Cptdragon9

Betty smiled sweetly, especially since Linda showed interest in the magic box of a computer. "Indeed you can see a copy of the newspaper. Both the Bugle and the Planet have websites where you can read articles, but they do also deliver the paper for those that still want print between their fingers. I normally go to the coffee shop to read the one they have at the counter. It's nice to have when you're sipping on coffee. In fact here...." She pulled up the map again. "I type in the address here... there is the pinpoint on the map, and here, right across the street, is the coffee shop. The library... lets just type library in the search... and there's the pin. You can see it's about six blocks away from us. You most Definitely want a library card, and they even have a few computer terminals there if you want to do some browzing there. They even have classes if you want to learn how to work certain programs. I learned how to work the spreadsheet program Excel to help keep my budget in check." "As to travel, I'm telling you it's basically safe during the daytime. Just don't stray too far from the crowds. No dead end alleyways. Just be safe, and practical. Use you're noggin." A few names ran through Betty's head as to what Linda's name should be, but she felt the young girl needed to create one herself. "They still deliver the mail. In fact the state and federal official correspondance has to, because even though the internet is an amazing thing, some people try to scam you and steal your money. If you are interested in setting up email, I'll sit with you to show you what to look out for. I've been very careful. My grandaughter taught me some things to beware about. In fact....." Betty popped open her email and scrolled through the delete folder. "Here's one. Notice the font looks different? Lots of wierd squiggly lines? And I know that my password hasn't expired for my Bank accout. You definitly do not want to reply, and you sure don't want to click the link. Instead you go to the real site, the one I have flagged when I first set up my account and log in there." A few keystrokes and she was in her bank on a separate tab. "See? Password worked fine, and nothing in the email box here letting me know anything is wrong. Now I can send the bank the fake email to let them know there's a problem, but it happens so often I just ignore them. And I make sure to change the password every few weeks. Don't use anything like your birthday date, something that would give any hacker information they don't need to know. Again, just thin things logically through and you probably won't go wrong." She looked up at the clock. "Dearie me! It's late. Would you like to help me make some dinner? Something simple? I was planning on spagetti and meatballs."

Betty nodded. "I had the same exact questions. Here, see this arrow? They call it a cursor. It tells you where you are pointing at on the screen." She slowly dragged the arrow around before parking it on the search bar. "So here is where we type. You metioned restarants? Here," and she typed, slower this time, so that Linda could see. "So if we want steak, we can type "steakhouse", and any restaurant listed nearby that has an internet page will show up..." The search brought up about 15 restaurants on Mapquest. "See?" she moved the cursor again towards the plus and minus buttons. "Now I can make this map bigger (click click). "Now any of these points that has a line underneath it tells me that the restaurant has a web-page. Think of it as an ad that is special made for the internet. I don't know exactly HOW it's done, but I do know that some people make a living by building a page for people who want one." She settled more into her chair. "So let's see... this one is underlined. If we click on it, this box pops up. See? It tells us the address... the phone number... the hours it's open... and the website address. We click on this and......" a few seconds... " We are now at Sirlion Stockade's page. Looking across the top ( she slowly brings the curor up to the tabs) Here is the menu (click). This is a nice web- page. Gives us not only pretty pictures of their plates, but prices too. We bo back up here to Discounts... and here are the coupons. "Now say after dinner, we go to the movies like you suggested. Again we go back to this top bar and we can type in something current... Or even general. We can type New Release Comedy..." another acreen listing the lastest and greatest "Ah, Kung Fu Panda 4 just came out.... And this here is the theater I normally go to.." (click) 'Now since it is opening weekend, it might be hard to get tickets... but here we can see the showtimes... the greyed out ones are already full... but this one here at 8pm still has seats... (another click) Now we can buy tickets on line and guarentee to get in at this time without standing in line and waiting. Now I won't buy tickets, but I can show you.... " clicks on 2 tickets and is taken to checkout. "So here you would put in your informations... name, address, email, and credit card information. Once paid for they will send an email to my email address and I can print them." Betty paused a minute. "Ah email address.... well much like a house address, I can have an address on the internet... Here, this is my email ,, my on line mailbox if you will." She opens up Yahoo. "this here is my address: Littleoldlady55.com. Anyone that has this address can send me email. See? This is from my granddaughter reminding me of my doctor's appointment on Friday.." Click and a page that would remind Linda of a proper letter. "Now I can reply (click) and now I can type my reply...." She types. Thank you. I'll see you on Friday. Luv Grandma. "Now I can it back to her (sends). Its saves on stamps and its easier for me to read this than to hear on the answering machine. It's a handy little machine. You can find pretty much anything you need." She now sat her hands in her lap, waiting for more questions

