ic Test Site I (IC)

[Raveled]

Blue Jay stared at Bee-Keeper as he simply yelled at Stratos, and Stratos flew away. She waited a few moments to make sure that it wasn't some kind of trick, then stood up and looked the other hero over appraisingly. "Remind me never to make you mad," she said, stepping over to the computer consoles. After a little bit of trial and error, she managed to get the scene of the attack play out again. The sky opened, Omegadrones poured through, the city's heroes rose up to fend them off, and then a flash and it was all gone. It was a horrifying scene, but something about it didn't seem right. She pushed her feelings aside, reaching for a sense of detachment that her father had drilled into her. It was normally for fights, when life or death hung in the balance and you couldn't let feelings slow you down, but now she needed to see what was wrong in this footage a world dying.

She frowned and played the footage back, leaning forward until she could see the individual pixels on the monitor. The images on display were horrifying, but that wasn't what put her off. Finally she stepped back and went over to the hole Stratos has made in the side of the building, looking out over the city. "... It doesn't match up," she said finally. "The attack was going on, and then there was a huge explosion and nothing." She turned back to the Bee-Keeper, throwing her arms open to emphasis the still-standing city. "So where's the crater? Where's the rubble? There's buildings torn down, sure, but an explosion big enough to kill all the superheroes and Omegadrones? The city should be flattened! And another thing." She started pacing, unable to keep still. "Where are all the animals? I haven't seen one rat, one wild dog or cat, even a pigeon, the whole time we've been here. It's like there was a big riot, and then everyone just left the city and disappeared. This isn't a world that's been invaded, this is a world that's been abandoned!"

[SpicyWaffle]

Tearing himself away from the grisly display once more, the Bee-Keeper followed Blue Jay to the gaping orifice Stratos had left in his wake. He'd noticed the quietness - that eerie, unnatural stillness - but it was only now when she mentioned it did he really look at it. How it felt... he didn't know. Stale, but that wasn't quite right. Crisp, maybe? As if the invasion were still fresh. There was no ash, or bodies. At least, not really. It was like things had just been paused; perpetually frozen mid-apocalypse.

"Maybee," Bee-Keeper mumbled, pondering the Terminus survivors' words. "Maybee... maybee that wazz Zztratozz' zzecret? But if they left or juzzt vanizzhed or whatever, then where did they go?"

Surveying the scene of the city in ruins again, a sigh of exasperation escaped the armored teen. He shouldn't have been so hasty in driving the doctor away. But what was done was done. Still without answers, Baxter was only getting more questions out of the delicate situation.

"Zzo, what? A whole zzity juzzt dizzappeared overnight? Why? And why bring uzz here if it'zz juzzt zzome... zzome empty ghozzt town?" Baxter inquired, flattening his antennae as he ran a cold metal hand against his helmet; though he had his suspicions. The mysteriously eerie Omegadrone whom had contacted him spoke of a master, and a test... and how Blue Jay was already doomed. He turned to the girl beside him panning the cityscape, distress etched on his face but thankfully hidden behind the flat and unflinching veneer of the Bee-Keeper Armor's helm. He wasn't sure if he should tell her. Not yet, anyway. There was a lot going on, and even more to digest. But for now, it was going to have to take a backseat.

The darkening horizons weren't going to make it easy to snoop around for where the people had supposedly vanished, and Freedom Hall had been compromised by Stratos' wanton destruction. If there was going to be any investigating, it was going to have to wait until they could actually see what they were looking at... provided they lasted the night in its frigid clime and hostile environment. They needed to be someplace safe; somewhere far from Freedom Hall, but familiar enough to be defensible, Baxter wagered. He didn't know too many places like that... but he did know one.

"Look, we're not gonna get anywhere elzze tonight - not without getting zzome zzhelter. Pretty zzoon, we're going to be trapped in here in the dark. We... we can't zztay here, ezzpecially after Zztratozz did hizz thing. Not when that Omegadrone might zztumble in here and catch uzz while we're zzleeping," the teenager explained as he mimed towards the gigantic hole, trying his best to sound like he knew what he was doing. Sleep was the last thing on his mind, but they did need someplace to lay low. "I... I know a plazze. Zzort of. But unlezz you know zzomewhere we can hide till' the... uh... zzun or whatever comezz out, I'm all earzz."

