Michael gives a small wave to Mittens while keeping pace with Angel. "Ms. Bard, I do believe you are flirting with me," he says with a smirk, telling her the number a moment later. Somewhere in the back of his head he wonders if he heard the inflection in her voice correctly. He mentally shrugs, trying not to overthink it.

Michael nodded in greeting giving the stranger a friendly smile when Angel introduces him. He keeps back and quiet for now, observing Angel and the "mummy" man. He wasn't quite sure what to make of him, though from the sound and build he thought the stranger might be around their age. If the stranger offers his hand, Michael gives a firm handshake.

Nathan giggles and thumbs-ups at Timothius for the song reference.  He ohs at Timothius' explanation of the texts and looks around, but can't seem to spot the mummy from where he's seated.

Before he can figure out if Liberty heading for Eli is a good sign or not, her teacher speaks up.

"Stay in your seat, please, Liberty.  If you need to use the restroom, you can raise your hand just like in class."

Nathan facepalms, but he's not about to backtalk a teacher.

The reporter takes a look at Soul then nods to Emmy.  "Unusual is right.  Good to see you all are thorough and fair as ever.

"I'm following up on a study recently published by the Mutant Rights Advocacy Group that claims that public records show that mutants are more than twice as likely to be injured or killed in fires as non-mutants.  What are your thoughts on their findings?"

While conversations happen, Mits is in the meantime once again playing the victim as a song about dialing 911 plays over the speakers...

"Be a heeero!  Make the call!" 

She pretends to be injured and another play actor pretends to dial 911.  The firefighters soon come to the rescue.  Like before, TV camera professionals record the action, seemingly oblivious of Soul and Crystal.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:43, Wed 02 Sept 2015.

Liberty pauses at the teacher's instructions. Timothius reaches to touch Liberty and the girl pouts, folds her arms and sits down. That single moment of the teacher stopping Lib was just enough for Liberty to think about it and realize if there was trouble brewing, Mittens would know it.

Emerald answers the reporter, "While I highly doubt those numbers, I'll happily give my thought on why it might be: When people are faster, smarter, stronger or richer than normal people, they begin to develop a mentality they are invincible. Well people with powers are still people and so they wind up thinking themselves more capable than they really are. And what's more is the people around them start expecting them to be more capable than they really are. I think the reason they die in fires more often is probably because they are less cautious as a result of thinking themselves invincible. But that is just my take: Pure conjecture." she strokes her chin. "Liberty's power is to be physically tough. I think she would be perfect for being an example to such people because she can testify how close she came to suffocating from the smoke in a car fire."

The hero song is TOTALLY one of Emmy's. She would have gladly made a song for this event.

Meanwhile, Angel blushes from Michael's comment and says, "I... um..." and just fidgets with her phone to take the number. She glances over to Soul and takes his hand to shake it. "Sorry to hear. Here's hoping this is the beginning of you being treated like a normal human being. Might I have your name please?"

Back at Eli, his parents nod to the teacher and say, "Sorry. Good luck with the girl." and begin heading off to let the teacher deal with the girl. They have their son to deal with. Eli does one last thing for Crystal and sends a text to Emerald. "Emerald, girl hiding behind tree named Crystal. Please help her. She seems scared. Might be shy."

Emmy looks at the text, looks to see the girl who is hiding, then quickly texts back, "OK" before looking back at the reporter. "Mind if we walk while we talk?"

Crystal sat behind the tree and leaned back against it as she pulled her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face before beginning to cry. She still didn't understand why her parents had made her go, but they did.

  Joe is an unfortunate example of common sense violations in the face of your abilities... Sure, it WORKED the last time he did something stupid enough to electrocute himself (which is a thankful first, and last time... so far), but that's beside the point.

  With Liberty sidelined by a lack of permission slips, Joe heads over towards Eli himself... He wonders if that's a good idea, but hopefully trying to make the kid feel better will make up for his lack of social skills right? Maybe.

  "Hey, I know you're going home and all that, but don't feel too bad.  She's probably wishing she handled things better just like you are, it happens."

Soul shakes Michael and Angels hands and steps back a little to address them both. "My name is Soul and to explain my current attire as I'm sure it must be bothering you. Firs know I mean none of you any harm I simply wished to watch the comic display. As for these.." Soul points to the bandages. ".. I prefer to stay hidden for personal reasons." 

"Well met Soul," Michael says as he shakes hands. "The attire does not bother us. As you can see," he says while motioning to Mittens and Emerald,"we have a few more visible characters around here. We just came over to introduce ourselves to a new face." He keeps a calm smile on his face, while taking stock of Soul's physique. If he isn't true to his word, it would be best to know what he might be capable of.

Liberty is correct that emotional distress usually doesn't register on her radar.  Massive natural disasters that would have killed thousands, on the other hand, she can sense weeks in advances even at high altitude and supersonic speeds.

