More Meteor Showers Bring Even Stranger Powers. (O/A)

[Nova Blancke]

Crystalion nodded and picked up the little kid. Now this was a long time ago....it's been ages since she held little Ravan like this.

"Okay, little one."

Navigating the ruins wasn't that hard. It was a familiar sight. It didn't surprise her how quickly she fell back into her survival mode. It was hard to imagine that this was all in Ravan's head. She tried to find one of the memory rifts.

Cassandra didn't waste time when she noticed Dawn tremble and hugged her tight. She was older than the rest...but still a child. A traumatized child. Gently stroking the back of her head.

"You'll be fine....it'll take a while. But you are strong. All of you are."

She thought for a while.

"My...brother might be able to help you all with that. Help you sleep, block the fear for a while."  

[Nova Blancke]

"Yeah can you start up the bathtube? I uh....apparently stink" She responded

She scratched part of her neck where blood was caked onto.

"This is....weird." She said and touched her face which...wasn't there before it seemed.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Lokelonni's brow raised at the sound of Kerana's voice.

Alec's eyes darted quickly from his girlfriend to the woman laying on the bed who may as well be Galadriel. "Ah, we, um...we forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm-"

This time the brow raise was accompanied by a wistful smile as she interjected, "Alec, and the young lady is Kerana."

Alec was dumbstruck for a moment. After he collected himself he asked, "Excuse me, but how do you know our names. I figured you knew about the fox girl that brings life from the chatter around you, but only a handful of people know who I am."

Lokelonni sighed and explained, "While it is true that I heard about Kerana from the people around me, a task made quite easy by my acute hearing, I actually recognize your voices from very long ago. Back then I was a completely different person, and I knew a sullen, nervous boy and a bright, headstrong girl who were practically inseparable. It seems fate is not without a sense of consistency."

"But seem to have also forgotten my manners. I am Lokelonni Eleilya Soichi." she said with a gentle nod between Kerana and Alec. She then turned her face toward Kerana and continued with a sense of excitement that belied her reserved tone, "Kerana, although I am a complete stranger to you, I would like to help you reach your full potential and teach you how to utilize the boon of life."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ako groaned and slumped his shoulders a bit. Gidget...you owe be big time. With no further protest he led Theresa by the hand to the cafeteria. Since he was thinking about it, he realized that he was also starving after he dumped his powers into Valhalla to do whatever it was Gidget had planned. Perhaps he could bond with Theresa by way of food. Gidget said that everything was new to Theresa. Maybe he could be the guy who introduced her to things like breakfast, pub, and comfort food.

"Yeah." he thought to himself. "That's not a bad idea. Plus it'll make Gidget happy to see Theresa in good spirits. I got this. No problem."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather and Deora looked at each other for a moment and silently decided who'd start the bath with a nod. Deora smiled at Liv and made her way to the bathroom. She started the water at a temp that would be hot but not scalding...the perfect thing to wash blood off. Part of her wished she didn't know that, but in that case it was a handy little bit of knowledge. She absently mindedly made the water swirl and flow from one side to the other is it filled as she thought about what Heather and Liv were talking about in the other room.

Heather couldn't help the emotion that bubbled up as Liv touched where her face once wasn't. She huffed and turned her eyes away from Liv in shame. "It's...I, I should've been there." she said with a quivering lip. "I should've gone up to cover you. You...you were all alone. I'm so sorry"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawn was grateful for Cassandra's embrace. It helped her center her emotions so that she didn't completely lose it. That was something she, and her other siblings agreed not to let happen in front of the children. She let herself cry silently into Cassandra's shoulder for almost a minute.

"That's kind of you to offer, and we may take you up on that. For now, I'm afraid we can't accept it. You see Gidget, um, the one where we're from, installed these into our heads."

Dawn lifted her hair and turned around. At the point where her head met her neck was an implant that looked similar to Gidget's neural link port; except it was no larger than a pencil eraser and looked more like a metal plug.

"The bio-beasts were constantly evolving, especially after the Hellstar arrived. Gidget made us get these after we encountered the first one that actually had psychic abilities. They halt deep psychic interference and probes, and can only be removed by her. They aren't perfect, but it kept the psychic bio-beasts from finding us while we slept."