"Ah!" Betty replied, almost excited to impart what she'd learned. "I was like that at first. I was afraid to even touch the computer; afraid I would break it, or do something wrong; but my granddaughter was ever so patient with me. Come! Sit!" She pulled over a folding chair so that the both of them could sit in front of the ancient contraption. It was already running, the screen brought to life as she wiggled the mouse. "Okay, lets start with the Town Market. It's were I do a lot of my shopping. You would normally get an internet address to type up here," she points to the top line. "But if you don't have that, you can search for it here," and she opens up the Chrome page and type "town market" in the line. "You can see there are several selections, but this one has the right street address so we click here...." A rather basic screen pops up. "So you can see options across the top. Here is this weeks ad." another click and picture of the current flyer pops up. "See, just like in the newspaper, and you can use these arrows to flip back and forth... Now, if we click on "on line ads" (click) and you can see what is on sale for special customers that have signed up on this website to get special deals. I've signed up here.. you can see my name .." Again another click showing drastically reduced items." Now I can print these and cut them out to show at the checkout. As long as it has this little squiggly barcode on it, we're good. Like these oranges, 3 lbs bag for a dollar. good deal." Betty hit print and the printer shuddered to life. It took a minute, but it indeed printed the proper sized, coupon that would fix in her little box." She turned to Linda, hoping she'd enlightened the girl some. Betty had taken some time to fully understand it all, and still didn't understand some of it; but she felt pretty proud as to how much she'd been able to comprehend.

Frankly BS knew better than most that while he may have been here long enough to be able to use the localized portals without spazing (much); the idea of going through a magical temporal portal would either send him into seisures, or even worse, crack the portal or unanchor it. No, he wouldn't risk it. "I'll go get Dipshit..." and he headed back upstairs to check on Ashmire. He returned a few minutes later. Ash was looking a little more alert and focused, though his hair still didn't seem to want to lay down back on his head; like he'd licked his finger and stuck it in an electrical socket. He, like his adpotive father, knew better than to approach the portal, many for the same reasons; and he surely didn't want Star to rip him several new ones if he'd been the cause of any delay or failure of rescue. He was content to stand behind the larger bulk of Brimstone. Both mutants stood quietly; a little odd for the breed; but then the stakes were pretty high.

The Old Lady had watched as Dante retreated to the back bedrooms before she herself slowly eased out of the chair and shuffled her way, following at a slower pace. She took no note of her charge hovering over the bed, but she did look Blue over a moment before shuffling next to him, gesturing for him to step back a pace. She didn't force him by any means; she didn't look like she could. Instead she gently cupped one of Star's cheeks, softly running her thumb along her face. Again nobody in the room would be able to tell if the Elder Aurora was doing... well... anything mutanty... but she seemed intent enough. Gentle but firm. She made a low sound in her throat; a hum, maybe a chant as she focused on Star.....

"You are welcome to come and 'bother' me anytime. I can Always use company. " She smiled at the mention of coupons before gesturing Linda to follow her into what would have been her bedroom. It had a single bed with all the frumples and duvets as appropriate in white in purple, but where her husband's bed use to be was now a "workstation" of sorts. A simple table with an old CRT monitor hooked up to a clunky tower. Judging by the stickers Betty had either gotten them from a school auctioning off old equipment, or her grandkids had decorated the pieces at a younger age. there were lots of pieces of scrap paper about, though the inkjet printer looked like it worked. Betty patted the machine. "You can get coupons for pretty much anything. I'm still learning about using discount codes on store websites, but if I can print it, I can use it."

The Old Lady saw all. Watching the boys tag team the tasks at had seemed to trigger a memory from long, long ago and a small smile crept across her face; an honest one, not like the ones she gave her charge when he was training, and many times failing, but learning. She took up the tea and sipped at it, nodding her approval; nods that were very rare coming from Dante's mentor. Again it would be very difficult to determine if the Elder Aurora was doing anything to mentally quell the potential powderkeg. Dante only would have a niggling feeling that something was happening, but he was never able to pinpoint that sensation. He couldn't even tell for sure if the Old Lady was behind it, or if she was exactly what she was doing. It was never firm; never confirmed, and not even localized. Perpetually the 'is she or isn't she' game.

