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At this very moment, as you were rummaging through cabinets and closets, searching for expensive-looking drugs in the medical wing of an abandoned undersea base, you couldn’t help but feel that nothing was going your way today.

This mission was supposed to be a simple smash and grab. Find the girls, grab the converter, and smash whoever gets in your way. Only, the obstacles you found down here were too numerous and deadly to be smashed by simple means.

Unlike the Morlocks, you had no history with the Brood. However, that did nothing to prevent you from developing an intense hatred for the freakish hellspawn. And on top of everything, now you were being told by your new unlikely ally—an Iron Man wannabe wearing the colors of the American Flag—that these things were trying to sneak through a portal that would allow them to invade your planet from multiple entry points.

All that made you want to do was blow up this facility once you were done here! You hated this place, and you hated these stupid fucking bugs for forcing you to creep around and plan around them. You desperately wanted to go home at this point. You wanted to see your sister, eat a pizza at Mr. Aziz’s place, and kick back on your couch.

Instead, you were skulking around in this dark, dank facility at the bottom of the sea.

You heard a nearby groan that mirrored your feelings exactly.

“I know. I don’t like this either, but this should all pay off once we’re out of here.”

It took you a moment to realize that everyone was giving you strange looks. You heard another groan, but you didn’t think that it was coming from any of your allies. Just then, your spider sense flared up, and you saw a shambling, decomposing figure hobbling towards you. Was that a…a zombie!?

Instinctively, you reached for your knife, but Anastasia’s reactions were faster than yours. A sharp blade flew past your head and implanted itself in the undead creature’s skull, killing it instantly.

A moment later, two more rounded the corner, their arms outstretched towards you. You were ready this time, your knives in your hands and poised to strike, but something else intervened before you could respond.

A pair of thick, vine-like tendrils coiled around their legs and forcefully dragged them back around the corner. You and the others moved to chase after them, not wanting to get cornered in this room by an undead horde. You managed to catch a glimpse of them being dragged into a nearby room, and you cautiously followed the trail to peak inside. Everyone was on high alert at this point. You needed to take care of this without making too much noise, or the Brood would be all over your ass in a minute.

(Cont.)

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Peeking inside, you saw a room full of overgrown plants. Vines hung from the ceiling like a jungle canopy, and the floor was covered by thick roots and colorful moss. And at the very back of the room, you saw a wall covered with squirming, snarling, decomposing figures. That horde of zombies that you’d been on the lookout for had already been detained. They were stuck to the wall, a mass of vines invading their bodies and slowly eating them from the inside out. They strained against the vines, struggling weakly to reach you, but to no avail.

That’s when you noticed something else. You were being watched. Not just by the undead, but by a living thing. Or…at least you thought it was alive.

A pair of round, deep blue orbs were facing you, watching you with a mix of caution and curiosity. It looked to be a part of this entire jungle, or…maybe it was controlling the vines that attacked those zombies.

“What the hell is that thing?”

Iara whispered.

“Another experiment, maybe.”

Anastasia pondered aloud.

What will you do?

>”Let’s get out of here before anything else shows up.”
>”Do you think we can sell that too? I bet it would make a fortune.”
>”Why don’t we take it with us? Nature Girl’s been complaining about having a pet for a while now.”
>”I wonder if we can get this thing to fight the Brood. It’d make for a nice distraction while we grab the converter and sneak out of here.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5733559
>"Hello? Someone friendly in here controlling those vines? You can tell the difference between Zombies and regular folks."
>"Fuck, there's probably even more sentient life down here besides tin man and our new tentacled friend."

>>5733559
>>”Why don’t we take it with us? Nature Girl’s been complaining about having a pet for a while now.”

>>5733559
>”Why don’t we take it with us? Nature Girl’s been complaining about having a pet for a while now.”
Donny and Boy-Thing will be the best duo.

>>5733567
>>5733583
>”Why don’t we take it with us? Nature Girl’s been complaining about having a pet for a while now.”

Taking these. Writing...

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“Why don’t we take it with us? Nature Girl’s been complaining about having a pet for a while now.”

Everyone turned to stare at you, completely dumbfounded.

“You want to take that thing as a pet? Be my guest.”

Mark gestured towards the plant creature. It appeared to be staring directly at you.

Iara scratched at her neck, looking back and forth between you and it.

“Eh…I’m all about self sacrifice, but for her? I can’t stand that girl. She always treats me like I’m some sort of wild animal that needs taming. It’s pretentious as hell.”

Glass banished the crystal blade he’d formed out of his arm and leaned over to peek into the room.

“She’s just passionate. And a bit misguided.”

The look Iara gave him told you that she had a few words that she thought better fit the description of her fellow antlered Morlock.

Ana placed a hand on your shoulder, standing directly behind you as she marveled at the unusual creature.

“How do you intend to capture it?”

What will you do?

>Try to bribe it with food. That usually works with most animals.
>Have Ana help you coax it over. She’s probably good with animals.
>Creep over to where the creature’s sitting, reach out, and touch tips with its tendril. It worked in E.T.
>Use your Skrull Handcuffs to capture the creature, and store it in your pocket dimension.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5733959
>>Creep over to where the creature’s sitting, reach out, and touch tips with its tendril. It worked in E.T.

>>5733959
>>Creep over to where the creature’s sitting, reach out, and touch tips with its tendril. It worked in E.T.

>>5733959
>>Creep over to where the creature’s sitting, reach out, and touch tips with its tendril. It worked in E.T.

>>5733959
>Creep over to where the creature’s sitting, reach out, and touch tips with its tendril. It worked in E.T.
>"Heeeey buddy, do you understand me?... Nice to meet you little fella"
>Maybe take of a part of your gloves so it can smell you like dogs do. After all, friendly dogs would let you pet them if they know your smell... Does it even have a smell sense?

>>5733959
>Try to bribe it with food. That usually works with most animals.
>Creep over to where the creature’s sitting, reach out, and touch tips with its tendril. It worked in E.T

>>5733961
>>5734038
>>5734070
>>5734224
>>5734313
>Creep over to where the creature’s sitting, reach out, and touch tips with its tendril. It worked in E.T.

Taking these. Writing...

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“I’m gonna try and make first contact. Wait here.”

You slowly began to walk over, carefully stepping over thick roots and slithering vines, sweeping past your feet like snakes. You tried your best to ignore them, and to not make any sudden movements. You weren’t sure if this thing could tell the difference between you and the zombies, and you didn’t want to give it any reason to think of you as a threat.

The plant-creature’s blue eyes stayed fixated on you the entire time, and you tried your best not to meet its eyes for too long. You remember seeing something in a movie about wild animals not liking eye contact.

Instead, you let your eyes roam about the room. There were far more bodies in here than you’d initially realized. There must have been a lot more zombies roaming around in this wing before you came along. You tried not to think about whether all of these corpses had been undead or living before they were killed and made into fertilizer for this thing’s twisted garden.

At some point, you found yourself unable to move forward. At least, not on the ground.

Your Spider-Sense flared up at just the right time, allowing you to avoid being bitten by a bound, decomposing zombie. The floor was lousy with them!

“Ugh. Maybe I should’ve packed a shovel.”

You took a step back, jumped up, and stuck fast to the ceiling, continuing your steady advancement towards the plant-creature. This involved more than a few uncomfortable brushes with its slithering tendrils and the mushy moss that had clung to the ceiling long before you arrived. Your advance was forcefully halted, however, when one of those vines wrapped around your waist. You stopped dead in your tracks, waiting to see whether you should try to defend yourself or let it do its thing. After about a minute, it loosened its grip a bit. When you tried to move forward again, it compiled around your waist again and held you firmly in place.

The message was clear.

“I only trust you enough to get ‘this close’.”

Instead of trying to fight it, you decided to descend on a webline, meeting the plant-thing on eye level, albeit from an inverted point of view. Slowly, you reached your hand out towards it, silently praying that this thing didn’t have any hidden teeth to bite it off.

In response, the creature extended a tendril to meet your hand, allowing you to touch the tip of its tendril with your index finger. It flinched back for a moment, but then became more brave as it went back in to try again. You suspected that this thing hasn’t experienced a friendly touch in a long time.

Without warning, the creature’s tendril wrapped around your wrist and started to slowly creep up your arm. You just barely managed to stifle a gasp, and tried your best to sit still during the uncomfortable process.

(Cont.)

“Huntsman…”

Prowler whispered warningly. You tried your best to ignore him. And without meaning to, you met its deep blue eyes once more.

What will you say/do?

>Nothing. Just wait and see what it does.
>”Come on. You don’t need to be afraid. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
>”Hey lil’ guy. Wanna come with me? I’ve got a friend that I think you’d love to meet.”
>Give it a name.(Write-in.)
>You’re no longer comfortable with this. Maybe you should try and burn the tendril off before it gets any further.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5734385
>>”Hey lil’ guy. Wanna come with me? I’ve got a friend that I think you’d love to meet.”

>>5734385
>”Come on. You don’t need to be afraid. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
>”Hey lil’ guy. Wanna come with me? I’ve got a friend that I think you’d love to meet.”
He's kinda cute, in a weird way.

>>5734385
I assume no spider sense flared up during that time?
>”Hey lil’ guy. Wanna come with us? We're getting out of here.”

>>5734385
>”Come on. You don’t need to be afraid. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
>>”Hey lil’ guy. Wanna come with me? I’ve got a friend that I think you’d love to meet.”

>>5734390
>>5734396
>>5734399
>>5734493
>”Come on. You don’t need to be afraid. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
>”Hey lil’ guy. Wanna come with me? I’ve got a friend that I think you’d love to meet.”

Taking these. Writing...

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“Come on. You don’t need to be afraid. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

As if it could understand your words, you could sense some of the tension leaving its leafy tentacle as it continued slithering up your arm. Maybe it could. You had no idea how smart it was, but it at least seemed capable of registering whether or not you were a threat.

Slowly, it began to pry itself off of the thorny fortress that it’d built for itself in this room.

“Hey, lil’ guy. Wanna come with me? I’ve got a friend that I think you’d love to meet.”

You kept your voice low and soft, trying not to shiver as it crawled up your arm, over your shoulder, and finally resting on the base of your neck. You could feel its tentacles still slung over your shoulders, and the way the fuzzy feelers around its mouth tickled the back of your neck as it…

Wait. What was it doing back there?

A lukewarm, slightly moist patch of foliage slid over your head and began…purring?

Slowly, you withdrew your knife from its sheath and brought it up to reflect the scene back into your eyes. Sure enough, the plant-thing was resting on top of your head, somehow seeming content up there, despite your current inverted position. And not only that, but your new friend seemed to be making itself at home in more ways than one.

A fuzzy, moss-like foliage was growing from its tentacles, covering your back and shoulders. It actually looked a bit similar to your last costume, but instead of fur, you had a bundle of leaves growing out from your back, like an incomplete ghillie sniper suit.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Making your way back to your allies, you couldn’t help but notice that they were all giving you strange and incredulous looks.

“Either that thing is smarter than it looks, or you have a way with animals.”

Ana lightly brushed her hand against one of the creature’s tentacles, causing it to flinch back and retract involuntarily. It felt weird having a living thing take root on your head.

You shrugged at her, lightly raising the moss cape that was draped over your shoulders.

“Why can’t it be both?”

“Damn. I thought Callie was just kidding when she said that you go around adopting random kids. You’d be a kick-ass social worker.”

Iara laughed to herself, attempting to touch the creature as well. Ana frowned at her a bit, moving over to block her path. The plant-thing didn’t seem too fond of her. It quivered at her approach, and you had to sooth it by gently rubbing at one of the tentacles on your shoulder.

“Are we sure that it’s safe? It could be trying to eat your brain.”

Prowler eyed it dubiously. Flint just laughed.

“Then the poor thing’s gonna have to settle for a light lunch.”

You narrowed your eyes at him.

“At least I still have a brain, Sandy.”

Glass looked more worried for the creature than he was for you.

(Cont.)

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“I’m more worried about it, than you. You’d better avoid bursting into flames while it’s sitting on your head like that.”

You glanced up at your new passenger and nodded at the Morlock boy.

“Noted.”

Mark cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

“This is nice and all, but I think we should get moving before we get sandwiched between alien bugs and a horde of zombies.”

No one could argue with that logic, so you gathered what you could from your raid on the medical labs, carefully stored them in your pocket dimension and proceeded to follow Mark towards where he last saw the converter.

—----------

And, as if the universe was playing some cruel joke on you, it turned out that the piece you required to complete the converter was stored in a section of the facility that seemed to have one of the highest concentrations of Brood. They hadn’t noticed you yet, but it was clear from where you stood that there were far too many of the damned things scuttling around the place.

Every now and again, you could see glimpses of people, stuck to the walls and shoved into corners, their faces contorted in pain, and their bellies bloated and squirming. The sight sickened you, and you tried your best not to look.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

For once, you had to agree that the Prowler wasn’t just being dramatic. You were starting to think that Cat got off easy here.

Iara’s face went pale at the sight of them, and you could see Glass’ eyes swiveling around in their sockets as he tried to count them all. Even Ana was dumbstruck by the staggering challenge presented to her.

“There are a lot more of them than there were when I was here last time.”

The Prowler glared at Mark.

“Oh, really? You might’ve mentioned that we’d be fighting our way through a nest before we agreed to come here.”

Anastasia stepped between them before the conversation could devolve further.

“Arguing will get us nowhere. We need a plan.”

Flint just shook his head, looking back and forth between them and the Brood.

“I don’t think I can fight off that many at once.”

What will you do?

>Give Flint as much sand as he can manage, and have him blow through the nest, drawing as much attention as he can.
>Remove the plant-thing from your head, swing into the middle of the hive and release a massive burst of heat and energy. You might not be able to take them all out, but you’ll undoubtedly serve as one hell of a distraction.
>Create a breach in the facility, retreat back into the pocket dimension, and have Iara swim through the drowned hive to reach the objective.
>Bait them into a bad position, toss the Skrull Handcuffs at them, and pick them off as they struggle to fight their way through the amorphous material.
>Deploy your spaceship in an open area and use it to blast these bugs to bits!
>Write-in.

