836/Convergence of Heroes

Convergence of Heroes
Date of Scene:	29 March 2020
Location:	Forest Hills -- Queens
Synopsis:	A Heroic Trio descends upon the Parker home...
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Mary Bromfield, Julie Power, Billy Batson

---

Peter Parker has posed:
Ingram Street is kinda hopping. In the quiet, unassuming way. People have friends over, firepits in backyards, barbeque grills cooking away, chicken and steaks and brats among the favorites.

Despite the general gentrification and the occasion satellite TV antenne and the modern vehicles, the night could be out of 1958, 1969, 1984, 2001...or tonight, in the year 2020.

Aunt May is doing her own Saturday night meal, large crock pot filled with beef stew, and it is nearing completion after eight hours of slow-cooked perfection. Two apple pies cool on racks on the chopping-block island.

Peter is downstairs, working on something of course. He was very busy these days with his own projects...

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary is wearing her N7 jacket over a different T-shirt this time. This one is a bit of a cross between Star Trek and the Dark Side of the Moon, with black fabric. She also has modest jeans, and actually a little brother in tow. Even though he looks taller when they're in their superhero alter egos.

"Billy, //please// behave? Okay? Peter's really cool, and Julie will be over here too. I'm sure Freddie knows all about Julie Power, and told you about her, right?" She smiles, apparently feeling a little anxiety since... well, she's always worried about making a good impression on people.

Julie Power has posed:
At the foster home down the road, there's an arrival. Julie Power, dressed in a crop-top turtleneck that goes down to bare half of her toned mid-riff. She wears a tan suede jacket matched with the red and black sweater with a pair of blue jeans and boots. Her hair is tucked into a beanie hat, strawberry blonde locks drifting down to frame her face. In her left hand, she's clutching an envelope with her revised paper in it.

Then her phone doots at her with an incoming text and Julie pulls it out. Seeing the change in directions, she lifts slightly into the air. Noticing Mary, she heads over towards her and her brother, rainbow colors trailing behind her. "Mary!" she calls out in greetings, landing on the ground to walk the last few feet to the other woman and greet her with a hug. "Finished it!"

"And I love the look!" she says with a laugh as she peers at Mary's shirt. "You know, this is the first time I ever noticed how close that Pink Floyd came to copying the Kymellian symbol for velocity."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson scoffs. "I'm only coming along to deliver a message from Shazam to Aunt May apologizing for leaving abruptly. I figure she won't yell at me. I've been there already and I met more super heroes than you have. I don't go all fanboy... like you: talking in your sleep... 'Oh Commander Shepherd!!' Yes that's right, Darla sold you out." He follows along. One big sister slightly deflated. Mission accomplished.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter frowned. First the dolls, then this killer Furby. Whatever this guy is, his taste in toys died in the 1990's. Except Furbies didn't move around on velociraptor legs and their beaks didn't normally unfold to reveal buzzsaw blades for teeth. He was gonna have to tell Supergirl about this one.

Peter looked down at the illuminated examination table that was in the center of the lab, the disassembled custom Furby spread out and exposed. At least it was more dissection than vivisection. A tiny beep from the computer caused him to look over. Wow. Compiled with no errors. He was one step closer to making Spider-Comms a reality.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary hugs Julie on arrival, "You did, that's great! I'm sure we could go over..." And then Billy actually //speaks// and then she looks a bit stricken, blushing brightly.

"Okay, first off, it's //Shepard// and second that's who you play so I wouldn't be fantasizing about her even if I was WHICH I WASN'T." She bristles a bit, then takes a deep breath, plotting her revenge.

Oh yes, she will have her revenge. But for now she turns back to Julie, giving her a wry look, as if to say 'see what I deal with here?' Then she says aloud, "Julie Power, this is my brother, Billy Batson. And yes, he's always like this." She grins wryly, "Peter's aunt invited us over so, yeah, I thought you'd like to meet her too. She's really great, and you hadn't met Peter yet either."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson steps forward and extends a hand to Julie. "Hello nice to meet you, I'm Billy. Great form on the landing. I give you 4.5 out of 5 stars. I heard a lot about you from Mary and our brother Freddy can't stop bugging me with factoids about you and your sibs. Thanks for all you did."

