Project Earthbound part 22
"Rising Tensions,"
"So when you say you're not human, what does that mean exactly?" James questions.
"What kind of first question is that?" Lauren asks from her place next Luke. After Ana had checked on them they lapsed into a poignant silence with one another.
"I don't eat, I don't sleep, and I am incapable of being seriously injuired," Luke answers rather plainly. "Also I have this," Luke demonstrates as suddenly the sleeve of his jacket crawls up his hand covering it up. Then the ends of his fingers sharp into sharp claws. As if to demonstrate her runs his clawed hand along his arm surprising everyone. The gash was deep, but after a moment the wound heals within a moment. Sparks of red energy crackling around the wound until it closes and heals. No scar or blemish was left in its place.
"Oh…that's nuts," James says moving closer. He grabs Luke's arm to get a closer look mystified that the wound healed that way. "I don't think even PSI Healing could do something like this…"
"Are their limits to this ability?" Tailia asks.
"None, that I've been privy too," Luke explains.
"That's not quite an answer…" Lauren points out.
"Well, that compound I gave you severely weakens my ability to heal, also I'm sure I've been studied enough that there are those who know how to kill me should the need arise." Luke returned his claw hand to normal.
"Crazy…" James mutters to himself. "What else can you do?"
"I have really good hearing for one…" Luke takes a moment. "I can hear your neighbor on the phone talking to someone, most likely a relative, I can hear a car back firing a few miles away, and your mother in the kitchen fixing us snacks."
"Score snacks!" Nicholas exclaims.
"So does that mean you know why those people showed up at Uncle Ness and Auntie Paula's house?" Tailia questions.
"It…was a possibility that you guys could be targeted. I'm not sure who they were, but I aim to figure that out," Luke admits.
"So what should we do now?" James questions.
"Let me handle this. Honestly, none of you should know of my existence, and knowing me invites terrible things. It was nice getting to know you all though…"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Nicky questions.
"I've been compromised Nicky. That means I must cut ties. Normally, under these type situations I would have to…well deal with all of you."
"Have you killed people before?" Tailia questions.
"A lot," Luke remarks meeting her gaze.
"That must be hard for you," Tailia responds.
"Not really," Luke responds simply. "That's the part that makes me a monster."
"Nope," Nicholas says simply.
"I have to agree," James says. "They way you fought, just to protect us. I mean, you were there in case we'd be in danger."
"I most certainly treated you like an enemy on sight, but you were doing very well to avoid hurting me as you focused on our true enemies. My apologies for that, I hope I didn't hurt you," Tailia says. Luke gestures at his recently healed arm. "Well I guess I hope you didn't take it personally."
"They have ways of controlling me," Luke admits. "Its…terrifying knowing that at any moment that your body could do something beyond your control."
"Oh, wait this is new, you never told us that," Lauren says suddenly sitting up.
"I didn't know until recently, I hadn't mentioned it to you because…I don't know…"
"You didn't want us afraid of you," Lauren supplies.
"Maybe, but the truth is that you are in danger around me. That's why I gave you that compound. If it comes to it," Luke looks at Lauren sternly. "I need you to put me down."
Lauren bites her lip at this admission. Luke knew that it was pretty unfair to request this of her, of any of them. However, he recognizes the danger he poses to those around him. He knows that he can't do much of anything about it. Even if she isn't able to stomach, that someone else would be able to. When the stakes become to high, he's sure that she'll make the right choice at least to have it on her. He hopes that despite the chaos of tonight, that she hadn't have lost track of the vial he gave her.
"It sounds like you don't work for very nice people," Nicholas points out.
"A mission is a mission. I tell you all this because I don't WANT to hurt you guys. You've shown me that humans…" Luke pauses before moving away from that train of thought. "Either way, please keep your distance from me, for your own safety."
"Well, we won't tell our parents at least. However, I would like to invoke the cousin contract loophole," James clears his throat. "If at any point keeping this secret is a danger to another, then we shall share with our parents after a tribunal vote," James says seemingly taking a business type voice.
