Marvel: Resurrection (IC)

[Union Princes]

Liam yawned, before covering his mouth and say sorry.
"I'm fine. I just need to sleep. Is there a couch I could sleep on?"

ULTRA

---

"Unfortunately," Haros stated, "It's hotel policy that all guests are required to spend a night in their rooms. It would be rude to other guests to treat a section of the ground floor as their bedroom. So it would be in your best interest to purchase a stay here."

Maria

---

After a couple drinks of apple juice and an hour of chatting with Dionysus and the mob boss who lent his men to her heist, Maria decided to call get some rest and watch over her doves in her room. The bodyguard spoke nothing with only a nod as a goodbye a he opened the door for the German to exit and head to the ground floor. The lounge area was rather empty with everyone calling it a night though some people were returning after fulfilling or failing a contract.

Maria decided she'll have a quick chat with Haros. She didn't expect him to be talking to such a plain-looking individual at this hour. It's too early for her to discern if he was a hero, vigilante, or criminal but he sounds a bit to nonchalant for someone who's trying to get a place to sleep in this cutthroat world.

"Haros," Maria interrupted, forcing the attendant to face her, "If he's having trouble paying, I'll cover the expense." She took out a key and placed it on the desk.

[Main Nation Ministry]

The Avengers Compound

After the fiasco at the aeronautics facility, the goon had been given some truth serum the day after. "I...work for Solstice alright.. If you looking for him, he's laying low underground, since one of your so-called superheroes busted his hand." the goon said, where he was still not happy at being captured, though since he wasn't intimidated by Nomad, he still has some stuff to share. "He's the real hero here. Not you guys!"

Something still wasn't right. What did he mean by "real hero"? If Solstice has some motivations, some light might be shared.

[The Democratic Marxists]

The Avengers Compound

After the fiasco at the aeronautics facility, the goon had been given some truth serum the day after. "I...work for Solstice alright.. If you looking for him, he's laying low underground, since one of your so-called superheroes busted his hand." the goon said, where he was still not happy at being captured, though since he wasn't intimidated by Nomad, he still has some stuff to share. "He's the real hero here. Not you guys!"

Something still wasn't right. What did he mean by "real hero"? If Solstice has some motivations, some light might be shared.

Kate Bishop

The last comment didn’t manage to tick Kate off, but there was something off about. She’d heard many a goon be devoted to their boss, but no thug would label the big bad a “hero.”

“Why do you say that? What’s heroic about putting countless lives in danger, robbing a bank, and committing war crimes?”

[Atkemri]

[\spoiler]
"I'll be your executioner if you don't tell me where you get your guns." Disciple formed a blade from ice and moved it towards the man's neck "Now tell me who gives you the guns."

"How... How do I know you'll let me go?"

"I definitely won't if you don't tell me, I might let you live if you tell me about your supplier."

[Main Nation Ministry]

The Avengers Compound

"War crimes? War crimes!?!" this ticked the goon off.

"You hypocrite! We ARE the real heroes! You are just a bunch of violent thugs who exploit your own power, so you can use it as an excuse to harm people!" the goon said, red in the face. "All of the news with their misinformation and lies, saying that our company is a violation of human rights will burn in hell after they all die. Solstice is our company that we respect. He was a hero and still is! Our lives were ruined by the ones we trusted and now you're ruining more of them!"

Something was definitely setting this guy off. A need to press him further, unless someone had an idea on what he's talking about.

[Dentali]

"How... How do I know you'll let me go?"

"I definitely won't if you don't tell me, I might let you live if you tell me about your supplier."

"If I die here without talking they will take care of my family, If I talk and die they kill my family. Prove to me you'll let me live and I can get my family out first."

[Christian Confederation]

Shield HQ
Phil checked his watch.
"8am, the Avengers should be up by now!"
He calls the compound.
"Good morning, I assume y'all have had time to descuss working with Shield?"

[Atkemri]

"I definitely won't if you don't tell me, I might let you live if you tell me about your supplier."

"If I die here without talking they will take care of my family, If I talk and die they kill my family. Prove to me you'll let me live and I can get my family out first."

Almost instinctively Disciple stood up from over the man and retracted his ice sword. "You'll live, I can take your death with one of the bodies of the guards. I'll drive you out of state and give you as much money as you need. Just tell me where your supplier is and I'll let you go." Disciple could not kill this man. If he killed a father would he be any better than the Kingpin? Of course, he wouldn't put a child in the same situation he was put in, he couldn't. If he was lying however no mercy would be given to him.

[Dentali]

"If I die here without talking they will take care of my family, If I talk and die they kill my family. Prove to me you'll let me live and I can get my family out first."

Almost instinctively Disciple stood up from over the man and retracted his ice sword. "You'll live, I can take your death with one of the bodies of the guards. I'll drive you out of state and give you as much money as you need. Just tell me where your supplier is and I'll let you go." Disciple could not kill this man. If he killed a father would he be any better than the Kingpin? Of course, he wouldn't put a child in the same situation he was put in, he couldn't. If he was lying however no mercy would be given to him.

"Fine... His name is Crossfire... Ex Mercenary, CIA all that stuff. He has a warehouse he works out of on the Lower East Side, his men are all ex-military or worse serious bad news, serious firepower."

[Lessoni]

?

Things were going perfectly to plan. The smokescreens were laid, the attention diverted, the money acquired, and finally? The competition gone.

And now it was time to finish up the plan. He picked up the phone, making a call to a contact marked "D".

"Boss. Everything's ready, for the most part. Just say the word and we'll make the announcements."

"Go."

That was all the voice on the other end of the line said. It was a gravelly voice, a tired voice. The voice of an old man. The Man pulled out a laptop, opening it to reveal a screen not dissimilar to an email. The contents were as such.

"My name is unimportant. What is important is what is at stake if you ignore this message," said the Man, his form shrouded but obviously seated and his voice distorted.

A video begins playing. The footage is grainy, like a phone camera in low light. A man, viewed through a window and tied to a medical table in what seems to be a laboratory, screaming in agony as flesh melts off his body, dripping onto the floor not like wax but like water. Voices can be heard in the background, either celebrating or quietly whispering. Three figures, suited in full Hazmat gear, enter the room. They immediately begin tearing at themselves as if in agony, and drop. The feed abruptly cuts as a gunshot is heard, but the audio continues.

"No fucking cameras in the lab! Let him be a warning."

A crunch is heard as the audio ends.

The Man speaks again. "A virus, unstoppable and incurable. Code name Manticore. In the wrong hands, it could kill every life form on Earth, in a quick but agonizing death. You have been sent this message because I have reason to believe you can help retrieve it. You will not be the only team, or individual receiving this message, and you will work in tandem with several other teams or individuals to perform a mission essential to the virus retrieval. Specifics will be forwarded if you choose to accept."

The Man takes out a cigarette, lighting it. Its glowing tip glows bright against his darkened form.

"You will most likely not be the team or individual who will retrieve the virus. You will, however, be completely essential to its retrieval. The virus is located in a heavily fortified bio research facility in the Antarctic. Several steps must be taken to retrieve the virus, steps that must be performed in tandem. You will be either airdropped or boated in. You will not have interaction with any other team or individual until extraction. When the virus is retrieved, you will meet with every other team or individual and board a cargo plane that will be secured by one of the teams or individuals and escape. Failure is not an option. If you choose to accept, send a representative or representatives to this address in one month's time to receive the specifics of your mission. That is all."

An address flashes on screen, once, twice, then blinks solid. It is located in New York City.

