daretodo: ([smm] Secretly Jack Shepherd.)
Peter Parker ([personal profile] daretodo) wrote2009-04-01 06:50 pm

A Merry Marvel Debut

“So, in this land that time forgot somewhere in Antarctica…what’ve we got to look forward to?”
 
We’re all of us crowded in the Quinjet. Iron Man’s at the wheel and me, Cap, Spider-Woman – no relation to yours truly – and Luke Cage are sitting at the back like some seriously deranged Little League team. Truth be told, I’ve been expecting the question ever since I got off the freaky future phone with Mary Jane. See, it’s Luke here’s first trip to the Savage Land and he’s been sceptical as to its existence ever since it came up on Spider-Woman’s computer.
 
Ah, to be that innocent again.
 
As for me? Well, I’m just hoping we aren’t all gonna to die. Doing my best to chew my nails through my costume, I reply, “All kinds of mutates and dinosaurs and big cheetahs and a surprising amount of acceptable nudity.”
 
“Are you #$%$ing me?”
 
“No,” I say. “But it doesn’t matter – we probably won’t survive the crash.”
 
“What crash?”
 
“You don’t go to the Savage Land without crashing.”
 
Without turning around, Iron Man interjects, “You’ve never been there with me driving.”
 
In spite of his words, my spider-sense is going off the charts. He couldn’t have been less comforting. He’s like the band on the Titanic, right now, that’s how comforting he is. Famous last words to die by. Jeez, I really have made it to the big leagues.
 
“Uh huh…”
 
“Seat belts.”
 
“Yeah, that’ll help.”
 
The jet suddenly pitches forwards and then we’re upside down. Spider-Woman lets out an incoherent shriek -- or was that me? Either way,  the noise is loud enough that I could’ve been singing the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ at the top of my lungs and the only thing I would’ve heard is the sound of a dying cat in a jet engine. Above the din, I can faintly hear the metallic voice of Iron Man say, “Almost there… Almost there…”
 
And, then, sure enough, we’re there. It all happens so fast that I barely remember it. One second I’m hanging upside down and praying to God I don’t wet my suit.  The next, the five of us are standing outside of the Quinjet and admiring the scenery. And what scenery it is. It’s really a shame about the inevitable death that goes hand-in-hand with being here. It’d make for one heckuva vacation spot.
 
Clapping a very manly hand to my shoulder, ol’ Shell-Head says to me, “See?”
 
“I stand corrected.”
 
Which is entirely the wrong thing to say because that’s right about the time that the Quinjet explodes, the force of the blast sending me and mine flying. I quickly shoot off a web to a nearby tree, pulling myself up and out of the line of fire. Only, as I soon discover, there’s a fundamental flaw to this plan. For whatever reason, I can’t stick the landing and so, my arms wheeling like windmills, I fall a good fifteen feet before the ground decides to break my fall.
 
“My back,” I croak, as I pull my sorry butt out of the foliage. “My poor, poor back.”
 
(Some dialogue comes from New Avengers #4 by Brian Michael Bendis.)

[identity profile] like-arrows.livejournal.com 2009-04-04 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
Like I said, I don't always expect the unexpected. That's kind of the nature of the unexpected: you don't see it coming. Pushing between some branches toward the sound of voices might not be the smartest thing I've ever done, but it beats being stuck in the jungle alone. At least, it does for the moment.

I'm really not expecting what's on the other side, so forgive me if it's not my finest hour. "I'm really not going anywhere with you in head cheerleader mode," I blurt out, mostly because the sight of these guys has got me too confused for wit or stealth, which really has to make me wonder how I've made it as far as I have anyway.

[identity profile] like-arrows.livejournal.com 2009-04-04 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
That's probably what I get for interrupting their little camp out, but not having any idea where I am means that, for better or worse, right now misery needs company. Of course, considering my last run in with Spider-Man here, it's a good thing not to be recognized.

"Uh... Nico Minoru," I offer cautiously, glancing between the three of them. Wow, this is awkward. "I just... crash-landed." Literally.
risesagain: (i think i made you up inside my head)

[personal profile] risesagain 2009-04-04 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
Her experience amongst the impressionable youth has recently been limited at best, destructive at worse. Death has that affect on a person.

Still Jean has remained tethered to the idea of being headmistress and teacher first, other assorted things second, so the confused girl makes her want to help her, not harm her.

"Are you one of the students at the Institute? Are you hurt from your landing?" Jean asked, giving a look to the other two that hopefully suggested that they make themselves helpful.

[identity profile] faithanbegorrah.livejournal.com 2009-04-04 05:14 am (UTC)(link)
"Are ye hurt, lass?" Terry asks, giving Nico a lookover for any obvious harm. She's starting to think she's lucky that all she did was not get hit by a blast from Cyclops before showing up here.

