Legacies

by Kihonne

When the original members of the Elite Force are called away to another planet for a special mission, Centium City is left undefended for the first time in 20 years. So, when enemies both old and new start to arise, the last remaining member of the Elite Force must train their children to face this threat. But with secrets being kept on both sides, how can they know who to trust?

30. Invasion Part 2

Kihonne: Hello! I am back, with the Season 2 finale. Buckle in, folks, it's a long one. But first, shoutouts!

Xxx

SzymonS: Yeah, Kira's still got that little phobia of hers. Maybe she'll get over it, maybe not. We'll see. Goodness, I've missed Kani too. I'm gonna have to include more scenes with them next season, once the war is over. As for that hacker…all I'll say is that this won't be the last time that particular event is discussed. For geoleaping, Calla has been working on that technology for a LONG time now. It's discussed a bit more in this chapter, but it's definitely been improved upon a lot between Krane and now. The Venusians and their motives are discussed a bit more in this chapter, but ultimately, for them, it's about resources. Caldera may be basically one big volcano, but it does have its benefits that other planets could benefit from. The kids are finally improving on their strategizing skills! It has been fun writing less experienced heroes, mainly because they get to be more chaotic and less thought out compared to natural strategists like Calla and Chase. It's been interesting. Kira 100% cannot handle long trips without bathroom breaks. I think I mentioned it during their first space trip. I guess we'll have to see about that vacation. Kira would completely take advantage of having a famous grandparent if she knew the truth, lol. I have to agree, FF is kinda useless when it comes to emails. I barely even read on ff anymore, just AO3, and I'm pretty sure if I didn't have any fanbase here, I probably wouldn't consider sticking on the site once this story was done. The email thing is pretty annoying (though I am so glad that they got rid of the ads. I hated so, so much!). Season 3 is going to be fun. It's actually the only thing that has benefitted from the HIATUS, because I have drastically changed the plot for the season (I swear, it's a huge improvement. I cringe looking at my original plans for it). I'm excited. I'm back in it. Life is good. It's going to be a great time. In the meantime though, I hope you like the finale!

Guest: Don't apologize! I don't mind mentioning the faceclaims again and I don't remember myself I ever mentioned them a first time. Even if I had, it's been a while. Noah and Troy are a very funny coincidence. It's just the right look for the character. As for the cloak, in my head, they huddled under it like 6 kids around a tiny umbrella and clinging to each other so they wouldn't get caught. There were a couple of times that it was used in the original series where it didn't look like it was covering everything, so I just figure, if it's at least 50% covered, it'll be hidden. The kids also got very lucky with everyone being very tired from the trip that if someone's hand poked out or foot got uncovered, a parent may have easily missed it. Oh yes, Emily is very much Calla's daughter, both from the reckless side to the compassion for others side. Leo is definitely referring to Back from the Future. I'm glad you liked the Kaz and Dani conversation. I want to try and show how different everyone's parenting styles are, since we really haven't seen much other than Calla's, and I do feel that while the Davenports were all trained to think about the world first, Dani and Kaz were kids when they got their powers. They played video games, they skipped class, they just had fun. For Dani especially, whose mother was very controlling, giving the kids the freedom to be kids is important to them. As for the sneaking out to meet girlfriends, that's for both the twins. Kira is a lesbian, although not as open as Alivia was when she came out on screen. There was a very short conversation about it prior with another team member, but otherwise hasn't been overly discussed yet. I do intend to discuss it more next season. For the nuclear fusion, I've hinted at it being a very green-focused future, although never discussed outright. The reduction in certain scientific studies that involve fossil fuels or less environmentally friendly energy sources is a direct result of this. As for the planet stuff, I give full credit to my younger sister. All things STEM and space are her field of expertise and study, and so I end up running a lot of ideas past her and get her help with explanations. Ben definitely left out of exasperation, but also, by that point, he'd already decided he was helping the kids, so he had to go find a car to rent since he and Naomi had been geoleaped there. The 'apparently' was just his way of complaining about it, since he's more or less become the unofficial reluctant dad of their ragtag little group. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter!

Xxx

Kihonne: And without further ado!

Seraphina: Kihonne doesn't own lab rats, mighty med, or the elite force. She only owns this story, all connected stories published by her, any and all OCs, and anything else you don't recognize.

Xxx

Dani's POV

You'd think, having fought against shapeshifters before, this would be a walk in the park for us. You would be wrong.

Sure, putting the forcefields back up after the ships had entered the atmosphere, but before they fully passed through the shields was a good idea. It kept them from raining hellfire down on us from the skies and wiping us out entirely. But that just meant that their soldiers would attack from the ground, and there were a lot of them. Not only that, but shapeshifting wasn't their only trick.

"Ah!" One of the bionic soldiers, a guy named Donald III, cried out as he took a plasma blast to the shoulder, coming from the pointy end of one of the Venusian soldiers' spears. Another Venusian was on top of him right away, aiming right at his throat with a spear. I blasted the Venusian with a bolt of lightning, knocking the soldier back several feet, then spun around to shoot at the one who'd initially attacked Donald III. It transformed, shifting into a black swarm that brought me back nearly 20 years.

I fell backward as it descended on me, surrounding me until I could no longer see the Calderan sky. I raised my hands, sending electricity out in all directions. It crackled loudly as it made contact with the swarm, the individual beetles that made up the swarm catching fire with each one I hit. It wasn't enough to kill the Venusian shapeshifter, but enough to break a hole in the swarm. I flipped my legs over my head, rolling over my shoulder as I went through the hole and landed in a crouching position. Before the swarm could recover, a sudden wave of energy hit the swarm, crashing it into so strong that it felt like an earthquake.

The blast was strong enough to knock the swarm out of the sky. It transformed as it fell, once again turning into a tall, pale-skinned, and blue-haired warrior before hitting the ground, hard. I looked up past him to see Donald III standing behind the Venusian, breathing heavily, energy still swirling around him as his concussion blast died away. We shared a mutual nod before I launched myself off the ground and into the air.

We were outnumbered. That much was plainly obvious from the skies. For each of our fighters, be it a superhero, Calderan, or bionic hero, there were at least four Venusians, all armed and ready to fight to the death if needed. I'd lost track of Kaz almost as soon as the battle had begun, the two of us pulled away by the waves of soldiers crashing into us. I tried searching for him up here, but there were too many people on the battlefield for me to single him out.

The battlefield was a mess. I could see our people, struggling to fend off the incoming Venusians. There were some from both sides, lying on the ground, not moving. I couldn't tell from here who they were. I just prayed that they weren't the ones I loved. I could see a fast-moving blur zooming in and out of the crowds. I could see a spotlight blazing from one end of the battlefield, an equally large beam of shadows twisted around it, combining as they collided with a wave of Venusian warriors. A couple of blurs sped in and out of the fights, too fast to identify from the ground. Closer, I could see heat vision lasers going wide into the air, nearly taking out another figure, flying too far away for me to tell for sure who it was. I wondered briefly if it was Kaz or Ollie, but was quickly distracted when I caught sight of a friend, clearly in need of help as four Venusians surrounded him from all sides.

"Hey! Smurf-Heads!" I shouted, soaring towards a group of Venusian warriors. I shot a bolt of lightning down at them, managing to catch one of the Venusians in the lower back. He dropped to the ground with a scream, out before he hit the dirt. The three other Venusians managed to avoid the blast, but it was just the distraction Chase needed to take back control of the fight. He twisted his hands, the forcefield he'd put up around himself shrinking into the size of a basketball. He shot it out at one of the Venusian warriors, hitting him directly in the chest before the bionic hero spun around to deal with another one of the soldiers. This soldier lunged at him with her spear, only for him to quickly deflect her blow with his forearm, followed by a quick punch to her gut.

The remaining Venusian tried to come at him from behind while Chase was fighting his ally, raising his spear above his head as he darted towards my former Mission Leader. I flew closer to try and intervene, but Chase had the situation handled. He ducked as the Venusian he was fighting tried to hit him in the face, then grabbed her arm and used her momentum to push her into the other soldier. The two of them hit each other hard. Chase then raised a hand and a rock pile nearby began to suddenly float towards them. He covered them in the heavy rocks before either of them could recover, not quite crushing them but definitely keeping them out of the fight until someone could uncover them.

"Smurf-Heads?" He questioned, giving me a skeptical look even as he breathed hard, clearly a little winded from the fight. I shrugged, landing in front of him.

"I never got the hang of the nickname thing. That's more Kaz's department." I replied. "You good?"

"Thanks to you." He replied, deactivating his bo staff. I shook my head.

"We're in over our heads. We're outnumbered." I told him. He nodded.

"I know. We need a way to even the playing field." He muttered. He paused for a moment, looking at the rock pile. Then, he looked past me, towards the mountains in the distance.

"I know that look," I commented. "You have a plan."

"Help me find Katherine." He ordered. I nodded without questioning it and took off into the air in search of the bionic hero.

Seraphina's POV

We made it to Mission Creek in record time. The bus would have taken us nearly 2 days to get there. Even Emily admitted that we would have been cutting things extremely close (assuming she was right about how long it would take the Venusians to recover from what she and Kameron did to their ships). But with Ben, Naomi, and Noah driving, alternating when they were tired, and going throughout the night, we managed to get there the next day.

That being said, it had felt like a very long ride. Partially because it was a full day sitting in a minivan (according to Emily, this is something we should tease Ben about, as it is the ultimate 'dad car'). We'd tried to make as few stops as possible to save time, even eating in the car. Although I had to admit, it was my first time trying fast food and after finishing the cheeseburger Noah had suggested, I was starting to understand the appeal.

