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Slave to Time (IC)


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"Thanks Miss Stone! Coffee'd be good" said Subito as he followed Agnes deflty through the studio, dodging the few obstacles mainly by being two feet behind his guide "Don't really have much preference for style or taste, so don't worry about that" he added, which was followed by a mental deluge of worry

Oh no! What if she gets me some crazy-expensive kind of drink, something I'll never be able to pay for! he thought in horror, a weighty hand he checked his wallet by touch, and took some solace in potentially being able to pay for some of anything $20 or more I Wonder if there's such a thing as a $20 coffee he pondered as they quickly arrived at Agnes' office.

“Everything hinges on this little bugger.†She threw the book down on the table “All we got to do is decode it. Did you summons contain anything more than my cryptic message?â€

With perfect recall she quoted the rhyme which had begun there strange little quest.

"Hmmm..not really, sad to say. Lemme ask my patron something, just a sec"

Bowing his head and closing his eyes, he sent out a message to the Blue Dame of Puerto Rico, a call asking something he was deeply worried about:

Oh Blue Dame, was Ms. Hart kidnapped because of some secret she had found about the Serpent Empire?

With grim clarity the powerful tones of his mistress answered No. She was stolen to discover what you or the bearer of Britain's Justice knew. I fear they will not believe what she tells them.

Looking up Subito said bluntly "We really need to find Ms. Hart soon. 'Parently whoever kidnapped her thinks we know something, and is gonna try and find out what it is through her" he critically inspected the bit of the book mentioning the watery cult.

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GM

Whilst the heroes debated the book, Agnes phone rang. Some sixth sense tingled in both of them - the rings appeared to resound, full of promise and meaning.

"Hi, is that...Agnus Stone?" came the familiar voice.

"This is Abigail Hart, you came around the library yesterday? took out a book.... Professor Bottle? Well, we need it back I'm afraid...could you drop it off at the Library today? I'm in the whole day....Sorry for the inconvenience...."

It sounded just like Ms. Hart, if memory served correct. She sounded quite alive, and if anything, quite well! the number on the phone registered from the Library too...

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As soon as she realized what was happening she put her phone on speaker so Subito could also hear the conversation. Then she chatted away with Abigail for as long as she could, trying to pry anything from the poor young woman. It was soon apparent that the poor woman knew nothing.

“Of cause Abigail I’m afraid I lean that book to that keen student we met yesterday. I’ll give him a call and get him to return the book.â€

Upon hanging up she put her fingers to her lips to silence the teen’s obvious questions. Pressing the intercom she spoke to her Receptionist.

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“Hi Gail could you arrange to have a large bouquet to Abigail Hart at the Central Library, she’s a Goth so something suitably gothic. And could you find out about a possible donation or maybe me volunteering some time? I fancy reading to kids for a day. And I’m in an important meeting, no not like that…†she gave Subito a knowing look “So no disturbances, not even if Madge wants to talk… well maybe McCartney, but ask Paul to knock first.†She smiled at her own joke, then gave a Subitio and apologetic look.

“Sorry but I had to sort all that out. I suspect that someone has got to our poor librarian, so I suggest we do something cleaver. We going to give the book back…â€

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The powerful hearing of El Heraldo was still possessed by his civilian persona. And Subito could hear the gnawing of rats far below.

Because of that, he placed a lot of faith in his being correct when nothing amiss could be heard over the line, and was about to direct a barrage of questions at the unfortunate librarian, though he managed to silence himself before the first syllable left his mouth at Agnes' raised finger. Listening intently he quickly arraived at the(to him) obvious conclusion: evidently Ms. Hart had simply gone to some party, and her dissappearance's suspicious circumstances had been quite accidental. he realxed as the short conversation drew to an end, watching with interest as Agnes commanded her forces, no little admiration mingling with his curiosity to see such movements.

He frowned rather darkly at the joke about 'an important meeting' and when she mentioned knocking first. Such subjects were quite out of bounds for him, but he understood the implication nonetheless. Her apology lightened his mood considerably though "No problem,thanks for clearing that up so fast, I'll make sure to reccomend you in case the Blue Dame asks me about a repalcement, should I prove unworthy." he looked puzzled at the latter part of her statement "Got to? How? Like with some kind of memory thing? Also, how will giving the book back help us? Don't we need it to figure otu what out Spirits want?" he leaned against one of the chairs, looking at Agnes with considerable confusion.

