Electra

"Nice to meet you, Pharos. And it's no problem, my flower will spit him out whenever I want him, or I can transport him through plants," she explained. "When I do go to the police station, I usually just have them take the plant from the receptionist's desk into a holding cell and spit the criminal out there. Saves on the slip between cup and lip, you know?" she added with a chuckle. "If you want to take him into custody, I can hork him up whenever you're ready. But I just have to ask, what's a guy with sunlight powers doing patrolling in the middle of the night?"

Stesha was startled for a moment at the ghost's ability to handle physical objects, but she supposed it couldn't do much babywatching without at least some physical presence. "Thank you," she told the ghost, putting the blanket over her arm and taking the bottle. "I bet this is just what he needs to feel better." The bottle was warm and a little damp, like it had just come out of the warmer, so she carried it and Jack Junior back to the couch and gave him the bottle while she waited for his parents to return.

Fleur watched as the glowing man floated down to earth, a little surprised at the nature of his powers. Was that... sunlight? Her own powers definitely thought so, and she had to suppress the urge to push back her cowl to expose her hair, and maybe lay down for a little nap. But the impulses that came along with her powers were often unwise and generally easy to push aside. She smiled at the newcomer instead. "No problem, he practically fell in my lap. I'm glad you came along though, saves me having to haul him to the police station and figure out where he comes from." She studied the new hero for a moment. "I don't think I've met you before. I'm Fleur de Joie."

"We can head out if you're ready," Erin replied. She wouldn't have minded dancing again, but there was definitely something to be said for quitting while she was ahead. She hadn't made a fool out of herself during dinner or dancing, and there'd been no supervillain attack, and all in all, things had really gone well. Staying any longer would just give something bad more of a chance to happen. But that was a stupid way to think, she reminded herself sternly. Alex and Dr. Marquez would both tell her that. There was no reason to expect that anything bad was going to happen just because she was feeling good. It was time to start being brave. "But I wouldn't mind dancing again," she added.

"Sure, I can still feel it." Stesha closed her eyes again, reaching out for the familiar plants of home. In a moment, they were home, literally. A slightly longer than usual transit brought them out in the middle of Stesha's apartment, standing next to her favorite traveling hypoestes. "Well... I was close," Stesha said with a laugh. "I guess I reached for the most familiar plants, instead of just home plants. I got it right, didn't I?" She looked around for any discrepancies that might indicate she'd missed by a fraction and sent them to the wrong universe.

Standing anywhere in Freedom City while wearing a ski mask and carrying a loot bag was just asking for trouble. Tonight, trouble came dressed in green, in the form of vines that shot straight up from the ground and wrapped around his legs like something out of an eco-horror movie. Before he had time to do more than yelp, a giant yellow daffodil loomed over him, its giant cup yawning wide and full of shadows. It leaned down and swallowed the miscreant in one gulp, a large bulge in the stem revealing where the crook waited to be released. From the shadows, another figure dressed in green stepped out, surveying her handiwork, then picking up the dropped loot bag. "I was hoping that wasn't just a sack lunch," Fleur de Joie murmured in amusement as she looked over the purloined jewels. "Otherwise I'd owe someone a big apology." She was distracted from her work by a spark of bright light in the sky overhead. She shaded her eyes, trying to get a better look. It was definitely getting closer...

While Derrick called Jack and Taylor home, Stesha extended her senses through the plants on the property to try and sense any lingering trace of the intruder. She couldn't find anything, but that didn't necessarily mean no one was there. Very lightly, she rapped two knuckles on the glass face of the click. "Excuse me," she said politely. "Do you and your friends know if that person you warned us about is still sneaking around here?"

"It's true," Stesha asserted, turning her body to protect the still-whimpering baby from whatever the misty malefactor would come up with next. "We can stay here all night, or until Jack and Taylor get here, which will be within about fifteen seconds of us saying "trespasser." For some reason, the intruder seemed especially nervous about facing those two, not that Stesha could exactly blame him, so she used leverage she had.

Stesha grimaced at that idea. "I hope that won't be a problem, anytime I've teleported in the past, I've had a strong sense of where home is, and I always just followed that. I wouldn't want to get lost out there. It's a big... universes." Closing her eyes and concentrated, she reached into the network of plants she used for travel, searching for ones that were very far away, yet right at her fingertips... In an instant, they were somewhere else entirely. Or rather, they were standing in exactly the same spot, but in a very different world. All signs of human life were gone, wiped away by dense vegetation. Stesha looked around, then clapped her hands. "I did it! Or at least... I think I did. Is this the right place?" she asked Taylor.

