She's in a city - a huge city, by this world's standards at least. Skyscrapers surround her, and civilians run screaming for cover. There are cries for help aplenty. "All the noise" appears to be a giant floating platform, its top domed over by a grid of glowing orange hexagons. Mounted turrets on the sides and bottom rain brilliant beams of energy on the city. It's radiating a kind of...static. Her communicator seems to be on the fritz. 

A loudspeaker, of all things, plays from the bottom of the platform. 

"COME AND FACE ME IF YOU DARE, LEGACY! YOU CANNOT HIDE BEHIND YOUR PATHETIC TEAMMATES ANY LONGER! YOU SHALL MEET YOUR DOOM AT MY BLADE!"

Okay, well, good for this dude immediately making it very clear who's the bad guy here. She shoves the communicator back in her pocket, she'll look over it later. For now, she glances up at the sky and around in general to see if there's anyone flying up or generally running towards instead of away from the destruction. And let's see...do any of the buildings have a picture of what this "Legacy" person looks like? She throws up a brief illusion around herself as she goes looking for this information, one that temporarily hides her full transformation and makes her look like a normal civilian, her wings pulled against her back to prevent accidentally tripping someone.

As a matter of fact...

...a flying man in white and blue is busy twisting a turret barrel into uselessness...

...a red blur zips by, and there are suddenly fewer screaming civilians in harm's way...

...a heavily armored figure is charging an extremely large cannon in an abandoned parking lot...

...while another creates walls of ice with blasts from its palms, blocking shots from the platform. 

Oh, okay, good for them! Hmm...they probably do have plans of their own on how to handle this. The most responsible thing to do would probably be to ask one of them what she can do to help while they're less distracted, but Eliza is not responsible. Instead, she's going to start looking for any cannons on the ground that aren't being handled yet, while rolling one of her Pokeballs around in her hand.

The cannon-being-charged appears to belong to the armored guy, actually; it is "charging" in the sense that it emits an ever-increasing glow, and it's pointed up at the floating platform. 

At ground level, there's no other heavy armament, but a squad of green-clad figures are starting to shoot at Cannon Guy and Ice Guy from a nearby building. 

Alright then. She ducks into an alley first to release her disguise illusion, before flying up so that she's behind them, with only her eyes poking up above the roof. She quickly calls up an illusion of what she can recall about the red blurry person, filling in the gaps the best she can. She then has the illusion wave, while calling out "yoo-hoo!" herself. Hopefully this results in them switching targets to the illusion. She moves her hands over her Pokeballs before selecting Blade's-he's the one best suited to immediately jumping into a crisis who also has moves that won't damage the building. She's also hoping to get a better look at the guys-does their green clothing look like armor or just a skinsuit?

About half the figures switch targets. It won't last, though; it's not a very convincing illusion and they'll start to notice very quickly when their bullets don't do squat. Also, this is the person who is plausibly many times faster than bullets. Already one of the shooters is starting to backtrack through the building, looking for the source of the mocking blur person. 

Their clothes look more like combat uniforms, although they're bulky enough at the chest to have some amount of armor underneath. 

Well, all she needed was to draw them away for a moment. She does notice the one starting to explore the building, and casts another quick illusion against the windows she's hovering by-just one to block the view from within and make it look normal, for now, even as she starts moving to back away slightly from the building. She might have to land soon, her wings really need more space than this.

Still. she grabs the Pokeball and presses the button, Blade appearing in a flash of red light. The Pidgeot flaps in midair, looking around in confusion, before she calls out a command.

"Blade! Air Slash those green guys!" He lets out a screech of agreement and takes to the air, wings glowing with white energy before he starts sending blades of air at the group of people, aiming at their hands in an attempt to knock their guns away. She herself drops the illusion on the windows and goes rocketing into the air, wings flapping as she activates one of her shapeshifting abilities, shrinking into a much tinier mouse form, only retaining her wings. Right now, becoming a smaller target is probably her highest priority.

Blade catches most of the shooters unawares. Several drop their guns. A few more simply drop. Ice Guy, approaching from the parking lot, uses the opening to flash-freeze the rest through the broken windows. 

The guy who was exploring the building avoids both attacks. He ducks for cover behind a filing cabinet, and levels a rifle at the mysterious giant bird. (He's hiding from the parking lot side, but exposed to Eliza). He doesn't appear to notice the flying mouse. 

"Blade! Gun!" calls Eliza, darting through the air and doing a few loops to disguise where her voice is coming from. The Pidgeot hears her and seems to focus, eyes glowing a steely gray as he prepares to evade the attack. Eliza lands on top of the filing cabinet, pressing herself flat against it and watching to see who the guy tries to shoot next. And also just how well-armored his hands look. Could a good bite get him to drop that gun?

He opens fire. Blade, forewarned and ready, evades. 

On closer inspection, the soldier's chest is armored. The rest of his green-and-blue outfit seems to consist of a bodysuit and glowing goggles. A short stick hangs on his belt - a melee weapon of some kind? He's wearing moderately-thick rubber gloves for some reason. Kinda hard to bite through. He's looking around for the source of the yelling, but still doesn't see the winged mouse. 

Alright, Eliza, think. Blade can't keep up the Detecting forever, she doesn't know how many shots are in the gun and it's probably still quite a bit considering he was scouting and didn't waste as much on her illusion. But...wait a moment. She looks down at the file cabinet she's sitting on, and a small devious smile spreads across her mousy face. She starts carefully sliding backwards until she's at the edge, gliding down as silently as she can and landing lightly on the other side of said cabinet.

And then she starts shifting again, as silently and quickly as she can. Blade, noticing her movements, starts letting out a few cries of his own to distract the guy and draw his attention, darting back and forth in hopes that the guy won't shoot so fast again.

Her nue form is very strong, and her magical girl transformation enhances the strength on top of that. The instant she's tall enough, she places the whole weight of her body against the file cabinet and pushes.

Smart bird. 

The man shoots again. A bullet grazes Blade's side, but the wound isn't deep. The man swears under his breath and starts reloading. 

Then a filing cabinet falls on him, and he stops doing much of anything. 

An increasingly-loud humming noise is starting to make itself heard from outside in the parking lot. Ice Guy leaps in through the window and freezes a couple more downed soldiers, leaving their heads exposed so they can breathe. His helmeted head turns towards Eliza, and he raises glowing palms, but doesn't fire. (Or, in this case, ice). His voice comes out with an odd crisp intonation. "Who the heck are you?" 

Eliza curtsies a little, grinning. Admittedly, that smile probably looks a bit more threatening on her tigery face, though for now her snake tail is doing its best to just hang down, be an extra set of eyes and make sure no one gets up, and not be too hissy.

"Eliza Owens, representing the Meadous! There were supposed to be a bunch of others following me, but the portal kind of closed early? I haven't been able to get back in contact, so I don't know what's going on back there."

Blade, seeing the fight mostly over, glides over next to land next to her, tilting his head to the side as well. Eliza reaches out to pat him on the shoulder fondly. "Oh yeah, and this is Blade! He's one of my Pokemon!"

"Meadous? Portal? Pokemon? The f - " He pauses a moment, silent, and casually ices Cabinet Guy. "...we don't have time for this. If you're helping, you're helping. What can you do." 

Eliza lifts a clawed hand and starts counting them off, speaking fairly rapidly, while Blade flutters into the air away from the ice. Sadly, he's no longer small enough to perch on Eliza's shoulder. "Well, my most practiced power is illusions-I've gotta be watching them most of the time to make them look and act right, but I've gotten pretty good at making them act realistically and that could act as a decoy. I can turn into a magical girl form that lets me fly and makes me slightly tougher. I also have multiple individual forms I can stack on top of that-a mouse form that's mostly good for sneaking around; a Primarina form that can put people to sleep or shoot water, but that needs water to swim in or someone to carry me; and this form is my physically strongest on top of the teeth and claws. I can fill an area with poison mist in this form, but I don't think that would be safe for this city. Blade's really good at cutting things up fast, and he can carry a person-probably not with armor on though. Plus I've got other Pokemon-Lantern might be able to phase through that force field, but he couldn't bring anyone with him."

