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 Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:25 pm
Robbie shook his head. "You know Ace. He babblings off whatever chaotic thing comes to mind first. If the universe wanted to kill you, you would have already been dead.
"Now, about not making much ground. We are, actually. Ace was... a part of a group that taught him very well how to propagate information. Sir Aquifer is a genius in that department. We have cures to earlier problems, and work to educate those that we can. There are a lot of regular people helping us too. The middlemen that just want peace have always won, Joy. Always. In a fight, there are always moments of reconsideration. We just have to be ready.
"The breech had nothing to do with Joy's death. That happened weeks before, she---she wasn't well, and she shouldn't have gone. We told her not to." His eyes went to the computer screen, "In her last journal entry, she was listing the pros and cons of going into the situation. It was actually a big thing with some elitist evolveds. Our involvement has really helped our cause, and people to realize that not all evolveds are evil. It helped tremendously, but---" He sighed again.
"Actually, I think you should go back and help your world. Make sure the NSA isn't destroyed. Make sure the elitist individuals don't rise to power. Make sure heroes like Flashcharge aren't killed too early. Keep Ace from joining the wrong team, and from going off a deep end. Be the influence and help you must be. You had your shot here. You need to go back to your own place. Please, Joy. I don't want to see you--I--I mean... Well, I think you should consider that."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:35 pm
So much to think of. So much to take stock of... She had been so ready to start helping just hours ago..and now...Now she felt a weight in her chest and she realized she wanted to go home terribly. Joy shifted over to the bed in the room to sit down upon the mattress. her head bowing a little.
"The NSA hasn't been destroied though. In my world Daddy says it has just been dissolved. I'm sure they just took it out of the publics eye in order to help quiet things down and appease the folks who have been working against them. I understand though...What your saying and all. it makes sense. I just...it hurts to walk away from something like this. I suppose on a level I think my world is saved. that things are just going to be fine. But... if our worlds are pretty close...then a lot of the things that are happening here will happen there eventually and I just..I can't just leave Ace alone to handle that."
Joy inhaled another slow breath, then nodded her head a bit. "I think I need some rest. Could you keep the guys away from me until later?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:51 pm
Robbie nodded, "Ok. Please talk to me if you have any questions first. If Ace knew that I knew her passwords, or told you any of that information you could read, we'd have some trouble." He nodded again and ducked out of the room.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:07 pm
"Oh. I think I can definatly see that." Joy responded with a nod. Trouble indeed!
For the next few hours...Joy read. Some of what she read seemed weird. It echoed her own thoughts and feelings but...this Joy seemed far more...mature...world wise...but not world weary. And a mother. That fact alone completely floored Joy. Did Ace know? She didn't see any mentions of it but...she really did wonder! And the list..well..
if someday Ace was to find out how to get into these files...Joy didn't think he needed to learn his sister had died pregnant... feeling a little guilty, though she did remind herself that this was technically her so it wa sokay...Joy deleted that entry. Following which she turned herself to the bed and sleept.
When morning came Joy felt...well...more alert. She could hardly call the nights rest she had gotten restful. Dreading the reception she knew awaited her, she mentally reviwed her revised future plans and snatched up her purse. Perhaps it was time to go home...now...rather then later....
Despite being a bit hungry, Joy went looking for Ace and Neil. She expected the two of them to both be in foul moods, so she attempted to jump the gun on them both.
"Just hear me out before you yell at me more. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left the house. I realize this world is a lot more dangerouse then my own and it was foolish of me to think otherwise. However..."
She took a breath, not to give them a chance to jump in, but to steady herself for her next little bit.
"I really needed to see what was going on for myself. You can't just lock me up in here and expect me to be happy to twiddle my thumbs and pretend the world is all well and fine while I watch movies and stuff. No one was sharing anything with me and i took the opnly option I really knew of. I won't do it again though. I won't leave the house and I'll stay put until we manage a way home...and on that note..."
Now Joy reached into her purse and she pulled out her cellphone. Though the battery was quite dead, she forced a small smile to her lips. "Ace, you told Rena to focus on just finding me last time. Is it because she can only find people with her power? What if I made a call? The phone would send out a signal right? And there can only be so many worlds where this phones signal will actually work right? If Rena stays with us while I make the call... I might be able to verify we're in the right place? Or...or is that a stupid idea?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:24 pm
They listened in silence, Neil with a more forgiving and far more understanding look than Ace had.
"I don't think she could follow a signal, or that it would even work." Ace said, "You said your phone was dead here. No signal, no service, nothing. How could you make that work?"
"Well, we'd know we were in the right world if it did work once we got there." Neil pointed out.
