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For a long time, nobody moved. Nico, her ringed staff raised in alarm, was watching Gwen with a mixture of hostility, impatience and curiosity. Gwen was eyeing her right back. She seemed to get a good measure of the other girl with clearly magical origins, and was much more confident in her chances because of it. The large, golden disk that the blonde amazon held in her right hand could easily dispel or interrupt whatever it was that Nico would try to throw at her. And that was assuming that Gwen didn’t just close the distance and bash her brains in straight away. She was certainly quick enough to pull it off. Far too quick for someone her size, you thought.

You gave the muscular woman a quick examination in the time that it took for you to pull your thoughts together. The golden disk, Captain Midland’s Shield, was one of the only reasons that you were able to identify her right away. Gone were her stylish civilian clothes. In their place, she wore a dark blue and black armored combat uniform with the S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem emblazoned on both shoulders. Every article of clothing that you could see was outfitted with all manner of pouches, and compartments for little gadgets or weapons that she might want to store. So far, the only pouches that were seeing any use were the ones on her belt. You figured that she didn’t see much need for anything more than that shield of hers.

Over the past few months, she had gotten very familiar with it. During one of your most recent visits, she displayed her ability to bounce the shield between multiple targets with ease. She was even able to have it return to her afterwards.

But the biggest surprise came when you displayed your own ability to wield the shield. You couldn’t quite describe what allowed you to be able to catch it the way you did, but something about it just sort of…clicked in your head.

The look on Bloodhound’s face had been absolutely priceless! You were thoroughly entertained to see just how wide a flabbergasted blind man could open his eyes.

Even Peter Pan had whistled appreciatively, and he was probably the most skilled weapon user on the team.

Part of you had been worried that Gwen might be jealous about your ability to use the shield, but to your surprise, she was ecstatic to have someone else with which to compare herself. This was ultimately because Gwen wanted someone to teach her a thing or two about throwing techniques.

Some part of her had been hoping that Hawkeye would drop by to give her a few tips. And an even smaller, and more hopeful part of her hoped that Captain America himself would see fit to train his newest sidekick.

Gwen was wrong on all fronts. Captain America didn’t even know that she existed, and Hill had no intention of making her identity public just yet. This was most likely due to her own dubious intentions for the unique team of agents.

(Cont.)

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As far as you knew, the Green Goblin had no idea where she had snuck off to after you rescued her from his clutches. And you intended to keep it that way for as long as possible.

But seeing her here now, you figured that the lid was about to be blown off pretty soon.

Gwen ripped her helmet off, allowing her shoulder-length blonde hair to spill out. She wore a dark half-mask that covered the lower half of her face, but kept the rest of it exposed. Her eyes seemed completely clear, too. Which was good, because you didn’t think you could handle a Goblin freak-out today.

Especially not here and now.

She gave you an imploring look, and you realized that you’d probably been quiet for a little too long. Fortunately, a nearby explosion drew everyone’s attention away from you, and towards a group of flying robots chasing after a single, robed figure.

You all watched as the robed figure wove through plasma bolts, teleported around obstacles, blocked incoming fire, and returned a few shots of their own. To anyone else, it would look like the robed figure was being overwhelmed. But if the wand they wielded, and the brown, tattooed arms were anything to go by, you were pretty sure that this “robed figure” could handle themselves for now.

Or…maybe they couldn’t? You weren’t entirely sure of Pandora’s capabilities. You’ve never actually seen her fight before. All you knew was that she’d managed to take out an entire fighter craft by shrinking it with the pilots still inside.

You found it hard to imagine that they couldn’t figure out a way to magic up a solution to their current dilemma. Besides, you had one of your own towering over you right now.

Gwen’s presence here was problematic for multiple reasons. First, her finding out that Warren had cloned her would undoubtedly send her into a rage that might just result in you losing your hookup.

Then again…you could always just lie to her, or tell W not to remove her mask around her. That should at least buy you some to come up with a real solution. She definitely deserved to know just how much of a creep Warren really was. Just…not right at this moment.

Second, you were pretty sure that the golden disk was throwing off both Nico’s and Pandora’s magic mojo. Its ability to interfere with the ambient magic around her would undoubtedly throw a massive wrench into your plans.

(Cont.)

What will you say/do?

>Send someone to go help Pandora.(Nico/Gwen)
>"Isn't it obvious? Killer robots are terrorizing the campus. Care to help me to deal with them?"
>”Look, Gwen. You shouldn’t be here right now. Who knows what would happen if word got back to the Goblin that you were back at your old stomping grounds.”
>”I'll explain later! Just try to evacuate as many people as you can.”
>”These things are after Professor Warren. I can take you to him if you’d like. I could use your help getting him out of here alive.”
>”Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m gonna need you to get as far away from here as possible. Both of my guys are using magic, and your shield is throwing them off their game.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5540507
>Send someone to go help Pandora.(Nico)
>”I'll explain later! Just try to evacuate as many people as you can.”
>”Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m gonna need you to get as far away from here as possible. Both of my guys are using magic, and your shield is throwing them off their game."
>"There's some attacks happening in other parts of the city. Could you go check on one of them after you get some people to safety?" and then tell her the locations

>>5540512
+1

>>5540512
+1

>>5540507
>>Send someone to go help Pandora.(Nico)
>>"Isn't it obvious? Killer robots are terrorizing the campus. Care to help me to deal with them?"

I just now saw that W was Gwen's clone. This whole time I thought she was our female clone.

>>5540507
>>5540512
+1
If she refuses to leave since this is her college, we could try getting W to split with us from the campus. Two spider totems ought to draw some of the bots away and the shield wouldn’t impact us. But that has some obvious dangers.

>>5540512
>>5540519
>>5540520
>>5540553
>>5540688
>Send someone to go help Pandora.(Nico)
>”I'll explain later! Just try to evacuate as many people as you can.”
>”Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m gonna need you to get as far away from here as possible. Both of my guys are using magic, and your shield is throwing them off their game."
>"There's some attacks happening in other parts of the city. Could you go check on one of them after you get some people to safety?" and then tell her the locations

Ended up passing out longer than I would've liked! Taking these. Writing...

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“Nico. See if you can’t go help her out.” you said, drawing the Japanese girl’s attention back to you. When she saw that you were nodding in Pandora’s direction, she glanced at Gwen, then back at you, before nodding and running off to do exactly that.

Gwen stared as she ran past her, and then panned her gaze over the ESU campus to take in the carnage. The Spider Slayers had toppled statues, blasted holes in the ground, and smashed in windows and doors in an attempt to search for those spiders.

Apparently, Warren had been entirely correct to assume that he would be attacked within the very same day if the jammer had ever gone down. You just wished that he would’ve had the foresight to predict a betrayal on this scale from the Chameleon. You told him multiple times that he couldn’t be trusted, but no one ever wanted to listen!

“Huntsman, what’s-” Gwen began, but you cut her off before she could finish.

“I’ll explain later! Just try to evacuate as many people as you can.” you demanded. “And…don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m gonna need you to get as far away as possible. Both of my guys are using magic, and your shield is throwing them off their game.”


She frowned, and then her eyes widened in sudden realization. Gwen glanced down at the shield, running her fingers over the edge of the disk, creating a gentle humming noise as she did so.

“Shit. I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay. You couldn’t have known.” you said quickly, interrupting her again. “But I still need your help. There are attacks happening in other parts of the city. Could you go check on one of them after you get some people to safety?”

You shot her a quick text containing the locations of areas where you’d noticed increased police activity, making absolutely certain to place Rich’s last known location at the very top, in bold letters.

Hopefully, he was still there, and not in an entirely different country after tangling with the teleporter. You really could’ve used Vic’s help right about now, but she was too much of an unknown variable, as well as liability. What you needed more than anything was for her and Peter to get to safety, so you had too less people to worry about.

When reminded that there were lives on the line, her hesitation had been blown away as if it had never been there. She tucked her phone away, reaffirmed her grip on the shield and nodded.

“I think I know where most of them are holed up. I’ll do a quick sweep of the school, make a few announcements, and bring along anyone that I can find away from here.” she declared.

And while you sincerely doubted that the girl had the heart to leave anyone behind, you knew that she trusted you enough to get the job done, even without her around.

(Cont.)

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It was a strange notion. Another superhero type trusting you to save other people’s lives. This place clearly still held a special place in her heart. She must know a lot of good people here, too.

And here she was letting you handle it instead of seeing to it herself.

Better not disappoint her, then.

You returned her nod. “Good luck. I’ll do the same.”

She patted you on the shoulder, and then shot off like a rocket as she headed deeper into the college campus.

Dragging your attention away from her large back, you focused on a phone icon in the top right of your HUD and looked through your recent call history. Warren’s name was still near the top.

The phone rang several times, before the scientist finally picked up.

“Warren, where are you?” you demanded.

“We’re still down in my lab. A few of the Spider Slayers have been combing through the old science building in an attempt to find us, but they haven’t yet.” Warren reported. “W desperately wants to fight them, but I’m having her stay here until the situation is under control.”

Alright, that’s good. He was well hidden, and it was unlikely that Gwen would stumble upon him. Neither of them had to know that the other was still here. All you had to do was keep them separate and make sure that no one got hurt.

“On another note, would you be willing to enlighten me on the finer details of the magical creature’s life cycle?” he asked.

“Not the time, Warren!” you shot back.

“No, this is important!” you urged. “If the creature is known for living an exceptionally long life, then there shouldn’t be any inherent danger in speeding along the cloning process using growth hormones and chemical injections to develop the brain at a more rapid rate.”

God, you desperately hoped that what he was saying had some merit to it. You had no idea how long it took to produce a clone, but you also weren’t sure if it was a good idea to try and cut corners when Abe was out there fetching the research that he needed in order to prevent his and W’s cellular degeneration.

Those were thoughts for another time, though.

What will you say/do?

>”Just stay put. I’m headed over to deal with those robots right now.”
>”Dammit, Warren! Kill that damn spider already! You’re gonna get yourselves caught!”
>”Stay where you are and don’t make any noise. Maybe they won’t find you before we clear them out.”
>”Let W do her thing. Maybe she can draw them away from you and the lab.”
>”I’m pulling you both out right now. My friends should help cover out escape. Pack up what you can, and don’t leave any incriminating evidence behind.
>”Save the theorizing for when we get you that research. Until then, sit tight.(Head over to help Nico and Pandora.)
>Write-in.

>>5540836
>>”Let W do her thing. Maybe she can draw them away from you and the lab.”

>>5540836
>”Dammit, Warren! Kill that damn spider already! You’re gonna get yourselves caught!”
And when he refuses
>”Just stay put. I’m headed over to deal with those robots right now.”

>>5540844
>>5540856
+1

I want one romp in the hay with Gwen.

>>5540836
>”Don’t rush the cloning. I can pull them away.”
>”Send W to my location. Two spiders should draw them away from you.”
We won’t win the spider debate, I know, and going to his location would draw EVEN MORE over since we’d be near the spider.

>>5540920
+1

>>5540844
>>5540856
>>5540861
>>5540920
>>5541210
Looks like we've got ourselves a 3-way tie! Does anyone want to change or alter their vote in some way? Or would you guys like to wait until someone else comes along to break it?

>>5540836
>”Dammit, Warren! Kill that damn spider already! You’re gonna get yourselves caught!”
And when he refuses
>”Just stay put. I’m headed over to deal with those robots right now.”
in either case
>”Don’t rush the cloning. I can pull them away.”
>”Let W do her thing. Maybe she can draw them away from you and the lab.”

>>5540836
>>”Just stay put. I’m headed over to deal with those robots right now.”

>>5540920
I'll change to support this I guess

>>5540844
>>5540861
>>5540920
>>5541210
>>5541510
>>5541518
>>5541520
>”Don’t rush the cloning. I can pull them away.”
>”Send W to my location. Two spiders should draw them away from you.”
>”Let W do her thing. Maybe she can draw them away from you and the lab.”

Taking these. Writing...

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“Don’t rush the cloning. I can pull them away.” you declared. “In fact, send W out to meet me. The two of us should be able to distract the ones looking for you.”

There was a considerable pause on the other end of the line. You could tell that he wasn’t willing to put her life in danger by sending her out to the front lines. He clearly hadn’t seen how good of a fighter she was, even with minimal training.

When he didn’t reply, you felt the need to speak up again. “Let us do our thing, doc. She was literally made for this.”

Warren sighed, and when he spoke, there was a weariness in his voice. “Just…don’t let anything happen to her.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

—-------

As you headed straight for the old science building, you idly wondered how long it would take for the Spider Slayers to detect your presence. As it turned out, you didn’t have to wait very long at all.

Just as soon as you got close enough to make out some of the finer details of the underused building, a large, black spider burst out from one of the walls.

It was larger than a grizzly, and at least twice as wide, balancing its bulbous form on eight, sturdy knife-like legs. Within the resulting dust cloud, eight tiny, blisteringly bright orbs swiveled to focus on you. It made a deep rumbling sound and surged forwards without hesitation.

