<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/1w6Sw.jpg)</div><hr/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>  Name:</strong>Abigail Brand<br/>  <strong>Title:</strong>Agent Brand or Ma'am or Miss. Not 'Hydra-Hair.'<br/>  <strong>Affiliation:</strong>  Resistance<br/>  <strong>Location:</strong>   Northern Egypt, Near Port Said<br/>  <strong>Tags:</strong>Open<br/></span></span><hr/><br/>“Hyah!” Joystick screamed, cutting loose with a left side kick that came straight out of karate. Abigail threw her hands up, deflecting the villains instep with her forearm as she telegraphed the kick only to have that same foot suddenly slam into the side of her body, crashing into her already bruised ribs as Joystick displayed her martial prowess, bending her foot back at the knee and then with a minute adjustment, delivered the same kicking foot under Abigail's protective arm. The green haired SWORD agent let out a sharp yelp of raw pain, her side buckling in as she pedaled backward and Joystick, smelling blood already, moved in to finish her off.<br/><br/>Stepping forward, Joystick let loose with a downward energy baton strike, only to have Abigail parry the blow painfully with her right arm, only to leave her exposed to a hard knee strike straight to the Agents gut. The air knocked out of her again, Abigail let out a dry grunt of pain before blindly lashing out with a wild right hook. Her gloved fist sailed just millimeters short of Joysticks chin as she jerked her head back, just out of the way of the Agents punch. “Your quick bitch!” the villainess conceded. “But I'm better!” she then replied, delivering a perfect counter left hand, her fingers still wrapped around the baton, and slammed her fist across the SWORD agents face and knocked her into a backpedaling stumble into a wall rack of computer servers.<br/><br/>“Gah!” Abigail grunted before reaching up, grabbing one of the server racks and wrenching it free, hurled it down at Joystick, only to have her laugh derisively as she stepped aside of the obvious attack and then delivered a front kick straight between Abigail's breasts, slamming her back into the rack of servers again, the back of her head banging hard against the metal tray of the computer shelving.<br/><br/>“Fah!” Abigail suddenly snarled back, bouncing off of the wall like a boxer off the ropes and suddenly charged forward, delivering a three punch combination herself.<br/><br/>Right straight. Left straight. Overhand right.<br/><br/>Miss. Miss.<br/><br/>And another miss as Joystick flawlessly bucked and weaved before sneaking her own baton gripping fist between a gap in Abigail's defenses, her knuckles smacking right between the heroines eyes, causing her head to snap back as blindly, Abigail shot out a blind front kick of her own. The move of sheer desperation clearly caught Joystick off guard.<br/><br/>Because it actually landed.<br/><br/>The treads of her combat boot smashed into Joystick's firm gut, knocking her back into a desk as the villain grunted more out of shock then anything as the breath was ripped from her lungs by the impact of the blow. But she recovered quickly, grabbed hold of Abigail's combat boot and started to twist it around, intent on snapping her adversaries ankle. Abigail countered by flexing her leg inward with all of her might, pulling Joystick in and in a display of her own flexibility, lunged her head forward, slamming her forehead into the bridge of the villains nose.<br/><br/>A suddenly splatter of blood sprayed across both of their faces as Joystick's nose almost erupted into a welter of gore as the once brash and confident villain suddenly coughed and gagged on her own blood flowing down her throat. Not wasting any time, Abigail jerked her leg free and then smashed her own fist into her opponents throat, smashing it and simply magnifying the effect of the choking effect the blood was having on her. The energy batons immediately disappeared as her hands started grasping at her own throat, momentarily choking and incapacitated.<br/><br/>It was a situation Abigail was taking full advantage of. Realizing fisticuffs alone couldn't defeat her, Abigail quickly glanced around and picked up the nearest and most powerful weapon she could find. A half second later, a metal stool slammed into the side of the near defenseless villain, knocking her stumbling into another desk, knocking the monitor off of the desktop as Abigail pulled back the stool, intent on smashing it into the villain again when Joystick snagged the keyboard off the the same desk and in a wild swing, intercepted the downward strike with the stool, swatting it aside before lashing out with a side kick of her own as she leaned against the desk.