Countdown!!!

[Argus Steele]

Evan looked from Arion to Eve and back again, then tilted his head to the side slightly. "Dude, um ... is there any reason why you're wearing gloves? Just wondering."

Arion glanced down at his hands, and a chuckle escaped him. "I've gotten so used to them that I sometimes forget I wear them. It's to spare those that are touch sensitive. Being a former Walker, I've seen and done a lot, and I'm a little more easier to read than my two brothers."

Evan slowly nodded. "Oh, okay, that makes sense. I have that random hands-on thing myself. Now what's the whole Realm Walker thing about? Do you do time travel?"

Eve had caught herself looking at his glove covered hands as well. That left brow arched just slightly at his response. "Oh? I can't say that I get how *you* wearing gloves will protect the Sensitives like us, unless you planned on holding hands with them." A faint grin passed her lips, gone as quickly as it appeared. "But come to think of it, I never could pick anything up from Argus or Tohmaz - whether I wanted to or not." Her eyes flickered briefly toward Evan. He'd seen that one first hand, and she still didn't quite understand it. "So where is this other brother of yours?"

"Really, now?" Eve's admission had Arion deep in thought as he looked at her, pondering. "Devantious? If he's lucky, far away from all of this. But he's a future reality version. As for the gloves, it's because I possess a similar talent, and it gets annoying after a while to absorb things I don't want. Eve, I think you've given me some important information. Argus was always hard to read, while Devantious was considered ... Normal. That was another reason why we were picked to become Realm Walkers, outside of our Bond. We each were enhanced ... Given special abilities to help with our Realm Duties. Mine was the ability to collect and maintain knowledge, while Devantious could Shift through any dimension on a whim. And Argus? He became a Meta-Morph Hybrid, able to adapt to any realm he was placed in. That was a blessing and a curse. Ever heard of a place called Rhy'Din?"

Evan thought about if for a few seconds, then shrugged and shook his head. "Nope. You, Eve?"

"Wait...why would that be important? Shouldn't you have already known he couldn't be read if you have that...um...'talent' yourself?" She'd paused and pinched her fingertips gently against the bridge of her nose, squeezed her eyes shut briefly. She was tired, and her eyes felt dry, but there just wasn't time to worry about that now. A blink, and she was looking at Arion again, brows drawn a little. " 'Meta-Morph Hybrid?' " ...It brought back a memory, a flicker through her mind: the 'dream' that she'd had after getting zapped with the collar. The glow in Steele's eyes...but that had been part of the dream, hadn't it?

"Rhy'Din? Um...no. But Pirate said he was from there, didn't he?" Followed with a quick glance between the two.

"Jared? Yes, he's an old friend of ours, and he is from Rhy'Din. It's what some would call a ... Fantasy realm. Take every known culture and time, and mix them all together. That's Rhy'Din." A look back at Eve. "Following Argus' banishment to the Abyss, he simply ceased to exist in any form or fashion - though his Meta-Moprh abilities gave off a different vibe altogether. There were several different occasions when I thought I Felt something, but it happened too fast for me to really focus and lock in on it. The signs were there, but they were too subtle even for me to pick up on thanks to the daemon lords. We never encountered any other versions of ourselves, no
matter where we ventured, until recently, when things started happening.... " Looking up in the air, Arion sighed and shook his head.

"So it's essentially a mash-up." Eve nodded slightly in understanding - so she hoped - and leaned gently to the right, easing her shoulder against the outer wall of the building. "Okay, clarify something for me: Meta-Morph. What do you really mean by that?" He'd said something about adaptability, but that didn't tell her much.

She found herself glancing at Evan again. Pieces of this left her a touch confused - or was she just tired? "So if you thought you felt the Meta-Morph vibes a few times, and if it *wasn't* Argus, who was it? I mean, how many others could be out there running around with this?" ...Or did she want to know the answer to that question? "Mm. Things started happening." The young woman blew a quiet sigh, vaguely wishing that not everything seemed to bring another question, even if it seemed petty. "All this, you mean?"

"During Argus' stint on Rhy'Din, he fit in with the masses by first becoming a Vampeer-Garou Hybrid, and eventually settled for the Garou aspect. He soon stumbled upon the daemons, who were using Rhy'Din as their base of operations. Devantious and I were soon brought in, along with many allies that Argus had made there as well, and we fought for the next several years what would be chronicled as the Crystal and Book of the Dead saga. At the time it looked like Devantious would be the one to betray us, but in turned out to be Argus. The daemon lords had done their work well, making sure that any trace, lead, or tampering would point back to Argus, no matter how well we searched for answers or clues. Argus was their primary threat, due to his Meta-Morph ability, which made him undetectable to even them. Tired of trying to prove his innocence, he went rogue. Of the three of us, there was always some concern that he may ... Turn to the dark side. It sickens me on how far the daemons went to
ensure that doubt would be played upon. Evil to the core, and they would do whatever it takes to achieve their means."

Evan gave Eve a look. "Sounds like something out of Star Wars."

"Doesn't it, though?" Notably, perhaps, her expression had become a touch blank, emptied out a little. Garou? That was...werewolf, wasn't it? She really gave little reaction to it, though it made her mind flash back to a few situations in which she'd thought she'd seen something odd about Steele's eyes. "Do you think he really betrayed you, or that the daemons only made it seem that he did?" Arion's way of speaking was a touch confusing on that aspect, at least in Eve's mind.

