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(GM Post) Mid January, 2024 What should be an easy assignment turns violent! A fun visit turned into a semi-nautical nightmare! What's a high school assignment compared to the aggression of Supervillains!? Can our Heroes save the day AND complete their assignment!? The Freedom City Aquarium was always open for students doing projects, especially ones from the well-funded Claremont Academy, whose headmistress was a significant donor for the massive, three story building and it's attached research vessel. A big exhibit now was a live Blue Whale, currently swimming in a fenced in area of the harbor while it recovered from injuries sustained in the wild. But there were plenty of other exhibits throughout the three stories of the building. Parker Powers, Consuelo Nunez, and Michael Adon had, in their Sophomore level Biology Course, been given an assignment along with the rest of the class to go around the city and examine a microbiome in the city; the same assignment that sent Mizuki, Lawrence, and Baz to the local Estuary underneath the amusement park. Carmen had gotten the chance to earn some extra credit by going along with them, partially as a chaperone and partially by writing her own essay about some of the more interesting examples of sea life at the aquarium. While it wasn't a microbiome in reality, since obviously it wasn't natural, it did allow the group to present comparisons between creatures of the same species that were adapted to different locations; a major example of this were Otters, as the Aquarium had both Sea Otters and River Otters among it's other exhibits. With special permission from the handler, the group was currently standing on a platform in the sea otter exhibit, taking notes to compare it to the River Otters they had visited before. With it's thicker fur and heavier body, the creature was quite different from the slick, svelte river otter that was it's biological cousin. It wasn't anything specifically straining or dangerous, it was actually pretty relaxing. Right up until the alarms went off, flashing red lights in the exhibit the group is in as a voice echoed over the loud speaker. "All Visitors and non-security personal please exit the Aquarium. Metahuman Activity is occurring." Which wasn't great to begin with, but it got worse when Carmen, her senses naturally more heightened than the three Sophomores, could hear a wail of pain by the largest beast in the area. It was too high to be heard at first, but on it's second scream, even Parker and Consuelo could hear it. Someone was torturing the Blue Whale, and the poor creature was screaming in fear and pain, loud enough that it could be heard inside the building. The otters fled off the platform into deeper water to escape the sound, and the crying whale was interwoven with the sounds of violence occurring on the lower levels of the Aquarium.

Mid January, 2024 THE TERRORS OF HIGH SCHOOL! HOMEWORK! TESTS! COLLEGE PREP! RIVAL SCHOOLS! All of these things weigh heavily on the mind of the adolescent, even more on the mind of the adolescent Super Hero, who must juggle these with the duties of Superheroing! But what, dear reader, happens when the actions of the maturing Superhero overlap with the actions of the maturing high school student!? That is the focus of our story today! It was supposed to be, arguably, a fairly easy assignment for Biology. Several students in class had grouped up to go to one of a few preselected locations and examine the unique biology of the area; by comparing their findings, the class could see how even somewhat small differences in location- places within the same city- could change the biodiversity of the area. It was practical knowledge that could provide real world examples; perfect experience. Due to Mizuki's talents, she had been given the chance to take Lawrence and Baz out to look at the ecosystem that thrives around the Centery Narrows; where fresh and salt water mix to create an almost wholly unique ecosystem called an estuary. This also brings them quite close to the closed Ocean Heights Amusement Park, which is supposed to be closed for several more months; opening on Memorial Day in May. It's supposed to be guarded by Stronghold Security during the off-season, all the rides shut down and waiting for tourists and locales in the spring and summer. Which is why it was especially weird that, as they were out exploring the Estuary in a motor boat, they could see the lights on several of the lights start up, the Ferris Wheel start moving, and then, after a little bit, someone fall from the edge of the park and land in the frigid water, arms whipping against the current threatening to drag him out to sea.

Kestevan 79 Coalition Victory Station Lor time mark 2104.5 For the last several cycles, tensions along the boards of the Coalition worlds and the Stellar Khanate had been high. After Star-Khan’s brief attempt to restore the Khanate to its pre-Incursion boards, which had only been partially successful, things had gone back to the longstanding status quo of occasional build up of military forces on either side of the boards and the far more common influence and activities of the criminal organizations allowed to operated basically unchecked within the Khanate’s boarders. But other than the military forces or the Praetorians and Star Knights, most beings within the Coalition and Lor Republic went about their daily routines, building on the progress that had been made since the end of the Incursion. Recently, there had been reports suggesting some sort of disruption within the boards of the Khanate, although details were rather sparse. There were even rumors that began to make their way to Republic and Coalition governments that Kinan Khan, the once formidable Star-Khan, had died, succumbing to a combination of his advancing age and the terrible injuries he suffered at the hands of the Communion. However, thus far, those rumors were not yet confirmed. One thing was clear, something was happening within the Khanate, which brough the concern of whether whatever was happening would erupt beyond its borders. So, when a Khanate cruiser approached the system that was home to Coalition Victory Station and hailed the station requesting an audience with the Coalition council, it was cause for great concern. This was particularly true as the last time a Khanate warship had visited CoVic Station, it had been part of a ruse to steal certain information and materials from the station and coincided with the launch of Star-Khan’s attempt to reconquer lost worlds. While Republic and Coalition forces along the Khanate boarder were put on high alert in preparation for any renewed hostilities, the cruiser was held far from CoVic Station until its intentions could be confirmed. As a gesture of good will, the Khanate vessel had agreed to allow a group of inspectors abord to confirm it was not preparing for an attack. And so, a shuttle craft carrying three members of the Praetorians and several members of the Lor Navy made its final approach to the main hanger of the Khanate cruiser….

