Hermit

Not a major thing, but suddenly having my computer decide it didn't recognize anything was alarming.

Mayo wasn't intended to have a Guru side this strong, but hey, sometimes characters take twists on you. Yes, he is forcing Caleb to make thinky thoughts

Ouch Enough with the head cheese already! We're not at the 'exciting conclusion' yet, more talking talk... but hopefully you won't be too bored. I'm sure there was some whole mystical hoo doo reason that I'd be returning to Doctor Salem at one in the morning, the "Witching Hour" possibly. For me, it meant I had plenty of time to stomp around anywhere I wanted to feel sorry for myself at having been benched. I was angry, and I was bummed. And yes, I know I was being immature about it. Sleep would be wise, but I just couldn't make it happen. I contemplated options. Option one: Whine about it. Option two: Burn off some energy with exercise. Option Three: Do some responsible things in my secret identity. You know what? I can mix and match, and maybe I could at least water down the first option. Tornado still had a crowd about him of concerned team mates and relations. A good intense swim would do me some good. I walked into the pool area, only to find something was missing. "Mabel? Where's the damn pool?" I blinked at the flat surface of a room. Where the pool should be was a tennis court. "Someone's in a mood," She said, "Bad news or are you still mad at me for letting Ariana peep on the end of that comm chatter." "Don't remind me of that," I groused, "And yes, I just found out I got benched. The pool?" "There's a small box under the light switch on the wall, flip it open, and press the button there," She answered. I looked under said light switch and found the small box under as she said. It was pretty much the same color as the wall and, in my defense, very easy to overlook. Yes, there was a button. I pressed it, and there was a rrrrr sound. The Tennis court opened up, splitting and separating to slowly reveal the pool under it, "Was Arctic Fox or someone playing a set?" Fox seemed the tennis sort for some reason to me. "No, Mayo hit his button in the pool to meditate. It blocks the lights and dims the sounds," She explained. I winced and called out, "Sorry, Mayo." I felt like an idiot. Naturally he preferred it darker, and while that could be achieved just by dimming the lights, everyone needed peace and quiet sometime. I had intruded on that. "Do not apologize," Mayo said in his tongue as he rose up to answer briefly. Sometimes I had to remind myself he couldn't breathe air, "Come in, join me. You look you could use a talk." I dived in, adjusting, "Actually I came here to swim needlessly recklessly fast and feel sorry for myself," I confessed, "It turns out my part in this isn't what I thought it would be and my friends will be risking their lives in the sea while I stay here." Mayo tilted his head, "And why will you do this?" "Oh, when I break the spears the backlash will lay me out again, they'll be gone by the time I'm done," I grumbled, "And Doctor Salem needs the energy to use it to guide us to the other sources of spears. I take it you've shared everything you can with them." "Yes, yes," Mayo nodded, now floating in in that weird pose that made him look like a guru. How he found that comfortable I wasn't sure, "I was not as well traveled as many, but I told Mabel what I could." "Thanks," I said, meaning it, and tried to put my own feet under me. I startled to roll upside down, "Okay, how do you do that?" "Practice," Mayo said with amusement. "How long did it take you? Long time?" I said hopefully as I veered to starboard despite my efforts. "Oh, months," He assured me. I smiled. "But then, I could be an impatient child," He confessed. I flipped over again, "Ouch. My ego." "You will survive it, Caleb," Mayo smiled, "if you survive nothing else. Let me see if I understand your problem," He said after a moment, "Destroying the spears is nearly impossible, it is hard enough to resist them. But you can, and you pay a terrible price." "Well, yes, though I'll have help this time…" He went on, "It will still assault your very soul, and you will risk this, because you and Doctor Salem must guide the others so they have even a chance for victory." "Well, yeah," I said, "But the ocean is where I excel, this magic stuff is … I don't know what I'm doing." "So, your battlefield is strange and foreign to you, the way you might die is not of your choosing, but it is crucial…. You attack not where you are strongest, but where you feel most vulnerable." "Well, yeah, but…" I said almost certain I had lost control over this conversation, "but… Fish Guy?" I