Marvel 2007

[Wyldfire]

Somewhere in Toronto, Canada. Yesterday.

His office wasn't large by any stretch of the imagination, but it fit him well. He'd never been one for showing self importance. The office like him was small but very, very effective. His cause on the other hand was enormous, just like the opponents he fought.

"Peter, there's a Ms. Sloan to see you. She's on your appointment roster." a voice came over the intercom between the front desk and his office.

"Yeah, I've been curious about this lady myself," the man said. "Send her in."

The door opened and a woman entered, wearing a sensible business skirt suit, the sensible heels clicked as she walked into the office. "I would like to thank you for seeing me sir," she said. "It's an honor and my pleasure that you would be willing to see me."

He smiled at her "You can drop the "sir" and call me Peter Ms. Sloan. I have to admit you have my curiosity raised with your request. And the large donation to my non profit is very welcome as well, it's not cheap fighting the good fight."

"I know it is Peter, and you may call me Helen." the blond woman said as she took the seat she was offered. Her blue eyes very serious, she crossed her legs very properly. "I would like to talk to you about your past. I have some questions about some of your past opponents. I think, if I get the information I am hoping you have, that our two organizations can be quite useful to one another."

Pete looked at this woman hard, with a bit of caution coming into his demeanor. "Ask away Helen." he said guardedly.

"What can you tell me about Norman Osbourne? she asked.

And the conversation began in earnest.

 

[CdnameAngeleyz]

Clair at the Wilde Fire Night Club (LOl thanks for the Inspire Wlyd)

Clair felt sufficated in her tight sequinted black tube top and black mini skirt, her blond hair had been restyled by some Queen named "Sammi with an I" He had insisted like she cared, she didnt even care if he touched up her hair, like most days she wanted to explode but instead she let them groom her and turn her into their very own paperdoll. But, she knew the minute that they walked into the snotty night club that she would do it here, she needed to, you can only keep things inside for so long before you burst. She was ready to burst, she ran a hand over her sore tight shoulders. Slowly so as not to attacted a lot of attention she placed her flirtini on a nearby table and leaned into one of her Body Gaurds. " Will you be a Darling? Can you go clear out the bathroom I totally have to pee." She said with a giggle and a toss of the overstyled hair. "Sure thing Miss Winston." The tall musclar man stalked away and Clair stifled a laugh 'Miss Winston' over 50 years of life and she was still Miss Winston. He returned only moments later giving her a thumbs up sign. She walked slowly to the bathroom, stopping to kiss a few cheeks along the way. By the time she actually arrived inside and double checked the small room for herself making sure no one had hidden in a stall she was posetively itching for it. She leaned against the sink for a moment then tugged her tiny black tube top down around her waist, she rolled her shoulders taking a deep breath, then the room was filled with the sound of ripping flesh and Clair bite down on her bottom lip, as it happened. Sometimes the pain hurt like hell, like a white hot flame licking at her skin for a fleeting moment, and sometimes it was comforting just another dull familler ache. Slowly long white wings grew out of her back, bloody and small at first then they contuined to grow longer, graceful, she gave her shoulders a shake and the blood seemed to disappear. She looked at herself in the mirror, her upper body totally naked her blond hair laying in waves on her shoulders, and the beautiful wings filling the small sink space. She looked like she belonged in a story book, One of the gaurdians of Heaven. "You allright in thier Miss Winston." She stepped back from the sink and streched the wings to their full span. "Give me a minute, will ya. Have you ever tired to pee in fishnets. Jesus." She felt it in her whole body they...she wanted to fly needed to fly. She shook her head at her relfection. "No. Thats a non option." She arched her back and the wings shuddered and moved it felt so good, better then most things had in a long time. A very long time. She let the wings droop and walked back into the small cave like sink area, taking a deep breath and planting her hands firmly on the countertop she dropped her head and rolled her shoulders letting out a hiss as the massive wings began to retreat into her back. Ripping at her flesh as they went till her back was hunched in a massive hump. She took a deep breath and bite her bottom lip as they desvolved. She never understood the final part of the process, to this day. She understood how the came out, the hump made enough sense but then they seemed to disovlve into the muscle and bone of her back. The Doctors at the clinic had tried many times to explain it, but truth be told she didnt care. It hurt too bad to go through it as many times as it would have taken to understand, she cocked her head to the side, that was before they decided to make it stop hurting. She wiped the blood off her back with a damp paper towel, as the gapping holes in her flesh began to close slowly, the bone disapearing till two giant scars remained. "The wounds that won't heal." she said to herself with a laugh. She rolled her head and closed her eyes, and then the pain was all gone. She pulled her tube top back up around her breasts and strutted out the door and grabbed a fresh Flirtini off a nearby tray. "Thanks Don next time don't rush me so much." The tall man with the dark friendly eyes smiled at her. "Yes ma'am sorry about that." She felt him staring at her, oddliy as if he had a question he wanted to ask. She swore to herself she liked this one and she wasn't looking forward to having to let him go. But it was all about keep up appearances. She snuggled into her seat next to Jonathon, he ran a hand up and down her thigh. " What took so long I missed you." he said placing a small kiss below her ear. "Ran into an old friend." His beautiful green eyes searched the room. "Where are they I would love to meet them find out what you were like as a kid." She laughed and smacked at his roaming hand. "They left, this just isnt their thing." She said and sipped her drink, deciding she would get drunk. 'A little Morphine never hurt anyone.'

 

[NiteCrowe]

Humanity

Cap walked through New York, enjoying the sunshine and looking forward to what was to happen later on that day.

Years ago when he had turned against the registration he had had to make the most painful descision of his life. He had being forced to choose between doing the right thing, and his family.

His family. His darling wife Cassie, and his two children Tom and Kate.

He still sometimes regretted that descision.

Today though, would be a day to rejoice. Though he was shook up about being made Public enemy number one, Cap was happy because today he was going to get one of the rare chances he got to see his children. His two eighteen year old children.

Of course he couldn’t just go and visit the house so it had to be done in crowded places, like museums, shopping centres or like tonight, at a concert.

Personally he couldn’t stand the type of music that the Son of Hulk played, but his two kids were into it and with it being one of the few rare chances he got to see them, he couldn’t really argue.

He smiled. It was nice to be regular for once.

 

[Armphid]

Iron Fist Investigates

In the VIP lounge of the thundering club, a red headed man with blue eyes in a three thousand dollar suit sipped a drink steadily. "My name is Luke Rand," he thought as he looked out the one way glass at the rest of the club-goers, "and I am...obscenely wealthy." "Now, anyway." "In K'un-L'un, well, that's another story." "The wealth is part of what makes me Iron Fist as much as anything else." "The doors it can open, and the things it can find."

It had gotten him in the back door without being seen, into this area where very few were allowed to go. It let him talk about scoring drugs with no fear of being caught or overheard. Such things were taken care of for people with his kind of money. However, it couldn't get him the drugs. Because the dealers weren't here. Not one of them. They'd gone to Central Park for the big concert. Even many of the upscale clients were attending it, as it was a well promoted show with a pseudo-controversial focus. It was anti-registration, but in the weakest way possible, so it was perfect for the sycophants and pretenders and spoiled rich to attend, and they still needed their fix.

Nothing more to do here. He needed to go to Central Park. He still might be able to start working up the chain of the local drug rings there. And...there was something else too. A feeling. Like a storm was coming. "Coming, and soon." Time to go.

 

[CdnameAngeleyz]

Airanna at an underground anti registration meeting...

