Raine could not dispute that they both had been sucked into thin air. She could, however, refute the abnormality of the situation. If Raine was familiar with one feeling, it was being airborne. She liked it, usually. Or, at least, she understood it. Usually. What went up, must come down. Unless Raine told it not to. For once, Raine hadn't been the one to dictate this particular oddity. She wasn't firing on all cylinders either.

"I assumed it was some kind of... you know." She shrugged, unwilling to say the word 'mutant' in case it offended the officer in some way. Some people were weird about it.

"I'm sure you see weird stuff happen all the time." She bit down on that last word before she added the word 'too.' Raine's weird-o-meter had to be recalibrated after she'd joined the X-men. If she let Officer Hunter know that, Raine was pretty sure the other woman would be suspicious. And since she'd only just gotten her hands back from Officer Hunter's handcuffs, Raine was going to be careful to stay on her good side.

Apologizing was a good start. Especially since the regret was real.

> ”Just don’t steal my radio again. Find someone you can outrun.”

"I've never had to run from authorities before. I'm really glad you were the fastest one, though— For Trace's sake, I mean. I'm definitely going to leave that up to you. Today is proof that all of this is waaaay beyond what I can handle." But... she'd tried. And by some miracle she had yet to be beheaded or shot. So, that was sort of okay. And somehow still totally pathetic.

Raine watched out the window as they rode. There was evidence of a big blast of some kind, wind maybe? Since Officer Hunter had said it wasn't really an explosion and nothing was destroyed?

Rianne did know. Raine was saying she thought it was a mutant without saying mutant. People often had strong reactions to talk about mutants, some were offended because they were mutants and some got worked up because they hated mutants.

”Best explanation I can come up with.” She said. She had seen many a wild and powerful mutant power. She’d apprehended a few, and put down a few. A sad and necessary course of action sometimes. If it was a mutant that did this it was likely SUPER was all over them.

”I see dangerous more than weird. I’m called in for the worst.” Like a mutant decapitating people in a classroom, or a mutant Federal agent gone rogue.

Raine said she had never had to run from authorities, which Rianne could believe. She didn’t look the type to be involved in something where she had to run. Had she not somehow gotten involved with what was going on with Trace, she wouldn’t have been running that day.

”Trace isn’t all that fast, but he’s smart.” On their first meeting Rianne had picked him up and carried him to cover because he was running to slow from a mutant throwing around fireballs. ”Being smart is better than fast if you have to pick one.” Rianne said, hiding a little worry she had.

There had been no radio chatter about Trace. Either the trail went cold, the search was called off, or they caught him. Instead there was the occasional reference to something at the park. Police had responded to assist with people on site who were injured and… Did someone just say Xmen?

”Hopefully this can all be put behind you and you can get back to just being a student. Not have to run or fight Totes McGoats.”

> ”I see dangerous more than weird. I’m called in for the worst.”

"I see dumb more than anything else." But Officer Hunter reassured Raine that Trace wasn't among the dumb ones. What must it be like to run toward "the worst" of a situation? Raine supposed she'd done that exactly once when she'd gone with the blue team to spring the mutants out of that government run lab that had Batty so spooked. As they approached campus again, Rain fell silent. It was her turn to swallow her anxiety. Officer Hunter said she could go. She would check and there wouldn't be anything on Raine because there shouldn't be. They might circle back around for her later, but Raine tried to put some confidence in the thought that she could could go home.

> ”Hopefully this can all be put behind you and you can get back to just being a student. Not have to run or fight Totes McGoats.”

"Yeah, but if somebody comes into my class and starts killing people, I'm definitely dumb enough to do something. Again." She hadn't meant to sound miserable about it, but the fact was no good deed had been as severely punished as today's. Raine had moral fiber. She wanted to stand up for those that couldn't. She'd just never been so out of her depth before. Raine rubbed her face and decided that would have to be future!Raine's problem. Today Raine needed a nap real bad.

The cabby asked for clarification and Raine was able to steer him toward the history building where 'the event' had gone down. Everything looked really calm. She'd expected there to be police cars and lights and tape, like on TV. Raine's television experience was seriously letting her down today.

"I guess it's not so bad after all."

