Masquerade - A New Generation

[Earth-682, Two Years Ago]

The long-awaited SHIELD report on young metahumans was finally released to the public.  It confirmed what most had always suspected over the several generations of superpowered from the so-called 'Golden Age' of the Greatest Generation until the present day.  Simply put; a well-educated young superhuman was more useful and more stable than an uneducated one.

And so the report was made public so that superpowered schools would start around the world.  And super 'villains' took note as well, realizing that a superpowered recruit will still more useful educated than not...

[Outskirts of New York City, One Year Ago]

Friday night, the giant ballroom was empty as it was most nights before that.  The SHIELD base used it for rare diplomatic functions.  Sunday night onward would be the same state of readiness.

But Saturday night, there was to be a Masquerade Ball, hopefully the first of many.   Young superpowered students, full of potential, were invited to an Open Campus Day.  Various superpowered schools were attempt to court and charm them.  And the students themselves would vie and strive to be placed in the learning institution of their choice.

For those young talents who were 'out of the phone booth' and still accepted by friends and family, guest tickets were also issued.   For lone runaways and other loners, SHIELD granted limited legal emancipation, a legal leverage almost demanded by the need for teen heroes.  Or was that teen soldiers?

To keep everyone's identity discreet, holographic emitters were installed everywhere.  Tony Stark had promised the tech would work if everyone respected its defined limits.  Reed Richards had then increased the power and capabilities of the holofilters but including warnings about how to use them correctly.  But the security was not particularly enhanced in response.  Mr. Fantastic had been one of the most sober and mature individuals even as a teenager.  And it had never occurred to such a serene intellect that other teens might not see things with such maturity...
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:53, Sun 09 May 2021.

OOC:  Face front, True Believers!  This game has finally begun.  :-)

Please don't be concerned with the great deal of OOC text at the end of this post.  The lengths will fade as the posts go on.

The post is set within a SHIELD base in New York City.  This could be very similar to the base the defrosted Steve Rogers was held in at the end of the Captain America movie.  This base is a skyscraper that has floors devoted to diplomatic and conference functions.  Tonight those floors have been turned into an Open Campus day for young superpowered teens.   It is a strange mix of adult ball for the grownups and a horrid little pizza arcade for the younger guests and everything in between.

SHIELD has hosted the party as it is one of the few places that can provide security for such an unusual gathering.  SHIELD agents are discreetly everywhere protecting the guests from outside malfeasance and the various sensitive base functions from the guests.

It is one year before the real start of the game.  This is essentially a flashback.  Your characters are a year younger than you have designed them to be (perhaps even as young as twelve).  They are less mature and likely have less control over their powers.

At this point in their lives, the PCs don't necessarily know each other (individual players can decide that their characters know each other in the scene if they wish).  They want to join a super team and get some ordinary schooling but have not yet found one they will accept and/or will accept them.

If the characters are out to their family, they have guest passes for their family.  If they are representing themselves alone, SHIELD has granted limited legal emancipation to young heroes and possibly assigned a superhuman adult sponsor to them.  Asylum and visa status have been granted, if needed, for visitors from elsewhere.

Young heroes can arrive dressed as they will.  They may choose to not hide their 'secret', ordinary, identity.  They may choose to be in their super-identity.  Or they may choose to just obscure their identity and just be rather overdressed strangers.  In this game, secret identities are not generally a problem for heroes (unless their players wants one to be) except for the Janus playbook.

With so many people to possibly disguise, SHIELD has holo-filters that cover all of the party floors.  These holo-filters are much like video filters now but three-dimensional and very convincing.  SHIELD allows general free reign in choice of masquerade costumes but do ask that the filters aren't actually used to deceive.  Characters with unusual anatomies can seem normal.  Those with secret identities can appear to be some other normal person.  The filters are generally foolproof but can not keep up with rapid movement.

With that, the young heroes are free to mingle.  There are several groups of people to mingle with.  An incomplete list would be:

1. Other young hero prospects:  This will be all of the PCs but a few NPC young student applicants as well.
2. Staff and SHIIELD agents:  There are obvious SHIIELD agents and most of the servants and waiters are actually SHIELD agents in tuxes. A 'smart' assistant will respond vocally if called by name (Jarvis/Friday/Veronica/Jocasta).
3. Family and friends of the young heroes:  Starry-eyed normal folks on one of the strangest and most wonderful nights of their lives.
4. School Recruiters:  Practically every legitimate school for supers has a booth and staff ready to schmooze with the young talents.  The Avengers, Fantastic Four, SHIELD (as a military school) and the X-Men certainly have a presence.   Other known 'heroic' groups may have schools of their own.  Here is a list of Marvel superteams.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...mics_superhero_teams

There will also be custom groups running schools unique to this campaign, some to be designed by the players.

5. Media:  Selected and trusted members of the media have been allowed to mingle with the guests with the following restrictions.  First, they must identify themselves as media.  And, second, they cannot 'out' anyone's true identity or the actual location or 'front' name for the schools so as to give the student's privacy and a sense of normality.
6. Actual Marvel Heroes:  Many heroes are mingling.  Some really are looking forward to meet the next generation.  Others are regretting getting the coffee when weekly assignments were decided.
7. Some folks I forgot or you suggested:  'Nuff Said.

All of the schools have nice swag and gift baskets to give.  Most of the takings are good quality but ordinary items (coffee mugs, pens, T-shirts, etc.).  There is one exception.  As a mercy to young heroes, the Fantastic Four will donate a UMF (Unstable Molecule Fabric) costume for heroes whose clothing may be damaged by their powers.  This is why the Fantastic Four aren't the Fantastic Flashers.  UMF suits will withstand any use of powers and change form when the user changes form (for those shapeshifting heroes).

There is a central 'lobby' that connects all of the locations and attractions of the party.  This is where characters could meet if there was no other reason for them to meet.  Various interactive holographic globes are available in the lobby for guests to play with.  The globes show 'school districts'.  These districts are small around major population centers (such as New York City) and large over sparsely-populated areas (say, all of Micronesia).  The location of the schools within each district is not shown to keep student's privacy.

OK, here's what to do this post; simply place your character and whatever guests they might bring.  You can interact with other PCs if you wish.  Then go ahead and 'name-drop'.  That is, let me know what your characters are hoping to find at the party in-character.  Or let me know what you as a player would like to see in the posts OOC section.  Don't be discouraged by this tame opening.  Once you are placed on the board, the game can really begin.

And I will try to serve up your suggestions next post.

Oh, one last thing, 'villain' groups are just as interested in recruiting you as heroic groups.  And they really want to be at this party  But they have to be sneaky about it.  Not every mask you will find in this party has a true friend behind it.


This message was last edited by the GM at 07:54, Sun 09 May 2021.

OOC: And so it begins... :-)

Dr strange had dressed Rendal in a tailored suit, nothing over the top or expensive but well made.
His long unruly dirty blond hair had been brushed and tied back in a pony tail and his blood red eyes were covered with green contact lenses.
Rendal had been nervous all day and had worked himself up to the point that he said he didn't want to go.

Strange had talked it through with him and in the end they had come to a compromise, he would go if his little demon from his sanctuary was allowed to go to to give him moral support.

At present the nervous young 14 year old was stood in a darkened corner opening little portals between himself and the food table, every now and then he'd reach through pick up a little titbit and secretly places it under his jacket where it dissappeared followed by the sound of crun hung and the odd small burp.

All, the time he kept his head down and didn't make eye contact with anyone.

He knew he needed to get into one of the schools, strange had said it was to help him stay safe but his nerves had got the better of him so he just tried to will himself to disappear into the shadows and not be seen. It took all his will and the gentle  ooing from his breast pocket to stop him opening a portal back to his room at Dr strange's house

The crowd of people was surprising to the teen girl meandering around the event, seeing what the various booths had on offer. She wore jeans and a purple T-shirt, along with a simple black domino mask to hide her identity. It wasn't much, but she clearly hadn't put in much effort to that effect. Beside her, and about the same height, was a stout older man in a blue business suit. He rubbed his hands together to get out some of his nervous excitement, wearing a wide grin as he took stock of the local options. All in all, he seemed the complete opposite of the girl's vague indifference.

"Alright kiddo, time to meet some superheroes and get your foot in the door to SHIELD!" The girl didn't look at him when she responded.

"I dunno, Roger. Maybe the Avengers instead. But over there it looks like the Fantastic Four are passing out costumes, so that sounds very cool."

"Free costumes? Dang, those guys really know how to win folks over. Wouldn't hurt to go look, right? C'mon, Sasha, let's check it out." Roger started a brisk pace toward the FF booth, with Sasha following along behind him, eyebrows raised above her frown.

"I've got the mask on, Rodge. That means I'm Ricochet."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:57, Sun 09 May 2021.

Abi walked a bit behind her parents. She had begged and whined and pleaded for them to use the holofilter.

So now Abigail walked in to the ball looking like a normal 12 year old girl. Mousey brown hair, just a bit too long. A skirt, blouse and a much loved cardigan. Just normal.

"Now dear you must come and meet... This should be a good school for ... "

"Nathan, surely .. would be better."

Abi let her parents talk and looked towards the Xavier Institute stand.

They've been doing this for years, and probably have all the answers, or at least the best way to cope with unexpected developments. "I grew scales overnight.. does this mean I'm a mutant?" I wonder what they all think about having to compete openly for students like this?

Her gaze shifted as her parents chatted to a blinding array of other persons.

God did you see the size of that man. Which bricklayer built his suit for the evening?

Another group. Dad seems happy with them, must be scientists.

Her eyes were drawn to the Fantastic Fource. Dr Richards is an expert, perhaps he..

Dr Richards happened to look her way at just that second scanned across to her mum and dad happily engaged in another conversation about the mysteries of the universe and then pointedly, looked away. Perhaps not

She chewed her bottom lip. I don't want to be here. I can't even go to the school and just talk to the teachers, and get the guided tour. How can I even feel what I want right now. It's.. It's a festival.. or a circus.

She tried to tug at her father's sleeve. "Dad can we go. I know you haven't seen these people for ages but.." And then more people swept in.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:57, Sun 09 May 2021.

"I can't believe I got stuck with this" Jubilation Lee grumbled to no one in particular as she manned the X-Men's booth. As the youngest of the X-Men, she was supposed to be there to connect with other young mutants and put on a good face-metaphorically speaking, it was a masquerade-for the group. "This is so lame. I've got homework I could be doing"
"Based on past experience I am highly skeptical you would be doing your homework even if you weren't here" Beast told her.
"Duh. But I could be. Shouldn't we be, you know, saving the world or somethin'?"
"We can't save the world every day, child. Besides, I assume Wolverine's off on a mission."
"That's what he says, but I think he just didn't want to come to a party that doesn't have a bar."
She waved to one of the passing potentials. "Hey, we're the X-Men. Fighting for a world that fears us. Umm... that doesn't make us sound great, but it's really exciting. You get to fight bad guys and go into space. I've been to other planets. Further than Louis Armstrong and all those guys."
"Neil Armstrong"
"What-ever"

Svetlana took her time fiddling with the holo-filter just outside the ballroom. She was never one for cosmetics – why waste all that time and money just to look nice? When it was so easy to adjust her appearance, though, she could begin to see the appeal. Besides, there could be people from A.I.M. in attendance. Based on what people write about that group online, I would not put it past them to have agents or informants looking for me here. They must know I am the best person to go to if they want to perfect their stolen suits. Why make their work easy for them? Yet while surely correct, this argument smacked a little of rationalisation.

And it is a very interesting technology. That much was true. It was not so remote in principle from her force field generator, but obviously the design was quite different... I suppose it would be indecent to take it apart and see how it works. They surely have strong security measures, too. Well, at the very least I could put it through its paces.

Having found a secluded mirror, the lanky teenager began by turning her hair ginger, then, upon reconsideration, black. After lengthening it, she shook her head back and forth. Outstanding... No disruption – that I could see. Next, she enhanced her skin’s pallor, grimacing as a further test. Not bad, not bad at all. Her facial features, she decided, could stand to be a little more angular – though not so much that it would catch attention. The eyes took her a few moments longer, as she experimented with sparkles and rainbow hues before settling on a sane dark green. Finally, she turned to her wardrobe, extending her crimson jacket downwards. It was her favourite, but the latest growth spurt made it seem a little small. She also darkened it a tad, along with her blue jeans. It probably went without saying that her belt and wrist devices were nowhere to be seen.

The tinkerer was quite aware that she was underdressed for an actual ballroom, but she honestly did not care about that. Yet, as Svetlana finally stepped inside, she felt daunted for a whole other reason. All those strangers. Strange strangers. I did not realise that there would be so many. There must be people from all over the world, too. Maybe not just from Earth and not just people. That blue man over there – is he an alien or a mutant, or simply someone less restrained in using the filter?

Although Svetlana’s outward expression did not betray her anxiety, the teenager’s body language might have, as she stopped in her tracks just past the door. It wasn’t just that she was not used to such large and chaotic gatherings. Loath as the wunderkind was to admit it, she felt completely lost. She had come here alone. Being 15, she could fly unattended. Babushka Pavlina was a tough old woman, but too old to travel so far away – knowing that, she merely insisted that Svetlana would stay with an old friend of hers in Brooklyn. True to her promise, the girl spent the previous night there, yet nevertheless travelled to the base on her lonesome. After all, it was entirely her own business - and up until now, it did not seem so difficult.

A long moment passed. ...It’s your own decision and your own fault, you fool, so get a hold of yourself and move! Gritting her teeth, Svetlana made herself stride forward into the crowd, feeling some of her fear fall away as she did. She peeked at the stands, ignoring the din. Just keep moving – and focus! You still have a decision to make! ...The Avengers invited me here, but that does not mean I have to go with them. I can probably dismiss S.H.I.E.L.D. right away. X-Men too, no need to waste their time and mine. What is the Atlas Foundation? The Fantastic Four are tempting, but... my great uncle...

