Heritage

The young heroine purses her lips in thought for a moment. "Well right now it seems to me that the heroes in Freedom are all kinda staking out there own turf, either in terms of neighborhoods or like areas of specialty, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, really. But to be honest, sometimes it all make me think of a high school cafeteria; you've got your jocks, your cool kids, nerds and goths, all keeping to their own table. No one talks to each other." Grim stops talking for a bit to just close her eyes and enjoy the dance. "This is so nice; I wish I could've gotten my boyfriend to come along; we don't do this kinda stuff often enough." She sighs and then opens her eyes. "So where was I? Oh yeah. So I think we should, like, put our heads together and start tackling projects more directly. Like my thing to help girls down in the Fens get out of bad situations." She leans in a bit closer as she gets more emphatic. "The thing of it is, I know there's all kinds of community programs and whatnot that do the same thing, but a lot of girls are too scared to do something that out in the open. I think that heroes might offer a more, whaddya call it, discrete option." Grim shrugs. "I'm not sayin' I've got all the details worked out, and I think my ambitions definitely exceed my freshman high school education, but I just wanna get people talking, y'know? Get this out there." The young heroine's big brown eyes show the strength of her passion. "We can do so much more than just bust heads; we've got to. Because what where doing now? It ain't workin'. Am I right?"

War, the party is at the Plaza Hotel, which is part of the Pyramid Plaza complex, which means slick metal and sealed glass but sadly no balconies. We've all wanted to go outside and been stymied the same way :(

Lynn's eyes go wide as Sirius describes his capabilities; when he's finished, she leans forward and firmly grabs his wrist. "Dude, do NOT sell yourself short! You do realize this basically makes you as powerful as the average Nintendo game character, right? I know folks who would kill to be able to do that stuff!" The young girl frowns prettily, still holding his arm the whole time. "Um, well, I dunno, maybe...here, follow me!" She practically drags him off into the stacks, past a few startled patrons until she reaches the darkest, most out-of-the-way corner she can find. Onces she's sure no one has line of sight on them, she lets Sirius' arm go. "Oh, sorry if I was a bit rough there! Okay, so you asked how it works or whatever. Guess it's time for a little demonstration." Lynn starts scanning the bookshelves, more or less at random. "Lemme see, lemme see, gotta pick something cool...ah ha!" She grabs the book and turns around so Sirius can't see what it is; after a few moments, she tucks it back on the shelf and turns back to face him. "So basically, I think about it real hard, try to fix the image in my mind, and then it just sorta happens." For a moment, the young woman's form is obscured by what looks like a thin gray mist; when it clears, a small yellow furry little man with a red hat is standing in her place. "Pretty cool, huh? Oops, I forgot the sign!" 'He' holds out his hand, and an odd sign appears on the end of a tall stick. Lynn then takes off her hat and bows. "Ta-daa!" Then there's a sudden poof of mist, and she is herself once again. "Literally hours of amusement to be had." ;)

Grim looks absently around at the faces, almost none of whom she really knew before tonight. "No...yes. Sorry, I really don't want to talk about it." She ducks away and makes a beeline for Ace Danger, a path that takes her closer to Phantom than she'd like; she's never closer than twenty feet, but she still feels her hackles rise just a bit. However, by the time she reaches the host she's all smiles again. "Hello, hello! I guess I just can't stay away. Either you're too charming, or the mushroom puffs too tasty; still not sure which." She wrinkles her nose playfully, but then gets a bit more serious. "Actually I was hoping to talk, and if I learned nothing else from watching Pride & Prejudice over and over again, it's that talking and dancing go hand in hand, kinda literally." She stops and thinks for a moment. "Well, I also learned that Matthew Macfadyen is super-hot, but that's less relevant right now." The young heroine shrugs. "Anywho, you up for it?"

