It was late afternoon. The sun was blazing overhead causing Logan to squint against the brightness despite the Armani sunglasses he was wearing. He'd forgotten how monotonous and boring driving in the desert could be; straight, never-ending blacktop that could lull you to sleep. As Logan drove, Zack filled Max in on his phone conversation with Niyah. They had flown into Albuquerque, New Mexico and were now driving towards Roswell.
"So, she's already in Roswell?" Max asked, clarifying.
"Yeah, and she found Kyle there."
"What!? He's been there the whole time?"
Zack smiled wryly. "Just five miles shy of a Manticore facility."
"Damn. Talk about hiding in plain sight…"
There was silence in the car for a while. Logan concentrated on a chess game in his head, anything to keep him from thinking about Max or zoning out from watching the mesmerizing road. "So…we never did formalize a plan, not that you've ever filled me in on one yet…" he began, directing this to Zack.
"And I'm not about to start now," Zack cut him off. "It's organized."
Login could see that Zack considered this conversation over. 'I don't think so, buddy,' he thought to himself, his jaw muscles working. "Yeah…well, I need a little structure right now. You want my help? Start talking," he shot right back at Zack.
Zack crossed his arms and stared at Logan in the rearview mirror. Max rolled her eyes.
"Okay, too much testosterone for a girl to stomach," she looked at Logan. "Here's the dealio. We need you to get us current floor plans of that compound and when we enter, maybe pop a few locks for us. You know, to minimize the possibility of setting off an alarm prematurely."
Logan and Zack were still glaring at each other in the rearview mirror. "Fine. See, that was simple enough," Logan said with a forced smile.
Silence continued for almost an hour. The sun was starting to set behind them and it turned the horizon a shimmering fire of reds and oranges. It almost appeared to melt into the sand. "Do you want me to drive for a while?" Max asked dragging her eyes away from the sunset.
"No, I'm fine," Login replied curtly. He realized he'd just snapped at her because he'd let Zack get to him again. "Thank you for the offer, anyway," he said by way of an apology.
Once again silence descended, sinking Logan into his thoughts. Why did he let these Manticore 'kids' get to him like this? Max pissed him off like no one else could. She got under his skin and, well, irritated him. But he couldn't deny the fact that somewhere in all that cocky, bitchy blustering of hers there was a woman he had come to love deeply. A woman who passionately fought by his side, helping him, caring about him, who somehow was always there when he needed her most. But then there was Zack! Talk about your annoying rash from hell! Still, Zack had done nothing but care about Max, kept her out of trouble…Logan knew Zack was right. She would get caught if she stayed with him, stayed for him. She needed someone else…someone like Zack. Logan shook his head, clearing away the thoughts before they consumed him.
"I wonder what they look like," Max murmured, trying to imagine how much her brother and sister may have changed.
Zack smiled. "Niyah's beautiful. And tough as she ever was. She still sings."
"I remember her eyes," Max mused, turning to Logan. "She had the strangest eyes. She's mulatto but she has these incredible green, cat shaped eyes from her cheetah DNA." She turned to look out the front window. "I wonder if I'll even recognize Kyle." She snorted softly. "I obviously didn't recognize you, Zack."
"Not like I recognized you either."
Silence fell over them the rest of the trip, the sun continuing to die its apparent fiery death. As they drove past the Welcome to Roswell billboard Logan tried again. "Not to cause you any further mental distress, Zack, but…where to now?"
"We're going to a Sheriff's house," Zack looked at Max, seeing her concern. "Kyle's the Sheriff's son," he explained. "Turn left up here."
The three were quietly roaming in the airport lobby, assessing the potential victims among the passengers on a flight to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Even Rath was quiet, sensing the importance of the mission. A little boy and his mother got up to go to the bathroom. Lonnie nodded at Rath. She'd get these two and he should take the teenage boy sitting in the corner. Nicholas sat patiently watching for any signs of trouble.