Distracted by her inner turmoil, the teenager almost bumped into someone, stumbling back at the last moment. “Sorry,” she muttered with a noticeable Russian accent, coming to a halt and looking ahead. She had lost her trail of thought, but maybe that was for the best. This choice had to be approached logically and with a clear mind.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:38, Mon 10 May 2021.

Max stood next to one of the punch bowls strategically placed throughout the room and looked with a disinterested smirk at it. He wasn't here by choice, Jean Grey had made it a condition of his parole, as it were; show up and pick a school or I'm turning you in, were her exact words. He sighed deeply as he glanced around the room, boredom quickly taking hold of him. Then he disappeared.

He reappeared about five minutes later with a bottle of beer in one hand, Shock Top Belgian White to be exact, and a bottle of vodka in the other. He glanced around with that typical 'up to no good' check to make sure no one was watching, and poured the bottle of vodka into the punchbowl. The bottle disappeared as he teleported it into the alley out back and then he took a sip from his beer.

Another heavy sigh escaped as he shook his head in annoyance; I guess I might as well get this over with, he thought himself as he started walking towards the booths. He saw the X-Men booth and steered clear of it; that was all he needed, Jean Grey able to check up on him whenever she wanted...although she was really hot, so there could be worse things.

As he turned towards one of the other booths, he had to abruptly stop, spilling a couple of drops of beer on his shirt, to not get run into by girl; somebody from Europe he guessed by the accent. He was dressed in what could best be described as 'bad boy casual.' His combat boots were clearly well-traveled, while the torn and ripped jeans likely came out of the factory that way. His shirt, now with a couple of drops of beer, was a plain black t-shirt and was covered by a rather well-worn black leather jacket that he'd likely had for quite some time. His rather handsome face was framed by shoulder length dirty blonde hair that was left to do what it wanted as his eyes were covered by dark sunglasses.

"Hey, you might want to be a bit more careful, I'm guessing touching some of the freaks here will end you up in a hospital. Anyway, I'm Max," he said as he extended his hand.

The girl took a moment to process the older boy’s gesture before remembering that handshake etiquette was different in America. She shook his hand a little awkwardly from unfamiliarity before pulling hers away. “Svetlana,” she introduced herself curtly, then pursed her lips in thought. Freaks? It occurred to her that he probably meant mutants, which seemed both rude and stupid with the X-Men in attendance, not to mention likely at least some young mutant recruits with less restraint. Then again, perhaps not...

“Do you mean that they are infectious or violent?” she asked instead, wheels in her head still turning. To be honest, ‘Max’ came across as at least a little shady – for one thing, where did he get that beer bottle? Her gaze flitted to it surreptitiously, then to the back of the room. No bar. On the other hand, she did feel a bit apologetic still. She really should have watched where she was going.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:53, Tue 11 May 2021.

The unobtrusive figure standing in the corner watches quietly as more arrivals join the growing crowd.

Interestingly enough, for each and every one of you who venture to glance in that direction, the figure looks rather... familiar.  Very familiar.  In fact, the figure looks just like... each of you, as you currently appear through your own holofilters.

The figure looks with particular interest at the twelve-year-old girl, giving her a kind and sympathetic smile as she chews her bottom lip, and as she unsuccessfully attempts to depart.

Yet there is something more than sympathy there, something deeper.  It is as if this mirror image of holofiltered Abi not only understands her feelings, but shares them to some degree...

"Svetlana," he said slowly, getting a feel for the name. "Who knows, maybe both? Neither? Who's to say, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right? I mean, it's not like anyone here is wearing a sign, you know?" He shrugged and took a sip from his beer.

"So where ya from, I'm guessin' not from around here?" He asked as he caught her glancing at his beer. "You want some?" He asked as he offered her the bottle.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:28, Tue 11 May 2021.

“No, thank you,” Svetlana replied automatically, perhaps a little skittishly. She wasn’t here to socialise – she was never anywhere to socialise – and her first instinct was to disengage. And then go where? On second thought... perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to talk and get his read on things. While undoubtedly suspicious, Max also sounded pretty sensible, or at least smart enough not to be taken in by people. “I am from Omsk, in Russia. And you, I take it you are local? Any ideas on who to join?”

A hand gently tapped Abi's shoulder, attached to an older girl wearing a domino mask and a soft expression.

"Hey, are you alright? It's okay to be nervous. I'm Ricochet. I could walk around with the three of you if you'd like company. It's easy to feel alone in a big crowd like this. Would that help?" Her own adult came by about then, carrying a blue and white bag.

"Hey, I picked up a swag bag from the Fantastic Four, lotta weird lookin' stuff in here. Oh! Makin' friends already?"

A young man, short and a little wide for his size, happily made his way through the promenade, looking eagerly at the various options offered. While he made his way toward the SHIELD booth, a pair of long metal arms tipped with grasping claws slipped out from under his green trench coat and quickly snatched a plastic cup while the other filled it with punch. Then the two quickly retracted under the coat, all while the boy had still been ambling as though nothing was happening. After that, there was simply a cup of punch in his hand, which he took a short sip of before stopping in place, nearly choking, and staring down through his dark goggles into the glass.

"Blech, ethanol? How vile." As he passed by the nearest trash can, the cup went right in. "Well that's unfortunate. Still, let's go see if SHIELD will appreciate a keen mind, yes?"

Rendal started seeing small groups of teenagers talking to each other and nervously sighed.

It achieved nothing stood in the corner like a pot plant so taking a deep breath he moved through the crowd until he joined two teens, a boy (max) and girl (counterforce) ,both who looked slightly older than himself.

" um...ah..." he fell silent he wasnt sure what he should actually say. Strange had schooled him in his fledgling powers but there had been little time to learn how to talk to other people....he started to feel very out of place and started to take a few steps back before they realised he was there
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:36, Tue 11 May 2021.

Max shrugged as Svetlana turned down the offered beer; more for me, he thought as he took another drink. "Russia, huh? That's pretty cool. Never been there; I hear it's really cold, right? Anyway, yeah, I grew up in the city, midtown Manhattan," he paused for a moment, "which probably means nothing to you? You've heard of Times Square? Well, basically there."

He took another sip, and then looked at the bottle as he realized that he'd just emptied it. "As for who to join? I mean, they're all gonna be lame don't ya think? I mean, they're all gonna tell us what we can and can't do, how to be 'responsible'," the last word being punctuated with air quotes made with his fingers, "and probably not let us do anything fun. I'll probably go with whoever's givin' out the coolest free stuff."

The girl with the pink hair stops.  "Space, huh?  Are the aliens actually any weirder than what we've got here?"  She gestures vaguely.  "New York has a lot of weird things, but this room really packs them in."

Gwen picks up a pamphlet from the X-men table.  "At least your shades are cooler than the ones that other guy has.  The campus is all the way upstate?" she asks, picking up on a detail in it.  "I'm supposed to pick a school but it's not easy."


OOC: This portrait represents an attempt at shielding her identity for the welcoming party and is temporary.  Pink wig, heavier makeup than usual, and generally dressing up.

“I have heard of Manhattan,” Svetlana pointed out. Mainly in the context of it being sold for beads, granted. She wondered briefly whether to add that she is staying not too far from it, but quickly thought better of it. “And yes, it is much warmer here. Bigger buildings and more people,” she added instead while he drank his beer.

The lanky teen shifted from foot to foot while considering his answer to her other question. Something about it rubbed her wrong, but it wasn’t like she had wildly different expectations. Her eyes drifted for a moment towards a dirty blonde-haired somebody who hovered on the edge of their conversation. Max may not have noticed him, but the keen-eyed scientist did. Was the kid eavesdropping? Not like they were saying anything incriminating, though. So far.

“Probably,” she replied a moment later, rubbing her chin in thought. “You probably want Fantastic Four, then. But if that is how you think, why are you here?” The question leapt out of her mouth before she could think about it. It was more sincerely curious than judgemental, though Svetlana was self-aware enough to realise it could be taken either way. This is why you have no friends.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:09, Wed 12 May 2021.

Realising the two teens were involved in their conversation Rendal turned to go and tripped over his own feet, he hated shoes, these were his first pair and he didn't like them.

Tripping he stumbled forward directly towards a waiter with a tray of drinks. Just as it looked like there was going to be a crash a swirling black and purple portal opened in  front of the teen which he fell through before it snapped shut behind him.... Seconds later anoth opened the other side of the waiter and the teen reappeared flat on his face the portal snapped shut and the lad laid there for a moment not wanting to look up because he knew people would be looking at him.... At least he wasn't laying there in a pool of spilt drinks and broken glass

"A whole lot weirder!" Jubilee said enthusiastically "Some of them shapeshift, some of them are lizard-people, one of them made an evil copy of me, One of them had a mohawk. And he was faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a train; I probly should have led with that. There's something crazy around every corner, I've seen it all." she said with all the confidence and certain experience of the youngest and least travelled of her team.

She perked up at the compliment to her signature pink shades. "Stylish, aren't they? Functional, too. I can use my powers to temporarily blind people; they keep me from being blinded too."

"Yeah, sounds lame I know, but it's a nice place. We've got a whole mansion to ourselves, I've got my own room. Nice people too, unless you're Magneto or a robot or sumthin."

She looked a little thoughtful as Gwenn talked about having to pick a school. "I never had to choose, I just sort of... fell in to it. I'll help if I can. What're you looking for, miz pink?"

Even though they were quiet and kept to themselves, the Tuvalok family couldn't help but stand out.  It wasn't that the man and woman were of Native ancestry, for there were others, in the crowded hall, who were clearly of Indigenous lineage as well.  Nor was their use of Inuktitut striking, since numerous other languages floated around the room, mixed with the ever present lingua franca of English.  No the truth of the matter was that Mister and Missus Tuvalok would blend in easily enough as there were plenty of parents present.

It was their son, plodding along behind them who stood above many in the room.  The oversized grey coat and black toque couldn't hide his broad stony body, nor could he change the fact that he towered above his parents at somewhere around seven feet in height!  His head was bowed, staring at the ground and his massive hands were thrust into the pockets of his coat.  No matter how extraordinary he appeared, his body language was universal... he clearly wanted to be somewhere else.

"Look Publo," Missus Tuvalok said encouragingly.  "There are...um several recruiters here who would very much appreciate your uniqueness.  See there are the AVENGED and the FANTASY FOUR and SHIELD..."

"One out of three..," her son mumbled to himself in his gravelly voice and sighed.  "Mother, its PAUL here okay?  Or even better, just call me by the code name STONE COLD.  Everyone uses nicknames here because they're all trying to hide their embarrassment!  And will you please speak English?  We're actually somewhere civilized (for a change)and we already don't fit in.  Speaking Inuktitut just makes it worse!"

"Our language has always been good enough for us, and our forefathers; there is no shame in speaking it." his father replied icily in Inuktitut.  He continued to glance around at the various booths and did not look back at his son.  "The only one here who should be ashamed is YOU, Publo!"

"It's STONE COLD!" his son snapped angrily in English.  Then scanned the room quickly, realizing how loud he'd been.

Ms Tuvalok looked angrily at her husband, and then sadly back to her son.  Although her boy's beautiful face was now covered with stone, she could see the hurt and bitterness in Pub...Paul's eyes.  As usual it was up to her to smooth things over between the two stubborn males.  Sometimes she wondered if she didn't actually have two children.  She turned to her husband.

"Nootka, can you go to the BETA FLIGHT recruiter's booth and get us a pamphlet?" she asked him.  He gave her a knowing look, but he was wise enough not to argue.  Quickly he turned and strode off on his mission with as much pride as he could muster.

She watched him go and then smiled shook her head as she addressed 'PAUL'in English as he wished.  "I don't know which one of you is more stubborn.  This is not an ideal situation, but we must deal with things as they are um...Stone Cold.  I know it doesn't feel like it, but your Father loves you...he's just hurt."

Stone Cold crossed his oversized arms and turned his face away.  "Yeah right, he's really hurting.  I'm just one big disappointment aren't I?  I'm the one who has to live the rest of my life looking like a FREAK, but I'm supposed to feel sorry for him?!  Okay sure, that makes lots more sense."

His Mother frowned sadly, tears coming to her eyes though she refused to shed them here.  Instead she pressed her lips tightly together, pity for her son being overwhelmed by anger.

"Stone Cold...Paul," she replied, switching back to her native language as she tried to keep her voice even.  "You are my son and I love you, but I won't tolerate you disrespecting your Father or me!  We are here because YOU made a mess of your life, and our lives too.  We didn't WANT to come here, we were happy back in Nunavut!  And yet here we are, a thousand kilometers from home, doing our best to help you.  You might show a little gratitude for once."

Paul felt a pang of regret; he knew he'd pushed his Mother too far.  In many ways, her words stung far more than his Father's had because they just weren't so different from his own dark thoughts.  If there was a school for screw ups he would graduate at the top of the class.  "Yeah, because I've got so much to be grateful for..," he mumbled under his breath, though his deep voice made it fairly obvious.

"What was that?"

He put his big mitt over his face, then let it fall to his side.  "I said this whole thing was a stupid idea!  Can't we just go home now, please?"


Sighing his Mother grabbed Stone Cold's hand, her own looking ridiculously small in comparison.

"After we came all this way you think we are just going to give up?!  NO!  We are staying here until we find a sponsor for you.  The AVENGED people look promising.  Your Father can meet us over there, come on."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:46, Wed 12 May 2021.

"Yeah, but they're giving out uniforms. I mean, I want cool stuff, not a lame uniform. I mean, uniforms are so last decade." He shrugged. If he took her question as rude, it wasn't obvious, "Why am I here? Because I was told I have to be. Somethin' about 'you've got to learn to be responsible with your powers' or some crap like that. One of the X-Men," he said as he nodded in the direction of their booth for emphasis, "decided to take a personal interest in me. Definitely crampin' my style."

