Thevshi

GM As Jonah moved over near Berandette and covered them both in his icy mist, he could see the two soldiers who had drawn their swords shift into defensive stances as they became confused by the sudden chilling fog. For the moment they appeared uncertain where either of the two redheads were, and had not been able to see Jonah before the fog had filled the area. Toward the center of the courtyard, a few soldiers who had been watching Neko’s performance were cowering on the ground, terrified by her illusions, the rest had fled. But half a dozen soldiers were emerging from buildings on the opposite side of the courtyard from where Bernadette and Jonah were, and while frightened by the illusion, where still preparing to engage, readying their spears or drawing swords. Starshine and Gawain were both invisibly moving through the courtyard, not far from where those soldiers were assembling…..

Multi-Girl When Charlie mentioned possible trouble and the Patriot going to deal with it, Bernadette had tried to take a look around the lobby, slowing down slightly. "Are you shoor we shouldn'…..whoa!" The redhead had been saying before almost being pulled off balance in her heels as Charlie had continued on and she had to speed back up. As they reached the dance floor, she gave him a wide grin. "Really, teach ya somethin' with no real practical use? I mean, it's not like it could be useful in, I don' know, blendin' in at a fancy party durin' an' undercover investigation or anythin'." She said, her words dripping with sarcasm. Soon the two were out among the many guests that had followed Velocity out onto the dance floor. While neither were near as good as the speedster or Muirne, they were both good dancers and probably the most evenly matched pair currently on the dance floor.

Thanks for getting this back on my radar AA! Multi-Girl gets a 18 for her initiative. The soldiers get a 19 on their initiative! (Neko will win the tie breaker). @TheAbsurdist TA, can I get an initative?

Multi-Girl Bernadette and her duplicates were trying to take in all that was going on in the chaotic scene. While there were a lot less combatants now, things just seemed to be getting more chaotic. Muirne was shouting about wanting to kill Shields (which the Irish teen could totally understand), Luke was trying to comfort her (good for him) and the others were focusing on the bad guys that were still standing. And then there were the shadow tendrils between Murine and Sheilds and whatever that poem sounding off was. The two duplicates that had been talking with Ghule both gave sighs of relief when she stood down from them and then went after Toxin. But one of the two did look too the other. "When have we ever been on ta news?" The original Bernadette decided that perhaps it might be best to try to remove Chump from this so as Shift grappled the strong man, the red head began to close again to look for an opening to try to knock him out. "Try ta hold him still!" She said to Shift as Chump attempted to struggle against now multi-limbed android. When Bernadette thought she saw an opening she took a step forward and started to swing at the side of Chump's chin. But then he twisted again and Shift came into the path of the punch, causing Bernadette to pull it back suddenly and mess up the timing completely. Meanwhile another of her duplicates had moved over to where Toxin was fighting Ghule. "Look, besides him just bein' a grad A creep, why ya so keen on killin' Shields?"

Okay, Multi-Girl will try to hit Chump, and misses spectacularly with a 7! Boooo Her duplicate will try to talk Toxin down.

Timeout And then Parker took the opportunity to bring up the reveal Lawrence's mom had made at the Freedom League's holiday party. To be fair, right after the party school wrapped up till after the New Year, and Lawrence and his mom had headed over to England as they did every year (accompanying Vicki as she went back to spend the holidays with her family). They had hardly been back long at school when the trio had planned this outing. At least Parker’s grin was encouraging. Giving his friend a wide smile, Lawrence gave an initially curt response. "Simple, I didn't tell anyone." He let that hang there for a moment before adding. "Like I tried to say at the party, it was never my secret to tell. But I knew it was going to come out at some point, and so did my mom, so she decided how she wanted it to happen. She also did mean what she said just before about feeling a bit guilty about how many identities she had learned over the years while keeping hers secret." "I am not sure how many on the school staff knew before, but Headmistress Summers certainly did." Lawrence was quiet for a moment and then continued. "I mean, even if I had been free to talk about it before, I can just imagine how arrogant that could have come across if I was going around campus announcing that my mom was a member of the Freedom League."