She let her hair drop and turned back around. "So no psychic stuff for us yet...well, except for Ravan. Either way, we wouldn't want your brother to hurt himself while he tried to help us. We'll have to endure until your Gidget has a moment to look at the data in Widget and remove them."

Dawn rubbed her eyes with her right forearm and huffed. "Thank you, Cassandra. You're truly nothing like the remorseless juggernaut we were told about when we were kids. It gives me hope that we can find peace here."  

[BeaMichelle]

As Crystalion approached came upon the first rift the area around it, and her, unfolded then folded back into itself to make an isolated bit of scenery that was different from the rest of the ruinous landscape. It was a location that the adult Ravan knew, and it pertained to the contents of the rift. The vertical pool widened and consumed the new, life sized, diorama with the contents of the memory rift. As it did the rippling calmed and settled onto the scene.

An eleven year old Ravan sat alone atop a chest high wall that showed evidence that it'd once been used in a firefight. She wasn't pale like that younger one that rested in Crystalion's arms. She had the same skin tone as her adult self. She was nervous, but she was a great deal cleaner than when Theonis and the others found her. It was actually almost a month after that event. Ravan had just begun to regain her grasp on language, and had was cleared by Gidget to interact with children in her age group. It hadn't got well, and it wasn't long until Ravan isolated herself someplace away from the others.

She heard a shuffling behind her and immediately hopped off of the wall into an offensive hover. She glared down at the skinny boy who held two brown bags in his hands.

Leo halted mid step, carefully placed his foot down, and stood still. "H-hey." he said quietly.

Ravan sized him up and said, "H-hey" in the same cadence and quiet way that he did. She then hissed, "Go away. Bad. Kill you!"

Leo sighed and opened one of the MREs. He walked over to Ravan's wall and placed the contents onto it. He then moved further down the wall and opened his own bag. He took out a spoon, and a smaller brown bag. He tore open the top of the smaller brown back and dug his spoon into it. He then scoops the contents of that smaller bag, what looked like chili mac, into his mouth. He took a few more bites before he peered up at Ravan. He then pivoted on his rear and turned his back toward her, but he kept eating without a word.

Ravan sniffed and recognized the scent of food. Once he turned his back she cautiously floated down to the bag contents he'd left on her perch. Once it was in her area of influence it began to float like she did. She reached out and snatched a brown pouch that was about the same size as the one he took from his bag. She looked over to him, and then back at her bag. She attempted to copy his motion, but she was doing so at the wrong end of the pouch. She became visibly and audibly frustrated.

Leo looked over his shoulder and cleared his throat loudly a few times. Once he was sure he had Ravan's attention he took a second pouch and very slowly, and very deliberately, open his properly. Once again he didn't say a word.

Ravan gazed over his shoulder, and smirked over how sneaky and clever the thought she was. She flipped her pouch over and tore it correctly. She grinned and drove her hand into the pouch. She scarfed down the contents of her cheese tortellini MRE loudly and messily.

"I'm Leo."

She paused and glared at him again while she held her food away greedily.

"I'm not gonna take your food, dummy. I'm saying that my name is Leo."

"Name."

"Yeah. My. Name. Is. Leo. What's your name?"

"Ravan." she blurted out.

Her image distorted when she said her name. As though there was something wrong about it.

The memory rippled once again and shrank. Although the diorama scenery remained, the rift was as it was before Crystalion approached it.  

[Nova Blancke]

"Hey, hey come on. Look at me. It's not your fault. We all had our tasks and....I let my guard down. And well.....for what it's worth...I didn't even feel a thing." She said and laughed weakly after that.

From what she gathered....she got her head blown off but somehow ended up in the Light Realm after that to heal. That wasn't something she actively did. She wasn't even sure if she COULD heal from such an ordeal with her normal healing.

"What a ******** day" Liv sighed.

Cassandra listened to Dawn's explanation of the blockers. Alexavier told her about them before and how he could finesse his way through if he could but that could have just been his pride talking. He didn't like saying or admitting that he couldn't do something.

