Marvel, Rebirth:

Ic:

"C'mon get up!" Trinity demanded, continuing to lightly jump atop them, "get up or I'll turn everything to the wet-stuff!"

IC:

"Well, that's a new excuse." Tera muttered sleepily, raising an eyebrow at Aella, carefully rolling onto her back, and pulling herself into a sitting position.

"I'm up, I'm up, you can stop jumping."

IC:

"SHIELD agents, Director Fury wants you in the briefing room." A voice calmly intoned over the Helicarrier's PA system, sounding almost bored. "He says to hurry."

IC: Aella

I sat up as well, not wanting Trin to turn the couch into water or something. I noticed that my head wasn't pounding like it had been yesterday, maybe I was better from the concussion? Without warning I stood up and stretched.

"Let's go somewhere I can't stay in here anymore...we can go get clothing or whatever..."

John Harken- Shield Helicarrier

IC: It had been a short two hours, John had mostly spent it in the break room sleeping after a shower. He may have just come off the field but he doubted the the Director would appreciate a dusty and sweaty agent.

Straightening his uniform, Harken made his way to the briefing room. It seemed that nobody had arrived yet so he took a seat near the front.

IC: TLAW-001

"Well, that's our cue." noted Vivus. "Let's get going, we certainly wouldn't want to miss Director Fury's briefing." Vivus headed towards the briefing room, making an arm gesture to inquire Maurader, Krystal, and any other agent nearby to follow.

IC Tokiomi

Tokiomi was already in the briefing room when the announcement came over the PA. He was currently on his laptop trying to juggle secretarial work for a SHIELD-affiliated diplomat, analyzing a cursory network sweep for HYDRA signals, and sending data back and forth on North Korea to his counterpart in the NSA. "All in a day's work," he thought to himself as he franctically switched back and forth between windows. "Surely they'll understand my absence," he mused even as he sent a crudely slapped-together notification of absence to his coworkers.

OOC: The next Fury post will likely be tomorrow, once everyone has had time to arrive.

IC:

"You're far too much of a morning person." Tera grumbled, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes. She arched her back, quiet pops accompanying the movement.

"How are you two even awake?"

IC: Marauder

"I'm taking one. I think someone might want one." He grabbed a bunny and walked to the briefing room, stroking the hair to keep it calm. When he walked in, John was sitting down in the room. David decided to just stand in the back of the room, stroking the animal.

IC:

"What'd I just tell you? Humans don't take it slow. We get faster by the year, and I'm three times as fast as all of them. Pop quiz: if I asked you to turn up with me tonight, what would you think I was asking?" Alaric asked, sitting up and nestling into the armrest of the couch. Lynae's eyes batted at him for a second as she made a thoughtful face.

"Uuuh oh! To get intoxicated with you?"

"There's a little more to it than that, but I applaud your very basic grasp of the concept," the Black King conceded, mouth curling as he held out his hands and wrapped his index fingers around Lynae's. "You should turn up with me tonight. We're celebrating my new position. Acting White King. It's gonna be a bonanza."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

The vampire pouted at his words. [/i] Acting White King?[/i] She thought softly to herself before pulling her finger away from his.

"Alright. What time will the celebrating start?" She asked him curiously. "And what does turning up mean then?"

IC:

"Turning up is a lifestyle, Lynae. There's a certain confidence to it. A panache. But you can't be a dick about it, either. It's a hard balance to strike. You'll get the hang of it soon. Kinda hard to explain in mere words." Alaric plucked his phone from the counter and flicked through his contacts for a second; Anberlyn Worthington was only three contacts down on his phone and he rung her up, kicking back with his finger twirling through his hair.

"Hey, sister, it's Ric. Yeah. We're having a party tonight, my floor. You, me, and Lynae. What are we cele--Well, we're celebrating Romulus not being able to kill you in your sleep. No. No, he's not. No, I--no! That would be utterly pointless, no. He's in Africa. Not--well, it's a good thing I stopped the genocide then, isn't it? I--Anberlyn--Annie. Take it easy. He's in Africa. No, I don't know how long. Yes. Yes, he left me to act in his stead. No. No...no. No, the Grey King is a stupid name, I--well, I know it's a long title, obviously it's something I'm going to have to work on...yeah. Yeah, I know. Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. No. No, I can tell she doesn't like it, but it's not a big deal, she loves me. She says--Yeah." Alaric put his hand on the phone and mouthed She says hi.

