Have you ever seen yourself dead? Do you even *want* to see yourself dead? What kind of question is that? Well, that depends on who you ask. Nora or Eve. Eve or Nora. Two different sides of the same coin, as the saying goes. One is the original version, while the other is the result of genetic tampering and cloning, along with the other 38 at Nora's last count: Which didn't include the ones in the tanks that the three of them were looking at.

The third person is a Medieval version of Jared or Jara, depending on which reality one is talking about at the time. Pirate would do some of his own investigating, rubbing his chin with a quizzical expression. "Dis equipment has nae been used in sometime. It be verra dusty."

Nora heard what the man said, but she was too busy staring all wide-eyed at what was surrounding them, taking it all in. Then she did what any other normal person in her shoes would do: She threw up.


Eve didn't feel far from following suit; her stomach felt like a cold knot somewhere in the vicinity of her feet, and she'd reflexively started to breathe deeply. The air smelled terrible and felt cold on her hot skin, but she was managing to sublimate this somehow, get past the nausea.

Closing her eyes briefly in an effort to block out the sounds of Nora getting sick, she clutched the scanner tightly in one hand while shoving the other into a pocket on her jeans. Pirate had said something, hadn't he? Between breaths, her mind caught up and she dared to open her eyes. He was right; the dust was so thick in places they could easily have left a nice little message. "Yeah. How long do you think it's been?" Another deep breath, and the young woman dared to step closer to one of the tanks, peering at the creature inside.


"Donnae, luv. Iffin' dis be involvin' de arts? Mixin' wit' science ..." He paused in mid-speech, looking at the last tank in the room. After wiping away the dust that covered the small plate near the top of the tube: "Project Lizt X, 100% success. Dat mean anything t' you Nora?" Pirate posed the question while standing in front of the empty tank that bore the name.

Still hunched over with her hands firmly gripping her thighs, Nora had emptied herself of whatever she had consumed earlier, and was now trying to recover from the dry heaves. A sour look was given before collecting herself. "Yes, I'm fine now. Thanks for asking." Straightening up, she ran a slightly shaking hand through her dark locks and tried to control her gag reflex from the scent of her own vomit. "I was the last one that was sent down. No clocks down there, so I can't tell you how long all of us were there. My best guess? Three, four months tops."

Pirate was listening, but he was also looking right at a camera posted in one of the corners of the room. "No power; it's nae on. Least we still be havin' the element of surprise, then. Anythin' on the scanner, Eve?"


Her fingers were chilled, and the ones she'd stuck in her pocket weren't faring much better. Switching the scanner between hands, she gave each a quick flex, eyeing the readout on the little screen as she did. "Yes, but it's faint, much more so than before. I don't know...maybe it's all the metal, or the lead-based paint that's everywhere." Though that one didn't make much sense to her, given that there had been plenty of that around before they'd come through the door-that-wasn't-there.

A brief shudder ran through her, and Eve looked around once more, taking in more of the detail of the room. "We're both glad you're fine, Nora. It's just not easy to talk to someone or pat them on the back when they're doing exactly what I'd like to do." Breathing had helped, but she didn't expect it to last.


Nora actually gave Eve a sincere smile then, before taking a lean against the wall. She was still trying to collect her wits when a weird look appeared on her face. "What the fxck?" She murmured and turned around to feel along the wall. "It's vibrating, like something's behind it. No offense, but part of me doesn't *want* to know right now. I feel I'm like one more surprise away from losing what little grip I have on my sanity as it is. "

Pirate offered the girl a reassuring squeeze of her shoulder, before checking the aforementioned wall. "She's right. Somethin' big on the other side o' dis wall. Guess we be lookin' for a door, eh?"


Letting a breath hiss out from between her teeth, Eve glanced at the scanner again, then to the wall. She didn't want to know. She *really* didn't want to know. "I'm with Nora on this one." In more ways than one. It had been all too tempting before, to just take that plunge into the waters of insanity, but Eve had decided - at least temporarily - that she wasn't going to lose it today. She was toeing the edge of sheer exhaustion, but there just wasn't time to rest now. There was just too much going on, too many things at stake to go crazy or fall out. "But, if I know Pirate..." They were going to have to find a door, and *find out* what was going on back there. Joy.

Giving the wall a look, even reaching up to touch it herself, Eve nibbled her lower lip gently. Was there a door? Or was it something like before, where she'd needed the glasses? At least she still had them, perched on top of her head like a headband.


"Found it." A well-hidden switch beneath one of the lab tables was pressed by Pirate. A quiet *swoosh* was heard, and a secret door opened along the far wall.

Letting out a deep breath, he looked silently to the other two before making his way towards the opening. Who happened to be standing on the other side?

Devantious.

Arion.

Tohmaz. Or was it Argus?

Whoever whichever one he was, they group was standing with the modern Jared and Brehnic! Dressed in his trademark black, a grin was sent Eve's way. "Nice glasses, elf. They look good on you."