"No, Argus did not betray us, but took steps that were frowned upon by the Realm Council. It was a gambit that would have played itself out if we would have trusted him. Instead, it looked as if he was siding with the daemons, and he was treated as such. One can only be pushed so far, until that breaking point is reached. Deemed a traitor to the Walkers, they could not kill him for causing a reaction within the Nexus Realm, so they did the next best thing. He was sent to The Abyss, where he would fall in a continuos loop for the rest of his life. I had read that such a punishment could drive one insane in time.

"A few months ago, things began happening. It started with missing files, data. Nothing major; it happens, right? Then Realm Walkers began coming up missing, and those that knew about us suddenly did not. Something or someone was tampering with the time lines, the reality of the Walkers, taking out the lesser known first, and working their way up the ranks. Next would be dimensional travel; it was glitchy at first, then increasingly difficult, finally impossible. The last time I tried, I found myself attacked by entities possessing daemonic technology. Using the last of my teleporting ability, I went off-world, barely escaping. Stranger still, was even though I was remembered, my tenure as a Walker was not. Devantious would finally be able to reach me, having the same issues, and we discovered one important fact: Argus had been erased from our reality. No one knew him, had heard of him even on Rhy'Din.

"The daemon lords had gained access to the Crystal of Making, altering realities as they saw fit. When they learned that Argus had been sent to the Abyss, they tried to collapse it upon itself to trap him forever. The Crystal doesn't work that way however; it caused a backlash instead, forced the Abyss to reboot itself. There was no trace of Argus, and he was assumed dead."

Nibbling at her lower lip gently, she'd been looking toward the wall as if examining the texture. No, nothing more important to occupy her mind...yeah, right. "Assumed because neither of you Felt him die?" Made sense to her if they were Bound, as he said. Still, his phrasing about the Abyss struck her as a tad funny. 'Rebooting' made it sound to her more like a computer system than a dimension. "So memories were tampered with just as they were in my reality. How many Walkers are left?"

"A handful, if that. The ones that remain are powerless to do anything; then you have those like Jared and myself that have been doing what we can to create a new base of operations. We were in the middle of doing that when you and I had our previous encounter. At the time, I dismissed you as another random glitch after dealing with Nora. My apologies."

Evan would smile and nod slowly. "I've got this one, Eve. When you said the Abyss 'rebooted' itself, odds are that Argus was booted out - But maybe he was inside there long enough that it didn't drive him totally insane so much as 'erase' him because of what the daemon lords tried to do to him with the Crystal. But they overlooked one important factor: Argus was and is a Meta-Morph Hybrid, so he could have tried to adapt to the Abyss, right?"

Arion couldn't help but smile. "Very good, Evan. Argus would have been ... Reborn, in a manner of speaking. And with the daemon lords tampering with the Nexus Realm, I'm willing to bet that his Meta-Morph gene is still intact."

Evan nudged Eve. "I've got this one, too. So, this is the Argus that Eve met from her reality. But with the daemons tampering with Eve's reality, he's adjusted as well - now as Tohmaz. Which really explained why he and Eve were so .... chummy, despite that he *didn't* know her this time around."

"Yeah, understandable. Nora seemed to have been everywhere at the time. But I met Amber there, too. What happened to her?" She remembered that clearly, as Amber had threatened to put Eve out of Stonebridge...which in hindsight, was a little funny. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know the answer to that one - or that she already *did* know the answer...

"Okay, okay...so...You *do* think Argus is Tohmaz just...adapted?" Peculiar way of putting it, but it made more sense to her than before - especially if he was a Meta-Morph. Something about that didn't sit quite right in Eve's mind, though she couldn't even say why; it should have been just another oddity in an entire list of them... "He said I looked familiar from the jump start, so maybe he did recognize me on some low level. I don't know, maybe it was that same vague shock of recognition that I get after waking up sometimes." Further argument for staying awake, there.

"Anything is possible at this point, Eve. As for this Amber, if you have not encountered her yet, I can assume that the deamon lords may consider her a threat and may have removed her from your reality."

Evan nudged Eve once again. "I've got this one. Okay, then what about Jared? He was a guy the first time, and a ... well, hottie this time around. Say, any chance that a dog could be over-looked, even if the name is the same as the missing one?"

Arion glanced over his shoulder, considering. "That would be a stroke of genius actually, because daemons hate Earth animals. They can't detect them by magical means."

Evan nudged Eve yet again, this time with a grin. "I've got this. And if your brother is a Meta-Morph, and he's been doing the Paranormal thing, but they seemed to be keyed in more on Eve.... "

"I encountered her before, when I encountered Argus. Then again, here. Dr. Maxwell was killed by another Eve, but...I don't think anyone's mentioned her yet." She was watching Arion closely. He should have known her, shouldn't he? The way he'd spoken implied distance to her, confused her a little. But she did have to admit that someone using the dog as their own eyes - and possibly even more - was brilliant. Who would have suspected a *dog?* "Maybe he was harder for them to detect - but maybe I'm not."

A little shake of her head, pushing off the wall. "Or they're just looking for someone else to use this time to bring about their usually little horrific brand of chaos,
evil and disorder." Pausing momentarily, Eve tilted her head back and rolled it left to right, then back again in an effort to relieve some tension in her shoulders. "So..I'm guessing is Argus is Tohmaz but doesn't *remember* being Argus, he wouldn't remember much of anything else either. Like you, or your other brother, or being a Realms Walker." Of course, she wondered vaguely how he'd fallen into the 'Paranormal thing,' as Evan had put it - but being a Meta-Morph might have had something to do with that, along with some unconscious factors. "I just wonder why it seems that I encounter him time and again." A faint smile curved her lips. "Or Steeles at all." It seemed she'd come across one nearly every time she'd done one of these fun little jaunts from her own reality - save when she'd come across Evan instead.

