They managed four whole days without incident. Clark was a hit as a teacher, although he did have to fend off one or two people looking to date the billionaire teacher. Kyla usually set them straight with help from her friends. The Sekirei had a fairly boring week although Homura had decided to mentor Kuno so she could seek a career in music.
Bruce, Jean and Harry made a few breakthroughs with the meteor radiation and its effects on humans. The Vision, Laura and Brunhilde were now fairly certain that they could handle the AI in the Kawatche caves and not have to worry about it physically affecting the world without their say so.
But then Chloe burst into Emma's office dragging the literature teacher Marianne Taylor and her student son, William, in with her.
"Miss Sullivan… what have you done now?" Emma asked with a condescending smile.
"Not quite sure but Mrs Taylor just made some pretty big confessions and you might want to involve some people." She said breathlessly and slightly panicking.
"What type of confessions?" Emma frowned; Marianne appeared to be in a slight daze.
"You know, nothing big, just admitting that she was part of a group that blew up a bank in the 70's that killed a man… it was just a political thing." She said sarcastically.
"Marianne… Marianne!" Emma said loudly.
"Huh? Miss Frost, what… why am I here?"
"Mr. Taylor, please take your mother and wait outside in the reception. Do not leave the premises until Doctor Potter has examined your mother." She said sternly.
"Yes Miss." William said as he gently led his mother outside worriedly.
Once the door shut Emma's eyes snapped to Chloe.
Chloe jumped in first. "I might have got gassed by something in a LuthorCorp lab last night, that's all I know." She said quickly.
Emma sighed and walked around her desk to stand in front of Chloe. "Ask me a question Miss Sullivan."
Chloe opened her mouth and then shut it awkwardly. "What should I ask?"
"It hardly matters, I will be attempting to lie and if I tell the truth we will know you are the source of Mrs. Taylor's confession and that she hasn't just had a crisis of conscience." Emma said dryly.
"Erm… let's see… what colour is your underwear?"
"I'm not wearing any." Emma said in a slight daze, she then shook her head. "Oh dear."
"You really aren't?!" Chloe asked.
"I hardly think that is the most important fact we should be focusing on!" Emma snapped. "Teleport straight to Jean. Explain the situation and avoid asking questions." She ordered.
"Right." She said before she vanished on the spot.
Emma picked up the phone and began dialling. This was going to be a very annoying day.
It was a very smug Chloe Sullivan that stalked into the castle hospital wing later that day.
It was a very irritated Jean who greeted her.
"Where have you been?" Jean demanded. "It's been hours since Emma said you were coming."
"I was just getting the final nails for the Luthor's coffins." She said happily.
"What did you do?" Jean asked through clenched teeth.
"I managed to ambush both Lex and Lionel and ask them a few pertinent questions about their history. Did you know Lex is a clone that killed his original?! Did you know that Lionel has had many people killed and actually murdered his parents for money to start his company?! Its terrible I say! Terrible!" She said dramatically.
"And what if you had been captured or your condition had gotten worse? Did you even think to ask the Luthor's about what you were infected with?" Jean asked snidely.
"Oh… I forgot to ask about that." She said lightly chided.
"Get on the table Chloe." Jean said tiredly.
"It can't be that bad, if anything really bad happens Harry can build me a clean body and transfer my soul right?"
"Or you can simply die and be reborn." Jean smirked. "You are a phoenix, remember?"
"I'd like to avoid diapers again." She cringed.
By the end of the day everyone was informed of Chloe's little adventure. The girl was not entirely pleased when a majority of the castle residents were arrayed around her whilst she lay on a bed in nothing but her bra and panties.
"Can't I get a little privacy?" She asked. "Shouldn't just the doctors be here?"
"Most of us are doctors, sweetie." Dani winked.
"What about the rest of you?"
"We're your sisters." Kyla answered for the amazons.
"I'm your goddess." Aphrodite said with a stern eye.
"I'm… erm…" Clark floundered for an excuse to annoy Chloe.
"Her god." Aphrodite said firmly.
"I am?"
"He is?"
"Can you think of better, a more noble god than Kal-El as male patron and guardian of my daughters?" Aphrodite asked the slightly pink from embarrassment Amazon.
