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Near Calavera Cantina 1st September 21:00 CDT, 20:00 EDT Every city had a place like this, a place where people hadn't passed on peaceful and the living feared to tread. Those who knew where to look might be able to find a door to a cantina that served the most exclusive clientele. One of that clientele walked through the quiet streets of Freedom City, without any fear from the streets she was transversing. To be fair since she'd returned to the city Lucy Harker, who very rarely went by the name Revenant, didn't really fear anything. In fact, she was pretty excited for the chance to meet up with her friend Nicola that recently moved to another city, and whilst phones were fine it always nice to meet in person. And thanks to both of their unique status they could use this mysterious cantina to meet up easily to catch up on things.

September 4th, 2017, 10.45AM Atlantis, The First Circle, 4 1/2 miles beneath the surface The Tethys slid into the dock, great arms reaching out of the glittering darkness to hold it fast. Hundreds of meters from bow to stern, the craft was Atlantis' principal ambassadorial ship, made to resemble a stylized whale. For the last two hours it had made the lengthy, swift passage to the Wizard's Rest, carrying diplomats and representatives from dozens of nations, organizations and interests. Among them were the supremely British extradimensional envoy Lord Steam and Dol-Druth the Speaker, face of an alien hivemind. The lounge door opened, admitting Ventures Lina and Atherus. Lina spoke first, saying gravely "We have arrived, thank you for you patience." Uniformed in deep blue, metallic green and silver, the Atlantean envoys looked nigh-identical in their space-age fibers and short-cropped black hair and closed green eyes. Lina tapped a crystal on her left bracer, at which the disembarkment hatch opened up across the lounge's outer wall, letting down a ramp 80 feet down to the dock below, up which a squad of Atlantean soldiers and a blonde woman in flowing red metal began to walk. There were murmurs and the discreet snapping of photos as the shining expanse of Atlantis, city of science and sorcery, lay revealed. At first blush, it strongly resembled great rings of luminescent sea coral. Envoy Lina gestured politely to the approaching party "Princess Thetis will escort you to the Palace of Poseidon, where you will have a chance to rest and refresh yourselves after your long journey. Atherus and I will accompany you and ensure you see all you wish and go where you will. Please collect your personal items before you leave, the Tethys may be called into action and we do not wish for you to lose anything, should the vessel be damaged." The surfacers wasted no time, many hurrying to their cabins while others collected the luggage that had never left their side. Dol-Druth snorted, heaving his enormous, corpse-white bulk to his feet, his eyes flashing faintly blue as he called on some of the shared brainpower of his people to complete the process. He had carried nothing with him but a small all-metal suitcase. "A hospitable people, Lord Steam," he remarked, turning his cold black eyes and twitching his antennae in the direction of the oncoming Atlanteans "we suspect they will want a great deal in return. Your thoughts?"

August 10th 9:12PM The Music Room at Claremont Academy. Corinne was following Winifred's advice. While it wasn't her primary passion, it was something else she could do to vent, and maybe make some connections that weren't on shared experience of powers, and teenage trauma. She was an okay drummer, given that she needed to keep so this was more for fun than anything else. Fortunately there was a drum kit here, where she could cut loose. Fortunately, she could play enthusiastically and not have to be something out of Whiplash, or something like that, as she was largely self taught, still 'I Want You to Want Me,' was fun and engaging enough for her to start on before she tried more complicated, or challenging options. She had big headphones on playing the song she wants , and a sleeveless t-shirt for the band Red Fang, a pair of denim capris, and navy blue dock shoes. Her head bobbing along with the beat. Unlike her other pursuits this was just fun. And she needed it.

September 2017 Freedom City They'd tried to fool Aquaria. The Freedom League had called her in to consult about a tribe of Deep Ones passing through a city on the East Coast. She'd told them the truth as far as she could tell; that the tribe passing through was small and isolated, hunter-gatherers rather than would-be conquerors. They'd probably take what food they could find from undersea and then move on. That had been enough - they'd let her go back with the promise that these Deep Ones would be unmolested. They hadn't told her out loud what she was looking at, not in so many words, but she knew the bottom of Great Bay readily enough. A Deep One tribe was here, right here - and so familiar! It was late in early September, in the middle of the long Labor Day weekend, when Sea Devil dived into Great Bay and swam deep, her armor open to the sea around her. It was, it would always be, like coming home. She'd let Jessie stay home for this one, buried deep in her studies. This was something she had to do all by herself...

