Choosing Grounds (AU/UC/XO/ADULT) Xander and Maria needed

[AntarPrince04]

hehehe, Burn! lol You go girl lol

[StormWolfstone]

~Tess~


Slowly, the sounds of voices break through the haze of sleep that has taken over me. They don't sound familiar, though there is something telling me that I'm still not quite awake. Opening my eyes, I see that I'm on a strange tiled floor and glance around. What? This can't be... where am I? Sitting up, I cringe as a pain shoots through my arm. Why does it hurt?

Damn, why can't I remember how I got to wherever I am? With a shake of my head, I use my other arm to help get myself to my feet and sigh. That's when it hits me... those voices are clearer now and I do recognize two of them. Michael and Kyle. Smiling, I start around the corner. I may not have found Max like I'd been planning before I fell asleep but at least, wherever I was, I might have some answers.

"Michael, Kyle.." I greet as I come into sight of them sitting with two strangers. "What's going on here, where are we?"

The Michael that turns toward me isn't like the Michael I know which automatically makes me worry that I'm seeing Rath dressed as Michael. The hatred coming forth from his eyes, the tension. "Tess..." He seems to growl out and I notice a bit of shock in his expression. "Murdering bitch!" He exclaims.

"What are you talking about?" I ask aloud, though inwardly I can't help but wonder if he'd somehow found out about what I had done to Alex. Of course, if he did... well I can't help but think that Alex was a victim of circumstance even though if it had been Liz I would have been much happier.

[Anna-Liisa]

Kyle

I hear a far too familiar voice. I will never forget the voice. I get up from my chair when I hear Michael say what I think. I feel the strange powers inside me better than the moment before. I don't see her, but I know it's her. Tess is here. She's back and my powers are coming back too. It's because of her. A part of me wants to hurt her - hell, everything in me wants to hurt her.

"What are you talking about?" Tess asks. Acting so damn innocent. She knows that doesn't work, but she still tries. I look at her. I might've just settle it with yelling at her, but my body has a will of its own. I raise my hand and watch as my powers throw her to a wall. It hurts me too, since the powers are new to my body. Still anger wins the pain.

"You..." I look at her and walk a little closer. "You evil, rotten, marsian. I don't even know what to call you...you're a demon," I say. "We had a future together... but you... you just had to kill my friend. You just had to betray us all! Betray me... And now you come back and act all innocent. Well it doesn't work. It doesn't work!" I yell.

My hand is still up but I'm hesitating. If I use my powers more I'd ger more affected by it. Then again...it's Tess I am up against. My hand is shaking. I want to hurt her... I want to make her feel my pain.

"Tell me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now. Tell me a good enough reason and I'll consider..." I say. "You killed Alex... I thought I could trust you."

My hand keeps shaking and I try to think of a reason why. I shouldn't hesitate. She's my enemy right now. She's someone who doesn't deserve to be alive. She's Tess Harding - a souless alien bitch.



- - -

ooc: he he he heee....

[isabelle]

*Zeus*

Location: Inside the Mall, approaching the food court from the East

"Woah! Look at this!" I say, staring at the vid screen on my wrist. A blonde girl is being thrown against the wall although nobody touched her. There's a boy there who seems to be responsible, but I don't see what device he used to cause the girl to move. I bet I could make something to do that. All I would need would be -- yes! A television and appliance store. Everything I need would be in there!

"Be careful. There's some kind of fight going on," I say. I move forward and step inside the door of the store. It's a good staging for the fight, but I really can't help but grab up a few supplies. There's no vendor in sight, but I'll figure out how to pay for it later, if someone shows...


*Max*

Location: Inside the Mall, approaching the food court from the north.

As Maria and I cautiously advance, Liz and Isabel follow. Suddenly, the one who sounds like Kyle starts shouting. I can't make out the words at first, but I rush forward to try to get a better view. Then I see Tess on the floor against a wall as Kyle stands over her, hand extended, still growling his threats.

"Tell me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now. Tell me a good enough reason and I'll consider... You killed Alex... I thought I could trust you," he says.

Another one who thinks Tess is a killer, mentioning Alex. Is he from Maria's world, or somewhere-else? He's posed as if he were using alien powers, so I don't think he's mine, although I did heal Kyle, too...

"Wait! Stop!" I tell Kyle, stepping into the food court. "She might not be who you think she is."

[magikhands]

*Maria*

My eyes widen at the sight as we approach those we think are friends. Kyle has Tess pinned against the wall, his powers coming full force. He is shouting at her, about killing Alex, about her betrayal and deceit.

"Wait! Stop!" Max yells at Kyle. "She might not be who you think she is."

I step past Max until I reach Kyle. I look at Tess and I can see the fear in her eyes. I wonder if Alex had that same look right before she killed him. Did he beg her to stop? Did she just laugh at him because he was a human?

"Do it." I say. "She must be punished for what she did to Alex...and to you."

I reach out and take Kyle's hand. Somehow, upon seeing Kyle, I knew that we were from the same reality. I felt a strong vibe from him, the same I always felt when he was around. Being healed by Max had brought out an awareness in the two of us. We could easily sense when the other was close by. Michael and Max figured it was a side-effect.

