Kihonne: Alright, and I am back! I hope you guys liked the last chapter, because I've got another one right here for you. But first, review responses.
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SzymonS: Oh, hello my old friend. I have missed hearing from you. I have loved Kani and Challa over the years, although I was definitely in a Challa vibe when I wrote that chapter. That being said, I've been rereading my stories while writing these to try and capture the essence of my original work, and I have loved rereading the early days of Kaz and Dani. Is that weird, given that it's my own writing? Either way, they're definitely the more fun couple to read about. Regarding the Darius comment, that's more in Calla's head than an action she actually took. Emily's description of Darius' life would definitely be the kind of thing that any reasonable adult would be concerned over, and Calla not offering help to a child in need is essentially thing as abandonment in her head. She's still trying to decide what the right decision was, so the guilt has built things up differently in her mind than what actually happened. I've really enjoyed the whole 'unreliable narrator' aspect with Legacies, even from the beginning. It's going to be an interesting ending to the season, that's all I'll say about your theory. Thanks for letting me know about the email issues – I haven't experienced those, but I'll keep an eye out. Fanfiction has definitely developed some issues since I've last been on, which is why I'm also going to be posting my chapters on AO3 for those who prefer that format.
Guest: Hello! I'm so glad I updated on AO3 as well! I'm hoping that consistent updates on both will help bring more readers back, since I know a lot transferred over to AO3 in the past few years. Welcome to my series! I love that I'm still getting new readers! I hope you enjoy the stories – let me know your thoughts, even on the old ones! I really put Calla through the ringer with everything. I think I might owe her a vacation, lol. Definitely not going to be causing her any more unnecessary pain right now, especially with the baby. The only thing I will confirm is the baby will be a-okay. But stress is a very reasonable concern and precisely why Chase would dare tell Calla to calm down and take a breath in the middle of an argument. I love your analysis of both sides of the "should the kids be involved" argument. I definitely wanted to show that both sides have their merits, rather than paint any particular side as incorrect. As for the face claims, I don't know if I've stated that before? No clue. Happy to do so now (and so glad I found my old notes on that). Now, bearing in mind that I typically only choose faceclaims after I design the character, so it's not exact, here's the list: Bianca Lawson as Naomi, Logan Shroyer as Ben, India Eisley as Emily, Leo Howard as Noah, Jolie Vanier as Kira, Ian Nelson as Kameron, Ryan Newman as Sera, Gracie Marie Bradley as Charlotte, and Timothee Chalamet as Darius. I do want to comment on three of those though. Kira's actress is probably my least favourite, but I couldn't find anyone better. For Darius, I do normally try to pick lesser known actors, but Chalamet became pretty famous like a month or two after I picked him. Finally, for Kameron, look up pictures of his actor from his earlier acting days. He looked a LOT more like Kaz back then. Anyway, welcome once again, and I hope you enjoy!
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Kihonne: Anyway, without further ado.
Naomi: Kihonne doesn't own Lab Rats, Mighty Med, or Elite Force. She only owns this story, any and all OCs, and anything else you don't recognize.
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Kameron's POV
Sneaking out of the Penthouse had actually been a lot easier than any of us had expected. A huge part of it was probably not luck, but rather a result of everyone in the apartment being completely drained from our trip home. The ship we'd borrowed (or stolen, depending on who you asked) had been tiny, with only a couple of beds and a single bathroom, so it had left most of us more strung out and exhausted than not. Emily had snuck into her parents' bedroom and returned a little while later with a large, silver blanket she claimed was her grandfather's old 'invisibility cloak'. I hadn't quite believed that it would actually work (I mean, c'mon, even the Davenports have their limits) until we successfully snuck right by Calla while she was dividing up the pizza she'd ordered onto plates. We weren't able to go through the front door or Mission Command without getting caught, so we'd had to sneak onto the veranda and fly down, much to my sister's displeasure.
"How can a superhero be afraid of heights?" Charlotte teased as we entered the bus depot downtown. It would have been impossible to borrow a car from the garage without getting caught, so we'd had to walk all the way down here.
"Do you know how many people die from accidental falls each year?" The younger girl protested, glaring at her. "And I got you down in one piece, didn't I?"
"Okay, guys. Enough." Although even I had to admit that it was funny to get Kira mad (mainly because it was so hard to rile her up in the first place), we did have a few things to figure out first. "Emily, where are we going?"
"Haven't figured that out yet." The technopath admitted, shrugging. Seraphina, Noah, Kira, Charlotte, and I all stopped at once. Emily turned around to face us. "What?"
"I thought you said you had a plan?" Noah questioned, narrowing. She nodded.
"I do!" She insisted. "Well, part of a plan, anyway."
Seraphina sighed deeply. "Of course you do." She muttered, raising her head to the sky. "Some days I can't tell if you're just reckless or actually crazy."
"Which part of the plan have you figured out?" Kira inquired. Emily grinned.
"We're going to save the people of Venusia." She announced. Seraphina stared at her for a moment before turning to us.
"She is crazy." She informed us in a falsely bright tone before collapsing onto a nearby bench. "What?"
"No, Emily." I frowned at her, not comprehending what was going on in that funky little brain of hers. "It's Caldera we're trying to save. And Earth."
Emily shook her head. "No, guys. Don't you understand? The Venusians don't want war. Look at what we saw in that village!" She turned to Sera. "Those villagers were just as bad off as Calderans. They're just trying to protect their home."
