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

[PixelMuse]

Nova Blancke

Cassandra walked towards the wall as she always did. Seems she didn't know of the existence of doors. Simply pushing against it causing it to break open. When it was wide enough she stepped through. Her internal rumbling increased.

Trinity, took a defensive stance in reaction to Cassandra's entrance. When Annie entered and confirmed she had things under control. She relaxed a little but was ready to respond to anything that would happen next. As Annie introduced her son she responded, "Glad that you seem to be in good hands Christian." since the boy showed he preferred his mother over his father any. He was quite well spoken for a boy his age.

mc2

"... Oh, and Trinity, I will need to speak to Gidget privately before anyone else gets the chance when we get there."

She nodded at Annie's request and Trinity sent a text to Gidget ahead of time. After sending the text she watched Gidget's body come in. She noticed she seemed to recognize her then she watched as she shifted her eyes to Ako. With the way she reacted, she thought That's definately Gidget.... She thought a little strange that although the body was of a full grown woman she acted very shy, like a little girl.

Then she saw as Cassandra try to strike against Shane. Things were heating up again. Trinity decided to send Annie to the med bay, the woman sank into her shadow and was in bed at the med bay. She sends another text to Gidget.

[Meet Annie in the med bay. Let them know she is the patient I just sent there.]

"Christian don't worry about your mother, I've sent her to the medical facility in Valhalla. I shall take you there once we all get there." Trinity looks to Theonis, and covered her mouth as if she were in thought, she whispered in the shadow and Theonis could hear in the darkness of his ears "lift Cassandra once we are in Gidget's lab."

Seeing how timid Gidget's body was acting she held her arms opened to her hoping she would go to her.  

[mc2]

Annie was in the bed at the med center before she even realized what Trinity had done. She was holding her side, and realized she was doing a lot better than she should have considering the hit she took. "Must have not remained completely solid," Annie muttered, taking shallow breaths, "but solid enough to get hurt. Stupid, too stupid..." Gingerly she laid back on the bed closing her eyes, she had taken for granted her ability to liquify too much. It was instinctual whenever a hit came at her, she could change fast enough that bullets would go through her. Having so strong of a defense made her forget that there were ways to hurt her still and also ways to capture her even when she didn't willingly put herself in danger or allow her own capture. Either she was getting dumber than usual, more arrogant, or maybe it was a touch of madness. Normal people try to keep themselves alive better than she does.

Christian ignored Trinity's reassurance, he figured as much. Though he did glare at Alexavier and then Shane hatefully as Trinity teleported them through the shadow. Alexavier had failed to protect his mother and it was Shane she had tried to protect. She wasn't going to kill Shane, Christian knew that. When push comes to shove, Christian was going to have to kill Shane unless someone managed to beat him to it.  

[Nova Blancke]

As soon as Cassandra charged at Shane he tried to lift her up. Several times but it just didn't work. Why didn't it work? Did she cancel it out? Was she so much heavier than she looked? Why didn't it work?! It would have had to work according to his own understanding of his own power.

"I've been trying Trin!" He whispered back. He had no idea why it didn't work.

Just like Theonis, Alexavier had no idea how this could have happened. Whenever something like a drastic switch occurs like this it affects them both not just one. Cassandra had never taken action into her own hands like this before. He had managed to stop Cassandra from attacking right after she had hit Annie, who had, miraculously survived the hit by turning into something more jelly like. But that control over her was breaking as he felt his own mind slipping away from his current personality. His current standards. His malicious grin appeared once more.

He had to deal with these pests first before he could enjoy crushing the life out of Shane. Killing them would have been the easy way but he never did like easy. Ah...let's remove their own restraints. Let's have them give in to their primal urges. Let's have some chaos....Unleashing his massive power, he unshackled the minds of everyone in the hotel. Soon people began to kill each other while others gave in to different urges.

Theonis looked at Trinity like he did before right before they would jump into each others arms. Images of the previous night flooded his mind along with the memories of her scent, voice, touch of her skin and lips. Then there was Christian who he had to protect right now. Children should always come first. Theonis would give his life to save a child but right now he was conflicted because of Alexavier's little mind trick.

Barely holding back he managed to mutter out" This is bad...."

"Shaaaaaaaaaane, guess who's back for round two? " Alexavier laughed out as Cassandra went for a second blow intending to knock him towards a different room.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Shane was prepared for Cassandra's surprise attack. What he wasn't prepared for was Annie taking the hit for him with her gelatinous body.