Eventually, 24 hours, 2 calls made on Naomi's Davenwatch, and 9 bathroom breaks later, we arrived in the Davenports' hometown. It was very different than Centium City; houses instead of skyscrapers, two-lane roads instead of packed 6-lane ones, and the smell of the beach filling the air instead of the stench of garbage and gasoline.

"Alright, we're here," Ben announced, pulling into the parking lot in front of a small white building with the Davenport Industries logo on it. It was surprisingly close to the shore, the ground disappearing just a few feet behind the building. I frowned as we all stepped out of the car. I'd assumed that we'd be heading to a lab of sorts, but there was no way a full lab, or even a small one, would fit in the building.

"This is the mainland entrance to the Bionic Academy," Noah explained, catching sight of my confused gaze. He shrugged. "Looks unimpressive out here, but I swear it's cooler on the island."

"I'll take your word for it," I replied. As we approached the building, I could see two figures standing by the door. One was a fifteen-year-old girl with long, black hair and stormy-grey eyes. I recognized her instantly as Nyssa Bennett, Spotlight and Nyx's daughter (and Kira's sworn enemy, if you asked the pyrokinetic). Next to her stood a tall, round-cheeked boy with short, messy black hair. He was holding a large green backpack in his hands as he chatted with Nyssa.

"C'mon one rabbit! I'll even provide the hat!" He was saying as we reached them. Nyssa rolled her eyes and turned to us.

"The only reason I am still here is because you said something about stopping a war?" She questioned, holding out her hand. "And I believe I was promised some money."

"Yeah, yeah." Kameron sighed, reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out his wallet and handed her a couple of bills. She waited, raising an eyebrow. Kameron sighed and handed her another bill, which she gladly accepted.

"Cool. So who is ready to go?" She questioned. Emily smirked.

"Hold on." She turned to the boy. "Were you able to get into the vault?"

"Well, I tried to use the code you gave but, uh...I forgot." He admitted, scratching the back of his head.

"Frank!" Charlotte half exclaimed, half groaned. She looked at Emily. "Told you this would happen."

"Relax. I just pulled the door off the hinges. Mom's not gonna be happy with me when they get back." He grinned, holding up the backpack. "I shoved it all in here."

"Atta boy, Frank!" Noah grinned at him, reaching for the backpack. As soon as it left Frank's hands, Noah nearly dropped it, the weight apparently too much for the older boy. "Geez!"

"Don't break it!" Emily exclaimed, staring at Noah as if he'd done it on purpose. He glared at her, even as he struggled to hold it off the ground.

"It's a little heavy." The younger boy laughed a little as Ben took the bag from Noah and heaved it over one shoulder. Noah gave him a look.

"You don't have to make it look easy." He grumbled. He caught sight of the amused look on my face. "It's not funny."

"It's a little funny," I replied, earning smirks from Emily and Kameron.

"Thanks, kiddo." Naomi gave Frank a side hug. He smiled. "I think that's all we need. Go enjoy your video games."

"I intend to." He replied. He turned to head into the building, then paused. "Wait. Everyone is going to be okay, right?"

I glanced at the others, not sure what to tell the younger boy. He clearly had someone important on Caldera right now, but I wasn't sure what the other adults had told their kids about what they were doing. "Yeah, totally." Charlotte nodded, giving him a reassuring grin. "Your dad is practically invincible, and your mom can literally walk through her enemies. They'll be fine."

Frank nodded, smiling back at Charlotte. "Okay. Cool. See ya guys. Tell everyone I say 'hi'."

We waited for the fourteen-year-old to walk into the building and presumably head back to the Academy before turning to Nyssa. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Who am I bringing where?" She asked, crossing her arms. Naomi spoke up before Emily could answer.

"Back up a little. How are we going places here? I know that the bionic soldiers' geoleap range is pretty high with all those updates, but you can't geoleap and we don't have any of the geoleap bracelets with us." She pointed. Nyssa grinned.

"I made my own spell." She announced smugly. "A wormhole spell. Got the idea from an old comic book I found in the League's archives."

"This is your spell?" Ben questioned. He looked at us, then at her. "I was under the impression this was one of Nyx's."

"Why does it matter? It'll get us to Venusia and Caldera." I reminded him. He looked around, then sighed.

"You've tested this, I assume?" He questioned. Nyssa glanced at us, then nodded.

"Sure." She lied. Ben pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Your parents are going to kill me when this is over." He muttered before nodding and dropping his hand. "Alright, who is going with who?"

"You can take Charlotte, Ben, and I to Caldera first," Emily told Nyssa. She glanced at the rest of us. "It'll be easier to set the machine up from there, and I think we might need the help of one of Caldera's scientists anyway."

"Emily Davenport, admitting she might need help. Never thought I'd see the day." I commented, impressed. She rolled her eyes, despite smiling back at me.

"Who's coming with?" She asked, turning to the rest of us.

"I will." "Me too." Kameron and Noah both volunteered. Ben nodded.

"Alright. Just create the wormhole for us though. Then you're going to take Kira, Seraphina, and Naomi to Venusia." He ordered. He turned to Naomi and I. "Are you two sure you can convince one of the Venusians to go with the plan?"

"Yes. They'll do anything to save their people. We just have to show them that's what we want to." I insisted. Naomi nodded.

"It's a good plan, Ben." She agreed. He sighed.

"Alright. Stay with her. No stupid risks." He told me and Kira sternly. His gaze then softened and he leaned forward to kiss Naomi a kiss on the cheek. "Be careful, please."

"We will. I promise." She smiled at him. "We'll see you on Caldera."

Nyssa took that as her cue. She took a few steps away from us, then raised her hands out in front of her. Her face screwed up in concentration, she muttered the words, "Creare ostium."

A small ball of energy, swirling both black and white, formed in front of her. I almost spoke up to say that there was no way we were going to be able to get through there - it was no bigger than the palm of my hand, after all - but then it started to grow, the energy swirling around it hypnotically until it was 8 feet in diameter.

"Whoa." Kameron gaped at the wormhole. I couldn't help but agree - it was pretty impressive. Ben eyed it, approaching cautiously. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was nervous.

"Alright." He nodded, taking a deep breath. "Let's go."

He adjusted the straps on the backpack and then walked through the wormhole without any further hesitation. He disappeared as he entered it, presumably arriving on Caldera. Kameron grinned.

"This is so cool!" He exclaimed, practically running after Ben into it. Charlotte and Emily exchanged looks, then followed them. Noah was the last to go, giving us all one last look before disappearing into the wormhole. As soon as he entered it, it disappeared, and Nyssa's hands dropped.

"Alright, now Venusia." Naomi turned to Nyssa, then frowned. "Are you good?"

Confused, I looked over at the witch-in-training. She did look a bit paler than before, and I was sure the sweat on her forehead hadn't been there before. Nevertheless, she nodded. "Yeah." She breathed. "Just took a bit more energy than I was expecting. I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" I asked, concerned. She nodded, a determined look on her face.

"I'm good." She promised, raising her hands. "Here we go. Creare ostium."

A second wormhole opened up in front of us, just as big and mysterious as the last. I took a deep breath, then took a step forward, praying desperately that this would work.

Emily's POV

Nyssa's wormhole had let us out right inside the cavern system that made up the Calderan version of Mighty Med, just out of sight of any doctors, nurses, or even patients. Ben quickly led us into a nearby cave, filled with shelves and boxes half-filled with dwindling supplies. "Alright, you can work in here." He told us, closing the door tightly behind us and gently placing Frank's backpack on the ground. I immediately dived into it, pulling out the various components my cousin had packed for us. "What do you guys need?"

"Let's see...Noah, that scientist from before, Dr. Seif?" Charlotte looked up at the bionic speedster. "I don't suppose you can find her again?"

"Uh, sure. But why? She's not an engineer." He pointed out. I nodded.

"We know. But she is a chemist. She'll have a better understanding of the chemical components than we do. I want her help making sure that we're programming this right." I explained. He nodded.

"She liked Sera more, but I'll see what I can do." He told us, giving us each a nod. He walked out past Ben, then we felt a rush of wind as he sped off to find the Calderan scientist who'd helped us our first time on Caldera. "Ben, watch the door. Kam, we could use your hands."

Dani's POV

Finding a single bionic hero in a sea of fighting heroes and warriors was not an easy task, by any means. Unfortunately, there hadn't been nearly enough comm sets to go around, neither the Academy nor the NLH ever having this many fighting heroes at once before. They'd been handed out mostly at random, with the exception of team leaders like myself, and Katherine hadn't made the cut. I soared high above the battlefield, trying desperately to track down Katherine Dooley, but only seemed to find hero after hero in trouble. I saw my teammate Surge, fending off two different Venusian warriors at once, while Logan Krane fought another two nearby. Thankfully, I didn't have to get involved; the two seemed to be working well enough together that they were holding their own, even if they weren't taking down their opponents as easily as they'd liked. I did have to help Frostbite out. I found her completely surrounded, just like Chase had been, using ice walls to protect herself on three sides while sending rapid-fire blasts out the opening.

"Melody!" I shouted, diving down. She caught sight of me, then, using a move we'd done a hundred times over the years, threw her hands out. She sent a wave of frost in all directions, momentarily blinding the Venusian soldiers. I sent electricity crackling towards them, the shockwave hitting the Venusians. Three of them screamed as the blast shocked them, sending them into unconsciousness in seconds. But the fourth managed to leap back at the last second, just barely avoiding my electrical charge. He raised his spear at me before I or Frostbite could stop him, sending two plasma blasts from the sharp end of it toward me. I spun midair, trying to dodge them. The first one went wild, but the second caught me in the shoulder.

