Kihonne: I am SO sorry this chapter is two weeks late guys. I just got so caught up with papers and final exams that it got away from me, and if I'm being honest, I had some real writer's block for the fight scenes. But better to have a really good chapter over a really fast one, right? And that's what I think I've brought you: a really good chapter. But before we get onto that, it's shoutout time!
Xxx
LabGirl2001: Nothing ever goes well for very long with the Davenport family, does it? The Emily/Darius parts of this chapter are going to be very interesting, so I think you'll definitely like that. Or possibly hate it. I'm definitely expecting strong emotions about them this chapter. And yeah, a lot of people just guessed Ava and Aaron. I don't even really think that Emily or the kids were all that surprised either. The parents keeping such huge secrets is definitely going to be a big issue for the kids to wrap their minds around, especially Emily. It's definitely going to affect their trust in their parents in the future, and especially certain decisions or paths that they go down. I'm glad you liked that part about Ben and Saturn, I thought it was amusing.
SzymonS: I figured it was about time he got some real screen time. He may not be a loved villain, but he was certain one that caught the readers' attention. As for Ben being so surprised, I think it would generally be surprising to find out your archnemesis knows exactly who you are. It may not have clicked for him in the heat of battle when Saturn called him by name, but he was put in a position where it was not ignorable or missable, so it would have come as a bigger shock. Emily's got big issues with people lying to her, especially since Calla and Chase have kept such huge secrets from her. It's true that Darius couldn't just tell her the truth, but she still has issues with that kind of thing. Saturn told them about a benefactor, another person involved. At this stage, especially given the fact that they didn't know beforehand, and there is no guarantee that Lexi or anyone else would talk, he did offer them potentially important information. He also confirmed a number of their theories, which was also helpful. Maybe not the level of full immunity, but they had to make that promise before learning what he had to say, so as you said, a deal is a deal. He is an interesting villain for Ben, so we'll probably see him again in the future. Interesting theory about what's going to happen in the chapter with Emily and Darius…I guess you'll have to read to see what happens. As for the benefactor, you're going to find out who they are this chapter. Jupiter being Experion's apprentice is just a theory that the kids have. At the end of the day, it doesn't necessarily matter – what matters is that he's Calderan and he's their enemy. I remember you mentioning that you thought one of them was a sorcerer, but I never confirmed that theory. I think it was part of your theories as to how Marcus or Catastrophe were back, as the adults did consider magic a possibility, but nothing was confirmed and it was actually the benefactor's advanced tech that was able to bring them back. But that's where I think your theory started. I definitely didn't miss anyone though. I assume your question about the Elite Force still being active had to do with Leo's explanation about how sometimes they're forced to kill the criminals they fight? Leo was talking in a general sense of 'we', referring to heroes in general as opposed to the Elite Force specifically. Sorry for the confusion there. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you thought!
MightyMedNerd: Huh, I've never actually seen Rogue Nation, tbh. But glad to see I can make movie parallels without actually seeing the movie, lol. It's interesting that you still don't trust Darius. I guess you'll have to see if his motives are genuine or not. I think you'll find his parts of the chapter very interesting. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
TheRealHarrisonW: I'm really glad you liked the chapter, especially the Darius scenes in it. He is a lot like Rani in that he doesn't want to be evil, isn't he? I do like having characters on both sides that are at least a little conflicted. I find it makes it more realistic and definitely more interesting. Darius…well, his actions in this chapter are definitely going to have lasting effects on who he is. That's all I can say without spoiling. And thank you for understanding about not having much time. I'm so sorry you lost all your story progress! That's so frustrating.
Guest: I'm glad you liked the Benaomi scene. Sorry this is a bit late, but I really think you're going to like this chapter.
xxx
Ben's POV
"What's going on?" Leo demanded as he, Katherine, and Charlotte all came running to Mission Command, the two adults already in their mission uniforms while Charlotte struggled to pull hers on as she ran, her jacket still open to reveal a reindeer-themed pyjama shirt on underneath. Clearly, she'd still be in bed when MISS had sent the mission alert to their phones.
"Bombings downtown." Naomi explained, zipping up her own uniform's jacket as she returned from the change room, Seraphina and Kira right behind her. Seraphina looked at Noah and I suspiciously.
"How do guys get dressed so quickly?" She questioned. Noah and I exchanged looks, then shrugged.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm here." Kameron apologized quickly, running in from our change room, still buckling his belt. "Sorry."
"You spoke too soon." Kira mentioned to Sera with a smirk. Kameron shot her a cold look, much to his sister's amusement.
"Bombin's, you say?" Katherine asked Calla pointedly, her tone raised to force the twins to focus on the scenario at hand. Both of them sobered up quickly, expressions turning solemn. Calla broke her gaze away from the entrance to Mission Command, clearly having been waiting for the final member of our team to arrive.
"Uh, yeah. I mean, yes." She shook herself and gestured at the holoscreen projecting from the cyber computer in the center of the room. It showed news reports of several parts of the city, where bombs had gone off about three minutes ago. "Bombs have gone off on multiple streets in the city, all of which are surrounding either Explority, Blizzard Corp., or Davenport Industries. So far no casualties have been reported."
"That's lucky." Noah commented, tone skeptical.
"That, or hurting the public wasn't the point of the plan. I think this is meant to be a diversion for the police and us." Calla replied. She raised her hand across the hover screen, switching our view of the situation from security footage to a map of the city with little blips on the screen, showing circles of orange blips surrounding the three tech buildings, all of which were glowing blue. "The explosions are far enough from the buildings that they won't damage the buildings and would be enough to keep the police on the scene instead of sending them into the buildings. If they think they're isolated from the recent tech company attacks – and given the fact that I've kept the Davenport Industries ones out of the media as much as possible, it's likely they only know about the Blizzard Corp one from back in September – they'll be more focused on the attack sites themselves than 'possible' targets."
"But Lexi has to know that we know they're targeting tech companies." Sera pointed out. "She can't expect this to work on us, right? Obviously, we know they're going after the tech companies."
"I don't think they're going after all of them." Calla said patiently, glancing at the screen with a deep frown on her face. I noticed Charlotte looking around, confusion on her face as her gaze swept around the room. "Splitting up their team right now, with Saturn in custody and Darius possibly missing as well, would be foolish. They don't want to risk us getting a hold of any more of them; they'll stick together."
"So, they're only goin' after one of the companies." Katherine concluded. Calla nodded. "Which one?"
"It's impossible to be sure, but I'm leaning towards Explority. It's the only they haven't hit yet, that we're aware of. And if they don't hit it, I'm going to want to have a talk with Mr. Melnick about why his company has been ignored by our friends."
"Could he be their benefactor?" Ben questioned. Calla shook her head.
"Let's see if they target Explority or not first. For now, we're going to work under that assumption." She looked back at us. "Director DeCook's resources are mostly helping deal with the bombings or checking public sectors for more explosives in case we're wrong. However, he has given us two teams. AJ and Spin are already heading to Davenport Industries to search the building with their team; Katherine, a team will meet you at Blizzard Corp. I assume you can handle it?"
"Don't insult me." The bionic woman gave Calla a look. Calla smiled in response before turning to Leo and Naomi.
"I want you guys to take Explority yourselves. You're most likely to encounter Lexi's team, but no one else has the experience you guys have with them." She told us.
