Heroes Uprising: Alternate Universe (Thread 4)

Tanesha got dressed and headed out, texting Katy that she was on her way.A little bit of time later she arrived. Dressed in the usual gym atire, she noted Katy's outfit " Damn gurl, you lookin good. Making me wanna run back and change! " She was almost tempted to bring up the fact that Emmet had designed workout outfits for all of them and was currently having them made, but elected not too " " Hope you werent waiting too long "

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Emmet floated down from the sky and hovered over his usual training spot, marked by the large field of flowers that had sprang up and seemed to grower bigger and healthier each time he was time. He was quite a few hours early, but couldnt stand the thought of simply staying at home. He assumed a cross legged position and began with meditation, imagining a a small flame in his mind.

His preffered method, but he was finding it harder then usual to get centered, his insides tangled up in an impossible knot. He thought about the phoenix force and images of the previous night flashed before him, ending in a charred and blacked landscape. He shuttered as he felt a thrill of pleasure and revulsion. Sighing, he abandoned the mediation and simply floated with his eyes closed.

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Luthors limo pulled up in front of a five star hotel, his driver opening the door for him. Luthor stepped out into the evening air, dressed perfectly for the occasion, he hadnt expected to meet with this man when he pitched his idea, but here he was.

Katy couldn't help but blush a tad, not expecting Tani's comment.    It's not like she dressed overly sexually, at least she didn't think she did.    It was just a sports bra and shorts.    "Thanks?" Katy said slightly questioningly.    "We're on a beach, sand and all, I thought something with a more snug fit might be better for the conditions.    Um just a suggestion, you do as you want.    But if you don't want to be walking around with shoes full of sand for the rest of the night, maybe take off your shoes and socks and lay them over by mine?    We do still have True Notes after this."

As she waited to see what Tani would do she addressed her question "Don't worry about it.    Places like this I could of waited for hours.    I don't mind if your a little late to the party."

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Cass was back at the house, training with mother was so fantastic and she felt like she learned so much with each session.    "I wonder what my girl is doing?"   Cassandra imaged Tanesha was probably banging Sandra in the hours prior to training, but when she cast her mind out she was surprised to find out Tani was not in her room or with Sandra, instead she was out on a beach with Katy.   "Huh that's interesting, looks like they are getting ready to start training early."    Cass lay back in one of Ms Goodman's very comfy sofa chairs, a thought beginning to cross her mind.    It admittedly came with risks, but if it paid off Cass figured she may not need to deal with Sandra or the damn Phoenix at all.    She called out load so Goodman could hear "Mom!!   I'm headed out early, I'll be back later!"    

Cass hopped out of her seat, she hadn't planned to leave yet but she wanted to get a closer look at what Tani and Katy was up to, and possibly put a scheme into motion.

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Sandra got out of the shower several minutes after Tani left and threw on her gym clothing as well.   She was about to head to the ward for a little while before training started when there was a knock at the door.    She opened it to see Tesla "Oh Tesla your back, does this mean....."   Tesla calmly addressed Sandra's question "After talking things out with Victoria and thinking things out, I decided I'm going to give you one more chance Sandra."   Sandra smiled so happy Victoria had gotten Tesla to see reason "Great!!" she exclaimed excitedly when Tesla expression suddenly changed and Tesla grabbed Sandra by the throat pushing her back against the wall.

Sandra found her gasping unable to breath, and even felt her feet leave the ground as Tesla lifted her by one arm.    "But I'm warning you Sandra, never mind Emmet, if you screw this up again I will break your damn neck myself, got it?"  Sandra's face was starting to turn blue when Tesla finally let her go, Sandra dropped to her knee's taking a massive gap of air, coughing, and rubbing her throat.    She spoke in a momentarily sore voice "Damn, that's going to leave a bruise."    Sandra could of fought back of course, but choose not to.    She understood Tesla was still angry and in a great of mental pain, her actions where though pain, they where not actions derived from evil or intent to kill, so Sandra knew she would back off in time.    Tesla turned to leave "We'll resume sessions tomorrow"   "Sounds good" Sandra said as Tesla started walking away.

Sandra took a few more moments to compose herself and start getting her normal voice back, then she headed out towards the ward to visit the Lee's, most notably Lily, the little girl Sandra had worked so hard to save.

Emmet remained floating in the air, his eyes closed and not thinking about anything in particular, yet the world seemed to be falling away from him.

" Fashionably early I see "

Emmets eyes flew open, he gaped at the figure standing in front of him, wearing the gym uniform was Tesla. For what felt like the first time in his life, he was at a loss for words. But the longer he starred at her he soon realized something was wrong, he sighed in annoyance that was more directed at himself " Riku....I'm suprised you'd assume that form "

" Oh believe me, i've never felt more disgusting and basic in my life, but it cant be helped " Riku said with a very Tesla like smirk " I'm also suprised that you not only fell for this but didnt even notice me approaching, thats not like you at all "

It wasnt, Emmet thought to himself, he should have sensed Riku, both his approach and his true form, he always had before, despite the many pranks Riku liked to play by shapeshifting, Emmet always saw through it, but now...

" Penny for your thoughts? I noticed something before. As broken up as you are about this whole thing, it seems to be particularly directed towards patty mayonaise, why is that? As far I remember, you threw her into Katy and after that she was basically USELESS for the rest of the fight " Riku cocked his head to the side, his gaze was beginning to make Emmet uncomfortable. His blackened eyes were Tesla's(whatever her eye color is) but they still held a demonic element that was threatening to pentrate his mind and lay his secrets bare.

Emmet sighed " Dont you want to just tell me what happened, sure you've read my mind and are sitting on the information " it was certainly something the petty demon would do, but not to him and Emmet knew that. Riku remained quiet and the silence was becoming unbearable " During the moment she'd been thrown at me and made contact....I...........?

Emmet rubbed his head and tried to recall exactly what had happened, but he was drawing a blank. He remembered the events of that night with perfect clarity, but the part with Tesla was strangely gone now.

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Dave looked up as he heard the door to Lily's room open and saw Sandra. He wasnr suprised to see her there, given how close she seemed to be to her " Hey Sandra, she's ok, but she and the other Lee's have been asleep all day. Dr Spayde says it's fine, but Garfield and I have been checking on them all day "

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Tanesha laughed, catching Katy's slight blush and confused expression " It's pretty simple but the overall look fits you pretty well and makes the outfit look better " she explained as she bent over to take her socks and shoes off " Good idea, I hadnt considered that " she placed her her stuff over by Katy's and walked back over " So where do you wanna start? "

Sandra hadn't expected to see Dave here, but gave a smile and went over to him. "Hey, sorry I hadn't come sooner but I've been trying to help Tesla. Unfortunately ran into a em, complication, let's say. If you see Tes around I dunno, you might want to give her space for the time being. She feels even worse then after the battle with Emmet and can lash out quite easily. Luckily she's agreed to give me a second chance, I think I can really start to help her now but it's going to be a bit of progress."

After giving Dave the warning that Tesla is in a very sensitive state of mind at the moment, Sandra went over to take a look at Lily, she decided not to wake the girl and let her sleep. She remembered the first time they met inside Lily's energy bubble that destroyed the mall, it was there Sandra knew the Lee's wasn't bad people, and Sandra certainly was not going to murder the innocent, especially not a innocent young child with her full life ahead of her that was even showing signs of resisting her captive. Sandra did not know the Lee's, she had no relation to them at all. It was just the right thing to do. "I'm sorry the rest of them didn't make it, I really tried my very best Lily."

Turning away Sandra went over and sat by Dave. "So how are you and the guys holding up? And please don't give me some "can't you just my mind" response, of all people you should know me well enough to know I prefer talking to people. After all you are my oldest friend." Sandra and Dave hadn't hung out as much as they used to since joining the school, it seemed like he distanced himself from her outside of a group setting after she hooked up with Tanesha. Sandra was aware Dave had feelings for her, even now that he was with Emmet Sandra would surprised if Dave still didn't feel something for her. She understood that would be hard to get over, but her heart belonged to Tani. Sandra had been meaning to rekindle a non-sexual friendship with Dave, but the opportunity had kinda just never really presented itself.

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"Well, thanks." Katy let Tanesha put her gear aside then explained "Alright learning about our powers are important, but so is being able to handle yourself in just a straight up fight. We aren't going to be using water, poison, buffing ourselves with chi, none of that. These training exercises are purely for the basics, you vs me, so I can see what you got." The idea here was the better you knew how to fight and handle yourself, the better you could incorporate your powers when in a battle.

"I've enjoyed fighting as a hobby for years, but when I mentored you and Sandra leading into the tournament I barely had time to show you girls the basics. You at least had some sense of how to handle yourself in a brawl, as for Sandra, she barely knew what a fist was at the time. So most of time was spent just trying to get you girls into what we can call ring shape. You've both grown immensely by then. While Sandra and Emmet has the whole cosmic Phoenix thing going on, with you I think you can end up where I eventually want to get to with my powers. I can see us taking very similar paths of growth and it all starts at the core."

