurmountable obstacle, massacring a large portion of Augusta's police with utter ease. He's killed countless people. I ask all of you, heroes, to put your money where your mouth is: come to Lost Haven, and stand against me with Umbraxis. He wants a fight? He wants to test our mettle? Let's give the son of a bitch a fight he'll never forget."
"This world is older than you can imagine. It has sailed the starscape...tending budding galaxies...forever a buffer to the approaching darkness. And now its fate...is in your hands."
There are many theories about how Cybertron came into existence. Perhaps it evolved from its original organic form into the living metal that it is today. Or perhaps Cybertron was created by the hands of some unknown alien species more ancient than the stars themselves. The most commonly accepted theory follows the story of two multiversal brothers of immense power: Primus and Unicron. Each carried enough raw ability to devastate entire universes with a mere word. For eons, these two opposites did battle; Primus, creator of life, fought against Unicron the Chaos-Bringer. They were locked in a deadly combat that would last until the end of days and neither would surrender to the other, despite how futile their fight truly was. Eventually the two came to an agreement: they would change the rules of their contest. No longer would they wrestle using physical might. Nay, the gods decided to test the other's mettle (or, indeed, metal) in a conflict of wits. Each created for themselves champions: a champion of light, and a champion of darkness. These champions would wage war in place of their gods. Each brother created their champion and each thought that theirs was superior. So Primus built a place for their warriors to call home: a giant world made of steel and metal, the size of Saturn, and they called that world Cybertron.
Cybertron is a shining metal, technological world; a planet of towering future cities without end and vast metallic plains, spiraling metal mountains and bottomless neon-lit chasms. Its beauty and worth was without measure. The first Transformers to walk Cybertron were primitive, violent and territorial. They formed small factions based on which god they followed and constructed cities with which to live in and launch their raids on other factions from. The followers of Primus were responsible for what is now known as Iacon, the capital city of Cybertron. The followers of Unicron built their own city, calling it Kaon. The two sides battle for three millennium before the wars finally slowed to a halt. As warfare ceased, members of both sides migrated to the countryside and began constructing villages, towns, and new cities of their own. City-States unaffiliated with either god began to form and it seemed that peace would reign on Cybertron. Primus and Unicron each began to enlighten certain members of their society with knowledge of leadership and politics, allowing these beings to rise to power. The city of Iacon quickly adopted democracy and elected a Council of Thirteen of the most intelligent Transformers to lead them. The members of this council were awarded the title of Prime. In Kaon, meanwhile, Unicron raised a single man up rule over all of his followers; this man declared himself emperor and conquered nearby city-states not affiliated with Primus or Unicron. He was called Megatronus, the first Decepticon. The followers of Unicron flocked under the banner of this emperor. Fear of the oncoming horde led many city-states to align themselves with the council in Iacon. With so many new cities under the banner of democracy, it was decided that a senate needed to be formed to keep the Primes in check.
The line was drawn in the sand. The armies of the new empire stood at the gates of the fledgling Iaconian democracy and threatened their very existence. Someone would need to lead Iacon to victory under a single, united name. That someone was Zeta Prime.
Zeta Prime was elected military leader of the forced of Iacon and charged with the duty to push back against the emperor's dark armies. Zeta Prime marched head first into conflict, using his supreme intelligence and tactical know-how to defeat the larger but less organized armies of Megatronus. Realizing that he was losing the war, Megatronus turned to science in an attempt to stomp out resistance to Unicron's will. Megatronus constructed the starship-sized Trypticon and placed a false-spark within the creature. Trypticon was brought to life using the power of dark energon, and turned its might against the advancing forces of Zeta Prime. The super weapon caught Zeta and the other Primes completely by surprise and their troops were massacred as a result. Desperate to stop the enemy's super weapon, Zeta Prime recruited the help of renowned scientist Alpha Trion. Alpha Trion discovered the secret to the creation of an artificial spark and used that knowledge to build a super weapon of his own: Omega Supreme. The two titans clashed. Everyone knew that the winner of this duel would go on to win the war for their side. Omega Supreme was victorious, casting Trypticon into the deepest abyss he could find. The armies of the Primes marched on Kaon and captured that city, executing Emperor Megatronus before bringing the rest of Cybertron under the banner of the council.
"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."
With the world of Cybertron united under a single banner, the Council of Primes set their sights on the stars. Fleets of exploration ships were built and expeditions were gathered. The Primes would go out and conquer the final frontier. Using their advanced technology, the Cybertronians were able to master rudimentary space flight in a matter of decades. Using nothing but oversized rockets, the Transformers managed to colonize the fours moons orbiting Cybertron as well as set up a space station within a nearby astroid belt for mining and research purposes. Energon quickly became the go-to source of power for everything on Cybertron, so it was no surprise that the first bases built on other celestial bodies were in search of this resource. When small pockets of Energon were discovered on Moon Base Three, it was decided that more focus should be put on reaching the nearest planet and searching it for Energon as well as setting up permanent colonies there. Ground Bridge tech was adapted for use at much longer ranges transporting much larger objects. These new bridges were designated as Space Bridges, and were quintessential to inter-planetary travel. Now extra fuel was no longer needed for a ship to move between Cybertron and another celestial body. The previously built exploration fleets were kitted out with this new technology and sent to the farthest corners of the solar system to find the best source of Energon. In only three hundred years, the Transformers had colonized every planet in the Hadeen solar system and were well on their way to mining out all the Energon in the asteroid belts. There were pleny of moons around to search, however the Primes realized that the further they got away from Cybertron the less Energon they found.
This lack of available resources soon led to a resurgence in exploration as expeditions set out to explore other solar systems. The mad frenzy that was locating new sources of Energon led to the Primes shifting their attention away from the welfare of the people. This led to dissent within the city of Kaon and among the general population that identified with Unicron's teachings. Wanting to keep Cybertron from dividing once more, Sentinel Prime set up the caste system. The caste system would take each individual and arbitrarily place them into a certain caste which they were expected to identify with more than their religion or chassis type. This new system only dragged the issues of division out instead of solving them. The caste system eventually led to further disunity, with many dedicated followers of Primus turning to Unicron if that was considered the primary religion of their caste. The lower castes (such as industrial workers and miners) leaned more towards Unicron, while the middle and higher castes (such as data monitors and government workers) leaned more towards Primus. The military forces were more or less evened out. While Sentinel Prime dealt with these issues back on Cybertron proper, an aging Alpha Trion could see where this new caste system would lead: civil war. In order to keep his creations from falling into the wrong hands, Alpha Trion placed his most dangerous artifacts into the care of the titan called Metroplex. Metroplex was shot out into space, landing on a primitive mud ball called Earth where he would hybernate for billions of years. Among these artifacts were the coveted Matrix of Leadership and Allspark. When the Council discovered Alpha Trion's plan, he was tried in court for treason. The Matrix of Leadership was the only way to appoint new Primes and the Allspark was the only alternative to creating new Transformers to the Well of Sparks. Alpha Trion was imprisoned deep inside Cybertron's bowels, never to be seen again.
"Wisdom has to be earned, Arcee. Sometimes at a cost."
Many observers considered the imprisonment of Alpha Trion as the straw that broke the camels back. The flaws and crimes of the ancient primes would be brought to light and the disloyal Cybertronians would attempt to ceded from the Iaconian union. From within the gladiator pits of Kaon arose a champion like no other: A man of charisma, power and ambition. He claimed he wanted to overthrow the republic and become the next emperor of Cybertron. His name was Megatron, descendant of Megatronus and rightful heir to all of Kaon. He was the Champion of Darkness. Many of the poor and hardworking members of Cybertronian society flocked to the banner of the Second Emperor. They saw him as an icon of what they could all become. The Primes desperately wanted to set Megatron in his place, but he had grown so popular that to assassinate him would merely be to martyr the gladiator and guarantee further violence and bloodshed. So they set about creating a smear campaign against Megatron. Sentinel Prime brought forth evidence that Megatron was a lying, manipulative cheat. A Decepticon. But his claims only fueled the fire further: Megatron took what was meant to be a black spot on his record and it turned it into a name for his revolutionary forces: the Decepticons. Megatron and his Decepticons were peaceful, at first. But only because of the persistent and earnest teachings of Megatron's closest friend, Orion Pax.
Orion Pax was a data monitor who worked in the Hall of Records alongside the aging Zeta Prime. He was a supporter of overthrowing the caste system and replacing the Council of Primes with elected officials, much like the Senate. He tried to reason with Megatron to chose democracy over a dictatorship. Orion brought Megatron before the Senate and pleaded with them to consider all that he had to say. The senate could see that Orion Pax was intelligent, passionate and level-headed. They could tell that the glorified librarian knew what he was talking about. So, in a colossal act of failure and stupidity, the senate wanted to name Orion Pax a Prime. They wanted to dismantle the current system and install a parliamentary democracy. This was clearly something they had been considering for many years and only now had the courage to speak up about it. Orion Pax refused, recommending Megatron as the new Prime instead. Orion claimed that Megatron possessed all the qualities of a good figure head and leader. But the Senate refused, shaming Megatron for the more radical side of his Decepticon movement that he had yet to condemn. Enraged and full of envy, Megatron stormed out of the Senate. He launched a number of terrorist attacks on government facilities the following day, and declared war on the Senate. The Great War had begun.
Megatron and his loyalist forces storm Crystal City, home of the Council of Primes. Twelve of the Primes are executed with only Sentinel being kept prisoner for Megatron's future entertainment. Orion Pax takes up the mantle of Optimus Prime and leads an assault on Crystal City to free the prisoners kept there. The battle is hard fought and long, but Optimus forces Megatron to retreat. When the Autobot army enters Crystal City they find the severed heads of the twelve primes on pikes surrounding the beaten and tortured body of Sentinel Prime. Sentinel would have died if not for the expert medical skills of Officer Ratchet. Meanwhile, on the other side of Auto territory, Fort Scyk is assaulted by the combiner Bruticus Maximus. Bruticus is stopped in his tracks by Ultra Magnus and Grimlock's clever tactical maneuvering and brute force counterattacks. The cities of Tarn and Vos are conquered by Shockwave using the Constructicons and their combined form of Devastator. The Autobot team known as the Wreckers, led by Wheeljack and Bulkhead, set up in the small neutral village of Tagan Heights. They use Tagan as a staging ground for the Autobot airforce's raids on the industrial city of Kalis. Crippled by weeks of bombing, Kalis fell under the boot of the Autobot forces. Optimus Prime led his troops to their first major offensive of the war; but Kalis was only the beginning. City after city, town after town, Cybertronian after Cybertronian fell as the war raged on. It was obvious after Kalis that the Decepticons possessed the greater number of trained soldiers, while the Autobots were mostly comprised of scholars and diplomats. Warpath and Ironhide, two of the highest ranking officers to join the side of the Autobots, suggested that Optimus use the Well of Sparks to create more soldiers for their cause. The plan was desperate but in the face of Decepticon invasion it would have to do.
The Well of Sparks was located in Decepticon-held territory, near the twin cities of Altihex and Protihex. Just off the border of Iacon itself, the twin cities were only recently captured by the forces of Skyquake and Dreadwing. The city was crawling with Decepticon Seekers; making it a no-fly zone for the Autobot's much smaller but more elite airforce. Optimus sent in a small team to locate enemy positions and report back the condition of the Well. The team consisted of Prowl the Cyber-Ninja, Bumblebee the Scout, Arcee the Cyber-Ninja in training, and Cliffjumper the Scout. The four Autobots sneaked into Altihex an Protihex in the dead of night. The mission was successful, but cost the Autobots dearly. Prowl was able to ascertain the whereabouts of Seeker patrols and Arcee located the Well of Sparks which seemed to be in continued use by the Decepticons. Cliffjumper and Bumblebee, however, had been captured by Shockwave and his Insecticons. Optimus Prime sent in Grimlock's team to retrieve the scouts, but they never reported back. Optimus pushed forward the timetable for the liberation of the Well in the hopes that he would arrive in time to save his soldiers. The Autobots attacked the city, and a battle was waged that lasted over six months. During that time Bumblebee and Cliffjumper were tortured for information, and Grimlock's team had been experimented on by Shockwave. Optimus and Ultra Magnus arrived with a company of soldiers at Shockwave's compound and forced their way inside. The battle had been easy; too easy. It had all been a trap set up by Megatron himself in an effort to eliminate the new Prime. It was then that Optimus learned that Cliffjumper was dead and Bumblebee's voice box had been ripped out by Megatron's own hands. The two champions of Primus and Unicron clashed for the first time as the Autobots fought off the Insecticon ambush with all of their might. The duel was cut short by the arrival of Ironhide's reinforcements, forcing Megatron and his lackeys to retreat. The Well of Sparks had been won, but at a bitter cost.
With the Well of Sparks now in their hands, the Autobots set about with the next portion of their plan. Perceptor was given the monumental task of replicating the Well of Sparks' design. While the good doctor and his team worked on that front, Ultra Magnus and Warpath worked together to create and train new protoforms that emerged from the Well. They molded each and every new member of the next generation into hardened fighters; but Optimus wanted them to be more than just soldiers for soldiers sake. Prime taught these new recruits why they fought. For freedom, liberty, and eventually peace. A new army was raised up and ready to fight within a year's time. Ironhide leads a company of these new troops into Praxus, his own hometown, and liberates it from Decepticon occupation. Many of Praxus' citizens take up arms and join the Autobot cause, including Smokescreen and Sideswipe. Prowl, Arcee and Jazz begin forming a new Cyber-Ninja Corps based upon the Corps that had been destroyed during the Decepticon attack on Crystal City.
