I'm gonna need to make a type face for thos language that works in Ibis Paint x bc I do not wanna write it out each time lol-
Characters avaliable to ask
Jeremy Heere, Micheal Mell, Christine Canigula, Brooke Lohst, Chole Valentine, Jenna Roland, Jake Dillenger, Rich Goranski, Evan Hansen, Connor Murphy, Zoe Murphy, Alana Beck, Jared Klienman, Baldi, Principal of the Thing, Gotta Sweep, Null, Playtime, Bully, Arts and Crafters, 1st Prize, Beans, Cuphead, Mugman, Bendy, Sally Face, Larry Johnson, Blanc Slatee, The Squip.
Asks are currently being answered, please be patient with me!
Text Write up:
Askly (provided by Anons): Any luck getting your phone to work Jenna?
What's up with those characters! The ones on the sign?
Aight I'm curious about the phone app! What's that about??
Jenna: Oh yeah, I got it working! Even worked my way through that account creation screen!...I think that app from earlier's a Twitter like thing...I'm definitely seeing memes. I'm not liking the light mode though.
Text on screen, Askly POV: Translation in Progress...Translation Complete.
App Text: I hope the WC ppl will want me bc I am desperate
WORLD COLLISON
#WorldCollision
Askly, Screen: Printing...
Jenna, off screen: Egh, that doesn't look comfortable...What the- HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Chapitre 12 : Et c'est repartit pour un tour...
Résumé :
Recevoir un soutien d’une des puissances mondiales dans leur lutte était censé leur faciliter les choses, pas les empirer.
Vincent l’aurait prédit : Tout ce qui est en rapport avec Esthar n’apporte que des ennuis.
Personnages :
Team Avalanche, Professeur Gast, (FF7) Squall, Laguna, Kiros, Ward, personnage mystère pasque spoiler (FF8), OC ? On va dire que c’est un OC.
Tags spécifique à ce chapitre :
Body horror, personnage en situation de handicap, langue des signes, torture de Vincent, PTSD, worldbuilding en mode freestyle, Yuffie et Squall à la rescousse, ou pas, Barret/Elmyra, mais vous allez conclure tous les deux, oui ? , ennemies to ennemies, ces deux-là se haïssent et ça ne changera pas, found family, Vincent laisse toi être adopté bon sang, Cid et Vincent font un pas en avant, un pas en arrière.
The drive to the border was a little different this time. Myra found her sitting next to Seeker in the Cybertronian named Jazz, instead of in one of the trucks. Nightwing was with them.
“I don’t like the idea of splitting up the team.” Nightwing looked back at Seeker and Myra with a dark expression, brow furrowed. “You’d better hope she knows what she’s doing.”
“Flare’s been to the Maverick Zone twice before,” Seeker replied evenly. “Once before X and Zero were created, and once when they were active. She’ll know what she’s doing in there.”
Nightwing frowned at that.
“How many worlds has she been to already?” Myra asked.
“Out of the ones that are involved here?” Seeker inclined his head. “Most of them, actually. None of us have been to the Precursor Zone before, and she didn’t travel to the Hyrule Zone or Mushroom Zone, but I know the layouts for both dimensions. Otherwise, the rest of them are familiar territory to her.”
“So she doesn’t know everybody, then.” Myra nodded. “Okay; I was…kinda wondering about that. Because it feels like everybody knows about Flare-Up.”
“Word tends to spread fast.” Seeker shrugged.
“Especially considerin’ where she was for quite a while there,” Jazz added. Myra jumped at his voice; she hadn’t completely gotten used to the fact that he could talk in his vehicle mode yet. It didn’t help that he didn’t speak very much, either. “She was kinda seen all over the place, if ya know what I mean.”
“Unfortunately,” Seeker muttered.
Myra nodded a little. “S-so, you knew her, too.”
“Yup! Not for very long, though – kid was kinda here and gone. OP got ta know her pretty well, though. Matt too – by the way, man, I didn’t get ta tell ya earlier, but I love what yer doin’ with yer digs.”
“Came with the territory of working with the Bat,” Seeker replied.
There came a crackle of static from Jazz’s dash. ::We’re coming up on the Time Barrier. Everyone keep your talismans close::
“Thanks for the heads up, sis,” Seeker replied. He looked out the window at the wrinkled, leafless trees that lined the cobblestone road. Myra did the same on her side, trying to see around the giant semi truck cab that was the vehicle form of Optimus Prime, who was even more reserved than the rest of the Cybertronians.
Something about them made Myra feel nervous for some reason, so she stayed away from them for the most part.
There was a flicker of pink on the horizon, and Myra’s eyes widened when she saw that the Time Barrier came into existence where grass and cobblestone ended and where metal ground began. Tall, crumbling towers could be seen in the distance; some of them were burning.
Someone muttered something over the comms, and Zero’s voice came through clearly. ::We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. We’re going to have to find a place to set up camp quickly if we’re going to be able to do anything::
::You’re sure that you kids will be okay without the rest of us?:: spoke up a man’s voice – Tony Stark, or Iron Man, Myra reminded herself. Another one of the people who seemed to know Flare-Up personally. ::This one’s even worse than the other ones::
::We’re used to it:: Zero replied. ::We’ll be fine without anyone else breathing down our backs::
::As much as I hate to admit it, Zero’s right:: X spoke up. ::We’ve seen more war in our dimension than peace. Our world made its own mistakes causing this to happen, and we’re not about to have any more than we need attempting to help us fix what’s gone wrong::
Myra frowned at that. She looked over at Seeker, who shook his head slightly.
“X is a kind-hearted Reploid, under his war-torn façade,” Seeker said. “He doesn’t want anyone else getting hurt fixing the mess his dimension’s in. He and Flare-Up just have different ways of saying it.”
Myra blinked, then nodded.
::Plan’s still in effect:: Flare-Up said over the comms. ::As soon as we pass the barrier, we split in two, and the rest of you go on ahead to the Dungeon Zone. We might follow after you to make sure you get through safely, with minimal damage, but I won’t be following after you until I am sure X and Zero will be able to win their zone back on their own::
“We hear ya, sis,” Seeker replied. “Good luck in there; it looks like even worse of a war zone than the Dark City was at the start.”
There was silence for a moment. ::Thanks, Matt. Keep your guard up. And the same to you, Myra::
“Yeah.” Myra nodded quickly in response.
::Hitting Time Barrier in three, two—::
Flare-Up’s voice was cut off with a crackle of static as Optimus Prime hit the barrier. Myra quickly reached for the purple crystal under her shirt and gripped it tightly as Jazz followed suit.
The tingling sensation this time wasn’t as sharp as it had been the last few times, but that didn’t stop the chill from running down Myra’s spine as they shot out of the Time Barrier and were instantly hit with the sound of screams and explosions.
“Dang!” Jazz swerved as an energy blast shot out from behind a toppled building, nearly hitting him in the side. “Almost feels like we’re back in the early days!”
::SPLIT!::
Myra winced back at Flare-Up’s barking tone, and she saw a red and orange blur shoot out from Optimus’ truck cab. Two more blurs followed after the first and disappeared into the maze of metal buildings.
“Good luck,” Myra murmured quietly.
“They’ll keep an eye on us as we’re heading to the Dungeon Zone,” Seeker commented. “There’s no way that a place like this is a good one to be alone in for long.” He frowned, brow furrowed. “I wonder if this is what Reverse Cybertron looked like when she visited there…”
Something about that name sent a chill down Myra’s spine, but she wasn’t sure why. “R-reverse Cybertron?”
“What kinda name is that?” Jazz asked with a disapproving tone.
“Hey, it fit from what I saw. It’s a Cybertron where you guys are the bad guys and the Decepticons are the good guys. My sister went there once with one of our neighbors.” Seeker paused, then looked at Myra with an odd expression. “Actually, she said that there was a version of her who had needed her help.”
“Really?” Myra blinked.
“Yeah. And from what Flare told us when she got back, her counterpart actually sounded a lot like—“
A sudden explosion went off up ahead.
“Whoa!” Jazz yelped as he slammed on the breaks, causing Myra to jolt forward a little. “What in Primus just—“
A loud, crazed cackle suddenly swept over them from outside the cab, sending chills down Myra’s spine at the sound. It sounded like her voice, but…twisted. Changed.
“Wh-what was that?” Myra asked.
Seeker’s eyes flashed. “It sounded like a counterpart – but that can’t be right. Flare-Up said she didn’t have any in the Neo-Earth dimension.”
“A…a counterpart?”
“Someone like you who lives in another dimension,” Nightwing replied. “It doesn’t have to be your own.” He unbuckled and started attempting to get the door open. “Jazz, we’re going to need to get out to take care of this roadblock.”
“An’ what about Flare-Up handlin’ the problem, huh?” Jazz responded.
“She’s not going to be able to handle it too well if it’s another version of her and they both know each other’s moves.”
There was silence in the cab for a moment, and then the doors popped open.
“Get movin’ before I change my mind.”
Nightwing and Seeker were already out of the car by the time Jazz finished speaking, and both of them took off towards the front of the caravan as another explosion rocked the road in front of them.
Myra hesitated.
“Go on, kid; they’re gonna need backup.”
Myra blinked at Jazz’s words, then nodded and slipped out of the backseat before running after Seeker and Nightwing up past Optimus Prime.
The road in front of their caravan had been blasted to pieces, leaving a large hole in the ground that stretched over into the nearby collapsed buildings. If there had been any chance of making their way through this area, it was long gone.
The cause of the explosion, however, was not long gone.
Myra came to a stop behind Seeker and Nightwing and looked up at the figure that was hovering above their heads and over the giant hole in the road. She had armor, like Flare-Up’s, but it was various shades of purple instead of red, orange, and gray, and there was a mocking sneer on her face instead of the more serious expression that Flare-Up usually had.
On top of that, she had black hair and purple eyes just like Myra.
Myra swallowed. There was something about her that felt horribly wrong, and she didn’t like it.
The figure in purple threw back her head and let out another loud cackle. “This must be my lucky day! I didn’t think that there were any more free people wandering around out here!” She grinned a little too widely for a normal human to grin. “The Dark Arms will be pleased.”
Myra took a step back nervously as Seeker brought up his fists.
“Who are you?” Seeker asked coldly. “Your aura feels wrong.”
The grin on the teenage girl’s face dropped. “Well, that’s a rude way to say hello. Why don’t you try that again?”
The girl suddenly covered herself from head to foot in purple flames, then thrust her arms forward and sent down twin flamethrowers.
On instinct, Myra dashed forward and held up her hands, which sparked with purple embers of their own as Seeker and Nightwing quickly moved out of the way.
“Myra –“
Seeker’s yell of surprise was cut off on its own accord when the flames stopped at Myra’s hands, then became thin tendrils that wound up her arms and faded out of view.
Myra jolted when she felt that she was becoming more alert. The flames weren’t hurting her, they were giving her more energy.
The other girl’s eyes widened at the sight and pulled back, stopping the stream of flames. “What is this?”
Myra dropped her arms as she absorbed the last of the purple flames and looked down at her hands in surprise. “Wh-what just – what just happened?”
“Who are you?” Seeker was glaring up at the figure in purple as Myra looked up at his demand.
The girl recovered from her surprise quickly and sneered at the three standing below her. “I don’t see why I should answer that, you little—“
A blast of orange-red flames suddenly shot out from between two collapsed buildings, and Flare-Up shot out a moment later, riding a board of metal that was painted in the same color scheme as her armor.
The purple girl dropped below the flames, then rose up again and grinned widely at Flare-Up. “Ah, there you are. The masters are mad that you’re ruining everything, you know.”
Flare-Up activated her Buster and aimed it at the other armored girl. “What are you doing here.”
“Looking for you. You don’t realize how difficult it is to be able to keep tabs on the masters’ most powerful weapon – the lower castes are having a lot of trouble keeping tabs on their little minions now that you’ve started cutting through their ranks. And they can’t even find the source of the trouble in the Precursor Zone!” The purple girl winked. “I bet you know where I could find those little troublemakers, hmm?”
“I’m not telling you anything,” Flare-Up replied flatly. “Especially after they created you, Airam.”
Myra blinked in confusion. What kind of name was Airam?
Seeker sucked in a breath through his teeth.
“Airam?” Nightwing muttered. “Hm. Creative.”
“So you know about me.” Airam’s smile wavered a little. “That makes introductions a little bit easier, then.” The smile dropped completely. “I’m taking you back in. And that one, too.” She pointed down towards Myra, who looked up in alarm. “I came here because of another little runaway, but I think that catching you two will appease the masters quite nicely.” The grin came back, more crazed. “But you don’t want to come quietly, do you?”
Flare-Up didn’t verbally respond. Instead, she leveled her Buster at Airam and fired a shot of energy as large as her upper body. It was at such close range that Airam had no time to dodge, and was sent flying back into a nearby building.
A low rumble and a loud crash moments later heralded the entire building collapsing on top of the other armored girl.
“You need to get away from here and my counterpart as quickly as you can!” Flare-Up called down to the others. “I’ll keep her off your backs as best I can, but you have to keep moving forward!”
“She said something about looking for someone else!” Seeker called back. “It’s probably someone who doesn’t belong in this area already, or maybe someone important from around here – keep an eye out for someone like that!”
“Understood! Now get out of here before the Dark Arms send anyone else besides my evil double!” With that, Flare-Up took off for the collapsed building that had fallen on top of Airam.
Myra looked down at the hole in the ground in front of them. “S-so, what now? We can’t drive over that, can we?”
