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

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Alec paused for a moment. He put a comforting hand on Kerana's back and said, "They wont hurt her ever again.

He pulled his hand back and tapped on the map pin. A media player popped up with real time footage of Kerana's father. He was pacing around the den with his hands on his hips, shouting into a bluetooth earpiece.

"-the whole base, and Raina was able to escape with the others? It's bad enough you people had put that awful disease in her, but now you've lost her? Just like you did Kerana?"

"This is not what I agreed to. The news is saying your orginization was conducting inhumane experiments against people and attacked children! Is that what you did to Raina? Is that what you were go- hello? Hello?!"

He snatched the earpiece and threw it against the wall. He fell back into a recliner and held his head in his hands. He mumbled something, and then the video cut off.

Alec looked over to his girlfriend and asked, "...Kay?"

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

Deora blushed deeply. Earlier, she had been overcome with a tidal waves of abstract images and sensations that hit her like a ton of bricks. She had a feeling that it was more than a bath that did Liv good. It was pretty much confirmed by the barely contained giddiness of Heather's expression.

She cleared her throat and shuffled to the table so she could finally offload the armful of carafes. Heather was not far behind. She separated the cups and poured about a shot's worth of saké into three of them.

Deaora's eyes nervously shifted between Liv and Heather again and again in spite of herself telling herself not to make things awkward. Sensing the tension and unease in her metahuman counterpart, Heather put a hand on Deora's shoulder and said, "It's okay, Dee. She knows."

Deora whipper her head around to look at Heather, and then whipped it back around to look to Liv. She put her hands in front of her chest and laced her fingers together. "I am so, so sorry. She was really just trying to help me. Neither of us wanted to hurt you, but we had to be sure. Please don't be mad at Heather. It wont ever happen ever again ever." she rambled apologetically.

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

Lokelonni gave a knowing smile. "You do. It just requires you to look within yourself in a way you most likely haven't before. Soul searching is one thing, but searching and understanding the heart is the true challenge."

The queen's ear twitched. She put a hand to her mouth and stifled a laugh. "And if I read her footsteps correctly, you're about to encounter another sort of challenge." she said playfully.

The door swung open and slammed into the wall. Fenris stood in the doorway with an empty bottle of Everclear in one hand and an empty bottle of tequilla in the other. Her shoulders rose up and down with each breath. She lifted both bottles and shook them. Her furious eyes zeroed in on Legio.

"Why...can't I...get DRUNK?!" she snarled.

"I do hope you have the answer for that, Legio. That question may be more important than the other ones I posed to you."

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

Leo took a deep breath and proceeded to summarize his history with Ravan. He then explain what had happened the day before. He acknowledged that Ravan's reaction crossed a line, and that they had reconciled for the time being.

"The thing is, I still don't understand what I did wrong. Mom and Dawn both said that I handled it wrong, but I just don't see how. I was honest with her. I thought that's what was most important. Maybe you can give me a male perspective?"

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

Chariot's smile and eyes became bright again. Not sadistically, but genuinely. Her older sister had given her a name. Cherry. It was nice. Satisfied, she shut her eyes and opened her neck to the sweet embrace of oblivion.

The cut was clean. There was no blood. The natural materials that Chariot had absorbed were released and petrified her body as soon as her head left her neck. Chariot's head rolled off the table and shattered into tiny pieces upon contact with the ground. Her body cracked from the neck down, and a few seconds later it too shattered into countless tiny pieces.

Gidget put her hands to her mouth and gasped. She turned away from the sight toward Ako and embraced him.

Ako was similarly shocked at how Chariot's end came about. She held the shaking Gidget and rubbed her back.

The medical staff that were present had been prepared to clean up blood. They looked among each other until the one closest to the heart monitor silence the sound of asystole that droned from the monitor. The others gathered brooms and dustpans.

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

Rydia smirked and continued to follow the lights. "Lost? Nonsense. A princess worth her title is never lost. Where she walks is her intended purpose. Even if a guide is needed, she will continue to walk until she has reached her destination..."

The lights stopped and so did she. She turned to the door and felt the high that came when a predator located it's prey. There a few other scents, but she only cared about the one she had honed in on. She put her hand to where the bolt would be and flicked her wrist. An ethereal hand passed through the security measures and unlocked the door. "...and claimed what she desires."

The door opened and Rydia stepped into the room. She folded her arms in front of her and purred, "Hello, Alex."  

[Nova Blancke]

Legio too heard the approaching footsteps.