>>5734631
>Remove the plant-thing from your head, swing into the middle of the hive and release a massive burst of heat and energy. You might not be able to take them all out, but you’ll undoubtedly serve as one hell of a distraction.

>>5734631
>Write-in
A combination of:
>Remove the plant-thing from your head, swing into the middle of the hive and release a massive burst of heat and energy. You might not be able to take them all out, but you’ll undoubtedly serve as one hell of a distraction.
>Deploy your spaceship in an open area and use it to blast these bugs to bits!

>Set up a Sandtrap (Flint) to hold them in place with our space ship (Prowler) and Mark as crossfire. We do the fire burst then bait them into the trap. Ana, Glass, and Lara guard Mark and Prowler as well as and take out any leader/special brood that presents itself.
Ana might also have some more ideas on how to further improve the ambush.

>>5734900
+1

>>5734631
>>5734900
+1 lmao watch us roll a 100 and nuke ourselves.

>>5734631
>>5734900
sounds like a plan

>>5734644
>>5734900
>>5734944
>>5735040
>>5735133
>Remove the plant-thing from your head, swing into the middle of the hive and release a massive burst of heat and energy. You might not be able to take them all out, but you’ll undoubtedly serve as one hell of a distraction.
>Deploy your spaceship in an open area and use it to blast these bugs to bits!

>Set up a Sandtrap (Flint) to hold them in place with our space ship (Prowler) and Mark as crossfire. We do the fire burst then bait them into the trap. Ana, Glass, and Lara guard Mark and Prowler as well as and take out any leader/special brood that presents itself.

Roll 1d100, bo3 for the strength of the solar flare!

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>5735325
aaaand fumble

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>5735325

>>5735325

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>5735325

>>5735329
>>5735330
>>5735413
>89

Nice save! Taking these. Writing...

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“I’ve got a plan. But, I’m gonna need someone to hold this guy for a little while.”

Your eyes settled on Prowler, but he simply folded his arms and shook his head. Iara looked eager to look after him, but the plant-thing was still too scared of her. It seemed to like Glass, though.

“Would you mind?”

The Morlock boy squirmed a bit as the plant-thing clambered up the slipper surface of his arms and settled on his shoulders. Iara was visibly disappointed by its choice.

“I’ll try my best to keep him safe.”

You nodded your thanks.

“Alright, so here’s the plan…”

—-----------

You ran through the plan once more in your head, confident that it should at least put a sizable dent in the Brood’s numbers. It was simple enough. You just had to work your magic. The only problem was, you never really had much of a chance to practice before being sent off on this mission. You’ve sort of been winging it ever since you gained the ability to light yourself on fire. And now you’ve gone and made yourself a crucial part of this operation.

Well, there was backing down now. It was do or die, and you weren’t in the mood to die. All you had to do was release all the pent up energy stored in your Horton Cell enriched blood, and try not to blow up with the force of a miniature nuclear bomb. Easy peasy.

You took a few deep breaths, paying close attention to the way that the flames dancing across your suit swelled with each exhale. Everyone was giving you a wide berth as you did this, and you could feel their eyes on your back. You couldn’t stall like this for much longer.

“Let’s kick the shit out of this ant hill!”

And with that battle cry, everyone jumped into action. You swung straight into the middle of the Brood’s nest, flying over an army of fanged devils clad in chitinous dermal armor. They snarled and hissed as soon as they noticed you, and a few of the winged variants were already flying in your direction, their eyes radiating murderous intent.

It was now or never…

>89

Your entire body was enveloped in flame at this point. Every web that you flung out from your wrist was burning at a similarly sweltering temperature. But the deeper you got into their nest, the lighter your body felt. And after a few more seconds, you discovered that you didn’t need to swing from the ceiling at all.

You were flying! You were ACTUALLY flying! An indescribable thrill shot through you, and you nearly laughed like a giddy schoolgirl. But then, you remembered where you were, and you closed your eyes to focus.

Just…let it out…

All at once, the Horton Cells coursing through your bloodstream activated, and you could feel a swell of power as the supercharged particles infused your body with enough energy to power a city! You radiated power and light. You felt like you could do anything!

And what you wanted to do was burn these bugs to ash!

“FLAME ON!”

(Cont.)

File: Shi 27ar_Jumpship_from_Un(...).jpg (198 KB, 1000x587)

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And with that, the entire room was enveloped by a bright flash. The Broodlings that were closest to you when it happened were just…gone. Just completely and absolutely fucking vaporized. The ones that were a bit further away, searching for an angle to attack you from where they clung to on the walls, they either became blast shadows or smears the walls that bore a closer resemblance to charcoal rather than a cluster of previously living creatures. But it was the ones that were on the edge of your blast radius, the ones that had received the least amount of damage. They were the ones that truly suffered the greatest loss.

The sheer heat of your outburst was enough to peel the scales from their flesh. The air had become so hot in their vicinity that it was literally cooking them from the inside out. Some were rendered blind or inert by the blast, and a few had actually become fused together after their flesh melted and solidified. Like a gelatinous mass of squirming insects. That nearly made you throw up, right then and there. Their screams filled the auditorium, which was why you didn’t hear when Iara began the next phase of your plan.

She opened the Storage Vial leading to your pocket dimension, releasing a pressurized torrent of sand that quickly covered the entire floor of the nest. The unsuspecting Broodlings, both injured and intact, were swept up in the golden wave. Following the outpouring of sand, an entire Shi’ar Jumpship flew out from the portal, piloted by none other than the Prowler!

And flying by his side was Mark, the hulking metal brute with an entire arsenal of advanced weaponry at his disposal. The remaining Brood stopped struggling and stared up at them as if they were harbingers of death. And in this case, they absolutely were.

Both men opened fire, peppering the sand with a relentless downpour of bullets, energy blasts and explosions. The helpless aliens didn’t stand a chance. Some of them tried burrowing deeper into the sand for protection, but somehow, they just kept getting pushed back up to the surface by a mysterious force.

Neither Prowler nor Mark spared any effort, or ammo, in their indiscriminate killing of the vicious beasts. But by now, the initial shock of your ambush had worn off, and you were all being charged by the biggest wave of Brood that you’ve seen since coming down here. Or in your case…ever!

(Cont.)

File: Iron_Patriot_Armor_Model_5.jpg (156 KB, 684x1052)

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Most of them were smart enough to avoid the pit of sentient sand that seemed to be grabbing, trapping, drowning and crushing anything that set foot in its territory, so they were mostly climbing on the walls and ceiling to ambush you from above. The winged variants were mainly concerned with the two of your number who were doing the most damage to their nest, as they should be. And they immediately moved to remove them from the equation, their fangs and talons bared and charged straight towards them. And they probably would’ve made it too, if it weren’t for Ana and Glass shooting them down from afar with pinpoint precision.

As for the ones that got close enough to pose a threat to your firing squad, Iara dispatched them with deadly efficiency. Her hefty metal blades carved through the overgrown pests like a hot knife through butter. And judging by the wide grin on her face, she was clearly enjoying herself.

But the most surprising thing about the scene that was unfolding before you was the unexpected guest that was now resting on the Deep One’s shoulders. At some point, the plant-thing hopped to a different host, and was now working to protect the shark girl from harm. Anything that tried to ambush her was treated with a sharpened tendril to the face. The plant creature seemed to be able to coat its body in a sturdy kind of tree bark that both reinforced its frame and created deadly weapons for it to use in case of emergency. You were starting to see why the little thing was able to hold its own against those zombies for so long.

But now wasn’t the time to get distracted. You had to find that converter before-

A familiar flash of white crossed the corner of your vision, and you turned quickly to identify it. But you had trouble finding them in the chaos of this scene. Was that…?

No. There was no way that she’d be up and about already, right?

But before you could entertain the train of thought for a meaningful amount of time, a piercing shriek overpowered every other sound in the nest. It didn’t stop anyone from fighting, but you could see the concern clear on their faces.

The ground began to shake with the universal rhythm of footsteps. It was then that the mood of the once defeated Brood began to change. They began to laugh and cheer. The look in their eyes was simultaneously hateful and triumphant, and their bodies shuddered in anticipation for what was to come.

“I don’t like this…”

Iara wasn’t the only one. Everyone was staring in the direction that the vibrations were emanating from, their weapons raised to challenge whatever it was that was coming your way. But none of you were prepared for what came barreling through the large metal doors leading deeper into the nest.

(Cont.)

File: Spoiler Image (1.62 MB, 2560x1947)

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A massive, hulking Brood, covered in scales and sinewy musculature barged into the room, bringing a fresh wave of Broodlings with it! Its head nearly touched the ceiling when it rose to its full height, and its tendrils were placed along the sides of its face instead of being on its abdomen.

“Intruderssss!”

It was the first clear word that you’d ever heard from a Brood, and it was probably one of the worst sounds you’ve ever heard in your entire life. You had an almost instinctual hatred of this thing. But somewhere in there, you could sense an instinctual fear as well.

“It’s the queen!”

Glass’ voice was nearly lost in the chittering cackle that every Brood in the room was echoing with the arrival of their mother.

The Brood-Mother’s large dark eyes settled on your for a moment, and she bared her fangs in a snarl. She raised her arm as if to swipe at you, and you prepared to dodge away from it, but the attack never came. She wasn’t aiming for you.

She plunged her fist into the wall, tearing and clawing at the decrepit structure of her nest with her razor sharp claws. She carved through layers and layers of metal and dull brown resin. For a moment, her actions confused you, but a sudden chill ran up your spine when you saw what came pouring out of that hole she dug.

A torrent of water sprayed out, pooling onto the sandpit that was Flint’s body, turning it muddy and malleable, and freeing some of the Broodlings that had been trapped under the weight of the sand.

“ATTACK!”

The Brood-Mother’s battle cry seemed to reinvigorate her children, and they charged with reckless abandon towards your team.

What will you do?

>Try to seal up the leak! You can probably plug it up with your webbing and weld it shut with your flames.
>Have Prowler and Mark direct their fire onto the Brood-Mother! You need to take her down!
>Do your best to distract the Brood Mother while everyone else focuses on the swarm. If there’s anything that you’re good at, it’s being annoying.
>Have Iara toss you the Storage Vial. You’re going to use your entire stock of Skrull slime to ensnare the Brood-Mother!
>Bait the Brood-Mother into swallowing you so that you can burn her up from the inside out!
>Repeat the trick you used to blow a Broodling’s brains out through its nose, but on a much larger scale!
>Hold the Brood Mother’s mouth open while your firing squad unleashes their entire payload into her waiting maw.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5735567
>Try to seal up the leak! You can probably plug it up with your webbing and weld it shut with your flames.
>Have Prowler and Mark direct their fire onto the Brood-Mother! You need to take her down!

>>5735567
>>Try to seal up the leak! You can probably plug it up with your webbing and weld it shut with your flames.
>Do your best to distract the Brood Mother while everyone else focuses on the swarm. If there’s anything that you’re good at, it’s being annoying.

>>5735567
>Try to seal up the leak! You can probably plug it up with your webbing and weld it shut with your flames.
>Do your best to distract the Brood Mother while everyone else focuses on the swarm. If there’s anything that you’re good at, it’s being annoying

>>5735567
>>Try to seal up the leak! You can probably plug it up with your webbing and weld it shut with your flames.
>>Have Prowler and Mark direct their fire onto the Brood-Mother! You need to take her down!

>>5735567
>>Try to seal up the leak! You can probably plug it up with your webbing and weld it shut with your flames.
we still got our old web bombs right? now's the time

>>5735573
>>5735620
>>5735990
>>5736093
>>5736138
>Try to seal up the leak! You can probably plug it up with your webbing and weld it shut with your flames.

This is the one vote that everyone can agree on, but we've got two more options that are tied 2 for 2.

>Have Prowler and Mark direct their fire onto the Brood-Mother! You need to take her down!
and
>Do your best to distract the Brood Mother while everyone else focuses on the swarm. If there’s anything that you’re good at, it’s being annoying.

Would you guys like me to move forward with the unanimous vote, wait for more votes, or wait for someone to change their vote?

>>5736184
well I could just add this to my vote
>Have Prowler and Mark direct their fire onto the Brood-Mother! You need to take her down!

>>5736138
>>5736186
fuck that's a different id, lemme just

>>5735573
>>5735620
>>5735990
>>5736093
>>5736138
>>5736186
>Try to seal up the leak! You can probably plug it up with your webbing and weld it shut with your flames.
>Have Prowler and Mark direct their fire onto the Brood-Mother! You need to take her down!

Alright, then. Taking these. Writing...

File: 78587-81227-brood.jpg (216 KB, 400x600)

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A jolt of fear ran through you as you witnessed your best friend turning to mud before your very eyes. You lurched into motion, grabbing the web bombs on your belt and tossing them into the breach to temporarily clog it up. It won’t hold forever, but it’ll have to do until you can weld it shut.

The web bombs exploded as soon as they made contact with the metal’s surface, slightly heated from the short time that they spent outside of the protective field that was generated around your suit. You immediately followed up by reinforcing the weaker webbing with the strengthened formula that’d been cultivated by your newly enforced dietary restrictions.

The gushing torrent slowed to a trickle, and you landed beside the breach to weld the metal back together. It’d take time to do that, though. Time that you didn’t have.

Your spider sense screamed a warning, and your head whipped around to see the Brood Mother raising a hand to squash you.

“Focus your fire on her!”

The gargantuan bug brought her hand down, but the sudden impact of multiple explosives slamming into her head and abdomen caused her focus to evaporate, and her hand to miss you entirely as she was forced to guard her face with her free hand.

With the queen busy, you refocused your efforts on molding the metal together. And that meant that you were trying something else for the first time here. You barely knew how to throw a fireball, let alone sustain a steady beam of concentrated energy. You’d have to be careful not to make it too strong, or else-

The snapping jaws of a Broodling snapped you out of your thoughts, and delivered a flaming punch to the side of its face, knocking it off the wall and into Flint’s waiting clutches.

Another one tried to attack you from behind, but a precise shot from Ana took it out before it could become a threat. They were starting to close in on you now, their slithering tentacles groping for you as they scuttled along the wall. Glass and Ana were doing their best to split their attention between you and the oncoming swarm, but you needed them to worry about themselves for the time being.