“You forget who it is that’s been doing the driving,” Seeker replied with a confident smirk. He looked back at Optimus. “All right. Looks like we’ll have to walk from here if we’re gonna be able to make it to our next stop. We’re gonna need everybody out!”
There was a moment’s pause, and then all the doors and cockpits on the Cybertronians opened up, causing the group to spill out into the street.
“What’s the big idea?!” Tony Stark yelled as he stepped out of Sunstreaker.
“Someone blasted the road!” Nightwing called back. “We’re going to need the Cybertronians to transform and carry us across, or else we’re going to need another route. On top of that, it seems the Dark Arms have a reversed personality version of Flare-Up running around in the Maverick Zone, so we’re going to have to be careful and watch our backs.”
Tony huffed and folded his arms across his chest. “Well, that’s just great.”
“Reversed?” Myra blinked, then frowned. “If that’s the case, then wouldn’t she have thrown ice at us?”
“Reversed doesn’t mean that the powers will be switched too, but that’s a good catch,” Seeker replied. As Optimus’ truck form started to shift and move up into a humanoid-ish, giant form, he raised his voice over the sound of shifting parts. “Nightwing was referring to the difference in personality between Flare-Up and Airam, since Airam is more willing to work for the Dark Arms than Flare-Up was.”
“More willing?”
“You didn’t notice?” Nightwing frowned at Myra. “She doesn’t have any MindTech on her.”
Myra’s eyes widened sharply at that, so startled with this piece of news that she jumped out of surprise when a large metal hand was placed on the ground next to them, palm up.
“We must hurry,” Optimus rumbled. “I do not doubt that this agent will be looking for openings to cause us to lose what ground we have gained.”
Seeker nodded and stepped on, then looked back and motioned for Myra to join him as Nightwing stepped onto Optimus’ other hand.
“We don’t have time to stand around and talk about counterparts,” Seeker said.
Myra nodded and scrambled onto Optimus’ large metal hand right before the Cybertronian rose to his full height, curling his fingers in a little. Myra squeaked at the sudden movement and held onto the solid thing that happened to be closest.
“…well, this is awkward,” Seeker commented, looking down.
Myra looked up, eyes widening sharply when she realized she was hugging him for dear life. “U-uh—“
“No, no, it’s fine – it just feels like one of my sisters is hugging me, that’s all.”
The hand jolted underneath them, causing Myra to hold on even more tightly as Seeker held onto the tip of Optimus’ thumb. She didn’t dare look down as they started moving forward, the hand bouncing a little with each step Optimus took.
“You don’t need to hold on so tightly!”
Myra winced at Seeker’s voice, then relaxed her grip on his middle a little, looking up with an apologetic expression.
“…yeah, you definitely remind me of Flare-Up and our little sister,” Seeker decided. “We’re over the hole in the road now, but the road still looks a little rough up ahead, so we’ll be going forward like this for a bit.”
Myra blinked, latching onto the first thing that sounded like a distraction. “You have another sister? What’s she like?”
“Hard-headed and pretty stubborn – which is ironic, since she can control water – and she’s supposed to be two years younger than Flare-Up.” He paused. “You know, I’m actually not sure whether you remind me of her or of Flare-Up. It’s been a while since I saw everyone back home.”
“You mean….” Myra frowned. “How was Flare-Up before the World Collision?”
Seeker’s pondering expression lost the wistful smile that had been slowly crossing his face. “She was…different. A lot more open with her emotions, and definitely more open for anything that resembled an adventure.” He chuckled, but the sound was melancholy. “She was also pretty reckless, but I don’t think that’s changed. She’s just…thinking a little more before she dives in.”
Myra frowned. Something about the descriptions sounded familiar, but she wasn’t entirely sure what it was that struck a chord in her.
“You act a lot like my sister does. Seriously, when’s the last time you thought before you dove into a fight like that?”
Myra’s frown deepened. “I…I think someone said I was like that, once. But I don’t feel like that now, that’s for sure!”
“The World Collision does that to people,” Seeker replied dryly.
Myra felt another pair of eyes on her and looked up, meeting Optimus’ optics as he eyed the two of them curiously.
“I’m sure a part of it is because you don’t have your memories,” Seeker added. “Flare-Up had an incident where that happened. She got everything back, though, and she definitely came back from it a little wiser.” He paused, then snorted. “I think it’s where her reckless streak came from, actually.”
An explosion went off somewhere behind them, causing Myra to stiffen up. Flare-Up’s roaring yell followed on the heels of the noise, sounding determined and furious.
“Losing your memories might have made you more skittish,” Seeker commented. “It could happen to anyone; don’t worry. I’m sure everything will settle when you’ve got your memories back and we’ve taken care of the Dark Arms for good.
“I….” Myra paused. Should she tell Seeker? He was Flare-Up’s brother, after all; it would make sense that he would know about what she and Flare-Up knew already. “Flare-Up thinks I’m a World Jumper, too. Because the world I’m probably supposed to come from isn’t here.”
Optimus’ hand shifted under them a little as they moved away from the sharp edge of a skyscraper that looked like it had been slashed through.
“Really?” Seeker’s voice sounded more serious. “If your world isn’t here, then what is it?”
“I-I’m not…sure? I mean, I remember there’s stuff like Mako there and I think I met someone who knows you there—“
“Mako? Then that means—“ Seeker cut himself off. “You met our sister. You met our parents.”
“What?” Myra looked up at Seeker in confusion. “Your parents came from my world too?”
“No; they went to your world, and Liz went at the same time but later in our dimension than in yours.” Seeker saw the confusion on Myra’s face only increase, and he shrugged in response. “It’s confusing, I know, but time and space are pretty relative in the Multiverse. It’s why the World Zones aren’t merging together well – they have different time flows between them. If you’re a World Jumper too, then that means you’re used to passing between dimensions and can handle the Time Barriers better than everyone else.”
“I can?” Myra wasn’t sure if she should believe what she was hearing.
Seeker winked. “Yup. It’s what I’ve been doing the entire time that I’ve been mixed up in this mess, because I’m a World Jumper myself. It runs in our family for some reason.”
Myra’s jaw dropped. “I-it what? But how can that—“
“Time Barrier up ahead!” Nightwing called over from Optimus’ other hand. “Get ready; it looks like Flare-Up’s counterpart is trying to follow us here!”
“Zihihihihihihi!”
Myra’s head whipped around at the sound of the crazed cackle, and her eyes widened sharply as a purple blur shot past them, with Flare-Up’s red-orange blur close behind.
“You may be good, but you can’t best me!” Airam taunted as she swung around in front of the caravan. “Not with your pesky little connections! Break them off and see what sorts of havoc you can cause then!”
Flare-Up snarled in reply and started to ram into Airam, but swung out of the way when the purple-armored lookalike shot of a blast of purple flames.
Myra held out a hand on instinct, and a portion of the flames were sucked up her arm, giving her another energy boost as Seeker stiffened a little out of surprise.
Airam and Flare-Up didn’t notice Myra’s reaction to the purple flames, as Airam was still cackling at Flare-Up as she tried to shoot the other out of the sky and failed.
“Dummkopf!” Flare-Up barked. “Keine laufen!”
Airam cackled even louder. “Do you really think that dead language is going to work on me? I don’t think so!”
“What is she talking about?” Myra asked, suddenly feeling nervous. “It feels like someone just dumped a bucket of ice water down the back of my neck.”
“Use your Flash Fire!” Seeker called.
“Can’t!” Flare-Up’s response was clipped. “This fire isn’t the type I can absorb; it’s something else.”
“How is that possible?”
Airam cackled even more loudly and threw another swath of purple flames in a shockwave – this time towards Optimus and the humans he was carrying.
Myra let go of Seeker and turned to face the oncoming onslaught of fire, putting her hands out. “Flash Fire!”
The purple flames reacted immediately, attracted to Myra’s body like a magnet, and were sucked up her arms and into her shoulders, leaving little purple-white aftersparks. The attack itself never hit Nightwing or Optimus.
Myra stood a little straighter, once again another girl’s voice echoing at the back of her mind.
“H-how did you do that? That wasn’t normal fire! You shouldn’t have been able to absorb it like that!”
“What are you talking about? My fire isn’t normal either – it’s an attack of the mind. That stuff is, too; I’m just getting my energy back.”
Flare-Up looked over at Myra for a second, an uncertain frown on her face, then looked back at Airam as the purple-armored evil double stared at Myra in shock.
Flare-Up leveled her energy cannon. “Charged Stun Shot!”
The resulting bright yellow blast sent Airam flying back into another building close to the Time Barrier, causing it to collapse, burying Airam a second time.
“Go!” Flare-Up motioned for Optimus to step through the Time Barrier. “I can handle things from here – you rescue the Dungeon Zone!”
“Watch your back!” Seeker warned. “And get back with us as soon as you can!”
Fare-Up gave a curt nod, then turned and took off in another direction as Optimus started to move forward at a much quicker pace.
Myra stood her ground despite the fact that Optimus was moving more quickly, and despite the fact that she was no longer hugging Seeker for dear life.
Then they hit the barrier, and when they passed through it this time, Myra didn’t feel that tingling sensation in her limbs.
Mostly because her attention was on the small collection of abandoned buildings in front of a large forest.
After the revelation that Flare-Up was immune to MindTech – somehow – Myra went straight back to the shack she and Crystal shared and paced the floor of the room for well over what felt like an hour, staring at her hands as purple sparks of fire flickered and jumped off the tips of her fingers, then dissipated before they hit the ground.
“Well, isn’t that interesting?”
Myra jumped a good foot.
“I didn’t think that you’d have something like that hidden away. You’re a little enigma, Myra Arym. I look forward to seeing what other sorts of strange things you can do.” The Nightmare King chuckled darkly, then pulled his presence back under the bed again and disappeared.
Myra shuddered. She was never going to get used to that.
The door to the shack opened, causing Myra to jump again when she saw Flare-Up’s seemingly ever-present scowl fixed on her.
Myra wasn’t going to get used to that, either.
“We’ve got a mission.” Flare-Up, in her armor, motioned with her head for Myra to follow her. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”
Myra blinked a couple times, then yelped when Flare-Up grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the shack and towards another area of Mar’s Haven.
“Wh-where are we going?” Myra yelped.
Flare-Up didn’t answer, instead making her way out of the lines of a shack and towards what looked like a slightly-raised platform with a large stone throne sitting in the center of it.
Nightwing was standing in front of it, hands on his hips and a grim expression on his face. Seeker was next to him, arms folded across his chest.
With the two of them standing next to each other, Myra almost thought that the two of them were brothers.
Which could have meant that Flare-Up and Nightwing were siblings. Myra wasn’t sure what she felt about that.
“There you two are.” Nightwing nodded at the two of them. “We’re starting you off small – more for Myra’s sake than for yours, Flare-Up; consider this one a warm-up.”
Flare-Up nodded; Myra shifted nervously from foot to foot.
“It’s a few locals, no doubt trying to sniff us out. There’s a chance that the local hero might be mixed in there; Flare-Up, you know about Jak Mar and his abilities?”
“I am aware of his Eco-channeling abilities, yes,” Flare-Up confirmed.
“Eco?” Myra blinked in confusion.
“Energy,” Seeker replied. “Green for healing, blue for speed, yellow for projectiles, red for strength. And then there’s dark and light, but those are pretty obvious on their own.”
Flare-Up nodded. “There is a chance for him, then; if we see him, I’m taking him on alone.”
“Considering Myra’s inexperience, that might be for the best,” Nightwing agreed. “Most of those taken are civilians, palace guards, and gladiators of various strengths. Keep an eye out for them.”
“They’re out wandering the city streets now,” Seeker added. “I’ll take you to the exit closest to where most of them are; you’ll have to take them out from there.”
Flare-Up nodded again. “Understood. Lead the way.”
Seeker inclined his head, then nodded and started walking away from the throne – which Myra now realized was in the middle of the arena – and led them back through the shacks towards the outer wall of the arena and a small passage.
“There’s a trap door at the end you’ll have to lift up,” Seeker explained. “You’re going to be right in the middle of the Spargus and Haven City mergepoint, so watch out for the mix between stone, sand, and metal you’re going to be running into.”
Flare-Up nodded. She started into the passageway, then paused and looked at Seeker. “You’ve done a good job, keeping people together.”
Seeker blinked in surprise at that, but Flare-Up was already moving through the passageway before he could respond, pulling Myra behind her.
“Do you know how to bring up your fire?” Flare-Up asked as they moved into a dimly lit tunnel.
“U-um—“ Myra held up a hand; purple sparks flew from her fingers as Flare-Up back, illuminating the tunnel more than the dying torches.
Flare-Up nodded. “Good. Your first lesson is learning how to use it as projectiles and throw it at opponents from a distance. I’ll be right in the thick of things, but I want you to find a vantage point in the city and start throwing fireballs at anything that moves that could be hostile to either one of us, understand?”
“What makes you think that I’m not going to just run and find a hiding place?” Myra responded. “Th-that’s all I know!”
“You’re better than that.”
Myra stopped short at Flare-Up’s response, blinking in confusion. Flare-Up stopped as well, and looked back.
“I chose you to be my partner for a reason.” Flare-Up clapped a hand on Myra’s shoulder, her blue eyes glowing in the dim tunnel light in a way that made her seem more inhuman than she already was. “I can see potential in you, Myra. You just need a little training. I know this place isn’t the best, but it is what we have, and we are going to make use of it. If you are going to survive, you are going to need to be stronger – not just in body, but in mind as well.”
Flare-Up’s hand slid off Myra’s shoulder, and the World Jumper motioned for Myra to follow her. Then she walked to the end of the tunnel and reached the ladder carved into it, leading up to a wooden door at the roof of the tunnel.
