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

[StormWolfstone]

~Medina~

I can see I have truly gained their attention. Now, it's time to make a few things clear. As their questions and comments come in I can't keep from laughing. "This is all because you're bored? What do you want from us...?" Max demands and I level my gaze on him.

"Max, you do what I want you to do or you'll end up learning the worst kind of hell has yet to be felt." I told him simply and then listened as Pride started his own barrage of questions.

"What gives you the right...you think this is all a game? Playing with people's lives? And if we decide we don't want to play along in your twisted little world...?"

"Pride, if you refuse to do as I wish, then you'll die and so will all those you care about in your realities." I threatened before turning to Liz who decided to question next.

"What has happened to those you left in our worlds...?"

"Right now, they are safe, stuck in time. However, their lives or lack there of will be affected by your actions in my world." I explained as I stood and made my way over to the table where Moon huddled against Bray, "Moon, do you wish to die?"

Moon looked around and nodded, "Yes, I do." She responded simply and I couldn't help but laugh.

I turned to look at Zeus, "What reason have you for deciding to stop Moon earlier? Why would you care to save her life?"

[StormWolfstone]

will be trying to do more posts here asap....

[NightshadeIsis]

PRIDE:

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Those I loved in my reality... This woman- if she was even...even human- she was threatening to kill them all if we didn't play along with her game? The people we loved, are friends, the men and women that we...

Before I realized it, my eyes had drifted to Tai-San, and a sinking, sick feeling had settled in the pit of my stomach. I became nauseaus, but faught to show it in front of anyone. No. I'd rather die where I stood than let it happen. It couldn't happen. It wouldn't happen.

Lex:

I'd never drank so much that I was seeing floating, half naked, really hot chicks before. But then again, my head was pounding and my eyes hurt, so I knew I wasn't trashed. Least not anymore. So what on earth was I seeing then? I hadnt' even bothered to try and introduce myself to anyone just yet. Didn't know if I wanted to waste the time actually. Felt more like tossing them out on the street. They were in our home, and uninvited. No one here had let them in the mall, and they all acted as if they had no idea how they'd gotten there! Pft....and people call me the lousy drunk.

But before I had had the chance, that floating chick had shown up. I listened to her drivel, ready to laugh it off, before I saw what was going on. She started moving people around with a wave of her hand, like it was nothing. Like they were puppets. Telling us that we were more or less chess pieces on a board, a game for her amusement, and if we didn't play along, our friends were gonna die? What did I have to live for anyway? All I had left had already gone a long time ago. She couldn't take anything else from me.

"Sell crazy somewhere else, ya freak!" I snapped, clenching my fists and marching forward. "We're all stocked up here!" I was beyond angry at this point. Strangers in our mall, my liquor high gone, and this floating nutjob threatening us. I'd had enough. So I charged her, reaching out to grab her and drag her down, ready to toss her out of the mall and on her rear end...


PRIDE:

I saw what was happening in a split second, and my heart hit my throat, but I couldn't stop it. Oh this was a mistake Lex was making, and I knew it. Everything I'd ever knew to be true about things like this, they just weren't. She was real. She really was real. And Lex was about to play with some serious fire.

"Lex, no!" I yelled, but I was too late. He was already upon her...

[isabelle]

*Zeus*

"What reason have you for deciding to stop Moon earlier? Why would you care to save her life?" Medina asks.

I don't want to answer Medina at all. I don't want to give her anything. She's stolen us all and threatened our families. I don't want to play.

Still, her words get me thinking. I don't really have a good answer for her question. I'm not really sure why I stopped her. Maybe because I've seen a lot of misery but there are always ways to make it better. I don't believe in surrender or defeat. Or maybe part of it was just that she was the first living person I'd seen since I'd gotten here and I didn't want to lose her before I could get some answers about this place.

"I ... I guess I didn't want her to give up yet. A second chance ..." I start, stopping as one of the others suddenly charges the woman, raising his fists. One of the women calls him Lex. I don't know what is about to happen, but I'm rather certain it won't be good. She'll probably kill him. Or worse, she'll destroy his world...


*Max*

Medina tells me to expect 'the worst kind of hell' if we don't follow along. I wonder if she knows what kind of hell I've already known. Seeing the power she's throwing around, maybe she does. I bite my lip, not knowing what to think now, but I'm trying. Trying to get my brain to function so I can figure out a plan.