"Tell her I say hi back." The vampire said as she got up to grab some blood from her mini fridge. Blood always made things better.

"Yeah, she says hi back. No. Yeah, no, I know she's not happy--no, we're not a thing. For the millionth time. I don't know where you people get these ideas." Ric covered up the phone again and called back, "We're nearly out of B! It's on my grocery list! No, hey, Annie, I'm back. Well, if you can't come that's fine--no. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Work. Nah, Lacey can't help. Because she's my secretary. I already--well, you're the one who's always telling me to get my head in the game. I'm just--oh, so now we're resorting to name calling. Well, I--no, Annie, it's still rude whether it's a medical condition or not, and sociopathy is--I was just asking if you wanted to come to a party. A get together with your brother. You're being difficult. No, fine. Whatever. Yeah, I know you have work. I'm not--nah, it's not your fault. We'll talk later. Lynae'll drink your share of blood. Yes. Yes, that was a joke. Alright. Love you too, sis. Hasta."

Click.

"Sisters."

-Tyler

IC: Aella

I shrugged. "I don't know, I lived underground in a lab two days ago, I'm just happy to know what a morning is." As I looked at Tera a grin grew across my face.

"I bet I know how to wake you up!~" I leaned forward to poke her side.

IC: Lynae

"Doesn't matter." She muttered as she pulled out a random bag of blood, glaring at it as he said they were out of B. It was O-, the Ditto of the blood world.

"Yea.. Sisters." She said with a bitter tone before pouring the blood in wine glass, unhappily swirling it.

IC:

"Alll-right, spill it. This pisses you off. Any ghoul could figure that out" Ric rolled over the back of the sofa and onto his feet, walking up to the other side of the counter and putting his elbows on the marble. "Talk to me. Why?"

-Tyler

IC: Krystal

Krystal decided to grab a bunny...or two as she headed toward the briefing room with the other agents. She figured it might be nice to have some bunnies as pets. And if it didn't work out she could always make a nice stew.

IC: Mikhail

"I will cook breakfast."

IC: Persephone had stored her bulky combat armour away in the special locker SHIELD maintained on the helicarrier for it. A place to make sure no-one just wandered off with it. Because if you sure a heavily weaponised suit of power armour, wouldn't your first instinct be the see how cool you looked wearing it? Even SHIELD agents weren't immune to trying to update their Facebook with "the coolest thing ever". So much property damage...

Slipping back into her human form, letting the panels of her primary armour slip back beneath her pseudodermis, to be concealed within her limbs and body like metal bones. She slipped a flightsuit on as clothes, as though she technically had no need to bother such things it made everyone more comfortable when she did. Including her, as it happened. She was human enough to have the urge to cover up certain indiscreet parts of her anatomy even if she did not, in fact, possess those parts.

The briefing room was filling up when she got there, and her inbuilt databanks attached a nametag only she could see to each face present. David Fortson, a wetwork specialist. Gasaammet Outhseren, a mage. John Harken, a kineticist. Krystal Starling, an animal-trait mutate. TLAW-001 Vivus, an android like herself. Tokiomi Nagato, a mnemonopath.

Throw her into the mix and you had the most raggedy, most taggedy most misfitted team of rag-tag misfits that she had ever seen. If they all walked into a bar then some comedian somewhere was going to have a field day.

Nevertheless she still felt somewhat...apart from the others. She always felt that way in crowds. It was just so obvious for anyone looking that she did not belong amongst other humans. She looked like someone had photoshopped her in real life; her skin was missing blemishes, pores, hairs, and was too perfectly peach pink. Her proportions were the ideal of every women's magazine everywhere, which meant she looked nothing like no women ever did, had, or would do. The whole reason she wore her hair in its current bob style was that it was too obstinately obedient, never having any errant strands or unusual curls. People never outright noticed, but something in their subconscious rebelled at the idea of someone who really never had a hair out of place.

At least Vivus was clearly robotic, looking like Megaman's big red brother. People were way more comfortable with that, with something obvious. They were unknowingly unnerved by the dozens of small things that gave Persephone away, even if they never quite cottoned on to the fact that they were looking at a robot.

