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

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Gidget cleared her throat and said, "Anyway, we've managed to temporarily stabilize Chariot thanks to Doctor Acula's input. But it wont last long. She woke up for a second and asked to speak to Theresa. After seeing the way this one reacted, I'm not sure if that's such a good idea. Plus there's what you said before, about Chariot being a sadist. But, we can only hold her together for so long...and I think she knows that. This may be her attempt at a mea culpa. You know more about these girls outside of what I've read in documents. What do you think?"

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

"I...don't know." Leo said awkwardly. "I've never really thought about it or had time to consider it."

"So the Gidget here is human? That's interesting. Ours was still a machine. Although Mom did mention an "old Gidget" before. Someone named Agatha, I think. She didn't like to talk about it, and our Gidget would only say that it was a regrettable situation. Widget, the ball AI you saw yesterday, probably has more information on that. She's supposed to be a compeg, compedi...a collection of everything that happened in our time incase the worst comes to pass here."

He looked down at his hands and smiled slightly. "But, for the first time in my life, I don't think we have to worry about the worst happening. There're so many people and powers here that we didn't even know about where we're from. Especially you. Mom said you, I mean the other you, were strong, but not create a hurricane strong."

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

Lokelonni considered his words for a moment and then nodded. "That is a very accurate and objective description of her. All but that last word you used. Interesting. That's more subjective. So perhaps I should ask a more personal, and potentially difficult, question."

"How do you feel about her?" she asked with tone that was more curious than dangerous.

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

Heather huffed in amusement, with her own weak smile, and said, "I'd hardly be alone, but I get what you're saying. I don't know exactly what happened with your sister, only what I heard while the two of you were on my back yesterday. You're scared, but you're pushing yourself to do what you think is right. I think she'd be proud of you."

She moved her right hand to Liv's left and interlaced her fingers with the her girlfriend's. Heh, girlfriend. That notion amused her. She never thought she'd find another woman that'd accept her glaring flaws. But she looking right into the blue eyes of one who did.

"I wont let anything happen to you. You're my treasure, Liv. Not in the I own and horde you sense, but in the precious rarity sense. And there's nothing a dragon guards more viscously than it's treasure."  

[Nova Blancke]

"I'd like to think so." She responded.

"I mean....I am quite a catch. I don't mind being your treasure. Who else can say they have a dragon as a girlfriend?" She joked and gently kisses her.

"You taste like chicken....."

"Mea what?" Cassandra responded.

She looked to Theresa and back to Gidget.
"They've had to adapt to survive. Luna might be the sanest of the bunch. I think if we tell Theresa that and be there with her in that room. It'll be fine. She knows nothing can hurt me, trust me....they've tried. Chariot knows this as well."

"Well...time to find out I guess."

"Yeah we might have to look into that. If I know Gidget she'd have notes of everything no matter how small. Especially if she was still full on robot. After Legion we recovered her body. That's why yours never did."

"Really? I feel like I could have done that before. It'd just take longer and be a bit more complex. Maybe not at that scale though. it helps that this is literally a different power Still...I am not sure if I could have beaten future me at the top of his game. Combat Experience and all that."

"But yeah, welcome to a more peaceful world."

This time he visibly raised his eye brow.

"I value her opinion." He stated.

Crys was frantically checking him over.

"I think it's because I stayed too long." She said before looking at the small box what looked liked to be a button. An emergency button? It'd still take too long. She reached out and grabbed Ravan while holding on to Tom with her other hand. With a flash they were gone and in the medical ward where she instantly pressed the button and called for her for Tom.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Heather giggled, "I guess there are worse things to taste like. I'm just glad I don't taste like smoke."

There was a knocking and scratching sound at the door. Heather's smile melted immediately. "Ugh, that'd better not be Damien. I told him to wait until tomorrow."

Heather rolled out of bed, trudged over to the door, opened it to find a wobbly cat woman in front of her holding a carafe in one hand and four small ceramic cups in the other.

"Greetings ladies!" squeaked Rydia.

"Wh- Rydia?! What're you doing here? Are you drunk?"

"Pfft, what? No. I'm tipsy. That's different. As to your first question, I am here to forge bonds and spread merriment through the magic of saké. Deora will assist."

"Wha-?"

