2013.07.18 - YAL: World on Fire: Part 5

It's later in the evening when a signal goes out to all members of the Young Allies via their signature app. A signal asking for everyone to come down to the Terminal as quickly as possible for an important team meeting. When the team arrives down in the Terminal, they may find some members of the team such as their leader Hawkeye already there. Somone's set out a cooler full of ice and water bottles for the team as well. It is way too hot today after all. Axiom himself is down here as well and he's pacing a little while tapping at something on his phone. Whatever's going on has him worked up apparently.
Hulkling enters the Terminal, carrying his own bottle of water, brushing a hand across his forehead. "Man, we need to get some cooling installed here sometim..." as he moves in, he notices Axiom's agitation and some of the team members, and he frowns. Axiom's law #1: When someone says 'it's nothing', then it's usually something. Law #2 was that that when someone is pacing like that, 'something' was up, and it usually had the qualifier 'bad' attached to it.
Yeah, clearly something has Axiom worked up, and Channel is a little bit on edge, too. She had things she wanted to bring up, but given that Axiom had called this meeting, Channel had a sneaking suspicion she had an idea of what the topic was going to be. So the Young X-Man has arrived, dressed casually, and finds herself a chair to sit in after she grabs a water. "Hey everyone," Channel greets. While she didn't have a problem with warm temperature, it did mean she tended to just do certain things with a minimal amount of effort. That extended to greetings.
Whatever Lor-Zod had been up to today, he must have still been in the city as he's back at the Terminal almost instantly as the alarm goes out, slowing only once he's here to find a spot to sit down. He waves to the others, as he comes in, "Hi." Of course, he doesn't seem bothered in the slightest by the temperature.
Longshot's near-constant impossibly good mood (the result of a relative naivety to the way the world actually works) was unaffected by the heat, the air of importance in the air, or anything really. As he arrived he just smiled widely and said, "Hello my friends, I got the summons. What's up?"
Upon seeing the water, "Hey neat, water! Is this for everyone?"
Trauma's already there, having been camped out at the Terminal for some time - first to heal his wounds, and later to avoid a birthday party at his apartment complex. Why the latter? Parties for small children could have clowns. Clowns are universally feared by all things that have enough sense to. He just plain didn't feel like turning into a demonic Bozo. Not today. Can't do it. As the others start filing in, the courier raises his own bottle towards the others in a mock-toast, and nods towards Longshot. "Yeah, for everyone who's thirsty, at least."
Kiden Nixon arrives in time, looking rather sweaty and reddish from the heat outside. She hurries up towards the cooler and picks up a bottle ahead of saying even 'hi' to anyone, it's only after she gulped down an entire bottle of water that she looks quite content, breathing a little bit better, before caling out, "hi guys, whoever set up the water, major cool points!"
Looking up as people begin arriving, Axiom nods. "It's c-c-cooler down here than it is up there?" he offers, checking the temperature on his phone while pacing. He takes stock of who's arrived and nods. "Alright, I've g-got some big news, guys. Like...r-r-r-really big news," he says, finally stopping. "Err, hold on..." he trails off, setting the phone down where it can start recording the meeting for the teammembers not there. "Okay, remember how the Young Masters w-w-were putting all the stuff they were doing online? Well it t-turns out that a lot of p-people were watching, including the government."
Okay. So it was NOT what Jocelyn was expecting it to be. Jocelyn does raise her eyebrows at the word 'government', however, and the girl visibly tenses up. "The government?" Jocelyn repeats, her eyes narrowing even as she thinks over the possible implications. She knew she should have made Doug or Kitty nuke those videos off the Internet. "I take it the government suddenly has some sort of interest in us now?"
Given it's the summer, Robbie's been out and about. But when the call comes, Robbie's there. Okay, so he stops to get a snack or two before he gets there, but it's a meeting. The kinetic field doesn't really beat the heat, so it's in shorts and a T-shirt when he saunters in. He takes a seat, opens one of those one-pound bag of M&Ms, and starts to pop them one by one into the air to catch in his mouth.
Robbie's current catch success rate: 40%.
Hulkling frowns, and looks at Jocelyn. "Well... that's not exactly good, isn't it? What kind of 'watching' are we talking about?"
As Longshot is grabbing a bottle of water for himself (seriously how does this man were all black leather and barely sweat?) At the mention of the government Longshot however seems to take a bit more serious interest. After his little 'encounter' with the Zoo a while ago, he'd knew that attracting the wrong kind of interest was a very bad thing. And he was once warned that the government would probably dissect him if they ever got their hands on him.
"Are we in any danger? I mean, this sounds a bit more serious that most stuff we handle," he asked seriously, his tone a bit afraid.