The mother walked back in and sat by Nicholas. "It's done," she said with Lonnie's voice. She handed him a ticket, the one the little boy was supposed to use. The teenager flopped down in the seat across from them. "Word," he smirked, holding up a ticket. It was all in place now. They'd successfully changed places with three, now dead, passengers and they would be in Albuquerque in five hours. A stolen car, a changed license plate and they'd be in Roswell before dawn. Lonnie smiled to herself, 'Perfect.' By the time the bodies were found, they'd be far away.
Niyah took a deep breath. 'Come on, girl. Concentrate. Christ, he looks like Zan but you can't fall to pieces!' She looked around at all the faces watching her. She could do this. She'd been trained. "Okay, the plan. With surprise on their side the three of them will expect little resistance and they'll try to do the most damage immediately. It's likely that Lonnie and Nicholas will attempt a direct assault because they're the strongest while Rath collects collateral, namely, one of you," she said indicating Liz, Maria, and Alex. "That way if the direct attack failed they could manipulate you four using one of them. Having said that, here is my counter attack. We make sure we're already in one place and all accounted for, perhaps here or that restaurant you're always hanging out at, somewhere they can find you easily."
"Wouldn't that just make their job simpler?" Michael stated.
"It would appear to but in actuality it won't. This way none of you are worrying about where anyone else is and they can't corner you alone."
"What about the Sheriff?" Alex asked.
Kyle stood up quickly. "He is NOT involved. At any point, at any time, got it?!" His vehemence stunned the group for a moment.
"They have no reason to want him. Since they aren't after Kyle, the Sheriff would be relatively useless collateral," Niyah explained. "So, after we are all in one place, we pretend to have a meeting. Max, you'll lead the meeting. Make sure it's as dull and pointless as possible. Nothing is talked about that they might find useful."
"What good will that do?" Max asked.
"It'll piss Rath off and with luck he might try to jump the gun with a smart ass remark or two. He can't stand inaction. We'll give him so much inaction that he'll completely lose sight of Lonnie's objective."
"Once they reveal themselves, you four keep Liz, Maria, and Alex behind you and protect them if necessary," Kyle began.
"While you do what exactly?" Max interrupted, looking directly at him.
"While we take out Nicholas and Rath. They will be the least focused and the easiest to catch off guard," Kyle replied, crossing his arms and staring right back, challenging Max to make an issue out of this.
"Right, Kyle. No offense but take out Nicholas? AND Rath?" Isabel questioned.
"Kyle, that's crazy!" Tess exclaimed.
"No, it's not," Niyah said quietly but firmly. "I asked you to trust me, and Kyle. I promise when we have time I'll tell you the why's but for now it's just the how's, all right? We can do this. We could probably take out Lonnie too but I don't want to push our chances. This is too important. We'll need your help with her. She's very strong and by then she'll be desperate."
"That's why you have to keep Liz, Maria, and Alex behind you. We can protect the sides but you'll have to deal with the frontal attack," Kyle added.
Maria had had enough of this. "Okay, okay," she began sarcastically. "You expect me, Maria DeLuca, to put my life and allow my friends lives to be put at serious risk, ' cause you think you and mister-bad-ass-mysterious-Kyle can take down two VERY dangerous aliens? I don't think so. Sorry. Not gonna happen."
"Maria, stop it," Liz said, looking at Niyah and Kyle. For some reason she knew they could do this, her instinct was to believe them. "I think we can trust them. I believe they can do it," she saw Max looking at her curiously so she hurried on, "Besides our lives are already at risk. If they come here and we aren't with the rest of the group, they'll find us and then they'll have the advantage."
"Thanks, Liz," Kyle said softly.
"I know this sounds crazy. Please, trust me," Niyah asked the Royal four.
The four looked at each other. This warning was so sudden and coming from Kyle?
"Look, Maxwell, this does sound crazy but I think it might be crazy enough to work. I agree when she said that we all need to be here, be together. I say we back this plan up," Michael said. Max nodded slowly and glanced at Isabel. She looked worried but nodded at him, consenting to the plan if he would. 'Amazing', he thought. 'We saved the world just a few days ago and here we are right back in the middle of another life threatening crisis.'
