<@Shockwave> [Comic splash page unpause!]
 06* @Shockwave looks up at her dive and he must be used to flyers, because he 
continues skidding and then launches himself up to leap past her where she's 
aiming. As he comes down, he looks like he might be aiming to land on her back.
 01<Meri> (Wait, um.  I'm having a hard time envisioning what you're trying to 
do!)
 01<Meri> (Also, maybe #crackooc ^^)
<@Shockwave> (Also sorry, I think this last week of work has blown my 
braincells)
 06* Meri lands and looks around, surprised - and looks up. She yelps and tries 
to scramble away, but probably not fast enough.
 06* @Shockwave lands on her shoulders and then knocks her on the head. It's not 
even a punch, it's just a tap. "Good dodge. But gotta remember your follow-ups. 
Watch your opponent." He hops off and grins, fists up.
 06* Meri rubs at her head and says, "Aww." She eyes Shockwave's fisty-move, 
then bounches a bit - her own fists up - before she goes for a jab followed by a 
dirty tripping kick (with her talon grabbing his shin, the cheater).
 06* @Shockwave blocks the jab with his forearm and grins wider, before yelping 
and landing flat on his back with the talon grab. "Ow. Hey!"
 06* Meri jumps at Shockwave, trying to pin him, and gives him a manic fangy 
grin. "Gotcha." The girl is *strong*, at least in bat form.
 06* @Shockwave tries to pull away, and struggles, surprisingly. He wasn't 
expecting her to be this strong. He sighs. "Okay...yeah...you kind of got me 
there."
 06* Meri giggles. She hops off and backs away, crouched.
 06* @Shockwave stands up and cracks his neck from side to side. "Although, I 
*could* have got outta that...if I wanted to destroy the rooftop. Kinda a bad 
plan here."
 01<Meri> Yeah, that's why I'm not screaming.
 01<Meri> I mean, um.  I don't wanna break windows.
 01<Meri> An' stuff.
 06* Meri scuffs the ground a bit. "Plus, I don't wanna actually hurt you, M- 
Shockwave."
 06* @Shockwave snorts and flicks the side of his head. "Cars thrown at me, 
remember? I'm used to worse."
 06* Meri nods. "Uh huh. But still!"
 06* @Shockwave goes over to pick up his shades and put them back on his face. 
"So why do you even *want* to be a superhero anyway?"
 06* Meri blinks, and she straightens. "Why?" She asks this like it's a crazy 
question.
<@Shockwave> What are you fighting for?
 01<Meri> Um.  You mean like an origin story, or...?
 06* @Shockwave sighs. "So you just want to go out there and search for bad guys 
until you find some then beat them up until you find the next group of bad guys? 
Classy. Real classy."
 06* Meri goes to pick up her half-eaten slice of pizza, not bothering to go 
back to normal this time. Her claws accidentally slice through it, and she 
frowns. "Isn't that what you do? Or didja just save me because you happened to 
be around with sunglasses on at night time?"
 06* @Shockwave snorts. "No. I was on patrol."
 06* Meri shifts back to normal Meri and grabs the slice more solidly now.
 01<Meri> Duh.  Exactly.  You were looking for bad guys to beat up.
 06* Meri looks at Christian. "Anyway, there are bad guys with powers, and it's 
not like people *without* powers are that good at handling them."
<@Shockwave> No. I was looking for gang bangers and I found some trouble. It 
ain't always like that.
 06* Meri shivers. "Then what's it like?" she asks, looking for her sweatshirt. 
There it is! She goes to get it.
 06* @Shockwave sighs and rubs his head, sitting back down again. "Hell if 
*that* ain't true."
<@Shockwave> Sometimes there's drug shipments going down. Sometimes people are 
trying to give weapons to little kids. Sometimes it's just people being in the 
wrong place at the wrong time and being picked on. Like you.
 06* @Shockwave grabs his own slice and points at Meri with the slice. "And 
sometimes people are tryin' to send a message and call you out."
 06* Meri tries putting her hoodie on with a slice of pizza in one hand. She's 
only half successful, and then she has the brilliant idea to switch her slice to 
her other hand! So she does and gets her hoodie on all the way.
 06* Meri looks at Shockwave and eats pizza, wondering where he's going with 
this.
