Search the Community

OOC for this. @EternalPhoenix @Electra @Dr Archeville @Spacefurry

GM The Painted Desert, Arizona October 4th, 2020 10:00 AM "Sorry kids, grandpa wasn't kidding about this desert being hell during storms." Blue Squad had been told that they would be going on a field trip to Arizona, to the painted desert, to meet up with a Doctor Macedon for a survival class. Leon might have heard about his friends' trip the year before, and how the aging Doctor Macedon had decided to swear off any and all future field trips after yet another trip to the past through the Magic Mesa, but maybe this time would be different? The whole thing had started out pretty well. Doctor Alexandra Macedon had picked Blue Squad up at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport with an off-road van with enough space for the entire crew, their luggage and Danica's ride. It turned out she was the previous doctor Macedon's granddaughter, and she had been more than happy to take up the task of leading another squad on a survival class. They had reached their dropoff point and then proceeded out into the desert. A few hours later, a sandstorm had started kicking up, slowly growing in strength and intensity. "We gotta find shelter! Anybody see anything?" Doctor Macedon's long brown hair was kicking around her in the wind already, while she fought to keep her stetson secure on her head. Up ahead, the group could see a mountain that just so happened to have a cave.

Fall 2021 Neko and Danica's room "Falling in love at first sight is less common in Japan than in the West; party because of the - peculiar constitution of Eastern society, and partly because much sorrow is prevented by early marriages which parents arrange. Love suicides, on the other hand, are not infrequent; but they have the particularity of being nearly always double. Moreover, they must be considered, in the majority of instances, the results of improper relationships." Having been speaking in a low whisper as she read the Hearn book, Neko closed the book with a sigh and set it on her desk, the largest piece of furniture on her side of the room. With much more care in picking out her words, she said, "Enough for today." Turning in her seat, she said to Danica, "Can you want to buy some food?"

Kord Dormitories, Third Floor Claremont Academy, Freedom City, New Jersey Saturday, September 4, 2021 The start of another school year was only a few days away, so unsurprisingly the Claremont Academy campus was abuzz with activity as parents and students descended on the school's dormitories. Amid this activity, a pair of teenage girls with bright red hair made their way from the parking lot toward the Rita Kord Dormitory. At first glance, one might have assumed the two girls were twins, except it was not just their features that were completely identical, they were both dressed in the exact same grey and black plaid skirt and white top. In fact, the only difference between the two was that one was carrying a suitcase and had a backpack over one shoulder, while the other was carrying a box. Bernadette O'Connell glanced back at her duplicate that was carrying the box behind her, letting out a slight sigh at the unintended display of her powers. The teen was glad that her older brothers had stayed up in Boston when her parents had driven her down for the start of the year at her new school, as there had been a few times where the family mini-van had gotten a bit too crowded. Hopefully this new school would help her learn to prevent things like that. Reaching the entrance of the building, the redhead glanced up towards the upper floors a moment before looking back down at the letter from the school that had her room assignment. "Alright, third floor, Room 308." She stated to her duplicate with a slight Irish accent, even though it was entirely unnecessary to communicate that out loud. Her other duplicate that was still back at the car with her parents also knew where the floor was located and could guide them up there when with the remainder of Bernadette's things.

March 17, 2019 Claremont Academy It was St. Patrick's Day, so naturally Judy had dressed for it; a green dress with white flowers that went below her knee, and a nervous, almost hesitant smile as she made her way to join her World Religions study group in the library. She greeted Danica, Pan Ayjay, hugging her book to herself before she said, "Um, Ashley said she can't make it today, so it's just us." She looked around at her study buddies and commented, "...so, Ah was thinking, that since we already know about Buddhism and stuff, and this is just review anyway, we could mostly just...you know, maybe do other stuff?" she asked hopefully. Judy struggled in some classes, and occasionally turned a bright, mortified red when particular subjects came up, but she'd always done quite well in World Religions.

