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?"