Pacifista

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

---

“Okay, while you’re swinging your arms and shaking your hips to the rhythm, you alternate swinging one arm behind you, then both in front, then the other arm behind, then both in front. Keep going, yeah, like that.”

After a good 20 seconds of the two idiots synchronizing, Lobo grumbled, “Yeah, nah, I’m done. This is scuzzin’ lame.”

Stepping out of the restaurant, a very nervous server said, “Y-your table is ready!” The four moved in, Garfield sliding back to Koriand’r. “How was it?”

She handed back Rachel’s phone. “It was most interesting! Though this recording device was large and unwieldy, the video should be quite excellent! I kept it as stable as I could, though on my planet our devices operate without the need for hands, so I could have joined in as well. The dance was very simple, but whimsical!”

As Garfield checked over the footage, the phone was wrapped in Rachel’s black magic and pulled from his grasp. “Hey, don’t delete it! At least not until I get another phone.” Rachel shook her head as the four were seated at a table with a white and red checkered cloth, all eyes in the casual restaurant on them. Normally it wasn’t the kind of restaurant that made you wait for a table, but their party needed some accommodations…

“I don’t know what fraggin’ krollo a hot dog is but I ain’t leavin’ until I’ve had at least 20.”

“Hey, don’t fill up on dogs, we’re only getting started. They’ve got wings, burgers, corn dogs...we’ll get you.”

“Who’s paying for this? You’re broke.”

“I’m not broke I’m economically challenged. Look, I’ll pay you back for it later. I’m good for it, and once you do your familiar ritual thing that’s that.”

“Fine, you’ll pay for it. One way or another.”

Ignoring the ominous tone, Garfield rubbed his hands together as some trays with grilled hot dogs, fries, and bottles of condiment hit their spot. Lobo grabbed one and chucked it into his mouth whole, raising an eyebrow. “The frag is this?”

For a moment there was a hefty green pig awkwardly sitting at their table, then a chicken, then a cow. Human again, Garfield explained, “We take a bunch of the animals most popular to eat on this planet, and after their good cuts are sold elsewhere, all the extra bits are mushed together into a processed paste and molded into these little tubes. No leftovers. Oh yeah, and they say every hot dog you eat shortens a human’s expected lifespan by 35 minutes.”

“...Gnarly.”

Rachel put down her hotdog, a single bite taken out of it with no visible interest in having any more in her body language. “You eat animals? Even though you turn into animals?”

“I mean, I also turn into animals that eat other animals I turn into, so...” Taking a ketchup and mustard laden bite, he swallowed. “I don’t see a problem.”

“This yellow sauce as a sharp flavor, I quite like it when paired with the rather bland meat, um, paste mold.”

“What happened to the Spanish?”

“Oh! I only acquired both languages today, so please forgive my grammatical slip ups and errors. My race has a capacity to transfer certain sought after knowledge from interlocking lips. I was desperate to engage with the people of this world so I did so with a woman selling food much like this. She was rather unhappy with the act, however, but I did learn Spanish and the tongue we are currently communicating in.” “English.” “Thank you! I only understand the words that have equivalent meanings in my own language, and through hearing you speak English I’ve been able to differentiate the two much more easily. I only want to be understood. Is the act of locking lips unpopular on this planet?”

Lobo had moved on to burgers, clearly zoning out on the conversation as he took them out in two bites each. “Oh, the opposite, kissing is really popular, but only between people in, like, love.”

“Oh my! That woman’s reaction was completely within reason. I did apologize but-”

“When are you going home again?” Taking a lone fry into her mouth, Rachel swallowed it before saying, “Buying some food to keep a planetary genocide from happening is one thing. Why am I paying for you too?”

Koriand’r grew flustered quickly. “I am deeply sorry! I merely went along with the flow of events without contemplation. I also haven’t eaten a meal of solid food in a number of day/night cycles, by Tamaranian measures.”

“C’mon, give her a break Ray-Ray.”

“Say that again and we’ll see how many pieces of silverware in this restaurant can be crammed into your throat.”

“Dinner and a show? You’re spoiling me.”

Koriand’r looked between the two of them. “Are you and Ray-Ray not friends, green one?”

“It was just a friendly joke!” Garfield was distracted for a moment as some chicken wings with a variety of sauces came out.

“It’s not Ray-Ray, it’s Rachel,” she said, voice envenomed. “And he’s Garfield, until I rename him.”

“Rename him? Is this part of a courtship ritual?”

“No. It’s like with pets: it denotes ownership.”

“GAAAAWH WHAT IN THE FRAGGIN’ GOOD FOR NOTHING HELL-” Lobo’s screech silenced the restaurant that had someone reached a low level of normalcy in the lull of casual conversation between the odd party. Those nearest took some careful and cautious steps back as Lobo stood from his seat, the table rocking as he bumped into it, grabbing Garfield by the collar and yanking him up. “Poison doesn’t work on me but it stings like a bitch! You and me are gonna have words, the first one being my FOOT-”

“It’s just normal food!” Garfield pleaded. Koriand’r looked to Lobo’s array, sticking a pinky out and dabbing it on the end of a half eaten wing (literally: the right side, bone and all, had already gone to Lobo’s stomach). Sticking the dollop of red sauce into her mouth, her eyes unfocused and she let out a gasp, coughing as her body trembled. “W-what is this? It’s reminiscent of substances my kind would use to enact chemical warfare!”

Rachel stared. “You mean hot sauce?”