Robbie came in, resting his arms on a chair beside him. "I think it's a splendid way for you to know where you'll end up. It's also a splendid thing to concentrate on in helping you get to your own place. Your father, a signal. Any of that."
"How close are you to teleporting?"
"She'll go today." Ace answered.
"We all know you wish that. The question was how close is she, without harming herself first?"
Ace looked away from Robbie's question. "I want her to go today." He muttered.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:42 pm
Joy tried to make her lips curl into a smile, but with Ace's foul mood it really made it hard for her. "Who knows. Maybe Neil and I have discovered one of the weird rules of dimension hopping. Cell phones only work on their own world."
Joy looked down at her phone thoughtfully. "Well we could take a chance and see if a neighborhood store had a charger that would fit it. Then all we'd have to do is recharge the battery."
How close was she to teleporting? Ace's first declaration, then mumbled repeat dampened her mood a bit further but...
"In all honesty guys...it took me a year of dedicated training just to become familar and proficient with low levels of new powers. That was with a proper training facility, a dedicated trainer, and at least four hours of practice a week. Practicing in the confines of a house is a poor subsitute for a holoroom. Still... I don't have anything else to divid my time up here, so I can dedicate a lot more time to it."
Joy continued to speak as she tucked her phone back into her purse. "Ace...I really am grateful you want to send me home and out of this place. But you have to understand..." And here she glanced back up to him. "If I try to teleport before I'm able to control it something could happen. I could lose neil halfway there. I could pick the wrong world and then what? What if the world I end up on is ruled by evil Evolveds? What if the humans win out and exterminate all the evovleds? I could even end up in a place where I'm recognized, hated, and I could end up with a bullet to the head quicker then Neil did our first day here. I understand that I need to go as soon as I can...but don't push me out the door so quickly I trip and fall...okay?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:12 pm
Ace winced at Joy's final words. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just want you to be safe is all. Please, please?"
"Look, she's already said she would." Neil grumbled. "Get off her case already."
"Yes, please do. I expect for you to help her to do what she needs. That includes working with Rena's abilities and being able to help herself. She will not be kept in the dark anymore. And I will take care of it."
"Why you? You think I'm too screwed up to do it? What about you? You're close to her as well! You couldn't take care of her." Ace growled back, "You would have issues too!"
Robbie sighed, speaking matter-of-fact, "No. I will give both Joy and Neil the help they need to get initiated into all this. Give them both an identity and ability to live. That's more than the prison you are offering. Whatever you two want, I'll do what I can to provide it."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:25 pm
Joy felt badly for Ace's wincing. She also felt badly for the berating he recieved because of her. It seemed this whole mistake was leading to concequences she would have preferred to have left behind. Still... things could have been worse.
Robbies offer to help them, honestly help them, was one she felt sincere gratitude for...however she wsn't certain if she would be asking too much of him with all of the ideas she had in her head. Honestly! She felt that perhaps she'd gotten a touch too spoiled by all of the high class living her father had provided for her.
"Thank you Robbie... I really appreciate your offer. What I really need though is more freedom to practice. I feel silly for asking but...is there like a cabin or something somewhere that I could go to? If it's far enough away from humans then I won't feel so paranoid about someone catching a peek of what I'm doing. Plus..." And here Joy forced a faint smile at neil. "Neil and I were going to go on vacation together by now so I figure even if it's just the two of us alone somewhere that'll be a nice break from all of this cooped up stress. If anyone wanted to know what was going on Neil and I could just say we were newlyweds on honeymoon or something. That should garuntee us privacy at least."
Joy lifted her hand and gestured to Ace then. "Ace, if you stick with me, all I would need is a sample of Rena's hair to work on my practicing. I'm already second level with her power, so I can control it for a few seconds. And Robbie, if you needed Ace Rena could just come fetch him right?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:43 pm
Did you know that giving caffeine to a hyper child is sometimes prescribed to calm him down?
Joy's fuel to the fire had that precise affect. Her words were meant with only Neil nodding an agreement. Ace and Robbie both looked like deer in headlights.
It was Destin who ended the silence. He'd come in at some point behind Ace, and now gave a hearty laugh. "The family doesn't like that much now, do they? Shuttling her off with some stranger on a honeymoon. Well, I can tell you that neither of those two will ever agree with that. Can't say I could either. You need to be around to be helped."
"I'll help her!" Rena flitted around them, giving Joy a hug, "You won't have to train my powers alone. I'll sure help her."
"I will let you train more. You will not be training alone. I'm sorry, but we don't have big spaces for training. We might be able to take you to a safer place though where there are more people that can help you with various techniques. We're not going to bring you into our world and just abandon you somewhere though."
