Quest for the Sickle

Jbronze wrote:Death's Sickle. The Angel of Death comes from the beginning of time. When the continents were one, man first walked. Or, the beginnings of the experiment of man. Then, he killed by himself, as the population was small. But that allowed the primitive man to rebel. They fought strongly, and managed to knock Death's sickle out of his hand. The leader thrust it into the ground and said "BEGONE FROM THIS LAND, DEATH!!"

Then the continents cracked, and all of the experiments of man were killed. The continents rearranged their position over time, Death upgraded to a scythe, it's long stick allowing better grip, and the sickle remained in Antarctica, in the very center. Death cannot venture to reclaim it because it's power banishes him from the land, and normal humans cannot survive the temperatures long enough. But super humans can do this, and so Dr.Everyone broadcasted it's location to the world. All super humans want it, but for quite different reasons. Villains want it so they can control small armies of the dead to do their dirty work, while heroes want it to keep it out of harmful hands.

((OOC: Am restarting this quest as well))

"This has got to be your most stupid idea i've ever had to suffer through,and trust me. You've done some pretty stupid things, but this just may take the cake. Seriously John ,what are you hoping to achieve?" Jimmy continuely droned into his ear. All about how this was going to be dangerous. Well no shit it was. They were going to Antarctica for gods sake. If it all went well, then shit wasn't going right. Never meant well anyway. Like that time his ex walked in on him making out with another guy. Yeah that didn't end well. First it seemed like he didn't care about it, but the broken car said another thing. Though thats a story for another time. Also you may never get to hear it. Mostly cause its not worth mentioning.

"Well Jimmy you heard what was said about it. That sickle is supposed to be a dangerous weapon. I can't let just anybody have it. Especially someone who would use it for evil stuff. I am a hero after all. It just wouldn't be right." John explained to his older brother Jimmy. Raising a black eyebrow as he reclined in the airplane seat. Exhaling deeply as his eyes looked over the passengers of the plane. Eyes stopping on a guy he deemed as extremely attractive. Lingering for a second as Jimmy lightly rapped him on the shoulder. Looking at him with a stern expression.

"Well if you came here for some noble aspiration. Then don't go around chasing ass while you do it. Its just not right if your gonna be all hero." He lectured eyes looking over the guy as well. Then lingering over the woman next to him. Only causing John to give a light jab to his arm. He turned to his younger brother with a sort of look that was hard to explain. Mimicing his brothers reclined posture. They were more alike than either cared to say. Which was one of the few ways that proved they were brothers.

"Double standards! Just cause your Bi doesn't mean you get to stare at whoever you want. Besides you came on this thing to be "heroic" to. So don't go bossing me around. Here your not a cop." He pouted looking away arms crossed. Pulling up the black leather hood of his jacket. It wouldn't be long till they reached a secure point where they would get off. Then move onto the boat that would take him to Antarctica. To find the fabled sickle of death. He had heard about it from some weird transmission. So it was worth checking out. While Jimmy whos radio he got the signal from. He was so against it. That it wasn't even funny. They even had a small fight over the matter. Which was never good for brothers. Kinda ruined a good brotherly relationship. Yet John always had a way with guys. Even if it was his brother. So he smiled at how he was able to talk the cautious Jimmy into something so dangerous. As his brown eyes lingered over his simple clothes. When the sound of the pilots voice broke his attention. Signaling that this was his stop. So happily he ,and Jimmy stood up. Walking out as they took the appropriate luggage. Pulling the over sized warm plush jacket against his skin. It was specially made by his brother to be cold resistant. So they wouldn't freeze to death in the antarctic.

