The Arc Assembles

Team Awesome's Hideout, London: August 21, 5090

A small, seemingly abandoned set of flats in the heart of London housed the meeting place for Team Awesome, a club founded by Lucian and Zephyrus.

The flat was quiet with the boys gone. Susie was sitting quietly cleaning her gun when there was a tap on the door. She got up quietly, checking the safety was off before stalking to the door.

"If that's another bloody salesperson," she grumbled, "I'll make you regret ever choosing this door!"

She opened the door a fraction, leaving the very short but very thick safety chain on, and peered out cautiously.

Standing outside was a young girl with long dark hair and large violet eyes. She smiled shyly up at the other girl. "Hi. Um. . . I'm looking for my brother? Is he here?"

Susie sighed in resignation, then unlatched the door, opening it wide to admit the girl. "Mira, you know better than to come round here by yourself! What were you thinking?"

She turned and led the girl into the living room. "He's not here yet hon, but you can wait for him here if you want."

The girl smiled sweetly as she collapsed on the couch. As she fell over, Susie noticed that her uniform was torn in places.

"Honey!" cried Susie in alarm, rushing to the girl. "What the hell happened? Here, let's have a look at the damage." She checked her over swiftly, looking for broken bones or other signs of abuse.

Mira stared up at her, tears in her eyes. "I was walking back to my dormitory and. . . and. . ." She threw herself into Susie's arms, weeping violently.

"Hey now!" crooned Susie. "It's okay, baby girl. I've got you now." She cradled the sobbing girl tightly, stroking her head gently. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of pain and fury.

"Shh. You're safe now honey. Come on, tell Susie what happened, my love."

Mira looked up at her, her jaw quivering. "It. . . it. . . oh, Susie! I was so scared! It wasn't. . . wasn't human. . ."

Susie looked down at the younger girl in confusion. "Not human? Did you recognise it at all? come on honey, I need to know everything you can remember! You can do it."

She shuddered. "Looked human. Couldn't have been. Too strong. Overpowered me. Threw me against the wall like a paper doll." Her shaking got worse. "I just. . . I. . . I couldn't. . . Susie, what would, who would. . .?"

Susie held the girl more firmly against her, holding her head tightly against her shoulder. This was not sounding good no matter how she looked at it. "We're gonna deal with this honey. You're gonna be okay. C'mon now, keep going for me. Did it say anything to you? Do anything else to you? Did you see where it went?"

Mira looked away. "It said. . . it said. . ."

"This is not the end! I will have you all!" she screamed in pain and fear.

Susie continued to hold the girl as she wailed in terror. She had no idea what was meant by those words, but she felt tremors run down her spine as she heard them.

Eventually, Mira cried herself unconscious, but Susie continued to hold her long after she relaxed.

What is going on?

Once she was sure Mira was out for the count, Susie used her vortex manipulator to record a message, and sent it off to her boys.

"Mir's in trouble. Something big is going down and I need your asses here on the double! No excuses!"

Within minutes, Zephyrus and Lucian dashed through the door.

Lucian's eyes were crazed. "Where is she? What the hell happened to my sister?"

Zephyrus bent over and cradled the girl in his arms. "Mira? Mira, look at me."

She smiled weakly at him. "Hey there, Zephie. What took you so long?"

She passed out again.

Susie sighed. "She seems to be okay physically, but something terrified the crap out of her."

She quickly filled them in on the little she knew.

"Question now is," she muttered, "Who's it after and what do we do?"

"I think I can answer that question," crooned Trisha, emerging from behind the door. It was unclear how she beat the others there.

Zephyrus frowned at his girlfriend. "What do you know about this, Trish?"

She smiled darkly. "Clearly, it was the new girl. I told you there was something about her I didn't like."

Lucian glowered. "You mean the one Tobias was hanging out with? That bitch!"

Zephyrus wasn't so sure. "Baby, do you have any proof?"

Trisha nodded. "Yes. Just look at Mira's blazer. See?"

She plucked a small strand of brown hair from the girl's coat. "She was late for class, wasn't she? Just about the time this happened, I'll expect."

Susie's eyes narrowed dangerously at those words. "What. New. Girl?"

Trisha sighed. "Mousy-looking little Welsh girl. Doesn't seem quite right in the head."

Lucian leapt to his feet. "Where is she? I'll destroy her for this!"

Zephyrus shook his head. "Luci, calm down." He turned back to Trisha. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but I don't think. . . I mean, she's only a little girl. I don't know if she'd be able to do this."

As they were still speaking, Tobias and Faith burst in.

"What happened?" cried Tobias. "Is Mira. . ."

Lucian grabbed Faith and slammed her against the wall. "What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Sister. You. Bitch?"

Faith gasped at the pain. "What are you talking about?"

Great. As if this day could get any worse!

