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Post by Jaymi on Jan 7, 2022 10:52:15 GMT -7
X gon' give it to ya $@%! waiting for you to get it on your own, X gon' deliver to ya
Laura's slow approach to the final target brought wide eyes from the gasping man. A quick pair of fingers to the right spot against his neck arrested the man's blood flow for long enough to see him lose consciousness. She was just finishing that task when she heard her charge's shouting, drawing her around to see what was happening. In stark contrast to her three bloodless victims was a bloodbath.
Daken had slaughtered his target while Malik had managed to incapacitate one only to decapitate the other. X-23 could kill, she was quite good at it. One of the best, even. It was that killer's eyes that met the other two as she approached them, glaring.
"No. More. Deaths."
It was the first rule of the X-Men, and the exact thing they were out here to try and stop Razor from leaning into. It had been explained to her that he was on a precipice and could go either way. Killer or hero. Laura was already the latter, as was her brother. If they could show him restraint, he didn't have to follow in their footsteps.
At the boy's words, she turned to focus on him entirely. Her eyes softened slightly, though they didn't lose the serious edge behind them.
"Not a professor, though maybe I can still teach you some things. For one..." Pointing to the blood and urine the marked the area around Daken and Malik's takedown, she then brought her finger to her nose. "That's going to blur your senses, make it harder to smell further away. If for no other reason, and there ARE plenty of other reasons, you should avoid it."
Even with, or perhaps because, of the trio's heightened senses, additional stimuli made it difficult to focus. It wasn't impossible, and trained as she was she already knew the way forward, as likely Daken did as well, but it didn't make it less of an inconvenience.
Knock knock, open up the door, it's real. With the non-stop, pop-pop of stainless steel!
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Post by Jaymi on Jan 7, 2022 9:41:35 GMT -7
Oh the places you'll go, with your eyes so wide With your heart in your hands, and your sword at your side Oh the mountains you'll move, oh the tears you'll cry
It took Emily an actual discernable effort to not defend the internet. She had basically grown up on it, after all, and before Strange, it was one of the only sources she had for what she could do. It had helped explain to her what magic was, that she wasn't a mutant or anything else. That there were energies out there and with the right focus she could manipulate them. Of course, for every flower growing spell she had found there, ten more failures preceded.
Not really a hill worth dying on.
So with a bite of her lower lip, the girl simply nodded to the Sorcerer Supreme's criticism of the source of humanity's knowledge, acquiescing that not all knowledge was equal. Then came his speech and with it the world around young Bright changed. Morphed. Everything that was wasn't and in its place was a true peek at the infinite cosmos that spread out for eternity.
Which mostly just left Emily's mouth open as she turned about in place, trying to absorb it all in at once. "This is so weird..." she whispered as Emma continued to lay against where the tree once was. Not seeming bothered in the least with the transformational nature of reality, the dog's only reaction was to open its mouth in a large yawn before rolling over to a more comfortable position.
Turning her attention back to the man, the young girl, with eyes wide, seemed almost at a loss for words. That wasn't a state of being that lasted for teenagers, though, and soon she had a hundred questions. "Does it ever get less weird? Or scary? Or... big?"
Three isn't a hundred, but she had to start somewhere.
Oh the places you'll go...
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Post by Jaymi on Dec 31, 2021 9:40:53 GMT -7
What if I lose it all? Oh cousin, I will help you out! Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,
With the conversation moving away from surveillance and towards more esoteric areas, Blackagar Boltagon leaned back in his chair. The man's fingers steepled together as he allowed himself to close his eyes and exhale. With everything they were seemingly facing, and at least four of their homes having already been proven infiltrated, the Illuminati's next steps would likely change the course of history.
Which is exactly what their gathering had been intended for, even if it made the Inhuman Monarch uneasy at times.
Years of discipline had left Black Bolt with one true skill, however. When to keep quiet, and when to speak. As the conversation moved out of his realm of knowledge, he simply quieted his mental frame, erecting the barriers that would shield his mind from intrusion, and allowed the capable men about him to parse the information.
When it was time for him to join in again, he would.
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do!
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Post by Jaymi on Dec 31, 2021 9:24:18 GMT -7
Oh the places you'll go, with your eyes so wide With your heart in your hands, and your sword at your side Oh the mountains you'll move, oh the tears you'll cry
"Astral form... Oh, I read about that on the internet. I was going to try it but then..." The girl let her words trail off, not bothering to finish her thought. Here Doctor Strange, some big guy in the magic world, was actually sort of standing in her backyard and talking about responsibility and all she could do was spout off about learning things from the internet.
