nextgen_baddie:

It had taken time, but Dormammu was a patient being. He had carefully planned all of this out and all of those plans were about to come to fruition. Various items had to be gathered and once he had them all, they had to be forged into one item. It would be the ultimate weapon and his agent would enter the realm of Earth with it and lay waste to all before him.

Dormammu would make his entrance into the mortal realm and finally defeat the cursed Sorcerer Supreme and his rule over the mortal realm would begin. Umar had been defeated, Dormammu released from his prison and the Octet was tipped in favor of Krakken and Cyttorak. Dormammu had the Kestrel Key and the Crystal Ruby of Cyttorak and could call upon the powers of Krakken and Cyttorak.

Balor, armed with a weapon forged from the Soul Sword, the Twilight Sword and the Kestrel Key and forged in the Flames of the Faltine, went forth into the mortal realm. The tear in reality he created sent ripples of magic throughout the world. those sensitive to magic would sense the disturbance. Balor stepped into the mortal realm in a location known as Los Angeles. Fitting that demonic beings would begin their conquest of the world in a place called The City of Angels.

The portal was now opened and Dormammu made his entrance into the mortal realm.

brit_sorcerer:

Quinn opened a portal and brought them all to Limbo.

They arrived in Limbo on what was a plain that stretched out in front of a castle. Nothing grew on the plain. It was dirt and rocks for as far as the eye could see. Demons moved about in the distance and along the battlements of the castle. For now they didn't notice the newcomers.

brit_sorcerer:

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Quinn screamed and sat up. It took him a few seconds to realize that it had been a dream. His breathing was quick and a little labored. Sweat beaded on his body and a chill passed over him from the cooler air.

What the bloody hell?

Quinn rubbed his face with both hands.

brit_sorcerer:

Quinn stepped out of the portal and looked around. Avalon was almost a reflection of England on Earth, but there were still many differences. The inhabitants were much different and the cities were gone. Quinn looked at his fellow...teammates or just companions? He didn't know and at this point he didn't care much.

"Stay close. I'm going to teleport us to a spot just outside of Morgan's castle. Once we get there, expect resistance." He wasn't quite sure if Morgan was responsible for destroying Braddock Manor, but his gut told him it was her. He had sensed the residue from a portal to Avalon and this Morgan could have as much animosity toward Captain Britain as the Morgan he knew. A part of him wondered if it was the same Morgan and if this was the same Otherworld.

nextgen_misc:

The half moon was hazy behind high cirrus clouds and the air had a slight chill to it. The night around Braddock Manor was still and quiet, but it wouldn't last. A portal opened and demons poured out along with the stench of brimstone. They headed directly for the manor house.

Ripples of magic spread out from the center. Fire cut through the darkness. Demonic screams and roars shattered the silence.

When it was over Braddock Manor lay in smoldering ruins and there were no signs of the residents.

nextgen_asgard:

The Great Hall of Odin is awash with people and noise. The fallen heroes have been honored and it was now time to celebrate their victory. It was also time to celebrate the acts of courage and bravery in the heat of battle. Mead flowed freely and the tables were pregnant with food of all kinds.

Stories about the recent battle were exchanged as well as stories of previous battles. Songs passed down through time were sung as well as new ones.

The air was light and merry and it was a festive time in Asgard.

shield_maiden:

Odin's Great Hall was almost silent. The gathered crowd waited for Thor, current ruler of Asgard while Odin slept, to speak. They were gathered to honor their fallen warriors. The battle had cost many lives and it was only fitting and proper those lost lives were honored.

Svalin stood next the throne and next to her father as Princess of Asgard. She was uncomfortable standing in front of so many people and as the princess. She was a warrior born and had a warrior's heart, not some speech maker. Barking out orders or yelling battle cries were more her style and easier to do.

Her father looked at her and nodded once.

She swallowed against the lump in her throat and looked out at the assembled warriors, her people. It was so hard to stand before them and talk about the ones that she had failed. The ones that had died because of her actions and her disregard of her duty. By Odin's beard this was hard. Her hand shook and she nearly dropped the goblet of mead she held.