"They're trying to destroy mine." The Calderan reminded her, although, to my surprise, she didn't look nearly as angry as I thought she would. Seraphina seemed to be considering Emily's words, trying to find the solution in them instead of getting defensive.
"Jax, Jaya, and their council are trying to destroy Caldera." Emily corrected, scowling at their names. "But the people? The villagers? They're just trying to make it through the day."
"Your point?" Noah questioned. Emily gave him a look.
"My point is that if we give them an alternative, a way to survive that doesn't involve killing millions of people, they'll take it." She insisted. She closed her eyes, shaking her head.
"You have a lot of faith in them," I commented. Kira gave me a look. "I'm not wrong. How can you be sure they wouldn't rather take over Earth?"
"They care about each other." Seraphina, surprisingly, was the one to speak up. We all looked at her and she sighed, shaking her head. "We saw it. That village was fast to rebuild and they were clearly a community, not just a bunch of people who lived near each other."
"Individuals can be greedy, but groups of people? They'll fight for whatever their common interest is, and right now, that's survival. If we can give them that, without losing Caldera or Earth in the process, that's how we win."
"At the very least," Noah said, considering the idea, "it'll reduce the number of Venusians fighting against us." Emily nodded eagerly. "Okay, I'm down. How do we save the Venusian people?'
"No idea." Emily admitted. I chuckled in disbelief. "Hey, I said I had part of a plan!"
"Emily, this isn't part of a plan; it's a concept." I pointed out. She sighed.
"Look, if the Elite Force go to Caldera, do you really think they'll just stick around for one mission? Then what, abandon Caldera? None of them are capable of that." The genius insisted, eyes sad and worried. "Best case scenario, they stick it out until Caldera and Earth win, which could be months or even years. Worst case..." She trailed off, unable to voice it out loud.
I looked at my shoes. Mom and Dad wouldn't just leave Caldera if it was in danger. Not if it meant leaving innocent people to die. Not if it meant abandoning Uncle Oliver and Aunt Skylar. I couldn't blame them; they loved Oliver and Skylar, and neither of them had it in them to walk away from people who needed help.
"So how do we save Venusia?" Kira asked with a sigh.
Kaz's POV
"I don't know if I'm more angry at the fact that they ran away again, or proud of the fact that they thought to leave a note." Dani admitted, looking over the note. "I mean, I wouldn't have left a note."
"Yeah, but you were a rebel." I reasoned. She snorted in amusement.
"I drank breakfast smoothies every morning, was on the varsity soccer team, and spent my spare time working at a hospital." She reminded me. "What on Earth is your definition of a rebel?"
"Could you take this seriously?" Bree snapped at us, pacing around the room. She was impatient, desperate to find the kids, and unhappy that we didn't have a real plan to find them. The rest of the team, sans Calla and Chase, were gathered in the living room. The two geniuses had left a few minutes ago to try and access Mission Command from the tunnel system.
"Bree, it's not like they left the planet." A quick call to Adam Davenport had quickly confirmed that all the Davenships were where they were supposed to be, nor had anyone at the Academy seen the kids. The Venusian ship we'd stolen was still in the Davenhanger downtown, being prepped by AJ for our flight back to Caldera. "We'll find them."
"Eventually." The speedster grumbled. "How long does it take Calla to get MISS up and running anyway?"
"I mean, probably more than 8 minutes." Jaden replied, trying to lighten her mood. I could tell he was pretty stressed out though, glancing at the clock above the stove every few seconds. I had to admit, I wasn't thrilled that the kids had just taken off like that. Kira and Kameron were the youngest of the group and, if I had to admit it, were probably the worst off in a fight. Kameron had never been the biggest fan of actual conflict and had struggled in his self-defense classes in New York as a result, while Kira was just a little too eager to impress sometimes, always getting herself in a bit more trouble than she could handle. Then again, Dani, Oliver, and I had been more or less the same, not knowing what to do in a fight and general recklessness, and we'd turned out fine, right?
Besides, panicking would not bring the kids home nor help us find them. We could punish them when we find them.
"I can't believe they'd do this." Bree insisted, almost shaking in her anger. "We'd never do something like this!"
Leo, who was leaning up against the wall above the unlit fireplace, cocked an eyebrow at her comment. "Yeah, you would never have run away to do something extremely dangerous, and possibly likely to get you killed, and leave nothing but a note. That NEVER happened with you, Adam, and Chase."
Bree stopped pacing to frown at him, trying to remember what he was referencing. Evidently, she did, because her face cleared for a moment before she rolled her eyes. "One time! And the note was Adam's idea. Besides, that's not the point. Noah knows better."
"They all do. They're just too much like us for their own good." Oliver commented, shaking his head. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Is it too much to hope that's one of the kids?" Jaden asked, only half joking. Oliver opened the door and Alivia McLean walked in, red hair in a long braid behind her back and wearing her dark green uniform. Her serious expression softened when she saw us, a faint smile on her lips.
"Alien abductions, guys? Really? I swear, you go looking for trouble." She told us, not an ounce of heat in her voice. She quickly gave Dani a tight hug, followed by me, Oliver, and Skylar. She smiled at Jaden and Bree for a moment, then frowned.
"What's wrong? Where are Chase and Calla?" She questioned, immediately picking up on the mood.
"Mission Command. The kids deactivated MISS and ran off, again." Skylar informed her. Alivia sighed.