Deora shuffled up from behind Rydia with an armful of carafes. She shrugged apologetically and said, "I'm so sorry. I was cornered by the princess and a werewolf that said they were related. Her aunt put these in my arms and told me to follow Rydia. I didn't think she'd lead me here. I know you and Liv want some alone time."

Heather inhaled through her teeth and said, "Yeah, now's not really a good time. Besides, I don't turn 21 for another two months, and I think Deora is underage too."

"Underage shmunderage. You put your lives on the line to protect this fortress. You deserve a drink. We may all die in five months, but the drinking starts now!"

Rydia stuck her head over Heather's shoulder and called out, "Liv, surely you wish to imbibe in this glorious nectar from the land of the rising sun!"

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

"Mea culpa. It means a confession and apology. Sorry, I was raised Catholic."

She listened closely to Cassandra's suggestion and nodded. She shook Theresa's shoulder to rouse her. Once Gidget was confident that the teen was coherent she said, "Theresa, sweetie. The girl in there, Chariot, wants to talk to you. I think it'd be a good idea to hear what she has to say. I know you guys have a bad history, but you don't have to worry. Cassandra, Ako, and I will all be there to make sure she doesn't hurt you. Okay?"

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

Leo chuckled, "Hrm, I guess it would be. That small army was a lot easier to deal with than a bunch of screaming monsters with a hive mentality."

"Speaking of which, are they done? Daedalus I mean. I heard you went to their base to stop their leader and free the captives, right?"

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

"But why? What is it about her opinion, specifically, that you value? What do you feel when she's on your mind?" She pressed.  

[BeaMichelle]

Theresa's head bobbed as she listened to Gidget. Chariot hadn't wanted to just talk in almost two years. She didn't like the idea of being close to Chariot, but she did like the idea of good adults being in the room with her.

She rolled her head toward Cassandra and nodded sleepily. "Okay." she whispered.

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

The box signaled a response team that specialized in the after effects of Tom's ability. They rushed to the source of the trackers signal thanks to devices handed to them by Gidget. They were pleased to see that they didn't have to go to far.

"Thank you ladies, we'll take it from here."

"Jesus Christ! Is he-?"

"Not yet. Whatever he fixed must've been rooted deep. I've never seen him this bad before."

Ravan quickly made room for the medical team and exited into the hall. She waited for Crystalion to exit and asked her, "Who was that boy? What do you mean you stayed too long?"  

[Nova Blancke]

"Well you're going to have to wake up a bit more than that if you want tor remember what she will say" Cassandra told Theresa.

"You can sleep afterwards okay?"

Crys helped the team get Tom on a bed and stepped out to give them their space. Once outside she took a deep breath.

"That's how I got in your head when you were asleep. His power let me do that. I had no idea how much strain it put on him. He's in good hands now but be sure to properly thank him afterwards."

"Stil need to follow up on that. That was their HQ and we mostly went there to stop Eclipse which succeeded." He sighed. There was so much that needed to be done." I will certainly make it known to the leaders of this dear country what happened in here. They were used to kill civilians. We should have plenty of data from our little raid so I hope Daedelus is over now. But time will tell. I wouldn't be surprised if they continue in top secret because well...who would throw away new high-tech information when it can give your country an edge? Especially when it comes to our kind......I would like a public apology or something like that for what they did."

"Your world was certainly less complicated."

"Smoked chicken then?" Liv joked.

She hated that Heather got up but followed her with her eyes and leaned out a bit to watch her walk away. Nice a**

Her thoughts were interrupted by what seemed to be a drunk ex-princess. She sighed.

"I was working up to getting laid before you barged in though. So that's ruined now. So might as well. Unless Heather doesn't want to."

"At the moment, nothing. Is there a purpose to this line of questioning?"Legio asked.  

[BeaMichelle]

"My...head? You mean psychic stuff? But I don't-"

Her sentence was cutoff by the fall of a single tear from the outside corner of her right eye. Visibly confused, she wiped it off and wondered why she would cry. She didn't feel particularly sad or angry. But why not? She was furious before she knocked herself out. She then put her hand to her head and recollected everything that had been unlocked during Crystalion's jaunt through her psyche, but not about the journey itself. She didn't know anything about what Crystalion went through to correct her memories. She put a tender hand to her head and felt the scar that she'd never known was there.

