Welcome to Gaia! ::

Liam smiled as he watched her run off, literally run. This seemed to really lifted her spirits more. Figures that the chance to beat someone up would get her fired up. Time for him to continue. Not that there was that much else to do except the deep frying.

It was less than a few minute before she returned confidently and quite happy. At first glanced he was a bit concerned due to the state of her clothes and the blood and bone on her. Good to know that wasn't hers.

"Someone looks happy. Go ahead." Liam said and thought to himself that she destroyed that place last time she went in there.

Liv knew this would happen. Her eyes told her as much. But still..it was satisfying to watch it happen in real time. Looking at the three other men, she fired a few lasers from her eyes at them. it would hurt but nothing serious.

She then turned and looked down at the other man. The light in her eyes turning red ,became more focused and bright as she brought her face closer to his.

"I am not the monster you think I am. None of us chose this. And we were hunted and experimented on because of it. There are so many children like us. But you don't care do you? You're just envious that your ..God..didn't give you these powers."

The light in her eyes faded and she sighed with closed eyes. Before opening them wide with her eyes on full blast looking at the man.

Freya went into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. As much as she trusted Liam at that point she did not want to take a chance at accidentally being seen in her birthday suit. She threw her clothes into the garbage. She hopped into the shower and adjusted the water temperature to her liking. She could feel the tension leave her body as the warm jets of water ran down her face. In that moment, she could feel some of the day's sadness creep back in.

She had said earlier that she was done crying, but it turned out to be far from the case. She took a few moments to let her tears mix in with the water and blood that went down the drain. She hated being alone with her thoughts. She wanted a drink so damn bad.

She took the time to thoroughly wash herself until the water that ran off of her was no longer pink. A few minutes later she was toweled off and mostly dry. That's when it occurred to her.

She'd forgotten a change of clothes.

A hot wash of embarrassment turned her face red. She could not possibly bring herself to go into Liam's dorm in just a towel, even if he did turn his back and cover his eyes. The other solution was to ask him to pick out clothes from her room. A top, a bottom, and...and...

Nope, it would have to be the towel.

She opened the door a crack and yelled to Liam, "Hey! I forgot to get a change of clothes. You need to keep your back to the sound of my voice and keep your eyes covered while I go to your auto closet, got it! No funny business!"

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The man was about to answer when his eyes locked into the portals of eternity contained within Liv's eyes. Like Silhouette had done months prior, he began to scream and writhe with the overload of truths poured into his mind all at once. He wanted to claw his eyes out, but he could not bring himself to look away.

Vera covered her ears and looked to Heather. She asked in a near panic, "What's she doing?! Why is he screaming like that!"

Heather looked to her colleague with some pity. "She's showing him everything. It's so much that the mortal mind breaks."

"What do you mean mortal?!"

Heather shook her head and sighed, "You really don't want to know."

The man began to foam at the mouth as his body twitched and his pupils contracted. Whoever he was had been swallowed by madness. Heather stepped toward Liv and suggested, "I think he's hand enough, Liv."

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Rydia's mind raced as she looked into Ravan's panicked eyes. "Ravan, listen to me! You need push against the pressure with your power. It's the only way you'll buy enough time for the chamber to pressurize."

Thankfully, Ravan had been doing just that, but the lack of oxygen sapped what strength she had very quickly. She could feel something in her trying to claw it's way out, but she did not want Sara to see that side of her. Ever.

She felt a few of her ribs crack just as she lost what strength she had, but due to Sara's quick thinking that was the only injury she suffered. The pressure evened out just in time for her lungs to catch air just before they were punctured. She gasped and coughed as the inner door to the ship opened.

Rydia ripped off her helmet, effortlessly scooped Ravan into her arms, and then called out, "Vela, light the way to medical."

There were two chirps and a soothing female voice replied, "Right away, Princess."

Lights along the corners of the hallway pulsed and flowed further into the ship. Rydia walked as quickly as she could and entered the medical room. An exam table adjusted itself to her height and allowed her to place Ravan down without issue.

