To quote Knockout, this is going to be juicy~ Hope you all enjoy!
The briefcase was set down on the twins' ornate mahogany desk, the top of it being brushed off of any flecks of dust.
Every holoform in the manor had all tried to cram into the office, though Optimus and Megatronus took the two opposing office chairs, Ira and Kia looming over their respective shoulders, the rest were either standing or sitting on the sofa's that sat against the walls of the office.
Lucifer himself cleared his throat. "Hell-o there!" He paused, chuckling to himself. "Sorry, I could not help myself." He cleared his throat again. "Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Lucifer Morningstar, God of Damnation and caretaker of the 'bad end', I am Aria and Wren's uncle."
Ira put her arm up.
"Yes my fiery friend, what can I do for you?"
"If you're 'heir uncle… who's 'heir aun'?"
He snapped his fingers together. "A wonderful question my dear, first and foremost, she is not my wife. Just getting that out of the way first. It's more a once removed split custody arrangement." He elaborated, before pausing and scowling. "At least, it was, before a certain God of Creation decided he needed them…" He growled bitterly.
He popped the latches of the briefcase and turned it, opening the lid slowly, as if for dramatic effect.
Two scrolls were pinned open by small straps at the corners.
Megatronus recognised them at once, but everyone else was just perplexed.
The scrolls seemed to have been… overwritten, with Cybertronian text over another script.
At the bottom of each, on the dotted lines, were two messy scrawls.
"These… are their contracts." He introduced. "Contracts are powerful, powerful things, given their strength and power during a time only the dust of the universe remembers… they grant things that are otherwise abjectly impossible… I've made it my life's work to become perfect at their creation… these two… were masterpieces, if I do say so myself."
Optimus rose from his seat, leaning in closer, scowling himself when he realised he did not recognise the text. "What does it say?" He asked.
Lucifer's scowl persisted. "That really is the question, isn't it? These were signed contracts, by all but one right, they should never have been altered… but they have been… and the ownership of these contracts no longer belong to me… I merely get to keep the physical copies." He explained, tapping the points on both which bore the ancient scrawl that likely depicted his name. "I may not know what it says, but I know exactly what it means." He explained, glancing to Ira and Kia for a moment.
Everyone seemed to lean in a bit, anticipation building.
"There is a singular right that overrides all others, even contracts such as these. The right to cease. An ancient right of the Gods… one that has not had to be called upon for generations." He explained.
Kia raised her arm this time, he beckoned for her to speak.
He beckoned for her to speak.
"Why… did they have these, already?"
"That is a discussion better had with them when they awaken." Lucifer stated. "But know this, with them overwritten, and in this dialect, I cannot say for certain the exact technicalities of the contract, I only know the broad strokes. Primarily, this is now a contract… for the forging of… God Killers."
The implication only rang true for Megatronus, who paled. "No…" He rasped out. "They… they're going… to be put through that?!" He roared, rising to his feet.
Lucifer didn't twitch as the rest of the room looked between the two of them in building alarm. "I am sorry my friend… but it very much seems so… the fact that they have become entirely cocooned is testament to that… if they return to us… they will be… changed…"
"If?" Derrick croaked out.
Lucifer offered the younger Harpy an apologetic look. "Yes… If… I have no idea what Primus' time frame is… I have been hounding the god of Time for years now but she will not humour me in the slightest… stating my knowledge of the future would do 'irreparable harm'..." He remarked, even making air quotes with a distinct level of disdain.
"Time?! Just how many gods are there?" Ironhide butted in.
Lucifer hummed. "Oh there are many… but goodness knows where half of them are… some have long since left the central nexus of Earth… Cherang has been gone ever since… Primus…" He trailed off, suddenly turning pale. "I need to find Cherang!" He exclaimed.
"Cherang?" Optimus spoke up. "Whom, is that?"
Lucifer was pacing a few steps in each direction behind the desk now. "Cherang, the god of Change… their, by design, an ever changing form… The last any saw of them… they'd had their acolytes… ripped away from them… by Primus…" He grimaced. "A bunch of Cybertronians who'd denounced Primus for Cherang… They vanished into their own grief not long after… Perhaps they can help us understand more?!"
