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GM 5:30 PM, December 17th, 2019 Riverside, not too far from Riverside Park It was the week before Christmas, and Freedom City was as calm as one could expect the city to be. It had been snowing, but wasn't right now, and the city was as busy as ever, with people leaving work, looking at Christmas decorations, shopping for Christmas gifts or whatever other activity they felt like doing the week before Christmas. Pan was leading his friends through the streets of Freedom, heavy shopping bags in his hands. After his first Christmas on this world, he had quickly decided that it was much more enjoyable to do Christmas shopping together, instead of on his own, and so he had managed to bring Lulu, Adam and Veronica along, visiting shops, stores and what have you. Now, they were heading towards one particular shop in Riverside at Pan's insistence, a little bookshop called the Never-Ending Story...

Tortola, British Virgin Islands Monday, June 24, 2019 (10:34 AM local time) A white van made its way along curving roads that twisted and turned along the lush green hills along the southern coast of Tortola along the way to Road Town. In the back of the van sat Veronica Danger and four of her classmates from Claremont Academy, Adam Lanchester, Pan Barrie, Louise Beaumont, and Davyd Palahniuk. When Veronica had learned that she needed to come down to the Caribbean almost immediately after the school year ended to help a Danger International team that was investigating a recently discovered shipwreck, she had invited some of her classmates to come along. The group had departed Freedom City early this morning aboard a Danger International private jet, landing a short while ago at Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport on Beef Island, where the van had picked them up. Now they were on their way to where they would be picked up by the Danger International research vessel. The teenage Danger had been eagerly anticipating the trip. While she enjoyed being at Claremont, she also found the time there somewhat….constrictive, as she was not accustomed to being in one place for so long. If it had not been for trips to Africa over winter and spring breaks, Veronica would likely have gone stir crazy. But now it was summer vacation, and this was but the first of a number of locations she would be visiting before the fall. The teenager was pulled from her thoughts by a voice from the front passenger seat of the van. "A launch from the Horizon is already waiting at the docks for us. Several of the team went into Road Town to pick up supplies." Stated Prudence, the almost omnipresent twenty-something employee of Danger International that had been given the daunting task of trying to oversee the schedules for both Veronica and Janus Danger while the cousins were at Claremont. As was typically the case, Prudence had her tablet in hand, studying the screen, seemingly indifferent to the breathtaking view outside the van. From the winding roadway, the van’s passengers had a mostly unobstructed view of the clear blue waters of the Sir Francis Drake channel to their left, along with several of the southern British Virgin Islands in the distance. Out on the water were a number of sailboats, catamarans and yachts of various sizes, either moving through the channel or moored in one of the many bays along Tortola or the other islands. "Thank you Prudence." Veronica replied with a small grin, shaking her head slightly before looking back out the window at the water beyond. Then the van turned a corner to the right, and the teens in the van caught sight of Road Town and its harbor below. The clear blue waters of the bay were filled with boats, from small single person sailing ships to a large cruise ship pulled up to the main pier.

May 2020 Radikal2002 has been a frequent and active presence in the comment section of Gimmick's videos for most of the year - her memes are dank, her counter-trolling epic, and her support for noobs real as long as they don't ask anything too stupid. Her avatar is an atomic symbol, a hydrogen atom, and she's a frequent commenter on various heroic Youtube channels. She doesn't normally extend invitations, or reveal anything about herself. So it's a bit of a surprise when she posts "If you think you have enough, meet me tonight at - and then what looks like a string of random numbers - if you aren't smart enough to decode things like that. From Rot-13 to binary with a trip through a substitution cipher based on the Anarchist's Cookbook comes "323 Carlton Street, Ashton, 9PM." Ashton isn't exactly no go territory but Gimmick knows it's no joke there. Well, that's not true - just not always a very funny one. Much of the suburban community burned during the last Terminus invasion, and though it's been rebuilt, the ground is still haunted by the ghosts of the past - and this area is Ground Zero for the next generation of Terminus mutants. Sometimes strange powers manifest here. Sometimes strange people live here.