pointed a thumb at myself. He stared at me for a moment, then sighed, "Ah yes, the unique ability to breathe water. If only others had it. Why imagine if there were other peoples with this very same gift…" He shook his head and deliberately took in a lot of water so he could breathe it out again. "You're being sarcastic," I accused. "It's something we of the ocean developed as part of our culture," He smiled with those needle teeth, "I give it as my gift to you." "Thanks," I said dryly. "See, you grasp it already, well done," He clapped a hand on my shoulder, "Caleb, do you not see what you are doing is actually braver than what you want to do? And more necessary?" "Kind of," I sighed, "It's just…ah, you can't understand." "For once, your gift, unique among your people, would be appreciated," He answered, "For once, what you excel at would be seen as worthy. You would both stand out, and belong. You would prove your worth as an individual and yet be even more a part of your tribe. In this way, you can show a love for your people that it is considered wrong to simply speak out of. Actions are allowed, words are not: Perhaps because somehow your culture fears that if they allowed the words, no one would do the actions? Or maybe each person would rather face danger than vulnerability? You don't do this for vanity, not vanity alone in anyway, you do it so you will not be alone…either alone with no one about you, or alone in a crowd forgotten. This is why you wish to show them all you can do. Because you love them, and you wish, need to be loved back." It was my turn to stare at him, "Well, now I feel awkward." "Am I wrong?" He inquired, "I am sure I am about some details, but I doubt in the entirety." "Okay maybe, what makes you think so?" I was a bit guarded. Normally I needed a six pack of beer in me before I let conversations get this personal. Mayo looked like he might openly chortle, then he caught himself, "Everyone has gifts, Caleb. Everyone has something that delights them that delights no other or at least they fear it is so. We fear being judged, but we also wish others would see it as we do. As something that is wonderful and special and that we can bring to them. I knew a child, a boy, who could make the oddest noises with his throat. Not quite singing, I'm not sure what your word for it would be. Others acted like it was just sound, but he enjoyed doing it, and wondered what was wrong that others couldn't see how impressive it was." "You…yodel?" I chuckled, "Because I'm pretty sure the kid was you." He tilted his head back and this warbling sound burst from his throat varying in highs and lows filling the pool. It was kind of cool, and a little bit disturbing. It wasn't quite a yodel, but it was different. "I am a soldier, not because I want to be, but because I have been made into one. We are uniform, we soldiers, officers like it so we are predictable to them so individuality is saved for our private time, yes? But I did fancy that if I had to ever be in battle… that is when I would make my sound!! And it would distract the foe yes, they would be too stunned to do anything, and I would use that time to gain victory! And then the next battle, all my unit would join in! And we would be awe inspiring," A grin, "Something different about me, giving to my people. It's silly, but yes, it is a very real urge. To be both special and accepted, Caleb. That is the secret of people, that while we are each unique in what we can give the world, all of us want to be accepted for it, and that is no shame." I stared at him for a second, "Okay, maybe you do have me figured out. And…now that that's out, I guess I realize that what I want, and what my people need aren't the same thing. I guess I'm missing out on the fight." "Phh, you're too eager to fight anyway, Caleb. I told you, if I had my way? I'd be back in my village trying to understand the women of my kind, a futile but far more pleasant pursuit than war." "And yet you're talking liberation and I suspect would still fight if you had to," I pointed out. "Yes," He sighed, "I suppose I would. I'm a soldier right now, but I will be a soldier for my people, not the Eldest." "Maybe you're a hero," I smiled. "No," Mayo said, "just a soldier. That is a noble thing, but it is a different thing." "What's the difference?" I raised a brow. "I pray to kind gods you never find out," He said to me after affixing me with a very serious look indeed. Mayo, I decided, was a bit weird.

No writing today, folks, sorry.

This is true. I've seen some movies where I was like "So not my bag..." or even "I hated that" Even though I recognized it was technically brilliant.