"How would you 'take them out' as you put it?" Tess asked, cautiously.
Niyah sighed. "You really want to know?" Tess nodded. "Probably snap Rath's neck and since Nicolas is a Skin we'll hit the button on his back to disintegrate him. That would be the fastest, simplest way."
Everyone was silent for a moment letting the reality of this situation sink in. Then Max spoke. "We have at least a day until they get here, right?" Niyah nodded. "Then I need to think about this. We all do," he said, indicating the Royal Four.
"Fine, but hurry," Niyah replied. She was worried with this drawn out decision process. They needed to plan now! She rubbed her temples. 'Stress,' she thought, annoyed.
Everyone dispersed into small groups, speaking quietly, nervously. They snuck glances at Kyle and his sister as the two sat conferring softly about the upcoming confrontation.
"Why just us? Is Zack not coming?" Kyle asked.
"He's coming, but for other reasons, not to help us. Remember how strict he was about never revealing ourselves to anyone?" Kyle nodded. "Well, Zan knew about me and Zack was furious when he found out. Needless to say, he has no intention of getting involved in this mess."
"Yeah, sounds like him. What other reasons?"
Niyah studied his face for a moment. "He's located Brin."
"Brin's here!?"
"No, ah, she had an aging disease of some sort, something that you and I are susceptible to also," Kyle shook his head at the thought of yet another complication. As if the seizures and the bar codes weren't enough trouble. "Zack had to let her go back to Manticore or she would have died. Now that he's re-located her, he wants our help to get her out."
"He's got it, definitely. When will he be here?"
"Tonight. He's bringing Max with him."
"Max?" Kyle said, a smile creeping across his face. "But tonight, what about…?"
"I know," she said, sighing. "I'm playing two cards at once, two overlapping missions. It's giving me a headache," she groaned.
Kyle looked at her worried expression. "We'll make it, sis. I promise." He pulled her into a hug. Seeing that Tess was about to leave, he released Niyah and walked over to her. He wanted to make sure things were still cool between them, that this sudden revelation hadn't hurt their friendship. Kyle had finally admitted to himself that Tess was more than just a friend and he refused to let this new possibility dissipate.
Once Kyle left, Liz slowly approached Niyah. "Um…you said you were close to Ava?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I just…I really liked Ava and…" Liz fumbled, feeling awkward all of a sudden.
Niyah smiled at her. "I liked her too. She was a good friend," her smile faded and she looked away quickly. "She did not deserve to die like that! Neither did he…" her voice died out, tight with emotion.
Liz touched her arm. "Do you need to talk about him? About Zan I mean. It seems like you were really close…" Max, Kyle, and Tess walked up but stopped short when they realized this was probably a private conversation. They wavered, unsure of whether to stay or go.
Niyah laughed a short, hard sound. "Close?" she said incredulous. "Close. I was in love with him. When he was around there wasn't any one else in the room." Her voice became soft, almost wistful. "He was so passionate, so intense, and he loved me so completely." She wiped the tears away quickly, harshly. "But I failed him. I wasn't there when he needed me and…he…died. I felt it. I felt it when the truck hit him, the sudden emptiness. He never did believe me about Lonnie, that she was not only capable of killing him but very willing to do it if it suited her interests." She looked up at the four of them. "I'm sorry, I'm babbling now. I need to go." She got up quickly, dragging Kyle with her as she left. They watched her go, Liz and Max catching each other's eyes for a moment. In that instant she imagined herself in Niyah's place, losing Max forever, and it took her breath away. Max wondered at the flicker he saw there. Liz hurried away, praying that he hadn't seen the agony in her eyes.
