Aberrant: 200X - Victoria Crush Charity Extravaganza

Ryusei Hideyoshi · June 4, 2011

With Sakurako's exit, Ryusei sighed. He didn't see the need to maintain pretense any longer.

"Well I suppose that's what this was really about then. Getting one of us or both of us to come home and join the team.."

Mayumi stared at him. "What are you.."

She shook her head. "It was obvious wasn't it?"

"Much as I might like you Mayumi, I figure you aren't the type of woman to truly go for someone like me, let alone pay what you did to do so."

He nodded. "I'm flattered honestly but that doesn't mean I plan on coming home and jumping to join the team like my sister."

"I see." This was starting to sour horribly for her.

"I know you do. My offer to serve as a reservist is still good. It may not be a perfect arrangement, but it's as far as I'm willing to go."

Mayumi was angry, she'd let him get to her, and even though she won the unexpected bonus of Sakurako, the nova she'd wanted was not going to join, not in full. "I suppose that will have to do then."

He nodded. "Now that the buisness portion of the evening is concluded, perhaps we can continue with the fun."

"After..."

He shook his head. "You won Mayumi. Unless you're ready to call it a night, there's still plenty to enjoy. Before Sakurako came up here I was rather enjoying my time with you, and I know that can continue."

Edward Mansfield · June 4, 2011

Edward nodded, looking nonplussed by the woman's comments even as he studied her expression. Whether Skittles was an incredibly well-adjusted baseline or a nova was, for the moment, irrelevant to Edward. Unlike other members of his family, he held no deep hatred for the baselines. They even served their purposes on occasion. But even before his eruption, Edward had always possessed little patience for those who weren't worth his time, preferring to deal with those professional and together enough not to waste any of his. This woman was one of those people, baseline or nova.

"Your frankness does you credit, and is appreciated. And you are, of course, correct. There is nothing that could possibly capture what we here have been honored to see. The picture, then, is not for those few of us fortunate enough to be present, but for those unlucky enough not to be."

She nodded them, moving around the room and gesturing people out of the way to set up a clear shot. Then she flipped on the camera and began the horrifically frustrating task of attempting to photograph artistic perfection. No one would be able to do it - not even to come close - but she would fail less than most, which was all that her generous employer was asking for.

Jael Carver · June 4, 2011

Jael Carver was dangerously bored. Several thoughts on how to liven things up had occurred to her, but she let them pass. Her bank account was dipping low again and tonight’s work would pay her bills for the summer and pay most of her fall tuition. Add in Havoc in Havana this summer and she should have enough money to coast through Christmas, if she wasn’t careful. It’s good to be a nova.

The door opened on the VIP lounge and a dream walked into the room. Jael felt her breath catch in her chest, just as it always did whenever she saw her Sunshine. And tonight, she was getting to see her Sunshine in a tux. God, he is so hot. Her gray eyes watched him hungrily, just as many other women did. The difference was that when he saw her, he winked at her.

“Hey.” Matt’s voice cut into her reverie and Jael reluctantly looked at him. The film crew and reporter were gone; Jael hadn’t really been aware they had gone. Reynolds would have her hide for that, if he knew. “You’re on the clock.”

“I know what I am,” Jael said, grabbing his wrist. His hand had slipped down to her ass. It wasn’t like his hand hadn’t touched her there before, or in lots of other places, either. And he’d been seen groping her in public too. But she still looked him in the eye and said, “Move your hand.” She was smiling for the watching people and cameras as she said it, but the annoyance was clear in her gaze.

“Why, babe? You’re my escort, officially,” Matt said, grinning. “And it’s way too late to play the modest maiden. I know what a hot whore you are.”

“Move the hand or I make a scene,” Jael hissed. She was making no effort to play nice now. “And if you think I’ll let it go just because you have a performance coming up, think again. I’ll still carve you up like a rotisserie chicken.”

Matt’s hand moved up to her waist, but he leaned in, putting his lips next to her ear. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“No,” Jael said. “We won’t.” Her eyes flicked across the room to Sunshine again. “I know what my contract stipulates; consider any ‘extra’ privileges revoked.”

Contessa · June 5, 2011

She didn't know a single soul in this whole place. Super stars and Elites, Terats and Utopians... it was a mad house and she was completely out of her element. While she appreciated the gesture from Doctor May, she really was starting to wish she'd stayed at home and worked on grinding for levels in Rift with Mixie.

She smiled at a few novas as she walked past them, not saying anything as she did. A few moments at the hors d'œuvres yielded a few tasty surprises until she bit into something she couldn't identify and swiftly spat it into a napkin. After a three minute search for a trash bin she disposed of the evidence. Water, to her shock, apparently came in eleven different flavors of 'distilled' and her constant request for 'just plain water' fell on the deaf ears of the wait staff.

I'm just a poor girl from Michigan. She thought to herself as she tried to ignore the approach of yet one more guy who was going to try and ask for her phone number. Doc, I'm so not cut out for this glitzy and glamorous lifestyle all these people seem to lead. It was a very sweet gift though. Thankfully her pocket vibrated in the nick of time.

Swiftly she pulled her Op phone out of her white dress pants and checked it. It was Mixie.

Tessa grinned at the text. Mixieplix: "So? How is it? Is Einherjar there? Tell him he going to marry me one day so he might as well except it."

She turned her back to the guy approaching her and walked off. Calamity Jane: "This place is insane. They're dropping 12 million dollars like it's pocket change. Can you imagine?! We'd have tuition for... well, until you were a Doctor, so twenty years at least!"

Mixieplix: Very funny. I hate you now.

Calamity Jane: " "

Feeling a bit better she sighed and tucked her phone away. She took a moment to straighten the white turtleneck sweater she wore that seemed to hug her frame in all the (in)appropriate places and checked her hair in the reflection of a silver tray one of the caterers was holding.

Two more minutes of aimless wandering left Contessa feeling very much like she did before her eruption: alone and lost. Finally she found a small, empty table and sat down. By the third time one of the wait staff passed her by as her shy voice tried to hail them, she gave up on asking for a water.

At least there was only a few more hours to go...

Silvertalon · June 5, 2011

She casually walked down the hallway looking over her shoulder a couple times casually making sure she was not followed. A smile played across her lips as she made her way towards the lockers were she stuffed her stash of goodies earlier. It was also a good thing that she chose a locker close enough to ladies restroom she could pull off a quick change if need be. But in this case she felt the urge to enjoy things in a different light so to speak.

The bathroom had several people inside some using the toilets, sinks and or talking with their friends. She waited for a stall to empty which didn't take to long. She entered the stall and locked the door behind her and looked around the small area making sure there were no surprises on the floor she might step in or else place. The sound of water was rushing and the flush of the toilet in the other stall next to hers flushed loudly enough that no one would hear the changes that might take place.

Quickly she focused upon her power as she felt the tingling sensation flow though her body. The feeling of her transformation was wonderful as she felt so free. A few snaps and a soft groan escaped her lips. The change came quickly as she felt her ears twitch upon the top of her head. She felt her four tails now swaying slightly hitting the sides of the stalls wall from time to time. It truly felt like she was free and enjoyed every moment.

A soft sigh escaped her muzzle as her silvery eyes opened. She looked down at herself and as her enufiber changed from the blouse and skirt she wore into a lovely white kimono dress with red and gold highlights splashing in a few elegant designs to give it flare. She looked down at herself placing a finger tip upon her muzzle pondering for a moment and nodded as she altered the enufiber to create a silky red sash around her waist ending with a bow upon the back. The outfit clearly sported the traditional wear with a hint of modern influence.

Silvertalon smiled reaching over to unlock the latch to the stall. One of her tails moved past the sensor causing the toilet behind her to flush. As her right hand grasped her human's VIP badge and pulled it off she vanished.

Slowly the door slightly opened on its own. A young woman stepped forward and looked in to the stall though the opening and didn't see anyone. Slowly she opened the door "hello? Anyone in here?" she found no one was inside. She scratched her head a little swearing someone using it a moment ago.

Slinking though the wall behind the stall she moved quickly to the lockers with little effort she found her lock box and dropped her humans VIP badge with in. She carefully grasped her nova's VIP badge and passed though the lockers into the hallway. As her form fully appeared ten feet away nearly walking into to someone in the process.

"Sorry about startling you like that." She sweetly said with a warm smile upon her features. As she turned leaving the stunned man gawking and clearly with a loss of words. Silvertalon headed for the nova's Talent Lounge this time to enjoy a little relaxation and mingle perhaps for a bit.

GDP_ST · June 5, 2011

The bidding for the "Valkyrie" guest spot had finished, and Sunshine smiled as Jason introduced the next show, which promised to be entertaining - nova combatants on pogo sticks loaned an air of innocent fun to what was, in his opinion, a violent sport. He spent a few moments musing on that, the way that novas always seemed to be fighting for money. Elites fought, and killed, for more money in one mission than a corporate CEO might earn in a year. XWF fighters likewise made huge paychecks - he wondered if there was a difference between the two... well apart from the death angle, of course. In this 'sport', at least the fighters weren't trying to kill each other, though it seemed like it sometimes during the grudge matches. Jason had told him that sometimes the grudges were real, and the injuries could be pretty bad. Sunshine didn't understand the need to hurt people-

Ah, but he did, sometimes, didn't he? His eyes darkened a little as he saw Jael's working date, Crimson Light, catching a feel of her backside. Sunshine wasn't a macho aggressive type - a facet of his personality that Utopian doctors gave thanks for frequently - but he felt a strange dark tightness in his chest as he saw Jael looking angrily at the tall man. She'd explained that this was work, pure and simple. She was beautiful and known for 'hooking up', so this guy actually paid her to escort him to big events like this, to hang on their arm, flirt a bit, and smile for the cameras. It was an illusion, of course - Jael had wrinkled her nose when Sunshine had asked if she liked the man, and shaken her head.

It didn't really occur to Sunshine to ask her why she didn't find another line of work - after all, Jason's job could be seen as selling an illusion too. The glowing young nova didn't have the inclination or the conditioning to judge reflexively, as many did. In fact, he got angry when people threw around words on OpNet forums like 'slut' and 'tramp'. Jael didn't seem to care, impervious to the bullshit, but he did.

Jael's gaze flicked over to him once more, her face taut as the douchebag whispered in her ear. Sunshine really didn't want to interfere with her work, didn't want to get all publicly protective - after all, Jael could look after herself and then some - but the tight smiles and wrongness in their body language started him moving that way before he'd really thought it through, the reflections of his glow shifting on the surroundings as he walked through the crowd purposefully.

"Hey, Jael!" he said brightly as he drew near, trying to allay the faint trepidation he saw in her expression. She obviously thought that he'd cause a scene, or maybe that the other guy would. He remembered the angry Paul moving him aside, then tensing as the unknowing boy had stepped back into the confrontation. He'd been ready to lash out, and Paul was a nice guy at heart. Somehow, Sunshine didn't think Crimson Light could claim that, so he kept his manner light and friendly. Jael slipped out from under the XWFer's arm and hugged him in greeting, feeling that her smile was probably the most genuine she'd managed tonight. It felt good, natural. She hugged her Sunshine chastely, aware of their audience and resisting the urge to press close against him, and kissed him on the cheek before pulling back.

"Matt." she said, one hand still resting on Sunshine's tuxedo'd forearm. "This is Alex 'Sunshine' Andrews. Sunshine, Matt 'Crimson Light' Simpson." Crimson Light was also aware of the watchers, and kept a pleasant smile on his own handsome face. The red of his hair shone red-gold in the glow of Sunshine's aura as they shook hands.

"Cute name. Bet that strikes fear into the hearts of evildoers." he said with a smirk at his own cleverness. "You're the Crush kid, right?" He looked the golden youth up and down, then nodded. "Looks like you're all grown up now - you might want to think about getting a grown-up name."

"Alex isn't a grown up name?" Sunshine asked ingenuously, restraining his smile. Crimson Light peered at him for a second, then shook his head. There was no way the kid was poking fun - he was retarded by his eruption or some shit, wasn't he?