She hadn't been too sure about following Pirate, but at the same time, how *could* she let him go alone? Throwing a glance at Nora, Eve gave a quick shrug and quick-stepped her way to catching up with him. Of course, she *hadn't* been ready for the sight that greeted her. Arching that left brow delicately, she even cracked a smile - small, but sincere. "Yeah, thanks. Aren't we a happy bunch?"


What happened next? Well, it was *nothing* out of the norm; Steele marched right up to one Eve N. Lizt, and really laid one on her! The Jareds and Brehnic exchanged looks. Nora had a small smile on her face, and time seemed to have frozen in place for just that particular moment.

Pulling away far enough to let his forehead rest against hers, Steele spoke to her in a low whisper. "Thought I'd lost you, babe."

Jared was the first to break up the tender moment by grabbing Steele's shoulder to turn him around. "Tohmaz, we are like, in a *serious* crisis right now. Save the kisses for later!"

Nora murmured something like, "How totally cool is that!"

Pirate made eye contact with Steele before asking, "Argus? Tha' you?"

Steele looked at all in attendance and nodded, then removed the glasses from Eve's head and placed them back over his eyes. "Pirate, let's deal with the here and now. All will be explained later. I hope." He looked back to Nora. "She still safe?"

Nora nodded. "Yup. Never said nuthin', like you said. She's with Evan out in the hall."


Needless to say, Eve was glad to see that everyone seemed to be fine. She'd been about to open her mouth to ask if he was going by Argus or Tohmaz this time when she got one of the biggest shocks of her life - but at least it was a pleasant one! She managed not to be quite so dumbfounded *this* time and had even leaned in to kiss him back; she figured that even if this *wasn't* the guy she was familiar with, it was a pretty fun opportunity - not to mention practice! She'd caught herself blinking at him afterward, and a slightly guilty little smile had curved her lips before Jared had broken in. Ah well, it had been a little fun among the stress. Absently, she gave the scanner in her hand a glance before looking up at the men again. Had he responded to both names, or just ignored it? Her brows drew together momentarily, and she raked her fingers through her hair after he took the glasses back. "Wait..what? You're talking about the little one, right?" She gave Nora a quizzical look. Never said...Could the kid talk after all?


As for the who, what, when, where, why, and how, Jared and Brehnic had gotten ... lost when they were found be none other than Steele himself. A quick recap on their part, and the trio had made their way back to where Steele had hoped the others would be, which they were. Not that he was certain on the exact cast assembled, but he expected *someone.*

Heading back through the lab once more, all were stopped in their tracks by yet another sight: Cromwell, along with a small army of heavily armed guards, and Evan. He was currently holding a weapon trained on Lil Nora!


Eve drew to a quick halt at that sight, and though her eyes flickered over the others present - including giving Cromwell a hard stare - her gaze returned to Evan again. "...What are you doing?" As if it wasn't terribly obvious given that he had a weapon trained on the child, but she just couldn't *quite* let that one go. Her pulse had picked up, and her mind was beginning to spin. Was Evan betraying them?


Cromwell dropped his 'doctor' image and appeared to all in his true form as a multi-tentacled Daemon Lord. "Eve Lizt, you have been quite the recurring thorn in my side. That will all change now. None of you will leave this room alive, and we will assimilate this world as we have countless others. Evan Lizt was in the same position you are in now: Faced with dying or living to serve me. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that not only were you, the original, still alive but the Realm Walker Argus Steele was not dead after all!"

Evan wasn't even trying to meet Eve's gaze at the moment, as the Daemon Lord continued his rant.


That sick feeling was back. She heard Cromwell, but distantly; even seeing him change, reveal his true nature as a Daemon Lord didn't shake her as much as Evan had. "...You can't..." Whispered words at first, before her features darkened with a scowl. Fear, disappointment, anger - especially anger. She'd *trusted* him, even gotten to think of him as a brother, a little stability in a world that so often wasn't. "Put it down, Evan." Her voice was hard now; somewhere in the back of her mind, she'd decided that if Evan *did* betray them, even if she had to die, she'd make sure to take him with her. She was praying, silently, that it was some ruse on his part, that he'd use the weapon on Cromwell's own soldiers.


A certain scanner that had be left on by Eve was humming and was glowing faintly. It wasn't tuned to Steele at all; it was tuned to the Daemon Lord! Eve knew then it really wasn't a scanner at all, but a weapon! Who better to have it than the one Cromwell would least suspect? Arion and Pirate had this planned all along when it was given to her! "You all are powerless down here, and no one above will mourn your passing, for they will be none the wiser. Kill them, and then deal with the accursed defects that roam about the sub levels."

"Nooo!" Nora's tenuous grip on her sanity had finally snapped, and she charged Cromwell.

Evan was the first to react by placing a well-aimed shot right at her head. The force of the blast sent the young woman flipping over several lab tables and into the wall, left her body twitching. "Roll over. Good girl. Now stay dead!"