Katy and Tani, they where both liquid users in one form or another, this is kinda why she excluded Sandra or the others. Tanesha seemed the most relatable with the most similar growth tree, Katy couldn't offer Sandra any assistance with the Phoenix Force, she didn't understand Tesla or Victoria's hardened shell forms, nor demonic or magical powers. Sure she help at least some of them with the fundamental of fighting, but where could she take any of them really in the long term? They had to venture down their own path, but Katy and Tani they could play off each other, learn from each other over time, and grow together. That was Katy's hope anyway.

Katy moved into a fighting stance "Alright girl time to put flattery aside, come at me and show me what you got."

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Cass had decided to walk as she kept tabs on Tani and Katy, the thought had crossed her mind if the True Notes had moved location seeing this was the first training session she was joining. But that seemed to not be the case and it seemed to only be Tani and Katy together. Cass smiled, her actions in putting her own life in danger to try to protect the Lee family against Emmet had earned Cass some positive fanfare, enough so she was now getting deeper involved with the True Note activities. Yea she had still had doubters Riku, Tesla and others, but they where starting to get outvoted as more opinions changed in a positive light in support of Cass, so tough, the doubters can just deal with it.

As she walked she thought about how this new plan of hers could work. Sandra was a little bit old school, not in the sense of being racist or thinking same gender relations was bad or none of that stuff, hell if Tani was to suggest the idea of experimenting and just having fun with a threesome, foursome, or whatever. Sandra probably wasn't even against that. What Sandra did believe in though was having that one true love, that one special person you put your entire heart and soul into. After all Cass should know, for all intents and purposes she was designed to be Sandra, what kind of intended replacement would she of been (assuming the Phoenix experiments had worked) would Cass of been if she didn't understood the thought process of the person she was based off?

So in the threesome example if Tani suggested the idea and brought Katy in, it wouldn't mean much. It'd be sex for the sake of sex, it'd just be fun for the night. But Sandra's heart would still lay entirely with Tanesha.

It was this bond Cass knew she had to break if she wanted to cause a breakup. Just sex wasn't enough, for this to worth Cass had to manipulate Tani and Katy in a way where they would form a genuine relationship with each other behind Sandra's back, and this is something that couldn't be rushed. Tani and Katy would have to continue growing this bond stronger over weeks, if not months. But if all works out this should cause the death nail in their relationship. Sandra gave everything to Tani, her entire heart and soul, her life. Tanesha meant everything in the world to Sandra. So if Tani then turned around and not just had sex, but started to developed feelings, at least what she thought was a true and genuine love interest in another woman. That is what would destroy Sandra. Having the woman she put so trust and fate in, gave everything to, to then form a genuine love interest in somebody else. That sort of pain and betrayal Sandra would never be able forgive.

All Cass would have to do then is move in, get rid of that weakling Katy and Tanesha was hers, all hers. No having to fight the Phoenix or Phoenix's, no making enemies of the True Notes, it was the perfect plan. And it all started with Tani and Katy. Cass decided to wait until she got closer, she had to take a closer look into Katy and Tani's minds to see if there was any hints of anything between them she could use and manipulate to spark this plan into motion.

" Emmet....how can you forget what you did to me.... "

Emmet nearly fell from his position in the air, looking wildly at Riku, still in Tesla's form and starring at him with a terribly sad expression. He wanted to yell and demand that he drop the act, but the words wouldnt leave his mouth, he felt caught between this deception and his amnesia of events. What was going on? Was this a side effect of the dark phoenix or was he simply unwilling to let himself remember...

" Its probably the latter " Riku said, making it known he'd been reading Emmets mind " It's not unheard of for people to blot out painful events from their memories, in order to protect themselves. Given its you I imagine you buried it pretty deep to maximize your personal despair "

The demons theory was sound and it only served to make Emmet feel disgusted with himself, running away from problems was not something he was accostomed to doing, but he'd be lying if he said it was something he wasnt doing " How do I get it back? The memory of what I did, I cant fix it if I dont know what happened "

Emmet knew the answer the moment he uttered the words, Riku's mouth spread out in its usual manner as his teeth grew and sharpened into rows of razors, making him flinch the distorted image of Tesla.

" Well Em, were gonna have to beat it out of you "

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Dave sensed something had happened with Sandra and Tesla, but decided it was best not to ask. He was unsure of how to answer her question, as he wasnt entirely sure himself " I'm....about as fine as I can be, feels like the worlds upside down and im clinging onto something, anything to keep myself from falling and crashing. Garfields pretty similar, but like you saw in the meeting, he's taking it all so much harder. At his core he's a good person and just wants to help people, but all that stuff with Emmet kinda broke him "

Dave rubbed his forehead, feeling the echo of a headache after seeing Emmet " Because it was Emmet, I think we've all gotten used to how Riku is, he's so in your face about everything and genuine, its kinda hard to feel bothered about the things he does, I mean we literally sat there and watched him brutally murder a tower of people, with some of them obviously being innocent. Even now I can look back at that and not feel anything about that "

Honestly he couldnt help but question if it was something Riku was doing, some power that made people more at ease with stuff like this, if it was him doing it anyway " He's not the only one, a lot of " evil " people in the group and it just feels ok. But then theres Emmet, who's just been at the center of everything, we gravitate around him and this light he exudes. I've never questioned if he was really a good person, everything he's done has been with the group in mind and seemingly a greater good of sorts "

" But now it just feels like we dont really know him at all or what he's capable of doing. I feel like I have to look deeper inside myself to answer the question of if I can really be ok with it all and theres so many voices, so many thoughts all talking at once. Leave, stay, miss him, dont. I know Garfields feeling something similar and Donovan just wants things to go back to the way they were, he hasnt doubted Emmet even once and for that I envy him "

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Tanesha moved into a simple fighting stance, fist raised and feet squared " Alright then, here I come "

She rushed forward in seemingly a mad dash, but jerked to the left at the last moment and aimed a kick to Katy's midsection,

"Sounds rough" Sandra said in a soft sober voice. She wasn't here to try to sway Dave either way, ultimately he'd have to come to his own conclusion. No doubt the question on everybody mind was which Emmet was real, the one they knew or the one they fought. Sandra was inclined to believe Emmet was good at his core and lost his way. Every time she thinks about it she thinks what if, what if Emmet and Tani didn't stop her, what if she went though with taking her revenge on Karen. Would the same blood lust have overtaken her? It's this feeling of being close to the edge herself, that Sandra was able to, well not forgive, that wouldn't be the right word. But it's a big part of why she chose to stand by Emmet.

There was also what Emmet said, about the Phoenix being able to be corrupted. If that's true, then in theory what happened to Emmet could happen to either of them. It seems it would depend on what state the user is in. Which again then loops back around to what if, what if Sandra had taken it all the way?

Being a Phoenix herself, and thinking that what happened to Emmet could just as well happen to her given the right circumstances, as Sandra said during the group meeting, it just felt to judgemental and hypocritical of her to really demonise Emmet. Of course this put Sandra in a unique situation, clearly Dave, Garfield and others where looking at this from a completely different state of mind.

Sandra held out the palm of her hand, palm flat she spawned a mini flame, a Phoenix flame. She watched Dave closely wanting to pick up if the mere sight of the Phoenix triggered any sort of response from Dave. "How does this make you feel?" Sandra asked. She mainly wondered if this whole Phoenix ordeal had left him traumatised, if the mere sight of the Phoenix Force was enough to trigger some kind of negative response, then that could be a issue. Phoenix was the most powerful weapon Sandra and Emmet had, it was no doubt going to be a main staple of their fighting styles moving forward. So if being around the Phoenix caused PTSD, painful flashbacks, anything that might hinder Dave, give him pause. Then that will be a problem even if he and Garfield decides to come back.

Sandra wasn't blind to the continuing upward of threat levels. It seemed things wasn't going to get easier and if Dave and Garfield was going to stand by their side, if they choose to return. It's not enough just to trust Emmet, but they'd need to be comfortable around Phoenix as well. Hesitation will likely end up getting somebody killed. So Dave's response to seeing Phoenix was a big deal.

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Katy was able to anticipate Tani's movements and parry the attack, but she was impressed, Tani understood the concept of misdirection. Back at the tournament Tani and Sandra both had a very straight forward way of fighting. She couldn't wait to see what else the girl had up her sleeves.

