Science Fiction EXCELSIOR! Issue #2: AS A JUDGEMENT

Tabby Smith
????

Tabby blinked and moaned as the harsh white light roused her. She had woken up in some weird places in her time, but at least usually she had some small idea of how she'd gotten there or roughly where she was.

Somewhere off to her left, two people were having some kind of conversation in really annoying voices. Tabby moved to cover her eyes or ears, anything to alleviate the headache that was already forming at the front of her skull, but was stopped short by the metal bars on her wrists. Further investigation revealed similar restraints on her midsection and ankles, too.

"Oh, ****." Tabby sighed. "This better not be Magneto."

The X-Men had warned her about Magneto.

"SUBJECT DESIGNATES BETA, GAMMA, DELTA, EPSILON, ZETA, TYPE HOMO SAPIEN MODIFIED, ARE ALERT. SUBJECT DESIGNATES WILL STATE NAMES."

Tabby squinted. "Is that you, Aaron?"

No, wait, her robot acquaintance didn't wear a cowl. Oh well, the answer was going to be the same regardless.

"Bite me, robot-face."

[TAG ramza, others]

 

Iron Bat

Gotham City

"JARVIS, power up." Bruce got up from the table, drawing a finger across his upper lip where the carrot/celery blend had left a short line of moisture. A snarl from across his shoulders reminded him of the fact his muscle strain there hadn't fully healed, but hopefully it wouldn't come to mano-a-mano without the Iron Bat's compensators.
"Certainly, sir." The AI's formal voice echoed through Wayne Manor's dining hall. "Shall I have SX-9 turn down the sheets in your bed?"
"That has already been done, Master Bruce," said Alfred, smoothly, though his brow had furrowed; a little of Pennyworth's Cockney accent came through behind it. "And if I might remind you, sir, the last time that bloody droid tried to make a bed it took me three hours to remove the oilstains."
"That would match my recording for the period of time taken for you to produce last Friday's duck l'orange, Master Pennyworth."
"Negative, JARVIS," said Bruce, forestalling the flush that went over Alfred's face with a waved hand. "Power down servant programs for the night. Once the suit's at full readiness, go to hibernate and get some updates installed until I call you."
There was the faintest click from the speakers, which either might have been the sound of an artificial intelligence closing down its sensors and speakers in that part of the manor, or a digital tongue being tapped against the roof of one's virtual mouth.
"Alfred, have you finished off The Man in the Iron Mask yet?"
A slight pause. "No, sir. I'm afraid Porthos is in some dire straits at the moment."
"Go and tell me how it ends."
"Very good, sir." A few dignified steps, a door closing, and there was only Tony and Bruce.
"As for you--"
"What?" Tony had that same wide-eyed innocent look in his eyes he'd had when the two of them had blown up the (empty) stables following a short science experiment.
"You don't need to go baiting Alfred. He does his best."
"Me?"
"JARVIS's personality program's been altered. The inflections are spiked up."
"Come on, nobody can tell that from the audio profile."
"Tony--"
"Aw, whatever. All right. Christ, you're as bad as Pepper sometimes."
"Just as well you gave her a few days off, then."
"Yeah, figure if I didn't she'd resign."
"She has a gun, you know."
"Well, just as well I've got you around for that."
"Not a freeze ray. Not versatile enough. Guy walks around a corner and it's useless."
"What, you thinking about boomerangs again?"
"No. Weaponised, some sort of grenade form if you can engineer it. Happy to help if you're not up to it."
"All right, that's it. No more 'special movies' piped into the suit for you. I'm wiping the whole drive."
Bruce grinned in spite of himself, nodding at the bottle. "How many of those you planning on having?"
A slight glint of steel in Tony's expression. "Many as it takes. Why, you want to buy more roses for later on tonight?"

Silence.

The Iron Bat turned, striding for the concealed entrance down to the Cave. "Talk to you soon."

It was also a silent flight. As usual he took the circuitous route to try and throw off anyone interested as to his vector from Wayne Manor. Maybe ten minutes from the city's limits, he glided in, landing on the roof of the GCPD with a heavy clang. The suit powered up its harmoniser, as usual.
"Gentlemen."

TAG: ramza

 

IC: Sophy Vizzini, aka Pirate Indigo
Questioning question marks, ???

Well what could she say? She didn?t have a light over her bed at home, and the shape was all wrong for a hospital. Oh, no, had the big guy she had ?fallen asleep on? brought her home? If so her next question was why she couldn?t move her arms and who forgot to properly set the thermostat. Bits were freezing in here!

Oh, wait. The bits that were freezing were clamped in metal, that explained it. The fact that the bars seemed to have technology doo-dads implanted made her have to ask, ?All this tech and they couldn?t add a heater? What putz designed this thing??

Luckily she noted her clothing, why her attention was being guided this way she didn?t know. We do but should keep quiet so as not to tick off the narrator, nore Sophy.

Forth she noticed that others were present, hopefully they wouldn?t take offence to the comment. Then again they already were strapped down like her, so she doubted it. The green thing startled her, luckily it was a smaller green thing and was talking with something that needed voice lessons as bad as it did.

The other one with funny ears had a mouth on her, that was for certain. And if she wasn?t clamped down she would have given her cheek a little whack for precedents sake. That and how in the Sicilian moons were they supposed to even gage the age of the green thing, not to mention it looked like a minor was present. One of the biggest rules were not to chomp through the bit with kids present.

That and elders, and officially she qualified. As for the red and silvery thing, well she did give a flying monkey what was said to it. Especially after labeling her a subject, she had lived through that world war already and was not keen on the idea of being a subject again.

"SUBJECT DESIGNATES BETA, GAMMA, DELTA, EPSILON, ZETA, TYPE HOMO SAPIEN MODIFIED, ARE ALERT. SUBJECT DESIGNATES WILL STATE NAMES."