"Sorry, but Vela wont be able to get a good read with all this on." Rydia said apologetically. She used her spirit claws to tear away and split Ravan's dive suit like it was a hot knife through butter. When she was done Ravan was left in her wetsuit. She was happy to see that there were no deformities or outward bleeding, but she had to be certain.

Rydia took two steps back and commanded, "Vela, scan for injuries."

Two chirps. "One moment please." A pair of mechanical arms with what looked like black lights at the ends of them extended from within the exam table and ran gentle blue lights over Ravan.

Ravan coughed and immediately felt the pain in her lower chest. She moaned in pain, but she did her best to remain still. That was not the first time she had been under the lamps of medical scanners.

Two chirps. "Ribs eleven and twelve are broken bilaterally. Hairline fractures present in ribs nine and ten bilaterally. Ecchymosis present at extremities. Patient displays abnormal genetic profile not applicable to either human or meta-human. Prognosis: patient will completely with two to six weeks bedrest. Note: genetic abnormality may expedite healing process. Recommendation: patient should remain secured and supine for the duration of any planned flights in the next twenty-four hours."

Rydia sighed, "Thank goodness. Sara, can you stay with her while I see to getting this thing running?"

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The guard that still stood quickly shook off any panic. He had a military background and knew what was around them. He threw his rifle aside and removed his Ka-bar knife from the holster on his vest. He came at Trinity with calculated and deft slashes and stabs. It would be obvious that he was no slouch at close quarters combat.

After the first few slashes, Silhouette slithered Trinity's shadow to the fallen guard and took his knife. Whatever was in that room hurt like Hell, but she was determined not to let human technology get the better of her in this situation.

With a lift and a flick, Sil removed the knife from it's holster and threw it toward Trinity. "Trintiy, catch!"

Despite his focus on preparing the food. Liam could not remove the sounds of her showering from his sense. It was strange. He felt his heart beat faster and louder. Even his breathing was faster for some reason. But she wasn't even here in this room. She was in his shower. Not that far from here. Strange.

Then she called out. Bringing him back to his sense, in a way. But also solidifying what he had in mind. She was currently naked. Dropping the fried chicken back into the oil before picking it back out

"Sure" He Liam responded. Though he noticed a part of him did in fact wished to peek he did not. Raising a wall of shadow to separate the living from from the bedroom where the auto closet was, he didn't actually lose his eyes, but focused on that even more. Still giving her the privacy that she wanted while being able to continue cooking the food for her

Liv looked at the man as he was unable to look away from her. His face one of pure fear as he screamed. She really did not like to do this. Frying his brains with lasers would have been better. But this was more about sending a message. When Heather stepped forward she turned off her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Yeah....he's as good as dead. Maybe I should still kill him. Just so his family doesn't have to take care of an insane person even if he chose to do this." Liv said w ith a sigh.

Liam took a deep breath. Despite the sizzling sounds of the frying chicken pieces, his sense were sharper than ever. He could hear her changing. Shaking his head, he plated the chicken pieces and lowered the shadow in the door opening. Glancing over to her, he was not sure what he expected. Certainly not something daring, which she didn't do. But this was...her. She looked...good.

"Maximum comfort?" He asked before moving over to the fridge to take out a small container with a different sauce for the chicken. Right on que, the air fryer finished it's program.

Placing the container for the chicken on the large plate with chicken, he asked Freya to take it over to the couch while he finished up.

Liv once again sighed and nodded.

"Yeah...yeah he will."

Slowly she got up and looked at the man, then to Vera who she knew was terrified of her. Which Liv had no problems with at the moment. Better scare multiple people shitless into not messing with Meta's again. So she kept her eyes on her. Her icey blue piercing eyes. She felt a bit...strange. Protective? Strong? Dominant?

Nodding to Heather.

"Yeah, he wanted to dine with me earlier. I am sure a meet and greet would....be the highlight of his life."

Liv glanced over at Vera again.

"I hope no Meta's die because of you. Because I know you now. So do try to make some amends." Liv said before blinking into the Light Realm. She wasted no time cupping Heather's face.

