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Fennic Town, Temuera II, Lor Exlcusion Zone, 13.0.7.3.1 The planet Temuera sat on the edge of the Lor Republic, a blasted rock that was barely able to support life. It would probably have been of no interest to anyone but the Science core if it wasn’t for the deposits of Tepeyoite a glassy mineral with numerous uses in high tech equipment. Hence places like Fennic Town had popped up around the more generous veins of the mineral. Beneath the blasted surface of the planet however there was secrets long buried bought to light but the miners that didn’t know what they had discovered. Other did however and raiders had arrived to try and claim these sites, and the precious minerals, to try and profit with those that would purchase such things. The raiders needed to be stopped so through all the subtle channels a call had gone out for heroes, as rough and ready as needed, to help defend the people of this nowhere planet.

GM January 25th, Saturday, 2020, 11.55PM Outside Emerald Tower, downtown Emerald City, OR The last lingering, heartrending notes pierced the chill night air, and UK's violin went silent. For a moment, all around Robin was an almost sacred hush as the renowned string virtuoso stood to take a bow. In the glare of red lamps that had filled the night sky, held in place by repulsor bands that turned clouds of countless paper shells into magnetically-unified pieces of airborne art, Robin saw K looking almost uneasy at the awestruck hush. Above and about flitted the newsdrones, covering the MarsTech New Years bash while other electric eyes took in events unfolding across the Emeralds. Of all the crowds, though, this was going to be the biggest. There were familiar faces in the crowd, not like looming Chung was ever going to miss a chance to carry his "THE END IS NOW" signs where a camera was going to be, but on nights like this the comforting seas of familiarity was upset with crosswinds of newcomers, people who'd look at you funny and hurry on if you asked them how they werre doing. In that moment, though, all were united, Munchkin and outsider alike, by that same thrill through every heart. To make a sound would have been blasphemous. Max Mars broke the spell, jumping out of the audience and onto the stage beside K with a single bound, applauding furiously with giant grin on his face. "Yue Kei, everybody! All you shapes and flavours out there, give her a big 'welcome home' hand!" With admirable obedience the Emerald citizens cheered, the cold winter air blasted with steam from thousands of throats. In the heated shelter UK started, laughed despite herself, and bowed in rapid succession to different areas of the crowd. Max grinned like an indulgent father. Switching off his mic, he and UK exchanged a word, the young woman nodding and beginning to clear up her music and put back her instruments. As she did so, Mars went on blithely. "Nicely done! now, Kei has to leave us for the night, but stick around! Because on the stroke of midnight, as we enter a new year, I've got a little surprise for you...well, two surprises, but you'll see! Now, may I have a volunteer from the audience?" His brilliant green eyes scanning the crowd suddenly locked on Robin's. "Well hey-hey, Rob! Glad to see you could make it to another of my little shindigs! Like to come up?" he looked deeply chagrined as he added "I promise, no giant robots this time!"

Vibora Bay January 2020 Lavelle, WInifred's Uber driver took her as far as her GPS allowed, deep into the San Sebastian Swamp just to the north of Vibora Bay. It was hard to believe how close they were to a major city here, with even the skyscrapers of Vibora's highest points lost amid bare mangrove trees and pine forests that seemed to go on forever once you'd been inside them more than a few minutes. It was colder than Florida had been described to Fred; not quite a London spring outside but certainly nothing she'd have wanted to spend very much time in. "Welp, here we are!" The road had converted to gravel some time back, and the tires of the old black van rumbled slightly as they parked. GROCERIES declared the sign on the store that Fred's knowledge of architecture told her was built in the "Carpenter Gothic" style. There were only a few cars in the lot, and the odd dirtbikle which made sense given what she'd heard from Smith of the local travel conditions. "They don't get many folks here in the off-season, but you should be able to get some lunch if'n ya want it," said Lavelle, a cheerful woman in overalls and cap who looked old enough to be Fred's grandmother. Well, looked, anyway. "Ah'm sure yer friend'll be here, we just ran a little early on account of the bridge being open sooner than Ah thought." She cleared her throat meaningfully at that.

