[MHRP] I don't need your Civil War

You people are amazing. And this RP is glorious.

I'm sure you people give the wrong impression of tabletop RPGs. Because something this epic (in the literal sense of the word) cannot happen in every game.

You guys are amazing

To be quite honest at some point every week we all go "Wow, this is the best thing yet!"

Given that our second week involved punching a dinosaur, full props to Zoft for managing to keep up the pace.

Most of the greatness is player-generated; note that in the last three writeups, the best moments (the sword, the water tower, the mortars, the hammer) were all stuff the group came up with on their own. I just give them a sandbox, they're the ones who entertainingly kick the sand in Little Jimmy's eyes.

In the interest of content-posting, I was recently asked if canon Moon Knight is as bloodthirsty as Abad. The answer is yes. He definitely knows (NSFW) how to keep supervillains from recurring. (also NSFW)

That moon knight doesn't seem remotely as fun as Abad's.

As I thought, you guys should take over Marvel.

To be honest, if we took over Marvel, all we'd do is just fill every comic with a hundred pages of explosions. The last panel of each comic would be Coulson making a "wat" face.

Also, In lieu of no recent update, here are some Avengers kitties:

They missed Meown Knight.

So, question. Why did you all pick the characters that you picked? Just favorites, or were there factors of the plot that said that it was important to have somebody play a certain character, or what? Were there other characters that you considered using?

Er... because I like Iron Man?

I went with MK because I'd read him recently and always liked him anyways.

I looked through the list of characters at the time, saw Coulson in there, and thought it'd be cool to play an everyman.

Without being Spider-Man.

I'm not that familiar with comic books but I did know Deadpool so I went with the Merc With The Mouth.

Besides I like playing insane immortal dudes who think that mortaring the Capitol is a good way to stop an attack on that building... It's also always fun when I spend my PP and get to choose some new toy...

You're not that immortal. Ho ho ho.

I chose Spider-Man... because, uh, while I'm not too familiar with loads of comics, but I was familiar with Spider-Man. It seemed like a pretty natural thing to gravitate to.

Yeah, Spidey's great.

Dude's a hero in the Marvel universe, on top of that (and in the time frame where this story takes place,) he has a Wolverine level healing factor and on top of that Thanos cursed him with immortality. It's not iron clad but it's close :3

Being in Marvel probably helps a lot with that, the afterlife is sort of a revolving door. At this point even the Punisher's family has come back (this may be a bad example because it led to the best Castle moment not written by Garth Ennis).

Don't tell Steel but the final boss of the campaign will be a zombified Uncle Ben.

"PETER, WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"

WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT ABS AND OCTOGENARIAN FADE TO BLACK ZOMBIE SEX WHILE MEPHISTO WATCHES WITH A FIERY RIDING CROP, AS DISNEY INTENDED.

Dramatis Personae

CLOD as STEVE "CAPTAIN AMERICA" ROGERS - who leads the charge whether it's in the fields of Normandy, the underwater bases of Hydra, or the halls of the nation's legislators.

KIROK as TONY "IRON MAN" STARK - capturer of assassins and rescuer of senators, with a side job as accumulator of dollars.

DWICK as PHIl COULSON - Agent of ASGARD, god of properly-coversheeted intel reports.

TECHOPTRYX as MARC "MOON KNIGHT" SPECTOR - decapitated a man on live television last issue, but it was just the Swordsman, so the world didn't really object.

DIPPY as WADE "DEADPOOL" WILSON - MORTARED CONGRESS

STEEL as PETER "SPIDER-MAN" PARKER - beleaguered photographer and friendly neighborhood web-slinger, constantly harassed in both roles by his boss.

MARDUK as UATU THE WATCHER - who is always watching, but must never interfere.

Issue 10: Tragedy and Transitions

[b]To the surprise of all and sundry, bombarding Congress with explosives has not totally sunk the Avengers in the public eye. Had Deadpool rolled any ones during that attack, they would be getting absolutely hammered in the narrative, but he did not; furthermore, they saved a bunch of people and defeated the terrorists. With that said, there was a lot of superpowered carnage and property damage - Damage Control Inc is once again making titanic bank off cleaning up the ruins of our nation's capital - and even if it worked out in the end, Deadpool still fired explosives into the hall of Congress.

<Deadpool> "It needed to be remodeled anyway."
<Iron_Man> "Your mouth needs to be remodeled."

For the moment, though, there's no public discourse going on - it's a quiet Friday evening. Having found no nefarious supervillain plots or high-profile crimes going on, the Avengers have decided to relax at Stark Tower until Kang the Conqueror inevitably tries to merge the multiverses or something. Iron Man is busy upgrading a suit, while Deadpool and Moon Knight sit around him carrying on conversations with each other and themselves.

