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Beaudrie Opera House Theater District, Freedom City, New Jersey Tuesday November 12, 2024. 10:20 AM A couple of weeks ago Headmistress Summers had spoken with a few her students about an opportunity to assist a field trip for several of the youth attending the Nicholson School to attend a performance by the Freedom Youth Philharmonic for several area elementary schools. Michael Adon, Sarah Thatcher and Jack Davydov had volunteered. Earlier that morning, the trio had been transported over to the Nicholson campus in nearby Port Regal, where they had met the teacher leading the field trip (Ms. Houston) and the group of forty some students that were attending the performance. They had then loaded onto a school bus and made the trip over to the Theater District in downtown Freedom City. The level of excitement for the students varied considerably, ranging from very excited for many of the younger students (those nine or ten years old) to a more resigned indifference with the teens in the group. The area around the Beaudrie Opera House had been rather chaotic, with more than a dozen school buses all dropping off loads of elementary school students to attend the performance. Michael, Sarah and Jack had managed to help keep all the Nicholson students together and guide them into the building, making a stop by the restrooms for any that needed to use them, before heading off to find the groups seats in large venue. It was perhaps even more chaotic inside the building than out, as hundreds of students were gathered, many chatting away as they waited for the performance to begin, teachers and other chaperones keeping an eye on them and making one last headcount to ensure everyone was present. Sarah found herself sitting near some of the thirteen and fourteen year old students, many of whom were focused on their cellphones or otherwise looking around for distractions. One of the older girls looked particular bored and restless, Sarah thought she recalled her being introduced as Victoria. Jack was seated among some of the ten-year-olds, his gentle nature having won them over on the bus ride, despite his imposing height and frame. Among the group were two twin girls, Madison and Mary who seemed very excited to see the performance. Backstage….. Lynn Conners stood among the other members of the Freedom Youth Philharmonic as they waited for the que to take the stage. The blonde sixteen-year-old was wearing a long black evening dress with sleeves that went to her elbows. She was holding her violin and bow in her hands (her sheet music already out on a music stand by her chair) as she took a deep breath to try to steady the many emotions she was feeling. Although she had been part of the youth orchestra for a couple of years back in her timeline, it felt so very different here. For one thing, all of the other performers were unknown to her, as this timeline’s versions of any that she had known in her timeline being six years younger, and thus not yet in the orchestra (if they were even learning classical music here). Even the conductor was different in this timeline. As if that were not enough, there was also the fact that Lynn had managed to gain a spot in the orchestra outside the normal tryout process (in no small part due to her adopted family’s support of the orchestra over the years). The blonde girl let out a sigh as she opened her eyes again but did not focus on anything in particular as she continued to wait to go out to her seat…..

(GM Post) Early January, 2025 Sampson's Sodas: Riverside Sampson's was a pretty nice place to hang out if you were a Claremont kid. It wasn't quite the mall, it wasn't quite the movies. But Michael and Sam worked there, and almost always at least one of them was there after school, which meant half off drinks and food at minimum. And if it was Michael working and you needed it, he'd pay for your meal and drink without a second thought. It wasn't a full arcade, but it had a few games. It wasn't a full sports bar, but you could wrangle the remote off whoever was working pretty easily. So the Claremont Students were always welcome at Sampson's, and Sampson's was always open for them to come visit. Today it was Michael who was working after school, in the lime green Sampson's polo, for the Claremont students who had made their way over. Another benefit of Michael being the worker was his homework was never far away, because he worked on it between orders. And that meant that Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen could all be tutored by him when they needed it. He didn't even charge for it. Sampson's itself was a store that catered to those highschoolers who were trying to be cool, who were too young for bars but wanted to join them, too old for play places and wanting to get away from them. It had a very heavy theme of wood in it's pizza bar style, high chairs on a bar, personally brewed, small batch sodas in barrels that were designed and crafted in the back of the brick building. A pair of pizza ovens could produce fresh made pies on order. The walls had sports team jerseys; a signed Andre Leroux Freedom Blades Jersey from his rookie year, a Freedom Comets jersey, a jersey from the Freedom City Rayguns's Andy 'Lancer' Tyler, and a Darrell Marks jersey from the Freedom City Heroes. And that wasn't counting the hockey and high-school jerseys on the display. Including one that Michael himself was always a little bashful about; his football jersey from his Sophomore year at Franklin D. Roosevelt High where he took the team to state as Quarterback. For Superheroes, there was a known AEGIS Contractor faculty in the back; the same place Michael had gotten his powers, but it wasn't talked about often. Even Michael was prone to dismissing talk about it, since it wasn't part of things that teenagers should really be getting involved in, and he believed fully in keeping the Soda shop separate from the AEGIS stuff in the back. Right now, Mass Lines was playing Young Punks, and Michael had one of the TVs tuned to the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom that had just aired; he was a big fan of Zack Sabre Jr. It wasn't that busy at Sampson's, only a few people were there, watching TV, working on homework, or eating and drinking. Not everyone that came to Sampson's was a Claremont student. In fact, the Claremont students probably didn't make up the majority as a general rule, not because it wasn't popular, but because there were so few of them. That meant the majority of customers at any given time were not superheroes or meta humans at all.