"That Eve was the first that we found after Nora's disappearance. That's when we discovered there were more realities being created, possibly to balance the ones that were being destroyed."

Evan would *again* nudge Eve, then made sure he was out of range for a kick or punch. "Argus died in the Abyss, but had enough Realm residue in him when it was rebooted to find Eve's reality - and adapted himself right in. The daemons tampered with Eve's reality, and it realigned itself, but now with a Tohmaz, Jara, and me playing the role as Nora. Everything is the same, yet with those subtle changes. Now, work with me on this, and chime in if I miss anything, Eve."

Evan would start to pace back and forth, while starting to explain his theory. "The first time around, Eve's working at the Coffee Shop, when she encounters Argus - who was going by the name Theodore at the time. Eve, was this a chance encounter, or did Steele seem to be there for a reason?"

"Theodore was part of his name, but he went by Argus. Calling him Theo was sort of a joke." That Amber got started. "He was there because of me; apparently he pulled my file from a stack and took a chance. He said there'd been a lot of disappearances by people like me. There were a lot of common links, so he probably figured a fifty/fifty shot, but when the pair showed up at the shop and I Felt them, he got his answer pretty quick. Spilled his coffee on me to give me a reason to duck out of there."

Arion would arch an eyebrow. Evan continued. "And how would this play out the second time?"

Eve shrugged. "Said he was just there for his morning coffee. The same two came in and he spilled his coffee, but I stayed put that time. There didn't seem to be much out of place about her, but the guy was a daemon." She even gave a little laugh. "I guess Tohmaz thought she and I were about to get into it or something, though I'm not really sure why. I mean, I was a little tense because of the daemon and because I wasn't sure how it was actually playing out, but she got a coffee and directions and they left. Tohmaz got a call and left, and when he was about to drive off I realized that it was *my* apartment on fire." The slight arch of a brow. "Funny thing, that, because it didn't happen the first time around. But, otherwise, we might not have really spoken again."

"So, the second time around seemed more ... realistic?"

That earned the arch of a brow. "Depends on your idea of reality; I've found that can vary from person to person. But if you're thinking in the 'normal' terms of what's considered reality, then...yeah, I suppose so." A slightly narrowed cut of her eyes. "...What are you getting at?" Eve hoped it wasn't what she thought it was, but wasn't holding her breath.

"And what happened at the bookstore?"

"First time, Steele left me to question Morty while he wandered the store and collected more than a couple books. Morty came onto me and didn't want to cooperate, Argus stepped in and got that...look." A glance at Arion, features still but knowing. "You know the one I'm talking about. Mortimus was more than willing to answer my questions with a little...persuasion from Argus." A shrug. "We found out a couple things, and not long after we left, the place burned and Morty..." A quick flicker of her brows together as she tried to sort through the memories. "...Died somehow, I think. It's hard to remember, because that part is a little blurry. The second time I wasn't
there, but I caught a message on his machine and sent him there." Another shrug, and she frowned a little. "Being the smart axs that I am, I told him to give Morty my regards. Of course, given that the freak had never heard of me, that tipped him off that I knew something I shouldn't. Go figure."

"And who did you like more, Argus or Tohmaz?" Arion did a double take at Evan, not sure why that particular question held any bearing on what was happening.

"What?!" Eve was blinking at him, caught more off guard than that question than anything else. "I don't...What the hxll does that have to do with anything?" Or was he just acting like the pestering little brother again?

"I just wanted to see if you'd actually answer it." With a brief wicked smile, he'd continue. "Okay, what about the girl at the house? How'd that play out both times? The same?"

"Twit." Just because he wasn't in range for an easy push or kick. At least she hadn't blushed; she was grateful it wasn't a *real* question though. She didn't even *begin* to know how to answer that!

"Molly-Ann's house? No..not at all. The first time Rico and Argus sent me up to talk to her. I was sort of blindsided by the chick from the coffee shop, which led me into my own little warped psyche to meet four other versions of myself - one of which was Nora. I managed to shake it and deal with her. Jared had an encounter with her mom and Argus one with her dad, and I probably would have been eaten or mutilated and murdered in various ways if Steele hadn't shown up when he did. The second time they left me in the car - " The not of annoyance was clear in her voice at that. " - while they went in. I don't...really know what happened with Tohmaz in there, but he came out
with the girl. Rico encountered the father in the basement, which was a daemon. I got there around that time." Eve shrugged gently. "...That's also where the dog came from." A little more softly, as if in afterthought.

"No offense, Arion, but we need to get back to her reality ASAP. If Cromwell discovers who Tohmaz *was*..."

Arion was nodding in agreement, already heading back inside the building.

"As I said before, this is a Safe Haven, our own mini-Nexus. No time has passed here. "

Giving Eve another nudge in passing, Evan shifted his expression to a more serious one. "I know what needs to be done."

Arion would motion over to Jared, who approached the trio while munching on an apple. "Mm, I'm nae likin' th' dire looks ye all be havin'."

Arion would hand Jared a small silver box. "If this works, then all the tampering the daemons have done up to this point will be erased." They both looked over at the two Lizts. "Everything."

Jared would take another bite from his apple, before addressing the pair. "Well, ye be needin' anythin' before we jaunt off?"

She'd opened her mouth to say something, just before snapping it shut once more. Her eyes had widened a little, and Eve had looked from Arion to Evan, more than a touch worried. "What? We can't...What's will happen to Evan then?" She didn't want to force him back into being a ghost again - or possibly do something even worse, like wipe out his existence entirely. Her stomach had twisted itself into a little knot, and she was looking between those present for an answer.

