Shofet

Mia cackled as she took the joint back from Lulu. “Oh my God! The cheap haircuts, yeah. Okay, so one time my dad decided he was going to go ahead and try to cut my hair himself. What came out of that made me cry for days. I got called mushroom-head at school. I tried to get my mom to get me hair extensions to cover it up but I just had to let it grow back in. And that is why, by the way, my hair is so long. I refused to get a haircut after that for like forever.” She sighed at the memories, wriggling in the blanket to get more comfortable as she flicked off some of the ash and took another puff. “I suppose you’ve probably heard from Ash or Danica… or someone about my whole… ish. If you didn’t… My mom was a super-villain, didn’t complete high-school. So options were pretty limited, you know? The most frustrating thing though? I could have fixed it. I could have made all the stuff we needed but she didn’t let me. She was afraid my powers would draw attention or something.” Handing the joint back over, she looked at Lulu. “I… That’s why if I seem like… super eager to use my powers? It’s because I didn’t get a chance. I just… Can you imagine what it’s like? Knowing you could fix everything and not being allowed to? It drove me crazy! It still does. And of course my mom freaks the hell out when I get caught shoplifting, like… Well, if you’re not going to let me make nice stuff, I should be at least allowed to have it. I can’t keep getting all my shirts from f###ing goodwill and eating McDonalds or whatever.” She realized she was getting animated. “Sorry.”

Mia shrugged her shoulders, and held the joint up before beginning to burn the twisted paper at the tip before putting it in her mouth and starting to puff. Taking a deep draw, she blew it out of her nose. She had heard that it made the stuff work quicker, but she never actually followed up and checked out whether that was true. Being a seasoned veteran, she only made a few slight coughs before she handed it over to Lulu. “It’s cool that we can hang out like this. At my old school, girl like you would never agree to smoke with someone like me,” she said. “Which kinda stinks. I mean, yeah, I’m poor and a little scuzzy or whatever but they didn’t have to treat me like that.” She looked over at Lulu. “Honestly, people sucked back at my old school. One kid would always make fun of me because when my mom was a waitress she served their family occasionally, and I guess that was enough to make fun of her. Joke’s on her, though, the cooks totally spit in her family’s food because they tipped like crap.”

GM There was a distinct electricity to the air as Hologram destroyed the devices allowing them teenagers to teleport away, back into their mother’s care. A crackle and a pressure. “Psion, what did you?” boomed the voice. “No, no… I can’t… We can’t… NO.” Suddenly, there was a low, anguished moan. The pressure grew thicker, and all the remaining cars on the street raised up into the air, holding for a moment, before suddenly crunching into tiny little cubes. Windows in every house in the cul-de-sac shattered, and for a moment, everyone lifted off the ground before lowering them back “No, no, no! You can’t do this! Give me back my babies!” Heather wailed. “You can’t take them from me! They’re all I have! You can’t take them! You can’t! You’re evil!” The air around them shook, mailboxes bending and lamp posts suddenly bursting with electricity. Now, it sounded like Heather was audibly sobbing directly into their brains. But Louis looked unsure. He shifted uncomfortably, looking around himself. He hugged himself, and looked at the ground, eyes misting up. “Mom… I love you a lot, but I think you need help, and I don’t think I should go home until you get it.” “What are you saying? Honey, no. Please, no. Honey, come on. These people, they’re not… You can’t… No, why are you doing this?” Louis choked back a sob. “Mom… I’m sorry.” “Jenna, come on. You can pick them all up. Things are crazy right now but I need you to do that for me. No one’s in trouble or anything, but you all need to get home.” Jenna looked over at Serena, then up at the sky. She frowned deeply. “You lied to me, didn’t you? About my other mom. She didn’t abandon us. She didn’t even know about me.” “Jenna, I would never lie to you! Honey, please, you’re being silly!” “I’m… Sorry, mommy. I need some time so I can think,” Jenna replied. “...Casey?” Liteshow sighed, and nodded. “I’m coming home soon as I figure out how to get free, don’t you worry. I’ll get them back too.” “Oh, you’re such a good boy, Casey… I… I understand things are crazy right now, all of you. I’m not mad, I’m just… a little hurt right now…” The psychic chatter suddenly devolved into what sounded like hysterical sobbing. Liteshow took the time to look at his two siblings who had refused to listen to their mother. “You’re both traitors. You’re making mom cry. I’m disgusted with both of you. Can’t even believe we’re related. Absolutely no loyalty at all.” “I… I’m going to go… I need to think about some things… Casey, you get them back as soon as you can.”

