"So now what?" Skitter asked carefully as she kept an eye out for any SHIELD agents in the area with her bugs.
"We go back to the loft or your homes. Since the city is mostly intact, I think the local heroes are going to be able to get water and power working again." Tattletale was peeking around a corner and taking in some of the locals and one of the huge flying aircraft carriers. She leaned a little more forward as she saw trucks with the name 'Damage Control' on the side. "You are shitting me? They can repair Brockton Bay this week?"
"What? They are super repair people?" Regent said with a roll of his eyes you could even see through his festival mask.
"No, it's something they do all they time. What? Really? They've repaired the Statue of Liberty fifteen times?" Whatever Tattletale was getting from her power was seriously affronting her.
"Tattletale, while it's interesting, it doesn't help us decide what to do now," Grue said. His voice, as always, was muffled by his motorcycle helmet.
"Sorry," the blonde said contritely.
"You guys are all kids, aren't you?" a voice from above asked them.
All of the Undersiders looked up to see a young woman or teen Asian crouched on the edge of the roof above them. She had a wide grin that showed off fangs.
Skitter was a bit freaked out, because her bugs had to be manually forced to touch the woman above them. "W-Who are you?"
That got a raised eyebrow from Tattletale.
"Name's Jubilee. And no, I'm not going to jump you. Pretty stupid for one person to jump a team. Mind if I come down?" she asked.
Grue stared at her for a long moment. "Sure," he said gruffly.
"Thanks! I'm going to stand in the shadows, if you don't mind. The Sun is killer on my complexion," the X-Men said. "So you guys are looking to ditch Big Brother?"
"Not a fan of SHIELD? I can't understand why! They have such pleasant, nice personalities," Regent quipped as he leaned against a wall.
"They can be total jerks. Maria Hill's a bigger one than normal. So do you have any powers that lend to sneaking away?" the ex-mutant asked them.
"I can generate a darkness that blocks most senses, but there's a lot of sunshine out right now thanks to that guy with the hammer," Grue replied truthfully.
"Yeah, it's usually the other way around. Thor usually leaves it raining and dark. He's the god of thunder, not sunshine and rainbows," Jubilee said. Her face had cute pout on it. "So let's cut through a few warehouses here and ditch them.
Tattletale's eyes were blinking fast. "You believe in the supernatural."
"Being is believing!" the young Asian said. She then smiled to show off her fangs again. "Used to be a mutant, um, that's a person born with special genes that can give them powers. Got depowered, died and then came back as a vampire. Oh, and I have a cute son I adopted!" She turned back to a door and started to pick the lock.
"The fuck?" Grue said, stating everyone else's feelings on the matter.
"Oh, and don't call Thor a fake god. He tends to get upset and try to prove himself by beating your head in a bit and dragging you to Asgard." Jubilee suddenly looked thoughtful. "Don't think I've been there recently." To hell with this. She promptly kicked in the door.
"I'll fill this warehouse with my shadows," Grue said, promptly doing so except for a narrow cone in front of them. "Where to?"
"Um, does you shadow have to be a certain thickness to be opaque?" Jubilee asked curiously.
"About six inches or so. Why?" he replied curiously.
"So you could block all those lovely sensors in the sky with just a thin layer? Less is better in this case." At their stares, she rolled her eyes. "I've been on the X-Men for years. Use just enough of your power to control the battlefield. What if someone tripped and fell into the shadows and got themselves killed?"
"That's something I've done before and it makes sense here, I guess." Grue then made a push in his mind and all the shadows plastered themselves to the roof and windows.
"Now its only mostly dark and holy crap your eyes are glowing red!" Regent blurted out.
"Vampire, duh!" the vampire said with a roll of her glowing red eyes. She led them to the other side of the warehouse, peeking out to see if there was anyone present.
Grue was playing with his powers, making it form into a mushroom cloud with him at the center. It was barely enough for the five of them and the two normal sized dogs as they went into the next warehouse. But no one tripped and it was faster.
They repeated that trick three more times.
"So far be it for me to pry, but do you actually have to drink blood?" Regent asked morbidly.