Five years of brutal fighting goes by before Perceptor is able to reverse engineer the Well of Sparks. Optimus tasks the science team with retrofitting Omega Supreme into a spaceship, based upon designs from the golden age. This process takes another five years. During this time, Grimlock and his team escape from Shockwave's clutches and return to Iacon, changed into the infamous Dinobots. Veteran of the Old Guard Kup leads a team consisting of Hound, Hot Rod, Drift (A follower of the ancient and defunct Cyber-Samuri code) and Crosshairs into Decepticon territory in a desperate attempt at assassinating Megatron. Megatron manages to single-handedly defeat each and every one of his would-be killers with nothing but his bare hands. Megatron allows them to live, ordering the Autobots to spread the tale of what transpired there. And spread the tale they did. Fear and superstition spread throughout the ranks of the Autobots; many of the new recruits began to make up wild stories about Megatron being the immortal reincarnation of Unicron. Despite Optimus Prime's attempts to quell these rumors, stories continued to spread until even the most trusted among Optimus' councilors seemed to tremble at the thought of challenging the Second Emperor. Perceptors crew created a new fleet of transport ships within a decade. By this time the Decepticon forces had a strangle hold on Iacon and its outlying cities, having recaptured almost all the territory the Autobots had won after the Twin Cities victory. With Megatron threatening to retake the Well of Sparks, Optimus made a decision that would change the course of the war: they would destroy the Well of Sparks and retreat back to Iacon, where they would prepare to leave Cybertron. The Autobots would use the vastness of space to hide their forces from the Decepticons while they gathered more soldiers using the Well of Sparks designs. It was a desperate plan, but it was all the Autobots had left. They could not defeat the Decepticons; moral was low, Energon supplies were nearly empty, and too many good 'Bots had died already.
"Sometimes even the wisest of men and machines can be in error."
Iacon fell within a matter of days. The Autobots escaped in the thousands to the waiting fleet of transports. What little Energon was left was used as fuel for the ships to escape into Cybertron's only working Space Bridge. Optimus Prime took a group of his best Autobots with him and boarded the Ark, making a beeline for Earth. The fleet of ships entered the Space Bridge with only minor resistance from the Decepticons; Megatron hadn't suspected the Autobots would flee into the stars. He thought he had won. It wasn't until Megatron discovered that the Well of Sparks had been sabotaged beyond repair that he realized what Optimus Prime had been planning all these decades. Megatron converted his mighest weapon, Trypticon, into a ship of his own: The Nemesis. A mighty flagship to lead his fleet in search of the Autobot resistance. With a conquered but depleted Cybertron at his back, Megatron set out to recapture the plans for the Well of Sparks from Optimus' clutches. Even if he had to pry it from his friend's cold, sparkless hands. The Decepticon fleet was prepared after half a decade thanks to Shockwave's superior intellect and the utterly unshakable resolve of Decepticon workers.
Meanwhile Optimus Prime and his crew traveled from Space Bridge to Space Bridge in search of what Alpha Trion had described as the planet Earth. Optimus planned to use the relics located their to turn the tide of the war; he would not let Megatron's victory last long. The Ark sailed across the stars for nearly five years on their quest to locate the small planet. The Autobots encountered many a foreign force on their search. The first of such encounters was with the Green Lantern Corps, who had mistook the Autobots for some great evil foe calling themselves the Necrons. The misunderstanding brewed into a short conflict of arms, but Optimus was able to explain who he was and why he was in Green Lantern space. The issue cleaned up, the Guardians apologized and allowed Optimus to continue on his path. The next encounter occurred with alien life occurred at a place called Xandar where Prowl was imprisoned by a Nova Corps for accidentally destroying the property of a local merchant. Again the issue was solved by Optimus' wisdom, and the Autobots were allowed to go on their way. It wasn't until the Ark was attacked by the Reach that Jetfire's seekers were needed to protect the Ark from spacebound threats. Jetfire's boys managed to beat back the enemy as the Ark made a hasty retreat. Before long the Autobots found themselves stuck in the middle of a war between the Krees and the Skrulls. While they tried to stay neutral in the conflict and leave Kree/Skrull space, a Skrull warlord and his pirates attacked the Autobot ship. A number of lives were lost in the ensuing conflict but again the Autobots skirted away.
It wasn't until their final extraterrestrial encounter that the Autobots learned that far more evil men existed than Megatron. The Ark needed refueling and repair, so they made a pit-stop at a planet called Apokolips. There they were immediately beset upon by a horde of parademons and Optimus Prime was forced to fight an avatar of hatred calling himself Darkseid. Optimus was badly wounded, but he lived to fight another day as the Ark received what fuel it could before taking off with Apokolips at its back. Ratchet patched up their leader and before long Earth was within their sights. They attempted to land but not before being stopped by an organization calling itself SWORD. An affiliate of SHIELD, SWORD's goal was to protect Earth from alien life. With Optimus out of commission due to his recent fight with Darkseid, it was up to Ironhide to confront SWORD. And Ironhide was no orator. He attempted to explain, to no avail, why he needed to land on earth. Special Agent Abigail Brand, leader of SWORD, threatened to shoot the Ark down if the Cybertronians didn't leave. Earth didn't need more aliens attacking them. But Ironhide refused and attempted to enter earth's atmosphere anyway; and SWORD responded by shooting the Ark out of the sky.
Now the Autobots find themselves on Earth, crash landing in the Rocky Mountains. SHIELD and SWORD would no doubt be searching for them. The Decepticons weren't far behind the Ark, either. It was time for the Autobots to hide; at least until Optimus Prime was able to function properly again and lead them onto the proper path.
| Attributes |
Cybertronian Physiology: Optimus Prime is a Transformer of the planet Cybertron. Cybertronians are much larger than most humanoid races and possess the physical attributes that come with being giants. Cybertronian bodies are made up of extremely durable metals not known to man that allow them to absorb extreme amounts of damage and continue to operate. Backup systems within a Cybertronian exist to allow a grievously injured Transformer to escape even if he might appear inoperable. Most modern humans weapons, aside from thermonuclear missiles, lack the firepower to do anymore than superficial damage to even the weakest Cybertronians. Sustained fire from human tanks and aircraft could in theory cause damage to a Cybertronian; however, the sheer volume of fire a Cybertronian can return is enough for only a handle of Transformers to level an entire army of humans. Cybertronians received the nickname transformers for their ability to transform between two modes; robot and vehicle modes. Certain Cybertronians possess a technology that allows them to have multiple alternate modes.
Optimus Prime stands at roughly 10 meters tall and weighs 40 tons. He can lift over 100 tons with considerable ease. His estimated limit is around 25,000 tons. Optimus transformers into a Kenworth W900 semi-truck.
The ion blaster is a kind of laser rifle and the primary weapon of several Autobot leaders. Only used by the leader of the Autobots when all attempts at peace have failed, the ion blaster ensures that freedom is the right of all sentient beings, and strikes fear in the sparks of the Decepticons who are foolish enough to challenge him. The ion blaster is a retractable weapon installed into Optimus' forearms. The rifle is one of the more well-rounded assault rifles used by Cybertronians, and is usually considered the firearm of an officer.
Optimus Prime also makes use of a pair of Energon Swords, close range weapons designed to cut through even the toughest Cybertronian metals. Possessing one on each arm, he charges the swords, also known as battle blades, via a quantum electric generator with a max yield of one thousand degrees Celsius and a burn rate of five kilojoules per second. They're very useful for taking off faces, one of Optimus' lesser known stratagems.
When he's not shooting through Decepticon body armor with his Ion blaster or slicing off heads with his battle blades, Optimus Prime will use his barrage cannon against his opponents. With a range of up to sixty miles, the laser-sighted barrage cannon fires plutonium tipped warheads at a rate of 6 warheads per second, with each warhead carrying the equivalent of 3,000 lbs of TNT. Due to the extreme firepower the barrage cannon can dish out, Optimus Prime only wields this weapon in times of great need.
Optimus Prime is a skilled warrior and even more skilled leader. He is as adapt at formulating strategies as he is at diplomacy. Optimus strives for peaceful solutions above all else, but is willing to fight if no other option presents itself.
| Character Notes |
There are five main body types that a Transformer can inhabit, with many sub-genres and customization options available. Body type changes are a lucrative business in the black market and are extremely expensive.
Seeker: The only body type capable of flight. Seekers are generally taller than other models due to more parts being needed when they transform into aircraft. Seekers can take the form of a jet, helicopter or other types of aerial vehicles. Seekers are generally lighter armored than other body types and are faster on the battlefield; the only model that outclasses them in this area are the Scout body types. Examples include Jetfire, Starscream and Skyquake.
Scout: The smallest and most lithe of the body types, Scouts come in many different shapes and sizes depending on the specific need presented. All scouts are fast, agile and possess a significantly upgraded communications and observations package from birth. No other body type rivals the scouts in stealth, tracking or infiltration. The light armor of the scouts makes them more equipped for hit and run tactics than straight up firefights. Examples include Arcee, Knock Out, Barricade and Bumblebee.
Trooper: The most well-rounded of the body types, the trooper model offers proficiency in all categories but mastery over none. Durable, quick and intelligent, Troopers are the perfect body type for soldiers or workers. They lack any sort of specialization from birth; this means that a protoform born a trooper has more options when they enter their caste. Examples include Ratchet, Ironhide and Soundwave.
Behemoth: The largest and most physically gifted of the body types, the Behemoth is an excellent addition to any army. Behemoths carry the most firepower, possess the heaviest armor, and are the strongest of any body type. Most Behemoths are less intelligent than the other models, however. Behemoths are usually lower caste citizens due to their 'work horse' nature and lack of cleverness or natural intelligence. 'Brute' is a common derogatory term for Behemoths due to their naturally over-emotional responses to situations, which almost always end in violence. Examples include Bulkhead, Breakdown and Brawl.
Leader: The Leader body type is the most intelligent chassis around. Leaders are naturally gifted in the areas of intellect and charisma, making them perfect for positions of power. Leader body types are almost always looked at more favorably than other body types when evaluating persons for a promotion to a higher rank. Leaders make up the majority of scholars, archivists, military commanders and CEOs. Examples include Optimus Prime, Megatron and Ultra Magnus.
Bumblebee: The team's primary scout. Bumblebee lost his ability to speak when Shockwave had his voice box removed during his torture in the Twin Cities of Altihex and Protihex. In an effort to allow Bumblebee to speak, Ratchet installed a device capable of giving off a set of sounds found in Cybertronian Morse Code. He uses a series of clicks, beeps and whirs instead of words to communicate to his fellow Autobots. Most humans, even if they don't understand CMC, can guess what Bumblebee has to say based upon the inflections in his voice that Bumblebee purposefully exaggerates. The Autobot's best scout prefers to use his duel plasma cannons for medium and long range combat and his custom built 'Stinger' swords when things need to get personal. Bumblebee's alternate form is a 2005 Chevy Camaro.
Is there anything you want to elaborate on? Extra lore for the city you call home? Notable NPCs? Basically this is for people who want their application to be more of a compendium for their NPCs, Locations, and Rogues specific to this new continuity.
| Character Goals |
Here's a layout of how I want the story to proceed:
Robots In Disguise - Arc 1:
I. With Optimus Prime out of commission, the Autobots set out to get themselves acquainted with earth, its people, and its customs. The Transformers find themselves on the run from SWORD and ARGUS. Captain Lennox introduced during a skirmish with the humans.
II. Ratchet brings Optimus Prime back online and the Autobots set out to befriend various humans who have access to artifacts that might lead the Autobots to Alpha Trion's armory guarded by Metroplex. Sari, Jack, Miko, Raf and Sam are introduced and assigned their various guardians. Agent Fowler and Isaac Sumdac are also introduced as working with Lennox within SHIELD. The Decepticons arrive on earth.
III. A major battle between ARGUS and the Autobots leads to footage of the fight being uploaded across the internet. SHIELD removes all evidence of the battle and the Autobots are deemed a major threat by Nick Fury.
Expeditions and Discoveries - Arc 2:
I. Using the two halves of the maps obtained from Jack Darby and Sam Witwicky, Optimus Prime and Prowl set out to find the Matrix of Leadership in the Amazon. The Matrix bonds with Optimus and Prime receives a significant upgrade. Megatron personally pursues the two Autobots in an attempt to obtain the Matrix for himself. The revelation that the Decepticons followed the Ark to Earth deeply concerns Optimus. The Dinobots appear and join Optimus' cause.
II. When Sari's key is exposed to the newly improved Optimus Prime, another map is revealed: this one leading to the Allspark and the armory. The Decepticons and ARGUS also discover the location of the armory and the race is on to find the many powerful weapons housed in that facility.
III. A massive battle breaks out at the armory in Central Africa. More footage gets out to the internet and the media; the Transformers are revealed to the world. Optimus Prime uses the Matrix of Leaership to awaken Metroplex, and the massive Titan turns the tide of battle in the favor of the Autobots. The Allspark is destroyed during the encounter and shards of the cube are spread throughout the earth. Someone is mortally wounded and extreme measures are taken to ensure their survival.
The Second Great War - Arc 3:
I. Optimus Prime attempts to address the United Nations in an effort to inform humanity of the dangers of the Decepticons and rally support for their war effort. Feelings are mixed across the world as SHIELD doubles down on its efforts to stop the aliens.
II. The Autobots and Decepticons continue to clash over earth's sparse Energon supplies. Metroplex is moved to the Rocky Mountains and establishes Autobot City as a permanent base of operations. New Autobots and Decepticons arrive to reinforce their respective sides.
III. Decepticon discovers Dark Energon on earth and attempts to use the blood of Unicron to turn the tide of the war in his favor once again. Another climactic battle takes place and one of the Autobots is killed in the crossfire. The Allspark shards are combined to rebuild the Allspark, and the Autobots use the Cube to defeat the Dark Energon infused forces of Megatron.
Return to Cybertron - Arc 4:
I. Optimus Prime has a Space Bridge directly to Cybertron built and the Ark renovated for combat uses. SHIELD and the Autobots work together to fight the Decepticons.
II. The Nemesis and the Ark duel in earth's orbit; the Ark retreats into the Space Bridge and meets up with the rest of the Autobot fleet outside of Cybertron's space.
III. The Autobots storm the moon bases and asteroid belt. With the outposts held, Optimus seeks to use Metroplex to attack Kaon itself. Megatron has a plan up his sleeve and the fight is on for Cybertron!