"We can skip the vote for later, as I am for telling our folks IF it comes to that," Nicholas says raising his hand.
"Seconded," Lauren says.
"Third," Tailia says.
"So, the motion carries," Nicholas says pretending to slam a gavel.
"Guys I'm being serious…" Luke says in an exasperated tone.
"The cousin contract is a very serious thing sir," Nicholas says placing a hand on his chest as if hurt by the comment.
"Oh, can you hear this?" James questions. He cups his mouth as he tries his best to whisper.
Luke rolls his eyes, "Yes, you said that Nicky is a dork of epic proportions…"
"Whoa you heard that?!" James questions.
"What the heck!?" Nicholas exclaims.
"Even if you whispered that, I could still see your lips," Luke admits.
"You can read lips too?" James questions ignoring Nicholas' glare.
"Yes."
"How long did it take you to learn that?" Lauren asks.
"Not long. Even when someone is talking I can hear the vibrations of their vocal chords if I focus enough and pay attention to their mouth movements. Using PSI energy in my throat to help vibrate the correct vocal chords I can even replicate voices."
"Really?" Nicholas says.
"Really," Luke responds with his voice sounding eerily similar to Nicholas's. Everyone seems to balk at that. "I have a really good ear," he says in Nicholas' voice. "It helps when I need to disguise my voice, either as," Luke clears his throat. "As a little girl," he says imitating a young girl. "Or as a business tycoon," Luke adds with a southern drawl that seems to have age on it.
"That's freaky…" Nicholas mutters.
"Oh can you hear this?" James suddenly questions as he suddenly reaches for something on his night stand. Luke tilts his head at the small whistle like device. James then blows into it. Suddenly perks up as an sharp ringing runs through his skull. His symbiont suddenly grabbing the item from James. Luke grips the object tightly.
"Yes…I can hear that…" Luke growls. James nervously chuckles.
"What is this?" Luke mutters.
"That's a dog whistle, we used it to train our mutt or we would've, the lazy mutt hardly does anything. He just finds a corner in the house and naps all day. Unless someone gives him affection or food."
"So, are we done playing with Luke's super hearing now?" Lauren says.
"For the moment…" James remarks.
Luke sighs before he relaxes. However, a new noise enters his ears. He tilts his head confused before turning his head toward the window in James's room. He stands up to walk over to really focus in on the sound. It was amazing how familiar that sound is. It was so strange.
"Luke, something wrong?" Tailia asks.
"I…" Luke trails off listening to the sound. "A heartbeat…"
"A heartbeat?" Nicholas questions.
"You can hear heartbeats too?" James questioned. Luke doesn't respond to him.
"Apparently he can," Lauren remarks.
"This sound…" he mutters.
"Hey Luke!" Nicholas exclaims trying to grab the boy's attention. Luke turns to his cousins. "What do you hear?"
"A heartbeat…it sounds…really familiar…"
"Who's is it?"
"I…don't know, I just feel that I recognize it…"
"How can you recognize a heartbeat?" Lauren asks.
"Its just like a voice. Its specific to every person. The anatomy, the muscles, the weight, and other factors go into a person's heartbeat. Its rather specific. Each of you have different heartbeats too," Luke explains while looking over his shoulder. He stares back out the window. His ears focusing on this heartbeat. Luke opens the window before leaping out of it before anyone can say anything. He focuses on that heartbeat and moves to close in on it quickly completely ignoring his cousins calling for him. Luke moves quickly, crossing the street and going a few houses down. He moves in a fast pace walk toward the sound. He doesn't know who this person is, but he knows that it's familiar. After walking a few houses down he comes across a house a few blocks down. He sees a family gathered at the dinner table of a home. He wasn't about to interrupt, only focusing on the heartbeat of one individual. He hears the rhythm of it. Just hearing it makes his heart soar. He blinks a moment before his irises grow smaller as he focuses in on the family. The heartbeat that he recognizes is from the young girl sitting at the table. He doesn't know why. He doesn't recognize her at all. Just her features are very familiar. He knows that this girl isn't the person he was expecting though.