Myra hesitated, then followed after her.
Flare-Up climbed up the ladder first, pushing the trap door open a crack. She looked around for a moment, nodded, then pushed the door open and pulled herself up the rest of the way before turning around and motioning for Myra to come up after her.
Myra did so – slowly, definitely not with the confidence Flare-Up carried in herself. She took Flare-Up’s hand when she got to the top of the tunnel, and Flare-Up pulled Myra up into what looked like a storage room with little effort.
“Get on the roof,” Flare-Up said. “When you summon your fire again, focus on throwing it at any opponents I run into. Desperation and fear can help you, but they can also hinder you. Find something to focus on feeling.”
“What are you—“
Flare-Up was already out of the room, leaving Myra alone among abandoned, turned-over crates.
Myra looked around quickly. “Get on the roof, get on the –“ She spotted a pile of crates in the corner of the room, leading up to a hole in the ceiling that was letting gray light stream through. She quickly scrambled up and found herself standing on top of a squat, square building that was made of packed clay. On either side of her were more buildings in the same style, as with across the street.
Looming over everything was a giant metal structure that looked more than a little top-heavy, like it was going to fall over at any moment.
Myra moved to the edge of the roof carefully, and caught sight of Flare-Up standing in the middle of the street, looking around as she walked in a wide, slow circle.
Then she stopped in the middle of the street and threw back her head. “HEY!”
Myra flinched back in alarm. Yelling like that was going to get her attention from who knew what! Had Flare-Up gone insane?!
Or was that what she was hoping for?
Flare-Up turned sharply to look at something that was coming up behind her, and her stance shifted from relaxed to alert in an instant. Myra followed her gaze and stiffened.
A group of five figures was approaching them, in step. They almost looked human, except their hair was spikier and their ears were long and pointed, like someone had been pulling on them for a long time.
“Ready?!”
Myra turned her head sharply at Flare-Up’s questioning yell, and locked eyes with her before Flare-Up returned her attention to the five approaching figures.
Flare-Up pulled her hands behind her, and they became covered in bright red-orange flames. She threw them forward, and twin fireballs were instantly sent flying at the five figures, hitting the two at the opposite ends of the line. The remaining three kept coming forward.
Myra’s eyes widened. Was that what Flare-Up was expecting her to do? It looked so easy when she did it, but….
Myra looked down at her own hands and pulled in a breath as Flare-Up fired another twin fireball shot. The purple fire sparked at her fingertips, reluctant to fully fire, then finally came to life and covered her palms.
“U-um…” Myra looked between her hands and Flare-Up, who took down the fifth in that initial line and turned as another group of five started coming up from the other end of the street. Instead of wearing civilian clothes, however, they were wearing bright red armor.
And were carrying weapons.
“Hmph.” Myra could hear Flare-Up’s derisive snort from her perch. “I was wondering when they were going to do this.” She clenched her right fist, summoning that cannon Myra had seen her point at Nightwing before.
A moment later, five yellow energy blasts were shot out of her cannon in quick succession, knocking the armored figures back and causing them to collapse to the ground, sparks flying from their armor.
“Whoa…”
“Don’t slack off!”
Myra shook her head at Flare-Up’s yell and found she was glaring at her in disapproval.
“I need you to be watching my six, not gawking at where I’m aiming,” Flare-Up added. She looked up and down the street for a moment. “More incoming from both sides! Hit the ones I can’t get with fireballs of your own!”
“H-how?!” Myra yelped. The purple flames on her hands sparked, growing a little higher. “I only know how to get it on me! How do I throw it!”
Flare-Up looked at her sharply, then quickly returned her attention to the on-coming civilians and guards. “Gather it up and throw it!”
“Gather it up…?” Myra looked down at her hands in wide-eyed confusion.
Flare-Up started firing again, spinning on one foot and shooting yellow bursts of energy with her cannon in order to keep up with the slowly-growing crowd of figures who were coming at her. Meanwhile, Myra tried to push the fire from one hand to another, as though she could roll it into a ball of some kind.
The fire refused, resolutely staying stuck to her hands and not moving from one to the other, although there did seem to be more of it now.
Myra looked between her hands and Flare-Up in a panic, seeing that there were more figures starting to gather around her now. Screwing her eyes shut, she brought her arms back, then threw them forward as hard as she could.
Fwoom!
Myra opened her eyes at the sound, and her eyes widened sharply in surprise when she saw the aftermath of what had just occurred.
Six figures – three on either side of Flare-Up – had collapsed, purple flames clinging to their clothes and the backs of their necks. Flare-Up, unharmed, took it in stride and simply fired at another guard that was coming up behind the collapsed civilians.
I…I did that. I actually did that.
Myra took in a breath, then summoned up her fire and threw the fireballs again. Two more civilians fell to either side of Flare-Up, who started to focus more on the armored figures and less on the civilians.
“Keep going!” Flare-Up called.
“R-right!” Myra started to prepared another round of purple fire to throw at the figures below, but a sudden chill on the back of her neck caused her to stop just before she could throw again.
Flare-Up seemed to notice it, as well; she paused for a second before she deactivated her cannon and crossed arms over her chest. When the remaining eight armored figures came up on her, a sudden shockwave of flames burst out as she threw her arms out, causing them to stagger back before collapsing.
The street fell silent as the last one fell.
Flare-Up turned slowly, clenching and unclenching her right fist. Myra stood on the roof of her building uneasily, shifting from foot to foot.
And that’s when she heard it: a low growling voice that made her blood run cold and sent shivers down her spine.
And it sounded like it was coming from somewhere behind her.
Myra turned slowly as Flare-Up turned to look in her direction. Myra didn’t see Flare-Up’s reaction to the creature that was standing behind her, but that didn’t really matter at this point.
Because Myra was completely focused on the monstrous, black-eyed, gray-skinned figure that was panting heavily behind her.
“Eep!” Myra took a step back and felt the edge of the roof under her foot.
The monster took a step forward with large, clawed feet, clawed hands reaching forward.
Myra closed her eyes tightly and tried to curl up, making her a smaller and harder target. She felt a burst of warmth from behind her and curled up even more tightly.
“White Flare: Fire Spark!”
There came a crackle of something, and Myra’s eyes snapped open just as yellow-white fire burst around her and hit the monster, causing it to howl as electric sparks danced across its form. As thrashed, its appearance changed: the gray skin gained some color, its hair went from black and white to a yellow-green, and the rags the monster was wearing started to look more like clothes and less like something that was barely clinging to its form.
Myra caught sight of the black box only after the fire had cleared and the figure had collapsed. It lay a short distance away, innocent except for the sparks flying from it and the strange whining noise it was emitting.
“I hadn’t expected him to come after you.”
Myra jumped as Flare-Up suddenly appeared next to her, standing on the roof as though she hadn’t been on the street a few moments ago.
“Then again, considering that your powers are more focused on the mind, the Dark Arms might consider you more of a threat than me right now.” Flare-Up looked at Myra with a calculating sort of gaze. It made Myra shrink back a little as she moved away from the edge of the roof. “It’s not going to be easy for them to try something like this again; they have my attention now as much as they have yours.”
The former monster – now a pointy-eared man – groaned from where he lay on the roof, causing Myra to look at him sharply, nervously. Flare-Up, however, didn’t move back.
The man got into a sitting position and rubbed the back of his neck, eyes only half-open and somewhat glazed over. He paused, and his eyes focused sharply. “That thing—“
“It’s gone.” Flare-Up inclined her head as the man looked up sharply. “You’re in control of yourself again, Jak.”
The man’s – Jak’s – eyes narrowed at Flare-Up’s statement. “Who are you?” His voice came out in a low growl, almost like it had been either unused or used to the point that his throat had been torn ragged.
“The one the Dark Arms are going nuts over.” Flare-Up held out a hand. Jak reached up, hesitated, then gripped her hand and let her pull him to his feet. “And the one who’s going to be releasing others from their control.”
Jak grunted, then looked over at Myra, who pulled back a little. When she saw that his eyes weren’t completely black, and were instead a normal blue, she hesitated.
Flare-Up motioned for the two of them to follow her, and she jumped off the roof of the building and landed on the ground in front of the house. The stone street cracked a little at her landing. “We have to get everyone in the base as soon as possible. Come on.”
Jak gave a curt nod, then followed Flare-Up and jumped off the roof as she started over to the small crowd of figures she and Myra had knocked out. He looked up at the roof as Myra stood at its edge, hesitant.
“Come on.” Jak motioned for Myra to jump. “You’ll live, short ears.”
Myra hesitated, then steeled herself. She’d jumped off buildings before, this wasn’t new. It was her surroundings and the people who were.
Myra braced herself, then leapt off and rolled into a landing a short distance from Jak. As she got to her feet, Jak walked passed her and gave a short nod before he started helping Flare-Up get people up on their feet, checking the backs of their necks as he did for any sign of black boxes.
The people themselves were quick to recover from being hit by fire from Flare-Up or Myra, and they looked about in confusion and alarm as they were helped to their feet.
“…I wish that had been a dream…”
“—those people, I can’t believe I was—“
“—I’m not going to be able to sleep for a long time, am I?”
“Why can’t they just have left us alone? What did we ever do to—“
Flare-Up cleared her throat sharply, causing a number of them to turn their heads sharply and flinch back from her with alarmed expressions. She didn’t bat an eye at their responses.
“There’s a secret passage under the storage room in that building.” Flare-Up nodded to the building they had just jumped off. “It’ll take you to safety. Myra, go on ahead of them so the others know they’re not under their control anymore.”
Myra blinked at the sudden focus on her, and she nodded quickly before ducking inside the building and finding her way back into the room she and Flare-Up had climbed into. She didn’t look back, but she could hear the sound of footsteps hitting the ground quickly, jumped into the tunnel, and started back.
It was only after she had walked a short distance that she looked back and saw how haggard and tired the long-eared people were. Some of them looked like they were going to drop into unconsciousness at any moment, and were leaning on the others.
Myra didn’t pick up the pace, but when she came out of the tunnel and reached the arena, she stepped to the side as the rescued tumbled in and stopped not too far from the entrance, looking around in amazement at first, and then relief when they realized where they were.
Samos was already standing nearby on his log-stilts, Daxter perched on top of his staff like some kind of furry parrot.
“There you are!” Samos frowned at Myra with a scolding sort of expression. “When Nightwing and Seeker said that you and Flare-Up were out rescuing my people, I had expected you to be much quicker than this! Jak certainly knew the meaning of a time limit when he was given one!”
“We weren’t given a countdown, Samos,” Flare-Up replied crisply as she came out with the last of the rescued long-ears. Jak came through after her, looking around with a guarded expression that made him seem more like a wild animal, ready to lunge at anything that looked dangerous at any moment. “And time is broken, in case you haven’t noticed, so giving us one is near-impossible.”
“JAK!” Daxter flung himself off the top of Samos’ staff and climbed up Jak’s front. He grabbed his shirt and started shaking it, as though he could get Jak to shake like a bobble-head. “Where have you been, you idiot?! Why couldn’t you have gotten a stake-out where I would’a been able to reach you, huh?!”
Jak rolled his eyes, but a slight smirk on his lips hinted that he was amused by Daxter rather than annoyed. “I didn’t exactly have a choice, if you’ll remember.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Daxter climbed up onto a worn piece of armor on Jak’s shoulder. “Anyway, it’s good to have ya back, buddy.”
“Heh.” Jak gained more of a smile then, showing off sharpened teeth that definitely didn’t look normal. “It’s good to be back.”
Samos cleared his throat. “Now that we have that settled, its time we had you all settled in. Flare-Up, Myra, Seeker and Nightwing are waiting to speak with you by Mar’s Throne.”
Jak raised an eyebrow as Flare-Up nodded and started towards the center of the arena. “Samos, don’t tell me there are more short ears running around here.”
“Considering that the number of worlds they inhabit outnumber ours right now….” Samos sighed irritably. “You have a lot to catch up on, young prince. Let’s get you settled first, then we’ll talk about this damned World Collision.”
Jak paused to consider that, then gave a short nod. As he and Samos started walking away, leading away the rescued long-eared figures, Jak looked back at Myra with a guarded expression.
“Myra!”
Myra turned her head sharply and saw Flare-Up standing a short distance away, arms folded across her chest. Myra quickly ran over to her.
“You have a good handle of the basics,” Flare-Up said. “We should have time between missions now to work on other techniques you can use. After we talk to Nightwing and Seeker, I expect you to go find other psychics who might be here. They’ll be able to help you more than me.” With that, Flare-Up turned and started walking again.
It took Myra a second to process what Flare-Up had said before she ran after the World Jumper. When she caught up, she opened her mouth to say something, then hesitated. Then she shook her head and blurted out, “Are you and Nightwing related?”
Flare-Up glanced back at the question, not even breaking her stride. Then she faced forward again. “No.”
Myra lowered her head a little. “Oh….”
When the two of them got back to the throne, Nightwing and Seeker were waiting for them with one other – Jean Grey, who Flare-Up inclined her head at as she and Myra came to a stop in front of the two teenage boys.
“Phoenix,” Flare-Up greeted. “I’ve seen your work.”
Jean Grey frowned. “My name is Jean, not that.”
“You two did good work out there.” Nightwing looked over at Jean, then back at Myra and Flare-Up. “The fact that you managed to get back their patriarch means we have a little more time here to bring back what these people have lost before we start to move on to the next Zone. We don’t have enough numbers to take on the Dark City Zone entirely yet, but there are a few other places we can move to when we finish here.”