"Damnit no!" He was about to reach down and scoop her to safety when Trinity took care of that for him.

When Gidget's mind was released by Alexavier's tactic she gave into her base instinct of panic. She crawled to the closest corner of the room and covered her head, closing her eyes tight. She had seen the purple haired familiar girl reach for her, but she didn't care. This corner was safe, this corner would keep her safe.

Shane could feel the mind trick attempting to release the dark passenger. It nearly emerged before it remembered it's agreement and regressed again. Shane then felt several biological signatures snuff out around him. He couldn't help but smirk just a bit. There would be many more biological signatures if Annie hadn't given him an entire hour to feed.

When Cassandra came for him again he side stepped and avoided her blow while launching a spiked ball of biomass from his hand and sends it flying at Alexavier.

"Trinity, get the rest of them out of here!" Deciding to remind her of her task was a mistake. This had distracted him and caused him to loose his focus on the danger duo.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Kerana

"His name is Samson Henderson....we found each other on Eros-Match.com. I better go... there's a lot of work to be done and it may be good to put this speed to use. Would it be alright if I stop by later?"

If one were to do research on the name 'Samson Henderson' they'd find that there's no such person that worked at Daedalus. It was an alias.

Gidget left one message on hold while she dealt with the immediate situation in front of her.

"I'm going to need you to forward his profile to me. He could be using an alias, but I'll be able to run a photo cross check. I might also have other sources I can tap. For now, Amanda, I want you to consciously move as slow as you can. That will put you about about standard speed. You may want to confer with other speed metas before coming back here too. Dismissed."

Another message pinged and Gidget read the two. Her eyes twitched. She pointed at Amanda and the spectral ball that was Liz. She stated, "I want both of you two out of here in twenty seconds. Any longer and my security will kick in and vaporize you both."

Gidget made a mad dash out of her lab and ran toward the med bay. So many questions ran through her mind, but she couldn't compromise her humanity. She had to show some concern for her friend before berating her with questions.

Gidget ran into the med bay and swept her hand over the nurses computer. The monitor pulled up all of Annie's personal medical records up to the point she had disappeared into Daedalus clutches. She went room to room until she found Annie. A small medical staff was already tending to her.

"Annie, what happened? I thought you couldn't be hurt by blunt force. I'm seeing several broken ribs and bruised organs."  

[Nova Blancke]

Alexavier's grin widened. Cassandra side stepped herself to follow Shane's movements as she round house kicked him.

The ball that Shane shot out towards Alexavier got deflected in mid-air. Telekinesis, his second power. The one he had been saving for special occasions. Like this one. Alexavier knew exactly where Gidget was and he wondered if this little ball had enough instinct to feed of the closest living being. Would be fun to test. With that in mind he guided it towards Gidget's cowering form.

Cassandra would not let Shane get away this time. She closely followed his every move.  

[mc2]

Annie tolerated the medical staff fussing over her, it reminded her of her time in Daedalus care, but she tolerated it. When Gidget came in, Annie forced a smile throughout the pain, "I can, if I am hit by surprise it can happen. Of course that isn't what happened this time. It was more of a conscious effort that I took a hit and even then I took less of the hit than I intended. I wasn't thinking and tried to serve as a shield." She brushed her now dark hair behind her ear. "That isn't important. And, neither is your lecture about what I have done, my failure to properly watch Shane and all the other things I have done. I know what you are probably going to say so save it."

"Daedalus refers to people who have abilities like my secondary natural power- my ability to sense people's auras- as 'sensors'," Annie began. "Shane isn't the same. He has his moments when he is like he used to be, but those times are getting rarer and rarer. He's falling into madness. The duo that we picked up- they are mad. All of us who were treated with pure meteor radiation is losing our sanity." She fixed her brown eyes on Gidget, she assumed that Gidget was going to get what she was implying, even Annie wasn't the same as she used to be.

"My goal is to try and save Shane from madness. If there is no way to stop the progression than I will keep the promise I made: I will kill him within the next two weeks. If I can figure it out, I will help the duo, if they can't be saved- I will ensure they will be killed too. And, in the end I am going to attack Daedalus until the earth turns crimson in their blood, until I get my full revenge," Annie said. "Not so much for what happened to me- that was partially my fault- but what they did to others."