[identity profile] like-arrows.livejournal.com 2009-04-04 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm fine," I insist hurriedly, glancing down at myself a moment to make sure it's actually true. There's a few scratches, sure, and what I'm positive will be some nasty bruises soon enough, but no cuts, nothing bleeding. I can deal with that when I have to. "Bruised, but fine. I think I'm alone. There were others with me, but they're gone..."

Focus on the rest first, Nico. I can deal with disappearances when I know where I am.

It's only about then that I really get that first question. The Institute? "I'm not a student," I add. "Or a mutant." Oh man, wait, that's Phoenix. At least, I think it is, which only makes this whole thing that much more bizarre. After time travel, you'd think this wouldn't actually be that weird, but turning up places out of the blue, apparently, is always weird. "Where are we?"
Edited 2009-04-04 05:44 (UTC)
risesagain: (must reconsider all the sides of it)

[personal profile] risesagain 2009-04-04 06:01 am (UTC)(link)
"The million dollar question."

Jean stood, still shivering but less so as she brushed clumps of mud off of herself. This entire situation was getting stranger by the minute. Besides all of the obvious she wasn't keen on whatever strange event that had just occured taking in teenagers, especially civillians.

"I suppose there's only one thing left to do: find out where we are, so that we can leave. And..." she turned her head slightly to look at Spider-Man. "If these are the Savage Lands I'll eat my shoes."

[identity profile] faithanbegorrah.livejournal.com 2009-04-04 06:10 am (UTC)(link)
Terry snorts at Jean's declaration before she can help herself. It feels good - a small bit of amusement in the predicament they've found themselves in. "Let's move," she agrees, with just a bit less pep than Spider-Man had before.

[identity profile] like-arrows.livejournal.com 2009-04-04 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
I checked the area where I landed before I came out this way, and I know well and good that the Leapfrog's nowhere to be seen. Not, of course, that this means it's not there, but there's no sign of the others, and right now, following this lot seems like my best shot of getting some answers. Anyway, it beats dealing with that big Skrull guy.

...except that Spider-Man's just drawn my attention either, and instead of listening to him, I listen to the bushes, and then I don't have to listen for anything because that's when five dinosaurs bust through the brush. And they're little, but I saw Jurassic Park, okay? These guys aren't Old Lace by a long shot. "Now! Try running now!"

'cause this is the part I'm good at.
risesagain: (how do we rise up?)

[personal profile] risesagain 2009-04-04 07:10 am (UTC)(link)
It has been a long time since Jean was in any sort of conflict where she wasn't playing some sort of integral role in starting it.

Tiny dinosaurs running through the trees was actually somewhat refreshing, once she got over the shock and started to run.

"Move! Let's head South, away from them!"

[identity profile] faithanbegorrah.livejournal.com 2009-04-04 07:14 am (UTC)(link)
Running is not a battle tactic Terry pulls at the very sign of danger, but she isn't stupid. Without her power she's no match for a pack of bleeding dinosaurs.

Small as they are, the little @$#&ers look pretty nasty.

Usually she's the one doing the leading, but Terry doesn't need to be told anything twice.
Edited 2009-04-04 07:15 (UTC)

[identity profile] like-arrows.livejournal.com 2009-04-04 08:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Does it matter?" I ask. Any direction away from the dinosaurs works for me. Running some direction other than straight might help, though, and it's not like we can get any more lost than we already are, so I veer right, holding an arm up to protect my face.
risesagain: ([comic] bet you tell all the girls that)

[personal profile] risesagain 2009-04-04 08:53 am (UTC)(link)
"We can ask for directions later."

Pushing branches out of the way as she ran, Jean was certain that this was anything but elegant and graceful. It didn't matter. Getting the ragtag team out of harm's way was her first priority. Everything else, could be dealt with later.

[identity profile] faithanbegorrah.livejournal.com 2009-04-04 09:09 am (UTC)(link)
Looking back means losing a bit of speed, but Terry'll be damned if she's going to run without checking to see if a dinosaur's fixing to make her dinner.

There's no need for her screaming here - not when it won't do a thing to help them - but when she looks forward again, she barely ducks out of the way of a low-hanging tree. A branch, a vine, something whips by her forehead, and Terry finds herself letting out a short yell, half in frustration, half in pain.

This is already rating as one of her least favorite outings ever.

[identity profile] like-arrows.livejournal.com 2009-04-04 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay, I have to admit, that's pretty cool. It'd be a little easier to appreciate the front row seats if I weren't lost in the middle of a jungle, but it's still cool.

"Nice," I say, just a little too aware of how juvenile that sounds, before continuing to move forward. I don't need to go fast or far - I just need to see if I can spot something around here I can use to cut myself. It'd be a lot easier if I had Chase's switchblade, but that's back with the Leapfrog and Chase himself, wherever that might be. If I can just get the Staff of One, I could probably manage a teleportation spell or at least something to give us a little height... "If we get above the treeline, we could see if there's anything around. It'd give us an idea which way to go."
Edited 2009-04-04 20:57 (UTC)
thedevilhisdue: (pic#)

MEANWHILE...