They walked nonchalantly onto the large vessal that would carry them to the cold continent. Keeping on the farthest corner to not draw any attention. Waiting until the loud horn of the ship sounded. Letting everyone who was on know that it was setting off. Out of pure luck there weren't many people on the ship. So many didn't look their way. Most were some strange looking archeologist who were out to find great treasure or some shit. While they searched for a weapon of death ,and destruction. Which seemed like an interesting prospect to explore. Jimmy looked over the edge of the ship. Eyes scanning the water absentmindedly as he went through every plan eh ahd in mind in case things went wrong. John looked over three small orbs of ice the obited around his hand lazily. In a fluctuating orbit as they moved. In a dancing motion along the fields of his vision. So they waited for about three hours. Till the powerful ice storm swept over the ship. Everyone went under deck while it happened. Though John insisted he could witstand the storm. Jimmy forced him to follow anyway. Staying where it was safe until it was done. Everyone then returning back to the deck. As the large white mass of Antarctica came into view. "Finally I thought we would never get there." John sighed as they unloaded onto a small, shitty looking unloading dock.

It was obvious it was hastily made, yet he didn't care. As the specially made boots crunched on the deep snow. From the painfuly chilling cool, he only felt a slight chill. Both of them pulling a fur rimmed hood up over their heads. As the wind picked up. Jimmy motioned for his brother to follow him. Making sure to wrap their faces as they walked up to a a snowmobile. Experimentally running his hands over it curiously. Pulling out a small apir of pliers ,and a few other instruments key to hot wiring. John watching in a sort of suprise as his supposedly goody goody brother did something a little bad. Yet he was definatly impressed, smiling as the engine roared to life. Causing some of the research looking guys to yell out for him to stop. Jimmy hissed loud as possible for John to hear him."Well come on lets go! He jumped on the snowmobile followed by his brother. Making sure his bag full of his ammo ,and special gun was secure. Smiling when he was sure. Reving the vehicle up as it sped away. Leaving the people behind in the snows. Off to looking for the sickle that the strange Dr.Everyone promised. Snow making a white curtain as they rode.

Nina hated the cold with a bitter passion that rivaled Hitler's hatred of non-Aryans. With a steely grimace she looked out the minuscule porthole of the whaling vessel, pulling the cloth around her face tighter in a feeble attempt to block the smell of guts and salt water. Though it wasn't exactly noble to stow away, she needed to get to the frozen belly of the earth before anyone else even had a chance to.

Some all-powerful sickle or some such was waiting there, ripe for the picking, and she intended her hands to be the first to grab it. She was a hero, far from corrupted, who sought to bring a playing card to the table that might give her and her fellow heroes a leg up on their nefarious enemies. To the young woman, a weapon was unnecessary. Her fists did the talking, and a blade of any sort would get in the way. Maybe she could give it to Pain, or some other high-profile good guy. With a wistful smile, she envisioned The Big Guy himself congratulating her on a job well done.

The magic broke suddenly as the ship lurched to the side with a mighty creak; the whalers had caught another bounty, and with that, The Valkyrie climbed a little higher into the support beams that helped encase the bowels of the ship as another wave of red gore slipped down under her and back into the chilled waters of the Antarctic.

- - -

The home-made snow shoes that encased her feet held up fairly well against the snow, shielding her skin from the damp and chilling touch of it, but not the cold. With exceeding frustration, she pulled on layer after layer of wool sweaters before topping it off with a Gore-tex raincoat, as well as a shawl of elk fur that she pulled over the thick beanie on her head. The ski pants she wore barely shielded her from the stabbing chill of the wind and snow banks, but she would survive. She always had, and with an angry sigh, her mittened left hand yanked the gas mask down to stop the freezing bite of the Antarctic from attacking her face. Now that snow didn't dance in her eyes, she gazed out the gray lenses of her mask, overly eager to get this over with and shanghai her way back to the states.

After walking a few feet, getting accustomed to the sinking with every step, she saw a pair of men get on a snowmobile, expertly turning it on and mounting it. A thought occurred to her; if she could maybe hitch a ride with these two, she could get the sickle that much faster, claiming she was some sort of archeologist or something. They would be none the wiser as she dug around in the snow, looking for a weapon that she didn't even know the appearance of. With a mental pat on the back, she waved her arm high to try and get their attention. ''Hey!'' she yelled, voice already muffled by the mask, it was quickly drowned in the wind. ''Wait!''