"Of course they did. Three weeks on a hostile alien planet wasn't enough for them, was it?" She shook her head, then glanced at us. "I'm going, to be honest with you guys, I'm seriously reconsidering letting them begin their training this summer. Being a superhero requires responsibility and from Calla's reports, I'm concerned they're not ready."
"We can talk about that." Dani replied, nodding. I nodded in agreement.
"I definitely don't want them starting their training if the League is getting involved in the Venusian war." I agreed. I glanced at Skylar and Oliver apologetically. "I'm sorry, guys, but there's a huge difference between fighting a bad guy and fighting a war."
"We get it. Sera's not coming home to Caldera either; it's far too dangerous." Oliver told us. He glanced at Alivia. "Skylar's gonna see if Crossbow could watch her, or we're gonna leave her here with Calla and Chase. They've already agreed."
"That might be a good idea. I have a feeling it's going to be an all-hands-on-deck situation." The Irish hero replied. She looked around. "I understand the plan is to force the Venusians to attack Caldera, but what then? From Naomi's explanation, it sounds like there's an army of warships. Do we even have enough spaceships to handle that?"
"We do not." The fireplace behind Leo split in two as the hyperlift brought Calla and Chase back up to the main floor. Calla was holding her holocomputer in her arms, an annoyed look on her face, while Chase shouldered a large duffle bag.
"Thank goodness you got MISS up and runnin'." Katherine sighed in relief, starting to get up off the couch. Chase shook his head, gently placing the bag on the ground next to the front door.
"Not exactly." He admitted. Calla sighed in frustration.
"MISS isn't deactivated at all. She's working perfectly fine." She said, in that too happy tone that told me she was well and truly pissed off. "See Emily is smart, and knew that it would take me all of five minutes to get MISS back up if she deactivated her. So you know what she did instead? She forced a massive update through her system, and until MISS is done downloading that, she's offline."
"How long is the update going to take?" Bree questioned, frowning.
"Hours." Chase sighed. "And before anyone suggests just rebooting MISS, if we do that while she's still updating, we risk corrupting her entire system."
"So how do we find them?" Dani questioned. Calla sighed, taking a seat.
"We wait. Our best chance at finding them is through tracking Noah and Charlotte's bionics, but without access to the Bionic Network, that's impossible." Calla explained. Alivia frowned.
"Your entire Bionic Network is only accessible through MISS?" She questioned. "That seems...risky."
"Someone tried to hack into Davenport Industries' servers a few years back. He ended up corrupting a software update I sent to every bionic hero." Calla explained, frowning at the memory. Chase and Bree both reacted in kind, the former scowling angrily while the latter shuddered at the thought of it happening again. "Trust me, not something we ever wanted happening again. Housing the entire Bionic Network in MISS' servers which can only be accessed through a few, heavily, heavily, protected consoles with unique access points provides the most protection possible for their bionics."
"It did result in me losing some access though," Chase admitted. "Including being able to track or even control other people's bionics."
"So we have to wait until MISS' update is done to track them." Alivia sighed. She looked around. "You have a better sense of our timeline than I do. Can we wait for that?"
"No, we can't. We need to get to Caldera now." Skylar admitted in annoyance.
"We'll find the kids." Ben spoke up. We looked over at where he and Naomi were sitting at the computer desk. So far, they'd been quiet, letting us handle the situation. "You can't afford to leave anyone else behind. We'll find the kids, make sure they're okay, and bring them home in one piece."
Alivia nodded. "Thank you, Aftershock." She agreed. She looked at us. "Are you guys okay with that?"
"Yeah, thanks, Ben." Chase nodded. I frowned; I didn't like the idea of leaving without knowing the kids were safe and, frankly, being able to say goodbye. Given how our last intergalactic adventure had gone, this wasn't sitting right with me. But we also didn't have another choice.
"Alright, here's the plan. Ben, Naomi, and I will stay here. As soon as MISS is able, we'll track the kids' location. Meanwhile, I'll help coordinate things from Mission Command." Calla explained. Chase nodded.
"The rest of us will fly to Caldera using the Venusian ship. It's faster than anything than anything we have here on Earth." He informed Leo, Katherine, and Alivia. "It should only take us a few hours."
"Then we somehow convince our leaders to drop the forcefields." Skylar continued. "The Bionic heroes will geoleap to Caldera, and take along any members of the League who are available."
"We have 43 heroes ready to go." Alivia sounded apologetic, but seeing as that was nearly 90% of the League, I was pretty surprised she was sparing that many. "I have to leave a few behind. Just in case."
"We know. Thank you." Skylar told her sincerely. Alivia nodded.
"Alright, then what? How do we prevent the Venusians from wiping us out with their ships?" She questioned. Chase kicked the bag at his feet.
"That's what this is for." He assured her. He paused, then looked at Calla sadly. "We have to go."
"I know." She nodded solemnly. She sighed. "Okay, I hate this. We understand that. Good." She didn't wait for our answers. "You are all coming home after this. All of you. If any of you gets killed out there, I will spend every dollar I have to build a machine that will bring you back to life, so I can kill you myself, and with our track record, we all know how that's going to go."
"So basically, our options are survive, or you'll start a zombie apocalypse?" Dani questioned. Calla gave her a thin smile.
"Glad we're all on the same page." She stood up. "I love you. Be safe."
"Come here." Chase pulled her in for a tight hug. After a long moment, he pulled back. "I love you."
"I love you too. Come home safe." She instructed. He nodded and she stepped back with a heavy sigh. "Alright, go. Save lives."