“I think that’s sriracha actually.”

Lobo’s red eyes narrowed. “Then eat it.” He dropped Garfield from his grip, the lad grinning. “Don’t mind if I do!” Scooping up some of the wing, he popped the whole thing in his mouth and twisted it, pulling a mostly clean bone off. He let out a whine, his face scrunching up and sweat beading on his forehead before he started to chill out, swallowing. Wiping his forehead, he flopped back down on his chair. “The pain’s part of the pleasure. It’s probably the capsaicin that didn’t agree with you.”

Kori’s eyes shot wider. “That is an ingredient my people use to cow raging animals through pain induced fear.”

Rachel shrugged. “We use it in crowd control on humans, just don’t confuse pepper sauce for pepper spray.”

“Huh, I thought you humans were soft bastiches since you and your stuff broke real easy, but that’s not half bad. I’ll take some to go.” He punctuated that by popping the rest of the wing, bone and all, into his mouth. Sweat beading, he was visibly in more pain than any of their attacks had put him in before as he jaw crunched through the wing, but with a few labored breaths he finished the bite. “These are fraggin’ torture. You humans are scuzzin’ nutso.”

“You’re not supposed to eat the bones...actually never mind.”

-----

As the dusk set in, the four were out in a quiet parking lot, having moved there under the shadow of Rachel’s magic. Lobo’s vehicle had swooped in, the man slipping a few bottles of spicy sauce into its storage.

“Well, it was a rocky start, but honestly, glad to meet you Mr. Main Man.”

“Huh? You bozos are still here?”

“Er, well, it’s our planet and all.”

“Look, I can tell you’re a bunch good kids. Good little eggs. Well you can take those eggs and fraggin’ suck ‘em. I don’t actually like any of you, and you’re all real fraggin’ weirdos. The moment a bounty rolls around that’s worth it I will be back and I might be taking your hides with me, capiche?”

“...Was that an alien word or just Italian?”

“Kill yourselves.” Flipping them the bird, Lobo’s engine roared to life, litter scattering about as he blasted off, quickly becoming a light dot against the late afternoon sky.

“Oh, how thoughtful. His words might have been harsh, but the middle finger symbolizes unwavering trust and long lived faith!”

“...Uh, sure, we’ll go with that. Actually are we gonna talk about how he was totally, like, an 80s biker from space?”

“Well that was a complete waste of my time and money.” Throwing her hood up, she jabbed a finger against Garfield’s chest. “That’s supposed to be travel money to support my campaign, not appeasement for intergalactic gluttons. Start paying it back sooner rather than later, while I’m still accepting it in currency, and not-”

Koriand’r leaned in between the two, still towering over both. “Oh, I can compensate you for your troubles. My sister’s coup has deposed me and my parents from our stations, so I may not have the funds I’m used to- oh! Your planet is not aligned with Interplanetary Banking. I would have to go offworld to-”

Garfield stared, eyes darting back to the sky, he mumbled, “We’re cool, but maybe don’t mention the ‘deposed princess’ part to anyone else.”

Rachel turned to head off, but it was not Garfield to follow first. “Please, I did not mean to trouble any of your world, but the two of you have been most helpful to me, it would be deeply shameful if I were to part ways without repaying your heroism.”

Rachel visible flinched at that last word. Garfield swooped in, throwing an arm over her shoulder and whispering, “You don’t have to be so pissy, let’s let her tag along for a bit. What else is she going to do?”

Rachel threw his arm away. “Not my problem, or yours. Let the government handle it. FBI, CIA-”

“MIB.”

“Whatever alphabet soup some stupid retired bigwig with too much free time and government blood money is cooking up. She cheerleader, me goth. It’s not happening. Let’s go.”

“A leader of cheers? I suppose my position as princess could be interpreted as such.” The alien royal was a good few feet away from Rachel and Garfield’s hushed mumbles.

“...When humans whisper, it means we don’t want to be heard by other people.”

“Oh, I will close my ears then, I do apologize.” Her hands were quickly clapped on the sides of her head.

Ignoring her, Rachel turned back to Garfield. “A stray animal like you has no business picking up other strays. She’s a liability, and you don’t have the coverage.”

“She’s alone on another world. If we leave her be she’ll be in more trouble.”

“And what will she accomplish in staying with us? You think she’ll be fine with my ultimate plan? Or should we lie to her and get her to help us unwittingly.” Garfield went quiet, face tight as he tried to process that. The two stood in silence for a moment, before Rachel stroked her chin, looking back at Koriand’r, who was watching a few birds pick at the ground for food. A ways off “On second thought...”

Garfield’s mouth flopped open as Rachel turned to Koriand’r, motioning for her to listen. “After conferring with my familiar, I’m going to give you an opportunity. I’m currently on a mission to find a large number of places of magic on this world and leave my mark on them. Every one of them is a black box: meaning that there’s no guarantee as to what we’ll encounter. W-”

“How did you even find these places?”

Rachel glared at the interruption. But even as their was bile in her words, she answered, “Meditation on a leyline with a map. It’s rudimentary. Finding the locations isn’t the hard part, it’s getting there. Even a simple garbage dump turned out to be more than I was prepared for.” She turned back to Koriand’r. “If you’re fine with putting your life on the line to help me leave my mark, then you’re more than welcome to join me for as long as you wish, on one condition: you do as I say, no questions.”

