The Adventure

You feel a cool breeze mercifully blow through the yard, and then a woman descends from the sky, landing gracefully near Small Fry. It's Meghana, back to full strength, with her clothes either replaced or regenerated.

You now see her as she normally is: confident, stern, but not callous. Like an empress who floats above normal concerns....

"Hello, Small Fry. I hope you're all healed up from yesterday's conflict. It actually took me longer to recover than anticipated, but I feel much better now."

"I delivered Raines to Tartarus without incident. The staff there had seen various reports about the villain's actions, and didn't need any convincing to take him. My word, of course, also carries some weight."

"Have you seen Ragnar today? I just returned to Small Town, and haven't searched for him yet. He's probably hungover in a ditch...anyway, he can wait. Here."

She reaches into her garments and hands Small Fry four ornate necklaces, seemingly woven from strands of silver mist, yet solid to the touch. The pendants are a swirling spiral of deep blue sapphire, crackling faintly with trapped lightning when held to the light. Tiny etchings of storm clouds and wind currents dance across its surface, shifting subtly as though responding to the wearer’s breath.

When worn, the air around the bearer feels ever so slightly charged, as if a storm is always just on the horizon, waiting to answer their call. Occasionally, a faint whisper of wind circles the wearer, ruffling hair and clothing even in still air.

"I call them Storm's Favor. I made one for each of you...even the bouncing newcomer who didn't do much. Concentrate on their energy, and you can shift the tides of fate in your favor. Wear them well."

During her conversation with Meghana, Small Fry gets a text message from Eliza Caldwell:

"Come see me ASAP. Bring the team."

The roar of jet engines signals Rocketeer's arrival. With the power core installed, she can feel a marked difference in how her armor flies and moves. A more prideful genius might balk at the thought of casually using another genius' work, but not Rocketeer. She figures if it's there, then she should take it, understand it, and use it.

After reaching the location of Small Fry's colorful beacon, she slows down and lands in the street in front of Jimmy Z's house. "Good morning, you two!" She salutes Small Fry and Meghana. "And good morning to you too. Didn't see you there." She also greets Jimmy as she steps on the yard.

Jimmy pushes down his sunglasses to get a good look at Meghana and Rocketeer.

"Looks like the team's in flux. Interesting...."

"Well, as long as I get my rent money, and ya'll keep stickin' it to The Man, we're golden."

He strums a few notes on the guitar, then chuckles.

"Oh, and how bout ya'll get some media trainin', or just fly away when those wannabe Woodwards and Bernsteins show up? Lettin' some hack like Erin Blount control the narrative is frickin' ridiculous!"

Honestly, once the team had split up, Rebound hadn't had a whole lot on his agenda. He'd put out a few applications (no matter how small the town there was always a kitchen that needed a dish washer or something), got himself a non-resident library card, and spent some time as Derek O'Shay looking into local news while bopping to the tunes in his wireless earbuds. Mostly, he was trying to get a feel on the mayor and sheriff. Sure, Erin had been quick to ask if they were setting up shop here in Small Town, but she was a reporter. Sensational, eye-grabbing news was her bread and butter. It was true that a local team would drive up tourism, maybe draw in a little more business and some curious new residents, but the city could match that energy with a new seasonal festival. Permanent hero teams had an impact on insurance rates, property values, lots of little things that could put a squeeze on small town finances. If they weren't regularly doing super-stuff, the good will could dry up pretty quick, and Rebound wasn't looking to put down roots anyplace that didn't want him. It also gave him an opportunity to check Blount's bylines, see how likely she was burn them at the first sign of trouble. Connections with the press could be helpful, but, in a world of shape shifters and psychics the "truth" was often more complicated than a soundbite allowed. Basic research, really.

He started the new day bright and early, already hopping the roof tops as the sun was peaking up over the horizon. The June heat was oppressive, and would only get worse once the tarmac heated up, but one of the benefits of having a mobility-oriented power set was that he could use the rushing air to cool himself off a bit while doing a routine patrol. The cellphone in his jacket pocket was feeding Blout's segment to his ear from Channel 10's Youtube page, something he winced a bit at internally.

