Avenger Assembled

"Even if there was, Eddie's level of intelligence, would spur of the moment. you would excited about he sent slides shes" What you say? :P

Mark worked for a little while, humming along with his iPod quietly, before finishing his ironing. With the clothes hung up, he headed for the door. "Catch you later, Mike! I'll probably hit up a flower shop tomorrow, or something." He threw open the door and headed out, singing something under his breath about being the ringleader. He was in a very cheerful mood, as any teenager would be under the circumstances. It was indeed "Pie Fest '09" today in the cafeteria, and he scooped up both a Diet Coke and piece of delicious key lime pie as he headed for a seat. Happily, his good buddy Chris was sitting nearby. Looking usually cheery and upbeat even for him, Mark pulled up a chair and dropped into the seat next to him. "Hey, Chris! Good to see you, buddy."

Jack stared at Elena for a long moment, a silent communication passing between them that had nothing to do with telepathy. "Her primary mansion's in the West End. If you hear about something happening there...well, it's probably me." He smiled at her, his eyes sad. "Goodbye, Elena." He'd felt the sun set as she woke, making this the perfect time for him He let her see him disappear this time, his body sliding away into mist on the wind before vanishing entirely as he flew up towards the surface. It was time to move.

"Well yeah, she's great, don't you think?" asked Mark, making a mental note to go out and buy some posies that coming day. He looked quite domestic as he went about ironing his shirt and pants, obviously wanting to look nice for the festivities the next evening. "I mean, I like Erin, but I don't think she's really in the right place for a lot of dates. But Alex, man, she's something else. She always seems to know what I'm thinking, you know?" He thought about that for a minute, then actually laughed. "Which sounds dumb, I guess, but you know what I mean. And maybe she's not built like Daisy or Susanna, but she's still really cute." He hummed along with Britney Spears as they talked, doing a little dance as he worked. "I'm going to get this done, then go hit the cafeteria. I'm in the mood for pie."

"You bet," said Mark cheerily. "I've got a date with Alex tomorrow night." He thought nothing of telling his room-mate this, sure that Mike would be happy for him. Well, as happy as Mike got about anything. "Man, I haven't been on a date with a girl since sophomore prom. This is going to be great." He looked Mike's way. "Hey, you know her better than anybody else. Does she have a favorite kind of flower or anything?"

Feeling very pleased with himself, Mark headed back to his dorm room to make plans. Normally he was a spontaneous guy, but you didn't just show up for a date with a girl (especially a fun one like Alex) without doing a little prep work. He took his nice dress shirt out of the closet to iron it, doing the same with his slacks leftover from sophomore prom. He wasn't going to wear a suit for this or anything, but he did want to make sure he looked nice for his date. He turned on the radio and started humming along to a cheesy pop song.

Mark was a teenage boy; he watched...though only briefly. After all, he was a gentleman. "There are advantages to having my folks out of town all summer. One of which is having access to my parents' cars." He smiled wryly. "And having a dad who insisted I have a license the day after I turned sixteen just in case there was an emergency." He stretched against the summer heat, briefly pulling his uniform tight across his chest. "Eight o'clock tomorrow. You wear red, and I'll bring flowers to match. I'll see you then, okay, Alex?"

"Normally I don't totally believe in magic," said Mark with a little laugh, "but you can't argue with the facts. A dandelion did help grant a wish today." Pleased, Mark stood up. "Eight o'clock tomorrow. I'll pick you up there and we can drive," he suggested. "I know my way around downtown pretty well. You should wear red," he suggested, looking over her outfit appreciatively. "It looks good on you."

"Sounds like a plan," said Mark, smiling wider now that she'd gone along with his scheme. He reached over and picked a nearby flower, laughing a little at what he'd found. "I hope you don't take the dandelion badly, but it's the nearest thing growing here and I think Mr. Faulks would get mad if I picked a rose or something." He leaned over and handed her the flower. "I'll have better flowers when I pick you up, I promise. Are you free tomorrow night around eight?"

"I was thinking we could go to the Super Museum," suggested Mark off the top of his head. "There's some really great stuff there if you haven't seen it, and there's so much going on there that it's worth visiting even if you've gone before. The new exhibit on the Heroes of the Revolution just opened up this week, and I'd love a chance to tour it with you. They've got the first Lady Liberty and the first Minuteman, as well as some of the other heroes of the Revolutionary War. It's supposed to be really cool." He smiled at her. "But, really, I think just going anywhere with just the two of us would be pretty fine."

August 1: Mark asks Alex out in Colors out of Space

"I'm doing well," said Mark with a smile. "Looking forward to the weekend and getting out of here for a little while." The clashing colors in her outfit didn't bother him; Mark was just sophisticated enough to see the bright colors and enjoy the display she put on. It was a bit like admiring a peacock. He himself was in his school uniform, sans the jacket against the warm weather. With barely a moment's hesitation, he went on, "Would you like to go out with me this weekend?" He gave her a straight, level look. "I like you a lot, Alex, and I think the two of us would have a fine time together."

