Shofet

Okay, so for anyone who enters into Danica's shell, anyone who hasn't had to make a will save gets to basically be reverted back to normal brains. For anyone who has, you gotta make a DC 25 Will Save at full PL.

Mia’s eyes were searching the room for answers when the almost-cry-hugs came to her. The locking of the door behind her only confirmed that there was something heavy coming. Which meant she had to deposit these turkey teddies somewhere. She looked over at the beds, and slowly moved over, sidling past others where necessary, and depositing one on each Smith sister’s bed before turning around to look at them. She decided to lean against a wall, trying to keep casual despite the clear gravity of what was going on. Yet she almost tripped and sent herself through the drywall when Judy said something about revealing “who she really was.” She straightened up, and then pointed a finger up at Judy and Ashley. “Ah-ha! I knew something was up when neither of you two had the same accent. And why Ashley spoke Vietnamese! Which you don’t! I don’t think! And also the fact that you’d hang out with me is pretty suspect all things considered! You’re some kind of aliens who just copied some people who looked similar to each other, aren’t you? And now the government’s found out and they’re going to try and cut you up for science!” She wagged her finger. “Well, if you need to go somewhere safe, I can teleport you anywhere on the continent in six seconds. Give me slightly more and I can get you anywhere on Earth. Somewhere safe, like New Zealand. Or Madagascar.”

Okay, Mia is going to make use of her Create Object Power again: EDIT: Since Benny actually asked Mia to help with scattering them, Mia's going to change what she's going to do instead. To scatter the birds and distract them, she's actually going to conjure up 130 cubic feet of loaves of bread in the hopes of either bonking them or sending them into a feeding frenzy. DC 20 Reflex to avoid.

Soliton Soliton smirked at Ben. “Alright, Octo-Man, style it is!” She said, before stepping to the edge of the building. “Watch this,” she said, before leaping off. She allowed herself to fall just long enough to pick up terminal velocity, before a great crack filled the air and suddenly Mia was back in the air, using her ability to change her direction while teleporting to instead raise her up a few hundred feet in the air and launch herself across the sky, the same speed that had been making her fall now catapulting her forward. Given that it wasn’t enough to keep her in motion forever, she supplemented her movement with her teleporting, occasionally disappearing and reappearing in a small crack of light. She also decided to pull off a few tricks, if only to tease Octo-Man a little bit. Some flips and spins added in, along with a few teasing gestures his way. She finally stopped at a billboard overlooking the noise, and her playfulness dissipated some as she looked down to see the commotion. Much of the road was a sea of melted, steaming asphalt, pulling at people’s shoes in gooey strands as they hurriedly tried to vacate the area. At the centre of it all was a young woman who looked like molten metal, and a surging cloud of purple gas tearing over the cars. Grimacing, she looked back and hoped that Octo-Man would be there to join her. This was definitely not a one-person job.

Mia had been told that the Smith Sisters were departing, and that they wanted to hang out before they left. Yet there was something about the way she had been told that which made her nervous. Were they leaving for good? Was that it? Or was there something else going on here? She set those thoughts aside when she arrived at their door, promising herself she wouldn't allow her imagination to run wild and make her panic. She was wearing something she considered tacky, but in a fun way - a red sweater with a turkey stitched on the front, made by her gemma, and a knee length black skirt with Thanksgiving-themed tights underneath. She didn't know why but she thought if she wore something fun and festive, it might make the more take a lighter turn. When she got to the door, Leroy was already there. He had gifts. Oh no. Was she supposed to bring gifts? She didn't bring gifts. "Uhhh..." She said, before the air filled with sparkles, and two giant stuffed turkey teddies appeared under her arms. "Hey," she said casually.