He knows this fact deep in his bone. This isn't the person he was expecting at all.
"Laura…" Luke mutters. The name enters his brain, and even though he doesn't know who this Laura person is.
"Luke, you're staring," a voice points out. Luke looks over to see Nicholas at his side. He shoves Luke away from staring at the open window of the home.
"Sorry…I just had to know…"
"I kinda get it, just don't run off like that. You kinda freaked us out…"
"Sorry," Luke mutters. Once that moment passes Nicholas leads him back to the window he jumped out of. The two boys enter back into the house with Tailia, Lauren, and James looking at him rather confused.
"Are you alright?" Lauren asks.
"Yeah," Luke responds.
"But you're…" James gestures to his face. Luke is confused as he reaches a hand under his eyes to rub his cheeks to feel tears streaming down his face.
"Oh, I hadn't noticed…" Luke mutters rubbing his eyes. His heart is aching and he has no idea why.
"Whose heartbeat did you run to?" Kailia asks.
"I don't know who she is," Luke says simply rubbing his eyes.
"You sure seem like you knew them with the way you were staring," Nicholas says rubbing Luke's back.
"That's something else about me…" Luke says finally showing his eyes that carried a sad look. "My memories have been manipulated. I originally thought I was born ten years ago. It turns out that I was created fifteen years ago. There is a whole five years of my existence I don't know."
"Luke, what have these people done to you?" James questions now feeling a bit outraged.
"James maybe now isn't the time to talk about that?" Lauren advises.
"Look at him Lauren! Whoever these people are, they're abusing him pure and simple!" James says simply. "Anything they don't want him to do they whip his mind and control everything he does and feels." James gets up and walks to Luke. He grabs his hands staring him in the face sternly. "You are a person, Luke. No matter what anyone says, what they're doing to you is wrong!"
"I can't-," Luke tries to pull his hands away, but James holds strong.
"You don't deserve it, remember that okay?"
Luke sighs, before giving a brief nod, "Okay."
With that James lets Luke's hands go before slapping him on the back. Luke nods again before taking a seat on the floor. He chooses to sit a little closer to his cousins. They decide that pressing Luke more would probably be upsetting to him. So they decide to move on to their movie night to relax a bit. Moving on to lighter topics.
"Hey Luke, can I see your guns?" Kailia suddenly asks.
"Are you serious?!" Lauren questions indignantly.
"What, I like getting a look at more modern weapons," Kailia responds. Luke reaches behind his back, forcing his symbiont to reveal his weapons in their holsters behind his back. He pulls out one of his pistols then flips it to extend to Tailia. "It held up against my blade well."
"It's made of a custom alloy."
"It's rather heavy," she mutters to herself as her hand dipped when the item was given to her. She moves to check the clip, but it doesn't open. "It feels heavy, but not with the weight of bullets."
"With my enhanced physiology, I don't really notice the weight. The bullets are made of my PSI. I feed energy into the chamber from this chord here," Luke gestures at the side of the weapon. "No need to reload."
"So, anyone with PSI could use these?" She asks.
"Yes, but I would imagine it would be rather painful. Without a healing factor like mine, it would likely cause pain with each shot." Luke remarks.
"Hmm," Kailia mutters looking at the item.
"Could not point that so casually!" Lauren remarks.
"Oh, can I see the other one!?" Nicholas exclaims.
"Please don't…" Lauren mutters. However, Luke relinquishes the other gun for Nicholas to look at. "Oh god…"
"Relax, he said they have to be connected to our arm. It's harmless right now," Nicholas says raises arm as if he's about to fire.
"This is a PSA in action, please put the guns away…" Lauren remarks with her hands on her head.
"They are kinda heavy," Nicholas says handing the gun back to Luke. Tailia handed off her's to Luke too. Luke spins them in hand before holstering them behind his back. "Show off."
"Okay so I know we said it's time for the movie, but I'm curious now. What else can you do?" James questions.
"The super hearing, living clothes, and guns aren't enough?" Luke questions.
"I'm curious what can I say!" James exclaims.
"Well, I have really good eyes."