Erin took the punch and sipped it automatically, looking with some concern at the place where James had just been. "He was acting a little strange," she told Trevor, though she seemed to be half speaking to herself. "I'll have to figure out what's going on with him later." Not that it was ever easy with James, who was very good at hiding what he didn't want others to see. With an effort, she refocused her attention on more pleasant matters and smiled at Trevor. "Thanks for the punch. Dancing's pretty good exercise."

"Man, if you can't fool Dark Star, you aren't going to fool anyone," Stesha told the intruder with affectionate exasperation. She'd sort of gotten used to her fiance's overly-trusting nature, but it still got him into trouble. "But this is ridiculous. Neighbors who live next door to a haunted house don't come over because they see something suspicious. And in the unlikely even that it happened, they probably wouldn't sneak in the upstairs bedroom and steal clothes as their first act. Let's see what's under that mask." Quick as a wink, one of the vines reached out to tug the hockey mask off the captured intruder.

"Who's Psyche?" Stesha asked curiously, but didn't really think it important enough to wait for an answer. "You're not going anywhere, buddy," she told their captured intruder. The plants rustled ominously in agreement. "But you're going to be sorry you decided on the hardass attitude. We're cupcakes compared to what Taylor and Jack are going to be like when their first date night is ruined by some punk stealing a superhero suit and traipsing around." Still cuddling the baby, she dug her cell phone out of her purse and handed it over to Dark Star. Since he certainly didn't need to use a phone to make a phone call, she assumed it was for effect.

"Show yourself!" Stesha demanded in turn. Dark Star surely had the situation under control, but she helped as best she could, sending vines shooting over in that direction, prepared to dogpile and restrain anything that attempted to get past. "You've no right to be here, but surrender now and we promise we won't hurt you." She couldn't make the same promise for Jack and Taylor when they found out, but that was neither here nor there. Her voice roused the baby, who started to whimper against her shoulder. "Shh, shh," she murmured, kissing the little forehead. "It's okay, we won't let anyone hurt you."

A new update to the whole of Stesha's array, adding all 9 unspent PP. It should now look like this: Flower Powers 22 (44pp powers; PFs: 11 APs) [55pp] BE: Snare 18 (entangling vines) (PFs: Indirect 3, Obscures Sight/Hearing 3, Reversible, Subtle) AP 1: Disintegration 10 (dissolving plants, Extras: Perception Range) (Flaw: Plants Only (-2) ) (PFs: Incurable, Precise, Reversible, Split Attack, Subtle) AP 2: Dimensional Pocket 3 (inside magic flower; Extras: Duration 3/Continuous, Range/Ranged; PFs: Indirect 3, Progression 12 [1,000,000 lbs], Subtle) (10 pp free) AP 3: ESP 8 (looking through plants) (sight and hearing) (Continental) (Extras: No Conduit, Simultaneous) (PFs: Dimensional 3 [any dimension], Subtle) AP 4: Growth 20 (growing plants; Extras: Affects Only Others (+0), Duration-Continous) (Flaws: Limited: Plants Only (-2)) (PFs: Extended Reach 3 (15 feet), Innate) AP 5: Healing 13 (medicinal plants; Extras: Action-Standard, Total) (Flaws: Distracting) (PFs: Persistent, Stabilize, Regrowth) (2 pp left) AP 6: Healing 13 (fixing up plants; Extras: Area-Burst, Range-Perception, Total) (Flaws: Distracting, Plants Only (-2)) (PFs: Persistent, Stabilize, Regrowth) (2 pp left) AP 7: Move Object 18 (moving w/vines) (Heavy Load: 3,200 tons) (PFs: Improved Crit 2, Indirect 3, Power Attack, Precise, Subtle) AP 8: Nullify 10 (making plants produce lots of oxygen; Any air-based effect; Extras: Nullifying Field, Effortless; PFs: Progression (100 foot area), Selective, Subtle) (11 Points available) AP 9: Stun 18 (stun flower; Extra: Ranged) (Flaw: Full-Round Action) (PFs: Improved Crit 2, Indirect 3, Reversible, Sedation, Subtle) AP 10: Super-Movement 3 (stepping through plants) (Dimensional Movement 3 [any dimension]) (Extras: Duration-Continous (+4), Portal (+2)) (PFs: Change Direction, Change Velocity, Easy, Progression 5 (250 by 250 feet) Turnabout, Subtle) (34 total) (10 free) AP 11: Teleport 9 (anywhere on Earth) (stepping through plants; Extras: Accurate, Affects Others) (Flaws: Medium [plants]) (PFs: Change Direction, Change Velocity, Easy, Turnabout, Progression 11 [500,000 lbs], Subtle) (44 pp) DONE BY SHAENTHEBRAIN

Erin studied James as he kissed her hand. He was saying all the right things, but his attitude seemed a little strange, sort of distant. The smile on his face wasn't really in his eyes. She almost asked if everything was okay, but decided that if it wasn't, he wouldn't want to talk about it in front of a roomful of strangers anyway. She'd catch him later, somehow. "It was fun," she told him, giving him a smile she hoped would encourage him if he was feeling bad. "I'll see you later, okay? Take care of yourself."