"Baldur!" Chloe blurted.
Brunhilde laughed. "Baldur is indeed a noble god, but he will not view lesser beings the same way Kal-El will. He will be a welcome ally, but a poor substitute for a patron of women."
"I quite agree, but my sword will always be ready to answer the call of Kal-El, the God of Thunder."
The group turned to see the aforementioned Norse God standing there smiling.
"Lord Baldur, it is a pleasure to see you here." Clark said as he bowed slightly.
"Kal-El, we are equals, treat me as such." Baldur chastised with a smile. "In our pantheon my only claim to authority over you is that I am the heir to the throne. However, as the Apprentice of Death, you are equal to my father."
"But I can still kneel before him?" Clark asked worriedly.
Baldur just laughed. "My Lord's and Ladies, I would ask that you allow me to leave with Kal-El, we have things to discuss, we shall be naught but a few hours and I will ensure his safety myself." He addressed the others.
"Try not to destroy too much of the universe boys." Harry waved.
"But do try and enjoy yourselves." Brunhilde added.
Baldur bowed whilst Clark rolled his eyes, both men then turned and left.
"ALRIGHT! THAT'S IT!" Chloe screamed. "Anyone who is not my doctor or responsible for my health leaves now!"
No one moved.
"We are all responsible for your health in some way." Xander smirked.
"All Sekirei out!" She ordered.
"But-"
"Come on Musubi, she is surrounded by people far more powerful than us." Homura chuckled as she led the worried Sekirei out. All of them felt responsible as Chloe was a dear friend of their Ashikabi.
"Anyone who is not participating in… whatever is about to happen to me… out!"
Most of the castle residents left leaving only Jean, Bruce, Aphrodite, Amara, Xander and Harry.
"Why are you still here?" She glared at Xander.
"Consider me part of the punishment detail." He grinned evilly. "I've been dealing with headstrong super-powered girls since before- before… I can't think of anything that adequately compares to millions of years." Xander mused.
"We've been going with: since before civilisation." Harry offered.
"Still, that's less than a million."
"Only on Earth."
"Fine, whatever, you're older than dirt, can't you do that after I'm fixed?" Chloe pleaded.
"Yes, but this is more fun."
Chloe looked at him oddly. "What would your answer have been if I wasn't causing you to tell the truth?"
"The same, but with more emotion and enjoyment." Xander shrugged.
"Come Xander, I have a job in mind for you." Aphrodite said as she linked her arm with his.
"Damn, a beautiful woman. My one weakness." Xander said theatrically.
"Twinkies!" Harry called out.
Baldur and Clark walked up to the Astronomy Tower whilst Baldur laughed at the various tales Clark told of himself and his friends. Clark took a fairly perverse pleasure in telling stories about Harry. But eventually they reached the top and Baldur became serious.
"I was sent by The All-Father, Kal-El. There is something important you must know… about the Lady Aphrodite, and your… relationship with her." Baldur said with a heavy weariness.
Clark's back stiffened. "I really hope someone isn't about to try and interfere in my relationships." Clark said icily.
Baldur had that caught-off-guard look. Then he started laughing hysterically.
This left Clark fairly off-balance.
"Baldur?!"
"I'm sorry." Baldur gasped. "Its just that the thought of anyone attempting to make yourself… let alone the Lady Aphrodite do something in a relationship is absurd! Why the All-Father would embrace Loki as one of his own first!"
"Baldur, you might want to pick a different analogy, my Loki is the beloved daughter of her adopted father."
Baldur immediately stopped laughing and now had a 'pole-axed' expression. He then scowled. "Blast! These dimensional duplicates cause such a headache! I don't know how you and the All-Father cope."
"When you meet them you find that a lot of the time, aside from a general history, the only thing they have in common is a name. Circumstance causes a huge deviation in how a person develops. Take the All-Father, in our universe he is regal, loving and firm. Everything that a king and father should be. In Harry's world, the All-Father is all you would want for a king when he needs to be, but he is more relaxed, partly because he allows his sons and daughter to hold the throne for a time."
"Truly?" Baldur asked; he was amazed.
