Now fully dressed, Mattie turns to the door, talking over the coms as she goes. "Isaiah, Shin, meet me at Inquiry. Isaiah, keep trying the tower. Kylie, can you see if you can contact Rory and let him know too? Where is he?"
Running down to the bay holding Inquiry, she waits impatiently for the others to show up. Maybe I should just go? It'd be quicker but,.. they might think I'm having another 'episode'. It'd be better if we were all there!
"For the record, I don't think this is a very good idea. We're trying to prove that we're NOT going to be disruptive and/or creepy about this, and its the middle of the night. I seriously doubt they'll even let us in. But if you're determined, I can take you over there. I'm still trying calling first."
Does Isaiah have any idea which of the Praetor Tower people are actually there? Or would be awake at this hour? If nobody in particular fits the bill, he'll try calling Judge, figuring the telepath might already know if Psyche has been probing around.
"Is he not on comms either?"
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After a few hours unable to find sleep Frostbite was just about to obtain the rest he sought - a jolt of adrenaline ripped him from slumber. "You can't be f&*@ing serious, what she want to rip my kidneys out too, maybe my spleen?" Rory mentally shot back while peeling a half frozen pillow from his cheek.
"Can we focus? Before we start charging into Praetor Tower, with all of its defenses and their whole super powered family, can we maybe reach out to Silver Shield and maybe get her to ask them if anything is wrong?" Shin asks over comms, heading to Inquiry as well. He's surprised how well he can move in the new armored costume, which now conceals his head under a full faced helmet with a visor.
"I understand wanting to help Kayla, I do. She's my friend too. But she's the one who wanted space from us, Mattie. We can't go charging in without more solid evidence than your premonition," He argues, hoping that Mattie will see reason.
"You can try her on the way, but I'm going now. You can go with me or you can stay here. Either way I'm going! Mattie says, her voice betraying her concern and impatience "And if we're not on the way in 60 seconds I'm leaving anyway. She's in trouble Shin! I just know it! I'm not standing around and debating this!"
"I was listening - it wasn't just a dream. Be careful not to antagonize anyone unnecessarily, but this is real."
"Okay...and Kylie, please use comms," Shin stresses as his headache flares up again. The psychic sensitivity his injury had caused seemed to be less than before, but he was still healing.
He enters where Inquiry was waiting, looking over at Mattie and crossing his arms. "This is probably not going to go over so well with the rest of the Taylors. Or Silver Shield. Or Whippoorwill either."
He's glad the visor hides his eyes so she doesn't see him glance over her shoulder at Dusk's smug expression. Like this was all according to his plans. "...We should try to expect to be turned away at the door. Or worse, we'll end up tripping their defenses and end up on the morning news about how Inquiry was shot down by our allies."
When you all arrive at Praetor Towers rooftop landing pad, several guards in advanced armor and carrying high tech weapons step up, though the guns are not raised threateningly. A pair of sentry drones remain floating at the door with a few more.
”We are going to have to ask you to leave. We have been informed your clearance has been revoked without proper supervision by one of the family,” the head guard says. Another one by the door is speaking over an earpiece communicator to someone.
If you do not leave, a few minutes later a sleepy looking Sarah makes her way out of the elevator. It’s the first time you’ve all seen her not in her combat gear, and it’s clear that Kayla’s good looks are a family trait. She’s in some loose fitting shorts and a long t-shirt. She walks over to you all as she wipes sleep out of her eyes. ”Seriously? Are you guys trying to push her away? This is being a bit clingy, don’t you think?” she asks with a yawn.
"Okay, be calm, but firm. She's here because this isn't a hard no, she can be reasoned with. The important thing is that someone checks on Kayla."
Isaiah drifted out, still not fond of this plan.
"I've been saying the same thing. Mattie here got some kind of weird empathic feedback from Kayla, some kind of premonition or something. I figured I might as well come along just in case, and because she was dead set on going anyway. That and if she's right and something terrible is happening, it would be better to be prepared."
