ic Uptown Girl

[Shofet]

West End, Freedom City

Fall 2019
6:30 PM

 

The Meta-Naut

Raya sighed to herself as she drove up to ‘Morley’s Pub.’ Normally, she had a driver, so parking on the street across from it was something of a nightmare. She would have kept the driver, but that seemed unnecessarily showy. Then again, wasn’t flying all the way to Freedom City just for a date pretty showy too? Oh well, didn’t matter now. Not like she could go back. At least not without being super weird.

 

She sighed, leaning back in her seat, and pulled out her phone. She hoped the car she had rented wasn’t too ostentatious. It was a Black BMW-5 series. A luxury car that didn’t necessarily scream it. She inhaled sharply through her nose, and checked her makeup one last time before she opened up her text messages and began to hammer away at a text.

 

Quote

 

ME: 6:30 PM

Hey, I’m out front.

 

 

Wanting to make sure that she was noticed, she stepped out front of the car and waited, staring at the pub. She didn’t want to go inside, really. Too many people and she’d feel awkward about not buying anything.

 

Raya was dressed for the occasion, wearing a pink pant-suit with a light purple shirt underneath, her lips painted the same colour as her shirt and her eyeliner winged. She was wearing faux-crocskin black flats, since she didn’t want to be in heels all night. She’d even had her hair touched up, though it was in the same style as always, the left side of her head cut into short lazer lines while the rest of her hair was longer and flopped to the side.

 

She hoped she hadn’t overdone it.

Edited September 29, 2019 by Shofet

[Moira Morley]

Sometimes she wondered why she even had the profile on ErosUnlimited. Matches were plentiful, but replies were not. The woman who she ended up talking back and forth with was a great conversation online at least. Really wild and imaginative. Something Moira could use more of. But now? They were about to meet in person. This would be their first date.

 

A text popped up on her message. It was short. "Out front," she echoed the written word. She smiled, "here goes," tapping a message that she would be there shortly. She had kind of dressed up for this date. Not super fancy, but not her regular casual clothes. A dark red sleeveless dress that reached her knees and held tight to her. Her shoes were flats, matching her dress. Light makeup and very red lipstick. Her hair was the only 'normal' thing, left down. It looked like she was going on a date. For her at least.

 

When she got outside, she looked around. There was Raya. She looked like her profile picture. Except without her dogs. Or champagne glass. Still, a lot of class in her style. Walking towards her date, she smiled. "Hello," she said happily with a forced but cute little curtsy, "you're Raya, right? I'm Moira. OR Scion, whichever you prefer."

[Shofet]

The Meta-Naut

 

Raya exhaled sharply on seeing Moira exit the building. Crap, she looks even better in person, she thought to herself. Not like that was a bad thing, but now Raya was going to have to work twice as hard to not be a total dork. She walked up to Moira and smiled at her, tilting her hear bashfully.

 

"Yeah, I'm Raya. It's good to finally meet you in person. Really loving the dress," she said, gesturing to it. "Red's definitely your colour."

 

Raya looked back to her car for a moment, then back at Moira. "So... I got us reservations at a really nice place, but there's kind of a...thing about it. It's called La Chateau Bleu, and it's kind of in another dimension. One where Napoleon won the Napoleonic Wars."

 

"I know it's a little out there, but it's got some of the best food I have ever had."

 

She smiled hopefully at Moira, hoping she would be okay with this little surprise. Otherwise, Raya would have set a record for how quickly she could spoil a date.

[Moira Morley]

"Thanks," she said taking the compliment with a soft, soothing voice, "your suit looks nice too. Purple was my second choice. I'm not sure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing."

 

She did not doubt that Raya could go to another dimension. They'd talked about it a little bit in their conversations. The fact that it was easy was the big thing for Moira. This she wanted to see in person. She nodded, impressed, "very nice. I'm not a big history buff, so I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. The whole Napoleon wins thing? But I'll take your word for it." She grinned, "just as long as it's not Nazis."

[Shofet]

The Meta-Naut

 

Raya smiled at Moira’s questioning. It was reasonable enough. “I’m gonna tell you right now, a part-black Brazilian woman’s not going to take you anywhere near Nazis, no matter what the boys from Brazil will tell you,” she said, giggling. “No, the world we’re going to is what I’d classify as… different. Not better, not worse, just a bit different. Most worlds have their problems, really. Although, uh, between you and me, any world where dinosaurs are still the dominant species sucks.”