Koriand’r stood in thought for a moment, face going from curiosity, to contemplation, to determination. “I will pay my debt to you for your assistance, but I will not simply trade one set of chains for another. My heart will remain free. And I would quite like to become familiar with the two of you as well!”

Garfield’s chest swelled, an anxiety of his own coming to relax, but to his surprise, Rachel smiled at him. And there wasn’t warmth in it. “Very well.”

She started to float from the ground, Koriand’r joining her in the air. Garfield murmured, “You’re a real piece of work.” He didn’t know what she had in mind. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure what he was thinking, but as he turned into a green crow and joined them in the air, the three of them flying off to who knew where, he was just glad that none of them had been left.

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

With Jean involved in the event, I just wanted to make sure I'm clear, but I'll post with her again when the event advances a little more, as she'll be a latecomer and the current happenings are still in the early parts of the disaster. I'll continue to post Titans as normal, every two weeks (or faster when I feel like it).

One Piece: The Devil's Due (Always Accepting!)

Very nice! Games been quiet lately but I'm glad to hear interest!. Looking forward to it. Also consider joining the Discord (linked in the first post now) or just hit me up here if you have any questions.

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

---

“Okay, can we chill out for a second? As a representative of Earth, I-”

“-say we just kill him.” Rachel interjected on Garfield’s plea.

Lobo let out a dark chuckle. “You can try.”

Rachel turned her eyes on him, the pair glowing with magic for a moment before widening as they shifted back to their normal purple. “Your soul isn’t part of the cycle of life and death? And how did you manage that?”

Lobo stood, the floating weapons trained on him shifting up to keep their fixation. “Yeeeah, I’m too bad for Hell, too good lookin’ for Heaven, and too buck wild for Purgatory. Only reason I haven’t popped your eyeballs yet is because I don’t wanna break my stuff trying.” Slamming both his fists against his chest, he cried, “I’m fraggin’ unkillable baby!”

“Fair enough. Like I said, I’m only here for the green one, what’s your business with him?”

“Nuthin’. I’m a bounty hunter, and the Tamaranian chick is playing hard to get. The green kid’s just in my way.”

“Good. I’ll take him and you two can sort out the rest.”

“I object!” Garfield cried. Before he got the chance to make his statement, Rachel hovered over, glaring right into his eyes. Garfield only flinched for a brief moment. “You’re just gonna let him come here and do whatever he wants? I don’t even know her name but I’m not going to turn away from someone who needs my help!”

“Think with your upper brain for half a second. We can’t kill the bounty hunter even if we tried. Unless you know of a nearby volcano or got a business card from that wizard-”

“Volcano wouldn’t work. It’s a scuz but I’ve walked out of ‘em before. Hurt’s like a bastiche though, so you better-” Lobo called.

“The people of this planet have two brains? I’ve never heard of such a being in all the cosmos! Not without two heads, that is.”

“I was talking!

“...Just the men.”

“Oh! And yet this doesn’t seem to increase their intelligence by significant amounts. Curious.”

“Wow, okay, rude.” Shaking his head, he insisted, “Look, we just need to make it more worth his while to drop the bounty. He had some other aliens to pick up, what if we help him with that in exchange?”

Koriand’r frowned. “Among them would be my father and mother, and a few other Tamaranians loyal to our faction. I would like to gather them all and return home, but do not have the means.” Lifting her hair, she tilted her head to reveal a dark diamond mark set to the back of he neck. “Furthermore, we are all branded. The Gordanians only temporarily released us with the intent of reclaiming their captives at a later time. Lobo may merely be the first to try and claim the bounty.”

Rachel looked at Garfield again, waving her two hands towards Kori. “You defend her now, you defend her from an entire extraterrestrial race and all the resources at their disposal. Cut your losses now and let’s move on.” Shaking her head, she muttered, “Unless you’d rather die free than live the rest of your life as my thrall.”

Garfield wracked his brain, before something clicked. “Well, if he’s afraid of someone more powerful...” Turning about, he offered, “Didja know that her dad could definitely beat up your dad?”

Rachel raised her fist, jabbing Garfield on his upper arm. Lobo shrugged, “I hope so! Space dust don’t put up much of a fight. Not that he had much fight back before Lobo Day.”

“...What’s Lobo Day?”

“The day I genocided my home planet and catapulted the empty husk into our local star. I celebrate the anniversary every year with my favorite diner slop and the home movies I made on the day.”

“...Okay we need a plan B.”

“Don’t kid yourself, you never even had a plan A.”

Rapping his hand against his skull in thought, he calmed himself when Koriand’r placed her hand on his shoulder. “I do appreciate you efforts, hero of Earth, but as they say on my home planet, there is a time where one must accept the they are forever within the Laznian’s maw.”

The cultural reference being lost on him aside, Garfield understood the meaning. “You...you’re giving up? What happened to refusing to give in?”

Kori shook her head, “If he really has casually genocided one world, I cannot let him do the same here, not after you so gallantly came to my aid. Please, green one, take solace in knowing that your kindness has given me something I can never return.” Garfield felt his spirit crumbling, but he had no words to offer. Head raised high, she took a step towards Lobo. “Very well. I, Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran, surrender myself to you.”

