The Defenders Renewed (Group Thread Open To All)

[ADmiral3]

Jordan watched as everyone else got ready, pulling on suits and gathering weapons. He felt a little under dressed, and pulled his bedsheet snug around himself before relenting, asking aloud, "Hey, does anyone have some pants I could borrow? I'd hate to make a bad first impression."

 

[SinisterSpiders]

"I thought pants were overrated?" Avery laughed, walking over to Jordan. "Give me a couple of minutes." Avery dashed to storage locker of old training gear. After a bit of searching she managed to find a pair of pants, shoes, socks, a shirt and a jacket that should fit Jordan. The Defenders had catered to all shapes and sizes over the years so it was easy enough to do. On the way back to meet him she ducked into her own room, got back into her battle gear and retrieved her weapons.

"Here you are!" Avery said, holding the bundle of clothes out to him. "It's good to see you up and about again. I hope you can see this meeting as a different kind of training. We can't always fight our way out of situations; well really, we shouldn't aim to. Here at Defenders we aim to ask questions first, shoot later. That isn't always possible of course, but..." Avery trailed off, realising she was rambling. "Anyway, the point is that this diplomacy mission could be just as important as any combat one, and it is best if you know how to handle both situations."

 

[ADmiral3]

Jordan grinned at Avery's rambling. It was good to know that they were human. Well, relatively. Taking the clothes from her, he moved over to the corner and dropped them in a pile on the ground. Selecting the pants alone, he pulled them up and aligned them with his body, then tossed them lightly up in the air. Snapping at the correct time, he moved instantly from his toga-like garb into his new jeans, letting his sheets fall slowly to the ground behind him, in the space that he was standing in a moment ago. He bent over and grabbed the rest of his clothes then: a black tshirt, long sleeved sweater, and some running shoes.

He moved back to Avery, getting comfy in his new clothes. "I'm ready to go when Spider is, are you going to be in charge?" He flashed her a grin as he asked. Out of the rest of the team, she was by far the nicest, and any time that he could spend time watching her fly with those gorgeous wings, he would.

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Avery had turned to give Jordan some privacy while he changed, but his theatrics caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Despite rolling her eyes she was impressed at just how well he had mastered his teleportation.

"Yep, I'm the boss," she said with a laugh. Gesturing for him to follow her as they made their way to the hangar to find Gregory. "I'm not entirely sure what to expect here, but they did just do hs a huge favour, so I am thinking we should give 'em a chance." Avery looked at Spark and realised he had none of the usual weapons that their team mates were no doubt covered in. "There should be some spare guns on the ship, you can help yourself to whatever you can safely use. If they take guns from us I have concealed blades here and here," Avery parted her right thigh and left ankle, "If you get stuck up a creek, you can snap over and take one."

 

[ADmiral3]

"Oh it's okay, I don't think I need any guns actually, I have my syringes..." Jordan said, absentmindedly reaching up to his bicep to fiddle with the vials strapped there before realizing his arms were bare. He paused for a second, panicking.

"Oh shit, actually, I must have left them somewhere when I was passed out, I'll have to pick them up later."

Looking and spotting her blades strapped to her lower torso, he asked, "Are you sure it's cool if I need to grab one of those? I don't want to throw you off by groping around your legs in the middle of a combat."

 

[SinisterSpiders]

"If you can teleport so deftly into a pair of moving pants I doubt you will have any trouble snatching one of my blades. If you're worried just call out to me and I'll stay as still as I can." Avery shrugged, "I'd rather you took one and were safe, than go unarmed. And a little bit of groping never hurt," she added with a wink as they made it into the hangar.

Looking out, Avery saw Spiders fussing over one of the trucks.

"If you want your toxins you have a couple of minutes to grab them now," Avery said to Jordan before going over to where Gregory was working and leaning against the truck.

"We all set?" She asked him.

 

[silvertongue217]

"More or less" Gregory said turning to her and leaning against the truck "taking a car less conscious but were going to have to ditch it once we get in there group is to big to all fit and be teleported and a cars shit in New York city any ways"

"John and the others are prepping for their own mission but as soon as Spark gets back we can leave" Gregory said smiling at her "Hopefully he will go with the flow I have a feeling after what these kids just pulled there going to be a little jumpy"

 

[SinisterSpiders]

"Well," said Avery with a grin, "I can be very calming. I'm sure it'll be fine. I mean who doesn't love a giant bird up in their space?" She joked, ruffling her wings and winking at Gregory. She wasn't sure if the Defenders were hoping to speak to John himself, but she was glad that she was going, even if she was backed by two new members. They would have a familiar face to out tot he Defenders. Avery wasn't looking forward to heading into the city, but they didn't have much choice.

"Let me know if you want a hand with anything," She said, patting him on the shoulder and climbing into the truck to inspect it.

