Tell us about your home timeline!

What year did you die in? Who's the President of the United States, who was the first person to walk on the Moon, why are your best friends constantly trying to murder us?

Conversations in this thread are assumed to have occurred In Character, during idle moments and the like. If your comments are a response to in-game events, mention those events here (in quote boxes), and feel free to copy-and-paste any relevant comments from the main IC thread here.
This message was last updated by the GM at 00:58, Fri 29 Jan 2021.

This message was deleted by the player at 04:34, Fri 29 Jan 2021.

Gwen finds Sally and Sue (and anyone else that wants to be involved) and comes up to them holding her phone.

"Hey.  I heard you talking about all those bands my dad listens to, and my 'Groove/Industrial Metal Girl Band' did a cover of a Doors song that I think you might be into."

She scrolls through a bunch of music on her phone, little of which seems recognizable until she finds what she's looking for:

   The Mary Janes (formerly Murderface).  (there's an image of the band)

This brings up another cryptic list with multiple screens of entries saying (demo) or (practice) until she goes further into one:
     live-03-05-16
       02 - Love Her Madly

She presses play and a video of a small club stage of three girls and an empty drum set performing a heavier/faster version of what is probably an unfamiliar Doors cover (Gwen does not realize this song wasn't released until 1971) "Sorry there's no drums, I was fighting ninjas and didn't make it to the show until the fourth song.  That's why Em Jay started with covers.

It really picks up after that."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:48, Fri 29 Jan 2021.

Sue glanced at the unfamiliar technology Gwen held in her hand.   She'd seen any number of handheld devices that Reed put together -- but this was different looking.  Sleeker, slimmer, more streamlined.

Sue was impressed, with the graphic image, and that such a small device could be used to hold (apparently) multiple albums' worth of music.  Apparently, it was Gwen's band, and she was a rock & roller.

As for the Sound: "Holy cats!  That is..." she groped for the word, "Intense. And here I thought the Led Zeppelin record* was about the heaviest music humans could make!" She frowned, listening to the song itself.

"That's a Door's song?"  She glanced at Sally.  "You ever hear it?  Is it a B-side off some single?"   

Sue means literally "the" Led Zeppelin record...they'd only put out one in her period.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:20, Fri 29 Jan 2021.

When Gwen described one of Sally’s favorite bands as “one her dad listened to,” Sally raised eyebrows.  “Get this, Sue,” Sally said with a playful grin. “Gwen’s saying if we lived, we’d be old enough to be her mom.” She chuckled at the irony.

Gwen’s handheld device fascinated Sally. “It’s like something out of Star Trek. Our whiz kids in the commune came pretty close to making some equipment like that, but nothing so...delicate.” Then, Gwen blew Sally’s mind and played a mini-movie on the device’s screen. “Far. Out.”

She went to another level when she saw the band’s lineup. “The ‘Mary Janes’, huh? Like, you’re not talking about the kind schoolgirls wear, are you?” Sally winked at Gwen, happy that some things survived the passage of time. “Wait. It’s an all-girl band!”

Sally clapped her hands, squealing in delight. “Grace & Janis are making the scene, but nothing like your band! And that sound—so wild, so way out! Just the grooviest!”

She pumped the “Power To The People” fist at Gwen. “I don’t care what some people here said, I think I would dig the Future!”

"No, Mary Jane is our frontwoman," (the redhead on guitar and lead vocals, also the one that got killed with Gwen in the explosion.)

Another thing that might be surprising to those from the sixties but is invisible to Gwen is the racial makeup of the band.  The Keyboard player (Glory) is African-American and the Bass player (Betty) is asian.

Gwen is frankly shocked that Sally associated the band name with something and it wasn't weed.

"and I think technically you're old enough to be my Grandma.

This is a pretty popular Doors song where I come from, and all the lyrics are the same... there was some jerk after the show bitching that Em Jay didn't change it to 'Love Him Madly.'  It's the same band, right?  Jim Morrison, Start my Fire, Oklahoma Song, Love me Two Times?". (Not typos, some song titles are different across universes)

I can't play the original for you because I don't keep a lot of oldies stored locally on my phone and my Streamify account doesn't work interdimensionally.  There's whole genres of heavier music since then, if you want something heavier you might like the Valkyries.

Anyway I'm glad you like it because when we get settled somewhere safer, I'm gonna need you to Tallus up that same model of drum set so I can practice."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:44, Fri 29 Jan 2021.

"Many spiritual traditions speak of time being a sort of illusion, a kind of big mind f--k. That we're all here together would seem to support the possibility, hey? It's a matter of perspective, too.  You're young enough for your parents to be one of our ova, and for you - well, your body at least, 'cause I believe in the spirit - to be information inside those cells. And some dude's sperm." 

"But, trippy stuff aside, you want a drum set, you're getting one.   When did you start playing? What made you want to? Aside from the fact music is food for the soul, I mean."     It was a very uncommon instrument for a girl to play, where she came from.  But after flaming, flesh melting skeletons and talking rabbits, not exactly a shock.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:17, Fri 29 Jan 2021.

"Music is a wonderful thing. Though some 'modern to me' music has disharmonic sounds that mess with my hearing." After a pause.

"What particular flavors of music or genre's do you do?"

"Me, Glory, and Pete snuck out to a punk show when we were in high school.
 I just loved the energy.  Probably best that it was pre spider-bite or I might have broken a wall.   Then she met Em Jay and had the idea for a girl band.  At first I just thought it was a good way to drop of dance classes and not have my dad pressure me to play a sport.  Then I realized how talented they were.