Kestevan 79 Coalition Victory Station Lor time mark 2269.1 (Friday January 10, 2025, 3:35 PM (Eastern time)) There had been numerous conversations among many of the Claremont Junior class about space and CoVic Station over the last year since Lawrence had talked about his trips there and Michael had had the opportunity to meet Paradigm (as did most of the rest of the class during the trip to the pocket timeline last February). During the League holiday party, several of the class had talked with Paradigm and the new Star Khan and the idea for a trip to visit the station by several of the Juniors, as well as Carmen had been brought up. So, in the weeks following the holiday party and even into the start of school after the winter break at the start of the week, there had been discussions and plans being made for a trip to visit CoVic Station. Those plans had been finalized by mid-week, and just after the end of classes, a group of Claremont students and Carmen had met down in the Doom Room with small bags for an overnight stay at the Praetorian headquarters on CoVic. Once everyone was gathered, Lawrence had had them gather close and then raised his hands as a wave of temporal energy swirled around them and they were gone from the school and from Earth. As the Doom Room disappeared around the teens, it was almost instantaneously replaced by a large open area as the gathered Claremont students found themselves in vast, spacious plaza. All around the edges of the plaza were various low buildings spreading out almost as far as could be seen. Off in the distance they could see what appeared to be walls, going up higher than the buildings near them. All around the plaza could be seen hundreds of figures moving about like normal pedestrians in Freedom City. However, not only were here numerous human looking individuals in utilitarian jumpsuits, but there were aliens of all types, including reptoids, felinoids, insectoids and even a few that appeared to be amorphous blobs moving on several pseudopods. Overhead was a massive domed ceiling, on which massive sections had been replaced with some sort of translucent material. Out beyond that, they could see the vast blackness of space, though half the "sky" was filled with a bright blowing cloud of various gases that formed a nebula, along with a small, brightly shining point of blue light that seemed very different than any star. Some distance away, silhouetted against the glowing gas could of the nebula was a large vortex of slowly spinning cosmic flotsam, with light ending in unnatural angles around the outer edges of the massive, semi-circular singularity. Dozens of objects, which were soon identifiable as spacecraft of all shapes and sizes could be seen moving toward, into and out of the singularity with regular frequency. "Well, welcome to CoVic Station." Lawrence said with a slight grin, though his face showed a slight bit of exhaustion from the effort to transport them around 25,000 light years from Earth. "Indeed, welcome young Claremont students." Came a deep, gravelly voice from behind the teens, speaking English with an unusual accent. Turning around, they found standing in front of the nearest building the massive eight-foot-tall reptilian Praetorian many of them had briefly met in the pocket timeline or at the League holiday party. The Praetorian had a powerful, stocky build, with green and brown scales and a ten-foot-long tail that ended in a spiked ball. "It is good to see you Seresk." Lawrence said with a smile as he stepped up to hug the massive reptoid, who gently returned the hug. "It is very good to see you as well Lawrence Harrow, you have grown since last I saw you."

GM Tuesday February 11th, at 4 PM Leaving Mars Tower, moving towards Yellow Brick Row, Emerald City When a company like MarsTech offers a guided tour for your students, then a school like Claremont Academy agrees to come. The headmistress might have her misgivings about Maximilian Mars and the company, but it would be hard to deny that they are on the cutting edge of technology, and son, a group of students were chosen, which included, among others, Iris and Daniels Evans, Michael Adon, Lawrence Harrow, Parker Powers and Carmen Alvarez Arrache, with Stephanie Harcourt joining them as their chaperone. They had left Freedom City with their classmates the previous day, stayed in the very luxurious Crown Tower Hotel (paid by MarsTech) and now, after a long day of being shown around Mars Tower, being told about their technologies and upcoming events, the students were heading towards Yellow Brick Row, where they would be allowed to run wild. Of course, not everyone had been entirely happy about going on the trip. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Harcourt asks, directed at Iris and Daniel in particular, as they walk down the street. "Remember, while Maximilian Mars might have a dark past, his company is at least trying to do right by the consumers. It's not like every company out there tries to make their products last as long as MarsTech."

(Golden Star Post) November, 2024 Doom Room, Claremont High Baz and Michael had been practicing in the Doom Room on one day. Michael had recently learned how to shoot his own type of laser beams, similar to Baz, and he had been getting help from the Insectoid student to learn more about how to use them, since he hadn't figured it out. As always, Michael was willing to ask for help when he needed it, and he'd paid for Baz's time in pizza and soda for the bug kid to eat while he tutored Michael in how to shoot laser beams. He had helped with studying too, but he knew when he needed to pay someone actual things for their help, and this was one of those kinds. His beams were golden blasts of light that erupted from his eyes or fingers, and while he had first few had been quite inaccurate, under Baz's help he was slowly becoming more and more accurate with them. He at least wasn't scorching the walls or floors as he was trying to practice. When a handful of new targets came down, floating on little drones, he focused his energy, making a glowing star on his index and middle finger. With his index finger extended, he took careful aim and blasted through a handful of targets one after the other while Baz watched. When he finished, he brought a smoking finger to his lips and blew it out like a candle with a grin to him. "...Like that, right?" he asked Baz, checking for confirmation. "You're way better at this then me, so I'm hoping I can figure this out."

OOC for this. @Dracostern, @Thevshi, @MoonSimply, @Poncho

GM 3:30 PM, Friday April 12th, 2024 City Center, Freedom City Powers Holdings Office Building It started innocently enough. Parker had been to a family dinner, his family had asked him about his friends and students, and he had mentioned a few of them. When he mentioned Iris and Daniel and their telepathic powers, Tracy, his older sister, had perked up and asked more about them, how powerful they were and so on. Apparently, one of the R&D teams under her is working on a device that should, hopefully, be able to expand the scope of telepathic powers, potentially allowing a telepath to aid rescue efforts in a much wider area in terms of catastrophes. So... Parker had asked Iris and Daniel to come with him, explaining things as well as he could, and when Michael had overheard, Parker invited him along as well. The weather is nice for mid-April, as the group exits the car that had been sent to get them once classes were over for the day, once it has stopped in front of the Powers Holdings office building in Midtown. The building doesn't particularly stand out. Sure, it is tall, but so are most of the buildings in midtown, and the area is dominated by Freedom Hall, City Hall and the DuTemps Building, so, it doesn't particularly stand out. Still, there is a big POWERS HOLDINGS INC. name plate over the revolving glass doors, and on the window next to them, the large P with an explosion inside the upper part of the letter that makes up the Powers Holdings logo, which makes it easy to identify the building, at least.

