It was another late night, poring over files, tracing leads, and contacting the shady underbelly of the military to get the answers she needed.  Luckily she wasn’t unacquainted with the sleazier side of the government.

She drove to a seedy section of Vegas, well seedier, and then walked to what was likely the definition of sleaze.   A night club, judging from the music, but with no signs, and no windows.  The clientele knew what they were looking for when they came to this place, there was no reason to advertise, and every reason not to.

Flare paused just a few feet from the rusty barn sliding door, and leaned gingerly against the alley wall.  She imagined a scream from her Eufibre as it came in contact with god knew what.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when an arm slipped around her shoulders.  She turned to destroy whomever had gotten the drop on her when she realized it was him.

“Eddy, you bastard, couldn’t you stomp your feet or something before scaring the crap out of me?”

“Aww, did the all powerful nova forget to pay attention? Poor you.”

The sandy skater hair cut, blue eyes and serpentine grin were the same as the last time Flare had dealt with him.

Eddy.  No last name, no details, no nothing.  She’d dealt with him just enough to know not to trust the man, and yet here she was asking for help.  He wasn’t a Nova as far as she knew, and she couldn’t imagine what the government could have on the man to actually be willing to use him.  The two missions she’d seen him on had been…disturbing.

“Long time no see, eh girlie?”

“Yeah, though if you’re going to meet me at places like this, I think I can wait a while for our next interaction.”

The first time she had still be shiny and eager, believing she was doing right for Utopia and America, even if the missions seemed a bit off.  She hadn’t wanted to work with a baseline, for fear that in a Nova confrontation he’d be fodder.  He hadn’t been.  She’d taken out three low level novas and turned to see the leader garroted on the ground.   That had been the first time she’d seen Eddy’s self-satisfied smirk.

She shuddered as the leering eyes of passerby bore into her.  “Let’s get away from here before my skin crawls off to die.”

That arm still stayed around her shoulders.  “Lead the way, hun.”

Their second mission together had been better…or worse.  She hadn’t actually needed to do anything but fly Eddy, with that shit eating grin on his face, to an ‘abandoned’ factory, and pick him up an hour later.  She’d done just that.  She had left and returned to the sounds of screaming and dying.  And had made a detour to a nearby lake so Eddy could wash off the blood he wore like a well-loved coat.

And the Michaelists called her a monster?

She got a few blocks away from the club, nearly back to her car, when she realized that going with this man in her current condition was suicidally  stupid.

She tried to seem natural as she slowed and turned, his arm finally falling away.

“So…um..did you get it?”  Best to be quick about it.

“Maybe, but what’s it worth to you?”

Flare sighed, she knew he wouldn’t help her out of the goodness of his reptilian heart.

“A fair amount, I have money, so what do you want for it? I can swing by a bank, or will you take a check.”

He didn’t recoil, but it was a close thing.  “You think I want your money?  Please, if that’s what did it for me, I’d be rolling in it right now.”

He actually sounded offended.  Flare smirked, and raised her hands in surrender.

“Okay, sorry wound your delicate sensibilities.  What do you want?”

Her heart stopped when Eddy reaching into his jacket, already imagining being blown away by some Russian model super gun, but all he pulled out was a jump drive, which he casually tossed to her.

“You’ll owe me a favor.  I’ll collect whenever I feel like on whatever I want.” He put up a hand to forestall the coming protest.  “Don’t worry, princess, it won’t be anything you find too…unseemly.”

She tried not to look grateful, and by his satisfied grin she’d failed.  The thank you was on her tongue, but he waved it off.

“Don’t thank me until I’ve collected on my favor.  Later, Flare.” And with a quick left turn he was gone.


“I am so screwed.” Flare relayed to the empty street.  She turned and pocketed the jump drive.  If it contained any useful information, than the debt would be worth it.  As she drove, not flew, back to the base she just hoped she’d found something to help get everyone’s powers back.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:35, Mon 27 Feb 2012.

According to the news the car wreck had been brutal.  The baby had barely survived.  Flare’s failing powers had dumped her to the pavement twice as she flew to the hospital so she could ‘happen by’ in time for the mother to survive. The mother, Kathy, had gone to school with Sara Childe, AKA Flare.  They hadn't been friends, but Sara had known her, and would do what she could.

