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Electra

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  1. Fleur waved to the bee as it flew away, then turned back to Whiplash. "Come on in," she invited cheerfully, pulling open the door to let her visitor enter the cottage. Inside, Whiplash could see that the entire structure seemed to be composed of living plants, from the walls of trunks and vines to the arching and closely interwoven branches that made the ceiling, to the soft grass carpeting underfoot. Besides its strange architecture, the cottage was an appealingly homey setting, with a living room grouping of chairs and sofa around a coffee table and television, a kitchenette in one corner, and a hallway leading to other rooms. "Welcome to my home," Fleur told her, stripping off her cowl and mittens, then doing the same for her daughter. "Have a seat anywhere."
  2. "Honesty is the best policy," Miss Americana agreed, helping Dr. Rao to sit up on the smooth floor of the tunnel. "You want women to be attracted to you, not the underground lair or giant beetle, right? Let them get to know the real you, and then disclose about all the rest of it. You can't count on your superpowers to make someone like you." She looked over to Gaian Knight. "I think Dr. Rao is all right, but I'd like to get her into observation for a few hours, just in case. Could you give us a ride up to the surface?"
  3. Erin walked to the table and picked up the present, letting Charlie off her shoulder to accept his just due of pettings from Mark. It was much easier to open the present than to think about the coffee and midnight mist thing. Sitting down cross-legged in the recliner, she began to open the present, being careful of the pretty wrapping paper. "I took the day off," she told Mark. "Things are just getting started up at work, so we aren't doing any parties or stuff like that. I figure I'm just going to hang around the house, maybe do something for supper." She glanced at Trevor and shrugged ignorance, not sure if he had anything in mind for the evening. Nineteen wasn't the milestone birthday that eighteen was, and it wasn't like they hadn't already started, hmm, celebrating. That had been especially nice considering how little time they'd been spending together lately, between busy separate schedules and her own rigorous training. Something was going to have to change soon, but she had no idea what. Setting the paper aside, she took a good look at the gift. "A... cuckoo clock?" she said slowly, looking over the birdhouse-shaped device with a surprised expression.
  4. Erin took a moment to brush her hair down flat before emerging from the bedroom with Charlie on her shoulder, though she'd followed Trevor in foregoing shoes or socks. There wasn't enough room in the kitchen area for three people, so she perched on the arm of her recliner, just steps away. It wasn't a very big apartment. "Trevor doesn't believe in diluting coffee," she pointed out to Mark even as she accepted a cup. "Are you just back in the city for this morning, then, or are you sticking around?"
  5. "Her name is Amaryllis," Fleur told Whiplash with a smile, "but we call her Ammy." The baby coyly hid her face against her mother's cowl, peeking out after a moment to give the stranger another gummy grin. "And it's already getting close to her bedtime!" With that, the green-tinged heroine took a seed from one of the pouches on her belt and tossed it to the ground. In moments, a giant, flat flower was growing beneath them, raising them like a platform. "Don't be afraid," Fleur thought to add as they were surrounded by blossoms and the overwhelming scent of hollyhocks filled the air. In moments, they were engulfed. Whiplash saw green light, smelled the strong scent of pine needles... And suddenly they were elsewhere, standing on another patch of grass in a place that definitely wasn't Freedom City. They were next to a cozy looking cottage with walls that seemed oddly irregular in the darkness and crystalline windows that beamed greenish light through leafy curtains. Around them were a few other similar buildings, some with lights and some without, but this was definitely the biggest. Beyond the little clearing it wasn't city that rose up, but a massive forest. It was very quiet, and the air smelled of dead autumn leaves instead of exhaust. "Say goodnight, Baybee," Fleur encouraged the giant juvenile bee. "Beeatriz and the others are going to be worried about you."
