Searching

[Storm Scream]

{{This is a story about Jessica (AKA Storm Scream). No one else may post unless invited to. Thank you, and enjoy!}}

She turned the corner, and stopped right before she ran into a marksman with his back to her. Slowly, she back stepped, sizing up her opponents.

From the badges and ribbons on one man’s chest, it was clear he was a marksman, and pretty good one at that, too. The second man had a pistol at his waist. He must be a new recruit, she thought. Her attention shifted to the third man, and she frowned in disgust. A Galaxy.

Jessica moved her hands in her gloves ever so slightly, getting an electric charge to start forming around her hands. The speakers in the tunnel began to crackle, as did the ones in the gloves. Her face turned a bright blue. She was angry. And the sight of that galaxy only helped to fuel that anger.

She threw her arms in front of her, causing the lightning around her hands to charge up and form. The electricity surged into the gloves’ speakers, and instantly a blood curdling screech shot out of the gloves, striking the galaxy in the chest. He stumbled backward, gripping his chest as the sound reverberated in his body. The marksman and the recruit both spun around, just as an incredibly powerful blast of sound collided with them, sending them flying into the wall behind them.

Jessica calmed the lightning around her hands; then, threw her hands into the air. She willed the moisture in the air to freeze, and the temperature dropped around the three men. Ice formed on the ground, and as the moisture in the air froze, it fell, striking the men, shredding their Council uniforms.

The recruit let out a groan, and then he was on the ground, unconscious. Jessica laughed slightly: he never got the chance to draw his pistol. Some good THAT did him, she thought.

“Ooof…” Jessica stumbled backwards. The marksman was on his feet, and was preparing to fire another shot at her. She called the lightning again, this time using it to surge forward at the man. Startled, he fired, missing her as she suddenly appeared next to him. She unleashed a volley of punches, quickened by the storms formed around her hands. Then, with a short cry, the man was on the ground, gasping for air.

“You won’t escape from here alive, Storm Scream.” Jessica turned and faced the galaxy. “You may defeat my guards, but you will never take ME!”

Jessica rolled her eyes, then unleashed the lightning in her hands. A giant flash erupted in the small area, and a loud bang caused the galaxy to grab his ears in pain. “I’d like to see you try and take me down, you sick bastard.”

The galaxy was staggering towards a computer console. Jessica walked forward, and grabbed the man by the throat. She pulled him back, throwing him to the ground. He gasped for air, then cried out in pain as Jessica’s boot came down to rest on his thoat.

“What…do…::GASP::…you want…::WHEEZE::”

“I want that list. The one that contains all the people you and your sick friends turned into Voids and Galaxies.”

“What…::GASP::…are you talking about? ::GASP::…That li-list is…::WHEEZE:: on Striga Island!” The galaxy’s eyes began to bulge, and he clawed at Jessica’s foot, trying to escape. She lifted up her boot and kicked the man in the side. Ribs snapped, and the man lay still. Jessica breathed deep, then went to the computer to access the files. Sure enough, she found the list, but she couldn’t access it. It was only accessible from a terminal on Striga, the Council’s main base of operations.

Jessica’s comm crackled as the person on the other end asked, “Is…is it safe to come now, Jessy?” Jessica tapped the button on the side of the comm. “Yeah, you come now, Alice. They’re down for the count…”

Alice came out from around the corner, shaking as she glanced at the bodies on the floor. “Did…did you find what you needed?”

“No, but I’m closer…dad was right…we needed to go to Striga to get the list…” Alice’s face fell, a reaction that Jessica was not very used to seeing. In fact, this whole time during the raid, Jessica noticed that Alice was VERY sober…it was almost scary. “Don’t worry, hun,” Jessica said, holding Alice’s hand, “we’re closer now than before.”
Alice looked back up and smiled. “Ok!!” She said, in her usual chipper manner. “Let’s get going! I wanna tell Barj how I’m doin with the magic he’s teaching me!! Didn’t I do great?!?” Alice hovered over the ground, her wings beating furiously to keep her aloft. Jessica giggled, glad to see Alice back to normal. Still…it was strange seeing her so frightened…
“Let’s get out of here. Wanna go hang out in the courtyard for a bit?”
“Okies!!!” Alice hit a button on her belt, and vanished as the school teleport system snatched her up and took her to the campus.

Jessica paused for a moment, looking at the limp body of the galaxy archon she had beaten. His breathing was slow and strained, but he was still alive. Jessica shook her head, then activated her own transport beacon.

[Storm Scream]

"Where is he?"

"I don't know what you want!!"

"Where is the Air Man? We know that you are his little 'sidekick,' girl. Where is he?"

A sharp sting across the face, and then coughing...eyes tearing up...vision fading...

"I don't...I don't know!"

Another sting across the face, this time going the other way. Spinning. The cold steel floor of the cell. More coughing. Blood...

A woman's voice now, but cold and evil..."You will tell us where he's hiding, girl, or we will find him ourselves. One option guarantees that you live...now...where is the Air Man?"

"G....go..." Coughing...

"Yes?"

"Go to hell."

Snapping of bones, tearing of muscles. Incredible pain. Incredible, unbearable pain...screaming...

The room was illuminated with a sudden flash of bright light, followed almost immediately by a loud boom of thunder. Jessica bolted up in her bed, screaming, sweat dripping from her forehead. Scarlett bolted awake as well, screaming from the sudden bolt of lightning that had just struck in the room.

"What the hell?!?!"

Jessica sat, breathing heavy, the pain in her arms subsiding. She looked over at her roommate.
"I'm sorry...I had a nightmare..."

Scarlett huffed, then, grabbing her blankets, flung herself back onto her pillow, muttering under her breath. Tears formed in Jessica's eyes, and she got up to leave the room. She was thirsty, she was scared, and she didn't want to be in the room at the moment.

She walked down the hall in the dorm, noticing a few lights here and there snapping off. Some more people musta woke from that nightmare, she thought. She rounded a corner, coming to the kitchen. She found a clean glass in the cabinets, and got herself some water. The scars on her hands burned, and the cool glass felt good.

She sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes, trying to regain her composure...

"It's not your fault." The words repeated in her mind over and over. "It's not your fault."

She heard a creak outside the window, and turned to see a shadow moving away from the glass. She got up to check, and looked outside. The moon illuminated the school grounds, and she could see...there, in the sky...a figure flying away, a blue glow trailing. She sighed, and pulled the blinds down. "Damn peeping Toms..." she thought.

She finished her water, put the glass in the sink, and then walked back to her room. Scarlett was fast asleep again, and it looked like Yuki was in her bed, too. Jessica climbed into her bed, and hugged her pillows.

"It's not your fault...it's not your fault..."

She closed her eyes, and tried to go back to sleep.

[Storm Scream]

The next day came too quickly, or so Jessica thought. Her alarm blared at 6, and she lazily got out of bed. Yuki was up already, a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong, Yuki?" she asked.

"Did you see this?!?! It's gotta be the Circle of Thorns, they're after me again, I know it!" She pointed at the wall next to her bed. There, right above her pillows, was a scorch mark where the wall had been blasted. Jessica blushed, an act which turned her blue face almost purple.

"Actually...I think that was me..."

Yuki looked back at Jessica, a worried look on her face. Scarlett wasn't in the room, so that made her feel safer about talking about her nightmare with Yuki. She sat down and began telling her friend about the dream she had, remembering a time when she had first began to hit the streets with her dad. Yuki listened, calmer now that she knew it was only her roommate that had blasted her wall; and not on purpose, either.

"So yeah...that's what happened," Jessica said as she finished her story. "I'm sorry about that...it's a good thing you didn't come in until later last night..."

Yuki giggled, then looked at the clock. She muttered something incomprehensible in japanese, then grabbed her bookbag. "C'mon, we're gonna be late! See ya at lunch?"

"Yeah, ok."


The day dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. She didn't pay attention in any of her classes; her notebook paper covered in doodles of animals and new armor. Lunch came and went...Jessica wasn't very hungry anyway. Finally, the bell rang, and school was out. Jessica bolted back to her room and began changing into her street gear. Her cell phone was blinking, telling her she had a missed call. She checked the ID. It was Shadowstar, the warshade liason for the city. Since her dad's transformation, she had become a good friend and mentor to both Jessica and her dad. There was only one reason she'd be calling during the school day...it meant she had more info to pass on.