Serena stared at Lynn as though she had grown two heads as she told her story, and then, when it was done, was unable to stop it. She laughed, burying her face in her hands. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “That’s not funny, but… God, super stuff is so god damn weird. I just…. Everything about it. When I was a little girl, everything seemed more muted. Sure, there was Nightrage and stuff… but… I don’t know. I couldn’t… Have ever imagined being in the same room as an immortal fairy woman who has fought in wars on Mars and been to other dimensions.” She drained the last of her drink, and looked at the glass, analyzing her reflection in the glass and then looking over to Lynn. She looked very tired at the moment. Then she straightened up and put the glass down. “And of course I find out I’m probably never going to die of old age. Checked in with Rachel, and my cells and the DNA in them have basically been made so tough as to never really break down. Which, you know, hard to kind of accept that I’m apparently just always going to look like this. Eventually, Mia and I are going to look the same age, and then… If she’s inherited that… Same thing will happen to her kids,” she said. “Do you think people who put on the costume are cursed to deal with weirdness, or something? Because this didn’t start happening again until I started doing this whole Corona thing.”

Mia quirked her mouth in amusement at Leroy. “You don’t need to fix it, Leroy. I just… needed some people who would listen, that’s all. Besides, unless you’re willing to 86 her, I don’t think there’s any real way you could. It’s just something I’m gonna hafta live with, I guess.” Mia flopped down on the couch at Judy’s invitation. She got the feeling that Judy was skeptical, but she wasn’t going to push it. Still, she looked over at the movie, then back at Judy. “You know, Judy, it’s okay. I just like hangin’ out with you guys and if you don’t wanna watch the movie, that’s good with me,” she said. “As for the dad jokes, whenever I used to complain to my dad that I was hungry, he’d say “Oh no, I thought you were Mia!” then he’d pretend to go look for me.” “And yeah, Ashley… Maybe it won’t be so bad. Still, she better not touch my stuff while I’m gone or I’m going to… I don’t know. Conjure a giant septic tank and put her in it. Still… I get she’s got a rough time going,” she said, sighing. “Still don’t like it.” “Oh well. Anyone wanna do something different instead of the movie? You know, until Leroy is banished back to the boyzone for curfew.”

Upon entry into New York, Mia was happy to be lead around by Lulu. She was familiar with New York, both parents had taken her on visits. Her mom on delivery stuff, her dad just because he wanted to take her. Still, there was something inherently impressive about New York, especially Times Square. It had achieved a near-mythical status in culture, much like Freedom City, albeit in a very different way. When Lulu said it was their first slice, Mia scoffed. “It is not my first slice of New York pizza, thank you,” she said indignantly but with a grin. “My mom’s from Newark, I’ve been here a few times!” The man at the counter mostly just seemed amused, and Mia decided to put up her order first. “Alright, I’m looking for something with green olives and sausage if you have that. What about you, Lulu?”

Mia's frustration was suddenly replaced with intense confusion, followed by a sudden surge of horror. "I, uh, no! I mean, my mom does love for who I am. We talk like every day," she said as she reached for her phone and turned it on, before showing a text conversation she had that afternoon where the two of them talked about Thanksgiving plans. "See? Like I'm not... We're not... I'm upset about Jenna. Uh, that's my half-sister's name. Like I said, I get why mom did it but like... I'm not ready for it, I guess. I mean, yeah, I'm kinda mad she... you know, let Jenna stay home... but also Jenna intentionally got rid of all her powers, so..." She shrugged her shoulders. "Also, Jenna calls my mom by her first name and I feel like I should be happy about that but it still feels rude to me? Like I don't know what I want her to call my mom but it's not 'Serena'. She's just weird and intrusive and she's just forced herself into our lives and I'm not happy with how at home she's made herself." "So... yeah. I'm not abandoned, I just have someone muscling into my life."

GM The man looked over at Valkyrja with a wicked grin, licking his teeth and rubbing his gnarled hands together. “Oh, I’ve done nothing,” he said with a smile. “The cabinet has done everything. It is a portal to my home plane, a place incomprehensible to you or your Gods’ feeble minds, one that now houses Ms. Wells’ soul! Soon, her mortal vessel will be inhabited by one of my kind, to wield the power only her wealth can attain. And there’s nothing you can do.” He threw back his head and cackled, and the veins in his neck moved strangely as he did so. Then he looked back at Valkyrja with eyes like fire. He suddenly stood up straight, walking towards her. “There’s nothing you can do, now, nothing at all. So, unless you intend to join her, why don’t you run along now?” His voice changed, gaining a terrible bass to it along with the sound of another, more guttural voice layered atop it. The lights in the room shimmered and shook, and everything grew quite cold for a moment. “Run along now, you three-dimensional vermin.”