"Yes, you're prying. But I have a perfectly great source of blood. Comes with the perk of advanced healing and minor immunity to the sun. Everyone gives me weird looks when I use the umbrella during the day," Jubilee complained.
"So use a parasol," Skitter said sarcastically. "That's what they were designed for."
Jubilee blinked and then looked at them. "Riiiiiight. Doh. Wonder where I can get one in black lace?"
"Isn't that morbid?" Regent asked as he was bumped out of the way by Bitch as she continued moving along a back alley.
"Nah, for vampires black is a fashion statement." The vampire gave them a closed mouth grin.
"So we're far enough away to go to our base? Did you want to invite your backup out so we can chat like civilized capes?" Tattletale asked curiously.
"There's no way you sensed him. Hell, I can't even tell where he is," the X-Man said in confusion.
"Yes, but I got that from you about ten minutes ago. Also that you guys are friendly. So why did you want to talk to us?" the unofficial leader of the Undersiders asked.
"I had him tagged before that. He's pretty good, but he didn't manage to avoid all of my bugs. I figured that one person as backup was reasonable, so I didn't say anything," Skitter explained.
A hunched over figure slammed into the ground, then stood up. Wolverine's stocky and slightly short form should not have been intimidating, but he gave off a very dangerous vibe. Even when he lit up a cigar, that did not change. "Hey kids."
"That's Wolverine. We used to be partners," Jubilee said helpfully.
"So what do you want?" Grue demanded.
"I'm just going to give you some friendly advice. You have options and don't have to be villains. If you ever need a place to crash, we can put you up for a bit. Wouldn't be the first and probably won't be the last time. A lot of our students used to be enemies at one time." Wolverine took a long drag, then puffed out a smoke ring.
"Sorry, I need the money this gig brings," Grue said.
"Helps pay for the stuff for my dogs," Bitch stated simply even as she crouched down and scratched her one-eyed dog's head.
"Money's nice. Does heroing pay better here on Earth number-something?" Regent asked curiously.
"We don't have that easy of a choice in the matter," Tattletale said finally, getting a startled look from Skitter.
Skitter was thinking. "I'm just here for them. The money's nice, but I can live without it." She realized it was true. She had been going to betray them, but they were her friends now.
That caused Tattletale to give her a startled look.
"Just an offer. We've had all sorts at the school. Mutants, aliens, undead, normal humans, even the occasional odd non-mutant hero. You guys haven't made it personal or crossed that line into mass murderer-" Wolverine was saying when he was interrupted.
"Would you keep your fucking telepath out of our heads?" Tattletale said. Her cheeks were flushed in anger.
"Marvel Girl's already left. You've got a couple of heroes on your team and some of you want to rise above your pasts. Just don't let yourself get so focused that you become something you will hate. Come on, Jubilee. We've got to get back to the school," Wolverine said.
"Let me give them my phone number so I can send them pictures of Shogo to them," Jubilee said as she pulled out her cell phone.
After they were gone, everyone shared a look of bemusement.
"That was something. How come I get the feeling that Wolverine guy would have been tough to take down?" Grue finally said.
"Probably because he would have. And his team was much bigger than ours. Shall we head back to our lair? I think we have some things to discuss."
They all nodded at that.
Deep in the ocean swam a king proud in his might after he had received a missive from the Avengers and SHIELD. Namor the Submariner was on the hunt. Atlantian sensors had picked up something in the deepest of the Atlantic.
"Ah, there you are! Monster, you intrude into the domain of Namor-"
Then his world exploded in pain as Leviathan charged forward in a blur that the Atlantean mutant could hardly see, much less react to.
To his credit, Namor fought Leviathan for over five minutes on his own. To his last dismayed thought, he had not gathered the Defenders or Avengers to combat this menace because it was in 'his domain'.
Armsmaster sighed at he took off his helmet back in his private workshop. He had hardly had the chance to use his new nano-thorn halberd. He turned to the robotic pallet of with a crate of salvaged part. Mostly melted or burned materials from Dragon's self destruct. And it had been Dragon herself, as her remote control could not reach across to an alternate dimension.