Airanna drumed her fingers tirdly on her toned thigh, she couldn't believe how few people were present. These meetings were vital to everything they wanted to accomplish, and over half of them would rather go watch a band play then be here where they were really needed. She rolled her eyes, and ran a hand through the front of her dark hair. She was exhausted, she and Liza had spent the whole day setting up for a gig at the Wilde Fire later that night. A 10 song set, she was amped, amped but tired and longing for a nap after this meeting. She streched her long lithe body in a cat like motion, she felt her t-shirt rise up and reveal a bit of her abs but she didn't really care. She grew impatient, normally she would have someone to talk too. Liza allmost never missed a meeting but, even she had been drawn in by Cheap Lawn seats to see The Son of Hulk. Airanna looked around the room she decided to play her faverite game while she waited, she would pick the nearest most attractive man, and scan his thoughts see if she couldn't find any naughty fanatsies. Towards the door she found her traget, tall, blonde, , perhaps a little thin for her liking, but none the less handsome. But there was more, it was the enegery around him that she found to be so attractive. He was dressed all in black, and had an air of angry rebellion about him. All and all he would do nicely. She relaxed and focused her energy on his thoughts.

 

[Armphid]

Cyclops at the meeting

Chris Summers was leaning against a wall, listening to the few member of the mutant underground that were here talk about their next steps. As part of the underground railroad, he wasn't really part of this group, but they worked together. He was supposed to be here to tell them that the best thing they could do is take the railroad north to Canada. He wanted to tell them something very different though. He wanted to tell them that talking and running weren't working, that someone had to stand up and fight. That it was way past time to give the flatscans some of their own medicine.

There were people here he didn't recognize. Most noticeably, a stunning black haired girl. She was dressed simply, but wore the t-shirt and jeans like royal robes. She was also a knockout. He shook his head. He wasn't here to check out girls. No matter how hot they were. This was still hostile territory, and even with the scrambling gear on this place, nowhere was truly safe.

Then he felt it. That familiar tinge in his cerebellum. Someone was in his head. Just on the surface now, but looking to go deeper. Who was it? He stood up off the wall, suddenly alert. His eyes, churning pools of scarlet energy, surveyed the occupants of the room. No, not him. No. No, not her either. No. No. No. ...Yes. Her. The hot black haired girl. He looked her straight in the eyes with a slight smirk, "Do you start al your conversations by looking into guy's heads?" He knew she could hear the words as he thought them. "Normally I hate to date a girl a while before she can invade my mind, just so you know."

 

[Wyldfire]

Victoria Wilson.

She'd found a relatively safe place to stash the bike and made her way to the park. The crowd was large already and she knew she was early. This was going to be a mad house. The smells alone told her that. If she didn't have the healing factor she had she would be high as a kite by now.

She managed to avoid having to hurt anyone, seeing as she wasn't dressed skimpily or drawing any attention to herself. One guy had gotten close but the look she'd given him had backed him off.

She found a good place to watch the concert and settled in to wait.

 

[dragonrazor]

chaos stood in the park, surveying it. Tony had sent him ahead to make sure it would be easy to keep everyone safe, and he planned to do just that. As he noted the abundance of trees, statuary, and the ampitheatre itself, he was instantly reminded of the game Parasite Eve. After playing the game, he'd tended to avoid the zoo and ampitheatre, always certain that if something were to happen there like in the game, there wouldn't be any survivors. Now, however, his mind was focused on the words he spoke into the phone to his boss. After he'd relayed his impressions, Tony told him to stay in the park, just in case.

chaos sat on a bench, keeping the briefcase nearby that housed the War Machine armor. He'd designed it based on one of the elder Stark's Iron Man interfaces, which the man had made in order to keep the armor near him at all times. To anyone looking at it, even through enhanced sensors or EM scanners, it would just register as a normal briefcase, even though the case was metal. But when he activated it, it would become the suit and encase him in an armor that was originally intended to fight the godlike cosmic entity, Onslaught. The only thing missing was the massive Rail Buster which had been used against the being in question. Because of the massive amount of power the weapon used, even the suit's power core would be mostly drained and require long recharge periods. Besides that, the weapon was too powerful for use inside the atmosphere. A big gun like that should have been mounted on a battleship or space fortress, like the Shi'ar space stations that now protected the outer fringes of the star system.

In his head, chaos could almost hear the words to the Powerman5000 song Blast Off To Nowhere, which always reminded him of another song titled Countdown to Doomsday.

 

[CdnameAngeleyz]

Airanna Underground meeting...

He looked her straight in the eyes with a slight smirk, "Do you start al your conversations by looking into guy's heads?" He knew she could hear the words as he thought them. "Normally I have to date a girl a while before she can invade my mind, just so you know."
She let out a laugh, which was suprisngly unlike the rest of her it was delciatly girllish, and drew a few stares from those seated around her. She held his gaze her eyes flashing violet. Well then I guess you'll have to take me to dinner. She had been good since she came here, she had done everything she was supposed to. She figured she could be a little bad. You know there's a seat up here that is open, unless your broodings holding that wall up. She added the smile, there hasn't been man alive who could resist her slow seductive smile. And I don't bite, unless sepifically asked too.With that she turned her attention back to the speaker, thinking she possiablly heard footsteps behind her.

 

[ToolmanTim]

Norman Osborne's office, the Helicarrier

11:59 am EST

“Dum Dum was right; we should let Bruce see his son,” Reed Richards spoke, his voice coarse and cracking. Dressed in his classic blue Fantastic Four uniform made of unstable molecules, he stood across from a young man, maybe 30 or so, who sat behind a large desk. The younger man had short, cropped hair and a long face. He watched Reed dispassionately, his hands folded in front of him. Beside him, behind a corner of the desk, sat an old woman, probably in her mid 50’s with crow’s feet by her eyes and long white and blonde hair that was up in a bun. She was dressed in a suit and had a clipboard on her lap, copiously taking notes. At the side of the room stood a bald black man, General George W. Bridge, director of SHIELD. He was looking out the window, not caring to comment on the current situation. After a few moments the lady turned her head to look at the young man sitting behind the desk. When he didn’t say anything she put down her clipboard and spoke.

“Mr. Richards, your comments have not fallen on deaf ears and I promise you we will give them the consideration they deserve.”

Reed Richards gave a short laugh. “Forgive me Karla, but I’ve heard that line before and I know what it means. Do remember that Bruce Banner is a hero to this country.”

The man behind the desk cleared his throat. “Let us also remember that a quarter of a century ago the Hulk ran roughshod over this country. He is a criminal Reed, just like a hundred other supers.”

“You mean like you Norman?” Reed Richards said, stifling a cough, “I certainly haven’t forgotten that you killed Gwen Stacy. Neither has Peter Parker I’d wager.”

Norman Osborne’s eyes closed down into slits. “Peter Parker is a wanted fugitive Reed…”

“And in Europe, so are you,” Reed interrupted, “I’ve sat on six different boards that have considered giving you to them.”

“Interpol dismantled his organization,” Dr. Karla Sofen interrupted, “so it’s a moot point.”

“And Bruce diverted a flood in Djibouti last year, saving millions of lives. Is that what we’re arresting him for?” Reed countered.

Norman Osborne cleared his throat again. “You’re not a part of this organization anymore Reed. You retired over a decade ago. I’m getting a little tired of you showing up with your self-righteous outrage against policies you put into place. Why don’t you go back to the hospital and visit your family?”