The Man presses send. The message will find its way to those who are supposed to retrieve it in any form, be it email or text or any other digital form.

The Man takes a long drag of his cigarette. It crumbles to the ground, ash.

"And so the first domino is pushed."

[The Democratic Marxists]

Liz smiled in reply to his attitude and went down upon him again and again, followed by a third time for good luck as well. Afterwards, she invited him down for a shower and something more home cooked.

Namely some mashed potatoes with gravy, onions, beans, carrots and meat. Followed up by some good apple juice and water.

"Still one thing I have to compliment, for someone dressing rather low you can easily work up a nice form..." she spoke, complimenting his toned form. "I've seen other guys who claim their amazing yet you could easily pack a model for your view. I know...I saw it, touched and felt it..." she spoke, grinning widely at the memory from a few hours ago.

"I guess if you work in your line, it might be needed. But still. I wouldn't mind if you crash at my place. I got room to spare here anyways as you can see..." she spoke. "Plus. It gives me more time to enjoying your company and play hen to make sure you take a break and not be a work-a-holic all the time."

"And...don't say it ain't right or chivalrous or you should be offering me the option. It's the fucking 21st Century now. I ain't gonna complain if you crashing at my place... especially if your service in bed is any... indication," she purred, giving him a wink.

Peter Parker

Peter shook his head sadly. Living with Liz would complicate his life. He wouldn’t be able to operate as Spidey without her possibly finding out about it. He couldn’t put her at risk like that.

“I can’t stay with you Liz. It’s not that I don’t want to...it’s just...I’m too attached to my house in Queens. You know, my Uncle Ben and Aunt May didn’t make much, but they bought that house with the little they had. So many memories are there. It’s a small and cluttered place though, you wouldn’t like living there...but it’s important to me.”

---

The Avengers Compound

"War crimes? War crimes!?!" this ticked the goon off.

"You hypocrite! We ARE the real heroes! You are just a bunch of violent thugs who exploit your own power, so you can use it as an excuse to harm people!" the goon said, red in the face. "All of the news with their misinformation and lies, saying that our company is a violation of human rights will burn in hell after they all die. Solstice is our company that we respect. He was a hero and still is! Our lives were ruined by the ones we trusted and now you're ruining more of them!"

Something was definitely setting this guy off. A need to press him further, unless someone had an idea on what he's talking about.

Kate Bishop

Kate opened the cell and walked inside, closing the door behind her. She needed this guy to spill more. She leaned close to his face and said in a quiet voice:

“I heard rumors that he has a thing against Oscorp. Is that what this is about?”

Kate was tired of playing games. She grabbed the guy by his neck, shoved him against the wall, and pressed on a pressure point.

“Everything. Now! What are Frayway’s motives, how did he make such advanced armor, where did he last give you orders, where is he targeting next. Unless you want worse to happen to you.” She snarled.

[Atkemri]

Almost instinctively Disciple stood up from over the man and retracted his ice sword. "You'll live, I can take your death with one of the bodies of the guards. I'll drive you out of state and give you as much money as you need. Just tell me where your supplier is and I'll let you go." The disciple could not kill this man. If he killed a father would he be any better than the Kingpin? Of course, he wouldn't put a child in the same situation he was put in, he couldn't. If he was lying however no mercy would be given to him.

"Fine... His name is Crossfire... Ex Mercenary, CIA all that stuff. He has a warehouse he works out of on the Lower East Side, his men are all ex-military or worse serious bad news, serious firepower."

Disciple unfroze his hand and dragged another guard's body over to where the dealer was before and shattered it leaving body pieces across the floor. "Alright, I'll drive you to Jersey tomorrow. I'll hide you in my apartment, grab your family and we'll g-" Disciple was interrupted by a buzz on his phone. He opened it and saw a video.

"My name is unimportant. What is important is what is at stake if you ignore this message," said the Man, his form shrouded but obviously seated and his voice distorted.
.

"No fucking cameras in the lab! Let him be a warning."

A crunch is heard as the audio ends.

The Man speaks again. "A virus, unstoppable and incurable. Code name Manticore. In the wrong hands, it could kill every life form on Earth, in a quick but agonizing death. You have been sent this message because I have reason to believe you can help retrieve it. You will not be the only team, or individual receiving this message, and you will work in tandem with several other teams or individuals to perform a mission essential to the virus retrieval. Specifics will be forwarded if you choose to accept."

"You will most likely not be the team or individual who will retrieve the virus. You will, however, be completely essential to its retrieval. The virus is located in a heavily fortified bio research facility in the Antarctic. Several steps must be taken to retrieve the virus, steps that must be performed in tandem. You will be either airdropped or boated in. You will not have interaction with any other team or individual until extraction. When the virus is retrieved, you will meet with every other team or individual and board a cargo plane that will be secured by one of the teams or individuals and escape. Failure is not an option. If you choose to accept, send a representative or representatives to this address in one month's time to receive the specifics of your mission. That is all."

An address flashes on screen, once, twice, then blinks solid. It is located in New York City.

Yet another problem Disciple would need to deal with. Later, the man and his family were more important at the moment. "I'll get you and your family out of here, I promise."

[Main Nation Ministry]

The Avengers Compound

"Worst to happen?" the goon said, as he started to laugh. "You forgotten that there's other people that are picking up Frayway's trail, also." the goon said, where he was hinting at the FBI that were at the aeronautics facility. "Even if you do know where he is, he's going to be gone when you get there. For all I know, he could be packing up house now.."

Then, the goon gave her a cryptic hint.

"If you know Frayway does war crimes, where would he want to be right now? You did your research, didn't you?" the goon mocked Kate, where he didn't seem to care that Kate was probably going to injure him severely.

[The Felan Federation]

Peter Parker

Peter shook his head sadly. Living with Liz would complicate his life. He wouldn’t be able to operate as Spidey without her possibly finding out about it. He couldn’t put her at risk like that.

“I can’t stay with you Liz. It’s not that I don’t want to...it’s just...I’m too attached to my house in Queens. You know, my Uncle Ben and Aunt May didn’t make much, but they bought that house with the little they had. So many memories are there. It’s a small and cluttered place though, you wouldn’t like living there...but it’s important to me.”

Liz Allen

"I understand," replied Liz, nodding her head in reply. "How about I move in instead? Your place does look like it could use a woman's touch. It is an absolute mess..."

"I will be honest. I am getting stir crazy here. Stuck up here and doing nothing but answering Joe Fatpack to press Restart on his computer. Or plug it in..." she replied, trying still to gain access to him.

"Come on now. I am a big girl, I can handle anything that might come up with you. I mean, I've managed to outlast your tardy moments," she chuckled, at his moments of being late or having to cancel it. "I think I can handle anything else you might have to face."

"Plus. I don't imagine you working forever as a photographer and going to and back your lonely apartment," she spoke, running her fingers up his arm. "Otherwise you wouldn't have started to chase me."

[The Democratic Marxists]

The Avengers Compound

"Worst to happen?" the goon said, as he started to laugh. "You forgotten that there's other people that are picking up Frayway's trail, also." the goon said, where he was hinting at the FBI that were at the aeronautics facility. "Even if you do know where he is, he's going to be gone when you get there. For all I know, he could be packing up house now.."

Then, the goon gave her a cryptic hint.

"If you know Frayway does war crimes, where would he want to be right now? You did your research, didn't you?" the goon mocked Kate, where he didn't seem to care that Kate was probably going to injure him severely.

The effects of the serum seemed to be wearing off, but Kate had an idea as to way he was hinting at. Frayway would probably targeting the military...and the closest military coordinator in New York was Oscorp.