Yup. Bourne at least uses a parachute when he gets a choice Cap seems to be like 'nah..why do it the EASY way" *Jump out*

I think the most promising bit is possibly Patty Jenkins herself. Interview wise she has said the right things (at least to my ears) over and over again, and she seems to get the character. I try to cut Snyder a lot of slack, but the fact he says things like he wanted to have Superman "grow up" shows to me he does not get non gritty characters well. Patty isn't Snyder, and if Wonder Woman excells, she may find herself moved to the helm of things... and for many of you, there would, I imagine, be much rejoicing.

Ah, but in the second part we learn that Tommy Lee Jones will NOT be kissing Chris Evans.... Which was a crucial plot point!

George Washington Carver is often dismissed by those who don't choose to dig deeper as the 'peanut guy' but they don't know the full ramifications of what that means. A giant in aggro science, and damned impressive guy who beat obstacles in a time where those obstacles seemed impossible to overcome. I think he's given more props in Southern schools than other areas of the country but could be wrong on that, and it has been decades. And yes, Fish Guy/Eel is TICKED! It's like finding out your gaming group is at the end of the module, but they've decided to continue this weekend without you even though its not your fault you can't make it and they could play a sidequest... GRRRRR Of course, he'll do it because it's the right thing to do quaker oats...

For the most part, Marvel Studios has been making pizza... when it's good, it's very good. And even when it's not that great, it's edible I liked Thor 2 for the humor and banter between Thor and Loki quite a bit, and a certain Queen's part was...well, hats off to her. I really enjoyed Iron Man 3. One of the few 'hey let's insert a kid' times in movies that improved it... and House Party was fun to watch. Not crazy about their take on the Mandarin, but I didn't hate the twist either. Didn't like Iron Man 2, but in this case it was Justin Hammer that had me going 'blah' (Which makes me a hypocrite about the Mandarin I suppose) . But even it had some cool moments. It wasn't bad, and had good moments, it just didn't compare to IM1. I've adored each and every Captain America Movie Marvel/Disney has done so far. Even if the Civil War one was largely Avengers 2.5 it still gave Cap a lot of limelight. I know many people who were blah about Captain America: First Avenger and I'm like... "Are you crazy? it was awesome!" but different strokes. Naturally, there was a lot I liked about Iron Fist, which has some going "But it's terrible" and I'm like "It's edible with some really nice topping now and then"

