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

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Dawn rose over the horizon of Knoxburg, painting the city in it's warm rays. Accomanying the sunshine was a large contingent of soldiers and mercenaries, wearing both US and Daedalus colors. They followed the dawn, and their target was minutes away.

Within the walls of Valhalla, things were far from calm. Minors and those unable to venture out of their habitat had already been secured. Security, and those willing to fight, were moving to their designated positions based on their powers.

After receiving a briefing from Theonis, Crystalion, Trinity, Legio, and even the newly resurrected Alec, Gidget had worked out a plan for both offense and defense. She layed out the following directives.

1. The safety and defense of Valhalla takes top priority. No offensive actions were to be made against the incoming force. The only exception are the Daedalus soldiers, mercenaries, and meta-experiments.

2. In the event infiltration is imminent, all Valhalla forces will return inside the compound and Ragnarok Protocols will be enacted. At that point all of age residents will be expected, but not forced, to act in defense of Valhalla

3. Once the battle has begun propper, the attack team will move out to infiltrate and destroy Daedalus HQ, and hinder any plans made by eclipse to use the coming lunar eclipse to summon the Hell Star. There will be no retreat, it's all or nothing.

The infiltration and attack team Gidget decided on would consist of Trinity, Theonis, Crystalion, Rydia, Theresa and Ravan. While deeply apologetic, Gidget saw no better group of people who were capable of infiltrating, disrupting, disabling, assassinating, guiding, and obliterating the enemy once and for all. She also didn't care about any potential "love triangle bullshit." That could be sorted out if they survived the day.

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

Gidget watched the hasitly repaired monitors with anxiety and dark eyes. She hadn't slept much the night prior having been occupied with preparations.

She looked over her shoulder at Ako, who she was glad opted to stay beside her through the night, and asked, "Do you think I did enough? With everything that's happened over the last month, what if I can't protect them?"

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

Alec sat next to Kerana in her room. They had been made part of the defense and recovery teams until it was discovered that the farther away he got from Kerana, the weaker he became. Instead he was assigned as her body guard so she could heal without hinderance.

He held her in his arms. His black hair mixed and contrasted with her white hair as he laid his head on hers.

"You don't need to worry about me. As long as I'm by your side, nothing will happen to either of us. We'll make it through today, Trinity and the others will stop Eclipse, and we'll have that picnic in the sun." he whispered sweetly.

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

Rydia stood in the conference room alone with Carak. She wanted to get there before anyone else so that she could go through her mental preparations. She was adorned in a Valhalla infiltration suit that had been designed for just such an occassion. She wore a patch over her left eye and a scarf over her mouth.

Her companion whined with concern as she rubbed his head affectionately. While she wasn't looking forward to interaction with the head strong Ravan again, she felt more than confident that the older Liv would be able to keep the girl under control for the purpose of the mission.

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

Heather, having been lumped with the other fire meta's on outter defense, felt a quiet rumble working itself up inside of her. The knew it was the dragon instincts, the overpowering desire to protect her home and treasures driving her temper to what would almost assuradly be another full transformation if things got bad enough.

She parted with Liv reluctantly, who had been placed at the entrance to disrupt powers in the event another meta like the head popping kid got close enough. She kept telling herself that her worries were unfounded, and that Liv was perfectly able to take care of herself.

Her thoughts also ocassionally turned to Deora. Once she had found out that Deora had also been visited by an ancient ghost, she felt a strange sense of bonding with the water meta. She figured it may be because of their elemental polarity. A bond of fire and water.

She shook her head in an effort to clear any distractions from her mind. Valhalla was her home, her cave...and no one was going to rob her of the treasures within.

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

Damien sat with the other children his age. Though he was nearly as powerful as his parents, the both od them decided it would be best if he stayed out of the conflict.

That was fine by him. He refused to do anything the night before after escaping the realm of death. He decided that he was no longer going to be a pawn of the old ones that had whispered to him.

"Let Legio do it." he had said with a huff of defiance.

Even though his newly discovered rebelious nature had made him somewhat apathetic, he hoped nothing would happen to anyone from the place where he had been born. Most of all, he hoped nothing would happen to Cassandra and Alexavier.  

[BeaMichelle]

Ravan finished putting on the infiltration suit she was given. She had to admit that it was a lot more comfortable than it looked. What really impressed her was that it didn't restrict her movement at all. Then she remembered who it was that had designed the suit.

