The Ultimate Comic Book Roleplaying Universe: Dark Reign (IC)

[mr_pibbs]

~ The Ultimate ~

~ Comic Book ~

~ Roleplaying Universe ~

Dark Reign

Arc #1: The Rise of COBRA



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Location: Castle Doomstadt, Latveria

One Year Ago

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​

The trees below rocked back and forth under the heavily-twirling propellers of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Drop-ship as it neared an opening in the forested area surrounding the borders of Latveria. "Alright, this is the drop-off point!" exclaimed the pilot as she turned back to the renegade group of men and women wearing ridiculous looking costumes in the back. "Wait, what?" asked one of the men, clad in a sleek red and blue suit adorned with various designs of webbing. "We're nowhere near Castle Doomstadt!"

"Cap's orders, Spider-Man. Says we can't make an official landing due to the political implications. The President doesn't want to start a war with the Latverians, so we can't have anything linked back to S.H.I.E.L.D. landing without permission."

"But it's okay for a group of costumed people to drop out of the sky unannounced?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. may be a worldwide peacekeeping organization, but we still rely on America and thousands of other countries for funding. Masked vigilantes don't have a face attached to them."

*sigh* "Riiiight. I'll remember that when J. Jonah Jameson decides to blame this whole thing on me."

Turning towards the cargo doors, Spider-Man let out a sigh and stretched out his arms. "Alright everyone, let's get a move on. I'd rather die in some epic fashion out there then die of boredom in here... But preferably, I'd rather not die at all." he said jokingly, a smug grin forming beneath his mask. As the backdoor to the drop-ship slowly began to open, Spidey took one final look at his fellow teammates. To his immediate left was Wanda Maximoff, otherwise known as the "Scarlet Witch"; a powerful mutant with the ability to use powerful magic against her foes. Beside her sat Bucky Barnes aka "The Winter Soldier"; Steve Roger's old friend, subjected to the same super-soldier serum that created the Captain, giving him super strength that, along with a metal arm, let's him pack a powerful punch. Both the Winter Soldier and Scarlet Witch had gone up against the Avengers at some point, but now the two former villains were on the side of righteousness, fighting to protect the innocent from evil. The 18 year old Spider-Man had gotten to know Wanda and her brother, Pietrov (Quicksilver) a bit more personally, as they often socialized at the Avengers Tower in downtown New York when the group was not on patrol. Typically, members of the super-team from all over the world came to the tower to relax, when there wasn't a crisis that is. It was sort of like a superhero mixer. He admired her strength more above anything. Not physical strength, but the strength to carry on when the world has continuously thrown its worst at you on a nearly-daily basis. He didn't know Bucky as well, mostly since he and Commander Rogers were always out reminiscing about the 'old days'. It was hard to believe that the emo-looking man was almost as old as Captain America. But Spidey kept his distance from Bucky, not because of his villainous past, but because he was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Needless to say, Spidey didn't exactly trust the 'world peacekeeping organization'. The only reason he was even on this mission was because Captain America personally requested he assist the drop-team. Had it not been for the extreme guilt of 'letting down his fellow Avengers', Spider-Man would have flat out refused to go. But, as usual, the web-slinger agreed to risk life and limb for people he barely knew.

To Spidey's right, sat a young girl whom, despite his wishes, had snuck aboard the Helicarier when she should have been studying for her Math test; his little sister, May Day. Or, as she preferred to be called in-costume, "Spider-Girl". Most people often mistook them for being a dynamic duo like Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, but that was far from the truth... Although technically speaking, she was his protege. But Spidey preferred the term 'sidekick' (as it irritated his sister to no end). She was basically able to mimic all of his powers thanks to a plot by the Spider Queen (it's a long story, probably long enough to fill a few issues of a comic book), but May Day got a few different powers to the ones Spidey himself possessed. More specifically, she got the ability to fire paralyzingly streams of energy (dubbed 'Venom Blasts') from her hands. But mostly, she developed many powers similar to his own.

