Electra

"I can't believe The Melter is still alive, honestly," Paige replied to Richard's unspoken thought. There wasn't a speck of grey in her hair, thanks to an excellent stylist in Los Angeles, and a rigorous moisturizing routine meant that what wrinkles she had could be mostly concealed with makeup. She wasn't exactly an ingenue, but she also wasn't out of place amongst the moms of the other children in Bryant's class. "None of us were making good life choices back then, but I remember him being especially... exuberant." She rubbed a thumb across her lips thoughtfully, looking down at the letter. "He's not that much older than us, so if he's in a nursing home he's probably not well. That can get very expensive, very fast." She flicked her eyes up to Richard. "We might be able to help out some," she allowed, "but I like to keep the past where it belongs. We put that whole life behind us a long time ago, and we have responsibilities. Let's go and hear him out, at least."

Fleur ignored the Justicar firing at her and walked forward resolutely, into the thick of the battle. A wave of her hand had the vines nearest to La Puma Negra rising up, barely making contact but enough to press healing magic into the quickly-mending wounds on the young heroine. "Stop this now," she called sternly to Dovox. "Your fight is damaging out city, the territory of Earth, and your people are attacking students! Stand down now or you risk making yourself an enemy of the heroes of Earth." Her hands were empty, loose at her sides, but the ground around her writhed with living green.

Fleury going to heal La Puma Negra. I can’t remember if that’s a contested roll.

"Hey now..." Fleur raised her arms and suddenly walls of trees, vines and dense growth were springing up all around the aliens and heroes. "This is still Freedom City, even if it's the worst part. Watch yourself!" The overall effect was something like a woodsy arena; anyone Fleur didn't want getting out would have to fight their way out. Her eyes were sharp as she watched the battle beginning to unfold, but she didn't go any closer for the moment. She hadn't been lying when she said space politics were tricky, and so far the Freedom League and the Earth didn't have a dog in the fight.

Fleur watched as the new aliens landed and spread out, her lips pursed flat as the newest arrival postured and gestured. "Spread out," she told the young heroes who had come with her, "but stay within shouting distance. Space politics is tricky and we can't necessarily help with that, but we also don't want any of these guys getting bored and going exploring. Call out if you see anybody heading into the city." For her own part, Fleur lowered the hood of her cowl and stepped towards the knot of powerful Khanians. "I am Fleur de Joie of the Freedom League," she called out, letting plants and vines break free of the ruined ground and form a carpet beneath her as she walked. "This world and its peace are the business of the League, and this Praetorian has been an ally to us. I would advise you to tread lightly in this place."

"The Doomforge is probably as good an area as any," Fleur allowed, even though it brought a grimace. She had no love for that piece of ground, still contaminated with an aura of evil despite the many precautions taken to render it harmless. "There definitely aren't going to be any civilians out that way." She waved a hand and raised a twining trellis of vines and branches from the nearest patch of bare earth, letting it form itself into a doorway, then a green-glowing portal. She gestured the others towards it. "Let's get going."

Fleur's on 22

Fleur listened to the entire exchange between the two spacegoing superbeings with the guarded expression of someone with several opinions that they would not be expressing at this time. She blinked when Golden Star approached her, looking startled for a moment at the request from the student hero, then relaxed her stance enough to chuckle. "Of course," she told him, keeping her voice pitched low so as not to interrupt. In neat, loopy script she wrote "Great work today, thanks for helping Freedom City! -Fleur de Joie," then handed the book and pen back to him. She stepped forward to address the new Star Khan and his intended. "It sounds like the two of you have a lot to consider," she began diplomatically. "I think the first responders here will have an easier time of things if we clear out and let them work. Perhaps you'd enjoy the hospitality of one of the conference rooms at League HQ?"