Julie Power has posed:
"I totally love Mass Effect. We went over this, I thought." Julie points out to Mary with a grin. Revenge? Let's start with Julie liking the same things that Mary does. She hands over the paper, before she tucks some hair over her ear and gives Billy a smile before accepting his hand. "Hi. Nice to meet you, Billy. Oh, you noticed the landing? Everyone does those superhero landings where it breaks things. Lame. I think landing with finesse is so much better. Don't leave a footprint for someone else to fix, right?"

Then she grins at Mary, cheeks warm and she asks playfully. "Is this the boy you were telling Marie and I about?" she asks. "The one you did the you know what so that he'd you know what with you?" She's not going to tell Billy that Mary stole Peter's mic so he would call her. Girl code, yo.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter walked over to the computer, checking the error log. Empty as a politcian's promise.
He saved the program, then went back to the "corpse" of the furby, scraping the metal slightly for a sample. He put it in the small vial, then set up the mass spec to analyze it. He wanted to have more to work with other than "File Him Under Crazy, Not Stupid."

He shook his head, then looked over at Harry's Hovel. Maybe he should give Harry a call...

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary nods, "Finesse is definitely the way to go. And yes, Peter is that boy I told you and Marie about." With that, she knocks on the door to the Parker residence, putting on a bright smile for the expected visage of Aunt May, since... well, she's the one that answers the door. Or at least, that's who she's expecting.

Julie Power has posed:
Once her hand is released, Julie looks confused. "Something happened at the mall?" she asks. "I missed something. She waves her hand and sighs. "Some teens were partying on someone's repossesed yacht and there were these pirates that were trying to hijack them and it was a mess." But to Mary, she grins brightly. "We could totally go shopping this weekend..." but she quiets down as Mary takes the initative to knock on the door.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson's smile widens a little as he takes in the situation. "Yes... it was really graceful. Not like the footrpints some clods leave. Very responsible." He frowns a little at girl code then shakes his head and remembering to release Julie's hand. Girls. Anyway, good to remind Mary she has skills to learn. He might be guilty of messing around with his powers but it was training.

Peter Parker has posed:
Aunt May looks up from the crock pot, then walks over to the front door. She pauses as she looks at the small screen in the wall to the left of the door.

*My word, visitors. Oh, it's that charming young lady...*

The door opens and "Aunt May" Parker looks out at the trio. "Mary? As I live and breathe, hello there!" She smiles as she looks to the other two. "Good evening to you all. To what do i owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary smiles warmly, "Hello, Ms Parker, well... my little brother here, was really eager to meet the person responsible for that amazing pie that he had yesterday. By the way, the entire family really enjoyed it, ma'am." She nods, "Ah, so anyway, this is Billy Batson, my //little// brother, and this is my friend Julie Power. She's working on a creative writing paper, and I thought Peter might like to take a look at it too."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson raises an eyebrow. Really laying it on thick with the little brother thing are we. He steps up to greet Aunt May and says, "Hi. I also handle some social obligations for Shazam. He sends his regrets he couldn't stay the other night for your excellent pie. I got some to him and he really was sorry but he remembered he had to complete a good deed when he intervened here ma'am. Nice to meet you. I'm glad those thugs couldn't bother you. In fact Shazam said he'd be around."

Julie Power has posed:
"Oh, you know Captain Thunder?" Julie asks curiously, but then Billy blows her off for Aunt May. Hey, he may just be into that. She doesn't know. Instead, she leans back to Mary and blushes. "This feels a lot like an ambush, Mary Bromfield, and I don't know what horrible thing I did to you." she teases.

