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

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"Please. I may be somewhat new to understanding the metahuman experience, but I'm not completely ignorant. I've had a few bands approach me looking to incorporate their powers or mutations into their act. I'm this close to signing another GWAR, but without the props." she said proudly.

Clara looked around what was left of the campus as they approached the underground tunnel. There were strength and psychic metas working to move large pieces of rubble while medical staff recovered the lost. Once they had passed the threshold she commented sadly, "The news showed so little. Said so little. I'm so sorry this happened to your people."

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

Heather smiled and rested her head on Liv's shoulder, "Even with Daedalus gone things are still going to be uphill for us, huh? I guess it was silly of me to hope that things would just instantly be all better."

In the middle of her mild lamentations, she noticed that Liv's bags were gone. "Did you...just teleport your bags?"  

[Nova Blancke]

Theo chuckled a bit.

"Yeah that would be useful."

Seeing the rubble was another reminder that his world was completely different from hers and why he preferred to keep her away from it all. But he also knew how stubborn she could be. Something he seemed to have inherited from her.

He sighed.

"Thanks. We're working on that. Presidential apology and all that. At least we can use this change how the public views us when more news and video's come out about all of this. The US Army attacking it's own citizens. Boy did they ******** up" Theo said before shaking off the thoughts.

He took a deep breath.

"So yeah....it's a busy life." Theo said as the car began to slow down to park.

"I mean...it IS better." She responded. She then followed the eyes of her girlfriend which lead to where her bags used to be.

"Yeah I keep forgetting I can do that."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"Let's go see your father. He's got a lot of explaining to do."

Clara stepped out of the car and followed Theonis to the medical wing. She had seen a decent number of metahumans since their growing prevalence started thirteen years ago, but she had never seen so many gathered in one place. So many of them looked just like people that would be considered nothing more than passersby. Other looked something something out of movies or comic books. She nearly bumped into a literal cow-girl on their way to Leonard's room. All the while she asked questions about the facility and the sort of amenities it had. She was impressed by it all, in spite of herself. She was ready to give Agatha Morris a piece of her mind, but she could see that a lot of love and attention had been put into Valhalla.

When they finally arrived at the room, she was surprised to see a woman who resembled the Agatha Morris she had seen in picures. The diminutive machinist appeared to be taking notes on a tablet before they were interrupted.

Leonard looked up in a mixture of shock and dread. "Clara? What are you doing here?"

Clara smiled pleasantly and said, "I don't think you're in any position to be the one asking questions, dear." She then turned her head to Theonis and asked quietly, "Is that Agatha Morris? She looks different from the magazines."

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

A sudden idea hit Heather like a bolt of lightning. She grabbed on of Liv's hands and urged her bags into the other. "Oh, teleport my stuff too. C'mon! Oh, I hope it's still open!"

A few minutes later she was happy to exclaim, "It is!"

Before them, in all of it's neon and black-light glory, was an arcade called "The Bottom Floor." Heather grasped both of Liv's hand and asked with great excitement, "Do you play DDR?!"

Heather's eyes, although reptilian, were very much like the hopeful eyes of a puppy eager for a treat.  

[Nova Blancke]

Theo answered her questions to the best of his ability. He knew the answers because he had been studying all of it since taking over. It was nice seeing her surprise despite her attempting to hide it.

He couldn't help but feel sorry for his dad and at the same time, he was enjoying it. After all...he did work for Daedelus before all of this. Sure he regretted it but it changed little. He was given some slack due to the literal mind worm he had but still.

"I thought it was rude to whisper in the presence of others?" He responded with a bit of a playful grin before answering." But yes, that is her. Do hold back."

Liv did as she was told. Well, Heather sure was excited suddenly. She took her to some place, an...arcade? It has certainly been a while since she has gone to one of these.

Dance Dance Revolution, she used to play. Same with dancing lessons. Mostly to stay in shape.

"I mean....it's been a long time." Liv said looking at the sign and then back to Heather's puppy eyes.