<br/><br/>Her foot slammed into Abigail's gut as, still choking, Joystick pushed off of the desk and launched another left high kick, only to have Abigail block it with her arms, bringing them up to cover her head. Dropping the keyboard, Joystick's batons appeared in her hands once again as Abigail tried to reach out, grabbing the villains wrists only to find the villain was far too quick, pulling her arms back and driving her knee into Abigail's gut once again. Staggered momentartily, Abigail then saw one of the batons come out of the corner of her eye and then connect with the side of her head, knocking her aside and causing her to crash into the wall one more time as she felt a darkness encroaching upon the edges of her peripheral vision, her eyes already seeing double as the last blow nearly knocked her unconscious.<br/><br/>Clearing her throat audibly of the backed up blood, Joystick then flashed Abigail a bloody grin that made her look almost sadistic. But instead of monologing like Abigail was hoping she would do, she just winked at her inexplicably and gave her batons a final twirl before closing in. The SWORD Director suddenly lashed out with a backfist.<br/><br/>Joystick jerked her head back, swerving out of the path of the blow before delivering another perfect counter, the baton smacking across the top of Abigail's head, bringing the heroine to her knees. “I'll see you in hell,” Abigail snarled up to Joystick. It was bluster, Abigail never was one for religion really, but she wanted to provoke Joystick into delaying her inevitable execution of her, and hoped she would just take that extra moment to say something.<br/><br/>“Sorry Hydra hair, but I'm planning on living forever,” Joystick replied.<br/><br/>“Freeze!” suddenly boomed a voice from the stairwell. The villain glanced over her shoulder and saw a burly light machine gunner in SWORD fatigues and with a Maple Leaf patch on his shoulder aiming the dangerous end of his machine gun at her from across the room. Against a normal soldier, she might've hazarded dodging and closing distance. But this guy looked like a pro. “Hold it right there!” Agent Duchamp ordered when Joystick simply took a half step to the side and then turned back to Abigail.<br/><br/>“Shoot me and you hit her too dumbass,” Joystick said confidently when her entire body suddenly seized up for several seconds as Abigail flinched, scurrying away from the suddenly madly gyrating villain. Another second then passed before Joystick simply crumpled to the ground and Agent Duchamp holstered the taser.<br/><br/>“This thing sure is handy,” Agent Duchamp said with a smile as he lowered his weapon and Abigail immediately produced a pair of hand cuffs from her belt.<br/><br/>“She's high up, we need a prisoner for intelligence,” Abigail then said, not wasting anytime in both handcuffing the stunned villains arms behind her back and then using two pairs of zip cuffs to bind her ankles together, securing her limbs before she started to fidget with her wrist gauntlets where the energy batons seemed to be emitted from. Then, almost as an afterthought, she looked up at the man who had saved her life twice already. “Thanks by the way.”<br/><br/>Agent Duchamp just smiled. “Are you okay?” he asked only to see Abigail nod immediately as she finished securing Joystick.<br/><br/>“Yes but we have to warn military command. They found out this bunker somehow despite our security protocols,” Abigail said when suddenly a light, mocking laughter escaped the lips of their new prisoner. “Something to add?” Abigail asked as she recovered her pistol and plasma assault rifle from the rooms wreckage.<br/><br/>“Oh wow.... you guys are so sad. Lord Apocalypse has been monitoring all of your communication traffic since the beginning,” Joystick said with a laugh, as she shook her head, still laying face down in the floor, unable to move as blood dripped freely down her face from her broken nose.<br/><br/>“Bullshit,” Agent Duchamp snapped back when Abigail grabbed his forearm, wanting him to let her talk.<br/><br/>“Sorry to tell you this McMooseman but it's true. You idiots thought you had secure satellite phones and hidden communication channels, but you don't. Apocalypse has fucking technology so advanced it makes that stupid rifle of yours look like a flintlock!” Joystick spat derisively, referring to Abigail's Kree Energy Rifle she had just recovered. “He kept your lines of communication specifically open so he could monitor your pathetic plans you idiots.”