<@Shockwave> So, I mean...why are you fighting?
<@Shockwave> Is it the bad guys with powers then? That it?
 01<Meri> With great power comes great responsibility, right?  I'm responsible 
for the people around me.
 01<Meri> Mr. and Mrs. Barker died because their son has powers.
 01<Meri> And, um, my family was attacked, too.
 06* @Shockwave blinks (well now he's got the shades so she can't see it) and 
then looks at Meri. "Sorry, kid. That's rough."
 01<Meri> And Ritchie was kidnapped, and I almost was, too, and there was a guy 
with electricity who killed like two rooms of people in a hospital, and another 
guy who killed like three cops before someone else put him down...
 06* @Shockwave stares at her. "What? Why?'
 06* Meri shrugs and looks away. "I dunno. The FBI got him. Anyway, I know most 
people - most grown ups - don't wanna deal with it. I wanted to save a jumper 
and Mr... um, the grown up with me at the time said that I shouldn't, because 
someone might see me. I went anyway." She stuffs the crust in her mouth.
 06* @Shockwave blows out a breath. "Fuckin' amateurs."
 06* Meri says, with her mouth half full, "Yeah, 'know 'm new." She finishes 
chewing and swallows.
 06* @Shockwave looks over at her for a moment. "Didn't mean you. Is everyone 
around where you're from that stupid?"
 01<Meri> Um.
 06* Meri thinks, then says, "Yeah, mostly. The grown ups, anyway. Grown ups are 
dumb."
 01<Meri> They think they know everything, so they don't care what I think.
 06* @Shockwave snorts. "You thought I was a grown up at first. You called me 
Mister."
 01<Meri> That's 'cause you're old and you called me 'kid'.
 06* @Shockwave opens his mouth. Then shuts it. Then opens it again. "Wait, how 
old do you think I am?"
 06* Meri blinks at him. "Um! Like... I dunno. Like twenty?"
 06* @Shockwave just keeps looking her over. Da fuck?
 06* Meri blinks, confused at Shockwave's confusion, then suddenly asks, "Isn't 
seeing in the dark hard for you?"
<@Shockwave> Heh. I can manage. Usually a lot brighter 'round where I'm around 
anyway.
<@Shockwave> And kid's only as much of an insult as people make it.
 06* Meri wrinkles her nose. "I didn't mind it so much before, but now it feels 
like people are just telling me that I'm too young to do stuff!"
<@Shockwave> They just don't wanna see ya get killed.
 01<Meri> Yeah, right.  Instead they'll get everyone *else* killed.
<@Shockwave> Still, people are killin' everyone else around them. They're 
stupid. 
<@Shockwave> And they ain't even got a *reason* for it...fuckin' amateurs.
 06* Meri goes to get another slice of pizza, settling back on the roof and 
picking toppings off. "I dunno, they wanted to make plans, but they usually 
spent so long planning that more bad stuff kept happening. And they didn't wanna 
tell me stuff either. 'cause I'm a kid."
 06* @Shockwave lights another cigarette, then puffs on it, looking at Meri. 
"Yeah. You waste those pieces of shit."
 06* Meri looks confused. "Huh?"
 06* @Shockwave sighs. "Nevermind."
 06* Meri shrugs, and goes back to picking meat off her pizza.
<@Shockwave> Just...yeah, planning too much when people are dyin', that's just 
stupid.
 01<Meri> Uh huh.
<@Shockwave> Yeah, forget what I was sayin' earlier. Sounds like you got your 
own reasons to fight after all.
 06* Meri smiles at her pizza and says, a little sadly, "Thanks."
 01<Meri> And um, thanks for the pizza.
<@Shockwave> Hey, what am I gonna do? Turn some shoeless, half-shirtless girl 
who was just attacked by thugs out on the street?
 06* @Shockwave sighs. "What are you gonna do about home anyway?"
 06* Meri winces and thinks. "Well, um, I don't really wanna go back home. I 
guess I could find Ana and Brad and Ritchie, but I dunno where they went 
exactly, and I lost my phone somehow. Plus, Ana kinda hates me half the time."
 01<Meri> I... guess... I could go talk to Mr. Farber, but he'd probably tell my 
parents.