Reed sighed, turned and walked to the door of the office. He spoke as he opened the door. “Let Bruce see his son Norman.” Then he was gone, the door closing automatically behind him.

“Hell of a time for him to grow a conscience,” Bridge said from the window.

“His son is dead,” Dr. Sofen said, scribbling something on her clipboard, “he’s speaking as a father.”

“My son’s dead,” Norman Osborne said, tilting his head to look at Moonstone.

Karla didn’t even look up from what she was doing. “And that broke you up so badly that you skipped his funeral.”

“I’ll kill you for that,” Norman said calmly.

“I’ll add it to the list of things you’ll kill me for,” Dr. Sofen said, completely unfazed.

“That’s enough, both of you,” Bridge said, walking over to the desk. “Who are you giving me for supers on this one?”

“One of the reserve teams from the Midwest. We’re shuffling teams and reserve teams around to keep the country covered. The fight with the Hulk yesterday wiped out a dozen teams, so we’re stretched thin as it is. As it stands North Dakota is only going to have half a team covering it,” De. Sofen answered.

“So I’m getting a weak team?” Bridge asked.

“No, they’re decent. And they’ll be augmented by Hornet and Onyxx, from the fight with Hulk yesterday. We’ll send you dossiers but you can just stick around for the briefing,” Osborne looked at his watch, “Hornet should be here in a moment. We’re giving him command.”

Bridge raised an eyebrow. “I thought he took a full on hit from the Hulk?”

“He did,” Dr. Sofen answered, “his armor took the hit on that one. By the time he got his suit up and running again the Hulk was out of his area. He ended up getting back in the fight for a few hours and was there when the Hulk finally went down.”

There was a knock on the door and the Hornet walked in. All three people in the room turned to face him.

“Have a seat Hornet,” Osborne said. “We have a mission for you. At 9:23 this morning the Hulk escaped.” Osborne held his hand up to silence Hornet’s questions. “We’re putting you in charge of the capture because of your experience. You’ll keep Onyxx with you and you’re being put in charge of a new team. Dr. Sofen has their files. You’ll be working in concert with SHIELD, the Sentinel Squadrons and the Bureau of Super-human Affairs.”

Bridge interrupted. “We have reason to believe that the Hulk has finally reverted to the form of Bruce Banner and that he’s attempting to contact his son, who is giving a free concert in Central Park tonight. You and your team will infiltrate the crowd incognito and hopefully collar him with knockout gas while he’s still in Banner’s form. We’ll have 2 Sentinel Squads standing by armed with knockout gas in case he transforms. Onyxx we can hide in a tent or something incase he transforms. At that point your job is to get him away from civilians at all costs. Your team will be outfitted with blue tooth earpieces that will let you call in the Sentinels as soon as you need them. Do you understand these orders?”

 

[NiteCrowe]

“Have a seat Hornet,” Osborne said. “We have a mission for you. At 9:23 this morning the Hulk escaped.” Osborne held his hand up to silence Hornet’s questions. “We’re putting you in charge of the capture because of your experience. You’ll keep Onyxx with you and you’re being put in charge of a new team. Dr. Sofen has their files. You’ll be working in concert with SHIELD, the Sentinel Squadrons and the Bureau of Super-human Affairs.”

Bridge interrupted. “We have reason to believe that the Hulk has finally reverted to the form of Bruce Banner and that he’s attempting to contact his son, who is giving a free concert in Central Park tonight. You and your team will infiltrate the crowd incognito and hopefully collar him with knockout gas while he’s still in Banner’s form. We’ll have 2 Sentinel Squads standing by armed with knockout gas in case he transforms. Onyxx we can hide in a tent or something incase he transforms. At that point your job is to get him away from civilians at all costs. Your team will be outfitted with blue tooth earpieces that will let you call in the Sentinels as soon as you need them. Do you understand these orders?”

Lieutenant Malcolm Crowe nodded as he face his three superiors. The Hulk had escpaed. Damn that Bastard. His thoughts when back a day, and he remembered the fight and sturggle they had had before bringing him in. He himself had only just survived, and as for Onyxx. Well lets just say his old friend was treading through the Nevada desert when they had found him.

He slowly tensed. One of his critisms with bringing the hulk in previously had being the lack of organisation and poor command skills. This time it seemed, may be different. Two sentinel Squads, hmm, useful. He slowly began to wonder what poor of an excuse for a team he was being given. Well at least Onyxx would be with him.

He slowly looked to each of his superiors. It was time to ask the questions that needed answering.

‘I understand my orders sir, though i do have a query...
Who will have overall command of the operation? Before you answer i respectfully ask for full control here, as i believe one reason the last attempt took so long was poor leadership skills. I would like also to point out that I am still a registered Lieutenant of SHIELD, with experience in over 50 superhuman captures, and have written several thesis on Strategic planning.’

At this he patiently waited for his superiors answer to his question.

 

[ToolmanTim]

(Just a quicky, gotta run)

Bridge laughed, removing his cigar and blowing smoke toward Hornet. Dr. Sofen said nothing, scribbling on her clipboard. Norman Osborne took a breath and smiled. His healing factor kept him young, but it did nothing to make him any less intimidating.

"Oh, you'll be field commander today with all the responsibilities that go with it." Norman Osborne paused, his eyes closing to slits. "In other words if the Hulk escapes it's your ass."

Bridge laughed at that. "You're getting no SHIELD agents, we're just support on this one. But you shouldn't need us to take down Banner. We located him for you and set everything up. Go get 'em kid."

 

[NiteCrowe]

Hornet nodded and rose, the pressure of what was meant to happen slowly beggining to way down upon him. He was in charge, no-one else, and if he screwed up, he would also be getting screwed up.

‘I understand.’

Osbourne nodded, and it was then that Doctor Sofen that spoke, ‘Good, now if you don’t mind, would you please follow me and i will show you your team.’ And with that she rose and mad eher way out of the room. Hornet followed, and despite all his attempts not too, fell into temptation and slowly admired the Doctor’s rear as he walked behind her.

To be honest he liked what he saw.

He managed to snap back into reality as Dr. Sofen asked him a question. Unfortunatly though, he still didn’t hear what the question was.

‘Sorry, could you repeat that?’

Sofen raised an eyebrow at this. ‘I asked you if you have any plans for taking the hulk down yet.’ With this she turned and continued walking, adding, ‘And for the record, i know my ass looks good, but could you at least pay attention to what i’m saying?’

What happened next was something familiar to an Anime. Hornet stood slightly slackjawed, with his eyes wide open, his skin quickly blushing up and turning red. He had never being so embarrased in his life.

Luckily though, he quickly recovered and answered the good doctor’s question. ‘No i don’t have any plans for taking the hulk down yet ma’am, as that would be imprudent of me to do so without knowing the full capabilities of those whom i will have command over.’

Dr. Sofen grimaced at his use of ma’am, but nodded nonetheless as she made her way through a doorway into her office, with Hornet just behind her.

‘A good answer, to which is why you are here. Let me show you the members of your new team...’

 

[I_Am_Lust]

Alana dropping off her stuff and heading out

Alana finally made it into the lobby of her hotel and got her key. She headed up to her room, dropped off her stuff, showered, then changed into some clothes that were appropriate for a club. She'd come back here after a little time out to change, then head to the concert they had told her about in the coffeehouse. She smoothed out the black miniskirt then adjusted the black and purple corset. Her thigh high stiletto boots were black and she wore a pair of nude stockings on her legs. She painted her lips a cherry red, then headed of to the club that had also been mentioned.
--------
She made her way in as Warrant's 'Cherry Pie' blared over the speakers. Apparently the were playing retro music tonight. She strutted along, moving to the beat as the song played. She moved up to the bar and ordered a Sex on the Beach, sipping on it slowly as she let her eyes roam.