"When mine father said I wast to speak to all of thee today, I didst not know what I would say. I wast scared to stand before you all and speak for I art much better with sword and shield than with words." Her voice started out a little shaky, but got stronger the more she spoke.

"Today I doth not stand before you as a princess of Asgard nor as a warrior. Today I stand /with/ you as a daughter of Asgard and the words I now speak art from mine heart."

She took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Sons and daughters of Asgard, we art not here to celebrate victory with food and drink. We art not here to sing songs of our prowess in battle. We art /not/ here for us. Today we do not mourn the loss of our sisters and brothers, but today we honor them. We honor their strength, their bravery, their unparalleled courage, and their sacrifice for Asgard.

Mine father hath tried to teach me and mine siblings humility as his father had taught him, but naught hath made me more humble than to see our sisters and brothers standing up in battle against an enemy that outnumbered them. I wast deeply humbled to see them do their duty to Asgard and to pay the ultimate price for the home and people they loved."

Another deep breath to steady herself. Tears clouded her eyes and she blinked them back.

"We feel the painful loss of our fallen brothers and sisters, but we must take comfort in knowing that they art now in Valhalla with the honored slain. They hath been reunited with our brothers and sisters that hath fallen in battle before them. Take heart brothers and sisters, for one day we shall be reunited with them, whether it be in Valhalla to wait until the final days or at the end of times in the final battle when we once again fight side by side with our honored brothers and sisters.

Honor their memory and their sacrifice each day by celebrating and appreciating the life they have given you by giving theirs. We must not let them slip from our memories or our hearts."

She raised the goblet in her hand.

"Raise your drinks and voices to our honored fallen brothers and sisters and keep their memories alive until the end of times."

She looked out at the people before her and then a quick glance over at her father. "To our fallen brothers and sisters. May you rest well in Valhalla until we see all of thee again in the final battle."

Svalin poured a little of the mead on the floor as an offering and then took a long drink of mead.

nextgen_baddie:

The spell took longer than he had planned, but Eric Williams had finally been able to complete it. The spell took days to prepare and hours to perform, but in the end it had worked. The graves in the cemetery were disrupted and the ground was disturbed from underneath.

Zombies crawled out of the graves, including the rotting corpses of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Elvis Presley, and Jennifer Aniston (though she wasn't supposed to be dead yet).

The zombies started moving out from the cemetery and into LA. They bit and tried to eat anyone they came across.

Eric Williams laughed as he watched the chaos.

nextgen_asgard:

An eerie calm fell over Asgard for a few brief moments. The forces of dark were outside of the shield over the city and were still. Inside the Asgardian warriors waited for the moment when the shield would come down and the battle would start. They were warriors, men and women, caught in an endless struggle against the dark forces that were camped outside the walls.

This would be another battle in an almost endless series of battles. Two forces locked in a constant struggle until the day the last battle came and all would be decided. Today was not the day of that last battle, but it was a day of battle.

The warriors inside the shield had taken up their proper places and waited for the shield to come down. The warriors armed with swords, shields, axes and other weapons were on foot and horseback. Beserkers waited to unleash uncontrolled fury upon their enemies. Magic users stood perched upon high battlements waiting to unleash their spells upon the enemy. Archers also lined the battlements, waiting to rain a storm of arrows upon their foes. Valkyries waited to take to the air to strike at their enemies from above. The battle commanders paced the upper battlements looking out at the forces, dark and light, below them.

Everything was still. Man, woman, horse and enemy. Not even a breeze blew.

The shield came down and chaos erupted.

circle_of_seven:

Asgard had seen a rare period of peace. That peace was about to be shattered. Dark forces gathered in a far corner of the realm. Trolls, dark elves and giants fathered their forces and prepared for an assault on the city and the cursed Asgardians.

Soon the city would fall and Asgard would be theirs to rule.

Alfun looked at the assembled troops and smiled. They would make a great distraction. Alfrun knew they wouldn’t succeed in defeating the Asgardians and taking the city. Countless times they have tried and failed. The Asgardians always won.
Until today. The troops were a distraction until the real weapon could be brought onto the battlefield. With the two, the Asgardians would fall. This would be their Ragnarok. The final battle for them.