"We can handle it." Kameron grinned confidently. Naomi glanced at me, and I gave her a reassuring smile. She turned back to Calla.
"Kameron's right; you can rely on us." She assured her.
"Where's Emily?" Charlotte spoke up, drawing attention to the elephant we'd briefly forgotten was in the room. Calla sighed and glanced back at her holoscreen.
"She went out early this morning and hasn't been seen since." She sighed. Charlotte looked surprised, which was even more concerning; Emily had gone out without even mentioning anything to Charlotte. If we were worried about her before, we were especially worried now. "And since she managed to deactivate the tracker I put in her Davenwatch, I'm still trying to locate her."
"You put a tracker in her Davenwatch?" Naomi asked. Calla nodded.
"And the next one is going in her neck." She added, sounding annoyed. "She's probably fine, probably just went out for coffee and wanted to get a break from everyone. You guys go on ahead; I'll send her your way once I find her and kick her butt for worrying us."
"Aye-aye, Captain Calla." Kira gave her a mock salute, managing to elicit a smile from the concerned mother.
"Go." She told us before turning back to computer. "I'll be on the comms." She hesitated before turning back one last time to look at us. "Be careful."
"Here." Leo grabbed a box from under the cyber computer and opened it to reveal the special, 'no touching except for emergencies' Davenwatches. "We can geoleap there faster than we can drive."
"Be careful." Katherine told him and Charlotte, cupping each of their faces gently. "I love you both."
"Love you too, Mama." Charlotte gave her mom a confident smile. "We'll be fine."
"I love you." Leo told her, kissing Katherine on the cheek. The blonde gave him one last smile before Geoleaping away. Naomi looked at Leo, who gave her a nod, before she turned to face all of us.
"Alright guys," she said as we wall strapped on our Davenwatches. "I know we've been struggling against these guys for the past few months, and I know we're a man down, but today is our chance to stop Lexi and the others before they hurt anyone else. This is our chance to be heroes. This is our chance to finally do what our parents couldn't; stop Lexi, Marcus, Reese, and Catastrophe." Leo made an annoyed face when she mentioned how he hadn't beat Marcus, but she continued, ignoring him. "This is our chance to prove that we are every bit the Elite Force Bree, Calla, Chase, Dani, Kaz, Jaden, Oliver, and Skylar were. They may not be here to see it, but let's do them proud, alright?"
"Hell yeah." I agreed immediately, earning a smile from Naomi. The others all nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's save the city."
Emily's POV
I clutched by bag tightly over my shoulder, looking around the platform for Darius. For a heart-stopping moment, I thought I'd been duped, that he wasn't coming, but then I finally caught sight of him, sitting on a bench as he waited for the train to come in.
"Darius." I called softly, walking over to him. He looked up, startled for a moment, but then his face brightened, and he beamed at me, delight all over his face.
"Emily!" He leapt to his feet. He was smiling at me, grinning wide, eyes glowing as he pulled me into a hug. "I…I didn't think you were going to come."
"I…" I hesitated, not quite hugging him back, and he pulled away frowning.
"What's wrong? You're here." He smiled at me as if to reassure me that that was the only important thing, before beginning to ramble, oblivious to the look on my face. "The train should be here in a few minutes – we can board right away if you want, or maybe grab some coffee first – they have a Starbucks here. We can talk about the plan on the train, or wait until the first stop, or-" And finally, I couldn't stand it anymore.
"I'm not coming with you."
He stopped short, mouth still open, mid-sentence and he stared at me, not comprehending what I'd just said. "You-what?"
"I'm not coming with you." I repeated calmly, my heart stuttering painfully even worse the second time I said it. He looked at me, disbelief on his face.
"But, but you're here." He said dumbly. I pressed my lips together tightly, feeling a watery weight start to build in the inner corners of my eyes.
"I wanted…needed to say goodbye. I needed to say goodbye." I told him, shaking my head. I'd thought this would be easier. I thought that since I would get to say goodbye this time, it wouldn't hurt like this. It shouldn't hurt like this.
"You're not coming with me." He murmured slowly to himself, stepping backwards away from me. I bit my lip, not wanting to cry at the look of hurt on his face. "You don't want to come."
"No, I do. I do want to. That's all I want." I could picture it now, the two of us living together in Cambridge. A tiny apartment, just the two of us and maybe Helix. It would be perfect. But it was missing something really important. "But I can't."
"Why not?" He questioned, staring at me. I shook my head. I didn't think he'd understand. "Why not, Emily?"
"Because I have to fight for what I believe in, Darius. And I believe in my family." I explained. His brow furrowed in confusion.
"After everything you know they've done?" He questioned.
"Yes." I nodded solemnly. He frowned, still not understanding. "Belief isn't about what you know, Darius, it's about what you feel. It's about what you love. And whatever they've done, I still love them."
He looked me over for a long moment, processing. "You're really not coming, are you?" He murmured, disappointed. I nodded even though I could feel it breaking my heart.
"I'm sorry." I apologized. He nodded shakily.
"Me too." He agreed sullenly. We stood there for a moment, tense silence filling the air. Finally, he spoke. "What's with the bag?"
"Oh." I dropped it at his feet, and offered him a pale smile. "You didn't look like you had much on you, and as warm as that sweater looks – not that I would know, since you've never let me wear it…" Unable to help himself, he chuckled a little at that.
"I still don't get the whole thing girls have about stealing their boyfriend's sweaters." He mumbled half-heartedly. I smiled a little.
"Anyway, I figured you might need some supplies." I explained, kneeling down to open the top to show him what was inside. "Water, snacks, a little bit of money, a couple of shirts I stole from Noah. Figured it might help."
Darius knelt down next to me. "Won't he notice?" He asked, gently reaching into the bag to look for himself.
"I gave him bionics; he can give me a couple of stupid shirts." I replied. He smiled a little, then it faded as he pulled out an envelope from the front of the bag. Before I could stop him, he opened it and removed the photograph. Kira had taken it of the two of us and Helix just a couple of days after we'd started dating, claiming it was her Aunt Lily would call a 'total Kodak moment'. "I didn't want you to forget me." I mumbled sheepishly as I ducked my head, slightly embarrassed and kinda regretting the decision to include it.
Darius' fingers found my chin and raised my face to meet his gaze. There were tears in his eyes, but he smiled kindly at me. "You are unforgettable, Emily Davenport."
And then I leaned in to kiss him, for what I knew was going to be the last time. I pushed my lips against his, taking in the texture, the taste, the feel of his against mine. It seemed to last a lifetime, but at the same time, it ended all too quickly.
"Maybe one day…I don't know." He sighed. "Maybe one day when all of this is over, we'll meet up in a coffee shop or library somewhere, get another chance."
I blinked back the tears in my eyes. "Maybe."
I sighed and started to get up, but just as I did that, the earth shook with the force of an explosion, a loud crashing sound coming from the North. Darius grabbed my arms, steadying me as the tremors faded. We both looked towards the source of the sound and saw smoking rising steadily into the air. The sound of distant sirens filled the air.
"I have to go." I snapped my head towards him, and he nodded solemnly.
"I know." He agreed, almost reluctantly. I glanced back at the smoke, then back at him.
"I can't convince you to stay?" I tried one last time. He shook his head.
"And I can't convince you to go." He wasn't asking, but I shook my head. I slowly started to back away from him and started to head towards the exit. I stopped at the entrance to the platform, just as the train started to come in. Darius lifted my bag over his shoulder with a heavy sigh.