"...I don't recall making any promises, and that was before you went and called me a 'misfit'." he muttered to himself, handplanting onto a street light and turning a lazy dive into a cartwheel as he moved perpendicular to the street. Well, he was pretty blatantly stalling for time for the group as a whole to get their story straight. "...Should really get a group name nailed down before the media lands on one themselves." he added. That was around the time he saw the rainbow bloom in the sky to his south, arresting his forward momentum into a one-armed handstand at the top of a billboard. Taking a moment to press "Like" and "Subscribe" with his thumb, he swung his body back the way he'd come and kicked the advertisement to bring himself into a tight spin, shooting across the town in the direction of the signal.

---

"HEADS UP! Rebound's voice called down from someplace up high. It might've been a little careless to take the high-angle approach with so many weather manipulators in town, but Rebound had a certain fondness for dropping right out of the sun, which on this occasion put the rainbow right behind him as his shadow started growing on the front lawn. When he came down, there was no slowing at all, just a full-speed crash into the earth. However, rather than flattening out, he popped back up like a rubber ball, bleeding off the excess energy with a rapid spin that hid his features until he snapped out of it into a light-footed landing, bowing lowly.

"Hey. Hope I didn't make you wait, wasn't sure I was invited." as he straightened up, he put a hand out, and a food delivery bag dropped out of the sky into his outstretch palm, "So, I brought some food along as a peace offering. Didn't know what people liked, so it's just like cheese, crackers, and cold cuts, but it's better than showing up empty handed, right?"

The Shield Maiden flew back to Victor's apartment on her winged sandals. Once there, she changed back into Victor with a boom of thunder. Immediately, the young man flopped onto the bed, drained from all of the energy he had expended while transformed into the valkyrie.

Hilde hopped onto the bed beside him. "That was the longest amount of time you've spent in Maiden-form yet," the cat purred. "You're going to need to train more to avoid something like this happening again. Still, well done today, Victor."

Victor mumbled something unintelligible before he began to snore softly. Hilde curled up beside him.

---

Victor slept heavily, only awakening when his phone started buzzing from Small Fry's text. He eventually shows up at Jimmy Z's house, holding a shopping bag with two 2-liters of Mountain Dew. "Hey. What's goin' on now?" he mumbles, still groggy with sleep.

Meghana nibbles on some crackers, and sips some tea, but it seems she's doing it out of politeness more than hunger or thirst. After she's finished her quick snack, she creates a tiny rainshower to wash her hands, then some swirling wind to dry them.

She then looks at Small Fry with a...sisterly expression?

To her: "You're quite stubborn when it comes to justice and fairness, aren't you? Well, rest assured: I won't let Ragnar off the hook. I'm mainly searching for him to make sure he hasn't hurt himself or others. Once I'm certain of that, I'll extract that apology from him, and then return to my country...without Ragnar. No offense, but America has never been my favorite place."

"A word of caution, size-shifter: don't be too adamantine in your morality. If you are, you may break rather than bend. There are plenty of flawed heroes and anti-heroes in this world...rejecting them all permanently will lead to a lonely existence."

To everyone: "I thank you all again. Saving a wielder of a so-called Celestial Weapon is no small feat. Well, technically you saved two, since Ragnar fell in battle. While we part now, I'm confident fate will bring us together again."

A cool wind lifts her into the sky. She waves as she flies off.

"Goodbye! I'm off to find Ragnar."

And she's gone, headed in the direction of the Last Round tavern, where Ragnar said he was going to drink his sorrow and frustration away.

Behind his mask, Rebound blinked when Small Fry told him that she usually hunted microorganisms for food, rocking back slightly on his heels. A moment later, he leaned a bit closer, scratching his chin as he tilted his head to the side slightly.

"...You know, that has wild implications about the changes to your physiology. You don't seem to be suffering any signs of malnutrition though. You still get hungry though?" he seemed to chew on that notion for a bit as Ms. LaViolette flitted back towards the house to make some tea. Biology wasn't exactly the focus of his studies ... but, given her heat and light-based abilities, Rebound found himself wondering if Small Fry even was a biological anymore. Maybe she was more akin to a sapient wave form, and what she gained out of eating was less nutrition and more fuel for her high-energy expressions? How could he even verify that hypothesis?

