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John and Megan headed downtown to catch a movie and try to relax.  They had some time before the next showing, so they grabbed some coffee to pass the time.

Megan took a sip of her Chi tea and smiled slightly, feeling somewhat more relaxed already.  She looked over at John as she said, “sorry about just wanting to take off, there seemed to be so much tension building.  I had a feeling if I got involved it would only get worse.”

"You strike me as the tightly wound type.  I'm betting your powers are only making that worse. "  he smiles and sips his coffee.  "As if being in high school isn't enough, we have super powers and hormones and all the baggage our parents have given us.  It's a wonder we ever manage to get through a day."

“Tightly wound?  Me?  Hardly.  Kinda hard to be tightly wound and exude happiness like you said you saw in my eyes.  The two are rather opposite.”  Megan replied, somewhat shocked that John had said that.  “Maybe my powers have stared making me like that, but I have usually been rather carefree.”

“It just seems that when ever I do try to take a stand on anything even remotely tense with most of the others, they seem to take great offense.  For whatever reason, I just seem to cause more problems with them.”

Megan then shrugs.  “As for high school, I was enjoying it just fine until all the craziness started happening.”

"Maybe tightly wound wasn't the right way to say it.  Type A maybe.  Maybe that carefree nature is what causes the rift?  Maybe they don't expect it from you and that's why it causes so much friction.  They could be thinking that if you get upset then you must really think it's a bad thing.  I'm not so good with the emotion thing, so anytime I seem upset it comes across as pretty intense."

“Type A is probably closer to it.”  Megan admitted.  “That is in part because of the drive my parents have instilled in my siblings and I, but also because I have always been sort of in the shadow of my sister, who is really smart, like my mom and dad.  My mom says it doesn’t matter, but I have always felt that if I was unable to get into certain schools, it would be a disappointment for my father.”

“But as for the rift with the others, most of them don’t even know me all that well, and don’t seem all that interested in getting to know me better.  I probably haven’t tried that hard either, least not with some, but Sammy and Sylvia have pretty much rebuffed any attempts at getting to know each other better.  The only one that really knows me is Sarah, and that’s because we have known each other for so long.  To most of the others, I am just the girl that runs fast.”

As John talked about some of his problems with emotions, she gave him a warm smile.  “Here we wanted to relax and I got us talking about ‘work.”  She says jokingly.  Reaching out with her left hand, she gently ran her fingers along the back of his right hand and up under the sleeve of his coat.  “So, is there anything I might be able to do to help with being more comfortable with emotions?”  She asked as her smile broadened. 

John smiled.  "We're doing it. "  He said, taking her hand.  "As for Sammy and Sylvia, that's something you can't worry about.   I'm not sure I'll ever be that close to any of them.  I tend to keep myself at a distance.  It's from habit, but maybe I can learn to overcome that.  Having friends that know I have powers is sure to help that.  Besides, those guys in the parking lot are bound to talk, and then it'll be all over the whole city. "?  he chuckles slightly.  "Last night I was worried about that, but this morning I couldn't care less.  Amazing what a good nights sleep will do."

Megan smiled as she squeezed his hand.  “Well, I don’t see why you keep people at a distance John.  People like you.  The others have accepted you more than they have me.  And you should try to smile more, for your smile is infectious.  I noticed that the night we met when we went out for coffee.  One of the many things about you that drew me.”

"Like I said.  Old habit.  I had to be super careful growing up.  Playing with other kids, watching my temper.  I got used to being a loner for the most part, but I eventually had a couple friends, and even a girlfriend for a little while. "

“I remember you telling me that keeping your powers secret from her caused problems for the two of you.”  Megan said, a sympathetic look on her face.  “I’m sorry things were so difficult for you growing up.  Until recently, that was something I had never really experienced.  I think that is why I am sort of bothered by how disconnected I feel from the others.  I have always been used to being readily accepted and people wanting to be my friend, though I knew it was not always for the right reasons.”

Placing her other hand on John’s so she had it between both her hands, Megan looked into his eyes as she quietly (knowing full well he could hear her perfectly) said, “but please don’t ever keep me at a distance John.”

John smiled.  "I'll try not to."

Squeezing John’s hand between hers for a moment, Megan then took another drink of her tea.  His answer had not been a guarantee, but had been encouraging.  After all, in the few weeks they had know her, she had learned a great deal about him and they had been anything but distant.  Though there were the times that he seemed distracted, or not fully focused on her, that was not because he was trying to keep a distance. 

“So, next week for spirit week, had you given any thought for what you might do for decades day?”  She asked.

"Ah.  Flannel is timeless."  John says, taking a sip of coffee and smiling behind his cup.

“Hmm, well, I was thinking of the Fifties, and thought it would be the best day to maybe coordinate.  Well, not that all Freshman won’t be coordinated on Monday when we are supposed to wear something yellow.”

"50's huh?  You have something specific in mind I take it."  John says turning to face her more directly.

“Well…I was thinking of a poodle skirt and cardigan.”  Megan replied with a grin.  “You could go with jeans and a white T-shirt and black leather jacket, maybe greased hair.”  Her right hand went up and lightly ran through his hair.

"Sure, I think I can pull that off.  I'll just have to clean up my biker jacker some.  That's assuming I don't get expelled for having super powers."  he says taking another drink of his coffee.

