In some realities things are different. Things are wrong. People and events are not as they should be to an outside perspective. The Watcher of 489 weeps as often as he closes his eyes. It is a dark world, full of dark things and twisted paths, but the heroes shine all the brighter for it.
There are marked differences between the standard Marvel realities and 489.
The Avengers: Never formed.
Captain America: A true hero of WWII, his last mission landed him in a cryogenic sleep. He was found in 1983 by the burgeoning SHIELD program led by Nick Fury. Captain America was thawed out by the government and asked to be a poster boy hero for the United States. After a few distasteful missions he faked his death with the help of Nick Fury and has been an underground agent for good since.
Iron Man: Tony Stark was never a hero. He made his money in weaponry and has continued to build a fortune on the blood of others. Even when he was captured, tortured, and designed his Iron Man suit he did not turn over a new leaf. Currently he is one of two White Knights in the Hellfire club.
Thor: Asgard lost interest in Midgard years and years ago. If Thor is on earth, it is in punishment, and there are rumors that a lightning wielding man is in New Mexico, nominative sheriff of a small town called Angel Fire. He is not friendly with strangers and does not allow outsiders to cause trouble in
his town. A few people in town, his girlfriend especially, call him Thor.
Ant Man: Dr. Henry Pym was never a hero. He is still, first and foremost, a research scientist who specializes in microbiology and micro engineering. His size altering abilities (resulting from a lab accident) are used only in the lab, under the supervision of his lab partners, and after filling out paperwork.
The Wasp: The heiress Janet van Dyne's father was killed by a being from an alternate universe, but the scientist, Dr. Pym, did not give the woman the means to transform to avenge his death. Instead a thief was paid to secure Pym Particles and the woman did her best to replicate conditions to bind the particles to herself. She was partially successful, she can increase and decrease in size, but it did something a little funny to her brain. She works as a team leader in SHIELD now.
Dr. Banner/Hulk: There is an urban legend that the military attempted to make super soldiers once, and a monster was created. A giant, unstoppable, green monster of rage and pain. It is a story for late night dorm sessions though, and giggling sleep overs. It isn't real. After all, how could a giant green monster
hide in today's world? Dr. Banner is hunted though, sought, carefully, by the very high military ranks and the subtler members of SHIELD. They know the truth behind rumor, and the Hulk is too dangerous a foe to leave unleashed. There are rumors in Tibet, in temples. There are rumors in Cairo, in hospitals. Rumors, always rumors, and never an emerald monster to be found. (Relevant links:
Recovered records)
SHIELD SHIELD was created as a semi-autonomous super human policing force and emergency response unit. A form of technological answer to problems generally requiring a hero team. It was formed, slowly, by Nick Fury and the remains of the Howling Commandos as well as people hand picked by the leader. Somewhere over the years and through politics and government oversight, Shield evolved into a nightmare. It is now an incredibly powerful force licensed to track down super powered individuals and hold them if it 'proves necessary'. They are based out of helicarriers with more than a hundred teams to their name.
They trace, and record, mutants, aliens, laboratory accidents, time anomalies, you name it. If it could result in powers, SHIELD is interested. The stronger, more dangerous individuals are 'recruited', taken in and brainwashed if they are uncooperative.
Powerful types are often never heard from again, as SHIELD uses them as alternate forms of energy in their helicarriers.
Victor Creed: Once leader of team Omega, he is now listed as 'Escaped: re-apprehend'. His wife, Misery, was one of the main recruitment and brainwashing technicians, and he himself was a little brainwashed for a while. He is somewhere in Canada now, having gotten Mis into therapy. He is waiting to make the judgment as to whether she will get any better or needs to be put down.
Graydon Creed: Graydon is Victor's eldest child. In every way he appears normal, which is how his mutation manifested. He
does not register as a mutant. Not in blood tests, not to sniffers, not telepathically. And mutants in his general area do not either. He is a null zone. He lives well, is running for senate, and is counseling a reduction in SHIELD's powers and greater acceptance of powered individuals before the hunting brings about war. This, naturally, does not make him very popular and he has a very good personal security team.
