Science Fiction HEROES: Tales to Astonish

Thor Odinson
Wayne Manor

By the Elder Gods, but it felt good to be back. Truthfully, Thor enjoyed his identity as James of Clan Olsen - enough so that it occurred to him he should resume it once this fight was ended - but after five years of dormancy, he felt filled to the bursting with pent-up energy. And what better means of expending that excess than on the agents of HYDRA?

Well, perhaps a battle with half a dozen frost giants. Still, this worked in a pinch.

"Thy willingness to improvise is most commendable!" he remarked, smacking one agent with Mjölnir. "Were't thou faced with a lesser opponent, perhaps it would be possible for such tactics to triumph - but I am afraid you stand little chance against the God of Thunder!" A resounding punch sent a second HYDRA agent careening across the room into a third while a well-placed throw sent the gun of a fourth smack into the face of a fifth. He was vaguely aware that several of their blows were, in fact, connecting, but it took exceptional force to harm an immortal, and certainly much more than any of these henchmen seemed to possess.

More combatants were joining the fray - students of Xavier's, no doubt, and even Magneto, the Master of Magnetism, was fighting alongside the forces of good. "Mighty Thor disappears for five years and suddenly all allegiances are altered. Will Midgard's wonders never - thou shalt not interrupt the God of Thunder!" A sixth HYDRA agent dropped to the ground after a solid whack to the head. "Not a courteous fiend to be had amongst the lot of them."

Overhead flew a refreshingly familiar sight - the Superman himself! James of Clan Olsen, being of the City of Metropolis, was quite familiar with his exploits, and consequently Thor, too, had much respect for the hero. He was about to hail the flier when Superman called out.

"I'll get two, you get the other two!"

There! In the distance, four falling bodies. Well, such a retrieval was well within the Thunder God's capabilities, and he began to spin his enchanted hammer - faster, faster, faster still! - until at last he relinquished it, grasping the handle as it began to lift away. The hammer's magic did the rest, and within fractions of a second Thor was flying through the air, directly en route to catch the twin figures. "Fear not!" he declared, as he grasped the two, "The God of Thunder has never lost a charge, and he does not intend to change that now!"

TAG: Penguinator Reynar_Tedros

 

The Print and Press Coffee Shop, NYC

Rogers' smile finally left his face. "All due respect, Mr. Luthor, I'd advise against throwing stones in a glass house." He turned to address both men. "We can all walk away from this. I can't let you leave with this guy, Dr. Banner."

Steve wasn't really sure how this was going to play out, but he had an ace up his sleeve - two of them, actually - but didn't want to play it too early. There was still a diplomatic way out of this, and still a way for them to get Bruce Banner into protective custody.

When Fury had approached him with the news, he'd been apprehensive; their intel was murky at best, but it was all they had. Someone wanted Bruce Banner, or more accurately, the Hulk, and they wanted him bad.

And that someone wasn't Lex Luthor. Something else was at play here, but Luthor's plans were clearly for his own advancement. That gave him a weakness. He had a reputation.

"We wouldn't want you to lose face, Lex."

TAG: Amatsu Mikaboshi Yuul_Shamar

 

Edward Nygma
Penthouse Suite

Stravinsky continued to play on the speakers.



"Well, Mr. Wyngarde, I must admit that is a rather fascinating little proposition you have going here. You essentially expect me to believe that on the same night as a rather major occasion at Wayne Manor, on behalf of a leading mutant rights advocate who is in fact a telepath in his own right, where there were multiple disguised HYDRA agents were in attendance, I coincidentally get pulled away by the Gotham police about, oh, two hours and fifteen minutes prior to their launching an attack if I have my numbers right, whereupon I am hauled in for questioning for a crime I obviously did not commit that has all the marks of a setup by you - specifically you, I might add - so that I can travel back to my apartment, which three men have already broken into, just to be given a code that even that ignoramus Kuttler - oh, sorry, the Calculator because he hasn't been caught yet and he's such a mysterious figure in the Gotham criminal circles - could figure out in about three hours just given the fact that it fits on a 16 gigabyte thumb drive, and then everything will be completely hunky dory for me? Yes, was that it?"

Edward Nygma sipped his Scotch. "Oh, no, my mistake, two men, because I certainly can only see you and Mr. Cain. How laughably presumptuous of me. Three men necessary to kill the Riddler. There's a good laugh. Why, I'm pretty sure there's one fellow in Gotham who could probably take out every person in this room, but given the very convenient timing of this meeting I'm sure he's unfortunately indisposed."

He wagged an index finger. "So it's fairly obvious this isn't the liminal goal of turning me over to the big rodent in the sky. No, this..." Edward rocked back and forth on his heels. "This is a bit more nuanced than that. An elaborate snare. You do actually want this code here broken, but you want me to do it so that in the few hours it takes me, someone or something can move against me. Bye-bye Eddie Nygma. 'Wall Street Mogul Killed in Mysterious Break-In; Police Baffled.' Good headline. Yes.