“Expelled?”  Megan’s smile suddenly vanished.  “Why on earth would you be expelled for having superpowers?  And that is assuming word even really gets out about that.”  Megan stopped a moment, thinking of something and then had a sinking feeling.  “But, if it does…it might cause problems with playing sports.  There is the drug testing, but there has been talk about doing genetic testing for those on competitive teams, to prevent paranormals from having unfair advantages.”

John shrugs.  "Just saying, They're likely to take a dim view of me playing on the team and not mentioning that I have super powers.  That and the fight, which did some serious damage.  Maybe I can go join the circus."  He smiles at the end.  "You could come too, we could like as circus folks and fight crime on the side."

“The circus?  Oh my dad would love that.”  Megan said with a grin.  “Though I bet it wouldn’t take long for me to figure a way to use my speed for stage magic and other slight of hand tricks.  And we would only need to wait about ten years till I could take control of my trust funds, then we could just focus on the crime fighting.”

"Let's call that a backup plan."  John looks at his cell phone.  "We should get going, movie is going to start soon. "  They head over to the theater to enjoy the show and some time togehter.

“Yeah, we would never live it down if the others found out we were late for something.”  Megan replied as they made their way to the theater.

John and Megan enjoy the movie, and each other's company.  It's brisk as they head outside.  "So I have a tux for Homecoming, and we're supposed to shop for me so I can be presentable at the gallery thing, right?"

Megan was wishing she had something more than just her hoodie when they left the movie theater as John mentioned having his tux already.  When he mentioned shopping for clothes for tomorrow evening, she looked over at him, slightly surprised.  “I thought you said your mom was going to handle that, something about how she has been wanting to buy you some nice clothes or something?”

“But if we’re doing it, that is fine.”  Megan added, an excited look in her eyes.  “We can head over to Michigan Avenue and get to work.”

"Mom was looking forward to it, but she's been trying to get some other stuff taken care of and hasn't really had time.  I was hopiong you wouldn't mind."

“Mind?  Your kidding right?”  Megan replies with a wide grin.  “I was born to shop.”

“A trip to Water Tower Place sounds in order.”  Megan added, becoming rather business like in tone, though she still had a wide smile on her face.  “Plenty of places to find something more than suitable.” 

"I thought you might be up to the task."  John says as they head off the shop.

When the reached the Water Tower Place shopping center, Megan quickly oriented herself and started them off towards the first store, Banana Republic.  As the arrived, she looked over at John as they moved towards the men’s section of the store.  “So, what’s the limit we are working with?”

"Don't worry about that too much.  I'd like to keep from spending as much as I would on a car though."  he said nudging her shoulder and smiling.

Megan gives him a mischievous grin.  “Well, that is fine then.  Even I would have trouble spending as much as my dad’s Bentley cost.”  She began looking through a rack of lightweight dress pants, glancing over to try to estimate John’s waist size.  “In one shopping trip anyway.”  She adds.

After finally asking John for his waist size, she picks up three different colors at that size she hands to him before moving over towards dress shirts.  “You don’t happen to know your measurements for dress shirts do you?”

"He takes the pants into the dressing room saying over his shoulder, "What's a dress shirt?"  Then he closes the door.

Megan gives a little shake of her head as John heads to the dressing room, before she could finish gathering all he needed to try on.  By the time he came out in the first pair of pants, she had a small selection of sweaters waiting with her as well.  “You know, when you were fitted for you tux, they measured your arms and neck.  Did they tell you those measurements?”

"I'm sure they did."  he says sorting through the cloths she'd collected, "I could call my mom and ask, that's the kind of thing she has a good memory for."

“Here, try this one with those pants.”  Megan says, holding up one of the sweaters.  “If you can’t reach her, we can always just get you measured again.  The salespeople are always happy to help make sales at these sorts of places.”

"Why didn't you say that before."  he says, a look of false exasperation on his face, he lets out a big sigh and goes to the changing room.  When he returns he's wearing the sweater and looking very uncomfortable about it.

“Well if you would let me get things all picked out before running off to the dressing room…”  Megan replies with an equally big sigh, though she was grinning as she spoke. 

When he reemerges once more, Megan is waiting with a borrowed measuring tape.  Noting the look on his face, she looks over the pair and looks up at him, a questioning look on her face.  “The colors go well together, what’s the matter?  You don’t like the material?  Or is it the fit?”  As she waits for his reply, she steps in and up on her toes, reaching around behind his neck to wrap the tape around it for the neck measurement.

"I'm afraid it makes me look fat."  he says, smelling her hair as she measures him.

“As if such a thing was possible.”  Megan replied to John’s comment, smiling as she felt him lean in to smell her hair.  Once she has the neck measurement, she pulls the tape off and looks up at him.  “A big part of looking stylish is feeling confident about your clothes, so don’t hesitate to tell me what you think of things.  I tend to not like half of what I pick out to try on.  What looks good on the rack can just feel wrong once it’s on.” 

She then measures his arm length as she smiles and adds, “and don’t fear that I will try to change your entire wardrobe or anything.” 

"Like that will happen.  Me and flannel are together forever."

Megan smiled at John’s comment as she got the last measurement.  They were then over at the shirts, the blonde teen picking out a simple dress white dress shirt with thin light red stripes.  “Here, try this under the sweater.”  She says.  “It will be our base, lets see how everything else goes with it.”

