This was it. Endgame. The crux of the battle, the turning point, those crucial moments that would decide if the crew won or lost, that would decide if the Ohm would reign victorious or go running with their chitinous tails between their legs.

Did the crew have enough grit to win? Could they defeat a full Ohm fighting force?

With the flagging confidence of the GIA forces, it'd be up to the crew to turn the tide.

And one of the crew would pay the ultimate price to make sure the others walked away alive.

[ooc: everything is up!]

The City didn't have weather as most people knew it, but it was nonetheless a beautiful day - warm weather with a nice breeze, Stacy's sun-equivalent shining in the sky... almost as if it was reflecting the emotions of at least one of the ship's crew. In the middle of the Park, someone had set up a little white lattice archway amongst the hedgerows, decorated with ivy and roses and lilies that looked remarkably real (if they were, in fact, synthetic). In front of the arch were several rows of white chairs, more than enough for anyone who cared to show up.

It was a beautiful day for a wedding.

And frankly, Nanoha needed it. After the chaos and confusion; the rage and terror on Galilee... she didn't think she could ever forget that horrible sense of loss and emptiness when she'd thought that Fate was gone, if only for a day or so. But this would go a long way toward exorcising those demons - a day that she'd dreamed of for years.

Of course, she couldn't go greet anyone yet. She was in her wedding dress, after all! These things needed to be proper.

(ooc: Tag the respective subthreads, please! Mingling is highly encouraged.)

The first thing he'd insisted on them fixing was the clone brand, but the surgery to fix his arm had come first, to allow all the tissue to heal right. His tendency towards fast healing was taking care of the rest. Then they got rid of the stupid clone brand after.

His hand was gone.

It was still a thought he had to get used to. One second it'd been there and now it was gone. It hadn't even been all the dramatic, like things like that were in the movies. It wasn't some moment over a gaping pit, with a villain chopping off his hand and revealing he was his father. He didn't have to saw it off to escape from some deadly trap, horror movie style.

There'd been a fight, he'd fallen on the teleporter pad, there'd been a bright light in front of his face and that was it. Apparently, it could happen just that easily.

Then again, it wasn't the first time he'd lost a hand--that same hand, in fact--but after healing for a thousand years under the North Pole, all the damage from the fight that had killed him had disappeared, and the thing had apparently regrown. So losing limbs wasn't exactly something he never expected would happen, when it already happened once. This time, he was fairly sure it wasn't going to grow back, though.

Ultimately, he decided that was okay. He was a little freaked out about it, but he'd cope. You rolled with the punches, right?

Sometimes you have to roll with the accidental amputations, too.

It was war. This stuff happened, it was going to keep happening, and at least it hadn't been his head.

It was war, and people got hurt in wars, just like you made decisions you weren't sure were the right ones. Just like his decision to let Moses free all the clones was one that was weighing on his mind. (He was just WAITING to hear from Leon on that one).

Superboy sat upright on his bed in Medbay, arm bandaged and in a sling, and played Tetris on his omnicom one-handed. Hopefully, they'd let him out of Medbay soon, and then...then he'd figure out the rest.

It had come to her just a few days after returning to normal. Why not have a beach party? ...Well alright, her first thought had been 'why not have a war party' but then she wisely realized that not everyone would enjoy something like that. But everyone had enjoyed the time they had spent on the beach a year ago! ...At least until the Ohm came and ruined everything, but it still had been fun!

But her? Organizing a party? On a beach of all places? It would take research. Books. A lots and lots of books. A few days in between all her other usual routines and activities, the wunderkind was unusually quiet, her head stuck in between pages and taking down notes. After reading and thinking herself good enough (of course she was! She was the wunderkind, right?), Lash had finally gone into the Sensoriums and prepared.

The beach itself came from a mishmash of ones she had read up on along with her single experience a year and a half ago. The sand was warm, free of any debris a normal beach might have had and colored pearly white. Seashells dotted the shore, in intervals so that it wouldn't be too annoying to go into the water, some comically large but how could you argue with someone who didn't know about this? The water was clear, slowly fading from view as it got more and more blue reflecting the cloudless sky. A few schools of colorful fish could be easily seen, moving away whenever someone got too close to them.