February 27, 2021 The Lab The craft hovered in midair, its magnetic induction coils active as it gripped the Earth's magnetic field like the wheels of a racecar hugging the track. With a gesture, Angelic turned the boomerang-shaped flying wing back and forth, its gold and black polish gleaming in the light of a simulated sun. Stepping to the other side, she was barely visible through the faintly transparent hologram. "With a maximum velocity of 800 kilometers per hour, Winge will allow Chelone to cruise to her native Southwest in a morning's drive," she said with a cool smile on her face, "and is precise enough to allow for hovering as low as a few centimeters off the ground." She squeezed her fingers to magnify the hologram, and showed off the hooks for Chelone's feet, the matching helmet for her head that would give her a faceshield against the wind and provide her a computerized heads-up display, and the internal workings of the navigation system. "It is much too fast for an unassisted human brain to pilot safely but the internal GPS has a processing speed that will exceed a human brain tenfold!" When she dismissed the hologram, she was beaming. With her hair a brilliant platinum blonde shot through with streaks of blue, her labcoat a perfectly polished white, and her hands now folded behind her back, she looked a bit like a punk-rock version of Miss Americana - though the bar through her eyebrow and ring in her nose were all hers. "All that remains is to activate the 3-D printers and begin the work. I had thought of incorporating weapons or defenses, but Chelone is formidable enough on her own. What do you think, Voltage?" she asked. She looked, in her self-confidence and with her smile, actually quite a bit like the little girl he had first met years earlier.

North Bay was very nice, Danica decided as she putted along the edge of the immaculately-paved road past the huge houses, but she definitely wouldn't want to live there. The houses were beautiful and the big old trees and sprawling gardens were probably super nice when the weather was warm, but everything was awfully spread out. Also there were no bus stops because it was a rich area, and there were very few sidewalks, because same. She'd had to find the nearest bus stop and then go on two wheels for nearly a mile to the actual place. Trying to keep her balky old borrowed scooter out of the slushy puddles at the edge of the road and also not get hit by cars was a little bit challenging. At least there wasn't much traffic! She was relieved to finally reach the address and turn down the long driveway. The driveway was pretty cool, lined with tall old trees whose branches arched high overhead and probably made a ceiling when the leaves were on them. It was also immaculately paved, without a pothole or a smidgen of gravel anywhere to be seen. It was also-also a bit of a wind tunnel, making Danica tuck her face a little further down into the scarf she'd wrapped around her neck, over the hood and knit hat she was also wearing. Between that and her sweater and two pairs of pants and puffy coat and mittens, she barely felt underdressed even without her shell on. Still cold, though. Freedom City was always so cold in winter! The Segway did not like the cold, either. It was in much poorer condition than her lost one had been, and was making sad rattling Segway-noises. At the end of the driveway she found a huge old handsome house, even bigger and handsomer than most of the ones she'd ridden past. Attached was a garage that looked like it could fit at least four cars and probably more, with its own little door out front. Ellie had said Mr. Hunter worked out of his garage most of the time, so she headed that way. Carefully dismounting from the Segway of Sadness, she adjusted the straps of her backpack and rang the buzzer by the door.

Saturday, February 27, 2021 10:21 AM "Well, the schedule says it was supposed to be here at quarter after," Ryder confirmed, scrolling down the page on his phone and confirming he was looking at the right day. He and Danica had left the Claremont Academy dorms with plenty of extra time to get to efficiently titled Lab for their 10:30 rendezvous with Eira and whomever was working that morning but after disembarking to switch crosstown buses they'd been waiting a good ten minutes. "Maybe it was a little early and we missed that one?" It seemed unlikely since the other commuters standing at the bus stop had already been there when they had arrived. A stout man with a bald head turning pinkish in the cold winter air was tapping his foot impatiently while a young mother with a stroller covered by a weather shield did her best not to make eye contact with the leather jacket and studded choker-wearing teenager sitting beside her on the only bench, idly tuning a black cherry electric guitar. Even with his bright red scarf sticking out of layers of canary yellow hoodie and jewel tone windbreaker Ryder could feel the cold seeping in and he got the impression Danica was feeling it more acutely. He tossed his phone back into his satchel, catching muted annoyed clicking from within. Craning his neck to look for signs of the bus coming down the street he did some quick math in his head. They weren't far from the Lab now but even hurrying he wouldn't make it there on foot for 10:30 and it would be a pretty miserable walk for his classmate. "Well, guess we get there when we get there, huh?"

