LOST HIGHWAY (open)

[Cptdragon9]

Tim was having a hard day.

It hadn’t started that way. The gig he had set up for the Guild of Shadows wasn’t all that taxing. In fact between Mary’s might, Lydia’s tech, and his own wicked ways around men’s minds; this should have been a breeze but somewhere along the line it had gone very, very wrong. They had broken into Star labs easily enough, Lydia using one of her gadgets to bypass the coded entry system without setting off any of the alarms. Tim had mentally wrangled one of the guards whom responded to the telepaths commands to palm the pad and square his eye up to the biometric lock to open the second round of security. The door to the lab itself stuck a little, but with a little elbow grease supplied by the Marvel, they soon had access to all the coolest toys they could ever want.

The trio had split up at this point, each one going after a specific item plus adding a few trinkets to their own respective pile of goodies. Tim’s goal was to lift the experimental generator, one that ran perpetually from an alien source that had been recovered from the Atlantic seaboard. Tim had suspected that it had actually come from the Respite, the crew’s original hideout that had blown up… with them inside… before plummeting into the ocean. He desire had been two-fold; one to provide a more reliable source of power for their new hideout, and to keep the Guild’s secrets out of the hands of the government.

It had seemed they were going to get away with their haul. Mary had already hefted the rather large generator and was just about to fly away with the device when company showed up. Tim had only a few seconds of a heads up, sensing the only person he really wasn’t ready to deal with right now already breaching the outer hull of the facility.

Thankfully he Did have a way out. He fumbled around in his pocket, pulling out the small black cube and running his fingers along the edges. Gears had spent quite a long time studying the device, even longer reconstructing it as it had been seriously crushed before. Tim hadn’t had time to test it even, but he didn’t see much choice in the matter now. “Girls, I think it’s time to go now.”

While Lydia and Mary (along with the generator hefted on her shoulder) ambled over to where he was standing, the roof of the facility ripped upwards. Tim could feel the discordant energy, warping reality around it. Oh it was so familiar too him, so much that it ached, and it ached even more when he saw Wanda floating down through the gap in the roof. Mary was already tightening the muscles in her arms, looking to spring up and tackle the Scarlet Witch, but Tim knew that there would be no winner if those two threw down. He held up the die and pressed down, triggering the teleport.

That was when it all went bad. Wanda flung a hand forward. “Drake! No!”

Tim had thought she was telling him not to go, but when the teleport tried to form, he could see now what Wanda was warning him about. The edge of the event had drifted too closely to the avatar’s power and was causing a quantum wave, making the teleport unsteady. This was bad enough, but then the sudden surge of power kicked on the generator Mary was holding onto, further destabilizing the event.

The Rex thought that his chest was ripping in half when the portal wobbled before sucking them in….

...........

.

Tim felt he was suspended in warm water. He might have even thought he was drowning except that he didn’t really feel the need to breathe. It felt nice, like a warm bath, or drifting in the shallow waters at Wakiki beach. It wasn’t terribly bright either, just a soft yellow glow that continued to bath him in warmth. He continued to drift in this bubble of comfort until he began to feel a little tingle, much like the onset of pins and needles. It was just a curious sensation at first, but then it began to become more earnest, then downright annoying, until it began to hurt. A lot. Tim opened his eyes to find himself staring up at the reddish sky of pre morning dawn, just as the underwater sensation in his ears drained out and the sudden need to breath caused him to gasp, sucking in the tepid air around him. He slowly sat up, the pinging sensation in his limbs finally subsiding though his skin felt tender, as if he’d been out in the sun too long though he had no sunburn that he could see.

He slowly looked around himself, having a bit of a time trying to get his brain to register what it was looking at. Sand; huge rifts and drifts with nary a bush or rock to break up the terrain, as far as the eye could see, with the sun slowly rising as his only companion for the moment….

[Wanda Maximoff]

Tim...Why did he always seem in the middle of something when she ran into him? Wanda hardly ever dealt with things as small as simple lab heists unless she literally ran over them, but considering the last two she had foiled had been orchestrated by former lovers, she was debating either narrowing her dating pool even further or just bypassing them altogether from now on and letting one of the dozens of other supers deal with it.

Her first view of the Maid of Malice had Wanda opening up with the big guns, she was going to have overwhelm and confuse the woman because gods knew Wanda wouldn’t be able to take a hit from the superpowered girl. There was something different in the air that night, the stars were bright peeking through the cloud cover. Holding reality around her like a shield Wanda pushed forward with her chaotic self, flaring pink and red energies rippled over the occupants changing the laws of probability.

The activation of whatever Tim had in his hand was felt more then seen, she could sense when the wave of chaos hit the divice, her shouted warning coming too late a she attempted to pull back her mutation.

Over the decades Wanda had honed her skills able to read the weft and warp of reality so that even if she didn’t know EXACTLY what a device did she could still manage to make it misfire. In this case she could read the threads of fate she didn’t know exactly what was to come, only that it would change all their lives forever.

Wanda only had time to meet Tim’s eyes, wrapping them all as best she could in a protective shield before the world exploded.

----------------------------

Wanda was burning.

A thousand fractured futures screamed out in her mind, and she screamed with them. The world was destroyed...no it was saved. A woman, plainly featured but with a strength and power that demanded respect died to save it….no here she burned and the world with her, another fractured reality slid past, there she had lived but collared as enslaved, Tim hard eyed and grieving.

If ‘awakening’ on in the last ‘wrong’ reality had driven Wanda to drink and depression, this world with its broken timeline sought to drive her truly mad.

She screamed her throat bloody, her body arched in tendon snapping seizures as her powers attempted to find a anchor in the fabric of broken reality. Wave after wave of scarlet power bleed off her changing things, bringing forth other bits of the same place from different timelines. the sand beneath her turned into soft lush green grass...then into glassy black slag. Trees bloomed and died around her.

