Bounce

Star Wars - Jedi Exile.

Welcome back, Jaeda! SJ would be sad if Keilara wasn't there. :)

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

Apologies for the NPC post. I figured the set up for the next chapter of Kai-ro's story would best be presented from Ch'p's perspective rather than Kai-ro's.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

| G U A R D I A N • S H I P • S E N T I N E L |

From out of a pocket at the back of his hip, the H'lven Blue Lantern produced a thimble-sized flask from which he put a little kick into the coffee that had gone cold about two hours ago. Swirling the dark liquid around in the miniature cup, the veteran law enforcement rodent tested the potency of his concoction before putting the flask away again. It still tasted like swill, but at least it took the edge off a little bit. Grimacing slightly at the bitterness, the squirrel-like Lantern put the coffee cup back down and stuck the well gnawed, stub of his earlier cigar back into his mouth in order to try and get the taste of the human beverage out of his mouth. The kid had thought that introducing the H'lven to coffee might help the rodent to focus. What Ch'p discovered was that this coffee looked good, smelled better, and tasted like hammered trog swill.

A perfect metaphor for humans.

Speaking of trog swill... "How's our poozer doin', Aya?" the Blue Lantern inquired gruffly, pushing the cigar stub over to one side of his mouth so that it dangled from the corner as he spoke.

A holographic rendering of the interior of the space station was overlaid in front of the usual cockpit HUD. The projection depicted Kai-ro struggling to restrain a multi-armed robot from assaulting a waste disposal unit, which had Kai-ro in a headlock, and using one leg to hold back an automated food processor, which was cat fight slapping at the first robot. Various ring construct hands were attempting to pry and pull and seperate the lot of them, but to no avail. "I believe that Green Lantern may require assistance," the feminine AI voiced sympathetically.

"Eh," Ch'p uttered with a shrug, as the cigar traveled to the other side of his mouth and he picked up the cup of coffee again.

"Blue Lantern, I am receiving a transmission."

The coffee mug stopped just a half inch away from the H'lven's face. Turning his furred head back slightly, the diminutive Lantern asked, "From?"

"The transmission origin is tagged as Oa."

A colorful string of words in a variety of languages were muttered under his breath, as the H'lven looked down into his coffee cup and then tossed it. Running a hand through his scruffy face, the Blue Lantern finally gave a nod. The holographic projection of Kai-ro was then replaced by the face of a reddish alien with a rather elongated cranium. "Clarissi," Ch'p stated politely, addressing the Slyggian by his title.

"Blue Lantern," Salaak intoned in kind. "We show you to be in Sector 2814. What's your present location?"

"Asteroid Blue Heaven," the H'lven supplied evenly, his tone becoming gruffer still as he asked, "Why?"

"Good. You're close to Gemini in Sector 2815," The Slyggian remarked cryptically, turning as though to acknowledge someone who was off screen. When he'd turned back to the Blue Lantern, Salaak explained, "The Graxions have requested our assistance with a homicide case."

The H'lven frowned, the cigar again trailing over to the other side of his mouth. "Homicide?" the Blue Lantern echoed, plucking the stub from out of his teeth and waving it around as he spoke. "What the frell? When did we become the galaxy police? It's a murder. They've got detectives. I'm sure they can find the smoking gun."

"The Graxions have... reason to believe this might be a Consortium hit, Ch'p," the Clarissi stated, nonplussed by the H'lven's insubordinate barking. "Arisia's handling a treaty negotiation at the moment. I'd prefer that she handle this, but if it is the Consortium then we have to get out in front of this one."

The H'lven was speechless for a moment. But only a moment. "Frell fracking hell, Sally, I'm training a fracking poozer here, not leading an Alpha unit," Ch'p argued, anger slipping into his voice as his cigar-augmented hand gestures only grew more articulate. "This is a Consortium job? How bad?" the Blue Lantern demanded.

"An entire family. Kids. Even the pets."

Were it not for his fur, the H'lven would have appeared to have blanched. He'd seen enough murder scenes to know that they weren't pretty to begin with. And when kids were added to the equation, nasty business only got that much more disturbing. Now tack on the Consortium's so-called business rules and it wasn't as simple as just killing someone. "Frack, Sally, kid's ring won't work for a month if he sees that," the Blue Lantern uttered flatly.

To be quite honest, Ch'p wasn't all that certain his would either.

