<<< I deny this future, Open to SHIELD

[Druid]

Time:After the Complacency Wave is activated
Date:May 23rd

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If Sebastian was a more skeptical man he would use the phrase; there must be something in the water, more often. Sebastian however didn't often draw on phrases like these, but for the past few days something had felt wrong. Something had been drawing on his powers and until this evening he had no idea what could possibly be causing it. Everyone had been gathered for the presidential announcement that the Skrull were humanities protectors and new leaders but this new found trust for a race that had just appeared out of nowhere with a full armada of UFO's didn't sit right with Sebastian. Instead of staying with his colleagues, Sebastian returned to his quarters.

The biggest thought that crossed his mind was why would any government let alone the American government just hand its countries sovereignty over to the green men. The answer that Druid came up with was that none would, not of their own accord anyway. Perhaps Sebastian wasn't the only agent ready and willing to drink the Skrullaid, he wasn't going to find these agents sat on his rear end tucked away within his quarters. If he was going to find out anything about why their Government just handed the planet over to a hostile force he was going to have to find other agents that could help him out without drawing attention of those that may send him to the brig.

Sebastian wasn't a natural born spy and the cloak and dagger aspects of subterfuge weren't talents that people would first think of when asked to describe Sebastian, deep down he hoped that most of the mutant agents aboard the helicarrier were unaffected by whatever it was that was going on.

"Wishful thinking" The slightly rotund mutant said to himself, he'd seen how most of his colleagues had reacted to the announcement, they drank the Skrullaid without even asking what it was. Perhaps they'd got their hands on a telepath but Sebastian had never heard of a telepath that could reach out as far as they'd need to be.

The agent now reached one of the operation rooms, he had to be careful with how he approached the other agents, if he just came out and said that he didn't think the Skrull were all that they were being made out to be, he'd be either be made to look the fool, or they'd accuse him or something silly like defying orders, so any work he was going to carry out needed to be silent and unnoticed, until the right moment.

[Mala Suerte]

Zita/Reina

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One would think that green beings trying to take over the planet would be a bad thing. Well that was completely wrong. These skrulls were the best thing to ever happen to the planet Earth. Zita was happy for their presence as were the others. It was like God had sent them the saviors that they needed. The speech given by the president stated that the sovereignty of the country was theirs for the keeping. There would be no more conflict and no more wars.

The end of war was the best news she had received in years. It was the conflict still going on overseas that changed Zita so much, the root of many of her problems mentally and emotionally. To hear that all war would be eradicated was heavenly to the woman’s ears. Their job was done, her job was done. What remained of the Thunderbolts program need not apply anymore. The skrulls would allow for her freedom.

At one point though, Zita felt like she was maybe against the visitors, but she was not so sure about that anymore. Maybe it was a bad dream or something. As the news broadcast ended, she turned to face the others. “This is the best damn news I’ve heard in years. Whatever the hell we did to deserve this, we should keep on doing.” Zita looked to the door as another agent entered the room joining the others. It was that Sebastian guy that she knew very little about, but her sister seemed to like him well enough. She nodded to him. “Ayo, what you think about all this, vato? Great ain’t it?”


The sentiment was shared by Reina. In her old profession the topic of aliens had come up at least twice and each discussion led to the argument that beings from another planet only wanted to destroy the native species or enslave them. With the skrulls that did not seem to be the case. In fact all they wanted to do was help them out and make the world a better place. There was nothing wrong with that. Reina smiled as she looked to her sister. She had not seen the woman this happy in a long time. Usually she was complaining about not having anything to do or being bored without there being a target in front of her. It was all different now and Reina was relieved to see that.

[Henry Orchard]

Auxiliary Storage, Locker 11C. 


Something was wrong with the dark, quite what it was Henry couldn't say and that only seemed to exacerbate things. It made him uneasy, and that unease grew into concern which grew further, sprouting fat buds of anxiety. Fortunately, Springtime in Worrytown never seemed to last very long and soon gave way to a gentle summer as those buds of anxiety bloomed, and as their petals unfurled released all that negative energy. Everything was fine. The future was bright and and full of promise, especially now that the Skrull were here.