She sighed. "Okay okay fine, no need to use those eyes on me. Let's go."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Gidget stood up and approached Clara. She smiled cordially and extended a hand. "Hi, we spoke on the phone earlier. I am, indeed, Agatha Morris, but my friends call me Gidget. It's nice to meet you."

Clara took her hand, looked her in the eyes, and replied, "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Morris."

"Oh boy." Gidget thought to herself.

Clara looked to her husband and narrowed her eyes at him. "So, Leonard. What landed you in here, and where the Hell have you been for the last month? Don't play games. I am so far beyond the mood."

Leonard swallowed hard and looked to the two 20 somethings in the room. "Would you kids mind giving my wife and I a moment alone. We have a lot to talk about."

"Sure! No problem at all. C'mon Theonis." Gidget replied with an eager nudge out the door.

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

Heather squeaked with delight and wasted no time getting to the ticket counter for token exchange. She was a little disheartened to see that the arcade had done away with tokens in favor of reusable paycards. She reminisced with Liv about how she used to go to another arcade that ran on nickels, and so five dollars would be enough for a whole afternoon worth of games. She was always a fan of rhythm games, especially the ones that got her whole body moving.

Luckily, the layout of the arcade had changed little. The rhythm and dance games were still in the back corner. Luckily again, there was an open DDR machine. Heather stretched a bit as she chatted with Liv about their favorite anime OPs and EDs. She then warmed up with "Days Go By" by Dirty Vegas on the standard setting.

"Oof. It's been years since I was able to dance without a tail. This is taking some getting used to."

"A" rank. Not to bad, but she knew she was an AAA to S girl at her best.

"Okay, Firefly. Let's see what you've got." she challenged Liv with a playful smirk.  

[Nova Blancke]

Well that went a lot better than expected

He then heard his mothers tone of voice. Her focus was definitely on his father.

"Yeah sure," Theo responded to both Gidget and his father.

He turned around as the door closed and made a little wave motion, wordlessly saying 'bye bye' to his father. Theo KNEW she would tear into him.

"Well it's been nice knowing him." He told Gidget as the doors were closed.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Gidget sighed with relief and said, "I thought she was scary on the phone. It's like, I knew she wouldn't actually hurt me, but that look in her eyes made me feel like I was five years old again."

She walked away from the door with Theonis beside her. "So how was the reunion? I hope she didn't chew you out too bad. It's not like any of this is your fault."

She suddenly halted mid step. "Oh crap. I left a printout of Theresa's file in there. I hope she doesn't see-"

"YOU DID WHAT?!!!"

"Looks like she did." Gidget said with a wince.  

[PixelMuse]

Trinity witnessed what lead to the end of the guy that took advantage of her loyalty, her admiration, and her love. Everything throughout this scene from beginning to end sent her big bad vibes. When it came to Teshoumaru's demise, despite knowing otherwise now, Freya was convinced she had done the deed. How could she do something like that? How could she kill her brother because he asked her to? Love can be blinding even when it comes to that. Her sister spoke the truth when she found out, but Freya knew she was right but could not show that in her expression. She witnessed how she killed Alines, then the final blow which lead her to the shadow realm. Beasts? I don't think I've come across them whenever I go into the shadow realm. Not even my ancestor has shared anything on this matter. Regardless... She nodded to Silhouette as she explained why she didn't want to go further.

She took a moment to reflect on what Fenris was feeling. It seemed familiar to her based on her failure in the alternate timeline. "Sensing failure on something she couldn't prevent. Fenris, this is not your fault.

Freya, despite how terrible the situation was, this is something you should not forget. You did what needed to be done, and in the end, you did not just kill the love of your life you set him free from the darkness that was controlling him. Despite what happened here, you and Teshoumaru thrived and became my senseis, which in turn brought a lot of good into the world. If this didn't happen I don't think we would have met. I would have had no way out from Leviathan's grasp and continued figuring things out on my own and him teaching me. Who knows what dark creature I'd become if I had continued down that path." She hoped this got through to her, she hoped it was things she needed to hear during this dark moment of her past.  

