Avenger Assembled
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The slowest of his group, Comrade Frost drifted into the clearing amid a faint shower of falling leaves, his rapid chilling passage having sent a few falling right off the trees as they perceived what seemed to be a radical change in season. He'd missed all but the tail end of the conversation, but given that the found civilians were far more important than his own personal comfort, he had no grudge about that. "Ah, so nice to see everyone together. And what lab?" he asked, having missed most of the conversation. Dratted tropical winds he thought peevishly. "Should we contact other group, or is matter we can handle ourselves?" he asked solicitously. "Is your team, not mine," he added.
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Aquaria turned out to be younger even than Jessie, barely eighteen, with a tall, rounded build that reminded Mark vaguely of what seals looked like. She was humanoid, though, and downright human as she got closer, talking animatedly to a security guard about what she'd been doing underwater. On closer inspection, as she reached the door, it soon became clear Aquaria wasn't entirely human at all - she had big, wide-open eyes that only occasionally blinked, and pale skin underscored by faintly greenish veins. She looked, to Mark and Erin, like what she was - a hybrid of Deep One and human being. "Aquaria, this is Jessie, she's going to be sharing Suite Gamma with you. Jessie White, this is Aquaria Innsmouth." "It's not my real last name," said Aquaria with a nervous, bubbly laugh, "but it's the only one people can pronounce. Hi!" she added, waving without reaching over to shake hands. She was still wearing her orange Project Freedom costume, though up close hers was more like a wetsuit. "Nice to, uh, meet you. As long as you don't take a lot of showers, we'll be fine!"
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Riding in close quarters with Comrade Frost wasn't a particularly comfortable experience for people without protection against cold, but the old hero did what he could to make things easy on his riding mates. "I would ride on top and give you breathing room," he had said apologetically, "but I would only attract attention up there." Inside, he looked out the window himself and said, "The last time I was in this place was...1986, I think. We had sent Saddam MiGs but fool pilots had angered djinn and been carried away to City of Brass. We rescued those boys, and then Saddam sent them to die against Iranians. Bad business." He sighed, then added, "And you know what else? That is same year American military bans smoking on their vehicles. It is a shame and a pity things have come to this." He winked. "Don't worry, we will take care of artifacts. We are professionals."
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"I'm sure you'll make it look really good," Mark told Jessie reassuringly. "You'd be surprised how easy it is to make rooms like this look great, even with just simple supplies. You'll really be able to make this place your own." Jessie seemed to like that idea, though it was hard not to like something Mark said when he was right there talking to you about it. A few moments later, Wainwright's cell beeped, and she stepped away to take a call while Dr. Franklin and Jessie talked quietly by the window. Mark looked over at Erin to see her reaction just before Wainwright came back in. "All right, I've just gotten some news that will be of interest," said Wainwright to the others, "Aquaria has finished her business a little early, so she's actually just arriving downstairs now. Now, Jessie, Aquaria looks different than most people. She has big eyes and greenish skin, and she's partially amphibious, which means she spends a lot of her time where it's very wet." That certainly explained the thin layer of condensation on the opposite door. "Do you think you'll be okay with that?" she asked the girl seriously.
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Comrade Frost said a bad word, and for a moment badly craved the comforting warmth of a cigarette. "Their world has plague. And she is, was, carrier." He studied the map, hands steepled on the table before him. "Would normally suspect fae involvement at this juncture but there was no sign of magic on her body, not even the sort one would simply find from passing between dimensions through their doors. This must have some other origin." This was the sort of thing he had spent many years thinking about, enough that he could make some guesses. "I am disturbed by news that Champions were intimately involved in early stages of this...Eden. And that it remains despite opposition from military and government. I suspect powers at work we cannot see. Are you capable of making contact through the portal?" he inquired.
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"How delightful to be redundant today," said Frost with all seriousness, scraping away the circles of mystic power he had sketched on the sand around him with a stick. The tropical ocean breeze did feel remarkably good on his chilly skin, and the ocean was wide and deep enough that swimming would be no challenge despite the usual formation of ice all around him...with a sigh, he returned to his communication. He shoved his hands in his parka pockets and stared at the forest, remembering for a black moment his previous trip to the island decades before. His voice on the line was warm and polite despite his accent. "Describe condition, if you please. Am physician. Can also transport back to carrier if necessary."