 

She got into the driver’s seat. “So, I’m gonna be driving us to a parking lot near where the Chateau will be in the other dimension. I can’t actually take the car with us, so this will be the next best thing,” she said as Moira got into the car. “Oh, yeah, some things. USA still exists, Freedom still exists, and the people at the restaurant know I’m from another dimension so we don’t need to worry about like… pretending we’re from there. I didn’t want this to be stressful or anything.”

 

She started to drive, pulling out and heading away from the pub and towards her intended destination. As they drove, Raya figured this would be a good time to get to know Moira a little better. Sure, they’d messaged back and forth, but it was mostly surface stuff.

 

“So… I didn’t really have any conversation starters planned, so I might pause as I try and think of what to say… What made you message me?”

[Moira Morley]

Moira wondered what the big changes were if everything existed as usual. Maybe everyone was speaking French? Was there an emperor instead of a president? Still, she listened to Raya as she told about the place, taking everything in with a nod. There was one burning question on her mind, and Raya's profile mentioned nothing about mind reading. She would save it for later.

 

She smirked when the question was asked of her. Well, not her own question. "Looks, basically," she laughed. "Oh I stuck around for more than that. Everyone's pretty on that site. I loved that you liked dogs. And to drink. I had to know what you were like. Beyond the sparse words." She looked to Raya, with a genuine look of appreciation, "but you were one of the few who answered back. And I thank you for that. I know it's hard to open up to people you've never met. And that's one of the things that got us here!"

[Shofet]

The Meta-Naut

 

Raya couldn’t help but grin at that, her vanity tweaked a bit. Sure, she knew that there was more to her than looks but she liked being told she was attractive. Who didn’t, really? The rest was just icing on the cake. She took a turn down another street, and she was positively beaming at this point. When she realized that, she tamped it down a bit. She didn’t want to seem too desperate.

 

“Yeah, I mean…” she said, trailing. “Ah, I don’t know. I tend to keep to myself in my day to day, but I do like people, you know? I like talking to them, getting to know them, but… ah… I don’t know. I’m glad I messaged you.”

 

She pulled into a parking garage, handing the man a card before being let on in. They descended into the darkness and started heading down the floors. “So… We’re almost ready,” she said, gesturing around at the parking garage. Finally, three levels down, they found their parking spot, and Raya parked them. She stepped out, and then moved around to open the door for Moira. It was a little cheesy, but it felt right to do.

 

“So, you’re just going to need to hold my hand and I’ll bring us through, but before we go, any questions or anything?”

[Moira Morley]

"Well yeah," Moira said matter-of-factly, "one big question actually. It's kinda silly too." She took Raya's hand and thought for a moment, like she was figuring out how to say something. "So, alternate dimension or timeline. Like, if there's a split, things change. Probably not the same people?" She shook her head taking Raya's other hand, looking up at her date with a smile. "But it's not important. You're the one I'm here for. Not others."

 

Really, the thought of meeting a doppelganger was weird. She met one (and fought her!). The afterwards was blurry. Like she couldn't remember anything about the Moira from the nongod world.

[Shofet]

The Meta-Naut

 

Raya laughed. “No, unless you were born 200 years ago, you’re not going to run into any clones of yourself or anything like that, if that’s what you’re asking. Terre-Napoleon is a true divergent universe, which means that it doesn’t have any meaningful parallels after its point of divergence. There are no other Rayas and no other Moiras there,” she said, her voice in an assuring tone.

 

Then, she inhaled sharply. “Alright, hold on tight, this can be a bit of a doozy.” She smacked her badge, and suddenly, the world around them bended and distorted. There was a brief flash of light and the sound of a something like a pop or a snap, and then, all of a sudden, they were… standing in a parking garage. However, the differences were there if you cared to look for them. All the cars looked different. The designs were more angular, more aerodynamic, looking not much like the ones that had been there before. Also, all the height markings were written in the form of meters instead of feet.

 

“Oh, yeah, important thing to note,” Raya said, staring at the numbers. “Imperial system is suuuuper dead in this universe. So that’ll be something to get used to.”

 

She didn’t release Moira’s hand, more out of absentmindedness than anything, and walked with her up to the surface level. Once they were out, the street was almost unrecognizable. The shops were vastly different - where there was once a liquor store, there was now a bakery for example. And based on some of the names on the signs, it seems that Noah Webster’s machinations did not take hold - there was a lot more liberal use of the letter ‘u’ than was normally seen in the United States.

 

The fashion didn’t seem all that different. The people walking the streets still wore long pants and jackets, but the men seemed to be dressed more colourfully than they were in the old world, with bright reds and purples and greens all clearly visible. Also, incidentally, a lot more men wearing guyliner. Hairstyles also seemed to be longer for both genders, and there was even more facial hair than normal.

 

“See? Just slight changes,” Raya said.

