Electra

The chair creaked ominously when Lance sat down, but it was sturdily built and did no more than complain. Fleur came to the table a few moments later with mugs of vegetable-laden soup in crockery mugs, tall glasses of milk, and a loaf of warm sourdough bread with butter and marmalade. Once all the food was set out, she sat down as well and began eating enthusiastically. "So tell me about what this project you're doing is, trying to meet people," she encouraged between bites.

"It's not big, but it's big enough for relaxing and having lunch with friends, and who really needs more space than that?" Fleur crossed the room to the kitchenette, where the soup was keeping warm on a hot plate. She gave it a stir, sniffing it. "This is ready, I think," she told him. "Go ahead and have a seat while I dish this up. Do you prefer milk, cola, tea, or apple juice?" Sure, perhaps this was a professional getting-to-know-you meeting, but all that could wait till food was served. She was starving!

She leaned back into the embrace, resting her hands over his with a small sigh of pleasure. It felt really good, which was a little surprising considering how touchy she was about anyone coming up behind her. She wasn't going to analyze it. They stood quietly for several minutes, comfortably silent, with none of the mounting pressure to speak that usually accompanied long conversational pauses. Finally, Erin spoke. "I figure most of the people down there won't ever know we saved them today. Most of the stuff we do, people are never gonna know about. But I think that's okay. It's good." Unconsciously she rubbed her fingers over his, then closed her hands over his as they rested at her waist. "They don't have to be afraid of the monsters, because we were there. That really is what I want to do with my life."

Erin resisted the urge to make a face at the idea of eating kiwi skin. She was, after all, trying to be grown-up tonight. "It's perfect," she told him with a nod for emphasis. "Sometimes going out and doing stuff is okay, sometimes it's fun, but it's always challenging. This... it's just right. It's just how I'd like to spend tonight, quietly, with you, doing something special. I'm glad everyone else understood." She looked out over the balcony again. "The fact that it's a really amazing quiet something special is a bonus." Standing up for a moment, she went to the balcony rail and put her hands on it, looking out over the city and the mountains and the sun that was now just a thin sliver of light on the horizon. She could leap over the rail right now and land totally unharmed a mile away, but that didn't make it any less awe-inspiring. "Look at all the lights," she murmured. "Think of all those people. It makes me feel good to see them."

"What a good idea!" Stesha said enthusiastically. "Beeatrizz, perhaps you and Ebeebeezzer or some of the others could help with that? He can build you some tunnels and rooms and you can tell him what size feels right to you. We'll work with your instincts, and then you'll be able to see how Gaian Knight builds, too!" She gestured to the edge of the bee meadow, and suddenly more coniferous trees were rising up, killing a little more of the wind as they filled out. "And maybe we can test them out for warmth, too."

After a short recess from the party, Miss A was back and ready for action, performing the tasks that she'd been brought along for in the first place. With a perfectly beautiful smile on her perfectly beautiful face, she stood close to yet another potential ArcheTech investor, an older man who seemed very pleased to have the undivided attention of such a lovely companion. She nodded along with whatever he was saying, and if she was bored or annoyed or would rather be home, there was no trace of it anywhere in her bearing. She did catch sight of the Doctor and his companion, giving Archeville a tiny nod as he drew nearer.

"No, we'll go this way." Fleur reached into her belt and pulled out a seed, tossing it to the ground. A marigold sprouted, one of the hardiest of the perennials, and began to bloom and grow. And grow, and grow, and grow. When the flower was the size of a door, it tilted forward to face them. Taking Victory's hand, she stepped foward, into and through the flower. Lance could feel the brush of petals against his face, then for a moment the whole world was full of green and the scent of fresh-cut grass. It was also a lot warmer. A second later, they stepped out, into what looked like a cozy little cottage built of of plants. The walls were leaves, green leaves studded here and there with fall foliage, and the roof was the same way. The floor was lush green grass, dotted here and there with area rugs, and the windows looked like some sort of organic crystal with green leaf shades. The furniture was more normal, a kitchen table and chairs, a little kitchenette in the corner, and a living room grouping gathered around a space heater that was keeping the whole place cozy. The air smelled of flowers (or perhaps that was just Fleur) and vegetable barley soup. "This is my place," Fleur told him with a smile, gesturing around. "Go ahead and toss your coat anywhere." She was practicing what she preached, tugging off hat, mittens, scarf and even her cowl as she warmed up.

Stesha hugged herself,growing a windbreak of trees on Gaian Knight's chunk of earth, just to keep from freezing. "It would be nice if they could all fit into one hive," she suggested, "maybe something a little lower and longer than what they've got now. I imagine they'll want some room for expansion, too. This area should be tectonically stable, and with Little Bay a mile away, they've got water, but not too much risk of flooding. The walls will have to be very thick, though. It's cold here in the winter!"

