HenryJonesJr

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

Sorry I’m behind. Will have a post up tomorrow and (hopefully) Sunday as well

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

Man it’s really quiet in here :(

I’ll have a post up tomorrow. Not giving up on this, damn it

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

"So you're gonna go meet with weird karate guy?" Pete's eyebrows raise at me. I know he doesn't think it's a good idea. Hell, I don't know if I think it's a good idea or not. But after what happened Christmas night, I don't have much of a choice.

"You think it's a bad idea, huh?" I chuckle nervously.

"I mean...I don't think it's a great one," he shrugs. "Seems like a ready made trap. I mean he knew where to find you. He knew who you had fought the night before. He knew she got away. And then he gives you his card and tells you to come find him? Seems really shady, if I'm being honest."

"You're not telling me anything I don't already know," I admit. "But this city is becoming more dangerous. That's a fact. We've been lucky up until this point with staying ahead of the Goblins. The other night, I was lucky to come out with just the cuts I did. If the Goblins had managed to get backup there in time, or if I made one mistake, I may not be here right now. Not to mention having to fight Shocker after that. I can't keep skating by on luck."

"Shocker" is what the media has dubbed the bank robber Herman Schultz. They took the name of the gang he led and slapped it onto him, not realizing how kind of embarrassing calling a villain "The Shocker" is. Not that I feel bad for him, of course. I mean, come on. He's a criminal. But "The Shocker"? I mean...read the room, guys.

"Are you coming to Harry's New Years party?" he asks sheepishly, changing the subject since he clearly sees I've already made up my mind regarding the dragon guy. Not that the topic he decided to change to is one I want to talk about either.

MJ and I still haven't really talked since our fight. Christmas Eve made things worse, mostly. Pete says she's been livid ever since, and not a moment's gone by when she isn't railing about me. Pete says now he can't even hang out with her, it's gotten so bad. But he says one thing's for sure, she's hurt. And she knows I am. But our pride is getting in the way of fixing things.

"I don't know," I shrug. "I want to. But I also don't want to ruin the time for everyone else. Plus I really wasn't invited."

"I mean they gave me a plus one," he winces, realizing how it sounds. "They want you to come."

"Yea, that definitely makes me feel very wanted. Thanks, Pete."

"I mean, if you don't want to come, don't," he sounds defeated, and I feel like I'm probably be way too harsh about all of this. "But you two are going to have to make up eventually. And there's no way Harry is gonna be any less of a douche until the two of you are on the same page. And I don't want any of this to get any worse. But if we keep going on like this it will."

He's right. Of course he is.

"Okay. I'll be there. Well, as long as the weird karate guy doesn't take me out or something."

"That's not funny."

"I mean, it's a little funny."

**********

I keep my suit's hood up around my head as I huddle against the biting cold outside of the Chinatown building that I've been directed to. It's nothing special from the outside. Just a normal, brick building with a faded out sign swinging in the window above the entrance. Emblazoned on the sign is the same red dragon on the business card he had given me the other night, now smeared with the dirt of years hanging in the New York air.

"So if you need help, I'll be out here in the car," Dad says from his car, parked in a lot across the street. He insisted on coming, so I couldn't say no. I know he has my best interest at heart. I'm not sure how he can help if this is just a big trap, but it still makes me feel good that he's here.

"Sounds good, Dad," I smile under the mask. "But I actually have a good feeling about this."

That feeling dissipates slightly as I swing over to the building and find the window closest to me slides open without a problem. The inside of the place is light softly, but is warm, and only some of the stuff is covered in dust. It's clear that the building is seldom used. But still, it's heated. So someone is here. But so far, I don't see any signs of an ambush, so at least I've got that going for me.

I head down a hallway, passing locked doors as I do. From downstairs, I can hear someone moving around. Guess my guy doesn't have a security system, because he doesn't seem to be panicking. I can hear him enter a room, and then stop.

Following the hallway to the steps, I follow them down, finding an old waiting room on the first floor. A single door leads to what I assume is the room he's waiting in. I approach it carefully, and push it open, waiting for my Spider Sense to go off at any moment.

Luckily, it doesn't.

On the other side of the door, I find a modest dojo, like something out of a kung fu movie. The soft, padded floor squishes lightly under my feet. The light is scares here, all of it coming from a single, ornate lantern hanging from the ceiling. The dim lighting is accented by the dark wood walls.

