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306582.6 Galactic Time, mid-evening Lor Republic core space, G'Nüzz system, G'Nüzz II, Ahri-Bodhi Megaplex The Black Hole would have looked pretty good to the average Terrestrian, with its gleaming silver furnishings, high ceiling, low volume of music and talk, generously-stocked bar, energetic staff, sections with varied lighting and entire sealed compartments for differently-atmosphered patrons. To the Voidrunners it looked like an utter dump. The bar's liquids were a subtly unhealthy shade(its gases and solids were no better), the low volume was on account of the crowd of various beings carrying out business of various legalities. The staff had the telltale signs of being blissed out of their minds and likely on their third consecutive all-diurnal shift. But the hygenic needs of hundreds of varying life-forms meant that even the worst places had a spotless santitation record. Anyone trying to buy their way to one was tragically never seen again. Universal health care was a deserved point of pride in the Republic, but nobody wanted to take any chances. However, the Voidrunners were here specifically to take a chance. Which did not include not taking a secluded booth. "...So, that's the story. Near as I can tell, it's here, got it?" Her tail lashing restlessly behind her, Loma Slife pointed to the lonely cluster at the fringe of civilized space. Even in the generous dimensions of the bar, the rogue Chorna had to stoop a little, but was no less a looming, menacing sight. With her bulging muscles and vicious spines and thick hide, it was easy to forget that she needed weapons at all, let alone that she could summon them to her side with a thought. Slumping back into the seat and propping up her legs on the foursome's table, her feet resting on the next one, the fearsome bounty hunter inspected her massive hands "This thing, officials call it the "Visitor", far as I know it's not got much punch. Just gets around everything, can hide anywhere, and hitting it is a s*n' **k and a half. So I say we team up, go in, flush the thing out and I help bag it, get the picture?" Swiping Ruby's mug, Loma downed half of it, paused, and spat its contents on the floor. Grimacing, the bounty hunter went on "Since this thing is from the Swarm, no non-mentato but me's ever made a dent in that nano-cloud 'o mystery, and everyone ELSE is after it too, I think it's only fair I get half of the ः120 billion credit reward, while you Voidies split the sixty billion amongst yourselves. Dunno what bills you got, but that should pay 'em off pretty nicely, know what I'm sayin'?" Her hands busy supporting her crested head, her spiny tail reached out to each of the Voidrunners in turn.

Monday, June 13th, 2016 AEGIS Headquarters, City Center, Freedom City 8:21 AM A Monday morning. Nobody likes Monday mornings. Not even the men and women at AEGIS. No matter how much they liked their job, they also liked sleeping, and Monday mornings generally didn’t allow for the latter, even more so when employed by the American Elite Government Intervention Service. Among the many employees currently working, both in the Federal Building, and the actual headquarters below, were Agents Ethan Stone and James Warne, codenames Upgrade and Adept. After a run-in with an upstart hero a month ago, the two of them had been working to get the permission for a formal AEGIS Investigation. Not an easy task by any means. The company was spending a lot of money on their legal team, doing the best to make sure AEGIS would not come after them. Amongst them, Jonah Cullstone. Harvard Law. He had been making sure that any progress was denied, every little vulnerability covered. And not only was there opposition from outside. Many people inside AEGIS also believed that it was best to allow Neutron Industries to continue what they had been doing, they were important to the government. World needs power, and so long as they weren’t doing anything illegal that could be proven, there was no reason to interrupt. Not that that had stopped the two agents. They continued doing whatever they could to gain permission. And they were not alone, a variety of people all across AEGIS gave them their support. When James Warne entered his office that Monday, he was greeted by a familiar face. Vincent Clarkson. Clarkson had been assigned to the last assignment dealing with Bonfire and Neutron Industries, and had helped the agents with their efforts to get permission. His face showed exhaustion, and a smell of coffee accompanied him. In his hand, a file, only a few pages of paper inside. “We’ve got the Go-Ahead.“

Leilani sat crosslegged in the passenger's seat, somewhat impatient with all the traffic clogging the streets of Freedom City. "How does anyone get anywhere in this?" She protested, waving her hands towards what seemed like an endless sea of cars in front of them. Although her frustration was palpable and she wiggled one knee until they could finally park, the temperature didn't even tick up a notch. Despite her self doubt, she really was mastering her strange abilities. Still, as soon as they had come to something that could be called a stop, Leilani was out of the car and onto the sidewalk in front of the DuTemps building. She tipped her head back to stare up and up - completely unabashed in her moment of tourism. "Is that a real castle?" She asked Dimitri, even though with all the ambient noise, she'd probably not be able to hear him until he was much closer. "Why is there a castle?"