February 2020 St. Thomas Chapel basement "Thanks again for chaperoning us!" said Judy cheerfully, addressing Father Guimont with the familiarity of the student who probably worked with him more closely than anyone else. "This is gonna be a great night." Enthusiasm for "Ben-Hur Night" had not been what she'd hoped, even in youth group, but that was okay. _Yes we can watch movies that aren't about Jesus even though we're Christians, Karen_ she thought back, briefly distracting herself with the argument from last week, _but not when we're in church!_ But there was no reason to worry. She and Leroy were going to enjoy themselves, Ashley had settled into her usual spot in a corner of the basement, and..."Ashley, you're not going to read through the movie, are you?" "No," said Ashley, stuffing the Lor-English dictionary back in her jacket pocket. "Trust me, my eyes will be where they need to be." She was the only one in the room not in costume - well, she was in her Watchdog gear, anyway. One thing had turned to another and they were all wearing her best costumer's attempts at togas. If Mia could dress up for her movie, it only made sense they dress up for theirs! Father Guimont, an older man getting well into middle age, had conscripted Leroy to help him get the big screen TV programmed and hooked up to his new sound system. "Just plug that in there, and oop, I think he needs to get that in," Judy had joined them while they worked. "It's gonna be great!" she said with a wink Leroy's way. "I think Micah must be picking her up right now..." The double-date had been her idea - as for that matter had been Micah 'bringing' Mia to movie night at all.

Mid-January, 2020, 11.47 AM Claremont Academy, inner grounds The black monolith had risen with the white mist, the winter sunlight slowly blanching as shadows deepened and colours faded. From its sides dangled ropes of horned skulls, each the size of Dio, though that was hard to tell with him crouched behind Leroy, Judy, Ashley and Headmistress Callie Summers. Leroy's cousin had wanted to meet on the ship. Leroy had objected strenuously, and at length, and even just in its shadow the black-robed boy had grabbed Jusy's hand tight, face set behind a veil of black diamonds danging from a silver circlet perched in his long hair. "Adrian," he had whispered as the first skull came into view, "the Demon herself." He had called her that before, and other things as well, and as a diamond-shaped opening apleared and a wedge of cold crystal stretched from the wall, Judy felt his warm hand go cold and tremble. A wash of white glare spilled out, light like liquid pooling everywhere, obliterating all shadows and anything but the white. From it, three figures emerged. The first was skin and bone under a thin white robe, her grinning face lacking even eyesockets, though when she looked at you, you knew, This was the Lictor, Adrian's herald, a vampire and her oldest friend. Second was a plain white women in white armor, a bullethole in the forehead of her placid, half-asleep face. This was Claire, her nominal bodyguard. Last was the Demon, her round moon of a face scarred similar to her two-foot-shorter cousin. Square in her armor, her shoulders and back were bedecked with a furry white cloak. "A thousand thanks for your hospitality, virtuous guardians of the homeworld!" sang out the Lictor in a thin, reedy voice, "May I present the fearless, the unequaled, the conqueror of Hells, the Dhartarastra Adrian!" "Li!" Adrian sang out with a grimace, glancing curiously at the Primes, "Where can we talk? I'd like to get you back to your senses and back home sooner than later." Swallowing hard, Leroy looked at Summers like a drowning man grasping at a raft.

December 2019 Dutemps Tower I AM GOING UNDER THE SEA. I WILL BRING YOU A FISH. Aquaria considered what else to say, then added HAVE FUN AT THE ART GALLERY! It was only a day trip out to the art museum with the glass with her other friend, but Jessie had been looking forward to it and that was good. She didn't want to spoil her good time, so she added a note on the refrigerator that said CALL HELP IF I AM NOT BACK SOON. With her job done, Aquaria headed to the closet where she kept her armor. She climbed inside and throbbed with satisfaction as the space-metal closed around her, the warm liquid that emerged from every crevice inside immensely more satisfying than the cold, dry air of their apartment. She and Jessie had special windows that actually opened, something Eve had said was the "superhero" model and because sometimes the claustrophobia in this little dry space was terrifying. With her armor on, she hung her trident over her back and began climbing the sides of the building, up towards the castle. Was anyone home today? She certainly hoped so. December 2019 "Would Heroditus Stylianos please report to the headmaster's office? He is being picked up." The rather odd PA announcement seemed to make Heroditus' art teacher very worried, and right in the middle of watercolors no less. Heroditus had never actually heard that particular phrase said over the intercom before, at least not when it came to him. "Oh dear, oh dear, well, ah, Mr.Stylianos, we'll take care of everything," said Ms. Zinzendorf. She walked him to the door, a sympathetic expression on her face. "Don't worry about a thing."