"I don't think you should be training her." Ace muttered.
"Neither do I." Robbie seemed suddenly quick to agree to that. Destin found this hilarious and started to laugh again, "We can take her either to the British facilities."
"With Daddy! That would be awesome!"
"Or to Susan's place."
"Do you know Darebone? That's Susan. But I---"
"My daddy is Sir Aquifer though." Rena gave Joy a charming smile.
"We're not shuttling her all the way to Britian! She should stay here! I don't think she should go to Susan's either. Both will brain wash her!"
"Both are more professional than we could help to give her otherwise. Those are two choices. We have some other things. If you prefer something more rural or more solitary, we can arrange that as well. I said I'd help you as you liked, and I mean it."
"THIS IS NOT THE SAME JOY! She's not smart or rational or knowledgeable about anything. You can't treat her the same way!"
"I disagree, she may----"
"You're freaking insane!" Ace snapped, jumping up now.
"Hold up, you don't want to be attacking Robbie."
"He thinks that's Joy! That's not Joy, that's my sister! And you will not treat her like that!"
Robbie blinked at Ace, and Destin gave everyone in the room a weird look. "OOOkaaaay."
"We're not fools either." Neil spoke up. "Sure, we don't know much about this world. It doesn't seem to be terribly different in many aspects though. I think we should go somewhere safe where we can both learn what is going on, where we can both get an identity. Mostly where it is safe though. To be honest though, I'm not too keen on getting a rotten case of cabin fever in the process. We have to live."
"Want to go on a vacation? I think Sir Hyland is an excellent choice for that, and--ACE---I think it will help her to keep her other world views in tact. They are similarly.... innocent."
"Hyland may be." Ace growled, "His people are not. And do you think the old man is really training---"
"My daddy can train and will do us a favor." Rena didn't seem like she was a part of the argument going on, but rather almost blissfully made the comment.
"His people aren't? Have you looked at Rena recently?" Destin snickered. "Besides, I think it would be wonderful. She can go after her old crush and have her new, sweet one with her." His voice was laughing, his eyes flicked teasingly across the room.
Robbie rubbed his temples, "Look, why don't you two make up a list of what you would like. We can decide the best course of action with that."
"I don't think they---"
"Ace? Shut-up."
Ace fell into grumbling.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:23 pm
Well, her idea was lost. Obviously no one really thought it was a good idea. Though honestly, Joy couldn't see why. Her perplexed look continued on even as a argument erupted amoung the men. She could understand and respect neil's wish not to be huddled away somewhere. Joy haad honestly only been thinking about the fact she'd be able to leave the house and go jogging and meditate in the woods...hmm...Maybe her idea had been a bit more selfish then she had first thought....
Still, there were undercurrents to this argument that Joy could detect if not understand. Something that both Ace and Robbie understood without quite sharing. Destin hardly seemed to be a help either. Though at least he was laughing, that softened the sounds of the argument a bit.
"I would love to have your help Rena..." Joy started to speak down to the girl. She looked up though as Robbie seemed to change his mind about training in general. Ah? WHy did this conversation have to jump so much?
"Oh!" Joy had a moment to jump in once again, her features brightening a little. "Yes, I met Susan at a party once." Of course... with Rena chiming in again...well now!
"Your Daddy is Sir Aquifer!?" Joy's voice rose a notch as her inner fan girl bubbled to the surface. Her green eyes even took on a excited glow and she simply couldn't help clasping her hands together before her.
Even with Ace's protesting joy simply couldn't help herself.
"OH! Please please please Ace!!! I would love to meet your worlds Mr. Lesley! He's just... he's so wonderful!" Her fangirl flush was tempered a bit at Ace's following outburst. What did he mean by that? Not Joy? But still his sister? Joy's heart ceased it's fluttering and calmed, though the flush was slow to leave her cheeks. She was too smart! And rational.... She may not be knowledgeable though. That was a major factor here wasn't it though?
Joy felt relief when neil spoke up rather then flared up. Her smile returned, though a bit muted to her lips. The support for her going to meet Mr. Lesly seemed to be growing...she only hoped she could keep from being so star struck she'd forget he was the the same man! Surely this Sir Aquifer never invited this worlds Joy to dinner! Dinner! Rena!?
Joy's head snapped down to blink at Rena. "Irena! Irena hyland! I...I never guessed, oh I should have though after...oh never mind, you grew up so cute!" She needed to focus! Stop getting so distracted!
"Ah...what are you talking about? Mr. Lesley isn't retired here is he? And what do you mean His people? Wait...this is what we talked a little about last night, right Robbie?" Joy was trying to keep up, even if she was distracted a bit... and being teased!