Serena frowned at Lynn's response, and felt the need to clarify this situation. "Look, it's just... We're going to the Moon in three days to fight my insane ex-best friend and the man who used me. And, and it's, it's like... This is all crazy. Even just going to the Moon is probably the most dangerous thing I have ever done. I hadn't even left the United States until I went to Bosnia two years ago," she said, sighing. "And it means you're doing something dangerous for me that you didn't have to do. Hell, twice now, considering that Heather sicced her kids on us just a few weeks ago. And... I guess... Ugh. Okay, so, what I mean to say is that first, I am sort of motivated because like, come on, the MOON? There are just so many dangers up there and I don't want to... Yeah... And the second is that I don't believe in good people or bad people, I believe in people that do good and bad things and you've done a lot of good for me when you didn't have to," she said. She frowned in thought, trying to salvage this on you. "I am sorry for springing this on you. I just... Even if nothing came of it, I hate lying about how I feel... And I understand if I messed things up and you have to let me go. I can find something elsewhere if you'd prefer it."

Serena rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, you are just the most theatric," Serena said with a smirk. "And I guess, but I care what you think of me. I mean, you're my friend and I know you wouldn't judge me, but... You know. I don't want you to see me like that." Serena leaned forward and picked up a plate of chinese food for herself. She looked over at Lynn for a moment, then koo began to stuff her face with egg rolls to try and distract herself. Who even gets a crush on their boss, anyway? Serena thought to herself. Then she realized. Wait, I am 41 years old. Why am I doing this teenage stuff? "Lynn, I gotta be honest with you. I am probably attracted to you. I meant, not probably. I am. And um... I just need to be honest with you about that. I'm sorry to make this weird, but like... I'm 41 today, and that's just... I don't want to wast any time hiding that fact."

Serena nodded, feeling weirdly nice about having Lynn's arm around her shoulder. She understood everything Lynn was saying. This was a weird situation for all of them, and it would pass eventually. Though probably not without work on Serena's part. For that, she was going to try and be the best about it as she possibly could. After all, both girls were going to need her in different ways. "I'm... glad you're a friend, Lynn," she said with a small smile. "Why you keep doing so much for a screw-up like me, I will never understand but I really appreciate just... having you around." She chewed her lip for a moment, then looked over at Lynn. "I really wish you hadn't seen me like this, like this messy... I don't know. It's embarrassing, you know?"

The Meta-Naut The Meta-Naut realized she had made things awkward, which was no good at all. She wandered over and patted Justice on the shoulder. "Look, I just meant... Genius isn't just smarts, you know? It's creativity and the ability to go through with those ideas you have. Not everyone could do what you did. I certainly couldn't. You should be proud of what you achieved. Maybe virtuoso is a better term, or something?" She shrugged and backed off. "Anyway, yeah, I know her. Keep it to yourself, though, I'm only telling you because I feel like you're the sort of person you can trust with that information. She's a pretty private lady." She wandered away, heading back over to one of the tables and looking over the assembled objects, and then over at Justice. "Anything in particular you're working on at the moment? Maybe got some new tricks for the bad guys?"

Serena looked over at Benny, happy to be way from the fairly precarious question. But now she was back to this one. As Benny clarified, she nodded and thought about it. “Well… What works for me. These days, I don’t need it as much. But… It’s not… For me, it really is just a practice of self-control. It’s taking a moment to step back from what’s making you feel that way and breathing and just asking yourself ‘is this what I want to be doing’? It’s not… It’s something you have to practice. You have to practice being aware of what you’re doing and what could happen if you lose control. It started with the little victories for me. Managing to recognize I was about to get in an argument and just leaving the area. Eventually that became defusing, which worked out better. Catching myself thinking spiteful things and recognizing that was bad. Mindfulness, basically.” “I think the same thing applied for crime stuff. Just stopping and analyzing when I was thinking about stealing something, about why I wanted to do it and why I shouldn’t. And yeah, sometimes you’re thinking faster than that, but I genuinely believe that you can change instinct by affecting the more… aware part of you, I guess, first. My instincts were trained to be criminal at first, but that meant they could be trained again, so I did. ” “Like does that answer your question? I think I got it this time but…” She gestured her hand in a circle.

