Speak of the Devil (IC)

[Electra]

Halloween Night

Erin looked out the window of her dorm room as the sky outside grew steadily darker, casting the lights of the city into sharp relief. From this side of the building, she wasn't going to see any Trick-or-Treaters, since her room faced the campus, but she could see the occasional student dressed in a costume and hurrying towards the main building for the party. She'd wondered if anyone would go in their practice uniform or hero costume, just to be a smartass, but so far she hadn't seen anyone sporting the blue and gold. It was going to be a cold night tonight, from the weather reports. Anyone going out for candy had better be dressed warmly.

Turning away from the window, she went over to her bunk and sat down, picking up her bag of candy. She'd conscientiously poured half the mini candy bars into her emergency stash under the bed, but that left quite a bit of chocolate to be eaten. If she could get sick at all, she could get herself halfway there on candy without knocking on a single door, she reflected as she unwrapped and ate a Mr. Goodbar. But it was boring to do it that way. She was, in fact, entirely bored, and perilously close to getting lonely and feeling sorry for herself. If she let that happen, it would be hard to stop feeling that way. If it were any other night, she'd go and take the Chevette for another spin. That had been more than entertaining.

Thinking about the car made her think about James, and his personal business. Why had he given her the keys, anyway? Was it just to cheer her up? She wouldn't put that past him, he was pretty sneaky. Or could he have been really worried about whatever business he was going on tonight? Whatever it was, he should be back by now, surely. Or maybe he hadn't left yet, if it was family business. Either way, it might be a good idea to talk to him again, and it would get her out of her room. Pocketing the car keys and rolling the bag of candy to take with her, Erin headed downstairs to James' room, keeping an eye out for nosy RAs. Surely they'd all be at the party by now.

[Cyroa]

The sounds of fun and revelry faintly could be heard from below. Over in the main building, people were enjoying the party and the holiday. Costumes, music, candy and what-have-you, as common for teenager parties, was going on in abundance down there. While up in the dorms, there was practically no one around. With the party in full swing and everyone's attentions elsewhere, it wasn't hard for Erin to walk the halls completely unnoticed.

Arriving on the Boy's Floor, Erin was greeting with silence as expected. Knocking on James' door (sans towel so he didn't have 'company', not that he ever did that here anyway) was also greeted with silence. Trying the handle gained nothing either as Erin learned it was locked.

[Electra]

Erin almost left it go at that, figuring he'd be in later, or maybe tomorrow. But something about the way he'd looked and acted last night niggled at her, something wrong she couldn't quite put her finger on. Despite all her training this summer, Erin wasn't one to ignore her instincts. Pulling the little beacon communicator she'd gotten from Alex's grandpa out of her pocket, she tentatively told it to call Alex. It had worked when she'd tested it, but she still wasn't entirely sure. "Alex?" she asked, when she thought she had a good connection. "Are you busy?"

[alderwitch]

The response came in her mind rather than activating the communicator, Nope, I'm not busy. Just watching some movies with Mike, so I had my belt buckle on silent. What do you need?

She shifted on the couch in the common area, pulling her feet from Mike's lap. The room was relatively empty, which might have had something to do with the fact that they weren't watching scary movies at all. At the moment, Willow was playing on the tv in the background.

[Electra]

Since she had Alex's attention, Erin turned off her phone, speaking instead to the empty hallway. "I don't know, really, it's probably nothing, but I'm kind of worried about James. He was acting kind of strange yesterday, like he was worried, but he didn't want to talk about it. Can you tell if he's in his room?"

[alderwitch]

Sure, I can check. One sec. Alex tucked her feet under her and sat up, closing her eyes briefly. It only took a few seconds to send the image of the room back at Erin, completetly empty. There's no one in there to my senses but James might be able to hide if he really thought about it. It's possible. Do you want me to open the door for you?

[Electra]

"No, it's okay, I have a key," Erin replied, setting down the bag of candy and fishing James' keyring out of her pocket. "I just didn't want to bother him if he, you know, had company or was sleeping or something." All the dorm keys looked the same, so it wasn't hard to figure out which was the correct one. She put it in the slot and opened the door quietly. "James?" she called, just to be sure. "You in here?"

[Cyroa]

James room was oddly unlike most students' rooms. There was very little there. The bed was made and clean. Unused really since he never slept in it. The shelves were mostly empty, no real possession or memorabilia. There were some school books and such piled on one section of the desk. Beyond that, the desk was clear. There were two large cases on the floor, the only other thing of note in the room. On the bed, several items stood out. Laid neatly on top lay James' cellphone, the beacon for the team's teleporter and a letter. A plain envelope with no stamp or return address. Just two lines:

To Erin or any member of the ‘Young Freedom’ team

DO NOT OPEN UNTIL NOVEMBER 1st

[Electra]

"Something's wrong," Erin said aloud as she picked up the envelope, figuring Alex was probably still listening in. "I think James has gone somewhere. He left his beacon behind. And his phone. You should come down here." Focusing on the letter, she ignored the instructions on the front and opened it anyway. It was undoubtedly November first in some time zone, which surely had to count. Besides, if James was doing something stupid, better to know now than later.

[alderwitch]

"We're on our way," Alex responded both mentally and aloud as she nudged Mike with one foot to get him up and moving. "I'll fill you in on the way."

They showed up at James dorm room moments later. The advantage of Alex and Mike's deep bond meant that she could easily catch him up to the current situation. "We should start with the letter. Despite the fact that James has always been troubled, he's not the type to take sudden dangerous action. What's it say?"

