Black Sheep of The Family
8/12/1947, Shelton Residence, Harrisonburg
The Utopian had looked towards the house, surprised that she was nervous before the door, she had fought in the World War, she faced off against monsters on an island and it was making her wish that she was back there right now as the man smiled towards her, “Don’t worry, Zarda, they’ll love you.” the man said now and hearing that, the Power Princess had not been relieved at all.
Howard went ahead and knocked on the door, making her tense a bit as the door opened up now and that allowed her to witness the couple that were there and that made the couple look to see that there was something which then went and grabbed at the woman and dragged them in, making the woman worried right now when she had seen that there was a older couple.
They looked towards her with some surprise and love now which was making the Utopian give a nervous smile towards the couple, “Hello there, I’m–” “Zarda!” the woman said, “Our Howie had been talking about you so much that I feel like we’ve already met!” the woman had told her and that made the man smile, “I’m Robert, this is Francine.” he said now, making the woman smile.
“Well, you already know my name.” she said towards them, “I’m Zarda of Utopia Island.” the woman told them, making the pair smile towards the woman, “Utopia Island, Howie told us about it, but I’d like to hear it from your perspective.” the woman had said now, making the woman smile as she went and sat down, “I am more than happy to tell you everything I know.” the woman said as she went to sit down.
“To begin with, my home, Utopia Island, it was… it was beautiful.” she said towards them, “The greenery and machinery had melded with each other, there was no hatred due to skin, philosophy or love, things there felt like a dream that no one ever wished to wake up from, at least until Howard, Maximus and Triton came.” she told them which made the couple curious.
“They showed me that our dream was an oasis, that everywhere outside was filled with pain, that the people there needed whatever help that we could offer, we had advanced so much, but we had never deigned to share any of it, so I had decided to join them, even if it meant that I might never see my home or my family again.” she told them, making the couple look towards her.
“Is your family going to be coming to the wedding?” Francine asked, making Zarda shake her head now, “No, my parents and our people have taken to the stars now, and I might never see them again.” The woman told them now which made the couple give a look, “So then, what about your siblings? You said your parents.” Robert said, making Francine chuckle towards that.
“Every time.” she said as Zarda sighed, “I had a twin brother, but Zoilo had died at birth.” she explained now and hearing that, the couple had looked towards that, sad for her while Zarda smiled, “And that’s why I always keep him in my heart.” she told them, tapping her heart now which made the couple smile towards that as they went and sat down noth, “How about we talk about the wedding in question?”
The couple had liked the excuse as Francine had went to reveal a folder that she had compiled, “Alright then, here is everything that we have… I wanted to ask about the colors you wanted first.” she told the two which made Howie smile, “We both thought that Lilac and Navy Blue would be perfect.” he said now which made the couple nod towards that as they had moved onwards.
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8/26/1947, Dystopia Island, Subtteranea
Maximus had been walking around, he had been told about this place by M, the fact that Utopia Island had been leaving their undesirables here, none of the general populace knew, but when they left, they didn’t both to take them as well, The Inhuman looked around towards everything at the moment when he saw that there was a man in a large skull that he wore as a mask.
“Another undesirable, yes?” he asked, his body scarred and the eyes behind the holes of the mask had white pupils that seemed to radiate with power right now, “Now then, I assume that you’re not Deviants… but whatever was done to you to earn those eyes–” “Nothing, I was born with them and The King and Queen decided I was not to taint their island like my brothers and sisters down here with me.
That was when he saw that there were others there, many of them more monstrous in appearance, but all of them had anger on their faces, “I am not a Utopian, I am an Inhuman and I want to bring you all out of here to wreak havoc.” he said now and that made the group confused now as their leader spoke up, “A Doctor Stasis had already come and wished to gather us for his plans.” the man said.
“So why should we go with you over him?” the leader had asked, electricity trailing down his hands from his eyes now which made the group look towards the group and hearing that, Maximus had chuckled, “Honestly? I don’t want you to serve under me, I want you and your little group to wreak havoc in whatever shape or form, I am happy to fund you.” he said.