The long-haired guy starts demanding similar answers, asking what she'd do if we refused to play, but Medina seems to ignore him, too. Pride. His name was Pride. He looks a little like a lion...

Liz asks about our families back on our own worlds and suddenly I realize that's probably the answer to Pride's question. As Medina responds, I see that I'm right. She's threatening our home worlds. I don't want to believe her. Don't want to believe she has that kind of power, but she did bring us here. What's to say she can't bring our loved ones to somewhere less agreeble? I hate this. Medina says they're 'stuck in time.' If we can trust that, it sounds like they won't even be aware that we were gone, assuming we ever get a chance to get back... What am I thinking? Of course we'll get back. I have to find a way. I need to find a way.

Medina starts questioning the black leather-clad teen when suddenly one of the wild men, also dressed in black, launches himself at Medina. "Lex" the girl calls him, trying to stop him.

Almost without thinking, I throw up a shield, a green energy barrier that forms between Lex and Medina. I'm not protecting her. I want to attack too, but I know I can't. We don't know enough yet. No, I stop him to protect him, and his own family, his own world.

[KatnotKath]

~LIz~

Medina actually looks almost amused as she's barraded with questions, most of them far more angry in manner than mine. From her responses, which generally seem to take the form of threats, I'm quite pleased I managed to keep calm, and at least I actually get an answer to my question.

Of course I'm not really sure if that answer is what I want to hear... She's already said if we refuse to co-operate that we'll die and so with those we care about, but now she's telling me that, at the moment, they're stuck...

So on the one hand, they're safe from Kivar, the skins and anyone else who might want to attack, but on the other hand then there's the fact their lives are basically on hold...

Does she really have that power...? - well she brought us here, and she made Michael kiss Tess, so I'm thinking maybe yes...

Which leaves the question of how to get home...because I for one am not just going to give up... I have a 'sister' here, and a family back home... There are people that need me...

Just at that moment, one of the wild-looking guys I don't know starts yelling and almost before I realise what's happening he charges at Medina. Another guy lunges after him, but it's Max, as he throws up a shield, who prevents him reaching her. This is a good thing, although I know I'd like to attack too. We have to bide our time though, learn what we can, make a plan...

I swallow, looking over at Isabel for a moment before turning back to Medina. "Why us Medina...? What do you want from us...?" I ask clearly in an even tone, refusing to let emotion control me right now. Shouting at her and getting angry does no good, all it results in is angering her, and I tend to think we're going to get more by taking a different approach.

[NightshadeIsis]

*LEX*

I'm not in the mood for games. I can't deal with this, not now. Like my life hasn't already been hell enough, this freak comes in and makes threats? Forget it. I'm ending this before it starts.

That is before I basically hit a wall. A bright, gleaming, green energized wall, that stung fiercely the second my body slammed full force into it. My body bounced back, a grunt of pain and shock slipping from me as I hit the ground, looking up in disbelief. What the...what had done that? WHO had done that? That woman? I looked around in confusion, then spotting one of the other men that had joined this ragtag mix of "prisoners." He had threw this...thing thing up?

"You off your trolley?" I snap. "What did you do that for?"


*Pride*

"Lex, he just saved your life," I say, walking over to him. Lex protests angrily when I grab him to help him up, however.

"I don't need your help you...you..."

"The name's Pride," I tell him, sadden to remember that a man I once considered a decent friend was not the same one that knew me, not the same from my life. "Now just get up and back up, before you get us all killed."

I pull Lex back, despite his struggles, casting a sad and apologetic look at Tai-San. This must be confusing and frightening for her. I want so badly to just hug her, let her know it's alright. But for now, that will have to wait. We're all to busy being at the mercy of this...whatever she is.

The questions still fly, and rightfully so. We don't deserve this, and we should have our answers. But I doubt the answers will come any less cryptic, sadly. We're trapped here, in this replica of our home, our guests taken from anything that they even deem familiar. We were free prisoners. The oxy moron almost made me want to laugh in its irony. But laughing was the furthest thing from my mind...