Glances went around then. "Who were these individuals who renounced Primus?" Ratchet asked.
Lucifer scowled. "I never knew them… only heard about them whenever Cherang appeared at a summit… he was always so proud of them… I need to find them… I'm sorry for cutting this short. Megatronus, try and hail Grim when they emerge, we'll want to know… forgive me." He plucked up the briefcase, shutting it in the process, before snapping his fingers and dropping through a flaming vortex under his feet.
There was a long pause after that, before Ira cracked.
"QUE CARA?!"
The next few moments were even more chaotic.
Erupting like the cork from a champagne bottle, few had time to react before Megatronus was flat on the ground, Kia pinning him down with a loaded, safety off, Uzi pressed under his chin.
"ANSWERS! NOW! WHAT THE FUCK. DID. YOU. DO?!"
Megatronus held very, very still, a pained grimace in her features as he met her gaze.
"I did what I could."
Kia snarled, pressing the muzzle deeper. "I'm not taking that as an answer. TALK!"
He grimaced, but relented. "I… convinced them… that signing those contracts… would make them safe… so, they signed."
"What. Were. The. Conditions?" Kia growled out in a somehow sickly sweet voice.
"Protection… Means they could protect themselves… Resistance to narcotics… Anything they needed to survive. Everything they needed to rise to the very top, overthrow their mother in political strength… the ability to take over… everything…"
The Uzi's muzzle was pressing into the windpipe.
Technically none of the holoforms needed to breath, but it still felt incredibly unpleasant. "Those are the benefits. What. Were. The. Conditions?"
He gulped. "Half their lifetime… and eternal servitude after death. They were supposed to die… at 40…"
An ants gasp could have been heard in that room.
No one dared move for a moment, before Optimus spoke. "When… how… old were they… Megatronus?" He asked, his tone betraying the fear he had for whatever the former warlord would answer with.
Megatronus scowled like he tasted something bitter. "In my defence… it was… rather time sensitive. They needed protection I couldn't give…"
"How. Old." Optimus growled this time, standing that bit straighter as he loomed over the downed mechs holoform.
Megatronus gritted his teeth. "Six. They were six. The day after the failed lobotomy…"
Deep space, eons past
"NAVS! CRANK UP THAT HEAT!" Solarstorm bellowed as she charged towards the breach, snatching the weapon that folded out of one of the panels she shot past.
Harpoon, Nav knew her well.
"Flaring engines, opening warp core shieldings, cutting off cooling systems, opening vent network~ Burn!~ Burn!~ Burn!~" The voice of their A.I. responded excitedly.
Solarstorm could see as much as feel the temperature begin creeping up, she was nowhere near the engines, she was still closer to the control hub.
The boarders were much, much closer.
"See anything on the cameras?"
"Yeah, they're already screaming, bet they'll be cooked before you get… SLAG! Another ship just warped in! Victory better get here soon!" Nebularburst responded over the bond, aggravation flaring.
Even from this deep behind the shielding, the roar of Navs guns filled the corridor she was trying to reach the end of, shaking the plating just that bit.
"Just keep the fire going, they are not taking this planet!"
She sped up, she needed to deal with the boarders, then get right back to the bridge to help with coordinating Navs flight path, one ship was fine, but two meant they were at risk of being flanked.
Nebularburst didn't respond, focusing her attention on the opponents outside.
By the time she reached where the breach was, the white paint on the walls was starting to flake and peel.
The boarders had survived, activating thermal shielding.
She snarled, gripping her harpoon with both servos. "Easy way, or hard way?!" She barked at them.
The one that seemed to be the groups leader hissed something in a language she didn't care to translate, and pointed his gun at her.
The helmet keeping him from suffocating was promptly hosting the business end of her harpoon, the blade sinking deep into the organics head, splitting it in two.
She snarled as the rest of the group all pulled their guns.
The snarl became a wicked grin, she was going to have fun.
Flexing her digits for a moment, she lunged with a roar, tackling the one closest, ripping and tearing at protective suit and warm flesh alike, painting the peeling walls with fluids that hissed and spat on contact with the burning hot metal around them.