There was no telling how long Wanda fought with herself; but in the end she was...changed.

Once Wanda had the power to fracture universes with a wish, that power had been stripped contained, removed when she had lost the connection to her home universe. But this place...this was nearly a nexus point for other realities and through it...through it Wanda had found her anchor again.

The woman that walked out of that changed oasis was not who she once was, but she was far closer to what she had been. Blood still stained her lips, but it only served to make them more vibrantly ruby.

She could fly, but at that moment she felt the need to connect physically with something, to keep her self anchored, her mind still to easily led astray. And stray thoughts for her...well the fractured landscape behind her with its half destroyed half lush oasis told the tale of why that was a bad idea.

‘Find Drake’ one foot infront of the other, her body glowed, still bleeding power. A target and a warning.

[Sun]

Talia had been working late into the evening tonight. It had been a long day. She had not seen Wanda and Tim since the night of cupid's attack on Valentine's day and often wondered what had happened while she had been out cold from all the energy she had absorbed from the walking, talking computer chip that had stood in from of her that night. It had been an interesting night, Tim had transformed into a dragon, Wanda had glowed red and flown off after him. Cupid...well she didn't exactly know what had happened to the chubby little creature who had wreaked havoc in the city that night. However, Talia had been content that she had somehow managed to replace the broadcast last minute.

She stretched her tired feet, then rubbed the back of her neck in her chair once she was done examining the slide. She heard the noise....no more like an over ride. Talia's brain easily integrated into the STAR labs security system. The codes had been over ridden. She closed her eyes for a moment making her connection with the security cameras, searching the hundreds of screens, looking for unusual activity. Right before the camera's had been turned off, she had caught a glimpse of Tim staring right at the camera. She blinked as it went black. "Tim?" She raised a brow confused.

She quickly ran to the nearest elevator, then changed her mind and started down the stairs. She didn't know enough about the man, but the break into the security system and over riding the codes had left her with a few doubts.

She stopped for a second once she had stepped onto the first floor panting hard, she saw the glowing light and humming sounds coming from one of the rooms that was referred to as "The room of artifacts" It required high level clearance, but it was where the most powerful artifacts and objects were kept, artifacts they had found on villains, that could essentially aide in wiping out the whole planet, but so many powerful artifacts and gadgets in one room also meant a powerful nexus of energies too. She was rather unsure and a little nervous as she rushed in. She had always been warned to stay away from there because of her abilities to connect to powerful objects of the like she was there, just in time to see the bright explosion. She shielded her eyes as a scream escaped her, feeling the large bolt of energy wrapping around her whole body, she had become the center of the portal that formed.

.........

Talia floated, eyes closed. She was still out cold still. Her body glowed golden, the sparks had been subdued due to the fact she had been immersed in warm water. Her nose was bleeding...Her brain was going through a myriad of screen shots. Her memory wiped out temporarily, so the images of people were not making enough sense. She had absorbed a LOT of energy, but it was powerful yet dangerous energies rippling through her body.

[marvel]

The last thing Mary remembered was a cold, calculating grin stretching across heer lips, fueled by delight at the thought of the immense pain she could cause the witch, right about now, as she crushed every bone in her body to powder for her nose.

Leave it to her lover to be the damned wet blanket of the hour. Tim and the fact the witch opened fire while Mary's hands were full with her haul.

Mary's whole world seemed to explode, the generator surged, and things went black before her eyes. When she came to, she was on her back atop a bed of hot sand, and had her eyes shielded from the hot sand while she started coughing violently. " I swear to the gods if the witch is still here, she's dead in 5 seconds. Are you okay, baby?"

[Cptdragon9]

" I swear to the gods if the witch is still here, she's dead in 5 seconds. Are you okay, baby?"

It took a little longer than he would have liked to recognize the fact that he was able to move. His first reply had be a hoarse grunt that seemed to catch in the back of his throat; the second was more of gargled “ack” sound.

He body was still refusing to do much of anything other than lie there and bake.

What did happen was that his brain was slowly engaging, replaying those few frightful seconds, coupled with the current sensations he was picking up. He recognized that sensation all too well. A rift. A time portal. Whatever you wanted to call it, he’d been rudely shunted from point “A” to point “B”, and he had no notion of where point “B” was. Well maybe he might have had some notion. For one he didn’t feel as drained, as discordant, as normal. It was more of a comforting feeling, that he clicked in right with the world, the missing puzzle piece that fit perfectly, which told him at least a where.

Home.

Del Mar.

His mind began to wrap around that, fitting in the smaller notions. Sand. No trees. Not even a rogue tumbleweed in the works. The largest desert on the planet with those specifications would be Southern Cross, and if it was, then he might be in a little bit of trouble, and not due to sunstroke or dehydration either.

The Rex finally managed to get roll over to his knees, a monumental effort but then it seemed that his insides fell into their proper places. He was able to get a lungful of hot-dry air down his throat before he mustered his strength to get his feet under him and take a monumental effort to stand upright, already shucking off his jacket as the sun began to beat down on him. “Ah’m… alrigh’. Mostly.” He realized that much of his strength had been siphoned off, the cube using Tim’s own body to help fuel the jump, along with whatever everyone else had been packing….

Only then did he spot the second body laid out on the sand. He started shuffling his feet, building up speed as he recognized who it was, and it had his brain buzzing. Talia? How? Surely she wasn’t anywhere near the labs, was she? He dropped to his knees next to her, noticing for the first time the shimmering gold energy that encompassed her. A mutant? He shook his head, chastising himself for not picking that up from the few encounters he’d had with the woman. Of course he wasn’t sure if it was safe to even touch her, this aura of hers might well zap him good, but she didn’t seem to be responding otherwise. “Mare!” he called out, or tried to, his voices still catching in his throat. “Come help!”