Rachel lowered Lobo’s weapons, but the Main Man’s face didn’t contain relief, glee, or smug certainty, instead falling to a careful consideration. “Princess?” Scratching at his shaggy hair, he grumbled, “You fraggin’ serious?” He glanced between Koriand’r and Garfield’s confused faces. “Fraggin’… Catchin’ a few loose war prisoners is one thing, but Tamaran throws some sick parties.” He took a few steps, pushing past the floating weapons before lowering his head down on the hood of a car, crashing through the metal and leaving a heavy dent. Shaking his head, he muttered, “One sec.” Pulling some device out of his pocket, he tapped a few button before holding it up to his face. “Hey scuzzos! You didn’t say there was Tamaranian royalty in the bounty. I don’t do royalty, not for that chump change. I want five times what you’re offering for the lot. ...Double? You think I’m fraggin’ around? Nah, forget it then, just give me the deposit back on the tracker… Hey, hey! It only broke because of your prisoner, I didn’t do a keezy thing! You give me that deposit back or-he, what’s your name? G’nahsa? Yeah okay G’nahsa you give me that deposit back or I’ll fly over there and pull your nasa out of your quin through your-DON’T YOU HANG UP ON ME! I’M GONNA FIND YOUR FAMILY, A GALLTRIAN ACIDSKIFF, AND MAKE SURE YOU ALL GET REAL FRIENDLY YOU KEEZY FRAGGIN’ BASTICHE YOU DON’T CROSS THE MAIN MAN LOBO, YOU HEAR ME!?” With a roar he threw his comms device on the ground, the metal bouncing off the sidewalk into a building window and crashing through. Picking up the damaged car he let out another yell before tossing it into the window after. Catching his breath, he threw his hair back before turning back to the three teens. Wiping at his forehead, he muttered, “Negotiations broke down. I’ll deal with those scuzzers later. ‘fore then, what’s the best slop you got to eat on this rock?”

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

---

The bell sounded out with the usual clatter of chairs and rustling of bags. “Bye Mrs. Grey!” “Byeeee!” “Goodbye Mrs. Grey.” It warmed her heart to have even a handful of her students offer farewells. She liked it even better when they weren’t so rambunctious or forgetful, but what could you do? “Who forgot their shoe?!” she called down the hall, a pair of feet running back to grab it, roughly putting it on before taking off without a word of thanks or apology.

Sitting down, there was one student left, having taken advantage of Jean’s means of lending an ear. Antonio sat in his tank top, head bowed. Jean took her seat and turned her chair, leaning slightly forward with her forearms on her legs and hands loosely clasped. In the silence she glanced at the drawer she kept her phone in, heart pulsing as fears and anxieties reared up, but she kept her cool and resisted the urge to check it.

“You said that if we tell you something bad we wanted to do we wouldn’t get in trouble?” Antonio finally spoke, his words weak.

A light sense of dread crept in. “I said that, and no one’s gotten in trouble for talking to me.”

Antonio was still uneasy, but after he was quiet for a minute or so he went to his backpack. He returned with a kitchen knife about eight inches long. Jean kept neutral. Easier done than said when she’d been lightly aware of it all day. “Is that from your kitchen?”

Fear spread on Antonio’s face. “Are you gonna tell my mom and dad?”

“If they don’t know you have it then you just need to put it back and there won’t be a problem. But that’s only if they don’t know.” Antonio normally tried to be tough in class, dismissing assignments and not putting any effort in. The scared boy in front of her was almost unrecognizable in a way. Reaching into her desk, she pulled out half a pack of Nutter Butters, her intended sugar break for the rest of her post-school work. He let out a low whine, taking them with shaking hands before devouring them as fast as he could. Halfway through the last one, he stopped to break down. It took all of Jean’s effort to hold back her own tears.

He spoke through his sobs. “M-May c-c-called me sk-skinny d-during PE yesterday a-and I was mad s-so I b-brought the knife t-t-to stab her.”

Taking a breath to steady herself, Jean reached out and put her hand on his knee. She wasn’t sure if it was for his sake or hers. “A-and I’m o-only sk-skinny because my p-parents don’t feed me!”

That was the cry of help Jean had been looking for. She’d known. How could she not? She didn’t give him a snack on a whim. But to randomly give him food usually would have been an odd look, and Jean didn’t want to be on the receiving end of suspicions she couldn’t easily dispel or invite unwanted claims of favoritism or 'getting to close'. Mind reading was something even she felt was off putting, more so than her mutanthood. But now, in this case, it was no longer a concern.

Jean’s stomach was mixed with relief at the weight starting to lift and anxiety at what was coming next, a scenario she’d spent more than a few bus rides grappling with. When Antonio started to calm just a little bit, Jean said, her voice wet, “We’re going to get you help, okay? I’m going to get Mr. Grant and Mr. Satou, okay?” The former the most veteran teacher of the school, the latter the Vice-Principal. Even if Jean knew what to do, deferring to her seniors as a the most junior was the smart play. You can’t do everything yourself, Scott had told her some time ago when they were still figuring out their domestic situation. She’d been trying to take it to heart. You’re not in trouble.”

A quick call on the school lines had the two older men at her door in minutes. Jean stood back as they took over the situation. Sadly it wasn’t the first time either of them had dealt with abuse cases. Wouldn’t be the last for any of them either. Thanks offered to Jean, they took control of the situation and moved Antonio to a different office, and hopefully had something a little more substantial to offer food wise. Jean was left at her desk, leaning back and taking a moment in the empty class to just...unpack everything a little. Some time later, there was a knock on the door with a soft voice following. “You okay in there?” Mrs. Herb was always the strictest and firmest with Jean, which was why this soft tone rendered her nearly unrecognizable.