 

[Armphid]

Cyclops can't resist

He looked her straight in the eyes with a slight smirk, "Do you start al your conversations by looking into guy's heads?" He knew she could hear the words as he thought them. "Normally I have to date a girl a while before she can invade my mind, just so you know."
She let out a laugh, which was suprisngly unlike the rest of her it was delciatly girllish, and drew a few stares from those seated around her. She held his gaze her eyes flashing violet. Well then I guess you'll have to take me to dinner. She had been good since she came here, she had done everything she was supposed to. She figured she could be a little bad. You know there's a seat up here that is open, unless your broodings holding that wall up. She added the smile, there hasn't been man alive who could resist her slow seductive smile. And I don't bite, unless sepifically asked too.With that she turned her attention back to the speaker, thinking she possiablly heard footsteps behind her.

Chris blinked, then smirked. Okay, she was fun. And a major flirt, and majorly hot. He liked the combination. "Noted." "And my brooding reinforces, but it's not load-bearing," he thought back. "We should be okay." "If it comes down, I'll throw myself on top of you, don't worry."

He leaned up off the wall, drawing a few looks from the other underground members. Chris usually planted himself in one spot and just listened. He smirked at them, moving across the room to where the stunning dark haired girl was now paying attention to those speaking. He took the seat beside her, taking a few moments to take in her figure. Damn. Da-yum. "I'm Chris." "I haven't seen you around before...and I'd remember you." "New to town?"

 

[Armphid]

Iron Fist wishes he could stay at the club

Luke had made his way back to the main floor of the club. There was nothing more to be gained by staying. Not even anyone worth noting left, really. They were all at the park for the show.

He was close to the bar when he felt an odd feeling, like a voice speaking to him to pause. Luke froze, his eyes casting about. It wasn't that sharpened awareness of danger, but something else. He barely noted the change of the song playing, his eyes casting about for what was going on. Then he saw her. Strutting through the crowd was a girl with caramel skin, dark hair that had oddly flattering white tips, and a slender but curving figure. She was displaying that figure for all to see, his eyes moving to the bright cherry red of her lips as the music played. "That girl!" "She's....well,yes, she's hot...I wouldn't mind a piece of that pie, but...was I supposed to see her?" "Why?"

She made her way past him, leaning against it as she got a drink and looked around the crowd. Luke turned, starting toward the bar. "...No." "Not now." He sighed, "Focus, Iron Fist." "It's unseemly to be distracted by girls now." "But in the future..."

Luke walked over to the bar and stood next to the girl, "Hey, Mike." "Whatever she drinks tonight, on my tab, okay?" He smiled at her, "Miss, I very glad I got to see you, but I wish you'd gotten here half an hour ago." "I'm Luke, please, consider me buying your drinks tonight an...offer to do so in person in the future."

 

[NiteCrowe]

Sofen clicked a button and the room went dark. Hornet found himself curious about was about to happen. Then the empty wall behind Sofen’s desk lit up like a computer, and Hornet found himself look at the computer file for what must have been the ugliest looking super he had ever seen. Hell, Dr. Doom didn’t hold a candle to this dude.

His thoughts were cut off by Sofen.

‘Nelson Bandiss, Aka RubberGuy. He has the ability to stretch and reshape himself at will. Unfortunatly our recent tests show that he has sociopathic tendencies. Unfortunalty he has a good service record so we can’t really get rid of him. Just keep an eye on ok.’

Hornet nodded, ‘Hmm, keep an eye on Mr. Fantastic’s Evil Twin. Yep got it.’

Sofen raised an eyebrow before changing the screen to that of another Super and continuing.

‘Amanda Jennings, Also known as Cyborg Girl,’ This file photo showed a young girl with obvious mechanical enchancements. ‘She has several improvements granted upon her by her enchancements. There are too many to list right now but you can read them up on them in her file.’

The Screen Changed once more, and slowly Hornet was introduced to InvulnerableGirl, HydroGuy, and PyschometricGuy. Finally they came to the final member of the team.

‘Sonny Titus,’ This file belonged to that of a young black girl, who was, top be honest, quite attractive, ‘also known as SpeedDemon. This young lady has the ability to move and think at super speeds. She has a stable personality, and we believe she will follow all the orders given to her, though be warned. She tends to be Overly Enthusiastic.’

With this the screen Darkened, and the room lit once more. After re-adjusting himself to the light, Hornet found himself looking once more into the face of Dr. Sofen.

‘Any other questions Lieutenent?’

‘No, Ma’am.’

‘Then get out of here and go meet your team.’

Hornet rose and nodded, and quickly turned and left the office, working through the information he had just gathered about his new team, as well as slyly wondering if he had even the slightest chance with Dr. Sofen. He was so absorbed in his thinking, that he actually walked into Onyxx before he saw him, which was usually a very difficult feat to accomplish.

Hornet looked up at the Seven foot stone behemoth. ‘Onyxx my friend, you won’t believe this, but we’re going up against the Hulk again.’
*************
‘Holy shit’ cried Sonny as she read the teams new operational data, and couldn’t help but smile as she read it. They were gonna fight the Hulk.

She quickly began to run to InvulnerableGirl’s room, then HydroGuy’s, yelling, ‘GuyswearegoingupagainsttheHulk!”

She had to tell everyone was the one single thought she had and she quickly began to run to CyborgGirl’s room, ‘HeyAmandawe’regoingupagainst....’

She simply stood in the doorway to CyborgGirl’s room and stopped, unprepared for the sight infront of her. ‘...the Hulk.’

CyborgGirl lay on the bed, her hands and feet chained to the bed posts. RubberGuy stood behind her savagly humping her up the ass, while PyschometricGuy stood with his dick in her mouth. CyborgGirl almost seemed to be crying.

‘Oh my god’ She took a step backward, as RubberGuy turned to face her, and she turned to run. Next thing she knew she was in the main room and Nelson was holding her, while his lower half caught up.

‘You say anything,’ Nelson threatened, his breath heavy on Sonny’s face, ‘and i’ll do it to you too.’

He dropped her as his lower body caught up with him followed by PsychometricGuy and CyborgGirl, who now seemed to be smiling. From the other end of the room Hydroman and Invulnerable girl entered the room. ‘What was this about the Hulk?’

‘Well,’ said a voice and they all turned to see a figure in the doorway, flanked by a large, large figure, ‘The Hulk escaped, and we’ve being told to bring him back.’

RubberGuy snorted, ‘Great we get to go up against superfuck, that sounds to me like a peice of piss.’

‘Dude, The Hulk took down half the Sanctioned Supers yesterday,’ Chirped in HydroGuy.

‘I couldn’t give ten shits, the Hulk is nothing but a fricken wimp.’ Retaiated RubberGuy distorting his shape to tower over HydroGuy.

‘Actually the Hulk could kick ten shits out of you if he wanted,’ Said the Unknown figure in the doorway, ‘and i doubt he’d even break a sweat.’

‘Like i care’ came the expected reply, ‘and who the hell are you anyway?’

‘Me?,’ Said the figure walking into the light, ‘I’m Hornet, and i’m not going to take any shit form anyone.’ He nodded to the figure behind him, as HydroGuy, InvulnerableGirl and SpeedDemon all grinned, obviously liking the way this dude was standing up to RubberGuy, ‘This Guy behind me is Onyxx, and he’s also joining the Team as my Second In Command.’

