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Rough Draft Ch. 29Robin looks out the building’s window. “Hey Tem.” She calls out, “Are you sure this building is completely shielded from the mental effects of…these things.”“It’s 100% isolated from any effects that they possess. Why do you ask?” Tem says, looking up from the contraption she was working on.Robin looks down and scratches the back of her head, “Well I just keep having this voice talk to me in my head which really isn’t *that* odd but it doesn’t sound like my voice.”“Interesting. What’s it saying?”“Umm…Not to interrupt but I thought you were going to interrogate me?” TBI.Spider says fidgeting in his chair.“Oh sorry. Just…honestly not sure what to ask.” Robin states. “Even if I did, you’d probably not admit your real goals and then we’d threaten you and you’d probably not believe us and you know, it’s just round and round it goes.”“I was sent by certain agents in the TBI who believe that the Reboot was a mistake.” TBI.Spider states plainly.“Well that was…easy.”A glint appears on TBI.Spider’s mask, “It doesn’t matter. I don’t really have any loyalty to them and none of us are likely to live through this anyways which is kind of what I was hoping would happen to you but can’t really say that I was looking forward to be in this position myself.”“So who was involved?”TBI.Spider shrugs, “I wasn’t contacted directly. I could make a few guesses but the whole point of everything was for me to have anonymity.” The lips of the mask stretch in an unsettling approximation of a face. “Besides, killing my alternate self? I’d do that for free.”Tem and Robin look at him for a moment and then Robin turns towards her, “So anyways, it’s kind of a feminine voice. Very confident in a way that’s different than how I sound when I’m feeling confident.”“Are you ignoring me?” TBI.Spider’s statement coming out quieter and slower than his first few.“Oh sorry, it’s just that I get kind of bored easily and you’re not giving me much to keep me entertained.”“You’ve barely questioned me. I haven’t even told you how I was contacted…” TBI.Spider growls out.Robin shrugs, “Would knowing how mean anything? I’m pretty sure the answer is eventually going to be Sorsha being behind everything. Too bad. She seemed nice when we were there but she pretty instantaneously screwed us over when it convenienced her. Only thing that’s weird is why now? She figured out her reboot didn’t change us like it was meant to, she could have gone back to where we were dropped off and…” Robin mimics a couple of gun firing motions.“You really don’t know the TBI, do you?” TBI.Spider spits out, “Sorsha doesn’t care enough about any of you to send an assassin or to stop one if she found out one was sent. Hell, she may have even signed the paper work but that’s not a guarantee she read the details. The people who really control the TBI are the lieutenants and captains. They’ve been making the decisions ever since you idiots put Raymund in the ground.”“Oh God. Don’t tell me you actually liked that asshole?” Tem responds, staring up from the machine she was working on up to that point.“*$%@ no. Nobody liked Raymund but at least with a simplistic asshole like him, you knew the direction you might get screwed over from. Under Sorsha, they could be coming at you from five directions.”“I don’t know.” Robin responds idly. “Sounds kind of Chaotic to me.”Tem rubs the fake temples on her mask as Robin wonders if she does that more out of habit or demonstration of her masked emotions, “Chaos isn’t always a good thing, Robin.”“Well people following order got us in this mess with our original universe destroyed. So Chaos is looking better to me.”“Orders..not order.”“Same difference.” Robin responds.Tem pauses, “I am sorry about that by the way. I didn’t know they were going to do that.”Robin shrugs in response, “It’s not your fault.” She assures. “In fact, I’m pretty sure if you knew that was going to be the plan, you’d probably have gone John Wick on everyone in the TBI to stop it.”“Heh. Dated movie references aside, You’re probably not wrong.”***Ren shifts as he tries to keep his legs from coming out from under him. “So are we really making this our last stand?”Cat glares at him, sweat has dripped all the way down the back of her shirt. “Do we have much of a choice?” There’s a sharp bite to her voice that doesn’t normally come across in conversation.“Relax, you two. It probably won’t come down to that and even if it does, whoever’s left out there will be injured from their own fighting out there.” Pareina responds, “So there’s still a chance.”“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Pare but we’re all on our last fumes too and as much as I’d like to sit down and recoup, I’m still too amped to do that right now. Cat and Sur can barely lift their arms right now, Abel’s still missing, Erina’s out of commission and Vul…” Ren catches himself, unable to say the next part in front of them. “You’re pretty much the only one not injured here and…well you’re not really a fighter…no offense”“What about Kitty?” Sur calls out. “She’s a better fighter than any of us.”“She went after Ohkwari’s men after they wandered into the woods. Said she thought mom might have bit off more than she could chew this time.”“Feel like we could have used her here more but…dammit. Do you think it’s too late to take Sarah up on her offer to follow her?” Sur suggests, though a pang hits her stomach just the same as the words come out.“I don’t think there’s any running from this one.” Pare says quietly. She tries to think up something more encouraging but her thoughts are interrupted by a loud thump on the bunker door.“Crap. That loud, it pretty much has to be one of their mechs. How’d they even fit one of those things through the hallway?” Cat yells.“I don’t think they were too worried about breaking things along the way.” Ren answers, the sound quiet as he breathes heavily. “It really is too late to run now. Any votes for rushing this thing as soon as the door comes down?”The banging on the door stops and there’s a momentary calm in the room.“Why’d they stop?”Ren breathes a sigh of relief, “Who knows but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the-““Who’s in there?” The voice calls loudly through the speaker at the top of the door. “Yona, is that you?”Cat takes a step forward to answer before Sur grabs her arm. “Oh relax. This is obviously that bear lady. Who else would ask about Yona? Plus, she was with mom. So, if she’s here then mom should be too.”Cat opens the door and Ohkwari bends down to step through. She takes a moment to look around and then down at Cat. “Where is Yona?”“We sent him ahead with Sarah and her family since he wasn’t in any shape to fight. We’re the only ones who stayed behind.” Cat looks around and frowns, “Wasn’t our mom with you?”“We got separated in the forest. A fog rolled in and when I stepped past some trees, I was in front of your house again.”Sur stands back up, “Wait so you didn’t get rid of the forces in the back?”“No. I heard them fighting amongst themselves but my priority was finding my family.”“We sent those who would go through the tunnels with Sarah and her family. They should be safe.” Pareina tells her and turns to Yona. “Yona has elected to stay here and fight.”“That decision is not Yona’s alone to make. If the rest of my family is safe than he shall go with me to safety.” Ohkwari stands over them.Yona steps in front of her, “This family has been good to us. I won’t just leave them to fend for themselves.”“They have helped us with avenging ourselves upon the spirits that destroyed our home and the humans that helped them. In return, I did what I could to defend them. I will not risk myself or anyone else important to me anymore. Not against monsters that their presence brought into the forest.” She attempts to stand defiant but her injuries start to betray her as she slouches forward to relieve the pressure.“And I will not abandon those who saved my life.” Yona calls out.Ohkwari looks at his injuries, “Can you even fight in your condition?”“I can hold a spear.”“There is more to war than just holding a spear, young cub.” Ohkwari responds and looks around the room, “These fox spirits were trained to fight more than I have trained you and I can look at them now and see that not one of them was prepared for a real fight. You can accomplish nothing here.”“The only thing I can accomplish by leaving is to run away.”“You should go, Yona.” Ren interjects. “We will be fine here.”“You would ask me to leave you here? I should be protecting you!”“No, you’re place is to protect your family as it is theirs to help protect you and mine to protect each other.” Ren embraces him in a hug, “And like I said, we’ll be fine here.”Yona hugs him back, “You don’t have to lie for my sake.”“I’m not lying…though maybe I could get one kiss before you go, just in case I don’t get a chance to la-h-hey!!” Pareina pulls Ren back.“You can kiss him later if he wants to Ren. You shouldn’t be using the emotion of the battlefield to pressure him into it.”“I’m not trying to pressure him, Pare! You’re being way too serious about this.”***Robin pushes past a couple trees, spitting a few needles out of her mouth. “I’m getting really tired of this forest. We killed those monsters that were freezing the trees and defeated a deity wrecking it. Why is it still pissed at us?” She waits a moment but the most anyone gives her is a quick shrug. “It doesn’t really help at all that the one person who understood this forest the best and what we might still need to do to appease it, disappeared.”“I understand you’re upset, Robin but this isn’t helping. Let’s just keep moving and hopefully we’ll be back soon.” Tem responds.“Easy for you to say. They’re not your kid-.” Robin stops herself. Even with the mask on she can tell that Tem feels hurt by the remark. “I’m sorry…that was uncalled for.”“It’s been a long day.” Tem responds, “Let’s just try not to take out that frustration on each other.”Robin nods slowly.Nyssa floats between them, “I really hope we do get back soon. It would be nice to be able to rinse off after…well you know.”“I think we are drawing closer.” Kuzu responds, “The spiritual energy is different here than at home but it seems like the forest is just trying to slow us down. Not stop us.”“I don’t understand why it would do either.”There’s a loud explosion from somewhere nearby and Robin looks ahead with increased fear. “Screw this.” Still too tired to teleport, she runs forward in between the trees with Nyssa close behind her.“Robin! Wait, we can’t split up.” Tem cries after her but as she parts the trees where she’d just been, there’s only an empty clearing. She turns to Kuzu. “Do you have any idea where she is now?”Kuzu closes her eyes and shakes her head, “With any luck, the forest sensed her urgency to protect her family and obliged but after these events, I doubt destiny would do us any favors today.” “You seem melancholy. Is this not what you wanted? To get rid of your daughter and the dishonor she brought you.”Kuzu senses the venom behind Tem’s statement but chooses to ignore it, “What happened to my daughter was not what I wished but what was inevitable by honor and justice. Her soul can now rest now that it has been separated from the corruption that plagued her body.”“Weren’t you going to go back to Japan?”“I would but it seems I am just as lost in these woods as you are.” Kuzu replies. “It’s a shame that the forest let that heretic go free and kept us trapped here, isn’t it?” Kuzu turns but Tem has vanished. “So much for staying together.”There’s a rustling in the bushes nearby and she preps what little energy she has left into her defensive stance. Instead of an enemy, Kitty stumbles out into the clearing. She lowers her guard and breathes out slightly.“You are one of Wolf.Spider’s children, yes?” Kuzu responds.“Yeah and you’re that fox lady.” Kitty responds.“My name is Kuzu and I’m a fox spirit.”Kitty smirks, “And I’m Kitty, a Chaos Warrior. Not just one of their children.”“Apologies,” Kuzu adds, “Though, my focus is more about getting out of this forest.”“Oh that’s easy. The house is just through these trees.” She pushes them aside to just find another open field in the forest. “Or it had been.” She sighs and says something in a strange language that Kuzu doesn’t catch. “Well, this is frustrating. Where is Wolf.Spider anyways? I came out here to help them.”“She ran ahead and disappeared. As you’ve just seen this forest is playing tricks on us all. She grew impatient and it took her somewhere else. There was another here in a bird mask but she also left me behind.”“Wait, Tem is here? Wow. I haven’t seen her in almost a decade. Hmm…knowing her she probably just found an alternate way out of the forest using her gizmos. I feel a bit better knowing that she’s here. Though, I’m not sure she’d be going back to our house or to search for Wolf.Spider.”“Do you always call your parent by their name?” Kuzu asks.