Mac chuckles as he stretches his back, "You guys aren't used to mobs being after you? That is death by a million opinions of what you should have done better despite being the only one doing anything. This part is the only thing even we feel the Spider deserves and we like to see him suffer."

As Venom reforms, he flicks a web strand to some still-standing structure, "We are going before Shield finally gets in place to tube us again. Amusing that this run as trying to be a hero was shorter than Eddie's try."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:13, Tue 08 Aug 2023.

"We've been through a lot, Natasha. More than we can even comprehend. But we're alive." Hank's simple reply had summed up how they all felt. No one had even dared voice the question of whether those left behind in the Tower were alive or dead: Wasp, Spider-Man, Falcon, and the Human Torch.

Friends. Allies. Heroes.

Danny stands back up quietly. In his arms now is the unconscious Storm, who had done her best to ensure the team's survival through their recent trials. Now, though, the brave leader of the X-Men only lies limp and unmoving in his gentle grasp.

"It's just..." he adds with a sigh, "Storm won't wake up. My Chi healed her injuries, but it can't bring her out of whatever mental state she's in." He looks down sadly at Ororo, whose eyes are shut to the concerned comrades all around her. He's not sure when they might open again, but he hopes-- prays-- that she's okay. That she wakes up from this...

Coma? He didn't ask it out loud, so as not to tempt fate. Anyone could tell at a glance that the condition Ororo was in seemed serious. Perhaps she had struck her head during the Tower's collapse... or fallen prey to an enemy's attack... or maybe, in straining to keep this rag-tag team together for so long, she had simply exhausted herself past all limits.

Danny looked around at the team: pioneering Pym, voracious Venom, mysterious Ms. Marvel, and blunt Bishop. "I can't ask you all to give any more here than you already have. You all risked your lives to stand with me and fight the Skull." He bowed his head deeply in gratitude. "Thank you." Sounding almost like he was dismissing them, it was clear from his gesture that if they now chose to depart, the Iron Fist would bear them no ill will.

"For anyone staying behind..." Danny turned his head and looked out over the city. "The Rand Building's not far. Opening my doors to the Avengers is the least I could do on a day like this."

"Well, I can offer my opinion as a licensed pyschotherapist," she said on the heels of Hank's comment. "Everyone one is mentally f--ked up, in some way. Just a question of whether it's to a point of being serious."

She listened to the chanting with the others, smiling faintly at Natasha's and Venom's exchange, and concurring with both of them.

She frowned as Iron Fist spoke about Storm. "Let me take a closer look at her.  Probably, it's nothing I can do anything about. But let me rule that out."    Karla possessed an amount of respect for Ororo.   Beyond her power level, and how helpful that could be, she was also a person they'd be better off not losing.

"Oh. And for the record, I'm not staying behind.  Among larger, more relevant motives, I'm also severely pissed off," she added, on her way to try and assess Storm.

Iron Fist thought about all the mind-bending things he had experienced in his short twenty-some-odd years. Losing his parents as a child. Entering a mystical land of kung-fu. Fist-fighting a dragon and claiming its power for himself. And that was long before getting recruited into the Avengers... being flung forward and back in time... and meeting a nasty assortment of madmen and metamorphs. Even now, his mind was still reeling from it all.

"Do you have a business card?" he asked Ms. Marvel. "I, uh... could probably use a little bit of therapy, after all I've been through."

Danny hesitated as his ally examined Storm, feeling self-conscious of his handiwork. "There was only so much I could do. My hands can heal to an extent, but I'm no doctor. If you have medical advice on treating her condition, I'll take it."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:03, Fri 11 Aug 2023.

When Iron Fist hands Storm off to Ms. Marvel, Black Widow is there to pat his shoulder in reassurance. She doesn't have to say it was a good speech. She-Hulk nods at the battered martial artist, now separating herself from Hyperion and the Squadron Supreme.