"It's harder to open flowers in this cold weather," Fleur explained with a smile, "much easier to coax the trees into other expressions." She shook his hand with her mittened one. "It's hard to believe it's only December. Was it this cold this time last year?" She shivered theatrically. "Well, let's not stand in the cold longer than we have to. I've got a big pot of soup and a loaf of fresh sourdough bread waiting for us. Are you ready?"

Rather than receiving a response through the phone, the oak tree he was standing next to suddenly grew a massive acorn, the size of a human being. It popped open to reveal a woman who was far more suitably dressed for the elements than he was. Fleur de Joie wore her trademark green tunic and pants and brown cowl and utility belt, but she'd also added winter gear for the occasion. Her sunny yelllow stocking cap covered her green hair and was pulled down almost to her domino mask, and was matched by gloves and puffy mittens. "Hello!" she said cheerfully, after a moment to get her bearings and spot him. "You must be Victory. It's so nice to meet you!"

"I'm sure it'll be something that's not too onerous," Miss A said with a smile, her equanimity completely restored now that the competition was over and the crown was won. "I'm more worried about what on earth all these women want with you and I." She chuckled, putting an arm through his companionably. "But like we told all of them, it's for a good cause. And who knows, if we're lucky, maybe we'll get a few good stories out of the fulfillment."

Stesha wiped her hands on a towel and hurried to the front door, smiling as she greeted the guest. "Hello, Quentin! I'm so glad you could come over tonight!" She took his hands and squeezed them, drawing him into the apartment. As might be expected, it was full of plants, for all it wasn't nearly as planty as her near-Earth headquarters. An open kitchen plan overlooked a dining room and the cozy living room, with pots of flowers and herbs and god-knew-what on every available surface. The air smelled of homemade lasagna and garlic bread. "Derrick, this is Quentin Quill, my professor this fall at the university, and a professional friend at my second job," Stesha said, making introductions. "Quentin, this is Derrick Lumins, my fiance. I'm sure you'll have so much in common, between hero work and physics. If your coat comes off, Derrick can take it for you, and I'll have supper on the table in just a few minutes."

Erin kept watching the water for a few moments, till she was sure that the squid wasn't merely regrouping. Turning, she leapt back to Trevor and the Night Cycle, checking both over for damage. They both seemed to be in acceptable condition still, much to her relief. "What the hell was that?" she asked Nereid, walking over closer to the Atlantean princess. "They looked like squid or something, but they acted like vampires. They had eyes like vampires."

"I like a lot of them," Erin replied, considering the fruit tray with some gravity. "I guess probably the kiwi," she decided at last. "If I had to pick just one. I used to take them and cut off the end, then scoop the inside out with a spoon and eat it, because I wasn't patient enough to peel it. I like that you can eat the whole inside and there's no core." Avoiding the imbe, she took some more kiwi, spearing the already peeled and cut pieces with her fork. "Did you know there's no official lottery in Dakana?" she asked, seemingly apropos of nothing. "I was going to buy a lottery ticket, sort of to celebrate what I'm legal to do now, but there isn't any. I'll have to wait till I'm back in Jersey. I'd get Mark to buy me one, but I think that would be cheating." She chuckled.

Erin looked over the plate of fruit. "Well, if you tell me which ones are the imbes, I'll make sure to avoid them. This is my only dress, so I'd better not ruin it." She took half a mango, something she could recognize, and got into the hot food as well by dishing up some fried plantains and one of whatever Trevor was eating. "I didn't realize the dust was useful. Probably could've run a flashlight for a year on what I showered off earlier." She shrugged philosophically over the missed opportunity. The food was amazingly good, as good tonight as last night's feast, and Erin thought it was almost a shame that she preferred concentrating on her tablemate to focusing on dinner. She could always do both, at least. "Which one's your favorite?" she asked him, gesturing to the tray.

Erin's mouth dropped slightly open for a moment before she laughed and shook her head. "Daka crystals really are the most useful substance on the planet. And they seem weirdly appropriate after the day we had." She took a couple of pineapple slices and kiwi stars off the tray, figuring that if there was some ceremony to be observed here, she didn't know what it was and Trevor wouldn't care. "So," she asked with a grin as she sampled the fruit, "do you get to take the crystals home now?"

"This makes up for a lot of missed birthdays," Erin murmured, inclining her head to rest her cheek against his. Her eyes stung for just a moment, but she wasn't going to let any sad memories intrude tonight. She was eighteen now, and this birthday was a celebration of her future, not a remembrance of her past. Smiling, she turned her head to look out over the balcony at the stunning sunset view. "I can definitely say I never expected to spend a birthday like this. It's funny how things work out."