"I remember now. You...she didn't throw me away. She called me Kit." she recalled in a hushed tone. "That boy made it so you could help me remember? But why? I tried to kill you and everyone else."

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

Theresa nodded and gently pushed herself out of Theresa's grasp. "I think I can walk now. Head, still a little fuzzy, but I can walk."

Accompanied by two of her favorite adults so far, Theresa walked into the room and cautiously approached Chariot's bedside. She had never seen the usually manic girl in such a sorry state. It almost made her feel sorry for her tormentor. Almost.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Leo looked down at his hands and replied, "It was, until the sun was blocked and the monsters got smart. Then things became much, much more complex. Whatever the Hellstar is, it being there was the beginning of the end for us. Thankfully, we had Ravan's power and Gidget's invention to get us here."

The mention of Ravan made him go quiet for a moment. He tapped the tips of his fingers together and then raised his head up to look at Theonis. "Can...I ask you something?" he muttered. "About women?"

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

Heather thought for a moment, sighed with a smile and shrugged. "Ya know, I'm pretty sure drinking while underage is a lesser charge than murder, so why no-"

Rydia suddenly straightened up and interjected, "Splendid, but it seems I have committed what my late father would refer to as a 'party foul.'"

She shoved the carafe and cups into Heather's open arms.

"Wh-hey!" Exclaimed the confused fire meta.

"As such, I will take my leave of this merry get together. That doesn't mean that the three of you shouldn't bond over drinks and certain shared interests."

The princess took a sliding step back and guided a very confused Deora over the threshold. "Food is on the way, curtesy of yours truly. Eat, drink, be merry. Fornicate if the mood strikes. The night is young. Until later."

The door slammed behind a red faced Deora, who then looked over her shoulder and spat, "Oh, you royal b***h."

Deora turned her gaze back toward a flabbergasted and mortified Heather. She then turned her attention to Liv and swallowed hard. "Hey...Liv. Feeling better?" she asked nervously.

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

Rydia's ear twitched when she heard Deora's biting comment. But the princess grinned nonetheless. I did a good thing. They'll thank me later she proudly thought to herself. She was stone cold sober, and not ready to turn in yet.

She pulled the device Gidget gave her out of a pouch strapped to her upper right arm. She typed in a first name to search for an assigned room number. For the life of her she couldn't remember the surname. As luck would have it, there was only one person baring the name she entered.

The lights along the edge of the floor lit up and guided her toward Alexavier and Cassandra's room.

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

"I have two, actually." Lokelonni corrected. "The first is that, in spite of Fenris' being an amalgam from the child and pup I raised, I am her still her mother. Thus, I feel that I am in my right to know the motivations and ideals of anyone who has inserted themselves into her life. Especially through such unorthodox means."

"The second purpose is for your benefit. She said that what you had offered as an explanation was 'not enough.' Freya had her heart shattered when she was still a teenager. Since then she has been unable to accept anything that she sees as without mutual benefit. No doubt Fenris has inherited the same neurosis. If you are unwilling or unable to explain your motivations in the most honest, minute, and complete detail she will not trust you. She needs to trust you in order for your plan to work. If not she will never accept your help, and you will find your pelvis kicked up into your ribs."  

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

[…]
After Trinity made her selection, Sil clapped her hands together and beamed. "Excellent!" she exclaimed. "Delayed command is one of my favorite applications of shadow control."

She snapped her fingers and changed their location from a field to a forest in Krabi, Thailand with many skinny trees but little canopy. The sun sat at a point where there were countless parallel shadows created by the trees. Silhouette put her hands behind her back and circled Trinity while she spoke. She made sure to touch each shadow in her path as she spoke.

"As you know, a fight is almost never fought while standing still. You will be on the move, and there may be times where you don't have a perfect opportunity to use your own shadow. That's where delayed command comes to play."

Silhouette stopped. That's when she shadows she stepped on began to act. Pikes burst upward from each one, but not in the order she'd walked through them. They were seemingly random and were gone shortly after they appeared.

"To start, delayed command requires three things. Energy (or ki as your mentors call it) to anchor the command, a shape for it to take, and a time for it to activate. The more complex, large, and delayed the shape is, the more energy it takes. It also uses a bit more energy to use delayed command than direct command."