[Electra]

Erin nodded at Vince, then at Steve. "All right. Let's bring down the supplies we gathered and set up camp. We'll get some dinner going, then set up a watch rotation to supplement Vince and his security systems. Just because we haven't seen action so far doesn't mean there's nothing coming. Whoever brought us here must have some sort of plan cooked up. If they brought us here to fight something, I don't think we'll be left waiting too long. Once we're set up, we'll try the communicators again, see if we can make contact with anyone still alive out there. Maybe we can talk Blue Jay and her friend down out of the trees. Tomorrow we can start canvassing the city, see if we can get some kind of map that will let us find places like HAX that we want to check on. Her thoughts turned naturally to North Bay and Trevor, but she forced them back to the matter at hand. There was, in all likelihood, nothing she could do to help him now.

She turned to head back to the surface, then paused for a minute to look at the AI. "Don't worry, Vince," she told him solemnly. "Whatever happens, we won't leave you here alone."

[Raveled]

Blue Jay rubbed her face, trying to bring her thoughts back to something as mundane as surviving the night. It struck her that the safest place was probably either underneath the city or far outside of it, but she didn't think the Bee-Keeper would be too crazy about marching out and going down to the panhandle or up the Appalachians. If Freedom Hall wasn't a defensible location, then Claremont Academy certainly should be -- but she couldn't be sure if it existed here or if it was still standing. And if her new ally didn't know about it, should she really reveal its secrets?

"I could think of a few places to stay for the night," she said finally, "but if you have a place in the city it's probably closer than anything I know."

[Gizmo]

Jill expression revealed how aghast she was at the artificial intelligence's despondent request, leaving her standing silently while Wander once again stepped in and took charge of the situation. The medic forced herself into motion, helping to carry the supplies, using her force fields as translucent, floating forklifts, but her thoughts were full of static. It was impossible to concentrate with the severity of the situation truly starting to weigh in on her and the possibility that they might be stranded wherever they were indefinitely moving from a hypothetical to a likelihood.

[Avenger Assembled]

Night fell over Freedom City, the sky darkening, but an eerie night. There was no perceptible sunset and no moon or stars rose, and the city around them remained as dark and silent as a tomb. In the darkened night, only those with enhanced senses on the ground below could still see the grey cloud cover that continued to blanket the sky in a featureless shroud. Bunking down inside the battered Brownstone was no picnic, but most of the people involved had certainly done much worse. With his cybernetically enhanced physiology significantly cutting down on his need for sleep, Steve took the first watch, sitting alone in the lobby of the Brownstone with his ears open against the night. "I have been in worse places than this," he reassured the others when they were concerned about his solitude, "I will be fine." Down below, VINCE certainly appreciated the company, particularly from Quickstep who shared at least something of his isolationism. He still wasn't interested in talking much about what had happened, but he was able to point out the emergency supplies and sleeping bags left below just so "you kids" could stay comfortable. With the glow from the emergency lanterns down below, it wasn't exactly homey, but at least it cut the stillness of the almost Platonic night outside.

It was a little rougher on the street for Blue Jay and Bee-Keeper, only one of whom was really used to this style of living. The night was eerie still, without even the winds one would normally expect for Freedom City at night, with only Blue Jay's torch and Bee-Keeper's armor as their sources of illumination. There weren't many remains still on the street, certainly not as much as one would expect for a Freedom City murdered, but as they went more than a few skeletons of people, buildings, cars, and lives loomed out of them in the darkness as they made their way to the Bee-Keeper's stronghold. There was no sign of Omegadrones in the sky, but then, as Blue Jay remembered, some of them could make themselves invisible.

[Electra]

It was amazing how fast the old skills came back, Erin mused grimly as she set up their little encampment for maximum efficiency and defensibility. She was better off here than she'd ever been during the bad times on her home Earth, with not only light and heat, but comrades-in-arms to provide help and companionship. Even so, it was close enough to make her uneasy, close enough that she was having to fight the old, jumpy instincts. Keeping busy helped, anything to stave off the crushing silence outside. She concentrated on helping Dorothy settle in, showing her how to cushion her sleeping bag to keep it off the cold floor, making sure she got a double share of the meal, finding an extra set of clothes in her size. Erin didn't think about why all that was especially important, refused to think about that right now, it just was.

With the housekeeping taken care of, she turned her attention to communications. Tuning her communicator to the widest possible band, she began to broadcast into the night. Communicating risked bringing bad attention down on them, but it was also the only way to find allies as well. "Attention, anyone still alive in Freedom City. This is Wander of the Liberty League, calling anyone who can hear me. We're looking to make contact with survivors of the disaster here, or with anyone who has been displaced to this world. We need to work together to survive and understand what happened here. Please respond."