She looked over to Crystalion and huffed, "Ok, you were right. It feels like I'm wearing almost nothing."

She then approached the woman and asked, "Why does it have to be us? Aren't there other metas like me that can suck a building into a black hole? Why aren't they asking the younger you to go? I mean, we just got done fighting. One night of sleep and here we go again? This is bullshit."

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

Once Thea had woken up, she wanted to be with Theonis again. Then he explained Gidget's plan to her. She was sad, and scared, but then Theonis assured her that he'd be there too. That made her feel much better, and then for the first time in her life she was able to get a full night's rest without fear of bad men in white coats.

The morning, however, belonged to her more volitile half. Theresa wss more than happy to guide them through the facility, and the idea of destroying it and the men that had tortured her actually made her smile.

She admonished Theonis as she felt he took much to long to get ready. In her limited experience, Theresa didn't think about the possability that he was distracted.

"Hurry, Theonis. I want to make the bad men hurt like I hurt. Make them die and go away." she plead.  

[Nova Blancke]

Crystalion was happy to get some good rest. Every one got a full nights of rest. Though some woke up a few times out of habit, they quickly fell back asleep. Though there wasn't enough time last night to fully explain everything. She was adamant on fixing Theo's and Trinity's relationship after this was done. After that she would make her apologize for ignoring Leo and breaking his poor heart.

The suit she was wearing did nothing to hide her features but she did not mind. It has been a while since she felt like a woman. Being among people again made her more aware of that. She wouldn't flaunt it or anything like her younger self has done. No, she was more mature like that. Her attention switched to Ravan.

"Well sweetie I am basically on big bundle of experience. Plus I've got a wide array of powers to use. Versatile ya know. Plus the whole traveling through light is useful. As for you...I can't remember ever knowing or hearing about another Meta like yourself. And it doesn't matter where we run to. Fighting will always be part of our lives in some shape or form. I'd take this over those monsters every day."

Theo was indeed a bit more distracted than usually. Trinity's things were already gone. Did she plan this? Sometimes he could not understand that woman but he stuck with his guns. He would give her some more time. But there was so much to do right now. Perhaps even more after. He'd have to keep Theresa in check,who seemed hellbent on wrecking the HQ more than anyone here. There was a nagging in the back of his head. Perhaps....they would be forced to fight his dad. There had been no more contact besides the recordings he left for them. In which he stated that they found something in his blood that made him a target for the experiments.

Something Theonis himself was aware of for a while. Growth was continuous. The body kept adapting instead of well...not. There hadn't been any other Meta's who kept changing like him. First the head and then the eyes.

"Yeah yeah, don't rush me Theresa. Got a lot of things on my mind right now."  

[The Count of Monte Carlo]

Rikki Tikki Travi

Gidget watched the hasitly repaired monitors with anxiety and dark eyes. She hadn't slept much the night prior having been occupied with preparations.

She looked over her shoulder at Ako, who she was glad opted to stay beside her through the night, and asked, "Do you think I did enough? With everything that's happened over the last month, what if I can't protect them?"

Ako stepped up from his resting place behind Gidget to slip an arm around her waist and pull her to his side. "If you've done all you can, you've done enough. I can't see any way we could be more prepared than we are now."

He was nervous as hell. He'd gotten keyed up for fights before, but nothing like this. Part of him wished he was up on the front line, so he could get into the fight faster, but Gidget was right to have him down here with her. There were younger, more capable metas out there on the defense, freeing him up to guard Gidget. In the event any soldiers made it this far, a recently restored lightning meta was not someone he'd want to meet in a hallway.  

[Deora_Alvarez]

Panic was starting to grip Deora's heart. While she was grouped with other water metas, she hardly knew them. She felt alone, facing an enormous threat. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves, but it didn't help. This wasn't like fighting someone after her in the streets. She couldn't just distract them and run away. She had to fight for her life. She didn't know how to deal with that, even with her new powers. She felt far too exposed out here in the open, with her familiar buildings and alleys to hide in.  

[PixelMuse]

After submitting her report to Gidget. Gidget pointed out what Legio has done. After that and before Theo entered she went back to her room.

It was the room Gidget and she once shared at one point but as of right now it was set up just for her. She had submitted her request when she was arranging things for the kids from the future. She thought the day would never end but she didn't think it would end like this.