“Fuck it.”

You reached up, snagged a series of deteriorating metal panels from above and pulled them down towards you. You slammed the pile of scrap right over the clogged breach and focused on projecting heat from your palms. Pale green flames rose from your arms, turning the metal orange, and then red as it melded with the metal beneath it. It was an ugly, discolored bulge on the wall, but you were pretty sure that it would hold after the webbing disintegrated.

You were about to swing back towards your friends and rejoin them on their platform, when you noticed the queen doing something else from where she stood.

Wait. She wouldn’t…

The Brood Mother sank her claws into the adjacent wall, creating another breach, and causing even more water to pour into the room!

That bitch!

(Cont.)

File: 136744-115940-brood.jpg (95 KB, 400x600)

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At this point, Flint had abandoned the sand pit plan and was instead accumulating the remaining sand he had to form a giant version of himself. He squashed and swatted away the oncoming Brood to the best of his ability, and you did your best to contain the breaches that the queen was creating.

Prowler and Mark were doing a good job of keeping her at bay, but they were starting to feel the pressure with the increased volume of specialized Brood. Such as the winged variants, and the armored ranged units that were responsible for Cat’s injury.

Speaking of Felicia, you were really hoping that that really was her that you spotted sneaking into the nest. If she could snag the converter and make a clean getaway, then the rest of you could get out of here and tear this facility to shreds.

But in order for that to happen, you’d need to survive the worst of what the Brood had to throw at you.

What will you do?

>Keep containing the breaches to the best of your ability. They can’t keep this up forever!
>Have Flint retreat back into the pocket dimension to grab more sand!
>Swing up to where you think the Brood Mother’s ear is and blast her with your Resonance Amplifier at full power!
>Send Iara back into the pocket dimension with an ID bracelet, have her swim to the very bottom of the simulated ocean, and open a portal for highly pressurized water to come out through the Storage Vial.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5736275
>Swing up to where you think the Brood Mother’s ear is and blast her with your Resonance Amplifier at full power!
REEEEEEE

>>5736275
>>Swing up to where you think the Brood Mother’s ear is and blast her with your Resonance Amplifier at full power!

>>5736275
>>Swing up to where you think the Brood Mother’s ear is and blast her with your Resonance Amplifier at full power!

>>5736275
>>Have Flint retreat back into the pocket dimension to grab more sand!
>>Swing up to where you think the Brood Mother’s ear is and blast her with your Resonance Amplifier at full power!

>>5736281
>>5736286
>>5736337
>>5736566
>Swing up to where you think the Brood Mother’s ear is and blast her with your Resonance Amplifier at full power!

Taking these. Writing...

File: 1028989-6_astonishing_x_men_34.jpg (390 KB, 899x1293)

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Feeling fed up with your role in this fight, you directed your attention back to the queen and pulled out your resonance amplifier. Before any of the nearby Broodlings could reach you, you swung off the wall and pulled yourself towards the Brood Mother. She attempted to swipe you out of the air with her face tentacles, but you were far too fast for her to pin you down that easily. While she struggled to shake you off of her head, you searched desperately for an ear, or an ear hole, or at least something resembling one.

You were unable to find anything that looked anatomically correct, so you settled for pressing your resonance amplifier behind her chin, where there was a gap in her chitinous armor. And then, you cranked it up to full power and let it rip!

A deafening screech thundered in your ears, reverberating through your bones and causing your whole entire body to shudder uncontrollably. Your hands felt like they would explode from the sheer pressure of trying to hold the sonic weapon steady while it bombarded the Brood Mother at point-blank range.

You couldn’t tell which sound was louder. The canon’s sonic blast or the queen’s screams. Maybe it was the combination of both that was causing your ears to bleed. If it weren’t for your healing factor, you’d definitely be experiencing a permanent loss in hearing after this. Your teeth were chattering so violently that you thought they’d either fall out or explode from the intensity of the vibrations currently rattling your bones to their very core.

The queen’s tentacles groped aimlessly in an attempt to find you, but she didn’t appear to be capable of coordinating her limbs properly. Your sonic attack probably had something to do with that.

After about a minute of this, the sonic cannon made a worrying popping sound, before slowly petering out and leaving you with the deafening roar of your tinnitus in its place.

You groggily swung away from the queen, not wanting to be anywhere near her when she regained her senses. Thick rivulets of blood were pouring from her mouth, and her eyes were tinged a deep shade of red with what you could only guess was a mass of burst blood vessels.

You couldn’t hear anything happening around you, so your spider sense was overcompensating to make up for it. You could feel your firing team unloading what little ammo they had left to mop up the swarm, while Flint swept them away with his massive arms. You could feel Ana and Glass using everything they had at their disposal to peel the Broodlings off of Iara, who was practically drowning in them at this point.

And without needing to hear her cries for help, you turned around at just the right time to see Black Cat frantically waving her arms at you. She held a strange device in her hands, and you thought it safe to assume that it was the other half of the converter that you were after.

(Cont.)

File: 4314198-iron_patriot_by_g(...).jpg (245 KB, 764x960)

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You snagged her with a webline, yanked her into the air, and grabbed her by the waist as you swung back towards your friends. Noticing this, Prowler turned around and flew back towards the exit. You dropped off Cat, grabbed the Storage Vial and hurriedly opened up a portal in front of the jumpship, allowing Prowler to fly in without slowing down. Mark and Flint were still in the back, helping the others retreat before they themselves fell in to join you.

Your spider sense flared up, and you turned around to warn the others of impending danger. You couldn’t hear your own words, but they seemed to be enough to get their attention. A cluster of grenades flew towards them, thrown by an armored Broodling that wanted to get in one last parting shot.

Before anyone else could react, Glass moved forward to intercept the explosives, molding his hands into a crystal shield. Flint rushed forward to protect him, but he was too slow.

In a blinding flash, Glass’ arms burst in shards, splintering at the elbow and sending him flying back into Flint’s body. The green giant quickly turned around soaking up the rest of the damage meant for Glass with his amorphous physique. He then picked him up and carried him out alongside Mark.

The metal juggernaut barreled through the entrance you’d used to access the nest, covering the hallway with remote detonated mines. No one spoke as you raced through the halls, not even when Mark’s mines detonated, causing the entire corridor to creak and shudder.

“Pass me the flashlight!”

Iara screamed.

“WHAT?!”

You screamed back. Your ears were still ringing, so you weren’t sure how much you could trust them at this critical juncture.

“THE FLASHLIGHT!”

She mimed clicking a flashlight on and off, and you finally nodded, before tossing the Storage Vial at her.

She snatched it out of the air and generated a portal at the end of the hall.

“Everyone in! I’ll get us out of here!”

No one argued. Black Cat dove straight into it, clutching the converter part close to her ample chest. Flint carried Glass through the portal, with Ana following close behind him, the plant-thing draped around her shoulders. You were about to follow their lead, when you noticed that Mark wasn’t moving towards it.

“Aren’t you coming?”

He shook his head.

“I need to be here to set off the explosives that’ll sink this place to the bottom of the ocean.”

Iara nodded her approval.

“And I need to be here to carry the flashlight.”

So they were both staying behind. What will you do?

>”Good luck. I’ll see you on the other side.”
>”Don’t worry about that. Let’s just get out of here.”
>”Then I’m coming with you. I’m not leaving you alone with those bugs still running around.”
>Write-in.

>>5736976
>>”Then I’m coming with you. I’m not leaving you alone with those bugs still running around.”

>>5736976
>>”Then I’m coming with you. I’m not leaving you alone with those bugs still running around.”

>>5736976
>>”Then I’m coming with you. I’m not leaving you alone with those bugs still running around.”
>"I'm staying with you until the last second."

>>5736976
>>”Then I’m coming with you. I’m not leaving you alone with those bugs still running around.”

>>5737147
>>5737549
>>5737566
>>5737579
>”Then I’m coming with you. I’m not leaving you alone with those bugs still running around.”

Taking these. Writing,,,

File: 3674470-tumblr_n0ydhxpbnf(...).jpg (212 KB, 640x960)

212 KB JPG

You nodded.

“Then I’m coming with you. I’m not leaving you alone with those bugs still running around.”

Iara blinked at you for a second, before a tight smile spread across her lips.

“Such a gentleman! Are you gonna start laying down your jacket so that I don’t step in any puddles?”

“I might start thinking about it if you ever wore any nice shoes.”

Iara chuckled, and Mark cleared his throat.

“I don’t care if the two of you start flirting, but at least do it on the way to the command center.”

You were about to protest, but then a worrying thought suddenly struck you.

“Wait. Did anyone see W enter the portal?”

Iara waved your question off with one webbed hand.

“She snuck in behind Prowler.”

You breathed a sigh of relief and fell in behind them as they raced through the halls. Any Broodling that you encountered along the way was unceremoniously stomped out without any of you having to slow down for very long to deal with them. Along the way, you and Iara would deploy Mark’s remote detonated mines in key positions that would threaten the facility’s structural integrity.

After a few minutes of navigating the facility’s winding corridors, Mark led you to a large, open room that bore a striking resemblance to the command center of the Helicarrier. Most of the consoles and computers down here were run down, out of date and mostly unusable, but fortunately, the main console seemed to be in working shape.

Mark began working on it immediately, his hands flying over the keyboard as he punched in commands and flipped a series of switches. The wide transparent screen in front of the console lit up suddenly, showing you a diagnostic report of the facility that you couldn’t fully understand.

“I’ll get it up and running. The two of you can place those explosives around the room.”

You and Iara did just that, making sure to place them in the far corners of the room, where they wouldn’t compromise the main computer right away. Mark said that he’d need it to be operational for as long as possible in order for this plan to work.

You tried to lighten Iara’s load by taking the majority of the bombs. She fumbled the explosives more than you would’ve liked, her injuries slowly catching up with her. Must be the effects of that paralytic venom that the Brood uses on their prey.

When you ran out of mines to deploy, you ran back to Mark to check on his progress. To your surprise, there was now what looked like a piloting apparatus poking out of the command console. The Iron Giant was giving a quick explanation of how it worked.

Was this place actually capable of moving like the Helicarrier?

“What now?”

They both turned to look at you, but Iara was the one to speak.

“Mark knows where the entrance to the Dragon Corridor is. We’re gonna drive this thing into the portal to plug it up before we leave.”

(Cont.)

File: 2702043-iara_3.jpg (562 KB, 1174x1222)

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“Do we have enough time to do that and get away safely?”

Mark nodded and took a step forward.

“We can if you hop in the pocket dimension before we shoot these windows out. The presence of water should cushion the blow at the time of impact, giving her enough time to swim out of here before the Corridor swallows the facility.”

You were about to reply, but you couldn’t help but pay attention to this niggling, unsettling feeling in the back of your head. It felt like…

You focused on Iara, and your spider sense flared momentarily.

“You’re actually planning on coming back, right?”

Iara gave you that same tight smile again.

“Of course, pretty thing~. You know that you can’t keep me away for long.”

You stared into her coal black eyes, searching for any hint of uncertainty. And when you found what you were looking for, you shook your head in disbelief.

“You’re lying. Why would you even lie about that?”

Iara’s smile faltered, and she traded a worried glance with Mark. He gave her a nod, and Iara reached up to tear off a patch of transparent fiber from her neck. Black veins were now visibly spreading up from her neck, slowly creeping up to her head. It was that injury from before. It looked seriously infected!

“You remember that Slaver Virus I told you about? The one that the Brood use to infect the Acanti? Well, we must share a similar biology or something, because their stupid virus is having more of an effect on me than I thought. It’s getting really hard to concentrate, and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hold out.”

Your mouth went dry, and you struggled to say the words that had your stomach twisting in knots.

“You’re…not coming back, are you?”

Iara gave you a sad smile in response, and your brain refused to accept the reality of what was happening here. You barely perceived the words that Mark spoke next.

“She told me that she wants me to carry the portal projector. With her flying the facility down, the Brood should be too distracted to follow me up. We should be safe from them, or any of the other creatures that the Atlas Foundation created while they were still down here.”

(Cont.)

What will you say?

>”Maybe there’s a cure. We just stole a lab full of experimental medicine. One of them might work on you.”
>”I’ve got an appointment with one of the smartest men on the planet. I’m sure he’d be able to help you if we brought this to his attention.”
>”I’m not leaving you here! Either you’re coming back with me by choice, or I’m dragging you back to the sewers.”
>”You’re seriously trusting our fate to a guy that you just met?” (Snag the Storage Vial with a webline and steal it from her.)
>”I told you that I’m not leaving you, and I meant it. If he doesn’t want to stay, then I’ll be the one to pull you out of here.”
>”Why don’t you just let this guy stay? He can probably breathe underwater with that big ass suit! You don't need to sacrifice yourself.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5737870
>”Maybe there’s a cure. We just stole a lab full of experimental medicine. One of them might work on you.”
>”I told you that I’m not leaving you, and I meant it. If he doesn’t want to stay, then I’ll be the one to pull you out of here.”

>>5737870
>"My Dad has cancer. He doesn't want to go through with treatment. Fuck me if I want to fight for the people I care about, right?"
>”We just stole a lab full of experimental medicine. One of them might work on you.”
>”I’ve got an appointment with one of the smartest men on the planet. I’m sure he’d be able to help you if we brought this to his attention.”
>"You seriously want to check out without giving us a chance to find something to help you?"

>>5737890
>Fuck me if I want to fight for the people I care about, right?
we were kinda okay with letting him sit on it though

>>5737894
I felt like we hadn't had many opportunities to vote on how we proceed with that information

>>5737900
i think since he's not on the verge of dying yet we are just ignoring it for the time being

>>5737885
+1

>>5737870
>”Maybe there’s a cure. We just stole a lab full of experimental medicine. One of them might work on you.”
>”I’m not leaving you here! Either you’re coming back with me by choice, or I’m dragging you back to the sewers.”

>>5737885
>>5737913
>>5737965
>”Maybe there’s a cure. We just stole a lab full of experimental medicine. One of them might work on you.”
>”I told you that I’m not leaving you, and I meant it. If he doesn’t want to stay, then I’ll be the one to pull you out of here.”