"Not Alex. Sunshine. It's not really a fancy nova name." he explained. Sunshine feigned sudden comprehension, throwing a glance Jael's way. She knew what he was doing, and tried not to laugh.

"Well, I don't really want to strike fear." he said mildly. "I don't feel the need for a fancy name, either. Sunshine's the name Jael gave me before I was even called Alex, and it suits me just fine right now, Mr Simpson. People don't need to be impressed or frightened by my name." he said soberly. "It's not much fun for me trying to talk to people if they're all 'Oh no! It's the scary Sun-dude-big-ray-guy. He used to be Sunshine and we'd go get Cokes together, but now he's Sun-dude-big-ray-guy and we're terrified'." An impish grin broke out over the gorgeous features as he rolled his eyes theatrically. "That'd stomp all over my chances of a Prom date, and no mistake."

Jael Carver · June 5, 2011

“Prom? Oh, right you’re still in high school,” Matt said, nodding to himself. “Some private place here in town, right?”

“Bodwell High School in Vancouver,” Sunshine said easily.

“I wish I were back in high school,” Matt laughed, stepping forward to tug Jael back to his side. The blonde allowed herself to be pulled back into the curve of his arm; it was her job. “All I had to worry about was football and getting laid.”

“Sunshine’s actually doing well in his academics,” Jael offered. Her smile for the young man was real, genuine.

“Nerd, huh?” Matt asked. His mood was still light and charming; he didn’t sound as if he were making fun of Sunshine – and perhaps to a former jock, it wasn’t an insult then it was true. Jael didn’t smile at the ‘joke’ regardless.

“They won’t let me play in the sports,” Sunshine said. “I could hurt someone accidentally and it would be unfair.” The frustration he’d shown before was hidden tonight.

“That blows, man,” Matt replied, making a sympathetic face. “You know, there’s enough novas around. We should have a sports league – get together, play different games. Friendly competition.” Jael’s hand moved his arm up again, and Matt muttered, “Sorry, old habits.” He didn’t sound sorry. “Anyway, every kid should get to throw the pigskin around with his pals.”

GDP_ST · June 5, 2011

"That's actually a really cool idea." Sunshine smiled at Crimson Light, making the admittedly self-absorbed shootfighter feel like big brother of the year for a moment or two. "I'd bet Jason would go for that in a heartbeat. I've done some fun stuff, like paintballing, and they did some sports-type tests in the Facility to test my reflexes and stamina. I bet the only thing I'd be good at on a nova level is flying - at least Bombshell can't compete there." he grinned, amused by his running joke.

"What about shootfighting?" Crimson Light asked with a smirk, his hand wandering south again. "When you're old enough, at least. You'd be a good 'Face'. The crowd would love ya."

"Oh, no." Sunshine shook his head slightly, the single rogue lock of hair once more falling over his brow as though by design - almost. "I think that'd be a bad idea. I'm not XWF material."

"Too rough for you?" Crimson Light asked with a grin. The hand was preparing to leave Jael's waist and grab some ass again when her hand closed over his wrist firmly.

"Actually," Jael said deceptively sweetly as she tugged the shootfighter's hand back up yet again. "Sunshine's capable of vaporising vitrium. Given that he'd almost certainly reduce not only his opponent, but the protective walls around the Zone to atoms it's probably best all round that he's not the violent type." She smiled at Crimson Light. "Heaven knows what sort of mess that would make. It's a good thing he's so nice, don't you think?" Crimson Light looked down at her, then at the kid who was smiling at him so pleasantly.

"Yeah, I guess it is." he said. "That sort of firepower generally doesn't go into the Zone. Bartlett would have a cow."

"It's not really my thing anyway." Sunshine smiled. "I like to watch good matchups, but I don't think I'd be any use in a fight. Speaking of which, you're fighting tonight aren't you?"

Jael Carver · June 6, 2011

“Yeah, I’m up in the ‘Wet and Wild’ meetup – apparently they’re going to create some waterfalls in the Zone,” Matt said, sighing. “It’s not going to showcase me all that well, but at least I’ll be up against FarMissile, who’ll be limited, too. I mean, it’s for charity and won’t be part of the official record but it’s always a pop hit if you look like an idiot, right?”

“Pop hit?” Sunshine asked before guessing, “Popularity hit?”

“Yeah, with the fans,” Matt answered, nodding. “No one wants to cheer for the nerd, right? Once Brawlzilla hits the floor, I need to head down and psyche myself. Talk about a hard act to follow.”

“Why?” Sunshine asked.

“Grudge match,” Jael replied. She kept up with the gossip around the ring.

“B-Z and Gladius are rivals, have been since he put her in the hospital, then she reached a new level in the ring and put him in the hospital. Management has been saving their next face-off for a while, but I guess the fans went all-out voting for it.” Matt sighed. “I wish I was up first, but they need someone to go between B-Z and whatever Superbeast’s big act is. So I get to do it.”

Contessa · June 6, 2011

"You look stunning, Contessa." A man in his mid thirties sat down across from her. He was comely and well groomed with quite the expensive tuxedo to accent his already handsome features. "Why are you sitting here all on your own?"

The dazzling blonde bombshell looked up from her OpDroid, pausing her session on Kongregrate, to acknowledge her guest. "I can't help it Doctor May, I erupted with the body of a comic book heroine." She mused with a grin. "I think I got Rogue's body, Emma Frost's hair and Storm's boobs. I'm still not quite sure. I still keep their posters on the wall so can compare from time to time." The sad thing was, she was as serious as she could be and her tone and inflection removed any doubt of her being silly or funny in anyway.

The Doctor cleared his throat, a bit uncomfortable with the current path the conversation took. "You should be mingling, dear. These are your people, you should really try harder to get to know them better."

"These are not my people, Doc." She rolled her eyes and sighed a bit. Contessa wasn't too good at social functions but the Doctor went through all the trouble to arrange for her to be here as a graduation gift so she thought it polite to attend. "I mean, come on, look at them? Rich, intelligent, sophisticated, successful."

"You're intelligent Contessa." He cut her off, "And you know it. Your last score was five eighty three, that's one hell of an I.Q. young lady."

"I know I'm smart, smart, but these people are business smart, social smart, nova smart. I'm book smart, Doc, there's a huge difference. A five eighty I.Q. means I know quite a bit about a lot of things... but it doesn't give me the practical, hand's on experience to do any of it, like make myself fit in here. Sure, I know how to perform heart surgery Doc, I read all the steps and know the entire procedure like the back of my hand, but would you trust me to cut you open and operate on you? You know, with no medical degree... or training... and shaky hands... and a weak stomach at the sight of blood."

"Okay, okay." He raised his hands in defeat and laughed a bit. "I get the point. Contessa, you can't spend the rest of your life buried in books and your phone playing video games and hiding from the world. You're a young woman, you need to broaden your horizons a bit and try your hand at coming out of your shell a bit."

"I thought you were my powers instructor?" She asked flatly, glancing at an incoming text from Mixie. "They Project Utopia promote you to my guidance counselor too?"

"How long have we known each other? Hmm?" He leaned his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together. "I consider us to be friends, I've known you since you were that scared little sixteen year old girl crushing lunch boxes in the locker room. I worry about you, Tessa, that's all."

She sighed and her perfect Marvel lips pouted for just the briefest of moments. "Okay, you win. I'll broaden my horizons with the very next person that comes by the table and greets me, okay?"

"Fair enough." He smiled at her and stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my daughter would very much like for me to try and get an autograph from young Mr. Alex Andrews. Do excuse me."

As he walked off Contessa smirked. She really didn't know who any of these people were, aside from Einherjar, but Mixie made sure Contessa would never forget him. She was content in her ruse, having already calcualted the statistics there was a 1/5600 chance that anyone would bother her at this table for the remainder of the evening, given it location and current traffic trend. Just enough time to wait the party out...

"I," She smirked and went back to her OpDroid where she and Mixie were sinking battle ships with vicious ferocity. "Am a genius. Learn math, dude, seriously."

GDP_ST · June 6, 2011

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

"B-Z and Gladius are rivals, have been since he put her in the hospital, then she reached a new level in the ring and put him in the hospital. Management has been saving their next face-off for a while, but I guess the fans went all-out voting for it." Matt sighed. "I wish I was up first, but they need someone to go between B-Z and whatever Superbeast's big act is. So I get to do it."

"It makes a certain amount of sense." Sunshine said thoughtfully, his aura swirling lazily around him as he mused. "Your match seems like it'd be less harsh in tone, and SuperBeast's big number will probably be played for fun, so they don't want to go from 'grrr, grudge match' to happy hour just like that. They'll want to change the mood gradually, bring the crowd up from watching two people actually wanting to tear each other apart." He winced a little at that thought. "Ouch. Anyway, it's an important part of the show, like..." he thought for a moment, then grinned. "Like you don't want Alejandra following Mephistopheleeez on a playlist for a party. You want to put some good rock n' roll in the middle to raise the mood and keep people hyped. I'm not sure Rob counts as Alejandra... hmm. But anyway, that's you - the rock and roll."

Jael blinked and looked at her 'date'. Crimson Light was staring at Sunshine for a long moment, before smiling widely and chortling.

"That's me." he nodded. "Rock 'n' roll all the way. You're alright, kid. Wish my agent could have said something like that - I've been sweating my headspace for my show. I dunno what I pay that bum for sometimes." He snugged his arm around Jael's waist and offered Sunshine his hand again. "C'mon, babe. We've got to mingle some more before B-Z gets her ugly on. Good to meet ya, kid."

"See you later, Sunshine." Jael said with a little smile as Crimson Light led her away, unable to resist taking a last look back at him. He was waiting for her glance and smiled, giving her another wink.

"He's a nice kid, for a bookworm" Crimson Light said as they approached Lydia Devine's crowd of hangers-on and celebrities. "I suppose eruption makes even the nerds socially acceptable. He might even get lucky with one of the ladies tonight, unless he's gay. You know him - you think he's gay? He sure smiled at me a lot..."

* * * * *

"Mr Andrews?"

Sunshine reluctantly turned from watching Jael being led off by her 'boss' to see a well-dressed man approaching him. He was well-groomed, and had a neat look to him as well, a fit thirty-something with the kind of tan that came from weekends of outdoor activity rather than lounging around on the beach smelling of coconut oil. He offered Sunshine his hand.

"I'm Doctor Julian May." he introduced himself as the solar-powered young man took his hand with a firm shake. "I hope I'm not intruding..?"

"Not at all, Doctor May." Sunshine answered with a cautious smile. "Are you with Utopia?" he hazarded a guess, thinking it unlikely that other baseline doctors might be here in the VIP Lounge.

"Yes indeed." May said with a smile. "But I'm not here in any official capacity. My position as a trainer in the Chicago Rashoud Facility comes with a few perks."

Another powers trainer. Great. Alex tried not to think and failed. He didn't dislike Doctor Graves, the trainer he'd had at Vancouver, but really once Alex had understood the principles and concept behind his unique quantum expression he'd been flying where Dr Graves wanted him to walk. Their last follow-up session had been a month ago, when Graves had pulled out the candle exercise and asked Sunshine to light ten, one after the other, using just enough power that he didn't melt the candles. The young nova had sighed, squinted, and swept his gaze along the tops of the candles, putting just enough focused solar power in the beam of golden energy that all of the candles were lit in one fell swoop, with zero melting. The doctor hadn't been happy with that: it was outside the parameters of the exercise, or so he claimed. Alex had shrugged and replied that the candles had been lit one after the other, just swiftly. They hadn't really gotten anywhere after that...

But Doctor May seemed different from Graves. Younger, not as sour-faced. Sunshine made the choice to judge the man on his own merits, rather than his own limited experiences.

"So how're you enjoying the evening?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, it's great." May enthused. "It's good to see such a large turnout for a good cause. The Crush survivors have lost everything - the money being raised will give them a chance to rebuild their lives, especially that bust's final price."

"It was a good idea that Jase and others put together." Alex agreed with a smile. "I'm well-provided for, and really I don't need much, so I've asked the fund managers to let others have whatever my share would be. It wouldn't be right for someone who lost their home and family to lose out more."