"You okay? It's only been a few minutes"

"Oh Hell yea!" Freya exclaimed. She took the plate of chicken and immediately popped a drumette into her mouth. With a mouth full of chicken she taunted, "Hew be'a huwwy u' 'efore ah ea' 'em all!"

Then, like the food gremlin she was, she practically skipped over to the couch and plopped down.

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Heather was very tempted to tell the truth. She was not okay. Not in the slightest. She had never come that close to dying before and she was doing all she could to keep that thought out of her head. Alec had explained what he and Kerana were capable of, and it would have meant nothing if Heather had lost her head. She would have ended up in the purgatory waiting room until someone she trusted or loved came to get her. Probably her Mom, but it was most likely going to be Lawrence.

She grit her teeth and fought back her tears. She huffed once and shook her head. "No, I'm not, but I don't have time to fall apart in your arms. We have to stop Roland. You can hold me and stroke my hair while I cry when we're done."

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There were five guards present near the lift door. Once they saw the shadow, and the green eyes, they were quick to act. Three of them clicked on high intensity LED lights on their rifles and leveled them at Trinity. A fourth reached into his pouch and pulled out a flash-bang grenade. He pulled the pin and cooked it while the goggles on their helmets adjusted for the brightness of the lights. After he counted to two he lobbed the grenade toward the cloud of smoke.

The fifth guard put a radio to his mouth and screamed, "Code black! I repeat, we have a code black!"
'
A fire alarm went out through the facility. The "employees" scrambled to weapons lockers as the guards stationed on the metal scaffolds yanked tarps off of eight Klieg searchlights. They began to sweep and search for any signs of shadow manipulation.

But just as soon as they thought things were going smoothly, they were met by pigtailed carnage.

Theresa blew up the truck farthest from the area Trinity was in which caused the building to shake and windows to shatter. She leaped through the flames, fully adorned in her nano tech armor. With what Gidget had made for her, Theresa no longer had to configure one of her limbs into a weapon. The armor adapted itself by her thoughts and powers. All she had to do was provide ammunition.

The nanites on her feet reconfigured into Chariots wheels, and she began to skate through the facility, hand guns akimbo, like a gleeful child in a roller rink. Try as they might, they could not get a bead on her. The minute they poked their heads out, her HUD warned her of impending danger and she immediately adjusted her aim.

The members of Prometheus Watch began to drop like flies, their knees and elbows shattered with every round. One of their voices rang out over the commotion.

"Why is she laughing?!"

"The Hell you are! These are my finger foods! Any that you eat will be considered a gratuity on my part, and I've decided that you can have half of each. That is, if you think your stomach can handle it?" She said with a challenging tone.

She took one of the Coke bottles and took a swig from it. It tasted odd to her at first. It took her a little bit to realize that it was due to the lack of liquor. She grumbled quietly and sat back.

"I dunno. Actually, I do know! Day like today, it's gotta be FMA."

She nabbed the controller and put on Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. "Has to be this version, though. The original run's ending was bullshit."

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Roland had been standing at the window of the conference room for a few minutes. The view of Knoxburg from his location topped by his corner office and the CEO's penthouse office. He hated when the penthouse belonged to Charles Ray. What he felt when his monstrous daughter took over could not be described. His loathing of her made him physically ill. Her and all the other animals. Zoan types, beast metas, they were all just animals to him. A misstep in the evolutionary ladder of the other metahumans. Of course, they weren't human either. Just more so than the animals.

He had hoped to kill Heather with the ambush, but of course her girlfriend had to get involved. His benefactor warned him such a thing would happen. So he returned to his safe haven. At least, it had become his safe haven after a few adjustments. Security not too dissimilar from what was positioned in their hidden armory. He had a remote that would turn them on and off. He pressed the button every ten seconds since he had returned to the office. Nothing yet.

In the distance he saw and felt an explosion. It came from the area of their armory. He cursed under his breath and pressed the button one more time to turn it on.