Taking these. Writing...

File: 2910507-1362520626.jpg (93 KB, 892x1000)

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((Sorry for the delay! Got caught up in something irl.))

“Maybe there’s a cure. We just stole a lab full of experimental medicine. One of them might work on you.”

You pleaded. But Iara was already shaking her head before you could finish speaking.

“That’s just it. We don’t know what most of that stuff does. And I don’t think we have enough time to test all of it out, unless you want to use me as a guinea pig and pray that I don’t get poisoned or horribly mutated. Again.”

You knew that she had a point, but you didn’t want to accept that there were no other options.

You shook your head.

“I told you that I’m not leaving you, and I meant it. If he doesn’t want to stay, then I’ll be the one to pull you out of here.”

Mark stared you down with his perpetually frowning mask, but you didn’t sense any malice or hostility behind it. He just stayed quiet.

The smile that Iara gave you was more genuine than the last, but there was an undeniable sadness behind it.

“Fine, but you can’t stay forever. Once we blow the windows out, I’m gonna need you to get your ass back in that portal.”

The two of you stared each other down, neither of you breaking eye contact or backing down from your arguments. Finally, you let out a sigh and shook your head.

“I guess that’s better than nothing.”

“Get ready. I’m detonating these mines in thirty seconds.”

Mark said, inputting a series of commands into a keypad built into his gauntlet. Both of you ran to the command console, bracing yourselves for what was to come. Iara grabbed the steering wheel, shifting her grip every few seconds just to settle her nerves. She was white-knuckling it.

“Don’t worry. I’m with you.”

You placed a hand on her arm, and the look she shot you was half-agitated, half-relieved.

“I’d be less nervous if you would've just hopped through the portal like I told you to. Now I’ve got to worry about getting you out in one piece.”

“We’re both getting out of here.”

She let out a dry laugh. She sounded resigned to her fate.

“Wouldn’t that be nice. I always wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. I just-”

She gripped the steering wheel tighter, making the leather and metal creak slightly. Her breath caught, and she tried her very best to suppress a sniffle.

“I just thought I’d have more time. Things were finally starting to look up for us. Callie was actually smiling, and we had clean air and water. You gave us more than we could’ve asked for, even if you had us growing drugs to pay it off.”

You wanted to correct her and say that they weren’t technically drugs, but now didn’t seem like the right time.

“Hey, Huntsman?”

(Cont.)

You turned to look at her. The web of black veins was spreading across her face even faster now. It was a miserable sight to see. But somehow, those rows of pearly white teeth seemed to shine so bright that you barely paid attention to the damage done by the virus.

“Thanks for being my friend. And Callie’s. And…pretty much all the people that I care about down there in The Alley. It means a lot. Even if we never fooled around like I wanted.”

You wanted to laugh, but somehow it felt wrong. You tried it out anyway, and Iara looked like she appreciated that. She probably needed a bit of laughter in her life right about now.

You found it odd that Mark hadn’t set off the mines yet. Maybe he was being courteous and giving you guys a minute to talk.

What will you say?

>”No matter what happens, I’ll take care of the Morlocks. I can promise you that.”
>”Stop talking like you’re dying. There isn’t a single goddamn problem that I can’t solve with enough resources and effort.”
>”I should’ve never asked you to come down here. You don’t deserve this.”
>”It meant a lot to me too. I'm sorry that we never got to have that game night that we talked about."
>”When we get out of here, I’m gonna have the city make a statue for you. Everyone’s gonna know what you did here today.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5738466
>>”No matter what happens, I’ll take care of the Morlocks. I can promise you that.”
Well
there's always krakoa's resurrection protocol

>>5738466
>>”Stop talking like you’re dying."
>"It's just a virus, and without anyone to give orders you can still be fine."

>>5737870
”I told you that I’m not leaving you, and I meant it. If he doesn’t want to stay, then I’ll be the one to pull you out of here.”

>>5738466
single goddamn problem that I can’t solve with enough resources and effort.”
>”I should’ve never asked you to come down here. You don’t deserve this.”

Man… all this wild, alien tech and not a single stasis gadget…

>>5738466
>”Stop talking like you’re dying. There isn’t a single goddamn problem that I can’t solve with enough resources and effort.”
> plan to push her ass into the portal no matter what.
Im not leaving anyone behind.

>>5738856
+1

>>5738598
>>5738601
>>5738744
>>5738856
>>5738961
>”Stop talking like you’re dying. There isn’t a single goddamn problem that I can’t solve with enough resources and effort.”
>Plan to push her ass into the portal no matter what.

Taking these. Writing...

File: Toni_Ho_29_from_U.S.Aveng(...).jpg (808 KB, 1216x1869)

808 KB JPG

”Stop talking like you’re dying. There isn’t a single goddamn problem that I can’t solve with enough resources and effort.”

Iara laughed, and there was a noticeable lack of bitterness in her voice this time.

“If you could pull that off, I might just have to do to you what I’ve been fantasizing about since we first met.”

You raised an eyebrow at her, and a small snort managed to slip out. You couldn’t help it. But your little moment was cut short when Mark’s synthesized voice shouted over your conversation.

“I’m detonating them now. Hold onto something.”

You both obeyed his command without arguing, and a moment later, you felt a violent rumble that seemed to reverberate through the entire facility. You could hear the distant screams of the Brood, along with the sound of grinding metal and rushing water.

“Here we go!”

Iara pushed the throttle forward, and the entire deck shuddered as it slid down the rocky slope that the facility rested on. The propulsion systems on this bootleg Helicarrier seemed to be heavily damaged, but they were apparently adequate enough to push it along the ocean floor. The entire room rattled with every rock it rolled over, making you less and less certain of the makeshift submersible’s ability to make it to the Dragon’s Corridor without imploding.

Every now and again, you’d catch a glimpse of a deep sea creature that was likely birthed as a result of an unholy union of inhumane experimentation and a lack of sunlight. But they weren’t what you were concerned about. Because just up ahead, you could see a whirlpool of dark, swirling water that every living thing seemed to be steering clear of.

“We’re coming up on it now! Get ready to blow the windows!”

Iara hissed through clenched teeth. Mark responded by firing a series of cylindrical projectiles into the window, cracking the glass as they latched onto the transparent pane. You didn’t like the way that those things were beeping…

Iara turned to scowl at you, drawing your attention away from the remote mines.

“I’m not kidding around, Huntsman. You need to get out of here, RIGHT NOW! Mark has armor to protect him. You don’t!”

Your eyes trailed down to the unattended Storage Vial on her hip. It would be so easy to snatch it from her and open a portal right behind her.

What will you do? (Unless you specify otherwise, some of these options will involve you retreating into the pocket dimension afterwards.)

>”I’m sorry, but I can’t leave you behind.” (Snatch the Storage Vial and throw Iara into the pocket dimension.)
>”You better come back. None of that ‘heroic sacrifice’ bullshit. I’m not about to lose a friend today!”
>"I'm not going anywhere. If we go down, we go down together." (Squeeze her hand)
>(Hug Iara) ”Please don’t die.”
>(Lean in to whisper in her ear) “My name’s Ben.”
>Write-in.

>>5739070
>”I’m sorry, but I can’t leave you behind.” (Snatch the Storage Vial and throw Iara into the pocket dimension.)

>>5739070
>>”The name's Ben Parker.” (Snatch the Storage Vial and throw Iara into the pocket dimension.)
lets hope we can Flame On our way out of this one

>>5739070
>”I’m sorry, but I can’t leave you behind.” (Snatch the Storage Vial and throw Iara into the pocket dimension.)
Could we web ourselves up to protect against possible damage?

>>5739070
>>”The name's Ben. Ben Parker. Give Ana my regards.” (Snatch the Storage Vial and throw Iara into the pocket dimension.)
If the Last part of this makes it so she isnt caught by surprise dont put it in.

>>5739217
Support

>>5739077
>>5739089
>>5739094
>>5739217
>>5739260
>”The name's Ben. Ben Parker. Give Ana my regards.” (Snatch the Storage Vial and throw Iara into the pocket dimension.)

Taking these. Writing...

File: 2702051-iara_11.jpg (214 KB, 556x593)

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You gave Iara one long, final look, before dragging your eyes back down to the Storage Vial.

“The name’s Ben. Ben Parker.”

You snagged the flashlight with a webline and used it to open a rift directly behind the Morlock. She turned to stare back at you in disbelief, but you were already in the process of webbing her up and throwing her ass into the portal.

“What’re you-!?”

She tried to squeeze out a few more words before she fell into the portal completely, but she didn’t share your convenient ability to stick to surfaces, so she slid right in.

“Give Ana my regards.”

And just like that, she was gone. A moment of silence stretched across the room, before you remembered that Mark was still here. He was staring at you, frozen in place with his hand hovering over the keypad on his wrist. His feet were currently bolted to the floor so as to prevent him from losing his balance, so there was no way that you were going to catch him off guard like you had with the Deep One.

You could let him carry the Storage Vial like Iara had planned. He’d probably fare better against those nightmarish creatures that you saw outside. On the other hand, you’re not very comfortable with entrusting your fate, and the fate of your teammates to a literal stranger who won’t show his face or give his real name.

What will you do?

>Open another portal. “You get in too. I’ll take care of this.”
>”Hey, can I borrow that helmet? It looks a little heavy, but I’d bet that it’s got a decent air supply.”
>”Can you ask Cat or Prowler for some scuba gear from our stash? Something tells me I’m gonna need it.”
>Toss the Storage Vial at him. “Try not to drop it. We need to be able to get out once you’ve made it to the surface.”
>"Change of plans. We're using the Dragon's Corridor as an escape route. It's got other portals for us to escape through once we're there, right?"
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5739351
>>"Change of plans. We're using the Dragon's Corridor as an escape route. It's got other portals for us to escape through once we're there, right?"

>>5739351
>”Can you ask Cat or Prowler for some scuba gear from our stash? Something tells me I’m gonna need it.”

>>5739351
>"How long does it take you to surface?"

>>5739351
Toss the Storage Vial at him. “Try not to drop it. We need to be able to get out once you’ve made it to the surface.”


We can try burning so hot it evaporates the water around us as we traverse upward.

>>5739376
that option implies we get in too

>>5739376
>We can try burning so hot it evaporates the water around us as we traverse upward.
you realize that hot steam is not breathable?
but if we get to go hot enough to fly ourselfes again, we have our own propulsion at least

>>5739386
>you realize that hot steam is not breathable?
horton cells, son

>>5739351
>>Open another portal. “You get in too. I’ll take care of this.”
>>5739376
I do support the vapor jets of this post, but not for ourselves to get inside the bag.

>>5739355
>>5739364
>>5739367
>>5739376
>>5739512
We have 5 votes for 5 different options! How would you guys like to proceed here?

>>5739525
mine would have been an option to throw in before a big decision. Like we can hold onto him and hold out breath while going up (I'm not sure how deep we are under water)

I'll throw my vote to >>5739512 and try to flame on to get out of here

>>5739512
>>5739512
>Open another portal. “You get in too. I’ll take care of this.”

Taking these. Writing...

>>5739512
>>5739541
Meant to tag the other one too...

File: 7804405-iron_patriot_armo(...).jpg (262 KB, 1248x1920)

262 KB JPG

You froze in place for a moment, but eventually, you opened up another portal, hoping that Iara wouldn’t be able to free herself before you could close it again.

“You get in too. I’ll take care of this.”

Mark’s head tilted to the side, ever so slightly.

“And how the hell do you expect to pull that off? You got a scuba tank squirreled away somewhere that I don’t know about?”

“I’ll try to propel myself with my flames for as long as possible. If I really push, I might be able to generate enough thrust to reach the surface.”

Mark stared at you for a good, long while. And even without being able to see their face, you could practically sense the waves of disapproval rolling off of them.

“Yeah…that’s not happening. At these depths, the water’s too pressurized for that sort of thing to be sustainable. And there’s way too much of it for you to generate more than a flicker before you get snuffed out completely. Whatever you’re trying to do. It won’t work. Let me go instead. I’m not getting trapped in a fucking pocket dimension because your ass thought you could light a candle at the bottom of the ocean.”

Ugh! This conversation is getting you nowhere! You’d have to do something fast, or your run-down submersible was going to be run into the ground, taking you and everyone else with it!

>”You underestimate my power!” (Requires roll)
>”Then fly up and let me tag along. I should be able to hold on long enough for us to get to the surface.”
>”You’re getting in that portal one way or another. And I’m not above scratching that shiny metal suit of yours.”
>”Alright, brainiac. What’s your bright idea, then? I mean, other than swimming out of here and hoping that we don't get swallowed or torn apart by mutant fish.”
>”...You know, that suit of yours looks pretty roomy. And chance you can squeeze me in there too?”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5739611
>>”You underestimate my power! - He said, and then burst into flames” (Requires roll)

>>5739611
>”Then fly up and let me tag along. I should be able to hold on long enough for us to get to the surface.”
>>”Alright, brainiac. What’s your bright idea, then? I mean, other than swimming out of here and hoping that we don't get swallowed or torn apart by mutant fish.”
>”...You know, that suit of yours looks pretty roomy. And chance you can squeeze me in there too?”
I say a mix of these.

>>5739611
>Write-in
>I do in fact have scuba gear squirreled away inaide the portal, I could get it realy quick.
It was an option in the previous vote, and Mark just mentioned it as being viable, so it should be possible.

>>5739619
Support

>>5739666
+1

We're currently tied between two votes.

>>5739619
>>5739805
>”You underestimate my power! - He said, and then burst into flames” (Requires roll)
and
>>5739666
>>5739846
>I do in fact have scuba gear squirreled away inside the portal. I could get it really quick.

Would anyone like to change their vote, or would you like to wait for more votes to roll in.

>>5740438
Meant to phrase that as a question!

>>5740438
>I do in fact have scuba gear squirreled away inside the portal. I could get it really quick.
Ill change to this.

>>5740716
You just killed us...

>>5739666
>>5739846
>>5740716
>I do in fact have scuba gear squirreled away inside the portal. I could get it really quick.