“Hmm? Oh yea. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean it with any disrespect but she didn’t actually know she was my parent for many years. So ultimately, I knew her as Wolf.Spider long before I knew her as mom or dad.”“Hmmm…I suppose I am not here to judge your family. So, let us instead focus on getting out of here.”“Unless you have an idea on how to get the forest to calm down, I’m not sure that’s going to be that simple.”Kuzu doesn’t’ say any more but instead sits down and closes her eyes. Kitty looks at her, idly thinking this is no time for meditating but she waits not wanting to get lost any more than they already are. After a moment, Kuzu opens her eyes and starts walking confidently to the west. Kitty hesitates before following her into some thicket.***Tem scoffs at the sight in front of her. The yard in front of her has been dyed red by the blood of Neo-Goliath mercenaries and cops alike. The cops themselves seem to have taken the brunt of the attack. All that’s left now are a few Neo-Goliath mechs and the pilots inside them. One mech is hunched over a dead cop, repeatedly pummeling the mush that had been his body into a small crater. Two of the others seem to swinging wildly at unseen enemies. Still others are motionless, their pilots either dead or too shocked by what’s going on to move. Tem’s arms rise in goosebumps. The air is still heavy with the trace remnants of a spell. Whoever cast it must have been tremendously powerful, if a bit inexperienced and Tem’s mind immediately jumps to Erina.She takes a deep breath with no time to waste and the scene in front of her slows to a near stop. She approaches the mech pounding the cop into the crater first and cuts off all of its hydraulics before knocking out the pilot with the butt of her scythe. She repeats the same process for the remaining mechs before time springs back to its normal pace. Ahead of her, the house’s back wall has been caved in from rocket fire. She steps over the boulders that had made up the reinforced exterior into the house. There are voices ahead of her and she again readies her scythe. Anger leaks out in the form of blood magic around its handle. She had spared the half-crazed mercenaries outside, taking pity due to their broken minds. Yet, she has no intent to do the same with the remaining soldiers inside the house. She slashes through the first two mercs before they know she’s there but almost collapses against the wall. She shakes herself back to alertness. Had she really worn through so much energy and blood attempting to subdue Zeus earlier?There’s yelling ahead and she redoubles her effort, cutting through more mercs as she makes her way through the hallways. She turns a corner to find a group of men with guns trained on her. In an instant, she’s past them as their blood spurts out onto the floor of the mansion. She takes the stairs ahead of her after disposing of the two gunmen guarding it at the top. The bunker door at the bottom has been broken open and she can hear yelling and gunfire from inside, combined with a much more animalistic sound.A helmet explodes in a spray of blood as she enters the bunker. She fires two shots from her revolver, one for each of the remaining attackers she finds still standing in the room. A relative quiet takes the room as she looks around, noticing first the children, “Oh good you’re safe.” She’s breathing heavier than she realizes and her vision spins as her eyes turn to Ohkwari, “Oh so this is where you went.”Tem collapses on the ground as Sur runs up to her.“What’s wrong with her?” Ren asks.Sur is feeling under her jacket, pressing into her chest as Tem utters a gasp. “I think she has some broken ribs. I think she’ll be alright though. It doesn’t look like her lungs have been punctured.”Ohkwari reverts to a more humanoid form and turns to them, “If she’s stable get her somewhere safe. I can hear more people coming.” **** Smeyrs hits the back of the cell with a loud thud. He picks himself up and grabs onto the bars. “I want out of here right now or I’ll have the DA on all of you within the hour. You hear me?” The cops who threw him in there walk away without acknowledging him, “You’re all #$%@%$# through! You hear me. You want to save your jobs? Get me out of here now?” The sound merely echoes through the now emptying hallway. Smeyrs keeps screaming until his voice turns hoarse to no change. He shakes the bars in a fit of rage and anguish. His vision swims as he tries to stay upright. He could vaguely remember what had happened to him earlier in the night but he can’t accept it either. What he had tried to do that couldn’t have been him. “You finally done screaming?” Smeyrs turns as the voice startles him. Lying on the cell bench is another man in a tattered jacket and a long unkempt beard. “Who…who are you?” Smeyrs asks, his voice uneven. “You weren’t there before.” The bearded man sits up, his face falling into a dark shadow, “Are you drunk or something?” The word come out slightly slurred. “This is a community cell. I’ve been here since before you were thrown in.” He laughs, “You must have really pissed off those cops. What did you do anyways?” Smeyrs straightens his jacket, “Nothing that my lawyer won’t have me out of as soon as he gets here.” “Really? Because last I heard, cops really don’t like it when you get other cops killed.” Smeyrs reels back a little, “Who are you? How do you know anything about that?” “Me? I’m no one important. It’s just been buzzing all over their walkies. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.” The bearded man keeps repeating “buzz” until suddenly trailing off. “Anyways, one of us will get out of here soon but I don’t think it’s going to be you.” “Are you threatening me?” Smeyrs responds angrily, “Because I’ll have you know that I’ve trained with some of the best martial artists in the world.” The bearded man laughs again, “But have you ever actually been in a fight? Smeyrs tenses. “Relax.” The bearded man puts his hands up casually, “It wasn’t meant as an actual threat. I just thought it was funny, Darry.” “Darry? No one calls me Darry…” Smeyrs starts and stands up, “You do know me, don’t you?” The bearded man doesn’t reply, “Who the hell are you?” The bearded man sighs, “I guess I was a bit careless. I just got so used to playing that one part with you and I guess I slipped back into it.” “Who the hell are you!” Smeyrs yells to repeat himself. “Have you really not figured it out?” The bearded man practically laughs out the line, “I really thought you had when I called you ‘Darry’. I guess to be fair, I only did that to your face once before…when I was really drunk. I do prefer it to Mr. Smeyrs. Darry. Darry. Darry. It’s just so much more casual. I love it. Darry.” “WILL YOU QUIT FUCKING AROUND AND TELL ME WHO YOU ARE?!?” “Okay. Okay. Fine but promise you won’t do that whole shocked “you’re supposed to be dead.’ Thing, okay? It gets tired after a while.” The bearded man steps into the light revealing a familiar face. Darry squints for a second trying to recognize him before a dawn of realization hits him, “Harrison? No…You’re supposed to be dead.” “Now see. That’s exactly what I asked you not to say. You even got the exact wording. Maybe that’s my fault…guess I could have planted that in your head.” Harrison is looking away into the corner as he talks but then snaps back to look at Darry, “Oh sorry. I’m just focusing on all the wrong things, aren’t I?” Smeyrs scowls and his eyes dart back and forth across the cell. “How’d you get away from the attack?” “You mean how did I get away when your men had orders to shoot me if I somehow survived the fight? Well simple answer is that I didn’t…well at least a version of me didn’t. Oh and stop looking for a weapon. Sure you could kill me here but just like on the battlefield, it would be a useless gesture. I’m not the original.” “What the **** are you talking about?” Harrison laughs a bit, “I should introduce myself officially.” He extends his hand to Smeyrs who takes it cautiously with some confusion, “My actual name is Wrong Wolf Clone 623 Version 85r72. Though, honestly, just call me Harrison. It’s a lot shorter and frankly, Wrong Wolf Clone 623 is my father.” “Is this some kind of joke to you?” Smeyrs asks angrily. “Well, yes.” The man Smeyrs formerly known as Harrison replies. “Though I guess I do have a serious reason here. See the cops and FBI are raiding Neo-Goliath now and extracting all the files and unlicensed technology on the premises and if they haven’t already started, your warehouses and storage depots are next. Thing is, I know that you know that I know that you have a secret hanger for the good stuff but I don’t know where it is. The good thing is…if I don’t know then the cops definitely don’t know. The bad news is that I don’t know the location and I really need to know that location if I’m going to continue my research. So, pretty please tell me where it is?” “It’s at the base of Mt. St. Helen, take the closest dirt road to the south side of the mountain and stop about half a mile in, Take a right at the two dead pine trees with the second one having “DS+NG 4eva carved into the truck with a heart. Don’t worry about hitting the trees, they’re just a hardlight projection and should let you through as long as you’re in a Neo-Goliath vehicle. After that, just continue to turn whenever you see two pine trees with the same marking on them until you reach the base of the mountain. There’s a secret hanger built into the side.“ Darold stops, confused, “Why did I tell you all of that?” “Oh, should have told you,” Harrison removes a piece of clear plastic from his palm, “I dosed you with experimental nanites when I shook your hand. Think of them as a truth serum. See what they did is they went up through your blood stream up into your brain and once there, they turned off the part of your brain that’s capable of lying or subterfuge while amplifying the part of your brain that can be made submissive. I mean if I told you to sit and beg like a dog…” Smeyrs butt slams to the ground and he looks up at Harrison who laughs, “Okay sorry. You weren’t supposed to actually do that. Point is right now, you pretty much have to do whatever I say. Anyways, you told me how to get to the hanger, I would like to know how to get in, please.” “Yes. The side of the mountain is another hardlight projection. Beyond that is a hanger door that should open with the code 642970365$ and pound. The second door opens with a retinal scan that only I’m able to give and a key card that you’ll find in my office if the police haven’t already confiscated it.” Smeyrs pants after finishing feeling oddly tired and weak. “Oh don’t worry. I already have your keycard and well, cloning your eye should be easy since I already have your DNA on file. Is there anything else I should know to get in there?” “No, that’s everything…I feel sleepy.” “Go and lie down if you’d like. I don’t have anything else I need from you.” Harrison swipes a security card and gets out of the cell as Smeyrs complyingly goes to the bed. “Oh, I should have mentioned. The nanites are experimental. See apparently putting that much strain on the brain to act the way it does puts too much strain on it and also we really haven’t found ways to limit the effects to the part of the brain we want it to work on. So we usually find that the target’s brain kind of well…melts after a few minutes of being exposed. Thank you again for your cooperation. I do hope that you are one of the lucky ones who dies quickly. The alternative is not pleasant.” Harrison leaves the room as Smeyrs simply lies on the bed, breathing irregularly. *** Robin stands before an unusually tall tree. It’s trunk is gnarled and scarred and it branches up well above the canopy of the forest. Robin places a hand against the bark which feels oddly cold and as she walks around it, she notices frost covering part of the trunk where something large had pierced into the tree. “So is this why the forest has been angry with us? This tree will die if the frost doesn’t melt away. Is this the center of the forest.” “Center of the forest is a human generalization to make. This forest doesn’t really have a center. Though certain spirits have picked favorite trees to nurture. This is one of the oldest trees in the forest. Another human was here once to chop down this tree but his axe broke against the wood. I appreciated its tenacity.” Robin turns, surprised, “Ahh! I didn’t realize anyone was here.” “Then who were you talking to?” She scratches her head, “I don’t know. Just kind of talking to myself I guess.” She looks around, “Also who’s tenacity?” “The tree’s of course. Even in forests as full of energy as this one, it’s difficult for a tree to manipulate its wood to be strong enough to withstand an axe. They don’t really have brains or intelligence in any physical or mental sense. It’s all in their spirit and right now, their spirit