Yes people I am alive. Real life is trying to bite me in the ass at the moment, and it's been raining a lot. Hence why I haven't updated recently. On the plus side, have come up with a new Slayers crossover people might enjoy.
Piercing green eyes stared at the screen with frightening intensity. Hands flew over the keyboards with negligent ease, typing in characters only the owner could perceive as programming.
Suddenly it stopped as quickly as it had begun.
"Kuu... I love being brilliant!"
"Boss, are you going to explain why you haven't slept in days to the others, or are you going to suck it up and get some sleep?" asked her 'assistant', who was more of a minder than any real help.
Very few could follow her mind, and even fewer dared to try after she shut down the last few morons, hard. Eventually, after magic knows how many applicants, someone finally figured out she didn't want a helper...she wanted someone to remind her when she should be sleeping, since she generally kept herself fanatically clean and well fed.
It was more than Tony Stark or Reed Richards could claim. Sleep on the other hand, had the worst habit of eluding her. A simple stunner was her general method of getting anything resembling sleep, even if all it did was put her system into an automatic state of shock, forcing it to shut down for several hours.
Not exactly healthy, but it was better than becoming dependent on sleeping potions.
The woman turned to face her 'minder' with a mock glare.
"And what if I don't want to sleep?"
"Then I'm cutting off your coffee and tea ration until you do."
"Bully."
"If you sleep for ten hours I'll give you what the Unspeakables sent over last week. I know you've been dying to play with that for ages," he replied.
At age 27, Holly Potter-Black was one of the world's top engineers and scientist. She was considered on par with minds like Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Charles Xavier, Hank McCoy and Dr. Strange.
However with that intelligence came an eccentric streak half a universe wide, a moral compass long since broken beyond repair, and a will made of pure adamantium. When she set her mind on something, she would get it done no matter what, unless someone came up with a logical, well reasoned argument for which she couldn't counter.
Her minder, Jake, was the only one in a long stream of fools seeking glory to figure out she wasn't interested in a boyfriend or a lab assistant.
She just needed a sympathetic ear who could call her on her bullshit, remind her of the little things in life like sleep or getting out of the lab, and who could pretend to actually understand half of what she was saying.
She got along with Deadpool and often debated the most random crap for hours with him. That spoke volumes about her sanity and boredom level. Especially since the one time he tried to sleep with her, he nearly ended up castrated via a very annoyed witch.
Deadpool's girlfriend loved having her around after that. The two got along famously.
Jake pointed at the cot Holly kept in her workshop for just this purpose. She trudged over before hitting herself with a stunner... she was out like a light in seconds.
"Why she can't work until she drops like every other genius I'll never understand," he muttered.
Holly eagerly maneuvered the Time Turner forwarded from the Unspeakables. Normally they wouldn't be able to get away with sending it, but they were curious to see if she could get the cabinet which was destroyed in her assault on their department over a decade ago to quit repairing and destroying itself. There was one time turner that survived the crash itself, and it had taken careful handling to remove it so they could send it to her.
She had a spare in her little 'pocket', a warp in space-time that allowed her to carry everything she would ever need to conduct her experiments anywhere, anywhen.
And considering she would be messing around with time sand, she crammed as many useful and random gadgets she had in her lab in case things went horribly, horribly wrong.
Mostly spare laptops, seeing as how hers had the worst habit of blowing up...along with spare parts.
"I still don't get why this is necessary," said Jake.
"Because this is magic, and unlike science, it doesn't follow nearly as many comforting safety protocols. Now get behind the safety shield so I don't have to worry about you getting caught up in another of my insane experiments," ordered Holly.
Jake didn't hesitate. He fled behind the magical-dead zone Holly had created one night out of boredom...and because he wouldn't stop bitching about getting caught in a prank spell gone wrong.
Dr. Strange called it a magical null zone...basically an area magic can't exist or be used. If a magical nuke went off, that was the safest place to barricade yourself.
It took her two years and a lot of sleepless nights to learn how to make her own. And because she rarely relied on her magic outside of experiments, it didn't bother her as much as it would the English.
That being said, she hated having her experiments blow up on her.
"Contact!"
Jake flipped down the protective goggles...and nothing happened.
"Well?"
"Tricky, tricky. There's a reason I wasn't stupid enough to mess with time. Death, yeah because they like me since I don't really use the Hallows, but Time? I'll leave that crap to the British. This stuff is slipperier than me when it's time to do anything involving the upper class society bullshit..." said Holly frowning.
Jake snorted. Holly hated having to play it up for the rich, famous and utterly snobby. Give her orphans and people who had gone through hell...she was an expert at handling those who had been abused or abandoned. Give her some blue blood and she was so out of her depth she came off as crass and uncultured.
The irony being that she was a blue blood herself with more money than she cared to use outside of being charitable to those who genuinely needed it, and had been knighted by two different sovereigns of England.
The first time it was by a dying Queen before she abdicated in favor of her son... Holly had gotten it under protest when she cleaned out the Death Eaters and killed their leaders, before she gave them a very strong reason not to make her come back.
The magicals, outraged and fearful of her, had eventually managed to overturn that when they tried to kill her, and thought losing the status would weaken her position.
She came back three years later after discovering how to make Null Areas, and proceeded to create safe zones all over Europe for the muggle administration as a safeguard against magical manipulation...which Voldemort had been famous for using. If he had thought muggles were worth any note, he could have easily taken over Europe in less than a month by taking control of the English Prime Minister and his superiors.
The newly crowned King was quick to Knight her a second time for securing his nation and those surrounding it from internal threats.