Fleur looked over the crowd of evacuated civilians, finding some of them badly shaken but no one who looked immediately in need of medical attention. The firefighters and EMTs were already setting up a perimeter and beginning to sort people by households and families, so it seemed likely that between them, the Red Cross and the Freedom League's Disaster Recovery liaisons, everyone would get the help they needed in fairly short order. She turned her attention to the conversation at hand, giving Predator a small nod. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said cordially. To the newcomer she offered a small smile. "Paradigm," she greeted. "This is... a whole thing, really. Do you need any help?" The situation Megan had described on the phone had been... confusing, at best, and straight out of a dime romance at worst, but since when had any of their lives been even close to normal?

Fleur walked up to the building, a path clearing through the little crowd ahead of her despite her generally unassuming stature. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and suddenly plants were everywhere. Thin tendrils of vines climbed over the walls and slid through doorframes and windows like a sped-up image of nature reclaiming an abandoned building. The vines dodged around people and seemed to be avoiding anywhere that would actually set them on fire, but in moments the endangered structure was completely blanketed. Another few moments and flowers began growing from the vines, each one a bright red trumpet of a blossom that somehow poured water from the stamen in a soft but endless flow. In less than a minute the fires throughout the building were fully extinguished. The flowers ran dry one by one, and finally Fleur turned to the crowd and the heroes protecting it. "Is everyone all right?"

Fleur is going to stunt off her big array to put out the fire, sort of like we discussed in DMs the other day. Basically she'll be using her ESP to locate the hotspots followed by a bunch of localized teleport effects to douse the bits of the building that are on fire.

Sirens were wailing in the distance, signs that emergency responders were not far off, but before even the first trucks arrived, a scraggy-looking tree near the building yawned open and discharged yet another superhero. Fleur de Joie was in her trademark mask and cowl, but she was clearly wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt underneath it. She took a moment to survey the scene, from the student heroes evacuating the building to the strange battle unfolding with Explodo, to the fiery building itself, surrounded by civilians, before making a tactical decision. "Right," she murmured. "Fire first, then people-wrangling."

Fleur goes on 23

Fleur, who had been keeping quiet and letting the discussion at the table unfold, nodded her thanks to Patriot but didn't move to rise. "As strange as the story sounds," she finally said, "I think most of us here have lived through equally strange, if not worse. And plenty of us know about wishes having unexpected consequences." A faint rueful expression crossed her face for just a moment before disappearing again. "Do you know if this is a wish with a time limit, Viktor?" she asked. "Because while I'm inclined towards letting you have your chance at making amends and setting things right, the middle of Freedom Hall during a Christmas party might not be the most auspicious place to get started. Maybe something offsite, with people who've had a chance to put their thoughts in order beforehand... and maybe a couple of neutral facilitators available to referee?"

Stesha's attempt to deescalate the situation with the new arrival had gone... well, it had gone about as well as it could've been expected to, given the givens. She sighed as they entered the room to find the Interceptors' AI already in place, but stood back to allow the parade of interested heroes to file in as well. There had never been any way they were going to avoid an audience, but at least they had a small measure of privacy from the students and children at the party. "I think the precautions League Headquarters already has in place will be sufficient for now," she told Archeville. "If everyone who wants to be involved with this conversation could take a seat, we'll try to keep this at least somewhat orderly. Everyone who just wants to make sure things stay peaceful, feel free to remain standing but maybe just back up against the walls so we've got a little more space?" She turned to the AI. "VINCE, I know you're very upset and you have a right to be, but it would be helpful if you could turn down the special effects for the moment." She took a seat herself, hoping to set a good example. "I think we'd all like to know what you're doing here, Doctor Archeville. It's been a long time, and you've chosen to make a big entrance."

