Electra
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Danica spent a few moments searching for words to say, probably anything other than "Well, that's about what I would guess JT Cahill would do if any of his kids stepped out of line," because that was more unkind than even her current level of anger called for. Lulu's comment was enough to divert her momentarily from her own overwhelmingly mixed feelings about Judy and Ashley's deception. "Oh wow," she said, her eyes rounding, "that must've been crazy when Leroy found out. I mean, what did he say? When did you tell him?"
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"They're just birds, you guys!" Danica tried to yell above the noise. "Just get where they can't poop on you, come on!" Even so, she expanded her shell into something the size of a small tent and stepped out of it so Judy or anyone else could race to cover inside. "Whatever you did to them, just say you're sorry!" she advised at the top of her lungs. The noise was deafening but there was no damage yet, certainly not to Danica (which often did not mean anything) but also not to anybody she could still see. "They've got really short memories, they'll go awa-" She cut off as the massive deep voice seemed to come from everywhere all at once, reverberating in her sternum and sloshing through her stomach as it went. And then... everything just went crazy. Danica screamed and dropped to the ground, covering her head as debris rained everywhere.
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Danica looked at the picture again, then back at Judy and Ashley, furrowing her brow. "You're the president's kid?" she repeated. "But he's such a-" She broke off from that thought and came at it from a different angle. "Why would you lie about who you are?" she asked instead. "The President doesn't put his family in hiding while he's in office, they get like, secret service protection and stuff. Like in First Kid! You're acting like you're in witness protection or something." She turned to Ashley. "You're not Judy's sister, are you." Her voice was suddenly flat. "You're some kind of ringer." She looked closer, straight into Ashley's face. "You're some kind of grownup ringer." It was a clear accusation.
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Danica stared at Lulu, but couldn't seem to make whatever connection was blowing the other girl's mind. "I don't understand," she admitted. "This is the President's family... are you trying to impersonate Jaycee Cahill?" She studied Judy, then the picture. "I mean, there's a strong resemblance, especially in that dress, but why?" She shook her head. "And what about Ashley, she doesn't look anything like Jaybee!" She set down the picture and looked at them both. "If you guys are in some kind of trouble, we can definitely help you, but I'm not sure this is the answer. I think it might be pretty illegal, actually."
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Danica took a cookie and sat down in one of the desk chairs, looking curious but not alarmed. "Um, you've told us some of this story," she ventured gamely. "About your bad world and how you had to leave everything behind. I just figured it probably hurt too much to talk about." She nibbled the edge of the cookie. "But anything you want to tell us, you know we're here for you. Is it something dangerous? Are we going to need to keep it secret from the teachers too?" Her tone suggested she had no real problems with the idea.
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"Hi guys!" Danica said cheerfully from the doorway, parking her Segway and climbing off with her usual slow deliberation. She was bundled up extremely well against the cold, even indoors she wore a fuzzy blue sweater with a turtleneck beneath, sturdy corduroy pants and fingerless gloves. "My mom baked me cookies, I brought some... oh, and you've all got Bibles out. Is this Bible study?" She looked to be momentarily on the back foot. "Um, it's really nice of you to invite me, but I'm sort of happily agnostic right now, with the whole tortoise deity thing..."
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Danica surreptitiously motioned to Astrid, trying to encourage her back into the shell before she, too, got caught in the mind control web. Honestly Danica wasn't sure if being in a pocket dimension would provide protection against mental powers (and how did she know Mrs. Johansen was a psychic when she felt like she hadn't a few minutes ago? That was strange...) but it was the best idea she had. She absolutely needed to get Mia, but not while the teacher's attention was on her. Instead, she focused on Leroy. "Hey buddy, I see you squirming," she told him with quiet cheer, "let's hit the potty." Tugging him to his feet, she pulled him a little ways from the circle, out of the teacher's direct line of sight. "You guys need to get in my shell, all right?" she whispered. "Go all the way in, through the door, and close it behind you. The others will come soon."
