Heavy was the head that wore the crown. Back when she had been made captain by Mr. Schuester, there had been no expectations. McKinley had never made it past regionals before they had always flamed out, but now there were expectations. She was here to defend McKinley's championship, and she was nervous. Charlie's abilities far outpaced any other teenager, and they were never truly in any danger at all, not while Charlie was on the field. And as much as she wanted to be Charlie at least when it came to power and responsibility and popularity, she knew that she wasn't. Charlie could turn an event around by simply flexing, and the team had trusted her implicitly, she wasn't sure if she had this.

"Take a breath."

Santana flicks her gaze towards Blaine who is standing beside her. "I'm okay," it sounds a bit hollow in her ears and she sighs. "Just a bit of nerves."

"Santana, we've got this. You're a great captain, and with you leading the team you've managed to get Charlie to focus long enough to actually impart some wisdom on the entire team." Blaine said, trying to boost her up. If Santana had doubts it would spread throughout the entire team.

"Just worried that this might be my only shot to show the world that I'm just as talented as Charlie even if I'm not nearly as powerful as she is," Santana muttered before shaking herself out, bouncing on the balls of her feet. All her life this is what she had wanted, and she had put in more work over the past year then she'd put in all of her life. There were so many talented people, most of them would never amount to much and she didn't just want to be known as Charlie's girlfriend. She sighs, they didn't even know what the first event was and she was already panicking.

"Well, not to put too much on your plate, but shouldn't you give a speech?" Finn whispers to her.

"What?"

"A speech, Charlie always gave a speech!"

"You mean don't suck?" Santana questions, as far as she was aware Charlie didn't give long speeches, she just said the first thing on her mind, and no one took her seriously enough to actually push back.

"I'm pretty sure you can do better than that," Rachel says, crossing her arms over her chest.

Santana huffed at this, she had thought that Charlie's speeches had been lame but thinking of a rather inspiring monologue of sorts was far more difficult now that it was on her to give them. "Let's show them we aren't a one hit wonder?"

"How is Charlie better at giving speeches than you are?" Kitty questions as everyone stares at her. "That was a question, it wasn't a statement."

"You should say it like you mean it," Tina adds.

Santana narrowed her eyes at Tina who flashes her a grin and she lets out a small laugh, "Everyone out there thinks we're nothing more than one-hit wonders who needed Charlie and Quinn to get us to Nationals, and maybe that was true last year but they don't know shit. We've all survived Charlie throwing lightning bolts at us, Quinn attempting to kill us with icicles. So yeah we might be targeted by every team that's here today, but I assure you that they have nothing on Charlie let alone Quinn. So let's get out there and show the world that we've survived hell and there isn't a team in this country that can keep us down." Santana takes a deep breath and lets it out. They had this, she just needed to be confident.

~ O ~

"Welcome to the 34th Midwest Regional Inter-High!" Rod announced loudly, to the cheer of the audiences as looks at the students in attendance. His eyes drifted towards the champions for a moment. "I see we've got our national champions here! Ready to compete and I assume ready to deal with the massive target on their backs. "Good luck McKinley, you're going to need it. But no one is here to see me so why don't I just get on with it and tell you what the first competition for the day is."

There was a roar from the students and Rod raises his hands, and brings them down with a flourish as all the video boards change revealing what the first competition was going to be. Rod looks up and lets out a low whistle. "Destruction, an event that tests a team's defense as well as their offense. The question is can you win while also protecting your asset." Rod snapped his finger as large human-sized crystalline orbs were rolled out and given to each team. "I know what you're thinking at home folks, how do you win at Destruction? Well by keeping your asset safe, at the end of the round the teams that have an intact crystal will pass to the next round. Once your crystal has been destroyed your team has been eliminated and are to leave the field without interacting or causing the other team's crystal to be destroyed. Teams in play are encouraged to destroy their opponents crystal. You have five minutes to prepare."

~ O ~

"It's unlike you to come to an event when your grandchildren aren't going to be competing," Frannie comments at her grandmother. "Where's grandad?"

"He has a date," Artemis responds with a wave of her hand.

Frannie blinked, her grandmother seemed rather calm at the idea of her grandfather going on a date with another woman. "What do you mean he has a date? He's an old man, and he's got two kids, four grandchildren and a great grandchild. He doesn't need to be going on dates with other women! Old men shouldn't date, it just looks sad. Case in point dad."

Artemis chuckled, she could only imagine the roasting that he was getting at this moment, "It's just an old friend, she's been harassing him for the past few weeks, and he's going to see her and make promises. Do I look worried?"

"I mean you should, our family doesn't have a good track record when it comes to love."