  6. Koshiro was devoting most of his attention to planning the transportation device, bigger and stronger than anything he'd tried to build before, but theoretically possible with Corbin's help. The hard light construct underneath would bolster the paper structure and let it hold its integrity longer. Unless it started raining or a hard wind kicked up, it seemed like it should work fine. That wasn't quite the level of certainty he wanted, but at least it was just a simulation. He looked over at Bonda, taking a moment to process the question. "Oh, the waterbomb? I dunno, till I take it apart or somebody manages to rip through it. It's pretty strong. Uh, don't worry," he added, "there's a hole in the bottom so he can breathe and stuff."
  7. "I'm glad you remembered that much, anyway," Fleur told the truck-sized insect with affectionate exasperation. "You obviously forgot the part about not wandering in the city by yourself, especially after dark!" While Fleur addressed the bee, the human baby, dressed up for the weather in a puffy snowsuit and a hand-knitted flower hat, regarded Whiplash with great interest. She looked to be about six months old, chubby and healthy, and with wisps of green hair like her mother's peeping from under the cap. "You're lucky a nice hero found you," Fleur told Baybee, then turned her attention to Whiplash again. "Super-Bee's family lives on Sanctuary, with me. I bring her here for school and take her home again. I really appreciate you taking the time to help her make it back here. Would you like a cup of coffee?" she asked. "It's getting so doggone cold and it's only November!"
  8. Fleur de Joie waved to the pair as they descended, a worried look on her face that didn't fade until they were safely on the ground. "Baybee!" she called, hastening towards the pair. "Where have you been? I was so worried! I called the school twice looking for you. I almost called out the League!" she scolded with the affectionate anger of somebody's mother. The maternal tone was obviously fitting, since despite wearing her familiar green and brown hero uniform, the heroine was balancing a giggling baby on her hip. She switched gears when she noticed the new face who'd appeared alongside her errant charge, offering Whiplash a friendly smile and, after juggling the baby to her other arm, a gloved hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you," she said cheerfully. "I'm Fleur de Joie. Thank you so much for finding Bay... ah, Super-bee. She's new to the city and so curious, I suppose she was bound to get lost eventually." She paused for a moment, sorting through her extensive mental rolodex. "I don't think I've heard of you before," she admitted. "Are you new in town?"
  9. "That seems weird," Erin replied, scooting further under the trailer to see if she could spot any traces of whoever had planted the bomb. It was a tight fit, someone could've snagged clothing or left prints. "I thought Aryan Angel was pretty popular, or as much as you get when you're a crazy racist whackjob singer. She had a pretty good crowd tonight. Why would she let them disappear her when it would mean the end of her career? And you'd think she'd have to be in on it, or otherwise it'd be a lot simpler just to actually kill her, and with no superheroes in attendance to get in a fight and cause a big distraction."
  10. Erin smiled ruefully and stepped back from the door to let him in, taking the present he handed her. "No, I'm, ah, not doing too much today, kind of just taking it easy." She couldn't keep her face from flushing, but she did her best to act blase as she set the package down on the postage-stamp sized dinner table. "Go on and get yourself some coffee, it's on a timer in the kitchen," she told him. "I'm just gonna go, y'know, put some clothes on." She gestured vaguely at her bathrobe and escaped back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her before giving Trevor a rolled-eyes look that was half-amusement, half-exasperation. It wasn't an unfamiliar mix of emotions when dealing with Mark, but the reality warper always meant well.
  11. Despite having the day off, Erin had seriously considered going in to work that day. She'd been working very hard since taking the reins of security at HAX, and there was plenty more to be done. Group training was going slower than she'd expected. Even experienced security people weren't as thoroughly trained as the heroes at Claremont, a fact she'd sort of forgotten when setting her timeline. It might take some time, but she'd get them in shape. Today was a holiday, though, and it was her birthday... and she'd gotten a significantly better offer last night. When the knock on the door came, Erin sprang awake instantly, pushing the covers off her head and looking around. "Huh?" She sat up quickly, making Charlie jump to the relative safety of Trevor's chest with an indignant meow. "Sorry kitty, mailman must be here." Dragging a hand through her hair, she threw on her bathrobe and yawned as she made her way to the door. She looked through the peephole automatically and groaned. "Mark's here!" she called into the bedroom, considering it only fair warning before she opened the door.