"So...the Government is going to ask us to join in the next season of America Got Talent?" Kiden asks flippantly, not really seeming to realize the gravity of the situation. She's slightly distracted by Robbie's arrival, looking at his less than perfect M&M catching skills. "My mom would have hated you," she quips, "but don't worry, I'm pretty sure she hates me too."
"N-no," Eddie flails a bit, running a hand through his hair. "See...I fought this Rat Guy at City Hall and while I was helping load him into the cops' van these two government guys c-came up to me. They s-s-said they were with the White House. And...the President himself saw us stopping the Young Masters," he says, pacing again. "And umm...well...the President wants us to come to Washington DC so he c-c-can give us a medal. The whole team."
Hulkling strokes his chin at this... oh wow. A medal? That was, like, completely amazing. More than amazing, it was fantastic. But...
"Wouldn't that be ... you know, painting a huge big target saying 'We're all here!' on us and everybody attending? And... I'm not sure, I mean, Superman and Captain America do stuff like this on a regular basis and they don't get handed out medals every time." he scratches his chin a little "... there'd probably be a metal shortage if they did."
Pop. Pop. Once the announcement is made, Robbie stops short in mid-catch, and the M&M hits him cleanly on the forehead. Luckily, it's just a plain one, so it doesn't actually hurt. Blink. Another blink, and then Robbie starts laughing. "A medal?" He stands up, still snickering. "Oh, that's a good one," he admits, and starts over to the wall to start tapping. "C'mon, where's the cameras? We're totally being Punk'd." Tap tap. Tap tap. Silence. "Oh God you're serious."
"You're... kidding me. The President wants to give /us/ a medal?" Trauma's ears definitely perks up at that one. Wouldn't that be a big kick to the face of everyone who's thought he was something less than human in his past. . Granted... some of them had that right, but that didn't change the way he felt about those that didn't. "Maybe it is a big target, but the other thing to keep in mind... if it's all of us together, seriously. Who's going to be able to stop us?" Optimism, from the emoboy? ... well, his life's slowly been brightened up. So it's prone to happen now and then.
"Wait! Hold the phone! Let me get this straight!" Longshot said emphatically, "Your telling me that we're going to get medals. Like in the movies!?"
Longshot couldn't help but through his arm in the are and shout, "Alright! When do we leave? This sounds so awesome! Why'd you make me get all worried I was going to get dissected in a lab?"
Kiden almost turns pale white at what Eddie has to say, "is it April's Fools? If this is true, my mom might actually want me back," ruffling her own hair, she shakes her head, "that sounds so wrong, Kiden Nixon, getting a medal from the president? Way too formal for me."
"You're joking, right?" Channel comments as she considers this. "You know how I generally feel about the media, Axiom". Of everyone, Jocelyn suspected she probably acted the most in secret. Well, her and the other X-Kids. "Though I suppose I might be able to keep myself from being photographed or recorded," Jocelyn considers. "Do they need names or anything like that?"
"I'm serious," Axiom replies. "I wasn't sure it was real either b-but I asked a guy from SHIELD that owed me a small favor to check and it's r-r-real. Since that b-b-bomb we stopped it really was a nuke. And they say it would have wiped out all of New York City and a g-g-good chunk of New Jersey too," he says, shuddering at the idea. He shakes his head slightly at Jocelyn. "They w-want to use our codenames for this."
Lor-Zod blinks, and asks, "The government wants to reward us for helping?" He smiles and says, "I'm not sure what a medal is, but it sounds cool."
Hulkling rubs the back of his head. It was incredibly exciting, but he didn't know how he felt about the media attention. Then again, it would be like a road trip. And if Billy liked the idea... "I guess it'd be cool, if it's on a codename-only basis. It could be fun.
Or it could backfire horribly. But that could also be fun, in its own way.
Longshot considered for a moment and then asked, "Okay so is this going to be a medal like the people who fought in the Star Wars got, or more like the one that the Tin Person got for proving he had a heart?"
He looks right at Axiom and says very seriously, "This is important. I need to know this."
"Wait! We gotta have codenames? I don't have a fancy codename, what am I supposed to do?" Kiden groans, "figures...I guess I'll stay out of it. Nobody would believe it if I got a medal for anything anyways." She tosses her empty bottle towards a waste bin and moves to snatc herself another one. "At least I got cool water!"
Hulkling looks at Longshot and morphs into something that resembles Chewbacca. He gives a little Rrrrrrrrrrr and shifts back to his hero form, and takes a sip of his bottle.
"I suspect that if you use your real name, you can do that. Though you might consider coming up with a code name, just for protection," Channel responds. She wrinkles her nose a little, considering. "It may be okay. I might whip up a disposable code name for this though". Paranoid much? Channel then takes a sip of her drink. She'd have to chat with some of the others first. This would be interesting. "I'm honored, of course. Just a little shocked, Axiom".