April, 2024 Nighttime. Claremont Academy usually had relatively peaceful nights. While there were plenty of super-powered kids and some of them were trouble makers, the school as a whole had enough activities that they rarely 'acted out', so to speak; between lessons of schooling and lessons of using powers. There were a few exceptions. One of these was Sam Durado, who had more than a little habit of leaving when she got too frustrated with the school. She was never gone long, but it had been a consistent issue, enough that she was starting to get a bit of a reputation for sneaking out at night and going off on her own- and often missing a few morning classes in the way. What Sam had not been expecting was for Michael to be waiting for her. This had devolved into an angry argument outside the dorm that people were very strenuously trying to avoid, not wanting to get between the two best friends having an argument on the dorm; this wasn't a full on fight, after all, it was just an argument. At least it was, until Sam stomped on Michael's foot and flew off while he was still cursing over the underhanded move. "Sam! Come on!" he yelled at her leaving back. "...You gotta be kidding me." he sighed, looking up into the sky. That is the scene that Mizuki and Vueriz ended up wandering into as Michael ran a hand through his hair and let out another swear. "...Oh...hey you two." he mumbled, offering a small wave.

GM Morning of the 30th of November 2024 The sun rose over Freedom City, same as it always had. The night prior had seen a small event, magical energies were being channeled to two locations for an unknown purpose. Two teams of heroes investigated, and it seemed the situation was resolved. Yet none of the heroes seemed to remember much of what occurred, or how they got back to their home. Southside, the Chop Shop Callie was a woman who had spent a great amount of time honing her body to the peak of what humans were capable of. She had learned to listen to her body, understand exactly what it was telling her. And upon her awakening she knew what it was telling her was wrong. Her limbs were heavy, power echoing from muscles like pistons and steel. Her heart thundered like a powerful engine. The bed she lay in felt different than the ones she was accustomed to in her apartment and the Atomic Tower. The smell of engine oil fills her nose. Something was deeply wrong here, and she needs to find out what. She opens her eyes to a small room. The decorations seem those of an enthusiast for cars and motors. More pressingly her body was no longer her own, wiry muscles replaced with bulkier ones more suited for lifting, her skin paler, and scars from battles long ago fought replaced with new, unfamiliar marks. Southside, Devon's Apartment Lark was a college student. She was used to old mattresses and poor quality sleeps. Even when staying in Blackstaff Investigations, Christopher was not exactly affluent and his guest room left much to be desired. As such, she could immediately tell that she was not in her normal residence in this comfortable bed. This suspicion was immediately followed up by a sense of weight on her wrist and an odd... absense. A pressure that had been at the back of her eyes had faded, a pressure she had come accustomed to in her time as a werewolf. These oddities initially distracted her from the odd feeling of her body. She had to some degree become familiar with a sense of change since her curse came manifest, but this time was altogether different. Opening her eyes she found herself in the bedroom of an apartment. Nice, simple, and well-appointed. When she looked around the change became clear. She was in the body of a man, with a strange watch-like device on his wrist. Bayview, Claremont Academy, Gookgak's Room Michael tended to wake early, a trait he took pride in and had cultivated over the years. But he normally wasn't so... energized first thing in the morning. He felt like someone had hooked a drip of pure caffeine up to him in the middle of the night. Like how some of his more hyperactive friends must feel in their day-to-day. He rolled over to start his morning routine, and immediately felt that things were wrong. His ear pressed into the the cushion, feeling long and pointy, his body felt small and far weaker than he had become accustomed to, and his sheets most certainly were not covered in what felt like coarse sheepskin rugs. Opening his eyes he found himself in what he would recognize as Gookgak's room. And body. Bayview, Claremont Academy, Carmen's Room Alice woke slowly at first, enjoying an uncharacteristic feeling of support from the matress beneath her. Slowly though her mind muddled through the haze of sleep, picking up little notes of wrongness like a pocket gathers lint. The absense of her flight keeping her up, like a muscle being relaxed when you were used to being tense. The feeling of fur as she shifted in half-asleep state, comfortable, but wrong. The feeling of claws extending from their sheaths as she stretched, satisfying but alien. Her tail brushed against her face as she curled back up, the sensation finally dragging her from the lands of sleep. Things were very wrong. She opened her eyes to a school dormitory, a thing she only recognized from movies and the like. Her new body was fuzzy, with dark fur and graceful limbs. Her ears and tail twitched with agitation as she looked around for answers. The four heroes quickly started to come to the conclusion that they had swapped bodies with other people. But how and why eluded them. The last thing they remembered was responding to a disturbance in the cemetery at Lantern Hill. Perhaps that might hold the answers, but first they need to find out where- and who- they are.

OOC for this. @Poncho @Dracostern

Shooting Star 12:45, Saturday the 29th of June Above the Fens Alice checked the time again, still fifteen minutes early. She had been super confused when first reading the message to her Shooting Star account asking for a meeting, most of the time her account just got tagged in videos of her doing her standard patrols, helping people move heavy furniture around and things like that. Most of the time when people messaged her to ask to meet she just directed them to try find her on patrol, but most of the time wasn't another hero asking to meet up. She had looked up Golden Star, finding a few videos, plus some fans talking about him but overall he seemed pretty new. She could respect someone willing to ask for advice from someone with similar powers who'd been active for longer, and she'd agreed to a time and place pretty soon after that. That had of course led to her scrambling together ideas for what she could teach him, but that was beside the point. Despite it being early she was still looking around for an early showing while stretching to limber up her new costume, the high tech fibers still adjusting to her.

