Kihonne: I am so sorry about the late update guys. Unfortunately, it's the time of year where all the term papers and assignments I'd told myself I'd have plenty of time to do have finally caught up with me. In other words, it's been a very busy couple of weeks. But the good news is, I have another chapter for you guys! But first, it's shoutout time!
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LabGirll2001: Yep, another girl! The votes were extremely close, but that's the result. She will be a fun addition once she's born. And very interesting theory about what happened to the Elite Force. You'll have to keep reading to see what's going on there. As for Emily and Darius, I agree – they were cute. And giving up on someone like that, especially someone she had feelings for, that's just not who Emily is. We'll see what he and Saturn have to say this chapter though, so it will be very interesting. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter!
SzymonS: Well, I can't leave them happy for too long, can I? Lol, you'll have to read and see. Yes, this story is set in 2038 (well, technically it's now 2039 since they just passed the New Year), but when those types of acceptance letters are sent out, they refer to the class by the year the program would normally end and the students would graduate. For Emily and Charlotte, that would be the year 2042. For example, even though I graduated high school in 2016, my letter said I'd be part of the graduating class of 2020. I'm glad you liked the time travel aspects. When I wrote the POS chapter, I had a pretty basic idea of what was going in Legacies. I'd already had the plot for Season 1 decided (and maybe Season 2, I can't quite remember when that was decided upon), and generally knew where all the characters were emotionally and relationship-wise. Yes, Oliver and Dani were visiting their mother during that chapter. I'm glad you liked the Argento bit – I thought it was a little amusing too. Jupiter is the name for the Calderan villain. I'll be doing a final who's-who this chapter, so any confusion over that should be clear. I'm seriously regretting the number of villains I had this season because of the whole codename thing – it was the only way I could still hide their identities, but it's caused a lot of confusion for the fans. As for Saturn, he has a very good reason for talking when he did. Good guess about the odds about the update being on time (you're clearly very good at numbers), though I wouldn't say Marcus is the one in charge. It's definitely going to be a seriously bad plan for the team though, that's for sure. Yes, Darius is back and we'll get to see his side of things. He definitely had some explaining to do, but Emily does still care for him too. It's going to be an interesting chapter for the two of them. As for Kameron and Charotte, I wouldn't call them together. Mistletoe kisses are pretty standard and fairly expected, so while they do have feelings for each other, don't take that as a sign that they're together now. Right now, they're friends…ish. As for the villains of Season 2, I'll definitely make it clear by the end of this season what the plan is for that. The Elite Force is going to be further discussed this chapter, so you'll find out a bit more about that mystery this chapter. The rescue mission is definitely going to have a big effect on the kids for Season 2, but I'll say more about that later. I'm really glad you liked the Calla scene. There were so many different ways I could have wrote that scene, but I felt that way was the best to show her. Calla's a very different person than the kid we watched grow up in the original series, but at heart, she's so emotionally driven that I wanted to show that genuine heartbreak and fear in her. Yes, Noah is one hundred percent based on you and the experiences you've had that I've never heard of before. LOL, it is pretty funny how much you two have in common. Don't worry about the review being chaotic – my two best friends work nights now and I see firsthand how fuzzy that can make a brain. Get some sleep, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Guest: I'm glad you liked it!
Guest: Emily (I assume that's who you're talking about, given that there is no character named Kayla in this story), still very deeply cares about him. She wants to believe there's good in him, even if nobody else does. Darius is in a bad position, isn't he? I almost feel bad.
Guest: Ah, yes, Justine is certainly the stereotypical little sister, isn't she? So much like her mother.
SummerSunShine: Oh, believe me, holidays here are a hoot. I love family dinners like that; they're better than gifts to me. I'm so glad you liked the chapter, especially the time travel bits as well as the Saturn stuff. Yes, the girls had their fun playing Aphrodite, didn't they? Noah and Sera seem to make a good team, couple or not, so I thought it would be fun to have the girls try and get them together. Yes, Kameron and Charlotte had their first kiss! They may not be a couple yet, but it's definitely a very positive step in the right direction. It sucks that you won't be able to read this until you come back (and no wifi for 3 months? I barely lasted a week! You're so much stronger than me), but on the upside, you'll come back with at least a few chapters to read and will hopefully come back when school's not causing brief HIATUSes for the story. Assuming I stay on schedule, I should be about midway through Season 2 by then, so you'll have plenty to read. I'm glad you liked seeing all the relatives and stuff, including Calla's mom. I am so sorry that you're going to be stuck not knowing what Darius says to Emily for so long. Calla is heartbroken over Chase, the poor thing. She does care about her brother and the others – she's definitely regretting that choice of words right now – but Chase is her husband and the father of her children, so she's just a little bit more worried about him. But she loves all of them and the idea of losing any of them, let alone all of them, is heartbreaking for her. Anyway, have a wonderful vacation, great Christmas, and an amazing start to the New Year. I can't wait to hear from you when you get back!
MightyMedNerd: Me too – I miss those hour-long specials. I'm really glad you like the chapters. I do like to be interconnected with them – they're all part of the same universe, and it makes for a better story when you acknowledge that. And frankly, time travel chapters are better when you get to see both sides of it. As for Malmarn/Slimemarn, you're absolutely right that it was renamed, but there's been a regime change since then (in my story) that will actually be touched on in future chapters. Anyway, I'm glad you like the chapters, and I hope you like this one too!