Jessica hit the redial button as she buckled her top piece. The phone rang twice before a woman's voice, almost like a whisper answered.
"Hello, Storm Scream. Thank you for calling me back."

Jessica smiled. "Hi Shadowstar. What have you got for me?"

"Some more info to pass about that list you are looking for. My contact on Striga Island tells me that the list is kept on the main servers there, and that the only way to access or change it is by a terminal in one of the many bunkers and labs there. She is trying to figure out which one on her own, but she gave me a few sites to check out if you wanted to go in."

Jessica grabbed her nav system and began putting in the coordinates of the bunkers she needed to check out as Shadowstar recited them to her.

"Thanks, Shadowstar! I think I'll see about going there today and checking out one of these labs. I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Allright, Jessica..." There was worry in the woman's tone. "Please be careful. Your father has lost so much already...I would hate for him to lose you as well..."

Jessica bit her lip, uncomfortable with the topic at hand. "I'll be ok. Don't worry. Just...keep him busy. And please...don't tell him I'm doing this..."

Shadowstar sighed. "Allright. I won't. Just, watch your back."

Jessica looked up to see Alice at her door, waving furiously, a huge smile on her face. Jessica waved back.

"I will. Don't worry." Jessica hung up the phone. "Hey Alice...how about a trip to Striga?"

Alice's cheery dispostion evaporated, and she nearly fell to floor as her wings stopped beating. Jessica giggled, giving Alice a reassuring squeeze on the arm. "I'm kidding. You don't have to come, hun. If anyone asks where I'm at..."

Alice nodded, her smile back and her feet off the ground once again. "You got it, Jessy!! Be careful!!" With that, she lifted Jessica up into a bonecrushing hug, and then flew off giggling madly as Jessica rubbed her sore arms, trying to catch her breath.

[Alice]

Alice watched Jessiy fly off in a rush. 'Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!!!' she thought, 'She's going there again...' Alice shuddered at the memories and her fear of the Council, and knowing that Jessiy was about to go and face it alone without anyone else to back her up.



"I...I want to help...b-but..." Alice holds back a tear trying to keep her fear from paralyzing her. "No... Barj taught me how to fight with Magic and Jessy helped me before...I...I c-can't let her d-do it alone..." Alice flies back to her room and pulls out the fanny pack Yuki had gotten her to wear to keep her books out off of her wings.

She quickly switched to her fighting tights, made of a tough bullet resistant Kevlar that was light enough for her to wear and fly with. She packed her clothes some medical supplies, some protein bars, bottled water and her spell notebook. She hefted it on her waist and with that she opened her window, took a deep breath and took flight vanishing into the wind following Jessiy's comm. signal all the way to the Council Base on Striga Island.

[Storm Scream]

The archon in front of her fell to his knees, arms falling to his sides from his head, body limp. He fell to his side, barely breathing in his tight uniform.

Jessica straightened up over the man's body, looking down with disgust as she wiped blood from the side of her mouth with an ungloved hand. She blinked, then turned to inspect the room she was in.

She was in one of the many bunkers on Striga Isle, buried deep within the mountainside. Her nav map showed many more tunnels in the bunker she was in, which meant the possibility of more troops. Hopefully, I can get into the file from a terminal in here, she thought.

She looked to the right. There was a raised platform with computer terminals, each one blinking the familiar council logo in a bright orange. She hopped up onto the platform, and accessed the nearest terminal, her face almost black in the orange light.

She brought up a file search window. She wrinkled her forehead...she hadn't thought about WHAT the list might be called.

Galaxies. Wrong list.
Nictus Transfers. Nada.
Warshades. Too many files to go through.
Void Hunters.

The computer hummed, and then three files popped up. One contained research about the quantum weapons used to fight the kheldians. Another looked like an equipment manifest for issued gear to the Voids. The third, however, had no header, aside from a date: September 21st, 2006. And then, nothing but names...Names of people, followed by Council serial numbers, and then the letters "MIA," "CAP," or "OAD." She looked the list over. MIA was simple enough..."Missing in Action..." CAP she assumed was captured...she recognized three or four of the names on the list. That left OAD to mean "On active duty..."

She looked again at the date for the list. It was strange to see that it hadn't been updated in almost a year...still, it could be what she needed. She scrolled down to the "S" section...

CLICK

Jessica spun as the gun fired. The computer screen behind her exploded into thousands of small glass projectiles. A few found their way to her face, leaving gashes on her cheek. Blood trickled down her face as she dove out of the way and rolled to her feet.

There, at the the entrance to the small room, were five council troops, a patrol, she figured. One had a flamethrower, another a rail gun. Two were marksmen, and the fifth...

"Crap...Vampire..."

The Vampyr shrieked and lunged for Jessica, claws reaching for her neck, fangs dripping with saliva. Jessica charged her gloves and fired a blast of sound that struck the Vampyr square in the chest, reverberating through his body. He still came, wincing at the noise. Jessica flung her arms forward, as if pulling the air behind her forward. A great wind filled the room, throwing the entire patrol backwards into the tunnel.

The flamethrower went off, and Jessica quickly cooled the air around her, preventing the flames from burning her skin away. Then, square in the stomach, she felt two slugs from the marksmen. Her kevlar suit held, but the breath had been knocked out of her. She stumbled backward, gasping for air.

Hands grabbed her from behind...the Vampyr was back on his feet. His arms wrapped around her, one around her chest, the other around her neck, grabbing her face. Dark energy channeled into Jessica, and she could feel the Vampyr sucking the life out of her.

"Contact the control center. Tell them we have the intruder in custody."

The voice...So far away...
Jessica blinked, trying to fight the Vampyr grasping her from behind...her vision blurred. She couldn't catch her breath. Her legs felt limp, and her chest refused to take breath...

"I recognize this one...It's Storm Scream! She's been after us for a while now!"

Can't...breathe...

The men were nothing more than shadows now. She felt her arms get lighter...her gloves were off now...Jessica charged her hands quickly, and the Vampyr howled in rage at the electric shock as he flew off her, slamming into the wall. Jessica hit the ground, gasping for breath.

One of the men shouted "Get her!" and she was slammed back to the ground.

A sharp pain in the back of her head, and she was on the ground. Her vision began to blur again as she felt a blow to her side...she coughed, unable to scream at the pain. She couldn't breathe...she couldn't speak...another kick to her side...ribs cracking...the cold steel of a knife against her body, under her top, cutting it off...

"Daddy..."

Jessica fainted.

[Alice]

Alice had followed Jessy all the way to hideout of the Council. Buried deep in the side of the volcano on Striga Island. She watched her friend crack the door code and sneak inside. Dropping to the ground Alice quietly slipped in before the door slammed shut.

"Eeep!" she suddenly clasped her hands over her mouth hoping Jessiy had not heard her. The echo of the door drowned her out because Jessiy didn't seem to notice the sound.

Alice flew several feet behind Jessiy to keep her from hearing the hum of her wings. Every chance she got while Jessiy would throw out a blast of lightning or thunder Alice would send out a sonic pulse to help strengthen Jessiy's resolve and keep her as protected as best she could.

Watching her fight while trying to stay out of the line of fire was not easy, Jessiy fought with a strange and grim fierceness. As Jessiy fought two council vampires a large black Warwolf snuck up behind her. Alice had collapsed from fear on more then one occasion but with tears in her eyes she had stood her ground, just to help her friend. Jessiy needed her even if she didn't want her there, and now was a time to help.

As the Vampires grabbed and kicked Jessiy the Warwolf came behind and picked her limp form up and using his long nails is sliced through her thin armor and jacket and stripped them off. Throwing them to the other two he threw her limp body, now only clad in a light blue body suit that barely covered her arms and legs, over his furry shoulder.

"Without these she will not be a problem" one vampire said in a voice that nearly caused Alice to faint

"She will serve as one of many new recruits,” he laughed gruffly

The pale council vampires laughed wickedly and followed the large beast down the tunnel.

"Oh no, no, no!!" Alice said feeling panicked 'I couldn't... I did... Oh I did nothing and now.... oh my, my, my!!!'

