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 Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 4:23 pm
Joy listened, and her feeling grew even worse. She may not have been a science geek but...honestly! She knew enough about science fiction to do a half Ace job of jumping to the surreal.
If it was not for his comment about them not remaining safe where they were she would have continued to drag her feet. As it were. Her head shook slightly as she allowed her gaze to drop. His choice of words...
Ace knew. He had to know. Joy's green eyes lifted to look over at him. Her world. She didn't have to even bring it up did she? He knew she was from another place entierly. Did he know how...hard...it would be for her to try and get back then? Dimensions...alternate realities...thousands of endless possibilities...even finding a world that currently lacked a Joy wouldn't garuntee it was the right one either. And Neil...poor Neil!
Joy glanced over at neil for a moment, worried a bit about how he was going to be taking any of this really. With a small shake of her head she answered with a rather heavey heart.
"I had access to all of the powers in the NASA, but there were few powers I actively trained with. Out of a...a...well I felt awkward asking someone if I could borrow their power for a time. I've retained the power of a Air elemental though. I haven't mimiced anything else, though I can retain one other power indefinatly and a third for about a month or so. I'm fully trained in Elemental powers, though I prefer Fire if you have anyone with that specific DNA pattern. And Intangibility or Ghost walking. It makes using Air a heck of a lot easier when I need to fly."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 4:47 pm
"Intangibility. Good. And elementals, ok." He took a breath and started back at the files, "Intangibility... Mmm... Ok, I have this hair lock." He took out a small, but long-length bit of red hair, braided up, "It doesn't specify invisible, but intangible yeah. And we have all sorts of fire elementals. Do you have a favorite sort of fire? Just regular fire? Explosive? Real fire, phantom fire? What sort of manipulation? You have a wind evolved ability with you? You're ok at working wind and fire at the same time? Do you have names of the people you worked with?"
He chattered it out with Joy until he picked a fire elemental he thought would fit her. Then he took a breath, "You come from somewhere that accepts evolveds?" He returned to his earlier line of questioning, "Have you been in battles at all? Do you know how to keep yourself safe if you're attacked---by evolveds or nonevolveds?"
"What is she defending herself from? The world?"
"Actually, she usually defends the world." Ace muttered. "We've just been ratted out, and we don't know by who. I'm just hoping we've picked the right people to trust. I don't want Joy to go about without a means of defense."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:04 pm
She felt such a chill growing. A fear really. The knowledge that this was not something she was prepared for. "Ah...no I'm afraid I wasn't really given names. Daddy just gave me the samples to see which ones I could work best with."
Joy accepted the first lock he handed to her and she closed her fist over it With just that touch against the palm of her skin she could already feel the pins and needles sensation filtering through her entier body as the DNA was shifted to mimic that small part necessary within the lock of hair.
"Ah...Regular fire. The manifestation and manipulation. It works well with my Air powers." She informed Ace as he continued searching. Joy considered passing the lock of hair back to Ace, but instead she reached into her purse and fuzzed for a moment until she found her pill case. Snapping it open, she dropped the red hair inside. If the place was not safe she would want to keep the sample with her just in case she needed to switch out powers....
When he handed her the next sample, this one she also took and handled the same way as the first. Her eyes flickered to Neil at his less then pleasent comment. He had a point though. It sounded like the whole world was against her! Or...was it really? Joy looked at Ace, her face drawing tightly as she stammered.
"Ace I...I have...no field experience...the Conflict was resolved before I even finished Highschool in our world. I was only taught how to control my powers so they wouldn't be a danger to me. I...I don't even have a secondary power. I've never even... All of my exersizes was just basic control. There wasn't even any sort of target practice or anything."
Ratted out by... Joy felt a urge to laugh. Shaking her head she began to giggle softly to herself. "Oh....If only my Ace were here...he'd be so...God...."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:14 pm
"Ended already?" Ace repeated, looking as if Joy had just hit him with a ton of bricks. "Ended, really? You never.... Thank goodness." And suddenly, he pulled her into a hug. "Well, you'll do fine. My Joy never even had the opportunity to do that, and she is amazing. I won't ask you to do anything. These are just precautions, ok? I'll--we'll keep you safe. I promise, I'll do everything I can." He looked straight into her eyes, very sincere.
"My Ace? My Joy? My world? Did we just land ourselves in a science fiction novel?" Neil asked.