* Iron_Man is probably tooling around with the Iron Man suit while emptying a bottle of Chiveas Regal.
<Iron_Man> "Occipital wrench. Please. Chop chop."
* Moon_Knight is sharpening swords and every so often talking to the empty chair next to him.
<Deadpool> "Hey you know I just figured something out... see you know how you can exchange XP for PP... and you know how I have a Milestone Mysterious Past and can get 1xp for each time I reference a past connection... well,"
<Zoftan> MK, you're beginning to acquire quite the menagerie. Nefaria's begun floating around the background once in a while, as if faceless Bushman and decapitated Swordsman weren't enough company.
<Deadpool> "There is this alternative universe comic called Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe... "

Full disclosure: it sucks.

<Deadpool> "..so basically I know everyone in a universe which means a ton of XP for me whenever I want it... of course you guys don't have to worry about it because I'm not going to kill this universe... but he might so keep an eye for me, well him who's me."
<Zoftan> Somewhere across the galaxy, Thanos twitches.
<Iron_Man> "Shut up, Deadpool."
* &PhilCoulson glances at Deadpool, nods, and looks back at his paperwork.
* Moon_Knight eyes Nefaria, complete with snapped, lolling neck. "I should have grabbed your boots."
<Zoftan> Nefaria turns so you can see his face, since his head is lolling down his back. "You...you wouldn't deserve to...wear them, I am...I am royalty, unlike the rest of these...miscreants."
<Zoftan> "I'm not even dead, I'm...I'm just temporarily...inconvenienced."
<Deadpool> "Hey Moon Knight, I've been meaning to ask but do you and the Taskmaster have the same tailor?"

They don't.

<Moon_Knight> "I think we probably do. I met him a few times, he seemed well-dressed."

He isn't.

* &PhilCoulson is filing paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. Involving lots and lots of supers.
<&PhilCoulson> A rather bulky suitcase sits next to him; he has yet to actually reveal its contents.
* Iron_Man makes one last adjustment to the Iron Codpiece, knocks back his Regal, and looks at the case again.
* Iron_Man looks at Coulson.
* Iron_Man looks back at the case.
<Iron_Man> "Moving in, Agent?"
<&PhilCoulson> "More paperwork, actually. Lots of notices from the Committee on Metahuman Legislation."
<&PhilCoulson> "They've been rather busy. Lots of FOIAs to work through."
<Iron_Man> "You know, you guys in the government could always go, you know, PAPERLESS."
* Iron_Man tosses Coulson an iPad.
<Iron_Man> "Instead of, you know, killing every forest on this planet just so some pencil-pusher has a job."
* Deadpool just imagines Iron Man has a ton of them just in case he needs to toss one to someone.
<Iron_Man> Oh, he does.
<Iron_Man> :D
<&PhilCoulson> "I could."
<&PhilCoulson> "Then again, I wouldn't be able to do this."
* &PhilCoulson takes an inkwell and proceeds to pretty much slather a government document with it.
<&PhilCoulson> "Redacted...national security...redacted..."

Next to them, Captain America intently watches the news for updates on the SHRA and Spider-Man attempts to end a call with his Aunt May that's fast approaching ninety minutes.

<Zoftan> "--Oh, but you know, Peter, Doctor Octavius came over to be my second for bridge last week, and he was saying he had a niece that's right about your age and I thought ohhh that's just the kind of girl Peter should meet, and---" The call waiting notification buzzes. This is your excuse to get away.
<Deadpool> :D
<Spider_Man> "Uh, uh, sorry, Aunt May. I've got another call coming. Love you, bye!"
<Zoftan> Spider-Man takes the second call and his eardrums are immediately assaulted. "SPIDEY! BRO! IT'S ME, BRO"
<Zoftan> "Bro you're not gonna believe this, we're on site for the live episode tonight, and we found them! The last Raft escapees! Man, after this, we're gonna be famous. Famouser. Is 'famouser' a word? It is now. We're gonna be famouser. Hell yeah."

'Me' in this case is Robbie Baldwin, better known as Speedball of the New Warriors. He's one of Spider-Man's occasional Amazing Friends, and is generally a cheerful douchebag; the latter of these qualities landed him a reality show on CBS alongside the rest of the New Warriors, where they fight d-list supervillains for the public's approval.

It appears that he and his teammates have bagged a catch of some renown for once.