[Argus Steele]

Jared was going over some last minute details with Arion. The pair of them looked almost exactly like the Argus/Tohmaz and the Jared that Eve knew from her own realm - except for the tiny facts that this Jared looked, spoke and acted like... well, a *pirate,* and Arion seemed to be a suave version of Argus/Tohmaz - save that Arion was his brother. Then, of course, there was Aria, the female version of Steele; that one wasn't too weird when her own male version was right beside her, in the form of Evan N. Lizt.

As the trio made their way down to the lower levels of Stonebridge, Eve would feel herself being watched. Her daughters of an alternative reality were watching them leave. Amy had the more pensive expression, while Jazz had her empty doll-eyed look ... Or was that doll-eyed empty look. Or empty eye-doll look?


Knowing that there were alternate versions of herself and her friends was one thing; somehow, the idea of knowing that one of her alternate versions had gotten together with Argus and had kids was just...bizarre. She couldn't explain why *that* seemed to strange in a world *full* of other strange things, but it might have even struck her as funny had the situation been different. She caught herself looking at the girls with much the same empty-eyed look, then blinked and shook it off. She couldn't help feeling bad for them; they were just kids after all, and pulled into all of this by the mere fact of their parentage. Not that Eve was really sure that anyone else had much more control over than they did...

"Hey, do me a favor." This called to the kids with the slight rise of a brow. "Tell your dad I'm sorry for before." ...Not that she really thought it would mean much to him, but given that the last time she'd seen him one of the kids had bowled her over, it had slipped her mind. And quite frankly, it was one of those annoying little things that tugged at her conscience until she said something. A little nod to the pair, and she skipped ahead a bit, catching up from where she'd lagged behind a little. This...wasn't something she was looking forward to, so who could blame her for a little procrastination?

"He knows," they said together, followed with a look at each other, both trying not to laugh.

"Good luck," said Jazz.

"Kick some Daemon axs for me!" called Amy.

Evan on the other hand was quiet. It crossed his mind that he may not survive this whole reality reboot; if that were the case, he was dxmned sure to go out with a bang! The deeper they ventured into the lower levels, the fewer people they encountered, and the quieter it became. A little *too* quiet. Evan looked around; some of the rooms were empty, while others contained things he couldn't even identify. Glancing at Jared, Evan finally said something; the quiet was going to make him even more nervous than he already was. "Hey Jared, are you the original version?"

Jared smiled and stopped to address the question. "I think so; at least I'm de Rhy'Din version. Arion thinks dat the other versions of me dat ye be seein' may be because o' Argus, an' what de Daemons tried to do to him."

Evan tilted his head to the side, thinking for a moment. "You mean like some sort of glitch because they tried to use that funky crystal on the void he while was trapped inside?"

Jared nodded once before continuing down the hall. "Aye, it's never been attempted before so we don' know the full effect o' what happened - save for the chance that de action caused Argus to be reborn o' sorts, not knowing who he is, but havin' the same Realm Walker Gifts."

"Well...that sort of explains why Argus called Jared 'Pirate' when I met him. I guess." In an odd way, it did. Rather than just puzzle over it, Eve shrugged it off. She couldn't say that she was anymore settled by all of this than Evan was; she was worried about what would happen to him, to her, to everyone they knew. This couldn't accidentally destroy her reality entirely...could it? And what about Evan? She didn't want to force him back into being a ghost, or worse - destroy him entirely. Her pulse had picked up a bit, and her chest was feeling a little tight from the anxiety. "So guys...we *know* this will work, right? That there's a slim-to-none chance of everything going to total hxll?"

"Not gonna sugar coat it, luv. We could make matters worse, if we fail. The Daemons could try to erase us."

Evan would get a goofy grin right then, and put his arm around Eve. "Oh, and I thought it was going to be dangerous!"

Jared stopped at the end of the long hallway, staring at what looked like an ordinary door. That looked out of place, even in Stonebridge. "Here we be. If Arion's correct, we should be able to Realm Walk back to Eve's original reality. It's goin' to be a bumpy ride, because the Daemons made sure we couldn't travel this way any more. Dere be enough power to pull one last jaunt, so Eve, I need ye to focus on which realm you want to go to. The first, or the one wit' Tohmaz. "

That statement caused Evan to give Jared a look. "Jesus dude, no margin for error, huh? Subtle much?"

Even Eve had to smile a little when Evan threw his arm around her, and lean in to give him an affectionate nudge. Well, if nothing else, she was glad she *wasn't* alone in this; she knew without asking that Evan was nervous about it too. He just dealt with it better.

But then...Hold on! The young woman froze for all of a heartbeat, mouth falling open a little. "What?" A blink, look at the door, then she was looking between Evan and Jared. *She* had to decide?! "You know that I'm probably *the* most indecisive person in the universe, right?" She fell back a step, running her fingers through her hair, pulse suddenly quick.

Okay, okay, okay...so she'd known it was coming; she was just hoping for later rather than sooner. To have a few minutes of breathing room to work it out for herself, decide which was best. Weigh the pros and cons.

Her first instinct was to go back to way her reality was to begin with, to reset it; the problem with that was that she wasn't sure how it would leave Evan. Then again, she was worried about either attempt destroying everything. She gave a tired little laugh, closing her eyes for a moment and trying to clear her head. "Oh, this is beautiful..."