The thing was incredibly fast, and would probably close the distance in only a few moments. As it got closer, three silvery tentacles popped out of its back and extended out with the intention to ensnare you.

You assumed a fighting stance and prepared to intercept the Spider Slayer, silently cursing the lack of any tall structures in the surrounding area. There wasn’t a whole lot to swing from out here. That could limit your combat effectiveness.

Absently, you noticed a humanoid shadow moving in the dust cloud that it had just come from. A larger shape was pursuing the smaller target, and you could only assume that W was engaged with one of them as well. And with you, her and the mutated spider in the same place, you wouldn’t be surprised if an army of these things were approaching your position at this very moment.

What will you do?

>Lead the Spider Slayers out towards Nico and Pandora. You could deal with them as a team.
>Lead these things out into the city where your movement options are less limited.
>Hop on the Spider Slayer’s back and try to steer it into the other one.
>Slide under its legs and plant your knife into its thorax.
>Web its legs up and hogtie it.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

There really aren't a whole lot of HD images of these things.

>>5541565
>Lead these things out into the city where your movement options are less limited.
Keep baiting the killer robots away from all the civilians

>>5541565
>Lead the Spider Slayers out towards Nico and Pandora. You could deal with them as a team.

>>5541565
>Lead these things out into the city where your movement options are less limited.
I hear this place called “Roxxon” has a pretty good security team. Maybe they can help.

>Drop some Khaine hairs into a web and stick it to them for an explosion.
Might be enough to knock it into the other one anyway.

Do we have electrical bombs still? I don’t see any in the inventory, but I also don’t see the recipe for them so I don’t know if the sheet is just outdated.

>>5541607
I'm gonna say...since you watched the Prowler create them, you can try and jury rigg a quick modification while W distracts them.

>>5541618
Hmm. I’ll keep that in mind for later. I’ll stick with pulling them away for now.

>>5541565
>Lead the Spider Slayers out towards Nico and Pandora. You could deal with them as a team.

>>5541568
Wouldn't leading them out into the city just put more civilians in danger?

>>5541565
>>Lead the Spider Slayers out towards Nico and Pandora. You could deal with them as a team.

>>5541985
Depends. We could stick to rooftops until we get to something like a park or abandoned buildings. We just need to keep close enough that they’re more interested in us than civilians.

>>5541565
>Lead the Spider Slayers out towards Nico and Pandora. You could deal with them as a team.

>>5541583
>>5541985
>>5542012
>>5542272
>Lead the Spider Slayers out towards Nico and Pandora. You could deal with them as a team.

Taking these. Writing...

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“Hey! Over here!” you shouted, waving your arms at who you assumed was W. The woman’s silhouette froze for a moment as her head whipped around to face you.

“Follow me!” you demanded, diving out of the way right before the Spider Slayer collided with you. You rolled onto your back and regained your balance in the blink of an eye. The giant black spider dug its sharp, spiny legs into the ground and swung its body around so that it lost very little momentum as it continued to skitter towards you.

Unsure of whether you were truly capable of outrunning the killer robot, you decided not to risk it by finding out firsthand.

You fired a webline at the old science building’s roof and pulled yourself into the air, narrowly avoiding the reaching tentacles on the back of the Spider Slayer. You swung through the air in a wide arc, before landing on top of the building. The giant robot reacted to this far quicker than you had expected, however, and was already clambering up one of its walls to catch you.

You took a few steps back, spotted a row of trees in the distance, and launched yourself towards it. Thin, blade-like protrusions swiped at you as you flew from the roof, forcing you to twist and contort your body in order to avoid being impaled.

As soon as you were certain that you were out of the Spider Slayer’s range, you flipped over and fired an additional webline at W. The slender woman snatched it right out of the air and wrapped it around her wrist several times.

You pulled at it with all your might, which wasn’t much at the moment, considering how you didn’t really have any leverage to work with. But your arm strength alone was enough to yank W into the air right behind you.

Her altitude and momentum wasn’t anything compared to yours, but you’d accomplished what you set out to do. And that was to separate W from the Spider Slayers and get them to chase you.

A blur of movement suddenly drew your attention back towards the ground. One of the Spider Slayers was gaining on you, and fast! You were right to avoid challenging it to a race.

By this time, both you and the clone had already let go of the shared webline and were swinging along the row of trees that you’d spotted earlier. They were closer to the ground than you would’ve liked, but they were sufficient for maintaining your speed and momentum during this chase.

A while back, you’d managed to figure out the absolute most efficient method of swinging through the city, while expending what you considered the minimum amount of energy required to do so. You had months to get the rhythm and motions just perfect, and you were quite proud of how you’d managed to refine it over time.

Swing and release. Swing and release.

(Cont.)

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It was sort of like swinging from monkey bars at a jungle gym, but on a much larger scale. You were about to construct W on how to perform the technique, only to be pleasantly surprised when you noticed that she was effortlessly copying you. She moved with an almost supernatural sense of grace, glancing at you every now and again to make sure that she was doing it right.

You gave her an approving nod, and she returned it for some reason.

What was that saying about babies being sponges for information and various stimuli? You were pretty sure Abe explained something similar to that when he was talking about W. She might not know a whole lot, but her potential for learning was clear as day.

If you weren’t in a life or death situation, you’d be wondering about what her future would look like once you were able to secure her freedom.

Despite the relatively low altitude, the two of you maintained that pace for a while longer. It didn’t escape your attention how the amount of threatening signals in your area had increased exponentially. For better or worse, it meant that you were doing your job, and most of the Spider Slayers were now pursuing you.

You pushed the thought out of your mind and tried to focus on not losing too much momentum. The amount of trees and tall buildings in the area were growing few and far between, which forced you and W to lengthen your strides in order to maximize your hang time.

And when you saw the last two trees for several meters, you and W didn’t hesitate to launch yourselves off of it so that you could cover as much ground as possible. If your spider sense was anything to go by, the Spider Slayers were pressing in on all sides, reaching and grabbing with tentacles, claws and vice-like pincers. The smell of burning ozone filled the air as blue bolts of energy whizzed past you, singing your suit in the process. You were incredibly grateful to Silvio for its insulated nature, and promised yourself that you’d buy him a burger once this was all over.

Eventually, as you went further and further outside of the campus, you caught up to where Nico had gone off to. She was currently firing purple bolts of magical energy at the winged creatures chasing after Pandora, knocking them down left and right.

They were firing missiles and various other metal projectiles, but none of them ever seemed to land a solid hit on her. She was like a wraith, ethereal and untouchable as she wove through and around their attacks, her body becoming wispy and incorporeal like Flint’s did when he was shifting his sand around to fly.

You were about to lend her a hand, when you noticed one of her tattoos beginning to glow golden and fade. It was a web-like pattern on her right hand. The pattern spread, and golden lines crawled across her skin and manifested at the ends of her fingertips as a golden net.

(Cont.)

Suddenly, the morally ambiguous witch zipped past them in a blur of dark fabric and circled their position several times, entangling the winged menaces in the golden net and packing them together like sardines. She then raised her wand and flicked her wrist at them.

A dark cloud of swirling mist shot out of the tip, enveloping everything in its path in a cyclone of stormy vapor and ominous thunder. When the spell’s effects dissipated, none of the flying robots were moving anymore.

Pandora retracted the web back into her tattoo and glanced in your direction. Her hood was low over her face, and a pale, bronze mask was obscuring her features, but you got the distinct impression that she wasn’t entirely happy to see the army of robots hot on your trail.

What will you do?

>Team up with W and Pandora to wrap these robots up, and have Nico nuke them with her staff!
>Have Rintrah set up a portal to an inhospitable location and lead the Spider Slayers through it.
>Roll up the inactive robots into a giant ball and use them as a bludgeoning weapon with W’s help.
>Grab a nearby car, place a couple of Marks along the fuel line and toss it into the group of Spider Slayers.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5542551
>>Team up with W and Pandora to wrap these robots up, and have Nico nuke them with her staff!

>>5542551
shit, I thought Pandora was fighting on campus with nico while we lead the spider slayers away. Didn't think we'd leave Warren alone.

>>5542572
That had been part of the city gambit, that two spider totems were enough to offset the spider. But yeah, I thought Pandora was still on campus too. No need for Gwen to leave then.

Oh well. We roll with it.

>Team up with W and Pandora to wrap these robots up, and have Nico nuke them with her staff!
We have web bombs, pass them to W so she can help. We can make due with less bombs since we can make our own webbing to rope in stragglers.

If Pandora or Nico can make a pit, we can push them all into it, web it up, and make it very difficult to escape. Hopefully we’re not above any Morlocks.

>>5542551
>>Team up with W and Pandora to wrap these robots up, and have Nico nuke them with her staff!
Teamwork, as per usual, makes the dream work.

>>5542551
>Team up with W and Pandora to wrap these robots up, and have Nico nuke them with her staff!

>>5542561
>>5542607
>>5542639
Roll 1d100+15, bo3!

Rolled 75 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>5542844

Rolled 56 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>5542844

Rolled 79 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>5542844

>>5542847
>>5542849
>>5542859
Taking these. Writing...

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>94

“Follow my lead!” you said to W, breaking left before you even got a chance to see or hear her response. You didn’t really need to. Your keen senses made you aware of the most sensitive changes in air pressure around you. This meant that you were notified immediately when W made a similar movement and broke off in the opposite direction.

The two of you circled back around to run a lap around the Spider Slayers, and each and every one was struggling to turn fast enough to reconfirm your position and strike at you. Some of them actually did a decent job of it.

But even then, you didn’t stop. You flipped, slid and dove over and under whatever came into your path, spinning your webs through the air all the while. W was doing the same thing, albeit with a bit more grace and a little less precision, if that made sense.

She hasn’t been alive long enough to cultivate some of the skills and experiences that you had. The potential was there, but with her being cooped up in that lab for such a long time, and no memories to build off of, you’re genuinely surprised that she’s even able to keep up with you.

You let out a shrill whistle, looked for a gap within the press of metal bodies, and fired a webline through it. W grabbed the other end of it from where she was standing, and exchanged one of her own. You repeated this process several more times, finding it difficult to both avoid incoming attacks and prevent the Spider Slayers from snapping the weblines with their combined weight and strength.

Alone, it would’ve been impossible. But with you and W’s combined abilities, it was only…improbable. But hey, you’ve done more with less favorable odds before.

Once you were satisfied with what you had done, the two of you yanked hard on the weblines you held in your hands, pulling the silvery wires taut and ensnaring each and every killer robot that had been caught up in your web. It took every ounce of your combined strength to keep them confined like this…and it still wasn’t enough!

That was, until Pandora came swooping down to envelop them in those golden threads from her “spellform tattoo”. Rintrah explained what they were after you’d asked him about them. Apparently, they were like stored spells that could be cast instantly, to a limited degree. Part of you wondered what it would cost to get one done on you. Maybe you would ask after this.

The Spider Slayers squirmed and thrashed in your web, and it was all you could do to keep them held in one place.

“Nico! Now would be the perfect time for you to start breaking shit!” you shouted.

The Japanese girl jumped out with her staff held tightly in her hands, her eyes glowing with that same purple energy emanating from her staff. She let out a furious battle cry, and a bright beam of violet energy erupted from the golden ring at the tip of the polearm, before slamming directly into the lump of metal mass that you were desperately struggling to hold together.

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The beam punched straight through some of the ones in front, and made the ones in the middle glow white hot from the continued impact. Soon, all of them started to heat up like that, and you scrambled to get away before they could-

Too late.

A deafening explosion rocked the street beneath you, and the resulting bright flash and wave of force threatened to envelop you. It should’ve sent you flying, at the very least. But when you opened your eyes again, you saw a shimmering dome of force covering what had just been a superheated pile of robots. Now, there was only a smoldering, blackened crater to remember them by.

After a few seconds, once the dust had settled, you looked up to realize that Nico had erected a forcefield just in time, cutting the energy beam and projecting her channeled mana into a barrier. She was breathing heavily, using her staff to prop herself up on her shaky feet.

Pandora floated down next to you, glancing between W and Nico curiously.

“I’ll do a sweep to make sure that we got all of them.” she said, staring at the crater appreciatively. “But I’d be hard pressed to believe that anything could have survived that. Nicely done.”

You were, understandably, slow to react to the sudden praise that you received from Pandora. It was the very last thing that you expected to hear from her mouth.

Not waiting for your response, the woman rolled right over you. “I heard that these things were after the cloning specialist. It might be necessary to relocate him after an incident like this.”

What will you say?

>”Don’t you worry about that. I’ve already got a place in mind.” (Write-in.)
>”We should relocate his lab, but leave it somewhere near here. The enemy wouldn’t expect us to hide so close to where the attack happened.”
>”You’re welcome to meet him after you’re finished with that sweep. If it has to happen, then it might as well be today.”
>”Do you think you can help Gwen evacuate any civilians, and steer them away from the campus? Hill probably doesn’t want her exposing herself like this, anyway.”
>”You were pretty impressive back there, yourself. What’s a guy gotta do to get some magical tattoos like yours?”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5543127
>”You’re welcome to meet him after you’re finished with that sweep. If it has to happen, then it might as well be today.”
>”Do you think you can help Gwen evacuate any civilians, and steer them away from the campus? Hill probably doesn’t want her exposing herself like this, anyway.”