Closing his eyes and wincing, he reached out to touch her shoulder. If he didn’t get fried, then he’d give her a good shake and try to rouse her.

A movement on the rise, just clearing the top of one of the larger sand dunes that seemed to surround them like a bowl (had they caused this? He didn’t know either) caught his attention, followed by a very familiar powerful wave. Wanda. Something wiggled in his chest, but he forced his libido down, especially since she didn’t look quite right either. That and he could feel the power radiating from her. She wasn’t holding it back now. Funny, he’d been telling her for months that she didn’t need to hide herself, but seeing her now, he was beginning to question having given out that advice.

In fact he didn’t even dare try to mind meld with her, just in case she scrambled his noggin before realizing who it was. “Wanda?” he called out, praying that she would at least recognize her name, and the person speaking that name.

Of course there was another problem. Mary. Since her “change” she’d become impossible to control, and right now he couldn’t afford to have those two powerhouses go at it right now. Only thing was that he didn’t know how to stop her from attempting to pound Wanda into the desert floor.

“Oh no,” was all he was able to whimper. “Please no.”

[Wanda Maximoff]

Naturally blue eyes had been replaced by vibrant glowing magenta as her power found a physical expression, changing her body to try and contain some of the chaos bleeding through her. Wanda hadn’t known that Talia had been caught in the backlash, she had shielded the ones she had seen, and cresting the ridge she found the others.

Apparently she had been sent further from the point of origin then the rest. Her newly changed eyes scanned them, someone was missing, there had been 2 women with Drake on that rooftop, and while Talia was also a brunette there was no disguising that she was not the same as the missing overly well endowed girl.

Tim was right to worry, while Wanda could in no way take a hit from the Maid of Malice, the odds of that happening...well now at nearly her full capabilities the odds were always in Wanda’s favor. Mary if she attacked would find herself tripping on nothing, sand dunes suddenly falling on her, and if pressed Wanda’s mutation had even created sudden aneurysms to disable her opponents.

Wanda had no desire to fight to the death, she had caused enough of it. And while Mary was not a friend, she would not enjoy disintegrating her either. She would not see another person broken down into component atoms by her flaring power.

There was a buzz in her mind like a thousand hornets suddenly had decided to descend down on her, Tim would have found it difficult to get a perch on her mind, but he would have been welcome in it, she knew and trusted him. Dark eyes turned to him as his whisper reached her even at the top of the dune; hand reaching out for him a line of power marked the ground between them kicking up plumes of sand. She hadn’t meant it as an attack, and when the power reached him it brought healing and a connection to same energies that were flowing through her, rejuvenating and reviving him. The power would spill over onto Talia and Mary, sharing some of the bounty if they let it.

When he called her name she smiled, Wanda was no telepath but she WAS attuned to reality and looking at him she knew. “Welcome home.” her voice was cracked, hoarse and strained, but the emotion behind it was real. He was home, and that was a reason for celebration.

She would deal with the rest of the fall out later, the fact that now SHE was lost, that just when she was picking up the pieces of her old live the world was ripped from her again. But that was for later.

[Sun]

A million different images going through her mind, she had no idea what they meant. Talia could feel the energy flowing through her, she was suspended in a state where the energy was going in and out of her in a loop. It was too much she had absorbed, and no one to distract her.....no one could really distract her without feeling...well without being zapped.

“Mare!” he called out, or tried to, his voices still catching in his throat. “Come help!”

She heard his voice, but couldn't understand what it meant. The voice was familiar but the words came jumbled to her, she couldn't make sense of them. As Tim touched her shoulder, he felt just a soft tickle, Talia held onto the energies to herself. His voice didn't scare her. She detected no threat in the voice either.

When Tim tried to rouse her, Talia woke up with a gasp, it was now when she felt threatened and it sent out a jolt to the man's hand involuntarily, it would be enough to send him flying into the the sand dunes but not enough to fry him or cause any major damage.

She shielded her eyes from the bright light, but it was more of a flash back of being caught in the bright explosion. "Nooooo!" She screamed but the confusion was clear on her face. For some odd reason, she only remembered his face. "What happened?.....I think I know you." She blinked then started to look around. The energy still rippling through her, she tried her best to let go of whatever it was that was still actively working through her. "I am sorry!" She called out to Tim as he landed in the sands.

Talia didn't know if she was infact in any kind of danger or not so, she was unwilling to subdue the energy. She looked up and saw Wanda. Her brain trying to make the connection, she seemed familiar but from where, Talia had no idea. "What happened?" She asked again, her body starting to feel exhausted suddenly, she had absorbed the energy and was making use of it too...it was making her weaker by the minute. She dragged herself to where Tim was. "I am sorry...are you okay?" She bit her lip.

[marvel]

Mary's ears picked up rather quickly to Tim's plea for help, it was the rest of her body that wasn't currently being user friendly. Her eyes felt like they were on fire and her whole body hurt like hell. An uncommon occurrence as the lady in black tried unsuccessfully twice to push herself to her feet.

It would have been uncommon if she was still in black at least.

So caught up in the moment,and so thrown for a loop, she hadn't noticed until now Black Mary had been shunted. She instead was dressed in torn jeans and a torn shirt as she staggered around. The witch can wait.

"Shazam!"

................

"Oh no..... SHAZAM!"

Twice the word was spoken with no results as a panic-stricken and barely able to see Mary Bromfield staggered like a drunk in a juice bzr trying to find Tim. "Where are you?"

[Cptdragon9]

(Oh… interesting twist!)

Tim was still a little disoriented when he reached out to Talia, but that all was blown to pieces when her talent backlashed into him, sending him flying, then tumbling, before he came to rest on the hot sand. He didn’t move for a moment, mainly because he couldn’t quite get his brian back in gear. Whatever Talia’s talent was, it sure packed a punch.