”If somebody comes into your classroom and starts killing people I would expect you to do nothing less. Run, hide, fight. If they are in the room you have one option left and if your life's in danger the gloves had best come off.” Maybe it was her Texan upbringing, but she felt people had to take responsibility for their own safety. She can’t always be there in time to rescue someone.

It was complicated by the fact Raine was a mutant. Rianne knew this, but dealing with SUPER is better than being dead. Though, if these labs existed that might not be completely true. SUPER’s existence made reassuring Raine she’d done the right thing harder.

Too many bad apple mutants led to a knee-jerk reaction.

Raine gave the cabby specific directions while Rianne listened more to her radio. The Xmen were helping at the sight of what had happened at the park. What was going on? Was it so bad they weren’t arresting the vigilantees?

“I guess it’s not so bad after all.”

This brought Rianne’s attention back to what was around her. Specifically nothing. It was as if nothing had happened.

”Something is wrong.” Rianne said to herself quietly before more loudly saying, ”Stop the cab.”

This was the site of a mass murder. There was no way this building would be usable for minimum several days if not a month. And her squad car was gone. Rianne slip out of the car and told the cabbie, ”Wait here.” and to Raine, ”Keep your head down.” Rianne didn’t want Raine away from her until she knew what was happening. This could all be a ploy to catch her. If she rode off in the cab it might get stopped. If it stayed there she could help.

No crime scene tape. No mark from her tire hitting the curb. Nothing to indicate emergency services of any kind had been there. What was most odd was there were still indications that the street hadn’t been cleaned recently. Skid marks that looked old and faded, bits of glass and other small street debris, and gum. Was finding a trash can really that hard people?

Rianne returned to the cab,”Where’s your dorm.”

Officer Hunter's response was a very expected trained Officer response. Of course she knew what to do. She was the lady who ran toward the danger. Raine had trained with the X-men for a few months now, but theirs was more a school of hard knocks. She'd done the best she could with what she had. It had to be enough for today because there were no take backsies or do-overs.

Raine was more than ready to get on with her life. She grabbed for the door handle, but hesitated when the Officer beside her ran taut with nervous energy.

> ”Something is wrong.”

"No, nothing's wrong. It all looks perfectly... Normal." Yeah. It wasn't just Raine that thought the History building should have been cordoned off. Officer Hunter stopped the cab, but told Raine to stay put.

"No, please don't—" aaand she was already gone. Raine started to follow, but the cabby stopped her. The meter was still running until they could pay and Raine hadn't even had enough for a moon pie back at the festival. Lucky for Raine, the officer didn't actually go far. She even came back.

"It's not far to walk. Just across there." She pointed and everything. "I'll show you, if you can pay this fine gentleman who drove us here?" Raine grinned an apology. She had the clothes on her back and not even those were hers.

The dorm was close, they could easily walk. The issue was if someone was waiting to roll up Raine. That line of thinking left Rianne thinking she was a bit paranoid. Maybe SUPER was just good at getting messes cleaned up so people wouldn’t ask a lot of questions about what happened. Which would be a great way to reveal themselves after NYPD had shown up for a murder investigation.

It was worth the risk. Rianne could carry Raine away faster than the cab if necessary.

Rianne handed a card to the cabbie and said to Raine, ”Let’s go.”

The cabbie tried the card a few times and then entered it manually. “It doesn’t work miss, err. Officer.”

”Miss is fine. And….Uh… … ... Here.” It was a newer card, it should have worked. She took it back and fished out some tens. Like Aaron Burr, Rianne dropped some Hamiltons. She would need to check why her card didn’t work. She made a mental note to do that after she saw Raine to her apartment.

Her radio, her phone, and her credit card. Technology was failing Rianne that day.

”Lead the way.” Rianne said and scanned the area.

Well that was embarrassing. Raine rocked back and forth between the balls of her feet and her heels and tried her best not to look interested in the fact that Officer Hunter's credit was bad. Everybody's life circumstances were different, Raine supposed. Not everyone had prioritized their school loans or whatever. It was good that she had some cash on her. Practically a miracle, by Raine's account. Cash was so last millennium. Heck, cards were even on their way out, now. Raine mostly did all her payments by phone... when she had one.

> ”Lead the way.”