Peter Parker has posed:
Aunt May blushes slightly. "Oh, I am sure he is a conscientious young man, and I hope he did enjoy it. It just so happens I have a crock pot fill of homemade beef stew and enough apple pie for everyone. If you are hungry, won't you all come in?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary smiles, "Sure, thank you ma'am." She gives Billy's shoulder a bit of an apologetic squeeze, then grins over at Julie, "No ambush at all, it's just... well, you wrote it really well, but getting another opinion is always nice, you know."

She then looks at Aunt May, "Is Peter here? I'm guessing he's down in the lab? And beef stew and apple pie sounds amazing, for sure."

Billy Batson has posed:
The truth of the situation hits Billy like a you know what. He puts his hand on Mary's back, to let her know he's got it. Girls. Nervous, shakey things. Not like boys. Unless a girl is involved. He gives her a wink. then he turns back to Julie.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blow you off, Julie. Not like I meet a flying girl every day (no, only two or three times a month so far.) Yeah Captain Thunder is going by 'Shazam' now. It's a word of power or mantra or something for him. We uh met back in Philadelphia when he started out."

Julie Power has posed:
"Oh. That's cool." Not like Julie thought out loud she was being blown off, but she hangs back with Mary as they're making introduction. "Nice to meet you, Miss Parker." the former Power Pack speedster offers in way of introduction. "That sounds delightful, thank you. As long as it's not an imposition."

Then to Mary, she admits quietly. "There's some things in that paper I've never admitted to before. You think it's gonna be okay? I mean, I talk about missing my first date because of a Zn'rk attack..."

Peter Parker has posed:
May chuckles. "Julie, if we are going to converse, I would prefer that you call me 'Aunt May.' All Peter's friends do, even Harry Obsorn. I should warn you that my Peter is more suited to technical journals than creative writing, but he is still very smart, and I am sure he would like to read it. He's down in the lab. Mary, would you be so kind as guide your friends down to the lab? I'll tell Peter to expect you."

She reaches over to the small video screen and presses a button. After a moment, they hear, "Yes, Aunt May?"

"Peter, dear, Mary and her brother and a friend of theirs is visiting. They can come down to the lab, yes?"

"Sure, Aunt May."

Aunt May smiles to the Heroic Trio. "There you are."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary smiles, "Thanks, Aunt May." She slips right into that, since... well, that's what she expects, so it'd be rude //not// to. With that, she leads the way down the stairs to the lab, "Billy, you're going to love that lab, it's really cool."

On the way down, she gives Julie's hand a bit of a squeeze with her fingers, murmuring back, "Hey, I think it's going to be fine. This is really good stuff you've got there. It has a lot of heart."

Once she's down most of the stairs, she speaks up, "Hey Peter! Hope you don't mind the impromptu visit but... well, things kinda just all worked out that way." She smiles and looks around for Peter.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson asks Julie, "Is this story anything I could see? I've been reading a while now." He descends the stairs wondering if Julie will float down or something? He asks out of the blue, "Can you like hover in one place, just out of curiosity?" Shazam can but he drifts a lot as it happens unless he focuses.

Julie Power has posed:
"Thank you, Aunt May." comes Julie's response, squeezing Mary's hand in return at her assurance as she follows the other girl. To Billy, she responds. "I mean, if Mary thinks you can handle it." she teases. "It's about coming into my powers when I was really young and having to learn to deal with them." comes the explanation as she walks down the stairs. She adds, "I was only ten. Which isn't as bad as my sister, she was six."

"I can hover, but the rainbow effect remains. I can sit on it though, or stand, or just... you know. It's a hardlight creation. I just only recently discovered that."

Peter Parker has posed:
The stairs down creak slightly, but then the lab is revealed as they reach the bottom. It is brightly lit, very clean, and with a mix of the old and the new, all well-cared for.

Peter is standing near the brightly-lit illuminated table in the center of the lab, with a bunch of parts laid out, separated into drawn squares that are individually-labeled, as precise as any CSU lab. Some of the pieces are recognizable as belonging to a Furby, but some of the other parts are...unsettling. Like the tiny buzzsaws.