It's not just time, right?  I know another Sue Storm, and her and her brother... they're like you but they're not.  Same looks, same powers, definitely not the same personality.  You know a Spider-Man, Tigro's world has Spider-Woman.  Are they like me?  And, am I even just one person anymore after getting my powers back?.

After Tigro speaks up,
"Spider-man is probably Jesse Drew.  He was the first one exposed to Aranea Luna."
Well, the only survivor of the moonbase incident.
"And a cosmonaut in Tigro's world."  Her name is Petra after all.

OOC: For musical style, it's definitely intense - MJ puts a lot of emotion (including yelling into her lyrics, plus there's two guitars, prominent keyboards, and heavy drums.  With this plus the fact that these are supposed to be New York teenagers today I've decided to RP their sound as kind of an all-girl White Zombie (with more keys involved.)
In her world, both Matt Murdock and Logan are bothered by the sound.  Gwen has some enhanced senses but not on that level (plus she liked it before)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:41, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

Sue nodded, "We're definitely into the realm of multiple realities.  I used to wonder...and now, I know it's real.  A little unnerving, but I think, overall I'm happier existence works this way.   I think it reaffirms we become who we want to be, and that our choices do matter. So sorry I'm such a bitch, in your world! Even though I'm a wealthy doctor, with a TV show. Just goes to show, money can't buy you love."

"Huh.  Spider-bite? You're telling me that's how you were empowered?  That's a trip!  The Spider-Man of my world is secretive, nobody seems to know nadda about him.   He's our most popular indie hero -- the media's darling, the press loves him.  And he is a great guy -- I think you'd like him. I could imagine you two on one swingin' date, that's for sure." 

To Tigro:  "I'm hip to your sonic sensitivity, Tigro.  Whenever I played In a Gadda da Vida by Iron Butterfly, my cat would freak out!"

Thank goodness her cat had passed peacefully the year before, and she'd not yet got a new one.  She fully loathed to think of one locked inside the house with her brain-splattered corpse. Or subject to the nasty whim of whoever had killed her.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

“Disharmony is just two harmonies trying to occupy the same space at the same time.” Sally grasped Tigro’s hands to coax him into a dance. “You’ve just got to find the rhythm you can feel and move with the groove!” After a few steps, she released his hands. Sally danced to a music she may have heard from Gwen’s phone or from another time.

Her hands flourished as her arms moved side to side. Her black hair swayed like a silken curtain as her head moved with the music she felt. Her hips swayed sinuously as her feet moved. Sally’s dance style hinted at time spent in a Go-Go dancer’s cage. After a minute or two, she slowed to a stop. “Just like dancing at the festival at Monterey.”

“Spider-Man—and it’s a man back home, too, although I dig the statement you’re making as a Spider-Woman—is as much of a rebel as the Brotherhood. Like, he acts for the common good, but those pigs in the Avengers always come down on him. He’s just narrowly avoided getting sent to prison by Iron Man or Captain America.”   

OOC:

If The Mary Janes are still playing, then Sally dances like one of Warhol’s Factory crew on amphetamines. Otherwise, standard 60’s Go Go Girl groove.

 

"The first time, yeah. And while people don't know the details, there's a lot of speculation that the moon spiders are involved.

The magic of interdimensional friends is that you can't tell anyone it would matter to.  The only danger is in those puns of yours."  Gwen is just now realizing she could be putting the secret identity of someone she's never heard of in jeopardy.  You said people in your world are born with powers?  Mutants?  That's so weird.  It's probably all different there."

Music from Gwen's band is still playing as long as it's well received - there's little on her phone that would be recognizable to Sally and Sue, the oldest stuff she has is from David Bowie, and it's mostly his later work with the exception of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (the title of which is considered prophetic in her world)

After Sally chimes in:  "In my world, Cap disappeared along with a chunk of a German mountain and most of the Nazi leadership.  Singlehandedly ended World War 2.  Showed back up in 2005 talking about another dimension.  She's part of a Government org named SHIELD in D.C. now, but she helped me out a few times so we're cool.

Most of the time I'm the only hero in New York."  Gwen's never heard of Iron Man.  All these other worlds have so many more heroes!
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 22:27, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

After a gap in the conversation, Rocket will randomly pitch in about music.  "Quill's songs always confuse me.  Is Funkytown really that great a place?  How do Egyptians actually walk?  It can't be that nonsense Quill does.  Do you really need a whole song to say someone showed you a great time?  I'm glad he got a new set of songs, I can only hear about somebody becoming a four-sided shape so many times before I'm ready to toss his tape deck out an airlock."

((Bored.  Wanted to contribute something in the wait.))

"Wow, those references are at least 20 years after the time those two come from but have somehow aged worse than anything Sue and Sally say.

As far as your questions,
It's not that nice.  That's a silly dance - not a walk.  Does he try to do a weird thing with his eyes side to side when he sings it?  There's sort of a mating ritual involved.
And finally, You need more than one if your good time lasts more than four minutes." Does Rocket even like Quill?

"Is all your exposure to Earth culture through Quill?  I thought you'd been here before.  Is Quill human?  I don't think there are humans way out in space in my dimension."

"I didn't think music would be your thing.  Thought it was all about space battles and oversized guns.  New toys."  Gwen spins up a ball of webbing when she says that.  "And maybe being impatient.  Were you eyeing this stuff earlier?"

Rocket nods.  "Nice to hear some sympathy, and yes, everything Quill does listening to music is weird."