"How good?"
"I can see in the dark."
"Prove it," Nicholas says standing up and shutting off the lights in the room. They also turn off the TV. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three. Four. Five. Now you're just flicking off James…"
"What the hell!" James exclaims. The lights turn back on.
"Okay, that's another thing Luke can do."
"So, what about eating?" James asks. Noting that in the brief time he's been around Luke, the boy hardly eats, if he does he doesn't finish it.
"I do, maybe about once a month or so…" At this Nicholas and James snicker.
"Oh, grow up you two!" Lauren exclaims.
"You only eat once a month? How does that work?" Kailia asks.
"I don't need sustenance for the most part, but after an extending period of time my Earthbound core requires nutrients. The more common ones can be found in food. At those times I experience what you all know as hunger."
"So what do you eat?" Lauren asks.
"It used to be about four or five gallons of oatmeal…" Luke remarks.
"Oatmeal…" all of them mutter with distaste.
"Since living with the professor though, I've had the opportunity to try many different human foods! I find that mustard and chocolate on pizza has quite an amazing taste!"
"Ew!" Lauren exclaims.
"Oh god, just thinking about that makes me want to throw up…" Nicholas mutters cupping his mouth.
James places a hand on Luke's shoulder, "I mean this with love man, but that is absolutely the most disgusting combination of things I've ever heard."
"It tasted pretty good to me…" Luke mutters a bit embarrassed now.
"Oh, so what's an Earthbound core?" Nicholas asks.
"Oh well…" Luke pauses as he thinks of how to explain it. "Here," he gestures for Nicholas to get closer. Nicholas leans forward confused before Luke grabs his hand and places his ear against his chest. Nicholas is confused as he's listening to the rhythmic thumb of Luke's beating heart.
"What you're heartbeat?" Nicholas asks pulling away.
"That's my Earthbound core, it's not a heart. I actually don't have many of the internal organs you all have. My Earthbound core functions similarly to heart, pumping energy through my body, like your heart does for your blood in a similar fashion."
"That's so weird!" Nicholas says with a laugh.
"Wait, you don't have organs like us, what does that mean?" Lauren asks.
"Well I don't have a stomach, intestines, a kidney, pancreious, or lungs."
"Wait, you don't have lungs, how do you breathe?"
"Well, I don't breathe in the conventional sense. I don't need to."
"So, you can, like, live underwater or something?" James asks.
"Unless I want to constantly drink seawater. I might not need to breath, but I don't want to inhale seawater constantly."
"What about space, have you ever been to space?" Lauren asks.
"No, I have not been to space," Luke shakes his head with a small laugh. It was pretty entertaining having them learn about him.
"Do you have x-ray vision?" Nicholas asks.
"I have microscopic vision."
"What does that mean?"
"I can look very closely without moving. If I focus enough I can see the very surface of your skin, right now I seeing the makings of hair about to appear on your lip."
"Ya hear that, my beard is coming in!" Nicholas says.
"Did you miss the part where a microscope was needed to see it?" Lauren says shoving her brother. "Sorry about all this Luke."
"This…is actually kinda fun. I'm surprised you all don't see me as a freak…"
"Are you serious?! Your powers are freaken cool! You can hear a pin drop a mile away, then look and see who dropped it, right before you snip em for littering!" Nicholas says.
"We have a cousin who is a literal secret agent, that's kinda cool," James points out.
Luke tilts his head, "You still see me as your cousin?"
"Why wouldn't we?" he responds.
"Well, I had assumed the basis of having any familial relation to someone would be that they would at least have to be human…"
"Dude, Kailia can shoot fireballs out her hands, Nicky can vibrate through walls, and Lauren can shoot lasers out of her eyes. We're not exactly normal for that to really fit with us."
Luke smirks at this feeling despite his oddities, even being welcomed for it. Luke was about to speak until he suddenly raised his hand. His symbiont reaches out to his case containing his contacts and putting them in. This makes each of them stare in confusion at him. It took a few moments before they caught on and then there is a knock on the door.