Sunday February 18, 2024 Late afternoon After over a day and a half of fun in the water and sun at the Harrow estate on Wakaya Island, Fiji (in addition to some more serious topics), it was unfortunately time for the Claremont Academy students to return back to Freedom City for the start of the next school week. After about an hour or so of chaos, everyone was eventually gathered back on the large deck at the back of the main house for Lawrence Harrow to teleport them all back to campus. As the group of teens stepped into the temporal portal Lawrence created once again, they initially felt a similar sensation to what they had the day before when transported to the South Pacific. But suddenly, rather than stepping out the other side of the portal back at the Main Quad at Claremont, the teens felt as if something tugged on them, causing each to stumble forward and as the world reformed around them and they were not at Claremont Academy. Lawrence Harrow, Parker Powers, Mizuki Iwasaki, Baltazar Botez, Consuelo Nunez, Ryan Jacobs, Vueriz, and Michael Adon all found themselves in a dead end alleyway between a pair of three story buildings. Out past the open end, they could see and hear a large crowd of people gathered, though none seemed to notice the sudden appearance of the teens. The weather was cool, but much warmer than the February cold they had expected. The teens were still in the clothes they had been wearing, and Vueriz had her skyboard, but all the rest of their bags and other things were nowhere to be seen. Wearing a pair of jeans and a red Arsenal hoody, Lawrence looked about the alleyway, a concerned expression on his face before he seemed to focus on something distant and out of view. "This is not right." He simply stated, a hint of concern evident in his refined British accent.

April 2024, Freedom City University On a bright, sunny day in Freedom City, in the North End, three Claremont students were currently in the vicinity of FCU, or on the campus proper, on two distinct errands Bernadette O’Connell, alias Multi-Girl, aka the frontwoman for the band Multiplicity, was here to participate in an interview with FCU's school newspaper and morning show DJ. Thomas Windstrum worked in both groups and thus had brought Bernadette in to discuss her plans for Multiplicity, upcoming tour dates, and general other information; Thomas was a genuine fan of music and that included Multiplicity, so the interview was going to be a great spot to get traction amongst the college age students that Bernadette was only a little younger than, which meant they were perfect targets for her music. Meanwhile, Michael Adon had brought Ryan Jacobs to Liberty Park to meet someone who had a better job opportunity for Ryan; specifically, Michael's dad, Terrance Thomas Adon. Bernadette Bernadette was currently in the on campus radio station that bordered the quad at FCU. From the station she could look out onto a quad filled with trees and students milling about. Even the radio equipment at FCU for it's college station was state of the art and kept in outstanding repair. Thomas was a dusty haired college junior with a bit of a paunch and a classic Green Day T-shirt, but his passion for music was very clear from just a little bit of conversation with Bernadette. As the station returned from music, he activated their mics and began talking. "So again, this is Thomas, and I'm here with Bernadette O'Connell, front-woman of Multiplicity, who just had an electrifying set at Midnight Hour last month. She has a full set of performances coming up, but I want to talk history first; start at the beginning and all that. Bernadette, how'd you get into music in the first place?" he asked, grinning all the way. Michael and Ryan Meanwhile, Michael had lead Ryan to Liberty Park, close to FCU itself, but still in the park. Sitting at a bench that was close to the shadow of FCU's giant stadium, Terrance Thomas Adon was eating a hamburger and filling out payroll. He did look a lot like Michael, if Michael gave up his rigorous studies and exercises and went a bit soft; Terrance was fairly tall, his brown hair thinning at the top and salt and peppered. He was a bit slack around the waist, representing a physical worker who had moved into an office job, and dressed in a Decosta Construction button-up shirt. When Michael brought Ryan over, Ryan could see Michael's strong jaw and sharp eyes in Terrance's face, even if the rest of Michael's face wasn't much like his dad's. He spoke with a heavy Boston accent. He greeted his own son with a smile before turning his attention on Ryan. Now it was like there were two Michaels staring intently at Ryan at once. "Ah, your Ryan, eh? Mike said you're pretty strong and open to getting a new job?"

OOC for this

Edward Jon Carter Dormitories, Second Floor Claremont Academy, Freedom City, New Jersey Saturday, September 7, 2024 The cloudy sky insured that the weather in Bayview Heights this Saturday was rather warm and pleasant. School was set to begin on Monday at Claremont Academy, so the move in for students had begun, the campus filled with students and their families. For the returning students it was a chance to catch up with friends. For the new students and their families, it was trying to find their way around. Thankfully a number of the older students had been asked to assist in directing the new students in the right direction. Lawerence Harrow was one such student, the blond Junior having recently arrived with his adopted half-sister, Lynn. His things already put away in the room he shared with Baz, Lawrence was walking along the halls, both looking for his friends and anyone that might need assistance…

Early April, 2024 Freedom Central Library It was a nice day in New Jersey, and in part because of that, Michael and Carmen had left Claremont after class to go have a date. A date that they both promised would not be about superheroing, would not involve alien invasions, or being trapped in time bubbles, or teenage delinquents, or any of that. Michael had picked up sandwiches from Stan's Super Heroes; the local place's habit of naming sandwiches after supers had obviously always fascinated their biggest fan, and he wasn't ashamed to admit that he hoped that some day he would have a sandwich 'of his own', so to speak. But he was currently eating one named for Velocity as he and Carmen sat under the stone sphinx named April on the stairs to the building. It was decently populated, but not enough to make Carmen uncomfortable, which gave the two enough privacy to sit quietly and eat together while enjoying the day. The actual Library itself was fairly busy today; they had announced an interesting exhibit of several of the first recorded written versions of many famous tall tales, in addition to oral counterparts spoken by historical researchers. Banners across the front of the heavy granite building in the City Center announced readings of the original stories of Paul Bunyan, Mike Fink, Johnny Appleseed, and more. Michael had some interest in those stories- they were, to him at least, somewhat of the precursors of modern Superheroes-, and he'd picked up several copies of collections of the tales earlier in the day, resting next to him as him and Carmen sat on the stairs. Michael was not talking about superheroing, or studying, or anything like that, at least at the moment. He was simply leaning against the base of the sphinx statue and enjoying his time with Carmen, and talking about more interesting, teenager things. That included the yo-yo that his brother had gotten bored with no long after obtaining, that he was now practicing with. "Honestly, I'm not very good with this thing." he said as he threw the yo-yo out and let it roll back into his hand. "I've watched some Youtube videos and people can do crazy stuff with them. Have you ever used one?"

