Madam Marvelous: Chapter Six -- Absent and Present (Collaborative -- Open to All)

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Madam Marvelous: Chapter Six -- Absent and Present (Collaborative -- Open to All)

Madam Marvelous
The holiday's were busy, so those few days between the first day of the new year and the first day back to school at the Sagan Academy were the only restful days I got to enjoy for the season. I mean, when you have holiday shopping, league wars, a massive battle against Father Time, and your normal missions and patrols to do in a three week span, a few extra days to snuggle in bed for an extra fifteen minutes feels really, REALLY good.

I woke up and checked the Sagan Academy homepage, looking to see what special events might be going on. A bright yellow photograph of a student filled my screen as soon as the page loaded.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME???

I didn't recognize the student in the picture, but he bore a familiar face. Ian Barrowman. I may have passed him in the halls at some point while at school, but I was sure I didn't have a class with him. His face was friendly, yet a bit sullen, like someone who had to work to smile. The bulletin went on to say that he hadn't been seen since New Year's Eve.

Astra and I would have to look into this while we were on the grounds. Between her psychic abilities and my variety of noses, while in different animal forms, we could find some clues. With luck, Doug might be able to join us as well, but after what happened to him with the Dark Elves, I didn't know if he would be up to heroing yet.
Madam Marvelous ID#26130
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Re: Madam Marvelous: Chapter Six -- Absent and Present (Collaborative -- Open to All)

Madam Marvelous
Ian woke up inside a small room with bright lights shining above him. As his eyes fluttered open, he noticed that there wasn't a bulb or source to create the light. It simply hovered above him like a cloud in the sky. He tried to move, but found his body wouldn't move. His arms and legs felt like normal, but when he tried to lift them off the padded surface his body was on, they wouldn't shift. Had he been in an accident? Was he paralyzed? Even his head wouldn't turn.

"Hello? Where am I?" Ian asked the room, hoping someone would hear him. "What happened to me? Was I hurt?"

Using what peripheral vision he could, he noticed what looked like a plastic line ran from his arm to part of the room behind him. Was it an IV? He'd been in a hospital before, but it wasn't nearly as quiet as the room he was in currently.

Suddenly, he felt sleepy again. He fought against the drowsiness, but couldn't resist the urge to drift into unconsciousness.

Madam Marvelous ID#26130
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Re: Madam Marvelous: Chapter Six -- Absent and Present (Collaborative -- Open to All)

Madam Marvelous
The hallways of the Sagan Academy were abuzz as everyone in school was talking about the missing student. Groups of students asked one another if they knew him while a smaller number of groups leaned upon one another, admitting that they did. Teachers asked their classes to share whatever information they might have. Even Mr. Smith and his wife called another assembly to bring everyone together to talk about resources and support for those concerned or wanting to help aid the search, but advising all students to not actively engage in the search for fear of them being lost as well.

Well, when you are a cape, sitting back and watching during a crisis isn't going to happen. At least, I didn't plan on doing nothing. I hoped Astra, Doug, and some of my other friends from league wars would help as well. Catalyst, or Alan Marcus, would I was sure. I wasn't sure about Quan, aka Wyldfyre, but I figured he might. If Astra was involved, Futurina would be too, and since he and Futurina were... friends?(ewww)... he would most likely be drawn in.

Ms. Fae would, I was sure, under normal circumstances, but in her condition, she might not. She most likely would have some pull with others at BADGE to help out.
Madam Marvelous ID#26130
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Re: Madam Marvelous: Chapter Six -- Absent and Present (Collaborative -- Open to All)

Astra
    Astra walked through the halls of the academy.  She did her best to keep others thoughts out of her own.  The thoughts around the school were of a missing student.  Oddly she didn't sense him as missing.  That was strange in itself.  She focused on what Doug was talking about.

    "...so, I imagined my self as a Dalek from Doctor Who and just went wild saying EX-TERM-IN-NATE!" Doug explained.  "It was so much fun."

    "Doug, are you sure you're okay?" she asked.

    "Never better," he confirmed.  "Alan is a genius."  She smiled at that.

    "Good, I think we'll be needed with this missing student case," she stated.  "Perhaps we should contact Kitt'n?"
ID: 22632
Astra
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Re: Madam Marvelous: Chapter Six -- Absent and Present (Collaborative -- Open to All)

Madam Marvelous
I found Keri and Doug studying in the library at our usual table in the stacks next to the science-fiction/fantasy novels after classes finished for the day. I really enjoyed the library at the Sagan Academy. Every section had a different theme, and the tables nearest the fantasy books were all round with twelve swords painted on the surface, as if students were knights around Arthur's round table. "Hey there. You guys want to stay here or go outside for a while."