Flare-Up inclined her head at that, raising an eyebrow slightly. Seeker looked at Nightwing with a raised eyebrow as well before he shook his head.
“Flare, I think Zero wanted to test your strengths back at the Gauntlet.” Seeker looked at Flare-Up. “Jean can handle giving Myra some training for now; we’ll have you two meet back here if anything comes up.”
Flare-Up nodded, then looked at Jean for a moment before walking off.
Seeker’s expression shifted from serious to something else as Flare-Up moved away from them. “She’s too serious.”
Jean looked at him oddly while Nightwing nodded slightly. Myra blinked in confusion.
“War does that,” Nightwing said simply. He turned and walked away without another word.
Seeker sighed and shook his head. He stood there for a moment, looking at his boots as though they held something important, then turned and walked after Flare-Up, leaving Jean alone with Myra.
“Let’s go.” Jean motioned for Myra to follow her. “It’s time we saw what you can do with those mental abilities of yours.”
Myra swallowed at the grim tone Jean’s voice had taken, then followed after her quietly, quickly, wondering what exactly she was going to go through and half-hoping that she wouldn’t have to go on another mission for a while.
She didn’t know about Flare-Up, but having Jak come up on her from behind looking like a monster…?
She didn’t want to see what the MindTech might do to other people who were under its control.
You guys remember that short snippet that popped up before -- “The End of Exploration.” Time to see what happens after.
Chapter 1 – Myra
A black-haired teenage girl ducked into an alley and dove behind an empty dumpster right before a group of five costumed figures ran past. Purple eyes peered out from behind the empty, rusty box as the five disappeared from sight, and the girl let out a sigh of relief.
That was too close. She wiped sweat off her forehead with a purple sleeve of her jacket. Better not waste any time before they start sweeping again.
The girl slipped out from behind the dumpster and looked around, hoping to find a place to hide before she was found out. She caught sight of a building that looked like it was falling apart across the street. It looked like nobody had been inside in centuries.
"Hey! You!" came a barking call from behind. "Get back here!"
The girl didn’t even bother to look back; she bolted across the eerily quiet street and dove through the yawning entrance as the five figures ran after her.
The girl scrambled through what looked like a lobby and under a door that was leaning off its hinges before running down the darkened hallway behind it.
If those freaks catch me, I’m going to end up in the Trials and I’m going to be dead meat. Gotta keep the fear down, Myra – they can probably smell it.
The girl – Myra – took in a deep breath and slowed to a halt in the darkened hallway, now more than far enough from the door that she was completely encased in blackness. Faintly, she could hear what sounded like people talking on the other side of the door in monotone.
Myra backed up a few more steps, looking at the light leaking in through the off-kilter door. Easy, easy; they’ll probably go away and not look behind the door—
The light disappeared abruptly.
Myra blanched before she turned and bolted down the dark hallway again. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness as best they could, and she caught sight of a faint light hiding off to her right up ahead, and she scrambled around an almost-unseen corner, one hand on the cool, metal wall in order to keep her feet from running into it.
Around the corner, Myra came across a door with two lone lamps (that flickered like fire -- how long had they been on?) on either side of it. The metal -- might have once been iron -- that made up the area looked so rusted that it seemed as though someone had decided to paint the entire area bright orange and left the paint to flake off and take the iron with it.
Not really caring for the strange pattern that had been carved into the door, Myra began to push up against it, hoping to find a place to hide just beyond it.
At first, the door refused to budge -- the rusted hinges refused to move after remaining in their position for who knew how long. However, Myra continued to push, her cause to move far greater than the door's need to stay put.
The door’s hinges let out a shriek as the metal door was pushed back a short distance. Myra, seeing her chance, slipped through the opening before putting her back to the door and pushing it shut behind her.
Ka-chunk.
The sound of something falling to place echoed through the lightless area that Myra suddenly found herself in. She stood with her back to the door, trying to catch her breath.
Something rammed into the door from the other side, causing Myra to scramble away and turn around sharply as the door rattled and shook; rust fell off the door in dark orange snowflakes, which Myra was only able to see when they fell by the crack at the bottom of the door.
The door rattled three times, but held firm.
Myra stood, nervously staring at the door, then relaxed when the door didn’t fall over. “That’ll hold them back for a little bit. I’d better find another way out of here before they get through….”
She started to feel along the walls on either side of the door for some sort of light switch, surprised to find that the walls here were smooth and cool, almost as though they had been carved from rock, rather than the more common, chilled metal that made up the buildings in the area. It wasn't long before Myra came across a rather ancient, sticky light switch, which she promptly pushed on. However, the lights weren't so quick to come on -- they came on two at a time instead, leading down a corridor made of white stone.
Myra watched the lights cautiously, wondering what lay beyond the corridor, and whether or not it would be safe to go down it, considering what she had just run from. After glancing again at the door, which seemed to stiffen up in her eyes at the thought of being pushed again, Myra decided to risk it and continue on, wary of anything that might come out of the shadows behind the strange, rusted machinery and attack her.
The eerie quiet told her otherwise, however.
“Considering how rusted that door was, I’m…I’m probably okay,” Myra murmured to herself.
She looked over the machines again as she passed by them. None of them were recognizable, but that could have been because of the rust that was eating away at them – a good sign; if there was oxygen in the area, then there had to be a way out beyond the door that she had just come through. The machines weren’t just covered in orange dust, though – some of them looked like they had been…melted, before they had been discarded here.
“What is this place?” Myra’s gaze moved away from the machines and towards the other end of the corridor, which seemed to open up into a chamber of some kind.
She passed by a plain, metal door that was just as rusted as the first one she had come across, and stepped into a small chamber with flickering lights and sparking wires hanging from the ceiling. Along one wall was what looked like a large computer console that was covered in dust, and in the center of the room was what looked like some kind of glowing ice pillar with the form of someone trapped inside.
There was also a bunch of computer towers that had collapsed on one end of the room. It looked like there had been more to the area, but it was almost completely blocked off.
“Dead end,” Myra groaned. She slammed down on a computer console that was near her, hitting a few buttons. “Well, isn’t that just—“
The computer let out a loud whining noise, causing Myra to jump back in surprise as the noise quickly turned into something that sounded like a revving engine.
One computer screen began to glow blue, drawing Myra towards it, curious and cautious. As she approached, white words began to appear on the screen, constantly scrolling down as more materialized.
"This is the last log entry concerning Project: Reclaim.
"Subject has been resistant to any attempts at surrendering her mind to our master's control, even with our advancements in technology. Subject has refused to reveal how she has managed to avoid the commands and find ways to short-circuit the devices -- even when submerged under water, where her powers are unable to activate. Until further advancements have been made, Subject is to be placed in a cryogenic chamber, so that she will still be available at the time we have need of her. In the meantime, the others will be used to subjugate the populace, in order that no possible opposition will appear in the future."
A set of glyphs was flashing at the bottom of the screen, but Myra couldn’t read them.
Myra frowned at these words, feeling slightly confused. “Reclaim? Short-circuit the—“ She cut herself off as her eyes widened and something settled in the pit of her stomach uneasily. “Are they talking about…MindTech?”
She tried to hit a few more buttons on the computer console, but she wasn’t able to get anything other than the blue screen with its white text.
“Why isn’t there a map or anything down here? I need another way—“
BAM!
Myra’s head whirled back to the corridor she had just come down, and she sucked in a breath when she saw the rusty door she had just come through had come off its hinges and was now lying dented on the floor. She caught sight of a flash of a circular object in the doorway, and she sucked in a breath sharply.
“A Gladiator.” Myra swallowed. “I’m dead.”
She stumbled back and away from the door, bumping against the icy cylinder that was in the center of the room. Her fingers twitched; she wanted to fight, or find something to hide behind, but the room was small and lined with the same white stone that was in the corridor she had come through. There weren’t any weapons nearby.
Her chest felt like it was going to explode. “I’m going to the Trials…I’m going to die…”
The pressure in her chest started to work its way up into her throat as her eyes started to water. In order to keep her hands away from her face, she pressed her hands against the cold glass her back was already against. Her hands quickly became slick with water as the Gladiator with the circular shield stepped into the entrance between the corridor and the chamber that Myra was now trapped in.
Myra felt something move under the glass, scrape against it from the inside. The Gladiator – now with his red, white, and blue costume visible – paused as Myra stiffened in response to the movement.
Then the glass started to heat up.
“Wa!” Myra pulled back in surprise, moving towards the toppled computer towers instead of towards the Gladiator, who didn’t move after her.
Cracks started to spread across the cylinder as a dark orange glow came from within it, surrounding the figure that was encased within. The glow quickly moved and filled the entire cylinder as water started to leak out of it in squeaks of steam.
“Get back!”
Myra jumped at the young woman’s voice and quickly looked around. “Where did that—“
The cylinder exploded.
Ice and steam and glass flew out in all directions, causing Myra to drop to the floor and cover her head in order to avoid the blast. A wave of fire followed afterwards, then reversed direction and condensed into an egg-like shape before the fire disappeared abruptly, revealing a teenage girl with brown hair and red, orange, and gray armor that covered her form from the neck down.
Two white gloves went up, flashing golden bands on the wrists, and five tendrils of white fire lashed out at the Gladiator. The shield went up, but that didn't stop the flames. Instead, they went around the shield and the Gladiator on either side, formed one spear of fire behind him, and slammed forward into the back of the Gladiator’s neck.
The red, white, and blue-costumed Gladiator bent back and let out a yell of pain as the fire seared into the back of his neck. When the flames pulled back a second later, the man’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed to the floor without a sound.
The armored figure's arms collapsed to her sides. She stood for only a moment, then collapsed down onto her knees, head dropping to her chest limply.
Myra blinked in confusion, jaw hanging open a little. What had just happened?
Something sparked near where the Gladiator had collapsed, causing Myra’s eyes to move in order to get a better look at what was getting her attention.
Lying near the Gladiator was a smoking black square of metal with broken electrical wires protruding from it. They sparked for a few more seconds before they died rather abruptly.
Myra blinked at the sight, then bit her lower lip and looked over at the two seemingly-unconscious figures that were lying between her and the open door. There could be more Gladiators out there waiting for her, but…if there was a chance….
She started towards the open door, moving quickly on her toes.
She hadn’t taken two steps before the man groaned and started to move. “Ugh….”
Myra froze, her eyes widening at the sound as the Gladiator started to push himself up into a sitting position, rubbing the back of his head as his mouth twisted into a grimace.
“God, that hurts,” the man muttered. “Feels like Thor tried to hammer a spike through my head.” He reached over to his shield and grabbed the edge of it, pulling it closer. As he did, it moved in front of the armored girl who had exploded into flames a moment ago, causing him to pause.
Myra watched as he stared at the armored girl with wide eyes that didn’t look glazed over. His hand shot to the back of his head – no, the back of his neck – fingers searching for something. His eyes widened further a moment later.
“It worked?” he asked incredulously. He quickly hooked the shield onto his back and glanced around behind him. Upon catching sight of the remains of the black box, he picked it up and inspected it with a frown before crushing it in a tight fist.
“I’ve been waiting to do that for a long time.” A confident grin crossed his face, and he returned his attention to the armored girl. His brow furrowed under his costumed mask. “Knocked out…makes sense; no one’s been down here recently to give her an energy boost.” He pulled himself up into a crouch and grabbed the armored girl, lifting her up over one shoulder effortlessly. As he did, he turned and locked eyes with Myra, then paused.
Myra gulped. “U-uh…” Her gaze went to the remains of the black box, crushed and dropped to the floor, then back to the man with the armored girl over his shoulder. She swallowed again.
The man sighed and shook his head. “I’m not taking you in, but you’re going to have to come with me if you’re going to be able to get out of here.”
“Wh-wh-“
The man motioned for her to follow him as me moved towards the door. “Come on! We don’t have much time before the others come back!”
Myra hesitated, looking between the man and the door for a moment, then bolted out the open entrance and down the hall towards the abandoned lobby. She could hear his footfalls behind her, which only made her speed up.
The door at the end of the hallway only slowed her down for a moment, but it gave the man enough time to grab her foot and pull her back right before he put his shield between them and the door.
“Let me g—mmmf!”
“Shh.” The man held his other hand over Myra’s mouth. “I don’t know how you managed to survive so long, but bolting out into the open isn’t going to end well.”
Myra grabbed the man’s hand and tried to pull it off her face, but it didn’t budge.
“I’m trying to help!” the man hissed. “You woke her up – the least I can do is help you get out of here without attracting more attention!”
Myra paused at that, blinking a couple times before looking up at the man in confusion and fear. “Mm?”
The man looked at her for a moment, then pulled his hand back and adjusted the armored girl’s position on his shoulder. “Come on. We only have a slim window before they come and find us and bring us in, and I do not intend to go through that again.” He peered under the door as Myra scooted towards the wall and away from him, watching him warily.
“H-how do I know this isn’t a trick?” Myra looked between the girl, the man, and the open door. “Y-you could still be working for them!”
The man sighed and turned his head to look back at Myra. “I understand why you don’t trust me. But you are going to have to stick with me until we get out of here safely. Can you trust me for at least that long?”
Myra shrank back a little at the question as shouts started coming from outside. The shouts drew the man’s attention towards the door, and he rose up from the crouch that he had been in, one hand on the armored girl over his shoulder, the other in the straps on the back of the circular red, white, and blue shield.
Something crackled in the air; Myra’s nose twitched as she picked up the smell of ozone from outside, and suddenly the door in front of them was completely torn off its hinges and thrown somewhere else in the lobby. The echoing, metallic crash that resulted caused Myra to flinch back in alarm at the noise, but she didn’t retreat back – there was no place to go from there.