"Soooooo ... we're just having this talk wide out in the open where anyone can see?" he asked, gesturing around at the houses lining the street. In his mind, he was imagining a Channel 10 van moving closer and closer, and the address of the group's base of operations suddenly being very public information. The land lord seemed pretty chill about it. So, Rebound shrugged and let his tea bag steep.

"I kept an ear out for Ragnar, but if he got into any mischief last night the cops aren't talking about it." he said, looking at the fine silvery chain that Meghana had apparently made for him. He felt a little bad about taking it, being a late arrival to the whole thing he certainly didn't feel like he deserved any compensation. On the other hand, if she put in the effort to create it, rejecting it seemed rude. For the moment, he settled on tucking it into one of his jacket's inside pockets, nodding his head with a brief, "Thank you."

"Okay, so, kid genius in need of aid, sounds like a good cause." he added, "There is one thing that's been bothering me though ... why'd Ms. Blount ask us about Omnitech?" after a moment, he gestured over towards Victor with a thumb, "Also, is the kid coming along? Does he need a ride?"

"By that logic, maybe you should see if you can metabolize some of the Rocketeer's fuel? Well, that reaction might be a bit much ... maybe if we diluted it first." he considered. He had a little experience with the brain trying to map something alien onto sensations that were more familiar. A kind of superhuman synesthesia ... it generally meant that the body was trying to communicate something that the body lacked the tools explain properly. "Do you experience cravings? That might be a safer place to approach the question from."

While he was puzzling that out in his head, Small Fry asked a question of her own. Behind his lenses, he blinked, considering the question.

"...Huhn." he bobbed his head to the other side, as though he were shifting gears, "Never really thought about it in those terms before. Didn't have a lot of use for 'normal' growing up, and at the start, things were moving pretty fast..." finally he started, lifting his arms in a helpless shrug.

"I guess the first time I realized that this was just my life now, instead of just a thing I could do was the first time it rained." he smiled a bit behind his mask, swirling the tea around in the cup for a moment to check the color before setting the teabag to the side. "I was asleep when it started, you see, but I've got a kind of sixth sense for motion. Of course, I knew I had it at the time, it's kind of critical to my bullet dodging routine, and how I do the whole 'kick dudes without looking at them' thing. Super useful when you flip, spin, and tumble as much as I do."

"So, I'm sleepin' away, and in the middle of the quiet dark I jolt awake because I get a signal. Small object, fourteen miles per hour, coming down above me -BAM- hits the roof. Then another, and another, more and more, pouring down, filling up everything that I can 'see' with that sense. It's like static, bright, abrasive, irregular, but I can't close my eyes or cover my ears, and I sure can't turn off the weather, so mother nature is pummeling my brain with junk sense data. Couldn't hardly hear myself think, much less come up with a solution."

"The thing is, while it was rough at first, as time went by and I got used to it, it sorta melted together into white noise and I could see the totality of it instead of trying to parse and track every individual drop. The street just kind of unfolded out around me, each building, each tree, each car picked out in relief, dark little islands of relative quiet, some with little lights of their own as people moved around inside their homes. I never felt so connected to the world."

"I enjoy the rain these days, very zen." he paused for a moment, lifting his mask to drain the tea cup, "Not always good for hero work, but very zen."

Jimmy has been edging his lawn chair closer as the two supes talk about their powers and unique perspectives. When there's a break in the chatter, he smirks, and gives his $0.02.

"Fuckin' A, ya'll! I'm a jaded, anti-establishment punk, but that got me in the feels! Wonder if I can make a song outta it? 'Subatomic Raindrops'? 'Kinetic Quantum Rebel Yell'?"

"Makes me wanna have powers...hey, if ya'll ever find somethin' radical, like an alien artifact or a power ring, lemme have a shot at it, huh? Don't matter if it's dangerous! I'm gonna die young anyway! Might as well go out with a bang...and a double middle-finger salute!"

He scoots his chair back inside the garage to escape the sun's rays, and mutters to himself, still considering your stories.