Lizard-people, shapeshifters, and mohawks?  Doesn't New York already have all of those? "I'm that new Spider-person.  Ghost-Spider."  Gwen kinda hopes the news was only local.  'New Spider and New Goblin cause Mayhem in Queens' was not a good headline.  At least it was a good photo, even if they didn't get her name right.

"I kind of need tall buildings to get around, so being out in the boonies might have logistical problems.  And aren't most of the X-men a lot older?

How's the food?  In space or upstate."

Rendal pulled himself to his feet, embarrassed he kept his head low and didn't make eye contact with anyone.

So far he'd made a fool of himself, frozen when he tried to talk to two teens, though to be honest neither seemed to pay him any attention or even notice him for that matter.

He was depressed this being a kid was not as easy as it looked and now he'd made himself look a fool in front of two potential friends .....this was going down as the worse day ever in his life and as he'd only been alive for 150 days it didn't bowed well.

He walled back to his little corner of the ball room in a dark mood

:: Peace be unto you... Rendal. ::

The voice was gentle... kind... empathetic... and directionless (unchanging despite any change in head orientation)...

Rendal jumped when the voice spoke in his, head and spun round looking for its owner.

Um... Hi.... I think.... Um.... Yeah hi.... Then he fell silent not sure how to communicate with a disembodied voice

Suddenly a 30 feet tall rendition of a mash up of Darth Vader and Doctor Doom filled the local vicinity.
“Hey, I operate the holofilter!”
“I am a fully sentient automated entity. I am completely capable of operating this obscuring device.”
“So says the guy who just flashed a giant Doom Vader in front of a building filled with super law enforcers. I am in the pilot seat, so I...am...driving!”
The Doom Vader image shrunk to a manageable 10 feet tall. It’s wielder(s) looked around and noticed a bunch of other teens nearby. “Oh, hey. Steel Ninja here. Kid genius piloting a very opinionated mini mecha here. He is usually better behaved though.”

The voice pauses briefly as the thirty-foot image appears, then resumes.

:: Sorry to startle you.  I am across the room, in the corner to your right. ::

Across the room in the corner to Rendal's right stands a figure that looks just like Rendal... but after a moment, it morphs into the figure of a twelve-year-old Chinese girl.

She waves shyly, and gives a kind smile.

:: Would you like me to join you?  If so, reach a hand toward me now... ::

He made a tentative wave in return and held out his hand towards her.

The figure across the room reaches toward his extended hand.

For a brief heartbeat, there is a curious sensation of another presence within his thoughts, somewhat like the disembodied voice, yet more focused.

And suddenly, she is standing next to him, her hand shyly shaking his for a moment, before she releases it with a kind smile.

"Hi.  I'm Xié Zhèn.  Thanks for inviting me over."

"You looked like you could use a friendly face.  Being here isn't easy, is it?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 20:51, Wed 12 May 2021.

Rendal blushed at the sudden touch of the hand in his and he looked at the girl from under his unruly fringe.

" yeah its a bundle of joy being here but then Dr Strange told me I needed to meet people and make friends " he looked over at the recruitment tables " and try to join something"

He fell silent for a moment " hey would you like to meet my friend?" but even before she answered he opened his jacket slightly so only she could see into the shadows and s little demon face looked out at her with a half eaten pineapple and cheese on a cocktail stick.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:58, Wed 12 May 2021.

The girl hesitates, regarding the face thoughtfully as she touches a cross-shaped pendant around her neck.

"I belong to the Lord God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth."

"Therefore, I do not know if your friend wants to meet me...?"

"don't worry, he's friendly even if he doesn't look it he's my friend and assistant..... He seems to love pineapple" he then smiled

"so you belong to a religion, sorry I don't mean to pry but I've not been alive long so I want to learn all I can....." he trailed off not knowing if he'd said too much or scared her off.

He suddenly remembered one of his classes with strange about etiquette

" would you like something to drink" with that a small portal opened up just in front of him through it you could see the drinks table, reaching through he took two glasses of soft drinks and as the portal closed turned and offered one to her

While Max replied to her tactless question, Svetlana watched wordlessly as the dirty blond kid behind him fell through what looked like a hole in reality. It was astonishing to see, but what made it truly surreal was how few people seemed to acknowledge it. I have read that New Yorkers are jaded, but...

Before she could finish that thought, a giant hologram exploded all over the room. It was a little reassuring that more people than her acknowledged that one. In any case, she didn’t wish to gawk like some gormless villager seeing a tramway for the first time. Certainly wouldn’t want to give someone who’d call himself a ‘kid genius’ the satisfaction.

Instead, she returned her attention to Max. “...There are definitely fewer things like that where I am from,” Svetlana explained briefly, figuring he noticed her lapse in attention. She did register what he said, though. “Anyway, it is actually not so different for me. Only it was them,” she nodded towards the Avengers’ booth. “It was an invitation, but I am pretty sure they would keep an eye on me either way, right?”

Wait, X-Men? Powers? Huh. Struck by a slightly belated realisation, she gave the boy a mildly conspiratorial and at the same time slightly curious glance. “My guess is that neither of us really wants to sign up with those who found us, though.”

She smiles reassuringly as he trails off, but gently declines the offered beverage.

"Thank you very much for your kindness, but I saw someone spiking the punch, and I don't drink."

She considers his query for a moment.

"I don't think that you are prying, and there is so much to learn, even in this universe alone, and so little time..."

"But your question is a fair one.  Where to begin?  Perhaps at the beginning..."

She ponders for a heartbeat or two.

"The Sovereign Lord is the Almighty Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of all.  He is the One True God.  He is Holy."

"Long ago, mankind rebelled against His Reign, and was justly condemned to death for our treason."

"However, out of love and compassion for us, He sent a Substitute to die in our place."

"He proclaimed an Amnesty, that all who would turn away from their rebellion, lay down their arms, and accept the terms of the Amnesty would not only be delivered from death, but would live with Him forever."

"And so, having received such a gift from Him, we seek in turn to love and serve those around us, to give Him thanks, and to bring tidings of His Amnesty to those who will receive it, while there is still time."

"I do not know if I explained it very well.  Does that make sense at all?"

"Are there a lot of Spider-people? I've only met Spider-Man. Do you have the whole web shooter thing going on?" Jubilee asked. "I think Wolverine knows Spider-Woman, but he seems to know every pretty lady in spandex. I don't know where he finds the time. "

"Right, well, I can't help you about the tall buildings" she said a little hurriedly to gloss over the fact that she had no idea what "logistical" meant. "Yeah, I'm the youngest X-Man." she added with considerable pride. "Most of them are ancient. Like, thirty or sumthin'"

"Space food isn't great, but it's good at the X-Mansion. Personally, I prefer McDonalds-" she said, but turned away briefly as the huge hologram loomed up. The vast bulk reminded her of a Sentinel, and the less she was reminded of those killing machines the better. "Some people can't resist a prank, I guess."

Sasha cast a cringing glance over at the blond teen who apparently fell through space rather unceremoniously.

"Oof, rough day for everyone, I guess." She turned her attention back to Leviathan, giving an awkward smile and a step back. "Look, sorry if I intruded. Didn't mean to scare you or anything. If you need me, I'll be around. So long." And with that, she turned to walk away.

Until a huge Darth Doom loomed overhead, when Ricochet took that step back towards Abigail's family in a wide-set defensive stance, clearly intended to act as a shield for them against the three story tall monstrosity. When it shrank, the heroine didn't quite relax at first, instead narrowing her eyes to try and focus on what was going on.

Sasha's chaperone had dropped his bag and fallen to the ground in shock and terror, only starting to calm down after things were starting to settle down. She came over to give him a hand up, and drew him to his feet effortlessly although he outweighed her by a hundred pounds, at least.

"Wha-what just happened? I didn't think there'd be any attack robots here!"

"No attack robots, just another one of us looking for a school. Says he's got a robot with a problematic holofilter. There's enough super protection here to deal with him, I'm sure it'll be fine so long as we keep our distance." With a wave to the nervous girl, Sasha began heading for the Avengers booth. "Come on, maybe I can help the people who used to have a Hulk."

In reply to Resonance (msg # 36):

"you have explained it perfectly I must research it more when I get time..... Or perhaps you could tell me more if we end up going to the same school....." Rendal trailed off for a moment embarrassed again

Changing the subject quickly "talking of shools which ones take your fancy? I'm not sure where I might sit, the fantastic four are too tech for me, my powers aren't mutations so not sure if the xmen would be a good fit...... I suppose I might look into the avengers I know my sponsor Dr strange has connections with them so it might please him if I signed up there.... I just don't know.... "
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 06:36, Thu 13 May 2021.

The girl ponders thoughtfully.

"The easy answer for me would be 'wherever I could be most useful'.  But I know very little about any of them, so I hope to learn more."

"What are your priorities as you look for in a school?  What would make you want to go or not go to the Avengers, or to any other school?"

"to be honest I don't know I've never been to a school belore so don't know what to expect. My sponsor said I need to be around people of my own age to learn, develop and grow......"

He looked round the room "I might as well put all the names in a hat and pick one out for all the good it will do me"

"Your sponsor... Dr. Strange?  Did he have any advice about choosing schools?"

"What kinds of things are important to you?  Do you want to 'learn, develop, and grow'?  What motivates you, inspires you, drives you?  What would make you want to get out of bed and go to class?"

Rendal leaned forward so others didn't over hear "I'm not really 14 I only look it. 150 days ago I didn't exist. I was crested Dr Strange says I'm like a spung just waiting to soak up things. He said I need to be in a school that could expose me to the world so I can learn and find out who Rendal is."

He sighed" I thought the avengers as they are alrounders and I might get a broad exposure where as the fantastic four is too super science and focused, the x men too chaotic and shield to military in nature"

He shouldn’t be here.  The thought passed his mind not for the first time and likely not for the last time. A series of deep breaths filled his lungs. Somehow he hoped to breath out the situation and be back home getting ready for class. Only a few months ago he had a normal life, he had friends and he had a future that did not involve costumes and freaks. He had liked being a mutant then, it was something to make guys stare in awe and the girls take notice. Even now he felt the old tricks when electricity played across his fingertips. Blue arcs danced between his digits. Callum shook his hand so that the blue bolts of energy dissipated.

“Cal what did I tell you about that?”

Mr Ross’s voice was a deep one, some might even say melodic. Cal knew better, he could hear the tension in his father’s voice. The man who had seemed a hero to him all his life now seemed somehow smaller and weaker here. Maybe the old man knew it too and wanted to exit as soon as possible.

“Sorry Dad.”

“Be sorry some time else Cal, right now just behave. The X-Men are already interested in you and it’s for the best you go there.”

Nervous fingers adjusted the knot at Cal’s throat, slender fingers that belonged to a woman wearing her finest clothes. At fifteen there were some that might call Callum a handsome boy. Blonde hair that was purposefully unkept decorated his head with a pair of blue eyes that now flashed with dangerous energy. He had a winning smile that even now flashed with ease despite his discomfort in being here. Smile and the world smile’s with you the saying had gone and that resonated with him when he stepped out into the room.

Abigail came back from attempting to get her parents attention and looked at the person retreating away from her.

She has a chaperone too, and I'm supposed to be looking at the stands.

"Wait! Can I go round with you?" The arrival of a huge shadow and then her new friend's disregard of it, gave her both panic and comfort in equal measure.

At Abigail's response, Ricochet stopped and turned to face her again.

"Sure thing! I was thinking about checking out the Avengers. World's Mightiest Heroes sounds like a cool gig to get into. Do you wanna take a look too, or should we look around elsewhere first? We've got all day, so I don't mind looping around the place with you." Her adult shook off his shock over the fake robot monster and went to Abigail's parents.

"Hi, I'm Roger. Seems my kid's taken a shine to yours. I hope we're not causin' any trouble. Ricochet's always lookin' out for the younger ones, makin' sure they don't get stepped on in this big world and all that." His chattering could have been nervous, but his demeanor gave the impression he talked a lot as a matter of course.

Gwen turns to look at the hologram.  "It's kind nice when that sort of thing doesn't involve explosions.  I wonder if that's a robot or a kid in a suit."

She turns back to the conversation.

"The history is kinda complicated.  There were a bunch of clones of Spider-Man, and there was a Spider-Man from the future who I think went back home and I guess there was a Spider-Woman before this one.  Spider-Woman is with the Avengers and sometimes SHIELD, I think she's around this party somewhere.

And Spider-Man of course.  He says he met dozens of Spider-people from other dimensions but I can't tell if he's just messing with me."

"Webs are the best way to get around New York.  Way faster than the train and nobody gets in your way." (unless they're trying to kill you)

Abigail's dad barely gave Roger a glance. "Nathan, and this is Camilla. If Abi wants to, then it's fine. Sweetie, we'll meet you here for lunch."

Abigail nodded. "Alright, Avengers first then. "Although, a mighty hero isn't really.." she checked her parents were otherwise engaged. "..my ..umm it sounds like a lot of trouble."

Xié Zhèn leans forward as well, listening thoughtfully as Rendal confides in her, and nods meaningfully.

"I know."

Interestingly, she looks utterly unsurprised by his revelation, though appreciative of his trust in her.

She ponders for a moment.

"So what have you learned so far?  As of now... who is Rendal?"

"well I've learned Rendal is nervous, clumsy and embarrasses easily" he said blushing "oh and being 14 is a pain..... Why couldn't I have been made as an adult.... Dr strange said it was something to do with the power I was to contain... An adult would have burned out where as a child was more pliable" he added

The girl ponders these words thoughtfully.

"'Why' is a very interesting word.  But the answer is... multi-layered."

She regards him with an interesting mix of curiosity and wariness.

"You seek to learn.  How much do you really want to learn about 'why'?"

Rendal looked a little Confused "I want to learn everything I can. But I know that will take a lifetime"

He decided to change the subject a bit as his new friend was focusing on him

"where do you come from? Tell me a bit about you I have no history but you do. Where do you live? When did your powers appear?"