GM Early December 2019 Claremont Academy Early Afternoon It was still during the school day. Students at the Claremont Academy should really be in class. After all, they were all good little students that did as they were told, even in early December, before their break during Christmas. With most students in classes, the grounds were mostly quiet. A few students running late for their classes, some working on art projects. Yes, it was all very quiet, all very mundane and as normal as a day could be at Claremont Academy. But we can't have that, can we now? One Mia Mustafic-Markov had found a note suddenly in her pocket after she had passed a group of students just before. The message was simple, even as it was written with beautiful, flowing letters: Do you want to have some fun? Meet me outside in 10 minutes. She could probably come up with an excuse to get away from the class. A bathroom break, having forgotten a book, a visit to the nurse of an emergency. After all, it had been a dreadfully boring day so far.

Fennic Town, Temuera II, Lor Exlcusion Zone 13.0.7.1.0 The planet Temuera sat on the edge of the Lor Republic, a blasted rock that was barely able to support life. It would probably have been of no interest to anyone but the Science core if it wasn’t for the deposits of Tepeyoite a glassy mineral with numerous uses in high tech equipment. Hence places like Fennic Town had popped up around the more generous veins of the mineral. With so many credits changing hands the worst scum of the Republic, and surrounding interstellar nations had congratulated to fleece the miners of the hard worn Tepeyoite. One place was Fennic’s best, or at least cheapest Cantina’s where someone arrived that wasn’t here for such things in the slightest.

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...

Persephone Vibora Bay, December 2019, A a chilly Thursday evening Camellia Blume lounged on her living room couch, pulling a quilt tighter around her shoulders despite already wearing a heavy sweater. Occasionally she jumped when she caught the flicker in the corner of her eye of the flames dancing in the fireplace. Since her transformation, fire was one of the few things that could still seriously hurt her, and she knew it on a primal level. She'd never been particularly afraid of fire until she'd bonded with the plant-symbiote. But the house she was renting was old; that's how she got such a good deal on the rent in the first place. It didn't have central heating, and, paradoxically, her transformation had also heightened her sensitivity to the cold, so during the winter months, the fireplace was essential. She only half paid attention to the Hallmark movie playing in front of her while she thumbed at her smartphone. For once, Camellia seemed to have a real weekend ahead of her. No supervillains were brawling in the streets or taking the mayor hostage. She didn't have any familial obligations or conferences to attend or new treatment options to research or backlogs of notes from patient sessions to review. No appointments with the accountant or the lawyer she'd had to retain to make sure all the "i"s and "t"s were dotted and crossed for her practice. "Without them, how would I know PRECISELY how much money I'm still losing on it?" She laughed, then mumbled to herself some more. "Maybe I should go up to five session days a week...or would that just make me lose more money faster?" She pulled up her calendar and wrote herself a reminder to email her accountant. She didn't actually write the email; that would tip the scales of work/life balance she was trying so hard to maintain for once. When the movie reached the high point of the lead couple's courtship, Camellia got caught up enough in the moment to open the ErosUnlimited app again. She hadn't known that he was on EU until The MatchMaker recommended his profile to her. In fact, she hadn't checked the app since she'd met him. During the following weeks, she'd gone back and checked his profile again, more times than she'd be comfortable admitting to anyone, least of all to him. But she hadn't messaged him yet. She was hoping he'd reach out first. Maybe he'd recognize Persephone despite her flimsy disguise, or maybe he'd just be drawn to Camellia on her own merits. She kept going back and forth in her own mind. He had me at "Bonjour", but he's movin' about as fast as a herd o' turtles. It's not like I've been subtle. Maybe I came on too strong and scared him off? Or maybe he's just worried about making me uncomfortable. After all, in a way, we are coworkers. Maybe he's just busy. Sure, but so am I. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part and I'm not his type and he's trying to be polite by ignoring it when I throw myself at him. No, there's something there. It can't just be all in my head...can it? Her finger hovered over the "MESSAGE" button hesitantly, then withdrew, then hovered again. "UGH!" Her head snapped back and she rolled her eyes. She typed up a message and sent it quickly, not giving herself enough time to talk herself out of it again. Marcus Dumont received the following message from Camellia's profile: Rapunzel's waiting up here in the tower, ready to let her hair down, if only a knight in shining armor would ride by... ? The woman in the profile pictures looked familiar to Marcus. He'd definitely seen her before, though he couldn't remember where.