"Ah, the stark silence," Ana says before entering with a tray of snacks in hand. "You know I could eavesdrop if I wanted to ya know."
"That'd be super rude though," James said.
"Hmph, well I suppose all I'm good for is snacks then," Ana says handing her son the tray. "Be sure to share James."
"Okay mom…" he mutters with a roll of his eyes.
"Your father will be back soon, and I'll be going with him to visit your parents. Is everyone okay?" She says her eyes tracing over all of them before landing on Luke. She tilts her head at him. "You have such nice hair Luke, I'm surprised you'd wear a hat to cover up these locks," She says with a smile. At this Luke realizes that he forgot to put on his bucket hat that rest on the bed. He didn't know why, but Jeff was always adamant that he wore that hat whenever he interacted with his family.
"That's what I'm saying!" Nicholas says.
"Oh look who decided to wake up," James says with a shake of his head as the family dog, Emperor waltz into the room. Probably smelling snacks. "I ought to feed him chocolate to teach him a lesson…"
"Don't be mean James," Ana says. "Alright, you kids need anything else just let me know." With that she smirks at the children before leaving the room. Luke wasn't sure about Jeff's precautions about the others seeing his hair. However, he somewhat understands it. The moment Ana saw him, her heartbeat increased dramatically. He notes how she was slow to leave in front of the door as if trying to calm down a bit. After a moment she does leave.
"Dang Luke, you are the best. Sometimes mom can conceal herself which lets her sneak up on me, but with that enhanced hearing that ain't happening!" James says happily taking an apple slice. He takes another to feed to his dog that seemed to be patiently waiting for when he would feed as well. "Lazy mutt, you're lucky your cute," James mutters as he begins ruffling the dog's fur.
"Are you gonna have some too Luke?" Nicholas asks seeing as Luke wasn't diving for the tray.
Luke snaps to attention, "Ah, no. Eating anything makes me feel bloated and uncomfortable…"
"Wait, so why did you take the pizza I offered you?" James questions.
"I wanted to make a good impression, and you were being nice to me. It felt rude to say no. But yes, I felt a bit bloated afterwards, and it was very uncomfortable," Luke explains.
"Well, aren't you a class act," James said as he reaches out to ruffle Luke's hair. Luke was startled at first but smiles at James.
With Ana, she moves robotically through the kitchen cleaning up after making the snacks for the kids. She had noticed Luke and Nicholas suddenly dash out the house, even if she wasn't PSI sensitive, she could hear the startled yells. She had rushed over to the nearest window to see if the boys were okay. She didn't feel the need to panic at first. After all, the boy was experiencing a lot today. A sleepover turned into some sort of hit on the kids by trained assassins, and now he traveled through time. It would be a lot for any person to process. However, when she saw him without his hat, her heart skipped a beat. She was pretty sure that Luke may have noticed with the way he looked at her and then glanced over to his hat.
Despite that she felt she handled herself rather well, despite seeing someone who should be dead. She knows that she tends to be out the loop of things ever since her and Ninten broke up. Something, that she's hopeful about fixing. She doesn't know if bringing up his deceased adoptive brother would be helpful in that regard. However, considering the stakes she couldn't be silent about it. She gets dressed in her room, made the dog move to their room to distract them as she tries to get her feelings together. She and Ninten had agreed on a time and the instant she sensed him she rushed over to the door. She opens it seeing Ninten with a troubled look on her face. He hadn't even noticed that she had already opened the door upon his arrival. Ninten was robtically about to knock till he noticed her.
"Oh Ana, uh, you ready or did you wanna hang around with the kids?" He says falling back into a stuttering mess. It was cute, she would never think otherwise. It helped that he was only like this around her. She was aware that to everyone else, even to their son, that it was difficult to understand why they separated when they act like giggling high schoolers pinning after each other. Which is why Ana always said it was a temporary situation that would change soon enough.
"I'm ready, I've been out the loop long enough," She says sternly. With that statement Ninten was confused, it was clear as day on his face to Ana.