"Oh, that's not too complicated" Jubilee said, trying to sound more experienced than she actually was. Actually, it made her head spin, but she didn't want to break the tough-girl image she was going for. "We've got a couple of people from the future... one of them told me I was going to be The Last X-Man, which is cool. And kinda worrying."

"The web-slinging is totally awesome! Talk about getting around in style. Do all the Spider-people do that?"

"Mutants have a bad history with giant robots. I don't mind seeing them explode, it's when they don't explode they cause trouble." she said. "Well, if you want to know if he's man or machine, why don't we go ask him? This is supposed to be a party.

The young man at the Fantastic Four booth was idly looking over a brochure while talking to the attendant.

"As a future Future Foundation member, I'm quite sure you won't have any trouble understanding my interest in the Fantastic Four's offerings. You may have heard of me. Doctor Otto Octavius? Yes, I am fourteen years old, and yes, I have a doctorate in nuclear engineering, and no, the sun thing was not a standard by which to judge my work. The demonstration simply had a miscalculation, and it won't happen again. Now--"

The giant robot that got everyone's attention certainly got Otto's, and after it shrank back down, he shot a quick glance to the booth attendant.

"Please excuse me, I'll be back shortly." And Otto started on his way over towards the kid genius and his misbehaved mech.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:03, Mon 14 June 2021.

When the giant Doom Vader hologram appeared, Max took a step back, crouching slightly into a ready stance. When it shrunk, and the kid responsible spoke up, he relaxed as he shook his head, "Really, Steel Ninja? What the hell kinda name is that? I mean, if you're gonna come up with a superhero name, wouldn't you spend a little more time thinkin' somethin' better up?"

He rolled his eyes as he turned back to Svetlana, "That's not exactly normal here either. But then, a gathering like this is sure to bring out the crazies, right? Anyway, Avengers? You must be pretty damn cool then, huh? But yeah, anyone showing that much interest in ya is probably not someone you want to sign up with. Too much baggage there. At least that's what I'm thinkin'."

"Sure, if you don't need to work the booth.  You're really not selling it very much anyway with the last X-man thing - going to make recruits think they're doomed.  Or maybe it doesn't count if you're not a mutant?  I'm pretty sure I'm not a mutant." 

Gwen starts heading over to the robot with Jubilee.  As she walks she says

"Spider-woman doesn't use webs, she's got this gliding thing she does that's pretty fast but she gets mad if you call it flying.  I think the common thing is sticking to walls."

“Who would put the mass maximizer button where the presence thruster should be?” Grey complained. “You Eartheners have a unique perspective on technology.” “We call ourselves Earthlings, Grey.” Cam admonished. “And unless you want to advertise that you are from elsewhere, you probably should just say people. Oh great, we’ve drawn a crowd. Some tech specialist I am going to look like. I will be lucky if I get a position with the janitorial staff.”

Cam looked around and decided that he probably should say something else before things got worse. “ I didn’t build this midget mech, I just pilot him. Have robot, will travel. But I might rebuild him if he doesn’t follow instructions. I am a robotics engineer, but together we can bring the power of a small tank.”

Cam wondered if anybody was buying his spiel. Future Foundation/Fantastic Four? Probably no chance. Avengers? Probably not even for a west coast team. SHIELD probably wanted to dismantle them already, robot and kid both. Maybe Damage Control had a school.

Jubilee frowned when Ghost-Spider told her she wasn't selling it very well, a little stung. "The future isn't like that, ya know? Just the fact that those future-folks are here and not there now changes the future.  We'll be fine."

"Not a mutant, huh. How'd ya get your powers?" she asked curiously. "Spiders aren't exactly know for their gliding. But I guess Flying Squirrel Woman wouldn't have sounded good."

"Hey, Gundam pilot! Nice suit, whose the tailor?" she called up to Steel Ninja.

“Right,” Svetlana nodded affirmatively to Max, then looked off to the side again in slight embarrassment. Hopefully it was not too apparent under the filter, but she really didn’t know how to take a compliment from a stranger – even if it was just about who she knew. Was that why she told him that? To impress him? Like she was just some ordinary teenager that wanted to be liked, not a person with a mission...

It was a weakness, but it felt nice to get along with someone for once. At least until she ruined it somehow. “...Although there might be some baggage with any of them,” the tall girl added, cryptically, eyeing some of the other booths and kicking herself mentally for being unable to resist. “Anyway, about that uniform,” she managed to look at the boy directly again, feeling inspired. “Do not think of it as clothes. Think of it as a pile of unstable molecules. You can easily reshape them into anything you want if they let you... or if you have the right tools.”

The girl nods slowly.

"'Where do I come from' is another interesting question... and it is actually related to your previous question of 'why'... but... it's complicated."

She takes a deep breath.

"A world-famous writer named William Shakespeare once wrote: 'All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players...' "

"One hobby of mine is writing collaborative fiction.  So once upon a time, I was writing a story about a girl in a superhero universe, and discovered the power to actually enter that universe as the character I was writing about."

"And that universe... is this universe."

"From the perspective of everyone living in this universe, this is their reality.  But this reality is actually embedded in a meta-reality, formed by those writing about the events here."

"So when you ask 'why did something happen or not happen', it is literally because it was written that way."

"Interestingly enough, the same applies to that meta-reality as well.  There are writers dwelling in a strange realm called RPoL, with strange names such as 'RPO SteamDragon' and 'OakMaster' and 'jamat'.  They shape this universe, yet there are writers shaping them from a 'real' world once-removed from the realm of RPoL.  And so it goes..."

"And there is yet an ultimate reality, written by an Ultimate Writer, that every level of meta-reality is embedded in."

"So I am an Empath, because I was written to be so, and because my writer is invested enough to care about this universe and those within it."

"And I can perceive things that others cannot, because I am from a meta-reality that sees beyond this one."

She takes another deep breath.

"Even though you want to learn, I know that was a long and complicated answer to a simple question.  You are kind to listen to it, for I do not share it with many.  I hope I didn't bore you too much..."

"not boring at all, strange but not boring but then I've seen my fare share of strange in my short time in existence and you don't even top the 10 most strange I've seen" he said with a shy smile not wanting her to think he was being rude about her.

Paul strode carefully over to the Avengers booth, lost in his own thoughts.  There were some wild things going on here tonight and he was honestly overwhelmed at everything he'd seen.  Like the kid who had dropped down in the giant robot thing, now that had been unexpected, and also kind of cool.  It was way more interesting than listening to his parents talking to recruiters, planning his future without ever asking him what he wanted.  About the only time he was ever involved was if his Father needed something translated.  Why did they even bother to drag him along?

He glanced over and noted that his Mother and Father were quietly talking to one another, waiting their turn to talk to yet another representative.

Well, if they don't need me, maybe I'll check things out my way.  Why not?  All these pamphlets and people telling you what you want to hear are about as exciting as watching seaweed dry.

So he spoke up for the first time in almost an hour since they'd had their 'talk' earlier.  He cleared his throat to get his Mother's attention. He refused to even try and talk to his Father since he'd made his feelings about his son very clear earlier.

"Mother, I think I'm going to go and find the little hero's room.  I'll be right back."

He didn't hesitate once she'd acknowledged him with a silent nod.  It was a relief to make a getaway from the tension.  Yeah she was still mad at him too.  She was just better at dealing with it than his Father.  Having turned away from her so quickly, Paul missed the sadness in his Mother's eyes as she watched him go...

Finally free to reconnoiter the place, Paul wandered about the surprisingly busy hall, taking it all in.  So much was going on, crazy stuff the likes of which he'd never have seen hanging around Nunavut.  It was honestly a thrill for him to realize he just might not be the weirdest person here tonight.  Back home, he stuck out, he was a pariah and everyone knew who the monstrous stone statue was.  No he really didn't belong there anymore but here, in this place, he almost blended in.

Lost in his thoughts he'd wandered to exactly where he knew he'd meant to go from the start.  He stood back a little, not wanting to bother anyone, and gazed in amazement at the giant robot, Steel Ninja.

"Now that is cool..," he said to no one in particular.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:26, Fri 14 May 2021.

"Squirrels aren't venomous either - I'm kinda jealous of that power.  Anyway, both of them tell me that Jess (Spider-woman's identity isn't secret) is definitely a 'Spider-totem'" airquotes "but Black Widow doesn't count."  She shrugs.

"For my powers, my band played in this abandoned warehouse and I got bit by a weird spider that was radioactive or alien or something, and then... superpowers.  I'm kinda surprised that it's not half the city with powers by now."

When they get to the mecha (not robot, don't say robot) Gwen says "Aren't ninjas supposed to be stealthy?"

She waves to Otto.  They'd been classmates at her old normal school, and Otto had been crucial in helping to duplicate Spider-Man's webshooters.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:54, Fri 14 May 2021.

The girl returns the smile shyly, and relaxes a bit.

"Thank you for not only listening, but for not immediately assuming that I am either kidding, lying, or deluded."

"When one person has a view of reality different from everyone else, those possibilities are likelier than the unique view being the accurate one..."

She looks away for a moment to scan the room, and back to her companion.

"Do you want to go visit any of the booths, or are you more comfortable waiting awhile?"

" I sure you are none of those after all I've only been alive 150 days, I was pulled together from raw magic in a dimension called Limbo and moulded to be the vessel of a great power that would bring chaos to the world."

" I have someone elses soul inside me, I am hunted by cultists and my guardian is none other than Dr Strange so if someone was to tell me the sky is pink and the see if yellow I'm inclined to believe them" again he smiled.

"I suppose I need to at least get some bags so I can show Dr Strange I was trying to join a school. I think I'll start at the Avengers table."

Her looked down at his feet then at Resonance through his unruly fringe " I'd like it if you want to come with me... I feel more confident if I'm not on my own" there was a grunt and a chitter from inside his jacket " ok not completely alone but you know what I mean"

The girls gives him a nod and a kind smile.

"I would be honored."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:14, Fri 14 May 2021.

If Max noticed Svetlana's discomfort at his compliment, he definitely didn't show it. Rather, he picked up on the odd term she said. "Unstable molecules? What the hell is that? I mean that doesn't sound very safe? Could they explode or something? Unstable is never a good word," he said as he glanced around the hall. "And you're right, they probably all come with baggage. It's not like any of them are just here for our well-being, right? I mean, they all have an ulterior motive, whether it's to recruit us to fight their stupid battles, or to keep an eye on us to make sure we don't cause any problems."

Otto's approach towards Steel Ninja was met with a pair of girls, one of whom he recognized and waved at in return.

"Ah, Gwen! Wonderful to see you at such an unprecedented event. I imagine you've taken interest in the giant sentient automaton as well? Ah, but my manners." With a mild flourish, Otto took a gentlemanly bow to Jubilee. "Doctor Otto Octavius, at your service." He tapped a finger to the goggles still covering his eyes. "Love the glasses."

Rico gave a nod and a frown, taking a relatively slow pace toward the booth to make sure the younger girl could keep up, even in her nervous state. While she talked, she glanced around to see if there was any more excitement that might turn dangerous.

"Yeah, but all these groups are surrounded by trouble. That's the deal with having powers. Very few of us can avoid either the itch to do something when we see people in need, or someone wanting to exploit us and what we have. Me, I want to use my powers to protect people. Feels like the Avengers would want to give me that chance. But then, I don't know what these schools are really aiming to accomplish, whether it's looking for the new generation of these heroes or just helping us be as normal as we can be. Still, if you're afraid of trouble, putting types like Captain America and Iron Man between you and danger isn't the worst idea." The older teen looked to Abigail, satisfied that nothing was going to explode or invade for the next few seconds.

"So what is it you'd like most out of these places? What are you looking for in a school for super kids?"

"To pass my classes and go home? And to do that without getting stared at?" She tried her best to make sure the older girl didn't have to slow too much.

"It's something I don't really understand, when my condition came out, my parents handed me my ticket to this gathering like it was my Confirmation or my 18th birthday. Like it was something to be proud of!"

"Sorry"

"Hey Octopus.  I think this is a codenames kinda party.  Just kinda checking out the schools.  And kinda nice to see something like this and not need to fight it."  If he thinks it's a sentient automaton that must mean there's no one inside, right?

Svetlana was just as glad not to point out that she meant they may all have baggage with her. If she thought about it, all of those big teams had probably clashed with members of her extended family... and more pressingly, all of them might become targets for her invention, if they have not already.

“Unstable here just means...” she paused. Max did not seem very technical-minded. “Easily changed. Not attached to their form. You know... they put that in their uniforms because they all have powers that might damage normal clothes. This way the clothes can adapt to the wearer or to hazards – whatever they are exposed to. They should actually be much safer than what we are wearing now, unless there is some way to sabotage them that they are keeping out of public knowledge.” The girl paused again, uncertain. Was she babbling?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:51, Sat 15 May 2021.

Electricity had a sound. He had always known this from hearing his father talk about the hum of power lines or from the rare moments he had visiting the man at his job. Ever since that fateful night though he had a much deeper connection to that sound. Everywhere in the building and even from some of the people present that sound emanated. Some had echoes stronger than others with most simply having the holoemiters. More than one seemed to have suits or companions powered with echoes of the evasive energy. Part of Callum wanted to reach out to draw in that power, to connect with the blue arcs he see in his mind’s eye. Already he felt his fingers stretch out from his palm with a familiar yearning.

Dry mouthed he instead approached the table for the X-Men. Already his father and mother were being embraced and consoled by members of the school. This seemed a good opportunity to slip away and maybe let Fate take its course. He had seen one of the girls at the X-Men booth when he had entered before. Now was a good enough time to make a connection before going to school. So with a bit of sly confidence spreading over his easy smile, the blonde haired boy moved to stand near Jubilee and her growing group of associates.

“Hey, name is Callum. Everyone here considering the school for the, uh, X-Men over there?”