Fall 2020 Lucy the Elephant Margate City, NJ In retrospect, Ashley's mistake was in letting herself think that today was going to be a good day. The trip out to Margate City was the sort of thing that many Claremont students might have balked at as being just kids stuff, but it had been just the right thing for her charge and the teens she worked with. Lucy the Elephant had stood proud and tall in Margate City since 1882, at least until a recent act of super-vandalism had left it tagged with various sorts of obscene graffiti, the Tag Gang having made their escape before the local police could arrive. The chance to send out some super-teens in costume to show the nice people of Margate City that teenagers weren't so bad, and could actually help clean up what their peers had wrought, was just about perfect - especially once a little check from the Secret Service revealed that the Tag Gang really had moved on to much more interesting pictures than a seaside New Jersey town. Blue Squad had spent the day doing various things; cleaning the inside and outside of the elephant, cleaning up the broken glass from the tavern window nearby, straightening up the museum inside the elephant that told the long and rich story of a 138 year old wood and tin elephant. Watchdog and Daystar had spent the day mostly working inside the elephant, letting the more photogenic members of the team talk to the local press that had stopped by to take advantage of the rarity of super-teens stopping by. You could see the skyscrapers of Freedom City if you looked out Lucy's eye across the water; but this place still seemed miles away. The local Jaycees had brought snacks and somebody had put on some music that had been old when Ashley was younger - and honestly - things had been pretty good. "I've been washed," sang Judy softly, almost under her breath, as she helped Ashley mount the new bulletproof windows in Lucy's butt, "I've been washed in the blood of the Lamb..." Daystar had been powered up most of the day, a pleasant rainbow glow, and Watchdog's armor was actually just about right for the Jersey Shore in September.

Danica was not a fast walker under the best of circumstances, but she did have a way of getting a crowd to part effortlessly for her, even without anyone noticing it happening. She walked with Elena out of the crowded Valentine's Day party and into the deserted hallway outside the gym. From here the music of the party was still faintly audible but the noise level was much reduced and the air was cooler and fresher. Most students entering and leaving the party were using the outside doors, so they weren't likely to be disturbed here. "How are you doing?" Danica asked, all friendly concern.

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 4:03 Unlike many private schools Claremont Academy did not bombard its alumni with requests for donations long after their tuition had been paid. It did, however, lean upon the spirit of community service it instilled in its students to ask for a bit of their time toward mentoring the next generation. Considering how many times her brother had agreed to host whole gaggles of teenagers at his dojo - even thought he never even went here - Ellie Espadas would have never heard the end of it had she declined. Besides, the short briefing she'd gotten about Danica Holmes had piqued her interest from a medical standpoint alone. Hopefully she's not disappointed she didn't get a flashier mentor. Or one who's technically younger than her. She'd put together her best business casual, smart-and-successful outfit and done her homework before arriving at one of the Academy's public areas, sitting on a bench that circled around a large planter, to wait.