"He'll be witnessing worse if we don't stop this, Ch'p," the Green Lantern administrator stated matter-of-factly, folding all four of his arms down on his desk as he stared down at the small chipmunk and said only, "Good luck, Blue Lantern."

And then he hung up on them, leaving Ch'p staring at an empty field of stars. In which he caught his own reflection and wasn't all that certain he liked what he saw any more.

---

The young Chinese monk was struggling. His protective aura kept Marty's arms an inch away from his neck, but he could still feel pressure pushing up against his throat. And the food processing unit's wildly slapping arms were beating against his leg and, occasionally, smacking between them, sending inadvertent shudders of phantom pain through him created by his own subconscious in sympathy for the abuse that his body was taking. Large, green constructs in the form of a pair of hands were holding back Bertha, as Kai-ro felt his foothold beginning to give way.

It wasn't his balance. His own will was starting to falter.

Luckily, hope always shines brightest when that happens. True to form, the eruption of blue energy was startling to everyone - including Kai-ro - as a massive backhand issued a pimp slap that sent all of them scattering across the floor. As the robots and Kai-ro looked up, standing in the doorway to the bar was mighty mouse himself.

"You." the H'lven barked, pointy a stubby finger at Bertha and then directing his attention over toward Marty with equal vitriol. "And you. Get a fracking divorce." With that said, the Blue Lantern turned to the automated food processor. "And you. A waste disposal unit? Do you have any idea where that's been?"

The three robots got to their servos, shamed into silence by the short, blue rodent. Kai-ro's mouth was hanging open, speechless as the H'lven's dark gaze fell next on him. "You, back on the ship."

Nodding, mouth still agape, the young Green Lantern got to his feet. As he started to obey, the boy paused and looked back at Bertha for a moment, then back at Ch'p. "But... the weapons discharge..."

"What?" the H'lven uttered sharply, then spied the rifle on the bar. Turning to glare at Bertha again, the squirrel-like Lantern growled. "You're gettin' a warning this time,"

"WHAT!?" Kai-ro snapped in disbelief.

"Don't make me come back here," Ch'p growled, pointing at the three robots in turn. "I'll be angry. And you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

With that, the H'lven turned and marched back out the way he came. Jogging to keep pace with the shorty Blue, the young Green Lantern fell into step beside his partner and trainer. "Why are you..."

"Shut up," Ch'p barked shortly, offering only. "We've got a job to do."

Ultimate One Universe: Marvel/DC RPG

| A S G A R D |

"She wants Valhalla."

The young god looked over at the magpie, as though annoyed with so simple of an answer. "Of course she wants Valhalla. It is the one realm of the dead she does not control," the boy-king noted aloud, the realization of his own voice causing him to look around for signs of anyone overhearing their conversation. In a whisper, Loki leaned closer to the magpie and said, "But that was decided at the start of this new story."

"Decided, yes," the magpie intoned evenly, cocking its head to one side as it stared back at the boy with its expressionless, black eyes. "By Odin. And Odin no longer reigns in Asgard."

The young god began pacing, walking a path back and forth in front of where the bird was perched on the base of a marble column. "So she is coming to re-negotiate the terms of that agreement," the boy ventured aloud, trying to sound confident even as he looked over at the magpie for some sign of reassurance.

Perhaps he had forgotten to whom he had been speaking.

"No," Ikol stated flatly, bringing the boy to an abrupt stop for the finality and firmness of that single word answer. "There will be no negotiations."

"What is it you're not telling me?" Loki demanded in a harsh whisper.

The bird feathers ruffled slightly. Ikol didn't like being spoken to as though he were being commanded. But then, Loki could appreciate that fact. It was, after all, true for him as well. "Hela is coming here to deliver an ultimatum. She already knows what she wants. She knows that we know what she wants. The rest are pleasantries and she will have none of that," the magpie explained patiently.

With a shake of his head, the young god began pacing once again. "The Aesir abide by a code of..."

"You are not an Aesir," Ikol interjected, interrupting the king. "Neither is Hela."

Again, the young boy paused and turned his head down toward the mysterious magpie. "How is it that you are so certain of this?"

"Hela..." Ikol began, hesitating slightly as Loki's eyes narrowed. He knew that pause. Was Ikol polishing a lie or deciding to tell the truth? Or even, which truth to tell? Increasingly, the god of chaos was finding dealing with himself to be quite annoying. "...is my daughter."

