The Players: Number One & Fizban What: Number One arrives in this world Where: Centennial Park When: morning of Thursday, Oct 27th Rating: G
Spain was beautiful this time of year. Then again, it was Spain, so the place tended to be beautiful at all times of the year. It was places like that convinced Number One more than ever that Earth deserved to be saved. Having left Lorien so long ago, she could barely remember what the planet looked alike. Her Cêpan, Nicholas, repeatedly assured her over the years that it had once been a glorious place of natural beauty, much like Earth, so she would simply have to take his word for it. It was almost the end of summer break and they would have to head back stateside soon, but it was extraordinarily nice of Nicholas to allow her to have a vacation abroad. When she questioned him, he claimed it was because it was important for her to experience more of this world, to understand exactly what was at stake if she and the others failed. Trust Nicholas to be able to put a serious spin on a European vacation.
They started the trip in Sweden. The combination of Swiss chocolate and the Alps made her time spent there almost exactly like she would expect a trip there to be, according to the travel brochures. In other words, the place lived up to its advertising. Hiking and climbing was fun, even though she typically didn't enjoy such activities in the States. Virginia had its share of interesting things to do, but where they lived, near the Chesapeake Bay, the most exciting thing around was the site of the formation of the bay. Apparently, it was formed following a meteoroid impact crater during the Eocene epoch. That was historically cool and all, but not really much to enjoy as far as Number One was concerned.
After Sweden, they spent some time in Italy, in Rome particularly. She commented on how ironic it was that the Spanish Steps were here. How misleading. One would think that the Spanish Steps would be located in Spain. This, naturally, led her to want to visit Spain. Presently, they were in Barcelona. The nightlife here, she discovered, was exquisite. Or it would be if Nicholas would let her out of his sight. Not only was she not traveling with anyone her own age, which did its part in downgrading the exciting of being in Europe just a tad, but he had to act especially overbearing, as if simply overseas was any more dangerous than being back in the States. It didn't make a difference, as far as Number One was concerned. No matter where they went, it wasn't like they were exactly safe from the Mogadorians.
The Carretera de Montjuïc was nestled in the mountains. Star-shaped and from the 18th century, it was a military museum in a castle setting. Somehow, such exhibits attracted Number One the most. People couldn't usually tell by looking at her, but she had an astute mind for tactics. In school, her favorite and best subject was easily history. She especially enjoyed learning about military history. As she told Nicholas, she figured it could be useful to learn the history of warfare on Earth to get a better idea of how to make use of location in battling against the invading Mogadorians. Unlike humans, she would be able to take an objective perspective on everything and truly gain the knowledge necessary to not let history repeat, only picking up on the useful portions of each event. If Number One had not spent her entire life observing and noting the social stereotypes that humans allowed to persist among themselves, she might been insulted at how people always seemed surprised when she started spouting her insights. All most people saw when they looked at her was a pretty but probably flighty little blonde girl. Since she understood this about humans, she didn't let it bother her too much.
She turned back to view the Carretera de Montjuïc, but was surprised to find it not there. A sprawling structure as big as the Carretera de Montjuïc did not simply vanish. Then again, everything about her surroundings was suddenly different. Instead of the mountains she expected to see, Number One found herself wandering through a park. Off the top of her head, she thought the place bore some resemblance to the humans' Central Park in the ever-bustling New York City, but this park looked abandoned. Looking up, she saw the statue in the middle of the green. Tilting her head to the side as she squinted at it, she frowned in recognition. "Superman?"