07-10-2018, 04:38 PM
Laura sat herself down on the jetty with a sigh. The sea lapped at the wooden supports, babbling quietly as the tide retreated backward, only to return with a certain vigour. Her partner plonked down next to her, glancing from left to right with a satisfied exhale.
“Happy to be home?” The Clone asked, “It’s not bad so far, I guess.”
“Well, we’re not quite home yet, it gets better.” The Pokemon replied, smiling up at Kinney, “We need a boat though. You can make one, right? You just gotta think about it or something, I dunno how it works. I haven’t met any Primes like this before.”
The Mutant canted her head for a moment, perplexed by the notion that she could simply will a boat into existence. She shrugged and closed her eyes. ‘Boats.. Boats..’ she mouthed, all manner of nautical thoughts rolling through her mind. First a gigantic cargo ship, topped with innumerable shipping containers. Then a slightly smaller, but still vast, ferry, like the ones she’d seen back in the Bronx crossing the sea. Her trail of thought continued, each ship growing progressively smaller in size and stature, until she finally settled on a small Dinghy equipped with a tiny Onboard motor. The image of the boat sailed around her mind, every inch of wood, every nail, every wire in the motor. Each and every detail taking form in her mind, down to the wear and tear of the crimson red paint giving way to pallid, water damaged wood.
The gentle rolling of the tide churned, it’s momentum broken apart by the coalescing form of the dinghy, gently bobbing atop the waves. The briny water lapped against the wooden hull rhythmically, peacefully.
Cubone was the first to eagerly dive into the Mutant’s creation, chortling loudly; “This is awesome! I’m driving! I’m driving!”
Laura cocked a grin as she stepped into the dinghy and took a seat, nudging the coy Pokemon away from the controls of the motor. She snorted a laugh at the kid’s frantic begging, his desperation to drive the little boat getting the better of him as he clawed at the controls. The clone batted his hand away, tutting and wagging a finger, “Not this time, kiddo, I wanna get there in one piece.”
23 gripped the controls of the little dinghy and revved the engine. The boat took off, slowly at first, into the vasty deep. It cut through the calm waves with little trouble, rocking slightly as the bow caught some air over the crest of a rolling wave and slammed back down onto the strained surface. Cubone clutched the edge of the starboard, beaming a bright smile down at his own reflection in the water, he chuckled loudly as the ripples distorted his appearance, his face waving and rippling with the disturbed tide. Laura reached over, wrapping a calloused hand around the Pokemon’s heel for good measure.
Forty miles passed as if it were nothing, the tide remained calm, uneventful — it’s pale blue countenance unphased by the presence of the boat. The pair approached an island, greeted with a derelict jetty, though not naturally. Bullet holes and singed edges lingered, now battered by the undeterred tide, uncompromising in it’s ineffable nature. Rather than attempt to dock against the damaged jetty, Kinney opted for a rather more abrupt, sandy solution and drove the boat directly up onto the white sand shore of the island.
The unlikely duo disembarked, planting their feet into the sand. Cubone wandered, closely followed by Kinney, before dragging his feet to a halt, gaze drawn upwards in awe, a long drawled “Woah” emanating from within the Pokemon’s skull mask. Laura followed suit, her brow furrowed as she took stock; met with the sight of a huge, sky breaking tower, emblazoned with a gigantic, stylised A — something Kinney was more than familiar with. It was the Avengers Tower, now reduced to a smouldering husk, flames licking at the metallic support beams of the devastated tower.
“Roger that, area is clear. Heading out for extraction.”
Without missing a beat, the Clone dragged her young partner out of the open beach and into some low lying shrubbery atop a green tipped dune. She pressed down on the Pokemon’s skull, keeping it low as a pair of green clad men wandered the pathway leading up to the derelict tower.
A dull shink rang from the Mutants knuckles as her skin gave way to a pair of adamantium claws, each dripping with a small amount of the woman’s blood. She pressed a claw to her lips, “Shh, shh”, her companion nodded as Laura skulked away, stalking the HYDRA thugs, claws glinting in the high noon sun.
