The girls gives him a nod and a kind smile.

"I would be honored."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:14, Fri 14 May 2021.

If Max noticed Svetlana's discomfort at his compliment, he definitely didn't show it. Rather, he picked up on the odd term she said. "Unstable molecules? What the hell is that? I mean that doesn't sound very safe? Could they explode or something? Unstable is never a good word," he said as he glanced around the hall. "And you're right, they probably all come with baggage. It's not like any of them are just here for our well-being, right? I mean, they all have an ulterior motive, whether it's to recruit us to fight their stupid battles, or to keep an eye on us to make sure we don't cause any problems."

Otto's approach towards Steel Ninja was met with a pair of girls, one of whom he recognized and waved at in return.

"Ah, Gwen! Wonderful to see you at such an unprecedented event. I imagine you've taken interest in the giant sentient automaton as well? Ah, but my manners." With a mild flourish, Otto took a gentlemanly bow to Jubilee. "Doctor Otto Octavius, at your service." He tapped a finger to the goggles still covering his eyes. "Love the glasses."

Rico gave a nod and a frown, taking a relatively slow pace toward the booth to make sure the younger girl could keep up, even in her nervous state. While she talked, she glanced around to see if there was any more excitement that might turn dangerous.

"Yeah, but all these groups are surrounded by trouble. That's the deal with having powers. Very few of us can avoid either the itch to do something when we see people in need, or someone wanting to exploit us and what we have. Me, I want to use my powers to protect people. Feels like the Avengers would want to give me that chance. But then, I don't know what these schools are really aiming to accomplish, whether it's looking for the new generation of these heroes or just helping us be as normal as we can be. Still, if you're afraid of trouble, putting types like Captain America and Iron Man between you and danger isn't the worst idea." The older teen looked to Abigail, satisfied that nothing was going to explode or invade for the next few seconds.

"So what is it you'd like most out of these places? What are you looking for in a school for super kids?"

"To pass my classes and go home? And to do that without getting stared at?" She tried her best to make sure the older girl didn't have to slow too much.

"It's something I don't really understand, when my condition came out, my parents handed me my ticket to this gathering like it was my Confirmation or my 18th birthday. Like it was something to be proud of!"

"Sorry"

"Hey Octopus.  I think this is a codenames kinda party.  Just kinda checking out the schools.  And kinda nice to see something like this and not need to fight it."  If he thinks it's a sentient automaton that must mean there's no one inside, right?

Svetlana was just as glad not to point out that she meant they may all have baggage with her. If she thought about it, all of those big teams had probably clashed with members of her extended family... and more pressingly, all of them might become targets for her invention, if they have not already.

“Unstable here just means...” she paused. Max did not seem very technical-minded. “Easily changed. Not attached to their form. You know... they put that in their uniforms because they all have powers that might damage normal clothes. This way the clothes can adapt to the wearer or to hazards – whatever they are exposed to. They should actually be much safer than what we are wearing now, unless there is some way to sabotage them that they are keeping out of public knowledge.” The girl paused again, uncertain. Was she babbling?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:51, Sat 15 May 2021.

Electricity had a sound. He had always known this from hearing his father talk about the hum of power lines or from the rare moments he had visiting the man at his job. Ever since that fateful night though he had a much deeper connection to that sound. Everywhere in the building and even from some of the people present that sound emanated. Some had echoes stronger than others with most simply having the holoemiters. More than one seemed to have suits or companions powered with echoes of the evasive energy. Part of Callum wanted to reach out to draw in that power, to connect with the blue arcs he see in his mind’s eye. Already he felt his fingers stretch out from his palm with a familiar yearning.

Dry mouthed he instead approached the table for the X-Men. Already his father and mother were being embraced and consoled by members of the school. This seemed a good opportunity to slip away and maybe let Fate take its course. He had seen one of the girls at the X-Men booth when he had entered before. Now was a good enough time to make a connection before going to school. So with a bit of sly confidence spreading over his easy smile, the blonde haired boy moved to stand near Jubilee and her growing group of associates.

“Hey, name is Callum. Everyone here considering the school for the, uh, X-Men over there?”

