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James looked around the park as the sun was setting. Already he could see trick-or-treaters, kids in costume out on their jaunt for candy. They were looking for fun and sugar; for them the evening had limitless promise. Back at school, he was certain his friends were getting ready or already at the party. James sincerely would have like to be among them. But it was not to be. He was doing his best not to get antsy, knowing what was coming. He’d chosen his ground, planned as best he could. At least if he fell, he would be gone forever. Dead for good. While that would really suck and certainly wasn’t his plan, it would at least prevent his father from using him and keep James from fulfilling his ‘destiny’. He watched, just waiting and enjoying the moment as the sun set. As the last ray of sun disappeared, James stood up. Anytime now, they’d be coming. He walked over and passed through the gate to the cemetery. While the whole thing wasn’t holy ground, there were places inside that were. It would do. He took up his position and waited.

James waited for everyone to exit the bus, not saying anything until the entire group had gathered. He’d put the word out he was springing for a trip to the Ocean Heights Amusement Park for his seventeenth birthday, making sure people knew it was free for them to get in at the least. (He didn’t expect gifts, indeed had said to the few people who’d asked that there were to be none.) Since it was only a short drive from their school to the place, he had made sure a bus was provided in case some people needed it. He’d headed over in his own car earlier, making sure things were in order, and was now just waiting. He wasn’t sharing or talking about this until he was ready. Once everyone was gathered, he spoke up. “Ok, I’ve got your all-inclusive cards here. They included passes to the various paid rides so you’re good there too. As a happy birthday bonus, I’ve included a little gift. Each card doubles as a prepaid card you can use in there for various things. Toys, clothes, whatever. Even after you use it, it’ll still get you food and access to the rides. The numbers won’t be bad today, so waiting in lines should be pretty short as well. Basically, just have fun. Everything’s covered.†He quickly handed out the card for people, complete with clips and neckloops. “Alright, get in there.†He really did want everyone to have a good time. He had a few ulterior motives of course, but this was the main focus after all. He'd originally not planned to celebrate this at all but that didn't quite work out. He was part of this group now. With responsibilities to them. Least he do was make sure they had some fun. For as long as he could.

Date: August 5th, 2009 (Continued from Daikaiju Days, Morning in America, and Team Science!) When all was said and done, the return to Earth-Prime took the space of only an hour or two. First came the triumphant return of the Young Freedom stranded in Japan, and the happy reunion of the two teams. Then came the quick trip back to the Resistance base with their stolen hardware, leaving behind the smashed Nazi base that never did explode behind them. Everyone had a chance to see the grim horror that was Erde and understand the magnitude of the struggle the Resistance was facing there. Agent H chose to return with her friends from Young Freedom back to Earth Prime, leaving behind her world with a tearful farewell and a sharp, precise salute to the Resistance and the fallen heroes there. Lilith was delighted to hear of the twin victories on both Kaiju Island and over the robot fortress near Freedom City, and left all the teen heroes with a salute of her own and a job well-done. They'd done a lot of good that day, even if they could tell how much help these people might need in the future. And with that, they were gone in a flash, reappearing on the teleport pad recently retrofitted by Dr. Archeville and his two trusty assistants. It had been a very good day to be a hero...even if they were going to have quite a story to tell Mr. Summers.

Date: October 31st, 2009 James dropped onto the couch, tired. It had been a busy day and not entirely a happy one. His powers had spiked recently, his control increased quickly as well. Not a good thing really. He could feel the ‘day’ coming fast. It would be tomorrow, he knew it. The day when every moronic yahoo tried to do some ‘black magic’ or something equally foolish. It didn’t help that it was the day when the barrier between Earth and the lower planes was at it’s weakest. Some of those yahoos would likely succeed when they would otherwise fail. And their success meant James was going to be having some unpleasant visitors of the fiery kind. He hadn’t really changed his behavior much over the last week, or even today. He still lived his life pretty much as normal, had fun, done his best to relax. He’d put some things in order, made a few preparations just in case as well as to prepare his chosen ground. It wouldn’t be pleasant but he wasn’t going willingly. He glanced out the window. It was still dark but dawn was only a few hours away. The battle for his existence and ‘soul’ would start today. So what had he been doing these last few hours? Having fun on a date, or two, of course. He chuckled to himself. Typical for him really. It would be a battle though. He knew this wasn’t exactly a minor event. They wanted him quite badly. They weren’t going to be pulling any punches. Which was why he hadn’t told anyone, not that many knew what he really was anyway. It was his fight after all. He wasn’t going to risk his friend’s lives for nothing. It was a novel concept to some degree still. But they were his friends. And he would protect them, even from himself if necessary. He’d already made plans for that as well. He looked between his guitar and the game stations. He had a couple hours to kill and a little relaxation seem appropriate. The games weren’t nearly as fun playing alone though. He’d shown up a lot later than usual this evening so his partner was had probably headed of to do something else. He shrugged and reached for his guitar. He couldn’t create music like most gifted artists, but he could play. He’d been holding back a little lately in Eddie’s band. He hadn’t wanted to eclipse them; it was their thing after all. But now? He picked an old ballad and just let it play through him, giving it feeling.

James was sitting around the table, phone in hand. "Yeah, yeah. Leave it on as a rider. Once I know we'll stick it on the list for the duration. I'll get your the numbers and id's as well when I find out. Standard coverage of course. It'll likely get donated so maybe a tax write-off or something? Find out for me. Later." He hung up the phone, putting it away. He grabbed his drink, taking a sip. He wasn't sure exactly what the plan was but at least he had covered his bases.