Then, there was... Howard. A robotic tank... Thing. Spidey didn't really understand much about it aside from the fact that it was designed by Tony Stark, was loaded to the teeth with various weapons and gadgets, and somehow managed to trap 'the Spot' in his own pocket dimension when the Synthetic Seven attacked New York ban in 2014. It was branded as 'Howard the D.U.C.C.' and was supposed to be the prototype for a whole new legion of super-gadgets.

...

In short, it was a robotic duck-tank. With a somewhat racist attitude towards humans.

Finally, the door leading to the back was completely open. A sudden shiver went down Spidey's spine as the frigid Laterian air hit him dead-on. "H-Holy c-c-crap!" exclaimed the masked teen as he suddenly began to rub his arms in an attempt to warm up. "I-I am n-not e-equipped for this!" mumbled the web-head as he walked over to the ledge. Peering down at the ground beneath them before turning back to the super team, Spidey gave a shrug and said "Well... Let's go." Taking a few steps back, Spidey quickly ran towards the ledge and jumped off, firing a barrage of webbing below at the trees to form a protective trampoline-like structure. Soft, yet bouncy. Landing on it back-first, Spidey bounced softly upon impact and crawled off. Now standing below the drop-ship with his fellow teammates, the web-slinger's head turned skywards as their transport began to leave.

Turning his head towards the Avengers, Spidey shrugged his shoulders and placed a hand on his hip. "Well, looks like we're on our own now... Anyone bring a Mad Libs? It's gonna be a long walk..."

 

[Razilin]

The roar of rockets blared above the Avengers as the duck-tank landed in front of Spider-Man, kicking up a small cloud of dust and ash. The treads of the mini-tank whirred to life as Howard the D.U.C.C. adjusted his position to take point. Its oblong, almost duck-shaped, head spun in a slow circle atop a narrow telescoping neck.

"Announcement: Scanners detecting six heat signatures 0.42 kilometers due north, Team Leader Spider-Man." Howard made a series of clicking and buzzing sounds as his processor went into overdrive as more information streamed in through his sensor package. "Postulation: Enemy signatures belong to Latverian meatbags. Recommendation: Evisceration."

Somewhere along the line, Tony Stark's prototype Destructive Universal Computerized Commando - ostensibly an in-field supplementary mobile assault unit for S.H.I.E.L.D. in combat zones - had developed a rather...unusual demeanor. Good money had been placed on Stark playing Knights of the Old Republic around the same time he programmed the prototype's personality matrix. The fact that its small chassis was brimming with an array of deadly ordnance only made its bloodthirsty and mercurial personality all the more dangerous.

Suddenly, a panel on the front of the mini-tank slid open, allowing a large-caliber machine gun to emerge. Howard intoned monotonously, "Quotation: In the words of company founder Howard Stark, 'the best weapon is one you fire once.' Request: May I demonstrate?"

 

[sleepingxdragon]

Wanda had various things to make up for, regardless of what others may say to encounter this. The auburn haired female had been in the opposite side in the past, fighting alongside her brother, Pietrov, and the Brotherhood. While her actions may have placed her under the radar of the X-Men and the Avengers, it seemed as if there were other plans for the female. A few bad situations had convinced the Maximoff twins to finally join the Avengers, after being asking on two different occasions. Unfortunately, Pietrov wouldn't be joining them on this mission- something about needing him to stay behind.

At Spider-Man's words, she had been the next to get up to follow in suit. A red glow had surrounded Wanda's hands as she lowered herself down to the ground with the others, auburn locks and an all too familiar red coat lightly flapping due to the strong wind. She landed carefully on her feet, the red glow radiating from her hands gradually vanishing. "I suppose we'll have to make due without it." Wanda replied, before taking a quick look at her surroundings.

It was a bit strange to be engaging in battle without Pietrov somewhere close by. Releasing her breath, Wanda stole a quick glance at her companions. She could only hope the others would be prepared for battle if need be.

James still found it difficult to wrap his head around the current events that had transpired within the last couple of weeks. It was still alarming to be fully conscious especially with the vast number of years he spent frozen. Each handler was different from the rest, hardly being the same individual as the previous one. These memories were better to leave untouched for the time being. James's gaze briefly swept across the remaining team members still abroad the ship before he had began to make his move. He waited until the others had jumped off the the ship before taking off himself.