Stesha smiled at Ghost as he arrived and departed, making a note to talk with him later once he and Grim had done their turn around the dance floor. She hadn't seen too much of the newer hero lately, but he seemed to have settled in well, according to what Velocity had mentioned in their talks. Speaking of Velocity, Stesha was going to have to find her later to congratulate her on the several performances she'd put on, as well as the reveal of her face after all these years, but it looked like Meghan was having too much fun on the dance floor herself at the moment. It did look fun... She found a cookie for Basil and was thinking about taking him upstairs to the child care area when Kid Gawain approached her, looking courtly and slightly uncomfortable as seemed usual for him. She gave him a smile of warm politeness as he approached, then turned with him as his attention was diverted by the new arrival. "Oh boy..." she murmured, her thoughts suddenly running a mile a minute. "He did always love to make an entrance." Briefly considering her options, she tapped Owain on the shoulder as he finished whatever text he was sending. "Could you do me a big favor?" she asked, barely pausing before passing him the toddler. "Just look after Basil for a few moments while I go, hmm, talk to people?" Basil didn't look entirely pleased, but remained momentarily pacified by his sugar cookie. Smoothing her dress and straightening her wreath as she approached the growing knot of people, Stesha put on her most practiced diplomatic smile as she joined up, every line of her posture suggesting that she intended to take charge of the situation. "Victor!" she said, voice friendly and careful, "it's such a surprise to see you here tonight! I didn't even know you were on-planet! She reached out and, if he allowed it, put her hand lightly on his arm, nudging him towards an emptier part of the room. "We should catch up."

Stesha laughed and gave Grim a side hug that managed not to disturb the holly wreath in her hair or the child on her hip. "Grim, so nice to see you! It's been much too long! Happy holidays!" She turned her attention to the young heroes in front of them. "And Lawrence, it's good to see you again! Your mom is always full of stories about what you and your friends are getting up to." She smiled at the young man who introduced himself. "Spaceman," she repeated, "it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Fleur de Joie, but honestly most people here just call me Stesha. It's always good to get a chance to meet the Claremont students, I hope you're enjoying the party!" Ammy gave Lawrence a little wave, then tugged on her mom's sleeve. "Mom, Therese and Aya from school are upstairs, can I go? Please?" Stesha nodded, using her power to give the whole property a quick look-over for any signs of brewing danger. "Go ahead, be sure to behave yourselves. And no more than three cookies, they're huge!" Ammy laughed and took off, her steps bouncing as though gravity didn't have quite the hold on her it did on the rest of the room.

"Happy holidays!" Stesha greeted the group cheerfully. "It's so nice to see you all again, or for the first time. I'm Fleur de Joie, but you can call me Stesha if you like. This is my daughter Amaryllis and my son Basil." She smiled at the two she hadn't met yet, then turned her attention to Shadowborne when the young woman spoke to her. "That was a scary night," she agreed wholeheartedly, "but fortunately I recovered pretty quickly. I'm sorry I haven't really been able to work with the students at Claremont since then, but I've been keeping busy." She laughed and gave Basil a little bounce on her hip. The toddler, who had been watching Velocity with considering eyes, suddenly gave the group a shy smile before burying his face in Stesha's shoulder. "I suppose you might have graduated since then, what have you been up to?" Across the room she noticed Velocity's son walk in with his friends, all of them just a few years older than Ammy. Ammy noticed too, perking up a little at the possibility of a kid she knew, even if he was a high schooler.

Fleur de Joie The Christmas tree in the center of the room rustled slightly, several ornaments jingling musically with the movement, then abruptly spread a number of its lower branches wide apart to expose a suddenly much-widened trunk. Our of the trunk stepped Fleur de Joie, holding her twelve year old daughter by the hand and her toddler son on her hip. All three were dressed for the festivities, Stesha and Amaryllis in nearly-matched sparkling green dresses and holly wreath crowns, and Basil in a little green and red striped outfit that made him look very like an elf. The tree closed up behind them as they emerged, not so much as a bauble out of place. "Okay, we're a little later than I'd planned, but not by much," Stesha murmured to Amaryllis. "Let's find our people and say hello at least, then you can go find your friends." Amaryllis, a seasoned veteran of these parties, nodded assent to the plan and dropped Stesha's hand to pick up her phone and start texting rapidly. Basil, not nearly so jaded at only two years old, was craning his neck around to take in the whole scene with saucer-sized eyes. There would be a creche set up somewhere, Stesha knew, but they had all night to make their way over there. Spotting Velocity across the room, Stesha waved and began to make her way through the crowd, offering smiles and polite words of greeting as she passed. There were more new heroes in Freedom City every year, she mused, and spending so much time on Sanctuary meant she knew very few of them. Well, that was one reason for parties like this to exist, she supposed. As soon as she made her way to her friend and colleague, Stesha extended her free arm for a hug. "Everything looks beautiful!" she enthused. "You've outdone all of us this year."