In the middle of the floor, sitting cross legged and meditating, is the guy from the other night. He barely seems to register my entrance. I can watch as his bare chest, scarred from past battle I assume, rises and falls rhythmically. His face, aged not only by time, sits serenely in place. He radiates experience, if nothing else.

"So you came," he says almost imperceptibly, almost causing me to jump in surprise. "I was beginning to wonder if you would."

"Yea, well," I rub my shoulder where the Goblin managed to hit me with the blades, "I guess I've realized how dangerous the city is getting. Some new neighbors are in town, and they're not very friendly."

"Not to mention your cat problem," he adds in. "Still haven't caught her, huh?"

I roll my eyes, "No. How do you know her?"

He looks up at me, smiles, and stands, "That's a story for another time. First I need to know if you're truly here to train, or if you're only here to make sure I'm not trying to kill you."

"I'm gonna be honest," I sigh, "it's a little from column A, and a little from column B."

"Well if I wanted you dead, you would be," he shrugs. "I saw you fight Felicia. She could have taken you if she wanted to."

"Oh really," I snarl. "Wait, you were watching me!?"

He sighs, "Yes. I was here looking for her. I had no idea what she had gotten wrapped up in. I watched because I was curious. We've all heard the stories. I wanted to see what the Spider-Woman could do on her own."

"Yea, that's not creepy at all," I shoot back at him.

"Maybe it is," he admits. "But I saw you have potential. If you can control your emotions, you could be a legend."

"Yea," I nod. "You gave me the Obi Wan talk on the roof. But why should I trust you? Training isn't a one time thing. We're going to be working together a lot. I need to know you have my back. I need to know why you have any interest in me."

"Because you have a heart, Spider-Woman. For too long I've trained people and watched them fall to their worst instincts. You've seen what's happening in this world. You've been in this fight," he waves, presenting a picture that's not there, but one that I can see in my mind. "You realize that the world is in danger. You're someone that can do something about it, and I can tell you're one that won't turn away when the going gets tough. I want to train you because I see what you can become, Spider-Woman. Do we have a deal?"

I consider what he says. It's almost exactly what I wanted to hear. It's what's been going through my thoughts whenever I consider training. I'm not prepared for everything that's come my way. If this is what it takes, I guess it's what I have to do.

"I'm in. When do we start?"

"We already have," he smiles. "My name is Richard Dragon. I have trained many before. I may train many after. But as long as you're training under me, you may call me sensei. Now, prepare yourself."

He charges at me, and I realize that I am definitely not going to get a lot of homework done when school starts back up.

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

Sorry about no post last night. Will be up tonight

Morden/MB, if y’all need someone to fill in for Byrd’s GMing, let me know

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

When you're doing stuff during the weekend and come back to find Byrd dropped the game.



Anyway, post will be up shortly.

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

The swing over to where Dad directs me to is not a fun one. I may heal quicker than most people do, but getting gashed with razor sharp bat projectiles is still going to smart. The fact that I can't go home and heal up, and instead have to go track down another super weapon wielding nut job. This is not what I asked for for Christmas, and I'm beginning to think Santa has me on the naughty list. Was it all the punching last year, big guy? I mean, it's part of my job. I punch. Stop torturing me.

Landing on a street light, I see that it's a warehouse. Of course it's a warehouse. Where else would a super villain hang out? Why can't they ever be at the mall or something?

"Dad, I'm here," I tell my father, announcing my presence. "You're sure this is where they are?"

"Positive," he affirms. "I managed to follow them at enough of a distance that they didn't notice me. I watched them go in there. Probably splitting up the money before going their separate ways."

I nod to myself, knowing he can't see me, "Yea, I remember you telling me that's what bank robbers usually do. Why it's so had to really catch them."

"That's my girl," he responds with pride. I can almost see his smile. "So what's your play on this one?"

I take a moment to consider my options. I don't really want to take on five guys, including the one with the gauntlets. But if I can get them to scatter, maybe isolate the guy with the sound weapon, I may stand a chance in taking them out without killing myself.

"Okay, I'm gonna go inside," I start explaining the plan. "I'll look over the tags on the getaway cars and relay them to you. You can relay them to the rest of the NYPD. When they're about ready to move, I'll surprise them, and isolate the heavy hitter. The rest will get away, and the cops will be waiting for them."

He takes a few minutes to consider the plan, "That...that is actually really good."

"Jeez don't sound so surprised, Dad," I snort.