The idea is pretty simple. I want to combine my favorite parts of the various continuities found in Transformer's media into a single universe. Integrating the Transformers franchise into Maximum Comics will be a difficult but interesting challenge as I juggle between self-contained storylines and massive crossovers. Sotrylines that delve into the heart and mind of Optimus Prime as he makes the ultimate Hero's Journey from mere librarian to leader of the Autobot army as it storms the gates of Kaon. As well as large scale crossover battles where the entirety of Maximum Comics' playerbase is given the option to get become involved; I especially look forward to interactions between the Autobots and SHIELD as a simple misunderstanding leads to armed conflict and eventually erupts into full scale war before wounds are allowed time to heal and the two learn to work together for the greater good.
Optimus Prime is one of my favorite heroes. He combines my two favorite things: giant robots and Captain America-like qualities of leadership, personality and an utterly unshakable will to do what is right. I'm no old fart; so I didn't grow up on G1. Instead most of my exposure to Transformers comes from the movies, the Animated series, the video games and most recently the Prime series.
Hero Type (Select one): Super-Soldier (Enhanced physical attributes to superhuman levels)
Power Level (Select one below):
A. Street Level (Ex. Punisher, Daredevil)
Powers (Be Specific): Chike injected himself with the recently developed serum by Doctor Saxer. The serum has given him super strength, speed, agility, intelligence, senses, dexterity and a minor healing factor.
Attributes (Select one at each category):
Strength Level: 4 tons
Speed/Reaction Timing Level: 65 MPH
Endurance at MAXIMUM Effort: Normal Human
Agility: 5X
Intelligence: Above Average
Fighting Skill: Untrained
Resources: Minimal
Weaknesses: Until Chike obtains the second half of the super soldier serum from SuperIOR Inc, each injection will only last a few hours depending on how much energy he burns.
Edward Cunningham was the CEO of SuperIOR Incorporated. He was an older man, in his early fifties. He sported salt and pepper hair and a black, custom made suit. SuperIOR had been founded by Edward's grandfather in 1899 with the intention of developing weapon for the United States military. Edward's father had led the company during World War II. During this time SuperIOR made a number of breakthroughs in the weapons industry that made them filthy rich. The most important of these was Project HER0ES, which was one of a number of projects focusing on creating the perfect super soldier. HER0ES had been a total success (thanks in no small part to Edward's parentage stealing critical information from rival corporations) and SuperIOR had been responsible for the formula that created some of America's greatest leaders and soldiers. Even after the war, SuperIOR continued to grow and prosper as it focused on research into the areas of robotics and genetics, both of which were brand new fields where new information was learned every single day. When the reigns of the company were handed down to Edward the young businessman chose to make the move to Lost Haven. Lost Haven was the city with the second largest financial district and the market there was quickly growing in size and influence. Over the years, many corporations had come and gone. But few lasted as long as SuperIOR did. Edward used ever trick in the book to make sure that competition was minimal. But now, it seemed, those tricks had begun to fail. Organized crime had once allowed Edward to bribe a few mobsters into blowing away the heads of rival companies. But now those familiar crime families had been toppled and replaced by some dark and unknown power. Cunningham, try as he might, could learn little of this 'Cowl' and his new criminal empire. There was no concrete information. Only rumors stacked on top of rumors. Yet it was evident to one like Edward that this 'Shadow Syndicate' or 'Shroud' or whatever the hell they called themselves had their dirty, rotten fingers in every business and every gang in Lost Haven. Even some of SuperIOR's biggest rivals had been the knee to this so-called ruler.
But not Edward. No. This was his city. And no creep in a mask would take that away from him.
"Mister Cunningham? What did you call me in to talk about?" That voice belonged to one Jack Grey. Jack had been on the board of directors for almost a decade now; Edward thought he could trust Mr. Grey. That is until James Abrams, his Captain Liberty, had intercepted a message bound for an unknown source revealing corporate secrets. To his credit, Grey was calm. Very calm. Jack must have thought he was pretty smart; that there was no way his boss knew what he had done. But Edward had been in the espionage business long enough to make a spy when he saw one. The way he moved his eyes. The way he listened to every word you said like it came from the very mouth of God on high. Few could see it, and fewer still could detect it in a tried and true master of the tradecraft like Jack Grey. "You used to work for MI6 before I hired you, didn't you, Mister Grey?" The British man adjusted his tie and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I did. That's one of the reasons you hired me, if I recall. You needed a spymaster for your inner circle." Edward smiled. "That I did, Mister Grey. That I did." Edward turned away from the glass wall overlooking the financial district and walked over to his desk, where Jack was seated. Edward removed a picture from one of the desk's draws and looked at it for a moment before placing it down on the desk's surface. "You're a family man, aren't you, Mister Grey?" Jack looked at the photo and his heart skipped a beat. It was a picture of his wife, two daughters and his son. "Wh-" Jack began to protest. Rage filled Mr. Grey's face as he stood to his feet. "I wouldn't." Edward warned. The CEO of SuperIOR pulled a pistol out of his coat and pointed the silenced weapon at Mr. Grey's forehead. Jack returned to the chair, putting his hands into the air.
"I know how much you love your family. I know how you feel; I have a son too, you know. Not that you know where to find him. I keep my family far away from prying eyes..To keep them safe. Something you should have considered before you spied on me." The door to the office opened and in stepped an eleven year old boy. To his flank was Captain Liberty, wearing his signature armor. The Captain's railgun was pointed directly at the back of the boy's head. "BILLY!" Jack cried. Mr. Grey jumped from his chair and ran for his son, arms out stretched. A bullet pierced the back of Jack's knee, forcing him to the ground with a cry of anguish. "I told you not to move. Now look, you're bleeding all over your son's shirt." Edward shook his head in disappointment as he crossed around the desk and approached the fallen Jack. Edward pulled out a knife and stabbed it into the back of Jack's wrist, jamming the weapon into the wooden floor. He repeated the process with the other hand. Billy watched on, wailing in utter terror. "Now you're going to tell me everything about the man you work for or I'm going to put a bullet in your son's head. Do you understand?" Jack shook his head profusely. "They'll kill my family if I say a word!" Edward pistol-whipped Billy in the temple, knocking the boy to the floor. "AND I'LL KILL THEM IF YOU DON'T!" He screamed. "Who's your direct superior?!" Edward placed the pistol against Jack's other knee. "I-I don't know his name!" Jack cried. "Nobody does!" Edward shot Jack, and moved the pistol to his groin. Mister Grey screamed bloody murder. "We call him the Specter. H-He has a courier collect my reports from a specific drop off point every week. Nothing digital- t- too easy to track." Edward kicked Jack in the side, laughing like a maniac. "Now we're getting somewhere! Who else works for this 'Specter?' I want names, addresses. And the next time you're to drop off a report."
"There are dozens w-working out of SuperIOR. Most of them are blue collar, but they have a couple of our research and management guys on the payroll." Jack responded. "You're going to hand me a list of all their names, and then you're going to write your report like usual. But you give it to Captain Liberty here for inspection first. We're going to track down this 'Specter,' no matter how long it takes. Nobody messes with Edward Cunningham! NOBODY!" Edward pulled the knives from Jack's old, wrinkled hands before pulling Mr. Grey to his feet. "Oh, and I'm sending agents to your house. They're going to keep on eye on you and your family here until I'm done with you. Whether or not they die is up to how willing you are to help me." Edward whispered into the shaken man's ear.
Captain Liberty escorted the terrified father and son out of Edward's office. Cunningham crossed over to a map of Lost Haven on one of his walls. The entire wall was dominated by maps, papers and notes. Edward took a pen from his pocket and wrote a single name at the top of one of the maps: Specter. The map marked all the locations Project Renaissance and Winstone International had been buying up. "I know what you're doing." He muttered to himself. "You think you can take this city from me, Alexa Winstone? I can see through your scheme. All the speeches in the world won't convince me that this 'Project Renaissance' isn't your doing. I've seen it all before! You use a tiny, unknown company as a means to rise to the top. You make them out as the enemy before establishing yourself as the hero of the people. Then you buy up all their land so you can demolish it later and build your own factories there." Edward mused. "You can see it in the riots. It just so happens that these places you had already paid off weren't hit during the attacks. Impossible. Nothing is a coincidence. I see your play. Trying to take my city from me; using these metahumans masks as a front for your push. The Specter, the Cowl, the Shroud Syndicate of Shadowy-assholes...They're all just puppets. A front with fronts. I CAN SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING, WINSTONE, AND I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!"
Hyperion hovered over towards Captain America as he came jogging out of the AIM facility. SHIELD-tech Quinjets were already approaching the site; it would seem the good captain had dismantled AIM's operations on his own while Agent Milton was busy dealing with that 'Sauron' fellow. "Milton." Wilson signaled towards Hyperion to get the alien's attention. "Captain." Hyperion greeted the SHIELD agent. "You alright? That was a hell of a hit you took. I mean if it could cut you it probably would have ripped me in half." Zhib-Ran nodded to Sam before responding verbally. "I am fine. He caught me by surprise; that was all." He gave a reassuring smirk to the human before continuing. "Sauron may have escaped, but based on the beating I gave him I'd wager that he won't be causing us trouble again any time soon." Captain America pulled a med-kit from his belt and set to work wiping the blood from Milton's face and cleaning the wound. While the soldier played doctor, Hyperion decided to carry on with what passed for small-talk among SHIELD agents. "It would seem you were successful in defeating AIM's forces. Congratulations. Success appears to be a common occurrence when you're on duty. It is as they say: When Captain America throws his mighty shield..." Zhib-Ran chuckled, remembering the old cartoons. He'd read up on Steve Rogers when he initially joined SHIELD; the previous Captain America was every bit the man Sam Wilson was. Or seemed to be. Converting him to Milton's cause would be difficult, but Hyperion had faith that the captain would see the merits in Zhib-Ran's new empire and would join him in his conquest.
When Sam finished patching up the alien god's wounds, Hyperion set about demolishing the AIM facility alongside the other SHIELD agents. He used his X-ray vision to locate the various load-bearing walls and pillars before knocking them down with his super strength. Zhib-Ran turned computer servers, file cabinets and shelves of research into slag and ash with his flash vision. The entire building went down in a matter of minutes thanks to the combined efforts of the demolitions team and Hyperion. "Good work." Milton commented to a pair of young and impressionable agents who had been apart of the demolitions squad. "I know it may seem as if your job is unimportant, but rest assured that your contribution to SHIELD is just as critical as my own. Without people like you doing work like this, Advanced Idea Mechanics would just return and this operation would have been a waste of precious time and resources. Thank you." The two men shook hands, a giddy look on their faces as Milton walked away. It wasn't every day you met a real life superhero.
Hyperion met with the captain once more. "Where to next, Captain?" He asked simply before looking down at his tattered clothes. "Perhaps a change of attire is in order." He commented with a smile.
---
Snow battered against the side of the Azrael as she descended upon the landing pad. Bright red lights guided Kestrel and his crew to safety as the massive plane slammed down onto the tarmac unceremoniously. While a normal C-17 required a landing strip, the anti-gravity technology mounted to the Azrael allowed her the same kind of maneuverability associated with a hummingbird. The cargo hold's ramp located at the back of the plane slowly opened and lowered itself to the ground. Team X gathered around Bruce Banner's cage, pushing the holding cell down the ramp and onto the frost-covered surface of the landing pad. "Pick 'em up, Mastodon." Wolverine grunted as he stepped out into the cold Canadian air. The elephant man did as he was told, taking the huge metal box into both arms and lifting it up before carrying it out of the C-17. "Brace yourselves," Deadpool began. "Winter is coming." X-23 smacked Wade in the back of his crimson-covered head before continuing past him and out of the plane herself. "Winter is already here, moron." She corrected. "Don't you watch Game of Thrones?" Deadpool asked with a gasp. "Everyone watches Game of Thrones!" Lady Deathstrike followed Laura out of the plan, adding to the conversation as well. "I watch Game of Thrones. Did you see what they did to J-" She started before being cut off. "Cease your spoilage, woman!" Mastodon yelled out in despair. "I'm not caught up yet."
"You're always a season behind." Kestrel appeared in a wisp of air. The doors to the base opened up as Wolverine entered his passcode and led the rest of Team X inside the building. "Mastodon, Maverick. You two take the green giant over to Professor Thorton's lab and make sure he stays sedated." James ordered. "The rest of you are free to do as you please until the next mission comes up." So the team splintered off to go do what they wanted: Deadpool went off to make himself a batch of chimichangas before sitting down to watch Pulp Fiction. Lady Deathstrike found Carol Hines and had her arms repaired and refitted. Kestrel, Wolverine and X-23 decided to head to the lounge and play a couple of rounds of pool. All was as it normally was there at the Weapon X Facility. Some may be surprised to hear that a clandestine organization of mutant assassins are still, in fact, human. That they could lead some semblance of a normal life. Behind the fur and the claws mutants were still people. People with dreams, aspirations and hopes. People who loved, partied and laughed. People who feared, cried and hated.
They were people, just going about their lives in an effort to survive.
Professor Thorton had Maverick remove Bruce Banner's unconscious body from the holding device and place him on a medical table in the center of the room. Maverick and Mastodon left the lab, standing outside in the hall and watching Banner in order to keep him contained. Professor Thorton stood in an observation room above the laboratory itself. He manipulated a dozen robotic arms located around the table and set up for the preliminary scans of Bruce Banner's internal mechanisms. Blood pressure, body heat, fat percentage, ect. This was the easy part; only a couple of pokes and prods from those same Adamantium needles that had been used to inject Hulk with the sedatives earlier. Later they would get into the nasty stuff, like opening up Banner's insides and looking at his organs. Finding out just what makes him turn into the Hulk and testing various chemicals on him in to see how the creature reacts. Sooner or later Thorton would need to take a deep tissue and bone marrow samples; but for now, he'd need to rely on a few vials of the Hulk's blood instead. He theorized that such painful and instrusize operations like a marrow sample would cause Bruce's fight or flight system to kick in. And when that kicked in, so did the Hulk; no amount of sedatives would stop him then. That's what Maverick and Mastodon were for.