She plopped herself on the bed of lights and looked to the ceiling. Wondering if she could have handled it better but the moment still stung her like a cut from a knife. She had a heart to heart with Sil regarding Theonis. It was made clear to her that the Liv she spoke to last was not the one from this timeline and that her son was there witnessing her breaking up with his dad. She resolved to apologize to future Liv and her son. But Theo was another matter entirely. She would stick to her MO and be professional.

On that note, she went to sleep with the mattress on. She missed the fact she didn’t have to worry about this when she was with Theonis. But she figured she didn’t need to be in bed with Theonis to honor the memory of her senseis.

Morning came, the briefing came and went. Though part of her wasn't sure if she could trust Legio. She trusted him with caution. Though knowing that Freya was within did help. Hopefully, she could still steer him in the right direction. After the briefing, she saw future Liv or as everyone was calling her, Crystalian. She took a moment to apologize to her that she had understandably mistaken her for someone else. She directed her to someone else she needed to apologize to, her son.

She entered the room where her son was. He was talking to Dawn, like father, like son she thought to herself as she focused on her son from a distance. She could see a little of her and a little of Theo, there’s no denying who’s kid it was. She just wished she’d realized sooner.

There was a pause in the conversation. She saw the look on his face, she felt awful that she made him feel that way she needed to fix it starting with an apology. She took a deep breath, “I’m sorry to both of you about yesterday, especially you, Leo … yesterday was quite a mess. When you came to see me, you must have looked forward to it. Then that was met with me breaking up with Theo… your dad in a sense.” She sighed to herself, “Not the first impression I wanted to make and not the best way to meet your mother in an alternate timeline. That moment I was too focused that my surroundings became a blur and I ignored a son who wanted to meet me. I hope you can forgive me and I hope we can start over… If … you don’t want to talk to me right now I understand. It was rather terrible what happened yesterday.”

[EDITED]  

[Nova Blancke]

Liv was standing outside. She felt great. It had been a literal month since she had last gotten a good night of sleep. The fact that she woke up with Heather was also a nice touch. Yesterday had been a long long day indeed. Finally getting rid of the voices, Rydia's people, attack on Valhalla, followed by another and then it ended with a sexy shower. Sure she collapsed shortly afterwards. But that was nice. Last she remembered was that Rydia took care of her but she hadn't seen her since. She really wasn't fit to take care of a kid. I mean she was supposed to take care of Rydia.

Liv stretched and her suit did nothing to hide her form. Sure there were people looking but she didn't mind. She had never been bothered by it before so why start now? Besides she had worn the same suit the day before so it's not like it was unfamiliar territory. Her zipper wasn't fully closed as it should be. Liv did after all like to show off some skin.

Her job here was simple. Cancel the ability's of Meta's that managed to get close. After that...well...no one stated that she couldn't snack on their powers. Her all-seeing eyes were also a great benefit. Now all she had to do was wait.

Alexavier was also outside. But he was just floating in place reading a book. Something he enjoyed doing these days. His rainbow colored hair danced as if submerged like it always did. The colors shifting subtly constantly.  

[BeaMichelle]

Nova Blancke

"Well sweetie I am basically on big bundle of experience. Plus I've got a wide array of powers to use. Versatile ya know. Plus the whole traveling through light is useful. As for you...I can't remember ever knowing or hearing about another Meta like yourself. And it doesn't matter where we run to. Fighting will always be part of our lives in some shape or form. I'd take this over those monsters every day."

"Yeah yeah, don't rush me Theresa. Got a lot of things on my mind right now."

Ravan just rolled her eyes and huffed. She agreed with Crystalion on the monster fighting front, but she hated the notion of endless fighting. She was tired of it. Fighting for survival had been essential for most of her life. Her earliest memories were of being alone and using her powers to escape the biobeasts. It wasn't any better after she was found by Theonis. Although she wasn't alone, there were people that she actually cared about in her life. It made the struggle all the more desperate.

She fidgeted in place for a second before reluctantly asking, "Do you think, once we're done, that the fighting will stop? At least for a little bit?"

She was reluctant to ask, because she wasn't sure that she'd like the answer.

Theresa rolled around impatiently on the bed and insisted, "Things need to be off your mind. Too much stuff makes mistakes happen. You need to think of fighting only. Only thing that matters when danger of being hurt."

