Preventative Measures (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

It was a typical Saturday in September in Freedom City. The sun was bright and the sky was blue; loved ones were visiting friends and family, and the Heroes were in the process of winning an exhibition game at Freedom Stadium by an extra point in overtime. (They won a lot of games that way.) Meanwhile, at Lonely Point Naval Base, a gang of four shotgun-toting bank robbers called the Good Time Rowdy Boys had come up with a foolproof plan. Superheroes didn't hang out much at Lonely Point, given the military protection of the region. So what better place to pull off a daring daylight robbery of the base off-site bank and the cash accounts of our hardworking men and women in navy blue?

There was one thing they hadn't considered, though. Across the way, the historical Naval Arsenal was in the process of being rededicated as a museum and cultural center for the people of Freedom City and Mayor O'Connor himself was on the scene to mark the occasion. He'd brought with him a Freedom League member for the occasion: Fleur de Joie, who as one of the reserve members was low-ranking enough to get stuck occasionally spending an afternoon like this. In the crowd was Carson Keefe, there to see the production of the Pirates of Penzance that a colleague from the Theater Department of Freedom College was planning to put on that afternoon in the Arsenal's new theater. Among the reporters, in her civilian garb, was Joan Collier, rubbing the space at the small of her back where her tentacles itched.

As the mayor took the stage, there was the sound of shotgun fire from the bank just across the street, and people screaming. Trouble was afoot!

[Electra]

Stesha was bored and lost in thought enough that it took her a few minutes to notice that anything was wrong. Being at Lonely Point was oddly painful, with Derrick gone for so long now. He sent messages occasionally, and she knew the work he was doing was important, but she had thought this summer would be so different. Instead of planning her wedding with the man she loved, she was sleeping, working, waiting, all alone. Moira had made herself scarce lately, doing god knew what, and Taylor was busy with her own things, and her own mission. At least her work for the Freedom League was usually enough to be a distraction, but not today.

At least, not until the shooting started! "Be right back!" she said, jumping up from her seat. Sliding a hand under her hood, she touched the flowers in her hair and teleported to the scene of the crime in process.

[KnightDisciple]

Carson cursed under his breath as he heard the shot. Everyone in the crowd started talking to themselves. A few people panicked enough to start running for their cars, though the security at the site seemed to be keeping decent order for things.

Good enough for him. It meant he didn't have any trouble ducking down a hallway after escaping the crowd. Seeing that there was no one close enough to catch him, he rapidly shifted from civilian clothes to his heroic costume. As he sped into the air, the bag was depositing on a handy nook on the roof.

He then flew through the sky, a white streak homing in on the bank.

[Avenger Assembled]

Her keen ears pricking up at the sound of gunfire, Joan Collier slipped away from the crowd, disappearing into the melee long enough to erupt into the air in the black and white costume of Fusion! She whipped her way into the bank building, a black blur alongside the white streak coming through in the air, and joined the melee inside the bank. With three powerful superheroes on the scene, the four bank robbers were dead meat from the second Fleur de Joie stepped out through the ficus in the lobby. Fusion's iron-hard tentacles smashed the thugs against walls and ceiling while Gabriel's sonic blasts stunned them, while all the while Fleur's plants bound them in an iron-hard grip. It was all over within seconds, and only the bad guys had gotten hurt. It was a good moment's work, and the people inside the bank applauded when they were done.

"Is everyone okay?" When the crowd answered in the affirmative, Joan shook her head. "Well, that was easy enough," said Fusion amiably, hanging upside down from the bank's tiled ceiling by her suckered tentacles. "Fleur de Joie and Gabriel. Nice to see both of you in action." She'd heard of the League member and had interviewed the angel-powered hero, but of course the latter had no way of knowing that. Detaching herself neatly from the ceiling, she made a deft landing on the marble floor beneath her feet. "I'm Fusion." She shook her head, looking down at the unconscious cowboy at her feet. "How stupid do you have to be to rob a bank in this town with SHOTGUNS?" She shrugged with several limbs simultaneously.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel settled on the ground after the fast-paced battle. He nodded politely to both lady heroes.

"Fleur. Good to see you again. Fusion, a pleasure to meet you."

He offered his hand for a shake to each woman in turn, then gazed down at the punks on the floor.

"As for robbing a bank with shotguns, well...Maybe they didn't plan on there being quite so many people around? Especially heroes?"

He shrugs.

"And while we took care of them fairly handily, I'm still glad to not have taken a shell to the chest. I wager it would hurt."

