Electra
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Gina dropped her gaze when he looked at her, then tipped her chin up to return his regard. She didn't know if she wanted to hear this story, in fact was pretty sure she didn't. Thus far, they'd kept their relationship anchored firmly in the present, with no past worth speaking of and no future assumed. Having him start sharing confidences about the horrible place he came from would have to change all of that for good. She bit her lip and considered making an excuse, feigning an emergency. But even in her ugly, impaired and all-too-human body, she was still a little bit of a hero, and it hurt her to see him in pain. "Go ahead," she encouraged. "You were born on Nihilor, right?"
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"Not today," Miss A told Sharl. "Music licensing is more complicated than just buying a piece of art, and it's not something that can really be done in a venue like this. But we'll go and listen to some of the bands, and make a note of anything that sounds good. I'd like to get a little more variety, especially on the phone lines." She began to walk in the direction of the main stage, her steps unhurried. Along the way, she paused at yet another stall, struck by a modestly-sized oil painting of a forest glade, deep and secret. That wasn't unusual in itself, but something about the patterns of leaves and vines that made up the trees suggested something rather less organic, a grove made of circuit boards and wires, trees of fiber optic trunks and branches. She studied it for a long moment, then passed her credit card to the artist. "Have this wrapped and sent to... no. I'll have an agent come and pick it up later." She wasn't about to reveal her home address, but she could nudge Sharl or even Steve into picking it up for her later. "Come on," she told Sharl, "I think a new set is going to start soon."
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Gina started out in her usual position, six inches of space between her and Steve on the couch, but gradually slid closer as he talked about all he'd seen and done that day. "Sometimes it's hard to be the good guy," she agreed ruefully, "when it seems so much more just to dish out a taste of the bad guy's own medicine. But that's what makes us different and better." She ran a hand lightly along his arm, glad that he wasn't looking her way. "How many people did you manage to save?" she asked, hoping to divert his attention, but also curious. "What's going to happen to them?"
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Gina was quiet for a moment as she studied the screen. Steve always cut something of a tragic figure, but tonight seemed worse than usual. The damage to his clothes suggested he'd been involved in some sort of trouble, but why would he have been doing hero work out of uniform? Only one way to find out, really. Securing her console, she went up the stairs, dimming the house lights to 50% as she went. She paused in the doorway to the living room, looking at him. "Want a drink?" she offered, a half-smile on her shadowed face. "I'm rarely good company, but I can give you that, and an ear."
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He caught the subtle hum of a camera turning on its mount and focusing on him, a very common phenomenon at Gina's house. "Steve?" Gina's voice came over a speaker near the door, sounding confused and a little uneasy. The unease, too, was not uncommon, but more so given the hour and the fact he hadn't called first. "I wasn't expecting you. Is everything okay?" The door unlocked and opened automatically, letting him into the darkened living room. As he stepped in, the lights rose to normal levels, but there was still no sign of his erstwhile girlfriend. Downstairs in her basement command center, Gina kept one eye on the house security cameras with consternation as she tried to think of what to do with herself. Her hair was a mess and she probably had cheese dust on her shirt, and she'd thrown on the old sweatpants with the paint stains on them because she'd been too busy to program Emerson to do the wash this week. At least she'd showered this morning, but she was still looking even more horrible than usual. Why did he have to stop by now?
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"Hmm, this one is nice, but a little bit too small for the main lobby. Maybe in one of the reception rooms, or that new conference space on fifteen..." Miss Americana examined the framed watercolor carefully, heedless of the sensation she was causing in the vendor marketplace. Even dressed casually in blue jeans and a red and white swirled blouse, the beautiful heroine and supergenius was an unmistakeable figure to the Freedom City residents who crowded or edged closer for a closer look. Add to her fame the fact that she'd spent nearly ten thousand dollars in the past hour on works by local artists for ArcheTech's HQ, and suddenly everyone in the area was hoping for a bit of her attention. "I'll take this one," she told the artist-vendor, who was looking a bit dazed but moved quickly enough to collect the simple black credit card Miss A handed her. "Have it wrapped and shipped to ArcheTech HQ in Hanover, please. Mark it attention to the physical plant manager." With a smile and a brief pause for more autographs, she moved along, heading for yet another booth. "So how do you like the art world so far?" she asked Sharl, who'd stuck close to her side all afternoon to avoid getting lost in the crush.