After she breaks off the pinkie swear (even Moira's pinkie is strong!), Grim shakes her head apologetically. "Yeah, I'm sorry, sure thing." She flips her phone back open, taps a few buttons and holds it out for Divine to copy it into her own phone; once she's got it, Grim snaps it closed again, does a little spin, and fires her 'guns' at the redheaded goddess. "Okay, I have got to-" She jabs both thumbs towards the door. "Split. Old habits die hard; you probably can't hear the sirens yet, but I can, and I just can't stand cops." She does an elaborate bow, complete with hand flourish down to her toes. "Riv derchy to ya, Divine Miss M!" And with that, she's nothing more than a whisper in the night...

Grim bowed somewhat self-consciously, not knowing what else to do in such a situation. "You haven't." What was in her tone of voice? Regret? Sadness? Some sort of apology? Her face was equally hard to read. This made her smile, and she looked down at her tiny feet. "Oh, I do okay, though now I'm thinking I might start taking lessons; you never know when you'll need to sweep someone off their feet, right?" The young heroine's face clouds over. "Once, back in April, right after I got back; he was at the shelter down in Southside, serving dinner out of uniform. We talked briefly, but....it's over, the two of us working together." She shrugs. "Maybe not for good, but for right now, at least." She starts aimlessly tugging at her dress. "It wouldn't work."

Grim said nothing, but gripped Wesley's shoulder just a bit tighter; she'd never been any good at interrogation herself, and now had a pretty good idea why. You had to be cold; they had to hear the steel in your voice, see it glisten in their mind's eye. They had to know what you were willing to do...which was pretty much anything. I hope it works before it get's too damn freaky :(

The funny part is (not to Phantom, of course) that she specifically told Grim that every time someone goes over to another dimension, it weakens the fabric, and Grim went ahead and did just that less than a week later! I don't know if she's sensitive enough to detect that specifically, or if she could just sense that she's more powerful and/or less human or whatever, but I figure she should at least have that chance ;)

Carmine grunts, then leans down to stage whisper into Grim's ear. "If he ever hurts you, I still know people." He brings a thin leg across his throat "Kkkk!" The petite heroine snorts. "Are you kidding? If he hurts me, I'll kill him myself!" She snaps out her claws and grins to reveal row upon row of savage shark-like teeth, and her eyes go solid black, like a doll's eyes. "Hsssss!" But then she drops the menace, wiggles her eyebrows and winks to show she's just fooling....maybe Carmine laughs, which sounds really weird coming out of his inhuman chest. "Okay, okay, you've sold me; you're a little badass and I don't have to worry about you all the time." He chucks her under the chin, and then turns his attention back to Wes. "And you, young man; you take good care of my little Grimmie, alright?" Carmine snaps his fingers (well, he snaps something) and holds all four arms up in dismay. "A gift, a gift, a going away present! You two finish up here, I'll be right back!" The bug man zips out the window. Grim looks at Wes and shrugs, then places all three cat carriers on the floor, side by side, and slides the chin-up bar through all three handles. The cats are all mewling like crazy. "Shh, shh, shh, everything's gonna be okay, alright babies? Momma's gotcha covered." A minute later, Carmine returns with a small cardboard box, which Grim seems to recognize with glee. "A mini-DVD player?! Oh, you sweetheart!" "Well, it's a Korean Sony knock-off, so don't expect miracles, babydoll." She gives him a quick kiss on the cheek, which she instantly regrets. "Gyuh, oily prickles!" "Hey, I told you never to do that, didn't I?" "Yeah, you did, you did." He gives her one last hug, the looks quickly around the room. "Okay, you two make like a tree and scram, and I'll trash the place; don't worry about your security deposit, toots, it's on the house." "Bye, Daddy Warbugs." "Take care, sweetheart." She tucks the box into her messnger bag, grabs the chin-up bar and associated cats, and flashes Wes a nervous grin. "Okay. Wing me."

Lynn made a frightened face. "Yikes! Thankfully I'm not so dangerous. No, I found out I had powers pretty much right after I woke up naked as a jaybird in the middle of February; I wished I had some clothes, and poof!, I had on the same clothes I had when I passed out. Took a lot of trial and error after that to figure out how I made 'em, and then after that I learned how to make different clothes, and then finally change myself." She grins wickedly at the memory. "Now that was a fun year." The young shapeshifter pulls a small mirror out of thin air and checks her face and hair absentmindedly; it appears to be made of silver and has elaborate floral designs embossed on its back. "So other than torching houses, what other cool stuff can you do?"

