A Secret Night Out. John Kilroy

[heroesdreamer]

Erika was getting ready in her room, sneakily even though she was the only one home for the weekend. She was planning on sneaking out to this club while her parents were out of town for the weekend, just for a couple of hours! Besides, she needed to see if anyone needed her help! She spent careful attention to her hair, curling it and putting it in a cute updo and she even used a bit of eyeliner to make her eyes pop, then she checked her outfit of a short pink skirt and matching top, grabbed her handbag and headed down the street to the club.

She got to the front of the door and handed the bouncer her fake ID that she'd acquired back in Pennsylvania with a smile. He handed it back to her with a curt nod and motioned her inside, and in she walked, cool as a cucumber. She then clapped her hands and headed out onto the dance floor, quickly losing herself in the music.

[John Kilroy]

ok, whoever runs this place hired a terrible bouncer. He's hardly ever looked at people's IDs and I know one of the girls ahead of me had a fake ID. Still, I get in. The music blares loud and the first place I head to is the bar area. I don't order liquor though...been there, did that, and dropped after one particular nasty binge nearly caused me to die from Alcohol poisoning. I order a mulled cider, The Bartender asks me if I'm military and I show him my ID. Apparently, IDs are designed the same way both in my wolrd and in this one so he gives me a 20% discount. 

I take a seat and watch the people on the dance floor, my eyes immediately are drawn to that girl with the faked ID I saw earlier. Somthing about her seems familar. it takes me a minute and then it hits me. Erika Kelley AKA Ms. Fantastix. On Earth 616-Prime (Gwen's personal label for earth-616 to differentiate it from Earth MHR-616) Erika was a member of the Liberteens, the Pennsylvanian team of the 50-state Initiative, first appeared in Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1. Whether this was the case for the Erika of Earth MHR-616 Gwen did not know. Still, The girl couldn't have been much older than 16 and that whole time while watching her, Gwen couldn't help but give a constant stare that silently said. "Aren't you a little young to be here?"

[heroesdreamer]

Erika was dancing happily but she had the weird feeling that she was being watched. It crept over her and affected her to the point where she slowly looked around the room, trying to see if anyone was watching her, but it was hard since there were a lot of people in the club. After a few minutes, she stepped off the dance floor and headed to the bar, curious to see if anyone would approach her.

"Hi, I'll take a virgin daiquiri" she said, leaning against the bar while she tried to figure out who was looking at her, but then she saw another young woman who might be, as this woman was looking at her with a disgruntled look. As she got her drink and paid, she turned and walked up to the other woman, asking "Is this seat taken?" Deciding to take the bull by the horns, she asked "Were you looking at me just now? Is something wrong?" before she took a sip of her fruity drink.

[John Kilroy]

"Nice choice, I'm not one for booze. Trust me it's not worth spending the rest of the night with your head over the toilet...not to mention the hangover the next day."

I can't help but smirk a little when she asks me if I was looking at her. I wasn't exactly being subtle..

"Just wondering how you managed to get in here with that fake as heck ID of yours. I know a high school kid when I see one. But look I can't judge. I was the same way when I was your age."

As soon as that comment leaves my lips I can't help but wince. That was cringy "When I was your age?" Who do I think I am my grandpa?

I take a swig of my mulled cider trying to play it off. I'm tempted to ask her where her parents are but if I say something too forward she's likely just to blow me off. "I'm Gwen by the way. Gwen Poole." I offer her a handshake. I just KNOW she's going to make a Deadpool joke about my name.

[heroesdreamer]

Erika couldn't help but frown as this person made a comment about her drink, but she knew she couldn't say anything too loud, though the music was doing a good job of drowning out the surrounding chatter. "I more like the fruity taste than the alcohol" she admitted, it being true. She'd had a taste of wine at a dinner party her parents threw a while back and she was not a fan of the taste.

She leaned back a bit, listening to what this person said, and she realized she was busted, although..."How did you see my ID from all the way over there?" she asked, keeping her voice calm and somewhat quiet. She did not want to attract attention and get kicked out! When the lady mentioned "when I was your age", Erika rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure you never broke the rules" she muttered then laughed a bit. "So if you were like me, why are you giving me a hard time?" she asked, before hearing her name. Sighing a bit, she stuck out her hand and said "Hi Gwen, I'm Erika", wondering if Gwen would connect her real name to her former super name.