DizzWizz: I'm so glad you liked them! Yes, Chase and Calla are having another girl. No, Emily doesn't know (yet) that Kaz wanted them to name her Hot Dog, but I'm sure that's not something Ben will keep to himself for very long either. I'm really glad you liked the time travel elements, and the scenes from the Power of Seven. Aw, Emily…like her parents, she falls too hard for people. Maybe she's right and Darius does have good in him. Maybe not. You'll have to read to find out – it is a very interesting conversation if you ask me. As for him being able to 'kidnap' her that easily, well, he's very good at being sneaky. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
TheRealHarrisonW: I'm so glad you liked the chapters! Kameron and Charlotte are so cute together – I just had to make them the Christmas couple we focused on. I'm glad you liked the name Cabal of Criminals – you had a really great suggestion with 'cabal' and like you said, it sounds so downright evil. Darius is going to have a very interesting role to play, that's for sure. His conversation with Emily is definitely going to…change her perspective, so to speak. I think you'll find it very interesting. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter!
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Kihonne: Okay, and on with the chapter!
Darius: Kihonne doesn't own Lab Rats, Mighty Med, or the Elite Force. She only owns this story, any and all OCs, and anything else you don't recognize.
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Naomi's POV
"Well, well, well. You certainly took your time." Saturn commented, tone oddly smug as Calla, Leo, Ben, Miles, and I walked into the interrogation room. He was sitting in the middle of the room, on one of the two chairs, with each wrist locked to one of his chair's arms by power-resistant cuffs. His supervillain suit was gone, replaced by a green and yellow prison uniform. Despite this, his eyes, a steely gray color, gleamed confidently and his smirk grew as we came in.
"Yeah, well, you're not exactly worth hurrying over." I commented as nonchalantly as I could, hoping to knock him down a few pegs.
"Ah, but the information I have is." He replied without missing a beat, flashing me a too-confident smile.
"Well, you're seeming awfully chatty today." Calla commented, sitting down in the other chair, sitting by the back of the room. She raised her eyebrows at him. "So why don't you start?"
"No so fast, sweetheart." Calla raised an eyebrow in distaste at his comment, but he only smirked in return. "I want a deal first."
"Of course you do." Leo rolled his eyes, shaking his head as Ben scoffed and moved to lean against the wall. I crossed my arms where I was standing, looking down at Saturn.
"What kind of deal were you thinking?" I questioned, thinking that we might as well hear what he wanted. It would help to get a better idea of where his head was at.
"Full immunity, of course." Ben couldn't stop himself from openly laughing at that request. Calla, Miles, and Leo both exchanged looks of annoyance and vague amusement.
"Yeah, not happening." I didn't have to consult with the others to tell him that. He smirked.
"Oh, it is happening." He insisted, leaning back as comfortably as he could in his chair. "Otherwise I'm not talking."
"You really think we'd give you full immunity?" Miles questioned. "Do you know how many people you've hurt?"
"No, but there's never been any critical injuries. Or deaths; I'd remember if I'd killed someone." He replied. Ben pushed himself off the wall and stalked towards Saturn.
"The only reason you've never successfully killed someone is because of me, asshole." He growled. Saturn smirked.
"And thus, I thank you for helping to reduce any prison charge I'll ever get." He announced, obviously trying to get under Ben's skin. "Regardless of why I never killed anyone, the prison sentence still won't be as bad as murder or manslaughter."
"This is your way of trying to get us to let you walk?" Calla questioned skeptically, cocking her head to the side a little.
"Oh, that's not going to be why you let me walk. You need my information, desperately, otherwise you'll never understand the boss' plan." He replied. "You can't afford not to work with me."
"Try us." Miles challenged. Saturn shrugged.
"Alright. Your funeral." He declared. "I just figured you'd want the info. They're the bigger fish – Benjamin here can try just catch me again next time I break the law. Or at least, he can try." Ben stopped when Saturn said his real name, and the villain smiled. "Oh yeah, I know who you are. I do my research."
"So do I, Milhouse." Ben sneered, to the villain's surprise. "And from doing that research, I learned one thing – you're not stupid enough to betray your own team without one hell of a reason. What is it?"
Saturn didn't answer. I glanced at the others as I slowly realized something, then turned to Saturn. "They haven't come for you." He didn't say anything, so I continued. "You've been in our custody since the 24th; today's the 3rd. Reese and the others haven't come for you."
"Which means either you don't have enough information for them to worry about you giving up," Calla mused, coming to the same conclusion as I did, "or they just don't care. Either way, doesn't sound like its worth giving you immunity for."
"That's where you're wrong." Saturn commented, looking at her with a cold smile on his face. "But I supposed I don't have to tell you anything if you don't want to make a deal."
"Fine by us." Leo replied, starting to head for the door, until Saturn cut him off.
"Not that it's going to matter, anyway. They'll be coming for you soon enough anyway." He continued. We all glanced at each other. We didn't want to take his deal, but Reese and Lexi's team had been growing more and more confident. And the fact that they hadn't come for him could also mean that their plan was too dangerous for us to stop. Having the right information could be the difference between winning and dying here.