For a little while Henry sat in the dark and contemplated how lucky they all were. An advanced race of benevolent benefactors? How thrilling! This was going  to turn the world on it's head, in a good way. All of humanity's troubles, their woes, their needs, their petty differences, all of it was about to become insignificant. Under the guiding influence of the Skrull   they were finally going to get their shit together and realise the full potential of humankind. And to think, he'd practically crapped himself when the first broadcast had gone out less than a week ago.

That last thought hung there for a moment. He vaguely recalled... something. A familiar sensation against his scalp. A memory from somewhere  far, far back in the distant reaches of his recall and it faded away before he could fully realise it. Something about the dark, something... No, it was gone. It was important though, and the footprints it left in the fore of his mind began to sprout little shoots of unease.

Light swept through the dark and all sensations of discord were chased away with the shadows. Wincing in the sudden glare Henry turned and found two SHIELD agents hovering apprehensively in the doorway. One leant in to the ear of the other one and mumbled.

"Gary. There's a man in the cupboard."

The other was equally observant. "Yes, Francis, I can see that."

"Why is there a man in the cupboard Gary?"

"I don't know." Gary, craned his neck at Henry and sized him up. "Ah. It's the crazy one from the Freak Squad."

At this Francis promptly abandoned Gary and disappeared behind the bulkhead. Gary, who failed to notice that his backup had turned tail, decided to get lary. "Hey! Hey you! Pinetrees."

Henry glanced around him and seeing neither anyone else or a small evergreen looked back to Gary. "Sorry, are you talking to me?"

"Jeez, who else am I going to be talking to? What are you doing in the cupboard, Pinetrees?"

Henry had to think about this for a considerable period of time and as it became increasingly apparent that he had no idea why he'd spent (judging by his watch) the better part of two hours just sat in the dark, that little garden of fretting began to show signs of life.

"Hey! Hey, are you freaking out? Don't freak out.". Stirred from his reverie Henry returned his gaze to Gary who was starting to look just a little bit nervous. 

"I'm terribly sorry, I have absolutely no idea. If I came in for something I seem to have forgotten.". 

He stood and ambled out, or at least tried to, Gary stubbornly refused to budge in the doorway and Henry had to shuffle past sideways. Clear of the goons he picked up a cheerful pace and went on his way. Something nagged at him, something he'd forgotten, something important? Was it? Maybe, although it probably didn't so much matter anymore. Now that the Skrulls where here there wasn't much at all to worry about.

[Darkstar]

Darkstar felt like a new woman without a care in the world. She admitted to herself that she was in fact mistaken about the alien invaders. They were here to assist humanity with all of its many problems and this strange, intergalactic force was the salvation this planet needed. The Skrulls would bring peace to this broken, war torn world and it was something for every person, human or mutant to be grateful for. The lives that would be saved, the pointless destruction that would never happen, it was something amazing and Laynia doubted the earth could do on their own. It was so kind of the Skrulls to offer their help.

She wondered momentarily what had taken them so long, why now? Why wait all these years? She was sure it didn’t matter…These aliens were friends.

Those thoughts didn’t last for too long, after all these were the real saviors of people. It wasn’t a costumed hero, it definitely wasn’t the police or the military and it wasn’t Laynia. She no longer had to trouble herself with protecting others; the Skrulls were here to take care of it all. These supreme beings were here to offer knowledge and assistance, she exhaled deeply. Any bit of uncertainty faded away and she carried along without a worry.

In her time on this earth at least, like many of her colleagues here, she had seen violence and death, even in the pursuit of peace and happiness, there had to be fighting, murder and destruction. This was a better existence for them all, perhaps mutant to human relations would flourish, and this was to be a brave new world for everyone to share. It was truly a thing of beauty.