It was a short walk across a grassy mall and they were going through a glass door in a brick building.

"Right. I'm on the top floor so prepare for stairs." The elevator existed only to be in constant use by someone else. Raine hated to wait so she usually just skipped it. Plus, somethingsomething aerobic exercise, of which she'd had plenty today but plenty could always be improved upon.

6 flights of stairs later, Raine was patting her pockets for keys that weren't there. Ah. Right. The whole backpack conundrum.

"Uh. Hopefully my roommate is home." Raine pulled her ponytail out and fluffed her hair back over the side of her face. Raine didn't want any more comments about her rough and tumble lifestyle. She didn't want to clue Officer Hunter into the fact that she was a sometimes vigilante. She knocked. Looked around for a clock, but of course there wasn't one, and impatiently knocked again... louder this time.

A sleepy girl answered the door with her toothbrush in her mouth and fuzzy cookie monster slippers.

"Whab?" She noticed the police officer and removed the toothbrush, suddenly more serious. "What- Am I in trouble somehow?"

"You're not Shelly. Michelle Richardson?" Raine checked the door number even though she'd walked this hall a hundred times by now. Her heart rate was starting to spike again. This was her room and from what she could see of the inside, that was not her room. That wasn't even close to what her room looked like. Who put mardi gras beads up on the wall? It was classless.

"Hmmm. No? I mean, I've never heard of her."

Another voice indicated a second occupant to the room which should have been Raine's and Shelly's, but wasn't.

"What's your roommate's name?"

"Anna Lopez."

Raine was stunned, totally stupefied.

"What- What about Lorraine Faust? Have you heard of Lorraine?"

She shrugged and asked what it might have been about, but there was no coming back from that question for Raine. She... didn't exist any more? Did going through the whatever make them ghosts of a kind? Did it erase every trace of who they were?

"Guess we're in the wrong spot. Sorry..."

It wasn’t a long walk from the history building to Raine’s dorm. It did take them across an open grassy mall where Rianne could easily keep an eye on all approaches. It also meant they were out in the open with many approaches. Rianne kept her head on a swivel scanning the area. Her need to search the dark corners of the campus triggered her mutation and her vision switched to infrared. Her eye’s also adopted an eyeshine like non-human animals have.

Unless someone was watching them through a window, infrared was reflected by glass so all windows were mirrors to her, there was no one paying them any attention. No one waited in the shadows. Rianne’s mutation only showed her the odd student moving around and the squirrels. As they approached the glass doors to the dorm Rianne’s power turned off so she could see into the building.

Raine warned that her dorm was on on the top floor and made her way to the stairs. Rianne was in shape, but no matter what shape you’re in climbing six flights of stairs in full tactical gear wasn’t easy. It wasn’t hard either, just enough to let you know you did some work.

On their trip Rianne heard reports on the radio of false identification from many of the people who were rescued.

When they reached the room Raine realized she didn’t have her keys. Rianne cut her some slack, she’d had a rough day and had to swap clothes in a hurry at least once during it. ”If not I can get you in, you’ll just have to show me documentation proving it was your room after… Policy.” Policy required that even if you already know someone lived somewhere or that they for sure owned a vehicle, you needed to confirm before you broke off contact.

Due to the policy, it was a good thing someone answered.

A girl opened the door and there was a brief exchange. It ended with it not being Raine’s room. Two other girls lived there and had never heard of Raine. She apologized and Rianne said, ”Sorry to disturb you ladies.”

This was the point where Rianne should run on Raine and ask why she brought them to the wrong dorm, ask why she tried to get into somewhere that wasn’t hers. Except she had already had the same experience on the radio. Her badge number didn’t exist.

It was as if Rianne wasn’t on the force, Raine’s dorm wasn’t hers, other people displaced by whatever happened at the park didn’t exist. Had some mutant managed to wipe all records of people from existence? And left some sort of disturbance behind in the air where it happened.

”Let’s find somewhere to sit down.” Rianne said. She needed to think and sitting would be preferable to just standing in front of a dorm. ”Something weird is going on… And I think what happened in the park is related.”

The cop apologized for them because Raine's mouth was too busy just hanging open.

> ”Let’s find somewhere to sit down.”