"Darius!" I called to him before he could board. He looked back at me, and I could see my heartbreak mirrored on his face. "I love you."
His eyes widened slightly in surprise, not expecting me to say that. I didn't wait for him to respond though – I wasn't sure my heart could take it – and instead took off running towards the source of the explosion.
Ben's POV
As it turns out, Calla was right about Explority being Lexi's target.
We caught them just as they were exiting the building, their entire team (minus Saturn and Darius) all armed and ready for a fight. They weren't at all surprised when they met us outside the building's lobby. The sound of sirens was loud in the air, the first responders heading to the explosions too far for us to help but close enough for us to be well aware of.
"Well, well, well…I see you're all still around." Marcus sneered. He hadn't even bothered to wear his uniform or vizor mask this time around – I guess anonymity wasn't a concern for him anymore. "Wait, where's Emily?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Charlotte sneered aggressively at him. Leo motioned for her to stay calm, but he looked as angry as she did.
"Keep an eye out for her. Girl genius could be a problem." Marcus shot to his teammates. I watched as Naomi slowly raised her weapon, aiming it directly at Lexi without shooting.
"Give up now, and you'll face less jail time." She warned, projecting her voice loudly. "We know who all of you are – you might as well get rid of the masks – and we know what your plan is. It will not work. Give up now."
"And if we don't?" Reese sneered. Naomi didn't answered, but raised her chin defiantly, challenging her to see what would happen.
"You're too late anyway." Lexi snapped. "The bombs are already in place."
"Bombs?" Kameron echoed. Jupiter smirked.
"You didn't think that was it?" He questioned, gesturing at the chaotic streets. "Nah. We already got everything we need from Explority – better to destroy it and everything else around it than leave it standing."
"Dude!" Discordia snapped at him. He shook his head.
"Relax, kid. They're not going to run or anything – they won't leave the civies we left in the building to die." He reminded her. He smiled at us cruelly. "You only have 10 minutes to stop them, kiddies."
I sighed; enough was enough. "Get them, don't let them get away."
"Charlotte, you're in charge of dealing with those bombs." Naomi added, following my line of thinking. Lexi and her friends would try to stop us regardless, but if we fought them outright, maybe we could distract them enough for Charlotte so that she could disable them, save those people inside.
"Yeah…not going to happen." Marcus raised his hand, revealing a small trigger device. Before any of us could move, he hit the button, and smoke starting shooting heavily from the bottom of the device, surrounding us in seconds.
"Naomi!" I called, unable to see through the thick, impenetrable smoke. It must have been that kind of fake smoke that you could use for presentations – it didn't burn my throat or eyes the way real smoke would – but it was still impossible to see through.
"Ben!" Suddenly, a hand grabbed my arm. I turned to see Naomi holding onto my arm for fear of getting lost in the smoke again. "Where'd they go?"
"I don't know!" I called back, just as a ball of ice shot past us, missing us entirely. I looked at Naomi and adjusted her grip so that she was holding my hand instead of my forearm. "But I think Sera knows."
Stumbling our way through the smoke – it just wouldn't stop coming – we walked in the direction of the ice ball's source. Sure enough, we found Sera, and she was facing off against both Catastrophe and Jupiter. Her gaze darted between the two of them, clearly unsure of who to attack first, while the two villains closed in on her.
"Two against one? Not exactly fair odds." Naomi called, holding her weapon out again. Sera's face flushed with relief at the sight of us. Catastrophe and Jupiter just exchanged looks before the red-faced villain turned to face us.
"Whatever. The Calderan wasn't going to be much of a challenge for me anyway." Catastrophe commented.
"Lucky for us." I commented, stepping forward slightly so his attention was more on me than Naomi. I wasn't sure if I was still immune to the affects of his disintegration touch, but I had to be more durable to it than Naomi. Naomi, on the other hand, reached for her comms.
"Everyone, try to get inside the building to disable the bomb. Fight if you have to, but that's our priority." She announced. Catastrophe sneered.
"Good luck with that." He snapped before lunging at us.
Kameron's POV
"Everyone, try to get inside the building to disable the bomb. Fight if you have to, but that's our priority." Naomi ordered over the comms. I frowned, concerned.
"Um, I don't know how to do that." Bomb disabling had never been a part of our training with Calla, and if it was something the NLH was supposed to prepare us for, that hadn't come up quite yet. I looked over at Kira to see if she had any idea, but she shook her head helplessly.
As soon as the smoke bombs had gone off, I'd flown up into the air to try and see if I could see through the smoke from there. It was hopeless though; the smoke was just too thick. However, I did manage to catch sight of my sister, walking close to the building where the smoke was easier to see through. She'd been a little surprised when I'd dropped right down next to her, but had continued on, leading us towards the building.
"I can walk you through it if you get there first." Another voice assured us, surprising us all.
"Emily?" Calla's voice broke through, coming in loud and clear on the comms.
"Yeah Mom. Sorry I'm late guys." The technokinetic apologized. "But I'm here now."
"Glad to have you back, Em." Kira grinned.
"Not that she'll do you any good." Kira and I both looked up as two masked figures stepped out of the smoke.
"Hello, Ava, Aaron." I growled in greeting to them.
"You might as well ditch the masks; we know who you are." Kira added just as icily. Ava sighed before pulling hers off, dropping the vizor onto the ground.
"Whatever. I never liked the masks anyway." She rolled her eyes. Aaron shrugged.
"I'm keeping mine on." He mentioned before turning his gaze on us. "It's not like it'll stop us from kicking your asses."
"Language, Aaron. Geez, who raised you?" Kira mocked, clearly looking for any insult she could find.
"I got bounced around foster homes, actually. My dad would have raised me, but he died in prison, where your parents put him." Aaron snapped. Kira stopped, caught off guard by the response, her smile fading a little.
"That's no excuse for taking it on the city." I told him. Ava rolled her eyes. "I'm serious."
"I know, and that's what makes you so boring. We're not taking it out on the city, we're taking over the city. Foster kids to kings and queens, all thanks to my mother."
"Not if we can help it." Kira snapped. Ava smiled.
"That's the thing: you can't." She told us before reaching for Aaron's hand. The moment they touched, their bodies began to blur and change, their skin turning dark grey and breaking apart. In a matter of seconds, they went from two human beings into a single swarm of buzzing insects, floating above our heads menacingly.
"That might be a problem." I mumbled, half to my sister and half to myself.
Charlotte's POV
"This way." Papa whispered to me, pulling me along by the arm. I could just barely see him through the dark smoke - they must have used some kind of hydrocarbon to make it so dark - but I followed him anyway, trusting that he would get us out of the thick of it.
Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened.
"Ah!" I leapt back in surprise as a green laser cut through the smoke, nearly slicing off my arm and Papa's hand where he'd been holding me.
"Where do you think you're going?" Marcus stepped out of the smoke, a cocky grin on his face. Papa instinctively stepped partially in front of me, placing himself between me and his old adversary.
"Marcus." He growled in greeting, clenching his fists. He looked angrier than I'd ever seen him, angrier than I'd ever seen anybody (except for Ms. Perry in gym class, but she was always angry).
"Leo." Marcus smiled warmly at him. "I'm sorry we really didn't get a chance to chat last time we saw each other, but you know how difficult that is when you're shooting a rifle."
"Didn't feel like taking the coward's way out this time?" Papa questioned sarcastically. Marcus chuckled.
