Welcome to Gaia! ::

Summer was coming to an end. Yes, it would be a respite from the hot, sunny days, but Penelope felt the coming of fall with some apprehension. It would not be too long before she stepped into the halls of Destiny City Universe. She already had her books. She already had her school supplies. She even had her new uniform, so different from Crystal Academy’s familiar sky blue. When classes began, she would no doubt enjoy them. She was simply nervous about moving into the dorms. So far, her roommate hadn’t been decided. She had brought in her furniture, her clothes, her favorite pictures and toys, and still no sign of the person with whom she’d be spending so much of her time.

The girl had been packing up another box to move whenever her boyfriend sent her the invitation. She and Scott had not had a “real” date since she got them kicked out of the diner. She could not blame him. Texting, calling, and instant messaging were really more appropriate as she was getting ready for school. She had rarely had a free night to really see him, and when she did… it was much easier for the two of them to sit together on the couch and enjoy an old movie then to try and go out. He seemed to prefer the safety of her home as well. All of that was fine by her. Any time together was precious.

Tonight, however? Tonight, he had invited her to catch fireflies. She had never been on any of his entomological expeditions, although she had listened to him excitedly tell her about the specimens he found. As such, she was looking forward to this date very much. Scott was sharing an important part of his life with her! She dressed simply and comfortably in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, opting for something in which she could easily move and get a little dirty. Penelope was doubly excited that they had an old mason jar her mother had forgotten about that could be used to catch the creatures!

As she neared the botanical garden, she caught sight of him. She really couldn’t miss him, with the nets and the golden hair that shone in the lamp light. She waved eagerly, a broad smile on her face, “Scott! Scott, I’m here!”

General Mica had a feeling about this night, though one couldn’t tell by the look on her face. On the outside, she was still as cold and unmoving as a gargoyle, perched on the roof across the street and watching the Erlea household, as she usually did around this time of night. Tonight she had planned for them to do an extensive round near Destiny City University, as incoming freshmen would have made the easiest of targets, and yet, there was no sign of movement within the house. Still, one would not think that she was worried…

It wasn’t until the family vehicle came home and Scott was not visible when the children piled out that Mica grew curious, and she listened in as well as one could from this distance. All she could hear was the mother, Jody, crying her eyes out, mentioning something about a flight going smoothly, and France? Something about that entire sentence seemed off, and the fact that there was no little Wasp with them, she grabbed her crystal and spoke into it. And waited.

But there was no response. By the time the entire family made it into the house, Mica had vanished from sight, teleporting to the airport. Perhaps Scott had gone to France… but when did he get a passport? When was he going to tell her about this?

She stood outside the airport, but there was no reason to go in. Because she knew he wasn’t there. Her lips curled into a smile, though there was no mirth in them. He lied to his family, and most insultingly, he lied to her. “Clever little bumblebee… now I wonder where you could have possibly gone off to.”

Oh, she knew where. More like, she knew with whom, and the hunt began. Wherever they would, they would have to be close to DCU… perhaps near the gardens. It was an ideal place for a date with a pretty little dandelion, she thought to herself, exhausting the efforts to teleport once again. And it didn’t take her long to see the little lovebirds.

“Scott, you incredible fool.”

Scott had hoped that seeing Penelope would have been enough to wash his mind clear of all fears and anxieties. He wanted so little in this world, so surely fate could give Scott Erlea a blissful last few hours, right? Thus far, her presence alone had been working wonders, as though he was sweating profusely and still on edge, he couldn’t help but smile when he looked at her. In the past year that he had known her, she had never worn such an attire, had she? She looked so relaxed, so carefree… almost as though it had not been a date at all. Maybe she didn’t see it as that at all, and the thought of that was almost enough to put him at ease. Almost.

“Oh, that’s a nice mason jar…” Despite the swirling of anxieties within his lanky vessel, he could not help but enthuse over such a simple object. There were many uses for a mason jar, and for Scott, mason jars were the perfect vessel for harboring fireflies for a good while before releasing them. He tried to envision the wispy little things clinging to the sides of the wall, their abdomens lighting up and continuing their mating call, free some natural predators for a short while. He could see why some would think holding them captive in jars could be so cruel a thing to do, but it wasn’t as though they’d be in there forever. Like Penelope, he had every intention of letting them go and be free once more… the thought crushed any hopes of returning her smile, and he shook his head when she expressed her concern. “I’m alright, Pene. I just walked further than I usually do and I may have ran some part of the way.”