Saturn saw our hesitation and smirked. "Full immunity." He repeated his request before glancing at Ben. "Unless pretty boy here doesn't think he can take me on again."
Emily's POV
"It's a long story." Darius began, taking a step towards me. I scrambled for my paragun, ripping it out of my purse and aiming it at his chest shakily. He stopped in his tracks, looking between it and me with big, brown eyes. "Emily, I'm not going to hurt you."
"I don't know that." I whispered, my heart beating fast. It wasn't fear, I didn't think, rather some kind of exhilaration. I'd spent weeks looking for him, trying to find him, and now here he was. It felt unreal. I looked him over, taking in every aspect of his appearance. He was wearing old jeans that looked kinda dirty, and a plain black shirt underneath his favorite gray and dark blue sweater that he'd basically worn everywhere when we were dating and would not let me borrow at all. His hair was askew and there were deep bags under his eyes. "You look like shit."
"Thanks Em." He rolled his eyes, raising his hands. It wasn't an offensive move though; he raised them to show that he held nothing in them. "I really just want to talk, okay? I don't want to hurt you – I would never hurt you."
I bit my lip nervously, examining the earnestness on his face. Slowly, cautiously, I lowered my weapon, but I didn't dare put it away. "Emily…" He sighed, taking a cautious step towards me. I took one step back, shaking my head.
"You kidnapped Charlotte. You hurt Ben." I said, blinking back angry tears. He shook his head.
"That was Marcus and Saturn. Not me." He insisted. I rolled my eyes.
"But you're working with them. You're on their side." I insisted. He shook his head again.
"I left." He insisted. "I'm not on their side."
I looked at him. "And I'm just supposed to believe you're on ours?" I questioned sarcastically. He shook his head a third time. "Stop that."
"I didn't say I was on your side, Emily." He said softly. "I just said I wasn't on theirs. I'm not on anyone's side."
I frowned. I'd been expecting some teary apology, or a promise that he would help us, or maybe I even expected, a tiny, tiny bit, that he would attack me and prove me wrong about him. I wasn't expecting that. "What do you want, Darius?" I found myself asking.
"To talk." He said again. He looked around the alley. "Can we…can we go somewhere else? Somewhere less…well, you know."
I looked at him suspiciously, before noticing that he was shivering slightly in his sweater. It was beginning to snow too.
Maybe a change in location wasn't a terrible idea.
Naomi's POV
After some time deliberating over whether or not this was a really, really bad idea or not, we walked back into the room. Calla returned to her chair, this time watching Saturn more intently than before, with Leo at her side, while Ben leaned back against the wall and Miles and I took the floor.
"Just one question, Saturn." I announced before Miles could give him our decision. "Why now? Why today? Why not wait some more before talking?"
He smiled. "There's not much more time to wait." He replied before looking over at Miles. "So, do we have a deal or not?"
"We do." Miles agreed begrudgingly. Saturn raised an eyebrow.
"I want it in writing." He added. Miles rolled his eyes and pulled the document, already printed and signed, out of his back pocket. He held it up for the electrokinetic to examine, and after a moment, he nodded. "Alright then. Where do we start?"
"Try the beginning." Ben suggested passive-aggressively. Saturn sighed.
"Alright, well, first of all, you keep acting like the shapeshifter is in charge. Trust me, Reese's Pieces is bad, but this wasn't her plan. It was Lexi's." He told us. "I assume you heard about what happened with Blood Raven."
"He was the latest big bad in the villain world." Miles said, likely for my benefit. I wasn't as connected with the supervillain world as the others, but even I knew about Blood Raven; ever since Argento had been taken down a couple of decades ago, the metaphorical throne of the supervillain world had seen its share of tyrants, and Blood Raven had been the biggest bad for a couple of years now. "The Elite Force took him down with the rest of his warlock coven back in February of last year."
"Yeah, well, ever since then, his throne's been open for the taking. Just need to find someone dangerous enough to take over." Saturn explained. Ben scoffed.
"That's not you." He commented. Saturn glared at him, but didn't dispute it.
"You're right. I'm not exactly 'big fish' material. Neither are any of the others. Well, except maybe Catastrophe, but ever since Lexi only brought him back at full strength, Thing 1 and Thing 2 aren't the most dangerous in the room anymore." He chuckled a little. "But I mean, neither were any of the Elite Force, but together…" he whistled. "Well, let's just say we took a page out of your book."
"You combined your abilities to make sure no one could stop you, not even other villains." Miles realized. Saturn shrugged.
"It was Lexi's idea. She gathered us, brought Robo Boy and Red Face back from the dead." He explained.
"Yeah, about that, how?" Calla questioned. "I've read up on Catastrophe – he needed some sort of dyad to come back, and apparently, that was destroyed."
"Lexi's got a benefactor of some kind, someone who is very interested in putting us on top. And they have resources you couldn't imagine. Enough to make a functioning replica of the dyad." Saturn agreed. Ben stared at him.
"That's impossible." He declared. Leo scoffed.
"So was Marcus coming back from the dead, but here we are." He commented. He nodded at Saturn. "This benefactor, who is it?"
"No idea, never met them. But they are the same people who told us the Elite Force wouldn't be a problem anymore." He added. Calla stared at him and he shrugged. "We needed them gone, the boss' friends wanted them gone, it was a win-win."