In reply to Leviathan (msg # 70):

Ricochet nodded to Abigail in understanding.

"They probably think it's your ticket to special treatment and higher-funded education and maybe scholarships to college or something. Parent stuff. To me it sounds like you might want to have a chat over at the X-Men booth. They've been working to keep super powered kids as close to a mundane life as can be for a while now, so they've definitely got the experience you're looking for. Think we should head there first instead? The Avengers tend to be a bit more out there and flashy, y'know?"

Otto took pause and then gave a smile, gesturing towards her.

"Ah, I'd imagined you'd have worn the full getup were that the expectation, but I see now. Yes, Ghost-Spider, it is still good to see you." With that, he turned his attention up to Steel Ninja once again.

"Good morning, Steel Ninja. From the sounds of it, you're two people, is that right? You referred to yourself as being the pilot, I believe. You've certainly drawn attention, though I'm not sure that was your intent."



The short and squat teenager by the girls and the Doom Vader seemed to have quite a bit more electricity humming through his body than normal, and not the same vibration that the holofilters were buzzing with. It seemed mostly focused around his torso and left the rest of his body the same gentle thrum as would be expected of a normal person, and it traveled in an oddly inhuman way, at that. It was as though he'd coiled this energy around himself.



Otto turned to face the newcomer, still distracted by the goings on.

"Hm? Oh, the schools. Not all of us, no. I can't speak for the others, but I will be joining the Fantastic Four. The name is Otto, though I suppose at such an event 'Octopus' will do just as well."

"Squirrels aren't venomous? No wonder I'm flunking bio" Jubilee joked. "My powers have caused me some hassles but I'm glad I didn't have to be bitten by any spiders. Sounds like that would leave a super-rash."

"Thanks. I'm Jubilee" Jubilee said and smiled, glad her shades were finally getting the reaction she always felt they should. "Doctor? is this one of those things where ya look 15 but you're really 150?"

She gave Arc a friendly wave. "Yo. I'm Jubilee, one of the X-Men. Are you hoping to join? It'd be nice to have some people my own age around."

She raised an eyebrow when Octopus said he was going to join the Fantastic Four. "How're ya gonna do that, doc? There's already four of them. I'm no math wiz but four of four doesn't leave room for any more."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:07, Sat 15 May 2021.

Paul stands a little back from the group surrounding Steel Ninja and listens to them converse.  It seemed like people were already coming together and making friends.  It was so easy for them all, why wasn't it ever that way for him?  He probably should just speak up and join their discussion.  A part of him wanted to very badly.

You're not like them anymore, remember?  You're not a kid now, you're a big dumb stone giant!  You don't belong here, if you ever did.  From now on its just you, by yourself, alone, so you'd better get used to it.  Could have been cool, you might have had a chance to get to know some of them before, but no you screwed that up real good.  Your Mother is right; if you're looking for someone to blame just go stare in the mirror rock pile!  Now stop wasting time and just go back and find your parents.  Maybe they've finished interrogating all the recruiters and you can get out of here.

He stood there, staring at them all, unsure of whether to go or stay.  The truth was he'd be miserable if he went back, but staying here and watching everyone have fun wasn't much better.  Maybe he'd just wander around for a little while before he went back to his Mother and Father.  Maybe it was just best if he was alone.

Then, as he was turning to go, he heard Jubilee's reply to the Octopus kid and something happened that hadn't in a very long time...

He laughed, a deep belly laugh that rolled up from somewhere way down inside and wouldn't stop.  He wasn't even sure why he'd found it so funny, but somehow it blew away the gloom inside of him and for a few moments he felt like himself again.

Abigail smiled. "We'll make our way back there. But we'll go to the Avengers first."

It's getting busy, but it feels good to be doing something.

"I hope dad doesn't drink too much."

She glanced back at her friend. "I'm sorry again. I shouldn't have said that out loud. He's excitable today."

Back at the boarding school Miss Harris had been rather adamant concerning events like this: One always dresses up for these occasions. It will impress your equals and baffle your inferiors.