Later, Kyle looked out the window as the car pulled to a stop on the street. 'They're here!' he thought. His stomach fluttered nervously. He wasn't sure if it was because he was finally seeing Max and Zack again or because they were all in one place, able to be caught. He opened the front door and stepped outside with Niyah standing next to him. Max and Logan got out of the car but stayed behind, uncertain, as Zack went up to embrace Niyah. Kyle quickly ushered them all inside. Max approached Niyah with tears in her eyes and they pulled each other into a bone-crushing hug.
"Oh, I have missed you, sister girl!!!" Max said, muffled by the embrace.
"Max!" Niyah pulled back to look at her. "Just as beautiful as I suspected. You must knock them all off their feet." Max smirked at that comment. She turned to Kyle and proceeded to squeeze the life out of him.
"I can't believe I'm finally seeing you all again," Kyle choked out.
Logan felt uncomfortable watching all this. He stayed as unobtrusive as possible. This was not his family reunion after all. The siblings exchanged jokes and reminisced for a few minutes before Max remembered her manners.
"Oh, sorry, this is my friend Logan. He's here to help us get Brin back," Max said.
"Nice to meet you," Niyah said, eyeing Max's very fine friend. Kyle offered his hand as he seconded Niyah's spoken welcome.
"Likewise," Logan replied, shaking Kyle's hand, thinking how right Max had been about Niyah's eyes. They were definitely unusual, beautiful but unusual. And why were all Manticore men Caucasian? Max was Hispanic, Niyah was obviously Mulatto, and Tinga and Brin were Asian but the boys…Logan shook his head. Odd.
"Can I get anyone some food or, um, something to drink?" Kyle asked.
"Sure, I'm starving," Max replied. Logan smiled to himself thinking, 'You're always hungry.'
Food was set out and as they ate, the group got down to the business of strategy. Zack filled Kyle in on what he knew of the location and Logan's ability to hack into the mainframe to get blueprints of the facility. "I can't plan much without those prints," Kyle stated. "And what about the area surrounding the facility?"
"There's a little surveillance there, shouldn't be a problem. I'll scout it out later. But inside it's one hell of a technological nightmare," Zack replied.
"So, are you saying this mission is already screwed?" Niyah questioned, concerned about jumping into a veritable landmine.
"No girl, it's all good. Logan here can jimmy pretty much any lock with his computer skills," Max replied, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Zack caught that small gesture and had to smash down the instant feeling of jealousy. 'What did you expect? She made her choice very obvious last December. Do you think she would throw it out the window 'cause you saved her ass a few times?' he told himself.
Logan voiced his concern about the stealth of his electronic invasion. "This could be a problem. Right now, I don't have the equipment I need to do the job properly or safely."
"What do you need?" Kyle asked.
"Access to full modem capacity. Hacking into Manticore requires extra finesse so multiple system software with remote access would be preferable. I can do a lot with my laptop but staying connected to this facility's Manticore mainframe will use a lot of power and memory. Networking would be the safest but that needs to be done from a stable location."
Kyle held up his hands, half laughing. "Stop! I have no idea what you just said but I think I know who might help. He's a good guy, very weird but I think he could help us. He owns the UFO Center here in town and judging by the equipment he keeps there I think you could find what you need." As Kyle said this, his mind was quickly trying to decide whom to ask about using Brody's computer equipment. Max? Maria? Should he just go to Brody directly?
"What about the sensitive nature of this mission? We can't bring someone else in!" Zack exclaimed. What was it with his siblings and their need to expose their secret to everyone?!!?
"We wouldn't have to," Kyle replied. "See, the guy's obsessed with aliens. He believes he's been abducted several times." Logan's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Kyle looked at him. "If you could play along, pretend you'd been abducted too…"
"He'll welcome me with open arms and offer me whatever I need. Right. No computer expert worth his salt would ever let another hacker near his equipment. I don't think this will work," said Logan.
Zack shook his head. "Why did I bring a civilian in to do a soldier's job?" he muttered.
"Yes, it'll work," Kyle said, fighting a smirk at Zack's comment. "He's already done it once with another friend of mine. Will you give it a try?"