?Madame Yo?mom?ma.? She replied with a straight face whilst looking at the robot. She would of thrown in some gestures but the clamps kept that from happening.

TAG: Ktala, Peng, Dubya, Livi, Ramza

 

Mary Amuro
???, ??? - AKA..up the creek, screw the paddles...



There was an immense white light coming down from a ceiling. Was she dead? Last thing she remembered was running to hide from some tanks. If she had been knocked out..well, that would have been a different story. So what was this...?

"SUBJECTS HAVE BEEN ROUSED. HIGHER LEVEL BRAIN FUNCTION PROCESS RECORDING."

*Snort*

Well..she HOPED that wasnt heaven. She would hate to think that God talked like that! So what the..??!?! She attempted to move, and then when she noticed that the weight of her body was being held up by cold, metal bars about their wrists, ankles, and midsections. Man, that was highly uncomfortable. And rude too! So, military perhaps? Oh man, that was NOT good. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and then relaxed her body. She cracked open her eyes just barely, and noticed that she was not alone. She then began to worry about Pauly. Had he made it clear in time?!

Well, first things first. As she heard other bits of movement, and groans from some of the other people nearby, she began to concentrate. Normally, she was pretty much immune to all devices. Human ones at least. Time to see if that theory held up. It would be supid to go invisible still strapped in, so she concentrated on getting the device to ignore her. She was small and wirely, so perhaps she could slip free of this stupid metal binders. If she was really lucky, maybe they opened if they didnt detect anything.. One could always hope. The little electronic device on the bars looked like the thing to concentrate on fooling the most.

Thats when she heard a familiar voice. "Hrrrrr..." groaned the green man.

ooh. The martian man was there. Then came that first voice once more. "SUBJECT DESIGNATE ALPHA, TYPE SKRULL, IS ALERT. SUBJECT DESIGNATE ALPHA WILL STATE NAME."

Well...she didnt know much...but she understood what Alpha ment. And IT knew he was a .. Skrull? It asked him for his name once more, and he gave the name that Mary had heard once before... Kl'rt.

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. NO RECORD OF SUBJECT DESIGNATE KL'RT IN MEMORY BANKS. ARCHIVING. ARCHIVING."

Well, Mary thought it was a stupid computer. Stupid computers are easy to fool. Then she caught sight of what was really talking.

Wow. And Mary thought the green guy was strange. This was just getting better and better. Then IT spoke once more.

"SUBJECT DESIGNATES BETA, GAMMA, DELTA, EPSILON, ZETA, TYPE HOMO SAPIEN MODIFIED, ARE ALERT. SUBJECT DESIGNATES WILL STATE NAMES."

Wah? Did that thing just say Homo Sapien modified? As in mutants? All of them? She wondered which letter type was she. Then she really had a bad feeling. If this guy was running around trying to catch..'modified humans'..

Mary decided she REALLY wanted to go now.

She didnt respond at the moment, trying to see if she could get her arms and legs free at least, as she concentrated on getting the restraints to NOT see her. It would probably be too much to hope that she could whipe out the memory of her from the head guy. But she would save that one for a last option. Right now, she needed to figure out just how much of her powers, if any still worked. And if nothing worked, time for plain ole prayer of small wrists and ankles. It was kinda a dumb design, really. Left a lot of wiggle room. Yay, wiggle room.

Time to see what, if anything she could do.


TAG: Ramza, Peng, Mitth, Dubya, Livi

 

Deadpool
I wonder what corridor this is? CORRIDOR SUPREME!

The, uh, thing, wants you to give your name.

"Hey there, true believers!"

Deadpool took in his surroundings with what he hoped was a casual, yet steely gaze. He noticed the immense white light coming down from the ceiling. He noticed the weight of his body being held by cold metal bars about his ankles, waist and wrists. He noticed (with disappointment) he was still clothed.

"I remember everything and am still wearing my tighty whiteys. Television lied to me!"

Psst. Your name. Ickly-quay!

Then the old woman made a "yo mamma" joke.

Wade blinked. Then he blinked again. That was his thing!

"Do you see her stealing our shtick?" he whispered.

NAME!

Betsy was silent beside him. "You said it, Bets." He cleared his throat. "Yeah, um, hi! My name's Wade! I like to travel around the world, meet interesting people, and kill them for profit."

Tag: Dubya, Mitth, Ktala, Livi

 

Approved!

<img src="http://www.shop-alberta.com/images/rolling-stone-logo.gif">


ERIK LENSHERR WANTS TO SAVE THE WORLD
"Peace was never an option" says Mutant Rights activist

Words by Elizabeth Brant, photos by Vicki Vale

Pg. 32

The last time we heard from Erik Lensherr, he was protesting against a proposed mutant registration act. Things got out of hand. Shots were fired.

And no one was hurt.

It's not that the bullets missed, but that they never found their targets. As strange a statement as that is, one had to be there to understand exactly what happened. Like some sort of messianic figure, Erik Lensherr stopped the projectiles in mid-air with the casual wave of a hand. Fire blazing in his eyes, he field-stripped every single firearm on site without laying a single finger on an officer of the law or his firearm.

It's no wonder there are T-shirts with his face on them now.

But these days, he's getting press for his words.

On Sunday, Lensherr appeared outside of the Houses of Parliament in the United Kingdom with a group of demonstrators and protestors from all walks of life determined to bring equal rights to mutants everywhere, and discredit the mutant registry movement yet again.

"Five days ago, many of these mutants were your friends, your family. Now what are they? The target of pogroms, bureaucracy and distrust? No. They are still people. They manifest new abilities, some strange, some wonderful, some terrifying to behold, but they are still people. They are still your friends, your family. I'm not here to offer you a choice between peace and hate. Peace was never an option; it is the only path available to us."

The man some refer to as "Magneto" has been at the forefront of anti-registry sentiment these past few months.