She’d been doing this for so long; she didn’t doubt that a large portion of staff knew what she was up to.  It had still been shocking when the Obgyn had all but shoved her into the room.

Flare took a few deep breaths before going to the woman and healing her.  Except it didn’t work.  She tried again and again…and again.  Until she was drained of quantum.  Nothing worked.  After a few minutes of her standing next to the bed, shocked, a somber-faced nurse came and escorted her out.   She was nearly ran over by Karen's distraught husband, who had been driving at break-neck speeds while she had tried to perform a miracle.

She had spent long hours in the hospital chapel trying to make sense of the senselessness.  She’d forgotten how awful it was to be a baseline.  So helpless.  She couldn’t stop the tears as, in her mind, the bloody face she had looked on was replaced by her uncle’s, Gale’s, Comstock’s, all of her friends bleeding and dying.  Through the failing of their powers and hers.    It wasn’t just a nightmare vision; it was the truth that they would face if a cure wasn’t found.

She stared at the plentiful candles and at the cross, looking for comfort.  According to the Michaelists' agenda she was a demon, and according to some baselines and Novas she was a god.  It was proof of her humanity that she felt so lost. Impotent. Helpless.  She felt disgust curling through her as she realized Karen’s life meant nothing to her, the healing had just been an exercise of her power.  She was grieving for the loss of Flare.  The being that was powerful enough to be considered a demon, or god.  Now she was worthless. Her dreams of accepting her loss of power and thriving in the baseline world crumbled.  She was Flare, a nova, and going back to normal humanity was a crippling disability in her mind.

After an eternity she went back to the room.  Long after the grieving family had been led away.  Long after the body had been covered.  She took Karen’s hand from under the sheet, and stared at nothingness, praying that something would change.


“I’m sorry” 

Suzukaze stands hesitantly before Frostburn's room. She extends her arm raising her hand she knocks on the door. She waits for a response before entering.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I really would like to ask you something. She says as she enters and takes a seat. "I was just wondering if you happened to have any free time, and would like to do something. It's been pretty boring lately and with some of the stuff going on Id like to get my mind off things. There's also some things I'd like to talk about, but I want to have some fun first. Do something normal for a change. We could have a girls night or go on a date. She turns her head away blushing shyly. "If I remember right I told you before I'd be your knight my princess."

She turns looking Frostburn in the eyes smiling.

Angelo cruised down highway 95 into 'Vegas.  It was a perfect evening, not too hot, not too cold, and the clear skies were letting every star stand out, popping out one-by-one as the sun sank behind him.  Part of him wished he were flying...but he happily made do with putting the top down in his old car, a 1970 Dodge Dart that he'd had since high school.  As his pay grade had risen, so had the customizations he had lavished on his car.  Riding along with the wind tousling his hair felt just as free and somehow felt more "natural" than flying.

For the better part of the day he had been "working the phone" to carefully mine his contacts within the military establishment while he waited for the results from the testing he had done at KHI.  He had hopes that he would come across something useful on the operational end of these mysteries since whenever the government needed a covert military or paramilitary operation done, they had to call on some branch of Special Operations.  Even if they were only used as OpFor in training some other super-secret unit, someone is bound to have seen or heard something.  Something these brilliant egg-heads he found himself working with could use to figure things out.  But by mid-afternoon the sunny lawn outside his window had sung its siren song to him.  Walking around the base had just made his restlessness worse, and so he strolled down to the storage sheds and pulled the cover off his old Dart.

The rumble of the powerful engine and the clear night sky had enabled him to think while he drove.  Ever since he was a kid, he had worked, usually with his Tia Carmen's help to create a perfect synthesis between his mind and body.  When he had erupted, a part of him had felt tainted...corrupted...even as he accepted the power it gave him.  He could never figure out how to integrate his strange, new nova nature with the mind and body he had been training most of his life, could never really set aside the time to sort things out.  Instead it stayed in the background, jumping out at him when he came out of a stressful situation where he'd had to rely on his power.  When that happened, only the Tai Chi forms were able to calm his mind.

Lately, after talking with some of his teammates, especially Flare and Impetus, he had begun to see his quantum alterations somewhat differently.  Quantum energy flowed and could be channeled through his body much like his chi energy, even though it still seemed like an alien thing.  For the first time since his eruption, his quantum abilities were growing and expanding.