She snapped his arm for his insolence and threw him against the wall. “I’m not done with you.” She ran upstairs to her room. If Frayway was injured, he wouldn’t target Oscorp right now...probably tomorrow morning. Kate decided to get some sleep and then recuperate in the morning.

7:30

Kate wasted no time in waking up, changing into a leather jacket and tights, and grabbing a bow with a quiver. She banged on Jack’s door. “Get up, its important. Assemble in common room.”

She did the same on Cassie and Nathaniel’s door. Gwen wasn’t at the compound, and her comm was off, so Kate didn’t bother. Kitty was in police custody, and Kate wasn’t too concerned about her right now. She left a message for Danielle: Hey, we’re going up against Solstice today. Check in for update.

It was just herself and those three for now. Once everyone was assembled in the common room, Kate was informed about Coulson’s call last night.

“Damn SHIELD. They’re probably five old dudes in a basement with a hero complex.”

Shield HQ
Phil checked his watch.
"8am, the Avengers should be up by now!"
He calls the compound.
"Good morning, I assume y'all have had time to descuss working with Shield?"

“Listen, Sir, whatever state SHIELD is in right now, we don’t want anything to do with it. You could be HYDRA assets for all I know, and I have no time to screen you. I have one policy: trust no one but the team. Sorry, Sir. Have a good day.”

She hung up on him and returned to the team. “Ok. I’ve figured Solstice will target Oscorp today, but we don’t know how. He tried to target their finances directly by taking their bank, but I think he’ll attack their products now. There’s three military-grade Oscorp armories in the city. Nathaniel, you take the one on Broadway, Jack take the one near Wall Street, I’ll take the one on York. Cassie, you’ll have eyes on Oscorp Tower in case he goes for big money. Remember, the first priority is civilians and individuals, not the weapons. Take him and any associates hostage if you can. Got it?”

That’s when all four of their phones buzzed.

?

"My name is unimportant. What is important is what is at stake if you ignore this message," said the Man, his form shrouded but obviously seated and his voice distorted.

A video begins playing. The footage is grainy, like a phone camera in low light. A man, viewed through a window and tied to a medical table in what seems to be a laboratory, screaming in agony as flesh melts off his body, dripping onto the floor not like wax but like water. Voices can be heard in the background, either celebrating or quietly whispering. Three figures, suited in full Hazmat gear, enter the room. They immediately begin tearing at themselves as if in agony, and drop. The feed abruptly cuts as a gunshot is heard, but the audio continues.

"No fucking cameras in the lab! Let him be a warning."

A crunch is heard as the audio ends.

The Man speaks again. "A virus, unstoppable and incurable. Code name Manticore. In the wrong hands, it could kill every life form on Earth, in a quick but agonizing death. You have been sent this message because I have reason to believe you can help retrieve it. You will not be the only team, or individual receiving this message, and you will work in tandem with several other teams or individuals to perform a mission essential to the virus retrieval. Specifics will be forwarded if you choose to accept."

The Man takes out a cigarette, lighting it. Its glowing tip glows bright against his darkened form.

"You will most likely not be the team or individual who will retrieve the virus. You will, however, be completely essential to its retrieval. The virus is located in a heavily fortified bio research facility in the Antarctic. Several steps must be taken to retrieve the virus, steps that must be performed in tandem. You will be either airdropped or boated in. You will not have interaction with any other team or individual until extraction. When the virus is retrieved, you will meet with every other team or individual and board a cargo plane that will be secured by one of the teams or individuals and escape. Failure is not an option. If you choose to accept, send a representative or representatives to this address in one month's time to receive the specifics of your mission. That is all."

An address flashes on screen, once, twice, then blinks solid. It is located in New York City.

Kate frowned. Something was very wrong about this. It could easily be a trap. Why didn’t the FBI know about this? Why was this man anonymous? It was all sketchy.

Kate turned to the team. “He said one month’s time. I’ll go after this issue with Solstice is resolved. Are we good to break up into teams?”

Kate hooked up their comms, slung her quiver to her waist, and walked to the garage.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Phil smiles.
"Hi Sharon, glad your well. Y'all need anything supplies, wepons, ammo?"
He picks up his paperwork.
"Records here at HQ show y'all should be pretty good for a while!"
He gets out of director mode and into friend mode.
"Barnes and his daughter are here, Carol too. They were with the young Avengers but left. Apparently the team can't work together we'll, but if you do want to contact them there at the compound. Number is still the same. If you can whip them into shape, unless they get there Sh*t together the young Avengers are no help!"
He smiled again loseing his angry expressions.
"Is there anything else your base or team needs agent Carter?"

"Nothing we couldn't handle, as you can see. As I told you, I'm handling the team to manage and expand our supplies, men, women, weapons," though to be honest, Sharon just wasn't ready to let her team join the SHIELD again. The people under her believed in her, despite their small supplies and barely any dent they can break upon. The city as it is was not in the best shape and neither she or the team can--

Hold on. Something just came up.

?

Things were going perfectly to plan. The smokescreens were laid, the attention diverted, the money acquired, and finally? The competition gone.

And now it was time to finish up the plan. He picked up the phone, making a call to a contact marked "D".

"Boss. Everything's ready, for the most part. Just say the word and we'll make the announcements."

"Go."

That was all the voice on the other end of the line said. It was a gravelly voice, a tired voice. The voice of an old man. The Man pulled out a laptop, opening it to reveal a screen not dissimilar to an email. The contents were as such.

"My name is unimportant. What is important is what is at stake if you ignore this message," said the Man, his form shrouded but obviously seated and his voice distorted.

A video begins playing. The footage is grainy, like a phone camera in low light. A man, viewed through a window and tied to a medical table in what seems to be a laboratory, screaming in agony as flesh melts off his body, dripping onto the floor not like wax but like water. Voices can be heard in the background, either celebrating or quietly whispering. Three figures, suited in full Hazmat gear, enter the room. They immediately begin tearing at themselves as if in agony, and drop. The feed abruptly cuts as a gunshot is heard, but the audio continues.

"No fucking cameras in the lab! Let him be a warning."

A crunch is heard as the audio ends.

The Man speaks again. "A virus, unstoppable and incurable. Code name Manticore. In the wrong hands, it could kill every life form on Earth, in a quick but agonizing death. You have been sent this message because I have reason to believe you can help retrieve it. You will not be the only team, or individual receiving this message, and you will work in tandem with several other teams or individuals to perform a mission essential to the virus retrieval. Specifics will be forwarded if you choose to accept."

The Man takes out a cigarette, lighting it. Its glowing tip glows bright against his darkened form.

"You will most likely not be the team or individual who will retrieve the virus. You will, however, be completely essential to its retrieval. The virus is located in a heavily fortified bio research facility in the Antarctic. Several steps must be taken to retrieve the virus, steps that must be performed in tandem. You will be either airdropped or boated in. You will not have interaction with any other team or individual until extraction. When the virus is retrieved, you will meet with every other team or individual and board a cargo plane that will be secured by one of the teams or individuals and escape. Failure is not an option. If you choose to accept, send a representative or representatives to this address in one month's time to receive the specifics of your mission. That is all."

An address flashes on screen, once, twice, then blinks solid. It is located in New York City.

The Man presses send. The message will find its way to those who are supposed to retrieve it in any form, be it email or text or any other digital form.

The Man takes a long drag of his cigarette. It crumbles to the ground, ash.

"And so the first domino is pushed."

"Can you trace the message's source?"
"Impossible. Beyond our hardware, ma'am."

