A Merry Marvel Debut

[daretodo]

“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.)

Comments

[faithanbegorrah.livejournal.com]

"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.

[daretodo]

"I told Luke you had to crash here," I mutter to myself. "But oh, no, Iron Man thinks he's so awesome with his iron suit and his Quinjet and his freaky future phone --"

Brushing past my fellow, dearly depowered, I ask the punk rock kid -- Nico -- "Are you alone?"

[like-arrows.livejournal.com]

"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?"

[risesagain]

"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."

[faithanbegorrah.livejournal.com]

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.

[daretodo]

"Hrmph."

I take point, leading us back to where the Quinjet is supposed to be, figuring that's as good a place to start as any. I never really had a chance to look around before Siryn, here, started screaming bloody 'murdah.'

Rustlerustle. I stop suddenly, holding up one hand. Rustlerustle. Louder now. Whatever it is, it's close, and I don't need my spider-sense to tell me that this won't end well.

"Uh, guys? I think we're gonna want to run in a second."

[like-arrows.livejournal.com]

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]

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!"

[faithanbegorrah.livejournal.com]

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.

[daretodo]

I'm already running in the popular direction when a thought occurs to me: "How do you know which way's South?!"

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"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]

"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.

[faithanbegorrah.livejournal.com]

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.

[daretodo]

We can only run for so long until Spielberg's posse catches up with us, and seeing as I'm the only person of our motley crew to possess any sort of weapon, I decide it's time to step up and take advantage of the fact that I can still spin a web, any size.

"Hey, ugly!" I call out, trying to distract tall, dark and gruesome away from the girls. Women. Females. The dino closest to Siryn whips around and fixes me with I can only assume is a big ol' dino glare. And I gotta say, times like these? I'm almost happy that I can't really see right now.

"Yeah, you!" I carry on, waving my arms so I'll catch the attention of the others. In order for my plan to work, I need to get them closer together. One by one, they drop away from the hunt and start to circle yours truly. "That's right, come to Uncle Spidey -- GOTCHA!"

The dino to my right strikes, but I manage to dodge him at the last second with a backflip that's far from my usual standards. Still, it's not like this is the Olympics. I use the sudden gain of height to my advantage, firing off webs at both cylinders until all five dinos are half-mummified and hanging from a particularly large tree.

"That'll teach 'em to play with their food."

[like-arrows.livejournal.com]

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."

[risesagain]

Jean turned her head, slowing just long enough to see Spider-Man take out the dinosaurs. It was trick she'd seen before and she rolled her eyes at the commentary.

"Good plan. We can wisecrack when we're up there too," she said, turning her direction slightly to head up hill. "This way, towards the summit."

[faithanbegorrah.livejournal.com]

If there's anything Terry likes less than the possibility of being eaten, it's someone else doing the heroing when she can very well take care of herself, thank you. But this time she honestly can't without her power, so she sucks it up.

"Thank ye," she tells Spider-Man, before starting after Jean. It's all she'll offer him.

She's come to expect the unexpected in her line of work, but every once in a while, something still surprises Terry. Ending up in a jungle with dinosaurs? Sure. Losing her power? Horrifying, but nothing she hasn't handled (badly) before.

Woman in a wedding dress falling out of a tree in the dinosaur infested jungle? She's got to give this place points.

Terry starts for the woman, slowing down only when she realizes someone had been there to catch her -- and her surprise can only go so bloody far, honestly.

"Gambit?"