Given his previous history and close friendship with Steve, James had silently taken up the responsibility of making sure everything went according to plan. Whatever threat they faced in this country needed to be stopped before a fight was brought back to their own doors. Before long, the brunet had quickly beside Wanda and Howard. The latter being unfamiliar to the male, excluding a few words that had been exchanged concerning the unit.

James's gaze flickered across Howard over to Spider-Man, taking the former's words until consideration. "It's your call." He spoke up, being mindful of the obvious disadvantageous they had. Alerting the enemy could go one of two ways depending on the number the opposing party had against them.​

 

[Razilin]

Howard's neck whirred as his head turned to face James Barnes. "Query: This D.U.C.C. unit wonders why the clearly inferior meatbags defer to Team Leader Spider-Man, when clearly the most useful asset is itself. Speculation: I also further wonder why Asset Barnes does not make the logical decision to replace his inferior meatbag parts with more bionics, which could possibly - however unlikely - make him a legitimate equal to this D.U.C.C. unit."

His head turned squarely to Wanda. "Identification: Asset Maximoff. Confusion: My sensors seem to be malfunctioning. I cannot determine the source of your abilities. Clearly, you must be an advanced technological construct rather than a meatbag." The duck-like head tilted. On a human, it would have been the kind of motion a man would make when checking out a woman. "Observation: Asset Maximoff is a well-made asset. Query: Team Leader Spider-Man, permission to perform further scans on Asset Maximoff?"

 

[Ravenbelle]

[fieldbox="Spider-Girl, blue, dashed, 10, Book Antiqua"]

The trees below rocked back and forth under the heavily-twirling propellers of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Drop-ship as it neared an opening in the forested area surrounding the borders of Latveria. "Alright, this is the drop-off point!" exclaimed the pilot as she turned back to the renegade group of men and women wearing ridiculous looking costumes in the back. "Wait, what?" asked one of the men, clad in a sleek red and blue suit adorned with various designs of webbing. "We're nowhere near Castle Doomstadt!"

May looked up from her hands when she heard the call saying they'd arrived. As her older brother had so loudly complained, the window looked out onto trees as far as she could see behind her mask. The entire way here she'd been playing with her webbing between her fingers, spinning it into different shapes and designs. But that's after she'd revealed herself as a stowaway they were dumb enough to try and leave behind. It was a lot simpler than she'd thought it'd be to sneak onto a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and for that alone she should have been invited. She had her suspicions that they meant to bring her along on the mission, but Spider-boy told them it'd be too dangerous for a 14 year old or something stupid like that. So she invited herself (beats studying for a dumb math test any day). And boy was it worth it just to imagine Matt's expression under his mask when he found out she'd climbed aboard. She giggled to herself again simply thinking about it.​

"S.H.I.E.L.D. may be a worldwide peacekeeping organization, but we still rely on America and thousands of other countries for funding. Masked vigilantes don't have a face attached to them."

*sigh* "Riiiight. I'll remember that when J. Jonah Jameson decides to blame this whole thing on me."

Spider-Girl rolled her eyes even though no one could see it under her mask. Her brother can be such a drama queen sometimes. She stood along with all the others, letting the webs between her fingers fall away and dissipate while her brother droned on with a joke about not dying or something. "Lame" she mumbled under her breath, still sarcastically surprised that this strange bunch of heroes she didn't quite trust had allowed Spider-Man to be their leader. He never struck her as the team leader type. First time for everything I guess..

He wasn't off to a great start though, acting like a goof over a bit of cold weather. Though of course it bothered her as well, she was too busy laughing at him as he jumped out to make much of a fuss over it. Then she promptly leaped after him, landing easily on his trampoline and flipping off of it onto the ground. The rest of the team then followed suit as the weird machine duck previously introduced as Howard spoke to "Team Leader" Spider-Man. MayDay sighed, and her breath showed when she let it out in a white puff. She was surprised it wasn't snowing, she was so cold. She was not looking forward to walking all the way to battle. The team would be a bunch of popsicles before they even got there! Or, as Howard would put it, frozen meatbags.