Rocket leans back, thinking a bit about how to answer.  "Almost all of my Earth culture is through Quill.  We only visit Earth when Quill-connected impending doom or Thanos is involved.  Seams peaceful enough otherwise.  We tend not to stay anywhere long.  For being called the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' it's sure rare for us to get a warm welcome.  _{I wonder why Quill insists on that name.}  That said, Duct Tape is the work of the gods."  With that line Rocket raises his hands up as if expecting some to fall from the sky for a second or two.

He clears his throat and continues.  "That said, of course Quill is human.  A sub-par example.  Kidnapped by the Marauders and all that.  Not that you'd know stuck on that mud ball, but I've seen plenty of humans out and about in space.  Nova Corps is full of them.  I know their prisons better then they do.  Plenty that look human, too.  Have you met the Asgardians like Thor?  We scuffled on Earth before."

Rocket considers the last couple questions while eyeing the goo-making process (and result) curiously.  "I don't think Music ever got a fair chance.  Lock a carnie in a circus for three years and (assuming he's sane) ask if he enjoys the tunes.  That said, what's wrong with battles and oversized guns?  You try getting more then Earth's collective knowledge on Engineering forcefully jammed into your cranium and tell me if you don't develop a taste for weaponry.  Seeing it all work, how it all fits together, comes apart, it's hard not to appreciate all the work and beauty that goes into it.  Ya missed space ships, portable warehouses, jump drives, jetpacks, rockets, shielding systems, (especially energy,) you name it..."  Rocket points to your wrist.  "And if that can be turned into tech, quite yes, whatever you're doing to do that.  It's like, endless portable Duct Tape!  I could probably build an entire ship off little more then that!  You have no idea how amazing that would be in our line of work."

"Guardians of the Galaxy-? I've met them -- but I didn't meet any Quill. They were led by a guy named Vance Astro, and a woman named Aleta, who was also a dude named Starhawk.  Not like a cross-dresser - more of a conjoined, spontaneous transmutation kind of thing."   

"And we've got Asgardians. Most prominently Clint Barton, a guy who found a mystically imbued bow, now calls himself Uller, and claims to be the actual deity."   Sue's demeanor had changed, gotten more serious, on listening to Rocket's last bit.

"What's wrong with battles and oversized guns? Jesus, man! Guess you were too busy counting krutacks when I told the group how my parents died?   Oversized guns and worse destroyed a significant part of the city I was born in, and they along with a lot of others were killed. When the kree and the skrulls used our city as their personal boxing ring. It was a nightmare. Of course, there's the more mundane, but every bit as ugly war we've got going on back home.  Fought for all the wrong reasons," she shook her head vehemently, "the young men pay the price, while the corrupt old fat cats sit behind their desks, and get filthy rich from it!"   

She wasn't done: "I just separated from a man who perpetually talked science, technology, and 'progress.'   Yeah, my old man talked about like you do; except it was veiled in benevolent ideas, and 'the good of mankind.'   At least your spiel is more honest.   Let me tell you, though, Mother Nature gives us far more profound beauty than anything the human race -- or former rabbits -- will ever cobble together.   Do you know what I respect about you, Rocket? It's that twig you carry and nurture.   When I call you 'Twig Daddy,' it's not an insult." 
This message was last edited by the player at 16:37, Mon 01 Feb 2021.

"You have some  about the webbing if you're gonna build a whole ship out of it.  First off, it's air-permeable, I hit people in the face with it ALL the time."  She drops the little ball of it in Rocket's hand.  The string that was attached to his gun in the void is probably already fully dissolved.  He's gonna be disappointed when he finds out it only lasts a couple hours.  "I'm gonna have to do a web facts lecture, aren't I?"

"Asgard might be dead in my world, if it ever was real.  All the stories are about the end of it, and they're old."  Gwen switches the music on her phone to play "The Valkyries".  There's no video on this one, just a photo of the guitarist (Tessa) playing on a literal axe.

"Glad to have a fellow carnie around.  I do wear tights and fly through the air on a rope, after all.  Have you been introduced to corn dogs?"

"Asgard translated into Earth-space in my world," Wade said, sitting a bit apart. "Crashed into Oklahoma, destroying both. Millions dead. The fires are still burning."

It wasn't funny, and he wasn't trying to be.

"Ugly fact is, heroes are responsible for more death and destruction in my world than the Black Plague, World War Two, and Britney Spears combined."

((If this wasn't a side thread focused on backstories, I'd have kept it MUCH less wordy.))

Rocket will chuckle at that.  "Ha!  I'll be sure to tell Quill I know where he stole the name from."

  "Honestly, Thor was the only one I remembered the name of, and even then it was due to having an Avengers connection.  My trip to Asgard involved theft, and that don't make friends."

  He'll listen intently.  "Not gonna say I know those guys, but I've met the Skrii.  Been on the bad side of Ronan the Accuser more then once.  Heard of him?  I got to watch him destroy an entire planet with a hammer in one strike.  Shrugged off some rather heavy gunfire like it's nothing.  Sure it sucks to hear, but it sounds to me like you already figured out the engineering wasn't the problem, it was the guys in charge.  They don't need guns to level your city, all they need is a signature.  An entire city got turned into a weapons and tactics cage against it's will with no chance to evacuate.  Seen it past Earth more then a few times.  Trademark tactic of Thanos.  Cages come in a variety of forms; fear, force, poverty, you name it.  Cages are the worst, and getting killed in them is always tragic."