"Magical girl. Ugh. Wraith, you getting this? Yes, I know it's not the weirdest we've - " Pause. "Fine. Alright Magic Girl, let's get you a communicator." He makes for the parking lot, beckoning. "Can any of your...Pokemon...do fire or ice like me? If you hit me with heat I can freeze things, if you hit me with cold I'll heal." 

Red blur zips in. "HeyIheardyoufoundanewheroIwannasee-" 

There's a thin patch of ice by the window, concealed by a white tile floor. Red blur slips and skids into a desk. 

"-Ow." 

She's less blurry now. A little more red. 

Eliza follows after, bouncing slightly on the heels of her paws. Blade is already flying ahead, trying to get out of the icy area. "Oh, Witch and Slinky can both do fire, but I don't have any Ice-types on my-oh!" Eliza starts when the woman skids into the desk. "Are you okay?"

Blade chirps worriedly, flapping over to perch on the desk and inspect her for injury.

"Watch where you're going, dammit!" snaps Ice Guy, who has still not introduced himself. He turns to go through the window, then looks again. "Frosted hells, Tachs, what happened to you?" 

The woman's bruised in several places and bleeding through a rip in her white-and-red suit. No head wounds, thankfully, but she wobbles as she tries to stand. "Ow, shit, what a day. Hi I'm Tachyon I usually don't run into things it's nice to meet you gotta run - " except she staggers rather than speeds. "Okay, okay, 'm gonna be there when the spin stops rooming..." 

She slides to the ground, breathing shallowly...

...and a roundish object slips from her hand onto the floor. 

Eliza definitely looks worried when the woman slides to the ground. She quickly hurries over-she's got enough experience with basic first aid to at least tell if this is a dangerous coma or not.

"Um...do you think this had anything to do with that?" she asks Ice Guy, gesturing at the round object and poking it slightly with a foot.

She's unconscious but not comatose. 

Ice Guy is distracted, talking into his helmet. "Tachyon's down...and you never heard from her after you lost contact? Okay. Yeah, a pickup would be great, I can't protect Bunker and Tachs both. Still want to give Magic Girl the...? Okay, on it."

He returns his attention to Eliza, then looks at the indicated object. "No clue. Sleuthing is Wraith's department. Think you could get it to her if we give you directions? You're more mobile than me or Bunker. Rescue's inbound for Tachyon," he adds. 

Eliza nods, looking determined as she scoops up the object, also testing its weight slightly. Could she carry this in her mouse form? "Yeah, I can do that no problem. She's not in a coma, at least."

It's a bit too large for a mouse to carry. Five inches on a side, maybe four at the narrowest point, and with the texture and weight of stone. The carving on the surface, faintly birdlike, is worn smooth. Slippery, almost. 

With a nod, Ice Guy leads the way into the parking lot...

...where Bunker is still aiming the giant humming cannon at the flying fortress. A bright blue glow emanates from its barrel. 

The white-suited man with the blue cape leaves off his assault on the platform and dives to the parking lot. "Great work, everyone! Bunker, take the shot, I'll guide it away from the towers!" 

Bunker obliges. A brilliant blue-white beam spears skyward...

...at the exact same moment as a shot from the platform catches White-and-Blue in the back, flinging him into the path of the beam. 

"SHIT! Legacy!"

He reels, suit torn and blasted, and starts to fall. 

As they walk into the parking lot, Eliza recalls some of her mentor's advice about caution, and takes a handkerchief out of one of her pockets to wrap up the object before tucking it back in.

Eliza stares, shocked for a moment, then screams out a "NO!" before she spreads her wings and takes off, Blade following after her almost immediately. The guy looks pretty heavy, but she reaches out to try and grab one of his arms while Blade grabs the other, doing their best to at least slow the fall. She manifests a quick illusion around them as she does-just some illusory smoke spreading out around them randomly, but hopefully it'll be enough to prevent them from getting hit with another shot.

He's heavy, and falling fast, but Eliza and Blade together have the strength to arrest his fall. Barely. 

He's not unconscious, just stunned and, judging by the angry burns all along his right side, in considerable pain. His body lightens as he regains his bearings and starts to hover under his own power. "Th-thanks," he coughs. Then, his recovering gaze fixes on something beyond the illusion-smoke. "Look out!" 

An enemy soldier - looks like they missed one, or else he was scouting during the scuffle - has leveled a sniper rifle out of an upper-story window at Eliza. Bunker whirls and aims a minigun at the offending window, but he's not fast enough - 

- and then another shot from the platform, aimed at Legacy and Eliza, whizzes through the illusion-smoke. It misses by a yard.

And it nails the sniper dead in the chest. He drops backward out of sight, without so much as a Wilhelm scream. 

But someone screams, a shriek of rage and frustration. Eliza hears it clearly, even over all the chaos. 

Eliza's head whips rapidly in that direction, staring wide-eyed. She starts flying back towards ground-level, though. There's still the issue of delivering that round thing, she can't just go flying off to investigate. Still, she's very curious now.

"Who's that?" she asks, directed at the current group in general.

Legacy drops as well, and gives her a blank stare. The heroes wearing full facemasks are harder to read, but they're looking at her. "Who's what?" asks Legacy, puzzled. 

"Um...I just heard someone else screaming, after that guy got shot." She points up at the now-guyless window. "I don't think it was him."

Ice Guy puts a wall of ice between them and the floating platform for cover. Then another between them and the building, for good measure. 

Legacy frowns, then shakes his head, breathing hard. "We have larger problems, I'm afraid." 

Bunker starts to apologize, but Legacy waves him off. "It was just rotten luck, friend. Good thinking, Zero, that should buy us time to regroup." 

Zero, apparently, nods. "Bunker, you got that communicator for our friend here?" 

Bunker opens a panel in his rather large suit and, with surprising dexterity given his gauntleted hands, turns over a small earpiece for Eliza. At Legacy's request, he digs out a second one, which Legacy puts in his uninjured left ear. 

"Wraith will direct you with that, Eliza," Legacy nods at the earpiece. "Something's been interfering with us in this fight, we'd normally have brought that thing down by now. Think you can help us figure out what?" 

Eliza takes the earpiece with equal delicacy and tucks it onto her ear, which luckily hasn't shifted in shape much. "I'm hoping so!" she says. "I did find this weird round thing I'm going to bring over, I also wrapped it up just in case touching it has a worse effect." It did potentially make Tachyon run into a desk, after all. She's bouncing a bit on her heels again, ready to take off. "Um...should I recall Blade to make for a smaller target, or do you think it's okay if he flies with me?"

"Blade...? Oh, the bird. That's your call," Legacy conceals a wince. "You're unlikely to get shot at, though, we alerted the military and police to your presence and...Baron Blade..." he nods towards the floating platform, "doesn't have that many goons." He turns to the others. "Bunker, set up again for another shot, Zero, keep this zone clear. I'll head back up and..." 

In unison, Bunker and Zero choke out, "NO!" 

"...I'll make sure Tachyon gets to the hospital safely. Then I will be back and I'll help keep this area clear of lingering goons." He pauses to listen to something from his earpiece. "Right, let's move!" 

"Hello Eliza," says a young woman's voice in Eliza's ear. "This is Wraith. Thank you for helping; I'll guide you to your destination. I have a feeling we should talk." 

Blade chirps proudly and snuggles slightly closer to Eliza, and she pats him on the head. "Don't worry, you're clearly the superior Blade," she reassures him. "I'm guessing that you want to come along, then?" He nods and chirps harder, before glancing over at Zero. "Do you want me to leave Witch here with you? She's got better range with her Fire-type moves, and she can also confuse enemies."