EDIT: Moving my post to a more appropriate thread

Okay, felt more mojo with this part.... hopefully folks like it. Oh, and Mystics suck The world was a spiral, constantly seeking to peel away from me and flutter off into nothing, yet there was always more world, always more light to feed the darkness, so much the darkness could never drink it all in. Infinity versus oblivion, and it was oddly beautiful. I felt like wherever I stepped, I was in the heartbeat of what was, and there was a music to it. Stars streaked past more like comets, and filled and vanished in flashes then were gone. More stars replaced them. A wind blew past me no matter which way I turned carrying smells that reminded me of home. Here that wind was soft, but at the edges of what was it became a howling gale and then just stopped. "Where am I?" I asked aloud. "You are in the Balance," a woman spoke up, beautiful and young with a wicked sort of sensuality to the sway of her hips. I didn't really recognize her at first, but I did recognize the costume. "Doctor Salem?" I yanked my eyes with effort once more to behave themselves. "Do forgive a little vanity," Doctor Salem said with a smile, "Some say we always think of ourselves as twenty-four years old no matter how withered we get. Here in the Balance, I am allowed to indulge certain conceits." "It's amazing," I admitted, watching thin rivers shoot by and over falls miles away that would go nowhere, "Creation versus Destruction?" "I liked Infinity vs Oblivion thought you had myself," She told me, "But either works. The Balance is that, and more. Beyond creation is entropy, and beyond entropy… the barrier." "Creation is a lot smaller than I thought it would be," I mused then nearly fell over as it started to expand all around me, what had been a ten mile island looming and swelling, "Whoa…" "Your perceptions tried to make it manageable for you," She explained, "But if you want to get really philosophical, you will find more and more truth revealed until you really are contemplating the infinite… how many centuries do you have?" She inquired. "I'm good," I touched my brow, and tried to reel it in. I was rewarded with things returning to a more easily comprehended view "Geez, reminds me of an anecdote by George Washington Carver," I muttered. "The gentleman who worked with peanuts?" She tilted her head, "Why does he come to mind?" "Well, I did a book report on him as a kid," I said, "And 'worked with peanuts' is putting it mildly. What he did with agricultural probably saved more lives from famine and boosted economy in ways that are positively miraculous. But he was modest about it. Anyway, one story I heard was that folks asked him how he got into the study of them. He claimed he spoke to God, and said to him 'Lord, teach me the secrets of the Universe', and God looked down and said 'George, that's a bit much for one man to be taking all in', and so Dr. Carver thought about it, and said "Lord, teach me the secrets of the peanut'…and God smiled and said "Well, George. I believe that's just about your size" ", I grinned at her, "Always liked that story. I think I get it better now." The youthful looking mystic laughed, "Just so. And an anecdote with wisdom indeed, " she gestured to the once more manageable view, "The Balance is a representation of what is, but only one. That is not to say this place is merely a display. In magic, symbols can change that which they symbolize, if you have the power. The reason I brought you here to talk is it maybe useful to us in time to speed the next stage of things." "The tracking of the spears," I said recalling, "Because all of the are linked." "Very good," Doctor Salem smiled, "Yes, and it's from here that I plan to view the results, a view I intend to share with you." "What's the catch?" I raised a brow. "There is indeed a catch," She agreed, "You remember what happened when you broke just one of these?" "Yeah, I ended up in a fetal position thinking I was worthless, and when I woke up folks called it a win," I shuddered a bit. "Yes," She sighed, "I'm going to need you to break another one. Maybe more than one." I turned at her, "Respectfully, are you crazy? First, I thought you insisted we get intact ones because you couldn't use a broken one to track them. Second… suicidal deathwish for Fish Guy is not how I want to die." "The Eldest came out strong," Doctor Salem said calmly, "The first assault is meant to discourage, remember? If you survive it, you'll not likely ever want to try again. However, It's a rule of diminishing returns. Each time you try, there will be an assault. But each assault will be