"You will have, of course, disabled the private surveillance feed in this suite well before my arrival, perhaps even a few nights ago since you've clearly been planning this maneuver for some time more or less of necessity. An elaborate steady loop hacked into the feed, most likely, good enough to evade my security protocols. Which is sort of a tremendous blow to my own personal pride but, ah, I'll get over it. Cane's probably already been hit as well, most likely just reduced to non-functional status. Explosion would be more direct but this requires a more personal touch on behalf of your employer, hence why he sent three or more men after me.

"Ah, heh, sorry, two men. Yes. It must just get to my ego the whole only two men thing. Certainly very competent men but still just two men. Of course the next question becomes who, exactly, hires two men to perform a very sophisticated hit on E. Nygma? Street thugs would often as not suffice, possible metahuman intelligence excepted subject possesses no known super-abilities, I suspect the dossier read. Narrow it down to the list of organizations that would want me dead and I'm left with the Thorne family, who could not afford you, the Fisk organization, who would not be concerned with the eye in the sky, LexCorp, which would probably want to keep pouring the money into financing a kryptonite bomb, Russia, although this isn't Putin's style, and a few others I don't want to rule out just yet.

"The question then becomes that after rattling off all of this, are you going to shoot me now? If so you're stuck going to Kuttler who, I suspect, is a risk for possible misinterpretation of some of the class 8 security algorithms the eye in the sky is so fond of, to say nothing of the class 9 and the ever-elusive B level access, and from there the list drops off. Which means that I have about an hour wherein I will also be working on the code to figure out how to outmaneuver three individuals, possibly not all human, sent by god knows whom.

"Sorry, sorry, two men. The bit about not knowing who sent you is genuine, though, for all I know you came pouring out of the top of 2 Corinthians 11:14. So I suspect I'm game. Are we all game?"

TAG: Penguinator

 

Wayne Manor

"Get off me!"

One of the Batmen shook free of Thor's grasp; the other politely disentangled himself and hovered calmly in the air. Thor noticed the armoured nature of the suit the man wore - it looked vaguely like one of Anthony Stark's Hulkbuster variants by way of Batman himself. The HYDRA troops were breaking off, and Xavier's people were gathering on the ground below.

The other Batman was far smaller than the first, but his suit was streamlined, jetblack save for the insignia on his chest and the white slits he had for eyes. They both hovered in place.

The armoured Batman spoke first. "Thor. Well-met. I'm the Iron Bat. I suggest we land and speak about this-" J'onn's telepathic link was filled with their Batman's voice. <Ground. Now.>

Superman heard the command, recognized the tone and voice as Bruce. His wards were in shock still - a young woman and a young man - but seemed to be handling the situation well.

The girl spoke first. "We were - why were we falling? Steve? Why were we falling?"

"I don't know! This is like...cosmic stuff, I ******* hate cosmic stuff, I hate-" Steve seemed to realize who it was that had saved him, and his face reddened. "Oh, crap, sorry sir, I mean - I know you don't - language, and...yeah, sorry..."

As they landed, it became apparent that Xavier's people were staring at them. Batman too - their Batman - and he had clearly finished speaking to Xavier and Lensherr. Robin stood, arms crossed, a scowl on his face. "Tt. More pretenders?"

The Iron Bat's gaze seemed to linger on Robin, but before anyone could speak, Batman was taking control of the situation. "We're beaming directly to the Watchtower. Xavier and his people are coming with us, as is Mr. Lensherr."

Summers frowned. "Wait, what about the guests? Wayne's house?"

Batman shook his head. "Wayne's a friend of the Justice League. It's taken care of. J'onn?"

Steven frowned. "Wait, are we teleporting-"

With a crack, they vanished and reappeared in a vast room in the Justice League's Watchtower. Gleaming metal surfaces, massive viewports, and Justice League recruits and volunteers met them.

"-again? Okay, never getting used to that."

Tony Stark strode up, waving down the guards who had levelled their weapons. "Thor! Good to see you again, big guy! And you've brought company!"

Batman glowered. Robin imitated. "Stark - talk to Xavier and his people. We need to sort things out with them."

Stark stopped in mid-stride. "Why are there three Batmen? And why is one wearing - is the a Hulkbuster? My god, what've you done with-"

"NOW."

"All right, all right - aren't they involved in this?"

Summers spoke up. "You've just abducted us to your crazy space station orbiting the planet. I think we're owed some answers."

Tag: Ramza Reynar_Tedros

 

Penthouse Suite

It struck Edward Nygma that the smile on Wyngarde's face wasn't one of smug superiority or simply an affable gesture, but rather one of total commitment to a cause. Wyngarde's smile was that of a fanatic doing work for The Cause, of one fully indoctrinated.