John didn't bother to go to the dressing room.  He took off the sweater and draped it over a nearby rack, then put the shirt on over his blue t-shirt.

Megan discovered that John was easy to shop for, he rarely complained about anything unless it actually looked bad on him.

They made some selections and then moved onto the next section.  "So, should I go out of my way to try and get to know your folks or should I just keep my mouth shut when they're around?"

“Okay, now its time for shoes.”  Megan said once they had picked out an outfit. 

When John asked how he should be around her parents, she was quite a moment and said, “well, if you just stay quite, they might think you are trying to hide something, particularly my mom.  I’d say just be yourself and talk to them when the opportunity arises and put as much effort into getting to know them as you fell you want to.”

Then she realized something and added, “though, you might want to know my mom still is in the habit of drawing information from people while talking to them, has probably been useful for my dad over the years, she sure helps him remember people at the functions we go to.  She knew quite a bit about you before I even told her you were coming over to study the day after the incident with the photographer, including that you had some run-ins with the police back in Maryland.”

"Well, my name is in a lot of police reports.  On the bright side I've only been arrested a couple of times."

“Until possibly yesterday, you had done a good job of keeping yourself off more police reports.”  Megan replied as they made their way to Macy’s to look for shoes.  “And hopefully there won’t be any more arrests.”

"Well, the arrests were misunderstandings. "  he says, "As for keeping myself out of reports, I haven't had that problem since I started wearing a costume to do hero stuff.  It's certainly cut down on my need to give the police my name."

“You don’t have to explain them to me.”  Megan said with a smile.  “The PCD was likely ready to arrest me as well when there were those imposters out there, they just were giving me the benefit of the doubt till I proved otherwise.  I don’t think you have to explain them to my mom either, she did not seem to think too much about your ‘run-ins’ when she mentioned them.”

“My dad though…that might be different.”  Her smile broadened some.  “He might have run a background check on you by now.”

"Oh, he did.  A friend of my dad's called.  Dad was a little freaked out until I explained that your were my girlfriend and your dad was the mayor.  That seemed to calm him down some."

Megan let out a sigh.  “Sorry about that, he can be rather overprotective at times.”

Walking over to the displays of shoes in Macy’s Megan begins pointing out various black leather shoes to see if there was style that John seemed to like more than the others. 

"I can understand overprotective parents."  John says, picking out a pair of shoes to try on.  "My folks are worriers, so I sort of know where you're coming from."

“You would think the second daughter would be easier for him, but I am not sure I have made it that way.”  Megan replied as they went over to sit down and wait for someone to get John’s shoe size and go back and get them his size. 

She was quite a moment and the said, “I am wondering how things will be now that he knows.  I think he had a lot to do with my mom giving up her side interests, part of a ‘deal’ they have.  So far he seems okay with it all, but I wonder if that might change.”

"Well, as long as you keep your grades up I can't see him having any problems with it.  If it gets too dangerous he might get nervous.  I'm not sure how my folks would have been if they hadn't always known."

“Grades shouldn’t be a problem, seeing as I only need about twenty minutes a day, maybe less now, to study.”  Megan replied.  “I think its likely going to more be any sign that things are getting dangerous that will make him have second thoughts.  I think when I mentioned I was now working with others that had powers he felt a bit more relieved about that, like I wasn’t taking big risks by just being solo.”

"Well, that's reasonable.  My folks didn't have to worry too much about me getting hurt, until it happened once and then they started sweating bullets every time I got involved in something."

“So far I have been lucky.”  Megan replied.  “The worst I have been hurt so far by that jerk Spark.  And my parents don’t really know about that.”

“How did you get hurt?”  She asked John, wondering what it could have been, having seen him drenched in acid with only slight skin irritation to show for it.

"I got a chunk or metal stuck in me.  That was the first day I'd ever felt pain, physical pain anyway.  It was an experience."

“I can imagine if you had never really felt physical pain it must have been a real shock.  But you only explained what happened, not ‘how’ it happened.”  Megan replied.  John had tried on the shoes that they had brought out and they seemed to fit fine, Megan looked up at him as he walked around in them some.  “Well, what do you think?  They will go well with the outfit and with a number of other things should you add to your wardrobe in the future.”

"They're nice." He said, putting them back in the box.  "I got in a tangle with a guy that had a lot more super strength than I had invulnerability."  he says, putting his shoes back on.  "Don't think for a second that this little trip will lead to me getting a wardrobe young lady."

“Isn’t that the way it tends to go?  There is always someone stronger, faster, smarter, or whatever.”  Megan replies as John gave a bit more information about how he was injured previously. 

When he mentioned not getting a wardrobe Megan just grinned.  “Well you can’t always show up to events in the same outfit, so at some point you might need to add a few.”

“So, shopping is done.  The others don’t seem to be doing anything, least, nothing that requires us, and its Halloween tonight, sounds like a horror movie or two sounds appropriate.”

"That sounds good.  I was gonna go over to the school and look around later, you want to join me?"

“Sure, I don’t have much else to do right now.”  Megan replied.  “I have been working on some new routines for Basketball season, but those can wait.  Having trouble finding a good song to use.”