Taking these. Writing...

File: mousart-underwater-base-3(...).jpg (1.18 MB, 1366x640)

1.18 MB JPG

“I do in fact have some scuba gear squirreled away inside of the pocket dimension. I could go and get it real quick.”

“Then hurry up!”

Mark didn’t have to ask you twice. You webbed up the Storage Vial to hold it in place, and set it so that it would maintain the portal for at least another minute. Then, you dove straight in and began frantically searching for the scuba gear that you requested from Gloria. While inside of the pocket dimension, you ignored the constant bombardment of questions and concerns from everyone else. They were all clearly surprised to see Iara webbed up the way she was on the ground. She was struggling to rip it apart, with Glass and W helping her to do exactly that.

And that meant that you didn’t have much time. So, you focused on the task at hand, finding what you were looking for, and exited the portal just as abruptly.

When you came back out, Mark was waiting for you there, standing closer to the portal’s opening. He looked at what you held in your hands, then back up at you.

“When those mines blow, you’re gonna get slammed by a couple hundred atmospheres of pressure. It’ll be like getting hit by a wave at the beach that weighs several tons. Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

You slipped the oxygen mask over your head and slid the tanks onto your back.

“I guess we’ll just have to find out now, won’t we?”

Mark let out a long sigh and stomped past you.

“Just try not to die. I’m not in the mood to get stuck in here.”

And with that, they disappeared into the portal. Short afterwards, the rift closed behind them, eliminating any chances of Iara or anyone else coming back out without your permission.

You turned to stare out the front-facing window. You were getting really close to the Corridor now. The mines were set to blow before the submersible could get sucked into the vortex’s current. All you had to do was survive the capsizing of this vessel, evade the deadly leviathans that lurked down here, and swim back up to the surface in one piece. No biggie!

>Roll 1d100, bo3!

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>5741071

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>5741071

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>5741071

>>5741072
>>5741102
>>5741244
>79

Taking these. I'll push out an update as soon as I can.

File: Spoiler Image (352 KB, 1804x2048)

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>79

The mines began beeping frantically, and you quickly created a network of webbing that wrapped around your arms and held you firmly in place. At the same time, a web of cracks spread across the front window, allowing small trickles of water to leak through and puddle on the floor.

You took a deep breath, held it, and when the mines lit up for the last time, you closed your eyes and braced for impact.

Only a few moments later, a deafening explosion filled your ears, and a wall of rushing water filled the room, quickly drowning out the sound as your head was fully submerged.

Despite their newly reinforced tensile strength, each and every one of your webs snapped, almost all at once, sending you hurtling into the back of the sub. Or, at least, what was left of it.

The submersible was currently folding in on itself, expanding and contracting rapidly as it and you both were slammed by the equivalent of a rolling wave of solid concrete. The initial impact left you dazed and more than a little disoriented. Your vision flashed, and then grew hazy as scattering of black dots crept in from your peripheral. You wanted to pass out, but your each and every instinct screamed for you to start moving.

And so, you did. With dogged determination, and more than a little determination, you swam out through the opening where the front window used to be and clambered out onto the top of the submersible. Your spider sense prickled at the edges of your perception, warning you about the lurking leviathans whose shadowy figures you could only barely glimpse in this low-light environment. Your imagination filled in the blanks for whatever you couldn’t clearly see.

For a while, the sound of water flowing around your limbs, and the distant explosions from the Atlas facility were the only things that you focused on. Every now and again, you’d hear and feel something sweeping past you. A flash of scales, a fluttering of fins, and then…dead silence. It was more than a little unnerving, but all you could do was swim up and hope for the best.

Just like Mark said, your ability to activate your flame cloak while down here was severely hampered. You couldn’t do more than slightly heat up the water around you, and even that took more energy and effort than you cared to spare at this very moment.

In reality, you were more worried about whether you’d get the bends for swimming up to the surface too quickly. Did your enhanced durability do anything to help you avoid such an anticlimactic fate, or did you have to follow the rules like everyone else? You didn’t feel like finding out. Better take it slow, just in ca-

Your thoughts cut off abruptly as you realized that the searchlights on your mask were reflecting something back at you. A stretch of pale, white milky flesh the size of a subway train blocked your path, coiling up and around where you swam. You saw no eyes, or any indication of a face. Just a mouth full of large, sharp teeth meant for tearing!

(Cont.)

File: Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_5_(...).jpg (805 KB, 777x1200)

805 KB JPG

The creature opened its mouth wide, revealing an expansive throat lined with thin, black needle-like teeth, pointed backwards in order to prevent prey from escaping.

You didn’t think twice. You pushed all of your energy into your arms, struggling to create even a tiny little explosion that might propel you away from this undersea horror. The freezing water was heating up considerably now, but not enough to allow for a chemical reaction that would rocket you to the surface. If anything, it created a cloud of bubbles that might’ve helped to disorient the creature. You weren’t sure if that observation was entirely accurate, but it was the only explanation for why you weren’t swallowed whole at that very moment.

More shadows seemed to move in after your harrowing escape, and you didn’t dare look at them. You were finally starting to reach a point where sunlight wasn’t entirely out of your reach, but visibility was still frightfully low at these depths.

Something brushed past your oxygen tank. You never saw it coming. You tried to glance back to see what it was, but whatever it was, it bit down on your oxygen tank. Hard. Hard enough to burst it with little to no effort!

A jolt of fear ran through you as your oxygen mask quickly began to fill with water. Now you definitely had a time limit. If you were grateful for anything, though, it was the fact that the destruction of your tank gave you a tiny burst of speed as it exploded, putting you just out of reach of whatever it was that was responsible for the attack.

You didn’t look back after that. You just swam with all your might. After a minute or so, your lungs began to burn, and your vision became blurry. You didn’t care about the bends or sea serpents at this point. You just didn’t want to be stuck down here for another second!

There was nothing to swing from, nothing to cling to. Just you, the open ocean, and all the beauty and danger it had to offer to those that dared venture outside of their own native realms. You were an intruder. You didn’t belong here, and Mother Nature wanted to make that absolutely clear to you.

The corners of your vision went from blurry, to an alarming shade of red that sort of reminded you of when you closed your eyes in front of a bright light. Your consciousness was slipping, and your mind began to race as it went into emergency survival mode. Just had to…hold…on…

The closer you got to the surface, the hotter you seemed to burn. Pale green flames flared up and were immediately snuffed out at regular intervals. The strain of activating the Horton Cells in your bloodstream was so great that it felt like your lungs were burning hotter than the rest of your body. But you ignored the pain. You pushed it out of your mind, and single-mindedly pursued the light and warmth of the sun. You had too much to live for to die down here!

—--------

(Cont.)

File: 4bdbab76921c4266953a28a25(...).jpg (146 KB, 748x1135)

146 KB JPG

Flying back to the back wasn’t nearly as smooth as you’d envisioned it. The placement of your hands and feet were extremely important while flying, as you had to maintain your balance, even in the air. Your enhanced coordination made that far easier, and there weren’t any obstacles to worry about in the open ocean.

Eventually, you managed to crash into the water near the boat and climb aboard before you were attacked by another sea monster. Shortly afterwards, you let everyone out of the pocket dimension. They came rushing out onto the boat’s deck, Glass and W trailing behind as they helped carry Iara out. She looked worse than she did before.

Everyone made room as the three of you laid her down and gave her some water.

Prowler was the first to speak up.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She thinks that she’s been infected by the ‘Slaver Virus’.”

You explained. Glass stared at you in horror, his eyes flicking between you and his injured friend.

“I thought only the Acanti could be infected with that…!”

Iara groaned, smiling bitterly as she leaned her head back against the railing.

“I guess our biology is close enough for it to be effective on me.”

“What’s it doing to her?”

Cat asked. Mark was the one who answered.

“It’s trying to alter her brain chemistry. An advanced group of nanomachines are rewiring [/b]her brain as we speak. Making her more compliant. More obedient.[/b] Stripping her of free will and her ability to form independent thoughts.”

“What does that mean?”

Araña’s face was full of concern, and even Benga was staring at Iara with wide eyes, full of fright.

Slowly, Mark shook his head.

“It means that she won’t last long. Little by little, she’ll start to slip away, until she’s just a hollow shell of her former self. I’m sorry.”

A long, heavy silence filled the air after that. No one quite knew what to say. W was bent over Iara’s body, choking back tears while the shark woman gently stroked her head. Glass, on the other hand, had shot up to his feet, and was shouting about calling in an emergency extraction, and finding a way to stall the effects of the Slaver Virus.

Fortunately, there was already a rescue team en route. It only took two hours for them to arrive, but it felt like an eternity.

(Cont.)

File: artwork-fantasy-field-flo(...).jpg (1.18 MB, 2880x1800)

1.18 MB JPG

—--------

There wasn’t a whole lot of room in the helicopter, so there were some people that had to wait inside of the pocket dimension. You, Glass and W stayed with Iara, while Prowler, Cat, Anastasia and the two girls waited outside. Mark split just before the helicopter arrived. There was no big farewell. No promises to meet again. He simply gave Iara a shot of something that would help her to hold on for a while longer, and gave his condolences, before flying off into the distance.

You didn’t quite care where he went if you were being entirely honest. He wasn’t important. Not right now, anyway.

The three of you surrounded Iara on the beach of your simulated reality. Iara said that she wanted to be in the water while she waited for help to arrive. But there was a defeated look in her eye that told you she wasn’t expecting any help to be forthcoming.

Flint was off somewhere looking after the plant-thing, and giving you the space that you needed to take care of your friend.

“You know, it’s kind of nice in here. I didn’t get to go out in a blaze of glory, but this isn’t a bad place to die.”

Glass vigorously shook his head. He looked both angry and worried for Iara.

“Don’t say that! We can still get you help. Huntsman knows a lot of people and he’s got a lot of money. We’ve also got the medicine that we took from the facility.”

“Don’t die…”

W whimpered. Iara was still caressing the clone’s head, now free from her mask, revealing her tear-streaked face.

“Wish I could stay. I need to thank Callie for everything she’s done for me. She’ll blame herself for not coming with me. I just know it.”

She was staring vacantly into the distance, watching the virtual sun disappear beyond the ocean.

What will you say?

>”I’ve still got my phone. We can record a video for her and the Morlocks if you want.”
>”Glass is right. There’s still a chance that can do something about the virus. Gloria is gonna owe us big for this, and I’ll make sure that she pays up.”
>”I’ll fix this. I’ll find a way to repair the damage, and we’ll have you patched up in no time. Good as new.”
>Don’t say anything. Just hold her hand and stay with her.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5742430
>”Glass is right. There’s still a chance that can do something about the virus. Gloria is gonna owe us big for this, and I’ll make sure that she pays up.”
>”I’ll fix this. I’ll find a way to repair the damage, and we’ll have you patched up in no time. Good as new.”

>>5742432
Support

>>5742430
>>”I’ve still got my phone. We can record a video for her and the Morlocks if you want.”
>>”Glass is right. There’s still a chance that can do something about the virus. Gloria is gonna owe us big for this, and I’ll make sure that she pays up.”

>>5742432
+1

>>5742430
Can our Shi’ar Jumpship 'jump' to New York?

>>5742432
>>5742472
>>5742518
>”Glass is right. There’s still a chance that can do something about the virus. Gloria is gonna owe us big for this, and I’ll make sure that she pays up.”
>”I’ll fix this. I’ll find a way to repair the damage, and we’ll have you patched up in no time. Good as new.”

Taking these. Writing...

>>5742518
It can indeed! I'll give you the option to use it in the next vote.

File: 325152-Spider-Gwen-Gwen-S(...).jpg (1.93 MB, 2160x3840)

1.93 MB JPG

“Glass is right. There’s still a chance that we can do something about the virus. Gloria is gonna owe us big time for this, and I’m gonna make sure that she pays up.”

Glass nodded his approval, giving you a weak smile.

“I’ll fix this. I’ll find a way to repair the damage, and we’ll have you patched up in no time. Good as new.”

Iara chuckled to herself, kicking her feet and splashing around in the shallow water.

“You know, if anyone else said that to me, I’d think they were bullshitting. But if it’s you…I think it just might be possible. And even if it isn’t…well, I’m just glad to know that you care enough to try.”

You smiled at each other, but the sight of those black veins covering her face made you feel sick to your stomach.

She turned to smile at Glass, his already fragile features looking that much more brittle by the smile he was forcing himself to return.

“Glass. I didn’t want to have to tell you this in person, because I knew you’d have that miserable look on your face…”

“Don’t. You’re gonna be alright-”

Glass never got to finish, because Iara grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer.

“Just shut the fuck up and listen, okay?”

His mouth clamped shut, and his head bobbed marginally.

“You’re like a brother to me. Other than Callie, no one’s ever stuck around longer than you have. And I’m gonna need you to stay by her side if I don’t make it out of this, alright? She’ll never admit it, but the Morlocks need someone like you. Not because of what you can do in a fight, but because of what you can do outside of one. You genuinely give a shit. You believe in the inherent goodness of people, even when they haven’t given you a reason to. Callie might be our leader, but you’re the heart of the group. Don’t ever change, and don’t let them do anything stupid while I’m out.”

Glass couldn’t stop the tears from flowing now. You were genuinely surprised that he was even capable of crying with his unique physiology.

But, Iara ignored them and turned to face W.

“Hey, kid. I hate that you have to see me like this, but this is what it’s like to live as a mutant, sometimes. We don’t always win. Sometimes we lose. Big time. And sometimes…we get too caught up in thinking about the things we’ve lost, and we can’t see what we’ve already got.”

W looked up, her eyes red and puffy from all the crying she’s been doing.

“And you’ve still got a family back in New York. The Morlocks’ll take care of you. So will the Huntsman and his crew. You’ve got a lot of people that care about you. Even without me, you’ll be fine-”

She went into a coughing fit, and you knelt down to assist her in any way you could, unsure of what to do. So, you rubbed her back soothingly, until she held up a hand and waved you off.

“I just wish we’d picked out a name for you before all this shit went down. I had a few good ideas.”

(Cont.)