"If anything he'll see it as a challenge. He can be very stubborn. Guess we've both got that trait. Our Gidget also has one of them so she should be familiar with them."

She gave Dawn a warm smile. "It will take time....and it feels like the world revolves around this place sometimes. I'm sure it will be truly peaceful one day. And if this place isn't safe for you and the kids, you can find a place for yourself later on."

Crystalion found herself smiling. It was like revisiting a memory that wasn't yours yet so familiar. She glanced over at little Ravan. Of course she would grow to be fond of Leo. He's a good kid. She gentle pat her head and walked towards the next point while keeping an eye on the surroundings.  

[BeaMichelle]

The next rift reacted exactly like the first had. The only difference was the scene that unfolded in front of Crystalion.

Ravan, who appeared to be the same age as the one that clung to Cystalion, desperately scrambled through the interior hallways of a condominium. Blood seeped from bite marks on her upper left arm and right thigh. Her red eyes frantically looked for anyplace where she could hide or run. She did her best to try and quiet her terrified whimpering so that the bad people wouldn't find her. She tried once more to make herself float and fly, but the pain and terror kept her from being able to keep it up for more than a few seconds at a time before she fell back to the ground.

From behind her, a collection of wild voices began to increase in number and volume.

"Blood!"

"She went that way!"

"Someone cut her off!"

Ravan blubbered in a panic then laid eyes on an open door. She stumbled inside the condo and felt a swell of hope when she saw a glass door that led outside. She excitedly limped through the maze of upended furniture toward her escape and held her hand out toward the door. It rattled a bit, but it didn't budge. She glared at the door and bared her teeth. Just as the door began to crack she felt arms wrap around her waist and lift her off of the ground. She opened her mouth to scream, but another hand clamped over her nose and mouth.

A four armed man wheezed into her ear as he carried her to the center of the room, "Gotcha you little b***h." He then turned his head back toward the entrance and shouted, "I gotter! I gotter!"

The horde of cannibals charged into the condo and laughed maniacally as the four armed man's grip on Ravan's face tightened and cut off her air.

"Kill her!"

"I think she broke one of my ribs."

"I can't wait! I can't wait!"

Ravan squirmed and thrashed as much as she could muster, but her will to fight was quickly depleted along with the oxygen to her brain. Her eyelids fluttered, and she swore she could feel more teeth sink into her body as she lost consciousness.

The memory distorted wildly. When it straightened itself back out, the Ravan awakening was surrounded by bloody pulp and entrails. The walls, ceilings, and floor were depressed and pasted with what used to be people. The doors that led to the patio were blown out, completely free of it's glass, and accented by an abstract spattering of gore.

Almost like a switch was flipped, she regained consciousness and sat up with a scream. The screaming only grew louder as she took in the carnage around her. She tried to crawl away, but there was nowhere for her to go. She was covered in the viscera and blood as well. She desperately tried to wipe it off of her. She hiccuped and winced, and then looked down at where the pain came from. The bite marks, older and newer, had begun the process of scabbing over. She mewled and scrambled toward the patio. She slipped a few times, but after a more concentrated attempt made it to the rod iron railing.

It was then she heard the horrifying cries of the teeth monsters below. She put both of her hands over her mouth and stifled her crying. Her whole body trembled with a combination of shock, terror, and pain. Yet, she knew that it would only be a matter of time before the teeth monsters came. She closed her eyes tightly, and pulled herself up and over the railing.

The memory rippled away just as she went over the edge. The savage scene that remained began to stir before Crystalion. Blood and guts gathered together and gurgled.

Little Ravan tugged harshly at Crystalion's collar and whimpered pleadingly.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Heather meekly turned her head, then sniffed and huffed as Liv offered her words of comfort. She was ashamed of herself for being an emotional mess in front of someone who literally came back from the dead. She couldn't help but think that there was a lot more to Liv than she even realized. Heather had a dragon lurking within her, but there was an even greater strength to Liv under her obvious beauty.

That somehow made Heather feel worse.