It was more Leilani's concern than any of her mentors that had her hiding in the building where any accident would be kept to a minimum but eventually 'stir-crazy' won out over 'paranoid that she might set all the things on fire' as far as emotional motivation. She'd never been one to lounge about indoors when the ocean beckoned and at least surrounded by water, any agitation would probably only flash fry a few fish. At least, that was the hope that had her setting out for the water's edge. Leilani didn't think that surfing through the sky would ever get old but it wasn't the same as the ocean. She was more than a little noticeable riding the flames that she generated towards the waterfront. Landing was still just a little dicy so she over shot the piers deliberately for the deeper waters where she'd hopefully not cannonball into any errant swimmers. It seemed unlikely. Even during the summer, the Atlantic was a much less friendly creature than her beloved bay. Spitting out sea water, she came up laughing as the water dissipated the residual heat quickly. Eventually she was really going to have to learn how to land.

GM Friday Mid Afternoon, June 3rd Starbase Coffee Southside A blend of pleasant coffee aroma swirled in the air. It was hot outside, and a pervasive kind of dustiness filled the air, a precipitation of pollution and sweat. Nobody was feeling very energetic, despite the caffeine. And at this time of afternoon it was never that busy. And today it seemed positively quiet. A trickle of the tired, a line of lethargic. Jack Longwheel ordered his coffee. It was full of cream and milk, and Jack Longwheel did not mind. He had given up trying to control his ever expanding waistline years ago. Jack Longwheel was a hack. He covered gossip and covered corruption. Neither of these topics had earned him many friends. It had earned him money, and a lot of fines. Most recently, he had been nearly broken by publishing accusations on Neutron Industries unclean energy. Accusations that were, all agreed, probably true, but unproven. He was a regular, Jack. A cynical man in his fifties who knew too much but like a dog with a red rag, couldn't quite let go. He knew "Buffy" stein. Every friday, like clockwork, about this hour. "The regular, ma'am. And a one way ticket to Hell on the side please..." he sighed. "God the things I hear...." he mumbled under his breath. "I'd Jack your Job in and sail to Hawaii, if I was you. Don't want to be stuck in Freedom City this weekend!" he said. He wiped his brow. Rotund as he was, Jack Longwheel did not normal have cold anxious sweat. He did today.

Cassandra woke up to the light streaming in past the plastic sheeting. It didn't make for a very good window, and was an even worse door, but it was free. She changed into her spare tanktop and pants, pushed the sheeting aside, and stepped out of her makeshift dwelling. She took a moment to admire her new home. It was amazing what you could do with corrugated steel when you can bend it with your bare hands. The place wasn't much to look at but it was free. Well, almost free. She stretched as she took a walk around the scrapyard grounds. Metal cots made for stiff muscles and none of the available padding was something that she would be willing to sleep on. After going around the perimeter, she noted that the fence was intact and there weren't any big pieces of scrap missing that she could see. She unlocked the gate and pushed it open as a red pickup drove in. She smiled as a short man with coke bottle glasses hopped out of the driver's seat. "Good morning, Marco! Everything fine. I go to work!" Cassandra exclaimed cheerfully. The man pushed up his glasses and grunted something that sounded vaguely affirmative. Cassandra walked along the waterfront towards the shipping yard. Flying was faster, but this was her favorite time of day and she was in no hurry. She enjoyed the sights and sometimes even the smells of the docks waking up. Cassandra had lived next to the water for as long as she could remember and found that she always missed it whenever she went too far away. She walked up to the small office space cut out of a warehouse with a red and green sign. She reached into the clear plastic organizer and found a small stack of papers with drawings and numbers on it. Reading English was still beyond her but she could match the numbers on the sheet to shipping containers, and the drawings showed her where to move them. She waved to the group of warehouse workers who were lighting up their first cigarette before work and approached the wall of stacked shipping containers nearby. She matched the symbols on the paper to the white stenciled ones on the paper, then referenced it to the drawings. Once she memorized the route, she tucked the papers away and focused on strengthening her muscles. Cassandra relished in the feeling of strength, then slowly rose above the ground. The familiar red-orange flare sprang up around her as she freed herself from gravity's hold. Cassandra grabbed the container and slowly guided it to its allocated space. She checked her papers and moved on to the next container on the list. Several hours later she dropped the papers back at the office and collected a small amount of cash. Cassandra pocketed the bills and walked inland off the docks. She navigated the nearby alleys until she found a dimly lit building with neon signs in the windows. She walked past the heavily reinforced door and sat down at the bar. "Hello, Cassie. Hungry?" an elder woman asked with a kind smile. "Always, Josie."Cassandra replied. "It's been slow day, shouldn't be too long." Josie said as she patted Cassandra's hands, then trundled off to the kitchen. Cassandra turned on her stool to face the bar while she waited. Josie's was quiet at the moment, but shift change was still a few hours away. The place was always busy, but much quieter of late. Josie attributed that to Cassandra putting a 250 pound stevedore who couldn't keep his hands to himself through her door. While Cassandra fretted over how to pay for the damage, Josie decided to pay her in food and booze to spend time at her place. The number of fights immediately plummeted and Josie considered that worth the price of a new door. Cassandra settled in to what she hoped would be a quiet night.