Dancing with Star was fun; Grim could tell he didn't do this sort of thing very often (heck, neither did she!), but she had a feeling that he needed the release. Well if nothing else, I did my good deed for the day. They seem to have drawn a crowd, which is a little embarrassing but not much; by the time the song ends, Grim releases the ephemeral hero's hands and does her best formal courtesy. Then she turns back to the crowd and does a playful spin, her dress flowing from red into deep blue in the process. "Anyone else up for a little twirl? I think I'm getting the hang of it, so-" She stops abruptly when she sees a shock of white hair on top of a stern, almost cruel face that is watching her; there was something familiar about him, but she couldn't quite place him... Waitaminute, that meeting at Monty's garage last year; he was there, along with a bunch of other people the boss wanted to recruit. His name sounded Asian, like 'Shen' or 'Sen' or 'Zen', really short like that. Sen, that was it, Sen! She turns back to DS and quickly bows. "Thanks for the lovely dance, Star; excuse me a sec, okay?" The young heroine then approaches the newcomer, sliding easily through the crowd as her dark brown eyes cautiously examine him. "Hi. It's Sen, isn't it? We met last year, on the Southside, remember?"

June 29th, 2009 Ah, to be home back in Freedom City! Yes, it's true I was born on Long Island and spent seemingly half my life within a stone's throw of Harvard Yard, but Freedom is somehow different; New York reminds me too much of Father and the current unpleasantness, while Cambridge Town almost feels like a childish dream. No, Freedom is the city of my future, and I look forward to returning there with nothing short of unfettered delight. It will be a long flight into Jordan International, but I should sleep well out of sheer exhaustion if nothing else, though perhaps a little nightcap might be wise. On the economic front, sales of my toy line have been poor in the States for sometime now, perhaps due to what my agent refers to as my 'complete and utter unwillingness to do anything even remotely heroic'; there may be some truth in this, but I also smell just the faintest whiff of Father and his cronies meddling. Then again, I may be becoming paranoid. At any rate, I'm told boxes of Gossamer Glitter dress-up dolls and various action playsets are crowding the shelves of discount malls across America. I weep at the thought of the poor little dears filling landfills 'til the end of time, or at least the planet; perhaps there might be a way to recall them and recycle the plastic? But the future is not completely without a silver lining; for some reason, sales of 'Golden Cloud Princess Warrior' merchandise (yes, this is how I am known in Japan; we all have our crosses to bear) have been nothing short of phenomenal. For legal reasons, we've had to explain how 'Cloud' got her powers with a different 'origin story', so the Japanese team came up with a far-fetched tale involving me (or at least my anime avatar) leading an expedition up the Amazon in search of a legendary organic hair care product, which I find to be truly hilarious. However, the wide-eyed blond heroine is still a chemist and a defender of the rainforests, so I suppose she's still a somewhat positive role model for young Japanese girls. One last note before I must close my laptop and get ready for my flight. Dear sweet Sunny, my beloved sister, has been my man in Havana on the Japanese cultural scene for some time now, and she recently called me from the embassy in Tokyo with news that I've received the highest honor a gaijin can from the Empire of the Sun: immortality as an unlockable character in a Capcom fighting game! She said that Emily has mastered most of my 'moves' and has proudly trounced all her friends from the diplomatic school on numerous occasions, and that she has never been more proud of her Auntie Stelle. So, that is all for now. Upon landing, I must call Doctor Archeville to see if he's free in the days to come; I'm hoping he will be able to assist me in my latest endeavor.

Grim is currently a transdimensional entity, in the sense that she is no longer human but in fact Fae, so she's kinda made of magic (glamour). I don't know how that would read to your senses. Also remeber you met Grim a long time ago when she was hanging out with Nightrival, but she is more powerful now. This reminds me of something I was wondering about. Since the last time Phantom and Grim met, Grim has become more powerful by crossing over into Avalon (i.e. she went from Pl8 to Pl10); would this be something Phantom would notice?