 06* Meri sounds pretty reluctant concerning that option.
<@Shockwave> So you're never going back to your parents ever, huh?
 06* Meri shifts. "I dunno."
 01<Meri> I just... they... I was just trying to help them, and they... they 
were so scared, and they didn't want to see me anymore, so I just- I just left.
<@Shockwave> Well, those are your two choices, ain't it? Either never go back to 
your parents or go back eventually. And with the second, they're gonna have to 
be told.
<@Shockwave> And the longer you wait, it's probably gonna be worse...
 01<Meri> Uh huh.  And I- I don't wanna hurt them.  That's why I *told* them.  
People're trying to hurt me, and they'd hurt *them* to get to me, and- and- you 
know?  I just- I couldn't-
 06* @Shockwave looks at her a moment and half-frowns. "So you ran away to 
protect them?"
 06* Meri sniffs and starts rubbing at her eyes with the back of her free hand. 
"Uh huh. Partly."
 06* @Shockwave thinks about that for a moment. "Yeah, I dunno." He sighs. 
"They'd probably be glad to see you again though. Ain't like it's an easy thing 
to accept when it's thrown at you outta the blue..."
 06* Meri chews on her lower lip, and she nods, reluctantly.
 06* @Shockwave blows out a breath. "That's why the shades though. I mean...if 
you're gonna work this gig, it works better if people don't know ya..."
 01<Meri> A lotta the other guys wear shades.
 01<Meri> 'cause um.  People who got their powers like I did, we can tell.  By 
our eyes an' stuff.
<@Shockwave> Really? That's just weird.
<@Shockwave> But yeah. Tellin' people your name when you first meet 'em? Also 
not so smart.
 06* Meri giggles a little unsteadily and is interrupted by a hiccup. "I told 
you mine."
 06* @Shockwave sighs. "Uh huh." He shakes his head. "Luckily I'm not a bad 
guy."
 01<Meri> No, 'cause you *saved* me.
<@Shockwave> Can't always trust that. God, how'd your parents become a target 
*anyway*?
 06* Meri mutters, "Mr. Moore."
 06* @Shockwave looks at her. "What?"
 01<Meri> He met the lady with one arm and basically told her everything because 
he knew she had powers and she acted all confused an' stuff.  Plus, it turned 
out the guys at the hospital were with her, and they saw me.  Mostly just fought 
Ana, but they saw me, and later she told them where I lived and they tried to 
*kidnap* me.
 06* Meri flails, pizza forgotten.
 06* @Shockwave keeps staring at her. "What?"
 01<Meri> They tried to kidnap me!  And they looked like police!
<@Shockwave> This Mr. Moore. Is he just criminally stupid or legally stupid?
 01<Meri> So like, then one of them totally knocked out my dad - one of them has 
fire, and the other can zap stuff, like with lightning an' stuff, and then there 
were REAL police and then I tried to protect Dad by screaming and turning into a 
bat an' stuff, and Ana almost ruined it all by attacking me because we fought 
before, but... but it was okay, I mean.
 06* Meri curls up a little. "It ended up okay. But then Mr. and Mrs. Barker 
died and Ritchie got kidnapped and it wasn't okay anymore. That part, anyway. 
That part wasn't okay anymore."
 01<Meri> Anyway, um... yeah, basically.  He's really stupid.  But he's a 
doctor, so he thinks he's really smart.  'cause doctors are supposed to be 
smart.
 06* Meri mutters, "And he's a grown up, and they're *always* smart." Oh, 
there's the sarcasm.
 06* @Shockwave snorts. "Fuck that. We've got a doctor on our team. She's the 
stupidest smart person I ever met."
 06* Meri blinks at Shockwave. "You have a team?"
 01<Meri> Is that... like... like a superhero team?  Like The Avengers?
<@Shockwave> Uh...not really. Uh...I mean...we're supposed to be kinda 
underground and all. Only really get together if there's something big that 
needs to be done.
 01<Meri> Oh!  Okay.  I'll keep it secret!
<@Shockwave> So...uh, I guess kinda like the Avengers or somethin'. Only not 
nearly as cool.
 01<Meri> I dunno, it *sounds* pretty cool.  I mean, if you're being all secret, 
maybe you don't have a mansion or something, but you're on a superhero team!