Winifred wasn't one to spend time in the common areas of Claremont Academy's dormitories unless she was on her way from place to place. It might have had something to do with the way common room emptied conspicuously quickly any time she sat down to read in one of the armchairs there or the way normal conversations turned into urgent whispers when she walked by in the hallways. For her part the alchemist liked to think that she was simply good at making efficient use of her time. With that in mind her strides where swift as she made her way through the boys' dormitory with a worn but carefully patched saddlebag full of chemistry equipment. She kept her back straight and chin high but her eyes didn't waver from looking straight ahead no matter what looks she could feel aimed at the back of her head. Reaching her destination she rapped quickly on the door, calling, "Smith."

McDuffie Community Center, Lincoln Friday, 27th May 2016, 10 am The area around the edge of Lincoln like most of the area had not seen much attention from the city, plagued as it was by drugs and gang violence. So it was rare that something good came to an area like this, and when it did it was something that should be celebrated. A local business woman made good, one Velvet Chiara, had decided to give back to the community by building this new center. To raise always needed fund as well as help promote this new building she was throwing a party that had attracted local campaigners and the braver politicians, who were as usual followed by a few stalwart reporters. Whilst everyone was in good spirits there was a note of caution all around, it was unlikely an event like this would go down without any trouble. Luckily there were people on hand who had experience of such things...

A dark and abandoned street, West End The Witching hour, 31st May 2016 It was a scene that must have played out a thousand time before, and would play out a thousand times again. Down the street walked a lone figure tiny and vulnerable in the night, but she was not alone and definitely not safe. Soon she was joined by two figures who followed a distance behind, pale pale skin that made them appear to float in the darkness. They were predators out to apparently hunt and this woman had there interest. Soon two more joined the fray either side of the woman, then two more in front. Surrounded by these pale figures it seemed that the woman would soon become prey to these pale humans. But this was Freedom City and things were never quite as clear cut as they may seem.

Doom Room, Claremont Academy May 5, 2016 School was almost out, even at the rather unusual educational facility known as Claremont Academy. Then again, even heroes-in-training needed a break. Assuming they were the sorts who believed in "taking breaks". Some, like the three in attendance here, didn't quite get that idea, at least not all the time. Woodsman and Nighthawk, who often practiced various scenarios in the Doom Room alone, as a pair, or with their friends anyways, were in here on the request of Headmistress Summers. She somehow managed to mix "as stern as a mountain" and "concerned about your education" into one frightening package. In this case, she had "strongly suggested" they undergo a training exercise with a student-hero who they may or may not have heard of, let alone seen or met, but who would give them good practice working with other more...subtle...hero types. They were currently in the control room of the Doom Room, apparently by themselves. The control screen showed a few potential scenarios, with the settings listing 3 combatants. And the difficulty was set...pretty high. Not horrifically so. Certainly not at the locked-down "Wander" level. But not "newbie" level, either.