"Gah! Destin!" Joy admonished him with a small frown. "Neil and i aren't like that, we're just...well..." Her head tilted to look at neil thoughtfully. "We are on the longest date in the history of two worlds is all...."
The topic jumped, and soo too did Joy. Purely for the fact of the opportunity it present.
"I don't need to write a List! I would absolutly love the chance to meet Mr. Lesley! If he's anything at all like the Sir Aquifer of my world then I know he'll be wonderful! I learned all of my ideals from the Sir Aquifer of my world after all! He's the greatest Superhero ever!"
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:24 am
"Irene, Irene. Not Irena." Rena corrected Joy, "Yes, that's me." She had a broad smile on her face, "Dad is retired, mostly. He does really important things though."
"Things he thinks is really important." Destin snorted.
"Things that are really important." Once again, Rena didn't sound agitated.
"He doesn't do the really important *things.*" Destin grumbled.
"Like what?" Neil asked.
"Don't ask that." Robbie jumped into the conversation quickly, "and stop rattling her. Sir Aquifer has been through a lot, and I'm sure he does what he can. His sons are grown up now. He can't control them. Very well, Sir Aquifer it is."
"Oh, good! Ace...Ace, don't be angry---" Rena's pleas fell on deaf ears. He'd already stomped out.
"Thank the evolutionary genetics that man didn't get destructive powers!" Destin said. "Or maybe it would have been better, at least then---"
"Shut up, Destin. Joy is standing right there. Why are you so insensitive?"
"I don't see how not telling her how insane he is any help." Destin snapped, "I wonder if our worlds were ever the same, or if they split at some time. If they just split, maybe her---"
"That's enough. Rena. To Sir Hyland." Robbie waved at Neil to come along as well.
"Daddy is going to be upset with me." Rena fretted.
"Sir Hyland will understand." Robbie assured her, watching Neil go inside, then nodding to Joy.
OOC note for self::: I know timeline's all messed up, the kids are all the wrong ages for the year. That started with Ace and Joy. But for the sake of continuity within the timeline::: 29, 25, and 21
Or we can say the year is 2021, that really hasn't been established so much either. =P
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:47 pm
"Ah. I am sorry Rena." Joy apologized at the correction. The fact that Mr. Hyland had retired wasn't too much of a surprise to Joy. He was a older gentleman in her time after all, it was to be expected that he'd be much older here and already retired. The fact that he was still trying to help though! That just tickled Joy in wonderful ways.
The ensuing argument seemed to follow a pattern of all the rest. Joy was able to grasp some parts of it but not everything. When mentioned was made of not being able to control his boys, Joy's face took on another slight blush. Lee! Oh! He and his brother must still be a bit wild....she remembered hearing him boast about practicing in secret. Joy turned to Rena, her eyes still a bit bright at the wonderful revelations she had thus far. "Your brother, Lee. In my world when I met him he was quite...charming. Will I be able to meet him too Rena?"
The topic changed abruptly. Qued by Ace stomping out of the room. All of the light and excitedness that Joy had been full of completely evaporated. her head turned to watch her brother make his exit. It seemed as if in the past few days all she had managed was to make him very angry at her... And Destin's commentary did very little to help her feeling of guilt.
Joy's head snapped about at Destin as he would insult her brother. it was fine to call Ace mad in a joking manner...but when she felt the other was completely serious...
"You take that back!" Joy found herself snapping at Destin. Strange...she'd never...never lost her temper before... "Ace is not insane! He's a passionate and a brillant man! People just never understand him! I wish he had been given more active powers! Then maybe he would have had a outlet for everything that he feels so strongly about! He'd be able to do things rather then standing back and feeling helpless!" Joy inhaled a shrap breath. Her features flushed now in a way that had nothing to do with fangirlish delight.
"I think maybe now is a good time to go...I'm just making things harder for you all here. It's going to be hard enough on Ace to lose me a second time." She paused then, even as neil joined her, and she blinked down at Rena.
"I thought you said your father would be okay with this?"
((Ha ha. It is fine with me to have the timeline move forwards. We can iron things out and such ^_^ I want to go back and changes Joys vaccuume post in truth to make it that she was just distracting them. I don't think in such a small space she'd have been able to get up enough momentum with the air to pull that move off honestly.))
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:09 pm
"No, Daddy will be happy to help you. It's me bringing you to start with." Rena murmured.
"You'll be fine." Robbie assured, catching Rena's eye and nodding with a smile. "Great idea, let's go on."