"Hey...! Billy, I know you. And Mary, good to see you again." Then he looks to Julie and still smiles, but the smile is puzzled. A face he doesn't know.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary smiles, "Oh hey Peter, this is my friend Julie. Ah, Julie Power." And that name should probably register, as she continues, "She's in a creative writing group with me, and she wrote something that I thought was really good. Figured you'd like to read it." She pauses, and smiles at Billy, "And yeah, I thought you'd like to check it out too."

She then blinks as Peter says she knows Billy, "Well... I guess it's a small world after all." She looks between Billy and Peter, but then looks at the demonic HellFurby being dissected, "Whoa, is that one of the things that attacked the house? That is... even scarier than a normal Furby."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson listens to Julie's explanation and says, "Maybe I can read it later when I can give it my full attention? It sounds really interesting and personal a... if you don't mind my reading it. Not many people regard metahumans as well humans. It sounds really tough, being a kid hero. Hard light? That's like a power ring, right? That sounds so cool!"

"Oh yeah, Hi Peter, I've seen you around!" he must have if the guy says he knows him. He sticks a hand out and gives Mary a wink of approval. No Mary, I will not do anything to upset you, or anyone. The Furby gets a long look.

Julie Power has posed:
"If I knew Mary was bringing me by, I'd suggested she called first. I mean, I get the secret lair thing. At least as far as having siblings goes. Place that's your own." Julie explains, demuring slightly as she waves slightly to Peter, cheeks darkening as she glances at the toy. "Oh hey, Katie has one one of those! Or had. It was a few years ago..." Her arms settle in front of her, hands clasping at her navel. She'd worn something more covering as well!

Smiling to Billy, she nods. "It was really hard. I mean, everyone underestimated us, and we had to prove ourselves. I think we did okay. I mean. I don't really hero as much anymore. Retired at sixteen." There's a small laugh at that. "Maybe that's what I should have called my paper.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smiled wryly. "I listened to your podcast with Spider-Man, Billy. I work with the guy a lot, so of course I had to check it out. Spidey said you were very articulate for someone your age, and I have to agree."

He is about to continue when something clicks. "Julie...Power? You were part of that family group, the Power Pack? Or do I have my Powers mixed up?"

Like that would be the FIRST time that happened.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary grins proudly as Peter complements Billy's podcast, "Well, my little brother is pretty sharp with that, though Freddie is the real superhero expert." She looks pretty pleased about that, then nods slightly as Peter mentions Julie, though she'll let Julie explain that.

She does, however, shrug a bit sheepishly at Julie, "Yeah, you're right, I wasn't... even thinking about that. I guess I'm just so used to having everyone around all the time at home, I didn't even..." She blushes a bit, and looks over at Peter, "I mean, I didn't want to disturb your work or anything, but well... it just kinda all came together at once there." She gives Peter a bit of a sheepish smile, at that, adding as an aside.

"Plus, well, that pie was freaking amazing."

Julie Power has posed:
"One in the same. I mean, Julie. Lightspeed. Molecula, but that was when I had Jack's powers..." Julie offers with a shy smile. "I'm just Julie for the most part these days. This is a pretty amazing lab." she admits as she looks around. "Alex would love this." When Billy makes his leave, she watches him go, and lets out a breath. "I don't mind sharing my paper, I just don't know if it's all that special. I mean, a lot of teens get powers, wanted or not..."

Peter Parker has posed:
A lot of teens get powers? Pulpit there, choir here, fuggedabouttit.

"Well, I'd like to take a look at it. I may not write very well, but I can tell you if the structure is solid."