* Iron_Man watches so many secrets suddenly disappear with a frown on his face. He does not like the way the government does its business.
<Captain_America> "You, uh, didn't need that document, did you, Agent?"
<Iron_Man> "Don't color outside the lines, Agent. I'm getting a drink. Anybody else want one? Steve? Spector? Wade? Parker, you're old enough to drink, right?"
<Spider-Man> "Yeah. Get me something, uh, fruity?"
<Deadpool> "Man I need like liters of the strongest stuff before I even feel the slightest bit tipsy."
<Moon_Knight> "A drink would be great. Something... less fruity."
<Captain_America> "I'll just have some fruit."
<&PhilCoulson> "Hmm. Club soda?"
* Iron_Man frowns, pulls out a bottle of tequila, and lines up four shots. With limes.
<Iron_Man> "THERE. FRUIT."

That should prevent any cases of scurvy. Meanwhile, on the phone...

<Spider-Man> "We play our cards right, we might even be on national televisio-- oh right."
<Zoftan> "Damn right it's national, Spidey! Turn on CBS, we're gonna pwn these lamers and you can wish you were here. We got, uhhhhh...Coldheart and Speedfreek and some guy I don't recognize and Nitro! Hah! That's the dude that gave Captain Marvel cancer."
<Captain_America> "Works for me."
<Zoftan> You can distantly hear something in the background. "What? I don't wanna get cancer!"
<Spider-Man> :D
<Zoftan> "Shut up, Microbe! Anyway, gotta go, they're about to start rolling! LLLLLLATES"
<Spider-Man> "Have fun. And, uh, don't get cancer."
* Iron_Man knocks back some patron silver, pours out another.
<Iron_Man> "ALRIGHT, COME ON LADIES. Let's - wait, cancer?"
<Zoftan> He has already hung up by the time you say 'fun'. That's pretty much Speedball for you.
* &PhilCoulson eyes Spidey.
* Spider-Man glances around, shrugs. "Speedball."
<Iron_Man> "You do coke now?"
<Spider-Man> "Me? Nah, I'm trying to go for a winners don't do drugs vibe."

If you were wondering, Nitro did in fact kill the original Mar-Vell, by giving him cancer. I mean it wasn't intentional, Nitro doesn't have cancer-bestowing superpowers. He instead blows himself up - pretty small-scale explosions, but still enough that the New Warriors are probably reaching a bit out of their league in taking him on.

<Zoftan> Bushman eyes your drink thoughtfully, MK. He doesn't get out of the chair to do it, his neck just stretches until his head is next to your glass.
* Moon_Knight looks at Bushman, drinks.
<Zoftan> "...Yeah, not everything about being a god is unicorns and rainbows these days. Now, back in the day when they did libations, that was more like it."
* Iron_Man licks some salt off his hand.
<Zoftan> "Kids these days, am I right?" (the other two provide a laugh track - well, Swordsman gurgles and Nefaria makes Ju-On noises. It counts, I guess)
<Iron_Man> "So, why does Aunt May want a speedball, Parker? She's hipper than I thought."
* &PhilCoulson waits for the Deadpool Remark
<&PhilCoulson> "3...2...1..."

Wait for it...

<Deadpool> "I like your guests MK."
<Deadpool> "They don't try to prompt me in a way that only I can see, unlike some..."
* Deadpool looks at Coulson and umps.

Damn that wily Deadpool.

<Moon_Knight> "Just wait until the other two get here. Silver Samurai is a riot."
<Moon_Knight> "Porcupine's a bit of a downer but that's probably because he can't really get laid. Ever. Can't blame him."
<Zoftan> On the TV, Captain America has been watching some of the debates going on re: the SHRA. Senator Kelly appears to have switched positions and is pushing anti-reg, probably because you guys saved his life from Hawkeye.
<Iron_Man> Well, that's a relief.
* Spider-Man sighs. "Aunt May doesn't do drugs, Tony. I'm not sure about Speedball, though. You know, the superhero."
<Iron_Man> "Oh. OOOH. That guy. What'd he want?"
<Captain_America> "Guys, guys, Senator Kelly's about to give a speech, could you pipe down?"
* &PhilCoulson goes quiet.
* Iron_Man rolls his eyes at Captain America, passes him a shot and a lime.
<Spider-Man> "They're going to pwn some lamers."
<Iron_Man> We are such bad Avengers. :D
<Spider-Man> "They're doing it on CBS. Plus, the guy who gave Captain Marvel cancer."
<Iron_Man> "CBS?"
* Iron_Man grab the remote and switches it over to CBS, despite what Captain's watching.

Hey, it's his TV. And booze. And tower. Uh...