"Ah!" I cried out, the sudden searing pain sending me crashing into the dirt below. I landed roughly on the ground, clutching my injured shoulder. The Venusian soldier tried to take advantage, take me out while I lay stunned, but Melody was on top of him first. She shot a ball of ice at his knees first, causing him to stumble, then sent a cloud of icy mist his way. It engulfed him before he could take another shot at me, briefly obscuring him from my sight. When the cloud faded away, the Venusian was frozen solid, still in a fighting position.

"Are you okay?" Melody asked, helping me to my feet. I nodded, still grimacing at the pain in my shoulder. I knew I was lucky though; the shot had only grazed my upper shoulder. Sure, the surface wound left behind was agonizing, but that close to my head and neck...well, it could have been much worse.

"Have you seen Katherine?" I demanded.

"Dooley?" She questioned, shaking her head. "No, but I think I saw Leo earlier." She gestured vaguely towards the north. I nodded gratefully and took off into the air once more. I powered through my injury, breathing as deeply as I dared as I fought to focus on the battle at hand.

Eventually, I caught sight of Katherine amongst the fighters. She wasn't with Leo anymore, the two of them likely having been separated the way Kaz and I had been early on. She was fighting alongside the Scarlet Ace, the two women back to back. Lily was using her telekinesis to send her signature Scarlet A shurikens back and forth at the Venusians she was fighting. They were faster than her, deflecting the blades with ease, but she was holding her own fairly well. Katherine, on the other hand, was fighting a Venusian warrior off with one of the enemy's plasma spears, though where she got it I had no idea.

"Hey!" I shouted as I pressed the base of my palms together, a long blast of electricity bursting from the space between my fingers. I hit one of the Venusians fighting Lily right in the back. He collapsed, causing his friend to spin around in shock. Lily took advantage of his distraction, spin kicking him in the head, and knocking him to the ground. A second kick was all it took to incapacitate him. Katherine, meanwhile, managed to get her spear under her opponent's feet, tripping him. Lily raised her hands at the Venusian and used her telekinesis to send him flying through the air, landing too far away from us to continue being a threat.

"We had that," Katherine told me as I landed in front of them. Lily frowned, noticing the way I was gripping my shoulder once more.

"You're injured." She commented worriedly. I shook my head; this was not the time.

"Chase, I found her," I said into my comm set before pulling it out of my ear with my good hand and holding it out to the bionic hero. "I've been looking for you."

Katherine frowned but accepted the earpiece and slid it into her ear. "Chase?" She questioned. Lily turned to me.

"Geminus?" She asked. I shook my head; I hadn't seen Alivia since the battle had begun. Meanwhile, Katherine listened intently to Chase's plan. I could see from the look on her face that she wasn't a fan.

"But what 'bout the others?" She questioned. "We can't geoleap with the shields up. They'll be cut off." She listened for another moment. "We'd 'ave to surrender."

Lily and I exchanged confused looks for a moment, not sure of what the plan was. "Fall back?" Lily questioned, looking at Katherine. She bit her lip for a moment, deciding whether she had faith that whatever Chase's plan was would succeed, then nodded at us.

"FALL BACK!" Lily and I shouted simultaneously, cupping our hands around our mouths to try and project our voices better. We weren't heard by many, but those that did caught on pretty quickly, echoing the cry across the battlefield. Our teammates were quick to retreat, whether it be from their trust in our leaders' strategizing or genuine fear, I did not know. The Venusians, confused yet unwavering, pressed on, taking our actions as a sign of their victory, while a few truly brave heroes tried to fend them off with walls of fire, ice, rocks, or energy shields.

"What does he want you to do?" I called over my shoulder, even as Lily and I started to back away. I raised my hands at the incoming Venusians, sparks flying out towards them in an effort to ward them off. Katherine glanced at me, a flicker of nervousness appearing on her face before disappearing behind a determined glare.

"This." She declared, kneeling and placing both of her hands on the ground, palms flat. A deep rumbling filled my ears as the ground began to shake beneath us. It started weakly, but steadily began to grow in strength, causing both sides of the fight to pause and listen. I stumbled forward as the shaking made the world unstable, while Katherine's eyes remained focused, unblinking, and staring ahead of us.

The rumbling was growing in volume as well, turning into a grinding roar. Suddenly, I saw it; faint cracks forming on the ground a few feet ahead of us. I backed away from the cracks, unable to take my eyes off of them as they grew. The land separating both sides of the battle started to separate, splitting apart. From within the crack came a warm glow, flickers of fire leaping up as a river of lava sprouted from the ground. The Venusians leaped and stumbled back in shock, shocked and horrified, as the gap continued to widen until there was a 20-foot gap between us.

Lily, Katherine, and I all stood there for a moment, silent. I'd known that Katherine had earthquake-related abilities. I'd heard about them anyway. But this was the first time I'd ever seen them before. This was...magnificent. "Okay," I said when I finally found my voice, "Lils, we really got to find some way to convince Alivia to poach some of these guys from the Academy, man."

"You couldn't afford me," Katherine replied smugly, standing up with crossed arms. I opened my mouth to retort something snarky when a familiar voice entered my head.

"Dani, get to the med tent, NOW." Ollie's voice verged on panicky. "It's Kaz."

Seraphina's POV

The moment I stepped out of the wormhole, I found myself surrounded by massive tree trunks, the sky above me masked by the dark purple foliage native to Venusia. The temperature difference was immediately noticeable, the low daytime temperatures of the alien planet a very far cry from the comfortable heat of the Californian sun.

"It worked." Naomi whistled in amazement. I turned to ask Nyssa how close she managed to get us to the Venusian village. Immediately, I could tell something was wrong. Nyssa was pale in the face, with almost a green tinge, and a layer of sweat across her brow. "Nyssa?"

"Huh?" The girl raised her head, startled, and suddenly swayed. Kira grabbed her as she started to fall, slowly lowering the other girl onto a massive tree root sticking out of the ground. "Whoa. Sorry, just...lightheaded."

"That was too much for you," Naomi murmured, frowning. Nyssa didn't argue with her, instead focusing on her breathing. After a moment, she tried to get up.

"I'm o...No." She sat back down after only rising an inch, one fist pressed against the mouth. "Not okay."

"Put your head between...just lean over," Kira muttered, annoyed even as she gently pushed Naomi into a better position. The pyrokinetic looked at us. "How are we going to get to Caldera now?"

"I'll be fine. I just...need a minute." Nyssa insisted weakly. Naomi crossed her arms, thinking. I sighed; we had no other way off this planet other than Nyssa. Her magic was the only thing I could think of that could bypass the Calderan or Venusian shields. The only other magic user I knew of was Rani Shore, and she was already on Caldera, fighting alongside my parents. Contacting her would be damn near impossible, let alone seeing if she also had a wormhole spell.

"Are you sure?" Naomi questioned, sounding uncertain. "You just need time."

Nyssa nodded weakly, still looking like she was one fast movement away from losing her lunch. Kira sighed. "If it was really just too much magic at once, she should be fine in a little while." She reasoned with a shrug.

Naomi nodded and removed her backpack (she and Ben had come prepared for this, while the rest of us probably should have thought to grab a bag before leaving the penthouse). She pulled out a water bottle and handed it to Kira. "Alright, you two stay here. Sera and I will go find the Venusian villagers."

"What? No! You can't-guys!" Kira protested, stepping away from Nyssa. "You can't leave me here!"

"We can't leave Nyssa on her own." I pointed out. Kira looked away, upset. "C'mon. Didn't Kameron say that your mom taught you both basic first aid?"

"I mean, she said something about bleeding and bandages. I don't know; I don't pay attention when adults try to teach me stuff." The younger girl argued. Naomi gave her a look. "Remember the last time we split up on this planet? We all nearly died."

"I know, but we don't have a better choice. We should be close to the village." Naomi reasoned. "We won't go too far without you."

Kira sighed, then looked over at Nyssa, who was looking downright miserable where she was sitting. Kira groaned. "Fine." She muttered. "Just...be careful."

I nodded at her, then turned to Naomi. "Let's go."

Dani's POV

I raced into the med tent, desperately seeking out Kaz and Oliver. It was filled with injured heroes being triaged, some being loaded into invisible ambulances belonging to Mighty Med.

"Kaz!" I exclaimed when I caught sight of him lying on a stretcher near the back, my brother standing over him. Kaz was unconscious with a terrible-looking burn across the left side of his head, just above his ear. Oliver's hands were pressed down on Kaz's hip, a wad of bloodstained gauze underneath.

"We were outnumbered." My brother murmured breathlessly, keeping his eyes locked on Kaz's face. I didn't look at my twin as I leaned over my husband, one hand on his wrist, checking his pulse. It was thankfully there, weak but stronger than I'd thought it was. "There was just too many of them."

"Ollie." His tone caused me to look over my shoulder at him. I could see the concern stretched across his face, the guilt in his eyes. I could also see how his mission suit was covered in soot, a wide yet shallow-looking cut across his chin. "It wasn't your fault."

My brother didn't respond, instead adjusting his hands on Kaz's hip. My husband groaned as the weight shifted, head rolling across the top of the stretcher. I instinctively ran my hand through the hair on his uninjured side. "It's just me and Ollie. It's okay." I murmured, hoping it would comfort him a bit. He didn't wake, but his pale face relaxed slightly. "We can't handle this here."

My mind was already racing, trying to come up with a plan. If we could get Kaz to Mighty Med, he'd be okay. He'd be okay...he had to be okay.

"Ambulance." My brother told me, nodding at an incoming transport. I could see my old friend Benny at the front wheel, the rest of the vehicle completely transparent. Between Oliver and I, we managed to get Kaz into the back of the ambulance with relative ease. "I'll stay here," Oliver said reluctantly, switching positions with me so that I could put pressure on Kaz's wound. "But Dani..."

"Updates every 5 minutes," I promised before he even had to ask.