"Is this is amusing for you?" Legio asked Lokelonni.

"Toxins like alchohol have no effect on us. It is too weak. You do not possess a brain, stomach or liver among other organs either for it to take effect.." Legio explained.

"But if you truly desire you can allow it. Calm down and recall the memories, all of the steps you take in order to get..... drunk. If you want it to, the body will adapt to facilitate. Do be mindful of your new strength while in that state."

Cassandra didn't respond much besides her colors going back to the normal constant flux. She put a hand on Theresa's shoulder.

"You did a good thing."

***

Despite Alexavier being aware that she was headed towards him, even her intent, still having her basically break in did catch him off-guard. The man was relaxing in his favorite chair and reading a book. It was hard to not focus on the confident woman in front of him. But he did his best to try to remain in his usual demeanor.

"Breaking and entering is including in all of that? I didn't think a princess would so blatantly ignore rules." He said as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"I haven't contacted you yet. So why are you here?"

Crystalion just smiled as she returned the embrace and stroked the back of Ravan's head. So many tears in the last few days. It felt like she's been crying all of the tears she'd denied through out all of the years.

"It's okay sweetie.I'm here for you."  

[BeaMichelle]

Theresa stood silently for a moment as she watched her sister turn to rubble. When she felt Cassandra's hand on her shoulder something in her cracked.

"Snrk!"

Shocked, she threw her hands up to her mouth and hunched her shoulders. Then she snickered again. She could feel the muscles in her face betray her.

"Heh heh...hehehehe." she giggled.

Try as she might, Theresa couldn't hold it in any longer. She began to laugh uncontrollably. She held her stomach as the full bodied laughter brought air in and out of her lungs again and again. Her face hurt and her eyes began to water. The compulsion scared her, but it wasn't nearly as frightening as the realization that she recognized the laugh.

Was that what Chariot was talking about? Is this what she had to give to me?

She felt arms around her, and people shouted at her, but it was muted at first. On the red half of her hair, a streak of gold ran itself through the center of her pigtail. After a few more seconds the laughter began to subside until it finally ceased. Theresa felt exhausted from the ordeal and fell into the arms of the person that held her. She looked up to find it was Gidget.

"I'm sorry." she groaned.

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

Ravan cried freely in the arms of her adoptive other mother. It felt like hours to her, but in reality it only took minutes for her to feel dry of tears. She pulled her head up and crassly wiped her eyes and nose with her hands and sleeves. She sniffled, coughed, and then finally caught her breath.

"How long was I asleep? Is everyone else okay? Leo, Dawn?" she asked.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"Quite so." Lokelonni quipped. She settled back into her bed and sighed, "Fenris, if you are going to verbally rip into him please take it outside." she requested.

The wolf actually had her mouth open to yell at that moment. Her ears lowered, her tail drooped, and her shoulders hunched. "Sorry, Mama. I'll keep it down."

"Thank you, dear." the queen nodded with a smile. "Legio, I believe we are done conversing for now. I would like to rest until my new student returns, but feel free to return on the morrow."

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

The princess maintained her smirk and lowered her arms. She strode vivaciously toward his chair and stopped when she was within a foot of him. Her hands went to her hips and she looked down at him with a look of royal authority.

"I am here because you hadn't contacted me yet. Thus far, everyone I have propositioned are either taken, skittish, or intimidated by me. You, on the other hand, are none of those." she explained.

An ethereal blue hue, identical that of her claws, enveloped Rydia's body. Her muscles expanded slightly beneath the suit that Gidget provided for her. The spirit shroud she wrapped herself in was a means of protecting her mind and body from the influence of psychic opponents. It had the added benefit of infusing her muscles with the energy of her ability.

She kicked her light leg over Alexavier's shoulder and rested the arch of her boot against the back of the chair. She leaned in like an eager tiger and hummed, "Or perhaps I'm mistaken. Perhaps you wish to be left alone at this moment. I which case I'll take my leave and find something, or someone, else to spend my time and energy on. Tell me, Alex, am I wrong? Do you not desire me?"  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Alec was about to reach out to Kerana when she lit herself up like a well prepped campfire. He pulled back and gazed at her wide eyed. Not from fear, but from awe.

Bad...a**.

He shook his head and kicked the distracting thought loose. Kerana was in a lot of pain. More than he'd ever seen her in before. He didn't need their connection to see or feel it. Although her anger and sadness did rattle him to his core. He wasn't about to tell her to calm down, but he did have to find a way to comfort her while she was ablaze. It didn't take long for him to reach a solution.