<br/><br/>“Then how come you haven't crushed us like the bugs we supposedly are then?” Abigail asked, wanting more information from the now chatty villain.<br/><br/>It was then that Joystick simply turned her head and looked up at Abigail. “Who says we haven't?” she said with a grim blood stained smile curling across her face. Then, without further ado, she turned her head and faced the floor again.<br/><br/>Three seconds later the entire police station was literally blown away as the roof of the reinforced concrete basement was literally torn away by a powerful shockwave of pure concussive force. Agent Duchamp grunted as a chunk of rebar flung through the air, smashing against the helmet encasing his head and knocking him out cold as Abigail quickly hit the dirt as the ceiling of the basement bunker was literally blasted away. Almost in disbelief, she then looked up and saw the bright midafternoon sun shining down on her in lieu of the large police station that was above her head mere seconds before.<br/><br/>Then, in an almost surreal moment, an armored rider clad in silver and crimson armor unnaturally flew into sight, mounted on a devilish golden horse. (http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/229/88878-9170-war_large.jpg) The lidless and soulless gaze of the black haired mutant clad in such peculiar, yet advanced armor, suddenly turned down upon Abigail.<br/><br/>MY NAME IS ABRAHAM KIEROS, WARLORD OF APOCALYPSE AND CAPTAIN OF HIS WILL! I HAVE COME TO CLAIM THIS CITY ABIGAIL BRAND, AND YOU AS WELL. YOU WILL SERVE AS MY RETAINER AS I CLAIM MY RIGHTFUL PLACE  UNDER LORD APOCALYPSE AS HIS HORSEMAN OF WAR.<br/><br/>He didn't say it as much as simply let his voice echo through her mind, and into the air. Ignoring the mans powerful, authoritative voice was impossible, but whatever superhuman qualities his voice had, one of them wasn't mind control. And whatever he meant by her being a retainer almost made her laugh if the circumstances weren't so sobering.<br/><br/>JOIN ME CAPTAIN OF THE RESISTANCE AND TOGETHER WE WILL DIRECT THE GREATEST ARMADA IN ALL OF HISTORY. YOU WILL FIND YOUR PLACE SERVING ME BESIDE IN BATTLE... AND UNDER ME IN BED.<br/><br/>Abigail blinked. That was the end of this conversation. His haircut alone was vomit inducing.<br/><br/>The SWORD Director took a deep breath, then suddenly leaped into a roll, snatching up Agent Duchamp's Carl Gustav recoilless rifle and in a display of speed and agility, broke out of the roll and aimed her anti-armor weapon right at the underside of the so-called Warlord of Apocalypse and let loose with a rocket capable of burning through a dozen inches of military grade steel. The rocket fired, flaring bright for a brief moment before slamming into the underside of the horse, watching both rider and mount disappear into a billowing plume of smoke as the explosion enveloped them. Tossing aside the launcher tube, Abigail already realized things were bad when she didn't see burning bits of mutant and horse tumbling from the sky and immediately produced her plasma rifle as a strong breeze came through and sure enough, the Warlord and his mount both seemed except for a mild blackened scar across the underside of the golden horse.<br/><br/>YOUR CONSENT IS NOT NECCESSARY<br/><br/>The Horseman suddenly swooped in low as Abigail dropped to one knee and opened fire with her plasma assault rifle, letting loose on full automatic. One pulse of superheated plasma energy after another thudded into the body of the horse and the rider himself only to have the green bolts of hot energy simply sizzle almost uselessly against the riders armor and barely marr the golden hide of the horse mount as he reached out a hand. She ducked only to have the rifle ripped from her grip and tossed aside as the Horseman flew past her. Reaching over, she grabbed Duchamp's light machine gun.<br/><br/>In desperation she hopped quantity might win out where penetration was failing. The Warlord of Apocalypse turned on a dime however, practically turning in place and simply waded through the thick barrage of automatic machine gun fire, the bullets harmlessly plinking off of his superhumanly strong skin and that of his mount. The barrel of her weapon was almost burning hot when he simply reached down again and plucked her from the ground and with one vigorous shake of her body, caused her to drop her annoying weapon.