"Oh please, as if I would actually kill you like that. No, I wouldn't be that impersonal." His words sent chills down my back. "But I'll do you a favor and let you choose: do I kill little Charlotte and make you watch? Or do I kill you first and then her?"
"Charlie, go deal with the bomb. I'll handle him." Papa instructed. I shook my head, standing my ground.
"No, I'm staying." I insisted. He sent me a look, and I returned it with a smile. Marcus had already done enough to me, to my family. I wasn't going to just run away now.
"Aw, how sweet." Marcus rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. We'll just see which one goes first."
Emily's POV
I practically jumped out of my skin when I accidentally backed up into someone inside the smoke. I spun around, raising my plasma gun to shoot whoever it was, only to find myself face to face with my cousin. His fists dropped when he recognized me, relief washing over his face.
"Noah." I sighed, lowering my weapon. "Thought you were one of them."
"Where the hell have yoi been?" He demanded, staring at me. I opened my mouth to respond, but stopped when I saw Lexi step out of the smoke behind Noah. She cleared her throat, getting his attention.
"I'd like to know that as well." She commented, raising her chin.
"Of course you would." I retorted, narrowing my eyes at her.
"It doesn't matter in the end." I spun around as Reese appeared behind me. I stepped back so that I was back to back with Noah, covering each other's vulnerable sides.
"Let's just end this now." Noah sighed, sounding annoyed. "What was your plan anyway, just blow up the building? How does that get you the technology you need?"
"It doesn't. But it does get you right in the crossfire." Reese replied, smirking cockily.
"But don't worry; your deaths will be quicker than your parents' were." Whatever cocky comeback I'd been coming up with died on my tongue. I turned around to stare at Lexi, eyes wide.
"They're still alive." I frowned. They weren't dead. She couldn't even touch them from Earth. "Just because they're not in the city-"
"Right, because their trip to Venusia kept them safe from us, is that right?" Lexi smirked, eyeing Reese over my shoulder.
"And of course, you've heard from them since they left, right? Communications, video calls?" Reese teased. Noah sped forward, shoving Lexi back and grabbing her by the front of her shirt.
"You're lying." He growled. She smirked.
"Am I?" She didn't wait for Noah's response, instead hitting his hands hard enough to loosen his grip and lunging at him at full speed. I turned to shoot at her, to help, but a sudden, painful blow in my shoulder knocked me to the ground. I looked up to see Reese standing above me, a purple plasma ball in her hand.
Ben's POV
To our surprise, Catastrophe and Jupiter actually seemed to be a decent team. Well, rather, they didn't get in each other's way trying to take out all three of us themselves, as I'd kinda hoped they would. Instead, they were careful to stay out of each other's way, and to try and separate us. As it was, they'd managed to make sure that both of them stood between Naomi and I and Sera, preventing us from lending the cryokinetic a hand in her fight against Jupiter.
I ducked as Catastrophe aimed his fist at my head, narrowly avoiding being punched in the face before trying to land a good kick to his stomach area. The blow hit but seemed to do absolutely nothing. He didn't even flinch; his only reaction was knocking me down to the ground as if I was a flea.
I huffed in annoyance before rolling away from him before he could hit me again. I didn't like being at a disadvantage to anyone, especially criminals. But he was as strong as I used to be, just as invulnerable as I had been, and was even at least half a foot taller than me. And at 6'1 myself, that wasn't something I was used to (though I now totally understood why Charlotte and Emily didn't like sparring with me in training, being the two shortest on the team).
I only had two things going for me, the second being that Calla had upgraded our suits to be impervious to Catastrophe's disintegration abilities. As for the first thing...
"Catastrophe!" Naomi shouted, drawing his attention away from me in time for her to shoot him in the chest with her blaster. The plasma blast seemed to actually do some damage...well, rather, he stumbled back in response to the blast, though it didn't do as much damage as I would have liked. "The next one goes through your head."
"I'd like to see that." Catastrophe scoffed, amused by the idea of Naomi trying to actually kill him. Unfortunately, he was right; she would hurt him, badly too, but she wouldn't shoot him where she knew he couldn't survive.
I pushed myself to my feet, shaking my head. "This isn't working." I muttered to Naomi. She didn't respond, but I saw her eyes flick to me briefly at my words.
"You ready to give up yet?" Catastrophe called. "I'm rather bored."
"Not even close, Voldemort." I snapped before lunging at him again, this time using my strength to push myself off the ground. I leapt at him and managed to knock him to the ground using my weight. He tried to push me off of him, but I punched him in the head before he could, managing to daze him for a moment.
Unfortunately, that moment didn't last long enough, because before I could hit him again, his leg shot up, his knee slamming into my crotch.
"Oh!" I nearly keeled over at the pain, and Catastrophe took advantage of that pretty quickly. He pushed me off of him with his feet, then kicked me again in the stomach before pushing to his feet. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, trying to regain my footing.
"Your turn." Catastrophe said and I looked up in concern, watching as he turned on Naomi. She wasn't fazed though, and immediately turned her weapon on him.
"Try it, Voldy." She commented, smirking a little at her reference to my nickname for him. I pushed myself onto my knees, and glanced over at the other side of the fight, where Sera was holding her own against Jupiter. Jupiter was stronger, and clearly more experienced in fighting, but Sera's cryokinesis was something that no other Calderan had, and she knew how to use that to her advantage. I watched as she shot an icy blast at her opponent's feet, either hoping to either freeze him to the spot or knock him off balance. Either way, it certainly threw him off his rhythm.
Satisfied that Seraphina could manage a little longer without us, I took a deep breath, then pushed myself back to my feet. "Catastrophe!" I called just as he was knocked back a step by Naomi's blaster. I whistled for extra effect, getting an annoyed look in response. I smirked - his strength and invulnerability may give him an advantage over us, but this back and forth would tire him out easier. Hopefully, enough for us to take him down.
Kameron's POV
"C'mon!" I growled in frustration, watching as Ava or Aaron, whichever swarm it was that I was fighting, opened up to allow my lightning bolt to through without harming them, my attack essentially useless. "Would it kill you to stay still for just one minute?"
"Right?" Kira murmured breathlessly, her swarm doing the same as she shot a fire ball at it. "Cowards!"
One of the swarms stopped midair, possibly offended by what Kira had called them, and turned to charge at us, moving faster than I'd thought them capable. "Duck!" Kira grabbed my shoulder, throwing the both of us to the ground in time to avoid the swarm. I quickly pushed myself up on my elbows and shot a blast of electricity at the retreating swarm, finally succeeding in landing a blow. I electrocuted the swarm, causing it to drop to the ground.
"Ha!" Kira exclaimed, rolling onto her back and shooting a ball of fire straight into the air. The second swarm had been flying in to either help their cousin or take us out while we were distracted, but Kira had managed to knock them off course, sending them reeling back to avoid being burnt.
"I hate electrokinetics." I looked back over at where the swarm had fallen to see Ava slowly standing up, wincing as she clutched her shoulder.
"Yeah, well, I don't like criminals, so we're even." I replied, climbing to my feet. I felt Kira do the same behind me, her hands raised as she kept her gaze locked on the second swarm. Ava rolled her eyes and raised her hand, sending a purple plasma blast my way. I dodged it, using one hand to pull Kira to the side as well to avoid the blast, before turning around and sending a blast of lightning her way. Unfortunately, by time I turned back, she had already become a swarm once again and flown out of my range.