Wiping at her eye and finding a bit of errant moisture, Jean insisted, “Yeah, I’m okay. Gimme five more minutes.” There were some footsteps as she took her up on that. Not sure if she’d return, Jean blew her nose before daring to check her phone, her source of anxiety for the past school day. She’d been seen this morning when she lifted the truck, and she’d spent the whole day waiting for her life to crash down around her. It was a risk she’d been prepared for, but at this point she thought it might be better for the other shoe to just drop, no matter what else came down with it. The lack of service was a funny coincidence that would stem the movement of that knowledge, but it was only a matter of time. It wasn’t as though everything was down. She still had wifi. And a fresh kind of anxiety as she saw a message from the last person she expected. The contents struck a special kind of fear in her.

...

Can you be more vague?! She leaned back in her chair and let out a shrill groan through her teeth. Her mind first jumped to Firebird, her heart leaping the same distance out of her body, but that wording didn’t feel right it that’s what she was asking about.

...

If Jean wasn’t so mentally tired then she’d have rolled her eyes, a state away from whatever was going on. Her mom was closer to the whatever it was then her, probably, but in that small town the big cities felt closer, Jean guessed. But as she checked the link she watched a wave smash into Liberty island, bodies hitting the water. The unnatural occurrence led to discussion and postulation that it wasn’t going to be the first time either. Jean put her phone down and tried to push it from her mind but the images kept coming in flashes to her brain. A quick search and she found it was only 170 miles straight to New York, so if she…

You can’t do everything yourself. She heard in her head again. Leaning back in her chair she massaged her temple. It was stupid: even if she went there’d be nothing she’d be able to do, right? But if the situation got worse and she wasn’t there...was she really going to make an interstate flight on a whim?

“Jean?” Mrs. Herb was back, concern evident on her face as she poked her head in. “What’s the matter with you?”

“O-oh, it’s just, uh, there’s something going on in New York and i-it’s a little...much, right now, after, you know, everything.” Her breath was shaky as she exhaled, rubbing her fingers back and forth on her forehead.

Herb’s firmness seemed to regrow itself as she straightened her back, the small woman with curly white hair standing over Jean in her chair. “Yeah, I saw. I saw more than you’d want me to see.” Those words knocked Jean out of her daze, her mind going in other directions. “I didn’t come here for that, I came here to check on you. You did the right thing, and Antonio’s going to get the help he needs. But if there’s something else you should be doing, or somewhere else you should be, then that’s up to you to figure out. No one else.”

Jean stared, picking up exactly what she’d feared from surface thoughts. She hadn’t recognized Mrs. Herb in traffic earlier, but she’d recognized her. Jean gaped, stammering out nothings until she finally committed. No half arsing it. “Y-yeah, yeah. Thank you!” Reaching under the desk she pulled out an extra satchel before sliding open the window and hopping out. Mrs. Herb looked around carefully, nearly swearing before shaking her head and starting for the door. Just as she moved to leave, there was a rush from the window. Jean plucked her phone and a half empty plastic water bottle from her desk, poking around in a drawer for a missing snack before locking eyes with Mrs. Herb. “Sorry, forgot...” Trailing off, she went back to the window. “Sorry!” Jean went off into the sky once again.

Herb shook her head. “What are we gonna do with you?”

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

---

Horns blared in the rising morning heat. The gridlocked Baltimore downtown wasn’t the natural result of bad urban planning, but the unfortunate side effect of a big rig having been overturned, the exhausted driver having failed to hit the exit properly and crumbling a divider, spilling out the contents in the form of dry retail groceries. Police had stopped the freeway as they attempted to get a tow truck to maneuver the trailer out of the way, but it was going to be hours before the situation was resolved, and tensions were running high.

Traffic officer Edward Treant was starting to get a headache from all the cars wailing, the smog buildup an irritant thrown onto the pile. He was as sick and tired of all of this as anyone. He wanted it to be over, he wanted to go home, get some ice cream, and catch up to House of the Dragon. He thought about the big man up in Metropolis, the Central City blur, and envisioned himself waving away this problem some how. Pulling out a pen, he pressed it between his fingers as hard as he could.

Nope, still a normal human. But it didn’t hurt to check, right? Every so often. Just in case.

Pulling out his phone to try and check a couple things, turned away from the road so as to not aggravate anyone more than he already had, his meandering was interrupted by the screech of metal against asphalt. His phone clattered to the ground as he turned about, stepping back as he feared a fed up driver had tried to push past only to hit something else, eyes shooting wide as he realized that the big rig had started to lift from the ground. Ed’s mouth hung open as he watched it float, moving off of the roadway and onto the shoulder, more goods spilling from the trailer. The driver, mercifully unhurt and loitering nearby, waved his hands without rhyme or reason, about as lost as anyone. Then, Edward saw a figure in green and gold with flowing red hair, flying above, her eyes locked down on the truck as it moved. In less than a minute it had been moved completely, safely out of the way. Then the foodstuffs and goods shivered and rose, similarly floating out of the way. Everyone in sight watched with jaws on the ground.

Once the way was clear, Ed managed to find his composure again, heart leaping as he felt freed from this whole mess. “Alright, let’s get things moving again!” he called to his peers, who joined him in resuming the flow of traffic.

“Can you put it on it’s wheels?” The driver called out to the flying woman.

“Oh! Yeah, sorry!” she responded, waving her hands in motion to keep away. The truck hovered up again with another scraping sound, slowly revolving before parking itself the right way up. With its side mirror missing and unknown damage done, it wasn’t going to be moving for a little while, but at least he had a place to sit in more shade while he waited for transport. After a little more cleaning, she floated down to where Ed was. “What was that, telekinesis?”