"Fucking STRIKE." Commissioner Valdez growled. She was seated at her desk watching a recording of the Nightly Show with Stuart Walsh. Boom and Thunderbolt stood on the opposite side of Jessica's desk, watching the broadcast as well. Boom was just as angry as Jessica about this; while Thunderbolt was more worried about the safety of the people of Lost Haven now that STRIKE had lied to them. "All they've done is just sit on their hands while Umbraxis marches across the state murdering people in droves. Now they want to wave him off as nothing more than another psychopathic metahuman serial killer?" Jessica placed her head in her palms before turning around and addressing the two superheroes. "After Ryder's little 'talk' with Walsh, we can kiss any chance of assistance by the big names goodbye. Going against STRIKE is bad publicity." Boom turned and started pacing around the room. She was anxious of the coming conflict with Umbraxis. Could the speedsters stop an alien planet killer on their own? She'd had her fingers crossed that someone like Icon or Iron Knight would show up. But any hope of getting some half-decent help was dashed when STRIKE went on national television and did all but call them a pack of paranoid nut jobs. "What about the little guys?" Thunderbolt asked, his arms crossed over his chest. "There's plenty of small timers who'd like nothing more than to stick it to the government and fight the good fight at the same time." Valdez shrugged. "It's possible. But if Umbraxis is as nasty as he makes himself out to be then we'll need a lot more than a couple of amateurs to take him down." Jessica reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a pistol and a stack of files. Boom dashed across the room and looked through the entire stack in the time it took the police commissioner to blink.
"What is this?"
"If you two can't take Umbraxis down, and no one else shows up, then I'll be forced to call in a couple of favors." Valdez said simply.
"Most of these guys are criminals!"
"You're young. Naive. I wouldn't expect you to understand that the world isn't as black and white as the cartoons make it out to be. These guys are as eager to stop the world from being destroyed as you are; just not for the same reasons."
Thunderbolt picked up the files to see for himself. "Concrete? El Toro? Tinker? Succubus?" Thunderbolt read off the names of the some of the files. "I've fought most of these guys. No way they'll work with us."
"Criminals all want the same thing: money. Everyone has a price; even him." Valdez commented as she tapped on one particular folder. Thunderbolt slid it out of the stack and opened it up. "Gray Owl nearly killed my sister and me the last time we saw him." Harvey shook his head slightly in disbelief. Were they really going to put together a team of super criminals to take down an alien death god? This all felt so surreal. Like the first time Harvey's powers manifested: it was akin to walking on the clouds. As if he weighed less than the air around him. "Let's hold off on making any calls until we know for sure what we're dealing with. Maybe Ryder is right; maybe we can take down Umbraxis on our own. I mean no offense commissioner, but I could have taken down the Augusta Police Department on my own." There was a knock on the door to the commissioner's office. A young beat cop stepped in and cleared his throat before addressing Jessica Valdez. "Ma'am, there are a couple of metas outside. They want to speak with you and your..." The officer looked towards the two speedsters before continuing. "Cohorts." Jessica nodded before standing to her feet and walking briskly out of the room. Thunderbolt and Boom followed behind her at a distance. The trio arrived in the expansive lobby of LHPD Central. Men in uniform and suits walked to and fro as they went about their business keeping the city safe from all manner of crimes. While the superheroes were often given the most credit for taking on Lost Haven's crime, it was the boys in blue who dealt with the common, everyday street crime. For every alien assassin Icon took down, the police brought in two dozen crooks and murderers.
The doors to the police station opened and in waltzed the strangest group of people Harvey and Laura had ever seen. Five people who couldn't look more out of place next to the army of uniformed officers walking around them. A blonde woman stepped out from crowd and towards the commissioner. She walked forward with a purpose and strength that Thunderbolt couldn't help but envy. The sway of her voluptuous hips came to an unfortunate end when she reached Jessica and shook hands with the commissioner. The mystery girl's freckled face lit up like a thousand suns when she smiled. "I think I'm in love." Harvey whispered. Laura responded with a swift elbow to the ribs. "Close your mouth, T. You're drooling all over my boots." Thunderbolt grunted in discomfort and adjusted his footing to appear taller and his chest more broad. "You must be Commissioner Valdez. A pleasure. My name's May; but most people call me Skyquake." May spoke with some sort of accent; Irish, perhaps. Harvey thought. "Nice to meet you. Would I be wrong in assuming you're here to join the task force?" Valdez responded. Skyquake smiled and nodded. "Yup. These boys behind me are a part of my crew; we call ourselves the Vanguard. Where do you need us?" Valdez walked past May and approached the Vanguard. She inspected each member thoroughly.
The largest of the bunch was a brute in a construction worker's garb. He towered over the rest of the team at an unnatural 7'3. His arms were as thick as tree trunks and his chest looked to be the size of a small car. "We call him Demolition. He can change his size and shape. Nasty fellow, aren't you, Gary?" Demolition smirked and adjusted the cigar between his teeth.
Next in line was a man dressed like a wannabe mercenary. Black fatigues and modern body armor with a stereotypical skull design on the helmet wrapped up the "I think I'm a badass" motif. A pair of metal baseball bats were slung around his back inside custom made sheathes. Valdez glanced at the pistol on the man's hip before addressing him. "And who are you supposed to be?" She asked. "Skull-Thrasher's the name, lady. Remember that when I save yer life." May gave Skull a pointed look before crossing her arms and debriefing the commissioner. "Regeneration and nigh-unbreakable bones. Jeremy here spent two tours in Iraq and a third in Cambodia. Not that you'd ever know that last part. He's got a big mouth but a guy who can't die is pretty useful; trust me, I've tried."
"Interesting." Valdez muttered as she looked at the next member of the Vanguard. The majority of the man's face was covered by a Keffiyeh but what little skin showed was a shade of beige. An AK-47 rested on his shoulder. The black hoodie the man was wearing did little to hide the kevlar vest bugling from underneath. "Aban Ali Sahar's his name, but most of us call him Supercell. He can control the weather." May explained. "We found him in a tiny airport in the middle of Kansas. Didn't speak a word of English for the first week on the team. He grew up in Damascus fighting the military as a part of the FSA. Hell of a right hook too if I remember right."
"Last but not least is Martin." Martin bowed slightly in respect. He appeared to be in his late forties, and was dressed like a character out of Final Fantasy. He carried a massive sword on his back and an ancient looking book on his belt. The armor and robe combo was pretty unique, too. "He was possessed by an inter-dimensional monster calling itself...God, I always forget how to pronounce his name-" "Graa'tazken." Martin interrupted. "I am the Harold of Graa'tazken. I suppose you would call me a wizard of sorts." Valdez nodded her head in approval. "A fine team. I'm glad you could join us." Thunderbolt and Boom approached the Vanguard and introduced themselves. "I'm Boom. This is my brother Thunderbolt. Come on. We'll tell you what we know when we get to the Commissioner's office."
The eight of them headed back upstairs and down a labyrinth of hallways until they found themselves in the spacious office Commissioner Valdez called home. As soon as the door closed behind them, however, the unmistakable sound of gunfire started up back in the lobby. Jessica grabbed a phone off her desk and contacted the front desk. "What's going on down t-" She started before the sound of screaming panic interrupted her. "It's Umbraxis! Oh Jesus, oh mother of God...He's killing them all! HELP!" A cacophony of murder and death echoed throughout the halls of the police department as Umbraxis slaughtered wave after wave of cops in his march towards the Commissioner. "You've got to get down there!" Valdez ordered.
Thunderbolt and Boom turned towards the Vanguard. "Alright, let's hope you're up to the job. Move it!" The door to the commissioner's office was blown off its hinges as Boom and Thunderbolt rocketed down the hall at full speed. Papers were kicked into the air and fleeing secretaries were thrown aside as the two speedsters ran towards the action. The sprint took less than a second before the Smith children came screeching to a halt. The Avatar of Umbraxis the Destroyer was appeared at the top of the stairs. It seemed to be made of pure darkness and shadow; save for its chillingly white eyes. "Shit." Thunderbolt muttered. "He's scarier in person." Boom began to dance on the tips of her toes. She clutched her calloused hands into fists. Her face contorted with anger as she stared down the most powerful being on earth. "I thought you'd be taller." A trail of lightning appeared as Boom blitzed across the floor towards Umbraxis. At the same time, Thunderbolt ran up the nearby wall at an angle. The two reached Umbraxis and simultaneously threw all of their body weight behind their fists as they collided with the mass of shadow.
The speedsters didn't skip a beat before racing into the lobby and out of Umbraxi's reach, wondering if he'd so much as felt their attack. "Rapid-fire punches now. In and out; don't take more than half a second. Can't let this guy touch us, T." The speedsters dashed back up the stairs after their quick huddle. They raced around Umbraxis in a circle, throwing out hundreds of punches in less than half a second before racing away from the cosmic deity and running back in for another attack. After five of these maneuvers the speedsters rallied again, this time at the end of the hall leading to the commissioner's office. The Vanguard team, running at full gait, rounded the corner just in time to meet the speedsters. "How fast can you fight, Skyquake?" The Irish girl answered quickly. "About mach 3." Boom cursed under her breathe. "We need to get back in there. I doubt he'll be reeling for long if at all." Thunderbolt reminded the team. Skyquake nodded. "Alright Vanguard. Let's do this!"
The team charged. The speedsters ran forward and did another drive-by attack, this time aiming at the Avatar's 'knees' before running back out again. Skyquake rocketed forward, the sound barrier cracking as she hit mach 3 in a single stride and flew towards Umbraxis head on. She let loose a powerful right hook with all her 100+ tonner strength before following it up with a left cross. When she was knocked away, Demolition ran in behind her. He grew to ten feet tall (he needed to duck at that point) and tackled Umbraxis down the stairs and into the lobby. The Harold of Graa'tazken drew his sword and spoke in a dead tongue before his blade began to glow as bright as the sun. He charged towards Umbraxis sluggishly swiped at the more powerful villain with the massive blade. Skull-Thrasher and Supercell stood away from the fighting, letting the bigger guns do what they could. "We need to take this outside." Supercell yelled in broken English. "My powers no work inside!" Skull-Thrasher tackled Supercell to the ground as a pair of tentacles came flying in his direction. "You're welcome maaaaatteee!" Skull screamed as he was tossed away.
"He's barely doing anything." Thunderbolt wondered aloud as he stopped next to his sister to catch his breath. "Probably wants to see what we can do before he lets loose. Smug bastard. Is that all you've got?!"
Marie Darcy was a retired actress, known for her award-winning role in Hello, Megan! during the late seventies. Her husband, Mark, is a doctor of biology who moved to Qurac from the 'States to study the behaviors of mammals on an animal preserve. It wasn't long after his arrival that he and Marie met on a wildebeest safari; apparently, Marie was doing research for the part of a biologist in an upcoming blockbuster. Mark took the opportunity to tell the woman everything she would need to know over dinner. One dinner turned into dozens, with a couple of research trips and documentaries for good measure. Six months of constant contact led the two to grow quite fond of the other. They exchanged information and promised to talk again before Marie went off to make her film. A year pasted and the two continued to date long-distance. By January, Mark had traveled to Hollywood and decided to propose. It all seemed so sudden; but the love struck couple didn't care and were soon happily married. Seven months after the wedding, Marie announced that she was, in fact, pregnant. Nine months later, Garfield Logan was born on December 2nd, 1992 to Marie and Mark Logan in the country of Qurac.
From his first steps, Garfield had always been a curious and adventurous child. He loved to go with his parents and watch the zebras graze. He would spend hours on end learning about wildlife and soaking in every word his loving parents shared with him. Marie and Mark proved to be phenomenal parents, if a little apprehensive of their responsibilities. It wasn't long before their little Gar was sent off to a private school for the children of researchers on the reserve. Garfield got along quite well with the other children. He was the apple of his parents' eye, sharing the same love of science that Mark had always had; and Marie's love of the animals themselves. The joyous little bundle of energy that he was, Gar quickly made friends with everyone on the reserve: including the resident crazies, Doctor Bruno "The Brain" Drake and his pet ape Monsieur Mallah. Gar's parents rarely allowed him to interact with Brain or his projects, claiming that he was "dangerous" and his experiments on Mallah to be "unethical."
Beast Boy can still remember watching the Twin Towers fall. The images of Superman catching that plane in Metropolis were burned into his mind. Despite all the heartache and pain that he saw all over the television and the faces of his parents and their peers, Gar couldn't help but look at that big red S and smile. He couldn't help but feel some hope that the future wasn't as bleak as the old guys in suits made it out to be.
As Garfield grew older, he began to help his parents with their work. They explained to Garfield that Niles "The Chief" Caulder, head of the reserve project, had been hired by HAMMER (a subsidiary of SHIELD dealing with mutants) to discover the connection between the mutant gene and evolution. The mutant scare had escalated significantly since Gar's birth and people were desperate for some kind of solution. CADMUS was also brought in to oversee the science of the project. Thanks to the work of the X-Men, public opinion had swayed just enough to avoid riots in the streets. But that wasn't going to cut it. HAMMER needed a way to explain the mutant phenomena and, perhaps, even cure it. At the age of 10, Garfield was exposed to experimental anti-mutant technology and contracted an extremely rare form of terminal cancer in the brain. The devastated Mark Logan sought out the best doctors he could find; no one could identify the mysterious tumor or it's origin much less find a cure. The Logans almost lost hope. Their hope was restored when Martian Manhunter caught wind of the incident and arrived in Qurac. J'onn explained that the cancer was similar to a disease that afflicted the Martians millions of years ago. Their race had evolved an immunity to the cancer that Manhunter believed could be found in his blood. The Brain and Chief worked together to examine the prospects of finding an antidote to the alien cancer within J'onn's blood. Less than a month before Gar was projected to die from his affliction, the Chief made a breakthrough. He suggested that if Martian could shapeshift his blood in such a way to adapt to the human body, a transfusion could save Gar's life. They went through with the procedure. When Garfield next awoke, the tumor had been eradicated and- HE WAS GREEN?!