She raised an eyebrow at its strange commentary thinking its creator must have had wayy too much time on their hands. It was kind of creepy, especially with its question about Wanda.
"Okay..ew." she verbalized her disgust with the strange pervert duck before hopping unexpectedly onto her brother's back (piggyback position).
"Spidey, can you do us all a favor and make it shut up so we can go already? It's freezing out here and you have a long way to "lead us" so let's get a move on." Spider-Girl poked her brother in the back of the neck, then hooked her arms around him, clearly just to tell him she wasn't letting go so he might as well deal with it. (Plus he's an excellent source of body heat in this environment. Spiders hate the cold)
​

[/fieldbox]

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[Razilin]

"Hearty agreement: I heartily agree with Non-Asset Spider-Girl," Howard intoned. "Team Leader Spider-Man should lead us so that we may deal with the targets I previously identified. Indignation: However, Non-Asset Spider-Girl is incorrect in trying to shut up this unit. If she attempts to do so, I will remind her that she is made of supple, yet fragile, fleshy bits. Furthermore, Non-Asset Spider-Girl seems to have imposed herself upon a top secret S.H.I.E.L.D. mission; such an offense could land her in a federal prison for up to ten years. Since we are on foreign soil, Non-Asset Spider-Girl may instead be tried under Latverian law."

There was some whirring and clicking coming from Howard's head. "Informational: Latveria does not recognize the authority of the United Nations, nor does it hold a seat. Latveria also does not recognize the Geneva Conventions. Potentially, Non-Asset Spider-Girl may not even get a trial and may instead be summarily executed under local laws."

Howard's tone suddenly became very excited, even chipper. "Query: I wonder what sound a squashed spider makes? A riddle for the ages."

 

[mr_pibbs]

Spidey would've said something to the D.U.C.C. unit sooner about using non-lethal methods of attacking the bad guys... Had it not been for May Day jumping on his back. "AG-" yelped the startled superhero as his little sister cuddled him like a backpack. Looking back at her with a somewhat frustrated expression, the masked hero rolled his eyes. Once again, before he could speak, Howard began talking about how it desired to throughly scan 'Asset Maximoff'. "Permission denied on both counts, Howard... Geez. Wanda, don't pay attention to it. It's got 'Stark' written all over it. Literally." explained Spidey, smart-assedly pointing to the 'Stark Industries' logo emblazoned on Howard's right side. Casting a supportive smile back at Wanda, Spidey gently nodded at her as if to say 'you're an important part of the team', knowing that if he said it, Howard would use his words to reinforce the idea of using Wanda as an asset.

At Bucky's command, Spidey let out a deep, visible breath, and pointed forwards. "Alright, Castle Doomstadt is about forty miles away. Let's get a move on, gang."

--- Half an Hour Later ---​

"Commander Rogers calling the Avengers. Come in Avengers."

"H-Hey... S-S-Sp-Sp-Spidey... H-Here..."

"Spider-Man, I think I'm getting some interference on your end. Can you confirm?"

"I-It's... I-It's m-minus e-eight (°F) out here, C-Cap... I-I'm freezing..."

"I thought you were instructed to come prepared?"

"I-I brought... M-Mittens."

"Mittens."

"I-Is there a r-reason y-you called?"

"I'm confirming that you five are nearing Castle Doomstadt. Stark's already set up a perimeter with the Iron Legion, you're all clear for the assault."

"Y-Yeah... We're here... But you forgot one small detail in your mission report, Cap."

"And what would that be, Spider-Man?"

"This place is crawling with guards!" explained Spidey, who was currently perched upon a tree branch overlooking the main courtyard of the Castle. The others had taken up a position a mile behind him, waiting at the basin a river for Spidey to finish his scouting mission. Nearly a thousand men and women in high-tech military uniforms roamed the grounds, carrying equally-high tech looking weaponry. There were about twelve different guard towers, each with an automatic turret placed on the roof of the stone structure. There was no way that any of the heroes were getting in or out of this place without alerting at least one guard of their presence.

"That's why you're there, Spider-Man. You're the only one capable of sneaking into the castle without being detected."

