Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Lasarius Chronicles ❯ Chapter Ten! HTML! Woo! ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff To Know [by Alba Aulbath]:
Don't own any of these series, except for Lasarius (shared with Nevermore22) and myself. Never will. Wish I owned this. I am not responsible for your own mental damage. ...Well, actually, I am. Let me know if I damaged you.

Nevermore22's Title: Justice for all! Chibichibi is all over it!
Alba Aulbath's Title: Well, Things Couldn't Possibly Get Any Worse!
Kassil's Title: Mission Impossible v2.0

Jen's POV:

It's rare these days that I ever get to go see my family. Well, I'm really just kind of busy helping out. You know, savin' the universe and all. Not what it's cracked up to be, but it's better than ignoring it, right?
Anyway, I was flopped on the old couch that, for some reason, we dragged over to Knothole2. My family's hut was a lot like our house at home, so I adjusted easily. My cat was on my stomach, happy I was there for a change, and immediately went to nap on me. Darn cat.
The place was really far off and secluded from the others. My family honestly didn't want to be involved for their own reasons. My dad is too old, anyway, and my brother is a thinker, not a fighter I guess. Still... they seemed to have other reasons, but it didn't really bother me, at least. Just as along as they were safe.
"So, you're basically telling me that the Justice League are now involved," John, my brother, began.
"Uh-huh," I replied, arm draped over my eyes.
"Who got rescued?"
"Hawkgirl, Flash, G.L..." I said off the top of my head. "...We got a few other people, too. I'll check soon to see if they got anyone else. I have a hunch they might have."
John scowled, sighing as he leaned forward. "I remember when I scoffed at your idea of 'fictional' worlds being a reality. Now I really wish they were just fictional. Fake..."
"I know. But... it's fun sometimes, but because of me these guys are going through it."
"No one's blaming you."
I frowned. "Because about 90% or so don't even know it's my fault. If I told that to Donna, she'd tell me that it's her fault too because she came up with his torturous side and stuff, but if I never even thought of him then this wouldn't have happened."
"Jen... take a moment to think about it. You're a creative person--you know I've admired ya for that--so coming up with an ultimate villain who's so hard to take down was inevitable for you."
I paused, then flashed my brother a grin. "Thanks, Monkey." It was just a nickname, considering my brother was born in the year of the monkey in the Chinese Zodiac.
"No prooooblem. So... this pregnancy thing..."
I shook my head. "Don't even go there. I ran out when Donna was talking to Hawkgirl."
"Eh? I thought you'd have a better stomach for it than her," John said.
I shrugged. "I dunno. I just felt... like I had to get out of there. Crowded, or something. I can't explain it."
"I guess I'd have done the same thing," he admitted. "I'm sorry I'm not helping much..."
"Nah. Don't worry about it. You're like my... my personal confession!"
John stared at me blankly. "Don't you have Wolfwood for that?"
"Nah. I'd have to pay him," I smirked. "Besides, he might be busy being on Vash's case about the whole vision thing."
"Figures. Hey, what's today?" John suddenly asked, not having checked the calender. It's easy to lose track of time here, anyway.
"It's..." My jaw dropped.
Oh. Shit.
September 13th. NOOOOO!!!
"Fuckbeans!" I swore, jumping up and thus causing my cat to meow angrily at me. "It's Donna's birthday!!"
John facepalmed. "Great. And what could you possibly get her? We HAVE almost all the possible shows and games here to help us with a war, so you can't buy her any DVDs or anything anyway."
"Awww, man," I groaned, slamming my fist on the table. Bouncing on it a bit due to my slammin' was a roll of duct tape. "Okay, think fast. Maybe I can set her up with someone. She needs a boyfriend, anyway. Ummm... who does she...?"
Ah-hah.
"Even better than setting her up with someone," I snickered, grabbing the duct tape. "If I were a hot-looking elf who hung around the Fellowship who was named Legolas, where would I be...?"
"...With the Fellowship?" John supplied.
"Brilliant deduction, Watson!" I cackled, running out the door. "Heeeeere, Leggy Leggy Leggy!!"

Donna's POV:

Ah. Morning. Time to wake up.
..Damn it all.
As I became more alert and awake, I noticed a weight atop my cheast and stomach. Opening my eyes, I came face to face with a oddly snouted small dog, black and brown in color. The doxy/daschund licked my nose in response.
"Good morning, Duchess." I greeted my fat little dog, sitting up in bed as she hopped off my lap and off the bed.
I got up with a sigh, looking at the clock. Seven in the morning. At one time, this would have been an obscenely early time to wake up. Now, it's a standard waking hour.
It took me my usual half an hour to get dressed, since I did it at a very slow pace. I like to take my time in the morning, before I have breakfast to wake me up properly. Wearing my usual General uniform.
I forgot to mark off the calender that morning. If I had, I would have noticed the date.

I headed to the hospital after I ate (suger-coated waffles.. Mmmm..), needing to check up on a few people.
A Nurse Joy with '37' on her nametag greeted me upon entering the hospital. Odd.. Could have sworn that there were only twenty five Joy's..
At any rate, I needed to check up on the Flash, Wally West, first thing. I hadn't even seen him personally yet.
Creaking open the door to the room as quietly as possible, I peaked in to check if he was still asleep. Eight in the morning, you never know who would be awake or not..
Wally was looking around the room, a bored expression on his face. He didn't seem to notice me yet.
"When are you not hungry!?" he asked loudly, an annoyed expression on his face.
I stared in confusion. Was he talking to himself?
A few seconds of silence. Then he grinned, "Going." A pause. "Let's jam."
I coughed, hopeing to get his attention. "Mr. West? ..Are you all right?"
He jumped a little, looking around, but not at the door. Odd. "Who's there?!" He snapped.
He then paused for a moment before grumbling to himself. "..Shaddup."
I blinked several times in complete confusion. Oookay, then. "..Mr. West, over here. At the door."
Not even a full second after I finished my sentence, he was at the door, peering closely at me. "..Well, atleast you don't have pink hair."
I let out a short, nervous laugh, "Yes, well, pink was never really my color. In hair, anyway." I paused. "..I'm General Kunz. I wasn't able to formally welcome you to Knothole2 yesterday, and for that, I appologize. I need to speak with you regarding your original capture."
Wally twitched a little at the topic, "...So you're General Kunz?" He grinned a little. "Nevermind. I guess I've seen weirder. ...Why do you need to know, anyway? What do you need to know?" Looks like he wasn't willing to give information just yet.
I let out a sigh, sitting at the closest chair. "We -- I -- need to know what happened. I thought they would leave you're world alone. Otherwise, we would have asked your help alot sooner and you would have avoided all of this." I paused, frowning. "I'm very sorry about everything, but I need to know exactly what happened."
Wally crossed his arms, peering at me. "G.L. didn't tell you?" He then smacked his fist into his palm, "Right! Where's G.L.?"
Short attention span, anyone? "Flash, sit down. This is serious. I don't know where Lantern is right now."
Wally twitched violently, giving me a dangerous glare, "Don't. Call me. That." Spoken very slowely through clenched teeth, an amazing feat in itself. He seemed angry. Violently angry.
He sat down, and his eyes began to water. "I'm not.." A pause. "..I'm not him."
...What the hell happened to him?
Before I could say anything else, the door opened with an audible creak. I looked towards the door, and recognized the small form at the door.
"Chibichibi-chan?" How does she always manage to come in when the situation's tense?
Wally turned to see Chibichibi, blinking several times; maybe to keep back the tears forming or perhaps because he remembered her. "Deja vu," he muttered.
Chibichibi took a few steps in, wearing a little pair of bunny-designed PJ's, red hair loose and down to her butt. Her large blue eyes looked at Wally for a moment, blinked in 'innocent confusion' (though, with her mind, it could have been something entirely different).. Before her face scrunched up, and she began to sniffle and cry.
"It didn't work. It was suposed to work. I don't understand. Are my powers really that far gone?"
I stared at the child with the mind of an immortal with nothing short of numb shock. What was she talking about?
Wally blinked a few more times, then waved his hands a few dozen (or million... well he IS fast) times. "Whoawhoawhoa... hold up a sec. What was supposed to work?" he asked her, then looked at me, completely lost.
I couldn't blame him. I shrugged lightly, showing that I knew about as much as he did.
Chibichibi abruptly stopped crying, almost as if the faucet in her eyes were shut off. "..I put a spell to make you're mind at ease, but you have doubts. It wasn't suposed to be that way. I guess it only helped you rest before." She paused, frustration on her tear-lined face, "But you were suposed to understand."
..Atleast Wally wasn't completely freaked out by Chibichibi. Though, I could allready tell that something wasn't quite right with the youngest-yet-oldest Sailor Senshi.
Wally scowled, "Understand? Look, I understand almost close to nothing anymore! What were you trying to do to me?"
I stayed silent, and only watched the interaction.
Chibichibi, eyes wide and watering, looked up at Wally West with what looked like.. Hope? "I was trying to send soothing thoughts into your subconscious. You were a wreck! I wanted to help! I knew that whatever torture you went through would have aftereffects! I wanted you to understand the futility of hopelessness and that the enemy is wrong!"
Wally was almost shaking. "Shut up," he muttered, but it didn't seem to be directed to Chibichibi. He held his head. "Why don't you go away?!? I'm not him! I'm not worth it! JUST GET OUT!!" His breathing had quickened for a moment before he shook his head and just sulked. "You don't understand..." he seemed to speak to Chibichibi again. "If you don't understand then you can't help me... but you'll never understand, either, so it is a hopeless situation. I know I'm a mess, but you really can't sort it out. Not right now... I don't know when..."
I stared in complete shock, unable to say anything or move. Was he truely insane?
Chibichibi began to cry again, this time with silent tears. "It's like another voice, isn't it? Mocking you, yelling all the time? Telling you that you aren't worth to be the hero, that all the death and damage you caused was enough to damn you?" She began to shake. "..Or was the enemy that other voice? Reminding you what you did, what happened because of you? Is your own little voice trying to mend itself again?" She paused. "I understand far more than you think. Been there, done that. Wish it wasn't so."
Admittingly, I was frightened of the entire situation. I only vaugly knew what Chibichibi was talking about, and had no inclination as to what Flash -- Wally was talking about.
"It's called bein' a schitzo, okay?" Wally growled, trying to keep from yelling at Chibichibi; he may or may not have thought she was a child, but all the same he didn't seem to want to make her cry. "It's just... there... it's not what you think..." He shook his head. "It's... he's trying to tell me what you're saying... but on the other hand, it's not true... If I could just go back to the way things were, but that'd really mess things up now... I wanna do one thing, then I wanna do another. But I know I just... can't wear that thing right now..."
Chibichibi paused, tears still cascading down her young cheeks. "It'll take time. I know." She paused, walking closer to Wally. "It'll take time to learn to live with the voice. But, I've felt this way before, so insecure." With that, she actually rushed forward to hug him around the legs.
Wally was taken aback a little, almost looking like a deer caught in headlights for a moment before he awkwardly returning the hug. He didn't say anything, but his eyes were distressed and very saddened. It was obvious that even though Chibichibi didn't succeed with what she wanted the first time, she managed to touch him somehow this round.

Vash the Stampede's POV:
[Love and Peace!]