It seemed there was still some measure of justice in the world, despite all evidence to the contrary in the life of one Raina Sanderson recently of Claremont Academy. Winterfold was THE underground sensation of the decade, at the least of the moment and really that mattered far more in the cutthroat world of high school. The exclusive concert experience was renowned equally for it's rumored a-list guest list as much as it was for it's unique and secretive musical stylings. In a world where every up and coming band flooded the streaming sites with samples, concert footage, and behind the scenes not so exclusives, Winterfold was an enigma, allowing no recordings, publishing only rare stills of energized crowds in packed small venue or pop up concert halls. Top celebutantes would hint at having seen a show, breathlessly describing the scene in vibrant glowing praise before obliquely adding ,"Or so the rumors go." a small nod to the secretive groups mystique. So the fact that Raina had just won an exclusive invitation for herself and a few friends was to say the least good fortune. And better than that, none of those snobs from Next-Gen had gotten anywhere near it despite best efforts of fame, wealth, or 'harmless' exploitation of powers. This was social gold for any teen. With the concert venue in riverside and her own access only revealed the day of the event she had scant time to gather her friends and soon they found themselves before the doors of the small riverside dancehall with the other elite guests. The doorman checked her against a small delightfully vintage printed list and swung the door open slowly granting them entry to a vestibule where another fit young man stood waiting to collect any and all electronic devices before they'd be granted entry.

Content warning: sensuality and off screen sex. This was not as bad as Moira thought it would be. There were a few manufactured homes here, but spaces for mobile homes too. It certainly had it's homeliness. There were a few kids running around the grounds with sticks. They pretended to be heroes. She watched them for a bit as she searched for Maxie's mobile home. They carried on about being The Knights Of Freedom, eliciting a small laugh from her. Finding Maxie's home was just a matter of following directions. Google Maps didn't go in these areas, so she had to traverse back and around. She almost went in a circle before she found it! At least it fit the description. She sighed and hoped it was the right one. Knoccking on the door she waited. The sky was a bit dark, rain maybe?

The website for Chrysopoeia Cosmetics went live as the product began to appear on store shelves throughout Freedom City and sample arrangements arrived on the doorsteps of local beauty bloggers; the always popular Set posted a literally divine smokey eye tutorial which garnered the usual surge in likes and reblogs that came whenever they roped Sekhmet into participating. Adorned with tasteful calligraphy the site was styled after an old-timey apothecary shop and boasted a surprisingly robust backend thanks to a certain technically inclined simian. The core line ranged from foundation with the benefits of a moisturizer to chip-proof nail polish that went on in a single coat to smudge proof, waterproof and somewhat alarmingly fireproof lip colour. Those bold claims were backed up by accompanying videos hosted by a serious young woman in a white lab coat, delivered in much the same way as an academic dissertation even if the volunteers joining her attempted to insert a bit more style and humour. Colours ranged the gamut of skin tones, including those traditionally under serviced. The most popular were quickly placed on backorder with a formal apology posted assuring customers that production was being adjusted in response to demand and thanking them for their patience. More exciting, however were the signature lines! Heat sensitive 'mood colours' shifted from rich imperial purple through the spectrum to a sensational scarlet. The 'nighthawk' assortment shifted between subdued, professional looks to bold club style with the setting of the sun. 'Multifaceted' variants dried into delicate patterns like ice crystals, star fields and chocolatey swirls. The 'inner glow' colours soaked up ambient light to shine with non-toxic and surprisingly tasteful luminescence. As though in acknowledgement of the overwhelming array of choices one page of the site featured pre-selected bundles of sample sized product, highlighting some of the more eye-catching colours. The 'smoke hound' kit included light-devouring blacks paired with softer slate greys while the 'ice queen's kiss' kit encompassed a half dozen different lip colours that reacted to temperature. There were bundles themed around each of the LGBT+ pride flags and appropriately for Freedom City bundles themed around prominent heroes, such as the cheekily named 'Briticana' set of red, white and blues, the 'Earth Mother' assortment of lush greens and the subtly metallic 'Dragonscale' colours that glowed like embers in the right light. The most significant page on the site was a deceptively simple text field with layers of behind-the-scenes security to ensure the utmost discretion. The form invited visitors to request custom orders tailored to their own specific requirements. Foundation suitable for amphibious skin? Available at a week's notice. Unique colours to match a heroic uniform? Easily done. Telepathically activated eyeshadow laced with psionically reactive crystals that wouldn't irritate delicate skin? Packaged with a complimentary exfoliant scrub. After all, the site's copy opined, pairing someone with their ideal product could be truly transformational.