  Rocket pads his pocket as he thinks.  After a short pause, he gives a quick sigh before continuing.  "After seeing Asgard's World Tree, a living sentient planet calling itself a god, and more things trying to kill me then I can count, I think I can safely say that the feats of 'Mother Nature' makes quite a bit of ugly to go with that beauty.  Maybe your engineering appreciation would be more apt in agriculture, housing, and medicine if you were in my shoes.  Ugly exists in all mediums, natural or not.  As far as my 'connection to nature' here, I don't think I'm quite ready to talk about it.  I'd spoil the little positive mood we got faster then I ruin relationships."


                                                                         

"I've flown depressurized ships.  Only need to survive long enough to jump to a nearby port and land."  Rockets full attention was now on the webbing.  He may need a while to get his hands free, as he's certainly poking and pulling however he can for even a glint of insight as to what it is and how it works.  "I'll pass on the lecture until I can port it around.  I wonder if we could recompress it?"

"Oh, my workplace isn't a literal circus.  Drax is completely addicted to corn dogs though.  We almost couldn't take off once due to corn dog overweight.  He even opened a corn dog stall on Knowhere.  Just don't ask where the meat came from."
((Corn Dog mystery meat?  Some things never change!  Rocket didn't mention the overweight from Duct Tape, cassette tapes, some third hoarded item I forgot what was.  Details lost.))


                                                                         

  "That comment left the mood more dead then we're supposed to be!  At least Ronan didn't kill two planets at once... not that I've ever argued for heroes before.  That's all Quill's nonsense.  Based on his definition of heroes, they sound like a real problem.  They but into people's business, justify anything they do with their own personal spin on what 'justice' is, and assume everyone is supposed to be thankful that they tried... Thanos would be the ideal hero by that lack of logic.
((Rocket conveniently forgot someone mentioning 'only hero in New York.'  EDIT: Added the line I excluded.))
This message was last edited by the player at 02:18, Tue 02 Feb 2021.

"That's... um. That's the worst, Wade."  Maybe it was better that Gwen's world didn't seem to have any space gods or whatever a Thanos was.  Gwen's failures were a lot more personal in scope.

"Are you even gonna go back?  If Timebroker sets us free?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 19:22, Mon 01 Feb 2021.

Wade laughs. It is a cold, hollow, joyless sound.

"I'm not sure I have a choice," he said. "I'm the spirit of vengeance, and there's a lot of vengeance left to go around in my world. The Hulk, Thor..." he eyed Sue sideways, and added, "...Reed Richards."

“Violence digs its own grave, Wade.” Sally rejoined the conversation after spacing out for a minute. “Is that the life you really want for yourself, if you have a chance to fix what went wrong?” Her question came gently, imploring Wade to consider another path.

”That doesn’t mean I don’t understand why you’d want revenge, though. Oklahoma was destroyed...by Asgard?” Sally’s eyes reflected the visuals that haunted her at the notion of a city of gods crashing into an American state. “What if that wasn’t an accident? Raven, one of our commune, spies on the big wigs in Washington. She told us there was talk at the Pentagon of deploying Thor to take down the VC.”

After saying her peace, Susan did the wise thing:  She went quiet and listened.   And, she had to admit, Rocket had some valid points.   In particular:



She was silent a moment, finding an increased respect for the little extra-terrestrial.   He wasn't like Reed.

"Touche. Well said," she replied to Rocket.  "I've let my biases and prejudices run away a little.  Though mundane military and over-industrialization are still responsible for a lot of gruesome shit where I come from.  Most super-types - the good ones - tend to have more conscience and compassion, than your average lieutenant-colonel. Or politician."   

She tried to conceptualize what Wade was speaking about.  And the attempt fully horrified her.   "I hate incursions from elsewhere, like that.  I'm so, so sorry, for your world. And I hope Sally isn't right;  that it wasn't manuevered.  Because that's far worse. "    She considered a name Wade  had dropped:

"Brittney Spears?   Is she, like, the leader of SPEAR in your world?   SPEAR is our worst techno-terrorist organization. Some even believe they're funding and driving the war. I wouldn't be surprised." 

Then Wade said that name, and Susan went dead cold inside.    Reflexively rubbing the back of her head, where'd she been shot, on the way out of the life she once had.   Without consciously thinking what it might imply.   And, there was another suspicion she consciously harbored about him...one that sickened her.

She frowned. "Yeah...Reed f--king Richards. My old man.  The guy I'd just separted from before getting popped.  Don't feel bad, Wade.  He's a cold blooded asshole in my world.  One of the worst mistakes I ever made.  If he's even worse in your own...I'm sorry."   

"Well...isn't this nice and depressing!   We should probably get back to webs, music, and dancing." 
This message was last edited by the player at 01:30, Tue 02 Feb 2021.

“Your Reed sounds like an utter pig.” Sally gently squeezed Sue’s hand. “I’m glad you didn’t get tied down with a baby with that jackass like the Sue in my world.” Trying to lighten the mood, Sally asked, “It would serve your Reed right if you actually ditched him for that hunk, Submariner!”

"Thank you," she told Sally sincerely.  "I got pregnant, but miscarried. No fun, awful. But, maybe it was for the best."    The miscarriage...and thereon hung the suspicion. She could have asked the Timebroker...but chickened out.  She shoved it from her mind.

She forced her flippancy back into place: "The Sub-Mariner?  Ha! He lives out on one of Neptune's moons, Triton!  I can't do long distance romance!"   

Sue requested a change of threads from the Tallus; and was abruptly clad in a similar short dress and go-go style boots to Sally, only with different colors.   Making them look like paired dancers on a TV show.

"C'mon, sister...let's shake it down!" she said, bumping her hip into Sally's, beginning to dance to Gwen's intense, infectious music.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:43, Tue 02 Feb 2021.

