Fandom Earth-651 (Marvel RP)

[WanderingJester]

Characters:

https://www.rpnation.com/threads/earth-651-characters-marvel-rp.317680/

For a city that never sleeps, New York does have its quieter moments.

The concrete jungle cast sharp angled shadows from the streetlights during the late hours of a Wednesday night. The streets of Hell's Kitchen, though not as busy as during the day, was still frequented by those society deemed with "questionable morals," most usually due to their physical appearances. Homeless men and women gathered around trashcan fires to stave off the cold night air, while streetwalkers of both sexes used sultry words and smiles as well as quick flashes of exposed skin to proposition anyone and everyone that passed them. Dealers wearing trench coats in any sort of goods, legal or otherwise, could be found by the nearest shadowy side street. Gang members, muggers and other of the criminal element also prowled the night, looking for any viable targets for them to prey on. The street criminals however knew their place, as with any laws of nature there was always a more dangerous predator waiting to snatched the smaller hunters up, should they step out of line. A dangerous air could be felt permeating the atmosphere, not unlike that which might exists in a particularly diverse and perilous underbrush of a tropical rain forest.

However, the good citizens of New York who have traveled during this time of day, whether to get to the graveyard shift at their job or coming home after a particularly late rounds at a nearby hospital, did not do so in fear. For they knew that above them, on the rooftops and beyond, guardian angels of a sort watched over them. One of which dressed in red, and professed himself a devil, would sweep down and deliver swift and merciless justice to any that would do harm to the innocent, and that was sweet mercy compared to the treatment of one who wore a white skull on his chest. The criminals as well as the citizens also knew that New York's other heroes had a tendency to stop by, case in point a certain friendly neighborhood web-slinger as well as some good folks from Harlem, namely several "street cleaners," all of which had a history of stopping crime with little more than their fist and feet. That was not even accounting for the out of town vigilantes; some whisper of a demon riding a motorcycle of fire who could burn your soul from the inside out merely by looking at you.

No, whiles the streets of New York had its fill of dangers, the good people breathed a bit easier knowing that many have taken upon themselves to not only combat those threats, but to dedicate their lives to protecting them. Thus even during this time of the night, many could get to where they need to go without too much fear in their minds and hearts. However, this could not be said for the evildoers of the Big Apple, cautious and aware of these threats to them as they were.

However, in a rarely traveled corner of the Hell's Kitchen, a young man walked steadily down a side street. His green eyes flashed even in the low luminescence of the street lights. Despite the dangers around, he seemed confident and at ease, more like a king traveling through his kingdom rather than a sheep in a lion's den. In fact, his demeanor would not have altered much had he been whistling as he walked, but the young man didn't. His face held an impassive expression, but in his eyes another flash of determination illuminated the green irises. He would get some answers tonight, and take another step to finding out his lineage. A breeze picked up, but his brown leather jacket protected him from the cold, and Carter Perkins turned down a side street, out of the street light and stopped in front of several unsavory looking individual.

Five men hung out in the alley, and looked to be waiting for something. They had various scars on their bodies, and all wore black tops to avoid attention, whether jackets or whatnot. All had grimaces or scowls on their faces. Carter stopped a few paces before reaching arms length away from the first man, one while dyed platinum blond hair, before clearing his throat. The five men, having seen Carter approached, already had their hands inside their jackets or on their waistbands, obviously reaching for a weapon of some sort. The blond mobster looked over at Carter and spat on the ground in front of the young man.

"What do this look like? A fucking show? Get the fuck out of here before I feed you your balls punk."

Carter merely smiled at the unruly man, though the cold threat behind the smile made the mobster unwillingly draw in a breath. Still the young man observed the five with almost an apathetic indifference, even as what looked like green and black slime began to claw its way up and down his back from the inside of his clothes. Of course the mobsters didn't notice any of this, with Carter's body blocking the starling sight. After a second, Carter began to speak.

"Now there's no need for unpleasantness gentlemen. I'm merely here to ascertain the location of a certain individual, and after which, depending on your behavior, dispatch you with speed. How much speed will depend upon your level of cooperation of course, so I do hope that you'll make this easy on yourselves."

The men narrowed their eyes at him, not quite understanding the young man. By now all of them have guns of some sort within their hands, and more than one were leveled at Carter. Any average Joe would panic at this point. However, Carter remain composed, even as the green/black things on his back reached nearly the entire backside of his body. After another moment of confusion, Carter opened his mouth again.

"Ah, I'll use more simple language then. You will tell me where I can find Wilson Fisk, and depending on how easy you make this for me, I'll kill you quick and painlessly or otherwise."

By not the blond man looked infuriated. He lifted his revolver at Carter before spitting out. "Oh yeah? Why don't you kiss my ass? Or better, say hi to the devil for me when you get to hell!" With that he pulled the trigger, and in a blink of an eye a speeding bullet flew at Carter's upper torso. Just then the alien symbiote surged forward in front of the bullet, allowing the piece of metal to slam into it inside, leaving a slight dent into the green and black sludge just as it came around the back of Carter and covered his body.

The mobsters looked in fear as Carter's form transformed into what looked to be a twisted version of Spider-man, but instead of a red, blue and black suit of spandex, it looked to be a smoothed out incomplete suit that covered the young man, with an occasional fray thread of the slime jagging out at different places on Carter's body. Two white blotches appeared over where Carter's eyes should approximately be, again a twisted version of the web-slinger, and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth the same color as the suit ripped open, and while Carter still spoke, it was Rapine's voice that met the mobsters.

"So, what will it be fellas? The easy way or the hard way?." A hail of gunfire impacted Rapine, though they might as well be snowballs for all the good they did. "Hard way it is, I'm glad. I'm feeling quite... ravenous tonight." With that Rapine threw himself at the five mobster, who opened their mouths to scream just as their monstrous attacker descended upon them.

Flashes and bangs of gunfire echoed out of the alleyway, accompanied by a chorus of bloodcurdling screams and begs for mercy. A lone, dismembered arm flew out towards the main street, and landed on the ground just before it reached its destination, well within the shine of the streetlight. Its previous owner stumbled towards it, attempting to reach the perceived safety and haven, his lost limb and the main street, even as blood gushed out the stump where the detached appendix had once been connect to his body. Just before he reached it though, a web of green and black shot out from the darkness and caught his leg, before dragging him off of his feet and slowly back towards the dark alleyway. The mobster, sporting a blue mohawk that clashed wildly with his red blood, screamed at the top of his lungs, even as the green from the web began infecting his remaining blood stream where it attached to his leg.

"Please, I don't know anything, please! Have mercy!" When that yielded no respite, he turned towards the main street. "SOMEONE SAVE ME! PLEASE! THERE'S A MONSTER HERE! SOMEONE?! ANYONE?!?! HHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPP!"