Out of the corner of her optic, one of them pulled a knife, going to lunge.
The one under her was already good as slag, she rolled to the side off him, letting his co-boarder finish the job for her.
She saw the flash of realisation, but the momentum wasn't going to be stopped, and she used his sudden imbalance to swing around, smashing her pede into the side of his helmet, crumbling the metal and shattering the silica.
It was starting to smell bad now, the two already dead boarders and their juices were starting to burn up completely, filling the area with rancid smoke.
Fine by her, it made it even harder for them to spot her, but she knew exactly where they were.
There'd been eight in total, the last ended when she wrenched the harpoon from the first, and drove it straight through the centre of the final ones suit, bringing him in nice and close for her to get a good look at him, before hissing. "Was it all worth it?"
Her adversary gurgled on his own juices before she dropped him to the ground, and with a final brutal kick, ended the last ones life.
"Boarders dealt with."
"Navs, be a darling, vent this smoke and send cleaning drones, oh, and you can turn off the heat."
"Roger, Roger Solar." Navs responded, reversing the vent flow and sucking the smoke out as Solarstorm left the mangled remains, the boarding pod itself was going to be stuck in Nav's hull until they next found a dock willing to take them.
And willing to work with them.
The Varani Proxia was likely the closest, but they always tried to wring extra out of them for 'complimentary services'.
Returning to the bridge took just as long, and it was obvious they were starting to take hits to their flanks, from both sides.
Not good, Amer and Rover had better get here soon to provide back up.
Snarling to herself Solarstorm vaulted back into her own pod, letting massive cables rear up around her, jamming right into the ports she exposed across her frame.
No time for a gentle set up, she needed to get them into a better position.
The systems engaged, and she felt her processor slip away from her frame once more.
Her optics opened once more in a digital control scape, with an endless vast void surrounding her, Nebularburst, and Navs, the laters avatar floating just behind them, waiting for orders.
Her helm swung around, ignoring the volley after volley Nebularburst was firing at the two ships that were trying their luck.
The shields were taking a nasty beating.
"Status update?!" Solarstorm barked.
"Hull integrity is still good, could be better, they are preparing more boarding pods." Navs replied.
Her upper lipplates pulled up in a distasteful snarl. "Neb?"
"I have homing rockets locked on them now, they won't be so lucky this time." Her twin responded flatly, but it was obvious her concentration was nearly entirely focused with keeping The Navigators small armies worth of heavy artillery and smaller guns on their individual targets.
That was normally her job, but Nebular was holding her own, and the attacking vessels shields were starting to flicker and warp under the constant assault.
"Should we push it?" Navs piped up. "I have the thrusters ready to push forwards, we broad side them both!" They offered.
It took them a moment, before they both nodded, and Solarstorm sent the confirmation for the course change. "Neb, be ready to smoke them."
"Oh I'm more than ready." She hissed out.
They felt the engines fully engage, no doubt burning through a good chunk of the fuel they had stocked up in one of the reserve tanks.
By the time The Victory finally warped into scanner range, The Navigators drones were already picking the two husks apart for any materials of value, the crews either having abandoned their vessels, or been snuffed with them when the shields gave out and their artillery ripped them both apart.
::The Victory hailing The Navigator, respond. You three okay?:: Amer's voice came over the coms in a audio wave that appeared near them.
Nebularburst let out a strained laugh. ::I… hehe… regret betting I could handle… hoohoohoo the artillery… that's Sol's job forever now!::
Rovers voice joined the call. ::Oh? Bit off more crystal than you could process there Neb? Everybot knows Sol's the one between you two who can shoot.::
::HEY! I did all of that!:: She exclaimed indignantly, gesturing wildly at the smouldering wreckage of their adversaries.
::And you did good!:: Amer responded. ::But it's pretty obvious that really wore you out, take some time to recoup, okay? Running all of those systems can be slagging taxing, I'd know… we were late because a damn pirate vessel managed to snag a ride through the warp before last, we had to pry them off the hull.::
::That's understandable, how's you're haul going? We think this planet's going to give us a lot of good resources, want to join us?:: Solarstorm offered.