April 2020 Approximately 1 week after the founding of Rurland 9:00 PM Ruins of Former Foundry Depot Two weeks ago this strip mall was shuttered, tenants bought out of their leases and ordered clear of the premises effective immediately. The convenience store and frozen yogurt shop that anchored the suburban holdfast vacated without even time for a going out of business blowout. One week ago the mall folded in on itself and fell into the hidden sub-basement of the Foundry weapons depot it had served as cover for. The owner of record claimed no ownership nor responsibility for the clean up. Curious teens crossed the police barriers some nights to poke at the craters edge. Private security had been placed within a few days to oversee the site at night when the initial cyclone fencing proved insufficient to deter the locals. Few had questioned why land that was left unclaimed was now under guard. They simply went about their lives happy the kids would be safe until it was cleaned up. Even fewer saw the small crew arrive and descend into the crater under the guards watchful eyes with nothing more than a knowing nod and wave. Which was why they had waited, now it was an eyesore best ignored not a recent disaster under careful watch from local authorities. Half an hour later the neighborhood shook with an all too familiar rumble as the edged of the crater began to collapse inward swallowing most of the street surrounding the hole. Alarms sounded up and down the streets and dogs were set to barking as lights lit up up and down the blocks shrouding the former depot with frightened civilians emerging to look on in fear as the crater slowly grew and broken pipes spewed water and natural gas into the sky just awaiting a spark. The guards car teetered on edge not quite swallowed by the growing sinkhole, but threatening to topple with every movement from the terrified rent-a-cop inside. Something had gone desperately wrong.

GM February 25th, 2020, 10:00 AM Claremont Academy, Sub-Level Four, Combat Simulator "Alright, listen up. I know that you got some experience from your old school, O'Brian, so you've been chosen to help show Winters the ropes, but no funny business. Got it?" A tall man with brown hair and a crew cut was barking orders at the two students in the Combat Simulator. The gym teacher, Mr. Travis Armstrong, was barking orders with the best of them. He had also made it clear on multiple occasions that he was watching Max, not entirely confident in her change of heart and her shifting from her old school. Still, he had told her that this was him showing her some trust by letting her take part in this exercise. The teacher stood behind the safety glass in t control booth, a confident smile on his lips as he looked down on the currently bare room. "With that out of the way, let's start with a warm up." His fingers danced over the keyboard and controls, gettingeverything ready. The entire area around them changed, blinking for a second, then the pair found themselves standing in the middle of a random city. It didn't seem to correspond to anywhere in Freedom City in particular, more a mish mash of parts. They were alone, no cars, no people. Not until a group of four masked men with guns appeared before them. "Alright, go get 'em!"

The Danger! mobile slid into traffic not long after Frost had called his old friend about the newcomer the league had recently completed debriefing. Weaving effortlessly through traffic the famed car roared to a stop in a spot reserved for league members, Ace not for the first time shook his head at the absurd sign, when was the last time anyone but Frost actually drove and he borrowed a League car from the motor pool. He hopped out of the open top of the convertible and strode up to the stammering security guard with a wink as he took the mans hand palming a generous tip as he did so, "Now you keep a good eye on her for me son." he bade and with a snappy salute jogged up the steps to the main entrance flashing a smile to a familiar face behind the security checkpoint, "Charlie! how're the kids?" he asked as he made directly for the bypass waiting expectantly for the senior security officer he'd gotten the entry level job for almost a lifetime ago. He flirted briefly with the receptionist as he waited for the elevator and rode casually up to the floor they'd indicated the newcomer awaited. Frost having been called off for some business she was currently overseen by some staffers as Ace arrived taking in the scene in the small waiting area with a raised brow before stepping forward, "Greetings and Salutations." the immortal greeted warmly, "Ace Danger at your service, Dmitri suggested you might be in need of a guide?" he smiled wide. Yes this was going to be an interesting task indeed.

Riverside - Smoothie Shack May 17th, 4:33pm GM All kinds of people came into the Smoothie Shack, on Sundays as with any day: the kids after a cool treat, often with beleaguered parents in tow (though the latter were just as often secretly happy for an excuse to indulge); the joggers who'd some some napkin math and figured they'd burned enough calories to justify immediately consuming that many again; the older regulars, most of whom had stories about the ice cream parlors of their youth (less than most of which seemed credible). Even when it was quiet one could people-watch, learning about the patrons and passers-by by watching the little things. The young man in the booth by the window, clearly wanting to be seen (and perhaps waiting for someone who'd never arrived), the couple who were all smiles and laughter (but there was too much tension, too many little jumps and starts for it all to be genuine).... .....or the not-so-little-things, like the rough young man in the far corner who'd spent the last half-hour, head in his hands, watching his smoothie melt and looking for all the world like the last thread on the sword of Damocles was going to snap at any moment.