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By the time Cass made it to the beach Katy and Tani's sparring was well on the way. Cass stood in the distance to not be seen and decided to peak into their minds. Tanesha had complimented Katy on her looks, with the blue hair girl having a flustered reaction. So physical attraction, always a good start. Examining the girls further it seemed they had some similar drives in wanting to be fit, improve their fighting skills and learn their powers. Attraction and common interests, it wasn't a massive list but it was enough for Cass needs and to spark a fling between the two. She'd poke around the girls minds for a few more minutes as they continued working up a sweat to see if there was anything else between the two to strengthen their bond that much more. Once Cass knew what she had to work with, she'd kick her plan into action.

"Damn Katy you lucky daughter of a whore, sex on the beach sounds so romantic and it's going to be you who gets that experience, not me. Next time Tani babe, next time. Enjoy this while it lasts Katy." It was going to hurt to push her lover into the arms of another woman, but in Cass mind this will all pay off in the end when Tani and Sandra break up. Tani will be all hers then, free of charge with no questions asked. Cass could hardly wait.

Emmet didnt even bother with asking the demon if he was serious about this, he'd called Riku a virtuoso of violence and as always he lived up to that " Fine, but may we do this somewhere else? " he looked around at all of the blossoming flowers, even now more seemed to spring into existence.

Riku shrugged " Sure, follow me "

Sprouting wings, he took to the sky and Emmet followed after, they traveled for a bit before Riku abruptly stopped and turned, causing Emmet to drop down as what appeared to be a large black spike whizzed past the spot he'd just been in. The fight was on it seemed, Emmet sent out a wave of flames that Riku flew over, only for it to become a funnel and give chase.

" HA, well its good to know you still have a little enginuity left in that pitiful state, unfortunately " holding out his right hand, a swirling black vortex opened and swallowed up the flames " Its not enough, not dolling out the phoenix flames yet, waiting for a more tacticul moment....or are you just scared! Dark spike! " Riku conjured over twenty dark spikes with purple outlines and sent them all at Emmet.

Gritting his teeth, Emmet allowed him him to drop down, his back to the ground and poured out more of his flames till a large cocoon swirled around him, the temperature was skyrocketing as he focused on making the flames hotter and hotter. Riku watched this, a frown on his face, it wasnt just that he wasnt using the phoenix force, he was stiffling his other powers. Despite viewing himself as a mutant, Emmets flames always held trace amounts of the divine, making them stronger then natural flames, but Riku could barely sense that at the moment and it was pissing him off.

As the spikes got closer, Emmet reached out with his telekinesis and focusing on pushing any that got close away from him and spread the flames out more. This was proving harder then he thought it would be, he could feel that Riku was exerting his own mental hold over his constructs, whats more he was making more. Emmet let out a yell of frustration and his flames exploded outward along with a pulse of telekinetic force, distrupting the spike field.

Before he could allow himself a moment to breath, he saw that not all of the spikes had been destroyed and several were still coming for him. Emmet turning and shot straight towards the ground, focusing on his tk now, as he neared the ground, he unleashed another pulse, this time " pulling " with his mind as he kicked off. This caused all of the spikes crashing into the ground and resulting in a massive explosion.

Covering his face, Emmet was pushed farther into the hair before he was able to stop himself. Evidently Riku had added an explosion feature to the spikes, that certainly set the tone for this battle and making Emmet question his tactics even more, Riku wasnt an opponent he could go at half heartedly, even with the demons fondness for him.

As he pondered his next move, a void suddenly opened up in front of him and faster then he could react, a fist slammed into his stomache, knocking the wing out of him. Emmet doubtled over in the air, clutching his stomache. Without thinking, he manifested cosmic flames around him in defense.

" Now thats more like it, even though you didnt do that on purpose, gonna tell you now, i'm not gonna hold back on you, i'm trying to help you and i'll do that, by any means necessary " Riku held up his hand for Emmet to see, making his eyes widen as he saw they were diamond coated, soon the rest of rest of it swept across the demons whole body till he was in a complete diamond form.

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Dave looked over at Sandra and flinched a little when he saw the flames, instantly able to recognize them for what they were. Not even just because Sandra wasnt a pyrokinetic, but the flames were effecting the space around her hands. Part of his training with Riku and other mages was learning to cast his senses out, since he could manipulate space, he was able to cast his senses out with it.

The phoenix force, even in the form of the tiny flame Sandra held, felt larger then life, the biggest thing he'd ever sensed and the longer he looked at it, the more information he could feel beginning to flood his mind, he shut his eyes and looked away " Could you put that away, please " he knew what she was trying to do and he didnt fault her for it, she was trying to see how effected he was by the power that seemed to drive Emmet insane or what Emmet drove insane, he didnt know.

" In and of itself, im not bothered by it, not exactly. My powers give me a pretty deep look into it, in a way. As I am right now I dont think im able to handle it's presence, on a psychological scale....I can still see Emmet, his expression, his malice and sheer happiness, so like the Emmet I know and lo-.....but different. Like you said Sandra, we've known each other for a long time, I trust you with that power, no questions asked but I'm not sure where I stand with Emmet. Dont know how Garfield would feel about it either, all I can say is its just gonna take some time "

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As Katy blocked her kick, she stepped forward then bent straight backwardws into a handstand, bringing both of her legs up for an upward kick. Katy dodged this by jumping back, Tanesha was soon back on her feet, aiming a punch. As the two girls sparred, gradually getting sweatier from all the exersion, Tanesha felt herself becoming warmer, a sensation starting to begin between her legs. She hoped she wasnt developing a fetish for combat, she wasnt trying to get lumped in with the battle maniacs in the group, but she couldnt deny that watching Katy's movements was beginning to have an effect on her.

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Luthor was led to a private dining hall that had been reserved, a small band playing music in the background, in the center of the room was a long table with two chairs on opposite sides. Luthor took a seat and nodded to a glass of wine, he took a sip and waiting for his dining partner to arrive.

Sandra put the flame out. "It's alright Dave, you can look." Sandra understood the others would need more time, the events with Emmet was barely over. "My worry Dave is that grim reaper and harold of war or whatever she likes to call herself, they are still out there. I doubt they will take the defeat of their teammates lying down. They will most likely come after us again, and say we get caught up fighting one of them together, I'm not sure I long I can hold out against opponents that dangerous before I'd have to bring the Phoenix Force into the fight. I imagine the same would go for Emmet as well."

Sandra felt sorry when Dave flinched and turned away, but she understood. She was right there, on her knees and face to face with Emmet as he tried to choke the life out of her. A twisted face, half sorrow like Emmet wanted to stop but couldn't, and the other half the one she labelled Phoenix. All the while her own Phoenix powers being nowhere near enough to save her, dwarfed by Emmet's power. She certainly hadn't forgotten, she'd just managed to better come to terms with what happened compared to the likes of Dave.

"I guess the point is Dave that the Phoenix isn't going aware. I just wanted to test you, I just wanted to know that if the chips are down, can you stand to be around myself or Emmet? Let's face it, with so many people out wanting to see our heads on spikes, flinching like you just did could be the difference in life or death."

Sandra realised this was still a traumatising time, but for all anybody knew the remaining Horsemen could attack tomorrow seeking revenge, heck maybe tonight. There was no way of telling."

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Gradually Katy to was beginning to share similar feelings. This was more then being impressed with what Tani had learned, there was a feeling of something else. The longer they fought, dear Katy to think it seemed almost like the more hot Tani got? Katy studied Tani's moves carefully, evading until Tanesha went for a certain attack. Katy was biding her time waiting for a side kick, when Tani went for one Katy caught her by the ankle. Katy swiftly followed up with a sweep tripping Tani and quickly taking a mounted punching position before Tani had time to recover. Of course she wasn't going to start bashing Tani's face in or anything.

"I must say, amazing Tani. You've learned so much and your movements are so crisp and smooth."

Katy was complimenting Tanesha's fighting ability, but she was thinking something else, feeling emotions she seemed almost afraid to act on. Bur Tanesha was so beautiful, both beautiful and fierce. What a sexy combination... wait no, what was she thinking, this was Sandra's girlfriend.

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Cassandra during the fight had started applying her manipulation to the girls, she took it slow as she was handling this affair differently then her own.

" I wasnt aware that you could change yourself to that extent " Emmet said, he felt a strong urge to put out the wall of co smic fire around him, but another part, a stronger part demanded they stay up. He knew full well he had no real chance of victory if he didint rely on the phoenix force, but the longer he did so, the more violent the memories flooded his mind.

" Well I can and I cant " Riku responded as he surged forward " I can change my form to a diamondlike apearance, but to get the actual thing I have to do a little transmutation which I dont necessarily like to do! " with a quick use of shundo he appeared behind Emmet, but the other boy countered with his own shundo and fired a concentrated blast of fire that Riku narrowly avoided.

Emmet had recovered from Riku's initial attack and now was busy keeping distance between the two as Riku was trying to keep the fight in close quarters. Emmet was unable to tell if his attacks were doing anything, given Riku's broken healing ability, he kept his eyes on the demon as he continued to bathe him in cosmic fire, he flinched as he saw the demons skin crack all over but just as quickly heal over.