CIA Report on Erik Lensherr

Name: Erik Lensherr, alias Magneto
Age: 80, though due to his mutation appears only in his mid-fifties (unconfirmed; documents from Auschwitz confirm the presence of an E Lensherr there but authenticity of this man's claim is disputed)
Classification: Omega-level mutant, extent of powers unknown. Has demonstrated massive control over magnetic and electromagnetic fields; implications are far-reaching, but it is unknown if Lensherr has certain abilities described by our researchers. Approach with caution.
Known bio: Appears to have worked with Charles Xavier in the nineties; before that was a Red Cross volunteer for many years. Client of Matthew Murdock, with Nelson and Murdock having represented him on numerous occasions. Lives comfortably in London. Known links with obscure Demon's Head organization and a vocal critic of Wayne Enterprises.

 

Kal-El
Meeting Point

"Exactly like your design. So you still haven´t found someone to make you look less silly in all those centuries? Amazing how even as a time traveller from the future, you totally look retro." Kal-El did not even smile at his mockery. He just restrained himself not to grab the man and throw him into the sun. The man? The thing! The computer.

"You really put quite some effort into this meeting, so that is why we will talk. But I warn you, do not waste my time." Kal-El wondered if his nearby death . . . if that wasn´t a primitive lie . . . would make the world remember Superman, instead of Kal-El. Or the Kryptonian? He had heard this often in the end. He liked it. As the last of their kind there was nothing wrong with being called that. It was neutral. And it was not Clark, superman or whatever lie they came up with.

"And yes, Kryptonian will be fine. For now. So, as you seem to have been so eager to make this a peaceful meeting, what is it you want? What is this time-travelling thread you are so afraid of, you even warn me of my dismise . . . only to win an ally against it?" In the old days the fact he was abotu to die would have made him more conscious. It would have made him more aware and most likely would have saved his life. Considering how few things could kill him . . . not that hard to save himself with a warning. But these days were over. He did not fear death. He welcomed it more htan he should have. The thought of this going on for eternity . . . firghtened him.

Tag: Ramza

 

Tabby Smith
Used to do business with Cable and X-Force, yanno?

Tabby squinted across the room as the man in the red and black costume spoke. Something about him seemed familiar. As if he'd been described, in loving detail, several times, by another person of her acquaintance. Then he called himself 'Wade', and the penny dropped.

"OMG." Tabby would have pointed, if she wasn't being restrained. "Are you Deadpool?"

She wished she could get to her phone to take pictures. "Cable says hi. He still talks about you, like, all the time."

Really, it got kind of weird sometimes. Tabby was quite glad that she wasn't running with Cable any more.

"Really this is like, super weird cause I thought you were on that black ops team or something with- oh." Tabby's face took on a look of undisguised contempt as she saw who was next to Deadpool. "Is that who I think it is?"

Some careful squinting confirmed that it was.

"Nice swimsuit, Betsy."

It's probably worth mentioning now that there are three things Tabby hates in this world. Cops, math tests and A-List mutants. And she goes back and forth on the math tests.

[TAG Peng, all]

 

IC: Psylocke
Location: ????

The immense white light was the first thing she saw.

Wait. The last thing she remembered was being in a room full of beings she didn't recognize. And now? She was strapped down. In some unknown place. Typical. She hoped this wasn't Wade's doing. But she was still fully-clothed, if you could call it "fully-clothed", so it couldn't have been Deadpool.

A voice demanded their names.

Betsy tried her best to look around. There were others strapped down as well. Then the younger girl mentioned her by name. "Tabitha?" she responded.

She was one of the younger X-Men. What was she doing here?

TAG: Those of us strapped down by cold metal bars...

 

Deadpool
An unknown, mysterious, possibly alien...OH WHO CARES I MISS CABLE!

Wade's head whipped around only to look at the girl speaking to him only to realize he couldn't really do that given the confined nature of his person.

"Ow. You're not yanking my chain? Aww, I miss the big lug! We used to have so much fun, filling his pouches with pretty...grenades! Yeah. Explosives. Right."

He laughed awkwardly.

"Certainly not flowers!"

They were daisies.

"What a guy. So you like Betsy's duds too, huh?"

He looked around again.

"Um. Where are we?"

Tag: Livi, Dubya, all

 

????, ????
????

There are certain gestures that are surprisingly consistent across various humanoid species in the known universe. The first is particularly vulgar and best not discussed in an all-ages comic such as this one. The second is the condescending roll of the eyes. We mention this because Kl'rt did the latter. "Terrans."

The robot, for its part, spoke very loudly and completely disregarded most of the side chatter, the way you or I might not pay attention to the ant that's very loudly insisting that we gets our shoes off its cousin Rick.

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. NO RECORD OF SUBJECT DESIGNATE WADE IN MEMORY BANKS. ARCHIVING. ARCHIVING."

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. NO RECORD OF SUBJECT DESIGNATE BETSY IN MEMORY BANKS. ARCHIVING. ARCHIVING."

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. NO RECORD OF SUBJECT DESIGNATE TABITHA IN MEMORY BANKS. ARCHIVING. ARCHIVING."

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. NO RECORD OF SUBJECT DESIGNATE YO'MOM'MA IN MEMORY BANKS. ARCHIVING. ARCHIVING."

"Thought the Kree dismantled you tin hunks of junk."

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. THIS UNIT IS EARTH NATIVE. MANHUNTER DESIGNATE ALPHA-ONE IS ONLY MANHUNTER OF KREE ORIGIN REMAINING."

"Terrans," the Skrull intoned again, repeating the second universal gesture.

Mind you, what both Kl'rt and the Manhunter drone had not noticed - because that was sort of her bag - was that Mary Amuro had managed to use her mutant powers to slip free of her restraints. This provided her with a better view of the room, which was very poorly lit - being designed for robots that require no external light source at all - but nonetheless betrayed the soft, bluish glow of a large monitor perhaps a hundred yards away. The monitor was flashing words in a language Mary definitely would not understand, but something was glowing red on the screen.