The sun was warm, but not overly so. Humidity was at a comfortable level. Dreamlike perfect weather. If you looked really closely, you might notice that the sun itself changed from orange to yellow to red once in a while, giving the beach a subtle tint.

Parasols of all shapes and colors dotted the sandy landscape, nestled between palm trees of various sizes and large tropical flowers and a single human-sized large Venus Flytrap. A few hammocks were also strewn between two tree trunks, for those that desired a prolonged rest. There was also a volleyball court in the shade.

Lash had taken a few trips to get as much food slop as she could carry, and had turned it all into typical beach food (at least what the books had explained to her anyway). Hot dogs, hamburgers, tropical fruits, seafoods of all kinds and, curiously, large bowls of chocolate pudding were presented on...well, bare-bones picnic tables with no decoration whatsoever. She wasn't one to make things pretty. Another note stuck nearby told visitors to create more food if they didn't find anything they liked. Next to all of that, a large wheelbarrow filled to the brim with a sweets of all kinds for no real reason (watch out not to eat too many of the poprocks!)

The next few tables held all the alcohol and juice bottles. Lash, again, had been getting reference from the library's liquor books, trying to pamper to everyone's personal likes. However if you looked closely some of the bottles had unusual names on them; "I guess this is supposed to be vodka? What's vodka?" and "Green stuff! I don't know what it's supposed to be but, it looked cool, tee hee." Empty coconuts shells with rows upon rows of miniature umbrellas acted as drink holders. However if you wanted to use a cocktail shaker or other specialty tools to get all fancy, you'd need to create one yourself, Lash didn't know about them and therefore hadn't herself. Large buckets of ice stood nestled in larger blocks of frozen liquid nitrogen (hey...it was Lash, after all).

A robot band played close by to the food, each sporting a small name tag 'HI MY NAME IS ___', filled out with ones she had found in various music media (Bill, Ted, David, Nigel and Derek) sporting a fine selection of wigs that might remind people of the original musicians themselves. It was possible request a song, if you were able to think of it. Currently, they were playing something that sounded good to Lash's ears. But then when no one was asking anything, they'd play something with a little bit of more of party time.

This almost looked like a typical beach!

...until you noticed the two giant pirate ships in the middle of the ocean, and the giant sand castle farther away from the main beach area. Oh.Of course. Both had everything true pirates could ask for, even working cannons, treasures, hats and weapons. Yeap, that sounded a lot more like Lash's style. Look, she just really needed excitement in everything.

When everything was done, she put on her best swimsuit (and shades) before sending out a message to everyone (well the girls in particular) but didn't bother locking it to just them. After all, what was the fun if the boys didn't show up? Either way, it was going to be fun.

[[OOC - Feel free to jump into each other's conversations if you like or start new threads with an activity like 'so and so serves drinks', 'pirate ship battle' or 'this guy marches into the sensoriums with his speedo' etc. Have fun!]]

Given the fact that Nura seemed to be repodded - or GLaDOS-ed, Kara wasn't really all that certain - the erstwhile Supergirl was all the more free to wander around the ship without being unreasonably attacked. It was a nice piece of freedom, and she'd used it to, well, explorinate. Currently, Kara was in hydroponics, staying as far away from the deaging craziness as she could, and relaxing while laying on her back and enjoying the scent of a nearby bunch of exotic flowers. It was the first time in awhile that she'd honestly felt relaxed, and she wanted to enjoy it. Sure, there had been another recent stint in GLaDOs - probably because of how she'd been acting - but she'd been released much more quickly this time around. Plus, she'd had her shots done and everything, so she and Julian could...

No, those aren't relaxing thoughts.

She sat up and stretched. She was probably smiling like an idiot, but that was par for the course when it came to teenage girls. At least, when they were romantically involved and things were going well. Which, they were.

After Sam Henderson's announcement, the Contagion Containment and Treatment lab was going to get busy. Anyone suspected of being affected by the mysterious affliction would be brought here, and put into one of the large bubbles that would keep any potential contagious diseases in - and the patients themselves. Once in inside, they wouldn't be able to get out again until the Medical staff had cleared them.

And before they could do that, they needed to find out what was causing this - and why.

They had a lot of hard work ahead of them.

[[ooc: Just start your own sub threads under the main threads, guys! And if you're happy to have anyone tag in, put "Open" in the subject line. If you've already got plans for who you're threading with, put "Closed" instead.]]