The thugs spoke between themselves, an occasional static laced message rang through their radios, blissfully unaware of the clone that closed in, delicate footsteps placed carefully upon the cobblestones of the path.
“I dunno why they bother sending us out here,” one of the thugs mused aloud, “they’re not gonna bother coming back to this - -“ his speech came to an abrupt halt as a sickening crunch resounded from his partners skull, a pair of claws erupting from the space between his eyes, blood and gore spraying out and desecrating the ground before him. 23 ripped her claws free of the thugs shattered skull, his corpse crumpling to the ground in a heap, claret pooling around him. The first thug panicked, foolishly scrambling for his radio rather than a weapon. The clone spun on heel, a leg extended, striking down on the side of the thugs head as another claw sprung free of her thick leather boot, practically slicing the thugs head free of his neck. The HYDRA agent gargled as blood gushed from the wound. He collapsed to his knees, hands clawing desperately at his neck in an attempt to cease the bleeding.
Laura took a step back, her claws settling back in their resting place with a far from satisfying thunk. She sighed and took a knee beside the thug as the light left his eyes and he slumped down to the ground, face first. The clone quickly rummaged through the agents person, checking for anything of interest, finding little more than a coin bearing the HYDRA insignia and a small, handheld tablet. She pocketed both and turned to face her partners hiding spot.
She paced the path warily until she was confident they were alone. She stopped beside the shrubs, stooped and scooped the Pokemon up and held him close to her chest, ensuring that he wouldn’t see the remnants of her attack. Laura skirted around the pair of fallen agents and prowled the outskirts of the Avengers Tower, sniffing the air every now and then, occasionally stopping to check the ground, her tracking abilities taking over instinctually.
“Who were they?” Cubone muttered, voice muffled as his head was still buried in the clone’s chest.
“HYDRA,” 23 spoke quickly and quietly, glancing around warily for any more of the agents, “they would’ve tried to kill us both if I hadn’t done something. Sorry to put you through that, kid.”
“It’s.. okay,” Cubone spoke again, “can.. can we go now?”
“Sure, kid, sure. Let’s get you home, huh?” She sighed, pacing back towards their boat on the beach, “You can drive for a bit, how about that?” Cubone snorted in reply and giggled, he nodded amiably. Laura placed the Pokemon down in the boat and set about pushing the vessel back into the water, grunting all the way. She quickly hopped into the boat as it bobbed back into the sea. Cubone wrestled with the controls for a moment before coming to grips with how to control the boat and revved the engine, the vessel slowly chugged out into the open water once again.
The Clone laid back against her seat in the boat, sighing quietly to herself, relatively satisfied that Cubone wasn’t going to destroy the boat and them with it any time soon. She pulled the previously pocketed HYDRA insignia and rolled it around between her fingers. The mutant contemplated the presence of HYDRA for a good while; if they were here, chances are some of the Avengers had made it here as well and were, or should be, attempting to shut down any of their operations. And if the Avengers were here, she could be among friends, however fragile her relationship with certain members was.
Thick, black clouds roiled overhead, a low rumble of thunder echoed around the ocean. Kinney shook her head, another sigh escaping her as she pocketed the insignia. This time, she produced the handheld tablet and set about swiping left and right, searching for nothing in particular until she came across an app, titled Dataverse Messageboards. Laura hesitated for a moment before mashing a finger against the little DM icon, greeted with a new screen, filled from top to bottom with a huge variety of threads and posts from all around the Omniverse.
Omniverse News Network Official
Hawt Kings Hugging-R
Dante Abyss Power Rankings
Calling Any Heroes - Moon Knight
“Moon Knight?” Kinney muttered, quickly clicking the post. She skimmed it and read along quickly, skipping large chunks in the interest of speed, “Avengers Initiative - vigilantes - Communicator ID..” another click brought up another screen, an email client, both Vision and Moon Knight’s details entered as the recipients. Laura exhaled slowly, drawing on the memory of a method of encryption that the Vision would have knowledge of. She wrote a message at pace, heart pounding in her chest. Why was she nervous? 23 exhaled again, finishing up the message for Moon Knight and the Vision, sending it after a moment’s hesitation.