When she receives the notification from Wraith, she nods for a moment before realizing that doesn't quite work. She fumbles a bit, trying to figure out how the transmission works. Assuming she does figure it out, she'll give a quick response of "Of course!" as she rises into the air. "I can fly, so just give me the most direct route you can!"

"How well does Witch understand orders? Will she do what we say?" asks Zero skeptically. "If so, sure." 

The earpiece has an easy-to-reach button on the side. Push-to-talk is a reasonable assumption. 

Wraith directs her to head south, orthogonal to the floating platform's path but putting a few buildings between her and it, once she finishes here. 

"She'll listen to you if I tell her to," says Eliza, nodding reassuringly as she takes out another Pokeball. She presses the button, and another creature appears in a flash of light, radiating an aura of warmth. She shakes her head from side to side, looking around at the gathered crowd in confusion. Eliza reaches out to pat her on the head. "Hey Witch," she says. "Me and Blade are going on a flying mission, okay? Can you listen to Zero here for a bit? He just needs Fire-type moves to power up his own abilities." The fox Pokemon looks skeptical, but nods and pads over to his side. Eliza watches for a bit more, making sure that she looks like she'll listen, before taking off, Blade following after.

Staying out of the platform's path sounds reasonable, so she takes the advised route. Blade is flying beside her, head turned to watch for trouble, and her snake-headed tail is also now awake and alert, allowing them to be able to pay a fair amount of attention to anyone that might be aiming a gun at them.

She's headed towards an architecturally improbable F-shaped tower at the south end of the city. En route, Wraith debriefs her. 

"Eliza, I'm unfamiliar with your organization. What can you tell me about them? Should we be expecting more arrivals from...Meadous?" 

Honestly, Eliza is not really sure what exactly counts as "architecturally impossible" anymore. At least it's a pretty visible landmark.

"Oh, it's not really an organization, more like...a world? It's ruled by the god Zephyr, God of the Lost. They have a talent for finding people lost between worlds and picking them up, and now that they've come into their full power they can also easily create portals to send people to different worlds. And they also have a talent for hearing cries for help from other worlds, but it's still kind of unsafe for them to actually travel to other worlds and leave theirs behind.

"Even now that people can come and go as they please, a lot of us still consider the Meadous a home of sorts, so a lot of us are happy to help out when they tell us about a cry they heard. We don't really have an organization name or anything? We're just a bunch of residents who want to help. The portal was actually supposed to stay stable until we all went through and back, but somehow only I ended up coming through. And my communicator's not even working, so I can't tell everyone else what's going on or know what progress on their side is like. But once they figure out what happened to the portal and manage to get a new one up, there should be quite a few people coming through. We're usually never sure what exactly the problem is, so there's probably going to be all sorts of talents, especially with this new added portal problem. Wizards, doctors, fighters, detectives, just to name a few."

"Worldhopping heroes sponsored by a benevolent deity? Sounds almost too good to be true. And yet, here you are.

"We know other worlds exist, but we have yet to contact any except in some rare cases involving magic. Some are extremely dangerous. Our own world has many problems, of which the current crisis is only one, but the largest threats are handled by hero groups such as this one. How do Meadous heroes prioritize? Is there a leadership to your current team, besides Zephyr?" 

"Um...we don't really have one person who leads everything? Most of the time when there's a decision to be made those of us who want to have input gather for a meeting and to vote on things. Or for some things once we know what kind of problem it is we just defer to whoever knows the most about that, since people come from all sorts of worlds and have all sorts of experiences. As for prioritizing...most of the time if people have problems on their own home worlds they tend to prioritize those, with maybe some help from their friends. For the calls Zephyr hears...most of the time they don't get multiple at once, and when they do we generally discuss how to split people up, or whether we can call away some of our friends from home.

"Oh! For the biggest case of splitting up, there was an issue with multiple older gods vanishing and leaving their worlds behind, but Zephyr eventually figured out they were becoming Lost in a similar way to us, and figured out how to fix it. We had to split up quite a bit between the different worlds, but because Zephyr was familiar with most of them it was easier to set up ways to make portals between those worlds. In other cases, they have to sort of use the Meadous as an intermediary point."

"Our world has a great variety of skills and powers as well, but we won't turn down friendly aid. Based on your initial assessment, what would your team likely do if they got here? Both for the immediate crisis, and after?" 

"Well...Stephen can make portals, so he'd probably set up one to get past that shield so some people could go handle that. I think Ienzo'd help him with that too so that the portal would move along with that shielded fortress, or set up a second one to help people get away. Most everyone else would probably help with the fighting part...maybe not Uncles Bertie and Monty, they might just have come along with me to deliver and explain stuff. And Dr. Watson might help with medical stuff instead, even though I know he has a gun.

"After...well, Stephen's also a doctor, so he'd probably help Dr. Watson if people still needed to be treated. Ienzo'd probably help investigate this thing we found, or if it's not the cause of everything going wrong try to analyze what was causing it. Bertie and Monty might just go talk to people, they're pretty good at that. And I guess Sherlock would also try and investigate on his own...unless John-Dr. Watson-stopped him. We'd probably also get some more people who are better at building stuff to come over and help with fixing everything up...it probably also depends on how exactly the fight ends." There's a pause. "There's a way to take down that fortress without crashing it into people, right?"

Wraith has not heard of these people, but they sound helpful.

"If we can take out some but not all of its propulsion, Legacy can sort of guide it down to minimize damage. We've been hampered by the desire to not drop it on a skyscraper, but that may be unavoidable. It would be even better if I could get on board and sabotage its flight patterns from the inside, crashing it outside the city. But that requires getting up there and past the shield, or entering via the heavily-armored fortress underbelly. I can't hack it from here. 

"Then there's the matter of whatever's been interfering with our efforts. Counting the incident with Bunker's cannon, that's now five major setbacks in the last hour. Tachyon had a run-in with something, but I lost communication just before. I'm hoping the object she brought - that you're carrying - can provide some clues." 

Wraith directs Eliza to the top of the tower, where a horizontal door in the roof opens to let her through. 

"Oh, yeah, I definitely hope the same thing!" Eliza glides down towards the door in the roof, passing through and landing smoothly with Blade following behind her, before looking around to see if she can find the person who was talking to her.

There's an elevator, going down, and then she can. 

A dark-haired young woman in red and purple, skin concealed by grey wrappings, sits at a large computer with many, many screens. "Let's have a look at that object," Wraith begins without preamble. 

Eliza pads over, snake-tail twitching behind her, as she holds out the handkerchief-wrapped object, also glancing up at the various screens while she's at it. Blade hovers behind her, looking somewhat more awkward in the more confined area. "I don't know if wrapping it up has any effect, but I figured better safe than sorry."

"Good thinking." Wraith unwraps and photographs it, avoiding direct contact as she does. Seconds later, close-ups of the markings appear on three of her screens. "I'm cross-referencing to see if this matches anything in my database." She sets a search running, then stops to take a call from the National Guard. She relays tactical information to them, updates the heroes in the field, then returns to her search.

A few minutes later - "I've got something. This appears to be an ancient Turkish talisman, purported to bring good luck to the bearer - but it was associated with a specific dynasty -" 

The lights go out. 

Eliza lets out a yelp, and there's a flash of red light before another creature appears, glowing enough to illuminate the room to some degree. She's glancing around frantically, eyes flashing in the dimmer light-this form does have slightly better nightvision, but she'd rather they both have some form of light right now.

"Did-did all the electricity just go out?" she asks.

There's a flicker. Wraith's many monitors, powered down when the lights died, begin to glow again. 

Wraith, out of her chair and with a knife in hand, whispers, "There are backup generators..."

There's a bang and a crack, then the monitors wink out again. 

"...or there were," finishes Wraith grimly. "We're under attack." Her voice fades out as Wraith disappears into the lingering shadows. There's a whisper from Eliza's earpiece. "I'll still be in touch. Let's greet our guests." 