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“Well I don’t know about you but my spirit isn’t on for direct communication. So I sort of have to play it by ear.â€

She picked up the book and careful put it in her bag standing to put it over her shoulder. Then after a few moments’ concentration and in a flash of light she transformed into her hero form.

“Now the real things somewhere that no one can reach, even I don’t know where everything goes.†She paused and considered what she had just done. “Oh yeah hi, I’m Young Britannia. And for my next trick…â€

She rolled up imaginary sleeves and began to concentrate, the light around her hand began to twist and flow changing in colour and eventually form until the light faded revealing a perfect replica of the book. She passed the book, that even had the same weigh as the original, to Subito.

“You’re going to give this copy of the book back to the librarian and hopefully those involved with the plot. And the beauty is I’ll know exactly where the book is at all times.â€

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"That's a shame, talking with mine's always helpful" Subito commented, weighing the book carefully, with no little awe. "Wow, miss Stone! This is amazing! When did you learn how to do this?" e asked eagerly, flipping experimentally through some pages to marvel at the exact copy of the printed words he had seen only a few minutes ago. Closing the illusory thing with a satisfying 'snap', he tucked it under his arm and extended a hand towards Young Britannia "I'm called El Heraldo, pleased to meet you Britannia!" shaking her gloved hand vigorously he glanced at the phone, a vague inkling something was off with what he had heard from Ms. Hart sinking into his brain...

Shaking it off, he made what plans needed making with his new comrade, and took his leave, thanking her profusely for her aid in this case.

The next day he barged with all speed through the front doors of the library, the magical copy of the book tucked securely under his arm, humming the 'Florentiener March' as he loped to the front desk. Putting the book in the book depository, he listened to it clang its way down the chute, murmuring to himself "That is AMAZING work, Miss Stone."

He set off with all speed for the agreed meeting place, filled with excitement for what was to happen!

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The plan was simple return the book then wait for the possible baddies to collect the book and then follow them to their lair. So she had to find somewhere to wait and well the Freedom Hall seemed as good a place as any. Beside it was nice to play the tourist once in a while.

Actually it was a little strange wandering around, she wasn’t sure if the “magic†would work in her normal from so had stayed in YB form. With a little practice she had dialled back her glow and even managed to get her clothes to come back from were ever they went. But she still stood out as a 6ft tall woman.

So she sat in the rather nice gardens feeling a little self-conscious updating her online status (and maybe a little work) waiting for the young hero to arrive.

At least she knew right know exactly where he was…

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With the resounding thuds of his feet on the floor Subito came quickly into view, almost crashing into a flowering dogwood as he slid around the corner, eyes searching rapidly before alighting on the now somewhat familiar woman. Walking up to her with long, swinging steps the young Puerto-Rican smiled brilliantly at Agnes. "That went fine Ms. Stone," he whispered excitedly "it even sounded right when it fell through the chute!" he looked at her expectantly, hands in his pockets, baseball cap still stuffed in a back pocket and nearly glowing with anticipation of the mission "So..what do we do now? Wander over to around the library and follow from there, or what?"

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Agnes beamed at the cleverness of her, mostly improvised, plan.

“Oh we don’t have to. I know exactly where the book is at all times. And don’t worry unless I concentrate I only know roughly where the book is, don’t worry I didn’t peek.†She wandered over to a nearby stall and bought herself a hotdog.

“Do you want one? My treat. If they want this book so badly it shouldn’t take too long. I need to focus now so enjoy the view and well if you want some light reading I’ve got this book.â€

She gave a grin as she put on a rather expensive pair of sunglasses to hide the glow coming from her eyes.

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The powerfully-built teen didn't need to be asked twice, and soon was muching contentedly away at a bun filled with just about every topping he could keep from falling off. As well, he was carefully reading through the dissertation on American Civil War-era cults worhsiping sea lizards. "You know," he commented thoughtfully as he read through it "I'm really not too surprised people thought this guy was out of his skull, considering how for most of my life nothing even remotely super's happened to me. But this guy is writing about a time when I'm pretty sure there were vampires working for the Confederates, the spirit of America got ripped in two somehow, and that's not even getting into the really weird stuff" he looked over at Agnes with marked puzzlement "Why d'you think stuff like what this guy wrote was so hard to take seriously?"

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Agnes’s voice was a little distance not fully focused on the conversation.