[Electra]

Fleur commanded her plants to swallow up the luckless robbers, tucking them away for their transport to the police station. "Hope springs eternal, I guess," she chuckled. "It's nice to meet you, Fusion. And good to see you again, Gabriel," she added with a smile for her impromptu allies. "I'm glad the two of you were around, it's always great to have some backup, or be some backup, however you want to look at it." She glanced around, making sure that the situation was secure before she went to transport her prisoners.

[Avenger Assembled]

There was a light and noise outside as Fleur looked around, and suddenly the outer wall of the bank blew in. As the civilians screamed and ran for the rear, three bizarre figures in black came striving in. One was a grim-faced woman with long, murderous claws extended from her fingers, translucently glowing green glittery fairy wings at her back fluttering frantically outside her ninja-like black garmets; another was a man with an eyepatch covered in heavy body armor emblazoned with Judeo-Christian symbols, each one glowing with power. In his hand, no, _instead_ of his right hand was a white, flaming sword. In the middle of the group a tall, muscular woman with writhing black tentacles all around her waist led the way, huge white eyes covering her face behind a full mask. Fusion gave a short cry as she recognized a near-perfect duplicate of herself! The man was a grim, dark version of the angelic champion at her flank, and the fairy-ninja was...Grimalkin from the Interceptors? She wasn't sure, as they all were terribly changed!

"Fleur de Joie!" yelled the dark and gritty version of Fusion. "For the good of the future, we are here to KILL YOU!"

[Avenger Assembled]

Dark Fusion hurled a tentacle across the room, smashing the ficus Fleur had used as a gateway earlier to so many pieces. Fusion was strong; the tentacle didn't just break the plant, it cracked the marble behind it. "No more running this time, you monster! This time you pay for what you did!" Fusion herself got in the way of the charging tentacle monster fast, and there was a wild melee of tentacles wrestling against each other before the twisted version of the tentacled heroine slammed her double against the ceiling hard enough to smash it, producing a hiss from Joan as she felt herself bruise inside her costume. "No! Not even you will stop me! It's her fault my little girl died!"

[Electra]

"What?" Fleur cried, looking around as though trying to find someone who would make this make sense. "I didn't do anything to anybody! I don't know what you're talking about?" As the Fusion lookalike attacked her double, Stesha ignored the shattered ficus and reached into her belt pouch, grabbing a fistful of seeds and sending them flying around the room. Everywhere they landed, little shoots sprang up, many of them immediately growing to twine around the civilian watchers and bank employees. In moments, all the civilians were gone, safely out of the building and out of harm's way. "You've made a mistake!" she told the newcomers. "We should talk about this!"

[KnightDisciple]

For several long moments, Gabriel stared in shock at the sight before him. Was that...him? But...where did the armor, and the...sword-hand?...come from? And what was with the eyepatch.

"Saints preserve us..."

Giving a quick shake of his head, his mouth set in a firm line. Both hands came up as sonic energy wavered around his arms, slowly focusing in front of his palms.

"I think all of you need to stand down, so we can talk about this first! No need to get violent now!"

Of course, his actions were in some conflict with his words...Especially when he sent a carefully-molded pulse of sonic energy outwards. At first, it seemed to miss wildly, going between Future!Grimalkin and Future!Gabriel. Then, a bit behind them, the pulse exploded outwards, enveloping a spherical area inside the bank. Deafening sound rung in that space, threatening to seriously impair the two attackers if they were not careful.

[Avenger Assembled]

As Gabriel sang, his counterpart screamed, a harsh, dissonant note that broke up his angelic voice before it could reach any of the dopplegangers. "You naive fool!" The other Gabriel spat. "Do you think God is so weak and puling that he'd let you stop us? We are the righteous fists of vengeance, come to slay a monster before she can kill everything that's good about the world!" He waved the flaming sword for emphasis. "I've seen angels fall from the sky, dead! You think your words can do anything to stop me?" He pulled a shining metal box from one of the many pouches he wore, the device recognizable as a PDA as Gabriel caught it. "It's all there! All of it!"

"I have waited five years for this day, you witch!" spat Fusion, stalking towards Fleur as tentacles hissed and whirled in the air. "Nothing is going to stop me from putting you down the way you deserve!"

"Uh, guys?" The other Grimalkin was looking around nervously, a little surprised, as if not seeing something she expected. "Don't you think they deserve to know why? They're us, which means they're heroes. They won't just let her get away with a warning."