He dispelled the tablet and coated himself in ghostly blue flames. He reached forward with one hand and tenderly placed his fingertips on her elbow; just to let her know he was there for her. He looked to her empathetically and said nothing. It wasn't his time to speak. She needed to let it all out.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Alec reached out just as Kerana turned to run off and said, "Wait, I'm not actually on fire! It's the same spectral flame that I use with ny hands."

With just a thought, the flames that surrounded Alec extinguished themselves. "See? No burns. I'm okay."

"I had no idea that's what home was like for you. I mean, you've talked about not really getting along with your Dad, but for him to write you off like that in spite of everything you've done?"

Alec thought back to when he first saw Kerana. It was his first day of class, and the first thing he heard was her laughter. Her smile reached her eyes, the sign of genuine happiness. How long had her smile been forced? Did she ever smile at home? He knew the feeling of the latter all too well. It made heartache for her.

He took her hands into his and looked down into her eyes. "Maybe you can't disown your parents, but you can do what's best for you. If he brings nothing but negativity, I don't think it's so wrong to put a little distance between yourself and him. You can still love him, but you don't have to take his s**t if you don't want to."

"Have you ever talked to him about how his words hurt you? He looked really upset about you and your mom being lost. Maybe he'd be so happy to see you that he'd be willing to listen now? I could take you there, if you'd like. Just say the word, and you can tell him everything you told me. Or we can leave him be, and let him think about how he treated you and your Mom? Either way, I've got your back."  

[Nova Blancke]

Legio made a mental note on how Fenris responded to her mother. Interesting. She could easily overpower her but can't for some reason. He gave her a bow before leaving the room with Fenris.

"You may proceed"

"I'm not. We've talked about it. I was technically dead. Still...you move on quick dontcha Heather?" She smirked and joked.

"Come on gimme a drink.

Theo listened as Leo explained what happened.
"Hmmm okay yeah. I don't blame you for saying it like that. Doubt those situations were common in your world. Honesty IS important but eh...yeah it can be very blunt. Since you two grew up together and were already close it'd have been better to say something like that you also care about her but needed time to think about it. Since these days have been chaotic. "

"Would have given you some more time to actually think about it. She would not have gotten an answer right away but it wouldn't have been flat out denial."

He paused for a bit.

"You've never ever thought of her like that? As something...more?"  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Fenris bowed her head in appreciation and calmly replied, "Thank you." She then took a deep breath and shouted, "I have to try and get drunk now?! That completely defeats the purpose! It's supposed to be simple! Open the bottle, drink the good stuff inside, and then get blitzed! No thinking required!"

She looked from Legio to the door that lead to her mother's room. The tension visibly left her shoulders and eyes. She deftly lobbed the two empty bottles of alcohol into a garbage can and looked down at Legio. "So...I'm guessing you had a good talk with my mother since she invited you back tomorrow. No doubt I came up once or twice. What did she think of your plan to fix me?"

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

Heather's face burned red with embarrassment at Liv's jab. She placed the three cups and one carafe on the tray that brought the chicken wings and walked it over to the bed. Deora took a spot on the opposite corner so that they had room to put the drinks in the middle. Heather handed one cup to Liv and another to Deora before she picked up her own cup. She raised her cup and said, "Cheers."

Deora nervously raised her own cup and replied, "Salud."

They both downed the contents of their cups in one go and swallowed hard. Heather's got the chills as the liquid ran down her throat and warmed her up. Her face twisted in response to the surprising taste of the rice wine. "Wwwwow."

Deora went into a full on coughing fit once she swallowed it. "Oh gawd! People drink this stuff for fun?" she sputtered. "My throat feels like it's on fire."

Heather chuckled, "Now you have an idea of what it feels like to be me." She reached down, picked up the carafe and motioned it toward Deora. "You want another?"

Deora put her hand to her mouth, coughed, and then nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutamente." she managed to choke out.

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

Leo's gaze went down and to the left as he tried to recall any sort of romantic feelings he may have had toward Ravan. "I...don't think so. My thoughts were only geared toward one thing. Survival of me and mine. The kids have nicknames for us. Dawn is the heart, Ravan is the fist, and I'm the head. They aren't wrong. I tend to have a very single minded approach to things. I think Mom calls it tunnel vision. So I never really gave it much thought. I really never thought of her as more than a good friend and ally."