"I'll meet you at the Tasty Dog about three then.  I have to run some errands for my mom, so I'll do those before we go out to the school.  Let me walk you home, then we can see about getting some videos for tonight.  You want to make it a private party or invite anyone else over?"

“Okay, that sounds like a plan.”  Megan replied as John planned for them to meet at the Tasty Dog at three to go check out the school while they started towards the train station to make the way back to Oak Park. 

When John mentioned whether she wanted to invite others over tonight or just have it private, she thought for a few seconds (a decent amount of time for her) and then replied.  “Well, seeing as tomorrow we will be out around the city in public and tomorrow night we will be in crowds, how about tonight it just be us?  We can see if any of the others want to do something together maybe Friday or Saturday night.”

"Sounds good."  He says, taking the purchases and heading for the exit.  "You giving out candy tonight over at your house?"

“Nah, the last few years the number of kids coming around has been almost non-existent.  The neighborhood does not have that many families with young kids anymore.  My parents have just put something out with candy by the front of the driveway to save the few kids that do come by a long walk to the front door.  You all have any idea how many might come by your house?”

"Nope."  John says as they exit into the chill fall air.  "My folks are thinking of going out to a party.  You want to watch movies at my place and give out candy?"

“Hmm, not quite just us, but I guess we can.”  Megan replied.  “My parents probably have some function or another, but who knows if my brother will be there or not.  He might have some of his friends over, he did last year.  So I guess your place is the best bet.”

"Okay.  We'll meet up at three, head over to the school and then head to my place.  I'll make you chili and we can watch horror movies and give out candy to kids."

“Sounds like a plan then.”  Megan said as they reached the driveway to her house.  “You should probably get going on those errands, though I’m sure you can do them pretty quick if you wanted.”  She said with a smile.  Stepping up close, she stood up on her toes and gave him a kiss.  Setting back on her heels, her eyes stayed fixed on his.  “I’ll see you at the Tasty Dog at three.”

John smiled.  "Should I enjoy the fact that you have to get up on your tip toes to kiss me so much?"  He leans down and gives her a kiss.  "I'll see you at three."

Megan smiled at John’s comment about enjoying the fact she had to get on her toes to kiss him as he kissed her back.  “It’s totally worth the effort.”  She replied before starting towards her house, giving him a little wave before he started off on his errands.  Soon she was going through the front door and started off to see if her mom was around.

After telling her mom that she was going to be watching movies at John’s house tonight, Megan made her way up to her room.  Sitting down at her computer, she pulled up some play lists to try to see if there was a song that really stood out as a good possibility for a new dance routine for the squad.  She had been working on one to Avril Lavine’s Girlfriend, but had figured that might only serve to give more girls at school reason to want to lynch the squad.  Not to mention they all pretty much had boyfriends already.

She then listened to Pink’s U & Ur Hand, feeling that she could really do something with the song, particularly if directed at the visiting teams.  But, she could see having problems with getting the school to allow them to use it.  She remembered how much trouble Lisa had gone through to get the school to let them use the edited version of SexyBack.

Sighing, she listed to a few more, before finally giving up for the moment.  She then looked over at her pile of school books and decided to do a bit of reading for classes.  After about ten minutes, she had sped read through three hours worth of reading and was more than done with studying for the moment. 

Taking a quick shower, she went back to get dressed so she could met John by the school.  As it was getting chillier, she went with layers, a white, long sleeved “LOVE” tee by Bejeweled and then black Emilio Pucci hooded sweater over that.  A tight pair of True Religion designer jeans helped complete the outfit. 

Once dressed, she grabbed a quilted down jacket and made her way downstairs to get a ride to the Tasty Dog with her mom who was off on some errands of her own. 

(ooc Megan's tops http://www.groovygamers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1436.msg118290.html#msg118290)

As her mom drove them towards the Tasty Dog, Megan glanced over at her, thinking about the phone call with Kel and how John had said he did not know how to use forensic equipment, nor did he know anyone in the area that could either.  “Mom, do you still remember much of the forensics stuff you knew?”

"Well, yeah.  That's one of the reasons I laugh at those TV shows sometimes.  They do some pretty unrealistic stuff in those.  Whay do you ask honey?"

Megan chuckled at her mom’s comment about things being unrealistic on TV.  For the young teen, these days it was sometimes hard to not expect some really outrageous things.  “Well, yesterday while all the craziness was going on at school, a girl was knocked out in one of the bathrooms and left there to die while the building was being evacuated.  I know someone that got some evidence from the scene, and he has access to a lab, but he doesn’t know how to use the equipment to run the tests.  There might be another way we can check on things, but if we needed to analyze the evidence…well, might you be interested in helping out?”

Megan's mom is silent for a long time.  "I don't think I should.  It's complicated, and someday I promise to explain it, but for now I think I shouldn't.  There is someone you should be able to ask from the school though.  There's a science teacher there named Cleavland Heep.  He'd have the necessary equipment and the know how to use it."

Megan nodded, not particularly surprised by her mom’s answer, the blonde teen just gave her mom an understanding smile as she replied.  “Its okay mom, I understand, it probably has to do with you and dad’s deal.  I won’t even ask why you know this science teacher could do it either.”

"Well, that's part of the PTA spy network." her mom said with a smile, " And I appreciate your understanding."