Kameron's POV
"Your dad said that Venusia's sun, star, whatever was dying, right?" Kira asked. The six of us were sitting on the benches at the bus depot, trying to figure out our plan. I was a bit worried that our parents would find us, but Emily seemed pretty sure that we would be fine for a few more hours. Without MISS being able to track Noah and Charlotte's bionics, and with all of our devices and Davenwatches still sitting in Emily and Sera's bedroom, it would be a bit harder to track us down than normal. "Could we replace it?"
"Repla-what?" Noah stared at her, blinking in confusion. Kira nodded.
"Like make a new one." My sister clarified. When that got her even more confused looks. "Oh c'mon, it wouldn't be the craziest thing Davenport Industries has come up with!"
"Yeah, no. That's beyond even my parents." Emily admitted. "That would be a nuclear fusion-type of thing, and I can't name any company that's still researching that field. I'm sure there are, but none big enough to have the resources to make a new star on short notice. That would take years, and the Venusians don't have that."
"What about...uh. Oh! Did your parents ever tell you about Davenportia?" Charlotte suggested, sitting up straight. "Dad told me that Grandpa Donny built like domes on the moon to let people live there."
"Uh, I think Mom mentioned it once. Said it didn't work out." Noah reasoned. "Something about a giant hole in the side of it."
"Well, that would kinda suck." I mentioned. When no one commented on my statement, I raised an eyebrow at them. "Suck? They're on the moon? There's a hole?"
"Oh, we understand the pun, we just didn't find it funny." Sera replied. I rolled my eyes.
"You suck." I commented. Then what I said hit me and I had to laugh.
"I mean, it could buy us time if the Venusians agreed to it. But it's a short-term solution at best." Emily reasoned. "When stars die, they expand. It's why the temperature is rising on Venusia - the star is literally growing and getting closer. It'll eventually engulf the planet and I don't know if there's any material we could build that would be able to withstand that and keep everyone inside from literally burning to death."
"So that's Plan B." Noah decided. He thought about it for a minute. "Could we find them a new planet? In a way that doesn't involve war or invasion on another civilization?"
"I don't think that'll work." Sera sounded doubtful. "Planets are all very different, but different species need very specific things to survive. Certain water and hydration levels, climate types, biomes, and even the soil and animals would have to agree with their biology. Some species can survive under different conditions, like Calderans, but most can't."
"Venusia and Earth are just similar enough that they can survive here." I realized. "That must be why they're targeting Earth too. Caldera's absolutely nothing like Venusia - it's all rocks and dirt and intense heat, while Venusia is cold and full of trees and plants. I mean, we're still a bit warmer than Venusia and we don't have nearly the same amount of foliage, but compared to the billions of different planets in the universe, we might be the closest."
"Foliage?" Kira repeated, staring at me, before shrugging. "Whatever. It's just a shame that we can't just make them a new planet."
Emily froze at her words, then slowly turned towards my twin, her face a mask of shock and excitement. "Kira, you're a genius!"
"Definitely not, but I'll take the compliment." Kira replied, beaming. Noah, on the other hand, looked entirely thrown off.
"Hold on." He stopped Emily before she could explain. "You're saying that a new sun is out of the question, but a new planet isn't? How does that work?"
"Oh, we're not going to make a new planet, that would be ridiculous. Also, probably impossible. Probably." She seemed to genuinely consider the possibility of that event for a moment, before shrugging. "But no, I think Kira is onto something." She turned to Charlotte, grinning. "AJ's Amazon project!"
"You think we could repurpose it?" Charlotte caught on right away, while the rest of us were left confused.
"Does anyone else remember the time Calla called the Amazon guy out for bad business practices online?" Noah questioned. I chuckled; Dad had found it hilarious when he'd read about it online, while Mom had been pretty proud of her.
"Who's the Amazon guy?" Sera questioned. Emily and Charlotte, meanwhile, were looking at us like we were the crazy ones.
"Not that Amazon!" Emily rolled her eyes.
"AJ wants to save the rainforest. We've been killing it for years, but it got really bad a few years back." Charlotte explained, smiling brightly as the gears turned rapidly in her head. "It's technically a biological regenerator, which means it can fix the damage done by pollution and deforestation."
"But," Emily grinned. "If we can repurpose it, it can terraform. Create life and planets and a climate and biome we choose." She had this light in her eyes, but I couldn't tell if it was excitement or madness. "I can't believe we never thought of this. We could change the world with this."
"Let's start with saving one world, and move on to the rest after. Besides, that won't work." Seraphina sighed. "We can't just go and take another planet. Just because a planet seems uninhabitable, doesn't mean there aren't species living there. I mean, Caldera looks uninhabitable from many species' perspectives. And some civilizations have claims to other planets, not just their own."
"Do we need to figure that out though?" I asked, frowning. Sera gave me a 'Are you dumb' look, so I clarified. "I mean, all we have to do is show the Venusians that there's another option, right? Their planet's not going to die today."
"Our parents keep telling us to leave the 'adult things' to the adults." Noah mused, smirking a little. "And this all sounds a bit political to me."
"It's in everyone's best interests that the Venusians have a planet they can survive on. If we can show them and the Calderans that is possible, do you think that would be enough?" Charlotte asked. I glanced at Sera, who was working it over in her mind.
"Not all of my people would, but...I think enough of them would." She nodded after a long moment. "I don't know about the Venusians though. If we could get one of them on our side though..."