"Thanks..." He nodded, biting his lip worriedly. He took a shaky breath, then stepped back. "Good luck."I

gave my brother one last nod, then pulled the ambulance door closed. Benny wasted no time driving off, the world turning to a blur of reds and oranges as we soared across the alien landscape. I looked down worriedly at Kaz, whose face was twisted up in pain again. "You're going to be okay," I muttered reassuringly, trying to force myself to believe it too. "You're going to be okay."

Seraphina's POV

Naomi began to lead us through the trees, taking the path of least resistance towards a low valley. "Do we know where the village is?" I asked after a few minutes. Naomi didn't verbally respond but instead pointed at the sky. I followed her gesture with my eyes and caught sight of what she was leading us to a cloud of smoke coming from just beyond the trees. It could be coming from the village we'd encountered on our first trip to Venusia. We'd given Nyssa coordinates for the village, but without any idea of how close she'd actually been able to land us, it was impossible to be certain that it was the village we wanted. For all we knew, it could be a different village, or even coming from Caelus City.

That being said, we didn't have a better idea, and we needed to do this now.

Naomi and I continued walking through the jungle, careful and hyperaware of every noise the cold planet made. It was eerily quiet on the planet, not a single sound of animals moving. It had been like this when we first landed on Venusia too, but now that I knew about what was happening to the planet, I wondered what had happened to the animals and insects that surely must have used to live here. Were the animals we found before the only ones left? Had there been less resilient life on this planet, now perished or hiding?

I was broken out of my thoughts by the sound of twigs snapping nearby. Naomi and I both dropped down low, heads snapping in the direction of the sound. Naomi motioned to one of the large trees and I carefully stepped over to it, pressing myself against it, not wanting to get caught. Peeking around the side of the tree, I could see a small group of Venusian hunters, surrounding what looked like a freshly killed animal. They were all younger, seeming to be in their teens, with long blue or purple hair. One of them wore her hair in milkmaid braids. I recognized her instantly as Jillian, the girl we'd met at the Venusian village barely a week and a half ago.

I made eye contact with Naomi, then nodded at Jillian. Naomi nodded, then leaned up against a nearby tree. I formed a small piece of ice in the palm of my hand. Careful to not get caught, I waited until the hunters had turned away from us, presumably to head back to their village. I tossed the ice at them, hitting Jillian in the back of her right shoulder. She spun around instantly, eyes scanning the jungle for signs of intruders. I held my breath nervously, unsure of what she was going to do next.

"Go on ahead. I'll be right behind you." She told her friends. One of them nodded and handed Jillian his spear. She watched her fellow hunters walk out of sight with the prey, then turned around to face the trees. Naomi and I stayed where we were, wanting her to make the first move.

The girl began to slowly, carefully, step through the trees, keeping her eyes locked ahead of her. "Is that you?" She called, uncertain. "Calderan?"

I took a deep breath, then stepped out of the trees, my hands held above my head. "I want to talk."

Dani's POV

"Get Horace and Apollo, now!" I snapped at a nearby nurse as Benny and I wheeled Kaz's gurney into Mighty Med. I kept one hand glued to his hip, the wound bleeding heavily through the gauze. "C'mon Kaz, just a little longer," I muttered under my breath as Benny secured the gurney.

"Dani?" Horace called, rushing in, his sidekick shortly behind him.

"He got stabbed by one of their spears. It's at least 5 inches deep, maybe more. He's lost a lot of blood, but I don't think it hit the femoral artery." I reported, eyes not leaving Kaz's face. "Head injury caused by a plasma blast, likely from the same weapon."

"Alright. Give Apollo some space." I felt hands on my shoulders, gently but insistently pulling me away. I resisted for a moment, not wanting to leave him, but eventually, logic took over and I reluctantly allowed Horace to pull me back and Apollo to get in between us. I held my breath as Apollo did a quick examination, eventually tossing away the bloodied gauze and covering the wound with his hands. His eyes, narrowed in concentration, glowed yellow for a brief moment, a similar glow coming from the palms of his hands. I watched in amazement as the skin under his hands began to knit together, repairing itself until the only sign that my husband had ever been injured was the gaping hole in his uniform and the blood-stained, yet smooth and unblemished, skin underneath. Apollo heaved a heavy sigh, then moved onto Kaz's head. Within seconds, the burn was healed, although he ended up with a 4-inch chunk of hair missing.

"He'll be fine. He should still take it easy." Apollo warned me, turning back to me. I bit my lip for a moment, then pulled him into a tight hug. He chuckled a bit in surprise.

"You are my favourite person," I informed him. "Whatever Horace is paying you, it's not enough."

"I'm an unpaid intern." He mumbled awkwardly. I pulled back and gave my former mentor a stern look.

"No, he isn't!" I exclaimed in disbelief. Horace grinned sheepishly. "You paid us! And we were half as useful as him."

"We can talk about salary. In the meantime, you have earned a break, my boy." He nodded at the hallway. "Go."

Felix didn't argue, looking a bit drained himself. I gave him one last grateful smile before looking over at Kaz. He was still unconscious, but he was already getting some of his color back. "Dani," Horace called my attention back to him. He gave me a reassuring smile, then nodded at the same hallway Felix had gone down. "Go clean up. I'll stay until you get back."

I went to argue, then caught sight of my hands. Kaz's blood still covered my fingers. My stomach churned with that realization. "Yeah..." I murmured breathlessly. "Yeah, good idea."

I set off down the hall in search of a bathroom. "Apollo is the single greatest addition to the League of all time." I declared telepathically, reaching out to Oliver. "Kaz will be okay. Won't even have a scar to show for it."

"Thank god." I could hear the relief bleeding into Oliver's voice. "I'll let the others know."

"What's happening out there?" I'd heard from one of the bionic heroes there was some kind of ceasefire, but they didn't know much more than that. I tried the first door on my left, only to find that it was someone's office.

"Both sides are regrouping," Ollie told me as I moved on to another door. Another office. "Triaging wounded...collecting the dead. We don't know how long it'll last."

"How many did we lose?" I asked with a heavy sigh, pausing.

"Eleven." The number felt fortunately low and all too high at the same time. He hesitated before continuing. "Mostly Calderan warriors, but three from the Academy and two from the League. Tempest and Hornet."

I sighed. Barry had brought Hornet into the League a few years back, shortly after the 30-year-old had gained his poisonous sting abilities. He'd been funny, and great to work with. Tempest had joined back around the same time I did. I'd liked him, even after our very brief relationship had ended. I'd considered both to be friends.

"Okay." I nodded, focusing once more. There'd have to be time to mourn them later. If we didn't want to add more to the list, then we'd have to focus on the battle at hand first. "Alright, I'm going to clean up a bit. Once Kaz is awake, I'll come join you guys there."

"Good idea. See if you can actually convince him to stay at Mighty Med." Despite his request, I could tell that, like me, Oliver knew that would be a pointless endeavor. I looked around, a little frustrated with how difficult it was to find a bathroom here. There were signs of course, but most were written in Calderan. Skylar had tried to teach us once in high school, but...well, I'd never been the greatest student.

I walked the halls, glancing into the different caves that made up the rooms in the Calderan hospital. Eventually, after a few wrong turns into a few offices, I found a door at the end of the hall that was made of steel, not the copper iron of the other ones. Hoping that meant it wasn't yet another office, I grabbed the door handle and tried to open it. To my surprise, the door wouldn't budge. It wasn't locked, but there was something heavy holding it closed. I heard shuffling from inside. "Hey! Is someone in there? Is that a bathroom?"

There was no response aside from the sound of whoever was inside cursing. I sighed and stood up straight.

"If this door doesn't open in the next 3 seconds, I'm electrocuting whoever is inside," I warned. There was a pause, then the door swung open.

"We can explain." Kameron stood in front of me, a guilty grimace on his face. Behind him, messing around with a small machine, were Emily and Charlotte. Ben stood behind them, shaking his head. I stared at them for a moment, stunned. How on Earth did they get here?

"Are you kidding me?" I demanded, staring at them. "Are you kidding me?"

"Look-" Emily stood, starting to explain.

"I don't want to hear it," I told her, cutting her off before she could. I turned to Ben. "What the hell? You were supposed to bring them home."

Ben opened his mouth to explain, possibly to apologize, but Charlotte spoke up first, cutting him off. "We kidnapped him again." She admitted apologetically. Everyone stared at her, seemingly stunned that she'd confess so quickly. "We're sorry. We couldn't just sit by and do nothing."

"You didn't..." Ben stared at her, frowning, before turning to me. "They didn't kidnap me."

"Dude, you don't have to be embarrassed. It's alright." Kameron assured him. Emily laughed.

"He should be embarrassed. What kind of superhero gets kidnapped by teenagers twice?" She chimed in. Ben gave her, Charlotte, and Emily a stern look.

"NO, guys. I was not kidnapped." He directed the last part at me. I sighed. I didn't have time to deal with this.

"Where are Kira and the others? Do not lie to me, Kameron." I instructed. He hesitated.

"Not on Caldera." He assured me. "It was, uh... a two-part plan...Mom, is that blood?"

"It's..." I glanced at my hands. "It's fine. It's not mine." He didn't need to know whose it was.

I thought quickly, trying to figure out what to do here. This was the last place I wanted the kids right now. I was grateful that it seemed that at least Kira and some of the others were on Earth, but it was far too dangerous for Kameron to be here. Not with the way the battle was going. They'd get involved, they'd want to fight. Images of Kaz in the ambulance flooded my head, and I made a quick decision. "Ben, in the hall, please."

The younger superhero stepped past me into the hall. Kameron went to follow, but I quickly shoved the door shut. I stepped back and quickly locked the metal door from the outside. "Mom? Mom, c'mon!" My son shouted, banging on the door. I shook my head.