Her pet parrot, alas, was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

As for the others, well, they were hanging around.

TAG: All except Saint and Sirak

---

[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNsjjjHt5l8][i][b]Gotham City, New Jersey[/b][/i][/link]
[i]July 13, 8:15 PM[/i]

"I just worry," Dent explained, drinking his coffee, "about the possible legal implications of our de facto endorsement of a vigilante in a fancy tin -"

[b]CLANG![/b]

"Gentlemen."

"I am [i]never[/i] going to get used to that!" the district attorney groaned. His coffee, alas, had crashed to the ground in his surprise.

"Glad you could make it," said Commissioner Gordon. "I know you just finished nabbing that overblown scientist, but, well, this one is looking a little more cerebral."

"What the Commish here means is that our forensics department is completely stumped. He just got through explaining the situation to me - no prints, no DNA, no serial numbers, not a damn thing. You might've heard about the Gotham Museum of Art getting hit earlier today - 2 million dollars worth of Picasso paintings, gone. The kicker? The culprit hit at 2 PM, in broad daylight, and while the paintings were heavily guarded. Now, I know you've got a busy schedule, but... uh... how do I put this...?"

"I believe the district attorney is attempting to ask if you could take a look at it in your spare time. We realize you've got a pretty busy... [i]schedule[/i]... most nights, but seems like this is one you could tackle during the day. Given the technology we already know you have access to, might be worth a shot."

"Right! That's the best part - the perp actually left a clue in plain sight. This trophy."

[image=http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110717002622/batman/images/f/fe/Riddler_Trophy-226-800-500-80.jpg]

"We can't make heads or tails of it. Not like any M.O. we've seen before, and the worst part are the joke

 

OOC: Because I'm a music fan, and because I'd originally planned to do this after every issue but that got all sorts of buggered up by real life, here's the first installment of the EXCELSIOR! official soundtrack. Some of you may say that I'm stealing the idea of posting custom track names from Winged_Jedi. To which I say yes, but in my defense that's a really cool idea and I'd be flattered to be considered a Winged rip-off.

Anyway!

Promotional Track 1 - The Legend Begins ("Superman Theme" by John Williams)
Track 0 - A Twinge of Cosmic Angst ("Søfu ør paa allfers lund" by Ulver)
Track 1 - EXCELSIOR! ("Thor Kills the Destroyer" by Patrick Doyle)
Track 2 - New Old Foe ("Ameriques" by Edgard Varese)
Track 3 - SCIENCE! ("Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by J.S. Bach)
Track 4 - Trask's Folly ("Genosha" from the X-Men Children of the Atom OST)
Track 5 - SO DOOM DECREES, SO SHALL IT BE ("With an Iron Fist" by Immediate Music)
Track 6 - Vampires in St. Louis ("Ansuzgardaraiwô" by Burzum)
Track 7 - Iron Bat ("Batman Theme: Heavy Metal Version" by Unknown)
Track 8 - If You Think I've Evolved Beyond... ("M.O.D.O.K." by Capcom)
Track 9 - Monster Sighted in Manhattan ("Godzilla's Theme" by Akira Ifukube)
Track 10 - Evil Circus Performers? Sure, Why Not? ("Entry of the Gladiators" by Julius Fucik)
Track 11 - Kal-El Just Wanted to be Left Alone ("The Man Machine" by Kraftwerk)
Track 12 - CHIMICHANGAS! ("Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga)
Track 13 - A Man of Iron and Frost ("Vinter" by Yggdrasil)
Track 14 - Born On A Monday ("Astro Zombies" by Misfits)
Track 15 - More Godzilla Stuff? Seriously? ("Monster Zero March" by Akira Ifukube)
Track 16 - Circus Aliens? Sure, Why Not? ("Ceremony" from Secret of Mana)
Track 17 - Ultron's Theme ("All Souls Rising" by The Angels of Light)
Track 18 - Nevsky's Secret ("Till Fjälls" by Vintersorg)
Track 19 - Self-Indulgent Godzilla Fandom ("King Ghidorah (1991)" by Akira Ifukube)
Track 20 - OMACTIVATE! ("Theme of Nu Gundam" from Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack)
Track 21 - Hrr Hrr Hrr ("Super Skrull" by Capcom)
Track 22 - HULK STRONGEST THERE IS! ("Hulk" by Capcom)
Track 23 - No Man Escapes... ("Nikopol" from Gurren Lagann)
Track 24 - Surreal Aftermath ("Secret Friends" by Swans)
Track 25 - No Mercy ("For Whom The Bell Tolls" by Metallica)
Track 26 - Issue #2

 

OOC: LOVE THE MUSIC!!!
Mary Amuro
????, YYY - YAAAAY WIGGLE ROOM!

The big guys were talking. The two wierd ones. Non human types. Suited her just fine. They seemed to be ignoring her. Perfect. They droned on, as she ...

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. NO RECORD OF SUBJECT DESIGNATE WADE IN MEMORY BANKS. ARCHIVING. ARCHIVING."

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. NO RECORD OF SUBJECT DESIGNATE BETSY IN MEMORY BANKS. ARCHIVING. ARCHIVING."

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. NO RECORD OF SUBJECT DESIGNATE TABITHA IN MEMORY BANKS. ARCHIVING. ARCHIVING."

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. NO RECORD OF SUBJECT DESIGNATE YO'MOM'MA IN MEMORY BANKS. ARCHIVING. ARCHIVING."

"Thought the Kree dismantled you tin hunks of junk."

"ACCESSING. ACCESSING. THIS UNIT IS EARTH NATIVE. MANHUNTER DESIGNATE ALPHA-ONE IS ONLY MANHUNTER OF KREE ORIGIN REMAINING."

FREE!