“Torunn, you used too much!” scolded a boy’s voice on the other side of the door.
Myra blinked in surprise as the man next to her stiffened, and she cautiously rose to her feet. Torunn?
"We wanted it out of the way, so I got it out of the way," replied a teenage girl's voice in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Yes, but they could have heard it!" spoke up a third voice -- another boy's.
"That doesn't matter right now," stated the first voice. "We saw him go down this way, so let’s go after—“
“James, what do you think you’re doing?”
Myra looked up in alarm as the man stepped out of the darkened hallway and into the open, lowering his shield. All movement in the lobby area stopped at the sound of his voice, and she peered out from the darkness in order to get a look at what was going on.
A group of four teenagers – well, three teenagers and a smaller boy – were standing out in the abandoned lobby. As soon as the man with the armored girl had stepped out into the open, all four of them had raised their fists – and sword, in the case of the only girl who was out there.
“Dad,” said the red-haired boy. “Put the shield down, and turn around so Torunn can blast the MindTech on the back of your neck.”
“Do you really think that saying that is going to work?” hissed a darker-skinned boy with light blue tattoos on his skin. “He’s going to take our heads off in a second!”
“You kids are being horribly reckless and you’re lucky that I haven’t,” the man said sternly. “You can look, Torunn, but I don’t think you’re going to find it there anymore.”
The boys exchanged looks in confusion at that as the only girl in their group moved closer to the man, with her sword still drawn and pointed at him. She stared at the armored girl for a moment before jumping up and hovering behind the man with the shield.
“He’s right! I see where it was, but it’s gone!” Torunn dropped to the ground, then looked between the man and the others.
“How?” the smallest of the four, wearing a yellow and black-striped costume, looked at his companions. “Do you think they made it so that MindTech is inside his neck now?”
“Their technology may be good, Pym, but it isn’t that good.”
The four kids turned as the man moved his gaze to the entrance of the building, where another figure was standing – a young man, wearing a black-and-cobalt costume that had the head of what looked like a wolf on the front of his costume.
The young man walked into the building. “I’ve heard that they’ve tried, but the signal back wasn’t—“ He stopped. “Cap, is that…?”
Cap – the man – adjusted his grip on the girl on his shoulder. He nodded. “She was sealed away in a lab back here, frozen solid. I think this girl accidentally started the defrosting process and she took care of the rest.” Cap motioned back to Myra, who backed up a little bit nervously.
Torunn looked over, then lowered her sword and reached into the hallway, grabbed Myra’s arm, then pulled the purple-eyed girl out into the open. “Thou dost not look like someone they would want.”
“Torunn, you’re doing it again,” James warned.
Torunn ducked her head a little at that.
The boy with the tattoos looked between Cap and the man who had just arrived. “Wait…do you mean…that’s…?”
“It is, Azari,” the man replied. He turned and started out of the building. “We don’t have much time. Come on.”
Cap followed after the man instantly, James and the others falling into step around him as Torunn dragged Myra after them.
“H-hey!” Myra tried to pull her arm out of Torunn’s grip, but the other girl had a tight grip on her wrist. “Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere safe!” Torunn looked back and grinned at Myra. “It’ll be a lot better than any sort of hiding hole that you could find for even a few hours.”
“Wh-what?” Myra’s brow furrowed as she stopped pulling. “Someplace safe?”
“Yup! A place those dark beasties don’t know about yet.”
The man Cap and the others were following led them around to another alley. Hovering a little of the ground was what looked like a truck frame without the tires.
“I’m glad you remembered the E-Brake this time, Azari,” the man said, looking back at the boy.
Myra blinked in confusion.
Azari crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. "I was still learning about the Zoomer technology last time."
“Seeker, how much trouble are we in?” James asked.
“Plenty,” the man – Seeker – replied. He looked over at Cap. “Captain, you do realize that you’re going to be detained for a short time when you come back.”
Cap nodded. “At this point, I’m relieved that my thoughts are my own again.”
Seeker eyed him for a moment before nodding again. Then he went over to the truck cab and jumped into the driver’s seat. “James, you take shotgun. Everyone else in the back.”
James nodded, then moved around to the other side of the cab as the others started to climb into the truck bed of the vehicle. Myra was dragged on with Torunn and ended up sitting next to her as Cap sat on the other side of the bed.
As the man pulled the armored girl off his shoulder and lay her down in the center of the truckbed, Myra leaned forward a little in order to get a better look at her.
The red, gray, and orange color scheme was separated into different areas of the girl’s armor: red boots, red on the abdomen, red on the upper half of her chest, on the square-shaped shoulder pads, and on her arms from her elbows to her wrists. The only part that was orange was on the lower half of her chest, and the rest – minus the white gloves and the gold bracelets that were on the girl’s elbows and wrists – were gray.
Myra looked up at the man on the other side of the truck bed as Azari settled next to him and Pym sat on her other side. “Who were you?”
Cap looked up at the question. His blue eyes were dull as he frowned slightly. “Steve Rogers. Captain America.”
The truck started up with a low purring hum and started to move as Myra sat back against the side of the truck bed, eyes slowly widening. “And…and her?” She pointed down at the armored girl lying on the bottom of the truck bed.
Captain America’s mouth quirked up a little, and his eyes lost some of their dullness. “The World Jumper.”
Myra’s eyes widened even further, and she looked quickly between the girl lying on the floor of the truck and back at the man she had been running from not but a few minutes ago. “World Jumper? But – but those people are myths! They can’t be real!”
“She is one,” Captain America insisted. “I met her before.”
“You can ask more questions when we get to where we’re going.” Pym pulled out a folded swath of fabric that was under him. “We need to cover up. Stay quiet until Seeker gives us the all clear, got it?”
Myra swallowed and nodded nervously as Pym and Azari unfolded the fabric and threw two corners over to Torunn and Captain America and over Myra’s head, pulling her a little away from the side of the truck bed as everyone else with her joined under the cover of the heavy fabric.
Myra bit her lower lip. She hoped that she wasn’t going to end up falling into a trap with these people. And yet…
Her eyes moved to the World Jumper’s form in front of her, remembering that fire storm that had filled the room before Captain America’s MindTech had been blasted off the back of his neck.
Maybe…the World Jumper is unconscious because she knows she’s safe?
Myra crossed her fingers as the hovering truck started moving, slowly at first, then quickly started to pick up speed.
Woof, it’s been a little bit since I last posted anything. Just a few days, though; I’m still comfortably ahead on actually writing chapters.
This chap’s a bit of a slow one, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
( @krehe -- WJ Whisperer indeed...)
FF
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
Important Roles
Myra wasn't exactly sure what to think of the mechanics who were attempting to work on the World Jumper. One was an old man, one was a robot that looked like an old man, and one was a towering robot colored in red and white with heart rate lines painted onto his arms.
Plus, two of them actually acted like they knew who the World Jumper was, which she had once thought impossible.
Although, considering that Seeker and Captain America already knew her, that thought was fading fast.
"Thank Primus she didn't damage herself any further." The giant robot held out a hand, and Captain America carefully moved the World Jumper out of his arms.
"We were lucky that Myra was there to get to her in time," the Avenger explained as the robot moved the World Jumper to a metal table nearby. "If it wasn't for her, I doubt we would have been able to get close, much less stop her."
"I'm not surprised."
Myra turned her head sharply when she heard the unfamiliar voice, and she caught sight of a figure leaning against the doorframe, wearing mostly red and white armor and with a bright yellow ponytail sticking out the back of his helmet.
"I've seen what she can do when she isn't in partial control of herself," the figure continued. "And that was when she was at full strength."
Myra frowned in confusion. "Who -"
"Zero, you knew her?" the old man who wasn't a robot asked in surprise.
"Yeah. She was around for that Limited crisis that I told you about." Zero looked over at the old man. "You should probably get yourself introduced to her properly when you wake her up, or else who knows what's going to happen."
"Considering her present state, I'm not surprised that she didn't recognize me," commented the giant red and white robot. "And who might you be, young lady?"
It took Myra a moment to realize that the robot was talking about her. "My name's Myra."
"Greetings, Myra. I am Ratchet. I understand that you were present when..." Ratchet paused. "When the World Jumper was awakened."
Myra swallowed and nodded. "Y-yeah."
"All right. Cain and Serges-" The old scientist and the old man robot both nodded in turn "-are going to cycle Energon through her systems in order to activate them enough to awaken her. Myra, we are going to require you to say something in order to awaken her higher core processing before her defenses rise up and make themselves known. Are you prepared?"
Myra absorbed this with a slightly open-mouthed expression that showed her confusion. Then she blinked and swallowed. "I-I've got it, yeah. I don't know if I'm going to be enough, but yeah."
"All right." Serges gave a wide grin before running over and grabbing a pipe that was partially filled with blue liquid. He ran over to the World Jumper and pried off some of the armor that was covering her right arm before sticking the pipe inside. Then he retreated a moment later as the blue liquid started moving forward.
It didn't take too long before the World Jumper's head started to move, her eyelids flickering. When her body started to stiffen and strain against the straps that were keeping her limbs in place, Myra sucked in a breath again.
"World Jumper?" she asked. "I-it's me. I-I'm the one you saved a little while ago?"
The World Jumper didn't seem to respond for a moment, turning her head this way and that as she strained against the bonds.
"W-World Jumper?" Myra asked, her voice squeaking as she spoke more loudly.
The World Jumper paused at Myra's voice, then her eyes cracked open slowly. The blue color was dull, and she had a grim expression on her face.
The World Jumper grunted. "Where...?"
"You're in Mar's Haven," the scientist with the beard replied. "I'm Doctor Cain, and these are my associates - the Autobot Ratchet and Serges."
The World Jumper's eyes flickered with recognition, and she seemed to relax slightly. "Why...am I here?"
Myra frowned, concerned. The World Jumper sounded tired and hoarse.
"Steve Rogers brought you back from an abandoned laboratory," Ratchet explained from above them. "Whatever it was that happened to you, it damaged a large amount of your inner systems irreversibly."
"I wanted to go forward with the upgrades, but these two thought it was a good idea to ask first." Serges said contemptuously.
The World Jumper's eyes narrowed. "Don't touch my programs or my core. Otherwise... Wake me when you're done."
With that, the World Jumper closed her eyes as her body went limp.
"Well, there's your permission," Zero commented dryly. He turned and started to step away from the lab, then paused. "The rest of you might want to get out of here, unless you really want to see her get torn open." With that, the armored blond stepped out and disappeared from sight.
Myra blinked, looking at where Zero had been standing a moment before, then looked over at the others, watching as Serges and Cain started to take apart the World Jumper's armor, exposing wires and what looked like meshing pieces of metal.
"What..."
Captain America placed a hand on Myra's shoulder, causing her to look up at the Avenger.
"Come on. Let's leave them to their work." Captain America directed Myra out of the lab.
"Ratchet!" Serges screeched. "Get me the—"
The door to the mechanics' lab closed behind them, cutting the screech off.
They were nearly back to the huts when Captain America spoke again.
"If you have any questions about her, you can go ahead and ask," the Avenger said.
Myra asked immediately what was on her mind. "What was with the wires and things hiding under the World Jumper's armor? According to the stories I heard, she was human."
"She was," James piped up, reminding Myra that Captain America's son was still nearby. "She isn't now."
"How? You can't just be transformed like that." Myra saw something flicker across Captain America's face, and she frowned. "C-can you?"
"I've heard of technology that can turn someone into a robot, but I haven't come across it myself," Captain America responded with a shake of his head. He was about to continue, but then he paused for a moment before he kept going. "The World Jumper was a different case. From what I can remember her telling me, she ran into an accident the third time she left her home world. She wouldn't have survived had it not been for a man named Dr. Light. I'm not sure of what process he used, but he basically transferred her soul into the body of a robot."
"Transferred her soul...?" Myra's eyes widened at that. "But isn't that impossible?"
"When you've seen crazier things than that, it's kind of hard to say what is and isn't impossible," James responded dryly. "I mean, this version of Cap isn't related to me by blood." He jabbed a thumb at the Avenger. "My real dad is dead."
The serious statement caused Myra to stop walking. "What?"
"You are familiar with the idea of there being other worlds, right?" James looked at Myra curiously as she hesitated for a moment before giving a slight nod.
"Yeah. The World Jumper's stories mentioned a lot of things like that, and I know that this place was multiple worlds before." Myra frowned. "But why-"
"Some of these other worlds are nearly identical except for a few minor things," James continued. "For example, my dad and his team of Avengers ended up facing a nasty opponent called Ultron. The only ones who managed to survive were Iron Man, the Hulk, Hawkeye, and Thor. Everybody else lost their lives fighting that robot." James sent a sidelong look up at Captain America. "My world's dimension collapsed, and my team survived when we were kicked over to his world by our dimension's Iron Man. We had some time to adjust before all the other worlds got merged together."
Myra blinked a couple times when she heard that. "You're serious?"
"Unfortunately." Captain America let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "We had some trouble with Kang because he was trying to wipe them out of existence, but we managed to convince him to let them stay."
James grinned a little, but that wavered a couple seconds later before he regained his serious expression. "I'm glad that I got to know my dad - even if he isn't my dimension's version of him. Now we just have to make sure that everyone else can get happy endings."
Myra didn't even need to consider James' statement as she nodded in agreement. "Right."
The father-son duo dropped Myra off at her hut, and as soon as she stepped through the door into the small room – which had nothing more than a bunk bed set – Crystal practically jumped her.
"What was that back there?" Crystal asked in an eager - and concerned - voice. "Do you have a connection with...that person, somehow?"