The reporter nods and follows Emmy.  "So you don't think mutants are twice as likely to be victims of hate crimes involving arson, is that right?"

Nathan is glancing between Timothius, Lib, teacher, Eli, and the tree Crystal hid behind.  Unsure what else to do, he tries to assure Lib, "Teach knows and cares.  But she's figured out that now's not the time to be crowding over there.  Maybe in a little bit we can go over."

He then busies himself making an origami flower he intends to gift to Crystal later.

Mits smiles to see Angel and Michael are getting along well with Mummy McBandageface.  After the skit wraps up, she introduces the next demo.

"This one is about how very dangerous it is to play with fire."

"Very. Dangerous!" Bill reiterates, "Do not play with fire for any reason!"

A helmet and knee-pad wearing teenage skater Emmy, Eli, and Joe will probably recognize as Kevin rolls up to them and waves to the crowd.

"This is Kevin.  He's going to pretend to get hurt by fire.  But don't worry.  He has a mutant ability that makes him resist fire."

Liberty glances at Nathan and shrugs. "....you know, just 'cause Mittens can't sense it doesn't mean there isn't trouble. Otherwise, she'd be sensing things all the time. People live in abusive homes, you know... and I think that girl might have abusive parents."

Timothius says, "You can't assume that, Liberty, any more than someone else can assume you have abusive parents."

Liberty folds her arms. "Sure. But something has to be wrong. Eli wouldn't make some girl run away crying."

Timothius shrugs. "Like Nathan said, though... the teacher cares too. Let the grownups handle it."

Meanwhile, Angel chuckles from Michael's comment and nods. "Yeah... I'm sure Mittens, Timothius and Emerald have all been given odd looks quite often, so they likely understand your position, Soul. Of course, we all have things we wish to keep hidden. Just... know we respect your boundries, do not judge you, and are likely the best people you could come to about whatever you are hiding if you wanted to confide in someone. Though I would recommend Emerald... she's the fox."

Angel points at Emerald. The 3' tall fox is walking with a reporter towards the tree Crystal is hiding behind.

Emerald looks up at the reporter. "Don't get me wrong. Hate and racism you will have with you always. And arson activities from racial hatred is a very real thing. But fire in particular seems a pretty specific way to die. From what I know about hate crimes, it would be far more likely for them to be beaten to death." That last part said in a rather... jaded tone. But with concern in her voice, she says, "One minute please... I'm going to check on this girl."

Emerald goes to Crystal. She could stealth to Crystal, but specifically does not as she doesn't want to startle the girl. At three feet tall, Emerald is no taller than a human toddler. The fox lady says, "Hi there, sweetheart... you're Crystal, right? I'm a friend of Eli's... is something wrong?"

Eli, for the time being, just goes to watch the fire safety thing with his parents.

Crystal jumped at the sound of a voice beside her, she lifted her head to reveal tears streaming down her face. She nodded her head. *Too many people. Too many bullies. Other kids bully me cause I don't talk.* "I just want my mommy." She whispered
This message was last edited by the player at 04:41, Thu 03 Sept 2015.

Soul chuckles at the comment about confiding in someone considering the actual age difference between them. "I think I might need to clear something up, its not as much a problem or something I am embarrassed about it's more for those around me. You see I much like yourselves am well a little different. My body is immortal, but don't let the romanticism of it fool you, it is more a curse than anything for no matter the damage done my body will restore. The consequence being that I retain all scars and the pain is still there though I have become accustomed to it. Just as well I have not aged since my twenty second birthday. So as you can see..." Soul points at his face again "...these are more for the benefit of those around me." As he speaks Soul retains composed tone and doesn't seem bothered by any of the things he has revealed.

(ooc I said that wrong, meant that I still feel pain but im so used to it most of it is dulled)
This message was last edited by the player at 05:39, Fri 04 Sept 2015.

"An immortal?" Michael said in awed voice. "An impressive gift, regardless of how it manifests itself. Though you say the pain persists? The scars I could understand, but having the pain remain after the healing is an interesting conundrum." This last bit was more to himself, his eye losing focus a bit as he drifted off into thought.

Shaking himself, he comes back to the present. "Sorry, zoned out there for a moment. I wonder if Tim would be able to help you heal some. Best healer I know, though I'm not sure if it would work with old wounds. Only ever seen him work his magic on fresh ones."

"Something sure is wrong," Nathan answers Lib, "You're right about that.  Maybe someone she knows died.  Maybe she's got cancer.  Whatever it is, it's pretty clear she wants to be left alone.  Sure I know you're a superhero, but that doesn't mean she knows you're the best friend a person could have.  So be patient with her.  Maybe after she's had a chance to calm down she'll come out of hiding.  Besides, looks like Emerald is giving it a try now, and she's famous for spreading smiles around."