[personal profile] thedevilhisdue 2009-04-07 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
It was just supposed to be a nice picnic by the lake. Some good eats, some great company, and maybe if we had time, a little discussion of all dat future nonsense Bishop's been going on about. Course, if I've learned anything from my time wit' de X-Men, it's dat nice things never seem to go quite so smoothly for us.

“Just between you an' me, mon ami,” I tell Bishop as he hauls his carcass up from where I laid him out, “if you were right, if I was planning on murdering the X-Men in their sleep... you'd be first.” After all, I'd been the one willin' to play nice-nice and back off, even with the man going around spouting all he knows 'bout me in front of everyone. He's the one who just couldn't let things lie.

“You'll never have that opportunity, LeBeau,” he grits out, reaching over his shoulder for dat damn gun o' his. Now I'm pissed off. I grab the closest thing I can make into a weapon and, while it might not make me cut the coolest figure, it gets the job done once properly charged.

“A plasma rifle 'gainst a boysenberry pie? Can you find the crazed psychopath in this picture?” I yell, at the ready nonetheless. Rogue's runnin' in to back me up, bless her, but I don't see it doing much good.

“Gambit is right, Bishop!” she shouts, getting nothing but a grunt in response. Now dat's just rude. “If anyone is behavin' like a prime candidate for the Acolytes, it's you!”

“You're wasting your massive lungs, chère, he's not one t'listen t'reason!” An' wit' dat, I let loose wit' de pie. 'Cept...

Now, my aim was dead on, it always is. Rogue jus' has a habit of putting herself in places she shouldn't be. I don't even see it happen, all I need is to hear the 'SHPLATT!' of contact and Rogue's muffled yell before I'm suddenly way more on edge den some fool like Bishop could ever get me.

“Ooooops.” What else is dere to say, really?

“'Ooooops'?! I spent four hours sweatin' ovah a hot stove, an' the best ya' can offer is 'Ooooops'?!” Now she's flying at me like some sort of filling-covered avenging angel and I figure it's high time to defuse dis situation before things get really serious.

So I start laughing. Loudly. Fortunately, Bishop's not quite as dumb as he looks and he immediately follows my lead, but not without a muttered “Is this wise?”

“Keep laughing or she'll kill us,” I manage with a grin.

“Ah suppose it's fittin' ya die with a smile on your face!” she shouts, waving a fist in my direction.

“I'm not shaking, chère. I got it on good author'ty I'm going to outlive every one of you.”

Et voilà. Crisis averted.

“Do ya begin to see the absurdity of it all?” Rogue says, back on my side. “Y'all is tryin' to hold Gambit responsible for somethin' he may or may not have done in a future that may or may not ever happen. If you're gonna' hate him, shugah, at least hate him for the scoundrel that he is.”

“How can a body argue wit' an endorsement like dat?” I offer, glad to see dat Bishop's settling down a bit.

“There is so much of the past that remains a mystery,” is all he has to say, but I get the feeling there might be hope for him yet.

“We ain't talkin' about the past, shugah. We're talkin' here and now,” Rogue says, draping herself around my shoulders. She's still got bits of pie stuck to her face and I'd wipe some of it off if I didn't already know she'd just bat my hands away. “And for the moment, Gambit walks along the side of the angels.”

She doesn't know how right she is when it comes to 'for the moment', but I don't get the chance to dwell on dat. Another woman's voice is suddenly cutting through the air, one I haven't heard in a long time. Whether dat's too long or not long enough is a subject for debate.

“Trust me girly, he's 'bout to be walkin' wit' da' angels!” she shouts and before either me or Rogue have the chance to react, we're hit with with a nasty blast of... something. There's a loud crackle of energy and then I'm picking myself up off of the ground, already knowing that something's wrong.

Rogue's gone. Bishop's gone. The whole damn lake is gone, replaced with thick jungle. I'm at the base of a decent-sized tree and I lean 'gainst it while I get my bearings. Bella Donna's apparently learned some new tricks since de last time I saw her.

[identity profile] getemtiger.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
Mary Jane knew she must have looked ridiculous, sprinting through Central Park all dolled up for a wedding and grinning like a fool, but just then, she couldn't bring herself to care. She knew what she wanted. They had danced around this for too long, and she'd had enough. There was no way she was going to make a mistake as big as marrying someone else without at least telling Peter how she felt. After everything that had happened between them -- the two of them, and him as Spider-Man -- they deserved that chance.

Finally, there she stood, breathless and probably a mess after running the whole way to Peter's apartment, though none of that mattered to her now. She was exactly where she wanted to be, and could feel that now even more strongly than she had when she'd dashed out of the church. This was right; it always had been. They'd both just been too stubborn to realize it.