GM July 30th, 2017, 12.12PM Nolan Airfields, Emerald City @olopi @Sailor Nolan Aerospace's proud and elite cadre of pilots, trained in the rigors of modern search, rescue and survival techniques, were assembled on the airfield for a very abrupt mission. Also in attendance was a smaller team of marginally less-fit people, almost all with glasses and pale skin from a decade or so indoors. "Okay, team, this is the situation!" Carrie Ping had to yell to be heard over the spectral howling that rang in the air. With one hand busy holding her coat's neon orange hood down, she used the one with the tablet to point at the scene right above their heads. An enormous, pulsating cloud of neon green, violet and orange swam and writhed a hundred thousand feet in the air, wrapped and skulming over the chassis of an immobile passenger jet. Sometimes the forms that burst from the cloud, or coalesced within its depths, looked almost human. Like people screaming and struggling to escape. But they always collapsed back into the great morass. The shadows it cast across the Emerald Cities Valley weaved with colour to create some truly unsettling sights. "We have no idea what that is, or what it's doing! ASTRO Labs and Archetech claim it's some kind of partial tear in our dimensional fabric, but even that much isn't for sure! All we know is it burst out of nowhere, grabbed the plane and started screaming!" "J-C Base dispatched some recon craft, but they couldn't even get into the cloud! Archetech has called Citizen, but he won't be here for hours, something's going on over in 'Jersey! Your job is to try and get to the plane, free it if possible!" The screams rose to a howling shriek, like the inner wall of a cyclone. For a moment everyone there had to cover their ears and wait for the rattling in their skulls to stop. "If not-! Sweet Sidda, my ears...if not, evacuate everyone you can! Techs, WestRock probably already told you, but you're needed in case the plane's systems are damaged, and all of it runs on WestRock software!" With a semi-free hand, Carrie pointed to Anne, Jaime and Hakim. "You three! You get to take point! The rest will follow your lead! Jaime, is the Peregrine prepped and ready?" "'Course she is, boss! No thanks to the pilot!" The red-haired woman who'd answered grinned easily and looked thoroughly relaxed, despite the bizarre situation. Putting an arm around Anne's shoulder she squeezed against her "Just my luck I love a sleepyhead!" "That's great!" Carrie gave a thoroughly unenthusiastic thumbs-up "Go with peace, people! We'll be praying for your safe return! Please, please, please do not do anything stupid to try and be heroes!" She gave a sharp wave to encompass the group as a whole "Dismissed! Everyone to your stations! Good luck!"

September 2017 Bedlam City Culver's As Esperanza dug into her Mint Brownie ice cream cone, Anna Cline lined up her pills and took them, one after the other. Maybe biologically she was a good thirty years younger than her age on the calendar - but thirty years off 82 wasn't so young in the grand scheme of things. That was why she'd taken the tomato soup with her ButterBurger, and why she was drinking the unsweetened tea. (She and Espy were splitting an order of cheese curds. She wasn't ready to give up on flavor yet.) When she'd finished with her medicine, Anna smiled at her erstwhile protege. "It ain't much of a congratulatory dinner, but it's what you deserve. I didn't get my GED till I was-" "fifty-six years old and in stir," Esperanza finished with a smirk around green-stained lips. "You've told me that story a thousand times, Anna." It was good to see the kid smiling, Anna reflected, even if it was at her expense. From what she remembered of raising a teenager, a full lifetime ago, that was usually how it went. It was late outside, and out the front window Anna could see cars moving by on the Interstate, heading down the peninsula. The fast food restaurant had the anonymity that came with the tourist crowd of the Labor Day weekend coupled with highway traffic. A dangerous place for their mutual enemy to start trouble. "It's a good story, honey," said Anna with a smirk of her own. "You know," she commented quietly. "I've been thinkin'. I've got some money comin' my way, and if I spend it right, I could get us a place here in town." That news was startling enough that Esperanza stared at her from over her cone, the ice cream in her mouth stopping any immediate response. "If that's still what you want." Smart thinking would have had them get the hell out of this crappy little town and find help for their mutual problem - but that would have meant abandoning Esperanza's family, the city where Anna'd been born, and probably ticked off the lady who lived in the hat Esperanza was keeping in her backpack. While Esperanza was thinking about that, another small group came through the restaurant's doors, Anna's eyes briefly flickering to them.