"Uh..." Myra blinked a couple times. "I guess so? I was there when she woke up, so I guess that I managed to get some kind of level of trust."
"Okay." Crystal backed up, letting Myra into the room as she went and sat down on the lower of the two bunks. "Do you know what she is? Because she felt strange."
"I know she's some kind of robot and that World Jumper that's been talked about all over the place."
Crystal blinked. "I knew about the World Jumper part, but I didn't know that she was some kind of robot."
Myra reeled back in surprise. "You did? How?!"
"I met her a friend of hers." Crystal smiled brightly. "I saved her friend's life, too. Apparently, the World Jumper was off saving another world, so she couldn't come and help her friend."
"Save a world?" Myra couldn't believe what it was that Crystal was saying. "Seriously?"
"Yup!" Crystal's ears and tail twitched upward as her smile almost seemed to brighten. "Khrista told me that my Ranger friend, Aria, looks just like the World Jumper." Her smiled faded a little. "And then all this happened."
Myra sobered up. "Yeah. I guess so. Is your friend...?"
Crystal's ears folded back as her tail fell onto the bed, and she gave a slight nod. "Yeah. I've been wondering if I can go out and find her, but...well, they're probably going to end up with a pretty powerful...pawn, I think is the right word."
"Oh." Myra sobered up a little. "You're really that strong?"
Crystal nodded, looking subdued. "You were wondering about my ears and tail earlier, right?" When Myra nodded in response, Crystal continued, "I was the result of an experiment that took place on my world about eleven years ago. This group of people called Team Rocket decided that they wanted to make the strongest creature in existence. I was a side project that one of the scientists did."
Myra blinked a couple times when she heard that. "Seriously? You're something that they made?"
Crystal looked up at Myra with an unhappy expression. "Yeah. I'm a mix of human and Pokémon DNA – Pokémon are creatures that live on my world. They help humans with everyday tasks, and some have even formed teams that spar against other teams for fun - it's a big part of the culture there. There are some creatures that are inherently stronger than others, and the Pokémon DNA I have is from what's considered to be the strongest and rarest by a lot of people."
"So, you have the powers of that...Pokémon?" Myra raised an eyebrow.
Crystal nodded. "Mew - the Pokémon I share DNA with - is a little pink creature that I've been told looks like a creature called a 'cat' from other places. They can use any and every ability that other Pokémon can use. So, for example, some Pokémon can speak to others using their minds..."
"...and so can I."
Myra jumped when she heard Crystal's voice echo in her head. "Whoa!"
Crystal smiled a little at Myra's surprise. "Yeah. That's how a lot of people react when they find out. I was pretty surprised when Professor X and Jean were able to talk to me in the same way - I didn't know that humans could do something like that."
"Well, humans can be pretty surprising sometimes..." Myra trailed off as a yawn forced its way out.
Crystal blinked at that, then gave a slight smile. "You must be pretty tired after everything that's happened. Why don't you go ahead and sleep for a while? Nobody's going to try and get the jump on you around here."
Myra blinked, frowning a little at Crystal's statement. "Has that happened before?"
"A couple times. I don't think that anyone's tried it in a long time, though." Crystal shrugged. "We can take turns sleeping for a while, if you want. Wherever you were before, you probably weren't able to relax for too long."
Myra felt a chill run down her spine as she remembered that she had been on the run from a group of rather nasty-looking people before she had come across the World Jumper. When another yawn snuck out of her, she realized that getting some sleep might not actually be a bad idea.
"Yeah...sleep sounds pretty good right now." Myra made her way over to her bed. "Not really much else to do right now, anyway."
Crystal hummed in response to the statement, then bobbed her head. "Not right now, anyway. I'll wake you if anything important happens, okay?"
Myra gave Crystal a nod. "Yeah. Sounds good." Then she crawled under the covers of the bed - which was a lot softer than the other places she had been hiding in previously - and she slowly drifted off...
Time Break
When Myra awoke, she rolled over and looked over the edge of the bed. She blinked when she found out that Crystal was nowhere in sight.
Myra frowned. "I wonder where Crystal went..." She slipped off the bed and landed on the floor of the room. After looking around for a moment longer, she paused and shook her head. "She probably has things that she can do around here..."
"Quite. And you seem to have a role that you are able to play as well."
Myra squeaked and scrambled back against the other wall as the voice came out from under the bed. She stared with wide eyes as a pair of glowing yellow eyes peered out from underneath Crystal's lower bed.
"Th-the Nightmare King…." Myra swallowed, color draining from her face.
There came a dark chuckle from below the bed. "Your fear of me is delicious, child, but you have no reason to be. I do not intend harm on those here. The creatures outside this haven, however, have great reason to have fear for what they have done. However, as much as I'd like to leave you alone, there's something about you that's different from the other kids I've followed around."
"S-something different?" Myra swallowed. "Wh-what is it?"
"I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually." The shadow chuckled again.
Myra's forehead furrowed as she frowned. "I have been getting the feeling that a lot of people are going to be telling me that and I don't like it. You said you've been following people around – do you know anything about what's happened with the World Jumper?"
The Nightmare King blinked. "The World Jumper? You mean that child that the red, white, and blue Avenger carried in with you?" A shadowy limb that looked like an arm came out from under the bed and made a waving motion, then retreated back under the bed. "Never met her."
"But you know about her," Myra insisted.
"I've only heard stories, but I can say with certainty that she's going to be the only World Jumper you're going to find around here. Only one per section of the Multiverse, depending on how many people get dragged off-world." The Nightmare King grumbled something, then continued speaking at his normal volume. "Those monsters don't like her, either. That's probably why they locked her away and picked her to pieces."
"The Dark Arms?" Myra blinked, then flinched back as the Nightmare King snarled.
"Yes. Them." The figure under the bed growled again. "They have made it very difficult for us to reverse what has been done, and they have made it impossible to say the World Jumper's name."
Myra frowned. "The World Jumper's name?"
"Yes. You do know that she has one, don't you?"
Myra blinked in confusion. "W-well, I should think that she does…."
"Do you know it?"
Myra paused at the question, brow furrowing. "N-no. But that's because no one ever says it."
"And why is that, Myra Arym?"
Myra opened her mouth to answer, then stopped, blinking. "H-how do you know my name?"
"I know a large number of things." The Nightmare King chuckled darkly. "If you want some answers, you will have to find them yourself!"
Before Myra could ask him what that meant, the darkness under the bed seemed to become less opaque as the yellow eyes disappeared from sight.
Crystal stuck her head in. "I heard Pitch talking. Is he still—" She cut herself off when she saw the absence of the yellow eyes under the bed. "I just missed him. Shoot."
"You wanted to talk to him?" Myra frowned in confusion.
"I did, but now I'm just hoping that he's listening. There's something going on in the Dark City Zone."
Myra cocked her head slightly at the statement. "What do you mean?"
Crystal's expression brightened when the subject changed. "I've been out and about listening to what's been going on, and it sounds like there's been a bit of a ruckus at the place where you guys found the World Jumper! There's Mind Tech'd people crawling all over the place! It sounds like some people are getting ready to get into the action again!"
Myra blinked in surprise when she saw that Crystal's eyes were practically shining out of eagerness. She frowned. "You mean they weren't active before?"
Crystal shook her head. "I've never been involved in that kind of stuff because-" She motioned to her Mew ears "-but I've heard that we haven't been able to do much against the monsters, and they haven't been able to find us because we've been laying low for so long. Now that Captain America's back and we have the World Jumper, they're going to be looking for us a lot more, and we might be able to start striking back - and maybe we'll be able to get people back, too!"
Myra blinked a couple times as she absorbed what Crystal had just said, trying to wrap her head around the fact that Crystal was excited that they were after them after they had been living under the radar for some time. She frowned. "You do realize that there's a chance that they could find us and finish us off once and for all now, right?"
Crystal frowned for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm not too worried about that. We have the Justice League up in the Watchtower, and they'll come down if we need the help." She grinned. "Besides, when the World Jumper's fixed, we'll have her help, too! She'll be able to rescue more people than ever thanks to her! I mean, she got Captain America back - she could get everyone else rescued, too!"
Myra's frown deepened. "...isn't that a lot to be putting on one person's shoulders?"
"She's done stuff like that before," Crystal chirped in response. "I told you about how she was off saving a world when I saved her friend, remember?"
It took Myra a moment to remember that Crystal had said something about it before she had gotten some rest. "You did mention it."
"So something like this isn't going to be too much of a problem - especially with the rest of us to back her up!" Crystal insisted. She looked strangely giddy. "I can't wait to meet her!"
Before Myra could respond to that, she suddenly felt a wave of pressure come over her, making her want to scramble under the covers of her bed and hide. While she flinched in that direction, Crystal responded in a similar fashion, her eyes widening as her ears plastered themselves against the top of her head.
"Dark-Types..." Crystal murmured fearfully.
"It isn't going to be as easy as you think it is, child of Mew," snorted the Nightmare King from under the bed. "Do you really think that the World Jumper is going to sweep our opponents? When they've picked her apart and put her back together?"
The pressure was suddenly released, leaving Myra gasping for breath. Crystal looked shaken.
"Ho-ly Arceus." Crystal shuddered. "I really hate it when he does that."
"H-how often d-does he do that?" Myra shivered. "I-it almost felt like there was something pushing down on my head…."
Crystal took in a shaky breath and breathed out slowly, forcing herself to relax. "N-not often. I-I guess he wanted to make a point." She took in another breath and stood with her eyes closed for a moment before her eyes snapped open. "Oh, yeah! Seeker came by - he said to let you know that the World Jumper's fixed up, and that they want you there to officially meet her!"
Myra's head shot up in surprise. "What?! Already? But they only just got her so that they could do the repairs!"
"Time has been warped, remember?" Crystal gave a shrug. "I don't know what exactly happened, myself, but I know that Dialga must be throwing a fit - wherever he is." She motioned for Myra to follow her outside as she opened the door again. "Come on! We've got to go meet the World Jumper!"
Fanfiction.net has been having issues with their updating/alert system as of late...hmmm...
Anyway, chapter six is here on FF if you wanna read it there.
Warm-up
It didn't take them too long to find Nightwing's Gauntlet, but when the trio arrived, the arena was just a circular platform surrounded by what looked like a moat of some kind. And in the center of that platform, Torunn was going after James with her sword, while he was defending with a hard light construct-replica of Captain America's shield.
Flare-Up paused at the start of the bridge that went over the moat, blinking for a moment before frowning. "Those two look familiar, but I can't place where I've seen them...." She closed one eye, the open one following the fight as James threw his shield before materializing a second one, blocking Torunn's sword again as she dodged his attack.
Myra wasn't really paying all that much attention to Flare-Up at this point -- she was watching James and Torunn move around the arena, trying to find each others' weak points in order to win the match. Captain America, who had his arms folded across his chest, was watching them too, occasionally nodding in approval whenever James would block a strike or get one of his kicks, punches, or sword throws close enough to almost hit Torrun out of her semi-flying jumps.
"Ah. So that's where they're from."
Myra blinked, then looked over at Flare-Up, who had both eyes open again.
"What do you mean?" Myra blinked.
"I knew that those two looked familiar." Flare-Up nodded to the two in the arena. "They were featured in comics and a cartoon movie on my home world." She paused, then looked over at Captain America, her tone taking on something of a more suspicious nature. "But the reality where they lived had a good number of the Avengers killed by Ultron, leaving only the Hulk, Hawkeye, Thor, and Iron Man alive."
"Their reality collapsed some time ago," Captain America responded without missing a beat. "They came over into ours and caused a little trouble before Fury reigned them in and figured out what was going on. That was a month before all this."
Flare-Up hummed at that, and said nothing else.
James pushed Torrun back after a moment, shield and sword grinding against each other and sending sparks flying. The two slid back from one another, panting heavily as they turned their heads to look at their audience.
"I'd heard that you'd been found, but I didn't think you'd be here so soon."
Myra turned her head sharply in surprise upon hearing the voice, and blinked in confusion when she saw a young man wearing a blue and black costume approach them. For a moment, she thought it was Seeker, but then she saw the hawk-like shape on his chest rather than the dog head-like shape and realized they were different people.
"I'm told that time has warped, making 'soon' more of a variable than it usually is." Flare-Up stepped towards the teenage boy. "Which explains why I was trapped for 75 years, but you live still."
Nightwing nodded. "What name are you using?"
"Flare-Up. World Jumper is my title, remember?"
"World Jumper?" James crossed the bridge over the moat, Torunn right at his heels. "That can't be right. The World Jumper was wearing armor when we found her...."
"You didn't think I was going to get physical upgrades?" Flare-Up raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you've upgraded your shield at least a little, James Rogers."
James stared at Flare-Up with wide eyes, but then they narrowed as he demanded, "How do you know who I am?"
Flare-Up’s eyebrow raised even further. "I have heard about you and your world. Is that really something that you should be surprised about?"
James blinked for a moment, then shook his head in order to clear the frown and surprise from his face. "I didn't think you knew, since you didn't show up when our world collapsed."
"I only show up where I know that I'm needed. Something else probably caught my attention at the time." Flare-Up paused. "I had been going to Captain America's world, but something forced me off course. By the time I had gotten off the world I had found myself on, something else caught my attention."
Myra blinked at that. "Then...where did you end up?"
Flare-Up considered the question, then shook her head. "It's not important."
Something in the look on her face made Myra wonder what exactly it was Flare-Up had done. She decided against asking when Nightwing spoke up again.
"You mentioned you had an upgrade." Nightwing looked Flare-Up over. "Do you have that Light Refractor active?"