Suddenly pain exploded out from his left arm and Emmet looked down to see a spike made of diamond jutting through his left arm, his eyes widened as he saw the outline of demonic energy, he quickly grabbed it and focused a condensed amount of cosmic energy over it in an attempt to neutralize it before it exploded. But the diamond merely faded away with little fanfare.

" MADE YA LOOK! " Riku screamed as he grabbed Emmets face rushed straight towards the ground " Come on Emmet! What are you playing at, finally using those phoenix powers and I can barely feel anything, your still holding back and i'm fucking insulted!! "

The roaring in Emmets ears grew louder, it sounded like more then just Riku was yelling at him, there was another. He felt like his head was exploding and he just wanted it all to

" STOP!! " Emmet roared

And just like that everything came to a pause.

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Dave was quiet for a moment as he contemplated Sandra's words "......However I feel now, I would never abandon you guys when it really counted. Theres a lot going on for all of us, so all we can do is just take some time to figure it out. But the moment the remaining horsemen make a move, I'll be there, for both of you "

He said this as he looked Sandra square in the eye, even without reading his mind, she could see the conviction in his eyes, that he trully meant what he was saying.

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" T-Thanks " Tanesha said, her voice coming out huskier then she'd intended it too, it was harder to focus on Katy's words given their current positions. Having Katy on top of her was making Tanesha feel more heated, the closeness of their bodies and the view of the other girls fit body, making her wonder how she'd look naked and moaning.

She tried to dislodge those thoughts, but was finding it difficult to do, her hands suddenly found their way to Katy's hips, initially intending to flip the girl off of her, but now they held firmly to her, both of their breathing becoming deeper.

Sandra gave Dave a nod and followed it with a quick buddy hug. "I know you'll always be there for us." Sandra sat back and checked the time on her phone "We have training tonight, but we still have some time to spare. You want to go do anything, get something to eat, visit a arcade, just anything in general to try to get your mind off things for a while?" Sandra figured there would be enough tension later when training started, there was no point in Dave worrying the full time until then. She'd gotten some insight on how the others are doing, she'd gotten to gauge Dave's reaction to the Phoenix. So what she'd like to do now is try to help her friend relax for at least a short time. After all this constant worry can't be good for Dave.

-----

After a tense, heated and somewhat confusing moment Katy found her unable to resist anymore. She leaned down and kissed Tanesha, the other girl pulling Katy closer. Before long cloths was being discarded without care. In the distance Cass smiled, having given the girls one last push to send them over the edge. Cassandra put some metal blocks on both their minds to hide anything related to the affair, and she put a hint of fear into Tanesha's mind just to compel her not to tell Sandra about her feelings for Katy. The goal after all was to have Tani lead kinda a double life of sorts, to make it appear like she was going behind Sandra's back with somebody else out of her own free will. So if Tani just came out and admitted her mistake, no that ruins everything. Tani or Katy, they need to be found out. That to Cass is the key to breaking Sandra's heart.

With everything in place Cass began taking her leave, the rest was pretty much up to Tani and Katy. All Cass had to do was lay back, continue being the innocent little new girl, and just wait for the day she hears screaming and arguing. With that in motion, Cass set course for the training grounds. It'd take a bit of a while to walk there from the beach anyway, and she probably didn't want to stay around to watch somebody else fucking her girl, which was the most unfortunate part of this entire idea having to give Katy the goods. But Cass was confident it'd be worth it in the end.

-----

Troy was sleeping in a hammock when a voice woke him up. "HEY" Troy opened his eyes with a yawn to see Nina. "The fuck do you want?" Nina seemed a bit annoyed "Well you went though the effort of getting Eva and Tenshi to rejoin, and since then we've done fuck all." Troy yawned "To be honest I've just been waiting for the Horsemen to get their bitch asses killed. I thought they'd already be out of the way by now, but as it turns out the True Notes only succeeded in taking out half of them." "So?" Nina asked "fuck them, if you have a way of getting around the two Phoenix's, then we should make our move anyway."

Troy sat up. "Have some patience, these Horsemen are down but not quite out. There are still planning something, and I want to see how it plays out." "Or are you just scared" Nina asked, getting a mean stare from Troy. He then relaxed and laughed "Oh Nina, why would I be scared of my two greatest future allies." This confused Nina "what do you mean?" Troy stood up "maybe it's time I stop with the secrets and show you guys how we're going to turn the True Notes mightiest from enemies into my greatest slaves."

Emmet felt an odd sensation spread over him and after a moment he suddenly noticed that nothing was happening, Riku's rush towards the ground had come to a complete halt. With a bit of efffort, he yanked his head out of the grasp of Riku's enlarged hand and quickly backpeddaled away from the demon. Riku was suspended in the air, completely frozen in place.

At first Emmet assumed this was some trick that his unpredictable opponent was playing, but he soon realized that wasnt the case, he floated over closer, Riku was indeed frozen in place and as Emmet looked around he saw that the effect wasnt limited to just him. Everything was frozen, the trees with their branches moving too and fro in the wind kicked up by the fight, birds making a mad dash away from the melee, all were frozen in place...frozen in time.

Letting out a tiny gasp, Emmet surmised that time was indeed frozen and he was the cause of it. He'd wanted everything to stop and it seemed like he got his wish and then some, he quickly took stock of the situation. He deduced that he was indeed the cause of the time stop and that it was from the phoenix force. He'd had to make a distinction given the fact that he'd been manifesting new powers left and right.

His telepathy, empathy, and telekinesis were all his own, he felt a minor connection to the phoenix force but chalked that up to the entities affinity for psionic energy. It would seem control over time was another power that came with the phoenix force, Emmet noted that he didnt feel like his energy was being drained, meaning he'd caused the effect to happen but wasnt directly controlling it.

This was a little worrying, he didnt know how long it was going to last, simply thinking he wanted time to resume hadnt done anything, but as he looked back at Riku, he realized that time continuing to flow again would mean the battle would be back on and he wasnt quite ready for that yet. He sighed and sat cross legged in the air and closed his eyes, since he had the moment, he was going to use it to get some proper meditation in.

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Dave had honestly not thought about going to any training meetings for the time being, but realized he and Garfield probably didnt have a choice in the matter as Riku was very much capable of dragging them their. " Sure " he said with a stiffled sigh " That sounds good " maybe hanging out with Sandra would help him get himself into the proper midnset.

As the two left Lily's room they bumped into Milo Ventro " Oh! Hey Sandra, Hey Dave, what are you guys doing here? "

" Sup Milo, we were just visiting some people we know, what brings you hear? "

" Getting a check-up with Dr.Spayde " Milo said " He said my powers gotten a bit stronger lately and i'm actually feeling pretty good "

Looking pretty good too, Dave thought, he hadnt paid much attention to Milo, sans the classes they'd had together when they partnered up for a project. But the boys body had developed very nicely as of late and he seemed to have grown taller. Dvae didnt think much of it, in a school of mutants and all " Thats good, Sandra and and I were just heading out to get something to eat and maybe check out the arcade "

Milo's eyes seemed to light up, literally, for a moment " Oh thats cool, say you wouldnt mind if I joined in would you? "

Dave shrugged " Sure " he looked at Sandra to see what she'd say.

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Tabesha kissed Katy passionately, their clothes thrown all over the place as they explored one anothers bodies right there on the beach , their moans and cries of passion obscured by the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore. In the back of her mind Tanesha knew this was wrong, but she simply couldnt help herself, deny her attraction to Katy and not give into it. Sometime later the two girls lay in each others arms, breathing hard after achieving orgasm over and over.

Sandra put on a bright smile "Sure Milo, more friends the better." Sandra really hadn't hung out with Milo much at all, but seeing she was trying to lighten Dave's mood she figured another friend joining them could only be a good thing. The three started walking down the hallways and Sandra spoke up "Well we don't have time for anything fancy, so what are you guys feeling for a quicky lunch, shall with grab a sandwich at Subway, a burger at McD's, a pizza at Pizza Hut. What's your fancy?"

-----

"O.M.G... That was amazing" Katy said, complimenting Tanesha. It still seemed weird though, after all the time Katy and Tanesha have knew each other, why have these feeling only surfaced now? Tani was always so happy with Sandra, they where a picture perfect couple. And Katy never loved Tani like this in the past... did she?

Katy's thoughts where so conflicted, she felt like she wasn't even certain about her own feelings anymore. "Tani, how do you feel about this, about us?" Despite how great the night was, there was a feeling in the air that this was somehow wrong. "Do you think we should tell your girlfriend about us?"

