Arc and Dragonryder ran full speed up the walkway of Tech Support, nearly careening into several members.
"I can't believe we're the last two to get called in. This is so not fair!" Dragonryder panted. "Even K2 got called before us."
"I'm sure they had a good reason. They wanted to make sure Sarah was okay before they let anyone know she was out of the hospital."
They opened the double doors and nearly crashed into Mr. Forthright.
"What's the hurry you two."
"Sorry Mr. Forthright. We just got the call that Sarah was out of the hospital."
"I know, I'm the one who issued to order for you two to come here."
"You were?"
"You two were the only ones I thought were capable of this task."
"That's great, but why?"
"Feedback's been captured by a girl named Lida. She calls herself the Black Queen."
"So we're going after him?" Arc said.
"No, It's not that simple. I'll explain on the way."
The three of them hastily walked down the hall.
"As you know, Feedback and Sarah were both hurt when a device, disguised as a Playstation 3, exploded in their home. What you don't know, is that the device was able to transfer Feedback's powers to Sarah."
"No way! That's impossible isn't it? His feedback field was written into his DNA."
"Wait Arc. Do you remember that time Sarah got a small dose of his field and developed Jedi abilities. Maybe this is the same thing but on a much bigger scale."
"We were thinking just that Dragonryder. Unfortunately, it gets worse."
"So Sarah has Feedback powers now, how is that a bad thing?"
"Feedback's been captured."
"What?!" They both shouted simultaneously.
"The same person who devised the explosion also managed to trap Feedback. He fell right into a trap. That's why you've been assembled. Sarah has five days to train and learn to control her new abilities before she goes to save Feedback."
"Then we go too."
"No, It's her fight alone. But that doesn't me we can't help her before hand."
"Who did this?"
"Her name is Lida. She calls herself the Black Queen. Freakopedia is looking everywhere but is finding nothing. It's strange, every time we think we have a bead on information about her, it vanishes. It's almost like someone is getting to the information before we can and erasing it. Even the house itself. Old records and orbital shots from years ago don't show any house where it once stood. It's like the house was never there to begin with."
"This is bad. Really bad."
"You have no idea. Sarah has practically boarded herself in the game room. She wanted to be ready when we finally got her suit finished."
"So what do we call her now? Mrs. Feedback? Feedbackgirl?"
"That's for her to decide."
"So what's our job?"
"I want you two to take her to train with her. She has to learn how to defend herself on her own. Her new powers can only do so much and also there's its drawback as well."
"So she might lose some of her memories too?"
"It's a good chance."
"Well, count me in. Feedback helped me before when I was starting out, It's my turn to return the favor." Arc said.
"That goes double for me."
"That's great to hear," Mr. Forthright said as they walked up to the game room.
The door opened and they all went inside. Sarah was finishing beating The Chocobo Eater in Final Fantasy X-2.
"Can't talk. Beating a boss."
They stood silent for a second, then when Sarah finally put down the controller.
"I think I'm getting the hang of this."
"How do you fell?"
"Better. Not only will this help me later, but playing games is helping me keep my mind off of..." She said then fell silent.
Arc walked up next to her.
"How many percent completed do you have?"
"32." She said then stood up from her chair. "The chocobo chasing mini game was awful."
"I hated that one too."
"So, why are you guys here?"
"Since your suit is almost ready, I asked them to come help you train with combat skills."
"Good. I need a break from playing. Console said that the games they salvaged from the house would be good for me to use when I finally got my suit. Not only are the powers made for a girl like me, but they're fun too."
"That's good to hear. Let's all go to the lab. They should be done with your suit by now."
"So what are you going to call yourself anyway?"
"I was really thinking about that but could only come up with one thing." Sarah said as they walked out.
"What is it?"
"Hey Sarah! They're done with your suit." Cluster said as he ran up to them.
"One second Arc. Alright, let's go."