::We're doing good, but hey, might as well.:: Rover answered, The Victory could be seen out there turning towards the planet they'd just defended the claim of.
They met in the metal on the surface, each quickly embracing one of the other, while The Victory and The Navigators surface harvesters rolled out.
They were all drones, they had to be.
They were the only bots who could last so long out here.
Drones didn't crack under space sickness, that needed a sentient processor, which they were, by their nature, lacking.
"How have the solar winds been treating you two?" Amer asked, ever keen to keep tabs on all of them.
Nebularburst offered her a smile. "We've been good. This quadrant has been pretty rich in resources so far, but it's quite apparent that there's another force here. Small but a bit annoying."
Amer hummed. "I could have Swift and Revs join you for back up? If it's resource rich as you say, both ships should be able to stock up handily."
Solarstorm frowned. "You can't stay?"
"Storage is nearly full, it's our turn to head back to Cybertron." Rover reminded them.
"Ah… right… after this planet… we should be right behind you." Nebularburst responded, glancing over at where the first drone was already beginning to dig.
In time, this planet would be so riddled with tunnels, a solar wind might just send the whole thing crashing down.
No, it would.
It was sad, in a way.
Yes this planet was barren, it's core long cold… but they'd seen traces of… something… Long gone, a species that tried to rise… only to fall before they could escape to the stars…
And now… they would end the story for good… rendering the old world of all it had…
Older than all of them, maybe even older than the Great Alpha Trion…
And they would drive in the final blade…
"Neb?" Amer spoke softly, cupping her chin and bringing her attention back to her leader. "You look… pale?"
Nebularburst hummed, digging one of the claws of her pede into the dusty ground. "I… I just… my spark wants to grieve this place…"
Amer looked out at the barren landscape, and the distant remnants of an extinct city. "I know Neb… I know… but they don't need these resources anymore… Swift and Revs can handle the cities if you want to focus on the raw materials…"
She sucked in a vent then shook her helm. "No… no they're younger… we can handle any remains we find."
Rover and Amer exchanged a quick glance, before they both nodded. "Alright… but if you need to take a break… do so." Rover stated.
Solarstorm nodded. "We will, I'll make sure of it."
Amer hummed. "How about we go an investigate now? It seemed to be the central city, there might be some history we can preserve?" She offered.
Nebularburst offered her a thankful smile. "Yeah, let's go see what we can save."
A quick ride on a shuttle brought them to the centre of the crumbling city, metal, stone and silica were the main resources of most civilisations, and this one was no different.
And like all abandoned cities, they did not remain pristine.
Though the long rusting husks of what could have only been weapons of war suggested that the chunks of building scattered across the wide streets did not all come from the rages of time and the tearing claws of wind.
Solarstorm clambered up one, and with one hard kick, sent the main turret flying, the heavy gun crashing through the front of a nearby wall, revealing the internal struts of what she guessed as four. "They snuffed in their seats, their end came swiftly…" She remarked, before shimmying through the hole she'd made to further investigate.
Nebaularburst shuddered, looking around. "Any burn damage?"
"Not likely, struts are dry, but show no sign of heat damage."
"Acid?" Amer offered as she clambered up the side to investigate.
"Negative."
"So something that didn't leave a mark…" Rover commented, investigating a nearby rubble pile. "Likely something that caused a swift, biological end."
Solarstorm, still inside the cramped machine, glanced at the surrounding walls, and noticed something strange. "Hmm… Maybe they were… boiled?"
"Boiled?" The other three choroused.
"Well something had to leave all of this residue… and my scans suggest its… well… cooked."
"Eww… Get out there." Nebularburst pleaded with her twin, both aloud and over the bond.
Solarstorm humoured her, clambering back out. "My educated guess, high atmosphere explosion, one that drastically affected the chemical compounds within, heat from the blast ended at least this lot, but the other side of the planet likely suffered their atmosphere suddenly being not right."
"Incredible observation."
They all jolted, pulling weapons and turning to face the direction the voice originated from.
It… was an alien.
The scans never failed… there wasn't supposed to be a bit of life left…
But here this one was…
Something was… off…
"Who are you? Scavenger?" Amer asked wearily.