"Ugh, I really thought that was going to work for a minute!" Danica abandoned the little-girl-lost persona and began moving her scooter faster. "I actually do think we should go to Riverside," she added. "If we can get to the Master Mage, maybe he can help us figure out what's going on! I know sort of where he lives in this time period, my parents took me to see him a few times when I was little and they were trying to figure out my powers. If we can get close enough, he'll probably notice us first anyway, right? Unless somebody else has a better idea, or a line on the time machine that might be in Freedom City in the eighties?"

"Okay, wait, hey, here..." Raina was not good with crying people, not good at all, but she sensed that this situation would not be improved by shaking Neko and telling her to get hold of herself. Trying to unpack the wartime trauma of somebody who'd lost most of their friends in World War Two also seemed like a losing strategy, or at least one she herself was not equipped for. Instead she dug a packet of kleenex out of her desk drawer and put it in the distraught girl's hand. "Blow your nose and tell me what you saw," she ordered. "You fought Hiroshima Shadow? What happened then?" Over Neko's shoulder she could see Merlin, his attention engaged at last, starting to do some web searches.

"I'm fine," Stesha assured Ashley quietly. "Don't even worry about it. You were right to call, that was a very nasty wound." She smiled a little ruefully. "I'm pretty sure I'm not wearing my own shoes and I completely forgot my hat and mittens, but it's nice to know I can still do a sixty second response when I have to. And Basil may just sleep through the whole thing." She splayed a hand over her chest, which made the small bulge of a baby in a cloth sling a bit more apparent under the coat. "So... what's the story with these guys? I'm getting nonhostile alternate reality but wow, it's a weird one." She chanced another look over at Erik-not-Derrick, but it was just too strange.

Raina tilted her head to one side and watched as her agitated housemate did quick laps around the room. "I'm not going to give you a blank check for believing," she said frankly, "but I've seen a lot of really crazy stuff in the past few years. I believe a lot of stuff that sounds nuts just because it actually happened to me. How about I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on not being crazy and we'll go from there?" It was definitely not impossible that somebody who'd had the life Neko had might be more than a little unbalanced, sure, but a lot of superheroes lived basically their whole lives that way and got by.

"Okay, come on in," Raina replied, after a hasty spell got her translation magic up and running again. Merlin was a bit tart in his estimation of how polite it was to have conversations in a language he couldn't understand, but she pointed out that he was wearing headphones anyway and would only use a translation spell to watch Gintama without the subtitles. He grumbled but subsided when Neko walked in, returning his attention to the game. Raina didn't bother to get up from where she was sitting cross-legged on her bed, but she did dogear her book page and set it aside. "What's up?" Judging by the whole whippy-puff-tail thing Neko currently had going, she suspected this would probably not be a gossip session or fashion advice.

The knock on the door was weird. Raina counted herself as something of an expert on door knocks, at least of the Espadas variety. From a quick knuckle-brush against an open doorframe to a flurry of tiny pounding, each member of the expansive household had their own particular way of announcing themselves when they wanted attention. The firm "Do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior" knock was therefore unexpected and frankly, weird. It was even enough to get Merlin to look away from Halo for almost three-quarters of a second before squeaking in outrage as someone tried to capture his flag. Raina stuck a finger in the book of poetry she was reading and rolled to sit up. "Yeah?" she called, not about to grant a threshold invite to a potential stranger.