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January 2021 FCTV Studios Richard had honestly been a little surprised when Kinsley and Darin York had agreed to meet with him at the FCTV Studios instead of the home studio-cum-library where they usually shot their Tiktok videos. Normally conspiracy theory types liked the homey atmosphere of where they usually did their work, and got nervous about coming into the lion's den of a professional television studio, particularly the types who were worried about mind control rays on the television (which was BS, Paige had checked) or secret conspiracies in the media (which was right but they usually had no idea about who was conspiring to do what). Of course, that didn't apply to the two young Millennials who were out there in the studio getting set up with the crew right now. As they'd mentioned on the way in, they didn't even have a television. They were a married couple, a couple of years older than Will, who favored the sort of casual business attire (Darin, for example, was in white dress shirt and red tie) that made them look ready to work in one of the TV offices rather than be interviewed in it. Karen the social media girl (as Richard called her in his head) had sent their messages to the show's staff for years and Richard had found some of it, well, some of it interesting! For two kids who didn't have powers themselves, they'd figured out at least a few things that Richard knew for a fact were true. When his own makeup and hair were done, he thanked the staff because only an asshole doesn't do that, zipped out to the seat he preferred, in front of the green screen background that would provide color for the kids, then waited for them to make their appearance.

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 4:03 Unlike many private schools Claremont Academy did not bombard its alumni with requests for donations long after their tuition had been paid. It did, however, lean upon the spirit of community service it instilled in its students to ask for a bit of their time toward mentoring the next generation. Considering how many times her brother had agreed to host whole gaggles of teenagers at his dojo - even thought he never even went here - Ellie Espadas would have never heard the end of it had she declined. Besides, the short briefing she'd gotten about Danica Holmes had piqued her interest from a medical standpoint alone. Hopefully she's not disappointed she didn't get a flashier mentor. Or one who's technically younger than her. She'd put together her best business casual, smart-and-successful outfit and done her homework before arriving at one of the Academy's public areas, sitting on a bench that circled around a large planter, to wait.

GM The Neighborhood Bodega near Claremont Academy February 1st, 2021 Afternoon, after classes had ended It was time for some of the newer students to take a trip to the neighborhood bodega. Danica thought so, at least. She had rounded up Luke, Leon and Muirne and off they went for cheap junk food! The weather was quite nice, if a bit chilly. It had started snowing a few hours earlier, and was still going, but the snowfall was light and inobtrusive. The group was just exiting the bodega with their bounty in hand when a strange wind blew through the street. It was warm, cutting a path through the falling snow, with a strong smell of ozone and rust along as it went. In a flash, an armored vehicle appeared, driving through the tunnel in the snowfall at full speed, tearing down the road. It was not alone. Seconds later, a pair of Omegadrones appeared in the same manner, flying straight after the vehicle.

January 2021 The same message had gone out both electronically and mentally to the whole family - Hi, everybody. We need everyone who can make it home tonight for a family announcement. This is important; not a drill, 616. In other words, by words and the numeric code at the end, this wasn't a life-or-death immediate emergency -but it was certainly something serious. Downstairs in the living room, Holly Cline focused on the act of psionic creation while watching her stepbrother watch Daniel Tiger while sending a message out to her brother. I don't know what it is either; they're both locked down tight. But it must be something. Nana is here. Her eyes flicked over to her father, who with his eyebrows set and his arms folded across his chest, had that look that meant he wasn't talking about anything more serious than the weather. In the kitchen, Anna Cline was honestly looking better than Paige had seen her in years - she'd found a shade of blonde for her hair that wasn't quite so obviously a dye job, and her complexion had improved now that she was living somewhere that she didn't get quite so much sun. She had arrived not long after her summoning and had proceeded to pop a tater tot casserole in the oven freshly after walking in the door. It was - well, it was more grandmotherly than she usually acted.