"Where are they?" Calla's tone was measured, carefully controlled. Saturn shrugged. "Answer the question."
"Would if I could. Like I said, I have no idea who her friends are or what they're planning. I do know what she's planning though." He continued. "She wanted to start with Centium City."
"Because Chase and the others were gone?" I confirmed. To my surprise, he shook his head.
"Between Davenport Industries, Blizzard Corp, and Explority, Centium City is currently the biggest technology hub in the world, even bigger than Beijing and Berlin. Lexi's deal with her mysterious friends involved a tech trade – their stuff for yours. We just had to get past your little brats." Saturn explained, scowling. "They turned out to be much more annoying than we'd originally thought."
"We raised them well." Calla replied coldly, glaring daggers at Saturn.
"And then what? After they took Centium City?" Miles questioned.
"S.H.I.R.T., New League of Heroes, Bionic Academy." He counted them off his fingers. "Once we dealt with those idiots, we'd be at the top of the food chain. We'd be unstoppable."
We all looked between each other, absorbing all this new information. "If their plan is so great, why tell us?" Leo questioned, walking up to him. "Why not wait for them to win and take us out?"
"Because I don't want Lexi in charge." He admitted. "She's got too many secrets. I can't trust her."
"You can't trust a villain? Shocker." I commented. He smirked a little.
"Besides, if you happen to win and take all of them out, then you've taken out my biggest competition. I mean, I could do it myself, but why not let you all do the hard work for me?" He added smugly. "And once they're out of the way, who's to stop me from taking over the throne?"
"I am." Ben answered, staring Saturn down. Saturn smirked.
"We'll see about that." He shot back confidently.
Emily's POV
"Thank you." I smiled gratefully at the waiter as he brought over a couple of cups of coffee along with a plate of fries. Once he was gone, I turned back to Darius. "Alright, talk. Explain."
He sighed and took a sip from his drink before beginning. "I never wanted…I wasn't planning….I…" he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Look, I never wanted to hurt you, okay? That was never my plan."
"But you did lie to me." I pointed out, keeping my eyes locked on him as I reached over to grab the sugar container. I poured an unhealthy amount in my drink before replacing it.
"I did." He acknowledged. "I'm sorry."
"I don't want apologies, Darius." I murmured softly. He nodded.
"I know." He sighed. "You want the truth."
I nodded. "I do."
He licked his lips, considering his words carefully before starting to speak once more. "So, about six months ago, my mother moved us down here."
"Your mother. Lexi." I confirmed. He nodded. "Is Sebastian Krane your father?"
"Depends on who you ask. Mom says he is, Sebastian claims that he has no son." He chuckled darkly. "Take that however you want. Anyway, she moved us down here and introduced me to the rest of the team. Marcus, Reese, the others. Said that we were here to right a wrong."
"To right a wrong." I hummed thoughtfully. He nodded.
"The plan was to keep an eye on you guys, that's why Mom arranged for Marcus and I to have class with you guys. See if you were going to be a threat when Reese's plan came together." He explained slowly. "If you hadn't, then we were supposed to continue as normal. You wouldn't have been dragged into all of this."
He sounded almost genuinely sorry for that. "Sorry to disappoint." I commented sarcastically. He cracked a bit of a smile at that. "But since we were a threat, was the plan there?"
His smile faded and he ducked his head. "Take you out." He said, his tone so quiet that I almost didn't catch what he had said. I nodded, not surprised. He straightened up and cleared his throat. "Aftershock was supposed to be the main target, because of his experience and strength. You're all inexperienced, Mom and Reese thought you'd all be easier to manipulate than you are. That's a compliment, by the way." He added, glancing at my face as if to try and gauge my reaction. I didn't meet his gaze. "Look, I didn't want to do any of that, okay? My mother didn't give me a choice."
"We always have a choice, Darius." I snapped. He hesitated, looking away. "And what about me?"
"What about you?" He asked. I blinked hard, feeling the angry tears spike again.
"Me. You and me. Was that all part of the master plan?" I asked, leaning back. He looked at me sharply, surprised. "Was any of it real?"
"Of course it was real." He went to grab my hands, but I pulled them away, placing them in my lap. He stared at me, eyes wide. "Emily, if you don't believe anything else I say tonight, you have to believe that. I wasn't playing you. I do care about you. It was real."
I looked at him for a moment, then pointedly turned my gaze towards my coffee mug. He sounded sincere. He sounded like he was telling the truth. But I wasn't sure if he really was telling the truth, or if that was just what I wanted to believe that he was. "I never wanted to hurt you."
"Then what you to do you want?" I questioned sharply, narrowing my eyes at him with enough intensity to make him freeze. "Well? You say you don't want to hurt me, and you didn't take out Ben and Charlotte when you had the chance, but you're also sitting here, defending your mother, even after everything she's done to you."
"I'm not defending her!" Darius snapped.
"Well, you're sure not agreeing with me. She's a monster, Darius." I growled. He stared me down. I changed tactics. "She hits you, right?"
"Stay out of it, Emily." He growled.
"Charlotte said she hits you." I added.
"It's complicated." He snapped.
"Not really." I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
"Drop it." He growled.
"Then what do you want, Darius? You can't have both." I continued. "What do you want?"
"I don't know!" I could see his shoulders tensing, his eyebrows furrowing. I leaned forward, glaring at him.
