ic (IC) Pop Quiz: All You Have Is Your Fire

[Tiffany Korta]

Frostbyte
Cathy had stood and let others sort things out, after all, they had more experience than any of them. She also wasn't quite sure what she could say about the whole thing, having really only come in at the end of the battle and not really understanding everything that had gone on. But she couldn't let the idea of all those people suffer such a fate, even if it would be long after there time.

 

"Is there nothing we could do for them at all? Its seems a bit brutal to condemn them all to such a fate."

[Fox]

Gaian Knight was in attendance largely as additional super-powered muscle; he'd quietly informed the armed villain that an attempt to leave the building would be met with the rapid descent of the several tons of dragon quietly circling overhead, and then left him in Bowman's capable hands. Tarrant counted at least one kid and one dog with bullet wounds, and that made him want to do things he wouldn't regret later.

 

He erred on the side of seeing to those kids, which meant being in better earshot of the ongoing interdimensional concerns. He didn't like that, either, but he never did like settling for the no-win scenario. "We could offer survivors refugee status," he suggested, "here or elsewhere. Sorry," he added, to Phantom, "I know people jumping dimensions isn't always approved-of. Sitting by and watching a population drift into the void never sits right, though. Assuming we could set it up and keep anything from getting out -" - he still wasn't clear what, exactly, was on the other side of that portal to warrant battle-hardened mothers and soldier children, but he didn't think it could be good - "- what are the odds that Fleur or I or one of our other portal-makers could wedge a hole open long enough to get survivors away without causing more problems for both sides?"

[Avenger Assembled]

 

(Theme)

 

"You sound like they did. In the last days." Peyton shook her head. "I was ready to damn this world to save my people, but after this - " She looked around the aftermath of the battle and said "You're not any different from us. You don't deserve what happened to us. Unless you think-" Phantom did not think so, and had the weight of cold, hard knowledge on her side. "All right." Peyton turned and hugged her son with her one good arm, the latter worthy crying freely. 

 

"I'll find my way to you," he promised her. "Through the Deep Forest - and home." 

 

And a few minutes later. 

 

She was gone. 

 

A few minutes later

Gaian Knight and Phantom's next destination, with Nighthawk and Reagent in tow, was the headquarters of the world's leading expert in limb replacement and super-cosmetic surgery (and a longtime friend of Reagent's business) - Archetech. 

 

A few minutes later 

Raina was conscious of being tailed on her way to the Espadas dojo, the sort that told her someone was watching her and wanted her to know it. But nobody stopped her, not even when she reached the front door. 

 

Later 

"Hell is empty - and all the Devils are here." 

The words came to Ardent in a dream that night, whispered in a voice like Keith Richards - and she knew they were true. 

 

Later

The baby had no DNA or fingerprints on file; and from his energy signature, wasn't from this universe (nor, ominously, was it from Riley's homeworld either), But caring for him was going to be a little beyond the reach of a high school senior, even if he was an expert with dogs. 

 

 

A long time later

And so, Merlin explained through the Skype window, it had been the magic originally placed on Sparkler that had led him to find Raina's parents at the right moment to bring down both their operation and indeed the entire Murder League. How had that resulted in all of the 'misfit' crew being present at the same time? That question was outside of a monkey's pay grade - but well within the realm of expertise of the Master Mage of Earth. You see, the Cosmic Coil does have something of an immune system...

 

A long, long time later 

Another Freedom City 

 

Peyton Quinn looked around the table at her allies. On the table were the devices they'd seized from the surviving Murder League members (well, the ones that had survived to be caught - who knew about that damn suicide pill, anyway), and the books they'd salvaged from the remains of Freedom Hall and superhero strongholds over the years. "So that's it. A century, maybe - and all this, everything we've built, everywhere - is gone." Her son's journal was in the pile too, or rather a copy of it - she'd made sure it was printed and placed in the community library. As long as their community survived, Riley's words would be read; and no one would ever forget her son. "What do we do?" 

 

Across the table, Trevor Hunter cleared his throat, stroked his beard, and said "...Have an idea."