Electra
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Erin looked over, surprised out of her concentration by the sudden flow of words. She suspected that the ebullient swordsman was making fun of her, but she'd never been very good at dealing with that. She shrugged and answered the question posed. "The school has a nutritionist that designs the meals, and there's a snack bar as well. It's not gourmet, but it's okay." Most of her attention was now on Jack of all Blades, but a small yet significant portion remained fixed on the zombie.
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Erin looked to the screen as James brought up a view of the statue. "Wow, weird," she murmured. "Something must've gone really different with the Terminus invasion here." She stopped short, looking over at James. "I didn't even think to wonder why Alex wasn't part of that group back there. She and Mike might not even exist in this universe, or if they do, they might not have powers. They might not even have ever met!" She had to stop and consider that idea for a minute. "We still need to get in touch with Mark if he's here, but we should try and find out more about what happened to make this world like it is. Can you get access to a library database or something?"
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"I'm not much for making good small talk at parties either," Erin admitted, "but we can keep our mouths shut together and get in less trouble. Shutting up and smiling hardly ever gets people in trouble, right?" She checked her watch, blinking at the time. They'd been talking a lot longer than she'd realized, and she hadn't even gotten uncomfortable about it. Weird. "We probably better start getting back," she told him, not without regret. "It's getting early."
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"I know," she said with a small, rueful smile. "It's just all mixed up in my head right now. I... I guess in a way it was all make-believe before. I didn't get into this to fight bad guys, I wanted to plant flowers and make the parks beautiful. Then I started meeting other heroes, and things got so out of control. And I'm so happy that I met you, and happy that I made friends, but I don't know if I'm really cut out for any of this. I didn't expect it to be so scary, or hurt so much." There were suddenly tears in her eyes as she remembered the fear and pain of those last moments of her old life. "I don't know what I can say to them when I don't even know if I wanted to be a real superhero in the first place."
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Erin, who'd been avidly watching the proceedings on the viewscreen, turned at Trevor's words, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not sure he did this on purpose," she pointed out, trying to be conciliatory for once. "I know it sucks that he dumped us all here, but everything I've heard from Mark or anybody said he didn't have any powers. He probably didn't mean to do anything. His kid just died, cut him a little slack."
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Stesha tipped her head forward with a sigh, resting her brow against his jaw. "Not yet," she said reluctantly, "I'm still working on it. You're right, I mean, what do you say? Especially now? 'Hey Mom and Dad, I'm a superhero! I wasn't sure I was going to tell you about it, but then I died and realized that was a pretty crappy thing to do to you. But now I'm back, so hey, meet Fleur de Joie!" She smiled mirthlessly. "I don't think that would go over very well. Maybe the words will just come to me when it's time. But I'm not going to chicken out again."
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"Okay." She took a deep breath at that, relieved. "That's one less thing to worry about, anyway. But I really have to tell them. I chickened out at Christmas, but next time the family gets together, I just have to. If something does ever happen to me and I don't come back, they deserve to know why, and to hear it from me." She tipped her head up, sliding a hand behind his neck and bringing his face down to hers for a better kiss. "I might need some help," she admitted.
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Erin watched the byplay between Avenger and the man in the gas mask, not entirely sure what was going on there. She wasn't Avenger's friend, and she hoped to god he wasn't claiming friendship with the zombie still ambling grotesquely around on the floor. It didn't seem like anything she wanted to get involved with, though, so she kept quiet and kept watching. She saw Ashley watching her with the all-too-familiar "you're crazy" look on her face, and glanced away for a few moments as though she hadn't noticed. That was just great. Forget Summers, Erin figured she'd be lucky if everyone at school didn't hear about her lapse. Folding her arms across her chest, Erin kept watching the zombie, who was now doing something ridiculously disgusting with a hot dog, but tried to make her surveillance a little more surreptitious. It seemed to have a simulacrum of intelligence, enough to say a few slurred words anyway, but it didn't seem to be much of a threat. Not on its own anyway. There could be more like it.
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"Wait, so you are your double now?" Erin asked, following him back to the control room of the spaceship. "Is that why you look different, because you fell into his body and got his memories and stuff? That's really weird." She thought about that for a minute. "But if you did that, why didn't I? I just spent ten minutes running halfway across town away from my crazy double. Who appears to have a thing for you," she said, glancing over toward the viewscreen. "And Trevor," she added a moment later, raising an eyebrow. "You think that's this universe's Midnight, or did he get the body switch treatment, too?"