"Whose side are you on?" I questioned.
"Why does there have to be any sides?!" He demanded incredulously, tone rising above the volume of the diner. A couple of the patrons turned to look at us, and Darius ducked in embarrassment.
"Because Reese and your mother started a war with my family." I hissed. He gave me a look.
"After your families killed their fathers." He said slowly. I didn't respond, but my face must have given away my surprise, because he drew back a moment later. "Victor Krane, Roddiseus, you didn't know?"
I licked my lips. "If they did, they had a good reason for it." I said, keeping my composure. There's no way Mom and Dad killed, or helped kill, anyone, right? They arrested the criminals they fought. That's what they told me. "And it's no excuse."
"Of course not. I'm just saying, neither side is innocent here." He agreed calmly. He sighed. "I just…why does there have to be sides?"
"Darius…" I sighed, but he continued.
"I'm serious, Emily. Because as far as I can see, no matter what side I choose, it's a lose-lose situation." He told me, leaning back. I started shaking my head, but that just added fuel to the fire. "Let's look at my options, shall we? Option A: Team Davenport." He said with false enthusiasm. "I help you arrest or possibly kill my mother, who is still my mom no matter what she's done, and then I end up…where? On the streets? In another shelter? Your family hates my family; there's no way I can expect any kind of support there. So, I end up homeless, family-less, and totally screwed."
"Dare-" He didn't give me a chance to speak.
"Or Option B: Team Mom. I help my mom and her friends kill your family and friends and I lose the girl I…" He trailed off and I raised my chin to look him in the eyes, butterflies in my stomach "…the girl I care about. You die, and I still lose." His voice cracked. "Tell me, Emily, what would you do in my position? Would you choose me, or your family?"
I felt my shoulders drop as he looked into my eyes imploringly. When he put it like that…I understood why he was so conflicted. I knew what I'd pick sure, but I could see his argument. I didn't necessarily agree with it; it wasn't as complicated as love or family. But I'd only been thinking of it as good versus evil, and maybe it wasn't as simple as that either. "It's not like there's a third option." I said softly.
"What if there was?" He said softly. I looked up at him, caught off guard by what he'd said. He was still staring at me, brown eyes searching mine for a reaction. "What if there was a third option, where we didn't have to choose between which loved ones we hurt?"
I frowned. "What are you talking about?"
He looked at me before starting to rifle through his jacket. I tensed, hand touching the Paragun sitting on the seat of the booth, but he just pulled out two pieces of paper. "What if we left?" He asked, turning back to me. I eyed the slips in his hand in confusion. "I can't fight my family, Emily, but I don't want to fight yours. But I do want to be with you."
"You can't have it both ways. I won't betray my family." I shook my head. He turned the slips over in his hand.
"I'm not asking you to betray them. But this is between our parents, not us. This isn't our fight, Emily. And I'm done fighting for something someone else believes in." He sighed and pushed the slips of paper over to me. I realized that they were paper train tickets. "I'm leaving Centium City, and I want you to come with me."
I stared at him in shock. "Darius…"
"Look, I know I haven't been the greatest…well, anything to you, but I don't want to see you get hurt or worse in our parents' war." He looked at me pleadingly. "Come with me. We can get away from all this. We can go to Boston; we could go to school, see the world. Figure out our own lives instead of following in our parents' footsteps. We wouldn't have to fight."
"I…" I was speechless. What Darius was proposing was crazy, radical, rebellious…and a small part of me was enchanted by the idea.
It was hard to deny that some of what he'd said was true. This was part of a war that started with our parents. Most of the Reese's team had reason to hate our parents, not us; we were just caught in the crossfire. What was worse was that our parents hadn't even prepared us, or been honest with us about any of this; until they'd literally tried to kill us, I'd never even heard of any of them, and according to Darius, they still hadn't told us the whole truth either. They didn't trust us with that, and yet they still expected us to fight? I knew it had been our idea to be a team, but something about the whole thing just didn't feel right. But at the same time, this was my family. I couldn't just walk out on them, could I?
"Darius…I…." I trailed off, completely unsure of how to respond. He gave me a kind smile.
"Look, you don't have to answer right now." He told me, sliding out of the chair and getting up. "The train leaves at 7AM. Early, I know." He offered me a sheepish grin.
"Yeah…" I trailed off, still wrapping my mind around what he just said. He went to leave, then stopped and turned back to me, his smile having faded into a grim frown.
"There's something else." He told me, his tone hesitant like he didn't want to have to tell me something. "Discordia and Mars, Reese's daughter and nephew? Emily, they're Ava and Aaron."
xxx
"I'm sure she's fine, Calla. Maybe she just-" Ben was saying as I walked into the penthouse. All heads turned towards me as I walked in.
"Emily!" Charlotte quickly ran and hugged me, much to my surprise, nearly making me drop the coffees I'd grabbed on my way back.
"Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to be back with coffee over an hour ago?" Noah demanded, even as he gently took the trays of coffee out of my hands.
"Geez, if you needed caffeine that bad, you could have just knocked on Mr. Syd's door - he's a bigger addict than Mom." I commented. Mom gave me a stern look.
"Answer your Davenwatch when I call you." She told me. I frowned, rubbing at it.
"It died. I'm sorry." I apologized. Mom sized and rubbed her forehead.