Firefighters push wheeled residential facades  (complete with open windows that have cheap curtains and blinds in them) into a row.

In front of those, Kevin pushes a big hoop, and two ramps into place, then skateboards through the hoop using the ramps to jump and land!  Kids cheer and clap.

"Wow!  Neat!"  Mits cheers, "Can I try?  I'm a skater too!"

"Like, totally!" Kevin answers, offering her the helmet and pads, "Wear these, though.  Hahah.  It's like, dangerous and junk!  Hahahah!"

Moments after the helmet comes off, his hair spontaneously combusts!  Children gasp.

"Like, woooah!  Hah.  Guess I'm too much of a hothead!  Hahahah!"

"That's part of what make Kevin unique," Bill tells the kids, "His head catches fire when exposed to air.  But he's fine since his body resists fire."

Not entirely immune to fire.  Blow torches would hurt!  Children giggle at Kevin's joke.  Mittens makes the jump!  More claps!

"That sure was fun!  Didn't seem all that dangerous."

She gives the helm and stuff back and he puts them on.

"Like, not dangerous enough for ya?  Hah.  Then like, check this out!  Hahahah!"

He lights the hoop on fire with a quick tip of his helmet!  The kids are getting excited and cheer.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 01:59, Sat 05 Sept 2015.

Timothius watches and then looks over to Nathan. "Well here's hoping Emmy can do it. I guess if anyone can..."

Liberty says, "Woah... he's lighting the hoop on fire."

Timothius says, "....why?" but can't help be enthralled like the other kids.

Angel, meanwhile, smiles at Michael and then back to Soul and nods. "Michael's right. You see the boy over there who looks like a white-furred cat angel? That is who Michael is talking about; Timothius. And his power is to heal. Even when you're fully healthy, touching him feels nice..." she glances from Tim to Soul. "...wanna go say hi and see if he can help you?"

Back at where Crystal and Emerald are, Emerald sits next to Crystal and reaches to hug her side. In a soothing voice, Emerald says, "There now... I can take you home to your mommy if you like. I would need to know where you live. Or, if you prefer, you can use my cellphone to call her and I could ask her to come here so you don't have to move. OK?"

Thanks to Joe, Eli decides not to go home after all. He offers for Joe to sit with him and his parents. "...th-thanks... Mister Darkthrone."

---

Note: While Timothius can make Soul feel better as long as Soul is touching him, healing Soul completely would probably take things like re-setting bones and such. So a more permanent solution would take time. Also, consent from the player. Tim's power can only heal Soul if Soul's player allows that. Otherwise, we'll just say it makes Soul relieved of pain only while touching Timothius. Also; Tim's power does not remove visual scars that were already in place. Soul is stuck with that. XD Sorry.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:15, Sat 05 Sept 2015.

Soul shakes his head "No that is ok, but I thank you. I have become numb to most pains and if it should work I fear that I would become unaccustomed to the feel and it will cause greater harm than good. Though I think you may have mistake my wording, I covers so little that my speech may be somewhat off. I mean to say that I still feel the pain when I am harmed but after the healing processes the pain stops." Soul looks to the show now happening on stage. "I did not mean to cause a disturbance, but if it will not cause to much trouble I would like to continue to watch the show."

Crystal looked at Emeralds face and nodded. "Can you take me home please?" She asked, her voice still a whisper. She took Emeralds hand with one of hers while wiping the tears from her face with the other.

Nathan too is excited about Kevin's upcoming stunt, but he's still concerned for Crystal, so he glances over at her direction and spots Emmy by the tree looking un-frustrated.

"Looks like Emerald is doing just fine.

"Why light it on fire?  I'm not sure.  I was distracted so I missed that part.  This is a fire safety thing, so I'm sure they know what they're doing."

The reporter writes in his pad while Emmy helps the kid.  "I won't be hard to find."

He starts heading in Angel's direction.

"That might be too dangerous," Mittens says.

"Like, no worries, babe.  Hah.  I'm like, totally fireproof!  Hahahah."

He sticks his hand in the fire for a bit then pulls it out to prove he's not burned.  Nathan is among the kids who ooh and wow.

Mits pretends to be surprised.  "Oh.  Carry on then.  Carry on."

  Joe helped someone feel better, we're as shocked as you are.  That said, he continues his shocking streak of social skills by sitting with Eli.  "It's fine, Eli. and only call me mister if it makes you feel better."

  At least Kevin has all the pyrotechnics of a stunt show, with none of the risk of horrible accidents... Well okay, he can see how some adults and children would be disappointed by that.

  Still, Kevin did just call Mittens 'babe', so there may be hope yet for those here for blooooood (at a safety awareness event)

Emerald nods to Crystal and says, "Alright. Lead the way, Crystal."