Mutli-Girl As Charlie received information about the arrival of Doktor Archeville, Bernadette had been looking into the mirror she had earlier used to reapply her lipstick. The redhead was trying to get her wild curls back under some semblance of control, after having put on and taken off the Christmas sweater for her performance, with somewhat mixed results. In the reflection she saw Charlie flinch, but then relax, figuring he would tell her if it was important the Irish teen did what she could and then then turned back to him. Bernadette gave Charlie a wide smile at his question. "Well, it was very nice, but maybe we should give some o' the other couples a chance ta make use o' it as well? Plenty o' time fer more o' that later.” She said as she took his hand, letting him lead the way as they went back out into the party.

@Dr Archeville @Heritage Okay, sorry Dok forgot to get you some info as well. Davyd does still have Rex's scent here, it leads down into the valley. Besides the obvious signs that the fields are maintained and cared for, as are all the buildings, he does pickup multiple scents that seem to be human. Heri, starting to look around with her ESP, Lulu spots people in the village, going about what seems to be their daily routines. Although, the immediate thing is that there appears to be no signs of technology and they have ox pulled carts and the like. With just a bit of searching, she finds Rex, over at the base of the cental hill and the monastery complex. He is with a group of what appears to be monks in bright robes and he appears to be fighting with one?

Multi-Girl (32) Double the Treble (1) The Young Guardians Returns! (3) My Evil Twin (4) The Gig Economy (6) Holiday Cheer (5) Dream Chasing (2) Assassin's Quirk (2) Meanwhile, at the Guardians' Mansion (3) Dance Beneath the Stars (2) Tropical Getaway: Bernadette's Version (4) Timeout (34) Deviations (6) The Study Group (5) Bolt from the Blue (3) Holiday Cheer (4) Quirk Kart (7) Study Group: Biology (9) Tropical Getaway (4) Sri Kath'lana (2) Aphelion (2) Vernoica Danger [Titanium} (3) Test Your Might (3) Velocity [Titanium] (9) Holiday Cheer (5) Written In The Stars (3) Tropical Getaway: Walk About (1) GM (17) Assassin's Quirk (1) Bolt from the Blue (1) Praetorians: A Paradigm Shift (5) Blind Man's Bluff (2) Shoaling Patterns (4) Aphelion (1) Star-Crossed? (2) Tropical Getaway: Walk About (1) (okay, should have enough GM and Titanium rollover posts to get Multi-Girl and Timeout both up to 50 posts each, and then have enough to get Kath'lana to 10 (if not, prioritize the first two). Ref point to Multi-Girl please)

Multi-Girl Bernadette and her duplicate released their grips on the others once it was clear that they had returned home, letting their last notes die off as they looked around, their long red hair soaking wet and plastered to them. The Irish teen could not help but chuckle slightly as Summer was trying to remember some of the music they had heard in Musicland. Her duplicate lifted up a soaking wet clump of hair with an annoyed look on her face as a small, colorful fish fell loose from the tangled mess, flopping on the now very wet floor. Bernadette quickly bent down and scooped it up as her duplicate rushed around to find something to put it in. Soon, they had a small bowl filled with water, in which the fish was swimming around happily, its faint tunes slightly audible from the water. Smiling as she watched it, Bernadette looked up and over to Summer. "You know, while I still have one more year at Claremont, you should come back ta Freedom an' we can take a shot at startin' a band."