"Fine!" Fusion crouched and glared at Fleur, an animal barely at bay, then looked at the others. "Two days from now, Fleur de Joie is going to kill the Prime Minister of Sahrawi when he comes to America to pledge an end to terrorism in Africa. That makes his government fall, not that you'd care about people, you eco-freak, and the faction that takes over decides to release a biological weapon in America as retaliation. But they screw it up. Instead of killing all superheroes, it kills everyone WITHOUT superpowers." She spoke through a choking voice, aiming it as much as her battered past self as the others. "I watched my husband and my little girl die in agony while Fleur de Joie and the Freedom League ran away to space. But that was the old world. We came back to change things. Change them for the better."

[Electra]

"That's crazy!" Stesha exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "I've never killed anybody! I don't even know who the prime minster of Sahrawi is! I don't think I could find it on a map!" She looked to her allies for confirmation. "I have no reason to want him or anybody else dead. Look, I know some super-history, maybe this is all some kind of accident you're trying to avert. Would it make you happy if I went off world for a couple of days, just so nothing has a chance to go wrong? I'm sorry bad things happened to you, if what you're saying is even true and this isn't some kind of crazy plot, but killing me isn't the way to solve anything!" Even as she spoke, she fingered the small vine growing in her hands, ready to move fast if she couldn't convince them.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel glanced down at the PDA as he listened, ever more incredulous, to the tale. His face betrayed a mix of confusion, horror, and sympathy. He waits as Fleur pleads her case. The future him and the other lady, who he didn't immediately recognize, seemed to have perhaps calmed down a bit. The other Fusion, on the other hand...

"Fleur has a point. This all seems a little out of the blue, you know? Why would she do that? And why jump right to killing her? I'm sorry, it's just..."

He begins going through what information appears on the PDA, trying to determine the truth in the words these dark mirrors hold. As he does, he continues to speak.

"You say Fleur killed this Prime Minister. That seems out of character. Beyond that...you said America was hit by this weapon. Did it spread any further? What about the superhero teams outside of the Freedom League itself? Why does future me have an eyepatch and a sword for a hand? Or the armor? What else happened? You said 5 years; so you're from 5 years in the future? How did you get here?"

He stops looking through the PDA for several moments as he sets his gaze with each one of the futuristic heroes.

"And fine, you want to stop the assassination. But why kill Fleur? She just said she could take a vacation. If you're really worried, maybe a couple of her friends from the Freedom League could go with her? Make sure somebody doesn't nab her or something? Then the rest of the League, or even some of the heroes outside of it, keep an eye on this Prime Minister person. I mean, what about shape-shifters? Body doubles? Mind controllers? Aren't there enough other explanations besides just "Fleur's an evil person who we need to kill"? I thought killing was something we stood against, Gabriel? You say God can't let you fail; what if just telling us means you succeed? What if we can prevent this with no bloodshed? It's obvious Fleur doesn't want to hurt you, or this PM, or anyone else."

[Avenger Assembled]

The contents of the Archetech PDA played out not just for Gabriel, but for everyone: a holographic display popped up, playing out a grim sequence that marked the end of the world. The assassination came first, a collection of one terrible moment from a dozen different angles. Fusion, pulling herself out of the dent she'd left in the ceiling, recognized the lobby of the Pyramid Plaza's North Tower. The President of the United States was there, looking as solemn and dignified as ever, and at his side was the stocky, bearded President of the Sahrawi Republic, both men waiting for the press conference about to begin.

From the voiceover, the heroes learned that Sahrawi was an unstable nation, recently having won its independence from Tangiers, its northern neighbor, and had been frequently accused of harboring metahuman terrorists by the Tangerians and other North African governments. But now, after years of tension in North Africa, President el-Fadil was here to bring about peace and good relations with the United States. Until...a green-clad figure came bursting out of the ornamental trees growing nearby the stage. The camera zoomed in, and Fleur certainly seemed very recognizable as she yelled "The Shepard must purge the world for his flock!" a moment before the trees all around her reared up and attacked the all-too-vulnerable Sahrawi President, tearing him limb from limb in a gory, shocking display.

