ic House of L: Wake-Up Call (IC)

[Ecalsneerg]

The Raven cocked an eyebrow and went to raise his hands in surrender. When the thug hesitated at this action, he quickly swung his fist. POW! One quick upper-cut, and he was letting himself into the house over the unconscious form one unconscious gangster.

"Spellbound! I need to speak with you!" Chris's head was swimming with memories fighting to resurge. Raven, Geckoman, Raven, Geckoman. He cupped his hands to his mouth.

"Liz!"

[Avenger Assembled]

"So you want to see _me_, do you, kid crusader?" He heard a high-pitched laugh; Liz's, but reflected through a funhouse mirror, like something out of Wizard of Oz. Of course, because that was how Spellbound laughed when you broke into her lair. "Well, first you should step into my parlor!" And with a flash of smoke and pretty lights, no less than three Spellbounds appeared in the air above him, circling him on humming brooms. "A lady shouldn't admit uninvited guests, but fortunately, I'm no lady! Hahahahahaha!"

[Gizmo]

Erin's surprisingly chipper response was quickly overshadowed asTrevor nearly lost control of the Night Cycle as he took in the stature. "The hell?" he muttered before realizing that the Night Radio was still on. Recovering quickly, he let the pieces fall into place, dealing with them one at a time. Clearly, Erin had been just as altered as the rest of the world. Or at least the Erin I'm talking to... Between his hazy memories of his rewritten life and a growing understanding for the mechanics of this new world, the significance of the name 'Rednaw' dawned on him.

Resiting the urge to sigh mightily, he turned back to the radio. "Headed that way anyway, he assured the Teen Freedomette, adding, "Don't attack until I get there. Could be a trap." It wouldn't do to have one of the Erins knock the other into a coma before the mess could be sorted out. Besides, if there really was an evil Wander clone running around, it was still pretty good advice. Toggling the radio off, he leaned forward and found out just was his ride's gaudy atomic propulsion could really do.

[Ecalsneerg]

Liz... what? No, that ain't right, that ain't right. "Wha?" Something's majorly wrong. I can't deal with this. And with that thought, the Raven burst into action.

"I mean no harm," he reassured, hand held out in an authoritative manner, "All I want is to ask who or what this Gecko Man is? And why you're involved with it?"

[Cyroa]

James muttered a spell to himself, which was totally at odds with this 'new' him. Fingers dancing across the technically keyboard, he grinned. After all, the other/original him had never been good at science. He let his mind try and assimilate the differences, even as he looked for the control to transport Erin up here. He knew which was the 'real' reality, but still this new him had quite a few tricks as well. He entered the search parameters for the others. "Computer: begin search for entered individuals. Starting location: Freedom City. Use their home addresses and push outwards from there." Boy was that weird, he thought as the computer acknowledged his request. Though...it was kind of handy. Maybe he'd have to think of getting something like this once everything went back to normal. He turned and paused, trying to remember which way it was to the transporter pad.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Gecko Man is my love! Gecko Man is...my life!" The second Spellbound in line cackled wickedly and hurled an barrage of fireballs that whipped past the Raven's head on either side of the nimbly-dodging champion of justice! " As her 'sisters' merged with her, Spellbound declared, "Gecko Man is the man who will make the Raven stop hounding me!" She swooped down before the Raven, a mad look in her eye. "You're not so bad," she told him. "I think we could be close, if you just took off that silly mask, and did away with your silly notions of justice."

-

"Time to BAT-HER-UP!" A moment before the manic Wander could swing her bat at her counterpart, the misplaced Wander vanished in a flash of brilliant energy. With a look of great confusion on her face, Wander looked up at the sky. Clearly visible on Hell-Ion's space-monitoring TV visor set, powered by the sheer power of _three dimensions_, the local Wander blushed and said out loud, "Oh my, that must have been Hell-Ion, the handsomest prince of space!" She put her hand on her cheek and said, "Oh, why won't he beam down a kiss for me?"

-

Acting on his body's instincts, Trevor activated the Night Cycle to full Atomo-Power, and was soon roaring into the air on a black column of clean, efficient atomo-radiation! The great machine roaring between his legs, he zoomed through the clear blue sky with nary a bug in sight, his sheer piloting prowess letting him stay in the air as the jet-clocks behind him guided him through the sky. He saw the two Wanders down below at Freedom Hall, and arrived just as one vanished into the sky and three new faces came running up behind the other one.

"It's Kid Midnight!" one called, "He'll help us!"