"That shows great public spirit." May approved, then hesitated before smiling. "I confess to two ulterior motives in approaching you."

"Well, at least you confessed to them." Alex grinned mischievously, the infectious expression making the older man laugh.

"Quite. Firstly, I was wondering if you would sign this for my daughter. She's twelve years old and is convinced she's going to marry you when she grows up." May confided with a wry smile as he offered Sunshine a glossy photo of himself and a pen. Alex chuckled and looked at the picture - it was the one taken at the press conference when they'd announced he'd be attending Bodwell High School, showing him in the blazer, slacks and shirt uniform of the school. The snap had been taken moments after the actual announcement, he was sure. The blazer had been open as had his collar button, the tie loosened and his face half-turned to laugh at something Jason had said as an aside. Something about 'girls all over the world wanting to immigrate to go to school here now', Alex remembered. Objectively, it was a pretty damn good picture.

"Sure. I'd be happy to." he grinned. "No-one's asked for my autograph before. What's her name?"

"Alana." replied May, watching as Sunshine, after a moment's thought, scribbled something on the back of the photo, signed his name at bottom of the front, then handed it back.

Click to reveal.. (What's on the back?)

"You like Clemens?" Doctor May asked with a smile. Sunshine grinned.

"He's one of my favorites. So what was your other sinister agenda?" he asked good-humoredly, returning the pen. Doctor May tucked it and the photograph away and leaned closer, conspiratorially lowering his voice.

"My current student is here with me. She's about your age, at least as far as anyone knows your age, but a withdrawn sort of girl. Nice, intelligent and beautiful, but she's used to being a shut-in with only one real friend. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going over and saying 'hi'? I think she feels out of her depth here, in fact I know she does."

"I do too." Alex agreed, thinking back to his foot-in-mouth episode in the Talent Lounge. "All the other novas here seem to be older, if not wiser, and more experienced. That and all the publicity - it's a little overwhelming." He nodded affably. "Sure, I'd be glad to go say hi."

"Great." Dr May said with a smile, then he remembered something. "She's pathologically afraid of fire, so you know. I've read a little about your abilities, and while I don't think you'll be showing off here, you should know that. Just in case." Alex nodded soberly.

"I'll be careful." he said gravely. It hadn't occured to him that someone could be frightened of fire like that. Wary, sure. Baselines had to be careful or it would burn them. But pathologically frightened... That was a phobia. Irrational and all-consuming. "I won't scare her." he promised sincerely.

"Good man." May said with a smile. "She's right over there, trying not to be noticed." He pointed through the crowd, thus undoing Contessa's careful calculations with the simple rogue integer of human nature, particularly the nature of mentors to meddle. "I won't introduce you - that'd just put her on her guard. Besides, I'm sure you can handle saying hello."

Wow. As Doctor May slipped away Alex blinked, looking at the blonde girl in the corner who seemed oblivious to everything as she hunkered over an OpNet device, intent on whatever it was she was doing. He'd expected her to be pretty, based on Dr May's description, but not... well, bodacious. Um. Okay. It'd be nice to talk to a nova about my age. Donald seems awfully matured since he started working as an elite. So... Let's go say hi.

"Hi."

The voice was nice, a young male tenor that warmed the ears as it went into the brain. That, accompanied by the hazy golden glow, warranted at least a five second break from Kongregrate to look up and see who owned the voice and glow, surely.

Alex smiled at Contessa from a couple of metres away as she looked up, holding a drink in each hand and with that damned lock of hair having fallen into his face again.

"I was wondering if you wanted a drink." he asked, motioning to the table with one hand. "You seemed a little dry here." He smiled good-humouredly, proffering first one glass, then the other. "You prefer Coke, or Pepsi?"

z-Brawlzilla · June 6, 2011

Sally sat on the bench, her head down and her fists pressed together. Her breathe eased in and out of her chest in an easy rhythm. Someone who didn’t’ know better might have thought that the woman was snoozing. She wasn’t; she was focusing. She’d been sitting here ever since she’d finished dressing – which was only a few seconds because of her eufiber. I am stronger than my opponent.

“Beez, you’re up,” the technician said, poking her head into the locker room.

I am more powerful than my opponent.

The big woman moved, rising easily to her feet. She followed the tech out to the Combat Zone, feeling her strength in each step. Once, she’d bought this strength with needles and sweat; now it came to her with the flex of a node. She paused at the entrance to the Zone to take one more breath. I am the winner.

Her song started; Mean Bitch by the Novox group Drake’s Fire blared over the arena, bringing the fans to their feet. This was the time for bloodshed and the hungry crowd could smell its forthcoming feast. It wasn’t Sally who roared into the arena, her arms raised high. It was Brawlzilla, the ring’s foremost female heel. Seconds after she’d descended into the ring, her barbwire tendrils uncoiled from her back, spreading like four whip-thin wings behind her. Fans roared or booed; Brawlzilla pointed to particularly energetic fans or jeered at naysayers.

Mean Bitch faded to be replaced by Six Chord’s Warrior and Brawlzilla turned to the entrance, a grim smile on her face. Gladius appeared in the arch she’d just stormed through, his energy shield already activated. That wasn’t a sign of fear; that was showmanship. Brawlzilla stared at the man, feeling the rage in her blood rise ever-higher. That menacing grin was on her face as she raised her hand and gestured for Gladius to join her in the ring.

The big blond man ignored her, taking a moment to showboat on the ramp down into the Zone. Brawlzilla was rolling her eyes and looking at the clock before he was halfway done, openly mocking how long it was taking him. But those leather boots finally touched down to the arena. “Bell!” Brawlzilla roared, and within seconds, the crowd was chanting with her.

“Bell! Bell! Bell! Bell! Bell!”

The producers drew it out a moment. When the bell finally rang, the two novas charged into the fray.

Firanis 'Fi' Flux · June 6, 2011

In their skybox, two raven-haired Slavic beauties - both superhuman in every way - were engaged in a subtle, silent contest of wills, Katya painfully aroused by the cold, vicious danger residing in the powerful man lounging at her side. With a flick of his hand, he could have torn her head from her shoulders. With her fingers caressing Radu's thigh, her sly touch threatened to unravel even his formidable will.

Radu and Katya reveled in their game, and elsewhere, Ryusei could feel Katya's horny, danger-touched amusement, even as she could sense the emotions running through him during his encounter with the leader of Nippontai.

The final bid on the Bust came and went, both of them making appreciative noises. Katya feigned a moue of disappointment that Radu didn't win, knowing while the Bust of her former boyfriend was a masterpiece by baseline standards, to a true Nova artist, it was a relatively common piece. The Impaler waved it off as if it was no concern, already plotting for its retrieval.

When Jason came back on stage, offering a part on her television show, Katya turned to Radu with a coy smile. "Some man is going be getting up close and personal with his very own mock-Bombshell, but shall we go pay our respects to the talented artist. I must admit to some curiosity in meeting the eccentric White Rain."

Radu gave her a lordly nod, flowing to his feet and giving Katya a hand up. "Very well, my dear. Perhaps I'll commission her for a piece of my own."

The tall, darkly elegant and sophisticated couple strode into the Talent Lounge, the security guard powerless in the face of Radu's raptor gaze and Katya's impish smile. Katya didn't see WhiteRain's distinctive figure, but she did notice three other Novas she hadn't expected to see here.

With Radu in tow, she glided up to Ryusei's half-sister Saori and her two-husbands with a sultry, dancer's grace, and gave them a nod in greeting, her grin deepening for Tomas, a man who could have been her brother, appearance-wise. She would have done more, but her eyes were drawn to the piece of Living Art formed from the flesh of fluid novas, as were most others.

She could hear the heartbeat - heartbeats - of the women forming this testament to an inhuman philosophy, see the minuscule flexing of transformed flesh over flowing blood. A shift of perspective and she could watch the heat and coolness of their conjoined bodies.

And the whole of work of Art was beyond exquisite, displaying ascendance, transcendence, ignorance, disinterest, and a host of other qualities in every perfectly wrought detail. And it went further than that, tugging at the heart-strings with a darkly seductive promise... It begged to be touched, felt, experienced...

Katya indulged herself, stepping forward, eyes fluttering close and ignoring the scowling Skittles, and reached out with a hand, stroking the entwined Chang and Shae with a caress both terrible and wondrous, that stole and gifted in equal measure. In it's own way, Katya's touch was Art as well, infinitely intimate, precise in its spontaneous perusal of details better felt than seen as she spun their own emotions into a tapestry reflecting her own.

Click to reveal.. (Katya's Touch)

Contessa · June 6, 2011

Originally Posted By: Sunshine

"I was wondering if you wanted a drink." he asked, motioning to the table with one hand. "You seemed a little dry here." He smiled good-humouredly, proffering first one glass, then the other. "You prefer Coke, or Pepsi?"

Wow. Seemed like as appropriate of an inner dialogue as any when the golden teenager approached her. "Coke." She managed to murmur, still in her slight bewilderment.

Each of the two were beyond baseline norms for attractive, but here among a room full of Mega-Attractive novas the two thankfully became the 'norm' to onlookers. That certainly didn't diminish her ability to admire him in all his deliciousness, that was for sure. As much as she tried to deny it internally, she was still an eighteen year old woman that knew what attractive was.

Neurosis kicked in and she then looked around herself to the ajoining tables. There's no way he was talking to her, he obviously was asking someone else near her and she just simply mistook it for her... right?

His eye contact told a different story. Oh crap.

She placed her OpDroid on the table and and looked at him with the goofiest expression on her face, all contorted with doubt and confusion. With one brow quirked awfully high she leaned in like she was in a spy film or something. "Are... you talking to me? You are talking to me, right?"

GDP_ST · June 6, 2011

"Only if you want me to be." Sunshine shrugged, his smile somewhere between warm and playfully mischievous. He stepped forward and placed the Coke in front of her, the ice cubes floating in it having managed to keep the drink reasonably cool despite the warmth of his aura. He grinned engagingly. "Or I could be a crazy person talking to the wall behind you, if you prefer. That way you can slip away with your Coke and call security."

Blue eyes alight with the gold flecks dancing in their depths smiled at her as he slid into the seat across from her, sipping at his Pepsi before offering a casual hand.

"My name's Alex, but most people just call me Sunshine." he told the beautiful teen warmly, his eyes not drifting south even once. He gave her a sly grin. "Last chance to slip away and tell the burly men about the glowing guy trying to shake hands with the wall."

Contessa · June 6, 2011

She giggled, and even added a bit of a snort in her geekiness. One thing was certain: Alex was charming where Contessa certainly was not. "Okay, okay," She conceded, still chuckling slightly. "You got my attention. Have a seat." She motioned from him to join her.

She sipped the coke through the straw like she had been parched in the desert for weeks. With a content sigh she smiled. "Oh, oh god that's good stuff." She looked over to Sunshine, her Mrs. Marvel eyes still looking at him with some measure of suspicion. "Thank you for the Coke, uh, Sunshine. I'm Contessa. So, uh... are you a nova too?"

Mentally she head desked herself at such an ignorant question, but what was said was said. Stupid, stupid, stupid... he has golden skin, a glow, c'mon Tessers! Of course he's a nova!

GDP_ST · June 6, 2011

Alex stared for a second, even his hyper-fast brain struggling in the face of, well, Tessa-ness for want of a better name. To his credit, it was only for a second though.

"Wait..." he made as though hesitating, then looked over his shoulder before leaning over the table conspiratorially. "You're a nova too?!" His voice was a stage-whisper, his face a study in puzzled bewilderment that threatened to start Contessa snorting again.

"I don't understand..." he looked around as though he was at the wrong table, still keeping his voice low. "I thought you were, well, just an amazingly beautiful baseline, sitting over here by yourself and looking thirsty." By now Contessa was giggling despite the blush. The ribbing he was giving her was gentle and in good fun, even she could tell that.

"It was the glow that gave me away, wasn't it?" he asked with a sigh. "I try to hide it, you know." Then he relented and smiled warmly once more.