Now, however, all of that was in question.  It was possible that he could lose his powers permanently, become a "baseline" again.  Even now, his power level and ability to channel quantum energy had fallen so low, he could pass for a baseline. Which was one of the reasons he had come to the city; to be "normal" for a while...maybe catch a movie.  That thought triggered another.

“Aya!” he shouted, slapping himself on the forehead, “Soy tan idiota!”  He pulled off at the next exit and brought the car to a dusty, sliding stop off the shoulder. Hastily fishing his phone out of his pocket, he put it up to his ear and said, “Call Phantasm.”

He waited anxiously while it rang through.  He looked up at the sky and mouthed “Thank you,” when he heard her voice answer.

“Hola, Bonita!”  he said, grinning, “What would you say to an evening of absolute normalcy.  Dinner, a movie, maybe a drive up the strip or into the hills to look at the stars?”

"Angelo, oh... Hey, I'm sorry I've been out of touch I've just had trouble keeping track lately...  Tonight?  But the research I'm doing with Quentin, and I... I uh..."

But the research was at a dead end.  Her mind was fading along with her other abilities.  She really had forgotten to stay in touch with Angelo.  She had forgotten to stay in touch.  The implications were terrible.  Her work was more and more difficult, and the data could hardly be trusted with her flagging faculties.  She didn't feed the cat yesterday.  Her control on her form was starting to slip, shifting away from the ageless youthful appearance she'd maintained to one of simple youthfulness, a girl of perhaps 18.  A girl with barely enough guile to keep the panic and terror she felt at the loss of her powers out of her eyes.

After a long pause, she took a shuddering breath to calm her nerves.  She needed to get away from the lab.

"... Yeah.  I mean yes.  Yes, I'd like to take a drive with you tonight."  Even though it didn't compare to swimming at the bottom of the sea, or freefall from the top of an exploding skyscraper.  Even though she was losing herself an inch at a time.  At least she'd have some company... Lately it was getting harder and harder to be alone.

Angelo pulled into the parking lot and quickly made his way up to her door.  He couldn't believe how excited and nervous he was.  While it was true he hadn't dated since he'd gotten his commission, it was because he never felt like he had time.  Phantasm was special, though.  He certainly found her attractive (as well in her usual form as in her natural form), he felt even more drawn to her mentally and emotionally.

When she opened the door, he started to give her a cheerful greeting until he saw the look in her eyes.  He could tell she was trying to hide it, but whatever she was feeling seemed too big, or too painful to contain.

Forgetting his shyness, he quickly stepped forward and put his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.  "Oh, Bonita," he said, his voice filled with concern, "what's happened?"

The hug was awkward, but she let it happen.  It had been a long time since she'd felt a supportive touch, or shared feelings of any sort for that matter.  It was what she wanted, but at the same time, it frightened her and she new it was a distraction.  But that's why she'd said yes, right?

She leaned into his arms and covered her eyes with his shoulder.  Tears didn't come, that wasn't something she really remembered how to do any longer.  But there was a slight tremble as she focused on her breathing and tried to calm herself enough to get out what she could no longer keep inside.  "I can't save us Angelo.  I'm not what I was.  I had all these plans, I was going to protect us from the future, but this happened.  I couldn't predict it, and I can't fix it.  And I can't think straight, everything I've learned is jumbled inside my head or leaking out.  And I can't do anything about it."  Admitting it, hearing herself say it, was both terrible and cathartic.  It was enough, for now at least.

She smiled a half smile before speaking again.  "Lets get out of here, I thought we were going for a ride."

Angelo put a hand on the back of her head and hugged her again.  “Don't lose those plans, Bonita,” he said gently, “we're still going to need you to save us once we've beaten this thing.  Maybe I...”  But he couldn't finish that statement, it sounded too melodramatic in his head and he was still stung by embarrassment over his over-the-top gesture when she revealed her true form.

“You're absolutely right,” he said, brightening as he pulled back and took her hand, “it's a gorgeous evening, and we don't want to waste it standing in your doorway.”  Still clasping her hand, he led her out to his car.  “Whatcha think?” he asked as he opened the door for her to get in.