Ah well. She was pretty sure everyone here was in on the secret by virtue of being agents of SHIELD, so there'd be no awkward looks as their uncanny valley senses tingled. So she'd be free to wonder what on earth kind of mission needed such a varied array of skills. She really hoped it wasn't just a stakeout, and they were just there to be eyes in the field. Surely with an assortment of traits more colourful than a candy shop it would be something exciting...

OOC: I think I mentioned everyone who'd shown up to the SHIELD thing here. If I missed you, then maybe your character should have arrived on time and they would have got a mention

IC: Lynae

The vampire scowled and looked away from him. "I just don't like it that you have monopolized your position as King of the Hellfire Club. That's all."

-IC:-

The call came as Khalid approached Emporia's city limits in the pale light of the post-midnight moon, forcing him to pull over to the side of the road. He searched one of his three duffel bags, shifting through several average smartphones before removing the ringing one. After memorizing the number, he initiated the call, and then sat silently, letting the caller begin.

“This is Meurtier, right?” the voice that came through the phone was charismatic and smooth; the voice of a natural-born speaker and mediator, Khalid noted with his usual due precision.

“I need not confirm what you already know,” Khalid replied flatly, his voice disconcertingly stolid. “What task do you need performed?”

“Assassination. Average stuff; personal opponent, they'll be in incognito, acting as an average citizen. Wichita, Kansas is the last place they were sighted; traveling with some friends in a Hummer, of all things,” the employer went on to list license-plate, appearance, and dozens of other required details, as Saint-Just sat in silence and in calm, mentally archiving the presented data.

“Payment?”

“Five hundred thousand, and a very special bonus,” Khalid could feel the grin across the dozens of miles. It radiated through the phone like an unwanted burst of heat, a foreign stain of emotion penetrating the serene purity of his dispassion.

“I'll contact you when the task is completed,” Khalid responded quietly, checking his other duffel-bags while speaking. “Expect it to be done by tomorrow.”

“Wonderful,” and then the line went dead.

Khalid put the car into first gear, weaving back onto the highway, his eyes watching and absorbing like twin bottomless abysses, yawning maws of diamond and emerald.

* * *

The glass of the abandoned apartment's window was smudged, forcing Khalid to open it as he prepared for the assignment at hand. The Hummer had been located within hours of his re-arrival at Wichita, and now stood motionless in the parking lot of a particularly nondescript Subway on West 21st Street. As he checked the scope of his L115A3 AWM rifle, he began to measure the speed of his heartbeats; his obsession with the perfect shot knew no bounds, as evident by his history of long-range kills.

At last, the party of laughing, joking (and generally detestable) super-powered individuals decided upon a window seat, dropping into the chairs with the gracelessness of the unprepared. Khalid held his breath, willfully slowed his heart as much as possible, measured the sights perfectly upon Daken's temple, and fired.

The bullet arced through the air faster than sound, twirling serenely through the stillness, glowing with the beautiful light of the early-morning sun, and then the window shattered. As the last shard of glass fell to the ground, Khalid had already closed the window, and had his duffel-bag over his shoulder.

IC: TLAW-001 Vivus

Looking around the briefing room, Vivus saw Persephone, an android like him. The main difference from them besides the fact Vivus had a male design and her a female one was that Vivus appeared to have had his design ripped from cartoons and videogames, being completely covered in red and blue armor from head to toe, his face being the only thing that resembled a human's. Persephone on the other hand was very close to that like a human female. The problem was that her appearance was impossibly perfect, lacking any sort of imperfection. Indeed, she looked ripped straight out of a magazine, except moving. Vivus had for a time wondered why his creator had not attempted to make him look closer to that of a human when his goal was to make a robot with a human spirit. After meeting Persephone, he realized that it was perhaps to make him more appealing to the masses. After all, inhuman objects with human traits are seen as endearing and charming to a person. If this was the case, then Dr. Walters was smarter than Vivus gave him credit for.

Looking around again, both Krystal and Maurader were holding bunnies from the teleportation antic. Approaching Krystal first, Vivus gently held out his hand, indirectly asking for permission to stroke the animal.