Silhouette waved her hands toward the trees and said, "Now, try and replicate what I just did to the best of your ability. When you're confident, I'll show you the evolution of delayed command. Trigger delay."

Trinity looked around as the environment changed. Although the forest was foreign and unfamiliar to her the shadow possibilities are all too familiar. So much so that whenever she was in a forest it felt like she was home. This may be partially because her ancestor spent a good chunk of her life running in the woods away from bounty hunters.

She paid attention closely to what Sil had to say about the technique. With her experience of learning from her sanseis various shadow manipulation techniques it didn't take long for her to get the hang of it. As she tried it was a little rough at first but more refined as she went. "Like that right?"  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Ako watched as Cassandra, Gidget, and Theresa entered the room. He and Gidget made eye contact. Ako nodded to his girl then placed a hand on Chariot's shoulder. "Hey, Chariot. Your sister is here." he said in a hushed tone while he shook her gently.

Chariot's eyes fluttered open, but the light that had been there was as faded as the area around her eyes was dark. Her lids half opened, she turned her head toward the girl she called Rock and smiled.

"Changed your hair again, huh? Are you another? Naw, they must've fixed you here. Hehe. Can't fix me, though. Medicine isn't here, and they took the master's worm out of my head. Heh. Guess that means I'm dying. Never even though of it. Dying. It hurts. Hehe. Hurts about as much as anything you did to us. I think I'm scared, but I can't stop laughing. Hehehehe."

She reached up and scratched her head. Something felt strange as she did. She put her hand in her lap and giggled maniacally as she looked down at the hair and pieces of skin that were stuck under her fingernails.

"There's a lady's voice...in my head. She's telling me I need to give you something. I don't know how, though. She says I may as well make my death mean something. So, Rock...no, Theresa. Can you do me a solid and kill me quick? I know at least part of you has always wanted to."

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

"Well done. It's no surprise that you can pick up on more advanced techniques as quickly as you do. Teshoumaru and Freya taught you well."

"Now, for trigger delay. Two of the three requirements are needed. Energy and shape. But this time, instead of focusing on a time you focus on a motion."

Silhouette raised her open hand in front of her, palm side down. She paused for a few seconds and then close her hand. The shadows that she had stepped in before burst forth with a variety of shapes. Spikes, snakes, vines, there was even a cat that hopped from one shadow to the next like a jumping fountain. As soon as the cat made contact with it's target shadow, a shadow dragon burst forth and swallowed the feline before it dropped back into the darkness it came from.

Sil lowered her hand and took a breath before she continued. "The amount of energy it takes to place a trigger is just a little more than creating a delay, but it requires a mental tether that needs to be maintained with a constant flow of your energy to keep it in place until the motion is made. The flow of energy needed its actually quite minimal, but placing multiple trigger delays that need to be maintained can add up quickly. The motion can either be one of your choosing, such as my closing hand, or a condition that is met such as something stepping foot in the shadow. "

"Considering who trained you, you might be comfortable with using kuji in hand signs or something similar. That way you can specify which trap you want to spring. Oh! And to make a shadow jump like that cat did requires an exit and entrance shadow. It's a great way to catch someone in midair off guard and has the added bonus of making children smile at gatherings."

Sil then stepped back and sat down on a tree stump. "I am eager to see what the imagination of a kunoichi is capable of." she said with a smile. "Again, when you're confident, I'll show you how to weave shadows into your clothes. Or we can play a game and see who can trap who first using delays and triggers."

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

"Gotcha. Name...D.O.B....parents...ugh, turns out even supernatural tech can be slow to load. That's something I'll have to have looked at when I go back. Ah, there we go."

Alec stepped next to Kerana and held it so that way she could see the user interface. To anyone in the know, the display was far from user friendly and looked like the MySpace page of an angst ridden fifteen year old. Red text on a black background, poorly cropped laughing skeleton gifs, and an inordinate number of drop down boxes. There was a drop down box next to Peter Carter's primary profile information.

"See, from here I can look up all kinds of things, but we want to know where he is so I tap on this box. Then I tap location. Then I tap current location. Then I tap on this spot on the map to bring up a real time stream of what he's doing right this moment." Alec said proudly, unaware of how cumbersome his U.I. was.

"And it looks like he's at his primary address of record. Alive and without any form of injury or illness. That's good. You want to see what he's up to?"  