She paused for a moment as she contemplated the only other thing that came to mind.

"But I am thinking about Doctor Ackoolah. He tried to be nice. To make the hurt stop. I don't really want him to be dead like I want the other doctors to be dead."  

[BeaMichelle]

Dawn listened to Trinity with equal parts distain and sympathy. By the time Leo's alternate mother was done speaking, she had found herself a bit misty eyed despite herself. She looked over to Leo and nodded her head in Trinity's direction, urging him to approach the apologetic woman before them.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

PixelMuse

There was a pause in the conversation. She saw the look on his face, she felt awful that she made him feel that way she needed to fix it starting with an apology. She took a deep breath, “I’m sorry to both of you about yesterday, especially you, Leo … yesterday was quite a mess. When you came to see me, you must have looked forward to it. Then that was met with me breaking up with Theo… your dad in a sense.” She sighed to herself, “Not the first impression I wanted to make and not the best way to meet your mother in an alternate timeline. That moment I was too focused that my surroundings became a blur and I ignored a son who wanted to meet me. I hope you can forgive me and I hope we can start over… If … you don’t want to talk to me right now I understand. It was rather terrible what happened yesterday.”

Leo caught his sister's motioning and took a deep breath. He stood up from the chair he was occupying and walked up to Trinity. He stopped at about arms reach and kept his eyes mostly on the ground. He would occasionally glance up at her, but it wss incredibly difficult for him to maintain eye contact with her for more than a few seconds.

With an unsure stutter in his breath he said, "I was three when you...I mean, the other you, died fighting the biobeasts. I don't remember much of anything about her, but the one thing I still rember was her silhouette from when she'd look down at me. No eyes, no smile, not even her voice, just the hair and the ears."

"When Gidg- our Gidget, found a way to harness Ravan's power to bring us here, the thing I looked forward to most was putting a face to the Silhouette."

"It's like you said...it wasn't a very good first impression. At that moment yesterday, the face I had to put to my memory was one of anger and sadness. I think that hurt the most, even more than being ignored."

"But now, as I look at you. I have this overwhelming urge that Mom- I call Dawn's mom that too, since she helped raise and protect me after you- I mean, my Mother died. Anyway, she warned me not to get too excited at the idea of bonding to this world's parents to the same degree that we were bonded back where we came from"

He chuckled nervously and rubbed his eyes with his forearm. He continued, "I'm rambling. Sorry. Normaly I'm the picture of calm. But now..."

He huffed in an attempt to fight the deluge of emotion that was threatening to overtake him. He finaly looked up at Trinity and shakingly said, "She warned me, but I have to ask...Moth-Miss Smith...would it be alright if I could...if you...if possibly..."

He couldn't bring himself to ask. His voice steadily silenced itself as he tried so hard to ask the woman in front of him (a virtual stranger) if she'd hold him, even if it were just for a moment.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

The Count of Monte Carlo

Ako stepped up from his resting place behind Gidget to slip an arm around her waist and pull her to his side. "If you've done all you can, you've done enough. I can't see any way we could be more prepared than we are now."

Gidget sighed and leaned into Ako's embrace. Her head found comfortable puchase on the area where his shoulder met his chest. She loved how safe Ako made her feel. Even all those years ago, when she had been taken by Charles Ray, she knew he'd save her from that torment. She felt safe knowing that her prince would come.

Now that prince was by her side. She felt that as long as he was there to watch over her, and their unborn child, that they might just make it.

Her monitor beeped. It was the early warning notification. The encroaching force was almost at maximum range for artillary fire.

She quickly squirmed out of Ako's embrace and started to swiftly press a sequence of switches and buttons that made sense only to her. She said quietly to herself, "Mom, Dad, Shane...If you can hear me...watch over us."

She activated the her side of the communications to the fire, water, and psychic metas.

"They're almost here, but it's nothing we can't handle with proper coordination. Fire and water teams, you're positioned on adjascent corners of the campus. Concentrate your powers on the center area between you at forty-five degrees, and about thirty feet off of the ground to create a conceilement of steam. That should keep them from getting a visual on us, and screw with any thermal imaging they may have."

"Psychics, be on the lookout for an initial artillary bombardment. Also keep your ears and minds open for possible airstrikes."