GM The Neighborhood Bodega near Claremont Academy February 1st, 2021 Afternoon, after classes had ended It was time for some of the newer students to take a trip to the neighborhood bodega. Danica thought so, at least. She had rounded up Luke, Leon and Muirne and off they went for cheap junk food! The weather was quite nice, if a bit chilly. It had started snowing a few hours earlier, and was still going, but the snowfall was light and inobtrusive. The group was just exiting the bodega with their bounty in hand when a strange wind blew through the street. It was warm, cutting a path through the falling snow, with a strong smell of ozone and rust along as it went. In a flash, an armored vehicle appeared, driving through the tunnel in the snowfall at full speed, tearing down the road. It was not alone. Seconds later, a pair of Omegadrones appeared in the same manner, flying straight after the vehicle.

OOC for this.

Location Unknown Date and time unknown: Saturday March 7, 2020 at approximately 10:04 AM China Standard Time (CST) The rocky, cold terrain of the hillside had become a blur of color around Danica and Heroditus. Then the pair felt a slight jolt and everything returned to normal. Only, they were no longer in the cold foothills of a massive mountain range at the edge of a desert. Instead, the pair found themselves standing in a brightly lit open area, a hot sun bearing down on them, a fact not helped by the heavy humidity that hung in the air. Looking about, Heroditus could see no trace of the portal that had brought them here. Glancing ahead, Danica saw the edge of what appeared to be a very thick jungle that spread out to either side. But as the pair turned around to take in their surroundings they both were slightly taken aback by what lay behind them. The jungle wrapped around the clearing and to steep side of a rocky spire that towered over several hundred feet into the air, with rugged, jungle covered hills behind it. But perhaps even more surprising was the structure built into the base of the rocky spire. Three sloped sides rouse upward dozens of feet to a flat area, wide stone stairs going up the middle of each side. Atop the flat area was a small, columned building that was clearly built into the side of the cliff that appeared to Danica to be of a Greeco/Roman style. But Heroditus realized the structure was of an Atlantean design….

The Western edge of the Taklamaka Desert, at the foothills of the Pamir Mountains Western China Saturday March 7, 2020. 7:54 AM China Standard Time (CST) (6:54 PM on Friday March 6, 2020 in Freedom City, New Jersey) A cold winter's wind swept over the sands of the Taklamaka Desert, shifting some of the sand as it went. A pair of figures walked up a sand dune in the early morning light, the dark shapes of tents and other temporary structures down in an open space below them. Not far to the west, the snow-capped peaks of the Pamir Mountains rouse up into the sky over the dark foothills which lay between the mountains and the desert. <"Why did they say to come out here?"> One of the two men making their way up the sand dune asked in Pashto. The other man in the lead gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. <"They said a member of the Danger family would be arriving with some assistance to take over the search for Doctor Schneider and Doctor Warren. You have heard some of the stories of the Dangers, likely wants to make some sort of dramatic entrance."> The two men crested the rise of the dune and moved out onto a relatively flat expanse of sand amongst the dunes. <"Hopefully we will not have to wait too long."> Those words proved prophetic, as the pair were just starting to look about for some sign of the arrival of the help from Danger International when there was a bright flash of light and a group of individuals appeared a short distance away. The central figure release the hands of the individuals on either side of her and took a step forward. The two men saw an attractive seventeen year old girl dressed in dark khaki cargo pants and a light brown winter parka. She wore a pair of well-worn hiking boots, and her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. "Good morning, I am Veronica Danger." The teenager said to the two men with a small smile.