As Shin, Mattie, and Isaiah take off in Inquiry, Rory emerges from his room exhaustion gripping him like a late frost on a spring morning. Pulling even with Psyche, he begins to put his shirt on, "seems a bit like throwing a lit match at a powder
keg doesn't it?" Rory asks grabbing the hoverboard and a new communicator from a nearby storage closet. "Mattie and Kayla are both emotionally charged and I don't want a repeat of the Private Island Portuguese Pirates," Rory chuckles slightly before placing a hand on Psyche's shoulder, "Are you going to be fine here solo?"
"I'm sorry we came so late, but we're worried about Kayla. If you just check on her, or let us see her to make sure that everything is all right, we can leave you be. We just want to make sure our friend is all right," Shin tells Sarah. Though he finds the little helmet speaker to distort his voice a little too much for his tastes.
Sarah looks at Shin exasperatedly. ”Alright? Of course she’s not alright! She’s had one hell of a day! Week! Month! And what? You guys think you are riding in here like some cavalry to the rescue? You are worried about your friend? We are worried about our family! So yeah, you can rest assured that we are watching out for her. I dunno what “link” you are talking about, but ever have a bad dream after a bad day? It’s kinda common,” she snaps at him, as well as all of you.
She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. ”Look. I particularly appreciate your ‘concern,’ but you guys need to give her a little breathing room right now. She’s still a Sentinel. But she needs to breath a bit. Go back to wherever your other hideout is and get some sleep,” she says as she turns and heads back towards the elevator.
Mattie starts forward. "No. You don't understand. There's a link between us. I can,.. feel her, and I have these dreams sometimes. I think they're hers and,.. something's happening. Please check on her, get The Judge to do it. Please,... There is something wrong with her. Badly wrong!
As you start towards her, the clatter of metal accompanied the Praetor Tower Guards stepping forward and raising their weapons slightly. Sarah turns from behind them and says ”Go home, Sentinels. I promise you, even set to non-lethal the weapons these guys are packing hurt. She’ll see you all later!” as the elevator doors close.
”Alright, you heard her,” the head guard says, his voice distorted slightly behind his helmet. ”Time for you kids to get back home.”
"Sarah. You don't have all the facts, and it's important. The link is real; what Mattie sensed wasn't just a nightmare. Maybe we haven't handled everything with finesse, but have we ever reacted to something that wasn't actually a threat? I know you've done your assessments on us; you know what our weaknesses actually are; trust what you know. Please, get the Judge to check on her."
"Then we're going home," Shin tells the guard. "Come on, Mattie. We tried, we warned, we did the best that we can do in this situation. We can try to talk to Kayla again in the morning," he tells her. "As much as we might want to help her, we can't do anything if we're not allowed to go and see her."
Shin steps back up into Inquiry. "Make sure we keep tabs so that we know if Kayla leaves. Or if she mysteriously appears somewhere else in the city. That would probably be a bad sign, actually..."
"I'm not going anywhere." Mattie says, eyeing the guards. "Not until we see Kayla."
"Mattie, you stay here, those guards are going to make you leave. You think that Kayla's going to want to see you if you start a fight?" Shin tells her. He places his hand on her shoulder. "Come on. You can try calling Silver Shield. Maybe she can get us access. Right now, Scorch, there's no way to get to her that's not going to cause a lot of trouble for everyone. You really want to go down that route?"
Isaiah sighed and shook his head. "They have accepted responsibility. If anything bad happens to Kayla, I shall hold it on their heads. Isaiah looked after the departing Sarah, making sure to speak loudly enough he would be heard. Then he turned to Mattie, and spoke more normally. "As her family, and as a more well established group of supers, they have a legitimate claim. Also, even if we tried breaking in it wouldn't end well. For now, you should get some rest. We're going to meet in the morning anyway."
Isaiah/Inquiry did, however, leave a few hidden cameras in inconspicuous locations on nearby buildings, so that he would see if and when Kayla left the building. And just to keep vigil.