The first change came subtly, so subtly that only those that knew him might notice. He hid, in the city, to get some time to himself. That was the first thing he did when the change came, because even in the context of his time on the ship, it didn't change who and what he was.

His memory of fighting Superboy Prime was gone, his memory of rising to the call in the Crisis was gone, his decision to just...be a hero despite his origins was gone. So was Raven's trying to snap him out of it, her showing him he had a soul...

He was a monster, the flesh and blood equivalent of a machine, programmed for evil. That was his purpose in life, to hurt people--to hurt one of the people he cared for and looked up to more than anyone else in the world.

Everything he'd done on the ship was a joke anyway. How much good had he actually done?

Now what he remembered from before the ship was hiding on the farm, giving up the tights, and he was disgusted with himself for trying to be a hero again on Stacy. He'd arrived at the thought with a snap of horrible comprehension. What had he been thinking trying to be a hero again? What had he been thinking telling Luthor the truth, challenging him like that? His Luthor had already destroyed who he was and who he'd tried to be before he'd ever tried to be it, and this one was going to do the same, bring everything he cared about down around his ears.

What was wrong with him?

It was confusing, having his ship-time conflict with his time back home, and in the new context he had for it, his time on the ship was a slap to the face and the fuel for something of a breakdown, like he'd been faking that he was okay all this time, and only just now relapsing to who he really was: a broken-down biological machine that dared to think it was a person. How was he going to explain all this to the other Superboy? How was he going to tell him that he wasn't a person? Why had he even been planning on being nice and showing him the ropes like it meant something when he knew the truth? Neither of them were people. Neither of them had a soul.

"What's wrong with you?!" he screamed at himself. "What were you thinking?"

He shouldn't have done that. He shouldn't have pretended to be a hero again. He shouldn't have pretended to be something he so clearly wasn't.

He didn't deserve friends, he didn't deserve people that cared about him. He didn't deserve freedom. He wasn't a person. Only people deserved those things.

That was why he was sitting there on the stoop of some old building, shaking, trying to figure out how to convince Kal and Leon and the rest to lock him away for good. Apparently, he was gonna die in some Crisis thing, right? That was the best he could hope for. They could lock him up, and he could go back after all this, after their worlds were restored, and fight one last fight, and die doing some good before he could ever hurt anyone else again. Except he was supposed to get revived, right? Well, he'd find out a way to make sure that didn't happen.

The part of him that'd gotten over all this stuff on the ship, however, was questioning why he felt that way, was disobedient voice buzzing in the back of his head telling him all the self-loathing was wrong.

"What's wrong with me?" Kon whispered to himself, burying his face in his knees, shaking shaking shaking.

There was something missing that he couldn't put words to, because he didn't even realize it was gone: a decision to move on with his life.

A decision to have a life.


[ooc: Closed until this note says otherwise (Some parts will be closed, others will be open.)]

Asuka could never quite remember how or when she'd gotten into the habit of a daily run. She remembered training with someone on the ship - but their face and name were always just out of reach, on the tip of her tongue. That was frustrating, so she tried not to think on it. Of course, then she'd signed up for Rogue Squadron and they'd had to do that whole boot camp thing and by now, it was just a part of her daily routine. Get up, go out, sims, running. It kept her in shape and it kept her from going stir-crazy. Even the sensoriums got stifling and too fake after a while. 

So she ran. The amount of available clothing had dropped, of course, so she was just in her plant suit - which was freaky as hell, but it was that or run in the nude and that wasn't about to happen. This helped her think, anyway. Just the slap of her feet on the pavement, the relative silence of the city - it was a bit eerie at times, but she preferred being alone like this. 

Occasionally she would summon up memories and faces from home - Misato, Shinji, Wonder Girl. She would wonder if they were in the pods - and then she'd dismiss the idea. They weren't here. It didn't matter. She was fine on her own and she didn't care about them anyway. Today's run was coming to an end, anyway. She turned onto another street, accelerating slightly.

Just a few blocks more.

Kara Zor-El sat atop the revolving golden globe that crowned the Daily Planet building, wistfully looking out over a view that looked nothing like the Metropolis that the teenage Kryptonian was used to. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them close, resting her head on her knees.