Ace sighed, "Rena... makes rips through space. I--I guess she went straight through this world when I told her to concentrate to find Joy, and found the nearest Joy that---" He shook his head, "I don't know, but that seems to be it."
"She...jumped through space to a different world? Geez, you've come up with some crazy ideas before, but...Geez." He shook his head, looking completely lost.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:37 pm
"Yes...really." She replied, her head nodding slightly. "That is why the NASA---Oh!" Well! That was a incredible surprise! Joy's eyes widened as she was pulled against Ace in a hug. He seemed genuinely relieved too. It honestly made her wonder if things really were as bad as they seemed to be here. or were they worse? With Dad dead, and before 2009...that would have meant they would have been fatherless for a long time. What about their mother? It sounded as if this worlds Joy had grown up in a completely different world for real! Joy tilted her head to look at Ace. Even as he promised to protect her she couldn't help but wonder...
What happened to this worlds Joy? When she looked back into Ace's eyes she had that terrible feeling return. If Rena had to go to a whole new world to find a Joy... that would mean there was no Joy here anymore. His sister was dead...
Neil's obvious disbelief caused her to turn her head, and she allowed a faint humorless smile to pull at her lips.
"It's true though Neil. This...it's a completely different world. Even if we discounted the fact the year's are different for us... My best friend in High School was Raven. Remember her? I never new a girl named Carla. My first crush was Mr. Hyland. I used to have posters of him in my bedroom and Ace used to tease me about sleeping with a Sir Aquifer doll. In fact Mr. Hyland was the one who caused my powers to first manifest. He was showing me some of his skills and I got a little too excited when he made some blooking lilys. When I touched him I nearly passed out. That's all of the differences without even taking into consideration Daddy is still alive in our world. I suppose...it doesn't seem too crazy to me. I've been used to playing Ace's games for years and thinking off the wall stuff is almost like second nature."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:51 pm
Neil shook his head. "I am too, but this is outrageous." He muttered.
Ace had grinned, "Sir Aquifer was your first crush here too, but that doesn't count. That isn't a real crush." He started to look Neil over, "Do you have a real crush in your real world?"
Then he shook his head, "That wasn't appropriate, sorry. Look, you can stay in this room if you like, Joy. And Neil can stay with you if he likes, or he can take the guestroom on the otherside of the house. Just don't call attention to yourself, ok?"
"What...sort of things should we know? What happened to all the older superheroes? Why does a teenage girl have to take over?"
Ace frowned, "Joy is 27 years old here, but I guess she did start as a teenager." He sighed. "Just... I don't think it's necessary to get into it. You two rest, and...when you're less confused, we'll try to get you to mimic Rena's abilities. Then when you're ready, we'll try to get you home."
"Rena can't get us back?"
"Well, that's what I'm going to try working with her as soon as I have the chance."
"She can't do it without you?" Neil demanded, "I thought she was just the teleporter."
"She is. She is.... I'm just the instigator. Do you two need anything?"
"Instigator." Neil snorted, "Probably is your super name too."
Ace gave a hint of a smile, "Nah, that's too telling. I don't want them tracing me back to who I really am. Besides, it's just not as cool-sounding as Oracle."
"Awh, geez."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:05 pm
Joy's lips perked a little at Ace's gentle admonishment. "It did too count. he was my hero and..oh never mind... I don't have to defend myself against two different Aces..." She felt a small sobering when Ace asked her about whether she had a crush in her world, and she felt perhaps he was possibly judging Neil. Poor guy...in this world they must never have met...
"If it's allright..I'd really prefer it if we stayed together.i don't think I'd feel right if we got seperated before this whole thing got sorted out. I'm sure if we stick together we won't draw anyones attention...plus...it's probably best if we stay away from any windows. Anyone who had been in that store will know what we look like and will probably be looking for us."
With a small nod of her head she shifted her position over to stand near to Neil again, her lips tilting upwards into a faint smile. Her head nodded for Ace to move on, even with the banter back and forth between him and Neil. It almost seemed like the two of them knew each other...well...Neil knew Ace well enough. She could only hope that Ace would accept that Neil wasn't some weirdo trying to get the goods on his psuedo-sister.
She waited, rather calmly, for Ace to leave the room, her faint smile remaining in place until the door was closed. That done...she released a shaking breath.
"Neil... I think we...have to talk about some things. I... I'm sorry for getting you dragged into this..."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:10 pm
"We have things to talk about?" Neil rubbed the bridge of his nose, his voice growing faint, "You mean you know more and understand more than what he just said?"