As this was the first birthday that Alex had more than one friend as well as being the last real teen-birthday, she'd been given a stack of invitations to hand out to 'all her new friends'. So, over the course of the week, she had dutifully passed the invitations on to the classmates she thought might be interested which was mostly the members of Young Freedom. Without real variation, each invitation had been handed out with, "If you're busy or anything, its really no big deal. We're probably just going to watch movies and stuff like that, I think. It's really low key." Then she'd spent the week arguing with her mom, ("No clowns, please!" "My baby's all grown up!" "Mom!") But each invitation invited the teens to a nice house in Hanover with a big yard and a pool for a summer sweet-sixteen party for their resident psychic.

The sky overhead was a gorgeous shade of impossibly clear blue, the sandy beach beneath their feet a gorgeous, luscious white that spoke of unspoiled beauty and splendor. From the incredibly lush tropical jungle behind them, the sound of tens of thousands of animals came in a symphony of natural wonders. Behind the trees, volcanic peaks rose high into the sky like hands of the Earth reaching up to touch the heavens themselves. It would all have been really wonderful if they'd arrived under other circumstances. "Oh God! Oh God!" Hope had gone for her pistol the second the beam of light had come crashing down from the ceiling, carrying them all away to this bizarre new place. Looking around, the Young Freedom members on the beach could see Agent H, Psyche, Breakdown, and Hellion, but there was no sign of any other members of their team. They'd taken with them only what they'd had in their hands or been carrying; the table and chairs they'd been sitting in having been left far behind. An exceedingly large crab scuttled by them, evidently attracted by the noise, a coconut in its weighty claws.

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.â€Â-Friedrich Nietzsche The last few days had been very busy. Erin didn't mind that too much; it was better than doing nothing but working all the time, but it did leave her running way behind on a number of assignments. The library was supposed to have the book she needed on the historical antecedents of superheroes, but it was way, way back in the stacks, where things weren't always reliably filed. It could take a long time to find it, if she found it at all. Nevertheless, she headed back into the maze, hoping that fortune would favor her this one time. She was running her fingers along a line of dusty hardcovers, trying to read faded Dewey Decimal numbers, when she heard the noise. It wasn't very loud, but it was close. It sounded like someone was being attacked. Erin tensed reflexively, then ran for the sound. The school was generally a safe place, but bad things could happen anywhere, at any time.

Summer time was a relatively lazy time at Claremont, with a healthy mix of classes and extra-curricular activities for its unique student body. Today was no exception. For those students interested, the school was providing complementary tickets to a Freedom City Comets game at the Liberty Dome. Even a few students that were living at home for the summer were showing up for today's outing so the entrance to the school was busier than usual as students found their respective shuttles to the game. As the tickets were donations, there were broken up blocks of seats all over the stadium and kids were busy switching tickets with others so that they were sitting near their friends. This of course led to quite a bit of a headache for the few teachers trying to get everyone sorted out. Alex was out in the middle of the activity, blinking at the confusion and trying to search out her friends amongst the chaos.

James sat on the couch in the large living room. The TV was off, though from the assorted game systems scattered in front of it, it was obvious that he’d been playing some of them. But now, he was strumming the string on his guitar, coaxing impressively soulful sounds from the instrument. He was down here ‘cause it was after midnight and he didn’t want to wake anyone. And given today’s events at the park, there was no way he was going to go to sleep this evening. Not that he needed to but this would not be the night to try regardless. He hated sleeping. With a passion. It had been a rather fun outing all things considered though. He'd have gone to more baseball games if more were like that one. Now, he was just interested in chilling out and relaxing. Hence the guitar. It helped him unwind. He was damn good, and he wasn’t practicing at the moment. Now, he was just playing for the music, letting it flow. Just so happened that at the moment, what came out was slow and soulful sounding. He wrapped the tune up, finishing it out with a final pluck. Definitely need something more upbeat. More rocking. Otherwise I'll be depressed at the future and being stuck in curfew... He let his fingers move, letting them find their own rhythm, plucking faster and harder, letting the beat come forth.

The fire red 1971 Chevelle convertible cruised down the streets, engine roaring. The muscle car had been beautifully restored and then kitted out the wazoo. It barely qualified as street legal anymore. The driver might not have done the work on it, but he surely loved driving it. The driver had a grin on his face and laughter in his eyes as the vehicle practically flew down the roads. Sure he could go slower but what would the fun of that be? He usually talked himself out of any trouble he got in. Or just paid the fine. What was the point of having money if you didn’t use it from time to time? Hence his car and a few other belongings he had splurged on. He sobered somewhat, only for a moment really, as he contemplated his destination. A new place, new school. He’d chosen to go through with the family’s recommendations, though after making a huge fuss over it. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with them, nor had he every been welcome there anyway. He’d been interested in coming, just didn’t want them to think they had any say in his life. He slowed the car, engine settling to a gentle roar, as he turned on the to the street. He wasn’t traveling at a sedate speed, but at least it wasn’t too ridiculous in it’s excess. He counted the numbers and soon enough, there were the gates. He pulled in and drove down the long drive, taking in the manicured ground. It was a long drive up to a rather impression mansion. Or would be impressive if he hadn’t lived in something similar his whole life. The Family Estate was massive and certainly held its share of secrets too. This looked nice but he had expected no less. Whether it was better than ‘home’, time would tell. He certainly hoped it was more fun… He brought the car up to the circle by the front door, slowing to a stop. He opened the door and got out, stretching a little as he looked around. All in all, he had high hopes for this place. And if it was dull as home, well, he’d have to raise a little hell.