And a Fine Hello to You, Too. (Alterna-Son)

[aqua_gambit]

Remi deNamor escaped out of Pier 4 as soon as he could feasibly do so without risking the ire of a pregnant redhead. Some days, he got overwhelmed by how different his life was going from what he planned when he left his home reality. It had been ostensibly to learn how worlds that were better off than his governed so he could bring that experience home. While he had enjoyed the adventures of being an Exile, he had never expected to be discarded into some reality with no mission and no way home.

The bronzed Atlantean went to the end of the pier and sat down. He watched waves lap against the pillars. The steady wet slap lulled him into introspection. His blue eyes stared out at nothing.

So anything that showed up near him would be a complete surprise.

Comments

[stormy_skrull]

"Your playboy ways coming back to haunt you, Remi?" Mary asked.

She became slightly more serious. "What's the haps, future-man?"

[sub_mariner]

Derric stared at Alexa for a moment - and the not-him-baby - before turning back to the rest of the group.

"Not really? My dad's a different dad than this dad, even though they're genetically all kinds of similar." Pause. "Multiverses are a pain. Anyway, yeah, there's this group of baddies called the Blood Pack, and for whatever reason, they're after Alterna-Dad here. They attacked my world first, but we're expecting them to find their way here sooner or later. I kind of came here to, you know, warn you people. Because you're kind of Alterna-Dad's only hope. No pressure."

[clobberin_kid]

Oh lord, he did not want to be on deck when the redhead exploded. Jacob casually shifted himself further away from Alexa as he listened to future-kid's explanation. Oh goody. Alternate universe assassins.

"You have info on who's in that group and what they're capable of?"

[realstarpower]

Ryan created a shimmering field of energy around Derric. "Just in case Alexa's hormones get all explodey," Ryan explained. "Pretty sure we want him to go home all nice and safe and, you know, alive." He turned to Remi, then, and said, "They're after you so...you should know something about them, right?"

[soulstealingstark]

Alexa smacked Ryan on the arm, hard. "My hormones aren't going to get all explodey. I don't have that kind of superpower. Geez, all of you and this mistaken idea that all redheads have powers that let us maul things or explode and destroy the world. That's a myth. It's a damn stereotype!"

She punched Ryan again for good measure.

"So they're after Remi? Why is everyone after Remi?" She paused and then looked at Derric. "Rhetorical question, really. I'm not sure I even want to know the details of your existence, Derric, because having a sort of stepson that is taller than I am is more than I want to process right now, but I'm glad you're here if for nothing else than to warn us. So, do we have a plan? Damn I need to sit down..."

[aqua_gambit]

Remi quirked an eyebrow but let Ryan get his redhead opinion adjustment from Alexa. The only time his girlfriend exploded around Remi were times best not reported in tabloids anymore. The Atlantean cleared his throat and used his invisible force fields to create a chair for Alexa. He carefully and gently bumped the back of her legs with the invisible construct to let her know it was there.

"Blood Force comes from my reality, they are Panther's best enforcers. There's five of them: a psychic vampire who can move around in daylight," he was so not going to mention she was a redhead at this moment, "two in suits of power armor, a bruiser with claws and a healing factor, and a man with control over sand. All of them will kill without a second thought.

"I don't know how they've managed to get out of my reality when your scientists can't find a way into it. But whatever means they have is not stable according to Derric."

[sub_mariner]

"At least, that's what the science-types back home said," Derric added. "Back home, my mom's the Sorceress Supreme and Dad's, well, king of Atlantis. I'm not exactly from science-y stock myself."

[stormy_skrull]

"Let's see... five of them and... six of us if Griff gets here?" Mary said.

"I bet we can take 'em."

[realstarpower]

"Hey! Hey hey, do not make me get into a slapfight with you, Polly Preggers!" Ryan glared at Alexa, suddenly wishing that he'd protected himself instead. "And that violent streak is what I meant by explodey," he added softly before returning to the conversation at hand. "We've beaten back other things. Maybe not worse things, but c'mon. What are the chances that we're gonna get our asses handed to us? We're Imaginauts! Naut for naut every losing!"

[clobberin_kid]

Jacob reached over and gripped a handful of the back of Ryan's shirt and gave it a slight, warning tug. Please do not make him dangle you like a misbehaving puppy, Ryan. "I don't think we should go getting cocky just yet. Derric wouldn't have come to warn us if these guys were pushovers."

[soulstealingstark]

Alexa sat down in the invisible chair and just arched a brow at Ryan, listening to the breakdown of the situation.

"Power armor should be easy enough to at least short circuit. I mean, that is my specialty."

[aqua_gambit]

"Sandstorm, depending on where they appear, should be the easiest to handle. At least one of the power armors is stolen Stark Tech, since Iron Maiden looks like a green and gold female Iron Man. I'm not sure where Rough Justice got his suit. Bloodwitch is the most powerful of them as she can turn allies against each other. Blackdog doesn't stay down for long." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. They would do a good job of keeping his hammering heart inside his ribcage.

"And none of them care about collateral damage as they've usually worked outside Panther's territory. So if they appear in a populated area, they'd just as soon rip through innocent civilians to get our attention. So, yes, Jacob's right. Let's not get cocky."

[sub_mariner]

"Our Iron Maiden - the real one - wears hot pink and bronze," Derric said off-handedly.

"Alterna-Dad's right, though. They don't care who they harm - when they get started, they don't really stop. This isn't going to be easy, you guys. Trust me, the jokes and the witty banter might help lighten the mood, but this is really, really serious business."

[stormy_skrull]

"Relax. I'll do the job with a minimum of witty banter when the time comes."

[realstarpower]

"I get that it's serious business, but dude. We have to keep it light, because if we let ourselves get stressed over it? We'll all just probably fail. It's the theatre-break-a-leg mentality." He twiddled his thumbs for a moment. "Do we have an ATM on when these guys are arriving?" Pause. "ETA. I meant ETA."

[clobberin_kid]

Oh yeah. That bi-annual DNA test is inching closer to a monthly event. Jacob fought the urge to facepalm and let go of Ryan's shirt. "Any idea what we can do to neutralize the witch's power so she can't scramble our brains?"

He didn't mind a straight up fight, but he was a little concerned about having to face off against one of his teammates. Or all of them, if he happened to be the one who got charmed.

[stormy_skrull]

"I can probably deal with Bloodwitch," Mary offered. "Shape-shifter brains are usually too mercurial for telepaths to handle real well."