Which meant... he actually didn't know what had happened. He heard (and even occasionally seen) Dragon self-destruct her battle suits and hadn't really thought deeply on it because it was 'known' she piloted them remotely at times. He had always assumed her parahuman power was in Tinkering, but he suspected he was wrong. Or she had more than one power.
The part that did not fit is that it was obviously not Dragon's idea to self-destruct, but that she was forced to do so. And exactly one hour after coming to this Earth-616.
That told him that while she was in there, that it was a remote unit. And that couldn't even tell anyone she was going to explode until his life was threatened.
Which indicated that the greatest Tinker of Earth Bet might be an AI or cyborg of some sort and operating under programmed directives. So Dragon could be nothing more than the 'visible' tool of an AI Tinker.
Four hours later he had confirmed that he would not be getting a lot of information from the Dragon suit. The residue of carbonized animal flesh worried him, because he could be wrong.
He was starting to think himself in circle. And his normal person to bounce ideas off was either dead or never existed.
He put his helmet back on and had it bring up a list of new contacts. Avengers - Iron Man was at the top of the list. Well, he was some sort of Tinker and even used Hero's colors.
After about ten seconds, a voice answered. "This is Avenger's Tower, Helen speaking. How can I assist you?"
"This is Armsmaster of the Protectorate. Is Iron Man available for consultation? I need assistance on a matter of robotics and A.I." Armsmaster tapped his toe impatiently.
The screen flick to a new person. The thin man with a mustache and goatee was dressed in a wife beater and jeans. A glowing circle of light shown through the shirt. "Armsmaster! How can I help you?"
"I just wanted to ask for some help with a robotics and A.I. issue from a fellow Tinker. I think. Nothing, about what is confusing me, makes any sense."
"Well, you happen to be in luck. I've made several A.I.'s myself. In fact, you've already talked to one. Helen, come back on the line," Stark said.
"She's an A.I.?" Obviously not terrified of making artificial life, he thought to himself.
"It's a very useful set of skill to have, especially if Ultron ever shows up again," Tony remarked. He doubted that they'd seen the last of that killer robot even with how he was dealt with last time.
Ultron? That did not sound terribly good at all. "I think one of my compatriots may have been an A.I. or cyborg clone. Let me explain my thoughts," Armsmaster said, then started to explain about how Dragon had exploded without any real warning.
"Your remote unit of an A.I. does seem quite plausible, along with the idea it's just a unit sent out by some A.I. Tinker," Tony mused. "It's sort of academic at this point. You've stated that she's lost her bodies before, but always seemed 'fine' later, right?"
"Yes?" Armsmaster replied slowly.
"Then in all likelihood, she's been restored from backup with none the wiser except for you. But you are not going to be able to do anything until you get back. So make some plans for that eventuality. Reed's really, really good at dimensional travel. So he will likely have a portal to your world open here in a few weeks. Longer if it's not critical," the Avengers explained his thought process.
"Longer?" Armsmaster queried.
"Oh, we're the sort that works best under mind crushing pressure. Save the world, stop omnipotent godlings. Things like that."
"Ah, that makes a bit more sense."
"So you guys are totally open about your real identities?" Lady Photon asked the Invisible Woman.
Both blondes were sitting at a picnic table with folding chairs eating some food that was being provided by SHIELD. Behind them was the Invisible Womna's husband who was busy working on a device that was getting larger and more complicated by the minute.
"We've always been a family and it never made sense. Especially with Ben. There was no way he could have a secret ID. It was pretty hard on him back then, but I don't think he'd really change anything now," the other mother heroine said. The time she and Reed tried to live a normal life for Franklin's sake in disguise ended with Mephisto blowing up their house made it clear that their enemies would find them no matter what they did.
"Our team tried to start a movement of personal responsibility. That turned oout very badly. One of our members was murdered and it drove away an old friend away that blamed us for his wife's death," Lady Photon said with a sad smile.
"Why the long faces?" the Human Torch called out as he quit juggling balls of fire.
"We were just comparing notes a bit, Johnny." The Invisible Woman turned back to her new friend. "So any hints on raising a super powered teen?"
"As far as I know, it's pretty much the same except for the super powers. I've had some screaming matches that were quite the light show over the bay," the older woman said.