The alien smiled. "I, am Cherang… and this planet… is called Arestia… I witnessed your battle amongst the stars… incredible skill and fire power." They responded, dipping into a bow before gesturing to everything around them.
Weapons lowered slightly, Rover asked the next question. "What are you… how are you here? There's not enough atmo left here to sustain organic life."
The alien smiled at them. "I have no need for gases to sustain myself. What I am in need of, is… well, a lift."
"A… lift?" Solarstorm repeated incredulously. "To where?"
They continued to smile. "Anywhere, wherever you stop next that I find interesting… I came here when life still flourished, it was a lovely place… you were correct on your guess… their hubris led them down a path they could not return from."
"And you survived?"
"I am… rather immune to the ailments they suffered in their final moments."
The weapons raised again.
"What. Are. You." Amer hissed. "Wait… How do you know our language?!"
The smile still didn't fade. "I am everything, as I am nothing…" They responded, as something on their face… twitched.
It twisted, pulling more and more flesh with it as Nebularburst's resolve cracked first, taking a terrified step back.
Colours rippled across it, the tattered clothing straining and ripping as the body warped, reformed, limbs grew as old ones were consumed.
A six limbed behemoth, with a mouth full of serrated fangs, stared upon them all with a single, blind, white orb.
"I. Am Cherang. God of Change."
Amer snarled and shot the "God" in that orb.
The God simply laughed as the orb warped around the shot, letting it pass with ease. "Good aim. I am the God of Change, I oversee the collapse of stars, the rise and fall of life, the warps of coding, organic and not, that create anew. I am the rot that festers from the dead. I am the decay of worlds. I am the life of worlds. I am a constant, as much as I am never one, singular, thing." The God proclaimed, rising high on those spindly limbs. "All that has ever been, I can become. All that there ever will become something new, is by my design."
Rover's resolve wavered, servo going to grip at Amer's wrist.
Solarstorm stepped forwards. "If you are this so-called god of change. Did you do this?" She asked, gesturing to the dead world around them.
Cherang shook his massive head. "No. I did not. I was merely visiting. The God of War, Rexorium, decided their end, I merely allowed the scavengers to pick all clean, until they too starved and were fed upon, letting the cycle continue… until the last breath of life, was gone."
"And now… you're stuck…" Rover pondered cautiously, optics darting to the surrounding extinct city.
Cherang nodded. "Indeed. I propose… a deal."
They all tensed in anticipation.
"You see, of all my travels, I have never met anything… quite like you four… you're made of metal, it is rust that will eat you… not scavengers and micro-life… am I correct that your life span is… drastically longer than organic life?"
They all glanced between each other for a moment before they collectively nodded.
"How amicable would you be to the idea of this being a… more long term arrangement then? I can offer something to you in turn to make it worth your while?"
Amer paused, and Solarstorm spoke. "Only once we know what you're offering."
Cherang managed to grin with that horrid looking set of jaws. "A place between places, where a true trove has been hidden~ The Forge~ A wonderful device, powered by the collected hearts of many a dead star, for the purpose of crafting anything you could possibly desire, your weapons are impressive, but I have no doubt you could forge better~"
Solarstorm scowled. "That is an incredibly high value offering if you're being truthful… there's more you want out of this, isn't there?"
"Very astute… there is one thing I truly crave, and that, is companionship… company and transport, in turn for the location of the Forge, is that reasonable?"
Nebularburst grabbed her twins wrist, tugging her back. "Can you… give us a few kliks to discuss this?"
"Of course. I can wait."
They quickly walked behind one of the crumbling buildings.
"If this Forge exists… in a 'place between places' we could use it as a sanctuary… somewhere we can rest without the Senate being able to know where we are…" Amer mused.
"And if it doesn't, we'll have a hard time prying the God of Change off our ships." Solarstorm reminded them.
"What if we have him ride in one of the drone ships to the location?" Nebularburst suggested. "They're able to act as independent craft, if it ends up not existing, we can cut the ship from the tether, send a command never to return to the ships, we can handle losing one drone ship."