Zephyrus pulled his best friend away from her. "We don't know what happened, Lucian. And I mean, look at her. Does she look capable of taking down a black belt in Pash Dao?"

Lucian eased up on Faith.

Trisha rounded on her boyfriend. "Why are you taking her side all of a sudden?"

Susie walked over to the new girl, reached out, and snagged a strand of her hair. She smirked slightly. "Surprisingly, her hair doesn't match the one you pulled off Mira's top – which would probably be mine in fact…plus, I can smell that crap you like to throw at newbies so much, you cow. So I think I'm going with taking her side too."

She turned to give Zephie a look. "Do us all a favour, brother mine, and keep this bitch of yours on a tighter leash will you? Before I forget you like her ass so much."

Trisha threw herself at the Australian. "You wanna start something, you colonial bitch?"

As she turned on Susie, Tobias pulled Lucian off of Faith.

Susie glared right back at the other girl. Then she suddenly smiled cheekily at her, patting her insultingly on the cheek. "Don't have to honey, but I'll be more than willing to finish it!"

Tobias put a hand on Lucian's shoulder. "Let's go talk to your sister, yes? She's the only one who really knows what happened."

Lucian growled at him. "You leave my sister alone, boff. Go play with your girlfriend."

Tobias coloured. "She's not my girlfriend, mate."

Faith rubbed her arm carefully. All the cuts on it were irritated by the slam. She attempted to keep a grimace off of her face. She nodded her thanks to Tobias, but decided it would be safer for her to remain silent.

Lucian snickered. "And next you'll tell me you're the king of Ordifica."

Tobias rolled his eyes. "Just see to Mira, will you?"

Lucian stalked over to his sister, who was slowly coming around. "Hey. Cariad. It's ok. I'm here."

"Lucian?" she murmured, clinging to his jacket. "I. . . I don't feel safe any more, Luci. I'm so, so scared."

Trisha spat at Susie. "Oh, go bugger a koala."

Susie's fist moved in a blur. She looked at the now horizontal girl with a pitying smile. "Prefer that to having to look at your weasely face anymore, pommy bitch. Why don't you go crawl back under the rock you came from?"

She turned her back on the girl and walked over to Faith, reaching out to take the arm that Lucien had grabbed so roughly. "Sorry bout that honey, please don't think we're all like the maggot down there. I'm Susan Oliver, but my friends call me Susie – or Mother if they're being irritating! Let's have a look at that arm, shall we?"

Faith's eyes widened slightly and she tried to pull her arm out of Susie's grasp. "Um… I'm ok. Probably just a bruise. Nothing to worry about."

Susie looked at her consideringly for a moment, before leading her away from the others. "You won't be the first girl I've seen with marks she doesn't want shown around. Let's go into the kitchen where we can have some privacy hmmm?"

Faith bowed her head for a moment in surrender. "Ok."

Trisha stared in shock and anger at Zephyrus. "Zephie? That bitch hit me!"

He knelt next to her, picking her off the ground. "I saw. And frankly, you deserved it. I am a very tolerant person, dear. But you mess with my friends, and I stop being so nice."

Her dark eyes widened in shock. "What are you saying?"

He carried her to the door. "It's over, Trish," he said icily, dropping her on the doorstep. "Don't even speak to me again."

Susie led Faith into the kitchen, closing the door firmly behind them. "It's okay love, I don't bite! Now, you wanna do the honors?" She gestured towards Faith's sleeve.

Trisha growled angrily at her ex-lover. "You think you can just dump me? You have no idea who I am, do you?"

Zephyrus smirked. "Enlighten me."

Her face contorted as she sprouted large, leathery wings. "Only your worst nightmare," she hissed.

As Faith reached for her sleeve, she heard something beyond the door and jumped. "Damn." She dashed for the door and opened it quickly.

Tobias grinned at the hideous beast. "Well, now. Guess the outside really does match the inside."

Trisha shrieked at him, clawing at his body. "You will all die! Abominations!"

Tobias scoffed. "We're the abominations? What about yourself, luv?"

She threw him against the far wall, shattering a table lamp with his body.

Zephyrus stared at her in amazement and bitter anger. "It was you, wasn't it?"

Susie followed Faith into the main room just in time to see Tobias hit the wall. Ignoring the rest, she ran over to him, peeling off her jacket to staunch the blood flowing freely from his abdomen.

"Get it away!" shrieked Mira, her violet eyes bright with fear.

Lucian rose, pulling a knife from his jacket. "Zephyrus. Get out of the way."

Tobias moaned. "Susie? Since when are there three of you?" He passed out.

Trisha chuckled at the lanky Ordifican. "You think you can take me down with a knife? Your sister couldn't even stop me. And she is way stronger than you are."

Lucian growled. "Oh, you think so?"

Zephyrus held out a hand to his friend. "Luci! Stop!"