That was what I said, but to Astra(Keri) I thought "I think we should do some poking around and try to find the missing student. What do you guys think?

"Didn't you hear? They found him?" A young woman putting books on the shelves said quietly. She approached out table. "The Sentinel just released a police update on the case. He was fine. He just got lost while hiking back to town after his car broke down."

"What a relief," Doug said. "His parents must be thrilled."

Keri nodded, her face a combination of pleased and pained at the same time. She'd tried to go home once after her ordeal, the alien induced transition from her being Kevin into Keri when she gained her powers, but her parents wouldn't accept the new person at their door as their child. To me, forms were as fluid as changing clothing, but others didn't share my unique perspective. The funny thing is that I always felt like I was female. A girl. Even when I changed into a male form, like when I became Gar, the... bits... I had didn't change how I identified.

Most of the time, the additional parts only seemed to get in the way.

I often wondered if that mattered to Keri.

"Thanks for telling us," Keri said to the librarian. "We can still go outside for a walk around the campus for a while if you would like, Kitt'n.  The meeting I have with the Morphon-Enhanced students doesn't start for half-an-hour.

After the assembly we had last semester, Keri helped mentor kids with developing Morphonic changes. Some kids developed powers quickly and learned to use them rapidly. Not everyone who got Morphon powers gained abilities strong enough to make them heroes, and some of the abilities weren't really all that useful at all. One girl developed the power to create scented air. Not poison gas or anything dangerous, but smells like lavender, lilac, and roses. Where some boys would just walk around and fart, sprays of fragrance would erupt from around her. Some kids started to use the nickname Febreze around her.

Keri spent a couple days a week participating in a group to help kids who wanted to learn more about controlling their powers so they didn't embarrass themselves in public, but didn't want to go to BADGE for help. BADGE, with all its obligations and efforts to stop crime and super-villains, intimidated a lot of younger people who didn't see having powers as a gift, but more as a curse, or at least a case of bad acne.
Madam Marvelous ID#26130
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Re: Madam Marvelous: Chapter Six -- Absent and Present (Collaborative -- Open to All)

Infinite Tempest
Infinite Tempest hovered over the abandoned building, held aloft by a strong gust of warm air created by his powers of controlling atmospheric conditions. He used the telescoping monocle built into his helmet as he searched for a missing student at the Sagan Academy. Scouring the piles of abandoned storage pods, he tried to detect any thermal gradients indicating human life.

One pod gave signs of occupancy, but they were shades lower than the normal 98.6 degree temperature. If it were a person, they were suffering hypothermia from exposure to the cold weather of the month of January. I.T. descended rapidly toward the corrugated metal container's closed door, which he found to be closed and barricaded somehow.

"Hello. I'm here to help," I.T. shouted through the door. Hearing only silence, he pounded on the door once and watched. What he thought might be a body didn't move.

I.T. grabbed the handle and pulled with all of his impressive strength. There was a snap of wood from behind the metal and as the door opened, he could see that a now-broken 2X4 had been used to secure the opening.

Continuing to view the interior thermally, I.T. stepped in and maneuvered around smashed crates and broken containers strewed throughout the interior. In the far back corner, a bearded man laid huddled in a mass of torn vinyl banners and plastic sheeting in a makeshift bed, oblivious of Tempest's entry.

I.T. tapped a device built into his bracers, activating his communicator. "9-1-1."

As the phone app dialed, I.T. knelt to check for a pulse on the man's wrist. Even though he wasn't the target of his primary mission, this person clearly needed aid.

"9-1-1. Who am I speaking with?"

"This is BADGE operative Infinite Tempest. I've located a 40ish-year old man in need of medical attention. He is unconscious with a low body temperature and pulse rate," I.T. said as calmly as if reading a grocery list.

The man stirred slightly. "No... leave me alone... They'll find me..."

"It's OK, sir. I'm here to help," I.T. said as he commanded the air to slowly warm within the pod. "9-1-1, he's waking up but still needs medical assistance."

We have an ambulance on the way to your location. Your GPS has you at the old Wayne Enterprises factory. Is that correct?"

"I believe that is correct. Should I meet the ambulance at the gate?" I.T. asked. He could easily carry the man to a meeting point, but was unsure if moving him would be wise.

"Remain at your location. They'll come to you."

"No... No... Don't let them come for me..." the man said before his head tilted to one side and he dropped back into unconsciousness.