Am I a monster? she asked herself. The truth was, she wasn't sure. During the time that Kara had spent in GLaDOS, she hadn't really thought about what consequences - if any - there would be to the savage aggression she'd showed Sofia during her fight with her over Julian Keller. Even after she'd been released, when she'd told Julian that she was turning over a new leaf, she hadn't really thought about the consequences. But just now, with what Sofia had told her....

Kara closed her eyes. Dad sent me down to Earth to kill my cousin. Before that, he had me kill my classmates. Kill my mother, who begged me to kill her, just to get away from him. She opened her eyes. I'm trying so hard not to turn into that monster, but after the incident with Sofia...what if I am turning into her? Without even realizing it? She shook her head. No. No. I'm not letting that happen. Not to me. That S that's on my chest? Kal and Kon have both given it new meaning, and I'm not going to let myself ruin that.

And what Sofia had said about Julian?

Kara wasn't sure that was something she wanted to think about just then.

Kara Zor-El floated in the Spacewalk, her arms crossed, and watched the stars pass by as the ship hurtled through space. For a moment, it gave Kara the illusion that she herself was floating in space, and she smiled. Reality then set in, and the smile faded. The last time Kara had roamed wild and free along the ship, she'd made a few mistakes - mistakes that she wasn't proud of. Not only had she gotten into a physical altercation with Sofia Mantegna (which led to the breaking of a bone or two), but she'd also had to end things with Julian Keller, who she'd seriously been feeling...something...for.

I am, she mused, seriously some bizarro version of social kryptonite. Rao help me. It was, she knew, a useless plea. Wherever Rao was, he wasn't here - nor were any of the other Kryptonian gods who Kara believed in. I'd say I've never felt so alone, but let's be honest. I've lost most of my family and friends because my planet was destroyed,I've been laid up in suspended animation for thirty-plus years, I've had to hide from some of the world's worst villains, and then I've landed here, where I keep on messing things up no matter how hard I try not to. I've been alone plenty. It just doesn't get any easier.

She brushed back a lock of hair and sighed. I wish I could change that.

If only wishes were horses. (Of course, for Kara, in some universes, that wish did manifest itself as Comet the Superhorse, but the same would never be for this particular Kara. Probably for the best.)

Billy had just launched another portal in that maze of mazes, exhaustion setting in. Surely this time he would land on another moving platform of death?

Nope, just the exterior of the finished bathhouses. All polished, systems running, and just about ready to open! Given how sore and exhausted he was, that sounded like an excellent idea at the moment.

With a quick message to the rest of the crew, he set out the 'Open' sign for the first time and took advantage of his owner status---the prime waterfall spot could be his!

((ooc: The bathhouses are now open! Feel free to mingle around, relax, and have a party. Or cause trouble, but that might invite more trouble. Just start a subthread with your character's location and have fun. For reference there are individual showers in front, followed by hot tubs centrally located, saunas further back, and private baths along the side. The showers, tubs, and saunas have smaller sex-segregated units along with a central group unit that's larger.))

Sofia had gone to one of the Sensorium rooms to try out several ideas for prom. She still needed to call everyone together to organize the event, but she wanted to try things out by herself just so she'd have an idea.

She'd all ready gone through several versions with different themes. From elaborate and intricately decorated ballrooms to simpler ideas. Right now she was done to the bare bones of the room, clearing it before going to the next idea. There some tables in the corner, a buffet (with no food at the moment), and balloons scattered around the place.

Sofia looked around, her expression blank at first but then hardening. The air around her swirled, picking up speed until it could be heard. And then she lashed out. The balloons were tossed around, soon joined by the tables and chairs, and then the buffet itself. There were loud popping sounds as the balloons collided against the chairs and tables. Then the wind ripped the furniture apart. The storm didn't stop until everything was ripped into pieces. Sofia let it all fall to the ground. She stood in the middle of the wreckage. Silent.

Alone again.

||Attention, Attention,|| Stacy's voice rang out suddenly throughout the ship. ||Will the following personnel please report to the Obs Deck:||

||Michael Blanc,||
||Kazami Shiro,|
||Andrew Davis,||
||Aibghalien Marsai,||
||Spiderman--616 universe,||
||Julian Keller,||
||Nanashi,||
||Katara,||
||Lash,||
||Wags-Tail-Alot,||
||Phillip,||
||and Vita.||

||Attention, Attention...|| The message repeats over and over, until all of the people she was calling reported to the Obs Deck.