<Zoftan> On the TV: "--and here we saw the face of responsibility," declares Kelly, "when the Avengers saved myself, many of my colleagues, and the galley from the threat of certain--" BZZT
<Captain_America> "hey. HEY."
<Zoftan> You flip channels to get there...
<Iron_Man> "Oh, I've got split screen, Cap. Calm down."
<Zoftan> BZZT "--reports of Skrulls impersonating the band One Direction are not, repeat not, to be taken seriously--" BZZT "--conference today, where OsCorp announced their acquisition of five new contracts as a step towards working in closer capacity with the US government--" BZZT "I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR" BZZT "--and on today's show, we'll be interviewing Dazzler, as she embarks on a new tour with the Mental Organism Designed Only for Disco--" BZZT
<Zoftan> Ahh, here it is. The New Warriors, live Friday nights on CBS. They're c-listers at best, but there's something kind of charming about the goofy kitsch of low-rent superheroes taking down even lower-rent supervillains and playing to a camera the whole time.

At the time of the event, the New Warriors are led by Night Thrasher, who is like an absolutely destitute man's urban version of the Black Panther. Their ranks include Microbe (with the power to control germs), Namorita (Namor's niece; you may recall he had come to visit her on the day Lucia von Bardas's henchmen attacked the Avengers), and Speedball (whom we, unfortunately, have met).

<Deadpool> "My plot sense is tingling here... or I need to go to the bathroom... I'm not sure which one it is..."
<Iron_Man> Oh, right. I keep forgetting Nova quit the group by this time.
<Zoftan> Yeah, Nova's back in space.
<Captain_America> "Hey, isn't that a friend of yours, Peter?"
<Spider-Man> "Uh, I guess?"
<Zoftan> The top of the screen depicts the Warriors talking indistinctly amongst themselves as they prepare to mount an assault on a house out in the suburbs of Stamford, CT, where the last few Raft escapees are hanging out. Spidey and Moon Knight can both identify the 'some guy I don't know'; it's Cobalt Man, who is about as intimidating as my cat.
<Moon_Knight> "I remember him too. Blue something or other."
<Zoftan> The bottom, meanwhile, shows a couple senators leading a rebuttal to Kelly's speech. From the general tone, you get the impression that 'Deadpool Shot Mortars At Us' is going to be the go-to line in these debates for a while.
* Deadpool is offended, "I'm offended" [ he's offended, if he shot the mortar at the senators they would be in bits! ] "If I had shot the mortar at them they would be in bits... hey aren't you suposed to use first person?" [ depends on the situation ] "good"
<Iron_Man> "So, wait."
<Iron_Man> "Let me get this straight. These guys fight crime... on television."
<Moon_Knight> "So did we, technically."
<Moon_Knight> "Swordsman's neck was the slice seen 'round the world."
<Iron_Man> "Nice... Jarvis, see how much stock they've got on this network."

It's a surprisingly lucrative program, as he's about to find out. Even the lowest common metahuman denominator is going to be sort of interesting to the mundane public.

<Iron_Man> "So, they evacuated the rest of the residents first, right?"
<Iron_Man> "... oh, who am I fooling, this is reality tv. This is all probably on a soundstage somewhere."
<Zoftan> As the New Warriors charge into the house and begin fighting with its residents, Jarvis brings up a graph. Apparently this show consistently dominates the ratings on Friday nights. Man, metahuman TV is a mostly-untapped market.
<Zoftan> Except for mutants. Mutant culture's kind of had a small foothold in the media for the last decade or so. Particularly after Wanda depowered most of them - gotta hold onto culture somehow.
<Iron_Man> Daaaaaamn. Stark makes a note to start a "super cribs of the super heroes" show, starting with the Baxter Building and ending with - uh - er.
<Iron_Man> Hrm.
<Zoftan> MK gets a text. 'movie night tomorrow? ;) -maya'
<Zoftan> Meanwhile, on screen, Microbe refuses to go after Nitro because he's afraid he'll get cancer, leading Namorita to wonder mid-fight if he'd be able to control and weaponize it.
<Captain_America> "This is so corny."
<Spider-Man> "It's cute."
<Iron_Man> "It's RETARDED."
<Captain_America> "It's like Jersey Shore with superpowers."
<Zoftan> Speedball ricochets at high speed off a wall and blasts Coldheart straight through it. He's a douchebag but he's got some moves.
* Moon_Knight nonchalantly replies "Sounds good. Are you watching New Warriors right now? I can't remember the Blue guy's name"
<Iron_Man> "The big fat guy with germ powers? Or the hottie with blue skin?"
* Moon_Knight continues typing away "...I want to say Tobias but I think that's wrong"
* &PhilCoulson quietly sips his club soda.
<Zoftan> XD
<&PhilCoulson> XD
<Iron_Man> Man, that reference blue me away.
<Iron_Man> HO HO HO HO
<Zoftan> 'cobalt man, i think? wanna say matt and cyclops from x-men fought him once, literally no powers'
<Zoftan> This is not true, he does have powers thanks to his Iron Man ripoff suit - you can tell because he throws a sofa at Microbe. Then again it could be a particularly light sofa.
<Moon_Knight> "it still took both of them. figures. worst superheroes ever."
<Zoftan> 'lol, mean'
* Iron_Man really needs to enforce his copyright law a bit better.
<Deadpool> "They need more explosions."