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"That's hard to think about," she admitted, leaning into him so that she could feel his heartbeat against her cheek. "We're not exactly organized about religion or anything like that in my family, but still. I mean... I don't know." Stesha shook her head. "I have no idea what I mean." She walked with him over to the couch and nudged him to sit down with her, then practically crawled into his lap. "I just know I'm glad I didn't die, or stay dead, or whatever. There's so much I still want to do..." Her eyes widened. "My family... did someone tell them? They'll be so upset!"
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Erin hesitated, torn between competing impulses. She didn't like being a charity case for anybody, but it was probably the case that getting appropriately dressed up for a fancy party would probably cost most of what she'd made at her side-job to date, and it wasn't like they went around giving seventeen year old kids with little documentation and no means of support credit cards. Trying to do it on her own, she'd probably just embarrass both of them. Finally she shrugged mentally. Trevor wanted to see her in a dress, he could buy the dress. But she could get the makeup and hair stuff and the rest of what she'd need, and pay for it herself. It wasn't like she was destitute, mostly. "I'd hate to see you get disowned," she told him with a half-smile, "especially since I hope to meet your grandpa. Oliver and I will just have to owe you a favor."
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Erin arrived on the teleportation pad with her baton raised, ready for a fight. It took her a second to realize that everything had changed, again, and she was now apparently in a high-budget episode of Star Trek. "What's going on now?" she demanded aloud, bat still raised just in case. She almost lowered it when she caught sight of James, then realized it could be another freako double like the Erin she'd been running away from. "Hellion?" she asked cautiously. "Is that you?"
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Erin regarded Avenger silently for a moment, sizing him up as though she were considering fighting him, too. Not tensing to jump on him or anything, more like deciding if fighting him was necessary, and what his weaknesses were. He looked pallid, she noted, like he never got out in the sun, or like it didn't affect his skin. Not that she had a lot of room to comment there. He slouched a little, but walked with the grace of someone who knew how to fight. And when he was standing still, he didn't breathe. She stared at his chest for a moment, and when he caught her looking, he suddenly inhaled audibly and exhaled, half a second too quickly to sound normal. "I don't believe I dropped it," she replied stonily, when she was done sizing him up. Chris wouldn't be proud, but repartee wasn't her strong suit. "I'm Wander. You live with Phantom, right?"
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Stesha put her hands on his chest and pushed away just enough to look him in the eye. "I know that's not true, no matter what you say," she told him with great conviction. "You can't be responsible for someone else's evil plan, or the fact that he got into your mind. The only blame is on him, and that's all there is to it." Despite meaning the words, Stesha found herself very glad that he was still in his human form, and not just because it meant she could touch him. She trusted Derrick, but that other Dark Star had looked exactly like him. If he hadn't spoken, or had tried a little deception, she might not even have known. That was not a pleasant thought, so she tried not to dwell on it. "I'm sorry he hurt you, and that he hurt you through me."
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Declining Dynamo's offer of a lift, Erin made her way reluctantly back to the Circus building. She didn't want to go in, but she'd come this far, might as well do what she'd come for. Slinking in through one of the less obvious side entrances, she took a seat at the back of the stands and looked around. She was startled to see the zombie creature up and around again, looking no more mangled than when she'd first seen it. That was disturbing, for all it meant she might be in less trouble. Glowering, she watched it intently, keeping no more than half an eye on the rest of the action.
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"Yeah... you know what? I'm leaving. This is stupid." Erin executed a neat backflip off the roof, then took off running. Fighting with her more-stupid self and a bunch of girl-power anime rejects might have been entertaining in the Doom Room, but she had better things to do. She had to get to Mark's house. That was where everything had started, maybe there'd be some answers there. She realized suddenly that there might be an alive Mark in this universe too. That was weird and a little creepy to think about. She wondered if he'd be the same, given the changes to the rest of the universe.
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"I know," she murmured, "and I know it wasn't really you. What was it, though? It said..." She blinked slowly a few times, trying to organize the fragments of memory. "It said it was the real you, and that it had replaced you. I know you wouldn't have let it hurt anyone without trying to stop it. What did it do to you?" It was easier to think about that than about herself, worrying about other people was second nature.