That made the man with the mask start to laugh towards that as he went and leapt off of his throne now to go and walk towards him now, “Very well then, You can call me Xenios, and this is my Church.” he explained towards the Inhuman who chuckled, “Then please… come out and spread your word to the fools who would see you as nothing more than heathens.” he said towards them.
That made the Dystopians start to get excited, cheering, “My lover in Attilan will act as our contact, she can be trusted.” Xenios had told him, hearing that, the Inhuman had smiled, “Good to hear, after all, the less obvious we make it, the better for us all.” he said with a cheeky grin, both of them looking towards each other before they had split up, the telepath already thinking how he’d win like Xenios was as well.
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8/26/1947, Boltagon Apartments, The Royal Palace
Blackagar had been walking around now before the King had seen that there was a woman walking in, her skin had swirled and mixed like a rainbow a slow whirlpool paired with the crest and small tusks that poked from her lips, “My King, apologies for the disturbance.” the woman had said towards him, “I am Pulata, I had been summoned by Prince Maximus for assistance.” she told him.
That made the man want to say more before he saw that Auran had walked in holding a baby in her arms now which made the man stop himself from doing anything dangerous when Maximus had come from his quarters, “Ah! You must be the lovely Pulata I’ve heard of!” he said with a grin now, that made the woman smile towards the Prince right now.
“I had been called upon by my old friends and so I decided that there was a need to create a link without providing them our technology, and a telepath almost as powerful as Sterilon seemed to be the best choice at this time.” he explained and hearing that, the King looked towards her now with a smile now before she went and began to walk towards his quarters, Blackagar then knocked on a table.
That made them look towards the man now and hearing that, Maximus raised an eyebrow, “<Careful, Maximus.>” he signed towards him now and hearing that, the man smiled back towards him now, “I promise, I’ll make sure that NOTHING gets out that you don’t want out.” he said now and hearing that, the King had nodded, at least conceding that to his brother while the man started to think on how he will play this.
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8/26/1947, Shelton Residence, Washington DC
Zarda had been looking around before The Utopian had seen that there was a knock now, making her look and go to open the door, revealing a woman who had smiled towards her, “Hello there, my name is Caroline Alighieri, and I am here for The Oblivion Institute.” The woman had told Zarda now, that made her draw the blade in the umbrella stand now, ready to kill when she raised her hands.
“Don’t worry, I’m not here for Doctor Stasis, I am here for another division of The Institute.” she had said, taking a photograph now which made the woman confused and then glaring towards the woman, “He wanted me to let you know that Dystopia will rise to bring vengeance upon the last of Utopia.” she said now and hearing that, the woman was surprised, “Dystopia?” she had asked.
Dystopia was a bedtime story that was told the children then, that if they misbehaved, they would be sent to Dystopia, the opposite of them, a war zone which would punish the naughty and it made the woman want to ask more before the woman had went to go and punch her in the face, as hard as a Utopian it seemed as the newly dubbed Caroline had stood up and locked the door behind her now.
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8/26/1947, Office Space, Washington DC
The Utopian had woken up now as the woman that she had been coldcocked by looked towards her now with what appeared to be boredom, “I can’t believe that you’re the last one to stay on this planet, I wanted to go and hunt down you bastards.” Caroline said, sounding more British now as she went and shed her coat, revealing glowing tattoos which detailed some sort of hellish runic language.
“My father told me that you were all hypocritical angels that would rather have us all die back in Dystopia.” she told her and that made Zarda go and struggle, but whatever was restraining her was stronger than she was used to as The Utopian glared towards her, “I can see why you chose Alighieri for a surname.” Zarda had told her which made Caroline shrug, “My stepfather actually was.”
That was another piece, but there was still a few other things she needed to know, “Fine then, who is your leader?” she had asked and hearing that, the woman who she now realized was a teen smiled, “Xenios is our leader, and he is going to ENJOY hurting you.” the girl had explained now and hearing that, the Utopian had looked towards her now, wanting to hit her or something of the like.