GM April 10th, 2016, 2.32PM The Vault Of all the sounds least expected at the door of a secret lair holding a plethora of powerful mystic artifacts and housing a champion of order and justice, the sound of a firm series of knocks and the words "Mr. Templar! I'd like to talk to you on behalf of the IRS!" in a young woman's voice were pretty high up there. Outside, IRS agent Violet Amethyst Khasani Sefir-Hull felt the full awkwardness and surreality of her position, fiddling with her dark suit and briefcase and occasionally squinting irritably through her curly snowy bangs at the blazing, cheerful sky. It had been an exhausting walk, but sitting down or even leaning were out of the question. These super-types could smell fear, and any sign of weakness might jeopardize her whole mission. So she squared her padded shoulders, wished for the tenth time that day she wasn't so tall, gangly and obviously, painfully green-looking, and set her her narrow purple face in an expression that she hoped looked very important and casually businesslike. Of course, the fact that this whole transformation happened on-camera slightly ruined its intended effect.

Talya was really at her limit of clever ways to disguise a pregnancy and while she could probably call in a favor for an image inducer, or get extraordinarily creative, she wasn't about to go through that effort for the classes she taught. For most classes, it simply meant that she stopped with concealing wardrobe and suffered through the well meaning well wishes of the students that she worked with. There was one student, however, that warranted a little more effort than that. It had been a few weeks since Raina's last session at the studio between school and apocalypses, and that sort of thing. It was only now that Claremont had gotten back into the swing of extracurriculars. The Espadas school was familiar and it wasn't unusual for the desk to be unmanned, especially if the teachers were setting up or tearing down for classes in the dojo proper. What was unusual was a small note on the counter attached to a very small Tiffany's box sitting on the countertop. In Talya's elegant handwriting, it said simply "Keep your shoes on today." Inside the box was a sterling silver keyring, empty but for an elegant pendant in the shape of a stylized lock on one side.

Adjusting to the sights and sounds of Freedom was talking some considerable adjustment, let alone the various changes that had happened over the last fifty-odd years. There was a long list of technology and changes that she'd not yet mastered, from the computer to figuring out Freedom City's mass transit but the television she'd at least got the basic hang of. She was in the middle of expressing her dismay at the television when she had been rousted for something like practice - or maybe just walkies. Leilani wasn't entirely certain, and sometimes the latter could prove taxing enough to her minimal control. "But... someone just shot J.R.!" It wasn't so much a protest as commentary to the message alert letting her know that one of the Freedom League was there for training time. Fortunately, training was interesting enough take her mind off of Dynasty at least for a little while as the one upside to her rather unfortunate set of meta-abilities came with an ability to glide - at least when she focused enough to do so. This section of the waterfront was either uninhabited enough - or inhabited by those willing to look the other way when a girl went surfing through the sky as if she were riding a board made of fire. Technically, she was gliding on superheated air currents but it felt enough like the sport she loved that the movements tracked well enough to it and Frost's ability to detect heat waves let him know well in advance when she was losing control so it was no surprise when her laugh turned into a yelp and she plummeted out of the sky like a rock. Really, like a literal rock as her transformation remained tied to her flight or fight responses and when she hit the waves, the hiss of water turning to steam was audible as she sank quickly to the bottom. The heat trail of her walking towards the surface was clear from the broil of boiling sea water above her head as she slogged towards the docks, specifically the shore underneath them. Fortunately, Leilani didn't need to breathe when she was made of rock and lava, so there was no real concern of drowning in the time it took her to walk up the bottom of the sea floor and hopefully the sight of a lava monster emerging from the waters of the Atlantic only frightened a few drunks lingering outside the steps of the nearby and largely empty bar.