[John Kilroy]

"Military, it was my job to spot the most insignificant details from such a long distance away. as far as why I'm giving you a hard time? I'm 26. I'm old."

Gwen proceeded to hunch over and pretended she was hobbling on a cave while doing an impression of an old woman.

"Giving you young wiper snappers a hard time is our lot in life."


 Gwen did in fact know the name Ms. America but she figured she'd have a hard time justifying HOW she knew it. but she could tell from Erika's face that she most likely knew that Gwen knew or at the very least knew that Gwen could connect the dots. she let out a sigh.

"Ok fine yes I am aware that you formally called yourself Ms. America so you don't have to keep looking at me like that. No I'm not an agent, no I'm not a supervillain or anything like that."

[heroesdreamer]

Erika did have to laugh once Gwen said she was old, but she was also curious when she mentioned being in the military. "Oh, what branch?" she asked as she took a sip of her drink. "I mean, I know us young people are supposed to see everyone twenty and over as old, but I don't!" she said but then paused. "Unless you act old, then all bets are off!" she clarified with a giggle.

When Gwen acted exasperated, Erika just shrugged and said "Yeah, but I've changed my name and moved here. It seems pretty nice so far, how about you? Do you live here?" After about a couple of seconds, she also asked "Do you know of any groups of heroes that are looking for members, or even just where to go to find others?" She then tended to her drink, though she was very curious about what Gwen would say.

[John Kilroy]

Gwen pulled the eagle globe and anchor necklace pendant out from under her shirt, every marine it seemed regardless of their views of the overall military or government every marine carried the symbol on them with pride. It was a sign of brotherhood.  Gwen was no exception to this.  "once a marine always a marine. You can leave the sea but it never leaves you." 

She nursed her drink. "There is always the Avengers Academy assuming you're registered if not don't know if there is anyone recruiting. sorry. I technically live here yes, but I'm technically from an alternate universe. It's a little hard to explain. But all I can say that would make sense is that it's nothing like this one. But hey I'm enjoying it...just hope I can eventually find my proper place in all of it." she continued to nurse her drink before she finally finished it and ordered a new one. 

[heroesdreamer]

Erika smiled and listened to Gwen talk about being in the marines, saying "thank you for your service", nodding as she mentioned not being able to take the sea out of the girl. "I had a great-grandfather who was in the marines and I've read his letters home. I think once you've found your calling, that's it."

She perked up when Gwen mentioned the Avengers Academy, adding it to her phone with a reminder to look it up later, but then her attention was caught by Gwen saying she was from an alternate universe. "Whoa! So you're without a team as well? Or did you mostly go out on your own?" she asked, being sure to add "Yes, I am registered, was under my old name but I think we got it sorted out online." Pausing, she then asked "So what happened to you, to send you here instead of your world?" Maybe Gwen didn't know, but if she did that would be an interesting story.

[John Kilroy]

"Thank you for caring" Gwen said with a smile. 

"Well I've actually been here before. I don't know how I got here the first time. The second time I got here when I bought a portal gun I thought was just a toy model but it turned out to be the real thing. I'm not stuck or anything I travel back to my world all the time, I just like hanging out here. Probably seems silly doesn't it.

I'm not part of a team yet, but I definitely want to be at some point. I mostly go on some adventures on my own I get into some pretty weird stuff. you can get into some pretty weird things."


Gwen took another sip of her drink.


"What about you kid? What are your big goals. Aside from joining a team. Are you hoping to become the next Iron man or Warbird or are you just wanting to make the world a better place a little at a time?"

[heroesdreamer]

Erika smiled as Gwen thanked her in turn, then she listened to Gwen's story, fascinated. "That is so wild!" she exclaimed, shaking her head at the thought of just traveling to another universe or dimension! When Gwen mentioned wanting to be part of a team, she nodded but leaned in a bit closer as Gwen also mentioned doing solo stuff. Erika sighed as Gwen brought up getting involved in weird things, her own memories swirling. "I remember a few fights that were really weird myself, including one time where this villain was trying to steal or destroy the Liberty Bell" she shared, "my team and I stopped them but like why go after the Liberty Bell?"

Then Gwen asked Erika about her personal goals and Erika replied honestly. "Right now, I just want to help, whether that's on my own or with a team. I would like to meet more heroes, like the Fantastic Four, but I'm also assuming that will happen in time. New York is more of a central place for villains to strike, or at least it seems that way. I just want to make more friends, go to school, do the normal stuff while also helping when I can." Pausing to take a drink, she then asked "What about you, Gwen? What do you want to do?"