[Nova Blancke]

"Yeah she does that. Imagine growing up there." He responded.

He was about to respond to her next question before hearing the shouting.

"Oh yeah he's a dead man. She wasn't like this to me. Quite soft when she first saw my eyes. I didn't have those last time I saw her. She did ask if I could see in the dark now."

Taking out his phone, he send out a local message to the guards stationed in the medical wing about the reunion.

"Well, she was gonna find out one way or another. Better to rip that bandaid off. Don't worry, they'll be in each others arms after this. Literally, it's not the first time. Mom can get....very feisty as you can tell. She's the type that uhh...vents and then it's out of her system."

Liv couldn't help but smile at her girlfriend's joy. She was really looking forward to this. Watching a bit as she started stretching. This kind of dancing wasn't the kind she was used to but she'd give it her best shot.

She picked a song that she knew but definitely was not as good as Heather. Just a B. She was having fun ******** it." Liv started it up again, Subtly activating her Infinite Eyes she could see would come next and prepare properly.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"Trinity..." Fenris whispered.

The scene around them changed again. Silhouette looked down at her hands and then looked around. "This isn't me. Whatever we're about to see must be a very strong memory that had almost been forgotten."

Freya was splayed across a ratty couch in the dilapidated apartment she called home drinking straight from a bottle of Absolut. On a whim, she'd let Okami out for a moment so she wouldn't be completely alone.

"Why're you still here?" Okami asked. "Trinity needs us. Needs you."

Freya took a swig of her bottle and belched. "Naw. All I'd do is drag her to the bottom of a bottle. She don't need me right now. Kid needs time to mourn. 'Sides, Gidget and Teshou are with her, and he's better with this sort of thing anyway."

Okami hopped onto an office chair and spun on it sadly. After a moment's silence she finally said, "I know what she means to you."

"..."

"You can't have one of your own. So she's-"

"Don't say it, Ami. She had a mom. She don't need a replacement. I ain't her mom, and I ain't gonna try to be. I'm like her badass big sister...or kickass vodka aunt."

"Freya..."

"Shush. It's fine. As long as we're in her life, it's all good. Come Hell or high water, we're gonna have that girl's back no matter what." Freya said with a thoughtful smirk

"Even if we die?" Okami said half jokingly.

"Especially if we die! When the day comes, we'll make sure we don't lose ourselves to the curse. Whoever's left after us will be there for her until she don't need 'em. Cuz we love her that ********' much!"

"Heh. Yeah we do!"

The scene dissipated and Fenris woke up from her catatonia. She could not see the butterflies or hear the voices anymore. She turned and looked to Silhouette first and then Trinity. With unsteady legs, and a smile, she stood up and put her hand on Trinity's head tenderly. "Well done, Trinity. You've grown beyond what they even thought possible."

"Not to interrupt a sweet moment, but she didn't fix you. You can't keep ignoring the past the way Freya did. So long as you don't come to terms with what happened, you'll fall again." Silhouette interjected.

Fenris sighed, "Yeah, I know. She helped me take the first step. It's up to me now to keep it going."

She looked back down at Trinity and said solemnly, "I'm sorry you had to see all that just because I had a fused memory panic attack."

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

"Oh...okay. That's good. Still though, I'm glad it's not-"

The clattering of an instrument tray hitting the wall echoed through the walls. "WITH HER?! WHILE SHE WAS IN A COMA?!!!"


"Me." Gidget meeped.

The guards wasted no time in their response. There was some commotion, and then a quiet roar as Clara fully tore into her husband.

Gidget cleared her throat and said to Theonis, "Just to letcha know, Theresa is sleeping right now in a room down the hall. Her rapid aging seems to be halted by that awakening, but her metabolic rate is still extremely high. We'll pretty much have to feed her through a tube while she sleeps or she'll be malnourished by the time she wakes up. Which will be often considering how much time she spends down because of her condition."