"Dude, she's gonna need some time to do this. You can't just throw this at her and expect her to pick heads or tails!" Turning Eve to face him, Evan placed both hands on her shoulders, looking directly at her. "Hey, don't be worrying about how this may affect me, okay? We've gotta be all about the bigger picture, and if we pull this off, you won't remember any of it, right Jared? The whole cosmic realignment bit?"

Jared nodded slowly, his eyes displaying great sadness. "Yes, if it's done correctly, then all will be as it should. No one will have direct knowledge; it'd be like having a dream, but being unable to recall it exactly."

Evan gave Jared another look and shook his head. "Dude, if we cut you, would ice water come out of those veins?"

There was no reaction from Jared; no flashes of anger, no move to argue. Instead, he turned back towards the door. "Eve has all the time she needs to think; time is not a factor here. However, the longer she thinks about which choice, the harder it will be, and then starts the second guessing."

Evan let go of Eve and looked back at Jared. "Dude, you sound like you've gone through this. Dxmn, that's it, isn't it? You *have* gone through this."

"The two of us, sole survivors of realities that no longer exist. Eve gets a shot to do what I couldn't - And you. too."


She felt off-kilter when she looked at Evan, and found herself flexing her fingers again - open, closed, open, closed. Nervous habit, and now she was incredibly nervous. "That's just it, Evan. I'm thinking resetting it is the best way to go, because I don't even *begin* to know how to deal with what's already going on. But that...I don't *want* to forget all of this. I *want* to remember; I think I might even *need* to." A shrug of her shoulders, and she'd folded her arms to stop fidgeting, taken a step around. "But I'm worried about screwing all of this up. Making decisions has never been my strong point." Understatement. She usually picked whatever choice might get her or others killed, inadvertently or not, then wished she could go back and change it.

Well...maybe this was her chance? A few deep, steadying breaths, and she turned to Evan again. "It doesn't really matter if you say not to think about you or not, because I'm gonna do it anyway. I can't help it; you're probably the first person that's *really* ever understood where I'm coming from, which I could never thank you enough for. Even if you *are* me." She even cracked a smile at that, even if the humor was short lived. "Yeah, I'm afraid of what it will do to you above everyone else. But even so I think...I think going back to the original is for the best." But God help her, if something happened to Evan, she'd never forgive herself.

"Whatever. You're just hoping to see Tohmaz all nekkid again!" Hey, he wasn't into those weepy good-bye scenes, but Eve knew that. "So, what does she have to do? Click her heels three times? Strike the pose? Use the Force?"

Jared ignored Evan's continual quips, focusing on the young woman instead. "All you have to do is Focus on where you want to go, and open the door."

"Yeah, like you weren't hoping to pop in on Jara another time or two." She had to give him a push with that one, and even had a wan smile. Well, if it worked, she wouldn't really have to worry about all that; if Jared was right, she wouldn't really even remember any of it, and it made her a little sad, too. Giving her head a quick shake, Eve tried to shake it all off. Stop thinking about it, or else she'd never go through it with...

Straightening her shoulders, she glanced at Evan and even managed to approach the door. Her hand found the knob, if not a bit hesitantly. "..Are you ready for this?" Because she sure as hxll wasn't!

-Contact!-

The knob of the door tingled in her grasp, that sort of pins and needle of feeling returning to a sleeping limb. Then, there was nothing but darkness and shadows, and two figures that stood close by.

"Okay, what just happened to the lights?" Evan, bemused.

"She made her choice, and we crossed through."

Evan began trying to feel around for a light switch. "I thought she had to open the door, not grab the knob. Okay, that didn't sound right on *so* many levels! So where are we?"

Jared turned slightly, facing Eve. "Our destination would be up to Eve."

She'd found herself gritting her teeth, dealing with the sensation of pins and needles coursing the length of her body; it even made her a peculiar feeling in her head, but she could deal with it. "...I hate that touch thing..."

Forcing herself to relax a bit, Eve closed her eyes - both for better Focus, and in and effort to drown out the two behind her. It was odd, trying to figure out exactly *what* to Focus on; a person, a place, what? She wanted to get back to *her* reality - preferably before all hell started breaking loose with the Shifts. Jared, Argus, Amber...The one where everyone had been present, Rico had been a guy, and Amber was a chick with a thing for Rico.

"Found a knob. I gotta quit saying that." A twist, a turn, and a fall from - a closet? Eve would recognize the place. It was her apartment, but it appeared to be quite dusty, as if *someone* hadn't been there in some time. Rising to his feet, Evan turned on the nightstand lamp . "Hmm, looks like my old place, sans all the girly stuff - like bras and ...hey! I see London, I see France, over on the bed are your underpants!"

Jared was starting to wonder if Evan was becoming unhinged with all this Shifting. Taking several steps from the closet, he had a very visible frown on his face.

"Don't say it," warned Evan.

"Somethin' is not right," Jared responded, turning to look back at the closet they had just emerged from.

"See? I said don't say it, but did you listen? Neeeeeeeooo!"

With the arch of a brow, she was looking around curiously. "Well, it's my apartment, but I haven't been here for a while. I freak out and start cleaning to often to let it get this way, otherwise." A shrug, and she took to looking around, though she *did* throw a glance at the underpants on the headboard. That...that wasn't like her. "...Unless this would be around the point in time that I was staying with Argus." A glance at the other two, and a quick shake of her head. *He* had been the one to ransack her apartment at the time for her clothes and such, after all... "But this is weird. Has everything gotten all buggered up again?" She even had to give Evan a poke in the shoulder with a fingertip, as if to see for herself if he was still solid or not.