Claremont Academy Freedom City, New Jersey Wednesday November 27, 2019, 11:00 AM "I appreciate your willingness to mentor another student Giang." Headmistress Summers stated as she and an Asian young woman walked down the path from the administrative building for Claremont Academy towards the Roberta Isley Gardens. "I believe Heroditus could benefit from being able to talk to someone who had a similar experience as something of the outsider among the other students. Your familiarity with Atlantean culture will be an added benefit." "As always, I am very happy to help Headmistress." Giang Trang replied as she walked alongside the older woman. Giang stood about five foot three, with a lithe build and moved with an easy, fluid grace. Despite the cold of the late November morning, she was not at all dressed for the cold, wearing a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt and a red windbreaker. However, the Asian young woman did not seem bothered at all by the cold. "Although I am curious why you thought of me and not Thetis or Thelia?" Callie Summers gave a small chuckled as she glanced over to Giang. "Well, certainly either has had a similar experience as Heroditus. However, both are also members of the Atlantean royal family, which could make it more difficult for him to fully feel comfortable expressing concerns to them." "I see." Giang replied simply with a small smile and a nod as the two continued toward where Heroditus would be waiting.

Kingston, Freedom City New Jersey Late Fall 2019, 10:30 PM Since the Terminus Invasion of 2018, much of Kingston had consisted of ruined buildings and empty streets. Only the most minimal efforts to start to rebuild had begun, and mainly along the boarder sections with other North Freedom neighborhoods, leaving the majority of the center of the formerly historic neighborhood still largely abandoned and in shambles. Now, those that frequented the Kingston area were those that wished to be unobserved or otherwise isolated from the more crowded and active sections of Freedom City, while still maintaining a close proximity to the rest of the city. A small figure in a trench coat made its way through one of the empty streets in the heart of Kingston, moving among the shadows with a seeming confidence that there was nothing to fear among the dark ruins. The figured walked for several blocks along the cracked and broken sidewalks, stopping a few times to peer around towards the dark recesses of the nearby buildings. Eventually the figure turned into a dark alleyway and was seemingly swallowed by the darkness within. If anyone had been following the figure, it would have seemed they had vanished into thin air in the alley. However, the figure continued on its journey dozens of feet beneath the cluttered streets, moving along a path through the partially flooded sewer tunnels that ran under Kingston. The figure still moved at a steady pace, perfectly at home in the dark, damp confines of the sewers. After passing through several city blocks of tunnels, the figure came to a bend in a tunnel where a section of wall had collapsed, beyond was a larger open area that appeared to be a half buried subway station. Several tables of various shapes and sizes had been set up along one of the platforms and were covered with a variety of scientific equipment. Another section of the platform had been turned into a makeshift living area, with a bed and some other furniture set up. The entire area was partially lit by several emergency lights that had been placed around the platforms. The result of the makeshift lighting was that there were sections of the platforms that where relatively well lit, while the rest of the station was cast in shadows of various depths. The figure moved onto the platform containing the collection of tables, stopping briefly to look at some of the equipment as it went by, before coming to a mostly empty table. The figure sat a large duffle bag onto this table and began carefully removing various objects from within it. As the figure was focused on its task the almost oppressive silence of the chamber was interrupted by a cold voice from somewhere among the shadows. "Good evening Dr. Seidel." The figure quickly turned away from the table, scanning the illuminated section of the platforms, even as he edged towards some of the nearby shadows. "Who are you?" The man asked, his tone a bit surprise but not necessarily concerned or frightened. "Someone who has spent some time trying to locate you." The voice from the shadows simply replied. The trench coat clad figure identified as Dr. Seidel moved into one of the deep shadows near the collection of tables. "You will soon wish you had not done so." Dr. Seidel responded, his voice deepening and straining slightly as he did so. This was followed by a few pained grunts and groans before the shadows went silent. Then, a large figure could faintly be seen climbing among some of the shadows above the platforms lit by the emergency lights. "So, you can now change your shape at will." Stated the cold voice that again seemed to come from multiple directions at once. "All the more reason you will regret coming down here." Replied a deep, partially hissing voice from the large shape crawling along one of the uppers walls of abandoned station. "Perhaps." Replied the cold voice. "But I believe there is a way we may help one another with mutual goals." The large figures stopped, peering out to scan the darkest areas of around station with yellow reptilian eyes. "I suspect there is little you can offer which I will be interested in." It replied in almost a growl. "I believe we may help one another in striking out against the Second Raven." The cold voice replied from the darkness. There was a long pause as the yellow eyes of the large figure peered out at the shadows around the station platforms. "Go on, you have my interest."