She stood up and pulled her goggles off; ‘I won’t let them do it…not to you…not again…. ever again…” wiping a tear from her snow-white eyes she said aloud "I will help you Jessica"

Replacing her goggles she pulled her hair back and fixed her bandana she turned down the tunnel and decloaked, in front of two very started Council solders, "Hey! You aren't supposed to be-HURK!!" was all the one said as the wind was knocked out of him. From now where a tall spectral entity appeared and blasted them both, knocking them unconscious.

It was Guzol, Alice's brother from her home dimension. 'thank you' she said silently and the phantom nodded, waiting to follow her. Together they slowly chased after Jessiy's subduers.

'There she is' Alice thought 'we can do this....' Alice gave Guzol the sign to wait there as she snuck ahead. She cloaked and with a quick spell summoned 3 illusionary decoys that the Council gum men began firing at wildly.

“How did they get in here” “I don’t know just shoot them!!” “It isn’t doing any good!!” “Call for reinforcements!”

But before they could carry out those orders Alice had blinded them, and then stood back as the decoys and Guzol finished them off. She rushed to Jessiy’s body as it lay on a cold, metal examination table. “Oh no…” Alice could see the damage that already been done. They open cuts her arms and legs repeatedly, there were bruises clearly visible beneath her suit, and she had a cut above her right eye. Alice set her spectral brother as a guard as she pulled out the small medical kit “Oh this isn’t going to be enough!!” she sets about stopping the bleeding from her shoulder and eye wounds and puts a salve on the bruises being careful to respect Jessiy’s privacy as best she could.

‘There! Almost good as new but not new!!’ she thought as she picked her friends body and tried to take flight ‘Oh no…I’m too heavy!’ Alice set Jessica down and started thinking about what she could do when suddenly “uuh…Ow…what’s going on? Alice? Is that you?”

[Storm Scream]

{{This is still PRE-INVASION...hoooray for wonky-time! lol}}

“uuh…Ow…what’s going on? Alice? Is that you?”

The world was still out of focus, and her eyes stung from the blows dealt to her face, but there was no denying the tall form standing above her, wings beating furiously.

"Jessy!! Oh my gosh, are you ok?!? I...I...I found you, and so I came to rescue you..." Alice was looking at Jessica concerned. She followed her friends gaze, to see her body, barely clad on the examination table. Her top was still in the grip of one of the vampyrs on the floor, and her gloves had been thrown into a corner in the room.

Jessica reflexively threw her arms up, arms crossed, covering from Alice her chest as well as her upperarms. Not that it would have mattered; she still had her sports bra on, and she was covered in so many bruises and scrapes that she had injuries on top of injuries. Still...she felt very uneasy at being unclad in front of her...she felt so bare, vulnerable, like no secrets could be kept. She looked away from Alice, and winced as pain shot down her neck, her back.

Alice went to get the tattered top out of the vampyr's hand, handing it to Jessica, saying "I'm sorry I couldn't...I couldn't...I..." Her voice trailed off, and tears began to drip down from behind her goggles.

Jessica sat up, taking the remains of her shirt and pulling it over her head, opening a wound on her stomach. She looked down at the gash, at the blood running down. The pain was insignificant...it actually felt good. She allowed herself a faint smile, then looked up at Alice. "Let's get out of here...I need to go to a hospital, I think..." Jessica coughed violently, and Alice nodded. Jessica couldn't see her face because it was covered with a mask and goggles, but she could feel the concern from her friend. She began to feel guilty...here she was, needing to be rescued, making her friend worry about her...

Alice spoke up, changing Jessica's attention. "We can go this way...it's still pretty cleared out. Can you walk?" Her voice was different...it wasn't as happy and carefree as normal. Jessica nodded, swinging her feet over the side of the table. Her boots felt so heavy...gravity took over, and she kept going. Her feet hit the ground, her knees gave out, and she collapsed on the ground. Alice let out a cry, and ran to help Jessica up off the ground. Jessica got to her feet, holding onto Alice's arm, giggling uncontrollably.

"THAT was brilliant..." Alice giggled in agreement, and then the girls were off, escorted by the shadow Alice called "Gusol" or "Kusol"...Jessica wasn't really sure. The pain was all she felt, all she paid attention too. She had never felt pain like this. They walked down a tunnel Jessica didn't remember, then into the room where she had been taken down.

There, in the corner, was the terminal station she had tried accessing. She stared as they walked past it, then stopped suddenly. Alice looked at her, confused.

"I've got unfinished business here." Jessica nodded to the terminal. "Help me over...please?" Alice sighed, and helped walk Jessica over. She did the search again, found the list, opened it. She scrolled down.

P...Q...R...

S. She scanned the list. Sr...St.

Jessica blinked, unsure her eyes were still working right. She checked again...then she scrolled to the J's, in case they had listed it by first name. Still nothing. Something must be wrong with me... she thought. She pulled a disk out of a compartment in her left glove, inserted it into the computer, and then saved the file. Maybe she'll find what she wanted when she was feeling better. Jessica looked up to Alice, nodded, and the girls turned to leave.

"Find what you wanted, child?"

The voice was familiar. It dripped with evil. Jessica locked eyes with the woman standing there.

Arakhn.

"You...you took him from me...you're the one that turned him into the...the..."

Arakhn smiled, her eyes flaring with evil. "The 'monster' he is? Come now, come now...he's more powerful now than ever. Besides," she stepped forward, "he IS still your father..."

Jessica was raging. Tears welled up in her eyes. The air crackled around her, and Alice let go of her arm with a short cry. Wind whipped around Jessica's body, and flashes of lightning lit the air around her.

"You...you..."

Arakhn took a step back, but still looked amused. "Me what? YOU can't defeat me, even with your little...friend." She glanced at Alice, eyes firing up in disgust. "Who knows...maybe SHE would make a good Void Hunter, too."

That was it. Jessica screamed in rage, and a wind flew out from her, knocking Arakhn into the wall behind her. Lightning flew from her outstretched hand, aiming no where, striking lights, computers...Alice jumped out of the way as a bolt landed where she had been standing. Another hit the stunned Arakhn square in the chest. She screamed as Jessica fueled the lightning with her anger, and Arakhn writhed in pain.

A hand fell on her shoulder hard, disrupting Jessica's concentration. The lightning disappeared, and Arakhn hit the ground, twitching with shock. Jessica whirled around...

And came face to face with the shadow. It's other hand landed on her other shoulder, and his head was shaking, telling her no...

Jessica screamed. "Don't stop me!! I'll kill her! I'll make her pay for taking daddy! I'll kill her!! I'll kill her...I'll..." Jessica fell to her knees, sobbing. Alice flew over and held Jessica, trying to calm her down.

"It's not fair! It's not fair...she used me to get him...she took him from me!" Jessica began sobbing again.

What happened next, Jessica wasn't very sure. Suddenly, the air was cold, and it seemed like every light had gone out. Alice was airborne as Jessica was thrown backward by the blast. Alice screamed...and screamed...Jessica and Arakhn both grabbed their ears in pain. Alice had said that she could kill someone with her voice...but Jessica thought she was just joking...Guzol flew forward, hands around Arakhn's neck, slamming her into the wall. Alice grabbed Jessica and ran, half dragging Jessica's battered body to the exit. A loud wail chased them down the tunnel, and then the two girls were running through the door and into the late afternoon sun of Striga Island. Jessica fell to the ground, coughing, her body shouting at her in rage. Alice slammed the door behind her, and then activated Jessica's med-badge. She disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Alice behind on the mountain.

She woke up later that night, this time on a much more comfortable bed, clothed in a hospital gown. The pain was gone...Jessica frowned a bit at that. Still...she had gotten something from her raid.

She rubbed her wrists, feeling the hospital bracelet she now wore. Her hands moved up instinctively to her arms...

There were bandages there! Jessica gasped, then looked. Sure enough, thick bandages covered her upper arms. She looked at her thighs...even more bandages. She looked at the bracelet on her wrist.

Jessica St. Peter || 7450-0-126

Suicide Watch

Her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't breathe. She wanted to leave. She NEEDED to get away.

She felt naked. She wanted to be in her room more than anything now. She wanted to be alone, where no one was watching her.

Jessica dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. She had gone from being beat physically, to being beat mentally...to now being beat spiritually. She didn't want feel anymore...she didn't want to care. She wanted one thing now, more than anything.

"Jessica? Are you ok?"

She looked up, wiping tears from her eyes. It was him...