weaker." "Yeah, but…" I swallowed, "Are the effects cumulative? I mean… okay, big poison dose the first time, a bit less the second, less still the third, but isn't the poison still building up inside me?" "Yes," Doctor Salem said, "Which is why I'll be drawing it out the whole time." "Wait, won't that put you in danger?" I frowned. "Young man," She said, forcing tolerance into her tone, "You do realize I've been a superhero since before even your parents were born?" "Sorry," I said feeling sheepish. Okay, maybe, just maybe, Ariana is right and I have some chauvinistic tendencies, "Okay, we'll both be in danger." "I'll ward you from the worst of it and draw the soul venom out, you will snap seven, while I use the intact eighth spear to find where all the soldiers of the Eldest, at least their spears are. Other super teams, all over the world, are standing by, in addition to the New Samaritans to find the spears while they are temporarily weakened and perhaps even find the forge. They'll then heroically try to take out the source. It will be a coordinated move between heroes the likes that hasn't been seen since the dimensional offensive of 89." "Wow," My eyes lit up at the thought of it. Depending on the number and size of the other super teams, this could be dozens of superheroes plunging into the depths to stop a war before it could come to us, and to keep an ancient evil from threatening our world for centuries yet more to come, "That's… that's going to be big." "You're going to miss it," Doctor Salem told me. "SAY WHAT?" My voice echoed throughout Eternity! "Oh goddess, my head," She touched the side of her brow, "Was that necessary?" "Yes," I said, "A bit." I would feel apologetic, but… "You're benching me? On a sea mission? I'm Eel! I'm the Fish Guy! You don't gather a group to battle space aliens without a Space Guy! You don't ready for Temporal invaders without a Time Guy! You don't fight Nazis without a Flag Guy! I'm the Fish Guy, I'm tailor made for this mission." "First, there are other Fish Guys out there, and gals," She said, "Not many, but a few. Some of them are even Atlantean if rumor be true, or at least part Atlantean…." I winced, remembering everyone's surprise that I was mostly Scotts-Irish Anglo combo. "Seccond," She continued, "There are armor guys…and gals, who are prepping their gear for deep water stuff thanks to having the time to prep and prepare. Some already had suits just for that already…. Torpedo for example?" "he's still alive?" I blinked, "He's old." A bit petty. "Don't let my renewed features in here fool you, young man," She reminded, "I get senior discounts myself, remember?" "Don't bench me," I muttered. "You'll be benching yourself," Doctor Salem insisted, "The ritual you'll be helping me with will, if I do my job right, keep you alive, but at the very least you're going to be in another coma for a short time. By the time you do wake up, it will be hopefully over, or at the very least in progress hundreds and hundreds of miles away." "Can't someone else do that?" I insisted. "Do you really want other heroes to break those spears, untested, possibly risking them killing themselves, just so you can plunge into the depths and punch people? So everyone will know," She said coolly, "That the mighty "Fish Guy" saved the world? Is that what matters to you? Is that why you use your powers the way you do?" "No," I said through gritted teeth, "Nobody else can do this?" "We might find out," she replied, "if we took days or even a week to make it so. A week where more spears are made, more of the undersea nations are further enslaved, and marine lives are twisted into abominations that will kill without remorse. With that math in play, do you think we can spare the time?" "No," I said just as mopey as the first time, "We can't." "Then you promise to do this, and of your own free will," She looked at me. "Yes," I said, probably sounding like a brat, "I promise to break the seven spears and help you with the ritual." Suddenly the Balance seemed brighter for a moment, and I thought I heard a chime. "What was that?" I looked around. "Just the universe witnessing your pledge," She said serenely. "Be back here at one in the morning. Anything else?" She gestured, and a door appeared nearby. Ironically it looked like a plain oakwood door with a brass knob, nothing fancy, rather old fashioned. "Yes," I replied stomping towards the door, "I hate mystics." "Noted," She said blandly. And I stepped out back into the real world. A world where I would not be part of a heroic armada. I would act like a stupid compass, and then my ass was benched.