In reply to Leviathan (msg # 70):

Ricochet nodded to Abigail in understanding.

"They probably think it's your ticket to special treatment and higher-funded education and maybe scholarships to college or something. Parent stuff. To me it sounds like you might want to have a chat over at the X-Men booth. They've been working to keep super powered kids as close to a mundane life as can be for a while now, so they've definitely got the experience you're looking for. Think we should head there first instead? The Avengers tend to be a bit more out there and flashy, y'know?"

Otto took pause and then gave a smile, gesturing towards her.

"Ah, I'd imagined you'd have worn the full getup were that the expectation, but I see now. Yes, Ghost-Spider, it is still good to see you." With that, he turned his attention up to Steel Ninja once again.

"Good morning, Steel Ninja. From the sounds of it, you're two people, is that right? You referred to yourself as being the pilot, I believe. You've certainly drawn attention, though I'm not sure that was your intent."



The short and squat teenager by the girls and the Doom Vader seemed to have quite a bit more electricity humming through his body than normal, and not the same vibration that the holofilters were buzzing with. It seemed mostly focused around his torso and left the rest of his body the same gentle thrum as would be expected of a normal person, and it traveled in an oddly inhuman way, at that. It was as though he'd coiled this energy around himself.



Otto turned to face the newcomer, still distracted by the goings on.

"Hm? Oh, the schools. Not all of us, no. I can't speak for the others, but I will be joining the Fantastic Four. The name is Otto, though I suppose at such an event 'Octopus' will do just as well."

"Squirrels aren't venomous? No wonder I'm flunking bio" Jubilee joked. "My powers have caused me some hassles but I'm glad I didn't have to be bitten by any spiders. Sounds like that would leave a super-rash."

"Thanks. I'm Jubilee" Jubilee said and smiled, glad her shades were finally getting the reaction she always felt they should. "Doctor? is this one of those things where ya look 15 but you're really 150?"

She gave Arc a friendly wave. "Yo. I'm Jubilee, one of the X-Men. Are you hoping to join? It'd be nice to have some people my own age around."

She raised an eyebrow when Octopus said he was going to join the Fantastic Four. "How're ya gonna do that, doc? There's already four of them. I'm no math wiz but four of four doesn't leave room for any more."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:07, Sat 15 May 2021.

Paul stands a little back from the group surrounding Steel Ninja and listens to them converse.  It seemed like people were already coming together and making friends.  It was so easy for them all, why wasn't it ever that way for him?  He probably should just speak up and join their discussion.  A part of him wanted to very badly.

You're not like them anymore, remember?  You're not a kid now, you're a big dumb stone giant!  You don't belong here, if you ever did.  From now on its just you, by yourself, alone, so you'd better get used to it.  Could have been cool, you might have had a chance to get to know some of them before, but no you screwed that up real good.  Your Mother is right; if you're looking for someone to blame just go stare in the mirror rock pile!  Now stop wasting time and just go back and find your parents.  Maybe they've finished interrogating all the recruiters and you can get out of here.

He stood there, staring at them all, unsure of whether to go or stay.  The truth was he'd be miserable if he went back, but staying here and watching everyone have fun wasn't much better.  Maybe he'd just wander around for a little while before he went back to his Mother and Father.  Maybe it was just best if he was alone.

Then, as he was turning to go, he heard Jubilee's reply to the Octopus kid and something happened that hadn't in a very long time...

He laughed, a deep belly laugh that rolled up from somewhere way down inside and wouldn't stop.  He wasn't even sure why he'd found it so funny, but somehow it blew away the gloom inside of him and for a few moments he felt like himself again.

Abigail smiled. "We'll make our way back there. But we'll go to the Avengers first."

It's getting busy, but it feels good to be doing something.

"I hope dad doesn't drink too much."

She glanced back at her friend. "I'm sorry again. I shouldn't have said that out loud. He's excitable today."

Back at the boarding school Miss Harris had been rather adamant concerning events like this: One always dresses up for these occasions. It will impress your equals and baffle your inferiors.

Well, Miss Harris, here we are. So let's put this to the test, Victoria mused as she got off the limousine that brought her to the shield base. Despite Miss Harris' advice to the contrary she had nevertheless decided to tone it down and had opted merely for the custom-made Lagerfeld overcoat combined with a $15,000 tailored Cifonelli suit. So, nothing special, really.

Once in the ballroom, Victoria made a beeline to the SHIELD reception desk and addressed the assembled agents:

"Listen! I have an appointment with one of your superheroes. Be a dear and go fetch him. He shouldn't be too hard to find as he apparently dresses in a flag. I guess you don't have too many of those. Lieutenant Liberty or Major Flag-Face or something like that."

With a glance at the Cartier on her right wrist, she added "Tell him he has 18 minutes and 13 seconds left to find me. One would expect punctuality from such a treasured national icon, n'est-ce pas?" and strode off into the hall, grinning inwardly and ignoring any further objections.

Soon enough, life caught up with Victoria when she discovered a teenage boy unashamedly staring at her. Well, not at her face, anyway. Still pondering just what kind of violence would be deemed a suitable reply by Miss Harris, she bumped into a tall statue some imbecile had put into clothing and left in the way. Before the fact that the statue actually moved and even laughed fully registered on her mind she shot off her mouth again:

"Merde! Shouldn't you be in the garden with all the other lawn ornaments?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:17, Sun 16 May 2021.

“Yeah well, seems the best fit so far. My Dad is over there talking to them now so we’ll see what’s what when he gets back.”

A half wave and half salute was given in return to Jubilee. The name was cute and so was the girl, at least he could get used to that sort of environment. He relaxed a little now, feeling himself surrounded by those of his own age and perhaps at least his own nerves, though he didn’t think the Doc kid looked very nervous. A jump was given when the seven foot tall mountain gave a laugh though. Callum nearly scrambled out of the way as if the laugher was an avalanche, but he couldn’t help but given his own laughter in reply.

Afterall, how often does a mountain laugh.

In reply to Resonance (msg # 66):

Rendal smiled again and blushed slightly at Resonances reply.

Then gestured for her to go first, Dr strange had told him he had to be polite to ladies, and followed behind as they headed towards the avengers recruiting table

Stone Cold was still trying to regain his composure when he noticed the young man react to him.  He hadn't meant to scare anyone, not that he could help it in his present form.  But even as a twinge of guilt formed, he noticed the boy was laughing along with him!  Somehow that made him feel better.  A little sheepishly he called out to Arc:

"Um, sorry.  I wasn't trying to alarm anyone, I just thought it was pretty funny is all.  Nice to laugh for a change."

"I probably should have.  My dad will freak if my identity gets out.  I thought this would be good enough and I wouldn't miss out on the food.  A white suit is not good for eating in."



"It was... pretty rough the next day.  But it was worth it when my powers kicked in."

"People who like my shades and laugh at my jokes? Man oh man, this is the greatest day ever" Jubilee to Stone Cold said with a grin. "Nice to meet you, big guy. Hi, I'm Jubilee, the youngest X-Man, and the funniest."

"What do you do, Callum? I can generate these little plasma fireworks from my hand."

She looked over at Citizen V. "Nice threads, princess. You Tony Stark's daughter or somethin'?

“Like nobody else ever makes a mistake” Grey shot back to his detractors and made a strange sound of gears grinding. Cam began to wonder if the robot was somehow younger than him in a mental/emotional way. Was that possible? Looking at all those who had gathered near him, Cam gave a cheery welcome. “Hey, guys! You guessed it. Grey is a seven foot tall robot who I like to call a mini mecha. And I am his fifteen year old pilot, Cam. I am studying robotic engineering but I don’t even have a masters yet, much less a doctorate. Good point about the Fantastic Four but maybe they are taking trainees for the Future Foundation. Or maybe SHIELD is a better choice for us techie types. What do you think?”

Cam held his hand up to Stone Cold. “High five, big guy!”
“Oh, I like the shades too.” Cam added. “And those metal arms. Must make projects so much easier to have a helping hand or eight.”
“I guess I am the tech ninja and Grey is the steel part. Don’t worry. I told him not to touch the holo buttons again.”
This message was last edited by the player at 20:37, Sun 16 May 2021.

He gave a small touch of his knuckles to what he assumed was the elbow of he solid figure. The blue blazer giving a little shrug before he turned to look at the others.

“No problem big guy. I think everyone is a little on edge in this place. Lots of people, high stakes, and probably more than one person here that could blow up at any point.”

There was a nervous edge to his voice at the last line before Jubilee caught his attention once more. That smile quickly returning at mention of her fireworks display.

“I’d like to see that. I just do some stuff with electricity. More of a nuisance really but maybe I can do something with it one day.” Besides shutting down a city was the part he wanted to say, but he doubted now was the time to bring that detail up. Let the teachers handle that problem was what his Mother would have said.

Mention of a new person made him glance over at the well dressed woman that moved into the group. He tilted his head slightly when she referred to the stone figure as a lawn ornament. He didn’t want to laugh at that one, but he did have to bite his lip some to prevent the humor. Hopefully the big guy could take a joke but he wasn’t sure if this was the crowd to test the idea.

"Huh," was Max's initial reply. "So, they could put these unstable molecules into normal clothes, so I wouldn't have to wear a lame costume? I guess that would be cool." He paused as he glanced around the room, noticing what looked like a walking statue, and some kid with four robotic arms sticking out of his back. Talk about weird...

"So did you have a plan for today, who to talk to or whatever, or just play it by ear? I figure I gotta come out of here with somewhere to go, just so I don't get harassed anymore."

With the discussion of powers and technology, Otto allowed his coat to fall open and the metal arms coiled around his torso to relax, unfurling to a good six feet long each. Two propped themselves to the ground as a sort of stabilization by his legs, while the other two began to mimic his hand motions. Each was tipped with a highly articulated set of claws, centered around what appeared to be red-lensed cameras. It turned out that the young man was much thinner than his initial bulk had presented.

"Well, the Fantastic Four sponsors the Future Foundation, and since they've a goal to collect the brightest minds of our generation, I'm sure those of us with our own robotics will have a tentacle in the door already, as they say."



His attention had been so focused on the mini-mecha, Otto hadn't even registered the looming presence of Stone Cold until the finely-dressed girl had approached. The realization brought out the automatic startled response: his metal arms quickly scuttled him a few feet away from the larger teen, before he had a chance to stop and assess the situation. Once he did, a claw reached up to adjust his goggles while his actual hands straightened out his shirt and coat.

"Excuse me, miss, but that seems an inconsiderate way to greet anyone at an event for the unusual such as this. Would you care to introduce yourself?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:14, Mon 17 May 2021.

The teens began to mingle and bond with each other.  Or was that making cliques for those who weren't involved in the bonding.

The clock chimed an hour.  Most people has arrived on time, slightly late, fashionably late or just plain late.  But there was schedule to be kept to.  Most of the kids no doubt had school of some inadequate kind in the morning and even Galactus would have to wait if he showed up.  Well, maybe not Galactus.  Some of the clock-watching adult heroes soothed their sore autographing hands and relaxed their smile muscles, hoping that some cosmic threat would liven up the party.

But it was not to be.

The Avengers booth had opened.  A very familiar hammer rested on the table between the Avengers members and staff and their visitors.  No one seemed able to move the mighty weapon.

The Future Foundation had opened their booth as well.  Sue Storm was completely in charge, talking to different people across some unseen communications system, telekinetically moving some of the younger visitors away from plate of cocktails and delegating events and people to them.

The SHIELD 'fort' had a small cadre of young cadets standing so ramrod straight there was speculation that they were actually Life Model Decoys.  'Normal' siblings of 'special' applicants seemed almost frantic to sign up for SHIELD's premier military academy and make themselves into heroes.

The X-Men had an obvious young mutant shyly greeting visitors.  His skin was green, his eyes yellow and hairless head elongated like some kind of cucumber.  Here at least, he seemed ever less afraid of his surroundings and actually began to smile.

There was a very red, white and blue kiosk with star-spangled bunting.  All of the adults and teens gathered around seemed to be dressed in very patriotic US symbols and styling.

There was an overwrought and guady tent-like setup resembling the opulent décor of centuries past.  The staff and students were dressed in the best lace-and-perfumed wigged finery of the 17th-Century.    Perhaps these 'Hellions' were some kind of new fraternity of young heroes.

The Roxxon Corp had a very professional office set up.  Large display and holographic screens offered to pay young heroes for 'apprenticeships', the only group present that offered actual compensation for schooling.

Through the skyscraper windows, a raucous group of protesters were beginning to worry the local cops and the SHIELD agents behind them.  The young marchers all had some kind of 'reptilian' aspects to their logos, symbols and common iconography.

But it was not just formal organizations that were of interest.

From their name tags, a young woman working for SHIELD, Valerie Cooper was engaged in a debate with an also young lawyer named Matthew Murdock.  His cane and dark glasses indicated blindness but he seemed confident about his environment.  The two were debating upcoming proposed metahuman registration information.  She was for required registration, he was not.  Some of the younger people were joining into the debate.  This did not seem to worry the two who had begun it.  It almost seemed, even to the youngest onlookers, that the debate was almost a kind of flirting.

A young gaudily-dressed woman had commandeered a table and was placing various brightly colored and complex objects on it.  She was dressed in the manner of a game show host or old-fashioned carnival huckster.  Her reputation preceded her; Penny Arcade, daughter of the daring assassin, Arcade.  A small crowd of curious onlookers began to gather around the girl in motley attire.

A young couple danced, fascinating all those nearby.  The whispers spread around them.  A few moment of eavesdropping reveals them to be young Starfox and the newer X-Men Stacy X.  Both were rumored to have supernal powers of attraction and it was hard for any one else to deny.  Both were breathtakingly attractive.  Stacy's ophidian features seemed heavenly rather than alien to most eyes.

An enigmatic figure, dressed only in dark, loose garments, moved largely unnoticed from shadows and from other shadows.  No onlooker could easily remember the overlooked stranger moving to darkness as well as from it.