Mia considered it for a moment, then shrugged. “Nah, New York’s still in the USA, so there’s no border crossing stuff so you know, going downtown late is no different than New York. It should be fine. Besides, I’d really like to get a genuine slice, you know?” She grinned at Lulu, and Mia hooked her arm around Lulu’s. “And I have the perfect movie in mind. It’s called Paprika, and you’re gonna love it,” she said, before the world began to bend around them, and then there was a crack, and they were standing in an alley not that far from Times Square. People were hussling and bustling about, even at this late hour. The streetlights were on, and the air was crisp, each breath producing a blast of fog. “Alright, Lulu, now you gotta find the pizza place.”

Serena stared at the young man for a moment, and her mouth became a crooked line as she debated how to best answer this question without being kicked out. She was pretty sure she was being paid for this talk, and not to mention getting kicked out would probably lead to Mia getting made fun of which she really didn’t want. “WELL! Okay, I’m… Yeaaahhh…” she stumbled as she sucked on her teeth. “So the prison system in this country is not the best. There are a lot of issues, especially in who is being sent to prison and how long… There are a lot of people whose lives prison does not help. I was a case in which I needed to be removed from the environment I was in. I’m not really smart enough to address how we’re supposed to reform the prison system…” She bit her tongue at the thought of maybe we should abolish them… “Uh… Yes. Prisons focused on retributive justice over rehabilitation have been proven time and time again to cause drastically increased rates of recidivism. But there are prisons, especially ones meant to hold powered individuals, that currently focus on a rehabilitative model, and right now there is a huge push to make things like therapy and counselling a larger part of the sentence for those who want. There’s plenty of literature on prison reform out there that you can easily find all over the web.” “As for me… It was what worked. I don’t think it was just the fear. The therapy in juvie really did help… I… Yeah.

Mia was shocked at the sudden outpouring of support from her friends. Shocked enough that she started to feel her eyes get misty. No! Not now, that’s so lame! She thought to herself. But it was too late. The waterworks started. She started blubber inelegantly, taking a minute before getting herself back under control. She looked up at the others. “I mean, I don’t know…” she said quietly. “I’m not really… pursuing anyone. I still don’t really know who or what I’m into and… Besides, no one’s really been interested either and… I don’t know.” She rubbed gently at her eyes, and straightened her back. “I’m sorry for losing it there, I’m just…” She rubbed at her temples. “It’s been difficult. School’s been hard and I’ve already had to talk to a teacher because I’m having trouble with one of my classes and I miss home and… Those texts I got… They were from my half-sister. She just barges into my life and she wants to be friends, all of a sudden. Mom didn’t even know she existed until a few months ago and she’s like… She’s this weird test-tube baby one of her enemies made and she gets to live with mom while I am at school here. And like, I get it. Mom would never turn a kid out onto the street, but… I don’t know. God, she even looks more like mom than I do! She’s prettier than I am! Her life is even more like mom’s than mine.” She groaned. “It’s like meeting the person you were switched at birth with and finding out they’re just… way better at being your mom’s kid than you are. And then she wants to be my friend, I guess, but I am not… ready for that.”