March 2020 Alpine, Texas There's not much in the Big Bend region of Texas except space. The city of Alpine is relatively large; almost five thousand people, with a state university in Sul Ross, and the remotest AEGIS base in the Lower 48 States - tucked away inside an old gas station on the edge of town, the one most of the locals think might be haunted. There are a lot of old hippies in this area, people who liked the isolation better than the California or Nevada deserts, or just wanted to be able to disappear into the mountains, so when news came of robot reptiles appearing all over the area, originally the local office treated it as just more poppycock. At least until the twenty-foot robot crocodile crawled out of the sewers and tried to make a nest in the country club's golf course. So now there's a veteran AEGIS agent on the scene! But on the other hand, even a robot crocodile is just a crocodile. So this is a good mission to bring super-teens along; especially those who know a thing or two about machines and giant reptiles - or perhaps those careers might not take them into conventional superheroing. - Eira hadn't said much to Danica on the flight to West Texas, but she hadn't been quite the cold fish that she'd heard. She was dressed in an outfit suitable for West Texas - denim jeans and a blue and gold patterned shirt, dark glasses against the glare (though why would a robot need those?), and a white cowboy hat perched on her head. The Freedom League Javelin (albeit one disguised as a regular Learjet to avoid attention) had covered the 2000 miles from Freedom City to Alpine in about two hours; and had left early enough that it was still only about eight-thirty when they landed at Alpine–Casparis Municipal Airport. There had been very little signs of towns below until they got here; even now this was still obviously very remote.

It was near the beginning of summer break. Prom and everything that had happened there both good and bad were now decidedly over, and it was time for everyone to get along with their lives. Judith Claudia Cahill had been faced with many challenges in the last few weeks, some of which she was reasonably sure she was never going to be able to solve. Some of them, however, were easier than others and so in the middle of May she knocked on Danica's door in the late afternoon, big book in hand, a watchful Ashley standing just behind her. As usual the contrast between the sisters was striking - Judy in her dark brown dress and Ashley in her jacket and jeans, Judy downcast and Ashley sympathetic, but of course they weren't really sisters at all, were they? When the door opened, Judy handed Danica the book without really thinking about it. "Hey, Danica," she said, a little awkwardly. "Ah wanted to make sure Ah gave this back to you before everybody, um, left." She swallowed hard. Danica's copy of Small Gods was in immaculate condition, though a bookmark was sticking out of the last page. "Ah actually really liked it!" she offered.

Let's have checks! Eira is going to take 20 on her Computers - even with her Quickness, gonna be a while. Life Sciences for you, @Electra, and detective stuff for you, @HGM

Kingston, Freedom City New Jersey Late Fall 2019, 10:30 PM Since the Terminus Invasion of 2018, much of Kingston had consisted of ruined buildings and empty streets. Only the most minimal efforts to start to rebuild had begun, and mainly along the boarder sections with other North Freedom neighborhoods, leaving the majority of the center of the formerly historic neighborhood still largely abandoned and in shambles. Now, those that frequented the Kingston area were those that wished to be unobserved or otherwise isolated from the more crowded and active sections of Freedom City, while still maintaining a close proximity to the rest of the city. A small figure in a trench coat made its way through one of the empty streets in the heart of Kingston, moving among the shadows with a seeming confidence that there was nothing to fear among the dark ruins. The figured walked for several blocks along the cracked and broken sidewalks, stopping a few times to peer around towards the dark recesses of the nearby buildings. Eventually the figure turned into a dark alleyway and was seemingly swallowed by the darkness within. If anyone had been following the figure, it would have seemed they had vanished into thin air in the alley. However, the figure continued on its journey dozens of feet beneath the cluttered streets, moving along a path through the partially flooded sewer tunnels that ran under Kingston. The figure still moved at a steady pace, perfectly at home in the dark, damp confines of the sewers. After passing through several city blocks of tunnels, the figure came to a bend in a tunnel where a section of wall had collapsed, beyond was a larger open area that appeared to be a half buried subway station. Several tables of various shapes and sizes had been set up along one of the platforms and were covered with a variety of scientific equipment. Another section of the platform had been turned into a makeshift living area, with a bed and some other furniture set up. The entire area was partially lit by several emergency lights that had been placed around the platforms. The result of the makeshift lighting was that there were sections of the platforms that where relatively well lit, while the rest of the station was cast in shadows of various depths. The figure moved onto the platform containing the collection of tables, stopping briefly to look at some of the equipment as it went by, before coming to a mostly empty table. The figure sat a large duffle bag onto this table and began carefully removing various objects from within it. As the figure was focused on its task the almost oppressive silence of the chamber was interrupted by a cold voice from somewhere among the shadows. "Good evening Dr. Seidel." The figure quickly turned away from the table, scanning the illuminated section of the platforms, even as he edged towards some of the nearby shadows. "Who are you?" The man asked, his tone a bit surprise but not necessarily concerned or frightened. "Someone who has spent some time trying to locate you." The voice from the shadows simply replied. The trench coat clad figure identified as Dr. Seidel moved into one of the deep shadows near the collection of tables. "You will soon wish you had not done so." Dr. Seidel responded, his voice deepening and straining slightly as he did so. This was followed by a few pained grunts and groans before the shadows went silent. Then, a large figure could faintly be seen climbing among some of the shadows above the platforms lit by the emergency lights. "So, you can now change your shape at will." Stated the cold voice that again seemed to come from multiple directions at once. "All the more reason you will regret coming down here." Replied a deep, partially hissing voice from the large shape crawling along one of the uppers walls of abandoned station. "Perhaps." Replied the cold voice. "But I believe there is a way we may help one another with mutual goals." The large figures stopped, peering out to scan the darkest areas of around station with yellow reptilian eyes. "I suspect there is little you can offer which I will be interested in." It replied in almost a growl. "I believe we may help one another in striking out against the Second Raven." The cold voice replied from the darkness. There was a long pause as the yellow eyes of the large figure peered out at the shadows around the station platforms. "Go on, you have my interest."