“You’ve got it!” If Sally knew one thing, it was how to live in the moment. “I’m feeling the groove of her wild music!” She danced facing Sue, then hopped beside her. “Come on, Wade! Trade that flaming skull dourness for the cute guy I saw earlier!

Shake a tail feather, Tony! You, too, Bugs!”

Wade put his face back on, flames dying as he did so. He wasn't much of a dancer, but he gave it his best shot.

"My time as Funnybone is sometimes... fuzzy," he said. It was both a blessing and a curse to forget some of Funnybone's antics. But if he was going to work with these people, he needed them to trust him. That meant knowing if Funnybone had seen anything worth avenging in their souls, and if he trusted them. "Does everyone still have all their parts?"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:05, Tue 02 Feb 2021.

"Reed Richards is twelve in my world - glad we cleared up the alternate reality thing because eww."

"What do you mean about parts?  Like, wisdom teeth, appendix?"  Gwen still has the latter, but it's worth checking.  Technically she has more parts than she started with, and Venom keeps regenerating - sheds spiders like Gwen sheds hair.

"I mean limbs, face, internal organs." Wade looked around and was satisfied that nobody was injured or burned to a crisp. "Funnybone takes vengeance on people who deserve to be punished for great evil. You all seem nice enough, but if Bone saw evil in your soul, he'd burn or break you. Or both. He acts like a goofball, but he's seriously dangerous."

Sue had seen a twelve year old Reed only in photographs.  Even back then, he'd had the eyes of a sociopath, that she'd not really learned to interpret before being wed to one. She was grossed out by Gwen's implication.     'Yeah, as if...'

"I've got another force field ready for Burning Bones, if he gets out of hand," she assured.

"Okay, so he's not you?  Then who, what, is he?  This seems like a great time to hear this story."    Sue ceased dancing to hear this, if Wade was willing to spill.

"On my world, there was something called the Weapon X project," Wade began. He sounded more somber than the others had heard before. "It had a mandate to produce superhumans more powerful than the ones wrecking the Earth. One division took existing supers and merged them with mystic entities. I got merged with a demon called Zarathos, whose mission was to punish evil. Funnybone is part me, and part Zee.

"Someday, remind me to tell you about the Wendigo, the Sasquatch, and the Juggernaut. Those guys make Funnybone look like a creampuff."

“I only know about the Sasquatch and Wendigo from my anthropology class...the chapter on American Indian legends.” Her eyes narrowed as she discussed the other name Wade mentioned. “I know about the Juggernaut, though. He’s like a force of Nature itself. Raw aggression shaped in irresistible muscle. Like, as strong as the Hulk, but with a cunning mind. He’s trouble in any world, I’d bet.”

Sue frowned at Wade's description of this project, disliking the sound of it.  Still, desperate measures, for a desperate situation...'wrecking the earth'...she was in no place to judge.  Thus far, Wade's world sounded by far the most chaotic and dangerous.   Some extra-terrestrial invasions were virtually nothing by comparison.

"So...evil to destroy evil, huh?  I hope that works out well in practice.  I guess we'll see. I still don't think I'm quite grasping what the Funny part is."   

She nodded at Sally's words. "I've read some of those legends as well.  Hey -- when the Timebroker was speaking to you, he mentioned a Colonel Xavier...I didn't put it together then, but is that Charles Xavier?"

Sally shrugged with a confused frown. “I think so...? Magnus worked with him in Europe about ten years ago, my time. They provided therapy to Holocaust survivors at a private institution near Vienna.

They parted ways over philosophical differences.” She tilted her head to the side as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “For years, Magnus was angry at the world, and rightly so. He’d survived Auschwitz, and saw assholes like Bolivar Trask hawking similar rhetoric against mutants. Magnus was ready to start a revolution, but he met a psychedelic guru who helped him break through all the pain that was poisoning him. Together, they built a device that amplified Magneto’s brainwaves so he could call out to mutants like me. Call us to come to San Francisco and see what the Brotherhood was all about.

What I learned there blew my mind! I learned about my powers, and about this greater consciousness that the human race could achieve. We mutants were the next step in Evolution to show humanity the way. I was with them a week or two before I learned about Charles Xavier and his ‘X-Men’. Alex called him ‘Professor X’. He ran a school back East as a cover for recruiting mutants for some government operation. We persuaded Alex to leave them, but we couldn’t reach his brother Scott.

I guess the X-Men are a military troop...”

Sally’s voice trailed off with profound disappointment over the man she loved falling into Xavier’s clutches.

Sue realized there was a bad reality attached to that, that Sally didn't want to have to contemplate.

"Sorry if I gaffed in bringing that up.   What the Timebroker told you, you're going to avert that, in your own reality.  Not maybe, but will.  You've got the moxie to pull it off.  And, I'm going to make it one of my agendas to see that you get back home to your man.  I wish I had that kind of love you do to go home to -- and a movement like the one you describe to belong to." 

"Anyway, in my reality Charles Xavier was a very Gandhi talking mutant guru and savior.  Mr. Gentle soul, all on the up and up - and then something broke.   He ended up in cahoots with SPEAR, and willingly submitted to a bunch of their experiments and 'guided' evolution technology.   It vastly augmented his mental powers -- and also turned him to a real freak.  Multiple brains bulging from his humongous skull, vocally mute, all telepathy, pretty much quadriplegic.   Ghastly f--king enemy -- able to reach into the core of your psyche, and pulverize you with the worst shit lurking in your subconscious.   It took a combined effort from the Aegis, the Defenders, and a bunch of us indies to finally bring him down."    Sue shuddered a little at the memory.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:29, Wed 03 Feb 2021.