"How is that possible?" Loki blurted aloud, again catching himself and looking about for any who might have overheard him, before continuing in a low voice. "Ragnorak..."

"Should have caused her re-creation. It didn't," Ikol stated flatly, with no apologies or explanations. Of course, Ikol had to have some understanding of how one could survive Ragnorak. After all, he was the previous Loki. Or, a prior Loki even if not the actual predecessor to the current. "I know only that, at some point, Odin put Hela over the lands of the dead. All but Valhalla. And she will not stop until she possess it."

There was an implication hanging on that last statement, one which caused Loki to turn away as he began, "If what you say is true..."

"Make way for the All-Mother!"

A rather colorful curse left the young god's lips, waving the magpie off into the rafters as the youthful king of Asgard smoothly the front of his clothes and prepared to meet his adoptive mother. Frigga was as he had last seen her. Calm, controlled, and in control. The way she walked into a room at once left no question who was in command here. Loki sat upon the throne, but that was merely a chair. Frigga was the queen of Asgard. Until Frigga said otherwise. "Mother," the boy greeted the matriarch politely, feigning a smile as he bowed his head toward her.

"I am told that Hela journeys upon the Bifrost toward Asgard," the All Mother commented.

Straightening up, the boy put forth his best ambassadorial disposition. "We are honored by her presence. I have ordered a feast be readied..."

"Then perhaps I am not too late."

That comment caught the silver-tongued Loki quite unexpectedly. For a moment, he was uncertain what to say, collecting himself and finally asking the obvious. "Too late for what, Mother?"

"The Disir are massing outside of Hel," Frigga stated, turning back slightly and gesturing with a beckoning motion that summarily brought Heimdall to the queen's right hand.

"I see an army preparing to depart Nifelheim," the all-seeing observer intoned dryly. "Twelve legions of the undead."

"She plans to take Valhalla by force," Loki blurted aloud, as the pieces of this situation at last all fell into place.

"Leave us," Frigga commanded Heimdall. The watched bowed to the queen, then again toward Loki as he backed out of the room. Waiting for the all-seeing eye to depart, the queen at last turned back toward Loki and offered her advice. "Hela wants us all dead."

"Because then she'd have dominion over all of us," Loki uttered, thinking aloud as his mind began working through how to react, how to manipulate, or deceive Hela in some way. But nothing came to mind. War then? War between the realms? "Damn her," the child uttered softly then. "Damn us all," Loki repeated, before turning back toward his mother. "We will summon the Warriors Three at once. We will call upon our ally, Beta Ray Bill. And we will have Thor returned to Asgard immediat..."

"That will not be enough." The All-Mother's words stung for how firmly they had been offered, as though she were quite confident that Loki were incompetent and incapable of leading Asgard through this newfound disaster. "We will require allegiances if we are to survive this attack," Frigga stated.

Again, the young god was struck speechless. When he'd finally untangled his own liar's tongue, the boy asked, "Mother, what have you done?"

The look which Frigga now offered her so-called child made it clear that she did not appreciate the manner of questioning. "I have made contact with the other pantheons."

As he had feared. The boy's face blanched as he said words which she had first taught him. "The treaties of non-interference..."

"...will not save Asgard, Loki," Frigga snapped as though growing impatient with a petulant child, which was not at all far from truth. "Zeus has answered our call for aid. You are to be betrothed to a goddess of Olympus."

"Betrothed?"

Even as he spat her own word back at her, Loki's mouth was agape as he wore his feelings plainly upon his face as never he had done before. As shock gave way to confusion, anger at last found a weapon in the tongue which had, thus far, been far too submissive. Scowling at the All-Mother, the young king cocked his head back and uttered a loud, "I believe the word you meant to offer is betrayed, Mother."

The thunder of the god Thor did not resonate as sharply as the crack which accompanied Frigga's hand as she openly slapped the boy across the face. Tears sprang into the corners of his eyes - alight now with baleful hellfire - but he refused to shed them. Gritting his teeth, he felt his head jerked aside by the force of impact, as seconds ticked by before the white hot sting began to bite at the nerves in his face. But the look of defiance never faltered. And that stung Frigga more deeply than anything she could do to Loki.

Drawing in a deep breath, Frigga took a moment to collect herself. "You are an Odinson. You are king of all Asgard," the All-Mother announced, talking down to her child as a teacher might an errant pupil. "Did you really believe you could fall in love with a mere handmaid?"