"Sure, why not? But one thing first…I'm confused. How come you appear to be running things? I thought mission control always went through Zack…you know, your fearless leader," Logan asked sarcastically.
Max saw the verbal sparing between her boys escalating dangerously and jumped in to stop it. "Zack was trained to be the leader but it's Kyle who does the strategy. He was engineered to be a strategist. My girl Niyah and I were made to be plain old soldiers," Max answered.
Zack decided enough was enough and took the lead. "It is now 20:10 hours. Kyle, you and Niyah take Logan to meet this friend of yours. While you two work on the schematics of our mission, Max and I will scout out the area surrounding the facility. We'll meet back here at 07:00 hours."
Logan looked up at Max, willing her with his eyes to be careful. She was going so close to the most danger she'd ever been in, a Manticore dragnet. His heart contracted at the thought.
"Actually, we should meet at the Crashdown. It's a restaurant across from the UFO Center," Kyle interjected. "My dad will be home in the morning, as will Tess, so meeting here would be difficult to explain."
"Fine, the Crashdown at 07:00 hours."
Zack and Max left, taking the car with them.
"Well, shall we?" asked Logan.
"Not a lot of love between you two," said Niyah.
Logan glanced at the disappearing car. "Zack and I? Nope."
"Any particular reason?"
Logan just looked at her. Niyah smiled. "Come on, lover boy. Let's go meet this Brody Davis."
Brody was thrilled to help Logan out. Here was a charming, witty, intelligent, seemingly well-adjusted man who carried around the same dark secret as Brody did, alien abduction. He ushered Logan right in to his computer lab, talking non-stop about all the programs he had created to aide in his search for aliens. He proudly showed off his collection of alien artifacts and other results he'd accumulated over the years.
"And then on May 14th, this blip appeared here. A signal!! I could hardly believe it…" Brody continued his unrelenting, excited babbling. "…and then last week they took me again but only for an hour…"
Logan smiled and nodded, answering Brody's questions with the most convincing lies he could think off. Despite his obvious insanity, Brody was a very intelligent guy. Too bad he wasn't a little more 'with it'. He could be a very useful resource for Eyes Only. As they continued to talk, Logan was amazed at how unbelievably smart the man was. Logan knew he could never be this man's equal when it came to computers. The guy thought in program mode. He lived it. His brain was a walking computer program. Amazing!
Logan knew that everything he needed for the mission was here. If he could just be left alone for a while…
Brody couldn't believe his luck. This man was knowledgeable about his programs! This was great! A fellow abductee who could really help his search…
Maria ached all over, bone weary after her shift. She plopped down in the break room on the couch. Michael walked over and sat down across from her. "Your feet hurt?"
"Yeah," she sighed. "They always hurt after work."
"Give 'em here," Michael said, indicating she should put her feet in his lap.
"What, Michael? Oh my god, you're giving me a foot massage!?"
"Yeah, so?"
She put her feet in his lap. "Thank you. I'm just surprised, that's all." Maria shut-up, knowing her chances of the said foot massage dwindled with each word she spoke. "Ahhhhhhhhh. That's like so much better…But, honestly space boy, what gives?"
"I just thought you'd like it."
"Oh, I do, but…this isn't like you, you know…" Maria started. Then a realization hit her. "Is this about the whole upcoming-battle-with-evil-aliens thing?"
Michael shrugged. "Maybe."
"Maybe?" she queried, eyebrows raised. She wasn't about to let an explanation of this most unusual gesture escape her. He'd been open and almost tender last week but she'd passed that off on the fact that he'd been shot and had just discovered he had a sister, Laurie Duprie.
"Maybe I don't want you to get hurt. Maybe I feel bad that once again I'm dragging you into something dangerous," Michael shot back. "Maybe…I…want you to know I care."
Maria smiled, then said softly, "I care too, space boy, and I'm scared for you. Those three coming, they scare the shit out of me."
"Me too," he admitted and continued to rub her feet.
Out in the main restaurant, Max and Liz sat in their usual booth.
"So, have you made your decision yet?" Liz asked.