Naomi's POV
"You know, I'm starting to understand why Douglas put tracking chips in all of his kids." Calla commented, still staring at the main console in Mission Command, chin resting on her hand. I glanced at her, then at Ben.
"You're joking, right?" Sometimes I couldn't tell. She shrugged.
"Mostly." She replied with a heavy sigh. I chuckled softly, then glanced at my Davenwatch. It had been 3 hours since Bree, Chase, Leo, and the others had left for Caldera. Given how fast the Venusian ship was, they were probably about halfway through their journey to Caldera. As strange as it seemed to be thankful for anything Venusian, their incredibly fast ship was probably the only reason we stood a chance. Without it, reaching Caldera before the Venusians wouldn't have even been an option, and I don't know what would have happened then.
Actually, we probably wouldn't have even reached Earth before the Venusians, and that...well I didn't want to imagine how that would go, with the majority of the Elite Force off-planet and the remaining heroes likely unaware of the threat until it was too late.
"I'm going to call my parents." I said suddenly, standing up. Ben looked up in surprise, but Calla kept her eyes on the console. "They're probably worried sick."
Before I could head upstairs, the console came to life, lights flashing all over its flat surface. A distinctly robotic, yet feminine voice, announced, "Update Complete."
"Oh thank god. Call Tasha and Davenport in a bit." Calla instructed. "MISS, access the Bionic Network. I need chip locations, ASAP."
"Of course." A holographic image of the planet Earth appeared on the screen before us, with several bright blue lights appearing across it. Most of the lights were concentrated just off the Californian coast, with a few spread out across the United States. Ben and I exchanged looks; the Network was only designed for Earth-based operations, so if the kids were off-planet already (which I suspected was their plan), we wouldn't be able to find them.
"Narrow on just Noah Parker and Charlotte Dooley." Calla instructed. Most of the lights disappeared, except for two. The hologram changed, this time showing a roadmap. The two lights were right on top of each other, nearly overlapping, and slowly moving West across the map. Calla looked at it for a moment, then raised her hands in disbelief. "Did they steal a car?"
"You really think they'd steal a car?" I questioned.
"I mean, they stole you guys. And a spaceship." She retorted. "Two, actually!"
"They're probably on a bus." Ben reasoned, trying to reassure the worried mother. "Miss, are there any bus routes from Centium City that seem to match their route?"
"Certainly. There are three." Three glowing lines - one red, one yellow, and one green - formed on the map, which grew until it showed a large map of the country. The kids were nearly out of Illinois, heading into Iowa.
"Okay, well they're probably not stopping Nebraska, and I doubt they're going Wyoming." Ben quickly eliminated two of the options. "The last one's headed to California; maybe they're trying to see if there's another Davenship." He looked at Calla. "Is there?"
"Unfortunately, yes. That's going to take them a day and a half just to get there. What are they thinking?" She muttered.
"Probably that you'd catch them faster if they flew." I reasoned. She gave me a look. "I'm serious. Noah's not proficient enough with his abilities to speed everyone across the country at once, and he hasn't built up the endurance yet to handle multiple. It would kill him. And neither of the twins have super strength, so flying everyone that kind of distance would be too much. That leaves commercial flights or driving."
Calla sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Are you guys sure about going to get them?" She gave us the chance to back out. "I can have Donald or Douglas meet them in Mission Creek."
"No, it's alright. Let's..." Ben studied the map for a moment. "Alright, I have an idea. MISS, buses like that normally have scheduled stops? Can you show them, please?"
"Certainly." She agreed. Several dots appeared on the route to California, while the other routes faded away. Ben looked at it for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay, we'll get Spin or someone from the Academy to drop us off here." He pointed at the next spot on the map. "When the bus arrives, we'll pull them off of it. We'll grab a hotel for the night, then drive back later. It'll keep them out of trouble for the rest of the day and most of tomorrow. Unless you want us to keep them there for a couple of nights, get them out of your hair."
"Don't tempt me." She muttered. "No, bring them home. We'll lock them in their rooms if we have to. No technology."
"Alright." I nodded, despite wanting to argue. This whole argument about whether the kids were ready or not didn't make sense to me. Yes, they were young and naive and a little reckless. And yeah, some of their plans were...well, Emily Plans. But they weren't going to learn from sitting in their rooms. Not to mention, there wasn't a single member of the Elite Force who hadn't made their own mistakes over the years. If they weren't given the opportunity to learn, they just wouldn't.
Kaz's POV
"Please tell me Calla plans on keeping the Venusian ship for examination." Alivia commented as we stepped into the Mighty Med on Caldera. "I'd love to get this type of tech for the League. A week-long trip turned into 5 and a half hours? That's amazing."
"Dr. Short!" A voice interrupted Chase before he could reply. A twenty-year-old boy with beach blonde hair and pale skin jogged towards him, wearing pale green scrubs. He grinned when he saw us. "You're alright. That's good."
Oliver smiled at the kid warmly. "Thank you. Every one," He turned mainly to Chase, Bree, Jaden, Leo, and Katherine, "this is Apollo. He's Horace's sidekick and one of the best medics in the hospital."
The hero brightened at the praise. "Is Seraphina with you?"
"She's on Earth. She's safe." Skylar assured. She glanced at us. "I'm going to go meet with the Council, let them know the plan."
"I'll go with you." Alivia offered immediately. She looked at Dani and I. "We'll let you know when they agree to shut down the forcefields."