Heather and the other fire metas followed their given directions and shot their flames toward the specified area to meet with the water metas streams.

Deora_Alvarez

 

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

He huffed in an attempt to fight the deluge of emotion that was threatening to overtake him. He finaly looked up at Trinity and shakingly said, "She warned me, but I have to ask...Moth-Miss Smith...would it be alright if I could...if you...if possibly..."

He couldn't bring himself to ask. His voice steadily silenced itself as he tried so hard to ask the woman in front of him (a virtual stranger) if she'd hold him, even if it were just for a moment.

She saw the boy, her son from another time and now the hardships he endured to get here. The moment he hinted she hugged him close. She was so worried that after all of that that it would have tarnished whatever attempt she tried to make things right.

”I’m sorry you had to endure all of this. I’m sorry you had to endure so much without me there. You may be from another timeline and though I may have not raised you…” she patted the back of the boy’s head “you can call me…mom.” She had dreaded this notion before. The title meant she had to retire from battle to take care of the little one. But that dread faded, this boy needed this anchor in this timeline and she couldn’t deny him that.

As he looked to her eyes there were signs of tears streaked down her cheeks, “Just know it may take me some getting used to.” she said with a smirk. “There’s a lot I missed and hopefully we’ll make it back alive so that we can have the opportunity to get to know each other better.”

—————————————————————————

Rikki Tikki Travi

He held her in his arms. His black hair mixed and contrasted with her white hair as he laid his head on hers.

"You don't need to worry about me. As long as I'm by your side, nothing will happen to either of us. We'll make it through today, Trinity and the others will stop Eclipse, and we'll have that picnic in the sun." he whispered sweetly.

At first with the upcoming battle she thought it was for certain that she would be told to sit on the sidelines like every battle before. Although her exterior and powers have evolved she was still the same girl on the inside. She hasn’t been much of a fighter. When it was confirmed that Alec’s survival depended on her she couldn’t let him down. Though she was happy to be by his side she was saddened at the fact he needed to be close to her, limiting how far he could go.

She snuggled with him while in his arms and was comforted by his words. She wondered if this was considered cheating death in a way, if he was able to say with some certainty that Eclipse would be stopped and they would survive. No cautionary “if” it was “will”. She decided to not let this train of thought ruin the moment.

“I’d like that very much, my love.” she looked to him and placed the sweetest kiss she could give.
 

[Nova Blancke]

"It should. This won't last forever. That I know. If Valhalla remains under constant fire well...it's a big world out there. We can go anywhere. Sure there will always be hardships but that's just life ya know?" Crystalion responded." This is just another day. Think about the here and now like we always do."

She looked over to Leo and Trinity and couldn't help but smile. He needed that.

"Easier said than done. There's a lot more at stake here. But I need you to promise me that you'll listen to me even if you don't like it okay? If one thing goes wrong it can all go wrong." Theo asked her a lot more serious than before. Her mentioning of his dad was something that did bother him. Last thing he knew was that Daedelus would experiment on him because of something that Theo himself already knew. Their blood was much more accepting of the changes the meteors bring.

His suit certainly felt....exposing. An odd feeling for him but he couldn't argue the quality of it. Gidget made it after all.

"Let's meet up with the others. Come on."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

PixelMuse

”I’m sorry you had to endure all of this. I’m sorry you had to endure so much without me there. You may be from another timeline and though I may have not raised you…” she patted the back of the boy’s head “you can call me…mom.” She had dreaded this notion before. The title meant she had to retire from battle to take care of the little one. But that dread faded, this boy needed this anchor in this timeline and she couldn’t deny him that.

As he looked to her eyes there were signs of tears streaked down her cheeks, “Just know it may take me some getting used to.” she said with a smirk. “There’s a lot I missed and hopefully we’ll make it back alive so that we can have the opportunity to get to know each other better.”

While being held, at first, Leo just stood there with wide glistening eyes. After a few seconds he nervously returned the embrace with a gentle hug of his own.

When she pat his head, and gave him permission to call her mom, that was when the levee broke. While he did not weep as openly as Ravan had the day before, he did cry freely and shook every few seconds. His grip tightened slightly, and sighed with a sort of content he had never before thought possible.

He saw the traces of her tears, and the sincerity of her eyes. He nodded his head and whispered, "I think I'd really like that.........Mom."