So it was Leah, then. Straightening, his shoulders bowed up in aggression, the new king of Asgard took his first offensive against the former administration. "The sons of Odin have fled the throne," the boy tossed back at the woman flippantly, his tongue striking upon what was truly at issue between them. And hoping to break open old wounds. "Did you really believe you could put a frost giant on the throne of Asgard?"

CRACK

As his head snapped to one side, the young god tasted his own blood. He could already feel the hand print beginning to appear on his face, a red palm visible against the fair skin of the Aesir.

"Who has told you this?"

He'd lost his fight to restrain his tears, but the hate in his eyes was now unfettered as he straightening back up. In response, the boy gave a snort and then spit a mixture of blood and mucus at Frigga's feet. The two stared at one another for a long moment, before the queen turned her back to him and proceeded to walk away.

"I should expect you at dinner," the young god stated, making clear that it was a command. Without looking back at him, the command was enough to cause her to stop. "Your presence would be missed at the feast," the boy provided in explanation.

And then she merely walked on, leaving him with the rapidly dawning realization that he was far less a king and far more the pawn.

Ultimate One Universe: Marvel/DC RPG

The young girl swayed back and forth as she danced in a solitary celebration of her own little world; shut out from the world by the ear bud headphones that connected her to the iPod in her strap pocket of the lime green courier bag she toted diagonally across her body in place of a purse. She didn't really do purses yet. They were too small to carry all her stuff and too easy to set down and forget about. Humming to herself, blond pigtails swung freely about her shoulders as the child bobbed her head in time to the beat of Joan Osborne asking the question of what if God was one of us? The fingers of a small hand tapping against the metal railing she held to as she rode the train into New York.

Her mother had been a little freaked out at the notion of her baby riding the train by herself, but Katie had been adamant. After all, she wasn't little anymore. What her mother didn't know was that Katie had traveled the galaxy and even across dimensions by herself. It made sense, to her, at least, that if Energizer could manage to go from Earth to Kymellia okay... the trip to New York City shouldn't be hard at all.

Still, Katie would have to admit that she was a little scared. She'd faced the Snarks, the demon Boogeyman, and even drug gangs... and it was still a little intimidating to be eight years old and riding the train on her own. It was odd not to have Alex and Julie around, though Katie welcomed the opportunity to put some distance between herself and Jack. She hoped that Carter was happy about her coming to his school, because Katie couldn't have been happier with the idea of doing more than hiding her power and trying to practice in secret. To learn control, real control, and to live openly as both Katie and Energizer... It was a dream.

Shuffling about, the girl raised her sky blue eyes at last to look around the interior of the car she was in; realizing only now how empty the train was. A fact which only compounded the loneliness she felt at walking out on her own, even if just temporarily. Maybe... maybe she didn't need to be in such a hurry to be like her big sister Julie after all, the child thought to herself. Her brooding interrupted as she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass windows of the train car. Standing there in pink corduroy pants with a white hoodie that had pink trim and a image of Minnie Mouse embroidered on the chest. The sight brought a carefree smile to her face. She thought she looked cute.

As the train lumbered its way to a shuddering halt beside the platform underneath New York City, Katie let go of the metal rail and made her way to the doors. As they popped open, she peeked her head out to glance back along the tracks. Adjusting the way her bag hung on her body, the young heroine clung tightly to her sweatshirt as she stepped out onto the platform proper, her eyes scanning upward among the crowd for any sign of the Ghazikhanians. As she walked, Katie's hand dipped into her pants pocket for a piece of gum. Unwrapping the watermelon-flavored candy, the girl popped the chewy confectionary into her mouth. Returning her hand to her pocket, the youth went through the motions of tucking her trash away there; though a faint hue of golden light reflected the candy wrappers demise, disintegrated at the fingertips of the child as she absorbed the energy from its broken atomic bonds. Cracking a bubble, Katie kept her eyes forward as she strode into New York City. Just an eight year old girl alone.

An eight year old who'd saved the Earth. A few times. Not that she was keeping count. They didn't award ponies for saving the planet after all. It'd be nice if they did though, the small girl throught to herself with a private little smile as she skipped across the platform and started up the steps to the station proper, her eyes still looking for any sign of her brother when she caught sight of an elderly woman gingerly creeping up to the steps. The matriachial, grandmotherly figure was obviously impaired by some form of arthritis in her stalted, fragile gait. Pigtails bouncing, Katie hoped back down the steps to drop beside the stranger. "Do you need some help, ma'am?" the child asked sweetly.