>>5543127
>”You’re welcome to meet him after you’re finished with that sweep. If it has to happen, then it might as well be today.”
>”Do you think you can help Gwen evacuate any civilians, and steer them away from the campus? Hill probably doesn’t want her exposing herself like this, anyway.”

>>5543127
>”You’re welcome to meet him after you’re finished with that sweep. If it has to happen, then it might as well be today.”
>”Do you think you can help Gwen evacuate any civilians, and steer them away from the campus? Hill probably doesn’t want her exposing herself like this, anyway.”
I’m trying to think of places he could be relocated. Pandora probably has places in mind. For us, I can joke about the sewers but I know that’s not a real option. Someplace like Marc’s mansion could be good though. It’s probably got space, and Khonshu can help keep an eye on magical stuff involving the Silvertongue. Adrian may have an old safehouse that could work too.

>>5543127

>”You’re welcome to meet him after you’re finished with that sweep. If it has to happen, then it might as well be today.”
>”You were pretty impressive back there, yourself. What’s a guy gotta do to get some magical tattoos like yours?”

>Write-in
>Turn to W
>"Gwen is here. I'm going to meet up with her, you should come. I'm going to let her know what's going on."

Why play keep away with Warren and Gwen? She deserves to know. That 'exposing herself' just reads like self serving bullshit on our part. If we're afraid she'll snap Warrens neck or something in the moment then we should just tell her everything first. If W comes along even better.

>>5543266
Given that we haven’t seen anyone else from her team, Gwen may not have approval from SHIELD to be here. Which is a possibility we still need to consider until told otherwise.

I am tentatively okay with introducing Gwen and W as long as the other Chameleon-related fires are put out. That means getting Abel extracted and saving Rich and Flint.

>>5543266
+1

>>5543127
>”We should relocate his lab, but leave it somewhere near here. The enemy wouldn’t expect us to hide so close to where the attack happened.”
>”You were pretty impressive back there, yourself. What’s a guy gotta do to get some magical tattoos like yours?”

>>5543130
>>5543132
>>5543141
>>5543266
>>5543319
>>5543458
>”You’re welcome to meet him after you’re finished with that sweep. If it has to happen, then it might as well be today.”
>”Do you think you can help Gwen evacuate any civilians, and steer them away from the campus? Hill probably doesn’t want her exposing herself like this, anyway.”

Taking these. Writing...

>>5543266
>>5543279
>>5543319
It'll always be possible to explain everything to her a later date, once things have settled down a bit.

>>5543438
That's one of the mutations that can be earned through further experimentation!

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“You’re welcome to meet him after you’re finished with that sweep. If it has to happen, then it might as well be today.” you said with a shrug.

Pandora refocused her attention on you, and nodded slightly. “That would be…much appreciated. It’d be good to find out more about this mysterious scientist’s capabilities. We’ll have to limit the knowledge that he learns from cloning the Silvertongue.” she explained. “And it might become necessary to erase his memories later, if he learns too much.”

You weren’t sure how you felt about that. Webb hadn’t managed to find any evidence that Pandora had altered your memories ever since the two of you met. That was something, at least. The moment you suspected her of doing so, all bets were off.

“Let’s worry about that later. For now, do you think you can help Gwen evacuate civilians and steer them away from the campus?” you asked. “Hill probably doesn’t want her exposing herself like this anyway.”

Pandora twirled her wand around in her hand and glanced back at the campus. “She wouldn’t exactly be inclined to trust me, since we’ve only met once or twice. It might be best to conceal my identity for now, and pretend to be a concerned metahuman who happened to be in the area.” the director thought aloud. “Plus, I don’t want to get too close to that shield. My spellform tattoos are just about the only thing that doesn’t feel terribly difficult to cast whenever she’s nearby.”

“Aren’t you the one that retrieved it in the first place?” you shot back.

She sighed and shook her head. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Slowly, Pandora began to lift off of the ground and rise into the sky, her cloak billowing in the wind. “I’ll be back. Make sure that you’re here to introduce me and that scientist of yours.” she said. And without waiting for your reply, she blinked out of existence, most likely taking advantage of ESU’s lack of teleportation wards.

“Now she’s just showing off.”

Nico walked up to stand beside you as you both stared up at where Pandora had just been.

“What do we do now?” she asked.

You opened your mouth to answer, but a collection of unread notifications drew your immediate attention away from the little witch.

The first was from Abe, informing you that he and the others got out safely with the research and the LMD!

You’d been concerned about his ability to escape such a well protected facility, but it would appear that your clone brother shared your uncanny ability to pull off the impossible. You would have to ask how he managed to do it next time you saw him.

The next two were confirmations from Cat and Prowler that just about summarized what Abe had already told you.

(Cont.)

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The fourth text was from Cindy, confirming that the armed men had retreated from your parent’s place. She managed to chase the majority of them down in the Wall-Crawler, but a few were teleported away by the blonde woman that Vic told you about.

And the fifth was from Julia, informing you that the hired guns that had been going after your brother and best friend were thoroughly thrashed and evacuated by the very same teleporter. The fiery redhead sent the word out to any nearby heroes she could get a hold of, and Iron Fist and Luke Cage were the ones that eventually came to the rescue.

From what you could gather, the Chameleon’s forces were being pulled out by the teleporter to regroup at another location. The fact that the radio hadn’t gone off again was slightly worrying. It meant that they had either figured out your little ruse, or they had decided to go rogue after figuring out that the Parker family weren’t such easy marks as they might have been led to believe.

You were briefly broken out of your reverie by Nico waving a hand in front of your face.

“Hellooo! Earth to Huntsman.”

You blinked at her a few times, still trying to mentally sort the information you’d just obtained.

What will you do while you wait for Pandora to return?

>Call Abe or one of the other Desperados to get a better idea of what happened during the Roxxon heist.
>Call Richard or Flint to make sure that they’re alright.
>Call Julia and see if she can’t look into a “Yuri Watanabe”. You might need Pandora’s memory altering expertise, after all.
>Call Vic to make sure that she and Peter got out safely.
>Request that Madame Webb go fishing around in the Chameleon’s head for more information. He’s sure to know where the remainder of the Chameleon’s forces are hiding.
>Head back towards Warren’s lab. You’ll need to explain a few things to him before he meets Pandora.
>”I’ll handle things from here. I really appreciate your help, but you’re welcome to ask Rintrah to portal you back to the mansion until further notice.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5543883
>Call Abe or one of the other Desperados to get a better idea of what happened during the Roxxon heist.
>Call Richard or Flint to make sure that they’re alright.
>Call Julia and see if she can’t look into a “Yuri Watanabe”. You might need Pandora’s memory altering expertise, after all.

>>5543883
>Call Abe or one of the other Desperados to get a better idea of what happened during the Roxxon heist.
>Call Richard or Flint to make sure that they’re alright.
>Call Julia and see if she can’t look into a “Yuri Watanabe”. You might need Pandora’s memory altering expertise, after all.
>Call Vic to make sure that she and Peter got out safely.

>>5543883
>>5543891
+1

I’d also like to toss in
>Contact Chameleon’s group and get a ceasefire. You already beat them back on all fronts and that calling on the line means Chameleon is captured. They also know you represent more than just a single metahuman now. That all means you can talk business.

>>5543891
+1

>>5543891
+5

>>5543883
>>Call Vic to make sure that she and Peter got out safely.
>Call Richard or Flint to make sure that they’re alright.
>Head back towards Warren’s lab. You’ll need to explain a few things to him before he meets Pandora.

>>5543883
>>”I’ll handle things from here. I really appreciate your help, but you’re welcome to ask Rintrah to portal you back to the mansion until further notice.”

>>5543888
>>5543891
>>5543913
>>5543919
>>5544018
>>5544036
>Call Abe or one of the other Desperados to get a better idea of what happened during the Roxxon heist.
>Call Richard or Flint to make sure that they’re alright.
>Call Julia and see if she can’t look into a “Yuri Watanabe”. You might need Pandora’s memory altering expertise, after all.
>Call Vic to make sure that she and Peter got out safely.

Taking these. Writing...

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“Gimme a sec. I need to make a few calls.” you said, before walking back towards ESU’s campus.

Nico’s expression was somewhere between impatient and concerned, but she knew damn well that this was important, so she was going to have to wait before you gave her any updates. Your family’s safety took priority over all else.

You decided to call Abe first, since his situation was probably the most concerning. Thankfully, it didn’t take very long for him to pick up, and you managed to rope him, Cat and Prowler into a four-way call.

“Hey there, Charlotte. How’re you holding up?”

Abe let out a weary laugh. “Me? Just peachy. Never better. Your suit’s seen some better days, though.”

“Forget the suit! You should’ve seen this guy, spider.” Cat chimed in, sounding endlessly amused. “He had their whole security team running with their tails between their legs.”

“I still don’t know what you did to make them react like that.” Prowler said.

You thought you had an idea as to what happened. You remember that brief flash of fear you’d felt when Abe lost his cool. If he sent out a pulse with tangible, intentional malice behind it, then everyone around him would be hard pressed to ignore the animal instinct screaming at them to run for the hills.

“The automated defenses were harder to deal with, though.” Abe admitted. “If it wasn’t for Prowler, those turrets would’ve cut me to pieces.”

“No, I think it would’ve been the laser defense grid. Both of you seem pretty good at avoiding projectiles.” Cat noted.

“Can I at least get a rough estimate of how much it’d cost to repair the suit?” you asked.

Cat snickered. “I think the LMD’s clothes are in better shape.”

“She’s exaggerating!” Abe denied.

“Not by much...” Prowler muttered.

You let out a long, suffering sigh, and decided to drop the topic for now.

“How’re things going on your end?” Abe asked. “Is everybody safe?”

“Pretty much, yeah. I’m at ESU right now assessing the damage.” you confirmed.

“What happened!? Did Warren or W get hurt?”

The alarm in his voice was clear as day. You hadn’t had time to report each and every development in the Chameleon’s attack. But considering how he’d been fighting for his life up until now, you couldn’t bring yourself to feel any guilt over it.

“They’re fine. We made sure of that.” you said in a reassuring tone. “Most of the Chameleon’s forces have retreated by now, and we’re just licking our wounds. We’ll have to deal with them at some point, though.”

Abel breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. That’s good.”

“We’re headed back to the base to drop off the LMD and the stolen data.” Cat reported. “We’ll be lying low for a little while until the heat dies down, but feel free to holler if you need us.”

What will you say?

>”I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.”
>”If you think you can salvage that LMD, feel free to scrap it and split the proceeds. You’ve earned it.”
>”Do you guys think we can reprogram that LMD? Having a personal spy-bot could come in handy later.”
>”Sure thing. Do you think one of you could deliver the data to my location? I’m kind of in a rush here.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5544204
>>”I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.”

>>5544204
”I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.”
>”If you think you can salvage that LMD, feel free to scrap it and split the proceeds. You’ve earned it.”

>>5544204
>”I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.”
>”If you think you can salvage that LMD, feel free to scrap it and split the proceeds. You’ve earned it.”

>>5544204
>”I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.”
>”If you think you can salvage that LMD, feel free to scrap it and split the proceeds. You’ve earned it.”
>"Or reprogram it and keep it. It's yours to do what you want."

>>5544204
>”I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.”
>”If you think you can salvage that LMD, feel free to scrap it and split the proceeds. You’ve earned it.”
>"Or reprogram it and keep it. It's yours to do what you want."

>>5544204
>”I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.”
>”If you think you can salvage that LMD, feel free to scrap it and split the proceeds. You’ve earned it.”

>>5544204
>>”I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.”
>"I want to get rid of the thing. Guy like Chameleon could have it rigged from here to Timbuktu. And even the original manufacturer might not want to have their tech get out just like that."
Paranoid, sure, but that is the headspace Ben is in right now.
>"Let's get it to Mason for inspection and maybe a bid first before we bring it back."
>"I'll leave it up to you what you want to do with it if you don't sell it on the spot. Either way, split the proceeds between you, you’ve earned it.”

>>5544204
>>”I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.”
>>”If you think you can salvage that LMD, feel free to scrap it and split the proceeds. You’ve earned it.”

>>5544207
>>5544215
>>5544229
>>5544235
>>5544400
>>5544484
>>5544628
>”I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.”
>”If you think you can salvage that LMD, feel free to scrap it and split the proceeds. You’ve earned it.”
>"Or reprogram it and keep it. It's yours to do what you want."

Taking these. Writing...

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“I will. Thanks a million. I knew I could count on you guys.” you said. If Abe were anywhere near you, he’d probably be able to sense the waves of relief practically rolling off of you. “If you think you can salvage that LMD, feel free to scrap it and split the proceeds. You’ve earned it.”

