alderwitch

Chuckling, she bumped his shoulder with hers playfully as she kept up with him. Alex tended to take short quick strides as most of her life she'd been trying to keep up with the much taller Mike, so it was easy enough to fall into step with Mark as they walked back to the car. Playfully, she teased, "I dunno... Just how terrible are we talking? I mean, like ha-ha pun or like the wicked pun-master kinda puns? Cuz, you know, there's a line."

"Its your park," Phantom said with what could have been a smile under her hood, offering her gloved hand, "I have a feeling your travel is a good deal gentler than mine." She braced herself for the usual wrench-pop of dislocating from one area to another, pleasantly surprised that she was correct and Stesha's teleporting was much less disorienting than the void. Warm and sunny mostly... although the fresh grass smell she could do without, it was really quite pleasant. She waited with a calm stillness for the transport to be over and once it was flickered insubstantial for a moment before she shook herself and solidified once more. "Sorry," she appologized as she'd almost ghosted through Stesha. "Bad habit."

Alex blinked as he paid, pausing in the act of reaching for her purse. She glanced up at him, and considered offering to pay for half but that might seem rude. Nibbling on her lower lip she considered before giving him a smile and saying simply, "Thank you for dinner." Standing up, she shook her skirt out and smoothed it down to make sure it hung correctly and came around to join him as they left the table, "No, I haven't had a chance to, yet. I've been looking forward to it, though. Would you like to go see that?"

"I have a friend that I can take it to if I can't get some answers out of it, but I don't want it to get away." She looked around consideringly, "What about deep in one of the less popular parks. Somewhere there's also a light?" She reached up to touch her amulet once more and her costume replaced her civilian outfit. Privately, Taylor wished the spell also came with a 'hair drying' option as she felt her wet hair bound up against her skull under the hood. Ah, well. Once within her costume once more, Phantom reached in her cloak and pulled out what looked like a rather battered map of Freedom City and pointed to one of the parks on it, "What about here?"

"What about Friday?" Alex suggested cheerfully, neatly setting her napkin to the side. She'd finished her food, and had her arms resting lightly on the table, her fingers interlaced under her chin. Alex's eyes sparkled with good humor. It had been a very pleasant evening and so far, not a single akward stumble except for a few occasional stutters on her part. She would have to tell Erin that she had been right. "We could go see a movie or something?"

"No, you did the right thing." Taylor said firmly. "Actually, if its the kind that have been causing me problems, I'll be downright grateful. I keep turning them into clouds of smoke. Not so useful for the questioning." That was most frustrating. Taylor had discovered that a year or two of training to blast something in the first place was very difficult to unlearn. How difficult to unlearn? Eight imps and counting. She glanced over the squirming plant with an expression of what could only be called grim satisfaction under the brim of her hat. The day was certainly looking up. "Can we take a look at it, or would you rather I just take it in the plant?"

"We'll grab the scientist once we're inside, to work the teleporter." Alex explained. "I'm hoping it won't come to a direct conflict. If everything goes smoothly, we'll go in and disable the cameras. Nab the scientist and rejoin our friends. I don't think it'll be that easy, however." She hesitated and then forged forward, wishing with all her heart that someone else was here to make those calls. "If it all goes horribly wrong and we can't get to the teleporter for some reason, we're going to release the monster first. We'll head for the science lab and cause as much havok as possible. Then, when they've got bigger things to worry about, we'll see about stealing the aircraft. So that's plan B. Let's all hope we don't have to use plan B. For now, we should start heading for the compound. We've got a fair bit of ground to cover and I'm pretty sure this place gets nastier at night."

Alex paused in pulling the pickles off her sandwich and glanced from him to the fork. "Sure!" Trusting that even if she clumsy, he was too darn lucky for this to all end badly, she accepted the piece of steak confident it was not going to result in daka sauce everywhere. She sat back with an expression of pleasure and licked the last bit of sauce from her lower lip. With a laugh, she commented, "Clearly I should just have copied your order. That's downright sinful. It's what I get for ignoring the voice of experience I suppose."

Lincoln Street Park. Lincoln Street Park... Taylor focused for a few seconds to fix the location in her head. "I'll be right-" "-There." The sentance finished in stereo for Stesha as Phantom appeared not five feet from her. The figure before Stesha was covered from head to foot in a billowing cloak that snapped and crackled out of synch with the soft breeze. Under it, the woman was clad in a black leotard and leather boots and gloves. Her face was hidden behind a full facemask. Seeing no threat, Taylor went solid, and her booted feet touched on the ground. She gave the area a sweeping glance before settling on Stesha. She walked over and knelt down, looking concerned behind the concealing cloth, "Are you hurt?"