"Frannie, I've been married for fifty years, personally I had no intention of ever getting married or having children. I never wanted them, but then I met your grandfather and if you had any idea of how many women wanted him back then—" Artemis trailed off and smiled.

Frannie stares at her grandmother, "There are things that I really don't need to know, this is one of those things, either way that still doesn't explain why you're here. Charlie's not competing, she's babysitting Michelangelo."

"Without supervision? That's a bold choice," Artemis smiles, "I've always kept my eye on the upcoming generation of heroes. I like to see what passes as level 5 these days."

"I gave her instructions and there are no level 5's competing today, the media just came to get a good look at Charlie, and are disappointed that she's not here." Frannie glanced at the field for a moment, "So why are you really here?"

"I'm here for the same reason you're here Frannie, Santana's progress is important," Artemis explains.

"If you think Santana's progress is important then you should probably tell Charlie to break up with her. Santana was at the top of the combine and I have no idea what happened but her times and everything started to plummet and then plateau, it's almost enough to make me rethink building a class around her." Frannie admits, the only reason she was even here was because she was mildly interested in seeing if Santana had managed to improve, especially with Charlie focusing on teaching the team techniques. It was something that no other school really taught, using abilities in creative ways and the teams that had the basics down were the teams that generally ended up at nationals.

Artemis glanced over at the field for a moment, "Santana is in the middle of an awakening, it was never completed back at nationals. Under the right conditions, she'll go through a proper awakening and you'll have the centerpiece that you're looking for."

"So are you going to be the one to tell Charlie that they need to break up? Or should we get grandpa to tell her that they need to break up for Santana's growth?" Frannie questions, her focus shifting, to take a look at other students that perhaps might not otherwise get a chance to shine.

Artemis looked over at her eldest grandchild and let out a chuckle, perhaps it was because Frannie lived in LA, she was unaware of what was going on, "We just need to be patient, and hope that when they do break up they manage to leave the door open for a return."

Frannie stops for a moment and looks at her grandmother, "Brittany thinks—"

"Brittany may be right, she has always been good at that sort of thing, but she's forgotten to take into account their age, and where they are in life. Santana wants what Charlie already has, she wants a license, she wants to intern with popular hero firms, she wants the career that Charlie already has. And Charlie—firefly hasn't taken to this as I expected. I'm beginning to agree with your mother, Charlie's too young to be doing this job and to be handling the responsibility that comes with it and the celebrity. Perhaps some time apart to grow and mature is what they need if they want what your grandfather and I have."

~ O ~

"I know Mikey," Charlie says in a soothing voice, as she finishes putting her nephew into the ninja turtle onesie that she had ordered for him. She had wanted to get him an orange ninja mask, but had decided that he was simply too young to get his orange mask. He hadn't even begun training at all. "I know it's not complete without the mask, but you can't get the mask without training but don't worry, I got you an orange pacifier." Charlie insists, holding it up for him and sticking it into his mouth as he begins to fuss, almost immediately he settles down and stares up at her.

Charlie beams and begins to take extensive photos of her nephew, for a brief moment before she wipes away a tear from her eye, "Alright it's time for your very first lesson Mikey, on what it takes to be a great ninja and a great hero," Charlie nods as she picks up her nephew and takes him to the living room and turns on Frannie's tv, taking a seat on her couch. "The theme song is very important Mikey, it lets you know the three golden rules." Charlie clears her throat and hits play.

'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'

Charlie hums along with the guitar intro, making sure to keep an eye on Mikey who was just staring at the television. "Turtles counting off!"

Charlie's outburst startles her nephew who looks up at her nearly dropping his pacifier but it doesn't leave his mouth, and begins to babble.

'1! 2! 3! 4! Turtles!

Mutant chain reaction. (Turtles!)

Livin' underground! (Turtles!)

Ninjutsu action! (Turtles!)

It's a shell of a town!'

Charlie grins starting to get excited as Mikey waved his arms around and kicked his legs. She was sure that her nephew was doing his best to dance and she really couldn't blame him. The song was a banger, and she was thrilled her nephew was eager to learn more about being a ninja. "Okay Mikey, this is the most important part!"

'Turtles count it off:

1! Live by the code of the martial arts...

2! Never fight unless someone else starts.

3! Always stick together no matter what...

4! If all else fails, then it's time to kick butt!'