Clarice Creed: Clarice is the child of Victor and Misery, she lives with her half brother Graydon. Her mutant power is very obvious, she is
pink a fact that is hidden by long sleeved clothing and careful makeup. She is hidden from sniffers by being near her brother, and her teleportation is the means by which they go visit their father during down time.
Nick Fury: Nick Fury, founder of SHIELD, is NOT HAPPY with how it has turned out. In the late eighties they attempted to forcibly retire him and that was when he started establishing a base. Yes, a base elsewhere, full of technology that he took from SHIELD just in case things went as bad as he believed they were headed. This means his team now is as well equipped as SHIELD itself (they're getting more every day as people slip away from SHIELD) and they work against the monster SHIELD has become. This means guerrilla tactics, ambushes, and often saving/recovering people SHIELD has targeted. (Relevant Links:
489 Fury)
Victor von Doom: Victor von Doom is a king and gentleman who had an unfortunate run in with Reed Richards when he was young and schooling in America. The resulting 'accident' left Victor with a badly scarred face and enough physical injuries that he is wheelchair bound with heavy use of machinery or magics to be more mobile. Bitter over his injuries he swore off every returning to America and instead took the country of Latveria away from the man who had killed his father and was ruining the country. Years later, when Nick Fury approached him with an offer to join the anti-SHIELD team as a necessary scientist, he agreed whole heartedly, as working against SHIELD would also, possibly, work against Reed Richards in time. He now splits his time between Nick Fury's base of operations and his kingdom of Latveria.
Forge Underground: Forge Underground is a group of loosely associated geniuses that are, naturally, underground. They are under the radar. hiding from SHIELD and helping to establish ways for others to hide. The provide safe havens for those on the run, pass out tech, and generally do their best.
Forge: Forge is a brilliant man whose mutation expressed as mechanical empathy, machine magics, and even more intelligence than he would naturally have. He ended up locked in a time bubble in the late sixties, freed when it was discovered Nightcrawler's teleportation bisected the time bubble, and has been horrified by the changes since. He now works tirelessly to help people hide and spends as much time talking to machines as people.
The Fantastic Four: This vaunted mainstay of the Marvel Universe never formed. A group of four did travel into space, they were friends and comrades and they were irradiated when the storm hit...and then everything changed.
Reed Richards: Some people were never meant to have power and Reed Richards is top of that list. He'd removed rivals through college, sabotaged experiments to harm others, and personally enjoyed causing harm. Why did he take his friends into space? Why, to see what happened of course. He didn't intend to be caught in the radiation, but he didn't mind emerging more powerful than he was. The falling out with his friends was twisted and ugly, first he disgraced Johnny and when Ben went to retrieve his friend he started work on Sue. Mental and emotional abuse was a game, and luckily he didn't win with Sue, mainly due to a timely rescue by a watery prince. Now Reed stands as the White King of the Hellfire club and his hobbies include playing games with his queen Emma Frost and trying to destroy the kingdom of Atlantis.
Sue Storm: Sue was a young, bright eyed girl smart enough to get into college early with expectant parents who were proud of her. She was quite the prize in the dating pool and the two main contenders for her affections were both geniuses. Reed and Victor were quite taken with her, or rather Victor adored her and Reed adored taking what Victor wanted for his own. After Victor's accident and return home Sue was a hollow prize but one Reed was unwilling to give up. He let her go when her parents died, leaving her and her brother alone, but when she returned to college with attendant sibling she was less content with Reed's version of dating. They were an on again off again couple until their fateful trip into space, after which Sue grew very close to Reed, a man who could love her despite her being invisible at times. She did a lot to prove her love, even going so far as to use her new abilities in a number of thefts, one of which brought her into conflict with a young man named Namor. After several months of this, on the eve of Reed's proposal to Sue, Namor tracked her down to reclaim his property and left with his machinery AND the young invisible woman. Now she reigns as Queen of Atlantis, is mother of two, and only comes up to land when diplomacy demands it.