Sharon looked on the message. One month. "I'll send myself."

[Christian Confederation]

"Nothing we couldn't handle, as you can see. As I told you, I'm handling the team to manage and expand our supplies, men, women, weapons," though to be honest, Sharon just wasn't ready to let her team join the SHIELD again. The people under her believed in her, despite their small supplies and barely any dent they can break upon. The city as it is was not in the best shape and neither she or the team can--

Hold on. Something just came up.

?

Things were going perfectly to plan. The smokescreens were laid, the attention diverted, the money acquired, and finally? The competition gone.

And now it was time to finish up the plan. He picked up the phone, making a call to a contact marked "D".

"Boss. Everything's ready, for the most part. Just say the word and we'll make the announcements."

"Go."

That was all the voice on the other end of the line said. It was a gravelly voice, a tired voice. The voice of an old man. The Man pulled out a laptop, opening it to reveal a screen not dissimilar to an email. The contents were as such.

"My name is unimportant. What is important is what is at stake if you ignore this message," said the Man, his form shrouded but obviously seated and his voice distorted.

A video begins playing. The footage is grainy, like a phone camera in low light. A man, viewed through a window and tied to a medical table in what seems to be a laboratory, screaming in agony as flesh melts off his body, dripping onto the floor not like wax but like water. Voices can be heard in the background, either celebrating or quietly whispering. Three figures, suited in full Hazmat gear, enter the room. They immediately begin tearing at themselves as if in agony, and drop. The feed abruptly cuts as a gunshot is heard, but the audio continues.

"No fucking cameras in the lab! Let him be a warning."

A crunch is heard as the audio ends.

The Man speaks again. "A virus, unstoppable and incurable. Code name Manticore. In the wrong hands, it could kill every life form on Earth, in a quick but agonizing death. You have been sent this message because I have reason to believe you can help retrieve it. You will not be the only team, or individual receiving this message, and you will work in tandem with several other teams or individuals to perform a mission essential to the virus retrieval. Specifics will be forwarded if you choose to accept."

The Man takes out a cigarette, lighting it. Its glowing tip glows bright against his darkened form.

"You will most likely not be the team or individual who will retrieve the virus. You will, however, be completely essential to its retrieval. The virus is located in a heavily fortified bio research facility in the Antarctic. Several steps must be taken to retrieve the virus, steps that must be performed in tandem. You will be either airdropped or boated in. You will not have interaction with any other team or individual until extraction. When the virus is retrieved, you will meet with every other team or individual and board a cargo plane that will be secured by one of the teams or individuals and escape. Failure is not an option. If you choose to accept, send a representative or representatives to this address in one month's time to receive the specifics of your mission. That is all."

An address flashes on screen, once, twice, then blinks solid. It is located in New York City.

The Man presses send. The message will find its way to those who are supposed to retrieve it in any form, be it email or text or any other digital form.

The Man takes a long drag of his cigarette. It crumbles to the ground, ash.

"And so the first domino is pushed."

"Can you trace the message's source?"
"Impossible. Beyond our hardware, ma'am."

Sharon looked on the message. One month. "I'll send myself."

The Avengers Compound

"Worst to happen?" the goon said, as he started to laugh. "You forgotten that there's other people that are picking up Frayway's trail, also." the goon said, where he was hinting at the FBI that were at the aeronautics facility. "Even if you do know where he is, he's going to be gone when you get there. For all I know, he could be packing up house now.."

Then, the goon gave her a cryptic hint.

"If you know Frayway does war crimes, where would he want to be right now? You did your research, didn't you?" the goon mocked Kate, where he didn't seem to care that Kate was probably going to injure him severely.

The effects of the serum seemed to be wearing off, but Kate had an idea as to way he was hinting at. Frayway would probably targeting the military...and the closest military coordinator in New York was Oscorp.

She snapped his arm for his insolence and threw him against the wall. “I’m not done with you.” She ran upstairs to her room. If Frayway was injured, he wouldn’t target Oscorp right now...probably tomorrow morning. Kate decided to get some sleep and then recuperate in the morning.

7:30

Kate wasted no time in waking up, changing into a leather jacket and tights, and grabbing a bow with a quiver. She banged on Jack’s door. “Get up, its important. Assemble in common room.”

She did the same on Cassie and Nathaniel’s door. Gwen wasn’t at the compound, and her comm was off, so Kate didn’t bother. Kitty was in police custody, and Kate wasn’t too concerned about her right now. She left a message for Danielle: Hey, we’re going up against Solstice today. Check in for update.

It was just herself and those three for now. Once everyone was assembled in the common room, Kate was informed about Coulson’s call last night.

“Damn SHIELD. They’re probably five old dudes in a basement with a hero complex.”

Shield HQ
Phil checked his watch.
"8am, the Avengers should be up by now!"
He calls the compound.
"Good morning, I assume y'all have had time to descuss working with Shield?"

“Listen, Sir, whatever state SHIELD is in right now, we don’t want anything to do with it. You could be HYDRA assets for all I know, and I have no time to screen you. I have one policy: trust no one but the team. Sorry, Sir. Have a good day.”

She hung up on him and returned to the team. “Ok. I’ve figured Solstice will target Oscorp today, but we don’t know how. He tried to target their finances directly by taking their bank, but I think he’ll attack their products now. There’s three military-grade Oscorp armories in the city. Nathaniel, you take the one on Broadway, Jack take the one near Wall Street, I’ll take the one on York. Cassie, you’ll have eyes on Oscorp Tower in case he goes for big money. Remember, the first priority is civilians and individuals, not the weapons. Take him and any associates hostage if you can. Got it?”

That’s when all four of their phones buzzed.

?

"My name is unimportant. What is important is what is at stake if you ignore this message," said the Man, his form shrouded but obviously seated and his voice distorted.

A video begins playing. The footage is grainy, like a phone camera in low light. A man, viewed through a window and tied to a medical table in what seems to be a laboratory, screaming in agony as flesh melts off his body, dripping onto the floor not like wax but like water. Voices can be heard in the background, either celebrating or quietly whispering. Three figures, suited in full Hazmat gear, enter the room. They immediately begin tearing at themselves as if in agony, and drop. The feed abruptly cuts as a gunshot is heard, but the audio continues.

"No fucking cameras in the lab! Let him be a warning."

A crunch is heard as the audio ends.

The Man speaks again. "A virus, unstoppable and incurable. Code name Manticore. In the wrong hands, it could kill every life form on Earth, in a quick but agonizing death. You have been sent this message because I have reason to believe you can help retrieve it. You will not be the only team, or individual receiving this message, and you will work in tandem with several other teams or individuals to perform a mission essential to the virus retrieval. Specifics will be forwarded if you choose to accept."

The Man takes out a cigarette, lighting it. Its glowing tip glows bright against his darkened form.

"You will most likely not be the team or individual who will retrieve the virus. You will, however, be completely essential to its retrieval. The virus is located in a heavily fortified bio research facility in the Antarctic. Several steps must be taken to retrieve the virus, steps that must be performed in tandem. You will be either airdropped or boated in. You will not have interaction with any other team or individual until extraction. When the virus is retrieved, you will meet with every other team or individual and board a cargo plane that will be secured by one of the teams or individuals and escape. Failure is not an option. If you choose to accept, send a representative or representatives to this address in one month's time to receive the specifics of your mission. That is all."

An address flashes on screen, once, twice, then blinks solid. It is located in New York City.

Kate frowned. Something was very wrong about this. It could easily be a trap. Why didn’t the FBI know about this? Why was this man anonymous? It was all sketchy.