And you absolutely meant that. It wasn’t just lip service. Your repeated victories during these trying times, and your perseverance in the face of an almost overwhelming sense of despair was only made possible by the people who’ve been supporting your family and propping you up. Favors went a long way in your line of work, and you’ve been making mental notes of everyone who’s ever risked their neck to help you for little to no gain. Someday, once this was all over, you’d make sure to pay them back somehow.

“Or reprogram it and keep it. It’s your choice.” you added.

“Did I ever mention how much I appreciate our little arrangement?” Cat said, forgetting about her exhaustion entirely now that the offer of cold, hard cash was on the table. “It’s liable to make a girl get a little spoiled.”

“I’ll take your share if you don’t want it.” Prowler offered.

Felicia scoffed as if she’d just been deeply insulted. “Despite what our recent dive into the belly of the beast might have you believe, I’m not crazy. How could I say no to such a generous offer?”

The Prowler chuckled, surprising everyone in the group call. You supposed that the promise of a big payday was enough to brighten anyone's mood. “Either way, I’ll have to fix it up before we can sell it to anyone. Nobody wants to buy damaged goods.”

“You do that, buddy. I need to go and check on a few people.” Abe said. “Huntsman, let me know what happens over at ESU. I feel like it’d be a bad idea for me to head on over right now.”

Right. If all of you were together, then it might attract even more Spider Slayers. You were pretty sure that you got most, if not all of them, but it wasn’t a good idea to press your luck today.

“I’ll handle things on my end. You do what you need to do.”

The call ended soon after, and you immediately dialed Rich’s number to check in with him. Thankfully, he and Flint were relatively unharmed, and were now headed back to Vic’s house to see if she might’ve gone back there with Peter.

You reassured him that the two of them were still together, and assumed that they were still safe. However, you were less certain about their current whereabouts. Vic hadn’t actually told you where she was going after she’d teleported away. Since the hitmen knew her identity, they most likely knew where she lived, so it probably wouldn’t be a great idea to go back to her house.

You would have to call her and pass the information along as soon as you got the chance.

Putting the two on hold for the time being, you switched your attention over to Julia.

(Cont.)

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“Jules. You there?”

“I’m here. What’s up?”

“I need you to look into a cop. A ‘Yuri Watanabe’.” you requested.

“Sure, thing. What’s so special about her?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet. She came asking around about the vampire case concerning Cindy’s parents and we managed to guilt her into leaving.” you admitted. “It could be nothing, but the timing of it was way too convenient. I need to make sure that she isn’t getting paid off by the Chameleon, or subtly manipulated in some way.”

“Alright, I’ll look into it as soon as I can.”

“Great. Keep me posted.”

You hung up and silently prayed that you were just being paranoid. Some part of you was simultaneously surprised and disappointed that Pandora’s division hadn’t done a better job of covering up the whole debacle. You had assumed that that was the reason why the cops weren’t making a genuine effort in looking for Cindy. Cults and cover-ups went hand-in-hand, after all.

Seeing as how you still had some time before Pandora got back, you decided to make good on that promise of checking in on your sister. Or at least, who you thought was your sister.

To your surprise, she answered almost immediately.

The voice that answered on the other end was cold, clipped and cautious, but the identity of the speaker was undoubtedly Victoria.

“Hello?”

Maybe now would be a good time for you to get some answers for some of your more pressing questions.

What will you say?

>”Where are you? Rich and Flint are looking for you. You should call them after this.”
>”Are you okay? Has anyone else tried coming after you?”
>”I know about the memory manipulation, Vic. If that’s really your name.”
>”If I’m going to trust you, I need to know what you’re about. You don’t have to tell me everything, but I need something to go on.”
>”Do you mind if I rope the other two into this call? I think we’re all overdue for a nice, long chat.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5544917
>>”Where are you? Rich and Flint are looking for you. You should call them after this.”
>>”Are you okay? Has anyone else tried coming after you?”
I think the chat should be in person

>>5544917
”I know about the memory manipulation, Vic. If that’s really your name.”

>>5544917
>”Where are you? Rich and Flint are looking for you. You should call them after this.”
>”Are you okay? Has anyone else tried coming after you?”
>”I know about the memory manipulation, Vic. We'll have a longer discussion after this whole shit show it's over."

>>5544917
>”Where are you? Rich and Flint are looking for you. You should call them after this.”
>”Are you okay? Has anyone else tried coming after you?”
>”When offered, I kept both sets of memories. We do need to talk about that though.”
I’d like to really catch her off-guard. No warning we’re about to bring it up, just tell her we decided to keep the memories. Drop the sword that’s been hanging over her head for a while and have her see it’s not playing out like she thought. Hopefully that shocks something meaningful out of her.

>>5544917
>>”Are you okay? Has anyone else tried coming after you?”
>>”Where are you? Rich and Flint are looking for you. You should call them after this.”
>"Remember back when my apartment blew up? You were the only person who called to check if I'm okay."
>"I don't know who you are, but I know you're someone who cares."

>>5544917
>>”Where are you? Rich and Flint are looking for you. You should call them after this.”
>>”Are you okay? Has anyone else tried coming after you?”
>write in
"how is pete"?
Save the rest when we know we arnt being listened too.

>>5545108
+1, keeping up the paranoia is wise until we're absolutely sure. Then we drop and sleep

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>>5545461

>>5545512
Lol

>>5544917
>”Where are you? Rich and Flint are looking for you. You should call them after this.”
>”Are you okay? Has anyone else tried coming after you?”
>”I know about the memory manipulation, Vic. If that’s really your name.”
>”If I’m going to trust you, I need to know what you’re about. You don’t have to tell me everything, but I need something to go on.”

>>5545512
Kek

>>5545512
Nice OC

>>5545512
Inproved over the original even! I like the veins bulging on Huntsman.

File: thanos-smile.gif (4.19 MB, 498x471)

4.19 MB GIF

>>5544924
>>5544930
>>5544959
>>5544996
>>5545039
>>5545108
>>5545149
>”Where are you? Rich and Flint are looking for you. You should call them after this.”
>”Are you okay? How's Pete? Has anyone else tried coming after you?”

Taking these. Writing...

>>5545512
Fuckin SAVED!

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“Where are you? Rich and Flint are looking for you.” you said, trying to conceal the almost overwhelming sense of panic you felt with the genuine concern that the emotion stemmed from. “You should call them after this.” you added.

“If you don’t mind, I will leave that to you. There is a decent chance that our assailants are observing us as we speak.” she concluded. “Me and Peter are back at the house.”

“Is he alright?”

“He’s fine. Just a bit exhausted.” Vic said.

“And what about you?”

“I’ll manage.” she said quickly. “But…thank you for your concern. I know you must have a lot of questions.”

That was the understatement of the year! As soon as you got a chance to meet up with the others, the Parker family was going to have a nice long chat about trust, honesty, and loyalty.

Sure, you weren’t exactly a shining example of an entirely honest person. However, this next family intervention wasn’t going to be about you, for once. It was a small victory, but you would accept it gratefully.

“We’ll get to that later. For now, I just want to make sure that everyone lives through the night.” you declared. “Are you sure you feel safe in that house? I have a few other places that’d probably suit your needs better.”

“Don’t worry. I’m close to Peter. At the first sign of danger, the two of us will flee to that large building you brought us to.”

Did she mean Webb’s mansion? That definitely made a certain kind of sense, but it would make more even sense if she just opted to go there in the first place, instead of waiting for trouble to find her. Was she that confident in her survival instincts?

To her credit, she seemed to have survived the Chameleon’s ambush without sustaining any meaningful damage. That had to be good for something. You would just have to trust her until you were done with things on your end.

—------

Soon after you ended the call with Vic, you informed Rich and Flint of her location and gave an update of the situation to Julia. She and Nico seemed greatly relieved when they heard that everyone was safe. W’s facial expressions were…hard to gauge, but you were certain that you’d seen some of the tension leave her shoulders upon having been informed that there wasn’t any need to fight for a while.

While you waited for Pandora to return, the three of you engaged each other in casual conversation. And by that, you meant that you and Nico talked, while W listened attentively. She was noticeably distracted, most likely worrying for Warren’s safety.

You reassured her that he was most likely fine, and even offered to let her run back to him while you waited. And…she did exactly that. Abel was probably right about her seeing Warren as some sort of twisted father figure.

(Cont.)

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Before you could entertain the thought any further, Pandora blinked back into existence and floated back down to stand directly in front of you.

“Alright, let’s go.”

—-----------

You weren’t sure what you expected from Warren and Pandora’s first meeting, but it was surprisingly…cordial, for lack of a better word. The secretive wizard demonstrated her impressive magical power by repairing most of the damage that the Chameleon’s bomb had done to the lab. Dangling, sparking wires wove themselves back together, and the cracked tile and plaster was being reshaped into something salvageable. It was no small miracle that neither he nor W had gotten caught in the explosion.

It was once again beginning to resemble a well-maintained lab, and less like…well, a place where a bomb had gone off.

The more sensitive equipment would take more time to repair, but there was nothing to be done about that. W remained close by Warren’s side during Pandora’s interrogation, clearly wary of the other woman. If the W.A.N.D. director was at all bothered by her presence, she didn’t show it.

Before either of them had met, you made sure to inform Pandora of Warren’s limited knowledge regarding the Silvertongue. She’d approved of your decision to keep him in the dark, but had ultimately made her own concessions when it came to the mad scientist.

It was true that he needed to be informed of certain things so that the cloning process could go off without a hitch. Neither of you had the time or patience to tolerate failure in this regard, as you were both incredibly busy individuals.

So right now, Pandora was informing Warren of some of the Silvertongue’s more…peculiar qualities. The biggest difference between the clone and the original was Warren’s decision to make the parasitic creature and the human host into a single entity, eliminating the need to refresh the host body.

Pandora’s body language seemed to insinuate that she would very much like to discuss this further, but that would have to come later. Right now, you would have to decide where Warren would stay for the remainder of the cloning process.

Pandora suggested that he stay at a secure facility where she could keep an eye on him.

What do you think?


>You don’t see any problems with that. So long as you and the others get visitation rights to the W.A.N.D. facility, and the clones can get their treatments.
>You were actually planning on bringing him back to Webb’s mansion. Maybe Pandora can use her magic to create more space for him to operate comfortably.
>He can stay with you for a while. Although, you’d have to explain things to Cindy later.
>Maybe he wouldn't mind shacking up with the Morlocks for a while. These days, it's actually quite nice down there.
>Warren should stay right here. The spiders never actually found him, and the jammer was working just fine until the Chameleon ruined everything for everyone.
>Write-in.

>>5545790
>>You don’t see any problems with that. So long as you and the others get visitation rights to the W.A.N.D. facility, and the clones can get their treatments.

>>5545790
>You don’t see any problems with that. So long as you and the others get visitation rights to the W.A.N.D. facility, and the clones can get their treatments.

>>5545790
>You don’t see any problems with that. So long as you and the others get visitation rights to the W.A.N.D. facility, and the clones can get their treatments.
>Gwen deserves an explanation soon

>>5545790
>You don’t see any problems with that. So long as you and the others get visitation rights to the W.A.N.D. facility, and the clones can get their treatments.
I’d mention Marc’s extradimensional mansion as a possible place to her if she wants him at a further distance for plausible deniability while keeping some magical safeguards in place. But she’d need to strike a deal with him on it.

>>5545790
>>You don’t see any problems with that. So long as you and the others get visitation rights to the W.A.N.D. facility, and the clones can get their treatments.

>>5545792
>>5545796
>>5545805
>>5545822
>>5546030
>You don’t see any problems with that. So long as you and the others get visitation rights to the W.A.N.D. facility, and the clones can get their treatments.

Taking these. Writing...

>>5545822
That is actually a pretty neat suggestion for a magical sanctuary.

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W clearly didn’t like the idea of being separated from Warren, but the cloning specialist was surprisingly interested in the possibility of having an alchemy lab built for him.

You, on the other hand…

You honestly didn’t see any problems with that. So long as you and the others got visitation rights, and the clones could get their treatments on time, there wouldn’t be much of an issue. Government facilities were supposed to be notoriously hard to break into, so it stood to reason that a MAGIC government facility would be even harder to break into!

At least there, Warren would be safe from the Spider Slayers and whatever traps the Chameleon might’ve left for him. You just had to hope that Pandora wouldn’t start restricting your access once this whole Silvertongue business was over and done with.

Sure, there was no guarantee that she would even want to keep associating with him after this, but you had a feeling that a guy capable of cloning magical creatures would always have a place in their world. Whatever happened from here on out, it would most certainly be interesting.

—---------

Seeing as how Pandora and Warren still had some negotiating to do, you and Nico decided to take your leave. The goth girl was portaled away from the college campus by Rintrah, leaving you alone to swing back to Vic’s place. You didn’t rush as you had when she was attacked by Snowsnake, but you didn’t take your sweet ass time, either.

The Silvertongue could be dealt with later. Warren, W and Gwen’s situation should be addressed at some point in the future, as well. Not even the Chameleon took priority in your mind at this very moment. All you could think about was what you would say to your sister, and whether her explanation would at all be satisfactory.