And then there were other images, shorter and more pointed ones. In an image timestamped a week later, Stesha recognized Derrick in his Dark Star form, this time attacking Blackstone Prison from the air with gravitic blasts. "Announcing that he would not allow Fleur de Joie to be held under false charges, space-going metahuman Dark Star attacked Blackstone Prison today, staging a successful breakout of the suspected ecological assassin before she could be interrogated by authorities..." And then another, set just a few hours later, a trio of hard-faced men in suits facing the camera as the leader announced that the bacteriological device _just_ detonated in Freedom City was the doing of the Sahrawi government, as a message to the so-called supermen that they weren't safe even in their fortress.

And then the horror. "It vasn't dat the Sahrawi possessed de Thanatos Virus," came the voice of a clearly-recognizable Victor Archeville. "Rather, dere anti-metahuman virus vas mutated by de nuclear devices detonated over de Sahrawi capitol by de American government after de Super-Plague began in Freedom City, but mutated in such a vay as to do de opposite of vhat sey vanted." What followed was a nightmare: dozens of dying superheroes outweighed by the hundreds, then thousands, then millions of dying humans as the plague that ended the world spread from Africa across the globe. Still images flicked by of mobs of infected humans attacking those superheroes immune to the first plague, then those same heroes standing before ever-growing abbatoirs of a world of death, nuclear missiles flying as world governments panicked and dying cities burned to ash.

The next image was of Daedalus, the immortal hero looking terribly aged. "I make this recording on October 1, 2015. The plagues have died out, but I fear mankind soon will as well, as so few of us have survived that mankind has likely lost the necessary genetic diversity to survive in our new world. Thus I have gathered together the last surviving super-scientists and mystics to send back a team to prevent this future by _any means necessary_. The past can be changed and this future can, and must, be avoided."

--

"That's why you can't go anywhere," said the other Fusion, sneering at Fleur through her mask. "The last time you ran away, the world died."

"As for me, I lost the hand and the eye to a teenage girl who said she was punishing us for screwing up the world. The sword I took from Heyzel, after he took the souls of the innocent to Heaven." Gabriel shook his head. "The armor's against the radiation. This city is a glowing ruin in 2015. Most of us may have taken a lethal dose just coming here. One life _is_ worth losing if it means saving everything, everywhere. I do admit, she's not like I expected..."

"Damn it, we're running out of time! Someone better do something fast!" said Grimalkin. "Our window is running out! She may not be the Fleur we were expecting, but what are we supposed to do, then?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Fusion spread her arms, putting herself between her double and Fleur. "At least let all of us see that!" She grabbed the PDA from Gabriel across the room, pulling it close with her tentacles. She tapped frantically at the keys with all her extra digits, thinking of Joan and Charlie in those piles of bodies, looking desperately for alternative evidence. And sure enough, she found...something. It was a story. Her story! She pressed a few buttons, and soon they all were hearing the newspaper article from 'tomorrow's' paper about a mysterious team of unknown supers who'd attacked Fleur de Joie, Fusion, and Gabriel at the opening of the Naval Arsenal Museum.

[Electra]

Stesha was briefly distracted by the fact that Dark Star came back in that story about her, which was mildly reassuring, but couldn't make her feel too good under the circumstances. "It doesn't make any sense," she maintained. "I don't know any shepherd, and I have no idea what any of that even means!" She looked at Fusion, belatedly catching her drift. "It must be an impostor!" she agreed eagerly. "We've been up to our armpits in Grue all summer, this sounds like just the sort of thing they'd want to have happen. They must find some way to replace me!" She shuddered, knowing what often happened to those the Grue replaced. She might be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[KnightDisciple]

The best phrase to describe Gabriel's face would be "shell-shocked". Between the grisly death of the Prime Minister, and the scores of images of horrific death and suffering, the young hero had gone almost as pale as his costume.

"This...so much war. And...a teenage girl?"

He shook his head, some color returning to his cheeks.

"That doesn't seem like Fleur, though. The assassin mentioned a "Shepard" purging the world for his "flock". Is there some super-villain who has that sort of name, or motif, or something? Fleur's right, it could be Grue. Or maybe a group of villains, or at least super-powered people; one's controlling the plants, one's grabbing everyone's attention, and so on. I mean....I understand why an in-depth investigation couldn't occur. Things went south. Majorly south. But what if killing Fleur here doesn't change anything? No, we have to try to think of who could do this. And then we need to figure out how to stop them. Without killing an innocent woman."

His eyes, moments ago clouded by confusion and sadness, are now hard with resolve.