File: 7708482-risque.png (289 KB, 313x604)

289 KB PNG

W blinked at her several times, and then nodded imploringly.

“You choose.”

Iara frowned.

“You…want me to pick out your name?”

W nodded vigorously. Iara laid her head back and breathed out a long sigh, staring up into the clouds.

“Alright. How about…’Joyce’. I’ve always liked that name.”

“Joyce. Joyce…”

W said the name over and over, testing the words on her tongue. After a few more seconds of this, she smiled weakly at her fellow Morlock.

“I like it. Thanks.”

Glass rubbed her shoulder affectionately.

“It’s a good name.”

Joyce’s smile grew a bit wider at that.

Finally, Iara turned to face you. Neither of you said anything for a while. There was so much to say, and yet, so little time. But if there was one thing you weren’t going to say, it was “goodbye”. Because you made her a promise. You were going to make sure that she got through this, one way or another. Because you were the goddamn Huntsman, and there wasn’t a single damned thing that you couldn’t do if you put your mind to it.

—---------

The next few hours were…stressful to say the least. Iara deteriorated before your very eyes. After the first hour, she stopped speaking and just…stared off into the distance. After the second hour, she forgot how to breathe on her own, and you managed to get an oxygen mask over her mouth before any more damage could be done to her brain.

Once or twice, her body would spasm violently, and you’d have to wrestle her back under control. The time you spent in that pocket dimension were some of the single, most terrifying moments of your life. And when the others came to let you out, you nearly sagged with relief.

—--------

You and your team rushed Iara out of the portal and onto a waiting gurney. The helicopter had landed on the roof of one of the best hospitals in the area, and Gloria and her minions were already there to accept the converter and care for your friend.

Prowler was placing the assembled converter in a secure container for them to take, while Cat, Araña and Benga were pulled aside for a quick check-up.

You stared past the crime boss and followed Iara with your eyes as she was carted away and towards a waiting elevator, Glass and W racing after them. Flint and Anastasia were standing on either side of you for support, but neither of them said a word.

“They’ll take good care of her. I pay them too much for them to display anything less than the absolute best medical care. I’m also having a specialist flown in to have a look at her. She’s had some previous contact with the Atlas Foundation, and she was also one of the people who assisted in creating me.”

You turned to look at her then. Her face was no longer a stony mask of cold indifference. She looked genuinely regretful, despite her assurance that your goals were met.

(Cont.)

“Thank you for retrieving my girls and the converter. You’ve performed your role exceptionally in all this. I’m just sorry that your team suffered such great losses in the process.”

What will you say?

>”I think we can both agree that the rates for our services have gone up considerably. We need to renegotiate.”
>"Did you know about the Brood being down there?"
>" I want to have a specialist of my own flown in. (Write-in.)
>”You owe it to us to do whatever you can to save her. I don’t care what you have to do, or how much money we have to sink into it. I want her back in one piece.”
>”I think it goes without saying that we’ll have your full support going forward. Me and Ms. Kravinoff have done more than enough to promote your campaign. Now, it’s your turn.”
>”Fuck you and your schemes. You just used us to get what you wanted.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5742657
>"Did you know about the Brood being down there?"
>”You owe it to us to do whatever you can to save her. I don’t care what you have to do, or how much money we have to sink into it. I want her back in one piece.”
>”I think it goes without saying that we’ll have your full support going forward. Me and Ms. Kravinoff have done more than enough to promote your campaign. Now, it’s your turn.”
>"Look, we met a Iron-Man wannabe down there. We had the chance to betray you, but we chose to keep going. All I want is to be repayed in kind."

>>5742657
>"Did you know about the Brood being down there?"
>" I want to have a specialist of my own flown in. (Miles Warren)

>>5742657
>" I want to have a specialist of my own flown in. (Miles Warren)
>”You owe it to us to do whatever you can to save her. I don’t care what you have to do, or how much money we have to sink into it. I want her back in one piece.”
>”I think it goes without saying that we’ll have your full support going forward. Me and Ms. Kravinoff have done more than enough to promote your campaign. Now, it’s your turn.”
>”I think we can both agree that the rates for our services have gone up considerably. We need to renegotiate.”

File: too_small_time.jpg (120 KB, 837x519)

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>>5742657
>"With one or two 'proving ourselves capable', and a 'doing a little something for you', seems like you're Queen Bee of Vegas."
>>”I think we can both agree that the rates for our services have gone up considerably. We need to renegotiate.”
>"First of all the things that should go without saying:"
>>”You owe it to us to do whatever you can to save her. I don’t care what you have to do, or how much money we have to sink into it. I want her back in one piece.”
>>" I want to have a specialist of my own flown in. (Miles Warren)
>herfull support against the vampire invasion
a ton of silver and a farmers market worth of garlic
>once Delgi resurfaces to retaliate go against us, he's as much her problem as ours.
have her make a research team to figure out what he is and how to kill him or lock him away for a century or whatever.

other demands we can maybe do in a seperate vote and update, I think
We also shouldn't forget we told Silvermane we see what we can do for him to start some business.

>>5742659
>>5742664
>>5742902
>>5742958
>"Did you know about the Brood being down there?"
>”I think we can both agree that the rates for our services have gone up considerably. We need to renegotiate.”
>”I think it goes without saying that we’ll have your full support going forward. Me and Ms. Kravinoff have done more than enough to promote your campaign. Now, it’s your turn.”
>" I want to have a specialist of my own flown in. (Miles Warren)

Taking these. Writing...

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“Did you know about the Brood being down there?”

Ana stiffened at that question, and Flint frowned as he looked between you and Gloria, but your employer only looked confused by the question. It seemed genuine, too.

“Brood? I have no idea what that is. Is that what left your friend in such a state?”

Ana nodded firmly.

“According to her, they were a swarm of intelligent, alien insects. We suspect that the Atlas Foundation was conducting experiments on them before they were forced to abandon the facility.”

Gloria folded her arms.

“From what I’ve been hearing, am I right to assume that they aren’t going to be a threat anymore?”

A cocky grin spread across Flint’s face.

“We trashed that place right before we left. I don’t think anything could’ve survived that.”

You let out a light chuckle at that, despite how miserable you felt.

“Don’t jinx it.”

“Superstitions aside, I’m going to go say that you’ve more than met my requirements for this operation.”

Gloria agreed. But that just wasn’t good enough for you. There were a few things that you needed to make clear before you cemented this little alliance.

“I think we can both agree that the rates for our services have gone up considerably. We need to renegotiate.”

Gloria stared at you for a moment, her eyes flitting between you and two behind you, before she eventually nodded.

“That sounds reasonable. Go on.”

“We want your full support going forward. Me and Ms. Kravinoff here have done more than enough to promote your campaign. Now it’s your turn.”

You could feel Flint inching closer to you, his arms folded over his broad chest in a show of intimidation and support. Gloria paid him very little attention.

“My services are available to Ms. Kravinoff, if she so desires them. Once I’ve taken control of my late colleague’s territories, I’ll be more than capable of providing whatever it is you need for the…event that your family is arranging.”

Anastasia smiled slightly, dipping her head in approval.

“My father will be pleased to learn of this. We assure you that your relationship with my family will be mutually beneficial for us both.”

The blonde huntress stepped forward and extended a hand for the synthezoid crime boss to shake. Gloria gripped Ana’s arm and shook it up and down. So far, so good.

“I also want to have a specialist flown in to take a look at my friend.”

Both women turned to you. Gloria didn’t look like she had any qualms with fulfilling your demands. Miles Warren was one of the smartest, and craziest people that you had the pleasure of having a decently friendly relationship with. Having him here would make you feel a lot better about Iara’s chances.

“If you give me his information, I can make it happen. Anything else?”

(Cont.)

>”I’d like to introduce you to another friend of mine with a similar profession to yours.”
>”I want to get paid for the job we just did. We took some heavy losses, and I think it’s only fair for us to be reimbursed for them.”
>”I want to be inducted into The Family. We can start a branch in New York and go from there.”
>”I'd like you to introduce me to your other contacts. I'd be willing to share my own if that interests you at all."
>"I want your assurance that you'll be ready and willing to cover my ass when Degli eventually comes back for his revenge."
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5743588
>”I’d like to introduce you to another friend of mine with a similar profession to yours.”
>"I want your assurance that you'll be ready and willing to cover my ass when Degli eventually comes back for his revenge."

>>5743588
>>”I'd like you to introduce me to your other contacts. I'd be willing to share my own if that interests you at all."
more connections fuck yeah

>>5743588
>>”I'd like you to introduce me to your other contacts. I'd be willing to share my own if that interests you at all."
>>"I want your assurance that you'll be ready and willing to cover my ass when Degli eventually comes back for his revenge."

>>5743588
>”I’d like to introduce you to another friend of mine with a similar profession to yours.”
>"I want your assurance that you'll be ready and willing to cover my ass when Degli eventually comes back for his revenge."
>>”Oh, and don’t be afraid to track him down early. No sense letting him build up until he hits us first.”
>”When you’re done out here, go in and speak to Glass. Ask him what he wants. For his community, others mutants out here, whatever. Make sure he doesn’t think small. His group gave up the most for your mission.”
Gloria digs him, and Deep One was a champ. Let’s see what “the heart” can squeeze out of her with both our backing and with whatever Gloria would have given him anyway.

>>5744379
+1
+ my suggestion >>5742958 that we need to know how to more permanently dispose of him instead of just slapping on a band-aid

>>5744379
>>5744582
and to Glass, later, not immediately
>"You know, once Iara wakes up again she'll give you shit when she learns you were too much in the throws of grief so you couldn't get your dick wet."

>>5743590
>>5743600
>>5744170
>>5744379
>>5744582
>”I’d like to introduce you to another friend of mine with a similar profession to yours.”
>”I'd like you to introduce me to your other contacts. I'd be willing to share my own if that interests you at all."
>"I want your assurance that you'll be ready and willing to cover my ass when Degli eventually comes back for his revenge."

Taking these. Writing...

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“I’d like to introduce you to another friend of mine with a similar profession to yours. I’d also like you to introduce me to your other contacts. I’d be willing to share my own if that interests you at all.”

Gloria gave you a long, thoughtful look.

“I suppose a bit of networking wouldn’t be entirely off the table. We can talk at length about that at a later date, though. You have a direct line to me, after all.”

You nodded. Having Silvermane benefit from Gloria’s newfound status would undoubtedly benefit you in the long run. You were quickly moving up in the world, and the more influential friends that you had, the better.

“Agreed. And if it isn’t too much to ask, can I have your word that you’ll be ready and willing to cover my ass when Degli eventually comes back for revenge?”

A shadow passes over Gloria's face, then, and Ana struggles to hide an involuntary shudder.

“I think it’s in all of our best interests to eliminate that man as soon as he rears his ugly head. I’m going to have a lot of reasons to look over my shoulder in the near future, but I’d rather he not be one of them. He’s too dangerous to be left alone.”

You could all agree with that.

“But that’s a problem for another day. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to check on the girls.”

And with those parting words, Gloria turned and strode towards the elevator.

“Mission accomplished, I guess.”

Flint nudged you slightly, and you gave him the best smile that you could muster in that moment. You couldn’t quite swing it, though. It was a good thing that you were wearing a mask.

“I should inform my father of our success here. Neither of us will forget what you’ve done here. And should you prove yourself in the Great Hunt, your name will be forever etched in the annals of history.”

She placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder, and your smile felt a little more genuine, then.

Now you just had to decide what you would do with yourself until Iara got out of the ER.

>Wait with Glass and Joyce. They’ll need as much support as they can get during these trying times.
>Go with Gloria to check on Araña and Benga. Those kids have been through a lot these past few days.
>Have Prowler take a look at your Resonance Amplifier. You have a feeling that you broke it during your fight with the Brood Queen.
>Suggest that the Desperados hold a meeting to review the events of your mission.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

File: FzEqswqaMAIEEW6.jpg (51 KB, 892x864)

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>>5745250
>Go with Gloria to check on Araña and Benga. Those kids have been through a lot these past few days.
man, it was all going so well. so much loot. now I got blood in my hands

>>5745250
>Wait with Glass and Joyce. They’ll need as much support as they can get during these trying times.
Torn between that and the other kids, but Gloria means more to them.

>>5745250
>Go with Gloria to check on Araña and Benga. Those kids have been through a lot these past few days.
>Suggest that the Desperados hold a meeting to review the events of your mission.

>>5745250
>>Wait with Glass and Joyce. They’ll need as much support as they can get during these trying times.

>>5745250
>>Go with Gloria to check on Araña and Benga. Those kids have been through a lot these past few days.
gonna give glass and joyce some space

Apologies for the delay! I had a job interview yesterday morning, and then I was out the rest of the day for a wedding. And when I got home, I had to attend a late night Pathfinder game. And I did all this with little to no sleep. These past few days have been super busy for me in a lot of ways. But I'm here now!

>>5745260
>>5745441
>>5745827
>Go with Gloria to check on Araña and Benga. Those kids have been through a lot these past few days.

Taking these. Writing...

File: EAoUhFaCicEaZMkqnSBPUk.jpg (378 KB, 1265x1920)

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Also, what do you guys about this being the new quest banner? Lemme know if you have any other suggestions that you think might be more fitting!

>>5746527
Cooler than the current logo, but a little hardcore for a regular thing given we’re not a supervillain yet.

What do you have planned for us, Scorekeeper?

>>5746527
I don't like, but I can't explain why.

>>5746530
>spoiler

A lot! I'm very excited to be getting back to New York. It means that I can set some of my plans in motion. I'm trying to strike a balance between wacky, wholesome and dramatic here. Really get back some of those more tender, genuine and funny moments, while maintaining a bit of the pressure that Ben will feel from taking part in the Gang War(among other things).

>>5746530
>>5746531
Gotcha. I tried to find something that symbolizes Ben's latest evolution/transformation, but I couldn't find anything that I particularly liked. I guess I'll either have to keep an eye out or commission something at a later date.

>>5746527
looks a bit too edgy
I like the current branding, maybe impose a different logo on it tho huntsman spider facing downward maybe?