Content Notice: Violence (Holographs) Talya stood in the center of the empty concrete room, incongruously dressed for her barren surroundings. Her heels echoed as she took a step towards the simple folding table in the center and the weapons laid out on it with military precision. It would be a significant amount of time before she had managed to have all the alterations made to the Interceptors Headquarters knocked off on her list, but at least they'd hollowed out the concrete cavern that would be filled with advanced technology eventually. It was sturdy enough - and sound proof enough that Talya felt comfortable moving her exercises down to the space. Picking up the familiar Browning in her manicured grip, Talya checked the chamber with the comfort of long practice before loading the clip into the holster with a soft 'click'. "Vince?" The cultured, clipped tones broke the silence. There was no need for a response from the AI, the click of the thick door was answer enough. Talya took her live-fire exercises very seriously. Solid light holograms were well and good for targets but at least to Talya's senses, they didn't feel quite right. It was akin to the difference between practicing with a wooden blade versus the real thing. There were differences, small and slight, but enough to throw off her muscle memory if it was all that she practiced with. The gun slipped into the holster hidden by her carefully tailored suit jacket, in the waist band of the skirt. She shifted once to adjust to the weight against her spine before concealing the rest of the weapons, all equally lethal, all the former tools of her trade; blades, garrote, and one exceptionally thin, wicked stiletto hidden as jeweled pin along the brim of her hat. Once every weapon had been concealed, Talya quickly closed up the folding table to store it against the far wall of the concrete room. The last thing she wanted was to bang into a real object that was obscured by the holograms as they static'd into existence. The tech was still rough, very much in the 'working the kinks out phase', much like the room itself. It would provide Talya with both necessary exercise as well as needed calibrations to fine tune the program and technology for its final installation.

GM There are very few people at Claremont aware about the danger that the Totality imposes. There are probably fewer or none who know that the Yellow Sign are using the eclipse's weakening of The Pact to summon their maddening god. Right now, the moon is about to crossover the sun. Even though it's only 70-something percent in New Jersey. Ah, the opportunists. Though some students may be occupied by it, some are not. Erebo, the living darkness. Salvo, the genius machine girl. Gauss, the master of magnet. These three students are taking it easy today. Are they watching the three quarter eclipse?

GM The Totality. The Solar Eclipse. Happens all the time, but why focus on it now? It has some magical significance for the Yellow Sign. Something about the Pact being weaker? Who knows, those guys are nuts. While they're being dealt with by other heroes, we focus on our daily life in Freedom City. Heroes with equally important tasks. Grimalkin, fae hero of great power. Spitfire, twisted firestarter. Red Moon, 'vampire'. Scion, former Olympian goddess. Going about their days as usual. Maybe they're fighting crime. Maybe they're trying to watch the eclipse (Good luck, only 70ish percent in New Jersey!)

DHR Station, Outer Asteroid Belt Alda System, Sharahazad Sector It hadn’t been a special request, and so far, it wasn’t that special of a mission. There was one thing that stood out about this one, compared to many others Starshot had been hired on. He’d been met on a station in a the neighbouring Tethron System, and had to leave his ship there. Him, and everything he’d felt was necessary were transported to the research station in a small shuttle. He’d heard that the system was under quarantine, so when the pilot explained it, it all made more sense. In order to preserve what was in the system, more on that later, only the most necessary transport was allowed. Once Oskar stepped off the shuttle, he was greeted by a middle aged Lor in a labcoat, most likely one of the head researchers at the station. The company owning the station, and thus in effect the system, had hired him to hunt down a Bortha, and they paid pretty well considering the threat level. “Mr. Starshot, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for acting this quickly, time is of the essence. Are there anymore questions before we transport you to VI-A?”

Oddfellows Building, Lantern Hill 7:02 PM, August 15th. The room was rented out for a little meeting of practitioners, the invites had gone out, including to one Professor Peculiar. It was intended as a social gathering of sorts, and people had already shown up as well, mostly with people who were familiar, or at least seen as people who were factors in and around West Freedom. It was put forth by a Stavros, owner of the most amazing tea shop (if he was asked) in the West End, an older man who possessed of the most impressive mustache in the Tri-State area. He was humming as he was making some tea here. In additional there was the short, punky looking Shaul, a local artist, and other things, she had a battered and patched denim vest, with a a hoodie pulled over her face a cup of steaming cup of Stavros' special mint tea. Chatting with Shaul was an older woman, Amanda, who owned an herbal, and wildcraft supplies store. Unlike the younger woman, Amanda was dressed conservatively, a bit like the liberal soccer mom type. There was also a young couple, who may, or may not, had a bit of talent, James and Kendra, but they were both Anthropology students at FCU so were interested in this. This collection was capped off by a 'cowboy singer' off to one side, who was looking passed out with a hat pulled down over his face, and slumped in a chair. One Johnny Perdition. The tattooed and hard living member of this loose affiliation.