is hurting as much as their physical form.” “I think you lost me.” Robin admits. “It’s all very technical. The short of it is, energy, particularly mystical energy is flowing back into this world. Magical beings who have survived off scraps are finding their energy wells filling again. Others long dormant are waking up for the first time. Now, usually, I’d point out that good and evil are oversimplifications of a much more convoluted world. Except, those creatures you fought.” Robin suddenly gets the feeling she should be looking at the spear of ice again. “The same ones who did this to the tree when its spirits fought to keep them from waking up. Well, I have a hard time finding any good to them.” “What are they?” She has the sudden sense of something shaking its head. “We don’t speak their names. Just know that they are something old and cold and greedy. When this tree was attacked, the rest of the forest didn’t know how to react. It has decided to try hiding its cores. I used what influence I could to take your friends to your house to help you defend it and bring you here.” “That’s cool…why?” “I can’t remove the ice shard myself and as you surmised, if it stays in then the tree dies.” The voice told her. “I believe you can remove it and I trust you more than the others to do so.” “You do?” “Yes. You’ve lived in this forest for a long time and kept pretty much to yourself. If you wanted to harm it then you’d probably have done so by now.” Robin looks up at nothing in particular, “Oh. I mean that seems a bit logical for a mystical spirit…Or a voice in my head.” The voice is silent. “Right, well whatever you are. I guess there’s no harm in trying.” She breathes out harshly and forms energy around her hands. The energy manipulates itself into an increasingly unstable form until it resembled flames and then pushed her hand into the icicle and watches as it melts slowly away. “Did that work?” “Well, it’s a step.” The voice answers. Robin nods in response. After everything, simply melting the ice did seem a bit too easy, “The tree is still dying and I’d ask for more from you but it seems you’re still tapped out from that fight with that ‘Zeus’ person.” “More of a God then a person..” “Ahh…That would explain all the energy he had. Anyways, here goes nothing.” There’s a strange almost musical sound and a bright light swirls around the tree. It pulses and with each pulse, the wound left by the ice shard shrinks a little more. After a moment, the scar disappears and the flashing slows to a start. “So I can go home now?” Robin asks and attempts to IMT away only to find herself back in the same spot. “Hey, I’m still stuck here.” The forest echoes with her voice but there’s no response. “Oh please don’t tell me you left or sacrificed yourself to bring the tree back. I still need to get back home!” *** *12 year ago* “I miss home.” Robert tells Tem. “How long are we going to be in this building?” “I think there are more important things than getting home right now.” She responds, tinkering with some wire. “Yeah but I miss my kids.” Tem looks up at him, “Look we’ll get you back to your kids. Right now, I’m trying to hypercharge the temporal field so that we can move around a bit more freely on the battlefield.” “Oh. That sounds good…I think.” Robert looks around, “Can I help?” “How much do you know about crossing Temporal harmonics with blood sorcery into a hyperconductor?” Tem asks. “Okay. How many of those words did you just make up?” Tem looks back up at him, “No. I don’t think you’ll be able to help me here.” “I could help,” TBI.Spider interjects, “Just untie me, please.” “No one’s going to do that. If you have a legitimate idea, then say it for the class.” TBI.Spider goes quiet and Tem sighs. “You know he’s just trying to get under your skin right?” “Yes,” Tem agrees. “Unfortunately, it’s working. I should know better by now than to ever expect anything but the worst from the TBI but how and why would they send him to do this? He almost singlehandedly doomed this entire timeline. Completely disrupt the Temporal Flow for this whole sector.” “Yeah well…The TBI hasn’t exactly been shy about cutting out timelines they don’t want before.” Tem’s mask pulls into something resembling a downward smile. ”Shit. Yeah…sorry.” “What are you apologizing for? That was them, not you.” Robert says. “Besides, if you had known, you’d probably have gone John Wick on them all to stop it.” “Heh, yeah…” Tem pauses, “Wait a minute. We’ve had this conversation before….” “Uh…No.” Robert responds, confused. “I’m pretty sure we haven’t.” “No we definitely did you even mentioned ‘John Wick’ but you don’t remember because…” A literal lightbulb appears above Tem’s head. “Of course! There’s a leak in the Temporal drive. Which is causing temporal repitions with slight alterations since it’s incomplete.” Robert scratches his head as Tem gets back to work on her device, “Wait…why didn’t I remember then? I was immune last time.” “Because this isn’t a reset. This is pure temporal energy leacking into the atmosphere. The only reason I can remember is because my mask filters out the Chronons and Tachyons and even now, it’s all kind of fuzzy. So if I can just figure out where the leak is coming from then I can fix this and…” There’s a short sputtering sound like a car backfiring and then starting up, “Voila! It’s fixed. Now we’re free to go back out there and fix the rest of this mess.” Robert smiles and materializes a spear in his hand, “Cool. I always did want to take down Eldritch Gods. Just didn’t think they’d be actually real.”

Co-Founders

VovinaArt
VovinaArt
Co-Founders
Rough Draft Chapter 28As Robin sighs wearily, feeling her age not for the first time, there's a squeal of excitement and she turns to see Templeton staring up at a bemused Ohkwari, who is leaning heavily on her spear for support. While Templeton's face is hidden behind her mask, Robin can't help but chuckle at the usually-reserved woman's barely-repressed delight. "Sorry, she's got a thing for bears." Templeton turns to "Hmph!" at her indignantly before going right back to examining the bear-goddess, the lenses of her mask sparkling."Of course..." Ohkwari rumbles, her ears flitting in annoyance. "My people are dead, my village destroyed... what else is left for me other than to be gawked at?""Ah...! I'm sorry." Templeton flinches, her body language ashamed. "I just... I didn't know." Clearing her throat, she turns to look at Robin again. "I leave for ten years and find this place in ruins, and you slugging it out with the effing King of Mount Olympus. What the Tartarus happened here, Robin?!""Heck if I know." Robin shrugs, shaking her head. "From what I understand, Kuzunoha over there had a daughter with Zeus that both of them decided was better off dead, and it looks like they... like they got their wish." She sighs as she sees Abel — still kneeling next to Tatakai's body — flinch. I'm sorry, kid. I wish there was more I could've done to help you, but at least you're in a better place... right? As Robin reaches down to pick up the card, a spark of golden electricity — like static, but more painful — zaps her hand. She recoils and sucks on the scorch mark, wincing. Even sealed away, he's a son-of-a... Turning, she glances at Kuzunoha, who is staring at Tatakai's corpse with an unreadable expression. "Hey... can he, you know, hear us?"Kuzunoha shrugs, turning to scowl at Imari. "Normally, no. It's like... falling asleep until you're called upon. But who can say with such a half-assed sealing? I wouldn't be surprised if it even lasts half an hour and he can hear everything we’re saying. And once he escapes..." Her expression is grim as she shakes her head. Only half an hour at best...? "Dammit!" Robin grimaces, recalling myths where the Grecian god-king's wrath tore mountains up by their roots, shook the heavens, threatened to unmake the foundations of the very cosmos... Even if we're lucky and those myths were hyperbolizing his omnipotence and/or he's gotten weaker over the millennia, we only won this time because he underestimated us and didn't use his full power. We're not going to get off so easy the second time around. "What's it gonna take to beat this guy?""I have followed the Way of the Dao for over a thousand years, but even if I were not constrained by my masters I don't know how much fight I could pose against that deity. An Immortal with a high-enough cultivation might be able to hold their own against him, but..." Kuzunoha glances at Ohkwari and Imari, scowling. "Sharing such knowledge with outsiders is... taboo... but I see no other choice. While there are exceptions and loopholes, generally the only thing able to kill a god is another god... and even then certain conditions have to be met.""Much as I hate to admit it, Kuzu's right. God-slaying isn't an exact science... or even a science at all, really." Imari nods, licking her lips. "I've tried my hand at it a... few... times, and... well... look where it's gotten me." She winces and rubs a spot on her side where Robin remembers having seen an ugly-looking scar. Ohkwari growls under her breath. "This talk of god-slaying... I don't like it. Gods... spirits... we are not meant to be slain. We are embodiments of the natural world, and destroying that... disrupting that..." She shakes her head. "It never ends well.""Speak for yourself, sister," Imari’s wicked grin widens, displaying far too many razor-sharp teeth. "Consume a god and you consume their essence, their power. Maybe even become a god yourself..." Her feral smile fades as she notices the cold glares Kuzunoha and Ohkwari are giving her, though she shrugs unapologetically. "Or you get reduced to ashes 'cause your body can't handle that much mojo.""Hmph. Never wound what you cannot kill." Ohkwari shoots Kuzunoha a meaningful scowl before directing her gaze to where Abel is kneeling, cradling Tatakai's body and weeping silently. "And I fear we have done exactly that..." "Wait..." Abel speaks up, her voice shaky as she wipes the tears from her face. "If... if that that guy was the Zeus from Greek mythology and what he said about being Tatakai's dad was true..." A tremulous note of hope creeps into her voice. "Shouldn't that make Tatakai... immortal?""Even immortals can die." Kuzunoha and Inari speak in unison, the former scowling and the latter smirking. As Imari sticks out her tongue and blows a raspberry, Kuzunoha sighs in exasperation and pinches the bridge of her nose. "There are many, many different forms of immortality, child. Some are inherit and others are attainable through the consumption of special pills and elixirs, or the cultivation of-""I wasn't asking you, bitch!" Abel abruptly snaps, glaring at her and trembling with barely-repressed fury. For a moment Robin considers reprimanding her, but Kuzunoha murdered her own daughter. Turning to Imari, she continues. "Please... Mom..." She gags on the last word, spitting it out as though it's a mouthful of rotting meat."Ara ara..." Imari grins, licking her lips. "Well, I suppose if my darling daughter is asking for my millennia of knowledge..." She circles around Abel like a vulture, but her gaze is fixed on Tatakai's body. "Hmm... the sword pierced clean through her heart. If the girl had inherited her father's form of immortality, that would've amounted to little more than a painful inconvenience.""I'm not stupid, Fox-Devil." Kuzunoha glares at Imari, whose smug smirk only intensifies. "Do you think I'd use a blade forged by mortal hands?" "No, but it'd've been funny if you had." Imari grins, pantomiming a sword snapping like a twig. Kuzunoha growls, stalking towards her until they're face to face."Ugh! Yes, you hate each other! Get to the point!" Abel snaps, glaring at both of them. "Is Tatakai alive or not?"Placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder to calm her, Robin carefully scrutinizes Tatakai's body. She isn't breathing, and as Imari said the stab-wound in her chest goes right through her heart, which is very much not beating. "Hate to break it to you, kiddo, but it certainly doesn't look like she's pretending to be dead." And knowing her, that probably never would have occurred to her in the first place. "I guess she didn't inherit her father's immortality after all.""No..." Abel whispers, her last glimmer of hope crushed. "No, no, no... what have I done? What have I done?!" "Abel... the full 'this wasn't your fault' pep talk will have to wait, but there's nothing more we can do for her except maybe give her a proper burial when we have the time. Your siblings are in grave danger. We need to go." Robin says after a lengthy pause, shaking her head. I hope the situation hasn't deteriorated too much... Pareina's got a good head on her shoulders, but Catalina and Vulnes are reckless... "It's too late for that, I'm afraid." An unfamiliar voice speaks, and Robin wheels around to see an androgynous and extremely attractive young man standing in