They walked into the lab and everyone in Tech Support seemed to be gathered together. This was an event. Sarah saw a black drapery over a hanger.
"Here you are Sarah, you're own suit." Liveinheaven said.
"Go get 'em Sarah!"
Sarah grabbed her hidden suit and rushed into the bathroom. After a few seconds, the door opened. The looks from her friends were a mix of shock and joy. She stepped forward and felt the suit hug her body and, for the first time in a long time, felt connected to Matt again. Her suit shown black, as Matt's did, but with pink where blue should have been. She put her hands on the F on her chest, close to her heart.
"I swear. I swear I will bring you home Matt." She prayed.
She looked back up at her friends and crossed her arms.
"Guys, say hello to the newest girl superhero. Lady Feedback." She said with a smile.
-------------------------
Matt sat in his chair and watched T.V.
"Major Victory saved a bus full of civilians when the driver succumbed to a heart attack and the bus spun out of control."
"I'm glad the teams doing okay with me gone. Maybe I should have taken that vacation." He said as he changed channels.
A knock came at the door.
"Can I come in?" Lida said then opened the door.
Matt just sat there and said nothing.
"Wow, the silent treatment. Like I haven't seen that before."
Matt heard a rattling noise as she walked in. It almost sounded like...
"I've decided since your probably bored out of your mind, we would play a little game. Not a video game though, a real game."
She set what she had on a small table and opened a box. She began fussing with what was inside it. After she was done, she looked over at him.
"You're no fun. Okay, to make things interesting, I'll make a wager with you."
This instantly peeked his interest. He quickly turned around and saw what she had been fussing with. It was a chess set. She stood behind the black pieces and he on the white.
"I wager huh? How about my freedom."
"Sorry, can't do that. That wouldn't be a fair wager. I have nothing equal to wager."
"You could turn yourself in."
"Not going to happen."
"Well, what kind of a wager did you have in mind?"
"I'll unchain you. You can feel more like a person then a pet that way. If I win, I get that cute little suit of yours. It would look perfect in my trophy room."
"Fair enough. It's a wager." He said.
She held out her hand.
"Shake on it? I'm all about formalities when it comes to wagers."
He shook her hand and she sat down in front of her black pieces.
"Just to be fair, no time limit for moves. I want this to be a game of skill, not speed."
"You may regret that one."
"We'll see."
---------------------------
"How long have those three been at it?" Blackthorn asked as he walked into the observation room of the training area.
"Two hours. Sarah's bound and determined to beat her." Forthright said.
"You did good by choosing Dragonryder for this."
"Her and Arc are both members of this team. It was only fitting they help Sarah with getting ready for her bout with Lida."
"Do you really think she'll need all this?"
"By the way that Lida's note was written, anything's possible. She's managed to pull on over on all of us AND is keeping us completely in the dark. I have experts from every section of science imaginable and she STILL got us. That goes without saying she is a threat." Forthright stated.
"Putting it that way really makes you wonder."
"What about?"
"The sheer amount of measures she's taken to do this. It almost as if were fighting something thats not human."
"How do you mean?"
"Think about it. This girl is not only smart enough to figure out how to switch Matt's powers, she is also able to cover every track seemingly simultaneously. You said so yourself, you have the best team imaginable and she still pulled one over on us. Someone with that intelligence and skill, can't possibly be human." Blackthorn said.
"Then if she's not human, who is she and why is she doing this?"
"I wish I knew those answers, but I don't. Sarah will have to find them out."
"I admit I was a bit worried before, now, it's definite. We need a back up plan if things go wrong. We can't lose Matt AND Sarah." Forthright nervously said.
"I'm going to contact Excelsior, they're the best back up plan we have right now."
"Good. Also, notify the rest of Beta Flight. They need to know too."
"I just hope the fact that Feedback's gone AWOL doesn't get to anyone else. The situations bad enough."
"I know. We just need to help Sarah the same way we helped Matt. That's all we really can do." Forthright said.