The tide picked up, treacherous white tipped waves threw the boat around. The Clone took a hold of the controls and scootched the Pokemon over, only to be met with incessant whining and pleading. She merely shook her head in reply, concentrating fully on not sinking or capsizing the dinghy.
“There!” Cubone stood up hastily, tiny finger pointed at an island in the distance, obscured by the presence of a multitude of Imperial ships, “There it is! That’s Cinnabar! But why- are the ships shooting at each other?” The Pokemon questioned, what sounded like thunder beforehand quickly revealed itself to be the booming echoes of guns. The Clone’s brow furrowed as she let off the controls, the dinghy slowly floating to a halt, bobbing brashly atop the determined waves. Laura’s chest heaved as she inhaled deeply, shaking her head in disbelief at what she saw. Cubone was no better off, a confused mumbling echoing from beneath his skull mask. The mutant drummed her fingers across the controls of the dinghy until she finally decided to move on. She revved the engine a few times and the little dinghy took off once again, catching a little air over the white crested waves.
The screaming of gunfire grew deafening as the dinghy drew closer and closer to the vast Imperial ships, glinting vibrantly in the sun. Laura took the boat as close to the end ship as possible, using the enormous hull as cover from the innumerable gunshots that roared overhead. They grew closer to the dock of Cinnabar Island, Laura tugged on the controls, pushing the engine to the limit of its capacity, it whined under the pressure. Though, the sound was lost on the Clone and her partner, their eardrums reverberated and rung; the immense thundering of gunfire assaulted their senses and threw the boat about. 23 pulled the dinghy up alongside the dock and practically threw her Pokemon partner up onto it, followed quickly by a rope to tie the dinghy down. The little Pokemon scrambled about, tiny fingers struggling to tighten the rope around the cleat until Laura took over, making quick work of the job.
Laura sighed as she glanced about the island, until she caught sight of another Pokemon approaching her, a Charmeleon.
“Get to the town, quickly!” It roared.
“Happy to be home?” The Clone asked, “It’s not bad so far, I guess.”
“Well, we’re not quite home yet, it gets better.” The Pokemon replied, smiling up at Kinney, “We need a boat though. You can make one, right? You just gotta think about it or something, I dunno how it works. I haven’t met any Primes like this before.”
The Mutant canted her head for a moment, perplexed by the notion that she could simply will a boat into existence. She shrugged and closed her eyes. ‘Boats.. Boats..’ she mouthed, all manner of nautical thoughts rolling through her mind. First a gigantic cargo ship, topped with innumerable shipping containers. Then a slightly smaller, but still vast, ferry, like the ones she’d seen back in the Bronx crossing the sea. Her trail of thought continued, each ship growing progressively smaller in size and stature, until she finally settled on a small Dinghy equipped with a tiny Onboard motor. The image of the boat sailed around her mind, every inch of wood, every nail, every wire in the motor. Each and every detail taking form in her mind, down to the wear and tear of the crimson red paint giving way to pallid, water damaged wood.
The gentle rolling of the tide churned, it’s momentum broken apart by the coalescing form of the dinghy, gently bobbing atop the waves. The briny water lapped against the wooden hull rhythmically, peacefully.
Cubone was the first to eagerly dive into the Mutant’s creation, chortling loudly; “This is awesome! I’m driving! I’m driving!”
Laura cocked a grin as she stepped into the dinghy and took a seat, nudging the coy Pokemon away from the controls of the motor. She snorted a laugh at the kid’s frantic begging, his desperation to drive the little boat getting the better of him as he clawed at the controls. The clone batted his hand away, tutting and wagging a finger, “Not this time, kiddo, I wanna get there in one piece.”