OOC for This Thread Featuring: Multi-Girl Sever Golden Star For now, Sever and Multi-Girl are getting interviewed by different people for different reasons! The trouble will start ~later~

March 28th, 2024 The area around the Liberty Dome was packed with people for the first baseball game of the season. Especially when it's a grudge match. The block around the Liberty Dome was, in some ways, it's own minuscule city; high cost hotels, nice restaurants that weren't too expensive, and street entertainment; dancers, balloon artists, radio DJs, the like. People were cooking at tailgates, or buying food off street vendors. On main street, a massive stage had been erected for Comets Corona, the local affiliate's baseball stats team; a set of a man and two women who listed statistics and did between-inning commentary, along with pre and post game analysis. The actual announcer team- featuring former GM Russell Mills who now did color commentary, alongside 'The Voice of the Comets' Chuck Champ- would already be in their booths inside. There were carnival games and street dancers entertaining people, and the Comet's mascot had been seen a few times wandering the grounds with a video crew in tow, playing pranks. The Opening Day match for the Comets was a known grudge match; the former Freedom City Flags- now named the New Orleans Patriots- were coming for an away game, and setting that grudge match on opening day was a clear attempt to get ratings up for at least the opening of the season. It was almost impossible to get tickets, every seat in the stadium was going to be filled on opening day. And it just so happened that the first pitch was going to be thrown by The Patriot- Member of the Freedom League-, and she had gotten two additional passes for the upper deck behind home plate. Which she had given to Carmen, who had then given one to Michael. This was a fortuitous stroke of fortune for Michael, who had wanted to go to opening day but had been unable to obtain tickets, so he was even more high on Carmen than he usually was, even if it meant they needed to go as Golden Star and La Puma Negra instead of as Michael and Carmen. When he found out that it was The Patriot who had gotten the passes, he was likely going to be a little embarrassed. So Golden Star and La Puma Negra were taking in the sights and sounds in the block around the Liberty Dome in the crisp March air, and Michael had gotten them both hotdogs- if nothing else, he was going to be paying for all of Carmen's meals-, while they waited for the Patriot to come pick them up or for the game to begin, because they weren't sure exactly how busy or swamped she was going to be up until she threw the first pitch. He was being very careful not to spill mustard on his formal Super suit- because of course he had a formal Super suit-, while also making sure no one got too close to Carmen or made her uncomfortable. He wasn't the hovering type, but he also wasn't going to hang Carmen out to dry. He was also desperately keeping his mouth shut to not just spew baseball facts all over Carmen. "Do you want a jersey? They changed the material in them so they're not as good as they used to be, but still, having matching team jerseys could be fun..."