Memories of Ravan's eyes lit up whenever she saw him flickered. Her gradual trust of him when they were children. Her incessant need to be in close proximity to him. The quiet times where they sat together and she would lay her head on his shoulder with her small arms wrapped around his arm. The way she would sneak her bedroll by his bedroll and put a hand on his back, which he allowed because that meant she would sleep well too.

"She's always been clingy. Mom said Ravan must've been alone for the first half of her life. So I just wrote it off as that. But now that I think about it, I think she knew I was focused on all of us, and she waited for us to be here so that she could ask me to focus on just her...I think. Does that make sense?"  

[Nova Blancke]

"Not for long. They're all okay. Don't worry about it. Few cuts and scrapes but that's the norm. You know how it goes." Crys told Ravan.

"That is the initial process yes. After that it will be automatic if you want it to be." Legio responded in his usual tone.

"I was interrogated to what my intentions were with her daughter." He paused for a bit." But besides that, she said that it should work. So you shall be rid of that curse. You are already a handful but I should manage."

"Yeah, I get it. Definitely understand the focus. Too much at stake to...indulge on secondary things like love. Survival was top priority I guess. Plus it never even crossed your mind so no wonder you didn't think anything of it."

"Kanpai!" Liv said and down the sake.

Suppressing the shivers she looked at the response of the others. Figures that the dragon seemed to be okay with it.

"Yeah some people do drink this for fun. I prefer tasty cocktails. Little more flavor." She held out her cup for another shot.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"It's okay, but that was really scary. Are you feeling okay?"

Ako put a hand on Gidget's back and suggested."Maybe we should get her someplace safe and quiet? It's been a long day for everyone. I can't imagine what she's feeling after everything that's happened today."

Gidget nodded and tried to pick up Theresa only to find it futile, "Gah! Oh...right. Cassandra, I hate to trouble you further, but could you carry her to my lab? After what I just saw, I think I need to run some more tests on her and see what else those Daedalus bastards did to her and her sisters."

Dawn, who had remained silent and observant the whole time approached Gidget and said, "Thank you for coming so fast after I called. Even though I'm saddened by that poor girl's death, I'm glad she died without pain."

"Don't mention it. I wish I could've done more. I might've been able to curb her sadistic tendencies toward online games or something. She would've made one helluva griefer."

"I don't know what any of that is, but I'm sure you're right." she commented while she wiped a tear from her eye. "I think I'm going to see how my own family is doing. Perhaps Mom has made some progress with Ravan."

She bowed her head to excuse herself and stepped out of the room.

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

Fenris could feel her fur bristle up and the heat wash over her face. "Intentions? Aw c'mon, Mom!."

She covered her face with her hands and paced in front of Legio while she muttered to herself. Few words were audible. Only the words lovesick, kid, Alines, and mistake could be made out.

She took several deep breaths and calmed herself. After an exasperated sigh she put her hands together and huffed, "Okay...good. Great. That's great. No more curse."

She looked back down to him and said, "As mortifying as my mother's questions are, I have to admit that I'm curious too. There has to be more to the help you're offering than just feeling like it, or keeping a promise. What do you plan to do after it's done? Just ******** back off to Tibet?"

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

Leo thought about Theonis' observation for a few seconds and then nodded his head. "I think I understand why she was so angry and violent now. I think I should go see what progress Mom has made with Ravan. Maybe I can get a chance to apologize properly. Thank you, for everything today. I'll see you later."

Leo meticulously cleaned his eating area; a habit from when they couldn't afford to be tracked. He nodded to Theonis once more and disposed of his rubbish in the correct areas before he took his leave.

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

Heather eagerly refilled all three of their cups so they could continue. It didn't take long for them to finish one carafe and get through half of another.

Heather's green eyes were made more radiant by the rosy hue of her cheeks. Her more draconic anatomy allowed her to hold her alcohol fairly well in spite of a lack of experience. She downed a shot and continued a rant she had started.

"Ugh, sonovabitch. The thing that really pisses me off, though, is that I called him a dragon sitting on his horde. But does irony go in his direction? Nope! He got to be the Kool-aid man of nightmares, and I got the scales. But then. then he goes and leaves his whole damn company to me. Me! What the Hell am I gonna do with all of that money? I'm twenty years old, and I never finished high school."