midair, held aloft by a pair of winged sandals. He's dressed in a jogging sweats and a hoodie, but it's clear just by looking at him that he's not human. "I won't spoil who won, but there was a lot of blood." He grins mischievously as alarm flares through her, quickly curdling into fury."Are my kids hurt?! Are they safe?! Answer me!" Robin lunges, attempting to grab the young man out of the air and shake him, but he vanishes. Teleportation? No... that was raw speed! She wheels around, and spots the young man standing upside-down in midair. "Templeton, I need a time-stop-""Relax, relax. I didn't come to pick a fight." He chuckles, clearly imagining that such a fight would end in his favour were it to break out. "But before I get into that, where are my manners? I am-""Hermes-kun~!" Imari squeals, hurling herself at him with arms spread wide. The young man grimaces and seems to disappear again, reappearing less than a second later a distance away and smirking as she crashes face-first into the scorched Earth."Spoil my introduction, why don't you? But yes, I am Hermes, god of travellers, speed, and a buttload of other things; messenger of Mt. Olympus." The young man — or rather, god — grins roguishly and pirouettes in midair as Imari indignantly picks herself up. "And I am here to... well... I suppose I am here to warn you: once Father escapes, he will undoubtedly hunt you down and kill you all to cover up any and all traces of this admittedly hilarious defeat." He chuckles, picking up the card and twirling it between his fingers, seemingly impervious to the golden sparks cracking across it. "As king, he cannot risk his reputation being sullied were it to get out that mere mortals and lesser gods were able to beat him in a fight. Worse, Mother is searching for him and if she finds you here with him..." His grin fades momentarily and he shudders, "Well, suffice to say her wrath will make Father's seem a drop of rain compared to a flood.""Slagging Olympians...!" Templeton growls under her breath, fingers twitching towards her pistol, but Robin shakes her head. They're all exhausted and injured from fighting Zeus, and while Hermes may not be as all-powerful as his father he's still a god. For a moment she worries Templeton will attack anyway, but the former TBI Agent instead clenches her fingers into a fist."What're you proposing, then?" Robin steps in between Hermes and Templeton, folding her arms and frowning."Ah, straight to business? I like that." Hermes grins, suddenly clad in a white three-piece suit with a golden shirt. "To answer your question, I will offer you a trade: I will take Father, return him to Olympus, and convince him that all of this was just a bad dream..." "That's awfully altruistic for the god of thieves," Robin frowns as Hermes' grin widens, clearly pleased about Robin's display of knowledge that anyone could look up online. "What's in it for you?" "Ah... a savvy customer. My favourite." Hermes descends so that his feet almost touch the ground. "In return for my generous offer, I want..." Hermes points, his mischievous grin taking on an air of malevolence, "Her." Robin's gaze follows the god's finger to where Abel is kneeling next Tatakai's body, and she blanches. "Unacceptable. I'm not giving you one of my daughters! Or my son!" Abel's eyes widen and she turns to glare at Hermes in revulsion. "As if I'd go anywhere with you, sicko!" Abel makes to conjure a blade of Chaos Energy, but in her agitated state all she can manage are a few sparks. "Hey, hey, take it easy. I'm not like Father." Hermes makes a placating gesture, then mutters under his breath. "Not anymore..." Templeton's fingertips brush the handle of her revolver, but Robin gestures to discourage her. "Sure, your daughter's cute and all... but she's not the one I want." Robin's desire to prevent Templeton from shooting the god abruptly disappears, and she's sorely tempted to IMT over to Templeton, grab her revolver, and pump Hermes full of lead herself. "No, I'm here for her." Hermes points again, more emphatically, and Robin follows his finger to Tatakai's body. "My... my half-sister." For a moment, a shadow of what almost looks to be remorse passes over his face."No." Kuzunoha says bluntly. "She is coming with me. I cannot allow that girl's body to fall into the wrong hands, not until I figure out how to dispose of it so that her cursed blood cannot be used to harm others.""She's not going with any of you!" Abel shouts, sparks crackling around her. "I'm not letting either of you take her!""Isn't it a bit late for so bold a statement?" Hermes arches an eyebrow and smirks as Abel blanches. "Oh, I know all about your little love-triangle. How from the moment you met my half-sister, you felt an attraction to her — drawn to her power, her ferocity. But then the mortal girl came along, sucked you both in with her kindhearted sweetness, and that attraction turned not only to envy of my half-sister's power, but fear that the girls you'd fallen for favoured each other instead of you. So you convinced yourself you hated her over a misunderstanding, and when she tried to apologize you spat in her face and called her a monster. Sound about right?" "No... I wasn't... I didn't...!" Abel crumples in on herself, gripping her head as tears spill down her cheeks. "It wasn't like that...!""Bup, bup, bup! You can't lie to me, girl." Hermes shakes his head as though disappointed. "And if I had to guess, that's why she sacrificed herself: to prove you wrong and protect you so that you in turn could keep the girl you both loved safe. Honestly, if you'd just sat down and talked it out with them, maybe things could've ended differently. Maybe even the three of you living together happily ever after in a — Ugh, what are you mortals calling them now? Oh, yes, a polycule! — but now, because of you, she's dead." The colour has drained from Abel's face as she processes the god's harsh words, but then she grits her teeth and lunges at him. Hermes sidesteps her, extending a foot to trip her and send her faceplanting into the dirt, grinning down at her as he speaks in a singsong tone. "Oops. Looks like I hit a nerve.""That's enough out of you. Touch my daughter again, and I'll stuff those flying shoes where the sun doesn't shine!" Robin snaps, standing protectively over Abel. "God or not, I swear it!" "Oh, come now, I was only having a bit of fun. It's not like I was the one who set that whole love-hate-triangle fiasco up for kicks and giggles. You can thank my great-aunt and/or half-sister Aphrodite for that hot mess. Oh, and you should be careful about making oaths like that." Hermes clicks his tongue and waggles a finger. "It's dangerous, especially when dealing with gods and spirits. And threatening a god? Ooh, that is never a wise idea... but I'll let it slide just this once." Walking in midair, Hermes circles around Kuzunoha with his hands behind his back. "Now, to answer your question, because I'm in such a helpful mood... so far as her curse goes, I'm no expert, but whatever's tainted her has seeped pretty deep into her — body, mind, and soul. Hecate might know a way to remove it, but..." he trails off and shrugs. "We don't have the time to chit-chat, remember? Your little card trick won't hold Father for much longer, and he's not likely to hold back once he breaks free. That on its own would cause catastrophic amounts of collateral damage, and if Mother shows up... well, with this many attractive men and women present, she's liable to assume the worst. If you think Father's bad...""We have all the time in the world." Robin says, glancing sidelong at Templeton before meeting Hermes' gaze evenly and folding her arms. "And no offence but I don't trust you one bit, Hermes. You show up out of nowhere, humiliate my daughter, and have the unmitigated gall to demand we give you Tatakai's body? What do you want it for, anyway?"Hermes clicks his tongue and then chuckles, sitting in midair and folding one leg over the other. "It's not what I want with her." His mischievous smirk disappears, leaving him solemn and grim. "All cards on the table, that girl is the subject of a prophecy that could shake the foundations of the cosmos to its core. Rather than risk that power falling into the wrong hands — or a rival challenging his claim to the throne of Olympus — Daddy dearest decided the best course of action would be to strip her of any immortality she may have inherited — one of the perks of being King of the Gods — and utterly destroy her." Hermes pantomimes an explosion before gesturing at the massive crater. "Things didn't go exactly as planned, but that is why I'm here: to make extra sure no-one would be able to exploit her or her curse for nefarious purposes." "I don't buy it." Robin scoffs. "In all likelihood that's exactly what you'll do.""You wound me!" Hermes throws an arm over his forehead dramatically, then cups his chin and taps his foot in midair. "How to prove my intentions are sincere? Hmm... how about this? I, Hermes, swear on the River Styx I am telling the truth when I say that I possess no ill intent towards you or your kindred, nor do I intend to use my dearly departed half-sister's curse to cause further harm." Hermes crosses an arm over his chest, and Robin feels a sudden wave of ominous pressure wash over her. Judging by their reactions the others do too, and Hermes seems to feel it more intensely, grimacing and shuddering. "Dead or alive, that girl's presence places you and your family in danger beyond your comprehension. Let me take her, and you and your family will be — relatively — safe. I'll even see to it that Father doesn't pursue punitive actions against those gathered here for having humiliated him. Does that work for you?" As the sensation fades, leaving a prickling sensation running down Robin's spine, she sighs and nods. I don't trust him, but I don't see any other choice... "So be it." Nodding in return, Hermes scoops Tatakai's body off the ground. Kuzunoha averts her gaze as Tatakai's arms and legs dangle limply, head lolling and eyes half-closed. For a moment, she almost looks remorseful, but then her gaze hardens. Picking herself up, Abel growls but Robin shakes her head. "No. Much as it pains me to admit it, he's right. We can't afford another fight. Not right now, and not against a god. We hit Zeus with everything we had and barely scratched him. If we pick a fight with this guy and Zeus breaks free, it'll be two gods — three if Zeus' wife shows up — against all of us; and besides, we need to get back home and make sure your brother and sisters are safe." "But-" Abel protests, tears welling up in her eyes. "What... what am I going to tell Sarah? She... she's gonna hate me!" Sympathy welling up in her, Robin pulls Abel into a hug, the girl's sobs wracking her small body."Shh... shh... it's not your fault, Abel." Robin whispers, internally reflecting on all the people she's cared about who she's lost over the centuries. "It's mine. If I'd gotten here sooner..." Abel hugs tighter, shaking her head as she presses her face into Robin's shoulder, and Robin sees Kuzunoha watching with an almost remorseful expression. No... she's the one to blame. Her and Zeus! If they hadn't gotten it into their heads that Tatakai had to die... Anger surges through Robin, but it's tempered by a cold realization. But... I'm no better, trying to use Tatakai as a weapon against Neo-Goliath only exacerbated her feral tendencies. If I'd been more proactive about socializing and educating her, maybe all of this could've been avoided... "Poor girl..." Hermes murmurs, looking down at Abel with an expression almost akin to pity. "I'm gonna have to have a word with Eros about where he fires those damn arrows of his..." Before Robin can ask what he means by that, there is a sudden gust of wind and Hermes is gone. As Templeton grinds her teeth, Robin turns to frown at her. "Would've been nice of you to help out a little, Tem.""Hello? Fugitive from the TBI here, in case you forgot!" Templeton snaps, crossing her arms. "And for your information I'm already sticking my neck out as-it-is running a large-scale time-stop over the city, trying to save as many people as I can after your little dustup here turned it into a disaster zone." As Robin's jaw drops, Abel lets out a horrified gasp. "The... the city's destroyed?""What, you think a Skyfather-tier god dropping a divine weapon with the destructive yield of a bloody asteroid right outside a major metropolitan area wasn't gonna have cataclysmic consequences?" Templeton facepalms and shakes her head, "You're lucky it wasn't wiped clean off the map. And before you ask, no I'm not going to rewind time to 'fix' things." "H-how can you say that?" Abel snaps, climbing to her feet. "You mean all this time you could just snap your fingers and undo all of this-" she gestures furiously at the crater, at the smoke staining the sky an ugly yellow and the moon blood-red, "-while saving everyone