Having practically spent the entire day outside, enjoying all the wonders New York City had to offer, she made one last stop before returning to the helicarrier. With a package full of pastries from one of her favorite bakeries, she returned into the sky and hoped she would at least catch the end of the President’s address. It didn’t really bother her all too much that she had missed it, she was just glad the Skrulls were here, Earth would be saved and there would be only peace between everyone on this planet, human or mutant. It didn’t even matter anymore. Under the leadership of the skrull such stereotypes and ignorance would be left in the dust of the old world.

She entered the room with an unusual spring in her step with a smile on her face and a small package in hand; it was wrapped nicely in a bright pink bow. She whistled as she placed the box of sweets on the table and found herself a seat just as the main broadcast was finishing. Laynia, shrugged as she maintained her smile and crossed her long legs, taking in the many faces of the room. “I stopped at this great little bakery and picked up a celebratory treat, so go ahead and help yourself.” She smiled sweetly, even though she wasn’t to sure why, she just felt great these days and the end of all war and death on this planet was the icing on the peace cake. “Best strawberry savarin I have found in the city.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and ran her fingers through it.

“Isn’t everything just wonderful? I don’t remember the last time I have felt so…at ease.” She hummed to herself as she twirled her hair through her hands. The former Soviet soldier and current government agent acting like some doped up Stepford wive, what a sight for anyone to see.

She felt great.

[Cain Marko]

Cain was usually angry, and if not angry, at least aggravated by something or someone in his immediate vicinity. One would have expected him to be extremely so when he heard the President announce that the Skrulls were great and the world was a better place with them in it, but he just...wasn't. For the first time in a long, something besides fighting, money, and Zita was making him happy. As he left his room, he had an urge to pick up his helmet and slide it on for old times sake since he probably wouldn't be wearing it in a totally peaceful world; something in him was against it though, so he left it untouched on it's rack.

He left his room to find the others, and on the way he did something that would be considered downright crazy just a few days ago. He smiled and waved and engaged in banter with the agents roaming the halls; like they were all good friends and had things to actually talk about. Most of the comments were on the Skrulls, how great the Skrulls were, how things were going to be so amazing living under Skrull rule...the usual. When he found the people he'd been looking for, he entered the room and held his hands out.

"Beautiful day ain't it?" Zita was the first person his eyes fell on, followed by her sister and Darkstar. The new guy was there too; Sebastian he thought his name was. A grumbling stomach caused him to look at the treats Darkstar had brought, and he picked up three, downing them in moments. Still smiling, he walked over to Zita and put his hands on her waist. He lifted her and spun around a few times, before lowering her enough to plant a gentle kiss on her lips. "I love you so much right now." With the Skrulls running things, he and Zita could just relax and live a peaceful life; it felt like it should have always been that, but now that it was he didn't dwell too much on it.

[Druid]

Sebastian worked hard to not say something that would give him away to the rest of his team mates, but the way some of these people were acting especially the ex-thunderbolts brought a little bit of sick to his mouth, they some of the toughest and dangerous mutant criminals in the world had been made tame by the Skrull in a matter of hours.

The reality warper's eyes glanced across to Zita as she spoke to him. "The end of the war? Yeah it's great.. Just what we always needed." If Sebastian could he would hit himself, that reply was less than convincing.

The Russian known as Darkstar then entered the room carrying a box of sweet treats, that also made his day worse, while he managed to get back into shape with the help of a trainer, temptation for sweet stuff was always there and he wasn't sure just how strong willed he was with that.

Just how was he going to break the control over these people that were not only his colleagues but his friends? He considered the three agents that were already in the room and what their powers were, Reina was a sonokinesis of sorts, Darkstar could control the shadows and Zita was a shapeshifter. None of which he could think would be able to used to break the control on their own.

Sebastian's thought processes were then broken by the arrival of Cain, Sebastian's jaw dropped when he saw what the wave had done to him, everyone in SHIELD knew what he was like and more importantly he was capable of, but under the skrull control it was almost like he had been neutered.

"Cain." Sebastian spoke in a polite enough way, swallowing back down the sick that appeared in his throat at the display of affection between him and Zita.