August 14, 5:46 PM Main Quad, Claremont Academy The boy, sitting on the dorm's roof, looked below, watching his peers: some were walking around normally, others where using more... peculiar means of movement. A lot of them tough, were wearing the blue and gold colored school uniform, like Eli himself was. "I still can't get used to this bright uniform, it's so... four color..." said the pale, lanky Erebo looking at it. Part of him liked it, but something about his mind wasn't right since the accident, and he knew it. He hoped it was just his imagination, and not the dark energies infecting his thoughts... he had heard so many terrifying things about the place where he got his powers from since he came to that world. "This is so unbelievable" he sighed full of incredulity. He could not believe that just a few days before he was stuck between a family that hated him for his passions and a world that hated him for his family. No, no more, he said shaking his head to clear it: it was time to be a hero now, this power wasn't a curse, it was an immense gift, one Grazia made sure her little brother could receive in spite of everything. That did not mean he did not have to be weary of what his power could do to him tough. With a thought, his body was covered by the blackest shadows one could imagine, shaped roughly like his favorite turtleneck'd casual attire, and a pair of large, crow-like wings sprouted from his back, carrying him to the campus grounds below and then folding back into nothingness. What a time to be alive...

Sunday August 13, 7am The shuttle van passed by street after street of mansions (and family owned bed and breakfasts that used to be mansions) while the students from Claremont attempted to both remain awake and not roast in the back seats of the vehicle. Sitting in the back, Selena took a long pull from her bottle of water, nearly draining the entire container in one go and wishing the air conditioning reached further back than the driver and passenger seats. Turning to look at her winged friend Jann she sighed, "Think the park employees would get mad if we flew up to the top of the Ferris wheel? Half the rides this place has lose a little something when you can fly."

GM August 11th, Late Evening In a plane... Or more precisely, Mr Jonathon Hale, Esq, asleep in a Plane... Across endless icy plains, mountains, and beautiful bleakness...an Icebreaker was trapped. Steam poured out of engines, and whilst Ice cracked, it did not splinter asunder. Outside, Inuit and Europeans were hacking at the ice, desperate to move the ferocious ship. It groaned, full of Iron and Guns and Coal. And a black coated man with the biggest and blackest handgun one could conceive stood on the ship, bristling with frustration. The ship must break free! Seek it! Arnasaq woke him up. She was as quirky and beautiful as ever, at least to Mr Hale's eyes. A little older, a little wiser. And right now, rather worried... "Ladies and Gentlemen...please fasten your seatbelts and assume the crash position!" Screams and sweats poured forth from the passengers, who nevertheless did what they were told, and with great frenzy. As the Plane started to descend, Arnasaq pointed Mr. Hales eyes to the starboard wing, where one engine was smoking most alarmingly indeed. Below, the icy plains of Greenland, where Arnasaq had insisted they return for a break. And it look like a break was what they were getting. A quite different type of break. A piece of wing looked like it was going to break. And it did, splintering from the main wing and tumbling in a rather splendid arc, trailing black smoke.

August 6th, Claremont Campus. Afternoon-ish, and the day after. Yesterday had been innocuous enough. Until Bombastic had picked a fight with Corinne over her 'cold shouldering.' Well, it wasn't a fight. She had not been overly aggressive, but he had asked for it. Fortunately while out of sight from the Next Gen, as she was still summer schooling it. But... Zenith had to spend time in the containment units, until she was... calm. As Corinne she was... upset. Though she avoided Bombastic, so she wouldn't change in a fit of pique. She buried herself in stuff, practicing with drumming, some schoolwork. Then, finally just the gym. Dancing and gymnastics. It was like meditation for her. A place to go, something to submerge herself in. Which she did, in a manner that could be considered ferociously, until she was sweaty, and a bit tired, and going through additional stretched, if not to cool down, but rather to ready herself for round two. Dressed in just a pair of shorts, and an athletic top, with toe shoes, and her hands and fingers taped up for her to do what she felt was needed. Corinne was in the splits pose, her torso twisted and stretched out along, her hands gripping at the sole, with her face pressed her knee.