Heather's body convulsed from the pain of what felt like a jolt of electricity; except it ravaged her entire body. She felt her draconic features recede in a manner almost like retreating. When she looked mostly human, the pain stopped. She fell to the floor and tried to fight the lingering effects of what had caused her powers to cease.

An identical effect would hit Liv. Any attempt at using her powers resulted in an immediate jolt of indescribable pain.

"Hah! Wha-....what just?" Heather croaked out.

Roland sneered and turned around. "There you are, Heather. I see you brought your girlfriend along. Hello, Liv."

Roland smirked and snickered, "Something like that."

He switched the remote to his left and and reached into his blazer. He produced a 9mm handgun and waved it in the general direction of Heather and Liv.

"When it comes to dealing you people, these two little gadgets are the great equalizer. You can thank your father for this, Heather. It attacks brainwaves specific to the use of metahuman powers. He had it installed just incase other metahumans tried to attack us, or him. I hated the man, but he did have some fantastic ideas stirring in that crazy head of his."

Heather stood up and winced. Roland looked to her and waved his gun from her to Liv. She took the hint and moved next to her girlfriend.

"Now, you know me Heather. I hate to mince words or waste time. So..."

The pop of the gunfire echoed in the room as the round hit Heather directly in the stomach. She dropped to her knees and gasped as the air was knocked out of her. There was no blood. Since the incident at the sauna, she'd made it a point to wear a ballistic vest under her suits. It'd stopped the bullet, but it still hurt like Hell.

Roland was also caught off guard. He'd never fired a gun without hearing protection and the bang caused his ears to ring. He yelled and cursed, and for a brief moment he took his sights off of the women.

Freya's words echoed in Heather's mind.

"You can't always depend on your powers. You never know what sort of wacky s**t we might face that could nerf us. The point of this phase training is to make your bodies bonified, certified, high speed, low drag, living weapons."

She did that ******** toothy grin, and then stuck her hand out in a victory pose.

Heather looked to Liv, nodded, and made a victory sign with her right hand. She hoped her girl got the message.

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

Everything was going well for the first few minutes, but it slowly dawned on Freya that one of her favorite anime was probably one of the worst choices she could have made. When the boys started trying to revive their dead mom, Freya began to cry silently as she nibbled on her food between sniffles.

"I, uh....think maybe we could just turn this off and maybe put on some music or somethin'?" she asked.

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Ravan's eyes began to stir as she regained consciousness. Her lids fluttered and she looked toward Sara.

"Hey...what-"

A small arm unfolded and jabbed a small needle into Ravan's neck. Two chirps. "Analgesics administered."

She was about to protest the sudden puncture when she suddenly felt very odd. Not in a bad way. It just felt like nothing much mattered at that moments. Her pain went away, and Sara looked especially lovely at that moment.

With a sly grin, and slurred speech, she repeated herself. "Heeeey. What's with the sad look?"

She raised an arm and waved her fingers in front of Sara's face. "Did sumpthin' happen?"

Freya did not resist at all. She was about to lean her head against him when a video of an old man getting hit in the groin by a football popped up. "PFT!"

The sudden juxtaposition of the rooms tension was too much for her. She began to laugh uproariously and slapped her knee. "This contest is over! Give that man the ten thousand dollars! The ball! His groin! It works on so many levels!"

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Roland managed to just barely hold onto the gun. He glared at Liv and spat, "You little b***h!" He then attempted to pistol whip Liv.

Heather could see it coming. She grunted and grabbed one of the many fountain pens on the desk and flung it at the b*****d. Roland caught site of it at the last minute and brought his hand up to block it. He screamed out in pain when the metal nib dug into his hand, which caused him to fire another shot. It went wild and missed. He then dropped the gun.

A thought struck Heather. There was a single opponent in an exposed state. They had all practiced such a situation in Freya's hellish bootcamp. She hated to admit it, but their "sensei" had been right. With enough training, their minds and bodies would default to the actions they had practiced.

Flashfire. That was the name for the combo of Liv and Heather that Freya had given them.

"Let's ******** do this!" Heather yelled. She dug down deep and forced herself to jump onto the table so she could follow up on Liv's next move.