As Emerald and Crystal head off, Emerald says, "By the way, my name is Emerald. You can call me that or Ms Haynsworth, whichever is more comfortable for you."

Emerald takes Crystal to her moped and puts her spare helmet on the girl. "Tell me where to go!"

Timothius watches Emerald for a bit and when he sees her walking away with Crystal, he goes back to watching the show again. Timothius mews at the sight of Kevin sticking his hand in the fire, but looks relieved when it doesn't do anything.

Liberty raises her hand. Should she be allowed to speak up, she asks, "Hey Mister Kevin... do your clothes still burn?" Her mind is racing with things she wants to do with Kevin as she has actual experience with facing fire and winning... if still very unpleasantly. Remembering that she was naked on public television (if blurred out), her face turns a shade of red as her question kind of draws attention to that event.

Angel nods to Soul. "Let's get you a seat with Timothius and his friends. They are nice kids, so they should be good to hang out with."

Angel will lead Soul to Timothius, Nathan and Liberty if Soul lets her. She then spots the reporter coming and glances to Michael. "I can field the reporter if you hang out with Soul and the kids..."

She then greets the reporter with a smile.

Eli, meanwhile, leans against Joe, tilts his head up and smiles up at the gaming-physics superhero. "Tell me about your powers, Joe..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:07, Wed 09 Sept 2015.

Soul agrees to follow Angel. He looks to the kid sticking his hand in fire and speaks out loud without realizing it. "Ben around eight years since the last time I was caught on fire. Painful, but there are worse things." unaware he had spoke out loud he continues to follow Angel if she is still willing to lead and keeps watching the show.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:14, Wed 09 Sept 2015.

"My name is Suna No Kouin, but Crystal works." the child said softly. "Take a left when we leave the park." She explained. Crystal continued to give direction till they pulled into her driveway.

Michael listens for now, giving Soul an an incredulous look at his comment. To Angel though he gives a grin and a shake of the head. "Thanks, but I think I'll leave the show to the young-ins. Not my first time dealing with the press. Just think of me as your backup," he says while veering off towards the reporter with her.

Mits is disappointed Emmy is going to miss the rest of the field day, but it's good to see Meltdown Girl is being taken care of without a scene.  She momentarily considers the irony that a fussy kid can be more attention-grabbing than a fiery stunt.  Speaking of attention grabbers, it's also nice to see her worries of a Mummy attack were proven wrong.

The reporter nods to Angel and Michael, introduces himself, and gets started.  "I'm looking into arson trends.  According to a recent report by a mutant civil rights group, persons with mutations are twice as likely to be injured or killed in fires.  Why do you suppose that is?"

Nathan is surprised when he spots Soul.  As much as he wants to keep his eyes glued on the stunt, he keeps glancing in the direction of the weird bandage man.

"Please hold questions till the end," Bill Blazes asks with a big smile for Liberty.

Kevin hops on his board, skates to the ramp, and jumps flawlessly through the flaming hoop!  Claps and cheers ensue.

"Nice jump!" Mits commends.

"Hahahah.  Like, thanks!  But like, I could totally do one better, hahahah!"

"Be careful!"

More successful stunts ensue.

  Since Soul's bandages don't appear to be for health threatening injuries, Joe has filed the guy under lesser note for the moment.

  "Pretty much what it looks like, I guess.  The laws of physics just seem to shrug and let me take more liberties than a Mario game."  No fire flowers though, as far as he knows.

  Joe would suggest Kevin try while the skateborad is on fire, but then it would probably break during the tricks.

Emerald answers, "Sands of time, eh? Nihongo, shaberu no?*"

*Translation: "Do you speak Japanese?"

(Emerald and Crystal exit stage left)

Angel grins at Michael, clearly appreciating his company. Then nods to the reporter. After introducing herself and Michael, she responds, "It could be a lot of things. It could be mutant haters causing arson. It could be mutants who have fire powers but no immunity to fire. It could be coincidence. It might even be a few people in some anti-mutant organization who are burning a lot of buildings. Or it could even be all the things I just listed. But without more facts, I can't really say more than mere speculation. What I can tell you is that the haters are the minority and need to get with the times. Ever since I showed support to the Citizens' Patrol, I have gotten approximately 97% positive feedback and only 3% negative feedback."

Timothius looks over to see the bandage-man. Then quickly turns his attention to Kevin and claps for the guy!

Liberty also claps and woots. Then looks over to Soul. The little girl asks Soul, "Hi there, mister. Are you OK? Being on fire isn't fun. I know; I was caught inside an exploding car once... "

Timothius turns his attention back to Soul out of curiosity.

Eli stares at Joe, his eyes getting wider with a look like a kid in a candy store. "But... how?" he asks almost timidly, but far more bold than his normal tone. "Would you mind if I ran tests with you sometime?"