Time Trap

[crisiscomics]

The moment Drax hits the ground sends a shock through Captain Marvel. As if she just stepped into a tag-team fight with Muhammad Ali and downed him with her first punch.

"D-did I... did he just...?"

But as the aliens start panicking and retreating, she drops the headset and transforms into light so she can chase after them.

"Viz, Wanda! I'm gonna try and bring 'em back. Maybe then we can get some answers about the disaster that destroyed Earth."

[mcr]

Wanda places the rifle down to grab the helmet and stick it on Drax.

[andyman]

Captain Marvel pursues the aliens, even as they beam up to their mother ship. But after the headset is placed on Drax and activated by the Scarlet Witch, Monica Rambeau finds herself being beamed away, along with all her fellow Avengers.

ALL AVENGERS EARN +40 KARMA EACH FOR DEFEATING DRAX AND THE ALIENS!

As the chronal energies dissipate the Avengers find themselves once again before Immortus, ruler of Limbo.

Starfox and Vision no longer ache from the battle in the past and their wounds are healed.


Captain America Health: 140
Captain America Karma: 100
Conditions: +40 Karma

Captain Marvel Health: 60
Captain Marvel Karma: 56
Conditions: +40 Karma

Scarlet Witch Health: 46
Scarlet Witch Karma: 100
Conditions: +40 Karma and power use is reset

Starfox Health: 110
Starfox Karma: 116
Conditions: +40 Karma and wounds healed

Vision Health: 140
Vision Karma: 91
Conditions: +40 Karma and wounds healed

[andyman]

Immortus congratulates the Avengers on succeeding in their mission. "Drax the Destroyer was delayed, so that the satellite was not damaged. And his memory of your attack was erased, keeping time from being altered in any important manner."


Captain America Health: 140
Captain America Karma: 100
Conditions: None

Captain Marvel Health: 60
Captain Marvel Karma: 56
Conditions: None

Scarlet Witch Health: 46
Scarlet Witch Karma: 100
Conditions: None

Starfox Health: 110
Starfox Karma: 116
Conditions: None

Vision Health: 140
Vision Karma: 91
Conditions: None

[crisiscomics]

Monica tries skidding to a halt so she doesn't burn a hole in Avengers Mansion's ceiling.

"(sigh) ...or not."

[roxolid]

Awake (finally) Starfox looks around and checks his head. "The fact we are all still here and in one piece suggests we won, or at least we didn't lose. I must apologise for my... lack of effort in the battle. I am not normally so incompetent but clearly have still to prove myself worthy of being a member of this most august gathering of legendary heroes. As to the behaviour of Drax, I am most vexed."

Frowning, he suddenly brightens. "Still, every opportunity to test ourselves in glorious combat is a chance to shine and enhance our legend! What's more, it will only increase our standing in the cosmos if we are able to battle back from the gravest adversity!"

His smile slips a little and he mumbles "Does anyone have a cold wet flannel for this clanging headache I'm suffering from?"

Though Starfox's body seems healed it is his ego that is somewhat more bruised...

[roxolid]

Starfox (having failed to find a cold flannel to ease his bruised ego) asks Immortus "All of this hopping about in time to prevent things from occurring... where next do you plan to send us? I feel that there are things we could know before we are dispatched that you can pre-warn us against. Speaking for myself, I would have preferred to know of Drax and the Aliens and their stance before I tried - unsuccessfully - to convince them of standing down. If we are to act as your agents in all this, I would hope you aid us by telling us what you know more thoroughly, as befits your status as 'Game-Master' in this temporal game of Mole a Whack."

Starfox seems pleased he's mastered the use of terms and sayings in the English language. Then he adds "Whatever a Mole is."

[valiant]

Steve says, “Maybe I’m being dense, but I thought we could accomplish that last task without a fight. It seems you sent us there specifically to engage Drax, and put that thing on his head. My fit is telling me there is something else going on, Immortus. You seem to need us to put that memory eraser, if that’s even what it is, on specific people throughout time, otherwise you could have sent us to the satellite to protect it, rather than have us fight Drax. You clearly put us in a situation where using the device was a necessity. I don’t like being misdirected Immortus. If you aren’t telling us the whole story, I’d like to get that info before we charge headlong into another battle. I’ll fight if it’s necessary, but I’d prefer to avoid a battle if I can.”

[andyman]

Captain Marvel stops in enough time to not burst through the mansion's ceiling.

"My apologies Captain America. I share your frustration, because I am unable to give details of the bargain between Drax and the aliens, for the same reason I cannot act directly to prevent all life on Earth from being destroyed. And due to the nature of time, sending you to the satellites would have had the same results as the one being destroyed directly by Drax and the second having it's orbit disrupted by the space ship. Time would have just had it be your intervention that lead to the satellites' demise. I see all possibilities and send you to the locations where there is the best chance of your having a positive impact."

"I can however, retrieve a cold wet flannel from time for the Eternal." A cold wet flannel appears in Starfox's arms. "While the headset in Scarlet Witch's possession is the best way to ensure that your actions in this matter do not affect the timeline in unforeseen ways."

"As for your next mission, I will explain it to you as thoroughly as time will allow."

A hole wreathed by mists appears in the air. Through it you see several people working in a laboratory with test tubes and wearing radiation suits. A large vault in the far wall is standing open. Two men are wheeling a sealed glass container out of the vault.