This is the thread where Mark asks Alex out.

Mark Lucas wasn't a young man given to dwelling on emotions. He understood self-control and reigning in your impulses, of course, he wasn't a savage. But he wasn't someone inclined to hold back his feelings or his thoughts once he did have them, and so as the days went by and he found himself thinking more and more about Alex, he came to the pretty rapid conclusion there was only one thing to do: he needed to ask her out. After a couple of days of flirting, at the pool party and elsewhere, he luckily stumbled on her while she was resting underneath the shade of the big maple tree near the baseball field. "Hey, Alex!" he called as he wandered over to join her, his feet cutting through the tall summer grass near the tree. "How's it going?"

You need to give Carl here some combat capability, if only defensively. Why don't his customers Nullify his teleport and beat him until he gives them everything he's got? Also, he really shouldn't have 0 for his Reflex and Fortitude saves; that will end only in woe.

Vestige misses. Arrowhawk is up, followed by Scarab.

"Don't mention it," said Jack, looking briefly embarrassed. "I'm the one who owes you, after all this." He touched the pin at his collar briefly. "Thank you for introducing me to your family." He gave her a thin smile. "If you need me again, though, maybe we'll pick something besides supper. I'm not sure I'd be a very good guest for any more of that. Good night, Taylor." And with that he was simply gone, as he so often was, vanishing in the darkness of the alleyway in the space of a moment. She'd given him a lot to think about.

"No, I think I have everything I need..." Jack looked around, memorizing the view, and stepped back into the alley with Taylor. "This has been quite an evening," he commented to her with a smile. "It was a real pleasure." It was easy to forget, well, a lot of things when they were on such a grand adventure. "Lord, I can't believe I'm in another dimension. We're in another dimension, so casually. I would never want your responsibilities; Taylor...but walking in your shoes has been grand."

"What's crime like here?" Jack asked curiously. "Wait...I guess there wouldn't be that much, would there? Even the jerks can make a lot of money at sports. Only the real monsters would need to do anything bad, and if there are enough super-cops around..." He smiled. "Sounds like a home run for the whole world. I'm kind of envious of these people, honestly."

Avenger's threads: The Great Gender-Switch Caper Massive Explosion in Riverside (briefly GMing) Triple Murder in Riverside Falling Down (GMing and playing) Vaster than Empire and More Slow (GMing and playing) The One, The Only A Desperate Affair Taking Stock It's All Who You Know Edge's threads: Getting the Goods Out Tonight Making Friends Sweet Sixteen Take Me Out to the Ballgame

"Wow..." A little intimidated by the crowd, Jack automatically put his arm around Taylor; the better to cushion her against all the lights and the noise coming from the parade outside. "Good to know Freedom City's always on top," he commented with a smile, shouting a bit over the noise. "Even if it's in sports instead of superheroes! This is why I've always loved this city, there's always something going on. Even in another dimension."

"Okay," said Jack agreeably. "Show me the nearest world where the Comets won the World Series. It's gotta be a cheerful sort of place," he said with a wry smile. "At least in Freedom City. Probably less in Los Angeles and New York, if the same teams were in as last year." He looked around for a moment at the oddly alien sky overhead, and bent down to scoop up a rock. "Souvenir," he admitted. "I'll put it next to that thing I snagged off the surface of Mars."

Jack repressed a gasp of shock. She can see the future? Oh, geez... Of course, he reminded himself, so could Scarab. There was nothing harmful about gazing into the evolutionary history of a planet. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more it sounded kind of cool. "How specific can you get?" he asked her with a smile, no sign of his inner discontent as he looked at her. "If I want a world where the Comets won the World Series last year, can you do that?" He laughed. "Or is that more implausible than elephants building cities?"

Jack took a few steps towards the edge of the cliff, a look on his face that was difficult to read. "It's beautiful," he said honestly. "I recognize the landforms here, I think. Freedom City?" At her nod, he looked down at the animals on the beach. "I'm not sure if I'd like it here long-term," he admitted. Of course not. What would I eat? Repressing the gut shot he'd just given himself, Jack shot her a half-smile. "Hard as it may seem to believe for someone who knows me as Avenger, I've always been more of a people person, you know? But this is a very nice place to visit. I can see why you like it."

Jack knew the sensible thing would be to feign illness, go home, and never speak of this night again. But his emotions had been touched by the events of that evening as much as Taylor's had, and the temptation to follow her along was too great to pass up. "All right," he said carefully, "I'm open." He smiled. "Just as long as we stay away from any dimensions with lots of spinning lights or Greek cooking, I should be fine." He adjusted himself in his seat, tugging at his seatbelt.