"That of course brings the matter of my son," Annie said. "I killed his father, Dr. Berchant, already. His family I wouldn't trust with raising him. Daedalus knows who my father is and would attack him for sure to get my son back. So, that leaves me one option: to leave him with you in Valhalla. Though, I'm not entirely sure you'd want him on your hands. But, if you agree to take him in that will give me a peace of mind. Even if it wasn't for his powers, he couldn't ever fit in normally, so I can't just leave him with some random 'loving family'."

"So, I have one question and one request," Annie said. "One, is there anyway to truly save Shane from madness? To save him, the duo, and me from not becoming dangerous? And, second, if saving Shane is not a possibility, I want you to take Christian in. I mean, I will leave him here even without your permission if do lose Shane and seek out my revenge, but having permission makes my life a little easier. The fact of the matter is, I have two priorities, recover what I lost when I joined Daedalus- Shane, and get my revenge on Daedalus. If I can't have one, I will have the other."

She forced a smile and added, "Besides, if I can't save Shane, that means I am going to fail the duo, and ultimately I will fail to save myself. This no one needs to know besides you, but, after seeing the duo, I figured it out: it may take years but in the end I'm going to become truly unstable too." Smiling a more genuine smile, she added, "Since you have heard me out, I'm willing to hear you out too and answer any of your questions. And, of course I can't really escape until I am completely healed. So, if you were smart and really wanted to keep me from being a problem for a while, I wouldn't heal me completely."

Christian snapped at Theonis, "You can't stop him because he's blocking your power if it aims at attacking either of them. Let's get out of here, maybe if we're lucky the two and Shane will end up killing each other. Mom won't be happy about it, but at least if she doesn't get the answer she wants from Shane's sister she won't have to kill him."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Gidget shrieked in terror as the spiked ball came screaming at her.

Shane's momentary distraction toward Trinity and Gidget cost him. Just as he clenched his fist in the direction of the flying spike ball, Cassandra's foot caught him square in the chest. Instead of trying to take it this time and end up cut in half, he jumped back with the impact and went back flying. Wall after wall was destroyed as he plowed through each one. But he didn't take this opportunity to merely enjoy the dust and carnage. All the while he was spreading spores anyone within immediate inhalation range of him.

The spiked ball split open like a giant web and surrounded Gidget like a protective net. It solidified and stopped writhing. She continued to tremble and whimper.

Shane's flight finally ended with him crashing through a wall and sailing toward an indoor pool. He skipped across the water twice and smashed into tile, creating an enormous spray of water. He knew it would take time for Cassidy to catch up to him. She wasn't super fast, and she would find surprises on the way too him.  

[PixelMuse]

Trinity grabbed her head as the mind trick kicked in. She watched Gidget's body run to the closet. She closed her eyes and smelt Theonis' sent. She looked at him remembering last night. With the wave of lust coming over She looked like she was going to pounce him any moment. No... now's ... now's not the time…. She got herself near the closet and slid down against the wall.

She heard Shane's reminder, "I know... I'm working on it..." she could not afford to lose them not right now. She just need to pull the right people down.... If Theonis was having trouble... maybe Ako could stay behind to help Shane? But Ako was effected too... Shane managed to keep it together. She looked to Christian. A few strands covered her eyes as she did so. She had to focus... Focus because her reassurance was a form of a promise. A promise that he would see his mother soon. Her wanting to protect others came to play. The side of fist connected to the wall which in turn connected to the shadow which allowed her to concentrate and focus better. Ako, Theonis, Christian, Gidget's body and lastly herself go into the shadows. Leaving Shane, Cassandra and Alexavier behind.

Trinity's eyes stopped glowing funny, her theory was right he would disconnect once in the Shadow Realm. She'll need to talk to Gidget about Shane and the others. They emerge in Gidget's lab and she lead the way to the main computer.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

The lights around Gidget began to flicker. Soon other lights in the med ward blinked on and off. The medical staff froze and backed away from Annie slowly. They knew that Gidget couldn't get angry. But that didn't mean she couldn't blow her top.

"How dare you?" She muttered. Several lights in the ward began to explode, similar to how they did in the hotel. People screamed and covered themselves. Several of the staff tried to calm Gidget down, but she could only see and hear Annie.

"You left me and the others when you ran away. Then you come back after thirteen years and aid my brother in his escape. I can forgive that, since you wanted to save your son. But now you are willing to just drop him...again...just so you can have your revenge! Because things aren't going your way?"