RubberGuy shook his head, ‘What the fuck, I’m the one in charge here, what the fuck is going on?’

Sunny smiled, ‘Oh yeah, i forgot to mention, Hornet’s our new team leader.’

 

[CdnameAngeleyz]

Airanna Underground meeting

Airanna let out a deep throaty laugh. "Does that ever work? What's the ratio of women that have fallen for that line? 40-60. Bloody Hell Yanks really are easier aren't they. I'm Airanna my friends call me Anya. You can call me Airanna...Good Lord Stop staring you would think You had never seen a girl before. You have seen a girl before right?" She tossed him another one of "The Smile" before her eyes traveled back to the speaker Sit down you look rediclous just standing there. As for you throwing yourself on top of me should the building collapses. She narrowed her eyes and focused as they went from brown to black to violet, the chair scooted out and knocked Chirs into it sliding slowly back into place. I think I can handle myself, but if it should get too scary I'd be more then happy to hold you while you cried. Her eyes meet his and she felt self satisfied. Men needed to know their place that was her theroy let them know you want them but will never ever need them.

 

[I_Am_Lust]

Alana at the bar/ Felicia makes a deal

Alana smiled at the handsome man beside her as he covered any drinks for the rest of the night. To be honest, she wasn't much of a drinker and she'd most likely be nursing the Sex on the Beach the entire time she was there. "Thank you so much, I hope to see you again soon Luke. I'm Alana. Are you headed to the concert? I might see you there." She stretched back against the bar, knowing he was watching. "I'd like to talk to you some more."
--------
Felicia stood in a tiny little office somewhere in New York. She plunked down a briefcase and let the man she was with to open it. "So, do we have a deal? She gets all the powers of the Black Cat. Permanently." The Power Broker nodded in agreement as Felicia made her way to the door. "Are you going to follow me or go do this on your own? She should be in Central Park later for the concert. I made sure she'd be told to go there." The man told her that he'd meet her at the Park and do the infusion there.

 

[ToolmanTim]

Ten minutes after noon

“… So the third vampire takes a used tampon out of his pocket and starts dipping it in the hot water and says, ‘I’m making tea.’” Chris grinned and took a long drink from his cup of Mr. Pibb.

Charlie started laughing, covering his mouth, trying not to spit the food out of his mouth or choke. After a few minutes he stopped laughing and forced himself to swallow his food safely. Pausing long enough to make sure he wasn’t going to choke Charles finally spoke. “That was disgusting.”

“Do the people laugh when you say what you say?” Chris said in a passable imitation of Richard Pryor. “Yeah,” he said turning his head slightly as he imitates Eddie Murphy and then quickly jerked his head back to his original angle and dropped his voice back into the pattern of Richard Pryor. “Then tell Bill Cosby I said to have a Coke and a smile and shut the fuck up. Jello Pudding Pop eating mother-fucker.”

Charlie broke into laughter again, along with the other two freshmen at the table, a light red-headed girl who dressed in a black shirt that showed her belly and brown pants, and a blonde guy who wore an oversized jersey and overly baggy pants. The blonde guy spoke up first. “Dude, I love Eddie Murphy! I must have seen ‘Raw’ a hundred times.”

The red haired girl shook her head and smiled at the blonde guy. “Well Ron did make me watch Mr. Murphy a few times and while I don’t know if swearing is necessary, it was very funny Chris.”

Ron, the blonde haired guy, rolled his eyes as he bit into his nacho, chewed and swallowed. “Come on Kim, not everything always has to be prim and proper.”

“I’m just saying that Chris can put on a very entertaining show without resorting to crudeness,” Kim said as she pecked at her very sensible salad. “I mean, look at Sinbad. He never swears and he’s world famous as a comedian and has starred in a number of movies.”

Charles had been quietly been eating his own mountain of food while the two old friends conversed. He didn’t have much to say, but he looked up when Chris cleared his throat.

“You know, my Grandmother shared some words of wisdom with me that I think may be apropos to this current situation. With your permission I’d like to share those words of wisdom with you.” Chris waited for Ron and Kim’s consent and then cleared his throat again. “When I was a young boy, my Grandmother, an austere lady, would pick me up and sit me on her knee. She would smile at me and pat my head and tell me to remember these words of wisdom for the rest of my life. That these words could change everything, could mean the difference between gratuitous success and abysmal failure in my chosen profession as a stand up comic. She would look at me and say Chris,” Christopher leaned in a bit closer, lowering his voice, creating the appearance of closeness and secrecy. He looked dead center into Kim’s eyes and said in a low voice, “the real money is in dick and fart jokes.”

Charles and Ron cracked up while Kim rolled her eyes.

“I was just trying to make the point that being someone the entire family can enjoy will lead to greater…” Kim was interrupted by a beep-boop-bee-boop sound. Her hand jammed into her wallet and pulled out a cell phone. She flipped it on and said into the receiver, “What’s the ‘sitch?” She paused, listening. “uh, huh.” She paused again. “Ok Wade, Kim out.” She closed the phone and looked at Ron. “We have to go.” Ron nodded and the two grabbed their trays and headed off in a hurry, leaving the long table empty except for Chris and Charles.

Chris shook his head and looked at Charlie. “That’s the third time she’s done that since I met her yesterday. She’s a hot girl, but I think she’s a drug dealer.”

Charles snorted. “A drug dealer? A pretty little girl like her?”

“What else could it be?” Chris asked as he dipped a chicken finger in honey sauce, “That guy Ron acts just stupid enough to be a bodyguard and a random guy named Wade calls her up and sends her places. I think she’s a drug carrier and that Ron is packing heat.”

Charlie laughed. “I think she’s just a cheerleader, like she said, and she’s just trying to be popular. You know, hit the hot spots.”

“Well, at least they’re gonna meet us at the concert.” Chris grinned. “I made up my mind; I want to come in her.”

Charlie rolled his eyes as he swallowed the last bite of a hamburger. “I’m not promising anything, but good luck. How’d you meet her anyway?”

Chris grinned, finishing his sip of soda. “Oh it was so sweet. She was ahead of me in line at the bookstore. I struck up a conversation and she actually reciprocated. Usually a girl like that won’t even give me the time of day. You know, because I’m fat.”

“Wait until you meet Peggy Sue,” Charlie shook his head, “Gorgeous. Drop-dead gorgeous, but I think her bra size is thrice her IQ.”

“Damn you’re harsh,” Chris said, picked up a mozzarella stick and pointed it at Charles, “Not even a ‘oh you’re not fat,’ or a ‘you carry it well Chris.’ No, not Fezzik, Fezzik just lays into the next subject, acquiescing my globular nature with silence.”

“What can I say Chris, you’re fat. Congratulations. Don’t like it? Do something about it.” For emphasis Charles took a bite out of his carrot stick.

“Harsh words from a guy built like a battleship.”

“I used to be a whole helluva lot fatter then you are Chris. It took a doctor’s warning for me to decide to do something about it. Hitting the gym is actually a lot of fun, once you get used to it.” Charlie finished his carrot stick while Chris sat there shaking his head.

“So I guess Fezzik does work out.”

“Something like that,” Charles started to say when he was interrupted by a loud piercing squeal.