who's died, and you won't?!""Now listen here," Templeton takes a deep breath as Robin clears her throat, then softens her tone. "Time travel is a delicate science at the best of times, not a do-over button for every time you do something you regret." Her tails' fur bristling angrily, Abel gets right in Templeton's face, but the ex-TBI Agent doesn't even flinch and after a long moment Abel backs down. "No matter how much we might wish it was. Take it from someone who knows firsthand: Actions have consequences, kid, and you'll just have to deal with them. That... that's just part of being an adult.""Please, calm yourselves." Ohkwari interjects, scowling between them. "Now is not the time for infighting. There is much to be done. Robin, you should go to your family and make sure they are safe... and I will go with you: my grandson was in your care and I want to make sure he is alright." She turns to Kuzunoha, sighing. "And you, Lady Fox... I hope all this death and destruction was worth it to you."Kuzunoha is stone-faced and silent for several long seconds. "I did what I had to do for the greater good... and my mission is not yet finished." She turns to glare at Imari, who looks torn between cruel delight and anguished dismay."Can we please have this conversation later?" Robin interjects, scowling between them. "Imari... or whatever it is you're calling yourself now... our kids are in danger. If they ever meant anything to you..."Imari opens her mouth to reply, but Kuzunoha cuts her off by drawing her sword. "Absolutely not! I have let you live long enough, Fox-Devil! This ends here and now!" "Kuzu, Kuzu, Kuzu..." Imari bites back a giggle, gritting her teeth. "Please, just... hear me out. You... you're letting this mission of yours consume you, and if you're not careful you could end up losing the light inside you — like I did, so long ago." Her ears droop, and then she sighs. "I've done so many awful things I probably do deserve to die... but I'm struggling to do better, to be better. All I want is to be free from this cloying corruption eating me from the inside-out before it's too late. But I need help. Your help. Please, I beg of you... save me!"Imari prostrates herself on the ground, Kuzunoha staring down at her incredulously. "Help you? Save you?! Why would I- Wait, surely you're not suggesting... Don't be absurd!" Kuzunoha's fingers tighten on the hilt of her sword and she grits her teeth, "The ritual you are proposing is something only sanctioned for the gods! I would be summarily executed for treason! I should kill you for even having the sheer audacity to even suggest such a thing..." she trails off, then sighs. "But... I still owe Robin-san a debt for saving my life, so I will help rescue your children... but after that I will settle my score with-""For the love of Lupine, give it a rest!" Robin snaps, her already worn patience fraying even thinner. "Now... where's Nyssa? She was with me earlier..." Robin looks around, but can't find a trace of her spectral companion. "Nyssa? Nyssa, where are you? This isn't funny!" For several long seconds there's nothing but silence, but then Nyssa's head pops out of the ground a few feet away. "Is... is he gone?" Slowly rising up from the ashes, she looks around and lets out a sigh of relief. "Whew. That Hermes guy scares me.""He didn't seem that scary." Ohkwari rumbles, "Not in comparison to his father, at least. And you are?"Nyssa blinks, then grins somewhat sheepishly and strikes a cutesy pose. "Oh, sorry. The name's Nyssa. I'm an old friend of Robbi's." Nyssa reaches out to shake Ohkwari's paw-like hand, and to Robin's surprise her hand doesn't phase through the bear-goddess'. "I was hiding 'cause I don't wanna get dragged off to the Underworld. I like it here." Before Robin can cut the pleasantries short, the clouds disperse and a shaft of moonlight shines down from the sky, a raven-winged god with spiky black hair is suddenly standing in their midst. "Yo!" Glancing around, Adamas frowns with a look of concerned confusion. "What'd I miss?" ————Hetja grits her teeth in fury as she surveils the catastrophe unfolding before her. While that damned imposter Asura had managed to shield the city from the worst of the shockwaves — being a god has certain perks — the damage to the city was still severe. She can almost feel each death, sense each soul departing to their destined afterlives. Were I not still cloaked in flesh, I could've done more to stop this... she grimaces. How many times now, has she come close to apotheosis only to lock it away out of fear of losing herself?Sif soars overhead on nightmare-wings, a multitude of eyes scanning for survivors. The entity sealed inside her has been abnormally docile, which surprises her. Either the threat of the Black Key was enough to secure its cooperation, or something besides the imposter Asura has scared it into submission. Shaking her head, Hetja focuses on the task at hand — clearing rubble away from a collapsed high-rise. Concrete crumbles like cheap styrofoam in her grip as she tosses a ten-foot slab aside to uncover a small cavity. Five people are inside, wounded but alive. Sif lands nearby and plunges tendrils into the rubble, her eyes glowing green as she chants under her breath. Like roots, the tendrils burrow into the debris, seeking out the still-living trapped below. They've already cleared seven buildings in this manner, and though Hetja has no clue how long the bubble of stopped time that Templeton created has bought them, she doubts it will last forever. "Can't that demon inside you work faster?" Hetja frowns as she hefts the survivors out of the rubble and lays them out."Hey! We're doing the best we can here!" Sif huffs, folding her arms indignantly. "And it's not a demon!" "It is as far as I'm concerned..." Hetja grumbles under her breath, shaking her head. Sif puffs up her cheeks like a pouting anime character, then rips the tendrils she had extended out of the rubble. Each resembles the root of a plant, with countless offshoots coiled around bodies both living and dead. Still sulking, Sif begins laying the survivors out in a space they've cleared of rubble, mouths forming to swallow the deceased. Shuddering in revulsion, Hetja turns to look up at their next target — a high-rise in the middle of collapsing — and sighs in frustration. Even with their powers, it will take them hours to clear all the survivors from the rubble, and they will be outnumbered by the deceased — and that's just one building among hundreds. When I find out who did this...! Fury causes a fiery aura of divine energy to flare around her, blazing a crater into the ground, and she mentally kicks herself. If I'm not careful, more innocents will die...! "Umm... hi?" Hetja whips aroud and summons her blade, only to find herself looking at a black-haired woman in her late twenties or early thirties, wearing a torn and scorched pantsuit. Unaffected by the time-stop, the woman brushes herself off and smiles uncertainly. "My name is... Laura, I... I think? Sorry, my memories are a little hazy..." The woman grimaces and shakes her head as though to clear it. "I saw you pulling people out of the rubble and I... I think I can help with that."Hetja scrutinizes Laura closely, frowning. Despite her appearances, the woman isn't human; and there's something strangely familiar — no, nostalgic — about her. "How so?" She plants her sword tip-first into the ground, leaning against it and raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Well, for starters..." The woman, Laura, steps into a shadow and suddenly sinks into it like it's a pool of water. A few seconds later her face emerges and she wrinkles her nose. "I... I'm still getting the hang of this. It's rilly difficult, but..." She submerges again, and after several long seconds bodies start popping out. Dispelling her sword, Hetja collects them and lays them with the others. Laura emerges, tilting her head quizzically, and Hetja sighs and nods in approval. Grinning, Laura moves to hug Hetja as though on impulse, but Sif intercepts her. "Don't you dare let me catch you making eyes at Hetty. She's mine!" Sif hisses, her teeth sharp and eyes blazing green. Laura stops abruptly, then sticks out her tongue and sinks back into the shadows. "How many times must I remind you? I am no-one's but my own." Hetja sighs, but her words fall on deaf ears. "And technically I am you, ergo you are mine~!" Sif smirks as the writhing mass of viscous ooze shapes itself into a bodysuit and cloak tapering into a set of tentacle-like appendages, black markings appearing around her eyes and her lips turning black. Using the tentacles, Sif ascends into the collapsing building. "If I save more people than whatsherface you have to give me a kiss~!" Hetja grimaces in disgust, shaking her head before leaping after her. "I do not agree to those terms, you narcissistic brat! When will you understand that I'm not interested?"————Staring out the window in horror at the burning, crumbling city, Wolfen feels her stomach drop. So many innocent people — her subjects — hurt and dying... Shaking her head to dispel bad memories, she look at Destiny. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" "Sorry, Wolfie... I can't." Destiny's voice chokes as she bites her lip. "I want to, but to fix this... I just don't have the power anymore." Wolfen nods in understanding and pulls the djinni into a hug, stroking the back of her head."This wasn't an ordinary earthquake..." Yuriale glares out the window, her yellow eyes glowing ominously. In her full gorgon form, she towers over them all. "I sense a presence, once I haven't felt for centuries..." She clenches her fist and slams it against the window hard enough to spiderweb the inch-thick bulletproof glass with cracks, then winces apologetically and dwindles into her human form, sweeping her long green hair over her shoulder. "Sorry... it brings back bad memories of my old home." "Well, I'm not going to sit around doing nothing!" Wolfen swipes her arm dramatically. "Not when there's cute waifus and hot husbandos to rescue!" Noticing Yuriale's scowl of disapproval, she giggles and shuffles her feet. "And other people too, of course..." Crossing to her dresser, she opens a hidden compartment and pulls out a full moon broach — a wedding present from Adamas. It's been a long time since she's worn it, longer still since she'd used it. "Are you gonna help?""Ugh... fine! I suppose..." Yuriale makes a show of irritation, but as she steps closer she sports a proud smile. Taking the broach, she fastens it around Wolfen's neck and kisses her forehead, as she had on their wedding night. "But only for you." ———— With a glance at the armored vehicle's engine charge, Koneko grimaces. Almost empty... not good. They're still around thirty miles from their destination, a massive military base and command center excavated into the scorched ground. She'd only been there once, for processing upon arrival, before she'd been loaded onto one of the maglev trains connecting it to the camps. If the engine's charge fails, it'll take at least an hour of hiking though the scorched, toxic desert. She glances over to where Vovina is leaning back with their feet on the dashboard, gazing out the window with a disaffected expression and humming under their breath. Just being this close to Vovina has her fur standing on end, every instinct screaming at her to flee from this entity, and were it not for the self-control she'd honed as a spy, assassin, and thief she would have fled hours ago. Even in Vovina's self-professed weakened state, it's clear they could easily kill her if they wanted to. So why? Why heal me? Why keep me alive? It just doesn't add up... As though sensing her thoughts, one nightmarish eye opens and focuses on her, the pupil narrowing to an almost-invisible slit. "Hmm? What's the matter, Kitten?" Vovina's multitonal, distorted voice causes her to flinch, though she keeps a steady grip on the wheel. "Wondering when we'll renege on our deal and stab you in the back?" A too-wide cruel grin exposes razor-sharp fangs. "Heh heh heh... as tempting as that may be, we already told you — we want to meet the fox-spirit with powers similar to ours, and you're the only one who can facilitate that." Yeah right. I'm no fool — I can't trust Vovina any further than I can throw them... Koneko inhales, then lets out a controlled breath, shaking her head to clear it of the unpleasant thoughts that keep recurring. I'm only alive because I'm useful. Once that usefulness is over... She has a sudden mental image of Vovina's monstrous form lifting her off the ground in its talons like a doll, towards those horrifying rows of fangs. Shaking her had to clear it, she focuses on the road ahead. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Come what may, we're going to need transit off the island first. "Alright, let's go over the plan once more." She pointedly ignores Vovina scoffing, "If we take this base, we can hit the others using the maglev rails, rescue as many slaves as possible, and load them onto the ÞÓRANOS. From there we fly it to Japan. Home." Vovina rolls their eyes but says nothing, so she continues. "I need to gain access to the base first, though, and to do that I'm going to need you to-""-cause a distraction. Yeah, yeah, we remember..." Vovina chuckles nastily in response, their black serpentine tongue snaking between crimson fangs as they lick their lips and grin hungrily. "This is going to be such fun..." Koneko shudders, having more than an inkling of what the dark entity considers fun, and Vovina raises an eyebrow and smirks. "We wonder, though... are you really willing to steel your heart and unleash our wrath upon those unsuspecting peons, knowing what we are capable of?"Koneko recalls Vovina devouring the guards in the mess hall, the senseless bloodbath she had awakened to... and then nods with grim determination. No. No! I can't let myself feel sorry for them! These people are slavers, torturers, murderers, and worse! They deserve every bit of what's coming! ———— Twelve Years Prior Looking out the window of the hospital break-room, Robin watches numbly as gnarled black trees — some taller than redwoods — sway in a non-existent breeze; thick tentacle-like roots and vines surging and seething through the rubble of the ruined city. Scattered throughout the dark forest, fleshy pods resembling cartoony Venus flytraps drool hungrily, snapping at anything that gets too close with crooked brick-shaped teeth. Giant spiders with nightmarish humanoid faces spin webs of shadow between the trees and ruins of buildings. The only light is a faint magenta glow emitted from the enormous mushrooms — each between five and twenty feet in diameter — sprouting from the tree-trunks, roots, and ground; and the clouds of luminous spores they periodically emit. It's only been a couple of hours — three at the most — but most of what was once Australia has been completely terraformed by whatever force the possessed girl called Sif unleashed. Only half a dozen of the alternate selves who Templeton had scoured the multiverse to recruit are still in fighting condition; the others are either MIA, died fighting, or went past their limits — surrendering to the Chaos and transforming into monsters themselves. There had been more — ten — but four of them had been lost: one eaten by giant spiders, one eaten by a pod, one poisoned by mushroom spores. He'd been consumed by the eldritch fungus in a matter of minutes, his flesh mutating until all that was left was a feral monster barely recognizable as a human. The fourth had lost control of her Chaos Energy and transforming into a monster herself when attempting to fight the mushroom-creature. The revelation that the terraformed atmosphere made it exponentially more difficult — even nigh-impossible — to control their Chaos Energy had put a damper on excursions by the Chaos Warriors, leaving only Templeton, Asura, Destiny, and the the self-proclaimed demigod knight — Robin's already forgotten her name — able to explore and search for survivors."Rob?" She turns to see Templeton standing in the doorway, her mask cracked from where one of the spider-monster's scythe-like legs had struck it. "Are you... OK?"For a moment, Robin feels the impulse to lash out at Templeton, to blame her for everything that went wrong, but swallows it back. "No, Tem, no I'm not." She inhales deeply, then lets out a sigh. They're relatively safe, for the time being: Templeton, Asura, the demigod, Destiny, and one of his surviving variants who happened to be a warlock had warded the building. At least Kitty is safe, helping look after the wounded. "This... is a disaster. No, worse than a disaster — an apocalypse."There's a heavy thud from outside, and Robin turns to see the demigod standing outside, clad in her purportedly divine suit of armour — which keeps her safe from the deadly fumes. What I wouldn't give for one of those... She's holding something under one arm — a person! Robin IMTs to the ambulance delivery area and waves her over, briefly taken aback by how much taller the demigod's armour makes her. "You found a surviv..." Robin trails off as she sees who the survivor is: the apparent leader of the rebel faction, who they'd taken to calling TBI.Spider. "You!""Save it. He's unconscious." The demigod's voice is amplified by the divine armor covering her body, her sword dripping the viscous ichor of some nightmare-beast. As Robin watches with more than a little jealousy, her sword and armour dissolve into motes of light, leaving her standing in a military dress uniform. She unceremoniously drops TBI.Spider at Robin's feet, then pulls out a peaked cap and puts it on. "I found him in one of the arachnids' webs, about to be eaten.""You should've left him there." Robin growls between clenched teeth as a couple of Wolf.Spider variants collect TBI.Spider and carry him into the hospital. "This nightmare is his fault." The demigod frowns but says nothing. "Ugh... anything else to report?""Just that more monsters are coming through the rift that Sif opened." The demigod sighs, pinching her brow. "Bigger ones." "That girl... no, that abomination... We need to stop her before she summons something really dangerous..." Templeton says grimly as she steps out of the door, tightening her grip on the Harpē's hilt. "You mean kill her?" The demigod turns to glare at Templeton. "No. There has to be another way. I can get through to her! I just need a little more time!" "I never thought I'd say this, but we don't have more time!" Templeton snaps, grimacing. "The time-stop isn't doing anything to prevent this... this corruption from spreading, and if it gets free of the barrier, this whole planet will be destroyed and the corruption will only spread from there!" "It's not her fault!" The demigod slams her fist into the wall, cracking the pavement. "She had something... a dark god... sealed into her.""Oh? And let me guess who did that..." Templeton sneers, and Robin can hear her grinding her teeth even behind her mask. "Fragging Asura.""You don't know the whole story, Templeton." As though summoned, Asura is suddenly standing behind her. Templeton wheels around and quickdraws her gun, emptying it into his face. "That... was uncalled for." The voice issues from the gory crater where his head used to be, viscous black-and-grey tendrils oozing and writhing as it regenerates. "Look, you have every reason to hate me, but I am trying to make amends for all the deaths and destruction I caused. I... I created a world, a place where every body I took as a host, everyone I killed, can be reborn and live a new life in peace.""Everyone?" Templeton does her best to sound skeptical, but a note of hope enters her voice. "Well... almost everyone. I gave them the choice between being reincarnated and moving on to whatever afterlives would take them. Your old comrades... most of them chose to move on. And the ones who were reborn..." Asura sighs, looking remorseful, "I could bring you to them, but they wouldn't recognize you. I'm sorry." "Bullshit!" Templeton snaps, her finger tightening on the trigger. "You're lying!" "Tem, please... calm down." Robin places a hand on Templeton's and squeezes. After several long seconds, she lowers the gun and looks away. Turning to Asura, Robin clears her throat. "Can't you do anything to stop this? You're a god now, aren't you?" "I could try..." Asura shrugs, frowning, "but while I may be a god, I'm not omnipotent. There are powers out there as far beyond myself as I am beyond a human, and an all-out battle between myself and Kthyphonus would only result in Sif's death and do nothing to stop the corruption from spreading in the meantime.""Kthy-what now?" Robin frowns, then grimaces as she has a sudden vision of a horrifying creature, like a cross between a dragon and a kraken. Recoiling, she conjures her sword on impulse, Asura grabbing the blade before she can lash out and hurt anyone."Kthyphonus is what it calls itself," Asura says quietly, "And it too was once one of my hosts.""Oh Kronos..." Templeton groans. "You don't mean..." Asura nods grimly, and Templeton slumps to the ground in defeat. "What is it?" Robin kneels next to her, but Templeton doesn't say a word. Instead, it's Asura who replies."Perhaps... perhaps it is better if I show you..." His eyes glow red, and Robin suddenly finds herself underwater. There is no light to see by, and yet the contours of the ocean floor come into view — a vast expanse of sand and silt, broken by ridges, rock formations, and volcanic vents.For a moment Robin feels a surge of panic at the thought of being unable to breathe, but then a wave of relief washes over her. This is just an illusion. If I were actually this deep underwater I'd be... she trails off as she catches sight of the thing swimming alongside her. It's easily nine feet tall and looks like a humanoid shark had a baby with a crocodile. Is that Asura?! Robin gawks, but the monster doesn't notice her. Instead it slows and comes to rest at the top of a towering granite obelisk. Tearing her eyes away from Asura's unfamiliar form, Robin scrutinizes the obelisk — a pillar of green-black stone decorated with nautical hieroglyphs and pictograms, as well as engravings depicting fish-men fighting sharks, whales, and even prehistoric sea-creatures. What on Earth...? In the distance, he can see other shapes approaching, fish-people of varying shapes and sizes. Some of them briefly pause to stare at Asura, but most continue on without stopping. Where are they going? Asura growls, a low rumble he feels more than hears, and then takes off in pursuit. There's a flicker and the scene distorts, resolving into a pitched battle between Asura and countless hordes of fish-men — some armed with swords and tridents — and other even-more grotesque monsters. Viscous blood clouds the water as Asura rips at them with fang and claw, firing bolts of blood-red energy from his webbed talons. There are too many of them, and Asura is being rent and wounded, but with each foe he devours his wounds heal and he increases in size and strength. Looking at their surroundings, Robin sees that Asura is fighting on the enormous steps of a vast citadel overlooking a grotesque nightmare-city — like a collaboration between Dr. Seuss, M. C. Escher, and H. R. Giger. The city — which seems to be part of a larger sunken island — is rising up from the sea-floor towards the ocean surface, and Asura seems to be fighting to stop the horde from reaching the top, where a gate carved with the visage of some cephalopodic deity waits to be opened. As the citadel breaks the surface of the water, the too-large gibbous moon shines down through the eye of a vast hurricane forming overhead, the stars seeming strange and wrong. In the pale light, Robin sees movement — winged shapes emerging from the nightmare city and taking flight to circle over the battle. These new creatures are varied in shape, an eclectic mix of humanoid and cephalopodic features held aloft by bat-like wings. As Asura roars and vomits a torrent of green flames that sends the horde of fishmen recoiling, the winged creatures land in a ring surrounding Asura, their wings shrinking to fold against their bodies. They speak in an alien language that makes Robin scream in agony, as though shards of glass are being ground into his brain, and he's certain one of them is looking at him. No, no, it can't see me! This is just a memory! A memory! Asura recoils in pain as well, clutching his head, and then roars in defiance, lunging at them. Asura rips and tears with fangs and talons, blasting at them with energy bolts and gouts of green flames, but the creatures deflect his ranged attacks with rippling energy barriers and heal from wounds with shocking speed. Taking off into the sky, the creatures descend in a swarm of tentacles, teeth, talons, and chelae. Robin can't bear to watch, the fishmen chanting and cheering as the creatures rip Asura apart and devour him. This is... horrible! As the creatures feast, the largest of the fishmen — nearly as tall as the creatures — steps forth and approaches the massive vault. Reaching out, it lays its web-fingered hands on the vast door and opens it. The door swings inwards at an impossible angle to reveal a corridor that disappears into an almost physical darkness. Stepping back, the giant fishman rejoins the others in chanting as something moves in the darkness. The winged creatures take flight once more, circling over the citadel... but one remains on the ground. It clutches and claws at itself; its flesh rippling, bubbling, changing. In the midst of its metamorphosis, a vast flabby limb tipped by stubby black claws emerges from the gate and thoughtlessly smashes it, like an elephant stepping on an ant. A massive bulk oozes bonelessly from the aperture, and Robin realizes in an instant that she