Archetech February 2021 The meeting with Miss Americana's people had gone smoothly. They were professionals, she was a media icon; everybody knew how the game worked and how nobody was going to try and make her look stupid. She'd been the right person to call; a synthetic heroine who herself had been instrumental in defeating a robot invasion, and someone who had been on the show before and knew the ropes. And talking to her was certainly always very pleasant. "It's the damndest thing," Richard had warned his intern Terry, who was new to this particular heroine. "Paige swears it's not anything psychic, and it's not anything biochemical or magic either. Maybe it's just, you know, all that smartness being used to figure out how to talk to people, or...I don't know! Anyway, she's something else." They'd agreed to meet outside of Miss Americana's office, in a small gardened atrium on the Archetech campus that bore the name of a staffer killed in the Deep One attack a few years back. Richard had stopped to smell the flowers already though and was tossing a ball to himself, back and forth, as he kibitzed with the crew in between letting them get set up for the shoot. Miss A's intern was already there, but the grumpy-looking girl with the green and black hair was mostly observing.

February 2021 DuTemps Building "She's a great kid, really," Richard was commenting to David Longfellow as they waited for the arrival of their interview subject. Richard was standing, leaning against the wall and occasionally tossing a tennis ball across the room to himself and back again, trusting the crew to do their jobs and do them well. "She and Will were in the same class back in high school. Which means...she must be, what, almost thirty now? Jeez." He zipped over when his intern Terry arrived with coffee and gave him a million-dollar grin. "Thanks Ter!" A quick sip and "Triple sugar, niiice. " He had learned, a long time ago, under very different circumstances, that you were always, always nice to the people who worked for you, because they were the ones who watched your ass. He zipped back to the windows, looking out from their thirty-story height, and said, "I remember when this place was under construction, back in the day. They tore down a whole block that was mostly these little TV repair shops, but the...jeez." He shook his head. "Damn, I sound like an old fart. Sure, sound check," he said as Kelsey approached with the boom mike. "Let's do this." He was dressed for work, hair slicked back with just a few streaks of grey showing, sunglasses in his hand, wearing a safari vest over a black dress shirt and jeans. "You're not that old," Kelsey commented with a cheeky smile once they were done, "not as long as you sign my paychecks anyway!" He laughed as a ripple of laughter ran through the crew, and watched as the crew finished setting up, trusting them to do their jobs - and sure enough, with the windows behind him shaded enough that he wouldn't be backlit, he waited for Mali's arrival.

Under the circumstances, it was a beautiful day. The circumstances being Freedom City in early February, that meant clear skies and biting cold air that kept the SuperCrime crew of five huddled around their portable heater whenever they could get a break from setting up the outside shoot. It definitely wasn't the weirdest or most uncomfortable circumstances they'd shot in over the past fifteen years, but they were none of them as young as they used to be, not even Paige herself. They'd set up a small working area in a quiet park, a couple of portable chairs, several cameras, and a little canopy over a knot of equipment and monitors. "All right," Paige began, checking things off on her tablet as she spoke. "This looks like a standard two-camera interview, over the shoulder and with the overhead boom plus lavs. Is that all set to go, Fred?" The second unit director nodded, barely looking up from his own tablet. "I'm going to be doubling Kelsey on sound to try and kill some of this wind noise, but we'll have to handle it in post. It's too bad there aren't fifty thousand buildings in this city we could've gone inside for this..." Paige laughed. "His first suggestion was on a rooftop of one of those buildings; this was a compromise. Speaking of which, what's the hot dog situation?" "I sent Vivi to the cart," Fred confirmed, "they'll be back any minute. We'll have to keep this tight," he reminded her, "we still have that other one this afternoon." "No problem," Paige assured him blithely. "We've done this a million times."