You were dying to know. However, you’d be lying if you said that the idea of someone that close to you lying to your face didn’t hurt.

Yeah. Her explanation had better be a damn good one.

—--------

Arriving at Vic’s place felt more than a little surreal this time around. Despite the orchestrated attack on the Parker family, her house looked as if it had been left alone. Your spider sense didn’t pick up on any listening devices or hidden cameras as you approached. You would have to do a sweep when you got the chance.

You weren’t sure whether to wear your suit or remove it before entering. Considering how pretty much everyone in that house other than Peter knew something about your secret identity, it felt a bit redundant. However, you couldn’t risk letting the little guy see you if he woke up sometime during your conversation. So it was back to wearing your casual clothes, for now.

When you entered the house, you were a bit surprised to see both Flint and Rich sitting on the couch waiting for you. Both had grim expressions on their faces. Your brother was even holding a gun, his thumb tracing over the safety. They both visibly relaxed when they realized it was you, but neither got up from their seats.

Once they'd confirmed that you weren't a threat, all eyes fell on a slender woman with white hair and blue skin, sitting patiently in a wooden chair near the kitchen.

“See? We’re all here.” Rich said, a note of impatience in his voice. “Now will you talk to us and explain what the hell is going on?”

Victoria nodded slightly. “What would you like to know?”

>”Is Victoria your real name, or just something that you made up? Who, or what, are you?”
>”Why were you pretending to be related to us?”
>”Was any of what we had genuine, or was it all just an act?
>”I want to know why you’ve been guilt-tripping me over trust and honesty while lying to us this entire time.”
>Let her do the talking, for now. You’ll ask more questions if you feel like she’s left something out.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5546258
>”How and why. Go ahead and start where you’d like, I know this is going to be a long story to answer those two questions.”
Basically letting her talk for now.

>>5546258
>”Is Victoria your real name, or just something that you made up? Who, or what, are you?”
>”Why were you pretending to be related to us?”
>"How did you manage to alter the memories of the entire city, or even the entire world?"
>"The memories you changed, you made so it was always for the better. Was it so I would be more inclined to trust you?"
>"How did the vampire mindcontrol you if you also got mind powers? Or does it not work like that?"
>”Was any of what we had genuine, or was it all just an act?
>"You did protect Pete when push come to shove, so you have mythanks for that. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt for now."
This is a bit much, but I'm curious

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>>5546258
Is Victoria your real name, or just something that you made up? Who, or what, are you?”
>”Why were you pretending to be related to us?”
>”Was any of what we had genuine, or was it all just an act?
>”I want to know why you’ve been guilt-tripping me over trust and honesty while lying to us this entire time.”

>>5546258
>”Is Victoria your real name, or just something that you made up? Who, or what, are you?”
>”Why were you pretending to be related to us?”
>”Was any of what we had genuine, or was it all just an act?

>>5546262
+1
We should let her talk then we ask questions.
Also asking if she was genuine with our relationships seems very rude and will make her upset.

>>5546262
+1

>>5546262
+1
Gotta say Flint might be heartbroken too. He seemed like he was more than eager to help when Vic was involved over these last months.

>>5546313
That’s my feeling for most of the questions. They can be read as simple questions for some, but given how long she’s probably been thinking of this moment I think she’ll see it all as an interrogation. At some point, she may just say that this was as bad as she expected and end up leaving.

So let’s give her some space to breathe. After we hear her out, she should be steady enough for the hard questions.

>>5546323
I mean, it's not like she isn't still single. And what red blooded man doesn't like some blue women?

>>5546262
>>5546313
>>5546321
>>5546323
>”How and why. Go ahead and start where you’d like, I know this is going to be a long story to answer those two questions.”

Gonna try my best to push out another update before I head to work. Writing...

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Seeing how anxious the other two were, you were the first to step forward.

“Give us the ‘how and why’.” you said, drawing everyone’s attention to you. “Go ahead and start wherever you’d like. I know this is going to be a long story to answer those two questions.”

Victoria stared at you for a while, before nodding gratefully. She took a deep breath, and then launched right into her explanation.

“My name is Va Nee Gast, pilot of the ‘Voyager’, daughter of En Dwi Gast, and potential heir to the mantle of Grandmaster.” she announced.

You all exchanged confused looks. That was…a lot to unpack. But nothing could have prepared you for what she said next.

“The one you’ve come to know, Victoria Parker, was an identity I created in order to blend into your society. She is my alter.”

Richard frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“It means that she is a personality that I constructed as the perfect cover.” Va Nee answered. “She has individual thoughts and individual memories. For all intents and purposes, she is her own person. For the majority of her time here, I have remained dormant within the deepest depths of her subconscious, only surfacing for emergencies.”

“You didn’t think that an attack from a vampire was an emergency?” you asked, trying to keep the bitterness out of your voice.

She nodded apologetically. “I had intended to intervene as soon as her call with you ended, but the ‘vampire’ as you call her was able to prevent me from surfacing by placing Victoria in a hypnotic trance. I appreciate you saving the both of us.” she said, panning her gaze around the whole room to focus on everyone’s face in turn. “All of you have gone to great lengths to ensure her safety. I cannot thank you enough.”

You ran a hand through your hair and breathed out a sigh that caused your cheeks to puff out slightly. You were finding it hard to wrap your head around this. And judging from the other’s expressions, they had similar feelings.

However, you couldn’t help but notice that Flint looked a little less grim when Va Nee declared that she and Vic were technically “different people”.

“But, I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’m here now, in this form. That is a longer and…more complicated story, I am afraid. I shall do my best to summarize.”

All of you leaned closer, eager to learn the true identity of this “imposter”.

Va Nee closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. When she opened them again, they were glowing a bright shade of violet.

(Cont.)

File: Avengers_Vol_1_689_Textless.jpg (468 KB, 934x1400)

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“Long ago, right after what you call ‘The Big Bang’, eons before I was born, my father awoke to discover that he was the very last of his species. An overwhelming sense of hopelessness and despair had begun to creep in upon realizing this. However, he soon discovered that he was not alone in the galaxy. Several other survivors, the last survivors of their respective species’, joined my father as his brothers and sisters. Over time, these figures would come to be known as the ‘Elders of the Universe’.”

“So…you’re an alien.” Richard concluded.

Flint looked at the guy as if he were the dumbest man in the room. “The blue skin didn’t tip you off, genius?”

Richard’s frown deepened, but he refused to comment any further. You gestured for Va Nee to continue.

“As a consequence of their seemingly infinite lifespans, the Elders found it increasingly difficult to stave off the constant threat of boredom. So, each one of them developed a fanatical obsession with a particular hobby. My father’s hobby was…’playing games’.”

“Games?” you asked. “What kind of games?”

“Any kind.” Va Nee answered, scowling at something that you couldn’t see. “The kind that could be entertaining and harmless for everyone involved, but were most often only fun for him. He and another Elder had developed a kinship over this hobby, and would often share their interests. This was highly unusual for an Elder, as most kept to themselves and would only congregate for special occasions.”

“Who was this other guy? Your Uncle?” Flint said.

Va Nee shook her head. “No. He was the original ‘Grandmaster’.”

“So I guess he and your dad had a falling out.” you added.

Va Nee gave you a rueful smile. “That would be putting it mildly. My father was incensed at his brother’s choice of taking the mantle, and was obsessed with taking it from him. The two of them would go on to develop a vicious rivalry over the matter, challenging each other to game after game, with the mantle of Grandmaster being used as collateral. And one day, my father decided to raise the stakes.” she said, her smile faltering. “He challenged his brother to one last game, winner take all. The loser would be banished to the Far Shore for all eternity, stripped of his name and identity.”

“And he lost.” you concluded.

Va Nee nodded.

Richard raised his hand. “What’s the ‘Far Shore’?”

“It is…a realm of ‘unbeing’. A plane existence where time and space simply don’t exist as intangible concepts. It is far removed from the influence of everything that occurs in the Universe, so we refer to it as the ‘Far Shore’.” she explained.

“Damn. And he’s been there all this time?” Flint asked.

“As far as we know, yes.” Va Nee answered. “No one has seen him since then.”

(Cont.)

File: voyager-grandmaster.jpg (77 KB, 829x556)

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“And when do you come into all this?” you said.

“I was born much later. While I share my father’s impossibly long life-span, I cannot claim to hold even a fraction of his power.” she admitted. “For a while after I was born, I would travel with my father to witness, and sometimes partake in his games. He would grant me the spoils, and teach me whatever relevant information crossed his mind. I learned a great deal from him, and even admired him for some time.”

“What changed?” Richard asked.

Va Nee narrowed her eyes and directed her gaze to the wooden floor tiles. “Eventually, I learned just how harmful his games were to the planets and systems that unwillingly hosted his events. Wanton death and destruction were not unusual results. I tried to the best of my ability to convince him to consider a more peaceful approach, and even went so far as to scout out unpopulated planets, as well as those without sentient life as a staging ground for his games. But every now and again…he would go over my head and set up his games without informing me.”

Va Nee clenched her hands tightly and gritted her teeth at the memory. “I knew that there was only one way to stop my father from inflicting further harm to the galaxy. I stole his precious artifact and fled in my personal ship, the Voyager.”

Flint screwed up his face in confusion. “‘Precious artifact’? What’s that?”

She turned to look at him, a deathly serious expression on her face. “It’s called the ‘ISO-Sphere’. It is an artifact created purely from the richest material known in existence, ‘Isotope-8’; or as some may like to call it, ‘Neutronium’.”

“What is it?” Richard asked, his interest piqued.

“It is a material that was formed as a byproduct from the Big Bang itself. An aspect of creation and all life. It is incredibly scarce in any amount, and is nearly impossible to stabilize.”

“What does it do?” you said.

“Potentially? Anything. That is why the ISO-Sphere is so dangerous, and it is why I have hidden it before arriving here.” Va Nee explained. “Because you see, the ISO-Sphere is capable of granting any wish you desire, as well as rewriting reality itself to conform to your vision.”

There was a long, pregnant pause in the room as Va Nee’s statement knocked you all flat on your asses and left you speechless. What the hell were you even supposed to say to that? It was a fucking terrifying thought. Even more than when Galactus and Thanos showed up to destroy all life as you knew it.

Whether she had noticed your shocked expressions or not, Va Nee just kept going with her explanation.

(Cont.)

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“After hiding the Sphere, I decided to hide on a planet that was easy to get lost in. Your planet was on the list of many hubworlds that fit such a description, so I decided to travel there first. However, I was not expecting to receive such a hostile reception.”

“What happened?” Richard asked.

“My ship was shot down by your world’s government, and I was forced to make an emergency landing here. The crash nearly took my life, and left me rather defenseless when your people came to extract me from the crash-site.” she said, turning to stare directly at Richard. “And that is when I first met you.”

Richard frowned, and pointed at himself questioningly. Va Nee nodded.

“My memories of the event are…hazy, but I do remember you being with an older human. He wore an eyepatch, I believe.”

Richard’s eyes narrowed, before becoming as wide as dinner plates. He whispered two words. Two words that you never expected to hear in this conversation. No, it was…a name.

“Nick Fury…”

Va Nee shrugged. It was apparently a universal gesture. “I do not know his name. That was the first, and last time I had ever seen him. But your presence there certainly influenced my decision to assume Victoria’s identity.” she said. “You see, my father imparted the gift of teleportation, flight, and slight memory manipulation to me when I was young. But my brief contact with the ISO-Sphere only served to develop those abilities even further. It granted me the ability to teleport to a certain point in your world’s timeline, causing a ripple effect powerful enough to change the entire history of your planet around my presence. And when I directed it at Richard-”

“We suddenly had a sister…” you said unintentionally, a haunted look on your face.

Va Nee paused to stare at you, before nodding slowly. “That is correct. I am technically…a fugitive here. An unwanted stranger hiding on your planet. At first, I was terrified by the prospect of being stranded here, as my presence would inevitably attract the attention of the Grandmaster.” she explained, a guilty expression permeating her azure features. “However, if my time here has taught me anything, it is that Earth’s ‘heroes’ are more than a match for some of the galaxy’s greatest threats. Time and time again, you humans have proven yourselves worthy champions.”

That was…true. The world’s governments and superhero teams have slapped down more than a few world domination plots by now.

“The Grandmaster will come for me one day.” Va Nee continued. “I do not know when, but he will come. And when he does, Earth’s heroes will have no choice but to fight.”

(Cont.)

What will you say?