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"No, it's fine," Mark assured her as they headed down the corridor. "I didn't really have anything else to do today, and this is interesting. Besides, afterwards we'll both want somebody to talk to." Normally men weren't allowed in the women's corridor, but since Mark was a superhero (and Dr. Franklin was Jessie's registered doctor) an exception was made today - they headed down what looked like a spartan dorm or hotel corridor until they reached a room near the end of the hall. "Jessie, this is your room," said Ms. Wainwright, opening the door to an undecorated room with a single bed against the wall, a desk and small row of bookshelves, a few generic pictures of oceanviews and mountains, and a window - the view showed the backyard of the house, a well-maintained lawn just beginning to turn green again, with a few generic red-grained pieces of yard furniture about. "You'll be sharing a bathroom with Aquaria, who's doing a project on the Riverfront right now," Harriet was explaining. "I'll make sure you meet her as soon as she gets in. We like to give our residents a chance to be themselves. If you want decoration, you can pick up books from our library or try your hand at art projects - I understand you've been doing quite a lot of those?" she asked of Jessie.
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Inside was a room that looked like the lobby of an upscale bed and breakfast, barring a few small modifications like the bulletproof glass in the windows and the security cameras that looked to be nearly everywhere. A man and a woman were sitting at a table in the lobby playing checkers, though on closer inspection Mark could see the bulging green muscles on the man and see cat's eyes on the woman's face as she briefly glanced up at them. She gave a little wave, but everyone's attention was on the stout African-American woman in the purple business suit who smiled up at everyone at their approach. "Welcome to Project Freedom. My name is Harriet Wainwright, and I'm the director here. It's nice to meet you, Jessie." Everyone was cautiously eying the girl, albeit subtly, trying to gauge her reactions to the new place. There was a tank of fish along one wall and a row of books, and an old big-screen TV that someone had probably donated given the cracked casing and the make that looked to have been old well before Mark and Erin started at Claremont. It wasn't such a bad place, really, even with the security staff subtly hanging around.
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"You know, Jessie," said Mark reassuringly, "I've read about this place, and security is really high. Not only are there hidden power nullifiers and stuff in the walls, and even defense systems on the roof, but there are lots of people with superpowers who live here, not to mention their guards. I know some people from the Freedom League volunteer to help out, too. It may not look it, but this is one of the safest places in Freedom City." "The security is kept hidden," offered Franklin, "so that the residents don't feel like they're prisoners. We want to keep you safe, Jessie, not make you feel as though you've been locked up again."
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Spending an HP to jury-rig... Detect Humans [2] [visual] (Enhancements: Extended 4, Radius) [7 pp] Notice check: If he can take 20 on Notice, I would like to do that. If not, http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3990370/ = 20
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"It...didn't really mean anything to me," Sharl admitted, almost shamefacedly. "I mean the architecture was cool, the way the Centurion rebuilt his homeworld there, and all the technology. Koshiro's really into old architecture, so he thought it was really cool, and he's even working on a map of what we saw, but for me it was..." He shrugged. "I never met the Centurion. He saved us, but didn't really talk to us. The only one who did know him well enough was Leroj, and he's gone now. So it was neat and all, sure, but it wasn't really my thing. I don't even remember this last trip, anyway." He fell silent for a moment, then admitted again, "I think we're going to have to move the Troniks. It's not safe keeping them there with just the Centuritrons watching them, not with as often as the Sanctum gets attacked."
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The rest of the ride was quiet enough, the bus gradually thinning out as the lunch crowd got back to work. By the time they reached the Project Freedom building, they were actually the only ones left in the place. Mark led the way out, shooting a glance behind him to make sure everything was on the up and up, as they made their way out to street-level. The Project Freedom building, as Mark remembered, looked on the outside like one of the many old mansions in Port Regal now given over to apartments. It was only if you saw the sign on the low brick wall with PROJECT FREEDOM in orange and black, or the security cameras along the fences, that things looked anything out of the ordinary. There was no barbed wire or armed guards posted outside; after all, there wasn't really much point to that given the power of the various prisoners. Once they were on the street, Dr. Franklin asked Jessie, "Well, the surprise long bus ride is over, and you seemed to do very well. But how do you feel?"
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What struck Frost, more than anything else, was the woman's lack of fear. She had fallen across how many dimensional barriers, been torn away from her native soil, however bizarre that soil sounded, and yet she seemed almost...drugged? Or perhaps those are your old fears talking. "Come, child," he reassured her again, "we will take care of you. We have mighty magics and powers that can cross between dimensions, and we can send you home." He wanted, badly, to converse with his team, but lacking the telepaths and magical mentalists of his own team, they were on their own. Perhaps we should learn hand signals. "But I am speaking out of turn. I am guest here as well. Friends of the League, can we take this woman to the Hall to have wounds studied, and then take her home? Porheps we can go with as a precaution. To see the Mother's glory for ourselves."