Well, Nitro is present. I'm sure Deadpool will get what he wants soon enough.

<Zoftan> Nitro breaks away from the group and just makes a run for it, apparently leaving his comrades to their fates. Speedball sees him take off, decides to subdue Speedfreek instead, and yells to Namorita to fly after him.
<Zoftan> Meanwhile, at the bottom of the screen, it looks like debate is deadlocked at the moment but a quick straw poll shows that the House and Senate are both generally slanted in your favor.
<Zoftan> Good intentions mean a lot but being able to effectively back up those intentions is even better, and regardless of mortar explosions, you guys managed it.
<Iron_Man> "Alright. No offense to your friend, Parker, but your friend Speedball is a douche. Ah, nice. Looks like we're okay, guys. Look, Kelly's on our side."
<Captain_America> "Thank God. Soon we'll be able to put this behind us."
<Iron_Man> "Hell yeah. Cheers, cap."
<Iron_Man> CLINK CLINK
* Captain_America drinks to that.
<Spider-Man> "Oh, no. He's a douche. Did you see him on ESPN?"

Abruptly, something happens that causes the mood to turn much less serious.

<Zoftan> In an amusing contrast to the discourse on CSPAN, Namorita's headcam shows a direct feed (let's face it, no human cameraman can keep up with her flight speed) as she chases Nitro past an elementary school and basically torpedoes him into the side of a schoolbus.
<Iron_Man> "... Wait a minute. Is that a school?"
<&PhilCoulson> "Ouch."
<Captain_America> "Yeah. It is."
<Captain_America> What time is it?
<Zoftan> Seven in the evening - at least it isn't in-session.
<Iron_Man> Oh, phew.
<Captain_America> "Shouldn't be any kids there at least."
<Zoftan> Unless there's a band event going on...
<Iron_Man> "Okay, good. Still, man. You don't fight near a school. I don't care how nice her ass is, Namorita's a dumbass."
<Deadpool> "I don't like getting thrown into cars and stuff, they tend to have jagged edges sticking in you, much more prefer concrete, you break your bones but don't have to worry about leaks."
<&PhilCoulson> "Obviously a statement about the American Education System."
<&PhilCoulson> "A little hamhanded, but straightforward, I suppose."
* Iron_Man just looks at Coulson.
Iron_Man> "You haven't had your shot yet."
* &PhilCoulson raises his club soda.
<Zoftan> There are actually some kids on the playground, watching in awe as Namorita beats the living shit out of Nitro (Mar-Vell's probably smiling from somewhere), but they don't seem to be in any danger because she's got the situation well in hand.
< <Iron_Man> "Oh, SHIT."
<Captain_America> "What are they DOING?"

Get ready...

<Zoftan> At last, with Atlantean strength, she hoists him up by the neck, covered in gasoline and bruised to all hell, and you can't quite make it out because the TV's on mute, but you're pretty sure she just either asked him if he had any last words or ordered him to stand down.
<Iron_Man> "Okay, good. She's not - okay, look, just fly the douche away from the school, come on. Go go go go go."
* Spider-Man starts to wonder where their parents went.
* Iron_Man is totally talking at the TV.

Here it comes...

<Zoftan> And then Nitro does something you've never seen him do before.
<Captain_America> "WHAT-"
<Iron_Man> 0_0
<&PhilCoulson> ...
* &PhilCoulson , uh, blinks.
* Iron_Man drops the bottle of tequila.
<Spider-Man> "What the hell?"
* Moon_Knight stops talking to his menagerie and hitting on Maya long enough to gawk at the TV.
* &PhilCoulson eyes his phone with unease.
<Zoftan> The top half of the screen is now on an "experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by" screen.
<Deadpool> "Neat trick."

It IS actually a neat trick - Nito's never managed an explosion at a fourth of that magnitude before. He's seriously stepped up his game.

They have no time to reflect on this, for obvious reasons.