Taylor was actually at her apartment for once, just getting out of the shower when her phone rang. Ducking out from the tiny tub, she thumped her shin against the toilet bowl on the way out. Hissing curses in a smattering of languages, she half ran and half hopped to the phone as she grabbed her towel. It was times like this she was grateful that she lived alone. Well, times like this, and times like earlier when she'd had to teleport out of the apartment to deal with an outraged smog-elemental. Taylor wasn't sure that she'd ever get the smell out of her hair but half a bottle of shampoo later and she'd managed. Wrapping the towel around, she grabbed the phone and flipped it open. "I'm here.." It wasn't the warmest of greetings as her voice cracked through the phone, but only super-heroes had her cell phone number and she was used to it being bad news. Hearing Stesha's voice on the other end of the phone, her tone gentled and Stesha was treated to Taylor's normal voice rather than Phantom's 'cower before me' boom, "What sort of problem and where do you want me to meet you?"

She was too distracted to worry about whether or not her palm was sweaty, or if her words were all jumbled. Alex looked at him with wide, solemn eyes as she leaned in to answer. She hesitated for half a second, trying to keep her heart from pounding out of her chest before she smiled - one of those beaming-so-very-Alex smiles - and squeezed his hand, "Yes. Yes, I think I'd like that awful lot.

Alex blushed, glancing down at their linked hands, and caught her lip between her teeth nervously. The friends aspect of this date she could totally handle, the more romantic aspects however were making her stomach jump around with butterflies. Her first instinct was to play down the whole plan making part of the conversation, hide behind humility and all that, but she wasn't here to keep skirting nervously around, right? "I like you a lot, too, Mark," she said quietly when she found her voice, "This evenings been really nice. I've had a lot of fun." She moistened her lips, trying not to wince at how akward that all sounded and forced herself to relax. Alex glanced back up, her expression vulnerable as she searched out his eyes, "Honestly, this evening's been wonderful."

Alex's smile softened and she laced her fingers with his to squeeze his hand back, "I'm really glad to have met you too. I dunno if we'd even be hanging out if you'd joined back up in the fall with everyone else. I mean, I bet you have lots of friends to normally hang out with." She tilted her head, her smile slightly shy, "I.. we'd miss out on having you around." Her humor bubbled back up and she added with a laugh, "I don't think there's any other leader that everyone would put up with for one."

One sandaled foot tapped under the table as she skimmed the menu. Alex couldn't believe how quickly time had flown. She smiled faintly at the names of the items, running a fingertip down the list, "I believe you on the nachos but I don't think I'd be able to finish anything. The portions here are kinda large. I'll just steal some of yours." She smiled over the menu at him before setting it down, "I'm getting the Dr. Atom Crispy Chicken Sandwich. Maybe a shake."

"Remember, we can't leave things to chance this time around. We don't have Edge here so the odds aren't stacked in our favor." Alex said soberly, kneeling down and clearing a small section of the soil. Focusing, she used her telekinetic abilities to sketch out a rough map, "So this time, we'll have to out think them. That means we need a plan." Pointing out the entrance and the areas of concern, "Breakdown, you're on cameras. That's your first priority and we want to hold off conflict as long as possible. Once the alarm's raised, I want you to take out any of their lighter weaponry. H, we'll need you to take out as much as the heavy stuff as possible. Both of you make sure that you leave the transporter alone. I'm more comfortable with trying to use that than figuring out how to fly a plane. If we can't use the transporter, we'll head for the plane." Alex put a leaf in the map in place for the transporter. "If we get split up, we meet back at the transport device. Hellion, I need your help getting a scientist. If we get our hands on one, I can enslave their mind and they'll willingly work the transporter for us." Her lips flattened. It wasn't part of her powers that she liked using but this was a serious situation. The others might be more indifferent, but Psyche was well aware of what releasing that monster was going to do. People were going to get hurt, maybe worse. She'd count the cost of their actions later, "That's our 'A' plan. Sound good?"

Alex ducked the most recent dramatic miss and went to fetch the ball in question, returning to Erin's side she cast a look over at the boys chatting and pointed out in undertone, "I'm a little socially behind, I know, but I'm pretty sure that Eddie and James are 'checking you out'." She gestured to the boys chatting at the far end of the pool to emphasize her statement as she lobbed the ball back at them.