"I hope the others are doing a little better than we are." I mentioned to Kira, frustrated with how little damage we were doling out.
Charlotte's POV
I dropped to my knees, throwing my head back as a green laser beam shot right through where my head had been, watching as it narrowly missed taking me out right then and there. Papa was engaged with Marcus already, using his laser spheres to fend Marcus off of me. Marcus was clearly very confident in his powers, the cocky smirk on his face never fading even once during the fight.
I watched as he charged at my father with super speed, Papa only just barely able to fend him off with his super strength. I quickly pushed myself to my feet and leapt back into the fight, not wanting my father to have to fight him alone. I lunged at him, intending to use my bionic strength to take him out, but Marcus was faster and stronger than I was, catching my fists at the last second. He grinned at me before kneeing me hard in the stomach. I dropped to the ground like a stone, winded, as Marcus stood over me.
"Such a waste." He commented, looking down at me. I watched as his eyes turned green, and, realizing I had no chance to escape, closed my eyes tightly. The laser blast never came though, and I heard a loud grunt above me. Opening my eyes, I saw Papa tussling with Marcus, having thrown him to the ground.
"Not her." Papa growled protectively, putting himself between Marcus and I. He raised a hand and created an energy sphere in the palm of his hand. He shot it at Marcus, who dodged it, but Papa had clearly been expecting him to do that; he'd already created another energy sphere in his hands and shot it towards Marcus while the android was still preoccupied with the first one. The energy sphere hit Marcus in the shoulder and knocked him back a step, but otherwise did no damage.
Marcus glanced at his shoulder where it had hit, then turned back to Papa and I with a cocky smirk. "Is that the best you've got?"
Emily's POV
"You're a liar!" I shouted, shooting three short bursts from my plasma gun at Reese, angry. How dare she try and trick us like that? How dare she say my father was dead?!
"Oh, poor little Emily lost her daddy. Guess you know how it feels." Reese sneered, easily avoiding the blasts. I glared at her. "I lost my father when I was your age, you know? Dani Short murdered him."
"Short Circuit is a hero who saved the world from his terror." I growled. Darius had told me the same thing, and I wasn't too happy with my mother's explanation for it, but Dani was still family to us, and I wasn't about let Reese use something else to upset me. I realized that was her strategy here, to use my emotions against me. Well, that could work both ways. "And besides, it sounds like he was pretty easy to take out, you know? I mean, she'd only had her powers for, like, a year. He seems pretty pathetic to me."
"Oh, I'll show you what's pathetic." She growled before lunging at me, transforming into a swarm as she did. I fell back, my butt hitting the ground as she sped right through where my head had been. I shot at her as she went, sending four blasts into the center of her swarm. All of them missed as she twisted and created holes in her own swarm to avoid them, but this at least gave me a chance to regain my footing.
I now understood why my parents' had had such a hard time dealing with the swarms. They were near impossible to hit, and only a very few abilities could manage to get a real hit in. Abilities that few of us had, and the ones that did were occupied with the non-swarm criminals here today.
I lost sight of Reese's swarm in the fog, so I turned to see if I could help Noah. He and Lexi were sparring a few feet away, their movements so fast that I could barely make out their individual figures. "Noah!" I shouted, trying to get his attention. Suddenly, he flew out of the fight, stumbling back several feet with a bruise forming on his face. I winced sympathetically - I hadn't meant to distract him, only get his attention - but him being separate from Lexi did give me a clear shot. I raised my plasma gun and aimed to shoot her in the back as she zoomed towards Noah, only for something heavy to hit me from behind.
"Ow!" I hit the ground hard, landing on my side with Reese reforming above me.
"Pathetic." She sneered. I stared up at her for a second before scrambling for my plasma gun. It had been knocked out of my hand when she'd hit me, and was no longer in my reach. "Don't worry kid, you'll see your dad soon."
She raised her hand, a plasma ball glowing in it, ready to strike me down for good. But just as she went to shoot it, something blasted her from behind, an amber glow shining from behind just before the blast hit. She hit the ground next to me with a groan, clearly in pain. I didn't have time to ask who had blasted her or even thank my lucky, lucky stars that they'd blasted her at the right time; I just pushed myself onto my knees and climbed on top of her, one hand pulling a pair of power-nullifying cuffs out of my jacket pocket, grateful that I always kept a pair on me.
I had just managed to cuff one hand when Lexi was suddenly slamming into me, knocking me off of her friend. Noah came to my aid just as Lexi pulled an annoyed looking Reese to her feet.
"What was that?" Reese demanded, glancing at Lexi. I looked at Noah, wondering if he knew who'd blasted Reese, but he looked as suspicious as I was. None of the others had blasts that looked like that, nor were any of our weapons set to fire blasts of that color (Mom always said that blue sold better than any other color, something about stockbrokers thinking it was more high tech than colors like red or black).
"What was what?" Another voice called, coming from our left in the fog. Out stepped Kameron and Kira, both looking tired and a little roughed up, but mostly unhurt.
"I don't suppose you've seen Thing 1 and Thing 2? We lost them in the fog." Kira complained as she and her brother walked over to our side, keeping them glares locked on Lexi and Reese. At my and Noah's confused looks, she sighed. "Was our mom the only one to insist we watch super old kids movies growing up?"
"We're right here." Almost like villains from a melodramatic film noir from, like, a hundred years ago, Ava and Aaron stepped out of the smoke, one on either side of Reese and Lexi. I scowled when I saw my former friend. "Hey Emily, sorry about you and Darius."
"Oh, shut up, Ava." Kameron rolled his eyes. I offered him a small smile before turning my attention back to the criminals in front of me.
"You know, this is the part that makes sense. You were always mooching off of Charlotte and I." I hummed, smiling cruelly at Ava. "Anyone else would have taken off ages ago, once they realized they weren't at our level."
Ava's retort, which most likely would have been something witty and cold, was cut off by Lexi's watch beeping. She looked down at it in surprise, then at Reese in warning.
"What was that?" I demanded. Lexi gave us a smirk.
"You're too late to diffuse the bomb. T-minus ten seconds and counting." She announced before turning to Reese. "Every villain for themselves."
"What?" Reese demanded, reaching for Lexi, only for the bionic criminal to disappear, geoleaping away.
"Get out of here." I turned to Noah. He stared at me, confused. "With your speed, you can get out of range in time."
"No way, I'm not abandoning you guys." He refused. I gave him a look, but it occurred to me that we were out of time.
4...3...2...1...
Kameron's POV
"Oh god." Kira murmured, paling as Emily tried to convince her cousin to save himself. Ava, Aaron, and Reese all exchanged worried looks - clearly, their plan had been to either get away before they ran out of time, or to geoleap away with Lexi, who'd abandoned them like the coward she was - and now, they didn't know what to do. "What do we do?"
"I don't know." I said back, shaking my head. It was possible, depending on the kind of blast, that Kira might survive - pyrokinetics were more durable to most explosions, thanks to their invulnerability to fire - and if Charlotte was able to use her force field in time, she would be okay too, and maybe Leo as well, so at least they would stand a chance. As for the rest of us...wait.
Shouldn't the explosion gone off by now?
"Uh, Emily?" I glanced at our team's technological genius. "It's been more than ten seconds, right?"