They rode up the northern end of the strip in silence, lost in their respective thoughts as they sailed that sea of neon, up past Fremont Street, and onto Highway 95.  Angelo turned onto Kyle Canyon road headed west and now that they were outside the city he opened up the throttle so as to get them out of the light pollution as quickly as possible.

Eventually the barren rocks and sand gave way to pine trees.  Angelo slowed to a more sedate pace and took a deep breath to fill his head with the scent of pines.  Overhead, the sky was putting on quite a show – the Milky Way was laid out in a glory that grew the further up the canyon they drove.  He wanted to ask her to talk about what was troubling her, but made himself be patient...she would talk if and when she was ready, and he was just happy to be here with her.

In the night air, Phantasm released some of the stress she'd been holding onto and waxed contemplative.  Reaching her hand out the side of the car, she let it rise and fall with the wind, floating on the currents of air made by their passage.   "It's a nice night out.  Star's aren't as bright as they used to be though.  A little while ago, I could almost see in the dark.  The night sky always looked super bright then...  How are you so calm about all this Angelo?"

Angelo had to think for a minute to find a way to answer her question.  He thought about what she had just said and what she had said earlier.

"It sounds like there are two questions there," he said. "You asked how I'm so calm, but I think you're also asking why I'm not...I guess 'freaking out' would be the technical term."  He looked to see if his attempt at a joke had any impact.

"The answer to the first won't make any sense unless I can figure out how to answer the second."  After another minute of thinking, he continued.  "I think it's partly because El Dragon is the US Army's nova.  I sorta treated it a little like the uniform I wear, It is a duty I have and I'm proud to do it, but at the end of the day, I'm still Angelo inside.  If all of my nova abilities go away, it will be sorta like if I got wounded in combat and had to take a medical discharge from the Army, which, as a combat soldier, is something that's always in the back of your mind even though you don't think it will ever happen.  If that were to happen, I'd have two choices: to dwell on the fact that I'll never again be able to do what I could do before; or find a way to take what I have left and put it to the same good use as I did my former abilities.

"Hell," he grumbled with a crooked grin, "when I say it out loud like that, it sounds like I've been reading to many self-help books.  But am I making sense at all?"

Phantasm continued to look up at the stars as they drove.  "Sure.  That's kind of what I thought you'd say.  Maybe I'll try looking at it that way myself.  It's hard though, I grew up with these powers, I'm not really sure who I am without them.  You still doing the military thing with all this going on?  I mean, do they send you out at all when you're not doing T2M stuff?  And I guess I should ask how the team is holding up... I'm not on it anymore, but I still have a lot of friends there."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I forgot to respond to Phantasm's other questions so I'm gonna edit it in.

---

"Yeah," he said, "I'm still a full-time officer in the Army.  Although my duty assignment is to act as a member of Team Tomorrow, I still report to General Irwin...which means sending in monthly reports of my activities in that capacity."  He fidgeted a little in his seat.  "And don't worry, I just report on my training and any situations we respond to as a team.  I'm not eager to be any more of an Army guinea pig than I've already been.  The only other thing they have me doing is PR work: speaking engagements, appearing at public events, talking to troops and stuff.  In fact," he said, shifting uncomfortably a little, "we just finished shooting a set of recruitment ads for TV and OpNet."  He looked rather embarrassed as he said this.

"As for how the team is holding up, I...don't know.  I'm too new (and probably too much of an outsider) for the others to really confide in me.  From what I can tell, everyone seems to have put their heads down and thrown themselves into either finding a cure, or finding out who was responsible."  He paused a moment, thinking, then added, "I suppose a grief counselor might call it 'denial' but I can't really judge someone else's mental state...I have a hard enough time with my own."

Angelo pulled the car into a "scenic overlook" which amounted to a broad, flat shelf, thrust out from the surrounding trees which afforded an unimpeded view of the sky.  He climbed out of the car, stretched and offered to get her door for her.  Then he slid up onto the warm hood of the car, leaving room for her if she wanted to join him, and lay back against the windshield, staring up into the night sky.