"Hey, I'm not," he defends himself. "Just impressed. You're sure you're okay for this?"

I want to say no. I want to tell him I'm nervous about doing this after escaping the Goblins by the skin of my teeth. But that's not what Spider-Woman does. Spider-Woman catches bad guys, and I have a bad guy to catch here.

"Yea, I'm fine. I'm going in."

It doesn't take long to locate an open window I can slip through. Inside, I find the gang dividing the money between three cars for five men. My guess is the guy with the sonic blasters will be going by himself. Maybe will try and draw the cops away from his friends, since he has the best chance to escape. I mean, he's not going to get the chance to do that, but it's a good plan.

Crawling over the dusty ceiling until I'm nearly right above the men speaking below, I start to relay the make, models, and plates of the getaway cars.

"So you remember the deal, right?" the guy in the costume starts saying as he finishes putting the last bag of money into the trunk of his car, a black, unremarkable sedan. "We get out of the city. We get out of the damn state. We meet up in the safehouse in Connecticut, then make for the Canadian border. Then we're home free boys."

"All because of you, Herman!" one of the other one clasps his hand onto the man's shoulder. "Without those gauntlets we'd still be mucking up Kingpin's scraps!"

"Yea, the fat man's gonna be sorry he never gave the Shocker Gang more of the pie," another one of the guy laughs triumphantly. Man, I almost feel sorry for them. They are so sure they're getting away with this.

"That fat bastard never believed in me," the guy in the getup, "Herman", says. "Said these babies would draw too much attention. Said that they would ensure Spider-Woman took us on directly. Yet here we are with the loot, and she's somewhere getting pummeled by the Goblins. Thank god Osborn and Cassidy are so focused on her they forget about people like me."

"You got that right, Schultz," another one of the men laughs like the goon that he is, yucking it up.

Okay, time to make my entrance. They've had their fun.

Dropping down behind them as they finish their packing, I clear my throat, "You know, where do you bad guys get all the warehouse space from? Is there a criminal version of AirBnb I don't know about? Because that would seriously cut down on my swinging time."

The men who aren't wielding sonic disruptors all panic, making a beeline for their respective cars. The leader merely turns to face me, laughing as he does it. He clearly thinks he can take me. Good. I like when they're over confident. Makes things a little more interesting on my end.

Winding up, I deliver a punch to his chest as the others begin to speed out of the warehouse, just as I figured they would.

What I don't figure, is the concussive force that greets me as my hand makes contact with Herman Schultz. At least I think I make contact with him. Instead, Schultz must have a sonic disruption literally enveloping him, meaning I won't be able to hit him directly. Great.

The vibration explodes through my body, starting at the hand. It flings me back from the criminal, who is tossed back into his car, totaling it in the process. I feel like my teeth are still chattering when I stand up, and I call out to Dad on the comm, "The others are on the move. I'm gonna have to take care of this guy on my own. Wish me luck."

"Be careful," he responds. "Let me know if you need help."

"Like my sonic gauntlets?" Schultz half-groans, half-laughs as he climbs out of the wrecked trunk of the now-wrecked car. "Designed them myself. They were just going to get me a big enough score to let me spend my life on a beach somewhere in Asia, but I guess now they're also gonna be known for killing Spider-Woman."

"Oh please," I roll my eyes. "More evil people than you have tried, Quilt Boy. You get your costume from your Grandma's couch? She's not gonna be happy that you ruined her favorite crochet project."

"You think you're funny huh?" he growls at me, and I can hear his weapons charging up. The hum of their sonic amplifiers rolls through the warehouse in waves, rumbling through my ears. "Let's see how funny I am after I break all the bones in your body!"

He lets loose with the gauntlets, and I manage to dive out of the way. The blasts slam into the crates located behind me in the warehouse. The wood explodes into a shower of splinters and chokes the air with the fine layer of dust laying on top of them. He follows me around the warehouse as I bounce from place to place, staying out of the path of the path of destruction he leaves behind.

The sonic wave obliterate everything in their wake. Boxes, mechanical equipment, and even the steel supports of the warehouse are broken and twisted by the powerful waves. That, unfortunately, gives me an idea. I may not be able to take this guy down hand-to-hand, but if I can bury him under some steel, I can trap him. The force field protecting him will ensure he won't be hurt, and then I can disable the gauntlets.

Super, duper easy, right? I never come up with ridiculous plans. Nope, not me.