She gave a smile tinged with apprehension and embarrassment. “Yeah, uh, the name’s Firebird.”

“I’ll throw it into the report. You were a big help today, and it’s good to know that heroes are doing more than just fighting terrorists and nutjobs. I mean that’s good and all but, you know, the little guy needs help too, not just banks being robbed.”

“I was in the area, so...” She had an awkwardness as she turned to the road, a number of rubbernecks slowly coasting by with eyes and phone cameras on her. She gave a little wave, Ed noting her nervousness and reddening cheeks.

“You local?”

“Oh, yeah, I was trying to get home but the bus was stopped, so I thought, well, I have my costume! As good a time as any.”

“I mean, keep up the good work.”

“It’s just, I gotta show the world, you know? That maybe a mutant with a conscious isn’t that rare!”

Ed’s chest tightened at the mention of Firebird being a mutant. He kept it from showing on his face, but he noticed her demeanor shift anyway. He knew it was wrong to feel that way, it’s not like anyone could control whether or not they were a mutant, it mattered that they took their inhibitors and kept themselves under control, and this lady was not. This kid, honestly. She couldn’t have been out of her 20s. But that she had been using her powers made Ed’s day going forward look a whole lot brighter, even if he was left with a sunken feeling he couldn’t shake.

She added. “Sorry. You saw the Stark thing?”

“Yeah, uh, you heard about what happened to them right?” Her expression went quizzical. “Stark died in an accident I think, or they think, and Trask has been missing for a while. A lot of his systems have been fucky.” He grabbed his phone off the ground and held it up to illustrate his point.

Firebird clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide. “Oh...oh my god! I...oh, I haven’t been following the news lately. I didn’t know!” Hands moving to the sides of her temples, she let out a long breath. “Oh that’s embarrassing,” Eyes starting to find focus, she added, “I thought my Google docs were being weird yesterday.”

Ed shrugged, pretty sure Trask didn’t work for Google. “It happens.” Giving a nod, he suggested, “Anyway, you should probably get going.”

“Oh, right. Uh, k-keep up the good work, officer!” With a sloppy salute, she took to the air once more, slipping off into the horizon and eventually passing out of sight. Ed let out a long sigh of his own. He himself was a member of ‘Baltimore’s finest’, but now his home city had a hero of its own: a child with too much power and no idea what she was doing. But dammit her heart was in the right place. Ed cold only hope it stayed that way.

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

<Snipped quote by Half Pint>

This is just one part, of something that will happen once or twice so I wouldn't be in a massive panic just yet.

My goal is to try and facilitate interaction in ways that are manageable (not too many people at once), but also fun and work witn the stories YOU guys want to tell.

@Sep

Jean could very well be up for it after my next post (provided the timing allows for her telekinetic flight from Baltimore) but if there's a lot of interest I might wait for later to keep it from getting unmanageable.

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

<Snipped quote by Sep>

I'm absolutely sticking with Wolvie. Jonah I'm struggling with; I had a concept I liked, but I kind of shot myself in the foot by setting him up in a way that keeps him from interacting with other characters, and I feel like I went way too edgy-for-the-sake-of-edgy with my first couple of posts, so now I just feel kinda gross trying to write him.

@AndyC

Damn, that's a shame, Hex Rider posts were some of the ones I've most enjoyed reading in the game so far (and that's with some stiff competition, mind).

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

---

“Look, we don’t get many aliens so I’m just a little paranoid okay? It’s not like the Men in Black are gonna swoop in or anything.”

Koriand’r looked down the alleyway they were currently catching their breath in, as though their pursuer might meander by. “Is Lobo not a man wearing black?” She looked up too, as the mention of swooping called attention to the Gloam hawks on her planet that rather liked to divebomb her people in fruitless attempts for food. “But I should reiterate, I still do think those questions tal vez fueron demasiado invasive.”

The was a thump from above, two boots hitting the edge of the building, Lobo looking down on them with his hook in hand. The two got up and started to run for the exit. “Oh, don’t leave on my account. I’m reeeeal accommodatin’.” He leapt from his spot, just a hair too slow as he ended up behind the two as they fled down the road.

“And why are you speaking Spanish! I don’t understand Spanish!” Gar yelled, checking over his shoulder as Lobo levelled his weapon at them.

“¿Qué? ¡Wha!” Koriand’r let out a cry as a chain looped around her ankle. With a jerk, she flopped through the air, Lobo dragging her back. She flew against his pull, but with every pump of his arms she got closer and closer. Her starbolts didn’t do anything but momentarily obscure parts of her vision.

Going ape, Garfield’s four limbs tore across the hot asphalt, two silverback arms slamming right into Lobo’s chest. Bracing against him, Lobo didn’t even budge, slamming his forehead down. It hit the leathery hide of an elephant, Garfield raising his tusks to catch under his shoulders and lift him from the ground. Thrusting his elbows into Garfield’s face and eyes to little noticeable effect, he growled, “Are you a keezy martian? You’re one rock too far and way to deep in my fraggin’ business!” Throwing his hook aside, he raised his fists and slammed them down, Garfield staggering. He lurched his head, tossing Lobo down unceremoniously, the bounty hunter clumsily standing, letting out a few choice curse words as he watched Koriand’r disentangle herself from his chain. In the foreground, Garfield’s size shifted again as he turned into a striped tyrannosaurus rex. Planting his hand on his hips, Lobo sneered, “Try me, bastiche.” Toothy maw wrenching down, Garfield bit down and lifted Lobo up, shaking him like a dog might a favored chew toy. Curling to the side, he whipped his body, flinging Lobo down the road, the man crashing through a window into a 7/11.