Finally, a section of the ship slip open, no seams or mechanisms visible, as if the craft were liquid metal. Braniac floated out the ship; but instead of the towering figure of a threat he normally posed, he also seemed a bit shook up, with a large chunk taken out of his left shoulder. No blood, but several sparks indicated structural damage to his chassis. That dower look was still in place as he looked back over to Luthor’s building. He then looked towards Kara for a moment, clearly calculating his next moves. He had hoped to head off this problem, but it clear that Lexcorp had progressed further than he had determined possible. A low sigh escaped him as he turned to the Kryptonian. “You saw the damage the weapon caused. I can assure you that if I do not take back that which is rightfully mine, there can be more devastating results. Your Lex Luthor has the means of destroying the planet if left unchecked. You may assist me or not, but do not hinder my efforts.” With that he began to levitate slowly, heading back towards Lexcorp

BS finally had to shake a hand to stave off any more talk of religion. "I think that's enough of that. There are a few worlds that believe religion, sex and politics are dangerous things to talk about less freindships, or even civilizations, come to ruin." He did frown a bit at being refused access, but he likewise understood. He probably would get a bit nervous if unqualified people started poking around his work, especially those that are tentatively powered by unothodox means. He just merely shrugged as he stood up, his mug empty. "Need a refill?" he asked.

Linda's explaination of her mighty feat being contained to a go cart seemed to content Betty as she put away the groceries. "Don't worry about the bus. It's actually free to ride; an attempt to get folks to save the planet and not driver around. Taxpayers pick up the slack as it were. I have a car though. Use it about once a month for my doctor's appointments. Bus doesn't go far enough as I don't like that Uber thing, and taxi's are too much. Besides you never know if you'll need to drive somewhere." There was a flicker of sadness, but it vanished quickly when Linda mentioned coupons. "Oh I'm a penny pincher," she perked up as she pulled out a supser-sized wallet organizer. Inside held all her shopping needs; cash, credit cards, customer appreciation scanner cards, and several coupons. Betty pulled out the coupons and reached for an index card holder. Inside were a plethora of paper slips cut from newpapers and flyer and found inside packaging, sorted by alphabet, in which she refiled the ones in hand. "My grandchildren are wonderful. No longer the little wee ones I used to bounce on my knee. Jenny's about to graduate college afterall, but she still likes her toys." The old layd smiled a bit as she ran her thumb along the Pokemon fob before putting the keys in what used to be a large brown-mottled cigarrette tray. Betty saw how sad the girl was being alone, and Betty did what any mother did, wrapping her arms around the girl and crooning. "It's okay sweetie. Sounds like you were greatly loved. Treasure those memories. Besides, if you're feeling down, you are always welcome here. I can always use the company."

"Wow! You must be Very strong indeed if you can lift a car!" Betty looked over the stately teen, perhaps a glimmer of noting that maybe Linda was more than what she let on to be, something she might ponder about later. For now she shelved that suspicion. "I can give you a general layout when we go shopping tommorrow. The bus will go past the high school, the library, the police station, and a few other landmarks." She smiled a bit. "Maybe you'll see a cute boy or two to swoon over." As to dinner. "Sure, come and help me, but there is no need to carry me. I'm fine." She gathered up her purse, gestured for Linda to pick up the bags while the old lady picked up one herself, perhaps to counter balance the weight of her purse and keeping her evenly keeled. The walk down the hallway was short, but slow. Betty fumbled for her keys, checking several pockets before finding her own ring with a Pokemon fob. She smiled looking at it. "My grandaughter loves these things," she noted aloud before opening the door and waddling in. The layout mirrored Lois's apartment, but the decorations and furnishings were vastly different. Big fluffly chairs and matching couchs were covered with several crochet throws in pink, white, blue, and purple colors. The lighting might have had LED bulbs inside, but the covers were still vintage with frosted glass. The low coffee table has a long doily pink and white lace cover ans several supermarket magazines next to the TV remote. The kitchen has a fancy ceramic cookie jar with pictures of birds and flowers. A matching set of containers holding flour, sugar, coffee, and creamer were lined up next to the stove. The refrigerator had seveal post cards and child-like artwork held to the outside with a variety of magnets. Betty put her bag on the counter, taking out the groceries. This obviously was the light bag with white bread, some gravy packets, a box of chamomile tea, and a bag of mini- chocolate donuts....