"It has." She said cautiously, eyeing the shapeshifters suspiciously. Reese had pulled out a holophone and was looking at something on it suspiciously. "Let me guess, the bomb was a diversion?"
"Please." Reese rolled her eyes, scowling at what she saw on the screen. "That Saturn...he gave the codes to disable it, didn't he?" She demanded, ticked off. I hesitated, then glanced back at the others.
"Uh, did he?" I'd missed that part of the debrief. But Ava answered before any of them could.
"He didn't know the codes, remember? Lexi didn't trust him with them, said he was a coward who'd probably talk at the first chance." She commented.
"Ironic, seeing as she's the one who ran." Aaron scowled. Reese looked at Ava, then scowled.
"I'm going to kill that kid when I find him." She muttered. Emily stepped forward, eyes narrowing at the shapeshifter.
"You'll never get the chance." She growled. She glanced back at us. "Let's finish this. We can worry about Lexi and whoever disabled that bomb later." She told us. I smiled.
"After you, girl genius." I encouraged.
"Bring it on." Ava snapped before transforming into her swarm. Reese and Aaron followed her lead, combining their swarm and hovering above us threateningly.
"Anyone got any ideas?" Kira questioned. Suddenly, an amber blast collided with the swarm, seeming to come out of nowhere.
"Where is that coming from?" Noah turned half around, trying to find the source. Another blast came out, hitting the swarm as well. Emily's eyes widened.
"It doesn't matter. They're too big to maneuver the way they were before. Start blasting." She told us, swiping her plasma gun off the ground and aiming it at the swarm, firing almost immediately. Kira and I exchanged looks, then together, shot streams of lightning and fire into the swarm. Combined with the blasts from Emily's blaster and the blasts from the mysterious source, we brought Reese, Ava, and Aaron crashing down onto the ground.
They reformed into themselves as they hit the ground, stunned from the onslaught of our attacks. Noah quickly sped forward, cuffing each of them with power-nullifying cuffs before they could recover enough to attack. He left Ava and Aaron on the ground, still dazed, but threw Reese up the nearby brick wall.
"Now, you were saying something about our parents?" He questioned, glaring at her.
Ben's POV
"Alright, that's it!" Catastrophe had finally had enough of the back and forth, and frankly, I was glad that he had. It wasn't that solid of a plan, and while it was tiring Catastrophe out, it was also taking a lot out of me as well. "I'm done playing games."
"Oh yeah? You actually going to try now?" I called, trying to hide how breathless I was. Naomi glanced at me, concern in her gaze. I'd so far taken the brunt of the fight, while she'd managed to only shoot from far enough away to avoid getting hurt.
"Yeah, I am." He smirked at me, then lunged. But instead of going for me, like he had been this entire time, he lunged at Naomi. Not expecting it, Naomi didn't have time to get out of his reach, and he pulled her to his chest, one arm around her neck.
"Let her go, Catastrophe." I growled stepping forward a step. He smirked.
"Not gonna happen. Hey, space boy!" He called. "You wanna take the Normo out?"
I turned in time to see Jupiter step away from Seraphina, who was lying on the ground, having just taken a hit herself. I watched as Jupiter created a Calderan energy ball in his hand, and prepared to throw it at Naomi.
"No!" I threw myself at him, taking him down to the ground before he could hurt her. I punched him hard across the face, using more strength than I thought I still had to knock him out and keep him down.
"Naomi, get down!" I heard Sera shout. I looked over my shoulder in time to see Naomi drop to her knees, becoming a dead weight in Catastrophe's arms to force him to drop her. The moment she did, Sera blasted Catastrophe in the face with a cryoblast.
Naomi, now out of danger, pushed herself away from Catastrophe and picked her blaster up, prepared to step in to help, but Sera didn't let up in her attack. She continued going until Catastrophe was frozen solid.
"Whoa." I murmured, staring at the fully frozen figure of Catastrophe. I looked at Seraphina, who looked just as surprised as I felt.
"I guess I had a lot of pent up power." She commented, sounding a little tired. I nodded.
"I guess so." I agreed, impressed.
"I guess it's a good thing I let you use it all up on him." Jupiter commented. We turned to see the Calderan back on his feet. I stepped forward to handle it, but so did Sera.
"Let me." She insisted. I glanced at Naomi, and she nodded, so I stepped back, allowing Seraphina to handle the situation.
"I've been kicking your ass all day, sweetheart. You should just give up now." He warned her. She just gave him a tired look.
"How could you do this, become this? You're Calderan." She shook her head in disgust. "We're supposed to be heroes, warriors in the name of good. And yet, here you are, aligned with people who'd do anything to take over the world."
"Because I refuse to be on the losing side. Caldera's done for. The Venusians are going to win." He retorted. "Helping these idiots was my ticket to the winning side."
"How so?" Sera questioned. I glanced at Naomi, remembering our theory about the identity of Lexi's benefactor. Jupiter smirked.
"Who do you think financed our mission here?" He questioned. Sera's eyes widened.
"You're working with the Venusians." She realized in horror. Her face darkened. "You're a traitor to our people!"
"Our people?" He repeated with a dark laugh. "You're barely half-Calderan."
I growled, and moved to step forward, but Naomi grabbed my arm, stopping me.
"At least I'm loyal." Seraphina replied coolly.
"At least I'll survive." Jupiter sneered. Sera finally had enough and raised her hand to blast him full of ice, but to her surprise, all she managed to do was produce a couple of ice cubes. "Oh, all out of juice?"
Jupiter raised a hand, an energy blast forming in his hand, but before he could, he was blasted in the chest by a light blue blast and was knocked back hard. I looked to my left to see Naomi holding her blaster aimed at him, the end of the barrel still lit up from the blast.
"Sorry." She apologized to Sera. "Figured you were done."
Sera offered her a small smile before pulling out a pair of power nullifying cuffs and turning back towards Jupiter.
Charlotte's POV
Papa went for Marcus first, an energy sphere forming in his hand as he lunged. He shot it at Marcus, but like before, it barely did anything. Luckily, Papa followed that through with a punch to the face. Marcus took it, but that was because he knew my father only had super strength in two of his limbs, while Marcus was full strength. He punched Papa in the gut in return, hardly even flinching from Papa's blow, and followed his own punch with a kick to the same area. Papa bent over, but pushed himself into Marcus, using his weight to knock the android off balance.
I lunged at Marcus, spinning around at the last second to kick him in the face. He grabbed my ankle at the last minute, twisting it painfully.
"Ah!" I cried out as he twisted it near the point of breaking, and I struggled to pull away.
"Charlie, down!" Papa shouted, standing in front of me and raising his hand. I let the leg that was still on the ground buckle, forcing Marcus down. I saw the brief flash of green in Marcus' eyes, and I realized he'd been about to hit me with his laser vision, but before he could, Papa sent a laser sphere at his head. Marcus had to release me to avoid it, and I managed to scramble away, my ankle throbbing.
Papa's laser sphere hit Marcus in the face, and though it only managed to blind Marcus for a quick second, Papa didn't relent. He lunged at Marcus, fist clenched, and clocked him in the head before Marcus could recover.
However, before Papa could knock him out or get any other real hits in, Marcus hit him in the chest with what looked like a giant ball of electricity. The blast threw Papa away from him, my father landing, hurt, at my feet.
"Papa!" I cried, dropping to my knees. He groaned in pain, but was thankfully awake and hopefully not badly injured. I looked back up at Marcus, who was walking towards us with that obnoxious, cocky grin on his face. Oh, how was I ever attracted to him?