The poke would get a nudge in return, and Evan observed Jared looking around the room, then entering another, as if he were looking for something or another. Evan gave Eve a look, before shrugging. "So what do we do now?"

Jared continued looking from room-to-room. "We find out when this is."

Evan flashed a quick smile. "When in doubt, we turn on the telly. You did have one, right?" Shooting Eve a grin.

Jared continued to ignore Evan's ramblings, peering out the window through the blinds. "Dis be not good."

She'd had to flash Evan a grin at the poking. He was still solid! "Just checking!" Sweetly announced before she moved on, looking around herself. Then eyed Jared at the blinds, peeking out. "...What?" She was afraid to see, but she followed his lead to look out. "And yeah, I had a television - if you can get it to work." Half the time she couldn't.


There were several Goth-looking youths conversing right outside her apartment. One looked right at the place when a *certain* lamp was turned on. One would remained outside, pulling out a cell phone, while the other two were running towards her apartment.

Jared glared at Evan and motioned at the lamp. "What?"

"Oh, beautiful. If the timing is right, then those will be the little Daemon-pet twits that were looking for me in the first place!" Withdrawing from the window, she shot a glance at the lamp, then Evan. "Two choices: Fight it out, or go." She really wasn't in the mood for a squabble right now, but more than half-figuring they wouldn't have a choice. Her apartment was on the third floor of the building, and there had never been a guarantee previously that the elevator would work, so she'd most often hit the stairs. She *did* make a mental note to ding Evan in the head later for turning on that lamp, though..


"Is there any other way out? Right now, let's hope they just think it's only you here. We have the element of surprise, but not for long! Much as I hate to say this ... We run!"

Jared pointed to Evan, then to one side of the bedroom door, while he moved to the other side. If they were only expecting Eve, then they had one shot to make this count. Whoever they were, being quiet wasn't their strong suit; the noise being made only announced their approach, and followed with the sound of the front door being kicked open, shouts coming closer and closer still.

Evan was already concentrating, using his TK to crush that same lamp and use the pieces from it as shrapnel.

"The fire escape is the only other way out." Not that she held much hope for that. In fact, she was guessing it was probably too late; the sounds were too close.

It was a good job, though; when the door was kicked in, she was standing in the bedroom, visible through the doorway, and looking quite harmless. Giving that surprised, wide-eyed look, even letting them come in...just before the damaged door ripped itself free and spun horizontally, swinging at the intruders - splinters and all.

The pair never knew what hit them. Evan got them in his line of sight and pulled them first into, then painfully *through* the bedroom wall. One met his demise by the frayed cord that was connected to the lamp, still a live source of raw current. Its painful howl shattered windows and anything else made of glass, and the electricity flowed through it's humanoid form until it ... blew up, splashing goop, guts, and gore everywhere.

Jared had already targeted the other with some sort of energy field that, once it enveloped the Goth, began to shrink, constricting around it. It became smaller, and smaller still, until a sickly crunch was heard. That left the one outside with the phone.


While violence wasn't something Eve liked, she couldn't say that she was thrilled with the idea of what might have happened had they been caught unawares. "One more. Come on." She wanted to meet this one, first. Not even glancing at the mess, she walked out of the apartment, heading for the stairs. Her paranoia was high; Eve was Shielding and Sensing carefully before
just darting into a situation, even if it didn't look like it. "Maybe our little friend out here can tell me the date." ...Of course, as soon as she opened the door to exit, Eve emitted another of those pulses, a bright flash across her minds eye; focused the EMP on the phone, but it was enough to make most electronics in the immediate area behave a bit...oddly.

"Shxt! I've lost contact with - She's here! She's here!" The static coming from the phone caused the girl to toss it aside, running for her motorcycle.

Evan was ready to take her out, but Jared stopped him. "Let her hav' a go, shall we? Lot o' pent up anger in that one." Checking out the situation, making sure Eve had everything in hand, Evan went to work on getting that telly working right. Jared would keep an eye on the two, watching Eve deal with the third.


The girl wouldn't even get three steps before she'd find herself on the ground, eating pavement - all thanks to Eve's TK. Eve herself wasn't far behind the leveling blast, and was rolling the girl onto her back. She braced a knee on the other girl's chest and a hand on her throat, giving her that blank eyed stare. "Don't move or try anything, or I will blow your skull apart." Truthfully, Eve didn't think she could do it, but she was doing a d**n good job of bluffing. "You and I are about to be very good friends, you see: You're going to *tell* me everything, else I will *rip* it out of you." Another bluff, but that stare didn't waver, nor did her voice. As if to make a point, Eve lifted her free hand where the girl could see it easily, holding her fingers splayed wide; the pale skin began to glow, subtly, palm taking on the vibrant orange of flames. "Let's see...we'll start with today's date, and then who you're working for, why you're here, et cetera, et cetera..." No room for argument in her demeanor, at all.


"That's my girl! Well, not exactly *my* girl, but ... Pft! You know what I meant!"

The girl's eyes went wide as saucers, and she was left with quite a choice. To not answer the Lizt girl and die a messy death, or betray the Daemons and die a messy death.

Jared remained inside the building to make sure Evan did the same, but he had a clear view of what was going on. By all counts, neither of them were supposed to be there, and Jared wanted make sure that illusion held up.

Meanwhile, the girl's face was soaked with sweat, etched with terror, and her eyes were filled with tears. Behind all that makeup, she couldn't have been older than 17. The date was stammered out first, giving Eve the time frame that she was still in line with her previous reality. As who she was working for, there was no answer to that; she was with her boyfriend that was making some easy green by watching this apartment. That was about all Eve would get from the girl before she'd break down, sobbing like mad, pleading for her life and wanting to only go home.