Multi-Girl Bernadette smiled as she saw Charlie waiting as the band and her duplicates made their way off stage. The duplicates and band continued on further back to drop off the various equipment and pack it back up. The redhead teen caught Charlie's comment about catching one of their shows before, but did not say anything about it. Truthfully, she did not really have much chance too before she was also looking back out to the stage like Charlie rather stunned as Velocity reveled her identity and that her son was part of the current sophomore class. "Yeah, I think she did." The Irish teen admitted as Charlie commented on the events. Pulling off the oversized red Christmas sweater she had been wearing over her dress, Bernadette tossed it to one of her duplicates before looking back to Charlie with a wide smile. "But as fer what's next, had not planned on anything other than going back out ta the party."

Timeout When his mother had taken to the stage once again, Lawrence had turned his attention there, fully expecting her to make a couple quick announcements and then, predictably, open the dance floor. He had been completely unprepared when she took off her mask and revealed her identity and that she was his mother. The blond teen stood there in stunned silence. Parker's voice pulled Lawrence back into focus as he looked over to his friend and offered him an apologetic smile. "It wasn't my secret to tell." There were of course a number of other reasons for his not telling people about it, yet at least, but that was certainly one of them. Six years ago, when a cosmic entity trying to kidnap him had whisked him and the two Claremont students babysitting him to CoVic Station, Lawrence had let them know his mom was Velocity. She had been upset when she found out, although that feeling had been greatly tampered by how relieved she had been that he was alright and all that the two Claremont girls had done to protect him. Before he could respond to any of the other questions Parker was trying to form, Mizuki asked he wanted to dance. The blond teen looked at her, offering a wide smile. "Yeah, of course, love to." He offered her an elbow so they could make their way over to the room that had been set up as the dance floor. He shot Parker another apologetic look for bailing. Focusing back on Mizuki as they made their way through the crowd, Lawrence gave a small shrug. "Well, I suppose I am a legacy of sorts, though my mom and I have very different powers. And, even if my mom retired tomorrow, I am not going to go by Velocity, that yellow and checkered flag racing stripes would not look good on me." "And fair warning, I am nowhere near the dancer my mom is, but I can promise I won't step on your toes." The pair had just been about to exit the lobby when Doktor Archeville made his appearance, causing Lawrence to once again stop for a moment in shock. While the blond teen had never met Archeville (he had always seemed to be…somewhere else…the times Lawrence had gone to visit CoVic Station with his mom over the summer) he had heard his mom talk about him. Like most of the older, experienced heroes present, her relationship with him was….complicated, even though she had left the Interceptors and not really been in Freedom City when the Doktor had had his breakdown. But Lawrence quickly had his attention taken away from Archeville's arrival as Mizuki pulled him out onto the dance floor.