Alex was an enthusiastic coversationalist and, as the night progressed, was obviously more herself. She blushed when his arm slipped around her but leaned into his side as they walked and asked curiously about the trivia that he knew. She'd been relatively sheltered from super-hero exploits with her mom's touchy attituded towards her contemporaries so she found Mark's take on it pretty fascinating. An affectionate person by nature, she slipped her hand into his easily once past her initial shyness, or rested her head against his shoulder while watching the films. Mark even found himself all but dragged once or twice when something especially interesting caught her eye.

"We're not hiding out on this island. We're going to go and break into that compound and steal that teleporter." Psyche said firmly, and rather surprisingly. "We may need to rescue them. Even if they don't need the back up, none us signed up for this to hang out for rescue." She looked at the others for confirmation that they were with her on this. "I don't want you to waste covering us while we head to the other side of the island, Breakdown, you'll have plenty to do once we get in range to the cameras. I'm counting on you to deal with the tech and alarms, okay? Hellion, you wanna set the monster free to cover our escape I'm guessing?"

After a few long minutes, Alex stirred and opened her eyes, blinking a few times to reorient. Her normally pale face was a little more white than usual but her voice was rock steady. "First things first. Brace yourselves for a mental download. If anything happens, then we'll all know where to go." Alex gave them all the rapid fire images of the island - including Phalanx - focusing on the base and the directions there. She included the images of Gigantasour as well before breaking the link. Once everyone had recovered from that, she spoke up again. "I'm gonna hide us but there's a few catches. It only works on brains, not cameras. You'll all have to stay where I can keep an eye on you cuz it's limited in range. And most importantly, it won't hide you from people - or monsters with heightened smell or other wierd senses."

Alex gave a little wave to the statue and leaned into Mark's side as she took in the display. Some heroes she recognized, others she wasn't as familiar with but there was something both inspiring and humbling standing in front of the homage to her predecessors. That's really what the difference was, she mused, the last time she'd stood here it had been as a citizen of Freedom but they'd all taken the steps towards becoming heroes themselves now. It gave her a bit more perspective on it, and a different level of respect for the faces and names. After a moment of standing quietly, "It's a little strange, you know, to think of them as people as well as heroes. I mean, at one point they were just like us and just starting out. It makes you wonder, who was nervous and who was eager, and how they all changed through it." Alex mused thoughtfully before she smiled, "You have his smile, you know."

She tilted her face up, listening. Although he hadn't been a hero, her dad's father had spent countless afternoons playing board games with her as a child. When she'd been confined to a family member's home, he'd started teching her to pass the time and eventually it had become a dearly beloved hobby. Something special that they both shared. Alex squeezed his arm, stopping him on the way to the theater with a little tug, "Can you show me? I'd like to see your granpa more than the movie."

"Sure! Sounds good to me. I'm actually really interested in the Revolutionary exhibit. I was reading an article in the paper about it the other day," Alex agreed easily. She chuckled and looked up at him, "I probably didn't even need to pick up a map. I bet you have everything memorized already." She looked up at the exibits that they passed on the way, her usual curious gaze on her surroundings but she was equally aware of the arm under her hand and the solid presence at her side. It was a nice feeling and Alex relaxed a little more against him. She looked up from a vivid color photo at him, "If your dad took you here a lot as a kid, what's your favorite memory?"

"I can do both!" Alex said cheerfully, "Just not at the same time. Keep an eye out and I'll give a quick search of the island. Might take a few minutes." Alex settled herself back against the tree trunk, folding her legs under herself and closed her eyes to block out her team-mates faces as she sent her sense rapidly searching around the island for a base of some kind, or other signs of civilization. She also kept an eye out for any monsters that might be over-close to their current position.

We're okay but we're in a dangerous area. Looks like we're gonna break into a base an' steal a plane. I'll keep you posted.. Her tone was concerned if not worried but not afraid as she fired off a response to Phalanx. "Sounds like they're all together an' prolly safer than us. Lets head for the tree line and I'll see if I can get us some intel on the base on the island. I can blank us out to most senses once we know where we're going." Alex volunteered, heading for the treeline after H.

At Dark Star's nod, Phantom teleported high in the air, firing a crackling black blast of magic at the Vestige's back. She didn't bother to trade witicisms with the rogues, merely lifted her hands to continue her barrage.