  12. Electra

    The Lab

    If Protectron needs really fancy HQ stuff, he can always just visit a buddy. Miss A has three HQs these days and is babysitting a fourth, so there's plenty to choose from!
  13. "We can help you, Arleen," Miss A promised, her voice soothing. "I think it's very admirable how you've straightened out your life and the way you're raising your son to be a good man. The school I was telling you about, the one I'd like to see Melvin started at, is called the Nicholson School. It's a private academy for children with superhuman potential, whether that's physical or mental. The teachers there are very good, and I believe Melvin will blossom there, and that his behavioral problems will be solved when he's being challenged and stimulated appropriately." Miss A smiled and nodded at Bishop. "Go ahead and make the call," she told him. "It should be safe to bring him back here now." She turned back to Arleen. "The school believes that superpowered children need consistent and involved parental support, and that means having the parents close by. There is housing available near the school for school parents, housing that's secure and protected, patrolled by school security and monitored by superheroes. I can put excluders on your electronics to make sure nothing you don't want in your computer comes through. It's a safe place. We're going to put John in jail, but this way, you won't have to look over your shoulder, either."
  14. Miss Americana, who'd commandeered a flask of water from one of Terra King's subordinates, looked up from bathing the fallen woman's forehead. "Hold on one minute," she said, sounding disbelieving. "This whole incident, the tremors, the damage to the building, the giant beetle... all of this was you trying to impress her as you picked her up for a blind date? And you didn't mention any of it ahead of time? Didn't you stop to think that you'd be scaring the hell out of her and a lot of other innocent people?" She returned her attention to Rao as the doctor moaned softly. "Dr. Rao, can you hear me? It's Miss Americana. Don't worry, you're safe now."
  15. "Man, screw you," Koshiro snapped as the king raved, taking a piece of paper from his backpack. A quick series of deft folds quickly turned the flat sheet into an elongated hexagon with pleated sides. He held it to his lips, puffed out his cheeks, and blew into it, still glaring at the king. The waterbomb inflated, first to normal size and then much larger, shooting across the room to engulf the king and muffle his shrieks. The translucent prison made the monkey monarch into an absurd shadow puppet, pleasing Koshiro immensely. He turned back to Corbin. "Making something to hold so much weight would be tough," he said somewhat doubtfully, "but I could probably do it."
  16. Erin sniffed the air at Mark's statement, then jumped down off the steps and took a look under the trailer. It was dim and obscured by the same kind of smoke that was wafting off all the electrical equipment in the building, but through the haze she could make out a shape that wasn't supposed to be there. She could see wires and a dead LED timer, all connected to several ominous cylinders. "Hey, I think there's a bomb down here," she reported. "It looks like the EMP burst disarmed it, but it could've blown the trailer sky-high otherwise."
  17. The two teenagers actually waited for quite awhile before the last of their number managed to show up. Half an hour after they were scheduled to meet, Koshiro finally showed up, panting slightly, a tear in the leg of his pants. "Sorry I'm late," he muttered to the others. "Gotta find a better way off campus. Turns out the teachers sometimes don't leave till way later than I thought. And those hedges beyond the south wall are full of goddamned dagger thorns." He hitched up his backpack and looked up at the building. "Anyway, we're all here now, and we've still got enough time to look around. I think the easiest thing to do would be either for one of you to get in through some little hole and open this door, or for us to try the coal chute that's supposed to be along the south wall."
  18. Koshiro flinched when Kimber poked at his shoulder, then just looked uncomfortable when her hand passed harmlessly through. He'd been watching the conversation unfold from the back of the group, totally all right with letting the others explain exactly what the hell had happened. They had no more idea than he did, but at least they had more superhero technical terms to dress it up with. "Doesn't hurt," he told Kimber in an undertone. "Sage said she blocked the pain in my brain so I wouldn't feel it.That's screwed up itself, but least it doesn't hurt like hell anymore. Some kind of fancy school they've got here, huh?"