"Yeah, but here's my issue; I don't exactly have a bullet-proof uniform, Cap. We need a new plan."

There was a moment of delay between his comms and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier hidden somewhere high above them. Spider-Man lightly tapped his fingers against the tree, waiting for an answer from the Captain before proceeding with a different plan of attack. But a slight tingly sensation in the back of his skull began before Spidey could hear Commander Rogers' reply. Spider Sense? But wh- thought Spidey before the wind began to pick up around them. Static filled the communicator in his right ear, forcing Spider-Man to knock against it lightly with his pointer finger. "Captain? Come in Cap. I can't understand--" stated Spider-Man before the tingling sensation reached 'headache' levels of annoyance. Groaning slightly, Spidey placed a hand on his head... Before the tree he was crouched upon was suddenly stuck by lightning. "GAAH!" shouted Spidey as he leapt from the branch, landing roughly in the snow, which was now spiralling around one lone figure. The tree, now burnt to a crisp, cracked under the pressure of the wind and fell to pieces.

Looking up at the spiralling column of snow ahead of him, Spidey made note that the sky was now filled with dark black clouds. Quite the sudden shift in weather considering it had been relatively overcast thus far. It couldn't have been natural, nor was the Lightning. Seriously, lightning in March? In Latveria? Spidey wasn't an avid follower of weather conditions in foreign countries, but common sense told him that there wasn't enough of a hot/cold air ratio for lightning to be produced. Especially since Latveria was still in the dead of winter...

That's when he saw her, and all of his questions were answered.
Descending from the heavy black clouds currently rumbling with the sounds of thunder, came Ororo Munroe, otherwise known as "Storm". Ororo was a powerful mutant formally allied with the X-Men, but defected to the Brotherhood of Mutants after she went insane due to the accidental death of Nightcrawler at the hands of Emma Frost. She had the powers to manipulate the weather to do her bidding, which explained why there was suddenly thunder and lightning in the middle of winter. But unluckily for her, the proper conditions required to produce such a climate were warming the area beneath the rainclouds. Spidey could already feel his joins getting warmer by the second, but he knew he still had a while to go before he was completely unfrozen. He needed to stall for time.

"Storm"

​

"Fancy meeting you here, Storm. So what? Abandon yet another family because you couldn't learn to forgive and forget?" asked Spider-Man, staring up at the hovering super villain.

"I will have none of your remarks, insect! Where are the others?"

"Others?"

"The Avengers. Surely you could not have come on your own. You have no reason to be here if not for your comrades."

"Who's to say the Avengers know I'm here? Maybe I came to say 'hi' to Doctor Doom in person?"

"Do not toy with me, Spider-Man. Where are the others?"

Before Spider-Man could respond with another comeback, a large and grotesque hand burst from the Earth beneath him. Luckily, Spidey jumped away before it managed to grab him, but he watched as the large grey monster began to claw its way to the surface. Roaring loudly as it did so, the hulk-sized beast, now revealed to be the monstrous zombie known as "Solomon Grundy", emerged from the ground. "If you do not talk, then my associate and I will have to beat it out of you." stated Storm, her eyes burning with an ethereal white energy as she prepared to attack Spider-Man once again.

"Solomun Grundy"

​

"Well... Seems like I'm not the only one who's been lying about back-up." stated Spider-Man as he watched Grundy stumble about, regaining his bearings. As the zombie finally readied itself for battle, Spidey felt another tingle in the back of his head. Looking around cautiously, he noticed three new figures had joined the battle, stepping out of a void created by none other then Felicia Samuels, aka "Cloak". With her, came Wesley Tompkin, aka "Dagger", her loyal sidekick. The duo were separated by a few years, but the mid-twenty year old villains were once part of a travelling circus act. On the side, however, they participated in a series of criminal 'disappearing acts', where Cloak would warp the two of them inside Bank vaults and escape with large sums of cash without even triggering the alarms. Luckily, they were stopped by the combined efforts of Zattana and the Sorcerer Supreme, Silvia Strange.