Admittedly it had worked with the flowers...
"I just mean... It doesn't really feel like a gift sometimes." Glancing around her yard for a second, the girl twisted her fingers and a stick she had spotted began to float between her and the intangible figure, a soft golden glow surrounding it. "I can't share it with anyone, and my parents are scared..." With a motion, Emily's fingers clenched into a fist, snapping the wood in half.
"And sometimes there's these... shadows, but not like normal ones. I just... I want to learn more, but also I'm worried that if I do, then maybe something bad's going to happen, like when..." Letting her hand open up, the teen glanced over at her dog as the now-twigs fell to the ground. "It's just really scary, you know?" she admitted out loud for maybe the first time in her life. "How do you um... how do you handle it all?"
Oh the places you'll go...
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Post by Jaymi on Dec 30, 2021 20:30:58 GMT -7
Oh the places you'll go, with your eyes so wide With your heart in your hands, and your sword at your side Oh the mountains you'll move, oh the tears you'll cry
Emily was just standing to dust the dirt from her bare knees when she felt a tingle. A feeling at the edge of her feelings that caused her to raise up to her full five foot two inch height and fix her gaze on the Strange man that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Then he spoke.
Her feet working backwards, Emily squeaked as she moved away. Then she realized what he was saying and that drew her attention to the flowers near the tree. The ones she had just made.
"Are you a ghost?" she whispered as if she was trying to keep the question between herself and the surprising apparition. His words that followed brought another squeak. This one less of fear and more of disbelief. He had actually responded. By appearing in her backyard. Was this magic? Could she do it?
Not really the right questions now.
"No."
Or the right word to say. Raising a hand up to smack herself in the forehead, Emily groaned.
"I mean, yes. I did. I um..." Turning, she pointed at the flowers. "I've been doing things like that since I was born and... and..." And what, Emily? "Am I in trouble?"
Oh the places you'll go...
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Post by Jaymi on Dec 30, 2021 19:08:17 GMT -7
If the real thing don't do the trick You better make up something quick You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn to the wick
The barbs thrown at her didn't phase Agent 13 as she listened to the man's story. If Fury thought she didn't need to know, Blob wouldn't be here filling her in, a task she was certain was intended. As SHIELD's superhuman liaison, she would be the first person to really get to speak to the mutant criminal.
Well, her or Valerie Cooper, but the latter wasn't around the area as often, spending more time in Washington.
Dukes had become as much Fury's messenger in this exchange as he was the former director's weapon.
"And what bullshit needs fighting?" the veteran agent inquired, trying to urge a little more information from the Blob. "Did Fury give you a name, or just a general 'go kick ass with S.H.I.E.L.D., they could use someone like you' speech?" The latter seemed unlikely. There was almost no way the former Freedom Force member would keep Fury's name quiet, so unless he wanted everyone to know Blob was a plant...
More than likely there was a specific target, and Blob was picked for a reason.
Oooo, Barracuda
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Post by Jaymi on Nov 8, 2021 10:19:50 GMT -7
If the real thing don't do the trick You better make up something quick You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn to the wick
Sharon held back her reply to the man's remark about her comment. Suggesting they learned how to talk to someone of his intelligence through sensitivity training would get a smile from her, but there was no need to start off with insults from both sides. Instead, she just gave him a simple shrug. She was just about to talk when Dukes went into his little rant about Fury.
Of course this bought a raised eyebrow from the SHIELD agent. As he spoke, she pulled out here chair and sat down, a finger moving beneath the table to press a hidden button. A small red light in the corner of the room turned off before she glanced to the side to look at the wall. No one was supposed to be watching, but after Blob's outburst, she wasn't sure it would stay that way.
Fury wasn't with SHIELD anymore, at least not officially, and at least one of the the two directors wouldn't be happy to hear he was sending people their way. Agent 13, however, was more than willing to work with the man, even if it meant stepping on some toes. He had earned her loyalty.
"Alright, start at the beginning. What did Fury say?"
Oooo, Barracuda
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Post by Jaymi on Oct 8, 2021 20:01:54 GMT -7
Dear Mr. Strange, My name is Emily Bright, and I'm a magician.