Kate turned to the team. “He said one month’s time. I’ll go after this issue with Solstice is resolved. Are we good to break up into teams?”

Kate hooked up their comms, slung her quiver to her waist, and walked to the garage.

'"I've made contact with the young Avengers, they want nothing to do with us!"
He sighed.
'let me know if y'all need anything, good bye!"
Phil ended the call.

He turned to Scarlett.
"We need to contact Morgan Stark, she may be a spoiled brat but she can be a good asset!"

Phil calls Morgan to the desplesure of Scarlett.
"Hello Ms Stark, I'm Phil Coulson director of Shield. I'd like to talk to you about the Avengers initiative!"

[Atkemri]

"Just the Facts with J. Jonah Jameson"

While Parker was out getting those pictures for the Bugle Jameson knew that getting in on the Avenger's actions on his podcast. Jameson already knew this was going to be a particularly good podcast numbers-wise. The cameras started "Dangerous, irresponsible, and dim-witted. These are the exact words I would use to describe the Young Avengers. As I said before letting teenagers take the responsibility of adults will only lead to madness and tomfoolery and as the last few days showed us that is what happened. As some of you might now a few days ago there was a robbery of a bank getting the Young Avengers involved. Two members of the team Gwenpool, a name derived from Deadpool who I might add is a DANGEROUS MERCENARY TERRORIST and Nomad confronted the villain Solstice in a fight which caused hundreds of dollars in property damage eventually leading to Solstice's defeat. Here's the catch in that, in order to stop him Nomad deemed it necessary to TORTURE HIM BY SLOWLY SHATTERING HIS ARM! Now I have no issue with supervillains getting what they deserve, but am I the only one that sees this as a little excessive? Especially from the hands of a teenager? Are you, the good people of New York really going to let this deranged delinquent torture people BECAUSE I SURE AS HELL WON'T! WHAT IF YOUR MISGUIDED SON DECIDES TO SHOPLIFT, WILL SHE SHATTER HIS PELVIS SLOWLY JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT?!? ALL THE WHILE ONE OF THEIR MEMBERS SITS AROUND AND QUIPS?" Jonah calms down and drinks some water nearby him, sipping obnoxiously loud. "But that isn't even the tip of the iceberg folks, oh no, they had to one-up themselves on the irresponsibility later. Multiple members of the Young Avengers were seen at various weapon and material warehouse across the city and were seen stalking them. One member, a former X-man, Kitty Pride was capture trying to capture data from one. Now I support mutant rights, but WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE THINKING?!! DID THEY COERCE HER?!? FORCE HER?!?! ARE THE YOUNG AVENGERS KEEPING MUTANTS AT GUNPOINT SO THAT THEY CAN USE THEM TO LOOK GOOD?!!!?! In any case, it's disgusting." Once again Jonah calmed himself.

"Another ex-member of the Young Avengers was seen at another Warehouse with Gwenpool traveling back and forth for whatever reason. Are they stealing weapons to give to their enemies so to create the impression of do-gooding? I don't know, but what I do know is that YOU DO NOT ORDER PIZZA ON ANY SORT OF OFFICIAL LEGAL MISSION AND I HAVE PROOF THAT THEY DID IT, PLEASE WELCOME OUR GUEST TO THE SHOW." The camera panned out to show a young, scraggly 20 something-year-old man with a few pimples scattered about his face. "So how did you see the two Avengers waiting and watching the warehouse?"
"Uhhh, they were just standing there. One was wearing this white and pink jumpsuit thing and the other was in more normal clothes, they looked kin-"
"That's enough-" Jonah looked at the man's nametag "Wayne, now get out you're stinking up the place with your hippy sent." Wayne looked shocked, but still left escorted by a guard. "Now WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU ORDER PIZZA IN ANY SORT OF OBSERVATION MISSION?!? WHY WOULD THE IDEA EVEN COME TO MIND?!? ARE YOU STUPID OR JUST INCOMPETENT!?! MAYBE THEY WERE JUST WAITING TO BE SUPPLIED WITH WEAPONS TO GIVE TO THE GANGS THAT THEY THEN BEAT SENSELESS TO KEEP UP THEIR IMAGE!?!? DISGUSTING AND INCOMPETENT ON ALL ACCOUNTS. AS I SAID THE YOUNG AVENGERS ARE DANGEROUS, IRRESPONSIBLE AND DIM WITTED. I SAY WE LOCK UP THESE DANGEROUS DELINQUENTS." Jameson stopped taking a deep breath. That dangerous delinquent line was good, it'd be in the Bugle in the morning.

[Christian Confederation]

"Just the Facts with J. Jonah Jameson"

While Parker was out getting those pictures for the Bugle Jameson knew that getting in on the Avenger's actions on his podcast. Jameson already knew this was going to be a particularly good podcast numbers-wise. The cameras started "Dangerous, irresponsible, and dim-witted. These are the exact words I would use to describe the Young Avengers. As I said before letting teenagers take the responsibility of adults will only lead to madness and tomfoolery and as the last few days showed us that is what happened. As some of you might now a few days ago there was a robbery of a bank getting the Young Avengers involved. Two members of the team Gwenpool, a name derived from Deadpool who I might add is a DANGEROUS MERCENARY TERRORIST and Nomad confronted the villain Solstice in a fight which caused hundreds of dollars in property damage eventually leading to Solstice's defeat. Here's the catch in that, in order to stop him Nomad deemed it necessary to TORTURE HIM BY SLOWLY SHATTERING HIS ARM! Now I have no issue with supervillains getting what they deserve, but am I the only one that sees this as a little excessive? Especially from the hands of a teenager? Are you, the good people of New York really going to let this deranged delinquent torture people BECAUSE I SURE AS HELL WON'T! WHAT IF YOUR MISGUIDED SON DECIDES TO SHOPLIFT, WILL SHE SHATTER HIS PELVIS SLOWLY JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT?!? ALL THE WHILE ONE OF THEIR MEMBERS SITS AROUND AND QUIPS?" Jonah calms down and drinks some water nearby him, sipping obnoxiously loud. "But that isn't even the tip of the iceberg folks, oh no, they had to one-up themselves on the irresponsibility later. Multiple members of the Young Avengers were seen at various weapon and material warehouse across the city and were seen stalking them. One member, a former X-man, Kitty Pride was capture trying to capture data from one. Now I support mutant rights, but WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE THINKING?!! DID THEY COERCE HER?!? FORCE HER?!?! ARE THE YOUNG AVENGERS KEEPING MUTANTS AT GUNPOINT SO THAT THEY CAN USE THEM TO LOOK GOOD?!!!?! In any case, it's disgusting." Once again Jonah calmed himself.