"Why should I?" He leapt at Trisha, slicing at her wings with his knife. She snagged him across the face with a clawed hand. He cried out in agony and fell to the floor, clutching his face as blood poured out from between his fingers.

Faith pulled out a handkerchief and dashed to Lucian's side. She pressed the cloth to his cheek, trying to stall the blood.

Susie rushed to the sideboard, pulling something out of one of the drawers and throwing it to Zephyrus. "Use this Zephie!"

She then grabbed a med kit before running back to Tobias.

Zephyrus stared at the object in his hands. "What the hell is this?"

Mira stood shakily, running towards her brother. "Give it here!"

He tossed it to her.

She pointed the device at Trisha. "Die, bitch!"

A beam of light hit Trisha, and she exploded into a bloody mist.

"New girl!" cried Susie to Faith. "Get him over here!" she made way for Lucian to sit down next to Tobias.

"I'm sorry," murmured Faith to the older boy. She grabbed Lucian's arm and practically dragged him to Susie.

The Australian shook her head. "God, what is wrong with you boys today, huh? If you can't learn to control your emotions better you're gonna end up dead! And then what'll happen to Mira?"

She slapped Lucian smartly across the unmarred side of his face before quickly patching him up.

Zephyrus caught Mira as she collapsed into his arms. He carried her over to the couch, laying her down reverently. "We should probably call someone," he said simply.

He used his manipulator to dial out. "Yes, Captain. Please send him as soon as possible."

Susie frowned. "Zephy, who did you just call?"

He smiled cryptically at her. "Friend of a man I met a few months back. Told me that if I ever needed help, and didn't want the Academy to know what was going on, he'd help me out."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't play with me, brother. I'm not in the mood for it."

He rolled his eyes. "It's not like he told me his name. Just muttered something about being a doctor."

Suddenly, a tall man in a black leather jacket walked in, his stormy eyes narrowed. "So what's all this, then? Zephyrus, I told you to only call me if. . ."

He looked around. "What happened here?"

Susie turned her glare on the Northerner. He was a lot older than they were, but who the hell was he?

Zephyrus sighed. "Well, my girlfriend just turned into an evil flying thing, my best friend's sister blew her up, and as you can see, we have a few casualties."

The man grinned. "Some things never change, do they?"

"Pardon?" asked Zephyrus, confused.

"Never mind." He turned to the others. "I'm the Doctor. And I'm here to help."

Susie smiled grimly, still not trusting this man. "Oh good! You can patch these two up properly then!"

She stalked over to Zephyrus and muttered quietly. "Who the hell is this guy, and how's he gonna help us hmm?"

Faith looked at the Doctor expectantly, but he simply smiled at her as he would anyone else. She sunk down beside Tobias, her eyes dropping. Maybe this Doctor didn't know her yet. She'd better keep quiet then.

The Doctor sighed. "Well, this is a mess, isn't it? Zephyrus, this is why I told you to only call me when you're alone."

He turned to Mira first, scanning her body. "Poor girl. Poor, poor girl. What have they done to you?"

Faith looked up. "What happened to her?"

"Someone's been running all kinds of tests on her is what. Scanning her all over. But most recently, her ribs have been broken. I'm amazed she was able to get this far."

Lucian growled. "That bitch Trisha must have done it."

The Doctor smiled warmly at the boy. "And you must be Lucian. Pleasure to meet you. Yes, I think that's probably true. The question is, why?"

Susie's eyes widened in shock as the Doctor's words sunk in. "Mira…I…God honey!"

Faith clenched her hands into fists. She could heal the girl…but the consequences?

Susie turned a remorseful face on the Doctor. "Can you heal her?"

The Doctor shook his head. "We need to get them to a hospital. I'll take them, say I found them in an alley. That should remove suspicion for a while. Zephyrus, please take everyone else back to school. Pretend nothing happened. I'll be in contact soon."

Susie looked at the wounded bitterly. What a mess! And they still had no idea what was going on! She walked over to Tobias, ruffling his hair with her fingers, before kissing him quickly on the lips.

"Come back soon, you dumbass!" She stood up and turned for the door, not looking back.

Before the Doctor could leave, Faith pulled on his sleeve. She has a feeling she knew when he came from. "Be careful, Doctor."

He beamed at her. "Thanks! You take care too, yeah?" He collected Tobias, Lucian, and Mira and walked out of the house.

Faith turned to Susie and Zephyrus, rubbing her arms as if cold. "They are in good hands."

Zephyrus pulled Susie close. "I know. Don't worry, Susie. They'll be well taken care of."

Susie grabbed him in a tight hug. "How did things change so quickly?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Zephyrus' eyes shone with pain as he remembers his past. Gray, his parents. . . "From my experience, I think that's what life is like. But don't worry. We will always have each other. I promise. No matter what. I'll look after you."

Faith looked away. She knew better.