Jessy753

 

[Jessy753]

They should've known better than to drag her into a restaurant with an aquarium inside. Despite of the fact that her friends had no idea of her special talent, they knew her unusual passion for those animals; especially goldfishes. It had taken half an hour and one round to the women's restroom until Allison began acting strange. She had spoken to one lucky fish inside the big aquarium and listened to its heartfelt story. It almost broke her heart and it was set. Like usually she promised her help to them. It wouldn't be good for them for an hour or two but afterwards they would feel better in either their natural habitat or her own aquarium.

Despite of needing to turn around each coin before purchasing things, Allison had a huge aquarium. She hated the way people held goldfishes in small bowls and just had to place them into a huge aquarium or a lake or something. But she made sure those animals were able to survive on their own.

So here she was in the middle of the night outside in the dark. She was wearing both a dark sweater and black jeans. The fact that she was constantly stealing fishes or more specifically goldfishes had earned her the nickname of Goldie in the public. The police was annoyed by her because she only attempted to steal fishes. They thought it wasn't worth the trouble. After all New York City had other troubles than a fish stealing person. Ally was aware that the day she was actually caught, they would forbid her to become an advocate but she still couldn't sit still.

Slowly she sneaked around the corner to find an opened window or anything she would be able to pull open a window or the door. Ally wasn't good in forcing a lock open still she ended up trying to open the backdoor of the restaurant. She moved a picklock around like she had watched in so many YouTube tutorials but wasn't really able to do it herself. Eventually the lock cracked open though and she stepped inside holding her breath.

 

[WanderingJester]

The mobster's eyes widened as he realized his body began to weaken, and he opened his mouth even as Rapine dragged the lower part of his body into the darkness once more.


"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" His screams lasted only a few seconds, before silence once again filled the alleyway.


Carter stood at the scene of carnage, and adjusted his jacket. All traces of the symbiote disappeared as he began making his way back from the dark depths of the side street. It looked like the scene of a particularly gory but poor horror movie. Not a single body part larger than friction of a finger remained of the five men, and a fresh coat of blood covered nearly every surface of that section of the alley, from the ground to the walls and even the dumpster on the side. Weirdly enough not a drop fell on Carter, who looked just as clean as he did before turning into Rapine. He looked at the phone in his hands and flicked through the messages and contacts past the cracked but serviceable screen before putting it away. Not much, but it was a start.


The young man stretched and decided to grab something to eat before heading back out, though he kept a wary eye on the rooftops. Honestly from the stories he had heard Carter expected some masked vigilante to have swooped in during the slaughter. That would have complicated things tremendously for the evening, but he was confident that the results would not have changed. He walked out to the sidewalk and looked around for a place to dine in this shit hole part of town. Just as the young man began to walk down one of the main streets however, his eyes caught some movement in an alleyway off to the other side. A shadow slipped into the backdoor of a closed restaurant, and the door soon clicked close behind them. Carter frowned. Did they see what had just occurred and run to phone the police? He briefly considered cleaning up after himself. After all, the symbiote wouldn't mind another body to munch on, even if it wasn't that hungry at the moment.

After a moment, Carter shrugged before walking to another Irish pub across the street. The place was thankfully quiet, with a few patrons watching a game in the back, and a bored looking bartender in a suited vest on duty. Sliding into a seat at the bar, the man handed Carter a menu before asking. "Getcha somethin' to drink friend?"

Carter looked over the menu while tapping a finger to his cheek. "A Manhattan seems suitable, thank you." The bartender nodded before turning to mix the man's drink. Picking out the potato skins and Shepard's pie, Carter turned to look out the front window of the place just as what looked like a red covered figure with a baton leap into the second floor window of the restaurant across the street. This should be interesting, he thought as he turned his attention to the returning bartender, exchanging his order for his drink.

(Realized that the more realistic characters of Marvel go by more of a Sims like age progression rather than age number. E.g. infant, toddler, child, teenager, adult, middle age adult, elderly So gonna go with that rather than the 19 on Carter's CS Also, hope I didn't scare poor Allison too bad with a certain disabled lawyer popping in to check out what she's doing XD)

 

[Jessy753]

Allison first allowed her breath to escape her lungs as soon as she was able to take a few steps towards the lit aquarium. She couldn't care less about potential objects of value despite of the goldfishes of course. She filled plastic bags with water of the aquarium as she made some incoherent noises as she mumbled to the goldfishes <"This might be a little uncomfortable but please just act along. I'm really just trying to help."> Yet it seemed like the fishes for once weren't cooperative.

One even told her to turn around, which she did and tried to spot what those animals had seen but nothing. "What do you want?", she asked in English knowing that someone was there but she wasn't able to see the person in the dark. There was no answer until someone in a red suit stepped out "Leave this place. They're under my watch.". She seemed casual about seeing the stranger because for now she had only heard about Hell's Kitchen's villain or hero depending on what he last did. Despite of her shock and fear, Ally casually turned her back to him and ignored his suggestion or whatever it was. "Ah, now, that you're here, you can actually help. Take a bag and fill it with water. We'll get them to a saver and more comfortable place. Fredric, here, tells me it's definitely not comfortable. They want to go back to their original home and I'm helping them.", she explained like it was the most normal thing on earth.

He didn't seem to care as with fast steps he walked over to her using his baton. But Ally had been faster and stepped to the side. Yet with horror she watched the glass of the aquarium shatter and the water as well as the fishes spilling out of the broken glass. "What have you done?", she shrieked but with a short twist of her hand like she was winding up a clock. Nervously she kept in place and watched the water refill the tank as well as the fishes swimming backwards. The man took steps back and Ally finally relaxed her hand. Of course she knew that she shouldn't have rewinded the time but those mere seconds wouldn't hurt anyone, right? Yet she knew better and hoped no-one would suffer because of her.

"...under my watch.", the man repeated again but this time Ally kept looking at him and actually tried to explain "I'm not meaning harm to the people operating the restaurants. But I can talk to goldfishes you see. I know it sounds like nonsense but it's true. The owners don't treat them right. You have to understand that I only try to help." She looked desperately at him as he stepped forward reaching for the bat again.

"Please. Don't! You're gonna shatter the glass and leave lots of corpses behind! Those fishes need the water. I don't want to go back again and rewind. It's exhausting and dangerous.", she spoke quickly and this time he stopped looking at her like he was listening to something. Suddenly he relaxed and glanced at her despite of not having holes in mask. "How do you know?", he asked and she shrugged "I just know. Just...just let me take the fishes and leave. I'm not going to steal anything. Just right what's wrong."

She busied herself again, trying to convince the fishes to swim into the plastic bags but to her misery nothing happened. "Either leave or help me!", she exclaimed unnerved to the red suited guy. He didn't seem to understand how important this was so she continued "You're scaring them. Just let me finish this and you can go looking for real thugs. I'm just trying to help Frederic here. Those goldfishes have rights, too, you know." She sounded unnerved by now but she heard reluctant steps behind her. Apparently the guy was measuring whether or not she had gone insane. Ally was used to that kind of reaction. It was normal for people to believe she was insane but apparently the devil behind her was considering something else. Still Allison was ready to set the time back for ten minutes and enter the restaurant later if it would keep the strange dude off her back. "Seriously, I'm sure there's someone else needing you more than the owners of this place. Have you seen how they treat the fishes? In fact I heard someone crying for help not even 10 to 15 minutes ago.", she spoke and was interfered by the stranger "Who's Frederic?"