The Utopian had hoped that there was… SOMETHING, that she would be able to do to get out as the Fifteen Year Old went to take something that looked one of the machines that Doctor Stasis had used, “I caught Zarda of Utopia Island, bring Xenios here.” she had ordered, glaring towards the woman as Zarda started to think that there was more to this than she thought, “So Dystopia is real then?” she asked.
That made the teen look towards her, “You KNOW what Dystopia is! It was where the Royal Family threw all of us away! Where we were left to fight and kill each other over the scraps!” she said, her tattoos seeming to glow brighter as she continued, making Zarda confused, “What are you talking about? I had no idea that it even existed!” she snapped back towards Caroline.
“I thought is was a fairytale like The Greek Pantheon and–” “Are you telling m e you never wondered what happened to your brother Zoilo?” Caroline had snarled, making Zarda pause, “My brother had died when we were children.” she had told her and hearing that, Caroline had cackled, “Really?” she asked, “You didn’t think it strange there was no funeral, no gravestone?” she asked.
The tattoos over her body had seemed almost blinding now and that made the Utopian glare now, squinting to avoid the light as she went to touch her shoulder, pain already coming now as she spoke, “Then you should look in the forbidden library.” the teenager had told her now as she went ahead and walked away, the door starting to open up now and showing that there was a man walking in now.
He had been wearing a strange bone mask, his hands starting to crackle with energy now as the possible Dystopian had went to sit in front of her, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Zarda.” he told her, the man had smile lines around his eyes and that had felt off to her, that there was something for a man who lived in a nightmare to be able to laugh at anything.
“I have to admit, I had thought that we would be meeting when I finally killed you or when someone had decided to tell you about Dystopia.” he said and hearing that, Zard glared, “If you’re gonna tell me that you’re Zoilo, then I hate to tell you that I am not that gullible.” she explained to him which made the man chuckle, “I’m Xenios, The King of Dystopia, and the mother of Sweet Caroline here.” he said.
That made Caroline glare towards that face now and that made him chuckle, “She’s your child?” she asked, a bit surprised, “I have Six living children, she’s just the one that I like to send one jobs like these.” he told her which made Zarda a bit more confused by it all before she noticed that there was change now that made the Utopian want to attack right now.
She saw how there was a electrical current that had started to run through his skin, his pores seeming to spike in energy, making him almost seem like he was a porcupine made of electricity and that was making the woman want to attack the man now before he could do anything, but that had easily been stopped by the fact that he had shot a burst of energy at her.
She yelped in pain towards that now, feeling it and hating it, she had started to thrash as he went and gripped her head now, “Calm down, this is just a little bit of venting before we get to the actual work.’ he explained towards her, making the woman wonder what he was doing while Caroline had went ahead and started to get some tools at the ready now to do something that must have been BAD.
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8/26/1947, Shelton Residence, Washington DC
Howard had walked in and realized that there was a problem as he saw that there was a struggle that had been going on now and it made the man want to call the police, so he had instead went and called one of the emergency numbers that he had been told to call, dialing in for Robert Frank, not waiting for a bit as he went and answered, “Hello?” He asked.
“Hi, this is Howard,it looks like there was a fight here and–” he started to say when two people had appeared at the doorway now, one of them was Robert, Bob or Robbie, Frank, and an African American man there who had looked towards Whizzer, “I’m here, this is Walter, what’s wrong?” He had asked, zooming through the building now and leaving him alone with Walter.
“Hi there, I don’t think we’ve met–” “Not a surprise, I was in The Pacific, plus I usually work in New York.” he said towards the man now as he went ahead and started to walk in, “Do you and Zarda have any enemies that know where you live?” he asked and hearing that, the Navy Man shook his head now, “I have no idea, maybe Doctor Stasis? I’m not sure.” the human admitted now.