[Moira Morley]

Moira had been dimension hopping before, but never in this fashion. It was usually a ritual, spell, or some other magical and/or divine thing. Who's to say this wasn't? She wasn't nosy. Not right now at least. The ruckus made by the ordeal wasn't as bad as it was made out to be. Noisy and bright. Things she'd been through semi recently. The other side though? This was... different?

 

She noted everything Raya pointed out. She was a product of the American public school system, so the metric thing was kind of a puzzle. She usually looked online to convert. Not that she needed it now. Looking at her phone, she smirked, "Roaming indeed." She looked to Raya, "this is pretty neat so far." Moira wasn't a gawker, and while she'd seen shops and people like this before, she tried to avoid looking like a tourist!

 

"So, Raya," she said holding her date's hand still, as she looked around, "how often do you travel like this? Do you stay in places that are mostly the same?" She looked to Raya again, "I'm sorry for the whole interview portion of the date," she laughed lightly. "Your life seems so intriguing right now."

[Shofet]

The Meta-Naut

 

Raya smirked over at Moira. "All the time," she said casually. "It's sort of my thing. Protecting the multiverse from all the jerks who get big ideas. That and just adventuring for kicks. And nah. I love to visit weird places if I know they won't like... Shred my atoms upon entry."

 

She looked away, running her fingers through her hair with her free hand. "And it's not as interesting as being literally divine. I just got a gizmo, take that away from me and I'm nothing special. You, though. You're immortal and all that, you'll actually be around when the future comes. If I wanna visit it, I have to cheat," she said.

 

Her eyes narrowed. "At least until I can afford those longevity treatments they come up with in a hundred years. Inflation is such a pain," she mused to herself.

 

She walked across the street over to the front of a fancy looking building that called itself the Chateau Bleu in gold lettering. Leading her date inside, they were met with a maitre d' dressed in a red-and-blue suit who smiled at them.

 

"Hello," Raya said. "Two for Wells?"

 

The man looked down at his board, and then nodded. "Ah, yes, of course," he responded in an American accent indistinguishable from one that could be heard in the normal Freedom City. "Right this way."

 

He lead them to a table, lit by candles in the centre-right of the room while a band played something from Mozart. Raya pulled out the chair for Moira and waited for her to take a seat before seating herself. She then simply smiled over at Moira.

 

"So, as you've probably noticed, I'm a huge showoff."

[Moira Morley]

Moira listened to Raya's talk of her mortality. She could give her something that would make her live forever, but not on the first date. She would at least get to know her beyond small talk  Raya was something of a bright spot so far. She could see hanging around her more often. But that's what this was for wasn't it? To gauge if they wanted to see more of each other. Moira was not about to wax philosophical about dating.

 

The French restaurant was nice. She grinned at the approximation of an 'American' accent. "Merci bien," she smiled warmly, trying to be cordial. There were a few simple phrases she'd learned over the years while travelling with friends and acquaintances.

 

"And thank you too," she said as Raya pulled out the chair for her. She smiled and nodded, "oh dear, don't worry about it. I'm enjoying you showing off. I tend to do so, but in other ways. Not in formal settings, at least."  Looking to the band playing and then back to Raya, "That said, I must know. Is this setting you? Like is this your normal Saturday evening?"

[Shofet]

The Meta-Naut

 

Raya shrugged her shoulders. "It's kind of me, yeah. Another dimension, somewhere fancy...  Yeah. I like going to places like this, you can avoid a lot of attention you'd get otherwise. There are some nosy people out there, but most of them can't jump dimensions."

 

She took one of the little baguettes they kept in a basket on the table, and began to cut it open and butter it as she spoke. "Look, I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm pretty rich. But I like my privacy, you know? I don't want journalists crawling all around trying to find out every little detail. That stuff's for people I like, not for some stupid tabloid."

 

She sighed. "Okay, so maybe it's not like every Saturday. I do normal people stuff. Well, as normal as you can be when you've got my little device and as much cash as I have. But you know, some Saturdays are just sit in and binge watch cartoons on Netflix, others are fighting time nazis or something."

[Moira Morley]

Moira nodded, "yeah, the simpler things and life are easy to afford. I'm a West End girl. The rich part is impressive, but I like to know people before their bank account." She reached for her napkin, putting it in her lap. Simple etiquette stuff to look nice. Though she hadn't thought about the food yet, being interested in Raya. But as she got into the bread, the menu crossed her mind.