"Two men, Edward?"

Wyngarde snapped his fingers.

There were ten blades pointed at Nygma, dangerously close and all in proximity to very soft and life-supporting areas on the body. Ten red-clad men - ninjas, of all things - bore the blades in dangerous proximity to Nygma's person, their eyes shadowed from their hoods and masks.

"I'm sure you're familiar with the Hand." The smile was still there. "Though I suppose the real question is whether these gentlemen are actually real or not, eh? Perils of dealing with an illusionist of my capabilities, I'm afraid. Rest assured, Edward, you'll be handsomely rewarded. My employer is not one to forget a favour. Are you game?"

Tag: Ramza

 

Edward Nygma
Penthouse Suite

Edward Nygma flashed a mischievous grin. "My dear Mr. Wyngarde, have my intentions on the matter not been made apparent? I'd be absolutely delighted. And, well, considering your predilection for multisensory illusions I doubt very much that it would matter to me if these... colorful cutlery enthusiasts... were real or not. The practical effects of being utterly convinced my internal organs have ruptured and my demise is imminent are not so different than the actual practice of having my internal organs ruptured. More capable neuroscientists than myself might actually be able to draw conclusions on death via the highly persuasive appearance of death, to say nothing on what I'm sure would be the vast tomes of philosophical ravings on the subject, but, well, I'm not keen on knifes in any capacity.

"Of course the better question to ask would be: of what use to you is a dead Riddler? Because, you see, there's a slight detail I have neglected to mention in the course of these... how would you term them? 'Negotiations'? It's rather an interesting one and I'm surprised you haven't chanced upon it considering the four or twenty four eyes that have been on me this entire time. Then again, I suppose only one of us is arrogant enough to claim the title of King of Conundrums, and I suspect only one of us has the deductive skill to back such a crown up.

"You see, one of the various benefits of my tremendous intellect is that I have a nearly photographic memory and, in particular, it's exceptionally difficult for me to forget a particularly intriguing enigma. It's a curse, almost, an obsession. A drive, if you will. A compulsion, if you're overly generous with the turn of phrase. It's part of what the police have never been able to figure out about my criminal activities - I don't have to leave clues. I want to leave clues. It's all a very fun, very interesting game, with a few powerful pieces lording over a host of pawns. Anyway, because of this obsession of mine, there is one thing I absolutely never, ever do.

"Leave notes, Mr. Wyngarde. I never leave notes. It's all up here. ... I would tap my forehead at this point but I'm surrounded by knives. And for all your sensory masterwork, Mr. Wyngarde, you are not a proper telepath. I know this because I am actually thinking of the solution to the encryption problem you put on my counter. I've been thinking of it ever since you pulled it out of your coat. Tell me something, Jason, did you ever wonder how I knew about three previously nonexistent encryption gates in the coding? How I was familiar with the problem posed by the B level - a level I suspect you're not yet aware of? Why the Riddler, gentleman thief, has been inactive for over a week when a perfectly good collection of Braques is on display, ripe for the taking?

"See, it's like a riddle. Question: when is a puzzle not a puzzle?"

The strike.

"When it's been solved."

TAG: Penguinator

 

Superman
The Watchtower

Superman stood in the capacious area of the Watchtower observing the new arrivals, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't like this.

"You've just abducted us to your crazy space station orbiting the planet," the girl spoke. "I think we're owed some answers."

Superman chimed in before anyone else. "Transporting you onto this station shows an enormous amount of trust on our part." He subtly cocked an eyebrow at Wayne. This was unlike him. Not only had they brought the skydivers, two of whom were adorned as technically advanced Batmen, but also present was Erik Lensherr, a man with questionable motives alongside a not-so-peaceful history and whose abilities could tear the Watchtower in two if he willed it. No, Superman didn't agree with this at all, and he would make it known to his colleagues soon enough. But showing division at the moment wouldn't be a smart move. He looked back at the girl. "We will get to the bottom of this. But first, I'm curious. Where are you and your companions from? Why were you... falling from the sky?"

Tag: Penguinator, Ramza

 

Deadpool
Westchester, NY

“Baada dum dum dum. Another one bites the dust.”

Pool’s gun barrel barked in time with the beat.

“And another one gone, Another one bites the dust.”

One of the enemy mercs had dropped his weapons and started to flee, scrambling out of the carnage that uses to be his fire team. The motion caught Pool’s attention, and he tracked his gun up to take advantage.

“Hey, I’m gonna get you too. Another one bites the dus… TWANG!”

Pool’s gun kicked sideways, spinning the Merc to the side.

"Twang? Guns don't go twang. They go BANG!."

Wade snapped his head towards the origin of the shot that had taken out his favorite sidearm. A figure stood there, holding a rifle.

Slade.

“Hey! That was my favorite gun! How would you feel if I were to break your toys…” Wade paused and looked around at the decimated fire team.