<@Shockwave> Tougher than you think. I mean, you said it yourself. Not everybody 
with powers is the good guy.
 01<Meri> Yeah, but that's why it helps for you to team up.  I'd help!  I mean, 
um.  Not on the team, they don't know me or anything and they might not want me 
'cause I'm a kid, but I'd help you.
<@Shockwave> Anyhow, you can tell this Dr. Moore I hope he dies in a fire. He's 
an idiot.
 06* Meri nods.
 06* @Shockwave snorts and puffs his cigarette. "I'm kind of a loner if you 
hadn't realized. Things tend to get kinda messy with me around."
 06* Meri blinks. "So?"
<@Shockwave> I don't do sidekicks.
 01<Meri> Neither does Wolverine.
 06* Meri pauses, then adds, "Bub."
 06* @Shockwave snorts again. "Wolverine's an asshat."
 01<Meri> Yeah, and even he took on two.  But that's okay.  I'll just do it by 
myself.
 06* @Shockwave raises an eyebrow. "Wait. Are you trying to get me to take you 
on by saying that I'm *worse than Wolverine*?"
 01<Meri> I dunno!  Are you?
 06* Meri beams.
<@Shockwave> No.
 06* Meri cheers and jumps up, giving Shockwave a hug, cigarette and all!
 06* @Shockwave blinks at that, trying not to burn her. He doesn't hug her back. 
"Wait, what?"
 01<Meri> You're gonna train me and maybe eventually I can do stuff with you!
<@Shockwave> Wait, when did I say that?
 01<Meri> Just now!  Plus, well, before, when you said you could tell me if I'm 
hitting someone too hard or something.  That means you have to be around to 
know!
 06* Meri beams. Her logic is impeccable!
 06* @Shockwave tries mentally to go back over the last few minutes to remember 
where this divergent time stream may have come up where he actually said any of 
these things.
<@Shockwave> Well...yeah. And we did that...and...oh fuck it.
 06* @Shockwave points at her "*Just* maybe some of the training, alright? No 
sidekicking."
 06* Meri smiles. "Okay! I can do stuff by myself."
<@Shockwave> Yeah. I'm sure you can.
 06* @Shockwave smirks. "Besides, if you *were* a sidekick, you'd be called kid 
a lot more. It'd be like my bub."
<@Shockwave> Actually, every time someone calls you that, you should probably 
just take it as "bub" anyway.
 01<Meri> That's funny, 'cause I'm a lot better at pretending to be Wolverine.
<@Shockwave> Squirrel Girl.
 06* Meri flexes her fingers, and those sharp black claws pop out where her 
nails used to be. "Don't call me a squirrel, bub," she says, but she can't help 
but giggle.
<@Shockwave> Yeah. Little more of a weasel, bein' all stringy like that.
 01<Meri> I'm still growing.
<@Shockwave> So you're sayin' it's okay because you're gonna get *worse*?
 01<Meri> When I'm fifteen I'm gonna have a bunch of pimples and it's gonna be 
*gross*.
<@Shockwave> Probably.
 01<Meri> Plus, my boobs are gonna get way bigger, which is kinda annoying, and 
I'm gonna be like a buncha inches taller!
 01<Meri> Nuh uh, I already know.
<@Shockwave> I was too busy trying to punch kids to notice.
 06* Meri ponders, then asks, "Didja punch them in the pimples?"
<@Shockwave> I just said I didn't notice.
 01<Meri> Okay.
 06* @Shockwave sighs. "But right now, you should probably be getting somewhere 
you can sleep...and someplace with new shoes...and maybe some place you can wash 
off those cuts and stuff."
 01<Meri> Huh?
 06* Meri looks down and blinks at the cuts on her feet. "Oh." And then she 
yawns, which she tries to cover with one hand.
<@Shockwave> Yeaaaah. I mean..I could probably see about making some calls.
 01<Meri> Okay.  Thank you.
<@Shockwave> [And so Christian makes arrangements and keeps things relatively 
discreet. Meri gets off the streets, Christian doesn't get a new sidekick. And 
Meri got pizza. Everyone's happy!]
<@Shockwave> [Session end!]