“Well you should try having the memories of two different people from both side of the conflict.â€

It was a strange feeling knowing exactly where the book was, it wasn’t exactly like a GPS, she just knew it was there.

“Sometimes it’s easy to accept the big truths than the little ones. It’s easy to believe in a flying man when you’ve seen him overhead. Fish men in skulking around in the night, easier to disbelieve.†She pointed to the hall behind us “I’m sure those people have seen thing that would make us go yeah right!â€

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That answer was whooly unexpected, and it gave the young paragon some serious food for thought, which together with the hot dog made him extremely quiet, and deepened his habitual frown considerably as he chewed over the implications of what Agnes had said.

Two people's memories at once... he thought wonderingly, glancing at the statue of Lady Liberty visible from where they stood

The Blue Dame said crisply If you could be bothered to listen and study, you would gain much the same benefit

Subito rolled his eyes at that Yeah, but there's knowing about 'n knowing of. You're an incredible being, O Blue Dame, but your gifts to me don't lemme know what it was like to feel the conquest of the people that were your very being, you can only tell me stuff

That is only because you do not listen. If you did, I could allow my memories to mingle with yours, but as it is I doubt your wits could bear it.

After finishing his hot dog, seemibngly out of nowhere Subito asked Agnes, "Say, Ms. Stone, does your spirit ever let you remember their memories?" Realizing what she had said earlier he added "Yeah, you did say they weren't much of a conversationalist, but still." He looked at her with great curiosity, there hadn't exactly been many people to talk to like this at Claremont, and he was quite thankful for the chance to 'talk shop', as it were.

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Wait what? This demanded her full attention, and the book didn’t seem to be going anything soon.

“Oh you know only everything. I even know the date my memories start 15th June 1215, the signing of the Magna Carta.†Her glib response rapidly became rather wistful “Coercitor Carta Dee use to call me, though he wouldn’t listen to me about that sneaky con-man.â€

Wait when did she start talking about spirits memories in the first person? Maybe she had been in this form for a little too long.

“The spirit only tends to inhabit most for a little while thankfully, but a few…"

Her eyes fell on a statue of Centurion.

"Well he who lives more lives than one, More deaths than one must die…â€

She offered Subito the uneaten hotdog.

“Do you want this? I’ve lost my appetite.â€

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Subito accepted the offered food more than a little uncomfortably, saying "Thanks but I'm really sorry I helped drag up bad memories Ms. Stone. I didn't think of that part." He ate the food with some relish all the same, a gloom over the act that he fervently wished he hadn't been partially responsible for.

After quickly devouring the Earth delicacy, he silently cast about for a new conversational topic, which he inadequately disguised as observing some of the statues nearby. He didn't want to ask any further into Agnes' experience as a spirit-bearer, and he couldn't think of any safe course for the conversation to take. At last, the decided upon the easiest thing he could think of to talk about "So...what's it like, being a real superheroine?" he asked curiously, squinting slightly against the reflected light of the sun being cast on his face just above his eyes.

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Agnes managed a thin smile. “Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t normally happen like this, I’m not normally in this form for this long. I guess the link is stronger than I realized. Maybe we should ask her?†she nodded toward the statue of Lady Liberty.

“As to being a super-heroine I don’t know I’ll let you know when I figure it out.†Her composure recovered her smile was more genuine. “I though the music industry was crazy, but well what other job could you end up having a conversation like this? And whilst it’s all about helping people and all, I just love to fly high above the city with sweet tunes playing in my ears. I mean how many people have a flying music play list?â€

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"That's something else" Subito agreed, and turned to her with much more confidence he wouldn't make a similar mistake to last time. "I don't get much chance to fly just for its own sake(my flight instructor says I need to work on my landings a lot more), it's incredible when I do get the chance." He paused to smell one of the flowering dogwood trees lining the garden, the fragrance bringing his family sharply into his mind. Mom'll be planting most of her garden by now he thought hope she can wrangle Rodrigo into helping out his cousin wasn't much for plants, which coupled with the boy's fear of poisonous insects made him a poor gardener.

Aloud to Agnes he said, in answer to her suggestion "I really would! I'd love to talk about how you deal with conflict in your spirit's past, what you DO with the knowledge of the past you're given, stuff like that." He stopped, struck by a sudden realization "By the way..did anyone teach you Ms. Stone?" He leaned his back against the tree, his head resting on one of the the low-hanging branches "Or did ya have to learn it all on your own?"