"Yes…and no. I keep going back and forth," Max looked around desperately for an answer. "Do you really trust her, Liz? Do you trust Kyle and this Niyah person with your life…because I'm not sure I do." He had spent the whole day going over and over the possibilities but he felt no closer to an answer then before. Liz had the most logical mind and he hoped that she could provide some clarity.
"But Max, you'll be there too. You, Isabel, Michael, and Tess will all be there. I trust you, and them."
Max smiled a little. He looked at his hands and then in her eyes. She had been right about the Granolith when she had warned him about its power and despite what he witnessed that horrible night in October, he did trust her. "You told me before to trust you…about the Granolith. I don't know how you knew any of that," Max began and rushed on when he saw Liz starting to squirm uncomfortably, "and I'm not asking now. I promised I wouldn't, but I need to know…do you trust what Niyah says she can do?"
Liz looked at the tabletop, considering his question. She was relieved that Max wasn't digging up that painful issue again. Realizing that he needed to hear what she thought of the situation, she felt a little spark of happiness, knowing that he once again trusted her opinion. "Yes, I do." She continued, clarifying, "But what I told you about the Granolith was…because I had received specific information. Trusting Niyah is just an instinct, my gut feeling."
They looked at each other for a moment. Liz finally dropped her eyes, scared he'd see her secret, her lie she had to protect. Max cringed. They had restored their friendship up to a point but it was never the same. The openness was never there, the easy way that they spoke before. She was still one of the best friends he'd ever had but it hurt to see that things would never be the same. And he knew he still loved her, would always love her. Once the shock and acute hurt of that awful night had past, he knew, with amazing certainty, that whatever he thought he had seen through her window was not what it appeared to be. Liz had believed in him and trusted him before when things had looked suspicious. It was his turn now to trust her.
"Well, I guess we should get everyone here to talk again. We do have a time crunch to consider…" he said finally.
"Wow, it's really late," Brody said, yawning. "I've got to close and go home."
"Oh, no need to close up. I'd love to stay and study these longer if you don't mind," Logan said quickly.
"Really," he said, smiling. "Amazing. No one ever wanted to study my programs before. Not even Max, my employee. He's an abductee too."
Logan winced at the use of the name Max. He hoped she was okay, safe. "Honestly, I'd love to stay if you'll let me."
"No problem, mate. You go right ahead."
"Thanks." Logan quickly got to work, searching through various files and sub-routines for the Manticore connection.
As Brody left he noticed the Crashdown was all lit up. 'Odd.' he thought. Maybe he could talk to Maria. He jogged across the street but one look inside the window let him know that this wouldn't be a good idea. The friends were huddled around a table in some sort of serious discussion, and worst of all, Michael had his arms around her, around Maria! Brody sighed. Who was he kidding anyway? Maria wouldn't like him, let alone fall in love with him. He was too old, too strange. But all the same, it still hurt. What could he say? He was in love with an angel named Maria DeLuca. He turned back to his car, listing every reason out loud why he should stop loving her.
Inside the Crashdown, the discussion had been going on for some time now. "We've agreed to this plan of yours, but we would like a back-up plan, and at least a little assurance that you can do what you say you can," Max said, his voice rising with his temper.
"You've said that already and I can't give you that! Not yet anyway," Niyah replied shortly. Yes, this man was just like Zan. Stubborn, unwilling to trust anyone…She exhaled sharply. "And there is no back–up plan because there is no other way to do this!"
"What about our way!?" Michael shot out.
"What? A full scale battle between you four and those three?! Do you think for one second that you can win AND keep these three friends of yours safe let alone alive!?" Niyah retorted.
"Do we HAVE to keep going over and over the same shit?!" Alex yelled at the top of his lungs. That shut everybody up. He'd hardly said a word tonight and so far had been the voice of reason. "I'm sick and tired of listening to all your crap! 'Which plan?', 'Who to trust?', 'What do we do?'…Enough! Her plan works. It makes sense. Even if she can't deliver what she says, these two will be a distraction while you kill them yourselves. This sucks for all of us, not only for you guys. I don't know about you but I'm tired so just shut up, go home, get some sleep, and try to be ready for a very serious battle."