Long distance to Ben Reilly: Axiom will page sets from his alt
As he passes the table again, Robbie picks up the bag of M&Ms and hands it over to Kiden as he walks around. This has got him a little hyper. "That's...this is amazing! Maybe it's a trap, but still, wait, that was a /nuke/ for real?" He stops moving and winces, for a moment. "They want to give us medals. Sheesh."
"Your name is 'Blue Streak' until you come up with something cooler," a voice echoes into the terminal. Slowly it's owner slips into the terminal and a familiar black mask with red spider eyes regards Kiden before all others. Underneath the mask is a 'Where have you been!?' look that goes unseen but could probably be felt. 
He looks around the room, "So what's up?" Someone has missed the reasons why they're getting here. Reed's latest experiment caused some serious interference with the signal and thus if anything went over the signal it misses Scarlet Spider completely. 
Looking over everyone's emotions he shrugs, "What? Did those future villains kill a baby or something? Is Hawkeye preggers?" the last one is clearly a joke but everyone's emotions are really high, so he is just trying to cut the tension in case it's bad news. Although he is expecting to look over his shoulder for the next nine months.
"Although," Hulkling thinks, "I was gone during all of that particular adventure. I don't think I'd feel right accepting a medal for something I didn't actively do." he grins, "But there's no way I'd pass up a road trip like that and cheer on the sidelines. That'd be awesome."
"The President of the United States wants to give us a medal for the nuke we stopped when dealing with the Young Masters," Channel offers to Ben as she gives the Spider a wave. "And Blue Streak is a good name, actually". Channel knew a lot of people who were blue, and none of them used the word in their names. Well, one did, she supposed.
Axiom just blinks at Longshot. "Uhh...the g-guys said it was the Medal of Freedom so I don't think it's a heart..." he trails off awkwardly. Kiden's exclamation gets the power booster blinking. "What Channel said. They'll use wh-whatever name you want them to," he says, finally smiling. "I'm shocked t-t-too," he admits. "On n-no, Hulkling. They said they wanted the whole team. 
Apparently the President's kids are f-fans of ours and caught him up on everything we've d-d-done that's been in the public. They even said they'll g-give us medals to bring to any team members that c-can't make it," he says. Ben's arrival makes Eddie jump and he just -stares- at the jokes. Channel answers for him and he nods. "Wh-what she said."
Billy Kaplan has been in the background doing his best not to draw much attention to himself for most of the meeting so far. He has had something on hismind but the enterance from the Scarlet Spider and his joke has him looking up and grinning. "Actaully no, I am. It was a shock to everyone but thats life." He says with a smile before anyone can answer Ben. He then points over at Channel as she explains. "Or it is that."
Longshot actually laughed when Hulking briefly became a wookie-like thing, "That's an awesome trick! You're going to have to teach me how to do it some time." Longshot doesn't seem to understand the whole 'powers' thing at times. Probably because he doesn't consider anything he's capable of as being a 'power.'
"So... Medal of Freedom, eh? I like the sound of that it seems to... resonant somehow. Like it's something really important to me," Longshot said looking wistfully into nothing.
Kiden takes a handful of M&Ms from Robbie and looks over at Channel, "so...what? Just call myself Super Awesome Girl or something like that?" She giggles at her own unimaginiative suggestion and stuffs some M&Ms in her mouth. Turning to Ben when he gives his own suggestion, Kiden arches a brow, "Blue Streak, huh? I don't really wear much blue, and I definitely don't go streaking!" If she notes the questioning look, Kiden sure acts like she didn't. "Oh, whatever name?" Kiden muses at Axiom's explanation. "Can I go with Captain Chronic then?"
"How about Suprema? Then they'll think you're the queen from an alien world or something." Teddy frowns and takes his phone out, it is buzzing "Um... excuse me for a moment, guys, I have to take this." He shoots Billy a grin and then walks out, where he'll have better reception.
"I say go Jolly Green. Take the award because we're going to be saving the world nine times over and we'll never get a lick of credit for it. A little self-centered but take the one time the crowd will thank you when you can get it. Besides, it could make you into a Green-Symbol of Hope in the LGBT if you wish to take it that far," he waves his hand about, "Look at Tony Stark. Take away his company the guy still has plenty of awards for his deeds. Everyone would still know his name. Tabloids would still keep up with him because he has a medal. You could use that same fame to be a symbol of hope for people if you want. Everyone needs to know they've got a super-powered defender that understands their struggles," he shrugs at the possibility of what the power of press could do. 
Smirking Scarlet looks at Kiden, "We wouldn't mind if you started to," he winks under the mask before reaching out to snag some of the aforementioned M and Ms. He looks about, "I'm not unmasking at this thing. If the big guy tries to push us into registration I walk. Sorry, I can't go with the whole un masking thing," he waits a second before adding, "I'll break cameras."