"You went missing for an hour, Emmy." Leo pointed out, one of the only rational ones in the room. "We were worried."
"I'm sorry." I repeated. I hadn't meant to worry them, but my Davenwatch had really died during my talk with Darius, and then I'd gone back to replace the coffees he'd made me spill. Kira leaned onto the side of the chair she was sitting in.
"Where were you?" She asked curiously. I bit my lip; this conversation was not going to go well.
"I was talking with Darius." I said slowly. As expected, everyone started at those words. Everyone stared at me, while Mom grabbed me by the arms, turning me towards her.
"Are you okay?" She demanded, looking me over carefully with concerned eyes. "I'm going to kill him."
"He didn't hurt me, Mom." I told her. She finished her examination thoroughly, ignoring my words until she was satisfied that I was unhurt.
"Thank God." She murmured, letting me go and taking a step back. "You're lucky."
"Not lucky. Darius isn't with them anymore. He never really was." I told her. She got this skeptical look on her face. "I'm serious. He never wanted to be a part of his mother's team or to hurt us."
"I'm sure he was very convincing, honey." She sighed. I shook my head.
"He was telling the truth. He's not a bad guy." I insisted. She shook her head and stepped away.
"He helped kidnap Charlotte and hurt Ben, and he's helped them with every one of their other schemes. But sure, he can be trusted." She told me. I looked at the others for help, but few of them looked like they believed me either. Leo, Noah, and Naomi certainly didn't. Kameron, Kira, and Seraphina were all looking at each other, trying to gauge each other's reactions before saying anything. The only ones who looked the least bit sympathetic to my pleas were Charlotte and, surprisingly, Ben. "Guys, c'mon, you know him! How can you believe that he's a villain?"
"We didn't think that Lexi or Reese were villains either when we first met them." Leo reminded me, his voice kind. "And Calla and I were the only ones who thought that Marcus was a bad guy either."
"And frankly, I didn't fully believe you until you showed me proof." Mom added, glancing at Leo.
"Darius is different." I argued. Naomi gave me a look.
"Em, I can say that about every jerk I've ever dated." She pointed out. "They're always different until they're not."
I opened my mouth to argue with her, but Ben stopped me before I could. "Guys, let's all take a beat. No need for everyone to get upset." He cautioned before turning to me. Unlike Mom, Leo, and Naomi, he had a more understanding looking on his face. "Emily, aside from telling you that he didn't want to hurt anyone, did he say anything else that might prove that he's on our side?"
"He's not…He…" How was I supposed to explain that he wasn't a bad guy, but that he didn't want to take sides either. "Actually…he told me Discordia and Mars' identities."
"Really?" Kameron raised his eyebrows at that. I nodded stiffly. "Who?"
"Ava and Aaron Merullo." I didn't acknowledge the looks on their faces. I was still trying to wrap my head around what Darius' had told me, but honestly, I felt like it should have surprised me more. But these past couple of months…Ava had always had a cold personality, and it never used to bother me, but lately, it had been worse. She'd been more involved in our lives since Dad and the others had left for Venusia, Aaron too, and it did explain a couple of the minor things I'd overlooked.
"She was the one who suggested that we crash the camping trip." Kameron realized as we all exchanged looks. Charlotte looked at me sharply.
"She pushed us to get together with Darius and Marcus." She remembered. A look of horror came over her face. "We told her that the Elite Force were gone. That's how they found out they'd left."
Calla, Leo, Ben, and Naomi exchanged looks. Naomi was about to say something, but Calla cut her off. "They could have found out other ways. Don't blame yourselves on this." She turned to Leo. "That does check out with what we know. Mars and Discordia were the last missing pieces aside from Saturn."
"He said they were Reese's daughter and nephew." I added. Mom considered it.
"Yeah, it'd hardly shock me if one of the other shapeshifters had an illegitimate kid somewhere along the way, or got someone knocked up during a conjugal visit." She muttered.
"Gross." Kira commented, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Noah agreed.
"I'm with her on that." He added. Mom sighed.
"Just because he told you the truth about one thing does not make him a good guy." She said, completely dismissing the idea that Darius wasn't the monster she'd decided he was. I let out an irritated breath through my nose. "Emily-"
"It's not the only truth he told me." I said coldly, cutting her off. "Or are you telling me that the Elite Force didn't kill Victor Krane or Roddiseus' deaths?"
Mom and Leo both stopped at that, looking at me in surprise. The others, even Naomi, seemed even more surprised by the accusation.
"What-what is she talking about?" Noah asked, frowning. Mom and Leo exchanged looks.
"Sometimes criminals don't give us a choice in how we stop them. We try to arrest them if we can, but stopping them from hurting anyone else is our top priority." Leo explained. I raised my chin.
"So it's true. You killed them." I realized. They didn't answer right away. "You did."
"I'm sure Darius made it seem much worse than it was. Krane was had tried to kill nearly sixty people if your father hadn't fired back at him." Calla sighed.
"Wait, Dad was the one who killed Krane?" Darius hadn't told me that bit. "What about Roddiseus?"
"He was an accident." Leo said quickly.
"An accident?" Sera repeated.
"She'd only had her powers for a year, she didn't know her full strength." Mom sighed.
"She?" Kira repeated. She looked at Kameron. "You mean Mom?"