"That way, no one has to die. And this nightmare will never happen."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Wait..." Fusion looked at the others, taking several deep breaths before continuing. "Look, Gabriel, Grimalkin...Joan," she said, pain in her voice as she studied her double. "Look at this. Look at this story." She held it up so they could all see. "Do you know what this means? It means that history can be changed! You were right! We can stop this without shedding blood, because you've already changed things! You're all heroes. And whatever has happened, that's still true. We can do this without any more innocent blood on our hands-"

"NO!" The other Fusion screamed. "No, I won't be cheated again! Not after I promised my baby girl!" And with that she leaped for Fleur's throat, tentacles extended, and vanished in a sudden puff of light. Her last cry of "Loissss!" echoed on the wind as the other time travelers looked at each other.

"She went through first," Grim called, "so she must have gone back first..." The others were all fading now, though more slowly. "The PDA is tuned to this time. It'll stay here till history changes!" said Grim, vanishing back to the grim world that had spawned her. As for Gabriel, he looked at them all before saying simply: "You have a chance to fix things. Deserve it."

Fusion almost dropped the PDA before handing it to Fleur, a stricken look visible behind her mask. "Look, I'll...I'll plan with you guys in a minute. I need to call my daughter's school and make sure she's okay." And with that, she took a few steps to the side, pulling a phone out from inside her costume.

[Electra]

Stesha stumbled backwards as the Fusion-lookalike jumped at her, nearly teleporting before her tormentor disappeared into thin air. She hugged herself as the others vanished as well, looking around as though hoping one of her companions would have some answers. "I've never killed anyone!" she said plaintively. "Should we even believe them? Maybe they want to kill that prime minister and we're the only ones who can stop them! It's not like we haven't seen enough shapeshifting troublemakers lately!" It sounded like she was desperately trying to believe what she was saying, but couldn't be totally sure.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel still wore the mix of concern and confusion on his face, even as their doubles faded away. He turned towards Stesha as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"Stesha, please, calm down. I believe you. I don't think you've killed anyone, or will kill anyone, not by your own will. Whoever was in that video wasn't you. But I'm not going to dismiss this warning. I think we should try to act as security for this Prime Minister, one way or another. That will change history, and I'd wager it will keep him safe. That will let us get to the bottom of this. Worst case, nothing happens, he stays safe, and we go on with our lives. Best case..."

He casts a glance towards Fusion, then looked towards his own hand. The one that his double had been missing.

"We make sure some things never happen."

Conviction filled his eyes as he gazed at Stesha, a determined expression set on his face.

[Avenger Assembled]

Fusion was on the phone longer than the others had expected, Joan having called her daughter and husband both just for a few moments. But despite her own upset, she was on the clock: she had to work. And that meant doing some research thanks to her intern Jeff at the office, following up on a nagging hint the recording had placed in her mind. "OK, OK, I'll use my ID to get in there. Thanks, Jeff." Hanging up and tucking the phone into her costume with one long suckered limb, the octopoid heroine rejoined her colleagues. "Fleur, Gabriel, I've got a lead. Whether that Fleur de Joie was a Grue or not," she said, nodding to Fleur, "she was using language that's already in the system. Back in 1985, just before Franklin Moore was elected Mayor, a former superhero called Red Bolt broke into the Lonely Point Naval Base back when they kept nuclear missiles on the subs here. He killed the captain of the Rhode Island, the ship he was trying to hijack, and almost got the launch codes out of the first officer before the Centurion stopped him. All he said at his trial was 'The Shepard must purge the world for his flock.'"

She looked at the others. "Red Bolt is still here, right here, in Freedom City. He's been held at Providence Asylum since 1985."

[Heritage]

Saturday afternoons in the Brownstone were much different now that Lynn was enrolled in Freedom College; she spent hours in the second story reading room, far from the distractions of TV and the internet, cramming as much knowledge into her brain as possible. Now that she no longer needed sustenance, food and bathroom breaks were a thing of the past, so her study sessions got fairly intense, though from time to time she did whip up a snack out of thin air for the sheer pleasure of it.

This particular Saturday, the tiny shapeshifter was curled up on the floor, her nose buried in her Intro to Psych textbook; having seen her share of counselors growing up, it was interesting to see things from the other side. She'd conjured up a some pita bread and hummus, which she thoughtfully chewed as she read.

Suddenly the tastefully small flatscreen on the wall lit up, displaying a rather vexed-looking Vince. Lynn set the book aside and rubbed her eyes.

"Hey, V-man, what's up?"

The team's AI avatar nervously wrung his hands.

"Well first off all, I just wanted to make sure you were here and alright...and not terrorizing a bank out by the navy base."