"Don't worry the kids are fine," She said. With that he seems to relax. "Seems they settled on a movie night, and getting to know Luke. I think that's pretty cute to be honest…"
"Well lets go then," he says. With that Ana closes the door behind her and then grabs Ninten's hand. She tries to suppress the smirk within her at how nervous Ninten gets at her forward nature. The ground below them glows as Ninten activates his 4th D-Slip ability. Allowing them to travel through time and arrive at a hotel.
Ana was bit confused why Ninten placed them outside. "I wanted to ask you seem a bit shaken up. Did something happen?" Ninten asks.
She smiles. Of course her exe-husband/husband would ask this to be sure she was in the right headspace. "It's something I want to discuss with everyone. I don't know what it might mean, but I want to discuss it with everyone." She says simply. Ninten was hesitant to leave it at that, but decides not to press further. They enter the hotel and arrive at the hotel room shortly. Ninten simply opens the door.
"Look who's here!" Ninten exclaims as the door opens.
"Ana!" Paula and Angela exclaim seeing her. She smiles brightly upon seeing her friends. They rush over to her.
"About time," Tracy says as she joins in on the hug fest. "Oh god I missed you! I have so much tea to spill!"
"Is that slang? You know I'm not good with that Tracy," Ana remarks smiling as she returns the hug.
"Oh, girl you're going to be so ahead of the curve when I'm done with you!" Tracy says.
"Ana, I need you here to quell my maternal rage," Angela says simply.
"Are you saying the people who threatened our children are still living?" Ana asks genuinely confused.
"This is why I love this chick!" Angela exclaims.
"Most of them are dead thanks to this Ghost person," Ness assures.
"Oh, who is this Ghost person?" Ana asks.
"Hard to say honestly. Seems like they are a person who can be anyone and kill just about anyone. We think they may an Immortal Soldier," Ness explains. With that Ana balks. Her eyes flying toward each person there.
"How is that possible?" Ana asks confused.
"We don't know, but it does make things more complicated," Paula says with distaste.
"Is it possible the creator, Lucas' father, created more Immortal Soldiers then we know about? That was his goal after all," Ana mentions.
"That's unlikely. I doubt a super soldier alien would be too concerned about our politics. After all, they would see us as insignificant creatures," Ness answers.
"I see, that is really troubling. I'm glad I'm here to hear all this," Ana's eyes move over to Jeff. "Oh Jeff, do you mind if I ask you something. It's about Luke, and I'd rather it be in private," Ana says focusing her gaze on Jeff. The man seems confused at the statement.
"Uh sure Ana," Jeff says standing up.
"It won't take but a moment," She says with a smile at everyone in the room. Ninten however was able to tell that there was something clearly wrong. She was about to grill Jeff hard, and he isn't quite sure how or why. He watches as Jeff and Ana walk out the room before turning to everyone else.
"Alright, guys so some serious shit just went down in front of us…" he says to them.
"Jeff what fuck is going on?" Ana says in a quiet tone but she's clearly outraged.
"What do you mean?" Jeff asks confused.
"I saw Luke without his hat," Ana says simply. It seemed this was enough for Jeff stare at her, palm his face, and let out a sigh that seemed to release ever bit of oxygen from his body.
"So, I can explain…"
"Can you really explain why I saw a kid, the spitting image of Lucas in my house?! Can you really explain that?"
"In words, yes, do I want to. No, I absolutely don't…"
"It took me at a glance, if Ninten or Ness saw him they'd have questions! For gods sake he's even as awkward as he is! How is he here?!"
"That's not him. At best it's a byproduct of him…"
"Jeff, what you just described is a son. You created a son for Lucas! He doesn't just have his hair, his eyes even with those contacts, and blonde highlights. It would take them seconds to know!"
"That's why I told him to wear that hat!" Jeff remarks sharply. He sighs clearly a bit exasperated. "I'm not ready to tell them…"
"Well, it took me seconds to piece everything together. An Immortal Soldier is running around and a boy that looks just like Lucas, it wouldn't take a genius to figure it out!"
"Are you going to tell the others?" Jeff asks.
"That's your job," Ana says simply.