"Shut down the forcefields?" Apollo echoed, eyes widening. He looked at Oliver, Dani, Skylar, and I in horror. "What's going on?"
"Things are about to get bad. Call everyone on staff, we need them here." Oliver led Apollo away, beginning to make preparations for the hospital. No matter how things were about to play out, we were going to need Mighty Med to be fully prepared.
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While Skylar and Alivia tried to convince the Calderan Elders that the best plan we had was to make Caldera even more vulnerable than it had ever been during this war, Dani and I had set to work. It had been a while since I'd put my medical skills to work - between Horace at Mighty Med and Alan and Dani at the NLH, I had rarely been actually needed as a doctor, which honestly, I was okay with. Saving lives in the OR was awesome, don't get me wrong, but the attraction in high school had mostly been the 'super' lifestyle. Even then, I felt at least a little satisfied with how many patients I'd been able to help before Skylar checked in.
"Hey." Dani was the only member of the team in the main lobby when I arrived. "Calla called Chase."
"Tell me she found Kira and Kameron." I sighed. She nodded but also shrugged.
"They tracked them down. Ben and Naomi are on their way to get them." She assured me. She sighed, leaning against the rock counter. "Do you think Alivia's right?"
"About what? I mean, probably, but about what?" I replied. She gave me a look. "About the kids and their training?"
"Is it too soon? I mean, they're only fifteen." She reminded me. "I mean, Kameron only realized that we were Santa Claus last year."
"We are?" I questioned. She raised an eyebrow. "I think he knew, Dee. He was just trying to get more gifts. Look," I leaned against the counter next to her. "Do we really want to keep them from becoming heroes? It was the best thing that ever happened to us. And it's not like we'd be locking them in a cage match with Megahertz. All superheroes start as sidekicks now."
"Yeah, but...I don't know. I just..." She trailed off. I frowned at her.
"What?" I pressed. She sighed and turned around to look at me fully.
"Was it, really? The best thing that ever happened to us?" She asked. I stared at her, shocked, but she quickly corrected me. "I love having powers, I love being a superhero, I love our lives. Every part of them. I have very few regrets. But, then again, we got our powers and then we spent the next couple of years dealing with Roddiseus and then, well, you know, and then SHIRT. Things got crazy."
"Okay..." She was hardly wrong. "Okay, maybe it was rough for a while, but I don't get what that has to do with the kids. Are you worried about telling them about, you know?" Certain words and names were banned from the house, and I wasn't about to break them just because we were standing on an alien planet.
To my surprise, Dani shook her head. "No. Well, yes, but that's not what I'm talking about. Just...I wanna let them be kids a bit longer. I mean, they're clearly finally hitting the rebellious teenager age. I want to see them worrying about things like studying and girlfriends and getting caught sneaking out of the house to meet their girlfriends when they're supposed to be studying."
"Yeah, at least one of them is going to be doing that." I agreed. She chuckled.
"They're teenagers, they're going to make mistakes and do dumb things. I'd just rather those dumb things not happen on alien planets." She reasoned. I nodded thoughtfully. She wasn't...wrong. The kids loved their powers and loved using them, that was clear, and delaying their training would be a disappointment, yeah. But long term...well, some of my best memories from my teenage years weren't the superhero ones. They were doing dumb and silly things with Dani and Oliver, as well as Skylar, Jordan, and Alivia. None of them were tainted with the fear of us dying or villains coming after us.
"Hey." Oliver greeted, walking into the lobby. Chase was shortly behind him. "What're you guys talking about?"
"The kids." I replied with a shrug. Chase nodded in understanding.
"Calla's not going to let anything happen to them." He promised.
"I mean, they literally escaped your apartment twice now in three weeks." I pointed out. Dani nodded.
"They also kidnapped a superhero. Our children literally committed a felony while in her care." She reasoned. Chase gave us a look. "But totally, full trust in Calla. She rules."
Thankfully, Skylar, Bree, Jaden, and Alivia came to join us before Chase could start to defend his wife. "They've agreed to the plan." Skylar announced as they walked in. I looked at her, surprised. It had taken a few hours, yes, but I honestly hadn't been sure they'd go for it. "They don't like it, and if this goes wrong...well, their exact words were 'there won't be people left to disappoint'."
"I see they understand the universal rule of disappointment being worse than anger." Oliver commented. Alivia nodded, and held up her Davenwatch.
"One of their remaining military officers is on standby. Call your Bionic Soldiers, and tell them to get ready. We need them here ASAP." She told us. Chase and Bree nodded solemnly, the latter pulling out her own Davenwatch to make the call. I turned to Dani.
"I guess there's no backing out now." I muttered, wondering just what was going to be waiting for us when we took those forcefields down.
Kameron's POV
"Bathroom!" Kira shouted, practically leaping off the bus as soon as the doors opened up. We'd been on the bus six hours by this point, with the only bathroom on board reeking of such a stench that even Noah hadn't dared go near it. My sister had been bouncing up and down in her seat for the past half-hour, desperately waiting for our first rest stop. Eventually, we pulled off at a small rest stop area. There wasn't much - just the small diner that Kira had torn off into, a convenience store, a gas station, and what looked like a car rental place.
"She has a tiny bladder." Charlotte observed, stepping off the bus behind me in time to watch my sister race into the small diner we'd stopped in front of. I chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah, I know." I agreed lightly. Emily, Noah, and Sera filed off the bus after us, followed by a few more passengers. We still had a ways to go, and knew it was going to be a long night, but it was nice to be able to get off, stretch, and get some fresh air.