Velocity Velocity gave a little laugh as Ghost apologized for some of his reports. "If anything, that made them more enjoyable to read. Have you ever read any of Deadalus’ reports where he starts going into technical detail on something? I typically have to get up and run a couple laps around the city to ensure I don’t fall asleep while I finish those." As Bernadette and her band finished up, Velocity was loudly applauding as she glanced over to Ghost. "Well, afraid I still have some host duties to carryout, good to chat some, we will have to talk more later." The speedster then zipped back up onto the stage as the band made their way off, taking all their equipment with them (in large part thanks to half a dozen of Bernadette's duplicates). "Let's give another round of applause for Multiplicity." She said into her microphone as she stepped onto the stage and gestured toward where the band had gone. "If you liked what you heard, you should be able to easily find their website where they have some of their recordings of covers and some original projects. Not a lot there just yet, but what is there is fantastic. I mean, I never knew I needed a rock version of the Spice Girl's Wannabe until I listened to their recording of one a couple days ago. Anyway, just a couple quick announcements, then you won’t have to listen to me anymore and can go back to enjoying the night." "First, I want to give a big shout of appreciation to Neko Musume and her helpers, Leon, Davyd and Lulu, for running the daycare tonight. They have put a lot of hard work into making sure those here with little ones or pre-teens have a fun, safe place for them tonight." The speedster led a round of applause before adding with a smile, "those that have made use of the service tonight, don't forget to be generous with the tip." Velocity's expression became a bit more serious as she continued. "Lastly, a couple of related things. I have been…reflecting a bit lately, on how I have spent nearly twenty years attending these parties, and over the course of the time have gotten to know so many in the hero community, many who cannot be with us tonight, by their real names and without their masks. All the while I have hidden behind mine. Of course, most of the longtime members of the League have gotten to know me without the mask, as has my oldest and dearest friend who has known me since before I really got started with the League. Just doesn’t quite seem right any longer, so.." the speedster reached up an pulled off her mirrored goggles and mask (and the attached brunette ponytail wing). Shaking out her long blonde hair a moment now that it was free from being stuffed under the mask, Velocity looked back up with a wide smile and bright blue eyes that seemed almost to burst with energy. "So, for those who have not met me like this before, I am Megan Howell-Harrow. This year is my son Lawrence's first year at Claremont, where he also goes by Timeout. He is here tonight with some of his friends. I am sure some of you will have a chance to meet him at some point tonight." "And, now that I have filled my quota of embarrassing him for the rest of the school year, let's get back to the party shall we? There is still plenty of food and drink so, please enjoy yourselves and mingle." Megan said as she gestured over to the food and where Protectron was still serving drinks. "But for those that are interested, we have converted the press room into a dance floor for the night. That is where I am headed." She then added, pointing out the now open doors she had been standing next to during the band’s performance. "I hope to see some of you out there." "Happy Holidays everyone! And thank you all again for all you do!" The speedster disappeared again in a blur of yellow. As she did, Christmas music again began playing over the speakers in the lobby area at a low volume to allow for ease of conversation. To start it was one of the many versions of Last Christmas. After dropping of her mask and goggles somewhere on the upper level of the Hall, Megan sped back down to the dance floor that had been set up in the press room, arriving almost as soon as she had left the small stage in the lobby. The room was rather dimly lit as the speedster activated the lighting system that had been installed, creating something of a nightclub ambiance. And then she queued up a playlist she had put together and the first song began. Then the beat comes on, it's like nobody's here, it's just me and the dance floor, And I have no fear. The speedster immediately went into a shuffle dance routine she had choreographed years ago as Loose My Head began to play. As she had for so many years since gaining her powers, Megan allowed herself to focus on the music, matching her movements to the tempo and rhythm, forcing her to stay at normal speeds as she danced around the middle of the room with practiced grace and energy. As she finished, the next song came on, Dua Lipa's Houdini and Megan shifted to a bit less choreographed and space consuming dancing, as she matched the song slower tempo, but with no less skill than before. The play list shifted back and forth between slower tempo songs to faster paced house tracks. It included recent songs such as Ed Sheeran's Shape of You; two additional from Dua Lipa, Dance The Night and Don't Start Now ; Olivia Rodrigo's Bad Idea Right?; and Ava Max's Sweet But Psycho. But it also included older songs like Taylor Swift's Shake It Off; Will I Am and Britney Spears' Scream and Shout; Katy Perry's Hot And Cold; Che'Nelle's I Fell In Love With The DJ; Justin Timberlake's Sexy Back; Technotronic's Move This; and MARRS' Pump Up The Volume, and even included classics such as the Bee Gee's Night Fever. Among the intermixed house music were dance remixes of songs such as Maggie Linderman's Pretty Girl ; Baltimora's Tarzan Boy; September's Satellites; Rhianna's Umbrella; the Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams; and Taxi Doll's Waiting, as well as other house tracks such as Lucky Charmes' Fulfill and TJR & Vinai & Turbootronic's We Wanna Party.