"You've made some *bad* choices, kiddo." Eve actually felt pretty sorry for the girl, if that was the truth of the matter. Still paranoid about the possibility of retaliation, Eve backed off the girl and
rose smoothly to her feet. She'd let the light fade off from her hand, but her expression didn't change much. The date was what she'd hoped it would be; it seemed that the three of them had just come back to the wrong place. Probably more her fault than anything; she hadn't been thinking *exact* destination, but rather generalized of the reality she wanted to be in. "You know what,
though? You didn't have to say much. I know a lot more than you told me." A cool smile curved her lips, but she let the kid take it as she would; it would have been more funny - and imposing - if the girl thought Eve was some powerful mindreader. Pity, but she looked only a few years younger than Eve actually was... "But if you're asked, simply tell them to *back off.*" Not that she thought they actually would. "Now get out of here - before I change my mind." The slight arch of a brow at that, but she still had that empty stare leveled the girl's way.


The girl was up and running so fast that she left the motorcycle behind, sobbing as she did and leaving a trail of, "Oh Gods!" in her wake.

"You know they aren't going to just 'back off,' Nora. Welcome back. by the way." The person had snuck up on Eve with ease, and had a weapon trained on her person. "You even blink wrong and there will be one less Lizt in the realm." The voice had a really hard edge to it, but she could recognize the sound immediately; it was Rico! Not the pirate version like upstairs, but her own reality! And by the tone of his voice, he wasn't bluffing.

But neither was Evan; he reacted in kind, sending the other Rico flying into the parked motorcycles, but doing so from upstairs to remain unseen. Not expecting the attack, Rico had been stunned, but he was already recovering, didn't appear to be very happy.

[Argus Steele]

"Easy to come up when I'm distracted, eh, Pirate?" Eve had turned to face him, and had held her hands up when she realized he had a weapon on her. Blink, blink. "I'm not Nora, Jared, I'm Eve." She was *really* getting to dislike her middle name...

While she wasn't happy about having a weapon pointed at her, Eve wanted to try and talk this out. "Come on, Jared, put it down. I'm not gonna -" And she abruptly snapped her yap shut about the time Rico went sailing into the motorcyles. "Oh my God..." Looking up at her apartment, she frantically made a cut off gesture and shook her head with a shout of, "Stop it!"

She went to try and help Rico up, but at any sign of a hostile movement, she would draw up short, hands out again. "It wasn't me, I swear." ...Sounded a little hollow, maybe? "I've got an...overprotective friend. Sorry."


"She's telling the truth, man. I'm picking up two signatures from inside the apartment. I think this thing's on the fritz, because it says one of them is you."

Rico was helped to his feet by Brehnic. Both men were watching her closely, until Rico snatched the recorder from Brehnic, eyes narrowing slightly. "Okay ... Eve. Inside the apartment. Now!" It didn't sound like he really believed it was her, and Brehnic still had his weapon out as well, but it wasn't primed. "Did they pick up the girl?" Rico asked, while touching his temple. {Yeah, and poor kid had wet her pants by the time we caught up to her!}

Brehnic was checking over the motorcycles. "No harm, no foul, Rico. This lot were grunts, Daemon wannabes. I figure we have at least an hour before another patrol comes looking."


"No, it's right. One is Rico. The other is...me." A shrug, and slight tilt of her head, hands raised. "Still not Nora, though."

She threw a glance at the other male, though his name took a second longer to resurface in her mind. "Nice to see you...Brehnic, was it?" A slight smile curved her lips, but she shook her head. "Come on." She wasn't terribly worried about going back to the apartment; she wanted to thwap Evan good for tossing Rico, but she probably wouldn't have been much better about it; the guy *did* have a weapon pointed her way, after all.

She was quick on the stairs, taking them by twos. "...Where's Argus? And Amber?" ...Had to make sure, didn't she?


"What, we're supposed to just take you at your word? I knew Eve, and you're *nothing* like her. She wouldn't have bullied that kid, nor does she have that type power to do that hand glowing bit ..." His voice trailed off at the sight of his pirate-dressed counterpart, and another that could pass for Lizt, should she have born male.

"Yo Rico, the Center is letting us call the shots on this one. They don't want us to bring anyone else back, especially what happened the last time. They need to be certain they are who they claim to be. She did call you 'Pirate,' man."

Rico gave her a hard stare, before looking at the other two, his eyes fixing on his twin. (m) "No fxcking way."

Evan picked that time to chime in. "Dude, you should see yourself as a girl!" Okay, that comment *really* didn't help matters at the moment.

Eve...wasn't happy. Not at all. While she hadn't gone doll eyed, she did stop right inside the door, and had to breathe for a few seconds. "Yeah, I'm Eve. And you know what? I've found out there was a lot more up here than just Sight - in fact, I'm still exploring it and *still* learning. And I find it funny that anyone can say or do whatever they want to me, but the second I retaliate or do what's necessary, I'm a bully. Two of those Daemon wannabes came up here with intent to either kill or kidnap me - maybe both. If I'd walked up to that girl and asked nicely for information, she wasn't going to give it. So you'll excuse me if I scared the living daylights out of her, but that's all it was. I couldn't - wouldn't - hurt the kid. So excuse me for a moment, gentlemen." Tightly wound? You bet. This wasn't exactly the kind of reunion she'd hoped for, but she was worn out, nerves frazzled, patience very thin. Opening the window to the metal fire escape, she slipped through and stepped out there for a minute. Breathing room. She could have gone off worse, she supposed, but that wasn't quite ideal either.