“Yeah, how’s that for size?!” Garfield laughed with a smug look. Koriand’r floated to his side while Lobo stood from the wreckage without a scratch on him. Garfield deflated.

“He has proven quite invulnerable, and as long as he has his astronave, no puede escapar.”

“Something something you can’t escape, okay...well shit what do we do then?” Daring to take a few steps towards Lobo, Garfield dared, “Hey big boy, what’s with the made up words? ¿No habla ingles?”

“That’s Lobo to you kid: the Main Man. And guess what? All words are made up.”

“...Touché.”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!” Reaching out, he pulled a streetlight from the ground with a gut wrenching groan, the metal crumpling under his hands. Pulling it back much like as if he were holding a baseball bat, once in the air its circular motion was more like a boomerang. Garfield managed to avoid being a deer in the headlights for just long enough to duck. Koriand’r took it in her arms, twirling with it before her foot found purchase on the ground. She pivoted, the streetlight flung right back at Lobo. It bent against his frame in a way Garfield must have seen in Looney Tunes. He was half expecting Lobo to pick it up and twist into a balloon animal, but instead he brushed it off like it were a chunk of dirt.

“You should be more careful: there are people of your world still here.” Garfield looked around at her words, seeing a car that had tried to pass by the jammed traffic empty itself like so many before it, a pair of men running off. In the crushed front of the building Lobo had come from, a terrified looking store owner gawked at the unfolding scene in horror. Giving the girl a look of aw and respect, Garfield gave a nod, before calling, “Throw me at him! Just don’t let me spin or I’ll get dizzy.”

Koriand’r’s eyes widened as he leapt at her, shifting to the form of a turtle in its shell. Pulling her arm back, she let him loose at the steadily approaching Lobo. He waved his heavy arm to swat him aside, only for him to slow his motion as he shrunk in size, the arm going wide. A small dart frog stuck to Lobo’s face, his red eye glaring down at the green amphibian before his tongue whipped out and smacked him in the eye. “Gah! You Earth bastiches are really-” Garfield turned into a cobra, striking Lobo’s nose and latching on, his long form wriggling. “Annoyink.” Trying and failing to grab at the flailing snake, his grunts turned into growls before he finally found his grip, yanking him off.

Koriand’r leapt in at that exact moment, her fist knocking Lobo square on the nose. Garfield slipped from his grip, landing as a dormouse before turning human once again. Lobo flipped end over end, landing on his front a meter or so away. Massaging his jaw, cobra fangs unable to pierce Lobo, Garfield admitted, “Well, if poison doesn’t work then I’m out of ideas.”

Getting back to his feet, Lobo’s smile was gone. “Good, cuz’ I’m bored.” Garfield felt a mixture of relief and fear, unsure of where to settle. Lobo decided for him, sticking two fingers in his mouth and letting loose a shrill whistle. There was a following silence, the three waiting in standstill.

“Last chance to kiss your keisters goodbye and come quietly.” The revving of an engine could be heard from the next block over.

“Even if my fate is inevitable, I refuse to give in to you.” Koriand’r took a fighting stance. Matching her mood, Garfield took the shape of a cheetah, baring his fangs in a growl.

The space bike pulled up to his side, the eyes facing down his quarry. Without looking, he reached for a long side compartment. “Your funeral.” The blade of a knife stuck out Lobo turning to see as his hand had failed to cleanly grasp what he’d been looking for, only for the knife to lodge itself between his teeth, point jabbing towards his throat. Grabbing at the blade while a bunch of muffled curses flow, the compartment opened, as did the one on the other side, an array of guns and blades floating out and training themselves on Lobo. A black energy enshrouded each and every one of them. Yanking the knife out and getting to his knees, he looked between them, trying to find a the head responsible so he could smash it to a pulp.

“Nice bike. What sound do you think it’ll make when I have it rip through the hole I’m about to make in your stomach?” Garfield’s heart leapt as he saw Rachel. “Don’t be too excited to see me. I don’t care about the girl, I’m just here to protect my investment.”

“Yeah, me too. You ain’t special.”

“Uh, maybe we try diplomacy?”

Koriand’r looked between her aggressor and her fresh faced savior. “With whom?”

“...Gooood question.”

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

---

“Hungry?”

Leech damn near jumped out of his shoes. Scrambling around in the dark, he blinked as his eyes struggled to take in the new light from that mutant bitch turning on the lantern in his home.

“Fuck you! Get out of my house!” It had been two days and this bitch was back to darken his fucking day.

She gave a non-committal shrug, holding up a brown bag with grease marks showing through. “Guess I’ll have to enjoy my midnight snack alone.” She started to move past him, the scent of meat and oil catching his nose. His stomach cried out. He’d eaten, stumbling across one abandoned Happy Meal left on the bench, ice cold. His home wasn’t exactly freezing, but a bit of warm food made plenty of difference in comfort. “Leave that.”

“Uh-uh,” she chided. Leech lunged a hand out to the bag but she carefully kept it away. “We talk or I walk.”

