Lee looked up at Madrid, handing her another long roll of paper. "What do you think?"
Madrid glanced at the figure Lee had drawn. "Looks as ugly as sin."
"Perfect." Lee grinned. "50 copies, no staples."
"Bite me." Madrid muttered as she rapidly made copies.
Lee waggled his eyebrows. "I think your baby daddy would have a problem with that."
"Stop saying that!" Madrid snarled, just as the entire room shook. "Damn it…" Storming towards the stairs, Madrid marched up to the door and threw it open, revealing the tempest that had been muted within the cabin. Winds howls, rain fell like daggers, and waves the size of red woods heaved all around the group.
(Lake Huron, 100 miles south of Mackinaw)
"Left!" Kelly screamed over the roar of the storm, Helena turning the wheel. "A little more."
Helena gripped the wheel hard, trying to fight the crashing, churning lake. "This is suicide!" She cried out.
Carter, secured to the bow of the ship, sneered at that, sending his courage-inducing whammy energy out like a floodlight. "I was born in Texas, on dusty soil! The desert has claim to my body, and I will not anger it by dying in this drizzle!" His flames exploded all the more violently. "Besides, I made a promise to a girl and a monster, and I plan not to disappoint either!"
Originally, Carter had wanted them to drive after Merrick and the rest, giving chase of the highways until they caught up with the toddler-snatcher.
However, Helena had pointed out that with the head start Merrick had gained, they would likely never catch up with him, especially if he finally decided to take to the skies. The group all agreed that, from what little they knew about the alliance, it would not be wise to face them on their home turf.
"Can't we at least get Age of Aquarius to focus on the waves comes at us?" Tina asked, looking very green.
"Kelly, how much time will we lose?" Madrid asked as she made her way towards Carter, grabbing a rope and clipping it to the guardrail.
"5 hours!" Kelly called out.
Madrid and Carter looked at each other. "LINDA, FULL SPEED AHEAD!"
Linda, who was standing at the back of the boat, held out her hands, forcing the water behind them to fire them like a rock up the face of one of the waves. Marshal was at her side, using all his strength to keep Linda from being thrown overboard.
"Left! LEFT!" Kelly screamed.
"Can't…too…hard…" Helena panted.
"Oh, let me!" Galatea said happily, snatching the wheel and giving it a hard jerk, even as Carter sent a blast of energy before them, illuminating a wall of dark water. "Uh…never mind!"
"No takey-backsies!" Helena exclaimed.
"HOLD!" Carter roared. "Bring us straight at it! Lift us into the sky!"
"Whatever you say, Barbossa!" Tina groaned, rushing to the rail and loosing her lunch.
Carter and Madrid merely looked at each other, a look that could only be held by parents driven mad with grieve and revenge, the whammy energy making them feel more courage then they rightly should…and laughed as the ship began to crest the wave.
&&&
"Give it!" Vally cried out, reaching for the sippy cup, only for Sergei to yank it away. "Give it!" She whined.
"Say the line." He taunted.
Vally sat back in the limo, glaring at the Russian. She wanted to say a lot of things, but her tummy was hurting so bad…"Give it!" She yelled, before burst into tears.
Sergei flashed a wicked grin even as the toddler cried. "Say the line."
"What the hell are you doing?" Hank demanded in frustration.
(The Delpines-3 hours outside of Flint, Michigan)
"Just having some fun with the glow-worm." Sergei said simply.
"Its cruel." Biddy muttered, reaching to grab the cup for Vally, only for Sergei to pull it away. Beside him, Merrick and Riker ignored the rest of the group as they planned out their next move. Merrick had made it clear Sergei could do whatever he wanted to Vally, as long as she wasn't hurt or killed. It wasn't kindness that drove that this command, merely the wish to protect his property.
"She can have it when she says the line." Sergei said simply, Biddy cradling Vally in her arms, rocking her back and forth.
Hank glared at Sergei. "I signed on to do what was right by the world, not…torture a child. Give her…"
"Swiper…hic…no swiping." Vally mumbled.
Hank and Sergei slowly turned to look at the embarrassed little girl as she quoted the much-hated Dora the Explorer.
"See…was that so hard?" Sergei asked, reaching out to give her the sippy cup…
…only for Vally to bite his skin between his thumb and pointer finger.
"BITCH!" Sergei roared as blood ran down his palm and onto his pants.
Vally flashed a grin. "We did it, we did it." She mocked, singing the Dora song. Biddy snorted, as did Merrick and Riker as Sergei shook with rage.
"You little…" Sergei extended his hand, ready to fire on Vally…
Several things happened at once.
Biddy threw herself around Vally, protecting the toddler.
Hank drew his gun and pressed it to Sergei's temple.
Merrick held up his hand, ready to crush Sergei with a thought.