<Captain_America> "He just... He..."
<Iron_Man> "Steve, I think we need to be there."
<Zoftan> Exactly five seconds later, Coulson's phone starts lighting up.
<Iron_Man> "Like, RIGHT NOW"
* Spider-Man quickly wrestles his phone out from his pocket, hitting redial on Speedball's number.
* &PhilCoulson grabs his phone and answers. "Coulson."
<Captain_America> "I think you're right. Let's go."
<Iron_Man> "Jarvis, prep my armor and load the quinjet. Five minutes. LADIES, LET'S GO."
<Captain_America> " That was just a stunt, wasn't it? WASN'T IT?"
<Zoftan> "Coulson? Drew here. On-site elements are reporting an explosion in Connecticut, any idea what it was?"
<Iron_Man> "I don't think so, Steve. I think we're in trouble. Oh, goddamn. Alright, look, worry later, act NOW."
* Captain_America takes one last second to look back at the TV. Particularly the bottom half.
<&PhilCoulson> "Yes. Put on your TV, set the channel on CBS."
<&PhilCoulson> "We have a problem."
<Zoftan> Spidey, you're getting five rings and then "YO YOU'VE REACHED SPEEDBALL, I'm busy being totally awesome so I can't talk right now! Leave a message and we'll party hardy later! Holla holla--BEEEP"
* Deadpool stands up and stretches. "C'mon Captain be all leaderly type and stuff..."
* Moon_Knight texts Maya "big bang, gotta go"
<Zoftan> Congress has apparently recessed in light of some live news.
<Captain_America> "Oh no."
* Moon_Knight texts Frenchie "bring the copter"
* Spider-Man grits his teeth. God dammit.
<&PhilCoulson> "Drew? Talk to me. Who's on-site?"
<Zoftan> Spider-Woman, meanwhile: "I'm headed to the scene personally. Get down there and we'll set up a perimeter together; this is, uh...damn, this is huge."

Anxious to get there as fast as possible, Iron Man grabs Cap and flies him over personally. Deadpool and Spider-Man hitch a ride in the Moon-Copter, while Coulson...mysteriously gets on site, briefcase in hand. Odd.

<Zoftan> Cap and Tony get there first (strangely, Coulson arrives only seconds later!) and central Stamford is a total disaster area.
<Iron_Man> "Holy Jesus... Orders, Cap?"
<Captain_America> "Agent? How did you get here so - you know, forget it. Fan out, look for survivors."
<Captain_America> "Help out where you can. Go!"
* &PhilCoulson begins flagging in Agents.

The place is a mess. Burned out rubble everywhere. Panicked, ash-blackened people roaming the wreckage calling out for friends and loved ones. A smoke-darkened sky overhead. Spider-Woman arrives as they begin to spread out, and dispatches a task force to help Coulson contain the scene.

* Iron_Man is going to try and get a read on any wireless devices in the area. These people have to have smartphones, maybe he can track them that way.
* Captain_America spots a burning building and figures that, if he could charge through freaking dragons' breath, a burning house ought to be no problem.
<Zoftan> Iron Man, good thinking - your use of the signal tracker lets you zero in on a man pinned under a car, which is a situation uniquely suited to your super-strength. Cap, you've found two children trapped in a bedroom at the end of the burning house.
* Captain_America rouses them with a hand on their shoulders. "Hey. Hey. Is there anyone else here?"
* Iron_Man lifts a car!
<Zoftan> They seem terrified, and almost unable to respond, but one of them points to the living room where the babysitter was. You passed it on the way in - it's completely demolished.
* Captain_America sadly shakes his head as he scoops the kids up and hops out a window.
<Zoftan> Iron Man, the guy's at least cognizant enough to drag himself out from under the car while you hold it up. "Th-thanks. I don't...what happened?"
<Iron_Man> "A mistake," I say, and gently put the car back down, then check on the ETA for EMS arrival and other important acronyms.

Around this time, the Moon-Copter arrives. Moon Knight sets his pilot to begin airlifting people who need medical attention, then his group joins the relief efforts.

<Zoftan> Coulson, the SHIELD agents turn over some rubble and discover Microbe and Coldheart. It looks like he tried to shield her with his body.
<&PhilCoulson> Either of them still alive?
<Zoftan> Negative.
* &PhilCoulson points at two agents.
<&PhilCoulson> "You two, get those two to the morgue. The rest of you, keep moving."
* Deadpool wanders about looking for stuff to loot... [ eh... ] ... I mean he tries to help where he can.
<Zoftan> Emergency response units are a bit late on scene, so Moon Knight has probably saved some lives there - thankfully, the local hospital was outside the blast zone. Frenchie drops you off at the center while he flies back and forth medevacing.

Moon Knight and Spider-Man dig for bodies while Deadpool liberates a 58-inch LCD TV from the ruins of a Radio Shack.