“Alright. I admit it. That was a bad analogy. But…”

A second fire team, which had approached quickly, opened fire even as the remains of the first team were starting to stir. Pool drew his katana and made quick work of the few soldiers left in the first team as he ran for cover. He scooped up one of the deceased mercs from the first team and held him as a shield as he scuttled for the rusted remains of a farm implement.

Rounds ricocheted off the thresher as Wade dove behind it. It was time to blow this taco stand. As the thresher shuddered from the impacts of incoming fire, Wade fiddled with his transporter module.

**

The flash of the transporter was visible from behind the thresher. The advancing fire team stopped and prepared for an assault from within as Pool had done before.
But Pool hadn’t appeared amongst them with guns blazing. What had appeared was the body of the soldier that Pool had used as a shield. It hadn’t appeared in the flash of a transporter but had fallen from above. It had hit the empty ground in the middle of their formation like a sack of potatoes… not potatoes, thought Private Jenkins, Grenades. Jenkins tried to shout the warning.

“Grena.." BOOOOOOOM!

**

Wade felt the detonation as he completed his jump. He had teleported himself and the body one hundred feet into the air above the second group. Then had pushed off the body, sending it plummeting straight down with its deadly payload and arcing himself towards the lone figure that was advancing.

He slammed into the soft earthen field, turning the momentum into a roll to spread the force of it out. It still hurt though. Pain shot up through his knees and he felt like he had been hit with a bat.

Wade smoothly turned the roll into a forward walk as his healing factor took care of the minor fall damage in a matter of moments. He sauntered towards the man that had ripped off his identity…

Wait. Scratch that and reverse it.

He sauntered towards the man whose Identity he ripped off…

No that’s not right either.

Deadpool stopped for a moment and cocked his head to the side. He was only a hundred feet from Slade.

“Wait. What are we fighting about again?”

Tag: Penguinator

 

IC: Bruce Banner
Coffee Shop, New York City

It didn't take a genius to know that this wasn't going well. This was exactly the kind of situation that Bruce had tried to avoid for the past several years, and yet here he was, smack dab in the middle of it yet again.

Before things could escalate further Bruce interjected, "Lex, wait." He sounded completely defeated as he looked to Captain Roger. "I am not a criminal." His voice was soft, filled with pain and regret. "That thing, the Hulk, it isn't me."

Bruce looked down at his half empty cup of tea, by now too cold to drink, and adjusted his glasses. "If I go with you, can you guarantee that I will be given fair representation by lawyers of my own choosing? The best legal team that LexCorp can muster?" He looked to Lex to ensure that he understood that his preference was to work for LexCorp and if his release could be secured he would do just that, but no part of Bruce wanted to be considered a fugitive or a willing criminal. It was bad enough that the Hulk was a creature of his creation, even worse a part of his repressed and fractured psyche.

He would not willingly break the law and prove everyone right about Dr. Bruce Banner, he was not the monster they accused him of being.

Tag: Penguinator Yuul_Shamar

 

The Watchtower

Stark pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm kind of in the middle of something big at my workshop, so...okay, let's go around, do some introductions, get this done. I'm Tony Stark, I'm Iron Man, this is all public knowledge, there's an interview with me in the next Rolling Stone..."

He motioned for the others to continue.

The young woman hesitated before speaking. "I'm, uh, Marvel Girl..." Her eyes flitted to Scott Summers face, but she quickly looked away. Xavier's people were visibly confused and interested in this, but with a look from the professor, they seemed to choose silence for the moment. The young man spoke up next.

"My name's Steven, I don't really have a codename yet, but a lot of folks just call me Steve. Or Rasputin, whatever."

This too was met with incredulous and confused looks from Xavier's people.

Steven blinked. "What?"

The next to speak was the Batman clad entirely in black. "I'm Batman." Robin glared at him. The Batman pressed something on his wrist and the suit's mask folded back, revealing a youthful face that bore a sheepish expression. "Though I guess with the real deal here, you can call me Terry. Terry McGinnis."

The Iron Bat's helmet pulled back revealing a weather-beaten face. "The Iron Bat. Yes, Stark, based on your tech."

Robin stared for a very long moment at the Iron Bat's face. "I know you. I know you."

The Iron Bat grinned humourlessly. "Tt, and I know you, boy, better than you know yourself."

Scott Summer spoke up at last. "Okay, seriously, what is going on? This is-"

"Scott," interjected Xavier, "please. Let's not be rude. Things will make a lot more sense soon enough, I assure you. As for us," he continued, addressing those assembled, "my name is Professor Charles Xavier. I am a mutant, and these are my students - my family. Mr. Scott Summers, Ms. Emma Frost, and Mr. Kuan-Yin Xorn."