"We have to be back on the bus by 1:30." Noah reminded us. He glanced at the diner. "Think we can get some real food in that time?"
"Sandwiches, probably. It doesn't look busy." Charlotte reasoned with a shrug. "Honestly, I don't care. I'm hungry."
"I'll take anything. We should have brought snacks." Emily complained as we started towards the restaurant. She looked over at me. "Hey, you're sure about your part of the plan, right? Kira didn't seem sure."
"It'll be fine." I promised, speeding up to hold open the door for Charlotte and the others. "I'm more worried about getting any of the Venusians on board with our plan."
"The villagers we met were desperate to protect their people. We just need to convince one of them." Sera insisted once again, looking around for an empty table. Suddenly, a voice cleared behind us. Noah, Emily, Charlotte, Sera, and I all turned to see Ben leaning against the wall next to the front doors, looking wholly unimpressed with us.
"Convince who to do what?" He mused, raising an eyebrow at us.
xxx
"How much trouble are we in?" Kira asked as she and Naomi sat down at the table with us.
"6 feet under. You're goners." Naomi replied with a thin smile. "What were you thinking?"
"That if our parents go to war, we might never see them again." Emily was blunt, but sincere as she looked pleadingly at her favourite aunt. Naomi looked at her sadly, as if not knowing what to say. Ben, on the other hand, sighed.
"You guys," He sounded tired. "I know you care, but this is ridiculous. You can't keep stealing tech and kidnapping people."
"Look, it was wrong to trick you. We're sorry. We really are." Sera told him. "And yeah, it's not okay we keep going behind our parents' backs. But we're ready to accept the consequences if it means saving lives."
"It could get you killed." Naomi reminded us. Charlotte considered that for a moment, then shook her head.
"Actually, for an Emily Plan, it's actually pretty safe. All things considered." She replied. Emily frowned at her. "Oh c'mon, your last plan involved torpedoing a building with a spaceship."
"And it worked like a charm." The technopath argued. Ben looked at Naomi.
"That part was a joke, right?" He questioned. She grimaced and didn't reply, much to his despair.
"We're going to try saving the Venusian people from their dying planet, so they don't have a reason to fight." I explained. "No reason to fight means no reason to have a war. We just have to get something from Mission Creek first."
Ben and Naomi exchanged looks for a moment, then Ben nodded. "Okay, look, here's the deal." He told us. "I promised your parents I'd bring you home safe."
"And if we refuse to go?" Emily challenged. He gave her a look. "No offense, Ben, but I care about this far more than disappointing my mother."
He raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you going to let me finish?" He asked, his tone overly controlled. Emily sighed and slumped in her seat. "As I was saying, I promised I'd bring you home safe and in one piece. I'm starting to realize that might mean working with you instead of against you."
"Wait, what?" We were all shocked by that. Ever since we'd left Earth the first time, Ben had seemed pretty against us. He shrugged.
"Look, you're not bad at this. You definitely need a lot more training. And someone other than Emily making the plans-"
"Hey!" Emily protested. Ben ignored her.
"But you're clearly going to get involved either way. So, the best chance I have at keeping you all safe is to go with you, apparently." He sighed. I smiled; it was clear that he was reluctantly going along with this against his own better judgement, but at the end of the day, he was on our side. "Now, what exactly is the plan?"
We all exchanged looks. This was the part he wasn't going to like. "We're going to steal some tech and kidnap a Venusian." Kira replied. Ben stared at her for a moment, then rubbed his hands over his eyes.
"Of course that's the plan." He muttered before standing up and walking away from the table, and out of the restaurant. The rest of us, Naomi included, watched him go in confusion.
"Where is he going?" Charlotte asked, looking at Naomi. She was turned around in seat, staring in confusion at the doors Ben had just disappeared through.
"I don't..." She trailed off, then shook her head and turned back towards us. "That's not the point, guys. What are we stealing? Who are we kidnapping?"
"Some of AJ's tech for his Amazon project. We're gonna give terraforming a try." Emily explained.
"And we're going to try and convince one of the Venusians from that village that held us captive to give us a chance. If we can show them we can give them a chance at survival, then maybe they'll be willing to consider a peace treaty after all." Seraphina continued. "So not really kidnapping."
"I just wanted to see his reaction." Kira said, frowning and looking apologetic. "I didn't think he'd leave."
"Neither did I." Naomi told her, sending another confused look over her shoulder. "Look, the whole Venusian, that's a problem."
"We'll be careful." Noah assured her. She gave him a look.
"No, you won't." She scoffed. "But that's not what I'm talking about. How do we get a Venusian? They're either on Venusia or they're about to attack Caldera. The only ship that had a chance in hell of getting us there in time landed on Caldera an hour ago."
"It landed? They got there okay?" Emily asked quickly. Naomi gave her a soft smile.
"Chase called Calla as soon as they landed. They got there okay." She promised her niece. "Now, how exactly do you plan on getting a Venusian?"
"Oh, we're going to them." Charlotte explained. Naomi raised an eyebrow at that.
"You can't exactly geoleap to Venusia. They have forcefields." She pointed out. I nodded.
"Kira and I know a guy. Well, a girl." I replied. "She can get us there, no geoleaping necessary."