Jessica sobbed even more, and reached for the man who was once her dad, the man who insisted on trying to start again. He took her into his arms, holding her close, letting her weep. He looked up, out the window. There was a flash outside, and Volucris nodded, holding Jessica closer, rocking her back and forth.

"Everything will be ok, my child. Everything will be ok..."

[Alice]

Alice sat on the rooftop of the hospital Jessy was staying in. Earlier that day she flew in after hitting her friend’s med-badge. She had taken some minor bumps and bruises but nothing severe. What the doctors had told her about the gashes and cuts on Jessy’s arms and legs shocked her.

“They are self inflicted. Most likely with a razor or knife.” Dr. Trey had said with a sad look on her face.

“What do you mean? I don’t understand” Alice stood there in disbelief.

“I am saying she cuts herself with a razor to relieve stress or tension. I can’t say that for certain but either way they are self inflicted. We have her bandaged and under suicide watch incase she tries to hurt herself again.” The doctor left Alice in a small waiting room to think about those facts.

A shining clear blue ghost appeared behind Alice and sat down next to her.

‘Hello Ashen…thank you for helping earlier…’ she thought silently to him. Her minds voice having none of her usual energy or excitement in it.

‘I am sorry I could do nothing more, my sister. How is your friend fairing?’ he voice inside her head was like a deep echo down a dark cave. Distinct, but everywhere at once.

‘You stopped her from killing, that is more then enough.’ Alice leaned into his ghostly form and sighed almost crying ‘She has been cutting herself with a razor on her arms and legs…I don’t know why…they have her under watch so she doesn’t hurt or possibly kill herself…’

‘How are you holding on Alice?’ his voice comforted her but only slightly.

‘I…I was so scared…all I could do was scream and scream…I almost killed us all…’ her sobs were unheard as the wind carried them into the night. ‘I could have hurt Jessy myself…or, or those Council…. god I was so scared Ashen…what they did me…to you…mom and dad…' her voice was lost as her crying increased.

‘It is in the past now Alice. I am here for you and so are your friends and surrogate father. You have to be strong, not only for yourself but for those who love you.’ The wind howled around them and Alice shivered. ‘But also remember you can lean on them for strength as well. Protect them but let them protect you too. We love you Alice don’t forget that. They wont let anything happen to you.’

The clouds overhead rumbled as rain began in drip from the heavens. ‘Go inside now, my sister. Rest and talk to your friend when she awakens. You need each other more then either of you know.’ And with that he vanished into nothingness in her arms.

‘Ashen…’ she stood and walked back inside to check on Jessy’s condition before heading to the waiting room to rest for the remainder of the night.

[Storm Scream]

WARNING: In the first part of this story, Jessica's feelings about her cutting and her reasoning are described. While being as vague as possible, I felt it necessary to say what is here. Possible trigger. WARNING


Jessica rubbed her straining eyes, then glanced at the alarm clock. It was 3:20 in the morning. Jessica yawned, then shook her head, eyes glued on the computer screen in front of her.

It had been five days since the raid on the council base that nearly cost her. It had been five days since her secret had been revealed, not only to Alice, but to her dad! The man couldn't remember anything about his life as Jason St. Peter, before he became the Warshade Volucris. Jessica remembered hearing him cry that night, in her hospital room while she slept. He had been blaming himself...she had reassured him, yes, but the truth was...it was because of him...2 days later she had seen a doctor, where she had to recount the first time she cut herself in the shower, how good it had felt to her then; and then telling how gradually she needed to do it more to feel better. It had been five days of a lot of crying, a lot of groaning, and a lot "Yes sir"-ing to get people to shut up.

Now she was back at the school, the therapists convinced she wasn't a danger to herself. I could have told them THAT...in fact, I KNOW I did...shrinks... Jessica shook her head, looking around the room. Since Alice had moved in, things weren't quite as quiet, but she didn't mind. Scarlett was asleep in her area, her perpetual frown plastered onto her face, even in sleep. Yuki was in her bed, opening and closing her clawed hand above her head, staring at it or at nothing in particular. Alice was reading in her bed, the occasional giggle floating into the room, causing Scarlett's frown to deepen and Yuki and Jessica to start to join in...it was infectious, almost. Still...Jessica knew Alice was hiding a lot.

"Why do you do this?" she had asked the day after getting sent to the hospital. "Why are you hurting yourself?"

"Alice...I..." Jessica hadn't wanted to tell her...She never imagined Alice could look so hurt..."I...it helps..." was all she managed to mutter, looking away from the hurt expression on her face.

"But Jessiy! You could hurt yourself really really bad! What if you killed yourself?" She had asked, pointing at Jessica's hospital bracelet.

"I would never do THAT! I just...I just like the way it feels...it's like people who smoke...it gives me a good feeling...it just doesn't come with lung cancer." Jessica had said. She had looked up at Alice, seen the tears filling her eyes, realizing how stupid that argument had been. "I...can't describe it, I guess...it just helps me deal with all the stress I have...it helps get my mind off of the bad things that happen..."

Alice shook her head, and flew out of the room without a word. It took three days before Alice would talk to her again. She had made Jessica promise she would talk with her before she would cut. Jessica finally gave in, knowing it would take a while to get to that point. But, she decided, she would let Alice try to help. She knew it wasn't working as much as it had originally, that the cuts were becoming more numerous, and that the razor had grown in size over the months. Maybe she did need help, she had thought...

Jessica looked at the clock again. 3:56. Great...Jessica rubbed her temples, then called to Alice. "Hey...can I get your help with this?" She had grown up in a world controlled by the Council...maybe she knew how they thought, how they operated.

Alice came over. "What's up, Jessiy?" she asked, fluttering behind her, arms on her shoulders. Jessica winced slightly, the fresh cuts on her arms flaring up in pain, and Jessica nearly toppled over onto the floor. "Oh! I'mosrryI'msorryI'msorry!!!" she said, as she pulled her hands off quickly.

"Guess I deserved that..." she growled, a slight smile playing across her face. "Can you give me some insight? This is the file I downloaded from the council computer the other day. Now, at first glance, it was dated September of 06, but I ran it threw a decryption algorithm Shadowstar gave me and I came up with.." she tapped a few buttons on her keyboard, and a seven files popped up onto the screen. "This. Now, two of them look like garbage, nothing but file access dates and addresses, probably to keep track of who sees the file, downloads it, changes it, whatever. The other five...appear to be more lists...but I have no idea how to read them." She opens one of them, revealing a series of serial numbers and dates, followed by a jumble of letters. If it hadn't been for the "||" between entries, it wouldn't have looked like nothing more than mumbo-jumbo. Jessica looked up at her friend. "Any insight?"

Alice stared long at the screen, furrowing her brow. She pointed at the beginning. "This number, 4, shows what letter in the alphabet this entry is to be filed under. So...if it's anything like the Council I knew..." Alice shuddered slightly, then moved so that she was leaning over Jessica. She held down three keys, and instantly the file began to rewrite itself. The numbers disappeared and were replaced with a string of letters, followed by a date, followed by a string of characters that still made no sense at all. "Yep...try running it through that program again."

Jessica took the file and applied the decrypter to it. Instantly, the file closed, and a new file opened up, embedded within the previous one.

Jessica gasped. The date at the top read "May 2007," and the list that followed was three times as long as the one she had taken originally from the council. She did the same to other four files, and got lists for September (which was different from the original one she had seen) and November of 2006, and January and March of 07. She scrolled down the list, recognizing a few names here and there.

"Oh my God...look..." Jessica pointed at a name in bright blue. "Kai is on here...and Jane..." Jessica scrolled the list more. Shadowstar was on a list as well..."These are lists of all the Kheldians in Paragon City...here's Arakhn and Requiem too...oh my God...they know true identities, places of work...where they live..." Jessica gasped and pointed next to Kai's name. "Where they go to school. This is not good..."

Alice went wide eyed, her feet hitting the floor. "What do you think they are trying to do?"

Yuki spoke up now. "Eliminate them all. What else?"

"But...why would Requiem and Arakhn be on here?" Alice asked.

"They're unstable elements within the council...they're constantly bickering, dividing the council." Jessica gaped at the list. There had to be thousands of names on here. Some were council. Some were villains in general. Most were heroes of Paragon City. "They constantly divide the Council...maybe this list was gathered by the Council, without Arakhn or Requiem’s help AND knowledge, and then it got leaked to them both...oh my God..." Jessica shook her head.