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“Kid anytime you want to go flying give me a call, I’ll happily show what I can do. Though just remember the whole time zone thing.

After a quick check on the book she turned her attention back to Subito. It also helped her to regain her full composure.

“And as for how I learned about my abilities. Ah well that’s where it gets complicated. See I spent a year in a sort of fugue state whilst spirit took over. She and some of the previous me wandered the UK helping people. Different town every day with a different face even a different costume, though all with the Jack. That where I picked up the name, though they thought it was a group rather than a single person.†One more familiar ground she felt herself relaxing a little “Thought I was technically in a coma I was also aware of everything that happened, it was a strange feeling like a long waking dream. Anyhow that how I learn the extent of my abilities, not a method I recommend.â€

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The youth smiled gratefully "I'll remember to do that Ms. Stone, and don't worry about me tryin' to call you up in the middle of the night, my dad taught me some manners at least." He stepped away from the dogwood as she told her story, eyes widening in surprise at the...non-standard teaching method her spirit had employed. "Man...I'm really glad the Blue Dame just tells me how to do stuff, that sounds like a kind of scary way to learn." He gave what he had heard serious consideration, an inkling that maybe the genius loci she and he acted for didn't think in a human fashion growing in his mind. His head usually drooped in thought, and so he had to swing it up sharply to ask his next question: "Has the book moved any, Ms. Stone?".

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“It has its faults, I still suspect that she holding something back from me, but I’m hoping it all for my own good.†She gave a friendly smile “And hey any now you’ve got me to help you out. Though we may need to get you a summer job, I’m not sure I want to see the tabloid headlines on that one…â€

She sat herself back down and put back on her sunglasses, mainly to hide the little flashes of light as she checked the books progress. She again began to concentrate on the faux book.

“Hang about I’ll just check.â€

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GM

In the Library, the same tall gentleman was wandering the isles.

What happened? Somebody snooping around...but who? why?

So close to...

He stopped and clapped his fists together.

I must see the book...

He strode meaningfully towards the isle in question, and tugged out the replica book created by Young Brittania.

"Here it is...." he said, scouring its pages carefully...

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Ah here we go something at last.

Looking around to make sure that no one was looking she took to the air in a burst of light, taking Subito with her. At over 200 mph it didn’t take long to reach the library, just long enough to explain their sudden departure.

“Sorry but I realised that the book might not last too long, it might have blank area where I just flicked through. Or if it’s a perfect copy it’s going to be just as good as the original.â€

She carefully put the two of them onto the roof nearby a handy skylight.

“Now let’s see who’s so interested in this book.â€

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Subito nearly swaollowed his own tongue when Agnes carried him through the air, and he was briefly filled with panic that he and she might be recognized as they flew..only for a quick opening of his tightly-shut eyes to reveal that they were concealed by a nimbus of light, something he would have sighed in relief about if he wasn't worried the act would send more air from his lungs than he intended at the speed he and she flew at. He gave a quick sign of agreement as they flew, who knew how long a book made of magical light could keep up the appearance of the real article?

As they alighted(he silently groaned at the unintended pun) on the library roof, he transformed himself into El Heraldo, a quick thought to the Blue Dame furnishing him once again with the attire of her champions. Putting the Banner out of sight, he nodded to Young Britannia and knelt next to the skylight, peering through as he carefully listened for any sign the browser had seen through the deception.

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GM

The tall man, wearing overcoat and hat, strode from the Library with the copied book under his arm.

"So close now...Vile will not like any mistakes at this point...somebody is too interested..." he muttered with a mixture of irritation and slight fear. The amazing hearing of El Subito could pick up the mumbled whispers even at this distance.

He hailed a taxi and got in. Young Brittania and El Subito found it easy enough to follow, for it was not a long or complex route.

The taxi pulled up outside a dark, crumbling side alley, into which the man strode. He stopped, reached down, and opened up a manhole cover, promptly descending into the sewers of Freedom City!

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Agnes’s attention had been on following the book and its current owner, but as she landed on a nearby roof she finally paid full attention to what Heraldo was wearing.

“Great the sewer’s you ready to get your costume dirty…†she managed to cover her mouth, and hide her broad smile.

Now let’s be fair you’ve worn worst in your, the spirits, time. Just don’t look at him or it and be the professional that you are.

“And we really wouldn’t want to get a costume like that mucky.†She managed to bite down a full laugh but there was a chuckle in her voice.

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