When attempting to bring the world its true ingredients (that, my friend, being love and peace, naturally) nonstop, one must train and struggle through, no matter how hard the road!
I quit after about a minute.
But!! That is unimportant and unrelated to my current situation! Let us focus on the now! Or... rather... what has, and that in itself being far more important for the situation!
The insurance girls, after our happy reunion, questioned my sudden disappearance. With a vague conversation, I'm sure they were satisfied!
"Vash, are you kidding?! Do you really expect us to believe THAT??" Insurance Girl #1 (Meryl Stryfe) asked me.
"Oh my; I didn't realize how ill you were, Mr. Vash the Stampede," Milly blinked innocently. "You sneezed in between heartbeats and had a seizure. That must have been serious. Are you all right now?"
"Milly... oh, nevermind. Vash, what really happened?" Meryl demanded, not easily fooled by my explanation. Ah, what sharp wit!
I laughed a little, waving my hands. "Oh, nothing too important. Mousse and I went out for a walk, found a few people who needed help, and brought them here. That's all."
"Look, I know there's more to the story, and we're just as knee deep in this as you are so we have every right to know what happened," Meryl said stiffly. "Now, just please tell us."
I have no idea how many times Milly can be unpredictable. "Sempai, I don't think it's too important for us to know the details of what occured as long as people are safe. Besides, if it is important, wouldn't Selenity-sama just tell us about it anyway?"
Meryl sighed and waved her hand a bit. "I guess you're right... but next time, you could have asked us for help, Vash!"
"Right! My bad!" I grinned and laughed a little once again. I stood up and placed my hand behind my back. "Well, I'm going to go pay some people a visit! You girls have a good time without me."
"Going off on your own again..." Meryl muttered.
Milly just gave me a cheerful wave, thankfully! "Have a good time, Mr. Vash!"
I nodded, marching out and heading toward the hospital!
Then... I slowed down...
I gave an empty sigh. I'm doing my very best, trying to stop this. She would be sad. She wouldn't be able to stand the sight of this. Neither can I. I've already... been unable to stop it once.
I need to save the spider and the butterfly.
I'm sorry about Genki and his friends. I know their situation very well. I used to get along with Genki very well, and reminded me a bit of me... only realistically. Like his name, he was just plain energy. Now... his eyes speak differently. He only lives to fight now out of frustration, unable to stop what I also wish I could have.
I'm sorry Hare. I'm sorry... Rem...
"Hello, Vash-san no da."
I look up and smile, waving cheerily to Chichiri (hee, alliteratives!!). "Hi-ho, chap!"
He tilted his head a little. "Who are you visiting no da?" Something was on his mind.
"I heard about Ruki," I said, my tone a little more serious for a teensy moment. "So I decided to come by!"
Chichiri paused for a moment. "All right. May I tag along no da?"
I grinned. "Not at all! Come, my good man! Onwards and forwards! Prithee, and forsooth! The hospital room of Ruki!!"
"...O-kay."
I notice that, I guess much like me, Chichiri is sad. Although I guess it's really none of my business, it hurts me as well to see people hurting inside. While his reasons are different, we're alike in the way that we don't like seeing the suffering of others and use our unhappiness for the good of others.
Once we arrived outside of the room, I gave a knock. Thus: "Knock knock!"
"Who's there?" a tired-sounding boy was heard behind the door.
"Banana!"
"...What?"
"The joke doesn't work like that," I muttered. Poor kids; they need more fun in their lives. Children these days!
"Whoever it is, you may as well come in."
I saluted (gaining an incredulous look by Chichiri, possibly because the boy couldn't even see me), "Yes, Sir! Coming in, Sir! Hope you don't mind, Sir!"
I opened the door, coming in with Chichiri. There was Jenrya Lee and Terriermon right by Ruki's bed.
Terriermon perked up. "Look, it's the funny man! ..Oh! Two funny men!"
"Howdy-hey, people," I greeted with a grin.
Chichiri nodded, also smiling. "Good morning no da."
"What's so good about it?" Jenrya asked with a sigh, Terriermon giving him a concerned look.
I gave a little "hmmmmmmmmmmmm" to myself, coming over and placing my hands on my hips. I glanced over Ruki, then silently paused. She was unconscious, as expected, but her pale color just set me off a bit.
"Poor Ruki-chan no da..." Chichiri sighed behind me.
To Jenrya, I mustered up another undefeatable smile. "We'll rescue Renamon soon and everything should be fine. What matters is that she's alive, right?"
"...Suichun keeps asking questions. Did anyone tell you about the mass-vision?" Jenrya's voice was a little hollow. Tired. Tired of what was going on... and everything in general. I know, since I've felt that before. Once I've felt too tired to just go on.
I smiled in mild embarassment, "I'm afraid not. I was kind of out on a midnight stroll..." Chichiri just shook his head, showing he also hadn't heard.
"Their psychic sent us images of what happened. All of us in the room saw it. All of us Chosen Children witnessed it." He gave a brief pause. "Suichun still asks questions. And Ruki-chan suffers the same as Renamon." I felt pained, and I'm sure everyone else did as well, when he gave a choked sob. "I can't do anything." Terriermon, frowning, padded over to his partner, his remaining ear landing on Jenrya's shoulder in silent understanding comfort.
I scowled a little. While there are times to be happy and raise spirits... there are other times when it simply would make things worse. I understand that well.
"Jenrya-kun... I know this is a difficult thing to go through. It's just natural to be feeling this way, and sometimes things like this feels worse than death... but you should feel glad, because in the end Ruki will be fine. I promise that everything will work out in the best in the end. And when Suichun asks questions, just tell her that Ruki is hurt, but she'll get better, and so will Renamon," I spoke, although still trying to sound happy enough to give some spirit. "The best thing you need now is hope... and relief. Because... Ruki and Renamon are alive. And they will get better. Not right away, but overtime things will get better. I know it doesn't look like it right now, but as long as you're alive, that's all you need. It's... a lot more than what Genki has. I'm sure you obviously know about that. Genki is a good kid, but how he's turned out now isn't for the better. I don't want to see another good kid turn out to be like that. Not you, or any other of your friends. Don't live, thinking of what you can't do. Rather, think of what you can in the future when Renamon returns to you. You still have them in your lives... that's all that's important now."
Jenrya was actually shaking, having started sometime during the speech maybe, "..Turn out to be like that? Turn out to be like that?!" Terriermon, shocked, took a step back. Just in time, as Jenrya jumped up from his seat, glaring at me. "Renamon was raped, Ruki felt it, Suichun saw it! I think it's a little late to stop any more of us into turning out 'like that', as you so delicately put it!" He then collapsed back into his chair, head in hands, sobbing, "I don't know what to do anymore. Renamon might not even come back.." Despite all that, maybe I forgot I was speaking to a ten year old child.
"Don't say that," I said, struggling not to shout (it's usually easier with other people, but this was a fragile situation). "It does matter what has happened. Things may not be for the best right now. I know that it's not, but you need to live on. It won't do you any good to keep hating what's happened. Even if you have turned out to starting hating yourself, hating those who have done this, even the universe, there's always time to stop hating everything. You can move on. You can feel sad. You can't stop that feeling, no matter how hard you try... but don't waste away. None of you should, because things are going to turn out fine, as long as you're alive. Renamon will come back. I'll see to that."
Chichiri had taken a moment to place his hand on Jenrya's shoulder in comfort. He reached up, his mask coming off with ease as he looked up at me with one eye quietly. I got the feeling he was thinking to me to not give empty promises... but I meant every word I said. Renamon was going to come back. She was coming back, and I was going to make sure of that.
"How are you so sure that everything will turn out right in the end? Look at what has already happened!" Jenrya cried out at me. He can hate me all he wants. I don't really mind, just as long as he doesn't destroy himself.
"Because you're alive, and it's never too late to make yourself a new life no matter how hard the first one was," I said quietly.
Jenrya returned to crying softly into his hands with Terriermon beside him. Chichiri stood up and approached me, his mask still off. Giving a concerned glance briefly to Jenrya, he looked back at me with a soft frown.
"I'm not sure if that helped or hurt him," he told me in a hushed tone, his accent having dropped for a moment. "But I understand what you were saying."
I nodded. "So, you were going to drop me a message?"
Chichiri couldn't help but finally give me a real smile, but only briefly as he told me, "I heard that Mousse-san suddenly fell unconscious last night screaming. His temperature was unusually high and he was sweating, and no matter how much water was given to him, he seemed dehydrated."
I twitched noticably. Damn it... "What happened to Mousse?" I asked, trying not to sound angry. To be honest, I was. I really was. Mousse wasn't a bad person at all and I couldn't have saved those people without his help.
"Nobody knows yet, but apparently Sakura-chan... Sakura Kinomoto, that is, came down with the same condition. Strangely, when the people on the mission returned, their health also seemed to return, although to this morning they still appear to be sleeping out of exhaustion from... something," Chichiri explained.
I had to think about that for a moment, then frowned. I know this sounds odd, but that was... familiar, sort of. "What were they like before they started screaming? Do you know?"
Chichiri nodded. "I was with Sakura-chan when that happened. She seemed to space out during our conversation just for a few seconds before reacting like that."
"A vision," I blurted out under my breath, shaking my head. I do recall briefly after the... ah... "unknown" mission Mousse and I went on, we had a chat with Donna-sama and Jen-chan. She apparently, Jen-chan that is, had a vision and felt the pain of an individual named Hawkgirl. "Can I see them?"
"Perhaps... it really depends on their condition right now," Chichiri replied. He rubbed his mask back on, turning his head toward Jenrya and Terriermon. "...I don't think I should leave them no da. You can find Mousse-san on your own, ne?"
I saluted, smiling. "Sir! Yes, Sir! I can, Sir! Dismissed, Sir?!"
Chichiri gave me an odd look. "...Sure."
"Thank you, Sir!" I spun around to run out, but ran into the door. "Forgot to open first, Sir! Sorry, Sir!" I thus openned and exited with a wild laugh.
However... What happened to Mousse? And Sakura?

Third Person: Orion

In the time since the rescue party's return from the mission, Orion had taken just enough time to explain who the rescued victims were, that he knew of - and then retreated into the park, dodging away from the people - mostly the multitudes of Nurse Joys - who wanted him to stay still and get his injuries taken care of. His injuries didn't matter - he'd been through a lot worse than a few burns and cuts in the last year; the last thing he needed right now were more people around him.
In the hours since then, he'd sat, hidden among the park's taller grasses, and run through the mission in his mind - rescuing any of the three captives besides Kiyone had been impossible, with the guards on full alert and the group swelled as large as it had been. It had been a fluke, a lucky break thanks to Michelle's ego, that had let Kiyone be rescued.
Now, something had to be done to rescue Renamon, at the least - he'd heard, in passing, about the Tamer link, and realized just how much the goons in the lab would love to torture two for the price of one - the poor sap Locke had been another such victim, he was sure - still aware, but unable to control himself as his body tortured his own family into sorrow and madness.
Now, after spending all this time thinking, he climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. He'd have to see if someone - one of the three in charge of the place, as it seemed - would be willing to listen to his plan to get Renamon out of there, and maybe rescue Cloud while he was at it - along with one or two others he hadn't been able to rescue last time.
Passing by a patch of flowers, he paused, and knelt to pick a handful - he had a few rescued victims to visit, before he went and saw someone in charge.

"You can't go in! She's still asleep!" One of the many Nurse Joys - 23, this one's label claimed - blocked the door and did her best to give Orion a stern glare. "She passed out right after we started treating all the injuries she has, and isn't awake yet!"
Orion's response, whatever it might have been, was cut short by an ear-shattering scream from the room; before Joy #23 could do more than start to turn, Orion had swept her aside and jerked the door open - almost breaking the latch - leaving her to follow him into the room.
Sitting up, her eyes open as wide as possible in panic, the sheets clutched up against her and her green hair looking completely wild, Rydia looked as if she'd just woken from a nightmare into something she expected to be worse. It was, a small part of Orion's mind noted, a perfectly understandable reaction for anyone who'd spent time in those labs.
She flinched away as people started crowding into the room; only the fact that Orion and Joy #23 managed to form an effective barrier kept her from being swarmed. Twenty-Three gave the crowd the same glare she'd tried on Orion; it worked a bit better, quieting them down a bit, and she made shooing motions. "Go on! Out! She just woke up!"
"But-" Someone - who exactly, would never be known - started to speak, only to be silenced by Joy and chased out with the rest of the crowd; after she shut the door, she leaned against it with a sigh.
"What happened?"
Orion answered for Rydia; the green-haired Caller was starting to calm down, as memory of her rescue from the labs returned, but she was still clinging to the sheets with a deathgrip. "She woke up - and she's been in the 'favorites' part of Genereux's lab." He knelt down next to the bed, and sighed himself. "The tortures in there make the labor camps look like a playground."
Twenty-Three's expression turned darker, as she thought about it. "...Like what?"
Orion held up his arm, the one not holding the batch of flowers in it; the scars on it stood out against his skin, like some kind of freakish roadmap to hell. "Name something. They've probably come up with a way to make it more painful, humiliating, and soul-breaking. Most of the victims snap after a week or two. The stronger ones - like Rydia, me, and others we rescued - get special treatment. Personally tailored tortures, usually orchestrated by either Genereux or one of her personal aides." He paused, watching Joy's expression for a moment; it flickered, alternating between shock, horror, and revulsion. "I imagine that Rydia and Fuu both often got visited by some of the male soldiers..."
At the mention of that, Rydia and Twenty-Three both paled visibly; Orion shrugged, slightly. "Is it any wonder that she woke up screaming?" As Twenty-Three shook her head, he tipped his head towards Rydia. "And you... Nightmare aside, how do you feel?"
"B-better." Rydia took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, before reaching up with a hand to push her hair back. "Th-thank you." She paused, and tried a small smile; when nothing tried to stop her, she let it stay there. "F-for re-rescuing me."
"Don't thank me - thank everyone else. If they hadn't gotten me out... We'd both still be trapped in there." He took a flower - a purple one - from his batch, and set it across the sheets at her feet. "...I just hope you'll be well enough to get out of this room soon."
"Th-thank you."
"Thank me by getting better, all right? And if you need to talk to somebody - I've been in the labs, too. Feel free to find me, if you need someone who can understand." Rydia nodded slightly, and Orion stodd again. "...Hey, Joy? Do you know where the others that got rescued by the mission are?"
"Of course."

A few minutes later, Orion slipped through the door into the room where Fuu was, curled up under her hospital sheets and staring at the wall, a numb look on her face; after a moment of waiting by the door, he cleared his throat. "...Fuu?"
The blonde girl jerked at the sound, curling in on herself reflexively, before shen turned her head slightly and caught sight of Orion. "Y-yes?" Without glasses, she couldn't see clearly enough to tell exactly who she was talking to - at least the voice was familiar, and without any bad memories attached to it.
Carefully, Orion walked towards the bed, and knelt down beside it. "Any nightmares and bad memories aside... How do you feel?"
"I feel... Cold, inside." Fuu's eyes focused on Orion, now that he was close enough to be more than just a fuzzy shape, and she shivered slightly. "As if my heart has ice filling it."
"...Mmm." Drawing forth another flower - this one also violet - he set it close enough that she could reach it. "Listen... I used to be a captive in the 'favorites' section of the lab, too. If you need a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to listen... I'll be around this place somewhere. Probably hiding in the park." He stood again, and sighed. "By the way... The other girl we rescued in the mission, Rydia, is down the hall in room 42. If you need company, and want to be with someone who'll know what you've been through..."

One flower remained, as Orion left the room where Kik and Kak were busy playing with the ones he'd left them - the two Klackons were probably insane, by the standards of their culture; they had unique personalities, and had developed weird senses of humor under the tortures inflicted on them.
He nearly ran into General Kunz on his way through a door; after putting out his hand to keep her from falling, he offered her a slight grin, and offered her the last flower - a pink one, as it happened. When she looked confused, he shrugged. "Consider it thanks."
"What for?"
"I don't know. Rescusing me, maybe. Or letting me help rescue the others. Or even just for fighting Lasarius and his armies." Orion shrugged. "If you'll excuse me... I still have one thing to attend to. Although I would like to talk to you later - there's something I want to discuss."