Without a backward glace, they sped off, kicking up powder. Her tolerance of people was normally very slim, but the rather white surroundings coupled with the chill made her more volatile than thermite in a shooting range. She began fiercely stomping down snow until she felt resistance, and confident that she had good footing, she used the unmeasurable strength in her legs to send her into a shooting jump.

The wind screamed in her ears as she flew through the air, and with fists clenched as tightly as they can be in mittens, she landed about 100 feet in front of the pair. Slowly and angrily, she turned to face the oncoming duo, folding her arms. ''Stop...'' she muttered under her breath, brow knitting in a bubbling anger that was almost palpable even in the subzero temperature of this wasteland.

The plan in general seemed to be going perfect. They were making their way on a snowmoblie no one had the chance to stop them from taking. Now speeding faster towards the great heart of the Antarctic. Though Jimmy was really uncomfortable with the whole thing as it was. Mostly because he never liked the cold that much. Yet John felt at home in this winter wonderhell. Hood threatening to fall from his face as the wind whipped around him. Holding on tight as his brother increased the speed ever so slightly. Engine roaring as they went faster. It all seemed to be going perfectly. When the most unfortunate of things had happened. Well as unfortunate, it means pretty much something fucked up.

A woman jumped right in their path. She had to be pretty strong to be able to do a feat like that. That only spelt disaster for them in the long run. Not exactly a good thing admitedly. That ,and they were going at a pretty high speed when she jumped in the way. Left very few options even for someone as calculating as Jimmy. Things were only going shittier now. "Fuck!" Jimmy mentally cursed jerking hard on the controls. As the snowmobile swerved to the side. As it slid a few feet before leaning to the side. Both of them barely escaping as it rolled through the deep dense snow for a few more feet. Then landing with a dead thud as the engine died. Bag of weapons somehow still strapped to Jimmy's side as he glared at the girl. Most of the time he was tolerant of stupidity. He had to deal with it at work. Yet now he would have none of it.

John rubbed on his sore head, while he looked over the new person. Whoever she was he didn't really care. He had come here to find a sickle, not mess with women. Though he never really did that. Well he was in a perfect enviornment for his power. Too perfect if you ask him, but whatever. Some of the snow moved to form a compact spear of ice like snow in his hand. Dense enought o puncture through most if not any armor. Twirling it in his hand as he approached the girl cautiously. "I don't know who you are, but your kinda in the way! Could you kinda move?!?" John said trying to speak over the howl of the winds. Jimmy walked close behind him. Reaching into his bag loading his gun with tazer rounds. Enough to hopefully take down the girl. They were a pretty high voltage round.

"John whoever she is I have the feeling she won't back down if we ask her to. Maybe we could talk this over." Jimmy suggested as he fingered the gun carefully as he watched the girl. Though he had no special powers to say of. His weapons spoke for themselves. Keeping a safe distance as he prepared from anything that could happen. Turning the saftey on his gun off ,as John extended the influence of his power. All prepared for a fight if it happened.

If there is one thing Nina hated more than the cold, it was being talked down to. She could level cities with her strength, throw entire vehicles, crush mere mortal men's skulls like they were nothing more than Cadbury creme eggs, and here was some sort of fluffed-up asshole yelling at her to 'kinda move'. Angrily, she yanked down the gas mask so it rested just under her chin. ''You want me to 'kinda move'?!'' she bellowed, ''Ok, I'll 'kinda move'!'' With a grimace that would rival most, if not all, of the US Navy SEAL's most indimitaing glares, she thrust out her left arm. ''There!'' she said, her face suddenly shifting into a saccharine smile. ''I 'kinda moved'!''

It took her much longer than it should have to notice the man's ice spear. Where the fuck did he get that? Had he been carrying it, or was she dealing with a fellow super? Cautiously, she took a few steps forward. The second of the men was now wielding some sort of firearm, and fearlessly, she pressed on.

''Look, I didn't want trouble, alright?'' she said, loud enough to be heard by the two. ''I need your help, I'm trying to find something very, very, very important.'' She paused maybe 3 feet from the man holding the spear, folding her arms in front of her as best she could. ''And something tells me that you aren't exactly normal people.'' she said simply. That was another thing Nina hated; formalities. Why beat around the bush when you could just say what you want and need? With an exasperated breath, she awaited their response. God damn did she want to get out of this cold.