"Cloak and Dagger"

​

Beside the 'dynamic duo' of Cloak and Dagger, stood Jack Ryder, aka "The Creeper", a former reporter for the Daily Bugle who, after various genetic modifications curtesy of a combined blend of stolen OSCORP Cross-Species serums (the same one that gave Spider-Man his powers), developed a strange 'Dr. Hyde' persona. Similar to the Wolfman, Ryder would change to the Creeper during very specific conditions... But somehow, it seemed that Doom had been working on making the transformation permanent. The last time Spidey saw the reporter, Ryder had completely rid himself of the Creeper identity. Judging by the medical tag hanging off his left hand, Spidey inferred that Doom had been experimenting on him.

"The Creeper"

​

Looking around at the group of villains who had assembled, Spidey sighed and looked at them with his hands on his hips. "Well... Seems kind of unfair, doesn't it? Five of you against one of me? Tsk Tsk Tsk." mocked the young hero as he took a few steps forwards. Grundy roared defensively, aggravated at Spider-Man's movement. Knowing that his comms were offline, Spidey gently placed a hand against the side of his head, pretending to stretch out his neck. Subtly, he activated his communicator so the Avengers could hear him. "Now... I'm gonna count to ten. If you five don't step out of my way, then I'm going to personally provide you all with a limited edition 'Spider-Man ass-whoopin'. How's that sound?"

The villains looked at one another briefly as Spidey began counting.

"One..."

Storm's eyes began to glow, her palms filling with energy. The tingling sensation slowly returned.

"Two..."

The Creeper growled, beating his fists together like a giant ape. The tingles began to increase in intensity.

"Three..."

Cloak opened her signature cape wider while Dagger readied himself for battle, charging his energy blasts. Now, the tingles were piercing his skull like thousands of tiny needles.

"Four..."

Before he could even get to 'five', Solomun Grundy suddenly rushed at Spider-Man, grappling him in a mad rage before throwing the young hero into a nearby tree. Groaning as he tried to stand up, Spidey looked back at the grotesque zombie as he roared "GRUNDY CRUSH SPIDER-MAN!"

"Ten." gasped Spider-Man, severely winded from the impact. His spine was aching now, but it wasn't so bad that he couldn't stand up. As Grundy prepared for another assault, Spidey watched as a small concussive missile launched straight at his chest, sending the zombie flying. Everyone (minus Grundy) turned in response to the missile, watching as the mighty Avengers came charging towards them. Gasping for air as he stood up, Spidey pointed a weak finger towards the group of villains before him and whispered a raspy catchphrase.

*cough cough* "A-Avengers... A-A..." *cough cough* "Assemble..."

 

[Razilin]

Howard rolled onto the field, a smoking missile launcher retracting back into his chassis. "Salutation: Greetings, Hostiles. I am Howard the D.U.C.C. You attacked my squadron leader." There was a whirring within the robot that ended with several panels on his chassis popping open. Energy weapons of various calibers extended from the the openings. "Prepare to die."

Red, blue, and yellow bolts of energy spewed forth at the assembled supervillains as Howard laid down suppression fire. He wheeled himself toward the downed Spider-Man. "Strong encouragement: Team Leader Spider-Man! You should make use of your inferior meatbag limbs and get up. I cannot ensure your safety if you are not mobile. Recommendation: You may want to consider investing in cybernetic legs. They are faster and more efficient than your fleshy ones."

A panel opened on Howard's back. A first aid kit presented itself on a telescoping claw. "Further recommendation: You may wish to patch up your injuries, Team Leader Spider-Man. Yet again, another ailment of being a meatbag."

Howard's sensors beeped, directing his attention to the rest of the oncoming Avengers. "Joyously: Oh! Here comes the rest of our team! I do so wish to see Asset Maximoff in action. Her clearly superior technological advancements will be an absolute marvel to see! I would like to get a closer look at her chassis, should the opportunity present itself in battle."

 

[sleepingxdragon]

Howard's words had been long forgotten by the time Spider-Man had gone ahead to scout. It seemed better to simply brush it off for the time being. At Spider-Man's last remarks, Wanda had been one of the first to react to the call- already using her own magic to lift herself off the ground. There had been a quick exchange of "If anyone needs immediate transportation, come with me." before the auburn haired female had finally taken off towards the battle. This was hardly something foreign to the Maximoff considering the numerous battles she had been involved in earlier. This would be no different from any previous ones.