[SpicyWaffle]

"Alright," Bee-Keeper agreed, nodding his affirmation to Blue Jay. "Then I guezz... I guezz we make for a Harvezzt Zzupermarket. We're gonna need zztuff. Food, water, medizzine... I don't know, whatever we can get our handzz on. I don't know how long we could bee here," the boy tried to rationalize, though it was clear the prospect of staying for any period of time within this sterilized war-torn world was more than disconcerting. "There'zz one up around here zzomewhere. Down on Paragon Way, I think. Zzhouldn't take uzz too long."

Of all the places in the city to bunker down, it was strange even for Baxter to make a bee-line for this one, though it wasn't quite where he remembered it, though the teenage superhero chalked that up to the situation at large - after all, everything looked different when it was in the middle of being destroyed. When the duo finally found their way to it, the ruined outlet that was the City Center's Harvest Supermarket had all the same signs of despondency; a vast and sudden emptiness that rivaled Freedom Hall, a small cadre of corpses littering the outside of a smashed front window. But it was far and away better in his option than hunkering down on the streets themselves, his nerves shot as a grim sense of foreboding nipped at the edge of his mind at the sight of the newest batch of deceased. He'd seen the decayed remnants of what few lives had been lost along the way - a mortifying sight, to say the least, but it didn't make it any easier to look on upon them again anew. The insides looked deserted through the black-and-white vision of the helmet; not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. At least that meant that Omegadrone hunting them wasn't lurking inside, waiting to ambush them... or, at least, as far as he could tell.

"Lookzz clear. C'mon," whispered the armored hero as he took the lead. Through the HUD behind his helmet, Baxter let loose a teeny swarm of metallic bee-like robots, each one emitting a subtle glow as they expelled their contained energy to create an impromptu source of illumination; not unlike tiny stars . As he began his trek towards the inner sanctum of the grocery store, delicately stepping over the broken bones and glass alike as carefully as he could muster in his tin suit. It was an eerie sort of quietness in the place. Even now, he could recall it being packed to the brim whenever his parents forced him to tag along. Quickly banishing those thoughts, Baxter took a deep breath. He had to stay focused. One thing at a time.

"I guezz we zztart looking for zztuff we can uzze. We can... we can hang out in the back of the store to lay low until the zzun comezz up," he mumbled as he looked to the remaining aisles. With the bright glow of the robo-bees lighting the way, it didn't make Baxter feel any more peaceful in the well-lit store. Pushing his unease aside from ransacking the store, the gold-and-black colored youth took to ravaging the store for anything, battling as much with dust and mold as he was with expiration dates. In all truth, he didn't know what exactly to look for, save that it would likely be canned - a fact, unfortunately, that didn't make things at all easy.

Midway through his rummaging, another broadcast pierced its way through his helmet as a familiar voice flooded the channel again. For a moment, Baxter had forgotten he'd flipped the commlink back on, surprised to hear another voice echoing into his ears. In a moment of hesitation, the Bee-Keeper once more reconsidered the offer proposed by the supposed member of the Liberty League. While it was obvious they were still in cahoots with that Omegadrone who'd been there when he first woke up within this new nightmare, things had decidedly taken a turn for the worse. The Freedom League was either dead or missing, the pair were being hounded by allies of Omega, and they were struggling to get by for the night. Their list of allies was pretty non-existent now, thanks in no small part to Baxter's own outburst against Stratos. Baxter, however, said nothing as he maneuvered to the side of the aisle, looking to Blue Jay for guidance.

[Raveled]

Blue Jay followed the Bee-Keeper to the supermarket, making a face as the pair walked through the aisles packed full of junk food and candy. She routinely found herself disgusted with the food of her new world, with all the fat and sugar and salt and chemicals pumped into it. It tasted good, sure, but there was no way it was good to eat it for every meal. She tried to stay with natural foods, but in this situation...

She picked up some fruits and vegetables and rummaged through them, hoping to find something that wasn't rotten or dried out, but she wasn't having much luck. In disgust she started throwing rotten apples and oranges as deep into the building as she could, listening to them bang off walls or the ceiling. She made another face as the Bee-Keeper started pulling canned goods off the shelves; at this rate she'd have to find a rat or something just to shoot it and eat it. "I suppose if you can find some honey, that never goes bad," she said to him. "And get some bags of chips. We can sprinkle them around wherever we end up sleeping, as an alarm."