Orion sighed as he settled down to sit on a bench near the hospital area of Knothole2, rubbing a long, pale scar along his left arm. Gimli, a dwarf from the Fellowship of the Ring, had agreed to try crafting a length of the mithril the group had dragged back into a weapon for him. The only thing left now was to see General Kunz about going back in after the lost members of the group - Cloud and Renamon.
That could wait, though - for now, he was going to try to relax...
As he let his body relax, the barriers in his mind began to slip, also; the barriers which kept the memories of his tortures from flooding into his mind and burying his sanity.

A rattle sounded from the ventilation grate across the room; it dragged Orion out of the trance he'd gone into after the last session with Michelle and her efforts to break into his mind, bringing him to his feet despite the complaints of tired, aching muscles. Another rattle, and the grate slid open - letting a young girl climb out to look around with wide, shocked eyes.
Orion faded back into the shadowed corners of his cell, watching in solemn silence as the young child lowered herself to the floor and looked around. The shock and horror on her face only got worse as she took in the lab's surgical precision and painfully obvious purpose as a torture chamber. After a minute, she crossed the floor, and reached up to tap on the cage where Thunderhawk, the purple member of the Brotherhood, lay curled up in a fitful, nightmare-wracked sleep.
The echidna jerked upright with a noise that embodied absolute terror - the result of too much time trapped in the labs - and stared with wide, terrified eyes at the girl. For a moment, Orion expected him to scream - then the girl lowered her hand, and in a voice almost too quiet for him to hear, spoke.
"Chibichibi?"
"Huh-who-who are you?" The complete confusion in Thunderhawk's voice was obvious; he'd been expecting to be woken up to be tortured more, not to be confronted with a human child looking concerned. "Y-you should leave, quickly, before Genereux comes and finds you!"
Good advice, Orion thought; it wouldn't be long before Genereux and her minions arrived for the day's round of torture - and with Michelle around, it would be all too easy for her to notice an unusual mind in the area - even with the growing numbers of ghosts cluttering the area and making it harder for her to sense very far...
"Chibichibi?" The girl tipped her head to the side, and reached into a pocket on her clothing, pulling out a small, pale wafer of some kind; the scent of it, obvious in the room's sterile air, reminded Orion of elves, for some reason. "Chibichibi." She held the wafer up to Thunderhawk, who carefully took it, and hesitantly took a bite.
As a look of surprise spread across the purple echidna's face as the girl darted away, to scramble back into the vetilation duct and pull it closed again; finally, in the depths of Orion's mind, the wafer, scent, and a few memories connected. The girl had given the echidna a lembas wafer - food from the elves of the world where hobbits lived...
The main door to the room clicked as the lock came loose, and with a sudden, fearful motion, Thunderhawk shoved the rest of the wafer into his mouth, fighting to swallow it before the door opened. He almost succeeded. He was chewing the last few scraps of the wafer when the door opened and Genereux swept in, accompanied by Locke - or rather, Locke's body; Orion's eyes latched onto the subtly gleaming silver control wire poking from Locke's neck.
"What is this?" Genereux had caught the motion as Thunderhawk swallowed the last of the wafer; stalking across to his cage, she seized the cage and shook it slightly, knocking the echidna down. "What were you just eating!?"
The contact with the girl must have restored some of Thunderhawk's willpower; even as he pushed against the far side of the cage, he swallowed and shook his head. "Nothing."
"Oh, really?" Genereux pulled the key to the cage up, and hauled the cage door open; reaching in, she grabbed Thunderhawk by the shoulder and dragged him out of the cage; kneeling on his back, she jerked his head up and shoved her finger down his throat. After a minute, the remains of the lembas wafer came up amidst a shower of froth. "This is nothing, hmm? Where did you get this?"
Thunderhawk coughed violently, and tried to shake his head. "Go to hell." A moment later, he screamed as Genereux jabbed her fingers into a nerve cluster, the noise loud enough to make Orion flinch back; Genereux caught the movement from the corner of her eye, and eased up on Thunderhawk; as confused and fearful sounds began to filter from the other Brotherhood members, she shoved his face towards the mauled lembas wafer.
"You wanted it? Eat it." With his face almost shoved into the vomited wafer, it took only a moment before Thunderhawk broke and began to lick the mess off the floor. Once all that remained was a shiny wet spot, Genereux hauled him up and threw him back into his cage, slamming it shut - and then stalked across the lab to stare into Orion's cell. "And what happened here, hmmm?"
"...Why should I tell you?" Orion's eyes - altered a few months before to strip away his need for glasses - hid the smirk that he kept from his face as he stared at Genereux. "What can you do to me that hasn't already been done?"
Genereux glared at him; most of her victims had long since learned to cower beneath that glare; Orion had just gotten more stubbornly defiant. "All right, if you won't tell me... I'm sure the rest of my experiments will be happy to have a day off while you take their places." What Genereux missed, in the background, was the badly-disguised attempt at relief on the faces of the Brotherhood - aside from Thunderhawk, who sat in his cage, looking ill.
Orion allowed himself the smirk now; it would just make Genereux angrier, and more likely to actually leave the rest of her victims alone - a respite that they all needed a great deal more than he did.

With a mental snap, Orion fell back into reality; the rest of that day had been an unrelenting series of torments, most of which had been enough to surpass his nervous system's ability to block pain and wrench screams from him. Still, he hadn't given away the strange little girl, and neither, to his knowledge, had Thunderhawk.
Brushing at the thin layer of sweat that had sprung up during the flashback - and wondering, silently, why it had chosen that moment to crop up, when it was one of his better moments in the labs. Still - no time to dwell on it - he had to find General Kunz and talk to her.

Donna's POV:

The call for one of Selenity's infamous meetings had gone out when Orion approached me for the second time today. He had bumped into me earlier, saying he needed to speak to me, but then left. Confused as I was, I didn't ask about it then.
"Orion-san? What did you need to talk to me about?"
"It's a thought I had - we can't leave Renamon and Cloud trapped in the labs. Especially not if what I've overheard about Renamon's partner, Ruki, is right - Genereux and her goons would love the chance to torture two minds for the price of one." Orion tipped his head to the side slightly. "I know another way into the labs, one they won't expect people to come in through - and I want to get those two out of there before the real tortures begin."
I nodded in understanding, "Selenity called a meeting in about twenty minutes. It's probably a pre-mission meeting. You can probably tell everyone there about that, considering you were invited to the meeting. Any information is required information, I'd say."
"General! Kunz-sama!" A young voice from down the hall.
I turned to see Chibichibi, redressed now in her usual Sailor Chibichibi uniform, running down the hall. "General! Mr. West ha--" She paused, stopping infront of Orion and I, stareing at the tall man.
"Chibichibi?" I asked, concerned, looking from Chibichibi to Orion.
Orion returned Chibichibi's stare. "...I know you. You're the girl who snuck into the lab and gave Thunderhawk a lembas wafer." He looked up, and shook his head. "...Interesting that we should meet again...
"Anyhow - yes, what I have to say probably would be useful, since it's a way in to get people that they probably aren't guarding... Nobody wants to be stationed near the Machine..."
I nodded to Orion, then looked to Chibichibi, confused. "..Snuck in to the lab to give Thunderhawk a lembas wafer? ..When did this happen?"
Chibichibi actually looked embaressed, cheeks flushed, "I'd say six months or so ago, perhaps longer. I lost track of time for a while around then. It was during a small raid, and I snuck away from the group. I know I wasn't allowed, but I had to see if there was anyone else who needed help.."
"She got into the lab somehow, through the ventilation ducts, and gave Thunderhawk - the purple echidna - a lembas wafer. Right after she left... Genereux showed up and forced him to throw it up, then made him eat it." Orion paused, and rubbed absently at a long, pale scar on his left arm. "She demanded for me to tell her who gave it to him, and spent the day running me through tortures when I wouldn't tell her."
I paused. Chibichibi paused. We both stared at Orion in mute shock for a couple of minutes.
Chibichibi broke the silence with a groan, "I knew I wasn't fast enough.." She then looked to Orion, frowning, "I'm so, so sorry, Orion-san! I was hopeing, at the time, that I would have succeeded." She then looked to me, "Mr. West doesn't want to fight, not yet. He won't be joining in the mission." A pause. "..Which rooms are the Brotherhood in?"
I let out a soft sigh, "I think the left wing, rooms 14a to 17a."
Chibichibi nodded, then ran off again.
I looked to Orion, frowning. I suddenly felt very, very guilty. "Orion-san, I'm sorry about everything.."
Orion shook his head. "Don't apologize - you aren't at fault. Lasarius is." He clenched both hands into fists. "Just give me a chance to free the people trapped in the labs. No one deserves that kind of suffering - not even the worst fiend from the Abyssal depths."
He let a slight grin loose, and continued, "By the time that happened, there was nothing Genereux could do that she hadn't already done. I think they would've likely killed me if your side hadn't gotten me out."
I frowned, silent for a moment, unsure what to say. "..Still.."
"General?"
This time, the voice came from behind Orion. We both looked over to see Lina Inverse standing there.
She looked at us both, blinking once. "..Ano.. Am I interrupting something?"
A wry grin crossed my features, "No, nothing much." Then, I turned grim. "Is anything wrong, Lina-san?"
She shook her head, "Nothing's wrong. Selenity-jo'o-sama just called her meeting. We're all heading in."
I nodded, then looked to Orion. "We can probably continue this discussion during the meeting."

I entered the meeting room, Orion and Lina behind me. At the entrance, Lina seperated to go to her seat. Orion sat at my side, where my mother used to sit.
I wondered, for a moment, why my mother no longer attended meetings. Then the meeting started.
"We attack in three hours." Selenity started off quite bluntly. "Partially an offensive mission, partially rescue. At least half our fighting number will be on this mission, seperated into four teams. One to rescue the two captives, one to rescue innocents in the barracks and fields, two to fight."
The Queen looked in my direction, but spoke to Orion. "Orion-san, I believe you had some input on all this."
Orion nodded, slightly. "I know of another route into the labs - it's more dangerous, overall, because of the area it goes through, but they'll never expect it - and their telepath can't go anywhere near the area." He rubbed at the long scar on his arm again, and smiled thinly. "The feedback from the Machine keeps her from getting anywhere near it."
Some chatter made it's way along the lines with an undertone of discomfort. Jen frowned from my other side.
Selenity frowned slightly. "Quite a number here havn't heard of the Machine. Explain it, please."
"The Machine is a device Lasarius's psions and scientists came up with together... Quite a few victims who die in the labs don't get to pass on peacefully to whatever should be waiting for them - they're stuck, as what basically passes for ghosts. The Machine grinds them into their raw life-essence and dumps it into what amounts to a battery. The feedback from the ghosts being torn apart are what keep telepaths and empaths away from the place..."
I turned my head to stare at Orion, disturbed. Ghosts and spirits being torn apart?
Jen turned to give Orion a slightly dark look before turning her glare to Selenity herself. "Question: why wasn't this addressed to us before if he knew--heck, if you even knew of it, Selenity-sama?" While her anger was something to be expected, she really wasn't one to throw it at many people, but here Jen appeared to have no problem in expressing her displeasure in being uninformed.
I looked back to the Queen. She appeared taken aback by Jen's question. "I've only known about this for a day or so, myself. There was neither time nor circumstance to address it. Other situations were more important."
"I spent the last year living in the labs - it's easy to forget that not everyone knows what's common knowledge among the prisoners. Genereux's minions enjoyed reminding us that we were probably going to be a battery in someone's laser rifle eventually - it just broke people faster." Orion shrugged. "Apparently one of the other prisoners remembered."
Jen's eyelid seemed to twitch a little, still scowling. "I'm glad we're all taking this ever-so lightly," she grumbled under her breath. "So there's only one Machine, right?" she spoke a little louder.
"Only one that I know of. Ghosts can be difficult to catch - especially when your best trackers are all-but dead if they get too close." Orion shrugged again. "...If you want to know more about that, you might try asking the one prisoner we rescued, Elliot..."
"I already have." Eyes turned back to look at the Queen. A grim expression adorned her face. "It's all quite disturbing. Which is why we are going in for the rescue as soon as possible.
"Favorites are still banned from this mission. The four teams will be led by General Kunz, General Berry, Sharon-san and Orion-san. Orion will lead the rescue into the building, Sharon the one for the barracks, and the two Generals for battle."
A holographic list appeared infront of each of us, listing who is on what team.
I looked it over, and was not surprised to see Wally West not on any list.

Third-Person: Orion

Less than half an hour after the end of the meeting found Orion prowling through the darker sub-levels of Knothole2, down among the rows of refrigeration units which, for now, sat empty, despite the power flowing to them. Unfortunately, whoever was working maintenance hadn't gotten down to those levels recently, as several sections of lighting were either out or flickering weakly. A slight sound, like an out-of-synch echo of his footsteps, caused him to turn and put his back to the wall, his hands clenched into fists and drawn up, ready to knock whoever was behind him into the wall.
Oddly, nothing was there, despite his instincts insisting something had been there. His lips slowly peeled back from his teeth, and he held as still as he could, holding his breath and waiting for another sound.
A stray scrap of crumpled paper, probably carried down to that level by stray currents of air over the course of several months, suddenly skittered down the hallway, as if kicked, despite the lack of anyone being there. After a tense pause, Orion let himself relax slightly. A ghost - although why a ghost was wandering around this place was an odd question. Selenity's side didn't seem interested in torture, and he somehow doubted many people who died here were abused the way Genereux's experiments were.
After a minute, with the scrap of paper being kicked farther and farther down the hall, Orion relaxed, and pushed away from the wall to continue stalking through the sub-levels. He felt the need to walk, away from the rest of Selenity's forces, and give himself some time to come up with a plan for rescuing Cloud and Renamon - and anyone else in the labs that the group would be able to rescue.
His team, as it were, was small - smaller than the first. Koushiro had apparently volunteered to go back in, for some reason - Orion was glad, still. The ease he'd had hacking the doors open had made it easier than he'd expected. Then there was Tenchi, who'd apparently volunteered because of what Selenity's soldiers had done to Kiyone. Kik and Kak, hearing about it, had all-but broken down Selenity's doors demanding to be allowed to go. The last member of the group, thankfully, had been chosen by Selenity with a thought to the tortures the other victims had suffered - a healer, named Sylphiel.
They'd have to go in the way the service transports went - an automated railway which lead right into where the Machine was situated. He'd need to see if he could get some kind of recording device, so as to show Selenity and her Generals what the thing looked like. From there - Renamon would likely be closer, simply because she was so blatantly nonhuman. Cloud would be more likely to be in the standard prison cells, although his Jenova-enhanced nature - if picked up on - might have him in the experimental section, if they'd picked up on it.
Cloud. Jenova. Mako.
Materia.
With the right equipment, anyone could use Materia - and used enough, it created more Materia.
This might be worth mentioning to someone... Maybe General Kunz, since she seemed more approachable than Selenity, and a bit more... Stable, maybe, was the right way to put it, than the other General. Even if nothing came of it, it might be worth the thought.