Once they get there, they're greeted with an unusual sight. The mouth in the huge statue on the wall opens, revealing a screen. On it, the dossier for the mission flickers into display, understandable to every person there. Smaller copies of the dossier appear in holographic form in front of everyone.

The planet's stats, right next to a rotating picture of it, a dusty brown orb with orange clouds overhead:
( Read more... )

One of the few downsides of having brain powers was that you really couldn't let your mind wander. This held true, even for Julian. Despite his normally flippant and flirty attitude, he always kept his powers on a very tight leash.

Perhaps that was part of the reason for the attitude to begin with. He had to restrain his powers, so maybe he let personality run wild to compensate.

It's possible, but that was neither here nor there.

Still, even he needed to relax that part of his mind every now and again. He had a lot on his mind anyway, some decompressing would do him some good.

He could have chosen a sensorium, but elected for a rather quiet spot in the city instead and let his powers uncork. There was no explosion, no sudden lifting of buildings, or anything nearly as destructive as that. Just a strange green glow as energy started to pour out of him, slowly swirling around him in a free flowing current. He allowed himself to be enveloped by it, to float in it, and to relax that way for just a little while.

Julian almost never visited Hydroponics. He'd stop in every now and again, mostly to pick a few bottles from the beer tree, but never for an extended stay. He wasn't much of a nature lover, and its not as if the air there was any less recycled than anywhere else on the ship.

Still, he chose this place to talk to Sofia. And they needed to talk. At some point, they were going to have to make sense of this relationship of theirs.

At least Hydroponics was a relatively relaxed environment, it was visited by so few people that they could talk quietly in private, but public enough that they'd have to think twice before doing anything other than talking. Unless they got creative. Which caused him to take a second look around while he waited for Sofia.

Kate saw the comm notices, she heard the whispers.

She didn't know what to think. She wanted to strike at something, she wanted to scream. She wanted to curl up in their room, and never come out. She knew Jonas and Nate had to be hurting as well, and she should go check on them. But she was too overwhelmed at the moment.

She had her cello from shore leave with her as she settled into a chair in hydroponics. She started playing a piece, but after several stanzas the bow drops with a clatter to the ground from her hand.

Kate sadly set the instrument besides her before she broke down crying.

After training with Zuko (and a shower), Hiccup had just wanted to relax. That meant a trip to Hydroponics, for fake sunshine on his face. At least until he got under the shade of a tree with bright pink leaves, anyway.

It also meant hanging out with his buddy.

There was outright giggling as Toothless nudged his side, rolling him over so that he could squeeze in under the shade, curled around his boy, and then Hiccup lay there against his dragon's side, one foot gleaming in the light, the toes of his other foot wiggling in the grass.

One hand idly reached up and over and scratched the dragon's neck so that his whole body rumbled as he purred.

The teenage Viking looked half-close to drifting off for a nap, but that wouldn't stop him from saying hello to anyone that passed by.

They’d trucked in one of the Valkyrie’s speaker pods and hooked her up. It wasn’t quite home, but it would have to do. She stepped onto a high ledge in a nice central location in the city, and had to admit, her “hack a plantsuit into a bandeau and leggings” outfit wasn’t the worst she’d ever performed in. No one could deny that the stuff clung nicely.

She hummed into the microphone, out of habit rather than nervousness. She already knew what to say, since most of it could have come word for word from The Galactic Fairy Defends Her Homeland. “People of Stacy,” she called, a hand on her hip, “do you want to help protect your friends and loved ones? Do you want to sign up to make a difference? Do you want to push back against the Ohm?” She flashed a confident, daring smile, then pitched herself off the ledge into open air.

Michael caught her a breath above the ground. He was in full EX-Gear, the metallic exoskeleton and extended wings VF-25 pilots wore to connect to their machines. He leveled off, then helped her to her feet. She gave him an exaggerated wink, then watched him tear off into the sky, corkscrewing away with practiced ease. She pulled her eyes away from his stunt flying, then beamed back at the passers-by.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Stacy, you’re in luck, because Skull Squadron is on the prowl for all kinds of staff! So what do you say? Ready to reach for the stars and save the world?”