Heather's face contorted as she feebly tried to fight the desire to throw herself at Liv and cry. "Liv...I...you're-"

Deora quietly stepped back into the room and cleared her throat. "Erm, the bath is ready. I should probably go and give you two a moment."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I appreciate that." Dawn replied. "We're all looking forward to a blue sky that isn't taken up by a sun blocking mass of flesh, teeth, and eyes."

Damien entered the infirmary and looked around for his mother. His eyes lit up once he found Cassandra. He quickly made his way over to her and announced himself.

"Hey Mom. I'm done for now."

Dawn's brows shot up in surprise. "Mom? Wow! You look awfully young to have a teenage son, Cassandra."

"I'm actually five weeks old."

"...eh?" surprised

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lokelonni turned her head toward Kerana and listened with a soft smile. She couldn't help but give a half suppressed chuckle at the nervousness in Kerana's request and explanation.

"Do forgive me. It is refreshing to hear such humility and honesty. It makes me happy."

"The reason it did not work is because the circumstances are different. You were alive, and as such you were an intruder in the realm of death. By gazing into your eyes, the windows of your soul, he hid your presence from death's miasma."

"I can hear Alec's heartbeat. He is alive, and so he belongs among the living. Yet he has to remain close to you in order to stay that way. There is really only one reason for that: Crosis is dead, and Alec has taken up his mantle."

Alec tensed up and groaned, "W-what?!"

"Taking possession of the Death Scythe has bound you to the realm of death. You most likely took it thinking that you could use it's power to face what is to come. What you actually did was fulfill your obligation as Crosis' chosen. When Crosis created the realm to grant him less violent means of feeding his power, he did so knowing that there would have to be a caveat. They realm needed a keeper. The souls of those passed need a collector, and eventually a guide for when they are ready to move on and return to the source. The Death Scythe serves as the physical manifestation of that role's contract. You cannot be away from Kerana because it calls you to fulfill your duty as The Reaper."

Alec's pale complexion took a more greenish hue as he put his hands to his knees and croaked, "s**t, oh s**t. I...I think I'm gonna be sick."

Lokelonni shook her head and reassured the teens, "Do not fret. By bringing your soul back to your mortal body, Kerana has given you a wonderful gift. Alec, while you have a job to do, and must eventually see to it, you have the power to come and go between life and death as you please. That gift just has a second part to it."

Lokelonni turned her head back toward Kerana and said, "Kerana, take Alec's right hand with your left, and then place your right hand over his heart. Close your eyes, and focus on the rhythm. Breath slowly and deeply. Feel his love for you in that heartbeat. You will feel a warmth in your right hand that feels like basking in a gentle sunbeam. Do not fret if it does not happen immediately. It will happen when it happens. When it does, you will begin to see his very soul in your minds eye."

"Once that image is clear open your eyes and gaze deeply, not into his eyes, but through them. See beyond what is in front of you, and find the soul you saw in your mind. When it is once more visible to you, breath out slowly and release the breath of life as you did before."  

[Nova Blancke]

Crystalion knew about the girls past from what Theo deduced when he found her but seeing it was so much worse. Her grip tightened around the girl before releasing the grip. She didn't want to scare the girl. And Ravan didn't want to be here. Quickly she made her way to the next ripple as she pat the girls back. There was a need to know about her past but.....she didn't want Ravan to go through the bad parts again.

Cassandra couldn't help but smile seeing her now grown son. She ruffled his hair a bit.

"It's a long story. One for another time." Cassandra knew of the history of these kids and they won't react well if they found out about Damian's origin.

"Speaking of the blue sky.....you can watch some documentaries like Our Planet or Blue Planet if you want to see the world from the comfort and safety of your bed. I think the kids would enjoy seeing it as well. Lush rain forests, vast deserts and oceans. It's quite nice to watch."

From the corner of her eye she noticed a sharp piece of metal sticking out. Most likely from the last battle. She moved over and straightened it out with her thumb. Metal groaning as it was pushed back into place. Rubbing it a few times to make sure it was smoothed over.

Liv was going to respond to Heather before Deora came back. She never had much interaction with her before. Heather and her were friends if she recalled. Explained why she was here.