Vally began to glow like a roman candle.
Riker licked his lips. "uh…could we not do this in the moving vehicle?"
The group all glanced at him before settling back down, though Hank remained tense. "When we meet up with grandpa and Aunt Ashleigh, we're having a long talk about how you treat prisoners, dad."
Merrick smirked. "Oh, believe me…we are."
&&&
Carter stumbled into the tiny cabin, his entire body lax and weighted. It had taken hours for them to bust out of the storm, and an hour more for the sun to come out. Now, there were nearing the bay they needed, the water was calm, and Lee had finally gotten around to drawing sailors to take over. That left the humans…and Galatea…to go sleep off the rough night.
Carter had been last to leave the topdeck, having to act as the light for the paper clones. Stumbling into the first cabin he found, he threw off his soppy t-shirt and jeans, his jacket hung on the door, before sliding into bed. "Lee, don't get any ideas."
"Expecting someone else?" Madrid mumbled.
"…oh." Carter said, not bothering to get up. "The other beds?"
"Lee and Galatea are in one, Tina and Kelly another, Marshall is sleeping on the floor of the room your mom and Linda are in…this is the last empty one." Madrid rubbed her eyes, trying to force herself awake.
Carter stared at her, then slowly rolled away. "I'll bunk on the bench in the kitchen…"
"Don't." Madrid said, grabbing his arm. "When's the last time you slept?"
Carter blinked, trying to think of the answer for that. "uh…6 am…"
"And its 7 am the next day…over 24 hours…you need to sleep…I'll take the couch…" She shifted, swinging over him, only for Carter to yank her down.
"It's ok…"
Madrid glared at him. "Don't be a knight in shiny armor, ok? I'm a big girl."
"I know…just trying to be helpful…" Carter said with a sigh. "This is how we got into this mess, isn't it? Being stupid and stubborn?"
Madrid chuckled weakly. "I guess so." She paused. "Share?"
"Share." Carter said, Madrid shifting slightly. "Uh…are you wearing anything?"
Madrid paused, arms holding her up, following Carter's eye line. "Can ask you the same." She held in the position for another moment before quickly laying back down, trying to hide her bare body…by pressing it against Carters. "ok…bad idea."
"Hold on." Carter said, shifting Madrid slightly, rolling her to his right and extending her arm. He grunted as she kicked a little, trying to find a comfortable spot. Finally, the two ended up on their backs, Madrid half draped over Carter, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her. "Good?"
"Good." Madrid admitted. And it was, to her surprise. Madrid had been with men before…in Hollywood, sex was little more then a powerplay. Sleep with the right man to get a role or piss off a rival or ease tensions. And the thing she had found was that…a lot of actors were short.
Not super short…just comparatively. They were 5'5", 5'6", the tallest a 5'9". Unfortunately, Madrid was the type of woman most men dreamed off: a tanned, lithe, leggy 5'10". Which was great…for them. For her, it meant that she was constantly dealing with little problems and big, bruised egos.
But Carter fit her perfectly. 6'0", lean yet muscular (how shocked she would have been if she had seen him before Eden and the rest of the ghostly crew had done their training with him), willing to led yet also support.
She thought back to her interactions with Carter, realizing that except for the last time they had been in Vegas, the man had tried his hardest to be friendly to her, to prove himself worthy of her trust. He hadn't been mean, hadn't belittled her…he had treated her with respect.
'Vally liked him…bet she would have liked him even if he wasn't her father.' Madrid thought. 'She can…tell who is good and bad…she didn't like Sergei, did she?' And as Madrid thought about that, she realized something…something she should hadn't ever accepted before.
"We have a daughter." Madrid whispered.
Carter blinked, pulling himself from his near-sleep. "…y-yea, we do."
"We have a daughter." Madrid whispered in awe. "You're a daddy…and…and I'm a mommy…"
Glancing over at her, Carter nodded slowly. "Yea…"
"Tell me about her?" Madrid asked quietly.
Carter frowned. "Uh…little thing, spunky, hates Dora the Explore, likes to explode into a fiery pink version of herself, you lived with her for 2 odd years…"
"That's Vally-the-sister…" Madrid licked her lips. "Please…tell me about our daughter."
&&&
12 hours later, after waiting for the second limo to arrive, Merrick's patience paid off. The group had been waiting on top of an office building the Delpines owned, Merrick wanting to make a stunning appearance when his sister and father arrived.
"You will be polite." Merrick said calmly to Vally, placing a hand on her back and pushing her towards Anthony and Ashleigh. They two had met Merrick's group in Flint, just a few blocks from the college, which only Hank saw as ironic.
Vally looked up at Merrick. "My daddy is gonna…" She slashed her hand across her throat.
Merrick chuckled. "If I even see you flash pink, I will personally kill you then torture your precious Maddy and Daddy…you hear me."