Eliza touches her own earpiece, even as she drops into more of a quadrupedal crouch. "Got it. Lantern, can you scout ahead?" The Gourgeist nods, saluting with one hair-tendril before dimming his light and floating upwards, through the ceiling. Eliza focuses and dips further into the nue's instincts, both snake head and tiger nose scenting the air for the smell of intruders, ears pricked as well. Blade sticks close to her side, ready to react at her signal. His nightvision is much poorer than both her and Lantern's, but they're in sync enough she knows he can react fast to her commands.

The air is full of unfamiliar scents. At least six different people, by the smells, though only Wraith's is recent. 

Wraith whispers guidance to Eliza, helping her navigate the corridors of Freedom Tower. 

It takes about ten minutes of prowling before Eliza smells the seventh. 

Eliza crouches low, stalking after the seventh scent. If there's a handy corner wall, she's going to use it to peer around at whoever it is without being spotted by them herself.

There's a shadowed form just around the corner. Their back is to Eliza, and they're making a grasping motion at Lantern in the corridor beyond. 

Eliza tilts her head to the side? Does it look like Lantern is being affected in any way?

But no matter. Eliza crouches even lower, gathering energy in her legs like springs before pouncing with a roar, using her wings to get extra air, aiming to pin the figure beneath her full weight. Lantern vanishes into the shadows as he hears her cry, attempting to reappear near the figure and strike to further disorient them.

If Lantern is affected, it's not apparent at first. 

Except...

Just before Eliza leaps, Lantern's glow falls on another sneaking figure - Wraith. Eliza's target lets out a snarl of rage, seeing Wraith, and starts grasping in the hero's direction. 

She's interrupted, however, by Eliza, and her head whips about in the direction of the roar. Eliza lands before her pouncee can react, and gets a solid pin. 

Lantern is not so lucky. He reappears just in time to catch a spinning projectile, thrown by Wraith, in his side. 

Their mutual foe writhes beneath Eliza's grip. She's not particularly strong, but her touch fills Eliza with a sense of grave foreboding. 

Lantern's hit, and although he can absorb most of the blow it still sends him bouncing along the ground a bit, looking very dizzy and confused. "Gour...?" he mutters, slowly floating back upright.

Meanwhile, Eliza tries to keep the girl pinned. Ominous feeling-probably not good. "I think she was doing something to mess with you!" she calls. "She was doing this weird grasping thing in your direction and it feels bad now she's doing it at me!"

The concrete and metal floor has no business collapsing under the weight of one thin woman and Eliza. It does so anyway. Eliza and her pouncee drop amidst a pile of rubble. 

Eliza immediately spreads her wings as they fall, digging her claws into the woman's shoulders. Blade, above them, lets out a frightened screech and dives down to try and meet them. Depending on the space available, Eliza starts trying to fly back upwards as well. "Are you making this happen?" she snarls. "Is your power to make everything go wrong?"

As it happens, flight is a handy way to deal with the floor dropping out from under you. Eliza drags her captive upward, away from the collapsing floor. 

"Wrong is a matter of perspective," hisses her foe. 

Blade appears to have overcorrected. He slams into Eliza as she attempts to right herself. 

"Give back what you stole!" snarls her captive, drawing a long knife and slashing at Eliza's grip. 

Eliza lets out an "ugh" and staggers midair as Blade slams into her. He flails in midair, before flapping a distance away, screeching worriedly. It takes a moment to correct, and the knife doesn't help. She snarls, one of her hands losing their grip. She tries to shift it quickly, to grab hold of her wrist so that she can't keep slashing and they can keep flying upwards. "I don't even have it right now!" she hisses. There's a pause, before she adds, "And I wouldn't give it to you either!" How close are they to getting out of the hole? She's going to try and slam the girl against the edge of said hole as she flies back up.

Sometimes the simplest plans are the best. A bit of concrete crumbles out of the way, but Eliza's plan succeeds. The impact stuns her target, who has now stopped slashing thanks to Eliza's grip on her wrist. 

That's when the ceiling collapses, dumping rubble and, inexplicably, a hail of icy shards onto Eliza. Her left wing takes a bad hit. 

Meanwhile, the Wraith is busy tranquilizing what appears to be a live panther. How it got into the eighth floor of Freedom Tower and decided that what it really wanted most in life was to pounce on Wraith...well, perhaps that shall forever remain a mystery. 

"Augh!" Eliza lets out a scream, stumbling and dropping onto the floor, keeping her opponent pinned under her. Hopefully, this doesn't crumble under her as well. She doesn't even notice the panther, though Blade does as he flies upwards, spurred on by her scream. She shifts her wings a little, then lets out a soft growl of pain.

"...I think it's broken," she mutters with a soft hiss.

A muffled "Good!" from beneath her is punctuated by another round of desperate struggling. There's a sharp pain in Eliza's forearms, as though the bones have suddenly grown far more brittle, but Eliza's foe is unable to get enough leverage to make much of this. A few moments later, her struggles subside into weary panting through gritted teeth. 

The newcomer's face is wild with fury beneath a small mask that's more for looks than identity concealment. Her hair is a red-and-black shock of disarray. 

Eliza lets out a hiss of pain, but doesn't let go. Blade walks over carefully, choosing to walk instead of flying, and reaches out with his beak to yank the knife away, pecking at her hand to make her let go if necessary.

"Should we knock her out?" mutters Eliza, glancing over at Wraith. "I don't know if she's got any other weapons on her..."

Wraith, newly pantherless, darts over to inject something into the villain's neck. (Using a different needle than for the panther). "Tranquilizer. I'm not taking chances; our experiences suggest she is a weapon." 

Eliza finally releases her captive, sitting down and flexing her hands as she slowly shifts back to her more human magical girl form. She lets out a few relieved huffs, then winces as her wing shifts again. "Yeah...I think she was after that amulet I gave you." A pause. "It's safe, right?"

Wraith withdraws the cloth-wrapped token from a pouch on her waist. "Yes." She returns it to its compartment, then pulls an antiseptic pad from another pouch and starts wiping down her panther-induced scratches. (Cat scratches are nasty things.) "Are you okay? Do you need me to splint that wing?" 

Eliza frowns a little. "My arms hurt for some reason...but I think the wing's more important right now. A splint would be helpful, unless you know someone with healing powers...?"

"Known healers are elsewhere at present, though I expect one to be onsite for cleanup after this attack." Wraith pulls an inordinate amount of medical supplies out of a back pouch and begins laying them out expertly. "I have non-fatiguing painkillers as well, though if your physiology is nonhuman they may not work." 

She shrugs a little. "I think I'm pretty close to human? When I got some blood tests, the results were the same for this form and my normal human form. So painkillers would probably work the same."

Wraith finishes laying out the supplies. She opens a pillbox and proffers two small blue pills to Eliza, then gets to work on a (much-modified) splint for Eliza's wing. "Our mysterious bad-luck villain," she nods towards the unconscious woman, "meets the description of one Kismet, a usually small-time villain wanted for multiple counts of vandalism, arson, robbery, and sundry other offenses. I'm not sure what prompted her to graduate to working with Baron Blade to level a city, but perhaps the answer is just 'a lot of money.'" 

Eliza takes the pills with a quick "thanks" and pops them both into her mouth, letting them sit for a bit before collecting enough saliva to swallow. "Huh...did those other reports mention anything about the talisman? Maybe she just got it and was testing how much it could do?"

"No mention, but it's small enough that it might go unnoticed. Given her...extreme attachment, my money's on a family heirloom. And my bets are usually right. Okay, hold still, this may be a bit painful." After running a handheld scanner of some kind over both sides of Eliza's broken wing, she begins expertly binding it. 

Eliza nods. "I guess this is the first time she's lost it, probably..." She does grit her teeth and let out a bit of a hiss, digging her fingers into her knees. However, she manages to keep her wing still as it's being bound. "Um...how's the situation outside? Is Baron Blade still a problem?"

"I was cut off from communication when the power died. Even my portables failed. I think the fortress had an EMP. The good news is, we hardened Bunker's and Zero's suits against EMP, so they should be fine even if they were caught in the burst. Last word is, the fortress is still flying, but they managed to silence most of its guns. Whether Blade retreats now will depend on his goals. He's brilliant, but not exactly sane." 