Sharon's POV:

I was sitting in the cafeteria, glumly eating chocolate raspberry cake.. Yum..
My eyes quickly scanned the room, looking at the various people along the tables, taking a last meal before this big mission. Speaking of the mission, after a moment of pouting and eating cake..
"I wanna blow shit up.. Not fair.." I said glumly to myself. It wasn't fair! I was on another rescue mission! I wanted to go on offensive! I'll probably just screw things up again.. Gonna get more people captured..
Another bite of the cake. This was my third helping. Ah, cake is nummy.. It's a good thing I'm always so active, otherwise I'd be a few hundred pounds by now..
"..Flezzhy-bot okay?"
I peaked up to look at Waspinator.
It took all of two seconds to pounce the giant bug, "Waspy-chan! It's not fair! I wanna blow shit up!"
The currently-in-beast-mode wasp transformer hovered there, stunned, as I hung from his neck.
"..Er.. Flezzhy-bot going on rezzcue, but not happy?"
"Aaah, you sound so kawaii!" My mood rapidly shifted. Yup. It's the coffee, I tell you!
Waspinator actually giggled. "Heehee. Flezzhy-bot so nizze."
"..This is th' strangest thing I've ever seen.."
I looked over to the new speaker, still clinging to Waspinator. Ah, Rattrap! "Hey, Rat-man!"
Rattrap gave me a strange stare. "Is there a reason yer huggin' a Pred wasp?"
Waspinator giggled again. "Flezzhy-bot gave Wazzpinator a compliment! Wazzpinator happy!"
I grinned at Waspinator, then looked back to Rattrap. "Hey, ya know where Lord Raptor is?"
Rattrap blinked. "Who?"
"Dead dude." I clarified.
He only stared in confusion.
"Wazzpinator saw walking corpzze heading to refridgerator unit.."
"Which one?"
"Wazzpinator not know.."
I pouted. "Aww.. It could take hours to find him.." My mood shifted again, and I brightened. "Oh well! I'll look for him after we come back.." I swung from Waspinator's neck, "Whee! Sugar-rush!"
Rattrap stared at me again. "..Yer odd." With that, he walked off.
Waspinator giggled joyfully, even as I swung.

Donna's POV:

An hour and a half before we were to leave on the mission, and I was at the hospital. No surprise there, it seemed.
I walked down the halls, actually heading to Wally West's room, when I saw Green Lantern leaning against the wall.
Blinking once, I stopped. He seemed upset. "Mr. Stewart?"
"Just how long has this 'war' been going on?" he asked quietly, but a hint of anger and possibly depression was in his tone.
I paused, taken aback by the question. "..Four or five years now, I would say. I wasn't here from the start." I frowned. "Is anything wrong? Did something happen?"
Green Lantern gave me a strange expression, mixed in with frustration. "...I see." He stood up straight. "You are aware that this could keep going for several years, don't you? And as to your question... several things are wrong." He shook his head. "What caused all this, causing my teammates to go through something terrible like that?" The Green Lantern looked over his shoulder to Wally's door. "You see, the reason I'm asking is because I had asked him why he didn't want to come. Do you know what exactly he said?"
Even I realised that a spark of fear showed in my eyes when he asked what caused the war.
Frowning deeply, my first response was a terrible one. "No. No, I wasn't told why Mr. West didn't want to help us. And, frankly, I'm glad he decided to stay."
Green Lantern nodded. "I agree that he should stay, but that's besides the point. He told me... he wasn't ready. I asked him if he knew when he would be ready. He told me he wasn't sure. I understand entirely that he would be disturbed by what happened... but it was like I was speaking to a different person. I know he was trying to act normal, but I'm not an idiot. He was straining to act like that." He stared at me, scowling. "Who knows when he'll be 'ready'? And... who knows what will happen with Hawkgirl and the others as well? I want to know the source of this war, because whoever has caused it is going to pay very dearly, General."
I winced at the harsh emphasis on my title. Still.. "Tayata Lasarius. He hates what isn't human and using humans as a tool." Granted, that wasn't entirely true, but most didn't know what Lasarius truly was.
"And what was the start of all that? What made him think like that?" Green Lantern frowned. "People like him usually have a reason, legitamite or not. What would cause someone to act so hypocritically like that and convince others the same? I don't entirely buy that, and I usually get the feeling that there's something I don't know... and I absolutely hate that feeling. Whether you know or not doesn't matter; I intend to find out one way or another because of what's happened." His green eyes glowed slightly, his anger practically radiating on its own.
I stared at him, eyes slightly wide. I feared, for a moment, what would happen if he did find out how Lasarius came into being. "..I don't know what caused him to hate everything that wasn't his own." How fluently it has become to tell such a big lie. "Will you be coming along with us on the mission?"
Green Lantern looked at me, half-convinced, but didn't continue to harp on the subject much longer. He nodded in confirmation. "In darkest night," he recited only partially. "Count me in; people need a helping hand, I'll be there. Wally can handle himself for awhile... I think. He might be different, but he's still a troublemaker, no matter what. Idiot."
As if on cue, the door to Wally's room opened. Turning to look, I was mildly surprised to see a Chansey walk out and slam the door behind her.. him.. It. Whatever. At any rate, the Pokemon nurse assistant did not look happy.
I blinked. "..Chansey?"
Chansey pointed to the door, growled, then sat on the floor and fumed.
Green Lantern looked a little tempted to grin. A little. "Like I said... what's he doing now?"
The Chansey then went on into a long complaint entirely made of the two syllables of it's name. I only understood a little of what the Pokemon had said (hey, you try spending all day with atleast one of these trying to stir up a conversation), but it was enough. I groaned lightly. "He didn't.."
"Chan!" The Chansey nodded, fuming still. I had the distinct impression it was a female.
"How's about a translation?" Green Lantern requested, raising an eyebrow at me.
I didn't bother. I did better.
Walking over to Wally's door, I pounded twice, "Mr. West, you do NOT ask the nurse assistances to hook you up on dates!" I paused. "Especially if said nurse is FIFTEEN YEARS OLD!"
Wally opened the door, staring at me. "Oh, where's the harm in that? Unless you would like to give me a tour..." He had spotted Green Lantern, giving him a wave. "Hiya, G.L.! Nothing out of the unusual here. Really. Heh heh...? ...Meh."
"Somethings really don't change," Green Lantern grumbled, looking ready to give Wally a smack in the back of the head. "Would you knock that off?!"
"Oh, lighten up."
I sighed, but smirked slightly. "Actually, I have a good half an hour left. Would you like a quick tour?" I smirked, knowing that he would prefer someone he could flirt with.
Wally gave Green Lantern a "So THERE" smile, immediately by my side in not even a blink, showing no shame in draping his arm over me. "So, where to? Any place'll do; I've been dying to get out and roam with someone."
I blinked once, shocked. I had actually thought he would try to get out of it. Huh.
Chansey actually began to laugh.
"..." I was at a lack of words for a moment. "I think I have time to take you on a tour of the gardens and some of the shopping district."
"Sounds great!" Wally grinned, although he would have probably said that if I had said I was bringing him to the most ridiculously boring place possible. He paused briefly, his eyes narrowing before his arrogant grin reappeared. "See ya later, G.L.; I got me some 'lady' time."
Green Lantern didn't even bother replying to that; he simply rolled his eyes.
Chansey howled in laughter.

Jen's POV:

Okay, to be honest, I thought I'd never find myself deciding to talk to J'onn before any of the other Justice League members. He's kind of cool, but definitely not the type of guy I'd hang out with. He's not very talkative. But in this case, I guess I really didn't have a choice. I didn't find myself able to really look at anyone else.
You might be thinking "Oh, Great Jennifer, how did you figure it was J'onn?"
Well, it's kind of a no brainer, my loyal subject! It was a green man rescued from the Evil Psychic Bitch of Doom, after all. Last I figured, J'onn was forced to hang with her, so naturally I assumed that it had to be him.
Anyway...
So, I peeked my head through the door, and he apparently had been expecting me. Figures, really. And I was right. Joy.
"Um... yo?" I waved a little.
J'onn gestured to the chair, so I took a seat rather uncomfortably. I had this feeling that he knew something that I didn't.
"You are nervous," he noted. "There is no need to be. I have no intent of harming you."
"That's the least of my worries," I assured quickly. "Um... I'm just kinda wondering... what exactly you want."
"You had received two of four visions, three by myself indirectly. You have also gone temporarily insane, but not by yourself." As I scowled at him, he paused and asked, "Have you typically predicted or finished an--"
"Another person's thoughts? Yeah, some people can't stand it," I nodded.
J'onn gave me a funny look, then nodded. "...Indeed. I doubt your insanity was caused by your incapability of aiding the resistance." He frowned a little. "I do not wish to invade your privacy to find out, but it would make my theory much more believable."
I waved my arms for a moment. "Whoa whoa whoa! You think it was caused by somethin' else? But I guess you can't know unless I tell you or you... um... yeah..." Jeez, if I tell him, then what?! Shit, shit shit...
J'onn winced. "It is difficult to block out your thoughts, no matter how well I am. You are... very loud."
"Yeah, and I'm loud with my mouth, too," I admitted. "Look, no offense; I don't really wanna tell you. Only Donna, Selenity-sama, and the Sailor Senshi really know what's going on in my head. Sorta. But that isn't important; basically, if I tell you, I get the feeling that I'm gonna lose any trust, no matter how small, ya got. I can't even tell Duo-kun or Vash or Rikki-sama... or anyone else. And D-chan's got enough on her hands, and my brother doesn't even wanna be involved in all this..."
"I ask of you to have more reliance upon me than that. I have felt the same, but for different reasons. I was unable to help my friends, and perhaps have made matters worse."
I rubbed the back of my head. "Eh, it's not really the same situation, but... ya might have a point. Still, I dunno..." Then again, J'onn is a really reliable guy... alien... thing. But no doubt D-chan would get irritated if she found out he knew.
Aw, who said she had to find out? Besides, I do a lot of crap and I never learn the first time!
Still... still still still... errrgh... I dunno if I wanted J'onn to know. He's a quiet guy usually so who's to say he won't get angry at me for making Lasarius?
"Ahhh!! I dunno!" I cried out, rubbing my head irritably. "Okay, you know what? I don't care! Go crazy!" He looked at me funny again, maybe for the terms I used. "Ack! I mean you can read my mind and see for yourself what happened. It's easier than telling you."
J'onn just nodded, standing up and completely looming over me (woo; spooky) and touching his fingers to my temples. After a few nasty reminders (gosh dern it, I didn't mean to smack Ken with the tray and stuff) he let go, taking a step back and staring at me awkwardly for a moment.
Man, I knew it. He probably thought that it was my fault, as expected. I mean, anyone sensible would think that, right? If anything, J'onn was totally sensible.
"I see," he said quietly. "Forgive me to say this, but now I feel more pity for you than before."
I was definitely gaping. "...Pity? Excuse me? What do you mean?"
"This supports my theory." J'onn paused for a moment, narrowing his eyes. "You are aware of that fact you are indeed a psychic?"
"Me? Maybe, maybe not," I waved my hand dismissively. "My family is kind of full of them. My dad's mother was heckova lot better 'cuz she knew what she was doin'. So, I'm more of a fluke than anything."
J'onn seemed to inwardly frown at that. "I do not think so. Your insanity was not caused by just your feelings. According to your emotions and thoughts from previous times, they were influenced by others. You have often spent time around many people, I am sure, and a person of your rank, I imagine, would spend much time with those pained by the affects of this war. You are not a fluke. I have no actual proof of this, but I believe that you are a psychic, just as I am."
"I'm not sayin' it's not possible considering everything else that's occurred... but what weirds me out is that it makes more sense now that I think about it. I wonder why Xavier and Jean didn't sense anything..." I scratched my head. "Still, it could be possible. I know what my brother and dad are thinking half the time, includin' Donna, so it's entirely possible. But why not anyone else?"
"It is simple: because you have spent most of your time amongst those particular people, you have made a connection of sorts, so you are even capable of 'sensing' them from a distance. Were you not aware of doing this?"
I grinned sheepishly. "Not really. D-chan gets annoyed if I finish her thoughts before she can spill them out, so it's possible. I used to do it to her on the 'net a lot."
"I see..." J'onn paused briefly. "Jennifer--"
"Call me Jen, please!" I interrupted. "I don't really like anything formal. Don't call me general or anything, either. I don't like it."
J'onn nodded, then continued, "Jen... I will not tell anyone what has happened. I know of your wishes to keep his origin a secret. I shall do so. And you know very well that this could not be helped, so do not blame yourself needlessly."
"Thanks," I said gratefully. "I know; D-chan and my brother tell me a lot not to blame myself. I kinda can't help it... but yer right, anywho. Don't feel bad for what's happened, either, though. I know yer probably feeling absolutely lousy about what's happened to the others, but... you couldn't do anything. And if it weren't for you, Vash and Mousse couldn't have gotten a couple of them out."
"I know of this, and I thank them deeply for the risk they took... I was out of options at that time; desperate."
"And thank Orion and the others for saving you," I grinned. "Anyway, in case you didn't know, I'm gonna be gone a bit in about a half hour for a major mission. I think this is gonna be one of the biggest moves to date... so a lot of us are gonna be gone for it, including G.L. But if you want, we can go pay Wally a visit. I haven't actually seen him since Vash and Mousse rescued him."
"Perhaps..." J'onn felt slightly reluctant.
I shrugged. "Don't worry about people. Because it's a short time before a mission, a lot of people are going to be warming up or spending some time with their loved ones; not out and about. I know that big groups might bother you. So can I drag you along, or do you still need rest and stuff and junk?"
J'onn thought for a moment, then floated out of the bed, standing upright. "I shall acompany you for awhile until you must leave. It would be best if I were to observe you for a little while before I can reach a plausible conclusion; with your permission."
"Sure, if it means I can get you out and about! But don't tell D-chan or the nurses; I'm not really supposed to drag patients out for walks just a short time after they're rescued... but the only damage, as far as I know, is your mind..." I drifted off, thinking.
Was I missing something?
I snapped my fingers. "Right! We'll have to take a brief detour before we can visit Wally. I need to check on a couple of people. I heard something happened to Mousse after he reunited with his friends. I didn't get to check what happened exactly... but I think I have a good idea what happened... since it occurred before your arrival here."
J'onn scowled slightly at this, looking also quite apologetic.
"Don't get all frowny! You couldn't help it," I assured. "But I think it would be helpful if you were there, and I promise we'll get to see Wally and maybe G.L. if he's around, too. Hawkgirl, I dunno... she's under care with the others... you know about that. Maybe when you're feeling better, too, ya know? Yer not exactly 100% better and all."
"I understand."
"Goody!" I grinned. "If you'll look ahead, you see the door. Behind this door is the hallway! Please watch your step for there may be short things scuttering around. Thank you and have a good day." While this completely confused J'onn, I grabbed onto his wrist and pulled him out of his hospital room.
"I'll be gentle!" I told him, grinning widely. "Oh, and if you see a Nurse Joy or thirty, let me know. I'll have to run away cackling and such if they notice us."
"..." J'onn replied.
As we approached the room where Mousse was, I hummed myself a little tune.
I'm not too sure why I was so happy, but it felt damn good, ya know?
I gave a knock on the door in a "Shave and a Haircut" tune. Opening it was a rather glum-looking Chichiri, who looked ready to greet me before glancing at J'onn curiously. "Hello no da," the monk greeted quietly. "Mousse-san is all right, and so is Sakura-san... so far."
"What exactly happened, anywho?" I wondered. "I know they were rushed here, but they're suddenly fine..."
Chichiri glanced at J'onn again, then stepped aside, letting us in. "When I was speaking with Sakura-san over a cup of tea, she just suddenly stopped talking no da. After a moment, she was writhing in agony and sweating. Her body seemed to be thinking that she was in a hot room, like a desert no da. No matter how much water I gave her, she appeared to be dehydrated... but awhile ago, sometime just before Orion-san returned, they seemed to have calmed down and are normal again. They're just resting now."
"Well, that certainly explains a great deal," I sighed. "Thanks a bunch, Chichiri."
"Daaa," Chichiri's mask grinned at me. "Think nothing of it no da! Who's your strange friend no da?"
"Strange he is!" I joked a little, glancing at J'onn. He just stared at me oddly for a moment before looking back at the patients. "His name is J'onn J'onzz; he's a martian. Ain't that neat?"
Chichiri was confused, though. "Martian no da? ...Nevermind. I don't think I'll really understand no da."
I moseyed (hee) on over toward Mousse's bed since it was a little less occupied than Sakura's current bed, which had plenty of friends that had gathered, personal and those she had made during the war. Shampoo and Cologne were really no surprise to see since they weren't totally heartless (and with the war here, we all kinda soften up a bit with those we know real well) but I was a bit taken back to see Ryouga, Ranma, Ukyou, and Akane. I figured half of them would be warming themselves up for the mission.
I shrugged a little, standing beside a slouching Vash, who looked just awful. Poor guy. I glanced to J'onn, who had followed me quietly. "This is Vash and Mousse... but I guess you gathered that much," I told him.
Ranma had looked up, raising a brow, "Who's the little green man? ...Well, little ain't 'xactly a way to put it, but ya know what I mean."
"Ironically, he IS a martian, Ranma," I replied with a shrug. "Pretend he's not here, for my sake so I don't get in trouble, awright?"
"I won't ask, but sure thing," Ranma assured me, smirking.
I glanced to Mousse, who was awake and happy with the attention from Shampoo... and maybe even Cologne without the old Amazon whacking him and telling him what a stupid git he was, but at the same time trying to apologize to Shampoo for scaring her so badly.
"Mousse, yo!" I waved. "Sorry, Shampoo. I gotta ask 'im something. You can smother him with luuuuuv later."
Shampoo looked at me, scowling. "Sh-Shampoo not show love like that! Shampoo just worry over Stupid Mousse; not know what he do without Shampoo." The Amazon wasn't very convincing, since her eyes were red from crying. "...Shampoo afraid of losing Mousse. Good friend," she admitted with a small smile. "No take long, Crazygirl! Shampoo need smack sense into Mousse."
"Sure thing!" I saluted, then glanced to the Chinese boy.
"Hello, Jen," he greeted.
"Hi-ho. Mousse, I'll just take a bit. I'd ask how you felt when it happened, but Chichiri gave me a pretty good idea, but... did you get any kind of thoughts when it occured?" I asked. "Like thoughts that didn't make sense to you, but you were thinking them anyway? Like they weren't your own?"
"That's a strange question, but... yes..." Mousse admitted reluctantly.
Ranma snorted a bit, trying not to laugh. "Strange is kinda underrated nowadays."
"True, but that's besides th' point," I shrugged. "What kind of thoughts were you getting?"
"I can't rememeber exactly," Mousse frowned. "I'm sorry. But I remember the feelings fairly well... they were actually very familiar, similar to my first vision. Desperate, painful... I can't really place it into words."
"Know th' feeling," I assured. "Vash, you can quit sulkin'; Mousse is okay now, and he won't be getting another vision, or you, or Sakura, or even me, okay?"
Vash looked up at me, blinking a little. "...That's not entirely my worries... but thank you, Jen..."
I frowned, then grabbed Vash by the arm. "Okay, mister, yer coming with me. You can't be sulkin' before a mission, 'cuz we're gonna be partyin' like ya ain't partied before when we get back! Mousse, thanks for the info. You guys go easy on 'im; he's been a great guy, eh? Ciao!" I yanked Vash along a bit as the Nerima group waved a little to me before jumping back to their conversation from before.
"J'onn, like I said, this is Vash. Vash, this is J'onn, the guy who sent us a few visions, a couple on accident," I told the renegade while J'onn grew a concerned expression.
"I had not intended to cause such pains," the martian murmured, glancing aside.
"No sweat; they were helpful, and we can take it," I assured J'onn quickly.
Vash glanced to J'onn, springing up a smile immediately. "Sorry we didn't find you, but it's good to see that you're all right and here with us!"
"Vash, don't pretend," I told him somewhat seriously. "I know ya too well to look through it and... well, J'onn goes without sayin'. Look, with everything that's goin' on, there's nothing that you can do about some of it. Some of it, anyway. You were a good friend and went to see Mousse, and you're doin' everything possible, and yer even coming on this mission, I noticed. You can only do so much. If anythin' it's gonna be my fault for makin' a mistake. D-chan an' I are runnin' the show fer the most part, so don't blame yourself."
"There's so much death around... I would do anything if I could stop it," Vash sighed, glancing at the floor. "I'm not going to give up. As long as we're alive, there's hope... I know that." He looked up, frowning. "Jen, I have a favor to ask."
I tilted my head, raising a brow at him curiously. "Shoot." Fortuantely, I knew that he wouldn't do that literally.
"I need to help rescue Renamon," Vash said with a frown.
"Um... I'm on offensive," I reminded. "If anything, you should be asking Orion or S-chan."
Vash shook his head. "Reinforcements could try to get to where I'm at when I'm rescuing her. I need as little as them after me as possible so I don't harm them too badly. Can I ask you to not kill them and keep them busy while I'm doing that? As much as you can, or at least warn me if possible?"
"Shit," I swore under my breath. "Vash, yer askin' for a lot! I mean... there's gonna be a lot of men there, and a lot of the guys here don't have the same sentiments as we do... I'm totally backin' you up on this, but I'll do my best, okay? I guarantee that there's gonna be a load on our tail; Lasarius isn't stupid. He'll throw whatever he can at us to make sure we can't have Renamon or Cloud, because he'll figure out that we'll be wanting them back as soon as possible..."
Vash frowned. "I know I ask for a lot, but please..."
"Like I said, I'll do my best. I'll do what I can to make sure no one dies..." I said, a slight tone of reluctance in my voice. Not killing anyone was really difficult to promise for. I know I've had my fair share of kills. It's impossible to forgive these people for what they've done, so a lot of people will be wanting them to die for sure... but death only leads to more death. A promise is a promise, too. I had to do what I could to protect Vash when he rescued Renamon, even if I was gonna be a distance away.
"Again, couldn't you ask Orion to help you out? I'm on offensive, so I'm gonna be a bit of a ways from you. Heck, ask Sharon!" I suggested.
"Orion's been in that place for a long time. He might not have any qualms in killing them," Vash said sadly. "I know you better than I do him, and I know you'll do what I ask. Sharon... I can't ask her for that. You can hurt enough to cripple, not kill them."
"All right, point taken..." I sighed. "Now, ya better head on back before the others wonder where you are. Besides, I gotta deliver J'onn, all right?"
Vash nodded, smiling. A genuine smile! "Thanks, Jen." He gave me a big hug with overdramatic tears on his face. "I won't forget this! AHHHAHAHAHA!!! Well, I better go! See you around!" The outlaw ran off down the hall wildly in a helluva moodswing.
I rubbed the back of my head with a sigh, but smiled anyway. "Goofnut," I smirked.
"Very strange people here... I do not think I will feel too out of place," J'onn spoke carefully.
I nodded. "Yeah. I think you'll get along with a few people!" I grinned at him. "Well, let's go see Wally now. Sorry about that."
"Do not be concerned."

Well, to say the least, I was surprised to see no Wally. Somewhat.
He had to get out sometime, I guess.
I sighed and hit my forehead. "Crikey... sorry about that, J'onn. Notta clue to where he went, but he's probably with a girl somewhere. Guess you'll have to catch him on your own free time or something. He's not gonna be on a mission, so I guess you can wait here or something, but G.L. will be off, so..."
"Do not trouble yourself," J'onn assured me.
"Well, if this gets out, of course I'll be in it," I muttered. "But... well, lemme just tell ya a couple of stuff. There's a few other psychics around here. Xavier, Jean Grey, and... well, I guess Suezo counts. I know there's a few more, but none really come to mind right now. Just be sure to be wary about Xavier. Guy can be a genius at some times, then a real wacko at others. It's hard to explain. You might get along with him, you might not. But just stay good, eh?"
I crossed my arms and looked down. "And... well, you take it easy, okay? Because you were hanging around Michelle the Bitch nearly all the time you were there and going through all that... I know you're not A-Okay. Better off than a lot of people, but still... ya know what I'm trying to say, right?"
"Indeed. I appreciate your concern, but I shall take it fine. I only wish to see my comrades to be well... but I know well that reality may not be kind," J'onn replied. "I have already lost family and friends once before... and a home..."
"It's happened once, but it doesn't need to happen again," I scowled at him. "Look, we'll find a way to keep you guys together. I wouldn't be too worried about Wally and G.L.; they seem to be going all right. Hawkgirl should be okay, too. Despite all that... I still saw the fire in her eyes burning. Batman wouldn't die if you hacked off all his limbs, Diana's a freakin' Amazon anywho, and Superman... well, what needs to be said there, eh? You guys will be okay."
J'onn paused, then twitched into a very small smile, but that's more than I thought I'd ever get out of him. "I am grateful to your honesty. I shall hope as I recover and wait." He turned, probably intending to leave and rest as he said. "Once you return... I have an idea I wish to experiment with you. Would that be any trouble?"
"I don't think so... aw, don't see why not. I'll see ya as soon as I can when I come back," I told him.
He nodded once. "Then I wish you the best of luck while you are away." He walked off. Like I figured, he probably memorized the friggin' hallway already to get back to his room.
I raised a brow slightly, but smiled. It felt good to make such a depressed guy smile!
HOO-HAH! Am I on a roll!
I turned, then skipped down the hallway, singing:
"I want to change the world! Kaze wo kakenukete..."

Donna's POV:

After sending Wally back to his room (and recovering from the shock of actually being flirted with), I headed off to the assembly clearing. Those ready for battle and waiting to go went there.
I outfitted into the battle uniform quickly, meeting with a few others.
"..General?"
I looked over at the quietly spoken call of my name. A hobbit in armor stood a couple of feet away from me. "Mr. Gamgee?" Samwise Gamgee. In armor. A sight I don't think I'll ever get used to. "Is something wrong?"
"Well.." He paused. He was nervous around me? Odd. "..Have you seen Legolas?"
I blinked once. "Sam, Legolas isn't on this mission."
"I know.. But I havn't been able to find him."
Hmm. Odd. Legolas went missing in Knothole2?
Looking out over a few various warriors, "Hey! Has anyone seen Legolas?!"
Someone choked behind me. Turning, I looked to a very wide-eyes Jen in armor. "Jen-chan?"
"..Aww, shit. I left Legolas in the box!" She ran off with no other words.
"Box? Jen-chan!" I ran after her, Samwise and a few others following behind.