Megan chuckled.  “That’s right, I forgot about the spy network.”  She went quite for a moment, and then asked.  “Mom, what all have you heard through that network about the things going on at the school?”

There are a lot of parents worried.  There is talk of seeing if the city or state can post more police at the school and try to help curb the violence.  There are a few who have pointed out that there are good guys as well as bad guys at the school, and that we have a duty to try and get all the kids who might have powers help or counseling so that they can learn to use those powers without having to resort to rampaging or attacking fellow students.  It's pretty complicated."

Megan was listening intently as her mom talked a bit about what she had heard through the PTA.  “Yeah, I am sure they are worried, but adding more police might not change things, especially if they are not trained or equipped to deal with what they might be facing.”

“Nor am I sure the counseling would help.  Several of those that I know that use their powers to try to stop some of the bad stuff learned they had powers together and I guess helped each other out with that.  But some people just seem to decide to use them to get what they want.  You remember Fern?  She was the one behind the bleacher collapse that broke Diane’s leg.  She also caused that light pole to fall towards the squad during the game a few weeks ago.  Turns out she can generate some acid from her hands and spit it as well.  I had to help knock her out Monday afternoon.  And then there is the invisibility device the photographer Brendan and I caught had, and the raygun the kid I punched out at school had.  Those aren’t powers, just kids with dangerous items.  And don’t even forget Superman.”  Megan sighed.  “It’s really complicated, and probably no easy answers.”

"There never is an easy answer it seems."  Megan's mom says absently, "I still think that some of them could have been helped if they'd felt they could talk to someone.  That's all."

“Yeah, some probably could have been.”  Megan had to agree.  “But I was more pointing out it has not just been kids with powers, about half the stuff that has happened at school, maybe even more, has been ones without, using either devices or drugs.” 

But despite that, the blonde teen had to think some about her mom’s comment about having someone to talk to. 

"Well, being able to do that kind of thing, even if it requires taking drugs or using some high-tech gadget, that's a powerful temtation, especially if you've seen what that power can do.  It's easy to get sucked into the thrill of having power like that, even if you have to cheat to get it."

“Yeah, but pretty much all of those that have used drugs or devices have done so for bad reasons.”  Megan replied.  “But it is still something to think about.”  She added however. 

As they pulled up near the Tasty Dog, she looked over and gave her mom a smile.  “Thanks mom, for everything.  I’ll call you when I get to John’s later this afternoon to let you know I’m there.”

"Ok.  Be careful, it's Halloween night.  Never know what might happen."

Once Megan has gotten out her mom drives off to take care of the things she needed to do.

“Yeah, like I need to be reminded of that.”  Megan mutters under her breath as she got out of the car.  She then makes her way into the Tasty Dog to see if John was there yet.

John arrives a couple of minutes later.  "Sorry I'm late."  he says, giving her a hug.  "Dad felt he needed to have a chat about the fight at school."

Megan returned the hug and then gave John a sympathetic look.  “I hope he understood it was not something you went looking for.”  She said.  “What are we doing at school anyway?”

"I think he does.  There are days I'm not so sure he's convinced I'm always careful with my powers.  He's always afraid I'm going to end up hurting someone really bad."  As they turn and head towards the school John answers her question.  "I'm not sure.  Everything seemed to be so well planned, I just want to know why they wanted us out of the school.  That's the part that I don't understand."

“Well, it sounds like your parents have a better understanding of superpowers and yours in particular than most do.  But you would think he would trust you a bit more, after all, I would think he would know how seriously you take the responsibility of having powers.”

Megan then thinks a moment before commenting about their reason for being at school.  “Yeah, it does seem odd.  Maybe it was just to cover up their thugs going after Donnie’s spellbook?  But that seems a bit extreme.  Could they have put up more triggered spells like the charm?  If so, we are probably the wrong ones to try to find evidence of that.”

"Well, dad has worked with a lot of supers.  He's a little dense when it comes to me."  John smiles, "He's just seen a lot of people who eventually go down the wrong path and he keeps thinking that eventually the temptation gets to everyone."


"Something you said about the girls at the cemetery got me to thinking.  Those girls had powers because of the drug they got from your old friend Spark.  That means the witches allied with him.  I'm thinking they might have allied with some others also.  Smoke pots seems a little high tech for them, and even if the bees were an unintentional side effect of the smoke I wonder if they knew or at least hoped it would happen."

“That must be somewhat depressing to thing to think.”  Megan replied.


When John mentioned the possibility of the witches allying with Spark, Megan felt a cold chill.  “I hope that’s not the case.  If it is, that could mean Spark knows who I am.  I’m not even sure how the witches knew.  I wasn’t part of the group when the others had their first run in with them.”

"Not necessarily.  He was in the news, and they might have sought him out because they thought he could help them.  I have the feeling they they could get almost any guy to do what they wanted.  If that charm was any indication of the kind of influence they might have over someone."

“I hope that’s the case.”  Megan replied.  She would hate to think if Spark knew who she was.  “And I had thought there must have been some way to control that charm, as useful as it could be, I think its pretty obvious how much it could backfire if you couldn’t control it.”

As the two teens made their way towards the school building, Megan looked up at John.  “So where do you think we should start?”

"Basement.  Those smoke pots were there, and Colin had his run in with them there.  It's also the only place I could think those bees might have been and not have someone notice them."