Bedlam City, January 11th, 2024. 8 PM. Getting a Thursday off was not unusual for a bartender. They liked their best people to work at Club Maxx on the busy nights. Ellie did not know that one of her coworkers put her picture up on social media. It wasn't on purpose, of course. However, Ellie had very good reasons to avoid having her picture put out in public. Ellie noticed she was being followed around 7 o'clock, about an hour prior. A pair of men in plain gray suits seemed to be showing up wherever she went. They ended up at the diner she ate her late dinner at, and the also seemed to show up at the convenience store she bought her bottle of whiskey at. Now, they were across the street, standing at a bus station, not moving or talking.

Claremont Academy Bayview, Freedom City, New Jersey Wednesday January 3, 2024, 8:10 AM With the start of the second half of the school year, Headmistress Summers had called an assembly for the student body to start the first day back in classes. Once all the students had gathered in the auditorium, the headmistress made her way out onto the stage. She was accompanied by a most unusual individual, a short figure, under four feet tall, with aquamarine blue skin and a long prehensile tail. The figure appeared to be female, and was wearing some sort of breathing mask and dressed in punk style clothing and combat boots. Directing the figure to a spot close to the podium, the Headmistress stepped up behind the podium and began to speak. "Good morning everyone, welcome back. I trust everyone had an enjoyable and safe holidays and New Year's. Before we start classes this morning, I wanted to make a short announcement to introduce everyone to a recent addition to our student body." The Headmistress indicated the small figure that was standing nearby. "Vueriz is a recent arrival, not only to our city, but our planet and galaxy. Many of you likely heard on the news about a recent crash landing near Freedom City, that was Vueriz's arrival. After some debriefing by the Freedom League and AEGIS, she has been remitted to the school's custody. I trust each and every one of you will do all you can to make her feel welcome and help her adjust to her new surroundings and learn about not only our city, but our world." "Now, classes begin in half an hour, so you have some free time until the, but I expect everyone to be on time. Will the members of the sophomore class I spoke with early this morning please gather in the antechamber to meet with Vueriz and help ensure she makes it to her first class. For the rest of you, there will be ample opportunity throughout the day to introduce yourselves." "Dismissed."

GM Near Midnight... ...On the streets of Bedlam The night of Bedlam was alive with its normal nocturnal residents. Tramps, drunks, burgulars, pimps, slingers, and buyers. But that was not the main event of the night. The main event was announced by the beeping of horns, the crash of cars, the screams of pedestrians. And round the corner came a lorry - large, steaming, travelling far faster than it should, threatening to jack knife as it turned. One light was out, and it was hard to see who, if anybody, was behind the wheel. It crashed through parking meters, it collided with parked vehicles. Steam poured from its damaged grill. What was certain was that it was only a matter of time before the runaway lorry would crash into some building or worse. And the people of Bedlam seemed only interested in one thing; getting out of the way. And who could blame them? For at the end of the road it hurtled down was a fireworks factory. The night looked like it would soon be illuminated with a bang. Unless some hero was on the prowl...

Riverside, Freedom City, New Jersey Thursday January 4, 2024, 4:36 PM Neko Musume and Bernadette O'Connell were riding in the back of an UBER on their way to Riverside in downtown Freedom City, the typical afternoon traffic making the trip a bit slower that it might otherwise take. Off the in the distance, the back of Sentry Statue was visible, looking out toward the Century Narrows. Not long after the start of the school year and the pair being assigned as roommates, Neko had learned that Bernadette was the lead singer in a band and would regularly go out during the week or on weekends to play at various local bars and clubs. From what the Japanese teen understood, they were doing fairly well and had started a web presence to sell recordings of songs. Just before the holiday break, the Irish teen had asked Neko if she would be willing to help them out with their marketing and social media presence, there had just not really been a chance to really talk about it between finals and Bernadette going home to Boston during the break. Bernadette was somewhat fidgety in her seat with excitement. In fact, the redhead had generally been like that since the Freedom League's holiday party. That night when the two had finally both made it back to the dorm room, Bernadette had told Neko about making out with Charlie in a secluded part of the Hall during the party. Neko had long known the Irish teen had something of a crush on Charlie, which had been put in limbo when the other teen had disappeared from the school well over a year ago. Needless to say, despite the late hour when the two had gotten back from the party, the redhead had still been rather over excited, describing herself as 'Wired to the Moon,' one of the many Irish slang Bernadette used from time to time. All-in-all, since the League party, Bernadette had been about as happy as Neko had seen her, not that the Irish teen wasn't generally cheerful. "Thanks again for agreein' ta try ta help us out Neko." Bernadette said, giving her roommate a wide smile.