"You're not worried about him being dangerous?" Jeff asks.
"Are you serious? If he's anything like Lucas, I know he wouldn't hurt a fly. Unless someone made him." Ana lets out a sigh. "The reason for why he exists isn't up for debate. That part doesn't matter, he's here now. Let's just do right by him even though the implication of grave robbing is kinda messed up."
"That's not what happened Ana," Jeff sighed. "Lucas…before he died, he wanted me to hold on to his…schematics so to speak. He wanted me to hold on to the key parts that make an Immortal Soldier. He wasn't sure if he could trust humanity with the knowledge of possibly creating an Immortal Soldier. His genetics were the easiest to manipulate since he had been human for so long. He trusted me, and I feel like I betrayed that trust by creating Luke."
"I won't pretend to know the whole situation. I won't judge what is right or wrong, considering Lucas trusted you to have that information. One thing that I was able to learn through that crazy journey is that being an Immortal Soldier brings a lot of pain. Just try to take care of him."
"I will, I promise. I've been trying to bring him into our little family. He's been an outcast for long enough, there's just…the people I work for…"
"I figured. I didn't think you would do something like this unless it was for the benefit of us." She places a hand on his chest. "You have a good heart Jeffery, try to hang onto that and share it with Luke."
"You're right Ana…thank you. Heh, I've been going through so many parenting books…" He says with a laugh.
"Oh, if only children could be explained in a book, especially an alien Immortal Soldier. But, despite that Ms. Hinawa and Mr. Flint were able to raise Lucas like a normal human. I'm sure they had a few difficulties too. Just keep your head on straight."
"Right," Jeff says.
"We talked about parenting," Ana says as she moves to return to the door. She seems to snap her fingers for a small thin barrier to dispersed around the two of them. Jeff hadn't even noticed that she had.
"You can put up a barrier that distorts sound?" Jeff questions.
"James likes to eavesdrop, he gets him from his father," She says walking to the door.
"So, when is the new wedding again?" Jeff remarks.
"It'll be any day now," She remarks with a smile as she opens the door again to rejoin the others. They seemed to be tense seeing them return. "You guys are acting like Jeff was just called to the principal's office," She says taking a seat next to Ninten.
"Well, wasn't he?" Ness asks.
"Just giving Jeff some parenting tips. He'll need it raising a child with PSI."
"And I reassured her I could handle it, after all I am a PSI expert," Jeff says.
"Oh, I thought the same till James started wrecking my house," Ana says.
"Oh god, the one time when he was skateboarding and completely destroyed that half pipe…" Ninten mutters.
"Or when Nicky thought it would be funny to use his super speed to give all of his friends wedgies…" Ness remarks with a shake of his head.
"My kid isn't as much as a showoff as Nicky and James," Jeff says with a smirk.
"Oh, he will be if he hangs around those two…" Paula said.
"Oh…" Jeff seems to inwardly wince at the idea.
"What are you doing about Luke's schooling by the way Jeff?" Ana asks. "That's something I forgot to ask."
"Well right now he's home schooled. He's…not so good with people yet. I figured I'd get him used to me first before dumping him in a place full of strangers. He's…rather fragile at the moment, and I don't want to push him into something he isn't ready for."
"Have you even looked at the district schools yet?" Paula questioned.
"I…." Jeff pauses. "Oh god I haven't! Is that bad?! Luke is practically at high school level, should I put him in in high school? No socialization with his own peers is important, but I don't want him to be bored with the material! He'd be an outcast…oh man I hadn't even thought about that!" Jeff exclaims cupping his face.
Ness laughs, "Oh my god, seeing Jeff being a panicking parent is hilarious!"
"My kid's future is not hilarious!" Jeff remarks.
"Just send him with Nicky and Lauren, at least you'd know two people would take care of him," Ness said.
"Sure, maybe I should talk to the other parents in my neighborhood to be sure…" Jeff remarks.
"Jeff at a PTA meeting. The image alone is hilarious…" Ninten said with a broad smile.
"We should get Loid to adopt too?" Ana says.
"Oh god yes!"