Eliza nods in understanding, brushing her hand alongside her wing. "I guess I can't quite help like this...are there any windows we can look out of to check on things? And, um...if the guns are down, is he crazy enough to try and crash the entire fortress...?"

"He's done far crazier things." Wraith finishes the splint. "Mind helping me lug this one to a holding cell? Afterwards, I need to restart power and get back to coordinating." 

Well, that doesn't sound good. Still, Eliza nods a little when Wraith asks for help. "Yeah, no problem," she says, carefully standing up and bending to grab whichever end of Kismet Wraith doesn't. Hopefully, she's not going to wake up while they're doing that.

She is very thoroughly tranquilized. Also, the pain in Eliza's arms is slowly receding. 

The Wraith takes Kismet's feet, and leads the way to an overengineered prison cell. "The force fields and power suppressors will be down, but that's just two layers out of several. I'm expecting that 'bad luck' shouldn't be enough to overcome them all, but I'll work on specialized countermeasures anyway before she wakes. My research suggests she needs to be conscious to do much." 

Eliza nods. "That sounds like a good idea," she agrees, glancing back at the panther as they go. "Um...and what are we going to do with that? Return it to its natural habitat?"

Wraith sighs. "I'll call the zoo after this is over. For now, we'll drop it in another cell with some water and I'll set an alert to feed it in a few hours.

"Speaking of unlikely creatures..." she casts a glance over her shoulder at Lantern. "Where'd you come by your allies?" 

"Um..." Eliza has to tap her chin to think a bit about how to explain that. "You know how I mentioned being from another world called the Meadous? Technically I was born and raised in another world separate from that one, where Pokemon are pretty common. I'd actually never seen an...'animal' like that, that can't do more than scratch and bite you, before ending up in a different world. Although...eventually a few Pokemon showed up in the Meadous as well. That's where Lantern specifically is from."

"So these...Pokemon...are the equivalent of animals in your world? What I've seen of them suggests a truly staggering evolutionary history, if they even evolved at all. They seem highly trainable - are they sentient?"

"Well, not every Pokemon evolves," notes Eliza. "Some just have one stage...wait, is this the other definition of 'evolution'?" She blinks a bit, before picking up the last question. "Um...yeah, I think that's the right word. They're really smart and mostly good at understanding humans. Some of them are better at it than others."

"Which definitions of evolution are you familiar with?" 

"Well...the one I'm most familiar with is how Pokemon evolve. Some of them start out in smaller, weaker forms and then get bigger and stronger. Like Blade used to be a tiny Pidgey." She holds out her hands to manifest an image of the smaller bird in said hands. "But most other people I've talked to says that's not how evolution works and it's more...long-term? Like how birds and dinosaurs are the same?" She sounds slightly suspicious of that idea.

"Oh, you can do illusions as well? In our world animals don't - evolve in the sense you describe - at least unless magic is involved. Birds and dinosaurs are related species - it's easier to see if you look at bone structure." But now is not the time for a lesson in evolutionary biology; time enough for that later. The mission first. 

Between grunts of stress imposed by the weight of their prisoner, Wraith spends the rest of the journey to the holding cells grilling Eliza on the minutiae of her abilities and those of her Pokemon. 

Eliza is happy to explain as much as she can. She's had illusion powers since she was a kid, but all her other powers were gained when she was older. She can turn into a magical girl thanks to being brought to a place called Town A, though it turned out to be terrible and evil and she barely escaped with her life. Though the larger wings are thanks to making a wish to the god of the Meadous, as well as her various other forms. She calls up illusions of her nue, Primarina, and mouse transformations to better illustrate.

"Oh, and I can still turn into a magical girl when I'm transformed into the nue or mouse forms. Haven't tried with Primarina form yet-that's also a Pokemon, actually." She'll go on to explain the exact elemental abilities of all her Pokemon, as well as their unique skills, like Flute the Elephante's ability to sniff out invisible and ghostly figures.

Wraith listens intently, asking clarifying questions often. (She also records the conversation for later study, not that it shows). Midway through, they arrive at the holding cell where Kismet can be unceremoniously dumped. 

Eliza looks relieved once they get there, though she does look around at the overall security measures cautiously. "You'll know when she wakes up again, right?"

Thick steel bars, double-layered with an inner cell and an antechamber. This cell has a physical lock rather than electronic. Cameras and various electrical hardware hooked up to the interior and exterior; currently useless thanks to the EMP. "Yes, provided I can restore power." 

Eliza nods, looking relieved. "Um...anything I can do to help make that go faster? Or anything else I should check on just in case?"

Can she or any of her Pokemon generate electricity, or perform repairs with magic? 

None of them are telekinetic, though Lantern can go intangible and phase around to see if there's any broken stuff in the walls that might not be immediately noticeable. Slinky is also fairly strong, so if there's anything they just need strength for she can help there. (Flute's also strong, but she's not sure this building is up to Elephante-grade right now.)

The phasing could be useful. Wraith explains where to check and what to look for, keeping the descriptions visually simple for Lantern's sake. "If I can find the damage, it's designed to be relatively easy to replace, but strength could help us if I need to change windings. Otherwise, I could use a lookout, and I want to learn more about your capabilities for proper deployment. Stick around?" 

Lantern goes off on his journey as instructed, floating towards the places Wraith is pointing out.

Eliza grins slightly at that, saluting cheerfully. "No problem, ma'am!" Despite the broken wing, she's still quite cheerful as she heads to wherever she needs to be.

Wraith, all business, coordinates repairs, doing a lot of the technical work herself. Within hours, she and Eliza get some backup power online. After rigging a makeshift radio from a few non-fried parts, Wraith reports that Bunker, Absolute Zero, Legacy, and a small group of allied heroes finally brought down Blade's fortress, guiding it to crash land in an evacuated city park. 

Legacy and Tachyon are in the hospital, both injured but recovering. With his chamber at Freedom Tower taken offline by the EMP, Absolute Zero is stuck in a small backup cryo-chamber, bored but only mildly injured. 

The allied heroes - a group called the Prime Wardens - have access to several kinds of healing between them. The most effective healers are treating the critically injured, but there's a wide-area slow heal effect available at the Eastside Presbyterian Hospital if Eliza wants to speed up her wing's recovery and begin healing the various smaller injuries her Pokemon have acquired. (They have a musician who can create magical effects, including healing, with his instruments). 

That's a pretty neat way to do it! Eliza's (adoptive) uncle technically has magic music powers too, but they're more of the "magically summon accompaniment" type. She's definitely interested in what this healing music sounds like, and she's sure her injured Pokemon will appreciate it too. Of course, she also wants to pick up Witch first-hopefully she was able to help out in the battle and wasn't hurt too bad.

Witch, it turns out, got along fabulously with Absolute Zero, after the initial skepticism of "are you sure you want me to blast you with fire...?" was overcome. He shielded her from most of the fighting. Eliza can find her near the cryo-pod, watching Bunker tune the device and repair his suit. (According to Bunker, she was a great help and confused the heck out of Blade's goon squad). 

The healing music is produced by a handsome orange-haired man in a costume of brilliant silver, playing a pleasant melody on a set of panpipes. It's oddly echoing, and carries through the halls of the hospital farther than it really should. As soon as it reaches Eliza's ears, the pain from her wing begins to fade. 

Eliza pets her Ninetales and gives her lots of compliments about how well she did. Witch preens under the attention, and when Eliza mentions going to a hospital to get healed up, seems a bit reluctant to leave, although the promise of magic healing wins her over in the end. She barks a goodbye in the direction of the cryo-pod before heading off with Eliza to the hospital.

When they get there, Eliza does end up going to take a closer look at the musician, though if he's alone in the room she won't go in in fear of disturbing him. Though if there's room to sit and listen, she'll definitely take it, her Pokemon all curled up or perched around her.