"I've been a nova for precisely a year, which is also as long as I've been alive." he told her with a smile. "How about you?"

Edward Mansfield · June 6, 2011

Edward tilted his head slightly as he watched Katya. Only the two lovers at his side recognized the slight telltale sign of concentration as he reached out towards the raven-haired beauty and touched the temporal energies affecting her. It was minuscule shift, just enough to give her longer.. longer to appreciate Shae and Chang's masterpiece without interruption, without disturbance. It seemed like forever that she was allowed to stand there, undisturbed. There was nothing else to indicate that the world was moving at a different speed than she was, for everyone in the room was still - unmoving, still caught in the throngs of amazement and adoration. It was finally her choice when she pulled away from the sculpture, leaving Shae and Chang to linger over the feeling of that goddess-like touch.

At the first slight movement of her hand away from the living sculpture, Edward pulled back his powers, allowing Katya and the room to exist, once again, in the same flow of time. Though she had briefly noticed his presence, it was Tomas (like always) who had caught her attention and had dominated briefly, before she'd moved on to the living, breathing artwork in the room. He stepped behind her and murmured softly, his voice smooth and full of warmth. Edward was in a good mood, and she could hear it in his voice, even before she turned to him.

"Isn't it exquisite? I've never been prouder."

She turned to him then, and found herself a bit surprised by the transformation. He seemed different.. more handsome, certainly. It would seem time spend with the rest of the family had affected him. She recognized the man - same dark eyes, same intense gaze and elegant poise. But the features seemed refined somehow, and above all else.. younger. The man standing in front of her appeared a good fifteen years younger than the last time they'd met - his hair darker, his face less lined. The transition had done little to affect his poise and dignity, however, and she found himself treating him as much like an older, respected man in control as she had when they'd first met.

Click to reveal..

z017 · June 6, 2011

Katya's touch sent shivers through her entire being, thoughts and concentration scattered by a Goddess that had still been merely human the last time Shae had encountered her. Shae returned the sensations to both Chang and Katya as powerfully as she could, this moment reminding her of her first nights with Tomas and Saori, and then Edward as well.

The memories and emotions flooded the changeling and the shivers became ripples, moving across Shae's intertwined body like raindrops on the ocean. It was still beautiful, but the completeness of what she and Chang had made slipped and the young nova felt the strain of the quantum she had expended so quickly and in such a new way.

*Forgive me, White Rain....I-I can't hold on....*

WhiteRain · June 6, 2011

One of the men - Edward, she thought - said words she did not understand. All the watchers did. Whispers or murmurs. Some turned away. Most could not help but stare.

For Chang, only Shae existed. They were so close to one work. One great point and purpose. Would she do it? Would she complete it?

Of course she could not fail to. Were Shae to recoil it would be just as meaningful as if she were to integrate herself. The final twist to it all was hers to give, the full stop at the end of the essay and the final cry at the end of the message.

She did not disappoint.

Shae's body slipped and flowed, unravelling into fleshy strands that wound around Chang so as to keep the obsidian frame in place around the rope-like strands of flesh which made up the inner tapestry.

Chang felt the flow of Shae's flesh, though, like liquid silk coating the figures they had both formed of their own bodies, though they seemed crafted of stone and osseous tissue. The figures gained faces, defined personalities from Shae's experience, Novas Chang recognized and Novas she didn't. Where Chang's rendering had been deliberately oblique, suggesting but not clearly indicating, Shae's touch made things blatant.

With soft ripples of her changed self, Chang urged and pushed Shae's semi-liquid flesh away from some of the figures. It created a combined image, a chequered effect where Shae's touch gave clear identity and Chang's gave tantalizing suggestion and made the mind reach for possibilities.

They crystallized, fused, joined as one.

When Chang felt the change in the gravity around them, she set her tendrils to moving subtly, adding a kind of movement to the heretofore static diorama.

Edward's camerawoman - Skittles, was it? - paused to watch these changes, mouth agape, then shook her head and went back to capturing it all on video.

This, this was why she lived. Moments like this validated Chang's essence. What did baseline art mean in the face of such wonder? To be her art, to be something like this... she would have weeped had she the eyes to do it.

Sensations flooded and flowed, everything from insistent, almost sucking pleasure from Shae's liquid essence to the rough chasms in the carpet beneath her base and the different scents and tastes on the air. She listened and saw and tasted and touched and smelled and felt, absorbing everything. She could feel quantum surging through her being, and that other sensation, too. That feeling of too much, too fast, of quantum burning her blood and her bones, of permeating into her flesh.

Taint.

The blessing of Mal, some called it. The sign of their evolution, others called it. A reflection of their true nature, whatever title hung above its head.

She focused on that. On burning it in quantum fires until the taint surge blazed into something hard inside her, a new and slow-growing quantum pattern atop the other. The beginnings of chrysalis.

Her soul sang. And because of it, sound began to issue from the impossible flesh sculpture. A lilting, harmonic siren-song, wordless and beautiful. One final element to the whole.

Then a newcomer appeared. Elegant and beauteous. She slid through the crowd like a fox, and wore a similar smile.

Chang wanted to scream at her when she reached out to touch them. The moment... the moment!

The touch struck like a meteor. Intimate when intimacy was unwanted, probing when probing was undesired. Insistent and harsh, subtle and penetrating. Chang felt control of her shape being threatened, but she clenched upon it, forced that touch back into the corner of her mind where it could not harm the creation.

Then something else came into the mix. A flood of emotions Chang had been feeling already. Peace and joy, and celebration. Unity, oneness, exploration and struggle, oh endless struggle, upwards and ever onwards to infinity.

She appreciated, in that moment, what Katya had attempted. And with infinite, corrosive sadness, knew what it would do. She had touched something already perfected, and in an attempt to add to that which could not be added to, had destroyed it all.

Shae's voice whispered through Chang's mind. "Forgive me, White Rain...I-I can't hold on..."

And it came apart.

The flesh covering slid off the small figures like a sheath being cut away by laser tools. The figures she had contributed cracked and split. Shae's body unglued and began to reknit. An obsidian frame parted, its angles softened to joints, rock turned to flesh. All she had contributed melted away in moments, and the piece dissolved to nothing. Ruined beyond repair.

Shae reformed on her knees, her head snapping back as she blossomed back into being, reeling from the dual shock of being joined, and now so violently separated.

Chang remained in place a few moments longer, hoping Shae did not quite feel or understand the horror of this moment. Then she rose up. Her pyramid base unfolded, forming skin and refining into her smooth legs. Her shaft thrust out, first fashioned out of rock, then softening in moments into flesh. The tapestry tendrils whipped and flitted in the air, then swiftly wound together, like a ball of yarn being rolled together. A ball of flesh resolved into her torso, blossoming, smoothing out. The chairs that had cradled the quartet dissolved, reabsorbed in moments into the thin carpet of flesh they had been standing on. It retracted into Chang's feet so fast that they would have felt nothing more than a rush of movement, a detectable slipping but no real loss of balance.

She no longer had her exaggerated qualities. Her three breasts were small and pert, her buttocks near-flat. Her hair streamed out behind her in a billowing cloud. It whipped and flicked, snagging a chair and dragging it over to her.

Naked and trembling, Chang stood before them for a few moments longer, unaware of anything but loss. Horrible, wrenching loss.

Her hair swept out into a great helix behind her, then wound around her, growing longer and longer as it wrapped her limbs, torso and shaft, pulling the latter close to her body as was her custom.

She shaped nothing elaborate. She had not the energy. Her hair morphed into somewhat distorted jeans, and a ragged T-Shirt with a thin black mesh underneath.

Finally, Chang dropped down onto the chair behind her, feeling every slight deviation in its design, the centimeter extra length on one leg, the stress points in the design, all the horrific imperfections that haunted her every interaction with the baseline world.

Chang ignored Katya. She had ruined it. The apex of her evening, something incredible and beautiful and irreplacable. And she had ruined it, like a child unable to keep their thumbs out of clay, or like the thugs of ancient Greece that had brought ruin to things of baseline beauty, because they did not understand.

A real tear traced down past the white rain drop tattoo beneath her right eye, and a twin escaped her left eye. She cried, silently, for that which she had lost and could never have again.

She raised one hand to her forehead and rubbed her eyes with her hand. The other rested, limp in her lap. She felt a tension in her eyes, as they creaked and shaped, one turning pearl white, the other a deep, burning orange.

z-Xiao Saori · June 6, 2011

Saori sank to her knees next to her daughter. Shae was many things to the mix-blooded girl, but right now, it was daughter. Taking her in her arms, Saori looked up at Katya. "I see," she said, her accented voice flat with disapproval, "that you are fond of hammers."

Saori felt Shae's pain and understood it, but knew only that White Rain cried. It hurt Saori to see the creator of such beauty weeping. Drawn to tears by Shae's emotion, she pulled Shae closer to White Rain, taking the woman's limp hand in her own. Where before, Saori might have seemed sexual thanks to her quantum powers, now she seemed merely comforting, offering what little solace she could without intruding on White Rain's grief.

Tomas Saint-Etienne · June 6, 2011

He'd been silently rapt, watching his lover and his fellow Terat make art, a part of his mind quietly applauding the silver-haired nova's subtle aid as she played hell with the local physics. This, then, was true nova art. This was what Chang meant when calling the bust a trifle. It was amazing, earth-shattering in it's symbolism both in content and construction. The essence of being nova, the inescapable truth of Teras were there, living and breathing as the two novas that formed the centerpiece of the sculpture. He felt Shae's utter concentration and dared not encourage her lest it waver, felt the disturbed awe from the watching occupants of the Talent Lounge. He felt exalted by this display, as though merely be being allowed to see such a wonder he been Elevated. He wondered if he should call every Terat he knew, bid them come here and bear witness to this glory.

And then a familiar foxish beauty slid through the crowd like a shark through water and laid her hands on the sculpture! Tomas almost cried out as he felt the impact of the touch on the utter meditative concentration of the two artists. Sensitive in the extreme to emotional shifts, he felt Chang's dismay and resigned sadness, and Shae's confused despair.

And the sculpture collapsed.

It took moments, mere moments, during which all the shimmering-eyed young man could do was stare at the two forlorn shapes as they resolved themselves. Chang falling back into the chair in weary furious sorrow and Shae, his lover-daughter, kneeling on the floor shedding unheeded tears as she stared into space. She was immediately flanked by Edward and Saori, Tomas coming up behind the girl and resting a comforting hand on the nape of her neck, doing what he could to soothe the pain and confusion in her soul. She had lost all over herself into this effort, and for what...?

*Look after her. Keep her safe. Buttress one another and Chang* he pulsed to Edward and Saori before turning slowly towards Katya. He recognised her now, of course. Ryusei Hideyoshi's baseline girlfriend, raised and baptised to the One Race. When they'd last met, on the morning following her eruption, he'd greeted her warmly, called her sister, and welcomed her to the Quantum Born.

His gaze was not so welcoming now.

Malice radiated from the ethereally beautiful face, a malice that was ancient, cold, and utterly without mercy or the restraint of human compassion. Malice and fury, unleashed and almost pressing physically against those present due to their sheer intensity, roiled around the room. Novas paled and had to fight not to take a step back, many losing that fight and having to take another while they were at it, inching towards the exits. Baselines simply fled, whilst the weakest curled up or fainted dead away. This was the hidden side of Skein only his victims had an inkling of, the monster unveiling itself from behind the dark sidhe lordling as a presence, rather than a physical form. All of the hate, bitterness and spite he felt for humanity in general, every monstrous deed done to the broken human boy he'd been, was re-manifested a thousandfold in the merciless glittering emerald of his gaze. It was justified hate. It was hate that was the reaping of seeds sown. And in the face of it arguments of forgiveness and turning the other cheek became as frost before a roaring flame.

"How. Dare. You." The words were quietly spoken, but their impact was no less than the force of his malevolent stare. "How. Dare. You." he said once more, emphasizing the words a little differently, his supernatural voice putting all the scorn and withering fury in the world into the last word.