OOC:
I've been very impressed by how well your characters are interacting and am leaving that largely alone.  And I am a little pressed for time.

This post is really a dramatized questionnaire.   I will learn so much about players and characters by what they try to interact with.

You are generally free to 'cast' people nearby as you see fit. possibly with your sponsors.  You can assume such characters could be found with the groups they are typically associated with in Mainstream Marvel continuity.  So, your favorite Avenger can be 'helming' the Avengers booth, etc.  For now, you can write for those characters as we are assuming well-meaning civility at least during your initial interaction with them this thread.

As spoiled earlier, Sue Storm will go through a great change in the next year.  I wanted to show her as a confident and mature hero, wife and mother to contrast with later.

At least initially, no one can lift that darned hammer...

Svetlana scanned the room again and felt her hesitation come back in force. No matter where she looked, there were always some objections to think of. The Avengers may have made the most sense out of those present, but after what she said, going to them felt like an admission of failure. Besides, most of them did not seem very scientific. S.H.I.E.L.D.? They were known to oppose A.I.M., but going to an American-controlled military organisation just did not sit right with her. The others at a glance made even less sense, though, except for one.

“I have no real plan,” the girl admitted, feeling the need to justify herself: “I did not really know what I would find here. It seems even... ‘crazier’ than I expected. I guess I should at least try the Future Foundation, though. If nothing else, I can make something out of their gifts.” And maybe they would not think twice about my surname. For all they know, it may be as common as ‘Smith’ is in their country. She did not believe that.

She had already pieced together that Max almost certainly had superpowers. He probably thought that she did too. Her powerless status was not something she felt like drawing his attention to, just now. However, that among other things made it appear unlikely that they would go to the same place, which felt slightly unfortunate in that moment. Nevertheless, the least she could do is try to give good advice: “They are probably not the best option for you, though. Especially if you just want to lay low. I do not know that much about most of the others here... Maybe you should go with one of the smaller groups and fly under the radar?” Svetlana gestured vaguely towards the tent, the circus girl and the dancers. They may not have looked like recruiters, but then she really was not sure what they were doing here.

Jubilee's interjection left Victoria puzzled for a bit before she understood just what the girl - whose face seemed strangely familiar - had been trying to imply.

"Ah, yes, I see what you mean. No relation I can think of, I'm afraid. I do not drink, I certainly do not need alibi women and I definitely dress better. Though he'd probably rock a skirt a lot better than I do," she finished with a smirk. Not that anyone would ever catch me in one.

Before she could add more taunts, Otto Octavius cut into their conversation with his misguided and ill-mannered demand. His strange appearance actually made her raise an eyebrow as she took in the tentacles writhing around his body. Poor boy! Barely into puberty and already overcompensating so much.

"I am sure he can take it," Victoria replied with her grin growing wider. "After all, he is made of stone, isn't he?"

"But you are right, I should properly introduce myself: Hello, my name is Victoria Marie and I hail from the fabled lands beyond the great water where dragons roam and princesses sit in their castles yearning for brave knights to rescue them. So, in other words, I am an European. The one region on this planet where manners still matter."

...

"So, all of you waiting for your sponsors, too?"

Gwen messes with the projector, shows it a picture off her phone, and a holographic representation of her Ghost-Spider costume overlays itself over her makeshift disguise - giving her a hood and a full mask, mostly white but with a pink Spider-web pattern on the inside.  The pattern of her shirt changes to match the costume as well.

"The projectors are handy.

My sponsors just said to sign up for one of the programs and not get into trouble.  No meetup.  I haven't seen either of them but I think one is around somewhere."

Max considered her words about the Future Foundation, wondering if it was her way of ensuring she wouldn't have to see him in the future, or if she just though he was too stupid. If it was the latter, he figured she probably wasn't too far off.

He shrugged as he followed her gesture, taking in the rather odd displays she pointed out. He had to admit he was curious about the tent. After a moment's thought he disappeared, reappearing in front of the tent, and then after about 10 seconds reappeared in front of Svetlana rather nonchalantly. "Uh, yeah, no way. The people in the tent are wearing like medieval clothes or something; there is no way I'm going someplace that weird."

He glanced around, noticing the large holographic screen of the Roxxon Corporation, and more importantly, the message being shared, "Now that's what I'm talking about. That place," he said as he pointed at the booth, "Is offering money. You can't beat that."

And just like that, Paul was suddenly a bit overwhelmed.  This wasn't like back home; this crowd accepted him, welcomed him without judgement.  For the first time since this whole nightmare happened, he felt normal again...like maybe, just maybe he could belong again.  They seemed genuinely happy to meet him; he wondered how long that would last.

"Um...hi Jubilee, I'm Pa...er Stone Cold.  Good to meet you...too," he finally managed to reply.  Awkward for sure, but it was a start.  "Yeah the shades are cool.  You're an X-man?"




He lifted a stony mitt to accept the proffered 'hi five' and allowed himself a slight smile which faded almost as quickly...  Big guy, yeah there it is.  I'll always be a big ugly statue no matter how hard I try.

He listened to Cam talk about himself and his really cool mini mecha.  That truly something unique.  He definitely wasn't in Iqaluit anymore.  He was beginning to think he might like New York.

"You're fifteen and you you're studying Robotics?  That's crazy...um, but in a good way, I mean."

Paul thought maybe he'd just made one of his classic stupid errors.  It certainly wasn't a good idea to call someone's robotics career crazy, especially someone you'd just met.  He hoped he hadn't just put his big rock foot in his mouth.




Suddenly this girl just bumped into him.  Somehow no matter how big he was, she'd missed him or been distracted enough with her own thoughts that she'd not noticed the big rock pile in front of her.  He was about to apologize when she made a smart remark.  To say he was shocked was an understatement.

He honestly didn't want to start something, things were actually okay for a change.  It figured that couldn't last, but he'd hoped it would take a little longer before his usual crap luck set in.

"Do I look like a cuddly garden gnome to you?  Just watch where you're going and you won't hurt yourself walking into 'lawn ornaments'."



He was relieved that Arc hadn't thought he was laughing at him.  Thankfully he hadn't scared him too bad.  He lifted one fist for the kid to bump, but didn't push back at all.  Paul wasn't sure yet about the limits of his own strength.  He nodded at Arc's next comment, still a bit miffed at Citizen V.

"Yeah there's all kinds here tonight.  Um...but you seem pretty cool.  Nice to meet you."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:57, Tue 18 May 2021.

Svetlana blinked her eyes as the entirety of Max seemed to blink out in front of her. Oh. Well, that was fast. So that is what he does. I wonder how he does it? She was about to move on towards the Fantastic Four’s booth when she noticed where he went, at which point he quickly reappeared and revealed his true desire.

Shady American guy wants to sell his incredible powers for money. Svetlana screwed up her holographically-altered face. She wasn’t even really surprised, but she felt a slight, somewhat inexplicable pang of disappointment anyway. No, no... That is for the best. I should not get attached to someone like that, and besides, he must have good reasons. Well, he might. It is not any of my business whether he does.

Nevertheless... “Maybe,” the tinkerer said slowly, catching and smoothing out her frown. “It would probably not hurt to check them out.” Really, they can’t all be superheroes, and she was still far from sure that it was what she wanted to be. Of course, no matter how she went about it, she had her self-imposed mission... but that was hers, not his.

“But be careful,” she went on, earnestly, giving the boy a direct look. “There is always a catch, you know? I read about that company, and they seem to conflict with most of the other groups around here a lot. So why do you think they would offer so much money in a room full of kids with superpowers?” The least she could do. But would he listen? Well, if he would not, at least she would know not to bother later.

"Did you design that robot yourself?" Jubilee asked Steel Ninja. "Impressive work"

"I'd be happy to show ya, except setting off a bunch of small explosions here would probably alarm the super-heroes, so it'll have to wait" she said to Arc. "Everybody has to work on mastering their powers at first. I've been told I can do a lot more with mine than I've done, the professor's got me working on it. You'll get the hang of it. And, like, you never have to worry about forgetting to charge your cell phone, right?" She had to initially learn how to control her powers on her own, so she sympathized with Arc's doubts

"Pretty handy" she says about Octopus' invention.

"Sponsor nuthin', princess." Jubilee said to V. "I'm here to help recruit, not join up. Welcome to America, remember to try the cheeseburgers."

"Sure am" she told Stone Cold. "It's me and the best heroes in the world and also Cyclops. Just kidding about that last part. Anyways, it's a real trip."

Rendal moved over towards the Avengers table looking to his left to make sure his new friend was still with him. He thought it would be great if she joined the same school as him at least he wouldn't feel lonely if she was there.

standing near the table he waited until it cleared a little before he stepped forward.

There was a well built man standing to the left in red white and blue with a round shield on his back, Dr Strange had informed his this would be Captain America.

"excuse me sir" Rendal said in a nervous voice " Dr Strange suggested that I come talk to someone  at the Avengers concerning possibly joining your school"

The gentleman in question looked down at the boy and studied him for a moment as if taking his measure so to speak.

" so son Strange sent you. you must be Rendal he said  you would be turning up sometime."

He grabbed a gift bag then spotted Resonance standing just behind Rendal and grabbed another for her handing the both out to the kids.

"I understand you've not been around for long" thats an understatement Rendal thought "yes sir newly arrived so to speak."

" well in the bags are all the forms and brochures you will need to assess if we are a good fit for you"

Rendal looked a bit taken aback surely it was he that needed to prove he was a good fit for them. Captain America noticed the look " son this is a school not a military boot camp" he looked over at the shield table " you need to be comfortable at the school you go to so we need to meet your expectations not the other way round. We can teach you to use your powers responsibly but you won't learn if you are not happy. Look through the information and come back with the forms filled in if you wish to apply to our school"

Rendal suddenly felt less nervous in the presence of such a great hero and held out his hand to the Captain who looked him up and down again before taking the offered and and giving it a firm shake.

Just then someone called to him and he excused himself leaving Rendal and Resonance standing there alone.

Turning to his friend with a big smile on his face " I think I'm going to apply to them if no one else"

"Speaking of burgers, where is the food?  I can talk to the other schools later." Gwen says.  Jubilee had already filled her in on the X-men enough, right?  Upstate is not an easy sell even if their recruiter was cool.

"Gotta get the important stuff out of the way before something explodes."

Realizing that she's been introduced to Jubilee and already knows Octopus but hasn't spoken much to the others yet, she waves and says "Hi, I'm Ghost-Spider."

Max frowned as Svetlana spoke; not at her message, but at the realization that she was probably right. "Yeah, I mean, you make a good point. Everyone in here has an agenda, and yeah, if they're the only one's offering money, there's definitely a catch."

He glanced back over at the booth for a second, and then turned back to her, "I've never heard of 'em, so I'll have to take your word on it, but there's no harm in at least going to see what they have to say, right?" He turned to start walking over to the booth, and then stopped and turned back, "Wanna go with me before you head over to the Future Force or whatever it's called?"

"Did you design that robot yourself?" Jubilee asked Steel Ninja. "Impressive work"

“No, he, uh, found me.” Cam confessed. “Thanks to a project I was working on to miniaturize Tesla coils as a power source. It was awesome. There was a big showdown between SHIELD and A.I.M. and everything. In the end, they agreed to let me stay on as his pilot, but they said that I needed to get the proper training. So they sent me here.”

Again with the 'princess', girl? Do you even know what you are talking about? Well, two can play that game.

"Oh, my bad. But I think I get it now, " Victoria replied to Jubilee with a curt nod of thanks. "Sponsors are allocated in order of importance so that those at top of the list get the best ones while at the bottom get none. Yes, that certainly makes sense. Now, does anybody know where I can find this Captain America I am supposed to meet?" was her parting shot coupled with a mocking grin.


Giving Stone Cold the once-over V consented: "No, you are definitely not cuddly. But I bet a nice Lederhosen and a Sepplhut could fix that. They would also do much to improve that dreadful outfit." Patting him on the arm she added: "There you are. No thanks needed, the first piece of fashion advice is always free."

"Oh, you only have one sponsor?"  A short pause.  "Interesting.  Anyway you just need to head over to the booth draped like the flag and ask for her."  This girl was going to be mad when she came back.

Svetlana did not turn away. Admittedly, that was largely because she wanted to catch the moment when Max teleports. The first time took her by surprise, after all. If she was paying attention, though, she could surely notice more. The amount of energy one needed to move like that was probably staggering. She had read about similar talents before, but it never really sank in how enormous a power this was until now.

This time, though, Max surprised her by not teleporting, and instead asking if she wanted to follow him. “Foundation. And... sure,” the girl agreed, after a moment’s pause. “I am not in any hurry.” She went after the boy, looking around warily as she did. Tsk! Am I afraid to just go up to someone on my own? I already said I would go with him, though. Am I hiding behind that?

...I should think of it as recon. Roxxon are exactly the kind of people who could buying our technology from A.I.M. Besides, I may as well see it through and make sure they do not bamboozle him. So long as Max refrained from teleporting, the inventor had little trouble keeping up with him, being somewhat more athletic than she looked.

“You may as well hear them out, but without telling them too much about yourself,” Svetlana started to speak, then paused. Lately, she has been trying to cut down on her bad habit of giving unsolicited advice. Max was probably savvy enough to avoid putting all the cards on the table. She added more quietly: “By the way, how do you teleport? Do you just... will yourself to places?” What kind of scientist would she be if she could restrain her curiosity?

Max smiled when she decided to join him; it was nice having some company, and besides, she was cute and the accent was super cool. "Yeah, you're right," he said in response to her advice, "never a good idea to give them too much information." Not that he had that much information about himself to share, but better to be safe than sorry.