is looking upon the visage of a god, something mortal eyes and minds cannot comprehend. Even the projected memory of it makes her vision flicker and swim, and she squints in pain. Thank Chaos I'm not exactly mortal... it's like looking at the Sun... As her vision adjusts, Robin notes the deity bears a striking resemblance to the winged creatures now orbiting it like moons around a planet. It's vaguely humanoid, with flabby claw-tipped limbs and a pair of draconic wings extending from its back; its head resembling a multi-eyed octopus or cuttlefish. Sweeping up handfuls of the cheering fish-men, it tosses them into a sharp-toothed maw hidden behind its tentacles. Discarded in its wake, the crushed remains of the creature seethe and begin to reform. Charcoal-grey scales encrust the writhing mass before six multi-jointed arms emerge, clawed fingers biting into the grimy green-black stone. A spine and ribs emerge next and are swiftly covered in muscle tissue and scales. Then a boxy head with its six eyes and fang-lined jaws emerges, followed by digitigrade legs and a long tail. With a sonorous bellow, Asura embarks on a ravenous feeding frenzy, growing larger the more prey it devours. The deity pauses mid-stride, turning to regard Asura with something almost akin to curiosity and confusion. It speaks in the same nightmare-language as its servitors, one of whom lands and advances threateningly towards Asura. Fanged jaws gape and suddenly the winged creature is the one being devoured, Asura speaking only a single word as it feeds: "HUNGRY!!!" The deity turns away, giving no sign that it is at all perturbed by the death of its servitor; nor do the other servitors even as Asura grows larger with every bite of their fallen comrade... at least until Asura pounces on another one, knocking it from the sky. The two of them tumble onto the stairs, but Asura is the one who comes out on top, ripping off its head and swallowing it whole before letting out a victorious bellow. As the creature begins to regenerate, pulsating tendrils of flesh writhing from the wound, Asura ravenously tears into it. Uncaring, the deity spreads its wings wide and flaps them experimentally; but before it can take off Asura leaps onto its back and bites a massive chunk out of it. The scene distorts and Robin finds herself standing before Asura in the present. Blood is dripping from her nose and she wipes it away with a grimace. "What... what the heck! Never do that again! You could've melted my brain!" "Sorry... I... I find it hard to think on a human scale and perspective these days..." Asura looks apologetic for a second, then looks away. "When I took the stellar larva's body as my own, my mind... shattered. All that was left was hatred and hunger, scattered shards of memory and soul that pieced back together into a megalomaniacal sociopath with a god-complex, and it wasn't until Deva reunited the two halves of the Soul Jewel that I was able to be made... whole... again as the man called North. But even though Templeton and Deva expelled my consciousness... the Soul Gem... from that body, it continued to exist... regained a semblance of its original form... and began hunting me. When it finally found me, it had grown too powerful for me to face in combat without risking the destruction of everything I had created, so I... sealed it away.""Inside that girl?" Robin wrinkles her nose in disgust. "No. That... that wasn't supposed to happen." Asura says quietly, shaking his head sadly. "Sif unwittingly broke the seal and unleashed it, then used the Grimoire and Black Key to seal it into herself as atonement. The good news is that as long as it is sealed within her it cannot unleash its full power, but it cannot be removed... cannot escape... without causing her death, and should she die it will be unleashed upon the world." "What about the other Asura? What is he, where is he now, and how does he fit into all of this?" Robin frowns, looking between Asura and Templeton. To her surprise, Asura shrugs and turns to look at Templeton as well."That's not important right now!" Templeton snaps, turning away from them and glaring over her shoulder. "What's important is finding a way to shut this incursion down, and then we can find a way to kill that bastard once-and-for-all." She taps her Timepiece and a holographic display pops up, showing a map of Australia with several blinking markers. "Here's where the Project Typhonomachy units are located. Most of them are still in working order, but we need to get to them quickly and activate them fast. If we work in teams-""The Chaos Warriors — myself included — are a liability." Robin sighs, grimacing. "We can't use our powers out there, not without risking losing control and turning into monsters.""And I'm going to take a stab at beating some sense into Sif," The demigoddess pounds a fist into her palm, Templeton rounding on her with what Robin can only describe as disgusted outrage and jabbing a finger into her chest. "Beat some sense into... do you even hear yourself?! The two of you have a disgustingly toxic relationship!" Templeton's voice is ice-cold, "I don't know what she thinks she sees in you, but I hope she's able to get over her codependency on you and find someone who treats her right... and that you get what you deserve!" The demigoddess scowls, seeming to grow in height as her irises glow ominously. "For the last time, Sif is not my girlfriend, she has never been my girlfriend, nor will she ever be my girlfriend!" Her indignant anger subsides and she gazes down at her hands, letting out a sigh of exasperation. "I don't know what she thinks she sees in me either. I swore off romance millennia ago, and I've been fighting more-or-less nonstop ever since. I'm a warrior, a soldier, definitely not girlfriend material.""I think we can all agree that we've all done things we're not proud of," Asura says quietly, "And that we're all trying to atone, to do better." Templeton bristles but says nothing, only glancing at her Timepiece. "For the time being, we are all on the same side and working towards a common goal, so let's set aside our differences to accomplish that. Agreed?""Fine. But this changes nothing between us," Templeton snaps, slapping Asura's hand away as he extends it for her to shake. "I will never forgive you for what you've done, all the innocent lives you destroyed in your pursuit of power and revenge.""I thought you'd say that." Asura sighs and nods, turning away from her. "I'll stop Sif." The demigoddess makes a noise of protest, Asura turning towards her, "I'm the only one here powerful enough to contend with Kthyphonus without putting Sif in more danger than she's already in. The others will need your help more.""And what about the other Asura?" Robin shakes her head, grimacing. "The one we came here to put a stop to? He's still out there somewhere.""That thing will never help us, if that's what you're suggesting." Templeton sneers, "All it wants is to kill and destroy and devour. Cities, kingdoms, countries, civilizations, entire worlds across the Multiverse, all annihilated..." As she speaks, the taps her timepiece and a holographic image appears showing Not-Asura razing a city with a firestorm of dark flames, leaving nothing but death and destruction in its wake. Another hologram shows it at an inconceivable size, kicking the Moon into the Earth like a soccer ball. "It took the TBI forever to figure out a way to trap it, suppress its power, make it compliant... manageable... but even then it was recalcitrant at best. I'd say it's worse than Asura, but-""I'm standing right here, you know." Asura sighs, running his fingers through his hair. "And perhaps if you had been less cruel towards them, they wouldn't have been so eager to turn on you.""How dare- I wasn't- I-" Templeton's indignant stammering builds into a shout of anger and she storms off. Robin watches her leave with a dismayed expression. "I... I should go talk to her, and see if TBI.Spider's regained consciousness yet." "Right." Asura says softly, then turns to walk into a side door. "I'll see if we can't come up with a solution to let you use your powers outside the warded zone... maybe inscribing a hazmat suit with protective runes would do the trick?""I thought we were heading out since time is of the essence, but if not I'm going back out on patrol," The demigod scowls at Asura's retreating back, then manifests her armour. "If I find anything new I'll let you know." She's gone in a blur of motion, leaving Robin standing alone.Robin finds Templeton sitting on one of the beds, her mask at her side and tear-marks streaking her cheeks. As she knocks gently, Templeton leaps to her feet and fumbles for her mask, then stops when she sees it's her and quickly wipes her cheeks dry. "Oh... w-what do you want?""I just... wanted to see if you were OK," Robin steps into the room and closes the door behind herself. "That was a nasty argument." "I... I know." Templeton looks away and grits her teeth. "Kronos-damned fragging Asura!" She slams her fist into the wall with a thump. "I hate him! I hate him so much!" She takes several deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, not meeting Robin's gaze. "But... what I hate most of all is that he... he's not wrong." She says the last three words like they cause her an unbearable amount of physical pain. "Before I joined the TBI, I was... I was a monster. So many of my variants have done so many terrible things... What right do I have to hate him, to say he's not worthy of redemption, when my entire career at the TBI has been dedicated to atoning for my own sins and all I've succeeded in doing is making things worse?" She's started to cry again, tears spilling from her eyes. "I thought things would be different after the temporal reset, that here would be reforms, accountability, real change, but... I just don't know anymore! I feel so alone... no, I've been alone all along and I was too blind, too naïve, to see it!""You're not alone, Artemis. Not if I can help it." Robin places a hand on her shoulder and pulls her into a hug. Templeton stiffens in her arms, and for a moment Robin thinks she's going to push her away, but then she slowly returns the hug. For a long moment they just stand there, holding each other, before Templeton pulls back slightly and looks into Robin's face. Her eyes are still wet with unshed tears, her expression uncertain and contemplative. Reaching up, Robin lays a hand on her cheek and wipes away a stray tear with her thumb. Lifting her own gloved hand, Templeton reaches up and rests it overtop Robin's. Almost instinctually, they're moving closer. Templeton's eyes flutter closed and she tilts her head slightly, and then..."Ahem... I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Kitty's voice — caustically sarcastic — cuts through the gaussian haze, Robin and Templeton springing apart as though zapped by electricity. Kitty leans against the door frame, her expression a mix of amusement and annoyance as Templeton fumbles her mask into place. Before either of them can say anything, she straightens and takes a step into the room. "TBI.Spider is awake. If you wanna interrogate him, now's the time."