 

"Yeah, Freedom has a big thing for heroes, so I know what you mean. Not that I'm shy about talking to reporters." She smiled with a small laugh, "or anyone in general." She didn't know the exact setup of spoons and forks, unfortunately. Touching them lightly, she didn't want to make a fool of herself. "Well, anyone who can hold a good conversation. I've went on a few 'wordless' dates." She watched Raya eating her bread, "luckily, this isn't one of them." Not that she didn't enjoy her less talkative friends. She was just glad Raya was all about herself.

 

"The whole binge watching thing is cool. I'm not usually the type to sit around for long. There are a few people who I make exceptions for. My father is watching this program about the history of hero families like the Atoms and the Dangers. He calls me when he's about to do it. And I try to make time." She smiled, "I'm sure you could make your own series with the places you've been."

[Shofet]

The Meta-Naut

 

Raya shrugge her shoulders, smiling slightly. “I… I can’t see myself on TV. It’s too public, you know? I mean like maybe I could sell the stories, I guess? That could work, but I’d have to do it under an assumed name or something because I do noooot want that coming back to me,” she said.

 

“I bet I sound pretty paranoid,” she said with a giggle. “But like… I’ve gotten freaking journalists trying to dig up stuff on me and my family, which is… Really weird! Honestly it’s harassing my family more than anything that really annoys me. They didn’t do anything. I kinda get investigating me. I’m a rich weirdo who avoids the spotlight. But like my mom and dad and brother… They didn’t do anything to deserve a camera in their face.”

 

One of the waiters came over, and smiled at them. “Hello, ladies. Can I offer you a selection of wine ton--” he was cut off, suddenly, by the door swinging violently open.

 

In walked what looked to be a baboon in a pinstripe suit, a cigar hanging from his lips.He had an angry sort of intelligence in his eyes, and he walked upright like a human being with a sort of swagger that suggested he thought he was top dog. Behind him walked a giant gorilla, walking upright similarly, dressed in a brown suit with a red tie, carrying what looked kind of like a tommy gun in his hands. They both looked around.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the baboon said. “I’m afraid to inform you that the owner of this business is a cheapskate who forgot to pay his protection money, and thus, it falls unto you to provide what he could not. Now, I don’t want no funny business, see? Just hand over your money and any goods, and everything will go smoothly.”

 

Raya sighed loudly. “Ugh. Bad, Bad Baboon. One of the local supervillains.”

[Moira Morley]

Moira nodded as Raya explained her less than open life. "I can see it, not everyone has to want the public's eye. Even a showy person like yourself." She smiled at Raya, "it's why i keep my identity partially secret. Like openly secret. Scion and Moira Morley are two different people, until you meet one of them and care to put two and two together." She grinned, "in Freedom, people enjoy the masquerade, so I'm not going to push it off of anyone."

 

The waiter's arrival was a blessing followed by a curse. Not the waiter, the 'local supervillain'. Moira looked cross. "Of course," she said tersely. There were two options now. Get up and pummel this monkey man into the ground and ruin the date from the start, or sit here like a rubber necker. The latter did not appeal to her. Still, having a nice time with Raya was what she wanted.

 

"I can make this problem disappear real quick," she leaned forward towards Raya, speaking quietly, "but the formal part of out night would be over. Either way, I'm about to get up and do the right thing."

[Shofet]

The Meta-Naut

 

Raya sighed, nodding to Moira. "Yeahhh... Yeah, we're going to have to do something," she said dejectedly. She had wanted to have a normal date night, but it seemed that things were determined to go another way. Much as there was a part of her that wanted to simply sit by and let things blow over, the part of her that cared about people said that would be unforgivable. And it would be.

 

"Okay," she said. "Let's do this." She cracked her neck, and felt for her badge. It was time to try and kick some booty. Monkey booty. Whether they liked it or not. All she had to now was wait for Moira to do her shtick.

 

 

[Moira Morley]

Seeing as she was unknown on this world she could have gone full transparent citizen. But where would the fun in that be? The only contrast to the red in her wardrobe was two piece of god. Her necklace and her bracer. Both held sentimental value, but the latter was the one that 'made' her Scion. At least the geddup. She focused on it.

 

A golden laurel appeared in her hair and her shoes turned into golden sandals. Her dress was now a white, layered dress that reached down to her ankles. Finally her eyes flared with golden fire. She looked very much the part of an ancient goddess.

 

"See, this is the part where you either back down or get beat down," she said taking a few steps towards the monkey men. "I'd suggest the former, because who wants to ruin this nice place? I know I don't. But if you insist." She hunched over slightly, arms forward in a grappler's stance, "you're paying for all of us."