>”Isn’t that kind of selfish? You’re indirectly endangering the lives of everyone here.”
>”Why haven’t you gone to anyone else about this? I’m sure they’d understand if you just told them the whole story.”
>”Please tell me that you’ve hidden that Sphere better than you’ve hidden yourself.”
>”What exactly are the limits on that teleportation ability of yours?”
>”So…you’re on our side?”
>”Does Vic know any of this?”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5546430
>>”Please tell me that you’ve hidden that Sphere better than you’ve hidden yourself.”
Shit, Vic's a Steven Grant

>>5546430
>”Why haven’t you gone to anyone else about this? I’m sure they’d understand if you just told them the whole story.”
>”Please tell me that you’ve hidden that Sphere better than you’ve hidden yourself.”
Why is asking if Vic knows is even a option? We already know Vic never existed to begin with

>>5546475
Wait, I think it means the other Vic persona.
I'm dumb

>>5546430
>[sigh]
>"That's...rough. I know what it's like, living on the run like that. Worrying about every little thing and praying that nobody knows who you are...but that's besides the point."
>"You can't just expect Humanity to do the heavy lifting for a problem that isn't theirs to begin with. Especially something this big."
>"More to the point, Vic-Vannie-whatever the hell you wanna call yourself, you really gotta start explaining why I should let you stick around and keep putting my family in harm's way."

>>5546475
I'm adding this to my vote
>>”Does Vic know any of this?”
As penance

>>5546430
>”Why haven’t you gone to anyone else about this? I’m sure they’d understand if you just told them the whole story.”
Avengers et. al.
>”Please tell me that you’ve hidden that Sphere better than you’ve hidden yourself.”
>”Does Vic know any of this?”
>”Can Vic exist without you? I assume you could live on your own if you wanted.

Hiding out with us barely matters. Eventually a “game” would happen on Earth anyway. Her being here just speeds up that clock.

Which… may as well point out.
>”We have heroes who can fight off the “Grandmaster”, but if they knew about the threat they could better prepare for when once of his games finally comes to Earth, or he finds you are here. You could save even more lives if you just asked for help.”

>>5546513
+1

This is too heady for me.

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>>5546614

>>5546630
Stupefying

>>5546445
>>5546475
>>5546510
>>5546499
>>5546513
>>5546585
>”Why haven’t you gone to anyone else about this? I’m sure they’d understand if you just told them the whole story.”
>”Please tell me that you’ve hidden that Sphere better than you’ve hidden yourself.”
>”Does Vic know any of this?”

Taking these. Writing...

>>5546614
>>5546630
>>5546636
I did say that she had one of the more complicated backstories. Some anons had some accurate guesses as we drew closer to the reveal.

I remember chuckling when some anon said something along the lines of "I didn't know Uncle Ben had a sister" in the beginning of the quest.

Have we gone and commited any more crimes yet?

>>5547174
Our clone stole data from a megacorp but no. I guess we did blow up a building a bit ago.

>>5547174
Well you did sort of break into Roxxon a little while ago. But if you're talking about planning a job of your own, then no. This arc is coming to a close very soon, so you'll be free to do so once its over.

The next event will be a lot more freeform.

>>5547174
The Roxxon break in technically was one

If we just shit Vic like one of the options was. Would that have ended her quest line?

>>5547196
Shot lol

>>5547196
>>5547198
I feel like it would've been pretty out of character for him, but yeah. That can pretty much be said about almost any character that would die from something like that.

There were actually a couple of opportunities for Ben to learn little hints about what was really going on.

Like, if he would've stayed and chatted with Rich instead of going to his fight, then his brother would have muttered something about not having a sister in his delirium. Some anons would've brushed it off, I think, but I suspected that others would've started to believe that something was off.

And if you hadn't sent anyone to protect them during the Slip/Electro arc, Va Nee would have taken matters into her own hands in order to protect the family. That's what I meant when I mentioned that there were "opportunities to be found in failure".

And do you remember that roll that I made you do when you were searching/cleaning Vic's house after the vampire attack? If you'd rolled high enough, you might have found a crucial piece of evidence that teased Va Nee's existence.

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“Why haven’t you gone to anyone else about this? I’m sure they would’ve understood if you told them the whole story.” you argued.

Va Nee frowned, her lips pressing into a thin line. “I’m not sure how much faith I should have in your world’s governments.” she admitted. “How can I be sure that they wouldn’t try to interrogate me for information regarding the ISO-Sphere?”

You all shared an uncertain glance.

“I do believe that the heroes of Earth should be warned in advance, but I’m afraid that the only way to accomplish that would be to turn myself in.” Va Nee continued. “And if they suddenly decide that they wish to dissect me, conduct experiments on me, or interrogate me for additional information, then I would be forced to flee.”

Richard nodded. “And once the cat’s out of the bag, there’s no putting it back in.”

Va Nee squinted at him, before closing her eyes. Suddenly, the vivid image of an orange tabby flashed through your mind, bringing a warm, fuzzy feeling along with it. It brought a smile to your lips, but you quickly shook off the feeling once you realized that the event you experienced was in no way natural.

“Ah, yes. I do remember seeing a few of those while reviewing Victoria’s memories.” Va Nee said. “I suppose that idiom is accurate.”

It looks like you’ll have set this topic aside for now. She’ll need further convincing if she’s going to reveal herself and raise the alarm.

“Please tell me that you’ve at least hidden that Sphere better than you’ve hidden yourself.” you said.

This time, Va Nee smiled confidently. “Rest assured, I have hidden the Sphere where my father will never think to look. And if I am captured and interrogated for the information, I have fail-safes in place to erase my memory of its location.”

Well, that would have to be good enough for now. If she tried to check up on it, then it might lead someone else to its location. And the thing she’d said about being interrogated was beginning to bother you. She firmly believed that no one should be able to get their hands on the Sphere. And you didn’t think that you trusted anybody with something that had the potential to alter all of reality.

“Does Vic know any of this?” you asked.

Flint perked up at that. Strangely, Va Nee straightened as well. She had a suspiciously guilty look on her face.

“Not as much as you might think.” she admitted. “Before I let her take control, I left her a message informing her that she was not to expose herself or put her faith in the authorities of your world, as that ran the risk of drawing attention to ourselves. Although, I fear that my message may have driven Victoria to be a tad more reclusive than I had intended. There was no better way for me to convey my thoughts without confirming that she didn’t belong in this family.”

(Cont.)

You gave Va Nee an incredulous look. Richard’s frown was so deep that you were sure he’d need a flat iron to smooth out the wrinkles in his forehead. And Flint…well, if he still had veins, you were sure that they’d be popping out throbbing in anger. He didn’t seem to be taking Va Nee’s admission of subtle manipulation very well at all.

What will you say?

>”You’re the whole reason Vic’s a nervous wreck!”
>”I think you should trust us a bit more. I know a few people in high places that can probably help deliver your message without exposing you too much.”
>”I think you need to be a little more honest with your ‘alter’. Vic deserves to know the truth if you’re going to continue staying here.”
>”Whatever happened to your ship? Did it get confiscated, or something?”
>”Do you know who was responsible for shooting you down? I’m sure the entire planet didn’t make the consecutive decision to blow you out of the sky.”
>”Tell me why we shouldn’t just kick you out after this? You’ve been putting all of us in danger by staying here.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5547216
>”I think you should trust us a bit more. I know a few people in high places that can probably help deliver your message without exposing you too much.”
>”I think you need to be a little more honest with your ‘alter’. Vic deserves to know the truth if you’re going to continue staying here.”
Please be patient, she has autism

>>5547216
>”You’re the whole reason Vic’s a nervous wreck!”
>>”I think you should trust us a bit more. I know a few people in high places that can probably help deliver your message without exposing you too much.”
like a certain two executive hardasses
let's make this a whole announcement, get every cape under the sun, put it in the calendar "Grandmaster's Game, Summer of 202X"

>>5547216
>"Does you using your powers, like, send out a signal that'd tip off your daddy as to where you are?"
>”Do you know who was responsible for shooting you down? I’m sure the entire planet didn’t make the consecutive decision to blow you out of the sky.”
>"There are greencard options for people of national interest, you know? You can tell your story about being a space refugee without mentioning that sphere thingy."

>”What does your consciousness do while Vic's in control? Is that even a life worth living?"
>"I think I speak for everyone here when I say, none of us can look at Vic the same ever again. The life as she knows it is over."
>"But, I for one... would be willing to let you stay if you merge your memories into you or something. But it has to be your genuine self. Maybe the visual makeover to let you still blend in."


>>5547202
[deleted the original post as to not split up your update]
what I'm hearing is that you should be a little harder on us maybe
The whold situation dissolved a little bit too quickly.
While we do have capable allies, everyone around succeeded and we had literal divine intervention at one point.
We have barely even wounds to lick.

I don't want to jinx it, but maybe have Cindy getting wounded and her having not mentioned it so we could focus on the rest. And now we're having an alien intervention while she's bleeding somewhere

>>5547236
Don't hear this anon, this arc was stressful enough as it was

>>5547236
bitch, Louise got turned into a vampire thanks to us, I don't know what you are on about

>>5547238
it was, yes, but the climax came and went too fast and didn't quite feel cathartic.
one guy mentioned that we'd end this with Ben collapsing on webb's floor due to exhaustion
Not with smalltalk exposition with the family about hidden secrets

>>5547239
>thanks to us
that was barely related to our own strategizing

>>5547250
I don't see any credits rolling or anything, how do you know that's not gonna happen dr. strange
It was very much a consequence of our choices

>>5547236
I thank you for deleting and reposting your comment, and I'm grateful for your input.

You do raise an interesting argument. I intend to start making you fight to keep what you've gained over the course of this journey. To be terribly honest, the culmination of this attack was more personal and less "grand" in a cinematic sense. This was the Parker family being targeted in a very real way, and them having to come clean and put their faith in one another in order to survive.

I think it changes up the family dynamic in some interesting ways.

Instead of Thanos coming to destroy all life in the universe, some mad Russian sent armed men to put a bullet in everyone he thought you held dear. And considering how the teleporter was attempting to kidnap Cindy and your siblings, he most likely intended to torture and torment them.

So now that the secrets are coming out, Ben and the others have to rethink and question their loyalties and relationships with one another.

>That spoiler
How do you know for sure that nothing went wrong? How thoroughly have you searched for that wound?

>>5547239
>>5547250
But let's make this an open discussion. What would you guys like to see as this quest progresses?

>>5547216
>”You’re the main reason Vic’s a nervous wreck!”
I wouldn’t say whole. We’re a criminal after all. The stuff with the gamps wasn’t Va Nee’s doing either. But she IS the real reason Vic didn’t feel comfortable trying to get more protection at times. We can lay that on her.
>”I think you should trust us a bit more. I know a few people in high places that can probably help deliver your message without exposing you too much.”
Though I’d be a little surlier about it. Richard had been with SHIELD. She knew this. Finding a way to slip something to him sometime in the last several years doesn’t seem too outrageous if she really placed stopping her dad over herself.
>”I think you need to be a little more honest with your ‘alter’. Vic deserves to know the truth if you’re going to continue staying here.”

As for her staying here,
>”Honestly, I’m tired of making calls. Get Vic on the line, hash it out with her on whether she’ll forgive you. She can talk with us if she wants people to help her through this. If she does forgive you, I can work on getting you a body so you can each live your own life in safety. Or you can hang around in her if she agrees. If not, you’re out. But you can try asking me for help like a normal person might. It’d barely register on my bullshit meter after everything else these past few weeks.”
>”Damn, I liked it more when everyone else was more responsible than I am…”
Basically tossing the decision to Vic (with us to chime in with our opinions to her if she asks) since it’s her life.

>>5547236
To be fair, it’s not like Scorekeeper pulled punches on the obstacles. Finding the Silvertongue? Turns out it’s sheltering with a secret society. Capture the Silvertongue? Turns out Pandora is using it. Also an Australian cannibal is trying to free it. Want to clone the Silvertongue? Ana and her father are already involved with the guy. Oh, and Chameleon. Oh, and now you have a clone. Oh, and Gwen is cloned too.

I think we’ve done well with adapting to the situation, which may be more than you’d expect in a lot of quests. We’ve also been fairly lucky with die rolls this arc. The Bloody Lips fights definitely could have gone worse. But it’s hard to keep the tension up when we roll two crits. I do NOT want to know how it would have gone if we didn’t.

>>5547297
I’d like it to stick with the comic book vein. Which means that we’ll do our own thing for a while, and then something like this rolls around where we try and get something that you know we won’t quit easily, so everything and their grandma piles in as a complication because the comics put people in over-the-top situations. I do think we need time to decompress though, and you’d need time to set up all the puzzle pieces in the meantime.

>>5547309
I'm really mostly talking about just this particular day having resolved too easily...

>>5547297
I think simply having teleportation on the table, much less from two sources, really tips the power balance

>spoiler
we haven't searched at all. Personally I didn't quite care so much to find out vics secret as I would have first checking up on people some more I wasn't here yesterday so the updates here came kinda quick

>>5547216
>>”You’re the whole reason Vic’s a nervous wreck!”
>”I think you need to be a little more honest with your ‘alter’. Vic deserves to know the truth if you’re going to continue staying here.”
>”Whatever happened to your ship? Did it get confiscated, or something?”

>>5547297
I would like for us to do our things for a bit.
The way I see it, villains tend to do the action, and the heroes react to. And Ben is still a criminal, even if he mellowed out a lot.