<br/><br/>I ADMIRE YOUR PERSISTANCE. IT AROUSES MY OWN PASSIONS INTENSELY<br/><br/>Abigail wasn't listening and instead punctuated his last sentence by pulling out her sidearm and emptied round after round into his face.<br/><br/>Abraham Kreios kept talking through the gunshots.<br/><br/>STOP IT LITTLE ONE. YOU WILL HURT YOURSELF<br/><br/>Nonchalantly he reached over and crushed the barrel and action of her pistol in his hand, before tossing the useless wreck of a sidearm aside as he started to lightly trot out of the clearing where the police station once was. She noticed coming from the east, another brigade of hundreds of armored mutants advancing towards the city from the direction of the Sinai Peninsula. It truly was hopeless, they couldn't hold out against such raw power. Not unsupported.<br/><br/>PERSIST AND I WILL CLAIM YOU BEFORE YOUR ENTIRE PATHETIC RESISTANCE TO MAKE NOTE OF HOW USELESS ANY ACTION BUT SUBMISSION WOULD BE A FOOLISH ACT.<br/><br/>“Yeah I wanna fuck you over too!” Abigail snarled as she pulled free her combat knife and suddenly drove it into his open eyeball. Abraham didn't even blinked as Abigail pulled the blade back, noticing the tip of it was blunted.<br/><br/>I SAID STOP THIS FOOLIS-<br/><br/>Abraham Kieros suddenly paused when a series of explosions erupted from the East. The Warlord of Apocalypse rose higher into the air, still clinging to Abigail with one hand around her neck when, to his mild displeasure he saw a swarm of jet fighters, gunships, helicopters and.... even suits of power armor suddenly sweeping over the calm waters of the Mediterranean ocean, unleashing a barrage of fire into the flank of the Warlords mutant army as it just arrived over the Suez Canal.<br/><br/>Then the Warlord suddenly winced in pain, as he glanced down and saw his wrists starting to steam and burn as Abigail Brand finally revealed her own mutant parentage and unleashed a power she rarely ever used. Her hands wrapped around Abraham's wrist and unleashed a searing grip that was capable of melting through metal, or carving through flesh due to its intense heat. Abraham gritted his teeth, struggling to hold onto her when something else suddenly caught both of their eyes.<br/><br/>A streak of red soared across the sea, leaving a thundering wake as it zoomed straight towards them, looking like nothing more then a streak of light. Then she realized it was heading towards them. Abigail focused all of her energy into her fingers and finally, distracted by the oncoming threat, he simply let her go, letting her unceremoniously drop fifteen meters through the air and landing painfully on the dirt road beneath them.<br/><br/>She winced in pain but recovered just quickly enough to see Abraham Kieros suddenly stretch out his arms and then bring them together in a deafening thunderclap that was powerful enough it caused the ground fifty feet below him to shake from the concussive force of the blast. Nearby, buildings were rattled to their foundation, chunks of masonry falling off of their corners, windows shattered, cars were flipped over onto their sides and even Abigail winced, her ears burning as she heard the powerful echo of the thunderclap rattle her own insides like they were jelly.<br/><div class="floatleft">(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c6/Xfactor19_005.jpg)</div><br/>But the oncoming streak of red energy only barely dissipated before literally slamming into the the front side of the Warlord of Apocalypse with an incredible force. One second, Abraham Kieros was on his horse, the next, the horse was hovering in midair by itself. Whatever it was, it had survived the building shattering force of the Warlords' concussive thunderclap and now having been ripped off his golden mount, the blur of red energy slammed the mutant into the ground. Another explosive boom reverberated through the open space as the rubble that was torn up peppered her with debris even though she was dozens of meters away.<br/><br/>Shielding herself briefly, she then lowered her defenses and saw with wide eyes as the glowing pulse of red energy suddenly take form. The form of a man.<br/><br/>A human being dressed in a white shirt and black tie with formal black suit pants. Under his clothes, he was literally glowing with red energy that seemed to be suffused throughout his body, burning like a miniature reactor was contained within his body.