Stark looks over the ledge of the building. Chants from the street rise with volume all the way to the top of the building: "Aven-gers GO! Aven-gers GO! Aven-gers GO!" Stark doesn't take his eyes away. "Uh, I don't think they're asking for the team to assemble into an anime robot. They're... pretty angry. As in 'Avengers go AWAY. They're breaking windows and seemed to get some effigies to light pretty quickly. Someone's stirring them up but I can't see who." Stark's voice lowers, turning to one unlike his own. "I've seen this before."

Stark winces at what he's looking down at, then finally back to the team. "If you're concerned about injuries, I have a base not far from here with a full medical unit ready to go. We could take care of Storm and Hawkeye" -- he looks to Bishop and Ms. Marvel then to Venom -- "And plenty to... eat. At least you all could rest comfortably. And it'd be more discreet than the Rand Building." He looks around to any takers.

"Sounds like a plan, Tony," Hank said. "Let's go."

As to the card, she indicated her bathingsuit-esque costume with a brief, vague gesture.  "Sorry, no pockets, and my purse is back at home."

"Aven-gers GO! Aven-gers GO! Aven-gers GO!"

"Well. That is unfortunate.  If the team's rep is trashed, we could always form a new Thunderbolts, hey?"   She joked, indicating her costume again, more specifically its bolt insignia. "It's one reason I wanted this costume. A bolt logo is far more appropriate for a former Thunderbolt than it was for Carol."   

She didn't hesitate as to Stark's offer and nodded. "I'm all for it too."

Danny nodded to Tony. It was good that the team were in Iron Man's metal hands now. No doubt once the team was healed up in Stark's medical bays, they would return to search the rubble for any sign of survivors. It was a rescue effort best left to the Earth's mightiest superhumans, one of which Danny... was not. "If you need me again, you know where to reach me," he said, smiling at Natasha and placing Storm in Bishop's strong arms so he could offer a handshake to the Shellhead. As he drew closer to Tony, he gave a quick nod toward Bishop and muttered, "Watch your six around the Terminator over there." And, looking at Yellowjacket not unkindly, he added, "... And our friend, 'Quick-Draw'."

The Fist reached into his gi with the other hand and fished out a crumpled business card. "Here. My old Heroes for Hire card. Must've lost my Rand ones somewhere." Along with listing his and Luke's contact info at the bottom, it read:

POWER MAN & IRON FIST
HEROES FOR HIRE

"FROM THE STREETS OF HARLEM TO K'UN-LUN,
WE'VE GOT BAD GUYS ON THE RUN!"

*SENIOR DISCOUNT!

He handed it to Ms. Marvel. "Offer stands, by the way." Danny probably didn't need to mention that, as with any professional service he hired, he tended to make for one well-paying client. "Be safe, all. I need to go see my family."

He looked at Venom, then nodded down toward a nearby rooftop. "Hey, big guy. Mind spinning me one?" However injured Danny was, Rand wasn't far away-- and it had an upper-floor quiet room perfect for healing meditation.

If Venom agrees, and if I can use my Stunt d10 left over from the battle, I'd like to have Danny make his way down to the rooftops by rappelling on a symbiote web. He's heading home to Rand Enterprises.

If the team had an intention of sticking together, Iron Fist could be the one to take it apart by leaving.

Black Widow lithely steps to the martial artist and, close, touches her hand to his arm.

Venom chuckles and fires off a webbing line for Iron Fist, "Rare someone trusts our webs."

He looks back at Stark, "We with you for now canned meat. But have food ready we getting close to feral." He starts throwing webs sorta like ladders up to other building areas, "SHould be stable enough for us to move...we can carry one if needed. "

Hank purses his lips at Danny's joke at his expense, and says nothing for the moment. His eyes are not on Danny, though, but on Natasha.

Bishop was the last one to dig himself out of the rubble.  He stayed quiet for the most part, only grimacing when the topic of 'therapy' was mentioned.  He was pretty sure they would need an entire team of experts to sort himself out.