He looks to the disassembled Furby. "Yeah...that showed up in a follow-up package. I dropped the whole box in a kit-bashed Faraday cage and waited 24 hours. Then I took it out and took it apart. I'm running chemical tests on the metal in the mass spectrometer over there. What I *can* say is that whoever built it is a mechanical engineer. They know their stuff." he taps the buzzsaw assembly. "This was in the mouth. That's high-tensile steel. Designed to cut through bone." He sighed. "I'm just trying to provide what help I can."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary blinks, "Wow. Whoever this jerk is, he's pretty serious. And he's definitely got a fetish for toys." She frowns and wrinkles her nose a bit, staring at the Furby as if it's even more offensive than normal. Then she looks over at Julie, "Well... I don't know about a //lot//, but definitely seems to happen when you're a teenager. I mean, the mutant gene triggers around then more often than not, right?"

Julie Power has posed:
"Right, that's usually from puberty, I think? That seems to be the popular opinion." Julie says as she peers at the killer toy. "Did you do a search for vllains that use toys as weapons?" she asks curiously. "I mean, I know Arcade does - but he's in jail, from what I read." The young woman smiles over at Mary. "It's okay. I'm glad to meet him, I felt I was missing something the way you talked about him in the library, and it was all correct, clearly." Julie, returning the wingwoman favor.

So finally, the paper. "Want to read it together?" she asks, reaching into her pocket to take out a thumb drive. "It's on here, it's part of my application package for school."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smiled. "Sounds good." He walked over to the computer desk and took out a laptop. It has a crack running diagonally, but the screen pops up immediately when he presses the power button. He glanced to Mary. "You were talking about me? Hunh. Usually people don't admit to that because of how the conversation usually goes. And it's not flattering."

He puts the laptop on the table, then steps back. "Plug it into the USB port on the left side, then press Shift-F6. that's the video link."/

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary blinks, "Wait, seriously? I mean, you're smart and a great person to have around when the chips are down, the other night reporting proved that, Peter." She grins, "Why //wouldn't// I talk about you to other people, I mean... you're really great." And she radiates sincerity with that too, then she nods and looks over at Julie, "Can't wait to see what changes you made."

Julie Power has posed:
"That's exactly how she was at the library." Julie says with a grin over at Mary as she goes to put in the thumb drive to bring up her paper, "I think you have a fan." she sotto-voices to Peter with a wink before she brings up the file. It starts, sharing the information on her paper, and then the paper itself.

The young woman steps back next to Mary, reaching down to lightly clasp her hand, because she's neverous and needs a friend to tell her it's going to be okay. And she waits for their reactions, though she visibly reacts as she hears herself reading about Pestlience's death.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter reads for quite some time. He nods to himself in some places, particularly about how they had to deceive their parents. He tilted his head at the reference to the aliens.

He seems to freeze as he reads about the death of a villain. His face seems to soften at that. It is affecting him profoundly, but who can say why...?

He looks down, after reading it through a second time. Then he sniffles, rubbing his nose with the sleeve of his shirt, blinking repeatedly as he takes a deep breath.

Then he looks at Julie with the same face he wore at Uncle Ben's funeral.

"...I'm so sorry that happened to you," he says quietly.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary reads it over again, peering over Peter's shoulder as she squeezes Julie's hand tight, knowing this was a lot for her to put down. When she sees Peter sniffling a bit, she gives him a warm smile and squeezes his shoulder with her other hand. She blinks a bit as well at the end, as she definitely got a few things in her eyes there.

She nods and looks over at Julie solemnly, "Julie... that's really heartfelt, and very well written. It's... powerful." With that, she draws Julie in and gives her a comforting hug, if she's allowed to anyway. Den Mother Mode Engaged.

Julie Power has posed:
Looking down as she can tell when they both reach the same point, Julie is holding her breath. She's unsure how the pair are going to reach, the young woman swallows, "I was fifteen when that happened." she admits quietly. "I still have a hard time... Dr. Grey helped me with a lot of it." The squeeze of her hand is returned with Julie's on. She looks up at Peter and she smiles. "Thank you." comes the heartfelt response.

And when Mary goes den mom, the other woman, so used to being a den mom herself, presses to the other woman and holds her tightly for several seconds before letting go. "You helped me make it more powerful, point out the things that should have been highlighted."