[John Kilroy]

All Gwen could do was stare at Erika with a raised eyebrow.

"Steal the Liberty Bell, what the heck? I suppose next you'll tell me she tried blowing up the central makeup factory with the idea that without makeup all social life is the city will cease to exist."

She chuckled at her own joke but the idea of stealing the Liberty Bell DID seem like something goofy that was straight out of the Silver Age of comics.


"Well, there was this one time where I nearly blew up Jubilee with a bazooka. Let's just say I wasn't in my right mind. Though frankly she's probably still angry with me about that, not that I would blame her. I want to apologize but I'd doubt she would believe me. Oh well I'm definitely more of an Avengers girl than an X-Men fan anymore."

She took another sip of her drink.

"I just want to help the superheroes. Let's say I see a bad moon arising and I don't want to see some of my favorite people fall from grace."

[heroesdreamer]

Erika laughed as Gwen made a comment about a villain stealing makeup and replied "Yeah, it's weird. Like robbing a bank to fund an evil plan I can get, sort of, but if they were trying to discourage people from being patriotic, I don't think that would have worked even if they had been successful." She mulled over that thought for a few minutes while Gwen was talking and then had to laugh when Gwen mentioned hitting Jubilee with a bazooka.

"I'm sorry, what?!" she explained, laughing again at the story but smiling as Gwen confessed to being more of an Avengers gal. "Yeah, I kind of want to fighting some bad guy and all of a sudden look around and see the Avengers fighting along side me, though I suppose it would have to be multiple villains or I would really be struggling for some reason." Pausing for a moment, she asked "Have you met any of the Avengers yet?", wanting to know what they were like.

What Gwen said next made her pause though. "Something bad's coming?: she asked, wondering if said bad thing happened in her universe or if she had like a sixth sense. "What are your powers?" she asked before quickly adding "I can tell you mine, if you want."

[John Kilroy]

"I don't exactly remember the details it all comes off kind of like a weird dream. I was a very different person back then. I was younger among other things."

she did a spit take when Erika asked her if she had met an Avenger. "Um yeah, actually. I ran into Tony Stark in a sandwich shop of all places. By the way New York needs better quality butchers. Believe it or not Stark isn't as bad as you'd think he is I think Deep down Tony is more like the average joe than he cares to admit. If I'm right I wonder if that scares him. Did you know he likes playing video games? he's good at them too."

Gwen let out a sigh when Erika asked her about her prediction. Blast it she should have kept that part to herself. There was no way she was going to try to explain the nature of Earth-0 and variants like Earth-0-THX-1138. Tony was probably the best qualified to handle said nature, and she could tell that the thought of Gwen's theories even possibly being true made him...uncomfortable. She could only imagine what Erika would have thought.

"It's...it's hard to explain. Let's just say that much of the present here is the past in my universe. Not all events play out exactly the same. The thing is in my universe...the Metahuman Civil War was a dark turning point for a lot of heroes. While most of them never turned evil, they did turn sour they've continued to fall into a downward spiral to the point people are just apathetic...All of the heroes could just fade, and people would be perfectly happy....I don't want to see the same thing happen in this universe. "

[heroesdreamer]

Erika giggled as Gwen mentioned the Jubilee situation seeming like a dream and also that she was younger. "I've got a mental image of what that looked like in my head and the expression on Jubilee's face...." She trailed off as Gwen mentioned meeting Tony Stark at a sandwich shop and her mouth dropped open just a bit as Gwen suggested that he seemed just like an ordinary Joe. "Wow, I think I would've been starstruck in your place" she admitted, "but it is nice to know that the Avengers, or heroes in general, aren't so different than regular people."

When Gwen started talking about the Metahuman Civil War, Erika stayed quiet and just listened, processing the different reactions as well as remembering a couple of times where people had expressed a desire for not needing to be saved every other week. She finally replied "Yeah, I do get it to some extent. Some of the best times I've had have been peaceful times, where they're wasn't an enemy to fight, but at the same time, I honestly don't know what I would do besides be a hero. Plus, unless all the villains at the same time decide to retire or turn good, the world will still be in danger."

Pausing for a moment, she also said "It's sad to think of heroes not feeling needed and that the people we protect would rather we not have to. Again, I understand why, but I just wish there was another way. What would you do if you didn't have powers, if you had to have a "normal" job?"