“Ooooh! It’s Charles! I just knew you’d be here Charles! Justin said so!” There was a clatter of a tray hitting the table on Charles’ left and then two arms were tightening around his neck. Charlie felt the blush as the blood in his body seemed to go into overdrive, pumping to an area he normally didn’t need it at.

“Hi Peggy Sue,” Charlie said as he felt her not-unsubstantial breasts pressing into his back.

Another tray, this one with a salad and a piece of chicken, plopped down next to Charlie on his right side, a head of dark red hair visible in his peripheral vision. Justin sat down across from Peggy Sue’s tray and Josie sat down on the other side of Chris. Peggy Sue’s arms released Charlie’s neck and gave his back a gentle rub as she sat down next to him, snuggling right up to him, making it tough for Charlie to use his left arm to eat.

“Hey roomie,” Justin said as he started to shove a piece of pizza in his mouth, chewing as he spoke, “looks like we’ll have to leave for the concert now if we want to get in, the radio said that Central park was filling up, people from all over the eastern seaboard are coming to hear Son of the Hulk for free!”

Peggy Sue’s hand ran down Charlie’s back and squeezed his ass, making the man-mountain jump a bit in his seat. “Uh, sure, we can leave right after lunch. Justin, girls, this is my buddy Chris from my orientation group. I invited him to come to the concert with us.”

Chris gave a little wave and said, “Hey.” The girls and Justin replied in kind, barely acknowledging his presence in that standard college way.

Justin pointed to the dark red-headed girl sitting on Charlie’s right. “That’s Ariel, she was named after the Little Mermaid.”

Charlie suddenly felt another hand on his right thigh. He looked over and Ariel was looking up at him with a mischievous smile on her face. “Hey Charlie. Peggy Sue has told me a lot about you.”

Charlie nodded, knowing his face was bright red, “Uh nice to, uh, meet you Ariel.”

“Oh it will be,” Ariel whispered and her hand slid down to his inner thigh then up to cup his crotch through his pants. Ariel’s eyes went wide and she got a large grin on her face. “I think the pleasure is going to be all mine,” Ariel said in a louder, conversational tone. Peggy Sue leaned forward and grinned at Ariel, the girls shared a wink and broke out in giggles. Chris just watched, shaking his head.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Peggy Sue said as her hand slipped down to Charlie’s thigh, “I invited my friend Evan too!”

“So, uh, what kind of music does the Son of the Hulk play? I’ve never really listened to him,” Charlie said in a desperate attempt to change the subject. He had never been in a situation where girls were falling all over him. As much as he was turned on by the situation, he was also unnerved by it. How was he supposed to perform? He’d never been with a girl before, foiling a robbery and almost dying then becoming the Juggernaut wasn’t exactly conducive to becoming the next Don Juan or basic sexual exploration. He figured he would be a freak if he didn’t have sex sometime before he was 25, but his life in high school as a fat valedictorian hadn’t prepared him for having two very attractive girls teasing him and hinting that they both wanted to take things to a sexual level.

Chris was having a hard time stifling his laughter.

“You’ve never heard Son of the Hulk?” Justin asked incredulously, “Dude, I was playing him yesterday in the dorm room after orientation.”

Ariel’s hand squeezed on Charlie’s crotch and he shot up to a standing position. “Uh, I’m pretty much done here. I need to hit the dorm before we take off. I’ll meet you guys at uh, the south gate and we can leave from there.”

 

[ToolmanTim]

3:47 pm

Dr. Banner was dressed in an immaculate and expensive Italian suit and a suitcase. Where his stolen hoverbike and SHIELD uniform went was part of the adventure that lead him to be the most overdressed person in Central Park. The crowd was unbelievably large. There was no place to sit anymore; people were standing in groups, leaning against each other when they got tired. Bruce passed a small duck pond that had been converted into a mud pit. Bookies were crowded around it, shaking fistfuls of money in the air as people tried to get bets in on the two topless girls wrestling there. Other mud-covered topless girls stood by drinking beers and grinning at their victories or hanging their heads at the loss. Half the people at the pit had joints lit up and the pot smoke wafted around that group. Interspersed throughout the crowds were small booths selling food, cigarettes, beer and a variety of unlicensed souvenirs. Bruce wormed his way through the crowd; people all pressing in against each other as he edged his way ever closer to the main stage.

While he was trying to work his way closer to where his closest and only friend and his son were getting ready for tonight’s performance Bruce happened to see something in his peripheral vision that caught his eye. Moving forward he craned his head to the side to get a better view. He saw a man looking at something that looked very similar to an archer’s wrist guard, but with a long metal piece attached to it, going up the man’s forearm. An odd piece of clothing in any other situation, here at his son’s concert the wrist piece didn’t stand out. Bruce, however, recognized it for what it actually was: a personal-sized super-human Cerebro tracking device. Doing a quick look around Bruce spotted a half-dozen more wrist tracking devices in his immediate area. Before he could come up with a plan Bruce felt himself ricochet off something. Dusting himself off Bruce started to stammer out an apology and realized he was talking to someone’s chest. He looked up and the person he’d run into was at least seven feet tall with gigantic shoulders, wearing a t-shirt that was a little too tight for him, showcasing his phenomenal musculature. For a minute Bruce was sure he was looking at a non-green skinned version of the Hulk.

“Pardon I,” Bruce said, remembering to fake a Russian accent at the last minute.

The giant looked down at Bruce, who was extremely out of place in his expensive suit. “No problem. You from around here?”

“No,” Bruce said, keeping up the bad accent, “I am from Russia, is glorious to be in American Central Park of New York land.” His accent was horrible, but he’d spent considerable time in Russia during his rather odd life and he figured anyone who wasn’t a native to the world’s largest country wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

“Well it’s not always like this,” the giant boomed, “if it wasn’t for the concert it’d be a lot better.”

Bruce saw a few of the people with tracking devices making their way toward him. He knew their readings would be horrible in the crowd, and he didn’t want to get the hulk-looking fellow in any trouble, but if he presented the super-hunters with an obvious target it was his experience that they’d jump at it. “Da, da. You must to be excusing me. I am to be late if-ing I do not proceed now.”

“Sure, but be careful. There’s a lot of dishonest people around here that would love to take advantage of a foreigner!” The giant’s words brought a smile to Bruce’s lips. It was always good to hear someone trying to help someone else, even under these misinformed circumstances.

It took another thirty-odd minutes for Bruce to make his way to the stage, the morass of fans getting thicker as you got closer. Eventually he got up to the line of bouncers who were keeping the people back and caught one of their eyes. Bruce cleared his throat and shouted to get the staffer’s attention still speaking in his Russian accent.

“Please to be excusing me, but I am looking for Mr. Rick Jones.”

“Yeah, you and everyone else buddy,” the bouncer shot back.

“Please, would you be telling him Mr. Igor Starsky is being here looking for him? I changed Mr. Jones life, he will know me.”

“Yeah, sure buddy. I’m gonna go bother a big rock star because some commie asked me to.” The bouncer shook his head an looked away.

Bruce had to fight against the crowd to keep his place near the staffers. “I am not communist. United Soviet Socialist Republic is sixteen years dead. Please to be telling Mr. Rick Jones that Mr. Igor Starsky is here to see him. It is very important that I am to be seeing him.”

“Look Mac,” the bouncer growled, “I’m not gonna grab Mr. Jones for every yahoo that comes by, ok? So fuck off.”

“I don’t know,” said another of the bouncers who had apparently been listening, “Rick has known some weird ass people. I better ask him. What did you say your name was buddy?”