He's not exactly alone, sitting in a hastily-erected overflow tent where the less critically injured are resting. The hospital has opened a number of doors and windows to let the music carry farther. He is preoccupied with the panpipes, but looks up as Eliza enters and raises an eyebrow. 

After a brief consultation, a harried nurse in charge of triage quickly sorts Eliza and her posse into the "non-critical" list, barely even blinking at the Pokemon. It's a bit cramped but there are some folding chairs within earshot. 

Eliza waves a bit when he takes notice of her, before sitting down on one of the chairs, Witch curling up at her feet and Blade perching on the back while Lantern simply floats in the air behind her. She does know a bit about what panpipes are supposed to sound like, and as she listens to the music tries to figure out if he also has magical accompaniment-summoning powers on top of the healing music powers.

Sort of? It's all panpipe music, but there is a lot more of it than could strictly be coming from one set of panpipes, both in volume and in different simultaneous sounds. And it's really good music. 

Eliza and company get some stares from passerby, but no one challenges them. 

Eliza's used to people looking at her Pokemon oddly, at least. And sometimes her wings. So she just waves at anyone she sees looking their way before going back to listening to the music. It's a nice way to heal, she thinks, even if somewhat slower than the Pokemon centers she's used to. The music's nice enough she can just listen to it for a while as she waits for her wing to get better. She'll wait to see how long the performance lasts-does it seem like he needs to take a breath at any moment or does the whole song seem continuous? She's probably going to get fidgety about sitting still after ten minutes at most.

He does appear to play the pipes and breathe normally, though he's as skilled as any expert musician at making this fact largely irrelevant to the quality of the music, and the magical accompaniment has no such limitations. 

After ten minutes Eliza's feeling perfectly healthy, with the sole exception that her wing still aches (it may or may not still be broken, but it is definitely less broken than it was). The ache is slowly receding at a rate that is discernible, barely. 

Okay, she should probably wait for it to get fully better, but also she's getting a little antsy. If she stands up to pace around the outer edge of the waiting people, does anyone stop her and does the music keep working?

Nope and yep!

Someone wants to pet her Pokemon. Actually lots of someones. 

Witch is used to being admired for her gorgeousness, she'll allow one person to pet her at a time as long as they're careful. Blade and Lantern are much more open to having multiple people's attention at a time and also to people being a bit grabby or rough with them.

What does Witch do if they are somewhat less than careful? A few kids are starting to crowd. Witch is pretty. 

Well, Witch starts getting a little growly and curling up as the kids start to get to be too many, which quickly makes Eliza stand up, walking over to the kids before anything too bad can happen. "Now, now," she says gently, moving to put herself between the group of kids and the irritated Ninetales, "I know Witch is very pretty and fluffy, but she's tired right now. You don't like too many people bothering you when you're tired, right?" Perhaps her own wings will distract them as well.

They are distracted! For a while, anyway. Eliza may have to fend off a bit of wing-pulling. A few parents apologetically collect youngsters, but not all of them seem to have caregivers present. 

There is a short break in the music while the musician pauses for water and stretches. The music fades away gradually rather than stopping entirely when he does. 

Ooof. But she was ready for that tugging, at least. Her wings can shift around a bit to stay away from the worst of it, plus she's got hands to push away anyone who gets too close too.

And it's kind of interesting how the music is apparently able to maintain itself, at least for a bit. Depending on how long the pause takes, she might want to try and talk to him for a bit.

A few minutes, at least. He peers curiously in her direction from time to time. 

She waves at him, smiling slightly, and then starts approaching if he'll allow her to.

He will! He will also display a charming smile. "New hero?" 

"Um...not quite?" she admits. "I...kind of arrived here through a portal in the middle of that fight. A bunch of my friends were supposed to come with me, but somehow it closed right after me and I can't call them up on my phone either. I dunno why that happened, but I figured I should do my best to help out since it seemed like there was a lot of trouble going on."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I don't believe my magic does portal travel, but some magic does. Maybe we can find a way home for you. Regardless, it is good of you to help. And what else makes a hero, after all?" 

Eliza grins a little at the compliment. "I guess that's true," she admits. "I've even kind of got an alternate name and everything, though I don't really use it." Mostly because most of the people she knows just call her "Eliza" by default anyways.

"Some are more keen on the secret identity than others. It can help manage publicity. My own is common knowledge, however. Anthony Drake, codename Argent Adept and current Virtuoso of the Void, at your service." 

Eliza smiles, curtsying slightly. "Eliza Owens, rarely known as Mystical Mirage, at yours. What does that mean-Virtuoso of the Void?"

Anthony explains, no small amount of pride in his voice. "As long as human cultures have existed, there has always been a Virtuoso of the Void. I am one of a long series of such musicians - Telamon of Greece, Xu of China, Eydisar the Norseman, Musaragni of Italy, Akpunku of Africa, and many others. Each did their part to hold back the tide of chaos and destruction through their connection to the primal forces of the natural world." 

Eliza nods. "Wow, that is a lot of people," she notes. "If you're fighting chaos and destruction, I'm guessing your powers can do more than just healing, huh?"

"Depending on a number of factors, yes. The instrument, melody, harmony, rhythm, and even in some cases lyrics and intent all play a role in the effect. Some can get quite violent if the situation demands. I am most effective when I have a chance to bolster others, however. Music loves an audience." He bows, smiling. 

"Man, I'd like to see that..." says Eliza, though her voice trails off a bit. "I mean, that's not quite what I mean, no way I'd want to end up in a situation where you need to use it! But it sounds cool." Another pause. "Can you play music without it ending up having effects on anything?" She expects it might get a bit annoying otherwise.

"I can indeed! It was my livelihood before I took up the mantle of the Virtuoso. It is still my honor and pleasure to give a mundane concert, from time to time. But I confess, it is not quite the same anymore. Once you have played the music of the Earth itself, anything less seems to be missing something. It is rather like playing a piano one-handed. There is nothing wrong with the piano, but one is not using it to the fullest extent of one's talents, as it were. My calling is to strengthen as well as entertain." 

"The music of the Earth, huh..." Eliza seems thoughtful about the description. It does sound pretty magical. And she can understand why mundane music would feel so small compared to that. "Oh, did you get picked because you were originally good at music already?"

"I can only assume so. The magic depends rather strongly on it. But there is much about the calling that I do not understand." 

"Huh..." Eliza looks thoughtful at that. "You don't get a mentor or advisor spirit or anything like that?"

He frowns, slightly, melodic voice tinged with sadness. "The cycle of Virtuosos is supposed to include some kind of mentorship, I believe. But that cycle was broken before I came into my powers, and I know only bits and pieces of what I ought. Akash'Bhuta, avatar of nature's destruction, has worked long to disrupt the cycle and prevent a new Virtuoso from rising to oppose her. Her attempts nearly succeeded, though she has been thwarted for a time." 

That gets Eliza's wings to droop sympathetically. "Oh...I'm really sorry to hear that." She reaches out slightly to pat him on the arm in a friendly manner, if he'll allow it.

He does, and nods in thanks. 

He frowns as another injured civilian is wheeled in by worried-looking nurses. "I fear I must return to my calling. There are many here in desperate need of healing, and more on the way." 

Eliza nods, flexing her wing a bit more as he speaks. "Oh-oh, of course! I wouldn't want to keep you." She quickly moves so that he can get past her more easily if necessary.

It turns out to be unnecessary, as there's plenty of room for him to depart the break area. He heads for the central overflow tent to resume his playing. 

Eliza follows after him, a bit more slowly, looking around the place some more as she does.

It's not just civilians who are injured, apparently. Two of the beds contain familiar forms, battered and bruised by battle. The red-suited speedster, Tachyon, is unconscious with an IV drip in her left arm, and the white-and-blue Legacy sits propped up against pillows, talking in a low voice with two more people: a fidgeting blond girl of perhaps ten, and a frowning woman in a rumpled but impeccably tailored blue business suit. 