Golden Star Power Level: 9/14 (196/239PP) Unspent Power Points: 43 Trade-Offs: -3 Attack / +3 Damage, -3 Defense / +3 Toughness, Blast and Paralyze are +1 Attack / -1 Damage instead. In Brief: Star Student turned Future Star Hero Catchphrase: He wants one but he's still work-shopping it. Theme: Next In Line - Divide Music Alternate Identity: Michael Adon (Secret) Birthplace: Freedom City Residence: His Parent's House/Claremont High Occupation: Full-Time Student, Part-Time Superhero, Part-Time Everything Else Affiliations: His Family, Claremont, Sampson's Sodas Family: His Father, His Mother, his two brothers, and his best friend Sam Description: Age: 17 (DoB: 2007) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian Height: 6'2 Weight: 205lbs Eyes: Brown, Orange to Red when Superheroing Hair: Brown, Orange to Red when Superheroing Michael has all the looks of a golden boy; he’s got the broad shoulders and strong arms of the highschool quarterback, the square jaw and well done hair of the class president, the outgoing and happy nature of the most popular kid in class. He’s always wearing something that’s fancy, rather than trendy; he’s the kid who shows up in suits to events, knows how to tie his own tie. He polishes his shoes and irons his own clothes. His Super Suit is a red, white, and gold affair with red boots and shoes, a white bodysuit, and a sun on his chest, with a long, golden cape. History: Backstory Year 1 (Sophomore): Adapting to Claremont has come quickly to Michael; he's accomplished it quickly and with as much grace as someone could expect from someone who just suddenly got Superpowers. He's made several new friends- and a girlfriend-, and he is as always striving to be an exemplar. This has come with an increasing inferiority complex as several of the students have shown just how much they outclass him in various ways. He's no longer a big fish in a small pond, he's a regular fish in a massive ocean. Between fighting evil students, monsters attempting to ruin time, fairytale creatures brought to life, men brought out of cursed video game consoles and any number of other things, including alongside a galactic emperor and the strongest being in the universe, Michael has been trying to catch up to what he sees as impossible goals, straining himself more and more each day. Personality & Motivation: Michael is genuinely the sort of person who who wants to help people and looks on the bright side. His easy-going compassion comes from a gentle life; “It’s easy to be compassionate when you’ve never suffered.” is something that could be leveled at him; but part of why he’s never suffered is he never lets things get him down too much. He might be doing too many things at once, running around as fast as he can to be all he can be, but it’s not caused him to develop a short temper or burn out, yet. He has a vision and is carried forward by it. His time at Claremont hasn't changed his regular personality, but with his new powers, he's become more prone to bouts of rage, especially at his friends being in danger, and that's been coupled with a growing inferiority complex that leads him to try and match up to his mental image of his friends that he feels constantly in danger of being left behind by. Powers & Tactics: Michael starts almost any interaction with, obviously, an introduction. Since first impressions are important, he makes sure he has a firm handshake and tries to anticipate what the person he’s meeting might want; for kids his age or younger, he’s always got a discount card for Sampson’s stashed on him as a ‘nice to meet you’ gift. For older people, he’s smart enough not to try that unless he knows they have kids or younger relatives. Even when he’s heroing, he keeps to the same ideas; speak from the diaphragm, keep your head up straight, look people in the eye. When he has to fight, he goes for things he learned on the sports field first; tackles, shoulder checks, and some light boxing. He always gives people a chance to find a peaceful resolution first, and never swings unless someone's already swung. As he's gotten used to his powers, he's become more confident in using them, and he's also gained the ability to empower his friends with his own energy. Power Descriptions: Michael at lower levels of effort doesn’t overtly express his powers; he looks to be a ‘generic’ superhero; he's got flight, super strength, speed, and resistance, his hair and eyes burning somewhere between burnt orange and bright red. When he engages in fighting, or needs to use his full strength, he begins to glow, surrounding him in a corona of red and gold energy. While glowing, there’s a low level humming sound to his actions as he moves, almost like his entire body is vibrating, which it is, as his highly charged cells become more and more active. This also ties into his weakness to strong vibrations or those that find the right ‘resonance frequency’ for him; by focusing vibrations on him, his cells start to vibrate out of sync, crashing against each other. Complications: Abilities: 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 10 = 40PP Strength: 35/16 (+12/+3) Dexterity: 16 (+3) Constitution: 34/16 (+12/+3) Intelligence: 16 (+3) Wisdom: 16 (+3) Charisma: 20 (+5) Combat: 12 + 12 = 24PP Initiative: +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative) Attack: +6 Base, +10 Blast/Paralyze Defense: +6 (+6 Base), +3 Flat-Footed Grapple: +19-27/+9 Knockback: -10/-1 Saving Throws: 0 + 4 + 6 = 10PP Toughness: +12/+3 (+12/+3 Con, Impervious 8/0) Fortitude: +12/+3 (+12/+3 Con, +0) Reflex: +7 (+3 Dex, +4) Will: +9 (+3 Wis, +6) Skills: 72R = 18PP Bluff 4 (+9) Diplomacy 14 (+19), Skill Mastery Gather Information 4 (+9) Investigation 4 (+7) Knowledge (Civics) 4 (+7) Knowledge (Business) 4 (+7) Knowledge (Current Events) 4 (+7) Knowledge (Pop Culture) 4 (+7) Language 1 (Base: English, Spanish) Notice 7 (+10) Skill Mastery Perform 4 (Oratory) (+9) Skill Mastery Profession (Politician) 4 (+7) Search: 7 (+10) Sense Motive: 7 (+10) Skill Mastery Feats: 14PP All-Out Attack Assessment Connected Inspire 5 Interpose Jack of All Trades Leadership Luck 1 Quick Change Skill Mastery (Diplomacy, Notice, Perform, Sense Motive) Powers: 21 + 18 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 5 + 10 + 10 + 20 + 5 = 93PP All Powers are Biological, Biochemical, and Kinetic, except the Muay Thai Training, which is Training. Enhanced Strength 19 (to 35/+12, Feats; Alternate Power 2) (The Strength of an Exploding Sun) [21PP] Blast 8 (Feats; Accurate 2, Precise) (Kinetic Beam) {19/19PP} Paralyze 8 (Extras: Ranged (+1), Flaws; Full Round Action (-1), Feats; Accurate 2, Affects Insubstantial 1) (Energy Drain) {19/19PP} Enhanced Constitution 18 (to 34/+12) (The Resilience of an Exploding Sun) [18PP] Flight 1 (Star Powered Flight, 10 mph / 100 feet per Move action) [2PP] Quickness 1 (Explosive Thoughts, 2x) [1PP] Speed 1 (Shining Speed, 10 mph / 100 feet per Move action) [1PP] Super-Strength 1 (Feats; Shockwave, Countering Punch, Super-Breath) (Solar Might, Effective Strength 40) [5PP] Immunity 10 (Life Support, Hunger and Thirst) [10PP] Impervious Toughness 8 (Feats; Alternate Power 2) (Inner Combustion) [10PP] Quickness 4 (25x) + Speed 4 (100 mph / 1000 feet per Move action) {8PP} Total Possible: Quickness 5 (50x) and Speed 5 (250MPH / 2500 feet per Move Action) Super Senses (Infravision, Ultravision, Microscopic Vision 2, Extended Sight 1, Radio, Ultra-Hearing, Extended Hearing 1) {8PP} Array 8 (Golden Array; 16 points; Feats: Dynamic, Dynamic Alternate Power, Alternate Power) [20PP] Dynamic Base Power: Flight 1-8 (Star Powered Flight, 10-2,500 mph / 100-25,000 feet per Move action) {2-16PP} Total Possible: Flight 9 (5,000 mph / 50,000 feet per Move action) Dynamic Alternate Power: Super-Strength 1-8 (Effective Strength 45-80) {2-16PP} Total Possible: Super-Strength 9 (Effective Strength 80, Light Load: 250 tons, Maximum Load 1,600 tons) Alternate Power: Boost Powers 5 (All Powers at once; 4PP/R, Flaws; Others Only (-1), Feats; Slow Fade 1) {16/16PP} Container 1 (Muay Thai Training) (Training) [5PP] Enhanced Feat; Power Attack {1PP} Enhanced Feat: Takedown Attack 2 {2PP} Enhanced Feat; Improved Initiative {1PP} Enhanced Feat; Move By Action {1PP} Drawbacks: (-3) + (-0) = -3PP Vulnerability (Vibration; Frequency: Common; Intensity: Moderate [x1.5]) [-3PP] DC Block ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 27/18 Toughness Damage Blast Ranged DC 23 Toughness Damage Paralyze Ranged DC 18 Will Paralyze Shockwave Ranged Reflex DC 19/Tough 24 Damage Super-Breath Ranged Reflex DC 19 Trip Totals: Abilities (40) + Combat (24) + Saving Throws (10) + Skills (18) + Feats (14) + Powers (93) - Drawbacks (3) = 196/239 Power Points