GM May 7th, 2016, 2.04 AM Somewhere beyond Freedom City, one mile beneath the surface To Alex, the white room stretched into forever, his body floating in a silent void. Only the sensation of the forcefields holding him in place and the faint echoes over the hidden intercom kept things from seeming wholly unreal. The stream of regular visitors kept things lively, too. "As you can see, colonel, the assimian specimen is as unharmed as their sibling." A figure materialized out of the white glare, in the same tan uniform with the same mechanically-styled "G", ventilator mask and narrow glowing eyeslits as the rest. Even the voice, muffled by the uniform, sounded as androgynous and indistinctive as the rest. This one, however, was followed by a whirring drone projecting a silhouette of a face, its features obscured by static. Regardi Alex with its implacable mechanical stare, a voice eventually crackled "Good work. You're sure he can't copy energy forms?" "Positive." Some kind of control panel slid down from the ceiling, and the figure idly checked it over, seeing nothing they did not expect to see "Only solids and possibly certain liquids can be mimicked by the subject. We'll bring them into contact with the piece of the Shard, then proceed with the other tests." "Hm. Keep them in good condition, doctor, and bring back results I can use or nothing at all. That sibling, by the way...can they be enhanced using the subject, like you told them?" The figure laughed, and the control panel vanished like a ghost into the white mist "Nothing's impossible, colonel! But some things are very, very improbable. I'll keep you informed, breaking commlink." The projected face winked out, and the buglike robot droned back into the world outside the void. The figure remained for a moment, regarding Alex as a slender piece of red crystal imprisoned in a clear pillar rose from the floor in front of the teenager. As it began moving closer to him, the figure walked out, saying aloud "Do a good job, subject 13505, and I'll open a channel to your brother's room. "Results I can use", please, like we're ASTRO Labs or something..." The crystal was uncovered, and tilted as it gently came to rest against Alex's forehead. Sakurako's cell The ceiling had four cameras, or at least four visible ones, in each corner. The door was an arrangement of thick metal held in place by a thoroughly old-fashioned forcefield. Perfectly-placed lights kept things illuminated, but allowed for sleep. Outside were thirteen other cells, all empty by the way they were ignored by the guards, who stood facing Endeavor's from the wall opposite. There were various accomodations for living beings, and a privacy screen, but nothing was hidden from the unmoving electronic eyes. "What's with the hair, mutant?" By some quirk, anything inside the cell could be heard in the corridor directly outside (they'd already teased her for snoring while sleeping off the knockout pulse) and the same inside. "Nah, I looked over Loretta's shoulder when she was doing the scan, just chemical dye." "That's no fun. So, what're they going to do with her?" "Still figuring that out. Didn't count on a third person being there when they grabbed the other two." "Long as we don't have to go back to regular duty, hope that takes 'em forever." There was a long pause, and the second guard said "Do you hate being on these memory-loss drugs as much as me?" "So very, very much. Pretty sure you asked me that exact question ten minutes ago." It was actually twenty-eight seconds ago.

Mike closed the file he'd been sent as the bus came to a stop at the base of the drive leading up to the prestigious Claremont Academy. He smiled and thanked the bus driver wishing her a good day before stepping off the final step and looking up at the school. When it had come time to get teaching assistant credits his former school seemed a natural choice. Now it seemed full of memories, most good granted but somehow more distant than he'd expected. As he crossed through the gates it was clear to him it was not the same or perhaps it was he who had changed. There were more than years now between him and this place, and given his assigned duty for the day that was probably for the best. After a brief stop by the administrative office to get the visitor badge that so rarely was actually worn by the school's rare visitors Mike awaited his assigned student in the large foyer of the Cooke wing his fingertips brushing the hem of the bronzed statue of Matthias as he had before many tests in his tenure here. Looking toward Marquez's office he sat and awaited the student within to finish her session taking care not to inadvertently listen in. When Robin emerged he rose and waved to the good doctor extending a hand, "You must be Ms. Chevalier." he greeted gently, "I'm Mike, Mike Harris." He glanced to Marquez to double check the counselor had informed her of their impending meeting then back to Robin with a polite smile.

"Is there room for one more in that box?" Gina Espadas asked, wheeling herself backward in a tight arc with one hand and holding up a framed photo with the other. "It's one of the bigger ones." The retired police officer and single mother of two was in fully serious organizational mode partly in deference to the task at hand and partly to sidestep some of the lingering awkwardness that resulted from being left alone with the other woman in the room. Talya Browning - Gina had enough aliases to keep straight these days without worrying about whether that was the correct civilian identity for this apartment or safe house or what have you - was on the nearby couch with the last new open cardboard boxes, rearranging pictures to pack them as efficiently as possible. The renovations of the apartment Talya shared with Gina's son and daughter-in-law were close enough to completion to move most of her personal effects over but unsurprisingly there was some last minute packing left to do while Erik retrieved the borrowed truck. That left the two of them to sort things out between them in more than one sense.