GM cw: gun violence Early December, 2020 Hanover The email was encrypted, and the encryption was custom puzzle nonsense, which was the kind of thing Mara did when she wanted to make sure an important message wouldn't be unraveled by someone who wasn't qualified to read it. Possibly, up to and including the intended recipient. Mara was like that. Once puzzled out, it contained the following:

GM Millenium Mall, Midtown, Freedom City Early June, 2021 10:34 PM The sky was clear and dark above Freedom City on this particular night. The half moon shone among the stars, illuminating the night. Micah had been the one to first catch the news of a new movie coming out for the summer season, and he had suggested to Pan they should see it. Pan had brought Eira, and Eira had brought Lulu. The movie's title was "The Forever Boy". It was yet another retelling of the story of Peter Pan, and of course, they had to see it. It had all been very exciting, dark and gritty. A boy abandoned in Victorian London, found by Fae and whisked away to Neverland, flying and fighting pirates in great flying pirate ships, joined by Wendy and her family. Spectacular, visually impressive, but it didn't offer much new to the story. The climatic final scene had Peter Pan and Wendy teaming up to fight Captain Hook as his flying ship sailed across the sky above London, almost colliding with Big Ben, Tower Bridge and other sights along the way. As they left the mall, Pan was talking excitedly about it, holding hands apart while he mentioned how something was much smaller in real life. And above, in front of the glow of the half moon, a pirate ship sailed through the sky, towards the Millenium Mall.

(Shortly after "The Old Girl is Dying on Her Feet") Later that night, with all the dinner dishes done and the guests settled and the kids long asleep, Paige settled herself at the vanity table in the master bedroom. Richard's powers may have kept them both young, but that didn't mean she could afford to skimp on the moisturizing routine. "So," she began, looking at Richard in the mirror as she began unscrewing jars, "we've reassured everybody that the world's not ending. We've told the kids and your mom that nothing's going to change, we've told the crew we're not laying anybody off. I guess it's time for us to figure out what we're actually going to do."

Bedlam City October 31, 2020 - Sundown "H-hey, how long is this gonna take already?" Robert Meza asked for the dozenth time, fiddling with the expensive looking watch on his wrist and looking about the interrogation room as though he was going to spot something new inside the four dour walls. His chair creaked as he shifted his weight about and his flop sweat made his dark hair fall limply against his forehead. "You got somewhere you'd rather be, Meza? There's the door," Detective Montgomery snapped irritably. Heavyset and red faced he'd left his jacket draped over the back of the chair across from Meza while he paced back and forth in front of the two-way mirror. "The ADA's running late is all. Once she gets your statement, we get you out of the city for a while, like you asked. So until then, just shaddup, yeah?" Meza drew his shoulders together and ducked his head slightly then looked about the room again. "Yeah, yeah, okay. But what's he doing here?" The third man in the room, lounging in a chair in the corner raised an eyebrow over one ice blue eye. "Lucky for you your lawyer knows a police station is a pretty stupid place to go if you wanna avoid anybody on the Mara's payroll," Lou Lubrano replied dryly, smirking in Montgomery's direction. He tugged at the cuffs on his rumpled suit jacket. "Consider me insurance. You like insurance, right Robbie? Firebug like you?" The informant looked away but set his jaw, hands palm down on the table in front of him. "Look, I'm not saying I'm no angel. But I hadda do something this time. Th-they was just kids, y'know? Ain't right." Lubrano's expression remained impassive, partially concealed by his black beard but he paused in silence for a moment. "Yeah, Robbie. I know." A tinny rendition of a cheerful pop tune broke the heavy silence permeating the room. "@#$% ringtone," Montgomery swore as he stomped back to the table and fished a phone out of his jacket pocket. "Yeah?! Of course I'm-- what? You got held up by what?!" With a sudden groan Meza collapsed over the table in front of him, muscles spasming. Lubrano was on his feet in an instant but stopped mid-step at a screeching noise. Mesa's fingernails, suddenly more bestial talons than anything, were carving deep trails in the metal surface. When his head shot up it was with luminous yellow eyes and teeth too large and too sharp for his jaw. He opened his mouth to ask a question but all that came out was a confused growl. He thrashed with another spasm and the table was tossed away from him, torn free of the rusted bolts attaching it to the floor. Montgomery went for his sidearm but was caught in the shoulder by the flying furniture on its way to smash into the two-way mirror, spiderweb cracking but not quite shattering. With tearing polyester, cracking bone and popping watch links Meza's form doubled then tripled in size, becoming a hulking creature covered in dark fur that towered over Lubrano. The beast stumbled froward a step before throwing its head back in a deafening howl, a sound that could be heard faintly echoed through the walls of the police station. Suddenly seized by a need to get away Meza leapt forward, swatting Lubrano aside like a straw dummy and crashing through the mirror in a rain of broken glass. Forcing himself back to his feet and ignoring Montgomery's attempts to free himself from under the dented table, Lubrano looked through the broken pane to see the path the werewolf had torn through the adjoining room and out of the building. Pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket he shook one loose without looking away and put it unlit between his lips. "...huh."