Neil looked around the room. "I say we search this place. Maybe learn something that way." He frowned, "Can you pry in on your own privacy?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:16 pm
Joy allowed her gaze to sweep through the room... "The computer...if this Joy is a lot like me...she'll keep a detailed folder of important things to her. We can find out more about this place through her I suppose..."
Joy motioned to the computer, but still felt hesitant about the prying. It just felt...
"I think I may Neil...." She turned to look at him, her mouth feeling a bit dry as she began to dryly speak.
"Ace boosted Rena's powers, which means she had a lot of strength in her when she went looking for this words Joy. The fact she...she skipped over to a entier new dimension means that the Joy of this world... it means...there is no Joy here."
She lifted a hand and rubbed it worriedly arainst her temple.
"This is terrible, but it's only part of the bad news...if there really are different worlds...Well..your aware of the theroy right Neil? muliple universes, each with their own history and all. If Rena was unaware of what she was doing...it means she will not know how to properly duplicate the portal she used. Before it sounds like she was looking just for me. Sure she found me but now...in an attempt to find out world we'd have to look for a world without a Joy...and there could be thousands of them. I...I don't think we're going home Neil...."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:20 pm
Neil frowned, then sighed. "No. No, I can't buy all of this. I don't understand. This isn't---This sort of thing doesn't happen. It isn't possible. This is just a...a... really elaborate prank. A new reality tv show. Something. It isn't THIS, it can't be Joy. I mean, how do you live when you don't really exist?"
Neil was completely shell-shocked. He sat down in the seat nearest to Joy, and then proceeded to stare at the surroundings.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:27 pm
Joy felt a sense of pity for poor Neil. This was only supposed to be a date... "I know..I know...we're supposed to be talking about Europe and..and forigen foods and wines and nude beachs right now...."
She shook her head again and moved to stand next to Neil. "Ace would never do this to me. Not as a prank Neil. He knows how badly I wanted....I wanted to be a normal girl to everyone else. He would never expose what I was. And I'm positive that man had every intention of really killing you..so..this is no joke..." her head lifted and she looked about the room with a small frown.
"She died. This worlds Joy must be dead...and...I could have died in other worlds too...of different reasons. I could have died at birth...never been born...exploded or something when my power manifested...Goodness...Raven could have even killed me. You know how weird she could be sometimes. What I'm afraid....afraid of saying is that...it may take us years to get home and..I'm so sorry neil..."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:46 pm
Neil had nodded hollowly, and then proceeded to wander about the room in an aimless fashion. Finally, he picked up a scrapbook and settled for going through it. He wasn't really seeing the pictures, just flipping through it. Just not thinking.
They were there a few hours before a short, thick-boned young man with dark brown hair walked in. And froze.
"Joy? You're ok! You---" He came forward, grabbing her in a suffocating hold, then suddenly took several steps away, "You're not--Who are you?"
"I told you not to come in here, Devin!" Ace's irritated voice, and this his irritated self coming in at the doorway, "I expect you to listen to what I say in my own house!"
"Who is this?"
"Rena dimension-hopped apparently. When I told her to cue into Joy and find her. She found this one and her boyfriend instead."
"Boyfriend?" Devin repeated, turning to look at Neil with a shocked face.
"Not our Joy! Leave the kid alone. He's not even evolved and he's already had a gun at his chest. He doesn't need you at his neck. Look, she's not well versed, but I think if she mimics Rena's ability and we get her used to that, I can give her the energy surge she needs to go home. Tomorrow, or a few days at the most, they'll be back."
"Where is Joy?"
"We'll find her."
"Rena hopped to another DIMENSION to find a Joy! What happened to her?"
"Look, we'll...."
The boy was at Ace's neck then, arm stretching out to hold him in a lock, "WHY WON'T ANYONE TELL ME WHAT HAS HAPPENED!?! HEY!"
His arm stretched until it was a gooey mess, and started to drop harmlessly down Ace, "Don't threaten me either." His voice had grown angry now, "and don't question me on my sister. I was taking care of her long before you knew she existed. I'll take care of her now."
"How can you take care of someone that obviously DOESN'T exist anymore?"
"Joy isn't dead!"
The new comer's fists balled, then he shook his head, "Right. I'm going to go read what report you have and let the chief know. You take care of the---the---imposters." He turned to stomp off.
Ace turned to Joy, eyes still angry, but not with her. "We need to start practicing Rena's abilities. You up for it now?"