November 28, 2019 The voice on the municipal defender line is short, to the point, and familiar. "This is Woodsman. I need a municipal defender in Cluet Farms at 304 Polk Boulevard. Come quickly. Do not bring first responders. Not safe."

Thanksgiving 2019 Lafayette, Louisiana The picture was of Ashley Tran with four other young women all of whom bore a striking resemblance to her - although none of them had her shade of pink-cotton hair. The five women were smiling and posing in front of a low-slung house surrounded by plants, one that looked rather different than the buildings Fa'Rua had seen on her trip to Terra (though really she'd spent most of her time inside buildings than outside of them). Guess who's home for the holidays! Laying on her mother's living room couch at about 1AM, Ashley judged that everybody was asleep, or at least asleep enough for her purposes. She'd wired herself up against jet lag, especially with what she knew was going to be a short visit.

GM August 20, 2019 A barrier island off the coast of Freedom City 6:00 AM This was it, the fateful hour. The morning fog rolled over the barrier island, the waves calm. Rising up from the island’s rocky surface was the vessel that would take the fateful group up to the Moon: The Peregrine. Standing tall as a building, it looked like a rocket ship out of Buck Rogers, tall and thin and cast in chrome. An extendable stairway lead into its interior, inviting the people on the surface to step inside. In front, a crowd of heroes had gathered, dressed in space-suits. Rachel stood out front of the Peregrine, dressed in a labcoat and holding a datapad that she was going over intently. She paced, occasionally looking at the heroes, then at the rocketship. She sighed sharply through her nose, then nodded to herself. Stowing the datapad, she clapped her hands together. “Alright! So, I’ve quintuple checked everything, and it looks like we’re cleared to go. Just some things to cover. Flight up to orbit is going to take 3 hours, then making it to the Moon will take another hour You won’t have to do anything for the first bit, I’ve installed a guidance system. One reinforced against psychic interference, this time. However, our pilot,” she said, looking over to Black Mamba, “will have to guide it down to the surface. I’ve deliberately made the controls easy and familiar, so you shouldn’t have any problems. If you’re attacked, I’ve installed Photon Cannons. However, I would be careful, if you fire them in our atmosphere you could cause a fireball. The firing mechanism is very clearly labeled.” She gestured at their space-suits, red ones that were similarly retro. “Your space-suits are state-of-the-art and tailored to what I know about your powers so you can use them. For example, Fast-Forward’s suit has been implanted with a reactive graviton array that will allow him to use his speed powers as though he was in normal gravity. Similarly, I’ve developed a field generator that should allow Archer to use his bow and arrows effectively. The same goes for the rest of you. I’ve tried to account for everything. More than that, your suits have a nano-array that should allow them to quickly seal if you’re hit, so no worries about suffocation. There are limits, though. Take too much damage and the nano-array won’t have enough material to repair. Life support is good for 72 hours, so if for some reason you get blown away into space, we have time to retrieve you,” she said. “I will not be joining you up there, sadly. But I have an FTL-communication device set up that should mean I will be able to communicate with you instantaneously with you wherever you are, as long as you don’t all decide to like… visit Mars or something. Please don’t do that.” She paused, and then tilted her head. “Alright. Any questions?”