@Electra since Paige has danger sense AND precog, she can tell that the kids are going to be teleported away by a device on their person, located just above the heart. Precog tells her Richard could probably race over and remove two of them before it happens.

GM Liteshow jerked at the crumbling of the Speed Troopers, eyes wide. "Hey!" He struggled for a moment, but Mamba's grip on him was tight. He sighed, and dropped to his knees. The steam was finally out of him. "Sorry, mom," he said up to the ether. "I just can't keep fighting." Unexpectedly, there came a response, echoing in the heard of everyone present. In the voice of a woman boomed the words: "It's okay honey, I understand. I asked too much of all of you. You all have to be very tired. Just sit tight and we'll have you teleported out of there soon enough, okay? Now, I just need to talk to the people you were fighting." "I bet you all think you've won here, beating up on a bunch of teenagers. But you haven't, not yet. We're going to go away for a little while, but we'll be back, and I will reunite my family no matter what you do. I have one of the most brilliant minds in human history on my side and more than that, evil people like you never, ever prosper. So just keep that in mind, okay? I'm not going to lose to selfish people like you." "To my old friends, my family. Serena, Rachel... Adrian. I am sorry you've all been brainwashed against me, but I promise, we're going to fix this. We're going to be a family again. I am sorry I have done some things that I regret, but it's... I am going to make it up to you. I promise. When we're back together it will be like when we were kids... Except we'll have our own, too! A big family." "Mr. Archer, I don't blame you either. You're young and impressionable and I know you're just doing what you think is right. Trust me, I get it. But your mentor, he's a bad man and he'd led you astray. more than that, you're not helping Serena. She's very, very confused right now. Please, just let her come home. If you want, you can even join us." "AND AS FOR THE PSION, I know what you people are like. You and your junkie husband might have everyone else fooled, but you are not going to manipulate my friends and family against me. Do you understand? If you EVER try and talk my babies into hating me again, I will consider turnabout fair play, do you understand me? I will not have your bad influence ruining everything for me." "Facsimile... You already hurt my little Jenna. You are on my list, young man. Merge Trois? You're just tacky. And Black Mamba... What I said to the Psion about turnabout? That applies to you too. I am not afraid to punch below the belt if it means protecting my kids. And as for Grimalkin... Well, what can you say about a grown woman who pretends to be a teenager that isn't already on everyone's minds?" "So!" chirped the voice. "I think that covers everyone. Say goodbye to the grown-ups, sweethearts, I will be teleporting you out of there now."

GM Ms. Johansen sighed, rubbing her temples. The kids were cute, but they did not like to follow instructions. Which was mostly understandable, they hadn't been speaking full sentences for all that long, all things considered. Thankfully, Danica seemed to have at least one aspect under control. While she didn't want to capitulate, she realized that it was probably time to just go along with things. Using her mental powers, she levitated the blocks up and out of Davyd's grasp, and up on top of the shelf where it would be difficult for him to reach. "I'm sorry, Davie, but it is time for the circle. Also, if you grow wings to fly up there, I will tell your mother. So, come on, it's time for the circle." She moved towards the centre, taking a seat. "Alright, everybody! Today's Halloween, and I'm seeing some nice costumes! Your parents are going to be taking you out trick-or-treating tonight, but before then, I'd like to read everyone a story. How does that sound?" she said, as she pulled out a book. The more 'normal kids' rocked on their bottoms, looking excited. "It's about a square pumpkin!"

7. Wasn't likely she was going to succeed anyway.

Soliton "Oh thank God," Mia said as she hugged Lulu closely to her. "You're back." Dio running over made her feel even better. So they weren't in the minority. That was good. Lulu's psychic powers were indispensable, and Dio had one of the greatest powers of all: common sense. Combined with her teleporting and Astrid's wanton violence, she figured they might just be able to fix things and get out of this dumb room and onto the next. The information that Ms. Johansen believed in all this was troubling, though. No matter. "Kay, I got it," she said. "Lulu, you need to go snap Davyd out of it too. Dio, try and do the same with Leroy. I am gonna go get Danica and Astrid so we can make our plan. Okay? Okay. Go!" She wasted no time in hustling over to Danica and Astrid, not even realizing what had just happened to them. Right now, she was just focused on succeeding. "Hey! Okay, I got Lulu back to her senses and I am really sorry about your fingers, Astrid, but we need to rally here. Danica, you're still an adult so you are gonna hafta do a lot of the heavy lifting, here!"