>>5746527
I like it, tho it looks more like for the Venom arc. Tho if you can use some photoshop, maybe changing the colors for purple on the background to reflect the new suit might do the trick

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Tracking down Gloria and the girls wasn’t very hard, considering how she’d just walked away from you. You suspected that Flint’s decision to accompany you there was purely motivated by his desire to make sure that you were alright. He was a comforting presence.

If there was ever a word to describe Flint Marko, it would be “fiercely loyal.” But since those are two words, he’ll just have to settle for plain old “loyal”. And speaking of adjectives, why didn’t you have one in front of your name? All the coolest superheroes had something like that, and you’ve been in the game for almost a year now.

While you dwelled on this, you and your friend made your way towards the examination room that Gloria reserved for her and the girls. The woman sat in the far corner of the room, facing the door, while a gaggle of doctors and nurses fussed over her girls. Benga looked extremely uncomfortable with all the physical contact and attention that she was receiving, while Araña seemed downright agitated by the whole ordeal. But the fiery redhead saw you walk in, a glimmer of hope entered her brown eyes.

“Alright, already! Give us some room! Everyone but Gloria and those two can get out.”

Everyone looked back at you and Flint, before turning their attention back on Araña.

“We just want to make sure that there aren’t any problems that we need to immediately address.”

One of the doctors pleaded.

Araña rolled her eyes.

“Okay…I’ll give you a diagnosis, doc. I’m hungry, tired, and pissed as hell. We don’t have whatever it is that the bugs gave to the shark lady. If we did, we’d be displaying symptoms already.”

Benga nodded her agreement from where she sat on her bed, her legs curled up to her chest.

“But still…”

Another doctor tried to speak, but Araña cut him off with a raised finger.

“I don’t know if anyone’s told you about what happened while we were down there, but it’s given me a really, really low tolerance for being swarmed by overgrown pests. And I promise you, the next time someone pokes or prods me, they’re gonna lose a finger.”

Coming from a girl her size, it shouldn’t have been a credible threat. But there was something about the way she said it, and the look she gave them that warned them of both her willingness to carry it out, and her ability to do so. One of the doctors visibly gulped at that, and most of them took a step back.

Seeing that her message had been received, Araña gave them a satisfied nod and shooed them away.

“Good. Now buzz off for at least an hour or two, choose one or two of your best doctors, and send them in later. We don't like being crowded.”

They all stared at her, and then turned to Gloria for confirmation. The Kingpin of Las Vegas let out a weary sigh and waved her hand in a sign of acquiescence. But you couldn’t help but notice that one of the corners of her mouth was curved upwards slightly in amusement.

(Cont.)

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After seeing that, there wasn’t a doubt in your mind that Araña had retained her free will and personality.

The medical staff filed out of the room and squeezed past you, giving you and your buddy odd looks on their way out. Once the doorway was clear, the two of you stepped into the room and approached the girls. You stopped at a safe distance away, just to be sure that you wouldn’t get on her nerves either, but the look in her eyes told you that she’d be willing to exercise more patience when dealing with you.

“Hey. How’re you two holding up?”

Araña let out a snort.

“Just peachy. We’re getting checked for alien eggs and brain parasites. B here looks about as bad as I feel.”

Benga glared at her friend, but there was no real malice behind it. They definitely looked better than they had when you rescued them. Their hair was no longer clumped with dirt and matted with sweat and blood, and they’d finally gotten a chance to change out of their filthy clothes and into a pair of generic scrubs. They took some time to clean up a bit while they were stuck in the pocket dimension, but that was no substitute for a proper shower, and you all knew it.

Araña smiled briefly at her friend, before returning her eyes to you and taking on an uncharacteristically serious expression.

“But really, though. Thanks for getting us out of there. I pictured this all going differently in my head. I never wanted for you and your crew to scrap with a swarm of alien bugs. If I knew, I wouldn’t have…”

She trailed off, looking unsure of herself as she regarded you. No one quite knew what sort of face you were making underneath that mask of yours, and Araña was venturing dangerously close to a sore spot that everyone had been courteously dancing around since you got here.

She wanted to apologize for what happened to Iara. And judging from Benga’s expression, she felt the same.

What will you say?

>”It’s not your fault. No one could have known what was waiting down there for us.”
>”Don’t worry. Gloria’s flying in specialists to get her looked at. And Deep’s a tough one. She’ll pull through.”
>”Just focus on getting better for now. You two have been through a lot, and I know you don’t like hearing it, but you’re still just kids at the end of the day.”
>”Did the two of you really plan to have Rollo and Silas killed for Gloria’s benefit?”
>”Have either of you thought about my offer of employment? I bet New York would be a lot less dangerous for you than Vegas right now.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

I appreciate you deleting your post for the sake of spacing between storytime posts, photoshop-anon. But feel free to repost it whenever you get a moment!

>>5746592
>”It’s not your fault. No one could have known what was waiting down there for us.”
>”Have either of you thought about my offer of employment? I bet New York would be a lot less dangerous for you than Vegas right now.”
now this is what I wanted to get to, we got plenty of contacts they could work with.
>Silvermane: Pretty much the closest thing to their former status quo. He's a decent boss and he's recruiting so it works out pretty well.
>Madame Web: The "Canon" choice. There's always stuff going on in NYC so they are not gonna run out of jobs, and Abe could use the help. And grandma Cass' mansion is pretty safe now.
>Maria Hill: My favorite choice. She's making a stealth superhero team and these two are a perfect fit. Contras are that they'll have feds watching their every move and getting down the helicarrier is a bitch, but at least they won't run out of things to do up there. Pros is that its probably the safest place of the bunch, and SHIELD is an impressive ally to have as we've seen before.
Silver Sable is out because she probably doesn't hire kids under any circumstances.
And last but ceirtanly not least:
>Desperados: We've worked together, they know what we are about and I'm sure the other members would agree to let them in the club. We can get them their own property no problem and any of our conections can be theirs as well, no strings attached.

File: blank.png (1.71 MB, 1620x1013)

1.71 MB PNG

>>5746592
>"Don't worry about what could have happened in the past. And don't worry about what's out of your hands now either. And Deep’s a tough one. She’ll pull through.”
>"And you'll pull through too, even if it means getting prodded a little bit. But first eat and drink something, take a shower. But seriously, do get checked out before you go to sleep."

I kinda don't yet want to talk about their employment, they should rest. But we can ask tomorrow.
Also, how old are they again?


>>5746590
>>5746606
deleted it as it was just in between your update

>>5746552
made a blank version with greyed out blank canvas so it's easy to stitck a logo on or color it
if anyone wants to take a crack at it

>>5746592
>”It’s not your fault. No one could have known what was waiting down there for us.”
>”Have either of you thought about my offer of employment? I bet New York would be a lot less dangerous for you than Vegas right now.”
>”Just focus on getting better for now. You two have been through a lot, and I know you don’t like hearing it, but you’re still just kids at the end of the day.”

>>5746542
I like it but maybe just change the colour? The background hurts my eyes

>>5746592
>”Bad shit happens in our line of business, let alone when you’re a mutant. That doesn’t mean we can’t be upset or try to make things right afterward though.”
>”Go ahead and speak with Glass and Joyce before they head out. It’ll mean enough that you cared to care.”
Then supporting >>5746616 on employment offers. We can add the Morlocks in the mix if they want to serve as “drug runners” for magical goods between Gloria and NY. I’d prefer hooking them up with Webb though.

>>5746592
>>”It’s not your fault. No one could have known what was waiting down there for us.”
>”Have either of you thought about my offer of employment? I bet New York would be a lot less dangerous for you than Vegas right now.”

>>5746616
>>5746735
>>5746622
>>5746793
>>5746621
>”It’s not your fault. No one could have known what was waiting down there for us.”
>”Have either of you thought about my offer of employment? I bet New York would be a lot less dangerous for you than Vegas right now.”
>Pitch suggestions for how they might lend their services.

I'll be taking these. Gonna try and push out an update after I get some much needed rest. Having trouble staying up after all the running around I did earlier. Things should calm down considerably for me after today.

>>5746621
Both girls seem to be around Cindy's age, so you're guessing that they're either 14 or 15.

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You shook your head slowly.

“It’s not your fault. No one could have known what was waiting down there for us.”

Flint nodded his agreement.

“You’re just kids. No one expects you to know everything or do everything. I know what it feels like to always have something to prove, but don’t get yourselves killed because of it.”

The girls blinked at Flint several times, before Gloria drew their attention by rising from her seat and speaking up for the first time since you entered the room.

“He’s right. The two of you exposed yourselves to too much danger for my sake. And while I do appreciate the intent behind your actions, I still can’t accept that this self-destructive plot of yours was concocted in secret. Next time, keep me in the loop.”

Both girls were looking a bit bashful now. Neither of them spoke, so you took the opportunity to bring up something that you’ve been thinking about for a while now.

“Have either of you given thought to my offer of employment? I bet New York would be a lot less dangerous for you than Vegas right now.”

Everyone turned to stare at you. Flint was probably confused, since you never really told him about that little conversation you had with them. But Gloria’s gaze was more accusatory and suspicious.

Araña waved a hand to bring her employer’s attention back to her.

“I hate to say it, but he’s right, G. It’s probably better if we don't show our faces in Vegas for a while. That was sort of our plan all along.”

Benga brushed her hair out of her face and took a more relaxed, confident posture on her bed.

“We need to disappear. Too many people after us now.”

Gloria looked between both girls, closed her eyes, and let out a large sigh while pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Like I said before, I could’ve helped you. Making someone disappear isn’t difficult.”

“But there’s always a trail. And if you had a hand in helping them disappear, then it might’ve led back to you. This way, I can keep them safe and provide shelter for them.”

From the look that Gloria was giving you, you could tell that she was begrudgingly considering your argument. She was just having a hard time accepting it fully.

“If that’s okay.”

You turned to address the girls, but they looked like they’d already made up their minds. Somewhere along the way, they figured that sticking with you was probably better than being on the streets.

“What would you have us do?”

Araña asked.

“There are a couple options, actually. You can work for a local crime boss that I’ve got a good relationship with. His name’s Silvermane, and he’s in the midst of rebuilding his empire. He’s currently recruiting, so I can definitely put in a good word for you and see what he needs you to do.”

Gloria had a thoughtful look on her face.

“This is the guy you wanted me to meet.”

You nodded, confirming her conclusion.

(Cont.)

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“I think the two of you could do some good work together. It’d be a mutually beneficial relationship for all of us.”

Gloria was probably considering just how lucrative this business would be for her in particular, but she wouldn’t say that out loud. You were getting pretty decent at reading her stiff expressions.

Araña and Benga shared a look.

“I guess that’s not too different from what we’re doing now. We should probably dust off our resumes later.”

Benga just barely managed to suppress a snort, before remembering that there were other people in the room. Flint lightly nudged you in the ribs and leaned over to whisper in your ear.

“You really think that Silvio would hire a couple of kids, just like that?”

“We won’t know until we try.”

“You said you had other options.”

Gloria was glancing suspiciously between you and Flint, but you didn’t take any offense to it. She was just being protective of her kids, something that you understood all too well.

You nodded.

“There’s a woman that I know who’d probably be able to help. She’s filthy rich, she owns a mansion that doubles as a nearly impenetrable fortress, and she’s about the nicest person that I’ve ever met.”

Araña leaned back on her palms with a grin on her face.

“You had me at ‘filthy rich’.”

“What would we be doing?”

Benga asked.

“Probably things related to her philanthropic pursuits. Fighting crime, keeping the city safe, kissing babies. That type of stuff. Or maybe she’d try to keep you out of as much danger as possible. I don’t know for sure.”

Gloria shook her head.

“That’s not very reassuring.”

“She’ll try her best to keep them safe, though. I can at least guarantee that.”

You said. Flint crossed his arms as if to show his support of your decision.

“It’s a hell of a lot safer than them being on their own.”

Gloria couldn’t refute that, so she stayed quiet while the girls whispered to one another. Predictably, Araña was the first to speak up.

“So…let me get this straight. You want us to be…what, superheroes?”

“Superheroes, anti-heroes, vigilantes, sidekicks…whatever you want to call it. If you really don’t want to have anything to do with it, she won’t force you. I’ve already got a good friend in her employ, and he gets paid for his heroic exploits.”

That seemed to grab their attention. Getting paid to fight crime was probably a novel concept to them. You felt the same way when she first made her offer to you.

“But if you really want to make some money saving the world, I know a better position that I could probably get you in. And you don’t even need a college degree.”

Both girls leaned forward, waiting eagerly to hear what you had to say.

“You could do some work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Maria Hill is recruiting for her very own recon squad.”

(Cont.)

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Everyone physically recoiled at that idea.

“Work? For S.H.I.E.L.D.!? You’re crazy, man.”

Benga was nodding along with her friend, while Gloria was giving you a wild look that told you she hadn’t expected you to have any ties whatsoever to the organization. She was still stunned by the revelation, but that would quickly turn to suspicion if you didn’t get to the point fast enough.

“What? You guys are great at sneaking around. You do your thing, get paid, and live a life of luxury. Instead of being six figures in debt, you could make six figures a year!”

Araña snorted a laugh.

“If we don’t fall off the edge. How’re we even supposed to get down from there? It’d pretty much be a floating prison for people like us.”

“They’ll be watching our every move.”

Benga said, folding her knees up to her chest again.

“I don’t like it either. Especially the part where you know the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. well enough to make recommendations about her staffing.”

Before anyone could blow up at you, Flint waved his massive arms around in order to defuse the situation.

“He’s not a rat, or anything like that. The two of them have got a bit of an unusual agreement, is all.”

Gloria narrowed her eyes.

“Unusual how?”

You waved a hand dismissively.

“Oh, you know. I do a few jobs for her here and there, she doesn’t throw me in prison, and she occasionally looks the other way when I draw too much attention to myself.”

Araña shook her head with mock pity.

“That poor woman. She must be overworked with how much trouble you get yourself into.”

“You don’t know the half of it…”

You muttered.

“But if you don’t like that option, then I’ve got two more offers that I think you might like a little better. You can do some work for the Morlocks, moving magic flowers for our little startup, or…you can come work for us.”