"The fish. It's his name.", she explained. "Where have you heard screams?", he asked and glanced at her obviously deciding to let her be or take her with him to the police. "Outside. They screamed as I tried to get inside."

 

[WanderingJester]

Carter Perkins scooped some more of the shepards pie into his mouth. It wasn't half bad to be honest, and compared with the slop they served at the orphanage, this might as well be fillet mignon. The young man casually looked over across the street. The red suit man had gone in for a little bit now, and not a peep came out. Perhaps he was just that good? Or bad, considering whoever was in the restaurant could've taken him out without so much as a scream. Just then, the bartender, obviously bored, came over. "Never seen you around here before, you new in town?" he asked as his hands wiped down a foggy glass with a towel.

Carter gave a slight nod, "Just moved here a month or so ago."

"Where from?" The glass went down and another took its place.

"Massachusetts. Grew up there."

"A Mass-hole huh?" Carter raised an eyebrow at him, but the bartender just raised his hands to his side. "Hey no offense buddy, but I'm a Knicks fan." Ah, basketball. Carter waved it off, ignoring the symbiote's agitation underneath his clothing.

"None taken. Place I'm from was hell on earth anyways. I'm liking this city more in a month than I did Mass in a decade."

"My man." The bartender raised his own drink, some sort of carbonated cola, and Carter politely clinked his glass against the other man's. "So what brings you down here? Besides wanting to be anywhere else but New England?"

"Work. Got an offer too good to refuse, then when I came down here realized I can make more money on my own. Never quit a job around two weeks in. It was an interesting experience." Of course, getting poisoned and nearly dying didn't help with the transition. The bartender nodded his head, looking impressed.

"You got hired to come down here and then quit in two weeks? That's some balls my friend. That or the job really sucked."

Carter shrugged. "Not really. Again just figured I can make more on my own. More free time, more money. Wouldn't you make the switch?"

"Hell yeah I would, nothing against this place or Sean, but who wouldn't take that deal?"

"Exactly," Carter lifted his own glass and finished his drink, before waving off the other man as he moved to refill it. "I'm good for tonight chief. Thanks though."

"You sure, it's on the house."

"Appreciate it, but positive." Just then movement came out of the corner of his eyes, and a man in the red suit jumped out of the restaurant's window again. So he is that good, or did something unexpected occur? Either way, no use sticking around for things to get complicated. Carter pulled out his wallet, and slide a fifty to the bartender. "Keep the change."

The man whistled as he picked up the bill and checked its authenticity before sticking his hand out. "Cheers buddy. Name's Bill, but everyone calls me Irish on accounts of this place." Carter shook the outstretched hand.

"Carter, and are you?"

"Nah, just the name." With that, the young man stood up and gave a nod to Irish before walking out. Spotting moving in the direction he had came from earlier, Carter decided to head in the opposite direction. Unfortunately that meant going down the route that would take him past the restaurant in question before. Perhaps he can survey this 'Daredevil's' work? One mental shrug of indifference later, Carter began walking down in that direction, hoping to get home and get his hands on whatever his newly acquired cellphone had on it.

 

[Jessy753]

Once the red suited devil was gone she busied herself by persuading the fishes to swim into the plastic bags. Well, she was trying to get the two goldfishes in the aquarium to tell the other fishes to trust her. Eventually they decided to swim into the plastic bags and Ally sighed relieved <"Thank you. I know it's not the most comfortable but I'm sure we have found a new home for you guys in no time."> She smiled at Frederic, which turned to the other fishes for translation.

Allison felt tired and all she wanted to do was go to bed. Yet she had a lake to visit for some of the fishes to set free. Others she needed to take home to her own aquarium. Unfortunately she wasn't able to trust all of them to survive on their own. Not all of them had grown up in their natural habitat but were raised by humans for the sole purpose of looking pretty and swim around. It annoyed her greatly that people would do such a thing to simply get more money. All those people who called themselves animal lovers but bred their dog, cat or fish to simply sell their off spring to the highest bidder instead of taking a look at the house hold.

She tried her best carrying all the plastic bags into a big basket, Ally had brought along. It would help her carrying them around to the lake and afterwards to her home. She looked through the small cupboard underneath the aquarium and took the food for the fishes along. It was the only thing she intended to take along because what was she supposed to do? After all she was a student and had to pay for her college fees etc. It didn't help that she was living with a roomie in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Placing the food into the basket as well, Ally took it into her hand and hurried out of the restaurant closing the entry door behind her. She glanced up and down the street to make sure that no-one saw her before she would walk off towards the park. But given her hurry she might've easily overlooked someone.

 

[WanderingJester]

Carter Perkins raised his eyebrow at the small figure hurrying out of the restaurant in front of him, not even noticing him despite their close distance. She seemed small to him, but carried on her a basket as though her life depended on it. As she busied herself elsewhere, Carter thought about stopping her, but realized that, unless he means to do her harm, there really wasn't much he could say or do to her, and he had no reason to wish death or otherwise upon the woman. Shrugging, he let her move out of sight as he continued his casual pace, and finally turned the corner towards the Hell's Kitchen subway station, before pulling a pass out of his pocket.

__________________

Carter yawned before picking up his cup of coffee and sipping it. Sitting at one of many pseudo-European cafe rip off in Manhattan amongst business executives trying to close deals and faux-avant garde hipsters discussing the best microbrew for this fall season, the young man flipped through the trade charts on his phone and made a few transactions, adding another few thousand dollars to his account. Carter had not gone unnoticed, since there had been several companies offering him positions since he took up stock trading. Of course the young man declined them all. Well, at least he hadn't replied to the ones from Oscorp and Stark Industries. As he looked at the glittering Stark Tower in the distance, he reflected upon what the phone he picked up last night contained. The computer he had bought from some of his old contacts in the hacker community managed to break it in quite quickly that night, as promised. After an hour of roaming through mountains of texts and dirty photos, he found a possible lead.

'Meeting tomorrow night. Dock 13. Midnight. DO NOT BE LATE!'

Carter took another sip from his cup as he put down the phone and picked up that day's paper, his eyes roaming over another defamation article on Spider-Man on the front page of the Daily Bugle with a close up of the web slinger. You would think the guy wouldn't give these people good shots if they're bashing on him all the time, he thought as his eyes scanned the page, though his mind focused upon Dock 13 of the text. It had to be in the Port of New York in Brooklyn, and that meant he would need to go out again tonight. The symbiote under his clothing stirred, excited to go on a hunt once more. Carter flipped a few pages before giving another yawn. These night 'adventures' were screwing his sleep schedule, but they would be worth it.

He'll sleep when all those that tried to poison him were six feet under the ground, or better yet, just another meal for Raptine.

Just then his phone buzzed, and Carter picked it up again to addressed the trading alert, swiping his finger over the screen and sliding a few more shares of various companies into his pocket.