"Another ex-member of the Young Avengers was seen at another Warehouse with Gwenpool traveling back and forth for whatever reason. Are they stealing weapons to give to their enemies so to create the impression of do-gooding? I don't know, but what I do know is that YOU DO NOT ORDER PIZZA ON ANY SORT OF OFFICIAL LEGAL MISSION AND I HAVE PROOF THAT THEY DID IT, PLEASE WELCOME OUR GUEST TO THE SHOW." The camera panned out to show a young, scraggly 20 something-year-old man with a few pimples scattered about his face. "So how did you see the two Avengers waiting and watching the warehouse?"
"Uhhh, they were just standing there. One was wearing this white and pink jumpsuit thing and the other was in more normal clothes, they looked kin-"
"That's enough-" Jonah looked at the man's nametag "Wayne, now get out you're stinking up the place with your hippy sent." Wayne looked shocked, but still left escorted by a guard. "Now WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU ORDER PIZZA IN ANY SORT OF OBSERVATION MISSION?!? WHY WOULD THE IDEA EVEN COME TO MIND?!? ARE YOU STUPID OR JUST INCOMPETENT!?! MAYBE THEY WERE JUST WAITING TO BE SUPPLIED WITH WEAPONS TO GIVE TO THE GANGS THAT THEY THEN BEAT SENSELESS TO KEEP UP THEIR IMAGE!?!? DISGUSTING AND INCOMPETENT ON ALL ACCOUNTS. AS I SAID THE YOUNG AVENGERS ARE DANGEROUS, IRRESPONSIBLE AND DIM WITTED. I SAY WE LOCK UP THESE DANGEROUS DELINQUENTS." Jameson stopped taking a deep breath. That dangerous delinquent line was good, it'd be in the Bugle in the morning.

Phil muted the TV.
"Jesus he's a problem!"
Phil thought for a second on says to get some heat off of his potential assets.

"Call JJJ!" He told the AI.
"Shall I have it on video call?"
"Yes!" He said.
If Phil Could help it he would keep the media off his teams back that could help.

[Atkemri]

"Just the Facts with J. Jonah Jameson"

While Parker was out getting those pictures for the Bugle Jameson knew that getting in on the Avenger's actions on his podcast. Jameson already knew this was going to be a particularly good podcast numbers-wise. The cameras started "Dangerous, irresponsible, and dim-witted. These are the exact words I would use to describe the Young Avengers. As I said before letting teenagers take the responsibility of adults will only lead to madness and tomfoolery and as the last few days showed us that is what happened. As some of you might now a few days ago there was a robbery of a bank getting the Young Avengers involved. Two members of the team Gwenpool, a name derived from Deadpool who I might add is a DANGEROUS MERCENARY TERRORIST and Nomad confronted the villain Solstice in a fight which caused hundreds of dollars in property damage eventually leading to Solstice's defeat. Here's the catch in that, in order to stop him Nomad deemed it necessary to TORTURE HIM BY SLOWLY SHATTERING HIS ARM! Now I have no issue with supervillains getting what they deserve, but am I the only one that sees this as a little excessive? Especially from the hands of a teenager? Are you, the good people of New York really going to let this deranged delinquent torture people BECAUSE I SURE AS HELL WON'T! WHAT IF YOUR MISGUIDED SON DECIDES TO SHOPLIFT, WILL SHE SHATTER HIS PELVIS SLOWLY JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT?!? ALL THE WHILE ONE OF THEIR MEMBERS SITS AROUND AND QUIPS?" Jonah calms down and drinks some water nearby him, sipping obnoxiously loud. "But that isn't even the tip of the iceberg folks, oh no, they had to one-up themselves on the irresponsibility later. Multiple members of the Young Avengers were seen at various weapon and material warehouse across the city and were seen stalking them. One member, a former X-man, Kitty Pride was capture trying to capture data from one. Now I support mutant rights, but WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE THINKING?!! DID THEY COERCE HER?!? FORCE HER?!?! ARE THE YOUNG AVENGERS KEEPING MUTANTS AT GUNPOINT SO THAT THEY CAN USE THEM TO LOOK GOOD?!!!?! In any case, it's disgusting." Once again Jonah calmed himself.

"Another ex-member of the Young Avengers was seen at another Warehouse with Gwenpool traveling back and forth for whatever reason. Are they stealing weapons to give to their enemies so to create the impression of do-gooding? I don't know, but what I do know is that YOU DO NOT ORDER PIZZA ON ANY SORT OF OFFICIAL LEGAL MISSION AND I HAVE PROOF THAT THEY DID IT, PLEASE WELCOME OUR GUEST TO THE SHOW." The camera panned out to show a young, scraggly 20 something-year-old man with a few pimples scattered about his face. "So how did you see the two Avengers waiting and watching the warehouse?"
"Uhhh, they were just standing there. One was wearing this white and pink jumpsuit thing and the other was in more normal clothes, they looked kin-"
"That's enough-" Jonah looked at the man's nametag "Wayne, now get out you're stinking up the place with your hippy sent." Wayne looked shocked, but still left escorted by a guard. "Now WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU ORDER PIZZA IN ANY SORT OF OBSERVATION MISSION?!? WHY WOULD THE IDEA EVEN COME TO MIND?!? ARE YOU STUPID OR JUST INCOMPETENT!?! MAYBE THEY WERE JUST WAITING TO BE SUPPLIED WITH WEAPONS TO GIVE TO THE GANGS THAT THEY THEN BEAT SENSELESS TO KEEP UP THEIR IMAGE!?!? DISGUSTING AND INCOMPETENT ON ALL ACCOUNTS. AS I SAID THE YOUNG AVENGERS ARE DANGEROUS, IRRESPONSIBLE AND DIM WITTED. I SAY WE LOCK UP THESE DANGEROUS DELINQUENTS." Jameson stopped taking a deep breath. That dangerous delinquent line was good, it'd be in the Bugle in the morning.

Phil muted the TV.
"Jesus he's a problem!"
Phil thought for a second on says to get some heat off of his potential assets.

"Call JJJ!" He told the AI.
"Shall I have it on video call?"
"Yes!" He said.
If Phil Could help it he would keep the media off his teams back that could help.

[spoiler]

Jameson personally picked up the phone "Yes, J.Jona Jameson, publisher, and editor of the Daily Bugle, and Host of Just the Facts with J. Jona Jameson, if you're an ex-employee your firing was justified regardless of the fact you didn't know it was my Donut in the break room."

[Christian Confederation]

Phil muted the TV.
"Jesus he's a problem!"
Phil thought for a second on says to get some heat off of his potential assets.

"Call JJJ!" He told the AI.
"Shall I have it on video call?"
"Yes!" He said.
If Phil Could help it he would keep the media off his teams back that could help.

[spoiler]

Jameson personally picked up the phone "Yes, J.Jona Jameson, publisher, and editor of the Daily Bugle, and Host of Just the Facts with J. Jona Jameson, if you're an ex-employee your firing was justified regardless of the fact you didn't know it was my Donut in the break room."

"No I'm not a former employee, I'm Director of Shield Phil Coulson!"
He gets straight to business.
"Im calling to descuss the young Avengers, I also dislike them. There too disorganized and have no right to be called avengers. Now I have a team of real avengers captian Marvel, She-Hulk, the daughter of black widow. Thor, Hulk, and Morgan Stark are also invited to join. My point is that we want you to keep doing what your doing, be JJJ, we also want you to interview the Avengers if you want?"

[Dentali]

"Well i'll tell you i'm a woman" Nomad said after being referred to as a "He", "but otherwise i'm not comfortable revealing yet... Anyway who is this Holiday person?"

Ben looked up from his computer at Nomad and spoke. “She seems to be on a contract with an organization called ULTRA...I had never heard of it, but I’m new to the superhero shtick so sue me. Apparently it’s well known in superworld. An organization that supplies lodging to heroes and villains alike, and sometimes give out contracts to fulfill jobs, some good and some bad. It’s neutral ground. Holiday is taking refuge there, most likely...we tracked her on security cams and she went into the Manhattan ULTRA hotel. She’s a high level threat because her blood forms a corrosive acid that can endanger people if she’s hired. We would go into ULTRA and take her down, but from what I gathered it’s dangerous to do so because the organization has strict rules about this stuff. So the plan is we take up a contract with ULTRA, see if we can encounter Holiday, and take her down outside the institution. And it’s a double whammy because we can find out if anything fishy is going on with ULTRA. I mean, obviously, they house villains, but officially we don’t know that.”