OOC: Thanks for giving a justification on Vivus' appearance. I was worried you guys would find it too silly and cartoonish, but now Vivus has a very good reason to resemble Mega Man. And yes, he likes soft, cuddly animals. I mean, how many people don't?

IC: Krystal

"Go ahead. I don't think it will bite." Krystal said to Vivus as he asked indirectly if he could pet the furry critter in her arm. As this was going on Krystal wondered if Fury could use a bunny, what an odd though.

Ic:

"Because sleeping is boring," trinity said, rolling her eyes, "c'mon lets do stuff!"

IC: TLAW-001 Vivus

"Thanks." said Vivus, who proceeded to softly stroke the bunny's head. "I see you and Maurader had the same idea. Who knows? Maybe there are other operatives who could use a furry companion to cheer them up."

IC:

"Pietro Maximoff once wanted that seat very badly. As long as I knew him, it was all he craved." Dominik put two fingers to his temple and chuckled warmly, crossing his right leg over his left. "The more I look around at what that little throne of yours comes with, the more I become convinced he was a nutter after all. But it's as you said - you're over there, and it appears that one of your policy wonks has put me over here for the time being. So let's discourse like rational men, in the hopes that we may work to stave off an irrational time. I assume I'm here because I'm a mutant. A powerful one, as far as your staff is concerned. Am I wrong?"

"I doubt it's your mutation that bothers them. I think it's the group you lead that bothers them. Reformed or no, the Brotherhood isn't a name that rings well with most of the political scene." He paused, drumming his fingers on the desk.

IC:

A disgruntled and bit soaked Ultimate John sauntered up to the oak double doors of the school. The forest had provided him with some cover from the rain. But now that he'd trekked through he grounds he'd gotten a bit soggy.

John's eyes flickered up the sky. Huh its a fullmooon... he thought. A year ago and he'd be forced to transform into a lycan tonight. And he would have no control. That's when it first started getting bad in our universe... that fullmoon I lost control...

John wasn't even exactly sure what had happened that night. All he knew was that he could think clearly now and he was tired of living alone in the woods. He needed his friends and former friends. Even if they distrusted him from before... if only he had time to explain.

Let's just hope Showstopper doesn't kill me before I can explain. A metal hand was raised do the door as Wolf rapped his metal fist against the door. He hated the sight of his metal arm. Even though the virus was halted by his healing factor it still reminded him of the Phalanx and what they'd done.

I've had to go through things that would make this realty's John curl up and cry. We all did. We're all equally as scarred because our world died. But now its time to mend what we can.

"Anyone there?" John called as he opened the door cautiously.

IC:

Jennifer had slipped into the briefing room silently after the short announcement. Her glasses reflected white off of SHIELD screens as she stood against a wall. Still dressed in her sleek black SHIELD combat wet-suit.

Jennifer noticed that one of the female agents looked a bit... unnerved around the others. She walked towards her slowly.

"I don't think we've met. I'm new to SHIELD." she smiled. That's when she noticed that the woman... wasn't exactly human. She was robotic like Vivus. Her smile became slightly more guarded. She looked so human... she hadn't expected it.

IC:

Christine watched as Sierra tried to flee her room. She sat there for a moment not sure what to do before she jumped from her bed. "Sierra! Wait up! What are yah talking about? You're fine come back here!"

IC:

Nicole had left Robin in the infirmary since he'd been injured. She walked down the hallway of Hellfire not sure where Annie had gone. She'd never gotten to finish her conversation with her. She halted by a door and pushed it open.

"Hello? Annie? Lynae? Anyone?"

OOC: Feel free to have her stumble in on Lynae and Ric if you want, if not I'll find something for her to do. She was just frozen for a long time.

IC: Michael

The rubble slowly blew away to reveal the hand to be connected to a large metal arm, but the rest of the robot body was yet to be seen.

IC Damian

"Okay, stop blowing," Damian told the staff. This required more precision; in fact, why didn't he think of that earlier? He could have accidentally killed somebody. "Stupid stupid stupid!" He muttered to himself, grabing a shovel and beginning to dig. The robot's arm was fully excavated; now he needed to uncover the cockpit.