"They learnt to do that sort of thing from Harry. All of the people in the castle not native to our dimension have ruled planet Earth. Some have ruled a majority of the galaxy." Clark nodded.
"I wonder if the All-Father knows of this." Baldur mused.
"He's the All-Father, Baldur, of course he knows. But he also knows that it is too soon to try and change the ways of Asgard."
"You have become very wise since you were the young buck who bested my brother in battle." Baldur said approvingly. "But enough of this talk. I came to talk to you about your relationship with the Goddess of Love."
Clark once again stiffened.
"Relax my young friend. All I wish to tell you is that you must be aware of the various traditions and treaties that are on the verge of being broken."
"That's all?!" Clark asked incredulously. "Won't this mean war?"
"Of course it would, but only if you were willing to defy the treaties." Baldur said dismissively. "But my father respects you, he says that one day you will rule Midgard with Lord Death and be a beloved leader. The only reason you would break the treaties is if you wished to be spiteful."
"What exactly do I have to do to not break them?" Clark asked stiffly.
"Quite simply, you must marry the Lady Aphrodite as an Asgardian."
"Me specifically?" Clark asked. "I mean… this isn't a treaty I inherited from Thor?"
"No, no." Baldur said quickly. "This is a treaty signed by all the pantheons. It merely states that when two members from differing pantheons wish to bond they must do so as members of their pantheons. This was simply to prevent couples running off and to ensure respect for our cultures. It is also to ensure that the pantheons benefit from the ties the bonding will create, at what you might call a 'political' level." Baldur explained.
"I don't understand, what makes you think Aphrodite and I are getting married?" Clark asked, he was feeling slightly calmer now that he knew people weren't attempting to interfere in his life.
Baldur just chuckled. "Do you truly believe that a Goddess of Love would willingly start a doomed relationship?"
Clark just blushed. "Oh. Well, is there a time limit?"
"Not in a manner of days or years, but that you must marry before you consummate your relationship."
Clark's blush deepened. It didn't matter that every night he made love to at least one of his Sekirei or Kyla, bring up the concept of having sex with someone else and he became very embarrassed.
"You are no virgin, Kal-El and yet you seem to turn as red as one!" Baldur laughed. "I will leave you now, Little Brother. I must make my way to the Bifrost so I can return and report to the All-Father. Just remember my warnings and be true to the god that you are.
"Oh, and be sure to visit Asgard, Lord Odin has declared you family, he would love for you to visit your little sister."
"Little- oh Thor. How is she?"
"Come find out for yourself." Baldur challenged.
"Well, as long as we aren't gone too long Loki was going to teach me to teleport with my lighting. I could take you back to Asgard myself." Clark offered.
"That woman truly amazes me, as does her brother!" Baldur shook his head. "Our Loki is nothing like her and my brother Thor was an oaf compared to her brother."
Chloe found herself strapped to a metal table staring up at the barrel of the biggest ray gun she had ever seen.
Although this was her first ray gun.
It didn't help that she was still in her underwear and the table was freezing and the person in charge was a man.
"Now this is something I whipped up with Brunhilde and the Vision." Bruce Banner said calmly as he manoeuvred the gun over her. "It's actually based on a weapon created to defeat me, they very nearly succeeded too." Bruce chuckled.
"Harry saved the day?" Chloe asked, uncomfortably nervous in her current position of cold and exposed.
"No, my wife at the time, she was not pleased with what they were doing and… well, it gets a bit messy." He said conspiratorially. "But it was an excellent design and my friends and I studied the device, magic is a wonderful gift but it is not for everyone. For instance, I can't use magic as it conflicts with the gamma radiation in my body. The Vision can't because he is an artificial life form and doesn't have a soul."
"But you still consider him alive and, well, an equal?"
"Oh yes." Bruce nodded as he adjusted the controls. "Death declared The Vision and several other AI's to be deemed sentient and the equal of any soul bearing creature."
"I take it The Vision is still working on emotions?"
"No, he has them, he just doesn't really display them. He does have a very dry sense of humour though."
"Very dry." Jean muttered as she walked up. "Are we ready?"
"Yes, she is good to go." Bruce nodded as he moved the ray gun away. "She didn't feel a thing and all her readings are normal."