Brimstone raised a brow at the explaination of the 'pseudo- religion', pursing his lips a bit, rather reluctant to say anything, but he wasn't one to keep his trap shut for long. Yes it had gotten him in trouble more often than not. Still he had a bit of tact in replying, most of the time. Perhaps not so much this time, but then again the dragon lord knew the mutants to be rather coarse in many things. "Seems to me to be a bitch move." BS replied oh so bluntly. "You are exploiting a weakness in the human condition that your people don't believe?" His head twisted a bit, as if his mind were still wrapping around the idea, but then he sighed. "Probably shouldn't throw stones though. We've more than once used Aurora's "god" status to get us out of a bind. Ugh... sorry..." And he rubbed his brow. The topic of the applied powers and layer of coding however sang a bit closer to his heart. Untying knots and figuring out the intricate nature of the universe, and the hiccups that happen on occation. "You know, if you want, I can try to figure that out. I don't think I would need to know exactly how the seal works, but I got a few gizmoes that might be able to figure out any inconsistancies that might have triggered the system to allow Nova's 'port to be accepted... if just to prevent it from happening again..... if you don't mind, that is. I know youse guys can get squirelly about non Vashtalian types poking around in your business and all.

Perhaps the old lady could pick up on the hum of talent, perhaps not. She did cant her head a bit, as if listening, perhaps just noting the golden hue in her charge's eyes. One really couldn't tell for sure as she slowly stood up, using her walking stick to get herself vertical. "Seems you two have got it in hand." She nodded her head towards Blue, acknowleding that it was a group effort, giving the doorway to the back rooms a quick glance before turning to her charge. "But if you really need my help, I might have a trick or two for you to learn. First things first, I hate to impose, but may I have some tea?"

"I got the basic gist of the 11, just never delved into each one. I'm guessing each one had their own special brand of magic? Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Love and all that? I always imagined them much like us mutants in a way. Each a powerhouse of their own." He gave a little snort as he sipped at his own brew. "Some folks did that, you know. Thought that Aurora, and even Tim; were gods of a sort. I still think that Tim kinda bought into the idea a little too much sometimes."

Betty patted Linda's knee again. "Very good! We'll go shopping tommorrow. There are some nice thrift stores by the grocery and if you don't mind you can help me carry some milk and heavier items." She looked to where she had dropped her groceries. "I didn't bring my carry cart today and had to forgo the laundry detergent. I would by in smaller containers but it's normally cheaper in bulk." Betty tried to stand, still a little wobbly, but she seemed to have a purpose, only stopping again. "I was going to make parmesian but I always make too much. Still hard to cook for only one. Would you join me for dinner? I would be good to have some conversation." She looked LInda over when she asked if she were ugly. "Hon, I could only wish I looked Half as good as you at that age. You are definitely a head- turner."

Huh, odd that she would know the term. " "Nerd" is like geek; somebody that likes comic books and fantasy role playing, is very smart in school. Usually they don't fit in with the status quo. As to clothes? Just wear something comfortable for now. I've seen everything from dresses to jeans to jogging sweats. Like I said these folks are just being themselves." She did frown a bit at Linda's assumptions over her city. "Oh it isn't as bad as all that. If you thing about it, you have at least 1 bad apple in the small town of what, a couple of thousand people at most. Multiply it by what, a hundred thousand, and you'll have at least 100 bad apples. Still, it's not like they are rampaging in the street. More often than not they're active during the dark of night. "I do most of my shipping during the day, amongst other people. Most are pleasant. Occasionally you meet a sourpus or rude person You just turn away and mind your own business, don't cause any more waves. Really a big city just a little busier than downtown Mayberry, with people being people. Still I can use the help of a tall person every now and then, and the company would be good. We'll meet some of my friends along the way."

Brimstone's curiosity got the better of him as he ended up sliding the chair up next to Claw, his focus on the tumbling viewfinder. "Recognize anyone yet?" Not that BS thought that the dragon lord would know any of the peasants he might have seen, but a dragon however lives like forever. If Claw had spotted one, they could narrow down the ranges. "Hopefully it's not TOO close to our timeline. Things can get a little wobbily, as in things we do might well affect us in the backhand of time." He did quirk his head a bit. "Drawing a blank. Whose Lord Tilan?"

"On it," BS nodded, turning to head back up the stairs to the bar, shooing Ashmire in front of him, determined to have words with his 'son" as to what the heck happened. Besides somebody needed to clean up the bar. Perhaps he should just close down and avoid any potential mishaps. The mutant was gone for a few minutes, but returned with a decent flaggon of ale from the taps. If nothing else, the dwarves had one heck of a brewery. "Here," he intoned, opening up a folding table to set the brew down, then opening up a folding chair so that Claw could at least sit comfortable while he did his thing. There were brushing and thunking noises upstairs, showing that Ash was at least not as much in shock that he could at least perform basic chores.