Timeout When his mother had taken the stage, Lawrence turned to listen, preparing himself for the possibility she might just take the opportunity to call him out. Thankfully, she had not done so, and he clapped as she finished along with others in the crowd and watched as the band took the stage. While he had heard that Bernadette was in a band and performed around town, he had not realized they had a more rock inspired focus, nor that Bernadette was as good a singer as she was. The band was finishing up when Parker caught his attention when he asked the group of gathered Claremont students if they wanted to head out to dance. He glanced over to Mizuki, Consuelo and Baz with a smile. "Sounds good to me, I expect the dance floor is going to be opening up." He stated, nodding toward the stage, as Velocity made her way back up onto it. Lawrence knew his mother, she was not one to turn down an opportunity to get on a dance floor, and she certainly ensured there was a space for dancing in the past at this event.

Multi-Girl "Thanks." Bernadette responded to both the offered drink and the compliments from her friends. She gave Luke a small smile at his suggestion of a one woman show. "I just have the vocals covered, not sure they would hit quite the same without the rest of the band." She stated with a grin. "Cheers." She responded before taking a drink of the beer they had brought her. While she laughed at Leon's teasing, her smile did fade slightly. It had been over a year since Charlie had disappeared and withdrawn from school, and none of them had heard from him, or had any idea where he had gone. Rather than let herself dwell on that thought more, the redhead took another long drink from her beer, her smile fully back in place she finished. "Yeah, of course, they are back this way." Bernadette then replied to Luke, gesturing further backstage as she began leading the pair in that direction. "I think they were planning to hang around here to watch some of the other shows. Unlike the rest of you carefree young adults, I have class in the morning." The Irish teen said with a grin. "But, we could head out and see if there is anything interesting happing in this part of town this time of night."

Multi-Girl Realizing that it appeared to be working, Bernadette and her duplicate continued singing, nodding to Summer to continue her beat. As they did, they swam in closer, each grabbing the Duke by an arm and pulling him closer to Summer. The original Bernadette then used her free hand to reach over to grab Summer's upper arm to get ahold of her. The duplicate used her free hand to reach out to grab the Leprechaun's hand. All through this, they continued singing, adding all they could to the strange, distorted backward lyrics.

Timeout Lawrence glanced over Parker as he asked whether the other two were feeling anything unusual. The blond teen looked at Parker a moment, before looking around him but without really seeming to focus on anything in particular. "No, cannot say I feel much other than cold, certainly nothing like déjà vu. And if someone had messed with the timestream, I would feel something." When Baz generated a bit of his very unusual radiation, it actually did seem to help warm the area. Lawrence gave his roommate a small smile. "It is quite a bit warmer. But I swear Baz, if I die of cancer in the next couple years, I am absolutely going to coming back as a ghost to haunt you." He then focused back on Parker. "Is there anything in particular that has you feeling on edge?"

Timeout Lawrence Harrow looked down at the street below from where he stood just back from the edge of the building so he could see over it to the middle of the street below. He could not see the sidewalk directly below from that vantage point, but would be harder to see from below as well. If he heard something below it was easy enough to move up to look over the edge. The sixteen year old was wearing the Claremont training uniform, but with the addition of a warm jacket and gloves and a mask that covered the upper half of his face. As he looked out at his breath in the air, the blond teen considered the plans he had for the coming three-day weekend and getting some of his classmates at Claremont out of the city and off to someplace much warmer to spend the weekend. He pulled himself from those thoughts and focused back on the street below. So far, nothing seemed to be going on, at least in this part of Southside. "So guys, how long we planning to freeze here before we move on the next place or call it a night?" He asked his two friends.

Velocity Velocity had moved off stage and was standing over near closed doors to a room off the lobby as she watched Bernadette and her band start to play. Instinctively, the speedster began moving to the music as they played, although she resisted the urge to just start flat out dancing. Although she remained facing the stage, cheering on the band, she saw Ghost approaching thanks to her goggles and gave him a small glance and smile as he commented on her speech before focusing back on the performance. "Thanks. I wasn't lying about preferring to dance. Ask me to go dance in front of a huge crowd in a cheerleader outfit, no problem. Ask me to give a speech in front of a bunch of metahumans, even if several are the same age as my son, I guess I can if I must. But when I was where they are, I certainly never thought I would be where I am now." Velocity turned slightly to Ghost as he introduced himself. "I know, I have read the reports you've filed. I read everyone's reports. Lots of time on my hands." She said. "Velocity, amazing how even being on the same team you can go so long without regularly seeing each other. The fact I am often running around reacting to things around the world, rather than in the city, might be a part of that as well."