"What? You didn't do anything!" Chloe objected.
"I've been working this thing since I moved it over you Chloe." Bruce chuckled.
"But there was no light coming out of it."
"Not all energy emits a light, besides, I find that patients prefer not to know when they are being operated on." Jean smirked.
"You didn't alter my memories?" Chloe asked suspiciously.
"Chloe, you've seen some of the worst that mankind has to offer, you've undergone Amazon training, it really wouldn't be worth erasing your memories over something as trivial as this."
Chloe frowned for a moment. "Are you wearing any underwear?"
A huge smile spread over Jean's face as Bruce looked on in confusion. "Of course not, it gets in the way."
Bruce just rolled his eyes and walked off.
"Are you lying?"
"No."
"So I'm not healed?"
"You are."
"Please explain."
"You are a magical being, the energy has been removed but you managed to assimilate the ability."
"Can I turn it off?" Chloe asked worriedly. "Will it vanish after a burning day?"
"You will have to learn to control it and no it won't vanish. It might even become stronger."
"I guess that makes me the latest student of Lorna's then." Chloe sighed.
"No, you will still go to school with the others, you will just have to be careful of the questions you ask."
Chloe closed her eyes and began to bang her head on the metal table in frustration.
In Odin's hall there was a huge crackle and then a blinding light, the warriors and guards immediately had their weapons out.
"Hold! It is family that has come." Odin ordered.
The light dissipated to reveal two men and a woman.
"I believe you need more practice Kal-El." One of the men groaned from the floor.
Clark looked down and saw that both Baldur and Loki were on the floor and smoking.
"I'm sorry!" He said quickly as he knelt down and checked them.
"Lot's more practice." Loki said hoarsely.
Matsu was taking her turn shadowing Clark as he went to work. Although Clark set this up so he could spend more time with his Sekirei it also helped to provide Clark with a visible bodyguard. No one was dumb enough to take on the Discipline Squad.
Well… almost no one.
"Clark, you might like to know that Benitsubasa has challenged Musubi." Homura called out.
Clark stopped his trek through the Sekirei common room to his office and sighed. "Any particular reason why?"
"She is the lowest number on the Discipline Squad, maybe she finds it offensive that a low ranked Sekirei has replaced her." Matsu offered.
"But Musubi still outranks her. Benitsubasa is 105 even Haihane outranks her."
"Benitsubasa is jealous, and not just because she thinks Musubi took her place." Mutsu smirked. "She has an inferiority complex about her body."
"If she smiled more she'd be quite pretty." Clark frowned.
"Its not her face she is ashamed of." Mutsu's smirk grew into a grin.
"Mutsu." Miya warned the only male member of the Discipline Squad. "Benitsubasa is ashamed of her small breasts, Musubi is… well endowed." She explained.
"But Kazehana is bigger." Clark argued.
Everyone just stared at him with big grins, even Miya.
"Its in your files, all your latest body measurements." Clark rolled his eyes. Although he was physically familiar with their sizes.
"I'm number 3 darling." Kazehana drawled with her sexy smirk. "Taking me on would be suicidal for 105. Especially if you empowered me."
"It's your choice Musubi, but if she even thinks of breaking the rules of engagement then I want Miya to deal with her." Clark said sternly.
"I want to fight! I've never properly been challenged!" Musubi smiled excitedly as she bounced on the spot.
Clark couldn't help but notice the way Musubi's chest bounced with her, that would definitely drive 105 insane.
"We'll make sure they both abide by the rules you set down." Miya assured him.
"Thank you, and good luck Musubi, I'll try and get down to support you." Clark smiled at his first Sekirei.
Clark continued his trek to his office with Matsu where he sat at his desk; Matsu was more relaxed and sat in the chair opposite his desk. It was a far sight better than Kazehana who lounged in the chair with her legs propped on the desk giving him a clear view of… everything.
"There are still nearly twenty missing Sekirei." Clark sighed as he examined his computer screens. "We need to find them, we know they are still in the city though."
"Actually, I had a thought about that." Matsu grinned.
"We are not re-tasking every Japanese and North Korean satellite for you to play with!"
"No not that. Poopy-head." She muttered under her breath. "Sekirei Diagnostic Day."