“It sounds like Magneto and Xavier switched roles in your world.” Sally shuddered at the description of Xavier’s own evolution. “Brrr! He sounds like Brainchild, an act of kindness gone wrong back home.” Sally brushed her hair back behind her ears as she pondered the grave stakes of mutant relations in birth their worlds. “Don’t get me wrong. Magnus didn’t always get it right. It’s what he does right, that’s what I’m fighting for.”

With that, Sally’s face brightened. She touched Sue’s arm. “Look, I don’t know if the Timebroker would let it fly, but...if for some reason, you can’t go back to your world, you can come back with me to mine! I know there would be a home for you with The Brotherhood.” She looked at Wade. “You, too, Wade. Maybe you wouldn’t have to spend your life pursuing vengeance. We could help you find peace, and belonging...”

"Nobody always gets it right.  It's the intent, acting from a place of love, and mostly doing good that matter." 

Sue smiled.  "If for some reason I can't get back to mine, yours sounds like it might be the very best of possible alternatives.  Less shades of grey than my own, is my impression...for which I envy you, if it is the case.  But, even though my love life's a shambles, I've still got loved ones who I'm gonna fight very hard to come home to."    She glanced to Wade.

"Yeah, she's right; you could use some flower-power and transcendental time-out!"

In reply to Unseen (msg # 37):

Flashback:

"I'm really confused by how different our story seems, Sue is the leader of the Fantastic Four, Dr. Fantastic,  brilliant woman, also very hot, but sadly married to Mr. Invisible, and they have a daughter. She's a cutie, babysat for her once, something special about that tiny package of mayhem, baby mayhem, but still. At least she likes cats." Tigro says. "I don't know Magneto but I know his son, the Scarlet Sorceror, oh are the Beatles still around in any of your universes? I'd love to get a signed vinyl of one of their albums. Wild ladies, I've heard, in their time."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:40, Thu 04 Feb 2021.

In reply to Tigro (msg # 38):

"Are none of them alive in your world?  My timeline is 60 years ahead of when they started and there's still two of them around.  And what is their drummer named in your world?"  Gwen is dying to know what the feminine version of Ringo is.

"And, are most of your world leaders women?"

In reply to Spider-Woman (msg # 39):

"Yes, all the Beatles have passed on, violence for one of them, cancer for two, and accidental death for the last if drug overdose counts there. Starr was killed by her ex-husband, Kenny, with no last name. McCartney got ovarian cancer, Lennon got breast cancer and Harrison overdosed. McCartney and Lennon died more recently, still a few years back, though." He sighs sadly. "It really sucked to lose those ladies, and their music was astounding. It was considered older music in my time a previous generation"


"I'll be honest here, women leaders outside the superhero world, are rare and more recent. I'm happy for that change though sort of they've not all been good, sexism mostly was the problem. Our first woman president was named Willa Clinton, a Democrat, almost got impeached over...uh, well, crap there was a lot of stuff thrown about and I'll be honest I was a bit younger, and it was my first vote for president, but something was off and I tried a third party vote. She managed to dodge getting ousted though. I'd voted for Rosilla Padrosa, she was the first Latina-American to run, had good plans for the country though they called her a socialist. Better than the Bush guy, or Mrs. Clinton she came off even for a democrat a bit out there, and heavens she stared at the camera and lectured people like she was a queen when being interviewed. Bush's son was next for two terms!"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:55, Fri 19 Feb 2021.

Sue smiled sadly at this revelation.    Remembering the joy she'd felt in expecting, at a time when she still believed in Reed.  Believed that his 'better side' would assert itself at the prospect of becoming a father.    Before he'd proved not to have one.   And she was left with the horrid, stabbing suspicion that he had caused her to miscarry...

"Yeah.  She sounds adorable alright.   Even if her parents seem to have the same funny preferences in names as some of the other realities.   Dr. Fantastic?  What, pray tell, do I do that led me to dub myself such an ostentatious name? It is less somber than Dr. Doom, at least!" 

Gwen's line of questioning restored her mood a little, making her laugh some.

"Really?  Those four are the Beatles?"   She shook her head, wonderingly.    "Lennon and Harrison are both in the Stones.    And, McCartney plays in WonderMac, with Stevie Wonder.   Ringo Starr is in the Beatles --  or was -- they just called it a day at the start  of the year. Both Clapton and Steve Winwood were itching for solo careers."

"It is great to hear there's more opportunity for we gals, in the future. Even if I despise politics with a passion, and feel the whole system needs an overhaul.   Hope it's better in your worlds -- but doesn't sound it."

"So, Tigro --  tell us about cat people.  Who are they?  Where do they live?   How did you become involved?   I know a cat person, who lives in a place called the Great Refuge.  Being quite a cat lover, I thought meeting one - or now two - was pretty groovy. But, a whole race of them?  We need to hear this story."   
This message was last edited by the player at 20:10, Fri 19 Feb 2021.