Deora, who didn't hold her liquor particularly well, was completely sauced. She managed one more shot and dropped the cup beside her on the bed. She pointed lazily at Heather and rambled, "Que se joda ese tipo. No tienes que hacer una mierda si no quieres. Pero si quiere mi consejo, le digo que abra un centro de soporte que tenga el nombre de Liv en letras grandes en el frente. Pero no cualquier centro, un centro para metahumanos queer. Y puedo estar en todos los folletos y esas cosas, para que mi estúpida familia pueda ver lo que soy y sentirse como una mierda por echarme de la forma en que lo hicieron. Y puedo decir, "¡Oye! ¿Cómo te gusto ahora? ¿Eh? ¡Puedo congelar un lago entero con un estornudo, perras!" Y podemos tener un pequeño dragón de luz lindo como mascota, porque ese es su nombre de envío ahora. Light Dragon ... o Lither. Todavía estoy trabajando en eso."

Deora tipped over sideways in Liv's direction and looked up at her with lazy eyes. "Y'know what I mean?"

Heather snickered, leaned forward, and took the cup that Deora had dropped. "Okay, I think we just found your limit Dee. You've stopped sprinkling in Spanish words and switched to full on native."

Deora looked to Heather like a sad puppy and whined, "Noooooo. Greedy dragon." She rolled her head back toward Liv and pouted, "Liiiiiiv. Tell your girlfriend to be nice. Soy la mas joven. She has to be. Or, or, or better yet, go distract her so I can be a sneaky little bandida."  

[BeaMichelle]

Ravan breathed a sigh of relief and felt her body loose a considerable amount of tension. "So, that's it? We did it? No more Daedalus? What about the angry guy in the mirror room? The one that put the voices in my head. Is he, is he my...my..."

Ravan felt the tension return, but it wasn't the same as before. It was tension that came with fear. The man wasn't human. If that man was really her father, what did that make her?  

[Nova Blancke]

"So what? Does that make me a dragon tamer?" She responded to Heather's rant.

Then Deora went full Spanish on them.

"Yeah I have no idea what you just said Chica. Only English in that was Light Dragon. I never learned spanish but....you want to...sneak off I think? Or was it steal something?"

Cassandra was a bit surprised at the sudden outburst of laughter but not a lot showed on her face. She was a bit relieved that Chariot or...Cherry could rest. As sick as she was in the head....she was still a kid. She nodded at Gidget and effortless picked up Theresa.

After Dawn left she looked at Gidget." That girl has a bleeding heart."

Legio cocked his head slightly and observed her....pacing.

"I would hardly call those mortifying. But for afterwards, there is still Eclipse to deal with and my origin. If we make it past that. I don't know. Maybe Terraform Mars."

"Alright man,Take care." He replied. Finishing up his own food not long after that, he cleaned up and decided to head home. It's been a long day after all. He barely noticed it before but he was still wearing his battle suit. With a sight he took it off and stepped into the shower. Just what he needed after a long day.

"We can only hope Daedelus is out of the picture now. As for...him...a different version of him is. But you are still you. Don't you ever forget that. Calm down kit." She gently ruffled her hair.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Heather shook her head and poured herself another shot. "I think she said Light Dragon is our ship name. Either that or Lither, which is a combo of Liv and Heather. I would've gone with Hiv...oh wait, I see now. Yeah, that one's not so good."
'
Deora nodded sleepily and slurred, "Si. And Imma do both. Imma sneak over, and Imma steal some more sawkee. But you, you gotta distract the dragon. *gasp* I'd be a Latina Bilbo Baggins."

Heather laughed, "Girl what do you know about Lord of the Rings?"

"Not Lord of the Rings! The Hobbit. We had an old video tape with a cartoon. Everyone was ugly, but I loved that movie when I was little. Oh! Do you remember The Littles?!"

"How old are you again?"

"Old enough to have mastered Mexican Judo."

"...What?"

"You never heard of Mexican Judo?" Deora asked incredulously. She rolled her head back up to Liv and scoffed, "She doesn't know about Mexican Judo."

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

Gidget walked between Ako and Cassandra as they made their way to the lab. "Given what I read last night, she was probably the last of the bleeding hearts. But she's still young, too. Here, she'll have time to temper her emotions and expectations."

"I gotta say, I never would've expected you to be so calm after seeing a kid die. Was Chariot really that bad?"

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

Fenris threw up her hands and huffed, "Of course you wouldn't find it mortifying. You've never experienced it, and you lack empathy."

"But you didn't address my first point. Why are you helping me? I didn't ask for it, and I've done nothing to deserve your charity. If it's about making up for eating me, we're square. As much as I hate what I am now, I'm alive and able to see my mother through her last days."