"I've read about that. What makes you think they will turn up?" Clark asked.
"It's part of a built in mental command. Jean and Takami have removed it from the Discipline Squad though."
"Why haven't I heard about this?" Clark demanded. "This is mind control! I'm surprised Harry isn't tearing through the city right now."
"It was buried deep in the MBI servers. It was actually on a disconnected system and I only found it when I went down there with the squad to check the security measures." Matsu shrugged. "Jean said we shouldn't tell Harry because we don't want a re-enactment of Godzilla." She said referring to Harry's dragon form.
"Well I am not keeping this from him." Clark said adamantly. "I'll tell him tonight and try and convince him not to start tearing the city apart looking for Fay Wray."
"That's King Kong." Matsu frowned.
"They fought each other." Clark shrugged. "Anyway, what if the Ashikabi's try to prevent their Sekirei from coming?"
"They will have a hard time, but maybe some incentive can be used. MBI owns a local resort, we could offer its use to all Ashikabis and their Sekirei for a day."
"We do?" Clark asked in surprise. "Do that anyway. These people could use a break, they've been running, hiding and fighting for far too long."
Chloe walked into the Torch that morning with a smile as she saw her friends all there.
"Hey girls how are all of you?"
"Horny."
"Tired."
"Sore, but satisfied."
"I am worried about Uzume."
Everyone turned to look at Lana and Kyla. Lana was blushing but Kyla was glaring at Chloe. "I thought your truth problem was fixed?"
"No, they cleared the bad energy out but they couldn't remove the ability!" Chloe was mortified. "I honestly thought that was an innocent question!"
Lana buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.
"No more questions!" Kyla snapped.
"What about in class?"
"Ask someone at the castle, can you imagine what would happen if you asked the wrong question in class?" Kyla ordered.
Everyone turned to a giggling Chiho. "We might find out the truth behind the Kennedy assassination, or the moon landing."
Chloe thought about that for a moment.
"Chloe!" Lana cried out in disbelief.
"Sorry, it just seemed like a half decent idea."
"When will it wear off?" Phoebe asked.
"They said it won't, they said I have to learn to control it."
"I guess we know what we will be doing for the next few nights." Mindee giggled.
"Truth or Dare, without the Dare." Celeste laughed.
"Chiho, why are you worried about Uzume?" Lana asked gently.
Chiho shrugged and gave a small smile. "I always worry about her. She's my Sekirei, it's my duty to worry about her and care for her."
"Maybe during the summer you can follow her around work like Clark's Sekirei follow him." Kyla offered. "According to Kazehana they spend most of the night jumping around the city, sparring or relaxing."
"Lucky bitches." Chloe muttered.
"Does your Dad know about your condition?" Kyla asked Chloe with narrowed eyes.
"I didn't see him this morning, he was already gone."
"Give me your phone, I'll tell him you won't be home for a few days and why."
"I can call him!"
"And what if this ability works over phones?"
Chloe handed her phone over, there were some things no child should know about their parents.
That evening, whilst the others were starting their fun with truth or dare, Lana was in a discussion with Harry and Helen.
"I always thought I wanted to go into fashion design. I was planning to apply to some schools in Paris this year, but I think I want to do more. I want to study medicine."
"A doctor?" Helen asked with a bright smile. Lana often volunteered at the Medical Centre with her, she was also ready to take her phlebotomists exam.
"I think I want to start as a nurse, then move onto medicine." Lana explained.
"It shouldn't be a problem. I prefer nursing at times, you get to interact with patients for longer." Harry admitted.
"I was hoping you could recommend some good schools."
"Columbia is good, one of the best in America." Helen said. "Pennsylvania too, and of course John Hopkins."
"The University of Surrey in England is good." Harry continued. "Or even King's College Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, many of my first non-magical colleagues studied there. France has-"
"I think we can arrange for you to visit some places over the summer." Helen interrupted before Harry could continue.
Harry was a little put out and huffed before agreeing. "Take the triplets and Chloe and Kyla with you. Make it your summer trip and learn about the world when you aren't defending it." Harry suggested.
"Sounds expensive." Lana grimaced.
Harry just grinned. "Very."