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They changed buses in City Center, a crowded, busy place that was somewhat ameliorated by everyone sticking close together and keeping a close eye on Jessie. She actually seemed more relaxed after recognizing Mark for who he was, or at least some shadow of that, and so Mark relaxed too once they were back on a new bus - there'd been a bathroom break where Erin, Jessie, and Dr. Ellis had all gone to the women's room together, but luckily that was one place he didn't have to worry about! As they headed into Bayview, Jessie turned in her seat and stared out the window with wide eyes - not quite fear on her face, but something very much like recognition. "I remember that place," she said suddenly, pointing to a small row of shops. "There was a big party there....but I can't remember anything else." "Why do you think that is, Jessie?" asked Dr. Franklin gently. "Because something happened there. Something I don't want to remember." Tense, she settled back against the window, her eyes locked on the outside.
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"Well, sure," said Mark carefully. "I'm pretty famous. Like I said, I work for the UN, so I do a lot of international appearances and stuff on TV, and my face is on a lot of publications. And I'm sure Erin has talked about me, I mean who wouldn't? I'm pretty awesome." He grinned, trying to distract her. "Did you know, one time, I stopped a whole forest fire right in its tracks? It was down in the jungles of the Congo, see, and it was threatening to reach some villages where we'd been working. There wasn't time to evacuate all the people, so I just put on my costume, went out there, and I made the fire go away! It was a lot of work turning all the burning stuff into not-burning stuff, but at least I didn't have to dump any chemicals out there or anything..." He shot a glance at Erin, knowing well enough that this was a potential hazard. "You know, I bet you'd be a good firefighter, Jessie. They have a couple of superpowered people working for the Freedom City department, like Asbestos - she has no other powers, but she's totally fireproof. Pretty handy, huh?"
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"In any case, I will proceed to island's beaches and begin casting "Grandmother's Recipe for Lost Children," said Frost as he rose to his feet. "Between Gabriel's ears, Velocity's legs," he winked at the speedster at that, more like a grandfather than a man who looked close to her age, "and my magic, we shall have your lost scientists found soon." Taking a commlink for himself, he headed for the door. "I shall be incommunicado on way there, but I will be easy to find once we have arrived. Come, let us plan," he said to the others, "we can deal with our crisis on way to beaches." He'd picked up on the chilly relationship between himself and Fleur de Joie from the start, and saw no reason to linger there now that they had their seperate assignments very far from each other. He adjusted his white hood and mask as they stepped out of the briefing room, once again disappearing behind the mask of the parka-clad Comrade Frost.
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"Miss A's still getting the system locked down. From what she tells me, we're lucky things didn't get a whole lot worse." He sighed and took a seat, and was briefly distracted by a small gaggle of underclassmen who had heard the story of Citizen's death in the battle to save the Earth from the Curator's electronic domination. He told them the exciting, albeit serious, tale of the battle, leaving out the details of what exactly had been the scene of the great battle, leaving his friends to talk about it amongst themselves. He was no more alive, as far as Kimber could tell, then when she had seen him dead.
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"It's a nice name," said Mark diplomatically to Jessie, "but you'll have more fun if you pick your own super-name. That way you won't have to worry about people mixing you up with Erin, which would just be weird, and you'll be able to be your own person. Even if it's something basic like, I don't know, Guardian, or Superbia, you'll be able to have your own identity. Erin and I know people who make costumes and get identities established and stuff, so once you leave Project Freedom you'll be able to have your own gear, your own name...it'll be a pretty sweet deal." He smiled. "You've got plenty of time, and you don't even have to keep whatever they assign you at Project Freedom. It'll be fine."
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"It's easy enough for most people. You get a new costume, call yourself something else, and there you go! It's not _just_ that easy, of course - you have to reidentify yourself to all your friends and allies, and you probably have to get yourself on the good side of the cops or whoever the local authorities are all over again. It's a little tougher for me because my name is licensed by UNISON, I'd have to go through and sign forms so they would switch it over." He gestured over the table and said, "They make these little toys that they sell to raise money for charity, and stuff that they can put in care packages for needy people. There are some plastic action figures, one talking Edge, and there's this plush squeezy thing for little kids, it...well, I dunno, it's cool, and he's a little cape!"