<Iron_Man> LOL
<Iron_Man> That's our Deadpool.
<Deadpool> WOOT!
<Captain_America> WAY TO HELP DEADPOOL
<Captain_America> QUICK! SAVE THE TELEVISIONS
<Deadpool> You just jealous I've got a new LCD!
<Zoftan> SHIELD medics continue to perform triage, providing first aid to those they can save and taking those they can't to morgue facilities, as the Avengers meet up at the blast site.
<Captain_America> A new lowest common denominator? WHY YES. YOU DO
<Zoftan> Namorita's lying in a crater next to the burned-out husk of the school bus. Nitro is simply gone.
<Iron_Man> Wait, what do you mean "gone."
<Zoftan> There's no sign of him. Either he vaporized himself or he's missing.
<Iron_Man> :|
<Iron_Man> ....

We can at least hope for the former.

<Iron_Man> I'm going to take a sample of the surrounding dirt for later. Then I'm going to start helping people again.
<Iron_Man> Because conservation of energy, man.
<Zoftan> Interesting line of thought! Jarvis scans the soil for you and finds traces of blood around the impact site. He sets to work analyzing them as you fly off.
<Captain_America> He killed himself?
<Iron_Man> Awesome.
<Zoftan> It is certainly possible, Cap - maybe death was preferable to capture.
* Captain_America has so many questions. But right now he's too busy digging people out of collapsed buildings to think. There's no time to think right now, only time to act.

Eventually, EMS shows up, and there's a whole mob of terrified, grieving parents, friends, relatives, and so on with them. The situation has gotten a little tenser - fortunately, Spider-Woman establishes a SHIELD perimeter to keep everyone clear.

<Zoftan> Still, there's no way to drown out all the shouts as you work alongside paramedics and firemen to dig out survivors. "My son! Where's my son?" "Somebody find her!" "Speak to me!" "How could this happen?"
* Deadpool drags a big sack with stuff behind him... "Well perimeter is clear... what about the center, found anything good? I mean like eh living people."
<Zoftan> Jessica eyes Deadpool, dragging the huge sack of loot behind him, with unabashed revulsion.
<Iron_Man> DEADPOOOOOOL
<Iron_Man> Shit, what else can we do?
* Moon_Knight continues trying to dig out survivors and bodies and such
* Spider-Man is likewise busy trying to find survivors.
* &PhilCoulson hails Drew, points at the woman. "We need a liaison to keep this from exploding even /further./"
* Deadpool finally starts to dig... maybe he'll find something else.
<Zoftan> Spidey, you've discovered Night Thrasher, partly vaporized on the outskirts of the neighborhood.
<Zoftan> "You're right. Any suggestions?"

As the SHIELD agents confer, the Avengers get a surprise...

<Zoftan> Cap and MK, working together, you manage to dig out someone unexpected. It's Speedball...and he's alive!
<Captain_America> How's he looking?
<Zoftan> All of his clothing and hair has been burned off, but he appears to be totally intact. It might be that his powers absorbed most of the force of the explosion.
<Zoftan> Uh...mind, that's physically. Mentally speaking, he looks totally shellshocked.
<Moon_Knight> Huh.
<Iron_Man> I'm not surprised.
<Captain_America> "Thank God. Moonie, keep digging, would you?" And he slings Speedball over his shoulder, hustling over to an ambulance
<Zoftan> SOMEONE in the crowd has noticed, though, because a hushed whisper goes up. "Speedball! It's Speedball, they found him, he's alive"

Suddenly, things begin to turn decidedly ugly.

<Zoftan> And then a shout of a decidedly different tone rings out as Cap rushes him away. "You did this!"
<Zoftan> "It's your fault!"
<Zoftan> "LET'S STRING HIM UP"
<Captain_America> "Wha-"
<&PhilCoulson> "We need to get families of victims off-site. Explain that this has become a matter of national security--"
<&PhilCoulson> "...Shit."
* Captain_America stares in horror.
<Iron_Man> ...
<Spider-Man> Ohhhhh crap.
* Captain_America is just going to rush Speedball over to EMT rightquicknow.
<Iron_Man> I'm turning on the loudspeakers
<&PhilCoulson> "And this is the exact reaction we do not need."
<Zoftan> A swell of rage rises in the crowd, all directed at that dude you're carrying, Cap. The bystanders are currently not quite willing to challenge SHIELD guards, but they've just suffered considerable losses and they might not be totally rational.
<Iron_Man> Captain, I'm throwing you a mic. Dude. Use some of that Stars and Stripes to to calm these people down.
<Zoftan> He screams incoherently as you hand him off to the EMTs.
<Iron_Man> Because if I say anything, I'm just going to piss them off.
<&PhilCoulson> And /no one/ wants to hear a government agent.
* Captain_America catches it! "Everyone, please remain calm! We don't know exactly what happened, but we're doing all that we can to help! Please!"