"I really don't know," he said in reply to her question. "I mean, just one day I was sitting around...well, okay, I was being chased by these older kids, and I really just wanted to be somewhere else, and then suddenly I was there. I basically just think of where I want to be, it's sort of like picturing it in my head, and then I'm there." And now he'd just given her too much information. But what did it hurt, it wasn't like she was some Russian spy or something...was she?

"Good question. Anybody know where the eats are?"

"I haven't seen Captain America today. Maybe he's hanging out with my friend Wolverine, he and Cap go waaaay back." Jubilee said, stressing my friend. Actually, Wolverine wasn't here, but Victoria didn't have to know that

She nodded along enthusiastically to Steel Ninja's description. "Sweet. My introduction to hero-ing involved cyborgs, but they were not my friends. Yours sounds more fun."

Otto nodded and gave a tight smile to V's introduction.

"Ah, welcome to the United States, Victoria. I'm sure you simply left your manners in your other coat. A simple misunderstanding. I am Doctor Octavius, or I suppose 'Octopus' while we are in super powered company. As Miss Jubilee has suggested, simply follow the patriotic banners." Once she was out of earshot, which likely wasn't far considering the ambient noise of the setting, he muttered something to himself in German. He turned to Stone Cold, much more relaxed.

"My apologies, I understand how it is to have trouble blending in. I hope my European cousin didn't put you off. This is a cosmopolitan event, after all, and all of us unusual folk should be able to go a day without being hassled about it, ja?"

"Hey, don't worry about it. Everyone here's a little nervous." The pair arrived at the Avengers booth and Ricochet grabbed two pamphlets, passing one to her smaller friend.

"Let's see what their selling points are. Aside from, y'know, having Captain America standing fifteen feet away from us." She was very clearly trying not to look directly at him, and very clearly casting glances his way kind of a lot.

Vic responded with only a slight smirk and a wink, not wanting to embarrass the poor girl any further since she was obviously very new to this game. In a rare bout of charitableness, she decided to extend this generosity to 'Doctor' Octavius, too. After all, hadn't Miss Harris said that victors need to show mercy once the fight was over? That being in control ... in control ...

Closing the distance in one fluid lunge V got in Otto's face - quite literally, in fact - and hissed, her formerly charming French accent taking a turn for the gutter:

"You are not my cousin! And if you know what's good for you, you will never pretend otherwise again! Understood?!"

Gone as quickly as she moved in, her departure also stopping the odd throbbing Otto's tentacles had registered for a moment.

.
.
.


"Now, this is useful! My heartfelt thanks," V beamed in Ghost-Spider's direction before turning to leave. However, after only two steps she whirled around again and asked almost as an afterthought: "Say, there is one thing on my mind: don't the tribes of the plains consider Spider to be a trickster totem?"

"Perhaps we should have a look!" V grinned as she extended her right hand and counted down from five with her fingers as the hack worked its way through SHIELD's systems and subverted the holo imagers to build a holographic model of the booth area above her palm. "Hmm, strange. Not one captain in sight, neither male nor female. By the way, pray tell, would that be a recent development?"


About to add a few more choice jibes V shut up again when she suddenly discovered Captain America at the Avengers booth ... or rather, not-Captain-America, because that was certainly the worst fake in the history of doppelgängers. With a flick of a finger she ended the hologram and stormed off.

"I'll be ..." Whatever she had meant to say vanished under a litany of extremely vile Symkarian curse-words.

Abigail looked at her friend, followed her glances, and then looked at her friend again.

She leafed through the glossy pamphlet, until she found what she was looking for. Completely at odds with her previous shyness, marched straight up to the Captain.

"Please can you sign your picture for me?" She tried the puppy eyes trick.

"To Ricochet." And pouted a little.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:00, Wed 19 May 2021.

Other than quietly smiling and thanking Captain America as she takes her gift bag, Xié Zhèn watches quietly, allowing Rendal the opportunity to take the lead interacting.

As they are left alone again, she gives him an encouraging smile with a twinkle in her eye.

"Well, you previously had learned that 'Rendal is nervous, clumsy and embarrasses easily', and you had thought that you 'might as well put all the names in a hat and pick one'.  How do you feel now?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:54, Thu 20 May 2021.

Just as quickly as V had lunged, two of Otto's tentacles braced him to the ground while one crossed his body to shield him and the other extended around to strike at the girl. Once he was able to react himself, a quick splaying of the matching hand stopped the tentacle that was in the middle of an attack, eyes wide under the goggles.

He nodded to her in response, his movements tight. The tension didn't ease up until she'd moved out of his personal space again.

"We're fine now. She's gone. No harm done. Stay calm." It was hard to say if he was talking to himself or the arms. Either way, they relaxed into a different, and more defensive to those who were trained to spot such things, position than they had been before.



Otto turned to face the others while leaving one of his arms facing her, watching with its central camera. It might just look like it was making sure she didn't come back, but he was, of course, very interested in whatever she was doing with Ghost-Spider.



Once she was gone, the young scientist took a deep breath and forced the tentacles to relax, one by one.

"That one needs more observation. To figure out what's wrong with her, I mean, not because she's pretty. Not that she's pretty. Is she? I didn't even notice. Fraul-- Ahem. Miss Jubilee, weren't we talking about X-Men?" Unfortunately, no ninjas attacked the event hall.

"...Do you think we're all native americans?  I'm pretty sure that's racist.  The only trickster I know is Loki and they're not a spider.  And you have the geography wrong.  New York is a jungle."



"See, now you're getting the hang of this place.". Gwen didn't know what the words were, but the tone was obvious.

Svetlana did not seem to notice the contradiction in her warnings and questions. However, she felt another pang as they moved on. This time, it was of jealousy. “That sounds really convenient to have,” she mused frankly. I certainly could have used it. In all sorts of ways. “So... But I guess there is some reason you do not use it all the time? Because I am not sure I...”

A stream of vaguely Slavic-seeming curses coming from near the Avengers’ booth disrupted Svetlana's trail of thought for a moment. It was not Russian or Ukrainian, but maybe... Bulgarian? She understood enough to go a little red - and wonder whether the holofilter hid that. It probably would since she adjusted her skin tone, how ever lightly. Not like she could stop to check, though.

“Crazy,” she shook her head, frowning a little.

Max looked in the direction of the strange words that seemed to stop Svetlana mid-sentence. They didn't mean anything to him, so he glanced at the Russian girl, "Do you understand what she said? I mean, I have no idea, but it didn't sound good."

He shrugged and turned back to their destination as he answered her question, "Oh, I use it whenever I can. It's just that it can be rather...jarring for normal people when they see it, so I try to be discreet. Not to mention, people are not always big fans of people like me, so it's generally good to lay low."

“I think your expression is ‘swearing up a storm’,” Svetlana explained. “Not exactly my language, but close enough to tell that. I guess someone got rejected,” she shrugged, losing interest in the incident. Entitled fools not getting what they wanted was not an interesting phenomenon. Teleportation was another matter entirely.

As he replied, she nodded along. Whatever else Max was, he clearly was not an idiot. He would probably be fine. “I guess that makes sense. Though I am not sure what they can do to someone they cannot catch... unless they manage to sneak up on you.” Even as she said that, though, her mind already began thinking of several different ways one might counter a teleporter. Just as a theoretical exercise, obviously. You never know when such ideas might prove useful.

"Oh, there's always a way," Max said as his mind wandered back to how Jean Grey had held him hostage in his own mind while giving him the ultimatum that lead him here.

"Besides, I don't need everyone I see thinking I'm a freak." He shrugged, "Anyways, what is it you do? Obviously being here, there must be something special you can do, right?"

In reply to Resonance (msg # 110):

" the same but at least I think I've found the school I want to join" Rendal replied with a smile

" now its your turn which one shall we visit next?"

"She's not that pretty" Jubilee grumbled. She turned to doctor Octopus. "Sure, doc. We work for peace between humans and mutants, and a bunch of adventures. What did ya wanna know?"

Ah, there it is. The question I was afraid of... Svetlana mused to herself resignedly, then looked around again, perhaps more for effect than out of any real expectation of finding an A.I.M. spy. Well, there was that eavesdropper kid, but she had lost track of him by now.

The ballroom was so big, so full of people... most of whom seemed much more peculiar than she was. One would think that it would be a relief, that she would appear normal by comparison. If nothing else, it is stupid to expect anyone will have much luck spotting me in this crowd.

“I am an inventor,” Svetlana replied after a slight pause. Her voice was a bit mechanical, as she suppressed her doubts and tried to sound ‘cool’. “What I do is tinker, mostly. I made a device that can...” How to put it? “Control energy. Any kind of energy, at least in theory, and I am still working on different ways to use it. I can show you later. If you like,” she looked at Max directly, gauging his reaction and feeling unsure as to what she wanted it to be.

Max looked at Svetlana for a moment, his demeanor towards her changing ever so slightly. "An inventor? You mean like Mister Fantastic? That's cool." He paused again, "Ah, that explains wanting to go with the Future Force, they're connected to the Fantastic Four right?"

He turned to start walking towards the Roxxon booth, but waited to make sure she was coming with him. "I don't think I've ever met someone who actually made something...and you're my age, that's crazy. But yeah, that'd be cool to see your energy control gizmo later, if you want."

Reading people’s faces - and arguably understanding people in general - was not one of the Siberian’s many intellectual talents. Was he humouring her, or genuinely impressed? At any rate, he did not seem to be ostracising her for not being one of the chosen few. Not just yet. “I am almost sixteen,” she clarified, just in case. People often thought she was a little older, though for her own part she was not sure how old Max actually was.

“Anyway,” Svetlana caught up to the local boy again, “they do make the most sense for me. But I might as well look at some of the other options first.” There is no harm in that. So what if I feel dirty just walking towards them? To get her mind off that as much as for any other reason, she turned her attention to the Roxxon booth’s holographic displays.

Rico was curious about Abigail's behavior. Once she realized what the girl was doing, the interest turned into a wide-eyed look of shock. As soon as she could think again, Ricochet buried her face in the pamphlet she still had, hiding her blushed cheeks.

In reply to Jubilee (msg # 118):

"As an experienced hero at a school such as the ones we're here to be wooed by, perhaps you could tell us something of what to expect, and a bit about your adventures, ja?" Otto still hadn't fully recovered from the threat V had delivered, but was regaining his composure as he spoke.

Paul bit his lip, swallowing the bitter retort he wanted to shout at her.  If he looked up arrogant in the dictionary, he was willing to believe her picture would be smirking up at him from the page.  He balled his fists, and would have left right then and there, afraid he might lose his temper if he stayed, but then something incredible happened...

The other kids were standing up for him!  Calling Citizen V out on her crap and supporting him and the others she had hurt.  It was impressive to see, and it eased Paul's anger.  Eventually Citizen V left and he didn't bother to watch her go, he was just glad she was gone.  It was true, what his mother had told him once: some people spread happiness wherever they go; and some spread happiness whenever they go.

Looking around at everyone who had spoken up for him he quietly said:

"Thanks everyone.  She made me want to hit something; I'm glad she's gone.  Whatever sponsor she chooses I'm going to make sure I choose someone else."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:39, Sat 22 May 2021.

"Yeah, of course" Jubilee said, glossing over that most of the time she'd been operating on instinct rather that experience. "Let's see... well, first they'll teach you more about how to control your powers, and work on that with you. I guess that isn't an issue with you, Octopus. You're supposed to earn your way on the the team but I kinda got in because I was helping out Wolverine before that. I only met the rest when we showed up to help save some kids from those Genoshan jerks. Then we went in to space to help the professor, only it turned out it wasn't the professor but a shapeshifter. And I had to wear the team uniform, robbing the world of my great fashion sense." she says, speaking very quickly. "It's mostly like that. There's classes, and training, and in between we battle the bad guys and save people"

Max shrugged, "I'm 16, so close enough." As they walked towards the booth he asked, "So, uh, did you come all the way from Russia by yourself, or did your family come with you? I mean, it looks like a lot kids came here with their parents." He obviously hadn't come with his parents, considering he didn't even know who his father was, and his mother could be dead for all he knew.

"So you said you've heard of these Roxxon guys before? What exactly do they do? I mean, I can't imagine they'd let somebody too bad set up a booth here, right?"

“I came here on my own,” Svetlana admitted with some pride, tearing her eyes away from the holograms. The tinkerer considered asking about Max’s family – if his parents were here, they must have been keeping well back – but something made her decide against it. Maybe it was the suspicion that he didn’t consider himself one of those ‘kids’ for a reason, or perhaps she just did not wish to get into the topic of her own family.

Instead, Svetlana turned towards the booth again. The logo, the figures, the quotes... They all seem so bland, like some ordinary massive corporation. Then again, why say ‘like’? They really are one, just... a bit more grandiose and ambitious. The Russian girl bit her lip, unsure of how to explain her apprehensions about the company to Max. For one thing, it was not as though she studied it in depth. Just... there is no way to get this much smoke without fire, is there?

“Maybe they would not let someone like that here,” she pondered aloud, “but if you are rich enough the rules do not apply. If you have lawyers and lobbyists and PR people who can cover up most of what you do.” She was sounding crazy, wasn’t she? Slowing down, she looked at Max. “I know they started as an oil company, but moved on to all sorts of weird schemes to harvest energy. The sorts that led to them fighting with Avengers on several occasions. That does not happen by accident, right?” That came out weaker than she had hoped.

And still no one could lift that blasted hammer.  Not even the few green- or- red- gamma-powered individuals.  A simple calculation of probability made it more likely that all of the bulk of 'hulks' were likely creations of a holofilter rather than true green genes.  In any case, some of them seemed angry enough but still the hammer didn't move.

(OOC: Erroneous paragraph removed.)