And she seemed pretty apologetic about it, crawling over to see if he was alright. “I’ve been better,” he coughed as he tried to sit up, his head, heck his Body, still buzzing a bit from the contact. But then he remembered he had two heavy hitter honing in on each other and he rolled over, trying to come up with something, Anything, to avert to coming onslaught; only to see that there would be no onslaught. For one he was picking up Wanda’s wavelength. She wasn’t looking to pick a fight. In fact she was sending down waves of comforting healing energy. It sparked around him for a moment, but at least some of that go-go juice seeped into him. The other reason was that the Marvel wasn’t quite Marvelling. Mary’s alter ego wasn’t coming to light.

Tim really felt for her. He knew what it was like to have a talent stripped away. Well, not personally, but he’d seen it done to Aurora. She’d almost gone suicidal over it, and probably would have had Tim not been there to monitor the situation. Clearly he was going to have to do that again….

But then his luck turned over.

The ground beneath them began to vibrate. It took a second for him to remember just what that meant exactly. There were many creatures in the big desert around southern Cross, some that bore more than a striking resemblance to various Sci- Fi /fantasy creations, enough for him to question that perhaps their nexus was widespread indeed.

All of that really had to sit by the wayside as he bellowed out to warn them all:

“Wyrm!”

[Wanda Maximoff]

Wanda watched as Tim was thrown away from Talia, the only reason she didn’t feel Wanda’s power slam into her was because of her clear apologetic stance, scrambling after Tim to try and help him up, make sure she had not hurt him. Wanda held her power to her pulling it back in as Mary didn’t attack her, the girl was smaller, younger? Perhaps? but in either way different than the maid of malice she had seen on that roof top.

Pulling back all that teeming seething power was what she turned her attention too now that there was apparently not going to be a fight. It was hard so very very hard to try and temper the chaos spilling out of her soul. Her hand clenched and slowly oh so slowly the flaring power pulled back, wavy magenta lines trailed back to her body wrapping around her body like thick ropes spinning around her feet. Tim had not responded to her soft welcome, and once she regained a modicum of control she opened her eyes to check on him and Talia when Tim’s sharp cry caused her hard earned control to snap.

Out of the sand rose a titanic beast and for a moment based on Tim’s name she had the gall to think it one of his kin. “Kill?!” She shouted springing forward to put herself between Mary and the wyrm, if the girl was powerless than Wanda would defend her.

Arms spread out to encompass the three others in a shimmering pink shield, and up Wanda flew making herself a target, bright and shining in the sun, as her hexes struck the things snout. Hopefully keeping it focused on her as she dodged its maw. "Drake Tell me If I'm trying to Kill this thing or we are running!" It was his world so she hoped he had a plan.

[Sun]

Talia blinked twice before falling back right before he screamed. The earth started to shake, at first she thought it may be an earth quake, strange new world, she had no idea where exactly she was. Then she saw the gigantic beast rising from under the sand. Her eyes were wide staring at it for a few moments, then she heard Wanda's words, asking Drake? Was that Tim? At the moment there was only man around. She looked up and saw Wanda rising up, producing the field, she was trying to help. In a moment of panic, Talia raised both hands and saw static, energy flowing between both palms, her powers had suddenly grown? She was confused,her body felt unbalanced, as though too much of one thing and not enough of the other.

She decided she needed to help too as she staggered to her feet next to Tim. "I think I can help too" She muttered, her ears were ringing from the energy still trapped inside her, it was what she had absorbed from the portal. She turned and looked Tim.

[marvel]

Mary had been meaning to tell her man the two of them should get away from it all for quite some ttime now. Funny that being unable to see, powerless, and down on her hands and knees starting to puke her guts up was not her idea of a good time. Her body felt like it was on fire, but even without her powers, Mary Bromfield was either too brave or too stupid to stay down. The one bright spot in this moment was not having her powers also meant she no longer felt wave after wave of insanity threaten to make her brain explode. And then the roof fell in.

Tim shouted wyrm, everyone else was talking at once, and the ground shook beneath Mary's feet as she tried to stand. "Anybody got ideas? I feel like i'm about to die, just saying. Also, I can't see. Lovely..."

[Cptdragon9]

It seemed that Tim’s analytical eye engaged long before the rest of him could catch up. Even while his body refused to oblige him, he was taking in the horrible scenario unfolding in front of him in the guise of a pretty damn huge sand wyrm as it broke the surface of the sand. Clearly it had picked up the vibrations not only of those walking on the ground, but Talia’s and most especially Wanda’s powers as it lifted its eyeless head nearly forty feet above the desert floor, It was wavering back and forth, clearly trying to hone in on that shining beacon of power that was Wanda.

It would have been nothing for her to obliterate the beast, even now the few hexes she threw into its face caused it to snap it’s head back, clearly stung, but enraging it further, the bellowing of the monster shaking everything around; but Tim’s mind was already playing that internal chess game, plotting out those actions several steps ahead of the immediate threat. They were in Southern Cross judging by the size of the beast. Depending on who was in power at this time, a blast of energy would draw more attention; and most likely the kind that couldn’t readily be defended.

No, they needed to sneak out of this mess, and all quiet like, if that were possible.

“Retreat!” he coughed back before turning to see Mary barely able to navigate. He reached out, grabbed Talia’s hand, feeling more of that energy within her causing his skin to prickle and sting, but he held on anyhow as he scrambled to his feet and bicycle-pumped his way through the thick sand to reach Mary, grabbing onto one of her outstretched hands. “Get us outta here, Wanda!” he called out, looking over his shoulder to make sure the wyrm hadn’t decided on a ground-level, bite- sized mutant Scooby snack for lunch.