Charlie pauses the theme song, her eyes glowing as she picks up her nephew and tosses him the air and catches him. "Our family is strong Mikey, your mom is strong, your dad is strong, your aunts are all strong and you will be strong too. You need to live by a code, it doesn't have to be martial arts, I'm not very good at martial arts. I can blow stuff up though, but if you want some nunchucks you should probably get good at martial arts. But the rest of the song is important. You should never fight unless someone else starts. And we're a family Mikey, we should always stick together because no one is going to love you more than your mom and dad, and your aunts and grandparents. You're a member of the strongest family in the world, and that comes with so much responsibility but you're a baby so your only responsibility is to eat and grow."

Mikey babbles and smacks Charlie in the face with his little fists, and lets out a laugh as he's tossed in the air again and caught.

"And when you've exhausted all options, that's when you need to fight Mikey. Show the world what you can do and that no one will mess with you. " Charlie tosses Mikey up again and he laughs and begins to smack her cheeks more as he starts to get excited.

Charlie hits play once again but before she can really enjoy the rest of the theme song with Mikey a large black leaf suddenly lands on her forehead. As she looks up she notices that there are black leaves appearing from nowhere floating in the air, and she looks down at Mikey who looks like he's about to ruin another diaper, but instead of the smell hitting her the leaves suddenly fall and both her and Mikey as they disappear into a portal that forms suddenly.

~ O ~

Santana bit her lip, they hadn't really practiced for destruction; it was one of the rarer competitions and usually found at sectionals and nationals rather than regionals. She knew Charlie would simply go on the defensive and probably do something outrageous to make a point. If they played the game conservatively and focused on defense she was certain that while they'd make it to round 2 they'd still be near the bottom of the pack. Points were awarded for every crystal that you destroyed. Still with Lauren Zizes on the field perhaps—

"So how are we going to destroy everyone's eggs?" Kitty asks glancing at her nails.

Santana blinked, dragging herself from her thoughts, "What?"

"Charlie's strategy of overwhelming power to break the spirit of the other teams," Tina reminds Santana, turning to look up at the scoreboard, they had 3 minutes to think of a strategy.

"The main problem that I see with that is Zizes—" Santana paused and turned to look at the freshman. Zizes couldn't fly. She wasn't thrilled that the team seemed to take Charlie's lazy approach to fighting and strategy. Simple strategy might work here, and it might work in their favor, and it would put a punctuation mark that the Titans weren't one and done. "Jason, can you create a tree around the crystal? Carefully?"

Jason frowned and looked at the crystal, "Not at the heart of the tree but I can create a nest for it and depending on how high I make the tree—"

"Giant oak." Santana interrupts and faces Regina so that she has a clear view of her lips. Being the star didn't matter right now, but she would certainly make sure that she stood out. "Branches for Tina, somewhere nice with a good vantage point. Finn, Blaine, Kitty Emma and Rachel, you're on defense. No one gets near the tree. Artie, you're with Regina and Tina, take out the crystals before they know what hits them. Sam you're with me, we're taking the other half. Jason once the tree's up, starts laying those traps."

Blaine sighed, "At least let us show off a little Santana."

"No one said that you had to stand in front of the tree, Blaine," Santana rolled her eyes.

"Fifteen seconds," Tina calls out as the team begins to move to take their positions. Jason moving towards the crystal and placing a hand on it.

"Everyone understand what they're doing?" Santana asks as she steps away from the team as she starts to activate her abilities.

"Understood!" Came the chorus from the team as powers started to be activated, as the buzzer sounds.

"Light 'em up!" Santana says as she erupts into flame, suddenly realizing that her girlfriend had infected her with her terrible one-liners.

"Really light 'em up?" Kitty calls out.

"Shut up Kitty," Santana grumbled under her breath, she was never going to live this down.

~ O ~

Rod Remington was not a man who was known for his silence, but he had been certain that McKinley wouldn't be able to muster up a proper response at least not without Charlie's raw power. But as he witnesses a massive tree growing in the middle of the arena, and yet every single team seemed to be stuck as they witnessed what truly was something magnificent. Before anyone can even say or do anything, Vocal Adrenaline's crystal shatters causing everyone to turn to it. "Was that—" Another crystal shatters, knocking out yet another favorite.

Chaos was the only word that Rod could describe what was happening. With no idea where the attacks were coming from, and who was picking off each team's crystal, multiple teams had panicked, breaking formation and leaving their crystals wide open. It's that moment that the Titans seem to be waiting for as Santana and Sam start creating small explosions all over the field, increasing the disarray of the teams. A few of their explosions had even shattered a few more crystals.

Rod Remington turned to look at the camera, "Folks at home, I don't even know what to tell you at this moment. Teams are being eliminated left and right. I can't believe my eyes, and I believe that I, like many other people, thought that we weren't going to see any more outrageous performances this year, but I'm a big enough man to admit that I was wrong. McKinley's going for a perfect score—McKinley's going for a perfect score!" Rod repeats turning to look at someone off camera.