Lynn frowned as she dismissed her food with a wave of her hand.

"Doing what to who now?"

Vince shrunk down to picture-in-picture size as security footage of the bank heist and its rather disturbing follow-up played the petite brunette's benefit; her eyes went wide as the events unfolded.

"Oh my God, that is me...sorta. And a squid lady and...some other weirdness. Do we have audio?"

"'Fraid not, Malkie, but my lip reading software leads me to believe these might be time travelers of some kind."

Lynn groaned and did a slow faceplant onto the oriental rug.

"Oh God, not again! I hate this wacky time stuff! Fine, I'll go check it out; let the team know what I'm doing, and I'll call 'em if I need back-up."

"Will do!"

---

Minutes later, Pixie Grim zoomed to the bank, and was sadly not surprised to see a massive hole in one wall.

Looks like more work for Doc Metropolis.

Zipping inside, she returned to regular size and offered the assembled heroes a crisp salute.

"Hi guys, Fluer. A little computerized bird told me some version of me was up to no good. So, what's the story, morning glory?" Her chipper mood was a stark contrast to the knowledge the others now possessed.

[Electra]

Fleur startled when Grimalkin appeared, even though this was obviously the Grim she knew, rather than the dark and gritty futuristic version. "We're not sure," she said, her voice a little faint. "A bunch of "heroes" from the future just showed up and tried to kill me because they say I'm going to destroy the future in two days time. So we're working on deciding what to do about that, if anything. But one of them was you, so I'm assuming that's why you got the head's up from somewhere?"

[Heritage]

"We're not sure," she said, her voice a little faint. "A bunch of "heroes" from the future just showed up and tried to kill me because they say I'm going to destroy the future in two days time. So we're working on deciding what to do about that, if anything. But one of them was you, so I'm assuming that's why you got the head's up from somewhere?"

The changeling's jaw dropped open in utter shock.

"Wait, they said you were going to destroy the world? I mean, Doc A I could see maybe, or a few other hero folks I could think of, but you of all people...you'd be on like the bottom of my list."

Realizing that she had no idea who the other two heroes were, she placed a gloved hand on her tummy and bowed deeply from the waist.

"I am honored to meet you, strange heroes I don't know! I am Grimalkin, Mistress of Mystery, but there are those who call me...Grim?"

Once again upright, the shapeshifter looked from face to face, detecting a hard-to-define undercurrent the three heroes shared.

"Um, so...when you say 'destroy the future', just how nasty are we talking here? I mean, the way I see it, the world is often in peril, but it seems like this time it's somehow worse..."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel tipped a non-existent cap to Grimalkin. Something that almost resembles a grin emerges when Grimalkin makes a Monty Python reference.

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Grim. You can call me Gabriel. And nice Monty Python reference. I suppose we need a bit of humor after...that.

As for the bit about destroying the world..."

He lets out a sigh, a shadow passing over his face.

"A version of you, myself, and Fusion showed up. Future Fusion was about the same, just all black costume and somewhat mad with grief. Future you seemed fairly similar, though a bit more serious and wearing something like body armor. As for me? I was missing my left eye and hand, with a sword for a hand..."

He shakes his head.

"Point is, they said Fleur here goes off and kills the President of this little country called the Sahrawi Republic. This triggers a biological attack on this city by terrorists. First it kills supers; after America nukes the guys who attacked us, it kills non-supers. Most of the world dies to disease or nuclear fire. It's....it's bad, Miss Grim. Really bad. Thing is, there's no way it was Fleur. Not the real one. We're going to try tracking down some leads, and see who might really be behind this."

[Avenger Assembled]

"We don't need to dwell on the details," said Fusion, her tentacles writhing all around her as she paced. "I'm Fusion," she added a little distractedly to Grimalkin, recognizing her both from her recent 'appearance' as well as stories about the Interceptors. "None of us think Fleur de Joie is any kind of assassin." She'd picked up on Gabriel's name drop of the heroine's secret ID, but she was far too professional to make an issue of it. "We're going to keep that timeline from happening, even if it was just a fabrication. Right now we're trying to get to Blackstone Island to interview a prisoner who might know something useful." She quickly shared with Grimalkin Red Bolt's story.

"Fleur, I know you're a teleporter," she said to the plant manipulator, not wanting the other woman to think she was actually uncomfortable with her. "Can you get us all there? There are plenty of plants on the island outside the prison, if that's your medium."