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She had had every good intention of not powering up more than absolutely necessary, in some sort of stubborn defiance of every expectation being placed on her against her will.

The unfortunate thing, however, was that - although she resisted the idea - it felt good to be Joy. It was not lost on her that the moment of her transformation had come when she had been impatiently reflecting on the incompleteness of her attempts to re-invent herself, and her frustration at her arrogant and unshakeable belief that she had been meant for something bigger and better than everything she was.

And now, of course, she was resisting the reinvention with all her might, because it hadn't been the one she wanted and brought with it the dreary weight of obligation - except when she couldn't resist at all, and found herself, as now, creeping along the streets of Destiny City as someone she still felt that she wasn't. It was, at least, less frightening than it sometimes was - peaceful, and with the comforting knowledge that someone much more powerful than herself, and not an enemy, was somewhere nearby.

She moved towards the feeling vaguely, pursuing the hazy sensation haphazardly and hopefully, seeking out the security of someone who could probably save her a** if things went tits up.

It was still a bit hard to tell exactly how the entire thing worked. But she felt a little bold, and also a little frustrated, and as the energy signature grew stronger she offered up a bold little call into the peaceful streets: "Marco."

Her immediate bristling was only somewhat offset by the acknowledgement of being pulled in - and it wasn't quite enough to keep her from immediately getting squirrelly in reply.

"There's nothing nasty around that I can tell," she said. "And if you mean a youma, my experience has been that they don't care if you're creeping around silent as a mouse - if they want a piece, they'll take it." She paused. "Anyway, I could tell you were here and you're swinging around that big d**k energy signature like a hammer so who cares about a yell?"

She added, with a certain haughtiness after surveying the stranger's kit with an eye that lacked expertise but had the benefit of familiarity: "Is the whole 'greeting you with a lecture' thing just part of being an Earth Knight specifically? Because I'm noticing a trend."

"Just exactly long enough to know that I can't control who or what powers up around me whether I'm quiet or not," she retorted, apparently still irritated. "Which is, if I'm being honest, why I generally don't bother. Get lectured for not doing it, get lectured for doing it." She made an exasperated gesture of her hands.

"I got dragged in, as you so correctly put it, around New Year's. And all I've heard so far is either that I'm not doing enough or I'm doing too much. I'm starting to think that amassing your cosmic army by way of conscripting random civilians is maybe a great way to end up with an unmotivated fighting force where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, but what do I know?" She shook back her hair irritably. "I'm still wet behind the ears." She spoke with an arrogance that suggested that the next words out of her mouth would be that Order was lucky to have her, but in truth she didn't think that was the case, and kept the thought to herself. They probably, she thought, would have been luckier with just about anyone else, it's just that this wasn't her fault.

She did not, pointedly, offer her own name in return.

"I've been told," she said, somewhat grimly, albeit with a pause and a visible struggle that suggested she was attempting to muster up an ounce of graciousness and squash anything resembling ingratitude. "But it was by someone whose information is only about - oh, not much - a thousand years out of date. As far as I can tell, that hasn't changed it that much, except he got to go school or whatever and that's not an option open to me."

She hesitated, adding begrudgingly: "I've talked to a couple people who aren't ten centuries out of date, but even though I still don't think I was being reckless I don't intend to die by my own ignorance, either, and I'm aware I've got plenty of that. So I'm all ears. Wet behind them and all," she finished drily.

She waved a hand somewhat impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, I got one of those too, and he may be a dour a*****e but he's at least informative. Sometimes too informative," she added grimly. "I'm caught up on the basics. I guess it's more - what's going on now? Like, today-now?" She made another impatient, meaningless gesture.

"It's just - just a stalemate, right? Just this stupid little city-wide skirmish that keeps happening for years on end and nothing ever goes anywhere. Right?" She threw out an arm, as if to encompass all of Destiny City in her statement. "I could just power down tomorrow and go about my business and run into secret Negaverse agents standing in line at the bank and it just - doesn't mean anything. Yeah?"

"Well I'm not exactly ******** jumping for joy about it," she said, grimacing at the unintended pun. "Upper hand, reactive, whatever. It's always a stalemate, isn't it? Except that one time when it wasn't. But stalemate is the wrong analogy." She paused, frustrated. "This isn't chess. The board keeps ebbing back and forth between black and white. It's like Othello. No - that isn't it either - have you ever heard of ming mang?" she continued, a seemingly random question - it was extremely improbable that the stranger had heard of an obscure Tibetan board game, and so she waved her hand impatiently to dismiss the topic.

"It doesn't matter. I got conscripted," she said, laying an emphasis on the word and all its implications. "And right now God didn't even arm me, so I guess it doesn't matter much if I disappear. I'm - what? Cannon fodder? Meat for the grinder? Someone for the other side to kidnap, interrogate, and kill?" She shook her head. "No. Give me a weapon and I'll use it, but not for any stupid game that other people are playing. The best you're going to get from me is that I'm not going to - corrupt - " she hesitated, the word apparently still somewhat alien to her. "And it sounds like that's enough for you to be grateful for."