GM 1:30 PM, March 7th, 2020 Emerald Skies Airshow, Joint Army/Air-Force Base Clark-Gordon, Cascadia The show had been coming for a while. The skies were clear and blue. Fighter jets roared across the sky, drawing colorful, emerald smoketrails behind them. The crowds cheered, the people of Emerald City was getting into the airshow. Even if the air was cool, the sun was warm. Mattus had sent Chromium to provide security. Since his arrival in Emerald City, he had spent time training at Clark-Gordon, learning to be better. Now, he was security. Just in case, Commander Irons had said. Nothing was going to happen, but it was good to get out there. See the people, see what he was fighting for. No need to be seen unless necessary, of course. A big shiny guy would stand out, but he could at least enjoy the show from the shadows. Nolan Aeronautics was here by invitation. In fact, they had asked for one Anne Mistral in particular. She was famous, after all. If anything, her presence would only draw larger crowds. While another jet soared across the sky, painting emerald circles with its smoke, the call went out that Levity was up next...

April 7th, 11.46AM, 2020 Claremont Academy, Main Quad "...and this is where I leave you, I guess." Det. Janice Renchy had the tired, bleary look of anyone who worked at night who had to be up in the middle of the day. Rubbing at one eye with the heel of her palm, Leon's voucher squinted around the stately, old-fashioned school square. "Dunno how you're not coming out of here with a load of debt. Anyway, I'm sure you'll do great, Leo. Take care of yourself, you got my number if it can do you any good." Smiling a little, she offered the boy a handshake. She looked hard at Leon's face "You're good here?" Unbeknownst to the unlikely duo, there was another new arrival, just out of sight...and very much out of time.

GM Bethlehem Heights, March 14th, 9:30 PM Bethlehem Heights might not be a rich area, or one where the police routinely patrolled, but it was still home to many. And in the last few weeks, there had been a rash of so far unexplained disappearances. The disappearances seemed focused on the undesirables of society: The homeless, the drunks, the addicts. The people of the street. Not enough to make city hall care enough to send the police for more than routine attempts at searching for the missing people. People were warned to stay off the streets in Bethlehem Heights during the night, but otherwise, little effort was put into finding the missing people, or even finding out what was going on. If anyone were to solve the mystery, it seemed that the heroes of Emerald City would have to step up. And as a man's scream cut through the night in Bethlehem Heights, they might soon get their chance.

Freedom City April 7th, 2020 9:37AM Local Time Muirne wore a light blue t-shirt, a knee length black skirt with navy blue leggings beneath it. She held a charcoal grey jacket with a fluffy collar in her arms forgotten despite the cold wind as she swivelled rapidly, taking in the sights, wonder in her eyes- This was Freedom City? It looked like something from one of those 'science fiction' shows or films she'd watched. The shining trains suspended in the air on their tracks, the planes flying overhead, the towering buildings. She nearly walked into a tall man in a suit, but she danced out of the way, apologising sweetly. She turned to her escort, "This place is amazing, like something from a movie or a dream! Is this really where I will be going to school?" She pranced ahead again. She looked at her map on her phone, trying to figure out how to get to the school. Her face morphed quickly between excitement, then to confusion, then to embarrassment, before she looked back to her escort a sheepish smile on her face, "I uh, I can't figure out how we're getting there, my phone is being weird. Could I have some help?"

Chelsea, London, England Wednesday, March 24, 2020 10:32 AM local time Dee Farrington guided her grey Aston Martin down the streets of London on this overcast morning. She was on her way to the apartment she owned in the area to check up on the time displaced teenage girl that was staying there currently. The Englishwoman had taken a bit of the long way round getting to the apartment, wanting to get ever little extra bit of time behind the wheel of her sports car before she got too far along to be able to be able to drive it. She was dressed in her typical attire, jeans, a T-shirt, black leather jacket and a pair of Doc Marin boots. Her shoulder length black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, though a few locks hung lose along one side of her face, including one dyed green. Not being able to truly justify any more delay, Dee pulled her car into her reserved car port. Climbing out, she made her way over to the front door, keying the intercom next to the gate for her apartment. "Muirne, its Dee, I will be up in a moment." Letting herself in, three flights of stairs later (the doctors said it was good to continue to get regular exercise) and Dee was at the door to her apartment. Opening the door, she made her way into the living room. "Morning Muirne. How you doing today?" She asked as she entered.