[Electra]

Erin arrived on the teleportation pad with her baton raised, ready for a fight. It took her a second to realize that everything had changed, again, and she was now apparently in a high-budget episode of Star Trek. "What's going on now?" she demanded aloud, bat still raised just in case. She almost lowered it when she caught sight of James, then realized it could be another freako double like the Erin she'd been running away from. "Hellion?" she asked cautiously. "Is that you?"

[Gizmo]

Trevor wrestled with the Night Cycle's flight controls as he set the atomic vehicle down next to the small group of costumed teenage girls. Hate. It was like they'd been designed by someone who'd seen pictures of motorcycles and planes, but never actually ridden either in real life. Suppressing his irritation, the formally clad youth turned to the group 'Kid Midnight' routinely worked with, the opaque white lenses of his domino mask narrowing. "What was that?" he demanded, indicating the point from which 'Rednaw' had abruptly disappeared.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh! Kid Midnight!" Wander still had pink in her cheeks. "Rednaw was here, up to her usual crazy bizarro tricks! But Hell-Ion beamed her up onto his flying saucer, so I'm sure he'll send her back to Bizarro-World." She smiled at Trevor, and he realized all the girls were giving him the eye, if the other three a bit more covertly than Wander was. "It's so nice you came, though." She reached over and put her hand on his, a sneaky smile on her innocent face. "Does that mean you really care?"

[Gizmo]

Trevor's domino mask blinked as he looked down at Wander's hand on hop of his own. Hoo, boy. Well, at least this established beyond a doubt that this wasn't the Erin to whom he had grown accustomed. Raising his gaze to the rest of Teen Freedom, the lanky young man was stuck by a sudden feeling of being surrounded. A less scrupulous lad might have attempted to take advantage of the situation; Trevor was frankly more concerned with what the real Erin would do if she found out. Dipping into his altered memories, he pulled back his hand to form a melodramatic fist as he answered, "I care for all who would stand between the innocent and evil's malevolent touch." 'Kid Midnight', he decided privately, was a bit of a twit, not to mention a tease.

[Cyroa]

He stood, waiting and watching as she materialized on the pad. "Erin, good to see you're you. I'm still Hellion. Sort of. But you know I prefer 'James'. I told you I'd never leave you stuck in some other reality," he said, smiling wryly. "Of course, this time it's our entire reality that's different. Apparently, I wasn't able to complete shield us from the ripple," he gestured at his reddish-tinged skin. "Here I'm Hell-Ion apparently, guarding the Earth from space. I've got a dual set of memories, the real and the ones for this new reality. Very, very odd," he said. Shaking his head to himself, he gestured down the corridor. "Come on. Let's head back to the bridge. I've got the computer searching for the others."

[April]

That small voice in the back of Eve’s mind was bothering her. It kept nagging her, telling her that this was all wrong, that this was not the way things were supposed to be. And Eve was trying her best to ignore it, though she wasn't having much luck in that.

Both Martel girls finished getting ready and were on their way to Claremont High. Eve half-listened to the smalltalk of Faith, every so often offering a word or two in comment and reveling in the sound of the soft soprano she hadn't heard for two years.

"Whatever Mark's father did," Eve thought, sitting in the backseat watching the scenery pass by, "it gave me my voice back. Things are, admittedly, a little different, but aren't people always saying that not all change is bad?" Eve frowned, but with her head turned looking out the window nobody in the car noticed.

"This is good. But why is it bothering me so much?"

[Electra]

"Wait, so you are your double now?" Erin asked, following him back to the control room of the spaceship. "Is that why you look different, because you fell into his body and got his memories and stuff? That's really weird." She thought about that for a minute. "But if you did that, why didn't I? I just spent ten minutes running halfway across town away from my crazy double. Who appears to have a thing for you," she said, glancing over toward the viewscreen. "And Trevor," she added a moment later, raising an eyebrow. "You think that's this universe's Midnight, or did he get the body switch treatment, too?"

[Cyroa]

James nodded absently, still sorting through the dual lives. It was...odd but the potential was rather fascinating. Such a huge range of knowledge and skills... "Hmm? Oh, yes. It seems the shielding I threw up preserved our minds but not the rest of us. The effect was simply too strong. Here...I'm an alien. Different world, different person in some ways," he says, shrugging his shoulders. "But I'm still me. The more I focus, shifting and building up a magical 'buffer', the more I'm able to separate the two. But there are still two sets of memories." He tapped the keys, refining the search patterns for the others. "I'm not certain honestly. It could be a property of your home time-line. Some kind of temporal shifting immunity? Without going to your home timeline or spending time reading you, I can't know for sure though." He glanced up at the view screen. "As for Trevor, I'm going to go find out. Be back in a moment. Oh, please don't touch any of these buttons. If you need to talk, press this one here." He pointed at a specific control. "But this should be rather quick." He stepped away from the control board and switches. The shimmering light covered him and he vanished in a tinkly shower of light.