Johnny Storm: Johnny more than others had an extreme life shift when he ended up with powers. Seemingly overnight he went from a carefree playboy without a real concern for his future to a man who could destroy everything he touched if he wasn't careful. If he was distracted, hurt, excited, tired, unaware...any number of things caused him to be aflame. His girlfriends dumped him after the first accidents, he was evicted from his expensive townhouse due to damages, and eventually found himself couch surfing with Ben and Sue. Reed attempted to 'help' him gain control of his powers but this resulted in a near permanent flame state; now he cannot appear normal for more than a few hours at a time without outside aid. A year after their trip to space a young woman was killed in front of Johnny and he was framed for the murder. Like a foolish young man he ran to Europe. After Ben tracked him down and they got his name cleared he continued traveling, a drifting good Samaritan who didn't stay in place long enough to cause damages. He serves as a wandering diplomatic envoy to Atlantis now as well.
Ben Grimm: Ben Grimm was always an interesting case. In college he was a structural engineer, he feel into a natural friendship with Victor while helping to build many of the machines the genius planned out. When Victor fell for Sue, Ben was the rock that listened to the late night rambles and the bleary heartbreak of Reed's competition. He was the one who found von Doom after the 'accident' that crippled him and got him to the hospital...and more he was the one who stayed behind to 'look after Sue' when his friend left. The looking after part was easier said than done. It was hard to slide into a friendship with the bastard who had harmed Victor, but Ben managed to convince all and sundry that he was just a gear head who made a great designated driver. Convinced them that he didn't care who the people giving him plans to build were so long as he could
build. Reed took delight in stealing Victor's machinist away and for several long years Ben played the quiet idiot, intervening when he could. When Johnny was framed he gathered evidence to the boy's innocence and gave Sue a hug before going to find her errant brother. He thought he wouldn't be gone long enough for Reed to do too much damage to the girl. He was nearly wrong, Johnny was a bastard who skipped along from place to place. It took months to pin the boy down, much less get him back to the states for a trail. When they got back Sue was gone and Reed was in a cold rage, a fact that made Ben smile honestly. He held up the facade of friendship for a few more months, enough time to sabotage most of the stronger machines Reed designed, then slipped away in the night to go visit Sue. Now he travels with his girlfriend Penny throughout Europe, visits his godchildren under the sea every few months, and generally works to balance out whatever evil reed comes up with.
Atlantis: The great kingdom under the sea serves as a sanctuary and neutral zone for many. Namor is the undisputed king and he runs his kingdom firmly. Due to his wife's surface ties they have a few embassies upon the shore and often offer asylum to those who need it. Justice is swift and unilateral in this kingdom, violating laws has harsh penalties and harming others is often a death sentence. Trials are held when necessary with both ruling members present and all, accused and defendant alike, subject to mind probe. Mind probe is also necessary for every aspiring citizen who wishes to live in Atlantis.
Namor: As the mutant, half-human Atlantean Namor's rise to the throne was not an easy one. His mother was captured while spying on boatmen poaching in Atlantean waters and when she was freed she was with child. Born the only light skinned person among blue shades he was singled out as different, though his mother's guard Kamit (assigned to the princess after her failed spying) took pity on him and espoused the idea that if the boy excelled no one could ever deny him. Namor's mixed heritage soon proved an advantage, as he inherited the mutant X gene through his unknown father and the Atlantean prowess from his mother. By early adolescence he could out fight and out swim any member of the guard and natural curiosity brought him into contact with drysiders. He witnessed the very tail end of WWII while following submarines and it was when Hiroshima was decimated that his telepathic abilities arose. The horror and pain that washed through him before the ominous silence made him swear that he would never let his people go to war like the humans did, and so he has always worked toward that goal. When his grandfather died, and his mother soon after, he rose to the throne and declared that Atlantis could not remain unknown in the world theater. To that end he approached the United Nations and sued for membership (the position in the UN is held by his trusted guard Kamit), then consulted with many noted scientists on how to adapt Atlantean technology to protective and barrier purposes. It was on one of these consultations that he met, then tracked, his wife as she had stolen some technology but her mind was a kind thing despite her actions. It was many years after bringing her under the waves before Namor asked her to stand as his queen, but Sue has since given him two children a softer, more thoughtful side to the rulership when he is in a temper.