[Shofet]

GM

 

The well-dressed baboon jumped briefly at the sudden change, making a short series of mobster-accented ooks, before regaining composure. "A super-zero, eh? Well, see, we got ways of dealing with those, see!" He removed what looked like a normal banana from his blazer, and aimed it at the strange, Olympian looking woman. However, it turned out to be much more than a banana when he pressed down on the banana with his trigger finger and cast a devastating, banana-flavoured beam at her!

 

When she didn't fall, the gorilla stepped forward. "Duhh! You gotta learn your place, lady!" he said, and then let loose a terrifying volley of bullets at her. Most, however, didn't seem to find their mark, instead ricocheting harmlessly around the room, seemingly hitting only her and doing nothing.

[Moira Morley]

It was almost too quick. Scion didn't doubt the banana could be used as a weapon, she'd seen much sillier things, but she didn't know how to react to it.She found out it was a gun! And that was the surprise that caught her off guard. A banana beam. She wasn't about to say she'd everything, but this? This was new. It stung a little, but banana was one of her favorite scent.

 

Wincing, she steeled herself when an actual gun came out. Of course, it being gangsters, it had to be a tommy gun. Not that she was jumping in the way of it, but it hit her all the same. It wasn't pleasant but at least it wasn't as bad as the banana beam.

 

"Oh man," she laughed, "I really didn't need that, but come on. Monkeys with banana guns. I love my line of work." She charged after the one with the bullets, trying to punch and grab him at the same time. Unfortunately that banana blast seemed to disorient her more than she thought. She missed but was next to him!

Edited October 2, 2019 by Moira Morley

[Shofet]

The Meta-Naut

 

Raya gasped when the beam hit Moira, and even more when it actually seemed to sting a little. What's worse is that the other one let loose a volley of bullets from his tommy gun, sending the crowd in the restaurant sprawling and screaming.

 

Seeing that Moira seemed to have the big one handled, Raya decided she would take out the little guy. A blue light enveloped her hand, and took the form of a transparent blue blaster. She let loose a burst at the apparent boss, hitting him square between the eyes.

 

He was sent sprawling, thrown back into the glass door behind him and shattering it.

[Shofet]

GM

 

The gorilla watched as his boss suddenly went flying behind him, and a maddened look of fury entered his eyes. He turned to Moira, and threw down his gun. "Duh, your friend there hurt the boss! You's gonna pay for that!" he bellowed, before taking a mighty swing at her. Even if he had been using a gun before, his arms worked just as well. After all, he was a gorilla.

 

Meanwhile, the shock of sailing through the glass had knocked the baboon out cold, which was unfortunate for him, as the sound of police sirens began to echo in the distance.

[Moira Morley]

The gorilla with a tommy gun seemed less than pleased that his compatriot was out in one fell shot. Moira - Scion now - looked over to her date. "Woo! Good shot," she cheered at her, "now it's my turn to make a simian assault!"

 

She turned to the gorilla with a tommy gun just as he was swinging his meaty hook at her. "Bad monkey," she taunted him, "don't they have a prison or zoo you could be in right now?" She was quick enough to dodge and close enough to press the advantage, crashing into him with a gut check that knocked the wind out of him, before quickly taking him to the ground and smashing him in the face. He was done for.

 

"Whew," she said standing up, dusting off her hands, "they don't make them tough over here do they?"

Edited October 14, 2019 by Moira Morley

[Shofet]

The Meta-Naut

 

Raya looked over the shattered door and fallen villains, and nodded to Moira. However, despite their victory, there was a sense of glumness to the whole thing. Even as the people in the restaurant applauded, she couldn't help but feel robbed of what was going to be a fun night for her.

 

"Yeah..." she said, hearing the sirens grow louder in the distance.

 

Walking over to Moira with her hands in her pockets, Raya took another look down at Killa Gorilla and resisted an urge to kick his unconscious body. She sighed, craning her head upward to look at the ceiling lights, and ran her fingers through her hair

 

"Private jet. I have a private jet. I could take you back to our home dimension and then fly you out to my apartment in the ECs. I have a pool and champagne and... Security. So no villains messing everything up."

[Moira Morley]

As quickly as Moira shifted to Scion, Scion shifted back into Moira. It was just a costume, really. They didn't know her from Adam in this time and place. At least the cops were on their way to clean this up. She wondered, if only for a split second, what the process was like in a French dominated world. But that wasn't her problem.

 

She looked to Raya with a welcoming smile, "I'm sure there's worlds without monkey criminals," she said consoling her, trying to lighten the mood. The invitation to her place did seem nice though. "Drinks and a nice hot tub conversation? I'm all for that," she said accepting her secondary date location. "Truth be told, I've never been to Emerald. Maybe if we stick together until the morning, we can sight see."