"I can't let you get involved, Kameron. It's too dangerous." I told him apologetically. I really didn't like doing this. Protecting your kids shouldn't mean having to lock them in rooms. But after nearly losing Kaz, and with the battle not going the way we'd initially hoped...I couldn't risk Kameron joining the list of fallen heroes from today. I looked around desperately, then caught sight of one of the bionic heroes from the Academy. "You!" I called her over. "Your name?"

"Amy." She replied. I nodded.

"What's your thing?" I questioned.

"Superstrength." She answered instantly. I smiled.

"Perfect. You see this door? You're now in charge of this door. This door does not open. Nobody leaves this room." I ordered. "If anything happens to Matchhead and I, you put these kids on a ship and you bring them back to Earth. You got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." She nodded. I smiled gratefully.

"Thank you." I squeezed her shoulder, then glanced at Ben. "Come with me."

"I wasn't-" "I don't want to hear it." I cut him off before he could continue to try and defend himself. "You're here, we're outnumbered. Might as well make the best of this bad situation." I started to walk off before stopping. "And Emily's right; you gotta stop letting the kids kidnap you."

"I wasn't kidnapped!" He argued, chasing after me.

Emily's POV

"She locked us in," Kameron growled in complaint as Charlotte and I finished our adjustments to AJ's invention. We were almost done; we'd reprogrammed the software to generate genetic codes instead of repairing damaged ones. Now, we just had to make sure that we'd programmed the different sensors and the correct codes to create the type of life we wanted, rather than risk accidentally making half-baked lifeforms or the wrong type of plants. "And there's someone guarding outside."

Glancing over my shoulder, I could see the faint shadow of someone standing in front of the door, probably whoever Dani had spoken with before walking away. I looked over at Charlotte. "Good idea, covering for Ben. He shouldn't get in trouble for the one time he willing helps us."

"How are we going to get out of here?" Charlotte questioned, leaning back on her knees. "None of us have super strength."

"Don't need it." I reasoned. "We just have to wait."

"Wait?" Kameron turned to me, looking like I was crazy. "Wait for what?"

Suddenly, there was a loud thump against the door, startling Kameron and causing him to jump. I smirked knowingly as we listened to the muffled sounds of scuffle outside the door. There was a shout, then another thump, then silence. After a moment, there was a quiet scraping noise. The door clicked, then swung open.

Noah stood outside, looking a little confused. Behind him stood a Calderan woman, with long brown hair. She looked exactly like I thought Skylar would look at 60 years old. She also looked pretty confused.

"Who busted us?" Noah asked.

"My mom. What happened to the guard?" Kameron asked, stepping aside to let them in.

"Locked her in that closet." Noah jerked his thumb at a door across the hall. "Are we in trouble? Where's Ben?"

"Oh, definitely, but I'm not letting that stop me," I replied. Charlotte nodded.

"Ben's with Dani. We kidnapped him, by the way." She informed me. Noah nodded slowly, catching on instantly.

"Cool." He agreed. I looked at Dr. Seif.

"Did he fill you in?" I questioned. She nodded, sending one last concerned glance at the door across the hall.

"He did." She replied, turning back to us. "You're trying to save our planet by saving our enemy?"

"We're trying to give them more options than war." Charlotte corrected, standing up. "Beyond that, it's up to them."

"You're relying on their goodness, on their ethics?" She questioned, giving us a look I couldn't decipher. Kameron nodded.

"The NLH has never encountered a whole species that is inherently evil. The Venusians want peace, same as us." He insisted. "We just have to make that an option for them."

She looked at us appraisingly, before smiling wryly. "You humans are growing on me."

"Does that mean you'll help us?" I pressed, desperate. To our immense relief, the Calderan nodded.

"Like I told Storm's girl, not all Calderans want to fight." She told us. "This war needs to end. How can I help?"

"I'm not sure I'm programming the chemical compounds correctly. I know a lot of this is biology and neither of our expertise, but at least we can get that right." I told her. The scientist nodded and knelt down, taking a look at the machine. Noah looked around the room, then at the door.

"Look, if we're busted...they're outnumbered out there, guys." He told us. "It's bad. They need help."

"You think one of us can make that much of a difference?" Kameron asked, sounding uncertain. Noah shrugged.

"I don't know about that, but I can't sit here and do nothing." He replied, shaking his head. "I'm going to go see where I can help."

"Me too." Charlotte decided. I bit my lip, not liking this.

"Kameron, stay," I said quickly before the younger boy could volunteer as well. I gave him an apologetic look. "I don't have any weapons on me, and Caldera's a little short on tech. I might have to bring this out there to show the Venusians and I could use the backup."

"Yeah, of course." He nodded at me before looking at Charlotte and Noah worriedly. "Be careful. We can't lose you."

"You won't," Noah promised before disappearing in a blur. Charlotte went to race after him but paused at the door. Then, to my surprise, she darted back into the room, grabbed Kameron by the front of his mission suit, and quickly pressed her lips against his for a short kiss. She pulled away after a couple of moments, while both Kameron and I stared at her in shock.

"Just in case." She said by way of explanation before running off. Kameron stood there, looking as dumbfounded as I felt, the stunned expression on his face slowly transforming into a wide, open-mouthed grin. I meanwhile, could not have been more confused if I tried.

"What did I miss?" I demanded, bewildered.

Seraphina's POV

Not all that surprisingly, 'talking' wasn't the first thing on Jillian's mind. She raised her spear at me and sent a blast of plasma coming my way. I crossed my raised arms, a shield of ice forming between us just in time to protect me from the blast. Naomi darted out from behind the tree and grabbed the spear with one hand before Jillian could react. The Venusian girl tried to elbow Naomi in the face, but Naomi was prepared for it; she caught Jillian's arm mid-attack and spun around, throwing the younger girl over her shoulder. Jillian landed on her back roughly, Naomi successfully tugging the spear out of her hands.

"We just want to talk." I insisted. Naomi held the spear upward, like a walking stick, out of Jillian's reach but not threatening her with it either. The Venusian girl glared at us from the ground.

"The hell you do!" She snapped.

"We don't want to hurt you!" Naomi insisted. Jillian rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"If I wanted to hurt you, I would have when we escaped your village." I reminded her. She glowered at me, but even she couldn't deny the fact that I'd chosen a pretty nonviolent method to deal with her in the end.

"What do you want?" She demanded. "You already attacked Caelus City. Was that not enough for you?"

"We were trying to escape. They had our family locked up." Naomi explained.

"They were going to execute my mother. We had no choice." I reasoned. She scoffed. "I don't want to fight."

"Then what do you want?" She asked again.

"To end the war." I stepped back and motioned for Naomi to do the same. Jillian looked between us cautiously, then carefully climbed back to her feet, her eyes never leaving ours.

"Let me guess. Now that Caldera's realized they're outmatched, they want peace." She laughed darkly. "Cowards."

"We've always wanted peace. We thought you did too." I insisted.

"We do!" She sneered.

"Not your leaders." Naomi pointed out. "Jax and Jaya sabotaged the attempts we made at a peace treaty."

Jillian frowned. "That's not true." She told us. "You're lying."

"Think about it, Jillian. Why would a single Calderan come to your planet, knowing that you're at war? And why would they be accompanied by humans from Earth rather than other Calderan warriors?" I pointed out.

"She was a spy. She got caught." The other girl insisted. I shook my head. "C'mon, why would the Venusian Council sabotage a chance at peace? Your people started this war!"

"No, they didn't. The Venusians...Jax and Jaya did." I had to remind myself that not all Venusians were my enemy. It was hard - we'd spent so long seeing the Venusians as a faceless enemy, determined to wipe us out for our resources. After all, why would one Venusian differ from another? Now that I knew the truth, that they were people with individual hopes and dreams and fears and needs, I couldn't in good conscience condemn their entire species the way I once did. "They got greedy. They knew that we didn't have enough resources to help you and still survive ourselves, so they decided to take everything for themselves. They-"

"What do you mean, to help?" She cut me off, looking confused. I frowned; did she not know? Did they not know?

"Your planet is dying, Jillian," Naomi said softly. Jillian stared at her for a moment.

"No, it's not." For the first time, she seemed...uncertain. Like she wasn't sure if we were lying or not.

"Yes, it is. And you know it." I murmured. She shook her head, but less certain, more...afraid.

"Climate change happens on all planets. People survive." She insisted, shifting on her feet. Naomi shook her head.

"Not forever they don't. It's affecting the whole planet. You've seen it." I realized that she must have seen the signs. The Venusian Council could only keep it a secret for so long. "Things are warmer. Plants are dying. Animals are disappearing. It's been changing you too, hasn't it?" I pressed. Charlotte and Kameron had voiced a theory in the car, confused by some of the mixed messages we'd gotten about the planet. "Venusia is supposed to be a planet of shapeshifters, and yet there are almost no shapeshifters left. Less and less of you are being born with abilities, aren't you?"

She looked away. "Our abilities are changing. We're evolving as a people." She insisted.

"Because you have to. You wouldn't have survived this long otherwise." Naomi realized. It made sense. All species adapt to survive and evolve if need be. Like bugs developing a resistance to pesticides, or animals slowly adjusting to different temperatures. It was survival at its very core.

"What's it to you?" She questioned, glaring once again.

"You can't adapt to war, you can't evolve to survive it," I told her sadly. "Neither can my people. We can become warriors, soldiers...but if this war continues, it's going to wipe out both our people."

"So, what? We're just supposed to surrender?" She asked rhetorically, angry. "You just said it yourself; our planet is dying. We need those resources to survive. We can't just roll over and give up."

"What resources? Fuel? Metal? Food?" I questioned. That was the top things they'd wanted during the initial trade agreements, years ago. Jillian nodded. "That'll buy you time, sure. Let you build better structures, maybe even domes to hide in. But it won't last forever. What if we could give you something more permanent?"