Wordlessly, a red glow had surrounded her hands before a hex was quickly shot towards the five enemies before them. It was ironic that here she was facing Storm, someone she had once encountered on opposing sides. It was ironic that Wanda was now on the side that Storm had heavily occupied in the past. "I didn't expect to see you on that side." She stated, before offering a quick glance over at Spider-Man.

"Are you alright?" Wanda questioned, cautious about the five individuals before them. Regardless of the opposing side's abilities, the Maximoff was more than prepared to begin the battle if need be. This was the threat they needed to eliminate to resume their mission. With that thought, another hex had been thrown towards the opposing side- specifically Storm.

James couldn't wrap his head around the idea of Stark's son creating Howard, to be precise.. his personality was the main thing being questioned. Nonetheless, everything pertaining to their earlier events was forgotten was Spider-man had made the call. With all of the enhancements made to James previously, speed would hardly be a problem for the male. "Let's go." That was the last remark that escaped his lips before he had the quick trek towards Spider-Man's location. Fortunately, it hadn't taken long before he reached Howard's and Spider-Man's location with a gun in his gloved hands. Time for their mission to start.

With nothing else stopping him, James gun was raised and already aimed at the five enemies before them. Former ally or not, the brunet was well aware that Storm might be the one who posed a great threat- similar to Solomon Grundy. Either way, they needed to take them down now before a plan could possibly be executed between the five individuals. A few shots had been taken as he peered at the situation with Spider-Man and Howard.

Wordlessly, the former solider took point and started his own attack- silently daring any of them to step forward to commence the battle. Bullets were dangerous to anyone, mutant or not- it did pack quite an awful punch. "There's no hesitation in taking them down, alright?" James stated, eyes briefly peering at his comrades before going ahead and beginning to shoot.​

 

[Ravenbelle]

[fieldbox="Spider-Girl, blue, dashed, 10, Book Antiqua"]

After awhile riding on her brother's back using him as both a mode of transportation and heat pad, she finally gave in to the nagging voice in the back of her head telling her to stop being a lazybutt because Spider-Man is going to need his strength later and she shouldn't be the one to weight him down...literally. So with an excuse about boredom and her still being cold or something, Spider-Girl threw some webbing of her own and with the exercise came warmth as well, until she and the rest of the team were told to stay back, that is. She had put up a bit of a fight over that, being unwilling to let her brother go off alone, but he managed to convince her to stay put. She would know if there was trouble by the comm in her ear.
So Spider-Girl remained on guard, alert and listening intently while crouched on a high branch, (slowly freezing)
When the action was heard throughout both the forest and the comm, her body was grateful, but her mind was panicked beyond belief.
This was the only 'official' mission Matt had ever been on as far as she knew. And he was leader and he was alone
I can't lose him. Not like we lost Dad. Oh god, Matt hang on!
Her limbs warmed as she swung through the forest, too concerned for her only sibling to care about the scratches and small tears she earned from various twigs and branches before she finally spotted him, lying in the snow against a tree. Nononono...
She landed beside him in a crouch, only now noticing Howard the ick-machine holding out a first-aid kit and Wanda asking exactly what she wanted to. In fact, Spider-Girl asked pretty much right as the older brunette sent out another red blast toward the flying villain woman.
"Are you okay, m-Spider-man?" She whimpered. despite the obvious danger all around them, she was only worried about him. Regardless of the bleeding cuts on her arms and legs as well as the few on her sides, she reached out for the kit on the DUCC "Gimme that--and cover us!" and held it on her knees to find something for her brother. There weren't many visible signs besides his posture that indicated injury so she assumed he was hit mostly on his back and worse, his head. Oh god what do i do?
"W-where does it hurt? How can I help?" Spider-Girl demanded, though her tone was desperate and well, scared. Only now was it easiest to see the reality of her situation. Just a reckless fourteen-year-old with fairly new spider powers and little knowledge as to what's really going on around here except that her brother got hurt even though that's exactly what she came to prevent. She ignored anything and everyone else because how could I let him go alone?! and she had no clue how badly he might have been hit because she wasn't there like she always is!
​