IC: Abigail

She sighed as she watched the endless road go by through the window, the occasion road bump jolting her out of her daydream as the bus continued it's endless route of New York countryside. Despite the clouds covering the evening sun and darkening the sky, her head was covered by the hood of her pink jacket and she donned a pair of pilot shades, as if she was afraid of potential sunlight.

A middled aged man, who sat on the opposite side of the bus across from the girl noticed this as well, despite the fact it was none of his dang business. It was a well known fact he was a big fan of VINCE JACKSON, that's what it said on his shirt...on both sides...plus he was wearing the hat.

Yeahh... Abigail glanced at said buffoon, not the wisest course of action.

The man glared at the girl, as he had been the past half hour, his eyes narrowed. "What you lookin' at girlie?"

Abigail glanced away, back at the window. "Nothin." She was quick to reply.

The buffoon leaned in closer, now on the edge of his seat. "I know what you are...." He slurred accusingly.

Abigail tensed up, refusing to look back at the man. "I don't know what you're talking about..." Did he know?

"You don't belong on this bus with the rest of us normal people...mutie." Abigail sighed with relief, the buffoon clearly had no idea what he was dealing with.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken..." Abigail began to explain...she turned to see the buffoon was no longer in his seat but in the one beside her, his expression was blank and serious. She stared at him through her pilot shades, her expression unreadable.

"I know a mutie when I see one...mutie..." He pointed an accusing finger, poking her with it hard on the shoulder.

"Don't...touch me." She warned, her expression hardening. The buffoon paused for a moment, as if he was really going to listen to her. Then he grabbed her by the collar.

"Or what mutie!? You'll use your powers in front of all these good peo-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHRGHGHH!!!" The buffoon screamed like the monkey he was as Abigail grasped his previously pointing finger and bent it backward, it went way farther than it should have. The man was quick to let go of Abigail, grasping his damaged finger in agony, Abigail responded by smacking his forehead with the bottom of her palm, the force of the blow knocked the man backwards, causing him to hit his head on the railing behind him, he collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

The other passengers stared at Abigail warily, the bus itself had stopped dead in it's tracks.

"I think...this is my stop." Abigail left the bus without another word. The moment she her two feet were on the pavement the bus took off, accelerating faster that even the driver had thought possible. It was still a few miles to her destination, if she was human it would take her an hour or two to arrive. Good thing she wasn't human.

She sighed.

IC:

I didn't answer Christine. I couldn't. All of my concentration was being used to keep myself together - literally. Already mentally plotting escape routes, I didn't watch my step until it was too late.

Something, a wrinkle in the carpet maybe, caught my left foot. I instinctively put out my arms to catch myself, only to bend one under my

weight. At first I thought, "Why is there blood on me?"

And then I see it. I know enough about medicine

and myself to know what a compound fracture is. And what it means for me.

IC: (Vince Jackson Jr.)

Chances like this were like gold for the cause. Gold for the cause of TRUTH. A man, an example of the threatened, common HUMANS of MIDDLE AMERICA, was attacked by a mutie on a bus. And the cops still didn't find the witch that did it. It ticked him off, it ticked his children off. He was going to channel that anger, and use it for the good of his glorious, glorious human nation.

Instead of the usual high fives and kisses, however, he was a little more serious, a little more dramatic. His audience knew these episodes well, they were episodes of anger and unity, where THE MESSAGE came into its power. The SERIOUS BUSINESS announcement blared as he quietly walked to the set.

"Here, AMERICA, is VINCE JACKSON JR, in a very special episode."

He had the spirit of Walt Cronkite with him too, he KNEW IT. He was as respected as the geezer was, by all good Americans. Taking a seat, he stared as his beloved audience, and the camera that would bring his TRUTH to the world. Whether it liked it or not! After a second or two with a dour look on his face, he suddenly rose, grabbed the patented VINCE JACKSON MUG OF TRUTH ^TM and hurled it on the ground.

"You know what, AMERICA, this HYPOCRISY has to stop! For hours past, no network but GCN has reported this HORROR story in its full TRUTH. A man, a fan of this very show, was assaulted by a MUTIE on a bus! The witch broke his finger, and the MUTIE-LOVER MEDIA defends her. Now, we don't know this criminals name, but what we do know is that the authorities are doing next to nothing to find her!"

The audience roared in anger, and Vince rose his hand to quiet them.