23 gripped the controls of the little dinghy and revved the engine. The boat took off, slowly at first, into the vasty deep. It cut through the calm waves with little trouble, rocking slightly as the bow caught some air over the crest of a rolling wave and slammed back down onto the strained surface. Cubone clutched the edge of the starboard, beaming a bright smile down at his own reflection in the water, he chuckled loudly as the ripples distorted his appearance, his face waving and rippling with the disturbed tide. Laura reached over, wrapping a calloused hand around the Pokemon’s heel for good measure.
Forty miles passed as if it were nothing, the tide remained calm, uneventful — it’s pale blue countenance unphased by the presence of the boat. The pair approached an island, greeted with a derelict jetty, though not naturally. Bullet holes and singed edges lingered, now battered by the undeterred tide, uncompromising in it’s ineffable nature. Rather than attempt to dock against the damaged jetty, Kinney opted for a rather more abrupt, sandy solution and drove the boat directly up onto the white sand shore of the island.
The unlikely duo disembarked, planting their feet into the sand. Cubone wandered, closely followed by Kinney, before dragging his feet to a halt, gaze drawn upwards in awe, a long drawled “Woah” emanating from within the Pokemon’s skull mask. Laura followed suit, her brow furrowed as she took stock; met with the sight of a huge, sky breaking tower, emblazoned with a gigantic, stylised A — something Kinney was more than familiar with. It was the Avengers Tower, now reduced to a smouldering husk, flames licking at the metallic support beams of the devastated tower.
“Roger that, area is clear. Heading out for extraction.”
Without missing a beat, the Clone dragged her young partner out of the open beach and into some low lying shrubbery atop a green tipped dune. She pressed down on the Pokemon’s skull, keeping it low as a pair of green clad men wandered the pathway leading up to the derelict tower.
A dull shink rang from the Mutants knuckles as her skin gave way to a pair of adamantium claws, each dripping with a small amount of the woman’s blood. She pressed a claw to her lips, “Shh, shh”, her companion nodded as Laura skulked away, stalking the HYDRA thugs, claws glinting in the high noon sun.
The thugs spoke between themselves, an occasional static laced message rang through their radios, blissfully unaware of the clone that closed in, delicate footsteps placed carefully upon the cobblestones of the path.
“I dunno why they bother sending us out here,” one of the thugs mused aloud, “they’re not gonna bother coming back to this - -“ his speech came to an abrupt halt as a sickening crunch resounded from his partners skull, a pair of claws erupting from the space between his eyes, blood and gore spraying out and desecrating the ground before him. 23 ripped her claws free of the thugs shattered skull, his corpse crumpling to the ground in a heap, claret pooling around him. The first thug panicked, foolishly scrambling for his radio rather than a weapon. The clone spun on heel, a leg extended, striking down on the side of the thugs head as another claw sprung free of her thick leather boot, practically slicing the thugs head free of his neck. The HYDRA agent gargled as blood gushed from the wound. He collapsed to his knees, hands clawing desperately at his neck in an attempt to cease the bleeding.
Laura took a step back, her claws settling back in their resting place with a far from satisfying thunk. She sighed and took a knee beside the thug as the light left his eyes and he slumped down to the ground, face first. The clone quickly rummaged through the agents person, checking for anything of interest, finding little more than a coin bearing the HYDRA insignia and a small, handheld tablet. She pocketed both and turned to face her partners hiding spot.
She paced the path warily until she was confident they were alone. She stopped beside the shrubs, stooped and scooped the Pokemon up and held him close to her chest, ensuring that he wouldn’t see the remnants of her attack. Laura skirted around the pair of fallen agents and prowled the outskirts of the Avengers Tower, sniffing the air every now and then, occasionally stopping to check the ground, her tracking abilities taking over instinctually.
“Who were they?” Cubone muttered, voice muffled as his head was still buried in the clone’s chest.
“HYDRA,” 23 spoke quickly and quietly, glancing around warily for any more of the agents, “they would’ve tried to kill us both if I hadn’t done something. Sorry to put you through that, kid.”
“It’s.. okay,” Cubone spoke again, “can.. can we go now?”