Suddenly her hand was at his face but he forced himself still, not pulling away from her touch in hopes of making all of this less awkward. He could tell that she wasn’t convinced, and his mind raced to think of something, anything to tell Penelope that everything was alright, everything was fine.

Except it wasn’t. He would leave her. He would break her heart. Setting down his net, he reached for her hand, wanting to grab the rest of her and pull her close, but that chance was taken away from him. Not due to his own cowardice, or by Penelope, but by a familiar figure that stood directly behind her, and there could be no mistaking who reached for her.

“Mi-ca!”

Penelope wanted to believe him. If he had been running, that would explain the sweat… but that was just one part of it. It would not explain the stiffness of his body, the sadness in his eyes… the way he reached for her hand. She reached to accept his touch. Whatever it was that was bothering him, they could work it out. She wanted him to relax, to see his enthusiasm, to hear him explain all about the insects they were hunting.

Fate had other plans.

A strong arm suddenly hooked her in place, tugging on her shirt until the collar slightly choked her throat. The invasive thrust of the booted foot almost sent her to her knees. She recognized that voice when it spoke, and a slight tremble overtook her form. Mica. Mica, with her spear and her bloodthirsty ways. Mica, who had sent her to the hospital and left her with the largest of her scars, who had gripped her starseed until she thought she would pass out from pain. Mica… second only to Painite in terms of individuals that Penelope absolutely feared.

It processed, slowly, that Scott had identified her attacker’s by name… and that Mica knew him as well. Wasp? Had he been attacked as well and struck back? Harper and Penelope had done so as Nyx and Pasiphae and made an eternal enemy. Was that why he looked nervous? Had he been in danger and not wanted to tell her?!

Fear and anger welled up inside of her. All she had wanted was a date, a carefree night of catching fireflies. Now, she had to try and fight without any of her allies, without the power that her moon could grant her. Oh yes, she would fight. There was no doubt. She could not, would not leave Scott to this monster from her nightmares. How the two knew each other didn’t matter as much as making sure she and her boyfriend got away safely!

One arm was completely cut off by that grappling hold, but the more important one was still available - the one holding the mason jar. She acted on the years of experience she had picked up as a Senshi. Penelope twisted her body as much as she could, wincing her shoulder protested and her knee scraped the concrete, but following through with her action. She swung the glass jar up directly for the General’s face, crying out as she did, “Run Scott!”

She didn’t want to see him get hurt. She would never forgive herself if he got hurt.

Mica’s smile faded, but it wasn’t from Scott’s begging or his bartering. He was saying too much, and worst of all, he was lying to her, and that was something that the Negaverse general would not tolerate from her officer. Not one that she had taken in and practically raised! She attempted to tighten her grip on Penelope, never once aware of the hidden weapon she held in her free hand as she addressed Scott. “Nonsense, she’s perfect. I’ve been watching you, getting close and intimate. You were doing this to lure her into a trap so that you could take her starseed, right? I mean… why else would you pretend to love a frail, dainty little weed like thi-”

The mason jar was thick, far thicker than perhaps even Penelope had expected, and it did not break against her skull like she may have wanted. But it hit hard, and it was more than enough to force even General Mica to release her, and her pained grunt was clear, for all present to hear. “Augh! Kill her, now, Vespa!”

Everything seemed to move more slowly once she made her swing. She certainly heard, and processed, the words exchanged between Mica and Scott. Her body spasmed from her demands of it, but her heart spasmed more. Scott pleading for her life, speaking in such a way as to make it perfectly clear that he was well aware of the Negaverse and its dark deeds. Smug, mocking MIca implying that their love was nothing but a farce… but no, no, that wasn’t true! Penelope refused to believe it was true. There had been plenty of opportunities for Scott to take her starseed if he wanted it, to drain her energy if he wanted it, and he had never so much as raised his voice at her, much less harmed her physically. It wasn’t true. It. Isn’t. TRUE.’

The mason jar may not have broken, but it did its job. It got her free of Mica’s iron grip. She stumbled forward to put distance between herself and her assailant, fully expecting to see her boyfriend running away. Yet, he remained. The name from Mica’s made her pause only a few feet away. Vespa. The Senshi she had fought, the one she had helped kill his double, the one she had tried to help was… Scott?

Yes, there was no denying it. The bat-winged henshin pen emerged from his backpack. He whispered the henshin phrase. The ribbons swirled around him, coating him in all too familiar black and yellow… and those eyes, yes, were Scott’s from behind the purple visor.