"Deora....thank you." She said thanking the woman. She looked around the room for a bit. Still some remnants of her project from when she didn't want any shadow and as much light as she could.  

[Nova Blancke]

Theo got 'up'. Standing the on the surface of the water with his power. It was quite calm around him. Not a lot of waves. It made standing quite easy. Now that he had literally cooled down a bit he started to look around. This form of isolation was kind of calming. Part of him let go of the deep rooted fear of hurting others with his power. Out here....nobody could get hurt. Nothing could be destroyed. It often felt like he was walking on eggshells the entire time. Without trying to make himself feel more powerful than he already was....sometimes it felt like he was a walking nuke waiting to go off. Constant having to put a lid on it. Putting effort into learning how to better improve fine control over it.

Now he had a new power. Wind, passed down from Larry to him. This is a good as a time as any to try it out. But...how? It was easy to replicate the effects using his pressure. Closing his eyes, he stood there for a while, just feeling the soft breeze on his face. Even his own breath he felt. Theo imagined it like green threads floating around him.In his mind he reached out, plucked on and twirled it around him.  

[BeaMichelle]

Nova Blancke

Crystalion knew about the girls past from what Theo deduced when he found her but seeing it was so much worse. Her grip tightened around the girl before releasing the grip. She didn't want to scare the girl. And Ravan didn't want to be here. Quickly she made her way to the next ripple as she pat the girls back. There was a need to know about her past but.....she didn't want Ravan to go through the bad parts again.

The next ripple opened to a strange sight. It was as though the memory was being flipped through like a Rolodex. There were many locations over a passage of time, but the one common factor was Ravan and Reyhan. They started far apart, but as the scenes rapidly flipped past Ravan was steadily approaching Ravan like an abused puppy.

Finally, the scene flipped to and settled on the two of them sitting at the edge of a river that was being fed by the remnants of a waterfall around midday. Ravan looked to be about ten years old and still pale. Not too much younger than when Theonis found her. Reyhan was a young adult, perhaps eighteen or nineteen. The two were damp, and Ravan looked severely annoyed.

"Oh don't pout." Reyhan chastised. "You were in serious need of a bath. I didn't realize how much you stank until you actually got close to me."

Ravan grumbled and squirmed until she was facing away from Reyhan.

Reyhan just shook her head and payed no further mind to her young companion's grumblings. She turned her attention to the waterfall and mused, "You know...I didn't there there would be anything like this left. Everywhere else we've been was practically devoid of any life. Natural or otherwise. I suppose life has a way of bouncing back. Even from the monsters."

Ravan audibly yawned and rubbed her eyes. She groaned and looked back toward Reyhan.

The young woman looked back toward Ravan and sighed, "Ah...I do suppose we've been going for quite a while. A nap probably wouldn't hurt, though it would be best if we went behind the waterfall before I covered us. Come."

The two of them followed the perimeter of the river over to the waterfall. They put their backs to the wall and sidled behind it. They reached a spot that was just large enough for them to sit against the rocks without getting wet from the spray. Reyhan settled in first, and then pat the ground at arms length. "Come on, little one."

Ravan cautiously made her way over to the spot Reyhan had pat. She took a few deep breath, and then finally plopped down on her rear end.

"Whenever you're ready. Just like always." Reyhan said softly.

Ravan huffed nervously and slowly, but surely, began to scooch closer to her older companion. It took her nearly a minute, but little Ravan finally got close enough to Reyhan to lay against her shoulder.

"Alright. Now, I'm going to put my arm around you so that I can hide us and keep you warm." Reyhan stated.

Ravan trembled as the young woman's arm wrapped around her. Once Reyhan had her arm around the child, she used her power to blend themselves into the rock wall. The two of them sat for a while in silence and watched the waterfall together. Reyhan, as was usual, spoke up.

"You know, little one, the air has been getting cool. What leaves are left have started to change color. That means that we've been together for about five or six months now. And in all that time you've only said a few words to me. I almost miss when you'd thread to kill me or do that hissing growl thing you do. I think it's sad that you don't talk, and not just because I miss conversation. I want to know your story, little one. I want to know so that I can help you heal. I want to know your name. I want to hear you say my name. Now that I say it out loud, it sounds selfish. But I would love for you to say my name instead of grunt."