October 12, 2019 Earth-B-Vacant-19 As they stepped through the portal into the other dimension, the first thing Daystar noticed was that it was quiet - with only the familiar background hum of her radio bracelets sounding in her ears, and the distant whisper of the radio transmitter in the nearby basecamp. The second thing was how everything looked. A lifetime in Oklahoma, then DC, had not prepared her for the fall splendor of Earth-Vacant-B ("not quite Sanctuary but with a lot more nature!"), a world frequently visited by Claremont students looking for their first taste of extra-dimensional adventure. This was a world where humans had never been evolved, one where whales filled the oceans, animals the vast forests of North America, and birds the skies. Fall here was chillier than back home, she supposed, though it wasn't really an issue for her - she slipped her hands in the pockets of her light windbreaker as she looked up at the vast forest of gold and red. "Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this," she quoted under her breath, smiling in awe as she looked all around. For her part, Watchdog wasn't nearly so blown away by all the scenery - maybe because she'd been here ten years ago and had gotten crapped on by a whole lot of birds. "Let's keep moving," she murmured from inside her mask as they headed out into the center of the small encampment, where Mr. Jorgensen was waiting for them. Jorgensen was the school's new biology teacher, a smiling, easy-going guy who students sometimes took too much advantage of. He wore a plaid flannel shirt and jeans to greet the students as they stepped through the gateway, his thick beard adding to the impression of "hipster outdoorsman." "Hello everyone!" he called with a wave. "Keep moving and drop your stuff in the designated areas." This wasn't quite the rugged outdoor life of survival training; Claremont's small basecamp had places for tents, firepits dug, and even a generator and radio transmitter installed by previous generations of students. They'd been careful, though - outside of the small encampment here by the edge of the South River, there was little sign any humans had ever been here. And indeed, hardly any had...