Alfrun ran her fingers lovingly over the parchment. How very nice of that dwarf to give her this wonderful piece of parchment. With it she could bring about the downfall of Odin, Thor and the rest of Asgard. Then she, Alfun daughter of Eisa and granddaughter of Loki, would sit upon the throne of Asgard as queen.

“Send them!” she said. “I have to start the ritual.”

Treg grunted and then bellowed orders. The troops started moving.

vicious_cycle:

Its been a long ride, though as the Rider goes, a fast one. The trail led him, eventually, to the outskirts of New Orleans, and, of all things, an abandoned amusement park. Before exploring too far, he lets the flems die out, returning to his mortal guise, and hits the nearest payphone to let the team know where he's at.

nextgen_misc:

A man holding a piece of parchment stood in Times Square, the crossroads of the world, and read from the page. A spell was cast and the Montesi Formula, which once wiped out all vampires, was reversed. The all of the vampires that had been destroyed reformed right in front of the spell caster. They looked around for a few moments, confused about what had happened. Then the hunger took a hold and Times Square was full of humans with warm blood flowing through their veins.

nextgen_misc:

The city of London was seeing something straight out of a few horror films. A combination of a Romero zombie film and An American Werewolf in London, sort of. Zombies shambled and shuffled through the streets of London searching out delicious, juicy, squishy brains. Howls drifted up over the sounds of the city from North Surrey in the south to Enfield in the north part of the city. Werewolves and zombies littered the streets and the citizens rightfully locked themselves inside. Any civilian outside was considered fair game and prey to the monsters now roaming the city.

A seedy looking man stood outside of Lillywhites in Piccadilly Circus holding what looked to be a piece of very old parchment. He read the page and the unlucky citizens that happened to be passing by transformed into werewolves or zombies.

nextgen_baddie:

Dormammu was quite pleased with the way things were going. He had the Kestrel Key of Krakken and the Crimson Ruby of Cyttorak in his possession. These two items were very powerful objects, but Dormammu wasn’t even close to finishing his plans. There was much left to do and more power to acquire.

The next step was crucial to weakening the enemy, the cursed Vishanti. They would weaken while Dormammu grew stronger. Weakened enough, Dormammu could defeat them.

It was time for the next part of his plan.

He summoned one of his minions.

“You know what you need to do. Go,” Dormammu commanded.

The minion nodded and bowed to his lord. “At once.” The minion scampered off to do his lord’s bidding.

nextgen_misc:

In Los Angeles, the stretch of Wilshire Bvld between Fairfax and La Brea Avenues is known as the "Miracle Mile".

In the early 1920s, Wilshire Boulevard west of Western Avenue was an unpaved farm road, extending through dairy farms and bean fields. Developer A.W. Ross saw potential for the area, and developed Wilshire as a commercial district to rival downtown Los Angeles. Ross's insight was that the form and scale of his Wilshire strip should attract and serve automobile traffic rather than pedestrian shoppers.

Wilshire saw a few firsts in American automotive traffic flow; dedicated left-turn lanes, the first timed traffic lights in the United States; he also required merchants to provide automobile parking lots, all to aid traffic flow. Major retailers such as Desmonds, Silverwood's, May Co., Coulter's, Mullen & Bluett, and Seibu eventually spread across Wilshire Boulevard from Fairfax to La Brea.

As wealth and newcomers poured into the fast-growing city, Ross' parcel became one of Los Angeles's most desirable areas. Acclaimed as "America's Champs-Élysées," this stretch of Wilshire near the La Brea Tar Pits was named "Miracle Mile" for its improbable rise to prominence.

Although the preponderance of shopping malls and the development in the 1960s of financial and business districts in downtown and Century City lessened the Miracle Mile's importance as a retail and business center, the area has retained its vitality thanks to the addition of several museums and commercial high-rises. The Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (LACMA) A+D Museum: Los Angeles, and La Brea Tar Pits museums, among others, positioned "Museum Row" on the Miracle Mile.