Winifred lowered the blouse in her left hand and raised the buttoned dress shirt on its hanger with her right, frowning at her own reflection in the full length mirror on the back of her dormitory room's door. "If I'm meeting her at her apartment rather than her office I shouldn't be too stuffy, yes?" she reasoned, raising the blouse again to look at the pair of tops side by side. "But the apartment is still inside the company's building and it's still a business meeting. I can't look childish so erring on the side of professionalism might be wiser." Despite her limited wardrobe she'd already been debating her outfit for a good half an hour before asking for Raina's assistance. She'd been preparing for her meeting with Ms. Albright of AEON for the past week and while it would have been one thing if she were simply delivering scientific findings proposing a line of alchemical cosmetics necessitated a certain level of panache she wasn't confident she could meet. If any of her friends knew how to dress for success it was the self-assured pyromancer.

GM August 4th, 2017 Outside the Eastern Seaboard Bank, Lincoln Branch Summer was fading away. It was still too hot for non-summer wear, but every Freedonian felt the chill coming off the bay a little stronger each day. They were cramming as much summer into their lives as they could. Including the criminals. With a shattering *SKREE* the bank's windows exploded outward, letting a dozen women in yellow and black, ski masks with welding glass on their heads and chunky electro-punk guns in their hands, into the streets of Freedom! At that moment, ensconced in a limousine that he had, on some unaccountable urge, called from its cubby hole back at the Transnational Building, Amir al-Misri had spent the last half hour with a voluable redheaded man with a thick beard, a $350 haircut streaked with a light dusting of grey, and a 12,000,000 watt smile. Max Mars, of MarsTech, who had somehow talked him into listening to a spiel about wave power generators. The explosion had, mercifully forced him to pause and politely wait until the crisis was resolved. Meanwhile, just down the street was a certain Carol, who unlike the rest of the running, shouting Freedonian, could do something about this.

August 2017 Downtown Bedlam Anna Cline's (Temporary) Apartment Anna woke up in bed, taking a moment to take in the situation. Even with the slow fading of her powers over the last few decades, the situation was easy enough to take in a moment or two. She was in bed, in the apartment where she and Esperanza had been staying the last few weeks. The girl had dropped out of high school after the incident with the Hammer of Justice, and Anna herself had left behind the apartment she'd actually rented under her own name. She could have taken Espy out of the city, dropped her in Freedom or even back in Florida, but Esperanza had said she didn't want to leave her ma or just run away from the man who'd abused her, so they'd stuck around and technically lived as fugitives. They'd moved every couple of weeks, paying cash with the money Anna got from the drug pushers and lousy pigs she took down as Lady Horus, and for the second time in her life, Anna Cline was taking care of a kid. She'd made a lot of plans, bringing home books from the Bedlam library, making sure Espy kept up with her studies so she could get herself a GED and get somewhere other than this one-horse town Anna had tied herself to because it was better than doing nothing with her life. The kid was smart, the kid was strong, but you didn't get anywhere in the hero world unless you had an education. Of course, it would have been easy enough for her to teach Espy to steal. Or encourage it, anyway, her sidekick certainly hadn't shown any hesitation about picking locks or swiping things for her mentor, and with her skills and smooth tongue she'd have made a fine little apprentice thief. Espy reminded Anna a lot of herself as a kid, and for that matter a lot like her boy, a which was why she tolerated the backtalking, the light fingers, the lying, and the outright complaining a lot more than a lot of mothers of her generation Of course, that didn't mean there wasn't stress now and again - stress that came from searching for a murderous vigilante who wanted her dead, lying to her son and her family about why she was in Wisconsin, from wearing the helmet of a god and hearing the whispers of the shadow of a goddess who could only tell her that the great trial was coming soon and that she needed to be ready. And Anna was ready, she had been ready from the moment she'd put on the helm, a queen taking on the likeness of the goddess she'd always known herself to be. She'd never been really good at waiting. It sometimes made her - She blinked a few times, thinking about the night before, and the bar, and thinking about being old and outliving all her friends, and all the things she'd never done in almost eighty-three years of living, and sat up, automatically pulling the sheet up to below her shoulders. Espy was knocking on her door with the double rap-rap she'd taught her, the Helm of Horus was safe in the bedroom closet, and there was another woman in bed with her. Well you knew this was going to happen, Anna, you were stone-cold sober last night, her inner voice chided her. "Just a minute, honey!" she called, rising to her feet and digging around for her clothes faster than a woman of her apparent age should have been able to. "That's, uh, sorta my foster kid," she admitted to Nicola as she pulled her dress down over her head. They'd gotten each other's names but not much beyond that. "So you may wanna..."

