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Summer 2020 The first thing you have to understand is that Eira Katastroff was decidedly not bringing her boyfriend home to meet her parents. This was a real summer trip (albeit a short one) with her, Pan, Lulu, Mia, and Micah all heading across the Atlantic for a week or so to visit lovely Sweden. So what if they were going to start at her parents' house? The Natt och Dag estate was a natural place for their first arrival and convenient to much of the rest of the country. She'd asked (and not whined, definitely not that) to get hero visas for all of them and it had all worked out fine. Everything was going to go perfectly. So here they were, a couple of weeks after Claremont had dismissed its students for the summer, standing on a campus that was mostly deserted except for a few unhappy students stuck there rather than with their families, the sky overhead bright and sunny, the trees and grass a brilliant shade of green. It looked to be a good day. There was no sign of Angelic yet.

High Earth Orbit The Lighthouse Friday February 7, 2020 8:50 PM Greenwich Mean Time (3:50 PM Freedom City) In the aftermath of Eria's first meeting with her fellow members of Orange Team, the Swedish teen had made arrangements for her team to spend the weekend on CoVic Station as guests of the Praetorians. So when classes had finished today, the members of Orange Team were taken in a school van to Freedom Hall, where they teleported up to the Lighthouse, the most convenient place for the Praetorians to meet them. The Claremont students had been aboard the Freedom League's space headquarters for about half an hour, getting a tour from Freedom League member Velocity, who for the most part had managed to keep herself moving at a more normal speed. When the yellow clad speedster got word that the Praetorians' spacecraft had exited the wormhole at the edge of the solar system, she led the teens down to a large viewing lounge located near the airlock where the spacecraft would be docking. Outside the large windows of the lounge, the teens could see the Earth moving past below, with the northern half of Africa having moved into view. "Well, it should only be a few more minutes before they arrive." Velocity said as she moved over near some of the windows before turning back to regard the group of teens.

March 21, 2020 DuTemps Castle "Kimber!" called Eira from the guest bedroom the Claremont girls were using to change. "I need your advice!" Technically the members of Orange Squad (along with her room-mate and her friend Pan) were here for diplomatic and professional purposes. True North, Canada's super-team, had recently teamed up with the British super-team Vanguard to battle the forces of the Fenian Liberation Army - the fight had been long, been hard, and it was all very interesting if you cared about the history of cross-Atlantic imperialism and the lasting legacy of American and British imperialism. But what was relevant right now was that in the aftermath of the battle in upstate New York, the teams had come to a neutral spot to celebrate, reconnect, and enjoy the hospitality of one of their richest American partners. It was a great opportunity to meet adult heroes from all over Europe and Canada, use the DuTemps pool - the big one, that the Deep One who lived here typically avoided because of its chlorination, get acquainted with the Claremont alums who lived in the castle, get out from under Claremont discipline under the watchful eye of adult heroes, and maybe hit the sound system and eat snacks while they were at it.

April 13th, 2020, 9AM at all points in the Omniverse, the start of Spring Break, Eternity Threshold of Primes, The Dimension of Doors, Infinity "I'm multiple liquid tons of 'dragon's blood', Prince. You're what, a gallon? Gallon and a half? This is stupid as hell." Above his charge, the green dragon lounged on a step, looking up at the boy with no little frustration. In the geometry-defying space Leroy Ransom-Conte, Dragon Prince of Earth-2, looked even more excessively dramatic than usual, a robe of pure white billowing from his shoulders, his feet unshod and his hair swirling in the shrill wind between worlds. In one hand was a knife of black diamond, in his other was a bundle of nerves very clearly trying to escape down his sleeves. Sweat trickled down his face as the blade approached his thumb. Beneath his shifting toes was a meticulous circle graven with Atlantean runes, with five circles intersecting at points any magician would understand at a glance, but to Leroy had been as alien as the experience of towering over most schoolmates. "My blood is unspilt for their sake, Dio." He swallowed, focusing on the descending arc of the smiling, smiling little dagger. "I am a coward." The dragon snorted, looking deeply unhappy "I don't think so, but...okay. Give a shout if you want something for the-" The knife brushed his skin, and like water dissolving salt it tore through. "-pain." Dio finished with a sigh, hopping off the step to pat Leroy on the back as the boy's face worked fantastically, the six scars on his cheeks stretching and growing ragged. Hurriedly, as the black blood beaded and smoked, Leroy walked to each circle and marked the names they enclosed with a smear. That done, he fumbled in a backpack, withdrawing a first aid kit and sitting down to disinfect and close the clumsy tear in his royal skin. "I thank you, Almighty," he muttered, tearing a band-aid out of its box, nose wrinkled at the sting of alcohol, "for Judy Smith, and her unerring foresight." "Now what?" Dio demanded, reclining once again, his pointed tail swinging over the edge of the abyss that gaped between the staircases wheeling and rambling in every direction. "They'll come here when they next walk through a door, but this dumb plan only works if they're all on board for visiting an Earth whose only advertisers are you and me. And one of us doesn't exactly make it sound amazing." he added with a look as pointed as his fifth limb. "I asked if they would like to visit a magical world, meet wonders and have an adventure. They all said 'yes'. This is the agreed-upon time. They know to open a door now will transport them." Leroy completed the application of the bandage with a gentle kiss, as Judy had always done, though he remained uncertain why. Despite the obvious lingering pain, his golden eyes shone. "I have erred many times, my dragon. But this time, nothing can possibly go wrong!"