Suddenly, the wall directly behind them shatters into a thousand fragments! An orange, rocky body smashes through the wall and hurtles across the room into the cart and the sealed glass container. The projectile is obviously the Thing of the Fantastic Four. The cart and the glass container lie shattered on the floor. Fumes begin rising from fragments. The Thing jumps up from the floor and launches himself back through the ruined wall, hollering “It’s Clobberin’ time!”

Lab technicians are fleeing from the laboratory in all directions. The scene focuses on the fuming liquid on the floor.

The scene changes to a posh office. Two men are arguing.

“You have to report this! You can’t hide it!”

“Just watch me. This company stands to lose millions if anyone discovers the solution has been lost. I intend...”

“We don’t know what that stuff might do in a reactor core if it’s not tested!”

“That’s just a chance we’ll have to take.”

“Why you cold, heartless...”

The scene fades, and the portal in time vanishes.

Immortus, hands clasped behind his back, paces across the floor. “The solution spilled on the floor was a new coolant for nuclear reactor cores. This company was unwilling to admit that an accident in the lab put their testing behind schedule. The company produced the new coolant without testing and sold it around the world. Unfortunately, it is defective."

“To prevent this tragedy, the Fantastic Four must be delayed from fighting their foe, the Super-Skrull, long enough for the coolant to be taken from the laboratory. Then, if and when the Thing gets knocked through the wall, the coolant will not be there to be destroyed."

“You must defeat the Super-Skrull before his battle with the Fantastic Four. If you cannot defeat him, at least delay him for several minutes. I cannot give you any further information, for the reasons you already know.”


Captain America Health: 140
Captain America Karma: 100
Conditions: None

Captain Marvel Health: 60
Captain Marvel Karma: 56
Conditions: None

Scarlet Witch Health: 46
Scarlet Witch Karma: 100
Conditions: Has the headset.

Starfox Health: 110
Starfox Karma: 116
Conditions: Has a cold wet flannel.

Vision Health: 140
Vision Karma: 91
Conditions: None

[Hoots Rowlet]

Vision looks at Immortus, and then at his teammates. He is willing to keep going along as this mission doesn't seem to require them to do anything too morally wrong. Just stop some collant from being ruined. What could be so bad about that?

"I have no objections to this assignment. However, I do not know if my teamates share my level of trust in the harm we are trying to allegedly prevent."

[crisiscomics]

Monica listens to Immortus' presentation and puts her finger to her chin thoughtfully. She's not sure about how much he's on the level, but upon seeing the disaster unfold, her mind instinctively goes into policewoman mode.

"I'm still game... but do we have a file on that Super Skrull guy and his powers? If the FF beat him before, maybe we can just... do what they did and nail him sooner."

[roxolid]

"The Super Skrull can command on a myriad of powers and is a truly formidable foe! I would suggest the majority of us attempt to delay the villain whilst someone moves directly to protect the solution. If we cannot delay the Super Skrull sufficiently then as a last resort the solution must be taken somewhere safe." says Starfox, cold flannel pressed to his head.

"I'm hoping that I will be of more use in this mission. So far my contribution has been to keep a section of floor warm whilst I lie on it comatose."

OOC I'm assuming Starfox has knowledge of cosmic type bad guys like the Super Skrull as he would have with Drax. I'm not sure whether he'd have met the Fantastic Four at this stage as I was only introduced to the character when he appeared in the Avengers and wasn't much of a fan of Captain Marvel (the Kree version) which is the most likely place he'd have turned up before then.

[mcr]

"Pardon me for asking"

Wanda interjects:

"But why us? I mean, don't get me wrong, Steve is probably the best of us, but he wasn't even with us on the first mission. Both times you transported us, the people we were there to help attacked us without much provocation. It just seems like your purposes would be better suited sending people who share a history with the ones we're meant to help."

[crisiscomics]

Monica acknowledges Starfox's infodump on the Superior Skrull with a smile. Good to have some cosmic know-how on the team. Then her ears perk up at Wanda's statement.

"That's a good point, Cap- when Immortus picked us up, we were about to start the meeting without you... then the world apparently came to an end. What was the last thing that happened when he rescued you?"

[andyman]

Captain Marvel finds that the Avengers computer can provide information on the the Super-Skrull. It says he was defeated when Reed Richards determined that his strength was being augmented by a broadcast energy beam dispatched to Earth through warp space, and jammed it.

The Super Skull also once abducted Captain Mar-Vell, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch, and brought them back to the Skrull throneworld. There he decided to betray his emperor, but was subdued and sent into permanent exile.

"The Mighty Avengers are known around the world and throughout the galaxy as one of the mightiest supergroups ever. Only the best have answered the Avengers' roll call and have changed history. I appreciate your modesty, but no group is better suited to face this danger that threatens time itself."

Before he was whisked away to Limbo, Steven Rogers was heading toward Avenger's mansion from the stately old brownstone where he lives in Brooklyn Heights. He was with Bernadette "Bernie" Rosenthal earlier and somehow lost track of time.

Captain America Health: 140
Captain America Karma: 100
Conditions: None

Captain Marvel Health: 60
Captain Marvel Karma: 56
Conditions: None

Scarlet Witch Health: 46
Scarlet Witch Karma: 100
Conditions: Has the headset.

Starfox Health: 110
Starfox Karma: 116
Conditions: Has a cold wet flannel.

Vision Health: 140
Vision Karma: 91
Conditions: None