She shut up abruptly as Wander's message came over her commlink. She pulled it out and shut it off. "I can't believe this people," she said. "Working for Omega and trying to talk about how they want to work with people! I'd laugh at how transparent the trap is, but if someone hears that broadcast they might actually be suckered in by it."

[Gizmo]

After a few minutes it became fairly clear that no one was going to respond to Erin's broadcast. Jill let out a muffled shout of frustration into the bunched up folds of her sleeping bag before lowering it and staring accusingly at the radio. "I swear, when we find those numbskulls the reprimands will be scathing." Gloved hands held palm upward with clenched fingers emphasized her point. "It's looking pretty clear that the only people here are the ones dropped on their butts. I bet out gracious hosts only bothered making a Vince 'cause computers count as 'backdrop' for this screwy performance piece." Rubbing the bridge of her nose, the medic grimaced in thought. "But if this is a big set-up then they have to be watching somehow, right? Like... satellites or something?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Tomorrow, we take to the sky." Steve replied to Jill when they changed shifts, nodding at her suggestion.

-

The next morning, walking out among the debris in front of the 'Brownstone', Steve spoke over the radio commlink. He was wearing a video hookup that would hopefully hold together long enough to send a signal back down to VINCE's display in the building beneath, VINCE himself now resting comfortably in the hard drive Jill had successfully detached. With Quickstep looking on, just behind the older heroes, Steve spoke into the microphone in his dry, steely voice. "This message is for Blue Jay and her companion. You recognize my voice even with my voder inert. I am the Omegadrone with whom you battled yesterday. My name is Stephen Franklin Murdock. I was born on the streets of dread Nihilor. When I was the age you are now, I was...taken." He swallowed and said, "I am a free drone now. I was changed by a stroke of fate, and am no longer Omega's pawn. I am..." he looked back at Jill and Erin and Quickstep and said, "I am a superhero. We are in the hands of an alien threat that is different than the Terminus, one that watches us from above the grey sky above. To the black and armored warrior who is Blue Jay's companion...you have my apologies. I should have let you strike me." From anyone else it might have been sarcasm. "But that is in the past. Our enemies are in the sky, watching us now. They pull at the wounds of the past, and laugh as we twitch. I will go above the clouds to see them. If you can fly, join me there."

And with that, steel armor erupted around his skin, from his skin, as Omegadrone armor powered its way through his body and replaced his flesh with its own terrible spiked shape. Harrier rose into the sky on a black and red pillar of belching smoke and flame, disappearing into the clouds above.

[Raveled]

Blue Jay had slept lightly, always alert for the sound that meant an enemy was creeping up on her. It had been how life was back on her home world, but after just a few months at Claremont she awoke feeling sore and Dorty, having slept in her jacket all night. One look at the Bee-Keeper still encased in his metal shell, however, ensured that she wasn't going to complain about her situation, though.

Nevertheless, she took off the jacket and hung it up to air out a little as she searched for breakfast. There were plenty of bottles of water still around, and with a little searching she found some packets of in stand coffee. Normally she avoided the stuff -- more chemicals that couldn't be good for your body! -- but she knew how effective the stuff could be and she didn't need to be drowsy on top of being hungry.

While she was making up a second bottle of cold instant coffee for the Bee-Keeper, the Omegadrone came back on the broadcast. She listened to his words, feeling her stomach sink as some things began to come together for her. She'd stayed with the Furions for several days and had heard about the One Free Drone. If this really was him, then why had he attacked the Bee-Keeper? And why had the Bee-Keeper been recognized so readily by Stratos, anyway?

[SpicyWaffle]

Amidst the impromptu shelter and scrounged supplies, the Bee-Keeper had a long night to think things over. Blue Jay had made a point - with this Omegadrone and his pals still broadcasting out in the open, anyone who didn't know better would be walking into a trap. While he didn't want to think too much about having to face them eventually, it was becoming alarmingly clear that the time was nigh at hand. But it still gave him time to dwell on things; many of which he shouldn't have. Of friends and family back home. People he'd left behind. Things he hadn't said. But in his musings, he recalled bits and pieces of things between the quiet meal and the time to settle in. The broadcast certainly set off several red lights in Baxter's head; but there was something else. He vaguely recalled stories of a heroic Omegadrone cruising through the skies of Freedom City - his Freedom City, that is - and saving lives. Then again, Baxter had also heard far stranger things, like that Bigfoot lived in Wharton Forest, or that giant mutant alligators that shot laser beams lived in the sewers.