Gen-x: This group is not a super team unless pressed. They are, in point of fact, a group of misfits that met in a bar and decided to be a band.
Jono Starsmore: This British singer blew his chest and throat out when he manifested in London, an event that also killed his current girlfriend and put him on the run. He made his way to America by hook and by crook, ending up as a backup guitarist in a seedy bar in downtown LA. He had the tendency to grumble telepathically about the lyrics of whoever was performing until eventually a young girl who'd snuck into the bar asked him flat out why the hell he didn't sing himself. That girl was Jubilee, a spunk light show of a girl who was dating a barrio boy with stretchy skin. Since then Gen-X has played in mutant friendly bars with Jono as lead guitar and vocals.
Jubilee: This mall rat of a girl was orphaned at a young age and lived as a silent resident of the local malls until one day there was a robbery she was framed for. This sent her into the streets of L.A. where she eventually ran into a gang called El Subbaro and made herself indispensable as a distraction and thief. She met Angelo at a soup kitchen of all things and a few months of badgering by that deluded soul had her leaving the gang and staying with him. She plays base guitar and provides back up vocals in the band.
Angelo: Angelo is the 'good guy' of the band. He is the oldest of five with hard working parents who wouldn't let any of their children even think about theft like the surrounding neighborhood. He manifested as a mutant in his early high school career, but since he was attending the alternative, night school the faculty just shrugged and carried on. Graduation requirements had him performing community service and there he met his girlfriend Jubilee. She made him reach out and have fun, and when she accosted the grumbly guitarist he opened his big mouth and said he could get a drum set.
X-men: Never officially existed except as Xavier's fever dream. Currently there are several 'students' residing at the mansion, leaning to overcome their demons and Xavier is MIA.
Charles Xavier: Xavier is a monster of a man who delights in manipulation. Seeing just how far he can push people before they break and how well he can use them before they are burned out. The students in his mansion are the second attempt at a 'team' of soldiers following his command, the first proving...unstable. All was going well, he's chosen his broken teenagers carefully, until he underestimated the sheer brutality some of his students could display when threatened. A blood clot was phased into his frontal lobe, causing him to lose his telepathy, and all of his business assets were carefully purchased through shell companies. Currently he has no finances of his own and no home, the dead for the mansion and the guardianship of the children are all in Kit's name. He sought shelter with Reed Richards and currently serves as the Left White Bishop of the Hellfire club.
Logan: Logan, or Wolverine as he is often called, is a hardcore loner. He was brought in as a trainer by Xavier but didn't care for the way things were run. He had little attachment to the children and little patience for the teaching role. He did find a few redeemable, hardened souls in the newest batch though and found himself becoming surprisingly protective toward a few of them. He was the only one Kit spoke to about displacing Xavier and he agreed whole heartedly with her plan. After the fall of that evil, he took to taking long bike rides, seeking his space but always returning, without fail, to the mansion until the day S.H.I.E.L.D. caught and brainwashed him. He ran with that twisted crew for over a year before being freed and now is trying to get his head on straight and his memories sorted. The only people he trusts at the moment are Victor Creed and the Ghost that freed him, and that is a limited trust.
Kit Pryde: Kit is a hard case. She expressed as a mutant at a young age and her parents did not approve to put it lightly. She killed her father and ran away after a year of beatings, her mother then went into a radical arm of the Human's First group. She fell hard, getting into heroine when she hit Chicago, being pulled into a string of whores for two years, then crawling clean through rehab at age fifteen. Xavier found her after her after all that when she'd been trading favors for room and board, recruiting her and giving her access to the learning and technology she craved. He thought she would be easy to control given her history. He was sadly mistaken about the protective nature she harbored. When she realized how badly he was harming the other students she enabled a plan to take over his holdings and his life as it were, displaced him, and now stands as the teenager who plays den mother for the rest as they try to recover. To date she has had her dragon tattoo come to life and self0identify as male, encountered/been brainwashed by The Hand for a time, rescued by Kurt and Logan, semi-adopted an infant from Wanda, and generally done her best not to kill anyone.