April 2020 Two weeks to prom ...Det, sa Peter till Wendy, var vägen till Neverland; men även fåglar som bär kartor och konsulterade dem i blåsiga hörn kunde inte ha sett det med dessa instruktioner. Peter, du förstår, sa precis allt som kom in i hans huvud... ...Jag avvisade dessa svar; istället valde jag något annat. Jag valde det omöjliga. Jag valde ... Rurland. En stad där konstnären inte skulle vara rädd för censuren. Där forskaren inte skulle vara bunden av små moral. Där det stora inte skulle begränsas av de små!.. "Yes, I, hmm, know people at Archetech. And HAX." said Eira archly to Kam, turning from where she sat besides Pan to speak clearly to the Dakanan teen. "Archetech gives you the strength and power of a great corporation, with a mastermind as its leader, while HAX has a more...intimate atmosphere. Fewer limits at one, more good friends at the other, yes?" She smirked at that, leaning back with her hands on her lap as if she'd said something very clever. ...of course - I am not a fool. But still - just imagine what it would be like. We are here - I will see you soon VINCE... When the Claremont van stopped in front of the dojo, Eira stepped out, duffel bag slung over her shoulder, in her grey sweats and white sneakers looking ready for an informal workout. This was technically a gym elective, something that got them all out of playing "Quidditch - but with POWERS!" - and it promised to be an interesting evening.

Danger Manor North Bay, Freedom City Saturday, June 20, 2020. 10:23 AM The current academic year had recently ended at Claremont Academy, and for a change, Veronica did not have something that immediately needed her attention. This meant both she and her cousin, Janus, were able to spend some time at Danger Manor before they set off for any summer plans. Of course, given that allowing a pair of teenage Dangers to remain idle for too long was asking for trouble, the cousins had been set to work straightening up an attic in one of the wings of the large estate. Veronica climbed the last set of stairs that led up to the attic space in question, holding a LED camp lantern in one hand as she reached the top and began to look about the shadowy stacks of boxes, furniture and other objects that were illuminated by the lantern. "I remember coming up here during a game of hide and seek when we were eight." She said over her shoulder to her cousin. Moving further into the attic, Veronica went over to the nearest pile of boxes to start getting an idea of just how monumental this task might be. The teenage Danger was dressed in her typical attire, dark grey cargo shorts, an olive green T-shirt over which she wore a light brown thin linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up, along with her well-worn hiking boots. The brown haired Danger had been a bit more quiet than normal since the end of the school year. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that during the last week of school Veronica had ended her relationship with a graduating Senior from North Bay Academy whom she had started dating before the winter break.