OOC thread for this thread. Orange Squad goes to Earth-2 for spring break! Thrills, chills, blood-spills abound in a comedy classic! @Dr Archeville @Heritage @Shofet @Avenger Assembled

January 2020 Eira sat in the library meeting room, staring at the closed door. The lights were off and it was quiet, and she had arrived several minutes early for the Orange Squad meeting. She was wearing an oversized blue hoodie and jeans, a concession to the relative cold that her robotic nature didn't actually require. This would be the first time she'd met most of the Orange Squad, the team to which she'd been assigned upon her admission to Claremont - an admission made possible by her parents connection to the hero community and substantial wealth. It was team-building day.

GM Early December 2019 Claremont Academy Early Afternoon It was still during the school day. Students at the Claremont Academy should really be in class. After all, they were all good little students that did as they were told, even in early December, before their break during Christmas. With most students in classes, the grounds were mostly quiet. A few students running late for their classes, some working on art projects. Yes, it was all very quiet, all very mundane and as normal as a day could be at Claremont Academy. But we can't have that, can we now? One Mia Mustafic-Markov had found a note suddenly in her pocket after she had passed a group of students just before. The message was simple, even as it was written with beautiful, flowing letters: Do you want to have some fun? Meet me outside in 10 minutes. She could probably come up with an excuse to get away from the class. A bathroom break, having forgotten a book, a visit to the nurse of an emergency. After all, it had been a dreadfully boring day so far.

February 2020 St. Thomas Chapel basement "Thanks again for chaperoning us!" said Judy cheerfully, addressing Father Guimont with the familiarity of the student who probably worked with him more closely than anyone else. "This is gonna be a great night." Enthusiasm for "Ben-Hur Night" had not been what she'd hoped, even in youth group, but that was okay. _Yes we can watch movies that aren't about Jesus even though we're Christians, Karen_ she thought back, briefly distracting herself with the argument from last week, _but not when we're in church!_ But there was no reason to worry. She and Leroy were going to enjoy themselves, Ashley had settled into her usual spot in a corner of the basement, and..."Ashley, you're not going to read through the movie, are you?" "No," said Ashley, stuffing the Lor-English dictionary back in her jacket pocket. "Trust me, my eyes will be where they need to be." She was the only one in the room not in costume - well, she was in her Watchdog gear, anyway. One thing had turned to another and they were all wearing her best costumer's attempts at togas. If Mia could dress up for her movie, it only made sense they dress up for theirs! Father Guimont, an older man getting well into middle age, had conscripted Leroy to help him get the big screen TV programmed and hooked up to his new sound system. "Just plug that in there, and oop, I think he needs to get that in," Judy had joined them while they worked. "It's gonna be great!" she said with a wink Leroy's way. "I think Micah must be picking her up right now..." The double-date had been her idea - as for that matter had been Micah 'bringing' Mia to movie night at all.