[BeaMichelle]

Theresa narrowed her eyes and glared at Chariot. They were the eyes of the killer within. "As much as I want to kill you," she hissed. Her eyes softened and were closer to the innocent within. "I don't think these people would want me to. These are nice, good people. I want to do things that make them smile."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Chariot smiled sadly and picked the hair and skin from under her fingers. Upon the last pull, she accidentally removed one of her own fingernails. She looked up at Gidget pitiably.

Gidget nodded and adjust the flow of an IV line that was attached just below Chariot's inner right elbow. "I'm sorry, but this is the best I can do. You're starting to deteriorate faster than the chemicals can stabilize you."

Chariot sighed and returned her attention to Theresa. "You see what's happening to me? I don't want to die, but it can't be stopped. I don't want this. I don't want to fall apart until I die. You know what it takes to kill us. You can do it fast."

Gidget looked over to Theresa and said, "I would normally never condone something like this, but I think what she's asking for would be a mercy compared to what's going to happen soon. She said earlier that she wanted it to be you.

Gidget then looked over to the one person who would normally go into mother bear mode before allowing a child to be hurt. From what Cassandra said earlier, though, there was no love loss between herself and Chariot.

"From what I read, you've known these two longer than I have. If Theresa refused to do it, would you be willing to put Chariot out of her misery?"  

[Nova Blancke]

Liv was at a loss of words for Rydia's actions. That socially inept princess....She would definitely get a talking to after all of this. Liv already had a nice idea forming when Deora spoke to her. They haven't really talked before. Heather had been...well...more intimate.

"Eh...yeah, A bath does wonders."

"I have neither of those. I do understand your point. However, I also do not believe I possess the answer that would be satisfactory to you or her for that matter. I said I would help her because I could, because I know that I am able to."

"Ooooh boy, Sure, go ahead. I might not have the answers as women are just...hard to understand sometimes. Especially when they expect you to pick up subtle hints. Us men are dense, we can't see that s**t. Anyway, ask."

Without skipping a beat Cassandra responded with a "Yes." She might come across as more stoic now but her hair and eyes betrayed her as it turned into a softer shade of blue.

Crys flicked Ravan's forehead.

"Do you really need to ask? You're my daughter. Always have been since the moment Theo brought you back. Why wouldn't I do everything I can to help you?"

"You lost, Princess?" A voice echoed in Rydia's head.  

[BeaMichelle]

Theresa considered Gidget's words, Chariot's plea. and Cassandra's confirmation. She shuffled sideways a bit more until she was able to look down into her sister's eyes. They had been trying to hurt and kill each other since the dark man came and changed "the copies of Rock." It was the perfect opportunity, and Theresa found herself hesitating. "Is it because I'm complete now?" she wondered. On that same note, she also didn't like to see someone is such pain and distress. Gidget said it would be a mercy, Cassandra would be willing to kill a child, and Chariot was asking to die.

Theresa closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath in. She took hold of Chariot's left hand in both of hers and exhaled just as slowly. She opened her eyes and gave Chariot a knowing, and confirming look. Theresa took a step back, reconfigured her right hand into a simple one sided blade, then crossed her arm in front of her chest and over her left shoulder.

"Goodbye...Cherry."

Without any further hint of reluctance, Theresa struck.

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

"Ack!" Ravan chirped when Crystalion's finger came in contact with her forehead. She pouted and rubbed her forehead while the older woman spoke.

Daughter. Crystalion had always called her that. The other kids would either call their guardian matron Mother or Miss Liv depending on their age. Of course Leo and Dawn called her Mom, but Ravan could never bring herself to do it. It was too painful. Ever the black sheep, she insisted on calling the woman who raised her Liv. But it had been true all along. Ravan was the daughter of a Liv Crystalion. However...

"I...still don't think I can call you Mom. Not yet. I need some time to go through everything that's in my head now." she said regrettably.

She took a few steps forward and slowly wrapped her arms around Crystalion's torso. Ravan then uttered something that she felt should've been said years ago. "Thank you, for saving me."

Then the dam broke.

It wasn't like the day before. That was a venting of pent up battle fatigue and frustration. What happened then in the emergency ward was the weight of everything that had plagued Ravan being released. She cried openly while she yelled again and again how sorry she was into Crystalion's chest.