Location: A stately manor just outside Glastonbury, Somerset, England Date: May 5th, 2020 It wasn't unheard of for Vanguard to be tapped when one of England's children developed sudden meta-human abilities. It was slightly less common for the request to come directly from the current director of the Ministry of Powers. Of course, this particular manor had once been the country home of the Lady Amanda Phipps-Gordon, the late Lady Celtic. These days, her direct descendants called the manor home. Rather than a servant, the door was opened by Nadia Griffen, who looked to be near her wits end. "Oh, thank goodness you're here. She's in the gardens. She's always in the gardens now," Nadia said, without even a hello or the usual niceties. She seemed more the harried mother of a newborn rather than her usual elegant socialite self. "And if she's not in the gardens, then she's just brought it inside with her. I've had to send the staff on holiday after the mice in the pantry. Truly, we've never had even the slightest trouble with vermin before but if she can control it, she certainly doesn't seem to be of a mind to do so." Despite her agitation, the floors of the manor were hardly in ruin. There was perhaps more dirt tracked through than was socially acceptable but it was hardly a disaster zone. It was, however, clearly out of Nadia Griffen's control and she was not a woman used to things being out of her control. "Thomas has taken our son back to the city. He doesn't need to be unnerved by his sister. He's off to Eton in the Fall for the first time, you know. Honestly, we survived the vegan phase and the vegetarian phase and even the 'eat local' phase that she was just in but this... this is just too much." With that dramatic pronouncement, Nadia flung open the back doors to the stone patio overlooking what had once been manicured gardens and a well kept hedge maze. Now, however, trees and brush thrust up from the ground that seemed more appropriate to deep wilderness than a stately English garden. A young teenager stood at the edge, just in the grass where it was reclaiming the gravel. She was barefoot, her bare legs mud streaked and covered with blue markings. She was too young to have gotten tattooed but those blue marks swirled over her bare legs and her bare arms. Wild red corkscrew curls were tossed by the wind and the teenager shook her head impatiently to clear her vision. As a rabbit took a few hops towards her, those tattoos lit up like there was light just under the girl's skin. "Tori, stop playing in the mud, dear, and come say hello," Tori - Victoria Griffen dutifully turned, once she'd gathered the bunny into her arms to take in her mother and their guest. Her blue eyes widened with recognition and surprise. "Mother! You called in the Vanguard!?" Tori gasped, her words absolutely horrified. Her gaze shot to Synapse's face. "It's just a hedge maze. You have to have more important things to do. I'm so sorry."

The Pennington Estate, Stone Ridge, Bedlam Friday 10th April 2020, around 8 pm If you ever wanted to see a display of overindulgence and money in one place than the Good Friday parties thrown by Dahlia Pennington. Despite any claims to the contrary the party was an excuse for all the high society to get together and get drunk whilst showing off there ostentatious displays of wealth, and for the luck few there were after party activities that would make the most jaded socialite blush, along with some rumored much darker activities. For continued success it was said you always had to give up something, and whilst the Pennington’s were prepared to sacrifice to do so it wasn’t them taking all the risks…

St. George's Cathedral 6PM, roughly, Easter The largest and most magnificent church in Freedom is St. George’s Cathedral in Midtown across from Liberty Park. The cathedral is built in the Gothic style like the great cathedrals of Europe. It features tall, thin steeples, a high bell tower, a cruciform shape, and space enough for hundreds of parishioners. The church is named for the famed dragon-slaying saint, and a huge stained glass depiction of St. George’s greatest deed is a centerpiece of the cathedral. The numerous other stained glass windows depict other saints and religious figures. The second Easter Sermon was done and people had filed out to go eat. The topic had been redemption and rebirth, yanno, the expected sort of topic on these sorts of things. It was eloquent, and gentle, with the Archbishop Charles Fairwell doing the duties for today. It ended and there was a food spread out in the courtyard, as it was a lovely spring day. Benjamin Franklin d'Amato sat in a pew still, after people had filed out, and he had his arms were against the the back of the pew in front of him, and he was leaning forward. He wasn't really praying, just lost in thought. This placed hadn't changed much since... well anyway, it was weird. Trying to sort things out, and he wasn't really equipped to deal. One too many shots to the head. He smiled wryly.

The Rooftops of Dubai, sunset. It was still hot, the metal of the scaffolding was warm, the bright orange reflective paint of the unfinished portion of the But what was more worrying was the swarm of Katanarchists. The why of them being here was currently not the thought that Benjamin d'Amato (a.k.a the bouncing pugilist hero Rebound!) was worried about. It was more that they were here and fighting him, that was the pressing concern. And punching, kicking, stabbing, ninja starring (Is that even a word? -ed) were also pretty important. This wasn't what he was used to. A street scuffle, or a place where he could make like a pinball and ping about, but this was limited space with guys and dolls who were a cut above (I see what you did there. -ed) in a precarious position that hemmed him firmly outside of his comfort zone. Heck, this high up and he wasn't sure he couldn't be cleaned up except by paper towels. They were working towards the crane at the top of this thing, and he was trying to stop them. Already worn down from however long this had been going, he worked himself after them. "Don't s'pose youse guys wanna call it quits and just give in?" He ducked his head sharply behind one of the metal poles as a shuriken struck against it, "Okay, okay, good talk. Well whateva youse doin' I gotta stop ya so..." And with that he changed his grip and swung around bringing his feet against a pole, and bracing against it before he leaped up towards the crane, and the Katanarchists. It was in the middle of the trajectory that he noticed one of the Katanarchists as doing something, and at the moment he would have made contact there was violence and brightness, and he found himself sailing backwards, flung by the force. As the world broke apart. Claremont Academy, Combat Simulator Room, February 9th. 1PM, ish. Rebound tried to course correct, his mind already working out the angle of his movement, and he completed the flip as he hit the wall, and grunted with the force of it, but he bounced right off. His control was such that he fell forward, and the twenty feet down from the wall, to land in a smooth crouch. He panted, his uniformed dusted up, his domino mask a little torn, and his lip was busted up. As per usual he was on a multi hour training scenario, though this was him trying to pick up the tactics, the world he was thrust in now. Kids were the same, ish. Maybe. But the combat scenarios had a lot things for him to look into and sort through. His natural instinct was simply to go another time, in a different scenario that the computer was randomly generated..