Regardless, the young boy banished these thoughts for the time being. He didn't need any more stress than he'd already accrued, and he was too mentally and physically exhausted to deal with it now. In lieu of that, however, Baxter turned to more productive things like eating by the makeshift fire in the back of the supermarket. He didn't even think twice about it as he removed his helmet and began to gorge himself on Twinkies and bottled water. After all, what was the point of hiding his identity now? Besides, it would have been tricky to stuff his face with it still encompassing his head. With large bags under his eyes and red with irritation, the young man was nonetheless recognizable for Tona, equally uncaring in revealing his alter ego in the wake of all the troubles that had befallen the duo.

The chill eventually began to take its toll despite the quaint fire, and soon the helmet was back where it belonged atop Baxter's head, warding away the cold as best as the Bee-Keeper Armor could manage - which is to say not very well. Baxter's own endeavors to stay awake were of mixed results to boot, slipping in and out of consciousness even as he struggled to remain focused on the area around him. But exhaustion took him in the night, and a dangerously unwanted reprieve removed him from the waking nightmare he'd stumbled into. It wasn't until the blaring of the Omegadrone in his ears woke Baxter, the morning light - if it could even be called that - having returned to the desolate lands of this worlds' Freedom City.

"Great," moaned the Bee-Keeper as he stirred from his slumped-over state, feeling every muscle in his body ache with soreness as he staggered to his feet. "Now he'zz trying to butter me up." Looking around where the campfire still smoldered, the absence of Blue Jay alarmed him. Spurred on by his missing compatriot, he was relieved to find her scrounging for sustenance beyond, a small sigh escaping his lips as he laid eyes on her. Moving over groggily, the armored avenger was looking slightly worse for wear, but at least he wasn't as much of an emotional wreck.

"Zzo I've been thinking," he began, clearing his throat and winding one of his arms in a circular motion to try and alleviate some of the stiffness. "You know, about thizz whole broadcazzt thing. You're right. They don't zzeem to be giving up on it. We're gonna have to do zzomething about it... but..." continued the Bee-Keeper, as if struggling to find the right words for the situation. "You ever heard of an Omegadrone zzuperhero? Back home, I mean? It'zz juzzt... I mean, I'd heard zztoriezz, y'know? But that can't be true. Omegadronezz were all about zzerving Omega or whatever, zzo the chanzzezz of thizz guy - thizz Stephen whatever-hizz-name-wazz - being the exxact zzame one doezzn't zzeem likely, y'know?"

Rubbing his head in thought before emitting a low yawn, Baxter took a moment to ponder his next statement carefully, turning away from Blue Jay to face the shattered remains of the front window somberly. Same old skeletons. Same old decrepit city. The eerie silence continued on, unflinching from day to night; disquieting through its own quiet. Baxter hated every second of it, but he'd just have to deal with it for the time being... until they could find their answers, one way or the other.

"Whadd'ya think, Jay? We wanna rizzk taking thezze guyzz' word that their the real deal, or what? If they are, then man, that'zz juzzt great! But, y'know, if they're not... zzomeone'zz gonna have to take em' down to zztop them from baiting folkzz to em'."

[Raveled]

Blue Jay rubbed at her eyes and considered telling Bee-Keeper about the One Free Drone, but ultimately decided against it. "I think we should head back to Freedom Hall," she said. "The Freedom League had a space station, right? So they had to have some way to talk to it when it was a long way away. I think that's our best bet for contacting the Furions, or even the Overriders." Thoughts of Claremont flashed through her mind, images of the high wall broken and her friends dead or injured. Still, it was worth investigating. "Or, I can think of a place south of the river where there might be some survivors or supplies left. We could check out there."

[SpicyWaffle]

Another sigh hit Baxter as Blue Jay's suggestions raced through his head. If the Freedom League had a fancy space station still floating around and in-tact, he wasn't sure he could get in-touch with it. It wasn't a matter of hardware or software still functioning, but rather that his own technical expertise was... well, less than stellar. It might be impossible to get in touch with the Furions or these Overriders the archer kept mentioning. The other choice was more grounded in possibility; scrounging for more supplies and the like. But with daylight - or what passed for it - overhead, what hours of sunshine they had needed to be used wisely. Still yet, though, the Omegadrone who spoke through the comms channel made mention of some things; of the strange sky, and an unseen puppet master. Perhaps this unknown villain was responsible for the sudden flash, or perhaps not. It was hard to take the words of an Omegadrone seriously, whether freed or not. Meeting this Steven fellow above the clouds might just be a deadly trap... or the key to unraveling this whole mystery.