Naomi looked at me for a moment, then sighed. She pulled her wallet out of her jacket pocket and dropped a few bills down for the waiter. "Alright, c'mon. Let's go find Ben."
We all followed her out of the diner, but to our surprise, it wasn't all that hard to find the superhero. He was sitting in the front seat of a green mini-van, parked a few feet from the entrance. He rolled down the window when he saw us. "Get in!" He called, sounding mildly annoyed. We all glanced at each other, immediately suspicious.
"Where are we going?" Emily questioned, crossing her arms. He sighed, hands on the wheel.
"Mission Creek, apparently." He announced. We all glanced at each other and grinned before filing into the back of the minivan. Naomi climbed into the front next to him. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before buckling her seatbelt.
"You love them." She teased him slightly. I saw him roll his eyes in the rearview mirror.
"Seatbelts, Kameron." He reminded me sternly. I chuckled, buckling myself in next to Charlotte. "Alright, I hope you all have strong bladders. We're not stopping until we get to Denver."
"Tell me he's joking." I heard Kira whisper to Sera in the backseat from where she was sitting with her and Noah. I couldn't but chuckle, laughing even more when I felt my sister kick the back of my seat.
Kaz's POV
Our timing couldn't have been better, or worse, depending on your perspective.
We'd ended up only having some of the force fields taken down, to try and force the Venusians to attack a specific area. We'd chosen an uninhabited area of the planet - just far enough from the refuge tents and Mighty Med to avoid any accidental casualties, but close enough that medical help wouldn't be impossible for those that needed it. We'd set up tents and centers a mile or so from the unprotected area, distributing the Bionic Soldiers and superheroes from the New League of Heroes amongst them. Teams were made based on abilities, trying to make sure that no team was left on its own. Horace had come along with the rest of the New League of Heroes and had wasted no time in setting up triage tents and organizing resources amongst them.
We'd initially thought that we'd have a few days before the Venusians attacked. We'd been wrong.
Just before dawn, the satellites had picked up on a mass of foreign ships coming towards us. There were nearly 60 of them, in various sizes, but not quite the warships I was expecting. Still, without a real idea of their weapon systems, they might as well have been the Death Star. By time the Venusian ships neared our atmosphere, every one of the heroes that had come to fight were on the battlefield, nervously and anxiously awaiting the fight.
"Everyone check in." Chase ordered over the comms. I couldn't see him from where Dani and I were waiting, surrounded by other heroes and Calderan warriors.
"Ready at Mission Control." AJ's voice came in loud and clear. He was at the Calderan War Room, a hidden cavern deep underground where the Calderan elders and military leaders had been running their defense. He was overseeing the forcefields and our (few) long range weapons.
"Ready at Mighty Med." Horace replied next. In the background, I could the sounds of Apollo and Dr. Emery giving orders to their fellow doctors and nurses.
"Team Two, ready." That was Bree. She and Jaden were at the far end of our cluttered mass of fighters. I could hear Adam's voice in the background, speaking to someone. I thought it might be Citadel from the sound of the fainter voice, the older hero having come out of retirement for the mission. Skylar had made many friends during her time at Caldera, all those years ago, and the few surviving heroes had all felt the need to come fight on her behalf for her planet. It had been touching, really.
"Team Three, ready." Speaking of the Calderan. She sounded determined on the comms. In the background, Barry, Crossbow, and Oliver were consulting with the bionic heroes assigned to their team, reminding them of different people's abilities.
"Team Four is a go." Dani and I spoke into our comms simultaneously. I looked around at our little ragtag crew. Liam and Rani, along with a few spellcasters that had joined the League last year, were staring up the sky nervously, while the bionic heroes we'd been assigned were anxiously speaking between themselves. I could see Spin try to reassure another bionic hero, the young man seeming to be the only one here ready for the fight.
"Team Five is ready." Alivia confirmed. She and Lily weren't that far from us. I could just barely make out Alivia's red hair, almost blending in against the Calderan sunrise. Alan and Melody were with her, as were Kieran and Taylor Daniels.
"Team One is ready." Chase confirmed. "Alright, it's any minute now."
"Okay, okay." I nodded to myself. "Okay."
"We're going to be okay." Dani murmured, taking my hand. I looked at her, but she was staring up at the sky along with the others, scanning it for any sign of a threat. "We're going to be okay."
I wasn't sure who she was reassuring me or herself. "When this is over, we're pulling the kids out of school." I decided. That got her attention. "Not for a long. A week. We're taking them on vacation. I don't care where...well, maybe not somewhere quite as hot. But somewhere. We can ground them after. But first, vacation."
"We're taking the kids on vacation." Dani agreed. "We're going to go home. We're going to go on vacation."
"Oh god." Liam gasped as the first of the Venusian ships broke through the clouds. They were faint.
"AJ!" Chase shouted. Suddenly, a faint glow rushed over the sky, right under the Venusians ships.
"Forcefields are back." AJ told us needlessly. Bob, standing next to Spin, looked over at us nervously.
"That means they can't blast us, right?" He confirmed. I nodded, just as something dropped from one of the first Venusian ships. Many others followed, dark flickers in the sky, as the Venusian soldiers descended upon Caldera.
Kihonne: Sorry for leaving you all on a cliffhanger. I may have moved some scenes to Chapter 13, as I decided that I will be doing Season 3 after all. I needed to add a couple of scenes to set that up, so things got rearranged a bit.
Next time, the battle begins! Chapter 13 will be posted on June 24th! Until then, have a great week!