>>5547338
Ah, I see. I’m sure that’s mostly a bone tossed towards us since we’ve clearly been through the wringer (both as Ben and as anons here), but it’s not unjustifiable since we have a lot of people who can call in right now and we did. We’ve been doing a lot of write-ins to take advantage of our web of contacts (pun intended) and it should show.

We still have to decide about what to do about Chameleon and the goons that were working with him. We haven’t fully crushed the latter after all, and I’d like to resolve that plot point while we still have our network firing on all cylinders together.

>>5547297
I want at least one consequence that is so dire it makes us want to throw up.

>>5547719
The Parker Suffering in action?

Here's a selfish request: can she turn Abel into a real boy too? Fool our parents and the authorities to give him a birth certificate to get his college degree

>>5548115
I imagine both WAND and SHIELD could do it. He might need to pull off a job for them, but adding the entries shouldn’t be hard.

Ga Nee may even be able to do it. She retroactively created Vic, giving Abe a backstory at least among locals here could be possible.

Now that I mention that, Pandora would probably love to have her on the team. WAND deals with enough mystic BS that they know some things are better off contained or controlled than fully understood (no dissection), and a memory manipulator is something they surely always need more of.

>>5548115
I think that might be a little out of pocket honestly. No need to scramble their memories any further than absolutely neccessary.
Also I'm sure Abel already has a fake identity lined up if he's taking college classes.

>>5548197
Memories probably aren’t needed. But a digital trail would be a good idea. He doesn’t even need to be related to us for that.

>>5547227
>>5547232
>>5547347
>>5547236
>>5547309
>”You’re the whole reason Vic’s a nervous wreck!”
>”I think you should trust us a bit more. I know a few people in high places that can probably help deliver your message without exposing you too much.”
>”I think you need to be a little more honest with your ‘alter’. Vic deserves to know the truth if you’re going to continue staying here.”

Taking these. Writing...

>>5547316
>>5547383
Gotcha. A swift return to Ben's more dynamic adventures, where he would chart his own path and deal with the consequences later.

>>5547338
Don't worry, anon. I'm accounting for all these changes and meta shifts. Not everything can be solved by Ben's allies. This won't be the tone for the entire quest.

>>5547719
>>5547814
That'll come later. Maybe when you have a little more to lose.

>>5548115
>>5548194
>>5548197
>>5548245
He's already got a bit of a fake identity going because of the help he got from Warren, but he could definitely use some help making it seem legit when he's subjected to scrutiny.

As for Vic/Va Nee joining a team or organization, it's entirely possible. Depending on the result of their inevitable conversation, both of them will have to adapt to a major lifestyle change. They'll effectively be sharing a body.

File: 6369189-90fd7c6f-d98d-48e(...).jpg (523 KB, 1348x1920)

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“You’re the whole reason Vic’s a nervous wreck!” you said, pointing an accusing finger at her.

Va Nee winced, and at least had the decency to look a little guilty. “I will admit, I could have left a less cryptic message before I surrendered control…” she admitted.

“And you should also try trusting us a bit more.” you added.

Va Nee gave you a confused look.

“I know a few people in high places that can probably help deliver your message without exposing you too much.”

You were slowly becoming keenly aware that everyone was staring at you now. They were most likely wondering who you had in mind, and whether you were resourceful enough to avoid having them trace Va Nee back to Victoria.

“And while you’re at it, you should try being a little more honest with your ‘alter’.” you said, giving her a stern look. “Vic deserves to know the truth if you’re going to continue staying here.”

She began to nod, but her head whipped back up sharply before she could complete the motion. There was clear confusion on her face. “You would…allow me to stay? Even after everything that I-”

“We’re not doing it for you.” Flint cut in, still looking more than a little peeved. “We’re doing it for Vic. She’s still in there, right?”

Va Nee nodded slowly. “She is, yes. Now that it’s come to this, I suppose I will have no choice but to explain things to her as best I can.”

“Yeah…we’re actually gonna need you to do a better job than you have been,” Richard began. “Because, what you were doing before was just, eh…”

“Terrible.” you finished.

“Real shoddy work.” Flint said at almost the same time.

Va Nee nodded more quickly this time. “Yes. Okay…I believe I understand. I will work on it.” she declared.

“Maybe give us a play by play, and we can collaborate.” Rich suggested, gesturing between the two of them, and then to everyone else in the room.

She pointed a blue finger at him. “That is an excellent idea. Let me just initiate contact, and…”

All of you stared in silence as she suddenly froze up, and then slowly sat down again. “Oh…I will need one of you to catch me. Right now-”

Va Nee’s body went limp and slid off of the chair before she could finish her sentence, and she nearly dropped like a sack of potatoes, but you were there in the blink of an eye, catching just in the nick of time. Flint and Rich had rushed over to check on her as well. Her head was sagging to the side and you had to brush her hair out of her blonde hair out of her face to-

Hey! Blonde hair! It wasn’t white anymore. And her skin had finally returned to its normal slightly pale hue.

“What’s wrong with her?” Flint demanded.

“Is she alright?” Rich asked.

(Cont.)

“Yeah, she’s just…sleeping, I think.” you concluded, taking a moment that she was still breathing. “I’m gonna take her to her bedroom. Can you guys check on Peter?”

They nodded and headed up the stairs to do exactly that. You fixed your grip on your sister’s arms and legs and lifted her up easily. She didn’t weigh a whole lot, even before you got superpowers.

As you entered her room and eased her down onto her bed, you couldn’t help but wonder what her life was going to be like from now on. Would their personalities merge, or would they just…coexist somehow?

Whatever happened, you were certain that it was going to be complicated.

That being said, do you have any ideas as to who you’re going to pass her message along to?

>Maria Hill. You trust her to be discreet in matters such as these.
>Pandora. She might have a need for someone with Va Nee’s skills.
>You or Abel might be able to pull a few strings in order to get in contact with the Avengers. They’re sure to take her seriously if she delivers the message personally.
>You know a kid that interns at the Baxter Building. Perhaps the smartest man in the world might have some insights on the situation.
>You can’t say for sure. Not yet, at least. You’ll have to wait until one of them wakes up before making a decision like that.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5548332
>You or Abel might be able to pull a few strings in order to get in contact with the Avengers. They’re sure to take her seriously if she delivers the message personally.
We have an in with Doctor Strange, don't we?

>>5548332
>Maria Hill. You trust her to be discreet in matters such as these.
The nature of this problem kinda makes it a S.H.I.E.L.D. issue, but in terms of scope and required discretion.

>>5548332
>You or Abel might be able to pull a few strings in order to get in contact with the Avengers. They’re sure to take her seriously if she delivers the message personally.
>You know a kid that interns at the Baxter Building. Perhaps the smartest man in the world might have some insights on the situation.

>>5548332
>>Maria Hill. You trust her to be discreet in matters such as these.

>>5548332
>You can’t say for sure. Not yet, at least. You’ll have to wait until one of them wakes up before making a decision like that.
I’d like Va Nee’s input along with Vic. If they can’t be separated, we’ll want to make sure we place them in a position where Vic can still live a pretty normal life. No sense making enemies doing shady work.

I think the general pitches are:
>SHIELD - ore oversight and accountability as the public face of government superpowered agencies means the work is probably safer. They can expect to fight unless Va Nee is willing to be a scientist though, and that means teching up all of Earth indirectly.
> WAND - Does more shady shit than SHIELD I’m sure. Va Nee’s skills would be a better fit here. Not so much Vic’s.
> Avengers - Fighting with the cream of the crop. High danger, lot of visibility, but more downtime than the other choices too. Publicity would be enough to keep any other government agencies off their back.
> Baxter - Mostly science. Can negotiate easier on the release of sensitive technology. Probably the easiest environment for Vic to work in, might not be a challenge for Va Nee.
>Khonshu - He doesn’t need another champion, but perhaps there is a god that he knows that could use someone like her. Avoids entanglement with government authorities, except indirectly.

I’m leaning Baxter personally. He’s the most “civilian” out of the choices I feel.

>>5548332
>>5548362
>You know a kid that interns at the Baxter Building. Perhaps the smartest man in the world might have some insights on the situation.
Thinking it twice, if Va Nee issue is with the goverment then Reed might be a better choice, he's got some experience with these events.

>>5548332
>>You or Abel might be able to pull a few strings in order to get in contact with the Avengers. They’re sure to take her seriously if she delivers the message personally.
>>You know a kid that interns at the Baxter Building. Perhaps the smartest man in the world might have some insights on the situation.

>>5548332
>>You can’t say for sure. Not yet, at least. You’ll have to wait until one of them wakes up before making a decision like that.

>>5548332
>Maria Hill. You trust her to be discreet in matters such as these.

>>5548333
>>5548354
>>5548446
>>5548513
>>You or Abel might be able to pull a few strings in order to get in contact with the Avengers. They’re sure to take her seriously if she delivers the message personally.
>>You know a kid that interns at the Baxter Building. Perhaps the smartest man in the world might have some insights on the situation.

Taking these. Writing...

File: i0llfhbhzsx61.gif (1 MB, 475x264)

1 MB GIF

In all honesty, you and Abe might be able to pull a few strings in order to get into contact with the Avengers. Last time you checked, Luke Cage is a reserve member, and Beta Ray Bill took Thor’s place after he left to take over as King of Asgard. Your meeting was brief, but he caught you doing a good deed back during the beginning of your career.

And then there’s Doctor Strange. He probably likes you at least a little bit. He’s been a huge help with renting out Rintrah and nursing Louise back to health. The Sorcerer Supreme isn’t usually on the main roster, but he’s fought alongside them more than a few times.

And if none of that pans out, you can always hit up Sam and see if he’d be able to get you an appointment with Reed Richards. The guy made it very clear that he owes you a HUGE favor for getting him and his little sister out of Chinatown. Apparently the gangs there are getting real riled up for some reason.

Either way, you suspect that Va Nee would become a lot more active if she interacted with either group. The Avengers would be able to protect her from some of the more dubious government groups, and she would see a lot more action in the days to come.

Whereas the Fantastic Four would probably be more interested in taking advantage of her mind. She might even be able to score a job there like Sam.

But then again, you’ve heard that the First Family gets involved in some pretty wacky shit. Extradimensional adventures and all that.

You’ll have to consult both girls about this as soon as they wake up. Whenever that would be…

In the meantime, you should probably check in with Julia and see what’s happening with the Chamele-

Suddenly, your phone began vibrating violently in your pocket, interrupting your train of thought. You pulled it out, opened up the screen and frowned at the caller ID. It was your mom.

“Mom? Is everything alright? I heard that you and dad were-”

A ragged sob came through the phone’s speaker, and it left you momentarily breathless.

“Mom? What’s wrong?”

“Ben! It–it’s your father…!” she cried, barely able to get the words out.

Your heart was racing now, and you could barely hear mom’s voice over the sound of it thundering in your ears.

“What happened!?” you begged.

“He–-he’s been shot!”

For a second, it felt as if you were the one that had been shot. The news struck you like an electric jolt, paralyzing you and leaving you dumbfounded.

But…Cindy told you that she’d chased them off. She told you that they were safe. What changed in the time it took you to swing over here!?

FUCK!

“Have you called an ambulance?” you asked.

“Yes, but I don’t know if they’ll get here in time, Ben! Richard isn’t answering his phone, and I can’t get through to Victoria at all.” she replied. “There’s…also this little mummy girl that’s been trying to strap Peter into this giant wheel!”

“Little mummy”…? Ah!

(Cont.)

File: floyd rage.gif (2.11 MB, 382x369)

2.11 MB GIF

>>5549620
>tfw we forgot about Mom and Dad
F U C K
U
C
K

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“Let her do it, mom! That’s the girl that rescued you during that riot, when Rich was in the hospital. She’s gonna take him to the hospital.” you said. “Help her get him on there, and show her how to get to the nearest hospital on your Osberry.”

“A-alright, dear. Let me just map it out…”

After some fumbling and muttering, your mother informed you that she would be tailing Cindy in her car to make sure that they both got to the hospital. You thanked her, ended the call and stashed the phone back into your pocket before running back out in the living room.

“Rich! We’ve gotta go!” you shouted.

Your brother came running down the stairs a moment later, with Flint right behind him.

"What happened?"

"Dad's in the hospital! He's been shot, I think."

Both men's eyes widened in horror. "What!?"

"Save your questions for later. We've gotta go.” you declared, opting to change into your spider suit right in front of him.

The man had a bewildered look on his face. “What are you-?”

“It’ll be faster this way.” you answered, pulling your mask on. “Flint, buddy, can you stay here and watch over them while we’re gone?”

“Can do, pal. Lemme know how your old man’s holding up when you get there.” he said.

“Will do. Lemme know if anything happens on your end. We’ll be back soon.” you replied, gesturing for Rich to follow as you finished pulling on your gloves and footwear.

“You did that really fast…” your brother remarked, trailing after you out the back door.

Instead of answering, you grabbed him by the waist with one hand, lifted him off the ground and used your free hand to fire a webline into the distance.

“Whoa! Hold up! What’re you-” he tried to ask, but it was too late.