Justice 8PM, March 14th, 2020 Betlehem Heights, the noodle place on the corner of 14th and Ramos Robin was nervous. Not quite to the oh-god-I'm-a-wreck level of nervous just yet, but she was nervous. She wasn't the only hero in Emerald City, which was great, but everything was just so random. One day, she'd run into Emerald Spider, then it would be months before she saw someone else. Emerald City was big, sure, but it was almost like everyone was staying away from everyone else on purpose, and well, she'd been nervous about trying to rock the boat there. Emerald City didn't have many heroes, she didn't want to get on the bad side of anyone by pretending she could be the one to call everyone together and boss them around or anything like that. She really didn't want to do anything like that, but, well... things were changing, right? They'd probably seen the news of the Mars Ultio Suits, if they hadn't already run into them on the streets. And well, she knew some things about them that the others might not. At least she had a little bit of local fame with the whole thing with fighting the Wall getting on TV and when she helped put Devlin back in place, so she wasn't a total unknown. Still, she was still nervous about this thing. She was wearing her costume. Red with light grey boots and gloves, a pink lion on her chest and wearing her red domino mask. She wasn't quite ready to let everyone know who she was here, but wearing the full armor would be weird, if she wasn't about to fight someone at least. God, she hoped nobody would start fighting. So, Robin put out the call on HeroHouse and CapesList. A simple message: Hey, everyone in Emerald City, this is Justice! I know we're not really a close-knit community or anything, but things seem to be changing, and I'd like everyone to meet up. I'll be at the noodle place at the corner of 14th and Ramos in Betlehem. I hope I'll see you all there. Right, so, she had met Emerald Spider, Meta-Naut and Kanunu. Hopefully at least one of them would show up, maybe some of the other heroes that had started running around. At least the owners of this place were good people, they didn't mind people in masks and costumes. Maybe she'd even get the chance to thank Emerald Spider for introducing her to the place. So, she waited. Eyes on the door. Hoping that at least someone would show up.

CLAREMONT ACADEMY, FREEDOM CITY, NEW JERSEY, VINLAND, MIDGARD* FREYA’S DAY, MONTH OF THORRI Bobbi day had been fairly normal when she got up, but now she was walking down the drive of a prep school that probably cost more than her town made in a year to meet the daughter of a god. At least she hadn’t had to fly here, and a flying horse was just par for the course in a city like Freedom, and she could stop for a coffee without, many, eyes brows being raised. But just in case she came to Claremont in a taxi as Bobbi. It had been many centuries since Sanngriðr had met any other Asgardians so Bobbi wondered what this young woman would be like, and how pleased to see her as the whole idea that she would be taking her for a visit had been covered with the regular Asgardian bombast. *Earth

Freedom City University Campus The North End, Freedom City, New Jersey Friday March 20, 2020, 12:24 PM The main quad of the FCU campus was more crowded that it had been in some months. But it was of little surprise that so many students had taken the opportunity to get outside for a bit in the middle of the day. The temperature had reached in the high-60s on this bright sunny day, though was supposed to drop overnight. Casey Blankenship was seated with several of her sorority sisters at a spot toward the center of the quad. Several of Casey's friends where chatting about how great that the weather would soon be getting warmer and discussing possible plans for renting a place somewhere along the Jersey Shore for Spring Break. Elsewhere on the quad, Nicholas Starkey emerged from the Student Union Building, his lunch in hand as he began scanning the quad for an open spot to eat, or a friendly face to join for lunch.