Baxter was at an impasse. On the one hand, he couldn't just leave Blue Jay alone to fend for herself in good conscious. But on the other, what if the supposedly freed Omegadrone was right? Was it worth the risk to find out?

"But what about thizz drone, Jay? And thezze people it'zz with? I mean, I'm not crazzy on the idea that it'zz actually tellin' uzz the truth, but it might bee willing to spill the beeanzz about what'zz going on. Y'know, with zzome inzzentive. Bezzidezz, you zzounded like you knew thezze people - Wander and Jill, right? I don't know what they look like, but... but you didn't zzee them back at Freedom Hall, right? On the zzecurity tapezz? Maybee... I don't know, maybee they were on to zzomething," prattled the Bee-Keeper, both desperate for answers and assistance with equal aplomb.

"I'm juzzt zzaying, we can't do thizz on our own. I can't do thizz. I've never... I mean, juzzt look around! I barely recognizze thizz plazze azz Freedom!" he waved towards the shattered windows and the crippled city beyond, still calm despite his sudden curiosity in the goings-on with this Harrier guy. But despite his facade of cooling off from the days incidents prior, Baxter was still feeling the strain; the lack of sleep certainly not helping him to cope with the stress. "With the way thingzz are lookin', I don't... I don't think there'zz anyone on that zzpace zztation of yourzz. We need help. And we need to know for zzure if thezze guyzz are the real deal before it'zz too late."

[Electra]

Back on the ground on the other side of town, Erin tapped her foot and watched the sky. "I don't like this strategy," she muttered to Ellie and Dorothy. "If he gets in trouble out there, how are we supposed to back him up? How do we know that these guys can fly, anyway? Not everybody who has a bird name can fly, look at Arrowhawk and Raven." She bounced on the balls of her feet twice, then leapt a hundred feet into the air to have a look around. "Nothing," she reported with frustration as she landed. "We're wasting time here. We should be looking for Hanover and North Bay, seeing if there's anyone else holed up in the safest places in the city."

[Avenger Assembled]

On the small monitor they'd rigged up, the heroes watched Harrier's painfully slow descent through layer upon layer of featureless grey cloud. He was not a fast flyer, which might have been the best argument against taking to the sky, but the speedier Bee-Keeper had evidently opted not to join him. "These clouds are unbroken. They are unnatural," he opined over the radio as he ascended higher and higher. Not much of a talker, for the longest time there was nothing but the grey sky and the roar of Harrier's jets over the video signal. It was long enough, alone in the deep alien sky overhead, that Harrier was almost ready to believe that he'd been wrong about what lay above the atmosphere and that he needed to fly back down and rejoin the others. Until suddenly came the moment when he finally broke through that oceans-high cloud cover and, for a moment, the flare from the sun overhead blocked both his transmission and his vision. "I..."

His view returned after a moment, and down below on what had been VINCE's flickering display, an alien sight swarmed into view for Wander, Jill, and Quickstep: the horizon curved _upwards_ as Steve rose, curling up towards infinity on either side as he swiveled around in the air to take in the sheer size of the planet, no, the _structure_ on which they were all embedded. The scale slowly became visible as Harrier's flight ascended; those were not islands but continents distant, that was no ocean but a world distant, laid out flat like a map and stretching on as far as the eye could see. There were 'maps' visible that hazily resembled Earth, others that were completely alien, the sheer suggestion of impossible bulk almost stupefying for someone born on a planet. Steve turned his head again to the sides where, far, far distant, multiple Earth-lengths away, massive walls that must have been big enough to swallow a planet towered above the landscape, holding in the atmosphere, and then looked up again at the 'sun': this close, the silvery line of the space-ring was visible behind the off-yellow star, its bulk partially blocked by a series of great black squares between them and the star itself.

"Cosmic Entity 045," said Harrier over the radio, his normally impassive voice tight at the awesome, terrifying sight of the cosmic superstructure all around them. "The Curator's Ringworld." An instant later, "I am being pinged by active radar."

