The Adventure

To Rebound: "Hmmm...intriguing...though I don't remember that accident. Shockodile, though? Doesn't he wear a pink tutu? No, that was a What If? episode...I'm sure you remember the one!"

"This machine...you say the po-po got it? How keen are you on requisitioning that thing? And by requisition, I mean steal, if the cops are too moronic and authoritarian to give it to us!"

"It may save us a lot of time if we already have a functional template, no matter which direction we go in. But if ya'll are too [rolls eyes] moral and law-abiding, I guess I can start from scratch...."

To Small Fry: "Yeah, it's arguably stupid and reckless...[pause]...OK, it definitely is. But look who you're talkin' to! Reckless is my jam!"

"There are always complications when traveling the multiverse. It'd take a lot of energy for you to travel to another reality, even more if you want to become a 'living portal' and take people with you. Though I suppose I could create an add-on to boost you...but then how would you return here, if a jump depleted you?"

"Rebound here got lucky. And since he's transferring energy, not people, it's a different story. Still, really digging into his scanning numbers may help us with your issue!"

"Also, there are people...organizations...things...that don't take kindly to multiversal travelers. Some are just lame-o's who worry about 'upsetting the balance.' Others are vicious beings who enjoy destroying someone who's out of their element."

"There's less danger in simply 'resetting' you...actually, there's very little danger, cuz I'll make sure everything is perfect! And ya'll can double-check my work if you want!"

"What'll it be, Lily? And yes, Mom, I know this is a big decision! But eventually we gotta make a choice!"

Rocketeer finishes off her lemonade and contemplates. "I'd rather not have cops breathing down my neck, but if time's of the essence, I wouldn't mind stealing the machine. Shouldn't be too hard for us to do it quietly with our abilities. Hell, we might even be able to have it back before they miss it. Of course, if we do have to do it loud, then I'll bring the explosives."

"Lily!! Wait! I really have to reiterate with strength, clarity, and oh-my-god-you-can't-ignore-this intensity: you're out of sync with reality!"

No response, not even a flicker of light to indicate Eliza was heard. Small Fry is gone.

"Welp. She can make her own decisions...but...."

Now it's Eliza who's uncharacteristically quiet.

"Her optimism and...well...naivete were really annoying...but she's the one who talked me out of running away for good...."

Sensing their master's distress, three robo-hummingbirds alight on her shoulders and buzz in her ears. Whatever they "say" causes Eliza to smile.

"Right. I want my freedom, so I can't criticize others for following their own path...."

She turns to the team.

"Guess this project's on hold. But I've got another mission, if ya'll are up for it: a nearby source supposedly has an impregnium ingot they're willing to part with. Impregnium! What I can do with that stuff...."

"There's only one problem: I came into contact with this source on the dark web, and they think I'm a...uhh...35-year-old dude. And some other stuff...had to make up a backstory involving corporate espionage, sovereign citizens, and adrenochrome-guzzling Hollywood elites. I don't wanna burst that fiction...don't look at me like that, Mom! If people on the dark web knew I was a young girl, they'd never take me seriously!"

"So, can ya'll pick this ingot up for me?"

---

If this mission doesn't sound appealing, Hero Help Now (the premier website connecting heroes to those in need) has a new listing:

"Fungelbert Cobb has appeared again, like he does every 10 years. Two young boys are already lost to the swamp where the evil bastard resides. We're tired of being ignored, we're tired of everyone telling us Cobb is a rural legend. We want the boys saved and Cobb destroyed for good. If interested, respond to this message, or come to Highsmith's Store at Rattlesnake township."

You know that Rattlesnake is waaayy out in the boonies west of Small Town.

"...Well, it's a big decision," Rocketeer reasons to herself after Small Fry vanishes. She'd like to be optimistic, but she has the feeling she won't be seeing Lily for a while. "I suppose we don't need to steal that machine back now. Not that I'd be opposed to doing it later anyway. 'Perpetual' motion machine or not, it'd be a fascinating study." She grins at the thought of having some time alone with the machine in question.

She politely requests another glass from Sarah... which she promptly spittakes when Eliza mentions impregnium. "Impregnium?? Really? All the way out here? You don't think that sounds far too good to be true?" Rocketeer raises an eyebrow. She's ninety-five percent certain that there is no impregnium. "If Rebound here is up for it, we can go right now. Just don't get your hopes up."

The new listing on Hero Help Now appears in the corner of her visor. She enhances the visual to fill her entire field of vision, reading through it before collapsing the window. "We've also got a so-called rural legend on HHN. Sounds like a load, but two boys went missing." She looks to Rebound for his opinion. "What'll it be?"

Five minutes ago, on the other side of Small Town...

Tomo strolls down Hamlet Way with her resume in hand, ready for a job interview for a position at OmniCorp. All of a sudden, a nearby cornflake cart sellling 10 dollar bowls of cornflakes bursts into flames! The owner of the cornflake cart wails in despair, his life's work burning up before his eyes. Tomo pauses to look at the unfolding ruination of a man's life.