"Had to do what I had to do," she told him simply, biting back a smile as he turned to face her, surprise evident in his expression.

"Mary Jane," was all he said.

"Peter," she replied. There was no use not getting right to the point now, and she knew it. Shaking her head a little, she laughed, and said, "I can't live without you."

"You shouldn't be here."

She'd expected that, and it showed. But she had prepared a rebuttal, too, rehearsed it in her head as she ran through Manhattan to get to him. She wasn't going to give up so easily now. "I know you think we can't be together," she began, "but can't you respect me enough to let me make my own decision?" That, really, was what it came down to. She just had to make him see it her way, and, secretly, she didn't expect for it to be too difficult. She hadn't run all that way to be turned down now. "I know there'll be risks, but I want to face them with you. It's wrong that we should only be half-alive... half of ourselves."

She paused then, taking a deep breath as she studied his face, as if looking for an unspoken answer there. So far, there was nothing. She doubted that would last. "I love you," she said, and then she saw a flicker of a smile, enough to make her have to hold back another laugh. She almost couldn't believe they were doing this, as much as she didn't think he would have sent her away. "So here I am, standing in your doorway," she continued, her expression turning wry after a moment. "I have always been standing in your doorway."

Slowly, she lifted a hand to rest over his jaw, thumb brushing lightly against his skin as she savored the touch. "Isn't it about time somebody saved your life?" Her hand dropped a moment later, and she looked at him expectantly. His answer had become apparent enough, but with all she'd just said, he couldn't stay silent forever. "Well, say something."

"Thank you, Mary Jane Watson."

She knew what was coming next. Even before his lips met hers, her hands were by his neck, never quite still as they kissed like she'd been wanting to kiss him for so long now. It was definitely, definitely worth the wait. The sirens, however, those came as a surprise. He ducked away, both of them turning to look in the direction of the window. She was smiling, though, as he looked back at her. She'd just signed up for this, after all. "Go get 'em, Tiger," she said.

He was gone off the balcony in barely a moment. She couldn't help but feel strangely proud, as if she were somehow a part of all that he was doing, and on a whim, she ran forward to the window to watch him go. He wasn't there, though, and, for that matter, neither was the balcony. The whole apartment was gone, replaced before she could even wrap her head around what was going on with what was unmistakably a tree. Realizing where she was, and where she wasn't, Mary Jane shrieked, one hand reaching out to steady herself against the trunk of the tree beside her. She didn't know what was going on, but she did know that she didn't like it, not at all. Of all the times for Peter not to be there, this was undoubtedly the worst.
thedevilhisdue: (52 Pick Up)

[personal profile] thedevilhisdue 2009-04-07 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Now, between Bishop and Rogue and Bella Donna's random non-appearance, I'm pretty much as 'at-de-ready' as I'm liable to get, so when I hear an unfamiliar scream from somewhere above me, I'm not too spooked. Little confused, maybe, but hidin' it well.

I look up, and what do I spot a few feet above my head but one severely agitated redhead dat I sadly don't recognize. Though, given the wedding dress, maybe dat's not such a bad thing, hein? Day I've had, de last thing I need is to make some poor sap jealous.

"What you doin' up dere, chère?"

[identity profile] getemtiger.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
It wasn't the question itself that got Mary Jane's attention so much as the voice that asked it, one she was certain she hadn't heard before. While it didn't do much to quell the continually rising panic that had come along with appearing in a tree, there was admittedly something a little relieving about realizing that at least she wasn't alone in the middle of some jungle, or whatever this was supposed to be.

"I wouldn't be up here if I knew," she assured him, letting out an undeniably strained laugh, still gripping the tree trunk as she leaned forward a little to try to get a better glimpse of who was down there. If her wedding dress had been annoying when she was running through Central Park, it was downright infuriating now, the full skirt only getting in her way as she attempted to get her bearings. "You... wouldn't happen to know where I am, would you? Or how I could get down from here?"
thedevilhisdue: (Over the shoulder)

[personal profile] thedevilhisdue 2009-04-07 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
Well, she hasn't fallen yet. Dat's something. With a getup like dat, it's almost impressive.

"Yes and no," I say, looking around. Nothing but jungle far as I can see, but I got a sneaking suspicion dat's not going to be the case forever. "No to the first, yes to the second thing, anyway." Without much else to do, I pull out my pack of smokes and stick one in my mouth. If anything else, it'll give me something to throw should I need it.

"Got zapped here a few seconds ago, and I'm guessin' you can say de same. Sit tight for a second, will you?" I call, glancing up at her as I light up. Or try to, anyway. All of a sudden, my power don't seem to be wantin' to cooperate, and dat's officially the most disturbing part of the whole situation.

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