The wisened, gray-haired woman seemed startled; as much by the gesture as being addressed so politely by a stranger in New York. "Aren't you a dear. Would it be a bother?" the matronly figure begged in reply, extending an arm even as the old woman leaned against the wall of the stairwell to help balance herself as she began ascending the steps.

"No, ma'am," Katie answered simply, gingerly taking the woman's arm and helping guide her along the steps to the top of the terminal platform, where she finally let go as the woman seemed to get her bearings. "'Kay?"

"I'm fine, child. Your parents raised you right. And I thank you," the stranger stated with a wearied smile, as the woman glanced up as though expecting to see someone there waiting for the girl. "Are you by yourself, dear?"

"I'm meetin' my friend here, ma'am," Katie offering, skipping a step back as she gave a large wave farewell to the woman. "Bye!" the child stated cheerfully, dashing off across the terminal. As she did, Katie swung the courier tote around to pull out the small, frog-shaped cellphone she carried. It didn't have all the functionality of a regular cellphone. Hers only allowed her to contact numbers pre-programmed into the phone, such as that of her Carter or his mom. Tapping away with her thumb, the girl dialed out a quick text asking him where he was.

Ultimate One Universe: Marvel/DC RPG

Sloth said
That roster pic looks dangerously close to some fucked up animated version of child pornography.

Tell that to June Brigman, because that's a crop from the cover to Power Pack vol. 1 #11 (June 1985).

Ultimate One Universe: Marvel/DC RPG

Because someone was bitching that M'gann needed a girlfriend at the Xavier school...

Player Name:
Bounce

Character:
Katherine Margaret "Katie" Power (Energizer)

Power and Abilities:
Katie is a human empowered by the Kymellian sorcerer Aelfrye Whitemane with one-quarter of his own power. Specifically, Katie represents the physical principle of energy. Through physical contact, Katie functions by breaking down the molecular bonds of a solid, liquid, or gas and transferring the electrons. She can then expel the pent up energy through solid, concussive projections which typically first take shape as power balls on her chest or hands, from out of which the energy projection is then fired. Katie is also capable of absorbing directed energy attacks. It should be noted that solid and semi-solid objects provide her significantly more 'fuel' than if she tries to disintegrate and absorb energy from a gas. As a secondary effect of possessing the Kymellian energy power, Katie also has a minor healing factor which must be consciously activated and requires the ability to focus and concentrate in order for her to use that ability. Katie's absorption potential is finite and she experiences physical pain as she begins to reach her maximum tolerance, at which her body will reflexively expel the stored energy violently.

While in possession of Kymellian sorcery, even to the marginal degree to which she currently possesses it, Katie has access to another dimensional plane known as Elsewhere. A suit of unstable molecules appropriately emblazoned with the symbol for energy (yellow starburst) is maintained for her by the native beings of Elsewhere. By using the command 'costume on,' Katie can summon the suit on demand. If she is wearing any clothes at the time, those garments will be replaced with the suit instantaneously. The command 'costume off' reverses the transformation. The pockets of the suit are dimensional gateways to Elsewhere, allowing her to store an indeterminate amount of volume in her pockets, provided she can put the object in her pocket without tearing the suit. A tear could result in opening a rift through which one could fall into Elsewhere.

Affiliation:
Power Pack, The Xavier School

Alignment:
Hero (Neutral Good)

Character Notes:
This interpretation of the character blends the canon (Marvel 616) character of Katie Power with the Marvel Adventures version of the same, taking the origin story of the original and omitting the part of the canon Power Pack series in which the character possessed the velocity power (Lightspeed) and the gravity power (Counterweight). In terms of relative age and personality, she's the same as her Marvel Adventures counterpart (as opposed to her younger 616 self).

NPCs of note: Friday (alien AI), Carter Ghazikhanian, Annie Ghazikhanian

Background and Story So Far:
Katherine, always referred to as Katie, is the fourth child of James and Margaret Power, the second of two girls, the younger sister of Alexander, Julia, and Jack Power; with whom she formed the four person superhero team known as Power Pack. Her father was a physicist working under a U.S. government contract to develop a means of producing an alternative energy source, primarily through the use of anti-matter particles. Unknown to Dr. Power, two different alien species were observing him on Earth and concerned with his discovery. The power hungry Maraud of the Z'nrx wanted an anti-matter weapon for use against all the other races of the universe, while the Kymellian sorcerer Aelfrye Whitename intended to stop Dr. Power from completing his research as the Kymellians had seen device such as the one Dr. Power was designing cause great damage, despite all good intentions. Whitemane knew that Dr. Power's invention could trigger a chain reaction that would destroy the planet Earth.