----

Troy lead Nina into the locked room, the vampire noted Abby balled up and cowering in the back corner. Troy grabbed a suitcase, put it on the bed and opened it. Inside where these tiny computer chips, microchips about the size of a dime. Troy picked up one to show Nina. "You see a met another mutant in my time off the island, we got to talking and he offered me solution to our problem, for a price of course. All we need to do is stick these chips to Sandra and Emmet and they become ours. Once connected these clap to the skull and will exclude microscopic spurs that will drill though the skull and warp around the brain. Science isn't my strong suit but basically these spurs will hijack the brains natural signals. Effectively we can mechanically take control of our enemies.

The original designs where much bigger and clunkier, basically metallic headbands. But gradually we confined it down to something much more discreet." "So do we just stick these things anywhere?" Nina asked. Troy started to move his hand up by Nina's head and grabbed his wrist, the two steering eye to eye and Troy confirming he's not going to stick this device on her. She warily let him go. "Ideally I've been told you want to find the tip of the ear." Nina could feel Troy's hand brushing her hair back. "From there go up about 1 inch, and right there." Nina felt a poke, not from the device but just Troy giving her a poke on the side of the head. "That's where I've been told to put it." Troy said as he put the tiny device back into the suitcase. From Nina's count Troy had a good dozen of these things made.

Emmet focused on his erratic emotions, his memories. He knew the source of his trife, the events of but a night ago, it would take time to fully get over it, but he did not have the luxury to wallow in despair, in this zone of frozen time.  With Thanatos apparently operating as a teacher here and Harmonia off getting upgraded for revenge, they could find themselves embroiled in combat at any moment and it would do for him to be less then effective on the battlefield.

The phoenix force was a part of him now, it hadnt been for very long, yet he strangely felt like he'd been bonded with it all his life or for more then the average persons lifespan, transcending millenia, but that wasnt possible....was it? Regardless, he felt at odds with entity now, though he knew it wasnt to blame for what occured, he wasnt even sure he could blame Thanatos, it was all him, something that existed in him.

He took a calming breath, behind his eyelids he could see an aurora of different colors, he was seeing his own emotions, he saw his confliction, sorrow, anger and dissapointment himself, for what happened with Tesla that he cant recall, the betrayal of the group as a whole. It was all weighing him down, taking the form of chains that bound him down and kept him from moving on.

Emmet began humming to himself as he pondered his dilema. gradually the humming grew louder and transformed into an actual song. He allowed himself to lay back and drift, the aurora of emotions wrappped around him. In his mind he touched it and moved it around, he turned it around it and round, his body moving in time with it as he began dancinging. His feelings grew stronger and stronger but he kept a hold on them as he moved, shaping them.



He realized he was controlling his own emotions now and had placed himself in a state of calm, if he so wished he could banish the emotions from him in their entirety, but thats not what he wanted, what he needed was to come to terms and allow himself to naturally grow from them, albeit at an accelerated rate, of sorts. As he finished his dance, he opened his eyes and felt lighter.

Time began moving forward again, Riku halted himself in the air and looked around till he spotted Emmet, to him it had just been a second ago that he'd been holding the other boys face. Riku eyed Emmet up and down curiously, they locked gazed and a cosmic aura coated itself around Emmets body.

" Shall we continue dawling? "

Riku nodded after a moment, as if something was confirmed, a demonic aura erupting from him as he grinned savagely " Yes, you look a little more awake now, the real fight can finally start " he pressed his hands together and chanted in a demonic language, on the ground below, a large, crimson magic circle sprang into existence and spread out. The soon to be night sky took on a dreadful red coloring, the clouds turning pitch black and the air becoming oppressive.

" Welcome to hell! "

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Hearing the mention of Sandra felt like a punch to the gut and Tanesha was suddenly filled with conflicting emotions, on the one hand she loved Sandra more then anyone she'd ever been with, but she couldnt deny her strong feelings for Katy, it felt like it went past just lust, no it felt it could be more, but she just wasnt sure " I dont know...I dont wanna hurt Sandra, i'd never want that. But Katy....my feelings for you feel strong too, I dont want to not have this with you either. C-Can we just keep this between us, for now? Tanesha felt like she was on the verge of hysterics, her emotions were all over the place and it felt like she was being torn in half.

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" Can't go wrong with Pizza " Milo said " well provided we can all agree on toppings "

Dave nodded " True, we could always get our own personal mini ones if it gets down to it, but im all for pizza. Sandra? "

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" And your absolutely sure these things will work? "

Karen was leaning against the doorway, having followed the two. and eyeing what Troy was holding skeptically " I've heard of that type of device before and I know they can be pretty useful, but they can also backfire horribly " On the one hand Karen was practically salivating at the thought of having Sandra and Emmet as slaves, making the red headed bitch her punching bag was nearly making her ruin her underwear, but she acknowledged that a lot of her choices and decisions of late hadnt been entirely sound.

She needed to think more logically, take every possible outcome into hand " It would be pretty rotten for said control to falter and stop, then we'd have two phoenix's, very pissed off ones i'd imagine, in our midst "

It didn't feel right to Katy to hide this from Sandra, but since it was Tanesha asking. "Alright Tani, for you I'll keep quite on this." She wondered if there was some reason Tani was scared. Was Sandra maybe the one true love type, just because Emmet was open to multiple lovers doesn't mean everybody else shared that view. "Well, you want to go for a quick skinny dip?" She pointed to the nearby water, the seas didn't seem overly rough or nothing, looked like fair swimming conditions. "I don't know about you but after being sweaty and rolling around on the beach, I got sand absolutely everywhere. I'm gonna clean up a bit before getting dressed again."

-----

"Pizza it is then guys!" Sandra exclaimed. As they headed to the food courts Sandra tried to strike up a new conversation, not really wanting to give Dave's mind to much time to wonder back into despair. "So Milo you said your powers have grown a bit right? So what can you do now?"

-----

"For our sake it better work. In trial runs the programming was flawless. While these devices are not delicate on their own, considering what we're dealing with I think I'll have out mages buff the defence on them even more. Every device is also a self contained unit, so it's not like the True Notes can disable a laptop or something and take out the entire system. Fact is we've tried dealing with them with traditional force, you snuffed out Sandra's life yourself Karen. It's evident that's not going to work against these fools.

" Before this question gets asked, I didnt use this on the island because its time consuming to set it up, can only make it a certain size, and it currently has a major time limit " Riku explained " Not to mention this spell buffs demons and debuffs everything else, of which I am the minority in this group "

Emmet could see what he meant, the moment the spell activated he felt his power drop dramatically , the oppresive air was difficult to breath. Yet at the same time he could feel the phoenix force fighting against it, the aura around him flickering. At the same time he could see Riku's already large power growing bigger, his diamond form becoming pitch black.

That wasnt the only change, the gym uniform he'd been wearing was replaced by a slinky black dress, that Emmet recalled seeing in a magazine and thinking it would look lovely on Tesla. It appears Riku felt the same way, even changing the color didnt obscure the girls natural beauty, Riku was trully mimicing Tesla flawlessly. Emmet clenched his fist, in doing so gained a tighter grip on his own emtions.

He needed to remember that this wasnt actually Tesla, he wasnt going to hurt her, not again, why couldnt he remember what happened with her? Any further thoughts were banished as Riku seemed to step through space. Acting entirely out of instinct, Emmet veered sharply to the right, narrowly missing giant spiked, diamon claw. He unleashed a concentrated blast of cosmic energy as he backpeddaled, but the attack seemed to do little to Riku's empowered form.

Riku's movements became swifter he seemed to dedicate himself more to the role of Tesla and just using melee attacks, Albeit more extreme ones, his limbs were enlarged, shaped like claws and blades as Emmet dodged for all he was worth, while he was partly sure Riku wasnt aiming for his life, grievous bodily harm was certainly not off the table. Soon Emmet could feel his body was riddled with scratches , even s he healed, seven more returned to take their place.

This couldnt go on like this, he needed to do something to tip the scales. He focused, pulling more power from the phoenix force. He'd been reluctant to do so initially, fearing a repeat of what happened on the island, but the longer this fight on the more he realized how little choice he had in the matter. Not if he wanted to make any progress and move forward, he couldnt let Riku's efforts go to rush.

He felt the rush of power flood through his body, empowering his telekinesis, he slammed Riku straight into the ground with a mighty crash, not wasting any time, he conjured five of his cosmic orbs, just as Riku appeared through his void, his body enlarged now. Emmet sent three of them at the demon, increasing their speed as much as possible. Riku's arms and and left leg were blown off.

Emmet winced as a loud scream split the air, perfectly mimicKing Tesla. For a moment he vision blurred and an image appeared, but just as soon as he'd seen it, it was gone. Riku was in the process of regenerating when his body when he body firing a volley of diamond spikes. Emmet wrapped himself in a telekinetic bubble, but still focused on dodging as the spikes pounded his force field, each one doing enough damage to crack it.