You gestured to you and Flint, waiting for everyone to react, but they still seemed to be stuck on something that you said earlier in your sentence.

“Did you say ‘magic flowers’? I’m not the only one who heard that, right?”

Benga and Gloria slowly shook their heads at Araña, confirming that she wasn’t losing her mind.

You were giving them a lot to think about in a very short amount of time. But, was there a specific job or faction that you were secretly hoping they would join? You might be able to influence their decision if you talked the job up a little bit.

(Cont.)

>Silvermane. He’s a solid employer, and you’ve already got a good relationship with him.
>Madame Webb. She’s altruistic, kind, and loaded. The girls should be safe there, and you could easily visit them whenever you wanted. And, they might be somewhat inspired by her to try and do some good here and there.
>Maria Hill. You’ve got a decent relationship with her, and you know that she could use some help with that team of hers. It’ll probably have more kids than she’s willing to deal with, but that’ll be her problem if she does end up accepting your proposal.
>The Morlocks. Your most trusted allies, and the harvesters of the magical flowers that you intend to sell. They’re good people, and they deserve to be able to make good money, even without you.
>The Desperados. You could always use a pair of thieves who could slip into small places and handle themselves in a fight.
>Don't push them to make a decision right now. They've had a long day and they could use some rest. You also don't want to influence their decision too much.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

>>5748224
>Don't push them to make a decision right now. They've had a long day and they could use some rest. You also don't want to influence their decision too much.

>>5748224
>>Maria Hill. You’ve got a decent relationship with her, and you know that she could use some help with that team of hers. It’ll probably have more kids than she’s willing to deal with, but that’ll be her problem if she does end up accepting your proposal.
maybe once the team is full Gwen will finally get to go on a mission. And I like our meetings with Hill

>>5748224
>”Everyone accepts demons and bugs, but magic flowers gets that look? Are you going to be more or less shocked that I’ve dealt with a god several times too?”
>”No, you’re not meeting him. At least with Maria I can claim to be annoyingly useful to her. That guy just doesn’t like me.”
>Don't push them to make a decision right now. They've had a long day and they could use some rest. You also don't want to influence their decision too much.
I’d prefer Webb or Morlocks, but all of them are good choices. Although it would be funny if hooking them up with Silvermane got them sent to Cindy’s school as Saya’s bodyguards. They’d be woefully out of their depth.

>>5748224
>Don't push them to make a decision right now. They've had a long day and they could use some rest. You also don't want to influence their decision too much.
>"Tho... There's maybe some people I now. They're real vigilantes and one in special i'm sure you're going to make friends with... You won't get paid there but I really trust them, and you wouldn't need to think on food and stay, I got you covered"

Might as well offer them the option to get with Matt, White Tiger and Cindy. Just think about it: Benga, Araña and Cindy, best team ever.

>>5748272
>>”No, you’re not meeting him. At least with Maria I can claim to be annoyingly useful to her. That guy just doesn’t like me.”
he did help us when it counted, and he was pleased by us caring for Cindy
>>5748277
>Might as well offer them the option to get with Matt, White Tiger and Cindy. Just think about it: Benga, Araña and Cindy, best team ever.
yeah, I don't see it. Vigilante work for free sucks. If Cindy wasn't chosen by a god I'd say we should help her turn to a life of crime

>>5748281
She's our daughter wife

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>>5748434

>>5748437
Vishnu or whoever wills it

>>5748224
>>Madame Webb. She’s altruistic, kind, and loaded. The girls should be safe there, and you could easily visit them whenever you wanted. And, they might be somewhat inspired by her to try and do some good here and there.
just because we choose a life of crime doesn't mean we want that for kids

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>>5748434

>>5748224
>Don't push them to make a decision right now. They've had a long day and they could use some rest. You also don't want to influence their decision too much.

>>5748281
Yeah, we’re not all negative to Khonshu. But he does seem to view Cindy’s schooling as distracting from her duties and we’re the reason for that too.

I just think of stuff like getting a second Silvertongue, turning over Chameleon, hooking Gwen up with them etc. etc. and I don’t think of as many instances where we’ve been as annoyingly helpful to him as we have to the various acronym agencies. Being able to put up with us when we’re repeatedly both infuriating and helpful is the true measure by which I trust someone.

By that measure, I actually trust Silvermane less than Maria Hill. I only recall being helpful to him, not annoying. But the Maggia has enough of a rep of supporting “family” that I disregard that since we’ve stuck with Silvermane through some real tough times. Plus he gave us a snazzy suit.

>>5748224
>>Don't push them to make a decision right now. They've had a long day and they could use some rest. You also don't want to influence their decision too much.

>>5748226
>>5748277
>>5748733
>>5748955
>Don't push them to make a decision right now. They've had a long day and they could use some rest. You also don't want to influence their decision too much.

Taking these. I'll post an update tomorrow after I get home from work in the afternoon.

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You briefly considered pushing them to join up with a specific faction, but then you remembered that the two of them weren’t hardened criminals, and were in fact a pair of kids who’ve gone through a thoroughly traumatic experience.

They’ve earned a rest before getting back to business.

“You don’t need to make a decision right now. I just wanted to let you know that you have options. Sleep on it. I hope you guys get well soon.”

You and Flint left the room shortly afterwards, leaving them to mull things over and rest up before they continued with their check-up. Your best buddy took it upon himself to check on Cat, but you were pretty sure that she was in much better shape than the other three.

In the meantime, you busied yourself with playing a game of telephone with Maria Hill. You asked her to pass a message on to Pandora, who would hopefully arrange for Miles Warren to be teleported to your location. It took a while for either of them to get back to you, but once you explained your reason for requesting his help, their responses came quicker than you expected them to. Within the hour of you contacting Pandora, Miles Warren and the Silvertongue clone, Letty, magically appeared in the middle of the waiting room on the ground floor. The two of them caused quite the stir, but you managed to diffuse the situation fairly easily.

The one known as Letty gave you a pleasant, formal smile and a slight bow of acknowledgement. She was currently wearing a dark blue sweater, with a white dress shirt and a green, plaid skirt. The combination made it look like she was a student in her late teens.

“Hello, Mr. Huntsman. You look well. Might I say that your new uniform is rather fetching.”

“Hey, Letty. Thanks for dropping in. You’re really living up to your namesake, buttering me up with your flowery language.”

Her smile grew slightly, and she used one hand to brush her dark red hair behind her ear. There was a playful nature to the way she was looking at you now.

“Oh? Is it a crime to give a compliment? I was unaware that you had developed a distaste for such…proclivities.”

“Just because you have an accent, doesn’t mean that every word that comes out of your mouth becomes instant poetry.”

You shot back. She tilted her head to the side in mock innocence.

“It doesn’t? I can always ‘give’ you a new accent if you’re not satisfied with your current one.”

You were about to open your mouth to reply when Professor Warren cleared his throat to get your attention. His wardrobe was more geared towards comfort and practicality. It actually didn’t look too different from what the doctors here were wearing. But instead of a proper coat, Warren wore a pristine robe that wouldn’t look too out of place in a spa, similar to the one that you and Ana visited together.

“If the two of you are quite finished, I’d like to know more about why I was called here.”

(Cont.)

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“Sorry. Got a little sidetracked, there. Follow me.”

—---------

Upon arriving at the operating room where Iara was being monitored, you were surprised to find Gloria specialist already there waiting for you. She was a bit taller than average, but you suspected that was because of the black high-heeled boots that she was sporting. Your eyes trailed up her legs, where she wore a pair of dark, tight khaki pants. And instead of a coat or a robe, she wore a white, leather studded jacket, the zipper pulled down just enough to expose a healthy amount of cleavage.

She must’ve noticed you staring, because she turned to stare right back at you, her eyes covered by a pair of large, magenta hexagonal glasses. And when she saw you approaching her, her red lips curved into what was probably meant to be a friendly smile, but came off a bit more wicked than was intended. The mole above her lip probably added to the effect.

“You must be the one that Gloria mentioned. I’m Ada, by the way. Is that your friend in there?”

Everyone’s attention turned to the stare in the room of what appeared to be a comatose shark woman attached to a bunch of complicated machines. A morose blonde woman and a slightly transparent young man sat on either side of her, exchanging a few words here and there without knowing that you were watching them.

You narrowed your eyes and inclined your head slightly.

“Yeah. How much do you know about what happened?”

Ada ran a hand through her dark, disheveled hair and blew out a sigh.

"She's got an army of nanites rampaging around in her head, rewiring her brain to erase her personality and sense of self. At least, that's what I heard."

Warren took a few steps closer and pressed his hand against the glass.

"How long has she been like this?"

"For a few hours now. Her condition's been deteriorating ever since we brought her back."

Warren gave you a troubled look. It was the look of someone who was preparing to break bad news to a patient.

“I might be a biochemist, but I’ve never dealt with anything like this. If this ‘Slaver Virus’ imitates biological organisms closely enough to be vulnerable to the countermeasures we might employ to fight an actual infection, then I might be able to prevent them from doing any further harm.”

“Well…what if we didn’t have to disable them?”

You stared at Ada curiously, and she seemed to be nodding to herself, her green eyes gleaming with excitement.

“What if we help the Slaver Virus along? Stopping it now would only result in disaster. I suggest that we perform an emergency surgery to alter her body to better suit what the virus considers a suitable host.”

Ada seemed entirely unphased by the look of sheer horror that you were giving her. And more than that, both Warren and Letty appeared to be intrigued by her proposition!

(Cont.)

“Think about it. So long as her body is compatible with whatever her brain is reshaped into, she’ll at least have a fighting chance.”

You scowled at her.

“What? You mean make her more like the Acanti? How does that save her from having her personality erased?”

Ada studiously pushed up her glasses and folded her arms over her chest.

“I’m afraid that we’re past that stage. From what I can see, her brain’s taken far too much damage already. Her neural pathways are eroding as we speak. She won’t be able to make connections as easily as before. Even if the procedure is a success…”

“It’d be unrealistic to expect to get your friend back.”

Warren finished. You reeled from the blow of that revelation, feeling uncharacteristically off-balance once. It felt like the world was spinning.

How could they just say things like that so easily? With such cold indifference. Didn’t they know that a woman was dying in there?

“Is it really not possible for her to get her memories back?”

You hated how weak and vulnerable your voice sounded in that moment, but you couldn’t help it.

Ada looked from you to Warren, then ran a hand through her hair again.

“It’s technically not…impossible, but you shouldn’t place all of your bets on slim chances such as those. And more importantly, you should make sure that you and everyone around her are strong enough to see it through.”

You frowned in confusion. Ada shoved her hands in pockets and turned back to stare through the window leading to Iara’s room.

“The road to recovery will be difficult, and she may never return to being the same person that you knew. Knowing that, do you still want to go through with this? Can you truly bear the sight of seeing someone you love have their mind and body altered in such a way?”

You stared at her, and then joined her in peering into Iara’s room. If you gave the order, Warren and Ada would try their best to salvage what was left of Iara. But, at what cost?

What will you say?

>”I’ll have to ask her other friends first. This is an important decision, and I can’t just make it on my own.”
>”What kinds of ‘physical changes’ are we talking about here? Nothing too drastic, right?”
>”You mentioned that there were ways to bring her mind back, even if the virus screws up her brain. What’d you have in mind?”
>”Whatever you have to do, do it. I told her that I’d find a way to bring her back, and I intend to do just that, no matter what it takes.”
>”There’s no point if it’s not really her in there. I don’t know if I can put everyone through something like that.”
>Write-in.

>>5750115
>>”Whatever you have to do, do it. I told her that I’d find a way to bring her back, and I intend to do just that, no matter what it takes.”

>>5750115
Warren must know how to get memories from genetics itself. at one point in the cloning process they must've been activated or something.
if we were to manage to figure out how the neural pathways are supposed to look like, we could reprogram those nanites to construct them again.

>>5750115
>"I don't think she'd care too much about some bodily changes, you need to bring her mind back. But, you know, in a body that still walks and talks."

>>5750115
>”There’s no point if it’s not really her in there. I don’t know if I can put everyone through something like that.”
>”You mentioned that there were ways to bring her mind back, even if the virus screws up her brain. What’d you have in mind?”

>>5750115
Whatever you have to do, do it. I told her that I’d find a way to bring her back, and I intend to do just that, no matter what it takes.”

Whatever it takes to save our shark wife

>>5750115
>”Warren, you were able to clone people with their memories, personality, everything. Is there any reason you couldn’t apply that to “revert” the changes in her mind after the nanites have been flushed out?”
>”No offense to you Ada, I’ve seen what he can do firsthand.”
>”I’ll have to ask her other friends first. This is an important decision, and I can’t just make it on my own.”
Kinda what >>5750128 was thinking, but I don’t know we need to reprogram the nanites to do it. I’ll defer to Warren if he thinks reprogramming is better than any other method he can think of though.

Also, community vote from the Morlocks before we subject their friend to mad science. Seems like a good idea to get what consent we can since some people see a mutant needing medical support as an opportunity, not a concern.

>>5750115
>>5750572
Even more to toss at Warren since I’ve had longer to chew on it.
>”Her body is clearly resisting the change more than her mind, or the suggestion to alter her body wouldn’t be on the table. Can you help a part of her repel the changes fully to give you a clean sample to restore her from? Something far from the infection site, maybe part of an organ that the nanites haven’t altered because Acanti don’t have it so there’s no programming to change it?”
>”I can ask around for reference materials on Acanti biology. I’m sure someone has had to deal with spacefaring bugs and the horses they rode in on before.”
We’re basically asking Warren to take a backup of someone and restore an older version. If he succeeds with Ada they’ll have the market cornered for anti-aging/immortality drugs with none of the Theseus-ship questions that letting someone die then cloning them brings up.

>>5750117
>>5750488
>”Whatever you have to do, do it. I told her that I’d find a way to bring her back, and I intend to do just that, no matter what it takes.”

>>5750572
>>5750771
These are very nice write-ins! Since it didn't get a whole lot of support from other anons, I won't be able to directly add everything you suggested into this next update. But what I can do is use some of this material to formulate options in the next vote!