"Oh. Uh..."

Looking around, Tomo sees a conveniently located fire extinguisher mounted on a wall. Plodding over to it, Tomo tugs at it, but fails to account for how heavy it is compared to her skinny-ass arms. With a ting, the fire extinguisher comes off of the wall and hits the ground.

A second passes.

Then the fire extinguisher springs a leak, slamming into Tomo's gut and rocketing up, up into the sky with the high pitched Fwwwwiiiiii! of pressurized foam, zooming off into the atmosphere. The man puts out the fire by pouring some milk on it.

---

Five minutes later, the Caldwell residence...

The others might hear a Fwwwwiiiiiiiiiiiiii approaching rapidly towards their location. They most definitely feel the THOOM as a blur of a girl wrapped around a fire extinguisher smashes into the backyard, launching dirt into the air as the impact contributes about 2 feet of depth to Eliza's hole.As you look into the crater, you see a waiflike girl wearing an oversized hoodie with what you'd assume is her own name on it (but who does that?). A fire extinguisher, weakly farting out the last of the pressurized foam, pokes out of her stomach. She looks kind of familiar. Like that one bus driver. Or that one girl working at the DMV. Or that entire team of construction workers a couple of streets over. Or...huh, there are a lot of people around town who look like her, come to think of it.

The clicking flash of a camera goes off next to you. It's that girl, taking a picture of her own body with her phone. With a few taps, she sends the picture to a group chat in a channel named #dumb-ways-to-die.

Unlike her up-for-anything daughter, Sarah can only handle so much. Eliza returning home, plus meeting new superhero friends, reduced her timidity somewhat...but with Small Fry's abrupt departure, Eliza's dark web misadventures, and this strange girl(s) plummeting into her backyard, she can do nothing but gape for several seconds.

Eventually: "Uh...are you OK, stranger? Is that you down there? Are you you?"

"...Would you like some lemonade?"

Tomo blinks owlishly at the questions. But not like the wise kind of owl. More like an reclusive species of owl coming into contact with people for the first time.

"Umm...yes to all of those? I am kind of thirsty."

After checking the time on her phone, Tomo looks off into the distance, scratching her cheek absentmindedly as she calculates the time it'll take to get to her job interview on the other side of town, ignoring the robot animals, supers, and single mom looking at her.

"...Oh, I guess I can't make the job interview. Phooey."

After getting over her initial shock, Rocketeer can't help but laugh at the new absurdity injected into the situation. "I'll give you eight-point-five points. Minus two for apparently dying," her confusion is obvious as she looks at the corpse then back at Tomo, "but I'm giving a half point back for landing right in a grave. It was very considerate of you."

Jokes aside, Rocketeer is mentally trying to figure out just what the girl's deal is. Definitely some sort of supe. Did she duplicate before she died? I didn't see it, though.

"Hey, aren't you...? No, it couldn't be." She feels like she's seen this girl an awful lot while flying around, but she dismisses that feeling for now. "I can fly you to that interview if you want. What's your name? I'm Rocketeer."

Tomo looks at Rocketeer (or more specifically, her rocket suit) with detached interest.

"...I'm Tomo. Umm, I'll take the ride if it's not too much trouble. It's at the OmniCorp office, next to the OmniBuffet with the little popcorn shrimps."

Reaching into her hoodie pocket, Tomo pulls out a greasy paper napkin with some popcorn shrimp wrapped inside and pops one in her mouth, slowly munching on it like a small animal (that is, like how a small animal would munch, not like how one would munch on a small animal).

"Yeah, I know the place. I'll have you there in a tick, Tomo." Rocketeer marches up to Tomo and and easily scoops her up. "Just hold on tight. I'm a liiittle bit faster than a fire extinguisher." She grins.

As her jets start to roar to life, she looks at Eliza. "Sorry, got to go. You can just send Rebound and me the coordinates of the pickup spot, okay?" With that, she takes to the air in a burst of heat and light. She flies as fast as she can in order to make it to the OmniOffice on time, limiting her speed just enough to avoid peeling the skin from Tomo's face.

The sudden acceleration launches the half-chewed popcorn shrimp from Tomo's mouth as the wind catches her cheeks and flaps them with a rapid "Abababababa!". Tomo resigns herself to her fate, lying limply in Rocketeer's arms and letting her limbs flail about like a car dealership's floppy dancing tube man on fast forward.

"What the---?! Wait, we've gotta talk about this! I gotta give you a flash drive! I gotta update my contact on----"

Seeing that Rocketeer is out of earshot, she stops hollering...then changes her mind, takes a deep breath, and prepares to unleash a torrent of expletives. But seeing her mother right there, she instead just mutters a few f-bombs to herself.