A sculptural bust of Ross stands at 5800 Wilshire, with the inscription, "A. W. Ross, founder and developer of the Miracle Mile. Vision to see, wisdom to know, courage to do."

Today the Miracle Mile saw a different sight. Two very large individuals faced off against each other amidst the stopped LA traffic. It was one of the busiest streets in America and today the traffic was at a standstill. People fled their cars as they sought shelter and safety in the various surrounding buildings.

nextgen_misc:

Jean Peterson was hiking the Boucher Trail in the Grand Canyon and she stopped to take a drink of water. It had taken forever to get the time off from her secretary job to take this trip, but working without a day off for the past year had been worth it. The Grand Canyon was breathtakingly beautiful and more than she could have ever imagined.

She pulled a water bottle out of her backpack and gulped down some water. The weather was perfect. It was in the mid-70s, not too hot, and sunny. Perfect for a day out on the trail and it wouldn't be too cold this evening to camp out.

Jean returned the water bottle to her pack and started walking again. A bright flash of light up ahead caught her eye. The sun reflecting off something metal perhaps? Curiosity got the best of her and she decided to check it out. Jean increased her pace and after awhile reached the source of the reflecting light.

Her eyes went wide at the sight of the very large ruby. It had to be worth...she couldn't imagine what it could be worth. She had never seen a gem that large before.

She bent over and picked it up.

nextgen_misc:

Dr. Gene Hammond knew his patient was dying. He had done his best to save her, but the cancer was too far along. Had Ms. Malone been diagnosed sooner, there would have been a chance to save her. As it was, the breast cancer was in stage four and the woman had very little time left to live.

"How are we doing today, Ms. Malone?" Hammond asked as he looked at the patient's chart. He was making his rounds at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. He saw Ms. Malone every day for the past two weeks.

A noise came from the woman in the hospital bed, but Hammond could not make out what she was saying. Hammond looked at her and nodded. "I will give orders to increase your morphine drip," he said sympathetically. She continued to make noise and lifted a shaky hand. She pointed to the small closet in the room.

Hammond was puzzled, but he opened the door and looked in. There was what looked to be a small seceptre lying on top of her shoes and clothes. "This thing? That's what you want?" he asked as he looked back at her.

"Take it," she croaked out in barely above a whisper.

Hammond reached down and picked it up.

nextgen_misc:

The sun was starting to sink on the Western horizon and into the Pacific Ocean as another day was ending. A few miles south of 1800 Palos Verdes Drive the ground erupted in a spray of dirt. One by one soldiers came forth from the ground. Some were Spartans, some were Roman legionnaires, and some were Norsemen. A total of three thousand eventually stood in the dying light. They moved into formation and started marching.

nextgen_baddie:

In the Dark Dimension the being known as Dormammu was putting the finishing touches on his plan. The title of Sorcerer Supreme would belong to him and he would be more powerful than the gods. Even the gods themselves would be pawns in his plans. He would rule the Dark Dimension and eventually Earth.

First he would have the souls of their children.

Pure hatred coursed through him. Hatred for the Sorcerer Supreme and the immortal gods. Untold millennia had passed with this hatred festering and burning. They would fall and the Earth and many untold other dimensions would be his and no one would be able to stop him. His enemies would be destroyed in his wake.

There was one slight problem.

Dormammu couldn’t directly touch the realm of Earth. The cursed Sorcerer Supreme had seen to that, but he could act through his loyal agents. It was those agents that would be crucial to his plans. Those agents would serve him well of that he had no doubt. In addition he didn’t want event tied directly to him lest the Sorcerer Supreme realize what was going on and stop him. The Sorcerer Supreme would find out too late and everything would be Dormammu’s.
Demons moved around him, but he paid them little mind. The denizens of the Dark Dimension gave him a wide berth despite being imprisoned by Umar. They could be useful in the future once he escaped his prison and the portal to Earth was opened to start the conquest.

If he could, he would smile.

He started the incantation to contact his agents. They would contact the pawns and the game would begin.