April 30, 2016 It had started small - a hemokinetic terrorist attacking Ocean Heights Amusement Park one day, a strange Deep One migration in New England. Then the situation had seemed to grow more serious - a misguided fly monster in Nuevo Laredo who spoke of a day of vengeance and a divine appointment, followed by a diseased specter in the West End bearing horrific diseases where she went. By the time a shambling monster in Sicily had come bringing boils and pain wherever he went, followed by flaming thunderstorms in Washington - the heroes of Earth knew the crisis they faced. By the time locusts blotted out the skies over London, and darkness did the same over Claremont Academy the very next day, they knew who was behind it - August Roman, the once-Emperor of Crime, infused with the powers of the Devil. But where would he strike? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Freedom City Port Regal Fast-Forward was doing magic in the backyard. World-ending threats were one thing to Richard Cline but the idea of something happening, something targeting Freedom City and probably the world, that targeted first-born sons, was his little boy in his arms, spinning him around so fast that they tunneled through the earth was something that he needed to do everything in his power to prevent. The first time Will had tripped and fallen, holding his bloody knees and crying inconsolably. The broken bodies of the victims of the Terminus Invasion, scattered at his feet. Outside in the yard, Richard ran faster and faster, tracing out the patterns of the stars at his feet, trying to find the unholy disturbance in the starry patterns that would mean a fallen angel come to Earth. Across the world, others were watching too, and waiting - ready to defend it.

Spring 2016 Greenbank Warehouse District The Gaia's Liberation Front meeting was going well - the activists inside were ready to move to direct action against the corporate oppressors of the planet. All was going well, Pierre thought as he stepped out into the alley to light a cigarette. Just as his match flared to life; a hatchet appeared at his throat. "Hey, jackass," Woodsman whispered in his ear, glad that for once he'd found a criminal shorter and slighter than he was. "You say a word and you're gonna be crapping that match out your ears!" Dammit, Riley thought, embarrassed, why is it so hard when I know people are watching!? "Yeah, you heard me. Now talk. Where'd you put the goddamned dynamite? Or do I have to give you a shave first?"

May 2016 "Hello, children!" The famous, or more likely infamous, Dr. Dimitri Peshkov was waiting at the curb when the Claremont shuttle bus arrived - all smiles beneath his parka's raised hood. "Welcome to headquarters of the Freedom League!" He sketched a courtly bow to Fred as she stepped out, then gave Ardent a warm, almost predatory smile as she joined the Chinese alchemist before doing the same thing. "I am Comrade Frost, and I will be your lecturer for special study session on heeero history today. It will be exciting times, sure," he said, pulling his heavy gloves back on. "Did you have pleasant ride?"

GM Post Tuesday April 26, 2016 Wading Way, Freedom City Being a bank is always a hazardous proposition, even under the best of circumstances. Having millions of dollars all kept in a single location can make a tempting target for any so-inclined lowlifes in the area, no matter how well-guarded said millions of dollars may be. In Freedom City, this goes double. Some would think that being located in the superhero center of the world would make the banks a less tempting target. In fact, it only serves to attract a very specific type of robber - the type that wears tights and wields death rays. However, even in Freedom City, there are unusual sights. Two of these unusual sights were just now shambling into the Eastern Seaboard Bank, mute and rotting. A pair of grey-skinned, half-decomposed corpses, clad in tattered suits, their eyes filmy and their mouths hanging open as if in silent shock. A security guard, reacting with commendable presence of mind, grabs for his sidearm and manages to fire three shots into one of the corpses' chest before it, with frightening speed, backhands him and sends him sprawling twenty feet. Screams break out - immediately nearly everyone in the bank begins streaming out through the doors, past the creatures, who don't seem the least bit interested in the fleeing civilians. Only the bank tellers remain where they are, crouching behind the bulletproof-glass partitions at their stations. One of the creatures staggers up to the counter, and mutely slams down a large, moldy burlap sack on the surface. A wooden sign is hung around its neck - the words "MONEY IN BAG" painted crudely upon it. With well-practiced and only slightly feigned calm, one of the tellers reaches unseen under the table and repeatedly mashes the silent alarm button...