 

[Jessy753]

Allison hurried her way to the lake, she was sure would be good for the fishes. She spent the rest of the night accomandating those fishes to the new water before releasing them into the lake. From her ealier ten bags, there were three left. She sighed as Frederic started to complain on behalf of the others. She was sitting in the underground rubbing her temples. But soon she was back in the comfort of her small room and finally she allowed the fishes to get used to the new water and freed them into the aquarium. The constant nagging of Frederic finally ebbed and she sighed. Fully clothed she lied down in bed and slipped into sleep.[/Jusify]

<><><><><><><><><><><>​

She sat in her course, yawning for what felt the thousandth time. She had gotten three hours of sleep at best and her nightly trip to the restaurant had left her tired. She should listen to the professor going on about some kind of mindblowing case. But she wasn't able to focus. Her mind kept on slipping away into restless sleep. Eventually the professor finished his lecture and she walked out of class, ignoring the other students. She looked around as the sunlight blinded her. She was considering to skip the rest of the day at uni. With her current mood and how she felt this wouldn't turn out well anyways and she would end up not memorizing a thing.

She went to a coffee shop to get something to drink. Just anything that would offer her something to stay awake. Truth was that she hated restaurants and coffee shops in this part of New York. Usually she wouldn't even consider to stop for a coffee in Manhattan. It was way too expensive and to her it felt like they added more than a dollar for the exact same coffee she would be able to purchase in Brooklyn for less money.

Ally got in line and shook her head a little to prevent herself from falling asleep. She needed to stay awake for more than half an hour in order to get home. Just a little longer.... Again she stifled a yawn and ordered a Cappucino in hopes it would at least waken her mind.

 

[WanderingJester]

Carter Perkins finished his coffee around the same time as he did his paper, and stood to leave. Apparently either classes had ended at the local university or something, but the crowd in the place was picking up. Carter doesn't mind the crowd, but the symbiote gets restless around them, he didn't want to deal with that at the moment. Picking up his phone, he got up from his table just in time for an asian couple, obviously a few tourists given their awe of everything, to speak something in their language and point. The symbiote suddenly became quite agitated, and as Carter forced it down with a thought, a crowd of out of towners had gathered to look down the street.

A small figure hanging on to a rope of some sort appeared in the distance. At first it seemed as though he was precariously hanging for his life, then the silhouetted flipped and shot out some other sort of rope before swinging towards that direction. The symbiote seemed more uneasy than ever, but well within the control of Carter. The tourist around began to gasp, take pictures and cheer, much to the annoyance of native New Yorkers, as the crowd forced those walking to go around them by standing in the middle of the sidewalk. As the figure approached, swinging through the air, it turned out to be a man dressed in red, blue and black spandex, with two large white eyes on its head. A loud and perplexingly boyish yet adult voice emerged from it. "No need to crowd everyone! Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man passing through!"

Just then, the hero's head suddenly shifted in the direction of Carter, and the two made eye contact for a second. Even though in reality it was a short time, it felt an eternity. Spider-Man's head cocked to the side in curiosity or confusion, while Carter's face remained impassive, but a fire flared behind his eyes for a moment. When the moment ended, the web slinger continued down the street, as Carter, trying to move as carefree as possible, turned and disbursed with rest of the crowd, doing his best to act natural dispute catching the attention of one of the more prolific super heroes of New York, something he didn't need at the moment.

 

[Jessy753]

Allison stood in line and handed over the money for her Cappucino. She sighed as she looked into her empty wallet, now, and crinkled her mouth. It would be somewhat hard to survive the next two weeks until her rather low pay check. Her work as a cashier wasn't paying well enough to get through the month in New York. Perhaps she would need to look for a job at a chancellory. At least it would offer her the chance to gain some experience in the field. So being paid low would at least compensated with experience.

She walked out of the crowded coffee shop only to be greeted by another crowd. "Really?", she muttered under her breath and tried her best channel through the crowd as she walked behind a man. He stopped to look upwards and she accidentally bumped into him. Rolling her eyes and mood dropping drastically, she groaned "You cannot just stop walking, dumbass! This is New York not some kind of fair. This is a walkway, stupid. Like the word implies, it's meant for walking not standing!" That's what she hated about big cities in general. People stopping because of some minor issues like that idiot in his red, blue and black spandex to take pictures. She pushed past the guy in his suit and muttered some not so nice words towards him.

Her eyes shortly cast upwards towards Spiderman swinging by and obviously enjoying his spotlight as she took a sip from the hot liquid and trying to push past all the cameras and tourists.

 

[WanderingJester]

Carter Perkins felt someone bump into him from behind, accidentally causing him to drop his paper. He frowned as he looked over his shoulder at the offender. A head full of brown hair greeted the young man's vision as it sped past. He managed to catch the back side of her figure as well as a pretty standard New Yorker greeting as she continued to push her way away from the cafe. When Carter first came to New York, he almost cursed out the first guy to have given him those less than polite words; then he realized that was how people just talked to one another here. Shrugging, he bend down to pick up his paper, only to notice an object next to it. The paper had opened up to an article he had missed before, and somehow didn't make the front page. Typical bigotry against Spider-Man overshadowing some more important news. Carter scanned the picture and the headline quickly as he picked up both things on the ground.

'Hulk rampages through Los Vegas. 27, with 2 children, dead.'

Grimacing at the picture of the green monster in mid smash at the forefront of an explosion, Carter looked at the object to realize it was a wallet. Given its lightness there didn't seemed to be much on it, and flicking it open, the picture of a girl's awkward smile with brown hair appeared to him. Of course. Deciding to give himself a shot at doing his daily good work, the young man walked towards the distancing figure, and in a halfhearted, moderate voice, spoke up. "Hey, you want your wallet? You dropped it when you ran into me." While insulting me, he thought, as a television store passed by next to him. If she doesn't hear him, he would drop the thing off with the nearest cop and take off. Just then an advertisement reached his ears from the multiple TVs on display.

"This Saturday, check out the only superhero team where you can be right next to them in the action! The New Warriors! After defeating the evil Blackwing last week, who will they face this time? Find out, for the first time ever, live this weekend! No censors, all heroics as they happen! The New Warriors! Saving America, one small town at a time! Saturday at 9, 8 central, only on the action network."

 

[Jessy753]

Ally sped past the man not even noticing that her wallet was missing. It wouldn't even give her a big headache as there wasn't much in it besides of three dollars and a bit of cash. The only thing nerve wracking about losing it would be to make those countless applications for a new driver's license and ID as well as a new credit card and blocking hers, not that there would be much money to get out of her anyways. She sighed annoyed as an elderly couple stopped moving in front of her. She tried to avoid colliding into more people as she stared clear of them.

Suddenly she heard a rather bored and somewhat annoyed voice behind her. First she thought the guy was talking to someone else. Then wallet... She frowned and turned around to meet the guy she had bumped into earlier. "What..?", she asked confused until she saw her wallet in his hand. She stared at it and felt heat creeping up her cheeks. She tried to will it off her cheeks, which most likely made the blushing worse. Thinking back how she had entitled him with those curses, she wanted to face palm herself but instead she took the wallet from him. "Well, uhh... Thanks.", she said giving him the same awkward smile which was on her ID and continued "Sorry earlier by the way." She apologized for good measure and her posh British accent was finally showing. Allison might have grown accustomed to and adapted the American "charm" as she often called it and people's rude ways but she still preferred the British mannerism.