Alice looked down at Jessica, then asked. "Is...is he on here?"

Jessica closed her eyes and bit her lip. "Of course he is. Here..." Jessica scrolled down to the V's and pointed at a name in deep purple: Volucris| Warshade // Security Level: 24 "He's here..."

Alice looked, then put her finger on the screen, scrolling to the right on the line, reading. She gasped, then hit Jessica on the arm, pointing. "Wait! Who's this?"

Jessica cringed from the pain in her arm and at the volume of the outburst. She looked at where Alice was pointing.

Identity: Derek Paullaner

Jessica stared in disbelief. Alice broke the silence. "Who...who is that? That's not..."

Jessica shook her head. "There must be a mistake. And no...that's not dad...there must be something wrong..."

She scrolled through the whole list, looking at the J's, then the S's. She even looked up to the A's, half-expecting her dad to be listed under his original hero name, "Air Man." She looked on all the lists. He was on them, but Derek Paullaner was no where to be found.

"Alice...what does it mean?"

Alice looked at her friend, gaping in awe and terror at the screen before her. She took her hand off Jessica's arm and moving it to the top of her head, rubbing gently. "I...I...I don't know...do you think..."

"There's no way...oh my God...there's no way..."

Could he still be out there?

[Alice]

Alice had left Jessy to think in private and went to call her dad.

‘Ring, ring, ring ^coughs^ Yes hello this is the uber spectamazing Questions Mark?, who may I ask you are for to be speaking with please?’

“Hi daddy its me Alice.” She giggled into the phone “I need to talk with you and Techy and Mago and Bobo as sooooooooon as possible okay?? Can you spare a few minutes to meet me in Pocket D?”

‘Uh…sure Hunny, I’m with them right now, maybe in an hour? We need to break and eat anyways.’

“Sure! See you then!!” and she hung up and started on the flight to the entrance to Pocket D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alice sat at the bar sipping a giant cup of grape juice when she felt the ground begin to shake and suddenly she was being tickled by invisible hands.

“Daddy!!” she squealed and turned around and hugged her unseen assailant how appeared from thin air “Heya Hunny!!” he smiled back.

“Hello Alice, my how you have grown.” Dr. Magnus walked calmly over and gave her a small hug.

“Alice…” Techtonix rumbled in and smiled at her with grunt and a wave.

“Oh geeez it’s the chatter box…why am I here again?” Robert Divinity groaned as he sat on at the chair next to them.

“Yay you all made it!!” she giggled for a few minutes before calming down.

“Yes Alice why are we here? What was so important that you had to see all of us in person?” Dr. Magnus asked

“Well…It’s about Jessy…” she bite her lower lip “She is trying to help her dad and we did but we didn’t and then we found someone else and I was wondering if any of you knew anything about the Air Man or Volucris or someone named Paul…”

All of the stopped and looked at her with a stunned silence “Well…we know what he is…” QM? Started saying.

“Air Man…Volucris...No memory.....will be okay” Tech rumbled.

“Ugh…we’ve been talking for him for weeks now and I can’t deal with the Dimwit. Tell your little friend we will keep a look out for the Vollyball and let her know if he remembers anything anything.” Div grumbled out.

“What Robert means dear Alice, is that we know that Volucris in contact with her and what happened to him but with the current events we are only able to do so much…please tell her to be patent and that his memory will return.” Dr. Magnus spoke with deliberate calm.

QM? For once sat in silence and said nothing as they rose to leave each bidding her a farewell. As they left QM? Asked in a low tone “Guys…. why didn’t you tell her?”

[Storm Scream]

{Well...this is STILL Pre-Invasion for now...but the end is near!!}

"Where is he? Why hasn't he come?"

"I...I don't n...know..."

Pain searing through her body. She could barely breathe, barely keep her eyes open.

"Tell us, girl!! Where is he?!?"

A loud explosion resonates, shaking the ground. Heat. Screams. She looks up, seeing the door blasted out of the wall. A black t-shirt and camo pants. A large blue and white emblem emblazoned on his chest. And...

"Get to the girl! I'll cover the door!"

"You got it!"

A second man runs forward, grabbing her, lifting her up over his shoulders. The first man fires off another shot into the tunnel.

"D...daddy..."

He turns, a tear running down his face. "I'm so sorry, Jessiy..."

The man activates a transporter, and she disappears in his arms, watching the first, her hero, her DAD, be replaced by flashing lights. And yet...


Jessica bolted awake. There was a slight rumble in the air, and she could hear Alice give a faint little "Meep!" as she pulled her blankets over her head.

That...face...

Jessica rubbed her sore arm. It throbbed in pain from being laid on top of, and some of the cuts had opened up as well. She shook her head, as if shaking away the pain, trying to remember the face in her dream.

It had looked like him...and yet, it was not him...

The next day in class, Jessica didn't take notes, didn't listen at all to the teachers. It was just as well...she usually wasn't very vocal to begin with, and the teachers didn't try asking her questions today, for once. She doodled in her notebooks, trying to remember that face from the dream that she had had so many times before...

After classes she didn't go back to her room, instead making her way to the yellow line, and boarding the first train she could get on to Galaxy City. She made her way to the arena there, and then to the apartment building right behind it. Waving at the doorman, she caught an elevator and rode it to the tenth floor, then made her way to the door she new all too well.

Jessica knocked twice on door 10-4, then waited to hear the sound of scuffling feet, and then locks clacking on the other side. The door opened...

"Hi Vo...Dad..."

Jessica looked up, and then hugged the man standing at the door. His eyes were a pale blue, almost white. His face was scarred. Around him seemed to hang an aura of darkness and cold. Yet, his expression was warm as ever when he looked at the blue girl standing before him.

"Jessica! Shouldn't you be at the school?"

Jessica pushed past him, pulling off her scarf and undoing her tie. "Class is done for the day." She took off her coat and sat down on the couch. "Plus...I...I wanted to talk with you."

Volucris closed the door and then stood, staring at Jessica, puzzled. "Umm...allright. What's on your mind?"

Jessica opened her mouth and then stopped, looking at a picture on the shelf above the television. Intermixed in all the pictures of her and her dad, or her dad and his co-workers, was a photo she remembered well. She got up, and picked it up, wiping off the dust and smiling.

"I...remember this day. It was when I first met Alice..." She held the picture for Volucris to look. He took it.

The picture was crammed with people. Jessica, in her first super suit, was riding piggy back on her dad's back, the Air Force wings and star emblazoned proudly on his chest. Next to him was what looked like a large rock man giving a thumbs up...Techtonix...and then Gravitic Healer, with Question Mark? next to him, his hand up and behind Grav's head making bunny ears, and Alice next to him, smiling brightly. It had been the first day they had all gone out on patrol together. Volucris smiled, then, looking up quickly, assumed his usual stoic manner. "I...it looks like we did well..."

It was too late. He looked up at Jessica, saw the look in her eyes.

"You...you remember, don't you?" Jessica smiled wide. "You...you actually remember, don't you?"

Volucris opened his mouth, then shut it, his facing turning a deep red. The darkness around him began to lift slightly, and he began shaking nervously. "No...well...I mean...a bit...I guess...heh...that's a good thing though! Yeah..." His grip on the picture slipped, and the frame fell. He bent down to catch it, but wasn't fast enough. The frame hit the ground, and the glass cracked. Both of them froze, staring at the photo on the ground.

Jessica moved first, picking up the picture, and taking the glass out of the frame. "Ooops...guess we'll have to get a new..." Her voice trailed off as she pulled the photo out. It was folded to fit in the frame, and she gingerly unfolded it. She gasped.

There, folded behind, was another person. He wore urban camoflauge, and around his arm was a white band with a red cross. His face...

Jessica looked up, and then back down at the photo. "I remember him now...that's...Derek..." Her voice trailed off again as she looked up at the man in front of her.

Volucris sat down on the chair across from the couch, motioning for Jessica to sit. "Please...let me try to explain..."

Jessica shook her head. "You...you're...you're not Jason St. Peter, are you?"

Volucris looked pleadingly at the girl in front of her, as she slowly moved her right hand to start scratching furiously at her left arm. "Jessica..."