My feeling is that she wants to be part of an organization that helps people and work with other heroes like herself, but doesn't feel very comfortable joining one of the established teams. She is however very comfortable in academia, and has several nieces and nephews so she's not uncomfortable around kids. She's a Harvard graduate who is willing to work at a salary far below her normal rate, plus I'm fairly sure most grad students do a good deal of student teaching, though I might be wrong. I was thinking one of things she did while away was get an alternative teaching certificate in New York, which most states accept. I'm not absolutely married to the idea, but I think it might be fun :D

I just had a thought, and wanted to run this by folks. What if Gossamer came back to FC and got a job as a chemistry teacher at Claremont? We could also have her teach at the college level, but I think she might get more RP in at Claremont. And no, Gossamer is not going to be seducing students; I just couldn't resist the chance for a Van Halen reference :D

Grim was all smiles as she took Dark Star's hands. "See, I knew it; we're superheroes, we can do anything, right? And don't worry, I kinda suck at this too, especially, what is this, the tango? Yeah, you're being spared me stepping on you!" Despite her statements, Grim seemed to get the hang of it rather quickly; no doubt her (un)natural grace is a huge benefit here, but her considerable charm also helps to smooth over any missteps. "Well would you look at that; not too shabby, huh? Maybe not Astaire and Rogers, but it'll do, right?" :D

Grim can't tango for crap! Edit; Ah the things we spend HP on! She's got a 14 now ;)

Grim sits up and nods. "Yeah, okay, sure." She pulls out her cellphone and starts to enter the number. "Annnnd let's see, what ringtone to use? I think...we'll go...with 'Rollercoaster of Love'. That seems to work, somehow." The young heroine grins as she takes a sip of Coke. "Mmm. And hey, sorry about the fake ID; when you lie so much for a living, you kinda do it out of reflex, y'know?" She holds up her hand in the Boy Scout salute, but then frowns. "Wait, screw that, it has to be something you believe in, right?" She switches to the heavy metal 'devil horns'. "I solemnly swear on the power of rock and/or punk that I will neither buy nor consume booze in your establishment, in any guise, until my twenty-first birthday." Grim extends her little finger. "Pinkie swear, let's make this official."

"I suppose you're right." She sighs, then suddenly gives DS a mischievous look out of the corner of her eye. "Hmm. So, Mr Star, I wanna ask you something-" She spins around, and in a flash is wearing a bright red Technicolor dress right out of a 1950s musical, with a red domino to match. "Would you like to dance? And don't say you can't because your incorporeal, that is the lamest excuse of all time. We do need to get some music, though." She signals for a waiter, who comes over promptly. "Yes, ma'm?" Grim flashes her most winning smile. "Hi-" She checks his name tag. "Arturo. Can you ask our host if would be okay if we had some music for dancing? Mr. Dark Star and myself would like to dance." She indicates his hovering form. "As you can see, he's light on his feet." Arturo smiles and nods. "I'll see what I can do." He turns to seek out Ace Danger and make an inquiry.

Grim's eyes go wide, and she actually has trouble speaking for a few seconds. "You, ah...you know me? As in, know of me? Wow." She deftly picks her way through the rubble and takes the offered stool; she peers at the remaining intact bottles behind the bar, but then stops and bows her head. "You know what, I lied to your bartender earlier; I'm not twenty-one until June 17th." Head still down, she flicks up her fingers and is seen to be holding a very official-looking ID that identifies Lynn Epstein as being a 'Federal Poolboy Inspector'. "See? Neat trick, huh?" She lifts up her head and rests her chin on her folded arms. "So, diet Coke will be fine." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath through her nose. "Wow, those two were wearing the same perfume; they really are a couple." Grim's mask dissolves into mist as she idly pokes at some rubble on top of the bar, forming the bits and pieces into neat little rows. "I was in Seattle, with my boyfriend Ren, aka Nanowire, the sweetest bad guy you ever met." She rests her head sideways on her arms as she continues. "Things got a little weird here in FC, and I thought I needed a break; Ren was nice enough to come along for the ride." She smiles fondly. "I showed him how to ride the rails; he didn't have to, the dude could fly when he was armored up, but we were laying low and in love, and it was so awesome, watching the scenery whip by the open door of a boxcar. It's so beautiful out West." Grim seems to be lost in a happy memory, reluctant to continue.