 

[ADmiral3]

Blinking in behind Avery, Jordan shifted himself around her so he could address the other two members of his new squad. He had a few new holes in his outer jacket layer of clothes, but nothing major.

"I couldn't find them anywhere, so I think they must have fallen off in Veronica's room. It was locked, I couldn't get inside. I'm sure I can pick them up later. Are we going now?"

 

[silvertongue217]

"Yeah were ready" Spider said opening the door for Siren "I dont think the teleporter is going to mess with your actual powers but if you get lost some how in the transfer here is where we are meeting them at" He said showing the young hero the coordinates and clambering into the back seat.

"Siren The Commander told me to tell you good luck" Gregory said "were going com silent on this one and he said to try not to cause to much damage"

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Siren let out an undignified laugh of amusement.

"Us?" She laughed, "Tell John that he's the wrecking ball of the group. We'll be fine."

Avery waited until Jordan was buckled in and then gave Spiders the go ahead. She gripped her harness as she waited for the truck to teleport. She hated these trucks, though she had never mentioned it to John (she hadn't wanted him to tease her for it).

"So, while we're on this mission we'll stick to code names, yeah?" She said for Spark's benefit, knowing this was a first for him.

 

[silvertongue217]

While Siren was chatting with Spark the truck activated teleporting them. They found them selves in a car lot mostly empty but with a few cars spread out. It was night time in the big apple but the dim sound of traffic and people reached them even through the windows. Spider pulled out his tablet checking their location and making sure they had hit the target.

"Siren were about two blocks away from the meeting place an abandoned subway station" Gregory said glancing over at her "ready to move when you are"

 

[ToolmanTim]

The petrified forest had been amazing. Shiny had spent three days walking through the long dead, permineralized woods, taking in the nature and generally scaring the shit out of the tourists. Not that he meant to scare anyone. It was just the way of things.

You see, last year Shiny had woken up in central park, NYC. He didn't know who he was, he didn't know how he got there, and most of all, he didn't know how he was now a nine foot tall, five feet wide at the shoulders, three thousand pound crystaline man. He tried to stand, but that had been a spectacular failure. He would get up, almost stand straight and lose his balance. He wasn't sure who he was, or how he got there, but he was certain he had never been that tall before. All of his muscle memory was built for a different body, a body he couldn't remember.

The police had shown up. Surprisingly, they were very nice. Spending time with the NYPD was easily the best time he had he fateful day he had woken up. They had a surprising amount of experience dealing with super humans and he had turned out to be one of the most polite supers they had dealt with. They named him Shiny, because of his diamond like skin, and because of some TV show called Firefly. They had even tried to feed him, which was when he found out he no longer has a throat. Oh, he had a neck, and a mouth, but there was no opening for food, drink, or even air to proceed into his body. It was an odd experience. He definitely remembered eating, and using silverware. Though with his new hands that was a challenge.

Shiny's hands only had three fingers and a thumb now. And they were alot bigger. His fingers were roughly the size of red bull cans, and his thumbs were the size of coke cans. He crushed almost anything that was put in his hands, unintentionally. He was much, much stronger than he remembered.

That was why the military wanted him. They promised they could do tests that would help identify who he was, and if he had a family. They lied. Oh, they had tests, but it was all about figuring out what he was made of, how tough he was, and if he would make a good weapon. Shiny suspected they wanted a dozen like him so they could win all their wars.

Shiny didn't much care for war. He was more of a 'live and let live' kind of guy. So he left the military base, over strenuous objections. The colonel in charge of the project threatened to deport him because Shiny couldn't prove he was a US citizen, or even that he was human. Heated, angry words were exchanged. But the was six months ago and Shiny wasn't one to dwell on the past.

He had left the petrified forest a yesterday morning and started walking to Navajo Springs. Along the way was the town of Holbrook. Shiny had decided to go around rather than cause trouble walking through town. The Map he had seen at the ranger's station in the petrified forest showed a reservoir North West of town. Shiny wanted to stop there and cool off. The heat didn't seem to bother him any more than the cold did, but he could still feel it, and there was something pleasant about being submerged in water, especially after a few hot days in the desert.

He was past town and coming over a hill when he saw a building that hadn't been on the map. It was a three story affair, very modern looking, a glass wall and steel frame design. It reminded Shiny of some of the buildings in New York. There was a large, fenced-in parking lot filled with cars, and some big delivery trucks on the far side of the building. Maybe he could get a ride. Every once in awhile people surprised him and treated him well.

Shiny walked up too the main gate and there was a uniformed security guard standing there. He was armed, but Shiny paid that no mind. Although bullets bounced off him, Shiny never gave people a reason to shoot him. The sign out front said Essex Corporation. Shiny waved from a distance off and the guard waved back. When Shiny made it to within speaking distance the guard started the conversation.