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Danica, who had slept through the whole nighttime adventure, was delighted to finally get an up close look at some birds who wouldn't fly away no matter how long it took her to walk over to them. She restrained the urge to feed them anything, knowing that would only end in swarms and tears and general poopiness all over the campsite that was already well-festooned. "So what are we doing today?" she asked the group in general. "Did you guys find any more trash or treasures on the beach?"
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Paige is going to use her Mind Reading to try and follow Heather home. She gets a 27 on the power check. If that is not enough I will spend HP to roll again. I'm going to ask for an HP for Paige's "Den Mother" complication, since Heather has threatened her family.
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Rage was a fine black mist in Paige's mind, but she had decades of experience in turning her emotions to productive ends. If that bitch wanted to threaten her family, Paige would be more than happy to make things very, very personal for Heather. Images of what her father had done to Jump with his powers haunted the back of her consciousness, the idea of it happening to Will or Holly or Bryant... Paige shoved it down and concentrated on honing all her anger into a blade she could shove deep into Heather's skull- Her attention was fully diverted by burst of precognition. She could see the devices above the hearts of each kid, the way they were about to engage and pull them away, the way Heather would win. Letting go of the blade, she spread her power like fingers, throwing a tendril at each teenager and grabbing hold of the little gadgets. In a moment, they were pulled clear of their bearers and hanging in the air like strange bubbles in front of Paige.
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Danica blew out a relieved breath and stepped away from her shell. Astrid was safe in the shell, now she just needed the other ones in there too, the sooner the better. Her plan got fuzzy after that, but she'd think of something. Her brain moved a lot faster than her legs, fortunately. When Mia came over, Danica crouched down and put her hands on her tiny roommate's shoulders. "I'm going to take care of this, I promise," she murmured, just loud enough for Mia to hear. "I need you to be very brave right now and help me get the others into my shell. You'll all be safe there and I can get you out of here. Everything will be okay."
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All right fine, you win this one, house! :argh: But I'll get you next time!
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Danica fails on the initial roll, but I'm spending an HP. She succeeds on the reroll. I will leave it up to you to decide if her "Little Turtle Girl" complication is kicking in right now, since Danica is still child enough that being a mom would feel very unnatural to her even in an adult body.
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Danica wasn't fast, but she was close, close enough that she managed to pick up the shrieking Astrid before Mrs. Johansen reached them. "Hey, what a bummer" she murmured sympathetically, "you got an ouch! Can I see?" She turned her body to place herself between small Astrid and the teacher. "I know it hurts," she whispered under the whimpering, "but try to concentrate a second. I think I need to get you guys out of here. I'm gonna take off my shell and put it in the corner here. Can you get the others to go into it?" Even as she spoke, she was wriggling free of her shell, a very odd looking motion as the otherwise rigid front plates shifted and moved to allow her to step out. Being free of the shell made holding children a lot easier, so it even made some sense. Louder, she went on "I think you'll be okay, you just need a good hug for quick healing!" She squeezed Astrid, intending just a quick performance to throw off the "teacher," but froze for a moment as the world took a sudden, dizzying shift. Danica nearly stumbled, but her grip on the little girl never faltered for a moment. "Quickly, baby," she encouraged in a whisper. "Into the shell, get Mia too." Setting the girl down, Danica turned back to Mrs. Johansen, coincidentally stepping right into her path and blocking her way. "All good now!" she said with a bright, fake smile. "Circle time!"
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Being carried into the electroshock room was quite upsetting, partly because it was scary and partly because it was so surprising that it actually hurt when the orderlies grabbed her arms! For Danica, physical pain was mainly an observed phenomenon, and for something as mundane as a pair of human hands to bruise her... it didn't make sense! It was definitely the unpleasant counterpoint to being able to run. And the electroshock, of course. But that didn't hurt. When she opened her eyes, it took a minute to get her bearings. The room was familiar, it was obviously the Pre-k classroom at Nicholson, and the kids were having a field day! The teacher was trying to get the kids to move from naptime to circle time in an orderly fashion, but she was no Mrs. Watson, who'd run the pre-k with a velvet-gloved iron fist. Danica actually didn't know who the teacher was, which was weird because she tried to keep up... Her train of thought was derailed when a little boy slammed into her leg, rocking her back painlessly onto her heels. "Leroy?" she asked in disbelief as the tiny (and adorable!) dragon puppy jumped on the child. "Is that you? How are you so little?" Another look around let her pick out other familiar-unfamiliar faces. "What's going on now?" Looking down at herself, Danica noticed the badge on a lanyard around her neck. She picked it up and looked at the photo. It was her mom... no, it was _her_, but her as a grownup, with weird hair and tired eyes and little wrinklies at the edges of her lips and nose. It also gave her name and listed her as "Paraeducator, Pre-K." "Freaky," she said, then darted over to try and keep Lulu from bringing the bookshelf down on herself.