Emmet could hear his breath becoming more ragged, fatigue beginning to weight him down, a combination of the hellish atmosphere and drawing on more of the phoenix force, it was almost foreign to him given how little sleep he required now, his body always felt like it was brimming with vitality. Even now he could feel his vitality in some sort of battle of its own, keeping him going.

A certain elation began to take over Emmet, as he and Riku traded blows, each taking damage but healing in the nex moment, he couldnt deny that he was enjoying himself, it was a nice reprieve from despair, but he could feel himself coming dangerously close, close the mindset of destruction, so close. The roaring had returned to his head, but he pushed past it and reached out, his hand touching Riku's fist.

He gasp and everything came crashing back to him, it was like he was an outside observer, he could see himself, the dark phoenix, fighting against his friends, Tesla came flying at him, her fist connecting with his stomache, but he'd seized her wrist. Going into the mental landscape he'd created between them, he saw cracks form all over Tesla's diamond form until....she shattered into millions of pieces.

" Wow, thats pretty hardcore, nice one "

the diamond pieces floated around Emmet and in them he could see Tesla's eyes, filled with terror, but he could also see Riku's blackened orbs holding admiration and suprise. Emmet couldnt tell anymore, what was physical and what was mental.

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" Thank you " Tanesha said quietly, after a moment she stood up " yeah, a quick sounds like it would be great right about now "

She followed Katy into the water, it was chilly, but it didnt take her long to get used to the temperature, she floated on her back, starring up at the sky, it would be dark soon, the day almost over. She felt strangely tired, not just from sparring or sex with Katy, it felt like something else had happened but she couldnt recall what. Her body felt warm and satisfied and she was disgusted by the feeling because it wasnt coming from being with Sandra, how had things turned out this way?

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Milo grinned broadly, obviously happy that she'd asked " Well I can retain more then one power now, like about five now and I can use them much better too, not like the original owner, but i'm not endanger of hurting myself anymore " he chuckled a little

" Wow thats a big jump, how long can you hold the powers now? " Dave asked curiously, he'd remembered how bad Milo had been with his powers, guy had taken Daves power and teleported into a wall once.

" As long as I want, which feels pretty cool! "

They arrived at the food court and went to the nearest pizza place, after a lot of deliberation they finally got two large pizza's, some breadsticks and a couple of pizza's. They sat in a booth as they waited for their food, Dave sitting next to Sandra with Milo across from him.

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Karen was impressed with Troys tech, though she didnt voice this or let it show on her face " Your not wrong, if we lack the means to kill them permanently then putting them on leashes is really the next best option "Getting the mages involved isnt a bad idea either, given the true notes own could mess things up. Otherwise i'm in " though the first sign of things going south, she may just leave, permanently. She'd stayed here far longer then she'd intended too and didnt have much to show for it, save for her new hair.

She also couldnt shake Sandra's words from the last time they'd met, the true notes were unliek any of the groups she'd encountered before, well the groups that had fallen all over themselves to claim to claim moral superiority and being good. They were more like the groups on the other side of the line, in the methods they were fine with employing if crossed.

Katy had taken a dive after the two girls entered the water and swam out a short ways. Katy resurfaced seeing Tanesha just floating. Swimming over it was clear the other girl was deep in thought. "Hey what's wrong, are you still worried about Sandra?" Katy asked about Sandra to spark some kind of dialog, but wondered if Tani's thoughts where going deeper. Katy loved the ocean, but found she could not enjoy the swim to the full degree she normally could. She still wondered how she went from having no romantic affection to Tanesha yesterday to where they are now today. Sure it's said love can come from the unlikeliest of places, but Katy had known Tani for so many months now. One would think the two would of felt something for each other before now, right?

-----

It sounded like Milo's skills was really improving. "So you can duplicate others powers and keep them as long as you want? Sounds like you have the potential to be quite the force. How is your control over copied abilities? I know you said you aren't at the level of the original user, but if you copied say Dave's teleportation, you aren't going to port into a wall or something will you?"

Dave had absolutely no idea if Sandra picked up that thought from him or if it was just a coincidence, just because Sandra preferred talking doesn't mean she still couldn't pick up on things here or there, especially as her powers grew it would be easy for a telepath to hear things even if she wasn't trying. But seeing that hitting a wall was a easy enough mistake to make with teleportation or any other power in general that moves a person, the latter was likely enough.

-----

"It was either control or capture, but seeing you had Emmet and Tanesha in the same pocket dimension you killed Sandra in Karen, and then when she came back Sandra was able to find her way back there. We don't have any prisons at this school that would likely hold her or Emmet. So lets hope control is the solution to our problem."

"If this works, then the only problem we'll have is how to stick these devices to our opponents" Nina said. It seemed the True Notes was growing stronger by the day, and these chips had to physically be stuck to the side of a persons skull to work. "Even with the extra recruits you brought in, it'd be foolish of us to confront the True Notes all at once, look how that turned out for the Horsemen who came here with 4 and are now down to two."

That was a valid point Nina had. "If we can't find a was to immobilise them, then yes we'll have to fight them. If it comes to that we'll divide and concur like we've done before."

" Hmm, upon a closer inspection I can see that you slapped some mental glue on her as well, making the mental trauma stick extra strong and insure deeper trauma, chef's kiss, chef's kiss "

Riku's voice had become background noise as Emmet reflected on what he'd learned. That he wound employ such sadistic tactics against someone he considered a dear friend was enough to make him sick to his core, a part of his wanted to deny it, again. But he'd already been over this and the one truth he could not deny, would not deny was that at the core of the situation, it had all come from him.

" You alright? "

A diamond fragment reflecting Riku's mouth passed by Emmet, at some point the mental landscape had evaporated, bringing them back to the physical world, Riku still in Tesla's form but no longer monstrous, was in front of him, a look of concern on his face. Emmet took the diamond fragment and looked at his reflection, he saw the same red eyes that constantly appeared in passing thought.

" I'm far from alright, but another dark phoenix moment is not going to occur....I wont let it, such a thing would only add to my list of sins. Riku, how do you manage with your dark desires and impulses. Please dont handwave it by stating that its because your a demon, I shant believe it "

The two had begun to make a slow descent towards the ground, Riku's hellscape rapidly coming undone " Occams razor would say the simplest answer is the best, me being a demon certainly plays a part in my actions, but not its not the only thing, I am indeed an agent of chaos but that doesnt mean I dont know when to rein it in and have some control. Makes it simpler to enjoy the finer things in life, like murder and whatnot, easier said then done but I had a good teacher and Em I'm more then willing to help you with this, that should be a given "

Emmet nodded, Riku had a point, in that trying to overly complicate the situation would lead to furhter ruin. The simplest way to look at it is with complete honest, Emmet clearly had darker impulses then he'd realized, and needed to learn how to deal with them. Simply bottleing them up would do, no he needed to control and harness them, given all the enemies gunning for their group, there was no end of chances for him to run amok, if he so chose too "

" Tesla....I need to fix what I did to her... "

Riku gently took Emmets hands into his own and squeezed them " Listen to me, I know you want to make things right and deep down I want that too, but you know how I am, coming to me about this will only bring my barriers up, i'll be encased with all these feelings and that'll just make it harder to help, you know I'm a stupid bitch, let me come to you on my own terms, till then you just have to wait "

Emmet was taken aback, again he was reminded of Riku's rather eery way of transforming himself into someone else, in such a way that it was so easy to believe it, all he could do was nod, he felt his consciounsness begin to fade as a wave of fatigue washed over him. As Emmets eyes began to close, Riku gasped, from Emmets hands a surge of power was spreading through Riku's body, he could feel himself beginning to fall apart, even as he yanked his hands away, it did little stop the spread of destruction.

*Slice*

The demons head went flying through the air as Emmets body gently landed on the ground and destroyed the surrounding area, resulting in a perfect circle in the ground, with Emmet at the bottom of the hole. Kaiser stood at the edge of the hole, sword in one hand and Riku's head in another.

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Tanesha was silent for a moment " Yeah, Sandra is definetly more of the monogamous type and honestly the sames been for me, just being with one person and giving my all to them. Nothing against people like Em and Hoeku who like being more free with their sexuality, more power to them, but thats never been my thing. But with you it just feels so different, I cant really explain it "

She was having a similar train of thought to Katy, these feelings felt like they'd come out of nowhere. But they felt so strong, so real, but was it real? She wasnt sure, but a part of her didnt want to doubt it, just accept it " We've been around each other for months, through thick and thin, maybe there was something that we both missed " turning over, Tanesha dove under the water, coming up in front of Katy.

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Milo and Dave both winced at the mention getting stuck in a wall, neither really contemplating Sandra reading their minds as they both knew she wasnt like that.

" Naw, thats not happening(again) I'd say I have pretty good control, see? " As Milo was speaking, several onjects began floating into the air, after a few seconds they floated back down.