Thaelia looked down at Koa, the scrawny youth's stature hid an impressive might from what she had been told. Impressive enough to rival a barbarian warlord, royal, or even herself. A fact that made Claremont Academy the location most uniquely suited into helping the youth better learn the use of his abilities. For his safety, and the safety of others. Still, she was surprised when the senate came forward with the request for her to pull some strings to enroll into Claremont Academy. Not that the administration ever needed much convincing in shaping the superpowered youths of the future. No, it was the fact that she was even on speaking terms with the Atlantean Senate that surprised her. Not everyone was mind controlled that day, and the image of an Atlantean princess going against Atlantis was hard to forget. "There is much to be done. The examination of your abilities in the Doom Room is first item on our agenda. I will have words with the administration in the meantime, do take care to not accidentally maim another student." The Atlantean demigoddess was attempting to be reassuring. To an outsider her words may have potentially carried a sort of insensitive bit of bluntness. Or just insanity. After all, it wasn't every day someone mentioned maiming in a school context.

((Welcome to Eve and Becky’s Big Enormous Wedding Thread! In the vein of With Lovers and Friends I Still Can Recall this is a way to tell a big story from many different perspectives. Below you’ll find a rough timeline for the day including some details of location and timing, as well as some story hooks requiring superhero intervention. This thread is open to everyone to post vignettes and mini-vignettes telling their characters’ stories from that day. Because this is not a traditional vignette prompt (read: you do not get vignette reward PP for this) but it is also not a regular thread, we’re relaxing many of the normal posting rules. Your vignettes can be of any length - a full page is not required - and you may post more than one per character if you wish. The prohibition on multiple characters per thread is also lifted, so post with as many of your characters as you have stories for. Double and triple vignettes are still allowed, if you so desire and also have no length requirement. As vignettes are added by players the events of the day will be further detailed. Later posters should try and read the vignettes that came before them so they can be sure their work will fit into the developing timeline. That does not mean vignettes have to be in chronological order! Feel free to jump ahead or backfill anywhere you like, so long as it is on the wedding day. Story hooks are first come, first serve, so posting early isn’t a bad idea. If you don’t believe your character would’ve been invited to the wedding feel free to post stories about your character protecting the city while a sizable chunk of its superhero population is taking the night off. Feel free to ask in chat if you have any questions and have fun!)) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Once upon a time, two girls fell in love. Then one of the girls was possessed by a cannibalistic spirit of avarice, for which the other girl blamed herself and as second dates go it honestly could have gone better. They spent too long apart before finding each other again, reigniting a spark that had never gone out. They had adventures together, lived together not nearly enough, missed each other far too much, celebrated and mourned and eventually they decided that together was absolutely better than apart. Finally, on an August afternoon in a castle in the sky, there was a wedding. All of their friends were invited and even if not everything went as planned there aren't many obstacles a bunch of superheroes can't overcome if sufficiently determined and their friends were determined that the happy couple should live happily ever after, at least for today. Preparations for the wedding began in the morning at the Dutemps Building, with Becky and an impressive collection of Canada's greatest living champions in the penthouse apartments at the top and Eve and her bridesmaids - and one Maidnight - up in the castle. There were caterers and decorators and the mother-of-all-florists running about, which made things a little complicated for some of the obviously non-human guests! Mani-pedis, makeup, lots of last-minute advice and a champagne brunch rounded out the morning for the wedding party, along with a few shenanigans designed to make sure that the brides didn’t encounter each other before the ceremony. In the afternoon, all the dressing-up began in earnest, and then the pictures. So many pictures, professional and otherwise, with people who don’t often get photographed with their own faces and looking their best. The photographers didn’t always confine themselves to the wedding party either, arriving guests might find themselves captured on film a few times for the album. The venue was beautiful, the Gothic Revival-style chapel dedicated to St. Jeanne d'Arc was illuminated with gorgeous light through its stained glass windows and bedecked with flowers. There were a few diversions to entertain the guests, a book to sign, a little display of childhood photos of the brides, a table of snacks. There was also a nasty elevator malfunction in one of the private elevators leading up into the castle but it was sorted by helpful guests before it became a real problem. As the 3:00 PM wedding start time approached guests began to move to their seats while music played and a breeze whispered through the trees. The ceremony was beautiful and quite peaceful, though it’s hard to say what behind-the-scenes machinations may have been required to keep it that way. Jack Pegahmagabow and Eden Espadas nearly stole the show as ring-bearer and flower girl, despite subtle interventions from their uncle and parents, respectively. Otherwise, the simple and brief service, conducted by Claremont’s headmaster emeritus Duncan Summers, was focused on Becky and Eve, who stood under a flowered trellis to exchange handwritten vows and rings in front of all their friends and family. With the business of the day taken care of it was time to celebrate! The castle’s ballroom had been prepared in a fine faux-Medieval style, with dinners, drinks, and dancing inside a hall bright enough to pass for a fairy tale. A minor problem in the kitchen was quickly sorted and if the happy couple disappeared from their own party for a little while before arriving for dinner, nobody was inclined to say anything about it. There were toasts and a few short speeches after supper and then the happy couple opened the dancing with a slow turn on the dance floor to an original 1930 recording of Lucienne Boyer's Parlez-Moi d’Amour, one taken right from the Crimson Fox's personal collection. The dancing went on late into the night, helped along by a custom coffee bar manned by two experienced baristas. At one point in the evening, the power went off for nearly ten minutes, but inventive guests worked around it and the problem was quickly solved. Eve and Becky left around 9:00 in a hail of bubbles and sparks and flowers and beams of light from their friends, taking off in the private elevator up to the castle's master living quarters. Even with the guests of honor gone there was plenty of partying left to do, and it wasn’t till nearly midnight that things quieted down and the cleanup could begin.