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Sir Lesley Hyland was nearly 70 in this timeline, but he had hardly even started greying and still looked like he was in his 40s. He had a quick smile for Rena when she came in--looking perfectly normal all of a sudden. He stood from his seat, arms open for the hug that was offered her. "How does everyone fare?"
"I was in Texas today. Joy decided she wanted to train more. We were hoping you would train her."
"Who?"
"Mimic's alternate ego from an alternate world. You see---" Rena launched into an explanation of where Joy and Neil had come from, and the whys of what had led them up to this point.
Lesley didn't have wide eyes for Joy and Neil, but for his daughter, who had.... jumped through other worlds? Instead of addressing the questions that were obviously on his mind though, Lesley turned to Joy with a welcoming smile, "I would be glad to aid you, though I don't know that training is going to be of much help."
"But, Daddy! You know Joy. She isn't going to beach you. She really wants to do what is best. She only wants to help."
"But which cause?" Lesley murmured, but as he did, he nodded slowly.
"Her primary objective is to get home, but it could take years even for her to build up her understanding of Rena's powers for that." Robbie pointed out, "But she wanted to do some sightseeing too. England sounded as good a place as any for that." He smiled, "The undying, unnerving Joy-crush on the old captain sealed it for her though."
Lesley's eyes twinkled. He turned to Joy, "Well, we'll see if we can't help you quicker than that. I'm sure Rena or Robbie would be glad to show you around England. As for me, I would like a list of what you already know, and what you what like to know. I'd also like to know what it is you hope to accomplish."
"One more thing. To help her learn quicker, pushing her powers while she trains is going to help. Ace's pushes will do that."
"I can't imagine he is taking this well. If you have trouble with him, send him here as well."
Robbie nodded, "Yes, sir."
"Now please, make yourselves at home."
Rena giggled as Robbie seemed to do just that, brushing right past Lesley to go into another room entirely. Rena put an arm around Lesley's arm, having him to sit down again. "I'm going to go make some tea and maybe some biscuits." She said cheerfully, "Do you want to help, Joy? If you want to follow Robbie, I'll bet he went out that way and to the second door on the right. You can stare at Daddy and take in all his magnificence though if you would like."
"Irene!"
"He turns a nice shade of red if you start to---Dad!" A water ball had hit Irene smack on the side of the head. "Well, I see how it is then." She turned on her heel as if she was upset, but was laughing her way to the kitchen.
Neil took a seat also, looking for all the world like he was at a complete loss as to what to do.
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:45 pm
Joy...was astounded. She couldn't help the tiny dreamy sigh of admiration that came from her when she saw Mr. Hyland. It was like her childhood fangirl crush had returned in force. She hadn't thought about him much as she'd gotten older...but she had always held his ideals close to her heart in all matters. In fact his beliefs had been things she had constantly tried to talk to her father about. And how she might be able to somehow help of course. Of course...her crush was utterly girlish in every way. It didn't occur to her right away that perhaps her starry eyed look might unsettle Neil.
The welcomeing smile that Lesly turned on her pulled a unexpected tittering giggle from Joy. Gah! This was as bad as when she had first met and realized who Lesly was! She smacked a hand over her mouth, her cheeks turning a brilliant crimson as she started to open her mouth to speak... but it seemed that Robbie was not done yet. She closed her mouth again, and remained standing in a adoring haze.
When Lesley spoke directly to her, informing her about sight seeing and of course the list...Joy finally opened her mouth again to speak.
"..." Her voice seemed to have just...fled her. She had so many things she wanted to say! But how could she even begin?
The conversation had moved on and Joy was left flushed and giddy and dizzy and just...just...
Irene's offer to come help her make tea fell on deaf ears. Joy hadn't budged since she had been smiled at by Lesley. It was only after the room emptied, minus Neil, that Joy even rememebered to breath properly. "I love you!" She found herself blurting, then blushing a even darker shade of crimson. "I-I-I mean your philosiphies!! About w-working with normal humans! And and tolerance a-and...I..."
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:03 pm
She sounded like a raving lunatic. So Neil stared at her like that she was just that.
Lesley took it with a slight smile, not really betraying how he felt about that. "It would seem that we may work well together then." He answered, then turned to Neil. "What of your friend?"
Neil frowned, "I've never had anything to do with evolveds."
"Many nonevolveds take an interest in the philosophies and ideas of others."
Neil shrugged, "I listened to Ace go on about different things. Didn't really understand most of it. I don't know. Never thought it'd affect me."
"Ok. Well, I will make sure the guest rooms are prepared. Please, make yourselves at home." Lesley turned to Joy, "Rena would be happy to have you join her in the kitchen."
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