"I said I'm not going anywhere." Mattie says, shaking Shin's hand off her shoulder and taking a step toward the elevator. "And if they think those goon'll be able to stop me, they're wrong. What would you do if it was Kylie Shin? They're not taking me seriously, none of you are, but something's wrong!"
Shin grabs her by the shoulder again as he sees the guards raise their stun weapons again, aimed at Mattie. "Woah, woah, just calm down. Mattie, this is the wrong way to go about it. Think of what happened to Kylie. She made a mistake and didn't think ahead, and now she's facing charges. You think the Taylors aren't going to go the same route if you kick in their doors without probably cause?" He says.
"I want to support you, Mattie. The right way, not this way. Look at those men Mattie. Do you honestly want to hurt other people to get to Kayla? That's not what a hero does," He tells her. "That's not what Silver Shield would want you to do. You can't help Kayla if you end up arrested for trespassing."
Mattie shakes Shin's hand off her again and takes another step forward, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Fine. I'll do it myself then." she says moving towards the elevator, daring the guards to fire.
Mattie pulls the heat from the surroundings, sending it into the guards' weapons, which immediately begin to glow red hot.
The guards raise their weapons and train them on the group. Several at Scorch directly, the rest at the team in case they choose to intervene also. The drones all become active as well, and you can see various different types of weapons appear on them, likely countermeasures to each of you they have prepared based on scans.
Suddenly, you feel an overwhelmingly strong desire to go home.
The elevator opens again and you see Judge step out. The guards lower their weapons as he approaches. He is in a pair of high end silk pajamas and some house slippers.
”Do you kids realize how hard it is for a telepath to sleep in this city? Let alone when there is a fight on the roof trying to brew?” he asks with a stern look at Scorch.
”You are worried about Kayla, I get it. But she is asleep. I just checked in on her. And it took her long enough to get that way after today, so I’m not going to let you kids who seemingly have never been told no a day in your lives come into our home and upset her again. You can see her later. Now...there are two ways this can go down. You can either go back to your base...”
”Or you can go back to your base,” enters your heads, though you are also given the distinct impression that you would not enjoy the second version of the trip.
”I’m fine with either, though you may not be.”
At the very least, Kylie had been gentle when she spoke directly into his mind. But the Judge had no qualms about thundering his words into his head like driving a rail spike into his skull. It was too much for his already damaged brain.
Shin lost his balance, collapsing to his hands and knees as he lifted his helmet just quick enough to let his dry-heaving have the bile escape without interference. It hurt that much still. He thought he was getting better.
"Stop...please..." He gasps out, struggling to get back up onto his feet again. "We're going. I'm sorry for the disturbance. We'll go..." He says, struggling to to get back into Inquiry with shaking hands.
"Mattie, he's checking on her. Is that enough for now?"
"Yes, I am taking this seriously Mattie. The chances of attempting to force our way in making things worse are much higher than the chances of their making things better, even assuming something dangerous is going on. We should get going."
Mattie shoots an annoyed look at Shin and Isaiah and then turns to Judge, still tense but somewhat mollified.
"You checked on her? And she was OK? You're sure" Mattie replies, still worried. "Did you check, you know, her mind as well? Something is wrong. I just know it. You can,.. I don't know, probe my mind, or whatever if you don't believe me. I'm just,... I just want her to be OK."
”I already did, yes. She’s sleeping. Not even dreaming. Just sleeping. And exhausted, emotionally and mentally. Let her rest. Now,” he says as he folds his arms across his chest, his growing frustration evident, ”which way is it going to be? Peacefully, or EXTRA peacefully?”
"Peacefully. Mattie, let's go. Seriously," Shin says as he lays on his back in Inquiry, not entirely trusting his sense of balance at the moment. He really needed some kind of shield to prevent psychic intrusion if this was going to keep happening.
Which really sucked, because he didn't want things to get any more awkward with him and Kylie either.