GM North End, Freedom City Saturday, October 26, 2019 11:05 AM Dr. Martin Meyer was having a rough day. First, his five year old son had come down with the flu unexpectedly, meaning he had to watch over the poor kid who was busy puking his guts out. Then, he got a call from his job at ASTRO Labs demanding he come in. They weren’t particularly sympathetic when he told them his kid was sick, so he had to scramble to find his son a babysitter. Now, he was running late and getting a million angry texts because some lunatic super had melted the asphalt on the road, causing a jam. “Metas…” he hissed under his breath, trying to ignoring the vibration of his phone in the seat next to him. “Oh, doc,” came the voice of a young man that made Dr. Meyer jump. “I would say I’m disappointed you seem to hate us meta-people, but I’m not really surprised.” Martin wheeled around, eyes wide, to see one of his charges, Gabriel Napolitano, sitting in the back seat. “Why aren’t you at the lab?” Martin asked, his throat suddenly running dry on him. Slowly, his hand began drifting toward the glovebox. “The lab? Why would I want to be at the lab? They’re gonna take my powers away there,” Gabriel said. “You’re going to take my powers away. I don’t think I want that.” Dr. Meyer slowly popped the glove compartment open, one eye settling on the gun inside. “Gabriel, you’re sick. The source of you powers is unstable, you could…” Gabriel barked a laugh. “Oh, yeah, that’s what you keep telling us,” he said. “But somehow, given that you’re reaching for that gun, I’m starting to think you’re just scared of us.” Martin stopped, his hand drifting back toward himself. “Us?” Just then, a terrible screeching noise came from above him as molten fingers dug into the hood of his car and began to peel it away. Within moments, Martin could see her standing above him, her skin glowing like molten steel: Angela Ruiz. “Hey, Dr. Meyer!” she said, still visibly smiling despite the brilliance of her molten skin. Martin, realizing he was in serious danger, quickly grabbed the gun and let loose a bullet right into her midsection. She cried out, and Gabriel rose up to to try and help her. Martin used his chance, and threw himself out of the car, running through the cars to try and find a way to safety. “Help!” he cried. “Someone help me! They’re going to kill me!” Gabriel watched as his girlfriend reverted to her normal form, clutching her stomach and groaning. Despite the residual heat, he threw his arms around her. “Angela!” he cried, realizing then that he might be about to lose her. Gently, Angela pushed him away, and pulled at the bullet hole in her suit to reveal that there was no actual damage. “…I think I’m really durable,” she said with amazement. “…Yeah, there’s no damage. Hurt, though.” Gabriel’s eyes lit up, and he kissed her furiously on the lips. “Oh, honey, I love you.” “Aw, I love you too, Gabe,” Angela cooed, her voice sickly sweet. “Do you wanna go and melt Dr. Meyer’s skin off?” Gabriel grinned ferally. “Yeah, I sure do. Let’s go make him die screaming.” With that, he dissolved himself back into toxic smoke, and rose up into the air, looking down over the maze of cars. “MEYER!” he roared. “COMING FOR YOU, BUDDY!”

February 2020 Art Class A Day Before The Eagle Flies Alone The argument with the teacher had not quite been loud but it had certainly been heard across the class. Eira Katastroff had let her know in tones of offended dignity that forced collaboration was a patently failed pedagogical technique that did not actively promote learning. But when faced with a threat to the headmistress's office if she didn't follow instructions, Eira had backed down, just in time to find herself sitting opposite the leader of Orange Squad, who by the grim logic of an odd-numbered class had found herself without a partner at a critical moment. The assignment was to "create a representation of each other" - and as Eira glared at Mia, her arms folded across her chest, her blue hair a striking contrast against her button-down white dress shirt, she was certainly a striking picture. The teacher was on the other side of the room and the studio space was big, and the two of them had privacy if they were willing to talk quietly.

Claremont Academy, Freedom City Early November Just Past Midnight The room was dark, illuminated only by the flickering of the screen. Mia rested on her side, dressed in a sleep-shirt and comfortable pajama pants. Normally, she just went with the t-shirt, but it was colder in Lulu’s room than it was in her own. Danica had to maintain a fairly warm temperature, after all. It was normally tolerable, but it was good to get out of it sometimes. Normally, the sound coming out of her laptop would have been Japanese, but she had been forced to agree to use the dub this time. It was a concession she was not entirely happy about but she agreed to it anyway. Not everyone tolerated her weeb trash, and besides, the screen wasn’t the biggest anyway. After a few moments, though, a thought passed into her head. She turned on her side, and looked over at Lulu. They had been through a lot. Even though the Black House had, externally, only had them in there for an hour or two at most, the interior made it feel longer. A lot longer. It had helped her build a stronger bond with the girl, and honestly, she liked hanging out with her even if they did seem to occupy really different worlds at times. “So,” Mia said. “You wanna go get high and maybe get a pizza or something?” she asked Lulu. “No class tomorrow or anything.”

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...