Well, Miss Harris, here we are. So let's put this to the test, Victoria mused as she got off the limousine that brought her to the shield base. Despite Miss Harris' advice to the contrary she had nevertheless decided to tone it down and had opted merely for the custom-made Lagerfeld overcoat combined with a $15,000 tailored Cifonelli suit. So, nothing special, really.

Once in the ballroom, Victoria made a beeline to the SHIELD reception desk and addressed the assembled agents:

"Listen! I have an appointment with one of your superheroes. Be a dear and go fetch him. He shouldn't be too hard to find as he apparently dresses in a flag. I guess you don't have too many of those. Lieutenant Liberty or Major Flag-Face or something like that."

With a glance at the Cartier on her right wrist, she added "Tell him he has 18 minutes and 13 seconds left to find me. One would expect punctuality from such a treasured national icon, n'est-ce pas?" and strode off into the hall, grinning inwardly and ignoring any further objections.

Soon enough, life caught up with Victoria when she discovered a teenage boy unashamedly staring at her. Well, not at her face, anyway. Still pondering just what kind of violence would be deemed a suitable reply by Miss Harris, she bumped into a tall statue some imbecile had put into clothing and left in the way. Before the fact that the statue actually moved and even laughed fully registered on her mind she shot off her mouth again:

"Merde! Shouldn't you be in the garden with all the other lawn ornaments?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:17, Sun 16 May 2021.

“Yeah well, seems the best fit so far. My Dad is over there talking to them now so we’ll see what’s what when he gets back.”

A half wave and half salute was given in return to Jubilee. The name was cute and so was the girl, at least he could get used to that sort of environment. He relaxed a little now, feeling himself surrounded by those of his own age and perhaps at least his own nerves, though he didn’t think the Doc kid looked very nervous. A jump was given when the seven foot tall mountain gave a laugh though. Callum nearly scrambled out of the way as if the laugher was an avalanche, but he couldn’t help but given his own laughter in reply.

Afterall, how often does a mountain laugh.

In reply to Resonance (msg # 66):

Rendal smiled again and blushed slightly at Resonances reply.

Then gestured for her to go first, Dr strange had told him he had to be polite to ladies, and followed behind as they headed towards the avengers recruiting table

Stone Cold was still trying to regain his composure when he noticed the young man react to him.  He hadn't meant to scare anyone, not that he could help it in his present form.  But even as a twinge of guilt formed, he noticed the boy was laughing along with him!  Somehow that made him feel better.  A little sheepishly he called out to Arc:

"Um, sorry.  I wasn't trying to alarm anyone, I just thought it was pretty funny is all.  Nice to laugh for a change."

"I probably should have.  My dad will freak if my identity gets out.  I thought this would be good enough and I wouldn't miss out on the food.  A white suit is not good for eating in."



"It was... pretty rough the next day.  But it was worth it when my powers kicked in."

"People who like my shades and laugh at my jokes? Man oh man, this is the greatest day ever" Jubilee to Stone Cold said with a grin. "Nice to meet you, big guy. Hi, I'm Jubilee, the youngest X-Man, and the funniest."

"What do you do, Callum? I can generate these little plasma fireworks from my hand."

She looked over at Citizen V. "Nice threads, princess. You Tony Stark's daughter or somethin'?

“Like nobody else ever makes a mistake” Grey shot back to his detractors and made a strange sound of gears grinding. Cam began to wonder if the robot was somehow younger than him in a mental/emotional way. Was that possible? Looking at all those who had gathered near him, Cam gave a cheery welcome. “Hey, guys! You guessed it. Grey is a seven foot tall robot who I like to call a mini mecha. And I am his fifteen year old pilot, Cam. I am studying robotic engineering but I don’t even have a masters yet, much less a doctorate. Good point about the Fantastic Four but maybe they are taking trainees for the Future Foundation. Or maybe SHIELD is a better choice for us techie types. What do you think?”

Cam held his hand up to Stone Cold. “High five, big guy!”
“Oh, I like the shades too.” Cam added. “And those metal arms. Must make projects so much easier to have a helping hand or eight.”
“I guess I am the tech ninja and Grey is the steel part. Don’t worry. I told him not to touch the holo buttons again.”
This message was last edited by the player at 20:37, Sun 16 May 2021.