“Igor,” Bruce answered, “Igor Starsky.” It was a name neither he nor Rick would ever forget, he was sure.

“Got it, Igor Starsky.” The second staffer pulled a radio off his belt and keyed the mic. “Hey is anyone near Rick Jones’ trailer right now?”

“I’m near his trailer, go for Chet,” came the reply from the radio, apparently from a staffer named Chet.

“Yeah, Chet, can you ask him if he knows an Igor Starsky?” the second staffer responded.

“One second.” There was a pause for about a minute and a half and then the radio came back to life. “Where are you at?” Chet asked.

“North side of the main stage,” the second staffer answered.

“Keep him there.” The radio buzzed.

The second staffer smiled. “Looks like you’re getting a chance. I should warn you Mr. Starsky, if you’re a fake we will call the cops.”

Bruce smiled. “Igor Starsky is many things, but I can assure you, Mr. Jones will be filled with great joy to be at the sight of me.” Which was true. Misleading, but true.

It was a few more minutes when Rick showed up. He didn’t come within thirty feet of the roped line the Bouncers were keeping when the crowd exploded at the sight of him, chanting his name. For his part Rick stood there, staring at Bruce, unable to move or react. Eventually he nodded and the radio came to life near Bruce.

“Mr. Jones says to let him in.”

The second staffer shook his head and opened the rope. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you said the secret word Mr. Starsky.”

Bruce grinned and walked in, calmly crossing the distance to his best friend. The physical differences between them were distinctly pronounced. When they had first met in 1961 Bruce was thirty years old and arguably the greatest scientist in the world and Rick was a 16 year old orphan, a rebel without a cause. Now Rick was sixty, his body, though still strong, was aged and it showed. He had worn lines on his forehead, and crow’s feet at his eyes. Bruce was still older chronologically, but the ‘curse’ of being the Hulk, with his vast regenerative powers, had kept Bruce physically unchanged. They stood staring at each other for a long time until Rick finally reached his hands out and the two old friends embraced.

“God, Bruce you look so young,” Rick finally said.

“Yeah, the only upside of being the Hulk,” Bruce scoffed, dropping his fake accent.

“I don’t know,” Rick interjected, “you hadn’t pulled my butt out of that test site 45 years ago and saved my bacon a few thousand times since. I think that counts as an upside.”

“And apparently I have a son,” Bruce said breaking their hug.

Rick looked away. “You mean Thad? Yeah, Betty named him after her father.” Rick met Bruce’s eyes. “He doesn’t know you Bruce. I don’t know what you were looking for by coming here.”

“I am looking for my son Rick. After Betty died…” Bruce trailed off, no longer able to meet Rick’s eyes. “You should have told me.”

“How?” Rick stared at Bruce. They were two friends who had undergone so much together that they didn’t need to say another word. A thousand conversations took place in the ensuing silence.

“I’m sorry Rick,” Bruce said when he finally broke the silence, “I should have tried to find you. After Betty died I just… I guess I just hurt too much to care.”

“Hey, watch the psycho-babble,” Rick said with a short laugh, “I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have made sure you knew about Thad. I stopped the Kree/Skrull war, I should have been able to find a way to get a note to you in the Negative Zone. Lord knows I spent enough time there teamed up with Mar-Vell and his son.”

Bruce clapped Rick on the shoulder. “It’s past. And even if someone went back and changed history, it would just create an alternate reality anyway and we’d never know it.”

Rick laughed, a long, hearty laugh. “Yeah, temporal/dimensional travel sucks. Let’s go inside the trailer, Thad’s been following your exploits since he was a kid.”

“What’s, uh,” Bruce stammered a bit as he and Rick headed off to meet his son, “what’s he like?”

“He’s immensely intelligent. We don’t advertise it, no one wants to buy an album from a smart rocker, but the kid has three doctorates. He’s driven. I mean, you have to be to make it in this business, but I never pushed him to become this big of a success. If anything I’ve been applying the brakes to keep him grounded. He’s, well, he’s a lot like you Bruce. Let me tell you about this one time when we were in Pittsburg…”

 

[ToolmanTim]

3:48pm

As crowded as it was in central park, Charlie had been the logical choice to be sent off to buy refreshments. The crowd parted before his giant frame, and standing at 7 feet tall he could carry a tray of drinks and food high above the crowd as he walked back with little fear of spilling it. Charlie didn’t mind in the least, it was an excuse to get away from Ariel and Peggy Sue. Part of him wanted to live up to their expectations, but he also felt rushed and wondered why he’d want to do something with these two girls. The benefit of the situation was obvious, pleasure, but the long term benefits seemed less obvious. Was he expected to just take sex because it was offered? He was flattered, of course, but Charlie had been raised by two people who had genuinely loved each other and it showed. He wanted to be with someone he genuinely loved, not just fast and dirty sex. What happened if he got one of these girls pregnant? He didn’t know what kind of mothers they’d make or even if he was ready to be a father. He definitely wasn’t ready financially. Charles didn’t want to drop out of college to support a kid. He wanted to be a daytrader and then a real estate baron. There was room in there to have a child, but now wasn’t the time to do it. Wouldn’t he be irresponsible to engage in sexual activities if he wasn’t ready to have children with that person? What if he got both girls pregnant? The law forbid him to take them both as his wife and he didn’t want some other guy raising his kids, not even part time. It would be irresponsible, a bad choice to accept what the girls were offering. All logical thought dictated that he turn them down and do the prudent thing. On the other hand they were two hot girls that wanted to have lots and lots of sex with him. Charlie was ashamed to admit that logic was losing this argument.

While he was lost in thought some guy rebounded off Charlie. He had to turn around to find the guy and make sure he was ok. Charlie gave a short laugh when he saw the guy, he was wearing a suit. Who wore a suit to a rock concert in central park on a hot summer day?

“Pardon I,” the suited guy said in a thick Russian accent. Well that explains it, the guy was from another country.

“No problem. You from around here?” Charlie asked, genuinely concerned. There were a lot of people in New York who would take advantage of a foreigner.

“No,” the foreigner said, “I am from Russia, is glorious to be in American Central Park of New York land.”

Okay, this guy was either really new around here or doing a bad Borat impression. “Well it’s not always like this, if it wasn’t for the concert it’d be a lot better.”

The Russian looked around and seemed excessively nervous. “Da, da. You must to be excusing me. I am to be late if-ing I do not proceed now.”

Charlie shrugged. “Sure, but be careful. There’s a lot of dishonest people around here that would love to take advantage of a foreigner!”

Suddenly Charles was surrounded by four people, a black girl, and three white guys, all of them dressed in street clothes but wearing what looked like the same wrist piece. If this was a gang or a mugging they were about to get severely disappointed. The wrist people stood around him, all of them staring at the things on their wrists then looking back up at Charlie, and then looking back down at their wrist devices. Charlie finally broke the silence.

“Can I help you?”

After a moment the tallest white guy spoke. “He’s not the super.”

Everything suddenly clicked for Charlie. His dad had told him about the cerebro tracking unit. These guys were Bureau of Super-human Affairs agents, hunting supers in the park. Already a little on edge from his dilemma with the girls, Charles felt himself getting mad at these idiots. “You guys are BSA assholes aren’t you?”

“Why?” asked the tall man, “feeling a sudden need to register?”

“Read the 13th amendment sometime, cock-man oppressor,” Charlie shot back. He wanted them to swing; he desperately wanted them to swing first. As long as they swung first he was just defending himself. And he was pretty sure he could pull his punches enough to make himself look human. He had no idea of how dangerous of a fire with which he was playing.