"A human defends himself, the MEDIA calls him a bigot, and effectively DEMONIZES HIM. But one mutie attacks a human on a bus, and the Mutie-Lover celebrities and bloggers rally to her defense. It's sickening. These people are living weapons, they shouldn't go anywhere near human transportation! Am I right, AMERICA! "

The audience roared.

"Now, don't rile up these hypocrites. WE will be able to better SPREAD the truth by words then by baseball bats! The TRUTH doesn't need bloodshed to SPREAD! It needs YOU, Humans of AMERICA! I propose we all join together to tell the mutie-lovers that AMERICA IS HUMAN! Mail your congressman! Get active! Oppose the muties, and PROTEST them until they GET OUT!"

The protest part was in there, of course, to keep the lawyers at a distance.

IC: Abigail

An hour or so later, Abigail arrived at a certain, some what secluded mansion, blissfully unaware of the media controversy she had unwittingly been apart of. She panted heavily as she reached for the doorbell, she'd been running continuously on foot, and while she was a lot faster than a human, vampires could still get tired.

The door opened a few moments later, and what appeared to be a maid greeted her. "May I help you?"

Abigail had since removed the hood of her jacket and her shades, revealing her vibrant amber eyes and crimson hair. "Hi! My name is Abigail! I am here to see Lynae!"

"Miss Rosewood wasn't expec- hey you can't just barge in!" Abigail slipped past the maid quickly, letting herself in. Before the maid could catch her she had run off, her nose had picked up a particular scent of perfume that simply screamed Lynae all over it.

It wasn't long after that Lynae found an excited red head in front of her. "Hi Lynae! Did you miss me?"

IC: Lynae

"ABIGAIL?!" Lynae exclaimed as the redhead barged into Ric's room. She blushed and grabbed Abby's arm as she pulled her through the door and lead her to her floor.

"Abby... Abby why are you here?" She stared at the younger vampire with concern. Abby had joined the coven only a few years before the whole fiasco with Thomas and Lynae and was mostly under Lynae being coven leader. She had been a good member, a few mistakes here and there but a good kid through and through.

IC: Abigail

"Well...I came to see you! Nothing really interesting has happened back home and I heard about all the cool stuff you were doing sooooo I thought I'd come visit!" She smiled.

IC: Lynas

Great... Hellions, Gala, other Hellfire Club things... Now Abby. She thought to herself as she forced a smile.

"Abby... Why didn't you call me? I would have been more than happy for you to come visit but... A call would have been appreciated."

IC: Abigail

"Oh..." Abigail blushed. "Well, I wanted it to be a surprise!" She grinned sheepishly. "Surprise!"

"I would have gotten here sooner...if not for that incident on the bus..." She muttered.

IC:

"Guessing she'll be taking the minifridge," Ric muttered into the empty air as he moved past the Gates and extracted a couple bags of A- from the Lynae Fridge! and tossed them underhand onto the counter.

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

"Incident?" The word left her mouth almost as it had been a rotten piece of meat she spit out. "Please... Don't tell me this is on the tv."

IC: Abigail

Abigail looked nervous, and fidgeted a bit. "I don't know...I haven't seen a tv since it happened...this guy with a VINCE JACKSON shirt and hat started to harass me on the bus...so I bent his finger backwards, hit him in the forehead, and then he sorta got knocked out. I um...had to walk the rest of the way here..."

IC: Lynae

The older vampire's face quickly turned to one of anger, her fists clenched as she turned away from Abby. She took a deep breath, running her hands through her soft golden locks.

"Abby... How could you be so stupid! First off, you should have just gotten off of the bus... Should have kept your cool. You never ever are supposed to attack someone like that! Especially in public!" She fussed as she spun around and looked at her, bright blue eyes darkening.

After a few moments of silence, she pulled Abby to her and gave her a gentle hug. "... I'm glad you're okay though.. You're so young.. Next time call me and I'll come get you.... But you're going to make this hard for real mutants..."

IC: Abigail

Abigail's face had a pained expression as Lynae scolded her, she had expected it, but it still hurt. "I-I'm sorry...I...I asked him to leave me alone...but he kept calling me a mutie, and then he grabbed me...I-I acted out of impulse..."