By the time he was settled, he had organized his thoughts, somewhat.  "I think it might be a bit counter-productive to think of losing your nova abilities as going back to what you were before, because even without your node, you're not the person you were before you erupted."  The soft breeze sloughed through the pines making a sort of natural music led by an owl soloist.  "I mean...even in terms of just education and training," he continued, "you're far more capable than the girl you were.  Add to that, your experience - both your practical, real-world experience and your combat experiences - and you're a force to be reckoned with at any level."

He looked over to her face, aglow with starlight, and couldn't help smiling to himself because she was so beautiful.  "If I could ask, how old were you when you erupted?  If you don't want to talk about it," he added quickly, "just say so and I'll respect that."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:34, Wed 01 Aug 2012.

Phantasm gave it a bit of thought.  She really didn't think about her age much, but she'd started recently.  She wasn't even 20 yet, she still had her whole life in front of her.

"Too young, barely a teenager.  I left home 'cause I couldn't deal with what happened, lied to everyone in recruitment, then signed up and never looked back.  These days I wouldn't have passed the screeners, but back then it was just a bunch of overworked normal people trying to figure out how to adapt to the crazy nova world, and to get a team together in a few months.  Can't say I regret it though.  It's been one hell of a ride."

She hopped out of the car, still lithe and graceful despite her diminished abilities.  Sliding up on the hood of the car, she continued to look at the stars.  She smiled sadly, but when she spoke her voice was full of energy.

"So, what do I do?  I could go be a motivational speaker, or continue my acting career, or become a private detective... or hey, I'm still young enough to join the army right?  What would you do if you suddenly had to 'take a medical discharge' from this life and from the army?"

Angelo sighed deeply.  He thought about putting his arm around her shoulders, but wasn't sure how she'd feel about that.  He settled for holding out his hand for her to hold if she so chose.

"I haven't thought about that question specifically," he said after a moment, "but I have given some thought to what I'd do when I retired.  I could go back home and help my Tia Carmen run her dojo...With my skill-set, I'd make a good SWAT team member...come to think of it, I wouldn't make a bad PI either.  Maybe we could open an agency together," he added with a laugh.

Phantasm took the offered hand and scooted into Angelo's shoulder.  "Wouldn't that be something.  I can see the headline now, 'Worldwide celebrities take new job as private detectives, stakeout blown by fans seeking autograph.'  It'd be fun though, in a boring sort of way.  Not like jumping off a 30 story building to chase bad guys, but still fun."

"You like jumping off 30-storey buildings, eh?" Angelo said with a smirk.  "Wait 'til you see my latest trick."  He extended his left arm, his brow creased in concentration, and suddenly a flying squirrel-type winglet popped out.

"After I fought that pendejo who was using his eufiber as a clawed net, I decided that I'm attuned well enough to my 'colony' to do some of that myself.  It's pretty dang handy."

"I've always been pretty good with my eufiber, it's not a trick everyone has, but it's great when you need it." 

Phantasm was quiet and contemplative for several minutes before she spoke again.  She curled into Angelo a bit, and then asked "Angelo, where do you see us going from here?  We've got... something... going on, I'm just not sure what.  But I'm not exactly sure where it's going, or even if it CAN go anywhere, given our powers and the state of the world, and how screwed up everything is.  I mean, it's great just being here like this, but..."  She didn't know where to go from there, so she let her words hang in the air between them.

"Oh...Bonita," Angelo said, putting his other arm around her and pulling her close, "the way I see it, it doesn't matter what sort of...effed-up boat-ride we're on, we're on the same one."  He struggled to put the rest of his thoughts into words.  "And if...if somehow we've got something real...something that makes this insanity even a little easier to bear, then what's wrong with grabbing it by the coattails and riding it for all we can get out of it.  Who knows," he said, giving her another squeeze, "we might even break every karmic law and be happy together."

The bleach scent of the hospital wing of Utopia annoyed her.  The doctors, nurses, and orderlies all irritated her.  The fact that she was here as a patient, instead of a healer, was pissing her right the hell off.

She sat stupidly on a medical bed, letting the IV drip replenish her lost fluids. She'd been told to lie down, had been nearly forcibly sedated, but reclaimed her hot-headness and flame-power long enough to put a stop to that.   Now she fumed, her feet kicking uselessly at the rungs on her bed, trying not to restart bleeding.

She'd been amazed at Gale's strength.  Even wounded, her winged sister had gotten them back to Utopia.  The doctors better have patched her up well.