Rico looked over his shoulder at Eve, and Brehnic was scanning her the entire time. "She's the real deal, Rico. It's really our Eve N. Lizt."

An expression of pure relief came over Rico's face, and he plopped down onto her couch. "We need to get this door blocked up. Sticks out like a sore thumb. Bound to attract attention."

Rhy'Din's Rico motioned before stepping forward. "I am Jared van Rico, from the realm o' Rhy'Din, and iffin' we be alike, then ye know she's tellin' the truth. We need to know: Is Argus okay?"

Brehnic looked over at Rico and shrugged. "Your call, man. I'm the new kid on the block. This stuff is still way beyond me."

Evan decided since *no* one was paying him any mind, he'd work on taking Eve's bedroom door and TKing it to where her front one was.

Eve found herself joined on the fire escape by Rico, who offered her a small smile. "You've, um, changed quite a bit since you went MIA on us, kiddo. Glad to have ye back. "

The young woman had been leaning against the outer brick wall, head tilted back and eyes closed, just breathing. It was nice, actually kind of peaceful if the traffic noise could be ignored; she didn't have much problem with that right now. She heard someone coming out though, felt subtle vibrations of the metal under her feet, and cracked her eyes open to regard Rico. "Yeah. I guess I have. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to jump all over you like that. I just...the tension has been building, I guess." Straightening from her lean, she glanced over the edge, then back to Rico. "I notice that you didn't answer my questions, and I'm not sure that's a good thing, but I'll ask again. Where's Steele? And Amber?"

"Argus went looking for you and went MIA as well. As for Amber, she was last seen at Stonebridge. We chat every now and then, but she's really gone the total reclusive route now. Don't take this the wrong way, but where the hxll have you been? I was going to ask if Steele was with you. It's like he vanished off the face of the planet. Not even all the high tech stuff can find him. Brehnic Kohnar's his replacement. Good kid."

"Stonebridge?!" She caught herself staring at Jared, mouth open, before she caught herself. "What the hell is she doing there? That's the last place..." Okay, okay, okay...She'd have to check into that. Very seriously. "I...Shifted again. Several times, actually, but the last time that bounced me away from here, I met Evan. The daemons had a hold on his reality, and they..." Her jaw tightened a little, and she glanced through the window. "They took it. He *was* a ghost, but he's managed to..." Grasping for the word, she couldn't find it, and moved a hand up and down, indicating the physical form. "I was *really* hoping to find Steele here, though. He didn't say anything about where he was going, or anything?" There was a lot more to the story, so much more to tell, but she really didn't think she had the head for it now.

"Like I said, Elf, he went off looking for you, and usually kept in touch by days end. His last call came from a stretch of highway about ... " Pauses ... "Due west, near some abandoned oil fields. He just vanished. We tried everything to locate him, Elf." Slow shake of his head. "He just ... Disappeared. I've still been trying to find any kind of clue to his whereabouts, but hxll, it was like he doesn't exist. Sucks too, because the Daemon sightings have started to pick up more of late. You were gone, Steele was gone, and Amber went anti-social on us. So much for the NWI."


"That's just weird, though. Why would he go *looking* for me after that crap had already been happening? I mean, that wasn't the first time I Shifted." A frown had creased her brow, and she'd taken to curling and uncurling her fingers again. "It's just the first time that it lasted so long, and everything went screwy..." A sigh, and shake of her head. "Okay, okay...First order of business. I think we need Amber out of Stonebridge. I don't have much trust for the staff or administration there, especially Cromwell." It was hard to think that *her* disappearance had created 'ripples' like that. Just too...weird.


"Because you never Shifted that long before, kiddo. Sue the man for caring to look for you, when everyone else said you just up and bailed on us." A small smile escaped him since Eve pretty much just said the same thing. "Good luck trying to get inside Stonebridge, Elf. Nora made sure that's not happening again."


"Yeah, tell me about it. The Shifts were one thing, then I get back from Evan's reality to find *ours* has been tampered with - " Here she flashed Jared a grin. " - And you became a woman, Amber was apparently a dog, and Argus was a Tohmaz." A shrug. "I figured that, somehow. Nora was pretty dxmn good and mucking up everything." A step forward on the metal walkway, and she pressed her fingertips to her eyes. How long had she been up and about? It was really hard to remember. "Everything's been reset though, which is why Evan and van Rico are here." Her brows knitted for a second, and she glanced back inside. She *did* still think it a bit odd that he'd come along too...

"If not for Daemons, I could try a Timestop and walk right in." A shake of her head, dropping her hands, and turning back to the window to go in. "Cromwell was able to do that one too, though." Just thinking out loud. Eve ducked back under the window to go inside, then paused for a stretch. Nice to see her apartment was mostly intact, if not dirty.


"So what's the deal with the ... pirate version of me? Like lookin' into a mirror, except I'd never dress like that. *Ever.*" Following her back inside, they'd see that Evan had the new door in place, and Rico the Pirate actually had Eve's telly not only up and running, but better than before.

That's when it dawned on Eve. That stretch of road where Argus had vanished: It was the *same* place where Jara and herself had that encounter!


"Well, we think he's the *first* version of you - like the Prime version. It's all a little interesting, if not sorta mindbreaking."

Eve had gone quiet, staring at the TV without really seeing it. "...Maybe we should go check that area again? It sounds similar to a place where you and I had an encounter with some Daemons." Realizing that sounded a bit whacked, she tried to adjust it. "Erm...it was the female version of you." Not that that made it sound much better...