GM It was just that time of the week in Claremont Academy. A routine check in with some of the students. The faculty has decided to test a few of the younger heroes. As such Baz, Vueriz and Michael would be called and led to the basements under the Academy, to the Doom Room. A large facility with a hexagonal floor, white and grey walls and a high ceiling. Above them was the observation room. A figure could be seen from within, the supervisor for today’s session. “Greetings students.” The man spoke up through the intercom. “We are here to evaluate your abilities. Some of your fellow students have volunteered to help you with this. Please use your abilities as you see fit.” Should any of them look to the far end of the room, they could notice a platform that had risen up fifty feet above them. On that platform they could see the familiar figures of Daniel and Iris, tied up together there, they seemed to be tied with chains that had three locks on it. “HEY GUYS!” Daniel called out while Iris just rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. The students could also see that there were three platforms rising up at different levels, they were all quite large, stretching from one end of the Doom Room to the other. Each platform had platform would have different environments simulated on them. The first and closest to the ground, had a forest theme to it. Trees, rocks and boulders could be seen on it. The next platform up seemed to have a city simulated on it. Or at least an urban area, small houses could be seen on it. Finally, the top seemed to look like the interior of a space ship. The supervisor would speak. “The object of this exercise is to rescue your fellow students. Each platform you see with spawn an enemy of a specific type. There are also three keys, one on each. You must find the keys to free them. Please take some time to prepare. You start in five minutes.” ( @Kaede Kimura @Supercape @Poncho )

Kingston Freedom City, New Jersey Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 5:25 PM After the decision had been made to move to the ruins of Kingston to await the arrival of the Boran Dovox, also known as Sovereign, the heroes that had delt with the minor rampage of Explodo the Great moved to a location not far from the Doomforge. Paradigm and Star Khan flew to the new location, to ensure that Dovox's assault transport would detect them and not start searching for the Star Khan. Fleur provided transportation for the other heroes. Paradigm and Star Khan stood out in a ruined parking lot, a few burned out husks of cars scattered about and half destroyed buildings nearby. Neither seemed particularly nervous as Paradigm was scanning the sky. "I see the transport." She stated after a few moments. "It appears to be headed directly for us." Star Khan had been alternating between scanning the sky as well and looking over at Paradigm. When she indicated she had spotted the transport, he looked back to the sky before looking about the barren landscape around them for a moment. It was not long after that the transport came roaring into view, flying down low towards the ruins of Kingston. As it approached the area where Star Khan stood beside Paradigm, it veered to the right and started to circle the area. As it passed to the right, a large, circular object dropped out, rockets slowing its descent as it landed a short distance away. A large, nearly eight foot tall mech dropped down next to the circular object, which opened up to reveal dozens of armed aliens in armor that began to move out away from the drop pod. With them were three large reptilian aliens with red scales and tusks, and two normal sized aliens dressed in black body suits. The transport continued to circle around, another drop pod dropping down to the left of where Star Khan and Paradigm were standing, along with another mech. A group of similar forces deployed from the second pod as well. The transport then flew over to the area out in front of Paradigm and Star Khan, almost landing as five figures jumped out of the back and the transport lifted back up into the sky. Leading the group was another of the red skinned reptilian aliens, standing well over seven feet tall. He was dressed in ornate armor and held a large, glaive like weapon in one hand. Walking just behind him, on either side were two tall figures dressed in black, teal and white armor, which had a small white eight pointed starburst in the center of the chest plate. The armor had a black and teal hood, and a full armored face mask with black visor. Each carried a long pike, the tip of which crackled with energy. Fleur recognized the armor from Freedom League briefs about Khanate Justicars. Just behind them were two more of the large tusked aliens, each carrying large swords. Star Khan looked from side to side a moment before looking back at the group approaching from the front. "Hunters, hounds and traitors." He stated simply as he looked at the two armored figures. "Justicar Wryy, Justicar Har’al, you would do well to set down your weapons and surrender, I may be willing to forgive you." "Kinarr Khan! I am Prince Dovox, the Sovereign!" The large tusked alien in the front of the group called out loudly as he came to halt. "You are not worthy to lead the Stellar Khanate, so I am here to take your head, and your throne!" He added, pointing his glaive at the young Star Khan. He then turned to look at Paradigm. "Praetorian, you have no business here, step aside." He snarled. "Neither do the Terrans." He added, glancing about at the others. "That is where you are wrong Dovox." Paradigm stated simply. "The new Star Khan has extended an offer of peace to the Republic and Coalition, so his safety is of great concern to the Praetorians." "But additionally, I have a personal interest here. Kinarr also made a proposal of marriage to me in the council chambers. So, until such time as I either accept or decline, he is my prospective intended." Dovox simply snarled as he gripped his glaive with both hands. "Then you can die together, makes no difference to me."

OOC for This Thread Will Carmen and Michael finally have a regular date that isn't interrupted by superheroics!? Seems Unlikely.

March 13th, 2024 Claremont Academy, students residence Golden Star had booted up his Nintendo 64. It was supposedly cursed. But Blackstaff had sorted that out. Probably. And probably was surely good enough. The psychic twins Cerebral and Cerebrum had stuck their head in through the door to see what was going on. The Nintendo fizzed when plugged in, and flickered half the lights of the students residence. Booting up? What was booting up? It was taking its damn time that was for sure. As it loaded (at a relatively glacial pace), the machine displayed pixellated art: Of machine guns, of evil villains in evil costumes, of lightning bolts, of dark towers with screaming damsels in distress at the top, of a city ruined by warfare, awash with tanks and mines. It all looked very archiac, and very violent. In a quaint way. The images had a certain... hypnotic... quality to them. It was hard to drag your eyes away from the screen, despite (or maybe because) of the antique pixel graphics...

2024 March 15, 9:00am Halfway to Medford, New Jersey (about 20 miles NNW of Freedom City) ~60o, gentle breezes (~10 mph), cloudy Field trips! Hands-on learning, a vital part to any well-rounded education! And this was the most classic form of that time-honored tradition: a trip to a working farm! With beef and dairy cows, hogs and chickens, and numerous orchards covering its 250+ acres, Medford Farms had been serving the lower half of the state for over two centuries, and was always eager to welcome curious students. And these students were curious indeed, coming from a most curious school. As the Claremont Academy van pulled off Highway 40 and started down a side road (to avoid a construction crew), the four students within -- Owain "Copper Knight" Celliwig, Jonah "Jotunn" Janse, Ryan "Sever" Jacobs, and Michael "Golden Star" Adon -- were busy with their own thoughts.