Raine trudged after the officer in a daze. "I- I exist. I promise I do." She insisted, in fact. All the way down the stairs and outside the building until they were sitting on a picturesque bench that had a nice view of the entire campus.

It all looked the same. How could Raine's life be the only thing that didn't fit?

"It, that thing-- the portal or whatever. Do you think it erases people's past? Or, like, maybe eats your identity?" Officer Hunter was right, this trouble had started only after they'd gotten displaced.

"What are we supposed to do?" All her hopes and dreams had been pinned on the shower she'd promised herself. She could have been home in her dorm and in her fuzzy slippers.

It was clear that what was happening had hit Raine hard. She kept insisting that she did exist. Rianne didn’t allow herself to worry about the existential. Worrying about that wouldn’t get her out of the cold and dark. It wouldn't get her or Raine back to their life. She could worry about her existence later.

”I believe you, Raine.” She reassured her.

When they had found a bench to park themselves, Raine tried to throw ideas at the wall. That the portal erased people’s past or ate identities. ”Whatever it is, we aren’t alone. People have shown up all around the city that have ‘false identification’.”

And the big question, "What are we supposed to do?"

Rianne didn’t know what to do. She did have one crazy idea though. ”Go back through the portal?” It sounded crazy when she said it, there was no way of knowing that it wouldn’t just make things worse. ”It’s still there. Maybe passing through will undo what it did.” If that was the cause and not a symptom.

The idea of going blindly back through the portal was not one Rianne liked. It just happened to be her only idea. The fact she felt the need to protect Raine didn’t help. Just because the world forgot Rianne was a police officer didn’t mean Rianne wasn’t going to serve and protect. Going through the portal was something they would just have to do and trust it works. It could just as easily be the death of them.

”I don’t like it, but it is the only idea I have.”

Raine didn't want to go back to the rift, but the officer was right. It was the only lead they had. "It's still there? What's happening with the people with IDs that don't check out? If it's bad, I don't want to go. Heck, I don't even have an ID. Everything's back at school." Actually... they were at school.

"It's a bad idea to go check the History classroom, isn't it?" But again, what choice did they have? They needed information.

"We go close. If it's bad, we bail." That was as far as Raine was willing to concede the idea.

So they went close. And nobody jumped out at them. It really looked like business as usual. So Raine went in. Students walked through. No big deal. She even popped her head in and watched for a moment as her dead history teacher finished up a lesson. The lesson was different, but this wasn't when her history class was supposed to be. She scanned the students in the class, but it was a different section. There was no Trace. No Raine. She did her best to communicate all of that to the officer as they left campus despite how oddly detached she felt.

"I wasn't sure what I expected to see, but that wasn't it." Raine was feeling decidedly light headed.

So. Time was weird?

"I don't get it. How'd it not happen?"

”They were detaining them at first. Sticking them in squad cars while they tried to identify them. Now… I’m not sure.” The chatter on the radio about them had moved to another channel. Rianne didn’t know which channel to switch to it and follow it. She switched through a few, as she spoke to Rianne. She didn’t find anything.

"It's a bad idea to go check the History classroom, isn't it?"

”I don’t think so.” Had Rianne asked before going to her dorm, she would have said yes. ”If we don’t exist, who would care?” Rianne guessed Raine wanted to try and pick up stuff she may have left in class earlier that day. While RIanne didn’t think it would be there given what happened with the dorm, it was still worth a shot.

"We go close. If it's bad, we bail."

Rianne nodded and rose to her feet, ”Let’s do it.” Her badge might not mean anything anymore de jure it still carried weight de facto as people would still believe her to be an officer. That should keep them out of any trouble that might arise. Non-SUPER trouble at least.

The building seemed business as usual. No indication grizzly murders had been committed there that very day. Rianne kept an eye out for SUPER as they moved around the building. She may be the liaison between NYPD and SUPER, but if she didn’t exist she wasn’t even that and if they had sought Raine once they may do it again. She also scanned through her radio and found a few other frequencies that were in use.

As they left, Raine filled in Rianne on what she had noticed in their run through. Dead teacher, wasn’t so dead. No Trace or another Raine present.