He couldn't get out another word. There was a loud whine, and then a fizzle and pop. Jessica and Volucris snapped their heads around to look out the window. The sky had turned a sick green color, and the war walls...

"What the hell..."

"Volucris...where are the war walls..."

Volucris turned and dove, pulling Jessica to the floor under him, just as the glass shattered with the first explosions. Ships descended from the sky, alien ships. There were screams everywhere.

"Jessica...for your sake and your father's...get back to the school. I promise...I'll explain everything later. Please...get to safety, now!"

Jessica got up and bolted for the door, her head still reeling from the double suprise that had just been handed to her.

She ran as fast as she could to the base portal near the Freedom Corps. building, and activated it to get to the school faster. Sirens were wailing everywhere, classmates were screaming in panic. Jessica bumped into Brianna, who was walking, almost in a daze.

"Where are my parents...I need a phone...I need to call my parents."

A radio was blaring above all the noise.

"WARNING: Rikti ships have been detected over every major city of the world. We are under attack. I repeat: we are under attack. Everyone is advised to seek shelter immediatly. This is not a drill or a hoax. I say again: We are under attack by the Rikti."

Jessica stopped, her hand fumbling instinctively through the pocket of her purse. A sharp edge nicked her finger and she recoiled at the pain, cursing under her breath. Well...it's there, she thought. She looked up, and began to follow the wave of students to the bunker.

[Storm Scream]

[[Ok, so most of this was set BEFORE the invasion...this is now POST invasion, and is also part of my post-I10 update]]

A smoky haze hung in the air. It was suffocating and unbearable, as if trying to make life for the small rescue team that much harder.

Five figures moved through the smoke, doubled over and running or flying inches from the ground. They moved quickly between the remains of buildings, dropping to the ground as shots flew overhead from patrols, or hiding behind a corner, waiting for a skirmish to end. Then, they were moving again, stealthily and quickly.

"Hold up," Sam's voice crackled on the comm channel. "I've got a loner, 'bout 60 feet away."

There was a slight huff, and then a higher pitched voice came on over the comm. "I can take him out...give me a sec, Sammy."

Light and sound warped and bended, and suddenly three figures appeared around the alien and attacked. The fight was over before it started; the invader was on the ground, unconscious, an arm broken.

Alice gave a huff again, and the figures could hear the tell-tale buzzing of her wings as she circled the party, unseen.

"How much further, Jessy?"

Jessica looked down at her wrist, and her NAV sprung to life. She tapped a button on her glove, and then looked up. Her heads-up-display in her facemask now showed a yellow arrow directly ahead.

"About 340 more yards." Jessica looked at the time display on her HUD. 20 minutes were left to find the injured Longbow unit.

"Jessica, look."

Jessica looked over to where Arkady had pointed. A small team of Paragon City and Rogue Isle vigilantes were fighting a squad of Rikti. The kids ducked as an alien flew overhead, thrown away from the battle by the large Brute that was dominating the fight as the Blaster and Corruptor that were with him picked off the ones running away.

"Ve need to keep going."

Jessica nodded to the green haired girl now straightening upward. "All right. Sam, take point again. Alice, cover her from the air. Everyone else, give 'em about fifty feet. Pluto, you'll take point for our group." Jessica looked around in case anyone was confused. When no one spoke up, she gave a quick thumbs up and looked over to Sam. "Move out."

Sam bounded forward over the hostile terrain, Alice a feet few over her head, scouting the area. After a few seconds, Pluto moved forward, followed by Gabriel, Arkady, and Jessica.

They were now fifty yards from the point marked on their NAVs. Jessica gave a signal, and the group formed back up and lay down on the ground. She activated her comm, speaking softly.

"Ok...Alice, go down and tell us how many people you see, and if any of them are conscious...Gabe, be ready to run down and treat survivors once Alice gives the go ahead."

Gabriel gave a quick nod and began to move to peek down over the hill into the ruins as Alice took to the sky and then dove right onto the target. There was a buzz on the comm, and then a confused voice came over it.

"Jessy...are you sure we're in the right place?"

Jessica turned to Arkady. "What? 'Kady, check the coordinates."

Arkady looked around, his HUD telling him what Jessica's was telling her. "We're where we're supposed to be...What do you see, Alice?"

Gabriel spoke this time, slightly annoyed. "There's no one down there...dammit..." He hit the ground with his fist.

"V'hat? How can zat be?"

"People are always getting lost in here. Maybe it's a Rikti jamming device? They always have those things running here. I remember when I lost my comm with the school, and it took Eddie forever to come and fin..."

"Ok Sam, thanks...Arkady, plug-in our coordinates and call base. We need to figure out where we are. Everyone...move down to where Alice is. I'd rather be down there than exposed on this hill...move." The kids ran, hunched over, down the hill into the rubble, pressing there backs against the remains of the walls that outlined where the house had stood. Jessica pulled her face mask open so that her eyes were now showing and looked around. Everyone was pulling their facemasks apart, so that their faces now showed, worn and tired from the running and hiding to get to where they were, only to find no one to save. Sam took a canteen off her belt and began to gulp thirstily. Pluto was looking around, scanning the area for enemies while her friends rested. Gabe sat down and pulled out a smashed Power bar, giving a bit to Arkady.

Arkady jumped a little, and then frowned. "Base just reported back...apparently, we weren't scheduled to be out..."

Jessica whipped her head around to face Arkady. "What," she demanded. "Didn't you clear this with them first?"

Arkady nodded. "Yeah, I did! I don't know what they're talking about!” He hit a button on the side of his mask. “Vanguard Base, this is CVC Squad Bravo, come in…”

Jessica looked around, her stunned expression matching that of her squad-mates. She gave a quick, disbelieving chuckle as Arkady turned and shrugged with a look of disgust. “I don’t believe it…Arkady, who did we get the mission from?” He gave a quick shake of the head and held up his finger to tell her “in a minute” and then continued to argue with the command base. Sam replaced her facemask and stood up. The rest of the squad followed suit and huddled together to wait for orders. Jessica motioned for everyone to move together so that she didn’t have to speak on the comm. “Ok guys…once Arkady is done, we’ll get going. Sam, you’ll take point again. Alice, I’d like you to follow with us for now. Try avoiding combat…yada yada yada, you know the drill. Understood?”

Everyone nodded as Arkady joined the group. “Apparently, we’re on a ghost mission…They didn’t know we were out here, they don’t remember assigning anyone the task, and we’re about three miles from where we should be anyway, but there IS a team moving in on that position already.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what to tell you…but I think we should get out of here.”

Jessica nodded, then pointed at Sam and then motioned for her to move. She took off up the hill; after a few seconds, the rest of the team took off after her.

Sam's voice came on over the comm suddenly; loud, clear, and frightened. "Hit the deck!!"

The team dove forward onto the ground. Jessica turned her head to look up.

Dropping out of the sky and heading right for them was a Rikti dropship. It flew low right over the squad, whipping up dust and rocks. Jessica quickly cooled the air around her, making a fog that would grant some cover to the exposed team, but the damage was done. The ship circled around, and headed right back for the team...

[Storm Scream]

Jessica shouted over the whine of the drop ship’s engines. “We need to get out of here! Alice!” She turned to her friend. “We need decoys, now!”

Alice closed her eyes, and suddenly a whole group of phantasmal beings appeared and began running every direction. The group formed up and moved to catch up with Sam, who was slowly getting up off the ground.
Overhead, the ship’s lasers fired, targeting one of the decoys that Alice had called forth. The scream of the weapon deafened the small party, and they all stopped, startled by the close call. It was the last mistake that would be made.

There was a tell-tale hum around the group, and suddenly they were surrounded by rikti who had transported out of the ship overhead. Standing apart was a very large one with dark, blue-grey armor. His red eyes burned in the fog, and Jessica could feel herself begin to panic as she locked her eyes on his. He raised his hand, pointing to the group of kids, and the aliens began to run forward, weapons drawn and ready.

Pluto was the first to react, her programming kicking in. She ran straight for a plain-clothed rikti, firing radiation bolts at his chest. The alien was thrown backward onto the ground, and she was on top, her knee driving home into his chest. Bones broke and the rikti let out a noise that could only be a scream as she pushed off the ground back into the air, turning upside down in mid air and firing off more blasts as more aliens closed in.