"What are you doing outside?"

It was a perplexing question. Why shouldn't he be outside? It was a free country. "I'm taking a walk." It was a true answer.

"I didn't know you types were allowed to do that. I'm going to have to call this one in. Wait right there."

Shiny shrugged. "Listen, I was just wondering if I could bum a ride over to the reservoir."

The guard was already on his cell phone and glared at Shiny, then pointed at him. "Just stand there and be quiet. We'll have this all sorted out in a minute, okay?"

 

[SinisterSpiders]

While Siren was chatting with Spark the truck activated teleporting them. They found them selves in a car lot mostly empty but with a few cars spread out. It was night time in the big apple but the dim sound of traffic and people reached them even through the windows. Spider pulled out his tablet checking their location and making sure they had hit the target.

"Siren were about two blocks away from the meeting place an abandoned subway station" Gregory said glancing over at her "ready to move when you are"

"Great!" Avery said, unbuckling herself and getting to her feet. She looked over Gregory's shoulder, out of the windscreen, and nodded in approval. "Can you see if we can get into an underground system so we don't have to use the street. Unfortunately these babies don't get any smaller," she gestured over her shoulders and turned to Spark.

"Right, let's go!" She said, patting herself down for a final weapons check and waiting for Gregory's route.

 

[silvertongue217]

"Im checking now" Gregory murmured typing away at his laptop. He scrolled through their options before getting out of the car.

"Looks like we can get down into the train maintenance system from the other block" Gregory said "our new friends were nice enough to give us the keys so to speak" he said putting his tablet back into his backpack.

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Avery looked out at the bustling New York street and frowned. She had spied Gtegory's map and knew that it would be impossible for them to get to that point without everyone noticing her. And right now, a Defender was not a great thing to be.

"Spark, do you think you can get Spiders and I to that entrance without being seen?"

 

[ADmiral3]

Looking around the busy streets, he said, "I can try, but I can't be sure that nobody would notice us. The best I can do is hope that no one is looking at us when we teleport, and that the spot I move us to is relatively unseen. Where exactly are we trying to get? If I could get a visual..."

 

[SinisterSpiders]

"That would be perfect," Avery said to Spark. She turned to Spiders.

"Can you get us some images of entrance to the tunnels?" She asked him.

 

[silvertongue217]

"Hang on Spark" Gregory said tapping a few things and then grinning "here is a close circuit TV look at the alley way it is in looks like it is mostly devoid of people as well" Spider said showing Avery.

"Siren want to go first?" Spider asked raising an eyebrow "I can always walk across my self I havent tested his abilities and how they interact with electronics I dont want him to short out my equipment"

 

[SinisterSpiders]

"Sure," Avery said, happy to go along with that plan. She motioned for Spiders to get a head start and then stepped towards Jordan, holding a hand out to him and wondering if that would be enough for him to teleport her. "Ready when you are," She said.

She had already been with him when he teleported, so she trusted he could do it.

 

[silvertongue217]

Spiders nodded stepping away from them and walking over to the exit. He moved out onto the streets pulling the ballcap he had brought with him and pushing it down low over his head. No one knew him and he hadnt been at the Terror site but based on what he knew of the syndicate they no doubt knew and were looking for him as well. He jogged across the street reaching the entrance to the alleyway and ducking in before checking the door.

"Well at least that worked" He said watching it swing open and leaning against the door frame to wait.

 

[ADmiral3]

"Alright, let's go!"

Taking her hand, he looked towards the direction of the alleyway, and prepped himself for a jump.

"Okay, so I should be able to get us pretty close, but be ready for a little drop."

*Snap*

Dropping a few feet, they stood at the entrance of the alleyway, Spiders standing in front of them, apparently having just enetered himself.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Peter snapped awake as some noise intruded into his cell. Some message was coming across the radios of the guards in the hallway outside. It was too quiet to hear exactly what was said, but in the stillness of his cell block, every sound carried, every sound was loud. Sitting up, he dropped his arm from his eyes, squinting against the pale blue fluorescent light that filled his cell. He hated these lights; they reminded him of where he was more than the walls did. He could close his eyes and picture himself at home in Defenders HQ; the blue light still shown through his eyelids, robbing him of some peace from them. Sitting up, his paper-like clinical pants crumpled slightly as he stood and paced to the door. Even pressing his ear up to the mechanical steel door didn't allow him any better audio quality to pick up what was going on outside.

Cursing to himself, he turned and paced the length of his cell again. Nine paces. From door to bed, 9 paces were all it took. He'd come to know the number well. He could probably move around his room blindfolded at this point. He even knew when to avoid the toilet in the side wall, a feature he did not appreciate as it afforded no privacy from the mirrored wall that it faced. He never knew when someone was in there, when someone was keeping an eye on such a valuable study case, as he heard them talk about him early on. Something about him made him stand out and why he went to "The Lab" more often than not.