"And that weird snacking girl left a body behind?!"

Sarah is just as concerned as her daughter. Since Tomo technically died on their property, could the "new" Tomo sic the courts on them?

"Ummm...I agree, Eliza. Definitely rude to just die like that...but she didn't seem concerned, or blame us, so maybe it's OK? If that's her power, it's a really weird one...."

"Why don't you put that body in your...what was it? Refrigerator? Cryo unit? That'll keep it from decomposing. Maybe Tomo will tell us what to do with it if she returns."

"Good idea, Mom. And it's called the Cryo-Sarcophagus of Preservation. Alright, team! Grab that body and put it in the CSoP. Be gentle!"

The robo-animals gingerly lift the dead Tomo (with some of them quizzically sniffing her) and carry her inside. Eliza follows behind, and they all go up to the attic, where the CSoP is located. Tomo is sealed inside, the unit is activated, and so the body will be preserved...until the CSoP blows a breaker again.

Meanwhile, Rocketeer and Tomo are making good time...until "WEATHER ANOMALY" flashes across Rocketeer's HUD. Before she can do anything, streaking lightning surrounds her, and the wind swirls in strange patterns. A figure launches itself up from a pine tree below, where apparently it had been sitting on a branch....?

Rocketeer is once again face-to-face with Ragnar...who is clearly still on his bender. His hair is grimy, his clothes are mud-spattered, and he's desperately in need of mouthwash.

He's also twisted and folded his red cape into a sort of sling, which carries a 24 pack of Bud Light. Ragnar is vigorously drinking one can now.

"Hail, Iron Maiden! Looks like you repaired your armor...it looks better than ever! As for me, I've been having a merry time! Care for a drink?"

Then his demeanor becomes slightly more somber.

"Meghana found me, and we chatted a bit. Things are...still tense on that front. But I'm supposed to apologize to you all for rushing off like that. I should've stuck around, healed up, and then given you that boon. And I will give you that boon...uhh...eventually. Once I sober up...."

"Anyway, those necklaces Meghana gave you should tide you over until...well, until some point in the future."

Now he eyes Tomo curiously.

"Hello, listless girl! Has the armored one saved you from some calamity? And...hmmm...do you have a twin sister? I swear I've had a one-night stand with a woman who looked exactly like you...."

"Or maybe you're the one I slept with? HAH! Why didn't I think of that first? Tell me, do you remember a long, eventful evening with the hunk of man floating in front of you?"

Maybe it's the old popcorn shrimp. Or maybe it's the high speeds at vertigo inducing heights. Or maybe it's the sickening mouth feel of the bugs flattened in between her teeth. Or maybe it's Ragnar's Trashanova behavior. Whatever the reason, Tomo takes one look at Ragnar and vomits on him.

"...Bleeeh—!"

Not long after Rocketeer and Tomo leave the Caldwell residence, the presence of a sleek back car becomes ever more noticeable. Outside, looking at the vapour trail leaving the house are a pair of people who could, honestly, have looked more out of place in context but in this situation were perhaps on the level of weirdness.

One, a tall and well muscled young lady, has a pair of sunglasses pulled down to her nose so she can look over the top of them. She's wearing a sleeveless red cheogsam with a pair of cuffed black trousers, and her long black hair is tied near the small of her back with a thin band. She has a smirk playing across her blunted features.

Beside her, wearing a finely tailored black suit, is a white tiger. He too is wearing sunglasses, and has a folded jacket hanging over one arm. He seems a lot less interested in the pair who left, and instead has a noticeably concerned expression despite his feline face. The seconds drag on before one speaks.

"Valentina-" He begins, with a deep bass rumble.

"Fei-fei." She replies, not missing a beat.

He pauses, and for a moment he shoots her the withering look someone who is so done with life might give someone they're hired to put up with. Eventually he sighs and moves past it, choosing to ignore the statement although he never intends to use it.

"I understand it was a prophecy, but are we sure this is the right place?"

"I don't see anywhere else." She replies, her eyes snapping back to the door. "Besides, I heard someone mention something about a flash drive."

"You did." He nods. "How?"

She shrugs, and takes a few steps away from the car. It seems for a moment as though she's about to run off, but he reaches out and catches her arm. He's rewarded with a frustrated grunt, but doesn't release his grip. Instead, gently, he guides her toward the door to the house before lifting an oversized paw to knock at the door.

"No leaving until you've introduced yourself to the mistress of the house. Ma'am."

Oh hell... This guy. She brings herself to a stop and hovers in place. She considers immediately blowing him off, but he would probably catch up even in his drunken state, so she humors him for now.

"I'll have to pass on the drink. No hard feelings about the boon. Just shower, alright? I can smell you from here, and it is not pleasant." Her helmet closes completely, covering the bottom half of her face with a mask. Normally this feature is for filtering harmful airborne substances, but Ragnar's stink is enough to qualify as such in her opinion.