Stesha held the baby closer and scattered a few seeds on the carpet as a precautionary measure. They began to grow immediately, curling vines and tendrils along the carpet that would act as a shield or a trap in a pinch. Or, if necessary, an escape route. "I'm nervous about teleporting with the baby," she murmured to Derrick, looking anxiously into the corners. "If he gets an idea into his head and teleports himself, we have no way to find him again. That would be... very bad."

"Jack?" Stesha asked, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet to keep the baby snoozing. "That doesn't make any sense! Taylor would've called to tell us if they were coming home for something. She knows how I feel about Jack, she wouldn't have sent him sneaking around unannounced. And why would the ghosts be upset? They apparently know Jack and Taylor already. If there's another vampire around, and he's disguised as Jack, we've got some big trouble on our hands."

Stesha watched the reflections in the mirror, looking at Derrick and then back to the ghost with growing concern. "Are you saying that something got into the house?" she asked the ghost. "Something from the graveyard?" The ghost nodded, and suddenly an image of Jack Jr., peacefully sleeping in his bassinet. "Something's coming for the baby." Hastily, she got up and gathered Jack Jr. up from where he was sleeping, cuddling him protectively. "Well, they won't get him! Can you see anything?" she asked Derrick nervously.

"You're all heart," she told him with a grin, patting his shoulder. Dancing with him like this, with his arms around her and their faces just a few inches apart, it was impossible not to feel a tingle. Erin was, after all, alive, female, and heterosexual. But she ignored it and concentrated on the fun of spending time with a friend. James was her best guy friend, and James was a player who dated (more or less dated) really pretty girls. Those two things were true, and she tried not to let the latter bother her. It was just who he was. "One of these days you have to give me a tour of your ship when we're not trying to save the universe."

Erin laughed. "That bad, huh?" she asked as they turned and swayed across the dance floor. Truthfully, she was doing a passable job of following his steps, though certainly nothing flashy like what she'd been doing with Trevor. "I think I've probably made enough of a spectacle of myself for one night. Gotta give all the people paying all the money to be here a chance to shine. What kind of animals are you talking about, anyway? Things like what, dodo bird, Tasmanian tiger?"

Erin looked around once more for Trevor, but had no idea where he'd gotten himself off to. "Sure, I'd like that," she told him. "It's been a long time since we got together and hung out in the evening." She stepped in closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder and the other in his hand. "Just cut me a little slack, I'm still not really good at the steps or anything like that," she warned with a smile. "I'm pretty much faking it."

"I imagine I'm barred from actual competition," Erin replied, "but I've been thinking about asking Trevor for a few lessons. It's kind of nice to have ways to apply all that training besides trying to punch things." She looked around to see where Trevor had gone, but the press of people was too thick to see very much. "You should take some more time to relax," she told James. "You missed supper, but they've got these little dessert trays going around. If they're as good as the meal, you shouldn't miss them. Even if they are vegetarian or vegan or whatever. Meatless brownies are something I can live with, I guess."

"I think it's more than broken," Stesha murmured, her fingers digging into his arm a little painfully as she watched the apparition in the clock, then in the big mirror. This was definitely the point, if this were a horror movie, that the formerly benevolent ghosts would start chasing them around with spectral butcher knives. But it wasn't a movie, she reminded herself, and it wasn't like they were normal, knife-vulnerable people. "Ah, hello," she called. "Come in?" She wasn't exactly sure how you addressed a ghost nanny, or whatever this critter was. "The baby's still sleeping, he's doing just fine."

"Pretty cool, huh?" Erin asked, scooting to the edge of the dance floor to be out of the way of the couples who were actually dancing. "Trevor does that sort of thing competitively, and he's really good at it. He was sort of dragging me along for the ride at some parts there, but I think we did pretty well. It was fun." She certainly seemed to be having fun, her cheeks a bit flushed under the careful makeup, her hair a little tousled. "But hey, that might make you one of the only people here tonight who actually came here to save the animals, so that's nice."

Erin grinned and gave him a somewhat clumsy curtsy, looking like it was something she'd seen in a movie rather than ever done herself. "Good evening, James," she replied. "You're looking very good yourself." It was true, too. James, like Trevor, always looked pretty doggone good, but there was just something about a guy in a tux. "I didn't expect to see you here tonight. Haven't seen you at the school in ages. Are you interested in the preservation of... whatever it is we're preserving here?" she asked teasingly.