Snagging some of the broken steel from the building's structure with a web, I toss it at him. The metal strikes him, clanging off the protective barrier, but still bringing Schultz to his knees, "What's wrong, Herman? Not fast enough to hit me? You can do better than that!."

"Rah!" he yells, now firing wildly with the gauntlets as I speed up my erratic movement through the warehouse. I fire webbing to yank myself across the place, and he leaves a hole in the metal where I was just standing. The interior catwalk system of the warehouse begins to groan under the stress of losing its support. Good. Only one more support and it's gonna come down on top of him like a ton of bricks.

I swing in front of said support, and he takes the bait. One more shot from his weapons brings what has to be close to a ton of steel crashing down towards him. He brings his gauntlets to his chest, amplifying the protective barrier to try and save himself. As the power from them increases, however, I can see sparks begin to fly from the apparatus. I can see the field waver, and I wait for it to deactivate. When it does, I fire a webline into Schultz's chest and pull him to safety in the knick of time.

Once he's in my grasp, I pull off the gauntlets and snap them in half, "Oh no. I hate it when new Christmas toys break in one day."

"Damn you, Spider-Woman. You bit-"

I shut him up by covering his face in webbing. He'll be able to breath, but he won't be talking. Before I leave, I web him to the pile of fallen steel, and head home.

Thank god I don't have school tomorrow. I'm gonna sleep for like twenty hours.

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

I wanted to have a post up tonight, but looks like it will come tomorrow. Voting took a bit too long and then I had to workout/make dinner.

I'm not going anywhere BTW. IF none of y'all fuckers post this is gonna become a Gwen solo game. :-p

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

I have 2-3 poss coming this week.

Get off your asses everyone

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

The Goblins hover over me like a group of mechanical Michael Myers's. They stare. They wait. They don't move. They merely survey me with a cold, calculating glare that says "You're not getting out of this one." Up until now I've been lucky. The WEB has kept me one step ahead of these beasts for the months they've been out on the streets, but even Peter knew that they would catch up with me eventually. Norman Osborn may be a blowhard, but the man is the definition of a genius. If he says something will be able to hunt me down, then that thing is absolutely going to do just that.

At least until I beat them in a fight.

The biggest problem with that thought is that I haven't really seen them in a fight. Sure, I studied the YouTube promotional videos and commercials Oscorp put out to drum up business in the international community, but that only gave me the basics. I know what kind of weaponry they have, but not how they use it or what kind of formations they work in.

Such are the perils of having a superscientist's attention, I guess.

"Well, well, well," a voice comes out of the green Goblin, emanating from a speaker system inside the chassis. "We've finally got you. Will you come peacefully, Spider-Woman?"

I know that voice. I've heard it many times before calling from his lab while we were playing or hanging out at Harry's house. Norman Osborn is watching me right now, probably from some control room at Oscorp.

"Well, according to you that's not my style," I call back, trying my best to make sure he doesn't recognize my voice. Then again, Norman's been in his own little world for as long as I've known him. I'm surprised to this day that he remembers what I look like. The chance of him making me by just hearing me is slim. "Maybe just this once I'll live up to what you think of me, Normie."

"You have something that belongs to my company," the voice, distorted ever so slightly by the electronics, filters through the snow. "We know your powers came from our lab. From a spider we know escaped our labs. If you allow us to study you, you will be allowed to go free."

Norman's words shock me, even though they shouldn't. Of course he knows that my powers came from that damn spider form the lab. That wouldn't be some great revelation to someone like him. But the fact he wants to make a deal tells me there's something more to the whole equation that I'm not seeing. Norman's put on a show the past few months that he wants me gone. If what he really wants is to capture me, then all my assumptions go out the window.

"Hmmm..," I mockingly muse over the offer. "Nah I think I'm good."

I fire a web to one of the orange Goblin's gliders. It finds it mark, and I yank the glider sideways. The other orange one has to make a maneuver in order to get out of the way, which gives me an opportunity to run.

making a break for the opening I just created, I come sliding to a stop as a fourth orange Goblin zooms up the side of the building to cut me off. I curse myself for believing that it was going to be this easy. Of course these damn things were going to be more clever than to allow me to escape when they've finally got me cornered. Looks like I will be fighting my way out of this one, whether I like it or not.

Good. It's time to show Norman Osborn what I can really do.