Flare-Up shook her head. "I haven't attempted to access it yet. My systems have been...changed."
Nightwing didn't even need to consider what that meant. "You're looking for a spar to get back on your feet."
"Exactly."
Nightwing nodded. "Got a line-up?"
"Most of the people in my 'line-up' are either up in the Watchtower or taken out by the MindTech." Flare-Up's voice came out in a slight snarl. "I do have some, but I need to understand the 'levels' that have been installed in my system first."
Nightwing inclined his head. "And the level you're at now?"
"One." Flare-Up hefted her staff. "Most likely, it represents my state before I was transferred into my Reploid form."
"Really?" Myra jumped a bit when she realized she had asked the question.
Flare-Up looked over at Myra and nodded.
"I think that fighting you as you are now would be pretty interesting." Nightwing's thoughtful expression gained a knowing smirk. "Especially considering our last fight had me at a disadvantage."
Myra stared at Nightwing as Flare-Up blinked for a moment. After a while, the World Jumper snorted and rolled her eyes.
"I think we were pretty evenly matched, even with my armor," Flare-Up said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Besides, that tournament had hazards that were there to affect both sides. I saw Thor and Loki coming. You didn't. It's that simple."
Myra blinked in confusion while Torrun frowned.
"How do you know about my father and his half-brother?" Torrun asked cautiously.
"I met them." Flare-Up shrugged. "Is that such an impossible idea?"
Torrun frowned, then looked over at Captain America. "I suppose not...."
"We can discuss this later," Nightwing said. He gave Flare-Up an interested look. "We've got someone to break in." He started across the bridge to the arena. Flare-Up followed after him a moment later, her staff clacking against the wooden slats of the bridge.
Myra bit her lower lip worriedly as the two of them got into position.
"Don't worry."
Myra looked up when she heard Captain America's comment.
"Those two will be able to handle each other," the Avenger continued. "Just watch."
Flare-Up and Nightwing moved to either sides of the arena, shifting into crouching positions. Flare-Up held her staff in front of her at an angle, both of her hands gripping the wood tightly, while Nightwing kept his hands free of anything from his utility belt.
There was a crunch of sand under their feet, and Flare-Up and Nightwing charged at each other, the World Jumper bringing her staff back for a swing.
Nightwing ducked under the staff and brought a fist into Flare-Up’s gut, causing her to grunt and stumble back. “You’re too used to having your armor.”
“I’ve had it for three years at least; I don’t expect it to be easy to adjust back,” Flare-Up snapped in reply. She spun her staff in front of herself quickly, whacking Nightwing once as he moved back. “Why do you think I asked for a spar?”
Nightwing simply smirked, and he went in again in order to kick Flare-Up in the side, but she caught his leg on her staff and pushed him back, sending him into a backflip. When Flare-Up came at him and brought her staff forward, Nightwing dodged it again, only for the staff to suddenly be swung under his feet and caused him to leap up before a fist collided with his face.
Myra flinched back as Nightwing fell back, only to stare as he tripped Flare-Up and pushed himself back up again.
“You never picked up anything from the time we were on the same world, did you?” Nightwing asked dryly.
Flare-Up’s eyes narrowed wordlessly, and she leapt up to her feet and lunged for Nightwing again.
Orange sparks followed Flare-Up’s staff, and a moment later Nightwing was ducking a fire-covered staff.
Myra gasped, her eyes widening in shock at the sight of the flames.
“Whoa!” Torunn’s jaw dropped. “How didst she set her weapon ablaze? I see no technology with which to cause it.”
“There’s no friction in air.” Pym frowned, tapping his chin.
“Is she a mutant?” Azari asked.
“She’s a Reploid,” Captain America corrected.
“I was wondering when you were going to start tapping into that,” Nightwing commented. He ducked under Flare-Up’s lunging staff and tried to come in again for another punch, but Flare-Up’s clenched fists came slamming down on his back, sending him crashing to the ground.
“Level Two.” Flare-Up looked her hands over with slightly raised eyebrows as flames sparked across her fingers. “Hm.” She jumped back as Nightwing rose to his feet again, staff no longer in her hands as she clenched her fists. “Now this is more like it.”
“You’ve got your power split up.” Nightwing started circling around the sparring field, Flare-Up mimicking him a moment later.
“Indeed.” Flare-Up held out one hand, and a blast of flames formed the staff again, and she raised it high before slamming it into the ground. “Icy Terrain!”
A wave of ice suddenly blasted out from where the staff hit the ground, covering the platform in a slick surface.
“Whoa!” Pym’s jaw dropped. “She can take heat out of things, too?”
“I didn’t see her use this technique.” Captain America frowned. “Unless….”
“Unless?” Myra looked up at the Avenger in confusion.
Captain America shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”
Nightwing hit the ground and his legs slipped out from under him. “Where did this come from?!”
“An old trick of mine I haven’t done in years,” Flare-Up replied, twirling her staff in one hand. “And there’s more where that came from.” She lunged forward, swinging her staff back before swinging it forward, causing a blast of cold wind to fly across the battlefield. Nightwing was caught in the blast and blocked it from hitting his face, but that didn’t stop what looked like snow forming on his arm.
“Looks like she’s giving him a thorough beating.”
Myra jumped at the voice that came from behind her, and she turned quickly. “Seeker!”
Captain America glanced back as Seeker stepped forward to join him, Myra, and the others in watching the spar. “Didn’t you say that you had some things that you needed to take care of?”
“I’ve taken care of them; we’re still off the radar.” Seeker shrugged. “Besides, there was someone here who wanted to know where the World Jumper was.”
“Flare-Up,” Myra corrected. “She said we should call her that.”
Seeker’s eyebrows rose at that. “Flare-Up? It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name.” He smirked and chuckled. “I should have thought that she would want to go by that.”
“Is that her, then?” A short, green man walking on log-like stilts waddled over to the group, leaning on a staff as he looked through a pair of glasses perched on his nose at Flare-Up and Nightwing as Nightwing managed to find his footing on the ice and lunged for Flare-Up, intending to trip her up. “I was under the impression that she was a mechanical being of some kind.”
“She is, Samos,” Seeker replied. “She appears to have gotten some upgrades recently.”
The staff disappeared from Flare-Up’s hand right as her right hand clenched into a fist, and suddenly she was back in the armor she had been wearing when Myra had first seen her.
Only this time, her right hand had been replaced by the barrel of a cannon.
“I think that’s enough,” Nightwing said.
Myra blinked. Was he speaking a little more quickly than normal?
Flare-Up paused at that, then her right arm glowed for a moment as her right hand came out of the cannon and returned her arm to normal. “Very well then.”
“How do you know she isn’t rusty with her Reploid form, Nightwing?” Seeker asked, raising his voice.
Flare-Up whirled sharply at Seeker’s voice as he stepped onto the bridge and started coming over towards them. Her eyes widened slightly when they locked with Seeker’s.
“She spent most of her time in it; I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t,” Nightwing replied.
“She’s been in cryosleep for a long time; I would expect her to be a bit sluggish at first. You could still have the advantage.” Seeker smirked at Flare-Up, who had schooled her expression into something more serious. “But if you don’t want to take her on, then I’ll spar with her myself.”
“I had to train you when we first met,” Nightwing replied. “What makes you think that you would be able to handle whatever she throws at you?”
“Because I know what she can do – probably better than the rest of the people here, in fact.” Seeker nodded to Flare-Up. “Are you up to the challenge?”
Flare-Up inclined her head slightly at the question, then gave a slight nod.
“All right.” Seeker slammed a fist into an open palm as Nightwing slipped across the iced-over platform and over to the bridge, getting out of their way. “I should have you know that I’ve picked up a few things since we last saw each other. You probably won’t be able to read me very well.”
“I don’t mind.” Flare-Up shifted into a ready position, bringing her fists up in front of her. “Seeing how you’ve improved will be interesting, to say the least.”
Myra looked between the two of them as Nightwing came over. “They know each other? The World Jumper has a lot more connections than I thought….”
“Flare-Up has been to multiple dimensions and has managed to meet more people than any one of us ever could in a single lifetime.” Nightwing raised an eyebrow. “Almost everyone here knows who she is and what she is capable of.”
Samos snorted. “We could have used her assistance in the resistance here against the MetalHeads. I don’t understand why she would have not come here in order to assist us in keeping balance when we needed it most!”
“You had Jak to handle it!” Flare-Up called back.
“Concentrate on me!” Seeker held up his hands as blue fire erupted from them, and he threw a fiery sphere at Flare-Up, who ducked and let the ball go flying harmlessly over her head.
“Jak?” Myra repeated, confused. “Who’s that?”
Samos sighed irritably. “Our missing king.”
“Who you haven’t let me get back!” barked another voice.
Myra looked down and jolted in surprise when she caught sight of a orange weasel-like creature wearing pants on its hind legs and goggles perched on top of its head.
“You would only end up in the same place that he has, Daxter!” Samos snapped in reply. “I would rather keep you here so that you can maintain this gauntlet rather than let you run rampant and get caught by the very monsters that caught us all off guard and took off with Jak Mar!”
The weasel creature – Daxter, apparently – ducked his head at Samos’ scolding and muttered something under his breath, only to get whacked over the head by Samos’ staff. He scrambled off and disappeared from sight.
Flare-Up and Seeker slammed into each other right at that moment, arms covered in red and blue flames. The clash and fireworks show that resulted caused Myra to look up sharply in surprise.
Flare-Up and Seeker slid back from each other, both smirking, which caused James to do a double-take.
“Is it me, or does Seeker look like he’s enjoying himself?” James asked.
“He looks like it,” Torrun replied, frowning.
“You’ve picked up a few tricks,” Flare-Up noted as she and Seeker started to circle each other.
“You really think that I’m not going to pick things up when I saw you throwing fire around, little sister,” Seeker replied.
Myra stiffened in surprise at that as the others did a double-take.
“Sister?” Torrun repeated. “Seeker, thou art the World Jumper’s sister?”
Seeker and Flare-Up paused in their movements, then looked over at their audience.
“Is that really such a crazy idea?” Seeker asked, raising an eyebrow. Flare-Up mimicked his expression a moment later, but her smirk dropped while his stayed.
“W-well, I was not aware that World Jumpers could have….” Torrun’s voice faded, and she ducked her head under the stares she was getting from them both. “Could have families.”
“I did not simply come into existence,” Flare-Up said. “Someone did not simply say a command word and summon me from nothing, or create this shell and give me life. I…” She paused, then looked away and shook her head. “I am not like X and Zero.”
Seeker put a hand on Flare-Up’s shoulder. “No; you’re not.” He looked over at Nightwing. “Now that we’ve got my sister back, we can start making more moves against the Dark Arms and take people back.”
“Myra and I will be working together,” Flare-Up said seriously. Myra swallowed nervously in response and shifted from one foot to the other; the movement caught the World Jumper’s attention. “Don’t underestimate yourself. You know the lay of the land more than I do.”
Myra blinked a couple times. “U-uh—“ She shook her head rapidly. “I don’t have any sort of power like you do, though! I wouldn’t be able to keep up as well as—“
“Look at your hands.”
Myra looked at Maria sharply, wide-eyed.
“Myra,” Flare-Up’s tone was strangely, slightly softer than it normally sounded like. “Look at your hands.”
Myra blinked in confusion, then looked down at her hands. Her eyes widened, and she scrambled back with a squeak, shaking her hands as purple fire danced on her fingers. “Wh-what is this?!”
“You’re manifesting!” Azari exclaimed.
“I’m what?” The purple flames started to pick up even more so, causing Myra to squeak again as she tried to shake her hands out.
A pair of gloved hands grabbed her wrists.
Myra looked up and locked gazes with Flare-Up, who was glaring at her with a determined expression that made her flinch back.
“Calm down. Breathe; take it slow.” Flare-Up’s grip on Myra’s wrists tightened slightly, then released them when the purple flames tried to jump from Myra’s hands to the World Jumper’s. “This power is a part of you; it’s not going to hurt you.”
Myra stared at Flare-Up with wide eyes, then looked down at her hands and stared at the purple flames. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply in and out, forcing her heart to slow its panicked pacing.
When she opened her eyes again, the purple flames had gone down to embers, then disappeared entirely.
“Looks like we’ve got another reason for you to be working with my sister,” Seeker remarked. “You have the same power she does.”
“Not entirely the same.” Flare-Up shook her head. “Those fires are Psychic attacks made physical – a Mental Flare.”
“Mental Flare…” Myra tried the word out, hesitant.
“I’ll teach you what I can, but it will have to be quick lessons while we’re winning the multiverse back,” Flare-Up said. “Nightwing; keep me posted. The first sign of a MindTech in the area, send me out.”
“You’re sure about that.” Nightwing folded his arms across his chest. “What if this is a Brainiac event?”
“It won’t be.” Flare-Up’s eyes narrowed as Myra looked between them in confusion. “They can’t use me.”
Nightwing and Seeker exchanged looks at that as the others stared at Flare-Up with wide eyes at the implication of her statement.
“Y-you mean…..” Myra swallowed. “You’re immune to the MindTech?”
“Luthor!” Seeker stopped in front of the large circle of technology that was in an area of the large chamber that was closer to the outer wall. “Get over here! We have to connect up to the Watchtower as soon as possible!”
“Now?” A bald man pushed himself out from under one of the computer consoles and sat up, glaring at Seeker in an irritated manner.
“Yes, now. Get Brainiac and get the connection set up.” Seeker fixed the man with a frown that sent chills down Myra’s spine and made the bald man stiffen instantly. He was able to recover quickly from it, however, and was soon back with a grumpy persona.