"okay then, sounds good to me."  Megan replied as she strated towards a side entrance to the school, thinking about where the nearest stairway to the basement of the school was to that entrance.

It didn't take John and Megan long to make their way into the basement.  The area was a maze of dead ends and tight passageways formed from years of rearranging equipment and changing building requirements.  They eventually found the spots where the smoke pots were and the spot the bees had likely been hidden.  They continued to look around trying to piece together what the witches plan had been.

OOC: Need a search roll.  Due to the tight spaces and randomness of the area I'll ask that you roll it, but you can take a bonus of +6 for being thorough.

(ooc How about that, a natural 20 on the roll  :)  so a 28, your +6 bonus and +2 for Int :)  http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1087882)

In the wreckage of a small space where there are several photocopied pages from a book.  They have highlighting marks on them and some scribbled notes.  The pages seem related to magic as there are exotic symbols and diagrams.  There are also some syringes and unmarked vials full of a slightly pink liquid.  Also among the debris you find a map of the school with some lines drawn on it with arrows in different colors.  Lastly you find a bottle with about six pills in it.  you recognize the pills from the news as being Superman.

Megan looks over the things that she and John had managed to find as she thinks about them and what they might mean.  “We should probably get these photocopied pages to Donnie to have him look at them.”  She said before looking over at the vials with the pink liquid.  “I wonder if this is the Speedfreak stuff like the girls at the cemetery had?  Maybe we could get Mr. Heep to analyze one of them, see what we might be able to learn.  Maybe one of the Superman pills as well.  Wonder if he could come up with something to neutralize it when someone has taken it?”

She then looks over the map of the school.  “Should we try to figure out where these places are?  Was this their ‘plan of attack’ yesterday?  Or something yet to come?”

She paused a moment then added, “you know, I was thinking about what you said about how the witches might have meant to cause the bees to emerge.  What if they did, in the hopes of both adding to the chaos and covering their tracks, but also hoping the bees would be destroyed like they were, weakening a potential rival?”

"Probably good ideas.  Donnie will be easy to find, but I'm not sure about Mr. Heep.  Does anyone have his email aggress or phone number?"


John looks at the map and closes his eyes for a minute, then proceeds to look around the small space.  This looks like an airflow map."  he says after a minute.  "These spots are where the smoke pots are and the arrows are the airflow where the smoke will go."


John looked back at the map, then looked around again and nodded.  "Over there."  he points towards the wall, "About thirty feet that way is a space where the smoke from two pots would have had to pass through.  Maybe the bees were there.  Might be some clues to back up your theory."

Megan shrugs.  “I don’t know.  Colin maybe.  He has gone to him for some things, and Sammy has as well, I think.”  She looked back at the vials of liquid and Superman pills as another thought came to her.  “You know, maybe those guys in the parking lot yesterday, and Cory, took both of this stuff.  So instead of there being a new form of Superman, they just had both operating?”  Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, “I wonder if Colin could get anything from these vials that might give us a lead on Spar?.”


The blonde teen remained quite and watched as John looked over the map and determine what it was.  When he indicated the area the bees might be in, she nodded.  “Well, lets see if we can find a way back there then.”

Even with John's ability to see through walls it takes the two a few minutes to find a safe path over to the spot.  Smoke can go places people can't and when they finally get to the right spot it's instantly apparent.  The wall spaces here are covered with pictures of Sammy.  Some of the pictures of her with Elrod have violent black sharpie marks over Elrod's face.

The pictures were all taken on campus, with a few from events the band was at.  The prints look to be very good, if a little disturbing.

Some of the pictures have poems photocopied from books taped under them, some have little notes written on Post-Its stuck to them;

"I was so angry at you today. You killed them all.  But I forgive you."

"You stung my heart with love for you; someday I hope to sting you too."

"Why do you pretend to like him.  I know that you are far too real for him."

There are also several dead bees on the floor, and assorted scribbles on school napkins that don't make much sense, but John is convinced they're genetic sequencing notes.

“This is mega creepy.”  Megan commented as she looked about the room.  “What do you think, should we take some of them?”  She indicated the pictures, “To see if Colin can pick something up from them?  Or leave them here so he might not think we found the place and just bring Colin here?”

She looked back at the pictures of Sammy with Elrod and the violent sharpie marks on Elrod’s face.  “We do need to warn Sammy, both her and Elrod could be in danger.  I thought this bee guy had a thing for one of Sammy’s band friends.  Looks like his focus shifted.”

“Okay then.  We should probably get going then and try to reach both Colin and Sammy.”  Megan replies.  She starts to make her way out if John agrees.  Once they are back outside, she will tell him to call Colin while she starts to call Sammy, and then stops.  "Damn, Sammy lost her phone.  We need to get El's number."  Megan then calls Lisa.

It's a few rings before Lisa answers.  "Hey Meg, what's up?"

Meanwhile John calls Colin.

"Hello John." The teen's heightened hearing can tell the slight squak of Colin's bike's chain behind his voice, and that he's cycling full speed somewhere.
"What's up? Trouble?"

"Strange is more like it.  There is a sort of stalker like shrine to Sammy here at school, and Megan and I were hoping you could take a look and see if you can figure out who it is.  We're pretty sure it's the bee guy, and."  John pauses, "I think you should just see it."