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Erin touched Steve's shoulder lightly, a rare gesture for both of them. "You know better than to think about what might have been," she reminded him. "If I've learned anything from dimensional travel, it's that any of us could've made one or two wrong turns and ended up in very different places. But that's not something we can control. All we can do is deal with what is. You did good work today," she reminded him, stepping away and leaning against the pole. "Those people would be dead if we hadn't all done everything we could. Doesn't matter what might have been, you're a hero now." She paused for a second, looked him up and down. "Have you got somewhere to go tonight?" she asked, sounding diffident for the first time that day. "After something like this, it's better not to be alone for too long." She wasn't quite sure how it would work to have Harrier bunking in the Manor, but she was sure she could talk Trevor into it if she had to, just for a night. She knew for sure that she didn't want to be alone with her thoughts tonight, much less her dreams.
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Erin had been keeping an eye on the security situation more than the people present, for all she absorbed Trevor's murmured explanations of people and things. The idea of anyone managing Daisy Gibbons was almost funny, given how obnoxious the girl had always been at school. Maybe, Erin thought, trying to be charitable, a few years of growing up had made her less of a bitch. Sometimes leaving high school did that for people. As for the security itself, it was first-rate, and subtle enough that nobody who didn't know what to look for would ever notice that they were being watched. She felt the change in Trevor's body instantly, her own posture shifting to alert as she readied for a fight. Though her eyes swept the room, she could see nothing overtly threatening, nothing even different than it had been a moment ago. "What's wrong?" she asked him in an undertone, even as she slipped a hand into her pretty beaded handbag and closed it around her bat.
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"Hi kids," Miss Americana said affably as the pair of students flew in. "Just give me one second and I'll be with you." Even though the gorgeous paragon was dressed for a public appearance in a tailored suit of rose and periwinkle, she was as usual elbow-deep in the innards of some experiment and looking pleased to be there. Using the lasers in her fingertips as tiny spot welders, she finished fusing the circuits in the artificial leg she was building, then attached it to the body frame next to the table. At the push of a button, it bent and straightened, the foot flexing and rotating as though it were attached to a human being and having a good stretch. "Much better," she decided with a nod, then turned to the teens. "All right, ready to go to the big science fair? Lots of young people are waiting to show off what they can do."
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Wander tightened her grip on the soldier further, stopping just shy of actual injury. "I think there are quite a few people who are going to want to talk to you about exactly what you did to these people," she warned. "But first, you're going to tell us exactly where the rest of them are so that we can stop them before they hurt anybody else." The idea that anyone would deliberately try and weaponize a zombie was sickening, to the point where she kept her hands locked around the man's wrists as much for fear of what she might do as to keep him from escaping.
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"Not that fantastic," Koshiro argued, looking into a display of memorabilia from even before Rick Lucas' day, all about "Jimmy Lucas and His Genie." It was mostly a collection of very white photographs, which made sense given that at the time black people weren't even considered for most super-teams and Japanese people were in concentration camps out west. "We've got people that fly, but at least in your world everyone has enough to eat and a safe place to sleep. We're not fantastic enough to manage that, or anything close to it." He snorted and wandered further into the exhibit with a faint sneer on his face.
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Erin took a quick moment to breathe a sigh of relief at being safely back on Earth Prime, then she turned her attention to the crowd of refugees. "All right everyone, listen up!" she called over the hubbub of the room. "Welcome to Earth Prime! You're safe here, and you will be taken care of. Right now I need you all to find a place to sit down and be quiet for the next little bit so we can get some organization going! I know you're all tired and hungry, so we'll try and make this as quick as possible. The bathrooms are in the back of the room, and the water fountains as well. If you're injured, raise your hand or have the person next to you do it, and we'll get you treated. Otherwise, just sit tight." She turned to the security staff that had begun to assemble around her. Sometimes it still felt weird to be in charge of anything, but she was gradually getting used to it. Today it felt good, because she knew what to do and knew she could help. "All right. Pam, Gerry, Liam, you start going through the crowd and taking information. Get names, genders, ages, and family sizes, if there are families together. Find out if anyone is injured or needs special care. Astrid and RJ, you get on the phone and order, um, let's call it twenty pizzas and five party subs. Bill it to security for now. Steve, you call up anyone you know at Special Circumstances and get someone down here to talk to us. See if they have a few hundred cots somewhere while you're at it." Just before she plunged into the crowd herself, Erin took a moment to ruffle Yolanda's hair. "There you are. Things will start to get better now." That much, at least, she could promise.