"Ah, it's nothing- oh, it's a hug, it's a...big girl hug." Lynn somewhat awkwardly pats Moira on the back; she's never been much of a hugger but she appreciates the sentiment, and tries not to be too stiff. The brunette heroine nods appreciatively. "Yeah, that works real well for you. As for me-" She stops and looks around, noticing that the pub is almost entirely vacant, as well as seriously trashed. "Wow, it really cleared out! Whatsamatter, you guys don't want to see hot chicks fighting?" She chuckles and turns back to Divine. "Anyway, like I was saying, my crimefighting alias is 'Grimalkin'. She snaps her fingers, and her clothing shifts, leaving little trails of pale vapor as it does, until it forms into her costume. "Ta-daa!" :D

It's a good thing she'd already swallowed her mushroom puff, or else Scarab's sudden appearance would've led to Grim needing the Heimlich maneuver :shock: Once she has a minute to compose herself, the young heroine responds to the ageless one. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply I wasn't happy being part of the Knights, loose confederacy that it is; I just wasn't thrilled with this ol' party for a bit, is all, what with the juvenile hijinx provided by, well, by the juveniles. Knights are fine by me; fits my style."

Lynn nods sagely. "Good question! Well, there are several compelling clues. First of all, I have it on very good authority that not only am no longer human, but that I am in fact, an extra-dimensional being." She looks very thoughtful for the first time; clearly, these revelations trouble her. "I woke up naked in an alley, in the middle of winter, not cold at all, not even shivering. At first, I thought I'd died, but that's crazy talk, right? But now I'm thinkin'...what if I did die? Or I was, like, replaced?" She pokes the book a few times for emphasis. "I've been reading up on all this stuff, and a lot of things fit. Like why does iron make me want to die? Iron fences, iron pans, anything like that, all make me feel like I'm gonna barf myself to death. Then I read about changelings, faeries switching out human babies for little monsters and what not." She leans forward, her big brown eyes intense as she harshly whispers. "So what if the real Lynn died in that alley, and I'm just a little pixie who thinks she's Lynn?"

Some heroines might not like to be picked up and carried about by a hero, but Grim was pretty much cool with it; of course, it was her getting-a-bit-more-serious super boyfriend, so that made it more than okay Grim's eyes go a bit wide, and her hand clenches on Wes' shoulder for a moment, then she relaxes as she does her best to 'think back' a reply to Scarab. Hello, can you hear me? Is this thing on? Check, check. Yeah, she actually tried to think in reverb :roll: Uh, sorry about that. To be honest, telepathic communication and 'set you at ease' are not two tastes that taste great together, but I guess I'll get used to it; it must be hella awesome for communicating during a fight. Gimme a sec, okay? Keep the, whatever, channel open. She actually thought hard about the question while the others discussed the putting Phantom's captive in the cells; when she was ready, she 'pinged' Scarab gently. Hi, it's me again. Look, I can't say enough about your place; sure, it's creepy as all get out, but it's also awesome. That being said, I think I need to find my own place; I'm a surface dweller through and through, and I think I need non-superhero digs for the sake of my sanity. I've been circling ads for roommates in the Review, and a few of them look promising, so I hope you cool with that. But if I could still crash here from time to time, that would be cool, too. By the time she finished her thought, the perps were already in the hoosegow and not too happy about it.

Grim couldn't help but notice the lonely-looking translucent man floating by the windows, so she made her way over to him, munching on a mushroom puff. "Hi Darthk Sar." She holds up a finger and then swallows. "Sorry, I have no class. Greetings and salutations once again, Dark Star! I was thinking of bailing, but who am I kidding?" She waves her hand about the room full of costumed folks, like a Price is Right model. "How could I give up on this, the most sparklingest night of the year?" The petite heroine sighs, then looks a bit more serious. "Okay, so forgive me being ignorant, but are you actually a Knight of Freedom? I'm losing track of who is and is not part of the club."