I.T. verified the man still had a pulse, which he did. "What happened to you, sir? Maybe when you wake up, you can tell me."
The Infinite Tempest
ID: 21321
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Re: Madam Marvelous: Chapter Six -- Absent and Present (Collaborative -- Open to All)

Arcane Ace
Arcane Ace and his new companion, the former warlock Archibald Braithewaite now calling himself Mitch, on a marvel of mystical divination. Using both old rituals and newly crafted spellcraft, they chanted in unison. Arie, Fueer, Grunde, Wasser, Aetherouris..."

The walls of the spherical room they occupied flashed with yellow and blue lights. A majority of them hovered inches away from the silver coating the walls themselves, but some were a bit further away while others floated like misty nebulas closer to the center of the room where Ace hovered next to Mitch.

"That should do it," Ace said as he rubbed his hands together.

"I hope so," Mitch said. Despite being in the modern day, he still opted to wear a long archaic suitcoat and tailored pants. "I don't think I've ever seen this enchantment done is such a manner or on such a large scale."

"We'll have to get you more time on the internet," Ace said with a chuckle. "There are all sorts of programs for locating people through electronic devices. I've just reapplied the concept to magical beings and energies. Let's see if we can interject ley lines to the process without overloading the spell."

The waved their arms and chanted a bit longer until glowing lines of magical energy wove themselves throughout the room.

"Excellent," Ace said. "Let's see if we can put this to a real world use. There was a story I read about a missing boy in the New Amsterdam area. How about we try to locate him for his parents? I have a photograph of him here."

Ace pulled a photo of the missing youth, Ian, from thin air with a toothy grin. His showmanship lost on the centuries old man, Ace shrugged and handed it to Mitch who began to study it.

Mitch used his hands to trace the figure of a large circle in the air and a curved lens appeared, hovering where the pattern had been made. He then placed the photo on the surface of the lens and pushed it into the translucent material. The disk suddenly shifted and became an eye with a photo-negative afterimage of Ian on the lens. It moved closer to a section of the curved wall and hovered over what area would correspond with New Amsterdam.

"It's found something," Mitch said.
Arcane Ace: ID 23078
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Re: Madam Marvelous: Chapter Six -- Absent and Present (Collaborative -- Open to All)

Astra
    After Keri's class she went and met Doug and Kitt'n.  It was their usual spot.  She thought about switching to her costume but decided to wait until she was with the others and they can decide from there.

    "Hi, Kitt'n, Doug," She acknowledged as she arrived, "what's up?"

    "Hi, Keri, did you class go well?" Kitt'n asked.

    "Yes, but I'm just glad Ian is home safe," Keri confirmed.

    "That boy may look, sound, and act like Ian, but that's not Ian," Doug stated.

    "What?!" both Keri and Kitt'n exclaimed.

    "Genetically he is Ian," Doug clarified.  "There are minor differences.  Like a copy has minor imperfections.  Scars, and memories that aren't quite right.  There's arguments to be made there, but I'm telling you that's not Ian."

    "Are you saying he's a clone?" Keri asked.

    "Either that or a shape-changing alien lizard," Doug replied, "not that all shape-shifters are alien lizards."
ID: 22632
Astra
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Re: Madam Marvelous: Chapter Six -- Absent and Present (Collaborative -- Open to All)

Madam Marvelous
"You're right, Doug. Not all shapeshifters are alien lizards!" I stuck my tongue out at him, feigning irritation at his comment. Doug was a really nice guy, especially after everything he had been through, but he could still be such a... guy. Why did boys need to make jokes all the time? "Why would anyone make a clone of Ian and put it into school in his place?"

"I guess that's what we need to figure out next," Astra said before a chime echoed from her communicator. She looked at the device. "That's weird. It's Ace."

Ace Arcane, self-named Wildcard of Magic. He was also leader of my league, the Star Force Junior league. "I wonder what he wants?"

"Dunno," Doug said with a shrug. "Maybe if she answers his call we could find out?"

Astra rolled her eyes to me as she activated her communicator and put it on speakerphone. "Hey Ace. What can I do for you?"

Astra. I did a scy to help locate a student missing in the New Amsterdam area. We got a very strange result.

"What did you find?" Astra asked.

Somehow, there are multiple versions of him all across the city. I need help checking the different locations to investigate why that may be. One of them is at the Sagan Academy. Can you look into it for me?

"I think we already are," Astra said as she exchanged a troubled glance with me and Doug.

 

Madam Marvelous ID#26130