Sam finally found her legs, running forward into the oncoming invaders, fists a flurry in front of her. Gabriel was in the air, his empathic abilities in overdrive keeping Sam on her feet. Alice ducked a swipe from a sword, straightened up, and then let out an incredible scream. Invaders fell to their knees as the kids felt the very air around them get heavy as Alice willed the sound of her voice to cover them like shields. Arkady focused his mind on the nearest alien, destroying all reason in the alien’s mind, as he turned and forced another to turn against his brethren. Jessica rose into the air on a gust of wind, then threw her hands high into the air. A cloud formed right above her head, rumbling to life. A lightning bolt flew out from the cloud, striking a black-armored rikti in the chest. Then her arms were flying in front of her, and four aliens were knocked back to the ground by a blast of sound made from the speakers in her gloves.

The kids regrouped, back to back in a circle. There were still a few aliens on their feet, but they were hanging out of range, almost afraid to attack the small squad. Jessica looked over and saw Gabriel give a wry smile. She copied the smile…it seemed like they’d get out of this without much more of a fight.

Then something surprising happened. The leader of the rikti squad, who had until now stayed out of the fight, drew his own incredibly long and vicious sword.

“ENOUGH” he bellowed. The kids snapped their heads around to look at him. “No more games…”

Jessica gasped. This rikti…he was talking…

“Yes…I can speak your language. There will be no more resistance from you.” He raised his sword over his head. “Surrender or you will die!”

Alice gave a meek “meep!” and disappeared. Sam gaped, awestruck at the talking alien.

Pluto stood still for a moment, and then with a loud cry, ran forward, pulses of radiation blasting from her hands. The rikti jumped into the air and forward toward the girl to evade the attack, his sword in front of him and angled down. Pluto took a step back, and the sword collided with her chest. Plasma flew off the blade, and then there was a loud crunch as the alien’s feet landed on Pluto’s shoulders. Pluto crumpled under the weight and lay still on the ground.

Sam screamed in rage and ran forward, Gabriel close on her heels to get to Pluto. The rikti swung his sword, keeping Sam and Gabriel at bay. Sam ducked under and then rushed forward, her small fist colliding with the rikti’s helmet. He flew back off of Pluto’s limp body, flipping backward and then landing on his feet, and then he was running forward, sword ready to slash again. Sam met his challenge and dodged again, this time jumping over the swing and landing a kick square into his chest.

Jessica stood, watching the scene in front of her. Sam seemed to be suspended in air, her foot firmly planted on the rikti’s chest. What happened next was too fast to comprehend. The rikti grabbed Sam’s foot with one hand, dropped his sword, and grabbed her head with the other. He whirled around and then threw her head first.

“Gabe! Look out!!”

Gabriel looked up from tending to Pluto in time to see Sam collide with his stomach. There was an “oooph!” and then Sam and Gabriel were sliding on the ground back away from Pluto. Sam pulled herself up to her hands and knees…

And then she was airborne again as the vicious alien kicked her in the ribs. She hit the ground as Alice screamed, and then lay still.

Arkady, Jessica and Alice moved closer together, facing the unrelenting demon. There was a hush, and then the alien disappeared.

Arkady cursed and whirled around. Jessica formed a tornado and sent it flying around the small battleground. Alice summoned her brother, Guzol, to the fight, and began throwing up more sound barriers around herself and her friends.

There was a shuffle behind Jessica, and she spun on her heels and fired a blast of sound from her gloves. The rikti staggered back as his insides reverberated. Arkady took the opportunity to sway a few more rikti to his cause, and three infantry attacked their leader. Guzol threw himself forward, his phantom fists colliding with the rikti’s stomach.

Arkady ducked as one rikti was thrown over his head, and then he had to dodge out of the way as a second landed on the ground next to him. There was the singing of steel, and the third confused rikti fell to the ground, a large gash in his abdomen. Then, there was a blast of the plasma gun, and suddenly even Guzol was on the ground, writhing as if in pain until he returned to nothing. Then, there was a second blast of the gun.

“Jess!!” Arkady ran forward, throwing Jessica out of the way of the plasma bolt. It struck him in the side and threw him six feet back. He landed with a thud on the concrete rubble, groaning as he tried lifting himself up.

“You, girl…You are the leader,” he hissed as he walked forward to where Jessica was on her hands and knees. He stood over her, his weapon pointed directly over her back, ready to shoot or to stab. “There will be no more of these games, girl.”

Jessica turned her head around, looking at her comrades. Everyone was injured, even Alice, who was now on the losing end of a beating from rikti that were now appearing on the ground, transporting in from the drop ship that still loomed over head. She threw them off her, and then took a plasma blast to the back. She let out a yelp and dropped to her knees.

Jessica closed her eyes, waiting for the rikti leader to strike. She did the only thing she could do…something she hadn’t done in a long time.

Dear Lord…please…we need a miracle…

There was a loud bang, as if a rifle had been fired, and she heard the alien above her curse as he staggered backward.

Her miracle had come…

[Storm Scream]

There was a loud bang, as if a rifle had been fired, and she heard the alien above her curse as he staggered backward.

Jessica opened her eyes, crawling away from the injured Rikti as quickly as she could to where Sam lay on the ground. Sam was breathing heavy, but had managed to lift herself up to her hands and knees. Her facemask had been torn off when she landed on the ground, and lines of blood had dried coming out of her nose and the corner of her mouth. Her eyes were barely open, but the look of confusion on her face told Jessica all she wanted to know: The Rikti HAD been shot, out of nowhere.

“Sam…you ok?”

Sam turned and squinted at Jessica. “Yeah…a little busted up…but no worse than…” Sam stopped suddenly, wincing.

Jessica put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t move too fast…it’s ok…” She looked around, trying to see where the shooter was, her team’s guardian angel. There were no Vanguard troops anywhere, no vigilantes that were visible.

Wait a second, she thought. What is tha-… "OH!"

Dozens of arrows appeared from nowhere and rained down on the rikti, gluing them in place or freezing them solid. Others were caught in nets or began slipping on oil which would ignite from misfires and engulf them in flames.

Jessica gasped excitedly. Falling down from the sky was a brightly colored figure, many shades of fluorescent pinks and greens and blues blazing that much brighter in the sunlight. His face was masked by a green faceplate, and horns were positioned forward, almost haphazard-randomly on the helmet. Over his armor was a yellow trench coat; in one hand he held a bow, while the other gave a thumbs up to the kids below. Jessica looked to where Alice was being held, who had also looked up, had also seen. A huge smile was spread on her face, despite the rikti holding plasma guns inches from her head.

“DADDY!!!” Alice’s wings began beating furiously, causing the Rikti to recoil a little away from her.

”Oi! Hey you lot, what’s keeping you down? Oh right them!” Question Mark? laughed and fired another arrow at a Conscript trying to stand. “Oh come on! Don’t look so sad! It’s ONLY a war! Could be worse you know, like….oh, no, wait…I guess this is as bad as it gets eh? Hahaha!!”

Four Rikti hit the ground, arrows imbedded in their legs and chests. A few Rikti pulled netting arrows from their arms and threw them aside, their red eyes narrowing. Guns and swords were drawn collectively as the aliens began to attack the new threat that had just landed in their midst.

Question Mark? gave a short, maniacal giggle and fitted another arrow onto his bow string, then fired straight into the air. The arrow flew upward, and then exploded with a “pop!” and a bright flash. The Rikti slowed their advance, looking to the sky, confused. Question Mark? laughed.

“Shouldn’t oughta a done that buddy boys!!”

The ground erupted as a giant, rock-encased hand reached up and grabbed the ankle of the unfortunate rikti right above. The Rikti was pulled down into the ground as the rest of the new combatant exploded up out of the ground, then landed on two more Rikti stupid enough to stop and gawk. He was covered from head to toe in stone, and simply roared, “TECH SMASH!” as he picked up the nearest alien and hurled it back toward its comrades, scattering the group of them.

The aliens struggled to pick themselves up; one managed to call in for support, a portal tearing open next to Question Mark?, Rikti pouring out. A black-armored Rikti with a rifle strapped to his arm ran out, aiming at the stone man…

“TECH! DUCK!”