If there was a room he hated more than his cell, it would be The Lab. The medically induced coma blurred a lot of his memories of that place, but he would get flashes of courses of injections and long needles to sample his bone marrow. He wasn't sure what all they did to him, but he never found any surgery scars on his body during his moments of consciousness. They had given up on putting him under lately; his body must have been building up a tolerance for whatever drugs they were using and they were worried about his heart stopping from an increased dose. At least, that's what Peter told himself as he had been conscious for... to be honest, he had no idea how long he'd been down here. The constant light exposure, the seemingly random test periods where he was allowed up to the glass dome for 10 minutes at a time before another day of testing began, there was no evidence of how much time had passed and none of the guards would tell him. One thing was for sure, he was starting to notice how much older he was starting to look in the mirror.

He told early on that it was a product of how he was living, where he was being kept. That didn't explain away the flecks of grey hair he was starting to notice at his temples. As the days went on, he was starting to consider the fact that he might never leave at this point. Surely, someone would have come looking for him by now. Then again, he told John that it was his choice to submit to the battery of tests that the CDC wanted to run on him. Maybe everyone thought he had moved on... maybe no one missed him.

He shook that thought from his head and slammed his fist against the mirrored wall. He knew it wouldn't break, but it made him feel better at least for a few moments. Looking at himself again, he felt upset with himself that he'd let his hair go a little too wild. He liked keeping it short and close cropped; it made sliding his helmet on and off easier. Now, it hung before his eyes and over his ears. "Really wish they'd let me get a shave and a haircut again..." he muttered to himself. He did that a lot; there wasn't anyone else to talk to so he may as well talk to someone.

Turning and sitting on his bed, he cast his mind away from this place, remembering his old barbershop near base where he could get a hot straight razor shave and a good trim. He remembered the heat from the foam and the pleasing sensation of the razor gliding over his skin. He was deep in his reverie when someone buzzed his door, sliding his meal through the slot. Looking at the glass, he frowned, knowing that there was a guard watching him if they pulled that just now. He had a good idea which one it was too. The same guy just would not leave him a lone whenever he moved him from the cell. He didn't know who as all the guards down here didn't have names on their uniforms, but he always remembered his voice. He'd never forget that voice.

Walking to the door, he retrieved his tray and dug in. Despite how much he hated this place, the institutionalized food they had wasn't too bad and they always knew when he would be hungry. Digging in, he looked at the door again. So many times he thought about making a run for it, but he knew he'd never make it to the fence line in his current condition. They knew too much about him and how to keep him locked in. "Someone will come... someone will come..." he muttered as he ate. It was something he always told himself. Today, it just didn't seem to have the same conviction.

 

[SinisterSpiders]

"Alright, let's go!"

Taking her hand, he looked towards the direction of the alleyway, and prepped himself for a jump.

"Okay, so I should be able to get us pretty close, but be ready for a little drop."

*Snap*

Dropping a few feet, they stood at the entrance of the alleyway, Spiders standing in front of them, apparently having just enetered himself.

Avery and Spark arrived in one piece. Well, two separate but whole pieces, and Avery stood back and grinned.

"Great stuff," she said with a nod of approval. She turned to Gregory. "Right, let's do this."

The three of them then spent a short while navigating some underground tunnels before they crossed some old disused subway lines. The deeper they got, the more claustrophobic the tunnels, and Siren was soon shifting her wings as she felt the walls closing in on them. She hated this, being so far underground with nowhere to fly, and with her wings it made the tunnels feel even smaller. She pushed her nerves aside though and led the guys through, taking turns at Spiders' suggestions. The smells were getting stronger too; damp earth, old waste, decaying concrete structures. The sounds of rats scurrying was all about them, but they had yet to see any form of life.

Then, they reached a dead end.

"You sure you took the right turns?" She asked, looking at Gregory as the tunnel ended in nothing but a solid concrete wall and an old bucket filled with a very suspicious looking liquid.

 

[silvertongue217]

Before Gregory could say any thing more the overhead lights flickered on illuminating the room. Two kids came up behind them holding pistols loosely at their side. In front of the group two more kids came out holding pistols as well as they kept their bandanas securely on their face.

"You guys can relax" A womans voice called coming out of the shadows. The three lead teenagers stepped out pushing their bandanas down to reveal their faces.

"sorry" The girl said stepping forward running a hand through her shirt pink hair "the kids are a little jumpy this was our first real mission with them"

"Oh wow its you" Jill said her eyes widening "my name is Jill your..... well your Siren! I was a big fan of you back in the old days: she said coming over and taking her hand shaking it ecstatically.