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Another punch to the lizard! It's a terrible roll! HP to try again! 29! That would've been a critical if she'd had her bat, but ah well. DC 44 toughness save.
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Notice: Skill Mastered 25 Sense Motive: 30 Erin will forgo the use of Intimidate, her only social skill, for the moment. But she's got it in reserve!
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"She wouldn't be out in the open, but you'd think that if they're announcing their engagement, more of the family than usual might be around or something," Erin suggested with a slight shrug. Mysteries were fun, but this one was less compelling because she knew none of the people involved. "The food does look good though. If something happens later, at least we'll have eaten." There wasn't a formal dinner spread, but the tables of appetizers were abundant and varied. Erin, as usual, gravitated towards the fresh fruit trays, picking out her favorites as well as a few strange exotic fruits to try. "So, see anybody you know?" she asked Trevor.
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Fleur watched with interest as Alicia spread her wings and displayed her talent. "What a beautiful power!" she exclaimed, even as baby Ammy crawled over for a better look. "I wonder if it has something to do with pheremonal responses, or if it's something more metaphysical than that. Either way, we can always use more healers in Freedom City. And paralyzing or stunning an enemy is a very effective way to end a fight. I'm sure you're going to do very well on patrol." Ammy tugged impatiently on Alicia's leg, then raised her arms.
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"It's still early," Fleur replied, "but I have a feeling this is going to be a good year. We've had warm weather already, and I'm looking forward to more." She folded her legs beneath her and rested her hands on her knees. "Not too far," she warned Amaryllis, who was about to scoot off the grassy patch her mother had created. The baby looked mutinous, but stopped for the moment anyway. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you can fly," Fleur said to Alicia with a smile. "What else do you do? No two heroes are exactly alike, and it's always interesting to me to see all the variations. And if you like, I could probably put you in touch with people who can show you the ropes in your area."
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Erin shrugged, following the medic and her patient as they headed for the portal. "Summer vacation started right after, so I guess it didn't have a chance to get around school," she guessed, then realized Ellie meant in a broader sense. "Politics, partly. Rick Lucas helped us, and he and Captain Thunder really don't, didn't get along. Even though we brought back Omega's chestplate, they didn't really want to believe us. Plus when I tried to take it to Doktor Archeville to get him to analyze it, he snapped and tried to take over the world, and that sort of just pushed everything else into the background for awhile." She smiled grimly. "I think that's the real reason, mostly. Nobody wants to hear about people saving the universe, because then they'd have to start thinking about how much time the universe spends on the brink. If a bunch of high school kids from Freedom City are all that's standing between them and Omega, that's not exactly a comforting thought." Pausing at the portal, she waved the others through, unwilling to go before everyone else was through and safe.
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"I'm afraid my hair tips probably won't work for most people," Fleur admitted with a chuckle. "My hair is alive almost down to the ends, and more plant than anything else. I use a vinegar wash and sometimes a mayonnaise and egg conditioner, but that's about it. Otherwise, I just try and keep it out of the way, lest someone pull it." She leveled a glance at the baby, who remained blissfully occupied with the dandelion. A dandelion that had been joined by several other dandelions in just the past few moments. "As for the other," Fleur continued, almost meditatively, "I'm not sure you could really call it that. It's not organized, there are no generals and precious few battle plans, and the enemies we face are anything but unified. It's more like a series of battles between a few brave heroes and the forces that want to ruin things for good people. Sometimes that's as simple as picking a mugger up off the street, and sometimes it may mean a hero or an entire team of heroes lays down their lives to save the world. It's up to every person who puts on a mask how much they want to get involved, how far they are willing to go. I found that once I started getting involved, I couldn't stay just beautifying parks and raising gardens. Though I still keep my hand in," she added in a lighter tone.
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Papercut blinked "awake" moments after Wraith, taking a few seconds to orient himself back in the real world. He felt a little stiff and cramped, a little headachey, kind of like he'd spent too long working on his computer, actually. He caught up to the girls, looking down at Sage. "Those burns look nasty," he observed. "She's lucky it wasn't any worse. I wonder what's going to happen with Rogue this time. Maybe they'll actually find a secure hard drive to put her in jail on." He jogged along, keeping pace but not offering to help carry when Wraith obviously had the matter handled. "Eve, you awake? How do you feel?"