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"Oh, it's very nice," said Mark as he dug into his food with relish, relieved that Jessie's brief outburst hadn't been the sign of anything worse. "I may not get my name in the papers every day, or sleep in a bed, for that matter, but it's a really good feeling. Last week I was working in northern Ethiopia near the volcano Erta Ale, and I got to walk right up almost to the edge. Well, as far as you can go, anyway. It was really spectacular! That thing is always active, so it's this volcanic pit like nothing...well, like almost nothing I'd ever seen." He shot a glance at Erin before adding, "I half-expected to see an family of Magmin taking their version of a winter holiday around there. We were helping the local people, the Afar, rebuild after a major dust-storm." "Why do you call yourself Edge?" inquired Dr. Ellis curiously, giving Mark a look. There were disadvantages to a secret ID, and disadvantages to not really having one, too. "Oh, uh, it was something I thought up when I was fourteen," Mark admitted. "How sometimes a coin lands on its edge, if the odds are really in its favor? Anyway, it sort of stuck once I became famous, and by then I didn't want to change it."
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They waited until they were over the river to get off the bus for lunch, just in time with as edgy as Jessie was feeling thanks to the delay and the brush with the weird guy. They wound up eating at an ambitious corner restaurant that had opened its outdoor section a little early in the season - it wasn't that cold, but most of the locals preferred to eat inside. The view was nice, though; a big statue of Abraham Lincoln delivering the Emancipation Proclamation, erected near the neighborhood that bore his name. It wasn't a wealthy neighborhood, but looked nice enough for all that - Mark ordered the pub food that was his staple when he was in Freedom City; fried pickles and chili potatoes of the sort that would have made a less lucky person with a normal physiology get fat already. "What would you like, Jessie?" asked Dr. Franklin as Dr. Ellis ordered the black coffee that she always seemed to be drinking. "You can have anything on the menu you want."
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Conversation-free for a while, they rode in the sort of noisy silence that only comes on busy city buses, the sound of people's headphones, conversations, and Bluetooths background chatter to what was otherwise a quiet ride. Mark's mind was starting to wander, all the way to Nina again. He was debating bringing that subject up to Erin when suddenly he realized that their little group was being accosted. "Oh wow, are you guys twins?" With his goatee, granny glasses, and sweater vest, the young man addressing them looked to be trying some sort of look way too hard. "That's so cool! You look so much alike, and you're so pretty..." He reached into his vest. "Can I take your picture?"
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"It was kind of the opposite for me," Mark admitted. "My dad was...on the old Freedom League, the one before the '93 Terminus Invasion, and I grew up around a lot of older superheroes. I always figured I'd grow up and get a job with the League like my dad did, especially after I turned out to have powers, and I'd just be a superhero in Freedom City. But as I got older, I decided I wanted to be something more than I had been growing up. Funny coincidence so many of us went to school in the same place, huh?" Open secret though it was, there was no point in broadcasting Claremont's nature to the general public even with the limited privacy of where they were. The fate of Edge's father, who'd been a celebrity before his death, had gotten around Claremont - the hero who'd turned villain, then died saving the world from the Terminus during the graduation of an earlier iteration of Young Freedom, but wasn't something widely known to the general public.
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"She's a very good friend of mine," said Mark with a nod and a smile. "She's probably one of my best friends in the world. She and Erin and I have been friends for a very long time." He thought for a moment, not wanting to bring up any team associations that would either jeopardize anyone's secret identity or get Jessie's mind going down the wrong path. "She says she likes my mind because there's nothing in there to bother her." He knew that Eve Martel's identity was public, so as long as the subject didn't turn to any superteams, they were probably okay. "Do you know any of the people you'll be living with at Project Freedom?" he asked her.
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Frost looked appalled beneath his cowl at the woman's words, putting two and two together and finding something grim there in its place. He had dealt with visitors from other worlds before, as well as his share of religious fanatics, but this was something else entirely. "You are on another world, child," he told her frankly. "Some quirk of fate has cast you adrift on the currents of the world. But worry not, we are your friends and we will return you to your home." The last part might well have been a lie, but this was hardly the first he'd told. He patted the young woman reassuringly on the arm, his smile cool. "Your, ah, seed will not grow too far from Mother's garden after all. Look, see, some of us have the same powers you did." When the girl glanced at Fleur and Willow, Frost mouthed behind her, "What sort of hell..."