[/fieldbox]

​

 

[Razilin]

Upon seeing Spider-Girl's fruitless - and, in Howard's infinite wisdom - clumsy attempts to tend to her fallen brother, the robotic duck admonished, "Stern admonishment: Non-Asset Spider-Girl, you clearly have no idea how to treat combat injuries. Your inexperience may well further injure your brother. Contemplation: While continued attempts at meatbag field medicine on your part will undoubtedly cause Team Leader Spider-Man no shortage of agony, and infinitely entertain me, I must remind you that all D.U.C.C. units are programmed to, unfortunately, protect all team members to the fullest of their ability."

The robotic duck wheeled past Spider-Girl, shoving her aside. "Commanding tone: Please provide cover for your brother and myself. There are many hostiles in range. It would be tactically advisable if you would deal with them while I - sigh - return your meatbag sibling to combat readiness."

Howard's chassis opened up, revealing four telescoping manipulators that ended in various surgical tools. One of them resembled something phallic. "Comforting tone: Team Leader Spider-Man, you may experience some...discomfort. Recommendation: Lie back and think of England."

 

[mr_pibbs]

Despite how crowded he was becoming, Spider-Man managed to regain himself and pushed Howard to the side. "Stark: keep your robot away from me... And for the love of God, reprogram this thing so it doesn't make any more creepy sexual advances to me or Scarlet Witch." complained Spidey, getting up from the ground as he heard the billowing roar of Solomun Grundy echo over the snowy plains once again.

Before he dashed off to fight the undead monstrosity, Spidey looked at his sister and tapped his nose with two fingers. "Ex-nay on the Att-May, Spider-Girl. I'll live, but let's remember to stay incognito." stated the superhero in a hushed tone before Solomun Grundy roared again. Rollin his eyes, he fired off a singular web at Grundy's chest to shut him up. The massive zombie looked at the strange organic webbing for a moment, pondering what it was and where it had come from. But in the end, Grundy resorted to his typical solution when encountering a dilemma:

He acted aggressively and screamed incoherently.

Predicting this, Spidey watched as Grundy pulled on the web-line, yanking the Red and Blue hero towards him. But Spider-Man was predicting this and as he sailed towards the decaying giant, he pulled back a fist and slugged Grundy across the jaw, sending several yellow teeth flying across the frozen tundra. Falling backwards as a result of the punch, Grundy barely had time to regain himself before Spidey used the momentum of the zombie's previous act against him once again. As Spidey landed, he pulled tightly on the web-line still attached to Grundy's chest and, using his super strength combined with the speed at which he was flying through the air, Spidey pulled Grundy into the air, throwing him into a 180° arc, and slammed the zombie into the ground as hard as he could.

Turning back to look at his fellow Avengers, Spidey nodded his head towards the other villains and said "I've got Grundy handled, you guys deal with the 'League of Poorly Dressed Super-Jerks' over there."

 

[Razilin]

"Acknowledgement: Acknowledged, Team Leader Spider-Man," Howard intoned mechanically. "Announcement: Engaging hostiles." With that, the duck-shaped mini-tank rumbled toward the Creeper, who was agilely hopping around the battlefield. As a vehicle, Howard didn't have a chance of keeping pace that kind of mobility, but his weapons arsenal could. "Announcement: Deploying crowd control canisters."

A port on Howard's chassis popped open and a cannon extended out. It fired three cylinders that exploded on contact with the ground, spilling forth large puddles of sticky foam. When the Creeper landed in one, the foam hardened around his ankles, holding him in place. The cannon retreated back within Howard's chassis. A whirring sound heralded a switch in the robot's armaments. Then a large forked device jutted through the port. "Gleefully: Weapon selected. Firing." A stream of electricity spewed forth, striking the Creeper and causing the limber man to howl in agony. "Enjoyment: Hee hee hee hee."

Another bolt of lightning came down on Howard from above, causes his circuits to fry and burn. Something important exploded in the back of his chassis, knocking him over. "Regretfully: Ow."

Floating above Howard was Storm.