[Wanda Maximoff]

Wanda saw the electricity arcing between Talia’s hands the woman wanted to help and Wanda had a plan. “What ever charge you can get! Biggest boom right at the face!” She shouted to the brunette dodging out of the way as the beast snapped at her angered by her attacks. She didn’t know the world, she didn’t know the politics, hell she didn’t even know if the creature was sentient but Wanda had been fighting for the better part of three decades with the best of the best, she knew how to bend the odds change probability for her benefit.

When Tim ordered the retreat the first thing Wanda thought of was a teleport, it was just within her powers (although with the fractured world scape screaming at her Wanda was wondering if anything WASN’T at this moment) to port them all...the problem was she didn’t have a destination, and there was no way she was going to risk a blind or an attempt to get back ‘home’...which ever home she aimed for.

“This is gonna be MESSY!” She shouted from high in the sky, ‘flinging’ a bright red bolt of power down at the three people entrenched in the sand. Wanda’s powers were chaos; the more she fed them the ‘better’ the outcome. So the ‘bolt’ she was hitting them with would actually create a portal under the trio, spitting them out 300ft above her. In other words in the middle of the sky into freefall. Wanda had no idea if the thing had a family or a pack, but the ground was readily that was clear...so the sky it was.

She had a plan, and only hoped that Tim was in her mind enough to trust her. The help from Talia meant that the creature was stunned for a long second, long enough for Wanda to land on its head and say a single word. “Sleep.” she whispered sending arching fog surrounded them as her friends fell from the sky. She had no idea how long the spell would last, but it would be as always ‘just long enough’, just enough to mess with probability.

Shooting back up into the sky Wanda flung her bubble around the trio, catching and slowing their descent. She had no super strength there was no way she could catch them all in her arms with out having something rip out.

“Drake give me a destination!” she ordered, they were still falling...just much much slower, “Do you have a safe place??” Wanda was touching the bubble that contained them, glowing with her power as they descended. If she let it go, basically the shield would act like a rubber ball, bouncing them off the sand back into the air, sure it COULD work as a mode of transport but unless the occupants had a strong stomach someone was going to hurl. Plus Marvel was hurt. “I need to examine her.”

Wanda reached out mentally for Tim, hoping he was 'listening' *Show me were to go...*

(OOC:Sorry for delay! Was on vaca ^.^)

[Sun]

Talia had shot a powerful bolt right in the beast's face with a loud groan, hitting it smack between it's eyes. It had distracted him long enough for Wanda to make her next move. It screeched angrily waving it's limbs around, the electricity had gone right through it's face and bolted through it's entire body, hitting the earth under it. The large creature screeched high pitched with pain. Causing the land to shake again as a whole opened up, in the sand surrounding it, making it sink a little.

She looked up and felt a jolt go through her body, her hair flew up in the air as she found herself hanging upside down inside Wanda's red bubble, her lab coat hanging from either side of her body, her id badge floating out of her pocket, it read 'STAR Laboratories' on it with her picture underneath it. She blinked looking at it. "Right..." looking around at the three others she asked. "Where in the world are we?"in a quiet yet serious voice.

[marvel]

Mary was doing her best not to go postal and completely give in to panic, and given the circumstances, that ask was anything but easy. Being relieved of her powers may have meant not beingg confounded with the mental issues that had been plaguing her, but if there was something she couldn't stand, iit was feeling like a helpless invalid.

By the time she drew her next breath, Tim snagged her by the hand, and they were all still shouting. At east it felt as if they were shouting at each tther.

"I have all my memories back now, and you, my dear Drake have alot of explaining to do...and also of f'ing when I get you alone." Mary muttered as she intertwined her fingers with Tim's.

[Cptdragon9]

"I have all my memories back now, and you, my dear Drake have alot of explaining to do...and also of f'ing when I get you alone." Mary muttered as she intertwined her fingers with Tim's.

Oh this was going to be entertaining indeed. Still a part of him wiggled in delight (guess which part) at the prospect of bedding not only Mary, but possibly Wanda, and maybe even Talia. Yeah, his libido was doing the happy dance, at least up to the point that Wanda decided to toss them in the air.

Maybe Tim should have been a tiny bit more succinct in how he wanted to depart from the scene.

The mutant was tough; he’d bounced back from a myriad of what should have been lethal injuries. However, when it came to magic, it just messed him up big time. Never mind being sucked into Another portal (heck he’d just been spat out of one and was still trying to figure out which way was up), only to come of the flux high above the desert floor. Way high.

At least his love had a plan of her own. Only second’s before the massive creature was about to swallow them whole, the second it was sound asleep. Heck the damn thing was snoring, or he guessed it was snoring; the grumbling grinding sound deep within the body cavity could’ve been indigestion for all he knew.

Of course he was more worried about plummeting to his death at this point.

But then darling dearest Wanda caught him in that mystical bubble of hers. It caused the hairs on his arms to crackle with static but at least he wasn’t gonna die. At least not quickly as they weren’t falling As fast as before. Tim managed to open an eye, taking in the bird’s eye view of the desert floor below him, and the landmarks on the horizon. Wanda could feel him trying to map their location, but also earmarking those areas in which he didn’t think he’d be very welcome.

There sure seemed to be a LOT of those places.

Finally Tim’s mind honed in on a city east of them. In fact that was the name of the place: East. ~~There,~~ he answered her. ~~Land on the west side. In the woods. If they’re still there.~~

"Where in the world are we?"

Tim was horizontal to Talia’s position, as if he were sleeping. He was just trying not to throw up at this point, so much so that he answered the girl with a mental reply. Well, heck, she was gonna find out eventually. ~~Not your world, hun. Mine.~~

He let that sink in for a minute, knowing there would be a slew of questions to follow.

[Wanda Maximoff]

“Not in Kansas anymore.” Was the only reply she had for Talia, the truth was even the world they had come from wasn’t ‘home’ at least not for her. Mary’s little decleration..well it made it rather clear that she and Tim were an item; and while the dragon had made it clear to Wanda that he was not naturally monogamous, she wasn’t going to even consider getting between the two of them.