Moments later, Leech took a bite, meat and tomato juices drizzling through the edge of his lips and down his chin. He took a moment to let the warmth soothe him, his eyes closing as he savored the taste. He knew it wasn’t much of a good meal: the oil and fat and salt was a decadent pleasure, one he’d had plenty of times before. Every Friday night his family had gone out for food, and he always treasured those times, even if the recollection was inevitably followed by pain. But that was then and this was now. In his dingy room littered with rat shit and the constant underpinning smell of dirt, sweat, and mildew, to have that all overwritten for even just a moment was heaven.

Swallowing, he looked to see the woman watching him, smiling lightly. “Fuck you.” She smiled and giggled into her food, which only pissed Leech off more. But he did have a question. “Did you just fucking get here? How is this food still hot?”

Cheek full, she replied, “I can make fire with my brain.” She nodded to the edge of the room where a couple cockroaches had curled up, roasted to death. “I’ve been scaring off the rats too.”

“Just fucking kill them.”

The lady got awkward. “I know they’re just pests but, like, it’s different with mammals. I remember when I first discovered that power and I was just lighting little fires and putting them out. I did it to a cat and the cry it let out still haunts me too this day.”

Leech’s jaw dropped. “You lit a cat on fire?!”

“No! I mean it got a little singed, it was just a little spark! I put it out as it ran away, I’m sure it was fine!”

“Literal sociopath.”

She huffed at his remark, burying her face in her food. After she swallowed, she admitted, “I know your story. It was an accident. It happened when I read your mind last week.” Leech felt his skin crawl. “I try to keep from going any deeper than surface thoughts. I can tune them out, or even quash them pretty heavily if I focus, but back then I was pretty desperate. I’m sorry.”

Leech felt his eye twitch. “Be sorry then.”

“Have you ever thought about trying to find your parents?”

“Nope.” He said firmly, hiding the lie behind a wall of disdain. Of course I have you stupid bitch. He’d imagined ideal senarios that wouldn’t come true, because if they’d been possible he’d have never been abandoned in the first place. He imagined the worst cases. He imagined finding them dead, killing them himself, finding that he had a new younger sibling, one who hadn’t been cursed with the X-gene like himself. He’d wondered if they did have another kid only to abandon it when it turned out to develop an inescapable mutation. If he had someone else like him, maybe he didn’t have to be alone. He looked up to the woman, the only human he’d really talked to in what felt like a lifetime and realized that’s exactly what she wanted, the mind reading cunt. “You really think anything would change even if I found them?” He felt like spitting, but that’d waste the flavor.

“I think something has to change. I hate that this world is like this. I teach 4th grade and some of those kids are barely literate. Some of them are so terrified of going home and I can’t call Child Protective Services because without good evidence or timing I might only make it worse. The drug problem, the housing problem, the Key Bridge… God did you hear about Stark and Trask?” Fucking who? “War Machine? Sentinels? No?”

Leech sneered, “Just put on your cape and go fix everything.” He put his attention on his fries, his desire for warm food outweighing the fullness of his stomach.

She let out a long sigh. “I can fix some things. I was looking into shelters. If you don’t feel safe going to a youth homeless shelter, there’s an LGBTQ+ shelter that might be safe. I can talk with the owner on your behalf if you want.” Leech visible cringed. It was like worms were running down his spine. The woman glared at him. “Really? You’re in a position to be a bigot? It’s not like there are any mutant shelters around here. People prefer to act like they don’t exist.”

“Yeah, I fucking know that dumbfuck.” She winced, running the back of her wrist on her forehead. “This is the best I can get, right here.”

“Good enough to shoot up a school over?”

Leech felt his insides roiling. For all the anger he could muster when he worked himself up, he did realize that in this moment he was able to relax. He hated to admit that. Crumpling up his paper and shiny wrapper with the last tidbits of his food, he sneered, “Food’s gone, talk’s over: get out.”

She took the last bite of her burger, her fries still on hand. Swallowing, she said, “Just...can you please try? Just give it a shot? Even if it doesn’t go perfectly it’s better to try.”

“Easy for you to say, Supercunt.”

She closed her eyes, before scooping up her food and heading out. Stopping in front of him, she calmed herself before saying, “My name’s Jean.” She left. Leech fumbled into a seated position, clicked off the lanturn, his anger not calming. In fact it only seemed to get worse as he ran through everything he’d said. Even his gross, flat, green nose could still smell, and the grime still remained, the food largely reminding him that there were other things in the wider world for his senses to enjoy than what he’d settled for here.

---

Outside, Jean had floated a ways away, finding the rooftop of a closed shop, situating herself in a spot guarded from the wind before finishing off the rest of her meal. Brushing against her jacket pockets carrying a couple doses of naloxone, her mind raced with possibility as she considered the endless problems with a city as impoverished as Baltimore, so much well beyond what someone with a cape could solve. But she could solve some. Despite talking up her goal to Scott, she was still waiting for the day she’d put on her costume and go into action. Sure, she was constantly busy with work and child rearing and domestic duties and trying to help ‘Leech’, but when was she going to make her debut? Was there just going to be a convenient fire or accident or supervillain attack for her to swoop in and help with? Was she just going to wait forever for the ‘best opportunity’ until her goal became a shameful, embarrassing memory she never acted upon? There was a lot to be afraid of. She’d never really been one for violence, and had no idea how she’d respond to a gun pointed at her. She’d never tested the limits of her powers. They only had so many savings, so if her exploits lost them one of both of their jobs they were going to be in a bad place. But her own words echoed back at her, rebounding in her head during her flight home.