Her gaze flicked to all of those screens as she listened to the advertisement of what felt like the hundredth superhero formation. She rolled her eyes wondering once again what was scripted when it came to those reality TV shows people were so obsessed with. She looked at all those faces that were screened in order to introduce those "superheroes" to its target audience. Ally teared her gaze off the screens to look back at the stranger considering if she should leave or wait for some kind of response. Yet she could at least show some manners and wait for his answer. So she opted to somewhat awkwardly take another sip from her coffee.

 

[WanderingJester]

Carter Perkins nodded as the girl took her wallet back, clearly embarrassed by the whole situation. She was cute in that 'I don't get out much and when I do I'm socially awkward' way, but he merely shrugged as she apologized. An eyebrow went up at her British accent coming out as she failed to control the blush on her face. So not a New Yorker after all, but what was a British girl doing all the way out here? Then the image of her student ID flashed at him, and the young man made a mental note about her student status. "Not a problem, it's not like you broke my leg or something," he shrugged again, not that she likely could. Then again, with the amount of mutants and heroes of the world, she might be able to pick up a car or something. Trying to keep things civil, Carter looked at the harried, embarrassed girl. "Well, it seems like you're busy and I don't want to keep you. So lat-"

Just then Carter heard it. A low whistle that rapidly grew in volume, cutting through the noises of the city. With the speed of a thought, the symbiote rushed out of his clothing to covered him, barely finishing the transformation when a large, green, glowing orb of what looked to be lightning smashed into the television store behind them. The storefront exploded, immediately incinerating those in front of it. Being the closer of the two to it, the force of the detonation picked Raptine up and tossed him against the side of a nearby bus, not only crushing it in from his form but flipping it on to its side, so that Raptine faced the sky once his sight realigned. As he shook off the effect of the attack, the blackish green figure pushed himself off of the bus, and looked around.

Screams finally began to appear, low and blurred at first, then sharpening and heightening. More of the green orbs fell from the sky, and the explosions that followed rocked each building, moving down the street. Corpses, or pieces of corpses, laid around along with wrecked vehicles and rubble. People fled in all directions, many wounded, all disoriented as law enforcement in the area tried to maintain some semblance of order while avoiding the attacks themselves. To the side, a crazed woman ran around in circles, blood dripping down her face. To another, several kids crouched around each other, huddling and crying for everything between their parents and the Avengers to help them.

Speaking of which, where were the Avengers? Were they supposed to help in a situation like this? Or prevent it? Raptine shook his head as he stood again, preparing to make his way back to his house. Looks like that meeting might not happen tonight, and even if it doesn't, the whole city will be swarming with SHIELD agents and "heroes" soon. Might be time to lay low for a bit.

 

[Jessy753]

"Yeah, that would've been odd.", she answered as he spoke about her potentially breaking his leg. In that case she wouldn't have insulted him but tried to fix things. Not in a way of turning time back but actual help like getting him to the hospital and apologising right away. She shook off the thought and placed her wallet back into the bag she was carrying around. Allison stuffed it to the very bottom of her bag so it wouldn't be get lost once again. She was about to bid her farewell as well and go her way. She most likely wouldn't even see him again and forget about this whole ordeal. After all what were the chances of meeting twice in a city with millions of citizens.

For Allison it was just enough time to raise her arms in order to protect her face from any damage done by the splinters flying around from the destroyed store. The air smelled like burnt skin and made her almost throw up. The man had taken most of the force as he was hurled somewhere else. But still a splitter of glass cut her arm open and she was pulled backwards. Ally hit her head hard on the concrete of the road and her vision went black for a good minute. The moment her consciousness came back, she reached for the back of her head feeling a warm liquid with her finger tips. It would take some hours for her to realize that it was actually blood. She picked herself up dazed and looked around to find people crying, screaming and dead. Her ears were ringing and her whole body was screaming in pain. She looked mindlessly around for the guy she had been talking to not even a moment ago. But he wasn't to be seen.

As another green light came down, Ally instinctively crouched. She looked at the children crying from help for anybody that might be able to help them like the Avengers or their parents. Her instincts told her to flee like all the people did but she ran towards the kids who were holding onto each other. "Come on, let's go. It's not safe here.", she spoke and shook her hand to indicate the urgency. "We'll find your parents.", she promised crinkling her mouth over them as they finally moved with her away from the burning shop.

 

[WanderingJester]

Raptine ignored the cries of those trapped in the bus beneath him, either for him to help or to get away from them. He had done his good deed for the day, and would like to not be pegged as public enemy number one. It was easy for those around to simply look at the nearest monstrous looking thing after a tragedy and assigned blame to him. Jumping into the air, the blackish green symbiote shot a rope composed of the same material as itself out, before swinging away. He needed to get home and lay low for a little bit. No doubt the fallout from this would be huge. Those projectiles though, something about them seemed familiar. Green lightning energy spheres? Where had he seen that before?

_____________________________

Carter opened the door to the Irish's pub, ringing that little bell above it he hadn't noticed before. The place looked warm, then again, it wasn't the wee hour of the morning this time, but around dinner time. A few of the less than pleasant type hung around the pool table in the back, but they didn't affect the rest of the place. A few families gathered for food with their children, while a party of happy hour corporate looking types hung out at the part of the bar, laughing and such. The televisions played some random show or a game and such, and this time there was actually a hostess to greet him. The young woman gave a warm smile to Carter, before her eyes looked him over and she licked her lips subconsciously. "Hi! Welcome to Sean's Pub. How many?" Carter returned with just a smile.

"Just me, I'll just take a seat at the bar thanks." She nodded before waving him through.

"Help yourself then. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you," the hostess said, putting a little extra emphasis on the second part. Carter gave her a warm nod before making a mental note and headed to the bar, where Irish greeted him.

"Carter! Haven't seen you in a jiffy." Carter sat down, putting his coat over the back of the seat. He had wore his plain leather jacket over a button down, with just jeans and boots underneath. Picking up a meal Irish had plopped in front of him, the young man scanned the laminated paper once over.

"Been laying low. With the city exploding and shield troops everywhere, it takes at least a half an hour just to pick up some milk down the street, let alone go anywhere. Figured it'll be best to stay home until the heat dies down." Putting down the menu, Carter looked over to Irish with a slight smile. "Sidecar please. Fish and chips with extra chips and that mayo, please."

"I hear ya on that one man. Been a bitch trying to get to work on time, and Sean's been bustin' my balls about it, even if he doesn't mean it." Just then an older gentlemen from deeper the bar called out.

"You damn well know I mean it Irish, now get to work before I fire you!"