They nodded in turn. As if on cue, all the guards that had assembled began to disperse. J'onn J'onzz spoke up, stepping forward in his natural Martian appearance, green-skinned and clad in a blue outfit. "Do not worry. They've been given telepathic instructions by myself and Professor Xavier to return to their duties and give us some privacy. We need a big gesture here."

Batman frowned. "You're right. Superman, I'm sorry, but this is something that needs doing. We can't move forwards without trust. Thor, are you with us?"

Tag: Reynar_Tedros Ramza

 

Name: Nightwing/ Richard John "Dick" Grayson
Age: 25
Abilities:
Peak Athletic Strength including incredible speed and agility
Expert crime fighter
master martial artist mastering dozens of fighting styles, including Eskrima, Aikido, Savate, Muay Thai, Boxing, Capoeira, Kendo, Tae Kwon Do, Jeet Kune Do, Bojutsu, Hapkido, Ninjitsu, Tai Chi, Jujitsu, Judo, Kenpo, Wing Chun, Krav Maga, and Kobubudo
Brilliant tactician and strong leader
Equipment:
Costume: Protection against damage, made of Nomex fire-proof, triple-weaved material that has been lined with Kevlar and is also insulated against electricity, and light sensitive, darkening when there is more light in the area
Mask: built-in radio transmitter/receiver and night-vision lenses
Gantlets: various compartments for storing sonic or smoke pellets, modified batarangs (Wing-Dings), knockout gas capsules, and tracers also they have built in self-destruct capabilities in case of tampering and a stun gun.
Boots: flares, a re-breather , a mini-computer equipped with fax, modem, GPS and a mini-disk rewritable drive. Also items like lock picks, a first-aid kit, a mini-cellphone, flexi-cuffs, antitoxin assortment, brass knuckles, signal flares, wireless listening devices ,and a small halogen flashlight. These also have a built in self-destruct capability
His preferred weapons are two shatterproof polymer Eskrima sticks.
Transportation: Nightwing has a transformable car which has a convertible chassis that can disguise itself. It houses a racing engine, automatic transmission with all-wheel drive, dual batteries and puncture resistant tires. The car is not only bullet proof but also bullet absorbent.
Appearance:
Bio: Robin was adopted by Bruce Wayne after his parent’s were killed in accident that turned out to more and in fact a setup. He was robin for many years until he was eighteen. Then he and batman had falling out and he went solo after a lot of searching and talking to Superman he picked the name Nightwing. Bruce asked dick to briefly fill in for him as batman after a serious injury. After this, Dick went back to being Nightwing.

 

Thor Odinson
The Watchtower

For a brief moment, Thor had thought he had been summoned away by his lord Father. The teleportation technology employed by the League was, at least in part, based on the energy signatures given off by the mystic uru hammer Mjölnir when it was used as a gateway to Bifrost, the rainbow bridge that led to the gates of Asgard, and the core concepts were so similar that the Thunder God could rarely tell them apart at first. Of course, once they had reached their destination, they were quite plainly not in Asgard, and that settled the matter.

The Watchtower had obviously undergone some upgrades in his prolonged (by mortal standards) absence, no doubt the result of the inexorable march of human ingenuity. Still, it was still, on some level, the same facility, and that meant it carried with it many memories for the Odinson.

Not all of them pleasant.

"Thor! Good to see you again, big guy! And you've brought company!"

"Hail, Anthony! It hath been too long since last we met, methinks."

He had much to say with several of the other League members, but it would have to wait - for now there was the matter of the accompanying parties. Parties which included Charles Xavier, recently revealed to be a mutant, and, more troublingly, Erik Lensherr, a man Thor himself had done battle with some years back. Their struggle had ultimately ended in a draw when the mutant's volcanic lair had begun to erupt, forcing the Thunder God to reroute his attentions to saving the surrounding villages. And even if the man had reformed, Thor knew that someday, eventually, they were going to have to settle that account once and for all.

Not this day, however. "Thor, are you with us?"

"I confess much of the nature of the current proceedings confounds me, Bat-man, but what assistance Thor Odinson can provide, he shall give. As for whether this course be right, mine long absence hath, methinks, rendered me 'ineligible to vote,' as Steven was always fond of phrasing it."

TAG: Reynar_Tedros Penguinator

 

Bart Allen
The Flash
New York

They were wasting time. Bart was aware that not everyone was as quick as he was, but this Casey fellow was ridiculous. He wasn’t putting it together fast enough. Bart would have to expedite the process. Casey took off at a sprint, yelling behind him, "Do yourself a favor and find a new hobby!"

Bart sighed. This was definitely not his most glorious big reveal. Before Casey had gone three steps down the alley, Bart was in front of him again. He held his arm out and said, “This isn’t a hobby. This is my job. My name is Flash. The League sent me to find those robbers you were after. Now, you can help, by telling me where you last saw them, or you can continue to make an ass of yourself and I’ll just find them alone.”