If Tim wanted a less chaotic exit strategy he picked the wrong witch to deliver it; the ‘stranger’ a plan was the better her chances were of success. Hence the vibrant red bouncy hamster ball they found themselves in.

..Wonderful it seemed that Tim wasn’t on good terms with more than half his homeworld. Brilliant. The images coursing between them made THAT perfectly clear; which left her not that many more places to try and get them too. “Is it safe there?” she asked again to be sure, shifting the direction they were ‘falling’. Debating for a moment which would be less disruptive to the people riding along Wanda decided to do a series of teleports instead of continuing their bouncy journey.

Gathering her strength Wanda and the orb glowed brightly before disappearing in a shower of sparks. Her power was not subtle, so sneaking about...well she wasn’t the girl for that. Making things explode? Disobey the order of nature? Yes. Subtle no.

Since she didn’t have a good mental destination, she could only port them in eyesight, six ports later and she saw the forest...or at least A forest. “This it?” she asked slowly setting them down cape fluttering behind her.

As soon as her feet touched down she was beside Mary. “Can you see anything yet? Shapes? Colors?” She asked soothingly, reaching to rest a glowing hand on her head with a frown. She theoretically knew how to do a magical diagnosis, Strange and Agatha had shown her the method, but such delicate spell work...well it didn’t come naturally. If it worked a outline of Mary would appear highlighting any physical or magical issues affecting her.

[Sun]

Drake, okay so Tim also goes by the name Drake, she made a mental note to herself. It was obvious to her that the other girl and him were an in a relationship, a rather intimate and special one from the sounds of it. She didn't know her but at the same time she realized she didn't REALLY know Wanda or Tim either. Well if being intimate meant anything, she had been kissed by Wanda once while being under cupid's spell. No....she didn't know anyone well enough inside the bubble.

This world wasn't her's, the previous one quite possibly had her parents somewhere, but she wasn't sure. Then there were her friends there too. At the moment, all Talia could think of was laying comfortably in her warm and cozy bed and drift into familiar dreams.

Tim was horizontal to Talia’s position, as if he were sleeping. He was just trying not to throw up at this point, so much so that he answered the girl with a mental reply. Well, heck, she was gonna find out eventually. ~~Not your world, hun. Mine.~~

Talia looked at Tim when he answered her, her eyes narrowed a bit. Had he just answered her without actually speaking to her? She would need to keep an eye on him when he spoke, just to be sure before saying anything.

"What do you mean?" She raised a brow.

“Not in Kansas anymore.” Was the only reply Wanda had for Talia

Talia looked between Tim and Wanda as they landed. It seemed to her as though Wanda knew her way around the area, she had easily taken them to a specific spot. "But you seem to know where we needed to go?" She asked Wanda. "Do you know where..." She exhaled then sighed looking around them, it was mostly desert yes, and she was not dressed right, a black high waist-ed pencil skirt,white blouse and heels and lab coat? This was just not going to work at all. "What were guys doing inside STAR labs?"

Once on the ground she took a step closer to where Mary and Wanda stood, wondering if the girl was okay, she had mentioned she couldn't see anything. "The high levels of energy probably did that to you..." She watched Wanda rest a glowing hand on her forehead. "Maybe as the radiation effect slowly dissipates, your sight will return?"

(So, please let me know if I am overstepping any boundaries and if I say something that doesn't make much sense. I was also wondering if someone can describe what Mary looks like to me? That would be helpful :) )

[Cptdragon9]

(you all are doing just fine with the postings...

Mary currently is looking normal, human, brown hair and eyes as she tried to Shazam herself into Mary Marvel.... and it didn't work

(skipping Mary as pre request this time around)

“Is it safe there?”

Tim almost chucked at the thought, the noise ending up catching in his throat. “Safe-er,” he amended, and it would be. While there probably was a lord or two out for his hide, his reputation would most likely precede him, either by his own standard, or as escort to the Deh Mahr. “Yeah... definitely safer.” Heck there was a good chance that they would mistake Wanda for the native chaos bringer, and they always did love her better anyhow, no matter the time.

Tim could almost kiss the ground when Wanda finally set them down in the forested area just to the west of East. Their approach had given him a better look at the city to judge where and when they had fallen into the solution. No spaceport. No mechanized vehicles. Not even paved roads. So no Militant installations. That was promising... sort of. East was still rather large, but not the bustling metropolis that he knew it for, so it could be possible pre- Invasion.

The Rex frowned at this. Actually this wasn't as good as it could have been, because the world would not have the defenses he had hoped to purloin and use to “fix” things. It also meant that he'd have no means to fight the oncoming invasion.

Well there was one.

But that was neither here nor there right now. They needed someplace to crash, to pool their resources, and to recon the city, find out just where, and in what possible alternate time line, they'd all fallen into. He was going to have to ease Talia into his sphere. Mary and Wanda knew what he was, but poor Talia....

He first started by using misdirection to dance around the uncomfortable questions. He replied again telepathically , mainly to keep her off the focus of the past while letting her get used to the present. ~~I don't think we need to worry about Star Labs right now. We need to find someplace high and dry until I can piece out where and when we are.~~ He made sure that all three women could “hear” him so he wouldn't have to repeat himself. At least he was able to stand up once they set down in the forest. In fact it seemed he was gathering strength the longer he had contact with the land, as of he were absorbing long missing energies as he re-attuned to the world he'd left so long ago. ~~This is Del Mar. My world. Looks like that we've skipped a few years into its past, though I'm not sure how far. We'll have to poke around in the township of East here to find out a date. From there I can figure out our next steps.~~

He rolled those baby blues to Talia. ~~This is not like Earth. You will see creatures not known in the modern world. Just hang loose. Don't freak out. Everything will be all right.~~

At least he hoped so.