Erin rested one hand on his shoulder and one on his waist as she kissed him back, relaxing as she rarely could around anyone else. The nerves slipped away as though they'd never been there at all. "Wow," she murmured with a smile. "I can't believe you arranged all this for me. It's beautiful." She looked over the table, where a beautiful tray of fresh fruit had pride of place, surrounded by all sorts of other delicacies, some she recognized, some not. She hadn't even known she was hungry, but it all looked too wonderful to resist. She cupped his cheek in one hand. "And you look great, too. You'd never know that four hours ago we were fighting to save the world... again. You didn't have to do all this."

The full-on view of the giant vampire squid was intimidating, especially up close and personal, but Erin had seen much worse. This was more icky than truly scary. That didn't mean it wasn't very dangerous, especially to the heroes all around her. Spinning her bat, she raced towards it and ran straight up one tentacle, all the way up to the giant body and ferocious beak. Winding up like she was about to hit a home run, she smashed the creature on each side of its beak in a flurry of blows almost too fast to make out, then leapt away, her shoes and legs covered with slippery slime.

Erin is going to launch a full All-Out Power Attack versus the mama squid, using her bat. This will drop her Defense to 10, keep her attack at 15, and up her potential before-autofire damage to DC 35. She rolls a 30. DC 40 Toughness save. Eh, what the hell, her defense for next round is totally shot already, let's spend an HP to surge. And a 31. DC 40 again. With her move action, she's gonna get the hell out of tentacle's reach of that thing before it clobbers her.

"Thank you," Fleur said graciously, accepting a hand to step up onto his floating platform. "The bees feel sorry for me because I can't fly, but I do all right for myself most of the time." She laughed as they rose into the air, looking around. "I do think sometimes that it would be nice, though. Riding along is so much fun, I can only imagine what it would be like to actually fly on my own." She seemed entirely unconcerned about going into the lair of the giant bees. Perhaps she hadn't thought hard enough yet about giant bee honey.

"Gaian Knight is my colleague," Fleur said cheerfully, patting Beatrizz on her giant fuzzy head. "I'm sorry to hear the tunnels haven't gone so well, but I think we have an answer for you. Gaian Knight is an earth controller, he is going to help you build a home that is big and thick enough to keep you all warm. He would like to speak with you and the Queen about how it needs to be built, and what your needs are, now and in the future. Stesha was no bee expert, but she wouldn't be surprised if spring brought the humming of little (relatively speaking) wings to the giant beehive. She caught Gaian Knights discomfiture and realized the source after a moment. "Only a few of them breathe fire," she murmured in his ear. "Don't mention it, it's considered rude."

There wasn't a lot that made Erin nervous these days. Battles with epic foes were old hat, and even being called into the headmaster's office was more a cause for dull dread than nerves. But her heart was beating a little faster than usual this evening as she showered off a volcano's worth of ash and sweat and slipped on the dress that Alex had convinced her to buy herself for her birthday. It wasn't anywhere near as fancy as the one Frank had made her, but the navy blue dress with its deep (but not too deep!) neckline and asymmetrical hemline had fit well on her body and in her budget. It had managed to avoid making her look like a furless Yeti in a dress, which was a very important consideration. It looked plain until she stepped under lights, where the little sparklies sewn into the fabric began to shine, and matched the earrings she already owned. She didn't have a curling iron, but she brushed her hair flat and pinned it back, and even put on makeup for the occasion. She looked, she decided, almost like a real grown-up. Following the instructions she'd gotten from Trevor, she made her way silently on flat shoes through the corridors of the palace, wondering what exactly he was up to. If this were a television show, he'd probably be out with his motorcycle, wondering why she'd gotten dressed up to go patrolling in the city. She wasn't too worried about that, though. Tonight was a special occasion.

Already poised for flight, Erin leapt off the motorcycle and over onto the dock, landing next to the now openly-bleeding Fusion. "Stay close!" she ordered the octopus woman. "I'll keep them away!" She was as good as her word, using bat and feet and body to clear the docks, smashing, sweeping, and stomping. She was momentarily surprised when the first one she stomped on poofed away into nothingness, but that just made things easier and less messy. She opened up a space around Fusion and worked her way outward, destroying scores of the little monsters in a matter of seconds.

Erin is going to jump off the bike and leap over to Fusion, then start Takedown attacking all the little beasties, starting with the ones surrounding and biting Fusion, and then working her way out as far as she can go. She's taking 10 and doing full power attacks, but 20 hits, so she's good. I will leave it to ref discretion what percentage of the swarm she can take down.