She didn't actually remove the magic...she just made it impossible for magic to be used. She basically blocked it off.
Jake was about to reply...when an explosion rocked the building.
Holly cursed worse than a sailor when the time sand slipped from her grasp...and hit her.
"Holly!"
"Shit! Jake, stay behind the walls! Time sand is unpredictable on a good day!"
Under normal circumstances, time sand would be inert. Even out of the hourglass it was kept in, the sand would be safe to use...so long as there was no magic or energy involved.
There was another crash as a Chitauri vehicle rammed into the room...the unearthly energies hit Holly full force, activating the time sand that had spilled on her.
"This is just typical. The day I finally get to work on something magically interesting, and the Chitauri invade New York under the command of Loki. Jake, keep an eye out for my calling card...you'll know it when you see it. Or I call Deadpool's girlfriend," said Holly as she started to vanish, along with the flying tech that nearly crashed into her.
She was so going to kill the alien once the sand had used up it's energy.
Jake sighed. He heard Richards experienced this problem repeatedly...hopefully he could help lock down the lab until Holly either returned or was confirmed dead. No telling when she had been thrown to.
Jake waited until the battle was over before he called the tower.
"Fantastic Four... How can we help you Holly?" asked Richards.
"It's Jake. Holly's been thrown into another time and I'll need someone to help me lock down the lab until she's either found or confirmed without a doubt as dead," said Jake.
"...What exactly happened?"
"There was an accident involving an alien and a magical artifact that allows you to go back in time. Like I said, I don't know when she was thrown, all I know is that she's not going to pop up in the future," said Jake.
"Give us a few hours to come by and you can stay with us... provided you don't mind acting like babysitter."
"For the kids?"
"More like Johnny. He's driving Susan up the wall and she's worried about him."
"Bring the super-powered leash, got it."
"...Super-powered leash?"
"How do you think I keep Holly under control in high society gatherings? She made a leash specifically designed to keep super-powered humans or aliens within chastising range. Anything short of dragon-fire isn't going to make a dent to it. You can also 'program' it to curtail certain behavior."
"I think Susan would be very happy to commission one for Johnny. His drinking habits leave much to be desired," said Reeds.
"You kidding? Pepper actually bought one for Tony once she became aware Holly had made them and it's helped curb his bad behavior. Not all of it was from her reigning him in despite the fact he had become suicidal."
"Please tell me you have pictures!"
"I can do you one better. Holly found it so funny she kept the memories along with any blackmail she could dig up. I'll bring it with me and we can have a good laugh at the expense of Fury, Stark and Rogers," said Jake smirking.
Reed laughed as he hung up the phone. Five hours later he and Susan helped lock down the lab and place a notice that Holly would be unavailable for the immediate future. She was loaded and Jake had access to the secondary account, plus with the money still coming in from her patents they didn't need to worry about the place being seized.
It didn't hurt that most of her home and lab ran on runes, so the water and electric bill were at a minimal anyway. Jake made sure to leave a note on the one thing Holly would check first...the one thing she saw once she woke up.
A picture of her and Jake after he had successfully managed to stay for an entire year without being thrown out of the lab, along with those Holly could reasonably call friendly acquaintances.
She often got a real laugh at the looks on people's faces when they realized she considered Deadpool, an assassin so out there he made most mental patients looks sane by comparison, among her friends.
He couldn't actually kill her and she thought his bizarre nature was hilarious.
It was also the reason why Logan (AKA Wolverine) kept her between him and the insane moron. He got along with Holly because she helped track down his past, at least from where he quit being 'James Howlett' and started being Logan.
He had completely forgotten about his older brother Viktor, or Sabertooth as he insisted on being called now.
It would be a week before Jake finally found Holly...and in the most unlikely place possible.
One snapped neck, and the pest that had ruined her experiments was out of the picture. Annoying alien.
Holly's next act was to pick up the alien craft to play around with later.
"What year am I in anyway?"
She was in a side alley that would later become her tower. She owned the entire thing...made explaining the explosions that happened so much easier.
People who rented the lower rooms usually signed an agreement that they were allowed a select number of potshots at her with a paintball gun per explosion.
It amused her and it was great stress release for the tenants... not to mention she kept the rate rather reasonable and occasionally forgave a late payment.
She grimaced at the extremely outdated outfits the women were wearing.
"Let's see...outdated dress and hairstyle, or charms? Screw it, I'm not giving up my lab coat and jeans just to appease some idiots," muttered Holly. A few charms and no one even noticed she was a woman.
One look at the newspaper and the developing situation in Europe had her cursing worse than a seasoned whore.
She could honestly blame Logan and Deadpool for her...extensive... vocabulary. Mostly Logan though.
"World War 2... that stupid alien tech and time sand just had to drop me in the worst possible time?!" she growled.
She fumed for several minutes before an idea occurred to her. She had always been a major fan of Captain America. Mostly the fact he wouldn't send his men to do something he wouldn't do himself. Logan approved of him as well, having met Steve during the war. He was one of the few who treated Logan the same as any other soldier and didn't care if he was a mutant.
If the paper was right, then it was a few years before Steve became the man he would be in her time.
Which meant Dr. Irskin was alive and well. And he would know the formula to the Super Soldier Serum, something many had tried (and failed) to recreate.
The sheer amount of amusement she could get from hanging that over the heads of people like Fury... it made her giddy. Best of all Jake wouldn't be here to ruin her fun!
Holly looked at her watch.
"Time for magical Science!" she cackled evilly.
All across time, several evil super-geniuses shuddered. When Holly did that cackle, it always meant pain and humiliation for their kind.