January 2021 Claremont Evening Eira had managed to reserve one of the art studios for a project in the evening period, and indeed project it was. She busied herself as she waited for Davyd, deploying fixed cameras around the square space in the front of the room where the model usually stood. She raised a hand and a few drone-cameras took off from her bag, humming softly as their internal magnetic drives activated and left them to zip around the room like tiny rotorless helicopters. She activated her connection to drones and cameras alike, eyes unfocusing slightly as she took in the three-dimensional view. She had only spoken to Davyd once since their return from Christmas - but there was no doubt in her mind that he would show up. After all, a substantial portion of her holiday allowance was at stake.

January 2021 Claremont Academy now the family is parted; will it be complete one day? The red SUV looked like any other car pulling into the Claremont drop-off lot this January as students returned from the end of their holiday break. It was a full two months since the whole entire goshdarn world and parts of space beyond had found out what Judith Claudia Cahill was, even if the fact that the President's daughter was a Claremont student was a rather more closely guarded secret than most people would imagine. Judy stepped out of the SUV, her denim dress almost brushing the snow-dappled ground, with a black cat-faced backpack on, her Bible tucked under her arm, and her trusty bodyguard at her side. She'd admitted being scared in the car, scared to death as a matter of fact, but as she and Ashley exchanged a smile she decided she was ready for her very last semester of high school. No more secrets now she thought as she turned and led the way onto Claremont's campus, a pink-haired Ashley following.

Somewhere else There are many roads to the Temple of Vhoka, built on a platform deep above a bottomless sea, far out into the inky void of the Dreamlands that stretch on forever in an endless sky of ever-changing colors that the unwary do not study too long lest they find themselves studying the place for eternity. The Temple is this - a low place like an iceberg in a blood-red sea, a small fragment of curled stone like an animal's tongue extending a story or two into the air, surrounded by jagged rocks like an unholy maw. A perpetual waterfall falls below through the mouth, down into guts that must be miles deep, but the temple itself never floods. Vhoka is after all very hungry. A line of stairs seemed to lead down into the water, if one is brave enough to do it. The roads are this, the curls and twists of the Cosmic Coil that leads one to this place through worlds enough and time. The Sea Devil arrived in this wise - erupting out of the bottomless sea with a maddened cultist in her grasp, the man's mad chanting interrupted by his gasp of astonishment. "What!? But no unprotected human could have survived such a spell - and lived!" "None did!" agreed the Sea Devil before picking him up by the ankles and striking him against the rocky causeway until he was no longer a threat. after that she hunkered down on the island where she and her prisoner had landed, studying the distant fortress of her foes and the slippery stone pathway that led there. Perhaps she had come hastily but she knew that time in Freedom City would not last forever, and if they were not careful, there would be no saving those transformed by the cultists' spell. Her liver turned over at the thought of what had taken place - Lemurian sorcery, Lemurian magic, corrupted by Surface-Men again, this time to change the world in the image of one of their long-dead vassals! It truly was disgusting. She sat down next to her unconscious prisoner and sniffed the air, then after a moment's consideration opened her helmet and pulled a still-wriggling fish from her armor, tossing it in the air before catching it with her tongue and swallowing it in one mighty gulp. Normally she chewed but this was a stressful day, and a thorny problem. Surely she and Tarva couldn't have been the only ones to find the Road to this place? She would take the place alone in Dagon and Hydra and Singularity's name if she had to but the Lair of the Devourer was perhaps a bit larger than she had imagined...