Tag: HanSolo29

 

The Watchtower

Batman sighed and crossed his arms. "All right. By now some of you have figured a few things out. Your reactions - and ours - were clear, no matter how well you attempted to disguise them. Marvel Girl's name, for instance, not to mention Steven Rasputin's. Both these things meant something to you and yours, Professor."

Xavier nodded. Lensherr sighed and spoke up. "Obviously. Aren't you the world's greatest detective?"

Ignoring the jibe, the dark knight continued. "Robin knows the Iron Bat but cannot place him; I can." He turned to face the pair: a man clad in black armour and a young boy in red, almost polar opposites, yet with something similar in the way they held themselves. "This...this is something I'd expect from myself. You've outdone yourself."

The Iron Bat smiled, the gesture seeming out of place on his weathered features. "High praise from you."

Batman grunted. "Hh. Well then, introductions are in order. Our guests - the Iron Bat, the Batman, Marvel Girl and Rasputin - aren't from this time."

A grin spread on Lensherr's face.

Batman allowed himself a brief smile. "The Iron Bat is Robin. Whatever's brought them back here - it's big."

Tag: Ramza Reynar_Tedros

 

IC: Lex Luthor
Print and Press Coffee Shop, NYC

He had hardly had time to reply to the Captain Rogers' pointed statement before the doctor spoke up, asking him to wait while the man asked some question of the old soldier. Questions which may or may not have caused to himself to carry an ear to ear grin that just screamed satisfaction. Internally, at least. He would never allow such a thing to show on his real face unless it was rather advantageous, and in this situation it was not. Instead the billionaire adopted a disappointed expression, with just enough hints at it being oriented at Rogers as opposed to Dr. Banner so as to avoid confusion, for a brief yet too long moment before it vanished. Vanished in the wake of a too sure of himself smirk directed to his opponent at this table, the same person who interrupted what had very nearly been a quick victory for his plans.

He pondered for a moment, less than a few seconds to the others though it felt longer to him, exactly what SHIELD's, at least he assumed it was the organization in question, given the information he had on Rogers from his sources, goals were here. Given the tells that the captain was giving off, combined with the conversation thus far, they had not been anticipating his approaching of Dr. Banner. And if they were not here to prevent Dr. Banner, or more notably, the Hulk, from falling right into his hands, than they were more than likely here to do just that, but with someone other than Luthor in mind. Who else was seeking the Hulk, or perhaps the doctor, though he doubted that, for their own goals? Curious indeed. Some compensation would need to be allotted into the planned scenarios for this. In the mean time though...

Lex caught Dr. Banner's look and easily pieced together its meaning. Good, he held the man's preferred choice, and SHIELD would know it. How to proceed? A contemplative look set itself into place, as if he were taking time to consider it, even though he had already long since done so. A moment later it changed once more into that impression of limitless self confidence that had been known to force things his way without so much as a fight on more than one hostile takeover. "Very well, if this is indeed Dr. Banner's wish than I shall agree to it. Under the condition of course that he never need meet with one of your people without said legal representation unless he himself chooses to do so of course." Now that he thought of it, it would be easy enough to insert someone in his payroll, so to speak, in the legal team as an aide. Such a coup would go a long way into increasing his rather limited insight into this organization...

Properly angled, he could also raise quite the media storm about anything being done that went against the doctor's 'rights' or what the people believed they should be. He had done similar things before, many of which could never be proven to have originated from him if it were disadvantageous too be so. In this case it would be quite public should such an opening present itself. The left wing demographic that typically included animal rights activists, 'green' minded people, etc would be particularly vocal if he had it slanted his way.

Tag: Amatsu Mikaboshi, Penguinator

 

Westchester, NY

The explosion knocked Slade off his feet, but he was soon upright again.

"Wait," asked Deadpool, "what are we fighting about again?"

Slade grinned beneath his mask. "Distraction."

He reached for the transmitter at his belt and pressed a button on it.

"Just needed you in one spot long enough to get a lock on you."

BOOM



Everything went white. Deadpool blinked his eyes, adjusting. He was...somewhere. Somewhere metal, bright, pristine - sci-fi? - and oddly inviting. He wasn't alone. An observation window looked down on him some twenty feet in the air, spanning the length of the room and wrapping around it completely. Various technicians and watchers peered down at them, Deathstroke included.

Slade Wilson pulled off his mask and rubbed the patch covering his eye, grinning down at Deadpool.

"Boom tubes," he said, by way of explanation. "Programmed to disarm you and lock you up, along with your new room mate. You get to keep the masks, dumb as they are - not my call, but whatever. Deadpool, meet Nightwing, Nightwing, meet Deadpool. I'll most likely kill you both in the morning, but the bosses might want to break you down for a while first. Of course, I've already volunteered, especially with you, Wade - you're first up when the time comes."