Early November 2019 The Smith sisters didn't talk much about what had happened to them over Halloween. Judy had shown up for class on Friday looking a little the worse for wear; and Ashley hadn't appeared again until that Monday, sporting a smile, a few bruises, and bright pink bubblegum hair. But now it was November and it was time for some fun - and some important conversations. As usual, Ashley entered Leroy's room first, looking around to make sure Kam was out before gesturing for Judy to follow her in. "Hi honey!" she said cheerfully, standing on her toes to kiss Leroy on the cheek. "You already for our date in Mia and Danica's room?" Judy had certainly dressed up for the occasion, wearing a maxi-skirt and snug blouse whose dark colors went well with the bright cross around her neck and tan skin.

The day after A Changing World Daystar and Watchdog's room Well the secret was out and the world hadn't ended. Ashley and Judy were boarding a plane the next day for their flight back to DC, where the First Family would serve meals to carefully-vetted homeless families in the area. Maybe they'd come back and everything would be the same. Ashley closed her eyes and remembered the nightmare - the school in flames, children and soldiers dead, all because of her. She opened them, and saw Judy sitting on her bed, holding the family Bible she'd been reading the night before. She was back to a passage Ashley knew was important to her: "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day." "Do you really want to do this?" Ashley asked Judy quietly. Judy glanced her way. "We haven't known Mia that long, and Leroy...Leroy may want you to tell him on his own." He may go tell everyone. Oh well, that would be one way to handle the end of the relationship. "Ah need to tell them both. Ah know them the best of anybody who is still here...and Ah love Leroy. Ah'm..." She twisted the ring on her finger. "Ah'm gonna marry Leroy, and he deserves to know the truth. Ah have mistreated him." "It wasn't your fault," Ashley added softly from where she sat on the bed. "He's a very nice boy, and he's been very good to you. But what's going to happen when this place is done?" When there was a knock at the door, Ashley got up to answer it.

ooc for this. @Shofet

Character sheet Guidebook HellQ Interview/20Q Reputation

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 Fall 2019 Noon Mia sighed as she exited the counselor’s office, rubbing her temples. She had just received what she was pretty sure was a tongue-lashing, except not much like the ones she had back at public school. There was less anger, more ‘we’re disappointed in you’, which strangely enough, felt worse. She grimaced, and pulled her phone out from the pocket of her faded black jeans. She looked down at the screen as she unlocked it, weighing her options. She decided to settle on her dad. He was always the softer one with her. Letting her mom know she’d already gotten in trouble was going to give her a conniption and Mia didn’t need that. Her mom didn’t either, probably. Too much stress going on, lately. But her dad. He could take it, right? She opened up a new text window. Mia grimaced. That was fast. He must have been taking his lunch. Mia glared at her screen, and hastily tapped a reply, then deleted it, then wrote another reply. Mia’s eyes went wide. Tell her mom? No! She was telling him specifically to avoid letting her mom know! Mia pumped her fist. She assumed the acceptance of a peace offering meant that she was safe from him telling her mom. For now. He was definitely not getting that cola if he told her mom. No one would get any cola then. Her attention turned back to the counselor’s office, and she narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t believe she actually got in trouble for this. It was such a non-issue. But of course, people had to blow everything out of proportion all the time. Couldn’t just be cool about things. Ugh. And man, now she had to write an apology letter to Aquaria, too. What was even the point of an apology if someone made you write it? She rolled her eyes, then turned around, only to find she was staring at the reason she had teleported out of the presentation in the first place. “Oh, hey,” she said flatly. “Didn’t… See you there.”

Interviews. The teacher had elected to have the students interview each other. Mia didn’t really have any interviewing skills at the best of times, and her chosen partner didn’t make things any easier. There was an air of mystery around Judy, even despite her general warmth and openness. What made things worse was that the class was uneven, so Mia had been also assigned to interview the other Smith sister, Ashley. That was perhaps a bigger challenge, given the general… Reservedness with which Ashley seemed to approach the world. What was worse was that this interview constituted a fairly large portion of their grade, enough that skipping it wasn’t really a consideration. In order to make things easier, Mia had offered up some information about herself first, in the hopes that it might help create a bridge between the two of them. However, she didn’t really have an idea of where to start beyond the basics. “Alright,” she said, clearly unsure of herself. “I’m Mia Mustafic-Markov. I was named after Mia Zapata, from a punk band called the Gits. A big secret about me is that I have a middle name, Nadezhda, from Lenin’s wife, which my dad’s parents gave to me. I don’t use them because that’s super embarrassing. They were descended from Trotskyists who fled the Soviet Union during the 1930s,” she said. Her tone was robotic, as if reciting things from rote. “My birthday is September 1st, 2003.” She paused. “Now you guys go, I guess.”

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.”