Thanks TA (and for the IC post)

Synapse Dee was smiling as Vicki started to reply to her little summary of her and Erick's first meeting, but it faded quickly as she realized the girl was having one of her visions again and confusing it for the present. Leaning back slightly with one elbow resting on the back of the sofa and her hand behind an ear, the Englishwoman reached out to the teen's mind to gentle communicate with her. Vicki, the teen heard Dee’s posh accent clearly in her mind, Erik is not sat over there. He is back at our home in the Hetfordshire countryside. You are having one of your visions. Let it play out, but try to focus on separating it from the present.

Okay, time for more rolls/actions @The Sailor Last "round" to be able to use Swimming underwater (she will get back up on the track just before the end of the stage). No hazards down with her. @BitCook @Huckleberry Three Koopas left, and still tentacles flailing about.

Timeout Lawrence was watching the scene ahead of him intently as the new threat Quirk had cooked up reared up out of the water. When he saw Mizuki veer off the track towards the water, he hoped she knew what she was doing, but had no choice but to let things play out. Shifting gears of his racer, the blond teen stepped on the gas, accelerating as fast as he could. As he went, his racer flickered in and out of space with temporal distortions that jumped it forward in leaps and bounds. "Good show Vicki." He called out as she managed to cause one of their opponents to crash into another, keeping both being able to do anything to interfere with the teens. He then flickered out of time once more just as a tentacle was coming down toward him. After a few more jumps, he was back up near Consuelo and the Koopa she was dueling with. Hearing Mizuki report she was fine and had a short cut under the water Lawrence gave a small sigh. "Cheers Mizuki. Stay safe, and the yacht club is coming up, so you are likely to be running out of water soon. See you when you get back up here." Just as Lawrence indicated, the track continued on through the North Bay Yacht Club, filled with larger yachts and sailboats, before the track climbed up the hills to North Bay above. The tentacles were still flailing out of the water and the three remaining Koopas were trying to close once more….