Jen looked embarrassed. Legolas glared angrilly at my best friend, taking off the last pieces of duct tape and ribbon off of his tunic. Aragorn looked amused. The four hobbits looked confused. Gimli was laughing a few feet away.
"..Jen-chan, what the hell were you thinking?"
Jen looked at me with a nervous expression, yet it was obvious she was laughing hysterically on the inside, but doing very well to hold. "Um... Happy Birthday?" She attempted lamely. "Well, I wasn't about to convince him to come out of a cake nude for you, so I figured I'd do second best..."
I blinked once. Twice. "..It's my birthday today?" I paused. ..Wait a minute.. "..Today is the 13th?!"
"It's your birthday, General? Congratulations!" Frodo offered, followed by the rest of the hobbits.
Jen rolled her eyes at me. "Yeah, it's yer birthday! Jeez, I remembered!!" She shrugged. "Aaaanyway, I was gonna give Legolas to you!" She grinned at that. "He was damn hard to catch, let me tell you..."
Legolas continued to glare at Jen. "You laid traps." A pause. "..Quite a lot of traps, at that."
Gimli roared with more laughter. Aragorn was trying to hard not to smile.
I sighed. "Couldn't you have givin me a more.. Traditional present, instead of running after various warriors and laying traps around the base?"
Jen grinned innocently, possibly complimented by Gimli's loud laughter. "They weren't just ANY traps! I used traps from Looney Tunes to getting help from Tarantulas to convincing Xelloss--the demon said it'd be fun to watch anyway!" Stubborn as a mule she was; when Jen put her mind to it, she'd get what she wanted, no matter HOW long it took. "Anyway, what could I get you? A tie?? Not a DVD or video game; we practically have them right here with us... What's there to get for you?"
I stared at Jen. "Cash." The universal gift; Everyone likes cash.
Jen held out her hands. "Yo! Do I look like a moneystash to you?!"
I was about to respond, when a trumpet blared from various speakers. A call for everyone to assemble for the mission.
Jen smirked slightly as I walked off, still in armor. I would have to talk to her when we came back.
..I hadn't even noticed that it was my birthday. Huh.

<"..Is it me, or are there more guards than usual?"> Someone asked over the coms. It took me a moment to recognize the voice as Jake, from the Animorphs.
<"Nope, it's not just you. I count at least triple more than usual."> Lina Inverse.
We were hiding and spying in various outcroppings, hills and such to get our bearings. We always did such before missions, to make sure nothing was not according to plan.
<"Triple? What the heck are they doing that needs so many guards?!"> Wolfwood.
<"Well, they would probably figure that we'd come back."> Lina again.
I sighed once, then spoke into the coms. "Okay, are Alpha through Delta in?"
<"In without a hitch."> Depth Charge.
I frowned, taking a moment to look over all the guards in various positions. "We need a distraction. Something that won't take alot of our number, but enough to keep alot of their number busy. Ideas, anyone?"
No one said anything for a couple of minutes. That is, before screams and an.. Elephant's trumpet? ..Broke the silence.
<"What the hell!? Where'd the elephant come from!?"> Someone yelled.
A laugh, <"That's just Rachel!"> Marco, of the Animorphs.
<"That's one of OURS?!"> The same person from before.
"..Okay, then. In we go!"

Third-Person: Orion

Orion crouched for a moment as the train rumbled past on the other side of the bushes, peering through a gap between two branches until the noise of wheels on metal rails faded away; then he rose from his crouch, supressing the growl that tried to get loose when his knees sent twin lances of pain along his nerves. On each side of him, Kik and Kak rose up, the carapaces of the Klackon warriors stained a dull grey to help them hide in the shadows. Behind them, Tenchi stood, gripping the wooden haft of his sword with a grim expression on his face, and behind him Sylphiel and Koushiro rose up, both armed with standard-issue firearms and dressed in dark grey clothing.
"Let's go. We have forty-five minutes before the train comes back." Pushing through the bushes, he gripped the hammer stuffed into his belt, and silently offered a prayer to the three Norns that he'd survive to see what he'd commisioned Gimli to craft, and to check up on the other rescued victims. Behind him, the others followed, with Kik and Kak almost silent despite being nearly twice human size.
Orion smiled grimly, and the group set off at a quick trot down the train rails.

Kik and Kak waited, weapons levelled, as Koushiro hacked into the door's system; the moment the door swung open wide enough, the Klackon twins slammed through, ready to shoot down any resistance to their entry.
The profound silence following their entry persisted as the rest of the group slipped in and Koushiro closed the door behind them. No one was visible, not even a lone guard at the main controls. For good reason, of course; beyond the next blast door, the noise of the Machine was audible. The three former captives reacted to it with an almost animal instinct, Orion drawing his warhammer, and the Klackon borhters levelling their guns at the door as their antennae flattened back against their heads.
Koushiro hacked that door easily; as it slid open, the noise increased tenfold, a crash of grinding gears mixed with a thin wailing noise that cut across the nerves of the rescue group - when it opened completely, the members who hadn't tried escaping in the past got their first look at it.
Nearly filling the entire room, it looked almost like a pointless mass of spinning, grinding gears and spinning green-glowing hoops, surrounded by dozens of glass tubes etched with bizarre patterns; some seemed empty, although the etchings occasionally flashed with light as if something were being dragged through the tube; others were filled with a pale, glowing mist the swirled and seemed to struggle as it flowed through the tubes into other, lesser machines.
Orion plucked a pair of glasses from a worktable next to the blast door; after a glance through them, he smirked darkly and tossed them to Tenchi. "Behold - the fruit of Genereux's worst experiments..."
Tenchi lifted the glasses to his face, then almost dropped them in shock, as he saw the contents of the empty tubes - ghostly, transparent beings, fighting against some unknown force sucking them into the grinding, whirling gears - and saw the glowing mists of the other tubes seem to be filled with dark, cloudy blood and ground debris being sucked into the other machinery. "Na... Nani!?"
"The ghosts of those unlucky enough to die here without passing on get caught and fed into this thing." Orion shoved the warhammer back into his belt, and nodded to Kik and Kak. "I want a vote here, after everyone looks through those glasses. We can either let the Machine keep running, and slip in without being detected, or we can break the thing, let the ghosts loose, and bull our way in anyway, hoping the ghosts'll provide enough distractions for us to do what we need to."
Tenchi nodded slightly, and held the glasses out to Sylphiel.

Donna's POV:

Sharon, Orion, and the teams they led were in for the rescues. I sent a few of my own to help them, feeling something wrong with the entire situation. I couldn't quite place that sent the alarms blaring in my mind, though. However..
<"Something's wrong."> Sailor Chibimoon quite bluntly stated, seemingly out of the blue.
<"Um, yeah, I feel it too. It's like.. Like a tingle up my spine. A dark, evil tingle."> Gourry Gabriev, the only person able to use a term like that and get away with it.
<"..A 'dark, evil tingle'?"> Or perhaps not get away with it. Rikku's voice, amused.
I sighed. Looks like others felt the darkness, too.
Another orc fell back, dead, after I shot it in the head. I told everyone under my command that killing Orcs and Urak-Hai was fine, considering they were creatures of darkness. It's the humans and Ex-class children that I couldn't bring myself to kill.
<"What is it with all the Orcs today? We havn't seen a human since the guards ran off!"> Flamedramon. And it was true. The guards ran away when we attacked, mere seconds before the Orcs (not Urak-Hai) attacked.
Suddenly, it felt as if a veil of darkness enshrouded the area. Everything stopped. Every warrior on our side stopped what they were doing, even if they were in the middle of a life-or-death situation. The Orcs snarled, stopping as well, but stepped away from us.
<"..Ookay.. Is anyone else completely creeped out by this?"> Yuffie Kisaragi.
An almost animalistic screech went through the air. We all looked to the direction that the sound came from, a garage-like building with a now opened gate.
I suddenly felt very, very weak.
<"Holy shit.."> Someone whispered.
<"What are they?"> Takeru Takaishi.
I recognized them instantly. The Nine. Nazgul, wraiths, ghosts, whatever term you prefer. Except, instead of the trademark black horses, they now rose armored black Chocobos. It would have been a funny sight, if the situation weren't so deadly.
<"..Run."> Aragorn.
<"Wh-what?"> Possibly Ken Ichijouji, not quite sure.
<"Run! We cannot confront them! They cannot be killed!"> Aragorn again.
The battle renewed, as both Orcs and Nazgul attacked.

Jen's POV:

"Swing yer partner 'round an' 'round..." I sung to myself as I swung around an unconscious Orc by its feet before throwing it into a waiting group. I rotated my shoulders a bit. "Hm... those are kinda heavy," I concluded, then beamed at my brilliance.
<"..Run."> I almost missed that on my comlink. Noteworthy, this was Aragorn.
<"Wh-what?"> Now that was one of my many rivals, Ken.
<"Run! We cannot confront them! They cannot be killed!"> Yep. That was Aragorn again.
"Um... can someone tell me what yer all chickening out from?" I asked, spinning my weapon (which just happened to be a gunblade, one of the top models and adjusted by Rhinox no less!).
<"Nazgul!!"> Donna nearly screamed. I tapped my comlink to make sure it still worked.
"What?" I blinked. "Um... me speak English. You try now."
<"That's not funny!"> Donna cried out at me. <"The Nine!!">
I shrugged and spun around, wounding down an Orc rather brutally while I pulled the trigger to the gunblade, but it'd live. Somehow. I made a promise to Vash, after all. Creatures of darkness or not. "No comprendo, mi amiga. What is it, Lassie? Did Timmy fall down a well?"
<"JEN! It's those hooded wraiths!! Remember?! They're after the Ring!">
I paused. "...OH! Those guys! Well, damn. And I left my supersoaker back home."
<"Do you realize how utterly UNFUNNY THIS IS RIGHT NOW?!"> Miyako yelled at me.
I picked at my ear. "Maybe, but at least you're reacting..." I tapped at my comlink again. "Would you guys stop screaming, though? You might bust my comlink."
"Onna-kun! Stop acting so foolish and continue!" Wufei shouted over the battle.
I saluted. "Sorry 'bout that! Oh, and if you see a black-hooded figure on a horse--"
<"Um... actually, they're on black chocobos..."> Cait Sith admitted.
"Right. Sorry. Big black birds that look like turkeys crossed with an ostrich, let me know and run like hell, 'cuz they kinda can't die and stuff," I told my Chinese companion.
Wufei gave me a strange look before continuing on. I know he heard it from the comlink, but as to clear up some things and to make him wonder what the hell's wrong with my head, I felt like telling him so just in case.
I spun around to take on the other side, but paused.
Now, you might wanna know that I've got a good chunk of people fighting with me right now. However, I'm pretty good with faces, and with the kinds of guys I got, you can't forget them. So, a frog about as tall (or short as the case may be) as Donna leaping over the battle and slashing as he made his way through with a cavewoman following him kind of made me wonder a bit...
Oh, wait... frog... cavewoman...
I scratched my head, leaning back to evade sluggish, wounded Orc before kicking it aside.
Holy Wonderbread! Frog and Ayla from Chrono Trigger! We didn't even HAVE those guys with us in our army!
"Frog!!" I shouted, but I don't think I really caught his attention as he was trying desperately with Ayla to make his way through. "FROG!!!" I tried again. No go. I sighed and started to make my way toward him and Ayla. "GLENN!!!"
His real name set him off to turn around and finally notice me. His bulbous eyes narrowed and he leapt over a falling Orc (fault of mine) to approach me, Ayla leaping after him.
"Maiden! How dost thou knoweth mine true name?" the knight demanded.
"Uh, that's kinda not important right now, but... what the hell are you doin' here?!" I demanded. "Rather, HOW did you get here?! An' don't call me 'maiden'!"
"'Twould not be wise to discuss such matters in the battlefield, my lady," Frog told me. "Hast thou seen two other maidens; one with purple hair and the other a blonde in white wardrobe?"
I scratched my head. That meant... Lucca and Marle...
Well, sheeeeee-at.
"No, but I got a good clue where they could be. Hang on a sec..." I turned around, glancing at my comlink. "Heyyyyy, Rattrap?"
<"Ehh, now's not a good time ta be havin' a conversation...">
"Never mind that! Get yer aft over here!" I told him. "Pronto!"
<"Fine, fine! Hang on!">
I nodded at that. "Good boy." I turned back to Frog and Ayla. "You two wait a minute. I'll get you to where they are, hopefully. Afterwards, we're gonna hafta meet up again... you guys bein' here isn't really a good thing..."
"What you mean?" Ayla was confused. "We look for Lucca and Marle. Good thing. What wrong?"
"Er... I'll explain everything afterwards. For now, you two go find your friends, and make it snappy!"
Rattrap hustled over (do da Hustle! Doo doo doo... er, sorry) toward us, eyeing at Ayla and Frog for a moment before glancing to me. "What's wit' da Neandrathal an' Kermit?"
"Long story, I'll tell later. For now, transform to yer vehicle mode," I ordered.
"Eh?"
I glared and kicked him in the shin. "Darn it, just do it, Ratty!!"
"OW! Sheesh, all right!" Rattrap winced, transforming. "Now what?"
"Okay, now... Frog, Ayla. Hop on!" I said, pointing at Rattrap with a broad grin.
"Are ya kiddin'?!" Rattrap stared at me.
"Not this time. Hey, I'll make it up to ya later!" I waved my hand dismissively. "Hang on tight, you two."
Frog perched reluctantly onto Rattrap with Ayla after him. "Art thou sure thou knoweth what thou be doing?"
"Nope!" I grinned. "Rattrap, take 'em to the area Sharon is, okay? They're lookin' for a coupla friends, and I think that they'll be there."
"How many times did ya hit yer head today?" Rattrap asked suddenly.
"Dunno. Why?"
"'Cuz there's no slaggin' way I can make it through dat battle! Are ya crazy?!"
I nodded. "Maybe! All right, all right... Guess I'll have to make a path for you. WUWU!!"
"Don't call me that, Onna-kun!" Wufei snapped at me.
Ignoring that, I waved him over. "Gimme a hand here, Wu-chan! We need to make a path here..." I walked over and punched his shoulder. "And don't kill that Orc! I promised Vash!"
Wufei glared at me. "Hmph... well, then... let's get to work. We shouldn't waste time."
"Yay! Thanks, Wu-man," I grinned. "Rattrap, when ya see an opening, burn rubber!"
"Eh, my wheels aren't made of--" Rattrap began.
"BELITTLE THE DETAILS!!" I yelled at him. "Come, Tofu Wuwu!"
"Where do ya come up with these names...?" Rattrap muttered.
I posed. "I have no freakin' clue!"
With that said and done, I charged on with Wufei right beside me.