"Blundering, foolish, thuggish girl." he said, putting the spin of spite onto each epithet. "You have destroyed something that you could never comprehend. You have reached out with your manicured hands and ripped it apart as though a cruel baseline child playing with a butterfly and wanting to see the wings up close. And your crime is infinitely worse, because you are not a child. You are not a baseline." His voiced dropped to a hiss that carried throughout the room, causing chills to run down the spines of all who heard it. "Though you should be. You should be stripped of your node and cast back into kindergarten, perhaps there to kick over the sand sculptures of the other baby monkeys as it amuses you."

"Bear witness to this act, fellow novas." He raised his voice as though in a clarion call, his gaze sweeping the room before resting on Katya once more. "For there is a lesson to be gleaned from this... barbarity. And that is that there is nothing beyond novas to express, nothing beyond our capacity to reach. And the only ones who can take that from our race is ourselves, by cowardly inaction-" he stared Katya in the eye. "Or by foolish action."

"Now you have learned. Get out of my sight before I become truly angry." he told the Russian beauty in a low, level tone, his eyes promising nothing but pain and merciless cruelty.

Click to reveal..

Firanis 'Fi' Flux · June 7, 2011

"To exquisite to last, I fear," Katya murmured wistfully to the rejuvenated Edward, unaware that her eternal moment caressing the piece of transcendent art had been but an instant under his temporal manipulations. As she had removed her intrusive, intricate touch, Katya had felt the artists' conjoining unravel, their perfect balance upset by the weight of her self-inclusion.

Alas, the Art had begged her attention, and so she had acceded to its and her own desires. She regretted their - its - lost and their inability to add her gift to the whole, but did not for a moment regret that moment on physical, intimate contact with the physical depiction of the ephemeral.

Edward immediately went to the woman she didn't recognized as his other wife of course. Katya approached to offer her and Chang her sympathies and condolences, when Saori slapped her in the face with her flat disapproval. She stiffened slightly in surprise, then forgot all about as Tomas' eyes were leveled upon her.

Like a demon-spawned tempest twisted to a razor's edge, Tomas flayed the young woman with his eyes and his words. Her flesh paled to milky alabaster, her nails bit into the palms of her hands, and her delicate nostrils flared, heart beating wildly under his scathing assault.

But just as the Dark Oberon was about to draw emotional blood, the promise of pain and cruelty about to become a reality in her mind, Katya stilled her tentative retreat. Smooth jaw tight with effort, she tilted her chin up with stubborn resolve, and met his terrible, emerald gaze straight on with eyes as green as his own.

"How dare I?" Katya replied, her smooth alto soft and rough compared to the Unseelie Sidhe's excruciating tones, but it continued to grow in strength with her conviction. "How dare I not? I have never beheld such an elevated piece of work, Art that truly held the essence of the artist, nor has anyone here. And yet, for all we have witnessed, we neglected a part of the whole - all the flavors of its - their - tactile reality. None dared to step forward to touch their living flesh, twisted into Art, but I dared. And I do not regret it, nor do I apologize for it."

The impish beauty - looking anything but playful - drew a shuddering breath, working moisture back in her mouth, and gracefully curtseyed towards Chang and Shae. "That my caress proved too much for your ineffable union, for that, I apologize. I sought too much, and reached too far, and..."

Her silence served as poignant reminder of Chang and Shae's unraveling. "And yet... I cannot help but believe... if it had been a true representation of Nova-kind, its struggles and ascendance, it - you - would have been able to fold my gift into your own, or ignore it as a mere trifle."

She stood to her full height, taller than the Mansfields remembered from last Christmas, her slender shoulders straight, hands clasped tightly before her. She met Tomas's gaze straight on, and though not without obvious effort, she met it unflinching. The incipient danger radiating from him, the horrors and fantasies swirling in his eyes made her nipples stiffen in painful arousal.

"You are right, I am young - and child, even - in the ways of those blessed with a Node. But I am growing, learning my way. One such, is to not deny myself my desires, nor be ashamed of them. And remember Tomas, I am hardly the only one to be unaware of the consequences of my indulgences. In a very real way, you have had a part in making me the woman I am today."

Emerald eyes met emerald eyes, but Katya broke contact first under the pretense of turning back to Chang and Shae. The fingers of one slender hand spun with precise, svelte grace, a circular portal of jade and obsidian swirling open behind her.

"If the ones I have inadvertently wronged wish me to leave, I will do so, though all I had come here to do was meet the woman who had crafted a remarkable bust of friend. I had not expected to witness Art great enough to render the Bust no more than common, though I am honoured to have done so."

Katya's enticing lips were parted, revealing the tips of pearly teeth. Her pupils were so dilated only a thin ring of jade iris was visible. The slender line of her throat pulsed with her sexual exhilaration and thrilling fear.

Click to reveal..

z-Xiao Saori · June 7, 2011

Saori released Chang's hand and untangled herself from Shae. Part of her wanted to remain and give comfort, but a greater part of her - the part that had been birthed by Tomas and fostered into maturity by Edward - demanded action rather than quietly giving support.

Katya looked down as the furious Asian woman stepped up to her, but the slap across Katya's face was the last thing that anyone in the room expected. Even Saori's spouses were a bit shocked that the most retiring of their family had raised her hand against another, especially one of the One Race.

"Don't you ever blame my daughter for your actions again," Saori told her. "You claim she should have been to hold her shape. Perhaps glass should hold when a child throws a stone through it. Perhaps when you slice a knife through canvas, it should remain whole? The early loss of this wonder was your fault. Yours. You offered to leave. Then go. Go!"

Edward Mansfield · June 7, 2011

Edward, not as sensitive to emotions as the others, swore inwardly as he watched the two nova separate and collapse. Had he known, had he realized, he could have stopped her, freezing that moment before her touch had sent them tumbling. But like a fool, he had assumed that the young nova was merely touching to receive, to absorb the living sculpture's beauty. Indeed, he had almost felt called to do so himself.. to allow the feelings and intentions to course through, stronger than the whisper he'd felt from Shae's mind and their intricate connection. But never, never would he have thought to interfere, to interject his own will upon the creation.

He soothed Shae gently, murmuring words of praise and comfort in her ear and in her mind, his arms around her as first Tomas then Saori laid the girl out. But finally, he kissed her temple gently - so gently - and stood, his hand resting softly on Chang's shoulder in a gesture of comfort as well before he stepped forward. He laid his hand gently on the small of Saori's back, could feel her trembling with rage faintly beneath his fingertips.

Click to reveal..

"Saori, my love.. much as I share your anger, I think perhaps Katya here has made some incorrect assumptions. Let me correct them for her."

His gaze turned to Katya, cloaking himself in authority then, the very figure of a leader and a teacher. He was, at that moment, a protective father - angry at someone who'd hurt their child, and yet knowing that the situation itself was an accident, a foolish mistake born of the same wonder and amazement they'd all felt.

"Katya.. you should know that this was the first time our Shae - our darling girl, whom you met before under a different guise - had accomplished this astounding feat. To truly merge and alter her shape beyond human boundaries. Like a child who had just risen from her knees to her feet and was taking her first steps into a new world. Not only that, but this was work of two creatures who have known each other for but a brief moment of time - a ripple in the surface of their lives, and yet they managed to form a piece of art that amazed and entranced us all. What an amazing beginning to what I hope will be a true friendship for our darling daughter and wife, and possibly for the rest of us. And your actions - however well-intended - were like a thoughtless shove. You can imagine our anger - to watch our beloved's first tentative steps into a new phase smashed apart by your desire to contribute. And even greater have you fanned that fire, to imply that something so fragile, so difficult to achieve, is any less because they could neither integrate more nor brush away the intrusion. And yet.. part of what you say is true, according to the philosophy of Teras. We are all free to do as we choose, desire what we like, and make our own path. However, I would think that a certain respect for our kin, our fellows, is not too much to ask for, is it? I would find an apology appropriate. Though it will not undo what has been destroyed, we will also acknowledge that living art, held together by will and quantum alone, is a transient thing regardless and would probably have ended soon, though the moments would have been truly precious. Hopefully other, greater things shall follow.. and if you are sincere in your regret, then we may find it within ourselves to consider such an apology."

His words seemed so fatherly, so full of disappointment, and yet willing to forgive if Katya could but find it in herself to regret her interference. And yet, the sternness of his gaze and the tenseness of his stance sent a message equally as clear as his words - she had only one opportunity to make this better, to convince them of actual remorse.

VectorSigma · June 7, 2011

With the sudden unraveling of the two Nova's bodies, the enchantment of the moment vanished from Jadzia. The sudden snap of its entrancing lure almost made her lose control, her tenuous grip on her control of reality fading too fast for her to follow.

An exertion of her will, and with teeth gritted, her forehead furrowed, she managed to enslave once again the forces of gravity and motion. As people rushed in to aid the two Nova women, all she could do was hold up the scaffolding of existence, so no harm would come to them.

Sweat beaded on her forehead - the forces at work she was restraining were not powerful in their own right, but she had already stretched the limits of how long she could control them by a margin. Color started to drain from her skin as precious seconds passed.

Once Shae and Chang were removed from the center, she recalled the Quantum energies, catharsis setting in as local physics reasserted themselves. Like a hissing snake, metrics and movement resumed their original way of being, the effects of her powers dissipating gradually.

Her hand trembled, her mind raced with the calculus it had taken to keep control. She dropped down on the nearest chair and grabbed her drink. Emptying it in once vicious gulp, she stared non-plussed at the Novas gathering on the Nova who had interfered in Chang and Shae's art.

While they spoke, she got up from the chair and moved over to where Chang and Shae were, to support them in their sadness. She knew she had no words that would help, or sway over emotions, so all she did as lightly put a hand on the shoulder of each, silently expressing her sorrow for their loss.

Contessa · June 7, 2011

"Oh, I've been alive way longer than a year." Contessa said so honestly that it dawned on Sunshine that she could quite possibly be a ditzy as the blonde legends dictated. To Contessa's credit her analytical mind she simply just the answered the question as it was asked. "I turned eighteen not long ago, but I've been a nova for about two years now."

Perfectly glossed lips sipped from her straw and her perfect blue eyes never left his. Like just about all nova's though, nearly everything about Contessa was 'perfect'. "Um, so what do we do now? Do we like swap our power details or something or have our agents swap business cards so we can do lunch sometime? I'm really not good at this whole meeting novas," She waved her hand in a circle, searching for the right turn of phrase. "Thing."

Alex's smile was captivating as he chuckled a bit himself. "That's entirely up to you. I certainly do sympathize, I'm not one for these gatherings myself, but considering the occasion I think I can cope for a single night. How about, what do you do for fun Contessa? Any hobbies?"

Yeah, I play World of Warcraft and am dating a Level 85 Blood Elf because I'm too lame and boring to get a real boyfriend. How about you Alex? Any Hobbies? 'Yeah, not being as pathetic as you. Later, loser.' She mentally grumbled to herself as the mental dialogue of where this conversation was going seemed rather bleak form her point view. Ugh, this so not going to end well. May as well bore him to death... She rubbed her fingernail horizontally across her eyelash, feigning an itch. "I study quantum gravity. It's basically a field of theoretical physics which attempts to..."

"...develop scientific models that unify quantum mechanics with general relativity." Alex finished her explanation with a true text book reply, stealing the words right from her lips as a matter of fact.

Tessa stopped rubbing her eye and looked up slowly, completely stunned. "Come again?" Was about all she could muster as a strange look of astonishment washed over her. Ignorant of Alex's background and the means by which he came to be a nova, she had no idea of the nova's rather vested interest in understanding gravity and how it worked.

"Respectfully, as interesting as that sounds, I doubt it's a hobby." He grinned, letting that charming smile pry the truth from her.

"I, uh..." She swallowed hard, realizing she was stuck. She couldn't bring herself to lie to him, he seemed genuinely nice. "...play a lot of Rift with my friend Mixie." She slowly let the words trickle from her lips, wary and cautious for Alex's 'dork' alarms to go off. "I power train too, my teacher, Doctor May, he's really great, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I, um, manipulate gravity fields. Which is why I'm not sure why he invited me, I mean the whole reason this thing is going is because of someone like me, a Gravity Manipulator. I sort of feel like part of the problem, like I'm somehow responsible for why this is going on."