Mattie hesitates for a moment, looking torn. "OK." she finally relents, "But you'll let me know if anything happens? You'll keep an eye on her? Let me know if anything's wrong? Something's not right. I just know it." she says, finally letting the others lead her back towards Inquiry.
There, she sits quietly, occasionally glancing back towards the shrinking shape of the tower as they fly away from it. Is she OK?.. Maybe it was just a dream but,... She'll be OK. She has to be.
Relief surged across Kylie's bond with Mattie. She'd been willing to shield Mattie's mind against an assault from the Judge, but at extension like this, even the familiar terrain of Mattie's mindscape wouldn't have been enough to make her sure of victory.
"Mattie. It'll be fine. We'll make sure she's okay tomorrow."
"Shin, Isaiah. Thank you for helping to project a sense of calm. It probably helped a lot."
"But Mattie, I'm worried too."
"...I didn't want Mattie to get in trouble. We have enough on our plates already. But I think I'm going to keep having this issue with psychics until I'm healed up. I don't think I can deal with any psychic probing while my brain is damaged. The Judge just gave me such vertigo, I almost soiled the new helmet Isaiah made." Shin reports over comms.
"...I'm tired." He says drifting back to sleep as Inquiry flies back to Blockbuster.
Mattie may have heard what Shin said over the comms, its impossible to say. The whole trip back to BlockBuster she sat silently staring at the opposite wall.
Isaiah was quiet for a time on the trip back, before finally deciding that yes, he should probably ask the question, even though it was likely to provoke a negative response.
"Mattie, I realize you aren't happy with this, and the following question likely won't help; If you had been able to reach Kayla, what would you have done? How would you have helped? Or would you have simply gotten subsumed by whatever turmoil you were sensing as well?"
Mattie kept her eyes fixed on the wall. "I don't know." she replied. "It depends what is wrong with her. But I would've at least tried to help."
"A noble intention, I won't disagree. But your single-minded obsession with it is worrying me that you might be under some form of compulsion. And beyond that, if you're not mentally and emotionally stable, your empathic link of sorts could transfer your turmoil onto her if you're not careful. It's a harsh lesson a lot of empaths need to learn, avoiding that kind of feedback loop. We'll check on her in the morning for sure, you should take some time to take care of yourself until then. You can't help anyone if you're a wreck yourself."
Isaiah was genuinely worried. Kayla being in trouble was bad enough, now he was going to have to make sure Mattie didn't do anything monumentally stupid trying to reach her... and just maybe start putting more effort into keeping them separated, if it looked like the meeting might just result in the both of them going off the deep end.
The hoverboard lacked the oomph to properly fly but it allowed him to go roof to roof quickly and had greater maneuverability than the rhino. Forming icy ramps allowed Frostbite to jump to the roof tops of taller buildings. As Frostbite caught up to the group the trouble was easy to spot, flashlights, laser sights, and Scorch burning white hot in his thermal vision.
Praetor tower dominates the area and Frostbite doubted his ability to make it to the helipad. He camped out on nearby roof looking up at the tower, occasionally he could hear a part of the conversation. When tension finally calmed down and the other Sentinels departed the area Rory remained, watching and waiting, even season guards are susceptible to the adrenaline dump after a confrontation.
Rory's plan had three parts -
Part 1: Create massive amounts of fog/mist to obscure the lower buildings and himself but not so much to raise suspicion amongst the guards on the helipad;
Part 2: Form a massive ice ramp wrapping 3/4 around the building he was currently on ending in a huge upward slope;
Part 3: This should launch him right by Kayla's windows and he will hopefully get a glimpse of her to confirm she is okay...
Oh and Part 4: Land safely... so his plan has four parts...
Mattie looks up at Isaiah, her eyes red from the tears she's trying to suppress. "Obsession? She's in trouble Isaiah! What else should I do? She's my friend. I thought she was your friend too. I can't just forget that she's in trouble. Even if you can. Just leave me alone, OK. I'm not in the mood."