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

Heather could not help but a feel a little superior when she saw Liv's B. Finally, something she could one up her girlfriend on. Then she noticed that Liv started dancing like the Japanese kids she watched on the internet back in DDR's heyday.

"Hey!" She exclaimed with faux indignation in a jovial tone. "You're doing that eye thing! I'd call it cheating, but I like to watch you move so I'm gonna let it slide."

When the song was over, Heather hopped up on the 2nd player board next to Liv. She swiped her card and smirked, "Alrighty then. Warm-up's over. It's time for double trouble."

She selected "Dam Dariram" by Joga on the advanced setting. "With those eyes, you should have no problem keeping up. I'm gonna give it everything I've got. Let's light this arcade up!" she said with a bright grin. Despite everything that had happened earlier, she was having the time of her life.

The beat dropped, and Heather began to dance with the 142 bpm club tune with fierce gusto.  

[PixelMuse]

Trinity heard Fenris’ voice and then saw the scene changing. She looked at Sil thinking for sure this was her doing. She explained it wasn’t, she figured that this was either Fenris or Freya or Okami for that matter.

The memory played out. Neither one would admit that there are times when they could feel like a mother-daughter relationship. Trinity would usually dismiss it as this has to be a sister thing since she has been an only child. She had a mom, she was good and so was her dad. They had supported her when the meteor hit. Heck her dad partially knew what was going to happen.

Yet she saw how much they loved her so much that this in turn affected Fenris. They wanted to be there for her even after they were gone until she didn’t need them anymore. Very motherly if one would think about it, yet, would that ever be the case? Will there be a point where she would not need them anymore? Would she want that to be the case? She didn’t like the idea of relying on someone even after their demise. It felt like it prevented them from pursuing their own lives, and their own goals. There was a good chunk of time where she was able to excel in her role of head of security and excelled at protecting Valhalla. But when she needed them and they did not hesitate to come as soon as they could.

Rikki Tikki Travi

The scene dissipated and Fenris woke up from her catatonia. She could not see the butterflies or hear the voices anymore. She turned and looked to Silhouette first and then Trinity. With unsteady legs, and a smile, she stood up and put her hand on Trinity's head tenderly. "Well done, Trinity. You've grown beyond what they even thought possible."

"Not to interrupt a sweet moment, but she didn't fix you. You can't keep ignoring the past the way Freya did. So long as you don't come to terms with what happened, you'll fall again." Silhouette interjected.

Fenris sighed, "Yeah, I know. She helped me take the first step. It's up to me now to keep it going."

She looked back down at Trinity and said solemnly, "I'm sorry you had to see all that just because I had a fused memory panic attack."

As Fenris placed her hand on Trinity's head in this mindscape, she was briefly the 15-year-old with long purple hair and bangs, wearing a green hoodie that she wore when they first met in Valhalla sharing yet another mother-daughter moment. When she moved her hand away she was her normal self. "It's alright, I'm just glad I could help." Seeing her recover made her feel relieved. She let go of her connection allowing her to wake up feeling rested. Her hair seemed to have gotten a little longer, Sil, how much time has passed in the shadow realm? she asked as she and Fenris went to the surface.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Silhouette replied, "I have no way to be absolutely certain, since I don't have a watch, but by the growth of your hair I'd say about a month. I know it doesn't seem that long, but time dilation can be a tricky thing. It takes a while to shuffle through two lifetimes worth of memories."

Fenris' stomach growled. "Oh damn. I haven't had anything to eat at all today. I'm good now, Trin. You go do the things you need to do. I've got a surplus size bag of beef jerky waiting for me in Fr-, my room."  

[Nova Blancke]

Legio send out a mental ping to locate Gidget which he managed to do. She wasn't too far away

"Okay might not end up in each others arms so quickly." Theo responded after hearing his mother figurative explode and the guards moved in.

"Hmm...yeah that's...hmmm, hopefully that will slow down soon now that she has ....ascended. She seems to be the opposite of me. Mine has been low ever since becoming..well...this. Same with sleeping. But thanks for the update" Theo grabbed his phone and looked at some information forwarded by his secratary.