Ben walked closer to the masked vigilante. “What are your powers, Nomad? Maybe one day you can take off that mask and I can take you out for dinner?”

You had to forgive Ben. He was a bit amorous, and sometimes successful at it, but his demeanor was sometimes awkward due to the fact that he was a clone and all. Some people were charmed by him, others not so much.

He’d struck out with Riri. Maybe this one would be a home run.

Nomad listened intently and then responded to Ben "I like my men like I like my coffee, nowhere near my vagina... Anyway I have superstrength, stamina, and durability. I'm bulletproof but I don't know about corrosive acid, maybe I could handle it maybe not. Why are we going after Holiday? What has she done besides have corrosive blood?"

[Durnatel]

Bob's Diner, Queens New York

Rivers - The Shadow

---

Late for work, oh well. Blue car with a broken light. Pick up the kids after school. Wish they put more sauce with the order. Hope it doesn't rain today. Can't believe I gotta work overtime tonight. What should we get for dinner...

Voices. All around him. Nothing but voices. Not his own, not the Shadow's. Like an endless and chaotic barrage the thoughts of others constantly flowing into his mind. He couldn't stop it, wanted to just... couldn't. It had begun to be a growing problem. The thoughts of others violating his mind with their irrelevant mundane thoughts. Or maybe it was him who was violating their minds. Could...they hear his voice? Hear his thoughts in their minds? The idea of it was enough to make him sink his head even lower in the large two page pamphlet that served as the menu of the Diner. Bob's Diner. He could've gone to Danny's Bites. It was closer after all, but that place was defiled with that foul letter. That symbol. The large neon azure highlighting its silhouette was seared into his mind. Even now slumped in a two person booth trying to hide behind the menu he could steel feel the oppressive gaze of that insidious letter fixated on him.

As if to wipe the image and intrusive thoughts away Rivers ferociously slammed the menu down on the table causing an audible thump. This garnered him the attention of his neighbors one table over. Their eyes full of, judgment?! No, no...concern. Rivers tried to force a smile across his mouth as if to reassure them, but could feel it amounting to nothing more than an awkward twitch. This was received with even more concerned glances by the other table. Rivers quickly brook eye contact. Just ignore them. He thought to himself.

Whats with him? He looks filthy. Where are his parents? Is he lost? Probably just some punk skipping school.

“I'm not a punk!” Rivers couldn't control himself. The words blurted out of his mouth by their own will. As they did he his cheeks grew pink and he could feel them getting warm. Why did he do that? It was bound to be suspicious. If they weren't judging before they definitely were now. Fortunately it seemed his sudden outburst was drowned out by the meandering conversations of the other patrons, many of whom seemed to either ignore him, or just didn't hear.

“Right... well, Mr. I'm not a punk, you planning to order anything or just hoping to hog that booth all day?” The voice, this time real not just in his head, was startling causing him to jump a little. Once again a concerned look this time from the waitress. She was a middle aged women with dyed red hair and the onset of wrinkles scattering her face. According to her name tag she was Barbra. In a way she kind of reminded Rivers of his own mother. How long had it been sense he'd seen her? That's when he noticed Barbra's eye-brow, enhanced with liner, arch up. Graet. How long had she been waiting for his response?

“Uh...I'll take...the...um...” Dammit, why couldn't he focus? All he had to do was say anything, literally anything! Evidently he couldn't even manage this, instead meekly pointing to a random dish listing, then glancing at Barabra as if confirm it. This was met with a slight sigh of annoyance.

“Pan...cakes? You, want pancakes? Alright. Short or large stack hun?” Questions more questions! And why did she have to linger on that word, you. The very sound of it irritated his ears causing him to physically cringe. Barbra must have picked up on this as she let out another sigh. “I'll just give you the short stack hun... damn tweakers” with that she left taking the menu, mumbling that latter part. At least the voices, the barrage of others thoughts seemed to stop.

Rivers tried his best to ignore that comment. Maybe there was some truth to it though. Not that he was on anything. He was just...tired and it showed. He was jittery, growing anxious, couldn't concentrate. He couldn't even remember the last time he had actually slept. Why hadn't he passed out by now, isn't that whats supposed to happen after a while? Unless... did the Shadow have something to do with it? In the end he guessed it didn't really matter. All questions with no answers but Rivers allowed his mind to dwell on them all the same. If nothing else it provided some sense of a distraction for his mind. Rivers wouldn't have chosen to come here by his own will, despite how tempting the food may be. He felt it too risky. The Shadow, it wanted something. Wanted it bad. Rivers somehow was apart of it. Or so the Shadow tells him. Truth be told Rivers isn't entirely sure he trusted the Shadow, but as these past few months have shown, that doesn't really matter. The Shadow, it's apart of him, inside his mind. One with his mind. Whether he liked it or not.

“Here you are hun” a seemingly uninterested Barbra laid the plate of soft buttery pancakes at Rivers table. They had just come of the stove, if the small trails of steam were anything to go by. Reluctantly Rivers began on the food taking his time though not exactly enjoying it. Oh they were delicious. Hell they were the tastiest thing he'd eaten in the past few days. The problem was that, well, he hadn't considered just how he was going to pay for this. He'd pissed away his last few bucks on travel fair to get here, to Queens. He could dine and dash but there was no guarantee someone wouldn't call the cops. To many people had seen him already. Of course that was partly this fault. The Shadow, Rivers, they needed to remain inconspicuous at least for now. Until the Shadow told him otherwise.

“Well, you seemed enjoy it. But uh... lets talk the bill kid.” Rivers must have subconsciously finished his food while lost in thought. Both of them knew what this meant, Barbra once again raising her brow expectantly. For a moment he just sat there staring at the waitress with blank eyes. The simple fact was that he had no money. Nonetheless Rivers reached into his pockets if only to waste more time but of course he produced nothing. He was stuck and Barbra knew it. He should've known, the waitress had been discreetly eyeing him ever since he came in. Before he could even formulate an excuse Barbra already had her hand around his wrist in a tight grip dragging him out of the booth. She then motioned to one of the cooks, who promptly took out a phone. Despite his protests Barbra wouldn't let up only reinforcing her grip. Damnit! This can't be happening. But it was.

There was no other way out of this. Even if Rivers wasn't willing he knew the Shadow was more than capable and that's what worried him. No he would have to do it. He would have to take the first step before the Shadow could awaken. Hesitantly he grabbed Barbra's wrist and tried to pry it off of him trying not to cause to big a scene. When that didn't work he began to dig his own nails into the side of her wrist but the waitress didn't seem phased instead only increasing her grasp on him. Rivers could feel the Shadow slowly awakening inside of him, eager to use its own methods of escape. No! He couldn't let it happen not here with all these people around.

“Get off of me!” He blurted out in frustration and then kicked the back of the waitress' leg where he imagined the patella was. Not expecting the sudden sharp pain the waitress let out a sharp gasp and fell to the floor. More importantly she released her grip on Rivers. Without hesitation he dashed to the front entrance and had almost made it out the door, but suddenly he was yanked back hard enough to hit the ground. A dazed Rivers could feel a small pounding in his head. Then he could the sudden yet firm pressure of a boot on his chest. The interloper was one of the people from the other booth though he was now distracted with concern over the state of Barbra.