"Oh, I AM worried about her. But I'm also worried about you. And her family, and the guards you were on the verge of searing... I don't get the liberty of putting one person's welfare above another's. But I won't push it any further. Just remember that Kayla isn't the only person in the world who's in danger."
After that Isaiah was quiet for the rest of the trip.
Shin didn't dream that night. It was awful for him, seeing that it was only in his dreams he saw his sister and brother and parents anymore.
Had it really only been a few weeks since he'd come to the future?
He focused on trying something else, anything else. Attempting to repair the rift between him and Kylie to start. Which was why he'd been making stacks of wheat cakes for the past hour, finishing up enough for everyone (even Isaiah if he wanted to indulge his taste receptors), and knocked on everyone's door.
"Hot breakfast, ready to eat! American style wheat cakes, warm and fluffy, with real maple syrup on top! Best get them while they're hot!" He announced loudly. Then he went to take a seat, grabbed his cup of coffee with sugar and took a long sip waiting for them to appear.
"...you don't scare me." He said to the Dusk standing in the corner of his vision. Mocking him, laughing at him. He'd show him.
For now, he tried calling up Kayla on comms and her cell phone. Hopefully she was awake and willing to talk. He wanted to set things right from last night's tensions.
Sarah looks back and replies "Yeah. Your Sentinel friends came over in the middle of the night, demanding to see you. Said you were in trouble. Likely just an excuse to try and force you into an uncomfortable corner. Gus and I handled it."
Kayla sits down and sighs as she grabs a protein bar out of a bowl. "I'm sorry. They...they are a bit persistent."
Sarah nods, "I got that. But, also, you better get yourself ready too. We have a mission, and we will be needing your help it sounds like."
Kayla's head snaps up. "I'm...I'm a Sentinel, cuz."
"You're also a Taylor, and that makes you a Guardian. Besides, lives are at stake and we've been told we have ten minutes to get ready for a briefing from the Pentagon. So eat your bar and get some clothes on, and meet us in the situation room. The Maw and Freddy are already there. Mike is gearing up and I was about to come get you," Sarah insists. She turns and heads for the comms room.
__________
Kayla tossed on a one piece bodysuit and pulled her hair up in a ponytail before making her way to the Situation Room. As she passed her nightstand, she saw her cell phone and Sentinel's comms earpiece and considered taking them, but shook her head and left them there.
I don't know what I'm getting into, and I don't want to risk losing them... She called up her armor on the way there for formalities sake. As she entered, she saw Freddy and the Maw deadlocked in an arm wrestling match as they waited, and Sarah watching them, annoyed.
Freddy looked up at Kayla and smirked, "Lookin' good, lil cuz. Ready to join the big leagues?"
"Know anyone whose been there before that could give us some pointers, Freddy?" she asked back snarkily. Freddy's jaw went slack and then his arm slammed against the table top.
"Hey! No fair!" he barked at The Maw.
"You lost your focus. That is no fault of mine. You lost. You sit by the restroom," The Maw says as he leans back and folds his four arms across his chest.
Mike walks in and pats Kayla on the back. "Hey girl. Gonna be good ta have ya on this trip!"
Kayla just nodded in reply as the screen flared on and an older army officer appears on screen. Sarah snaps to attention and gives a salute, to which he salutes back and replies "At ease, Agent. Guardians, I'm going to make this quick. There is a group of scientists we had sent on an exploratory mission in the Alps. We had learned of a possible long lost Nazi lab being located deep in a cave system there, and sent them and a team of soldiers to investigate and learn what they were up to. What you are about to see is what we have before losing contact..."
The screen shifts and you see several split-screens from body cameras of a unit of special ops forces moving through a cave tunnel, eventually finding some steel doors. They bypass them and move into an old science lab, dust thick on everything. Eventually one soldier hears a noise, and as the team investigates, they are attacked by large, somewhat humanoid creatures with bulging muscles and sharp claws and fangs! One by one the soldiers and scientists are torn apart...save for one. Who managed to hide within a storage unit.