With a casual shrug she sipped her coke again, "That and Mixie wants me to steal either Einherjar's sword, which I don't think he brought, or Einherjar himself so that I can take him back to her so she can do things to him that are better left unknown to my imagination. So, I guess those are my hobbies, being a dork, or being an accomplice to a stalker-dork."

She folded her hands in her lap and Alex knew that if she could curl up into a ball and die, she probably would. This woman seemed like a ball of neurosis. She sighed and resigned herself to him getting up and walking off. "I know, pretty lame, huh?"

GDP_ST · June 7, 2011

"Actually..." Sunshine left that word hanging as he took a sip of Pepsi, his gaze reflectively on Contessa's lovely (if abundantly worried about dork-rejection) features. "... that sounds like you've worked out what it is you want out of life, right now at least." He ticked off the items on his fingers. "Study your chosen field, hone your powers, hang out and enjoy life with your friend, and try to get your hands on Einherjar." The last was accompanied by a wicked grin as Contessa started in her seat.

"I so don't want to get my hands on him!" she began in fine outrage, then realised two things. One, that her voice had raised a little and, though nobody nearby seemed to care, there were people around. Two, that Alex was trying to hide his laughter in his drink. She frowned and pouted at him, then smiled tentatively, then finally giggle-snorted.

"That's Mixie." she said with a roll of her liquidly expressive eyes and a smirk. "She's such a fangirl. I don't think she'd know what to do with him. She'd probably take him to the movies or something, he'd get bored and go declare war on Hooters, carrying off their wings and women." She joined in Alex's laughter at the envisioned image. "And as for wanting his sword - she couldn't lift it. We read the specs on NovaPedia. It's supposed to weigh something like 300lbs. Mix complains if she has to carry 25lbs of clothes shopping." Contessa rolled her eyes again, sipping her Coke. "Not to mention the blood that's on that sword. I mean, urrrgh. Wait - he's not in the room is he?" Abruptly the thought that the large Elite was waiting behind her listening occured to the nervous girl and she twisted in her seat, the white sweater hugging tight over her body as she scanned this way and that.

"He's not here at all." Alex said, smiling reassuringly at Contessa. "Jase - uh, that's Bombshell - was hoping he could come along, but he's got a six month contract down in the Congo guarding a Médecins Sans Frontières station."

"Really? Wow. Are they planning to declare war on someone?" Contessa snerked. "Wait, aren't they like a charitable organisation? How could they afford a big-time Elite for six months?"

"He charges them less." Alex said with a shrug. "At least, that's what Katya says, and she's probably a bigger fangirl than Mixie. I'm not kidding about the fangirl thing, either. You just say 'Einherjar' around her and she looks like a cat someone scratched behind the ears. They hooked up once or twice, I think." He shrugged again, as though that wasn't important. "Anyway, he doesn't advertise that he charges Doctors Without Borders less. I don't know why he does it either."

"Hmm." Contessa said as she took another drink, wondering how she would break that news to Mixie. 'Hey, guess what I found out about your one-and-only!?' had a nice ring to it. "So, wait." she blinked. "You know Bombshell?" Being a model and megababe, Bombshell had a fairly extensive online following amongst gamer guys, especially since her starring role in the series Valkyrie, which Mixie loved for the Einherjar nearly-naked bod on display and 'Tessa thought was gross and only watched it with her friend, though the fight scenes totally did kick ass. Contessa had lost count of the number of avatars she'd seen in MMOs with huge chests and long silver hair, all called things like 'B-Shell', 'Bommshel', 'BoumSheel', etc, etc and so forth.

"Yes. Jason's my legal guardian." Alex said with a smile. "At least, until I get emancipated. She's really much cooler than people seem to think. She took me in right after the Crush, not even hesitating."

"After the Crush?" Contessa was a little lost. The problem was that Alex assumed from past experience that everyone knew about him, whereas Contessa's knowledge was limited. She knew about the Crush, of course. She'd been horrified along with most of the world, had donated and even managed to get a couple of charity drives organised at her school for canned food and clothing. The revelation that it had been a gravitic anomaly of some kind had hit hard until the news had broken that it was some manner of device, nova-built obviously.

"I erupted there." Alex said gently, having surmised that the beautiful girl didn't in fact know who he was or his story. "I don't know who I was before my eruption, but they found me towards the center, though not at the center, in the layers of newly compacted rock suspended in some kind of hibernation." He took a drink and continued. "My eruption wiped me clean - total blank slate. I couldn't even think when I first opened my eyes, I didn't have the words to think with. My DNA, fingerprints, everything is utterly different to anything on file, anywhere. They can't even tell how old I am past that event. It was like I didn't exist before the Crush."

"At first they thought I might be the one responsible, accidentally having caused the Crush during my eruption. My powers revolve around both gravity and nuclear fusion, due to my cells being tiny organic suns. I can exert small influences over my own gravity and so on." He smiled at her, his aura shifting and swirling. "Probably nothing like you. My main talent is in the absorption, catalysation, and production of energy, though they theorize I may be able to project greater control over gravity if I focus that way." He gave Contessa an empathetic smile.

"I know what you mean about feeling somehow responsible. When I first heard that people thought it might be my fault, I was horrified. And scared. After all, I didn't remember anything. Thankfully, they figured out that my quantum signature adopted the gravitic energies in order to survive the Crush, not to cause it. That would be a burden I couldn't carry, you know?" Contessa nodded understandingly.

He smiled, catching sight of and signalling a server over. The glowing hand wasn't easily missed, nor was the dazzling smile, and the well-dressed man came straight away. "Could we get a few more Cokes and some bottled water, and in a champagne bucket with ice?" Alex asked him earnestly. "I'm melting the ice in our drinks a lot, and there's nothing worse than warm soda. Thanks!" he said brightly as the man whisked efficiently away.

"Anyway, what you do sounds suspiciously like what I do. I play CoD 7 rather than Rift. I power train on my own, practicing and developing new tricks, but I do it two to three times a week." he nodded with a smile. "I go to school in Vancouver, which thankfully I'm graduating soon because it's starting to chafe. After that, I'm not sure what I'll do." he looked pensive for a second, staring at his slowly-warming Pepsi, then he shrugged and smiled back up at Contessa. "I like to hang out with Jase and Jael. I love flying, trying food I haven't before, and paintball. So we're not so different, and I don't think you're lame." He grinned michievously then. "Though I've not yet tried being an accomplice to a stalker-dork. What's the health plan like?"

WhiteRain · June 7, 2011

"I see," Saori said, her accented voice flat with disapproval, "that you are fond of hammers."

But she had not the time to think it through. She had lost more than just that piece, that incredible creation. She had lost the chance to grow.

Her tears thickened, but she still made no sound. Not yet. The tears dripped from her nose and ran from her chin.

Saori's hand slipped into Chang's, and gave a gentle, understanding squeeze. Chang returned it.

Such a tiny gesture, so basic. Almost baseline affection. But it felt good.

They understood. As the one called Skein voiced his fury, she knew that they understood what had happened here. At least, they appreciated the beauty of her work. It helped. Maybe they did not understand what she had lost, but she could make no such demand. That much crossed the boundary into being unreasonable. It helped to know they understood the message of the tapestry of flesh, even though it had been and gone so swiftly. Yet - maddeningly - it did not help enough, nor comfort her. For Teras was a lonely path, walked by one alone, no matter how many companions might stand on roads beside it. This loss was hers alone, and maybe Shae's, if she had taken the same inspiration Chang had.

But none of it helped. Her eyes burned. Her limbs shook as if struck by hurricane winds. Every fiber of her being wept, as the loss, the overwhelming loss of the thing grew to a tormenting giant. The failure had not been her own. She could not even rail at herself and chastise and learn for next time. It had been a failure forced on her by another. What could she do with that? What use was it?

Saori released Chang's hand and stood, turning to face Katya.

"Don't you ever blame my daughter for your actions again. You claim she should have been to hold her shape. Perhaps glass should hold when a child throws a stone through it. Perhaps when you slice a knife through canvas, it should remain whole? The early loss of this wonder was your fault. Yours. You offered to leave. Then go. Go!"

The argument continued to rage, the watcher's testimony to what had been made and destroyed here.

Chang felt Edward's touch upon her shoulder. Another of those little attempts to show sympathy, to offer comfort. Then, while he spoke to Katya, one of the other newcomers approached. Bombshell thought her hair interesting. Chang could not recall if she had heard her name. She put her hand on Chang's shoulder, too, offering what she could.

The newcomer spoke, answering the anger she had caused. Chang listened to the words of a young Nova, perhaps a young Terat in the forming.

"If the ones I have inadvertently wronged wish me to leave, I will do so, though all I had come here to do was meet the woman who had crafted a remarkable bust of friend. I had not expected to witness Art great enough to render the Bust no more than common, though I am honoured to have done so."

Chang would have answered, but she had not the words, not a throat - flexible as it currently was - that could speak them.

,,

She felt as comforted as she had been in years, and more alone than ever. For this was her path, her rung on the ladder of Teras. These four had their way, she had hers. She had climbed to a new height in that sudden moment, that supernova of artistic expression which came when Shae had touched her and melded and let herself be shaped into the tapestry before putting herself into it. Chang had wanted time to think, to look over herself and see what had brought it on, what about these four had helped to stir it. For she felt sure of that much. Some strange and peculiar combination of the quartet's presence and Donald's arguments and that annoying MC's ignorance and Bombshell's haughty incomprehension had led her to this.

And she had missed her chance to see it. No, not that. The chance had been taken away.

Chang raised her head, eyes closed, tears streaming down her face. Now, she felt. Her emotions had peaked. The loss was at the fullness of its tragedy. And that left only one thing for her to do. Give a requiem.

She screamed. In one voice first, then two, three and finally in all four voices, a raw and brutal emotional sound that echoed from the walls and filled the room. She kept it going until her breath ran out, and with it, with the end of that wrenching wail, Chang felt empty. The emotion had passed. She had done what she could.

Everybody watched her. Most did not comprehend. They saw some crazy woman making noise. Let them. They felt her pain, now. She had done justice to her loss, and she had been honest in her feelings, not hiding behind propriety or the like. Let word spread. Let them laugh at her if they willed. Let them call her mad. She had done it justice.

Her body remained flexible, soft. She turned her head one hundred and eighty degrees to the right, so that the soft skin of her neck twisted all about. Then she turned her head the other way. It helped a little, just to work out some of the residual stress.

She did not turn her head to face the newcomer. Katya, had she been called? "Destroyer," she said, her voice a carrying whisper, "do as you wish. It would be hypocritical of me to compel your action in the wake of my own behaviour. But if you feel honoured to have seen one of my works, I hope you feel equally honoured to have dealt me such a wound by destroying it. Yes, honoured, unless you do not understand what you have done, or the pain you have caused me and the reasons for it. If you understood what we wrought with our flesh, and destroyed it in full knowledge, then be honoured and confirmed in your destructive glory. If you did not, then be ashamed, for you have reduced yourself to the level of an animal rather than raised yourself to the heights of which you are capable. Regardless, learn and grow."

She felt pleased with herself now. It had been one of Chang's greatest mental efforts, to plane herself of anger and bitterness and hate, so she could leave her humanity behind without the rage she had seen in so many Terats. Even though Katya had so truly wounded her, she felt no vengeful stirring, no desire to see her undone. Her pain, somehow, was separate from the person who had caused it. Her emotions were pure, unleavened. Perhaps she would learn something from this pain, and eek something worthwhile out of the experience even now.

"Now I wonder," Chang said to nobody in particular, her voice singular, and soft, and sad, "might I impose on somebody for a glass of water?"

***

Radu Szlanovich did not like to be surprised.

His companion for the night had successfully thrown off his chosen pace for the evening, and created a most unsightly amount of chaos.