Apparently Johns answer to her presence was less than savory. Which could be told by her most unhappy gaze. Jimmy could tell she was a dangerous foe. In fact he was prepared to use more powerful rounds. Since he had a feeling this girl was ready for violent action. He was a cop, so he could tell these kinda things. It was a sort of sixth sense. "John I don't think you wanna go saying things like that to her. I have a feeling she may be a little mad." Which John could tell from her response. Yet he was not scared of some lady. Which was a suprise since he wasn't at the least bit drunk. As his fingers gripped tighter on the spear till the knuckles turned white. Seemed liek something was gonna go down for sure.

When she proved them wrong. Trying to talk with them ,instead of the fight that seemed to brew. Jimmy took this as a golden oppurtunity to diffuse the situation. Putting a calming hand on his brothers shoulder as he walked forward. Looking over the once angry seeming woman with a diffusing grin. One of his many talents. John opened his mouth to protest, but stopped. Letting his brother do what he was best at. Somewhat glad he didn't have to fight that grl. She gave him the oddest feeling when he looked at her. Tip of the spear scraping over the surface of the snow as he waited for whatever would happen. As Jimmy went to respond to her words. "Well i'm sure you can tell he isn't normal. Though I can't say i'm all that special myself." He motioned at his brother and then himself. While John shifted uncomfortably to his left foot as he glared at the girl. Though the flurry of snow made it hard to tell if he was.

John of course knew he was special. Knew it since he gained his special talent not too long ago. On that night when he got bored ,and did the stupid thing. Luckily he summoned an ice spirit ,and not something else. That would have proven a disaster. Though he kept quiet while his brother introduced them in his polite way. "Sorry for the little misunderstanding.My names Jimmy Reeves,and hes John my younger brother. We were just out here searching for something. If your looking for something, I think we could help." That statement caused John to frown lightly as his bother offered help to the girl who had caused them to crash. Jimmy dashed over ot the wrecked snowmobile. Looking it over with his expert eye for a second. It would take a few minutes from him to fix it. Though not that long really.

At first, Nina eased into the situation. Clearly the freak of the pair didn't quite take to her, but she couldn't care less if he didn't like her. She was here to work, not make friends. Though in all honesty she would have preferred the weaker of the pair be the spiteful one, but oh well, c'est la vie.

When Jimmy mentioned that they, too, were looking for something, all thought of introducing herself died away. Were these two guys looking for the sickle, too? More than likely, since the only other crap you could find here was snow, ice, or water that was cold as fuck, and if they needed one of those three things, they were already done with their search. No, they were here for the same reason she was, that much was certain to her. As the normal brother went to investigate the wreckage, she watched the professed younger sibling tensely. He would be more dangerous than any mook with a gun, and if not dangerous, at least more annoying. From what she had seen, he had some sort of control over ice, or maybe water that had just frozen in these conditions. At any rate, he might make her even colder than she already was, and she would much rather not have that happen.

Nina tried to crunch the situation as quickly as she could in her head, but unfortunately she had always been the brawn in any situation. I need to work on that... She scolded herself. If these two were villains, they would have the upper hand by not only being a pair, but one of them had a power advantage in this environment. She might be able to fake her way into being a budding anti-heroine, but they might be heroes, in which case any sort of negative feedback would incite an attack. The longer she spent thinking, the colder she got from not moving, and the harder it became to think. This vicious cycle continued for all of 6 seconds before she shook her head and groaned, her body trembling all over to regain some heat through motion. ''Well shit.''

With a mittened hand, she offered it for John to shake. ''I'm Valkyrie.'' she said simply, preferring it to be known immediately that she was a hero. ''The Psycho-Femme Tank heroine of the eastern seaboard. Maybe ya heard of me.''