Or a sorceress, er, um... sorcerer? Maybe I'm a witch or mage?
I'm not actually too sure what the official title is, or if there even is one. I just know that for as long as I can remember, I've been able to use magic.
My parents are afraid if people knew about me they would take me away, so I've never shared the whole magic thing with anyone...
...until now.
Something... strange happened. Something I didn't realize I could do.
More than making books float or vanish.
I don't know how to explain it. Or if you'd even believe me. Or maybe you will because you can do it too, but I felt death. Actually felt it coming.
Without knowing I was doing it...
...I pushed it away.
Right after, I felt like that car had hit me and not Emma. Like, I hurt deeper inside than I knew was possible and that scared me.
You probably get letters like this all the time. Or maybe not. I don't know what to do here. I'm trying to learn about this on my own...
...but I'm afraid of what might happen if I get any of this wrong.
Please, Doctor, help me.
Sincerely, Emily Bright Oh the places you'll go, with your eyes so wide With your heart in your hands, and your sword at your side Oh the mountains you'll move, oh the tears you'll cry
Sun glistened through the leaves of the tree, sparkling down along the teen's face as she laid back against her dog. It was summer, so she didn't have school for a few more weeks. That suited young Emily just fine. It meant she still had time to meet up with her friends, maybe hit up a pool and a bowling alley, and of course, try out some more things she had wanted to give a shot.
For all the thoughts of magic being some ancient thing that most people didn't even believe in, it was painfully easy to find resources on the internet. Most parents needed to worry about what their kid would do when given a phone, but Emily had promised to behave and she meant it. She stayed away from social media, didn't get into fights in the YouTube comment section, an avoided stranger danger. All the things they were most concerned about.
The spell repositories though? No one ever thought about those.
Setting her phone to the side, she grinned playfully at her dog. Now she had a general idea of what to do, she just needed to give it a shot. Closing her eyes, she reached her hands up and started chanting. Well, sort of chanting. Mostly the young spellcaster repeated a few words over and over again.
"One with all things."
She felt it well up from deep inside her like it always did, her fingers warming as yellow light flared from their tips. Gritting her teeth, the girl concentrated, focused, repeated the new mantra. Then it felt like it clicked. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it. The moment her spell worked.
Letting her hands drop, she rolled over and glanced to the side. Flowers blossomed where they hadn't been before, red daisies springing from the ground as if time had sped up. Another grin before she felt the wave of exhaustion hit her. Dropping back, she landed on her fluffy pillow of a pet who gave a soft ruff.
"Okay, now I need some food..."
Oh the places you'll go...(Letter taken directly from Strange Academy Issue #1. I don't typically use existing material, but reinventing the wheel here seemed pointless.)
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Post by Jaymi on Oct 7, 2021 15:04:37 GMT -7
Look out 'cause here I come And I'm marching on to the beat I drum I'm not scared to be seen
You felt like you were floating. You felt like you were suspended in a bubble. Yet you didn't feel at all.
Prepositions are the first to go. There is no up. There is no down. No before or after.
Nouns are next. Persons, places, things? They don't exist. The only exception was you. You exist. Your brain tells you you exist, so you must. Yet with nothing to compare yourself against, to define yourself through, do you? No.
Within the void, you didn't exist. No one and nothing did. Consciousness was irrelevant. Perception is reality and if you cannot perceive, are you real?
You reached out, begging for an answer. Begging to touch, to feel. Yet even as you thought to reach, you don't know if you did. No tug of gravity gave weight to your form, no friction of air gave way against your flesh. Even your body itself, if it existed at all, felt no movement. Joints didn't rub, bones didn't creak. If you had a body, it didn't matter.
With that, verbs were gone. Actions you took had no meaning, if they happened at all.
Adjectives? You could describe still. Describe the void?
It wasn't hot or cold.
It was dark. It was bright. It was neither and both at the same time.
It was silent.
Or maybe it wasn't.
If there was sound, it was the static of the expanse, the noise of eternity.
You thought it was there and yet you couldn't truly hear it.
It didn't matter.
So what was the void?
It simply...
Was.
Which meant it was lonely. You felt that keenly. If you didn't exist, that was fine, but you wanted others to exist. So you closed your eyes. At least that was what you thought you did. You closed your eyes and dreamed. Dreamed of a world, lush and vibrant. An island in the center of an ocean.