One of the other BSA guys, older then the others, offered his right hand to Charles and said, “I’m sorry, I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

Charlie stared at the proffered handshake long enough for a normal person to realize he wasn’t going to take it. When the BSA asshole didn’t rescind his offered hand Charlie snorted up a load of phlegm and spat at the agent’s feet. “You’re all just a bunch of slavers, arresting American citizens because of the way they were born and forcing them to work for you.” Charles turned his head to make eye contact with the black girl.

“It’s not like that,” the black girl protested. She was probably older the Charlie now that he got a good look at her, but not by much, “Sanctioned Super-humans help people, divert natural disasters and super crimes are down to a negligible percentage.”

“Really?” said Charlie, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, “Crimes involving supers are down? What about slavery? Every single one of those supers is forced to work for the federal government or go to prison because of their state of being. If they bothered to teach you the constitution you’d know that the 13th amendment states, ‘Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.’ What’s the crime? Being Born? Having an experiment explode on you? Now what do you call it when you’re forced to work for the government or go to jail?” Charlie waited for a response, but the black girl didn’t have one. He turned to the other three BSA agents. Two of them glowered at him, while the third looked thoughtful. “Yeah, I thought so. If you’re done wasting my time I’m gonna go buy a hot dog and try to enjoy the rest of my day. Hopefully, I’ll never see you hypocritical assholes again.” Charles pushed past the agents and made his way to a hot dog stand.

“You know,” the black girl said thoughtfully as she watched the giant leave, “I’ve never actually read the constitution, have you guys?”

“Don’t tell me you were moved by that bastard, Speed Demon,” the agent who offered his hand scoffed.

“That was a slick move offering to shake his hand Brainstorm,” Speed Demon complimented, “but let’s not forget what I saw earlier. Does Barricade know about you and…” Speed Demon let her voice trail off. Brainstorm’s eyes closed down to slits but he didn’t say anything.

The tall agent turned on her, growling. His hand reached out and his fingers elongated, literally stretching around the girl’s neck. “I warned you, bitch.”

Without a trace of panic the girl’s hand slipped up to her neck. Her fingers tapped against his, but hers moved so fast the human eye couldn’t follow. The tall agent pulled his hand back quickly, rubbing it. Speed Demon grinned. “You just threatened me and put your hands on me, Black Fantastic. Torrent and Brainstorm are witnesses. Now unless you want me to report this incident to Hornet and send you into the negative zone prison for life you’re my bitch now.” Black Fantastic glowered at her, but it was clear Speed Demon had won this encounter. After a moment she cleared her throat and spoke. “Spread out. We still have Banner to find.”

 

[Wyldfire]

Victoria Wilson

"Oh this is fun." she thought to herself. This was the third pair of people milling through the crowd to have followed her. And again she watched them as she slipped their tail. These American guys needed better training. Even the lowest ranked agent of Weapon X could have kept up with her better than these guys were. But then too, it could be that she wasn't really their target. With this many people in one place there was bound to be more than a few that were unregistered metas.

That had been one of the first things she'd learned after she had escaped Weapon X. The U.S. was never a safe haven. That was part of why she had intentionally come to the States. It wasn't safe here anymore, and that wasn't just for the supers. Someone had to stand up for the innocents that where either beneath the notice of the BSA or were going to get shafted by the BSA when their house got burned down because someone might have been an unregistered inside of it.

The pity of all of this was that she'd lost her choice spot to watch the concert and would probably have to be back a ways where trees were more abundant.

 

[Armphid]

Cyclops, at the meeting

Airanna let out a deep throaty laugh. "Does that ever work? What's the ratio of women that have fallen for that line? 40-60. Bloody Hell Yanks really are easier aren't they. I'm Airanna my friends call me Anya. You can call me Airanna...Good Lord Stop staring you would think You had never seen a girl before. You have seen a girl before right?" She tossed him another one of "The Smile" before her eyes traveled back to the speaker Sit down you look ridiculous just standing there. As for you throwing yourself on top of me should the building collapses. She narrowed her eyes and focused as they went from brown to black to violet, the chair scooted out and knocked Chirs into it sliding slowly back into place. I think I can handle myself, but if it should get too scary I'd be more then happy to hold you while you cried. Her eyes meet his and she felt self satisfied. Men needed to know their place that was her theory let them know you want them but will never ever need them.

Chris almost blasted her. When the chair hit him and tried to scoop him up, he jumped back, his eyes flashing. What the hell! She'd invited him over, and now she was throwing this shit at him? All but attacking him, belittling him. Did she have any idea what he'd done and seen? What he'd lost? "At least we don't-"

He bit off the words, choking back the feelings and the thoughts that came with them. It was an over-reaction. He was weary from all the running and the constant tension. She probably didn't mean any of those comments to be as biting or as snide as they came out. It also showed she wasn't nearly as secure and confident as she let on. Why else go out of your way to show you were 'bad ass'?

But that look...that glance that told him he was nothing in her eyes, just a pretty piece of meat. It pissed him off a lot...and turned him on just as much.

Hell.

"...Sorry, I guess." "I just wasn't expecting so cordial a welcome," he said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "If you're done trying to show that yours is bigger, I'd like to have a seat beside a pretty girl." He sat down in the chair, his eyes flicking around the chamber, checking out the angles on the entrances from this new position. You never knew when the Government would send in a team. Best to be ready. Always ready. God, he was tired of being ready every single second. It stretched you thin, in mind, body, and soul. "And yes, I have seen girls before." He smirked, "Just not any that look like you, Airanna."

 

[Armphid]

Luke Rand, the Immortal Iron Fist

"Thank you so much, I hope to see you again soon Luke. I'm Alana. Are you headed to the concert? I might see you there." She stretched back against the bar, knowing he was watching. "I'd like to talk to you some more."

"Nice to meet you, Alana." Luke smiled, watching the way she stretched. Graceful. Not a fighter though. A dancer? A mystery for another time either way. "Yes, I'd going to the concert." "Seems to be the place to be tonight."

He should go alone. If he needed to disappear or if Iron Fist needed to make an appearance having her around would be trouble. It could also provide an alibi though...particularly with the latest technique he'd mastered. No. That was a use of an innocent that he wasn't comfortable with. He was a champion, a hero. That was something Stark's lackeys would do. He was ashamed he had even thought of it. "If I see you there, I'd very much like to talk some more." He smiled, "I hope you'll excuse me, Alana." "Enjoy the club." With that, he turned and left, his mind turning to how he would handle the business in the park.

A taxi ride later, Luke Rand walked through the massive crowd that had gathered for the concert. He was able to easily pick out the undercover cops, and the many plain clothes agents of other groups moving about in the crowd. It wasn't necessarily that they were bad at what they did...they just didn't expect anyone to know what to look for.

They were hunters, and they were all looking for prey. A few were looking at him, deciding if he was prey or not. He smiled slowly. Let them hunt, and let them come for him if they were fools. They were hounds, he was a dragon. Yet he could not shake that feeling that something was coming. It was stronger now, almost a taste in the air.

Luke decided that most of the action he was here to see wouldn't be in plain sight. Back by the trees, most likely. As he moved through the crowd in that direction, someone watching would see the change in him. Despite the clothes and haircut, he wasn't the billionaire heir anymore. He moved with an eager confidence, and a smooth, rolling step that could be shifted into a stance or a leap on reflex. The true mask he wore was falling away as he felt the hour of destiny moving closer.