Johnny quickly stepped away, not wanting to get sucked into mothers-talking-to-each-other.
"Sounds quaint and normal somehow. As long as it doesn't involve time travel and the shock of fully grown up kids again, I think I'll be fine. Hopefully we can figure out a way to avoid the power confrontation. It was bad enough with Ben and Johnny trashing the TV again. At least they toned it down around the children," the Invisible Woman said as she gestured at her brother and the Thing. "Reed's been quite happy that the repair bill has only been six figures this month."
That got a giggle out of them both. "Kids!" they chorused.
Three superhumans were landing next to the dimensional portal device as they laughed.
Mister Fantastic pulled himself out of a small hole in the side of the machine, stretching back to his normal skinny human form. "Can I help you guys?"
The dark purple cloak and caped figure at the center just nodded slightly. "I am actually here to offer our help. My power allows me to adopt three other powers. Legend here can generate a variety of energies tailored to your needs while Alexandria has stated she has some information she has read on the communication technology between Earth Bet and Earth Aleph."
"Any help is appreciated. We shouldn't have to worry about power with SHIELD landing a helicarrier and running the city on its power for a while. What type of energy do you generate?" Mister Fantastic asked curiously.
"I think 'yes' is the correct answer," Legend quipped. "I can do just about any energy I've been exposed to."
Alexandria was studying the device. "This does look like a very similar device that Conduit uses from Earth Aleph, just taken to a very highly energetic level."
"Hmm. That means that the alternate dimensions within the Kirby-Plank zone function normally, instead of having their own exotic physics." Mister Fantastic was rubbing his chin. That narrows things down a lot, while making it harder. "I think I'm going to have to... Yes, that could work. Instead of a full blown portal that a person can traverse, we'll try for something like that communication window you have between Earth Aleph and Earth Bet. I just need to change the focus array-"
"You guys can actually understand any of that?" a gruff voice asked. "Hey Reed, where you wants you gizmo whodoesit where?" The Thing was carrying a huge device over his shoulder.
"Could you use a hand?" Alexandria asked politely.
"Nah, I got it," he said with a grin. He set the multi-ton device next to the pair of geniuses. "Getting to the point where half the time I know where Stretcho wants this stuff put without him even telling me."
"Don't let his act fool you. Ben here is one of the best pilots the US Airforce had and was training to be in NASA's astronaut program," Mister Fantastic noted with a dry grin on his face as he wiped his gloved hands down.
"Reed! You're ruining my sterling reputation! What are the kids going to think about me now?" the Thing complained in mock horror.
Ten more minutes of work and then Mister Fantastic turned on the kludge of devices. It looked quite different from his bridge, but operated on similar principles.
"Hmm. I'm getting something every few seconds, but not in a repeating pattern," Mister Fantastic said. "Looks like there's solid rock on the other side of the portal. Let me move the aperture about then miles south and a mile up."
Alexandria was watching the holo controls over his back. "If I didn't know better, I'd assume that was a jamming signal instead of the portal only opening occasionally. In fact, perhaps that's what we're seeing," the fully covered heroine said in realization.
"Of course you are exactly right. It's not a signal jammer, but a dimensional jammer. The ability to block an entire set of alternate realities... It beggars the imagination. Psycho Man tried to fake that he could intercept travel to the Negative Zone, but this appears to be the real deal." Mister Fantastic was typing away at the keyboard and then started to adjust knobs.
"Can you get past it?" Legend asked.
"No. Not right now. We just happen to be randomly catching the pattern and getting a microsecond opening. Not even possible to get data transmitted meaningfully," the leader of the Fantastic Four said finally in frustration.
"While we can't get a message through, we can send the smallest fraction of a signal. Transmit an FM 40.5 radio frequency. It's what the PRT uses for search and rescue. If anyone picks up even a small fraction of the signal, they'll investigate it," Alexandria said.
"That might work." Eidolon watched the female Triumvirate walk behind the device, as if she was studying it.
"Door me," Alexandria whispered.
A flickering light appeared in front of her for a moment.
Under her mask, she smiled. They were making progress.