Nia yawned as she sat up and stretched her arms. "Man, I haven't had a nap that good in a long time," she said smiling. She then looked around and realized she was in the medical bay of the Vanguard HQ. She immediately frowned. "Oh boy, that's not good..." Waking up here meant something bad had probably happened.

But what? The last thing she remembered was... AJ! Cressida had attacked AJ. She leapt up to her feet and began bolting towards the door. Right as she was about to bust out, it opened, and she crashed right into Alexander. "Whoa there little cousin," he said, catching her before she fell to the ground. "Take it easy. You just woke up and you're already shooting all over the place."

"Where's AJ?!" she asked, looking worried.

Alexander chuckled. "He's fine you, or rather Titania, patched him up moments after Cressida's attack," he explained.

Nia looked at him confused for a moment, and then groaned. "Wait, you mean I turned into her again? Aw man, I don't even remember anything," she said running her hands across her face. "How long was it for this time?"

"About two days..."

"Two days?!"

Alexander raised his hand. "Nia calm down. I know this is a bit shocking but the last thing we need is you losing control and letting her take over again. Given your brother's condition there really wouldn't be anyone around to have a chance at stopping her."

The blonde looked worried. "His condition? What's wrong with his condition? What happened to Astro?" she asked.

He hummed. "Well, your brother seemed to lose control of himself earlier. I suspect it is due to some foul play by our cousins. He and Titania clashed, and well... Titania was worn, but managed to deal with him."

Nia looked stunned for a moment, but then shook her head. "Wait, I... she beat Astro?"

"Given the circumstances I'd hesitate to say either of you won, but he certainly came out worse for wear in your little scuffle," he said before nodding over towards the neck room. "He's awake and being looked over by the medical staff. Other than a scar across his chest he doesn't seem any worse for wear."

Nia winced, looking down guiltily. She scarred him? Again? She was doing more damage to her brother than any enemy ever had before. She really couldn't let Titania takeover again. There was no telling what she'd do next time.

Alexander put a hand on her shoulder. "Nia, I wouldn't worry about this. Nobody is expecting you to get a handle on this so quickly. You just need a bit more time to-"

"But that's the problem! I don't have time!" she said, shaking her head. "I can't afford to keep losing control like this! I need to get a handle on these powers, and I need to do it now!"

"This isn't something you can just rush Nia. You need to be patient and-"

Nia walked past him and stormed out. "Oberon isn't being patient, and I can't be either!"

Margo sat on the couch and took another sip of her coffee. She looked down in thought as AJ sat across from her. Isaac was in his lap, standing and pulling at the boy's cheeks. "So, you want to get stronger so you can protect Nia hmm?"

AJ grabbed the underworld prince's hands and began moving them around, which got a laugh out of the toddler. "Yeah..." he muttered. "I just... I'm tired of being in the way. Nia's so freaking strong. Like it's ridiculous. And then there's her brother, and everyone else in the Vanguard. They all always have her back. But every time something goes down it seems like I'm just there to get my butt kicked."

"I understand why you're worried about Nia, but you just said that she's got plenty of people looking out for her. Do you really think you need to add yourself to the list?" she asked. There was no shortage of people willing to fight for the girl. She just had the type of personality that made you want to look out for her.

AJ scowled. "Look, I know there's no way I'm stacking up to Astro or Cayenne, and I know her dad's family are like gods or whatever, but I want to be able to do something. I mean do you know how much it sucks to be the doofus that gets in the way every time something goes down?" he asked.

"Not really, no," she said shrugging his shoulders. Even back during her younger days with Star, she had been more than able to hold her own in most situations. Of course she wasn't fighting against gods, so she supposed she could sympathize with him a little. "Tell me something, why do you want to protect Nia so badly?"

AJ paused. "What?"

"I want to know why you want to protect Nia so badly? Tell me and I might consider teaching you."

He scratched his head. "Well, you know, she's my friend..."

"Just your friend?"

"Y-yeah! We're just friends, that's it!"

Margo just kept staring at him,a knowing smirk on her face. "AJ, I've seen the way you two act around each other. And I've seen the way Astro glares at you when she's not looking. I know what puppy love looks like. My daughter gets the same look on her face around the girl she likes," she said before taking another sip of her coffee.

AJ looked down nervously. "I mean... we just like hanging out and stuff. Doesn't mean I like her..." he muttered. "Why do you even care anyway. That's got nothing to do with this."

Margo sat back and smiled. "Oh I know, but I just like teasing you. Besides, Nia is another daughter to me. I want to get a measure of any boy she's showing interest in," she said giggling.

AJ perked up. "Wait, did she say she was interested in me?"

"Oh my gosh you two are so cute..." Margo muttered. "Anyway, I don't think I can help you."

He looked at her in disbelief. "What? Why not?!"

"I've seen you fight before. I don't think you have the instinct for karate or swordsmanship. If I had to guess I'd say one of your parents taught you what you already knew, and they were a brawler or street fighter."