I got to my feet before he could attack again, and threw a large plasma ball at him. To my surprise, he caught it before it hit him, using one of his abilities to levitate it between the palms of his hands without getting hurt, eyebrows raised. "I see they gave you Chase's bionics instead of Leo's. Probably a good idea - I don't know what Calla or my dad were thinking; giving that wimp bionics was such a waste."
"Yeah, well, I did get some things from my Papa." I retorted, raising a hand and creating an energy sphere. It wasn't an ability I used very often - I preferred the plasma shield/balls - but it was one I certainly knew how to use. Marcus laughed in surprise when he saw the energy sphere.
"Energy spheres are not even close to being as powerful as plasma spheres." He told me, shaking his head like I was a silly child. I smirked.
"True." I agreed, taking a step back to get into a better position. "But do you know what happens when you mix a plasma ball with an energy sphere?"
For the first time, I watched the smile drop from his face. He tried to throw the plasma ball back at me, but it was too late - I'd already pitched the energy sphere at him, baseball-style. It collided with the plasma ball inches from Marcus' face. I raised my hands just in time to create a plasma force field around Papa and I just as the energy sphere and the plasma ball's contact created a massive explosion.
My force field was only partially up when the explosion happened, so we were still knocked back pretty far, but it protected us enough to save us from the explosion.
We hit the ground harder than I would have liked as the explosion lit up the foggy area with a bright white light that briefly blinded me. When the light died down enough that my retinas no longer felt like they were burning, I could just make out my father's figure in front of me.
"Charlie? Charlotte, are you okay?" He asked, his voice echoing oddly, like I was underwater.
"Papa?" I asked, my ears ringing from the explosion.
"Are you alright?" He asked again. My ears popped at the last syllable of 'alright', and suddenly, I could hear better.
"Yeah. Ow." I complained, bringing my hand to my head. It came away red and sticky.
"It's okay, it's not that bad." Papa assured me, looking at the head wound. "You know what they say about head wounds."
"Where's Marcus?" I asked, sitting up fully. I looked past Papa, where a pile of smoking, lumpy clothes lay. An android arm lay limply, hanging out of the shirt.
"Uh..." Papa blinked in surprise, surveying the scorched ground around us. If it hadn't been for my force field, we'd probably be dead.
"Did I destroy Marcus?" I asked, stunned. Papa opened his mouth to reply, then closed it, seeming just as shocked as I was.
"Hey, are you guys alright? We saw the light-oh." Kira broke through the quickly dissipating fog but stopped short when she saw what was left of my android ex (a phrase I will never get over). "Is that..."
"Marcus, yeah." I nodded in agreement, slowly getting to my feet with Papa's help. "Did you guys get the others?"
"Oh, yeah." Kira stepped aside and past her, I could see the others gathering a group sullen-looking and handcuffed criminals in front of the Explority building. Reese, Ava, Aaron, and Jupiter were in the center, all looking furious and utterly defeated.
"Where are Catastrophe and Lexi?" I questioned.
"Lexi got away. Geoleaped before the bomb was supposed to go off." Noah called to us from where he was standing in front of Reese. He looked a little roughed up, but overly pleased with how things had turned out. "As for Catastrophe..."
"He's on ice for the time being." Ben joked, jerking his thumb at a frozen statue of Catastrophe. Kira gave him a look.
"You didn't just say that." She groaned. He rolled his eyes, then grinned at Naomi, but she was too busy focusing on her Davenwatch to notice.
"When the bomb was supposed to go off." Papa repeated it. He looked at Emily. "You disabled it in time?"
"Actually, I didn't disable it." Emily shook her head. I looked at her, catching onto her tone.
"Did any of us?" I questioned, looking around. Judging by the blank looks on everyone's faces, the answer was no. "Then did they mess up the wiring or something?"
"Not according to Reese here. She thinks it was someone else." Noah commented, looking down at Reese. She rolled her eyes and pointedly looked away. "Not feeling so talkative now, huh?"
"Who then?" I questioned.
"I'm guessing the same person who helped us shoot these guys down." Kameron nudged Ava with his shoe. She kicked her leg out at him, and he jumped back and raised his hand, sparks coming off of his fingertips. "Try it, Mystique. I'm ready."
"Someone else was shooting?" Papa questioned suspiciously. Kira nodded.
"And, if the angle of trajectory is correct, then it came..." Naomi looked at her Davenwatch one more time to double check her math before turning and pointing into the distance, "...from that rooftop."
Emily and I exchanged looks, silently agreeing to check it out.
Emily's POV
I climbed the fire escape as quickly as I could, but by the time I got to the roof, it was empty, not a living soul in sight. "What?" I mumbled to myself as I fully climbed onto the roof and looked around. The entire roof was empty, save for something behind the stair entrance that was creating a long shadow across the cold roof. Ignoring the sounds of Charlotte and Ben following up the ladder, I ran around the stair entrance to see what had caused the shadow.
A long-barreled blaster was leaning against the stair enclosure, a familiar, dark blue sweater hanging off of it. I grabbed the jacket, recognizing it instantly.
"Is that Darius'?" Charlotte's voice came from behind me. I glanced at her briefly before looking back at the sweater. "Is he here?"
"I don't...I don't know." I mumbled, looking over the sweater.
"Darius was the one shooting? Are we sure?" Ben questioned, also coming up behind me. "Was he the one who disabled the bomb?"
"He must have; Reese did imply that Saturn was the only one who didn't know the codes to do it remotely." Charlotte replied. I'd stopped listening by this point, as I'd discovered something in the sweater's pocket. I reached in and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. I unfolded it to find a message written on one side, in Darius' small, neat handwriting.
I believe in you.
- D
"What does it say?" Ben questioned, noticing the note in my hand. I sniffed, feeling tears well up in the corner of my eyes. When I turned back to them, his expression softened. "Emily?"
"It was him. It was Darius." I confirmed. If I thought my heart had broken earlier, it was shattering now. "He's gone."
Ben's POV
When Calla finally stopped, the room was filled with a heavy silence as the kids absorbed what she had told them. The moment we'd walked through the door to the Penthouse, Emily and Noah had told the others what Lexi and Reese had told them about their parents, and after hearing about Jupiter's confession, they'd demanded that Calla and Leo tell them everything they'd been hiding. They'd been reluctant to do it, but they told them everything they knew about the Venusians, Lexi's secret benefactor, and what little they knew about the Elite Force's whereabouts.
Eventually, Kira broke the silence.
"So, they might be dead?" She asked, her voice breaking, tears already streaming down her cheeks. Calla gently placed one of her hands on Kira's knee, the other reaching for Emily. Her daughter pulled back though, tightening her grip on Helix, who was sitting quietly in her lap. She rested her chin on his upper back, teary-eyed.
"We don't know that yet, not for sure. They could very well be alive and unhurt." She told the kids gently. She shook her head. "This is why we didn't tell you. I didn't want to burden you with this until we knew for sure."
"But there's a chance." Noah mumbled, voice rough. Calla glanced at Leo and Katherine, then nodded sadly. "You should have told us."
"I was trying to protect you guys." Calla explained.
"Yeah, well, look how that's worked out so far." Emily snapped. Calla looked at her. "This isn't the first time you've lied to protect us and it end up with us being worse off than we would have been."