"How are you looking on the whole presidential apology front? I was going to get on that but you beat me to it."

Liv couldn't help but grin when she got called out. She laughed she she continued to get a perfect score. Heather got up next to her and got ready.

"Guess I HAVE to use these eyes now." She said with a giggle.

She took a deep breath and got ready, eyes flared up and she saw everything it would do. Narrowing it down to the nearest future, she saw the imputs she needed. This was actually very good practice for her. Even knowing what comes up, doesn't mean her body automatically moves in that position. Quick glance at her girlfriend would show fractions..splinters even what she would do. Regardless, she did her best and had fun.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Gidget rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly and said, "Yeah, sorry about that. I woke up early this morning to throw up, checked my accounts, and saw that they were still frozen by the government. I was up way before anyone else was, and I didn't want to disturb you when you needed the rest."

"Oh, big news on that front! The president wants to issue a public apology to us on live TV. You, me, and Trinity have been invited to Washington to speak on behalf of not only Valhalla, but metahuman rights as a whole. And what better person to make a speech than our fresh faced Headmaster!"

Gidget felt the base of her neck tingle. "Hey, sorry to cut this short, but someone just tried to find me using psychic powers. The only people that do that are Alexavier an Legio. Catch up with you later?"

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

"Now, I am walking around/ In this side of the town I just can't hideaway/ How can I look in your eyes/ When I feel like to die I have to runaway"

It took some doing, but when the rhythm kicked up just before the chorus Heather's muscle memory kicked in.

"Dariri Ram dariram dariram/ Darirari rariram/ Daririram dam"

She glanced to her left and saw that Liv was practically moving in tandem with her. The synergy of their movement, the energy behind their steps, and the fact that two attractive women were playing DDR drew a small crowd. Between the positive energy of the spectators, and the adrenaline/dopamine boost that came from dancing beside Liv, she began to smile uncontrollably.

"Fall in lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ove"

At the final zap Heather turned to her left, grabbed the bar behind Liv, jumped, and wrapped her legs around her girlfriend's waist while she also caught the bar to keep them from falling over. Her hands went to Liv's jaw, and put all the energy she had built up into a deep and passionate kiss.

The small crowd clapped and cheered with the occasional "aww" thrown in.

Heather removed her lips and shifted her head next to Liv's ear so she could whisper, "It's your turn now. We can do whatever you want."  

[Nova Blancke]

"Heh, it's alright Gidge, I know I basically am a stand-in for you. This place is still your baby. Guess you'll have two of those later on."

His own public appearance and speech DID take him off guard.

"O..oh," Taking a deep breath."Wow okay, Did not see that one coming."

"Eh yeah okay, Sure, you do you." He responded to Gidget. A public speech on live TV....yikes.

Liv couldn't help but smile at the entire thing. She was getting comfortable enough with what she was seeing and what she could do. Heart beating faster, colors seemed more vibrant. Perhaps because of her own attunement to Light itself or the eyes.Maybe both.

Breathing heavily she was looking at the score before being pinned by Heather and kissed. Definitely took her by surprise but it was a pleasant one. She didn't even notice the crowd. The whisper in her ear was more than enough for her to decide.

She raised one hand and snapped her fingers, both of them were gone in a flash.A quick peek showed that her room was empty. Landing on her own bed with Heather on top of her.

"No more distractions.Just you and me now."

Legio was making his way towards where he felt Gidget was.He had recently learned it was quite rude to telepathically speak to someone out of the blue. Privacy was something people valued highly and that action would make that privacy fragile. It wasn't long until he found her.

"Hello Gidget. I require your assistance. Now that I have acquired a mortal body, I have also gained it's inconveniences. I have no legal documentation to confirm my existence nor a place to sleep. I have never done that before. Truth be told, I am quite looking forward to that. But I digress. I was told that you could be of service to me regarding those matters."