“Sure, kid, sure. Let’s get you home, huh?” She sighed, pacing back towards their boat on the beach, “You can drive for a bit, how about that?” Cubone snorted in reply and giggled, he nodded amiably. Laura placed the Pokemon down in the boat and set about pushing the vessel back into the water, grunting all the way. She quickly hopped into the boat as it bobbed back into the sea. Cubone wrestled with the controls for a moment before coming to grips with how to control the boat and revved the engine, the vessel slowly chugged out into the open water once again.
The Clone laid back against her seat in the boat, sighing quietly to herself, relatively satisfied that Cubone wasn’t going to destroy the boat and them with it any time soon. She pulled the previously pocketed HYDRA insignia and rolled it around between her fingers. The mutant contemplated the presence of HYDRA for a good while; if they were here, chances are some of the Avengers had made it here as well and were, or should be, attempting to shut down any of their operations. And if the Avengers were here, she could be among friends, however fragile her relationship with certain members was.
Thick, black clouds roiled overhead, a low rumble of thunder echoed around the ocean. Kinney shook her head, another sigh escaping her as she pocketed the insignia. This time, she produced the handheld tablet and set about swiping left and right, searching for nothing in particular until she came across an app, titled Dataverse Messageboards. Laura hesitated for a moment before mashing a finger against the little DM icon, greeted with a new screen, filled from top to bottom with a huge variety of threads and posts from all around the Omniverse.
Omniverse News Network Official
Hawt Kings Hugging-R
Dante Abyss Power Rankings
Calling Any Heroes - Moon Knight
“Moon Knight?” Kinney muttered, quickly clicking the post. She skimmed it and read along quickly, skipping large chunks in the interest of speed, “Avengers Initiative - vigilantes - Communicator ID..” another click brought up another screen, an email client, both Vision and Moon Knight’s details entered as the recipients. Laura exhaled slowly, drawing on the memory of a method of encryption that the Vision would have knowledge of. She wrote a message at pace, heart pounding in her chest. Why was she nervous? 23 exhaled again, finishing up the message for Moon Knight and the Vision, sending it after a moment’s hesitation.
The tide picked up, treacherous white tipped waves threw the boat around. The Clone took a hold of the controls and scootched the Pokemon over, only to be met with incessant whining and pleading. She merely shook her head in reply, concentrating fully on not sinking or capsizing the dinghy.
“There!” Cubone stood up hastily, tiny finger pointed at an island in the distance, obscured by the presence of a multitude of Imperial ships, “There it is! That’s Cinnabar! But why- are the ships shooting at each other?” The Pokemon questioned, what sounded like thunder beforehand quickly revealed itself to be the booming echoes of guns. The Clone’s brow furrowed as she let off the controls, the dinghy slowly floating to a halt, bobbing brashly atop the determined waves. Laura’s chest heaved as she inhaled deeply, shaking her head in disbelief at what she saw. Cubone was no better off, a confused mumbling echoing from beneath his skull mask. The mutant drummed her fingers across the controls of the dinghy until she finally decided to move on. She revved the engine a few times and the little dinghy took off once again, catching a little air over the white crested waves.
The screaming of gunfire grew deafening as the dinghy drew closer and closer to the vast Imperial ships, glinting vibrantly in the sun. Laura took the boat as close to the end ship as possible, using the enormous hull as cover from the innumerable gunshots that roared overhead. They grew closer to the dock of Cinnabar Island, Laura tugged on the controls, pushing the engine to the limit of its capacity, it whined under the pressure. Though, the sound was lost on the Clone and her partner, their eardrums reverberated and rung; the immense thundering of gunfire assaulted their senses and threw the boat about. 23 pulled the dinghy up alongside the dock and practically threw her Pokemon partner up onto it, followed quickly by a rope to tie the dinghy down. The little Pokemon scrambled about, tiny fingers struggling to tighten the rope around the cleat until Laura took over, making quick work of the job.
Laura sighed as she glanced about the island, until she caught sight of another Pokemon approaching her, a Charmeleon.
“Get to the town, quickly!” It roared.
Quote:That's another 2000! 3000 so far.