There's a lot I've enjoyed about this season but lord its warts just got huge as it got closer to the end Loved Vibe suiting up more. I'm actually good with Caitlyn's Killer Frost arc Hey, Barry and Iris are finally together... oh thank goodness. Wally and Jesse were sweet that said... Please , no more speedster foes. Please, tone down the Barry angst a notch. I really miss when he was having more fun. Say it with me now: Time Travel is nice in small doses... but when you're OD ing every episode, it's time to check into rehab Try to bring back the Rogues as those lovable blue collar villains who can keep Barry Busy.

Okay, more of a filler moment, but I needed to get something down and keep it moving I stared at the aquarium, it was half again bigger than what you'd find at a sea food restaurant. The sort they hold the lobsters in. It was filled with sea water, and had the usual tacky stuff. There was the fake coral, the little treasure chest, and a half sunken ship at the bottom with a couple of plants in the gravelly soil. There were also seven shrunken warriors, the guys who Tornado and I had fought They looked confused, dazed, and angry! Powerlessly, one was hammering against the reinforced glass to no avail. "Oh, that's just wrong," I frowned. "Try living it," Pinprick said without sympathy, "We couldn't put them in the pool with Mayo. They'd kill him for a traitor. And mind you, Eagle Eye would love having them, but non humans… or at least not like us types, in the hands of the US government?" "The government isn't always bad," I said, knowing that a few of my more libertarian relations would have a spasming fit if they heard I had said that. "Superheroes haven't trusted the government since McCarthy's Red Cape inquisition," He said, "You know that." I nodded. Every decade had clashes between the superhero community and the government attempts to regulate them. Quite often, the government had some perfectly logical expectations. We are, after all, very dangerous people. But the consensus among many superheroes was that if you gave the feds or state governments an inch, they'd take a mile. But even then, superhero groups were hardly uniform. There were even official government teams. And many of them did a lot of good. Politics among the powered varied; just like among every other demographic. "Okay, I admit you have a point, but I'm not sure it's any more right for us to hold them," I said rising from them for now and beginning to walk towards the med bay. Besides me, Pinprick fluttered through the air shooting various lines of gossamer thread that carried him like a spider catching wind to move elsewhere. He actually didn't walk that slowly for such a little man, but obviously, his strides were hindered, so he usually just hitched a ride or used his seemingly endless supply of arrows for transit. "Fish Guy, someone has to hold bad guys now and then or they start running with scissors and putting eyes out," Pinprick was far less troubled by the ethical ramifications, "You're a good kid, but let's at least let 24 hours pass before you call in the ACLU , okay?" "Sure," I said, "too bad the eighth one got away though," I sighed. "There were eight of them?" Pinprick frowned. "yeah," I glanced at him as he swung by again at eye level, "Eight spears, eight spear wielders." "Crap. One of them must have woken up, well, so much for keeping them from warning their superiors," Piinprick cursed, " I should have gotten there faster to fish them out." "Yeah, you suck all right," I said deadpan. It just slipped out of my mouth. I felt like taking the wind out of him. Pinprick was so startled he nearly hit a wall and then stared at me as he found a ledge. I suddenly felt embarrassed, "sorry, it's just usually your'e the one telling me not to over think things and stop with the whining and then…" "I'm trying to decide if I'm going to shoot you or going to bask in a weird kind of pride now," He finally stated. "I'm not sure your approval in manners is something I should seek," I finally muttered. He grinned, "Heh. Come on," He said leading the way. Indeed, he entered the med bay, "What's the prognosis?" "They poisoned me," Tornado cursed from the bed where Mabel's Waldo's were, well, it looked like they were fumigating his wound, "Can you believe it? One of the spears, on top of being cursed, had some kind of poison." "One that didn't dissipate in water?" I whistled, "That's…nasty." I had tried to search for a bigger word. "Yeah, I'm laid up," Tornado said "While it's cleared. My healing is actually working against me on this." "Creepy, maybe.." then before I could go on, there was a hand on my shoulder. It was Doctor Salem, "The time of your Destiny is at hand, follow." "My destiny? " I followed her out of the bay , suddenly feeling wigged out, "What destiny? I mean, I have a destiny? You know my destiny?" "Everyone has a destiny, young man, but mostly it was an attention getter to have you follow so I could talk to you privately," She said wrly. "Hey," I frowned. "If I had told you I wanted to talk privately, you might have waved it off out of concern for your friend, Tornado is an experienced hero, he's in good hands. He has many to fuss, your absence won't make a difference," She said a bit too sure of it for my liking, "Besides, I enjoy being cryptic." Yup, did not like mystics somedays. "So.. you wanted to talk to me?" I coaxed. "Yes," Doctor Salem said, "But not here," She made a gesture and a swirling circle burst into being before us… a portal I guessed, and then had confirmed when she said "After you." I swallowed and stepped through.

The new Power Rangers movie was...actually pretty good. Much better than I expected. Between it and Sky High a GM would have good material for Teen Champs. This version of Power Rangers has some more serious elements, but still touches of humor mixed in nicely. Billy as autistic "I'm on the Spectrum" caught me by surprise but it worked for me

Sorry folks, today I am not going to get any writing done. Crazy day, movie with friends..etc. I will put something up tomorrow. I'm not sure a rage stick is better than a trust or talk stick Thank you, that compliment was... worrisome oh..okay, ok. I won't miss any more days if I can help it. Our hero. Our villain! Our classic quote Sorry guys. I am trying to work out how best to wrap this up.