He gave a small touch of his knuckles to what he assumed was the elbow of he solid figure. The blue blazer giving a little shrug before he turned to look at the others.

“No problem big guy. I think everyone is a little on edge in this place. Lots of people, high stakes, and probably more than one person here that could blow up at any point.”

There was a nervous edge to his voice at the last line before Jubilee caught his attention once more. That smile quickly returning at mention of her fireworks display.

“I’d like to see that. I just do some stuff with electricity. More of a nuisance really but maybe I can do something with it one day.” Besides shutting down a city was the part he wanted to say, but he doubted now was the time to bring that detail up. Let the teachers handle that problem was what his Mother would have said.

Mention of a new person made him glance over at the well dressed woman that moved into the group. He tilted his head slightly when she referred to the stone figure as a lawn ornament. He didn’t want to laugh at that one, but he did have to bite his lip some to prevent the humor. Hopefully the big guy could take a joke but he wasn’t sure if this was the crowd to test the idea.

"Huh," was Max's initial reply. "So, they could put these unstable molecules into normal clothes, so I wouldn't have to wear a lame costume? I guess that would be cool." He paused as he glanced around the room, noticing what looked like a walking statue, and some kid with four robotic arms sticking out of his back. Talk about weird...

"So did you have a plan for today, who to talk to or whatever, or just play it by ear? I figure I gotta come out of here with somewhere to go, just so I don't get harassed anymore."

With the discussion of powers and technology, Otto allowed his coat to fall open and the metal arms coiled around his torso to relax, unfurling to a good six feet long each. Two propped themselves to the ground as a sort of stabilization by his legs, while the other two began to mimic his hand motions. Each was tipped with a highly articulated set of claws, centered around what appeared to be red-lensed cameras. It turned out that the young man was much thinner than his initial bulk had presented.

"Well, the Fantastic Four sponsors the Future Foundation, and since they've a goal to collect the brightest minds of our generation, I'm sure those of us with our own robotics will have a tentacle in the door already, as they say."



His attention had been so focused on the mini-mecha, Otto hadn't even registered the looming presence of Stone Cold until the finely-dressed girl had approached. The realization brought out the automatic startled response: his metal arms quickly scuttled him a few feet away from the larger teen, before he had a chance to stop and assess the situation. Once he did, a claw reached up to adjust his goggles while his actual hands straightened out his shirt and coat.

"Excuse me, miss, but that seems an inconsiderate way to greet anyone at an event for the unusual such as this. Would you care to introduce yourself?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:14, Mon 17 May 2021.

The teens began to mingle and bond with each other.  Or was that making cliques for those who weren't involved in the bonding.

The clock chimed an hour.  Most people has arrived on time, slightly late, fashionably late or just plain late.  But there was schedule to be kept to.  Most of the kids no doubt had school of some inadequate kind in the morning and even Galactus would have to wait if he showed up.  Well, maybe not Galactus.  Some of the clock-watching adult heroes soothed their sore autographing hands and relaxed their smile muscles, hoping that some cosmic threat would liven up the party.

But it was not to be.

The Avengers booth had opened.  A very familiar hammer rested on the table between the Avengers members and staff and their visitors.  No one seemed able to move the mighty weapon.

The Future Foundation had opened their booth as well.  Sue Storm was completely in charge, talking to different people across some unseen communications system, telekinetically moving some of the younger visitors away from plate of cocktails and delegating events and people to them.

The SHIELD 'fort' had a small cadre of young cadets standing so ramrod straight there was speculation that they were actually Life Model Decoys.  'Normal' siblings of 'special' applicants seemed almost frantic to sign up for SHIELD's premier military academy and make themselves into heroes.

The X-Men had an obvious young mutant shyly greeting visitors.  His skin was green, his eyes yellow and hairless head elongated like some kind of cucumber.  Here at least, he seemed ever less afraid of his surroundings and actually began to smile.

There was a very red, white and blue kiosk with star-spangled bunting.  All of the adults and teens gathered around seemed to be dressed in very patriotic US symbols and styling.