"Like what?" She retorted.

"A new planet. One that's all your own, where you can restart, without having to worry about the world ending." Naomi offered. "We can help you with that, help make sure you have a home that meets every one of your people's needs."

"Please." Jillian rolled her eyes again. "You don't have another planet for us to take."

"We can help make one that works for you. We have the technology." I insisted.

"We found your ship, the one you abandoned. Our technology is far better, and we can't even do that." She replied dismissively. I nodded.

"Transportation? Especially intergalactic travel? Yeah, no question you guys have a better handle on it than either Caldera or Earth." I agreed. "But when it comes to climate change, Earth knows what it's doing. They learned how to, the hard way after their planet dealt with terrible climate change. But their planet isn't just okay today, it's thriving climate-wise. We have the technology you need to survive."

Jillian seemed to consider that for a moment, then shook her head. "Even if I believed you, even if I trusted you, Venusia is my home. I can't just abandon it. No other planet will be like home."

"Respectfully, I disagree," I told her before Naomi could intervene. Jillian looked at me like she wanted to argue, but I didn't give her the chance. "I wasn't born on Earth. I wasn't even raised there. In fact, until 8 months ago, I hadn't even been on their planet more than a handful of times. But I love it. I love the planet and the nature they have and the animals that roam it. But more importantly, it's the people. My family is there, my friends. It's my home now, as much as Caldera. I'll always love Caldera, but if I had to choose..." I shook my head. "I don't know what I'd choose. But I do know that you can make anywhere your home if the people you love are there."

"Where's your father, Jillian? Is he fighting for Venusia right now? On Caldera?" Naomi guessed. When Jillian didn't respond, I knew she was right. "So are Seraphina's parents. My brothers and sister are. Emily's parents are there. Our family is there, and I don't know who is coming at the end of this. Maybe none of them comes home. The only chance we have at protecting them, and the only chance you have of protecting your father, your village, is peace. And this is how we get it. This is how we all survive."

Jillian seemed to consider our words for a long moment. I could see the internal debate going on in her head, trying to choose between seeing us as the enemy and finding a new way. After a long moment, in a hesitant and uncertain voice, she said, "I'd need proof."

"Proof?" I gasped, momentarily overwhelmed at the idea that she'd give peace a chance. She nodded.

"Proof." She repeated. "I need to know that this isn't a trick if I'm going to bring it to my father."

Naomi and I exchanged looks. Maybe this could work after all.

Dani's POV

"Horace could use some help at Mighty Med." I tried in vain as Kaz, Ben, and I made our way across the rocky terrain towards the command tent. In the far distance, I could see the lava river Katherine had created, still separating our two armies. The Venusians were out of sight on the other side, but I knew they were still there, waiting.

"I'm fine, Dee." Kaz insisted, giving me a reassuring smile. "Felix fixed me up. I'm good."

"I know. I just...be careful." I insisted as we reached the tent. Kaz pushed his way in first.

"Kaz!" "Thank goodness." I heard a few of the others call in relief before I followed him in. Chase, Bree, Jaden, Alivia, Skylar, Oliver, Adam, and Leo were inside, gathered around in a circle. No one appeared to be seriously injured, but I could see various scrapes, cuts, and small burns on them and their uniforms.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." The pyrokinetic brushed away their concerns. I sighed.

"Guys," I got their attention before pushing the tent flap all the way back to reveal Ben, reluctantly following behind us. "Look who got kidnapped again."

"I did not get kidnapped." He insisted yet again. The reactions from everyone else ranged from surprised to annoyed.

"I swear to God, Ben," Jaden muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I did not get kidnapped!" The superhero continued to argue. At this point, we all chose to ignore him.

"Where are the kids?" Skylar questioned with a heavy sigh.

"From what Kameron told me, it sounds like most of them are still on Earth. It's '2 part plan' apparently." I shook my head, then glanced at Chase, Leo, and Katherine. "Kaz, Emily, and Charlotte are currently locked in a closet at Mighty Med. One of your guys, Amy? She's gonna make sure they stay there and if things really get bad, she'll fly them back herself."

"Why not just send them home now?" Bree asked, frowning.

"I'd rather not send them home without one of us going with them, but he wouldn't leave." I jerked my thumb at Kaz. "If we try to send them home without the proper supervision, they'll just steal the ship and get into more trouble."

"What makes you so sure?" Alivia questioned. I smirked.

"Because if you tried to send me home at that age without the proper supervision, I'd just steal the ship and get into more trouble." I pointed out. Oliver nodded.

"She's not wrong." He agreed. Adam chuckled.

"Remember when we thought Frank was gonna be the difficult one?" He smiled smugly at Chase. "I think you owe someone an apology."

"Sure. I'll apologize to Rio when I see her." Chase retorted before turning to Ben. "I guess you're helping here now?" The young superhero nodded, giving up on trying to convince us that he hadn't been kidnapped by our teenage children. "Let's catch you guys up to speed."

"The Venusians have been regrouping. They haven't tried to cross the lava river." Alivia explained. Kaz frowned.

"Why? Can't they turn into swarms and fly?" Kaz questioned. Leo shook his head.

"I was just saying, I don't think they have as many shapeshifters as we thought. Only a few transformed during the first wave." He pointed out. Alivia nodded.

"I think he's right. Very few were using any abilities. Most were relying on their weapons." She agreed.

"And yet, the fact that we have powers is giving us no advantage here," Bree muttered, frustrated.

"There's too many of them." Chase agreed, frowning. "They know that. It's why they aren't sending any of their shapeshifters over the river. They'll lose the only advantage they have."

"Okay, so, how can we use that to our advantage?" I questioned. Skylar went to respond but was interrupted by Rio bursting into the tent.

"Guys! We have a problem." She warned us, beckoning us to follow her. She led us out of the tent and to the far west end, walking parallel to the lava river. She didn't need to tell us the problem; we could see it before we reached where Lily, Rani, and Katherine were waiting.

"Is that the Venusian army?" Ben demanded, eyes wide when he saw the large, dark mass making its way towards us from the distance. It was still at least fifteen minutes out, but clearly, the Venusians had found a way through the mountain valleys and worked their way around the river.

"Yeah," Rani confirmed. She didn't bat an eye at Ben's sudden appearance on Caldera nor at Kaz's unfortunate new haircut. "A couple of bionic scouts confirmed it. It's their whole army."

"Alright. I guess we're in for Round 2." Alivia nodded. She turned to Lily. "Get the others. Work in pairs. If we can watch each other's backs, maybe we've got a chance."

"Right." Lily gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before running off, grabbing Kieran and Crossbow on the way.

"Battle stations. Everyone be careful." Chase instructed. I nodded and turned to Kaz.

"I'm okay. We need to do this." He told me before I could begin to try and convince him to stay here. I nodded.

"Alright. But we stick together." I responded, leaving no room in my tone for argument. He nodded and turned to Oliver.

"Let's stick to the sky," My brother suggested, looking between us. "If they can't take advantage of it, we might as well."

Seraphina's POV

The wormhole Nyssa created opened up at the top of a large cliff overlooking a massive canyon, the Calderan sun high in the sky above us. Nyssa dropped to her knees, head bowed as she struggled to slow her breathing. I knelt down next to her, concerned.

"Are you okay?" I asked, gently pulling her dark hair out of her face in case she needed to be sick. She nodded breathlessly.

"Peachy." She muttered, all her usual exuberance gone. She'd seemed better when Naomi, Jillian, and I had reached her and Kira, but now that she'd made yet another wormhole, she was worse than before. "But uh...you guys are finding your own ride home."

I nodded in understanding, patting her back reassuringly. Behind me, Jillian looked around at the red terrain and orange skies. "So this is Caldera."

"This is Caldera," Naomi confirmed. Kira gasped suddenly, taking a step toward the cliff's edge.

"Look!" She pointed past us. I stood to follow her horrified gaze, then froze. Below, fighting next to a river of lava, were the two armies. One, a sea of blue and purple, dwarfed the other in comparison. I could just barely make out some from the smaller army flying above the heads of their allies, a blur making its way to the front just as the two armies collided. "We're too late."

"No, no we're not." I refused to believe it. The battle on the ground had begun though; lights flashed on both sides as plasma, cryo, fire, and heat vision blasts hit their targets. "We just...Emily and Charlotte need to get out there. They need to activate their machine. If we could just show them that it works..."

"Sera..." Naomi trailed. I spun around, staring at her.

"Call Ben!" I implored her. "Call him. He needs to get Emily out here. They were supposed to finish by now."

"I don't think calling Ben will work." Kira worried. I frowned, but before I could ask what she was talking about, she pointed at the battle. I followed the gesture until I saw him flying above the crowds, his dark blue Aftershock uniform standing out starkly against the reds and oranges of my planet. I watched as he darted into the fight, colliding with a Venusian fighter nearby. I now realized that it wasn't just one blur making its way through the crowd anymore, but two. Noah was there as well.

"They've joined the fight?" I didn't understand. What happened to the plan?

"Guys," Kira was edging away from us. "My parents are down there...my brother might be...I have to go."

She didn't wait for permission, instead turning on her heel and beginning to make her way down the mountain behind us. I shook my head in disbelief. "We had a plan!" Everything was riding on this.

"What was the point in bringing me here?" Jillian demanded, turning on me. "I thought you said you had a way to save my planet. I didn't come here to watch our people destroy each other."

"I..." I was speechless. Had we been too late? Had the machine not worked? What had happened?

I was speechless. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. Where was Emily?