You dreamed of leaving the void and finding your way there. You dreamed you met a girl who cared for you. You dreamed you met her friends who became yours. You dreamed of sacrifice and love and corruption and kindness. You dreamed they were in danger and you dreamed you could protect them.
You dreamed that they protected you.
When it was time to wake up, you said your goodbyes. You loved them with all your heart, and dream or not, they would be part of you forever. You smiled and you died, giving yourself back to the void so they would live. Live as memories in your mind. As souls held close to your heart.
Then you woke up.
Woke to that which was because you were.
The void.
Eternity.
It, however, wasn't enough. You had felt love. You had felt a connection. So you decided you would dream again and again and again. Sleep and dream of friends and places where you weren't lonely. Worlds would rise and fall in your mind as you sought respite through the company of others. Others who lived forever in your heart.
So your eyes closed and this time you knew it was more than thought. You felt your eyelids move against the orbs of your vision and you remembered what darkness was. You knew you were real, tangible, true for the first time. Verbs and nouns existed to you.
Words existed.
So you dreamed of more. You reached out to those that were part of you and slipped once more into their world of make believe. You were needed and you needed them.
Eyes close.
Eyes open. A new world. A new place. Nothing except the stars in the distance. The rocks that gravitate towards those luminous beacons.
A home. Earth. You could feel it. So close by, so within reach.
A blink. Nothingness and then everythingness. Crowded streets. Shouts of humans. Love and hate. Light and Darkness.
Beautiful.
Floating above you watched, enjoyed. Some saw you. They point. You smiled big, your bright white not-teeth saying hi. As did your hand. You waved.
They go back to ignoring you. Used to people like you. People like friends?
You felt them. Close and far. All here. Another smile as your eyes closed. Darkness but not nothingness.
Home.
Blink again. The moon. There’s one. Alive again. Happy.
Another blink. A school. Then again and a tower. Another to find a hospital.
Last time. Courthouse.
All there. All safe. You closed her eyes.
Time to say hello.
Another blink and you were inside the courthouse, exiting from a portal with a loud POP!
And you jumped towards Jennifer, arms extended to embrace her, smiling the entire time.
"FRIEND!"
I make no apologies This is me
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Post by Jaymi on Oct 7, 2021 14:29:15 GMT -7
Blood is spilled while holding keys to the throne. Born again but it's too late to atone. Hail to the King!
Rubbing at the bridge of his nose didn't relieve the pain of the headache that was forming. Sheets of paper littered the massive solid desk that sat in the center of the office and a pair of lawyers sat opposite the large man. The attorneys hadn't stopped talking for almost an hour, bouncing words about the large man's head as they informed him of one thing after another.
For Wilson Fisk, it was always one thing after another.
Raising his other hand up brought silence to the room. The impeccably garbed counsel were brought to a halt at the sudden motion from their client. They knew who he was, after all. They knew his temper, having witnessed it first hand. They had no intention to fall victim to it.
"You," came the bass voice of the Kingpin, his attention turning to focus fully on the lawyer sat on the left. She was young, only a few years out of law school, but a keen mind, good connections, and a prestigious family had seen her find a job with a notable law firm where she had excelled. Still, she wasn't used to being the one answering their firm's most important client.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Fisk?" came the words from her lips as she struggled to not stutter. Successful as she was, the features of her face showed clear distress and anxiety.
"What was the last thing you said?" There was no menace in his voice, no threat implied by the simple question. Yet even his calm delivery still sent a chill up her spine. Had she messed up and said something to offend him?
"Oh um, th-the last thing?" she managed to fumble out as her fingers worked over the notepad in front of her, trying to regain her train of though. It took her a precious few seconds to remember. It had been innocuous, that she was certain of, so she raised her gaze from the paper to the man and answered. "Just that... the permits? They were approved for all subsidiaries, and the foreman has started to move the machines in to officially break ground."
She tried to keep her annoyance out of her words. Their firm specialized in tax law, and she had been trained to focus on financial problems. Liaising between Fisk, the city, and a bunch of construction companies? It was the type of thing that you got an assistant for, or at least a real estate agent. Their firm had billed itself as full service, however, and when they could charge him the same hourly rate for this as defending him in court, she had been shoved onto the job. It didn't mean she was going to be happy if somehow reporting this news to him endangered her career.
Luckily, it didn't seem like that would be the case. A small smile spread across his lips as Wilson Fisk finally removed his hand from his face and stood up. His hulking mass cast shadows on the two lawyers that sat across from him.