"Ehm, you know, that's weird, I am getting there already. Kel asked me to check on something. I'll be there in five minutes. See you."

Colin arrives at the school and dutifully chains his bike to a street sign. John helps him in, and shows him the way to the hidden shrine. It takes Colin some help from John, but he finally gets there.

"God and Great Spirit" he mumbles.

He looks around in disbelief.

"This is so wrong. Why does this school seem to drive everyone crazy?"

He looks around with eyes shimmering with magic, then runs his hands on the photos, on the post-it notes, on the school napkins, trying to figure out what's written on them, and finally picking up some of the dead bees.

"Oh, you know, just hanging out with school cancelled and all.  John and I went and saw a movie.  Sorry to have to bug you about this, but we are trying to reach El, could you get me his cell?"

(ooc once Megan gets the cell and leaves a message for Elrod, she will follow along with John and Colin when Colin shows up, as it takes Colin 5 minutes to arrive)

"Maybe there is something in the water?"  Megan comments as Colin asked why so many people seemed to go crazy at the school.

"Well," John begins, "We know there have been times there was something in the water."

OOC: Colin needs to make a Will Save DC 16

Will save (1d20+6=21) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1096305)

Colin feels the rush of biological attraction to Sammy.  It's an obsessive sensation, like what an addiction must feel like.  The rush is followed by the sound of a trombone playing and then it cycles again.  This continues for a few moments before Colin snaps out of it.

Megan just chuckles.  “I was being somewhat facetious.”

“I don’t think it’s the school per se.  More likely the convergence of improbability.  I think the positive view would be that we are here because guys like this are.  The depressing view is they are here because we are.”

Colin makes a face as if he just swallowed something disgusting.

"This is very wrong." he says again. "I'm afraid I got nothing to to identify him, though. We should call the police to see this. This guy is dangerous. He would have killed a boy here, if it wasn't for Seth, and if he saw Sammy while she was under the spell of the witches... I have no idea what he'd be trying to do."

“Well, I left a message for Elrod.”  Megan said.  “Sammy lost her phone, so we don’t have any other way of reaching her right now.”

She looked over at Colin as she continued.  “So, who wants to do the honors of getting the cops in here to see this?  I don’t have my costume with me.”

Colin frowns for a moment, looking at his watch.

"Ok, I'll call them. What did you touch, if they want to take fingerprints?"

“Only the door leading into here.”  Megan replied to Colin’s question of what she might have touched in the room.

"Good." he says. Then he lets out a sigh. "This day looks like it'll never be over."

He takes a few pictures of the room, of the most disturbing photoes, and copies down some on the stuff on the napkins. He gets a couple of dead bees from the ground and puts them in a little box.

"Ok, I'm done here. I'll go outside to call them. Are you going to stay? I'm sure neither of you would have trouble disappearing." he says with a slight smile.

He gets out of the school and calls Chris.

"Hi Chris. I had a weird feeling about school, so I kinda went back there to check on something. And I found something that I think you should see. Do you remember the bees that attacked several people and tried to kill a boy? I think I found... how can I say? The hidden den of who made them, I think. And it's scary. Can you send someone here to take a look?"

EDIT: (The character would remember but the player was forgetting.)

Colin also goes back to the room the girls locked themselves in and looks for Sammy's lost cellphone.

It wont take long for the police to arrive.

OOC: John suggests he and Megan leave to let the police do what they need to without having to ask too many questions.

"Okay Colin, give us a call if yu need any thing else from us."  Megan says as John suggests clearing out.  The blonde teen then heads off with him to wherever he has next in mind to go.

"Well, shall we call Donnie and get him these pages the witches had down there?"  Megan suggests once her and John were away from the school.

"Probably.  I think he'd want to know what they were working on."

Megan takes out her phone and begins scrolling through to Donnie’s number.  “So, anything else you wanted to do after that?  Or just go pick up some movies?  We could call in something to eat later.”

"Delivery food is good on Halloween.  Very slasher movie-ish."  John says with a smile.

Megan grinned as she dialed Donnie's number and put the phone to her ear.  "I hope you know some good places.  Anything in mind as far as food?"

"I'm partial to Chinese, but pizza or subs works too."

“Chinese sounds great.”  Megan said as Donnie’s phone began to ring.

*click*

"Hello?"

"Hey Donnie, its Megan.  John and I were looking through the school basement and found some pages with things that look like stuff the witches were working on.  We thought you might want to take a look at the them." 

"Yeah, certainly. Do you know where I live?"

"Nope, what's the address?  We are coming from the school right now."  Megan replies.

Donnie fills her in with the necessary directions and goes to inform his mom that he would have a couple friends coming over.

After getting the directions, Megan and John make their way over to Donnie's place.  It was not too long before they were ringing the doorbell.

Donnie's mother answers the door.  She's pleasant and smiles at the two teens, explaining Donnie is up in his room.  She goes to the bottom of the steps and calls up to him, "Donnie, your friends are here."

“Thank you Mrs. Douglas.”  Megan replied with a warm smile.  She followed after Donnie’s mother as she looked about the house.  “You have a very lovely home.”

"Thank you."  she says, "Can I get you guys anything?" 

“Yes please, a glass of water would be wonderful.”