In Flare's, case, surgery would be required to remove the bullet near her hip. The bullet in her shoulder had been dug out by the meanest doctor she'd ever seen.  He'd just snorted when she said she didn't want the damned anesthesia and got to work.

Damn, she wish she knew how Gale was doing.  After flying them back, Gale had pretty much collapsed and was dragged off to another section of the medical wing.
Flare assumed she was okay, but wouldn't be happy until she knew for sure.

She also ::yawn:: was going to kill whatever doctor must have snuck a sedative into her IV fluid.  Her head was on the pillow before she even realized it.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Getting back here pretty much opens things up for anyone who wants to be involved.  Also wraps up ties that bind.

---

When Flare came to next, Dillon was sitting in a chair at her bedside.  He was reading a magazine.  Flowers had arrived at some point, as well as a basket of fruit.

"Hey tough girl," he said when he saw her waking.  There was no humor in his voice.  Just quiet sympathy.  "Someone was just here asking if you needed more painkillers.  I told them I'd pass it along when you came to."

"Good news is, it looks like we've still got enough juice that they're forecasting complete tissue repair.  But you aren't as bullet proof as you used to be.  So they're wanting to keep you for another two days minimum.  After that, if you want to blow this joint, they'll cut you loose."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
[Edit for spelling]

---

This message was last edited by the GM at 03:27, Thu 22 Nov 2012.

"Hey Chief," Angelo nodded at Comstock.  He entered, holding a trio of star-shaped balloons, and greeted Flare with a crooked smile.  "Hey Buddy, I hear you're one up on me.  I've only taken one bullet in my time (along with a dozen or so pieces of shrapnel, but that's a different story).  I'll graciously let you lead this race, however.  I brought you some balloons," he said, tying them to a bed rail.  "I tried to get hydrogen ones for you to play with...but they just looked at me funny."

He stayed and chatted with Flare and Comstock for a few minutes, but then excused himself to go visit Gale.  He wasn't as sure about this one, because they hardly knew each other, but she was part of the team and wounded.  So, he gamely went back to the gift shop for three more balloons and set off for Gale's room.

Dragon found Gale standing in her room, looking out the window.  She hated hospitals.  This one didn't have her cooped up in a plastic bubble, but it still felt like a cage to her.  Having not been as injured as Flare, the staff had given her some fluids and patched her up and then left her alone.

When she heard footsteps, she turned to see who it was, expecting another doctor or nurse.  Finding Dragon, and with balloons, she seemed surprised.  "Um, hi."

"Hey, Trooper," he says, handing her the balloons.  "I just came to see how you were doing.  Upright is a good sign - do you think they'll let you take a little walk down the hall?  I think Flare's a little worried about you."

Flare leaned over enough to lay a hand on Dillon’s knee.  “Two days, huh?  Any chance you can use your steely gaze and devastating good looks to spring me out of here early? I hate lying here helpless.”  She tried not to dwell on the fact that she was pretty much helpless regardless.

“It’s pathetic, all that trouble we got into together, and I get taken out by some moron with a normal bullet at my MOM’s stupid wedding.” A soft smile lit her face at their antics, busting bad guys, saving Zero, and generally beating shit up. The smile dropped as she thought of some less fond memories. “I almost went the way of my dad.  Though his was in the line of duty and mine was in the process of being an ass.” 

Anything else she might say was cut off as her gaze fell on her bad-ass martial art comrade walked in…with silly get well balloons.

“Ha ha..ouch..hey,  Dragon.  Ooh, thanks for the balloons!  Also, for thinking of exploding things for me!"  She took her hand back from Dillon’s leg and raised it to fist bump Dragon.

“Thanks for stopping by.”

"Flare!  Is she all right?"  At the mention of Flare, Gale's face immediately shifted to concern.  She quickly tied the proffered balloons to the bed post.  Nobody had even told her where Flare was, as the winged woman had passed out from exhaustion after managing to bring them both back.  Toward the end, it had been all she could do to keep her wings moving.  "Fuck the doctors.  I'm going to go see her.  What room is she in?"  She said it so quickly; she'd been looking for an excuse to get out of this room.

She strode into the hallway, a little stiff to the practiced eye, but still at a brisk pace.