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And you are so dramatic, Paige sent to Richard with a quick burst of affection before concentrating on what was right in front of her. She let the eldritch energies sink back into her skin and wiped away the blood still trickling from her nose. In her uniform she was a recognizable figure to anybody who watched the Discovery Channel, despite being a little more rumpled than usual. She walked towards Louis and his sister, using her telekinesis to gently deposit Roadkill on the ground next to them. Up close it would be easier to tell that the malicious little psychopath was still breathing and not that much worse for wear. "We don't want to fight with you," she told the kids. "Rachel asked us for help. We know that your mom is influencing you with her powers, making you feel things and do things you wouldn't otherwise do. I know what it's like to feel like your mind isn't your own." Paige continued walking forward, slowly and evenly, her body relaxed and her hands open at her sides, completely nonthreatening. "I know how scary it is, and how helpless it makes you feel. My father used to treat my siblings and I the same way when I was growing up. I think he really loved us, but he didn't want us to make any decision he didn't think was the right one. Eventually that turned into 'any decision at all.' We always had to obey him, even when we tried not to. For a long time, it was like we couldn't be our own people." She stopped just a couple yards away, well out of arm's reach, but certainly within blast radius. "We believe your mother is heading in that direction, and you shouldn't have to live that way. We don't want to hurt her either, but she can't keep treating people the way she does. We're going to do our best to stop her without anybody getting seriously hurt, and that's going to be easier if you're not fighting us at the same time. Either way, we'll all do our best to protect you."
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Danica had spent the afternoon at camp, stretched out on top of her own shell and napping like a cat in the sun, with occasional breaks to lift her binoculars and look at some birds. She couldn't keep up with hikers or waders, but she was more than happy to just enjoy herself for the day and then hang out with everyone once they got back. "You were gone all day and the best thing you saw was a beer can?" she asked with obvious disappointment. "Don't you even have pictures of birds?" She slid off her shell and back inside it, then donned the hat Judy'd given her as a hedge against the evening chill. "Dimensional travelers love worlds like this, and it's on file with the Freedom League, right? Somebody else probably made a day trip a long time ago."
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Danica was having an amazing time running in the grass, seeing the world move past as though she were on the Segway, but with her own two feet powering her for once. It took her a minute to get used to the slightly ungainly lope that her leg required, but it really wasn't too bad! She wondered if she could do other things easily now, catch a ball, maybe, or play a video game. She should try that... Her thoughts were derailed when she saw the orderlies ganging up on Astrid and hurting her. Danica barely knew Astrid, but she was Mia's friend and teammate, so that meant she was good, and she was at Claremont so that made her a hero, and one didn't stand by and watch while good heroes were being attacked. Turning her run in a new direction, Danica raced back towards the others and jumped on the back of the orderly with the needle. It was surprisingly easy without the shell! Blunt human teeth were not nearly as useful as a spectral beak for getting one's point across, but she took a go at it anyway, sinking her teeth into his shoulder in the hopes he'd release Astrid that much quicker.
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Danica looked around the yard for a minute, her eyes wide. She bounced on her heels. "Wow, I feel light!" She bounced again, her eyes going almost comically wide this time. "Wow, I feel fast!" She took a few steps, stumbling a little on her left leg but still moving nearly twice her normal creeping pace. "Mia, look how fast I am!" She ran around the courtyard, laughing and pumping her arms in a very ungainly sort of run and completely ignoring the arrival of the stranger. "This is so crazy!"