GM April 20th, 2020, 4.45PM Blackstaff Investigations, Emerald City(Oregon), USA Vang flew unceremoniously across the office, propelled by a contemptuous backhand from the towering spirit. Baring its claws, slaver dripping from the mouths in its palms and white eyes rolling up and down along its arms, the horror turned on Blackstaff! "You see!" Vang yelled, pain and triumph mingled in the old man's voice, "I told you they were after me! They don't want you finding Soap!" This was sufficiently obvious that only the stress of the situation kept it from being comical. The wall behind Christopher's desk was shattered inward now, the warm afternoon air rushing pleasantly into the office with that Pacific Ocean salt tang. What had seemed like a simple enough case, finding a young shopkeeper in the Eastern District who had recently vanished into the twisted warrens of the District interior, had certainly taken a turn for the vicious. A saving grace was that the wards had peeled off most of the shells of shining gold armor that had bolstered the thing. Underneath, it looked thin and malnourished, the featureless head lolling and twitching as it got a bead on the occult investigator.

Late February 2020 It was a couple of days after the Valentine's Incident - a date where everything had gone terribly wrong, even if the aftermath had been enjoyable enough. But now Fa'Rua was back on her ship in all the ways that mattered and Ashley Tran was down here on Earth, dealing with the aftermath of her personal secret being exposed in a very unpleasant way. She had _not_ told Judy that she'd been spotted out with her date; being 'made' as going out that night had been difficult enough, and she did not need a teenager's questions about her space girlfriend even if it was from a teenager she loved like the dumbest of her little sisters. But she had to talk to one teenager, didn't she? Summers of course had played student discipline cards close to her chest, as she always did (which Ashley had to admit was probably fair, even if it made her job substantially harder) but she knew that the immediate situation with Davyd had been resolved, and he hadn't informed on her to Summers. Which meant the ball was in the court of Ashley Smith, teenage hooligan, and not Callie Summers, feared headmistress. Great, just great. She tracked Davyd down near the end of the day, when it was still a while before the dinner bell but after the end of afternoon classes. She looked like 'herself', white t-shirt with leather jacket over it, battered denim jeans, her bubblegum-pink hair a shot of color above her dour face.

Somewhere. Sometime. April 9, 2020 Each of them woke up alone in a featureless white room with a single equally featureless automatic sliding door. Woke up in the general sense of coming to awareness, not having actually been unconscious. This was most odd, as they had decidedly not each been alone in a featureless white room the minute before. A few seconds’ worth of remembering would allow them to recall the air wavering in front of them, several seconds of blackness, an instant of nonawareness, and then the current situation. Any superhuman sensory abilities would not penetrate the walls of the room. The door would, of course, open if they approached it, revealing a featureless white corridor with another door not a full minute’s walk away at the end of it. This second door would also open, revealing a central room into which all of their hallways fed into. This room was decorated as if for a party, with a big colorful banner that said "WELCOME FREEDOM LEAGUE!", and a circular table with several chairs around it. All of the decorations were oriented towards the doors. A glance above their heads upon entry would reveal an inactive viewscreen and camera.

High Earth Orbit The Lighthouse Friday February 7, 2020 8:50 PM Greenwich Mean Time (3:50 PM Freedom City) In the aftermath of Eria's first meeting with her fellow members of Orange Team, the Swedish teen had made arrangements for her team to spend the weekend on CoVic Station as guests of the Praetorians. So when classes had finished today, the members of Orange Team were taken in a school van to Freedom Hall, where they teleported up to the Lighthouse, the most convenient place for the Praetorians to meet them. The Claremont students had been aboard the Freedom League's space headquarters for about half an hour, getting a tour from Freedom League member Velocity, who for the most part had managed to keep herself moving at a more normal speed. When the yellow clad speedster got word that the Praetorians' spacecraft had exited the wormhole at the edge of the solar system, she led the teens down to a large viewing lounge located near the airlock where the spacecraft would be docking. Outside the large windows of the lounge, the teens could see the Earth moving past below, with the northern half of Africa having moved into view. "Well, it should only be a few more minutes before they arrive." Velocity said as she moved over near some of the windows before turning back to regard the group of teens.