The walking pile of rocks slammed forward onto the ground and rolled, steamrolling over a stray drone as the rifle-wielding alien fired, causing it to screech metallically before exploding. Then, the alien looked up to where the voice had called out…only to be slammed to ground as a much larger alien landed on top of him. Dark, cold energy swept over the battleground as the Warshade began hurling his fists at rikti, making his way to the rock man, who was engaged in a similar activity. They met, and then turned, back-to-back, fighting off the aliens that were now attacking them.

“You almost had that in the face, Tech!” Volucris dodged an arrow flying past him from Question Mark?’s bow, then slammed his fist into the face of an attacking alien.

“Volucris…talk too much…” Techtonix Zi grumbled as he bent down and picked up a huge piece of what used to be a wall, then discus-threw it into a group of Rikti. “Talk less…fight more.” With that, the two hulking masses rushed the alien invaders as more began to pour through the open portal. Aliens went flying, screaming in pain at the unstoppable combined force of stone and nictus.

Alice was on her feet again, making her way to Gabriel and Pluto, aiding the rescuers with her sonic shields. Jessica helped Sam to her feet, and then pushed her out of the way to hit an oncoming attack drone with a blast from her sonic gloves.

A tall shining figured floated down and with a sweeping motion sent a group of Rikti backwards into a wormhole and hurled them hundreds of feet away. “The two of you are going to tire if you don’t get that portal closed…but of course, who’s going to listen to me?” Suddenly, Jessica felt like she was being pulled to the ground. Sam struggled to stay on her feet, and Alice now had her feet firmly planted on the ground. They looked up to see the armored figure soar overhead. Energy blasts flew out from his hands and struck the portal. There was an ear-piercing shriek, and then a pop and a fizzle as the portal closed. Then, the last reinforcements to pour out of it were suddenly thrown into the air. They hovered, confused, before being slammed back into the ground as gravity took over on overdrive. “Here, allow me to aid your efforts, please.”

Question Mark? laughed, putting up a hand to high-five his friend as he landed next to him. “Good job, Zach-O! Nice distance too, little to the side so you might want to work on your slice for next time eh?” With a huff, Gravitic Healer turned away, ignoring the high-five to send another group of attacking aliens into the air.

Jessica smiled. It was good to see these heroes again, fighting together. Even Volucris. She turned and saw Sam pumping her fist into the air, cheering. Pluto was back on her feet, one arm limply hanging to one side, the other firing off bolts at Rikti that had turned their backs to her as they tried to get out of range of the rescuers. Gabriel was sitting, still trying to catch his breath, but using his healing abilities on the group of kids as he could to keep them all alive. Arkady stirred, muttering, to whom Gabriel turned and began to focus his efforts. Tears were streaming down Alice’s face at the sight of her father in action.

Question Mark? flew over to the group of kids as Gravitic Healer, Techtonix Zi, and Volurcis continued to keep the remaining Rikti at bay. “How are ya’ll kids doing? Any of ya’s seriously hurt? And by seriously hurt, I mean dead? Hmm, good! Let’s get ice cream after this, what say ye?” Alice moved forward and embraced her father tightly, causing Question Mark? to laugh and squeeze her tighter as she giggled and cried.

“Daddy!! You rocked!”

”Hehe, doing good? Yeouch!!” Question Mark? staggered backward as a plasma bolt struck him square in the chest, barely missing Alice’s head. Then, another bolt blasted him in the face, cracking his mask and sending him flying backward to the ground. Alice screamed, flying to help her father. The kids looked wildly around for where the blast had come.

Jessica only had to turn a little before she saw a flash of blue-gray armor. She screamed, and the rest of the small squad turned to see her be grabbed by the neck and lifted up off the ground, then held close and forward of the Rikti leader. He held her in a head-lock, his helmet off, revealing his face. There was no discernable mouth, and his eyes seemed to burn even brighter. Scars riddled his face, and there was a fresh scar just under his left eye where he had been shot, blood trickling down the grazed cheek. His eyes showed the emotions he felt loud and clear: anger, hated; but more importantly, fear and despair. He was losing, and he knew it.

Jessica charged her body, creating an electric current inside her. She released it, and a bolt of lightning flew upward from her.

“Stop…fighting…me…” the rikti scolded, tightening his grip on Jessica, so that her vision began to fade. She saw in front of her her squad, ready to strike but unable to help. Question Mark? was on his feet again, bow at the ready, another arrow knocked. Gravitic Healer had taken a position next to him, trying to determine the best way to attack. Techtonix Zi and Volucris were both back in human forms. Volucris stood, mouth gaping, eyes wide in shock.

“Jessica!” He shouted. “Oh God, JESSICA!!!” The air around him grew dark as nictus energy swirled around him. “Let her go!”

The rikti only tightened his grip, then teleported to a spot behind the rescuers on a hill, so that he could look down and gloat. “Do not attack me, or the girl dies!”

Gravitic Healer cocked his head to one side, confused. Question Mark? looked back to the group of kids. Gabriel nodded his head and said, “Yeah, he can talk…he also kicked our asses pretty good, so we didn’t question it too much…”

Volucris stepped forward, to where the alien stood. “Let her go…if you really want a captive, take me instead!” He threw his arms out to either of side of him, as if to block from view the rest of the heroes behind him. “Just…don’t hurt her.”

If the rikti could show emotion on his face, he would have sneered at Volucris. “No…this girl will do nicely…”

Volucris only got darker. The air was swirling as nictus energy formed around him. No one moved as the two stared each other down. Jessica struggled in her captor’s arms, trying to kick him, to shock him, to freeze the air…anything to get out of his arms and give the four stronger heroes a window to attack. The alien only held her tighter, moving her so that she was directly in front of him, stopping the rescuers from attacking him for fear of hitting her.

“YOU HEARD THE MAN! LET HER GO!”

Everyone’s eyes were up to the sky. Jessica squinted, gasping for air. No one was there…but…

The rikti hissed a curse, turning his head, searching the sky for the source of the booming voice. Then, the voice spoke again, this time closer, and Jessica gasped again, this time in recognition.

“I said…let my daughter go, you son of a $!&@#.”

Jessica was pulled backward as the rikti was slammed to the ground from behind. His arms flew up to protect himself from the next attack, and Jessica rolled away as fast as she could down the hill, knowing what was coming next. Sure enough, the ground exploded as a grenade was dropped next to the rikti. Alice fired of a shield toward Jessica, deflecting any shrapnel. Then, the familiar sound of an assault rifle filled the air. She didn’t even have to look…Jessica knew the rikti was on the ground, writhing as he took the bullets. There was the same scream sound. Jessica turned to watch as a man suddenly appeared in the air, an assault rifle in one hand, flying towards the injured rikti. The rikti sprung to his feet, and swung his sword at the man. He dipped under it, then struck the rikti with the butt of the gun, sending him staggering backwards. The gun was pointed forward again, and it fired a shotgun shell, sending the alien staggering again. A quick burst of bullets fired after. Then, there was a “KA-CHUNK!” as another grenade was lobbed at the rikti’s feet. It exploded, and the alien screamed again in pain.

Then, it was silent.

Jessica watched as her miracle slowly hovered down to the ground, blue jets firing from his boots to keep him airborne. He was dressed in a dark blue and grey stealth suit, and his face was covered by a Vanguard mask. Vanguard armor covered his hands and chest…

And emblazoned proudly on his chest, in a bright blue and white, were the Air Force wings and star.

Alice gasped, her hands over her mouth. The rest of the kids looked on in wonder, as if this man were a real angel descending from heaven. Volucris looked on, tears forming in his eyes, smiling proudly at his friend’s return.

The man reached up, and removed his mask to reveal his face. Then, slowly, a smile spread across it as tears bunched up in his eyes.

“Jessiy…oh God, Jessiy…I’ve missed you so much…”

Jessica looked into his face. Tears were streaming down her dark blue skin, her eyes locked onto his. Then, without a word, she ran forward and grabbed him, holding him, not wanting to let him go again. The past year was a distant memory in her mind now…the nightmares leading up to the day a blur. The scars on her legs and arms seemed nonexistent, and in that one moment, there was no one else in the world except the two of them. She sobbed into his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her.

“It’s ok…I’m home…oh Jessiy, I’m sorry I had to go…I love you so much…I’ll never let you go…oh God, I love you…”

Jessica pulled away enough to look into his face, to make sure it was real. No other word came to her mind, except the one she almost screamed in joy, as she erupted into a shower of joyous tears.

“DADDY!”