Okay, maybe Rivers could still get out of this. He looked around for anything that could help him. Careful as to not draw attention to himself he felt around the base of a table until he found a, fork? Well it would have to do. Unfortunately the older man was quick to react and before Rivers could even make the motion, the man swiftly shifted his foot pressing it hard and suddenly against Rivers' arm this time causing him to let out a small yelp of pain.

It was then Rivers noticed lines of smoke slowly rising form his fingertips before they joined into a single plume of dark black smoke. Try as he might to keep it inside, Rivers knew it would come out. It always comes out. It wasn't like Rivers. It didn't care who saw it, what attention it might bring to itself, or who got hurt. All it cared about was achieving its goal, and eliminating threats to that goal. Soon enough the whole Diner was covered in a thick grey haze, and then there was the screaming. It was Like a chorus of agony and uncontrolled anguish, with each new voice of a patron having their worst fears played out before them, only adding to the cacophony of screams. They were beyond distressing to Rivers and with his hands now free as his captor was engaged in his own nightmare, Rivers pressed his hands tightly against his ears trying to block out the sound. Yet even as he did so he couldn't help but feel a small amount of pleasure from the chaos. Almost euphorically so. Then everything went dark.


Some time later...
Near Broadway, New York City

The first thing Rivers could hear was the sound of shoes of pavement. Lots and lots of shoes. He slowly pulled himself up a feeling of grogginess overtaking him causing him to lean against the side of dumpster. He stayed their for a moment trying to recollect what had just happened. The Diner, was it all just... no. Any doubt was quickly extinguished when his arm responded with a surge of pain as he tried to lift it. Shit was all he mumbled to himself. It hurt like hell but it defiantly wasn't broken. That's not what concerned him though. The Diner, even if the patrons didn't know what happened, either the cops, FBI, or even worse, SHIELD would probably look into it. Maybe even in that order. That was the last thing he, it, they needed right now. He let out something akin to a growl of frustration. Still it was probably better than actually being caught. He just hoped no one had died this time.

A vibration in his pocket distracted him away from his thoughts. Reaching into his now dirty jeans he pulled out a plain black phone. It was nothing special an older model probably out of circulation by now, but it was reliable and more importantly his only method of communication. Using his good arm he swiped the cracked screen with a shaky finger being met with a new text message.

On Broadway, next to Nemo's. Behind blue dumpster.
Fireworks with Ozzy at 11. Don't be late.
-Y

He hated when they contacted him. They always used that letter as their signature. Every time, and every time Rivers had to control himself from simply throwing the phone against a wall or floor. That letter it just conjured such strong emotions, he couldn't help it. Fortunately he was able to calm himself quickly exiting the message before having to gaze at the letter any longer. It was cryptic, as usual but rarely was it ever simple. He knew 'Ozzy' either meant the Osbournes or Oscorp Industries. He also knew that the Mafia had all of a sudden started some sort of beef with the company. Why though? Hadn't they been working together, or at least from what ever conversations he'd eavesdropped on it sounded like that. Shaking his head, Rivers regained himself. It didn't matter the Mafia simply asked him to do things and he did them. Not that it was exactly a mutual partnership, more or less they highly 'encouraged' him to join using the ever persuasive craft of coercion. If anything it was something to keep himself distracted, keep the Shadow at bay. The voice, its voice, had grown so quiet ever since he, they, arrived in New York. The only thing it uttered to him was hide. Rivers had taken this to mean to avoid attention, but now? With the whole fiasco at the Diner? Rivers could only wonder what it wanted knowing well enough it would never reveal its true agenda to him. The thought unnerved him.

Checking his phone again, the time read 10:37. Great, looked like he'd have to rush to Nemo's from here wherever here was. He still wasn't sure what exactly 'Fireworks' meant but if it had anything to do with Oscorp it couldn't be good. Still, he didn't really care, so far they'd not sent him to do anything too crazy. Yet anyways. With a long sigh Rives stepped out of the alleyway and disappeared in the masses of New Yorkers. Broadway it was.

[Storm Reid]

Scarlet Spider

Nomad listened intently and then responded to Ben "I like my men like I like my coffee, nowhere near my vagina... Anyway I have superstrength, stamina, and durability. I'm bulletproof but I don't know about corrosive acid, maybe I could handle it maybe not. Why are we going after Holiday? What has she done besides have corrosive blood?"

"Coffee...so you like guys near your mouth then? Cool. Whatever rocks your boat," Ben quipped.

"We're after Holiday because she robbed some diamonds from a jewelry store, and we have reason to believe she's on contract with ULTRA...the previous understanding was that this organization only outsourced neutral or minimal jobs, but if they get ambitious Holiday could be an asset. If ULTRA goes evil they'd be a force to reckon with...their funds come from small jobs around the world, this diamond robbery would probably for small funding. If Holiday leads us back to ULTRA we can dig deep into the organization and take out a dangerous robber. She attacked cops and got away without us identifying her alter ego. She is a threat."

Ben had been up all night searching through records that could identify ULTRA jobs. With Amadeus's help, they'd found about 10 extensive files about the organization from an old SHIELD database. The organization had the potential to be dangerous if leadership said so.

"The reason they've been ignored thus so far is because they have some strict rules and extremely trained personnel. Even SHIELD wouldn't be able to just storm their hotels and take them down. We have reason to believe that they have state of the art tech, weaponry, defense systems...that's why, so long as they've been docile, no hero has gone against ULTRA. So this needs to be covert. We can all go in, seek a contract and act like we know Holiday, and then once we're on a mission we can catch her and bail. Riri's got some power-stifling cuffs, that oughta hold her if we win...thoughts?"

[Dentali]

Scarlet Spider

Nomad listened intently and then responded to Ben "I like my men like I like my coffee, nowhere near my vagina... Anyway I have superstrength, stamina, and durability. I'm bulletproof but I don't know about corrosive acid, maybe I could handle it maybe not. Why are we going after Holiday? What has she done besides have corrosive blood?"

"Coffee...so you like guys near your mouth then? Cool. Whatever rocks your boat," Ben quipped.

"We're after Holiday because she robbed some diamonds from a jewelry store, and we have reason to believe she's on contract with ULTRA...the previous understanding was that this organization only outsourced neutral or minimal jobs, but if they get ambitious Holiday could be an asset. If ULTRA goes evil they'd be a force to reckon with...their funds come from small jobs around the world, this diamond robbery would probably for small funding. If Holiday leads us back to ULTRA we can dig deep into the organization and take out a dangerous robber. She attacked cops and got away without us identifying her alter ego. She is a threat."

Ben had been up all night searching through records that could identify ULTRA jobs. With Amadeus's help, they'd found about 10 extensive files about the organization from an old SHIELD database. The organization had the potential to be dangerous if leadership said so.

"The reason they've been ignored thus so far is because they have some strict rules and extremely trained personnel. Even SHIELD wouldn't be able to just storm their hotels and take them down. We have reason to believe that they have state of the art tech, weaponry, defense systems...that's why, so long as they've been docile, no hero has gone against ULTRA. So this needs to be covert. We can all go in, seek a contract and act like we know Holiday, and then once we're on a mission we can catch her and bail. Riri's got some power-stifling cuffs, that oughta hold her if we win...thoughts?"

"Ben if you make one more catcalling comment i'm going to punch you in the face, you're being a sexist ass this isn't the 1950s."

"As to your plan... I wouldn't want a confrontation anywhere near ULTRA, they sound far too prepared and i'd imagine they are ready for such contingencies and I doubt they would give out information on Holiday if we just asked nicely. Why not just do a stakeout and wait for her to leave ULTRA? If we know she is staying there, we could follow her and then jump her at an opportune moment."