"Ah shut it, you old ba-" the bartender looked over at the families nearby, who haven't heard their exchange yet from the tables, as he put down the drink in front of Carter. "-grump. You probably don't even remember what we're talking about from before." Carter merely grinned, enjoying the exchange in the atmosphere and sipping his drink.

 

[Jessy753]

Ally accompanied the kids away from the turmoil and waited for the fire fighters as well as police arrive. Just someone to take care of the situation and the kids. She gave them into their care and even looked for their parents. Two of three children were back with their parents as she finally left to see a doctor. Her arm was still bleeding as they patched her up and stitched her cut. They told her that she was lucky nothing major was broken. It wasn't until she was home, she had realized that none of the usual superheroes had came for help, which brought a frown to her forehead.

<><><><><><><><>
​

A few days later as most of New York's citizen seemed to have forgotten about the whole ordeal, Ally made her way to her favourite pub. The biggest advantage of this one was the fact it felt Irish. None of the usual shenanigans for it to feel like it was stereotypically British. But well... it was hard to explain for Allison it did feel a bit like her old home. Unconsciously she was scratching outside of her bandage on her lower arm as she entered it. The warm air of the pub greeted her and it made a great contrast to the cool New York City air outside. She walked inside and opened her jacket. Almost instantly Ally was greeted by today's waitress but she waved her off "I'll just take a seat at the bar like always." She gave the bird a friendly smile but the waitress seemed unnerved to her. Ally shrugged and walked over to the bar, taking a bar stool near Carter.

"That's slander, darling.", Ally chimed in even though she had only listened to half of the conversation. She had a mischievous grin on her face as she took a seat and elaborated "In extreme cases, he'd be able to sue you for a few thousand dollars, darling. My prof has a case, the bird who had been framed was actually quite rich in the end. So I would watch that potty mouth of yours! Especially with kids around, it might cause you a year in jail." Ally chuckled and winked jokingly at the bartender.

"You're always such a spoil sport, Ally. The usual?", he spoke rolling his eyes over the newcomer but still grinned entertained. It was obvious that Ally had been around a few times.

"Not today... Just a pint of ale for me. Unless you serve the same piss water, the rest of the city does", she spoke and glanced towards the kitchen as she spoke louder "Unless I'm able to snatch a Shepard's Pie for free. After all it'd be a charity cause: the poor student I am. New York doesn't get cheaper for someone with little to none income!"

"We're no fuckin' charity.", was heard from the back, which caused Ally to laugh heartedly. "Well, ya heard it angel. If it was for me, you'd get your free dinner. But the boss spoke. And ya wound me! Comparing our Ale to the rest of the city. Ya kno' we don't serve that!"

 

[WanderingJester]

Carter Perkins had zoned out of the space after Irish went to place his order, his eyes wandering up to the closest television screen in front of him, and the female anchor that was speaking. "A follow up to last week's Latverian terror attack on New York. While the exact casualties haven't been determined, experts estimated that it would be at least hundreds injured, with more than four dozen missing or killed. An apparent retaliation for a secret, unsanctioned S.H.I.E.L.D. assault on Castle Doom around one year ago, our inside sources indicate that the man responsible, former head of S.H.I.E.L.D. director Colonel Nicolas Fury, have disappeared and is now wanted for questioning. Replacing him, Commander Maria Hill have been appointed the acting director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the suspected superheroes linked to the Latverian strike have refused to comment, though could be seen continuing to help the relief efforts. We will have more for you as this story continues to unfold."

Carter frowned. So that was where the heroes went; fighting the terrorists and trying to stop an attack that they caused in the first place. Seems like the heroes weren't as much of knights in shining armor as many people think they are. He stretched, before looking down the bar to see if his dish was coming out yet. Just a chair over however, his gaze landed on the familiar brown hair girl. Carter blinked, where had he seen her before? Suddenly, the news story and the memory connected, and he remembered talking to her just before being thrown against that bus like a rag doll. Picking up his glass, he spoke up to her, "so, good to see you making it out of that mess yourself. Didn't think I was going to run into you again though." Taking a sip, the young man put it back down on the coaster just as Irish came back around with his dish.

"Here ya go friend, piping hot for that chill outside."

Carter nodded his thanks. "Cheers Irish." The bartender lifted his own glass from behind the bar before taking a sip himself. Picking up a ketchup bottle and squirting some red on his plate, Carter began sampling the chips on it, enjoying the fresh fries while keeping an ear out for any more development from the news channel.

 

[Jessy753]

Allie gazed half heartedly at the news while she talked with the bartender. She was way too entertained talking to the bloke than actually listening to whatever the lady in the telly had to say about the super heroes. It was common news to her so she didn't listen. It felt like every day some sort of news channel had at least ten things to say about any troubles or victories of the beloved super heroes.

The guy next to her spoke and she needed a moment to place his face. It wasn't until he finished talking that she realized he had been the man, she bumped into few days ago. The man who had been hurled away. To her surprise he seemed unharmed and like nothing had happened. For a moment she wondered if he was a mutant as well but she quickly pushed the thought away. It was none of her business. Allison wasn't allowed to talk about mutations in public. She never knew who listened and would question her about her own none existing registration. "Yup, got out of that chaos. But not without a souvenir.", she replied lifting her left arm slightly as she talked about the wound. The white bandage was slightly red. The wound didn't seem to heal for now. It was a pain in the butt as it kept reopening itself. "Seems like you were luckier than I was..?", she indicated that he didn't seem injured.

His dish came and she rose her eyebrow as he squeezed ketchup on the chips. "You Americans and your ketchup...", she muttered under her breath and turned to the Irish bloke as he handed her the Ale. She lifted the glass and raised it a little. "Cheers, mate.", she spoke towards the bartender as well as Carter in her best British accents before drinking a few gulps. A lopsided grin spread over her lips once she lowered the glass on the bar again.

 

[WanderingJester]

Carter Perkins dipped the chips in either the ketchup or the mayo, before popping it into his mouth. Listening to the girl next to him, and occasionally catching the look of slight surprise on her face as she looked him over, he figured she suspected he wasn't exactly normal, so the feeling was mutual. Unless she was a professional con artist, a skill bordering super power level, she couldn't have convinced that Daredevil to leave her alone after he saw her break into that restaurant. Still, he gave her injured arm a nod. "My condolences on the arm. Guess it could've been worse given how close we were to that first blast." He finished the chips, before moving on to the fish. "Wouldn't count it as luck, so much as... other factors," he gave her a grin, before eating again. When Irish came back, he handed her her drink, and Carter seemed to remember catching the last part of what their conversation was. Pulling out his black credit card, he handed it over to the bartender. "I'll cover her tab too." He turned to Allison, "order what you want. Consider it my fruit basket for the arm."

Irish picked up the card and whistled. "You really are loaded huh? Never seen one of these in real life."

Carter shrugged apathetically. "Yeah they make you get one of those cards as soon as the numbers in your account passes a certain digit amount. If it were up to me, I'll just stick with the regular ones." Turning to the girl, he stuck out his hand. "By the way, name's Perkins. Most people know me as Carter though." The symbiote under his clothes growled inaudibly slightly, but Carter quieted it with a thought. The television anchor continues her monologue in the background.

