[video]

[fantasticforcefields]

[On the screen is a blond woman, to all appearances human and doing a not-quite-perfect job hiding the kind of resigned annoyance only seen in those for whom getting hauled across space and time is just a bothersome day at the office. She's instantly recognizable to people from a wide number of related universes—it's Susan Richards, the Invisible Woman, visible for this conversation and wearing a black-and-white version of the Fantastic Four's classic blue uniform with the distinctive "4" logo on the chest. It's been almost two days and there's no sign of her teammates, so it's time to cast a wider net.]

Hello. My name is Susan Richards. I'm going to swallow my pride and assume that doesn't mean anything to most of you. [The necessity of doing so doesn't seem to bother her, even though the idea of not being known on sight is strange. Sue laughs a little, and lets go of her irritation. The only real problem here is that her family isn't, and that's always been a self-correcting state of affairs.]

If it does, however, do me a favor and check in? Avengers, X-Men, SHIELD—I'm not picky. [Sue's already run into two people from home. Maybe there are more. She'll even take villains, if only so she can keep an eye on them.]

Everyone else, nice to meet you. Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?

[OOC: Fourth-walling is okay as long as your character's not going to be a jerk about it. Canon fail post is thisaway.]

Comments

[reconnaissance]

Oh, good. He sounds like my kind of guy. ( Seriously, the amount of marshmallows she can consume in the name of camping? Sinful.

Well that gets a bit of silence as she tries to digest it, frowning as she mulls it over. )

That's not... something I've ever heard of happening. ( 'In real life,' she almost says, because sometimes Exsilium just seems too far removed from reality for it not to be something her mind has tricked her into believing. ) Did it hurt?

( Morbid curiousity )

[fantasticforcefields]

...Yes. Yes, it did. We thought we were dying. [Well. This conversation got serious fast.]

[reconnaissance]

( Well. Her gaze doesn't drop, holds steady. ) I'm sorry. That's really shit.

( Genuine, honest in the way that she always tries to be. There's no two ways about it. There have been times when she thought she was dying, when she knew she would be, but she's sure this is something different. It always was. )

[fantasticforcefields]

[Sue just barely manages not to tell Ellie to watch her language. Her Mom instincts are strong.]

It happened, and it can't be undone. It's been a blessing more than it has a curse. [She's counting the good done for the planet in the "blessing" column, because it's really been kind of awful for her family.]

[reconnaissance]

( Gosh Sue she's eighteen in a few months it's not like she's a kid or anything )

Gotta admire your optimism.

( Her gaze drops. Being optimistic isn't something she's so good at, anymore. If someone tried to make her find the "blessings" in her home being invaded, she'd probably be hard pressed not to tear them a new one.

She can, however, manage this: )

Hey. You seem like a nice lady. I'm sorry you wound up in this whole-- thing. There are some pretty good people here, but.

[fantasticforcefields]

[Sue snorts, amused at just how badly Ellie seems to have misread her. She does get that a lot, though, even from allies.] I appreciate the sentiment, but this isn't my first time at the rodeo. I'll be all right.

[reconnaissance]

( That snort makes her arch an eyebrow, questioning. It doesn't seem like she's making fun of her, and yet... )

Oh, good. ( Drrryyyy ) Some of you people take this too much in stride.

( It makes her feel rather foolish about thinking she was crazy and/or dead )

[fantasticforcefields]

[We can't all be from superhero comics.]

I've been doing this since I was not much older than you are. [Sue doesn't look over 30 or so, but that's still a good decade of near-constant adventuring.] Eventually being upset just starts to feel like a waste of energy.

[reconnaissance]

( If only she had a cape, it would solve so many of her problems.

This time, it's Ellie who snorts, something of a smile curling the corners of her mouth. )

Too bloody right. ( All said and done, though, Ellie has to shrug. ) I haven't really worked out the not getting upset, yet. It's a work in progress.

( Although, her problem was more being massively volatile, tangled up with things she couldn't bear to look at, some days. And the reason she looks so tired is insomnia, along with that emotional exhaustion, but that's something that totally fine to ignore at the moment, right? )

[fantasticforcefields]

[They just get caught on things, sweetie.

Sue's pretty even-keeled in general, so it wasn't particularly difficult for her to adapt to unending excitement.]

Being an optimist helps. [She has faith in human nature. It's adorable.]

[reconnaissance]

Oh, Christ. I'm too logical for that.

( It's true. She thinks too much. But, with a bit of a grin, ) Maybe I can just pretend I'm an optimist. It works good enough for other stuff.

[fantasticforcefields]

[Sue's from a universe where The Good Guys Always Win (Eventually.) Long-term optimism is pretty logical in her experience.]