"Where is Loid? It'd be nice to not be the only "egghead" here?" Jeff asks.
"I called him to see if he wanted to join us. Apparently, Teddy set him up on a blinddate," Ana responds.
"Oh my god, I'd paid money to see that! Why didn't you tell me!?" Ninten questions.
"Honey you have no self-control…" Ana says placing a hand on Ninten's arm. "He'd kill us on sight."
"Oh, so you're saying you go too?" Ninten asks.
"Of course, I'd pay whatever it costs to see that! Even going on a semi-romantic date with you," Ana says with a bright smile.
Ness snorts, catching Ninten and Ana's attention. Paula swiftly elbows Ness even while she smiles at Ana and Ninten. The two of them look at them before glancing down at Ana's hand on Ninten's arm. She quickly pulls her hand away as she tries to smooth her hair while Ninten clears his throat.
"God just fuck already…" Tracy mutters. Angelea elbows her swiftly.
"Shut up though…this shit is the cutest thing ever…" Angela remarks.
"So, about that world ending event though, what's going on with that?!" Ninten quickly speaks up.
Ness smirks before speaking, "Well, Jeff says he's putting us on alert. Honestly, due to all the legal tape I'm not sure how much I can do. Anything I do overseas would be an international incident."
Jeff looks at Ana, "Yeah I'll be heading overseas to Netfartia to see if there is any foul play there. There is a drug that gives normal people PSI powers. My sources say that it may be coming from overseas," Jeff explains.
"I see, does Nefartia exists in our time, I'm not familiar with that country?" Ana asks.
"It's a relatively new nation. A monarch made up of multiple city-states all united. There was quite conflict in our time, till the current ruler pretty much settled things in one fowl swoop." Ninten explains.
"How do you know that?" Jeff questions.
"I know I'm just a caveman, but I can use the internet too Jeff," Ninten responds.
"I'm going to assume you're going there posing as a tourist, right Jeff?" Ana asks.
"Yeah, actually," Jeff answers.
"How about I join you?" Ana suggests.
"Um Ana, what?" Ninten questions.
"Jeff may need back up, and honestly a single father does draw attention. Plus, I get why none of you could join him, I mean we do have a literal king and queen sitting in front of us. Plus, you look too much like Ness for it to work. I think it would work if I went," Ana said.
"Huh…that actually makes sense…" Jeff says with a nod.
"Bu-But what about James?"
"I think you can watch him for a while hon-I mean Ninten," Ana says.
"What about your job?"
"I've had vacation days saved up for just the occasion anyway. Never know when I need time off to save the world. Plus, I want to get to know Luke, he seems like a good kid,"
"He really is," Jeff says with a smirk.
"Ugh that's not fair…" Ness admits.
"But you have PSI won't people be on alert?" Ninten asks.
"Well, it would be odd if a kid with PSI has PSI with a single father who doesn't have PSI. It would be a big leap to assume the mom is. That is if there would be people watching you closely," Ana explained.
"Alright, I guess that's okay. Seeing as Ana would absolutely destroy a country if it pissed her off," Jeff says.
"Shut up I would not," Ana remarks.
"Um, last I checked you were really involved in the Happy Blue uprising. They tried to make their own city-state, and you shut that shit down fast!" Ninten remarks.
"They tried to indoctrinate James, what else was I going to do, allow them to exist?"
"A true diplomate if there ever was one," Tracy says. "Well as the legal expert here, even if I'm not studying international laws, toppling governments on a whim is a no-no. Just be careful to leave some type of infrastructure left afterwards Ana."
"I'm not going to destroy a country, like Jeff said, I'll be on vacation," She says with a happy smile.
"Whatever…" Tracy says before taking a drink from her beer.
"Alright," Poo finally speaks up. "We have a somewhat idea how to handle the current global crises. Now, I would like to talk as friends from here on out." Angela smirks at her husband seeing him trying to defuse the tense situation. It was never his strongest feature, but it was nice he was trying. Even as he was using his commanding king voice. He seems to notice before clearing his throat. "So shall we show embarrassing photos of our children now?"