At this point, Robbie looks up. "So...I get to stand near the back, right? Stand there, look all dashing, and Robbie don't say a word." He's almost got hawkeye's voice down pat when he says that last bit.
"I can be a symbole of the oppressed students in my old High School, no matter what the principal A-hole says, you can still get a medal from the president," Kiden rather likes her way of thinking about it, before sticking out her tongue for good measure, "I should send him an invite to the ceramony." When Robbie mocks Hawkeye with a rather good rendition of her voice, Kiden breaks into a feat of laughter.
Billy Kaplan grins at Scarlet and nods. "I was only there for a few small parts of it, but I plan to go for the whole thing if I can mostly for jsut that reason." He shrugs a little and then leans back and waves his hand a little at the snacks set out and makes some M&Ms come floating throught he air for him to eat. "Don't think they would push the registration thing at us during this, would be bad PR for them since it was a team that is jsut about all unregistered that saved New York and all. I just hope no one gets upset that none of the pictures of me that are going to be taken are going to come out right."
"No unmasking or registration," Axiom speaks up. "I asked about both and it's j-just the medal. And I'm pretty sure they wouldn't g-g-go for that, Kiden," he frowns at her. Billy gets a stare when he says he's the pregnant one, the power-booster biting his tongue to keep from saying what immediately comes to mind after a certain conversation between them and Teddy at Eddie's apartment. "I r-really think we should do this, g-guys. It'd be great PR for us and help build confidence and hope in the p-people out there."
"Oh, the pictures of me won't come out as anything but a blur. Helps to control infared energy," Channel points out with a slight grin. "So you'll be in good company, or at least I think I'm good company. Might be a bit egotistical of me". Jocelyn smirks and takes another drink of water. "They wouldn't push registration on us, as Asiom said". Channel nods. "Seems reasonable to me. If I have any concerns about going, I'll just have you guys pick up my medal for me," the tall woman tells Axiom.
Granted, it would be a chance to show the X-Men in a positive light, if she wore her X-Suit. But that would be a conversation she'd have with another group of people.
There's a pause. "Also, I have a little bit of other news. I was in Asgard the other day. Thor and Sif asked me to relay a message to my teammates, after some events I witnessed". Channel the trouble magnet was at it again.
Lor-Zod nods quickly and says, "I think it's a great idea. My parents were imprisoned for trying to save their world, bet it'll show them how different this one is to see us being honoured for saving a city."
"Don't worry, Billy, if they act like jerks and pull that registration thing on us, I can bail us out of there, easy," Kiden says with her trademark 'smugger than thou' look on her face. When she hears Lor-Zod, Kiden turns to move closer to him, "wait, hit pause, what was that? Your parents got imprisoned for trying to save their world? What world was that? Stupid World?"
"Thorson's right. We need to look unified at this shindig because it makes us look that much stronger," Scarlet says before raising his mask. He flicks an M and M into his mouth. A moment later he speaks again, "We're not going to get thanked for so many things. I say take it while we can, look unified, and show the world a new generation of heroes is," another M and M is flicked into his mouth which breaks up his sentence. He chews and swallows, "coming. I mean we're not going to get this chance again. I mean how many other," another flick, "teams really get this chance. League, Avengers, and maybe that's," flick, "it." Staring at Channel Scarlet simply says, "Reed and Sue wound up there after an experiment. Not a bad thing," the pair had been and still might be stuck on Asgard. 
Another piece of candy coated chocolate meets his mouth, "What's the story?" he asks Channel. "Ooh a blue one!" flick. Then he looks back at his team, "They taste they best." When the Kryptonain speaks about Kryptonians and imprisonment Scarlet gets unusually quiet.
"I'll let them know we'll be coming. They said the ceremony will be in August," Axiom chimes, grinning. Of course that grin fades quickly as Channel brings up Asgard. "Wh-what happened?" he asks, frowning deeply. He's still recovering from his own recent Asgard re-lated incident.
After he was done laughing at both the Scarlet Spider's and Robbie's jokes Longs thought of something else.
He looked at Axiom and asked "Oh is there going to be a speech? Like a big motivating speech that rallies the entire crowd and helps everyone think that we can actually win the battle of impossible odds? 'Cause I call 'dibs' on being the one who gives it."
He probably was the only one in the room who didn't actually know who Thor and Sif were but he did worry about the change in tone of Channel's voice as it sounded like something serious had happened.
Hulkling returns from his call and notices Axiom's incident. He walks over to Billy. "What's going on in Asgard?"
Billy Kaplan grins and laughs a little at Channel. "I consider it good company." He nods at Lor with a with a smile on his face and makes a note to ask him more about his family another time since he knows just about nothing. "It sounds like it will be a good thing for us all to do. With my powers growing a bit lately I should be able to teleport everyone there and back without too much trouble so the whole thing can be a doen as a day trip if anyone has reasons they can't stay long."