Betty continued to comfort the girl, familiar with the complaints. "My daughter thought the same things. Being and out cast, feeling too wierd. Trust me, she's grown into a wonderful mother in her own right. Besides, when you meet the group, I think you'll find that you'll fit in just right. The word I hear bandied about is... erm. 'nerd'. And they wear it like a badge of honor. Anyhow they have a few hand me downs when it comes to instruments. I'll take you to the workshop on Thursday. It won't do to have you holed up in this apartment all the time anyhow. You need to get out and explore the city, but if you need a sidekick I can use some help getting about shopping and what not. I'm Always running errands for somebody, if not for myself. " She gave a wry smile then winced again and repositiioned the ice pack on her head. "All the exercise keeps me young."

The old lady had managed to get herself up in a sitting postion on the couch, the ice pack held in place with one hand as she listened to the statuesque teenager. Hearing the forlorn tone in Linda's voice, Betty couldn't help but lean over and pat the girl's knee with her free hand. "There, there," she crooned. "I understand. I came from a small farm myself when I was but a young thing. The city can be so intimidating and I was just a newlywed. I might well have been lost weren't for George, my rock." She paused a bit in thought. "With all the music, I would think you would like to join theater. I do a little book-keeping for this little production site. They always have a workshop for young folks like yourself, and it seems that everyone enjoys themself. Perhaps meeting some young like-minded people would help in finding your place in the world. I can take you to meet them if you wish..."

The old lady first took stock in Blue, perhaps assessing the power/talent/merrit of Dante's littermate. It wasn't often that she had a chance to see the Militant's choice by himself. If she approved of his schooling she didn't show it, instead taking stock of the house as she had never been here and it was very hard to tell if she was being judgemental or not. Dante would know that she wasn't, but then facial emoting wasn't one of her strong suits. She did raise a brow at Saint, looking around a bit to make sure she wasn't seen before making a silly face at Saint, squinting her eyes and sticking out her toungue before smiling at the boy, then her face falling back to that stern look. "I wouldn't worry about your sister," she intoned, perhaps as comforting as she could muster. "We do this all the time. Vanish and reappear. Come and go. It's what we do." When Saint left, she settled down, waiting to see what would happen next.

Brimstone shuddered, an action ghostly copies by Ashmire. "Dimenstional jumping. That can get messy. Very messy. Just so many... ugh..." He tossed his hands up, clearly resigned in the fact that his basement would be multiverse central for the next few days. "I'll just move a few things away. Don't need to be crossing the streams, or however you want to phrase it. Lemme know if I can get you something. I assume you'll need to maintain this personally, just in case?"

The old lady had no option other than to sit and listen to the girl, an eye still on her hand that held the frying pan, only moving a hand to the back of her head when Linda mention her hitting the wall. Indeed there was a good - sized goose- egg forming on the back of her noggin being iced down by the cooling pack. "I'm no thief or killer," she protested weakly, still quite a bit shaken but slowly calming down. "I'm... I'm Betty... Lois's neighbor. She has me check in on her place while she's gone." Again she moved the ice pack and gently pressed on the bump on her head, making her wince a little. "She'd.. mentioned ... ooch... that someone might be also checking on the apartment." She squinted an eye at the teen. "You fit the description... Linda you said, right?... I didn't know you were back so soon..."

Ashmire had just looked between BS and Clawrift as they talked, his eyes widening at the thought that the rift could close, and he would lose Nova. His reactions were still a little quirky as BS nodded in agreement. Of course Brimstone cared about his grandchildren and with Claw's consession of replacing anything damaged helped set the mindset. Claw's magics weren't as glitchy as his means, so he had faith that indeed nothing would go wrong now. He only had to worry about what had happened beforehand. "Anything I can do to speed that along? A child can get into a whole world of trouble in a day or two."

Junior had also felt the psionic scream from Star, but had braced himself. Oh it still hurt; he had a trickle of blood out his left nostril but it was better than how Siren had caught it . He couched her in his paws, thrumming softly as he gently cushioned her brain with his talents, letting her come back to consciousness on her own, also letting Dracon continue with the investigation. Once they got a location, Junior was determined to lead the charge to the bad guy's house....