Only then did Evan give Eve an expression of pure naked malice. He held Lil Nora up once again, with the gun pointed at her tiny head, and she began to sob. "Fxck you Lizt! I'm done playing second fiddle to your sorry axs! Fxckin' whiner! This is for you!" And with a pull of the trigger, Lil Nora fell lifeless from his grasp.


Eve had made a grab for Nora, but missed; there was just no way she'd had gotten to the woman in time. And on top of that, Evan was trained in the use of weapons...

Her eyes had teared up at seeing the woman get shot down as if she were nothing. Her vision blurred once, but she blinked it away, fingers tightening on the item in her hands. She hadn't failed to notice the glow, to feel the hum of it in her hands. Things seemed frozen for a long moment after the child was killed, and it was a cold that seemed to permeate to her very core. The anger was cold, laying bare a hatred like she'd never known before; in any other situation, it would have scared her. "You disappoint me, Evan. You're making the choice to be a Daemon lackey. I made the mistake of believing you to be more intelligent than that." Her voice was very quiet, very even, and she was giving him that blank eyed stare. "You're a fxcking waste."

The weapon. Eve slid one foot back slowly, dropping back a step even as she examined the scanner with her fingertips; at least it *looked* like she was fidgeting. She had it; now she had to figure out how to *use* it.


Steele hadn't made any motion to act, and his stare told both Jareds to do the same. Brehnic would follow suit also. Cromwell laughed at the girl's retort. "Evan, she is yours to do with as you wish. You have proven your loyalty to the Daemon cause, and have earned a place at my side." Turning to depart, Cromwell left his men to deal with the soon to be non-distractions.

Evan nodded, his eyes suddenly having that glow to them. Eve would find herself slammed into the ceiling, though the sudden impact didn't hurt as much as she might have expected it to. The force *was* enough to cause the scanner to fall from her hand. And that's when things went a little crazy.

Steele was already in the air, catching the scanner and opening fire on anyone not part of the team. Evan continued to pin Eve to the ceiling, almost as if she was being kept out of harms way. The body of Lil Nora was gone!

As was the weapon that Evan had been using! From Eve's high vantage point, she might also notice that the body of the other Nora was also missing. Steele was firing shots left and right, the others were gathering weapons from their fallen foes, and a mini-war was breaking out right beneath Stonebridge! And Cromwell? He did what any other bad guy would do when the odds were shifting: He bolted!

Eve would find herself lowered behind Evan, who was using every part of the lab as a weapon against Cromwell's lot. "Mental note: *never* pxss you off again!"


At first, Eve thought she'd hit her head harder than she thought against the ceiling - or that she *was* losing it inspite of the fact that she was holding onto sanity by tooth and claw. She *hadn't* hit the ceiling that hard though, and that alone was telling her much; with her powers intact, she wouldn't have held back with giving him a blast of his own. She *was* glad that Steele caught the weapon, whatever it was. The chaos that had erupted was much more confusing from a vantage point of being on the ground once more. "Yeah. Be glad I still can't seem to touch my abilities." Eve
still didn't sound very happy with him, but the fact that she still felt pent-up bothered her more at the moment, considering that she was now in the midst of a battle without her abilities or much in the way of combat skills. But she did notice what was missing from the battle - Cromwell! "Dammit, he can't get away!" Ducking briefly as fire came just a bit too close, and mentally reaching, trying to find the reason for the block of her powers.


That's when Eve could Feel it: Her powers were back! Steele and Evan were in hot pursuit of Cromwell, and Nora had returned with all the others with their collars removed. They were taking out some much needed aggression on their jailors.

<Eve>

She'd recognize the voice; Amber!

<Eve>

The voice would lead her away from the chaos, back into the labyrinth of mazes that lurked below. She'd see Lil Nora along the way, standing still just long enough to be seen, before racing off down the hall.

That's when things might replay themselves back in her mind's eye; Evan had pointed the weapon at her head, but the shot hit the collar! All that hair hid the fact...

And the shot at the older Nora? No one was looking at Evan after he pulled the trigger. There was a faint glow inside those eyes ... He had been faking having no powers this entire time?

Lil Nora led her to another room, one that held the unconscious body of Amber. She was connected to some strange machine, with numerous tubes and wires hooked up to her.


It was a relief, but almost overwhelming at the same time; it reminded her of dam breaking, and the waters gushing back over the dry riverbed. She'd been on the edge of hysterical laughter when something distracted her - a voice in her head. There was a distant feeling to it, but one that was drawing her, urging her to find the source. With everything that was going on, it wasn't difficult to get away without being noticed.

Wandering the dimly lit halls beneath Stonebridge alone wasn't what she really wanted to do, but anxiety was taking a back-seat at this point; she *had* to find the source. The appearance of the little girl startled her, but made a bit more sense now; still... "I am *so* going to thwap Evan a few times after all this is over." For several reasons.

But for now... "Amber?" Spoken quietly, as if thinking of being overheard. Eve was looking at the connections to the machine, and put a hand to one, meaning to pull it free.