"A lord of Svartalfheim, Malekith the Acursed, has been on the offensive in Asgard. It appears that this battle is spilling over into other realms, curtesy of shards of the Bifrost being used as means of transport. I was in Manhattan and thirteen darks elves showed up. Eight swordsmen, four archers, and a Sorceress. A few other heroes and I were able to fight them off, and I discovered one of these shards. It teleported me into Asgard, where Fandral, who is like a brother to Thor, was helping to defend Baldur's gate from an incursion. A Kraken was being teleported in due to a much larger shard being stuck in it's eye. Along with a large amount of whatever ocean it was from. We held the gate, and then Thor summoned me to speak with him," Jocelyn explains.
She pauses. "For those not familiar with Asgard, I point you to Axiom to explain it better than I can. He knows more than I do," she points out with a slight grin before she turns serious. "In short, war is brewing in Asgard, and it may spill out onto Earth. If you run across any of these dark elves, watch out. They go for civilians immediately. The ones we fought killed at least nine, including a pair of children, in hand to hand 'combat', such as it was. If you find any of these shards, let myself know. I suspect you could also let Axiom know. We should notify Heimdall immediately if we do find them".
"Well, at least one country needs us, why not the other dimensional home of the Norse Gods?" Robbie flumps back down into his seat with a grin. "I'm in."
Kiden gives Longshot a thumbs up when he offers to do a speech, "would sure beat my 'up yours' speech." When all the Norse mythology starts being discussed, Kiden looks a bit confused, before offering, "I think fairies and elves are cool, you see them sometimes on hallucinogens, at least that's what I've heard..."
Looking at Kiden Scarlet says in a grim voice, "There's almost no good interpretation of a Dark Elf. Ever. If Thor and Sif are worried about Dark Elves in this realm they we have stay on guard. They'll probably have pasty pale white skin or an onyx color so dark it will look like shadows have decided to make people with pointy ears," he breathes out then glares at Longshot, "Hawkeye should give the speech. She's the leader."
Billy Kaplan gives a single eyebrow raised look to Kiden. "Elves are not cool. Trust me on this, some of them are ok but the dark elves of Svartalfheim are pretty much universially jerks." He can't help himself as he grins and quotes one of his top 20 favorite books. "Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder. Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels. Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies. Elves are glamorous. They project glamour. Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment. Elves are terrific. They beget terror. The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning. No one ever said elves are nice. Elves are bad."
"Dark Elves, oh wow." Teddy looks at Billy, and leans forward to give him a hug, "... next thing you know you'll tell me you've done it with beeeeezzz," the teen says, giving Billy a grin and a wink.
As Channel explains things, Axiom grits his teeth. More bad news. "Yeah...let me know and I'll bring them to Heimdall," Axiom replies. "I've got access to the Bifrost itself f-for now," he says. He closes his eyes a moment before taking a deep breath. "It's already spilling to Earth. You m-might have seen the video of me fighting one of the elves online. And j-just two days ago..." he swallows as he says this. "Malekith disguised himself as Hermod, messenger of the gods. He managed to trick me into helping him get his hands on the Stormcaster. It's a hammer that's almost equal to Thor's...and if I didn't m-manage to get my hands on one of the Bifrost shards," he knows what they are now. "I'd b-b-be dead. I only just g-got away by the skin of my t-t-teeth and if not for the Asgardian healers well..." he's avoiding looking at any of the others as he says this, still hating himself for his mistake.
"YES! I knew it! I told Cat they were real!" Longshot said a bit too happy to find out that faeries and elves were real. After that little outburst though he becomes a bit more serious about it, "But yeah, whatever you need I'm willing to help. I've always wanted to visit strange new worlds and seek out new life and new civilizations. And I'll always help when there's trouble."
"The other way to recognize them is that they wear a sigil somewhere on their clothing or armor. The sigil was half red and half black, the colors split vertically. In the center was a radiant starburst. On the red side, the burst was black. On the black side, the burst was red. That's how you know who you're dealing with. And they won't let you take them prisoner if they can avoid it. When we had them beat in Manhattan, the Sorceress layered enough explosive magic on herself to blow a forty foot radius swath of destruction, despite my trying to dampen the blow," Channel explains.
She then looks over at Kiden. "They're real, alright. I wouldn't have believed it six months ago, but the Asgardians exist, and so do these foes". She shrugs. "I don't know that we can actively seek them out right now. But keep on your guard for them".
Channel then looks over at Axiom and smiles slightly, reaching out to put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I've met plenty shapeshifters and illusionists. They're good at what they do. Don't blame yourself," Channel says softly.