A wrist slipped free first. The rest of her quickly followed. Yep yep.
Never underestimate the desperation of a teenager. She immediately went invisible, and began to look around. Not that this view of the room was much better, but it sure did beat the other viewpoint. It was very poorly lit - and maybe a hundred yards away, there was the soft, bluish glow of a large monitor perhaps a hundred yards away. Kinda like an extra large flatscreen, minius any good games on it. The monitor was flashing words in a language Mary definitely coudlnt read, but something was glowing red on the screen.

CRAP!!

That was probably her. It would figure. Which means at any moment, things could get very nasty in here. Every instinct screamed to run, but there were two problems. One, she had no idea which direction to go, and two she also knew, that if she was the only one free, they would probably nab her quick, and then make it much harder for her to pull that trick again. Probably impossible. Better if she had other folks free as well, to hide her own escape. Besides, she needed time to find a door! So she crept over to the closest two people who were suspended...

The one the girl called Deadpool in the red and black suit, and a girl in what looked like a swimsuit. Someone called her Betsy. She quickly crawled over to them, and concentrating like she did before, got the machine to ignore them, and to loosen it's restraints. She then whispered softly to the girl close to her head ...

"You and your friend should be free now. Try your restraints..."

Mary quickly scooted away. She was really missing Pauly right now, but she didnt see him. Hope he made it to the trees. Away from here. Wherever the heck here was. Right now, she was really WANTING to find a doorway out.. hopefully, with a door already open. A door suddenly opening by itself would REALLY SUCK right now. She decided that she could crawl under the others while invisible while she looked for a doorway to run to. But if she spotted the doorway first, she was OUT of there. This was already waaay to big for her to get a grip around, and she just wanted out of that scary room, with those scary monsters. Life was hard enough as a mutant. She LIKED being low key, and off the radar. But that would go away, if these guys got ahold of her. Nope, time to run, and let someone ELSE be a hero. She did her job. She did free some of them. She hoped, she did at least. She wasnt sure. Hopefully, she would find out soon. Besides, if they were mutants, they had powers. Probably a lot more than she did.

Mary bit her lip.

If she had a chance, before she spotted a door, while she was scooting quickly underneath the others, she would attempt to free them as well. But once a door, or a hiding spot or vent or ANYTHING that looked like it would lead her outta this nightmare, she was GONE! And most of these guys were big enough to hide her from the big guys. Too bad about the Skrul dude. He had let her go. She would have liked to repay

 

Tabby Smith
???

So it was Betsy and Deadpool. Small world.

"Tabitha?"

Tabby blew some of her hair out of her face. "Yeah, it's me. What, I'm too d-list to be here or something? You're not the only one who can fight evil, yanno."

Out of the corner of her eye, Tabby could just make out the young girl who hadn't spoken slipping out of her restraints and moving around to help Betsy and Wade. Tabby, of course, would have to fend for herself. Typical.

Still, she supposed she could try and make sure the robot with the loud voice didn't notice. Then maybe they could all get out of this alive.

Plus, she could show Miss Betsy Braddock that Tabby Smith wasn't no D-lister.

(apart from the fact that she totally was)

"Hey, robot pants!" Tabby shouted, wiggling one hand so that her fingers were pointing directly at the thing's face. "Tick tick tick BOOM!"

[TAG All]

---

[b]OOC:[/b] I love that this game has a soundtrack :D Although now I will keep trying to find Tabby-ish pieces for my posts!

 

OOC: I do not have cool music, unfortunately. Later editions may address this problem

Iron Bat

GCPD, Gotham City, New Jersey

"They're not jokes." He'd spoken softly, but the suit's pickups faithfully recorded his words and then emitted them -- distorted by the harmoniser, so his voice couldn't be recognised.

Although some of the better jokes came close. The opening of Wizard and Glass, Stephen King's fourth entry into the Dark Tower cycle, came back to him: Blaine, the insane AI who'd tried to kill the protagonists. He'd been undone by such a 'joke', and yet had thirsted for such 'jokes'.
It was, ironically, a--
"A question mark. Near-incoherent sentences. On an item left at the scene. They're not jokes. They're riddles."

He considered the trophy. The obvious features suggested someone of considerable technical and mechanical skill, if indeed it was one person and not some sort of team who'd done this. A miniaturised neon lighting system illuminating the question mark, or so it seemed, albeit he couldn't rule out a chemical agent or some form of fibreoptic system at work. Either way it suggested a small power source of some kind. And where there was a power source...

He reached to a chamber on the back of his suit. A small package came away, and he quickly unfolded it so it became a small metal box. He put it down over the top of the trophy, so the entirety of the question mark and its base were hidden from view.
"To stymie any listening devices inside it," he said in answer to Dent and Gordon's inquiring looks. "The point of a riddle is that the solution is usually obvious, or sitting there in plain sight all the time."

He turned back to the two men, tapping a few buttons on his suit before turning impassively towards them. "The Museum of Art. What's your investigation turned up so far? You've surely interviewed the guards, looked into the backgrounds?"

TAG: ramza

 

Kal-El
136199 Eris, Space

The Un. A creature to wipe out existence. Something stirred, something deep inside of him yelled and called to arms. but it was a weak cry. A memory of his former conditioning. Of decades in which he believed there was anything to be a hero for.

Infection. He would die from an illness? Maybe the world would not even know? He found it to be a perfect punishment for a world that tried to force him to be a legend of their making. Waiting for a legend, that was never there in the first place.

Yet, it was not right. For all his bitterness, he knew he could have destroyed humanity long ago. He knew they had tried their best and could not be punished for being flawed creatures. Louis. He could not help but think of her. Humanity had been her species. Wiping it out was like wiping out what remained of her. And it was little enough that remained. Molekules recreated into ash and memories would not stay around forever. At least her species could endure. A little longer.