“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them.” ― Bertrand Russell, New Hopes for a Changing World It was in mid-November of 2019, about the time that many Claremont students were about to go away for Thanksgiving break, that Judy Smith sent out a message to some of her best friends inviting them to a special meeting in her dorm room. This was quite unusual; as far as anyone knew, Judy and Ashley had never admitted anyone to their dorm room when they were actually living in it. There had been, to say the least, some discussion about who exactly to invite to the meeting. They'd settled on the most trustworthy of Judy's friends, the ones who were proven, reliable quantities. This meant Chelone, with her wisdom; and this meant Crystal-Gazer, who already knew some things. There'd been others on the table. But they didn't know Mia well enough yet, and Leroy was going to be told on his own. And Micah...well, it wouldn't really do to tell Micah before she told Leroy, now would it? So the woman and the girl sat together in their dorm room and waited, Judy on her bed and Ashley on hers, and Judy prayed. She prayed in her own prayer language that everything would work out okay, that her friends would understand and that telling the truth would save the day, and that taking pains to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord and the eyes of Man would save everything. Ashley had taken this opportunity to say a few words to Our Lady of Vietnam, because why the Hell not at this point, honestly, but was mostly thinking about operational security. She had a few extra gadgets on her belt if things really went south, but hallucinogenic gas and electric stunners were of dubious efficiacy against superheroes. If this went wrong, tricks of the trade weren't going to do it. _So why am I doing this?_ she reflected. She looked at the girl kneeling in prayer across the room, speaking in tongues the way she usually did when she prayed by herself. _Because Judy deserves it._ When there was a knock at the door, it was Ashley who answered it; Judy excusing herself for a moment to get dressed. "Be right there!" Ashley was in a punk rock T-shirt and jeans when she opened the door, a carefully composed look on her face. "Hey. Come in. She's just getting dressed." The Smith room was a bit larger than either Lulu or Danica's room, a private bathroom by what must be Judy's side of the room (with its Christian and Old West art on the walls), with vaguely punk rock decor on Ashley's side. It honestly looked like any other Claremont room, albeit with a few more books on the shelves, some extra electronics here and there, big pile of knitting projects on Judy's desk, and some tools and magnifiers for when Ashley worked on her gear.

Lantern Hill, Freedom City October 31, 2019 8:00 PM Mia Mustafic-Markov looked especially spooky this Halloween night. She stood out front of a haunted house, her face marked with a false glasgow grin complemented by fake red blood, and her face was made even paler by white make-up, her eyes made dark and sunken looking by black makeup rimming them. Her neck had a similar false wound, and her denim jacket opened to reveal a white shirt marked by fake blood and three long slash marks over her belly. Yet, the effect was diminished some by the fact that she was dutifully staring at the screen of her phone. She had decided to invite out her Orange Squad team-mates (and Danica!) for the night, in order to get to know them better. And what better way to get to know them than scaring the bejeezus out of them with a Haunted House? Yet, unfortunately, it seemed she was the first to arrive. Which did make sense. She could teleport, and most of them… couldn’t. The choice of venue seemed cool. The Black House, they called it. Not the most creative name, but it was supposedly one of the scariest things ever. It traveled to different cities every year, almost always big ones, and was apparently so scary some people had to check into therapy after visiting. That probably wasn’t true, but it was a pretty great selling point and Mia wanted to check it out. But right now, she was here alone. She looked back at the great mansion behind her, watching as people stumbled out, pale-faced, while more brave looking souls headed on in. Her attention turned back to her phone. Opening up her group text, she hammered out a reply.

Claremont, Freedom City September 2, 2019 11:00 AM Mia sighed to herself as they ascended the stairs up to her new dorm. Most kids got something like a game console for their birthdays, instead she got the gift of boarding school. Which, in her opinion (which she respected very much), was rather stupid when both parents were still living in the city but somehow both her mom and dad had agreed that it would be “good for her” to live away from home. How, exactly, it would be good for her escaped her at the moment, but she was sure her parents could come up with some post-hoc justification. Her grandfather, Ahmed Mustafic, huffed and puffed behind her, carrying several boxes as he climbed the stairs. He was shorter than average, only standing 5’07”, with black hair and a thick broom like mustache. Considering how much darker he was than her, the only real sign that they were related, in her opinion, was their shared grey eyes. She turned to him, frowning. “You know, babo, you didn’t have to do this. I could have just teleported,” she said. “I have like… a dimensional storage thing, too.” Ahmed waved his free hand. “Nonsense!” he said, the faint traces of a Bosniak accent still clinging on despite decades in the USA. “I wanted to be here for you for your first day, sweetbean. At least to see you off, yes?” Mia sighed, and smiled. “I love you, babo.” “Good!” Ahmed responded. “That’s all I need.” They continued their climb until they made it to the third floor. They passed through the halls until they finally made it to room 302. Mia set down her guitar case and the box she was carrying, and knocked on the door. “Anyone home? I’m… This is the room I was assigned to. I’m here with my granddad, he’s helping me move in.”