Early January, 2024 It started simply, with reasonable questions. Michael had been asking around, checking in with students in his grade about availability in the early month. He was open about his reasons, though they were quite varied. He was concerned about the recent issue where some terrifying creature from a higher dimension had kidnapped several of them and made them participate in dangerous, life or death games for its amusement. He was concerned about his change in school; about a different, tougher curriculum than he was used to. He was concerned about his friends who might need help in either of those situations. He was concerned about his lack of experience in being a hero, but more than that in working with others; he had always worked to be a team player, but right now he was a guy without a team, and when you were playing a team sport, the guy playing by himself didn't usually last long, and Superheroics was one of the biggest team sports out there. He hadn't lied about his feelings on this. He was even honest that during a few of his own recent extracurricular activities he'd gotten beaten down by some people who might not have been as strong as him, but were much better at aiming where they hit then he was. Most of them had seen him with a couple of bruises before so he was being serious about that too; he wasn't the kind of person to lie unnecessarily. He explained to each person his feelings on the whole situation; some of the conversations were short, some were long, some were specific, some were general. Michael was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a liar. But he also wasn’t the kind of person who just did things without trying to have some sort of plan ready to go to figure out what he should do next, so it was pretty obvious to everyone that he was talking to that he was thinking about doing ‘something’, but what that something was could have been any number of things. In the end, after a sort of feeling out process, he sent a text message to Baz, Lawrence, Parker, Consuelo, Carmen, and Mizuki asking if they wanted to do some extra training with the Crimson Tiger; a Claremont Alumni and Muay Thai master. He’d emailed her and, through communication with her and the school, set up a day for her to come by and give them some extracurricular combat training. In case something bad happened again, maybe a little extra time spent training together and leaning from a master could better prepare them for their expanding careers. And then the second part of the text was that after that, if they wanted, they should go over calculus homework together, because he was having issues on problem 14. Carmen may not have been in the same classes as they were, but he was sure they could give her a hand, or she could give them a hand, as well; studying was easier when you had a group. The text said there was no pressure to come if they didn’t feel like it, but that it was going to be in the gym after class and they’d go to the library after to study, so if they wanted to do either, or both, to just come by. So, on the appointed day, after classes ended, still holding his backpack, he was waiting outside the gym to see who had been interested enough in his offer to come and train and study with him, looking as golden as ever. Crimson Tiger was waiting inside, knowing that he had invited a ‘few’ friends if they had wanted to come.

Early January, 2024, Location: Sampson's Sodas, Riverside district of Freedom City, Early Evening Sampson's Sodas was a store operating out of what had once been some sort of warehouse. The warehouse portion was old, charming red brick, giving it a rustic atmosphere that nicely complemented the remodeled and added on front end, an open frame wood and brick affair with woooden decour. The entire building's front was set with windows for patrons to look out of while sitting at raised tables lining it, with the counter and the series of soda taps nestled in the back of the room. The walls were pictures of current trending bands with tour dates, or signed photos from them. Some popular teen heroes had pictures and autographs on the walls as well; this was a place for teens to immerse themselves in their culture. This late at night, it was getting close to closing, and only a single person was inside; Michael, wearing dark slacks and a lime green polo that announced him as an employee. The polo almost strained against the hero's sportsman frame, but he was leaning on the countertop and flipping through math homework while he waited for the store to close. Or more correctly, he was waiting for his visitor. After the party, or during it, Michael had only had a few moments to catch up with Charlie, as busy as they both were, but they had managed to exchange numbers for a chance to meet up later. Or maybe he'd asked Bernadette for the number and she'd gotten permission to share it, but it wasn't at all surprising, one way or the other, that Michael had sent Charlie a text a few days later and asked him to come to his work so they could talk. Michael had, after all, been very clear he had as much hero worship for the former Nevermore, now Stormcrow, as he did for the members of the Freedom League or Dead Head. That he was doing this at his work- even on a slow day when no one was in the store and he was about to close up-, in his civilian identity, indicated that alongside that Hero worship was a person who had a reasonable understanding of what he could and could not manage; a statement that he knew that it wouldn't be any work at all for Stormcrow to figure out who he was, if he somehow didn't already, and he had no intention to try and hide it from him anyway.