Then Brainiac came up with his amazing plan to kill Superman himself. And Kal-El laughed at him. "If I want someone to kill me, I´ll ask someone who actually has shown some talent for it in the past. You could be a danger when I restrained myself, Brainiac. I got rid of that weakness." He sighed. Brainiac, as much as he hated to admit it, had already helped him. Saved him. If Kal-el wanted, he could stay all September, or the next century in space where he could not get infected. Actually returning to Earth would be so close to suicide, he would probably not do it. By the heirs of Krandor, he would not do it. For some reason suicide was not an option. Because he was the last? Because he felt it would be betrayal of those he treasured? his lost people?

"Anyway, give me the antidote and tell me what the UNs plan is. I assume he needs someone on our side to make the entry easier, right? Works like that usually. Portals need to be opened on both sides, no matter what kind of portal it is." Kal-El eyed Brainiac and realized, this incarnation had to be pretty desperate to come to him. This UN treatened him more than anything, probably. Because time-travellers would probably be it´s greatest foes and therefore it´s early targets.

"And I assume as always, we heroes are short on time and low on allies, right?" Kal-El laughed. "It is amazing this doesn´t get boring after all those years. Then again you are new to it, right?" Kal-El laughed again, a bitter laugh with not the slightest hint of humor.

"I predict you will be as fed up of it by the end of this battle as I am."

Tag: Ramza

 

RAMZA APPROVED

---

[i][b][color=royalblue]Aquaman[/color][/b][/i]

[image=http://media.screened.com/uploads/1/14483/564627-new52_aquaman.jpg]

[b]Name: Thomas Curry
Species:[/b] Half Atlantian, Half Human
[b]Age:[/b] Mid twenties

[b]Weaknesses:[/b] Must I give away my secrets? Might as well trust all of you. You?re the only people I have to trust. I have one known weakness, at least to me it seems. And it?s a mighty big one. I have to be in contact with water at least once in every hour. If not. . .I would prefer not to go down that road.
[b]Superpowers:[/b] These I?m not afraid to brag about. Communication with sea creatures, first off. I was raised by dolphins half my life, for Pete?s sake. Also, I would say I?m pretty strong. Stronger than the average man, I must say. Of course, I do better in the water. I can swim like ten times faster than you can. At least, I think it?s ten times. And you?d have to give me at least three good punches in the mouth before I?d actually be injured. Pretty cool, am I right?

[b]A little history:[/b]

I?m a rather extraordinary being, if I do say so myself.

My father is Gregory Curry, to begin. Ever heard of him? Guessed not. He was an average businessman, with a side job of adventuring and scavenging. My mother. . .Ayana Branwen. . .what a spectacular woman. Before I tell you about her, I think I shall go back a little before their meeting.

My father went on a scuba diving trip with his friends. Who knows how many times I have heard this story. He went down with them, and was caught up in a drift. He conked his head on a rock - out like a light. He woke up with, and I quote him here, ?the most gorgeous woman staring down at him?. It was my mother. And my father had discovered the fabled city of Atlantis.

Okay, I know, I know. Atlantis? Quit telling stories, right? Well, I?m not kidding. My father had been placed in one of those air bubble things, and my mother treated him. He was suddenly the greatest adventurer our world had ever had. But no one would know. That was one of the downsides of the discovery. Anyway, as my father healed over the next few days, my mother and father fell in love. My mother's father was the King of Atlantis. He disapproved of the relationship, and threatened to banish his daughter from the kingdom if they pursued it. But they couldn't stay apart. His charm and her grace melded together, and in a few weeks, I was in the making.

The rarest of all children, I believe. Thomas Curry, is my name. And I am extraordinary, I?ll admit.

After my birth, my mother died. To put it simply. I never had the chance to meet my mother. My grandfather hated my father with a passion. My father longed to leave his air bubbles and return to the world.

So he left. And took me with him. I will say it was a strange childhood. Constantly being dunked in water. Communicating with my pet fish - they are very dull, if I must tell you. I also was a very strong child. Sports though, were out of the question. ?You could go and kill yourself, staying without water so long.? my father preached all the time. I know he only wanted to best for me, but I hated it. One time I ran away. Almost died, actually.

Anyway, my father remarried. Even told my ?new mommy? about me. I couldn?t handle it anymore. When my stepmother revealed she was pregnant, I ran away again. This time permanently.

I lived in the sea. My best friends were dolphins. No joke. Dolphins. Too bad I had to move on. I searched for Atlantis. Saved people. Done good guy stuff. And now I?m a man. A grown man. My father, he never came back for me. I?m not surprised. He made a new family. I was more like a fairy tale, to him.

And now I?m here.

A wanderer.

An adventurer.

Mostly just a spectacular being with nothing to do.

 

Deadpool
Robot pants! Why didn't I think of that?

"Fighting evil...heh, yeah, I remember when I did that. Oh wait, what team am I on again? How many times has Phoenix died?"

He looked over at Tabitha who was busy squirming her wrist in the general direction of the robot things. And then the other person showed up and whispered something, and suddenly his hands felt nice and loose and free.

"Hey robot pants!" Wade looked over at the sound of Tabitha's voice. "Tick tick tick BOOM!"

Something happened.

"Hey, Gabby, way to go!"

Tabby.

"Tabby!"

Tag: Livi, all

 

Manhunter Base, ????
????

"PHRASE TICK TICK TICK BOOM UNKNOWN. PLEASE -" The robot's sentence was interrupted by the rather debilitating explosion it had just suffered in its head equivalent section. Localized command modules had been one of the key flaws in Manhunter design, and had been one of several compounding factors that had led to the Kree eventually decommissioning them. Inter-A.I.M. scientists, realizing this flaw, had installed an emergency signal to alert nearby units of such an issue.