"We're sure nobody else is trapped down there?" he finally said, once it looked like the heroes were ready to depart.  Lots of people working at Stark's tower, he didn't want to leave anyone behind if he could help it.

"No, we're not sure at all," She-Hulk says in reply to Bishop. "There's probably a lot of people under the rubble of the building." She turns, about to go into a crouch to leap down to the mess of rubble and people below.

"Wait," Hyperion says, holding a hand to her, not close but to emphasize his request to pause. "There are surely people, and they'll need some help getting them out, but for the Avengers to go down there now in the middle of that mad crowd would probably be more dangerous -- for them -- than it would be worth. And who knows how law enforcement would regard you right now."

She-Hulk actually stops, then turns toward him.

"I'll tell you what," the majestic but battered man says. "Let us go down there and take care of it. The Squadron Supreme has more than enough power to help rescue survivors. If they don't identify us then won't cause any harm by being there. And it's the least we could do for the trouble we were a part of."

Most of the rest of his team assemble behind him, tired heads recovering from being controlled but held high, ready to serve.

"The rest of you can go about getting to the bottom of who's really behind all of this. With the hope that it's only one force and they can be stopped."

He looks mainly to She-Hulk, who looks back as firmly.

"Please."

Nighthawk withdraws his hand from his cowled face, the pain of the former incident fading into a visage of grim resolve. "If you plan on going after this Red Skull...you're going to have to be prepared for every eventuality."

Turning to the others with a sweeping gesture, "We've seen what he can do, and we can't afford to have that happen again." He concludes with a defiant stance, "Consider this world-class detective on the case...I'm in."

A moment passes as Danny considers Natasha's plea. To pull himself away from her-- that mournful gaze, the note of sadness in her voice-- is perhaps the most superhuman feat the Iron Fist will accomplish all week. But nonetheless, it is what he is going to do. What he feels he must do.

"I'm sorry," he tells her. "But I've got my own people to look after. Misty. My friends. Everyone at Rand. This whole thing we've been doing was supposed to be just a... 'try-out'. Remember?" Whether Danny is talking about something beyond just his provisional Avengers status could be known to he and Natasha alone.

As he gently sidesteps her, he gives a quick salute to Tony and the rest. No doubt the old school Avengers and new recruits alike will be safe under the guidance of Iron Man. Better the team has its original second-in-command to lead them than a fresh-faced recruit. "Goodbye," he says, not daring to look back at Natasha, for fear he will falter.

Yes, a recruit. Had Danny really yelled 'Avengers Assemble'? It already seemed like a distant memory. Whatever survival instinct had compelled him to do an impression of Captain America, looking back on it now made him feel slightly embarrassed.

As the Iron Fist hopped onto Venom's web-line and walked it like a tightrope toward the nearest rooftop, he thought back to a drunken bet he had made with his best friend. It had involved the topic of being an Avenger, and whether Danny had the 'right stuff' for the job. After the events of the last 24 hours, someone owed someone else money.

Note to self. Check in with Luke.

Using my Stunt d10 to have Danny exit Dr. Spectrum's floating platform. I would like for Danny to use his Solo Affiliation now.

The heroes assembled on the roof, bruised and bloody and beaten but still ready to stand, watch as Iron Fist leaves. Stark taps something into a device. Hyperion’s vision is keen enough to find Nighthawk from the sparse afternoon shadows. She-Hulk kneels at the unconscious Storm’s side and, with gentleness uncharacteristic of a hulking brute, brushes the mutants’s cheek, checking on the life that is still there, barely.

Black Widow sneers at Iron Fist’s back. “Apparently you have to pay some people to be heroes.”

Iron Fist leaves the Scene/adventure
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:25, Tue 26 Sept 2023.

No, they didn't have to pay Iron Fist, even with his 'Heroes for Hire' gig. Heroes for Hire did more pro bono work than anything else, if Hank's information was correct. And Iron Fist had no need for anyone else's money. But sometimes HfH meant that he had other places to be... which was hardly unusual for any Avenger. It wasn't a full-time job for any of them.