GM A Saturday evening in early January... It is dark and cold, but the streets in Southside are active anyway, with people moving around, doing their business, whatever it might be. Southside is not the nicest neighborhood in town, but it is not the worst either. Still, there is a good chance of trouble, and it has been one of the spots where Parker, Baz and Lawrence has snuck out to look for trouble and do some patrols. It has not been a regular thing, but they have done it a few times so far. It has mostly been stopping purse snatchers or would be robbers. Nothing big, nothing that they couldn't handle pretty easily. But today, as they're watching from the top of a building overlooking a street, waiting for anything to happen? They all have a feeling that it might be different.

(GM Post) December 21st, 2023, Early Morning, ASTRO Labs Campus MYSTERIOUS STRING OF THEFTS ACROSS THE COAST! TARGETING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OUTLETS GUARDS COMPLAIN OF CONFUSION, LOSS OF MEMORY, FATIGUE BUILDINGS AND GATES DESTROYED, LOCKS PICKED, ELECTRONIC DEFENSES DEFEATED PERPETRATORS UNKNOWN, STILL AT LARGE The Sun was still down, this early in the morning, and the temperature was barely above freezing. Scientists and security guards were wrapped in warm coats, scarves, and hats as they loaded several crates into a series of unmarked vans. They were filled with a variety of different projects that ASTRO Labs top scientists had been working on; a Liquid metal suit of armor, a self-modifying laser that could produce a beam anywhere along the electromagnetic spectrum, a set of magnetic rocket boots. Each was going in it's own truck, loaded into metal crates with anti-shock padding. Currently overseeing the project was one of the Managers of Research and Development, Clark Fields, wielding a clipboard as he observed the loads being placed into the trucks. He looked haggard, worn, and very cold, pulling his jacket tightly around him and taking sips from a thermos. Due to concerns about the string of thefts at high-tech laboratory, each of these projects- deemed the most likely to be desired by the thieves- was being sent to a different secondary location by the heads of ASTRO Labs, so that even if something was stolen, only one object would be taken, and the damage to the structure itself would be minimal or non-existent. But the best chance of this going off without a hitch was to get the objects out before day came. This was also where the request had come in to the Superhero community; for any help in overseeing this transport and making sure that the projects got to their destination. The two heroes in question, who had answered the call? The refugee from another world, Predator! and the previously crippled, superpowered Shooting Star! "We'll be assigning you to the armor's guard. That's our big project right now; the X-0095 Ferrofluidic Impervium Armor. If that gets into the wrong person's hands then it would be a significant blow to our research. We'd really like there to not be any thefts at all, but we're being realistic about the capabilities of our presumed opposition." his voice was clipped and tried to betray no emotion, but there was a clear frustration and concern in it despite that. "We're moving them in the first place because we believe the lab will be the next target, and we're hoping these will either get to a better safe house or will divert attention away from the lab itself, at which point we're hoping you two can pick up the slack for us. We're not really rated for Supervillain attacks." He had the manner about him of a scientist who wasn't used to the normal flow of conversation, so he had a habit of rambling about whatever he was working on without care for whoever he was talking to. But he seemed to realize that after that paragraph and stopped, looking at the superheroes apologetically "I'm sorry, I just said a bunch of words at once, and didn't really give you a chance to talk. Is there anything you want to ask me about our plans here?" he blinked. "...Actually have you two even met before? If you haven't maybe I should let you introduce yourselves to each other before I keep bombarding you with information."

Freedom Hall City Center, Freedom City, New Jersey Wednesday, December 13, 2023, 5:58 PM As was typical for this time of year, the City Center was covered with dazzling lights and holiday decorations. A massive Christmas tree stood in the green space at the heart of Centennial Ciricle, out in front of City Hall. A section of the park had been converted into an open air ice skating rink that was filled with people. Sitting just to the west of Centennial Circle, Freedom Hall was no exception. Section of the stone wall surrounding the original headquarters of the Freedom League had various decorations along it, and the trees inside the grounds were also adorned with lights. The hall itself had lights strung along the edges of the stepped ledges created by the roofs of each floor. Inside the world famous building, the large lobby and reception area had been decorated for the holidays and prepare for hosting the annual holiday party the League hosted for heroes from across the city (and beyond). A ten foot tall Christmas tree had been set up along the right side of the lobby, covered in shinning silver ornaments and multicolored lights. There were also a number of tables set up along that side of the lobby, some lower tables with chairs, while others were taller tables around which guests could stand. An open doorway led to a large conference room where the foot and refreshments had been set up. The other side of the lobby had been reconfigured for the event by Dr. Metropolis to include a working fireplace in which there was currently roaring fire. A number of leather sofas and chairs were arranged around the fireplace, offering a comfortable seating area for guests to relax. A yellow blur was moving about the large area, stopping briefly here or there to make some last minute adjustment or addition to the decorations. The blur came to a halt in over near the main entrance looking back toward the lobby, taking in everything at once. Dressed in an iconic yellow costume, with a checkered flag pattered strip down the sides, Velocity smiled as everything was ready for the guests to start to arrive. The speedster had first come to the Freedom League's annual holiday party when she had been a teenaged hero herself, but that was almost two decades ago. She had spent much more of that time helping to host the events as a member of the League. Velocity had always enjoyed this time of year and the opportunity to reconnect with longtime friends in the hero community and to have a chance to meet other heroes she had not had an opportunity to work with. This year brought some conflicting emotions for her. Invitations were extended to current students at Claremont Academy and this year, her own son was attending the school. The speedster took a deep breath to help keep back tears at how time seemed to have passed so quickly, she knew guests would soon be arriving.