Shocked by the in-depth knowledge Billy seems to have about elves, Kiden rolls her eyes while casually remarking, "didn't take you for a fantasy nerd." She shakes her head when Longshot shares in the enthusiasm, and moves on over to crash at a spot she fixed herself a mattress in, resting her head on her crossed palms. "I'll try and figure out a cool codename until this medal-athon happens."
Hulkling laughs at Kiden's remark about Billy not being a fantasy nerd. "Clearly you haven't been paying attention... but this is pretty worrysome. Do you think we should get some of the other groups in on what's going to happen?"
Billy Kaplan frowns as Axiom speaks and then gets up to stand next to him. Just as it looks like he is about to do something all comforting and emotional he gives him a light smack on the back of his head. "Stop beign emo over the whole thing. A, Malekith is a bigger bastard than Loki, B, you did survive, and C, anyone would have fallen for his trick. You want to focus on anything in what happened focus on what the main requirement was for someoen to be able to free Stormcaster from where it was being kept." Nilly givs an eyebrow raised lok at Kiden again. "You...have not listened to me talk often have you? I/m the one in the group that has the compleat special eddition version of all three Lord of the Ring movies that came with the special extra collectablea and at least 4 hours of extra movie footage that was cut out for the theatrical release just because I liked the books."
"We need photos of these people stat," Scarlet explains trying to figure out what the targets look like, in any situation, is a big help. He looks at the room, "For those of us not magically inclined do these things have a weakness of some sort? An instant kill? The 'Z' on the chest that will cause them to break apart if you hit it," and yes Scarlet just makes a Power Rangers reference. Hopefully someone would have an answer about that.
"The only reason he hasn't gone back in time and have JRR sign them is only because he hasn't figured out how to pull it off." Teddy says, remarking upon Billy's collection. "But Billy's right, you need to stop beating yourself up over this. The only beating we should be doing is pounding a bunch of elves into Keebler paste for trying to be jerks, right?"
"Oh, yeah. I've seen those first three Star Wars movies, when some guy I knew in Detroit insisted I see them. The first one was probably the best, with the pod racing".
Yes. Yes Channel just said she'd seen the first three Star Wars movies. As in the prequels.
"Scarlet, you can pull some pictures up of the elves online. I can give you the date. I don't have Malekith's picture though. Never seen the guy, and if he's an illusionist, that may not help much. He is a dark elf as well though, from my understanding. Far as I can tell, brute force knocks them down pretty well. They don't seem to be natrually resistant to magic, so that may help. I absorbed some of their magic and started shooting it back at them, and it was reasonably effective".
A look is given to Hulkling. "I've alerted the others I work with to the threat. If you know people on some of the other teams, it may be a good idea to let them know. Though given Thor's connections, I suspect the Avengers probably know already".
And this was the problem when your only special skills was being a pop-culture junkie, an acrobat and a pretty face; when the real problems come up Longshot is left in the dust.
"Alright so what should I do?" he asked with gusto, he wanted to feel useful after all.
While the rest of the group has been geeking out a bit, Trauma's just been watching. Admittedly, when compared to most of the group his pop culture NQ (Nerd Quotient) is considerably low... but that doesn't mean he isn't paying attention. Pay no attention to the bit of drool collecting at his lips. (No, not really.) "Seconding Longshot, here. What's the plan?"
Giving the look to everyone in the room, "We may have to team up with the Avengers. The threat is potentially bigger than all of us," he says tossing out serious looks to everyone. "I mean add in the nature of the thread with potential credit with the award and it's a chance. We all know this, yes?" To Scarlet it feels like the team is moving up to the 'Big Boy' leagues. They aren't just a team of spandex teenagers taking down purse snatchers. Villains from the future, potential godly threats, their rogues roster has risen quite a bit from the early days.
Grinning at Hulkling, Kiden quips, "funny thing, that's exactly what my teacher used to say about me, before I bailed on High School." Still not taking all this elf talk seriously, Kiden calls out from her place of chilling on the mattress, "make sure to bring lots of fairy dusty against those elves."
Eddie nods a little to Jocelyn but Billy smack makes him jump and squeak. He stares at Wiccan and frowns a moment. "Malekith s-said the spell only n-n-need a mortal to free it and he p-picked me to hurt Thor..." he trails off quietly. The mistakes and the riot act from Sif dealt a blow to Eddie's confidence that may need more smacks to repair. "I've g-got a picture of Malekith b-b-but trust me, you'll know him right away. He n-never shuts up," he says. "Be careful of their w-w-weapons though. They like to use poisons and they're strong ones. I've g-g-g-got antidotes at home but it's better to not get hit," he sighs. "As for what we do..." he runs a hand through his hair again. "Thor and Sif told me that we shouldn't bother looking for the elves, they'll show up...and that you g-g-guys are supposed to um...guard me," he looks away again. "'Cause I'm a prince or s-something..."