Gar's parents were angry and confused. Garfield was ecstatic, at least when he learned that he now possessed the ability to shapeshift. Marie demanded they find some way to reverse the process; The Chief explained that any attempt to remove the Martian blood from her son's system could lead to a resurgence of the cancer cells which might still be present in Gar's body. Martian Manhunter (whom Gar had begun to affectionately refer to as Uncle John) gifted Garfield with a Martian Bio-Suit and taught him how to use his newfound powers; J'onn also noted Gar's potential to develop other natural Martian abilities as he aged. It wasn't long before Garfield started calling himself 'Beast Boy' and promising to fight crime when he and his family returned to America. Martian Manhunter was called away on other business, but promised to keep in contact with the Logan's and help whenever he could. Trouble started to brew a few months later when Bialya's leader Colonel Rumaan Harjavti was assassinated by his concubine, who was known only as Queen Bee. Bialyan soldiers attacked the reserve and kidnapped the Brain and Monsieur Mallah, taking the two prisoner inside the capital of Bialya City. Mark and Marie contacted Martian Manhunter and SHIELD to ask for assistance, but help wouldn't arrive for days. So Garfield decided to take things into his own hands. Beast Boy used his powers to sneak into Bialya's borders and find the compound where the Brain and Mallah were located. He broke inside, smashing his way through security until he arrived at Brain's "cell." Garfield then discovered that Queen Bee and the Brain had been working together since the reserve was first built. They were building something called the Brotherhood of Evil, and were planning to take over the world by hijacking international television networks and using mass hypnosis techniques to make the populace into mindless drones. Beast Boy transformed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and destroyed the hypnosis machine; the Brotherhood of Evil escaped in the chaos, and Beast Boy made a long time enemy.
Garfield Logan, now 13, travels with his parents and the Chief to New York City to attend a conference held by Reed Richards on the laws of inter-dimensional and time travel as well as potential risks these highly experimental fields posed to the universe. Unbeknownst to Beast Boy, the Brain was in New York with his Brotherhood of Evil looking to sabotage the higher scientific community in the name of revenge.
| Attributes |
Shape-Shifting: Beast Boy has the ability to morph into any creature he has seen in any capacity, including artists renderings and photographs. Garfield's transformations take only seconds and cause no sort of pain, although changing into animals for the first time is quite discomforting. He can change into fantastical creatures, extinct dinosaurs and even alien monsters. However, the less DNA shared between Garfield and the animal he wants to transform into, the more energy that form zaps. This is why Primate forms are Beast Boy's go-to transformations; because maintaining these forms takes little to no extra effort or concentration than his standard form. This is also the reason why Beast Boy rarely turns into aliens or fantasy monsters. The smallest beast Gar has ever transformed into is a tick. The largest, by comparison, is a blue whale. Beast Boy can also change into a hybrid, a creature that possesses the powers of numerous animals rolled into one. He can't control this so he doesn't turn into it unless absolutely necessary. When he changes into an animal he gains all of that animals abilities, such as the sonar of a bat, or the strength of a elephant, the speed of a cheetah. When he changes into a fantasy creature, Beast Boy gains the known/suspected abilities of the species. It is currently unknown where Garfield obtains the extra mass to transform into much larger animals, or where his own extra mass goes when he becomes smaller. This is one of the reasons the Logan's are taking a trip to see Reed Richards, the expert in all things inter-dimensional.
While in his animal forms he is capable of speech, and he keeps his intelligence and humanity. The only problem is no matter what form he takes, the animals skin and hair color will always be green. This stops him from hiding in plain sight. He also prefers to stay in a human/monkey hybrid form most of the time, which results in him having a tail and fur. Gar does, however, have a human form.
| Character Notes |
The Brain:
Monsieur Mallah:
Queen Bee:
Madame Rouge:
General Immortus:
Cinderblock:
Jinx:
Robotman:
Negative Man:
Elasta-Girl:
The Chief:
The Reserve:
Doom Patrol HQ:
| Character Goals | Because you denied my last character, you beautiful jerk you.
Maximum Comics has a distinct lack of young heroes; and comics has a wealth of angsty teens to draw from. Beast Boy is probably my favorite Teen Titan (next to Superboy) and I haven't written a character like him in awhile. I plan to bring the fun-loving and light nature of Gar to a world pitched in darkness by the second coming of Red Skull the baby-killing nazi. Hopefully I'll be able to inspire other players to create young heroes of their own, so that I may recruit them into the Teen Titans and RULE THE WORLD bring Teen drama and fun to the game. While that's off never happening, Beast Boy will be interacting with the Doom Patrol, SHIELD and other heroes while also fighting off the devious schemes of the Brotherhood of Evil. Arc One will pit Beast Boy against the Brain, Mallah and hundreds of nameless minions. Arc Two will involve the Doom Patrol forming against the Brotherhood of Evil and stopping the Brain's ever-ludicrous and utterly complex schemes of world domination. Arc Three, hopefully, will be Beast Boy uniting various sidekicks and young superheroes together and forming the Teen Titans. Not alone, of course. Because BB could never organize something like that on his own.
This, next to the history of your character, is the most important field of the application. I’m looking for motive and drive to the point that I am safely assured that know you have a story to tell, as opposed to merely 'running into the wind'. In essence, you will be outlining your prospective arcs. For example: “The Killing Joke” could go well in an application for Barbara Gordon as a character. If you passionately explain your goal then I can have confidence in you being active in this role-play.
Wolverine knocked a trio of balls into the corner hole in a single shot. He shot Laura a smirk before moving around the table and setting up for his next shot.
Tak!
Another ball rolled across the pool table and into the center hole. "Ha!" Wolverine gloated. "I'm on a roll." Logan lined up a third hit, aiming for a grouping of solid and stripped balls. Kestrel coughed as Logan shot his stick forward. The abruptness of the sound caused the mutant's usually steady hands to slip. Laura watched with a smile on her face as the white ball rolled harmlessly into the corner hole without touching any of Wolverine's strips. Wolverine growled in Kestrel's direction; John merely pretended not to know what Logan was on about and went back to his cigar. "Stinkin' cowboy." He muttered as X-23 bent down to examine the status of the table. "How long do ya think we'll be keeping big green down stairs?" John Wraith asked his two partners. Wolverine shrugged as he crossed over to the bar and picked up a bottle before tipping his head backwards and gulping down the contents of the beer. "Just long enough to collect samples for Ross. Then we're slitting his throat and moving on with our lives." The girl fired off a shot. The white ball flew across the table and smacked a pair of solid pool balls into a nearby hole. "The guy's not a mutant. He shouldn't be our problem." Wolverine complained. "With the money the general's paying us we'll be able to expand our sphere of influence and bring on more staff." X-23 reminded her sort-of father. She was closer to a clone than a relative, but thinking of herself as nothing more than a part of Logan was unproductive. "Not to mention the gear he promised us. Finally gonna get to upgrade Azrael with some real armor." Kestrel pondered what type of plating he should ask Thunderbolt for as X-23 missed her follow up shot. Wolverine crossed over to the pool table and set his beer down, taking the stick from his clone as he did.
Then the ceiling exploded.
Kestrel reacted first. He teleported out of the room to avoid being crushed by flying debris and get the rest of Team X. X-23 ducked behind the pool table moments before a chunk of concrete flew past her head. Wolverine smacked away a lead pipe that fell from the air as an angelic figure descended from the newly-created hole and landed on a pile of rubble in front of them. “Knock knock!” The Valkyrie grins with narrowed eyes. "You're not the pizza delivery guy." Deadpool quipped sadly as he came running into the room, sword and pistol drawn. "John said there was a party going down in this hizz-house- Oooooooo. Pretty lady. Can I keep her?" X-23 and Wolverine popped their claws. X-23 jumped over the pool table and gracefully landed on the other side as she charged the Valkyrie and attempted to cut her sword arm off. Wolverine saw his partner going in and followed her lead, running around to the other side of the invader and slicing at her shield. Probably not the most effective means of attack but it kept the woman on her toes and tested the durability of her equipment. If it were anything less than godlike gear, Wolverine's Adamantium claws wouldn't have trouble piercing it. "Bangbangbangbang! I wanna chitty-chitty-bang-bang you!" Deadpool yelled as he unloaded on Valkyrie with his pistol and went in to close combat with his sword. "Will you shut up Wilson?!" X-23 grumbled in frustration as she and the sword-wielding woman crossed blades. "Attack pattern Omega!" Logan ordered harshly. "Take this bitch down before she kills anyone!" Logan had read Valkyries file. She was strong, fast and knew how to fight. If they let up for even a second she'd blitz them all down and free the Hulk. He wasn't gonna let that happen; not if he was still standing. Wolverine and X-23 went with a figure-eight pattern of attack, always keeping the angel guessing who she'd be fighting. They'd dip in, slash at her and dip out; at which point the next person would come in and they'd rinse and repeat. Sometimes one of them would leave the pattern and slice at her back before moving into position again.
Kestrel appeared in the doorway with a squad of two dozen armed soldiers wearing all black armor and no government markings on their uniforms. The guards took up positions around the lounge and started to open fire; they didn't seem to care if they hit their fellow mutants. All three of them pretty much ignored the hail of bullets, healing past any wounds caused by poor aim. John himself removed a sawed-off shotgun from a sheathe on his leg and opened fire on the angel as she called out for Banner's help.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Maverick and Mastodon shifted uncomfortably. They could hear the fighting going on upstairs. The Hulk was still sedated, but he seemed to be stirring. Perhaps Banner was dreaming? Whatever the case, Professor Thorton decided to speed up his sample collection. He feared that whoever was attacking would wake the Hulk and he would escape before the Weapon X team managed to obtain any vital information on his genetic makeup.
Chike pulled his father's dark green camouflage jacket tighter around his chest as he and Ceri walked along the sidewalk towards SuperIOR's Expo Hall. All around them men in suits and military uniforms conversed as they pushed and shoved their way inside the crowded building. Standing on the grass just a few yards away was none other than Mary Belfast of Channel 65, the reporter who Chike almost crushed with a minivan. Polemos turned his face away from the news crew as they reported on the event being held by Lost Haven's own SuperIOR Incorporated. "...As you can see, there are still hundreds of people streaming into the Hall to get a glimpse at the technology of the future! SuperIOR has invited small businesses and private inventors from around the world to showcase their tech to the biggest names in the military industrial complex. In fact, I've heard rumors that the Secretary of Defense himself is here along with representatives from the Pentagon. It's a big day for weapon's development here in Lost Haven's financial district. We'll see if we can get inside and show you some of these amazing inventions before the end of the day." Chike and Ceri pushed through a pair of glass doors and had themselves scanned by security. Chike had injected the serum about fifteen minutes ago and disposed of the needle, so they wouldn't find any evidence of malcontent on him. Baatul would have liked to have a gun on him as well as the super soldier serum but security at SuperIOR was not taken lightly. One of the men in a dark blue uniform wearing a tag that identified him as a guard stopped Ceri. "What's this?" He said, holding up a small booklet. "It's a book, not a WMD. Can I have it back?" She asked with as much patience as she could muster. The guard flipped the book open and looked thoroughly confused. "What is this, Russian?" He asked. The text wasn't in English, that much was certain. "Fine. Move along." The guard ushered the two inside.
"Whoa."
The Expo Hall was even larger on the inside. The ground floor was covered in large white tents where groups of people were gathered around looking at any variety of inventions and devices. Dozens of companies had bought out a space inside SuperIOR's hall with the hope that someone rich and important would take notice of what they've done and give them mountains of cash for it. "What are we looking for?" Ceri asked as she and Chike crossed the hall towards the food court. They took a seat at one of the elevated tables and began to look around. "Well," Chike began. "SuperIOR is supposed to be holding its own presentation at the primary stage on level 1. That's where we're going to find the rest of the formula." A group of unarmed soldiers passed by the two of them carrying hotdogs and burgers. "And where we'll find the most security. Are you sure you can handle them? What if Liberty shows up? You could barely fight him with your powers, but now-" Chike interrupted Ceri's worrying. "I'll be fine." He assured her. "Varnia knows the plan. He'll hit the fire alarm and dose this place in water from the sprinklers, giving me time to sneak up and take what we need." The super-soldier explained in a hushed voice. "What exactly is it we're taking from them?" Ceri asked. "Eric doesn't think they'll have an actual sample of the serum on hand. So we're going to have to kidnap one of the guy's they'll be showing off and extract it from his blood." Chike stood from the table as a pair of large double doors opened up at the end of the hall and a voice over an intercom called out: "SuperIOR main exhibition being held in Room 1 on the first floor. Starting in thirty five minutes."
Ceri and Chike followed a crowd of suits to the main exhibition hall. Some of the soldiers and big wigs gave them strange looks. Ceri and Chike weren't exactly dressed for the occasion. Ceri's blue robes and dyed hair next to Chike's torn and stained World War II jacket and jeans were a sight to behold among the pressed BDUs and thousand dollar three piece suits.
The pair took a seat in the back of the room where they could easily get up and out when the time came. People filed in to the room rather quickly and took their seats. Half a dozen armed men in black suits trailed behind a grey haired man in similar garb. "That's the SecDef." Someone in front of Chike whispered. Guards took their positions around the room and spied out any potential threats: they marked Chike and Ceri immediately. Owning one pair of ratty clothes isn't exactly ideal for infiltrating a high society Expo where everyone is expected to dress the part. They were lucky the guards were letting in civilians at all, given the stakes. But refusing entry to normal people was bad publicity, wasn't it? Mary Belfast and her crew set up in a nearby corner as she prepared to show off SuperIOR's own tech advancements on live television. This had to be a paid gig for her; especially when there were metahuman serial killers running amok.
