A Trip Between Two Worlds (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

Eventually they made contact with the Harcourts, Mrs. Harcourt having evidently stayed over at her doubles' house the night before, leaving the teens to wonder what Mr. Harcourt's wife and kids had thought about that! Mark and Marcie wondered, at least, shooting glances at each other and occasionally holding hands when no one was looking. The Harcourts were interested in the kids' theories, encouraging them to continue their speculations. Mark and Marcie both spoke up a lot, the better to distract attention from other stuff. "It has to have been more than just luck that brought us all together," said Mark uncharacteristically. "I just...It seems like something else has to have been going on."

Sure enough, Hypatia had a lot to tell the kids. "I've found both how to reverse your polarity and return you home, as well as the source of the interference that pulled you to this axis." The armored immortal heroine looked at the Young Freedom members carefully before saying, "There was an attempted incursion into the noo-dimensional space of Earth-Y. The energy frequency matched that of the two Lucases, pouring through the holes opened by the half-completed dimension doorway, leading you to this world. The good news is, the security systems that the Harcourts were building did block any further incursions on that frequency. Your world is safe from...that particular method of dimensional incursion."

[Gizmo]

Trevor's eyebrows lowered so far they disappeared behind his sunglasses. An infinite kaleidoscope of Lucases... Nnngh. Trying not to dwell on the implications, the lean young man looked between the adults. "Set to go, then?"

Tricia stepped forward a pace to give him a small wave. "Safe trip, I suppose?" she told him, placing a hand on the back of her head. Trevor responded with a stony look, causing her to do a subdued double take in surprise and shoot him a questioning frown. He masculine counterpart folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. Understanding, Tricia sighed lightly, blowing an unruly lock of black hair off of her forehead. "Alright. After you leave, though."

His visage softening into a small smile, Trevor moved forward and gave his slightly shorter double a brief hug which was returned in kind before each Hunter stepped back, waiting for the others to say their goodbyes.

[Electra]

"Guess it could've been worse, then," Aaron said, thinking about the possibilities. "If we got two worlds intersecting and one more reaching in, could just have easily gotten any number of universes trying the same thing at the same time. There could've been a dozen of each of us, and two is weird enough. No offense," he added belatedly to his double and her friends.

"It's okay," Erin told him. "It is weird. Thanks for looking out for us. Take care." She gave him half a wave, to which he responded with a nod. They stepped back in opposite directions, Erin to stand next to Trevor, Aaron to get out of the way of Hypatia's equipment. Both of them waited, standing hipshot with Aaron's thumbs in his pockets and Erin's hands in Trevor's jacket pockets as they waited to go. "First thing I'm doing," she murmured to Trevor, "is changing my clothes."

[Avenger Assembled]

Mark and Marcie had a surprisingly quiet conversation with Hypatia where they confirmed that no, there was no chance the force with their powers trying to get into Earth-Y was Mark's father, or Marcie's mother, for that matter. Thanks to all the emotions dredged up, they were both a little keyed up as they said their goodbyes. Marcie threw caution to the winds and grabbed Mark by the lapels, pulling him in for a passionate kiss he returned with gusto, momentarily distracting even the millennia-old Hypatia from her work. It was quite a kiss. "It was really fun, Mark," she said, stepping back herself to stand alongside her teammates with a satisfied look on her face. "Your team is always welcome on Earth-Prime. Maybe next time we'll do a real adventure and beat up some real bad girls!"

"Yeah!" said Mark exuberantly, heading back to join his own team. "We'll show them that you don't mess with Young Freedom on any world!" He grinned at the others, then said, "Thanks for taking us in! Maybe next time, we'll get together on OUR turf! There's always room for justice!" Mark beamed, then added, "And whatever that was out there, even if he's some kind of other us, I bet he doesn't have friends like these backing him up! Friends to the end!" And with that, at Hypatia's signal, they were gone!

-

Earth-Prime

The three Claremont kids reappeared in the classroom they'd left, Mark and Erin standing together in front of the quiet dimensional gateway, Mrs. Harcourt in the corner where she'd stood, and Trevor in the rear. It was dark in there, naturally, despite the daylight hour. The doors were sealed up the way they usually were in these situations of misplaced students and faculty, covered in magnetic NO EXIT tape to keep out trespassers, and Ms. Harcourt went to call campus security and let them know that the dimensional travelers had returned.

[Gizmo]

Earth-Prime

Trevor cracked his neck in each direction before standing in the middle of the cordoned off room for a silent moment, belatedly realizing that it was dark thanks to the super-vision to which he was still adjusting. It was a little disconcerting to be returned to exactly the same position he'd been in, especially since the version of the lab on either world were so similar, giving his a momentary, paranoid twinge of doubt. The stoic teen gave Mark a look as if he were about to say something but thought better of it and instead turned to Erin. "Well. Different, anyway," he judiciously opined. After another beat, he added in an unreadable deadpan, "Think you make the sparkle pants work for you."

Earth-XX

"Well," Tricia spoke up after their visitors had disappeared, "different, anyway." For a few tense moments she considered reneging on her promise to Trevor; it wasn't as if he'd ever find out. The willowy young woman frowned, silently reprimanding herself. Stepping over to Aaron, she gave him a serious look, then, before he could remove his thumbs from his pockets, leaned forward to quickly kiss him. It wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as the one Marcie and her counterpart had shared earlier, but it was certainly earnest. Stepping back, Tricia straightened her newsboy cap, nodded emphatically and turned to walk out of Freedom Hall without another word, colour rising in her cheeks as soon as her back was turned to the others.

[Electra]

Earth XX

The kiss was enough to take Aaron totally by surprise, so much so that Tricia was leaving the room before he even managed to react. He blinked and looked after her with an expression of near-comical consternation, then looked over at Marcie. "Um, did I miss something?" he asked, then realized he absolutely didn't want to hear any answer coming from that notable. Turning on his heel he jogged out of the room after his teammate.

Earth Prime

Erin blinked, then gave Trevor a sour look. "I better, I only have these and three other pairs of pants. I need to look up how to unbeadazzle clothes before I can wear this stuff out in public. But now I'm going to go get changed before we get debriefed." She shrugged out of Trevor's coat and handed it to him. "Thanks for the loan, by the way. Comfy." She brushed a quick kiss onto his lips, then headed for the door, breaking the tape as she headed out.

[Avenger Assembled]

Elsewhere Still

As lightning boomed behind Mark Lucas, he laughed a deep baritone laugh and stroked his stylish goatee. "Nnnyeesss! Soon, my friends, soon," he said, turning to his allies-cum-minions of the Young Imperials. "We shall return to our extra-dimensional investigations and open up a doorway to that soft, weak world of fools and cowards we saw the other day! And there we shall have a conquest just as...pleasant as the one we just left," he added with a lascivious smile, "but far more BLOODY! Bwahahahaha!" He coughed, then looked at the others as they stared at him silently. Well, one couldn't stare, given that she was inside a box and not looking at anything except the blood on her hands. "We'll work on that later."