Electra

"Picking a fight isn't usually a good idea, especially when you don't know how to fight," Erin nodded sagely. "That's another thing you can learn here, if you want to. Some kids just come here to learn how to control their powers, and then they go off to college and get jobs or whatever. But if you want, and if you're willing to work really hard, they'll train you to be a superhero, and use your powers for that. Is that what you plan on doing?"

Erin picked up the clock and examined it, noting it seemed to be back in working order, even if it was blinking an obstinate 12:00, 12:00, 12:00 after having its power cut off. She reset it from the computer clock, rather grateful that Evander hadn't chosen to demonstate on her netbook. "That could be useful, especially if you can do it permanently. Search and rescue type deals especially. We get them sometimes, and being able to turn debris into air or whatever would be a big asset."

Miss American stopped for a moment when Freebooter arrived, a look that was half-stunned, half-amused playing across her perfect face. "Well Freebooter, I didn't expect to see you at a ninja gathering," she drawled teasingly. "I thought you were natural enemies." Keeping one eye on the ball, for all she was distracted by this old familiar face, she shot off another laser barrage that knocked out the ninjas going for the blade, as well as most of the ones fighting Jack. The swordsman had to dodge the blast himself, but luckily, he was a quick one. Keeping her post on Grasscutter's case, she looked around for the next wave of attack.

Spending HP to clear fatigue. Since she hasn't switched her array yet, she can continue using her area blast power, and she will! Aimed primarily at 22-24, she will also try and catch as many as she can of 6-13 in the laser bath. Attack Roll is a 30.

"It's polite to ask people before you do things like that," Erin reproved Evander mildly. Even so, she reached out to pick up the now-nonfunctional alarm clock, turning it over in her hands. "Heavy," she noted, then set it back down and looked over at his readied stance. "Does it only stay like that for as long as you're concentrating on it?" she asked. "Or am I going to have to melt this down and sell it to buy Alex a new clock?"

"It probably wouldn't break his heart to see Singularity taken off world," Erin acknowledged, "but he might be figuring that we owe him twice if we go back. Last time he basically helped us for free, and we said we'd try to help him out in the future. So we need something else." She frowned thoughtfully, considering and dismissing ideas. "It should be something we can leave there," she figured aloud, "something that will help after we're gone."

Erin chuckled. "It's technically against the rules," she acknowledged, "but as long as people aren't getting into funny business, it's not really enforced. And even if they do, the RA will just send you back to your own floor. Typically you actually have to do something wrong to get in trouble, so just don't do that." Oliver, deciding that introductions were going well enough, deserted his new friend to hop up and make himself comfortable on Erin's lap. She scratched his ears and made him purr. "So what do you do?" she asked Evander with simple curiosity. "What brings you here?"

"No, it's okay, just trying to get my homework done." She shoved aside the little netbook and stretched, revealing very well-defined arm muscles, then finally gave Evander a friendly-enough smile. "My name's Erin. I see you already met my cat. Oliver likes meeting new people, and then he likes me to meet them too. You living downstairs?" she asked. She noticed Rift beyond the doorway and gave him a half-wave. "Hey Warren, Oliver pick you up too?"

"Come in," called a somewhat distracted voice from inside the room. The door swung open to reveal an older teenage girl, probably a senior, with auburn hair and faded-looking jeans and t-shirt for the local baseball team. She was sitting at her desk and concentrating on whatever she was doing on the computer, and had obviously reached out an arm to open the door without really paying attention. After a moment, she turned to look and her focus suddenly sharpened. "Who are you?" she asked, her brow furrowing. Oliver stepped into the doorway and rubbed up against Evander's leg. Erin sighed. "Oh great, you really did bring one home this time, didn't you?" she asked the cat.

Oliver stopped near the end of the hallway, in front of a plain wooden door with a whiteboard tacked to it, much like most of the rooms in the hall. There were no messages on this one, though it bore signs of long use, and the door was otherwise entirely unremarkable. The cat sat down just to one side of the door and wrapped his tail around his legs, waiting patiently for the boys to catch up and take some action.