Gidget reached down and pulled Annie up until her friend could see the spinning disks that made up Gidget's pupils. "You want to know if there is a way to save Shane. If there was, don't you think I would have done it by now?! I had thirteen years to make something. I can make anything! But there is nothing! I don't know about the twins, I can only speculate. But I can save you. You who was already a metahuman. You who doesn't have a body that is constantly destroying and repairing itself. You who has a child that needs his mother. The only way I will ever accept him here is if you are with him, or you are dead. Don't be so damned selfish. Think about what he needs, and not what you want."

"Daedalus will fall. That I can assure you, but it will not happen by your hands Annie. It will happen with yours, mine, Trinity's, Ako's, Theonis', Larry's, and every other meta that is willing to fight them. Stop trying to take on the whole world by yourself. For once, since Charles Ray took me hostage, trust your friends."  

[Nova Blancke]

Alexavier frowned when he noticed the web being woven around Gidget as a protection. So his mind was still there. Interesting but not relevant to him. Alexavier whistled as he saw the new pathway that Cassandra had made with Shane.

"Thats your girl" He said with a smile and hugged her from behind. She still had her feral rage about her but he was able to link again with her. Most likely due to them being on the same level again.

"Let's go honey." He wrapped them both up in a protective telekinetic dome and flew through the holes. As they did so he was talking to himself again.

"Can't trust him. Never know what he is going to go. Can't trust anyone. "  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Shane waited as he saw them come after him, and that's when his experiments made their move. The spores changed the people that inhaled them into bio beasts. Deformed monstrosities of their former selves. The men, women, and children began to make a furious dash for the bubble. They had no recollection of their past selves, only the desire to feed and spread the infection to anyone not like them. They were drawn to Alexavier's psychokinetic signature like mosquitoes to blue light. They clawed and bit at the bubble mercilessly. Screaming, slobbering, and gnashing for blood.

Shane smiled. The experiment had been a partial success. All he needed was Alexavier to make the process complete. He would have full control over the bio beasts.

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

Gidget's defenses powered down once it recognized Trinity's profile. Her body screamed and then wretched all over the floor. She whimpered and curled into a ball. She soon began to wail and cry. The dark place was worse than the scary people.  

[mc2]

Annie laughed slightly as Gidget pulled her up, she probably would have kept laughing if it wasn't for the pain. "One, regarding Christian, I never wanted him in the first place," Annie snapped. "I had no choice about him. And, even now, no matter how much I try to like him and love him completely I keep seeing his father in him. Anyhow, I'm not the type of person that Christian really wants to be around."

"And it isn't a matter of things going my way or not," Annie continued, "And, I doubt you can save me any more than you can save Shane. It is kind of hard to save someone who doesn't want saving. The fact that I ran away- to Daedalus- with a good idea of what they were about, should show you that fact clear enough. I saw it more as me sacrificing myself to protect the others from my failures, such as protecting you."

"And you say I have friends?" Annie says. "It is kind of hard to have true friends if you've always lied to them about who you are. Sure, there are people I care for, some I even love, like Shane, but only a very small number of people even know everything about me and are willing to accept me for who I am. Gidget, who do you think I am? You said I'm selfish, but I'm worse than that. I'm a coward and a liar, and I have potential that I avoid showing or talking about. But, I know myself well enough to know that once I lose Shane, nothing is going to stop me from seeking revenge until I get it or I die trying. And, you will accept Christian here, regardless of me, if you are smart. Christian is dangerous, very dangerous. He's too much like his father and he's too much like me. When you have two meta-human parents who are also geniuses, it produces someone with a vast amount of potential. What are you going to do with him if I do abandon him here, put him in foster care? Wrap him up and hand him over to Daedalus?"

Annie shook her head, "I doubt that. The only way to deter me from this path is to bet on something stronger which is my love for Shane. But, you can't save him. I can't save him, only delay his unraveling at best. If I lose him, I lose myself eventually."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Gidget read Annie's expressions and nuances. She was being honest. This angered Gidget more, she couldn't wrap her mind around it. It was too much. The caring part of her finally gave way to the calculating, cold machine.

She dropped Annie back down harshly and stood above her looking down. Gidget spoke to her in a near monotone.

"You are not going crazy, you are just not as smart as you think you are. For someone who is a genius you are incredibly stupid, short sighted, and emotionally blind. You believe that you have figured everything out, and that is your greatest error. I implore you to do less thinking with your brain, and think more with the heart you are blessed to still have."

She looked around at the medical staff. "Stabilize her. Once you are finished have an ES field placed around the room so she cannot attack or melt through. I will return shortly."

Gidget looked back down at Annie one last time, her gaze soulless and empty, before taking her leave.