"There!" Naomi shouted, reading my mind. She pointed down below. At the base of the cliff were two lone figures, slowly trying to make their way towards the battle. We were too high up to be sure of who they were, but once I saw that they were struggling

Just beyond the fighting crowds were two lone figures, slowly making their way towards the battle, but struggling with something they were dragging with them.

Emily's POV

"They should be able to see from here." I decided, dropping my end of my cousin's backpack on the ground at the base of what looked like a massive cliff. Once we'd realized how deep into the battle the two armies had come, we'd had to make a choice: wait it out, then show the invention to the Calderan elders and Skylar, or test it out in the middle of the fight and hope, pray, that it was enough to stop the fighting. The second option was risky, and dangerous, even by my standards, but if we waited...well, we'd seen a few of the dead they'd brought back to Mighty Med. If we waited, who knows how many of our loved ones would be joining them.

I glanced behind him at the battle raging not too far from us. Going along the bottom of the cliff had kept us moderately hidden as we got closer, the two of us now standing close enough to hear the shouting, the plasma fire, and to identify the different fighters. "Stand guard," I told Kameron, dropping to my knees and starting to dig through the bag. "I need to finish setting up."

I began to pull the different components out of the bag, all too aware that I was racing against the clock. I needed to get this done fast, faster than I knew I was able to. I put the pieces together with my hands, using my powers to start powering it up. I worked quickly, speedily assembling the machine until finally, the screen - a physical one, not a hologram one like I was used to. The Davenport Industries logo appeared in the three red circles that made up the Borromean Rings flashing once before being replaced by a loading screen. Planetary biometrics and climate analysis...1% it read in small, blue lettering.

"Em!" Kameron suddenly shouted. I looked up in time to see a Venusian warrior charge our way, spear aimed at Kameron's chest. Kameron and I both threw our hands out at the Venusian at the same time. I deactivated the spear, preventing him from blasting either of us, while Kameron sent a ball of electricity his way. The blast caught the Venusian in the chest, knocking him back several feet. He didn't get up.

We didn't have time to celebrate, however. Our fight had drawn the attention of other Venusians, and our location was now compromised. While I'd worked, I hadn't noticed the battle getting closer and closer to us, the sea of fighters almost on top of us now. Kameron took one look at it, then at the fallen Venusian's spear. He grabbed it quickly, then spun around to toss it to me. I caught it with both hands, startled. Did he expect me to fight? This weapon was rudimentary, nothing like anything I was used to.

"How long until it's up and running?" He demanded, bracing himself.

"Three percent," I muttered to myself, sensing it without having to look. "Not soon enough."

He gave me a short nod, quickly pushing down the fear I'd seen on his face before replacing it with a determined look. "Okay. Okay." He flew into the air, spinning slowly to face the incoming crowd. He soared down at the two of them, sending electrical blasts their way. One of them managed to avoid the blast but, instead of going back after Kameron, he came charging after me. I raised my spear just in time to block him from bringing it down on my head. I then quickly sidestepped, spinning around to try and hit him with the spear from the side, but he deflected it with ease.

I swung at him again, this time trying to sweep his legs out from under him, but once again, he managed to deflect it. He followed up quickly by shooting the sharp end of the spear out at me, narrowly missing my ribcage as I darted backward to escape. He swung the spear at me from the left and I raised my own spear in defense, but to my surprise, he spun around at the last second, slamming the butt of his spear into my side.

"Ah!" I shouted in both pain and surprise, the sudden blow knocking me to my knees. He kicked me in the back from behind before I could recover, sending me sprawling into the dirt. I rolled over as quickly as I could, just in time to see the Venusian kick my spear, my only form of defense, out of reach. I crawled back as he advanced on me, desperately trying to come up with a plan. But I had no weapons, and Kameron was gone, completely out of sight. "Wait! Wait...you don't want to do this." I tried reasoning with the Venusian, but he ignored me, raising his spear above my head. I closed my eyes, crossing my arms over my face.

To my shock, the final blow never came. After a moment, I cracked open my eyes. The Venusian stood over me still, his weapon still raised, but for some reason, he didn't seem to be able to move. I crawled backward a little, staring up at him, expecting him to attack me at any moment. Suddenly, he was lifted off the ground, the spear still held tightly in his hands. With a surprised shout, he went flying across the battlefield, as if thrown by an invisible hand.

Behind him stood my father, two fingers pressed to his temple while the other hand remained outstretched. As soon as the Venusian was gone, he dropped his hands and ran towards me, grabbing me by the forearms and pulling me to my feet. "Dad-" I began, only for him to cut me off before I could say anything.

"Are you okay? Are you okay?!" He shouted at me when I didn't answer quickly enough. I nodded, shrinking back. I didn't think Dad had ever yelled at me like that before. Even when he'd gotten upset at me on the Venusian ship, it had been a lecture, no shouting involved. But I'd never seen Dad like this before. His expression was...afraid, almost. I nodded quickly, not trusting my voice. He took a deep breath, then continued in a more controlled (albeit still very angry) tone. "You could have been killed, Emily. What the hell were you thinking, coming here?"

"We have a plan." Dad's expression softened slightly when he heard the shakiness in my voice. "To stop the war."

"Emily..." He warned, still angry.

"The war, Dad. Not the battle. To stop the war." I insisted. He needed to understand that this was it, that this would fix things. He glanced over his shoulder, the two of us watching as more Venusians turned on us. He pushed me away from him, putting himself between me and the enemy.

"Stay behind me." He ordered, raising his hands. A giant plasma ball formed around us, shielding us from the Venusians. I glanced nervously over my shoulder at AJ's invention. Planetary biometrics and climate analysis...61%

Seraphina's POV

"We have to get down there." Naomi decided, shaking her head as we watched the battle progress below. Kira had joined the fight by now; I could see her flying towards two other heroes flying midair, most likely her parents. Chase and Emily were below us, using Chase's shield to fend off an incoming wave of Venusians. "Sera, c'mon." She told me before starting to jog down the side of the mountain. I stayed where I was, staring out at the battle.

"Your people are going to lose," Jillian told me, backing away from me. I was glad that we'd left her spear behind because she looked ready for a fight. "I don't know why you bothered trying to trick me-"

"I didn't trick you." I turned on her. "Our plan will work. We just need more time."

"If time's what you need, I'm afraid you're out of luck." She smirked and nodded at something behind me. I turned in time to see two Venusians, in the distance, setting up something on the ground. I stepped closer to the cliff's edge, trying to see what it was.

"Is that a bomb?" I demanded worriedly. It was set up a fair distance away from the fighting, but depending on how powerful it was, it could still do a lot of da-

"Ahh!" I screamed in pain, dropping to my knees as a sudden, violent screeching hit my ears. Jillian didn't seem bothered by the noise, as if she couldn't even hear it, but I couldn't focus on anything else but the high-pitch screeching.

Emily's POV

"Dad!" I cried, clutching my hands over my ears in a futile attempt to block out the horrific, agonizingly loud screaming in my ears. I couldn't see, couldn't focus through the pain, the sound taking up my entire world. Nothing else mattered but making...it...stop. I panicked, reaching out desperately with my mind to any piece of technology I could take asylum in. Something I could control, something that could overpower the screeching.

I found AJ's machine first, its energy pulsing out at me like a beacon. I forced my mind to focus on the energy, on the hum of its engine, on the electricity running through it as its sensors finally hit 100%, just in the nick of time. I sucked in a desperate breath, took hold of the machine with my mind, then screamed as it came to life.

The ground began to rumble and shake, a roaring filling the air and drowning out the sound of the screeching. I felt a strange tickling under me as grass began to sprout from the previously lifeless terrain. I managed to pry my eyes open, the screeching still echoing in my head, in time to see saplings growing from the ground at breakneck speeds. Before my very eyes, one sapling grew from a single seed, expanding in height and width until its trunk was the size of a basketball. Leaves fluttered down from above as they formed on the branches, decades' worth of plant growth happening in the span of seconds. The lava river nearby sizzled as the molten magma transformed, cooling and changing until it was replaced with a fast-moving, fresh-water river. Then, as quickly as it had all started, everything stopped.

The world around me was silent, even the screeching disappearing altogether. I slowly sat up, not quite remembering when I'd fallen in the first place. The world around me was very different from the Caldera I'd first landed on; instead of the red, desert-like terrain, I was sitting in a small, tropical forest. I could still see the red mountains in the distance, but for now, I was sitting in my own personal oasis.

Everything else had stopped too. I could see my Dad, sitting but otherwise not moving to get up, a few feet away from me, hands still hovering protectively over his ears. The Venusian warriors he'd been holding off with his forcefield, the other members of their army, our army from Earth...everyone had stopped to stare in amazement at the jungle that had seemingly randomly appeared before them.

'What is this?" One of the Venusians demanded, raising his spear with a wary expression on his face.

"Salvation." I snapped my head to the side to see Sera and Naomi running towards us from out of the trees. I didn't know where they came from, but damn was I happy to see them. "This is your chance at peace."

Seraphina's POV

"This is your chance at peace." I declared, stepping through the trees. As soon as AJ's device had activated and the screeching had stopped, I'd torn off past Jillian and raced down the mountain. I hadn't stopped to see if the Venusian girl was following, too concerned with making sure my friends were alright. By the time I reached the bottom, both armies had stopped to stare in amazement at the miniature jungle Emily had created with the invention.

Neither group of fighters seemed to know what to do as they processed what had just happened. I didn't have much time - as soon as they came to their senses, they'd be back to fighting. I ran past Emily, who was still recovering on the forest floor, and leaped up onto a nearby rock so that I could be seen by as many as possible. I quickly scanned the crowd for familiar faces, breathing a sigh of relief when my gaze landed first on my parents, trying to push their way through the crowds to get to the front, then on Noah and Charlotte, then Ben and the twins. "Do you want this? This war? The fighting? The dying? Do you actually want this?" I demanded, looking between both sides before shaking my head. "I don't. I'm sick of it. You have to be too. But there is another way."