GM Outside a barn in Island View, Emerald City 9PM, May 8th 2020 Charles Charlemagne was not exactly a well known name around Emerald City magic community, but yet, Blackstaff had heard about him. A man that seemed to care for magical creatures, even if his own magic power seemed non-existant, Charlemagne lived in an always moving mansion. Its door would appear on the side of random buildings around the city. If he wanted to be found, he would be. If not? You should count on your luck. Blackstaff had found a note on the desk at his office. An invitation, to the Charlemagne Mansion, and a location. An offer for a job. By now, Blackstaff had found his way to the side of a barn in Island View. I held a simple wooden door, yet one that was entirely out of place in this location. And he was not alone. Oz had received word that Charles Charlemagne wanted to see him. Last time they had met, he had aided Charlemagne in stopping would-be monster poaches. It seemed that Charlemagne had been suitably impressed to reach out to him again.

The students were in the gym, getting in a little free time after classes before supper. Leon had just come down off the rock wall, his feet safe on the mat, when he heard the voice call out. "Think fast!" When he turned around, there was a volleyball whipping towards his face so fast it seemed to blur - and then abruptly vanished into nothingness inches before it might have struck. "Hah!" The speaker was Eira Katastroff, hands on her hips and looking pleased. "You are fast," she said cheerfully as she approached Leon. Leon had seen the blue-haired Swede lifting weights earlier, but she showed not a hint of sweat on her pale skin, her blue and gold leotard just visible under her fully-zipped Claremont outdoor jacket. She was about to say more when she was approached by Mr. Kuzkin, the elderly drama teacher having volunteered to monitor the evening workout routine, who firmly informed her that dangerous pranks were strictly forbidden in gym class, while Eira shot back that a silly hologram could hardly have actually hurt him, and...

GM The Nicholson School, Freedom City September 9th, 2020 9:00 AM Most of the students at Claremont Academy started their super heroic student life just there. Few were even aware that a school existed for younger children, where they could learn to control and use their powers, just be children or maybe learn a little something more. Students from the Nicholson School would at times visit Claremont, but students from Claremont coming to Nicholson was rare. But as it happened, two students from Claremont had been requested to visit Nicholson. A work study, of sorts. Helping out in a few classes, show the kids that you could end up anywhere and be just fine. A blonde haired man around 40 was waiting for them as they approached the school gates. He had a full beard, his long hair tied into a ponytail. He was wearing a white dress shirt and dress pants. He wore a red tie with Mickey Mouse heads printed all over it. He was fiddling with his tie while he waited for the Claremont students to arrive.

It had been a long but good Fourth of July - a chance for the President and the First Family to put overt politics aside and have the celebration with military families that was de riguer these days. Judy had played her part to perfection, applauding the talent shows of little kids, cheering as the fireworks echoed above Washington, and even serving meals alongside her mother and sisters at the service table. It was all good footage for a Presidential election year, or so the news media was presenting it. She lay on her bed and listened to the news outside without having to turn on her television, then after a moment's consideration she took out her phone and texted Crystal-Gazer. Hey Lulu. Can you FaceTime?

GM 5:30 PM, December 7th, 2020 Riverside, not too far from Riverside Park The Never-Ending Story was an interesting place to be. It was a small bookstore in Riverside, one that was known to be just the place to go to find rare books. Before his passing, Adrian Eldrich himself had been a common visitor. The book store was rarely busy, but it did well enough. The owner Andrew Orlando let his cats roam free among his book, while the portly gentleman puttered about. It was a peaceful place to be, it was a happy place to be, especially during Christmas time. At least, on every other day than today. Today, the sounds of struggles and things being pulled apart would meet a trio that just so happened to enter the building at the same time...

GM Wading Way, Freedom City November 22nd, 2020 3:00 PM The outside of a bank almost exploded as man in a golden battlesuit smashed through the windows, a large briefcase in his hand. He landed heavily on the pavement, looking up at the people on the street around him, quickly followed by a trio of people in silver colored battlesuits, all holding heavy suitcases of their own. The battlesuits appeared to be inspired by medieval knights armors, aside from the helmet of the golden one, at least, which sported a large red eye in the center of the helmet, which otherwise had no features. "We got the gold boss, now what?" One of the men in silver armor asked, drawing a groan of irritation from the man in the golden armor. "Then we run you idiot! Back to the headquarters, like we planned!" With sirens wailing in the distance, all four took off from the ground, heading through the city with powerful boot jets.