Ravan understood very little of what her companion was saying. But she did recognize one word. Name. It was something Reyhan kept saying when they first met. Ravan decided to give the name thing a try.

"Raee. Haan." she whispered.

Reyhan almost did a double take. "What? What did you say?"

"Raee. Haan. E. Rah-vahn. E."

"Did...did you just say Reyhan Iravani? Did you say my name, little one?!"

"E. Rah-vahn. E." she said with a proud smile.

"Yes yes! That's my name. Reyhan Iravani. Can you tell me your name?"

"E. Rah-vahn. E."

"Yes, that's my name. What is your name?"

"E. Rah-vahn. E." she said yet again.

"No that's...oh. You don't know your own name, do you little one?" Reyhan said sadly.

"E. Rah-vahn. E." she said with a hint of confusion.

There was a moment of silence. It was broken by Reyhan when she suggested, "You seem to like my family name. I'll give you a little bit of it. You can keep calling me Reyhan or Iravani, and I'll call you Ravan. How about that?"

The young woman touched her chest with her finger tips and said, "Reyhan Iravani. My name is Reyhan Iravani." She then put her finger tips to Ravan's chest and said with a smile, "Ravan. Your name is Ravan."

Little Ravan's eyes went wide with wonder as she parroted her companion's motions. "Raee-haan. E. Rah-vahn. E...Rah-van. I, Rah-van."

The rift closed again. The area around Crystalion and Ravan began to rumble with the horrible, and all to familiar, cries of the bio-beasts. Little Ravan whimpered and began to cry.

After viewing three memory rifts, the path to the darkness at the center of the mindscape was simultaneously becoming more clear and more dangerous.  

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

Gidget quickly got Trinity in her sights and called out, "Hey! *huff* Wait up! *puff* I'm a shut in *gasp* with no stamina!"

Gidget skid to a halt by Trinity, put her hands on her knees, and panted heavily while she caught her breath. It also served as a moment for her to collect her thoughts and try to push back what she saw around her for the time. She huffed, "I...just thought...ugh...that you'd like...oof...some company. Hahu...cuz...drinking alone...hah...sucks y'know?"

Trinity looked to Gidget, shook her head and sighed to herself. “You really should have joined me on my morning runs." She rubbed her back while her hands were on her knees. When she caught enough of her breath she looked into her eyes, she took a moment, to weigh her offer. On the one hand the company would be nice, but on the other hand she didn't want Gidget to stop her from getting black out drunk. The later of which is what she needed with the way the last battle went. After such epic battles of saving the world, it takes a toll on her, she needed to reset, as she's done before.

"Look I appreciate the sentiment, but I really need some time alone. We'll chat later, ok?"

After Gidget responded Trinity headed to the bar. The song, “Love is a Battlefield” played in the background. She sat at the bar table and collected her thoughts, they were interrupted by a familiar voice, “Hello beautiful.” she looked up and confirmed it belonged to one of her exes that she has been in good terms with even worked out together from time to time, his name is Dean Nixon, aka Myth. “Hello handsome” she smiled at him.

He had dusty blond hair with blue eyes of a dream hidden behind his bangs. His tanned physik rarely goes unnoticed even here she could spot three other girls admiring him from the other side of the bar. He was sporting a sleeveless bartender uniform which was just a black vest for the top and black pants for the bottom which the pair he wore accented his assets. There were other options for the bar tender uniform but he figured what better way to forget about your troubles than to give them something gorgeous to look at, especially the ladies. He is the picture of Trinity’s type.

Fond memories swirled in her mind of when they were together. Him wrapping his arm around her stomach and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.

She started to wonder why she broke up with him, then remembered. She came home from a mission, looking forward to spending time with him, only to find him in a bathtub with a mermaid that looked like Catherine. She broke it off at that moment and couldn’t bring herself to simply accept his explanation that he had no idea that he could do that before. His main ability was that he could will forth legendary weaponry and use them like the legends portrayed, this stemmed from his knowledge from mythology. It was limited to mythical objects until that day in the bathtub. He explained that he didn’t know he could do that, yet it didn’t cover up the fact that he was looking at another woman. It was probably vein of her but she ended up wondering why it was Catherine’s face and not her’s. She shook her head off the memories.