The Meta-Naut "I mean, I have been held hostage by lunatic carnies for days now. Now I have clown makeup on my face I can't take off and my ex is still missing. So... No, probably not okay," she whispered huffily. "But I don't think the slime has poisoned me or anything. I haven't gotten sick yet beyond from the smell." They seemed to clear the ticket booth with ease, the ticket master more concerned with eating the scraps of slime from his former self while the Dragoneer attempted to talk to him as if absolutely nothing was wrong. Raya barely suppressed a shudder of revulsion. "Anyway, I'm Raya Wells, but keep that under your hat." If Brom Steele had mentioned her after the relationship, it had not been in a positive light. When he had broken up with her, the words he had used were "I am supposed to be your boyfriend, not your babysitter," except with a few more expletives. Even all the lavish gifts wasn't enough to change his mind. Raya admitted she could be immature, but she didn't understand why he had to go and say something like that. "Anyway, car time," she said.

Mia grinned, and took Lulu by the arm. "Okay, just hold on, and just so you know, it gets a little disorienting when I take people along, so just take a moment to get your bearings after I teleport us over." With that, time and space bent around them, and for the briefest of moments, Lulu got to experience what it was like to exist in two spots at once, something Mia had long ago gotten used to. Then, with a crack, they found themselves in a secluded area near the main building, out of the line of sight of any possible cameras to form a veritable blindspot. A tree hung overhead, swaying slightly in the cold air. In the distance, lamps lit the area around them, but it was relatively dim here. The air was chilly as November nights were wont to be, enough to make Mia's skin raise in goosebumps at the sudden temperature change." "Brr," Mia said. "Alright, let's just..." With her powers, she created a blanket large enough to wrap around both of them before she began to summon up the requisite ingredients from her pocket dimension. Soon enough, she had a joint. She looked over at Lulu, eyebrow raised as she held her prize up to the light. "Do you want to be the one to light up, or should I get us started?" She waved her lighter, a little bic, enticingly.

Mia grinned, and sat up. "Eh, they definitely have cameras on the roof, but I got a spot," she said, rolling up onto her butt and pulling on a pair of slippers. She was glad that Lulu had agreed so readily, she kind of wondered what the girl would be like stoned. Probably not all that different, in most situations Lulu seemed pretty chill so probably not a lot would change. Not much changed for Mia, all things considered. "So," she said. "Do you wanna sneak up or should I just be teleporting us both together?" She figured teleporting would be okay, but she wanted to make sure. Some people got pretty tetchy about the idea of hurling themselves through time and space like Mia did. She knew that Lulu had some concealing powers of her own, but she had no idea if they would work on her, so her own vote was definitely for teleportation, but she would respect the telepath's decision.

Claremont Academy, Freedom City Early November Just Past Midnight The room was dark, illuminated only by the flickering of the screen. Mia rested on her side, dressed in a sleep-shirt and comfortable pajama pants. Normally, she just went with the t-shirt, but it was colder in Lulu’s room than it was in her own. Danica had to maintain a fairly warm temperature, after all. It was normally tolerable, but it was good to get out of it sometimes. Normally, the sound coming out of her laptop would have been Japanese, but she had been forced to agree to use the dub this time. It was a concession she was not entirely happy about but she agreed to it anyway. Not everyone tolerated her weeb trash, and besides, the screen wasn’t the biggest anyway. After a few moments, though, a thought passed into her head. She turned on her side, and looked over at Lulu. They had been through a lot. Even though the Black House had, externally, only had them in there for an hour or two at most, the interior made it feel longer. A lot longer. It had helped her build a stronger bond with the girl, and honestly, she liked hanging out with her even if they did seem to occupy really different worlds at times. “So,” Mia said. “You wanna go get high and maybe get a pizza or something?” she asked Lulu. “No class tomorrow or anything.”

Ms. Johansen rolls a 28! But since you rolled a 20, I'll call it a success. This is what she is thinking: "Oh, poor baby! I'm co-- oh, oh, her mom's got her, it's all good. Oof, we need to put some padding on that thing. God, so many things that could get them hurt... Going to have to keep a closer eye on everyone. And oh, I hear someone snooping in my heaaaaad. Who is it?"