Late Afternoon, Saturday the 16th of December The Fens Waterfront It was a bright clear day, the air crisp as a party had started out of a small flea market, mulled wine and a few good turns of luck proving enough to bring out some Christmas cheer early, especially as everyone's 'Uncle' Michael decided now was the best time to bring out his latest batch of homebrew rum. Shooting Star Alice made her way through the crowd, the bottle of rum she'd acquired tucked under her arm. She wore a sky blue sundress and a white scarf as an acknowledgement that it was supposedly cold. For the dozenth time that minute she checked her phone, having messaged Luke and Leon asking if they'd wanted to come to the little party. She'd been meaning to meet up with them since the attempt at a party get together that had ended with them briefly being crows together, but never found the time, simultaneously juggling school, superheroics and family responsibilities. The latter of which she was avoiding right now, Aaron was getting more involved this Christmas, and it was getting too much. She huffed out a sigh, surveying the crowd for her... friends?

Absolute Zero Waterfront, Freedom City, New Jersey October 2023, 9:45 PM Absolute Zero was a popular nightspot located along the Waterfront in downtown Freedom City, a few blocks north of the Pier Two Shopping Center. The club actually consisted of two distinctly different venues located on different floors. The First floor was The Lounge, a more relaxed, casual venue that was mainly candlelit with comfortable chairs and couches. Downstairs, was the Hollow, which was a much more lively venue, with high-tech lighting and sound systems, with musical offering varying each night. Luke Landers and Leon Moore found themselves in the Hollow on a Wednesday night after getting an invitation from their semi-teammate, Bernadette O'Connell to see her perform that evening. From what Luke and Leon understood, that after entering a competition in Boston over the Summer, Bernadette and another Claremont alumni Summer Sands (who had been a year ahead of Luke and Leon) had put together a band and begun performing at various venues in Freedom City or other nearby cities. The Hollow was pretty full for a Wednesday night, filled with what seemed to be something of a mix of patrons. There several groups who appeared to be young, white-collar employees from any number of such business in the city. Then there were a number of people of varying ages who seemed like they worked at some of the nearby restaurants or shops, that wanted to take in some live music and some drinks after their shifts. And then there were a large number of young adults that appeared to be students from one of the many colleges or universities in or near Freedom City. Another local band was just finishing up their time on stage. The performance had been good, but not one that had particularly excited the crowd overall. Bernadette was currently backstage, standing with Summer and the drummer and base player they had found over the last few months. The Irish teen was currently dressed as if she were heading off to classes at Claremont, with a grey and black plaid skirt, white socks and black shoes, a white dress shirt (which she had left unbuttoned several buttons lower than would be the norm) over which she had on a navy blue blazer. Not that it was particularly common for the students to have to wear such a uniform at Claremont. She looked over to Summer, who was dressed as she often was, baggy pants, a T-shirt and hoodie. The older girl was making a few last adjustments to her guitar's tunning before looking back out to watch as the current band was finishing up its last song. Bernadette looked back out on stage as well, waiting for their turn to head out.

North Bay Freedom City, New Jersey December 3, 2023, 10:15 AM The past few days had been something of a whirlwind for Vicki Adams, from having her father pull her from attending the Atom Academy and placing her (unknowingly to him) at the even more Metahuman focused Claremont Academy, to an extra dimensional trickster decide to pull many of the Claremont students into various versions of video games on Vicki's first day at the school. In many ways it was a good thing that her first day had been a Friday, so that she might have the weekend to get her bearings and acclimate to the new school. But then, on Saturday afternoon, Vicki had been called to see Headmistress Summers, who had told her that Synapse was going to be in town Sunday morning to meet with her. So, at the appointed time Sunday morning, an Uber had arrived at Claremont to take Vicki to see the Englishwoman. A bit more snow had fallen on Freedom City over the past couple of nights, but, as an East Coast city, it was quite familiar with dealing with a bit of snow and the roads were clear and traffic was not significantly affected. The route had been pretty straight forward, east to State Route 9, which took Vicki across the Century Bridge, from which she had a great view of both the Century Narrows to the east, and downtown Freedom City to the west (with the massive Sentry Statute looking out toward towards the bay). Once on the northern side of Freedom City, the Uber followed the shoreline of the Century Narrows east, passing several large and expensive homes along the shoreline, until they pulled up to the address where Vicki was to meet Synapse. It was a sleek and modern two-story villa nestled on the southern shore of North Bay, overlooking the cover in which sat the North Bay Yacht Club (which Vicki had seen a version of during the Mario Kart inspired race Quirk had put together back on Friday).