Theater District, Freedom City, New Jersey Tuesday, November 11, 2019 10:16 PM A cold mist hung in the air of the Theater District in downtown Freedom City as moon rose up into the night sky. Despite the cold, there were still a number of people out on the streets, making their way to some local or another. But the scene quickly changed, as people began to exit the grand Beaudrie Opera House. A few at first, then small groups, and finally a large crowd, as an evening show of Hamilton had come to an end. Megan Howell-Harrow and Lulu Beaumont were part of the crowd of people exiting the show, stepping out onto the sidewalk and into the cold air. It did not take too long for the crowd to disperse, as people began to scatter in all directions. As they walked in the direction of where they had parked, Megan looked over at the teenager with a small smile. "So, did you enjoy the show?"

November 28th, Thanksgiving Day, 2019, 8.45AM, The woods of Bayview, overlooking the lake "Felix, they are...they are dead." Leroy whispered, as if he was afraid to awaken the two men under the leaves. Both were stiff, face-down and swollen, wearing soaked and muddy winter coats, hats and scarves to ward off the approaching chill of another polar vortex. Standing over them in his loving recreation of a Puritan's costume, hat crushed between two slender fists, the chatty Dragon Prince of Earth-2 was at a loss for words for the first time all morning. Felix and Leroy had set out on a mission of mercy. With his power to conjure the mysterious black diamonds growing, Leroy had decided to set up a shelter in the woods at a homeless community he'd heard about on the Bayview Slack. "Think of it, Felix!" he had told the other boy over lunch the other day, "Heat, food, water, cleaning supplies, building materials, clothing, medicine, in any amounts and at any time! That is what being a hero should be about, changing lives for the better!" So the two had set out into the woods with samples of all those things after a trip to Bayview Mall. At Leroy's passionate insistence, they had dressed up like Puritans. Now they were standing over two ice-cold corpses, the chill wind off the Atlantic Ocean rattling in the skeletal trees above. Finding his voice, Leroy murmured "Felix...their heads...twisted around. Someone killed them." On a closer look, that suddenly became very apparent. The faces were turned to the hard earth, but their bodies faced the flat grey sky.

November 9th, 2019, 5.22AM The tunnels below Claremont Academy A pair of mops and buckets filled with foaming water fell with a crash in front of Nicholas and Leroy. "Awright, cadets!" Basil Falks, scrawny and short as he was under a two-sizes-too-big set of overalls and a baseball cap that had once been blue, maybe back in 1970, still had an air of utter command as he leveled the two boys with his gimlet brown-eyed stare. "These are the evacuation and concealed movement tunnels! It's been my privilege to work in them for over a decade, but I'm getting too old to do it all by myself! That's why I picked you pups! Nick," he pointed a bony finger at the speechless spectrum-sensitive, "I know you can keep a secret, and you have a janitor's dedication and poise under all that shrinking violet business. Leroy," he pointed that same finger at the elegant otherworld prince, "you can carry things okay and I know Nick will keep you out of trouble. I don't have to repeat myself, but you will not speak of what you see down here on penalty of...on penalty of whatever it is I come up with later." "Now we're starting off with a very simple job: the exit passages out of grounds aren't much-used and need a little polishing up. I won't have some kid slipping on some patch of grease and getting eaten by zombies, no sir." He looked at one of the walls, tracing his fingers over the polished titanium, whispering "Never again..." He quirked his head like a bird at the two boys "Anyway, that's the long and short of it. Go right-left-left-left-back and you'll find the spot. Give a holler if anything's started living down there. Yes Nick, you can holler too, won't hurt my feelings to have repair work to do if it saves you kids a funeral. Now git!" With that, Basil turned on a dime and sped off down the hallways, the splendid lighting letting the duo watch him turn suddenly into a door that had definitely not been there when he started walking. Then they were alone. Picking up a bucket and mop, Leroy smiled at Nick. Even in the plainest clothes he had, a brown sideless tunic and heeled platform sandals, with his curly hair up in a bun, the clan-scarred and dragon-tattooed teenager cut an expensive figure. "So, good Nick, how wonderful to see you out of paracausal physics! Have you drunk deep of life? I will take the buckets, let us say, and you the mops?"

