Defenders of the Earth: This Is Their Side Story

"Firstborn"

"So Jedda rules now?" Flash asked as he sat.

"She does," Kit answered, gripping his mug. How had his daughter grown up so fast? It'd seemed rather speedy for him, at least. Not long ago, he'd watched her crawl, ruler of the little toy huts in her crib. Now Jedda ruled an entire world. He still couldn't fasten his mind around that.

"So..." Flash smirked, taking a sip. "If I know the royals — which I do — there had to be a little arm-twisting involved." A clear arrogance lingered on his face. The man knew the politics of Mongo well. "Who got her on the throne?"

"It seems you did."

Flash recoiled. The smirk was gone.

"There's a video from a while back...an old video of you kissing Cas." Kit had to wonder what prompted that. Flash had been married to Dale back then. He'd never known his friend as the cheating type. Was it an affair, or merely a kiss? Most of the time, Kit wouldn't inquire. But given that it'd altered his daughter's life, his curiosity got the better of him. "Is there anything that you'd like to discuss?" He tried his very best to sound sensitive. "Anything about Castra...I meant."

Flash took a breath, looking away. "That happened in the middle of the Great Rebellion. None of us expected to survive that clash."

10 Years Ago

Mingo Valley

The Great Rebellion — Day 43

Another missile soared across the vast gray clouds. Heavy rain pounded their hole in the ground.

"We move or we die!" Barin declared, clutching his rifle as he prepped to run.

Flash wasn't going to dispute that point. One of those explosives would find them soon. They needed to flee, and he was prepared.

He turned to his wife, who shifted her helmet, giving him a nod as she gripped her gun. Dale was all set to depart with them. He eyed the little necklace that she often wore, the one with a picture of April and Rick.

"What about the 'bots?" he asked them both, referring to the many ice sentries above. He'd banked on the water to shut them down. Things hadn't gone as he'd hoped they would. The moment they emerged from this tiny hole, they'd have to rush by all the robots' blasts — assuming that a missile didn't get them first.

A raucous explosion shook the ground nearby. It was much closer than a previous one.

That was the moment when he knew for sure — all of their luck was about to expire. They weren't getting off of this field alive.

Dale held his shoulder. "Listen, fly guy." She looked more focused than ever before. "There's something that I'll need you to do for me, just in case I don't make it home with you."

Present Day

Monitor

"I kind of flipped out after she told me — once it had time to sink in, I mean." Flash eyed the table with a look of shame.

Kit felt a level of empathy. Had he ever heard such a thing from Jade, he would've reacted the exact same way.

"Cas was having problems with Tevrok too...so she and I did something stupid together." He stroked his brow. "I had no idea it was being recorded."

Kit paused a moment, giving Flash time. "Did Dale say who?"

"No," he said. "And I decided that I wouldn't pressure her. We were so happy when we made it home that we silently agreed we would let it go." He frowned a tad. "It wasn't like I'd never kept a secret myself."

April eased down by her mom on the hill. "You ready to start?" she asked with glee.

"Ready and waiting," Dale replied.

April eyed the little pink tablet with joy. "First on the list: we've got to make it over to Branville Point." That had long been a favorite spot of theirs. "Remember that day when Rick fell in the puddle?"

Dale laughed a bit.

"If I can get everyone to go back there, I'm going to make sure he takes another..." April twitched a little as she looked to the sky.

Out of the hovering, ebony clouds, Veena floated down and landed right on the hill, her dark cape billowing a tad as she stood. She looked Dale over with a pensive gaze.

April sprung up, pulling a blaster. Something told her to carry one out here. "Mom! Get back!" She aimed at Veena.

"No!" Dale rose and snatched the weapon away.

April was stunned. "That's Damian's daughter! Veena Dark." It seemed her mother didn't recognize the girl, though April couldn't figure out why that was. Dale had studied Damian and Veena's files, eyeing both folders extensively.

"I know who she is," Dale declared. "It's all right." She clutched April's weapon, adjusted the safety, then tucked the small gun at a spot on her back. She looked a bit paler as she watched their guest.

Veena breathed deeply, holding the stare.

"Did Damian tell you?" Dale asked of her, speaking in a voice April barely heard.

"Only Ming did," Veena replied. "The guy is a master at playing chess. He moves you around, then benefits. He told me who you were and how to bring you back, just so he could steal that Defender jet."

Dale stepped forth. "I know all about Ming the Merciless." She paused a second. "In any event...I'm living again. I've thanked sweet Amy. And now I thank you."

April glared a bit. "What do you mean? Veena didn't do that to help us out. She gave us the spell to corrupt Amy."

"That isn't true," Veena replied. "I figured O'Connor could resist the lure. I wasn't so sure I'd be able to."

April grew a little perplexed by that.

"Both me and Amy have flirted with darkness, but I'm a tad closer to the edge than her. If I had attempted to cast that spell, I would've ended up like my insane dad." She faced Dale again. "He and I share the same goals in life, but I'm not willing to lose my mind."

Dale eyed Veena half curiously. Why did she appear so intrigued by this?

Veena faced April. "Back on the island, when all of us fought, it wasn't Mandrake I was targeting. I wasn't even trying to take you out. I had to play a role until my chance arose — the opening that I'd been waiting for."

According to the info that April had, Veena was abused by Damian. She'd likely spent years trying to free herself. Who wouldn't want freedom from a father like that? She'd probably thought she'd had it when he'd died in space, failing to assemble three artifacts. Then he'd revived, and reentered her life, casting his influence once again. But Veena wasn't Little Miss Innocent. April knew this pretty well by now.

Dale heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry for what Dark put you through," she uttered to Veena as she neared the girl, taking apprehensive, careful steps. "I had no idea where you were back then."

April made a scowl. What on Earth? Why was her mom acting strange like this?

As though she was actually reading her mind, Dale turned around and locked gazes with her. "April..." she muttered, shaking a bit. Her pink lips quivered and her eyes overflowed. It took a bit of time for her to find her voice. "Around one year before I met your dad...I had another daughter." She turned again. "That daughter was Veena."