"Congress continues to debate the proposed 'Superhuman Registration Act,' a bill that, if passed into law, would require all metahumans within the borders of the United States to be registered with the United States government, including those operating under the S.H.I.E.L.D. directorate. Currently, Reed Richards, as known as Mr. Fantastic, and the Head of Stark Industry, Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man, are testifying in front of a joint meeting with both Houses of Congress. Meanwhile, a large rally against the bill, organized by Captain America and several other meta human, gathers to protest on the third consecutive day on the National Mall. The presence of heroes like the Captain have kept the large crowd unusually peaceful, and while there have been a large law enforcement contingent deployed, there have been no clashes between the protesters and the local police force thus far."

Carter looked over to the television before whistling. "Quite a bill they've got cooking."

Irish nodded. "With every other person in New York flying or shooting lasers out of their eyes? It's bad news. Call me a pessimist, but I've got a gut feeling this won't end well either way."

 

[Jessy753]

She looked at her bandaged arm and shrugged "Yeah, could've lost it or my life. S'ppose I was more than lucky." She smiled a little at the thought but also seemed worried. Allie stayed quiet over the fact that he had stood in the way of the explosion and seemed to have taken most of it, which was unlikely based on his healthy appearance unless... She rose her eyebrow as she eyed him guessing he was one of the many superhero like people. For a moment she wondered if she knew him from the news paper but almost immediately shook it off. It wasn't like she was talking to Spiderman or anyone like that. Besides the spider dude was getting on her nerves lately as everyone seemed to stop to watch him like a celebrity.

He offered to pay for her dinner and she scooped a little uncomfortable around on the bar stool. Allison hadn't been out to get a free meal by a stranger. She had simply mentioned in hopes the cook would've had a heart for poor British students. After all they moved from the same country to New York City. "Well, uhh... thanks.", she spoke and watched him hand over his credit card. The Irishman spoke her thoughts out loud. Well, not quite but she was surprised seeing that the guy next to her was so young and rich. "Thanks for the Shepard's pie then. You should try it the next time. They almost taste like the ones my mum cooks.", she told him with a friendly smile. Shortly she glanced at his hand before taking it into hers and shaking it "I'm Allie. Allison Atkinson. Nice to meet you, Carter."

Just as she pulled her hand back, the news anchor started talking again and her attention was caught by the words. A shiver ran through her and Allie frowned. Those news weren't good. She didn't want to get registratur and had dodged the bullet once. But she highly doubted that she had the same luck twice. "Sounds a lot like the MRA to me...", she mumbled and frowned. She nodded agreeing as the Irish spoke.

 

[WanderingJester]

Carter Perkins shook the girl, Allison's, hand, before returning to his fish. "The feeling's mutual. So that's how they make them over the pond huh? Had some the other time I was here. It was pretty good." He continues chowing down the fish, taking it apart piecemeal by piecemeal. "Yeah, for sure about the arm. It's unfortunate, but we certainly don't need another body to add to the count that's already there." With that Irish came back around from tending to the other guests.

"Yeah, with you gone, who else will bother the kitchen for a free meal Allie?" he teased, as he turned his attention back on the television. Carter however, heard Allie's muttering.

"The MRA? You mean that Mutant Registration thing Congress passed a few years back? You think they framed this one like that too? I heard it got pretty bad for mutants when it first got implemented." Carter asked, making it sound like a legit question even if it was a rhetorical one in his head. His eyes fell upon the young woman, scanning her face and body for a reaction. He was curious as to her... specialness, though not enough to pry into her private life verbally. Just then, he looked over to the television, and said to Irish. "Hey can you turn up the volume slightly? Want to make sure I hear what she's saying."

Irish looked amused as he picked up the television controller. "Why? You throw on a cape and fly around in your past time too man?" Carter rolled his eyes.

"Hardly, but I would like to know if I need to bug out early if things go to hell. Would rather not get caught in the crossfire of some super power fight and get a building dropped on top of me." The news anchor's voice grew louder.

"Our sources have said that many in both houses of Congress have been swayed towards the super human's side, after testimony from various leaders of the hero community. In fact, New York Senator Stanley Lieber had this to say." A smaller screen on the corner of the television widen, showing an elderly but healthy man with glasses and a white mustache standing at an official government press conference podium in cheerful fashion.

"I, along with the citizens of New York, am personally indebted to countless heroes who have lend their invaluable aid in fighting and deterring crime throughout our great state. People like Captain America and Mr. Stark have served as not only examples of valor and courage, but role models for our teens and children in their efforts to combat crime and evildoers who have intended to harm our friends, neighbors and families. I believe that this Superhuman Registration Act will do nothing to improve but in fact damage the progress made by these men and women. That is why I stand with our heroes in saying 'no' to this bill." A voice from off camera spoke up.

"But what about the Latverian terror attack just last week on New York City Senator? Surely those super humans involved with provoking it should claim some responsibilities for their actions?"

The senator adjusted his glasses, and his face fell into a grim seriousness. "What happened last week to our fair city was a tragedy, and there's no getting around that. However, I think I can speak for the people of New York when I say that we are strong in the face of threats, intimidation and attacks upon our freedom and way of life! When World Trade Centers fell, we swore that we would rebuild, and we would rise again. This time it is no different! Regardless of race, religion, or even species, we will stand united with our heroes at this dark hour, and not let a single smudge on their records overshadow the countless amount of good they have done for this city! As our state motto say, 'Excelsior!'"

Irish crossed his arms, looking proud. "I voted for that man."

 

[Jessy753]

She glanced somewhat annoyed at his fish. Allie bit down a comment about how that fish did have emotions before and most likely ended up fearing for its life before landing on his plate. But she stayed quiet knowing he most likely wasn't interested in her secret passion and he had payed for her dinner. So she could bit down a comment. Besides her attention was quickly caught by the news.

The Irish came back to only tease her and Allie rolled her eyes. Without asking, she took Carter's napkin and folded it into a ball to throw at the Irish's head. "You'd miss me, if I was gone. Admit it, darlin'.", she spoke as the napkin hit the man against his head. She giggled and rose her hands quickly in a triumphant gesture.

Allie shuddered in horror as he elaborated the registration act years ago. She had been lucky to dodge the most of it. Yet she had considered going back to the UK after watching some of her friends fall during the riots. "Well, it wasn't the nicest.", she agreed and added perhaps a bit too quickly "So I've heard at least. I mean news channels and everything." By now she was fidgeting nervously with her fingers, knowing that she would be in a lot of troubles if someone found out about her unregistered mutation. Those talents might be hard to prove for strangers but they were dangerous as hell if operated the wrong way.

Her attention was caught by the news again as the lady elaborated and Carter asked for the Irish to turn up the volume. She watched it attentively considering herself if she should leave the city without a second thought. After all it wasn't the most secure place for her anymore. Thinking back what had happened during the last Registration Act, the smartest would be to finally move back to Europe hoping it wouldn't splash over the pond. She sighed and pressed her lips into a thin line while the senator spoke.