He had encountered the taint-addled and insane many a time, but when he observed Chang and Shae's joint artistic effort, his more refined senses were stirred, and he adjusted his tie, thinking. He knew of her reputation, of course, and could think of nobody else at the event likely to make such a display of themselves.

It occurred to him that she was of Chinese origin. Given her upbringing, he wondered at her behaviour. One of the many sayings of her homeland went 'The peg that sticks out is hammered down'. It might be construed as an insult to reduce Chang to a mere peg, but Radu believed the saying applied to her rather smoothly.

Radu Szlanovich had been looking over the assembled Novas out of the corner of his eye - never taking his gaze off Chang and Shae - when Katya strode forward and touched the bizarre fleshy tapestry. He frowned as the two unwound

He felt the change in atmosphere the second the tall Terat stood up. Skein was the name that came up. He steadied his nerves as he caught the man's eyes, and then when the terat spoke, his voice a veritable thunderbolt, his seeming that of a dragon stirring from its den.

Radu gritted his teeth, and felt the familiar rush of adrenaline and the instinctive response to prepare for combat. He backed up a step, caught himself doing it and shook out one of his arms, preparing to face the creature if it stirred to violence.

He made himself step forward, though he had no wish to move any closer to this fury. It was time to reassert control. "Katya," he said, in his finely accented english, "this is all very unseemly. Perhaps we ought return to the skybox?"

That was when Chang let out her wail.

Already unnerved by Skein's blazing eyes and threatening manner, Radu frowned. He had never been especially fond of the sound of women screaming. And this sound... it reminded him of the Rusalka, the ice woman of the wastes, wandering in search of vengeance. This was a place of madmen and tortured souls, he felt. No place for those who intended to enjoy their evening.

He cast a somewhat nervous glance to his left, at Skein, but believed the Terat would not take things as far as violence. A simple tactical retreat remained a valid, functional option. He would not forget this shame, though, nor the woman who had brought it down upon him.

Radu Szlanovich drew himself up and moved to Katya's side. He would rather have left her to these mutterings, but that would be inappropriate behaviour for a man of his value. He chose silence over speech. He had done nothing to damage the art or the artist, nor had he attracted the ire of her audience. He felt no great compulsion to involve himself in the affairs of either.

Tomas Saint-Etienne · June 7, 2011

Skein turned from Katya, his dismissal of her prattling self-justification obvious to all as he moved to fulfil Chang's request. His near-physical aura of malevolence faded in the wake of Chang's scream, and the watchers found themselves able to move once more, the tall Radu moving to Katya's side and watching the dangerous, beautiful creature with the androgynous features as he placidly filled a glass and pressed it into Chang's hand.

"Here." he said in a soft tone, setting the bottle beside her also. He stroked across her shoulder with his slender fingers, using his gift to soothe for a change, before turning and stepping to Shae's side. He knelt by the changeling and folded slim arms around her, to all appearances silent as he stared venomously at Katya. His mind, on the other hand, was more 'vocal', brushing gently around Shae's and 'talking' to her in a mixture of words and images designed to bring the young Terat from her sorrow and confusion, to tell her that it wasn't her fault.

VectorSigma · June 7, 2011

The scream rung through Jadzia's bones, making her painfully aware of every particle in her body brought in motion. The sound of the scream, like a sea of emotion, moved through the room in waves, perpetuating itself through the brittle architecture of physical reality.

She didn't understand the emotions - after all, how could one mourn the loss of what one never knew? - but she nonetheless sympathized with the expressive Nova and the faillure of her actions. She reasoned she'd be no less frustrated when the plans for a building evaded her grasp or turned out to be impossible despite all her tricks and trades.

When Skein approached she stepped back a pace - she had nothing more to add than she had already, but she was too entranced to walk away, too intrigued to leave it all behind.

z-Brawlzilla · June 7, 2011

Brawlzilla screamed as they clashed, Gladius taking the full force of her attack on his shield. The shield flickered but held – but did nothing to stop the tendrils that reached around the plane of force and tore at him, scattering welters of blood across the floor. “You’re still an ugly bitch!” Gladius snapped, reaching over his shield to plant a hand on her face. Brawlzilla had just enough time to turn her head and close her eyes before he unleashed his bolt in her face.

The white light, made of the same energy as his shield, slammed into her face, cooking her skin and removing hair. Brawlzilla’s tendrils, still raking at him, change to scoop him up, holding him over her head. For a moment, he struggled in her hellish grasp; then she tossed him across the ring. Gladius rolled with the blow and came up to his feet, his bolt already distorting the light around his hand.

But Brawlzilla had her own ranged powers; with a massive inhalation of air, the fans began to cheer in approval. The Zilla Roar was one of the fan-favorite powers, probably because of its damage output. Gladius could only try to stop her with his bolt but the two novas fired together. From Gladius, it was a blast of white light, shaped like a sword, his classic Cutting Thrust. Brawlzilla’s attack was a ground-shattering scream, the sonic attack spreading over the arena like a curse. The vitrium panels groaned from the assault but held back the damage, leaving the screaming fans unharmed.

The attacks passed on another, the ‘sword’ cutting into Brawlzilla’s arm. Gladius shifted to place as much of his shield as he could between himself and her blast but there wasn’t that much to be done in the face of the spreading attack. The big nova glared at Brawlzilla from under his pseudo-Roman helmet as her scream raked over his skin, raising bruises on his tanned flesh.

The crowd screamed, hungry for more blood - and Brawlzilla intended to give it to them.

z017 · June 7, 2011

Shae had existed in a haze while her family argued around; even Chang's scream intruded only enough for her to blink slowly several times and realize that there was something she should be paying attention to. She pressed against the hands that touched her and Chang's shoulder, the immaculate updo of her red hair falling in ruins around her pale face. Her eufiber dress was a little better kept, but still disheveled where she had collapsed on the ground. She was tired, a sort of tired she'd rarely felt before.

Tomas' voice was a welcome balm; she weakly pulled him closer and glanced around the room to try to make sense of what was going on now that she had eyes and ears again. She blinked in surprise when she lighted on a new person in the room, "Katya?" There was no malice or anger in her confusion; the changeling nova's mind was still trying to put together everything she was taking in from her parent-spouses and the tableau in front of her.

Contessa · June 7, 2011

"Meh." She shrugged, easily defining the entire health plan in one word. "I love Mixerz to death, don't get me wrong. She's my best friend in the world but I just don't understand her infatuation with guys, especially ones out of her reach, like Einherjar. I swear, through high school I had to lend a break up shoulder to her every other week. She went through guys like candy." She paused for a moment, considering how she phrased it. "Um, I totally just made her out to be a tramp, she's not, really... she's just uh, tends to be whimsical and fall for someone on first sight and then find out all that glitters isn't gold most of the time."

"I know precisely what you mean, I'm sure she's a great woman." Sunshine's flair for diplomacy could have him on Doctor May's payroll soon. She seemed like putty in his hands as he spoke to her which was strange to witness since she could be incredibly obstinate at times, especially during training. Quietly the Doctor watched them talk, thankful that his student had found something to do besides hide. "You seem like the type of woman to seriously consider a man before you date him. If you don't mind my observation, of course. I'm not trying to pry."

"No, it's okay." She smiled to him, rather grateful that he was polite with his guessing. The man returned and placed the bucket of ice and an unlabeled two liter bottle of coke was nestled snugly within it, just chillin'.

"How did you do that?" She asked him slightly peeved. "I swear I asked for over twenty minutes for some water and all they did was ignore me. I was desperate enough to flash the twins just to get someone's attention."

Alex laughed. "That certainly would have been interesting. Has this technique worked in the past?"

"Oh, I've never actually done it. They came with the eruption, they're bulky but I consider them carry-on." Contessa had always considered her pair of assets more accessories than a natural part of her body. They just felt fake, like the rest of her, at times. "This guy, Sean, he stayed with us a while back and walked in on me when I was coming out of the shower one day, he's the only guy to ever see em'. I warped him to the dump. Boy was he mad." She chuckled at the memory and suddenly felt a small pang in the pit of her stomach. She liked Sean and had always been sorry she never told him so, despite all the good things he continued to do for her family he never knew how much Contessa liked and respected him.

Alex could see it was heading to a touchy subject and quickly veered away from it. "So, Mixie. Your friend and guys?"

"Oh!" Tessa shot up straight with a perky bounce that proved a testament to Alex's willpower to keep his straight. "Right. Um, guys is an easy one. I really don't get a long with guys very well, tried a date once, for Mixie's sake, and it didn't go well at all. I'm content with my basement Tessa Cave." She smirked. "Now, Mixie on the other hand, she's been my pal forever and a day. She really stuck by me, even after the accident I had growing up. So we're pretty much inseparable."

"Alright," Alex smirked. "My turn to bite I suppose. Accident?"

The nova beauty laughed, which was a shock because getting more than a snicker or a chuckle from Contessa was quite the feat. She genuinely seemed to enjoy herself around Alex, and it was starting to show. She'd fought the whole time to keep her nervousness in check and thus far she was winning. He seemed nice and seriously hopped he didn't turn out like a calamity like most other encounters did. "I'm sorry," she stiffed her laugh and tried to continue. "That did come out awfully vague, my bad."

"Oh, sure you didn't." Alex feigned disinterest by raising his hands up and shaking his head. "We're nova's, ambiguity is our trade. What happens in vagueness, stays in vagueness. I won't tell a soul, promise."

"Oh, stop." She smiled back at him and for the second time in one evening an accompanied *ting* may have been appropriate as she flashed her perfect teeth. "Okay, fair is fair. You told me yours so I'll tell you mine."

Alex poured them both another glass of the finest carbonated beverage on the planet and Tess took a drink to wet her throat before her story. "When I was just a baby," She began, her eyes focusing on his with an intensity that felt like if he stared long enough he could watch the memory through her shimmering blues. "Our house caught on fire and I was trapped inside. I was rescued, but not after having been burned over pretty much all of my body. It was pretty bad. Kids are cruel, so growing up wasn't easy after that, painful surgeries, them throwing rocks at me because I was ugly, getting picked on and bullied and worst of all, pretty much feeling like a freak show." She sighed as she remembered the cruelty of her youth, but continued on with her tale. "Trust me, by high school I was so jaded that I'd given up on love or boyfriends. Mixie though was always there for me. She's been my best friend, my body guard, my confidant, my, well, everything."

With her finger she stirred the ice in her glass and Alex noticed that she wasn't using her straw. By subtly manipulating the gravity and its pull within her glass she moved the ice about in a circular motion. She may not have even been aware she was doing it having been so lost in her own current train of thought. "Not that, you know, we're lesbians or anything," She thought a disclaimer might be necessary, and what a delivery. "But anyway, when I turned sixteen and self erupted into what you see now. The doctors say it was wish fulfillment, that I erupted based on my desire to be like the myriad of comic book heroines on my wall. Rogue, Storm, Emma Frost, Mrs. Marvel... they think I swiped a little," She looked down and pointed to the twins being kept in heck by her ravishingly tight sweater. "...and not so little something from all of them to make myself perfect. All the years of having only one friend gave me the ability to make my own friends, I can clone. Since my body defies gravity, I have some control over gravity. By condensing a pocket of gravity tight enough I can create worm holes too, which is cool for traveling. I think that's why I got an invite tonight, Doctor May needed a ride I'll bet."

She sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, taking a moment to straighten her pants. She liked white it seemed, because even her perfectly polished heels matched the rest of her ensemble. "And that's pretty much me in a nutshell. Not very exciting, but the power training is fun."

He is so easy to talk to. Wow.

z-Sean "Loki" McCline · June 7, 2011

Meanwhile, in Kashmir…

Nanga Parbat loomed magnificently over their camp. The dangerous mountain was the ninth highest in the world and was covered in a pristine snowcap. It had killed many people with near-vertical faces and treacherous footing; it was beautiful and awe-inspiring. It still had not killed as many people as the bloody war that had ravaged the land around it; Kashmir had seen far too much conflict.

The young man sitting cross-legged on top of the transport vehicle only had eyes for the small OpPalm in his hand. The natural beauty of the area was ignored in favor of the dazzling spectacle halfway across the world. The setting sun highlighted his red hair, which hung down to his shoulders, and made his fair skin appear ruddier than normal.