" Nice, is that telekinesis? Was gonna ask, what powers do you have? If you dont mind me asking " Dave inquired, it wasnt a great display of skill, but for Milo it was certainly an improvement.

Milo puffed his chest out with pride " Yep, I dont mind " He thought for a moment " I have telekinesis, telepathy, super strength, kinetic energy manipulation "
Dave whistled " Nice lineup, not trying to cap out? "

" Not at the moment, I can have a maximum of five, but I'm trying to keep it around four or so at the moment and get a handle on these " Milo explained " Going over five is a bit of a nonno for me at the moment, but Dr.Spayde said that with time I'll be able to increase my limit, bit by bit "

" Ah well if you ever want teleportation just let me know, though I can imagine you could get from anyone else, by the way, where did you get these other powers? " Dave asked.

Milo opened his mouth to answer then froze, his mind going blank for a moment "....Oh! Sorry about that, brain freeze, There actually from people in my biology class "

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Nina didnt like being reminded of what happened when she'd captured Emmet and Tanesha, not given the outcome of it, pushing that memory aside, she considered Nina's concerns, getting these chips on Sandra and Emmet would be no small feat, but it wasnt impossible " Divide and conquer isnt a bad idea, in and of itself, but how to go about it is the question. I get the feeling the usual tactics wont work, so we'll hve to think outside of the box, separating Sandra and Emmet would be ideal, Sandra has a clear weakness in Tanesha, that much is clear but I dont know about Emmet, from what I can gather he's close to everyone, but no exact one really sticks out, Sandra is a high possibility "

Katy looked into Tanesha's beautiful eyes after she came up from her dive. It made Katy feel compelled to try to offer some type of explanation. "It is possible, you was focused on Sandra and being a good girlfriend. Sure you two may run into the odd rough patch here or there, but what couple doesn't? No two people are ever going to be absolutely perfectly compatibility with no differences whatsoever, human beings simply doesn't work that way. But you two love each other, and you'd give your everything to each other. It makes sense you can overlook me.

As for me, maybe I've been in denial? I have always viewed myself as being straight, so maybe if I had any feelings I simply just hid them away deep inside."

What Katy was saying was plausible, Tanesha had seen it before. Sandra grew up her entire childhood believing she was straight as well. Sandra never knew she could love another woman until Tanesha brought those feelings out of her.

Katy would speak again. "Tani I think you should consider telling Sandra about us. I get your not ready right now, I'm not saying you have to open up when we see her later on tonight. But when your ready, I think you should tell her. Between all of us, Sandra has probably changed the most over the school year. She's gone from a insecure and scared girl and has been transformed and molded into a strong woman, but mentally and physically. You want to show her you trust her so much you can come to her with anything, even if that anything is you admitting you've got feelings for another.

To be honest I feel uncomfortable keeping this secret for to long. And I fear if Sandra finds out about us on her own, it's going to hurt so much then had you the faith and trust in her to open up to her."

Katy didn't know where all the relationships would go after that, but if Katy and Sandra can go from being straight to being bi, then maybe they could try things out with the 3 of them? Sure they don't need to have a dozen lovers like Emmet, but if their is a legit bond between Katy, Tanesha and Sandra, then maybe they don't need to be just one woman girls.

-----

"I approve of taking things slow" Sandra said. "I've been on more then one occasion forced to jump into the deep end with this Phoenix stuff me and Emmet are dealing with, and oh boy it can be scary. The first time I would of lost sight of myself had Emmet and Tanesha not been there to make me see reason and reign me back in. Not only can growing to strong to fast corrupt the mind, but going full on balls in with powers your not use to handling can endanger yourself or others. So you totally got the right idea Milo with taking and slow and steady approach."

After her own close calls, and with what happened to Emmet, Sandra was pleased that Milo understood his limits and wasn't pushing himself to hard, to fast.

-----

"That is a problem. Sandra and Tanesha often spend time by themselves, we should have little trouble finding a opportunity to trap and outnumber them. Emmet though tends not to be alone all that often." Emmet to Troy did seem to be the bigger problem, but there had to be a way to get him separated from the others. Nina added in "It's difficult, even if you are right Karen and we succeed in securing Sandra. Sure we can make a demand to get Emmet alone, but even if he agrees the others will be sure to follow anyway."

" Bloody fucking hell that was close! I mean it wouldnt have did me in, but regenerating from it would have been a bitch and a half " Riku's dismembered head said while it floated over Kaisers shoulder. He'd hopped into the hole to retrieve his mother and a quick shundo brough them back to Emmets flower patch over by the True Notes training area.

Kaiser gently place Emmet down and sat cross legged beside him, his face was blank but Riku knew him well enough to sense the concern. It had taken quite a lot of convincing for him to allow Riku to go through with his plan. True he'd known that it was for the best, but he'd been reluctant to put Emmet through such an endeavor so soon after the last one, but it seemed to have worked in the end, a little too well it seems.

" He briefly tapped into his deity abilities and manifested destruction, nowhere near his full capabilities of course, but even a fraction of it is deadly, I dont doubt you would survive but it would have taken you a long time, even if you went back to hell " Kaiser explained " How are you doing? "

Riku, his head still in Tesla's form, gestured in a way that suggested a shrug " Oh I'm peaches and cream, it'll take me a bit to regrow my body back all the way, mainly cause of Ems power, but i'm not pressed about the matter, besides this was a success and thats what I mainly care about " he smiled fondly at Emmets sleeping form.

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Tanesha wondered if Katy was right, had she been so caught up in her feelings for Sandra that she'd overlooked there being something for Katy? She wasnt sure but she couldnt rule it out entirely. It felt right to her, all she now was that she was aware of her feelings and it seemed like they were making up for lost time, given how happy she felt with the other girl, just floating in the sea together.

" I-I'll talk to her, I will, I just need a little time " Tanesha said quietly " Your right, Sandra has changed a lot, she;s grown so much that I hardly recognize her from Vickie and I first joined the group, I think all of us have changed a lot over the last few months.  I'm not sure how she'll react or what the fallout will be, but I definetly dont wanna hurt her and I know that prolonging this will only do just that, so i'll talk to her soon. But for now can we stay like this? "

She wrapped her arms around Katy's neck and kissed her.

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Dave had to agree as well, in general it was better to take it slow when trying to master something, rushing it could have disaterous outcomes. He thought back to the phoenix force and how Sandra and Emmet had both had moments when they'd drawn to deeply on the power, like she said, Sandra had been pull back. But Emmet hadnt and....all that had happened.

Emmet had gone to far and lost control, but at the same time it felt like he'd been in complete control. He sighed as the world changged, he found himself sitting around a table with Milo and Sandra, but both were much older. He caught his own appearance in a mirror and saw that he was older and well and...something felt off to him. He could see both Sandra and Milo, brimming with power, putting Emmets display to shame, but he also saw a lack of control unlike what exhibited.

" Dave you ok? "

He blinked the world returned to normal, he noticed Milo was looking at him with concern and that he had started sweating profusely, that hadnt happened before, but then again he'd never gone that deep into one of his visions before, was it being around these two that had triggered it? "

" Uh yeah im fine, oh look the foods here! " indeed the server was walking over with their pizza and breadsticks.

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Karen agreed, getting Sandra and Tanesha alone shouldnt be a problem, if they could do that then using them as leverage could allow them to get Emmet as well, the rest of their little group would be a problem though, not to mention Emmet was very crafty, she could easily see him feigning weakness, only to turn the entire situation on its head " Hmm, well then I hope this situation works out, just be mindful you'll most likely only get one shot at this, fuck it up and... " she let her words trail off and turned to leave, her meaning very clear. They'd , have two pissed off phoenix's within arms reach of them.

Cassandra had only progressed at the pace of a slow causal walk, stopping at certain places to take in the sights along the way and pass away some time. Gradually Cass did still make her way to the training area though nobody seemed to be here yet. In the complete silence of the area Cass could hear very low chatter, it wasn't clear enough to hear what was being said though. She followed the voices to a nearby flower patch seeing Kaiser sitting next to a unconscious Emmet and what looked to be the dismembered head of Tesla. "Oh my! Kaiser what happened here?"

-----

As Katy and Tanesha shared a kiss the choppiness of any waves seemed to seem out, leaving the two floating in perfectly calm and tranquil waters. It seemed Tani was helping Katy with her powers without even realising it. "Thank you for hearing me out. Trust me even if Sandra gets mad when you first tell her, in the long run I'm sure being honest will turn out for the better. For now though, take the bit of time you need to gather your thoughts."

Katy realised how much time must have passed by now since Katy and Tani started sparring. "I think it's time we should get going, we don't want to late to meet up with the others."

-----

That was a odd display from Dave. As the group smiled and excitedly accepted the food from the server, Sandra decided to connect to Dave mentally. "Hey Dave using my telepathic power to link to you so we don't risk possibly bring the mood down. But are things alright with you? If something is bothering you I can take a look and try to offer some assistance, if you want.