Silberman's Books. Monday, April 25th, 2016. 9:56 am. Back in January, Lynn Epstein offered Samuel Steiner, a stage magician, ex-convict and would-be crimefighter, what amounted to his 'dream job': the opportunity to catalogue and itemize the collection of his hero Ira Silberman, formerly known as the Amazing Al-Kazar. To say that he couldn't wait to start his first day would be the understatement of the century. Yet wait he did; in February, the departure of her long-suffering assistant manager Kiki Knox came as a shock, and Lynn sent him an apologetic letter explaining that she wanted to bring her new AM up to speed and get everyone settled into a new routine before adding any additional staff. That the letter contained a check for eight hundred dollars did something to soften the blow. Then March came, and another apologetic letter arrived, with the same-sized check and a promise of work in April. Now April was almost over, and Sam feared his amazing opportunity had gone up in smoke, but then a third letter arrived on Friday, as apologetic as before, but now letting him know that he would finally be able to start that Monday, bright and early at 10 am. And yay, another check! - - - "Does he get an apron?" Lynn briefly looked up from her desk, where she was typing up a last minute email; her assistant manager and now partner in all things Gretchen McDaniels was limply holding up a brown standard-issue Silberman's apron, a bored expression on her face. "No, he does not get an apron; he will be an apron-less freak." "If I have wear one, he should, too. We should all be equal partners in discomfort and embarrassment." "Technically, he's not an employee of the store; he's an independent contractor. Plus he'd look really stupid with that thing over his coat and tails, doncha think?" Gretch looked over her shoulder back towards the sales floor and shook her head. "You really think he wears that all the time?" "Yep! Sleeps in it, showers in it, makes sweet, sweet love in it..." "Eww. Thanks for that disturbing visual." Lynn beamed cheerfully. "You're welcome! Now go ahead and open up while I finish typing this." "Yes, O master." Hunching forward and dragging her foot, Gretch lurched towards the front door like a hunchbacked assistant; behind the bar, Lance Bettendorfer, barista extraordinaire, cocked an eyebrow at her performance. "Everything alright there, Gretch?" "Breaking in some new boots," she deadpaned. Once she got to the door, she flung it open dramatically, still in Igor mode. "Enter, at your own risk!" She almost managed an expression there.

North Bay Yacht Club April 23rd, 2016 9am, Sunny, 59 degrees GM Torpedo Lass organized some bags on the rented out yacht the nautical superheroine had loaded on. She had everything planned out for the day outing, right down to where to do the water sampling the science teacher that had sponsored the trip along with Torpedo Lass herself who used some reward money she picked up on a couple small patrols prior to cover insurance for the trip. It would be a two day trip, with the duo returning home sometime in the afternoon. She also recommended to dress warmly, although she also knew Casey's powers made her more than able to handle the cold. She smiled as she sat on one of the well stuffed piles of bags. Being super-strong had it's perks. She was both stevedore, and sailor both. She adjusted the suit that was her costume, and waited for her young charge for the next two days to arrive.

GM Wednesday The 20th of April, 2016 3:34 PM Southern Parkside It’s an average day, the sky is nice but a few clouds are starting to show themselves, life in Freedom City is progressing as usual. Then, a message far too familiar to those living here flares up on the TV Screens all across the city: “We interrupt this broadcast for urgent information” Just a few seconds later, a middle aged woman, holding a microphone shows up on the screen. She is clearly standing on a roof, a few others can be seen behind her. “This is Joanna Olubunmi, reporting live for Channel 5 and all others tuning in. Please avoid the area around Love Street, Parkside at any cost. If anyhow possible, this extends to all of Southern Parkside as well as bordering areas. It appears there are Dinosaurs rampaging through the street. Skeletal ones. The police have secured the perimeter, and it appears the street has been for the most part evacuated. Various heroes have also been stopped at the scene, and have already engaged the hordes of dinosaurs. “ In the meantime, a pillar of dark smoke rises behind the reporter, then quickly dissipates. Throughout the announcement some unnatural screeching, like the grinding of hard materials, can also be heard. Once Ms. Olubunmi has finished talking, the camera cuts to the view of the street. Cars are overturned, newspaper boxes and fire hydrants broken. Most windows of the street-level stores located here have been smashed in, and there even are cracks in the concrete in some places. Obviously striking out most are the skeletons running around the area, attacking objects seemingly at random. There are about two dozen skeletons resembling Velociraptors, slightly smaller than average humans. They are all grouped up in packs of 5, each pack featuring one bigger, bulkier raptor, quite clearly a leader of some sort. There are also lots of bones, quite clearly belonging to other Raptors, scattered around the area, having been taken out by the heroes on scene beforehand. Standing taller than the raptors are three bulky skeletons, standing slightly higher than a human, and about 10 ft. in length. Standing on all four, they have a thick layer of bone on their back, and a tail that a looks more like a boulder than a bone – Ankylosaurs, as anybody that liked dinosaurs in their childhood could easily tell. They were ramming into cars and striking the concrete with their bulky tails, one of them had even started smashing into a wall, leaving some cracks in there.