Corona - 10 IC posts, 7 (14) GM Posts = 24 posts total = 2 PP Crime Doesn’t Pay - 8 IC Posts Kingmaker: Queen’s Defence - 2 IC Posts, 7 GM Posts The Meta-Naut - 40 IC Posts, 13 (26) GM Posts, 3 Extracurriculars - 66 posts total = 4 PP + 4 from extracurriculars = 8 PP total Compass Rose Tech Expo! - 2 IC Posts Greatest Show Unearthed - 5 IC Posts, 5 GM Posts How the Northwest Was Won - 1 IC Post The Kids Aren’t Alright - 2 IC Posts Meta-Justice - 9 IC Post Meta-Justice Z - 2 IC Posts Otherworld Capers - 5 IC Posts, 6 GM Posts Short Skirt, Long Jacket - 7 IC Posts Uptown Girl - 7 IC Posts, 2 GM Posts Reputation - 1 PP Interview - 1 PP HellQ - 2 PP Soliton - 62 IC Posts, 8 (16) GM Posts = 76 posts total = 4 PP Amygdala - 9 IC Posts, 8 GM Posts Everybody Knows - 1 IC Post Extradimensional Birdwatching Club - 9 IC Posts Getting to Know You - 19 IC Posts Late Arrival - 3 IC Posts Rainbow Connection - 5 IC Posts Tech Compliance - 3 IC Posts Teen Idle - 8 IC Posts Witchy Woman - 5 IC Posts

Soliton Mia stared up at Danica in confusion. Why was she talking to her like she was actually a little kid? Still, the plan was sound enough. Danica's shell was a pocket dimension in and of itself, which meant it might mess with whatever this room was. If it was an illusion, it could break connection to their brains. If it wasn't, and was some sort of dimensional hocus pocus, then maybe going into Danica's own dimension would triumph over whatever the house was doing to them. If it didn't work... well, she didn't know what she would do. "Okay," Mia said, sounding determined as she furrowed her little brow. She turned to the others, and rushed over on her little legs, only to be caught by Ms. Johansen's mind powers. She pumped her little legs furiously, but she was soon sat down on her butt in the circle. "Now, now," Ms. Johansen chided. "You can run around after story-time, okay?" Mia sighed. "Fine, whatever," she said poutily, folding her arms. She really didn't want to have to stick around for the story-time. She had no real patience for whatever passed for toddler entertainment, and she wanted to get through this room and the rest as fast as possible. Alright, Lulu, if you can hear me, we've got a game plan. We gotta get into Danica's shell, she thought, hoping the telepath was listening. Then, a devilish thought occurred to her. She reached into her own pocket dimension, trying to grab the party punch she had stored earlier. What she got was instead a cup with a lid and a straw on top of it. She frowned. "Aw, come on." There was a niggling part of her that suggested maybe this had broader implications, but right now she was too frustrated to care.

Mia's eyebrows flew up in confusion. Homophobic? What? She stared at Judy in horror for a moment, before mustering up a response. "Homophobic? The guy who wrote it was Richard O'Brien. Like... He's genderfluid and into both. And... Okay, so, so, so the plot it's... Yeah, sure from a surface point of view it indulges in like, stereotypes but look at how it's actually framed. Frank-N-Furter is liberated. Look at how Brad and Janet are all up-tight and basically like... neurotic messes until they meet him. Not to mention, he's openly and proudly breaking gender-norms and he's into guys and he's not ashamed of that. Like this was made in 1975. He's the villain, but he's out and he's proud of it and that was super rare back then. Oh, sure, you had gay and effeminate guys as characters back then, but they were always wimps who were treated as nothing more than a punchline. But look at the doc. He is always, always in charge of the scene, whenever he is in it. He's loud, he's fun, he's... not ashamed that he's kind of a weirdo." "For once, the straight characters are the interlopers. They're the ones forced to be the odd ones out. Everyone else is having a great time but Brad and Janet don't until they let go of the traditional sorta... Like... American stuffiness of the time and give into the gay chaos," she said, and then realized just how animated she was getting. She sighed, her face faltering. "I don't know... I just always really liked this movie. I kinda... I mean... Like I've always been a little weird and I kinda wish I could be as comfortable with it as people like Frank-N-Furter was, you know? He doesn't care how he looks. I wish I could do that instead of wincing every time I look in the mirror because I'm some... big... lanky... beanpole with no boobs who's way too skinny..." She went to reach for the remote. "We can watch something else, sorry."