It'll make your teammates happier, anyway. Unless they think you're a Skru--an impostor. [Sue changes words halfway, since if Ellie doesn't know the Fantastic Four, she's sure not going to know Skrulls.]

[reconnaissance]

Mm. I dunno. They've probably gotten used to me being a bit of a bitch.

( Simple, matter-of-fact. ) Reliable, I mean. They can count on me to always get stuff done.

( But let's face it: she can be bloody difficult to get along with. No matter what, but, she always got things done. Better than anyone else ever could.

Good thing she doesn't have an ego, hey? ) They might get pissed, but they can count on me.

[fantasticforcefields]

[Sue Does Not Approve of your language, young lady.

But she half-smiles, because god knows there are a lot of prickly yet otherwise good people where she's from.] I know a few like that.

[reconnaissance]

( She's been living in the wild without any adults to reprimand her... although, actually, her language wasn't really the best before then, she was just better at watching her mouth around Grown Ups. oops. )

Lucky you.

( A little grin, though. ) Does that mean I get extra points, then?

[fantasticforcefields]

Maybe a few more if you told me your name.

[The not-at-all subtle hint is delivered with a smile.]

[reconnaissance]

Oh. Right.

( Names, introductions, that was what usually happened before you asked people about... the sort of stuff Ellie hauled up here. Hmm. She looks just the tiniest bit sheepish. )

Ellie. Ellie Linton. I'm not a famous superhero.

( There's something of a wry twist to her smile. )

[fantasticforcefields]

Maybe try becoming a rock star instead. It's less dangerous and the hours are better. [Her brother tried that, too. And acting. It turns out he has no talent.]

Nice to meet you, Ellie. Pardon the guess, but are you Australian? [For all Sue knows, Ellie's accent in her world might be Martian, but it's a place to start.]

[reconnaissance]

I'm more in the line of guerilla fighting, danger and insomnia are just part of my routine these days. You should see me criminal record, it'd put a rock star to shame.

( She's tries to play it off like a joke and it's almost successful. )

Yeah! One of two, I think. Your lot has a bit more representation. ( Hmm. ) Heroes and Americans.

[fantasticforcefields]

We get everywhere, I'm afraid. ...Heroes and Americans. [Sue grins. Americans' international reputation doesn't bother her, since she knows she's a good guest.]

I was an outlaw for a while. I can't say it agreed with me. [Ellie is too young to be a guerrilla fighter. :| ]

[reconnaissance]

Worse than mouse plagues. ( She loves telling city folk about that. She just assumes everyone here is from the city. )

'Outlaw' sounds more like Robin Hood. We were just-- Australia got invaded, and we wanted our homes back. It does things to you, no matter what. Not doing anything would have gone against the grain more, for all of us.

( Well. That was one of the calmest ways she managed to talk about it since getting here. No outbursts or rage or sobbing; she should get a lolly. )

[fantasticforcefields]

[Sue has that effect on people.

Ellie's going to have to wait on explaining mouse plagues, because Sue wants to talk about invasions.]

Invaded? By whom?

[She's really hoping the answer isn't "America."]

[reconnaissance]

( Thank you John Marsden for never mentioning who the invaders actually were over ten novels. Your deliberate ambiguity makes RP hard, gosh.

So, rather than spitting fire over who, Ellie just shrugs. )

Does it really matter who? I mean, they said it was all to even out the spread of wealth and resources in the Asia-Pacific region. We had so much space and all these things we took for granted, and there's so many countries that were struggling. We were just-- we couldn't see the problems of people around us, and we didn't even care, not until it became our problem all of a sudden.

( She's not saying they deserved to get invaded, or even that she can forgive the invaders, not after they've lost so many people and not after the things she's rescued her friends from, all the things they've seen. She can maybe understand why it happened, though. )

[fantasticforcefields]

[Sue thought most of Australia was uninhabitable, to be quite honest. She at least has the tact not to verbalize that thought. (Be glad you got her and not her brother.)]

That's an excuse. It doesn't make an invasion right. We had a similar problem, with a similar excuse on the part of the invaders, but they lost. [Sue is neglecting to mention that the invaders were aliens and their target was the entire Earth.]

[reconnaissance]

( Sue would have been correct, to be honest, but novels. )

No. I mean, they wanted to make it a clean invasion at first, we heard, but-- they gave up on that pretty quick.

( The camps, prisoners, all sorts. Something darkens in her expression, even if she keeps her voice even. ) I dunno if we can win this war, to be honest. It's pretty weak when the army is relying on a bunch of teenagers to do the dirty work for them.

( Simplistic, she knows, but it's true, and there's an edge of bitterness in it as well. Nothing like being abandoned by the army, forgotten about when you weren't useful. )

A friend of mine was just, she tried really hard to understand them. Understand and forgive, all that.

( Robyn had been a better person than Ellie, at the end of the day. )