April 2019 Common Room "Ah can't believe you did that!" Judy was steaming mad, heat coming off her in waves, as she jammed her hands down at her sides and yelled at her sister. "Ah can't believe you just stuck your nose into mah private life like that!" "...maybe I shouldn't have," admitted an unhappy-looking Ashley, who'd forsaken her sunglasses and looked sick to her stomach. "But I saw what he was doing to you, and I knew I had to say something." Maybe she hadn't had to say something, actually, but dammit she'd seen too many people push Judy around in the last year without anybody saying a word in her defense. Well why don't you say that out loud, a voice suggested, so you can get the hell out of this assignment and maybe this town forever! "Let's talk about this in our room," she suggested, a conversation changer that usually worked. "Oh, Ah think I know what you're going to say in there," said a red-faced Judy. "But it's not...it's not your place to tell me how to live mah life, anymore than it's my place to tell you how to live yours." She jabbed a finger at her sister and suddenly her voice broke. "And...and Ah want to be crying right now, Ashley, because Ah am so mad, but Ah can't even do that! Ah don't get to do anything Ah want!" Under normal circumstances, Ashley supposed she'd probably be at a pretty high risk of being fired right now, but haha, normal circumstances had been shot in the head and buried on the South Lawn for the last year and they weren't getting resurrected anytime soon. "I'm sorry," she apologized, hands in front of her and considerably softer than her usual tones. "But you know this isn't the place to talk about this." she added in a firm whisper. "Ah want you to go away," said Judy, raising her head and looking Ashley in the eye. "Ah want you to go outside this room, so Ah don't have to see you for a while. You told me Ah'd have as much privacy as you could give me, right? You are gonna keep your word to me, right?" "All right, Judy," said Ashley quietly. "I'll be out in the hall." Because she knew what was about to happen, she didn't tense when she heard Judy's shriek of alarm from inside the common room, just as she was stepping out the door. - Her face bright red, Judy looked down at the sole other occupant of the common room. "Omigod Danica! You were here the whole time! Ah'm so sorry!"

October 2018 Outside Claremont Academy Her long dark hair safely tucked away beneath a Freedom City Heroes hoodie, her face hidden by a dark pair of aviator sunglasses, Judy Smith waited by her sister's side for the arrival of their friends. "This is gonna be so fun," she told Ashley with a smile. "Ah can't believe we're gonna go shopping in a mall! It's gonna be the best day ever!" It had been a long, long time since she'd been able to go shopping by herself - and this didn't remotely count as by herself, but it was still a lot closer than she'd have been able to come under normal circumstances. Ah'm gonna find some jewelry for the dance, and maybe get a present for Leroy while I'm there - it's gonna be great! Secure in leather jacket and jeans, eyes hidden by her own dark glasses, Ashley thought about the vetting that the Secret Service had done before selecting the Patriot Shopping Center as the best 'mall' choice for Judy and her friends from Claremont to visit, the quiet checking she'd done herself into Danica and Micah's backgrounds, the advance scouting her team had done of the site, the advance driving she'd done to plot out the drive to Lantern Hill, the hope and the prayer that Lantern Jack wouldn't show up - and Watchdog grunted. "Hrm." It was going to be an interesting day, at any rate. Now where were Danica and Micah, the two friends Judy had invited along for a "crazy, secret trip to the mall!"