OOC for Puppy Love. @Grumblefloof

Soliton Patrol. It was weird to be on patrol. That was what Soliton was thinking when she was sitting some 600 feet up, legs dangling over the edge of a skyscraper. She was dressed in her costume, a black and white mix-and-match thing that she had generated this morning, complete with domino mask. When she was done with it, she’d disintegrate it and then make a new one the next time she needed it. It was a habit she was cultivating so that she would never one day have someone, like… discover her costume and figure out her secret identity. But then again, how many heroes were 6’01” women? Maybe she was overthinking this. You had a lot of time to overthink when on patrol, especially when she had been told to leave things to the older, more experienced heroes if she could. It was almost like they didn’t want her to get any experience. Why even bother giving them these costumes if they couldn’t fight bad guys? At least she wasn’t alone. She had opted to take Octo-Man along with her for this little excursion. He wasn’t part of her squad, but she felt she meshed pretty well with the guy, all things considered. Besides, she understood he had done some heroing out of school and that was always helpful. She was broken out of her thoughts when the sound of sirens cut through the air. A manic smile crossed her face, and she teleported down next to Octo-Man Tapping him on the shoulder, she maintained her grin. “Ben, I hear sirens. It’s hero time, buddy,” she said, making sure her lips were plainly visible to him. She hadn’t mastered ASL yet, and probably wouldn’t for a while, so this was the next best thing. “I’d race you to the crime scene but we both know I’d be there first.”

GM North End, Freedom City Saturday, October 26, 2019 11:05 AM Dr. Martin Meyer was having a rough day. First, his five year old son had come down with the flu unexpectedly, meaning he had to watch over the poor kid who was busy puking his guts out. Then, he got a call from his job at ASTRO Labs demanding he come in. They weren’t particularly sympathetic when he told them his kid was sick, so he had to scramble to find his son a babysitter. Now, he was running late and getting a million angry texts because some lunatic super had melted the asphalt on the road, causing a jam. “Metas…” he hissed under his breath, trying to ignoring the vibration of his phone in the seat next to him. “Oh, doc,” came the voice of a young man that made Dr. Meyer jump. “I would say I’m disappointed you seem to hate us meta-people, but I’m not really surprised.” Martin wheeled around, eyes wide, to see one of his charges, Gabriel Napolitano, sitting in the back seat. “Why aren’t you at the lab?” Martin asked, his throat suddenly running dry on him. Slowly, his hand began drifting toward the glovebox. “The lab? Why would I want to be at the lab? They’re gonna take my powers away there,” Gabriel said. “You’re going to take my powers away. I don’t think I want that.” Dr. Meyer slowly popped the glove compartment open, one eye settling on the gun inside. “Gabriel, you’re sick. The source of you powers is unstable, you could…” Gabriel barked a laugh. “Oh, yeah, that’s what you keep telling us,” he said. “But somehow, given that you’re reaching for that gun, I’m starting to think you’re just scared of us.” Martin stopped, his hand drifting back toward himself. “Us?” Just then, a terrible screeching noise came from above him as molten fingers dug into the hood of his car and began to peel it away. Within moments, Martin could see her standing above him, her skin glowing like molten steel: Angela Ruiz. “Hey, Dr. Meyer!” she said, still visibly smiling despite the brilliance of her molten skin. Martin, realizing he was in serious danger, quickly grabbed the gun and let loose a bullet right into her midsection. She cried out, and Gabriel rose up to to try and help her. Martin used his chance, and threw himself out of the car, running through the cars to try and find a way to safety. “Help!” he cried. “Someone help me! They’re going to kill me!” Gabriel watched as his girlfriend reverted to her normal form, clutching her stomach and groaning. Despite the residual heat, he threw his arms around her. “Angela!” he cried, realizing then that he might be about to lose her. Gently, Angela pushed him away, and pulled at the bullet hole in her suit to reveal that there was no actual damage. “…I think I’m really durable,” she said with amazement. “…Yeah, there’s no damage. Hurt, though.” Gabriel’s eyes lit up, and he kissed her furiously on the lips. “Oh, honey, I love you.” “Aw, I love you too, Gabe,” Angela cooed, her voice sickly sweet. “Do you wanna go and melt Dr. Meyer’s skin off?” Gabriel grinned ferally. “Yeah, I sure do. Let’s go make him die screaming.” With that, he dissolved himself back into toxic smoke, and rose up into the air, looking down over the maze of cars. “MEYER!” he roared. “COMING FOR YOU, BUDDY!”

Mia felt terror run up her spine as she heard Ashley's voice. She knew that the girl erred on the side of... legalistic, and as such she would have to use some legal judo to keep her butt out of the fire to keep the girl from keeping her away from one of the best friends she had earned in the school since then. Curse you, Ashley Smith! "DYUHHH," Mia said, nearly jumping out of her skin. "Uh! Well, I was doing nothing illegal. Because you see, we're in another dimension, and as I discovered by reading the USG's website, United States law does not apply to other dimensions! And also no one can be tried for extradimensional acts under US law!" She quickly stored her illicit goods into the other dimension. "And also I was doing nothing illegal in the first place," she said. "So yeah."