[Raveled]

Blue Jay crossed her arms. "I don't know anyone named Jill," she said. "But I lived with the Furions for a little while, and they told stories of Wander, and Sage, and Edge, and Cobalt Templar, and Midnight. The Brave, the Fleet, the Mighty, the Swordsman, and the Marksman. They were a team, and a year or so ago they... They killed Omega." Jay paused to let that fact sink in. Killing Omega, the herald of decay and unchangeable fate. Bringing an end to the Knight of Entropy! "You, um, you have to understand that the Furions don't keep diaries or write newspapers. Everything is heroic songs and cycles and poetry. I don't know the exact details, but they put a definitive end to him. Or at least as definitive an end as anyone can." Jay moved to the door of the supermarket, looking out over the ruined street. "Which, yeah, doesn't explain why'd she be working with Annhilists and Omegadrones now. I just don't have all the answers right now, I'm sorry."

Jay was quiet for a few minutes as she considered their options. They could always leave town. She would be far more comfortable in a forest of any description, than in a ruined Freedom City. Of course before they left there was still one place she had to check out. "Bee-Keeper, there's a place I have to go. I didn't think we should be separated, so you should come with me, but... it's a secret. A really big one, so if you come with me and we make it back, you've got to keep it. You can't go telling anyone about this place, ever." She took a deep breath and held it. "It's a school for superheroes."

[Avenger Assembled]

A moment later, Harrier's view whirled frantically in the air. "Incoming starships," he said simply as his engines roared and the grey clouds swooped up to greet him, swallowing the mad vision of the ringworld above. He turned back to provide perspective for his words, still roaring downwards, and displayed a flickering image of a rapidly approaching, impossibly fast swarm of black ships that had to be coming in faster than any Earthly rocket given the sheer impossible distance between what had been a high solar orbit and the Earth-distant planet beneath. Grey skies filled his vision as he disappeared into the cloudbank again, keeping up a regular report schedule as he flew. "Believe they are using protonic reversion drive. High acceleration. No living crew. Intentions unknown." Behind him his jetpack screamed like a damned soul, the sound of the spaceships following him into the atmosphere like twin distant explosions that never quite settled down. "Coming in fast."

-

Minutes later, before Blue Jay and Bee-Keeper could decide where to go, and well before Steve had actually broken cloud cover, the alien ships broke through the perpetual cloud cover over 'Freedom City', circling the city's edge like a flock of gigantic metallic birds. A few moments later, the energy discharges began: silent red beams that blasted into what had to be the rock and dirt at the edge of the city, the distant grey seas, followed closely by black, spongy balls that were just visible as they plunged into the rents dug by the lasers. They weren't approaching the city, rather, they were circling it.

[SpicyWaffle]

Blue Jay's tale of Omega's defeat struck a nerve with Baxter. It took the Centurion everything he had just to crack the armor that fateful; the Bee-Keeper didn't even think it was possible to kill the tyrant who so readily demolished Freedom City all those years ago! Yet here she was, regaling him with a story about Furions and the deeds of the mighty - one of whom Baxter recognized! But it made no sense. Blue Jay was right about one thing though: if Wander was this great and powerful warlord who bested the Lord of the Terminus, what sense did it make for her to change hands now?

Bee-Keeper, too, fell silent as the weight of Omega's death sank in. First came the shock and disbelief, but then came the awe-wrenching concern of what might transpire of Wander and her friends were to engage them. Just the thought of meeting someone who supposedly slew the oppressive Lord of Entropy was palpable enough; he didn't need to consider the prospect that she might be against them.

Thankfully, the Bee-Keeper didn't get a chance to dwell on the subject as Blue Jay tore him back to reality at the mention of investigating some great secret. In the face of everything else that had happened, however, the concept of a secret school for superheroes seemed more plausible than ever before. For a moment he hesitated, as if considering his choices - though the more he pondered them, the more he realized he really didn't have any better ideas.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I can keep your--" he began, though the Bee-Keeper's words were cut short as his eyes drifted skywards. Growing wide, fear once more gripped the young hero as the dazzling display filled the sky anew with unknown terror; space ships and silent laser beams raining from the heavens of those dark and dystopian clouds hanging overhead. Almost instinctively, the Bee-Keeper reeled at the sight; his fear barely contained as he stepped out of the makeshift headquarters the pair had acquired to get a better look at ensuing chaos.

"Oh, man. Thizz... thizz can't be good..." he said, voice barely above a whisper, an unintentional attempt at being quiet. Turning to Blue Jay, the armored teenager looked on towards his colleague. He was terrified to find out what the hub-bub was all about... but a thought kept him focused: it could reveal the nature of why they were here, or perhaps a way back home. Then again, this school Blue Jay mentioned seemed incredibly important. Whatever the decision, the Bee-Keeper wasn't keen on splitting up now in the least.