[Electra]

Erin had just had time to read through the letter before Alex and Mike arrived. She sat down on the edge of the bed, holding the paper tightly enough that the edges crumpled. "He's gone," she said, her voice hollow. "He went to fight his family. I should've known he would, when he wouldn't give me a straight answer, but I figured..." She shook her head and passed over the letter. "We have to find him now, tonight, before it's too late for us to help."

[alderwitch]

Alex pulled the letter from Erin's fingertips and her eyes skimmed over it quickly before she silently handed it to Mike. Without saying a word, she slipped down on the floor and folded her legs under her. Closing her friends out, Alex shut her eyes and relaxed her posture with her hands loose in her lap. Behind her closed eyelids, her eyes flickered back and forth rapidly. She left any explanation needed to Mike as in as deep a trance as she was going, he'd have to contact her through their psychic link to pull her out.

Then, Alex set herself to the time consuming task of quartering the city mentally.

[angrydurf]

Mike frowned as he started reading the letter, this wasn't the James he knew. Sure the fight the good fight was him to the core, but this fatalistic BS just wasn't him, was it?

He handed the letter carefully back to Erin, "She'll find him if he's in the city." He said with unshakeable certainty, "And if she doesn't we'll find another way." Mike stood to his full height as he spoke, "Its never too late."

James may think this wasn't their fight but he was wrong, and to Mike Harris it didn't matter what James was or who they had to fight. His friend needed his help.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Too late for what?" asked Mark, who'd just stuck his head in the door as he walked by. Why does everyone look so serious? "Is everything okay? What's going on?" He looked around and made a lucky guess. "Where's James?"

[Electra]

"He's gone," Erin told him, just accepting that Mark would show up where and when he was needed. It was sort of his thing. And it never hurt to have a little more luck on their side, especially now. "He went off to fight something that's probably a lot bigger and more powerful than he's going to be able to handle. Alex is trying to find him now." She picked up James' phone, turned it over in her hands, then opened it up and started scrolling through the rolodex. "Do you know a hero in Freedom City named Phantom?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Yeah, I do," said Mark quickly. "She helped Breakdown and I fight these SHADOW thugs a couple of weeks back. I didn't know she knew James." Mark hmmed. "I didn't catch her contact information, but...WAIT! I know who'll know!" And with that, Mark cracked open his cell phone and dialed the number he'd gotten from ACE DANGER, International Man of Intrigue and Mystery. "Why do we want to know>" he asked, just before hitting the last key.

[alderwitch]

"If he's in the city, he's hiding from me." Alex spoke up finally, opening her eyes and shaking her head to clear out the images of her search. "I can push to try and search the world but that's even more of a needle in a haystack. Especially if he's hiding. Oh, hi, Mark."

Alex flashed him a smile as she uncurled from the ground and stretched. She glanced up as phones were out, hoping someone would catch her up on anything she'd missed.

[Electra]

"James mentioned last night that a hero named Phantom was helping him learn to use his teleportation," Erin explained, flipping through the phone. There was no entry for Phantom. "I don't know who else he might have told, or who might know where he's been practicing going. And if this Phantom is a teleporter, we might need their help." She looked down at the phone, snapped it shut. "He might have gone all the way to hell, and if he has, we'll need help to get there outside of the usual channels."

[angrydurf]

Mike nodded as Erin explained the situation. He hoped they could find him before something like that was neccisary but he'd do what need be done to help James.

Ace picked up on the third ring, "Ace Danger." Came the reply there was the sound of music in the background a deep driving beat. "Whats up Mark?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Mr. Danger!" Ace had heard plenty from Mark in the time they'd been working together. "I need your help with something. Do you have the contact information for Phantom?" Despite himself, melodrama was rapidly permeating his voice. "The fate of a good man's life may depend upon your next word!" Ace might have been more concerned if he didn't remember the unusual speaking pattern of the Lucas men. Mark talked that way about French fries.

[angrydurf]

Mike glanced sideways at Marks rather melodramatic wording but he couldn't say his friend was entirely wrong in this case at the least. Regardless he was well used to the dramatic flair whith which Mark lived life by now.

On the other end Ace drew up short for a moment, "Mark what exactly is going on, tonight is a very busy night for Phantom she wouldn't like to be disturbed if the matter isn't as serious as you say."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Well..." Mark thought fast. "Mr. Danger, a friend of mine, and a friend of Phantom's, is in trouble," he hazarded a guess. "My friends and I are going in after him, but we're going to need Phantom's help to do it. I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't really, really important." There, that was suitably honest without betraying anything he knew about James. Come to think of it, no one had actually told him what was going on, but Mark was used to that.

[angrydurf]

Ace paused consideringly for a moment, "Alright but if she comes after me over this I'll have words with your father." He said before rattling off the well known number then just in case he added Jacks to be extra sure.

Mike waited patiently while Mark talked to Ace. When he hung up he asked, "So any luck?" It would probably take him a minute to realize the irony of asking Mark that question.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Yeah, I got a number," said Mark, who was already dialing it into his phone. "Ace said she's real busy, but this is an emergency. Any luck finding James?" he asked Alex as he heard Taylor's phone start to ring on the other end. "Phantom was a pretty smart lady, maybe she'll know something." It belatedly occurred to him to ask someone who knew more to talk to Phantom, but he was sure he could brazen through. Besides, she'd already picked up!

[alderwitch]

"What?" The tone was curt if borderline unfriendly. Phantom was already having a terrible Halloween, but she still had a job to do despite all of that. Thus, luckily for Mark, she was answering her phone.