[Anna-Liisa]

I'll make a catching up post soon

[Anna-Liisa]

Kyle

I feel Marias arms around me and feel a bit more safe. "It's ok," she says. "I'm here. I won't let her hurt you any more," she adds and I can't help but feel relieved that she's here. I close my eyes for a while and try to calm myself down. I hear Tess talking, but I ignore her. It would only make me feel more uncomfortable. I feel a hand on my shoulder and look up. "She hasn’t been mind-warping anyone so far," a girls voice says. Is that Quixote, I'm not sure. She had changed her clothes. "And you can’t do that to your friends here. It’s not allowed," Quixote says and I notice that she's now talking to Tess. Friends? We're not friends. Not anymore. I look quietly at Maria and think about saying something, but I stay quiet. I'm not excatly sure what I should say.

Since when did I get this broken? Alex is here... he's alive. But he's not our Alex. Tess is here, the murderer... but she's not our Tess either. I hear Maria argue with Tess and take her hand, possibly trying to calm her down or possibly saying she's not alone in this. Maria tells Max not to trust Tess and I agree. We shouldn't, none of us. Maria's swearing makes me realize Pride and Bray were there all along. Yeah, that's something I messed up. Used powers without thinking. What's gotten into me? Of course Max tries to take this all in a calm way, asking Tess where she was from. It wouldn't make a difference. Her story is different from the world where I was with Maria... so she's really not the one who played tricks on me. The one who I thought was the one for me.

Then this weird woman appears.
"Come now, bickering will get you nowhere," She says. "I've brought you all here for a reason and I think it's time that you listen well."

I look at her and now I'm confused - even more than I was a few minutes ago. We were all here for a reason? I notice Michael raising his hand and soon he's floating above the ground. Did the woman do that? "None of you will be able to use your powers on me, so don't even waste the energy trying," the woman says and I find it scary when she says so. She begins explaining why we were here. Maria and I are from the same place... like we felt. So Maria's the only person I can count on. The woman tells us she needed entertaiment. Using humans - or aliens - as toys? That's cruel.

I watch as 'Medina' makes Michael fall down and grab Tess to kiss her. I feel a shiver. What a punishment. She explains we'd all be puppets of her. This wasn't going to be any fun... not at all. "We are so screwed," I hear Maria say and I can't feel but the feel the same. "This is all because you're bored?" Max asks and I look at him. "What do you want from us?" And I want to know the same answer. I hear Pride demanding answers as well. It's all too absurd. Everything is just... wrong.

I see one strange person get all worked up. He's ready to attack Medina. That won't end well. Not at all. I shake my head and look away. My minds just all bizarre, wondering what it real and what is not. I close my eyes and when I open them again, Max has saved the stranger from Medina's wrath...or so I think. I'm not quite sure. At least Max stopped 'Lex' from attacking the woman. I let out a sigh and look at Maria.

"What's going to happen to us?" I ask her. "I don't want to end up as a puppet to some weird woman. You know me. What if she makes me go near Tess? I don't think I can hold back if she does", I say. "And then she'll probably kill me or our world if I'll hurt Tess."

Now I'm talking too much. I guess it's a nervous reaction.



---
ooc: I hope that was okay o.0

[isabelle]

*Max*

Lex yells at me but his friend Pride seems to understand what I just did. She said our powers won't work against her -- something I'd still like to test, but I don't know if it'll be safe.

I don't bother answering Lex, since he has his answer and I have a feeling he'll listen better to Pride than to me, anyway. I see Maria and Kyle whispering to each other and I'm caught by something. That lost look in Kyle's eyes. It seems so deep as to be endless. Like the way I feel with Liz gone.

There is a Liz here, but she's not my Liz and she's been very cold to me. Not what I'd expect from someone who said she'd married a different 'Max' but I guess the operative word would be 'different.' I'm not her Max any more than she's mine.

With an effort, I tear my gaze away from Kyle, thinking again about Tess. Is she someone we can trust? It's a question for later. Right now, we have to worry about Medina. What is she going to do now?

[StormWolfstone]

ok Angel is now up for grabs.... however...... if no one takes him... I'll be having Medina cause him to vanish and bring someone else in for Xander because I sure as hell can't write for Angel and don't expect Chris to have to do things on her own.

Also, since Salene was never brought into play... she's no longer in the game... so I'll be figuring something out for Willow as well.