"How far'zz thizz zzchool?" inquired the Bee-Keeper quickly, looking off towards the horizon where the mysterious vessels seemed to be headed. "Might bee now or never if you wanna check it out, Jay."

[Gizmo]

"What the hell is 'The Collector'?" Jill asked, a hand reflexively going to her stomach as she fought the vertigo brought on by Harrier's relayed images. At the very least, this seemed to confirm her suspicions that the world they were on was some sort of artificial stage, but the sheer scope of the falsehood was staggering and the motivations behind it remained elusive. She couldn't help but feel that all of this was well above her metaphorical pay grade. "Man, if this is another Preserver thing..." The medic's muttered musings were cut short by the arrival of pursuing starships. "Protonic reversion drives, huh? Well, that's my least favourite type of reversion drive, wouldn't you know. Get your shiny butt back down here big guy, so we can provide some cover." Blue radiance lit up both of Jill's fists as she prepared herself and kept an eye on the grey clouds above.

[Electra]

Erin was momentarily stunned by the incredibly strange panorama of the ringworld on the monitor screen, but the arrival of the ships quickly tore her attention away from the scenery. "Look at that," she said into her open comm line as she leapt into the air high enough for a look around. "That trench they're digging, they're surrounding the city with it. It's gotta be some sort of isolation ploy. Whatever they're planning on doing here, I want no part of it. We've got to get out of here now!"

She landed on the ground, turning to Quickstep. "Can you teleport us out of the city? We need to get at least as far as Wharton Forest, it looks like, but closer to Atlantic City would be safer. Otherwise we're going to have to make a run for it."

[Raveled]

Blue Jay ducked back under cover as the flying ships swept around the city, her fingers itching to draw an arrow but common sense telling her that hiding was the better option. They didn't seem inclined to attack, so the archer decided that the best solution was just to run.

She ran out of the store and rounded a corner, heading south towards Pramas Bridge as fast as her feet could carry her. Blue Jay was in damn good shape, she was young, and she ran every single day, but she was still human. She reached the riverfront before the burning in her lungs grew to be too much and she was forced to slow down, coming to a stop near a cafe with blown-in windows. She leaned against a metal table and breathed deeply, watching the ships fly their circuit. "What," she gasped aloud, "what are they doing? Why... why don't they... attack... if they're going to?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Harrier crashed back to the pavement fast and hard enough to crack the asphalt across the street, his armored body rising from the crater immediately as he ran over to join the others. Startled, both by the moment and by Harrier's arrival, Quickstep stuttered, "I-I-I...not all of you at once! But I can do it!" She grabbed Wander and they vanished together, reappearing in a deserted campground an instant before Dorothy vanished again. This time she took Jill's hand, saying "This was where-" "-we used to come for summer camp!" she exclaimed before disappearing again. When she appeared the last time, it was with Steve, whose armor was just retracting as he looked back at the Freedom City now completely surrounded by a circle of alien ships, the trench they had dug around Freedom City complete. From their hilltop view at the edge of Wharton State Forest, the heroes outside watched as the ships began to glow an eerie shade of green. The glow was answered by a verdegris wash of light that seemed to begin rising up from the landscape below.

"The Curator is a thief," replied Harrier, "a gatherer of places, peoples, and things from across the cosmos. Miss Americana's sidekick, Citizen, his homeworld was stolen by the Curator centuries ago," he went on, trying his damnedest to remember the history of a young man who generally fell into an embarrassed silence around him. "His ringworld incorporates the material from an entire star system, and things stolen from across all realities together. He has been a...rival of the Terminus, but only for his own gain, not for the benefit of all. He...he still has the others!"

Inside the carved-out city, Bee-Keeper and Blue Jay could see the glow too: a slowly-rising wall of brilliant, shimmering green that was bright enough to cast even shadows in the city into daylight and was clearly going to encompass a massive circle that included them and all of the city in its effects. Rising all around the city in the beginnings of a dome shape, it was clear that within a few minutes they were going to be completely cut off from the outside world.

[Electra]

Erin raised her communicator again, her eyes fixed on that rising dome. "Blue Jay, Beekeeper!" she snapped urgently. "Tell us where you are, we can teleport you to safety before that dome closes. Being paranoid is going to do you no good if it just gets you trapped or killed. Give us a landmark, a cross street, anything that lets us find you." As she spoke, she looked over to Dorothy, who looked a little winded and a little scared, but still game. "I swear to you we're good guys and we don't mean you any harm."