He reappeared in the same shimmering lights near 'Kid Midnight' and the 'Young Freedom' group. He nodded, flashing a warm smile to the ladies. "Pardon the intrusion ladies. I need a word with our temporal hero here." He looked over at Trevor. "Nice bike. Not as streamlined as I recall," he said, letting that hang. "I was wondering if you'd care to discuss a possible...temporal incursion you might have noticed a little while ago. At the hospital?" He wasn't sure how long they'd be stuck with this dual life thing. And he didn't want to alarm or give anything away to the heroes of this here and

[Avenger Assembled]

"It's Hell-Ion! The handsomest prince of space!" James noticed that all the ladies besides 'Wander' were doing something best-described as simpering, and she was blushing pink. "I mean, Hell-Ion, it's sooo good to see you!" She put her hand on James' arm, giving him a big smile. She looked from James to Trevor, a worried look on her face. "Oh, didn't you switch costumes too? I thought it was a day where we switched our costumes, like back when we fought those gangsters on the baseball field!" She gave them both a a bright look. "It's good to see the two of you together again."

[Gizmo]

Catching Jame's eye as Erin's double turned to face the new arrival and cocked an eyebrow, the expression exaggerated by his domino mask, silently mouthing 'handsomest prince of space?' As the girls of Teen Freedom regarded them he cautiously replied, "...yes, it's important that we work together to fix what which is wrong with the world." He gave 'Hel-Ion' a curt but meaningful nod. "I was just investigating that myself," he agreed. "We'll let you know if we find anything important," he told the Teen Freedomettes, deciding to deal with two bird with one stone by adding, "There's a disturbance at the Bank of Freedom, as well. I trust the... prince and I can leave that in your capable hands?"

[Cyroa]

"Wander," he said with a warm smile. "Lovely to see you again as well," he added, covering her hand with his own. "I've been somewhat busy. I just threw any old thing on. We'll have to coordinate costumes another time." He didn't have time to search his dual memories for whatever she was talking about. Perhaps when he had a moment. He'd never even met Trevor really, though he obviously knew who he was. He looked at Trevor and nodded before turning back to the ladies and turning the charm on to full, hoping/assuming they'll be so ditzed they wouldn't notice any inconsistencies. He took her hand from his arm, placing a light kiss on the back of it. "But we must say farewell. We all have noble deeds to do after all," he said with a wide smile as he released her hand. Stepping back to Trevor he activated the transporter and a moment later they were back on the ship.

"We _really_ need to fix this world before I go nuts. Simpering? Really?" He sighed in disgust. "Come on. Erin is in the control room," he said, filling Trevor in on what he knew along the way.

[Gizmo]

Taking in the interior of the spaceship, Trevor adjusted the collar of his dress shirt self-consciously as he moved to follow James. "Hrm," he murmured as they walked, hoping that Erin hadn't been able to watch the scene below from the 'control room'. "Saw my bike," he noted to the transformed Hellion. "That's the least of it." He hadn't really gotten a chance to meet James yet, knowing him mostly by reputation and offhand comments from Erin. The Prophets were a well known family in the circles his grandfather and, to a lesser extent, Trevor himself traveled in, and well respected, but by all accounts James was very much the black sheep of the clan. Regardless, Erin seemed to trust him implicitly, and he was inclined to follow her lead. A less charitable voice pointed out that he instinctively disliked the silky smooth charmer for exactly the same reason, particularly after watching James deftly handle the members of Teen Freedom so cavalierly.

As the pair reached the control room, Trevor nodded in greeting then unceremoniously announced, "Rick Lucas is dead."

[Electra]

Erin, who'd been avidly watching the proceedings on the viewscreen, turned at Trevor's words, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not sure he did this on purpose," she pointed out, trying to be conciliatory for once. "I know it sucks that he dumped us all here, but everything I've heard from Mark or anybody said he didn't have any powers. He probably didn't mean to do anything. His kid just died, cut him a little slack."