The Goblin that cut me off zooms towards me, and I kick off the roof of the building and launch myself in a flip over the drone. As my head passes a few inches over it, I attach a webline to its neck, and yank hard down as I make my landing, pulling the robot off its glider. The metal body clangs onto the roof, and I manage to rope the glider. With another tug, I directed the flying machine back at its rider, causing the two to crash into one another. The sound echoes through the night like a car crash, and the severed top of the robot claws at me as I crush its head like a tin can.

"Well, Norm," I toss the head at the green Goblin, who catches it with mechanical precision, "one down. Who's next?"

The two remaining orange ones come at me in tandem. I manage to corkscrew out of the way of the first, but the second clips me with its glider wing, sending me careening through the air. I hit the ground, and my spider sense starts going crazy. I roll, and three bladed projectiles smash into the roof, embedding themselves into the building.

Sliding out of the way of three more, I see the bladed, bat-looking flyers coming from slots in the robots wrists. I contort and flip as more and more come my way, barely keeping away from their sharp strikes.

There's just too many of them, however, and two slice across my left leg and right arm. I feel the searing hot pain as metal cuts cleanly through skin and muscle. I keep myself from crying out, not wanting to give Osborn the satisfaction of knowing he's hurt me. Looking down, I see the drops of blood changing the thin layer of pure white snow. First to a deep red, then, as the blood things, into a sickly pink slurry.

One thing is for sure. If I'm going to get out of this one, I'm going to need to even the odds and quick. They're going to tear me apart if it stays 3-on-1.

"Give up yet, Spider-Woman?" Norman muses from the green unit.

I don't pay attention to him at all. Instead, I focus on the weapons that have already been fired at me, "You know, Norm, I think Batman may have a solid case of copyright infringement against you for these. Bat weapons are kind of his thing, no?"

The only response from the Goblins is another volley of the little projectiles. Unfortunately for Osborn, he gave me a breather, and an opening to go on the offensive. If he had kept up with the offensive, he could have driven me into the ground.

Instead, I snag two of the weapons right out of the air, flipping, and flinging them back at the orange Goblins that sent them my way. The blades strike true, slicing clean through the heads of the robots. The bodies seize, before the gliders take a nose dive towards the street below.

There's no time to celebrate, however. The green one is on me in a blink, leaping off its glider and coming at me with its fists. Now I understand why this one is considered the matrix for its battle group. Its faster. Its stronger. It has me on my heels almost instantly. My injured arm and leg aren't helping things. Each time I try to block a strike or maneuver away from one, they scream with pain and protest. The glider swoops at me every time I try and escape.

An energy blade extends from the hand of the Goblin's right arm, and I gasp, "You invented lightsabers and you're using them for evil!"

"Enough games, Spider-Woman," the voice coming through is angry and embarrassed. Norman doesn't like the fact that I just took out three of his prize projects in the span of a few seconds. Not a very good selling point, if I were to bet. He doesn't just want to know why I am the way I am. He wants to use my capture to sell even more Goblins. Sorry that I'm gonna have to disappoint him on that end. "It's time for you to come with me."

"Hard pass, Osoborn," I growl back at the robot. "I'm gonna warn you. I've seen a lot of Star Wars movies, and I am pretty sure using a lightsaber almost always leads to losing your hand. I mean, you've lost so much money tonight already. I'd hate to wreck a whole Goblin group."

That's enough taunting. The Goblin comes at me again, swinging the sword with precision. It backs me towards the edge of the roof, and I can feel the glider behind me, pinning me in. Good. That's how I want it. When I feel my heel reach the very edge of the building, I kick off it. The glider flies at me to knock me back towards the roof, and the Gobline slices at me with the sword. Instead, the energy blade rips the glider in two, and I land on the other side of the Goblin. With a swift kick to the back, I send the robot tumbling off the roof and watch as it smashes into the pavement.

I take a sigh of relief, and use some webbing to bind my wounds up.

Before I can really relax, Dad's voice comes over the comm, "Are you okay? I heard all of that."

"Yea, I'm good," I lie.

"I managed to follow the robber," he responds. "I found where they're hanging out. Are you up for some more action."

Oh right. The robber. The whole reason I was out here tonight. Probably shouldn't have forgotten about him, huh? A girl's job is never done, especially when that girl has the proportional strength of a spider.

"Yea. Yea, I'm good. I'll be there soon."

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

Will have a post up tomorrow.

As for the rest of you, to steal a line from a smart man...

POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST