We'd All Go Down Together (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

Luckily, Mind-Master was an old hand enough to signal his approach in the shadowy tunnels lest he spook the superpowered teens; with a low whistle came the flying immortal champion, followed close behind by Caryatid's family. They stuck close to their daughter, who stuck close to them; a child made a leader before her time. Mind-Master gave Singularity a quick, wary look before focusing on the teens. "Talos sends his regrets. He is occupied with ensuring that the masters of the world are heedless of what goes on beneath their feet." To Trevor, he added, "He thanks you again for your aid. Should you find yourself battling his counterpart in the near-future, he asks you to strike true in his name." To the others, he went on, "Time is short. Talos and I have clouded minds and computers above as best we can. Caryatid," he added, "and I have already said our goodbyes. Is your transportation close at hand?"

[Gizmo]

"Tell him will do," Midnight nodded shallowly to Mind-Master, glancing down to monitor the glowing diodes on the device mounted on his wrist. After a pause he added, "Watch out for the Blank. We've made things dangerous for him. Makes him more dangerous." While he doubted the master mentalist was given to worrying overly about the schemes of a mere student, Trevor's expression was deadly serious, and any difficulty the immortal had reading his mood with his superhuman abilities should have lent credence to the warning.

[Electra]

"Here's hoping it's close by," Wander muttered, taking out her communicator. "He assured me that he can hear interdimensional communication... " She punched the frequency into the communicator and activated it. "Supercape, this is Wander. We're ready for pickup, with five riding along. As soon as possible, please." As she waited for a response, she looked at the rest of the group. "Everyone get close together, those of you who have luggage, hang onto it. We don't want anything or anybody to get left behind here." Despite Trevor's glowing field of protection, it was easy to imagine the forces of Anti-Earth converging on their position, ready to move in.

Singularity seemed to feel the same way, her eyes wide and her pupils dilated as she kept watch. Her breath was coming fast, but for now she was able to hold herself still, clutching the bear to her chest like a talisman. Donna, the little girl, gave her a weird look, but Caryatid quickly maneuvered her out of sight of the unstable escapee.

[Supercape]

The space infront of Warder wobbled and distorted, expanded and contracted. It paused in a state of flux for a few seconds.

And out stepped Supercape, dusting of his cape.

"Anywhere, any time" he smiled. "Well, not any time. I'm working on that. Hypothetically quantum entanglement should allow a non-paridoxical event transfer across the temporal streams of n-space. You see, if you look at the m-theory maths from a Heisenburg-Hawking perspective and consider the implications of wave-particle imaginary existence in a many-world multiverse then..."

He looked around and coughed.

"Maybe later. All ready for home?" he asked, examining the passengers.

[Avenger Assembled]

Caryatid's mother's eyes widened at the site of Supercape, the woman taking a step back and putting her arms protectively over her children. "It's...it's..." Her husband looked equally flustered, and Caryatid had to murmur a sharp reminder that "this isn't him! This is the him from the other world!" The Gravois family were beginning to look frazzled, having gone from a middle-class lifestyle to an underground lair in the space of one night, but they were prepared for the future that awaited them. As for the other new face, Singularity was clearly Erin, but clearly _not_, eying the world with a furtive predator's eyes, the look of the smallest lion in the pride writ large on her face.

"Good to see you, Supercape," interjected Edge. "I think we're ready to get the hell out of here. Mind-Master, it's been a pleasure. Tell Talos we'll do all that we can to make sure more people help Anti-Earth. Just because our teachers promote non-interference doesn't mean we can't come here and save lives."

[Gizmo]

Refastening his mask, Midnight let out a quiet breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as Supercape appeared. A part of the methodical youth had been planning all along for the possibility that they would be stranded on Anti-Earth long term, and having their ride home before them lifted a considerable amount of tension from his shoulders. The rest he'd release when they were firmly back on Earth-Prime, and the bridge was sealed behind them. ...at which point I can start worrying about the inevitable counter-attack.

[Electra]

Singularity watched events unfolding in a seemingly incomprehensible fashion, trying to hold onto the feeling that maybe things would be okay. Pathos wasn't in her mind, and that was very good, much better already, but everyone around her was tense and afraid, and that meant things were still very dangerous. Pathos and the others could still come after them. She stayed close to the man in black, watching him for cues as to how bad things were. He was trustworthy, hadn't he made Pathos go away when nobody else ever had? He seemed strangely familiar too, though she rarely trusted that feeling. She kept an eye on the others, the stranger who looked like Mom, the bad-luck man who was acting very unlike himself, the rock mover, the two little girls, and the two cowering civilians. It was far more people than she was comfortable dealing with, but none of them said anything to her or really looked at her, so it was all right for now.

She startled when the man in the big cape appeared out of nowhere, seeming loud and out of place in the furtive group. She looked to the man in black, but his mask was on again. The others seemed relieved, though. Not a threat, till proven otherwise. Singularity returned to looking around, then stood very still, cocking her head and listening. Noises, rumbling. She tugged the man in black's black sleeve. "They're coming," she whispered, her voice hardly audible in the echoey chamber.

[Gizmo]

Moving slowly and deliberately so that Singularity could see what he was doing, Midnight very lightly placed one glove atop the hand tugging on his sleeve. "Then we're going," he assured her simply, keeping his voice soft and level. Lifting his hand again, he looked to the rest of the group and nodded brusquely toward Supercape. "Sage, escort the Gravois family first. Erin, I need you to go with Wander and Edge, alright?" The request sounded much stranger coming from the taciturn young man than the clipped instruction. He lifted his illuminated gauntlet slightly. "I'm last through."

[Electra]

Wander looked for a moment like she might protest, but just as Trevor had when she'd done what needed to be done, she swallowed her words and nodded. "Just so long as you're with us," she told him. The noise was becoming more audible now, a sound like machinery, drills maybe, or large pneumatic shovels. She gave the ceiling a cautious look, then turned to Mind Master. "You have to get out of here," she told him. "We'll be all right, but the resistance can't afford to lose you. Thank you for all your help, we'll take care of Caryatid for you." She nodded to Supercape. "We're ready."

Singularity was obviously very reluctant to join her assigned group, but she went anyway, practically hiding behind Wander as a means of avoiding Edge's eye. Trickles of dirt began to fall from the ceiling, emphasizing the many tons of rock hanging over their heads.

[Avenger Assembled]

Sage said nothing, but gave a silent nod of assent to Midnight as she went to join with the others. Shortly thereafter, she and the Gravois family disappeared in a discreet flash of light, the only sound as the little girl cried out in surprise! She'd been very brave, they all had, but this was a little much even for people from as grim a place as Anti-Earth. For his part, Mind-Master focused on the ceiling, his brow furrowing, and then gave a short laugh. "Come, then," he said to no one in particular, "chase me if you dare!" Overhead, when the noise above abruptly stopped, Edge felt a surge of joy quickly replaced by concern: not even he could convince himself that they'd been lucky enough that their pursuers had simply abandoned them, or had gone looking for the missing people, or gone looking for Mind-Master.

Sure enough, from above came another sound, the sound of tremendous kilotons of rock in motion as the ground shook, and he wished they'd kept the terrakinetic. "What did they say about Terra Tyrant?" he called, facing the ceiling with the others! The roof didn't fall in, but he could feel the ominous sensation of the ground beneath their feet vibrating urgently. Seconds later, Supercape reappeared.

[Supercape]

"Not much fun, this dimension..." shouted Supercape over the noise and chaos.

"...playing havoc with the old cape" he added.

Even Supercape could sense the urgency of the situation, and for once, he deemed dusting off his magnificent cape was probably wasting precious seconds. Already his mind was penetrating the dimensions around them and working out how to manipulate the quantum energies that intertwined and bent around the multiverse.

Reaching out to grab as many people as he could with his arms, he applied his mind to the key nudge that would shift them.

"Grab on!" he yelled, as the space around them warped and shuddered...

[Electra]

"Come on!" Wander grabbed her double by the arm, which was something of a mistake. As keyed up as Singularity was, she automatically spun and took a swing at Wander that would've taken off anyone else's head. Even as tough as she was, the unexpected hit bloodied Wander's lip. "Right, the hard way..." She wrapped her arms around Singularity and pinned her bodily, the other girl tired enough from the earlier fight that she couldn't do more than struggle and growl. "Midnight, get over here!" she encouraged, "there's nothing left to wait for, he can get us all!" Above them, the ceiling began to open up, chunks of it lifting away like ice cream being scooped out of a carton with an invisible spoon.

[Gizmo]

Skidding backward to avoid a falling chuck of soil, Midnight started toward the others and their scholarly evacuator. "Point taken." Grabbing onto Supercape's arm with his gauntleted hand, the black clad vigilante used the other to toss a trio of matte black egg-shaped devices behind him, thin rings around them lighting up in glowing red quarters as they cycled through a notably short countdown. "Now would be good," he noted flatly.

[Avenger Assembled]

As they all formed up together, Mark exchanged a look with Singularity, or rather, he looked at her and she began screaming in a high-pitched keen while writhing frantically in Wander's arms. Remembering all he'd heard from the other Daisy's transcript about what a filthy bastard his counterpart was, and thinking about what Singularity must have endured even at the hands of others here, Mark looked away: he could face anything but his friend's face in terror and agony, looking at him with nothing but sheer, unbridled horror. We'll make it right, he told himself. We'll make it right... "Now! Do it now!" Above them, the ceiling gave way, and terrible daylight shone in as dark figure swooped in above.

[Supercape]

The surrounding distorted violently and blurred.

His eyes closed, and forehead deeply furrowed, Supercape found the tools. It would take an expert in quantum mechanics to even begin to understand what happened from a mathematical point of view: Supercape was not entirely sure himself.

Although precious seconds ticked away as the distortions danced around the passengers and the pilot, the actual moment of transport took no time at all. Quite literally no time. Zero. The distortions unfolded to reveal earth prime.

"There we go. Bit more mass than I'm used too" gasped Supercape, wiping the sweat from his brow. "But all home in one piece. Safe and sound."

He looked around uneasily.

"Unless they have a me. Not a pleasant thought. "

[Electra]

"They probably do," grunted Wander, even as she shoved her recalcitrant and screaming alternate self to the floor of Young Freedom's retrofuturistic control room. "Can you sort of hide your trail, or lock the door behind you somehow?" Both copies of Erin were showing the signs of wear, but Wander had the advantage of months of rigorous training to increase both her efficiency and her endurance. "Look, you're okay now!" she tried to inform her counterpart, even as she sat on Singularity and did her best to pin those dangerous flailing arms. "Pathos isn't even here, nobody from there is here. You're safe now!" Singularity, quite reasonably, did not appear convinced.

[Gizmo]

Midnight exhaled deeply enough that a wisp of inky mist seeped through his featureless mask into the air as he cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders briefly. Kneeling back down so that Singularity could see him from her pinned position, he unfastened his disguise once again. "Erin, look at me. Alright? We're trying to help you," he assured the frightened young woman in a steady, almost rhythmic voice, "but we need you to be brave and grown up and calm down now. Can you do that?"

[Avenger Assembled]

For once in his life, Mark didn't know what to say. How do you comfort someone who thinks you're a monster; how do you soothe someone who thinks you're her greatest tormentor? After a moment's hesitation, he realized there was only one good way. "I'm going to go check on the others," he offered while leaving the platform. "Sage got them out of here so they wouldn't get hit by us incoming, they can't have gone far." He hated to leave, but he trusted Wander and Midnight with his life, and Supercape was a good guy too. They'd be able to handle this without him.

[Supercape]

"They probably do," grunted Wander. "Can you sort of hide your trail, or lock the door behind you somehow?"

"Oh..err...let me see....err...."

Supercape was already somewhat fatigued from the effort of transporting the heroes (and counterparts) across the gulf of the multiverse. He furrowed his brow and started looking at the possibilities...

"Yes, yes..." he mumbled. "I suppose I could realign the nodal event architecture to cause super-Heisenbergian viral compensation..."