A few young teens were suddenly doing classic mime routines such as 'walking against the wind' to 'being trapped in a box'.  This was inexplicable even to the teens themselves.  The mystery was solved by the slight smile on the Invisible Woman's face.  The scamps were getting just a little close to some unguarded liquor on a waiter's tray and she applied the slightest invisible pressure to discourage them.  But her grin

 was understanding, she had been young once, long ago.  Across her costume's comm system, she whispered evergreen comments to her family, "Yes, Reed, the other teens comments to Valeria and Franklin were uncharitable and ignorant but a devastating psychological explanation to those teens would be counter-productive.  Of course, they are intimidated.  Who wouldn't be by our scarily-smart children?  Oh, and tell Johnny to cool down in flirting with that SHIELD agent.  She has a job to concentrate on.  And tell Ben too loosen up, crack a smile..."

At the SHIELD booth, one of the agents was taking the form and voice of those that shook their hand.  "You can see," the amorphous agent said, "although the holofilter is making it particularly easy.  Our Life Model Decoys can make having a secret identity easier than you might think."

Manning the X-Men kiosk, the green alien (as in the famous movie) -headed mutant sneezed slightly.  Perhaps it was a cold.  Near him, several individuals with unique anatomies suddenly shifted into perfectly human forms.  Fortunately for some of them, they had visited the Future Foundation's booth and qualified for those UMF outfits.  Thus, their modesty was preserved by the adaptive outfits as they returned to whatever normal might be.

The very attractive (and hired to be so) Roxxon rep was passing out GotRoxx debit cards with a thousand dollars of 'gratitude' for anyone who demonstrated true superhuman potential.  Those with parents were pleading with them to sign the waivers allowing the gratitude.  Teens alone were assumed to be emancipated enough to simply take the cards.

Colossus the X-Man swatted at a mosquito, a perfectly common act on a summer evening.  But the party was inside air-filtered SHIELD base.  No ordinary mosquito should have detected the young man's osmium skin as prey nor be able to pierce it enough for Piotr to actually swat at it.  He stared at the tiny crushed insect, reflected over and again in his chromed palm.  There was a almost infinitesimal marking on the little corpse.  Iron Man's optics could make it out.  "A red diamond?!" Tony Stark was not one to muse quietly.

The clock chimed another hour...

OOC:
<Orange>UPDATE:  Removed Erroneous paragraph

Please don't be discouraged by my seeming to miss or ignore your character's interaction.  There is so much to do and so much to accomplish in the beginning of this game.  I am building the world with a big brush and I can't yet fine tune it for the characters.  I have taken notes of who your characters have mentioned or thought about and I will try and work them all into the game.

Let me say how impressed I have been by all of the writing I have seen.  You haven't needed my nanny self for pages now.  And (thank goodness) y'all know how to do character conflict without it spilling over into player conflict.  I can read this thread almost like a movie.  I am one very lucky GM.

There are tiny mosquitos that seem more intelligent and piercing that such bugs should be.  Your characters, if they take any real precautions, can be written as not bitten (or to have crushed the mosquito before it can escape).  Or, if you wish, they can be bitten and/or the little biting escape.  The choice is yours, both paths lead to adventure in their own meandering way.

There will be one more freeform flashback reply from me after this.  It should end in a cliffhanger...
</Orange>
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:46, Tue 01 June 2021.

"Most important is finding the food."  Gwen says. She sends a web up to the ceiling to get a better look around the room.  Because her current costume is holographic, strands of pink hair fall through the hood when she shifts upside-down.  A wig that can handle being inverted is a must.

She swats the little red bug - she's had enough weird insect bites and her Spider-sense lets her detect it now.  Then she spots where the waiters are coming from and grabs a tray of miniature burgers.  She brings it back to where Jubilee, Octopus, Steel Ninja, and Stone Cold were, still hanging upside-down from a webline.

Octopus shot a glance in V's direction again.

"Yes, well. She's clearly on the road to supervillainess, so we'll definitely have to keep an eye on her, but it would seem she wants as little to do with us as we with her. That seems best, ja? Yes?"



He turned his full attention, including all of his arms' eyes, back to the group as a whole, and smiled to Jubilee's answer.

"You've certainly had quite the thrilling time among them! I hope being put elsewhere doesn't become a disappointment, as any of these sponsors would be lucky to have you there to help your peers. And not just with your fine choice of outfit, I mean."



By the time Gwen had returned from her culinary espionage, another little bug had already made off with a mildly radioactive tissue sample.

"Ah, Ghost-Spider, you save us yet again!"

Sasha had been so consumed by her combination of embarrassment and excitement, she hadn't even noticed the red bug attempting to take a bite. Even so, it found the job impossible; without her deliberately holding back, the girl's powers were always on. For every bit of force the bug applied to her skin, Sasha reactively applied that same force right back, forever keeping an equilibrium of energy. That was how she got her super name.

Svetlana’s paranoia finally paid off. It also helped that she was starting to get bored standing in line, and that she felt too awkward to look at people directly. She kept her distance, looked around - and promptly spotted the suspicious little insect. Et in Arcadia ego was her first thought. Mosquitoes were ubiquitous in Siberia during summer... but thinking about it, she didn’t see any in this room before.

Even as she pondered this, her left hand moved towards her right wrist. A few quick taps that were already becoming a second instinct, and the bug was repelled by an unseen force. It really did not take up much of her reserve power to create such a very narrowly localised force field, and it was much more economical than waving her hands around trying to hit it...

Only this mosquito did not then leave to seek out some other target. It came at her again. Feeling suspicious, Svetlana tapped a few more camouflaged buttons in an attempt to catch it. Such a maneuver was considerably more tricky than a strict repulsion... but she had some practice with it already. The creature was caught in an invisible orb, which then closed in around it to keep it in place. Studying it with more curiosity, and momentarily forgetting about the others in the room, the young scientist detected a tiny red spot. It was too small even for her perfect eyesight to make it out better, but it still seemed conspicuous and irregular, combined with her tiny harasser’s persistent behaviour. Huh.

OOC: Third option? :P

Abi stood in front of the Captain and shorten from foot to foot.

Perhaps cute isn't going to work..

The moment stretched.

He's not going to sign...

Then someone coughed, and the expression of I really don't have time for this on the Captain's face suddenly relaxed.  He picked up a nearby pen and signed next to his picture.

She felt a sudden sting, and whirled around. The pain was much worse on the basis that pain had recently become a stranger to her. Her mother had bought a Japanese sushi knife recently, and banned Abi from touching it because she had almost blunted it doing the washing up.

Whatever had caused it, she couldn't see it.

"Here you are." A gravels and cream voice brought her back from her futility.
 A silvery steel arm handed her her Avengers brochure and the Captain's deathly gaze bored into her eyes.

"Thank you sir"

Don't scamper away don't scamper away she smiled, and scampered back to Ricochet.
"He's terrifying. Here let's swap." And thrust the signed brochure at her friend.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:52, Sun 30 May 2021.

On Abi's return, Sasha shifted her wide-eyed glances between the younger girl and the Star-Spangled Avenger, eventually giving little nods and holding out her own brochure to her new friend.

"Oh wow. You didn't have to, I mean thank you so much. That was awesome, you just... wow, thank you!" Even movie stars got like that when they were on the other end of the autograph pen.

"Um, so yeah, I'm not sure if the Avengers is gonna be so much for us, but maybe the X-Men would fit the whole 'laying low' thing better, yeah? If you wanna know a secret, I'm actually a mutant, myself."

"You're sweet." Jubilee said, smiling. "It's been a real trip, I'll say that. It's great fun when it isn't scaring the beejezus out of me."
"The professor won't put me elsewhere." she said with what she hoped didn't sound as much like fake bravado to the others as it sounded like to her. Actually, almost exactly that had happened to Kitty before. "Wolverine may be impossible to kill but he still needs someone to watch his back. He doesn't keep me around just to light his cigars.
But I'll be happy to share my wisdom"

"Oww!" she said as one of the bugs bit her. "I ought to paf you in to next week, bug. Get outta here."

"Burgers!" Jubilee said happily. She stands on her hands so her head is upside down like Ghost-Spider's and she can look Gwen in the eye. "You're a lifesaver, spider girl."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:43, Sun 30 May 2021.

"Really!? I mean umm.. sure let's go check the X-Men.". She almost began to pull Ricochet towards the booth, but suddenly stopped.

She looked back towards the Captain. She was nervous.

Am I doing the right thing?

Then there was the memory of feeling nothing more than a rabbit in front of an oncoming Mach truck.

"Let's go.."

She cast another look back. I think.. I'll be seeing him again.

Abigail stopped tugging again when they neared the X booth.

"So many people.. perhaps we should come back when it's less busy."

Paul nods to Octopus, slowly unclenching his fists.  The guy seemed okay.  He was a bit quirky, but who in this crowd wasn't?

"Yes, I'll keep an eye out for her, if she ever comes around again that is.  And if she wants nothing more to do with us that's fine with me, the feeling's mutual.  I'm Paul, by the way.  Thank you... for sticking up for me earlier."

He held out a large stony hand to Octopus, then noticed the mosquitos buzzing around them both.  He took a swat at one, but it avoided his attempt and flew around his head before flying away.

"Darn mosquitos!  They are everywhere back home in Nunavut, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find them here too.  Watch that one doesn't get you."



Stone Cold's eyes light up when he sees the plate of sliders, then smirked at Ghost-Spider hanging upside down.  Definitely a quirky bunch.

"You read my mind, Spider girl, I could definitely eat, um... if one of those is for me I mean."



He heard the girl named Jubilee and turned his head, then chuckled seeing her doing a handstand.  'Quirky and a bit ridiculous, but I like it.' he thought to himself.

"Spider-Girl?  Ugh.  The original Spidey was active at my age but nobody ever called him Spider-Boy."  Gwen takes a burger for herself and passes the tray to Stone cold.  When she takes a bite  it goes right through her holographic costume.  She's still not right-side up, but seems to have settled for sitting sideways on a booth display.

"I realize I'm not stacked like Spider-Woman is but Spider-Girl is diminutive."

There's a slight pause as Gwen senses something.

"...and she's right behind me, isn't she?"  Jessica Drew is in fact right behind Gwen when she turns her head, wearing black pants and Avengers jacket with an ID badge clipped to it identifying her as Spider-Woman.

"Hi Jess.  These burgers are for the students so really I was helping when I brought them over."

"How does this look?"  Jennifer asked the other girl standing across from her, not receiving a response but instead seeming to have her mock her by simulataneously speaking the same words silently.

"Good evening, I'm Jennifer Walters.  I'm honored to meet you," the young woman rehearsed her greeting again with her virtual image speaking for her as she imagined herself standing in front of some of the world's most notable heroes and trying to make a good first impression without being nervous and tripping over her own words.  If her selection was solely based on her academic performance, she would have been more confident.

Although it was tempting to use the technology to explore what it would be like to look glamorous if just for one night like some childhood Cinderella fantasy, her practical nature reminded her that the purpose of these holo-filters were to provide a disguise so as not to draw attention to herself.  She would allow herself the amusement of going blonde, but other than the convenience of hiding some typical teenage acne, she didn't make any other changes that would make herself noteworthy.  I guess some things never change, she told herself.  Maybe once she got there and saw what the others had done with their holo-filters, she could sneak away and modify her look.



A surprisingly large crowd had already gathered at the SHIELD building by the time that Jen had arrived.  All of these kids have powers? she wondered, never having put much thought that there were other kids that
 may have been having the same problems that she had when you don't normally encounter them.  If there were any teens here from her old school, that was going to make things very awkward.  Even though she would probably never see any of them again, Jen could only imagine what they would be saying about her if this ever got back to them.

She was relieved to see one familiar face.  He was standing at the Avengers display, apparently having a discussion with potential candidates for their school program.  I hope Bruce is on their selection committee too, Jen thought.

As quietly as they could, the SHIELD staff went onto high alert.  The already filtered air-conditioning system was advanced to an even higher level of security, giving a slightly stale tang to the air.  Iron Man joked, deliberately loud enough for all to hear, that mosquitos were a little more honest than the paparazzi.  And with that, the suspicions of most of the mundane guests were allayed, some partially drowned in alcohol.  The drinks chosen for quality, rather than proof.  But some guests had worked at that limit.

Whether it was SHIELD's now much more aware security or the super powers of scores of guests, enough mosquitos were either squashed or collected alive to learn a little more about them.  They were descended from mundane mosquitos with some interesting genetic upgrades.  They were able to find and penetrate super-skin for the most part.  And they had an agility and sense of targeting that human fighter pilots would envy.  Captured for more than a few moments,  the mosquitos began to evaporate into a fine, harmless mist.  Their secrets dissipating with the vapors.

In the end, SHIELD command and the Avengers guessed that over ninety-nine percent of the weird mosquitos were either prevented from biting any targets, were killed or destroyed themselves before they could escape.  But that was not all of the strange bugs accounted for.  And those few missing mosquitos would cause some sleepless nights for SHIELD agents and mighty heroes for months to come.

Outside of the building, at least one tiny mosquito had gotten free.  Filled with the young blood of its quarry, it turned its tiny wings towards home.  A bolt of energy from above fried it like a divine thunderbolt.

Above the skylight of the SHIELD tower, an armored figure floated on tiny jets.  His voice was carried through all sound systems and comm units (whether that had been the designer's intention or otherwise).

"Doom assumes his invitation to this gathering was simply mislaid."

OOC:
And there we cliffhanger this thread for now.  You can respond but it will be a long time before this particular thread will be referenced again.  Please don't think this was a dirty trick on my part nor a time-waster on yours.   The choices your characters have made will help me guide this game better.  And jumping between time periods is very Masks.  The game doesn't start until you decide on yet-to-be-fully-detailed things your characters have already done.  Plus more than a few Masks playbooks have time-jumping as their very distinction.

Again, please forgive me for not really interacting with your characters directly.  There is so much to do with so many players at the beginning of such a game.   The game will get more personally involved with your characters as time goes on.

Doom's purpose in this party will be revealed in flashback from the game's present (when the next IC scene starts).  And you can decide if one of the mosquitos got away with your blood (or ichor or tech or etc).  It is completely up to you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:34, Tue 01 June 2021.