Mia watched with rapt attention, a massive, dopey grin on her face for most of it. However, occasionally, her phone would buzz. Her face would falter and turn into a scowl, and then she would angrily hammer a text off. By the third time, she finally just turned her phone off, sitting with arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. Her mood quickly lifted with the movie, and she went back to enjoying herself and singing along with a few of the songs. She also spent a fair bit of time watching the others' reactions. She put up with Leroy because he was new to this dimension, though booing Frank-N-Furter got him a withering glare. No one dissed the doc on her watch. The rest of the commentary, though, she was fine with. People normally did way more disruptive things when watching the movie as a group, anyway. Eventually, she ditched the top hat since it was kind of itchy, and the blazer followed soon after. She had no idea how Columbia's actress actually managed to wear it through all the takes.

Serena nodded at the door statement. She very much would have done that. But now that Lynn was here, she was okay with giving up the fight for now and just letting things progress as they would. She did smile as Beelzie gave Lynn his love. The cat wanted to be everyone's friend. "Well, look, Lynn. I don't really... Do birthday stuff. It always sucked at the foster homes and after Mia was born I wanted to save money to spend on her birthday instead since it's so close to mine. And, and, and it's like... We're going to the Moon in three days and I am stressed out and I am worried about taking Jenna in and how Mia is just sort of pretending she doesn't exist and..." She sighed and took the glass of whiskey, taking a strong gulp of it before setting the glass down and holding her head between her hands, staring down at the carpet, which definitely needed a good cleaning. "I don't know what I am doing anymore."

Serena scowled up at the sky. Mia had insisted on doing birthday stuff with her yesterday, even though Serena had never really been one to celebrate her own birthday. Partially it was because she wanted to save the money to spend on Mia’s birthday, and partially because birthdays had never really been a happy thing for her growing up. Serena was, in some ways, a birthday Grinch, and her daughter knew that. She sighed, and hurriedly yanked on her jeans, looking at Lynn over her shoulder. “Yeah, sure, why not,” she said. She looked down at her grease-stained shirt, wondering if she should change more, but decided against it. She placed the cardboard lid back on top of her bucket of chicken, and sat up straight so Lynn could take a seat. “If I had known you were coming I would have dressed up a little more,” she said glumly. “Or, you know, been wearing pants.” From out of her bedroom came a massive orange and black cat, a Maine Coon, which was both fat and had a face like Ron Perlman. It waddled through the room, before immediately leaping up onto Lynn the moment she sat down. It was not a comfortable experience, given that the cat was at least 28 lbs, but he was already rubbing himself against her and purring. “Hey, this is Beelzebub, my cat. He was… one of Wu’s projects. He’s about… 25 years old? I don’t know. He’s one of Wu’s first attempts at slowed ageing and it seems like he’s probably just immortal.”

Serena’s Apartment, the Fens, Freedom City Saturday, August 17, 2019 (Serena’s birthday) Evening “Jenna, honey, I’m back with dinner,” Serena said as she muscled into her apartment, carrying a big bucket of fried chicken. She hadn’t been feeling like cooking, lately, not that she ever really did, and it was hard to figure out what the latest arrival to her home was into. Ever since she had taken Jenna in, it had all been touch and go. She flipped on the light to her apartment to see that no one was there. Then, she remembered. Jenna was over with Lester for the weekend to spend time with her little brother. Looking down at the bucket of chicken in her arms, she groaned. Well, I guess I’m having chicken for breakfast tomorrow, she thought to herself. Sighing, she tossed her keys onto the tiny kitchen counter, and wandered towards the fridge. Seeing the six-pack of Coors she had stored in there, she picked it up by the ring and flopped onto her couch, turning on the TV. Time passed pretty quickly. Serena’s pants were gone, she was on her tenth piece of chicken and her fourth can of beer. The lights were back off, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force was flickering on the screen. She giggled dumbly to herself at the stupid gags, eyes fixed to the screen. The fact that she was going to the Moon in 3 days was now far from her mind as she focused on the show instead. Raising the can of beer to her lips, she saw a small reflection in the glossy cover of the can. She blinked, and then turned around to see the person who had entered her house. Lynn? She looked down, seeing that she was in a grease-stained t-shirt, crummy zip-up hoodie and her underpants and flopped down off the couch. “AAAAaaaaaa how did you get into my apartment?”