Nothing visibly happened, but Supercape briefly screwed his eyes up and then looked at Warder with a smile. "There we go!" he exclaimed happily, before bringing his finger up to tap his chin. "Although, of course..." he added less cheerfully. "If I can do that, then he could undo it. Might take some time, but even so. "

[Electra]

"Time is good, it's definitely better than nothing," Wander told Supercape. "Thanks for all your help. It's probably me who owes you one now." She looked down as she felt Singularity go limp under her. The combination of Edge's absence and Trevor's most convincing voice had seemed to do the trick. Singularity was still gasping with exertion, her breath coming ragged and raspy in her throat, but she wasn't actively fighting anymore. With her cheek pressed to the metal-plated floor, her eyes darted here and there, the unbalanced powerhouse still clearly looking for the threats she perceived all around here.

Wander eased up a little, but not much. "Good, that's good," she said encouragingly. To Trevor, she said, "We've got to figure the best way to get her to Blackstone from here. Mark can deal with the other refugees, he's still got like a million Freedom League contacts, and Sage has more money than God. I'm pretty sure we can't just teleport there, it's shielded or blocked or something."

[Avenger Assembled]

Alex's grandfather was luckily just arriving there behind his station, and he quickly began punching numbers into the teleporter control pad. "I can't get you to Blackstone proper," he agreed, "but I can put you down in the middle of the 'holding pen' where they route teleporters who come in without access. Easier than setting up dampeners for them, and lets them catch some breakouts or breakins before they start. The secured perimeter and guards will give you an extra layer in dealing with...this little lady," he said, nodding in Singularity's direction as he waited for a sign of approval from the kids.

[Supercape]

Supercape sat down, rather fatigued. Despite his relatively safe input into the whole adventure, he was awash with adrenaline, and deeply alert to trouble. The mirror image villains were powerful and dangerous, and not to be underestimated.

"Ah well if you have your own spatial transolocation device here..." he said, referencing the teleporter "that certainly saves me further effort! all a bit tricky this hopping around dimensions. Takes it out of you. I could do with a cup of tea to be honest. "

He bet that for all the state of the art technology and gleaming devices that surrounded him, he couldn't find a kettle...

[Electra]

"The kitchen's right down the hall on your left," Wander told Supercape, still quite distracted by her own concerns. "Help yourself." She nodded at Alex's grandpa's words, then looked over to Trevor as she got up and cautiously released Singularity. "If I can get a ride straight into Blackstone with her, I think I should be able to manage things. It'll probably take hours to get her settled and, you know, stuff. Is it all right if I come by your place when I'm done?" Erin rather suspected that this was a night it would be good to have some ammunition against the nightmares.

For her part, Singularity was not reassured at all by these new surroundings. The talk of holding pens seemed especially ominous, especially since she could tell they were talking about her. She was too tired to run or fight anymore though, and she was so hungry. At least she didn't hear Pathos in her head, she reminded herself, picking up the bear and carefully dusting it off as she sat cross-legged on the floor. Even a little while where she could think clearly was good. If she could just get a little food, a little rest, if Pathos stayed gone, she was sure she could get away from anything.

[Supercape]

Supercape strode down the hall and into the Kitchen. It was well equipped, and well organised. It took only a moment for him to find the Kettle and the Tea bags. Noting the lack of Early Grey, he took a swift look around to check he was not being spied on, and opened up the pouch at his belt. Dropping one of the Earl Grey tea bags into the mug, he secreted the rest of them into the tea bag tin.

Wont hurt anybody he told himself. And you never know if I might drop in again.

He poured water into the cup and with a glance, nudged a few atoms around to flood the cup with microwaves, bringing it to the boil instantly.

As an afterthought, he made another cup for Warder, whom he thought could do with a beverage herself.

With steaming tea in each hand, he wandered back to see how she was doing.

[April]

--I took the liberty of sending a thought ahead,-- Sage said glancing at the Gravois family. --So the asylum paperwork is already being drawn up, and I left instructions to arrange for a small diversion of funds, so considering the circumstances I'm confident the process will move along smoothly.-- The telepath turned her attention to Singularity, head cocked to the side as she examined the powerhouse. Crouching down just out of reach of Singularity, Sage smiled at the girl. --I'll find some way to help you, too.-- As the mindwalker spoke in Singularity's mind she felt a rising terror through the mental link, half formed thoughts laced with fear and panic and an overwhelming urge to lash out against the source. With gentleness in her eyes, Sage opened the mental connection a little wider, focused her will, and crushed the rising terror replacing it with a sense of calm.