I was a little surprised at his development of powers. We'd both been healed but I was the only one to gain abilities...or so I thought. Well, more power to him, I think as I look at the murderous bitch who killed my best friend and caused us all a lot of pain.


ooc: Ok, did a little editing...Maria didn't know Kyle had powers

[magikhands]

*Xander*

Zeus's little metal friend sends back images of a fight. I can't help but think how cool the device on his wrist was. It would have come in handy many times in my past.

He turns and grabs items from a nearby store. I just notice how they are all open but no one is there shopping. Too freaky.

"So...do we go and join in? Or just wait it out?" I ask looking around at the small group.

[Anna-Liisa]

It's okay, magik, but Maria's not supposed to know about Kyle's powers No one knew.
Edit: thanks, magik. I'll post soon as I can.

[KatnotKath]

OOC: nothing in the way of speaking in this I'm afriad, but just something to give a bit of insight into Liz's thoughts for now. Hopefully the next one will be better.

~Liz~

Maria stops, turning round to me. "Yeah, well, I didn't say we'd trust them." Her eyes narrow, and I can hardly believe this is 'Maria', even if she's not 'my' Maria... "I learned my lesson when MY family lost Alex." She retorts "But if either of them are from my reality, I'm willing to take that chance."

I can hear the pain in her voice as she says this, and I know she must be hurting terribly. I can understand to an extent what she must be thinking, and yet in other ways, I know you can never understand unless you've actually gone through that... Biting back any response I might have had, I look over at Isabel before following them quickly.

Crossing the floor, I approach the stairs which lead up to the next level, hearing 'Kyle's' voice grow louder, and more adgitated. Following Max as he makes his way up the stairs, my eyes widen as I recognise the figure being held by Kyle. Tess...

He's yelling at her, treatening to kill her, and I can see from the look on his face he's very serious in this. "You killed Alex..."

So she's a killer in at least one other reality too...

Max steps in, saying that she's might not be who he thinks, but its hard for me not to take the view that it doens't matter what reality she's from, I can't ever imagine her being anything other than a traitor and killer... She lead us into that trap, the trap which killed my husband... I can't help thinking she deserves everything she gets... I clench my fist looking down at the simple ring which sits on my finger but refusing to let my feelings show...

[StormWolfstone]

~~Moon~~

"Woah! Look at this!" I hear Zeus say after he's had his bird go on ahead and scout. He shows me the small tv style screen on his wrist and I see a woman up against a wall. That seemed odd, did I actually just see her move through the air?

This is too strange, I'm not certain I want to learn what we're here in this place for. I don't like the idea at all. "Be careful. There's some kind of fight going on," Zeus comments before stepping into a store and getting a few items before rejoining us.

"So...do we go and join in? Or just wait it out?" Xander asks and at the moment, I'm thinking that it might well be a good idea for me to actually listen.

Willow sighs out loud and then nods, "Move cautiously, but lets go in. I'll prepare a protection spell before we actually enter and as long as we remain relatively close, I can make certain we are all covered in the sphere of protection." Spells? Again, she mentions spells? I don't understand any of this.

Still, I nod and start to step forward, weapon in hand and ready in case it's needed. Though, somehow I have the feeling steel won't help if there is a problem.

[StormWolfstone]

~Tess~

Before I know what's happening I'm thrown against the wall by an invisible force and see Kyle holding his hand up as though he'd been responsible. "You..." He begins walking closer and I start struggling to my feet, my arm which had already hurt was throbbing even worse now. "You evil, rotten, marsian. I don't even know what to call you...you're a demon," Kyle says, "We had a future together... but you... you just had to kill my friend. You just had to betray us all! Betray me... And now you come back and act all innocent. Well it doesn't work. It doesn't work!" His words end in a yell and I am shocked into silence.

"Tell me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now. Tell me a good enough reason and I'll consider..." Kyle adds, "You killed Alex... I thought I could trust you." Damn, how did he know. My warp shouldn't have broken this soon. I might just have to strengthen it, but that would mean warping everyone that's near. If he breaks the news, then Max will surely never be mine.

"Wait! Stop!" I suddenly hear Max yell and breathe a sigh of relief. This isn't supposed to be happening. Kyle's not supposed to know about Alex and he's not supposed to be able to use such powers. "She might not be who you think she is."

"Thank you, Max. I have no idea what he's spouting off about." I say, letting the human side of myself be active enough so that it seems more real. I'd always hated my humanity, but at the moment it was going to come in handy for keeping my act up.

"Do it." Maria starts and I look at her with surprise. Maria… This wasn't the girl I know. Somehow something is definitely wrong." She must be punished for what she did to Alex...and to you."

Maria takes Kyle's hand and somehow I couldn't help but fear that they might know how to share energy. It was something that I hadn't really gotten around to explaining to Max. I reach out and take Kyle's hand.

I manage to get to my feet, but I can't keep from wincing as I hold my arm in place, the pain radiating. "I don't even know how I got here or where here is…" I say, looking around, letting my nervousness show.