’Of course you couldn’t tell me. You would’ve been putting us both in danger. All those nights where you had to cancel our dates, all those places where we would meet because both of our duties called to us. Oh Scott… I know you couldn’t, but I wish you would have told me sooner. I would have helped you. I just hope it’s not too late.’

He screamed for her to run, but how could she? How could she leave him here, when he had clearly disobeyed an order? Mica would kill him, and she could not run and henshin without him thinking he had an additional enemy on his hands! Instead, Penelope ran forward and grabbed his gloved hand, “NO. Come with me… we’ll both run!”

They needed distance. He needed to see her secret too. She needed to call for help… if any help would come to her when she was assisting someone with Chaos in their veins. They could not stay here!

Mica wasn’t sure what had just happened, but if she wasn’t in extreme pain, she would have congratulated Vespa on his bravery in daring to not only attack her, but succeeding in finding the best way to cripple her. She wanted to think that he had learned this from her, but that didn’t matter when he turned his hand against her. She wasn’t clueless to the feel of someone grabbing her starseed- three times before she welcomed it, as it allowed Chaos into her soul and gave her strength when she needed it. She could tell by the looks of her victim’s faces that it hurt oh so very much when she tightened her fingers around it, and she could only imagine the unending darkness that would follow once he pulled away.

Once his hand was in there, she expected him to pull away, the last image to ever grace her sights would be that of him holding her own starseed in his hands before she crumbled over and succumbed to the cold embrace of death. After the first few seconds, she found herself wanting him to pull it away, and that was what caused her to start clawing at his hand. If he was going to kill her, then why did he hesitate? Why did she see fear and pity in that gaze of his beyond that ridiculous visor he wore? She wanted to reached for his face and claw that stupid visor off, then his eyes…

No one should look at Mica with pity in their eyes, she told herself. She’d rip that expression right off… if only she could reach…

Finally, whether out of pity or cowardice, he released her starseed, and before she could gasp in relief, the punch to the jaw left her senseless. Not unconscious, as she could see the stars and twinkling fireflies dancing around in the night sky above her, but she was afraid to admit that she could not move. The Wasp, her Wasp was running… and all she could make out was the words ‘park’.

“You… won’t escape… traitor.”

She would make absolutely certain of that, once she regain feeling in her limbs again!

Not once did he think of the strain he was putting Penelope through- it was so easy to forget just how strong one became when they henshined up, as Vespa always considered himself one of the weaker of his senshi brethren. She sounded winded and out of breath, and her request to sneak into the alley would not have been ignored, even if Mica was hot on their trail. Surprisingly enough, she wasn’t, but that didn’t stop the Wasp senshi from standing guard once they were alone. This was such a foolish mistake! What had he done? What had he been thinking, dragging Penelope into this? She was quick to try to comfort him, and in his mind, he had prepared a long and very lengthy speech that would have came out more like a frantic rant as to why it was his fault, and yet Penelope always had a way to quell his fears… now was no different!

He watched in silence as she pulled out a henshin pen, and suddenly, it was as if all of his fears, all of his self loathing and berating himself for his foolish actions were swept away by the sight of her transformation. He wasn’t sure what to expect when she cried out her own transformation phrase, though he was surprised… though they were on different sides of the war, it was the same as his. Exactly the same, minus the celestial body that powered them, of course. He watched with wide-eyed amazement, as the ribbons danced around her form, creating a familiar form of silk, lace and beads. It was the beads he remembered the most, and he could not stop his jaw from dropping as he pointed to her. “Y-you… from the convention, from my double… from… it’s you!”

He remembered every encounter with her but had he ever learned her name? He wasn’t sure, but now he knew for certain. Penelope was Pasiphae, a senshi… and one that had been instrumental in his decision, though perhaps subtly. He had so much to ask her, so much to say, but she was quick to bring him back on proper course, as Penelope always did before. How could he have not seen the connection before?! “Uh, right! Right! I’m going to be meeting Princess Iris and ********* there… I planned to switch sides tonight… I was going to tell you, sort of… as Penelope, because I was going to… you know what, nevermind that now! It’s fine… everything’s worked out just fine, minus the now very aware and probably very angry general that’ll be calling officers after us. We need to make it to the park. Maybe she’ll be there early?”

He hoped so. He really, really hoped so. Tonight, he wanted to be free, to live his life with Pasiphae and be welcomed among the White Moon. All they had to do was make it to the park!