Nina smiled blandly and made her way to the snowmobile, sitting on the very back edge of the seat so as to give the brothers enough room to climb aboard themselves. She leaned back slightly and gestured for them to go ahead and sit down before replacing the gas mask and folding her arms tightly in front of her.

As the two straddled the seat, she leaned forward and set her hands on the middle brother's shoulders, setting her head on top of her hand. ''So,'' she said, loud enough to be heard through the weather and mask, ''you boys looking for the sickle?'' she figured it would be best to simply get out and say it before they were too far along in their journey. She didn't particularly enjoy the thought of ditching them in the middle of some frozen wasteland.

Nina smirked; this pair would lead her right to her objective. After they helped her get it, she could just backtrack through the snow on foot after crushing any attempts to stop her. Man alive, I love being a superhuman...

- - -

The two brothers got off the snowmobile and approached a foreign monolith, Nina dismounting and following close behind. She pulled the fur and Gore-Tex tighter around her, blocking out the biting wind and cold as she stared up its length, brow knitting underneath the gas mask. ''Lets get this over with then, eh fellas?'' No sooner had the words left her mouth that a large staircase opened up before them, a wall of long dead air rushing up to greet them. It ruffled Nina further, making her cringe as the feel of it permeated her many layers. Though she wasn't known for her intelligence, it didn't take a genius to realize that this might be a bad idea. Her hero instincts kicked in, as well as her subconscious maternal ones, and she felt the urge to protect the two men. She knew for a fact that her invincibility would play a key role in this endeavor, and the frailty of the human body was ever present in the pair.

''Hey, ah... maybe I should go first, in case there's something waiting.'' Even to Nina, the words sounded strange. What could possibly be waiting beyond the rock and ice? This land was void of life, quiet, and still, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something malignant was just beyond the edge of her vision. It crept into her bones and held her tight like a vice. ''I'd rather be the one to get roughed up, y'know?'' Her voice trembled, but she remained tall; a reluctant wall in this frozen waste.

(OOC:This is the closing post, I know its not the best, but I tried ))

The undead horde walked step by step up the dark narrow steps, followed by their leader. Who grew tired of waiting for the heroes to show themselves to her, to attempt to take the fabled weapon of death himself. Her skulled staff drug along the cold floor, up the cobbled steps, till her head crested the entrance. Looking over the heroes with mute interest. A smirk coming across her pale, pink, dead seeming lips as she cleared her throat. Motioning for the lesser beings to stand still as she readied to address the heroes." You heroes of the modern day, have no doubt traveled far for the chance to gain this prize. Which I haze to give you credit for, but I must ask you this. Is it really worth having this sort of power? The weapon will corrupt you, it will drive you to the very brink of madness, with its all consuming power. Will you all attempt to take me down for a taste of power, or turn back to your lives? The choice is up to you, but I will have to abide by the rules of your choices." SHe finished hands gripping tightly onto the handle of her staff.

""I didn't come here to use the damn thing. I came to destroy it, thats all." John stated it as plainly as possible, Jimmy standing behind his brothers words for once. Unnerving the gaurdian for a mere second. She had never epected them to actually want to destroy this weapon of pure power, yet the idea of being free thrilled her. Causeing her to make a move she never expected to do in years. With a snap, multiple skeletal gurds brought out a small sickle. It was simple, but the blade emanated pure evil energy.

"You may destroy it as you claim." She said as Jimmy drew his pistol, loading a cartidge of explosive rounds. Motioning for the others to step back, as he unloaded the ntire clip into the weapon, till it began to break. Slowly, though it didn't fully break, John taking pleasure in smashing it with a hammer of ice. Till it was nothing, but black dust in the white snow.

With a peircing cry the woman, as well as the skeletal cretures all faded into dust. Leaving the three heroes alone in the arctic wasteland."Well that was anti-climactic." Jimmy grumbled, though a sharp elbow met him in the rib.

"At least we didn't get killed by those freaks." John said as he motioned for them to leave towards the snowmobile. Without so much as a word, Valk,John, and Jimmy all returned to the ship that would take them tot he airport. On the way back to sweet home New York.

Pffffbbttt. Trashed.