Third-Person: Orion

The team bolted down the corridor; behind them, the sound of the Machine was rapidly rising to an ear-piercing scream; the heavy guns carried by the Klackon 'brothers' had blown one of the massive cogs apart, leading the entire device into a cascading failure. When Koushiro had opened the blast door into the rest of the base, arcs of green lightning had been crawling across it, and several of the pipelines had been developing fracture lines.
Behind them, the scream of metal on metal built to a climax, and then ended with a thunderclap; the floor jerked underneath everyone's feet, nearly sending them sprawling, and several fragments of metal whizzed past, leaving scars ripped along the walls and scorched marks where they finally came to rest. Tenchi stumbled, as one fragment cut across his cheekbone, but kept on his feet.
A sudden silence filled the hall; ducking around a corner, Orion waited until everyone was sheltered, then leaned out slightly to look around the corner.
He jerked his head back just in time to avoid being clipped by the mass of blue-green light that blew past, producing a hissing, howling noise as it did; a guard coming around the corner, farther down the hall, wasn't so lucky: the stream slammed into him, and for a moment Orion had a flashback as a crimson afterimage was ripped free from the guard's body. It looked like a reverse of the 'Phantoms' of the Final Fantasy Movie, ripping out a soul to eat it - as if Gaia had gotten upset and decided to eat a few of the people torturing her.
The surge of power whipped past, the trailing end leaving the surfaces it touched looking as if they'd been acid-etched, long shiny streak on every surface. The silence in the wake of it trailed on for a minute, then Orion pushed away from the wall. "Come on - let's take advantage of the havoc that thing's gonna cause and get people out."

The first rescue was less of a rescue and more of a case of everyone keeping out of the way while Orion got in a wrestling match; the door they were passing by bowed outward, then broke open, allowing a white-eared 'dogboy' into the hall. He crashed into Orion, and the two fell back against the wall, the 'dogboy' trying to dig his claws into Orion's neck while Orion fought to hold them back.
Orion had no trouble recognizing his attacker - silver-white hair, a dog-like set of ears and claws on his hands, and the ancient Japanese wardrobe marked it as Inuyasha, the half-goblin of the series with the same name.
Kik solved the matter by stepping up and grabbing Inuyasha by the shoulders; the muscles inside the chitin-armored Klackon were strong enough to make even Orion look like a weakling, and so holding the youkai was no problem for him. Orion leaned against the wall, catching his breath while the Klackon managed to look a bit bored with his captive's struggling. Finally, he looked up and snarled. "Calm down! We're not with the jerks who captured you!"
Inuyasha stopped struggling for a moment, just long enough for Orion to step up closer. "Let me guess - they showed up where you were, fired at anything that moved, and anything that didn't look human they carted off, right?" He gestured to Kik, holding Inuyasha, and Kak, standing off to the side, waiting for a guard to gun down. "Do they look like they're something Lasarius would want working for him? He's pro-human, after all."
The dogboy was just getting ready to struggle, when Orion gestured for Kik to drop him; landing on his feet, he paused just long enough for Orion to offer a hand. "Look, we're trying to rescue captives. Give us a hand, and we'll take you back to our base so you can decide whether or not to help us fight."
For a moment, Inuyasha just stared at the hand and sniffed suspiciously a few times; then, cautiously he accepted it, and gave a feral grin.

With Inuyasha along, the door to the room holding Cloud captive was easy to deal with - while Kik and Kak held off guards with their guns, Koushiro set to cracking the codes on the cells with no bars, while Orion and the dog-boy broke open the less sophisticated cell doors.
Cloud was held in a tank at the far end of the room, floating in a bath of some bizarre blue-green liquid; unlike most of the other captives, he was concious, and when he saw who it was moving around, he pounded against the glass with his fists. When the door on the side slapped open, he came out in a wash of thick, slimy gel, and coughed up more of it as he fought to his feet.

The group of rescuers and captives had just made it out of the room when Tenchi held up his hand; Orion had refused to bring a headset, not liking the feel of anything on his head if he could help it...
"A retreat's been ordered. Something about 'The Nine' and 'Nazgul'."
Orion stared at Tenchi, then punched the wall. "Damn it. We haven't rescued Renamon...." Hefting one of the new rescued victims - the fox-child who'd come from Inuyasha's world - he growled softly, "Right, let's go - the faster we get out, the less likely we'll have a repeat of what happened last time."

Donna's POV:

<"Aw, fuck.."> That would be my sister. <"Are you sure we can't kill them, Aggy?">
<"They are allready dead. I believe death would be rather moot. Now, run!"> Aragorn. 'Aggy'? I'll have to ask my sister later.
An Orc fell from another shot, and I called into the comlink, "All units retreat! Get back! Do not confront the nine wraiths on Chocobo back! Repeat, do not--"
<"FOX!!"> The cry startled me. Slippy Toad, I think.
<"What, what happened?!"> Quatre.
I looked around wildly, shooting at a few Orcs who got too close.
I spotted Fox McCloud on the ground a few seconds later, the rest of the Starfox team around him. I ran closer to the group, only to gasp.
"Oh, shit.." Fox was bleeding. Heavilly. A small break in his armor, probably no larger than an inch or two, was where it was all coming from. A hand clutched at the wound, trying to stop it, Fox's face contorted in agony.
"One of them ghosts hit him with a sword!" Peppy yelled, angry. "Right in! We gotta get him out of here!"
I gaped for a brief moment. A Nazgul blade wound? ..Oh, shitshitshitshitshit.
Into the comlink, "I need someone fast over here, now! Nazgul blade victim needs transport back to base!"
<"A Nazgul blade made a mark!?"> Frodo.
Sonic the hedgehog himself was suddenly at my side. I nodded to him, even as he picked up Fox in his arms.
Quite a sight, seeing a three-and-a-half-foot tall hedgehog pick up a five-and-a-quarter-foot tall fox.
Sonic sped off just as Fox's eyes clouded over in complete white and began to gasp. Not before I was able to tell him one thing over the comlink. "Sonic, tell Selenity-sama to get Lord Elrond. Remember the name; Lord Elrond. Got it?"
<"Got it! No problem!">
Our groups began to pull out, and I spoke into the comlink again, "Water and fire types, blast at the Nazgul! Those two elements may set them back enough for an escape!"
<"..Has anyone seen Vash?">

Jen's POV:

"Hey, Ratty," I talked into my comlink as I blasted away a random Orc. "You guys there?"
<"Yeah, yeah; I'm barely gettin' there! We can't stay long, though! We're supposed t'retreat!">
<"How Ratman able talk to Lady?"> That had to be Ayla, no doubt.
<"It's 'Rattrap', and never mind dat; it'd go over yer head, toots.">
<"Ayla no toots.">
<"Couldst thou refrain from speaking? Methinks we arrive to our destination."> That was a no-brainer; it was Frog.
"Make sure to help them, Ratty. An' if you see a scary guy with a scythe, a not-very-humanoid robot, and a kid with spiky red hair and a katana, point them out to Frog an' Ayla," I ordered the Maximal.
<"..Has anyone seen Vash?"> someone had asked.
I sweated to myself. I guess he managed to begin his way toward Renamon.
You'd better be okay, you idiot. After all, we just got Fox stabbed; you don't need to be next.
I paused, just having noticed something...
Not many reinforcements were headed toward where Vash was.
"Uh-oh," I murmured. That could NOT be good.

Vash the Stampede's POV:
[Love and Peace!]

I checked my gun again to make sure it was loaded, stepping over the injured Orcs as I made my way through. I was sure that Orcs knew pain, but I was told by one of Frodo's friends that Orcs didn't comprehend pain of the heart, unless it was on another. Honestly, I couldn't believe that. Even if it was true, I couldn't ever smother out another flame of life. Not ever, no matter who it was.
I finally approached the door, the room within that would hold Renamon.
This was it. I'd personally make sure that Renamon would safely arrive back to her friends. I wouldn't fail another person!
I held up my hand to the locking system, concentrating.
It opened. There was Renamon, held in a tank with an oxygen mask over her face. Various needles were stuck in her body, making my heart sink. For what reason would they do this? With a solid conscious, how could anyone act like this to another living being?!
"Renamon," I sighed in relief that she was still alive, at least. I approached the tank, shutting off whatever was being done to her; injection or taking blood from her, I wasn't sure, but it had to stop.
The tank opened, the needles having withdrawn. I caught her, gently holding her and taking off the mask. She was tailless... and so much more, I knew, had happened to her.
I swallowed hard, closing my eyes. How could anyone...?
I needed to get her out of here.
I stood up and began to leave, but smiled briefly. Jen apparently managed to keep off the reinforcements, although I was surprised that not many guards were set up here.
Pausing, I swore I heard... a hissing noise...
I didn't notice anything. Strange. I looked around. Should probably take a run for it. I stood for a moment, then sprinted, holding Renamon tightly to my chest, to protect her just in case.
Hssss....
I turned sharply around the corner to run into something quite nasty.
My eyes widened briefly. "Oh, sh--" I began under my breath as I started to dodge, but I was a tad late.
It already sprung at me.

Jen's POV:

I winced suddenly and nearly dropped my gunblade, going to one knee and holding my head tightly.
Fangs! Chewing, slowly, maliciously...!
"Fuckbeans!" I muttered, trying to shake it off. For some reason, I felt some pain in my shoulder...
Damn it, somehow, I knew this kind of thing would happen! After all, the whole connection thing, doing it without me even noticing... when I was talking to Vash, is that when it happened?
"Logical thinking, later!" I growled at myself, swiveling around. "Man, but how do I find Vash?! That building is too fucking big!!"
Connection or not, I still didn't know how to use this weird "psychic" thing that J'onn went on to tell me about. I'm one big huge gigantic amateur; I'd never be able to find Vash...
Still, maybe J'onn could.
Mind you, I've got really, really, really weird logic at times of need. In other words, I was thinking that because I was a psychic and because J'onn was one as well, no matter how new I was at it, he should be able to pick up my thoughts if I tried hard enough.
Hey, it was a longshot, but it was worth to try.
I took in a deeeeep breath, and:
[J'ONN J'ONN J'ONN J'ONN J'ONN J--]
[Jennifer?!] His "voice" sounded kinda strained. Maybe I was kinda loud.
[HELP ME HELP ME HELP MEEEE!! I NEED TO FIND--]
[Please do not think so hard!] Now that sounded almost desperate.
[Sorry; I'm rrreeeeal new to this!! This is an emergency, though! I need to find Vash, but I dunno how so I need your help and pleeeease find him?!]
[I understand... wait a moment...]
I bit my lip. Right now, my only guide was gonna be J'onn, but even then, I dunno if I could make it. I'm pretty fast, but not fast enough...
Tiger of the Wind just dashed in front of me, tearing at some orcs.
"Gee, whatta coincedence," I grinned at myself. [J'ooooonn!]
[I will guide you.]
I had a weird tingling feeling int he back of my head for a moment, causing me to blink. It felt like an urge to go somewhere... Like a map imprinted in my head, I suddenly just... knew where to go. Oh, the joys of psychic powers.
Now, as to get Tiger from his killing spree to help me out, that was going to be a task...
"Tiger! I need your help!" I called out.
The monster turned to glare at me coldly. "What is it?!" he barked at me.
"Gimme a ride!" I told him.
Tiger snorted. "This isn't the time!"
"I'm serious! I need a ride to save Vash and Renamon!" I shouted at him, angry at the time being wasted on arguing. "Do you want two other people killed because of our arguing?!"
Tiger stopped short on that, giving me quite a death glare. "...Where to?"
"Just follow my directions, and everything will be peachy keen," I assured him as I got on. "Not too heavy, am I?"
"Hmph," was all he said.
"Okie dokie... now, we need to get to..."