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"Well, guess I'll have to break down and get a dress after all, then," Erin joked, unstacking the pyramid of creamers and putting them back in the bowl. "Oliver's just going to have to make do with the store brand cat food for a little while. Why should he be eating better than I do, anyhow? It's weird, though, sometimes I almost think he can read labels. Well, if he doesn't like it, he can always catch his own." The brief tangent let Erin regain her equilibrium somewhat and continue more smoothly. "But yeah, going to a fancy party would be a new experience. And if any vapid heiresses try and hassle you, I can deck them. Just kidding," she added hastily.
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Erin broke eye contact for a moment, looking uncertain. "It might be fun," she finally said, "I've never been to any really fancy parties." She smiled, still seeming a little unsure. "And you're right, Mark would be hilariously jealous about meeting Midnight. And it would be pretty cool on its own," she added. "So it's an evening gown type thing, then?" This seemed like it could very easily turn into a terrible idea, but some reckless part of her wanted to go anyway. And a totally platonic friend-date was still better than getting asked out for practice's sake.
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"Are you asking me to go with you?" Erin asked, cocking her head. Even asking made her feel a little foolish. Trevor was a really nice guy, and she'd had a great time riding with him, but the idea of going to some fancy party with him seemed ludicrous. He was handsome and quite wealthy to boot. She was pretty sure he'd have no more trouble than James did finding an attractive girl who already owned a dress to go with him to any party. Unfortunately, with the question already asked, she couldn't take it back.
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Erin raised both eyebrows at that, blushing a little herself. She didn't throw the cup at him, though. There seemed to be a compliment in his words, but it was one she felt safer deflecting for the moment. "Frankly I don't think you'd be doing anyone any favors," she admitted finally, grinning. "As anybody who's seen me in a swimsuit can attest, I'm not really cut out for the evening gown competition. Now if you want to do the boys a favor, get Alex to wear a dress that doesn't look like it's been dip-dyed by a crazy Easter Bunny. She's gotten really pretty since her powers started picking up. Not that Mike would let anyone ogle and live," she allowed, raising her mug. "As for me, I don't see myself going to a lot of evening-gown appropriate parties anytime soon."
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Erin stared at herself in consternation, her body reacting faster than her mind as she drew out her baton. "What the hell?" she asked, pretty much rhetorically. "How did I end up a superhero here? Stand back!" she ordered the others, twirling the baton to give herself a little breathing room. "What's going on here, anyway? Who are you people? I mean, I know who you are, but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Claremont?"
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Erin shrugged. "I don't go anywhere, no reason to have one. They're expensive, and either sleeveless, strapless, or way too tight in the arms. Give me a t-shirt and jeans or a uniform any day, something you don't have to wear shorts under if you want to jump or do a flip." The idea drew another laugh from her. "You should try and meet James when you get a chance, the two of you seem to travel in the same circles outside of school, with the fancy parties and the rich families and all. You probably know the Prophets, right?"
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"Now you sound like my shrink," Erin muttered, staring at the cars that rushed past in blurs of yellow light. As annoying as she found the spouting of aphorisms, he was right about one thing, she had to pick herself up and at least see what kind of damage she'd caused. If that really had been a human in a zombie suit, and she'd managed to seriously harm him, she might as well go back to Seattle. But she wouldn't know unless she went back and saw the reactions. "Fine, let's go back," she said reluctantly. "I can keep it together." Probably.
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Erin did a quick lap around the lawn, trying to find the rest of her team. Where were Faith and Eve and Chris, where was Trevor? Where was James, who'd been right next to her at the end? There was no sign of any of them, which made Erin's alarm ratchet up another notch. Rick had said he wanted to make everything the way it was supposed to be. This didn't seem to be time travel... could it be another universe? Where the Terminus had never invaded, where people had never stopped wearing weird grandma-clothes? Where had everyone else gone, then? Heedless of the possibility of being noticed, she vaulted to the top of Freedom Hall, hoping to catch sight of any of her friends that way. James would be looking for her as soon as he realized what happened, she knew. He'd promised never to leave her stranded in another universe, and he wasn't the sort to break promises. If they were in the same universe, if he and the others were alive and okay, if they could find each other. If, if, if. The uncertainty made her decidedly nervous.