"Emily." Katherine chided.
"But it's true!" Emily protested, raising her head. "You should have told us about Marcus, and Lexi and Sebastian, and Reese, and everyone else. You didn't, and we could have been killed because we didn't know what to expect!"
"That's not helping, Emily." Naomi said. Emily shot her a look, but Calla raised her hand to stop everyone.
"You're right. Emily, you are right. And I'm sorry." She apologized, sounding genuinely regretful for what they'd done. "But we did what we thought was best. Parents make mistakes too."
"Yeah, well..." Emily looked away, biting the inside of her cheek to stop her retort.
"Do you think they're dead?" Seraphina asked, looking up at Calla. Calla shook her head.
"No, I don't." She answered with a reassuring smile. "What you guys fought today, that was only a fraction of what your parents have faced over the years, and they have always, always, come back alive. They're still fighting, I know it."
"I'm going to lead a mission to save them, as soon as Davenport Industries finish our space craft." I added. The kids all turned to face me. "I promise you, I'm going to find your parents and bring them home to you. I promise."
"We're going with." Emily said firmly. Calla shook her head.
"Absolutely not." She refused.
"But Calla-" Seraphina argued.
"No buts. It's my job to keep you guys safe, and there is no chance in hell that I'm sending you on that kind of mission. No way."
"But that's not fair!" Charlotte retorted.
"It's not happening." Leo insisted, siding with Calla.
"But they're our moms and dads!" Kameron argued. The kids all started protesting, voices raising in volume until Calla finally stood up.
"QUIET!" She shouted. Every single person in the room shut up, not expecting her to yell. "You are not going on this mission, end of story."
"But-" Kameron started to argue again, but Calla stopped him with a cold glare.
"End. Of. Story." She said slowly, enunciating each word for effect. Emily stood up and Calla raised her chin, expecting her daughter to start a fight.
Instead, Emily addressed her very calmly. "I want to get MISS to start looking for Darius and Lexi. He could be in trouble, and she is trouble. May I leave to go do that?"
Calla nodded. "You may." She agreed. Emily nodded stiffly and led Helix towards the hyperlift. "As for the rest of you, you should get some rest. It's been a long day."
Almost everyone left, grumbling or frustrated. I sighed, wishing it could have been different. They'd had a huge win today; they should be celebrating, instead of finding out this kind of news.
"Can I talk to you?" Naomi questioned, walking past me without waiting for a response. I frowned but followed her out onto the veranda.
"Is everything okay?" I asked. Unlike the kids, she'd already known what we did about her family and the others' parents, and I didn't know what could be wrong, other than that.
"You have to stop doing that." She told me, turning around. She looked upset, but I couldn't figure out what she meant.
"Doing what?" I asked slowly, wondering what I'd missed. She sighed in annoyance. "Look, whatever it is, I'll stop, but I can't do that if you don't tell me what you're upset about."
"The fight, earlier. Tackling Jupiter like that..." She shook her head. "You're not invulnerable anymore, Ben! That blast could have killed you!"
"Could have, maybe. But it didn't even hit me. And it would have killed you if I hadn't done anything." I argued, a little annoyed. I wasn't expecting her to be grateful that I saved her life - Naomi never had to say thank you for that, not to me - but I also didn't expect to be criticized for it.
"I know that, but I don't want to see you hurt on my account." She told me. I shook my head.
"And I don't want to see you hurt because I didn't do anything." I pointed out. She shook her head. "Look, Naomi, I'm not going to stop trying to save you just because of what Saturn did to me."
"I don't want you doing that for me!" She snapped, breathing hard. I shook my head.
"I'm not going to lose you like that!" I snapped.
"Well, I can't lose you either!" She shouted, stepping closer to me. I hesitated, and she dropped her face into her hands. After a moment, she finally spoke. "I need you to promise me something."
"I can't promise that." I told her. She shook her head, not lifting it from her hands.
"No, something else." She sighed and looked up at me. "I...I need you to promise me...promise me that I won't lose you, no matter what happens. I won't lose you."
"Naomi..." I trailed off. I wanted to promise her that, I did, but the truth was, anything could happen out there. She looked at me.
"I mean it, Ben. I-I can't lose you. You're my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without you in my life." She told me, on the verge of tears. "Promise me that no matter what happens, I won't lose you, and you'll always be here in my life."
"I promise I'll try." I eventually settled on. She frowned, not loving my answer. "I can't predict the future, Naomi. I don't know anyone who has that power. But I will try my damnedest to make sure that I stay. As long as I'm still breathing, you're stuck with me, alright? That I can promise."
She licked her lips, considering my answer, and then she did the last thing I expected her to do: she kissed me.
Naomi pulled me close, one hand reaching into my hair to push my head down towards hers, and her lips met mine, moving desperately against mine. I kissed her back, soaking in the moment while I had it.
After a moment, she broke away, leaving me completely breathless. "Good." She murmured, looking at me with those big, beautiful brown eyes of hers. "Because I want this. I want you, Ben, but I can't lose what we have. I can't lose you. I don't know if I'd survive it."
I found myself smiling. "You won't even have to find out. Like I said, you're stuck with me." I assured her. She smiled back.
"Good." She said again before pulling me in for another kiss.
Kameron's POV
"Kameron! Kameron!" I woke to the sound of someone whispering my name, a hand on my shoulder shaking me awake. Opening my eyes, I found Charlotte leaning over me, her forehead still bandaged from earlier.
"Charlotte?" I hummed in confusion. Not the worst way to wake up, but given that nothing had happened between us since that mistletoe kiss that Emily, Justine, and my sister had orchestrated almost two weeks ago (though it seemed like it was ages ago), I had to admit, I was surprised to see her in my room in the middle of the night. "What's going on? Is it Lexi?"
"No, team meeting in Mission Command." She explained quietly. I turned to glance at the time and saw Noah already up, pulling a t-shirt over his head.
"It's...3:09 AM." I said dumbly. She rolled her eyes.
"I know. C'mon." She murmured before getting up and slipping out of the room.
"Might as well see what's up." Noah sighed, stepping out of the room. I threw off my covers and followed him and Charlotte down to Mission Command. Emily, Seraphina, and Kira were already down there, waiting for us. Kira and Sera both looked like they'd been woken up recently, same as Noah and I, but Emily was wide awake, dressed in a tank top, a pair of sweatpants, and Darius' dark blue sweater. I took one look at the concentrated look on the technopath's face, and suddenly, I knew exactly why she'd woken us all up.
"So, I take it this meeting is about how we're going to secretly go to Venusia to save our parents?" I voiced my guess aloud. The others, minus Charlotte, looked surprised, not having come to that conclusion themselves. But judging by the slow smiles that came to all of their faces, everyone in the room was in agreement with the plan. Emily looked at each of our faces, pleased with our reactions, then smiled herself.
"Who wants to help me steal a spaceship from my mother?"
Xxx
Kihonne: And thus concludes season 1. I hope you all enjoyed it. I seriously want to hear what you guys thought, about everything, good or bad (though I admit, I'm hoping more for the good). Seriously, I would love to see what you guys have to say about it.
I hope you guys are all pumped for Season 2 to start. I think if that last scene says anything about what you've got to look forward to, it's going to be a very fun season indeed. The first chapter of Season 2 will premier on December 31st, so until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you! I hope you all have an amazing couple of weeks, and I can't wait to see you on the 31st.