————Propping herself up on her pillow, Sarah gently strokes her niece’s fur, smiling as she purrs and snuggles closer. She’s still a little hazy from the sedatives she’d been given earlier, her brain fogged with a pleasant drowsy sensation, but she can’t sleep. A nervous excitement keeps her awake. "When Tatakai gets back here, I’m going to sit her and Abel down and we’re... going to have a nice... long talk. No, a tea party — don’t want it to be too imposing. Just the three of us. Talking." She’s thinking out loud, speaking to to no-one in particular. Sarah Jr. mews in response, flicking a feline ear, and Sarah smiles. "I don’t know exactly what happened between them, but I know I can help them fix it." She huffs, picturing herself wearing a summer dress, holding hands with both Abel and Tatakai — who is wearing decent clothes for once. Yes... that’s what we’ll do. Take Tatakai shopping. No more weird bodysuit. No more oversized hoodie. We are going to get that girl some proper clothes. She nods to herself, determined, and then giggles at the mental image of trying to corral Tatakai into a changing room. "Yes. And then we can all be friends again." But do I want to be just friends...? She abruptly blushes as she recalls the way she’s seen Abel looking at her when she thinks she’s not looking. Tatakai’s looked at her the same way, even more brazenly. They both like me... really like me... don’t they? She bites her lip and hugs her pillow as the mental image of herself going on dates — real dates — with Abel and Tatakai play across her mind’s eye. But they’re both my friends, so how am I supposed to choose between them? The thought of hurting either of them makes her feel sick, but then a thought comes to her through the brain-fog. Do I have to choose between them? She blushes even more as a scandalous mental image pops into her head of Tatakai, herself, and Abel sharing a milkshake. "I just wish they wouldn’t fight over me, though. I’m not some prize to be won, you know." She huffs, pouting into her pillow as Sarah Jr. yawns and mews. The room shakes, a muffled boom coming from somewhere above, and Sarah Jr. sits up and hisses, the fur on her tail bristling. Sarah pulls her close, ignoring the pain of her niece’s claws biting into her skin. "Shh, shh... It’s OK. Auntie’s got you..." Searching the ceiling for cracks, Sarah sighs in relief that there are none.The lights flicker as the faint sound of gunfire echoes from somewhere above. There’s a hiss as the door opens halfway, and Sarah turns her head in alarm before relaxing as she sees Rob and Marisa entering the room. Both of them appear on-edge, but relax — if only slightly — when they see she’s kept their daughter safe. "Babysitter of the year, am I right?" Sarah tries to keep her voice lighthearted — they have enough on their plates without her burdening them — but going by their worried expressions it doesn’t work."Sarah..." Her brother glances at Marisa, who nods. "We have something... important... we need to discuss. I... we... wanted to bring it up sooner, but with everything that’s going on we may not have another chance." Sarah frowns at his serious tone, the painkillers in her system making her more than a little giddy. Grinning, she waves him and Marisa over, the latter scooping L’il Sarah up and cuddling her. Rob scans the ceiling for signs of damage before sighing. "Look... I’ll just come out and say it. It’s not safe here. For you, for us, for our baby. Ren said he would be returning Marisa and I home ASAP, and we wanted you to come with us." "Wha...?" Sarah stares blankly at him, her sluggish brain struggling to process his words. "What?""If it comes down to it, we could concoct a cover story about you running away and crashing at my place for the last week. Our... your... parents will accept it, though we’ll be in legal trouble for breaking the restraining order she placed on me. But we can deal with that when we come to it. Point is, as your older brother it’s my job to keep you safe, and that means getting you, my wife, and my daughter out of this active conflict zone." Rob’s tone makes it clear he’s thinking like a soldier as much as — if not more than — a brother or husband. His face is carefully composed, but his eyes scan the room for potential threats. Marisa is also on high alert, her ears rotating to scan the room and twitching with each gunshot and explosion from up above. Laying a hand on Sarah’s shoulder, she smiles tersely. "Also... we would be honored if you wanted to come live with us, permanently. If it comes to a custody battle, the other Rob offered to connect us with a friend of the family who is a lawyer." "But... Abel..." Sarah struggles to find the words, gritting her teeth as she fights the brain-fog. "Can’t go! Not yet!" Rob sighs and rakes his fingers through his hair. "Look, sis... you’re getting to be an adult, so I’m not gonna meddle in your love-life and say you can’t date Abel — or even that Tatakai girl once she’s gotten some much-needed therapy and socialization training — but there will be plenty of time to deal with that mess later. once you’re all safe and can sit down and have a nice long talk about it. OK?"Sarah grits her teeth in frustration, shaking her head as she tries to find the words to convey her muddled thoughts. "No! Need to know...! Need to know they’re safe!""Ren told us that he’ll let Abel know where you’re staying so the two of you can touch base once things are dealt with here." Marisa says softly, "But my husband is right. As long as you are here, we are all in danger of getting dragged into their war, and we have seen more than enough war to last a lifetime. Your parents we can deal with when the time comes, but that cannot happen if we are all dead."There’s a purple flash and Ren appears in the room. He’s bleeding from a cut on his forehead, his skin, hair, and fur covered in dirt, and he looks shaken and exhausted — like he’s been running a marathon after not sleeping for a week. He’s holding something, a body that he carries to an empty bed. Sarah’s eyes widen as she recognizes Vulnes, a raw scar across her throat and clothes stained with blood. With a haunted expression, Ren stares down at his sister. "Dammit, Vulnes, why’d you have to...! Dammit, dammit, dammit!" He slumps to the ground and pounds his fist against the floor, his body heaving with dry sobs. "Hey, hey, easy now." Rob helps him to his feet and he slumps against the bed. "Is she...?" Vulnes takes a raspy, wheezing breath, and Rob sighs in relief. "It’s... bad... up there..." Ren says in between gasping breaths, to no-one in particular. "Vul... she wouldn’t stop running her mouth... tried to hack their systems and got shot. Erina went berserk... did something to fu- to mess up the cops’ minds, make them hallucinate..." Sparks crackle around him and for a moment he flickers, but doesn’t teleport. "Come on! Come on!""You need to rest, kid." Rob says, steadying Ren as the boy swoons. "You’re running on fumes, and that-""No! I have to save them!" Ren rasps, pushing away from Rob. "I have to! I’m the only one who can...!" His knees buckle and he collapses, Rob catching him and carrying him to one of the beds. With a groan, the bear-boy Yona sits up and gasps as he sees Ren, looking from his haggard face to the others’ worried expressions. "What... what’s going on? Where’s Grandmother?" "She’s not back yet." Rob says softly, Yona letting out an ursine whimper. "Hey, don’t worry, kid. She seems tough as nails, so she’ll be fine." Yona nods, but still has a worried frown as he looks at Ren. There’s a ding as the elevator across the room opens. Rob and Marisa shoot a look at each other and take up positions alongside the door, Rob pulling a service pistol from a hidden pouch. "Don’t shoot! It’s us!" Surinae’s voice calls out, and Rob holsters his gun. He and Marisa exit the room and return carrying Officer Reydon alongside a dishevelled Surinae, who is wrapping a tourniquet to staunch off a large hole in the cop’s leg. "Dammit! Don’t just scoop people up in the middle of a delicate medical procedure!" Surinae — looking utterly exhausted — shouts, then jabs an accusing finger at Reydon. "And you! What were you thinking running out into crossfire! You’re lucky you’re not a bloody hunk of that holey cheese!" Scooping Officer Reydon up and depositing her none-too gently in one of the beds, she returns to fiddling with the bandage. "Your bedside manner is horrible... and I had to get the Chief. I couldn’t just let him die." Reydon says bitterly, though her expression is concerned. "Shut up!" Surinae snaps, glaring at Reydon. "This is your fault! If you damn pigs hadn’t come here with godsdamned walking tanks, my sister wouldn’t have a chunk of her throat blown out!" Reydon looks defensive, but as she opens her mouth Surinae places a blood-stained finger to her lips. "And if I hear one peep about you ‘just doing your job’ I’m amputating!"Catalina and Pareina are next into the room, the former carrying an unconscious Erina under one arm and an unconscious middle-aged man in a burnt and bloody police uniform under the other. Running her fingers through her hair, Pareina does a quick headcount. "Are Father and Abel back yet?" She’s too exhausted to keep up the austere venire, her usually pristine appearance dishevelled. "Ugh... what is taking them so long?" Inhaling deeply, she composes herself and glances over at Rob. "Right, right... sitrep. Most of the upper mansion is destroyed, and the police and Neo-Goliath security forces have turned on each other. Regardless of which side comes out victorious, it’s unlikely they will be willing or able to show restraint when it comes to unarmed non-combatants.""So unless Dad gets back ASAP, if they breach through into the bunker we’re screwed." Catalina lets out a mirthless laugh, dropping to her knees next to Vulnes’ bed. Her clothes are scorched and smeared with dirt, one sleeve torn away to expose her muscular arm. "Sorry, sis. I wasn’t... I wasn’t strong enough..." "None of us were," Surinae says bitterly, shaking her head. "All these years of training... for what?" "I don’t know what your father was thinking, training you kids to be soldiers." Rob says, looking from one bloodied, traumatized face to the next. "You’re all the same age as my sister. You should be going to school, lying about doing your homework, hanging out at the mall, sneaking out to go to parties, and going out on dates; not fighting for your lives.""Father did what he thought was best to keep us safe." Pareinae says quietly, an edge creeping into her voice. "To prepare us for a world full of people who would happily kill us if they knew what we were... or even if they thought they did. Can you honestly say you wouldn’t do the same for your daughter, soldier?"Rob is silent for several long seconds, and when he speaks he sounds... tired. "I would... but not by choice. First I would fight to make the world a place where she wouldn’t have to grow up worried about any of that, where she could be safe and happy, loved by her friends and family." "You’re a good person, Rob..." Pareina says after a long silence, brushing Erina’s hair out of her face. "The world... isn’t kind to good people." As the room shakes again, she turns back to the door and opening a wall panel to reveal a scanner. She presses her palm to it and leans in to scan her retina, and a hidden door opens to reveal a tunnel. "This escape tunnel that leads to a top-secret safe-house. You should take Sarah and your daughter and get out while there’s still time.""W-what about the rest of you?" Sarah asks, fighting to shake off the drugs’ numbing effects. Parenia sighs, her expression resolute and determined. "If they break in then we'll make our stand here. Whatever else happens, we're the ones they want. So you should be safe afterwards."Sarah’s jaw drops as she looks between the siblings, their expressions grim. Her brother and Marisa, too, make no effort to dispute this. "That... that’s bullshit!" Sarah screams. "They're looking for me! If you stay then they'll kill you and then what happens?""Sorry, Sarah." Pareina looks away, towards Ren. "I don't see any other choice.""You can run too!" Sarah shouts, grabbing the IV drip and trying to rip it out before Surinae irritably swats her hands away. Sarah tries to pull her hands free, but even in her exhausted state the fox-girl’s grip is like a vice. "Ugh! Let go!" Surinae fixes her with a hard stare but refuses to let go of her hands, Sarah gritting her teeth before glaring at Pareina. "I’m not stupid or reckless. I know I can't fight and I don't have whatever crazy magic you all have, but that doesn't mean you have to fight here either! Please, come with us!" "We can’t. I’ve got Vulnes stabilized but her condition is delicate." Surinae says, relaxing her grip slightly. "I’m running on fumes as-is, so-""So take my energy!" Sarah snaps, Surinae looking shocked at the suggestion. "It worked for Ren, didn’t it? All I’ve been doing is lazing around, so-""First-off, you’re still recovering from a potentially severe injury inflicted by a supernatural entity." Surinae interrupts, scowling. "Secondly, I’m not into girls — and even if I was, I wouldn’t want to step on Abel’s tails. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how smitten she is with you." Catalina groans, rolling her eyes as she facepalms. "I don’t think we were supposed to say anything, sis..." "Of course I noticed, it’s just... complicated." Sarah sputters, suddenly feeling indignant and defensive. "That’s a load of bull and you know it, but that’s neither here nor there." Surinae lets go of Sarah’s hands, but leans in with an ice-cold expression. "Touch the drip again and I break your fingers." Leaning back, she folds her arms. "Thirdly, there’s no guarantee I could even take your chi. Ugh... Eri could explain it better — something about yin and yang, I think?""We’re leaving now. End of discussion." Rob interjects as another explosion up above causes dust to rain from the ceiling. Before Sarah can protest, Rob cuts her off. "You can continue this debate later, sis. You’ll see each other again sooner rather than later." Surinae disengages the wheel-locks on the bed, and Rob and Marisa push Sarah into the entrance of the escape tunnel. As Pareina moves to close the hidden door, Sarah fixes her, Surinae, and Catalina with as stern a look as she can manage. "Promise. Promise you’ll come find us when this is all over." Pareina sighs, then nods. "If we make it through... I promise." But as the door hisses shut, Sarah can’t shake the awful feeling that she’ll never see the siblings again.

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