Oliver sauntered over as Rift appeared, coiling for a moment around the other student's legs companionably before returning his attention to Evander. Looking mildly disgusted at the new guy laying on the floor, he gave Evander a headbutt in the shoulder to encourage him back to his feet, then headed down the corridor once more. Surprisingly, no one appeared to have heard the quiet commotion in the hallway yet.

Erin took a bare moment to make sure that the Tiger was really down for the count, then leapt off the platform and gave her Mark a hug that was pure relief. "Oh god, we did it. It's all going to be okay again!" The embrace was enough to knock the breath from her boyfriend, but even in the emotional moment, she was well-trained enough not to crack any ribs. She gave him an enthusiastic kiss as well, threading her fingers through his sandy hair and bringing his mouth down to hers. On the other side of the platform, Erin performed the same check on Overshadow, who would be visiting neverland for a little while longer, then hopped down off the platform as well. She found her Trevor and put a hand on his arm, looking around at the massive clockwork mechanism. "That was good work," she told him, "with Negator. We all did good work." The two Erins, still only a couple of yards apart, looked at each other once the initial flush of victory had died off. Erin looked at Erin, and Erin looked at Erin, sizing each other up. Finally they spoke, exactly in unision. "You know,I see what you see in him, but really..." They clammed up in unison as well, both of them flushing.

The orange cat sauntered out the door casually, stepping into the hallway as though he were the owner of the building. Pretty much like a typical cat, really. He headed down the hall and up the stairs another flight, casting the occasional look over his shoulder to make sure Evander was following. Evidently Oliver was a regular around here, for although a few students acknowledged his passing, no one seemed surprised to see the cat. On the third floor, Oliver headed across the floor to the other wing of the building, where the girls' dorm rooms were. Evander knew from the intro packet he'd been given that students weren't allowed in the opposite sex dormitory wings, but that restriction didn't seem to bother the cat, who sailed through the open door and headed down the hallway.

Oliver purred louder, boofing Evander's hand with his head appreciatively, then got up from the bed and hopped down. He went to the door and waited, looking over his shoulder and obviously expecting the human to come over and make himself useful. It was possible that Oliver had been somewhere in the room when Evander had entered, and now needed assistance to get out. It certainly made more sense than most other explanations for the locked-door cat mystery.

Erin let out a breath she hadn't been fully conscious of holding, then went to sit down next to him. "I already know that part," she told him, ducking her head to avoid bumping it on Alex's bunk. "I saved Supercape and his lab from an attack by the Power Pack a couple months ago. He can teleport to any dimesion he wants to, and he told me I could call in my marker whenever I needed to. Getting there is the easy part, it's getting in and getting back again that's the tricky part. We can't count on Alex's counterpart being conveniently gone again, and she's going to be the biggest threat we're facing, followed by Hex." She thought for a minute. "That Talos might help us, but we'd have to do something to help him first."

Some of the refugees went off a little way with Stesha, presumably to take advantage of her healing talents, while the rest of them looked at each other as though trying to decide on a spokesman. Finally a man who looked to be a hard-used thirty or so stepped forward. "We need some more clothes," he said, after clearing his throat awkwardly. "And shoes. The little 'uns, they got no shoes." From the looks of it, most of the people didn't have much in the way of shoes, but the children were all wearing oversized sweat socks that looked new in lieu of shoes at all. "And, uh, blankets and stuff. Miss Fleur, her place is nice, but it still gets cold when the power goes out. We kin trade," he added, half-defiantly, "We have stuff. Artifacts, 'n folks with skills, can make stuff for you, or dig up good stuff in the ruins." Despite their reduced circumstances, it was obvious that the ragtag group had some pride.