Fall 2020 It was a couple of days after move-in day, late enough that it was after curfew and the dorm hallways outside were beginning to quiet down, when Pan's cellphone chimed: "Are you decent? ?"

Fall 2020 The kitchens Between one thing and another, Orange Squad had not had many opportunities so far to get to know each other. But with the traditional American holiday season settling in, it was evidently time to change that. Professor Lynn has spread the home ec class throughout the big Claremont kitchens as best she can, trying to stay out of the way of the hardworking group of student professionals and community volunteers who actually make the meals Claremont students eat. "All right, everyone, I have your assignment. All of you represent different culinary legacies to one degree or another," she said, giving a special smile to Ryder who was clearly already one of her favorite students, "and it's the integration of the whole into one that makes for a really good team!" She smiled, hands inside her apron, as she went on, "what I want you to do is come up with a dish that truly represents your blended legacies. And don't think I'm asking you to cook your lived identity, either, because that's nonsense. Come up with a dish that represents a combination of your past, your future, your skills, and your talents - and prepare a version of it that can be served at dinner tomorrow evening. That's just in case your first attempts don't work out," she added with a smile as she moved among the group of students. "remember, there are accidents in the kitchen - but only happy ones!" Eira extended the finger on her left hand and then began unscrewing it, slowly undoing each joint with an audible click-click-click, watching the organic students as they talked to the home ec teacher. This was not a class to which she had contributed very much.

Hanover Bypass Thursday, November 26th, 2020 2:30 pm Lulu checked her reflection for the upteenth time in the rear view mirror of her Honda CR-V, making sure her hair was just right. It was going to be her first time meeting her boyfriend's parents, which young women are taught to treat very seriously in rural Alabama. Her makeup was perfect, her coppery tresses draped over her right shoulder in an artful cascade, and her green sweater and red pleated skirt were both flattering and tasteful. And in the back seat, her secret weapon: Southern cooking! Carefully secured to prevent movement were hearty portions of her Aunt June's green bean casserole, her mother's buttermilk biscuits, and her Grandma Grace's pecan bourbon pie. The smells that rose out of the containers were positively heavenly. "Your momma did say 3pm, right, hon? Not 3:30? Ah know ah asked before, but mah brain's turnin' cartwheels right now."

Freedom City. Hanover. Terrifi-Labs. Sept 5, 2020. 11 PM. Terrifica Terrifica had an idea. Shockingly enough for the super genius. But it was a good one. The initial trial a while ago hadn’t worked out, for a variety of reasons. But this one would. Casey was quite reliable for this sort of thing. So…she just called her. “Hello, Casey? I’m in the Lab.” The original Crimebusters idea was still valid, but one administrator slash moderator simply wasn’t enough. “Yes, I have something big. I’ll need your help with-“ And as always, she cut Terrifica off, saying she would be there. “I really need to explain what-” No need for that, she was already on her way. And then, of course, the line was dead. Baffling. But Casey was Casey. Terrifica wouldn’t have her any other way.

GM Downtown, Freedom City October 31st, 2020 Sunset Howling. Everywhere, what used to be people were howling. Not everyone, of course. Just about 1% of the world's population were transformed, but 1% of the population of Freedom City? Now that was still a considerable number of people. Luckily, Freedom City was the home of super heroes! Everywhere you looked, you were bound to see a hero helping the day, restraining the werewolves and saving the people! If anywhere would be safe on this Halloween, it had to be Freedom City, right? For a moment, the howls were drowned out by a crack of lightning that the roof of city hall. A werewolf with white fur hovered above the building, pulling its mouth back to howl at the moon as another bolt of lightning struck above. It was wearing the tattered remains of a blue and white costum with a yellow lightning bolt on its chest, lightning crackling around its claws. It seemed not even super heroes would go untouched by the night of the wolves.