Vally trembled slightly but still managed to bravely stare Merrick down.
Anthony smiled, walking up to Hank and shaking his hand. "Hello my boy…hello."
"Hi Grandpa." Hank said, pretending to happy. "Aunt Ashleigh."
Ashleigh grinned. "look at you…getting ready to take over the family business."
Hank rubbed the back of his head. "I guess so…"
"Guess…come on!" Ashleigh teased. "Ya tricked the mighty Metatron…kidnapped his daughter right under his nose…I swear, you'll be leading the family before long!"
Sergei scoffed. "The Mighty Metatron? If Carter heard that, you'd give him an even bigger head."
Riker rubbed the stump where his hand had been. "The kid is powerful, comrade. The Metatron cost me an arm…did some weird mojo to BeeBee's mind…"
Biddy tried her best to appear evil and pissed, though it came off more as having gas.
"Riker is right, Sergei." Merrick said coldly. "You are my number 2, and I am ashamed you do underestimate Carter Daniels so. The Metatron rivals my wife in power."
"Mom?" Hank whispered. "What do you…"
Anthony interrupted them, leaning down to look at Vally. "So…you are her…Valencia."
Vally frowned. "I'm Valencia Ana Maria Alverez-Daniels." She said boldly. "And I don't like you." She stuck her tongue out at Anthony, the old man laughing in delight.
"Wonderful…so spirited…perhaps I will convince Merrick to let me raise you." He leaned in, stage whispering, "I did so bad on my first two."
Ashleigh huffed. "Maybe it's your fault we are homicidal."
Anthony shrugged in agreement. "Perhaps."
"What will happen to Vally?" Biddy asked. When everyone looked at her, she tried to appear aloof. "Not that I care."
"Yea, me and BeeBee didn't sign on for this…we signed on to help yea out, not wage a war…so pay us our cash…" Riker stretched his hand out to Merrick, "…and we'll go."
Merrick slapped his hand away. "Stay on and I'll double your fee…and give it to you once every 6 months."
Riker thought that over. "How about…"
Merrick closed his fist, slamming Riker down. "Don't be greedy." Merrick turned back to Hank. "as for the Light…I, not you father, will be caring for her, teaching her about the Alliance and the Delpine family. If I feel she will be a perfect addition to the family, we'll adopt her…"
"And not?" Hank asked, biting down his anger.
Merrick grinned. "Ever squish a ladybug."
Vally stomped her foot. "NO! Not-my-daddy!"
Ashleigh rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'd stop that…Hank can attest to the fact that Merrick can beat that temperament out of someone."
Hank nodded, frightened as he remembered the corporal punishment his father had dished out when he was bad. If that was the fate for Vally…Hank wasn't sure he could wait for the group to come to the rescue.
Merrick checked his watch, frowning as the winds began to pick up. He had scheduled his private helicopter to pick him up here, so they could head to the jet waiting for them in Detroit, then head towards England, where Anthony's mansion awaited. But, the copter was late, and a sudden storm was blowing in…rather unnaturally.
"The professor." Merrick hissed.
"What?" Riker asked.
"They're here." Merrick snapped. "Damn it…Riker, BeeBee…go down to the street; Ashleigh, make as many clones as you can…father, contact the damn helicopter before they…"
"MERRICK!"
Hank slowly placed an arm around Vally as she began to bounce up and down in glee, even as the rest of the group, save for Biddy, looked over the edge of the building.
"Daddy's here!" Vally called out, even as Carter's Metatron-pitched voice echoed from below.
"WE COME FOR OUR DAUGHTER!" Carter roared from the street below, Madrid at his side. Both were decked in full body leather, Carter sword in his hand as his head and hands swirled in silver flames, Madrid covered in guns. "BUT WE DO NOT COME WITHOUT PAYMENT! WE BRING TO YOU…THE END OF THE ALLIANCE!"
Sergei scoffed. "2 against all of us…plus Ashleigh's clones…some end."
Anthony shook his head, point farther out. "Don't be so sure."
As Sergei stared out, he saw what had given all the rest of the Delpines pause.
For just a block from Carter, stood Lee, dressed also in black leather. To his right were Kelly, Galatea and Tina, to his left Helena and Marshal. And behind him…
Behind him…
…stood 10,000 paper-cloned soldiers, ready for battle.
The artist smiled softly. Lee raised his hand. He was finally ready to begin maing atonement for his sins, to help the world after he had caused so much pain…destroyed the Delpines, taking revenge on his psedo-mother, and saving Carter's daughter would be a smart. "ATTACK!"
The soldiers roared in approval, lifting the weapons Madrid had copied for them, while she and Carter rushed the building, set on one goal: To save Vally.
The great war…had finally come.