The camera cuts back to the officer, this time the screen split in half, showing a video feed of a terrified looking scientist hunkered up in a small space. "This is a live feed. That is Dr. David Ward. He is your asset. Locate him and bring him home safely. Eliminate any threat to civilians you encounter. We don't know what those were, but we suspect it to be some sort of Nazi experiment gone wrong. Coordinates have been sent to Agent 47."
Sarah nods as the screen goes dark. Mike looks to everyone and says "Alright. Let's load up on the Pegasus."
The Guardians board the plane with Augustus and Angela stand by on the rooftop. Angela is on the phone talking with someone on the telephone, and Augustus calls out "You guys be careful."
Sarah steps back from the front of the ship and says "I've entered the coordinates. We'll be there in ten minutes at top speed."
__________
The Pegasus lands quietly in stealth mode beside an American hover-jet. The group of heroes disembark and make their way up into the mountains behind Sarah and Mike. The Maw has a pair of blasters in two hands and a pair of sleek blades in his other two. Freddy is looking around, cracking the knuckles of both hands beneath his thumbs as he walks. Kayla just floats along quietly, her heart racing at the fact that she is actually doing an official mission alongside her family.
Thanks to the intel provided by the government, the group finds the cave entrance easily enough and follows the trail from the soldiers down into the mountain. Eventually they come to the still ajar steel door, and Sarah raises her fist up in a "stop" signal. Mike turns and looks to The Maw, "Game time, big guy," before he seems to vanish into the alien's body. He peeks his head out and looks at Freddy, adding "Son, don't do anything stupid."
Freddy shrugs and replies "Nothin' to worry about, dad. You know me."
Mike adds back "Yeah, I do. That's why I'm worried," with a chuckle before vanishing into The Maw again. Freddy chuckled at his dad's verbal jab.
The Guardians move slowly and methodically through the lab complex. Everything seems completely quiet and undisturbed so far. "Maybe...maybe they already got out? The door was still open?" Freddy asks.
"The only scent trails I found were those of the humans before us. And yours. You really should have showered first, Frederick," The Maw replied.
Sarah flips through some notes on a table. "Looks like...they believed the original Praetorian was a super soldier created by the American army. Nazi High Command had ordered this unit to create a sort of counter measure to take him out and secure their victory..." She says as she collects a few of the papers and places them in a tube on her hip.
The group continues to advance, and eventually come to a larger chamber, the same one where the previous team was attacked. Blood and gore are scattered all across the room. "Fan out, but keep close. Backs towards the team," Sarah says.
As they move further in, Kayla feels something drip onto her arm. She wipes her hand across it and sees a thick, clear, sticky substance. She turns her head up and sees a creature the size of Freddy crawling on the ceiling. It has no eyes, sharp claws, and long, sharp teeth. Otherwise it is shaped just like a human, though it's muscles are massive and it is covered in thick, reddish skin.
She gawked at it for a moment, and The Maw looks up to follow Kayla's gaze. "Contact!" he calls out before firing his blasters at the thing. Blue energy collides with it, causing it to cry out in pain before dropping from the ceiling and landing on its feet with a heavy thud!
Just then, four more come from side passages! Sarah drops a pair of extendable batons from her hands, and their length surges with electricity. Freddy lunges at the one nearest them, taking it to the ground with a crash as the pair begin punching and clawing at one another! The Maw finds a new target and begins firing at it.
The things shriek and charge! One takes some powerful swipes at Sarah, who easily avoids them and counters with strikes from her weapons, which causes flashes of electricity and draws pained cries from the beast she is tangling with. The Maw takes one down with a pair of well placed blasts before holstering them and drawing his final two blades. He rushes forward and begins trading blows with one, his swords cutting deep gashes into it as the monster's claws open wounds of their own on his body. Another charges up towards the alien from behind, but then Mike pops out from the middle of his back and opens fire with an energy blaster of his own, causing the ambushing creature to reel backwards!