"No way. Mom's a doctor – she may fight on missions, but she'd never kill." Kameron insisted. Mom sighed.
"Missions go wrong sometimes, guys. It was never planned, and we'd all certainly choose to bring our guys in alive rather than dead, any day." Mom told us, looking around at us. "We'd always intended to take Krane and Roddiseus in alive."
"So does that mean we might have to kill Lexi and her team?" Noah looked up at my mom with a solemn expression on his face, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. He shook his head. "We didn't sign up for that."
"No one here is expecting you to kill." Leo was quick to assure us. Mom nodded in agreement.
"The only thing we're expecting you to do is come home safe at the end of the day." She told us. She looked at me. "And part of that means not taking stupid risks and trusting someone who's already betrayed us."
"But Mom-" I started to protest, but she raised her hand, stopping me.
"I don't want to hear it, Emily. Darius is bad news. He is not your friend and we can not trust him." She snapped. I glared at her angrily. "End of discussion."
Without giving me another chance to argue, she turned back to the others. "Now that we're all here, we can move on. Lexi's plan, not Reese's as we originally thought, is to put her team at the top of the villain hierarchy by taking over the city. It's why they've been hitting tech companies – they want the tech for themselves and whoever gave them the technology to revive Marcus and Catastrophe."
"Do we know who everyone is now?" Seraphina frowned. "Because if Aaron and Ava are Mars and Discordia, and Darius and Matt were Neptune and Vulcan, who does that leave?"
"Reese and Lexi were Victoria and Venus, the other two women, with Catastrophe being Jan…that just leaves Jupiter, who we still know nothing about." Ben continued. Kameron sighed, clearly still thinking about what he'd learned about his mom.
"Well, he might just be a Calderan criminal. I mean, Experion couldn't have been the only one?" He suggested, tone quiet. Naomi glanced at Ben.
"We're sure he's not actually Experion, right?" She questioned.
"Experion's been occupying a cell in UPSEI for the past three years. There were rumors that he'd been training an apprentice," he admitted, "but that was years ago. It could be the same guy, but we never had proof that he existed, so we didn't look too much into it."
"Let's assume that it is until we learned otherwise." Leo suggested. "They're plan is to take over the city."
"What's their attack strategy?" Noah questioned. Ben shook his head.
"Saturn wasn't sure, just that their targets would be public locations, and that they'd want to keep the tech companies intact. And that they'll attack soon." He confirmed. Naomi nodded.
"It could be hours, could be days. We have to be ready." She told us. I sighed.
"Was that all?" I questioned. Mom looked at me.
"Emily…" she began, but I ignored her, angry.
"Was that it? It's been a long day; I want to go to bed." I said, address Ben instead. He glanced at Naomi, who nodded.
"Go get some rest." He allowed. I nodded and almost ran up the stairs, ignoring my mother as I did. My mind was whirling, her words echoing in my ears and the train ticket Darius had given me weighing heavily in my pocket.
Naomi's POV
"Good morning." Ben greeted me as I walked down the stairs. It was still fairly early - just after 6:30 – so I was surprised to see Ben down in the kitchen, dressed and cooking pancakes at the stove top. I frowned, realizing that he was wearing the same clothes he was wearing yesterday. "Wait, you didn't stay here last night, did you?"
"I crashed on the couch." He replied, shrugging. I gave him a look. "Lexi's team could attack at any time. We should all be sticking together." He reminded me. "My apartment's all the way across town."
"Yeah, but it might not be days until they attack. If you're tired or achy from sleeping on a couch, you're not going to be at your best." I pointed out. He shrugged. I sat down at the counter, looking up at him. It had been a crazy couple of weeks, and we really hadn't had a chance to talk about anything.
"Hey listen," "Naomi-" We both started at the same time before stopping abruptly.
"You go first." He encouraged. I shook my head.
"No, you. Mine's not...it can wait." I assured him. He paused for a moment before nodding.
"Calla's told you about the next mission, right?" He murmured, looking past me at the stairs to see if anyone was coming down. Most of the kids were still asleep when I'd come down - Kira had been gone when I'd gotten up, likely already out on her morning jog, but I could easily see the boys still snoring away in their room through their open door. Sera and Emily's door was closed, and I briefly considered going in to check on how Emily was doing (fights with Calla were rare, but both of them would take them pretty hard when they did happen), but had figured it would be better to wait until she'd woken up on her own and had her morning coffee. "The one to Venusia?"
"Yeah. It's more important than ever now." We had no idea what had been done to Chase, Bree, Jaden, or any of the others. I knew what Calla's fear was, but I wasn't about to let that be the only possibility in my mind. The only thing we knew for sure was that they disappeared on their way to Venusia. "Do we think the Venusians are Lexi's mysterious benefactor?"
"I think we'd be idiots not to consider it." He replied. I nodded thoughtfully, gratefully accepting the mug of coffee he handed to me. He sighed. "I wanted you to know: I'm going to be the one leading it."
"And I'm coming with you." I agreed. He looked at me sharply.
"No, you're not." He responded, looking at me like I was crazy. "Naomi, no."
"Ben, yes. I'm coming with you." I argued. He shook his head. "It's my decision, Ben."
"You'll miss the entire second half of your winter semester." He pointed out, staring at me. "And you won't be back in time for the fall. You were supposed to graduate next year, Naomi."