He passes the roll against the Doom Pool, thankfully, and succeeds in quieting the potential mob down. If the attempt went badly, they might have ended up with a full-blown riot on their hands.

<Zoftan> Calling a couple SHIELD agents over, Drew sends them out to begin rounding up the appropriate persons of interest and getting them out of the area for their own safety. Good thinking, Coulson.
<Zoftan> Alright, understand that nothing you say is going to make everything all right, obviously.
<Captain_America> I can at least stop a riot.
<Zoftan> With that said, the element of the crowd that wanted to lynch Speedball seems to drift off, or at least quiet down.
<Spider-Man> That's a relief.
<Iron_Man> Phew.
<Zoftan> It helps that a second later, the SHIELD dispatch spreads out and begins to help bystanders find their friends and families, start taking down names, etc.

Crisis averted...for the moment.

<Zoftan> MK, Deadpool, you guys found Speedfreek. Well, half of him.
<Iron_Man> ...Jesus.
<Zoftan> The other half appears to have been severed by a flying chunk of Cobalt Man's armor.
<Deadpool> [I can't sell that... Oh wait, is it the top half? Because if it's the top half I can totally mount him.]
* Captain_America passes a rueful look over to Tony.
<Captain_America> "We're in deep."
* &PhilCoulson eyes his suitcase, imagines that he'll need to buy an even larger one, sighs.
<&PhilCoulson> "Very."
<Iron_Man> "Maybe. We have to handle this very carefully."
<Iron_Man> "I've got some ideas. Let's just do what we can to help out. Media'll be here soon. Do what you can to keep Deadpool off of it."

It turns out to be a very long night of disaster relief. The Avengers spend a few hours digging through rubble and finding bodies, until the Fantastic Four and some of the X-Men show up to help out. Eventually, in the wee hours of the morning, they collapse into bed to get some well-deserved rest.

Upon waking up, our heroes discover that things have not improved.

<Zoftan> Final count, as of the next morning: 612 dead, 60 of them children. Speedball is alive thanks to his kinetic powers, but they completely burned out protecting him.
<&PhilCoulson> holy shit
<Iron_Man> Fuuuuuck
<Moon_Knight> Wow.
<Captain_America> Nngh.
<Spider-Man> Holy crap.
<Zoftan> Jarvis has a final scan result for you: blood infected with mutant growth hormone, matching Nitro's DNA record from the Raft, was spilled around that crater. It trails off into a nearby cornfield. He's still alive, and he got away.
<&PhilCoulson> This just gets better and better.
<Iron_Man> Dammit. I was hoping to see if I could use it to track him. But... Mutant Growth Hormone?
<Iron_Man> Damn, that's bad.
<Captain_America> The dude just killed 600 people.
<Iron_Man> No wonder he went nova there. Dude was juiced up.
<Zoftan> SHIELD transmissions reveal Namor showed up at the UN and basically kicked down the doors. He is absolutely furious over Namorita's death and unless Nitro is handed over to Atlantis he's threatening war with the surface.
<Iron_Man> Ffffffffff
<&PhilCoulson> ...ffffffffff
<Zoftan> Washington is a total mess and an emergency Congressional session is being called tomorrow night to debate the SHRA legislation in light of 'relevant current events'.
<Spider-Man> "They can't be serious. It's not like there's anything in there that could have prevented this from happening."
* Iron_Man sits quietly in the corner of Stark Tower, going over the MGH data, head full of whiskey and conspiracies.
<Captain_America> "Nitro was a criminal! He already had a record! What more do they NEED?"
* Moon_Knight is also unusually quiet
* &PhilCoulson is maintaining a channel with Hill, and trying to keep abreast of the news. This IS his department now, after all.
<Zoftan> Maria Hill is swamped at the moment - Spider-Woman says she's locked herself in her office and won't talk to anybody while she's on the phone with the President and god knows who else.
<&PhilCoulson> ...then Coulson is using /her/ as his connection.
* Captain_America is oscillating between despondent and furious.
<Zoftan> The news media is mostly flipping their shit over the New Warriors and the fact that they went in against a heavy hitter like Nitro unprepared and without clearing out the local area to prevent collateral damage. There's discussion of bringing up Speedball on criminal charges.
<Iron_Man> ...
<Deadpool> "You know... I bet if I was allowed to speak at the Hearing I could keep talking for so long people would forget why they are there..."
<Captain_America> "Wade, you're a man of many talents, but damage control is -not- one of them."
<Iron_Man> "Shut up, Deadpool."
<Deadpool> "Hey I didn't blow up!"

Shit has gotten real.