Multi-Girl Bernadette and her band were just off stage when the announcement was made that the live performance was about to begin. The redhead was still wearing the green dress she had arrived in, but had also put on a red sweater with white collar and sleeve cuffs and a Christmas tree on the front. The rest of the band were also wearing Christmas themed sweaters of various colors, with couple also wearing Santa hats. The Irish teen was looking in a nearby mirror as she reapplied some lipstick. Summer Sands, the lead guitarist who graduated from Claremont two years ago, had her eyes closed, doing her normal preshow focusing, while the other two band members were still staring around in awe at where they were. Putting the lipstick away as she finished, Bernadette looked over at them given them a small grin. "Time ta focus, ya can go back ta gawkin' an’ askin' fer autographs once we're done. Think o' it as just another venue." "Easy for you to say, you’re lucky enough to have powers that allow you to be a superhero." One of the other bandmembers said as two additional Bernadettes popped into existence. Bernadette just grinned as they made their way out in front of the crowd, the two duplicates taking places at two microphones off to one side to provide backup vocals, while the original made her way out to the microphone in the center of the stage and the rest of the band took their places. As Summer began playing the first song on her guitar, the redhead danced in place as the band began a classic children's song, with a rock edge. Frosty the Snowman, was a jolly happy soul, With a corn cob pipe and a button nose, and two eyes made o’ coal Frosty the Snowman, is a fairytale, they say He was made o’ snow, but the children know he came ta life one day There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found, For when they placed it on his head, he began ta dance around! Bernadette gave an energetic performance, flawlessly blending the classic lyrics to the rock rhythm being played by Summer and the rest of the band, her duplicates providing some back up lyrics for the song. As the first song finished, Summer and the band continued on to the next classic song. This time, the duplicates had a much larger roll, frequently providing back-up lyrics and joining Bernadette in the chorus. Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring tingle tingling too (Ring-a-ling-a ding-dong-ding!) Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you (Ring-a-ling-a ding-dong-ding!) Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling "You hoo!" (Ring-a-ling-a ding-dong-ding!) Come on, its lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you (Ring-a-ling-a ding-dong-ding!) (Ring-a-ling-a ding-dong-ding!) (Ring-a-ling-a ding-dong-ding!) (Ring-a-ling-a ding-dong-ding!) As the lively song finished, the band transitioned immediately to the next song, which had a much slower tempo and lower volume. With the slower tempo, Bernadette had come almost to a complete stop, just barely moving side to side with the music. When she began to sing, her lyrics were similarly slower and softer volume. Oh, the weather outside is frightful But the fire is so delightful And since we’ve no place ta go Let it snow! Let is snow! Let it snow! Man it doesn’t show signs of stoppin' And I brought me some corn for poppin' The lights are turned way down low Let it snow! Let it snow! Both Bernadette and the band continued the slower tempo throughout the song, the duplicates continuing to provide soft backup vocals to complement the lyrics and music. As the song ended, the was a brief pause as the last notes faded away and Bernadette dismissed her duplicates, not needing them for the final song. Then Summer began the next song, once again returning to a fast tempo, rock inspired version of another classic song. The rest of the band quickly joined in the intro and Bernadette became much more animated in her performance. Rockin' around the Christmas tree At the Christmas party hop Mistletoe hung where you can see Every couple tries to stop Rockin’ around the Christmas tree Let the Christmas spirt ring Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie And we’ll do some carolin' You will get a sentimental feelin’ When you hear Voices singin’' "Let’s be jolly" Deck the halls with boughs of holly Bernadette and the band kept the faster rock tempo for the remainder of the song, eventually wrapping up.

Velocity The yellow clad speedster had continued making her rounds greeting people. After awhile, Velocity zipped up to a small stage that had been set up on one corner of the lobby and been empty for most of the night. Stepping out with a microphone in hand she looked out over the crowd as she turned off the music that had been playing. "Good evening everyone." She said into the microphone with a wide smile. "Thank you all so very much for coming this evening. It is so wonderful to see so many familiar and new faces. Everyone here does so much, in ways large and small, to help keep our city, other across the country, and in some cases the world, safe and sound, and to help those in need. Having the honor of hosting you all tonight is just a small way for those of us on the League to express our deepest appreciation for everything each of you do, day in, day out." "For all those young heroes joining us for the first time, I can remember my very first time being invited to one of these, even if it seems like far too many years ago to think about. Just know, everyone one of us here was at one point or another in the same place you are, starting out and trying to figure it all out. Some had the benefit of Claremont or other mentors that could help guide them. The rest of us somehow found a way to muddle our way through it. So, whatever you may be feeling about all this, just know you will find your way and there a many of us that are more than happy to help if we can. Someday, you may be the one up here giving the speeches instead of me." The speedster finished with a smile. "I would certainly rather be dancing." "And speaking of dancing and music, we have arranged for a live performance by…." The speedster trailed off as she turned and looked at the empty stage behind her. "Hmmm, something appears to be missing." She stated putting her hands on her hips before turning back to the crowd. "One second." Velocity became a yellow blur which seemed to fill the entire stage at once and in what seemed like a blink of the eye she came to a halt again in the center of stage, her ponytail swishing to one side at the sudden stop. Around her on the stage was a drum set, speakers, amplifiers, several microphone stands and everything else one might expect for a live band performance. "Now, as I was saying, we are pleased to welcome a band that includes current and former Claremont students. Multiplicity!" The speedster gestured off to the left side of the stage as she started off the opposite direction, turning off the microphone she had been carrying as she went….