Quark ends up acquiring Bablyon 5 and then selling it on Ferengi Ebay... Deep Space 9 wins! Dr. Who vs John Constantine

"For the antidote, log into this URL within 3 hours and wait further instructions"

It's possible they're waiting for Guardians of the Galaxy to hit theaters in America first, then launch the marketing blitz? I don't think that's wise as GoGv2 will just continue a 'now in theaters' bliitz anyway but mmfph

Grrrr

For those of you still with us...well, THANK YOU... *Cough* I mean, here we see evil magics are a pain in the rump even when you mostly resist them "You're bleeding," I realized a bit too late after putting the last spear into the tarp wrap we'd had ready on the shore, feeling like an idiot for not noticing it before. It looked like at least one shot with a spear had tagged Tornado. "A gash," he said, shrugging it off, but I didn't like the look of it. It wasn't deep, true, but it was deep enough to cut and still awfully red and… it didn't look healthy. "Yeah, well, you should get Doctor Salem to look into it," I told him with concern, "And you know Ariana is going to worry." "She doesn't need to see this," He said, meaning the latter no doubt, "And she's not going to if you…" "Hey," Ariana said approaching. She gave both of us stern looks. I suppose it was too much to hope that she'd forgive us for the overhead communication, "Everything okay?" "See," Tornado whispered at me, "You jinxed it." Then he smiled at her, trying to keep his wounded thigh facing me instead of her, "I'm fine." "You're lying," She scowled. "Hey, it's not nice to accuse someone of lying," He protested. "Even when they are lying?" She countered. "Especially when they are lying," Tornado asserted, "Besides, you're mad at us, remember. You're supposed to be snubbing us, not fussing." "I can do both," Ariana said trying to get a look at him. He kept turning in little bursts to the side keeping the wound constantly juuuust out of sight. "Stop that," She insisted. "Stop what?" Tornado smirked. I saw a chance to get a bit further out of the doghouse and took it, "It's a long gash on his upper left leg… it's shallow, but it doesn't look clean. I think Doctor Salem should take a look at it." "Dude," Tornado shot me a glare, "Seriously?" Ariana gave me an assessing look, but rewarded me, well, not with a smile, but less sternness then took advantage of Tornado stopping to look over her barely older Uncle's injury. Now it was safe for me to shoot Tornado a smirk. "He's right," Ariana said, "That looks bad. You're not healing as fast as usual." "He got stabbed plenty and he's fine," Tornado countered, "or will be after a few more minutes in the water.' "You're not him," Ariana said, "And we don't know how these 'blessed' objects work. Fly back to the base. I can give Eel a ride…we can deliver the spears." "Uh huh, no way," Tornado said, "I do not want you near those things. They make you mean, flat out hateful. I only held one for a brief time and I got nasty." She rolled her eyes, "I figured that's why he was wrapping them up." "Maybe I should just hoof it," I told them, "I mean, these things make you hateful and nasty and even distance…" Arina walked over, and ran her fingers over the tarp, and frowned, "I see what you mean. I don't have the gift of the third eye or anything, but getting this close makes me want to chew you out. I mean, I wanted to before." "right, so hoofing…" I began to say "Don't be silly," She said, "We put them in the back trunk. Now go change in the car, I carried some sweats that would fit either one of you," She looked at Tornado, "Go to the base fast, okay? Now would be good." Tornado sighed and was off. There was indeed a pair of gray sweats that fit me, and soon enough I was dressed. I shoved the tarp back into the trunk, grumbling and then cleared my head. "It's that quick, is it?" She said. "Yes," I admitted as I slid into the vehicle's passenger side "And apparently, I'm now more resistant than before, not that it feels like it." "Let's hope we don't hit a traffic jam," She said, "I might strangle you." "Don't joke," I said with a frown, "I don't want to lose my cool and I worry I could hurt you." She sighed, "Okay, do you know how patroni…" She caught herself, "No, not doing that. You have superpowers that are way off my scale and you are not saying I'm