August 2017 The Antarctic Circle Archetech Antarctic #006 (Outside Temperature -50 F) (Outside Sky Dark) "Okay, ladies, you are officially past the Antarctic Circle!" The Archetech copilot had been quite solicitous to Dragonfly and Jill O'Cure once she'd learned it was the two superheroines' first visit to Antarctica. "Welcome to the Real Down Under!" Keri Russet's Australian accent was thick; she'd worked for the Australian Antarctic Division before being hired on by Archetech as a helicopter pilot. She grinned, her head ducked low in the cramped confines of the back of the helicopter. On the one hand, the electrically-driven helicopter was a technological marvel, big as a Chinook but faster, with an engine specially modified to work in the extreme cold of the Antarctic winter. On the one hand, it was a helicopter with a passenger compartment about the size of a small bus, and Ellie and Mara had been riding in it since they'd taken off from in Rio Gallegos around the beginning of their subjective night. That had been after the connecting flight from Buenos Aires, and that had been after flying down from Freedom City. It had been a long couple of days. "With the winds the way they are and with these new engines, we're about two hours out of Ellsworth Base, so you might as well get comfortable," she offered to the two costumed heroes. "Things are a bit rugged down there - and I should know, Keith and I are gonna bunk down there till you fly out again." The pilot, a deep-voiced man with a Nigerian accent, was still up front. "You ladies must be pretty special," she added cheerfully, "you earned Keith and me both triple-pay for flying you in in the middle of winter! I'm gonna take my kids to Disneyland when this is done." The message had come for Dragonfly by long-distance text, a legacy of the tightened bandwidth at an Archetech temporary base in Antarctica at the height of the Antarctic winter. "URGENT AID NEEDED: TECH PROBLEM - MA. CONFIDENTIAL. PERSONAL PROBLEM - C." Miss Americana hadn't been around much during that summer, and come to think of it neither had Harrier, having left word with the Interceptors that he was going to be out of communication until the holiday season. Once they'd passed certain tests to prove it was a real message, had come the instructions for how to get where they were going - an Archetech "geological base" (according to their website) located in the heart of Antarctica's Ellsworth Mountains. In winter.

GM Eastern Seaboard Bank Wading Way, Freedom City, New Jersey Thursday, July 27 2017 12:30 PM Tellers working lunch hours at a bank knew they were a part of the peak shift. It was the busy period when everyone could sneak away from their day to make a quick withdrawal or deposit without disrupting whatever else they had going on. That extra bit of traffic alone would account for the increase in pay for anyone working the busy shift. Anywhere else that is. For Freedom City's own E-Sea, the prime tellers were instead earning hazzard pay. Yet again the popular destination for criminals whose plans started and stopped with the words 'I want to rob a bank today', was being held up. "This is a hold up! If you don't want to get a taste of my Devil Ray's you'll--uh shut up. Yeah just shut up or else." A distorted voice called out from a jet black demonic looking helmet. It was the all too familiar site of the infamous Devil Ray. The Crime League's own superarmored aquatic thug was pointing his gauntlets at everyone. While three men wearing animal themed luchador masks (A wolf, puffer fish, and owl respectively) backed him up. The trio were making demands to be let into the safety deposit box whilst Devil Ray continued to simply bully the victims in the bank lobby. A result of which began to bring media attention to the latest E-Sea robbery.