Edward Cunningham, CEO of SuperIOR and total dickhead, appeared from behind a curtain. He walked up to the podium at the front of the stage and smiled for the cameras. "Thank you all for taking time out of your day to visit little old me. I'd like to welcome all of you to SuperIOR Incorporated's annual technology Expo and World's Fair!" He paused as the crowd clapped for him. Chike grumbled a quiet complaint before Edward continued. "Yes, yes. This is all very exciting. It's my favorite time of the year, actually. But I digress; no need to make this thing run long, is there?" A polite chuckle escaped the lips of the men and women of Wall Street. "Here is our very own Captain James Abrams, operator of last year's award winning Heavy Armor Battlesuit the Liberty, to introduce this year's phenomenal new tech!" Edward stepped away from the podium as it lowered into a hatch on the bottom of the stage. Cunningham stepped off the stage and took a seat near the front as another hatch opened up and out popped the eight foot tall metal monstrosity that was Captain Liberty. He was greeted with more clapping from the crowd. "Good afternoon, leaders of these great United States of America and our allies abroad!" Captain Liberty waved a giant metal gauntlet. "The Liberty Battlesuit is an extraordinary piece of tech. It can level entire armies single-handedly. In an ideal world, every soldier who fought for truth and justice would wear one of these walking tanks. But we don't live in an ideal world. My armor is expensive. But we still have wars that we need to fight; and soldiers who need the best protection we can offer. So I'll introduce an age old concept: instead of making our weapons better, why not make the men who hold them better?"
The curtain dropped and revealed two dozen soldiers from various branches of the U.S military. They all stood, unarmed, with their hands crossed behind their backs. "I introduce you to the next super soldiers!" Captain Liberty threw out his arms in a grandiose fashion and the crowd applauded once more. "No longer will they just be legends from the Second World War. These men are stronger, faster and smarter than what any human is capable of; and in a world filled with aliens and metahumans, our boys need every advantage we can get." One of the soldiers crossed the stage as an over sized set of weights rose from a hole in the stage. The soldier lifted up the weights with single hand. "They can lift up to four tons." Another soldier took to the front of the stage as a treadmill appeared from the stage. He began to run. "They can run up to 65 miles per hour." Now they soldiers walked to the front of the stage, one of them pulling out a pistol. "Their agility and perception is unparalleled." The soldier began to fire off live rounds at the second soldier, who dodged every bullet. The rounds collided harmlessly with the wall behind him. The crowd clapped again.
An alarm blared. Water poured from the sprinklers and drenched the entire hall. People looked around, confused. "Uhhh...Alright. I'll have to ask that you all exit the building in a peaceful and orderly fashion. This is not a drill." The Secretary of Defense and the Secret Servicemen who accompanied him were the first to stand, pushing their way out of the room and towards the nearest exit. Others began to stand and make their own swift escape. The guards and super soldiers tried to keep everyone calm as the room was evacuated. "Here we go." Chike muttered. He stood to his feet and shimmed past Ceri, pushing his way through the crowd. Ceri opened her book and began to read in the tongue of the ancients. Suddenly the water began to turn to steam, blinding everyone in the room as Chike rushed towards the stage, pushing people out of his way like they were weightless. "What the- Where's the steam coming from? Sergeant Jones, sitrep! Whats going on?" Chike decked the first super soldier he spotted on the jaw and sent him ragdolling across the room. Someone screamed. "We're under attack!" Captain Liberty shouted as he turned on infrared. Another soldier ran up to Chike, thowing out a powerful haymaker that he saw coming from a mile away. Chike ducked under the attack and sent two rapid uppercuts into the soldier's ribs, before grabbing his arm and tossing him into another oncoming attacker. Three more soldiers appeared from the steam. Chike watched the way they moved...these weren't soldiers. They had no combat training. Probably just showmen for the Expo. Good; meant this was a fair fight. Well, as fair as 12 on 1 could be.
One of the soldiers threw out a quick roundhouse kick, catching Chike in the cheek as he failed to move out of the way. He counterattacked with a straight kick of his own. the attack failed and the soldier grabbed his outstretched leg, tossing Chike to the floor. The wooden floor of the stage cracked and broke as Chike was sent flying again; this time into a nearby wall. Chike pushed himself to his feet and blocked the next oncoming attack from a charging goon. Left hook, right cross and a knee to the stomach all in rapid succession brought the man down as the other two came into view. "Ceri?!" Chike yelled out. A giant metal fist flew through the air and smacked the two enhanced humans into the wall, knocking them out. "Thanks!" Polemos grabbed one of the unconscious soldiers and slung him over his shoulder. He started to move towards the exit, before he noticed that it was blocked by none other than Captain Liberty. "Great..." He muttered. Chike was lucky that Liberty's infrared systems couldn't tell the difference between his own men and their mystery attacker. He wouldn't have gotten this far otherwise. Ceri appeared from the steam, panting. "Sorry. Had to deal with some of these guys. What's the plan?" Chike glanced around the room before looking at the nearest wall. "Freeze that." Ceri chanted the spell and fired off a stream of ice at the wall. "I've got them!" Captain Liberty announced. The sound of his approach rumbled through the exhibition hall as Ceri finished freezing it as best she could. Chike kicked the weakened structure apart and the two ran outside. People scattered in all directions. The panic was palpable. Chike and Ceri used the chaos to their advantage, running into the crowd to escape their pursuer.
Chike, Ceri and Varnia regrouped in an alley a few blocks from the Expo. The sounds of approaching sirens notified them that they weren't out of the woods yet; the 'soldier' they had kidnapped was sort of a dead give away. "Alright. Let's split up again; we'll meet at Eric's place in Little Sicily. Stay safe."
Chike pulled his father's dark green camouflage jacket tighter around his chest as he and Ceri walked along the sidewalk towards SuperIOR's Expo Hall. All around them men in suits and military uniforms conversed as they pushed and shoved their way inside the crowded building. Standing on the grass just a few yards away was none other than Mary Belfast of Channel 65, the reporter who Chike almost crushed with a minivan. Polemos turned his face away from the news crew as they reported on the event being held by Lost Haven's own SuperIOR Incorporated. "...As you can see, there are still hundreds of people streaming into the Hall to get a glimpse at the technology of the future! SuperIOR has invited small businesses and private inventors from around the world to showcase their tech to the biggest names in the military industrial complex. In fact, I've heard rumors that the Secretary of Defense himself is here along with representatives from the Pentagon. It's a big day for weapon's development here in Lost Haven's financial district. We'll see if we can get inside and show you some of these amazing inventions before the end of the day." Chike and Ceri pushed through a pair of glass doors and had themselves scanned by security. Chike had injected the serum about fifteen minutes ago and disposed of the needle, so they wouldn't find any evidence of malcontent on him. Baatul would have liked to have a gun on him as well as the super soldier serum but security at SuperIOR was not taken lightly. One of the men in a dark blue uniform wearing a tag that identified him as a guard stopped Ceri. "What's this?" He said, holding up a small booklet. "It's a book, not a WMD. Can I have it back?" She asked with as much patience as she could muster. The guard flipped the book open and looked thoroughly confused. "What is this, Russian?" He asked. The text wasn't in English, that much was certain. "Fine. Move along." The guard ushered the two inside.
"Whoa."
The Expo Hall was even larger on the inside. The ground floor was covered in large white tents where groups of people were gathered around looking at any variety of inventions and devices. Dozens of companies had bought out a space inside SuperIOR's hall with the hope that someone rich and important would take notice of what they've done and give them mountains of cash for it. "What are we looking for?" Ceri asked as she and Chike crossed the hall towards the food court. They took a seat at one of the elevated tables and began to look around. "Well," Chike began. "SuperIOR is supposed to be holding its own presentation at the primary stage on level 1. That's where we're going to find the rest of the formula." A group of unarmed soldiers passed by the two of them carrying hotdogs and burgers. "And where we'll find the most security. Are you sure you can handle them? What if Liberty shows up? You could barely fight him with your powers, but now-" Chike interrupted Ceri's worrying. "I'll be fine." He assured her. "Varnia knows the plan. He'll hit the fire alarm and dose this place in water from the sprinklers, giving me time to sneak up and take what we need." The super-soldier explained in a hushed voice. "What exactly is it we're taking from them?" Ceri asked. "Eric doesn't think they'll have an actual sample of the serum on hand. So we're going to have to kidnap one of the guy's they'll be showing off and extract it from his blood." Chike stood from the table as a pair of large double doors opened up at the end of the hall and a voice over an intercom called out: "SuperIOR main exhibition being held in Room 1 on the first floor. Starting in thirty five minutes."
Ceri and Chike followed a crowd of suits to the main exhibition hall. Some of the soldiers and big wigs gave them strange looks. Ceri and Chike weren't exactly dressed for the occasion. Ceri's blue robes and dyed hair next to Chike's torn and stained World War II jacket and jeans were a sight to behold among the pressed BDUs and thousand dollar three piece suits.
The pair took a seat in the back of the room where they could easily get up and out when the time came. People filed in to the room rather quickly and took their seats. Half a dozen armed men in black suits trailed behind a grey haired man in similar garb. "That's the SecDef." Someone in front of Chike whispered. Guards took their positions around the room and spied out any potential threats: they marked Chike and Ceri immediately. Owning one pair of ratty clothes isn't exactly ideal for infiltrating a high society Expo where everyone is expected to dress the part. They were lucky the guards were letting in civilians at all, given the stakes. But refusing entry to normal people was bad publicity, wasn't it? Mary Belfast and her crew set up in a nearby corner as she prepared to show off SuperIOR's own tech advancements on live television. This had to be a paid gig for her; especially when there were metahuman serial killers running amok.
Edward Cunningham, CEO of SuperIOR and total dickhead, appeared from behind a curtain. He walked up to the podium at the front of the stage and smiled for the cameras. "Thank you all for taking time out of your day to visit little old me. I'd like to welcome all of you to SuperIOR Incorporated's annual technology Expo and World's Fair!" He paused as the crowd clapped for him. Chike grumbled a quiet complaint before Edward continued. "Yes, yes. This is all very exciting. It's my favorite time of the year, actually. But I digress; no need to make this thing run long, is there?" A polite chuckle escaped the lips of the men and women of Wall Street. "Here is our very own Captain James Abrams, operator of last year's award winning Heavy Armor Battlesuit the Liberty, to introduce this year's phenomenal new tech!" Edward stepped away from the podium as it lowered into a hatch on the bottom of the stage. Cunningham stepped off the stage and took a seat near the front as another hatch opened up and out popped the eight foot tall metal monstrosity that was Captain Liberty. He was greeted with more clapping from the crowd. "Good afternoon, leaders of these great United States of America and our allies abroad!" Captain Liberty waved a giant metal gauntlet. "The Liberty Battlesuit is an extraordinary piece of tech. It can level entire armies single-handedly. In an ideal world, every soldier who fought for truth and justice would wear one of these walking tanks. But we don't live in an ideal world. My armor is expensive. But we still have wars that we need to fight; and soldiers who need the best protection we can offer. So I'll introduce an age old concept: instead of making our weapons better, why not make the men who hold them better?"
The curtain dropped and revealed two dozen soldiers from various branches of the U.S military. They all stood, unarmed, with their hands crossed behind their backs. "I introduce you to the next super soldiers!" Captain Liberty threw out his arms in a grandiose fashion and the crowd applauded once more. "No longer will they just be legends from the Second World War. These men are stronger, faster and smarter than what any human is capable of; and in a world filled with aliens and metahumans, our boys need every advantage we can get." One of the soldiers crossed the stage as an over sized set of weights rose from a hole in the stage. The soldier lifted up the weights with single hand. "They can lift up to four tons." Another soldier took to the front of the stage as a treadmill appeared from the stage. He began to run. "They can run up to 65 miles per hour." Now they soldiers walked to the front of the stage, one of them pulling out a pistol. "Their agility and perception is unparalleled." The soldier began to fire off live rounds at the second soldier, who dodged every bullet. The rounds collided harmlessly with the wall behind him. The crowd clapped again.
An alarm blared. Water poured from the sprinklers and drenched the entire hall. People looked around, confused. "Uhhh...Alright. I'll have to ask that you all exit the building in a peaceful and orderly fashion. This is not a drill." The Secretary of Defense and the Secret Servicemen who accompanied him were the first to stand, pushing their way out of the room and towards the nearest exit. Others began to stand and make their own swift escape. The guards and super soldiers tried to keep everyone calm as the room was evacuated. "Here we go." Chike muttered. He stood to his feet and shimmed past Ceri, pushing his way through the crowd. Ceri opened her book and began to read in the tongue of the ancients. Suddenly the water began to turn to steam, blinding everyone in the room as Chike rushed towards the stage, pushing people out of his way like they were weightless. "What the- Where's the steam coming from? Sergeant Jones, sitrep! Whats going on?" Chike decked the first super soldier he spotted on the jaw and sent him ragdolling across the room. Someone screamed. "We're under attack!" Captain Liberty shouted as he turned on infrared. Another soldier ran up to Chike, thowing out a powerful haymaker that he saw coming from a mile away. Chike ducked under the attack and sent two rapid uppercuts into the soldier's ribs, before grabbing his arm and tossing him into another oncoming attacker. Three more soldiers appeared from the steam. Chike watched the way they moved...these weren't soldiers. They had no combat training. Probably just showmen for the Expo. Good; meant this was a fair fight. Well, as fair as 12 on 1 could be.
One of the soldiers threw out a quick roundhouse kick, catching Chike in the cheek as he failed to move out of the way. He counterattacked with a straight kick of his own. the attack failed and the soldier grabbed his outstretched leg, tossing Chike to the floor. The wooden floor of the stage cracked and broke as Chike was sent flying again; this time into a nearby wall. Chike pushed himself to his feet and blocked the next oncoming attack from a charging goon. Left hook, right cross and a knee to the stomach all in rapid succession brought the man down as the other two came into view. "Ceri?!" Chike yelled out. A giant metal fist flew through the air and smacked the two enhanced humans into the wall, knocking them out. "Thanks!" Polemos grabbed one of the unconscious soldiers and slung him over his shoulder. He started to move towards the exit, before he noticed that it was blocked by none other than Captain Liberty. "Great..." He muttered. Chike was lucky that Liberty's infrared systems couldn't tell the difference between his own men and their mystery attacker. He wouldn't have gotten this far otherwise. Ceri appeared from the steam, panting. "Sorry. Had to deal with some of these guys. What's the plan?" Chike glanced around the room before looking at the nearest wall. "Freeze that." Ceri chanted the spell and fired off a stream of ice at the wall. "I've got them!" Captain Liberty announced. The sound of his approach rumbled through the exhibition hall as Ceri finished freezing it as best she could. Chike kicked the weakened structure apart and the two ran outside. People scattered in all directions. The panic was palpable. Chike and Ceri used the chaos to their advantage, running into the crowd to escape their pursuer.