He then turned to Mary, very concerned that she'd been blinded somehow, her powers warbling in a world that was knocked slightly askew. Where he'd been inhibited in their world, they were now dealing with the same problems in his, either losing control or having nothing to control.

Yeah, they needed to regroup.

“Mary,” he spoke out loud, perhaps testing to see what else might be influenced by their temporal jump. “Can you see any better? Anything else wrong?”

Meanwhile his mind was churning. They would have to find period clothes to blend in, along with proper coins of the realm. Pending on when they were, he could either use his clout to garner support, or merely rely on his talents to steal them clothing, food, and money so they could get through the next few days.

[marvel]

Even when her memories were muddled,, Mary Bromfield hadn't felt as out of sorts all at once as she did now. Unable to see, in a world of ache, and she never thought she could miss her powers as much as she did now. Especially being unable to fly.

And the witch? Mary desperately wanted not just to hate her, but to stuff her fist down the witch's throat. She strongly suspected now there was something between Wanda & Tim. Unfortunately, Wanda was making it hard for Mary tto stay mad.

"Talia may be right, it's got to be the radiation. It's making me sock and numb also. I can make out shapes but not well. It's bound to clear evetualy." She answered the two ladies while her knees began to buckle. And then Tim chimed in and had the gall to ask if there was anything else wrong. "Yeah, there's something else wrong. If we are on your world You hve a promise to keep to me and I'm holding you to it. When do I meet your family?"

[Wanda Maximoff]

Teleporting glowing hamster ball might not have been the easiest way to travel for her companions but unfortunately for them it was the easiest way for Wanda to move that many people with relative safety.

Where Mary’s powers had reacted negatively; changing her from a woman that appeared in that strange zone between her twenties and thirties to now looking in her late teens. Mary had lost inches and years when her powers faded.

Wanda’s mutation had latched onto this world and its fragmented timeline with a vengeance, using it as a conduit to her ‘home’ reality and the wellspring of energy that gave her made reality...permeable around her. The question was if her magic was equally empowered or if the laws that ruled this place would make her brand of spells harder or even impossible.

That would be unfortunate since her only subtlety really came from her magical talents, her mutation was much better for gross changes. And considering the lack of information her diagnostic spell had give her she was beginning to worry that she would be stuck relying mostly on her mutation here. At least until she worked out the laws of magic for this universe.

In reply to Talia Wanda shook her head, "Just following Tim's directions." She gave the woman a warm yet tired smile. "I don't know this world any more then you do." it occurred to her that he must have sent the directions just to her.

Wanda already there when Mary began to fall, wrapped a supporting arm around the girl; her eyes flickered over to Tim an eyebrow raised as she talked about meeting his family. Wanda was not exactly jealous per say, how ever it was clear that whatever salacious thoughts the lizard might have about her or Talia he was rather firmly taken by Mary. And even if Wanda didn’t still have to deal with everything she had lost just after regaining Oh, Steve...we never get a chance do we?. She wasn’t going to get in the middle of anything between the two of them.

She caught the stray thought of appropriate clothing and it dovetailed as to what she was thinking; magic might be unpredictable but she WAS a reality changer, starting with Mary since she was holding the girl anyway Wanda rested a hand on her chest. “I’m just changing your clothing.” she told the girl. “Might feel a bit tingly.” red glowing bands expanded from the point of contact altering Mary’s outfit into the more common type of female ware she had seen on their approach. “Drake give me a mental image here.” she requested his expertise before she finished the change.

Once done she helped Mary to the ground, moving to Talia next “Take off anything you want to keep.” she warned, knowing how souvenirs of a lost world could be so very important to castaways. Wanda repeated her actions on Talia, than moved to Tim. It was the first time she really was touching him, “I think now would be a good time for a history, customs, and what the hell we are walking into lesson.” her expression was not happy, she knew he was disoriented as well but the girls were in a worse state and while she was nominally taking charge TIM was the only native and he needed to show them what he knew. Prepare them for what was coming.

Wanda had already more or less accepted that getting back wasn’t in the cards at best she’d be spending the next few years reality hopping, or living on this world which meant she needed information, and the flinty look in her eye compelled Tim to share. By his own admission he had been a soldier than general, a leader of men, and while the three of them might not look like an army between them especially if Mary got her powers back they packed the punch of one. So if Wanda was going to be running or fighting she wanted to know why.

When the warm bands of power finished the transformation of Tim’s outfit, she turned to herself, adding her own personal flare of scarlet and gold, the vibranium bodysuit remaining beneath the draping folds of her dress.-If needed.-

'she pulled a sheer red veil over her nose and mouth a legacy of her mother's people the gold bangles coming when summoned to dangle around her wrists. Her outfit was clearly inspired by gypsy touches, she fastened the veil with a small hidden smile, leaving only her eyes visible. -I used to be a thief.-

Once upon a time, before the Avengers, before the Brotherhood, when it had been just her and Pietro, when they had to steal to survive Wanda had become quite the adept pick pocket, either acting as a glittering distraction for Pietro, or using her own nimble fingers to relieve an unsuspecting man of his wallet. A life time ago...but the skills remained.

And if things got bad enough she could attempt transforming basic inorganics into what ever he told her was precious, she wouldn’t dare organics but minerals she might be able to do.

"What now?" she asked him nodding to the town, would they all go in or just Tim? How sure was he of his reception?

[Sun]

Talia watched Tim's face as he communicated to them again about his world, he was in her head, he was talking to her telepathically, this was not something she was used to.

She blinked confused as she looked around, she had spotted a few people dressed in what reminded her of the Renaissance Faire. Yet it was obvious to her this was not a Renaissance Faire.