Mid-late January, 2024 The End of January brings the beginning of February. As the first month ends, so to do many resolutions fall by the wayside. But change has not stopped occurring just because a new year has begun! In fact, often the last shackles of the prior year's poor decisions can only be thrown off during the first month of the new one! Our new group of heroes, having encountered a group of delinquents, are now in a position to restore some level of normalcy to the lives of 5 troubled young girls. ------------------------------------- Ashley did not like losing. She didn’t lose often, of course, and whenever she did it put her in a foul mood. She had excuses, of course. Ashley didn’t lose, she reasoned to herself. It was the other three; they couldn’t keep up their end of the engagement. She was fighting off two of them at once and winning, the other three had a numbers advantage and they couldn’t keep up with them. They were pathetic. What was even the point of all of them having powers if they were so useless! Power should go to the strongest! That was why she had the powers she did, after all. Those who weren’t deserving, shouldn’t have power. ------------------------------------- Felix didn’t care about losing, but he was annoyed. He wasn’t the strongest, after all, but he liked his niche; he liked the new powers he had. And he had barely gotten to use them at all before that British kid had made him so slow he couldn't even move. Which was whatever. Paradox had acted all high and mighty about it ‘that’s inevitable, you aren’t on his level; your borrowed speed can't compete with his natural abilities'. Paradox didn’t know anything about anything, no matter what he acted like. What really grinded his gears was the Bug Boy. The one who had actually knocked him out. That bug didn't really understand anything about how cool FX was. GBB? GBB was garbage compared to FX! He thought he was cool, but Felix was actually the cool one! He just didn’t get how cool Felix was. He was gonna show him how wrong he was about that. ------------------------------------- Ashley had always been entranced by the Starstone ever since she first saw it. It had as many facets in it as there were stars in the sky- something she realized was meaningful-, and when you looked through one of the facets you could see a constellation. Each facet had a different one stored in it. It was also a clear source of tremendous energy, something the girl given the codename Eclipse was always desperate for. It had given her a tremendous amount with the Draco constellation, but it clearly had more; there were 88 constellations in the sky, but there were only 7 Starlights right now. So there had to be more juice in the gem than it was giving. It sat on the stage of what had once been a bustling theater just off Michigan Street; a prismatic gem that shifted through the hues of every color imaginable- and some beyond that-, about the size of a man's chest. Ashley didn’t know where it came from- the other girls did, but they seemed uninterested in telling her-, but she didn’t care anyway. She floated over to it and placed her hands on it, concentrating and breathing in its energies. “...Now come on, give me what you’re hiding...” “Ashley!? What the heck are you doing!?” someone called behind her, but she wasn’t paying attention to them. She had something bigger going on, after all. All this stuff; the color coding, the ‘Starblights’. They were small time. She was Eclipse, and she was big time. ------------------------------------- Lawrence had been right about one thing; Michael had thought Mizuki was insanely cool for getting the abandoned boat house out of the Headmistress and the faculty. He hadn’t gotten all overbearing about it, but he was clearly appreciative of Mizuki being willing to share something she had obtained with her own hard work with her friends. What was maybe less exciting was the realization that both of the groups had been harassed by color-coded schoolgirls- and one guy-, though appropriate congratulations had also been given to Baz, Mizuki, and Lawrence that they had handled their group so easily while the one at the Aquarium had been a bit more troublesome. It had also been noted that Parker, Consuelo, and Carmen had been excellent, though. Parker had even managed to open a line of communication to one of them thanks to his gentle nature. That was what the group was doing now, after school two days later, waiting for Parker to call the girl who had given him her number to continue their communications. When everyone had arrived and was prepared- including whatever preparations they had made for this-, the number was dialed, and after three rings, it was picked up. “Alright, listen. I’m gonna talk for a second and then you can ask questions, but we need to be quick about it.” The voice definitely belonged to the orange wearing Orion from the Aquarium. “About 2 years ago, a weasel named Enoch approached me, Kitty, Ashley One, Zoe, and Jenny. He said he was being hunted by magical things from another dimension and turned us into the Starbrights. We got super powers that he gave us from a gem called the Umbra Star.” she clearly sucks in breath through her teeth. “It sucked. A bunch of terrible stuff happened to us because of it, and Enoch wasn’t exactly great at being a mentor. We were constantly fighting monsters sent by this evil queen named Solus, they were threatening and hurting our friends and family. Then, about a year ago, one of her monsters killed Enoch. And we didn’t even have him anymore. So we gave up. Stopped bothering to fight the monsters, didn’t really go to school. We only had each other. But sometimes the monsters still found us.” She talks fast but it’s not hard to understand her, and her frustration is clear even in just her words; she’s not a delinquent lashing out because it’s fun, she’s a girl their age who is hurt and wounded. “Ashley II and Felix weren’t part of our group. They ended up caught up when one of those monsters attacked us. But the Umbra Star that gives us our powers gave them powers too. They already had powers, so it just made them even stronger. We all could see they were a problem, even beyond us, but we couldn’t really do anything about it; we don’t decide who gets the powers and who doesn’t, only Enoch could figure that out and he never told us. So we had to stick with them. But it’s not gonna fly anymore. They’re way too violent, and they’re clearly working for some other purpose.” she was quiet again, for a second. “...If you take them out, get them arrested, beat them down and take them away to Juvie or some prison or something, maybe the connection will break. And we can be free of them. The others won’t ask this because they’re concerned about each other; no one wants to get blasted by Ashley or watch someone else get blasted. But I’ll do it, because we need the help. We don’t want to fight you. The others don’t know I’m talking to you, but if I show up with you, they won’t side with Ashley and Felix. If you help us, we’ll call it even and split, no hard feelings.” she paused. She was tense, extremely. And it honestly could have been seen as quite suspicious that a girl that had just been trying to punch everyone was now asking for help. "...Okay, sorry. I can answer any questions now." She finally said.