Billy Kaplan 's right eyelid twitches, just a little. He knows that, objectivly speaking, the prequip trillogy is better liked by the young and people that did not grow up with the real trillogy so he won't say anything. Nothing at all. Instead he closes his eyes and chants to hismelf a little, "IwantDarkelfpictures, IwantDarkelfpictures, IwantDarkelfpictures!" With a small flash of light a stack of 8 by 10 glossies of Dark Elves in combat appears in front of everyone. "There you go for pictures, as for waeknesses....they tend to be highly trained fighters or mages, rarely both. There is a resistance to magic, but not something that can't be overcome. If the fight against Asgard is spilling over to here we are deffenetly going to need help. If you know anyone else in the heroing buisness make sure to tell them, get as many people as we can warned that they could be showing up."
"Be alert," Channel says. "That's the first thing. I can show you video so you know what to look for with regard to the swirling vortexes. Call us in if stuff happens, and retrieve the shards where we can. Once we know more, I think we can formulate something of a plan. Though given your uncanny luck, Longshot, we might be able to use that to our advantage".
Channel nods to Billy and starts thinking. "Let me see. I have friends in the Justice Leage, Titans, and the Legion that I can think of. Don't have a lot of Gotham contacts though," Channel muses. She leaves off the ones that she knows others in the group have covered, like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. As well as the X-Men.
Hulkling looks at Axiom, hearing the falter, "Um... Eddie... how long did you know you've had these creatures after you?" Pure curiosity. He leans forward to look at the pictures, and makes a face, "Drizzt was cuter," he smirks. "I don't think I'll have any issues pulverizing them."
Axiom glances up at Hulkling and sighs. "Malekith kidnapped me once before in the past b-but I got free. The assassin...that was what I didn't want to talk about in Asgard. I d-d-didn't think they'd be sending any more after me specifically though."
"Well... I'm just grateful that you've got antidotes, Eddie. My other half doesn't seem to be very good at dodging lately." Terry offers, tugging at one of the frayed edges of his shirt as proof of that. "... and then I get to live with the consequences." Then a look over towards the Spider. Eyes widen. "That... could be interesting, and it definitely would be a chance to move up in the world." Hawkeye getting invited to the Justice League comes to mind. Which thankfully she's been able to pull double-duty. "...and we can be your Royal Guardsmen if that's what Thor and Sif think is best." He still owes Thor at least one, as far as he's concerned. This can be the start of repaying that debt. "Just don't ask us to sing the Snoopy song or you'll wake up with purple hair when you least expect it."
"Thorson," Scarlet says simply, "That painted a big target on your back. This is why Thor and Sif probably want to train you. They are honored you are their son but it comes with risks such as this one," the words come out matter of factly. "So, are we making a motion to turn to our allies during this altercation?" he looks to the room hoping to get feelings on this.
"I think we need to warn them," Channel says. "Until something more concrete shows up, it's just information. None of them have any capacity, to my knowledge, to go hunt them down. But letting them know what they are and what is going on could not hurt," the teenager states.
Longshot was a bit worried about all of this now, he liked Axiom and the idea that some guy was out to kidnap and kill him was bad enough. That it was some sort of Dark Elf King thing made him a bit more nervous.
"So... does this mean that Axiom needs a body guard or something? Because I'll volunteer for that job too. Besides I'm getting used to saving him anyways," Longshot asked with some bit of levity, things had gotten serious and it was starting to get beyond Longshot's world view of simplisity.
Billy Kaplan makes a dismissive noise. "Pffft. Drizzt was so over rated. He was just an emo elf with a kitty and a pair of swords. Wulfgar was the more interesting character in the early books." Tall, broad shoulders, blond and full of nordic good looks there is no confusion as to why Billy liked the Barbarian best. "Looks like they are now though." When Spider speaks he nods and grins. "Yeah, if not turn to them at least warnt hem that things may be comming and ask if they are willing to be ready to helpi n case things get really bad."
"...Axiom. Remember how you say 'it's nothing' means something whenever Billy says it?" Hulkling crosses his arms, looking at his friend with concern. "It doesn't only apply to Billy, you know. You can't be concerned about other people and then dismimss it when others are concerned about you, or hide things from others. We're a team. All of us. And that means we watch out for each other, all the time. So... no more of this hiding stuff from us that could put your life in danger, okay? We're your friends and your teammates. You need to trust us just like you ask us to trust you and each other." All in all, probably a better speech than he got from Sif.
"Calling for backup's okay with me for those of you who've got it -- everyone I could call's already here." Terry replies to Scarlet's suggestion, then adds, "If the thought is that they'll go after Axiom in order to hurt Thor, it might be a good idea to set up shifts keeping an eye on him, too."