<br/><br/>Beneath him, Abraham Kieros unleashed another deadly thunderclap only to have the concussive force of his blast barely causing his mysterious attacker to flicker at the edges of his form. Without hindrance, the mysterious red figure then reached down, seizing the powerful mutant by his throat with both of his hands and simply started to radiate more of his incredible energy, letting it flow from his body and surge through his arms, into his hands as Abigail watched in wide eyed wonder as the powerful mutant started to smoke and steam, uselessly struggling against his superhuman grip.<br/><br/>NONE CAN STAND AGAINST THE WILL OF LORD APOCALYPSE! NONE WILL ESCAPE HIS JUDGMENT!<br/><div class="floatright">(http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/5/57606/1228159-nefaria002.jpg)</div>Just then, his body ignited into flames as without another thought, the man glowing with red energy simply seized the mutants flaming carcass and hurled it high into the air, watching the flaming, broken body of the warlord arch through the sky. The broken body, still set ablaze, proved to be a fiery beacon of utter defeat as the remaining mutants immediately started to withdraw in the face of the resurgent and freshly reinforced forces of the resistance.<br/><br/>Abigail slowly rose to her feet, her relief at victory immediately tempered as she saw her mysterious savior walk out of the crater he casually created when the Abraham and he crashed into the ground and approach her. With every second, the man looked less like a being comprised solely of some fantastic energy, and more like a human being dressed in a slightly tattered business shirt, tie and suit pants. He even had a well trimmed black bread and neatly combed hair, looking almost like a cultured, refined and more regal and older version of Tony Stark.<br/><br/>The growing unease swelling within Abigail's stomach betrayed any thought of her mistaking this man for Tony Stark. She knew who this man was.<br/><br/>“Ah Director Abigail Brand,” the man suddenly said, straightening out the cuffs and sleeves of his white collared shirt before extending a hand to her. As she did so, she saw the defeated mutants who had survived the attack and counterattack were scurrying to the south desperately, the resistance pursuing them aggressively but stopping their pursuit several miles south of the towns edge. Meanwhile several huge, well armored humanoids descending in the town clearing, landing all around her. “Your efforts are to be commended milady,” he then said extending her a hand as a pearly white smile crossed his handsome, distinguished face.<br/><br/>She recognized the armored humanoids as war machines called Dreadnaughts. They were manufactured by HYDRA. (http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/d/dreadnought.htm)<br/><br/>Against all of her reservations, she accepted the handshake and forced a smile to her face. If anything, it made the mans smile grow even larger. “Thank you for your assistance Luchino,” Abigail said tersely as various resistance fighters started to fill into the clearing, also wondering who their savior was and who Abigail Brand, the current face of their resistance, was shaking hands with.<br/><br/>“Please Miss Brand,” the man then laughed. “No need to be coy like a goose. My name is Count Luchino Nefaria and I have come to offer my assistance... in saving the world.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Nefaria)<br/><br/><em>Other SWORD Agents:</em><br/><br/>Agent Hariri (http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af134/MNBlend/Class/PaulaGarces.jpg) (Lebanon): Linguistics and Diplomacy.<br/>Agent Marquez (http://i.imgur.com/xmUcy.jpg) (Philippines): Intelligence Analysis.<br/>Agent Duchamp (http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af134/MNBlend/Guys/PatrickCote.jpg) (Canada): Weapons Specialist.<br/>Agent Fisher (http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af134/MNBlend/Class/PaigeWyatt2.jpg) (United States of America): Reconnaissance Marksman<br/>Agent Tokoro (http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af134/MNBlend/Class/AmiTokito.jpg) (Japan): Communications Technician<br/>Agent Coffeecake (http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af134/MNBlend/Susan%20Coffey/1decadentdesigns.jpg) (LMD): Offworld Consular Relations<br/><br/><em>NPC Villains:<br/><br/>Joystick (http://www.comicvine.com/joystick/29-4809/)<br/>Count Nefaria (http://www.comicvine.com/count-nefaria/29-3229/)<br/>Dreadnoughts (http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/d/dreadnought.htm)</em>