There was an overwrought and guady tent-like setup resembling the opulent décor of centuries past.  The staff and students were dressed in the best lace-and-perfumed wigged finery of the 17th-Century.    Perhaps these 'Hellions' were some kind of new fraternity of young heroes.

The Roxxon Corp had a very professional office set up.  Large display and holographic screens offered to pay young heroes for 'apprenticeships', the only group present that offered actual compensation for schooling.

Through the skyscraper windows, a raucous group of protesters were beginning to worry the local cops and the SHIELD agents behind them.  The young marchers all had some kind of 'reptilian' aspects to their logos, symbols and common iconography.

But it was not just formal organizations that were of interest.

From their name tags, a young woman working for SHIELD, Valerie Cooper was engaged in a debate with an also young lawyer named Matthew Murdock.  His cane and dark glasses indicated blindness but he seemed confident about his environment.  The two were debating upcoming proposed metahuman registration information.  She was for required registration, he was not.  Some of the younger people were joining into the debate.  This did not seem to worry the two who had begun it.  It almost seemed, even to the youngest onlookers, that the debate was almost a kind of flirting.

A young gaudily-dressed woman had commandeered a table and was placing various brightly colored and complex objects on it.  She was dressed in the manner of a game show host or old-fashioned carnival huckster.  Her reputation preceded her; Penny Arcade, daughter of the daring assassin, Arcade.  A small crowd of curious onlookers began to gather around the girl in motley attire.

A young couple danced, fascinating all those nearby.  The whispers spread around them.  A few moment of eavesdropping reveals them to be young Starfox and the newer X-Men Stacy X.  Both were rumored to have supernal powers of attraction and it was hard for any one else to deny.  Both were breathtakingly attractive.  Stacy's ophidian features seemed heavenly rather than alien to most eyes.

An enigmatic figure, dressed only in dark, loose garments, moved largely unnoticed from shadows and from other shadows.  No onlooker could easily remember the overlooked stranger moving to darkness as well as from it.

OOC:
I've been very impressed by how well your characters are interacting and am leaving that largely alone.  And I am a little pressed for time.

This post is really a dramatized questionnaire.   I will learn so much about players and characters by what they try to interact with.

You are generally free to 'cast' people nearby as you see fit. possibly with your sponsors.  You can assume such characters could be found with the groups they are typically associated with in Mainstream Marvel continuity.  So, your favorite Avenger can be 'helming' the Avengers booth, etc.  For now, you can write for those characters as we are assuming well-meaning civility at least during your initial interaction with them this thread.

As spoiled earlier, Sue Storm will go through a great change in the next year.  I wanted to show her as a confident and mature hero, wife and mother to contrast with later.

At least initially, no one can lift that darned hammer...

Svetlana scanned the room again and felt her hesitation come back in force. No matter where she looked, there were always some objections to think of. The Avengers may have made the most sense out of those present, but after what she said, going to them felt like an admission of failure. Besides, most of them did not seem very scientific. S.H.I.E.L.D.? They were known to oppose A.I.M., but going to an American-controlled military organisation just did not sit right with her. The others at a glance made even less sense, though, except for one.

“I have no real plan,” the girl admitted, feeling the need to justify herself: “I did not really know what I would find here. It seems even... ‘crazier’ than I expected. I guess I should at least try the Future Foundation, though. If nothing else, I can make something out of their gifts.” And maybe they would not think twice about my surname. For all they know, it may be as common as ‘Smith’ is in their country. She did not believe that.

She had already pieced together that Max almost certainly had superpowers. He probably thought that she did too. Her powerless status was not something she felt like drawing his attention to, just now. However, that among other things made it appear unlikely that they would go to the same place, which felt slightly unfortunate in that moment. Nevertheless, the least she could do is try to give good advice: “They are probably not the best option for you, though. Especially if you just want to lay low. I do not know that much about most of the others here... Maybe you should go with one of the smaller groups and fly under the radar?” Svetlana gestured vaguely towards the tent, the circus girl and the dancers. They may not have looked like recruiters, but then she really was not sure what they were doing here.