Everyone was quiet as Alex stalked out of the room. "I think he has a good idea. We need rest," said Kyle finally.
"Yeah, I better get home. My mom will be spitting nails by now, calling out the state police to search for me," replied Maria, thinking grimly of her mother's temper. She walked towards the back room to see if Alex was all right, speed dialing her mom's number on her cell phone. They all started to leave, getting on their coats, and grabbing their bags and backpacks. Liz went to turn out the lights and let them out of the front door when it opened suddenly.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the royal Four and their presiding court," Nicholas said with dripping sarcasm. Lonnie followed him in, smirking at their horrified expressions. Oh, this was priceless!! Everyone froze. Michael thought of all the damage he was going to do to Niyah when this was over. How could she deceive them like this? Kyle realized that the humans were too spread out to protect efficiently. He looked at Niyah and saw the same summary in her eyes.
"Look what I found in the back!" Rath yelled as came into the room shoving Alex and Maria in front of him, a hand on each of their throats. If the situation has been less serious Niyah would have cracked up laughing. Why did Rath always yell? Michael's heart ached knowing that the slightest wrong move and Maria…he couldn't even finish that thought.
The Roswell aliens slowly moved together as the three New York aliens drew together at the front of the room, Rath still holding Maria while Lonnie took Alex by the throat. "Quite a predicament, your Highness. What now?" Although Lonnie addressed Max, her voice sent shivers down everyone's spines. "And Niyah, I must say it's a pleasure to see you. I mean, with Zan dead and all, I thought we might never cross paths again." Lonnie said sweetly.
"Let them go," Max demanded, forcing his voice to remain quiet and calm. Nicholas sent out a mental pulse that knocked the four to the ground. Slowly, cautiously they stood back up.
"Chill, dear brother. All we want is the Granolith's location. Tell us and these two live. Refuse and…well it'd be a mad, crazy idea to refuse me." As she said this, her hand began to glow and Alex started to choke.
"Please, stop it!" Isabel begged, tears in her eyes. "He has nothing to do with any of this."
Nicholas rolled his eyes. This was too easy! Lonnie looked at Isabel with disgust. To think someone with her exact DNA could be so easily manipulated…
Niyah glanced at Kyle. He nodded imperceptibly. With Isabel distracting them it was now or never. Moving faster then the eye could follow Kyle whipped behind Nicholas as Niyah leaped at Rath. Before they could even react Rath's neck crunched with a sickening finality and Nicholas exploded into a shower of dust as Kyle completed a powerful side thrust kick to his lower back.
"That was for my dad," Kyle spat at the place where Nicholas had stood. The last time he and Nicholas had crossed paths Nicholas had beat the crap out of Kyle's dad, eventually making the Sheriff disappear along with the rest of the Roswell humans. It was only luck that the disturbing condition was reversed.
Niyah dropped Rath's body on the floor as Maria ran to Michael. "Well, well, well," Niyah repeated Nicholas' former snide challenge. "All alone in the big, bad world, Lonnie? Let Alex go and I might consider going easy on you."
Lonnie glanced at Rath's body and looked back at Niyah. "So, that's why Zan kept you on a tight leash. His own personal bodyguard. What the fuck are you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
Lonnie exploded energy at Kyle and Niyah, sending Alex flying across the room with them. They all landed in a heap on the floor, Alex unconscious, the X-5s momentarily down. Max immediately raised an energy wall around himself and his friends. "Help me," he called to Tess. Both Tess and Isabel joined him, lending their energy to his. The rushing sound the wall made was almost deafening. Michael finished checking that Maria was okay and confirmed that Alex was alive, just unconscious.
"You think that little wall's gonna stop me, huh?" Lonnie laughed harshly. "You're as naive as Zan was." She reached out her hand towards them and suddenly Liz grabbed her head, screaming.