“All right, all right! Just give me a moment!” The man turned and stalked over to somewhere hidden behind a couple computer towers.
“Why is it that Luthor is the one who was given permission to do this?” James asked, frowning. “Why not Gear, or Forge?”
“Because he knows how to get into the Watchtower’s security systems better than anyone else,” Seeker replied. “That, and we needed something to keep him and Brainiac busy.”
“Who?” Myra asked in confusion.
The large screen that towered over the computer equipment started to fizz and spit, and Luthor came back out from behind the computer towers, followed shortly by a blue-green-skinned man in a purple jumpsuit with three bright green circles arranged in a triangle on his forehead.
“The connection is being established as we speak,” the strangely-colored man said in a monotone. “It should be established in five seconds.”
“I’ll five seconds you, you stupid bucket of bolts,” Luthor muttered in response as he scrambled over to the computer console and started pushing buttons.
Myra watched with an expression of confusion and surprise as the screen fizzed and spat with static for a moment longer before the picture cleared, revealing a circular room that looked like a laboratory of some kind, if the computer screens and everything else were something to go by.
She wasn't able to see the devices too well, though, because of the dark shadow of a figure that was taking up a good portion of the screen.
“Batman,” Seeker greeted.
The shadowy figure inclined his head, and Myra realized with a jolt that she was looking at a person, not a shadow. ::Seeker. What’s happened?::
“We’ve found her. This girl –“ Seeker motioned to Myra “—was being chased by Captain America. She stumbled across the World Jumper and she snapped Cap out of the control that the Dark Arms had over him; he’s taking her to the mechanics to have her looked over now.”
::Are you sure he’s in control of himself?:: Batman asked grimly in response.
“Jean checked him, and his aura isn’t pointed like the others are.” Seeker gave a determined nod. “He’s back.”
Batman shifted slightly at that, inclining his head sharply. ::How?::
Seeker looked over at Myra and motioned with his head towards the computer screen.
Myra pointed at herself as her eyes widened in surprise. “Y-you want me to tell him?”
“You were there,” Seeker pointed out.
Myra swallowed at that, then looked up at the dark figure on the screen. “U-uh, well, I was running from th-the Gladiator – Captain America, I guess – when I got cornered in some kind of lab. I thought I was done, but…the World Jumper exploded out from some kind of…glass chamber or something – and I think she burned the MindTech off the back of his neck.”
Batman remained silent, his gaze boring into Myra and making her shifted uneasily. His eyes narrowed after a moment, and he returned his attention to James. ::While it is good to see that you managed to succeed, I shouldn't need to remind you that you could have been placed in the same situation as the others who tried to do the same thing::
"I know," James responded. Myra looked at him with a confused expression.
::Which is why I'm going to make sure that Nightwing knows not to send you on any missions until you can learn to follow orders and not act so recklessly::
That statement managed to get through James' calm expression. "What?!"
::Aw, come on, Bats, don't be so hard on the kid:: A red-and-gold blur appeared in the background. ::He just wanted to get his dad back; is that so much of a problem?::
Batman turned his head to glare at the figure behind him, and the red-and-gold figure raised his hands while gaining a somewhat nervous expression.
::I was just thinkin' that he'd be better off with a different punishment, that's all. I mean, he came back with Cap and Bot Girl -- tell her Flash says "hi" when she wakes up, by the way!::
Seeker gave a nod when the last part of the statement was directed in his direction.
::We'll talk again when she's operational:: Batman stated.
With that, the screen turned to static rather abruptly as a screech suddenly ripped through the air.
Luthor uttered a curse and turned off the sound and the screen before turning to look at the group. "Well? What are you waiting for? An invitation?" He snorted. "Get going and leave me in peace, all of you."
Seeker waved off Luthor’s glare and turned to look at James and Myra. “James, go report in to Nightwing.”
“What about her?” James nodded to Myra.
“I’m going to make sure she’s settled in,” Seeker replied. “There are a few shacks that are only half-full.”
“So she is staying?” James looked at Myra, who looked between them with concern and confusion.
“What if I don’t want to?” Myra responded. “I don’t think that—“
“You don’t really have anywhere else to go that is more safe than this.” Seeker put a hand on Myra’s shoulder. “And besides, if you were caught now, we could be quickly found out, and then the Dark Arms would have their way with every single person in the Multiverse. We don’t want that to happen.”
Myra blinked a couple times, looking uncertain.
“Crystal doesn’t have a roommate, unless you count the monster that hides under her bed and refuses to come out,” James suggested. “It might be a good idea to balance things out.”
“Probably.” Seeker nodded. “Get going to Nightwing’s Gauntlet; I’ll handle things from here.”
James nodded, then turned and ran off; Seeker turned Myra away and started towards the huts that they had passed by on the way towards Luthor and the large screen.
“Who are you people?” Myra asked as they left Luthor behind. “Why haven’t I heard of people fighting against them before?”
“We used to be a lot more open,” Seeker replied, “but we had to go underground rather quickly, since the Dark Arms were trying to find and bring a large number of us under their control. They haven’t taken any recently, which I’m thankful for, but it either means they haven’t found us or they haven’t had a reason to come after us, since we haven’t been able to make any moves as of late.”
“They’re still looking for people,” Myra said. “They almost had me.”
“They’ve turned their attention to civilians, then.” Seeker’s mouth stretched into a thin line. “We don’t have much time left to us.”
The duo soon reached the collection of huts that Myra had passed through on the way to where Luthor was; Seeker looked around while Myra stared at them in proper confusion.
“How did you get these in here?” Myra asked. “Where is here?”
“It’s an old colosseum from Spargus.” Seeker paused. “Or, rather, what’s left of it. Any obstacle courses and battle equipment was either hidden away or destroyed before we got here. All the better for us – we have more room for refugees from different Zones that used to be different dimensions. Mar’s people – the people of Spargus – were willing to share this space with us, so long as they aren’t involved in going out and scouting out the Dark Arms, and we’ve kept up with that.”
“O-oh.” Myra’s gaze went up to the figures painted on the walls above them again. “I guess…that’s them, then?”
“Yup. Mostly the missing prince, Mar. They’re hoping that we find him at some point in the future, but we haven’t heard much about him yet.”
It didn’t take too long to find the “Crystal” that James had mentioned before Seeker and sent him off to Nightwing – whoever that was.
Myra couldn't help but gape a little at the person that she was going to end up rooming with.
"Hi," the teenage girl greeted, a hesitant smile on her face. It didn’t seem to quite reach her eyes. "I'm Crystal."
"Uh...hi." Myra forced her violet eyes away from the twitching pink cat ears that were on top of Crystal's head and locked them with Crystal's blue eyes. "I haven’t seen anyone like you before.”
"I don't go out into the open and run around with everybody else," Crystal explained, as though that was enough to be said. Her smile faded slightly. “As much as I would like to.”
“You know that if they grabbed you they would mistake you for someone else,” Seeker replied. “And regardless of that, you are a powerful person.”
“Yes, but I still want to help!” Crystal shot back. “Seeker, you know that—“
“I know. But things are going to change soon, I promise.” Seeker motioned to Myra. “You and Myra are going to be rooming together for now. I’ve got some things that I need to go and look into; I trust that you’ll get along?”
Crystal’s long, pink tail twitched irritably, but she nodded. “We’ll be okay, Aura Seeker.”
Seeker nodded, then patted Myra on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it.” With that, he turned and walked off in another direction; Myra watched him go for a moment before looking back at Crystal.
“Umm…..” Myra rubbed her left arm somewhat nervously. “S-so, what now?”
Crystal sighed and folded her arms across her chest. “Do you mind if you take top bunk? I’m used to sleeping closer to the ground, and our other roommate sleeps underneath the bed.”
“Other roommate?”
Crystal nodded. “Yeah. Pitch Black, the Nightmare King.”
A dark laugh came from the hut behind Crystal, sending a chill down Myra’s spine.
Crystal looked back over her shoulder. “Pitch, don’t scare her.”
“I don’t need to. She already is afraid of where she is.”
Myra stiffened up at the dark, smooth voice that seemed to roll out of the shadows. “U-uh—“
“Don’t listen to him.” Crystal put a hand on Myra’s shoulder, a confident gleam in her eye. “He’s just grumpy because he doesn’t have a good reason to come out from under the bed. Top bunk’s the furthest you’re going to be able to keep away from him, so you can take that.”
“You want to be closer to him?” Myra gulped.
Crystal paused at the question, then sighed and shook her head. “I don’t want to. But I’ve faced fear head-on, so I can handle him better.” She looked at Myra for a moment, then cocked her head to one side slightly. “I guess you’ve got a few questions?”
"What makes you think I have questions?"
"That look on your face." Crystal gave a dry smirk. "I'm able to read people's emotions pretty well."
Myra blinked a couple times, not having expected Crystal to say that.
"I've seen a lot of things, but I don't think that I've seen someone with...the features that you have," Myra said carefully.
"Oh, these?" Crystal touched a cat-like ear lightly with one hand, looking strangely amused as the ears twitched. "I've had them for a long time. As long as I've been alive, in fact." She gained a curious expression. "You don't recognize the ears and tail of a Mew, do you?"
"A Mew?" Myra repeated, confused.
“Yeah; they’re—“
FWOOM!
“Get out of the way! She’s going on a rampage!”
“Someone get someone who’s fire proof!”
Myra turned sharply when she heard the noise, and her eyes widened in alarm and shock when she saw a blast of flame and smoke rising up from the wall of the colosseum. She instinctively started to run towards the blast zone.
"H-hey! Wait!" Crystal ran up next to Myra, keeping in-step with her. "Whoever did that feels pretty dangerous -- it's almost like a Legendary going on a rampage!"
Myra ignored the last part of Crystal's comment. "Then why are you following me?"
"Because I know how to take on this kind of thing." Crystal clenched a fist. "I don't know about you, but I've taken on dragons before."
"You two! Get away from there!"
Myra nearly came skidding to a stop when she heard the familiar voice. "Captain?"
The star-spangled Avenger suddenly ran in front of Myra and Crystal, putting himself between them and the flaming figure, which was presently trying to fight against a group of masked teenagers.
"I'm not about to allow you to get into any more danger than you already are in," Captain America said seriously, glaring at the two of them.
"What's going on?" Crystal asked, looking up at the Avenger with wide eyes. "And since when did you get back?"
"Get away from me!"
Myra stiffened when she heard the angry -- but also scared -- roar. It sounded like someone who wasn't entirely there, and what part of them that was didn't seem to be very friendly.
Captain America noticed the look that was coming over Myra's face, and he gave her a curious frown. "Myra...."
"I think I know how to stop her," Myra said.
"Her?" Crystal looked at Myra in surprise.
Myra didn't answer; instead, she ran around Captain America and went straight for the crowd of costumed teens -- and the fire that was burning in the center of that.
"Hey, what are you --"
Myra pushed past James and Torrun before they could do anything to keep her out of the circle...which, inside, had someone standing defensively with a dark snarl on her face, flames licking at her armor.
Myra caught the World Jumper's attention instantly. She turned sharply, blank white eyes focusing on Myra. The World Jumper started towards her, the snarl sharpening.
Myra took in a breath. Please let this work.
"World Jumper! Stop! You're among friends!"
The reaction was instantaneous.
The red, orange, and gray-armored girl stopped short, her eyes widening into an expression of shock as blue eyes suddenly flickered into existence. The shock turned into pain a moment later as the World Jumper gripped her head and collapsed to her knees with a scream.
Myra stepped back in shock, staring at the girl. It almost sounded like...she had been broken somehow.
Someone moved past her, and Myra looked up in surprise as Captain America moved forward and picked her up carefully in his arms.
"It's okay," Captain America murmured, rising to his feet. "You're safe."
The World Jumper buried her head in the Avenger's chest, her shoulders shaking as she wept. Captain America remained standing there until the armored girl in his arms stilled.
Captain America looked down at the girl in his arms for a moment before turning his attention to Myra. "Come on." He turned and started walking; Myra trailed after him.
"I'll see you later, then!" Crystal called after Myra; she raised a hand and looked back at the "Mew girl" in response.
"What happened?" Myra asked, turning her attention to the Avenger.
"The World Jumper went berserk is what happened," James responded, falling into step next to her. "Dad said they were trying to repair her and she woke up before they could even start taking off her armor."
Myra frowned at that, surprised at the idea that the World Jumper had lost control of herself. "What made her go off like that?"
Captain America looked over at Myra with a frown. “You found her in a lab. My guess is that they did something to her and the attempts at repairs awoke her defenses.”
“…oh.” Myra shrank down a little at the thought, shuddering. Imagining a dark figure sort of hovering over her, sharp claws and glowing red eyes coming in close, sent chills down her spine in a way that she absolutely hated.
“…it might be a good idea if you’re there when they start again.”
“H-huh?!” Myra looked up sharply at that, wide-eyed. “Me?!”
"You managed to stop her just now," James spoke up. "It only makes sense that you should be nearby to keep her from going berserk again."
Myra nearly stumbled at James had said as the World Jumper's pained scream came back into her mind. "You really think that I'm going to be able to do something to keep her from going crazy?"
“You were there when she first woke up,” Captain America fixed a pointed look at Myra. “She might be able to sense that you are there and recognize you.”
“Y-you think so?” Myra swallowed.
“It’s more than likely. And if you don’t work, we can always go and get Aura Seeker.” With that, Captain America turned his attention back to where they were going.
Myra swallowed nervously. She wasn’t sure what it was that Captain America was expecting her to do, but whatever it was, she hoped that she’d be able to help.