Saturday, November 8th, 8 AM. Claremont Gym. Bam. BAM BAM! Bam bam bam bam! Fists hit bag, footwork ensued, complicated, as the bulky Benny D'amato changed center line, stuffing his leading left hand at the face level in a drill that would make sense with someone else, as his right hand did two neat, sharp uppercut like hooks right at the floating rib area Then came a quick four punch flurry. Though him getting someone besides staff tended to prove tricky, and the fast kid showed why. He wasn't just quick. He was damn near sudden, and he hit hard. Precise. And he did this routine upwards to six times a week. The run. Then the drills. More running. More drills. This one changed though, as he wheeled to the human shaped dummy that was used for grappling, as he threw a feinting punch at it's face, and then shot down for a double leg take down, that he immediately floated over the dummy on impact into a mounted position, and he hammered at the 'head' of the the practice thing, before he rolled away, and pushed up and off of his rear leg for a superhero punch at another training bag. This drill down, he stood there, breathing hard as the alert went off from his bag at a bench, and he moved over towards it. Wearing a tank top, a pair of shorts, sneakers, and wrapped up hands, which fit his workman aesthetic. He picked up the watch, and pushed the button to turn off the alarm, before he moved to lift his water bottle.

The day after A Changing World Daystar and Watchdog's room Well the secret was out and the world hadn't ended. Ashley and Judy were boarding a plane the next day for their flight back to DC, where the First Family would serve meals to carefully-vetted homeless families in the area. Maybe they'd come back and everything would be the same. Ashley closed her eyes and remembered the nightmare - the school in flames, children and soldiers dead, all because of her. She opened them, and saw Judy sitting on her bed, holding the family Bible she'd been reading the night before. She was back to a passage Ashley knew was important to her: "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day." "Do you really want to do this?" Ashley asked Judy quietly. Judy glanced her way. "We haven't known Mia that long, and Leroy...Leroy may want you to tell him on his own." He may go tell everyone. Oh well, that would be one way to handle the end of the relationship. "Ah need to tell them both. Ah know them the best of anybody who is still here...and Ah love Leroy. Ah'm..." She twisted the ring on her finger. "Ah'm gonna marry Leroy, and he deserves to know the truth. Ah have mistreated him." "It wasn't your fault," Ashley added softly from where she sat on the bed. "He's a very nice boy, and he's been very good to you. But what's going to happen when this place is done?" When there was a knock at the door, Ashley got up to answer it.

GM Millennium Mall, Midtown, Freedom City 5:30 PM, November 15th, 2019 A rainy Friday afternoon, and Millennium Mall was packed as usual. There was a certain feeling in the air. Everyone was moving around in groups, even tighter than usual. Even through laughter and crying children, everyone hurried between the shops and stuck together, casting nervous glances about. During the last month, five people had gone missing, all disappearing within the vicinity of the mall during the evening. Everyone was hurrying to get home before it was too late. No one wanted to stick around, deals or not deals. That kidnappers had made no demands, and had not been seen. All that was found on the scene after a disappearance was a single silver ball, small enough to fit in a hand. And on this particular evening, several visitors to the mall would be finding similar balls all over the mall.

The evening of Tech Compliance Ben, Thank you very kindly for your letter today. I appreciate that you are thinking about my sister and I. I'm sorry about what happened at Tech Club today, and I hope you feel better soon. But you should know that it's not a secret that Ashley and I are from another dimension. We are comfortable with who we are. Speaking of which, I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining me at See You At The Pole this Saturday. It won't be as big as the one in September, but we have some big plans. I know it's getting a little chilly for outside times, but there's hot cocoa and good times, and there's some really good fellowship. Yours, Judy Smith Judy looked at the message, nodded, then pressed send.