Rover seemed to consider it for a moment. "That could work… if they agree to the terms…"
"It's not like they want to say no, they seem amicable…" Solarstorm pointed out. "As… unnerving as their… physical form can be."
There was an unspoken agreement with her second statement, that the whole transformation had been… unsettling.
Decision made, they returned to the god.
They were floating now, paddle like limbs slowly gliding through the air, seemingly keeping them aloft.
"We'll take you… but you lead us to the forge first, and you ride in one of the drone ships there."
"It's a deal~"
Philippines
Starvation was a powerful motivator.
They'd ignored the prangs originally… but that only lasted so long before none of them could ignore the gnawing of whatever they had instead of stomachs.
But the question of what they could eat had made them hesitant.
That was the case until they stumbled onto something that whetted their appetites to the point of lapsed senses.
The cries of the poor cow had been swiftly been silenced with the breaking of it's neck under the grip of Stella's talons.
The former Matriarch eyed the dead cow with intent, letting go of it's neck so it could completely drop to the ground.
The rest of the herd had already run in terror, bellowing and braying into the darkness of the night.
The dark of the night didn't obscure her two traveling companions.
They were coming in from either side, stances haunched, and behind those pitch black visors, their gazes were locked onto the fresh carcass too.
There was no denying what their forms craved.
But as Moira and Ivan took another step closer, something… shifted inside of Stella.
Thought and reason vanished as she spun on Moira first, flaring her wings and snapping her protrusions out wide, making herself so, so much bigger than the already smaller, thinner former woman.
Moira staggered in surprise, letting out a high pitched noise as she pitched too far back from the shock, ending up on her back once again.
Ivan was just as taken aback as Stella spun on him, the sheer speed of the action meaning he barely dodged her swiping her wing at him as she hissed at him.
He had enough sense and instinct to stagger back, bowing his form as low as possible, trying to seem as small and unthreatening as possible.
Both companions put in their places, Stella's attention went back to the dead cow.
She would prefer it cooked over a proper seasoned grill… but a random field would have to do.
Using her talons, she kicked it onto its back, exposing its under belly.
She ignored the swollen udder, she didn't want to consider it.
She felt her face pull itself apart far further than it was supposed to, letting her metal tongue glide over the serrated blades there before they met the soft skin, gliding through it with no resistance.
Iron.
So much Iron.
Why was she only tasting iron?
She didn't care, her body seemed to delight as she let instinct take over.
The whole chunk went down without even an attempt at chewing.
She could feel the warm blood sliding down her face as she went down, taking another bite out, widening the hole in the cow's underbelly.
A bit wider and she'd be able to go deeper.
Her gaze flicked back to her two travelling companions regularly, both keeping back, but it was obvious how famished they each were.
None of them would've ever been so driven to feast on this carcass if they were human.
They'd want it cooked, properly prepped.
They did not have those luxuries now.
Eventually her hunger seemed to be satisfied, pulling back to observe the half decimated carcass.
Ivan and Moira sprung, each grabbing a leg and yanking it back towards themselves.
Stella let them, stepping back to try and clean the mess on her face, rubbing her face into the unsullied grass nearby.
The smaller duo began to snarl, each yanking here and there to try and win the rest of the cow for themselves.
Stella observed this wearily. She didn't like how they were all acting around this food source. Including herself.
She spotted Karma observing the two as well, the smaller metal bird kept glancing over to her, his beady white eyes keeping watch of her.
No, not her, he was looking behind her.
Snapping her head around she found… nothing.
Just the thick jungle that they'd stepped out of.
Deep inside there was no doubt something observing them, likely drawn by the sight and smell of a fresh kill…
Before she could consider what Karma could have been observing further, the bird let out another call, sharp almost… demanding?
The attempt to turn back to Karma had a sudden, burning pain shooting up her back, pulling a cry out of her as she staggered.
Karma leapt back and called again as the pain spread and a scream was pulled from the Estrada Matriarch.
Whatever food lust had been obscuring Moira and Ivan's senses vanished with the speed of having icy water dropped upon them.
Cow forgotten, their heads snapped too far around each, watching in growing horror as lilac sprayed from the largest's back.
And something moved.