Bayview, Freedom City, New Jersey Friday, April 29, 2016 3:24 PM local time Even if the news had not been full of stories covering the several incidents around the world that appeared inspired by the Plagues of Egypt, the rumor mill at Claremont Academy was currently talking about little else. Several Claremont students had already been involved in dealing with some of the incidents. Frostbyte and Ardent had been there for the very first of the "plagues," over at Ocean Heights Amusement Park. Reagemt had then been at the incident with several Deep Ones in Providence, Rhodes Island. El Huracan and Sparkler had even been present at another during their ride along with the veteran hero Asad in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. And that did not even count the incidents at which Claremont alumni had been present. Thus far one of the biblical plagues had struck somewhere in the world each day for the past week. There were at least two plagues left (if one went by the order they were supposed to fall), and if the timing held true, one should be occurring on this Friday. But even with the anxiety that was hanging over much of Freedom City and other major cities, life had gone on at Claremont Academy, with the students attending their classes and training as normal. It was a beautiful Spring afternoon in Freedom City when classes ended for the week at the school. The weather was warm and the sun was out. But even as several students made their way outside onto the grounds to take in the warm weather and sun, the sky began to dim. It started faintly, almost as if a large cloud had passed over the sun. But there were no clouds big enough in the sky. But it did not stop there, the day began to dark even more, as an unexplainable darkness began to spread through the sky over Bayview.

London, England Thursday April 28, 2016 1:42 PM local time The Ministry of Powers Foreshadow and Ms. Britannia sat in the conference room with Dame Pennington, the current head of the Ministry and one of her analysts. A hologram of Synapse filled one of the conference room chairs, as Synapse was teleconferencing in from the Haven, where she had been in the middle of some projects with VERA. A large screen on one wall of the conference room showed video images from six different incidents over the previous six days, mostly from different parts of the world. "As you can see, there have been multiple incidents in the past six days, all related to the biblical plagues that God is supposed to have visited on Egypt when Moses was freeing the Israelites. Twice in Freedom City, one in Rhodes Island, Washington DC, northern Mexico, and Palermo, Sicily." Dame Pennington stated as the security camera or news footage showed the scenes of the various plagues and the assorted superheroes that appeared to deal with them. "While each of the attacks are clearly connected given their themes, no one has yet been able to determine how the particular locations were chosen as targets. If whomever is behind this continues to follow the theme set out in Exodus, then there could be four more plagues to come. The only question is where they will strike." Department for International Development, 22 Whitehall London Prince Tau Abioye-Imari made his way out of one of the large conferences rooms in the Department for International Development in downtown London, chatting with ministers from Kenya and Tanzania. The meeting had been to discuss some of the DfiD's current projects in some of the poorer countries along the African Horn, projects that involved support by several of the more stable nations in the region. "Will you be returning home to Bangallan soon Prince Tau?" Asked the Kenyan minister as the three made their way down the hallway toward the elevators. Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Hotel, Westminster A butler led Mark Lucas through the lavish entryway of the Cinema Suite of the expensive London hotel. Inspired by the era of the 40's and 50's, the suite was a blend of elements inspired by both Hollywood and Indian cinema. Just off the entry was a large study, filled with priceless antique furniture and other collectibles. Seated on one of the sofas, was Thane al-Darsah, one of Nina's exiled older brothers. Trafalgar Square Jennifer Owens emerged from the Charing Cross Underground Station right to the edge of Trafalgar Square. The young woman had spent the morning at a business meeting at 30 St. Mary Axe or the Gherkin, in the City of London. With that done, she had the afternoon to spend some time taking in some of the city's many sights.