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Danica grinned as she rolled up the new ramp, pleased enough about being able to get in that she was more than ready to play along with whatever the house had to offer. "It looks spooky to me!" she told the others, clearly for the benefit of the employee, and gave a nearly-convincing little scream as her head brushed one of the fake cobwebs. "If everybody's already used the bathroom, I guess we're ready to go in!" Leaving the light on her Segway flipped off to increase the ambiance, she rolled towards the cheap--looking door.
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It took an effort for Paige to shake off the effects of whatever Liteshow had hit her with, but she hadn't been a hero for the better part of four decades for nothing. Also, nearly getting punched in the face by a crazed young speedster was bracing, to say the least. She felt Roadkill bounce off her shields and peel away with just a tiny bit of sticky psychic webbing clinging to her aura like spidersilk. Paige concentrated on that tenuous connection, rolling it through her mind, tasting it, testing it, then using it as a guide for the thick lasso of psychic energy she tossed around the rogue speedster. Without twitching a muscle, and without seeming to notice the trickles of black energy creeping over her hands, Paige yanked on the lasso and suddenly Roadkill was flying. She made a beautiful, well-controlled arc away from Fast-Forward and straight into the side of the house with a sickening crunch and sizzle. Paige had not been expecting the sizzle, but she wasn't going to argue with a helpful forcefield. She kept hold of Roadkill anyway, watching to see what she'd do next.
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Danica was pleased with the division of labor since it was much easier for her to dig a trench than try to put up a tent (and lord knew she'd tried last year! She wondered if that was the reason Mr. Jorgenson had divided them up this year). Sitting on top of her shell like a lizard sunning on a rock, she commanded a small army of ghost turtles as they dug out a latrine trench, each one taking a bite from the ground and carrying it over to a dirt pile to spit out. It took a little while, and the edges were a bit raggedy, but it was just as deep and wide as in the wilderness camping pamphlet. For the rest of the evening she was content to wander near the camp, her slow speed no impediment when she wasn't trying to keep up with a group. It was so beautiful here, and so peaceful, she thought she could spend a year here and never get tired of it. Though to be honest, she'd probably get pretty tired of the latrine eventually. When dinner and singing time were over, she parked her shell close to the fire, so as not to take up unnecessary room in a tent, and climbed in for a good night's sleep.
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Okay, Paige will spend the HP she got from Roadkill to shake the daze, then grab Roadkill with her Move Object and throw her into the side of the house. Since it's Perception based, I don't think she needs an attack roll versus Roadkill, though she will need to make a contested grapple check, and I might need to roll to hit the house, though I'm guessing the DC to hit the house from like 20 feet away is probably not super high. First grapple check was actually very terrible, a 28, if it is not good enough I will spend an HP to reroll. AP: Move Object 12 (Entropokinesis/Telekinesis; Str 60, Hvy Load 48 tons; Extra: Range [Perception]; PFs: Precise, Split Attack, Subtle)) {39/40}
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Danica took the bottle with great curiosity, peering down the neck before pulling off her beak and taking a quick drink. The yuck face she made was impressive, and only made her not-scary costume more adorable. "I appreciate your hospitality, Mia, but that tastes like the time I left a Capri Sun open in the backyard all day and then tried to drink it." She passed the bottle back to her roommate, then ducked her head and arms into her shell, digging around till she came out with a can of Mountain Dew to wash the taste out of her mouth. After another moment's thought, she reached in, grabbed a small LED headlamp, and mounted it to the handlebar of her Segway. "Okay, I'm ready now!"
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Danica eased back another couple of steps so that she was safely in her room, relaxing when the new guy did not follow. He definitely felt weird, but maybe it was one of his powers. Some people had powers that were more hindrance than help a lot of times, for example, a large shell that made one twice as slow as all one's classmates, and you couldn't hold that against them. All the same, she wasn't totally eager to engage. The new girl provided a distraction, at least. "Hi!" Danica said, with a wave that could also have encompassed Heroditus. "Nice to meet you! Uh, are you okay?"