Hearing that, he started to think on that before he saw that Robert had ran back in now and looked towards the two of them, “I found a note in her closet.” he said, giving it to him, “Dystopia shall inherit the kingdom of Utopia?” he asked of them, making Robbie and Walter look towards him before Robbie had an idea, “I’ll be back in a second.” he said, making them confused.
At least for a moment when they saw that there was Robbie back and he had Sk’ym’x and Drutch, the little cat hissing towards them now as the Skrull had looked towards them now, “What’s going on? And why The flark did you take me while I was nursing?” he asked, making Howard go ahead and show him the letter, making the alien go and read it over now.
Eventually he had finished and was glaring, “Hold Drutch, and if he tries to nurse, make sure he doesn’t latch or else he’ll never let go until he gets SOMETHING.” he said now, starting to shift his face similar to an ursine face now and that made Drutch started to meow in joy at the sight of that as Sk’ym’x had started to sniff now, “Alright then, let’s move.” he told them, making the others go to follow after him now.
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8/26/1947, Office Space, Washington DC
The Dystopians had seemed to finish up the electrocutions now before the Utopian had glared towards them now which made Zarda glare towards them, “I have to admit, this was entertaining, but Stasis has gotten everything he wanted, so now it’s time to get what WE want.” he said now and hearing that, the woman had glared, there was a few popped blood vessels and burns, she was fine.
“The Dystopians are starting to experience cellular decay, and luckily, we have all the DNA we need for our restoration.” he said towards the woman now, motioning for Caroline to give him a wicked looking blade which made her want to panic now as he went and started to cut into her arm, that action made the woman just grunt in anger, glaring into his eyes as he chuckled towards her.
“You’re tough, I’ll give you that at least.” he told her as they went and started to collect the blood in a vial now, making sure that it had been filled to the brim with a smile towards her, “Thank you, for your assistance.” he told her just as there was a large boom now, making Caroline and Xenios look towards them now and seeing that there was Robbie and another man there.
They had started to rush in, attacking the duo with some precise strikes now before they had seen that the two of them were starting to calm down now, making the Speedsters surprised as the Dystopians had went and began to grab at him, making sure that they had their feet off the ground as the group had started to act now with Howard and Skymax acting now.
The human had went ahead and started to throw a flashbang which made The two cover their eyes and their ears in pain right about now before The Skrull had started to come in, a blind predatory creature in appearance as he went ahead and picked her up and placed her in some sort of ribcage like container before going to run, as he did so, there was a movement as they escaped.
SKymax had started to escape while the two speedsters who had been held were on the ground and started to run, grabbing their companions as Walter Jones and Robbie Franks had gotten the three of them out of there and starting to get away as quickly as possible from it all right about now whileThe Dystopians hadn;t cared and started to plan on how they were gonna get this to their sponsor.
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8/26/1947, Shelton Residence, Washington DC
They had arrived there now and Howard was hurling in pain now, hating the feeling as the Utopian took a breath, “If we’re lucky, that was a single time occurrence, but we should set up some security.” the woman said, cracking her neck in annoyance towards that right about now before Howard had went to check on her appearance right now before she smiled, “I’m FINE.” Zarda told him.
“I’m a tough girl.” she said towards him now before Skymax picked up Drutch now, “What did they want anyways?” He asked and hearing that Zarda had shaken her head, “They said something about Stasis, and how they needed my blood to save their people.” she had explained towards them now, that made them think on how… different their ideologies were and it made them wonder what was going on.
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8/29/1947, The Foundry, Mount Rainier
Bradley Thompson had looked at his Foundry, seeing everything that was there now as Doctor Stasis had walked up beside him, “I have to admit, this operation is quite interesting, especially with what your government is planning.” he said now, making Thompson sigh, “Those… things, had gotten us the samples, Project Rainbow and Project Atalante are greenlit.”
Stasis had chuckled at the names now, the pair of them looking now, “Just remember, I’ll make your little monsters as long as you make sure that I don’t have to worry about those little Squaddies going and messing up my personal work.” he explained and that made the Soldier scoff, he didn’t care what was going on, he only cared that this would save American Lives.