Whitemane revealed himself one evening when the Z'nrx (Snarks) came to capture Powers. Though the Snarks did manage to abduct James and his wife Margaret, Whitemane had managed to save the four children from being captured. Sadly, during the fighting with the Snarks Aelfrye was mortally wounded. Dying, Whitemane transferred a portion of his alien powers into each of the four and tasked them with rescuing their parents, preventing the Snarks from obtaining their father's research, and preventing their father's work from destroying their world. No small order, given that Alex was 14, Julie was 12, Jack was 8, and Katie was 5 at the time.

With the aid of Whitemane's smartship, known as Friday, the children were able to pursue the Snarks and learned to use the powers that the Kymellian sorcerer had given them in what amounted to superhero on-the-job training. Of the four aspects (gravity, velocity, density, and energy) Katie received the energy power and took the name Energizer. Despite her small stature, limited physical strength, and the fact that she didn't have much control over her power; Katie proved herself to be the group's most powerful member. The four siblings did accomplish everything Whitemane had tasked them with and returned to their home in New York without their parents knowing that they were now super-powered. Taking the name Power Pack, the four ventured out to use their powers for the good of those around them.

Aelfrye's cousin, Kofi Whitemane, traveled to Earth in search of Power Pack in order to warn them of a new threat in the Snark upstart, Maraud's son Jakal. Kofi's ship was shot down, but he appeared in a dream to Carter Ghazikhanian; who had been seeing visions of the Power Pack. Guided by this developing dream sight, Carter met the Power Pack in Central Park and was able to lead them to the injured Kofi. The group was ambushed by Jakal's soldiers, but with Kofi and Carter at their side was able to fend off their attackers. After this, Carter joined the team as its fifth member (and the only one not a blood relative), taking the hero name Tattletale at Katie's suggestion.

When one of Alex's classmates died of a drug overdose, the Power Pack took on a more mundane enemy; the Garbage Man and his Trash gang. The Pack traveled to Elsewhere after Katie fell into the extra-dimensional pocket on her costume and ended up in the realm where their costumes were cleaned and transported. While in this dimension, the children visited the artificial Kymellian homeworld and learned that Kofi's father Yrik Whitemane had brainwashed their parents to ensure the children's abilities could remain secret. Angered by the unwanted intervention into their parents lives, Power Pack left Kymellia just before Maraud attacked it. Power Pack encountered Numinus, the cosmic embodiment of the wonders of the universe, and learned they were intended to save the Kymellians from extinction. Returning to Kymellia, they ran into Maraud who held Kymellia ransom in exchange for the powers of Aelfrye Whitemane. The children voluntarily transferred their powers to Maraud, but fought to reclaim them when the Snark warrior betrayed them and attacked Kymellia anyway.

When Carter's mother, Nurse Annie Ghazikhanian, took a job at the Xavier School she also had her son enrolled after discovering it was a school for mutants. While not exposing Katie's secret to her parents, Annie was successful in convincing the Powers to enroll Katie at the Xavier School, where she could learn to live with her powers in the open and refine her control so not to live in fear of hurting others through their accidental discharge.

Sample Post:
The young girl swayed back and forth as she danced in a solitary celebration of her own little world; shut out from the world by the ear bud headphones that connected her to the iPod in her strap pocket of the lime green courier bag she toted diagonally across her body in place of a purse. She didn't really do purses yet. They were too small to carry all her stuff and too easy to set down and forget about. Humming to herself, blond pigtails swung freely about her shoulders as the child bobbed her head in time to the beat of Joan Osborne asking the question of what if God was one of us? The fingers of a small hand tapping against the metal railing she held to as she rode the train into New York.

Her mother had been a little freaked out at the notion of her baby riding the train by herself, but Katie had been adamant. After all, she wasn't little anymore. What her mother didn't know was that Katie had traveled the galaxy and even across dimensions by herself. It made sense, to her, at least, that if Energizer could manage to go from Earth to Kymellia okay... the trip to New York City shouldn't be hard at all.