Meanwhile, another comes charging at Kayla! Kayla floats up off the ground and soars straight for it, driving a fist into its midsection! She can feel it's claws raking along her back and legs, but it seems to be unable to penetrate her armor. She carries it up into the air of the lab and slams it against the ceiling before turning and throwing it down to the ground! She conjures up a golden sword and dives down onto the thing, driving it deep into it's chest! It writhes in pain for a moment before falling still.
CRACK! can be heard as Freddy stands up from his own fight, the monster's head turned the opposite direction in a sickening way. "Heh. These guys aren't so ba-AAGGHH!" he cries out as another lunges on him from behind!
Kayla swoops in and wraps the thing up in a headlock and begins flying up into the air. She drags it and Freddie up into the air about ten feet before the beast loses its grip and drops Beastmode back to the ground. Kayla pulls her right hand back and then, in a flash, her golden sword is protruding from the far thing of this things chest! She lets go of it and her sword tears upwards through it as it falls to the ground.
"Huh...not bad..." Beastmode grumbles.
Sarah bats the claws of the one she's fighting aside and then lets a blast from her blaster loose, opening a large hole in the things torso. She reholsters the gun as it falls to the ground. "Okay...let's give the whole area a pass to make sure there are no more of those things and find Dr. Ward. I'll go with Kayla, You three go the other way."
Kayla and Sarah move through the complex slowly, Kayla leading the way. They stop periodically and check storage units for the missing scientist, but have no luck.
A low growl warns the pair to trouble, and Sarah calls out "Praetoria! Watch out!" a moment before three of the monsters lunge out and swarm her! One wraps her arms up as the others all claw at her flailing body, though her armor still seems able to keep the sharp talons at bay. Kayla grits her teeth and throws a kick at one, connecting on it's jaw and sending it flying backwards! She reaches over and hooks the head of the one behind her and yanks forward, throwing it into the third one and causing them both to tumble backwards. She wills a pair of small blades to appear in her hands, and flies forward to reengage. She wields the blades expertly, and after a flurry of slices, the three beasts are put down!
Sarah starts to move forward, but Kayla holds up a hand to stop her, and asks "You hear that?" before moving to a nearby storage unit. She leans in close and calls out "Doctor? Is that you? This is Praetoria...I'm here with the Guardians and we are here to rescue you."
The storage unit slowly opens up, and a very nervous looking man with glasses creeps out. Praetoria holds her hand out to help him up, and he takes it as he babbles "Oh! Thank you! Thank you! I was certain I'd be eaten by those things! Thank you thank you thank you!"
She leads him out of the complex, finding the men near the entrance. "Complex is clear. We found a few more of those things, took 'em out," Mike says. "I see you found the good doc. Good job!"
As the group boards the Pegasus, Sarah enters the cockpit and enters the command to return home. She pushes a button on the dash and activates the comms. "Mom. Yeah, we were successful. Sending you the footage now," she says as she unhooks a data chip from her bandoleer and inserts it into a data port on the console.
__________
About twenty minutes later, the Pegasus lands atop Praetor Tower. A small HCN crew is there, filming the team as it disembarks, as well as a small army detail. The scientist is escorted off scene promptly, along with Sarah, as a reporter steps forward. "Okay, we're live in three...two...This is Mary Michaels of HCN, broadcasting from Praetor Tower where the Guardians have just returned from a rescue mission. Praetoria! Are you a member of the team now?"
"She's one of us, always has been, always will be," Beastmode says as he wraps an arm over Kayla's shoulders.
"I...I'm a Guardian and a Sentinel," Kayla replies. "I...I just try to help people as best I can, however I can."
Mike steps in and says "We'll be available for questions later. Give us a chance to breath, then we'll have a chat, okay?" with a smile.