"Traitor. I stand by our Majesty, the Queen.", she tried to joke to lighten her own mood given the fact what was about to come. She turned to glance at Carter for a second before clearing her voice. "So what's your thoughts about all this..? Leaving the Big Apple now?", she gestured towards the television unsure why she wanted to know his opinion on all of this. It wouldn't change her fate after all.

 

[WanderingJester]

Carter Perkins looked curiously at Allison as she fidgeted in her chair. Judging by her reaction, either she was or she knew someone affected by the MRA, or even someone who managed to slipped through the cracks of it. From her sudden nervousness, to her attempts to cover it, to her rather quick answers, the signs seemed to be pointing to the latter, but Carter couldn't be sure without pressing further, and he had no intentions to. "I see," he merely replied to the girl before dropping the topic. Just then Irish turned to Allie with a grin.

"Now now dear girl, just because everyone calls me 'Irish' doesn't mean I am one. After all, I'm as American as the President of the United States here." He gave her a wink, before moving down the bar to make his rounds again. Carter, after being asked about the bill being pushed through Congress, shrugged. It was getting late, and most of the families had left, leaving mostly adults in the pub now. In the back, there was a sharp intake of breath, but Carter didn't notice.

"Nah it looks like things are calming down. With a bit of luck, the bill will die between the two houses, and I can go about my business here like the rest of New York. If not, well..." Just then he spotted a static screen on one of the monitors in the back of the bar, surrounded by people covering their mouths, their eyes wide or both. A silence began to infect the room from that direction, as people turned to see what had caused the sudden drop in conversations from that direction. After an intolerable moment, the loud intro to the news network blared into the room, as most, if not all, of the televisions began playing the same thing. Another anchor had appeared on the show. The man looked haggard compared to what Carter could assume was his normal televised appearance, and spoke in urgent tones.

"This is Charlie Davis of the WKNX News, with a breaking emergency report. Approximately ten minutes ago, the super hero group known as the New Warriors confronted a group of super villains, involving known criminals, Cobalt Man, Coldheart, Speedfreak and Nitro, at Stamford, Connecticut." Carter's eyes opened wide despite himself. He had taken the time to do plenty of research on the various who's who after Raptine attached itself to him, and head read something about Nitro. If he was involved with an emergency report...

"No," he breathed, as the anchor, obviously oblivious to Carter's horror, played a clip. It came from the New Warriors' reality show, and showed a man with long white hair running down the street, along with a voice yelling out.

"Nitro's pulling a rabbit! Someone grab him!"

"I got him!" A girl's voice replied, as a blurry figure smashed into the running man from the sky, slamming him against a school bus. The blue skinned girl, apparently the one they called Namorita, scowled up at the man. "On your feet Nitro, and don't bother trying any of your stupid exploding tricks." The man half got up, and half held against the bus by Namorita. However, hee had a calm, slightly maniacal smile on his face.

"Oh, baby. Don't you even know? You're playing with the big boys now," he said as his eyes began to glow, and suddenly his body exploded, the force slamming into the camera crew and causing the screen to go static. The pub was dead silent as the static filled screen minimized to the corner, revealing the anchor once more.

"The confrontation resulted in a catastrophic explosion that consumed most of the town's residential area, including an elementary school nearby. Preliminary reports conclude at least several hundreds dead, and the Governor of Connecticut have declared a state of emergency, as well as deployed the national guards. Our inside sources indicated that an emergency session of Congress have been called, and they will gather as soon as possible tomorrow. In the meantime, we here at WKNX News, along with the rest of our viewers, offer our prayers and condolences to those affected, and responding to the scene at Stamford. We will update you more as more information comes in." The outro began to play into the quiet pub, and Carter found himself clued to the television. Something deep inside of him said that this would be the turning point in American history unfolding before his eyes.

Yet all he could come up with were two words, "oh, shit."

 

[Jessy753]

She grinned at the Irish and laughed. She gave him a wink and spoke jokingly "Still traitor. You're in an Irish pub and hence have to behave one. Unless you're one of those traitors from the Southern side. In that case you can leave. Besides how many presidents did you have while we had one marvellous Queen?" Allie grinned and chuckled before her facial expression dropped into a serious one.

Allie wanted to say how wrong he was about the bill dying between two houses. They all had said the same about the MRA but here they were everyone registered or a needle injected in order to suppress the mutation. She had watched and even once stood in line for her dose. Yet she had left afraid shortly before it was her turn to get injected. Allison still remembered the day like it was yesterday and she looked down on her fingers. "I don't think it will die... If it comes to topics like this, the Congress often acts way too fast. So people cannot form a proper opinion.", she spoke serious and she heard the silence. It was ringing in her ears as she turned around to look at the shocked people.

Her gaze fell on the televisions as they started to play the clip. A hand flew up to her mouth as she watched shocked what had unfolded. "No...", she whispered at the news of how many people had died in the incident. She sat way too still on her bar stool, suddenly feeling sick. As bad as it was, her only thought that the registration act wouldn't vanish now. But that they would push it through as fast as possible. Yet her heart also dropped thinking about how many children had to die way too early because some punks had decided to...to act like their role models. "That's so terrible.", she eventually said her hand shaking a little as she finally dropped it to her side. Ally was still waiting for someone to jump out of a dark corner shouting this had been a cruel joke.

Allison slowly rose to her feet still feeling shocked but she knew that she had to leave now. She needed to hide out till the very next flight to London. It would get hard for her to leave now and hide. But...but she wasn't able to stay, right?

 

[WanderingJester]

Carter Perkins finally shook himself out of it as he caught movement form the corner of his eyes. Allie had said something that he missed, and gotten to her feet. Suddenly the young man was aware of how many tear streaked and angry faces were around the room, all in various stages of unfreezing from the news report. He looked over to the bartender, who fortunately had came out of it relatively early. Irish spoke with a shaky voice. "L-Last call everyone." Then he made eye contact with Carter, and he nodded, before hurrying off. Carter turned to the girl next to him, before putting a hand on her shoulder and getting her attention. The symbiote grew excited, but Carter chastised it almost absentmindedly.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Allie, though I wish we have better memories of this night. I would say see you later, but given the current circumstances, I'm doubtful we'll see each other again in the near future. Might I offer you some advice though?" the young man leaned in, so that only the girl could hear his next words. "Go into ground or get out, but either way do it quickly. They'll come for us soon." With that he retreated as quickly as he stepped to her, before offering a smile as Irish came back with his card and check. A signature later, Carter turned and began exiting the building. Already the pub began to be agitated, with people yelling out in fury and others wailing for the tragedy.

The cold New York night air greeted him like an old friend, though Carter knew that what was coming would be much worse than the SHIELD and law enforcement presence for the past week. Things were quickly going to hell in a hand basket, and Carter Perkins had no intentions of being dragged along with it. He turned the corner and, rather than head in the direction of the subway station and his little apartment, went instead for Mutant Town. It would make for an ideal cover, at least until he could secure passage out of the country.

(Short post is short :/)