In reply to Unseen (msg # 41):

"I think she chose that name, because of her intellect, her picture shoot in time, before the ship launch, she was already being called "Fantastic" or "Fantastic Woman" but she asserted she would be 'Dr. Fantastic, thank you very much. I didn't earn a doctorate in physics, biochemistry, aerospace engineering' and well it went on with the "to be called just 'woman'" He smiles "She has a remarkably brilliant mind, which is honestly one of the things making her so hot. I guess I fall for smart women, well, I'll be honest since I became a cat-person by magic, sort of, its a complicated story. I kinda like most women, kinda hard to ignore the pheromones as he taps his nose. But I do have some self-respect, more than a wild tomcat, slightly more, anyway." he grins, and thinks for a bit. "Long story, is the scientist who gave me super-powers was a cat-person, and things got complicated, and I almost died, she used science but her people used magic, they're varied a lot in feline forms, some people say they're demons, but so far they've been pretty close to a human when I've dealt with them, better than some."
  He frowns then and half growls "No matter how charming, promise me, PROMISE me, you won't go talk to Dr. Doom; he dismissed our Susan because she was a woman! Despite her correcting his math! That's childish, and petty, and chauvinistic, oh he oozes charm when he wants to, but I think he's a narcissistic ass." Remembers the time he helped rescue Dr. Fantastic, as new Avenger, and how the man dripped lies like honey, but he knew in his gut the man only wanted to conquer her.

“Is there a universe where Dr. Doom isn’t a narcissistic ass?” Sally gave a low whistle. “Dr. Doom, despot of an isolationist Balkan nation. He keeps Latveria even more cut off rom the world than Red China or the other countries behind the Iron Curtain.”

"Well, in Gwen's world, I'm called Dr. Doom.  But, you say it's someone else, in yours? And in Sally's?  A guy?"  She shook her head.   "God, he sounds like Reed." She waved a hand dismissively.

"Oh, don't worry about me being taken in by a charming sociopath.   Been there, done that. Never again."     Then she realized:

"Wait -- Latveria?  Jesus.  In my world, Latveria has -- had a monarchy.  The ruling family was von Drede."   She pronounced that name just like Dread.   "Victoria von Drede - or Lady Dread, as she deemed herself - was really around the bend." Sue did the 'coo coo' finger twirl, next to her temple.

"The whole country exists in a place known as the Negative-zone, now. She made some sleazy, unholy pact with a being called the Annihilus.  Became his queen.  Some fear an invasion by them, if they ever stabilize a gateway." 

Sue sighed. "All these other Sues have such epic lives!    TV shows; award winning, multiple, doctorates."   She shook her head.  "I've spent my life around people smarter than me.  Reed called me 'the world's smartest dumb blonde.'" She smiled sourly.   "From him, it's sort of a complement."  Back to the topic of cat people:

"Huh.  Well, I'm pleased to hear cat-people are better than many.  It validates my faith in felines.  And they practice magic?  That's more rumor, in my reality."   She smiled. "No worries about being a tom-cat, Tigro."    She put a hand on Sally's shoulder. "Me and Sally are the sort of girls Mama-cat warned you about," she winked at him, tongue plainly in cheek.

In reply to Polaris (msg # 43):

"Yeah, Victor Von Doom aka Dr. Doom. He's brilliant but arrogant and foolish, all the while I'm trying to be humble, and do this hero thing. Despite my feline urges..sometimes I just want to rip and tear things, but well, I'm doing my best." He thinks he said too much and so goes quiet.

Sue's demeanor became empathetic.

"Two different natures, in conflict?   I can dig it; my sun sign is Gemini. Seriously, though -  that must be hard, sometimes.  Having someone who understands would be best, I think. Like another cat-person --  which may be very tough to find, now. But, we're here to listen, if you need to talk.  We may not be able to relate exactly.  But everyone has wrestled with their feelings, in some way. You don't have to wrestle with yours alone."

"Being part cat is probably a lot like having a hybrid alien spider.  It's a lot of work to control the instincts my symbiote has.  I try to teach it that there's a better way than always lashing out.

It really helped that I had my powers for a while before I had to share.  Let me figure some of this out on my own."

“Maybe you’re going about it the wrong way? Like, maybe you don’t need to conquer your feline spirit.” Sally affectionately touched  Grant’s shoulder with a gentle smile. “That Cat saved your life, right? You likely can’t live without it.

Perhaps what you need isn’t dominance over the Cat spirit? I don’t know any cat who’d get down with being dominated. Maybe you need a way of finding harmony between your human and feline selves?”

In reply to Polaris (msg # 48):

"I appreciate the thought, I'm trying to balance the human and feline." He sighs. "You are all very kind and my human side is 'see, beautiful women, don't seem to mind the cat thing, and you are good and in control. Then the cat side adds 'so mate with them all, NOW!' It sucks, honestly."

He shakes his head. "Don't worry though, my head is on the mission. But thank you all for caring, still, most of you are beautiful women if you don't mind the compliment. I'll focus and get things done, pheromones and instincts of the cat aside."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:01, Wed 24 Feb 2021.

"Being part cat is probably a lot like having a hybrid alien spider."

Sue considered that.  Arched a brow, smiled, "Is anything like having a hybrid alien spider?  Not so sure, about that one."

Sue nodded, flashed the peace sign at Tigro. "Cool. Able to make nearly impenetrable force fields, I'm not sweatin' any fresh felinoids." 

In reply to Unseen (msg # 50):

"Cat in your head, spider in your head.  They're both predators with instincts to overcome.  I think I get some of it.  The cat impulses certainly manifest differently.

Then again, there's a whole race of cat people that have an actual culture and my symbiote came from a lab and needs me to teach it."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:14, Fri 26 Feb 2021.

“Right on, Sister!” Sally held her palm out so she could “Give Her Five”. “I’m no slouch with a force field, either, and I’ll bounce any cat who gets TOO fresh.”

Sally’s eyes widened as an epiphany struck. “Hey, Sue!” She met Sue’s gaze with a wild-eyed delight. “Can you, like, expand your force fields so you can peacefully remove a grabby guy?!”

Before he left:

"Don't worry, I'll stay at arms reach unless someone asks, I do like the whole dating thing first, have to remember I still am part-human too."