It was hardly sporting of Natasha to take that shot at Iron Fist. But Hank had suspicions about her already.

Black Widow shifts her gaze to Yellowjacket while he is lost in quiet introspection. “Penny for your thoughts, Pym?” she asks, keeping the scowl she had reserved for their fleeting teammate. “If we get a collection together maybe we can hire a hero to do his job. For what might be coming, it's going to be full-time and as much overtime as possible. To start. It comes with the territory, for those who can put in the work. And we can use as many as are willing to stay and do it.”

She-Hulk shoots her a glare that says Okay, can we be done with that now? but doesn’t say it, even though it’s speech and action that move events forward.

Hyperion approaches Nighthawk then gives his teammate a hearty handshake. “You’re a fine representation of the Squadron Supreme for what comes next,” the red-and-gold-garbed man says. “You know how to get ahold of us if you need us. Call out to the Skrull and we’ll pick you up.” The Skrull, in battered but undisguised, full regalia, with fists on hips behind the big man, nods steadfastly.

“Is everyone ready who’s going?” Stark announces to the assembled throng. “We’ve got lots of bottled water and bandages at the safehouse. Whatever you need.” He looks over to Doctor Spectrum, who is still resting and cradling his wrist. “Hey, green lantern,” Stark says to the man who, as part of the Avengers, has stood against and beside him, as part of the Squadron, for many missions. “Can we get a ride? We don’t have enough fliers to get across town. There’s Gatorade waiting.”

"Hm? Oh, nothing." Hank kept his thoughts to himself for the time being. He went and gathered together with the others.

Venom shakes his head, "We are going to go with the grumpy one. We remember you red walking past the tanks at Shield."

He flicks out a line, "And getting paid to almost die is alot better than being stupid and doing it for free. Stark we will come for free if you got leads on helping Cap. He protested our tube as much as we did."

With that, he takes off following Iron Fist.

As he swings away, "Getting paid isn't part of being an avenger? We at least get minions' pocket change before all this!" "Told you they were dumb!"

Returning Hyperion's hearty grip, Nighthawk nods saying, "Expect a call, but we need something more than firepower at the moment - we need Intel. I'll see what I can uncover, maybe discover a weakness of some kind. Something tells me this Red Skull's power isn't inherently derived. If so, then maybe there's a way to break the connection...I'll keep you posted."

Bishop was content to let the squadron supreme handle the rescue efforts.  He wasn't concerned about being identified by the mob below (he doubted any of them have seen him before), but it was probably wise to lay low just the same. He moved to stand next to Pym, giving Stark a gruff nod:

"Ready when you are"

"You doubt I've got whatever you need? I'm Tony Stark," Stark says. "Come back to the safe-house and we can talk about money -- " Then trails off when Venom turns away. He blinks as the behemoth goes away. "Or not."

Hyperion nods to his compatriot then the other heroes. "And we'll pass on whatever information we find to you, and to you all. We'll meet up again soon."

From behind Hyperion, Doctor Spectrum takes a step forward toward Stark. He releases his wrist long enough to pull off his mask, revealing a sweating, weary face, emotionally battered if not physically. He sighs then forces out the words toward Stark. "Whatever you need."

"Okay, Tony. That's enough." Tony could talk about money for days. "Let's go already."

Venom leaves the Scene.

A visibly anguished Doctor Spectrum holds his hand out and a giant, glowing, translucent, green platform appears from the gem on it. The heroes step aboard, and Stark makes his way toward Spectrum at the front. “Thanks, Jeeves,” Stark says, sniffing the air. “I’ll give you directions for where to go. Top secret location and all that.” He looks out over the city. “Chop chop.”


+1 XP to those who started and ended the adventure (Bishop, Venom, Ms. Marvel, Yellowjacket).

As this adventure is now over, do not post to this thread any farther.

ACTS OF VENGEANCE 2 continues!