"So, I'll take another year to graduate, big deal. I can work it out with the school, I can afford it." I reasoned, narrowing my eyes at him. "I'm coming with you, Ben. I'm serious."
"Look, Naomi," he leaned on the counter, "if you're worried about Chase, Bree, Jaden, and the others, I get it. But I'm not going to let anything happen to them. That's why I wanted to talk to you about me going on the mission; I wanted you to know that I'm going to go and I'm going to bring them back home, no matter what."
"The 'no matter what' is what worries me, Ben." I insisted. I shook my head. "Yes, I'm worried about them. Of course, I'm worried about them. But I'm also worried about you, dummy."
"I'll be fine, Naomi." He sighed, tone gentle. I gave him a look. "I took down Saturn, right? I can handle this."
"And if you can't?" I objected. "It's not that I doubt your abilities, but ANYTHING can happen out there. And if you went, alone, without me, and something happened, I would never...I would..." I sighed, breaking off. I looked away, biting my lip. "Look, you're not going without me and that's that."
"Naomi..." he broke off as well, but for different reasons. He cleared his throat. "Good morning, Sera."
I looked up to see the Calderan-Human hybrid walking down the stairs in her pyjamas, a frown on her face. "We were just talking about..." I trailed off, hoping she hadn't heard too much. Thankfully, she didn't seem too concerned about that.
"Have you guys seen Emily?" She asked instead, walking into the kitchen. "She wasn't in bed, and her backpack and shoes are gone."
I frowned and glanced at Ben. "Maybe she went on a jog with Kira?" I suggested. It didn't seem likely, but I wasn't sure where else she could be? And Kira had taken her shoes and bag with her as well.
Sera made a face. "Has Emily ever gone on a jog before?" She questioned skeptically. "Especially this early in the morning?"
"No." I admitted uneasily. Ben chuckled.
"But if anyone could convince her, it'd be Kira." He reminded us. He shrugged. "Besides, I know for a fact that there's a Starbucks on Kira's jogging route. She probably coaxed her out of bed with that and convinced her to come out with her. You know her; she probably thought the fresh air would do Emily some good."
"Probably." Sera didn't sound too sure. But she quickly shrugged it off and walked past Ben.
"Hey, I'm making pancakes." He mentioned, thinking that she was going to get some cereal. Instead, she pulled a container of hot chocolate powder and a small bag of marshmallows out of the bottom cupboard, placed it on the counter, then started routing through the fridge.
"It's Noah's birthday today." She reminded us before stepping away from the fridge, a can of whip cream in her hand. "And I know celebrating with a party isn't the best idea right now with everything going on, but I think we should celebrate a little." She turned and smiled at us. "My mom always makes me a hot chocolate with whip cream and marshmallows on it for my birthday."
"You didn't make one for Emily on her birthday." I pointed out as Ben pulled the electric kettle off the top shelf for her.
"Well...we weren't really friends back then." She shrugged a little. She smiled as Helix walked up to us. "Hey Helix. Emily feed you yet this morning?"
He whimpered before going on his hind legs, pawing at Ben with a pleading look on his face. "You can have a piece of bacon when they're done being cooked." The older boy relented. I smiled at him. "But you have to be patient, alright, buddy?"
"Hey guys." The front door swung open and Kira walked in, bag tossed over her shoulder. "Ooh, are those pancakes?"
"Uh, yeah." Ben frowned when she closed the door behind her. "Is Emily with you?"
Kira paused, frowning. "No? Why, did she want to go jogging with me? I figured she'd want to sleep in like usual."
Ben glanced at me. "Okay, now I'm concerned."
"MISS?" I called as Calla walked down the stairs. She frowned, immediately noticing the looks on our faces. "Is Emily in Mission Command?"
"No. She left at approximately 5:42 through the tunnels." The AI responded. Calla frowned.
"Emily left at quarter to six in the morning?" She questioned, concerned. "Did she say where she was going?"
"She did not." The AI replied.
"Thank you, MISS." Her expression confused and worried, Calla raised her Davenwatch to eye level. She hit a couple of buttons on it, ringing Emily. After a moment, she scowled.
"Her Davenwatch is off." She muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I am definitely regretting not being one of those parents who microchip their kids right about now."
"What's going on?" Kameron asked, walking down the stairs next. Before we could respond, MISS' alarm started to blare.
"Multiple explosions downtown, all surrounding the main Explority, Blizzard Corp., and Davenport Industries buildings." MISS announced. Calla looked around at us, and seemed to make a decision.
"MISS and I will have to track Emily down ourselves. The rest of you, suit up." She ordered. "It seems Lexi's plan has finally started to unfold."
Xxx
Kihonne: Alright guys, what did you think? Good, bad? Somewhere in between? Please review and let me know what you all thought. For those of you who were looking for some action, you'll get your fill next chapter. The next chapter is the final one of the season, and it's going to be BIG! We have a lot of stuff going on there, so I promise an amazing chapter.
However, in order to make sure that chapter is as amazing as you guys deserve, I'm going to need to update a little later than usual. I'm just swamped with school work right now, and I can't afford to split my focus on both without ruining one of them. So, I will be back on November 29th with the final chapter of Legacies: Season 1, along with the release date for the Season 2 premier! Until then guys, don't forget to review, and I'll see you all soon!