Joy shook her head, then shakily reexplained to Ace what she had explained to Neil.
Ace shook his head. "No. Apparently your world is the closest to ours, because you were the one Rena got. All you'll have to do is concentrate on someone that exists there that doesn't exist here--Like Dad---and you'll be able to get straight through to your own world. The closest Dad that still exists. You can do that. We need to start practicing though. Are you ready?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:56 pm
She..well...was without a thought for a time. This Devin person, who obviously was some kind of morphing evolved, appeared to be...Hmm...this Joy's boyfriend? She had shot a glance at neil worriedly for a moment, but as Ace appeared and took command of the scene...
Joy found herself falling into the meek and quiet tag-along role that she was used to. Even after she had explained to Ace her theory...and even with his disinclined to believe answer...
There were still too many factors. Worlds were not layered like sheets of paper...they seemed, in her mind, more like string. A string that was endlessly fraying away. Every moment they spent here...her world slipped further away. In her minds eye she could already see other worlds shifting into exsistance, pushing that reality further away by the second. Realities where Neil had been shot, or she had, or they had just kept walking past the corner mart, or where Ace didn't let them leave right away and...oh there were just hundreds of them!
Joy felt heartsick. She honestly did not believe she'd be returning home. That she would see her daddy again...or that she would see her Ace again... She wondered if her father had already found a job for her....would he be trying to call her now with the good news? Ace should have called them by now, to pester them about whether they had started kissing yet.
It was a funny nonsense thing that made her want to cry and laugh at the same time. Instead she merely forced a small smile to her face and nodded her head. "Sure Ace. What should we do first?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:29 pm
Ace took Joy--and by default, tag-a-long Neil--to Rena where they could train.
Rena's abilities proved to be a powerful mix of an illusionist and teleporter, where indeed she ripped through time and space. Unfortunately, teleportation was her secondary ability. Confusing illusions wold have to be worked through before she would be able to use the illusions to create the teleportation ovals.
It was going to take more hours than the day had, and the day drew to a close with Ace optimistically saying it wouldn't be long before it could figured out and she could go home to her father. But the next day was more of the same, as was the third day.
They met some people while there, and learned about those around. Ace was still optimistic, with a wide vocabulary and a mind that jumped topics, but he was serious and didn't crack the normal jokes they would be useful. Rena was a sweetheart with an English accent who alternatively cheered Joy on like she was a third party watching this and actively talked through the things she had done with her abilities. Devin was intense and tunnel-minded. He didn't have the ability for jumping subjects that Ace held. He was rough-edged, but proved to be considerate, always the one first pointing out that meal breaks and de-stressing activities needed to take place for the sake of everyone's health.
Also there continuously was Sheryl, an older nonevolved lady that had taken pity on them and went about trying to take care of the needs of the house that was technically hers. Robby, a middle aged adult with a fire element was the one actually in charge. He was quiet, and when he talked everyone grew silent to listen to what he had to say. He'd never said a word to either Joy or Neil.
Rena sometimes disappeared for periods of time. Ace's explanation was that her home was in England, and she had close ties with family there.
They got little tidbits of information about the world: How the evolveds had been blamed for "certain events." About how they had been systematically destroyed when found using some sort of biological poison against them. About how most evolveds joined an elitist side to return the favor of destruction. About how even the majority of those had been lured to their deaths. Very few details, but enough to make them understand: Evolveds weren't well favored. Even those that fought for a sane balance. Every side was extremist.
But it was all said with an unwavering faith that it would turn out all right, and a number of undetailed reasons given as to why. It was given with the faith that Joy would be able to get herself and Neil home so they wouldn't have to see any of the horrible parts of this.
Then the *accident* happened.
It was a fairly simple accident. Joy used her abilities to teleport to the front room of the house.
Dear old Sheryl happened to be opening the front door at the time. And slammed it again at the teleportation, then firmly turned to upbraid both Rena, Ace, and Joy together for the stupidity of the move. What if someone had SEEN? How dare they do such foolish things? Why hadn't she TOLD them, so this could have been avoided? Didn't they know better? Did they want them all dead? They had better---Now, then!
Ace had started yelling back, defending himself, telling her that it was a strange time of day for anyone to be in the front room, telling her that she was usually at work at this time and.... No he did NOT want them all dead! That was what he was trying to PREVENT.