Screw horses. Riding Tiger of the Wind is frickin' AWESOME! Somehow, he managed to dodge and dash his way through the battle while managing to keep me on his back! I tell you, the monster's got serious talent! Wish I could do this out of free time instead of during mission time, but I doubted that would happen anytime soon.
Up the stairs, through the woods, over the river, and to Grandma's house we go! I mean... um... we went up the stairs, getting to Vash as fast as we could.
Vash was poised hunched over, using his body as a shield to cover Renamon, who was in his arms. Locked onto his left shoulder was a Mobian cobra, which included a pair of arms with three large talons and sickly mutated bat wings on his back. It was chewing on Vash's shoulder much in the same fashion a regular cobra would, injecting his poison into the outlaw.
"Shit!" I growled. I dashed on over, grabbing the cobra just in front of where his ears would be, slightly behind the jaw. The cobra automatically released Vash, who shivered slightly, moving toward Tiger and still holding Renamon.
The cobra/bat hybrid hissed at me. I shoved him away, grabbing my gunblade and taking a step back, standing in front of the others.
As it twisted onto its tail, attempting to look tall, I studied him. Hey, he looked rather familiar...
Oh. Crap.
That's just peachy keen...
Around the time I had created Lasarius with Donna, I also decided to create one of the first victims of Lasarius. Noteworthy, this creation was entirely on my own. His name was Vissra, originally a plain Mobian cobra snake and quite innocent. However, he was taken by Lasarius one day, and because Vissra had no family to speak of, nobody knew nor cared. Vissra was a mutation. In the process of becoming a dangerous fighter, he also grew bat wings from one of many experiments, granting him flight. He has plenty of other abilities, I knew.
Considering when I created Lasarius and Vissra, it wasn't light to say that Vissra has gone through everything possible that you can live from. Since Donna and I fabricated the present dictator, Vissra must have been tortured for about six years straight.
A poor soul indeed.
I winced slightly, remembering that Vissra is a victim, just like any of us. I doubted I could get out of a fight. Vissra might have been beyond all reasoning.
"Tiger... please take Renamon back..." Vash requested in a pained and tired voice, placing Renamon carefully on the monster's back.
"Vash, you should leave, too," I told him. "That poison is pretty deadly, and all things considered, it's probably moving through your body at a considerably fast rate."
"I can take it for a little while," Vash assured me. "Tiger can't take another rider, anyway."
"I'll come back for both of you. Don't either of you dare die," Tiger snapped at us, running down the staircase.
Vissra swerved slightly, looking at both of us. His tongue flickered out, probably "tasting" the air, or smelling. However you look at it.
"Plan?" Vash whispered to me with a nervous grin, sweating profusely, already starting to be affected by the poison.
"Hold out your hand, fingers side-bye-side, like a 'stop' motion," I told him. "When he moves to bite at you. Make sure to have him aimed for you palm. I'd do it, but your hand's bigger."
Vash seemed to have caught on, nodding. "Right," he agreed.
Vissra jerked suddenly, arching his back as he prepared to fly forward. Then he sprung at us.
Vash held out his hand at Vissra, and the mutation bumped right off his hand.
Y'see, this trick wouldn't have worked with rattle snakes. With rattlers, their fangs are like daggers and just stab you, but their poison works slower than cobras. With cobras, if you hold your hand out at the right length, will just bounce of your hand because they need to bite to be able to inject anything into you.
Handy trick, but don't try it at home. Or anywhere else! Unless you're the Crocodile Hunter.
I spun around with my gunblade, smacking Vissra in the side of the head with the flat side. He hit the wall nearby, falling onto the floor unconscious.
Vash started to breathe louder, falling onto one knee.
"Crikey," I sighed. "I'm gonna hafta take Vissra with us if we're gonna be able to cure you, I think."
Vash nodded, struggling back onto his feet. I shook my head. "You keep moving, poison will move faster. I'll carry you." I sheathed the gunblade.
"JEN!!" Tiger burst his way back up the staircase.
"Yo; that was quick," I observed.
"She was picked up by one of the Chosen Children," Tiger told me.
I gave him a thumbs up. "Soo-pa! Oh, and carry that snake guy while yer here, please. We need him to help out Vash." I crouched down beside the outlaw, taking ahold of his arm, then his leg, bringing him onto my back with some strain, but managable.
"Won't he wake up?" Tiger told me with a frown.
"Maybe," I grunted. "Can't argue right now. He won't wake up immediately, though. Just take him, all right?!"
Tiger reluctantly took Vissra onto his back, then made his way down the staircase after me.
"This guy's gotta cut down on the donuts," I grumbled as I started to make my way back toward Knothole2. Screw the battle; like I was gonna stop to beg another person to help take him back. I had no time to explain!
Besides, since the Nazgul arrived, I knew that Donna had commanded a retreat...

Donna's POV:

We were back at Knothole2.
You know the expression 'It never rains, but it always pours'? That's how it felt.
As soon as we returned, the first thing I did was head to the hospital, intent on, of course, visiting Fox and seeing how bad the damage was. However, of course, nothing is ever so easy as to get between point 'A' and point 'B' without something else going wrong.
Besides the point that the hospital was pretty packed with various minor injuries (bumps, bruises and broken bones), there were the few serious ones tha caught my attention. Vash the Stampede, unconscious on a gurney and being rushes past would be one. The winged Mobian cobra in a cage likewise being rushed past sent me into confusion.
I'll have to ask later on that. Though, I assumed that the cobra was evil, and it had something to do with poison. You can never have a snake in a battle without poison, after all.
At any rate, as I neared the room a Joy told me Fox was in, screeching could be heard from a few corridors away. Upon entering, I spotted Fox on a bed, eyes opened wide but clouded completely in white. He screeched like a wraith every few seconds. Lylatians, some I didn't even recognize, were either surrounding the bed, in a chair, or leaning aganst a wall. All were frightened and angry, understandably. A female vulpine was in tears, kneeling next to Fox's bed, holding his hand, and crying out his name. Fara, his fiancee, I recalled.
I stood there in silence for a few seconds. What could I have said, anyway?
A hand touched my shoulder. I looked back, into the canine face of (what took me a short second to recognize) Bill Grey, one of Fox's closest friends.
"The Queen said that he'll be fine. Fox, that is. Said something about sending someone to get an 'elf lord', I think." Bill told me.
Someone had gone to get Lord Elrond, then, as I had instructed Sonic. Good. He remembered. Points to the hedgehog with a short attention span.
As far as I knew, Elrond was the only one who could heal a Nazgul blade wound.
The door burst open with a thunderous clap. Whirling around, I came to see a very flustered Nurse Joy. This one didn't look any older than seven or eight years old.
She stuttered for a few seconds. Fox screeched again, and she then burst it all out.
"Miss Hol is in labor!"
I stared at her in shock for a second before racing out. A thousand thoughts crossed my mind, the most important being a question.
Weren't they due at the ninth week?
It's only been seven weeks.
Then, I recalled the girl helping the Joy's, saying that Hawkgirl's child was forming faster..

There were quite a few people infront of the closed door which led into the room that the pregnant women were being held in. The screams of labor (or pre-labor) could be heard clearly from this side of the door.
People were being demanded to be let in, Green Lantern in the lead.
Wait. Where was Flash and J'onn?
..Did Flash even know Hawkgirl was here?
I ran out, heading to Wally West's room.

I called out Wally's name as soon as I entered the corridor that the door to his room was in, then banged on the door.
"Wally! Wally, open up!"
There was a brief *thump* and an "owwww" before I heard the fast footsteps of Wally, who was rubbing his head as he opened the door. "Jeez; what's wrong?" He looked a little worried, since, of course, the mission hadn't been too long ago and he may not have heard anything on his friends.
I gasped for a moment, out of breath for a second, "It's Hawkgirl, in the fourth medwing, she's in labor!"
Wally stared at me in shock, "What!? Why didn't anybody even tell me she was here?!" He put a hand to his head, but not due to the bump my arrival caused.
"I thought someone told you, but now there's no time! Medwing four isn't far, do you know the way? And do you know where J'onn is?"
"Yeah, I know the way," Wally replied, trying his darnest to stay calm, but he stared at me after I mentioned J'onn. "J'onn's here, too? Why doesn't anybody ever tell me anything?!"
That was a very good question in itself. I assumed Jen would have said something, at the least.
"No time, pick me up and let's go!"
Surprisingly, Wally didn't remark anything as he complied, lifting me up and running down the hallway.

We were still being blocked at the door. GL, along with friends and familly of the other women, were still demanding entrance. A very flustured Nurse Joy was keeping the door closed.
J'onn stood a few feet away, not saying anything, but still looked upset. Perhaps even a bit annoyed at the Joy at the door.
I approached the single Nurse Joy keeping everyone at bay. The Joy (who, for some reason, had no number tag) stared at me in shock for a moment, "General! I-I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to enter."
Not good enough. "As General under Neo Queen Selenity, I order you to let me in that room." I really hate to wave my title around like this, but if it's the only way to be let in..
She looked afraid, "But I can't! I've been ordered ot to let anyone in!"
"By who?! Who gave you that order?!" Admittingly, I was a bit upset at being denied access.
Wally pushed his way past me, not looking pleased in the least, glaring proverbial daggers at the Joy, "I just found out not even a minute ago that Hawkgirl's in there! I don't care if some kinda freakin' God of an underworld gave you an order to keep us out--I want in! I haven't seen her or barely any of the others since I got here!" At that, he motioned toward J'onn. "Let me through!"
The Joy looked from Green Lantern, to Wally, to J'onn, then to me. Then, she actually burst out in tears, "I can't handle this anymore!" Then ran off down the hall, pushing her way past startled onlookers.
I gaped for a moment, before swinging the door open. The screams, somehow, were even clearer.
Hawkgirl can scream loudly.
There were winces around the room. Perhaps 'loudly' was an understatement.
Wally, still angry, ran right into the room, looking to me seriously, "I'm definitely gonna want to hear some stories after this!"
J'onn appeared somewhat indifferent to the shrieks, looking quietly to Hawkgirl before glancing to me. "Jennifer apologizes for not being here," he told me quietly.
I blinked once at the Martian, but didn't reply, looking back to Hawkgirl, making my way to her side. I didn't exactly want to see a child being born. Health class gave me enough grief.
She was clutching a pair of those rubber 'stress balls'. A pair of Nurse Joy's a bit further away had makeshift casts on their hands, wincing as they continued to wrap their hands in bandages.
There were alot of wires with needles embedded into Hawkgirl's skin, connected to various machinery. A nervous looking Washuu monitored one set, while a grim-faced Rhinox monitored another. A Mobian duck, with some Joy assistants, was actually in position to deliver the child (Doctor Quack?). Mitsukake stood nearby, a precaution.
Green Lantern thoroughly winced at the sight of Hawkgirl, but didn't waste any time. He turned to Washuu and the others. "How is she handling?" he asked, although his tone hinted toward a demanding side; it was plainly obvious he was worried about Hawkgirl.
J'onn seemed to daydream off for a moment, but then snapped back into awareness. That was odd.
Washuu looked to Lantern, then to the controlls. She seemed flustered, a rarity, "She's--" Hawkgirl's scream cut her off.
Rhinox picked up on her sentence, "She's fine. For the moment."
"Okay, Miss Hol, you have to follow my instructions!" The duck doctor called out.
I looked to Hawkgirl. She was sweating, gritting her teeth and clutching those stress balls tightly, but she nodded, letting out a quieter grunt of pain.
The other women in various beds, I noticed, were paying rapt attention, but stayed quiet. Actually, everything had suddenly gone rather quiet.
No one had said a word, thought I noticed Wally speeding back and forth accross the room (his equivilent of a pace, I assumed), as the labor went into the last stage. Hawkgirl, understandably, was screaming every couple of seconds.
"You're almost there, Miss Hol!" The doctor called out. "You're--"
"Yes!" Washuu's yell interrupted the doctor, causing a few of us to look over. She had a large grin on her face, "YesyesyesyesYES!" A bit out of character for the woman/girl, but considering the situation, I probably would have done the same.
I looked over to Rhinox. He smiled, and gave me a thumbs up.
A baby's cry went through the air, as Hawkgirl let out a final scream, before breathing in relief.
Green Lantern had rushed over to Hawkgirl's side, looking incredibly glad that Hawkgirl was going to be alright. Wally was uninformed of the situation, but apparently assumed that this must be good and smiled a little.
J'onn's eyes unfocused for a moment before looking to Hawkgirl, with a hint of a smile.
Wally dashed back toward me, arms crossed. "So, what's the story?" he asked, somewhat bitterly.
I didn't have a chance to answer, at least not right away. The doctor's voice called out something which stunned all three Justice League members.
"Would any of you like to cut the cord?"
All three declined. I nearly laughed at their expressions.
It seems I never did have to answer Wally's question. A minute later, Hawkgirl held a winged baby in her arms.
In my opinion, the baby was georgous, a baby girl, pale-but-healthy skin and a small tuft of black fuzz as hair. Large green eyes shone with curiosity, a small pair of brown wings was at the baby's back.
Hawkgirl stared at her baby with a strange, unreadable expression.

I flopped onto the bed in my quarters. Granted, I didn't check on everything, yet. I had to recheck in on Fox, see if the one sent to Rivendell came back with Lord Elrond yet, make sure that Hawkgirl's baby was being well cared for, check to see who else was hurt from the battle...
I needed a nap. Just for an hour or two. An hour! Was that so much to ask?
A small sound of shifting paper came from the door. I peaked up from my bed, to see a piece of paper had been shoved between the tiny slot underneath the door.
Getting off my bed quite reluctantly, I took the paper.
It was.. A flyer. An ad, actually, for a.. A festival?
Stareing at it some more, it seemed to have come from the Queen herself. Her seal was on it.
A festival to occur tomorrow, to celebrate the successfull rescue mission. I suspected it was more to cheer everyone up from the latest bout of depression than anything else. 'Games, fun, sports and music. A special fashion show from Martina's Fashions', and, at that, I chuckled slightly, 'and an extra special announcement.' Seemed like a good idea to me.
Yawning, I decided that I could sincerely use that nap. Setting the alarm clock, I headed into slumber.

Nevermore22's Notes: ...Okay. Yeah. I'm such a cruel bitch, ne? ^^; At any rate, expect some weird stuff next chapter. Let's see.. Starfox fans may kill me, Knuckles fans may either kill me or bless me, yet MORE new people show up.. .. ..I'm starting to loose track of the Joy's.. Anyway, we'll probably have the next installment in one or two months. ^^

Alba Aulbath's Notes of Doom: Not much to say. The psychic thing is, actually, pretty much true in my life. It's kind of weird at times. I just know what people are gonna say half the time. n_n; Oh, and I own Vissra. I do I do I do! Let me know your undying hatred for me!