Chike, Ceri and Varnia regrouped in an alley a few blocks from the Expo. The sounds of approaching sirens notified them that they weren't out of the woods yet; the 'soldier' they had kidnapped was sort of a dead give away. "Alright. Let's split up again; we'll meet at Eric's place in Little Sicily. Stay safe."
"What if I said pretty please?" Deadpool asked as his bullets were deflected back at him by Valkyrie's spear. He cried out in surprise as his own rounds pierced his skin before he regenerated and continued to fire, knowing full-well that she'd just smack them right back at him. "Maybe if I keep doing the same thing over and over, I'll finally hit her. DEADPOOL, MASTER OF LOGIC!" The psychopath laughed and reloaded his pistol before firing off the entire magazine again. Wolverine and X-23 continued to push the attack until Valkyrie seemed to grow bored of prolonged combat and decided to advance. Logan watched as she leaped over head and used her massive wingspan to create a vortex of wind that knocked back the security team and momentarily stopped their onslaught of fire. "Holy shi-" Kestrel screamed before Valkyrie interrupted his cry with a kick to the throat. The sheer force of the movement sent the teleporter flying into the hallway, his shotgun clattering against the floor nearby. "She's gotta healing factor!" Wolverine informed the rest of the room. "Somebody get Maverick up 'ere!" The mutants watched on as Valkyrie went running through the halls, yelling out Bruce's name. Kestrel vanished in a bright flash of navy blue light before appearing down stairs next to the startled Maverick and Mastodon. "We have incoming. She's strong, fast and has a killer healing factor. As long as the big guy doesn't show up you two should be able to-" Mastodon took in a gulp of air, causing John to stop talking and turn around.
Banner was changing.
His body was shifting and growing. Contorting and bulging as muscles sizes changed and became unnaturally large. Banner's skin turned a sickly green moments before he tore apart the binds holding himself in place. Bruce Banner was now gone; there was only the Hulk. The Hulk roared as he rose to his feet from the table and smashed the nearby samples taken from his blood stream. "I-Is he...smiling?" Maverick whispered. Mastodon ground his teeth together as the Hulk bade him charge by releasing a mighty roar of dominance. A taunt. A childish challenge. Something that Mastodon, the intellectual that he was, should have refused. He should have waited for backup.
But he didn't.
"If it is combat that you seek, monster, than you have come to the right place: for it is here that you shall receive war in spades!" Mastodon lowered his tusks and rammed his way through the walls between the hall and the laboratory. The windows exploded and glass was sent flying in all directions as the elephant man tucked his tusk in and held his head low to avoid cutting himself as he charged the jade giant. He planned to impale the Hulk and shove the giant into the nearby sedative gas chamber where they were planning to do experiments on the Hulk himself. Professor Thorton stood by, ready to close the doors and gas both the elephant and the rioting prisoner. "Idiot." Kestrel mumbled. Maverick took a few steps forward before John Wraith grabbed his arm and stopped him. "You need to take down Valkyrie. Let Mastodon handle this brick." Maverick nodded, and turned towards the hallway. He could hear the angel's shouts grow louder as she approached. His hands glowed a deep orange. He closed his eyes, preparing to unleash a storm of energy blasts on the first thing that walked through that door. Kestrel disappeared once more; likely to inform the rest of Team X what was going on.
A flash of light momentarily blinded X-23, Wolverine and Deadpool and forced them to stop running lest they trip over each other. "What is is, John?" Logan asked impatiently. "Hulk's awake. Mastodon is trying to hold him off as best he can, but you saw what happened last time. We need a plan." Lady Deathstrike rounded the corner behind the gathering, flanked by the guards from earlier. "I have a plan." She stated. "Wolverine, Laura and I help Mastodon slow down Hulk while Kestrel, Maverick and Deadpool stop Valkyrie. We'll split the guards and send half of each team to assist in both fights. Thorton is no doubt evacuating the building already." The rest of the team nodded their understanding. They split off into their respective groups and raced down the hallway.
A dozen of the unmarked soldiers took up firing positions behind Valkyrie and opened fire on her back. Deadpool and Kestrel pulled out their own firearms and joined in. Maverick, hearing the gunfire, ran forward and joined in on attacking Valkyrie; now she was receiving fire from both flanks. The long range barrage would hopefully distract Valkyrie long enough for Alpha team to sneak past and help Mastodon fight the Hulk.
"Ooooooh myyyyyyy!" Mastodon cried out in surprise as he went flying into the sedative chamber. His massive, fur-covered back slammed into the rear of the cage that his body created a vaguely elephant-shaped dent in the wall. The quick witted behemoth was quick to push himself back to his feet and raised his fists. He wasn't down and out quite yet. "You sluggish brute! Return to my side, that we may make glorious battle. Victory will belong to Mastodon this day!" But the taunt didn't take. The Hulk turned away from the D-list super villain and faced Professor Thorton, who was still standing in the second-story observation room looking down at the jade giant. Sweat poured down from his brow; the doctor was only now beginning to realize how truly outmatched his forces were. Bruce Banner is no longer a man. The Professor thought. He has become a force of nature. The creature let loose a terrible roar. The bellow echoed throughout the compound, causing nearly everyone to hesitate and listen. Such anger. Such rage. This mindless monster's livid hatred was plain to see; it was a hatred that had festered and grown for years. A hatred embedded into the thing's very soul. A hatred now directed at Thorton. The Hulk wrapped a giant hand around the operating table and pulled it out of the concrete and tile floor as if it hadn't been bolted down at all. Professor Thorton, frozen by fear, couldn't move a muscle as the table came flying through the reinforced glass and slammed into him.
"THORTON!" Mastodon screamed out in a mixture of horror and confusion, watching as his mentor was apparently crushed by a flying table. The Elephant Man ran up behind the Hulk with the intention of beating the monster's head in. He was stopped in his tracks, however, by the sound of an alarm blaring throughout the base. The voice of the late Professor echoed over the intercom. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. If you're hearing this message, then that means that my heart has stopped. Do not attempt to save me; the detonation of the nuclear bomb placed underneath this facility cannot be stopped or reversed. Contingency plan Alpha-Centuari Canary One is now in affect. I repeat: Contingency plan Alpha-Centauri Canary One is now in affect. All units are to evacuate the premises immediately. Self destruct in two minutes. I apologize for the extreme measures, but I must make sure that the Weapon X Program dies with me. I..." Thorton chocked up, before talking in a breathe of air and continuing. "I'm doing this because I love you all. I may not have ever showed it, but I cared deeply for each and every one of you. I'll be damned if I let Romulus manipulate more mutants into joining his war against Trask and his Sentinel Order. You deserve better than this, Team X. You deserve to be FREE."
Wolverine, Laura and Lady Deathstrike rushed into the lab through the hole in the wall created by the over-anxious Mastodon. "What's Thorton goin' on about?" Logan asked as he stared down the Hulk, who was moments from escaping. "We've been lied to. Manipulated. Controlled." Lady Deathstrike realized it was as if a fog that had been covering her mind for some time had finally lifted. "I don't know how or why, but Romulus had taken control of our brains and altered our way of thinking." X-23 looked at Deathstrike as if she'd gone mad. "Everything I've done, I've done of my own volition. No one here is manipulating us but Thorton. Even in death, that bastard is leading us on. Now come on, we have a giant to fell." Laura popped her claws and took a step towards the Hulk. Logan shot out his hand and wrapped his fingers around X-23's forearm. "Lady's got a point, kid." Logan rasped. "Ever wonder why we can't remember where we came from? Or why we've never wanted to go outside 'less Rommy said so? Doesn't fit, not with me." Laura ripped Logan's hand off her arm, breaking his grip. "We wouldn't be having this conversation if we were mind controlled, you idiots." While the three mutants were busy bickering, they didn't notice Valkyrie approaching until she flew between the three of them and the Hulk and started shouting. By this time the Hulk was already outside; moments from leaping away.
"He's getting away!" Laura took off at a sprint towards Valkyrie and the Hulk, letting loose a ferocious battle cry like some sort of animal. "KID!" Wolverine yelled, following after her. X-23 jumped over Valkyrie, dodging any attempt to stop her using an impressive display of acrobatics and inhuman reflexes. Logan's clone and female counterpart stabbed into the Hulk's thick back and swung around to the green beast's face, aiming to shove her foot-claw into the creature's left eye. At the same time she brought her second pair of claws around and aimed to impale them into the much more powerful behemoth's head. Wolverine, eager to help his pseudo-daughter, approached Valkyrie with the same surprising speed. Instead of acting her with his claws, Wolverine did the unexpected: he struck the physically stronger opponent with a nerve strike. The move was meant to disable a normal human's muscles for just a few seconds; long enough for Wolverine to grab X-23 and pull her away from a rightfully pissed off Hulk. "I'll hold 'em off! GET TO THE AZRAEL!" Team X hesitated for a moment. "GO-" Wolverine roared, before the Hulk grabbed him by the face and tossed the tiny mutant outside. Kestrel led the remaining members of Team X out of the room and up towards the landing pad. Mastodon kept himself between Valkyrie and the rest of the group as they bade themselves retreat. "I shall hold off this femme fatale whilst you all make your escape!" Mastodon proclaimed. Maverick stopped running, turning towards his friend. "You can't! That nuke'll kill you for sure." Elephant Man turned towards Maverick and smiled. "I will see you again, my friend. In this life or the next. Now run!"
Wolverine looked up at the Hulk, the monster dwarfing Logan in sheer size. "Ah, crap." He muttered. This wasn't going to end well.
Wilson waved his hand and a quinjet headed towards them, yes technically they both could fly but sometimes it was nice just to take a ride. He wasn't sure if the alien felt the same way but... he was in charge. Somehow. "Next, Fury had an idea and I'm actually going to hand it to our fearless Director it wasn't half bad." He led the way into the back of the jet, putting his shield down on one of the seats as he gave the pilot a pat on the shoulder indicating that he was ready to go. He took a seat in the main cabin, pulling his helmet back off his head, it hung loosely on the fabric that joined the unit to his head. He would have preferred if it wasn't connected to the rest of the uniform. Sadly there were certain design elements that went into being Captain America, apparently.
"We're going to put together a team. You saw what happened today, and the bad guys are starting to punch harder. I mean there's that Hulk thing and they're saying he's the strongest there is, no offense Milton." He shrugged. He pulled a screen round confront of it and loaded people up, pulling up a dossier and image as he did so. "Henry Pym Jr, alias: Ant-Man. Can change his size, control ants. Bit of a science geek, his dad did some spy work back in the day. Fury wants him as a consultant only." He pushed the file to the side, bringing another one up. "You'll have seen this one on the news: Agent Victoria Parrington, Valkyrie. She's one of our own."
He pushed the file to the side. "Agent Clint Barton, Hawkeye. Another one of ours but Fury has other plans for him, he really just wants to see if he can cope in our environment. I'm not entirely sure if he'll be game for it but we can but ask." He pushed that file to the side again bringing up another, smaller file. "Miss America. We took her into custody with another, she's not from around here. From an alternate unvierse much like yourself. She may be young, but she's got power and experience. I'll have her for as long as she's planning on sticking around on this Earth. The other she came in with, Thor she calls herself is currently on the watch list. She's been... roughing the place up a bit." He pulled another dossier up, it was really just a name and a blurry image.
"Loki however, while she claims he is a villain seems to have been doing some good. I'd be interested in seeing what he's all about. Mark him down as a possible." He groaned as he brought the final report up. "This one, is one Fury won't let me back out off I'm afraid." He brought up the image. "Tony Stark, A.K.A Iron Man, A.K.A the most arrogant bratish kid in the history of arrogant bratish kids. I want him only as a consultant, I don't care what his suit can do he's not set for this line of work. I'd sooner take a man the size of an insect into a fight rather than him."
He leaned back, stretching his legs. It was nice to just relax for a bit. "Now I remember you said something about having your own team before, and this certainly isn't that team. Though you think we can cut it?"
Hyperion followed Captain America up the polished steel ramp of the SHIELD quinjet. Riding on a terrestrial aircraft was far slower than Zhib-Ran's natural flight, but Agent Milton doubted that Wilson's primitive set of artificial wings could keep up with Hyperion's own near lightspeed movement. So he could forgive his "superior's" decision to take the aircraft instead. He listened as Sam started to explain a plan that Director Nick Fury (or more likely his think tanks) thought up. Although Captain America would attempt to conceal his enthusiasm for this new project, it was plain to see (In Milton's eyes, anyway) that he had faith in whatever the higher ups had cooked up this time. Hyperion followed behind Cap into the main cabin and took a seat opposite him. He sat for a moment waiting for Wilson to finish with the pilot and take a seat. While he was sitting, Zhib-Ran noticed the air conditioning was bothering his now-exposed skin; his original world had always been warmer than most places on Earth. The irritation grew to such level of annoyance that Agent Milton decided to do something about it. After all, he had a dozen seconds or so to spare.
Hyperion stood up and zipped out of the ramp door and flew to the Midwest of the United States. He landed on the doorstep of a small farmhouse, knocking the door down and stepping inside. A white-haired woman peeked around the corner, investigating the source of the sound. She let loose a shrill, wordless scream before retreating backwards and out of sight. Milton crossed towards the stairway and smiled when he reached the second door to the left. The door was covered in poorly drawn pictures of a small family and photos of Spiderman clipped out of various Daily Bugle newspapers. Hyperion smashed the door down and was immediately greeted by the terrified cries of a young boy. Milton entered the child's room, ignoring his incessant need to announce his displeasure at this intrusion by bursting Zhib-Ran's sensitive eardrums. The SHIELD Agent moved to the center of the room. He examined the floor using his X-Ray vision; upon finding what he needed, Hyperion pulled up a number of wooden floor boards to reveal an obsidian colored box. He placed a massive hand on the surface of the strange shape, the area underneath flashed light blue and a voice spoke in a language unknown to man. The obsidian box split in two, and Hyperion pulled out a set of unearthly clothes. He violently shredded off the remains of his previous uniform and donned the black and gold set of tights that his people were known for. He finished off the getup by attaching the golden cape to his neck near the Atom symbol that dominated his suit's upper chest area. The symbol of his house: the atom, the thing that makes up all others. It holds entire worlds together. Yet it contains enough power to destroy them as well. It was all quite meaningful and theatrical symbolism that the people of Tok ate up. Hyperion glanced at the remains of the boy's door, at the pictures of this "Spider-Man" he had plastered on it. It would seem the people of Earth believe just as much (if not more so) in the idea of symbolism.