weak, you're worried you are… in the noggin." "Kind of," I smirked, "Not how I would word it. So how do we keep anger from leading to hate, and hate leading to movie quotes?" "We…" Ariana thought about it, "Agree we only speak in compliments and we're always polite." "You're kidding, "I said. "You mean to say 'pardon me, but you're kidding', " She corrected, "And I'm not. You agree to try it?" "Sure," I said, "You start the compliments first though," then I added, "Please." "Fine, you're very brave, and you clearly care," She said. "And?" I shouldn't have been flip, but already those spears were pinging at me, even from here. "And it's your turn," She replied a touch of irritation in her tone. I was just trying to lighten the mood, geez, "Okay, you're beautiful…" I said to her braying, well, it felt like braying with the dark magics of the spears nipping at my ego. "Oh, is that all?" She snorted. "I'm sorry," I glared, "Don't you mean 'thank you'?" She couldn't even follow her own rules! She grit her teeth, "Thank you…so much." "You're welcome," I snapped, "And yes, the spears are getting to me. I really want to tell you off right to your beautiful face." "Yeah, well, it's a good thing you're so nice and kind of hot, or I'd pop you one," She was pissed, "I was mad at you before this." "Yeah, I know," I rolled my eyes, then corrected, because she clearly hadn't been listening when I said these things would do that to us, "I mean you're very forthright, and I'm sorry I was worried about your life being endangered by knowing me and then I had the nerve to say I'd take care of you even though you're an amazing woman who any guy would want to protect." "Thank you for recognizing your well-intentioned chauvinism," She mouthed off to me, "You don't smell like bad tuna at all!" "That's a compliment?" I blinked, then bit down, "Beg Pardon, but was that a compliment? You're normally so good at making your wishes known." "Well, I'm trying," She said, "Evil spears in the back, you heroic lifesaving meathead," She took the next corner hard. "Thank you for trying, you smooth tongued harpy you!" I shot back. "You're welcome!" She said, "I can't believe how much I want to kick your firm and masculine ass!" "Please stop, you're making me blush! And if I may say, mad as I am, I STILL want to know you better, you interesting and good hearted shrew," I had to process everything from my raging thoughts into something kind of nicer, but the filter was really flubbing it. "Well, you'll probably get your chance, because maybe I do have a thing for heroes, and maybe I still like you even if you and my Uncle were talking about me like I was a trading commodity on a stock room floor," She snorted and hit stop. I realized we'd driven around to a well concealed service road into the mall/base. "Well, gorgeous," I said, "Thank you, because right now I kind of hate myself almost as much as you do. I hate screwing up with someone I like because I want them to like me back. I'm immature like that," I told her, "Now get away, because I have to cart eight rage fueled cursed objects to Dr. Salem!" "No, no, thank you! And I have to go check on my idiot uncle and see if that weird wound has been tended properly while I contemplate how unhealthy this whole conversation has been! It's been a unique experience you…" And she switched to Spanish. "Spanish is cheating" I said getting out of the car to get the stuff from the back. She flipped me off, said more things in Spanish, and went on into the mall. "Damn, this is messed up," I snarled to the air as I grabbed the tarp and followed.

Dr. Destroyer does not like magic, it is one of the true forces he cannot control And thus when he clashes against the ancient arch lich... he is defeated! But escapes... The Win, Takofanes, lord eternal (Of course, Dr. D will secretly manipulate a hand picked team of superheroes to defeat Takofones FOR him, then come in at the last to do the finishing blow... but that's another story) Garfield vs Grumpy Cat

Logan squees like a little girl and wins as he snatches up the mini-series/movie/show (My own thought is it depends on terrain. Anything like a tropical Island, GA wins. More western Badlands or in a circus? Hawkeye... other places? Flip a coin) The Thing of the FF vs Robotman of the Doom Patrol

mmm got a bit more in, added it to the above.