__________
Kayla makes it back to her room by 9:45, just as her phone rings. Seeing Shin's new number, she picks it up and says "Hey."
"Hey Kayla. I made wheat cakes. I'm hoping you can come over and sit down with the team over breakfast. Mattie's crazy worried about you, and Kylie wants to make up. I just want you to know that I still think you're a part of this team. Please? I want to know you're okay too."
Mattie did her best to sleep when she got back to Blockbuster, but found herself lying in the darkness worrying, unable to shake the feeling that something was deeply wrong with Kayla. Despite Kayla's family's assurance that they'd checked on her, she didn't feel reassured and was more than a little upset that her 'team' hadn't backed her up. - They clearly didn't really believe that anything was awry. Reaching for her phone, she sent a text:
4:00 am Mattie: I know something's wrong. Your family wouldn't let us see you. Are you OK?
Mattie lay awake, hoping for a reply that didn't come. Finally, she slipped out of bed and made her way to the gym, where she tried to take her mind off things by going through the exercises that Dr Dawkins and the Silver Shield had suggested might help her to control her powers. Sitting in a lotus position, she tried to centre herself, but couldn't concentrate. After trying for what seemed like hours, she finally relented again and reached for her phone.
6:00 am Mattie: Please call back.
6:30 am Mattie: Or text. I'm really worried.
Mattie gave up on the meditation exercises and decided to work out instead. Moving to the weight bench, she busied herself lifting increasing weights, barely noticing that her normal weights didn't seem to be stretching her like they had previously. She glanced at her phone.
7:30 am Mattie: ??
Mattie moved from one training machine to the next, only trying to stop worrying.
8:15 am Mattie: Did they take your phone?
Finishing her exercise routine, Mattie headed back to her room and then to the showers, where she turned the water to its highest temperature and stood, letting the scalding water bathe her. Barely even aware of the scales decorating her arms, legs and torso. Finally she climbed out of the shower and looked at her phone again.
9:00 am Mattie: What's going on?
Heading back to her room, Mattie flipped on the TV and turned to dress. Finally, the sound of the reporter's voice grabbed her attention:
Reporter: "This is Mary Michaels of HCN, broadcasting from Praetor Tower where the Guardians have just returned from a rescue mission. Praetoria! Are you a member of the team now?"
Mattie watched as the reporter began to ask questions... I...I'm a Guardian and a Sentinel. I...I just try to help people as best I can, however I can."
When the Defenders ended the interview the reporter turned back to the camera. "Well Steve," she said. "Its looking like the youngest active member of the Praetorian lineage might be finally joining the Defenders. I've been assured that we'll have a chance to ask more questions later and will let you know how things develop. The key question is: Will Praetoria keep working with the troubled Sentinels team? Or will she be joining the Defenders full-time? I'll keep you updated as we know more."
9:40 am Mattie: What's going on? They're saying you might leave the team! Please call, I'm worried!
Kayla switches it to speakerphone so she can look over the pending messages she has. ”Yeah...looks like Mattie’s been texting me most of the morning. Shin...I dunno if me coming over right now is a good idea. Everyone is still raw, and...I know you are on her side, but Kylie’s made it clear to me how she feels. She may say she wants to apologize, but probably just to please you. This isn’t the first time she’s blamed me for Mattie’s situation, and done so hurtfully. But yeah, I’m still a Sentinel.”
At the sound of her phone, Mattie snatched it up and quickly scanned the message.
[b]9:51 am Mattie: You're OK? Worried! Something's not right.. What happened last night? Can we see you today? I can come over, or you come here, or somewhere else? Call me?
"It's going to be worse if Rory and Mattie get riled up and go storming up your Tower again. Kylie wants to apologize to you because she's your friend, not because she's trying to please me. There's not much pleasing going on at the moment. Things have just been kind of difficult since my concussion. I want to hash out our feelings on everything. Just think about coming to enjoy some of my wheat cakes, all right? You'll be putting a lot of people at ease."