”Maybe… Someone sucked into the portal did something that led to it? Butterfly effect. Or…” Rianne stopped herself, this was getting crazy. More crazy than not existing? No. ”Or, this isn’t our reality.”

It definitely sounded crazy out loud.

”Us not existing where we thought, the attack not having happened. I can’t find a single frequency with SUPER traffic. Not one. And plenty other weird things… I think we need to go back to the portal. Maybe it is just that, a portal. It brought us here and is still around, maybe it can send us back.”

Oh man. Raine had seen that Butterfly Effect movie and she did not want to be in it. Just watching it was bad enough, now she was trying to imagine how or what would have changed in order to make this morning's event not happen.

She opened her mouth to complain about wanting to go home, but seeing how tired and irritated Officer Hunter looked, Raine just shut her mouth. Complaining wasn't going to fix this. Walking back to the portal might. That was all that was left for them to try, really.

Also, Super traffic? Raine gave the officer a look, but at this point one more oddity was just more of the same. What the heck was super traffic? Did they regulate who could fly in NY airspace?

"That's like, more than a few blocks." Why had she ever stopped wearing Heelys? Heelys forever. Heelys for President. Really, Raine just didn't want to walk it again. "But, yeah, no. I get it. We don't have anything else to go on."

It was time to put her big girl pants on. Raine took a second to orient herself and think about where the block party moon festival thing had been. Then the only thing left to do was walk and get it over with.

"You ever wear those Heely things as a kid? Y'know. The shoes with wheels?"

As soon as she’d said it she knew she had slipped. Thankfully Raine blew past that and latched onto going back to the portal. It was Rianne’s only idea, and Raine didn’t have a different one. To the portal it was. Seventeen blocks away. For the second time that day.

”Three blocks short of a mile.” Rianne said none too thrilled about having to cover the distance a second time in a single day in full kit. At least she wasn’t lugging around a long gun as well.

Sooner they started sooner they got it over with. Rianne took a step. And promptly stopped and turned to Raine when she asked,

"You ever wear those Heely things as a kid? Y'know. The shoes with wheels?"

Heelys. Rianne hadn’t heard that name in years. ”That’s a blast from the past.” She laughed and started walking again, ”I did actually. Back when I was… fifteen… I think? Maybe fourteen… Back when they were new, I had a pair. Are they still around?”

To the portal they went. All seventeen blocks. Rianne tried to follow the radio as her and Raine chatted. She finally found out what was happening with all the people that couldn’t be identified. The National Guard had set up a tent city and they were being stashed there.

The conditions there were probably like going camping. With only a tent. And someone not letting you leave, even to go pee.

When they finally reached the portal it was clear that NYPD, New York State, and the Federal Government had decided to move in. It was mostly NYPD around the portal. The Feds were likely leaning on NYPD to provide the manpower for perimeter security.

Rianne resisted her urge to approach and use her status as an ESU officer to get information and access. It was a good thing. A few minutes later someone approached and was arrested following an exchange in which the person presented an id. They were then moved to a group of other people in cuffs.

A quick change of frequency and Rianne could here him. Another person for ‘temporary holding’.

”I found out what’s happening to the people they can’t ID.” Rianne pointed to the group in the distance and told her what she’d heard about the tent city. ”I think we need a plan C. I don’t think we’re getting to the portal anytime soon.”

Raine admitted that she had no idea about the current state of Heelys shoes and from there they made intermittent conversation on their walk. Officer Hunter wasn't a bad guy as Raine had originally assumed. She was downright helpful, in the end. She knew her job and with her listening in on the radio, they were able to discern that they should not, in fact, walk right up to the portal. The portal was now under guard. All the displaced people were being placed in tents whether they liked it or not.

"Is it illegal for us to walk away instead of going to tent-ville?" It was getting a little difficult for Raine to care about the legality of it all by now, but she felt compelled to ask the lady who'd had her in cuffs earlier. "It feels almost silly to be paranoid that someone might be looking for me at this point. There's so much more going on and the event that happened this morning... didn't? Not anymore."

Raine rubbed her forehead which was full on throbbing by now. "I don't know what choice I have, except to go get shuffled into the tent city. I have no resources and no identification. Heck, I'm not sure I exist on paper anymore, but I think I'd like to?"