Because of this, there was now a very loud WREE WREE WREE noise emitting from the Manhunter's midsection and, below that din, a very distinct sort of humming noise all of the people in the room were sure to recognize. Acting accordingly, the monitor on the computer had just become very red with lots of complicated warning signals. The lights in the room flickered on, revealing that they were of a decidedly red persuasion. This was presumably used to denote an emergency situation. It also revealed that the room was large, circular, and largely featureless save for four doors, all opposite each other and positioned at angles corresponding to ninety degrees.

Deadpool and Psylocke, in the meantime, had landed on the ground after Mary Amuro had managed to free them from their bonds. She had then ducked down behind some conveniently located crates - why would robots have crates? - to try and plan her next move, when the explosion had made her decision for her. Tabby Smith, Pirate Indigo, and Kl'rt were decidedly more immobile.

"Hrrr... Das't human, you should not have done that. We were lucky to have been spared once. Now it seems we will be allowed an honorable death in glorious combat." Chancing on his bonds being designed for regular Skrull anatomy, he decided to see just what would happen if he imitated the Thing's peculiar physiology while still in bonds. As his entire body turned to rock, he was rewarded for his gamble by crashing to the floor, his bonds torn from the metal that had supported them.

"Now then, it occurs to me that if I intend to survive the divine test of battle, I'm going to need some backup. Ergo." A rock fist shout out on an elongated arm and broke Tabby Smith and Pirate Indigo free. "I suggest we ready ourselves before..."

Dozens of Manhunters came bursting into the room from the north and south doors, energy beams firing from their hands. The east and west doors, because an inquiry has been made into their status, remained shut.

They all chanted the same phrase, mantra-like.

"NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS."

"NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS."

"NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS."

"Hrr. Never mind, then."

TAG: Ktala, Peng, Dubya, Livi, Mitth

---

[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNsjjjHt5l8][i][b]Gotham City, New Jersey[/b][/i][/link]
[i]July 13, 8:15 PM[/i]

Gordon spoke up first, this time. "Aside from that... trophy or whatever it is, the detectives haven't come up with anything. Nothing out of the ordinary, and, as far as we can tell, the guards' backstories all check out. Coupla' retired NYPD, some part-timers trying to keep an income going in this economy, and since the paintings were on tour we had about three of the force there at all times. At 2 PM today, that would've been..." He pulled out his notepad. "Allen, Montoya, and Mao. Clean records on all of them, Montoya's even got a couple of commendations. CSI on the case are Corrigan and Bullock."

"Bullock?" Dent decided to chime in. "You put [i]Harvey. Bullock.[/i] on the Picasso theft?"

"I know he's a little rough around the edges, Mr. Dent, but he's a good detective. Hasn't let us down once."

"Great

 

Tabby Smith
Manhunter Base

Tabby slid to the floor and landed in a crouch, glad to be free of the metal bars. This happened at almost exactly the same moment that the Manhunters burst into the room, weapons blazig.

At least, Tabby figured that they were Manhunters. That's what they kept calling themselves, anyway.

Kl'rt seemed less than pleased (he seemed like kind of a stick in the mud, despite freeing Tabby and the old lady), but then Tabby wouldn't be very happy if she had stretchy powers either. Buying clothes must be, like, a nightmare.

"Hey, more fun robots." Tabby flung her arms out and sent streams of concussive energy sailing towards them. "Let's make 'em boom."

[TAG All]

 

Aquaman
Indian Ocean


The water was especially warm today. Even for a July afternoon. It was almost too hot for Thomas Curry. But, then again, he was Aquaman.

He had drifted far ahead of the sharks now. Word from the dolphins had reached him in the past few weeks of bearded land marauders ravaging the beaches. The final straw came when he had wandered upon a group of sharks. He still couldn?t believe what he had heard. The blood was still staining the sharks? teeth. Personally, he didn?t care too much for sharks. They were brutal, cruel creatures with a strong lust for blood. So far no problems had arisen between Thomas and them, but it could be seen on the horizon.

Nevertheless, the sharks were willing to provide some well needed information.

With the knowledge of the pirates and the fear that more victims were to come, he pushed himself to the extremes. The water gushed past his head, as the speeding bullet that was Aquaman gazed at the ship in the distance.

[image=http://www.2-clicks-comics.com/images/category_image/Aquaman%20comics.jpg]

He crept up along the side, peeping up at the pirates. Gaps in their teeth, ragged clothing on their bodies, bald heads catching the setting sun.

Whiz - SPLASH. He zipped away from the bullets that were crackling from the pirates? guns. He couldn?t believe the guts they had, taking a shot at him.

In a spinning leap out of the water, he landed onto the deck with a clatter.

?Fire again and you?ll face the wrath of Poseidon's apprentice.? While he had the pirates? attention, he snatched a gun from one of the shorter, fatter pirate?s hands. In a flash he bent it in half. ?You pillage these lands as if you are the rightful kings and emperors. And yet, your only way of success is through murder and bloodshed. The men you slaughtered. The women you raped. The towns you crushed. All examples of your might and your holy power.? While grinning ear to ear like a madman, he ripped another gun from a man?s grasp. Crushed it in his hands. ?I am here to stop this tyranny and avenge the death and destruction on all of your hands. Now, give me all of this money and return to wherever it was you came from, and we can part ways.?

He took another gun, but this time he felt it with his hands and looked it over. Finally he smiled at them.

?If you don?t agree to those terms,? He took the gun and aimed it at the one closest to him. ?I will be forced to stop all of you, I?m afraid. And none of us would want that, would we??


TAG: Ramza

 

Iron Bat

Gotham City PD

Steam from a vent on a nearby building hissed; outgassing of some kind. "I know it."
He reached down, picking up the metal box, which sealed the trophy away inside. Stowed it onto his back. "I'll look into it," he said, gesturing absently at the package. "As for the Auction, you can fill the Commissioner in, I'm sure. One piece of advice."

He touched ready studs, feeling the repulsor coils vibrate beneath his feet like demons trying to break out of hell. "Have some spare ambulances standing by."