He rolled those baby blues to Talia. ~~This is not like Earth. You will see creatures not known in the modern world. Just hang loose. Don't freak out. Everything will be all right.~~

If this was not like Earth, then what was it like? Medieval times? Don't freak out? Yes ofcourse, don't freak out, I have only seen this place in fun fairs and movies. This was hard for her to grasp, one moment she was looking down a microscope, studying viruses and mutant genes in a laboratory, the next she was in the middle of Del Mar, and they had skipped a few years into the past? Talia did not believe time travel actually existed.

She watched Wanda's face as she spoke, it was as though all three people knew each other and kinda knew where they were, she was the odd one out here. As Wanda instructed her, Talia removed her tablet, her phone, her id badge and the necklace she was wearing and placed it on the ground before her clothes were changed. As Wanda touched her, her static crackled, she realized that her power was attached to fear in this world, it was true she was quite afraid at the moment.

Now she was wearing a black and wine coloured peasant dress, which was tied up in the back with laces to ensure a good fit on her, the inner colour being wine, the outer being black. There was a hood attached, she found pockets and stuffed everything into them, the necklace went back on around her neck.

"I think Mary should rest and drink plenty of fluids." She swallowed hard as she helped Wanda lay Mary down, she was infact a medical doctor and a scientist and had dealt with a lot of mutants in the past at STAR. She had no access to her usual instruments or her kit.If they were a few years in the past, her methods would also be a little bit backwards and slow. " Possibly foods rich in chlorophyll, lots of green, it will help reduce the toxicity and Apples...she needs to consume the skin, it is rich in pectin and will help chelate the radiation out of cells and drag it out of her system." That was that, she needed to relax, feel a little less threatened.

[Cptdragon9]

Tim was hard pressed to think of any sort of radiation, especially after getting a glimpse of the city. It had to be the planet itself, but he’ll have to explain that later. “I think you girls’ll be okay. I don’t think its radiation. It’s the planet itself. It wouldn't hurt to get some greens, and some apples. If we're in the right timeslot, all the stuff around here will be home grown, all chock filled with all them vitamins.”

He found himself diving to catch Mary, thankful in a way that she was in her normal guise and not in Marvel mode; though the idea that she couldn’t transform didn’t bode well, especially since she was already harping on the very topic: She wanted to meet the clan. “Look, let’s find out when and where we are. We might well be in a time where they’re not even in existence yet. We’ll poke around in town, piece out where and when we are, and then figure out our next steps from there.

In truth there Were kinfolk, but Mary, and probably Wanda, might be very disappointed to meet them, but Tim wouldn’t know for sure if it was ancestors or descendants they would come across..

At least Wanda had the right idea. He gave her the basic images for peasant clothing, though in his minds eye, it might have looked just a bit more risque than it should have been. Well he couldn’t’ help it. He’d frequented enough bars and most of the maid there had a perchance for tight bodices and lots of skirt material. He’d easily spent much more than he had planned to when visiting such establishments but he never did mind. To him it was going to a good cause: Women!

But now he was facing Wanda; one very powered up version of her, and one that didn’t seem very happy with him. He wished he had more firm answers. It took hi a minute to get sued to his new threads, along with the sensation that had been creeping over his skin when Wanda worked on his new costume. But now it was story time. “Well, I can only give general facts and I can’t even guarantee that they’re correct.”

He gestured for everyone to sit a moment, and at least the grass was cool and the day was pleasant. “The is Del Mar, my home planet. That much I know because I can feel it. I expect that you all are as well, mainly because the planet’s a little out of whack. Literally. A large asteroid struck north of here with enough effort to literally knock it slightly out of phase. Just a little, but it’s noticeable. It’s gotta be what’s mucking up Mary and making Wanda a little uncontrollable. It’s what your world felt to me, like I wasn’t quite myself, never at full power, a little off timed.

Anyhoo, most of my kin were back in the desert. Not the wrym things, though they’re distant cousins. Over here is East,” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the sprawling town. “It always was a big bustling city. Does a lot of trade. Lot of people. Elves. Dwarves. Trolls. It’s like walking through a D&D cosplay show at times. Most get along, though there are a few family skirmishes and stuff. The place is probably run by a magistrate at this time. Rich families deciding on care and maintenance while getting their fair share through taxes. Makes bribery a worthwhile expenditure around here, which means the sooner we get some, the better off we’ll be. Tradin’s good too if yer short on cash but uhm,” and he looked the three girls up and down. “I wouldn’t want to tell you what would be common to trade around here.”

“For the most part just keep to yourself, don’t gawk, use a lot of ‘milords’ and “m’ladies’ and we should be able to squeak by. Once I can figure out the date and ken as to how far off my timeline we are, I can hone things down a bit. One sort of good thing though.” He looked over his shoulder at the city again. “I don’t see any Militant influence.”

“I think that now we’re all decked out, we should be able to head into town. Hopefully we can catch the tail end of a convoy and look more like we belong to a larger group. I imagine there’ll be checkpoints but most of the time the guards were keeping an eye out for visible miscreants and brigands. Doubt they’re gonna mess with a bunch of women.” At least that was the hope. Again he wouldn’t know until he got in closer. He could then begin to carefully pick through minds and get the tone of the place, and maybe more definitive answers.

[marvel]

Judging by the sounds when the other three helped lay her down, Talia and Wanda both had a flood of questions for Tim. Mary had alot to say as well, make no mistake about it. She wondered how Talia would react when she finds out the truth about Tim. she wondered what was going on between Wanda and Tim. She had plenty of questions bt lacked the strength and enthusiasm to ask them.

She was at least thankful the others helped her lay down. Her ead as throbbing, her stomach was churning, and the rest of her body ached like never before. in fact she was borderline incoherentwhen Wanda changed her outfit.

"Go....go on without...me. Too tired...to...move. Bring...back...a shovel."