Eliza winces. Apparently losing that cursed amulet hadn't been enough for Tachyon to make it out unscathed. She pauses by the entrance, unsure of whether or not to butt in right now. At least she's going to wait for a lull in the conversation first.

Legacy spots her almost immediately and offers a battered smile. "Hello again, Eliza. Please, come in, I would be honored if you would meet my family." 

Not far away, Eliza hears the sound of Anthony resuming his healing tune. 

Oh, right, superpowers. Eliza enters, nodding in greeting at them. "Hi...it's nice to meet you, um..." Her voice trails off a bit in uncertainty. "Mrs. Legacy" probably isn't the right term here?

"Call me Emily," smiles the woman. "And this is Pauline. You must be the young hero that helped my husband's team today, is that right?" 

Eliza blushes a bit at the use of "hero" to describe her. Though she supposes it's pretty accurate. "Yeah! My name's Eliza, by the way. It's nice to meet you too, Emily, Pauline!"

"Oooh oooh what do you do what do you do?" pipes up Pauline eagerly. 

"Well, my main talent is illusions," says Eliza, raising a hand and summoning a ball of rainbow-colored light that hovers above it, before spiraling out into a ribbon and swirling around her arm, then unspiraling and floating over to Pauline to circle the girl once before fading. "Although I can also fly, as you see." Her wings ruffle slightly in demonstration.

Pauline titters with glee and tries to grab the ribbon. "Daddy can fly! He's less fluttery though." She scrunches up her face, displeased by this newly-discovered inadequacy. "Are you an angel?" 

"Well, not really, but I am a magical girl!" exclaims Eliza. "I can actually change back and forth between forms, it's just my wing's hurt right now so I'm letting it heal."

"So you're not an angel? One of Daddy's friends is an angel but he's not sure if she's a real angel. What's a magical girl? Can you be a mongoose?" 

Eliza shakes her head. "I'm not an angel, although it sounds really cool that you're friends with one! Oh, it means that normally I look like a regular girl, but I can use this magic phone to turn into this form! It changes my clothes too, and they're way easier to keep clean than normal clothes!" She gestures at her outfit to demonstrate. "I can't turn into a mongoose, but I can turn into a mouse! It's good for being sneaky."

"Can I have a magic phone? Can you teach me magic?" Pauline is bouncing now. "I wanna turn into a mongoose!"

"Last week, we read her an old folk tale called Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, about a mongoose protecting a family from snakes," Emily explains, smiling. "She's been fascinated by them ever since." 

Aw, that's cute. That gets a smile from Eliza. "Well, I'm afraid the way I got this magic phone was special, so I can't give you one. Plus, there's a high cost to it, so even if someone else offers you one you shouldn't accept right away." That's leaving out the exact nature of the price, but she doesn't really want to get into the whole murdergame situation with a kid like this. "My shapeshifting's not really the kind of magic you can teach, unfortunately. I got it from wishing at a special pond in my home."

"Awwwwwwwwwwww..." Pauline's round face acquires a truly impressive pout. 

"That's quite the suite of abilities you have," observes Emily. "I hear you are also a summoner of some kind?" 

"Oh, that's not really magic, though!" she says. "Pokemon are just a natural part of my home world, and they can be carried around in Pokeballs for easier transportation." She holds up an empty Pokeball to demonstrate. "They're mostly resting in the tent right now. And Flute's a bit too big to bring out here."

"Your world?" asks Paul. "Meadous? Are there...more like you?" (Paul, who has not yet gotten the whole story from Wraith, is currently envisioning an invading army of flying illusionist shapeshifters with monster pets attacking Megalopolis, and winces slightly.) 

"Oh, um...not quite? My home world-the one I was born in and where Pokemon come from-isn't actually the Meadous. Most of my other powers came from wishing at a special pond in the Meadous." She waves a hand, summoning up an illusion of a fairly normal-looking pond surrounded by shiny stones in various colors. There's also a cute little wooden sign saying "Make a Wish!" Eliza smiles fondly at it before continuing.

"It's...well, it used to be a fairly small and enclosed world, but it expanded over time. The people there come from all sorts of places, though there's no one quite like me!" She grins and poses a little. "Zephyr sensed a call for help from another world, and that's how I ended up here. A bunch of other people were supposed to come with me, but the portal closed before they could get through."

"Zephyr?" asks Emily, smiling at Eliza's pose. 

"Oh! They're the god of the Meadous. They're the one who created it and brought all of us there, and even though it took a longer time than all their classmates now they've found their Aspect and they're growing up!" She calls up another two illusionary images of younger and older Zephyr to illustrate.

"...huh, I've never heard of a god growing up before." Emily hums thoughtfully while Paul blinks at the illusion. "What is an Aspec-"

She is interrupted by a gasp from Pauline. "IT'S SO CUUUUUUUTE!!!" The girl tries to pet the illusion of young Zephyr and pouts when the attempt fails. 

"They are pretty cute, aren't they?" she agrees, making the illusion's fur seem to "squish" slightly under Pauline's hand.

"Well, an Aspect is...what a god is in charge of, you know? Like Wildness, or Music. But Zephyr's special because they're the god of the Lost-as in people who are lost between worlds, not just normally lost. And they're the first ever god to have that aspect!" She preens, looking proud of their little godling.

"Where do gods come from, in that world?" asks Emily, while Pauline continues determinedly trying to pet the !!!CUTE!!! Zephyr. 

"Well...I know Zephyr has parents, and siblings, so I guess it might be kind of like how normal people are born somewhat? I never really asked about that," she admits.

"That sounds almost mythological," observes Paul. "Like the Greco-Roman gods, with families." 

"Rather twisted families, if I remember my mythology," frowns Emily. 

"Not at first, the gods got more human over the years. But yes, bad examples," Paul agrees, smiling at his wife. "I like ours much better." 

"Greco-Roman?" asks Eliza, head momentarily tilted curiously. "But yeah, all their family members I've met have been nice! Even if they're not as fluffy as Zephyr is."

"Greece and Rome were ancient civilizations, and their culture still has a lot of influence on ours," explains Emily. "Like many ancient cultures, they worshipped a pantheon of gods with complex origins and relationships. We don't think any of those particular gods are real, but stranger things have happened." 

"Oh, huh...where did all the stories come from, then?" asks Eliza, looking curious.

"Good question," says Paul. "Maybe other superpowered people?" 

"Most human cultures had stories of gods of some kind or another," says Emily. "One theory is that they were all powered individuals, another is that they were mere stories, and another is that it was a mix of both. The truth is, no one is sure. In many written works from that long ago, it's hard to distinguish truth from legend." 

"Huh...I guess the Legendaries back in my first world are kind of like that too...but people do know they exist, still. It's just that they don't talk much and even when they do they don't really care to answer questions about old stories."

"Legendary...Pokemon?" Emily inquires, trying out the strange word. 

"Are they fluffy?" interjects Pauline, still trying to pet the illusion. 

"Some of them are!" says Eliza, summoning an image of a tiny hedgehog-like creature. "But generally they tend to be more powerful than ordinary Pokemon, and they're super-rare and hard to find. Some people say you can't find one unless it lets you."

Pauline only tries to pet this one a little bit. Her face scrunches up, torn between awe and disappointment at the unpettables. 

"Fascinating," nods Emily. "Now that you're here, what do you plan to do?" 

Eliza shrugs one winged shoulder as she leans slightly against the door. "Well...the most urgent issue that was going on when I landed here is solved, I guess. Although there's also that weird amulet thing we found... So...I think for now I'll just try and help where I can, if you guys need it? After my wing gets better, of course."

"Always glad for the help," murmurs Paul. "And thank you again. Be on your guard, though. We still don't know much about the woman who attacked you, or her connection with Blade. Or how your entry to this world came to be cut off..." 