“Hold on!” you shouted, before launching yourself into the air with your brother in tow. Judging from the way he screamed, he wasn’t a huge fan of this method of travel.

—----------

Upon arriving at the hospital, you set Richard down, moved into an alleyway and changed back into your civilian clothing. By the time you got back, the guy was still throwing up.

“Just…gimme a sec. I’ll be with you in a-”

A pained retching sound escaped his lips, along with another wave of vomit. You shook your head and decided that you didn’t really have time to stand around and wait for your brother to regain his bearings. The Wall-Crawler was nowhere to be found, so you figured that Cindy must have parked it somewhere else after helping your father inside.

“I’ll meet you inside.” you said, running into the hospital’s waiting lounge. Your mom was there, but she hadn’t noticed you yet. She was sitting alone, her hands clasped together and held in front of her face, as if she’d been praying.

If what she said was true, then dad must be in the OR right now.

(Cont.)

Before approaching your mother, your eyes scanned the room automatically. Somewhere in the corner of the room, you spotted someone else you recognized. And from the looks of it, she’d spotted you right away.

Cindy shied away from your gaze as soon as your eyes met. Guilt and shame seemed to radiate off of her in waves. She couldn’t forgive herself for allowing this to happen, you just knew it. And if somehow your dad didn’t make it…

What will you do?

>Comfort your mother and wait with her.
>Approach Cindy and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
>Grab Cindy's attention discreetly, and start signing to her from across the room. “I’m gonna need to know what happened back there.”
>”Mom. Me and Rich are here. Is dad alright?”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5549623
>Approach Cindy and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
She doesn't need this kinda shit on her conscience.

>>5549623
>Approach Cindy and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

>>5549623
>Approach Cindy and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
The ONE thing we forgot out of literally everything we accounted for

>>5549623
>>Approach Cindy and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

>>5549623
Slap Cindy. "this is what happens when you try to be a hero!"

>>5549623
>>Approach Cindy and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

>>5549623
>Approach Cindy and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

>>5549623
>>Approach Cindy and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

>>5549623
>Comfort your mother and wait with her.

>Grab Cindy's attention discreetly, and start signing to her from across the room. “I’m gonna need to know what happened back there.”
Figures they weren’t really lying low. They really wanted to get in a final “fuck you” i. spite of everything we turned out against them.

Could they be any more fucking stupid?
>>5549635
We didn’t forget it. Covering the parents was in one of the write-ins back when the assault started. Cindy was the one that ended up doing that. They just didn’t get the same level of attention since we didn’t think they were a primary target. They were one of the “shit, better cover all the bases just in case”.

>>5549908
Oh yeah, we did have Cindy cover it because Khonshu said "yo get her to do it, she's got this" at us, and we trusted him. Perhaps she did handle it when she did, but Chameleon's minions decided to pull some shit offscreen after the fact. In that case, Cindy has zero reason to feel guilty about this.
>Could they be any more fucking stupid?
Those fuckers are DEAD when we get to them

>>5549945
Khon fucked with us on purpose. Cindy is too inexperienced. She needs to be out down a peg

>>5549945
We should probably have translated what they were saying. Even if it would make it harder to convince them, at least we would have know their reply

>>5549623
>Approach Cindy and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
>”Mom. Me and Rich are here. Is dad alright?”

>>5549625
>>5549630
>>5549635
>>5549636
>>5549655
>>5549749
>>5549770
>>5549987
>Approach Cindy and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

Taking these. Writing...

File: tumblr_ox8i0bcrEC1w60m4do(...).png (78 KB, 400x450)

78 KB PNG

Without hesitation, you crossed over to the other side of the room and pulled Cindy into a hug. Her eyes went wide at first, and she seemed to be at a loss for what to do with her arms. She expected you to be angry. Maybe even a little disappointed.

You might end up feeling that way once you get the whole story from her. But for now, all you wanted to do was reassure her that she shouldn't let this weigh on her conscience.

You know that she isn't the type of person to slack off on the job. Especially when it's something as important as this. She knew that she couldn't afford to screw this up, and had even taken the Wall Crawler to ensure that she’d get there in time to intervene.

The text she sent after she seemingly resolved the conflict made her sound confident in her success, so you were wondering how she could overlook something so important.

No. No, that wasn't entirely fair. Not everyone had a spider sense. Cindy only had her reflexes and wits to keep her out of trouble. And every now and again, Khonshu would lend her a hand, the same way that he had for you.

But if that were the case, then why didn't he help you now? Why was it that when you needed him the most-!

Cindy's body began to shudder, and you could feel a sharp intake of air as she buried her face in your shirt, now wet with the tears streaming down her face.

"It's okay. It's not your fault." you said in a reassuring tone, gently stroking her hair.

It was then that you became painfully aware of how much attention that your little display of affection was attracting. Nearly everyone in the room was staring at the two of you with interest and concern. Your mother was one of them.

Unfortunately, you found it very hard to pull away from Cindy at this very moment. From the way that she was clutching the back of your shirt, you would've had to physically peel her off of you.

Luckily, Richard entered the lounge a few seconds later, drawing everyone's attention towards him. He looked around in confusion upon realizing that he had become the center of attention.

It would seem that "A Day in The Life of the Parker Family" was quickly becoming everyone's new favorite reality tv show.

Richard glanced at you, then Cindy, before finally landing on mom. He moved to her side immediately, wrapping her up in a big, half-standing hug. This went on for at least another minute or two before the moment was gone, and both hugs were broken.

Now Cindy was sitting down with you, your brother and your mother. The frantic woman actually remembered the young girl from her hospital visits as soon as she'd seen her. The only reason she hadn't noticed her beforehand was because she was so beside herself with grief and worry.

"Are you sure you're alright, mom?" Rich asked.

(Cont.)

She waved him off with an exasperated expression. "Oh, it'd be selfish of me to complain when your father's in the operating room." she said, glancing around the room as if she'd just now realized something important. "Where's your sister?"

You and Rich exchanged a quick glance.

What will you say?

>"She's not feeling too good. There's a viral bug going around in her neighborhood."
>"She had a bad fall and sprained her ankle. She won't be going anywhere far from home for a little while."
>"Not sure. Maybe she got busy with work and forgot to charge her phone. I'll fill her in as soon as I can get a hold of her."
>"The same guys that came after you guys came for her too. The shock was a little too much for her, and she's too afraid to leave her home."
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

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

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

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

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

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

>>5550240
>"There been attacks all over the city today, and she and Pete were near one of them. They are safe now, but she is absolutely exhausted."

>>5550258
>>"There been attacks all over the city today, and she and Pete were near one of them. They are safe now, but she is absolutely exhausted."
+1

>>5550240
The same guys that came after you guys came for her too. The shock was a little too much for her, and she's too afraid to leave her home."

>>5550258
+1

>>5550240
>>5550258
+1, it’s the truth but won’t give her a direct panic attack.

>>5550240
>>"There been attacks all over the city today, and she and Pete were near one of them. They are safe now, but she is absolutely exhausted."

>>5550258
>>5550291
>>5550302
>>5550512
>>5550873
>"There been attacks all over the city today, and she and Pete were near one of them. They are safe now, but she is absolutely exhausted."

Taking these. Writing...

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“There have been attacks all over the city today, and she and Pete were near one of them.” you explained.

Your mother’s eyes went wide in horror. But before she could voice the concerns that were clearly bouncing around in her brain, you raised a hand to interrupt her.

“They’re safe now,” you reassured her. “But they’re absolutely exhausted.”

Your mother simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head in disbelief. “What is this city coming to? Assaulted on the street, attacked in our own homes; and for what? What have we ever done to these people? What are the Avengers doing about this? I swear, they’re never here when you need them!”

Her statement had quickly devolved into a rant, and she wasn’t really trying to be discreet when she said that last part, so her voice carried quite a bit. Some of the people around you nodded their agreement and made similar complaints, while others argued in defense of the “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”, saying that they couldn’t possibly be everywhere at once.

You personally found that argument to be laughable at best, because you’ve been swinging through this city for a while now, and you’ve barely ever seen them! Beta Ray Bill was the one exception in this regard, but the point still stood.

It was becoming painfully clear why this city needed guys like Matt and Marc. These people needed someone who could look out for the little guy. Someone who could keep his ear low to the ground and stomp out a problem before it became a priority for those with more destructive capabilities.

This debate continued for a while longer, and you and Rich could only roll your eyes as mom felt the need to offer her two cents whenever someone uttered a half-baked opinion that she even remotely disagreed with. Somehow, you managed to pull her attention away from the argument and back to the situation at hand. But from the way her expression hardened upon refocusing her attention on you, you almost regretted not allowing her to lose herself in a healthy distraction from what you all likely considered one of the Parker family’s darkest moments.

“You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but could you tell us how it happened?” you asked cautiously.

Richard glared at you, but to the surprise of both of you, she nodded her agreement.

“After those men attacked, me and your father tried to crawl to the basement so that we could lock ourselves down there and barricade the door.” she began. “But we were barely down the stairs when we realized they weren’t firing at our house anymore! When we took a glance outside, we saw a little ninja mummy tossing these guys around like they were oversized ragdolls!”

You risked a quick glance at Cindy when she said this, but the girl wasn’t looking at either of you.

“After a while, she’d pretty much knocked out everyone that had been shooting at us, and your father-”

(Cont.)

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She stopped talking suddenly, the memory of the event being too traumatic for her to smoothly describe it. Richard put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She placed a hand over his, squeezed it, and offered him a grateful, bittersweet smile.

“Your father went outside to check on the situation.” she continued. “I tried to get him to stay put, but you know how your father is when he sets his mind to something.”

You and your brother nodded and groaned slightly, but for some reason, you couldn’t find it in yourself to muster up any real resentment. Not now, at least.

“Anyway,” mom said. “He stepped outside to check on things, and the ninja mummy tried to get him to go back inside too. She was making some aggressive hand gestures, but your father wasn’t having any of it. That was when I noticed the armed gunman hiding in the bushes…”

She paused to wipe a tear from her eye, and you remained silent until she was ready to continue with her story.

“I screamed for him to get down, but then I realized he was aiming at the mummy. Your father must have realized it too, because he pushed her out of the way and-”

She could hold back the tears no longer. Just the memory of seeing the man she loved take a bullet for someone else was too much for her to bear. You’d gotten the gist of what she was struggling to express, anyway.

Cindy was ashamed that she managed to miss something so important, and even more devastated that she failed to carry out the one job that she had set out to accomplish. In an act of bravado, Peter Parker Sr. sacrificed himself to save a complete stranger.

Cindy still wasn’t looking at either of you. And even Richard had started to tear up at this point. He and dad always had a closer relationship when you were growing up. And while you and he weren’t exactly close, you never wished for anything like this to happen to him.

Dad could be an ass, sure. But he was still the man who raised you, and you could never hate him.

—-----

The emotional outburst from your mother and brother was immediately followed by a painfully long silence, with muttered reassurances from each of you that your father was too tough to go down from this. The more it was said, the more believable the notion was. You all needed that right now. Something to cling to.

Hell, you even considered prayer after a while. Who would you pray to, though? You weren’t terribly religious, and there were so many genuine gods whose existence had been confirmed in some way or another.

There was Odin—no, wait. He was gone now, wasn’t he? Thor took his place as the ruler of Asgard. Could he somehow hear your prayers? As a god that would typically slum it up with the people of “Midgard”, he might be more sympathetic to your pleas.

(Cont.)

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There was also Hercules. Last time you checked, he was a member of the Avengers. A replacement for the Hulk after his last, erm…’incident’. From what you’d seen on the news, Herc was a pretty big party animal; which made him a cool guy in your book. He was also technically a god, or…demi-god? Did demi-gods hear prayers?

It was worth a shot. Hell, you were getting so desperate that you were even considering…

No. Not him. He had failed to protect your father in the first place. You didn’t know if you could tolerate Khonshu’s presence right now, let alone pray to him. If you were in Cindy’s shoes right about now, you might be so bold as to question your faith in the Egyptian bird God.

Surely there were other gods to pray to.

There was Shiva! Four armed, big, blue, beautiful, wise and immensely powerful when compared to the other gods of the Hindu pantheon. He was also well known for his compassion. A guy like him could probably empathize with your plight.

Or…Anansi, the African trickster God! You didn’t know if he was real, but if he was, he’d probably like spider-themed metas…right?

Who will you pray to?

>Thor
>Hercules
>Shiva
>Anansi
>Khonshu
>No one. The gods have never answered your prayers before, so why should they start now?
>Write-in. (You're free to look up a list of the Marvel Gods and suggest a few.)

>>5550987
>>Anansi

>>5550987
Pray to Jesus, it has worked out for Matt, hasn't it?
I was looking at the Gods of Earth in the marvel wiki and I found the trinity. The holy ghost has Spooky as a nickname

>>5550987
>Anansi
Pretty much the only God out of the bunch that might even be aware of us, much less answer our prayers.

>>5550997
I'm ok with Anansi though.
Spooky and Junior made me giggle, so I wanted to share

>>5550987
Yahweh. The true God. Is this our uncle Ben moment?