"Next time, don't bury the lede. I would have preferred to hear that fifty minutes ago." Turning to the window, he looked out from his view that covered most of Manhattan. Peaking through the skyline, he could just make out a crater that covered a large part of the eastern side of the island.
His crater, in so many ways.
"Continue."
...Hail to the one...
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Post by Jaymi on Oct 6, 2021 13:15:07 GMT -7
X gon' give it to ya $@%! waiting for you to get it on your own, X gon' deliver to ya
As they approached the perimeter, Laura was already doing a head count. Six guards spread out in a line along a small embankment and the sparse trees the trio had used to get as close as they were gave them ample cover to close the rest of the distance. Daken gave a basic rundown to Malik, calling out just the three to the left of them and assigning two of them to the young mutant.
This drew a small glare from the girl. While not an official training mission, it had been clear that the pair of Wolverine's children that they were to take care of Razor, and sending him against two? It was just a recipe for disaster. There wasn't time to correct it, however, and she just shook her head.
"The three on the right are mine, you cover the last and keep an eye on him." Her words slipped from her lips as a whisper, aware that her supposed brother's enhanced senses would hear them.
She didn't bother to wait for an answer, instead breaking into a sprint. Her light body moved over the terrain in eerie silence, slipping from shadow to shadow like a wraith. When she fell upon her first target, it was like a lightning bolt, all grace and power.
His form crumpled to an empty ground, his assailant already gone. The second one had enough time to yelp before a small fist sunk into his throat, silencing him. Like a dancer, the mutant spun about the wheezing opponent and covered the distance to her final foe. The sound had alerted him and he fumbled for his radio to sound an alarm. A flash of foot and metal severed the communication device in twain and when the foot lowered, it came down on his head, carrying the strength of her wiry legs and momentum of her body as she fell from several feet in the air.
The impact brought a loud CRACK and he was down. Turning back, the former assassin just frowned. One of her targets was left, though now on his knees as he grasped at his throat and struggled to breath. Not a threat.
Knock knock, open up the door, it's real. With the non-stop, pop-pop of stainless steel!
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Post by Jaymi on Oct 4, 2021 14:05:18 GMT -7
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Post by Jaymi on Sept 26, 2021 17:51:43 GMT -7
If the real thing don't do the trick You better make up something quick You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn to the wick
Stepping into the room, and making sure the door was closed behind her, Sharon sighed softly. She didn't look at the other occupant of the cramped space at first. She had been listening to him gripe from the other side of a two-way mirror for several minutes now and already her patience was worn thin.
When she did turn to face him after a few seconds, she shook her head and moved over towards the table. "It's called a Rorschach test, and I'm sure the good doctor would have a lot to say about you seeing them all as spilled ketchup." Placing a file down on the table, the agent didn't bother to take her seat, instead preferring to stand opposite the large mutant. "And yes, they still use them from time to time. Not why we're here, though. I'm told you want to help us?"
She still wasn't 100% convinced Fred Dukes would be able to help them, but Sharon was always willing to give things a try. At least she was always willing to be there so if something went wrong there was at least someone capable of handling it nearby.
Oooo, Barracuda
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Post by Jaymi on Jul 15, 2021 0:30:00 GMT -7
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Post by Jaymi on Jul 14, 2021 18:11:00 GMT -7
X gon' give it to ya $@%! waiting for you to get it on your own, X gon' deliver to ya
The trek was long, cold, and difficult as the trio moved through the difficult terrain. What little civilization had existed where they parked their vehicle had swiftly transitioned into desolate, seemingly untouched vistas. Enhanced endurance kept them moving on their exorable path to the facility. The very thought of calling it that made Laura's skin crawl and she reminded herself often that, while the place certainly wasn't kind, it was hardly the horror she had been raised in.
Their cases weighed them down, but the mission came first and for her part, X-23 didn't even consider complaining. After all, her healing factor meant she wouldn't exhaust and the same thing couldn't be said for the other student of Xavier's present.
Soon the landscape transitioned once more, though most would miss it. Enhanced senses, inherited from Wolverine, aided the girl in spotting actual signs of life and pairing them with the image Daken had given her saw the clone slowing her pace.
"We're getting close."
Knock knock, open up the door, it's real. With the non-stop, pop-pop of stainless steel!
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