"Oh no you don't, dear," chides Emily affectionately. "You have a team for this, remember? And one of them is the city's most celebrated crime sleuth. Right now your job is to rest." She turns to Eliza. "Talk to Wraith, she'll set you up good and proper if you want to help. Oh, and let me know if you'd be interested in talking to the authorities - or, for that matter, if you wouldn't. Even Megalopolis doesn't get that many visits from interdimensional polities, and a lot of self-important people are going to want a piece of you." 

Paul nods, looking a tad abashed.

Eliza nods. "Yeah, I know Wraith, we were together when that lady attacked the Tower." She blushes a bit at the suggestion that she might want to talk to the authorities, rubbing the back of her neck. "Um...what kind of questions might they ask? I know some things, but I'm not really the best at that kind of negotiation..."

"In a way, it depends on the intelligence of the person asking..." Emily purses her lips thoughtfully. "What sort of polity do you represent, are they invading, what sort of magic or technology do they have, are they interested in trade, who is in charge, can you contact them,  can we set up an embassy, can we attempt to scry their location, do they want a McBurger's franchise, are you sure they're not invading, will you sign this complicated legal agreement on their behalf...don't, by the way, even though it'd probably not be recognized as official, someone might be silly enough to try...

"I wouldn't recommend it, frankly. Once you go down that road it is very hard to get time to yourself anymore. The only group you're legally obligated to report to is Interplanetary Immigration, and" she smiles thinly, "Paul and I can... discourage them from giving you trouble." 

Eliza nods along with the descriptions at first, but as the list gets longer and longer her expression slowly falls. She lets out a sigh as Emily "finishes" the list.

"Oh yeah, that sounds like way too much trouble. And what's this Interplanetary Immigration group about, then? Does it count as immigration if I don't plan on staying?"

"Technically that would be a different kind of visa, but still handled by the same department. They have one for temporary alien visitors and a different one for those doing superhero work while they're here. Not to worry, we can help streamline things." 

Eliza nods. "Yeah, that'd be useful! I don't want to get in trouble for trying to help out." Especially since right now she can't just escape back home if things end up too troublesome.

Emily takes a notepad from her purse and writes something down. "Okay. I'll have the necessary paperwork drawn up. Do you have a place to stay in the meantime?" 

There's a pause as she contemplates, before saying, "Um...no? I actually hadn't been thinking about that till you mentioned it."

Emily looks to Paul, who nods weakly. "You can stay in Freedom Tower for now, Eliza," she murmurs. "You've more than earned it with your help today, and it should also save you from being mobbed by too many curious onlookers. Wraith or Miss Twain will see that you're set up properly."

"Oh, really? Thanks!" chirps Eliza. "Are either of them here?"

"Probably not. From what we've heard, Freedom Tower took a bit of damage and there's still cleanup work to do. But you can meet them there. Miss Twain is the group's administrator, she handles a lot of the behind-the-scenes paperwork and scheduling for the heroes." 

"Alright," says Eliza. "I'll meet them there." She lingers in the doorway a bit. "Um...is there anything else you wanted to ask? Or say?"

"Thank you," smiles Emily.

She nudges Pauline, who squeaks, "Thank you for the looshuns even though I couldn't pet them!" 

Awwww. "You're welcome," says Eliza. She'll leave them to their rest, then go let her wing soak a bit more in Healing Song before heading back towards Freedom Tower.

Wraith greets Eliza on her return, all business. "Emily briefed me. You can use the guest suite on the eighth floor between the stairs and elevator - it's got a kitchen and pantry and there should be enough space for all your...Pokemon. Any special dietary needs I should know about?" 

"Nah, I'm pretty sure not!" says Eliza, after a brief moment of thought. "Never ran into any allergies and I'm willing to try pretty much anything!'

"Good. Make yourself at home." Wraith's welcome is a tad brusque, but then she is currently monitoring a dozen screens and at least one radio channel. 

"Okay, thanks!" Eliza is able to recognize this is probably a situation where she shouldn't bother the other person too much, so she quickly heads upstairs to see what the suite is like.

It's a tad small, but luxurious. There's a good-sized bed, plenty of nonperishable but palatable food, some kind of all-in-one laundry machine / dryer, and even a couple of pet beds that might be suitable for smaller Pokemon. A printed page on the kitchen table lists where to find everything, as well as some emergency contact numbers. Next to it is a cell phone with set of instructions. 

Eliza grins as she looks over everything, grabbing a bag of dried fruit and sending out her Pokemon who can fit. Witch immediately leaps onto the bed to curl up, Eliza sitting down next to her as her team gathers around her. Nibbling on the fruit, she reads over the various instructional pages, adding the emergency contacts to the phone if they're not in already.

"Well, it's not home," she says with a sigh, "but at least it's comfortable enough." It is a bit weird, to not have grass and trees right outside the window. But they can make do. She makes a mental note to ask if there's some place she can let Flute out to roam around. The Elephante deserves a chance to stretch his legs too.

Conveniently, the emergency contacts do come pre-loaded in the phone, along with some local non-emergency resources - everything from local restaurants to Wraith and the Freedom Tower main desk. 

It takes a few days to repair the damage to the tower. The city itself will take considerably longer, but Wraith notes ominously that Megalopolis is no stranger to reconstruction projects. As a silver lining, though, the city's Central Park escaped the attack relatively unscathed, and is large enough for Flute to happily explore. Eliza and her Pokemon earn their share of excited onlookers, plus a growing Internet following. 

The villain Eliza helped capture turns out to be a small-time thief going by the cape name Kismet. A staggeringly unlikely series of mechanical failures, computer bugs, and documentation errors accompany her transfer to Megalopolis Super Max, but the combined efforts of Wraith and Freedom Tower's star administrator Aminia Twain manage to narrowly avoid an escape. 

After meeting some dead ends in her analysis of Kismet's talisman, Wraith calls in an "expert on the paranormal", and offers to introduce Eliza. According to Wraith, the contact is also familiar with magic that crosses worlds, and might be able to help reestablish contact with Eliza's home. 

Eliza is quite happy to have an Internet fan club, and occasionally posts brief videos online of her and her Pokemon going about their business, or showing off some of their moves. She does make sure to mostly post videos outside the Freedom Tower building, and also to not show everything they can do.

She perks up when Wraith offers to call in a paranormal expert. "Oh, thank you!" she exclaims. "Everyone here's been so nice, but I'd like to let my friends and family know I'm okay, you know?"

"You're welcome. I can't promise anything, but we'll try." 

Wraith sets up the meeting, and the next day, there's a guest in one of Freedom Tower's more secure conference rooms. Wraith introduces her as Faye Diamond, hero name Nightmist, private investigator and expert on occult studies - "she didn't so much study the discipline as invent it, at least the academic version, so we don't have an official title -" 

Faye, a tall woman in a jet-black skirt and coat with faintly glowing white hair and eyes, nods solemnly. 

"Faye, this is Eliza, of Zephyr." 

Eliza nods back, a smile on her face despite everything. "Nice to meet you! Wraith mentioned that you might be able to help me contact my friends back home?"

"I can certainly try. I have some knowledge of alternate dimensions." Nightmist strides forward and extends a hand. "First, I will need to analyze your home dimension's signature. Physical contact helps." 

Eliza nods, reaching out to take Nightmist's hand. "How long will this take?" she asks.

"Just a few minutes. Some chanting may be involved, so don't be alarmed." She takes Eliza's hand in both of her own - her touch feels strangely light and ephemeral - and falls silent for a bit. 

Then she frowns. "There's some kind of interference, all right. I'm going to need to use some power to get through. Hang on." She starts incanting something, some syllables of which seem implausible for a human larynx to produce, and the room feels suddenly colder. This persists for another minute. Suddenly, Nightmist releases Eliza's hand and, muttering, glides to a nearby table to flip through a dusty tome. 

Eventually, "Well, good news and bad news. Good news is, I got a lock on your home dimension. Bad news is, there's a barrier up, and a powerful one at that. Something is going to a great deal of effort to prevent travel between our worlds. I might be able to get a message through, but not with the materials I have at hand."