Kurt Wagner: Kurt was always a fuzzy mutant with a tail, there was no hiding for him, no safety. His circus troop in Germany was raided when he was small and Kurt was taken into the custody of a black ops group intent on raising perfect killers. They raised, and treated, Kurt as a dog. Obedient, violent on command, and utterly inhuman. Xavier pulled a few strings to have this lovely project put in his care and continued to twist him into a submissive killing machine. Now, with Xavier gone, he tries. He is working hard toward humanity, he attends highschool, Kit doesn't let him have a master, and he is
learning. To date he ash learned to fly a jet and repair it, almost been enslaved as Amanda Sefton's familiar, and has managed no lower than a C in all his classes. He is also currently serving as a squire to Sir Nicholas Fury which leaves him a very tired elf at the end of the day.
Jamie Madrox: Jamie comes from a broken home where there was a great deal of abuse. He and his twin brother Jacob often tried to stand between their father and his target, their mother. Until these actions killed Jacob and Jamie manifested. Now Jamie is an agoraphobic split persona. Sometimes he answers to Jamie, sometimes to Jacob, and he rarely ventures outside, instead relying on his clones. Kit insists he attend school whenever able and the boy is receiving counseling with Hank.
Pietro Maximoff: Pietro, alongside his sister, was stolen from his home at a young age. He was raised to believe that his father, Eric, was an abusive man who wanted to find them at all costs (a belief reinforced by Xavier). When the foster family they were living with had Wanda committed, Pietro freed her and together they lived on the streets. He fell into a bad series of drug habits and rarely emerged from the chemical fog unless his sister asked it of him. When they were recruited by Xavier they took it as a free meal ticket and cleaned up enough to attend school. Still, the only person who mattered in Pietro's world was Wanda and when the girl ended up pregnant the boy sacrificed himself to ensure her safety.
Wanda Maximoff: Wanda is certainly the more stable of the two twins. She is a heavy smoker but avoids all other drugs in light of her brother's addictions. She is fond of pain and her brother and she saw nothing wrong with sleeping with him when she wanted. When her powers became erratic their foster parents saw it as a godsend, having the girl committed and removed from her brother. This didn't last long, as Pietro broke her out and they spent their time on the streets and in several half-way houses before Xavier found them. Under Xavier's eye Wanda became pregnant and her brother was killed. In a rage the girl signed over guardianship of her daughter, Isobel, to Kit and left to 'clear her head'. The girl has not been heard of since.
Isobel Maximoff: This little girl is two years old and the main reason Kit has had for straightening out. She spends time with her grandfather, Eric, on Muir, but mostly lives at the mansion per Wanda's request. No mutant powers have expressed as of yet.
Scott Summers: Scott is one of the unfortunate first attempts at an army by Xavier. The boy was adopted from a care facility and raised at the mansion alongside Jean Grey. From the moment he stepped onto the ground Scott was a telepathic patsy. He had no mental shields and never developed any under the tutelage of Xavier. He was a perfectly mediocre puppet up until the bitter end.
Jean Grey: Jean Grey was a telepathic prodigy and perfect to follow in Xavier's footsteps. Her parents died in a car accident not long after Jean manifested and she was folded into Xavier's care almost overnight. She grew into a delightful child, everyone loved her, they had to. Unfortunately her training by Xavier led to a few mental instabilities and she fixated on the story of Romeo and Juliet when her class decided to do a play. The play went through flawlessly under Jean's control, with perfect deaths for herself and Scott.
Rahne Sinclair: Even beyond Kurt, Rahne is an animistic mutant. She has not emerged from her wolf form for several months though Kit keeps trying. Xavier's removal seems to have broken something in the girl that lets her transform at will. Kit is considering having the girl sent to Muir for proper recovery.