No one had ever gotten a perfect score in Destruction before, and since it was the first round of events, McKinley eliminating every other team would put a damper on things. "We're going to have to check the rulebooks to see what would happen if that did happen! Look at them breaking records, you go McKinley, be as outrageous as possible!"

~ O ~

Blaine sighed as he dodged a sloppy punch, using the enemy's momentum against them as he tossed them onto the ground and brought his foot down hard, on his face. Last year this would have been far more difficult, but it was as if everyone was moving in slow motion. But a quick look showed that neither Kitty, Rachel or Finn were struggling. "Rachel, go and destroy some crystal structures, Kitty, Finn and I have got this."

Rachel turned to look at him, "Are you sure?"

Blaine points up to the score, it hadn't even been 5 minutes yet and their score hadn't stopped increasing. "Yeah, I'll be annoyed if we don't get a perfect score, and with your abilities we should be able to take out whoever is left quickly."

'If you want us to make it easier for you guys then Regina and I can funnel the remaining teams on the east side, into one huge crowd and then Rachel can just let loose.' Tina's voice comes through the communication.

Blaine looked up the tree and spotted Artie and Emma waving at them, "Do it, how are Sam and Santana faring?"

'You can't hear the screams?' Artie questions, his tone flat.

Blaine lets out a laugh, so maybe Charlie's insane training methods and torture, meant that they would survive nearly anything. "Let's wrap this up, if we don't finish this event with a perfect score can you imagine what Charlie will do to us?"

"All while pretending to be disappointed," Rachel groaned, as she opened her mouth to let out a very loud scream that stopped her attacker, giving Finn time to crash into them, knocking them out. "Though we should focus or she'll pick up on that and yell at us about focusing." It was hypocritical, everyone knew that Charlie had the attention span of a goldfish.

~ O ~

"What a performance put on by McKinley. A perfect score." Rod Remington announced, clapping his hands as he stepped onto the stage. "This has never happened before, at least under these circumstances." A perfect score in an elimination event, in the first round, had never happened. "I'm not sure why we couldn't predict that this would happen, McKinley has made a bit of a habit to do the difficult and impossible."

The crowd roars in response, as Rod turns to look at Santana and shakes his head, "Congratulations Miss Lopez, your team will be going straight to sectionals, the competition will be restarted for the teams that got eliminated. I'm sure that this little display has made it abundantly clear to everyone who thought that you were only one-hit wonders that you've got several years worth of hits coming."

~ O ~

A dark portal opens and Charlie flies through it carrying her sleeping nephew in her arms, her foot touches down in Frannie's apartment and she turns her eyes glowing as she immediately seals the portal and stumbles onto the couch, gasping for air, her body drenched in sweat. She looks down at Mikey who is sleeping soundly in her arms and takes a breath, before she simply walks to his room and places her nephew in his crib.

Charlie rubs his fat cheeks with her thumb, today had certainly been an adventure. Keeping Mikey alive had been far harder than she had anticipated, babies shouldn't be able to simply crawl away. They also shouldn't be able to send their aunts to god knows where and disappear after a second. She had basically spent most of the afternoon attempting to catch her nephew and prevent him from dying. Before she can go and fall asleep on the couch she feels the change in the air as Frannie steps through a portal beside her. "Hey sis."

Frannie stared at her youngest sister for a moment and then looked at Mikey who was sleeping soundly, and immediately scowled. "What is he wearing?"

"A teenage mutant ninja turtle onesie—I think he's adorable and I got him a little stuffed turtle since I realized that he was too young to have nunchucks. Actually Santana said that you might actually throw me into the sun if I gave him actual nunchucks and well I'm pretty sure that she has a better sense of judgment than I do when it comes to children. He's adorable though."

"If you want to dress up defenseless children in ugly onesies, have your own kid." Frannie said with a shake of her head. Michelangelo was adorable in anything he wore, but as far as she was concerned, clothes were only supposed to make him look more angelic. "Where do you want to go?"

"Home?" Charlie blinks, where else would she go?

"You don't want to celebrate with your former teammates? I mean it was a slaughter, but I suppose you were expecting that."

"I'll just go home, I have homework and Santana made it clear that she didn't really want to deal with me today, it's her day after all." Charlie was quiet and glanced over at Mikey for a moment, it was probably best if Frannie was aware that her son had his abilities. Though, there was a small chance that Frannie might get upset that she had missed Mikey's first, and take it out on her. Still it was the right thing to do and—before she can say anything a portal opens up underneath her feet and she falls through.