“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them.” ― Bertrand Russell, New Hopes for a Changing World It was in mid-November of 2019, about the time that many Claremont students were about to go away for Thanksgiving break, that Judy Smith sent out a message to some of her best friends inviting them to a special meeting in her dorm room. This was quite unusual; as far as anyone knew, Judy and Ashley had never admitted anyone to their dorm room when they were actually living in it. There had been, to say the least, some discussion about who exactly to invite to the meeting. They'd settled on the most trustworthy of Judy's friends, the ones who were proven, reliable quantities. This meant Chelone, with her wisdom; and this meant Crystal-Gazer, who already knew some things. There'd been others on the table. But they didn't know Mia well enough yet, and Leroy was going to be told on his own. And Micah...well, it wouldn't really do to tell Micah before she told Leroy, now would it? So the woman and the girl sat together in their dorm room and waited, Judy on her bed and Ashley on hers, and Judy prayed. She prayed in her own prayer language that everything would work out okay, that her friends would understand and that telling the truth would save the day, and that taking pains to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord and the eyes of Man would save everything. Ashley had taken this opportunity to say a few words to Our Lady of Vietnam, because why the Hell not at this point, honestly, but was mostly thinking about operational security. She had a few extra gadgets on her belt if things really went south, but hallucinogenic gas and electric stunners were of dubious efficiacy against superheroes. If this went wrong, tricks of the trade weren't going to do it. _So why am I doing this?_ she reflected. She looked at the girl kneeling in prayer across the room, speaking in tongues the way she usually did when she prayed by herself. _Because Judy deserves it._ When there was a knock at the door, it was Ashley who answered it; Judy excusing herself for a moment to get dressed. "Be right there!" Ashley was in a punk rock T-shirt and jeans when she opened the door, a carefully composed look on her face. "Hey. Come in. She's just getting dressed." The Smith room was a bit larger than either Lulu or Danica's room, a private bathroom by what must be Judy's side of the room (with its Christian and Old West art on the walls), with vaguely punk rock decor on Ashley's side. It honestly looked like any other Claremont room, albeit with a few more books on the shelves, some extra electronics here and there, big pile of knitting projects on Judy's desk, and some tools and magnifiers for when Ashley worked on her gear.

Serena’s Apartment, the Fens, Freedom City Saturday, August 17, 2019 (Serena’s birthday) Evening “Jenna, honey, I’m back with dinner,” Serena said as she muscled into her apartment, carrying a big bucket of fried chicken. She hadn’t been feeling like cooking, lately, not that she ever really did, and it was hard to figure out what the latest arrival to her home was into. Ever since she had taken Jenna in, it had all been touch and go. She flipped on the light to her apartment to see that no one was there. Then, she remembered. Jenna was over with Lester for the weekend to spend time with her little brother. Looking down at the bucket of chicken in her arms, she groaned. Well, I guess I’m having chicken for breakfast tomorrow, she thought to herself. Sighing, she tossed her keys onto the tiny kitchen counter, and wandered towards the fridge. Seeing the six-pack of Coors she had stored in there, she picked it up by the ring and flopped onto her couch, turning on the TV. Time passed pretty quickly. Serena’s pants were gone, she was on her tenth piece of chicken and her fourth can of beer. The lights were back off, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force was flickering on the screen. She giggled dumbly to herself at the stupid gags, eyes fixed to the screen. The fact that she was going to the Moon in 3 days was now far from her mind as she focused on the show instead. Raising the can of beer to her lips, she saw a small reflection in the glossy cover of the can. She blinked, and then turned around to see the person who had entered her house. Lynn? She looked down, seeing that she was in a grease-stained t-shirt, crummy zip-up hoodie and her underpants and flopped down off the couch. “AAAAaaaaaa how did you get into my apartment?”

GM November 3rd, 6.45PM, Out the back behind Golden Calf casino, Southside, Freedom City Wherever the kids in the red bandana masks and 'C' letter jackets had gotten the energy gun, it knocked the armored truck clean over and blasted a body-sized hole through the back. The wrecked vehicle skidded across the parking lot on its side, bills blasted loose billowing out of the smoking hole, propelled into the air by a fire set to the bales of green cotton. The guards scrambled out of the cabin, shaken but unhurt as they drew their weapons, only to be driven off by an energy blast detonating the ground in front of them. Darting out of their hiding places, the C's swarmed across the parking lot and tore open the rear door, hauling out stacks of the cash intended for the Golden Calf towering and blazing with yellow lights above them. Money poured into duffel bags, the kids adroitly avoiding the burned or burning cash.Aside from the bulky, crude energy gun that looked like it had been made out of junkyard parts, for reasons any Freedonian could figure out they weren't armed. Besides the crowbars and fairly good upper-body strength. Archer could hear them laughing and joking below. They sounded younger than he did, for the most part. The only exception was the one carrying the energy gun, also the only one unmaked. He looked like he was in his mid-20's, stout and sober, keeping a careful eye on the gang's surroundings.