Good. Milton thought. I've always been a powerful symbol.
Suddenly an elderly man in overalls burst into the room, firing off a blast from his double barreled shotgun right into Hyperion's chest. The tiny pellets bounced harmlessly off his invincible body and left no mark on his new clothing. The suit was also designed to absorb solar radiation, so even its brief exposure to sunlight after all of these years left it able to deflect weapons fire. Zhib-Ran glared at the farmer, livid anger building up inside of him. This peasant just struck me. He thought. It dared to raise a finger against it's god. The hatred in his gaze rapidly mounted as the farmer fired off a second shell. He doesn't even know how easily I could end his life. How easily I could shatter this entire putrid planet into shards. The ignorance. The stupidity. Such a creature doesn't deserve to live. Milton didn't notice his vision turning crimson. He didn't notice a pair of red beams exiting his pupils and turning the farmer and his wife into ash. He had become deaf to the sound of the child crying out for help. He wanted some hero to swoop in and save him. Perhaps even his God to lift a single finger to stop this horrendous act of murder right in front of his eyes. The wooden walls of the building caught fire. The red slowly faded from Hyperion's eyes, and he looked at all he had done. A pair of charred skeletons clutched each other in a final, desperate embrace. The little boy stumbled across the burning room and collapsed over their corpses, tears falling down his face in waves.
The rapidly expanding inferno would soon consume everything inside. There would be no evidence to point towards Hyperion's involvement in their deaths. It wasn't time for his true intentions to be revealed quite yet anyway. It was for the best, after all. Hyperion left the Midwest in a hurry and entered the quinjet moments before its ramp closed. He zipped into his seat and looked across at a confused Captain America. "Excuse my absence. I needed to retrieve a change of clothing; it's unnaturally cold in here." Hyperion smiled warmly. Sam started his presentation using one of those touch screen computers that humans seemed so fond of. He listened to the Captain's words and took mental notes on all of the individual candidates shown while also reading over the dossiers multiple times and closely examine the images so that he could remember his soon-to-be new teammates by both face and name. They all seemed as if they would offer enough to the team to be semi-useful, though in truth Hyperion doubted they would be much help when they started to get into the big leagues. They were no Squadron Supreme, that was for sure. He made sure to keep a note of Wilson's obvious dislike of Tony Stark as well as this 'Miss America' girl's origins. If she knew anything about Hyperion's past, everything would be put into jeopardy. He would need to get her alone and see what she knew.
"Yes. I led my own team of crime fighters. The press called us the Squadron Supreme, if I recall. We were more of an informal gathering of powerful heroes from nearby solar systems that got together whenever large threats to the galaxy presented themselves. We were all around the same power level, so we made an even more powerful force to be reckoned with. Except for Nighthawk, that clever piece of Vark-" Hyperion stopped himself, clearing his throat. "I believe this team has potential. They will certainly be an asset to SHIELD's war on super-crime, if they can manage to work together. I have my doubts about the inclusion of a potential villain and what amounts to a rich playboy with a couple of fancy toys to an official SHIELD-sponsored team, but I'm sure you can whip them into shape. I'll do all I can to help, of course."
Harvey was no stranger to violence. He was one of Lost Haven's finest, after all. But he had never seen a scene as grotesque or as gruesome in all of his days as the one unfolding before him. The massive, headless corpse of Demolition had collapsed into the police station, smashing a third of the structure underneath his massive cadaver. Blood poured out from his throat where the head had been severed from the poor fool's shoulders and threatened to flood what little remained of Lost Haven Central. A few surviving police officers were digging out an intern trapped underneath a pile of rubble nearby. Supercell was attempting to remove the dark matter spikes from Skull-Thrasher's now limp body. Aban Ali Sahar assured Boom that Skull would be fine; he only needed to regenerate the missing chunks of brain tissue to be revived. Skyquake pulled herself out of the totaled police cruiser Umbraxis had thrown her into. She didn't stop to mourn her fallen friends, instead she chose to assist the police in saving what few innocent bystanders that they could. She seemed strong; but the hot tears streaming down her cheeks made it clear that she was grieving.
Thunderbolt looked at the chaos all around him. His ears were ringing, and blood dripped from his torn costume onto the dirty marble floor. Harvey's eyes followed the blood streaming to his feet. He'd seen so much blood today, he'd grown numb to the sight of it. After a moment, he noticed the pool of blood had obscured something written on the floor. The superhero bent down and wiped away the blood, dust and debris. It was the symbol of the Lost Haven Police Department. An eagle perched on a tree limb, inside of a star. Three words sat at the bottom of the image: Protect, Serve, Sacrifice. Thunderbolt's heart dropped. The heroes of Lost Haven had been attacked. Their home had been desecrated by an invader, who's intentions were so foul and sinister that no mind on earth could comprehend them. The worst part, however, was that it was Harvey's fault. He and his sister had brought this upon these heroes. They, in all of their bravado, had chosen a fight that they could not win. All that was left was to hope beyond hope that Icon could defeat this enemy before it consumed everything in its path.
But what if he couldn't?
Who would stop Umbraxis the Destroyer?
An explosion rocked the building, tossing Harvey from his thoughts like a violent tempest. He moved outside, catching a glimpse of Icon as Umbraxis laid into him. The sliver and blue clad hero was on his knees and struggling to stand. He looked from Icon to Umbraxis, the galactic threat preparing another dark matter attack. Harvey had seen what the last one did to Icon; it was likely he wouldn't stand up if that hit him one more time. "Boom!" Thunderbolt yelled at the top of his lungs. His sister ran to his side, eyes locked on the fight. "What do we do?" She asked. "We need to get tall, dark and ugly's attention before he hits Icon again. Perferably without taking a bullet in the process. You game?" Boom responded with a smile. "Let's do this." Thunderbolt took in a deep breath of air. Anxiety mixed with adrenaline, simultaneously clearing Harvey's thoughts and clouding them with doubt. The two speedsters shot forward, two trails of glowing lightning behind them. They unleashed a thousand punches a second on the villainous powerhouse, barely staggering him. They managed to distract him long enough for Skyquake to make her own appearance, delivering a devastating haymaker to his head. That one did a bit better than the speedsters' attempts, but only by a short margin. "Icon! Hit him!" May bellowed. Her suggestion seemed redundant, because Icon had already charged in and hit Umbraxis like a train crash. That one seemed to knock Umbraxis down for a couple of seconds.
Yay us.
“Let’s take him.” Icon interjected. "Together."
Boom made the first move. She charged forward, her fist covered in streaks of lightning, bashing Umbraxis in the face. Skyquake and Icon (presumably) followed behind her, launching an assault on Space Death. Harvey, however, stood his ground. He couldn't move. His heart was beating a million times a minute. He tried to dart forward; to join his sister and the other heroes, hitting Umbraxis with everything he had. But something inside of Harvey told him that he could do more. There must be some way to really put the hurt on this son of a bitch.
That's when Harvey had an idea.
Thunderbolt sprinted back into the police department, grabbing the newly freed Skull-Thrasher and Supercell and dragging them outside. "I need you to create an airburst powerful enough to contain an explosion the size of Hiroshima." Aban looked at Thunderbolt like a madman. "Are you insane?" He hissed, battle raging behind the three of them. "A bomb of that size could level Sherman Square and the Financial district simultaneously!" Thunderbolt nodded. "I'm aware. But if you can create wind forces of adequate power, we can trap all of that force within this one block. Theoretically, that would double the strength of the explosion within such a small area." Supercell shook his head furiously. "It ain't a bad plan." Skull-Thrasher added. "This block's already rubble. Just need your friend over there to clear any remaining civies and it might just work." Supercell looked between the two of them for a few moments, before finally sighing. "I think I can do it. Skull-Thrasher, inform the others of our plan."
Supercell slowly floated into the air, the wind obeying Aban's every command. The sky flashed bright and dark clouds formed over the battlefield. Rain drenched Lost Haven, a record-breaking storm system appearing out of nowhere over the city simply because Supercell told it to. "I am a force of nature." Supercell boomed. Lightning sliced through the sky, causing the sheets of rain to glow a brilliant blue for but a brief second before the light disappeared again. The wind started to pick up. It wouldn't be long before the wind reached speeds close to 600 miles per hour, double that of the fastest recorded natural winds. Yet the damage caused by these winds is minimal: for Supercell controlled every atom within that storm. Nothing happened without his say so. Buildings were torn to shreads, rubble thrown about in every direction. Boom and Thunderbolt raced across the effected area, evacuating every living thing in a dozen seconds without any injures. "We're taking off the training wheels, so to speak." Skull-Thrasher screamed over the roar of the storm. "All this has been child's play. Anybody can throw an eighteen wheeler around. But this? This is Vanguard baby! Oorah!" He yelled after explaining the plan to Icon and Skyquake (when they weren't busy being thrown around by Umbraxis, that is.)
Thunderbolt and Boom stood on top of a building overlooking the tornado. Harvey had just finished explaining the plan to Laura, who had responded only with silence. "We don't know if you can survive something like that." She finally said. "What..What if you- you die?" Her concerns were legitimate. Harvey had never pushed himself like this before. For all Thunderbolt new, the run itself would tear his skin off. "I have to try." He said. "I told you when we started that a day like this would come. A day when I needed to give my all, perhaps even my life, to protect the people I love." A tear rolled down Harvey's cheek, his sister quickly embracing him. The two held onto the hug for around half a minute. Harvey broke it off, taking a step away from Laura. "I've gotta go. It'll take me around...4 minutes to run around the globe and hit the bastard at full speed." With that, Thunderbolt was off. Boom stepped to the edge of the building and simply waited.
Super-Strength: S'tann's Martian strength gives him the ability to lift hundreds of tons with minor strain. If he were to punch a normal human at full power, his fist would cause the human's entire chest to explode. While that may sound fine and dandy to some, it makes picking up a glass of lemonade rather difficult.
Super-Speed/Flight: Legacy is able to travel at speeds around Mach 3 while in the upper atmosphere. However, S'tann's lack of connection to something like the speed force means that he is rarely able to travel near the speed of the sound without risking major collateral damage. Legacy's reflexes are much faster than the average human.
Invulnerability: Martian Boy's natural invulnerability allows him to tank blows from foes with Superman-level strength for a short period of time.He can also increase his invulnerability by altering his density to become super dense. His invulnerability protects him from the harsh environments of space and also re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. His skin can also repel light gunfire.
Regeneration: Legacy can quickly recover from almost any injury. He is able to reconstitute his body even when severed into several pieces. His regenerative abilities have allowed him to reconstitute his body from even an extremely small mass in only a matter of minutes, and his uncle J'onn has even grown a new body from a severed arm.
Shape-shifting: The Martian Boy has shown vast shape shifting abilities stemming from a Martian's complete control of his or her molecular structure. He is able to take on any shape he pleases, often taking the human guise of Stan Stone, average teenage boy. He can form shapes of objects or organisms alive, extinct, or imagined, and he has often shown to grow an extra pair of arms to supplement his fighting abilities and his strength. He can become as stiff and unmovable or as flexible and malleable as he pleases. He can also alter his size or the size and length of his limbs. S'tann's body naturally converts the energy around him into mass whenever he shapeshifts, and expels unwanted mass as energy when becoming intangible.
Telepathy: S'tann is one of the most powerful telepathy on the planet, only a few steps behind his fellow Martians. He can communicate across vast distances with numerous individuals simultaneously. Legacy is able to read the thoughts of hundreds of people at once within a one mile radius of himself, requiring no prior telepathic contact or mental preparation. With relative concentration, S'tann's telepathic abilities also allow him to create realistic illusions, telepathically trace and locate people, shut down people's minds, brain blast, mental shield, influence thoughts, mind control people, manipulate memory,induce sleep, reprogram or reorder minds and transfer information directly into people's brains.
Intangibility: By greatly lowering the density of his own mass, Legacy is able to become intangible. He has used this power often during combat to protect himself from his enemy's attacks and to pass through walls and other structures to travel. Another use of this power is phasing opponents into solid objects, as J'onn as Fernus was able to do to Superman. A Martian can concentrate their density control to such levels that light cannot reflect off their surface, rendering them completely invisible.
Extrasensory Input: Martians have nine senses as opposed to a human's five senses, which grants the Martian more numerable and clearer perceptions.
Longevity: Martians possess naturally longer lifespans than human beings. J'onn has lived for at least one hundred years and is still not at old age. S'tann is not yet considered an adult by Martian standards.
| LIMITATIONS AND WEAKNESSES: |
-Limitations: Can only lift up to 200 tons under extreme duress. Can only fly around Mach 3 in the sky; moves at near human speeds while low to the ground. Complex telepathic feats require the utmost concentration. S'tann can only shapeshift if their is energy nearby. Not accustomed to human social cues. Fire is his Kryptonite. Even the smallest of flames can cause a Martian pain, with much larger infernos rendering them unconscious or in extreme pain. Disliked for intruding on people's personal thoughts. Very naive.
| SAMPLE POST: |
-At minimum, two paragraphs showing your character in action and displaying their personality. This can be a portion of their backstory or just a random scene of your choosing.
| NOTES: |
-Nephew to Martian Manhunter and cousin to Miss Martian. -Doesn't take much of anything seriously. -5'7 and 124 pounds in his standard form. 6'5 and 263 pounds in his standard Martian form. -I wanted to play a Deathstroke or Wildcat related character, but the current roster suggests a developing Too Many Robins syndrome. So I went for a character that could be considered more versatile. -He loves Root Beer and so do I.