He sighs softly.
Even if the pheromones tell him he's not human, enough!
This message was last edited by the player at 07:36, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

MARKER: This is the End of Mission 001 and the Start of Mission 002.

Danny starts awake from his nap, having drifted off at some point in the conversation. One might never have known he was asleep, given both his silence and the way his yellow mask covers his face. A hand reaches reflexively toward the butt of his pistol as he stands, scanning his surroundings. Then-- seeing he is among friends-- he relaxes, sits down, and draws his trench coat around him again.

Friends. Is that what they've become? Sure, they were no Luke, Misty, and Colleen, but they'd fought alongside Danny enough times by now to earn his friendship. They might not know every intimate detail of each other's lives, but to a warrior like the Iron Fist, knowing they had his back in a fight was all he needed from them. It was time to let his guard down and tell these friends a little bit about his past. And just a little bit.

"Sorry, it's a habit," he shrugs. "Had to catch those power naps whenever I could, back in my old life. Never knew when K'un-Lun's assassins might get the drop on me. One wrong move-- one sloppy mistake-- and it would have been my last. I can't remember the last time I had a full night's sleep." He draws the bandages tighter around his fists, searching for the right words as he continues.

"Don't know if any of you saw what happened back there, with me and that ugly cyborg brute," he says, holding up his fist. "The Chi was there, but it was like I couldn't..." He chambers his fist and pantomimes a punch. "Y'know."

He shakes his head, staring off into the distance. "It all started when I discovered the corruption in K'un-Lun-- my home-- and exposed the people behind it. The Yu-Ti-- he's K'un-Lun's ruler-- had, for years, been banishing his political opponents into a hell dimension that only the Iron Fist could free them from." He looks around at each of his companions with a grave expression.

"And I did free them... but it cost me everything. The gate to Earth was destroyed, and I was trapped in K'un-Lun, never to see Luke Cage, Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, or any of my other friends, ever again. And every night, the Yu-Ti sent his assassins after me, to kill me and take back the Chi they believed was rightfully theirs. I knew how dangerous it would be to let them have it... and so I ran."

He clears his throat and goes on. "The Iron Fist is, above all else, a living weapon. But when I discovered my true purpose-- that I was expected to be a puppet of the Yu-Ti, used to strike down his enemies-- that part of me died. I became a pacifist. Tried to elude my pursuers, or to defeat them non-lethally. But as the days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years, I got tired. Sloppy. Until one day..."

His voice cracks. "His most elite assassin chased me into a cave. It was pitch-black inside. And I was tired... so tired. My back was against the wall. He had me outmatched in every way. It was kill or be killed. And so I lit my fist up and hit him with every ounce of Chi in my body. The glow was blinding. He screamed. And I knew I'd punched my fist straight through his heart."

His expression darkens. "That assassin had a name. Lei-Kung. The Thunderer. Or as I knew him... "Shifu." The man who taught me everything. In many ways, my own father. With his dying breath, he begged me to forgive him. The Yu-Ti had his family, and would only release them upon my death. He had no other choice. I tried to heal him... begged him to live... but he died in my arms. I found out later his family had been dead for years. The Yu-Ti was only ever manipulating him."

Danny draws a deep breath, clearly shaken but determined to finish his story.

"I kept running. Tired. Broken. I don't even remember how I died, in the end. Bastards couldn't beat me man-to-man, but they had all kinds of dirty tricks. Maybe they poisoned my tea... or Khal Drogo'd me in my sleep... or maybe my heart finally just gave out. Who knows? All that matters is I'm here now. And though I've sworn to never use the Iron Fist again..."

He suddenly whips both pistols out and shoots a nearby boulder with glowing bullets. The Chi-enhanced rounds carve away solid rock, whittling it away until all that remains is a pile of loose, smoking gravel.

"... I'm still a Living Weapon."

"Wow, that's terrible. I feel you, I was a cop, supposed to get superpowers, got turned into a cat, well, some whisper "demon." But I don't bite it. No horns, no pitchfork, so anyone have questions about my world? I know a few people and don't know others. I think I covered some of it. Really though? It's tough to know 'what you need to know versus what you'd like to know.." He shrugs and just swishes his tail. "Seems like I've got more well female heroes than y'guys, but who knows.

"I'll bite," Danny nods to Tigro. "Does your world have the Heroes for Hire?"

"You know, I reckon more than the gender swaps and the personality differences, the thing I can't wrap my head around is how our... our history isn't all that different, but it somehow happened at different times. I am a few years older than Susan in my timeline, and my cognate in hers-- this 'von Drede' woman-- is a few years older than her, but I was eleven years old in 1968. I didn't catch what year any of the other gentlemen fell out of, but..."

"I mean... the moon landings, John Jameson, 1967 and then Reed Richards in '74? Captain America and the Avengers? The Legacy Virus? Anthony Stark's coup d'etat? How similar are the worlds we came from?"

"While I'm hardly the most metaphysics savvy of this little troupe, my impression so far is that time doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot.  Beyond serving as a progress marker inside each individual reality.   In terms of the broader picture, I think it has little bearing on much of anything.   Collective reality seems far more qualitative based, than quantitative.   And personally, I find that very reassuring."   

"My timelines is VERY different than yours. We had the moon landing in '69 Nancy Armstrong that was, she was a tough woman. The Fantastic Four had little to do with space in its traditional sense, they'd build a ship with a Negative Zone Drive and were trying to transit there with it instead of the dangerous gateway that opened outwards and let some nasty sorts through." Tigro thinks a long moment.  "That was just four years ago! It feels like much longer ago than that for some reason"