December 1, 2023 Claremont Academy As if gym class wasn't bad enough... They'd been divided up as partners for basic unarmed combat when the flash of light came, a snap and boom of white that was all-too-familiar to La Puma Negra. The scene was familiar to none of them, however. They were no longer standing on the washable firm mats of the Claremont gym floor, instead they were standing inside a strange place. It was a room full of trophies; statues of a caped figure holding up a gigantic globe, surrounded by smaller statues of men and women in togas, artifacts from countless worlds and timelines. The walls on either side were of some exotic metal, as was the floor; with doors visible that seemed to lead off to a much larger tunnel complex. This was the lair of the late legendary Centurion, long a museum --- or was it? The whole place had a strange air about it as if long-neglected air had just been recently been disturbed, the air thick with dust and the distinct scent of blood. And then a man appeared; blonde and blue-eyed, he was wearing the Centurion's costume but clearly wasn't him. La Puma Negra recognized the adult form of Quirk (and perhaps a few others did too) - his daughter was no longer with him. "Welcome, combatants!" he called in a booming, artificially amplified voice. "You have reached the Centurion's stronghold! But be warned, if you seek to claim his true power, the guardians may not be what you expect! You must defeat them and reclaim the Centurion's rocket if you wish to be victorious. Let the combat begin!" And then, he vanished.

(GM Post) December 7th, 2023, Evening, WCZA Station WELCOME BACK! YOU'RE WATCHING FREEDOM CITY'S FLAGSHIP NEWS SHOW THE BRAND REPORT Starring....BUDDY BRAND TONIGHT'S GUEST: State Senator Phillip Fredrickson A year ago- and for the 15 years before that- Phillip Fredrickson was one of the most prolific voices in the New Jersey State Senate for Superhero and meta-human registration. An old, stately looking man in his late 60s, Phillip had been a consistent crusader for believing that the world would be safer if meta-humans and Superheroes were registered in the government, and that New Jersey, as host to Freedom City, could be the world’s first example of doing something like that ‘the right way’. That had changed suddenly. Phillip’s granddaughter, Gabriela, had developed a meta-human ability. And in return, he had come to realize his mistakes and his incorrect beliefs, now that his skin was in the game- so to speak-, he had come to change his tune. He was now pushing for expanded care for meta-human children without requiring a sign-up or a registration, support for any family who had a young child who suddenly had meta-human abilities appear- counseling for parent and child, training on power control and any unique materials they needed to manage their powers. However, changing one's opinions was often a moment of danger for a politician, even when the reasons were good and the person was staunch in both their explanations and in all their other beliefs; Fredrickson had not changed any other position he held, and was clear that was always going to be the case, but he was changing a significant cornerstone of his campaign and his personal code, which was a negative to many people. His support had cratered, his political capital was in shreds, and what had been a solid re-election campaign was now in crisis as he attempted to right a sinking ship. Despite this, he refused to back down from his changed position, and was clear that even if it cost him the election, he wasn't going to change his tune; he loved his granddaughter, and he realized that all meta-humans were someone's grandchild, and that they deserved as much help as they could. His campaign staff had put him on Buddy's show to hopefully let the people see that while he may of changed his opinions, he was still the strong willed man he'd always been, who kept his word and worked for his constituency. The old man had a stately dignity to him even in crisis and at the risk of losing his seat; his hair was gray and thinning but worn in a close cut. His suit was nice and his blue tie added a splash of color where it was needed. He answered questions posed by Buddy with a firm voice that didn't waver, even when he was asked tough questions. He was calm under pressure and respectful to his host. But everything changed during a commercial break. An aide ran up to him with a cellphone, whispered something in his ear, and then gave him the phone. "Hello?" He asked. Then he listened. For a full minute, Buddy could see his face getting paler and paler. The old man swallowed, and he suddenly looked much less vigorous. He looked, truthfully, like a scared old man. He looked at Buddy with eyes that showed a deep sorrow; something terrible was on that phone call. His voice wasn't strong anymore, it trembled and he looked almost like he was going to burst into tears. "I'm sorry...I don't know that I can continue this interview...something serious has come up."

For Spacefurry / Blackstaff Poncho / Golden Star will be joining soon!