Max, torn with indecision, almost dropped the shield. "Michael!" he pleaded, agony in his voice.
Michael rushed to her side. When he touched her arm he accidentally connected. He was sucked into a crazy, out of control bombardment of images and memories; the shooting, the pod chamber, Max kissing her for the first time, a confrontation with Tess, an argument with Maria, Liz and Kyle in bed together (what?!), Max with long hair, and over all of this an excruciating pain as the memories were forced from her. He let go of her arm, gasping as the connection broke.
"She's looking for the Granolith, in her mind," he hollered at Max. Liz was whimpering "No, no, no" over and over. Michael wasn't sure what to do but he knew he was enraged enough right now to kill that Lonnie bitch himself. Lonnie hurtled napkin canisters, silverware, and small kitchen appliances at the group, hitting them from the sides and the back. Tess was struck and fell down. Michael desperately tried to deflect or shatter the incoming objects so Max and Isabel could concentrate on Lonnie.
Suddenly Liz fell to the ground with a moan. Lonnie smiled. "Thank you," she said sweetly and started for the door.
"Oh no you don't, you bitch!!" Isabel yelled, slipping past the shield and in front of the door. "You aren't going anywhere!"
"Isabel, don't!" Max begged. He dropped the shield and bent to pick up Liz. Michael and Tess waited, their hands outstretched and ready.
"Are you gonna stop me?" Lonnie stared at her, incredulous.
"Yes," Isabel's voice trembled.
Lonnie flung a chair at her and Isabel crashed to the floor in a heap. "Yeah, sure, you'll stop me," Lonnie taunted, laughing.
Kyle used this moment to attack. Due to his speed he managed to get within inches of Lonnie before she slammed him across the room again. Niyah covered Maria and Alex, doing her best to keep them from being struck. Tess had had enough! She stabbed her mind towards Lonnie, intent on ripping her to shreds. She hit a mental brick wall so hard that she was momentarily stunned and gasping for breath. Michael shot energy out of his hand but Lonnie calmly reversed it, sending crackling energy through Michael's body.
"I can't move!" he screamed to Max. "I'm frozen!" Max rushed to his side.
Lonnie smiled at that. She was in her element now, creating this chaos. She had always been the strongest of her Four. Zan had thought he was, being the leader but no, she had always been stronger. She hated this planet and her life more than anyone could possibly imagine and she was willing to do absolutely anything to go home. The room was in an uproar, objects hurtling through the air, the Royal Four in complete disarray. Alex and Maria desperately tried to stay out of harm's way. Niyah dragged Liz over to them and charged Lonnie from behind. At the same time Max directed several chairs flying at Lonnie but she erected an energy shield at the last second. Both the chairs and Niyah bounced harmlessly off. Lonnie laughed and silently thanked Nicolas for the hours he'd spent helping her perfect her powers.
"No more!!" Isabel shouted.
Lonnie sent a burst of energy towards her but Isabel began to deflect it. She concentrated on sending all of her anger and pain towards Lonnie. Surprised that she was meeting with some actual resistance, Lonnie increased her onslaught. Everyone backed away from the dangerous confrontation. Isabel gave a furious shove with her mind and Lonnie slammed against the wall. For the first time Lonnie began to doubt the outcome of this battle. She had assumed Isabel wouldn't be capable of tapping into that part of her that was Vilandra. Lonnie fought back with every trick she knew. The energy between them grew so bright that no one could look at it.
Isabel screamed with everything in her, "I will never be you!! I will NEVER BE VILANDRA!!!" as she threw the last of her rage into a final blast.
The blast crumpled Lonnie's defenses and burned a hole the size of a softball through her body. She fell to her knees and stared at Isabel. "How the…" she began and then dropped to the floor, dead.
Isabel dissolved into tears, shaking violently. Tess rushed to her side and wrapped her arms tightly around her. "You're right. You'll never be anything like her. You're Isabel. You'll always be Isabel," she whispered, consoling her.