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[indent][b][u]January 2nd, 01:15 AM
Sector 34, High Earth Orbit[/u][/b][/indent]

Despite his best efforts to keep a lid on it, and having about a decade's worth of experience doing so, Duncan couldn't help but [i]cringe[/i] just a little at being called 'The Champion' with such casual gusto by the young Lantern... Well, almost as much as he did when the voice called back on the other side and was, very [i]clearly—[/i]

[color=teal]"Ooooo, it's a [i]girl..."[/i][/color] His mother immediately chirped in, now actually making a point of projecting a six inch hologram of herself over his shoulder to better keep on the pressure. Faux-elbowing at his cheeks and all.

Now she was just fucking with him. He knew that. But that still didn't stop the titanic facepalm that occurred right that second.

It was almost like they had a routine here.

[color=steelblue]"...God [i]dammit,[/i] Mom. [i][b]Can we not?"[/b][/i][/color]  

And by the time his hand was clear of his face, the roughly [i]Star Destroyer-sized[/i] craft that should never have existed in the first place was simply... [i]gone.[/i] 

[color=steelblue][i]'Okay, what?'[/i][/color]

It didn't take him that long to figure out where it went though— The big, glowing green light behind him was kind of a dead giveaway.

Though it did give him a moment of pause.

[color=steelblue][i]'Moe, your kid is just a little bit ridiculous...'[/i][/color]

And with that he rocketed off after the kid in question, easily catching up to his flank in less than a second and fixing him with a skeptical brow.

[color=steelblue]"I like your attitude kid, but do you have [i]any idea[/i] where you're going?"[/color] He asked, just a little dryly. [color=steelblue]"There ain't exactly that many places to quietly put something [i]this[/i] big down left."[/color]

A bit of a blanket statement, but true all the same; Any wide open space left in the Americas that wasn't filled with a screaming, rapey murdercult wasn't exactly prime land to be dropping a goddamn [i]starship.[/i] And most of the less murder-rapey wildlands were not exactly prime candidates either.

He scratched his chin a little, mulling it over.

...

...Well, one came to mind. And some of the locals [i]did[/i] owe him a favour or two. 

Hitting a button on his gauntlet to hop on the open channel Preston had set up, the Champion asked only one thing.

[color=steelblue]"How do feel about [i]Dwarves,[/i] Serene?"[/color]  

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[indent][u][b]January 2nd, 12:04 PM (EST)
North-East of Atlanta, Georgia - Near US Highway 85[/b][/u][/indent]

It was around here, as far as he could guess as he slowed down to crawl in the air. Those subsonic footfalls, the obvious giveaway had come to a stop somewhere within about a mile of here. After that, it was all just memory, and tuning into all those little things he recalled about his old friend with his enhanced senses.

The sound of her distinctive gait led him east, over a bit of brush and toward the highway. That minute subsonic ringing of the speedforce moving through her, even when she wasn't actively using it narrowed it down even further.

The other subtle things he recalled? Her smell and even the familiar [i]taste[/i] in his mouth? He made sure to keep that pretty mum, even as it led him to a small fruit stand beside the highway. Things were already awkward enough [i]as is[/i] with the little eight-year-old girl he remembered from a simpler time riding on his back suddenly not much younger than he was physically, due to his inability to age without trying to figure out how to explain just how he comprehended the world without sounding like the kind of creepy anime girl who walks around with a knife and a big creepy smile. 

Putting that as [i]far[/i] from his mind as he could with a quiet shake of his head, the Champion's eyes locked onto one figure on the ground in particular.

And her peach.

...The fruit in her hand looked pretty tasty as well.

He shook that one from his head, too; between the hydra, his surprise encounter with a Nintendo copyright in orbit and having to cut through a kilometer of red tape at Land's End, these past twenty-four hours were clearly starting to get to him.

Touching down quietly and about ten feet behind the hero-in-cognito, not wanting to just ambush her like some crazy person (and, incidentally, inciting the wife of the standowner's [i]other[/i] customer to abruptly buy up as many fruits as she could fit into her arms after a moment's staring), the world's favourite Canuckle-head let his passenger down. And cleared his throat.

[color=steelblue]"Vee. It's been a while."[/color]