Donnie comes down the stairs in a hurried stumbling leap. Once seeing Megan and John, he looks uncomfortable, as if having them at his home wierds him out a little. In his arms are his dog-eared notebooks. He shakes his head a little and smiles. "Hey guys how's it going?"

After he snags a coke from the fridge, he motions the other teenagers to follow him to the back porch.

Megan hands him the pages and he studies them carefully, referencing his notes as necessary.

ooc: If required: [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1103105]Arcane Lore check (1d20+12=21)[/url]

The notes are certainly for a spell, but it's highly complex and involves several spells operating in concert.  It's also badly transcribed and the margin notes certainly have the mistakes Donnie would attribute to an amature.  This spell could be pretty dangerous, even if the person managed to cast it properly.  It'll take Donnie some time to figure it out.

After some intense scruitiny and referencing, Dinnie leans back into the deck-chair, whistling in exaperation.

"I don't know the final effects of the spell, but this is a pretty powerful one. Complex as hell too. I am surprised the girls didn't do more damage with this, since it requires several spells to be acting in concurrent rolls, supporting and fueling each other. Dangerous, and foolish, especially for amatures. It'll take me a couple days or so to work out the spell, and I'll let you know the full purpose of it afterwards. They.."

He just shakes his head. "This is almost as ad as Palmer getting a hold of the demon summoning ritual. This stuff is not readily available on the internet. It's hard to find. I doubt even if one of them was a student at Miskatonic U that they could get their hands on a spell like this. I certainly wouldn't be able to make up one like it."

"Sounds like you're saying someone at the school, or in town, is selling black market black magic."  John says.

Donnie nods his head. "Between the black magic cast at our school witht e talisman and Rory, Leland Palmer, and this mess, I am certain someone with deep  pockets and major magical resources is making our lives difficult and dangerous."

Megan frowns at what Donnie had to revel.  The combination of the things that seemed to be appearing was troubling.  “They seem to be succeeding.  I wonder if it’s the same person that is leaking the technology stuff out?”

She looked up at both boys as she continued.  “It just seems strange.  We have all this crazy magic stuff going on, with someone apparently behind it all.  Then there is the various bits of technology that was found after the raygun shooter incident, not to mention the invisibility device of the locker room photographer.  And as if that was not enough, we have drugs that give you superstrength or superspeed.  All might seem to tie back to someone providing each type of dangerous items.  But would it be so far out there to think its all from the same source?”

Donnie shakes his head. "I don't think so. I think the techno stuff is coming from someone else. Maybe I am on the wrong track here, but people with this much advanced knowledge of magic wold not have time to become technological geniouses too."

“Hmm, true.”  Megan conceded.  “But, you don’t have to be an expert to sell off things you gather from elsewhere.  Wasn’t that book bought off the internet?”

She shrugged.  “But your probably right, its likely a few different threats we have out there that are making things miserable for us.”

“So you have any plans for the long weekend?”

Donnie looks up into the sky, a smile on his face. "Flying definately, hopefully a movie with Sylvia. Maybe wander the mall, but her a pretzel and pretend to be a normal teenager for once."

"Good luck with that."  Jon says, "We should get going.  Let us know if you find anything or need our help."

Megan nodded and then gave Donnie a smile.  “Take care Donnie, hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend.”

She then follows John as they make their way back out.  Thanking Mrs. Douglas for her hospitality as they leave. 

“So, that alleviate all our responsibilities for now?  Least till we can get some samples of Speedfreak and Superman to Mr. Heep?”

"For now." John said as they left Donnie's house.  "I suppose we should head over to my place and try to relax some."

“Try?  I will do my best to see that we do.”  Megan replied with a grin.  “Lets get going.”

Megan and John made their way back to his house from Donnie’s.  By the time they arrived, John’s parents were just about ready to leave for the party they were attending.  The two teens arrived just in time for the arrival of the younger trick-or-treaters that were making their way through the neighborhood.  During the time they were passing out candy, they ordered out Chinese, Megan picking up the tab for that, as John would pay for the on-demand horror movies they selected later.

As it started to get darker outside, the number of trick-or-treaters began to slow down.  The first movie they ordered just before dinner arrived, the Grudge II.  Megan spent much of the movie pressed into John’s side, her arms wrapped around one of his arms like a vice.  On a few occasions she buried her face into his shoulder so she did not have to watch a scene. 

The second movie they started was Scream, but Megan was not quite as scared during that one.  About half an hour into the movie, they had not had a trick-or-treater since before the movie started.  Megan rested her head on John’s left shoulder, her left arm reaching over to caress across his chest.  “Starting to feel relaxed?”

"Yep."  John said, leaning his head against hers for a minute.  "If you do decide to make a life out of being a super hero, this is something you have to remember to do.  Sit down, unwind, and pretend the world is not falling apart all around you."

“I think that is pretty much true with a lot of careers.  When my dad was practicing law, he seemed very different when we would go on vacation.”  Megan replied.  “But super heroing does seem to take it to a new level.”

Megan stayed where she was for awhile, not really getting into the movie that much.  Lifting her head up, she sat up and straddled John’s lap so she was facing him.  Looking into his eyes, her right hand traced around the side of his face for a moment before she leaned in to kiss him.

John returned her kiss, his hands coming to her back he held her gently while there lips pressed together.