"I may suggestion Axiom, that I should keep an eye on you while you are in Asgard," Channel says after a moment. "I don't say this just because I want to hang out where there are women as tall as I am there, but because I can see past illusions naturally. If Malekith tries any of this trickery on you again, I'll know. And if I see him sneaking around Asgard, I'll know". And knowing was half the battle.
"Somethings can stay hidden," Scarlet corrects then looks to Axiom, "They tried hurting you before.That's when things cross a line my friend. We are a team but we're like a work-family. Some of us may be closer than others but we are a family," looking to Channel he gives the woman a nod of approval and looks to the rest of the team. "Should we just admit we're going to watch him in shifts now?"
Billy Kaplan nods at grins. "I was taking that as a given with no need to admit it out loud, but if you want we can draw up a schedual to amke sure all the possible shifts are covered."
Hulkling says, "Sounds like a long series of slumber parties are in order, then." The teen chuckles, "I'll bring the pizza."
"I know...and they are training m-me. And I'm g-getting training here on Earth. I j-just didn't think I'd g-g-get as much attention since I'm 'just a mortal'," Eddie sighs. Billy's nerdy talk may as well be quantum mechanics in latin for Eddie, it all goes over his head. Then Hulkling has him looking guilty and hating more on himself. "I j-just...I didn't want anyone else getting hurt because of me," he says softly. "We d-don't need to worry in Asgard, Channel. He can't get into the palace and I'm already n-not allowed anywhere in Asgard without a b-b-bunch of guards. I'm not worried about anymore illusions though. He won't fool me again...and I think he's past illusions. He's got a hammer that gives him powers like Thor's. The guy's arrogant enough to think he d-d-doesn't need his old powers anymore," he says. "H-hey! There's no need for shifts or anything like that. I'm going to be with Billy, Teddy, and Vic for the next c-c-couple days and Brynn and Vorpal are c-c-coming as well. It's uh..." he sighs. "I'm n-n-not supposed to go on patrol by myself until this war is over..." he mutters. "As for allies...inform who you w-w-want. Warn them but there's not much else we can do yet. I know SHIELD knows. Someone should t-tell the Legion of Superheroes. And spread the word t-t-to solo heroes too."
"Oooo. Slumber parties. I've only watched those on TV. I've always wanted to go to one," Longshot says with a huge grin on his face, "They always seem like such fun."
"Your guards in Asgard have shifts, I assume. There's no reason we shouldn't do the same," Channel states. Though she does look at Axiom. "I can spot energy use nearly a half mile away, Axiom. That could include the hammer, if it's anything like Thor's. You sure you don't want me up in Asgard helping out when you're there? If nothing else, you'd have someone who isn't just a guard watching your back," she tells him. "Otherwise, yeah, put me on the schedule. I've got a flexible summer job," Channel comments.
Breathing hard Scarlet looks visibly nervous. Apparently someone has never been to a co-head slumber party. He looks about the room, happy the mask is hiding his blushing face. Then the red eyes go downward and there's a sarcastic spider with nothing to say.
Hulkling snap-points at Channel "I think you'd be the perfect guard to watch out for Big Foozle, Channel. You've got an advantage over nearly everybody here as far as spotting tall, dark and evil."
"My boss likes me well enough, so I could probably rotate and be available whenever necessary -- and it /is/ necessary Axiom. Just think of it as... uh... carefully coordinated hanging out. With powers." Terry replies. The mentions of slumber parties... don't actually have the same effect as on Ben, despite likewise never having been to a co-ed slumber party. Although it might be a good excuse to pick up a copy of the Rocky Horror Picture Show...
Axiom takes a deep breath and nods. "F-fine but I'm not going back to Asgard for awhile unless I'm c-c-called," he's worried Sif is still mad. "I'm supposed to be down here defending Earth," he explains. "And can any p-parties wait a bit? I n-need to go grocery shopping before those can happen."
"I suppose we can give you twenty-four hours before a party," Channel conceeds with a small grin. And the teen will fade into the background, listening and offering random commentary for the rest of the meeting and night.
Hearing that parties are going to wait Scarlet visibly looks a little less tense. Red eyes look over the room, "Too bad." Yeah it doesn't sound that convincing. Part of him worries that maybe he needs to buy a book on how to properly do a boy-girl party like he's some pre-teenabout to embark on a jonrey.
Hulkling says, "So, take-home point from meeting: Presidential medal of freedo, Dark Elves, shadowing Axiom." He nods and looks at Billy. "Anything else I may have missed?"
"Well, there's always the one that we're planning for Axiom's coronation, Spider. If it goes like Kate and I have been talking about... it should be a night to remember." Terry offers to the Scarlet one -- so much for managing to avoid boy-girl parties for /too/ long. "I think that's about it, Hulkling."
Category:Log