Ivan had a moment of fearing that he was about to be part of some horrid recreation of the Alien film franchise as the mass began to squirm, and a head appeared, opening a lilac coated mouth.
Stella dropped completely to the ground then, screaming louder as more and more was ripped out of her back, allowing the smaller thing to stagger free, falling off the woman's back to land in a splatter of lilac and… wings?!
Karma was the only one not horrified, bouncing over to the new entity that was trying to right itself, letting out softer warbles and chirps.
Karma set to grooming as something clicked in Ivan's head.
It took a few moments to actually voice his shocked revelation though.
"Precious?!"
The entity's head snapped around, and even while coated in Stealla's unnaturally coloured blood, it was obvious.
Somehow Stella's personal bird had been, to put it mildly, hitching a ride.
And had quite literally torn her keeper a new one trying to get off.
Moira was the one to approach first, observing the overlapping plating along Stella's back that had been forced open to let the large form of Precious out. "Oh… there's your spine…" She mumbled, identifying the close approximation that could be seen. "No damage I can see… you shouldn't be paralysed." She observed, shifting to kneel next to the larger woman.
Stella just groaned, opting to not move to prove or disprove Moira's statement just yet.
Moira kept going with the observation. "I must say… it looks like there was quite a… sizeable pocket under these… good news, you're not bleeding anymore, so whatever all those cables are, they were connected right up to your dear pet. My best estimation, tweety here, finally decided to come loose, all these lines that had been attached separated without warning, but they've been shut off now…"
Ivan approached carefully. "So she's not gonna bleed out?"
"For now, yes, though it may be wise to… not put her back any time soon… wait a moment…" She cut herself off, leaning in closer to the lilac substance. "It's solidifying…" She mumbled. "Goodness… of all the times to be without my tools…" She groused.
Ivan ignored her after that, glancing to Karma as he continued to preen Precious, easily breaking the crystals off her feathers. "How the fuck did you know she was there?"
Karma just ignored him.
Ivan snorted. "Stupid bird…" He grumbled.
Jasper Nevada Sheriff's Office
The phone rang only once before it was snatched up off the desk.
"Jasper Nevada Sheriff's Office, Rodriguez speaking."
::It's Sophia.::
"Sophia?" Maria sat up straighter at her desk. "The hell are you calling me for?"
::What, I'm not allowed to call?!::
She snorted. "You never call, remember? Something about the KGB being on your ass?"
::I'd like to see them try, I'm not in Siberia at the moment… It's time.::
"Time… you made contact again?" She asked, glancing outside to make sure there wasn't anyone about to barge in.
::Yes… I… I couldn't keep it to myself… You understand, surely?::
"I do. You want to send Ira to me to lead to Jauva?"
::That was the plan, wasn't it?::
"I'm just checking… we can't mess this up."
::I know… Selena and Narissa's phone number is the same as last time?::
"They haven't told me otherwise… But they have been busy recently…" She trailed off, processing what Sophia had passed along to her.
It was time… they were near the end of this eon long torment.
Would all those hollow promises finally come true?
Would it all be worth it in the end?
Would Bella like her brother?
Would they accept them?
::Maria? Maria? Maria!... Oh for Pits sake! Dust!::
She jolted a bit before responding. "Damnit, sorry, I… I got lost in thought for a moment there…"
::I figured… I… I'm at the manor… they're here… my family… they're here.::
Maria hadn't heard that pained softness for a very long time. "Shrike… don't rush this… let them warm up to you first… please… don't jump the gun…"
::I'll try, good luck with Kia… Interacting with Ira… it's… so strange… it's like looking in a circus mirror…::
"A bit rude, but alright. Good luck."
::I'll need it… slag… Ira will call you directly later… maybe grab Molly and Bella?::
"I'll fill them in."
::Perfect, see you soon, Maria.::
"Yes. See you soon Sophia." Maria set the phone back down on its holder and groaned softly to herself, taking a few moments to rub at her temples.
They're time was coming to an end…
Hopefully she'd be able to give her family a proper explanation…
She could only hope they'd listen.
Jazz hands Show of hands, who guessed it?
Jokes aside, until next time!
Moon.