She considers and looks up at the pair. "My biggest worry is this. I applied to go to Happy Harbor." she admits to the pair. "Because I am a publically known powered individual, I was rejected. I was told that the school did not want the attention that someone like me would draw. I would have had to taken an assumed identity, and that sets back //everything// I've done to recover from. And now I'm scared that colleges are going to reject me as well."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter takes a deep breath. Then he stands.

"Julie, listen to me very carefully. I'm going to tell you something that meant a lot to me. My uncle Ben, before his death two years ago, told me that my smarts meant I had to use my gifts wisely. He told me something I will never forget, not if I live to be a hundred. 'With Great Power Must Come Great Responsibility.'"

He stands next to the table. "My advice is...look your fear right in the eyes and don't back down. If the Admissions people ask about your past, SHOW THEM that you are ready to take responsibility for what you have done, what you do now, and what you WILL do. Make them believe that you were given those powers for a reason, to help people, and that an education will show you have the discipline and the drive to continually be better."

He looks at Julie directly. "Are you ready to do that?"

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary backs up a bit, then looks at Peter as he makes that speech. She smiles at him, looking... well, rather proud of him, honestly. And possibly thinking why wouldn't //anyone// want someone like this as a friend? If he lets her, Mary would reach out and take his hand in hers, giving it a comforting squeeze.

Then she looks at Julie, "Plus, what you've been through here... I can't imagine a school not taking you. At least, not for this. I can see why Happy Harbor would be hard, just because you're... well, you've got a public identity. But that doesn't seem to be an issue for other ones. And honestly, I'd love to have someone in classes I could share notes with." She grins at Julie, looking pretty confident about this.

Julie Power has posed:
"I wouldn't have commited the words to paper if I was worried. I just think that... I know that people can be jerks. I don't have a choice. I can't take back what happened. My picture was on the Daily Planet, the Bugle... CNN." she admits with a shake of her head as Julie releases Mary so she can go comfort Peter. "I'm going to hope that NYU will take me. I mean, if they accept people with obvious mutations..." she closes her eyes.

"I didn't ask for these powers. And I wouldn't take them away. But it was a lot of a responsibility to put on children that were twelve, ten, eight, and six." she finally says. "But thank you... I really appreciate the kind words. I keep hoping to find what... a support group for teenage superheroes? But I know not many... none, really... want to share that information. I get it. But maybe this will make someone who thinks they're alone in this realize they're not."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nods. "There's...someone I'd like to share this with. A guy I know pretty well...and someone I think you can talk to. Because he can relate to what you're talking about. And if NYU doesn't take you, then let me know. Depending on the program you want to get into, maybe I can talk to my mentor art ESU, see if he can help."

Peter writes down a number quickly, before handing it to Julie.

"Call that number...and you'll be talking to Spider-Man."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary smiles at Peter, and looks over at Julie, "And hey, I know I'm not a superhero..." She coughs a bit, "But well, yeah, you're welcome to come by the house anytime Julie. I make no promises about Billy or Freddie mooning over you, but I'll just tell them you have a date set up with Marie, and that should get them to relax."

Or it might just make it worse. Teens!

Julie Power has posed:
Accepting the piece of paper, Julie looks down at it in confusion. "I appreciate this, but he's so busy with everything else. I can handle it. I mean, I got my sibs..." and she shoulder bumps Mary. "And I have my friends." she gives the pair a smile that turns into a blush when Mary brings up her date with Marie. "If she calls me back." she says, doubting herself. "Anyway... I should go, because I've got some things to take care of." And she's getting shyer by the moment. "You can hold onto the paper. Thank you again." She offers her hand to Peter for a shake and a hug to Mary before she's heading off.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smiles wryly. "IIIIII think he would MAKE time to talk to you. I think I know the guy pretty well." He does shake her hand, but he does not take the paper back. "Keep it. You never know when you might need it."

"Kids! Dinner!" Aunt May calls through the intercom.

"Stop by the kitchen. Aunt May will make you a dish for the road." Peter smiles wryly. Aunt May would never let anyone go hungry.