Deathstroke walked away, laughing.

Unarmed, imprisoned, and with a strange man in a domino mask calling himself Nightwing.

Par for the course for Wade Wilson.

TAG: Splinterthemindseye_ Lukes_Apprentice

 

The Print and Press Coffee Shop, NYC

Rogers smiled. "If you ever need a legal team, you're more than welcome to choose who represents you. All I'm here to do is talk you into coming home."

This wasn't too far from the truth. Yes, he'd brought a team with him - his fledgling branch of the League, the Avengers - but the goal had never been abduction. Does Banner realize the danger he's put others in by showing up here?

The legal questions bothered him, too. Neither man had any idea why Steve was here - he had to bring in Banner, but they weren't aware of the why.

And that was truly frightening.

Rogers' brow furrowed. "Doc, I'm not trying to arrest you or pass judgement. There are men out there who want to use what you've got locked away inside you for something terrible." His eyes glanced at Luthor, and he regretted it. Luthor was as much in the dark as everyone else, or at least, he hoped he was.

TAG: Amatsu Mikaboshi Yuul_Shamar

 

The Watchtower

Summers frowned.

"What the hell does that mean?"

The Iron Bat and Robin reacted first. "Tt."

Batman continued to frown. "It means they've come back to fix something that's gone wrong."

McGinnis spoke up. "Minovsky particles, electromagnetic fields going off the charts - some sort of disruption, I dunno, ask - uh, Future Stark. Not this one. And the name Lensherr - whoever that is."

"I resent that," said Stark.

Erik Lensherr scowled. "Not as much as I do."

All eyes rested on the Master of Magnetism.

The Iron Bat spoke up. "We had odd readings on our Watchtower. A massive disturbance affecting the temporal plane. Those of us old enough to remember Magneto recognized the profound effect his powerset has on matter; the readings might as well bear a signature, on our equipment. It was off the charts. The creation of some sort of singularity, with the source point originating some time in 2020. The problem is, we can't figure out what it's doing, what the purpose is. None of us can remember this happening."

Lensherr frowned. "So you jumped in your time machine and came back to stop me, with no regard for the current state of affairs."

Marvel Girl shook her head. "No, it's not - look, this isn't easy for any of us. Something big is happening, and clearly soon."

Batman grunted. "Hh. Why would HYDRA assault a charitable event at Wayne Manor if not to abduct a powerful, known mutant?"

Xavier answered. "An awful lot of trouble for one man - even if that man is Magneto. Whatever they're planning, we need to figure it out soon."

Tag: Ramza Reynar_Tedros

 

Odd Yet Inviting Scifi-ish Room
Location, Unk

Wade blinked the disorientation away and focused on his new surroundings. White, antiseptic, slightly hi-tech. Wade shuttered, the room reminded him too much of the Department K lab in which he was experimented on.
Wade shunted the bad memories aside and focused on the figure twenty feet up.

"Boom tubes," was Slade’s explanation of how he had gotten here. "Programmed to disarm you and lock you up, along with your new roommate…”

Wade glanced at the young man, probably in his twenties, that was in the room with him. His uniform was geared towards combat, probably close fighting with protection from small arms fire. His mask did a decent enough job of concealing his Identity but did not have a menacing aspect. Wade came to a single conclusion.

Vigilante… or an extra on the set of Siegfried and Roy.

“You get to keep the masks, dumb as they are - not my call, but whatever. Deadpool, meet Nightwing, Nightwing, meet Deadpool. I'll most likely kill you both in the morning, but the bosses might want to break you down for a while first. Of course, I've already volunteered, especially with you, Wade - you're first up when the time comes."

Wade spread his hands in invitation. “Anytime you feel froggy, toad for brains. And the next time you rip a line off of The Princess Bride I’m going to do more then call the brute squad.”

Slade walked away from the window, but Wade could hear the man laughing. Oh what he wouldn’t give to slide a katana across his throat and silence that laugh for eternity.

“Well kid, seems like we’re going to be roomies. I hope you don’t snore.”

Tag: Lukes_Apprentice, Penguinator

 

Superman
The Watchtower

If Superman's brow wasn't narrowed in thought before, it certainly was now. Kryptonian or not, the concept of time travel had a tendency to fry one's brain if pondered for too long.

At least they had Lensherr here. If he was the source of this... whatever it was the new arrivals spoke of, better him be here than back on Earth. Or in the hands of HYDRA, which is what everyone seemed to conclude was their intention in the attack on Wayne Manor.

"Any suggestions on where to begin?" Superman asked Xavier.

Tag: Penguinator, Ramza

 

IC: Nightwing/ Dick Grayson
Location: Unknown

"Boom tubes," was Deeathstroke’s explanation of how he had gotten here. "Programmed to disarm you and lock you up, along with your new roommate…”

“You get to keep the masks, dumb as they are - not my call, but whatever. Deadpool, meet Nightwing, Nightwing, meet Deadpool. I'll most likely kill you both in the morning, but the bosses might want to break you down for a while first. Of course, I've already volunteered, especially with you, Wade - you're first up when the time comes."