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Erin bit her lip to hold back a soft comment about "chicken of the sea," but smiled anyway as she and Trevor followed behind Mark and Nina with much less fanfare. With one hand lightly on Trevor's arm, she paused just inside the door long enough to take in the tactical situation and assess potential trouble zones and points of attack and egress. The fact that she could do that these days without seeming all weird about it was a point of personal pride. "Lot of movers and shakers here tonight," she observed quietly to Trevor. "Tight security, too. Think it's going to be a seafood buffet?" A waiter passed by, presenting them with a tray of champagne flutes. Erin took one, figuring that they were on Socotran turf now, but only sipped politely. "If I knew half these people, I'd try to guess who the bride-to-be is."
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Erin stayed on alert even after Mandragora disappeared, but she did allow her mask of invulnerability to slip far enough to reveal relief and satisfaction. She walked back over in the direction of Jill and Samson, prepared to lend a hand if necessary. "You remember last year when graduation was cancelled and postponed a week because Young Freedom disappeared? What happened was the nearby multiverse was destroyed by the Terminus and we spent a few days time-traveling through dimensions to make it not have happened. At the end of all that, we faced down Omega himself, along with a few hundred thousand Omegadrones, and we killed him." She shrugged. "Not permanently, you can't really kill the embodiment of entropy, but they're theorizing it'll take him awhile to pull himself back together. Mandragora knows who did his boss, but probably not exactly how, or whether we could do it again." She wiped her face with the tattered sleeve of her uniform, then leaned against the wall. "Gloaty McBeardstroke... I like that one."
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Sometimes you just get the perfect nat 20. That's a DC 30 on the intimidate check, plus any circumstance bonus.
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Erin rose and stepped forward, putting herself between the hologram and the living beings in the room. Squaring her shoulders, she gave Mandragora an up-and-down look, obviously not terribly impressed with what she saw. "So," she said conversationally, "you're all that's left running the Terminus these days. Well, I guess Shadivan Steelgrave is running the Terminus, really. You're more the dog on a leash type, not really the in-charge type." She let the utter contempt she felt for the technicians, for the Annihilists, for every thinking being who worked for Omega leach clearly into her voice, even as she circled around, trying to hold his attention on her and let Mara keep working. "I guess you know who I am, too. Omega's chestplate has an imprint of my fist right through the center of it. That must have been quite a surprise for all of you." She took a step closer, resting a hand lightly on her bat. "You might not have seen this," she continued evenly, "but it wound up through Physician Friendly's skull. I had a score to settle with him. All the people here are gone," she told him, waving a hand around the nearly empty room. "In a few moments, I'm sending my friends home. And then I'm going to come to the surface, and I'm going to find you."
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No matter how many times she rode in the antique limousine with Trevor, Erin was pretty sure she'd never quite get used to the fuss and spectacle of going to these black tie events. On the other hand, riding in the limo was fun in itself, and (though she was loathe to admit it) she enjoyed dressing up every once in awhile and showing off her handsome boyfriend and his tremendous dancing skills. Even if nothing happened tonight, they'd have a good time. It was a little weird to have Redbird "sitting" in the front seat and driving, but she'd been so pleased at the idea of controlling the car that Erin wouldn't have had the heart to say no. And despite the crazy maneuvers the AI pulled off in combat, she proved perfectly capable of driving in a sedate fashion on the roads and getting them to the party on time. As Trevor came around and opened the door, something Redbird couldn't manage with holographic hands, Erin stepped out and took a look at their surroundings. As promised, she'd put on her new dress for the occasion, a closely cut dark blue sheath with a matching half-jacket and sparkling white stones scattered across it like stars in the evening sky. She wore earrings and a band in her short hair to match, eschewing a necklace that would only get in her way if there was a fight. She and Trevor were nearly eye to eye tonight, thanks to strappy icepick heels that could be easily kicked off if necessary. Frank really understood superhero costuming, as well he might after all these years. Despite her badgering, had refused to disclose how much the outfit cost. She suspected it was worlds away from what she'd be comfortable with, but for tonight, she could push that aside and just enjoy it. She scanned the area and the people around them, then looked to Trevor. "Nice night for a party. Do you see Mark anywhere?"