"This is a Calderan trick." One of the Venusians growled, stepping forward. Before he could raise his spear, however, there was a rush of wind. Suddenly, Noah was standing in front of me, staring him down.

"I dare you." The bionic speedster growled. I shot him a grateful smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Emily slowly making her way over to her dad.

"Look, you're fighting for your own survival. I understand. That's what we've been doing for the past few years too. But we can help each other." I insisted, gesturing at the terraforming device. "We can't save Venusia, but we can help you build a new home, one that has everything you need. All you have to do is put your weapons down. We could be allies, we could help each other, instead of trying to destroy one another."

"And what's in it for you?" One of the Venusians jeered.

"Peace," I repeated. "A chance to rebuild our home too."

"Why should we trust the Venusians?" One of my own people, a dark-haired man I recognized as Elias, the man who used to run the meat market before the war.

"Because we want peace too." I looked over my shoulder to see Jillian coming out from behind the trees. The Venusian crowd parted as she approached, a tall, older-looking Venusian with a mostly purple mohawk and a black vest over a gold top, pushing through to greet her. She smiled at him but addressed both sets of people. "My village was destroyed in this war, as I know many of your homes were. I know I'm not the only one who's tired of the fighting. The Calderans don't have to be our enemies."

"Sit down, child." A tall Venusian man made his way through the crowd.

"Lord Jax," Jillian greeted, but without the level of respect I was expecting. She turned back to the crowds, ignoring him for now. "Our leaders would have you believe that the Calderans are monsters who kill for the sake of satisfying their bloodlust. And yet, twice now this Calderan," she pointed at me, "has had me at her crosshairs and could have easily taken me out. Instead, both times she opted for a more peaceful resolution. If we have an opportunity to do the same - to choose peace over war - and to save our own people at the same time? We'd be fools not to jump at it."

"I said, sit down," Jax growled, taking a step towards Jillian, only for the Venusian with the mohawk to step in front of him.

"Do not threaten my child." He warned his leader, his tone dangerously controlled. He looked back over his shoulder at our group, searching for someone. "Skylar Storm! You are the Calderan who came to our planet, claiming to look for peace?"

My mother pushed her way out through the crowd. She sent me a warning look, then nodded. "I am." She replied, sounding cautious. Jeremiah nodded, then jerked his head at me.

"Does she speak for your people?" He questioned. "Is this...solution something the Calderans are truly prepared to offer?"

Mom looked at him for a long moment, clearly caught off guard by the fact that a Venusian, any Venusian, would consider peace as an option. To my immense relief and surprise, she nodded. "My daughter speaks for us today." She agreed. I sucked in a breath, not realizing I'd been holding mine. "If your people are open to peace talks, so are ours."

Jeremiah analyzed her face for a moment, then turned to his own people. "Fall back to your ships. Bring our dead and injured with you." He ordered. A woman standing behind Jax started to argue, but he raised his spear towards her, shutting her down. "The Venusian Council is allowing their greed and their pride to make decisions that are not in our people's best interest. You no longer speak for us, as far as I am concerned."

When no other Venusian objected to his words, he nodded at a couple nearby. "Escort Lord Jax and Lady Jaya back to our ship." He ordered. The two soldiers disarmed the Venusian leaders before they could object, and then used their own weapons to force them to start walking. Jeremiah looked back at us, glancing between my mother and I. "I will personally lead a group to discuss a potential peace treaty. We will meet at dawn, here, if that is acceptable."

"It is." Mom nodded. He looked back at me one more time, then at his own daughter.

"Perhaps there is a way our people can find peace after all. If our children can, we should at least try." He declared. I looked over at Jillian, the two of us sharing a smile.

Emily's POV

The days after the battle on Caldera passed by in the blink of an eye.

True to his word, Jeremiah Jewel had led a team to the Calderan Oasis (one of the Calderan children we'd met before, Sonja, had come up with the name and it had pretty quickly caught on) to discuss a peace treaty. Skylar and Seraphina had both met him there, along with two of the Calderan elders, and Geminus, who'd volunteered to be a third-party overseer as a representative from Earth. It had taken days before either side was completely happy, but in the end, both the Calderans and Venusians walked away from the negotiation table satisfied that their people would be able to live in peace for the foreseeable future.

We'd spent a couple of nights in Mighty Med, helping out around the hospital or building temporary shelters for those displaced by the war, all while under the careful watch of our parents. Things had been good. They felt like they were getting back to normal and for the first time since September, I could go to sleep at night knowing that everyone I loved was safe.

Unfortunately, those peaceful days were gone as quickly as they'd come. All the bionic and superheroes who'd come to Caldera to fight, our team included, headed back as soon as it was clear the peace treaty would hold. I was grounded from the moment Kieran geoleaped us into the penthouse, being sent up to my room (now fitted with a mechanical lock instead of the old electronic one I used to have) as soon as my mother was satisfied that I was in no way physically injured. Every one of my electronic devices had been confiscated and with MISS under extremely strict orders to run every request of mine past Mom and Dad before complying, the chances of me getting out on my own again were pretty much nonexistent.

I wouldn't have minded the grounding all that much, really. I mean, no electronics? I can live with that. Having to do my homework at the kitchen counter? Annoying, but also admittedly fair. Hell, I even kept myself from complaining when Mom put power dampeners in Mission Command to keep me from trying to upload a new update into MISS' systems. But what I could not get on board with was Mom's new 'no contact' rule. Kira, Kameron, Seraphina, Noah, Charlotte, and I had all been forbidden from contacting one another, with each of our parents enforcing it in their own way. Every phone call I made, every email I sent, every keystroke was monitored closely by MISS, who'd been put under very clear orders to run any request I made by Mom and Dad before complying. Charlotte and I were still able to see each other at school, so we had each other in that sense, but I hadn't heard a word from the others since they'd been forced to move their things out of the penthouse.

Charlotte was under a similar house arrest, not even being allowed to contact Kameron (I still hadn't gotten the full story about what was going on between the two of them, but I did know that she was pretty sad about not being able to see him) except for a single time, on her birthday. They'd had a short, supervised phone call in her living room, which she told me all about the next day at school.

Apparently, his and Kira's training had been delayed because of our actions, and now, much to their dismay, they wouldn't begin until next summer. Kira was supposedly particularly upset about the fact that Nyssa's training had not seen the same delays, and the young witch-in-training was set to go to Europe during the summer as part of a 'superhero pilgrimage' type of thing. Kameron had heard rumors that both Jillian and Seraphina, now being hailed as heroes by their own people, had been offered the same chance, though he didn't know if any of them had taken it.

Noah was back in Los Angeles for now, working for my uncle at his restaurant. That would be the case until Noah went back to school in the fall; from what Dad had said, it sounded like he'd applied for and been accepted into a film school for the upcoming school year, though I wasn't sure what he wanted to do with a film degree. Perhaps I'd have to ask him, assuming my parents ever let up on this grounding.

The only bright side to our return home was that everyone at the NLH had bought our story that we'd kidnapped Ben the second time. He wasn't helping there, the older boy really trying to make it clear that the second trip had been his choice, but given how much he complained about being kidnapped the first time, no one was really buying it. Despite his objections, he'd gotten in no trouble whatsoever by the League for assisting us, which had been my hope all along.

For 2 months straight, I'd been unable to talk to my friends, and it was killing me. I'd been so happy before Mom had brought them all into our home, but now...well, I thought about them every time I walked into the living room and found one of the twins' video games, or whenever I woke up and saw Sera's bed, still sitting against the wall opposite of mine in the bedroom. I missed them, more than I was willing to admit.

I sighed, bouncing my knee impatiently as I sat in the waiting room at Mighty Med 2.0. Mom had gone into labor early, around 3 AM this morning. Everything was supposedly fine - Dad had made sure one of the interns working for Dr. Diaz had come out to let me know that - and before long, I was going to get to meet my baby sister. But for now, I was alone.

I sighed, glancing at my Davenwatch. Normally Mom made me keep it in the kitchen, but since she and Dad were a little busy right now, I'd been put in charge of calling my grandparents and the rest of our family to let them know. With the timezone differences, I was still waiting for Great Uncle Douglas to message back.

I sighed again, adjusting my position in the chair. They really needed more comfortable seats here. Maybe if Mom ever stopped being mad at me for running off, I could convince-

My Davenwatch suddenly pinged, drawing me out of my thoughts. Three more pings followed. Frowning, I unlocked the device and looked over the notifications. Their content had been sitting up straight in seconds, my heart racing excitedly.

You have been added to 'Elite Force 2.0. group chat'

Nova23 has joined the chat.

Dr. Electro has joined the chat.

The Enforcer has joined the chat.

Sp33dRacer has joined the chat.

I didn't need to guess who was behind those screen names. I grinned as three dots appeared on the holoscreen, only to be replaced by a message a couple of seconds later.

Nova: Does anyone have any summer plans?

Xxx

Kihonne: Alright folks! That was a pretty long chapter, but please tell me what you all think! Season 3 is next and it's going to be an interesting summer for the kids.

Season 3 is going to start right away, but since there's a few holidays in the next month (both official ones and my personal vacations), this is going to be the update schedule for July.

Tuesday, July 2nd: Season 3, Chapter 1

Monday, July 8th: Season 3, Chapter 2

Monday, July 15th: Season 3, Chapter 3

Monday, July 22nd: Season 3, Chapter 4

Monday, July 29th: NO UPDATE (I'm on vacay and won't have internet access)

I hope you guys are excited, because I know I am! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, or what you're excited about for next season! I love hearing from you guys! Until next week, have a good one!