The pizza's was passed out and the bread sticks distributed. Sandra took a bite of pizza "Fast food or not, you can't go wrong with a pizza, right boys?"

-----

While she wasn't reading Karen's mind or anything, she to was having similar thoughts that if this failed, then it may be time to distance herself from the Mafia. If this fails and if Troy where to survive the incoming retaliation, then yea Nina would probably be a marked woman, after all you don't just leave Troy's gang, Tanesha and Victoria would of already been dead if they hadn't ran off to the True Notes and gotten their protection. But if it came down to Troy wanting a stakes though her heart versus the full onslaught of the True Notes and a pair of really angry Phoenix's, Nina sure as hell knew which of the lessor of two evils she was taking.

Not having anything else to say Nina turned to leave as well. Troy put the chip back and put away the suitcase.

" Oh great, the fakes here! "

Riku had swiveled his floating head in Cassandra's direction, the most Tesla like expression of disdain on his face that made Cassandra take a step back before he burst into laughter " HAHAHAHA, just fucken with ya "

Kaiser sighed " Riku and Emmet were sparring, but it got a tad out of hand, as you can see " he gestured at the smoke clouds off in the distance " Emmets resting and Riku is....as you can see "

" Riku, while currently being basic incarnate, is still a bad bitch, im suprised to see you here Elmers glue, figured you'd be taking a break from this "  as Riku spoke, his regeneration finally started kicking in and in a horrific display, his body began regrowing itself, bones, organs, flesh and all.

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" You still wanna go? " Tanesha asked as they made their way back to the shore " If you wanna stay away from even that for awhile, it's understandable "

Given how a number of the group had elected to step away from the group, it was assumed that they wouldnt be at the training sessions for awhile now, though Riku was forcing Garfield and Dave to still come.

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Before Dave could answer, another mental voice chimed in.

Hey Dave, you ok?...oh! uh guess I wasnt the only one to have the same idea

Milo had mentally messaged Dave as well, only to find that Sandra was doing the same. Dave was a little bothered will the extra presence in his head, but he knew they both meant well and were just worried about him. He placed a breadstick onto of his pizza slice and bit into them, savor the taste.

Guys, sorry if I worried you but im ok, really. Just...a little shaken from the night before, I guess it effected me more then I thought, but i'll be ok "

He swallowed his food and answered Sandra outloud " Yeah, pizza's always good "

" Agreed " Milo chimed in, he was curious about what happened the other night, but didnt want to pry, but something really bad must have happened. It seemed like the True Notes were always involved in something dangerous, starting with the Mafia, who they'd toppled and become the major group of the school. Word on the street was Fear Factor had been gunning for them and not just them. A lot of group that had been afraid of the mafia were being to stir and new groups were forming. Made Milo wonder what was going on with this school.

Cassandra tried to ignore the urge to vomit as Riku started regenerating, at this point she wondered if she dared even ask why Riku was in Tesla's form. "Yea well um, after the unfortunate events that happened with the Lee's, I figured training wouldn't be bad thing. Regardless how some of us may feel about Emmet at the moment, Sandra and others are still going to be here as well."

-----

"I still don't agree morally with what Emmet did, but at the same time I'm not really hurt as emotionally as others either."

Tani thought back about it, Katy and Emmet did seem like only casual friends. They share a glee class together, had a few performances together, and obviously fought on the same side together. But in their personal time, Katy and Emmet really didn't seem to hang out much. It wasn't the same as someone like Dave who was hurt on a more deep emotional level by Emmet's action.

"Besides I'm finally making progress with my powers. I've been struggling for so long and falling so far behind everybody else, I can't afford to skip out on any training sessions. I need to keep pushing."

They got to shore and started collecting their cloths, it was getting dark by now but there still enough illumination to be able to see.

-----

Sandra like Milo felt slightly awkward but smiled and spoke out loud again "Well so much for a private conversation. I didn't want Milo to worry or to risk bringing down the atmosphere but I guess Milo had the same idea as me anyway." Sandra had pulled out and went back back to normal conversation, she didn't know if Milo did the same. Sandra wanted to believe Dave about him only being bothered by the stress from yesterday, but she wasn't sure. Knowing Dave for so long she kinda felt like there may be something else, but this wasn't the time to press him on any matters and she didn't want to make him angry.

"Pizza's also sparked probably the greatest never ending debate in all human kind as well, the age old question question of pineapple, or or no? lol" Sandra said this light heartedly, making light at how seriously some people take something that's merely a matter of taste.

" Is that so, well you were basically useless during that whole fiasco so while it does make sense to get some more combat experience, personally I dont like going around bitches I have beef with "

It was around this time that Noah walked into the clearing, having sensed the group, spotted Riku regenerating and walked off with an eyeroll.

" Case in point "

By this point he was mostly all the way healed, leaving him naked in Tesla's form, with a hand wave he replaced his clothes with the usual gym ones " Also im gonna be stuck like this for next thirty minutes, great " he shook his head in disgust.

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Tanesha could see what Katy meant, while she didnt agree with what Emmet had did, she wasnt largely affected by it like some of the others had been. It could be assumed that many of the others would probably share the same mind set. In that case this training session and future ones were going to be awkward as fuck, for more reasons then one. They got dressed and made their way to the meeting spot.

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Sandra's question, naturally sparked a debate that lasted for almost an hour, Daves earlier reaction having been forgotten.

" Well.....guess we should get going " Dave said, his mood starting to drop as he checked the time, they needed to head for the training spot " I'll be right back, need to get changed, then I can take us there " Dave teleported off, leaving Sandra and Milo. The two sat in silence for a moment, this being the first time they'd been left alone and neither quite sure what to say.

" So...how's Glee club been? If I could carry a tune, I would have totally joined you guys at the beginning "

"Well, I guess I'll do my best to stay out of your way then." Cass turned and made her way back to the training grounds. The demon man may be an asshole, but she certainly didn't have any interest in starting beef with him at this stage. Reaching the clearing she found Noah waiting. "Oh hey, you here for combat practice to?"

-----

By the time the two girls arrived they only seen either Cass or Sandra and Noah where present. "Wow kinda expected a bigger turn out, at the very least Emmet and Riku to be here already." Katy shared a look with Tani and shrugged, the others was bound to surely show up soon. They walked over to the other two and Katy greeted them "Hey guys, hows it going?"

-----

It just occurred to Sandra that Milo not be aware of what's going on, this is awkward. After all these months it was easy to kinda forget they knew people not directly tied to the glee club. Sandra thought maybe it for the best to leave Milo out of the loop on what happened at the island, at least for now. "It's been super fun, I never fancied myself a singer either but the glee club just has a special kind of atmosphere to it, it's like you just know how to sing and perform even if you never done it before. And over time with practise your skills will only improve. You should try it some day" Sandra said before thinking to herself "Well hopefully, if we all stay together."

Noah looked up from the spot he'd elected to meditate in. He opened his eyes and nodded " Yes, regardless of what happened on the island i'm staying with the group as I have been " as an executioner for the church, it certainly wasnt his place to cast doubt on the actions Emmet had taken. Especially when Noah himself had long since ceased to try justifying some of the orders he'd been given.

Noah suddenly looked upward and Cassandra followed his gaze, they could see some object falling from the sky, as it got closer they were able to make out an electricity coated Kano, who appeared to be carrying Tanesha and Katy. A portion of the ground shot up, forming a pillar as Kano touched down on it, the ground receded back in place.

" Good evening fellow thespians! " Kano greeted, using a word he'd heard Emmet say quite a lot. He gently sat the tow girls down, both of their hair standing on in, and Tanesha's in an afro. When they'd run into Kano along the way and he offered to give them a ride to the meeting spot, she hadnt expected it to mean him rocketing through the air with fire and electricity as jet propulsion.

" Good lawd! I dont ever wanna do that again and at the same time I wanna do it again! "Tanesha said as she flopped on yhr ground, thanful for solid footing. She noticed Cassandra and Noah, offering them a wave.

"Emmet, Kaiser, and the thing(Riku) are off in Emmets flower patch at the moment " Noah explained " The others havent arrived yet, but should be here soon.

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Milo had a look of longing on his face as he listened to Sandra, it sounded so fun, getting to sing and dance with everyone, really just to belong somewhere. Even as he was growing stronger and able to do more, he still didnt really feel like he belonged anywhere.

Dave popped back, with a disgruntled looking Garfield and chipper Donovan in toe " Alright lets go, see you later Milo, we should hangout more "

Milo looked down at his plate, trying to hide how red his face was " Yeah totally dude, i'd like that, hey Garf, Don "

They exchanged some greetings before Dave teleported them off. Leaving Milo feeling a tad dejected, but happy that there was still pizza left over.