Still, Katie would have to admit that she was a little scared. She'd faced the Snarks, the demon Boogeyman, and even drug gangs... and it was still a little intimidating to be eight years old and riding the train on her own. It was odd not to have Alex and Julie around, though Katie welcomed the opportunity to put some distance between herself and Jack. She hoped that Carter was happy about her coming to his school, because Katie couldn't have been happier with the idea of doing more than hiding her power and trying to practice in secret. To learn control, real control, and to live openly as both Katie and Energizer... It was a dream.

Shuffling about, the girl raised her sky blue eyes at last to look around the interior of the car she was in; realizing only now how empty the train was. A fact which only compounded the loneliness she felt at walking out on her own, even if just temporarily. Maybe... maybe she didn't need to be in such a hurry to be like her big sister Julie after all, the child thought to herself. Her brooding interrupted as she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass windows of the train car. Standing there in pink corduroy pants with a white hoodie that had pink trim and a image of Minnie Mouse embroidered on the chest. The sight brought a carefree smile to her face. She thought she looked cute.

As the train lumbered its way to a shuddering halt beside the platform underneath New York City, Katie let go of the metal rail and made her way to the doors. As they popped open, she peeked her head out to glance back along the tracks. Adjusting the way her bag hung on her body, the young heroine clung tightly to her sweatshirt as she stepped out onto the platform proper, her eyes scanning upward among the crowd for any sign of the Ghazikhanians. As she walked, Katie's hand dipped into her pants pocket for a piece of gum. Unwrapping the watermelon-flavored candy, the girl popped the chewy confectionary into her mouth. Returning her hand to her pocket, the youth went through the motions of tucking her trash away there; though a faint hue of golden light reflected the candy wrappers demise, disintegrated at the fingertips of the child as she absorbed the energy from its broken atomic bonds. Cracking a bubble, Katie kept her eyes forward as she strode into New York City. Just an eight year old girl alone.

An eight year old who'd saved the Earth. A few times. Not that she was keeping count. They didn't award ponies for saving the planet after all. It'd be nice if they did though, the small girl throught to herself with a private little smile as she skipped across the platform and started up the steps to the station proper, her eyes still looking for any sign of her brother when she caught sight of an elderly woman gingerly creeping up to the steps. The matriachial, grandmotherly figure was obviously impaired by some form of arthritis in her stalted, fragile gait. Pigtails bouncing, Katie hoped back down the steps to drop beside the stranger. "Do you need some help, ma'am?" the child asked sweetly.

The wisened, gray-haired woman seemed startled; as much by the gesture as being addressed so politely by a stranger in New York. "Aren't you a dear. Would it be a bother?" the matronly figure begged in reply, extending an arm even as the old woman leaned against the wall of the stairwell to help balance herself as she began ascending the steps.

"No, ma'am," Katie answered simply, gingerly taking the woman's arm and helping guide her along the steps to the top of the terminal platform, where she finally let go as the woman seemed to get her bearings. "'Kay?"

"I'm fine, child. Your parents raised you right. And I thank you," the stranger stated with a wearied smile, as the woman glanced up as though expecting to see someone there waiting for the girl. "Are you by yourself, dear?"

"I'm meetin' my friend here, ma'am," Katie offering, skipping a step back as she gave a large wave farewell to the woman. "Bye!" the child stated cheerfully, dashing off across the terminal. As she did, Katie swung the courier tote around to pull out the small, frog-shaped cellphone she carried. It didn't have all the functionality of a regular cellphone. Hers only allowed her to contact numbers pre-programmed into the phone, such as that of her Carter or his mom. Tapping away with her thumb, the girl dialed out a quick text asking him where he was.

Roster Picture:

Katie

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

ErsatzEmperor said
I know. I don't think I had an internet when I could be.

I had a 486 processor with a 9.6 dial-up modem and AOL. To this day, my parents still don't know what any of those things mean. Plus, there weren't any message boards (that I knew of anyway) back then. InsideTheWeb and ezBoard didn't pop up until I was in college.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

DeathstrokeSW said
I'm grounded and can't post, Sorry. I don't know how long I'm grounded, but as soon as I can, I'll alert Y'all.

Words can't express how old I feel when I read comments like this shit.

Star Wars - Jedi Exile.

Hex, hope you don't mind but your post seemed to give me a good opening there.