AJ frowned. His dad had taught him about fighting when he was younger, and she had hit the nail on the head. He'd never had the patience to actually learn any fighting style. His old man was just tough and nails and slugged it out with everyone he came across. Which was pretty impressive considering some of the guys he and his uncles used to fight.

"You've obviously picked up that kind of fighting from him, and it's very hard to unlearn it. I mean I could try, but it'd take much longer than you probably have the patience for."

He grit his teeth. "So you can't help me then..."

She shook her head. "Sorry, afraid not. But I do know someone who can." AJ looked up towards her curiously. "The best person to give tips to a street fighter is another street fighter. And I happen to know someone who was pretty darn good at it..."

Nia sat outside and concentrated as hard as she could. She'd been at this for nearly twenty minutes, but she didn't feel any closer to what she was trying to do. In fact, she was getting a little frustrated. Which was probably counter productive honestly.

She groaned and lowered her arms as Astro approached her. "Back to meditating already? I see you bounced back better than I did," Astro said as he walked over towards his younger sister.

The princess looked down at the ground. "Alexander says I took longer to heal that usually. Titania used more power than my body can handle right now..." she muttered.

Astro chuckled. "Man. If you're that strong now I can only imagine what you'll be like when you're mom's age," he said before taking a seat down beside her. "Are you feeling okay?"

She looked at him in disbelief. "Am I feeling okay? I... I almost killed you."

"I'd say that's a bit of an exaggeration. I was far from dead. Though I have to admit you knocked me for a loop. I don't remember much but I remember you pretty much slicing through my chest like butter," he said putting a hand over his chest. "Of all the enemies who've tried to put me down over the years, I'd never think my baby sister would be the only one to actually leave a scar."

Nia narrowed her eyes. "Why do you sound okay with this?! Why do you sound proud?! I lost control, I hurt you!"

"So did I," he pointed out. "I hurt Micah, and I tried to hurt you."

"That's different! Cressida did something to you! I just snapped out of nowhere!"

"You saw your friend get hurt and you reacted. Anybody else would have done the same-"

"Don't make excuses for me!" Nia said, tearing up. "I hate this! Why can't I control this! What's the point of having all these powers if they don't work how I want them to?! It seems like now I always either have no idea what I'm doing or I have no control over myself! Is this seriously how it was for you all this time?!"

Astro hummed before he reached over and patted her on the head. "Being strong stinks doesn't it?" he asked.

Nia sniffled and then wiped her eyes. "...yeah..."

"Don't worry about what you did earlier. I'm fine. I mean, Cayenne is never going to let me live it down, but..." he shrugged his shoulders. "If anything seeing you like that made me a little relieved. If you bust something like that on Oberon we might actually have a chance to bring that bastard down."

Nia huffed. "I don't want Titania to take him down. I want to do it myself..."

Astro sighed. "You keep on talking about Titania like she's a separate person. She's just another part of you," he said.

"She's not a part I want though. I want to be in control. I want to-"

"That's not how it works Nia," he said cutting her off. "I spent years trying to reject my monster form, and it just made things worse. It's a part of me, just like your faye blood is a part of you. If you really want to control your power you're going to have to accept it. It's all or nothing."

Nia bit her lip. She didn't think of her father's side of her like Astro's monster form, but maybe she should have. If Titania really was a part of her, then they should have wanted the same things right? Maybe she was going about this the wrong way. "I might need to rethink my plan," she said.

Astro raised his eyebrow. "What was your plan?"

"I was trying to... meditate and do some mystical mind stuff so I could beat up Titania..."

He stared down at her for a few moments. "Nia, I know I've been trying to be really encouraging lately, but that's by far the dumbest plan I think I have ever heard from you. You understand that don't you?"

"Yeah, in hindsight it is pretty dumb," she said rubbing her head. "But after what you said, I think I need to take a different approach. Instead of trying to fight against her, maybe I should try talking to her?"

"That might work," Astro said. "I have no idea how you're going to do that, but it's a plan at least."

"You think Alexander would know how?" she asked.

"I'm honestly not sure. If that really was an option I think he would have brought it up earlier, don't you think?" Astro asked. Then again, he still wasn't sure if they could trust the guy. He had to know how strong Oberon was. He didn't know why he would risk going up against him for seemingly no reason.

Nia sighed. "I really wish there was someone else we could go to for this..."

Astro just hummed as the siblings sat next to one another in silence. Then, without warning, a portal burst opened in front of them. They both quickly jumped up to their feet and grabbed their weapons as a figure stepped out. Was it Cressida or Umbriel? Were they trying to strike while the two of them were still worn out?

When the figure finished stepping out however, they saw he was holding a pair of scissors. Astro looked at the newcomer surprised, while Nia looked confused. She had no idea who she was looking at.

Uran stood there awkwardly as the portal closed behind him. He looked over at Astro, and then down at the blonde next to him. His eyes stayed locked on Nia as she just stared back confused.

"Uh... hey..."