GM Dec 5th, Blackstaff Investigations Ring-a-ding-dong! A man at the door of Blackstaff Investigations pressed the doorbell with an elegant thing finger. He was a slender man, maybe in his sixties or early seventies. His hair and trimmed beard were white. He looked in good health for a man of his years, his spine was straight and his complexion healthy. He wore a good cut of tweed jacket and an equally bespoke waistcoat, complete with red bow tie. He had, in essence, the look of a professor. "Armitage," he said, by way of introduction. "Professor Alfred Armitage." A professor by image, a professor in fact. His name was not famous, at least not to the general public. But Blackstaff new of him; Emeritus Professor of Antiquities at Freedom City University, sort of retired, but still active. A wealthy man who knew all there was to know about the occult, archeology, and philosophy. He was a genius by any measure, his knowledge of the strange and mysterious past unparalleled in depth and breath. A man of his stature of course attracted rumours of sorcery and skullduggery, but there was, to Blackstaff's knowledge, no evidence of such. He was known to have a stern and unforgiving nature, a man with no time for fools. He was neither cruel, not kind - here was a man who had thrown his impressive intellect into decades of absorbing knowledge.

Sunday, December 3, 2023 The pop-up shop hadn't been Winifred's idea. Conducting business entirely though correspondence hadn't been a foreign concept to her even before spending the better part of a decade acclimating to the 'future' and minimizing face-to-face interactions suited her just fine. Chrysopoeia had grown considerably as a company in the fast few years, however and both the marketing consultantation team she'd hired through AEON and her in-house 'social media' person had agreed that a physical presence was a must during the Yuletide season. Given the bespoke - and sometimes volatile - nature of her products that meant that Winifred herself needed to be on-hand. And so the petite Englishwoman paced about the polished wooden tables in the small Hanover storefront, the combination of warm tones and glassware evoking some idealized remembrance of the laboratories of her youth. She wore a pine green sleeveless turtleneck, leaving the sleeve tattoo on her left arm on display, metallic ink that caught the light to look like spun wire, along with loose black trousers. Her actual lab wear was in the consultation room behind her in an attempt to look more inviting, an affectation her imperious resting expression already made something of a challenge.

Claremont Academy Freedom City, New Jersey December 1, 2023, 3:05 PM The last class of the day came to an end for this Friday, welcoming in the weekend. Of course, the students at Claremont Academy had finals looming in the coming weeks, so for many the weekend would hardly be a break. As if that were not enough, the headmistress of the school had suddenly sent word the night before for students to wear the school uniforms for the day, a directive that most of the students had followed at least. Rosalind Sommaripa, Jonah Janse, Bernadette O'Connell, Neko Musume and Owain Jones, where among a throng of other students making their way through the halls of one of the main buildings off the quad. Around them was the typical excited chatter of students, happy to be done with classes for the day. As the group of students exited the building, there was a flash of white light, and the five teens found themselves standing in a wooded area with a light dusting of snow on the ground. They were still dressed in the clothes they had been wearing that day (which in Bernadette's case was a grey and black plaid skirt, and a white dress shirt over which she had a navy blue sweater with the Claremont crest on the left breast), but their bookbags were gone. Up ahead was a stone wall, which at first glance appeared to part of the walls that surrounded the Claremont campus, only, it was much taller. In addition, at a corner of the wall was a tall thin wooden tower that rose up above a stone base. The design of the tower was a clearly Japanese style, with multiple peaks and roofs, likely of the Edo period. As the five teens were taking in their surroundings, a male figure appeared off to one side. "Greetings great warriors, you have a most important mission before you!" The man appeared to be in his early thirties, and was dressed in a traditional men’s kimono of black and white materials, again looking as if it was from centuries ago. However, the man was Caucasian, with blond hair and an impish, childlike grin on his face. "Before you is the fortress of the evil Lord Yamamori, who has kidnaped the Shogun's daughter." The man continued, and as he did, the five teens seemed to leave their bodies as they experienced a bird's-eye-view of what was beyond the wall in front of them. At first glance, it resembled the Claremont grounds, only things were vastly changed. Just on the other side of the wall in front of them, was the area that would have been the athletic fields, only, it had been replaced by what appeared to be a military parade field, with several outlying buildings that appeared to be barracks. Beyond that was another wall, with a gatehouse, which lead to what should have been the faculty residence and the two dorm buildings, but had been replaced by more Japanses fortifications and buildings. The low wall that sounded the gardens at Claremont was still there, only the gardens were vastly expanded, and exclusively of a Japanses style. And beyond that, where the main quad should have been, sat a massive Japanese style castle, rising several stories into the air. Along the various walled fortifications, the teens could see several armored figures slowly walking about. And then suddenly they were back in the forest before the strange man. "Stealth and cunning will be your greatest weapon as you make your way into Yamamori's fortress, confronting his forces only when necessary." The man said, giving a bow before vanishing from sight with a faint *POP*. Bernadette looked at the others, a confused look on her face. "What is going on?"