The reception was not far from the church, which made it an easy trip even for those who did not bring cars. Set on the second floor of a womens' club, the two-story ballroom was as flower-bedecked and elegant as the church had been, but with more room to move around. Tables full of snacks and punch had already been set up, and a DJ was playing fun pre-event music next to the dance floor. Seats were assigned at the many round white tables, and the Freedom City contingent found themselves occupying two tables near the front, with a good view of the head table. It wasn't long before the guests had all arrived, and the wedding party itself was next! The DJ introduced the whole party one at a time by name as they entered, and Mark was certain that the younger bridesmaid winked at him as she passed by his table on the way to the head table. Derrick and Stesha were last, of course, and greeted by cheers and applause. Derrick didn't look like he'd stopped blushing since the end of the ceremony, but they both seemed to be having a very good time. There was a buffet dinner set up and a limited bar, and all the makings of an excellent party.

"NIZZE MOVEZZ, BIPED," the giant bee allowed, slowing to a more sedate cruising speed as they approached the hive once again. "MAYBEE YOU CAN HANG WITH UZZ AFTER ALL." They caught up with Beeatriz, who seemed to be shaking her head, and Stesha, who was looking a little pale after watching the show. "LET'ZZ GO INZZIDE NOW, AND NO MORE ZZHOWING OFF," Beeatriz said firmly, and the foursome took off into the giant warren of tunnels that made up the hive. They had to go single file, but even so the sight was impressive. The interior of the hive was lit with luminescent rocks, casting just enough of a glow that the humans could see, for all that the bees needed no such help. The air was full of a distant buzzing, and smelled of flowers and pollen. It was also noticeably warmer in here than outside.

"Fighting is scary, and a little bit of fear is healthy," Stesha told her encouragingly. "But I'm sure as you get more practice, you'll learn to overcome most of it. I was pretty terrified every time I got into a fight for the first six or seven months of hero work, but it gets a lot better. Let me drop you off." She reached out and touched Lady Winter's hand, just brushing the icy cold skin, and an instant of green later, they were back where they'd started. "It was nice talking to you. I'll be in touch as soon as I find out anything."

The cat purred, stretching again, then settling into a comfortable meatloaf-shape with his tail wrapped around his back feet and his front legs tucked under him. Petting the cat made Evander feel oddly comforted, a strange sense of relaxation despite the long day and unfamiliar surroundings. The copper collar tag identified the cat as "Oliver," and listed a phone number, with the address of the school embossed on the back.

Noticing the regard, the cat gave Evander a level look, seeming to take the young man's measure in a way that seemed somehow more cognizant than the typical feline. He then hopped up onto the bed next to the student as though he owned the place. With a yawn that showed plenty of sharp white teeth, the cat stretched luxuriantly and made himself comfy on the standard-issue bedding. He butted Evander's hand imperiously, as though to ask why it was taking so long for the petting to commence.

Erin and Oliver are usually willing to make the acquaintance of newbies. ;)

Erin rubbed a hand over her face. "It's something I've been working on in therapy, but it's maybe been the hardest thing to get past. I got superpowers, but I didn't save anyone. Not my mom, not Megan, not even the other survivors that might have been around somewhere on my world. The only person I saved was myself. And when that other Erin and I met up, all I could think of was how hard it would be to try and do anything with her, and how I didn't want anybody on Prime to see me like that. So I didn't even try." She looked back at Trevor finally, troubled but resolute. "I think I need to go back and make it right."

"You don't just pop over to France during breakfast, Mark," Erin pointed out, still doing justice to her own meal. "It's not special if you do it like that. You've got to plan and look forward to it and stuff first. Plus, it'd be kinda rude to Eve's family." She looked over automatically when Jill's fork clattered, but nothing seemed to be wrong, so she went back to eating. It was a truly excellent breakfast, a few big steps up from the decent meals served in the school cafeteria.

"It hurts to watch," Erin admitted softly, still looking at the closed blank back of the computer. "Because I think she is me, closer than the Erin in this world, closer than the ones we've met in our travels. I watch her and it's sometimes like watching replay of my own training sessions. I look at her and know what she's thinking, why she's doing what she does, even if it's irrational. She's what I could have been, if one thing had changed at the wrong time." She took a deep breath. "I saw that white box, and I saw where they kept her, and what they did. And I could see in her face in that office when she decided she was going to die instead of go back. But we ruined even that for her. Mark healed the bastard who was going to put her back in the box. I'm supposed to be a hero, but I didn't do anything."