Though despite it all, him being a bar tender seemed new to Trinity. “Bar tender eh? Don’t think I’ve seen you bar tending here before.” Last she checked he left her troops to be a PE teacher with an emphasis on martial-arts.

“Yeah, still a PE teacher and recently picked this up part time.” He tossed a bottle and caught it behind him, “I did some bar tending back in college. But enough about me, what would you like?”

“Three shots of your hardest whisky.” she knew her limits and she knew that would do the trick.

“That kind of night huh. It’s a shame I came across a fine bottle of wine, Dom Pérignon Rosé 1971” he knew she’d liked wine but it was obvious that that was not what she was after this time. He nodded, then set three shot glasses tossed the bottle letting it summersault, caught it, and poured Valhalla’s hardest whiskey. He stepped away and checked the other customers.

She took the first glass looked at it. Saw all the faces who put faith in her. Those who were on the floating island thought she would save them and she reassured them of that. Totally ignorant of what fate had in store foolishly she thought the worst was over for them and that she and Gidget would make arrangements for them. But then, at the hands of Eclipse he distracted Valhalla by sending an assassin and the helicopters fell. Then there were the people who died today. She felt furious, sadness and mourned all those that died. A tear crawled down her cheek. “To those that died yesterday” then downed the shot. “Gah.” The sting was exactly what she was looking for to help let go of the pain.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Gidget pouted a little and nodded, "I getcha. I'll be around when you're good to chat. I'll see ya later."

She stood silently for a moment and just watched Trinity for a moment. Her heart rate was still elevated, and she wasn't feeling all too well. Gidget then had an awful thought. If she couldn't jog for less than a minute...what would happen when it was time to have the baby? Could her body handle that level of stress? Healers could only do so much. She decided then to take Trinity's advice. For real that time. She was going to do what exercise she could between then and the big day.

In the meantime...she was starving. She spun on her heels and made her way to the cafeteria.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lokelonni hummed, "Mmmyes, I do believe it did. Alec, how do you feel?"

Alec had a large, blissful grin on his face. His eyelids were half shut, and he was blushing a deep red. "Myeah...s'good." he mumbled.

Lokelonni once again had to put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. "Alec, dear." she said with a tad bit more force.

Alec replied with a, "Hm?" A second later he blinked a few times and gasped, "Oh! Yes! Ahaha!"

The warmth he felt was magnificent. He put his hands to his cheeks and laughed. He had never felt so good. Alec looked to Kerana and chuckled, "Haha! I feel incredible. I, I can't even describe it. Not just the breath of life, Kerana that was, you're...stunning."

The more he gazed at Kerana the more he wanted to be close to and hold her, but he had something he needed to do. Still grinning, he nervously held his hand out. It shook from weakness or fear, but because he was eager and excited to finish up and come back to her.

The deathscythe manifested and he tried to grab it, but his trembling hand dropped the deadly instrument. It fell to the floor with a resounding series of clangs. "s**t! Ah, it's okay, I got it."

He hurriedly picked up the scythe and took a few steps back so he was clear Kerana and her teacher. He laughed nervously and swung the scythe vertically upwards. There was another loud clang as the tip of the handle struck a tray of surgical instruments and sent them flying.

"Gah Hell!" Alec shouted with a start. "Ah jeez! Um, I'll be back soon, Kay. Don't worry, I wont let anything happen to this gift."

With one last look at her, and a hesitant bite of his bottom lip, he stepped through the rift and closed it behind him.

Lokelonni finally let herself laugh out loud. "Ahahaha! Oh dear! I'm so sorry. It's so sweet how much that boy adores you. I must say you have quite the effect on him."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Alec berated himself. He knew Kerana wouldn't think any less of him, but he still felt like an idiot after that ludicrous display of teenaged awkwardness. He took several deep breaths to calm himself. Once he could feel the embarrassment start to fade he peeked around the corner of the empty hallway he was in to the ajoining one. What he saw was a stack of dead Daedalus troops that had significantly decreased in number. He watched the pile shift as though another body had been taken from the bottom.