Great this is peachy, thought Dick.

After observing Deathstroke leave he knew that this was no ordinary day and these people were willing to pay money to have him and Deadpool captured. They meant test their responses or so they said. However, the question remained who would do this? Dick could think of a few people and organizations, but none of them fit this mode of capture….

Wade spread his hands in invitation. “Anytime you feel froggy, toad for brains. And the next time you rip a line off of The Princess Bride I’m going to do more then call the brute squad.”

Slade walked away from the window, but Wade could hear the man laughing. Oh what he wouldn’t give to slide a katana across his throat and silence that laugh for eternity.

“Well kid, seems like we’re going to be roomies. I hope you don’t snore.”

Dick narrowed his eyes observing him and said,“Don’t worry I don’t snore and let me be clear I’m not kid, but I’m guessing both of us would like to get out this cage. I’m thinking though we should keep an eye on our captures.”

Dick smirked and said, “They think they have everything in hand, but they are making two mistakes putting us in the same cage and thinking those boom sticks they used rendered us completely helpless.”


Tag: Splinterthemindseye_,Penguinator

 

The Pillars of Creation

It was fitting that her journeys brought her to this place, so far from home. Forty-two trillion miles from the planet she was born on, she soared over the clouds of gas and dust making up the titanic pillars. These pillars could almost span the distance between her and Earth, and yet she had never truly grasped their size until this day. All the images she had seen had vastly underrepresented them. They were mythic, beautiful, dangerous.

"Death and rebirth, Jean." The voice came from within as much as without. It was his voice in her ears and mind; he was her guide, her friend, her constant companion. "Figure this is exactly that. More or less."

She shivered, smiling at his words - death and rebirth. Like her - like the Phoenix.

The power of the Phoenix Force surged about her at the thought. There was something here, some connection she was tapping into.

She stopped, floating far above the pillars. He joined her.

They made for two interesting figures - her clothes green and gold, an aura of flame protecting her from the vacuum, he in a blue and gold uniform with a helmet to match. Neither spoke for a moment.

She broke the silence. "It's beautiful, Richard."

Below the helmet, he smiled. "I try. Thought you'd like it."

Their hands locked together. For a moment, all was right in the universe.

"Rich, we...you know I have to go. Who else is going to warn them, to help them?"

He sighed. "Yeah, Jean, I know. I just - I know you haven't been back to Earth in five years, Jean, and I know you left a lot behind."

She turned to him, pulling him close. "I won't leave you behind."

"I know. And I know we have to do this. There's no question about it. The Apokolips Fleet cannot take Earth."

 

Bruce Banner
The Print and Press Coffee Shop, NYC

Rogers' brow furrowed. "Doc, I'm not trying to arrest you or pass judgement. There are men out there who want to use what you've got locked away inside you for something terrible." He said as he glanced at Luthor.

Bruce sat back in his chair and relaxed just a bit, "Captain, I have been avoiding people who want to use the Hulk ever since his creation." He smiled just a bit, "It should be no surprise to you that most of the time it was our own government." His eyes remained locked with the Captain's for a few more moments.

Bruce stood up from his chair, "Nobody wants the Hulk gone more than me, that is why I must continue my research." Bruce looked away from the Captain and to Lex, "It sounds like the Captain is giving me a choice, I believe it is time for us to leave Mr. Luthor."

Tag: Yuul_Shamar Penguinator

 

The Watchtower

Xavier's frown didn't fill the man of steel with confidence. "Perhaps tracking down whoever sent HYDRA after us. And learning why."

Summers spoke up. "Why would they want us in the first place?"

An alarm sounded. Batman continued to frown. "This will have to wait. We're needed elsewhere."

They glanced at the screens nearby. Cairo was under siege - the belligerent was none other than Black Adam.

Stark threw up his hands in dismay. "Fantastic. Look, why don't you big guns go sort this out - Thor, uh, Superman - Batman and I will work on sorting out...whatever is going on here."

Tag: @Ramza Reynar_Tedros

 

The Print and Press Coffee Shop

Rogers grimaced.

"Your research won't be going anywhere with Mr. Luthor, all due respect."

He let that sink in for a moment.

"Your accident - the gamma exposure - a tragic byproduct of the covert military program you were working on. The goal was to recreate the Erskine/Reinstein formula and its effects. Sounds familiar, right?"

He smiled. Fury is gonna kill me for telling him this much. It's that or let Banner into Luthor's hands, though.

"You were trying to recreate me. Project Rebirth - that should ring a bell or two - the Super Soldier Serum."

Tag: Mikaboshi Yuul_Shamar