  19. Miss Americana raised an impressed eyebrow as Gaian Knight showed off his rock-rearranging prowess. Since it seemed to suit the new decor, she put a hand on his arm and allowed him to escort her down the stairs as though they were descending into a ballroom. When they reached the bottom, though, she frowned at the words of the subterranean monarch. "I'm a doctor," she said, taking another step forward and looking towards the fallen woman. "What did you do to her?" she demanded. Now that she'd actually seen Gaian Knight in action, she felt much more confident of their position here.
  20. "Keeping the king alive is stupid, Corbin," Koshiro pointed out, even as he followed his teammate. Even as he spoke, the paper armor that would give him some protection from attack began unfolding over his uniform. "What do you hope to gain by that besides more bloodshed? If the king's alive, the rebels can't win. Either they have to come after us and try to take you down, which would be suicide, or the king is going to rally his side and keep the war going longer." With the armor deployed, Koshiro crinkled slightly, but at least felt less naked heading into the fight. He continued the argument, even as he walked double-time just to keep up "You can maybe argue that the noncombatants are innocent even if they are part of the system and probably don't think twice about benefiting from it, but you damn well can't say that any of this blood is anywhere but on the king's hands or paws or whatever. He's the slaveowner, he's the one who's been using the whip and the noose as his weapons, whether or not he's willing to cower behind you now. He's not worthy of your help or your pity."
  21. Miss A nodded, still not looking entirely happy. "We'll try diplomacy first, but keep Citizen as our ace in the hole," she agreed. "Get as close as you can to the doctor," she instructed him, even as he began sinking into the floor. "If anything goes south, your mission is to protect her, all right?" With Sharl gone, she looked towards Gaian Knight. "Why don't we make a little production about appearing in front of them?" she suggested. "I've got a pretty face, but I think they'll be far more impressed with a little display of your power."
  22. "Social stability isn't worth crap if it's built on the backs of slaves," Koshiro shot back. "You think the gorillas don't rape and kill chimps? Until today, none of those chimps were combatants, and they couldn't even fight back. Revolutions cost in blood, and sometimes innocent people get hurt. You wouldn't have stopped the American revolution because the British governors had families, would you? And the worst that was happening to the Americans was that they had high taxes, they weren't being treated like subhuman property." Koshiro broke off when Sharl offered his idea. "Yeah, I guess you could do that," he agreed. "There's gotta be a place where they keep the women and children and old folks around here. We'll go there and make sure nobody does anything too bad, but otherwise we'll stay out of it."
  23. Wander glanced back at the fight, but the guys were doing a perfectly fine job. The leader was already down and the others didn't look like much of a threat. She could hop in if she was needed, but the bad feeling she was getting about the singer was too strong to ignore. She stepped into the trailer and crouched down to look at the pile of the carpet. It was certainly true that she didn't have half of Trevor's prowess at figuring these things out, but it definitely looked like Angel had gotten one step in the door, shut it behind her, and immediately disappeared. That scenario fit what Wander had seen, but It raised more questions than it answered. Aryan Angel had never been associated with having superpowers. If she had anything, surely her handlers would've broadcast that, seeing as how they were all super-excited about their genetics. Even so, it wasn't impossible that Aryan Angel had somehow set all this up herself, gotten Cannonade to get the League involved, recruited a bunch of halfwit villains to start a fight, and then gotten herself out of the way when things started. It seemed like a really complicated idea with an unclear payoff. Or maybe the fight was just a distraction, and someone had been waiting in here for Angel when she stepped in. Erin activated her comm again. "Midnight, can I switch off with you? I need you to see if you can trace some kind of superpowered transit out of this trailer. Somehow Aryan Angel has teleported or got taken out, and we should probably figure out where."
  24. I spend an HP to be inspired as to what might have happened to her.
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