Alex Summers: Alex, like Scott, was raised in an orphanage for most of his life until he ran away from home and joined a gang in LA. He learned to steal and to fight on the streets until he was forcibly recruited by Xavier as a heavy hitter. He's having a bit of trouble adjusting to a quieter life, but Bayville is a quiet place and Kit will tear him a new one if she has to post bail.
Rogue: Rogue, unlike many, had a pretty good life. She grew up with her foster mothers, Raven and Irene, and was raised to a life of an operative. She is skilled, she is brave, and more she understands the future to come and that sometimes sacrifices must be made. Her ability os hard to control, and she absorbed Ms. marvel at the behest of her parents lest the woman destroy a good portion of the United States. She 'ran away' to Xavier's to provide support in the background to Kit and lives there yet as Irene says she must to keep Kit from going insane.
Muir Island: This is an island off the Scottish coast surrounded by an intense electromagnetic field. It is impossible to fly into this area, or arrive by boat, without an appointment.
Moira McTaggert: Moira is a brilliant scientist who has a penchant for being able to diagnose mutational issues in X-gene actives and work to fix them. She has an incredibly high success rate as far as allowing poor mutations (such as an inability to breathe Oxygen) to live on. She came to this work through Xavier and his work in the Korean War. He used her ability to help mutants to garner the beginnings of an army among teh patients, Eric Lensher stepped in to stop this formation and rescued Moira from telepathic manipulation. She has barely left Muir since, preferring to have patients come to her for as long as Xavier is free in the greater world.
Eric Lensher: Eric is a broken man, stepping in on Xavier's plans in the 70's caused a life long rivalry where Xavier has shown up time and again to destroy Eric's life. The telepath killed Eric's wife, stole his children and turned them against them, and has since probed the defenses of Muir repeatedly when resources allowed. When he found out that Xavier had been disposed from his own home he rejoiced and immediately opened communications with the Xavier mansion. Since he has been able to spend time with his grandchild, Isobel, as well as aiding other young mutants that visit.
Sean Cassidy: Laird of Cassidy Keep, the man is a good neighbor to Muir and often allows field trips from that place to his castle. He has never left Ireland, instead maintaining his lands and those dependant on him as a matter of course. The villages nearest him have a high mutant population as it is one of the safe areas for mutants to live normal lives.
Thom Cassidy: Thom is the black sheep of the family, he wanted to travel and for a time he fell out of contact entirely, that was until his blood awakened. Like the hills in England, the Irish Fae have always had gatekeepers, men and women sworn to guard the entrances to their domain. Cassidy Keep is an entrance to Underhill and Thom is the gatekeeper. This grants him a responsibility separate from his brothers, playing a combination of detective and diplomat that keeps him vastly entertained.
Theresa Cassidy: Only daughter of Sean Cassidy, this girl has graduated from London University and often provides lab aid at Muir. She is also learning to run her father's estate as his only heir and the is being courted by a fae lord.
Unaffiliated: These are people who are members of no team yet have a role to play.
Penny: This young Australian girl is the third, and last, child of a ranch hand and his wife. She was born with her mutation so the birth itself was rough and raising her was harder still. Yet they all managed, Penny attending the local school and learning ASL. When she was ten her uncle, Gateway, was captured for a time. This allowed outsiders to teleport into Australia without punishment and she was kidnapped by a young woman who was searching for fodder. Penny lived in captivity for eight years, being fed on by the eldest child of the St. Croix family until Ben Grimm came through to 'take care of' the family that was preying on locals. She was freed by the kind man and since has followed, often serving as his liaison with locals (she has a nice smile) and they began dating in the past year.
Mortimer 'Toad' Toynbee: Toad as he prefers to be called is one of many mutants living under the radar. He avoids SHIELD, he sniffs around the edges of society...and oh, yeah, he's a private eye. A pretty good in fact. It started out as a joke, trenches and fedoras are pretty good at disguising green skin, and it gets damn cold in Chicago! But he had a knack for actually solving puzzles as well. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Inq, and two daughters.
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