Claremont Academy Freedom City, New Jersey December 1, 2023, 3:05 PM The final class of the afternoon had just ended for what had been Vicki Adams' first day at Claremont Academy. After her rather eventful tour of the campus, Lawrence had gotten her to her classes for the afternoon and things had started to take on a bit of a normal routine. Of course, she was coming in at the end of the semester, so the school was working with the Atom Academy to provide semester finals that would cover what she had been working on there. As she exited the classroom, Vicki found herself in a crowd of students that included Lawrence Harrow, Mizuki Iwasaki, and Consuelo Nunez. The crowd the four teens were just exiting the building into the main quad when there was a flash of white light. The teens found themselves standing in the main parking lot for the school, or at least, it resembled the main parking lot. What appeared to be a wide racetrack ran through part of the parking lot, leading off into the wooded area around the school. The teens were still wearing the clothes they had worn for the day, but their bookbags were no longer with them. Each was standing next to what appeared to be a combination of a race car and a go-cart, each of a different color. The sound of cheers and applause filled the air, and glancing behind them there was a large stand of bleachers filled with almost cartoonish figures dressed in Claremont colors and bearing various banners and signs for "Team Claremont." Lawrence's eyes narrowed slightly as he regarded the scene, when suddenly a voice rang out. "Hey! Lawrence!" Glancing out onto the racetrack, there was a large figure with a spike shell on its back driving by on a four-wheel ATV, however, the odd figure's head seemed completely out of place, as it was a blond-haired man that looked to perhaps be in his early thirties, but with an impish, childlike grin. "You and your friends should hurry up, or you'll lose the race!" Following alongside the bazar figure was a small, pink racecar/go-cart, which was driven by a girl that looked to be five or six, with long blonde hair and wearing a pink princess dress. She had a similar impish grin to the other figure as she giggled as the two drove past the four teens and called out, "bye Law-werence!" "Quirk?" Lawrence said as he watched the two figures go by, before muttering, "oh, bloody hell." Lawrence looked over to the three girls and gave them an apologetic smile. "I am sorry you three got caught up in this, but we have been pulled into a game by a very powerful extra dimensional entity. I can tell you from experience, the best thing to do is play along, until we can find a way to beat him at the game." With that, the blond teen climbed into the car that was next to him and started up the motor.

GM 5th December Millenial Mall It was right around rush hour, and the mall was packed with Christmas shoppers. Yuletide songs and jingles floated through the air, and it seemed every dozen yards there was a Santa Claus trying to sell something. ZAP! ZAM! ZAP! ZAM! Golden beams streaked across the hall. One hit an ice-cream stall, which exploded into silver coins. Another hit a christmas tree, which showered golden needles across the floor. One whizzed right past Michael Adon's face, and turned a shoppers bag into purest platinum. The shopper let it go with a dull thud, eyes widened before she realised just how potentially rich she was. "ITS CHRISTMAS!" came the yell. A youngish man, dressed in orange and gold, maybe in his twenties, a little on the short side but trim. Around the crown of his head, a wreath of pure shining gold. Even his eyes shone gold. He blew imaginary smoke out of both fingertips, and then started (with said fingertips) firing more golden beams around the mall, turning objects into silver, gold, and platinum. Precious metals for all!

Claremont Academy Athletic Fields Freedom City, New Jersey October 2023, 3:30 PM During Michael's new student orientation tour, there had a discussion about the school's athletic fields and Bernadette showing him how to play lacrosse. So, the Senior girl had arranged for them to meet at the athletic fields after classes ended for the day. The Irish teen was dressed in a pair of shorts and a Irish national football team jersey as she walked out onto the field. She had a large bag filled with lacrosse sticks over one shoulder, which she dropped onto the ground. Two of her duplicates where busy moving a lacrosse goal out onto the field, while a couple of others already had lacrosse sticks and were running around passing a ball between them. Resting her own lacrosse stick over one shoulder, the redhead was just waiting for Michael to arrive, along with anyone else that might show up.

Claremont Academy, Jasmin Summers Administrative Building Freedom City, New Jersey December 1, 2023, 9:00 AM Callie Summers, the headmistress at Claremont Academy led Vicki Adams and her father into the main entryway of the administrative building after their meeting this morning on Vicki’s first day at the institution. This had come about rather suddenly and followed her father’s discovery about the nature of the teen’s former school, the Atom Academy. "So, I am confident Claremont will provide all the opportunities Vicki would need to obtain the quality education you expect for her." The headmistress said in continuation of the general conversation they had been having for the last half-hour or so. "And now we have an orientation tour scheduled for Vicki, and arrange what I understand is a familiar face to act as her guide." The headmistress continued, indicating a figure that was staining in the entryway, apparently waiting for the trio. Both Vicki and her father quickly recognized the waiting figure as Lawrence Harrow, the sixteen year old son of Lord Robert Harrow. With short blond hair and handsome features, Lawerence had a very close resemblance to his father, save for his bright blue eyes, which almost seemed to burst with energy. Those were the very image of his mother, Megan Howell-Harrow. Lawrence was dressed in a pair of grey slacks, with black shoes. He was wearing a white dress shirt with a red tie, over which was a navy blue sweater, which bore the Claremont Academy crest over the left breast. "Mr. Adams, Vicki, so wonderful to see you both again." Lawrence offered in greeting with a charming smile.