Last night, when all the madness had hit, there had been a lock-in party at a bowling alley. Over one hundred fifth grade students in a bowling alley when one of their Black Lantern classmates had show up. If not for some smart thinking from a kid and the cosmic bowling equipment stalling him until they escaped, more kids would have died. Only one last night, thankfully.
And now over fifty of them were on a large chunk of earth that Atlee of Strata was piloting to the shelter nearby. Despite the fear and anguish last night, many of the children were excited to be flying twenty feet over the city streets on a large slab of shale rock. When they landed, she made them all meet up with their classmates and began to entertain the children when the rescue worker had said it was their last building and everyone was accounted for.
And now she was sculpting little agate statues for the kids. A lot had asked for Superman or a kitty cat or a tree, and a few had asked for the picture of their classmate Cissy who had distracted the Black Lantern or of Atlee herself.
Until Cissy, a young girl who still had her straight black hair in pigtails, pointed to the woman in white and blue behind Atlee and said "I want a statue of her."
An Atlee turned around to see her model, this strange visitor who had appeared in this Iowan town.
The children all let out a simultaneous "Yes ma'am" to the woman in blue. Atlee smiled at the kids as she shaped the blue chunk of agate into Sharon's form and handed it to Cissy. She sticks out her hand to Visitor, do initiate what she was told was called a "hand shake", a typical topside greeting.
"I'm... trying. It's a lot easier just to throw rocks at bad guys, but the kids seem to like the statues. Better than t-shirts, anyhow." She smiles and sees there is one kid left. She quickly sculpts a little puppy for her, and then looks at the kids. "Did anyone not get a statue? And no lying, I'm running out of agates!"
She grins at Strange Visitor. "Huh... I was thinking you were going to be called something like Superblue."
She shakes her head. "Nope. Strange Visitor. I got the costume from Superman, though -- he said I could use it." She ruffles the hair of one of the kids. "I don't think I've heard of you before. Are you new?"
"Yeah. I'm the newest one to use the name, but the last two... they kinda didn't do so well after a while. But it's the name my people gave me to be a defender of the humans and Stratans alike." She looks at the bored kids and thinks she needs to do something else. "Hm... I'm thinking... maybe we could do something else for the kids? Like take them flying? Wait, their parents might not like that..."
She shakes her head. "There's a thin line between keeping kids occupied and distracting them from dealing with things they need to face." She smiles at Terra, then raises a questioning brow. "Stratans?"
"Oh!" Atlee looks a little shocked. "Right. So the basic idea is that millions of years ago, the Great Astronaut crashed into the Earth. He was a giant creature in a suit of life support armor, but the crash killed him. The Earth absorbed his body, and the inside of the armor became Strata, and the natural flora and fauna of his body became the Stratans." She makes a weird face, unsure of how Strange Visitor will take that. "So... I'm the descendant of aliens who've lived under the Earth's crust longer than humans have walked on it, I guess. And as the new defender, they tried to make me look more like a human."
"We... kinda hope we can help the humans become peaceful enough that we can start establishing open communications, but, as it is, the leaders are still too afraid."
One of the nearby kids hears this and yells "Miss Terra is an alien, isn't that cool!?" And Atlee immediately blushes forever.
"I suppose this is why humans like whispering so much..." she says, hands covering her face.
"Oh, I mostly just travel in the Earth. The ground can't crush me, and it feels really nice to fall asleep that way." She shrugs. "I don't know. I guess I just go where I'm needed. I got a volcano two days ago to stop from erupting on a village, and I fought a weird spider thing that attacked a boat. I just like being able to help people, no matter where they are."
She looks at two of the kids playing a clap game, saying something like "jimmy jimmy cocount, jimmy jimmy rye," and she smiles softly.
Sharon smiles at her. "Thanks to you. You did well... now, let me help you." She approaches one of the students; she makes a request, and a moment later, the kid gives her a sheet of paper from her binder, along with a pencil. She approaches Terra again.
"If you ever need help, get someone to show you how to use a phone," she offers. "And put in this number. That will put you in touch with a friend of mine at STAR Labs. He'll be able to help you."
And now over fifty of them were on a large chunk of earth that Atlee of Strata was piloting to the shelter nearby. Despite the fear and anguish last night, many of the children were excited to be flying twenty feet over the city streets on a large slab of shale rock. When they landed, she made them all meet up with their classmates and began to entertain the children when the rescue worker had said it was their last building and everyone was accounted for.
And now she was sculpting little agate statues for the kids. A lot had asked for Superman or a kitty cat or a tree, and a few had asked for the picture of their classmate Cissy who had distracted the Black Lantern or of Atlee herself.
Until Cissy, a young girl who still had her straight black hair in pigtails, pointed to the woman in white and blue behind Atlee and said "I want a statue of her."
An Atlee turned around to see her model, this strange visitor who had appeared in this Iowan town.
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"Hi. I'm Terra, who might you be?"
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She's got to get a new handle.
"Nice to meet you, Terra." She shakes Cissy's hand, too. "And nice to meet you, too...?"
"Cissy!" Cissy introduces herself, then scampers off.
Sharon looks over Terra for a moment. "Keeping the kids in good spirits, huh? Good work."
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She grins at Strange Visitor. "Huh... I was thinking you were going to be called something like Superblue."
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"We... kinda hope we can help the humans become peaceful enough that we can start establishing open communications, but, as it is, the leaders are still too afraid."
One of the nearby kids hears this and yells "Miss Terra is an alien, isn't that cool!?" And Atlee immediately blushes forever.
"I suppose this is why humans like whispering so much..." she says, hands covering her face.
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"Well, if you're an alien... where are you staying right now?"
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She looks at two of the kids playing a clap game, saying something like "jimmy jimmy cocount, jimmy jimmy rye," and she smiles softly.
"At least the kids seem okay."
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"Do you know what a phone is?" she asks.
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