[Cyroa]

James shook his head as he walked up to the control board and began working once more. "Yes. And no. Yes, he deserves some slack. Mark did just die back then. But he definitely did this on purpose. His powers, long since contained burst free, giving him him a once in a lifetime opportunity to fix everything he saw and thought was wrong. He took it." He continued tapping away, looking for the others on the scans, but paused to look at Trevor. "And you would to. Anyone would." He didn't have to stare into Trevor's soul to know that truth. He looked back, resuming his work. "What matters now is gathering the rest of us together. In theory, everyone there I shielded should still know who they really are. Once that's done, we reset the clock...with an additional couple hours tacked on," he said with a wry smile.

He had to restore the timeline and the barriers. It was his job after all. But he was perfectly happy to bend the rules. If they could reset the clock, it also mean they could reset it with the added extra of bringing Mark back. He wasn't exactly sure _how_ that was going to happen just yet, but one step at a time. First, he had to reassemble the group. He paused in typing as he thought. They were also the shards, the anchors. Perhaps... He had access to quite a bit of magical knowledge from his true life and apparently quite a bit of technically knowledge in this one... He nodded to himself, resuming his search for the others. "Despite our discomforts, we'll work this out. Might take a little doing, but we'll fix the timestream. Mostly," he muttered to himself.

[Gizmo]

Trevor was about to clarify his statement when James began his impromptu speech. Despite a growing kernel of irritation, the lanky young man allowed high school student turned alien prince to finish before speaking, merely folding his arms. Giving James a brief look, he turned to Erin. "He's literally dead. Already." Without turning back to Hellion, he quietly instructed, "Bring up a view of the Sentry Statue."

[Electra]

Erin looked to the screen as James brought up a view of the statue. "Wow, weird," she murmured. "Something must've gone really different with the Terminus invasion here." She stopped short, looking over at James. "I didn't even think to wonder why Alex wasn't part of that group back there. She and Mike might not even exist in this universe, or if they do, they might not have powers. They might not even have ever met!" She had to stop and consider that idea for a minute. "We still need to get in touch with Mark if he's here, but we should try and find out more about what happened to make this world like it is. Can you get access to a library database or something?"

[Cyroa]

"Interesting. I would have thought Mr. Lucas was at home with his family. Bad guess." James raised an eyebrow at the statue. "Someone had a guilt complex," he said softly as he continued to work the computer, reading the strange character off so Erin and Trevor would know. "It appears that Rick Lucas died to save the Centurion...who is still alive and well and running the Freedom League." He shook his head at Erin. "As much as I'd like to have Alex and Mike with us, they won't remember the truth. We aren't in a different dimension or world. This is our world, our universe. Just the time stream is completely bolluxed."

He paused, raising an eyebrow as he read something on one of the screen. "Interesting. Mark's grandfather is alive here even though I know he died back in '88. This could be rather important for later. Anyway, he and Mark's mother are homeschooling Mark. Who, unsurprising, is a junior member of the Freedom League." He tapped a few more keys, and on one of the screens the scene around the Bank appeared though James didn't look right away. He was distract by a beeping. "I've found Sage. Locking in now," he tapped a few more keys as Sage and her surroundings appeared on another monitor.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Gecko Man is my love! Gecko Man is...my life!" The second Spellbound in line cackled wickedly and hurled an barrage of fireballs that whipped past the Raven's head on either side of the nimbly-dodging champion of justice! " As her 'sisters' merged with her, Spellbound declared, "Gecko Man is the man who will make the Raven stop hounding me!" She swooped down before the Raven, a mad look in her eye. "You're not so bad," she told him. "I think we could be close, if you just took off that silly mask, and did away with your silly notions of justice."

"Really? He's that important to you? Well, that's... that's..." Wrong! Geckoman threw back his mask. "My name is Christopher James Kenzie and I'm not the Raven. This reality is wrong. I'm Geckoman."

Letting his actions sink in, he swung a fist towards Spellbound's face. "And you're not my girlfriend."

[Avenger Assembled]

Sage was at Claremont High, backstage amid a frantic bustle of patriotic bunting and music. It was Memorial Day, and Claremont High was going to celebrate in the most all-American style possible. As the attendants helped wrap her in an American-flag cut dress, one of them told her, "Eve, I haven't seen Chris yet, but his mother and father are out in the audience. I'm sure he wouldn't miss your patriotic recital; you know how all-American he is!"

-

Meanwhile the all-American Chris Kenzie had just punched her girlfriend in the face, sending her staggering and nearly falling off her broom. "Oow!" She flew up and away from his fist, circling again out of reach. "You...you're not supposed to _hit_ me!" She looked appalled, hand on her chin. "You...you brute!" She glared at him. "You're not the Raven at all, are you!? You're just a cheap imposture!"