Mia shrugged her shoulders, and then pulled out a few things from her pocket dimension. The first was a 'small' (and by that I mean massive) baggy of weed, which she proceeded to take a hefty sample from before placing it back into the ether, and then producing a grinder. Quickly, she shredded the contents into a manageable size, before she produced the piece-de-resistance: The micro-bong. Quickly assembling it, she used her powers to fill it up with water, before she freed up her lighter and began to go to town. A rippling sound filled the night air, interspersed with a few coughs. "Alright, buddy, just lemme know if you find anything," she said. It was nice to be out here, without judgment. Mia could already feel the stuff taking effect. She had gone with a hybrid with a high potency, because she had been smoking for two years and had grown used to the weaker stuff. She kind of wished Lulu was here. She imagined that girl would be super down. "You ever gotten high before, Davyd?"

I am going to give you an option to fail here, to get both your HP back and another one. You don't have to take it. But first I will explain the effects so you can decide. Danica, for a moment, feels a sudden feeling wash over her. A protectiveness over two individuals: Astrid and Mia. Something tells her they are her babies, and she needs to protect them and treat them as such especially. Any evidence to the contrary is just wrong. The house, for whatever reason, wants her to think they are her kids. Maybe because they've retained enough sense that taking them seriously is dangerous to its narrative. If you choose to pass, it's only a mild, lingering sense letting you know this is the role that the universe wants in place.

Since @Electra got to Astrid with Danica first, Astrid is now charmed by Danica. That means that Astrid feels weirdly compliant with any requests Danica has. More than that, weirdly enough, there is a slight edit in reality. Astrid's new last name is Astrid Holmes, and as long as the charm lasts, Astrid feels a weird filial bond to Danica. Danica, gimme a DC 25 will save.

The Meta-Naut Raya could not shake the feeling that there was something wrong about the house. Everything seemed like it was normal. There was nothing lacking, nor anything extra. But perhaps that was it. It seemed almost as if the house had been constructed by rote, by an algorithm that told the builders that this was how a house was constructed and decorated. However, anticipation at receiving her prize quelled this feelings. Following the old man into the darkness, she descended down the steps. And then she saw it. Polybius. Her eyes almost became saucers. She couldn't help herself, she stepped forward towards the cabinet, but was stopped by an oppressive aura of... something. Evil? She looked back at Valkyrie, her eyes wide. Yet she couldn't stop herself. She moved toward the game, and began to start it up. It started out in a standard way. A creator's name popped up. Sinneslochen. That didn't seem right. What seemed less right was how entranced by the machine she was, even as she started. A dull look crossed her face as began to play, polygons flickering in front of her eyes, game music starting up. It was concerning to any normal person who watched, especially when a thin line of drool traced down her chin. But the old man was just smiling.

GM The old man smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I am, I am, so why don't you follow me?" Wheedled the man. He lead them inside his house, where the interior was nothing suspect. It was perhaps a bit dusty, but otherwise neat, with dark-stained hardwood floors and carefully arranged stands and furniture, with the occasional painting of a landscape to liven things up. He lead them to the kitchen, which was not especially interesting, with a meagre fridge and few cabinets, but there was the door to the basement. A simple white door, it betrayed nothing. Opening up revealed a dark stairway done, where the walls were bare concrete and the steps made of cheap wood. The lights there hung from the ceiling, unguarded, with chains to activate them. Each step down the steps gave a terrible creak, as if the stairs were ready to give way beneath them, but they never did. Then, after turning a light, there it was. The cabinet. It was as the legends told, a black cabinet emblazoned with blue lettering at the top. "POLYBIUS" it ominously declared itself. It existed in its own space away from the other clutter - milk crates, the occasional cardboard box and a few stacks of books and magazines - but somehow seemed as though it should be taking up more space than it did. "Well?" He asked. "Would you like to test it? Make sure it is... authentic?"

Adrian is going to wait things out, so now it is up to @RocketLord to go with Archer!

Alright! Ms. Johansen has noticed you, coming over at the right time thanks to your failed stealth save, but what's more important is the failed will save. Now in pain, the tiny side of Astrid is going to take over. For the next bit, she's going to deal with impaired faculties as her brain seeks out any adult to make it better while she uncontrollably shrieks her head off. It seems the House is prepared for Astrid this time.

GM The toy chest remained inviting as Astrid crossed the room. Once she got there, it showed no signs of being booby-trapped or anything else. Yet when she reached inside, the chest seemed to close at exactly at the right time to smash down on her tiny little fingers. While not heavy enough to do any sort of lasting damage, it definitely hurt. A lot. Normally, it was the amount of pain that would make an adult curse for a minute or two, but something in Astrid's little body had been tripped. It was enough to cause a cascade of tears. Ms. Johansen looked up from the mess up goop that was Davyd at the right time, and immediately started racing over, knowing what was about to come next.