Alec put his back against the wall and took one more deep breath. He had seen how it could go. One of four ways. He really hoped it wouldn't come to the latter two. He exhaled slowly and took on the deathly appearance he had when Kerana revived him the day before. He opened his dark eyes and reminded himself quietly, "Don't use your powers. Don't use your powers."

He rounded the corner and approached the pile just as it shifted again. He tapped the tip of his scythe against the floor's shadow as though he were knocking on a door.

"Spawn of Legion, we need to talk...please."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deora nodded to Liv and gave Heather a knowing look. Heather nodded in appreciation and understanding. With that Deora look her leave, and Heather helped Liv toward the bathroom.

"Would you, um, like some help getting the suit off? Maybe I could wash you and make sure nothing is missed?" she offered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawn shrugged and said, "Maybe, but we didn't come all this way just to look at pictures on a screen. Once the kids are ready I'll-"

"Hey! Is anyone out there?! I want more candy" came a shout from one of the rooms. Chariot slid open her door and shuffled out, bare assed in a hospital gown. She had a lollipop stick protruding from her mouth. and a few had gotten caught in her enormous mane of gold hair.

She looked around and her eyes lit up when she saw Cassandra. She waved and shouted, "Beta! Hey Beta! It's me, Chariot!"

Damien and Dawn looked from the strange girl to Cassandra with lots of silent questions.

Chariot trotted up to Cassandra and began rattling off a sugar powered flurry of questions, "What're you doing here? Is Alpha here? When didja guys bust out? Who's the boy? Who's the girl? Have you tried suckers? I love suckers! Suckers are crazy good! Do you think Alpha like suckers? We should go get some suckers! Candy mission! Candyyyyy!"

Chariot then grabbed Cassandra by the hand and tried to drag her to wherever the candy might be. It did no good, of course. Chariot's feet dragged the ground like spinning tires on asphalt.

Damien looked to Cassandra and asked, "Mom? Who's she? Why does she look like Theresa?"  

[Nova Blancke]

Legio was lazily feeding in the pile of bodies. There was no rush for him to do anything at this point. He accomplished much today already. It didn't take him long to notice Alec nearby. Especially when Alec tapped the shadow to get his attention. Break time was over it seemed. Rapidly Biomass enveloped the remainder of the corpses and it seemingly liquefied. From the Shadow Realm, Legio did the same and reemerged from that former pile of bodies.

Hands behind his back, wearing his usual monk attire. Long white hair hanging waist length. Legio responded with a slight bow.

"Very well, Child of Death What would you like to talk about?."

Liv led out a soft chuckle.

"Look at you, trying to take advantage of the situation." She said jokingly."I could use some help with washing." With that she blinked out of the suit. Being naked in front of Heather wasn't something she was embarrassed with at all. They did already shower together. Dipping her toe into the water it was just right. Further lowering her leg in and stepping in she let out a sigh before sitting down in it. The water was...perfect.

Cassandra nodded. She could understand. Of course they would want to see the entire thing for themselves. This would just be something for them to look forward to. To motivate them. But she kept that to herself. No need to push those kids more than they are doing themselves.

Then a hyperactive bundle of gold hair came rushing in. Cassandra's hair and eyes shifted in response. More out of surprise because she knew the girl and what she was capable off. She was part of a special project. But judging from the girls current demeanor she wasn't a threat. Quite the opposite. How did she get here?

She let out a bit of a sigh when she saw the state of her.

"I live here. Yes, a while ago. My son, a new arrival, Yes and yes." Cassandra answered the rapid fire questions as the girl tried to move her.

Turning her attention to Damian she answered." She is a clone. Part of a special project to see if powers manifested the same way. I think that was it. Dr.Leonard did ramble to me from time to time during tests."

She reached out, turned the girl around and grabbed Chariot underneath the armpits to lift her up.

"You have too much energy right now Chariot. And you need some proper clothes....and a haircut perhaps."