"How dare you? How could you accuse me of something like that! I'm not going to get my sister killed a second time! I'm more res--" Ace choked on his words, turned around and grabbed Joy by her hand, and started to drag her out of the room and back down to somewhere safe. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I thought no one was there. We'd had all the curtains closed. I didn't realize Sheryl was there. Are you ok? You're not hurt? You didn't---"
"Ace. Nothing happened for anyone to get hurt." Rena frowned at him, "You're crying." She sounded surprised at the fact.
"You're not hurt?" He repeated, completely ignoring Rena.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:47 pm
Illusions were...interesting. Joy supposed that if she had true faith in being able to get home then she'd have focused harder on mastering the power. Of course, it did not help that Rena was so very powerful in compare to most of the other powers Joy had learned to use. She always felt, in the begining, that she was initially fighting the strength of the original evolved. Against it rather then with it as it were. Only once she got used to the power's feel enough did it function for her properly.
Still...it was very tiering. Joy had to work far harder then she had before. And they were always practicing in such small confined areas. It was hardly like the NASA training rooms. She really missed the cool holographic rooms where you could program it to reflect so many different scenarios. That would have made for a much better training session.
The people they met were...different. She quickly learned the differences between her worlds Ace and this one...and it made her heart ache even more for her brother. By now she was positive that he wouldbe freaking out over her. As well as her father and mother too she hoped. During the times when she was alone Joy took to staring at her brothers cellphone and gently running her thumb over the glittering decals. By the third day the battery had run dead, so she couldn't even open up the pictures she had stored within. Couldn't see her real brother. Couldn't see her father.
She tried not to let the weight of homesickness show when she met the others. Rena was a sweet girl but...her strange style of dress made Joy severly question her own choices...what even made her more unsettled was when she started going through the closet of this worlds Joy. Sure...she had fine taste but...jeans...and t-shirts ...and basic sneakers... And not a scrap of pink. Well...here and there a hint of it but... What sort of life had this Joy lived? She wanted to ask Ace. To find out...where had their lives start to drift away from each other?
She broke down and began to wear the other Joy's clothing. Much to discomfort. She kept her sash of course, and insisted on tieing her hair back with it at least. She...could not abandon everything in her life. Even if she found it so easy to abandon hope.
She assumed that Devin was the crush that Ace had mentioned before, and for that reason she found his presence a bit uneasy to bare. She was afraid of agitating him, and he did seem to be the sort that would explode if agitated. Though...perhaps that was just her own insecurities and uncomfortableness. Sheryl seemed like a sweet enough of a old woman, and Joy was quick to offer to help the old woman any way she could. Robby intimidated her and Joy was quite glad that he paid her no heed at all. She would prefer to stay out from his sight in truth and she adopted the habit of staying in Joy's corner of the House when she was not practicing with Ace.
This world disturbed Joy. Once it was she learned that there was some sort of poison specifically made to kill Evolveds...she couldn't hide her extreme horror. it would only be a matter of time before someone found a equally evil poison to use on normal humans after all! How could they let this happen!? This world was a example of all the horrible things that could have gone wrong...and what was a future possibility for her world too.
Joy was uncertain if this unwavering faith was a act just for the two 'visitors' or not. Ace said he wouldn't make her do anything..but... Sometimes she wondered if the others expected her to. Or didn't they? It was so odd not having someone expecting something from her!
When the accident occured...Joy bowed her head and merely took the verbal punishment. Where as Ace argued back...Joy merely mumbled her apology. Of course it was possible it was never heard over her AU's brothers voice.
What seemed more important though...was Ace's verbal admittance to knowing his Joy was dead...but the way he said it...it sounded like he blamed himself for her death. And he seemed so... he seemed desperate. As Joy looked at him and listened to him repeating himself...
She stepped forwards and wrapped her arms about Ace in a quick hug...though she had no intention of letting him go right away. She wanted to laugh...to cry really. She knew that no matter how she was feeling right now..this had to be pure agony for Ace. "I am okay...I am fine Ace. I wasn't hurt. I am fine."
She could not just...Even as Joy hugged this Ace and longed for her own brother, she felt a weird and unreal sense of determination come over her. All she had to do was break it to Neil that...if she did manage to find a way back he was going to have the bad fortune of breaking it to her real brother and father just where she was. Maybe this wasn't all an accident...maybe Rena had inadvertantly picked the right Joy after all... maybe...
Already Joy had a idea what to do...though she could not tell Neil or anyone else yet. She was fortunate though, this worlds Joy had all those files and folders and samples. She just...would have to practice with all of those samples...alone if she had to, but hopefully not....
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