Sean McCline, Elite, was on guarding this team of geologists as they hunted for hydrocarbons. Not far away, just over the border in India, a rich deposit had been found. Someone had decided to hunt for them on the Pakistan side as well, figuring that geology knew no borders. Whoever it was had deep pockets, deep enough to hire two Elites to guard the geologists against bandits, Indian operatives or anyone who might disrupt the hunt. Sean didn’t know and didn’t care. He was getting paid to be bored most of the time, as Gryfor was in charge and handled most aspects of the op.

The young man sighed as he watched Brawlzilla pound on Gladius. Man, there was a fight worth seeing; the determination on the opponents faces was inhuman. Neither one was backing down; Sean could have been there, now that the charges against him were gone. But noooooooo, he had to be the one to go to fuckin’ Kashmir-

A pop up screen had been scanning the VIP lounge, letting the viewers at home see the wealthy and be-noded rubbing elbows. Something caught Sean’s eye and he focused on the tiny screen, pausing the feed. A few quick taps had rewound the image a few seconds and then blew it up to fill the screen and Sean felt his gut tighten. Contessa was there. With some hot glowing guy.

“Aw, fuck,” he snapped. He’d known this would happen but to see it…

Without really letting himself think about what he was doing, he connected to the Crush website. A few more taps on the screen had gotten to Knockout’s donation page and Sean quickly typed in his request, along with a donation. Before he could question his judgment, he sent the message. “That was stupid,” he told himself, then dropped the OpPalm in his pocket. He didn’t feel like watching any more. “I’m stupid,” he muttered, trying to clear his head and suspecting he wouldn’t succeed.

Every time he thought he’d closed that door, he opened it again. He must like torturing himself.

Doryoku · June 7, 2011

"Actually, no, but I thought since you were sporting enough to wear that I should join in. Not going to have much free time for a while after tonight, so I'd better enjoy things."

Sakurako smiles, actually looking like she wears her tight-fitting suit very well. "I hope the sizing I threw together on your suit was properly done. All I had to go by was the viasoft 3D-Viewer scan they did of some XWF fighters to demonstrate their new scanning software."

She looks over the suit. "Still, I thank you for your efforts, none the less. Your efforts should be a morale booster indeed, and it gets the interest up for the relief efforts."

z-Brawlzilla · June 7, 2011

Gladius spun in a circle and juked forward, another burst of white light flaring from his hands. The Battering Ram smashed into Brawlzilla, throwing her clean off the floor. She twisted in midair, her tendrils catching her before she hit the floor. Brawlzilla managed to turn the fall into a backwards somersault, perched between her quantum wires.

She looked up in time to take a kick to the face which sent her sprawling to the floor. Gladius pressed his advantage, the sword he used for melee appearing in his hand. He snapped off three rapid attacks on Brawlzilla before her tendrils arose in an ‘X’, blocking the attacks. The Roman-styled nova got a little sloppy and the terrifying woman lashed out with a leg. Another woman Brawlzilla’s size might have knocked him down; she kicked him over twenty feet and through a fake wall.

Brawlzilla was able to regain her feet, just as Gladius sprang from behind the wall, gaining the platform. The woman watched as he took the flight to the sky, hopping from platform to platform. With a grunt, she jumped to the lowest platform before leaping into the air. Her tendrils snapped out and arrested her fall, swinging her through the air. Her grin was back in place as they started the cat and mouse game.

GDP_ST · June 7, 2011

She's had such a terrible time. No damn wonder she doesn't deal well with people usually - she's always waiting for the stone to be thrown. Sunshine, contrary to the projections and fears of his Utopia handlers - who seemed to expect him to turn into a sociopathic Terat-recruit worst nightmare scenario - actually had a remarkable amount of empathy for others, his occasional frustrations with confining baseline laws and social expectations aside. As Contessa had told her tale he'd leaned forward to listen, propping his chin in the palm of his hand. Now his deep, summer-sky eyes welled with compassion as he smiled warmly at Contessa. How many maladjusted novas have similar stories, yet use them as justification for selfish actions and hurting others in turn as they were hurt?

"Actually, you're pretty unusual." he said frankly, his gaze open in it's appreciation. Not, for a pleasant change from Contessa's POV, of her comic-book heroine looks, but of her. "I don't often hear about people who have horrible experiences like that, but still manage to keep it so together after eruption. N! always seems to be doing stories on how the ugly duckling turns into a swan, then leaves a string of broken hearts and bad feeling behind them as they go on a drunken bender around the world." He snorted gently, then smiled at her. "They should do one on you."

"Gawd I hope they don't." Contessa said with a crimson blush that, this time, had little to do with embarrassment and a lot to do with the non-carnal admiration in those sapphire eyes smiling at her. "I'd be stammering and thinking: 'Billions of people are staring at my luggage.'" She rolled her eyes as Alex chuckled.

"They probably would be, yes." Alex conceded. "The media like to use sex to sell things, like it's a signboard or something. 'Sweet nova girl talks about her life' probably doesn't rate as well as 'Bombshell and Knockout sunbathing in the Caribbean'."

"So do you really live with Bombshell?" Contessa had to ask, not out of faint jealousy or anything. She wasn't really that interested in Alex. Nossir. "What's she, uh, he like?"

"Like a big brother and big sister rolled into one?" Alex ventured with a grin. "Or so I surmise, not having had either that I remember. Jase - and I just use 'she' as the pronoun because she's most comfortable with it - is really cool. When she's not away doing a modelling shoot or on an XWF event or visiting Dani in Toronto, we just hang out - jam on the guitar, or play on the OpBox... just have fun I guess." He laughed. "Actually, we hang out less these days. Her acting career's really taking off. But she's always ready with an ear if I need to work out some guy stuff. Not many guys can say that about a big sister."

"Wow. Sounds like you really like her." Contessa smiled, touched by Alex's enthusiasm. He's so cute when he smiles like that.

"A lot." he nodded. "If her and Dani ever wanted to adopt or have kids or whatever, I'd recommend her parenting skills. Despite all the glamour stuff, which I personally think she's torn between being proud and laughing about behind closed doors, she's this amazingly 'normal' person. She likes being an XWF fighter because she's a jock at heart, an athlete." He smiled impishly. "I tease her sometimes: every time she says something about catching a plane or helicopter I mention 'helpfully' to whoever she's talking to that it's because she can't fly." He grinned. "And then the nuclear noogies ensue, unless I can get out the window fast enough."

Contessa laughed again, the image of the gracious and glamorous Bombshell trying to catch her glowing 'little brother' and administer traditional punishment in her mind's eye.

"What about Jael?" she enquired, smiling and nodding as Alex offered her a refill on her Coke.

"I love her. My first and my best friend." Sunshine replied simply, without affectation or reserve. "She found me, dug me out of the ground at the Crush, looked after me as I learned to speak. I kind of imprinted on her at the beginning, I think. She was the first face I saw, the first person to speak to me -she gave me the name Sunshine- the first person whose shoulder I cried on - which was right after I accidentally cut a hole through Jason's apartment, in a toddler tantrum of sorts." He winced a little at the memory. "Luckily no-one was hurt." He refilled his own glass, then dropped icecubes into both their drinks.

"Sounds like a crush to me." Contessa said with a snicker, then realised what she'd said and crimsoned. "I mean, uh... um." Stupid... STUPID... 'Crush'. Great word choice. Calamity Jane rides again! Cue the fanfare. She dropped her eyes to her drink and fiddled with the glass. I'd like to order some failsauce so that the ground will find me palatable, table 4. Thanks.

"It's okay." Alex said in a low voice. "The word's not a bad one." He reached over and placed a warm hand on her wrist, causing Contessa to raise a reluctant gaze to meet his. He smiled reassuringly, his eyes as warm as his aura on her skin through her sweater. "Hey. It's alright. No thin-skinned idiots to squawk and get offended here. You're fine." He smiled and quirked his brows at her. "Okay?" Slowly, she nodded.

"Yes." she said. "But I am sorry. It's my feet, you see. It must be my gravity powers, 'cos they head straight for my mouth every time."

"It's alright." Alex repeated, letting the bolstering hand slip from her wrist before sitting back. "As statements go, it's pretty accurate. I do have a crush on Jael. There, I said it this time." he smiled at her, totally lacking in selfconsciousness. "But the friendship we have, that closeness, is more important to me. That's where the love comes from. It's like your friend Mixie: Jael's been my confidant, best friend and bodyguard rolled into one. The complication is that we're opposite genders, but we keep the friendship side of things high on the priority list. It works out."

Firanis 'Fi' Flux · June 8, 2011

The pink imprint of Saori's hand on Katya's fari cheek faded away almost instantly, but Chang's anguished wail still rang in her ear. Tomas' dismissal was as wounding as his words and Radu's irritated silence was palpable. Edward's patriarchal disapproval made her lips writhe. Her own father had died when she was ten and she neither much mourned his lost, nor sought a replacement father figure, no matter how suave.

She had overstepped the unseen boundaries and though she did not regret it, it was true that she did bear in large part the responsibility for the out come. Perversely, she felt her own annoyance flare.

She opened her mouth to respond, then closed it, leaving everything unsaid. There was little point, she had already been judged and anything she said would be seen as nothing more than self-serving justifications. They did not care that the sight of the master-wrought representation of Teras had impelled a yearning to touch, that a mere feel of its intricate reality brought forth into every particle of the artwork form of two women had demanded of her a gift. And in her mind, it was undoubtedly a gift, one that she could not see Chang nor Shae fail to recognize, for she made the offer clear in her ineffable touch.

To let the women experience what their onlookers experienced witnessing their display, her own surrender to her longing to join in their communion. That at any moment after her flesh had connected with theirs, all they had to say/think/emote was 'stop' and she would have, though it would have been as easy as parting with her hand.

It was of no concern that a devil with green eyes toyed with in idle amusement on her last night as a member of the common masses, that his manipulations had wrought changes upon her during her eruption that went deeper than emerald eyes. She had learned some of what being a Nova was from their actions, yet apparently only they were allowed to play.

All meaningless to everyone but her. She linked her arm with Radu and gave Chang a deep, gracious nod. "What I believe I have done is not necessarily the same as what you believe I have done, and I would not presume to know what you feel about it. Just as I would thank you to not presume what I should feel. For what it's worth, you have my deepest apologies for what my action has caused." Left unsaid, though not unheard by those able to listen, was that she did not regret the action itself.

She glanced up at Radu, arching a brow and nodding at the swirling portal behind them. "I believe you are right, Radu. It would be best, I think if we take our leave. I am hardly being the proper escort you were expecting this evening."

She turned them towards the portal, but stopped, looking over her shoulder as Shae called her name, raven locks falling from her head to obscure her vivid, green eyes.

"Ah, Shae," Katya murmured wistfully. "I had not known at first it was you who was also involved in this singular endeavor. I had asked you to run when your were still learning to walk, and for that, you have my apologies as well. Though for you first expression of such power, you showed enough talent to blind me to your novice aptitude. Perhaps, at a later time, we could talk." There was the barest hint of a curve to her lips. "I remember you from Christmas as the Hideyoshi Estate."

Magnum Opus · June 8, 2011

"Ah, no problem. It's, you know, it's handy having a girlfriend who's the same basic size as you. You wind up with a larger wardrobe." Danielle coughed. "Not that I'd wear a lot of what Jay wears, but - "

She paused as there was another knock at the door. She opened the door, and looked down at a couier, who looked up at Knockout.

The courier sniffed in mild irritation. "I have a package here for a Miss Danielle Waters?"

"That's me." Danielle took the pad from the courier's hands, and signed quickly, handing it back. She closed the door gently, taking the package in hand. "Now what could this be..."

She blinked, and pulled out a single rose. Then she read the note. Then she checked her phone quickly.

"Oh. Oh, okay. Uh, Sakurako, I have to deliver this to Contessa. It's from a secret admirer! Want to come with?"

Aberrant: 200X - Victoria Crush Charity Extravaganza

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