A small compartment on his gauntlet opened. A cloud of grey smoke suddenly filled the rooftop.
When it cleared, he was a good half mile or more away and accelerating.

TAG: ramza, possibly myself...

 

Iron Bat

Above the Upper West Side, Gotham City (about 11.00 p.m.)

He hovered, a black cross against the pale circle of the moon, half a mile up, and watched through the suit?s telescopic systems.

The building, used as a convention centre-cum-hotel, was a freestanding, squat, two-storey structure. Built around roughly the same time as most of the surrounding structures, its architecture had hints of the old faux Wonder City look that had been an architectural fad back in the twenties. Still, this was one of the more affluent sections of Gotham, second only to the Palisades which included Wayne Manor. The place had been well-kept; the Gotham Preservation Fund had given it the title of ?Best Historical Treasure? three years running. Gotham Eye had once done a spread on its interior. Scarlet and gold dominated in most of its rooms, echoes of a bygone era.

The defining characteristic of this behaviour is that it hides in plain sight.
He could almost hear her voice.

A white van pulled in around the back of the building, making sharp, accurate turns. Its driver had done this before. It was a marked contrast to the front of the building, where a myriad of different types of motor vehicles ? from a Ferrari in one case down to a Ford Taurus ? pulled up leisurely to the front door and were taken by a concierge. The building?s portico had discretion screens common to the period architecture so it was difficult to see who was entering and leaving the place.

The Narrows Auction, as Dent had referred to it, was indeed the name of this event. Less well-known was the fact that the Auction had not been carried out in the Narrows for a good 18 months or more; the move was, according to his informant, due to the interest that the D.A.?s office had brought down on the event. Consequently, it had been moved ? to here.

He forced himself to watch them unload the van. Dragging the cargo through a doorway at the rear. This, perhaps, was the most galling part, something that both Tony and Alfred had argued with him about during the planning. Their view was that he should intervene at this moment, before the cargo was compromised and possibly lost in what followed. He had, however, felt her hand on his shoulder, restraining his first impulse to agree with them. Instead, he pointed out that a baited trap was the one most likely to draw a predator. If he stopped the transfer, they would just scatter back to their cars and disappear into the night.
And he would not have that.

He forced the anger down, deep into his abdomen. He willed the sound of her voice away. Instead, he silently counted off the seconds, consulting again the floorplan of the building JARVIS had sketched given his observations when he?d walked the place over on a recon mission in camouflage (a man in a $400 suit was both more or less invisible and not terribly memorable, he reflected bleakly).

JARVIS?s floorplans didn?t match the floorplans kept at the Gotham Preservation Fund, or indeed at City Hall. The plans for the bottom level matched the archival copy kept at Sionis Construction over on the East Side ? the copy which displayed the alterations made to the basic structure, adding extensively to the original small basement level in the place. A level that was used once every three months or so, at least on the information he?d been given.

He had waited two months.
It took every ounce of control he had to wait those remaining five minutes, to sift out the noises and sound from the electronic bugs he?d placed in the building the night before, until one of them spoke, with a gruff, flat voice: ?All right. Bring up Lot One.?

?JARVIS,? he said into the suit pickups. A second or so later the AI was online.
?Ready, sir.?
?Kill their lights.?
The AI hacked Gotham Power?s mainframe in just under three seconds, and isolated the connections to the building a second after that. As it did, he was falling from the sky, the suit?s repulsors f

 

Mary Amuro - Zero
???, someplace in ze Manhunter Base


Mary Amuro had managed to free the first two from their bonds, and noticed some crates. How convenient. She had then ducked down behind - to try and plan her next move, when the explosion decidedly grabbed her attention.

CRUD!!! CRUD...CRAP!!!

There was now a very loud WREE WREE WREE noise emitting from the Manhunter's midsection and, below that din, a very distinct sort of humming noise. Oh so not good. Alarms are NEVER good. She was trying to be stealthy, but now, the entire place was alerted. She then noticed that the monitor on the computer had just become very red with lots of complicated warning signals. The lights in the room flickered on, revealing that they were of a decidedly red persuasion. Even though she was invisible, she still ducked lower behind the crates out of instinct. She then peeked over the top, to check out the room. She saw that the room was large, circular, and largely featureless save for four doors, all opposite each other and positioned at angles corresponding to ninety degrees.

The others were now getting lose now, as the Skrull dude was talking Something about an honorable death in glorious combat. SCREW THAT! She was looking for a way out. Grills, grates, doors..it didnt mater at this point.

Suddenly two doors from her view, what would be North and south opened, and dozens of 'things' came bursting into the room firing energy beams firing from their hands. The other two doors remained shut. These strange robot sounding creatures all seemed to say the same thing.

"NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS."
"NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS."
"NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS."

'Yeah, right.' she thought to herself.

Another girl. One who had spoken earlier, called out:

"Hey, more fun robots." the flung her arms out and sent streams - something' - sailing towards them. "Let's make 'em boom." Stuff exploded. Is she the one who cause the big guy to explode?

Wow. She had never really been close to folks who could do THAT kind of stuff before. Kinda scary. But this girl might be able to get them out. Still invisible, Mary used to crates as cover as far as she could, and then darted out over towards the girl. Time to find out if her cover worked. She got as closed as she dared, and then she then spoke to the girl who was making stuff blow up...what was her name? Tabby? Gabby? Funny guy and red and black had called her something...

"Hey..uh, think you can try that on one of the closed doors?" she asked her. She was staying invisible for now. If that didnt work, Mary had another idea... but that would require getting towards the computer monitor.



TAG: Livi, Peng, Dubya, Mitth

 

OOC: Quick Iron Bat soundtrack notes for this episode...

The Narrows Auction - for Gordon/Dent/Bats' discussions
An Iron Cross Falls - it's Clobberin' Time!
...er, yeah.